Tag Archives: fyi

May13

Why Rats Are In Your House – And What To Do About It!

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Why Rats Are In Your House – And What To Do About It!

No one wants to have rats in their home. Unless you’ve chosen to have them in a cage, they’re not a desirable creature to have in the walls of your house. The problem is that when there’s a rat infestation, it’s hard to be able to work out why you have one in the first place. Security is a must – but how do you secure your home against a rat?

Rats are one of many different pests that can cause an issue in your home. While you research and schedule with Rat Removal professionals, you can begin investigating on your own. If you notice that any of the following applies to your house, it makes you that much more susceptible to infestations:

Your Home Is Warm:

Why does an animal go inside the house? Well, for comfort, warmth and food, of course. Your home is warm, and animals in the cold will make their way into warmer places, especially in the cooler months. Rats come into the house to nest and breed, and that’s not what you want to happen! They can, and will, gnaw their way through your wires and your insulation, which is why calling 000 Pest Control if you notice any bitten wires is a smart decision. You need the experts to help when wiring is involved!

Food:

It doesn’t matter what it is, rats will eat it. They will eat through bread and meat as much as they will leather and fur, which means that you need to make sure that you are not leaving tempting tidbits around the house. The bins on the exterior of your property need to be secure to prevent them from coming into the house, and bags of food in the home need to be secure, too. They’ll sniff it out if not!

Compost:

Compost is another thing that attracts rats to your home. It’s like a buffet to rats and they will make a beeline to your home just to come in and eat anything that they can find. So, it’s up to you to ensure that your compost pile is one that is safely tucked away and out of sight.

Broken Pipes:

If your attic or basement has leaky pipes, you can expect rats to be near. It’s not that they’ve broken the pipes, but that they are attracted by the drip, drip, dripping of the pipes. Rats get thirsty and if you have an open source of water, they’re going to drink from it. You should get the pipes fixed because you need to, but remember that rats are an unfortunate side effect of broken pipes, too.

Ease Of Access:

Your house is a playground for rats. They can climb the trees and get into the attic as much as they can head down the drainpipe and into the basement. Secure your home against the onslaught of pests, and you can ensure that your home remains a rat-free zone.

Rats are not the only pests that should concern you, but now that you know all of the ways that they can come into your house, you can do something about it. It’s important that you protect your home: No one wants unwanted house guests!

Featured Image By: Pexels

May5

Smart Tips To Help Manage Your Cat’s Weight

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Smart Tips To Help Manage Your Cat’s Weight

Part of keeping your cat healthy is ensuring that they stay at a healthy weight. We might all like to laugh at and coo over a fat cat, but the reality is that cats shouldn’t be carrying lots of excess weight. They need to be at a healthy weight so that they can remain active and so that there is no extra strain put on their bodies. Managing your cat’s weight can be difficult, though, especially if you have an indoor cat that might be less active. If you’re looking for some tips to help manage your cat’s weight, take a look at the advice below:

Speak to Your Vet:

Your vet can give you plenty of helpful advice about your cat’s diet and weight. They can let you know if your cat is overweight or even underweight, and make recommendations to help keep them healthy. They might recommend a specific food, especially if your cat might benefit from a special diet to improve their health. Your vet can recommend portion sizes and feeding times and generally offer more personalized advice compared to what you would get from a packet of cat food.

Make Measuring Food Easy:

It can be tricky to get your cat’s food right, especially concerning how much to feed them and when to feed them. Measuring out the right amount and sticking to a schedule is an important part of giving your cat the right diet. Many cat owners let their cats snack on dry food throughout the day, but this can lead to them eating too much. An automatic cat feeder can help you to measure out the right amount of dry food. Some even have cameras so that you can watch your cat when you’re out of the house. If you feed both wet and dry food, you need to make sure that the combined calories don’t exceed your cat’s recommended amount.

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ANGEL!

Keep Your Cat Active:

Exercise is another important part of managing your cat’s weight, particularly if you have an indoor cat. Indoor cats can be less active than outdoor cats, who will often go roaming for large parts of the day. Playing with your cat can encourage them to be more active, which helps to manage their weight. Make sure to adjust their diet to match their levels of activity too. More active cats may need to eat more.

Be Restrained with Treats:

Giving your cat treats can be a great way to pamper them and even teach them a few tricks. However, too many treats could mean that your cat is eating too much. While a few treats aren’t a bad thing, it’s important not to go overboard. It’s also important to give your cat special cat treats, which you include in your cat’s daily calorie allowance, and not human food.

Keep your cat healthy by managing their weight. Food and exercise play important roles in cat weight management.

Featured Image By: Pixabay

May5

Friendly Reminder!

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Friendly Reminder!

Hello! In Ohio, our stay at home order is still pretty well in place. Other than grocery stores and gas stations, the only things that have since opened up are doctors offices. But, in the meantime, that doesn’t mean that you still can’t support all of your favorite local businesses and artists. That’s right, we’re talking gift cards.

When the nonessential businesses closed, I reached out to all of my favorite hang outs of the tattoo shop and the hair and nail salon. It was important to me to try and help out all of the people who keep me beautiful as much as I can and if that meant paying early for the services I planned on getting anyway, I was happy to do it.

Unfortunately, in my area of Ohio, there are far more chain stores than anything locally owned. But, if that weren’t the case, trust and believe I would be getting gift cards to all of the cute boutiques too! Anything helps and if you are in a position to give a little more, then now is the time to do it. Believe me, the heartfelt thank yous make it two hundred fifty percent worth it! ❤

How have you been supporting the local businesses in your area? What have you been doing to help serve your community? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May1

The Ultimate Guide To Help You Understand Telecommuting

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The Ultimate Guide To Help You Understand Telecommuting

We live in a digital world and the concepts of a daily commute or corporate cubicles can be a thing of the past for people who telecommute. What is telecommuting? It’s when an employee of a company can do their work from home.

This can be full-time at-home work or part-time, but the key is the ability to do almost all of one’s daily work activities from home. There is no need to visit the office or even have an office. While telecommuting is more popular than ever, it’s not as easy as it seems.

In today’s post, we’ll explain some of the best practices for telecommuting and how you can be more efficient:

What Is Telecommuting and Is it for Me?

There are some jobs that are more suited for telecommuting than others. Jobs that require the use of computers can be done anywhere. If your job requires hands-on labor or to use assets only available at the office, then telecommuting would be difficult.

The digital world of today is suited for telecommuting because cloud storage, Internet use at home, and reasonably priced computers have made it possible for people to have everything they need without leaving their homes.

Telecommuters can connect with company assets and data via their Internet connection, password protected online servers, and company websites. There are also high speed connectivity solutions that can be utilized so you can have reliable, fast internet no matter your location. Types of jobs that allow for telecommuting include sales and marketing, healthcare, education, customer service, and information technology.

If this sounds like your job or a type of living you want, then telecommuting might be right for you.

Reasons Businesses Offer Telecommuting:

With telecommuting jobs on the rise, companies understand the benefits of offering it to their employees, but not all companies. If you’re a business owner, then consider allowing your employees to work from home at least part-time.

How much money do you spend to rent or buy office space every year? Has your company grown, and you need to expand your office to accommodate new employees? Telecommuting decreases these costs substantially. You don’t need an office at all or you can have a small office to meet with clients, etc. and never worry about expanding. Since most of your employees work from home, you can hire new ones without expanding your office space.

Studies show employees will work for less money if telecommuting is an option for their job. You can also hire employees from anywhere in the world and not worry about them moving to the area. They can stay wherever they are, so your pool for potential employees grows.

Telecommuting and Efficiency:

If you’re planning on telecommuting, then you need to have a good work ethic and be efficient. One of the biggest motivators for in-office employment is the ability for the manager to make sure the work is done on time. You can’t procrastinate if there is a manager hanging over you that wants daily meetings. When you work from home, it’s more difficult to focus and work because you’re surrounded by the familiar.

Before telecommuting, the home was a place of leisure. It’s where you could forget about work and enjoy your family and the comforts of home. It can be difficult to shake that feeling when you need to work from home.

Don’t work in your pajamas or from your bed. Treat the telecommuting day as you would any other. Wake up, get dressed in work-appropriate clothes, and work from an at-home office area. This will help you focus on work time and not home time. If you can’t be efficient from home, then your company may not offer the option.

Working from home is great because it offers you flexibility, lower stress, and an atmosphere that you control. It also requires focus and discipline to get the necessary work done and not be distracted by the comforts of home.

Keeping Telecommuting Secure:

The biggest worry an employer has about their data is security. Your servers house everything about your company and customers and it needs to be secure, but how can you do that with telecommuting employees? We’ve seen countless stories about data breaches in the news and you don’t want that to happen to you. You can provide your employees with computers that have security programs or provide them access to the security programs for at-home computers.

Keeping data secure 2021 is so important because our whole lives tend to be on our devices. Whether working from home or on vacation, always do checks for viruses or unusual activity frequently to prevent from getting hacked and having sensitive information stolen.

Beating the Telecommuting Blues:

At first, telecommuting seems amazing for employees. They don’t have to commute and still get paid without dealing with an office. After a while, the employees begin to miss having coworkers and may get cabin fever because they never seem to leave the house. Work friends and human interaction are important, and telecommuting removes that.

If you want to beat the telecommuting blues, then you need to continue having work relationships despite working from home. Video chat meetings via Zoom or other programs allows people to see their co-workers and chat about not only work but life as well.

Schedule time to leave the house during the week for fun activities with your friends. Have a drink after work or go see a movie. It’s important to maintain relationships when telecommuting or else it can be lonely.

Keep Employees in the Loop:

When dealing with telecommuting employees, the manager must remember to keep them in the loop. This involves not only ensuring they have the appropriate help like managed IT  support at home, but also the necessary data and information required to do their jobs. In offices where the employees are a mix of in-office and at-home, managers may forget to loop virtual workers in on meetings or changes to projects.

This not only hurts the business but also makes the telecommuting employees feel less important than those working in the office. You must maintain communication with telecommuters and provide the same feedback for projects, success, etc. that you would for those working in the office.

If you are considering working from home or letting your employees telecommute, use the tips above for the best success!

Apr27

Taking Advantage Of The Internet In Self-Isolation

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Taking Advantage Of The Internet In Self-Isolation

Hello! Thank god for the internet while we’re all hunkered down at home, amiright? Personally, I would be going crazy without my access to social media and all of the entertainment streaming services that Johnny and I have. The internet is a wonderful tool to help fight the boredom blues and, amidst the stay at home orders, it is now being used for a lot more than aimlessly scrolling through Facebook. Bored? Try some of the following:

Take A Class:

Right now, there are so many free courses being offered online from reputable colleges to teachers hosting Zoom lectures. I have even seen that Yale is offering free admission to their course entitled “Happiness” or something of the like. I, myself, have been participating in an online American Sign Language class being taught via Zoom and have been having a blast. It feels great to learn something new and you can’t beat free!

Streaming:

Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, and iTunes provide endless new shows, short films, and movies that you can watch from the comfort of your home. Lying on the couch, in bed, or relaxing on your patio requires entertainment; therefore, a good internet connection is necessary. Making the internet as effective as possible in your home can go a long way toward relieving your boredom. Take advantage of the cox internet with a high speed, and you may not buffer even when you connect different devices.

Tour A Museum:

In the mood to travel? How about taking a virtual trip to one of the many museums offering tours online. Play some classical music, enjoy a glass of wine, and get a taste of the finer things as you admire art from around the world. Take a look and get inspired and then, who knows? Maybe you’ll be creating your own masterpieces afterwards.

Watch A Play:

Many theaters and opera houses are offering online streaming of their shows. I have seen advertising from everything from theaters in New York City to the Paris Opera House virtually opening their doors to the bored general public. I would love to watch a few operas in my free time and I am interested in checking out a viewing of the Phantom Of The Opera which I have seen advertised all over Facebook. So cool!

Connect With Friends:

Who says getting online has to be all about learning? Of course, connecting with friends is a given on social media. But, how about scheduling a chat over Zoom? You could play trivia, watch a show all together, have a paint night, or participate in a happy hour drink. Yes, it’s fun to catch up but actually doing an activity together will be a nice reminder of old times and could be a new weekly tradition to look forward to until real life meetings can happen.

Start A Club:

If you are trying to connect with like minded individuals, try hosting a virtual club. You could form a group based around anything from books and writing to movies and art. Schedule a weekly Zoom meeting to discuss the latest few chapters or the cliffhanger in the TV series you’re watching together. Intelligent conversations always perk me up when being plopped in front of the TV is the norm and everyone can benefit from that!

So many resources have made the internet even better than it already is during the coronavirus panic and these ideas are sure to entertain during those times when it feels like there is “nothing to do”. Enjoy!

Have you been doing anything similar to the tips above? How have you been using the internet to your advantage right now? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Apr24

Tips For The Best Ways To Feed Your Horse

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Tips For The Best Ways To Feed Your Horse

If you’re a new horse owner or you simply want to become a better one, one of the things you’ll need to think about is how you feed your horse. It’s one of the most important things you have to consider when you own a horse and there are many decisions to make. We’re going to discuss all of that and cover the most important issues around feeding your horse correctly, so read on to learn more:

Stick to Trickle Feeding:

Trickle feeding is the process of giving horses small amounts of food at a time. This way of feeding horses is used because it’s how horses naturally eat and it suits the size of their stomach, which is relatively small. Because they’re being fed small amounts, they can be fed more often. Horses 400kg and above should only be fed around 2kg of food per meal.

Feed Plenty of Forage:

You can still feed horses plenty of forage, though, as this is essential for their digestive health and they’ll graze on it throughout the day. As well as helping their digestive health, it also makes it easier for horses to absorb vital nutrients from other sources, aiding their health and fitness generally. You should give them more than 1.5% of their body weight per day in forage.

Ensure Fresh and Clean Water is Always Available:

It’s essential that your horse always has easy access to fresh and clear water at all times. Without this, they’re only going to get dehydrated and it’ll eventually have a massively detrimental effect on their general health and well being. Don’t underestimate the importance of the water and replacing it with fresh, clean water at regular intervals.

Get the Logistics Right:

It’s also important to choose the right food and to ensure you always have a reliable supply of it heading your way. Places like https://www.naturafeed.com/production-distribution/ can help with the distribution of horse feed, and it’s a good idea to select an option that offers those provisions. Once you have a feed, you want to keep it consistent and always have it in stock. It’s best for your horse if you’re not making changes all of the time and swapping their feed.

Keep Feeding Times Consistent:

Horses like routines and form strong habits. That’s why it’s so important for their general happiness that you keep their feeding times as consistent as possible from day to day. You should also offer the amount of food that matches up to the amount of work that’s been done by the horse that day so their energy reserves are adequately replenished.

Feeding your horse correctly is a vital part of being a horse owner. Nothing should be left to chance and you should put real time and thought into working out how much feed your horse needs and what kind it needs. These variables will differ depending on your horse.

Featured Image By: Pixabay

Apr19

Taking Care Of A Dog When Practicing Social-Distancing

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Taking Care Of A Dog When Practicing Social-Distancing

Having a dog can change your life. A dog means that you’ve got a constant and loving companion. Someone who loves you and shows it. Who is loyal and affectionate and who is always there when you need them. Owning a dog can improve your mental health, boost your social interactions, and encourage you to get more exercise.

But now, normal life is very different. We can’t take our dogs to our favorite dog parks. We can’t let them run free, playing with their friends while we chat with other dog owners. If you are ill, you might struggle to look after them, and getting to the vets can be difficult.

The good news is, that there isn’t currently any evidence that COVID-19 affects dogs or that they can transmit the virus to humans. Having a dog shouldn’t make you sick, and you shouldn’t be able to affect them if you become unwell. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take some extra precautions. Here are some tips to help you to look after your dog while practicing social-distancing or even living in self-isolation:

Find a Quiet Time to Walk:

At the moment, as long as you are in good health, at no increased risk, and have no symptoms of COVID-19, you are allowed to take your dog out for a walk. But, it’s best practice to stay at least two meters away from anyone else, to avoid the possible spread of the virus. If you usually walk in quite a busy park, you might find it easier to avoid other people if you find a quieter time to walk, perhaps first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon.

Keep Him on a Lead:

Social distancing becomes a lot harder when your dog is off the lead, and you’ve got less control over where they run. Keep them on their lead whenever you go out, and remember to wash the grip before you go out and when you get home.

Save Money on Pet Care:

Pet care can be expensive, and if you can’t work at the moment, you may be keen to save money wherever you can. Save money by printing a petmeds coupon and try shopping around for pet food and any other supplies. Don’t forget to shop on sale!

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All smiles!

Find Out More About Your Vet’s Policy:

Hopefully, your vet is still open and seeing patients. Even if you don’t need to see them, it’s a good idea to be prepared, as their policies may have changed. Look on their website or social media pages to see if any restrictions have been put in place. You may have to book in advance, and you might not be allowed into the surgery until your appointment time, to minimize contact in the waiting areas. If you do need to see your vet, wash your hands before and after, avoid touching your face, and consider wearing a mask while you are out of the house.

Minimize Contact If You Are Symptomatic:

If you are symptomatic, however mild your symptoms are, you should go into self-isolation straight away. Then, while there is no evidence that your pet could become affected, not enough is known about how they may carry the virus on their fur or collar, so avoid too much contact until your symptoms subside.

Arrange for an Alternative Walker:

If you are self-isolating, you shouldn’t even leave the house to walk your dog, nor should anyone else in your household. If you have a garden, you may be able to manage, but if not, it’s important that your dog gets some exercise. Arrange for someone else to collect (without entering your home or coming within two meters of you) your dog for walks, bringing their own lead, and not making contact with anything from within your home.

Keep Stocked Up on Food and Other Supplies:

You don’t need to stockpile pet food and supplies, but it is a good idea to have at least a week’s worth at all times, in case you struggle to get out and can’t get a delivery.

Use the tips above to keep taking the best care of your four legged friends during this difficult time.

Featured Image By: Pexels

Apr17

Top Four Ways To Protect Yourself From The Wider Effects Of Coronavirus

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Top Four Ways To Protect Yourself From The Wider Effects Of Coronavirus

Coronavirus is sweeping the globe, and it doesn’t matter who you are, it affects you. There is a lot of advice out there for the obvious ways to protect yourself and how to deal with symptoms, but what about all of the other things coronavirus is responsible for? Check out our list of the top four ways to protect yourself from the broader effects of coronavirus:

Claiming what you’re eligible for:

Whether this is through work or the government, make sure you know precisely what is out there and whether you can claim for it or not. If you are eligible, claim! Don’t hold yourself back because you think someone else might need it more, or because you don’t want to be a burden. If you’re entitled to it, ask for it.

Disability insurance:

Disability insurance can be a great way of covering yourself throughout a pandemic, like coronavirus. Coronavirus (or COVID-19) is included in some disability insurance policies. Go through your paperwork and ensure your provider will cover you. Some kinds of insurance policies will cover you through the death of a loved one. Out of all the deaths caused by coronavirus, 1% is of people under 50. If you have to take care of someone seriously ill or go into isolation or quarantine, this can create a need to claim on your insurance.

Mental health:

It’s not just your household’s physical health that you need to look after. Being in quarantine or on lock down has a massive impact on your mental health. It can cause depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as creating frustration and irritability. If you’re cooped up with family, roommates, or even just pets, you’re likely to get cross with someone eventually. Trying out calming techniques like meditation and mindfulness can really help. It’s also worth encouraging discussion of your emotions as a family. Frequently remind your household that everyone is tense because of lock down, and if someone does snap, everyone else should try not to take it too personally.

Balance your consumption of the news:

Following the news has never been more critical. You need to know what the government is currently advising and what the latest updates are, but you don’t need to know every last detail if this upsets you. Obsessing over the news won’t help you, but locking yourself in a bubble is not the way to cope, either. Limit yourself to checking a reputable news source once or twice a day — coronavirus news doesn’t move much faster than that anyway.

Avoid sources that are not major news providers or your government. It’s best to stay well away from the speculation on social media. If it keeps appearing on your dash, block the keywords or tags, or unfollow whoever is posting it. Use social media to stay in touch with friends, family, and colleagues, and to pass the time in a fun and pleasant way.

Stay safe and follow these four tips to get through the coronavirus pandemic.

Featured Image By: congerdesign

Apr17

Quarantine Team Guest Bloggers Wanted

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Quarantine Team Guest Bloggers Wanted

Hello! Looking for something to do to kill an hour or two in self-isolation? How about guest blogging on lifewithlilred? In this Quarantine Team Guest Bloggers Series you can share all of your entertainment tips, must reads, must watch, must eat recipes as well as any quarantine chic MOTDs or OOTDs. I’m also not picky, so if you have an idea – run it by me at: sarah.mush6794@gmail.com

Your post will be the featured article on my page for the day and I’m looking forward to seeing what all of you come up with! Much love. -Sarah

Apr15

How To Bounce Back From A Serious Injury

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How To Bounce Back From A Serious Injury

When you suffer a serious injury, bouncing back and getting back to normal is usually the thing you want more than anything else. However, you need to be careful about how you go about making that happen. Making the wrong choices can lead to further delay and problems that you don’t want or need to be dealing with. Here’s how to bounce back from a serious injury in the correct and healthy way:

Understand the Extent of Your Injury:

First of all, you need to make sure that you fully understand the extent of your injury. If you’re not able to grasp what you’re going through and what you’re recovering from, you might underestimate things and that’s when you’ll end up putting your health at further risk. That’s not what you want because it will ultimately result in further delays or complications that you’ll need to combat, putting your overall recovery back even further.

Work on a Plan and a Timeline with Your Doctor:

To help you focus on your recovery and what needs to be done, you should try to work on a plan for regaining your health alongside a doctor. They can help you with a plan of action that covers all the most important things and the various stages of your recovery. You can even put a timeline in place so you can see when you can expect to hit certain important milestones.

Avoid Inflammatory Foods:

Some foods cause inflammatory reactions in the body and this can cause problems for you as you attempt to recover from an injury. The foods that have that kind of impact include refined sugars, processed meat, oils and flour, as well as foods with a high saturated fat content. You should avoid these foods and instead focus on vegetables, fruit, and food high in omega 3.

Explore Legal Avenues:

If your injury came about as the result of an incident that was someone else’s fault, you should think about whether you can get compensation. For example, head injuries are at high risk for TBIs and if this happened at work because of a safety error, you might be entitled to compensation. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to seek that out. Or, perhaps, your injury happened at a hospital due to faulty implants or devices. A law firm that specializes in this particular type of injury – such as a bard powerport lawyer, should be contacted to get you the help you deserve.

When selecting a lawyer, make sure that they have lots of experience and success for your given situation. You wouldn’t want to hire a lawyer who specializes in divorce when you need an 18 wheeler lawyer. Do your research and choose wisely so you can get the most out of your claim.

Keep Your Mind Occupied on Other Things:

As well as thinking about your physical health, you should also give a thought to your general mental well being. If you’re going to achieve a good balance and bounce back in a positive frame of mind, you need to try to keep yourself occupied as you recover, especially if it means being out of action and stuck at home for a prolonged period of time.

No one wants to be in a situation where they’re having to think about any of this, but injuries happen. And the last thing you want to do is make them worse or to prolong them by taking the wrong steps. Make the most of the advice above and be sure to bounce back stronger than ever.

Featured Image By: Pixabay