Our family was involved in the supply of siding and window materials in Denver for years. We saw some ethical contractors and some who charged people for materials and work in an unethical manner. Seniors and their children have to do a lot of work to find reputable walk in tub contractors. Like any purchase be sure to study the actual material specifications of several models. This is not rocket science.

It is a bathtub. It has to be provided by someone who understands – plumbing, electrical and remodeling construction of course. You also need someone who understands the special needs of those whose condition includes nursing care. Just take your time in researching and you will find the honest and reputable ones. Local contractors can always provide you with the back up service you need. Be sure you get a good material and installation warranty.

Be careful of those who might try and be playing with your emotions. Barbara Moore was a hospital chaplain and is trained in clinical pastoral education. This deals with how to help people make decisions when health becomes compromised. Find someone who really cares about your family. We provide one solution in metro Denver for families. Call if you would like to talk about your needs for a walk in tub. My parents are 86 and getting more unsteady in their steps. The walk in helps with that issue and also the massage can really decrease pain of getting older. This can be for those in baby boomer age as well. It is a great soak and jetted tub for anyone.

By: Barbara B Moore

We all have raised our wine glasses in a special toast and said, “To your health”. While we do not throw our wine glasses in the fireplace anymore there is a good deal to be said about the health benefits of wine, both red and white varieties.

Will it give us an increase in longevity? Some very impressive statistics are coming out from Researchers who have found red wines rich in flavonoids are actually good for our health. These flavonoids are known for their antioxidant properties which work with the body to resist viruses and carcinogens among other perks, such as helping your body to resist cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Of course like anything else, moderation should be maintained, you do not have to get “tipsy”, everyday to get the health benefits of wine by the flavonoids in red wine. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Syrah and Pinot Noir are the highest concentrations of antioxidants and flavonoids. A 16th Swiss physician wrote, “Wine is a food, a medicine and a poison – it is just a question of dose”.

The French people have a lower rate of heart disease due to the region that their red wine is produced. The French red wines are very tannic and contain high procyanidin (antioxidant) content of any wines worldwide.

The dryer red wines such as Merlots or red Zinfandels contain fewer flavonoids but more than white wines.

For a reasonable fill of your antioxidants so most health officials recommend, would be one or two four-ounce glasses of wine per day for men and one four-ounce glass for women. So adding a glass or two of red or white wine to your diet can be beneficial. “To your Health”

By: Gary Rogers

One Of The Many Working At Home Jobs.

Ambrose Bierce is reputed to have once said, “Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining profit without individual responsibility.”

Unlike a corporation, you are taking full responsibility for your activities on the internet building your own position or finding work from home nursing jobs.

This can be a curse or a blessing:
If you fail, there will be many to point and give you the old “I told you so,” or the one I hate the most “Who do you think you are thinking you can make it on the internet?” On the other hand, when you succeed, there will be no shortage of people coming forward to say how much they supported you and believed you could do it. What I found the easiest was to laugh and walk away when I had “made it”. There is no happy middle ground, it seems. Just keep in mind that you truly are the captain of your own fate. You may have gotten discouraged when you were having a tough time in nursing school. Take the same kind of mindset with you into this. Be diligent and painstaking in your search. You want and deserve the best. Modern technology can bring it to you. Work from home nursing jobs? Yes, they are there and yes you can have one. The question is how to find one that is right for you?

There are so many kinds of nursing specialties I won’t pretend to be able to direct you to one place. However, in the following paragraphs, I will tell you how to find EXACTLY what you want in the EXACT specialty you are thinking of.

This method cuts to the search with surgical precision. It will deliver to you results that are highly focused and relevant to your search and quite likely, in the end, take you to places you never dreamed existed.

It all begins with a simple web search. Whether it is Google or whatever doesn’t matter. The real magic begins with an “optimized” search. This simply involves wrapping your search words in quotes. This cuts the trash by 90 percent and tightly focuses your search.

Next, what you are looking for are forums dealing with the subject of your inquiry. These web places are like schools of fish of the same stripe.

Whatever you might be inquiring about, there are people on these forums that have or are doing the exact same thing you are contemplating.

If you want to know what you can do from home for, let’s say, Oncology Nursing, try searches exactly like this one: “forums+oncology+nursing+from home”. Usually, this yields more results than you know what to do with.

Take some time now and look through the first 10 or 20 results. If you are not satisfied, alter the wording a little and try again. Before long, you’ll be conversing with nurses doing what you are considering and, many times, they can give new ideas that you had never even thought of.

Ideas are what work from home nursing jobs is all about.

So, in conclusion, what you want to do in your journey to work from home is:

1. Cut as much of the trash off as you can so you do an “optimized search”.

2. You start searching for tightly focused forum titles.

3. Register with those forums and leave requests for information behind. Answer others’ questions that you might find there.

4. Try to keep in mind that there are possibilities out there that never entered your mind. This will keep you open to new ideas.

By: Octavien J. Remillard

Buying dentures is not cheap anymore by any means. The average cost of an upper denture alone is over $1250.00 (national average 2005 survey) and most dental insurance does not cover dentures because it’s considered to be cosmetic. So what does a person have to do in order to find affordable dentures? Well, one excellent option is called a discount dental plan.

Discount dental plans don’t work like insurance does. These dental plans simply offer you a big discount (up to 60%) off of the usual cost of regular dental care. They are an excellent dental care option because, unlike insurance which will not cover any condition that is considered to be “pre-existing”, you can still get a substantial discount if you need to be seen for an existing problem.

Here’s an example of a discount dental plan and how it will work in your favor. This example is going to be from the state of Colorado in the Denver area, zip code 80015, which is actually the suburb of Aurora. The cost of an upper denture using this particular discount plan in Aurora is only $694.00, a savings of $556.00 off the average national cost. Of course, this savings may be more or less where you live. Also, this estimate is based on high grade dentures, not cheap material.

The cost of joining a plan like this one is only $100.00 per year or $150.00 for a family. You’ll also continue to save money each time you go to the dentist for the entire year. Vision a pharmacy benefits are even available with some plans, as well as cosmetic dentistry. If you’re in need of dentures and the cost has been an issue, you should take a look at getting a discount dental plan. There’s a good chance that it just may be your best option.

By: Joe Stewart

You hire someone. They don’t work out. They leave. What is it that you remember and say about them in the past tense? It’s rarely the fact that they didn’t know how to work the numbers, or that they couldn’t put the pieces of a widget together. No, it’s almost always their soft skills that generate conversation-their personality, character and values.

Two recent scenarios from my personal experience serve as good examples: A multi-generation, family-run, team-oriented company in Michigan was about to hire a sales person who had all the skills needed to fill the role and an impressive track record. Before making the hire, they wisely chose to get an assessment of him. In an interview that was part of the assessment, the candidate went into a rage when questioned more deeply about his background. His temper was missed in the normal interview process. Discovering this major flaw before they made the mistake of hiring this key person saved the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Another company was not so careful and made a bad hire. This company had strong values: everyone counts; everyone is part of the team; decisions are made by consensus. When a candidate with a strong hierarchical bent was hired, he lasted just thirty days. The disruption was significant, as were the costs.

Go Beyond the Tactical

Most companies tend toward the tactical in their hiring practices, focusing on long lists of competencies, specific experience required and other hard skills. These are important, of course. Equally important is how the person you hire will fit into your culture, their soft skills. No one would list drama queen, insensitivity, trouble meeting deadlines or poor ethics as qualities they’d like to bring into their companies. But, by not checking out the soft skills, those are exactly the traits you risk hiring. You may also lose your A-players when you make bad hires; they don’t have to tolerate a difficult work environment. As many companies have experienced, the costs and other consequences of a bad hire can be extreme.

Begin with the End in Mind

The solution? Begin with the end in mind. Start by thinking about the soft skills that will fit into your organization; then consider the hard skills necessary for the job. Culture, then candidate.

Your company’s values should serve as the foundation for hiring decisions: Who are your customers and how do you choose to serve them? What gives synergy to your teams? Who are the great hires in your organization and what about them helped them succeed in your culture? And what was it, specifically, that kept others from fitting in? These are things you need to understand even before you write the job description. And they tell you what to look for in the interview.

What is it you need to learn in order to understand a candidate’s culture fit? Following are some of the things you need to get to in the interview process and through assessment: How they treat other people on the team; how the people they work with will most likely relate to them; how their interpersonal skills will impact their performance and that of the team; what motivates them and what turns them off; how they process information; how well they communicate; how they react under pressure; how they demonstrate leadership-and how all of these things mesh with your culture. Understanding a candidate’s hard skills is definitely the easy part of the hiring process.

Take your time interviewing. Ask candidates about their previous job, what they liked and didn’t like, and then let them talk. Don’t be afraid of silence. Let the candidate fill the gaps. You’ll discover much of what you need to know. And as you interview and assess candidates, keep in mind that cultural fit can’t be developed.

As Jack Welch said, “You cannot have a black hole in your organization where a star should be.” A star for your company is someone with the hard skills to do the job and the personality, character and values that match your culture. Anything less is a high risk business decision.

By: Kathleen Quinn-Votaw

Some jobs bring on more theft and violence than others. Crowded, high-stress environments, like large hospitals, are prime areas for assaults and theft.
Occupations in the U.S.A, with high homicide victims:



Occupation of Victim – Average Annual Number

Sales – 327
Executive/Management – 154
Law Enforcement – 69
Security Guard – 60
Taxi driver – 74
Truck driver – 25



Non-fatal violence is high for nurses, police, corrections officers, high school teachers, mental health workers (I found that out the hard way), bar staff, bus drivers, fast food workers, convenience store and gas station attendants.

Gas stations, fast food restaurants and convenience stores are attractive targets for robbers. The most vulnerable periods are in the morning during opening and late a night during closing. If the fast food restaurant or convenience store is near a main freeway, then it is accessible to a quick get-a-away.

If you are a customer at a gas station or convenience store and some guy comes in very tense and looking around more than normal, then it might be a good time to leave or look for cover. Another bad sign is two guys entering and one standing by the door. It is time to make tracks, fast.

Often the robberies are done by or arranged by former employee. In one case, the employee was a moonlighting, female firefighter, working at a gas station. She always just happened to be working during the robberies. It turned out that two jobs were not enough to support her gambling habit. If you are a business owner or manager, consider that theft and robberies often have inside help.

Convenience and fast food workers are shot four times more frequently than police officers. You get both low wages AND high risk. If your work is one of those places with electronically controlled washroom access and/or special coloured lights to discourage drug users, then maybe you should work somewhere else, or at least ask for the day shift. I was in one neighborhood where the midnight to morning worker had been attacked at the donut and coffee shop where she worked.

Sometimes one’s own co-workers can be a problem. Violent co-workers will tend to:

Withdraw,

Argue,

Have marital, money and drug problems

Just act plain bizarre.

They also tend to be obsessive with co-workers and cannot take criticism. Sometimes you can work at places amongst a whole pack of unstable employees. Guys who are constantly drinking or smoking dope on the job, gambling at lunch hour and/or complaining about court date, parole officers and alimony payments. They often put up with poor working conditions, because the company puts up with them.

If the work place mistreats employees, the company has a higher risk of being robbed. Watch for disgruntled employees. Places like fast food restaurants are notorious for being robbed by former employees.

When you get a bad feeling about a place or its people, it might be time to find another job. The extra few dollars are rarely worth the effort. Stay safe.

By: Doug Setter

As most people know, nutritional eating is a major component to living a healthy lifestyle. For instance, consuming an adequate amount of fruits and vegetables daily is not only nourishing, but will most often improve our quality of life too.

But there are many misconceptions about supposedly “healthy” products. We’ve been told time after time to eat certain foods because they’re good for us. Or, we’ve been misinformed about certain additives in foods that harm our bodies. Here’s a list of seven common misconceptions related to healthy eating. Study these for yourself so that you and your family can make informed decisions.

1. Splenda (Nutrasweet, Equal, aspartame) is healthier than sugar

The mainstream news and corporations have misled you and it’s not your fault. You’ve been told for a long time that artificial sweeteners are healthier than sugar. You’ve bought into it because you thought lower calories was better.

Today you find artificial sweeteners in just about everything. Food corporations make big money off of anything “sugar-free.” The truth of the matter is that Splenda, Nutrasweet and almost every other artificial sweetener is not healthy or safe.

Research in animals shows that sucralose can cause such problems as:

Shrunken thymus glands (up to 40% shrinkage) Enlarged liver and kidneys Atrophy of lymph follicles in the spleen and thymus Increased cecal weight Reduced growth rate Decreased red blood cell count Hyperplasia of the pelvis Extension of the pregnancy period Aborted pregnancy Decreased fetal body weights and placental weights Diarrhea

The only non-sugar alternative that is proven to be safe is the all-natural Stevia. You can find this product in the same aisle as other sweeteners. Otherwise, when shopping, try to steer clear of anything labeled “sugar-free.”

2. Soy is good for you

Many respected scientists have issued warnings stating that the possible benefits of eating soy should be weighed against the proven risks. Thousands of studies link soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders, infertility, and even cancer and heart disease.

There is no historical precedent for eating the large amounts of soy now being consumed by infants (from soy formula) and vegetarians who favor soy as their main source of protein, or for the large amounts of soy recommended by Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Christiane Northrup, and many other popular health experts.

Most of the fears concerning soy formula have focused on estrogens. There are other problems as well, notably much higher levels of aluminum, fluoride and manganese than are found in either breastmilk or dairy formulas. All three metals have the potential to adversely affect brain development. Although trace amounts of manganese are vital to the development of the brain, toxic levels accrued from ingestion of soy formula during infancy have been found in children suffering from attention-deficit disorders, dyslexia and other learning problems.

In conclusion, it seems that the safety of soy foods has yet to be proven, and that human beings have become guinea pigs. Try to avoid soy products and don’t feed them to your children.

3. Margarine is better than butter

Years of research has been done to determine whether margarine or butter is better to consume. You can find a plethora of claims on the Internet arguing one way or the other. The truth is, neither are healthy and their use should be minimized as often as possible.

But, between the two, we believe butter is actually the better choice. While butter is high in saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, margarine is high is trans-fatty acids (which are worse that saturated fats). Margarine also raises levels of bad cholesterol and lowers levels of good cholesterol, while butter provides vitamins A, D, E and K.

In addition, margarine decreases immune response and increases blood insulin levels, making the risks for diabetes greater. And while margarine may not contain cholesterol as butter does, when eaten it still stimulates the body to make cholesterol.

For an even healthier option, try Butter Buds, found in the spice aisle of your grocery store. This product is much better for you and tastes just like butter. But, in times when butter or margarine in necessary, such as baking, butter overall is the better choice.

4. Olive oil is the healthiest cooking oil

Although mainstream media portrays olive oil as the healthiest oil, this does not extend to cooking. Olive oil is primarily a monounsaturated fat and overabundance of oleic acid in olive oil creates an imbalance on the cellular level, which has been associated to an increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease.

Now polyunsaturated oils, which include vegetable oils like corn, soy, safflower and canola, are the worst oils to cook with because of the trans-fatty acids introduced during the hydrogenation process, which results in increased dangers of chronic diseases such as breast cancer and heart disease.

Anytime you need an oil to cook with, coconut oil can automatically be used in place of butter, margarine, olive oil, etc. in all types of recipes. This is a much healthier oil that you don’t hear much about. Specifically you’ll want to buy extra virgin organic coconut oil.

There are many benefits of using coconut oil, such as:

Promoting your heart health Promoting weight loss when and if you need it Supporting your immune system health Supporting a healthy metabolism Providing you with an immediate energy source Helping to keep your skin healthy and youthful looking Supporting the proper functioning of your thyroid gland

5. Wheat bread is better than white bread

While this is a true statement, consumers are often tricked into thinking that anything labeled “wheat” is healthy. But in fact, there are only certain types of wheat-labeled breads that are truly wheat. Make sure the packaging reads “100% Whole Wheat” or “100% Stone Ground.” Otherwise, what you’re consuming is truly no different from sugary white bread.

According to Dr. Mallika Marshall though, it’s important to look for more than just a whole-wheat label. First, check to make sure the bread has high amounts of fiber. Adults should eat 25-30 grams of fiber a day.

Second, choose a bread that has less than 350 mg of sodium per serving. Too much sodium in a diet is dangerous. And third, avoid hydrogenated fats at all costs. Try to find a brand that doesn’t have this ingredient. It’s also good to avoid high fructose corn syrup, if possible. While finding a loaf of bread without this ingredient can be challenging, at least make sure it’s not one of the first several ingredients listed.

If all else fails, make your own bread at home. It’s not only healthier, but most likely more affordable too.

6. MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) is easily avoidable

Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer known widely as an addition to Chinese food, is actually added to thousands of the foods you eat.

It’s in everything from soup, crackers, meats and salad dressings. As dangerous as it is, MSG makes food taste good and it is dirt cheap, like sugar. Even infant formulas and baby foods contain this poison, even though babies and infants are four times more sensitive than adults to the toxic effects of this chemical.

Eliminating MSG from your diet is a wise choice for everyone, especially pregnant women.

Here’s a list of hidden names for MSG that you need to be aware of. The hidden names include:

Gelatin Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) Yeast Extract Malted Barley Rice Syrup or Brown Rice Syrup

7. If the label says “All Natural” or “Organic” it must be healthy

There’s not as much regulation as you may think when it comes to the wording used on food labels. “All Natural” can mean absolutely nothing, except that it entices the consumer to purchase it over other brands. Sometimes an item labeled “All Natural” will have fewer ingredients, which can be a good thing. But it absolutely does not mean the item is healthy or unprocessed.

As for “Organic,” this term is much more regulated, but there are still come catches. The best option is to choose items labeled “100% Organic.” These products are given the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) seal and are completely organic and natural. An item that simply reads “Organic” is only required to have 95% organic ingredients and those that claim they’re “Made with Organic Ingredients” must only be 70% organic.

Other commonly misused labeling terms include “cage-free,” “grass-fed,” “sustainable” and “hormone-free.” While the USDA has clear definitions for each of these terms, there is no independent verification that products with such labels actually meet the requirements.
So, when choosing food items that makes one of these claims, look at the ingredients as well to see just how natural it truly is.

By: Jeff A Wise

Drive belt problems often puzzle consumers because the vacuum will still run – it just won’t do its job. There are two kinds of vacuum belt depending on the model of vacuum. Some run the brush at the bottom of the vacuum. The brush serves to help stir up dust deep down in the carpet for the vacuum to clean up. There may also be a drive belt that controls the forward motion of the vacuum in powered vacuums. In these Hoovers, the vacuum does the work of moving forward. In rare cases both the spinning brush and wheels are on the same belt. This is not common, so most Denver appliance repairs shops ask what part of the vacuum is not moving to determine what kind of replacement is needed.

Belts are pretty cheap and this kind of Denver vacuum maintenance is not hard to do. Most hardware stores sell vacuum belts so if you are handy you could even replace the belt yourself. As one of the few moving parts in a vacuum, the belt is often the first to go. So do not go buy a new vacuum if the brush stops spinning. You can just take your vacuum into a Denver vacuum repair company.

Depending on the make and model, you will have to buy different belts. Vacuum companies try to keep the belts pretty standard, but there is still a pretty big selection so bring your vacuum name with you to the repair shop or Home Depot. Canister models do not have as much weight to move around so they are usually cheaper. Upright vacuums are heavier, so usually take a thicker, more durable belt. Along with cleaning debris from the vacuum, replacing belts are the easiest and most effective ways to maintain your Denver vacuum cleaner.

Getting the service company to replace the belt often costs more than the part itself, so if you are feeling ambitious, check out your vacuum manual, go to the store, buy the right belt and replace it yourself. You will probably need a screw driver an no other tools. While the vacuum is broken down, this is a good time to clean and inspect the interior. Remove hair and other clogs that may stop the brush from spinning. You can pus a dowel through the vacuum hose to clear obstructions.

By: Andrew Carnigie