Burton Snowboards are one of the most well known and respected names in the snowboarding industry. Their long history of providing high quality boards for smooth rides down the trails continues today with two of their more popular boards: the Burton Bullet and the Burton Baron. Introducing the Burton Bullet The Burton Bullet is a wide [...]
Snowboard and Ski Gear
The Burton Tradition Continues with the Bullet and Baron Snowboards
Realizing When You Should Seek Alcohol Addiction Rehab
The alcohol rehab can begin when you recognize that drinking has become a problem in your life. Dangerous examples of this type of excess can start small, growing in importance as the drinking plays a bigger part of your daily existence. Learning about these warning signs will help you avoid the dangers of alcoholism as you move toward improving your life and your health.
Are You Addicted
You may think that if you are holding down your job, your excess drinking is not something for you to worry about. As it turns out, you may be a person who has a career that is demanding and successful, yet you can still lose track of your alcohol consumption and be unable to stop after one drink. You might find that friends and family fade away, hoping that you will reconsider your drinking as the alcohol becomes more important to you.
Signs
If you feel you are losing an ability to relate to friends and family, you might choose to drink at home alone, sometimes for hours. Or, you might choose to go to bars increasingly often after work or at other times. Whether at home alone or at a bar, you can begin to forget how many drinks you consume, which is a warning sign that you may need help for recovery.
Why You Drink
You may think that drinking is required for you to feel outgoing or at peace with your surroundings. You might drink to get ready for a social event, and wind up not attending because you have become drunk. You may arrive at the event intoxicated or become drunk shortly thereafter and not remember the event the next day.
The Toll
Changes in your mood or feelings of depression may lead you to seek treatment. You might discover you are angry with others for long periods or experience feelings of guilt about past actions. You may also be afraid about being unable to stop or moderate your drinking habits.
Increased Need
Cravings for a drink may begin to take hold, or you can experience withdrawal when you go for a period without drinking. To ward off these instances, you might start to obsess about always having enough of a liquor supply at home and note when others drink from it. You also may wonder about why your drinking partner does not drink as much as you do and decide you need to seek help.
Family and Friends
As your alcoholic consumption takes center stage in your life, the bulk of your friends and family may decide to leave you alone. They may not be sure how safe you are to be around or be concerned you will try to drive while drunk. Eventually, members of your family or certain friends may intervene and ask that you seek treatment. Get to a residential treatment program.
United States Pasport Application Services
Filing a United States passport application is the process to get a document needed when a citizen wants to travel to a place outside of the United States of America. Passports are an important to document that allow citizens to travel in and out of countries with ease. Adults as well as minors need to have their own passport. Minors below the age of sixteen and those of ages sixteen and seventeen have their own special requirements for the application process.
First Time Applicants
The following must apply for this document. One who is getting it for the first time. One who has one that was issued when they were under the age of sixteen. One whose passport has been stolen, is lost or has been damaged. One who has had a it for more than fifteen years, it is only valid for fifteen years. And finally one who has had a name change and they need to get all names in all documentations synchronized.
Validation
To validate the process one must have proof of being a citizen. It may be a naturalization document, a passport that is not damaged, or a birth certificate. For those who were born abroad it has to be a birth report from the respective country. If the agents receiving the documents find them unsatisfactory they have the ability to request for secondary evidence.
Information
All forms should be filled out correctly, with the proper supporting documents. It is important, when applying in person, to not sign the document until there is a witness. By having a witness it proves that you are the one who filled out the application and are not falsifying federal documents.
Photos
To complete an application there must be two identical, full color photographs measuring two by two inches. In the photo one cannot have any sort of headgear on and has to be in ordinary street wear. It has to be fairly recent, within 6 months. The background of this picture must either be off white or white and should have the full view of the face. The measurement between the top part of the head and the bottom part of the chin has to be more than an inch and not below an inch and three eighths. If one has a medical prescription of eye glasses or a hearing aid they should have them on for the picture.
Filing An Application
There are certain circumstances that allow for online US pasport renewal application filing or through mail. This normally includes a renewal, or a passport name change. However, filing in person is a good way to go, this way you’re confident that all paperwork submitted was proper and you’re not missing information that could delay the process.
CU-Boulder names former CU President ‘Sandy’ Bracken to Newton Chair in Leadership
The University of Colorado Boulder today announced the appointment of former University of Colorado President Alexander E. “Sandy” Bracken to the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Bracken, who served as the 19th president of the University of Colorado in 2000, succeeds former CU President Hank Brown as the Newton Chair. Brown held the inaugural chair from 2008-10. The Newton Chair supports and helps to coordinate the activities of several marquee leadership programs at CU-Boulder, including the Presidents Leadership Class, the Chancellor’s Leadership Residential Academic Program and the Leadership Certificate program.
The chair also helps to bring experienced leaders from government, business, higher education, the military and the public sector to campus to interact with students and faculty and advise students on leadership paths. Overall, the chair serves as a catalyst to expose more students campuswide to leadership training and development.
“I am delighted that former President Bracken has accepted the appointment to serve as our next Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership,” said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. “He is both a scholar of leadership and an accomplished leader himself. His long record of public service has given him vital insights that will help guide our students and faculty in their studies of leadership.”
Bracken most recently served as executive director of the Bard Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Business from 2001-07. Prior to his service as interim CU president in 2000, he served as vice president for public affairs for 19 years with Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., and before that, as assistant professor of history at Anderson College in Anderson, Ind.
He currently serves on the board of directors for the Robert H. and Beverly A. Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business and the board of directors for the Presidents Leadership Class, both at CU-Boulder. He also serves as chair of the Imagine! Foundation board and is a board member of The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County.
Bracken also has been affiliated with several state commissions, including the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. He also served on the board of Boulder Community Hospital.
“It is an honor and a privilege to accept this appointment as the Newton Endowed Chair,” said Bracken. “Leadership is a key resource for Colorado and the nation, and I look forward to continuing the work of President Brown, Chancellor DiStefano, and the faculty and staff of CU-Boulder in elevating the campus’s leadership programs to new levels of success.”
Contact:
Bronson Hilliard, CU-Boulder spokesperson, 303-735-6183
“I am delighted that former President Bracken has accepted the appointment to serve as our next Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership,” said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. “He is both a scholar of leadership and an accomplished leader himself. His long record of public service has given him vital insights that will help guide our students and faculty in their studies of leadership.”
Photo:
Caption:
Alexander “Sandy” Bracken.
Hardhats – Protect Your Workforce
Hard hats are a form of personal protective equipment (PPE). Today’s hardhats are not only designed to meet safety regulations, but they are also designed for comfort and style. When employees are provided with hard hats that are comfortable and stylish, enforcing safety policies can be less difficult to enforce. Employees are less fatigued throughout the day if they are comfortable and their hardhat fit properly. Employees who are less fatigued tend to be more productive and alert than an exhausted employee.
Varieties
Hard hats feature many different styles and colors. This is because a hard hat can distinguish a workers position on a job site. Engineers and supervisors would wear a different color making it easier to find them on site. There are no standard color assignments for workers, but it tends to be a site to site situation. So in this case the hard hat offers protection for the worker, but also easy detection for others trying to locate their supervisor or the acting engineer.
Classes
There are also different classes of hard hats that offer different levels of protection. There are Class A, B, and C hats as well as bump caps. Class A hats offer protection from falling objects as well as small electrical shocks. Class B hats offer similar protection against falling objects as well as electrical shocks. Class C hats will protect a worker but do not offer any protection from electrical shocks. The bump caps although similar, do not offer the protection that hard hats do. They simple protect the head from slight bumps due to low pipes or low ceilings.
Company Logos
Many companies order hard hats with their company logo printed on the hard hat. When a construction site has many different contractors on it, these logos help to identify the different companies. Many companies like to purchase the personalized hard hats for visitors or just to boost employee moral. Of course there are the individuals who like represent their favorite sports team by having a sports logo on their hard hat.
OSHA Compliance
OSHA, which stands for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is the agency that regulates and enforces the health policies and safety policies within a workplace. OSHA guidelines require that safety gear be worn on construction sites as well as other manufacturing sites. The hard hats prevent injury from falling objects and head bumps, Class A and Class B also prevent against electrical shocks. Those companies that do not comply with the standards defined by OSHA can be subjected to fines and their insurance premiums may rise.
Should You “Wire Up” for a Ski?
Thrillseekers – Speed
If you’ve been skiing already, chances are good that you’ve already found your reasons for enjoying it. Some of you are thrillseekers, enjoying the sensation of air passing by your face at incredible speeds and the sheer focus that adventure inspires. Others enjoy simply getting into the great outdoors, the feel of fresh air in their lungs at the top of a ski hill. The point is, many of us have different personalities, and the way we ski reflects that.
What kind of skiing personality do you have? Do you enjoy the sounds of nature, or are you more of a “tuned-in” type of person that has to be connected to your iPod at all times? Here are some reasons you might choose one or the other.
Wiring Up
Reasons to do it: If you’re addicted to your iPod, you might feel a little trepidacious about bring the wire with you on a skiing trip. But there’s nothing to feel guilty about – you’re not necessarily depriving yourself of any specific experience. In fact, if you’re wiring yourself up, there’s a good chance you like to make your own experiences, setting the soundtrack to your life. It can help the downtime pass by and can really heighten the overall skiing experience.
Reasons not to do it: Many people say “why wire up when you have plenty of sounds to thrill you?” To them, an iPod doesn’t enhance the experience, but dumbs it down into a sort of MTV-like existence in which you’re not fully outdoors because your ears are still hooked to the tube. Again, this might be a personality issue for many, or simply a difference in tastes.
Going “Naked”
Reasons to do it: No, not because the cold air feels good on your skin – not that kind of naked. Instead, going “naked” would mean simply abandoning the wire and enjoying the sights and sounds of skiing – and there are plenty of those to enjoy. Wiring up means you can’t hear the swoosh of your skis cutting through the snow beneath you, and some people really think those sounds should be savored.
Reasons not to do it: Sure, that’s fun for many, especially if they’re not big listeners of music. But if you’ve usually got a beat in your head, it’s simply not as fun to be outside by yourself or with friends without a little something extra to get your heart pumping.
Ask yourself what kind of person you are – but the truth is, you probably don’t need to take my advice. If you’re already a “wired up” kind of person, the chances are good that you’ve already put together your own ski hill play list.
Photo Credits: Uqbar is back
Originally posted 2009-05-12 05:17:00.
Who Should Wear Class 2 Safety Vests
It is a requirement of law that workers engaged in specific kinds of jobs put on protective gear. One of them is class 2 safety vest. They increase visibility especially when weather conditions are unfavorable. They are worn when workers are in work site that are near traffic. Law enforcement officers, rail workers, school crossing guides, utility workers are among the workers that are required to have this class of vest on when working.
ANSI
The standards for protective gear are regulated by the American National Standards Institute. They do this and stipulate the background material that should be used as well as the reflective material to be used, how it should be positioned and the style or structure they should have.
Class 2
The ANSI stipulation for ANSI safety vest is that they should be sleeveless and they should be made with background material of 775 square inches while the bright visibility tape should be not less than 201 square inches. It is to be worn with those working near roads where vehicles are moving at speeds greater than 25 miles per hour and those working near heavy machinery. Forestry workers, toll gate workers and airport crew who handle baggage and work on the ground should also wear this vest.
Requirements
After this class come the ANSI Class 3. These ones have sleeves and a specified amount of background material as well as reflective material. They are worn by workers who are even more predisposed to risks and need even greater enhancement of visibility. They are used by those around traffic moving at speeds of over 50 miles an hour. They are required to be worn by railway workers, utility workers, survey and flagging crews and emergency responders.
Law Enforcement
Others who should not work without them are police, sheriffs, firemen and emergency workers. Their designated one is the ANSI 207-2006 vest. The vests should either be color coded or they can be customized depending on the different industries. These are made with 450 square inches of background material and 210 square inches of reflective material.
Requirements
Others who are required to have them on when working are parking attendants, shopping cart retrievers and those who drive delivery vehicles. These are workers who are far away from traffic and the traffic moves at less than 25 miles an hour. They also carry out tasks that let them keep an eye on oncoming traffic.
Style
They are sleeveless and they can have some reflective tape or none at all. They are commonly available in lime and orange which have high visibility. However, they can also be worn in others colors as long as they are also clearly visible.
MLK weekend escape
Our conditions have been nothing short of amazing considering how the rest of the country is fairing. Not that we are getting huge dumps but when Utah and Tahoe are still bare, 6” feels deep. I don’t preach as much as I used to about WHY you should snowskate. I think you should do what ever gets you stoked. But for me,(preaching) riding with my kids on a snowskate is way more fun then other options. I think it keeps us on the same level and I’m able to help them out if they have trouble with their gear which always seems happens. It started with the massive laps we used to do on the bunny hill, which on a skate feels more like intermediate and now I find that taking my sons into the backcountry on a skate is kinda the same. We aren’t hitting extreme terrain just fun little pow fields. When they get stuck or need a break from carrying their gear its so easy to help out when your not strapped down. Anyways here’s another short vid of the Igloo zone. Cole is the one launching.
Trying to eat healthy? Read those nutrition labels carefully
People who made New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier or lose weight might also want to brush up on their math skills.
In a new study, marketing professor Donald Lichtenstein found that nutrition labels on packaged food products in the United States can lead even the most health-conscious consumers astray, if they don’t “do the math.”
While the “Nutrition Facts” printed on food labels are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, companies are given some freedom to present food packages as a single serving or as smaller serving sizes within a package, according to Lichtenstein, chair of the Leeds School marketing department. Through this practice, referred to in the study by Lichtenstein and his colleagues as “health framing,” companies can present smaller serving sizes so that a food’s negative nutrients — calories and fat — on a nutrition label show up as a lower number per serving.
“The take-away message is when you look at the calories per serving on a candy bar or a can of soup at the grocery store, be sure to look at the serving size too,” Lichtenstein said. “Surprisingly, what we found was those people who are health conscious and are concerned about nutrition fall prey to health framing effects more frequently.
“The problem comes when people do pay attention, but they only pay attention to the calorie information and not the serving size,” Lichtenstein said. “And that’s what we find in study after study. Those consumers who are more health conscious pay attention to the calorie information, but they don’t take the extra step to look at the serving size. So they are duped, if you will, by a health framing effect.”
This is where the math part comes in. For example, if a candy bar is 2 ounces and has 200 calories for a whole bar, it might be labeled as one serving or two servings. If the manufacturer decides to make the serving size of 1 ounce it cuts the calories per serving in half.
“We found that many consumers only pay attention to the calorie information and don’t look to see exactly what the serving size is,” he said. “When you present a smaller serving size, it cuts down the calories per serving, which makes consumers feel less guilty about consuming the product, and that affects not only their purchase intentions, but actual choice.”
Product Line Review: DryGuy Drying Accessories
Any winter sports enthusiast is familiar with the cold, wet feeling of snow that’s crept in between the cracks of your clothes and seeped into your wrists, ankles, and neck. It’s not necessarily the memories you keep with you while on a sledding or skiing trip, but, then again, it doesn’t exactly help things during the fact, either.
Still other enthusiasts are even more familiar with the moisture that necessarily rubs off on boots, shoes, and ski boots: coming indoors from a nice lengthy winter activity is like unloading soaked armor. It’s impossible not to make a mess. The DryGuy line of drying products for your winter accessories is the antidote, and not only that, the preventive medicine, to the pain of soaked, freezing clothes.
DryGuy is essentially a portable drying machine that dries off boots and other accessories one pair a time. There are a number of DryGuy products, including a footwear dryer that is designed to pre-heat gloves, shoes, and boots to give you comfortable entry into the cold world outdoors. If you’ve ever lacked the motivation to go outside during a freezing cold day to shovel snow, you don’t have to be a winter sports enthusiast to appreciate the benefits of DryGuy products.
You might wonder why you’d by a DryGuy when you have a drying machine already, and that’s a valid question. Much of the problem with DryGuy products is that most of the work they do is already done by your drying machine. The only thing that’s overlooked by the drying machine – simply because of logistics – is the ability to dry off shoes and boots, including ski boots. It simply can’t be done with a conventional dryer – make sure to take our word for it. You’ll want to use a DryGuy exclusively for your shoes and boots.
Some DryGuy products also come with an air blaster that dries out the insides of boots that can’t be opened inside out to be dried well in the drying machine. This clears out the moisture quickly so that you can even take a quick “drying” break during an all-day long ski session.
In addition to greater versatility over dryers, DryGuy usually offers portable devices that can be taken with you on vacations: if you’re accustomed to the Florida or California sun before heading out to the Rockies, for example, you might want to prepare for your trip with a DryGuy. You might not appreciate the logistics now, but when the insides of your boots are wet, you’ll remember what you should have done.
Of course, DryGuys are also quite limited because of their portability, meaning they can only service a few boots at a time. Keep this in mind as a necessary evil for the convenience of traveling with your own drying machine. If you’re a frequent visitor of the great (and snowy) outdoors, the DryGuy is a great “have” to have.
Originally posted 2008-11-18 04:55:04.