Inflatable Amusement Devices?

Over the last 10 years or so the inflatable industry has experienced a growth explosion. Prior to that, you could mention the word inflatable and people would give you a puzzled look. You would follow-up by giving a description and provide some additional terms such as moon-bounce or spacewalk and a light bulb would go off; oh, I get it! Wow!

How things have changed. Today, indoor inflatable locations and outdoor rentals are a staple for many events. An inflatable device can be many things. To be clear, we are discussing inflatable amusement devices. The kind that you can bounce on, climb over, slide down and crawl through. They can be dry, wet or a combination of the two.

Inflatable devices used for amusement purposes generally are classified under the broad heading of amusement rides and devices. Standards exist that address the operation, design and inspection of inflatable amusement devices for both indoor and outdoor applications. The popularity of these devices can be attributed to the several things. They are portable, mechanically simplistic and require very limited investment. They are the exact opposite of a typical amusement ride or device, allowing an inexperienced entrepreneur an opportunity to capitalize on the benefits of operating an amusement device.

Ah ha... danger starts to present itself. What we must realize as event producers and goers is that the operation of an inflatable device presents challenges that meet or exceed that of some fixed-site amusement rides. Case in point, inflatable devices are considered a form of interactive play equipment. These devices are highly participative in nature due to the requirements of the patron to interact with the environment to initiate a desired outcome. Most fixed-site amusement rides only require that the patron sit-down and be strapped-in for the ride.

As a result, inflatable devices provide a unique and real opportunity for injury.Event producers must be diligent and should understand that there are inherent risks associated with the use of inflatable devices. Event producers should investigate inflatable event rental companies prior to utilizing their services. Request that they provide policies, procedures, insurance documents, and training manuals. Additionally, you should ensure that they comply with ASTM F-24 on amusement rides and devices. It is also important to recognize that certain inflatable devices are more prone to incidents than others. The key is to DO YOUR HOMEWORK --- please understand the basics.

MINIMUM SAFETY REQUIREMENTS

* Structure must be properly erected, operated and maintained during its use.
* Follow all manufacturer's recommendations, operating instructions, safety inspections and maintenance procedures.
* Device must be supervised and monitored at all times by properly trained personnel that understand and enforce the required safe practices for the unit.
* Fall zones must be correctly padded.
* Applicable laws, standards and industry safe practices must be followed.

Getting a job working at Dunkin Donuts

GeDunkin Donuts is an international donut and coffee retailer. They were founded in 1950 by William Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts. The main headquarters is in Canton, Massachusetts and they claim to be the world's largest coffee and baked goods chain, serving 2. Million customers per day in 31 countries. The company partnered with Baskin Robbins and many of the stores in the U.S. are located together with Baskin Robbins ice cream shops. They offer many different baked goods, coffees, hot drinks and more to their customers. They also now have many Dunkin Donut deli shops that sell sandwiches, soups and salads. All the products are usually made in the store locally while other stores that are their competitors may not make the products in house.

Dunkin Donut stores are franchise owned so you would need to check with your local store to find out what job positions are available. Dunkin Donut stores believe that it is the employees that supply the fuel to keep America running. They give you the opportunity to have a flexible schedule to meet your needs as an employee. This is great for full time students working parents or those who just want to make a little extra cash. At Dunkin Donuts they value the skills that you have to offer and are very happy to work with you. They will train you to be successful and grow in your career advancement. You can progress from team member to shift supervisor, to manager and up depending on your career goals. Those who wish to be a baker must have training in the field or experience.

The employees at Dunkin Donuts enjoy a very good atmosphere as they work to have a fun environment, making a competitive wage, while learning and developing skills to fuel your future. The benefits do vary from store to store as they are individually owned and operated. You must check with your local Dunkin Donut shop to find out what is available in your area. Many shop owners are very happy to help you become a franchise owner and hard work to bring all the things you need to know to successfully train.

Discover Performing Arts Tours - Perfection in Stratford-Upon-Avon

Stratford-Upon-Avon is undeniably one of the most appropriate destinations for a performing arts tour. Students will not only be able to visit the birthplace of William Shakespeare himself - but also get to study with the most prestigious theatre company in England.

The Royal Shakespeare Company is renowned for its prowess on the stage. Performing both Shakespeare plays and more modern pieces, its actors are some of the most talented in the country and make fantastic role models for budding thespians.

Students can study with the group in a two-hour or day-long session, depending on the amount of tuition desired.

Following their work with the company, students are likely to want to learn some more about the town and its history. Situated in south Warwickshire, Stratford-Upon-Avon enjoys a thriving tourism industry thanks to the fame of former resident Shakespeare.

The best way for students to learn about the town and its history regarding the great bard can be to explore on foot. Walks around the area are rich with buildings of historical importance, such as the birthplace of the man himself. Tours of the house run each day and feature a history of Shakespeare's life.

Students can also discover the house of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway - reputedly one of the most beautiful buildings in England - as well as Nash House, which contains some period furnishings and artefacts.

Those wishing to explore further afield can take a trip to Warwick Castle - a great day out for students and teachers alike. Visitors can expect to see dungeons and battle re-enactments, among other events and exhibits which can vary according to the time of year.

Meanwhile, back in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the Shakespeare Centre Library really is a must-visit for theatre aficionados. Containing original manuscripts of the bard's works, it is also home to prompts, programmes, music and a host of other records of every Royal Shakespeare Company performance.

Stratford-Upon-Avon is without doubt the ultimate location for performing arts tours. Not only will students get to refine their skills, but they will be able to soak up the history and atmosphere of the birthplace of one of the finest playwrights the world has ever known.

New Home Nightmares - The Most Common New Home Defects

After the house you want to check by a professional home inspector, you need to buy, you probably think you are clear. Even if the home inspection may reveal obvious problems with your future home, a control is a superficial at best. As the owner of a new house is likely to face some problems if you move, though some of these problems, but you can overcome these challenges to anticipate. Home ownership can be difficult if something goes wrong, but theRewards of their houses by far the most negative aspects of home ownership.

1. Problems with heating

If home inspectors to check the plumbing, probably give a color to the bathroom and turn on the taps to ensure that the water flows. If there are big problems, you're left to find yourself. Heating seems to have its own personality. It 's a pity it is not longer open communication between buyers and sellers, as they oftenproblems could be avoided. Some plumbing systems require that you use special toilet paper. The previous owners probably know this and have learned this the hard way. The garbage disposal in your new kitchen might work perfectly well, as long as you do not try to grind up eggshells. Treat your plumbing system cautiously at first, until you get to know its quirks.

2. Wiring Issues

Because most of the wiring is behind the wall, it can be difficult to tell whether or not all the wiring in a home is in good condition. This is one reason that wiring issues are a common problem in a new home.

3. Windows

Home inspectors usually just check to make sure windows can be opened and shut. They do not check for drafts. Even new windows can be improperly installed, which can lead to high heating and cooling bills.

4. Water In Basements Or Crawl Spaces

Unless your new home is inspected on a rainy day, it is unlikely that the home inspector will be able to determine whether or not your basement or crawl space has water leakage problems. Unless there is standing water or a musty smell, you will probably have to wait for a rainy day to determine whether or not there is water damage. Water damage can weaken your foundation over time, so if this is not discovered, you could have a serious problem on your hands.

5. Problems With Heating Or Air Conditioning

Depending on the time of year that your new home is inspected, you could have undiagnosed problems with your heating system or air conditioning system. If your home is inspected in the summer, you could have problems with your heating system that are not noticeable. The same goes for your air conditioning system if your home is inspected during the winter. These are issues that will only arise with time. As a new homeowner, problems will come up. Be prepared for the five most common problems.

Hockey or Hoops?

I don't know about you, but I miss the good old days. The days when I was young enough to sit around and watch sports from the time I got home from school until after the time I got into bed. Or even my college days, where class was optional and pizza was plentiful. I would go back and forth from one game to the other, and maybe a third if possible. And this was always the time of year I loved the most. The Stanley Cup playoffs or the NBA playoffs by themself may not be the greatest event in sports. Surely March Madness would have a say in that argument. But put them together and you could have yourself quite a couple of months. Unfortunately my college days are behind me, and with that comes the cruel fate of waking up at 6:30 every morning to join the rest of the working world. Let's just say that games lasting until 1 O'clock in the morning and a fondness of sleep do not tend to mix very well. In any event, I just can't seem to find the time to watch all of the sports that I used to. So the question is what to choose? Let's examine which post season, if any, is really worth sacrificing sleep for.

The Competition. I suppose this would depend on your definition of good competition. In the NHL you have the balance from top to bottom. Currently both top seeds in hockey are gone before the conference finals, and the top 4 seeds in the West all bowed out in the first round. On the other hand, the NBA seems to be more top heavy, which would have some arguing that this makes for better competition in the later rounds. I would give hockey the nod here. I realize there are a lot of people out there who just don't get hockey, and find it unwatchable. But for those of you who appreciate the incredible skill level that it requires, you will notice that hockey more than any other sport is played at the highest level during its post season. While the Oiler's beating the Red Wings in the first round may not be the greatest thing in terms of attracting fans to keep tuning in, it shows me that the league is ultra-competitive from top to bottom. Chalk one up for hockey.

The Stars. This category may seem to be a no brainer to many, but not to me. On sheer name recognition alone most American's would say basketball has the biggest stars hands down. That may be true, but it seems like the only reason we've heard of half of their names is because we can easily find them on a police blotter. When it comes to promoting star players, nobody puts more of a focus on it than the NBA does. But personally I would rather be known by few than hated by many. Still, in all fairness, I have to give this one to the ballers, although one could argue that since Jordan left for good, the name Mario Lemieux was the biggest in either sport until he retired earlier in the year.

The Action. To me it's not even close. While basketball may have that one show-stopping play per game that makes you jump out of your seat and shout, hockey is a constant barrage of high intensity action, heavy hitting, amazing showcasing of skills, and even the occasional fistfight. Just ask Rasheed Wallace, who apparently feels like his team can play hard when they feel like it, and coast all the way into the finals. Try that in hockey, and you'll probably find yourself being slammed through a piece of plexiglass. Not to mention that a loss of focus, while perhaps resulting in poor defense in the NBA, may result in something more dangerous in hockey, such as a puck to your face. Hockey takes this one for sure.

Convenience. Sometimes you just want to get right to the point, and not bother sitting through two and a half hours of a game before the outcome is actually determined. This is where basketball definitely has hockey beat. There's nothing worse, especially for the casual hockey fan (although some would argue that there's no such thing), than sitting through a full hockey game with clicker in hand, and as you flip the channel quickly to check the score of another game, you miss a goal! On the other hand, if you watch the majority of an NBA game you are likely to witness the majority of the scoring, since it is consistent throughout the game. Where the true convenience lies with basketball is that everyone knows you really only need to tune in to the final quarter, if not just the final 5 minutes of an NBA game to see the best part. If you tried that in hockey you would more than likely be out of luck, and sometimes even a 1-goal game is already over for all intents and purposes. You may get lucky and stumble upon a game headed for overtime once in a while, but usually you will find that the game is pretty much decided. So if you're looking to save time and just tune in for crunch time, the NBA is the game for you.

Overtime. Speaking of overtime, two words: Sudden Death. Whereas a basketball game can that goes into overtime can end in a 12 point blowout win, overtime playoff hockey games always deliver the drama that they Legal merit. No time limit, wins the first goal. It can not be better, eh?

The game plan. This is a category in the NBA makes me crazy. What was once a real store for me in the past, just another annoying side effect of the NBA front office. I understand that its main objective is to generate revenue, but do you really need to play only 2 games per day and the spread of the first round of games for a period of two weeks, if not more? Some teams have almost4 days off between games, just so the networks can spread out their coverage. What good are the extra timeslots anyway, if it ends up decreasing your viewership per night? To me there is nothing better than two games going on at the same time to peak my interest. When TBS and TNT would stagger their start times, and show 4 games a night between the hours of 7pm and 1am, my interest was never greater. Now I can't even keep track of who is playing on a given night. At least the NHL moves their series' along, sometimes even scheduling two teams to play each other in back-to-back nights. Score another one for hockey.

Cheerleaders. This one clearly goes the way of the NBA, although think of the impact that cheerleaders could have on the game of hockey. I was recently at an Islanders game in Long Island, and witnessed my first hockey cheerleaders skating on the ice. Just imagine your typical good looking cheerleader with the same tight uniform and short skirt, except now she is carrying a snow shovel and skating quickly along on a surface of very cold ice. Need I say more? Talk about some up side. Basketball takes this one, but only because hockey hasn't caught on yet.

So, while basketball is clearly the more popular sport in this country, I would argue that when it comes to the post season, American's might be missing out on the most exciting professional post-season tournament of them all. Now if only they could put some intelligent Americans in charge of promoting this sport instead of the stupid Canadians that apparently are running the show, perhaps this sport would finally take off in popularity. Oh calm down Canadians, I'm just kidding. Well not really, but I do want to thank you for giving us the fine television show Kenny versus Spenny on CBC. I always wondered how long a human being could go without things such as food or sleep when a bet was involved. Until next time, enjoy the playoffs, whichever ones they may be.

RAC'S RANT will appear twice each month on SportsLizard.com

Chromium and Diabetes

Diabetes is a world-wide epidemic that is especially prevalent in India, China and the United States. Within the US, diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases with more than 7% of the adult population affected. It is rapidly rising in occurrence in the pediatric population as well. It is even more common in the elderly, Latino, African-American, Asian and Pacific Island-American and Native American populations. 

The cornerstone of diabetes management therapy consists of introducing a regular exercise routine along with a diet that emphasizes increased consumption of fresh vegetables, fruits and low glycemic impact complex carbohydrates, and a reduced consumption of saturated and tras-fatty acids. Along with diet and exercise regimes, there are a wide range of adjuvant integrative therapies based on nutrients alone. Many nutrients such as biotin, carnitine, coenzyme Q10, essential fatty acids, inositol hexaniacinate, alpha-lipoic acid, magnesium, manganese, n-acetyl cysteine, vanadyl sulfate, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin K are beneficial for the pre-diabetic as well as the diabetic individual. 

In addition, individual plants, traditional plant formulations and single phytonutrients increase the number of treatment options. Chromium, a trace mineral, is one of the most well researched nutrients for its role in glucose metabolism as well as the possibility of improving diabetes. Chromium works to help escort glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body. At the same time, chromium helps make the cells of the body more sensitive to the effects of insulin. Since 2000, three randomized controlled trials and one clinical study have demonstrated the potential blood glucose-lowering effect of chromium supplementation. Foods rich in chromium (turkey ham, grape juice, whole grain cereals and breads, broccoli, green beans and potatoes) are important to include in a diabetic diet. In addition, supplementation with doses of chromium from 25 - 400 ucg/day can be useful as well.

Cuckoo Clocks - A Brief History of Telling Time

Cuckoo clocks have ended up in existence as early as the first story of one in 1629. Phillip Hainhofer defined the clock, that belong to Prince Flector August von Sachsen, many years ahead of the emergence of the clock-making business. They have kept many historians pondering, "At what time did it begin its noisy legacy? Just how did it silently infiltrate into our living lifestyle?"

Driven by pendulum, the cuckoo clock announces each and every 60 minute block by making use of pipes and also bellows to mimic the normal call of Common Cuckoos. The unique tone has been going off since the middle of the eighteenth century and has retained its recognizable tone since that time. In the manual, Musurgia Universalis by scholar Athanasius Kircher, the very first published account and drawings were recorded. However, it will require a lot more years before the clocks had been ever developed by residents in the Black Forest.

Mostly constructed in conventional styles, they sport a number of movements. The first is a 30-hour while the other is usually an 8-day movement. They indicate when to send air intake directly into each of the clock's pipes. Numerous clocks have a model of the Common Cuckoo designed to pop out through a front trap doorway as the clock strikes. There are even some which perform tunes to ring in each half-hour and hour.

Frequent in children literature, cuckoo clocks have been a method to obtain enthusiasm for education and enjoyment for all age groups. Exhibiting titles such as "The Cuckoo in the Clock", "The Late Cuckoo", and "The Cuckoo Clock of Doom", all these timepieces have harnessed curiosity because of its animation. The Beach Boys sang their record theme, Cuckoo Clock, in 1962. Tex Avery, Walt Disney, William Hanna, and Joseph Barbera used these types of timepieces in animated shows.

These clocks have even permeated the movie and television markets. Motion pictures including "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", "Bunny Lake is Missing", and "Blade Runner" have these timepieces featured. "Mystery Science Theater", Twin Peaks", "The Addams Family", and "The Munsters" TV series incorporated them inside their programs.

Cuckoo clocks will forever keep a sacred place in today's world. You can even find record-breaking versions of those renowned clocks. The residents of Germany's Black Forest still make them by combining painted artwork and exceptional carvings. This will help to maintain their legacy for several years in the future.