:Where Worklife Matters

It has been called “the big ditch”, “the bridge between two continents” and “the greatest shortcut in the world”. One look at the immensity of the Canal, and you will understand why a French company with a labor force of 10,000 men went bankrupt trying to excavate it. The project, while conceived in 1534 by Charles I of Spain, began in 1882 and ended seven years later in disaster with over 22,000 people dead from disease and pestilence. The United States took over the assets of a French company in 1902 and began the process of finishing the canal.

It is a epic story, appreciated best by transiting the canal by ship, viewing what many historians say changed the face of the industrial world. This 51 mile water tollway shaved over 7,900 nautical miles off the distance between New York and San Francisco.

Sailing the Panama Canal not only offers a rich detailed and fascinating history narrated by an on-board Canal historian; it is the natural beauty that surprises most of all - an ever changing panorama of jungle clad hills, shimmering Lake Gatun, the high arched span of the America’s Bridge, and of course the intricate workings of the locks and gates themselves.

As you approach the canal from the Atlantic you travel through 7.2 kilometers of dredged channel. Your ship then proceeds for a little over 11 kilometers slightly westward before reaching the Gatun Locks. Huge ocean liners are lifted, as if they were toys, 85 feet by three sets of locks, to the level of Gatun Lake. This lake resulted from damming the Chagres River and broaching the Continental Divide. This combined with the Gaillard Cut was a feat equal to digging a trench 10 feet deep by 55 feet wide from New York to California.

Passing through Gatun Lake to the mouth of the Gaillard Cut and down the 13 kilometer channel, you arrive at the Pedro Miguel Lock, which has a drop of 31 feet. This lock borders Miraflores Lake, about 55 feet above the level of the Pacific. Your ship continues about 2 kilometers through Miraflores Lake and reaches two Miraflores Locks. These locks lower your ship to Pacific tidewater levels. Leaving the Miraflores Locks you continue 4 kilometers to Balboa on the Gulf of Panama.

From the deck of your ship or your own private balcony, you’ll marvel as the locks open one into the other. The locks are double to allow one ship to be raised while another is being lowered. The lock chambers on the Panama Canal are 1000 feet long and 110 feet wide. Transit time through the canal is usually seven to eight hours. As a counterpoint, there is the natural wonder that surrounds the man-made one; a lush, virgin rain forest; impenetrable and inviolate, except for the canal. Imagine yourself watching the sun rise in the Atlantic and set in the Pacific. Visit Mayan ruins and colonial cities.

You can watch cliff divers plunge from dizzying heights or hike in a cloud forest where hummingbirds dart in greater numbers than crows back home.

Early in 2000 the United States turned over 100% control of the canal to Panama after jointly sharing its protection and control since 1977. The final cost of the canal US$336 million dollars which is less than the cost of the new cruise ships that pass through.

While transiting the canal is an incredible experience, remember your cruise, depending upon itinerary, will also take you to places like Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica; Cartegena, Columbia; Santa Cruz; Zihuatanejo and Hualtulco, Mexico or perhaps Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Oranjestad, Aruba or possibly Willemstad, Curacao and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

Engineered as carefully as the Canal itself, these cruises combine just the right number of exciting ports with long, leisurely days at sea. And no matter which direction you go, you’ll discover a remarkable collection of wonders, both natural and man-made.

Sid Kaplan

Cruise Vacations Guide

Sid Kaplan has extensive experience in the travel business. He owned and operated a large retail cruise only agency in Canada and his wife has 25 years experience working for major cruise lines. Their website is Cruise Vacations Guide which offers advice and tips to those looking to create memorable cruise vacations. Shore excursion and land tour information is also provided. Cruise, hotel, car rental and vacation adventure booking online.

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Report Excerpt: RenewableEnergyStocks.com Reports - Oil Prices and Environmental Issues Fuel Renewable Energy Investments and Initiatives

By Brian Noer, www.RenewableEnergyStocks.com November 2005

In North America, issues such as rising oil prices, hurricanes, global warming and other environmental crises are raising the awareness and importance of renewable energy initiatives. The benefits to both consumers and corporates of energy efficient lighting solutions are gaining in importance as executives from General Electric (NYSE: GE), Philips Lighting B.V. (NYSE: PHG) and Cyberlux Corporation (OTCBB: CYBL) make evident through their conversations with RenewableEnergyStocks.com in the following report.

Traditional lighting companies are obviously aware of the energy efficient trend and are working to develop solutions that fit into the nation’s renewable energy initiatives. “Energy-efficient GE products save customers money,” said Joseph G. Howley, Manager, Industry Relations & Environmental Marketing at GE Consumer & Industrial.

“Customers are willing to pay slightly more for these products because they get a quick payback from the energy savings, “continued Howley. “For businesses, the overall cost of light, not the cost of the bulb, is what counts: bulbs can represent as little as 4 percent of the overall life-cycle cost; maintenance and labor costs such as installation represent as little as 8 percent of the overall life-cycle cost; and energy costs over the life of a bulb can represent as much as 88 percent of the overall cost of light. The financial benefits to the customer and GE drive the development of energy efficient products.”

“The capability of solid-state lighting technology has advanced significantly, at a ‘Moore’s Law’ pace,” said Mark Schmidt, COO and president of Cyberlux. “Our products harness this capability and give home builders, residential designers and home buyers a new, energy efficient alternative to traditional lighting technologies.”

To Read the Full Report Click Here: http://www.RenewableEnergyStocks.com/Articles/Energy_Efficient_Li ghting.asp

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Join man’s dominant pursuits and you’ll bare a craze titled a Web sportsbook. Can you imagine anything that could imaginably be more ingenious… If you fancy a party of sports fellas cheering in support of their preferred local players, and almost always wagers are announced tied in to the noise. Because they want to get a share of the exhilaration, bystanders frequently try to anticipate who is most likely to win the approaching struggle. All of this boils down to a charming little struggle known as Web sportsbook.

Play your favorite aces sports bet games online, 24 hours a day!

To place that bet, you’ll likely want to visit a Web sportsbook, i.e. a setup which takes in Web sportsbook. In America, there’s currently a total of four states where to go for wagering sportsbooks absolutely legally, but inofficially you can attempt it essentially anywhere providing you pinpoint a bookie and happen to be a legal adult. Included sporting contests you can wager on are pro including college league basketball plus college league football, professional hockey, professional hockey, including bets on both dog and horse racing. You might choose to risk money on the complete tally of a game or fight, on what round a given contester will be vanquished, and even if a given coin toss in a game or fight will come down heads or tails.

The odds makers will lean on their figures make it easier for you choose which players you are confident is most likely to win. Primarily, there’s spread, i.e. leverage in points assigned to a losing contestor that is anticipated to fail by x number points. This constitutes the betting outfit’s system of offering evenhanded wagers for a Sportsbook. Thus, you will be able to wager on a lineup that is anticipated to fail and and regardless make money on the wager providing the contestor is actually defeated by x number of points.

You’ll see innumerable sorts of lays– straight bets, teaser bets, and so on, the straight being the most typical in wagering sportsbooks.

So, why don’t you just check it out, and enjoy yourself simultaneously… Only take pains to ensure that you won’t get overpowered and waste your entire social security checks on a crotchet! After all, you’re likely to catch yourself in grief till the end of your days!

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One of the consistent problems with solar platforms has been the inefficient conversion of sunlight to electricity. New technology and strategies are dealing with this issue.

Concentrate, Concentrate

Traditional power generating plants work by using a fuel, often fossil, to heat a liquid until it expands or turns into a gas. The pressure or gas than rotates a turbine, which cranks up a generator and produces the massive amounts of electricity we all take for granted. This is a time tested method and is used in coal, nuclear, hydropower and most major power sources. The concept is now being transferred to solar platforms in an effort to get more bang for the buck out of these clean energy platforms.

The problem with solar is sunlight is converted to energy at a rate of 10 to 15 percent efficiency, a truly uninspiring number. Put in sports terms, the best batter in baseball would have a batting average of 150, a quarterback would complete 1.5 of his attempted throws and Michael Jordan would have missed 9 out of every 10 dunks. The numbers simply aren’t pretty.

The problem with solar power is the base construct of solar cells. Various forms of silicon are used to convert sunlight into energy. The material is simply inefficient and improvements are slow and incremental. The situation is similar to trying to turn a moped into a high performance racing bike. You don’t have much to work with. Given the limitations of silicon, solar producers are trying new strategies.

One of the major new strategies is to use the sun as a direct heating component to produce power. Instead of trying to directly convert the sunlight with silicon wafers, producers are trying to use reflective panels to focus it onto a specific spot. This spot then contains a pipe or pool of liquid. The concentrated focus of the sun heats the liquid up and the traditional turbine to generator to electricity strategy is undertaken. If you’ve ever sat in a car in traffic on a summer day without air conditioning, you’ll understand the concept.

Generating energy from the sun on a large scale has always been a bit of a head scratcher. Early returns on the concentrated energy strategy, however, have been extremely positive. Major fields are being used in Germany and the future appears…bright.

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When I was a kid my school P.E. lessons revolved around football, rugby or cricket and I hated them, notes to be excused were forged many times. When my parents divorced I joined a new school and the sports teacher was a bit more unconventional in his approach. He introduced us to Tug of war and P.E. became interesting It got a lot of us hooked so we even came back after school and weekends and we formed a team that took on local pub teams in fetes and carnivals.

That was a long time ago and work etc took over life and sports took a back seat. Several years ago I was on holiday in Devon and saw people flying kites on the beach. The kites they were flying had enough power to pull the flyer along leaving furrows in the sand. I knew I had to have a go on that. I bought myself a Flexifoil Pro Team 8 which was an 8 foot kite and started having fun. The 8 footer was changed to a 10 footer and then stacked with 2 more as I craved for more power and fun. I then discovered the power kite. These 4 line kites which are styled on para gliders or parachutes, these really opened up the sport side and before long I was kite buggying and kite land boarding. I was fitter and I lost over a stone in a couple of months without even trying to.

I enjoyed this alternative sport so much I opened up a shop selling kites and mountain boards. In doing this I found myself looking for other alternative or secondary sports to try.

Kite buggying is my favourite sport, it involves flying a 4 line power kite whilst sitting in a 3 wheeled kart which you steer with your feet. If you go for speed you can reach 70mph+ but you will need a lot of space. There are organised races all over the world including endurance races for teams of pilots. There is also a freestyle series now which involves strapping yourself into the buggy and attaching the kite via a harness, this enables you to fly much larger kites and the kite can then pick you and the buggy up to do 360 spins and many more tricks.

Kite land boarding is similar but you stand on a mountain board while flying the kite, this is more difficult in the initial stages but can be more rewarding as the freestyle is more achievable.

Stunt kites, trick kites, or sports kites are 2 line kites that can be controlled left or right by pulling the control lines. Since the Peter Powell kite of the 70’s they have come a long way in design and technology. Experienced flyers are doing tricks that amaze me. They can manipulate the control lines to cause the kite to wrap itself up in its own lines and then unwrap like a yoyo and still fly out afterwards; flat spins or stalls are common. They can make up teams where 2 or more flyers are doing tricks in unison and getting their lines tangled, only to do another trick and untangle themselves again.

Mountain boards are similar to snow boards but they have wheels so they can be ridden on a far more varied terrain. They can be ridden downhill for fun or in competition with others. They are also used for freestyle like snowboards and great height and style can be achieved.

Then I found the Frisbee, yes the humble Frisbee is a whole list of sports. The main one is probably “Ultimate” which is a cross between American Football and Basket Ball. It is played on a pitch similar in size to a football pitch with 2 end zones. The teams throw the Frisbee to their team mates and attempt to catch the Frisbee while standing in the opposition’s end zone. It is very fast moving and direction of play changes rapidly as if the disc is dropped it goes to the opposition. Ultimate is very exciting to watch and exhilarating to play. Disc golf is like normal golf but you throw a disc and not hit a little ball It can be played by anyone either on a proper course using baskets or a std golf course where hitting the flag is the aim. A course can be made on your local park by using trees, lamp posts or litter bins as targets. The Frisbee is great just to throw and catch and with LED technology can even be played at night.

Contained here is just a small sample of the alternative or secondary sports activities available through the right shop. When someone says “are you a sporty person” please don’t immediately say no, there is probably a sport available that you will thoroughly enjoy. Take a look around the internet or your local alternative sports shop and try something new.

This article was written by Alan Greenhill of http://www.kitensk8.com who is a mountain board instructor and has been involved with secondary sports since early 2003. Kite N Sk8 have board technicians trained by MBS who are the leading mountain board manufacturers and they also have their own teams who compete in the UK Championships for both mountain boards and kites. Please get in touch if you need help and we will be happy to assist. alan@gruntys.co.uk Thank you for reading this article.

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the Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus)

Actually a colorful fall foliage selection as the name implies, a deciduous shrub specie from the Tree Family Celastraceae, the “Staff-Tree Family,” it is NOT the description of A PROTEST action against our President.

Burning Bush, a non-native species brought from China and Korea since the 1860’s, has escaped from ornamental plantings into urban and rural areas. It travels widely by way of its seed. This hardy plant is found in forests and brushy areas. Burning Bushes will grow well even in SHADE, with very little sun.

It is happily, not a murderous invasive species, killing absolutely every other plant around it like Crown Vetch, but this “invasive” WILL cause anything below it to starve for almost any light. It’s more than just a “traveling plant.”

Burning Bush is also known as the Winged Euonymous, Winged Wahoo, Winged Spindle Tree, all for the cork-like tabs along its branches and stems, as well as being called the Japanese Spincle Tree, and of course, the Cork Bush. That’s a lot of names.

This vase-shaped shrub has great red fall foliage which glows for weeks in early to mid-autumn, hence, its name, Burning Bush. Hedges can be sheared or globes created for decorative landscape plantings, topiaries (sculpted bush art), Burning Bushes are good for all.

Hedges from Burning Bushes can be very dense giving good screening of wind, any sun, and create privacy, even during the winter. If left unpruned, the compact form of Burning Bush will grow to about 12 feet tall and 15 feet wide. The winged form will grow to about 15 feet tall and 20 feet wide. In our area, the Burning Bush propagates naturally in shaded areas. We obtain some of our stock from seedlings we gather at a small farm cemetery on our property. Burning Bush even regrows after transplanting from the empty holes where roots are exposed!

Burning Bush is adaptable to a variety of soil conditions: Fertile to sterile, organic to clay, acidic to alkaline, rocky to sandy, this plant proves its strength. It does NOT like any wet soils, it is important to note, but it does do well in very dry soils. Burning Bush has small fibrous roots near the surface and responds well to root pruning. Balling and burlapping this shrub for transplanting does little damage, for Burning Bushes can take abuse and recover quickly.

IF YOU HAVE A “BROWN THUMB,” THIS IS A PLANT FOR YOU.

You can see more of Bill’s planting tips and articles at http://www.seedlingsrus.com or http://www.zone5trees.com and his first website, www.highlandhillfarm.com

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Finding unique adult Halloween costumes can be like finding a needle in a haystack. It seems as if every party you go to has someone dressed exactly like you. If this sounds familiar - don’t worry. If you want to be the standout girl in the crowd, all you need is a personal touch or two. Unexpected touches can take your outfit from drab to fab and help you stand out from the rest of the ghouls at party . . . guaranteed.

Unexpected Touches

Expect the unexpected. If you are going to your party as a sexy princess, bring along a little plastic toad. You know the old saying - you have to kiss a lot of them to find your prince!

Standout Additions

If you’ve discovered that one of your gal pals will be arriving in the exact same witch costume as you, don’t worry. Just drop by a one-stop shop like Wal-Mart or Target. Pick up a few sparkling touches in the craft aisle such as fabric gems and adhere them to the hemline of your outfit. Opt for a different witch’s hat to set your look apart. Many online stores who specialize in adult Halloween costumes will have a wide variety such as one with color, sparkles or ribbons.

Sexy Extras

Put the va-va-va-voom in your costume. Slip on a pair of thigh high stockings with your costume to create extra sex appeal. Accessorize your outfit to the max to make your costume truly one-of-a-kind. Pair your costume with a pair of pumps or knee high boots to complete your look.

When it comes to adult Halloween costumes, your costume doesn’t have to blend in with the crowd. With just a pinch of imagination, you can take your run of the mill costume and turn it into a one-of-a-kind creation that is uniquely you.

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Examine to see if the bank who is tending to give you a credit loan is trustworthy. moneylenders wil show you a loan rate that is looking fine but feels bad after a while.

Translated in Dutch it means: Woon je in Alkmaar of Enkhuizen en heb je BKR codering’ Lenen met zonder BKR registratie is nog nooit zo gemakkelijk geweest. Verwen jezelf met een nieuwe auto met hypotheek met negatieve bkr registratie, 497933 euro is geen obstakel om te financieren. Van Helden tot Bergambacht, financieren met BKR is altijd mogelijk.

That’s why you really need to go out and see if you can have a bank loan at a solid rate. 18.8 interest rate acceptable but will that be the same after you have to pay back your credit loan. It doesn’t matter if you live in Milwaukee Wisconsin or in Paramount California a good investigation will prohibit you huge troubles. Be clever to investigate if you have a special offer or if you don’t with the merchant bank that offers you a loan. At this moment you can investigate interest rates online and check if there are other possible traps you should be aware of. A moneylender in Newport Beach California may have a different loan rate for a 20000 bank loan then a bank in Detroit Michigan and that makes a big gap in your weekly pay offs.

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LV — Lubrication Oil Purifier Application LV series oil purifier are suitable especially for purifying and restoring hydraulic oil, machine oil, coolant oil and various other lubrication oil. The most breakdown of machinery which has lubrication oil system results from contaminated lubrication in which has water, gas, impurities etc. LV series can rapidly remove water, gas, particulate matters and impurities from lubrication oil and improve properties of lubricating oil so as to greatly extend lifetime of machinery which has lubrication system.

Product Catalogue Insulation Oil Series VFD Double-Stage High-Efficiency Vacuum Insulation Oil Purifier VFD-A Double-Stage Vacuum Insulation Oil Automation Purifier VFD-R Double-Stage Vacuum Insulation Oil Regeneration Purifier VFD-T Double-Stage Vacuum Insulation Oil Purifier with Tester Turbine Oil series TF Turbine Oil Purifier TF-A Turbine Oil Automation Purifier TF-R Turbine Oil Regeneration Purifier Lubrication Oil series LV Lubrication Oil Purifier LV-A Lubrication Oil Automation Purifier LV-R Lubrication Oil Regeneration Purifier Gas Engine Oil Regeneration System GER Series

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If you file a claim on your car for diminished value in California, you do not necessarily have to get your car repaired. You are still entitled to the money whether you repair your vehicle or not. Many people think that it is the other way around. Actually, some insurance companies will not pay for repairs to your vehicle and pay out the diminished value. The only exception is when you are still making monthly payments on the vehicle when the accident occurs. The bank or other lien holder may require that repairs are made in an effort to protect their investment.

Many people do not know the different levels of diminished value in California which insurance companies use to determine the value paid. True pre-loss condition is just what is says. The repairs to your vehicle will be made in order to restore it to the condition it was in prior to the accident. This must be completed in all areas that are related to the function of the vehicle, appearance, safety and for matters of warranty preservation. As the owner, you are entitled to be compensated for the loss of retail value in your vehicle, regardless of the extent of the repairs. If you tried to sell your car, you would not receive the full value because it was in an accident.

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