Meggan Gulbranson, Author at

One of the greatest pleasures in life, believes Walter Viola, is to open a brand new book and not being able to put it away again until all has been read. When people are in school, they are forced to read certain books, the literary classics. However, it is after that when people’s love for reading really starts to shine through. The time when they have the choice to pick a book that they genuinely like themselves, a book that grips and captivates them. Of course, whether a book is good or not is a subjective concept. You may personally feel that Dean Koontz is the best writer of all times, and that Jill Mansell writes things suitable only for toilet reading. Someone else, meanwhile, may believe that Marcel Proust’s books should be devoured, while J.K. Rowling’s writings are just for children. That said, there are some books that have been released this year that are absolute must reads. Let’s take a look at Walter Viola’s personal best reads list.

The Top Reads of 2017 According to Walter Viola

Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness: A Novel

This is the latest novel by Roy, which is a graceful and intricate story of magic, and how love can men lives broken by tragedy. It is a storytelling book, but one different from all others. 20 years ago, Roy published The God of Small Things and it took him two decades to write his new book, but it was worth waiting for.

David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

This book is a true story, albeit a story few people now of, about serial murder and oil, as it occurred in the 1920s on the Osage Indian Reservation. It is one of those books that leaves you angry at the world, and at how inhumane and arrogant our forefathers have been. It also points the many imperfections society still has to overcome.

Fredrik Backman’s Beartown: A Novel

Backman is perhaps best known for his novel, A Man Called. However, Beartown is something completely new. It is about truth-telling and soul-searching. In the novel, a small town where everybody is mad about hokey is rocked by a crime that nobody wants to believe in.

Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West: A Novel

This novel is futuristic in nature, in which young lovers run from a Middle Eastern country. They hope to find safe refuge in a western country, but cities like London are overrun by settlements of refugees. Hamid is best-known for his novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and he uses this new book to point out that all humans are refugees of some sort.

Patricia Lockwood’s Priestdaddy: A Memoir

Patricia Lockwood had to move back into her parental home. Her father was a priest, but one passionate about electric guitars. Her mother, meanwhile, obsessed over Satan worshippers and disasters. Moving back in reminds Lockwood of her childhood, and the book is essentially a remembering of all that happened to her as a child.

In Business

Larry Polhill Cafe Valley Takes a Modern Look at Collaborative Management

October 26, 2017 No Comments

On the grand scheme of things, the concept of studying management practice and theory is quite new. In fact, it didn’t start until the beginning of the 20th century. The emphasis then was strong on looking at what made enterprises human. While this is still of importance now, experts like Larry Polhill Cafe Valley believe it is no longer enough.

Larry Polhill Cafe Valley on Demands of the 21st Century

Today, people management is no longer solely about understanding people. It is about being collaborative. The director of investors at APFC, for instance, must be able to work together with the president of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but also with the individual team members of both organizations. Collaboration isn’t just about interpersonal relations or being friendly. That’s been done now. It is about truly working together to improve businesses as a whole, while putting the business first.

Being Part of a Business

The aim should be on achieving results. These results should be measurable, precise, and clear. Employees shouldn’t just be developed in a rewarding environment that supports growth. Rather, it is about acknowledging that one of the greatest resources of a business is its people and that businesses can only achieve real results if its people perform properly.

According to Polhill, this must begin with marketing. This is what gives employees a truly clear focus to work towards, while at the same time understanding what their focus market is. Essentially, people need to know the business that they are in. Only if people understand this, and are committed to it, will they work towards the success of the organization.

Staff selection is, obviously, of huge importance. They have to be the people who perform the way you expect them to. At the same time, this means that you have to have full clarity on what your expectations are. You cannot rush this, but need to properly prepare yourself by analyzing your needs.

Secondly, you have to have the right systems in place. These must be designed to completely avoid failure. Having poor systems means poor performance, which equates to failure. Having good systems in place, however, will motivate people to do better.

What Does the Performance Manager Do?

Performance managers are no longer about staff supervision and holding the hand of the employee while micromanaging them. It is about trusting that you, as a manager, have enabled your employees to do their job properly. If they fail, it is because you failed. It is also about acknowledging their contributions, as this will encourage them to contribute even more. That is the essence of the 21st century manager, but also of the 21st century team. Team building, in a sense, is a thing of the past. Today, it is about team “development” instead. This means there is an emphasis on the interpersonal relationships that exist not between manager and team, but rather between the different members of the team, which the manager is also a part of.

In Business

Randall Benderson Investigates the Risks of Real Estate Development

October 26, 2017 No Comments

Randall Benderson has been in the business of real estate development for a very long time. While people are constantly confronted on the news with developers who make it big, like Donald Trump, or stories of someone earning millions by acting on a scoop, the reality is that the sector is incredibly risky. As such, Benderson feels that it is important that people are aware of the risks that exist in real estate development.

Real Estate Development Risks According to Randall Benderson

Key is that developers tend to purchase an empty plot of land. They engage in stringent research to determine whether it should be used for a residential or commercial project. If the latter, they then have to determine whether it is suitable for office, industry, retail, or other such space. While research is important and can help to predict the future to some degree, it will always remain a gamble, although that can be said for all types of investments.

One of the key issues that they immediately come across, is that of zoning. The Town Plan determines which land can be used for what, and this means that it can be somewhat restrictive. Rezoning applications are possible, but rarely successful. This is true all over the country, from Tampa Bay to Phoenix and from Sarasota to New York City.

The second key risk is that of finance. The average person only knows about mortgages, which last for 25 to 30 years. These are generally not the loans used by developers, however. This is because a mortgage requires monthly payments, and since developers go for years without having a monthly income coming in, this is not a suitable option. Rather, they pay back the loan at the end of the development period, with interest, in one balloon payment. The big problem is, however, that developers often take out the wrong finance package because they aren’t sure what they can develop on the land, as discussed in the first risk.

Then, there is the fact that developers must find market knowledge from somewhere. Although they are called “real estate developers”, they are essentially manufacturers. This means that they have to create a product, and this product has to have in demand features. Finding out what those features are takes market research. The problem is, however, that it can take a long time before a project is completed, and this means that market knowledge is no longer applicable as needs have changed.

Last but not least, because real estate development has a reputation of being “where the big money is”, and everybody believing that if Donald Trump can do it, they can too, some enter the field without any strategic knowledge. Real estate development is hard work and it takes a lot of experience and knowledge to really become good at it. While some people have made it through luck alone, luck is not something tangible so you cannot count on it.

In Shopping

Do You Really Save With Cannabis Cultivation?

October 26, 2017 No Comments

Lately there has been a great hype about cannabis cultivation. More and more people are venturing into cannabis cultivation. Each one has his or her own reasons for cannabis cultivation. Among these one of the top reasons is cost savings. The question is whether there is any real cost savings here. Do you save any money really when you cultivate cannabis? If you are trying to cultivate cannabis solely because you want to save money then you need to double check whether there is real savings with cannabis cultivation and find it out for yourself. If not, there is no fun trying to invest your time and money in this process.

There are number of expenses involved in cannabis cultivation. First you need to look for the best marijuana seeds for sale and this is going to cost you money. However, when compared to the amount of money you spend on buying your cannabis buds for smoking you will be spending just a fraction of the cost. The seeds cost is very minimal here. There are other expenses that you need to be aware of when you are trying to cultivate cannabis.

Most people try to grow their cannabis indoor for the want of outdoor space. If that is the situation with you too then you need to incur number of other expenses. Setting up the space for indoor cultivation could turn out to be an expensive process. For example, you will need to provide adequate lighting for your plants. They should be full spectrum lights and these lights have to be kept on for at least 12 hours per day. This is going to increase your utility bills. You need to take into account all such costs before you look for the best store for cannabis seeds USA has to offer you.

In case you are thinking of going for indoor cultivation think twice because it will make financial sense only when you are going to grow cannabis regularly. If you are thinking of quitting the cultivation efforts after the first batch then it may not prove to be a worthwhile effort. It is recommended that those who want to try marijuana cultivation just once, they need to initially try outdoor cultivation. Many people without taking all these factors into account blindly spend a lot of money on indoor cultivation and finally complain that they have not saved any money. The initial setup costs will start paying for itself only when you grow cannabis for a considerable period of time. Having said that, it is certainly worth the efforts. Besides saving a lot of money, you will also be able to enjoy premium quality cannabis when you grow your own. These are secondary benefits of growing marijuana at home. You will not be required to frequently run for cannabis supplies as you will be have a regular supply of marijuana when you grow your own. So you can confidently venture into cannabis cultivation.

In Featured

Why is it essential to learn Agile management

October 13, 2017 No Comments

Agile teams are the demand of all the management teams in all companies now. This is quite stressed in case of the manufacturing units. Is this is the only reason for which you are going to learn the cspo course? It cannot be. There are so many other and very important reasons for which you must be going for the courses. Here are the best and the strongest reason why you must be going for the agile management classes.

Need for all companies

First of all, agile management is the need of the company now. Due to excess professionalism, employees now are least interested in taking responsibilities. For that reason, there is essentially a need of something that can establish a connection sense and imply an an engagement in the employees.

Engaging employees

Engagement in employees means they are not only interested in producing high, but they are also interested in producing that thing, which is actually needed by the company. Product owner in an agile team does get in touch with the stakeholders and at time they do go for the right material support. Applying the same the production quality is ensured to be high. This is the best area to consider in case of the agile team management.

A team activity

The second aspect that is to be considered in the agile team is the inter-relation between the staffs – the developers and the leaders. A retrospective nature of relation between the employees, leaders and the developers makes it easy for the operation team to perform.

Standardization of product

There is yet another thing that is to be achieved through an agile team. Since an agile team remains in touch with the stakeholders, the standard of product remains almost perfect with the requisition of the market. This is something that is an additional quality support for any management. In this case, there will be the least chances of wastage, in terms of time and also in terms of the production. Thus, the team, although small in size is really dynamic and ready to perform and generate quality output for the company.

Meeting the market need

Now you have the clear understanding about the reason, why agile team is always preferred by the companies and their managers. They are not only performers, but are very much balanced in their performance. They will not produce something that will help you to increase the supply of your product in market, rather they will deliver something that will accommodate the demand of the market with the supply and at the same time will deliver the actual thing or standard that is needed or demanded in market.

Thus agile team is the most balanced and standardized performer and they are gradually becoming the backbone of the company itself. Either be a part of the developing team or learn the management skills so that they can be outstanding for your performance. Be there in ay of the part and find your career to bloom in a new style. Options are there before your eyes. It is you to decide where to go.

In Featured

How to Keep Yourself Fit and Healthy?

October 11, 2017 No Comments

When it comes time to taking care of your health, you will want to incorporate as many inexpensive, low tech factors as possible in to keeping yourself fit. So often we concern ourselves with the medical aspects of diseases that we forget about the simple preventative measures we can take in our day to day lives to prevent disease from occurring.

In order to keep yourself fit and healthy, you need to find your own balance of diet, exercise, and medication. You should also figure out ways to alter your routine in order to provide the best care for yourself.

You should work towards cutting excessive carbohydrates from your diet. Fish, beef, fruits, vegetables, and whole wheat grains have all proven to be healthy.

It is also recommended that you cut down on your salt intake. The American Heart Association has stated that six grams a salt should be one’s maximum daily salt intake. The vast majority of Americans eat around ten milligrams of salt each day.

If you want to cut down on your salt intake and thus improve your health, you can go on a whole food diet. We recommend the Red Yeast Rice Diet. Such a diet makes it very easy to cut down on one’s salt intake.

You should also cut down on your intake of processed foods and junk food. Processed foods contain very high amounts of sodium. By eliminating that from your diet, you eliminate a lot of excess salt in the process.

Obesity is a major problem in the United States of America. To combat overweight and obesity, you will need to watch your diet, but also engage in daily exercise. This does not necessarily mean that you have to run out and join a gym or buy a bunch of expensive exercise equipment. There are numerous ways of exercising.

The key to exercise is actually quite simple – movement. Whether you engage in walking, jogging, hiking, or bike riding, you are moving and helping yourself lose weight and become healthy. No expensive equipment is necessary for these basic forms of exercise!

The key is to set goals for yourself. By deciding to walk at least three miles a day, you have already taken a positive step. Try walking instead of driving to school or work. By using your driving time as exercising time, you shed a lot of pounds in the process. Try it. This method has worked for a lot of people all over the country. (It is also quite good for the environment.) If this is not feasible, then you can always join an athletic club in your community. You should not, however, just exercise for the sake of exercising. You should find some form of exercise that engages you – something that you enjoy doing. Whether this is swimming or skating or jogging or working out at your local fitness center, chances are that there is a form of exercise that is right for you. Be happy in what you do and try to play some games if you can’t play outdoor games there are many exciting online games available. There are many real money games where you can win good jackpots like poker, slots and blackjack etc. Don’t forget to check royal vegas casino bonus.

In Featured

Hello Doggie! Here are Some Things You Will Love!

October 5, 2017 No Comments

When you buy a dog you agree to take on the responsibility of caring for it and making sure it has what it needs to be safe and comfortable. This means providing for it, a warm home when it is cold and a cool one when it is hot, healthy dog food and medical care when it is needed.

By doing these things, you ensure that the animal will live a healthy life. But as a dog owner, is this all you are required to do? What about the things that make your dog happy. Dogs have needs that when they get fulfilled, make them feel like they are on top of the world. If you have not considered this regarding your dog and thought about discovering and fulfilling them, then it is time you did. Here is a list of those things that your dog will love. So if you do them regularly, your dog will love you more and show you more love too.

Anything from Hello Doggie

Hello Doggie is a manufacturer of premium doggie t-shirts, tank tops, carriers, luxury dog beds, and the warmest dog blankets. They use the best materials and highest quality manufacturing processes to offer the absolute best quality products to dog lovers everywhere. Showing love for their dogs it is the reason so many people go to funnyfur.com and purchase these products and their dogs feel the love when the products arrive.

Set up play dates with their friends

Just like humans, dogs love to go and see other dogs that they know. So one thing you can do to show your love is to set up time for your dog to visit one or more doggie friends. You can use one of your homes, or better yet a doggie park as the meeting place. This way the dogs will all get good exercise as well.

Call up some of your dog owner friends and make a point to find out when they’ll be there so that even if you stay only 15 minutes, your puppy is guaranteed to get time with a friend. AS a fall back because you are too busy, consider taking your dog to a doggie day care center for some group socializing.

Now it is true that some dogs are simply either not that sociable or do not get excited in the right way to see other dog. If this describes your pooch consider taking the dog for a nice long walk in a wooded area where there is lots of room to roam around, smell trees and flowers, and have general exploration time. Dogs always love this type of trip and yours will be happy you thought of it.

Grooming

Most dogs love to be pampered and groomed, so you taking out the brush and tending to your animal is sure to create many tail wags Take your time and go over any rough spots gently and in the event you find a hair ball, be sure to work through it slowly. For the dogs that do not like to be groomed, try a different approach where you provide the treats and speak encouraging word to your dog as you groom it. Using this approach, your dog will relax and learn to enjoy the activity.

Try these fun activities and have your dog become the happiest on your street. Also, if you are worried about fleas for your pet and want to prevent that then you should check Bravecto cost first.

In Featured

Travel Nursing Companies are Part of Today’s Business Boom

October 5, 2017 No Comments

Stock markets around the world are reaching all-time highs fueled by businesses in many sectors setting sales and growth records. Many of these businesses are not dependent on economic growth for their success. Some are moving forward so quickly because of regulations, changes in consumer habits and aging populations in western countries.

One of these businesses is in healthcare services and is growing very rapidly. Travel nursing companies are not a new business, but with the current explosion of medical techniques and medicines that prolong life, but require rehabilitation and additional nursing care, Travel nursing is currently on a growth boom. Here is an overview of the travel nurse industry and why it is so successful.

Travel Nursing Companies

If it seems like anything related to healthcare is a perennial best small business opportunity. And when you consider the growing amount of seniors in every western country, you can understand why. As people age, their need for medical services grow dramatically. Given the affluence of the baby-boomer generation, this creates a wealth of opportunities for senior-oriented businesses. And healthcare is perhaps the biggest senior focused business.

There are many different types of businesses that can take advantage of this growing market, and one that has one of the largest growth potential is a travel nursing company.

What do they do?

A travel nursing company hires nurses to send to cities, states or countries, where there is a current shortage of registered nurses. This could be any country around the world and particularly western countries, where there are shortages of hundreds of thousands of these valuable professionals. Travel nursing companies arrange for nurses to travel by setting up the jobs, their pay, and their travel. The jobs are temporary and vary in length pay and description, but provide a service that fits a growing need. Nurses can choose between working in a hospital, clinic, nursing home or private home and choose part or full time.

Most companies also provide bonuses and great overtime. Setting up one of these companies requires registering with the local governments and meeting the requirements for the health industry in each company where nurses are sent. So time and capital will be needed to start one of these companies. But in the end, successful companies will generate lots of revenue and be in high demand. The perfect nurse candidates for employment by these companies will have:

A registered Nurse (RN) degree from an accredited university. Other degrees may be accepted by some companies, but most jobs will require a RN certification.
At least one year working as a nurse. More experience is better.
Nurses who specialize get paid more.
You must be able to be registered in the jurisdiction where you will be working as a nurse.
Be prepared to travel.
Speaking several languages is a plus.

With the shortage of quality nurses in many cities and countries around the world, the need for nurses who travel will continue to be in high demand. As a result Travel nursing companies will keep booming.

In Featured

Physical Bitcoin – Moving out of the Bitcoin Wallet Android App

October 3, 2017 No Comments

More and more people are wondering whether bitcoin, a type of cryptocurrency, can be purchased physically. They install a bitcoin wallet Android app, and wonder whether they can somehow withdraw from that and have fiat currency in their hand. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, however, which means that it doesn’t exist in physical forms. However, there are ways in which you can circumvent that, or at least to some degree.

Bitcoin Wallet Android Apps and Physical Cryptocurrencies

Two key options exist if you want to have physical possession of cryptocurrencies:

Cascasius coins, which were invented by Mike Caldwell. Caldwell would mint physical coin, and print the private key for a certain bitcoin on the coin. Each coin has a hologram that can be peeled off, revealing the private key. Doing so will also make it obvious that the coin is a tampered coin. Caldwell tried to set up a trusted network to do this, but he has failed in that quite significantly. Hence, these coins are now no longer minted at all. That does mean, however, that if you can get your hands on one of them, you will have a valuable collector’s item.
Paper wallets, which means that you print the information held in your bitcoin wallet Android app and have a paper copy of the keys. You can store this wherever you like and it is actually recommended that you do this. This is because it gives you proof of the bitcoins that you have. However, should you lose this information, for instance if someone steals it, you will probably lose your bitcoins with no option to get them back. Plus, you can’t spend your paper keys.

Printing Paper Wallets

It is actually possible to print your paper wallet so that the currency no longer exists online until you reenter the keys. Some things to remember, however:

You must use the right software to do this and learn how to use this software first.
The bitcoins cannot be accessed online anymore, but they are still there. Your paper wallet should be printed with a QR code to demonstrate this.
Your printout should have a private key on it that must be used in order to access the coins. This means that anyone who gets their hands on that key, can get to your bitcoin wallet. Hence, only put as many coins as you can afford to lose into the paper wallet and keep it very safe, just in case.
You must be very security conscious and be aware of the fact that it is still possible for people to hack into your information and access the wallet.

Last but not least, some people have started to buy bitcoin on eBay. While this is possible, the prices are much higher than what you should pay for them. Not just that, it is also very risky to do this. Hence, it is not recommended that you use the online marketplace for this.

In Home

Want to know how to decorate a bathroom?

September 27, 2017 No Comments

Introduction

Choosing a bathroom-remodeling scheme is a hell of a job. This is because it teaches you many things and it tests your aesthetic skills too. If you are not an artist, you will become one, after you choose the décor for your own bathroom and that for your relative’s bathroom. This experience teaches you how to remodel your bathroom. A bathroom is not a room to be neglected, when you plan to decorate your home. It is a room where you rid your body of toxins. It is the room where you get rid of all the dirt and dust of your body. This article will give you tips on how to remodel a bathroom.

Pick your must have décor item first

Typically, when we decide a design scheme for the bathroom, one accessory item is prominent in the design. This is included because it makes the bathroom appear attractive. A best practice is to choose this item of decoration first. Once it is selected, then you can choose the other items of décor with reference to the first.

Try to use as less items as possible for the decoration

When selecting the items to decorate the bathroom, after you select the first item that is prominent in the design, the other items should be selected with reference to the first. This means, if the first item selected is bright in color, then the other items should be of a lighter color and vice versa.

Stick to one show stopper

A bathroom is essentially a small room. Therefore, one does not require too many items to decorate it. However, if you still decide to show off your personality in your bathroom design, then it is advisable to keep only one item prominent in the design and you can let the design revolve around this prominent item.

Take maintenance into consideration

When you select items to decorate your bathroom, try to select materials that can be cleaned easily. You can use a porcelain or a ceramic tub or shower in the bathroom. These are maintenance free. Similarly, materials made from natural stone are not advisable in the bathroom as they require more maintenance. If you wish to use stone, you can use it on the floor, which is a less wet area. Lastly, glass as a material is maintenance free and makes a great wall for the bathroom. It does not work on the floor because it is slippery.

Consider scale

When choosing the design elements for the bathroom, one needs to take into account that one should keep abreast of contemporary design trends. From these, one should provide design schemes that are minimalistic because a bathroom is a small room of the house and it does not require too many prominent design elements.

Conclusion

Thus, you have seen how to remodel a bathroom. If you keep in mind the above tips, you can decorate your bathroom attractively.