Taking The Long View On How To Enhance Your Home’s Setting

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Striking views and stunning landscapes are, in many ways, the golden ticket of housing. Forget looking out at parking lots and city streets; we’re talking ocean vistas, riverside settings, and even countryside as far as the eye can see.

It’s a reality that can make any home for sale more appealing, as is evidenced by the fact that fantastic views, particularly of water, can enhance value by 15-80%. And yet, as is often the case when we take things for granted, those of us who have access to such views often neglect them. It’s all too easy to shut the doors on the outside and entirely forget about location. Before you know, you may have gone months without even glancing up at those rolling hills or lapping waves.

As well as being a crying shame, this is a significant waste of money. Remember, you’re likely paying for that view, and you should get the most for your buck by taking the time to enjoy it in the following ways.

The more windows, the better

A view has the undeniable ability to take your house to the next level, but you first need to make sure that you can see it. Otherwise, there’s nothing giving your property an edge over any other on your street. Unsurprisingly, then, we’re starting this list with mention of windows. Look at getting custom windows for your home.

Large bay windows that look directly out onto whatever view you have access to are guaranteed to make a massive difference to your property. As simple as that, you make it impossible to ignore the fact that you live in such a fantastic vista. Instead, those windows will act much like a feature wall in truly drawing the eye, and adding a touch of interest that you’d struggle to achieve any other way.

Even better, these windows in themselves will add a modernist and futuristic aspect to your home that’s guaranteed to go down well with any looking to improve interior and exterior style in one hit.

Reflections can enhance a space

As much as you want to open that view up, you also want to make sure that you’re bringing it into your home as much as possible. And, mirrors offer a fantastic opportunity to do that. According to Phillip Thomas of Phillip Thomas Inc, “Not only do they [mirrors] help to push natural light into a space, but they also help to amplify the landscape/view outside the house by allowing you to see straight ahead and from the sides.”

You don’t have to go mad with this, but incorporating mirrors on the opposite wall to your windows, for instance, is guaranteed to enhance the natural beauty outside. Even better, this addition means that you needn’t look directly at those new feature windows to get the most from this benefit.

Let your view inform your home style

Even if you’re keen to bring a view firmly to the forefront at home, you might not consider it in relation to decor. Yet, this can often be the best place to truly tie things together in a way that works. And, when you remember that a well-framed waterfront view, for instance, can add up to 80% value, that’s a quest well worth undertaking.

Something as simple as tying color schemes together with your outside vista could work wonders here. Or, you may want to go all out with a full-on sea theme for your waterside location. You could even use wallpaper or painting styles that mimic the landscape your view centers around. Or, you could simply highlight a countryside setting with natural wood furniture and accessories. The world is your oyster, so have fun playing around. Then, sit back and enjoy a room that’s guaranteed to enhance even the best view.

A shifting furniture focus

Often, we arrange furniture towards key features such as a fireplace or television. But, if you want to make your house great, then you could benefit from shifting that focus with your view in mind. After all, a lakeside setting is guaranteed to beat even the most elaborate fireplace or TV you could think of.

As such, you should focus your pieces towards those new, view-worthy windows instead. By merely turning seats to face this way, you can finally draw the eye here as soon as you enter the room. That’s going to make a huge difference, not only for adding a sense of space to the area but also for ensuring that your view gets the attention it deserves at last.

Expanding Your Business: 4 Things To Consider When Your Workforce Is Growing

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Transitioning from a small business into a larger operation has lots of positives. Fundamentally, you can expand your customer base, increase the number of services you provide, hire specialist employees, and make bigger profits. However, there are also new legal, financial, and organisational considerations to take into account before you take this leap. If you’re not properly prepared for the expansion of your business, the process may be messy and certainly a little stressful.

So if you’re looking for some key advice on taking your small business to the next level, check out the pointers below.

Legal Considerations

Hiring employees (or operating with a larger workforce) comes with legal guidelines that you need to be in line with at all times. The law may vary in different states, and depending on how many people you are taking on, but more often than not there will be guidelines on hiring processes and equality, interview processes and training. So make sure you are up to date on all the latest legal obligations in your area, and plan your hiring process carefully.   

Resources And Equipment

It’s no use having a bigger workforce if they don’t have the equipment and resources to do their job well and – just as crucially – safely.

So make sure you can afford to invest in all the safety equipment needed to keep your new employees protected, as well as practical tools, specialist equipment and transport. All-in-all, these investments can amount to a major investment, especially when you take the new salaries into account too.

If buying new equipment outright is not an option, look into rentals. This is especially useful if you’re hiring seasonally, or for a few bigger contracts. Rather than splashing out on a new truck, try commercial truck rentals from Flex Fleet, for a more affordable, short-term alternative. You can find rental companies for most specialist equipment.

Management & Restructuring

In a small business, the business-owner and existing managers often take control of managing the team, training, dealing with admin and payroll. You’re essentially doing the job of multiple people until you can hire others to take the responsibility off your hands. However, when you expand your workforce, you will want to consider restructuring your management approach. You may need to hire additional managers, and set-up a separate training system to help newbies settle in.

Hidden Costs and Expenses 

Hiring new staff will help you generate a great profit in the long run. But the process of bringing new people into the team has a number of hidden costs that can amount to major expenses. In some cases, the costs may actually outway the benefits, so careful financial planning is necessary before you get started. To begin with, advertising for new employees costs money. It then takes time to read applications or conduct interviews, and then your new employer will need training. This all uses up time and resources that previously would have been making you money.

New salaries will also likely increase the tax your business pays, although there may be tax breaks and benefits to be found too. You may need more space, perhaps new office premises, equipment and transport vehicles. If your business has enough demand to warrant expansion, you very likely will have the resources to cover these costs if you plan carefully. But be sure to prepare yourself for these initial losses.

No, You Shouldn’t Sell Your Home During The Coronavirus Pandemic

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With house prices falling due to the pandemic, it’s tempting to take advantage of the housing market. Selling now could be a smart way to recoup the value of your home while saving money. After all, the drop in house prices should let you snap one up pretty cheaply in theory. However enticing it sounds, it’s not a good idea. The truth is that there are too many variables to factor in because the COVID-19 crisis is so unpredictable. You’re better off investing in your current property and reassessing the market in the future.

Here are the reasons why.

Credit’s Harder To Secure

Yes, the housing market is nowhere near as valuable as before Christmas. Still, banks and lenders have reacted by making it harder to secure funding. Currently, Chase is saying that people who want a mortgage will need a credit score of 700 or more, which is very high. Plus, you’ll need a 20% deposit, too. On the face of it, these conditions are too stringent for the average homeowner and exclude you from obtaining a second loan. The last thing you want is to accept funding from a payday loan company or a loan shark to make a few bucks.

Fewer People Are Looking To Buy/Sell

Money is tight at the money, so it’s not as if the demand for property is high. If anything, it’s the opposite. Even if you could find a buyer, you’d need to search for a new home, or else you’d be homeless. Usually, this is the easiest part of the process, yet the Coronavirus has made it somewhat tricky. The percentage of houses for sale across the country are in the minus column, with only Detroit and Chicago showing room for growth. So, the odds of selling and buying a home right now are very low.

Supply Lines Are Disrupted

China is a hub for cheap materials. Of course, the virus has hit the nation harder than most places as it originated in China. As a result, exports are limited, and builders’ supply lines are reduced. This could delay constructions that add value to your property. Thankfully, North American windows and doors are still affordable and accessible. This means you can spruce up the interior of your home to add value and bide your time. When the market goes back to normal, you’ll be in an excellent position to sell for a profit. You should look at getting some stylish windows for your home.

Jobs Aren’t Guaranteed

The worst-case scenario is that you lose your job. While everybody assumes it won’t happen to them, the figures paint a different picture. The rate of unemployment is at a staggering 15%. To put this into perspective, it was as low as 3.6% in January. You could be fortunate enough to keep your job, but it isn’t a sure thing. Therefore, making a massive commitment is a stretch that could hit you hard.

The short, medium and long-term are unpredictable, which is why you shouldn’t sell your home.

What Does Covid 19 Mean For The Travel Industry?

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There are few industries which have (and will continue to be) hit by the coronavirus pandemic than travel. Due to quarantine restrictions, strict social distancing guidelines across the globe and all but essential businesses being closed- jetting off to sunnier climes and exploring new places simply isn’t possible for any of us. But what does it mean in the future, when we get our freedom back and our ability to travel? Read on to find out more.

Travel and tourism industries will be among the last to reopen

The technique that governments across the globe are using to manage the Covid-19 situation is by easing and tightening lockdown restrictions based on how well the health service is managing to cope. As cases and deaths fall, certain businesses and industries have been able to reopen (with restrictions) providing they’re conforming to guidelines. However, it’s generally accepted across the world that travel and tourism industries will be amongst the last to reopen. First there will be the gradual returning of schools, shops and other businesses which are deemed as more of a necessity. It makes sense of course, not only does preventing people from flying all over the world slow the spread, but realistically most people wouldn’t want to travel when there’s nothing open in their destination anyway. No one knows for sure when travel industries will begin to open and thrive again, but it certainly won’t be this summer. It’s looking unlikely that any of us will be getting a holiday this year!

There could be many more restrictions in place than we were previously used to

When things do reopen and we’re able to travel again, we won’t simply return to how things were before. As with everything, there’s going to be major changes in place and these will likely remain for the foreseeable future. This could involve taking temperatures or fast track testing with quarantine measures for those who test positive. No one knows exactly how things will work just yet, but we can definitely assume that major changes will occur as a result.

You might be entitled to compensation if you got ill while travelling

Just a few short months ago, coronavirus was still incredibly new and much of the world was still travelling and going about their daily lives. One of the biggest cases occurred with the  Costa Luminosa cruise ship , where passengers were forced to stay in ‘living hell’ in confined conditions. Once the ship docked, the nearly 10 hour flight lead to several passengers coughing constantly, some lost consciousness, and others had fevers so high that they had to be separated while on the flight. If you were on a flight, cruise ship or travelling at the start of the pandemic and were treated badly and got ill as a result, you might be entitled to some compensation.

RIP Jerry Stiller

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Veteran actor and comedian Jerry Stiller, who found fame on Broadway and later in the smash US show “Seinfeld” has died from natural causes aged 92, his son Ben Stiller said Monday. Stiller and his wife Anne Meara starred on the stage and TV in the 1960s, writing and performing comedy sketches and routines together. He later played George Costanza’s short-tempered father Frank on the smash TV show “Seinfeld”, for which he won the Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series at the American Comedy Awards in 1989. In 1997 he was nominated for an Emmy award for the same role. He also played Leah Remini’s father in the sitcom “The King of Queens” and starred alongside his son Ben in the “Zoolander” films.

“I’m sad to say that my father, Jerry Stiller, passed away from natural causes,” his son said in a tweet. “He was a great dad and grandfather, and the most dedicated husband to Anne for about 62 years,” Stiller added. “He will be greatly missed. Love you Dad.”  The eldest of four children, Stiller was born at Unity Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, to Bella (née Citron) and William Stiller, a bus driver. His family is Jewish. His paternal grandparents immigrated from Galicia (southeast Poland and western Ukraine), and his mother was born in Poland. He lived in the Williamsburg and East New York neighborhoods before his family moved to the Lower East Side, where he attended Seward Park High School.

Also in 1953, Stiller met actor-comedian Anne Meara, and they married in 1954. Until Stiller suggested it, Meara had never thought of doing comedy. “Jerry started us being a comedy team,” she said. “He always thought I would be a great comedy partner.” They joined the Chicago improvisational company The Compass Players (which later became The Second City), and after leaving, began performing together. In 1961, they were performing in nightclubs in New York, and by the following year were considered a “national phenomenon”, said the New York Times. Stiller played the short-tempered Frank Costanza, the father of George Costanza in the sitcom Seinfeld from 1993 to 1998. He was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 1997, and won the American Comedy Award for Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series for his portrayal of Frank Costanza.

After Seinfeld ended, Stiller had planned on retiring. Kevin James asked him to join the cast of The King of Queens. James, who played the leading role of Doug Heffernan, had told Stiller that he needed him in order to have a successful show. Stiller agreed, and played the role of Arthur Spooner, the father of Carrie Heffernan, from 1998 until 2007. Stiller said this role tested his acting ability more than any others have and that, before being a part of The King of Queens, he only saw himself as a “decent actor.”

Stiller played himself in filmed skits, opening and closing Canadian rock band Rush’s 30th Anniversary Tour concerts in 2004. These appearances are seen on the band’s DVD R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour, released in 2005. Stiller later appeared in cameos in later in-concert films for the band’s 2007–2008 Snakes & Arrows Tour. Stiller appeared on Dick Clark’s $10,000 Pyramid show in the 1970s, and footage of the appearance was edited into an episode of The King of Queens to assist the storyline about his character being a contestant on the show, but that after losing, he was bitter about the experience as he never received his parting gift, a lifetime supply of “Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco Treat”. He also made several appearances on the game show Tattletales with his wife Anne.

Covid-19 : Status In Kerala 10-May-2020

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Three of the seven new virus cases are those who returned to Kerala from Abu Dhabi on Thursday. Four more people recovered on Sunday, taking total number of recoveries to 489 in the state. The total number of active cases in Kerala rose to 20 on Sunday after seven new Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, said Health Minister K.K. Shailaja. Out of the seven new positive cases reported today, two are from Thrissur and one from Malappuram and they reached the state from Abu Dhabi on 7 May.

The first Air India Express flight carrying Indian citizens from Abu Dhabi landed at the airport here on Thursday night as part of Indian government’s biggest ever repatriation exercise in its history to bring back its nationals stranded abroad amid the international travel lockdown over the Covid-19 pandemic. The Air India Express flight IX 452 with 181 passengers landed at the Cochin International Airport (CIAL) at 10.09 pm on Thursday. There were 49 pregnant women and four infants among the 181 passengers. She said four more people recovered on Sunday, taking total number of recoveries to 489 in the southern state.

Shops remained shut and vehicles were off the roads in Kerala as the state government’s order on total shutdown on Sundays came into force since morning as part of the efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Left government had on Saturday night issued an order on “total shutdown across the state on Sundays” while exempting shops selling essential items and essential services. after the state registered cases in single digits, two new cases, expatriates who had returned to the state from Abu Dhabi and Dubai on Saturday, had tested positive on Saturday, causing concern as over four lakh people had registered with the NORKA portal wanting to return to the state. Roads remained empty across the state and shops were closed, except those selling essentials, including milk and medicines. Hospitals, labs and media among others will be permitted to function on Sundays.

RIP Little Richard

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Little Richard, a founding father of rock and roll whose fervent shrieks, flamboyant garb, and joyful, gender-bending persona embodied the spirit and sound of that new art form, died Saturday. He was 87. The musician’s son, Danny Jones Penniman, confirmed the pioneer’s death to Rolling Stone, adding that the cause of death was cancer.

Starting with “Tutti Frutti” in 1956, Little Richard cut a series of unstoppable hits – “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip It Up” that same year, “Lucille” in 1957, and “Good Golly Miss Molly” in 1958 – driven by his simple, pumping piano, gospel-influenced vocal exclamations and sexually charged (often gibberish) lyrics. Although he never hit the top 10 again after 1958, Little Richard’s influence was massive. The Beatles recorded several of his songs, including “Long Tall Sally,” and Paul McCartney’s singing on those tracks – and the Beatles’ own “I’m Down” – paid tribute to Little Richard’s shredded-throat style. His songs became part of the rock and roll canon, covered over the decades by everyone from the Everly Brothers, the Kinks, and Creedence Clearwater Revival to Elvis Costello and the Scorpions.

Little Richard’s stage persona – his pompadours, androgynous makeup and glass-bead shirts – also set the standard for rock and roll showmanship; Prince, to cite one obvious example, owed a sizable debt to the musician. Born Richard Wayne Penniman on December 5th, 1932, in Macon, Georgia, he was one of 12 children and grew up around uncles who were preachers. “I was born in the slums. My daddy sold whiskey, bootleg whiskey,” he told Rolling Stone in 1970. Although he sang in a nearby church, his father Bud wasn’t supportive of his son’s music and accused him of being gay, resulting in Penniman leaving home at 13 and moving in with a white family in Macon. But music stayed with him: One of his boyhood friends was Otis Redding, and Penniman heard R&B, blues and country while working at a concession stand at the Macon City Auditorium.

After what he interpreted as signs – a plane engine that seemed to be on fire and a dream about the end of the world and his own damnation – Penniman gave up music in 1957 and began attending the Alabama Bible school Oakwood College, where he was eventually ordained a minister. When he finally cut another album, in 1959, the result was a gospel set called God Is Real. His gospel music career floundering, Little Richard returned to secular rock in 1964. Although none of the albums and singles he cut over the next decade for a variety of labels sold well, he was welcomed back by a new generation of rockers. By the 1970s, Little Richard was making a respectable living on the rock oldies circuit but during this time, he also became addicted to marijuana and cocaine while, at the same time, returning to his gospel roots.

In the 1984 biography The Life and Times of Little Richard (written with his cooperation), he denounced homosexuality as “contagious … It’s not something you’re born with.” (Eleven years later, he said in an interview with Penthouse that he had been “gay all my life.”) Later in life, he described himself as “omnisexual,” attracted to both men and women. But during an interview with the Christian-tied Three Angels Broadcasting Group in 2017, he suddenly denounced gay and trans lifestyles. In the 1980s, he appeared in movies like Down and Out in Beverly Hills and in TV shows like Full House and Miami Vice. In 1986, he was one of the 10 original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 1993, he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys. In the years before his death, Little Richard, who was by then based in Nashville, still performed periodically.

King Of Thirst Quencehers

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Since this is the worst summer (for us here it’s from March till say end of June before the monsoon season really hits), I drink a lot of cold water, juice and soft drinks. I tend to sweat a lot and could get dry mouth and dehydrated if I am not careful and drink enough water. While cool or cold water is great at satisfying the thirst and cooling you down, most of the times I crave something with some taste.

While I started with Coke and the odd Pepsi, I soon moved onto juices. I love the juices from Tropicana, Minute Maid & Real but it seems to me that most grocery stores during the lockdown seem to be storing the mixed fruit juice and I don’t much like the taste of it. Sometimes even orange isn’t that great. I prefer apple and cranberry and occasionally (especially during the summer months) i like litchi but then I try to go for fizzy drinks as they really do satisfy my thirst and make me burp, which I like.

I am not getting options for Sprite so 7Up has been the main choice so far. Also my parents tends to prefer it over dark colas like Pepsi, Coke or ThumsUP (which I haven’t had in decades). While some people feel that Sprite & 7Up is the same to them they really aren’t. My choice would be Sprite but 7Up has been the loyal one since I was a little kid. I only started drinking Sprite 15-17 years ago when it started becoming more readily available along with Mountain Due but I guess 7Up is king for the summer thirst quenchers. I drink a large 350 tumbler every evening.

The Invisible Man (2020)

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The Invisible Man is a 2020 science fiction horror film written and directed by Leigh Whannell. It follows a woman who believes she is being stalked by her abusive and wealthy boyfriend even after his apparent suicide. She ultimately deduces that he has acquired the ability to become invisible. The film stars Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Michael Dorman, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. It is an international co-production of the United States and Australia.

Trapped in a violent, controlling relationship with wealthy optics engineer and businessman Adrian Griffin, Cecilia Kass one night drugs him with Diazepam and escapes their home into the nearby woods to wait for her sister, Emily. After she arrives, Adrian nearly catches Cecilia, but the pair are able to escape. Cecilia hides out with childhood friend, Detective James Lanier, and his teenage daughter Sydney. Two weeks later, Adrian seemingly commits suicide and leaves Cecilia $5 million in his will handled and organized by his lawyer brother, Tom. As Cecilia tries to move forward, she is plagued by several unexplained experiences. She suspects another presence in the house one night when she finds the front door open and witnesses the lights flickering on and off.

She calls for James when she sees footprints in her room, but he assures her she is just still traumatized. During a job interview, she faints after finding her portfolio’s contents removed and is taken to the hospital. Later, the doctor calls and says they found high levels of Diazepam in her system. Shortly after returning home, Cecilia finds the same bottle she drugged Adrian with, which she dropped during her escape, in her bathroom. She arranges a meeting with Tom and James, insisting that Adrian faked his death and used his optics expertise to become invisible in order to torment her, but gets rebuffed. Cecilia turns to her sister, but Emily refuses to acknowledge her after receiving an email from Cecilia’s account stating she never wants to see her again. Later, she is comforted by Sydney, but Sydney is hit by an unseen force, leading her and James to assume Cecilia did it. While a furious James rushes his daughter out of the house, Cecilia tries a number of tactics to catch the figure. After finding Adrian’s old phone in the attic and covering the figure with paint, she ends up in a violent struggle before escaping to Adrian’s home to investigate.

In his lab, she finds a suit that confirms her suspicions. After hiding it in a closet, the invisible figure attacks again, so Cecilia flees and contacts Emily. The pair meet in a restaurant, though as Cecilia begins to tell her what she found, the invisible figure slits Emily’s throat with a knife and places it in Cecilia’s hand, framing her for the crime. Remanded to a mental hospital while she awaits trial, the staff informs Cecilia that she is pregnant. Tom visits her and offers to get her charges dropped if she agrees to “return to him” and raise the child, implying that he helped his brother stage his suicide while revealing Adrian tampered with her birth control to ensure she became pregnant. Cecilia refuses to take the deal and steals a pen from his briefcase. That night, she uses the pen to pretend to commit suicide to draw the invisible figure out. When the figure tries to stop her, she stabs him repeatedly, causing the suit to malfunction. The security team arrives, but the invisible figure violently incapacitates them before fleeing the hospital, with Cecilia in pursuit. Promising not to harm her because of her pregnancy, the figure instead threatens to attack those she loves.

Cecilia races to James’ house, where she finds the invisible figure attacking him and Sydney. She manages to shoot the figure after spraying him with a fire extinguisher, but when she unmasks him, she finds Tom in the suit. Police find a captive Adrian alive at his house, tied up in his basement and claiming Tom held him prisoner. Cecilia quickly disputes this, insisting the brothers must have shared the suit, with Adrian sending Tom to the house knowing what would happen. In an attempt to get Adrian to confess, she meets him at his house to discuss her pregnancy while James listens in on a wire. She agrees to mend their relationship, but only if he confesses to being the invisible figure. Adrian insists Tom did kidnap him, claiming that the experience changed his outlook on life and how he treated her in their relationship.

When she begins to cry, Adrian alludes to former abuse using similar phrasing to that of the invisible figure. Smiling, Cecilia departs to use the restroom. Moments later, the room’s security camera captures Adrian seemingly committing suicide. Cecilia returns and, apparently distraught, calls the police. Out of the camera’s sight however, she silently taunts Adrian; having retrieved the spare suit she hid earlier to kill him. When James arrives and asks what happened, she confirms what the camera saw. He spots the suit in her bag, but accepts her story and allows her to leave. Relieved that she’s finally free from Adrian, Cecilia leaves the house with the suit.

Really good film, using technology as the reason for the invisibility. A women trapped in an abusive relationship and being traumatized after she escaped and yet – she is brave and smart and turns the tables on her abuser. I felt it was really well done. Elizabeth Moss really sells it here and she is gonna be a much bigger star in the years to come if she can get a few movies like this under her belt. 8 outta 10!

Thunderstruck

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Well we have has quite the show this evening. It has been hot and humid and this morning when I went to bed after my work shift it was actually ok. I slept by around 9 am and when I woke up at 3:30 pm it was so damn hot and humid that I was sweating from my head onto my pillow sheets.

So damn hot and sweating from every pore in my body. And since I work nights, I don’t leave the windows open after 9 or 10 pm since we get insects coming in (a few nights ago I also had a flying cockroach come in and luckily I was able to kill it and throw it out via the balcony) which is a no-no. So I drink a lot of cold water, adding ice to my water and drinking a lot of cold juice that I buy from the grocery store or 7up or Coke.

Today evening though it was a different scene altogether. At 5:15 pm I went in to get a nice, long shower and as soon as I stepped out I knew that we were in for some rain. It was dark and cloudy and it looked like we were in for a thunderstorm. It was declared in the news that there would be thunderstorms this week and I believe that there is a cyclone off the coast of Sri Lanka and that could be affecting the weather here. I got my coffee and a little snack ready, hoping that it would just rain but no thunder and lightning.

No sooner than I sat down, than it started to rain. And it poured! As I started hearing the sounds of thunder and saw lightning out from the corner of my eye, I pulled out all the plugs of devices and sat in the middle of the room under the fan and drank my coffee and ate my snack. And then the lightning starting to strike. It was loud and it was so close by. A few times I thought it had hit a building near to my place but I don’t think it actually did. It lasted for around 90 minutes and then by 7pm the rain was reduced to a slight rainfall.

Man that was scary!

Can Staring At Screens All Day Cause Headaches?

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For whatever reason, you find yourself staring at screens all day long. Maybe it’s part of your job, or perhaps you just enjoy playing video games or watching TV. Either way, you might start to notice some regular headaches. Now, are these directly related to all that screen time? We know that staring at a screen is bad for your eyes, but will it cause headaches as well?

Let’s find out!

Computer vision

There’s a condition called computer vision, which stems from the way your eyes respond to screen time. They start to dry out, your vision gets blurry, and you struggle to focus your eyes properly. Over time, this can lead to permanent vision problems. However, one of the knock-on effects of this is that you develop headaches. It comes from the increased strain on your eyes, the bad vision – the symptoms basically combine to cause pain in and around your head/eyes.

You’ll know if you have this problem as closing your eyes and lying down helps a great deal. So, in answer to the original question, technically screens do cause headaches.

Will reducing my screen time get rid of headaches for good?

Possibly, it’s impossible to tell. While screens can cause headaches, they might not be the cause of yours. There are plenty of other things that can give you a sore head every day, such as:

Barometric pressure

This is basically the pressure in the air around us. Sharp changes in this pressure can trigger headaches in many people. You’ll know if you get these as your head always hurts when the weather drastically changes. Or, your headache feels like a build-up of pressure. In this case, staring at screens won’t change these headaches at all. Instead, you can measure barometric pressure to see if a headache is about to come on when you go outside. Then, you can take painkillers to prevent them.

Needing glasses

Similarly, if your eyesight is poor, and you don’t have glasses, then you can get headaches all the time. This is one of the most common causes of headaches and is often confused with excessive screen time. If you get headaches even when you don’t spend ages looking at screens, then it could be down to this. A telltale sign is if your vision is blurred or you find it hard to see things. Sort out your eyesight, and the headaches will leave.

Stress

Being under lots of stress can also cause headaches. Again, this can come about when you’re looking at a screen but not be directly related to the screen itself. For example, working all day at a computer can be stressful as you have clients complaining, loads of things to do, etc. So, it’s natural to develop a stress headache. Relieving your stress will make it go away – turning your screen off isn’t going to help.

In summary, staring at screens all day can cause headaches in some people. But, before you diagnose yourself, be aware there are other causes of headaches as well. So, figure out what’s causing yours if you want to find the best solution.

Getting Away From The Screen: Games That Don’t Involve A Controller

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There’s nothing that can quell the all-too-human love of games. However, many of us may have felt the need to do something that involves any screens or controllers, to expand our mind and spend a little less time exposing our eyes to potentially harmful blue light. Here, we’re going to look at how you can still get your fill of fun and challenge, but without the concern of video game addiction that has become an all too clear threat recently.

Board games

If the first things you think of when it comes to board games are Cluedo and Monopoly, then you might feel a little worn-out on them already. However, it might be worth spending time trying to practice some of the board games known to make you smarter, such as chess, go, or backgammon. There are also board games that get a lot more complex in the rules, which are good for lovers of strategic games or those for whom the average family board game has simply become too easy. Board games like Settlers of Catan and the Game of Thrones boardgame can involve resource management, decision making, and even negotiation like you might not have experienced before. To put it simply, there’s no end to the variety that board games can offer.

Puzzles

If you’re trying to keep your brain sharp, then there’s nothing that can give it a workout quite like a good puzzle. One of the advantages of puzzle books is that they can contain challenges of such a variety that it’s impossible to ever truly master them. You can just keep trying them, succeeding, and moving on to the next one. Books like https://www.pennydellpuzzles.com/fill-ins/ cam test not only your vocabulary but also your ability to arrange different resources (or letters and words in this case) to make sure that they fit the greater. Meanwhile, sudoku puzzles become a game of increasing numeric complexity the larger that the numbers become.

Roleplaying games

We’re not talking about things like Skyrim or Final Fantasy, but rather the kind of roleplaying games that are played with dice, pens, paper, and sometimes models. Dungeons & Dragons is the most popular and well-known variant around, but there are options to suit every taste. For instance, lovers of sci-fi might try Cyberpunk, while those who enjoy a more creepy horror vibe could potentially get into Call of Cthulu. Roleplaying games can be played in a variety of ways, so not only do they engage the imagination and ability to tell stories of each player, but they each come with a certain mechanical complexity that has to be mastered, as well. Furthermore, sites like https://roll20.net/ are making it much easier to play online in case you have trouble finding a group around you, too.

Social deduction games

If you’re looking for games to play with friends, especially those who are far away, then social deduction games could be precisely the kind of thing to keep the crowd engaged for a long time. Effectively, all social deduction games are about each player having information that they either want to keep secret or reveal to others. What follows is a game of negotiation and investigation to find out which information is real and what to do with it. The classic game, Mafia, involves people who are members of the mafia, and innocent townsfolk and no-one knows which role each person fits, so it’s their job to find out to arrest the mafiosos or, on the other side, to survive and win.

Quizzes

These might not exactly fit your definition of what a game is, but they involve testing yourself and, often, competing against others so we’re going to include them here. There are plenty of websites like https://quizizz.com/join where you can find and join quizzes of all sorts. If you’re trying to stay away from screens then there are, of course, plenty of quiz books you can buy, too. Quizzes can be more than just a convenient way to pass the time, too. There are competitive quizzing leagues that can really put your general knowledge to the test if you feel like you’re not getting challenged enough. Quizzing can also be done alone or with friends, online or offline, making it one more the more versatile types of “games.”

Simply put, there is no shortage of games that you can play, either alone or with your friends, that allow you to test your skills and wits. There’s nothing wrong with playing some video games, too, of course, but finding a balance can greatly help you appreciate each of them.

Last Christmas

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Last Christmas is a 2019 romantic comedy film directed by Paul Feig and written by Bryony Kimmings and Emma Thompson, who co-wrote the story with her husband, Greg Wise. Based on the song of the same name, and inspired by the music of George Michael, the film stars Emilia Clarke as a disillusioned Christmas store worker who forms a relationship with a mysterious man (Henry Golding) and begins to fall for him; Thompson and Michelle Yeoh also star.

Katarina “Kate” works a dead-end job as an elf at an all-year Christmas shop in Central London, whose owner calls herself “Santa.” She is homeless after being thrown out by her flatmate. While at work she notices a man outside staring upwards. She talks with him, learning that his name is Tom. After an unsuccessful singing audition, Kate sees Tom again and they go for a walk, where he charms her with his unusual observations of London. Upon isolating herself from her oldest friend, Kate is forced to return to her parents’ home. Croatia immigrants, her mother, Petra, suffers from depression and her father, a former lawyer, works as a minicab driver as he can not afford to retrain to practise law in the United Kingdom. Kate feels suffocated by her mother, who dotes on her while ignoring Kate’s sister, Marta, a successful lawyer.

Kate begins spending more time with Tom, who rides a bike and volunteers at a homeless shelter, which she initially mocks. Looking for Tom, who says he keeps his phone in a cupboard and often disappears for days at a time, she begins helping at the shelter in the hope of running into him but finds that the staff have never met him. While celebrating Marta’s promotion, Kate spitefully outs Marta, a lesbian. She then runs into Tom, who takes her back to his apartment. Kate reveals that a year earlier she was seriously ill and had to have a heart transplant. Kate says she feels half dead and questions whether she has the talent to make it as a performer. After opening up to Tom, Kate tries to initiate sex but he declines. After spending the night with Tom, Kate begins taking small steps to improve her life; taking care of her body, setting up Santa with a Danish man who loves Christmas as much as she does, apologising to Marta and her girlfriend, and singing Christmas songs to busk for money for the shelter. After a few days she runs into Tom again, who says he has something important to tell her, but she preemptively asserts he is fearful of commitment, and walks away.

Kate continues to try to do good in her daily life. Finally, wanting to make amends with Tom, she returns to his apartment only to meet an estate agent who is holding viewings. After some initial confusion about who owns the flat, he reveals that the previous owner was killed in a bicycle accident last Christmas and the place has been vacant during the probate process. Finding his phone in the cupboard, Kate realises that Tom was the organ donor whose heart she received, and that all their interactions were hallucinations. Going to a small garden, which was Tom’s favourite place, Kate encounters him again where he says his heart will always belong to her. The bench on which they sat during their first trip to the garden is revealed to be a memorial bench for Tom.

For Christmas, Kate organises a show utilising the talents of the people at the shelter and inviting all of her friends and family, including the newly coupled Santa and Danish man. Kate delicately performs a solo of the Wham! song “Last Christmas” intertwined with flashbacks of her so-called “encounters” with Tom until revelry ensues when the curtain rises and she is joined by the band of performers. Later, Kate and the family celebrate Christmas together joined by Alba, Marta’s girlfriend, for the first time. The Christmas celebration fades out and a bright light transitions to a summer scene where a visibly healthier Kate is seen writing in her journal in the garden to which Tom introduced her. Smiling and visibly happy, Kate looks up, as Tom always advised.

Nothing really great or funny, as I had hoped, but it is a nice little winter romantic movie. It’s cliched and a bit cheesy ofcourse. I think Golding has a good career ahead of him as a leading man and Emiliam Clarke is moving on from her Game Of Thrones role. 7 outta 10!

Fun In The Sun: 3 Changes You Can Make To Your Home For Summer

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Summer is many people’s favorite time of year, and it’s fast approaching! It’s time to get excited for those months of sun and figure out ways that you can make the most of the summer when it comes to your home. Wanna spruce up your windows and doors – now is the best time. We’ve got a couple of ideas for you to consider, so keep reading down below to find out what they are!

Consider A Patio

The first thing that we are going to suggest is that you consider adding a patio to your backyard. Patios are a very stylish addition to the home, and they are something a lot of people desire. Even though this is the case, they are not as common as you think, despite being incredible for the summer months. Having a patio installed means that you have an area outdoors that you can entertain guests, or just lay back and enjoy the sun. Think about all the wonderful BBQs you could have out here with family and friends, soaking up the sun rays and getting a beautiful tan.

Perhaps one of the best parts of having a patio is that they are low maintenance. There isn’t much that you need to do in order to keep it looking fantastic, meaning that you don’t have to worry about it not being in good condition when you want to have guests over.

A Dip In The Pool

Of course, you can also think about adding a pool to your property. A lot of people think that adding a pool is going to be a massive expense. However, this is not always the case. On average, a typical pool built into the ground will probably cost somewhere around ten thousand. That might just fit into your budget and don’t forget a change like this is going to add a lot of value to your property which is always a big bonus. You can also choose a pool that suits the aesthetics and the needs of your family. If you speak to pool designers, you’ll be able to find more about the type of prices that you can expect and what you can achieve.

One thing to be aware of is that you will need to ensure that safety is a key part of your plan. It’s important to ensure that if you do have kids, there is no risk of them ending up in the pool when you are not around. You also need to think about the safety of animals too. As such, your pool should be off with fencing or you can install a pool cover.

Install A Skylight

Finally, if you want to make the most of the sun inside your home, then we suggest that you install a skylight. These look incredible and provide your home with that extra warmth directly from the sun. It’s something that would look fantastic in your living room, kitchen, or really in any room that you can think of.

Hopefully, now, you have a few ideas of things that you can change to make your home more summer-ready!

Covid-19 Work@Home Schedule

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So as I have mentioned before, I have been working from home ever since the lockdown started here. The company I work for managed to get the work desktops shipped out to us via company cabs for those in the city and nearby towns and later via large trucks to people who stay far away and had to go back to their hometowns. I missed a couple of days due to feeling ill with a bad headcold and some asthma related issues.

Since last Sunday I am working a 10 shift. I start at around 10 and take breaks as and when I need it. Usually I take 10-15 minute breaks whenever I get tired. I don’t take longer breaks since I was to be able to take more breaks in between especially since it has been hot and humid and I prefer to get rest in between. I can even take 10 minute breaks every hour if I start off my work earlier than 10.

My breaks are usually to drink a lot of water. When I get a bit hungry I will get an apple to eat (I have been buying a lot of apples these days) and keeping them in the fridge means it tastes even more yummy and usually does the trick. I avoided coffee for a while and instead drank cold fruit juice but since it is this late I had to start drinking coffee, usually at around 4 am or 5 am as this is the time that I usually start feeling more tired.

By 8 or 8:30 I wind up my work and start looking out for breakfast. Usually it’s cornflaskes or something light but a couple of times I have also ordered a quick breakfast using one of the online food delivery apps. A few days ago I had a most delicious breakfast and I think I might order that either tomorrow morning or the day after. As soon as breakfast is done, I try to go to sleep.