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How to Protect Your Car From Rodents

Car paint protection Sydney are more reliable in fixing your bumper paint. Rats! You can buy the most reliable car on Earth and still find convoluted electrical gremlins, fluid leaks, and even outright failure when rodents take up residence and begin chewing on wiring, hoses, plastic, and other critical car parts. But we’ve found a deterrent for these four-legged terrorists.

Rodent-inflicted damage is an age-old problem that some observers say is increasing as automakers use more plant-based biodegradable materials to reduce waste. It turns out that rodents sharpening their teeth and feasting on cars is more prevalent than you might think.

We uncovered various technical service bulletins from Ford, GM, Honda, Toyota, and Subaru instructing their technicians how to remedy chewed wiring harnesses. So many people have been looking for solutions that the topic has trended on Reddit.

Readers posted several solutions, from covering the wires with a metal mesh to painting them with hot sauce. Some Consumer Reports staffers also have stories of small furry creatures chewing through power steering lines, filling engine intakes with acorns, and plugging up air-conditioning ducts with their nests.

What You Can Do

We found a clever solution in a TSB from Honda: rodent-deterrent tape, essentially an electrical tape treated with super-spicy capsaicin, which Honda describes as “the stuff that puts the fire in a bowl of five-alarm chili.” The tape (part number 4019-2317) is available through dealers for about $36 for a 20-meter roll, about 22 yards. You’ll also find it online.

We bought a roll of rodent-deterrent tape to check out. Beyond the cute rodent graphics and gray color, it deceptively seems like regular electrical tape to us humans. There is no tear-inducing odor, but it does carry a label that warns against prolonged exposure to skin. Despite dares and double dares, we did not taste it and will trust that it is potent enough to deter even the most ravenous varmint.

Other suggestions for dealing with rodents under your hood include installing a metal mesh around wiring harnesses and rubber hoses and across any openings where rodents could crawl into your ventilation or intake systems. Or you could put mouse poison mixed with peanut butter around your garage for a more severe solution.

Even if these measures don’t work, you can take heart: “A mouse ate my wiring harness” excuse at least sounds more creative than “The dog ate my homework.”

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Slowly, More Men Coming Around To Embrace Yoga’s Benefits

In order to get the yoga benefits all you need is a good Pilates instructor course. According to the most recent survey, the vast majority of participants in yoga classes were women (approximately 77 percent), despite the fact that some of the most popular and famous teachers today and many of the originators of the practice are and were men.

So where are the men in the studio?  That is a question that many yoga instructors and studios are trying to answer as they try to reach out to a market that, for all intents and purposes, remains relatively untapped.

There are many possible reasons why men stay away from the yoga studio, but a few reasons seem to stick out more than others.  Many experts and yoga enthusiasts point to the competitive nature in men and the belief that many men don’t find yoga challenging enough for the physical goals they wish to accomplish.  Plainly stated, many men don’t find yoga “masculine” enough for them (as if a pose like the Side Crane is a piece of cake).

According to a few instructors, quoted in a recent article, men enter the yoga studios and see a room full of women, perhaps hear calming music and notice there’s not one piece of heavy metal equipment in the room and conclude that this place is not for them.  And if there is a male instructor, his calm, sensitive demeanor is in sharp contract to the “feel the burn” approach of a personal trainer he may be used to.  One yoga instructor said that men come to the studio looking for a challenge immediately.

Experts point to a number of possible reasons why mainstream men consider yoga a “women’s thing”, starting with Indra Devi, a female yoga instructor who came to the U.S. in the 1940s and was promoted by cosmetic legend Elizabeth Arden.  Some time after, Richard Hitttleman became a yoga celebrity, but his books and television show only featured female models.  The PBS network presented “Lilias, Yoga and You” in the 1970s and featured instructor Lilias Folan in an afternoon broadcast that seemed perfectly tailored for the stay-at-home mom of that era.  Although more athletic forms of yoga developed later, such as Power Yoga, the deep involvement of woman in the practice solidified the idea of yoga as a woman’s exercise in the minds of many men.

Yoga experts also say the need for men to have concrete exercise results may also be a reason why they refrain from yoga.  With weight lifting or weight training, a man may see an increase in muscle mass – a bigger bicep or a bit of definition here or there.  But with yoga, many of the most important changes are internal, mental and emotional benefits that maybe harder to gauge for a person taught to measure success by wins and losses.

As one instructor stated, instead of focusing on quieting his mind or relaxing, men may build even more tension by focusing on performing a pose perfectly (in response to their competitive streak) and not be satisfied until they do, even if it’s a move recommended for an advanced student and they’re in their first class.  By putting their efforts into perfection, many men completely miss one of the real benefits of the practice.

Finally, several yoga experts and instructors point to men’s fear of failure as one of the reasons they shun yoga in such large numbers.  Since most men’s idea of exercise consists of lifting weights or calisthenics that require the body to move in such a rigid motion, they often lack the flexibility that yoga demands.  Even beginning male students, the experts say, give up after a few sessions because they fear “failure” at not being able to perform the moves (without realizing that their inflexibility may be the biggest reason they should participate in yoga).

Yoga instructors say it may help to inform many men that some of today’s top athletic stars are yoga fans who use the practice to help them perform.  Superstars such as NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, former NFL star Jon Kitna and pitcher Barry Zito, as well as entire teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Cubs, offer yoga to their athletes to counteract the rough treatment they receive on the field.

Men who attend yoga classes must let down their defenses and not think of yoga in terms of success and failure.  The instructors say that yoga is not concerned with perfection of pose or rating someone based on whether they can perform a backbend on their first day in class.  Yoga, they stress, is a gradual process where the student comes to acknowledge the mind-body connection.  When placed in the right perspective with realistic goals, each yoga session can be considered a “success”.

Yoga instructors suggest that men who are attending their first yoga session take time to introduce themselves to the teacher and discuss the class structure.  Men should also accept and admit (to the instructor and to themselves) that they harbor some anxiety about the yoga class.  By establishing lines of communication, the student and the instructor can begin to erase the fears they have about not being up to the task of yoga.

Another option yoga instructors may want to consider, the experts say, is occasionally conducting a men’s-only yoga session where men can be themselves.  Instructors who have held classes such as this admit that it creates a different atmosphere than usual and that the typical male joking is not uncommon.  But arranging such classes can be a big help in teaching men to relax in the studio and, in turn, relax with the idea of yoga.

Finally, men should be willing to let themselves go mentally in a yoga class.  Some of the most powerful men in business have credited yoga with letting them clear their heads of the day-to-day stresses and mental strain of the workday.  And not only does yoga let them get rid of old, troublesome thoughts, it allows new thoughts to come in.  indeed, many top executives have claimed that some of their most successful ideas have come while meditating during yoga.

It may take a while until more men embrace yoga the way women have.  But by adopting this attitude, men too can begin to understand the benefits of yoga, both mental and physical.

Lindaa Adams loves all things that have to do with health.

One of the top health blogs Lindaa has found is Kamloops Yoga Teachers, which is a distinctive combination of yoga and health. For more information, you may also visit Kamloops Yoga Fitness Boot Camp

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Lindaa_Adams/609902

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Convert to Solar Power in 4 Easy Steps

Electrician Brisbane Southside maintain their good reputation over the years so we also reward them with their good service. For many, the desire to convert to solar power is there. With monthly power bills increasing year-over-year and our lifestyles being tied to that power supply coming into our home, many feel as though they are slaves to the power companies. It doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, with the current state of solar technology, converting to solar power is easier now than it ever has been before.

Of course the easiest way to convert to solar energy is to hire a professional. But, it’s also the most expensive. The least expensive way to make use of solar energy is by building the solar panels yourself.

By choosing to build your own solar power system, the costs of this renewable energy source are greatly reduced, and it makes it simple for anyone to convert to solar power. With four easy steps you can be on your way to making use of Green Energy, and if you build your solar power system correctly its life expectancy is 30 to 40 years.

Step 1 – Reduce Your Energy Requirements

Before making the decision to convert to solar power it is suggested that you first work to reduce your energy requirements. The less power you need to keep your home running, the lower your initial installation costs will be. There are many simple ways to reduce the amount of electricity you use.

For example switching to LCD lighting could reduce the amount of electricity required to light your home. A 100 Watt incandescent bulb uses 100 Watts of electricity per hour. On the other hand a 3.5 Watt LCD bulb will produce the same amount of light.

There are other simple things you can do as well. Adding in a solar water heater to your current electric hot water heater can reduce the amount of power needed to heat the water for your home. Changing that 10 year old fridge or dishwasher for newer, more energy efficient models, is also a simple way to lower your power requirements.

Simply taking a few steps ahead of time may cut your power needs by as much as 50%.

Step 2 – Decide on How Much Power You Need

After working to reduce the amount of power you need, it’s time to calculate how much electricity you do need. This step actually isn’t that difficult. Simply look at every item in your home that uses electricity. Take the wattage ratings from each appliance and light, and then multiply it by the number of hours it runs each day.

For example, a fridge that requires 400Watts of power will run for about 8 hours (about 1/3 of the time) a day. This appliance uses 400 x 8 = 3200 Watt Hours of electricity every day. That 3.5 Watt LCD bulb that you run for 4 hours each night uses 3.5 x 4 = 14 Watt Hours of electricity every day. If an appliance doesn’t have a wattage rating on its label, you can get the watts needed using OHM’s law; P=E*I (Watts = Voltage x Amps).

Create a list and repeat this step for every item in your home that uses electricity.

Step 3 – Build Your Solar Power System

Once you know how many watt hours of electricity you use each day it’s time to build your solar panels, and convert your home. If in step 2 you determined that you need 10000 Watt Hours (10 kilo-Watt Hours) of electricity, then you need to build enough solar panels to suit.

Assuming that the sun shines for 8 hours of the day, it would take about 13, 100 Watt solar panels to produce that much energy. Building the solar panels yourself is the least expensive solution. According to Science Daily, a 100 Watt solar panel cost $1150 on average in 2008. You can build that same panel yourself for around $150.

In this step there may be other considerations. For a grid-intertied solution, where you also have power from the grid, building 13 panels and having them wired to power your home directly is a suitable solution. When the sun shines you’ll be running your home off solar energy alone, and when it doesn’t, any additional electricity needs are taken care of by the power grid.

Where things get more complicated is when you want to go off-grid, or when you want to add a battery backup to your system. In this case you should consult with a DIY solar power guide. These guides include the information needed to make these additional calculations.

Step 4 – Have an Electrician Inspect and Wire it into Your Home

Whether you buy your solar panels or build them yourself, you should have a qualified electrician do the final wiring into your home. This may cost you a few dollars extra, but in some places it’s the law, and even if it isn’t an electrician is qualified to deal with the 240Volt wires coming into your home.

There is a definite danger doing this step yourself. Also, if you did build your own solar power system, the electrician will be able to do a final inspection to ensure all of your wiring is up to code.

After you have your system wired into your home, you’re now finished with your conversion to solar power. With just basic maintenance you can expect to enjoy renewable energy, and cheaper power bills, for years to come.

John O’ryan works as a builder/installer of Solar Power solutions. He also runs a site that helps others choose the right solutions to go green and save. You can read more about how to convert to solar or wind power on his solar and wind power blog.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/John_O’ryan/433494

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