How To Keep Old Glory Looking Her Best

Writen by Paul Mackenda

She's a Grand Old Flag-Keep Her Looking That Way

Our flag is the symbol of our nation and its history, so our government has put into place some laws that govern how it is treated and cared for. This is an important idea, yet most people, even if they've flown it for many years, don't know proper ways to keep, store and treat the flag.

Depending on the material that it's made out of, some flags nowadays can be machine washed. It also depends on its overall condition. For older flags, hand-washing, however, is generally recommended. Washing machine agitators may cause damage to an older flag.If you wash the flag by hand, use a mild detergent such as Woolite. Also make sure to remove the flag from the water as soon as it's clean. Soaking the flag may cause the colors to run and bleed into each other. Dry the flag flat in a warm area. Find a large are to spread it out in. But the most preferred method of cleaning the flag is to dry clean it. Since this is also the most expensive, due to the size of most flags, you may want to save money by washing it. But to keep it looking good, and make sure that it lasts a long time, be sure that take the trouble to wash it properly.

American flags that are in disrepair should be retired and no longer flown. Depending upon the extent of the damage, however, you may be able to perform repairs on your own. If there are small imperfections, sewing on a patch of the same color and texture of the fabric is permitted. These can be purchased in either the Fabric department of a local department store or through a merchant that specifically deals in selling fabrics. For flags that have larger areas of damage or fraying around the edges, the proper steps should be taken to dispose of them and replacement flags should be purchased.

Exposing it to the elements is one of the fastest ways to ruin a flag. The flag will be whipped about and become shredded if you fly the flag in bad weather with snow, rain, sleet, hail or high winds hitting it constantly. The sun can do a great deal of damage by bleaching out the colors, even in good weather. Bring the flag in whenever bad weather threatens, if you can. If it does get wet, bring it in and drape it in an open area to dry thoroughly. Remember to keep it from touching the ground, when you are doing this. The American flag is never permitted to touch the ground, unless it has been retired the ashes are being buried, according to our laws.

If you fly your flag near trees, shrubs and other obstructions or right next to your house, your flag may be easily damaged. Take care the the flag will not be whipping against the house or the trees or shrubs. Mount your flag on a pole that's away from the house and landscaping is the best way you can do this. Or, use a stanchion type flag pole away from the house, branches and wires.

You must make sure that it is completely dry before you store the American flag, then fold it in its proper format and place it in a flag case or protective wrap. All flags should be stored in a cool, dry, dark location. Then they will always look fresh and nice for use in the future. A flag display in a special flag case is the best condition for storage, but this is usually for ceremonial flags.

Always remember that the American flag is special and should be treated as such. From general upkeep, to cleaning, to storage, Old Glory deserves only the best, and the law requires that proper respect be shown at all times.

About The Author Paul Mackenda operates the website Flag Si, inc. which a site dedicated to researching flag related topics and contains all the very latest flag news and views. For more details please visit http://www.flagsi.com.

Protect Yourself From Eyestrain With Ergonomic Positioning Of Your Computer Monitor

Writen by Paul Holstein

Take this little home test: Hold your finger at arm's length. Bring it slowly towards your nose, following it with your eyes. Notice that the closer your finger comes, the more eyestrain you feel. That's because you are forcing your eyes to accommodate (change focus) and converge (eyes turning inward to prevent double vision) at a rapid pace.

One of the main reasons for computer-related eyestrain (and back strain) is the proximity of your computer monitor. Thus, it seems easy to understand that, if having the monitor too close contributes to the problem, one of the solutions is to place it farther away (at least 25 inches).

Another main reason for computer-related eyestrain is the angle at which you view your monitor. The latest research suggests that a downward gaze angle (at least 15 degrees) improves our ability to accommodate and converge. Reducing those stresses will reduce the likelihood of eyestrain.

But how can we position our monitors to the optimal position?

As more and more of us upgrade to flat screen monitors, our options have become plentiful, easy to install, and certainly worth every ounce of pain we avoid.

If you're like me and not all that handy, the MOView LCD Monitor Arm (from $119.99, available at Cableorganizer.com) is the perfect choice. Made of quality, durable construction, it's easily installed, attaching quickly to any desk with the included C-clamp. (There's also an optional grommet hole mount, if your desk comes with a grommet.)

Raising a flat panel monitor above work surface, the MOView LCD Monitor Arm enables fingertip adjustment of monitor height and position. It can accommodate screens up to 21 inches and provides infinite viewing angles, which allow you to precisely position how far away your screen is, what angle you're viewing it at, and the tilt of the monitor. An additional, non-ergonomic benefit is that it frees desk space, and looks great, hiding monitor cables from sight with the integrated cord management system.

There's even a double monitor version, with two completely independent, fully articulating arms, allowing you to place two monitors in any position—side by side, stacked one on top of another, or facing in two separate directions.

If you use your computer to view DVDs or episodes of Lost that you downloaded from iTunes, you may want to mount your monitor on the wall for optimal viewing. MOView offers a wall mount (from $49.99; also available at Cableorganizer.com) that comes in two flavors: a flush wall mount and a fully articulating wall mount.

Both attach quickly to a wall stud to allow for maximum space saving, and allow for larger monitors—up to 30 inches. These units are self-leveling, saving you from having to guess whether the monitor is lined-up straight. The MOView wall mount also allows for 360 degrees of rotation, allowing you to align the monitor vertically or horizontally.

MOView's arms and mounts were clearly designed for style-conscious commercial and home office computer users who understand that computing can be done both in comfort and in style—and without all that eyestrain.

Paul Holstein and http://CableOrganizer.com promote wire and cable organization and management for a better lifestyle.

Easy Ways To Protect Your Family Before A Disaster Strikes

Writen by Laura Greenwald

If you knew that spending 15 minutes right now could save the people you love in the event of an emergency, would you do it? Of course you would!

During disasters like Hurricane Katrina and terrorist attacks like the London bombings, one need has come to the forefront more than any other -- the need to get a victim's identification, medical history and emergency contact information as quickly as possible. The Next of Kin Education Project, Next of Kin Registry and Shoewallet.com have joined forces to launch an international public awareness initiative, featuring ten easy ways anyone can safeguard their family in the event of a life-threatening situation.

At Home

You spend all your time taking care of others, but what about you? If someone had to locate your contacts in a medical emergency, could they do it? Grab your address books (we know you have more than one!), your cell phone, PDA, Filofax and anything else you usually carry with you and let's get organized.

First, let's create a list of emergency information for each member of the family including:

Their name, age, address, phone number

The name of their primary physician

Allergies and any prescription drugs the person is taking

Chronic medical conditions and, anything else you would want an emergency physician to know.

At least three emergency contacts for each person:

1. For yourself, list your spouse's home, cell and work numbers, for your spouse, list your numbers. For your children, both you and your spouse's numbers.
2. Next for each person, the name and contact numbers of a nearby relative or good friend;
3. Then on each list, include the name and numbers of an out of state relative or friend. In case of regional emergency, you can often call long distance, even though you can't call locally. A distant friend can be a touch point for the entire family until communication is restored.

Make several copies of each list and place them:

In an easy to find place near your main home phone

Place each child's list in his permanent school record, in addition to his regular emergency card. Place your and your spouse's list in your personnel files at work with your other emergency information. If you don't feel comfortable having it in your file, consider placing it in a sealed envelope to be opened only in an emergency, or put the information on a password protected CD.

With the person you chose to be your emergency contact.

You can also put this list in your computer, or PDA so you have it with you in an emergency.

Don't forget to ask the people you want to use as contacts, for their permission to use them. Some people might not feel comfortable having to be relied upon in an emergency and it's better to know that now!

Every six months put a reminder in your calendar to review and update all of your emergency plans.

Once you get your own contacts in order, book some time with your parents, kids and the other people that you love, to make sure, in case of a medical emergency involving them, that a hospital knows how to contact you.

Home/Cell Phone

Clearly indicate your emergency contacts on your main telephone speed dial. Don't use the person's name, use their relationship to you, ie. "parents", "sister", "husband", "work". Then do the same thing on your cell phone. After the London bombings a paramedic came up with the idea of putting "ICE" (in case of emergency) on your cell phone, with the number of your emergency contact. You can do that on your cell or simply put in "husband" or "home" like you did above. Make sure you do the same thing on your PDA, laptop or anything else you usually carry.

Protecting Children

In the days after 9/11, 2,100 children were left in daycare because their parents had never indicated on their daycare emergency cards, who should be called, if the parents were unable to get to them to pick them up.

Choose someone you would want them to be with, until you can get to them and make sure that information is on the child's emergency list and on his school's emergency contact card. Since children don't carry wallets or drivers licenses, make sure that you put Shoewallets on younger children (see information later in this article) and that older children have emergency information in their backpack, on their cell phone or anything else they carry with them.

Emergency Plan

Make sure each member of the family knows what to do in an emergency, especially if you can't get back home, or if your home is uninhabitable.

Appoint a special place for everyone to meet away from home, and make sure everyone knows who your out of state point of contact is, in case you need to relay messages to each other. Keep that plan with the emergency lists, in an easy-to-find place. Some families have even put their emergency plans on wallet-sized cards, one for each member of the family.

Safeguarding Copies of Vital Information

As victims of Hurricane Katrina found, when you have to function after a major disaster, being without your driver's license, birth certificate, social security card or bank account numbers can be a huge problem.

Make a copy of all of your and your children's vital records and put them in bank safe deposit box or other secure place, preferably in two different locations. One of them should be in another city or state if possible.

If you're concerned about the security of hard copy documents, scan them onto a password protected CD, and store those instead of the hard copies.

Away From Home

Thousands of people a year end up as trauma patients in the emergency room after being hit by a car while crossing the street near their home or while jogging. So carrying contact information with you while you're walking or jogging isn't just a good idea, it's as necessary as your running shoes! Most accidents happen just a few blocks from home, just where people feel comfortable doing errands or going out for a run without their driver's license or other ID.

A Shoewallet, a small lightweight wallet you attach to your shoes, holds an emergency contact card, and a license/credit card/key, guaranteeing your info is always right where you need it. www.shoewallet.com/nokep

If you have a company ID badge, slip an emergency contact card into it for those quick runs out of the office for meetings or a snack.

Another way to make sure hospitals and emergency personnel can find your next of kin in an emergency, is to register your contact information free of charge at the Next of Kin Registry. NOKR is an internationally recognized resource designed to put you and your family together in case you are unconscious or unable to speak or give consent for treatment. www.nokr.org

Special Needs

If you or your family members have chronic medical conditions, you need to make your medical history and records easy to find in an emergency. OnFile.com is a service that, for a yearly fee, gives you a secure, password-protected cards that can supply any hospital with all of your medical records in seconds, allowing any physician to treat you with your medical history and special needs in mind, even if you're away from home. www.onfile.com

Cap Med's Personal Health Key is a flash drive specifically designed to hold your entire medical record, allowing it to be viewed in a hospital or doctor's office. This is great for people who see many doctors and can help keep everything in sync among all your care providers. It also keeps patients from having to tote around their records or explain the same points over and over again.

For the seniors in your life, make a plan for you and your relatives to take turns checking in with them every other day, to make sure everything is all right. It might also be a good idea to invest in an emergency monitoring system with a button they can press in case of a fall or other emergency.

For Alzheimer's patients, those with dementia or the mentally disabled you might have to use a combination of these tips. A Shoewallet would provide emergency ID in a place the patient won't be able to disturb. The Alzheimer's Association has a wonderful program called "Safe Return, which provides a bracelet and special tips in protecting patients who wander. And signing the person up on the Next of Kin Registry, gives an extra layer of protection in case they become lost or hurt.

Making Hospitals Safer

As much as they try, hospital emergency rooms don't always have time to call unconscious patient's next of kin as quickly as they'd like. For hospitals and emergency department personnel, there's a great tool to use, to help them find emergency contact information and make notification calls quickly and easily – in seven steps. The Seven Steps to Successful Notification Kit. It's being distributed free of charge to health care professionals. To help the effort financially, or to purchase Seven Steps products please visit the web site: http://clik.to/7steps .

A piece of healthcare legislation called the Next of Kin bill (HR 2560) has just been introduced into Congress, that will ensure hospitals will make a reasonable effort to contact unconscious patient's next of kin within 24 hours. For ways you can help make this bill a law, go to http://clik.to/nok .

Laura and Janet Greenwald, are the founders of The Next of Kin Education Project To download a free copy of these Emergency Tips or for more information go to: http://nokep.tripod.com/fmp.htm.