PetSmart: Save 75% on Halloween Merchandise

Submitted by sarajean on 10/24/12 1:39pm
Offer valid through October 31, 2012.

Save up to 75% on Halloween merchandise at PetSmart from now until October 31, 2012. Sale items include pet costumes, toys, treats, and gifts for pet lovers.

Best Buy: Windows 8 Pro Pack for $69.99

Submitted by sarajean on 10/24/12 1:35pm
Save $30 when you buy from Best Buy.

Get a Windows 8 Pro Pack for $69.99 when you purchase this special deal at Best Buy. Offer available October 26, 2012.

Target: Belted Dress for $10

Submitted by sarajean on 10/24/12 1:30pm
Many other weekly deals also available.

Target is selling an Xhilaration Belted Skater Dress, regularly priced at $19.99, for just $10. Several colors are available to choose from.

Other available deals include 20% off jackets, dress shoes, and other clothing items.

Olive Garden: Save 20% or $5 Off

Submitted by sarajean on 10/24/12 1:24pm
Download your coupons here.

Download a coupon here to receive 20% off your entire order at Olive Garden for lunch, or $5 off the purchase of your dinner. Offer valid through October 25, 2012.

Dominion Shutting Nuclear Power Plant in Wisconsin

Submitted by phoenix on 10/24/12 1:22pm

  I have discussed many issues that might lead to closing a nuclear power plant. There can be concerns about earthquakes, flood, tornados, hurricanes, explosions, leaks and many other problems. One thing that has nothing at all to do with reactor design, the weather but does have to do with the location is the demand for electrical energy. The United States is working to upgrade our power grid to be able to distribute power better across the country so that we can location wind farms and solar farms where is convenient and get the power to where it is needed but we don’t have that grid yet. Since up to one third of electrical energy can be lost during transmission, we still try to site the power plant as close to where the energy will be used as possible.

         The Kewaunee Power Station, a nuclear power plant in Wisconsin is owned by Dominion Resources, Inc. They bought the plant in 2005 from two utilities which now buy power from Dominion. The plant generates about one half of a gigawatt of power which is enough to power about one hundred forty thousand homes.

          Recently, Dominion announced that it was going to close the Kewaunee Power Station in 2013 because it could not find a buyer for the plant. Dominion said that the low price of natural gas which sets the price of electricity on the wholesale power market was a big factor in the decision. Dominion had had contracts to sell two nuclear power plants to utilities in Wisconsin but the contracts expire next year. Late last year, Alliant Energy Corporation in Madison, Wisconsin ended negotiations with Dominion over the purchase of a plant.

          Dominion’s CEO said that it was a difficult decision because the plant is running smoothly and the employees are dedicated. The plant had just been granted another license which would have extended the life of the plant to 2033. They had intended to expand their Midwestern fleet of nuclear power plants but were unable to. They will have to write down a two hundred eighty million dollar expense connected to the shut down and decommissioning of the Kewaunee Power Station.

         Politics reared its ugly head as Governor Scott Walker blamed the inability of Dominion to find a buyer for the Kewaunee Power Station and to expand the number of reactors that it owns on burdensome EPA regulations that were discouraging the “job creators”. While there are some EPA regulations that might affect the future operation of the plant, Dominion VP of Operations said that the new EPA regulations were not the main reason that they decided to shut down the plant. He said that it was the recent boom in fracking and the abundance of cheap natural gas that was the main problem. Many utilities are switching to natural gas and coal because it is cheap than nuclear for electrical power generation.

          This will be the first US nuclear power plant shut down since two plants were shut down in the late 1990. Out of all the problems that can accompany the use of nuclear power to generate electricity, the reason that this plant is being shut down is purely economical.

Kewaunee Power Station from Reznick111:

GourmetGiftBaskets.com: Save 50%

Submitted by sarajean on 10/24/12 1:20pm
Get $30 credit for just $15.

Buy $30 worth of credit toward a gift basket at GourmetGiftBaskets.com for just $15 with this online deal. Offer unavailable for on sale or clearance merchandise. Shipping not included.

Shark falls from the sky

Submitted by erika on 10/24/12 12:39pm
Now we need to worry about airborne shark attacks?

San Juan Hills Golf Club is located in beautiful San Juan Capistrano, California, about four miles from the ocean. It was with some surprise that golfers recently came across a two foot long shark thrashing around in the 12th tee box.

A golf course employee discovered the fish at around 4 p.m. and radioed the clubhouse to alert them of his discovery. Thinking quickly, the course marshal put the shark in the back of his golf cart and returned to the clubhouse.
 
There, a cart attendant named Bryan Sitzer placed the shark into a bucket of water, added a bit of salt, then clocked out and drove the shark to a nearby beach to be released. Seawater is a lot more complex than just water with table salt added, but it was no doubt a welcome relief to the poor shark nevertheless. Sitzer probably saved the shark's life with his ad hoc aquarium. 
 
When Sitzer reached the beach, he initially thought the shark had died. But after a few moments, it "did a twist and then shot off into the water."

 
This little juvenile leopard shark had quite an adventure, and survived a surprisingly long time out of water. Leopard sharks specialize in feeding in shallow intertidal waters, and have more red blood cells than most other sharks, presumably as an adaptation to less oxygenated waters. 
 
The shark was bleeding from puncture wounds near its dorsal fin, which leads experts to believe that it had been picked up - and then dropped - by a predatory bird. The shark may have been too large for the bird to carry, or it may have struggled too hard, or the bird may simply have been startled away from its catch when humans approached.
 
In this case, the shark had been dropped harmlessly over an empty golf course. But what if the bird (probably an osprey) had dropped it elsewhere? Imagine sitting at a nice café enjoying a cup of coffee, checking email on your laptop, when BAM, a shark falls into your lap from the sky. Or maybe you're puttering along in your lovely convertible with the top down (this is California after all). BAM, a shark falls into your car.
 
(Could ospreys and sharks be working together to attack us from above? Maybe this is just the first wave of attacks. I suggest people start wearing hats, just to be safe.)
 

Does this island hold the secrets to longevity?

Submitted by erika on 10/24/12 11:22am
What are they doing right on "The Enchanted Island of Centenarians?"

Residents of the Greek island of Ikaria have a surprisingly long lifespan. Far longer than the average, and longer even than that of their neighboring islands where most of the factors (weather, diet) would be virtually the same. Researcher Dan Buettner and others have spent years trying to analyze why.

As with many small island cultures, there is much commonality between residents. Most people wake up when they feel like it, usually late in the morning. They take a nap in the late afternoon, then stay out late - often socializing, playing dominoes or poker at the pub. 
 
Meals are spare and primarily vegetarian. A typical day's meals would go:
 
Breakfast: Bread and honey with goat's milk, wine, sage tea, or coffee.
Lunch: Beans (usually lentils or garbanzos), potatoes, and whatever greens are in season.
Dinner: Bread and goat's milk.

Once or twice a year, a family may slaughter a pig and eat portions of preserved meat over the next few months. Their diets are low in cholesterol, have little meat, are mostly locally raised and produced, virtually unprocessed, high in fiber, and include a fair amount of alcohol. 
 
Socializing is a huge aspect of life on Ikaria, and more so for the elderly than the young. Very few nights are spent alone at home. Friends, neighbors, and family drop by on a daily basis to gossip, play cards, and share meals. This is very counter to the American way of life for most elderly, which can be extremely lonely and isolating. 
 
Ikarians of every age also get a lot of exercise. The island is steep, and just by virtue of living your life - going to the market, visiting friends - Ikarians get far more exercise than most Americans. Ikarian pastimes also tend to involve physical activity, such as dancing, gardening and raising livestock. 
 
As an overall picture, what the Ikarians have on their side is "community behavior." The Ikarian community behaves healthfully, and while individuals certainly may vary from that ideal, as a whole they are doing quite well for themselves. Contrast that with the American "community behavior," which involves eating junk food and sitting at home watching 5-6 hours of TV alone every night.
 
In America if you want to live healthy, you have to fight against the trend. Billions of dollars are spent by the television and junk food industry trying to convince you to do otherwise. But on Ikaria, it's easy to live a healthy life. And unsurprisingly, a healthy life is a long life, and a happy one. It's a tough lesson to learn, but hopefully we can take it to heart.
 

Love those days

Submitted by jenvanbaren on 10/24/12 10:36am
Great advice from a distant friend!

There are days I love as a single mom and there are days that I hate. Lately I have had more days that I love, than days that I don’t.

A friend of mine on a social media site reminds me often that we should all be living life to its fullest. What does this really mean though, and how can we do this? She writes often, “Live each day to its fullest.” This is such a positive statement and she is a very positive person.

She is not someone that I know well, but she is someone I went to high school with, and little does she know that I try to take her advice daily! I am truly inspired by the things she writes each day, and it helps me make goals for my own life and for myself. It actually helps me accept the days I dislike and try to turn them into days of joy.

As a single mom and being remarried, I am still responsible for all of the duties relating to my kids. There are days when they fight like crazy, but lately they have been getting along great. It makes me so happy on these days because I enjoy seeing my two girls enjoying each other. One is 17 and the other is now 10, so they are at two different ages but, I think they are finally learning how to accept each other and work with each other.

Living each day to its fullest means that we need to be thankful for what we have and shouldn’t want things we don’t. It means that we need to embrace life as a gift, and it truly is, and we need to make the choice to be happy and full of joy.

Clean your houseplants to keep them happy

Submitted by erika on 10/24/12 10:25am
An occasional wash will help them breathe

I realized this week that it was time to wash my plants again. I live in a rural area off a dirt road, and particularly in the dry summer months, my house can be very dusty. This dust settles on everything - including my plants. 

Dust is more than a cosmetic issue, although it certainly is that. Nothing makes a house plant look sadder than a coating of dust dulling the shine of its leaves. Is there any sight more grim than a dust-covered rubber plant sitting alone and forgotten in a dingy corner?
 
Dust can be very harmful to plants, which breathe through their leaves. A coat of dust on a leaf blocks the plant's ability to absorb CO2 and release oxygen. This not only prevents the air filtration which is one of a plant's great benefits to your household, it also smothers the plant and prevents it from growing to its full potential. 

How do you know when it is time to dust your plants? Well, when they look dusty. Swipe a finger across a leaf; did it leave a clean mark? Is there grime on your fingertip? How does the plant's appearance look - is it duller than it should be? 
 
For minor upkeep, you can probably get away with gently dusting your plant with a Swiffer or other such dust mop. This seems to be particularly effective for plants with small, fine leaves, like Boston ferns. 
 
Many sources will advise you to swish plants through a sink filled with warm water. I'll be honest with you: I have tried this several times in the past, and I have never managed to do it without creating a big mess. Potting soil all over the kitchen counter, water everywhere, a complete catastrophe.
 
For plants with larger leaves that are smooth, I find that the best solution involves a water bottle and a paper towel. Spritz the whole plant with water, then wipe it off with the paper towel. Doing it this way lets you know which leaves you need to clean; otherwise I tend to get distracted and forget which ones I have already wiped. 
 
This method also works for some cacti and succulents. For trickier-shaped cacti I have used a spray bottle and followed up with a cotton swab. The swab not only reaches past thorns for you, it can also get into all those nooks and crannies. Just be careful not to go overboard with the spritzing; your cactus will probably not appreciate being damp.
 
Plants like African violets which have soft, hairy leaves can be tricky. Apparently you can dust them gently with a paintbrush or a mushroom brush.

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