Month: April 2017

Tips for Keeping Kids Entertained during a Road Trip

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Family vacations are wonderful and driving to your destination makes them even more special. No matter what country you live in, the chances are good that you’ve only seen a small portion of it. Driving on vacation allows you to experience the countryside first hand rather than simply flying over it. In addition, you can set your own schedule and take time to see the sights as you travel.  Of course the first step is to make sure that your car is in tip top shape, but your second consideration should be keeping your kids happy during the ride. Just as with other forms of transportation, a road trip with children takes some planning and imagination if you want to get through it with your sanity intact. Here are a few tips for keeping you kids happy during your road trip:

Pack a Well-Stocked First Aid Kit

No matter how careful you are, kids get scrapes and scratches. Make sure your first aid kit is equipped to handle any boo boo that comes your way. Have a good supply of adhesive bandages, allergy medication, alcohol wipes, and motion sickness medication. It might also be a good idea to pack some cold pills and pain relievers.

Bring Toys or other Activities

No matter what their age, kids aren’t going to be happy unless they have some activities to keep them occupied. Let younger kids bring one or two of their favorite toys or picture books. Older kids may choose to bring books, video games, etc. You may want to invest in a portable charger to keep everyone fully charged. Another way to occupy your kids is to let them pick the music. Take turns allowing them to choose and stipulate that no on may comment on the other’s choice. Many board games come in travel versions that are designed specifically for the car. For some interactive fun, try “I Spy” or seeing who can spot license plates from the widest variety of states.

Make Plenty of Stops

Whether you stop at a rest area, a scenic spot, or simply to eat, everyone needs a chance to stretch their legs and work off some energy every few hours. At rest areas, engage your kids in a game of tag or catch in order to give everyone a little exercise and tire them out. Plan ahead and make a point to stop at roadside attractions or let the kids take turn choosing where to stop. It may seem like you’re wasting vacation time, but often the most memorable moments are unplanned.

Use your imagination to come up with other ideas to keep your kids occupied. Let them have a voice in planning your schedule as well. If they are looking forward to getting to a place that they chose to stop, they’ll have less time to be bored or argue with each other. No trip with children ever goes exactly as planned, but with some planning and preparation it can go as smoothly as possible.

E-Commerce Works In Many Ways For Many Businesses

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E-commerce has been around since the internet first gained popularity. The early versions of e-commerce were pretty crude. In time, sophisticated and reliable software platforms were developed to help expand online shopping and purchasing. Facilitating online mail order deliveries helped retailers tap into a large base of consumers and do so without having to pay significant sums for print advertising.

What about those businesses that do not actually ship things? Brick and mortar stores that deal with walk-in customers are not completely out of the e-commerce loop. In fact, those businesses that deal with in-person pickups really should explore e-commerce options.

The Restaurant Example

Scores of takeout restaurants have devised online purchasing options for customers. Rather than waste time on hold on the phone or, worse, standing in a long line prior to placing an order, a customer can simply select and pay for breakfast, lunch, or dinner online. The order  is paid for, submitted, and processed. All the customer has to do is arrive at the restaurant and pick up the order.

Honestly, any and all restaurant that provides takeout services should have this type of online e-commerce system in place. Incredibly, there are still local “mom and pop” restaurants that do not even have websites much less an e-commerce platform.

Business owners do get stuck in an old and traditional way of doing things. There is nothing wrong with that approach at all. If something is working fine, there is no reason to replace it. The point to make here is no one is suggesting replacing a means in which business is conducted. Instead, the idea at work should be to expand the ways to attract customers.

And all sorts of businesses should think of this approach.

Making Walk-In Sales Easier the Atypical Way

Used furniture shops cater to people who are looking for a deal. They likely want quality furniture. Not everyone has the time to visit a million-and-one discount stores in a local area. Putting up a video display of furniture items online and providing a means to pay for the merchandise probably would move more furniture.

A system for consignment sales might even be set up. Videos or pictures of furniture in people’s homes could be posted online. The furniture shop could act as the “middleman” in the sale via an e-commerce platform.

Really, there is no limit to the amount of creativity that can be employed with e-commerce. No matter what business a proprietor operates, an e-commerce solution likely exists.

The Online Commerce Landscape

The venerable website of Inc Magazine posted a very eye-opening statistic. 51% of all consumers prefer to purchase things online – all things. Who can blame them? Buying online is extremely convenient and often cheaper.

The proverbial moral of the story here is there are customers out there who should be targeted with an e-commerce plan. Doing so just makes smart business sense and does so no matter what type of business is being operated.

2017 Trends in Health and Medicine

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Health has always been considered a person’s ultimate wealth. With good health, you can do more with your time and you remain productive at any age. Many people invest in their health because they know and appreciate the benefits. If you want to be at the peak of health in 2017, you should be aware of the latest trends in medicine and health.

  1. Online access to health. Soon, patients will be given complete access to their medical records online. They will eventually carry their records with them as they go around by means of their iPods or phones.
  2. More attention on proper sleep. If you are deprived of good sleep, you tend to be forgetful, less mentally apt, unhappy, clumsy, and lifeless. The TATT (Tired All The Time) syndrome is the term used to describe people who do not get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation is very real. It is evident in the appearance of companies that sell sleep in New York and sleep clinics in Australia. Back in the 1900s, people slept about nine hours each day. At present, the average sleep time is 6.9 hours each night. With proper sleep, your body becomes healthier and more dependable.
  3. Individualized treatments. It is a fact that about ninety percent of medications do not work for thirty percent of people. Drugs and treatments will be made to fit individuals and groups. Treatments based on genetics and certain groups of people will start to have diets that are customized as well.
  4. Enhanced memory. Research on how to download combat experience into the minds of raw recruits in the air force is happening, courtesy of the US Government. Once combat experience is downloaded in the minds of inexperienced recruits, it is easier for them to apply strategies during combat, even if they had not performed them yet.
  5. Home is the new hospital. The evident rise in the number of geriatric patients continue to clog up hospitals because of their longevity. Treating patients in the comfort of their own homes is the best option to avoid the tediousness of waiting for a room and the high costs for treatments. Home-based diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring will be created by the advanced developments in wireless communications and remote monitoring.
  6. Rise in Depression. Depression will eventually be treated as an illness and not just a component of being human. Lack of community, fondness of individualism and the preference to live alone are considered factors in acquiring or developing depression.
  7. Forgetting Medical Ethics. Discretion is important in any enhancement or augmentation that a person may go through. Disregarding this paves the way for psychological impacts on donor families and recipients. Exercise removing pills, biodegradable scaffolding, treatments for alcoholism, Viagra for women, bionic eyes, memory pills, voice lifts, tests on brain functions, cluster bomb cancer treatments, and pills that retard aging are only some of the innovations that trigger ethical discussions. These are already being advertised, instead of being privately discussed between the doctor and the patient involved.
  8. Coming pandemics. Many scientists agree that another pandemic will soon rise. Also, some old conditions or diseases will make a comeback. Such ailments include rickets and gout.  

Health is vital in attaining a brighter future. May these trends prepare you for the dramatic changes in to health and medicine.