41st Annual Merry Tuba Christmas and Tree Lighting Ceremony School Tours at Rockefeller Center, NY

Get your next New York school tours here at the Rockefeller Center as hundreds of tenor and bass tuba players will congregate on The Rink around the place. Different tubists of all ages will line up under the famous Christmas tree and fills the plaza with a great organ-line sound of low brass. Well, you can encourage the students to sing along with the Christmas carols and holiday favorites performed.

These musicians which are hailed across the country will be conducted by Chris Wilhjelm, the conductor of the famous Goldman Band. Additionally, this is apprehended by tuba virtuoso Harvey Phillips to honor his teacher, the late William J. Bell, which was born in Christmas Day in the year 1902. The first Tuba Christmas was performed at the Rockefeller Center was back in 1974, conducted by Paul LaValle of the Band of America Fame.

Moreover, you should kick-off the students’ seasonal New York school tours at the iconic Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Rockefeller Center, which in this year, makes it their 82nd Annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is an amazing and world-wide symbol for the holidays inside New York City. This unlighted tree usually arrives in mid-November. Then we have this Thanksgiving and Black Friday, when those different department stores exposed their famous window holiday displays and decorations. Traditionally, the tree is a kind of Norway Spruce and is illuminated with 30,000 different LED lights and 7 ½ bulbs, but the lights are environmentally friendly of five miles of electrical wires to compliment with the tree. Also, each of the tree’s branches has been wrapped individually to achieve a full lighting effect and there are no other ornaments and decorations in the tree expect for crowned Swarovski Crystal Star at top of it.

Tens of thousands visitors, crowds the sidewalk for this event and hundreds of million will be watching the Tree Lighting Ceremony broadcast live across the globe. Essentially, let your students experience a memory of their New York school tours here, joining among with this yuletide spirit yet it will be working with some bit of patience as you’re walking up to the front to get a picture-perfect view of the tree. The tree may literally crown the Rockefeller Center, but the surrounding plaza is equally colorful. There are even Toy Soldiers and Angels that additionally bringing up some more light in the walkaways, hearing some holiday carols which fills the air and some Salvation Army volunteers jingle their bells through. And more bonuses, those horn-blowing Angels will lead you and students to the Rockefeller Tree, Prometheus and the Rockefeller Center Ice Skating Rink. These heart-warming angels are represents hope and the Prometheus, the gold statue inside the Rockefeller Plaza represents the ancient Greek legend of the Titan, which means bringing fire to the man-kind.

This celebration is fun, full of pomp and different surprising celebrities that will join the crowd.So, let them get an unbeatable New York school tours this year! Basking in the sights of this famous tradition personally and introducing a New York historian speak about the interesting history and architecture of this one-of-a-kind ceremony. And there’s more to expect, those surprisingly talented line up performers and presenters.

How to Fix Common Roof Leaks

Roof leaks are hard to spot and they often become problematic as time goes by. That’s why it’s important that you anticipate them and have a back-up plan to fix these types of problems in your house just in case they’ll happen. Under normal circumstances though, a solid roofing work will not leak for 5 – 10 years time even if it is subjected to harsh weather conditions.

Introduction

Most people assume that their house is a main battle tank (MBT) that can take just about anything Mother Nature dishes at it. That’s until their rook starts leaking or some other related problems occur. The best time of the year to check for roof leaks is during spring, because it’s the rainy season. If you’re able to spot leaks, then don’t panic because it’s better to fix them early on than wait a few months later when they will cost you a lot of money; not to mention unwanted problems. The good news is that there are roof locations where these leaks are prone to appear and because of that, you’ll be able to fix them easily.

Don’t be confused with the roof parts like the flashing, hips, rake, rafters etc., it’s actually not that complicated fixing it and you can do it by yourself. Needless to say, sometimes it will require a professional to it also.  No matter the damage, it is imperative that you fix your roofing problems right away in order to avoid bigger complications along the way.

Below are some of the most common roof leaks and how you can fix them:

Roof valley leaks – The area where two parts of the roof of your home intersect is called a roof valley. This area requires special attention as it is a delicate part of the entire roofing system. Most roofs have metal flashing that has often been improperly installed. When the roof valley gets damaged, don’t attempt to fix it on your own, instead call a professional to do it and get it fixed right away.

Skylight Leaks – They may look great for your roof, but skylights are among the things in there that causes leaks often, especially if they’re not properly installed.  What’s most frustrating about it is that you’ll have a difficult time to find where the leak is coming from. Most leaks here will occur in the flashing as this is where the roof and the skylight interconnect. This also requires professional work and you’ll have to check if there are roofing contractors near your area. It would be great if your house has insurance from the company that built it, so that you can just call them and fix your roof but only if it’s under warranty.

Chimneys – A leak around the chimney is the final nail in the coffin and if you don’t act quickly it can be the reason for the increase in your blood pressure. This is actually the most difficult are in the roof to determine where exactly the leak is coming from, as it can come from the old caulk, cracks, flashing etc. In order to find the reason for this problem, the entire area around the chimney will need to be inspected carefully. Ironically, even though it’s hard to find the leaks in this area, it is also quite easy to fix it and you can do it by yourself. If the problem is an old sealant or caulking at the base of the chimney, then simply peel off the old seal and replace it with a new one. Double check the flashing and see if it has any leaks or other form of damage, then repair if necessary.

Taking care of your roof first and foremost will make it last longer, so do maintenance work on it occasionally. You can fix your roof with a DIY method but for the difficult parts, just let the professionals handle it.

Terms:

Nesting – Installing a second layer of shingles aligning courses with the original roof to avoid shingle cupping.

Definitions:

Accelerated Weathering: The process in which materials are exposed to a controlled environment where various exposures such as heat, water, condensation, or light are altered to magnify their effects; thereby accelerating the weathering process. The material’s physical properties are measured after this process and compared to the original properties of the unexposed material, or to the properties of the material that has been exposed to natural weathering.

Questions:

I received three significantly different proposals from contractors. How should I decide which contractor to select?

Answers:

Clearly written proposals that are detailed and broken down into separate line items are a good sign that the contractor is being thorough and has prepared an accurate estimate. The following is a partial list of items your estimate or proposal should include:

• The type of roof covering, manufacturer and color
• Materials to be included in the work, e.g., underlayment, ice dam protection membrane
• Scope of work to be done
• Removal or replacement of existing roof
• Flashing work, e.g., existing flashings to be replaced or re-used, adding new flashing, flashing metal type
• Ventilation work, e.g., adding new vents
• Who is responsible for repairing/replacing exterior landscape or interior finishes that are damaged during the course of the work
• Installation method
• Approximate starting and completion dates
• Payment procedures
• Length of warranty and what is covered, e.g., workmanship, water leakage

Also, be sure to read the recommendations listed in Buying a new roof and getting your money’s worth and Selecting An NRCA Professional Roofing Contractor (Steep-slope Residential) for more information.

Top 3 Vacation Spots in the World

Are you one of those people who love to travel, in search of unparalleled luxury of glamorous adventures with lively perks like enchanting foodstuffs, amazing architectural design, romantic amenities and such with explicit wine feeling? So, how to find these best escapades?

We surveyed and searched genuine facts of different places that fit our requirements and with our findings, the list below was assembled from top 3 down to 1.

Rome, Italy
This Eternal City as they call it, rejoices its long history of churches, museums, monuments and those restored ruins that offers a rightful sight to the life of the great Roman Empire during their glorious days. And at its city roots, you may immerse yourself in a culture of a heaping bowl of delightful pasta, different flavors of coffee and a plate of gelato. Buonappetito!

New York, New York!
This place where of its origins and city remnants of immigrants with such inspiring structural design and thriving arts on the scene. You can definitely spree in SoHo, devoting a lazy day in its Central Park, stare signs from the Big Apple plus its billboards, Coney Island and the NYC subway system. Also, the city’s Times Square has wall-to-wall signage for the Broadway plays, commercial ads, even proposals and many more.

And last but especially not the least,

Paris, France
Similar to all boundless cities, you can spend days, weeks or even months in Paris and just by scarcely graze the appearance of Paris’s cultural treasures. Discover this old-world city with a new-world charm! They have museums galore, stellar shopping sites, convenient restaurants and small shops with busy cafés which are perfect for people just observing. Great places to visit here are, The Louvre (The Pyramided Structure), the Seine (A River), and most especially The Eiffel Tower which aged a 125 years old on March 2014. But, with so much to appreciate in Paris, you’ll utterly need this quick bucket list of not-to-be-missed lures.

Facebook Marketing Techniques

Technological advancements are growing every single day. It becomes more relevant in our everyday lives. We used it in work, communications and our businesses. One product of technology is social media sites, where we can communicate with people across countries using the World Wide Web.  Facebook is one of the most frequently used social media site where we can communicate and share with our friends online. We can also use Facebook as a medium for our business. This is what we call as Facebook Marketing, where we interact with others to market and promote businesses online. This helps us to keep information is updated, we can have a distinct identity and we will have a broader scope for our costumers.

All of us can start business of our own using Facebook but not all of us can be successful enough in this field, right? So first you must have a goal with a strategy to make your Facebook marketing a successful one. When we have our business we must remember that must be friendly, even though we may look a bit funny we must understand that most costumers like things that makes them laugh for a while. We must build a good relationship with our valued costumer’s, even though this takes time to build we must and always be patient. We can always achieve this by being sincere in our conversations with them, providing them not only useful but also relevant content, and giving away prices to permanent costumers. To earn more costumers we must have an entertaining content, by doing so, our customers will be coming back for more fun.

Another way to make our page more popular is by posting more Ads, advertisements can catch attention to costumers. This ads are composed of an image, a headline, and also a link where customers can visit a certain page on Facebook, or another website related to the business. If you have a website that talks about a product you are selling then Facebook can help you, it can have extensions of your website so that customers who are visiting your page can see some familiarity and will visit that website. Lastly when you have the Facebook page you must post regularly some updates. Almost 50% users of Facebook are checking their page for latest updates and also for new contents and materials. But if your page doesn’t need any posting why bother? But if yes, then sit tight, type, then post!

Any marketing strategies that were mentioned earlier can help you in your journey through Facebook marketing. You can think of a more effective ways to enhance and improve your skills in this business. Integrate new strategies to attract more customers. The more you implement those integrated strategies, the more your marketing will be successful. So, we must figure things first, why do we need to have a website? Why do we need to integrate more and more? Lastly figure something that can best serve your valued customers.

Best CRE Investment Options For Retirement

The typical retiree these days go for the stocks and bonds in the stock market when it comes to investing and growing their life savings, according to experts. However, some are also learning to diversify their investments in mutual funds, or starting a small internet business or even commercial real estate! Some Caribbean island nations even offer the purchase of a real estate property as substantial investment that you can propagate and get huge ROI’s due to the tourism potential in the area.

But what are commercial real estates and why are they more profitable to investors?

Commercial Real Estate (CRE)
Commercial real estate (CRE) are prime lots (some with existing infrastructures) that are on strategic locations with high commercial value. These properties are mostly for rent or lease where investors get a fixed monthly income from them; however, even though it can help diversify the risk in a retirement portfolio – it is not all pudding and pies. Therefore one has to consider it thoroughly just like any other investment options.

According to the managing director of Real Estate Research in Des Moines, Iowa – Brian Velky, the average American employee had invested over $22 billion in CRE’s this year compared to $10.5 billion in 2009 which sees a 51% increase in their overall investment portfolio.

Rents paid by commercial tenants of office buildings, factories and shopping malls can provide a stable source of income that can serve as a hedge against inflation as the U.S. economy grows.

Commercial real estate returned an average 8.6% a year in combined appreciation and income over the decade ended June 30, according to an index of more than 7,000 U.S. properties compiled by the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. That compares with an annualized 7.8% for the S&P 500, including dividends, and 4.9% for the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, according to data tracker Lipper.

Buying a Real Estate Property
There’s an old joke in commercial real estate: If you think nobody cares you’re alive, just miss a few mortgage payments.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of that going on during the credit crisis that started in 2008, as commercial real estate values went into a freefall. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate, commercial property values fell by 10.6% in the fourth quarter of 2008, alone – the biggest price drop since 1984.

But to savvy real estate investors, times of lower prices typically reveal genuine investment opportunities. For instance, according to a survey by Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, of 1,129 commercial property investors, 51% planned to increase commercial real estate allocations during the 2008 credit crisis.

Vertical Farming

The need of food to sustain the survival of a nation has turn humanity to innovate the way of propagating and growing our foods. Cultivating crops in urban locations using specific contrived skyscrapers is how Vertical Farming works. It is also known as Vertical Hydroponic System. It is widely used as a modern way of farming amongst country having problem in terms of lack in land, fertile fields for crops to grow and harsh environments.

History
Over the years, Vertical Farming has meliorated and as most people may not know that as early as 1950, it is already part of the farming industry. It started as a proposal discussed in Rem Koolhaas’s book; Delirious, published in the year 1909.In this proposition, predefines the idea of cultivating crops in an open air building.

Vertical Farming and Its Breakthrough
Vertical farming has inspired not only by farmers but also engineers and architects on helping building a multi-layers of vertical hydroponics structures that greatly improve the space utilization and also making its infrastructure a dainty and organized. In addition, it supports the development of the appearance and for the easy farming protocols.

Examples of Vertical Farming Products
In most vertical farms, they developed the multi-layers of vertical hydroponics system to maximize a facilities area in terms of the type of crops they are growing. Given an example of tomatoes are grown in a rows of vertically supported structure supporting its stems and its heavy weight as it bare fruits. Another example are lettuces, this vegetable is hydroponically grown in a layers of semi drawers which contains the vegetables and allowing then to harvest with ease. Other indoor farms like in Finger Lakes Fresh Greenhouse, traditional structures of filling the crops are the same.

Environment Control and Energy-Saving Technology
Farmers and agriculturist with the help of the modern technology has brought the way of farming to high efficiency and in terms of quality harvest and custom crops. Enabling these people to worry no more about the biohazards and the risks of their crops may have compared to those grown in the traditional way of farming. Minimizing or completely getting rid of the risk of having soilborne diseases, nematodes and weeds in crops are the benefits of vertical farming.

The use of Light Emitting Diodes (LED)also as an artificial source of light is widely used in vertical farming as part of the process of growing the crops. The advantage of using artificial light advances and increasing the rate of harvesting desirable quality and minimal defects due to the use of these lights, the results are as expected and minimizes too much risks and less exposure to sunlight.

Conclusion
Urban areas in reality have this awaiting shortage of farmlands in the coming years. Population will grow triple so as the need for foods. This vivid innovation of farming will give the mankind not just the chances of surviving but the broad strategies of making farming a dependable way of survival. Thus, vertical farming practically produces crops all year-round. It basically allows the expatiation of cities and at the same time will have constant self-sustaining food products for future needs.

Lab Safety Compliance: Three Important Things to Know when Moving your Laboratory to Another Location

Moving your lab to a different location is a daunting task. Besides having highly volatile chemicals and biological samples, there are other machines with moving parts that are either fragile, expensive, or could potentially cause a disaster if not handled properly. You need to label chemicals before you pack and ship them, thoroughly decontaminate your lab, and then use trucks and other vehicles to transport them to the new location. All the while you have to make sure you’re following strict protocols from regulations imposed by the government for them.

Failure to comply with regulations will result in fines ranging from hundreds of thousands to probably even millions of dollars! It could also cause employee injuries as well as property damage plus more fines from a public lawsuit. The idea alone is staggering to even think of, not to mention what it will take to relocate a lab safely and efficiently.

Here are 3 best tips for you to know about when doing something this big:

Regulatory Bodies
Before relocating your lab, you have to check with government agencies that impose regulations for facilities like yours. Due to the nature of your work or business, you’ll have to understand the facility as well as the transportation regulations when moving lab equipment from one place to another. Therefore, besides complying with EPA, IATA, DOT and OSHA; you also need to comply with the local government agencies or regulatory bodies in the area where you operate. To ensure that you will not miss anything while moving your stuff to a different location, contact regulatory agencies and ask for help to keep things in order. You may also want to hire a logistic consultant or specialist to help you be compliant with all the regulations needed for transporting your lab equipment.

Permits
Of course, regulatory bodies will only allow you to move your stuff if they’ve issued you a permit. You’ll need to hire movers that have DOT permits to transport chemicals and biotech materials. The type of materials, chemicals and biological agents to be transported will determine the kind of permits you will need.

Here are some of the types of permits that you’ll be needing:

•    DEA Controlled Substances Permit
•    Wastewater Discharge Permit
•    Ionizing Radiation Source Registration
•    RCRA Generator Notification
•    Laboratory Animal Use Permits
•    rDNA Permits
•    Select Agents & Toxins Licenses
•    Flammable Storage Permit
•    Radioactive Materials License

Landlord
Try to get the landlord with the program so he won’t have complaints after you’ve left the premises. Sometimes landlord tend to be reserved about how squeaky clean they want their property to be and that can cause some serious legal issues as well.

To avoid this, just follow the ANSI guidelines in decontaminating your laboratory. This is a DIY on how to decontaminate your lab efficiently. If you have enough money to hire a contractor that does lab clean up and who adheres to the ANSI guidelines, then hire them and let them explain to the landlord how the cleanup process will be done, so that he will be more comfortable with you leaving.