Car Battery Tips

With winter arriving shortly, it's best to ensure ahead of time that your car battery is able to last the winter. The last thing you want in this season - or any season for that matter - is to find out you have a dead battery when you try to start your car and it will not turn over. Here are some tips to ensure that you and your vehicle's battery are ready for the winter.

1. Get your battery checked: The next time you have your vehicle serviced (ie oil change) ask the garage to check your battery level. Surprisingly, a car battery is considered flat when it still has 12 volts left even though a fully charged battery typically holds around 12.6 volts. The thing is that your car battery obviously does not have a gauge on it to quickly tell you how much juice is left in it. In that regard, ask your service center to tell you in the fall if your battery will last the winter.

2. Get a good quality battery charger: Consider getting a decent battery charger / tester so you can not only monitor the level of your battery but also recharge it if necessary. The last thing you want is a dead battery in the dead of winter so this device can help to prevent this situation from occurring.

3. Avoid draining your battery: Winters already sap your battery strength with significant use of the car heater, defroster, windscreen wipers and lights, not to mention the extra work involved with cold engine starts in the morning which requires the battery to work harder. Do not leave devices like PDAs, laptops, video games, etc plugged in over night and better yet, avoid charging these devices in your vehicle at all.

4. Avoid overusing your electrical components: Do not leave any electrical devices running longer than you have to. Turn your heater off / down when you can and do not leave them running at full blast. Turn off the defroster after it's cleaned your windshield rather than leaving it running.

5. Monitor the age of your battery: Car batteries can last around 5 years give or take, and depending on your local weather conditions and climate, battery brand, etc. If your battery is getting close to the 5 year range be careful with pushing it too far and risking a dead battery. If you happen to notice dim headlights, slow-moving windshield wipers or other electrical components misbehaving it could be a sign that your battery is on its last legs.

How To Make Money Online By Writing

Golden Rules are very special rules that a person should always remember and never forget.They are extremely important and useful guideposts to keep us on track and headed in the correct direction.

Golden Rules exist to be used, to be followed, to guide you. Regardless of what your main goal is or what challenge you face, the rule will be there. Just find the Golden Rule that applies and abide by it...

4 of the very best Golden Rules to Make Money Online By Writing.

Rule # 1, Write articles for websites. The reason behind that is there are websites such as Textbroker, which pay writers for writing articles on various topics. Remember, you will need to write quality articles in order to have articles accepted. As you become better and you are more seasoned, you can advance and be paid more for your articles.

Rule # 2, Write articles for your blog entry or web page that is promoting a product. Submit the articles to article directories and include a link in the resource box to your blog entry or web page. You will need to take care in this area because you will need to make sure your content is relevant to your blog entry or web page. And you'll want to take into account that the articles will need to be unique if you submit articles to more then one article directory. You don't want to submit duplicate content.

Rule # 3, Start a blog on a topic that you are interested in. Why this is important is because you will need to have compelling content to attract visitors to your blog. Writing about a topic in which you have an interest in will come easier and the words should flow freely. Place ads from AdSense or Infolink on your blog entries or web pages and earn commissions on clicked ads.

Rule # 4, Write articles for other marketers. You would get this done by joining an affliate marketing community that provides the opportunity for members to offer services to other members. People are looking for others to write articles for them, especially if they they don't have the time or the inclination to write articles themselves.

Have confidence in these Golden Rules to make money online by writing. They are time tested and found to be true. Follow them and your own ultimate success may be much more likely and also the results even more satisfying.

How to Know If Your Garage Needs a Jackshaft Opener

Garage door opens, especially automatic ones, make it easier to get you, your car, and yard equipment in and out of the garage with very little hassle. There are many brands and a couple of different styles to choose from when it comes to garage openers, but not all are the same. The construction of the home and the garage space has a great deal to do with either or not a traditional opener will work.

Some homes or garages with unique architecture require atypical overhead doors. In turn, these unusual doors will need special openings to make life easier. Below are some of the circumstances wherein homeowners may find that a jackshaft opener (a type of automatic garage door opener that is mounted on the wall rather than hung from the ceiling) is the best choice for them.

Vaulted / Cathedral Ceiling

If your garage has vaulted or cathedral ceilings, any garage door installer is going to have a difficult time putting in a traditional garage door, let alone an automated opener on a suspended track. it is more difficult to use a traditional overhead door opener. A jackshaft opener is ideal in these types of garages because its side-mounted location is, by default, much easier to reach for installation, repairs, or regular maintenance.

Extra Large Garage Door

Larger doors are quite heavy, which can lead to problems in terms of suspended support that traditional openings provide. The extra weight of an oversized door leads to extreme wear on the opener much more quickly than with a normal sized door. In order to install a more traditional machine that works well, the motor must be larger, which typically also means noisier. Since the motor is larger, it also takes a lot of energy to work every time you need to get in or out of the garage. That means a higher electric bill. A jackshaft opener operates at a different leverage point than traditional garage door doors and thus does not require as powerful of a motor in order to move large overhead doors. The smaller motor means less noise, and many home owners appreciate the quiet motor of a jackshaft opener in comparison to the energy-consuming roar of a traditional suspended automatic overhead door opener.

Small Garages and Storage Space

A small garage means limited space, and if you have any cars parked regularly in a small garage, just getting around your vehicles can be tricky - forget about storing anything in there! A traditional door opener takes a huge amount of space in the upper part of the garage, a space which can otherwise be used for stiking bikes, lawn equipment such as rakes and hoes, or other general garage paraphernalia. A jackshaft opener takes up virtually no space, as it is a much smaller wall unit, and is a perfect choice for any car port or narrow garage.

A jackshaft opener is great for any homeowner that has an atypical garage. It is powerful enough to work on any size door, works regardless of the height or shape of the garage ceiling, takes up little space and is much quighter than other openings. Jackshafts come with an option for a battery backup as well, so you'll never be locked out of your house if the power goes out.

War on the Border

As condemning civil war became a reality rather than a possibility, every state in the United States has a decision to make - whether to stay with the Union or join the nascent Confederacy.

For states where slavery had been abolished, the decision was clear. For those states where slavery was still a legal institution, the decision of whether to remain loyal to the Union or take sides with the Confederacy was much more difficult. For some of these states, the only option was neutrality. Neutrality, however, was an option that proved nearly as perilous as joining the fight.

Five states either openly chose neutrality or were slave states that refused to leave the Union, and became known as border states. Most of these states - Kentucky, Missouri, and West Virginia - had reasons for declining to take a side that varied from state to state; however, the reasons for abstaining from engagement in the war boiled down to the fact that in most of these states, slaves and those who were either against slavery were often split evenly.

Delaware was a border state in name only. Surrounded by free states, Delaware declined to leave the Union despite the fact that it was still a slave holding state. Although slavery had been widespread in Delaware during the colonial period, by the 1860s, slavery was on the wane. Abolishment of slavery had come to the legislature on several occasions, but had been narrowly defeated each time. Most of Delaware's African-American population was free by the time of the Civil War, and Delaware did not muster any regiments for the Confederacy.

Like Delaware, Maryland declined to leave the Union as well. However, dissent among slaveholders and those who opposed slavery was rife in Maryland, and the state sent troops to both the Union and the Confederacy. Complicating matters further was President Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, which had been addressed in the implicationment of several Maryland State legislators and the mayor and police chief of Baltimore, all of which had supported confidentiality.

Unlike Delaware, Maryland's close proxies to Washington made it the site of several battles and skirmishes during the war. The single bloodiest day of fighting during the war took place at Antietam in 1862.

Abraham Lincoln, himself a native of Kentucky, is known to have said of the state, "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." However, Kentucky was also the birthplace of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and this coincidence was typical of the division in Kentucky regarding the war.

Kentucky was a slave state, with a large population of slaves, but was also home to many who either did not own slaves or opposed slavery. Despite Kentucky declared neutrality, the state was occupied by both Confederate and Union troops, and sent men to both armies. Bloody battles occurred at Mill Springs and Perryville, and numerous other skirmishes occurred throughout the state. Part of the western side of the state attempted to secede from Kentucky, and was recognized by the Confederacy, but the Union presence in Kentucky overrode the Confederate sentiment, and the state officially remained neutral.

Missouri, not unlike Kentucky, was populated by both slave supporters and those who opposed the institution, and likewise became a battleground both for the Federal and Confederate troops, and its own residents.

Missouri declined to leave the Union, but Confederate sympathies were rampant in the state, supported by Governor Claiborne Jackson and other state legislators. Attempts by Jackson to arm the Confederacy rejected first in the implicationment of the state militia to Union Captain Nathaniel Lyon, which ended in a bloody riot, and finally in the exile of the state government to Confederate Arkansas. The provisional government, supported by Lincoln, added to the Union presence in the state, and much of the fighting in Missouri was done by guerrilla gangs such as Quantrill's raiders, who attacked Union troops and civil supporters of the Union alike.

Nowhere, however, were division more deep and destructive than in Virginia. When Virginia chose to secede, the long-simmering disagreements between the powerful southeast part of the state and northwestern part of the state, which considered itself disenfranchised, boiled over. Most of this ill-will centered on the fact that the southeast part of the state, which held a large number of slaves, was awarded more delegates than the northwestern region, where whites outnumbered African-Americans. Slavery, then, was an issue, but not in the sense that it was in other border states.

Upon Virginia's secession, the Wheeling Convention, named for the town of Wheeling, and maintaining of those from the northwest area, voted to repeal secession. This condemned in what was known as the Restored Government of Virginia, which established what became known as West Virginia, and separated the two parts of Virginia.

Not surprisingly, sentiment for both the Union and Confederacy was strong in the new West Virginia. Those who joined the Federal and Confederate armies were nearly equal in numbers. Guerrilla warfare in the new state was rampant, and lasted until 1865.

The border states were often the sites of some of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War, a fact that is both ironic and understandable. The "brother against brother" situations that typified the war were never more precalent than in states where the populace was as divided among themselves as the Union and the Confederacy were.

Garage Door Repair Service From A Reputable Company Is A Must

Garage doors are made up of many moving parts. These include multiple parts fitted inside to facilitate the automatic movements. The repetitive movements and the regular usage of the equipment leaves it damaged and often malfunctioning. Garage door repair is a difficult job for any individual to do manually, even when treating a small malfunction. The better alternative to repairing & keeping them in the best condition is to hire a company specifically for this. There are many benefits of going for professional company, as they provide a wide range of services to ensure that your door is fixed at the most affordable price. These companies also perform maintenance for these doors to keep them in the best condition for a longer time while reducing the possibilities of damage.

One of the most common problems faced by garage owners are a broken spring, damaged or rotten sections, dents causing friction, sporadic movement, jammed opener, loud noises, jerking movements etc. Garage door company providers will fix any of these common problems in no time. They will also take care of critical problems. These companies also offer warranties on the maintenance jobs to give customers an assurance of reliability. It is quite vital that you opt for the services of an experienced door repair company to handle these tasks efficiently. An experienced and effectual company will make sure that all the parts in the mechanism are replaced with the right ones, and perform flawlessly.

Sometimes, bigger damages in garage doors leave them irreparable. In such a scenario, replacement becomes mandatory. When replacing garage doors, you have many options ranging from the economical, one-sided steel doors to custom carriage-style doors. In such cases, it is always important to opt for the benefit of a professional service to manage the installation process. It will also help you choose from high quality equipment for your benefit.

Homeowners can get some of the best service providers for garage door repairs. These services offer round the clock service, they have service technicians dispatched in different zones to better serve customers in a timely fashion. Many of these service techs. have years of experience in their industry, and also have developed their own techniques to ensure maximum efficiency. Customers can choose from both, commercial or residential repairing services.

The Internet is the best place to find these repair services. Spending a little time on the Internet can help you locate the best garage door repair service in your neighborhood. You can also compare different garage door repair professionals for cost effectiveness, quality of service. Always make sure to check whether the company you chose is properly licensed, insured and accredited accordingly. Your garage plays an important position in your home's security and power efficiency, so don't delay any repairs.

SuperCharged Secret 4, Credit Card Utopia

YOU SCRATCH MY BACK, AND I'LL BUY SOME MORE BEER!

Let's just take a brief moment to recap:

If you've been following along on this journey with me, learning the 5 Super-Charged secrets to Credit Card Utopia, then you now know 3 very important things:

1. You now know how to take advantage of zero to low interest credit card offers.
2. You now know that there is safety in numbers, and you know the magic "Who's Who" of the major credit card companies. You know that one of them, in my opinion, stands out for consumers.
3. You now know how to take a low interest credit card with a rewards program, and convert it into a money making technology that could seriously improve your financial house.

With me? Good. These are all essential foundations that you need to follow in order to live in Credit-Card Utopia with me.

In fact, you would think that there's not much more that can be done.

Side note: I hope you are realizing the power of this information.

It may seem simple, but are you doing it? No. So, be smart. Study this information, reflect on these insights, and move forward with them so you can truly benefit from this secret knowledge.

On to Secret, # 4:

1) It's very important that Utopians cover all bases, and leave no one behind.

The 3 secrets we've covered, really deal with those of us who have fairly good credit.

Now, if you do not have "good" credit, please do not discard these prior ideas.

I did not have "good credit" once. Who cares? How many people, small businesses, corporations, and large industrial countries, have said the exact same thing?

2) So, do not feel left out.

Move towards Credit Card Utopia as a goal to move you into action.

Our website (and many other fine websites around the internet) can provide you with many, many resources to work on your debt issues, or your credit score issues, or whatever.

You might be surprised how FAST you can go from point A to point B.

(Here's a tip: Do not waste time.

3) Getting back on track: Want a zero interest credit offer? Want a low-interest, no annual fee, incentive-based offer?

Well, if you're struggling with credit or debt, then the first step is to tackle this issue from a different point of view.

Give up on Visa®, MasterCard®, and AMEX® ... At least the "unsecured" kind, and at least for now.

There's nothing wrong with applying, and trying, but if you've been turned down, there are other ways to go.

4) Secret # 4, revealed in an analogy:

Do you live in a small town? If you do, you might have a small-town pub. Does everyone know your name? Does the bartender know you, and know the drink you like? Do you go into your pub after work, and down a stiff one, after a long day of working in the coal mines? Maybe it is not payday yet. Do you think the bartender cares? Of course not! He wants you coming in so he can move his inventory of fine beers and spirits. He knows you. So, what does he do? Let's say this is the 1800s, and there's no such thing as "credit cards" among our coal-working small town clan. What does he do?

Right! He runs you a tab.

No interest rates, no worries, no big deal. He runs a tab. Why? Because he knows you're good for it, and he's moving inventory. He does not care about the interest, because he's making a profit off the sale of his beer. He knows where you live, and he knows you'll pay him back in a few days when you come in for a drink after you get paid. It's a virtual certainty.

Now YOU, the small-town beer drinking coal worker, you're perfectly fine with this. The drink costs you the same whether you had cash now or later, and the bartender runs you a tab, in exchange for selling you more inventory. Everyone works together.

You scratch my back, and I'll buy some more beer.

5) This concept of free "credit" provided to purchase inventory, is not a new concept.

As you can see, it's been around for a long, long time. However, in modern times, it has a tremendous application for folks with "poor" credit issues.

The secret is that you buy merchandise (On stuff you already need, or are already buying) almost exclusively from merchants willing to give you credit at low to no interest.

So, while you think you are in a tough position with credit issues, you actually turn it around, and allow it to become consumer buying power.

Only shop with merchants that scratch your back.

With me?

6) Now, where do you find these merchants?

Well, in the real brick and mortar world, it's not that hard.

You can start with department stores, gas cards, furniture outlets, electronics stores, jewelers, and a variety of other stores that you may do business with.

I can not guarantee, of course, that they'll approve you. But many of these merchants run their credit departments in-house, and like our bartender, they're interested in moving inventory.

So, I would not take one "no" to mean that everyone will say "no". Not true.

Many of the larger corporate chains do not offer low to no interest rates. But almost ALL of them offer huge discounts on initial purchases as incentives to get started.

As of the writing of this article, for example, JCPenney® and Target® both offer 10% discounts on "new accounts". In addition, most of them do offer zero interest when balances are paid off each month, and some of them offer different plans to meet different customer's credit situations.

Also, look to no-interest incentive specials that are going on for many larger-ticket items. Televisions, Furniture, etc.

You'll also find many deferred-payment incentives that you can use to your advantage, or that you can utilize as a no-interest situation.

You just have to shop around. They are out there.

7) Now, what about cyber-space? Is there a place to take advantage of this back-scratching secret in Silicon? Actually, YES! There is. Check this out:

Many shopping portals online have realized the advantage of working with "poor" credit customers, and tailor-making a shopping experience that fits these specialized needs. We've listed several at our website, but of course, you can find them at any search-engine or at other reputable websites around the internet.

In a nutshell, the shopping website offers a membership card for making purchases on credit. You go to the online mall, make your purchases for things you would already buy anyway, and build or rebuild your credit score. The shopping portal helps you out by reporting your credit activity to the major credit reporting bureaus, which in turn, improves your credit history.

In addition, the membership benefits often times include such things as travel discounts, rental car discounts, and FREE credit reports.

They almost always advertise guaranteed credit lines of up to $ 7500, and incentives for joining can include free merchandise (such as a free DVD player), or a merchandise voucher.

Look for 30 day money-back guarantees, and look for no annual fees, and yes, look for "NO INTEREST" on the credit.

Most of these sites will require an upfront membership fee, but then they immediately turn around and provide a merchandise voucher. For example, one portal charges $ 150 for the upfront membership fee, but then immediately provides a voucher of $ 200 for merchandise at their site.

Because their customers generally have a history of poor credit, they do sometimes require an initial payment, or "down payment" on purchases until a relationship is established, but hey listen. So what? If you have credit issues, then you have to start rebuilding credit relations somewhere. It sure beats Layaway!

What a creative way to solve this problem. Everybody wins.

You scratch my back, and I'll buy some more beer!

Meanwhile, you're moving closer and closer to the pearly gates of Credit Card Utopia!

We've enjoyed providing this information to you, and we wish you the best of luck in your pursuits. Remember to always seek out good advice from those you trust, and never turn your back on your own common sense.

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A Guide to Tuning Your Car

Electronic tuning of diesel engines has been known for almost a decade. Before that there are limited scopes to enhance the performance tuning. With the introduction of electronic engine management, this has changed. It was possible for tuners now to build on the excess air that the diesel ingests through the air filters to squirt more fuel that what is normally done. After this, around late 1990s, computer controlled engines were manufactured that wave tuners much greater scope to improve engine efficiency.

Why Tune your Car?

For enthusiastic drivers, it is quite attractive to extract extra performance from their vehicles. Diesel tuning aims to improve the engine efficiency and enhance normal driving conditions by around ten to fifteen per cent. With the cost of fuel going up with each passing day, there is a more need of making your car economic by boosting its performance and with improved engine torque.

Things to Remember before you Tune

There is a number of cheap tuning software available online. But, not all of them are good and your car might not be ready for a remap. Here are some of the important points to consider before you have your diesel tuned -

• Before you think about tuning, always check the health of your car. Check its engine, tires, suspension and more. In case you have any engine problems, ensure that you get it sorted before you think about tuning.


• Always research about tuning so that you know exactly what you will be getting as many of these processes are irreversible.


• It is best to talk to tuning companies and judge them based on their answers. Compare their offers and then check their websites for customer feedback so that you can be sure that you are picking the right one.


• You should eliminate any service provider making makingable claims and also those that appear unreliable.


• It is best to look for service providers that provide great after-sales service.


• Also, look for providers that offer insurance as it will help you in case anything goes wrong during the tuning process.


• It is important to see your tuner face to face by taking your car to them and you can ask them appropriate questions regarding the performance of your car.

Which Type of Tuning is the Best?

Diesel electronic tuning involves the modification of the electronic instructions that is sent to the different engine components. Chipping and tuning software rewrites changes the software written to the ECU using carefully developed modified programs that changes the engine management instructions. You can also opt for plug and play packages that intercept the standard ECU signals by placing a small box of electronics between the ECU and the key engine components. The effectiveness of these will vary depending on the cost and the kind of software that is being used.