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About Me Once you have made a list of business you want to get into, you will want to research each one so that you can see a few different things and will be able to compare the choices. It does not matter if the business is going to be in the US or in Singapore you need to be sure to make the right business choice that is going to work for you. One thing that you will want to compare is the startup cost. The next thing that you will want to compare would be the potential for the business.

Common Canine Diseases Pet Owners Should Know About

Dogs often try to hide their illnesses from their owners, but it’s impossible not to notice any signs especially when you observe the eating habits. As a pet owner, it is your responsibility to keep the dog happy and healthy, but even with complete annual vaccinations, your dog is still vulnerable to diseases.

These are the common canine illnesses you should watch out for.

Worms

Your dog may have a worm infestation if it exhibits any of the following symptoms: changes in appetite, diarrhea, vomiting, and weight loss. The treatment will depend on the type of worms the dog has, but is usually treated with oral medications. Try not to treat it the dog yourself without consulting the veterinarian, because the same medication will not work on all parasites. However, prevention is easier than curing an infestation, especially in cases of heartworm disease.

Ear Infections

An ear infection may be caused by bacteria, yeast, mites, and other problems. Keep an eye out for the following symptoms, so that your dog can get treated as soon as possible: unusual odor from the ears, frequent head shaking or tilting, redness or swelling in the ears, ear discharge, loss of balance, and unusual eye movements. If the dog has chronic ear infection, it may be caused by a more serious health problem.

Kennel Cough

Coughing may be a symptom of allergies, asthma, distemper, flu, parvovirus, pneumonia, hepatitis, and heart disease. Kennel cough, however, is the generic term for tracheobronchitis in dogs caused by viral or bacterial infection. Kennel cough will usually go away after a maximum of 3 weeks, but if it persists, you should take the dog to a veterinarian.

Constipation or Diarrhea

Constipation may be caused by diet changes, lack of exercise, liver or prostate disease, worms, and stress. If a healthy diet does not eliminate the problem within a week, you need to take the dog to a veterinarian for a check-up. Diarrhea on the other hand, might be caused by worms, infections, parvovirus, and bad food. The dog should be taken to the veterinarian if the diarrhea persists for more than 24 hours, because there is a risk of dehydration. Look out for signs of bloody stools, vomiting, and fever as well.

Fleas

It’s more difficult to treat a flea infestation than to prevent it, because of the flea’s ability to adapt to the environment and its speed of reproduction. Your dog will exhibit the following signs if it has fleas: scratching, hair loss, inflamed or red areas, allergic dermatitis, and flea dirt that look like black specks. Some fleas carry diseases and other parasites, that’s why you need to address flea infestation immediately with shampoos, sprays, and oral medication.

4 Simple, Easy, and Cheap Ways You Can Treat Yourself

Treating yourself to something once in a while is great, but while you may think that it means splurging on something huge, this doesn’t always have to be the case – you can still enjoy yourself without breaking the bank to do so.

Here are a few simple and easy ways you can treat yourself after a long, hard day, or as a motivation to keep you working hard and achieve your goals without the expense:

1. Give yourself a few minutes to do nothing
When you’ve finally finished a task that’s been the centre of your attention for a long while, there’s always a joy that comes with finally seeing it through. Once you’ve finally seen the task to completion, be sure to give yourself a few minutes to do nothing.

This will not only give you the much-needed breathing room that’s crucial after every major task, but will also let you reboot your mind when you have to plan for something else.

This doesn’t just extend to office tasks, but also for your overall life plans – once you’re finally done filing out certain paperwork to get something you’ve been meaning to, a few deep breaths doing nothing will really help you out.

2. Take a shower and a nap
Once everything on your plate for the day or the week is done, the first thing you want to do is to physically and mentally unwind, and you can do that with a good shower and a nice, long nap.

This is also a good opportunity for you to change your sheets at home – there’s nothing quite like the smell and feel of fresh sheets coupled with a shower after a long day.

You can also choose to have an early night with this, especially if you’ve been working overtime on a particular task, and put off chores and other tasks until the morning after.

3. Do something small that you enjoy
Whether it’s having a go at your favourite bike trail or simply curling up with a good book at home, now’s the time to finally do it – especially when you have stacks of books piling up in your room that you’ve been meaning to read but never found the time.

If you prefer the outdoors, taking up your running shoes or your bike is also a great idea and a welcome break from the monotony of office life.

4. Take the day off
If you work a traditional 9-5 or 8-6 job, taking a vacation day just for yourself might just be what you need to unwind – and sometimes, the best thing that you can give yourself isn’t material possessions, but time.

How to Relieve Your Lower Back Pain after Sitting Too Much

Most people will experience back pain at least once in their life, and it’s essentially a guarantee since almost everyone will find themselves working long hours at a desk job at some point.

Back pain often triggers because of a lot of daily tasks accumulating pressure on your back. Because sitting puts a lot of pressure on your spine, nutrition and toxins don’t get transported properly because of this, which leads to the joints being damaged in the long run.

Here are a few, easy steps you can take to relieve your back pain, especially when you’re at work:

1. Understand the basics of posture.
Posture is how you hold your body, whether you’re standing up, sitting down, or performing different tasks. Correct alignment of vertebra, or spine, means that your posture is good, while a poor alignment of your spine means that your posture is bad.

This poor alignment can either be the result of a poor cervical and lumbar curve (which you get when you slouch), or a sharp and exaggerated spinal curve (which you get when you stand too stiffly).

Ideally, you want to sit straight on a chair with good lumbar (lower back) support, as this will take a lot of the weight and pressure off of your spinal column and vertebral bones.

2. Stand up every now and then.
If your work involves you sitting down for long periods of time, standing up every now and then can work wonders in reducing any discomfort you feel, especially if that pain is in your lower back.

Taking a short walk can also do a lot to not just get your mind off your back pain, but also to improve your mood with fresh air and a change of scenery for a few minutes.

This serves as a way for you to “reboot” your mind before going back to your tasks, even if it’s just going to the water cooler for a drink, or having a cup of coffee at work.

3. Do stretch exercises.
Stretching should also help you a lot, along with a few easy exercises you can do while you’re at your desk:

• Shoulder-blade squeeze – Start by sitting up straight in your chair with your hands rested on your thighs. From a resting position, with your shoulders down and your chin on level with the ground, slowly draw them back.
Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold while counting slowly to five. Relax and repeat.

• Arm-across-chest stretch – Raise either your right or left arm to shoulder level in front of you, and bend towards you while still staying level to the floor. Use the opposite hand and pull across your chest. Hold for twenty seconds. Do this to each arm in sets of three.

A Guide to Different Types of Locks and Keys

With so many options to choose from in mechanical and digital locks and keys, it can be overwhelming trying to pick one for your apartment in Singapore. Fortunately, your trusted locksmith services company is equipped with the tools and know-how for the installation, maintenance, replacement, and repair of locks and keys.

Availing the assistance of a locksmith is crucial in times of emergency. To give you an idea about the available choices in the event you lost your keys in Singapore, here is a list of locks and keys for car or home key duplication.

Types of Keys
• Transponder Key. This is common in most cars that use a radio signal to activate the vehicle once it is inserted in the ignition. If you lost your transponder car key, you can only get a replacement from a car locksmith because it is very difficult to duplicate a key of this type, as they are designed to avoid theft.

• Double or Four-Sided Key. Most apartments that use mechanical locks need a double-sided or a four-sided key. A four-sided key makes it more difficult for a burglar to unpick your lock.

• Paracentric Key. It is designed to open a paracentric lock which has small picks at the end. You will find this in high-security buildings.

• Dimple. To unlock the door with this type of key, the dimples must match the pins on the lock. It can also be difficult to pick.

• Keycard. This looks like a regular plastic card, but it has a magnetic strip which the door mechanism reads before you can unlock a door.

Types of Locks
• Padlock. Some padlocks nowadays are either combination locks that need a series of numbers to be unlocked or key/non-key retaining. They can still be broken by burglars, so you might want to consider another lock installation option.

• Knob Lock. This is the most common door locks that have a rotatable knob and cylinder. They are quite easy to bypass so the locksmith service usually recommends installing it with other types of locks.

• Deadbolt. This is the lock recommended for external doors, because they cannot be picked easily or even broken by brute force. Contact a 24 hour locksmith to repair a lock or replace it entirely if there is a sign of forced entry.

• Electronic Lock. It operates with the use of electric current and can be locked or unlocked remotely.

• Card/Fob/Fingerprint Lock. These are high-tech locks called access systems that are programmed professionally to limit access. Locksmith services can install security systems as sophisticated as these.

• Standard Key Car Entry. If you are still using an older car model in Singapore, you’re most likely using a standard key for the vehicle which looks similar to a mechanical door key. They are less secure, but you can find a Singapore car locksmith to have an emergency key duplicate the moment you realize “I lost my car keys.”

• Electronic Car Lock. To unlock car doors of these cars, you will likely be asked to provide a code. With this level of sophistication, they can also be difficult to duplicate or replace when lost. It will be also difficult for you to unlock car doors by yourself if you forgot the code. Contact a professional key maker in case you have lost your key to avoid theft.

• Keyless Car Entry. For those who have a habit of forgetting things, this might be the best option because you don’t need a physical key anymore. You either punch a code on the keypad or use it in combination with a key fob. It is the most secure lock for your car but only a locksmith services company is licensed to replace or fix broken locks.

Should You Hire a Painter for Your Home?

House painting and/or condo painting is probably the simplest type of renovation you can do in your home. You just need a brush and paint and you’re good to go. But is it really as easy as that? No, not at all! There are many more factors that you might overlook and many mistakes may happen. So, you might want to leave it to the experts and call for painting services.

Why do it?
There are many reasons to hire a painter in Singapore whether it be services for a room in your house, or a whole HDB flat. Hiring a good painting contractor also gives you a lot of benefits like professional assistance, quality selection of paint, and even allow you to save money.

• Choice of paint
In commercial painting service, you’re consulting a qualified person about which type of paint is the best to use for your house or condo in Singapore. Your commercial painting contractor can also give you advice on how to choose good colours for your wall as well as different parts of the house.
Paint used in interior house painting can also be different from the ones used for the exterior. Outdoor paint can be strong and weather-resistant but can be strong enough to damage the lungs when inhaled constantly, hence it is not ideal to be used indoors. Being able to distinguish and tell you the difference between the two is another advantage of having a good residential paint contractor.

• Professional service
As long as you’re not opting for cheap house painting, good painting services can offer you professional help and also finish with quality results. A paint contractor for hdb homes knows the most cost and time-efficient methods to paint the wall of a room or house, and also the different conditions (e.g. climate) that the paint can withstand. So, it’s best to consider hdb painting as an investment for your future home.

Hiring an HDB painting contractor to do services for your HDB flat can also be a good choice. You will not have to worry much about their authenticity because they are already sanctioned by the Housing and Development Board. An HDB painting service can be as reliable as it is functional.

• Can help you save
Making a mistake with paint can cause you a lot of money without you even noticing it. Obviously, the cost of paint increases the higher quality it is. So, you don’t want to make unnecessary mistakes if you want to save money. The best painter will use the best methods in applying the paint in a way that it is cost-efficient, while still having a quality finish.

In maintaining the good quality of paint on walls and other parts of the house, wall cleaning is also considered a great option. Talk to your local painter for available pressure washing for walls options in Singapore near you.

A commercial painting service will also tell you about how light can affect how the room will look with the paint you used. If you do the job on your own, you might overlook the way the paint looks with the light on or off. Again, this will help you save because your making one less mistake.

When you’re stuck in a choice between doing the painting on your own or calling for painting services, just choose to seek the aid of the experts. Whether it be for condo painting, indoor, or outdoor house painting, you definitely will not regret it.

Tell-Tale Signs of Oral Cancer

Oral cancer can be treated if the disease is detected early, but most people tend to ignore the symptoms because they associate it with other mouth illnesses. What should you look for to determine if there is a mouth problem, cancer or benign, that needs to be addressed?

Symptoms of Oral Cancer
Oral cancer can affect one or many parts of the mouth or oral cavity such as the lips, lip and cheeks tissues, gums, the front two-thirds of the tongue, floor or the area under the tongue, and the roof of the mouth.

Most of the cases of oral cancer begin on the squamous cells, or the cells that cover the surfaces of the lips and tongue. So how does oral cancer start? One of the tell-tale signs of squamous cancer cells is a patch that looks red (erythroplakia), white (leukoplakia or keratosis) or a combination of both (erythroleukoplakia). You will not feel any pain, but some could feel velvety when probed, and there could also be lesions, too. If this patch doesn’t disappear after 2 weeks, you need to visit a doctor.

Sores, which can be found on any part of the oral cavity, should be painful to be considered normal (or a canker sore). If you notice any lump or sore, but there is no pain, you need to have it looked at. Some of the lesions aren’t noticeable, that is why you need to examine your mouth in front of a mirror at least once a month.

Some symptoms, however, are more noticeable, such as; a persistent sore/crust, lump in the cheek, thickening in the cheek, swellings, pain and tenderness, numbness, difficulty moving the tongue or jaw, difficulty chewing or swallowing, loose teeth, recurrent sore throat and hoarseness, feeling of a lump stuck in the throat, a lump in the neck, persistent bad breath, and pain in the ears without hearing loss.

Screening of Oral Cancer
Your dentist will usually examine your oral cavity for problems during routine check-ups, that is why you should visit at least twice a year (every 6 months) to address oral health issues besides cancer. Even if you don’t need any cleaning or extraction, you should still visit your dentist, especially if you’re at risk of developing oral diseases.

So, what puts a person at risk? Lifestyle is a factor in the development of oral cancer such as smoking and alcohol abuse, prolonged exposure to sunlight (remember that your lips are part of your mouth), acquiring sexually-transmitted diseases like human papillomavirus, acquiring severe lichen planus, and an unhealthy diet among people older than 40 years.

If your dentist suspects that you have cancer, a biopsy is usually recommended after a closer physical examination of the mouth and face. Treatment is determined by the progress of the disease and the location of the cancer. Common treatments include surgery (removal of the cancer and affected tissues or to ease symptoms if the cancer is advanced), radiotherapy (either brachytherapy or external beam radiotherapy), photodynamic therapy, and chemotherapy.

What the Heck are Boils?

You may have noticed a skin growth that looks similar to a pimple, but then it starts to grow bigger and feel more painful. Maybe that growth is a boil, or in medical terms, a furuncle. It’s a bacterial infection of the skin, specifically the hair follicles (hence, folliculitis), that can grow up to the size of a golf ball and looks like an oversized pimple.

How Boils Form
The boil is a deep infection that will look like it has several heads or it could also be a huge pimple with an abscess, which contains pus. They form when the naturally-occurring bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (other bacteria and fungi can also cause boils) enters a hair follicle wall or oil gland when there is an injury to the skin. This bacterium populates the armpits, between the legs, the area between the buttocks, and the nostrils, that’s why most boils also form in these areas. The bacteria will thrive in the hair follicle and that’s when the pus starts to accumulate, and the boil grows bigger within 10 days.

Sometimes a person with boils might experience fever due to the infection of the surrounding tissue called cellulitis. It’s also possible to have more than one boil or to have boils that appear as a group with several heads called carbuncle. These are symptoms of a more serious infection that needs immediate attention.

The boils are not caused by poor hygiene, but boils are also related to other medical conditions such as iron deficiency, anemia, diabetes, eczema, obesity, and immune deficiency. Athletes who share equipment and people who also live in poorly ventilated and tightly-packed areas (such as prisons) are also prone to having boils.

How to Get Rid of Boils
They look disgusting, alright, but before you laugh, you should get them treated to avoid complications such as blood or tissue sepsis, bone/heart/brain/spinal cord infection, abscesses in other organs, and scarring.

Boils are usually treated by drainage or incision and do not need oral medication. But for recurring boils and serious infections, the doctor might prescribe an antibiotic that you need to take for several weeks and an ointment or antiseptic that should be applied on the boils. You will also be advised to observe proper hygiene by using antibacterial or antiseptic soap for a week and to clean the skin with 70% isopropyl alcohol everyday for a week.

If you live with your family, they will also be advised to follow the same cleaning routine to stop the spread of the infection.

Some people will also need special antibiotics such as rifampicin and clindamycin. In severe cases like antibiotic resistance, a culture is recommended.

To prevent the recurrence of the infection, you will need to observe the following practices:

• Reduce weight if you are obese
• Quit or avoid smoking
• Wash your hands thoroughly several times a day
• Bathe everyday
• Avoid sharing of personal items such as towels
• Change your clothes everyday
• Taking iron supplements (if you’re iron-deficient)
• Decrease the sugar in your diet
• Practice proper wound care

Why You Should Call the Professionals and Not Do Plumbing Yourself

Ever thought to fix broken pipes yourself? Of course, you can do it on your own! But without proper knowledge, you might buy the wrong materials, damage the toilet bowl by accident, or move a pipe that you’re not supposed to move. Even when you think you’re perfectly capable, it’s better to just call for plumbing services.

Why call a plumbing service?

Before anything else it is important to know the difference between a plumber and a plumbing contractor. The former handles repairs of the plumbing system, like getting rid of a toilet bowl choke and repairing leaking or bursting pipes. The latter, on the other hand, can do the tasks of a plumber but can also do other complex jobs. To install a sink, constructing the waste disposal system, even maintenance and repair are among the things that can be done by a contractor.

For one, you may find instructions in the internet on how to fix a faucet, or install water heaters, or how to cover a leaking pipe. You can certainly do all of this on your own. But, even though there are instructions on the internet, the problems you may face or the side-effects of what you are doing wrong are not clearly presented at all. The difference between you and the best plumbing workmen is that they know the ins and outs of the plumbing system like the back of their hand. Compared to seeing instructions online, they have done these tasks many times in actuality and with genuine practice.

Cheap plumbers aren’t very hard to come by as well. Whether you need an urgent servicing of toilet bowl or just want to reduce the plumbing cost, you can easily get a service from local contractors here in Singapore. But, do ensure that they are licensed and certified plumbers to guarantee immediate and quality results.

Licensed plumbers

A PUB licensed plumber in Singapore provides professional services such as:
• Bathroom plumbing – fix toilet bowl, toilet leak, etc.;
• Kitchen plumbing – fix clogged kitchen sink, damaged faucet, etc.;
• Cleaning and ventilating the pipe;
• And many more.

For an HDB flat, calling an HDB plumbing contractor should be ideal because they can easily be reached as they are already associated with the Housing and Development Board. They are also reliable and very much capable of getting the job done.

24/7 emergency services

There are always times when a pipe, toilet, or faucet becomes damaged in the middle of the night. A 24 hours plumber will be your hero (actually the best and only option you may have) when disaster strikes at nighttime. They are most likely licensed plumbers so you don’t really have to worry about them making mistakes.

Having a reliable plumber, even at the dead of night, will take a heavy burden off you shoulder. Especially if you’ve been facing a lot of problems with your plumbing system, knowing that there is an emergency plumber that you can call at any time of the day will save you from all the worry.

If you think hard about it, you can say that plumbing services are very practical for our lives. We may overlook it, but sometimes we even get more problems regarding our plumbing system more than we get sick ourselves. So, never hesitate to call for a plumber, they are there for a reason!

6 Ways to Avoid Overspending

If you find yourself relying too much on paydays and they seem too far away from each other – then you’re splurging on items way out of your budget. You spend a little too much on luxury items such as clothes, electronics or even vacations.

So before you blow-off your next paycheck before you even receive it, here’s a few tips to help you curve your over-the-top spending habits and stay within the limits:

1. Track everything. Since we do almost everything online nowadays, you could also do this step virtually or by traditional paper and pen. All you have to do is to categorize different inflow and outflow of money. Just identify expenses and types of income.

2. Get your total assets. Add up every source of income you have, whether from salary, wages, tips and other sources you may have. Even project-based ones, you have to list them down each month you receive them. Experts say that you shouldn’t rely only on one source of income, as this may post constraints for you. Make those free time productive by engaging in profit-enabling activities.

3. Get your total liabilities. Next up, total all your payables. These fixed expenses include utility, credit card, mortgage bills or rent, and whatever else you have to settle each month. For credit bills, make sure you know the terms before swiping purchases. Don’t allow those enticing discounts and offers get the best of you. Have a masterlist of existing credits so you don’t lose track of what to settle next. Be careful and be vigilant of your payables.

4. Prepare for the unexpected. We all have those splurges and what better way to overcome them is to prepare for them. Don’t shy away from those luxuries because pampering can motivate you further to earn for yourself and your family. These type of unexpected or variable spending needs to be allotted accordingly to avoid spilling over and cutting short fixed expenses. Get your old receipts and from there, template your variable expenses. Don’t be strict though, as too tight budgets make you crave for splurges even more.

5. Save. Instead of waiting for what’s left from your budget, squeeze in savings as part of what you have to allot budget for. They should also be prioritized as they play an important part of your financial freedom. Savings shouldn’t be neglected, as they form a buffer if emergencies happen.

6. Dry run. Test out your budget plan and adjust figures until you get the right combination for each category. Adjust amounts until you get the right blend of all your expenses and splurges. Don’t forget to key in all your earnings. If your overhead expenses just won’t budge, you might want to try another source of income on top of what you’re already earning.

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