The Belly of the Beast.
Gentlemen, start your engines!!!
You don’t have to be a pilot like your friend, Sky, to appreciate this amazing video of a Boeing 747 taking off and landing with a camera secured to the nose gear. The music isn’t too bad, either.
Enjoy!
Should Your Home Have a Portable Power Pack?
Portable power packs have been around for a while but are starting to gain in popularity; partly because their cost has come down and because they are extremely useful products. I personally own a Xantrex 300 plus and have used it on several occasions. Once on a hot summer day at a shopping mall, a fellow having a bad day ask if I could help him jump start his car. I pulled out my Xantrex Power Pack 300, that had been in the trunk for almost a year, attached the included jumper cables to his car and volia, his is car started right up.
A portable power pack is a device that has a powerful sealed battery, an inverter, jumper cables, a DC outlet (cigarette lighter style) and an AC outlet. It also includes a bright fluorescent light with two tubes and a small pump with pressure gauge, to inflate your tires. The 20 amp hour rechargeable battery (in the 400 and 300 plus) will power a cordless telephone for up to 40 hours, a laptop for 6 hours and a portable stereo for up to 25 hours on a fully charged battery. They can be recharged from a standard wall outlet with the included AC charger.
There are several sizes of portable power packs, 300, 400 600 and 1500. The model number indicates the size of the inverter – 300 watts, 400 watts 600 watts and 1500 watts respectively. The wattage number is also the amount of peak AC power that is available. Each size has a battery with a different amp hour rating. The 300 and 400 have a 20 amp hour battery. The 600 has a 28 amp hour battery and the 1500 has a 51 amp hour battery. It is not quite as portable as the other models but packs a considerable punch. All of the batteries in all of the models are sealed and will not spill. All of the power packs include a handle and are very portable. The 300 plus only weighs 20 pounds but the 1500 weighs in at whopping 60 pounds. That is why the 1500 is the only model with wheels.
All of the power packs have the same basic features but the models with higher numbers include additional features. The 400R includes a radio. The 600HD includes a radio, digital alarm clock and multiple AC outlets. There is even a model with a detachable solar panel. Just a little research into what features and how much power you might need will pay off in the long run.
Portable power packs are great to use as emergency back up power to jump start a car or to light up an area on a dark road. They will keep a cell phone or a GPS charged up with out draining the car battery. There are also a lot of uses that are just plain fun. Take one along to the summer little league game and plug a fan into it. Take one camping and plug an electric cook top into it or use it for extra light. They can power a stereo for a tailgate or any other outdoor party. If you use a laptop out in the field, take one along to greatly extend your battery life. The power packs are really not all that expensive with pricing starting around $140. Throw one in the trunk of your car and you will be prepared for just about anything.
For more information on portable power packs or additional unique products check out www.UniqueSolarProducts.com
Check out the Xantrex XP Powerpack 400 Plus Radio Portable Battery Integrated – 852-1900-01
Powered by a rechargeable battery XPower Powerpack 400R provides up to 400 watts of AC power It can jump start a car truck boat or small RV and includes a built-in air compressor for inflating tires small sport and camping equipment. $133.21
Do You Suffer from “Irritable Home Syndrome”?
What’s worse than penis envy and more expensive to fix?
Answer: big, fancy houses, houses that are bigger than yours, more elegant houses, houses that scream “I’ve made it!” while in your psyche, the opposite message tearing out your self-confidence: “I didn’t make it.”
With all the emphasis on large estates, McMansions, home improvement mania, and that killer green monster inside most of us, it is no surprise that many homeowners are suffering from what is not called “Irritable Home Syndrome.”
According to health psychologist David Moxon, bombarded by images of luxury lifestyles, home makeovers and celebrity homes, the pressure to keep up home appearances leaves almost one in five of us feeling stressed, depressed or worried by negative feelings about where we live.
He believes that, as our homes are increasingly seen as a reflection of our personalities, we are becoming increasingly affected by negative feelings about where we live.
Writing in the Aberdeen (NZ) Press and Journal, Susam Welsh lists the five main signs that you might have “Irrirable House Syndrome” –
- Deliberately wanting to spend as little time in the home as possible. That includes staying longer at work, going out every evening and eating out a lot.
- Housework neglect and clutter – totally ignoring the cleaning and tidying, and feeling apathy towards household chores.
- Constantly feeling the urge to move furniture and other items around and never being content with the outcome.
- Always comparing your home with other people’s and feeling saddened and frustrated by this process.
- Reluctance to invite people around or host social events in your home. On odd occasions that you do have friends round, you spend the evening apologising for the state of your home.
Moxon says that while it is not only unrealistic to think they can “sing like a chart topper, it’s equally unrealistic and unhealthy to think they can copy the interior design of a celebrity’s multimillion-pound home. They need to look at what home really means. While the colour of their walls and size of their flat-screen are important, what’s essential is the understanding that home is the one place they can call their own, miss when they’re away and retreat to in times of solace.”
How to regain control over your negative feelings about your home?
- Get in touch with the way your home makes you feel. What emotions does it evoke in you?
- Try to identify precisely what it is about your home that you dislike. To keep it as objective as possible, get a close friend to help.
- Next, make a list of corrections/alterations that would rectify the problems – but be realistic. This isn’t necessarily about flexing the credit card.
- Cost out the revamp. Remember, in many cases, it may simply involve throwing things out, tidying and organising.
- Now you have a plan, work through it systematically and stick to it.
Rather than feeling overwhelmed with gloom regarding your home, be proactive – take control.
