From Discount Wedding Dress to Wax Candle-Concise DIY Wedding Necessities List
Suppose you are a bride-to-be, have you ever thought over the possibility to hold your wedding ceremony yourself? I know most of you may entrust professional wedding design companies with your big day and I also admit that will save you a lot of time and energy. However, do you know the truth your wedding ceremony designed by wedding design companies is no more than a copy of the others'? I mean, once you ask those companies to design your wedding ceremony, they just replay their daily routines.
All right, if you do want your wedding ceremony to be unique and memorable, I advise you to have a DIY one. Nevertheless, thrift is not only a great virtue, but also the great revenue, right? I know you might be worried about omitting some important details and trifle necessities of your big day. And that's why I give you the following CONCISE DIY WEDDING NECESSITIES LIST. Please read it and you will find it useful.
1. Audio Equipment & Video Gear
Music can create Romanic and heart touching atmosphere for your big day. So mc gear, slideshow equipment and audio& video equipment are essential to your wedding ceremony. You can find them at local audio & video equipment stores or you have to borrow them.
2. Affordable Wedding Dress
It is the key point of the whole program, a dream wedding dress can greatly add to your unforgettable experience. However, finding a perfect and affordable wedding dress can be time consuming and frustrating. Local stores, vendors and online wholesalers usually provide thousands of types for you to choose. All you should do is to shop around before order as that might save hundreds of dollars for you. On this issue, people's taste varies from one to another. I'd like to show you my wife's choice-an A-line Strapless Net Satin dress labeled US$ 181.99 (pictured to the right) from Dressinwedding, an online wholesaler specializes in cheap and discount wedding dress. Not bad workmanship and affordable price, right?
3. Bakeries & Wedding Cakes
Bakeries & Wedding Cake is a must for your wedding. With varying tastes and palettes, your guests may prefer a vegan bakery or an Italian bakery. You'd better make it clear what's your guests' favorite before you go to the bakery.
4. Banquet Facilities & Halls
A great banquet facility can make the difference for your guests dining experience.
5. Bridesmaid Dresses
The bridesmaid dresses are an integral part of the wedding planning process. Many brides find a bridesmaids dress in white or off-white that works perfectly.
6. Calligraphy
Hiring a professional calligrapher has more uses than originally meets the eye. Calligraphy on your wedding invitations is just a start. All signage and projections can be drawn in calligraphy by a professional calligrapher.
7. Candy Shops & Chocolate Bars
Wedding chocolates such as wedding favors, candy garnishes or desert courses can add that bit of sweetness to any wedding.
8. Car Rentals
Sometimes renting a car is a must when planning a wedding because you or your wedding guests need transportation.
10. Catering Services
If you don't book the restaurant, remember to employ a Wedding caterer.
10. Disc Jockeys - DJs
A wedding DJ is pretty much considered a staple for most weddings. A professional wedding DJ can ensure that your guests are entertained well after the ceremonies.
11. Fireworks Displays
End your special night with a blast! Fireworks can make your guests remember your wedding as long as you do!
12. Horse Drawn Carriages
Having a horse drawn carriage whisk the newlyweds from the wedding hall is beautiful and memorable experience.
13. Makeup Artist
Professional make-up artist knows how to perfectly accent your eyes and lips, while not taking anything away from your beautiful dress as well as helping you stand out with your wedding color choices.
14. Officiates & Ministers
A ceremony isn't complete without hiring a minister or officiates for your wedding agreement.
15. Salons - Tanning & Hair
A bridal salon will provide more than just makeup and hair. Many salons also have tanning, pedicures, manicures, wedding party discounts, day spas and more. All is for your best look!
16. Wax Candles
If you decide to hold your wedding ceremony outdoor, say, suburban riverside at night, you can't omit wax candles.
17. Wedding Jewelry & Rings
All knows it.
18. Wedding Flowers
The part of a wedding that should never be underestimated is wedding flowers. Professional florists can help match your wedding colors and theme with the perfect flowers.
19. Wedding Videographer
Employing a videographer to capture your wedding video is a great and inexpensive way to preserve every precious memory of your wedding. Professional wedding videos can be made at a fraction of the cost they once were, and the memories are preserved as they were in HD and on a wedding DVD.
20. Wedding Invitations
The first impression for any wedding is the wedding invitation. Unique wedding invitations are very popular for today's weddings, have a try!
That's all. My work has been done and the rest work is up to you. Please fully employ your imaginations so as to make your own unique, fabulous and unforgettable big day!
Employ the best collision repair specialists to save your vehicle and yourself from obliteration
As roads and highways become more populated with vehicles, the results are more auto accidents. But getting involved in a car accident is virtually the last thing anybody would want or think of. Having one's own vehicle disastrously dented and damaged can leave the person psychologically and financially stressed specially if its required to be run on a daily basis. All the same, it does happen to everyone if not today then tomorrow and when it does the only thing one wants is to be able to get their vehicle repaired to its original condition in a timely manner. For this you would actually need a "car restorer" that is a collision repair specialist who can restore your car as closely as possible to its original condition following an accident. Accidental repair is one of the most difficult, highly-involved types of car repair tasks in the industry, so it is better to choose an experienced professional help that can yield out the best results in repairing your vehicle.
With the rapid advancement in technology, the collision repair specialist job has evolved from being purely mechanical to including electronic technology. Because vehicles today hold complex computer and electronic systems, mechanics have to to have a broader base of knowledge about internal systems than in the past. This can be achieved with the aid of computer diagnostic tools with the help of which a collision repair specialist can accurately pin point the problem areas of the vehicle and implement best methods and techniques to restore the vehicle to a condition that is as good as new. He has to know what to look for when it comes to damaged internal systems.
Over all this he must be able to determine how to best restore a body's external structure which includes paint and body repair. A collision repair service employs a variety of experts who work together to restore a car's exterior using a broad range of state-of-the-art techniques and parts. They will completely transform the damage making it look like nothing ever happened at all. Hopefully, you will find the right and the best collision repair shop in your area that will not just repair and restore your vehicle back to itself but will also make the entire process easy for you so go along and make the most for your bucks.
For more information about Automotive bumper repair please visit:- http://www.elitecollision.com/
Obama School Grants – Separating Fact From Fiction Regarding Obama School Grants
Obama School Grants - Separating Fact From Fiction Regarding Obama School Grants
Free central Is Available because Government Grants
You may have wondered what oversight grants are,Visit Here Now http://forgrant-sloan-org.blogspot.com
and if there is a coming owing to you to get any money being apart of these grants. What are the requirements to corner a strings grant and will the grants have to be repaid are some various common questions about these monetary grants. Here are some quick cognition to acclimate you to grants, who is eligible further other proper facts.
What Are Government Grants?
While skillful are a lot of folks who repeat that government grants are waiting since anyone and everyone to get free money, skillful is fresh to it than that. The federal government does not have an eventuate pocketbook that everyone can step up and take whatever they need from it. Grants do offer money, but there are obligations and requirements that have to exhibit met before particle money is paid out. Typically, a government grant is awarded to an organization or group of folks to assist ditch a project savvy property renovations or repairs.
How Do Organizations Get guidance Grants?
For federal dominion grants there are a battery of stipulations and rules that have to emblematize followed. To apply because government grants there are predefined steps that must be inspired. You cannot neatly print a missive to your congressman and challenge over money. If an outfit is serious about getting a okay to fill some type of legit need, they usually employ a grant proposition writer who is well-versed power all of the intricacies of applying for and receipt these grants.Grants Can Help IndividualsWhile most government grants are not personal grants that will give a person a loan per se, acknowledged are grants that burden succour connections ascendancy particular circumstances. A person that is hold the reaction of buying a home, and meets certain, government-defined criteria, may be eligible for discipline housing grants. There are again grants being educational pursuits. Government college grants obligatoriness offer financial assistance to family that are qualified.There Is Always A Catch
While government grants are, technically, free money, there are still regulations that must perform followed and details to that must steward adhered to. It's true, too, that government grants settle not have to be repaid. Regulations, obligations, terms and technicalities abound in the world of attaining government grants. skillful grant writers besides grant seekers are usually those who are best effective to tracking down and applying for these loans. If you count on a personal need or belong to an organization that has needs further are eligible, professional are government grants that just may come your way. It helps to have a know stuff or someone that really understands the process to get your government grant bid accepted.Government grants are, in fact, free money, in that you don't have to pay the government back. The downside is that these grants can represent difficult to find and may have a lot of stipulations that the average person is now aware of.Practice effectual theory besides knack before you whereas the application process for government grants.Visit Here Now http://forgrant-sloan-org.blogspot.com
Visit Here Now http://forgrant-sloan-org.blogspot.com
About Roman glass jewelry from Israel. Sterling silver and roman glass designs
Roman Glass is an ancient glass, discovered in archaeological excavation sites in Israel and in other Mediterranean countries.The fine Sterling Silver Roman Glass Jewelry is one of the most popular types and styles originated from Israel enabling to wear an entirely unique piece of 2,000-year-old history.
The glass in this aqua-hued jewelry began life as a vase, jug, or vessel. Uncovered from ancient Roman archaeological sites in modern-day Israel, each fragment has been textured and colored by centuries of wind and weather. Each bears the marks of not only its past life as a household or temple object but also the very earth in which it rested until being transformed into a unique accent. Each piece of Roman glass is framed by a sterling silver bezel to create a unique roman glass jewel.
The designs for the jewels are based on artifacts and drawings also discovered on the archeological digs. The Roman Glass is a beautiful piece of history dating back 2,000 years to the time of the Roman Empire. The Roman Glass used for jewel today in Israel is found in archeological digs throughout the land of Israel.
The natural phenomenon which the glass has undergone over the many years it has been buried have given it the unique and beautiful aqua shades we enjoy today in earrings , necklaces and bracelets. Initially, in the Roman empire, glass was mainly used for vessels and available only for the wealthy.
At that time, glass was manufactured by core forming, casting, cutting and grinding. However, since the invention of the glass blowing, glass was available to the public in vast numbers, mass produced in a large variety of shapes and forms. Due to the great popularity of glass during those ancient times, we today are priviliged to make use of these gorgeous historical pieces with which we enhance the beauty of our roman glass jewelry. Ancient Israel, due to its large stretches of sandy dunes and beaches, was one of the largest glass producers of the Roman Empire.
These same sands helped preserve the glass through the centuries, shaping and tempering it into the jewelry-quality pieces being excavated today. Today the fragments of the 2000 years old roman glass that were once part of the lip of a goblet, jar, or other vessel are used in Israel to create beautiful jewelry that mixes the typical blue and green old glass excavated from archaeological digs with silver or gold creating a piece of art and history to wear with love. A certificate of authenticity is available for the Roman Glass jewelry.
It is interesting to know some facts about the glass history and the Roman Glass history, collected from several sources. The History of Glass Glass is formed when sand (silica), soda (alkali), and lime are fused at high temperatures. The color of the glass can be altered by adjusting the atmosphere in the furnace and by adding specific metal oxides to the glass "batch" (such as cobalt for dark blue, tin for opaque white, antimony and manganese for colorless glass).
A venerable legend perpetuated as late as the seventh century A.D. in the writings of Isidore of Seville gives a suitable miraculous explanation for the discovery of this elemental--yet truly wondrous--material - This was its origin: in a part of Syria which is called Phoenicia, there is a swamp close to Judaea, around the base of Mt. Carmel, from which the Bellus River arises . . . whose sands are purified from contamination by the torrent's flow. The story is that here a ship of natron [sodium carbonate] merchants had been shipwrecked; when they were scattered about on the shore preparing food and no stones were at hand for propping up their pots, they brought lumps of natron from the ship.
The sand of the shore became mixed with the burning natron and translucent streams of a new liquid flowed forth: and this was the origin of glass.(Isidore of Seville, Etymologies XVI.16. Translation by Charles Witke.) It is not surprising that the ancient authorities thought of Phoenicia as the birthplace of glass, for the Syro-Palestine region did indeed become a major center of glass production in antiquity, along with Egypt. However, glass seems actually to have been "discovered" not in Phoenicia, but in Mesopotamia. Archaeological research now places the first evidence of true glass there at around 2500 B.C.
At first it was used for beads, seals, and architectural decoration. Some 1,000 years elapsed before glass vessels are known to have been produced. Vessels of glass quickly became widespread in the second half of the second millennium B.C. They were popular not only in Mesopotamia but also in Egypt and the Aegean. The earliest vessels were core-formed. Opaque, dark glass in its molten state was wound around a clay core attached to a metal rod. The skin of hot glass was fashioned with tools in order to shape its external features. Lighter colored strands of hot glass were then trailed on the surface and often "dragged" to produce festoon patterns. The pot surface was marvered (that is, rolled on a smooth, flat surface to produce a level finish). Finally, it was cooled slowly before the clay core was scraped out of the hardened vessel.
This glassware typically imitated forms originally established for ceramic, metal, and stone vessels . Somewhat later, the molding technique was developed, whereby glass chips or molten glass were packed or forced into a mold and then fused. After a molded vessel was annealed (cooled slowly in a special chamber of the glass furnace), it was often ground and polished in order to refine the rim and any other rough edges. One typical shape for molded vessels of the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods (c. 150 -50 B.C.) was the so-called pillar-molded bowl. Here exterior ribs radiate up from the base, stopping abruptly near the rim to allow a smooth margin around the circumference.
This type is ubiquitous; and it attests to the free and rapid exchange of ideas in glass-making throughout the Greater Mediterranean sphere. The site of Tel Anafa in Israel is a small settlement in the Upper Galilee. During ten seasons of fieldwork between 1968 and 1986, Saul Weinberg and his successor Sharon Herbert oversaw the uncovering of part of a small settlement of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods. In Tel Anafa I, Herbert presents the architecture and the stratigraphic sequence (text and some illustrations in fasc. i, locus summary and plates to Chs. 1 and 2 in fasc. ii). The volume also includes studies by other scholars of the geological setting of the site, the stamped amphora handles, coins, vertebrate fauna, and a single Tyrian sealing. Tel Anafa II, i is devoted to the Hellenistic and Roman pottery.
A future volume (II, ii) will complete the series with publication of the pre-Hellenistic and Islamic pottery, lamps, glass, metalware, stucco, stone tools, and the palaeobotanical remains. Tel Anafa (recently excavated jointly by the Universities of Michigan and Missouri) has provided critical information on the chronological limits of these bowls within the Roman period. Glass vessels were initially available only to the very wealthy and only in rather diminutive sizes.
They were manufactured by core forming, casting, cutting and grinding. The invention of glass blowing around 50 BC brought glass vessels to the general public in vast numbers, mass produced in great variety of forms and hence brought ancient glass into the reach of the modern collector of even modest means. One can nowadays own a Roman glass bowl, or drink from a Roman glass beaker, or wear ancient jewellery where glass was used widely. In 63 BC, the Romans conquered the Syro-Palestine area.
They brought back with them glassmakers to Rome.Soon after, the first transparent glass sheets were produced in Rome. The word vitrum, meaning glass, entered the Latin language.Rome's political, military, and economic dominanace in the Mediterranean world was a major factor in attracting skilled craftsmen to set up workshops in the city, but equally important was the fact that the establishment of the Roman industry roughly coincided with the invention of glassblowing. The new technique led craftsmen to create novel and unique shapes; examples exist of flasks and bottles shaped like foot sandals, wine barrels, fruits, and even helmets and animals. Some combined blowing with glass-casting and pottery-molding technologies to create the so-called mold-blowing process.
Further innovations and stylistic changes saw the continued use of casting and free-blowing to create a variety of open and closed forms that could then be engraved or facet-cut in any number of patterns and designs. Core-formed and cast glass vessels were first produced in Egypt and Mesopotamia as early as the fifteenth century B.C., but only began to be imported and, to a lesser extent, made on the Italian peninsula in the mid-first millennium B.C.
By the time of the Roman Republic (509-27 B.C.), such vessels, used as tableware or as containers for expensive oils, perfumes, and medicines, were common in Etruria (modern Tuscany) and Magna Graecia (areas of southern Italy including modern Campania, Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily). However, there is very little evidence for similar glass objects in central Italian and Roman contexts until the mid-first century B.C. The reasons for this are unclear, but it suggests that the Roman glass industry sprang from almost nothing and developed to full maturity over a couple of generations during the first half of the first century A.D. Doubtless Rome's emergence as the dominant political, military, and economic power in the Mediterranean world was a major factor in attracting skilled craftsmen to set up workshops in the city, but equally important was the fact that the establishment of the Roman industry roughly coincided with the invention of glassblowing.
This invention revolutionized ancient glass production, putting it on a par with the other major industries, such as that of pottery and metalwares (as 20.49.2-12). Likewise, glassblowing allowed craftsmen to make a much greater variety of shapes than before. Combined with the inherent attractiveness of glass-it is nonporous, translucent (if not transparent), and odorless-this adaptability encouraged people to change their tastes and habits, so that, for example, glass drinking cups rapidly supplanted pottery equivalents. In fact, the production of certain types of native Italian clay cups, bowls, and beakers declined through the Augustan period, and by the mid-first century A.D. had ceased altogether.However, although blown glass came to dominate Roman glass production, it did not altogether supplant cast glass. Especially in the first half of the first century A.D., much Roman glass was made by casting, and the forms and decoration of early Roman cast vessels demonstrate a strong Hellenistic influence.
The Roman glass industry owed a great deal to eastern Mediterranean glassmakers, who first developed the skills and techniques that made glass so popular that it can be found on every archaeological site, not only throughout the Roman empire but also in lands far beyond its frontiers. Cast Glass Although the core-formed industry dominated glass manufacture in the Greek world, casting techniques also played an important role in the development of glass in the ninth to fourth centuries B.C. Cast glass was produced in two basic ways-through the lost-wax method and with various open and plunger molds.
The most common method used by Roman glassmakers for most of the open-form cups and bowls in the first century B.C. was the Hellenistic technique of sagging glass (81.10.243) over a convex "former" mold. However, various casting and cutting methods were continuously utilized as style and popular preference demanded. The Romans also adopted and adapted various color and design schemes from the Hellenistic glass traditions, applying such designs as network glass and gold-band glass to novel shapes and forms. Distinctly Roman innovations in fabric styles and colors include marbled mosaic glass, short-strip mosaic glass, and the crisp, lathe-cut profiles of a new breed of fine as monochrome and colorless tablewares of the early empire, introduced around 20 A.D.
This class of glassware became one of the most prized styles because it closely resembled luxury items such as the highly valued rock crystal objects, Augustan Arretine ceramics (as 10.210.37), and bronze and silver tablewares (as 20.49.2-12) so favored by the aristocratic and prosperous classes of Roman society. In fact, these fine wares were the only glass objects continually formed via casting, even up to the as Late Flavian, Trajanic, and Hadrianic periods (96-138 A.D.), after glassblowing superceded casting as the dominant method of glassware manufacture in the early first century A.D. Blown Glass SOMETIME AROUND 70 B.C., in Jerusalem, someone realized that, if you took a glass tube -- then the stock for mass production of beads -- sealed one end and blew into the other, you could create a glass bulb. Blow hard enough and long enough, and you could make a small bottle.
This was glassblowing at its most primitive. It is quite possible that, without further refinement, this moment of experimentation might have passed unnoticed. A couple of decades later, however, the introduction of a separate blowpipe, together with a tool-kit of variously-sized pincers and paddles, made it possible to blow and shape glass with much greater control, and with much greater novelty.
The new technology revolutionized the Italian glass industry, stimulating an enormous increase in the range of shapes and designs that glassworkers could produce. A glassworker's creativity was no longer bound by the technical restrictions of the laborious casting process, as blowing allowed for previously unparalleled versatility and speed of manufacture. These advantages spurred a rapid evolution of style and form, and experimentation with the new technique led craftsmen to create novel and unique shapes; examples exist of flasks and bottles shaped like foot sandals, wine barrels, fruits, and even helmets and animals.
Some combined blowing with glass-casting and pottery-molding technologies to create the so-called mold-blowing process. Further innovations and stylistic changes saw the continued use of casting and free-blowing to create a variety of open and closed forms that could then be engraved or facet-cut in any number of patterns and designs. But the potential of a technological idea will only come to fruition if its seed is planted in an encouraging cultural environment. During Rome's Republican Era, in the dictatorial times of Sulla and Julius Caesar, such encouragement seems to have been lacking. In the Hellenistic world, the firmly established traditions of working glass -- either by blending threads of it into closed vessel forms or by slumping glass over a pre-shaped model for open ones -- were producing fine wares with which the infant technique of free-blowing could not yet compete.
In the Roman world, however, pottery was still the material of choice for everything domestic, from fish platters to perfume bottles, and no one seemed to be in any hurry to change that situation. Enter the Emperor Augustus. It is said that he had no love of foreigners; he viewed the appreciable numbers of them living in Rome around 10 B.C. as a potential source for the corruption of traditional Roman values. If I interpret his subsequent actions correctly, he wanted the Italian mainland to be far more self-sufficient wherever possible. So it was that Italian businesses in certain crafts -- most obviously, pottery- and cloth-making -- were encouraged to expand. The craft of glassworking now was adopted from the Hellenistic world with much energy and skill. An ancient Industrial Revolution was underway.
To get things moving, the Romans simply enslaved hundreds of skilled craftsmen in the eastern provinces, uprooting them from their homes and resettling them in the outskirts of rapidly-growing Roman cities. Pottery-makers were imported from Asia Minor, particularly from around Pergamum, and put to work at Arretium; Greek craftsmen were moved from Athens to Lyons and other cities in central Gaul; glassworkers were brought in from the provinces of Syria, Judaea, and Aegyptus -- most likely from the cities of Sidon, Jerusalem, and Alexandria -- and put to work in shops at Naples, Aquileia, and just outside Rome itself. There was an immediate market niche for glassware in Augustan times.
Like many ancient peoples, the Romans believed in an afterlife that was an idealized form of their worldly experience. According to its means, the family of each dead Roman was obliged to provide furnishings for the grave. Such furnishings always included regular domestic items -- plates of food, flasks of wine, and so on -- but it was also a tradition to include offerings of perfume. The Roman wealthy would put these offerings in bottles (unguentaria) made of silver or alabaster. The eastern craftsmen who brought with them the skill of glassblowing now offered the rest of the population an alternative in glass; to be sure, not something as elegant or colorful as might have been wished, but which everyone could afford. The free-blown unguentarium was one of the immediate and long-term successes of the newly emerging industry. Modern excavations have revealed many instances where a grave contains not just one or two but a couple of dozen of these, all mass-produced, each in a matter of minutes at most.
At the same time, glass captured the popular imagination by virtue of its translucency. You could see the color of wine in a beaker, or how well a bottle was filled even if it was sealed -- which could not be said for items made of pottery, or indeed of bronze, silver, or gold. The production of wine glasses soared in the Augustan era, actually causing the demise of some of the pottery workshops that specialized in traditional beaker types. It was glass's distinctive property of transparency that stimulated the Emperor Nero's tutor, Lucius Seneca to observe that " ... Apples seem more beautiful if they are floating in a glass." (Investigations in Natural Science I.6).
And, from the middle of the first century A.D. onward, squared-sided glass bottles -- typically with capacities in the half- to one-liter range -- were used for a great deal of the short-range movement of liquids such as olive oil and the popular fish sauce known as garum. Thus the industrialization of glassworking in the Augustan era came about through the influence of three distinct forces: First, by virtue of certain historical events (Augustus's rise to power and his promotion of craft-centralization on the Italian mainland); second, because of a technical innovation (the invention of glassblowing in one of Rome's eastern provinces); and third, the social pressure related to fashion or taste (a traditional link between perfumery and Roman funerary ritual). Change in the Roman glassworking industry was always most dramatic whenever all three of these forces came together at one time.
Uses
At the height of its popularity and usefulness in Rome, glass was present in nearly every aspect of daily life-from a lady's morning toilette to a merchant's afternoon business dealings to the evening cena, or dinner. Glass alabastra , unguentaria, and other small bottles and boxes held the various oils, perfumes, and cosmetics used by nearly every member of Roman society. Pyxides often contained jewelry with glass elements such as beads, cameos, and intaglios , made to imitate semi-precious stone like carnelian, emerald, rock crystal, sapphire, garnet, sardonyx, and amethyst. Merchants and traders routinely packed, shipped, and sold all manner of foodstuffs and other goods across the Mediterranean in glass bottles and jars of all shapes and sizes, supplying Rome with a great variety of exotic materials from far-off parts of the empire. Other applications of glass included multicolored tesserae used in elaborate floor and wall mosaics, and mirrors containing colorless glass with wax, plaster, or metal backing that provided a reflective surface. Glass windowpanes were first made in the early imperial period, and used most prominently in the public baths to prevent drafts. Because window glass in Rome was intended to provide insulation and security, rather than illumination or as a way of viewing the world outside, little, if any, attention was paid to making it perfectly transparent or of even thickness.
Window glass could be either cast or blown. Cast panes were poured and rolled over flat, usually wooden molds laden with a layer of sand, and then ground or polished on one side. Blown panes were created by cutting and flattening a long cylinder of blown glass.
AN INDUSTRY THOUGH Roman glassworking certainly was, it was one that maintained a remarkable degree of dynamism over the centuries. The shape and decoration of two of its main products -- the unguentarium and the wine beaker -- were being modified every few decades, sometimes quite sharply, and there were many new items of glassware introduced that expanded the glassworker's repertoire in significant ways. The way that the Romans committed themselves so heavily to the maintenance of good ports all around the Mediterranean coastline and of fine roads that criss-crossed the entire Empire on land was also critical for keeping the Roman glassmaking industry so dynamic.
Of course, the main purpose of such maintenance was to assure the easy movement of troops from one trouble spot to another, and of administrative information from one city to another. But these ports and roads also allowed the movement of people and their ideas. Signatures and inscriptions in Greek indicate clearly enough that eastern Mediterranean craftsmen settled at various places in northern Italy and central Gaul; that north African and Syrian soldiers were conscripted to serve in the army in northern England, thereafter to settle there as tradesmen; and that businessmen of every background and philosophical persuasion traded wherever it was to their advantage to do so. Thus, every Roman city became a social melting-pot where technical innovations could be passed on, blending with or displacing old ideas, sometimes in the space of just a decade or two.
The industrial activities of the Roman world responded accordingly, with a freshness of purpose and an ongoing rise in skill. Jewelry in the Roman Times Ancient Roman glass jewelry reached its height during the Augustan age, at the beginning of the Empire. This meant that in many ways the glass jewelry were deprived of much of the expressive freedom one might expect and hope for. The buyers of this fine artistic jewelry were the conservative political.
The period of peace achieved during the rule of Augustus and Augustus made this possible, especially after the vicious fighting of the Roman civil wars. Ancient Roman jewelry in earlier times was derived from both Hellenistic and Etruscan jewelry. In addition, as Roman jewelry designs freed itself of Hellenistic and Etruscan influences, greater use was made of colored stones such as: topazes, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and pearls. Trojan and Cretan artisans of the Minoan period, although working at opposite ends of the Aegean region, crafted earrings, bracelets, and necklaces of a common type that persisted from about 2500 BC to the beginning of the Classical period of Greek art 479 BC - 323 BC. Roman jewelry was highly influenced by some of the designs of the places they conquered and established connections with. The creators spared no effort in making some of the most exquisite and ornamental compositions. Rings were a major symbol in the body of ancient Roman jewelry.
Ornamental Roman jewelry was worn by women of high status. They often wore jewelry on their ears, neck, arms and hands. Ancient Roman designs and fashion jewelry also included seal rings, amulets and talismans. The cameo and hoop earrings were introduced in ancient Roman times. Ancient Roman glass jewelry reached its height during the Augustan age, at the beginning of the Empire. This meant that in many ways the glass jewelry were deprived of much of the expressive freedom one might expect and hope for.
The buyers of this fine artistic jewelry were the conservative political. The period of peace achieved during the rule of Augustus and Augustus made this possible, especially after the vicious fighting of the Roman civil wars. The gold beads of ancient Rome were artfully shaped to create images of flowers and animals. The most common fact that is assumed by most is that the ancient Roman jewelry has a similar resembles to the Greek and Etruscan jewelry.
An assortment of Israeli handmade Roman glass jewelry at Bluenoemi Jewelry at the page.
Itai Feller and the Bluenoemi team of marketing and online marketing professionals offer a large assortment of products and services, interesting content, facts, researchs.
Among the products offered - special designers silver and gold jewelry, spinning rings, Kabbalah jewelry, hebrew wedding rings, hamsa, Jewish motifs jewels and many more.
We offer online marketing services and advise.
Our team includes professionals in Business Administration, International marketing, SEO and SEM, Video productions, Translations, writing, photographing.
Buy Wine and Beer Online from eBottleo
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { color: #0000ff } -->
In the present day busy scenario, it becomes highly convenient, if you can get all the facilities from the comfort of your home. Online shopping nowadays is highly popular and you can purchase just about any product or service at the click of the mouse. With the increase in the demand of internet shopping, many online shopping companies have come into being. Now you can even shop wine and buy beer online without having to visit a store.
Nowadays to buy wine online, you can simply log on to a wine selling website and avail a number of choices. These websites deliver wines right to your doorstep for very nominal prices. Apart from the convenience, that online liquor sites provide, is the cost advantage to the customers.
Be it a celebration, party or a social gathering, a good wine will always set the mood for the occasion. Therefore, if you are planning to organize a celebration, buying liquor online would be the best option for you. A lot of websites offer fabulous deals, if you purchase liquor in bulk. Therefore, online shopping for wine or beer not only is a comfortable but an economical option as well.
‘eBottleo' provides the best online service when it comes to buying liquor on the internet. It provides a vast array premium wines to choose from. The best part about buying liquor online from ‘eBottleo' is that, this site even sells brands that may not otherwise be easily available at your local liquor store. Moreover, when you buy wine online, you can comfortably select from a wide array of brands available. Apart from this, ‘eBottleo' also provides some of the best beers. When you want to buy beer online from ‘eBottleo', you will be spoilt for choices.
With good quality liquor, quality service and timely delivery, ‘eBottleo' has carved a niche for itself in the field of online liquor shopping. A good wine or beer will always set the mood rolling and ‘eBottleo' ensures to provide you the best of the liquor, be it for a celebration or simply to enjoy a quiet evening.
<!-- @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } -->
Ebottleo provide Services like <A rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href="http://www.ebottleo.com.au/">buy beer online</A>
Is Your Ex Constantly Running Away From You? 5 Tips That Will Make Your Ex Instantly Notice You
Being ignored by the current love of your life is hard enough to bear. But when it's an ex that you seek attention from, the whole thing becomes even more of a painful affair. Other than dancing in a birthday suit - a remedy which is not called for here, there are a few other things you can do:
Stop pouting and step up to the plate and fight hard to get your ex back - You can either let yourself slide - physically and mentally, or you can pick yourself up, and be what your ex wants you to be. That basically means that you need to improve your fitness, get a new look, and if possible - also a new and more attractive personality.
Once you have all this, go flaunt it in your ex's face - Physical attraction, chemistry and a meeting of minds form a big part of any relationship. Even if it is your ex who knows that you smell horrible when you wake up in the morning, the whole new look and the new you will probably set your ex's heart thumping, and you'll have another shot at making it work.
Nothing in common - Have you also considered that your ex might be ignoring you because there isn't that much in common between you? So while you're sleeping, your ex is jogging. While you're at a ball game, your ex is at an art gallery. There's only way to fix that. Start jogging and develop an interest in art.
The more time you spend doing like-minded stuff, the better your chances of being able to find common ground with your ex, start talking and get back into the game. You may also want to try becoming like the person your ex first fell in love with in the beginning. This will ensure that your ex feels like they can bond and connect with you once again.
Past mistakes forming your present - It could also be that your ex has basically stopped listening to the lies and half-truths that you keep belting out. In this case, it's time to get some help. Start cozying up to all your ex's friends and close family members - even the hated mother-in-law. If everyone in your ex's circle starts putting in a good word for you, your ex will start thinking that maybe you aren't so bad after all...
This will force your ex to notice you - And as an absolutely last resort, go after one of your ex's close friends and start dating, or at the very least - heavy flirting. The one thing that an ex cannot bear is to see you having fun with someone close. Make sure, though, that it doesn't get too serious - you don't want to land up in even more trouble.
Pay Close Attention Here - Now listen carefully! Take 2 minutes to read the next page and you'll discover a stunning trick which will have your ex begging you to take them back. There is a set of easy to follow psychological tricks which will make your ex crawl back to you within a few days guaranteed. I strongly urge you to read everything on the next page before it's too late and time runs out. Click Here.
From The Analysis Of Market Demand, Exports Of Chinese Ceramics
German Antique Porcelain and coffee with Zouqiao. In porcelain, the coffee than wine with good sales in Germany the majority of consumers prefer elegant color; pairs of porcelain art in general prefer crisp, elegant, artistic high, like the shape of small animals; in love all kinds of fine porcelain vase long flat belly bottle; part of the intellectual class, interested in primitive art porcelain, antique porcelain and therefore have better sales.
Germany has very strict restrictions on the amount of lead leaching like underglaze color. Merchants on the proposed design more oriental flavor, such as a good porcelain carving figures, sales would be good.
High levels of lead and cadmium French porcelain unmarketable. French imports from China, ceramic (except porcelain furnishings) must apply for a permit. In France, the horse a symbol of happiness, Peacock says there is bad bird. In addition, the French do not like the yellow and green flowers, the elephant nose down not considered unlucky. In France, consumers like China's exports vase table lamp, to 6 inches to 18 inches the best selling products. The French market for counterfeit European-style figures, animals, flower and bird designs more optimistic about the porcelain, ceramic animal shaped small size than large size of merchantability, high level of lead cadmium porcelain unmarketable.
Spain's preference for oriental flower face. Spain porcelain there is no strict lead content restrictions. The businessman reflect my tea, coffee and a matching method is more suitable for the use of Spanish customs, but at the lack of surface features. They requested to reflect the characteristics of oriental products, such as the East pavilions, such as dragon and phoenix patterns. Spain imported porcelain levied according to weight, light weight, the tax on the light.
British art pottery strong demand. Ceramics, most of the UK by 18, 21 occupied by tea, a very small part of the teapot, cup and saucer types. Consumers porcelain white, sleek, full of oriental ethnic products appreciate. British imports ceramic leaded restrictions.
In addition to imports of British art of porcelain, but also import large quantities of art pottery, I enterprises such as development of new products in this area would be promising.
Italian love Yixing clay pots. In which the features of figures, flowers relatively good sales, landscape design second, bottle gourd vases and the Quartet are more popular. Italian people like duck pattern, do not like the black and chrysanthemum pattern. Art porcelain statue of a woman curled little finger can not stand alone, said such a move indecent. Yixing clay pot a bit better sales, but the vine, do not put the metal and plastic. Italy, the lead content of products is very strict inspection.
Australian pop iron porcelain and stone ware. I have a smaller proportion of Australian exports of ceramic, but great potential, especially in certain sales of ceramic art. Australia reflection of my ceramics are: quality, not up, cup and saucer flowers the color uneven surface can not be allocated; packaging is not enough known, cardboard boxes too heavy, the damage rate is high; some products unsafe amounts of lead; delivery is not enough a timely manner, and often miss the season.
Australian market in recent years popular iron porcelain and hard porcelain, ceramic goods in total imports accounted for around 50%, is still developing. These two kinds of porcelain with me Henan, Shanxi, Shandong and other places similar to brown glazed pottery, you can export to trial.
Singapore's strict control of sales narrow. I am in Singapore, the sale of porcelain family-oriented, while the restaurants and other catering industry due to restrictions on Singapore's Health Act, multi-use plastic utensils. Singapore's ceramic should not exceed the amount of lead leaching 7PPM. In addition, crack broken pottery are disabled, once discovered, in addition to prohibiting the use, there will also be fined a possibility.
Japan favored the old porcelain new packaging. Japanese people like to use porcelain summer, winter, like to use pottery, pottery due to winter a warm feeling. Japan, the average family, restaurants, hotels, meals prefer to use ceramic tea sets, flower pots, bottles, cans and so on are all one color glaze, such as gray glaze, are red, kiln and so on. Product specifications small, teapot 4 inches -5 inches required; generally straight to, not like the Ti Liang's; spout like down.
Japanese like to Distressed pottery works of art. Japanese companies suggested that I should export more of its old porcelain, coupled with advanced packaging, can also be sold at high prices shatterproof. Japan, like crane, turtle pattern, there is the meaning of longevity. Tea package, to avoid the "four," this figure, the Japanese do not think that unlucky.
Canada requires quality and cheap products. Sales to the Canadian market in porcelain art porcelain majority, sculpture class to figure mainly based containers like vases. Chinese products to open the Canadian market, it is necessary to improve quality, and second, to lower export prices. Canada requested color elegant porcelain design to the simplicity of background lined bright green, MEI, gold, peacock blue and other design patterns as well, the Canadian dollar price of 30-40 each, beautifully packaged, suitable for gifts.
U.S. demands crisp elegant product designs. The United States is the largest international ceramic market, at present our products in the U.S. market share is not high, but the development has great potential to improve the quality of products as long as I step up publicity, sales of promising post-WTO. A person with a major U.S. marketing of the five, four of 20 with eight personal use of the 45, 92 large set of tea; coffee is also better pin; screen required light is simple and elegant lines clean and clear.
I am a professional editor from Chinese Manufacturers, and my work is to promote a free online trade platform.
http://www.chinaqualitycrafts.com/ contain a great deal of information about
throwing knives , yamaha warrior 350
welcome to visit!
Wedding Photo Tips From Ace Toronto Wedding Photographers
In case someone is planning to take Toronto Wedding Photographers all by himself, here are some wedding photo tips coming directly from some of the best Toronto Wedding Photographers. Wedding is one of the most important events in an individual's life. Who would not want to capture the special moments? In trying one's best not to mess up the wedding photographs, one has to follow certain pointers.
Michael Ghanim is one of the most renowned Toronto Wedding Photographers and has an experience of 25 years in wedding photography. For the last two decades that he has been in Canada, he has tried his hand in all forms of photography including colored, black and white and commercial photographs. He says that one should always take the help of the latest technology in getting good Toronto Wedding Video and wedding photographs. The latest gadgets and their functions help an individual to capture the best shots in any kind of lighting and surrounding. Compromising on the latest offerings from technology might ruin the otherwise perfect wedding photograph. Being a video editor for a decade, he opines that Final Cut Pro and Premier for Video are best editing softwares for professionals. Once the video or the photographs are shot, they have to accurately edited, else it will spoil the photograph. Michael suggests the use of Nikon cameras for taking photographs and using Sony cameras for taking superior quality videos.
There are other prominent Toronto Wedding Photographers like Rasha, Dino and Farah. They have aced in their field and are profusely talented. Among the photographers, Rafi Michael, the son of Michael Ghanim, is probably the most popular name. He had carved a niche for himself with Wedding Photography Toronto. His photographs and videos are unparallel because of the quality and the idea behind it. He had not confined himself with the shackles of traditional photography. On the contrary, he has pushed the limits of photography. His passion for photography and his creativity had prompted him to venture into Wedding Photography Toronto. Rafi, along with his father had founded the company called Babylon Productions in 1980.
Babylon Productions is based in Toronto and has the photography scene by storm. They are the most popular wedding photographers in and around the city. From taking Wedding Video Toronto and Wedding Photography Toronto, they have ventured to other things that aid in the planning of the wedding. The reason behind the success of Babylon Productions is their unique style of taking photographs and videos. According to them, they try to retain the flavour of the moment in the photograph. Looking at those photographs, after years, will bring the exact mood and set up of the occasion. Their services do not stop at supplying photographers. They arrange for Wedding Dj Toronto, live music bands, Wedding Limo Toronto and wedding planners. They print and design wedding card and help in distributing them. They also arrange for honeymoon trips.
Babylon Productions claim that they are privileged and honoured to help numerous families with their service. They want to be a part of the special day in the couple's life and capture the most remarkable moments for them to cherish in the days to come.
Wedding Photogarpher We offera full range of affordable packages for your consideration. We offer a sit down consultation with your wedding photographer in Toronto and custom design your own. visit: http://www.videobabylon.ca/video-photography.html
Ordering from a wine list in a restaurant
When you are in a restaurant and would like a nice glass of wine but are overwhelmed by the choices you should ask your server for help. Waitresses and waiters are experienced in the knowledge of the wines the restaurant sells and will help you in your decision. If you know what type of entrees your table is leaning towards your server can tell you which wines will pair well with your meals. They could tell you the best sellers and which are in your price range. Keep in mind that one bottle will serve three people and if your table would like both white and red you could order two bottles to please everyone. If you decide on a wine but you are not sure how to pronounce it simply point to your choice on the menu. When your wine is delivered to your table the waitress or waiter will show you the label to assure that it is what you ordered along with the vintage. When you nod your approval they will uncork the wine and hand the cork to you. This is not for you to sniff, but instead to inspect that the cork has not crumbled, dried out or cracked. Your server will pour a sample for you to smell to assure that it doesn't have a vinegar or musty odor. Look at the clarity of the wine also by holding your glass up to be sure that it isn't cloudy or has particles floating in it. Only the oldest of wines should have this look to it. Sip the wine and if it doesn't have any foreign flavors you can tell the waiter/waitress that it is fine to serve to the rest of your table. Now you can sit back and enjoy your dining experience with the wine you have chosen to pair with your meal.
For more dining information please visit our blog at Restaurant Dining Info Blog
For more of Ondrea's dining and restaurant related articles please visit Restaurant Dining Info Guide . Along with articles you will find restaurant reviews and restaurants in your area.
The Different Types Of Model Prototyping From Planes To Automobiles
Rapid prototyping is an intensive process of collecting information on requirements and on the adequacy and functionality of fairly new product designs. Model prototyping is an important data resource during the different stages of product development. Model prototyping makes use of various kinds of rapid prototyping techniques to provide the right model types used for different testing procedures. Such techniques may require the use of requirements animation, incremental, and evolutionary prototyping.
1. Requirements Animation- is the method used mainly to demonstrate functionality in test cases that can be easily assessed by users. Software tools are used to produce representational prototype models that are built using animation packages as well as screen painters.
2. Incremental prototyping- enables the development of large prototype system models installed in phases in order to avoid delays between product specification and its final delivery into the consumer market. Once the customer and supplier have agreed on certain core features, the installation of a skeleton system is applied as soon as possible. Important requirements can be checked out as the model is being used, enabling changes to core features while in operation with extra and optional features can be added later.
3. Evolutionary prototyping- considered as the most integral form of prototyping. It acts as a compromise between production methods and with that of model prototyping. Employing this technique, a model prototype is initially constructed that is then evaluated as it evolves continually and becomes a highly improved end product. Many designers believe that more acceptable systems would result if evolutionary prototyping were interconnected with periods of requirements animation or rapid prototyping. Here the tools are the actual facilities resources where the final system will be implemented.
The use of different model prototyping techniques can help do away with the uncertainties about how well a final design may be able to fit into the end user's needs. The different model prototyping techniques help product designers make the necessary decisions by obtaining information from initial test users about the effective functionality of a certain product prototype.
Model prototyping can also be an effective aid in determining how effective and ideal the features and the overall design can be for proposed users. Model prototyping and the subsequent testing procedures can provide useful representation information that can reveal possible design flaws, effective features as well as useless functions that can either be corrected, enhanced or done away with on the next stages of product development.
Before a product is introduced to the public, the inventor has to draw up a plan and put it in paper. This is exactly what the Wright Brothers did when the first airplane was built and took off into the air.
More than a hundred years later, the airplane has evolved from being a propelled machine into one that is powered with jet engines. Today, there are planes that are used for private and commercial use but those that can travel more than four times the spend of sound are used for military purposes.
There were a lot of changes through the years that made this happen which occurred both in times of war and peace. In fact, the innovations made towards the end of the Second World War paved the way for the jet age.
This is done by reviewing the old equipment such as the V2 rockets and then reinventing it so that a plane can use the same principles in flight over greater distance and height. The aeronautical industry is not the only one that does this because other fields are doing the same thing, which is better known as prototyping.
Prototyping by definition simply means learning from things in the past such as an old design and improving on it. This will cost both time and money in order to perfect the system, which is the reason some car manufacturers only release, a new model every five years.
Some of the things designers and engineers will look at are flaws in the old model. This could be from customer complaints as well as reports from dealers in the field who received the owner's vehicle and needed a repair. The company may make recalls like what Ford has done over the past few years and the only way to prevent this from happening again is by correcting those mistakes.
When the people think that the errors have been corrected, it is time to test this by making one model and then seeing how well it performs through a racecourse. Sensors, cameras and the input of the test driver will be collected so this can be reviewed for analysis.
If everything goes well and the budget for the new model is reasonable, then the company can begin production. Marketing will just have to think about the name of the new car and the events to launch this, which will surely excite regular clients who have purchased a vehicle or two in the past.
Low Jeremy maintains http://Prototyping.ArticlesForReprint.com. This content is provided by Low Jeremy. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included.
Dealing with Manipulative Children: How To Stop Manipulative Children From Controlling You
Dealing with manipulative adults is one thing, but dealing with manipulative children is something else entirely.
It's a lot more challenging to handle such a situation because you're talking about kids here. They know how much power they have and how little you can do to them. And if you're unfortunate enough, you might be dealing with your very own children.
Dealing with manipulative children requires a certain finesse. You can't just charge into a situation without a game plan. Lucky for you, this article will tell you just what to do.
1) Show Them Who's Boss.
Kids may cry, stomp, sulk and throw tantrums all they want, but you can't give in. A lot of people make the mistake of giving the kids what they want just to get the whole scene over with. However, that only teaches the kids how effective their techniques are.
When dealing with manipulative children, you cannot allow yourself to show any sign of weakness. Sure, sending your kid to bed early or to the "naughty" corner is hard for any parent, but discipline must be instilled.
Be firm with your decisions. After a while, you should also explain to them why what they did was wrong, to put everything into perspective.
2) Be Logical Instead Of Emotional.
When dealing with manipulative children, you have to prepare your emotions for a storm. Kids will try their best to appeal to you in every way possible.
To keep yourself on your path, stay logical. When the conversation turns into an argument, use logic to make your point. Emotions are fuzzy and will not be convincing enough.
For example, your kid might try pleading with you to attend a certain party. They will use every puppy dog trick in the book to get you to give them permission. But if you really don't want to allow your kid to go out - or you do not want to extend the kid's curfew - you're going to need to bring up every reasoning skill you have under your sleeve. And remember to keep your tone final. Know when to end the discussion.
3) Explain Your Own Emotions.
Sometimes, kids don't realize that their manipulative ways are hurting other people. Try to talk to the kid about your feelings and how it's wrong to manipulate others for their own benefit.
This is not a conversation to be had on the breakfast table, just before they go to school. Do this during a time when you know they don't have a lot in mind.
Dealing with manipulative children won't be easy at first. But if you follow these tips, you'll be able to avoid such situations and even turn the whole thing around.
Want to easily put people under your control? Use secret conversational hypnosis techniques to get them to eagerly do anything you want (without them knowing it)! Get a FREE course that reveals some of the most groundbreaking persuasion techniques and secrets at http://www.20daypersuasion.com/secrets.htm
The Jeep Patriot – From Action Man to School Run…
Most young males of my generation grew up with the identical toys to one another. There was the obligatory He Man doll (I mean Action Figure of course), Transformer merchandise and Star Wars figurines. There was, however, one toy that inspired almost fanatical devotion rivalled only by the opposite sex's love for Barbie. The toy in question was of course Action Man.
Some of my peers enjoyed the sheer wealth of Action Man's weaponry, some were amazed by his gadgets and gizmos. One rather strange boy was even entranced by the feel of his short afro-like hair. For me, the attraction was the vehicle that Action Man drove; a huge Jeep.
It wasn't any ordinary Jeep either. It had huge rubber wheels, some kind of roll-cage structure and was adorned with rocket-launchers and other projectile weaponry. Much to my chagrin, as I grew older I realised vehicles of this nature were merely the stuff of fantasy. However, the enduring image of the Jeep has stuck with me since childhood.
The Jeep Patriot is the model in question today and it is very far removed from the image I had of this vehicle as a child. Gone is the roll-cage and windowless vehicle of my youth (there are also no weapons to be seen). What is evident is a disturbing amount of...well...class. These days the Jeep seems to fit more in with the middle-class, aspirational lifestyle rather than the rough and ready all-terrain conquering behemoths that these vehicles were initially designed for.
The phenomenon of the 4X4 school-run has annoyed a large proportion of the population, purely because the whole exercise seems incredibly wasteful. Picture the scene, a huge gas-guzzling MPV with just a mother and a small child in, coughing out CO2 all over the place. Now multiply this effect by 500, slam it down in a traffic jam and you have the average school run at just one of the thousands of schools in this country. It's no wonder people get annoyed. But let's not get bogged down in semantics; we should judge these 4X4s on their own merits.
As I alluded to earlier, the Jeep Patriot is a much classier affair than the Jeep name suggests. It seems to have had all those rough edges smoothed down to make it more palatable for modern tastes, but has lost none of the vim and vigour associated with the Jeep brand. In fact, I was not expecting such a sprightly ride from a vehicle of the Jeep's sheer magnitude.
Amongst the Jeep Patriot's arsenal of gadgetry is ABS, Electronic Roll Mitigation, Panic Brake Assist, Side Curtain Airbags, Alloy Wheels, Halogen headlamps and Air Conditioning. This would suggest that this particular Jeep is going to be a comfortable and safe vehicle to drive. The handling is accurate and feels light for the size of the Patriot. Combine this with the eager engine which manages pretty much any off-road task you can throw it at with considerably more grace than many of its direct competitors.
In summary, the Jeep deserves to be used off-road as this is what it is primarily designed for. The tragedy is that it will spend the majority of its working life sat either in car jams waiting to drop off the kids, or parked in a supermarket car park waiting to be filled with Pâté foie gras and exotic coffee blends. Justice can only be served if you break through a farmer's fence and razz the Patriot around like a banshee. Then (and only then) will you witness what this machine is truly capable of.
Pete J Ridgard is a writer and a car enthusiast. He currently writes for the automotive industry. Here he discusses the Jeep Patriot.
Cirelli Marketplace in Middleboro, Ma Hosts a Fun Filled Classic Car Cruise Night Every Saturday Night From 4 Pm to 8 Pm, Starting June 7
DATELINE: MIDDLEBOROUGH, MA...
Calling all classic car enthusiasts! Cirelli Marketplace is hosting a season long Classic Car Cruise Night/Car Show at their Middleboro, MA location at 30 Commerce Boulevard.
Every Saturday from 4 pm to 8 pm, starting June 7, 2008, the Marketplace invites local cruise night fans to rev up their engines and head to Middleboro for a chance to show their stuff. No registration or fee is required to display a classic or custom car.
To kick off the season, Cirelli staffers will fire up the grill and offer Cirelli’s famous hamburgers and hot dogs for free. After opening night, local non-profits will be invited to man the grills and charge a nominal fee for food and drinks to benefit their organization. Cirelli Marketplace customers are welcome to join in the fun, casing out the cars and voting on the most impressive set of wheels in the show. Music and contests will also liven up the evening.
Cirelli Marketplace Manager John Santos welcomes local car enthusiasts, “We’re pleased to be able to offer local classic car fans a place to gather. There aren’t a whole lot of places available locally for them to get together, particularly on a Saturday night. As the season progresses we’re hoping to be able to team with local non-profits to also help them use this night as a way to benefit their organizations.”
To join Cirelli’s Classic Car Cruise Night at Cirelli Marketplace take Exit 6 off of Route 495 and follow Route 44 East to Middleborough, travel 3/4 the way around the rotary and take Route 18 North toward Bridgewater, then take the first right onto Commerce Boulevard, the entrance to Cirelli Foods is on the left.
Classic Car Cruise Night hours are from 4 pm to 8 pm every Saturday, starting June 7, 2008. Regular Marketplace hours are Monday through Saturday from 7 am to 8 pm and Sunday from 8 am to 7 pm.
For further information contact Mike Grant at 508-844-7720 or email MGrantKRS@aol.com.
From Humble Beginnings
Originally founded in Brockton over 60 years ago, Cirelli Marketplace, the retail division of Cirelli Foods, was originally referred to as Cirelli's Cash & Carry. Today the 17,000 square foot Cirelli Marketplace provides customers with the opportunity to shop for name brand products at warehouse prices, with no membership fees.
Cirelli Marketplace, located at Cirelli Foods’ Middleborough facility, contains 4,000 on-shelf products, and provides access to any of the other 10,000 items in stock in their warehouse. The Marketplace is a state-of-the-art retail operation offering a wide selection of name brand foods, paper goods, beer and wine as well as well as a full selection of liquor.
Cirelli Marketplace is located at 30 Commerce Boulevard in Middleborough, MA, with close proximity to Interstate 495, and Routes 44 and 24. For additional information about Cirelli Marketplace please call 1-508-947-8211, email marketplace@cirelli.com, or visit www.cirelli.com.
Why singles from India are calling Australia home
Single women, men and families from India are coming here, Australia and India share a bond that makes the land of OZ a desirable and welcoming destination, not to mention the fierce but friendly rivalry the two nations share on the cricket ground.
Migrants from India entering Australia are arriving in record numbers. In 2003, India contributed more than 8,000 immigrants and was the fourth largest provider. In the same year, Britain topped the list with 19,054 then New Zealand with 14,118 followed by China with 8,767. India's numbers were 8,129. English speaking foreigners receive a higher chance of having their immigration applications approved. Most Indians are proficient in fluent English and are often skilled or hold a degree making them more desirable as opposed to non-English speaking and less skilled immigrants from other countries.
As it stands today, India is now in third place behind Britain and New Zealand with over 20,000 Indian's immigrating to Australia in 2008. Many Indian singles and families will take up careers in the retail and catering industries which partly qualifies them for residency due to a strong demand for new businesses in these industries.
Australia as a whole is becoming more and more desirable due to the fact that 30% of the entire population were born outside Australia. It is common knowledge that Australia is very multi-cultural and foreigners moving here know there is a general acceptance of multi culture within mainstream society.
Australia is a free and democratic nation and for Indian singles looking to start a new life here in Australia, there are many cities and regions that will open doors for you as you embark on your new life down under.
Sydney: Is a sophisticated world class city smothered by amazing iconic beaches where Aussie culture is at its finest. Experience world Heritage areas, succulent hinterland and acclaimed wine areas of the State of New South Wales.
Melbourne: Features outstanding international sporting events, a love for food and wine and an unbelievable arts scene. Titled the style setter, Melbourne is home to a non-stop syllabus of festivals, illustrious dining, major art expos and musical extravaganzas.
Queensland: Is the best of Australia combined as one. Queensland is the home of many of the world’s most cherished natural wonders such as The Great Barrier Reef, the glorious colorations and contrast of the Outback along with the ancient Daintree Rainforest. Queensland's beaches are world famous which include the glaring, flash and semblance of the Gold Coast continuing to the unspoilt stretches of sandy beaches north to the Sunshine Coast continuing to Cairns and the breath taking Great Barrier Reef.
Online dating is where many single women and single men from India forge new friendships or romances in Australia. Indian singles can meet other nationals on the Indian online dating sites catering for Indian singles who are looking to start dating. Whether you are looking to meet fellow Indians or looking for an Australian partner, dating in Australia has no boundaries. We know its difficult starting out in a new country and Indian online dating sites provide you with an option to search for other like minded individuals.
Recent government statistics indicated 23% of Indians who moved to Australia last year were single. This equates to 4600 singles from India moving to Australian shores in the last year alone!
All the latest in online dating and singles news and articles Meet single women in Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Perth
How A Psychic Phone Reading Differs From A Channelled Psychic Reading
The next level up from a psychic reading, or psychic medium readings, is called a channelled reading.
Click here for an accurate phone psychic medium reading or psychic reading medium phone reading
During this type of reading the channeller is not a medium or a psychic in the traditional sense but they will have developed their sixth sense by meditating and other disciplines and be able to reach the outer realms where other beings of energy reside, have intelligence and are able to communicate that intelligence through the channel to the sitter.
Typically a channelled reading will bring you into contact with a being of light who exists in the higher realms – this being will not have ever lived on the earth plane, but will be a being of love who serves those who wish to follow a spiritual path, and who also are in the need of direction and guidance. They are teacher guides.
This type of reading can help you if you have come to a cross road or are unsure of how to deal with problems in your life. You will not necessarily get cut and dried answers but give you new ideas and a new outlook to change your perspective, remember if you change the way you look at things then the things you look at will change.
The reading can also be used if you wish to follow a more spiritual life, explore and open up your abilities and intuition and will offer exercises and practices for you to use to facilitate this.
A channelled reading will often not be the type where mediumship is used and it would not be a predictive reading as there are only probable futures no fixed outcomes. A guide will never take away your free will or freedom of action or the lessons in this life.
A channelled reading can also take the form of a past life reading where the influences of past lives over the present can be explored. This type of reading can be done long distance where you'd prepare a list of questions and the answers would be taped for you, or during a face to face reading where the channel would go into a meditative state and verbally bring the information through which would then be taped, during this type of session you could verbally ask questions and the guide would answer through the channel.
I would recommend a channelled reading over a psychic reading if you are a more spiritual person and want to have more knowledge about this, a psychic or psychic medium reading can answer day to day issues and also be predictive in terms of energies and changes in your life path and so that's more of a basic level reading but which could still be very useful.
If you are having any type of spiritual reading then don't be concerned about asking the right or wrong question if it is important to you then it needs to be addressed. No value judgement is made about what you want to know.
Finally, it is interesting that the guide if he or she does not know the answer, will go away to another spirit presence who has that information, bring it back and give forth the information – a good channel will have the answer to all that is asked.
Rachel Saxon writes for the psychic & metaphysical industry and offers fact based unbiased advice and overviews.
to get a great uk psychic reading click here psychic phone reading
great uk boutique psychic reading brand click here for an expert reading psychics
Australian callers click here psychics
Product Review — The Jen Fe Fat Diet Patches From Nexagen
When I first heard about the Jen Fe Fat Loss Diet Patches from Nexagen, I was skeptical. I don't believe in miracle weight loss cures and short-cuts. I believe in healthy weight loss by lifestyle changes. And I know that there are lots of diet scams and useless diet aid out there, giving false hope and wasting people's time and hard earned money.
But people all around me who had tried unsucessfully to lose weight and change to a healthier lifestyle and diet, were suddenly losing weight. Not only were they dropping several pounds a week, but they had extra energy (without being jittery) and were even sleeping better. What was going on? I began to do some research. ( I don't recommend a product without a lot of thought and research!)
Here is what I found...
First I was skeptical that a transdermal patch would even work to get a substance through the skin and into the body. But I learned that the skin is actually a permeable organ that allows some things to enter the body, while blocking other. Some substances that the skin especially likes to pass on to the body are fat-soluble substances such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as steroid hormones such as estrogen. Pharmaceutical companies use this knowledge to find ways to make patches that will deliver medication into the body through the skin. The substances enter the bloodstream through the capillary networks in the skin, and spread throughout the body.
The medical community is becoming excited about patches, since they give a constant amount of medication, instead of dumping in too much and letting it wear off, then doing it again, the way oral medication works. Patches are now being used to deliver a number of therapeutic drugs. These include estrogen, scopolamine (motion sickness), nitroglycerin (heart problems), and nicotine (for those trying to quit smoking).
I became convinced that patches, in general, can and do work. So the question is now whether the substances the patch is sending into the body are effective or not. This is the reason that most diet patches do not work. They are using inferior or useless ingredients. Some diet patch companies have even been prosecuted for running scams.
What about the ingredients in the Jen Fe Fat Loss Diet Patch and the Jen Fe Power Patch (a stronger version of the original Fat Loss Patch)?
The Jen Fe Power Patch features a natural blend of patented ingredients--ForsLean®, the herb Guarana (Paullina cupana), ChromeMate (an effective, natural form of chromium poly-nicotinate), Cosmoperine®, 5-HTP and diiodotyrosine.
ForsLean®, an extract of the herb Coleus Forskohlii, which contains an active ingredient in it called forskolin. This herb has been used in ayruvedic medicine for many years. Forskolin has been shown to not only enhance fat burning, but it may also inhibit fat storage from occurring. Another way that forskolin may allow for fat loss to occur is by stimulating thyroid hormone production and release. Thyroid hormone controls metabolism and can enhance metabolic rate, which may translate into more fat loss.
Forskolin does not have dangerous side effects such as increased blood pressure, heart palpitatations, nervousness and jitteriness, like ephedrine does.
Another benefit of forskolin is that it stimulates the digestive enzymes, which can allow individuals to digest and assimilate their food better. It has been shown to increase nutrient absorption in the small intestine as well.
ChromeMate is an effective, natural form of chromium poly-nicotinate, a popular and well researched diet supplement which is linked with the B-vitamin niacin. An essential trace mineral, Chromium helps the body burn calories, promotes fat and weight loss and preserves lean tissues. Chromium helps the body normalize itself metabolically, and sets the stage for safe and steady weight loss. Chromium may also help control sugar cravings.
The herb Guarana (Paullina cupana) is a great source of the energizing, fat-mobilizing substance caffeine. A small amount of caffeine from this herb helps the body move fats out of storage and into the blood where they can serve as a source of energy. Using fat for energy spares the sugar in muscles and the liver, and helps keep up muscle strength and endurance during your diet. Caffeine also helps to increase epinephrine (adrenalin) levels in the blood. Epinephrine boosts attention, alertness, blood sugar and energy, while damping appetite. The caffeine in one Jen Fe Next Diet Patch is about the same as you would find in an average-sized cup of tea.
Aside from caffeine, Guarana is a rich source of epicathechin and proanthocyanidins. Epicathechin is recognized as the potent antioxidant and health-protector in green tea, while the benefits of proanthocyanidins in red wine are widely known. In addition to protective effects, epicatechin itself boosts metabolism and calorie burning.
Cosmoperine®, the active ingredient of black pepper and long pepper, allows the Jen Fe Next Patch to offer increased delivery and patch performance without compromising factors like gentleness or skin irritation. Homeopathically potentiated thyreodinum extract also helps maintain the careful balance Jen Fe Next Patch is known for.
Diiodotyrosine, a building block for T3 and T4, can assist the thyroid gland to maintain its function and help preserve lean muscle. Thyroid function is critical to metabolism and weight management. During dieting, the body inevitably slows down production of the thyroid gland's hormones T3 and T4 in an attempt to keep the body in equilibrium. Dieters are forced to reduce calorie intake to the point where the body starts to use muscle glycogen as a source of energy.
5- HTP is an amino acid produced by the African plant Griffonia simplicifolia that acts as a natural and powerful appetite suppressant. What makes 5-HTP most remarkable is that it suppresses the appetite cravings for carbohydrate calories, but not protein or fat calories, making 5-HTP ideal for those on low-carbohydrate diets.
All these dynamic ingredients are absorbed slowly through the skin to stimulate your body's metabolism. The result is a safe and easy way for you to increase your energy levels and, with proper diet and exercise, achieve a whole new level of wellness!
Well, after going through all this research, it didn't take me long to sign up with Nexagen (although you don't need to sign up as a distributor to get the products.) And as the pounds begin to come off, I haven't regretted a minute of it
If you would like more information about the Jen Fe Diet Patches or would like to purchase them, go to http://jenfe-diet-patch.com now. Our FREE ebook reveals the secrets of coconut oil at http://Coconut-Oil-Diet.com
China’s Deep-Processing Glass Industry From Large To Strong
Deep processing of glass for flat glass as the main raw material, and its development is also flat glass industry with the development of China's gradual rise. Glass industry is a basic raw material industries, and economic development are strongly linked, the more economically developed countries and regions, the glass needs of the greater growth. In 1978, the Party's Third Plenum was convened to begin reform and opening up policy, on economic development as the center, to the original backward brought thriving glass industry development opportunities. Since 1981, China's Luoyang Float Glass passed the first inspection, flat glass in China has entered a golden period of development. At present, the number of flat glass production lines and annual output of 19 consecutive years, ranking first in the world.
The development of flat glass industry, deep processing of glass provides the perfect foundation and opportunities. Although the deep-processing glass industry in China started late, but with the level of the domestic economy, rapidly rising living standards, people of glass safety, energy efficiency, comfort, aesthetics and environmental requirements are also getting higher and higher, coupled with policies and regulations to promote, the rapid development of deep processing of glass, especially glass, safety glass and energy, the annual growth rate of more than 30%. 30 years ago, China's only a handful of deep-processing of dozens of glass companies, and are basically vertical hanging produced a small glass factory. Today, China's hollow, steel and so deep processing of glass production enterprise to preliminary statistics have more than 4000, annual output of glass and hollow glass, nearly 2 million square meters of coated glass close to 1 million square meters, nearly 50 million square meters of laminated glass. The proportion of deep-processing glass in China accounted for 30% of the original piece of glass around the glass deep processing in 2006 gross industrial output for the first time more than flat glass, reaching 36.998 billion yuan.
In the field of deep processing of glass, architectural and interior decorative glass accounts for more than 80% share, followed by glass, automotive glass and electronics. In recent years, China's real estate more than 20% annual growth rate, an annual increase of residential and public and industrial building 20 million square meters, plus the amount of 40 billion square meters to maintain the maintenance of transformation, led to the construction and decoration of glass glass such as tempered glass, laminated glass, insulating glass, coated glass and so on strong demand. Among them, energy-efficient insulating glass with the increasingly tense energy, the application volume increases, deep processing of glass has become the fastest-growing species. At present, the domestic more than 80% of new public buildings are used in insulating glass, towns and cities for more than 40% of the new civil construction also used in insulating glass. With the state building energy conservation have become increasingly demanding, Low-E insulating glass is also more widely used. Studies have shown that per capita GDP in the 600 ~ 800 U.S. dollars / when the housing industry will enter rapid development period, while in 2007 China's per capita GDP has reached 2461 U.S. dollars is expected in 2010 China's per capita GDP will reach 3,000 U.S. dollars, the construction of deep-processing glass industry will be a huge pull the continuing role in the next few years.
The automobile industry is the second pillar of our national economy industries, the rapid development of automobile industry consumption of the automobile glass provides a strong guarantee. Over the next few decades, China's automobile industry will be at a relatively high stage of development, there is greater room for growth, is a huge market demand for deep-processing glass.
Solar glass is one of China's glass industry, new products, it is primarily with the development of photovoltaic industry, the burgeoning. In 2006, the global solar glass, the total demand of about 30 million square meters. In China, only the field of solar photovoltaic glass demand in 2010 will reach 25 million square meters, solar glass, market prospects are very bright. In recent years, China's solar glass industry has experienced from scratch, from small to large rapid stage of development. In just three or four years time, China has become the world's largest solar glass production and processing bases.
Development of information industry also contributed to the ultra-thin glass production and processing capabilities. Applied to various types of liquid crystal displays, filters, computer with CD-ROM, disk ITO conductive film substrate, is an important material for the electronics industry. At present, China has more than 60 of ITO conductive film glass production line, the 50 million square meters annual processing ultra-thin glass substrate.
I am a professional editor from China Suppliers, and my work is to promote a free online trade platform.
http://www.frbiz.com/ contain a great deal of information about
metal shrinker , radial drilling machines
welcome to visit!
3 Tips From A Top Kolkata Fashion Designer To Select Best Trousseau For Spring/summer Wedding
Every girl dreams of her marriage day being something very special and exotic, fulfilling her every wish to be a fairytale princess one day. But fulfilling such a dream to the perfection is not an easy task. The numerous wedding preparations that need to be completed include arranging for the venue and the decorations, choosing the caterer and the florist, arranging for music, invitation, and so on. But perhaps the most troublesome preparation for the bride is choosing and making the bridal trousseau ready.
Selecting the bridal trousseau perhaps takes the most time and effort. Ideally it should be having everything that a bride might possibly require just after marriage. Her trousseau should be selected with a lot of care since the bride might feel shy to ask the new husband or the in-laws for something she might need.
To create your bridal trousseau unique and striking, the perfect blend of sarees, salwars, western wears, lingerie, jewelry, cosmetics, shoes, accessories, toiletries, and so forth is needed to be chosen with the very individual and particular needs of the bride in mind.
While choosing a bridal trousseau, it would be best to write down on paper all the necessary things that the bride might need post marriage. This will prevent forgetting the little tit bits later. Certain common guidelines will work fine for any bridal trousseau planning, but there are some things that will change depending on the person and particularly depending on the season. For example, it is useless packing winter clothes for a summer wedding or leaving out on winter creams in the bride's toiletries in the winter. Following are the 3 basic tips for best trousseau for spring/summer wedding:
1) First and foremost, choose the sarees and salwars carefully. Do not pack anything that will be too heavy or with too many decorations since those will make the bride uncomfortable in the warm season and make her sweat. Buy a selection of light fabrics like printed silks, cotton, phulkari, chikan, etc. Remember that she cannot wear a benarasi or a kanjivaram on a summer day. Also take care while making the blouses; they should be ideally made of cotton and with deep necks and short sleeves.
Though the bride is expected to wear bright shades, but ideally a lot of pastel shade clothes will not only suit her but will also be soothing for others around her. The much needed brightness will be compensated by her own happy radiance.
2) Pack light and comfortable lingerie and nightwear for a spring/summer bridal trousseau. Pack sufficient number of changes of the lingerie also as she will tend to sweat more in this season and will need fresh stock.
3) Last but not the least, do not forget to pack the moisturizers, deodorants, and perfumes, and of course wet tissues in her toiletries.
Most importantly, whatever you pace for the bridal trousseau, be it for any season, make a list of what all are there and give it to the bride, and also if possible show her where everything is kept so that she can find them by herself when needed.
Control Of Project Cash Flows From Pome By Gautam Koppala
Control of Project Cash Flows
The development of information for the control of project costs with respect to the various functional activities appearing in the project budget. Project managers also are involved with assessment of the overall status of the project, including the status of activities, financing, payments and receipts. These various items comprise the project and financing cash flows described in earlier POME Chapters. These components include costs incurred (as described above), billings and receipts for billings to End Users (for contractors), payable amounts to suppliers and contractors, financing plan cash flows (for bonds or other financial instruments), etc. Other short-term assets, including marketable securities, accounts receivable, inventory, and prepaid expenses, are part of the Project's cash flow. The rest of POME describes the management issues for each of these assets.
As an example of cash flow control, consider the report shown in Table below. In this case, costs are not divided into functional categories, such as labor, material, or equipment. Table below represents a summary of the project status as viewed from different components of the accounting system. Thus, the aggregation of different kinds of cost exposure or cost commitment shown in Table 12-0 has not been performed. The elements in Table below include:
Costs
This is a summary of charges as reflected by the job cost accounts, including expenditures and estimated costs. This row provides an aggregate summary of the detailed activity cost information For this example, the total costs as of July 2 (7/02) were $ 8,754,516, and the original cost estimate was $65,863,092, so the approximate percentage complete was 8,754,516/65,863,092 or 13.292%. However, the project manager now projects a cost of $66,545,263 for the project, representing an increase of $682,171 over the original estimate. This new estimate would reflect the actual percentage of work completed as well as other effects such as changes in unit prices for labor or materials. Needless to say, this increase in expected costs is not a welcome change to the project manager.
Billings
This row summarizes the state of cash flows with respect to the owner of the facility; this row would not be included for reports to End Users. The contract amount was $67,511,602, and a total of $9,276,621 or 13.741% of the contract has been billed. The amount of allowable billing is specified under the terms of the contract between an owner and an engineering, architect, or constructor. In this case, total billings have exceeded the estimated project completion proportion. The final column includes the currently projected net earnings of $966,339. This figure is calculated as the contract amount less projected costs: 67,511,602 - 66,545,263 = $966,339. Note that this profit figure does not reflect the time value of money or discounting.
Payables
The Payables row summarizes the amount owed by the contractor to material suppliers, labor or sub-contractors. At the time of this report, $6,719,103 had been paid to subcontractors, material suppliers, and others. Invoices of $1,300,089 have accumulated but have not yet been paid. A retention of $391,671 has been imposed on subcontractors, and $343,653 in direct labor expenses have been occurred. The total of payables is equal to the total project expenses shown in the first row of costs.
One of the principal ways that many companies generate sales is by offering to sell their products on credit. This is particularly true when the Projects is selling to other businesses. The sale on credit enables the purchasing Projects to use the product for a period of time before paying for it. They may convert the purchased product into some other product for ultimate sale, or they may resell the purchased product to downstream customers, or they may consume the product themselves. In any event, the payment for the purchase is delayed, enabling the buyer to retain its funds and use them to generate income for the Projects.
The delay in receiving payment for your sale increases the risk to your Projects, risk that you might not get paid at all, and risk because you need to borrow funds for the time you wait, lowering the return that you can earn because you do not have the money. Therefore, if you choose to sell on credit, it is important to manage your receivables to assure that you receive the funds when you want and expect them.
Managing accounts receivable involves the assessment of credit risk, as well as following up with customers to assure that they are satisfied with their purchase and will, therefore, pay for it when payment is due. The management of accounts receivable includes the maintenance of accurate and complete records of all sales and payments, monitoring the status of all accounts, and undertaking the collection effort necessary to keep your investment in accounts receivable at the lowest level consistent with your other management policies.
Most Project Managers do not like to call asking for money. Therefore, in many companies, accounts receivable are not well managed and customers are allowed to set their own schedule for payment. Because most companies, just as most people, pay their bills on time, that is, within the terms set by the seller, the longer a receivable remains unpaid, the riskier it is. Some companies borrow money, using accounts receivable as security for the loan. The bank, in assessing the accounts receivable, will limit the amounts that will be considered to those amounts that are current or only a little past due. The lender knows that receivables unpaid more than 30 days past due fall into the problem category, because the customer either can't pay (doesn't have the money) or won't pay (has a problem with the product or service). In either event the security for the loan is gone and the lender will not consider such an account as valuable.
As part of managing accounts receivable, management assesses the probability of collecting the amounts due. If there is some question as to whether the customer will pay the amount due, a reserve may be established. It might even be reasonable to create such a reserve based on the percentage of receivables, and therefore of sales, that has historically been uncollectible. This reserve, created by recording a "Bad Debt Expense" in the Income Statement and a "Reserve for Bad Debts" or an "Allowance for Doubtful Accounts" on the Balance Sheet, reduces the profits for the period and lowers the net balance of accounts receivable on the Balance Sheet. If a Projects chooses not to recognize this probability, no adjustment to income or assets occurs. As you can see, the evaluation of accounts receivable can change financial performance.
In the past some companies adjusted their reported profits by manipulating this and other reserves, raising and lowering profits according to management choice or investor expectations. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) all felt this practice was sufficiently misleading that they established rules to limit the use of reserves. Today, reserves for bad debts must be specific, that is, based on specific accounts considered potentially uncollectible rather than on a percentage of receivables. Other reserves, such as a reserve for inventory obsolescence, may no longer be recorded on the Balance Sheet, but must be specifically identified and written off through the Income Statement, reducing the Balance Sheet balance. Any inventory thus written off must be disposed of. It cannot be held, to be sold at a later date, permitting the Projects to transfer the profits to the future.
POME considered the calculation of the Average Collection Period, a measure of the effectiveness of the management of accounts receivable. This ratio tells us a lot about the credit management and the overall management of the Projects, the quality of the accounts receivable, and something about the future profitability of the business. As such this ratio is one of the first computed when a Projects is being analyzed, whether by an investor, a customer, or a competitor.
Receivables
This row summarizes the cash flow of receipts from the owner. Note that the actual receipts from the owner may differ from the amounts billed due to delayed payments or retainage on the part of the owner. The net-billed equals the gross billed less retention by the owner. In this case, gross billed is $9,276,621 (as shown in the billings row), the net billed is $8,761,673 and the retention is $514,948. Unfortunately, only $7,209,344 has been received from the owner, so the open receivable amount is a (substantial!) $2,067,277 due from the owner.
Inventory
For many companies, inventory is as important, or more important, as accounts receivable. The money spent on inventory takes longer to convert to cash, because it must be sold and the revenue collected, and is therefore more risky than accounts receivable. Because in many cases inventory goes through stages, it is more complicated to manage as well.
In a manufacturing Projects, inventory goes through three stages: raw material, work-in-process, and finished goods. In these companies the management function is more complex, requiring forecasts of requirements, an understanding of the production process, and an estimate of end customer demand. In other companies, ones that only handle the product after it is finished, the stages of inventory are not important, but the forecasting is more critical because, although raw materials may be used for several end products, and even work-in-process may be finished into a number of different items, finished goods are not easily changed into something else.
Because managing inventory is so critical, companies have developed complex systems to control inventory and keep track of it. In recent years some of these systems, drawing on the capabilities of computers and systems, have been expanded to control all aspects of the manufacturing process. In the early years of computerization, companies developed inventory control systems that tracked the quantities, cost, and physical location of stocks held. Later these systems were expanded to recognize ordered but not received materials as well as work-in-process by stage of processing. These systems evolved into planning and forecasting tools that took on the projection of materials requirements and the first Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) systems were developed. Rapidly, MRP systems evolved into Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRPII) tools, and from there to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. These have in recent years been further expanded to recognize that the requirements for resources extend beyond the Projects to the suppliers and their suppliers and to the customers and their customers. Today companies are developing comprehensive computerized planning systems to tie the needs of all the parts of the supply chain into an integrated planning system that will provide status information about any stage of the entire processing chain from the very beginning to the very end to anyone with a need to know.
The discussion of reserves is applicable here as well. Forecasts guide management's inventory decisions and forecasts can be wrong. However, because of the potential for misuse, reserves for inventory may not be used for financial or tax reporting. Any inventory considered unsalable, and therefore worthy of write-off, must be disposed of, thereby assuring that the reduction in profits is not just a "cookie jar" reserve, to be recovered in some future period when profits need a boost. As you can see, regulators are continuously trying to assure that financial results are meaningful and reliable.
The representative Manufacturing Cash Cycle presented in Exhibit below helps clarify the importance of the planning as well as the interrelationships among the different disciplines within a Projects. Think about the timing of actions within this example.
Exhibit: Manufacturing Cash Cycle
This gap between cash out and cash in, known as the cash conversion cycle, requires the Projects to borrow funds or use equity resources to continue to operate during this time period. In this example we have assumed that our Projects and our customers pay their bills on time. If we delayed our payments, the amount of time from cash out to cash in would be reduced. If our customers were at all delinquent (and on the average companies' collection periods are longer than the credit terms), the period from cash out to cash in would be longer.
In this case the length of the conversion cycle is caused primarily by the need to hold inventory, a need that is based on the difficulty of forecasting demand. It highlights the importance of developing good forecasts and emphasizes the interrelationships among forecasting, management of assets, and the cost of managing the Projects. Consider the costs associated with carrying inventory in a Projects. The list of such expenses is shown in Exhibit below.
Exhibit: Inventory Carrying Costs
It is estimated that when all these costs are added together, they equal approximately 30 percent of the value of the average annual inventory balance. This amounts to a substantial percentage of Projects profits and excess inventory held "just-in-case" severely impacts potential profitability. This is one reason for the "just-in-time" emphasis on inventory management today.
Cash Position
This row summarizes the cash position of the project as if all expenses and receipts for the project were combined in a single account. The actual expenditures have been $7,062,756 (calculated as the total costs of $8,754,516 less subcontractor retentions of $391,671 and unpaid bills of $1,300,089) and $ 7,209,344 has been received from the owner. As a result, a net cash balance of $146,588 exists which can be used in an interest earning bank account or to finance deficits on other projects.
Each of the rows shown in Table 12-8 would be derived from different sets of financial accounts. Additional reports could be prepared on the financing cash flows for bonds or interest charges in an overdraft account.
TABLE: An Example of a Cash Flow Status Report
Costs
7/02
Charges
8,754,516
Estimated
65,863,092
% Complete
13.292
Projected
66,545,263
Change
682,171
Billings
7/01
Contract
67,511,602
Gross Bill
9,276,621
% Billed
13.741
Profit
966,339
Payables
7/01
Paid
6,719,103
Open
1,300,089
Retention
391,671
Labor
343,653
Total
8,754,516
Receivable
7/02
Net Bill
8,761,673
Received
7,209,344
Retention
514,948
Open
2,067,277
Cash Position
Paid
7,062,756
Received
7,209,344
Position
146,588
The overall status of the project requires synthesizing the different pieces of information summarized in Table above Each of the different accounting systems contributing to this table provides a different view of the status of the project. In this example, the budget information indicates that costs are higher than expected, which could be troubling. However, a profit is still expected for the project. A substantial amount of money is due from the owner, and this could turn out to be a problem if the owner continues to lag in payment. Finally, the positive cash position for the project is highly desirable since financing charges can be avoided.
The job status reports illustrated in this and the previous sections provide a primary tool for project cost control. Different reports with varying amounts of detail and item reports would be prepared for different individuals involved in a project. Reports to upper management would be summaries, reports to particular staff individuals would emphasize their responsibilities (eg. purchasing, payroll, etc.), and detailed reports would be provided to the individual project managers. Coupled with scheduling reports, these reports provide a snapshot view of how a project is doing. Of course, these schedule and cost reports would have to be tempered by the actual accomplishments and problems occurring in the field. For example, if work already completed is of sub-standard quality, these reports would not reveal such a problem. Even though the reports indicated a project on time and on budget, the possibility of re-work or inadequate facility performance due to quality problems would quickly reverse that rosy situation.
Accounts Payable:
The purpose is to ensure vendor inoivces are processed and paid
Step
Who
Steps/Notes
1
Vendor
Submission of Invoice to Company
Vendor generates invoice and references the related Company purchase order number. .
Invoice must be submitted to the Bill To Address as stipulated on the purchase order.
2
Accounts Payable
Invoice Received at Company
When the invoice is received, purchase order number is validated by checking the following:
1. Purchase order number referenced on invoice
If purchase order number is not referenced on invoice, it is returned to the vendor with standard explanation letter. A log is maintained to record each instance of an invoice being returned to vendor.
3
Accounts Payable
Scan Invoice into PMIS/ERP
Validated invoice is scanned into the ERP system.
Once scanned into ERP, invoice is stamped with the marking ‘file only' to prevent duplicate scans.
4
AP
Matching of Invoice
Invoice is retrieved from ERP system and is matched to purchase order. The agreed SLA is retrieval within three (3) working days.
Variance reasons: not receipted (on hold), dispute (PO & invoice do not match).
5
AP
Facilitation of Payment
Once invoice is matched to purchase order, the three (3) way match applies.
PO number + Receipt + Invoice = Validated invoice
Once invoice is in validated status, payment is calculated based upon the payment terms assigned to the vendor account, based upon his paymeny terms.
A Project Manager of cash in Projects recognizes that earning interest on cash on hand increases the overall profits of a Projects. Therefore, many Project Managers take advantage of the bank's need for cash to maintain their levels of reserves. Project Managers contract with the bank for the bank to use the cash the Projects has on deposit to increase the bank's overnight balances in return for interest. These repurchase certificates or securities (Repos) provide a modest income for the Projects on funds that otherwise would not earn anything at all. If the funds are not needed for longer than just overnight, longer agreements will be established, and they will carry higher interest rates, to compensate for the longer time. The differences in interest rates are very slight, but if the balances involved are substantial, this may still result in some real income. If the funds will be available for longer, weeks or months, other investment instruments may offer higher rates of return.
As part of this cash management process, companies with multiple locations will arrange to bring the cash from all the locations into a central account where it can be managed and invested more effectively. A Project Manager can earn more money if there are larger amounts to invest as well as if the money can be invested for longer periods of time. The sweeping of these funds into a concentration account gives the Project Manager more opportunities to manage the funds effectively.
Nevertheless, used properly, the techniques of cash management, getting money into a central account and investing the funds intelligently, offer an opportunity to contribute significantly to the financial success of a Projects. These funds are often invested in short-term securities, known as marketable securities.
Managing Marketable Securities
Numerous instruments are available to the Projects treasurer to help generate income while holding liquid assets. The list of such investments grows daily and includes instruments called derivatives, whose value is "derived" from underlying assets or arrangements. One of the most interesting aspects of the derivatives market is the flexibility of the instruments that are being developed. Derivatives, which have received a lot of negative publicity in recent years but which offer the ability to tailor investments to particular needs or situations, may carry a level of risk inappropriate for liquid resources that a Projects will need in the near future.
Exhibit: Short-Term Investment Choices
Clearly, the array of choices offers great flexibility at a broad range of risk levels. Common stock is far riskier than savings accounts, but for the right situation it may offer the prospect of sufficiently high return to make the risk worthwhile.
In any discussion of short-term investments, we must remember the effect of changes in interest rates. In recent years the Federal Reserve, in its efforts to manage the economy and control inflation, moved interest rates down, in a series of steps, as the economy slowed in 2001 and 2002, and then up, again in a series of steps, as the economy strengthened in 2004 and 2005. With each change in interest rates, specifically the short-term federal funds rate, but, affecting all other rates through a reference to the prime interest rate, there was a ripple effect through all financial markets. As banks and businesses have become used to the Federal Reserve rate-setting process, responses have become swift and predictable. The federal funds rate is the rate that banks charge other banks for overnight loans. The prime interest rate, approximately three percentage points higher than the federal funds rate, generally moves in concert with the federal funds rate. The prime interest rate is the short-term interest rate that banks charge their best (most creditworthy) customers.
Estimating Interest Rates
Using the preceding section as a guide, the formula for interest rates would be:
I = BR + DP + IP + MP + LP
Recognizing the premiums described we can easily arrive at an approximation for the "risk-free" rate, the interest rate paid by the U.S. Treasury. The risk-free rate, designated RF, includes the basic rental cost of money, plus the premiums for inflation and maturity, the nondiversifiable risk elements.
As an example, U.S. Treasury bonds, the long-term bonds the U.S. government issues, are currently offering an interest rate of approximately 5.0 percent. If we consider the basic rent plus the inflation premium plus the maturity premium, the risk premiums discussed above that apply to the U.S. government's obligations, we find that:
Where:
I
= the Interest Rate
BR
= Basic Rental cost of money, approximately 2 percent
DP
= Default Premium
IP
= Inflation Premium, currently running about 4 percent, increased
because the Federal Reserve is concerned that the strength of
the economy would cause prices to rise
MP
= Maturity Premium
LP
= Liquidity Premium
Interest rates move in response to the general level of business activity in the economy. If the economy is strong, interest rates, which are the price of money, rise as demand for money rises. The financial markets see this interest rate movement in the market for U.S. Treasury securities. By monitoring this market, business Project Managers are in a position to make decisions regarding the financing of their business, as the interest rates they will be charged are generally determined in relation to the Treasury security interest rates.
Capital Asset Pricing Model
This interest discussion establishes a basis for looking at other securities. After all, equity investors want a return that recognizes these same risk premiums and rewards the investor for giving up the right to a defined maturity, for taking a subordinated, lower priority role to other financing, and for giving up the right to a regular payment of income. Scholars have analyzed this relationship and identified a relationship that describes these needs. Finance theoreticians have described the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) as an equation that determines the return required of an investment having a particular risk relationship to the general market. This equation is:
kj = RF + bj(km – RF)
The measure of beta has been the subject of much academic debate, but generally it relates the volatility or riskiness of a particular security to the general market for similar securities. That is, it relates a particular stock, j, to the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500 Average, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, or some similar well-known market measure.
Relating Risk and Return
Though the CAPM equation, in current markets, does not really present a definitive market value relationship for an investment, by relating risk and required return for a prospective investment to the risk-free rate (RF—the government bond rate) and the market (km) through an assessment of riskiness (bj), an investor is able to apply a rational assessment of validity to a projected, estimated, or definitively required rate of return. The investor is then in a position to decide whether the investment is attractive or not.
This defined relationship between risk and return leads to the old adage, "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is." This saying applies to investments as well as, if not better than, to other situations. If someone offers an extraordinarily high rate of return, it must mean that there is an extraordinarily high risk associated with the opportunity. Despite any objections that might be raised, the relationship of risk and return is clearly valid and as such should be heeded.
Extending the Theory
Over the years many sources of investment guidance have estimated the beta coefficients for different stock issues. Drawing on the difficulty of establishing just how much riskier one situation or investment is than another, we find that in these estimates of beta, very few Projects stocks are evaluated at a beta higher than 2.The consequence of this leads to an important result in the financial marketplace. Taking the CAPM equation and using 2 as beta, recognizing that historically RF has been 6.0 percent and km is estimated long-term to be approximately 10 percent, the consequence is a required rate of return of:
Where:
kj
= the Required Rate of Return on an investment j
RF
=the risk-free rate, usually the rate on a 10-year or 20-year U.S.Treasury bond
bj
= "beta sub j" is the risk coefficient that relates investment j to the market
km
= the rate of return available on a known portfolio in the relevantmarket, the basis for the comparison to j
kj = RF + bj(km – RF)
kj = 6 + 2(10 – 6)
kj = 14
If beta is 2, frequently the highest beta coefficient because it is so hard to say that one opportunity is more than twice as risky, twice as volatile, as the market, then to be attractive, a risky investment must offer the investor a rate of return greater than 14 percent. It is this recognition that has established a market for high-risk, non-investment-grade securities. If a Projects that does not qualify as an investment-grade borrower offers a bond at a rate of, say, 15 or 16 percent interest, there will be some investors—risk takers— who, seeing a rate of return higher than their required rate of return, will invest, establishing the junk bond market and making it possible for riskier companies to attract the funding they need to move their businesses forward. To further explain how this works, remember that interest expense is deductible before computing taxes..
Time Value of Money
The importance of determining the risk-based required rate of return, k, cannot be overstated. All financial decisions should incorporate an assessment of this risk and the return required as a basis for action.
In essence, we use "k" to assess the real value of whatever we are considering. An essential element of understanding our business system is the recognition that we can always earn a return—an income—however modest, by investing our money in a low- or no-risk investment offering a basic interest rate—a basic rental cost for the use of our money.
We further recognize that if we leave our money invested for periods longer than the stated interest period, the investment will continue to earn interest and will also earn interest on the interest. This lesson goes back to childhood when a parent took you to the savings bank and explained that if you deposit your money in the bank, the bank will pay you interest and that interest will compound, enabling your deposit to grow and grow. This understanding is our starting point. It can be described as, "A dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow."
Taking risk into account results in changing expectations of that return. The greater the risk, the greater the return must be to make taking that risk attractive to us. This premise makes it possible for us to evaluate alternative opportunities by judging the risk and then applying our requirements for return based on that risk. If after taking risk into account, the return is satisfactory, we will make the investment; if it is not, we will not.
The way we assess the investment is to relate the value of the money we pay out to the amount of money that we will receive would be worth if it were computed in today's terms. Or, we relate the value that something will be worth in the future to what an acceptable investment would be worth, using the required rate of return, k, as the basis for the assessment.
To make this concept simple, assume you required a rate of return of 10 percent and you had $100 to invest for one year. To be attractive to you under these circumstances, you would need to receive at least your $100 back plus a 10 percent additional amount, or $10 ($100 × .10). Therefore, we can say that the future value, in one year, of the investment for which we will pay $100, must be $110.
Similarly, we can say that an investment that will pay us $110 in one year has a present value of $100 today if our required rate of return is 10 percent. It is important to recognize that such analysis goes both ways. We need to be able to compute the future value from the present and to compute the present value from the future. In fact, we can go either way. If we know any three of the four variables—Present Value, Future Value, Term, and Rate of Return—we can compute the missing variable and then assess the investment.
Present Value—the cost of an investment or the value today of monies to be received in the future
Future Value—the dollar yield of an investment or the value of monies to be received at some time in the future from an investment made today
Term—the life of the investment
Rate of Return—the rate of return offered by an investment or required by the investor
In some situations payments made are in equal instalments. In such cases we refer to the payments as annuities. An annuity is a series of equal periodic payments whose value may be determined by use of specialized computations or by summing the values derived by calculating the present value or the future value, whichever is appropriate, of each of the payments individually. One computation quirk to keep in mind is that in calculating the future value of an annuity, payments are assumed to begin at the end of the first period and to occur at the end of each subsequent period. If the payments begin at the beginning of the period and continue at the beginning of subsequent periods, the sequence of payments is known as an annuity due and the value of the annuity is increased by one interest computation.
In the Appendix at the end of the course are some tables that help relate present value to future value, both for individual sums of money and for annuities, which, as noted, are regular periodic payments of the same amount of money over a period of time extending beyond one period. , we can compute the present value of capital investments by applying the principles of time value of money to the facts that we determine.
Valuation
We can use our understanding of time value of money, along with the application of risk assessment, to evaluate investment opportunities. So, we can determine that the value of an investment is a function of what we will receive in the future, discounted to the date of the investment. Thus, if we want an investment of $100 to yield 10 percent over 5 years, we can compute $100 × 1.10 × 1.10 × 1.10 × 1.10 × 1.10, which equals $161.05. Therefore, the future value of an investment of $100 at 10 percent for five years is $161.05. A look at the future value table shown in the Appendix confirms that the future value of $1, at 10 percent interest, compounded annually for five years is $1.6105. Therefore, the future value of $100 computed the same way will be $100 × 1.6105, or $161.05.
All investments can be assessed the same way. Therefore, the determination of the value of an investment depends on the present value (PV), future value (FV), interest rate (I) and term (N, for number of periods). Present value and future value tables referred to in the following pages are in the Appendix to this manual. These same calculations can be done very easily using one of many financial calculators available from any office supply store. These calculators perform the same calculations demonstrated in the following pages. We can also determine how much we will need at some time in the future, to buy something or to reach a desired milestone. Let's look at an example.
POME Case Study:
An Illustrative Example
Suppose you want to purchase a retirement home when you retire in 20 years. You have a specific home in mind that is currently available for $85,000. You expect market prices to increase an average of 6 percent per year for the next 20 years. What will the house be worth when you are ready to buy it? Looking at the table for future values in the Appendix, under the 6 percent column across the 20 period line, we find the factor of 3.207, which tells us that the value of the house will be $85,000 × 3.207 or $272,595.
As a second part to this problem, let us determine how much we need to save each year if we can invest our savings at 10 percent for the entire time. Since we want to save the same amount each year for the twenty years, we are talking about an annuity. We need the annuity to be worth $272,595 in 20 years using a 10 percent interest factor. Looking at the future value of an annuity table (see Appendix), we see the factor for an annuity for 20 periods at 10 percent is equal to 57.275. Therefore, if we divide the $272,595 by the factor 57.275, we find that if we save $4,759.41 each year for the twenty years, we will have accumulated enough money to pay for the house. This example is illustrated in Exhibit below.
Exhibit: Valuation Computations
Assessing Investments
We can use these tools to assess any investment, recognizing that the value of the investment is whatever we receive, related to what we paid in, and related to our expectation of return, which, in turn, depends on our assessment of risk.
To determine the attractiveness of an investment in a bond, therefore, we evaluate the interest payments we will receive and the return of the face amount of the bond at maturity and compare that result to our investment amount. So, a bond that will pay us a coupon rate, the stated interest rate of the bond, of 10 percent, equal to $100 per year for five years, and will then pay us $1,000, the face amount of the bond, is worth $1,000.00 to us now if our required rate of return is 10 percent, but is worth $1,080.30 to us if our required rate of return is 8 percent, or $927.50 if our required rate of return is 12 percent.
Exhibit: Assessing Investments
These computations tell us many things. Not only do they tell us what such a bond is worth at different discount rates, but they also demonstrate the relationship between nominal interest rates, the 10 percent that the bond pays based on its face amount, and market rates. If the bond's interest rate exceeds the current market, the bond will sell at a premium, and, conversely, if the bond's interest rate is lower than the current market rate, the bond will sell at a discount. This enables an investor to receive a return competitive with the market rate. If that were not possible, there would be no market for securities that offered returns different from the current market.
Equity investments can be evaluated in a similar manner. The investor, in considering an equity investment, has a desired rate of return in mind. This return is invariably higher than would be required for a risk-free or a low-risk investment as equity investments are clearly riskier. Additionally, an equity investment does not promise regular cash income. Therefore, the expectation is that when the return is actually received, it will be significantly more rewarding.
The reward for an equity investment is a function, not of dividends, but of earnings. The earnings of a Projects belong to the shareholders so that a dividend, which is a distribution of the Project's earnings to the shareholders, is actually a distribution by the Projects of money that already belongs to the shareholders. However, it is deemed to have a separate value. More important, however, than the dividends, is the market value of the stock. When investors purchase shares in a Projects, they do so in a market and with the expectation that, someday, they will resell those shares into the market. Therefore, the market price that investors pay for shares must be a reflection of the perceived present value of the money that the shareholder expects to receive in the future, when he or she sells the shares back into the market.
Unlike a bond, there is no certainty of timing for redemption or sale of the stock. The shareholder will hold the stock until the current market value of the shares is higher than the perceived present value of the future market performance, as determined using the investor's required rate of return. This all makes sense, but is probably not a picture of reality. Most investors make investment decisions largely on the basis of past performance and intuitive perception. However, underlying this perception is an assessment that the future market price will be higher, and will be enough higher to make it worthwhile to buy and hold this stock.
Valuing an Investment
Valuing an investment involves applying the tools of time value of money to the expectation of return, recognizing the riskiness of the investment in determining the required rate that will be applied. That is, the value today of an investment is the present value of the future cash flows (whether periodic payments, maturity payment, or price received when sold) of the investment in question, discounted at a rate of return required by the investor and determined by applying a risk assessment to the investment.
The required rate of return that the investor establishes for a particular investment is used as the "k," the discount rate used to convert future cash flows into present value for comparison to the price of the investment.
POME Case Study:
The following problem highlights the flexibility of this tool. Using the table below and the time value of money tables in the Appendix, answer the questions that follo
At what price will each of these investments yield 10 percent?
What is the approximate yield (return on investment) percentage of each if the investment required today is $8,000?
Investment
Value at Maturity
Maturity
A
$30,000
15 years
B
13,000
7 years
C
20,000
10 years
D
15,000
20 years
Finally, let's consider a more comprehensive example related to personal financial planning. For this analysis, assume that you are a 25-year-old who wishes to retire in 40 years with $1,000,000 in the bank. Although a million dollars won't be as attractive then as it is now, having it will be far better than not having it.
We know the future value: $1,000,000.
We know the term: 40 years.
We know the interest rate: 10 percent.
Using the future value tables, we find the factor related to 40 years at 10 percent: 45.259. Dividing $1,000,000 by 45.259 equals $22,095.54, which tells us that if we were to invest $22,095.05 today in an investment that promised a 10 percent interest rate compounded annually, at the end of 40 years we would have $1,000,000.
We can use the present value tables equally effectively. The present value interest factor for 40 years at 10 percent is .022. Multiplying $1,000,000, the future value, by .022, the present value interest factor, equals $22,000. This is essentially equivalent to the $22,095.05 determined using the future value interest factor. The difference is a result of rounding. In fact, if we had a table of four decimal places, the factor would be .0221 and the answer would be $22,100.00, very close to the $22,095.05.
Perhaps, however, as a 25-year-old, you do not have $22,000 available to invest for 40 years. You are able to save some money from your weekly salary. How much would you need to save each year from your compensation to accumulate a $1,000,000 fund when you retire (all tax considerations are ignored for this exercise).
Using the future value of an annuity table, we find the factor for the future value of an annuity for 40 years at 10 percent is 442.58. Dividing $1,000,000 by the factor 442.58 equals $2,259.48. Saving $2,259.41 over the course of each year for 40 years and investing that money at 10 percent will yield a retirement fund of $1,000,000.
Using the present value of an annuity table is slightly more complicated because we must cover two steps.
The present value of a $1,000,000 fund to be available in 40 years is, as we saw before, $22,100. The present value of an annuity factor for 40 years at 10 percent is 9.779. We need to work with the present value of the retirement fund to equate to the present value of the annuity that will equal that fund. Dividing the $22,100 by 9.779 equals $2,259.94, equal to the annuity computed using future value amounts.
As is obvious from all this, the use of time value of money techniques, coupled with an understanding of risk and return, enables an investor to decide whether an investment opportunity is appropriate for him or her or not. These tools are extremely powerful and are used for both personal and business investment decision making.
At the present time interest rates are relatively low and the prospect of earning 10% per year may seem unlikely. Although it is true that any bonds offering a 10% interest rate would be quite risky, a significant number of mutual funds, funds that invest investor deposits in a portfolio of corporate stocks, bonds, and other investments, have earned 10 percent or more for several years. Analysis of mutual fund investments through brokers or through Morningstar.com or Lipper.com will identify a number of alternatives at different risk levels.
Managing the time value of money has been part of our responsibility since we were very young. In business it takes on even more importance as we manage money on behalf of others: lenders, shareholders, and others in our Projects. The essence of time value of money is that, "A dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow." However, the things that affect this value are volatile and must be taken into account:
Risk: the higher the risk, the higher the return must be.
Specific Risks: default, inflation, maturity, liquidity.
Required Return: the rate we must earn to satisfy the funding sources, a function not only of financial risk, but also of alternative opportunities, Project Managerial philosophy, and general economic conditions.
The Project Manager/ Finance Manager must take into account all of these factors when looking at investment alternatives.
To solve this problem, you could also use the future value interest factor by dividing the future value by the future value interest factor.
Part 1
Present Value
Future Value
Term
Interest Rate
Factor
Present Value
A
$30,000
15 yrs.
10%
.239
$7,170
B
$13,000
7 yrs.
10%
.513
$6,669
C
$20,000
10 yrs.
10%
.386
$7,720
D
$15,000
20 yrs.
10%
.149
$2,235
To arrive at the correct answers, you need to divide the future value by the present value to determine the future value interest factor.
Part 2
Present
Future
Interest
Interest
Investment
Value
Value
Term
Rate
Rate
Factor
A
$8,000
$30,000
15 yrs.
3.750
Between 9% and
10%
B
$8,000
$13,000
7 yrs.
1.625
Between 7% and
8%
C
$8,000
$20,000
10 yrs.
2.500
Between 9% and
10%
D
$8,000
$15,000
20 yrs.
1.875
Between 3% and
4%
To solve this problem you could also use the present value interest factor by dividing the present value by the future value.
GAUTAM KOPPALA also states that " The first thing that strikes me about personal life is knowledge gain. Personal Life gives us the knowledge and Education of the world around us. It develops in us a perspective of looking at life. It helps us build opinions and have points of view on everything in life. Personal Life with right Education makes us capable of interpreting rightly the things perceived. It is not about lessons and poems in textbooks. It is about the lessons of personal life.
Academically, I am a cum laude graduate with a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (B-Tech E.E.E.) and a post graduate in Masters in Human Resources Management (M.H.R.M.) and Masters of Foreign Trade (M.F.T.), all from India.
I had more than 60 certifications, done on various fields, focussing on management domain.
My engineering completed in a remote village in India, Srikakulam, and it's been a long journey from there, and journey still continues….I feel this book demonstrates my ability to maintain dedication, motivation and enthusiasm for a project management over a long period of time. I believe that in combination with my extensive broad-based operations work experience along with my drive, resourcefulness and determination would make this book, an excellent opportunity for any juvenile/experienced one in Projects industry.
I started my career as a small time engineer and gradually still developing in the Operations Domain.
With over a decade of Professional Experience, am a well-rounded Program/ Project Manager with excellent, documented record of accomplishment and success in the electronic Security and Building Systems Technology Field.
Highlights of my background include Supply chain, Commercial with a magnificent experience in Project and Operations management, technically oriented towards Automation and Security Systems in Industrial and Building sectors.
My success in the past has stemmed from my strong commitment and sense of professionalism. I keep high standards for my work and am known for my persistent nature and ability to follow through."
Refinance Auto Loans ? How to Benefit from a Car Loan Refinancing
As much as you may truly enjoy your car, there are things associated with it that are not always that pleasant to deal with.
There are bills related to insurance, wear and tear, and, of course, fuel. Most of these things are unavoidable. However, there is one expense related component that may be effectively dealt with: the monthly car premiums.
Hector Milla Editor of the "Lowest Auto Loan rates" website -- http://www.LowestAutoLoanRates.net -- pointed out;
“…Now, most will shake their head at such an assessment. How can you get out of paying your monthly car premium? Well, you would not seek to get out of paying the premiums. Rather, you would refinance the loan to make it more affordable. This can then have a significantly positive impact on the purchase of the car. There are two ways this is achieved. The first method is the effect on the monthly premiums and the interest rates…”
When you are paying a $400 a month premium, you will be required to pay more than a $300 monthly premium would deliver. This may seem like simple math to most but it is often overlooked. That additionally $1200 per year on the car payments can drain a household budget a great deal. When the household budget is already stressed, the $1200 in payments can be even worse.
“…Interest rates can also be a huge drain on a budget. Why pay more interest than what is necessary? Those that may have acquired a loan when a credit score was bad will end up with high interest rates. When the credit score improves, the ability to gain a better interest rate is possible. Refinancing can eliminate the need to pay a higher interest rate which is another reason it is so helpful…” added H. Milla.
Further information and instant approval auto loans regardless of your credit by visiting: http://www.LowestAutoLoanRates.net
Hector Milla runs his corporate website at http://www.OpsRegs.com where you can see all his articles and press releases.