Air Conditioning – Cleaning the Condenser Coil
January 24, 2012 | 
Author Air Conditioning works by exchanging heat from inside a building to the outside air. To do this some very basic refrigeration principles need to take place. One of the most critical pieces that make this happen is the condenser coil. This is usually the aluminum coil the surrounds the air conditioning compressor.
What happens inside this outdoor unit is a very basic state change of the refrigerant inside the air conditioning unit. The refrigerant that changes from a liquid to a gas inside the indoor coil moves to the outside where the compressor compresses the gas under high pressure. When this happens the gas also becomes very hot. The hot gas then leaves the compressor to start traveling through the many feet of tubing in the condenser coil. As the gas cools it changes back to a liquid form going back indoors to start the cycle all over again.
Big problems start when the condenser coil becomes so blocked up with dirt that the hot gas in the condenser coil does not cool enough to change the hot gas back to a liquid form. If this happens the cooling process does not happen and then air conditioner runs but is not cooling. The compressor starts to get very hot and the ultimate result will be the death of a compressor. For these reasons the condenser coil must be kept clean and free of debris at all times when the air conditioner is running. Cleaning the coil is a fairly simple process, Here are a few guidelines to follow when doing this.
To clean the coil a few simple tools are needed. A garden hose with a nozzle, wrenches to remove the condenser fan, a garden sprayer for applying the cleaning solution. The first thing is to disconnect the power to the outdoor unit. There should be a disconnect switch of some type near the condenser. Then remove the fan from the condenser unit. Usually this will be the top of the unit. The fan can usually be laid aside carefully without disconnecting the wires to the motor. Carefully wet down the coil with the garden hose. If you have very high pressure water where you live be careful that the water pressure does not bend over the fins on the coil. These are very thin and fragile. If they get bent over the air will not be able to freely flow through them. Using the cleaning solution from the garden sprayer, coat he inside and the outside of the coil. Let the solution work on the dirt build up before washing it off. If you use a foaming type coil cleaner then let the foam cook the dirt out of the coil. Then use the garden hose to wash the dirt out of the coil. I often work from the inside spraying out through the coil. This is the reverse of the usual air flow and it washes the dirt out easier. Rinse the coil with water till it is clean with no more dirt or cleaner coming out. Replace the fan and start the unit back up.
The cleaning solution for the condenser coil can be any good household cleaner. Many automotive type radiator cleaners will work well. For very dirty condensers it would be good to buy a foaming coil cleaner made specifically for cleaning condenser coils. A local plumbing and heating supply house should stock coil cleaning solutions. Most of these solutions are very strong chemicals. Be sure to wear gloves and eye protection when working with them.
By keeping your air conditioning condenser coil clean, you will help to have your air conditioner running at the best efficiency possible. A clean condenser coil is one of the easiest ways to save electric while running your central air conditioning system. A clean coil will allow your compressor to run cooler and help it to last longer. Your condenser coil should be thoroughly cleaned at least once a year. If in you live in very dirty areas like along a dirt road you may need to clean the condenser coil more often. Also do not do things that would clog up the coil. Blowing grass clippings into the condenser coil is one common thing that happens. Keep shrubbery from growing into and around the condenser coil. This stops the air flow to the coil. Large flowers planted too close to the coil can do the same thing.
As you can see there are many things that can cause your air conditioner to work harder and cost you more money. By taking a the time to look over things and give it a cleaning you can save a lot of money.
Quick And Easy Way To Home Package Cookies With These 8 Yummy Creative Ideas
You’ve spent the time and effort to bake your delicious homemade cookie gifts, now it’s time to package them!
Don’t spoil all your hard work with boring cookie boxes and packaging ideas.
You want cookie gifts that say “Yummy!” – Perception is everything!
First impressions are truly important. So it’s unavoidable that you make a little effort to package your home-baked treats.
But where do you start? Here it is…
Theme:
Think about what the theme is for your cookie gift packages. For example, it is a birthday gift or for Christmas holiday giving? Perhaps it’s for your Valentine? Use the theme on your packaging.
Ingredients:
What are the main flavors or the cookie ingredients you used? Apply this element to help enhance the aroma that you may want to portray on your cookie boxes or packages.
Protection:
Are your cookies fragile? Or do they need to be air-tight and stored in the fridge? Consider using for example, zip seal bags, if necessary.
Hygiene:
Always clean any used containers (or even store-bought new boxes) and dry before using.
When decorating your packages, be sure to use food safe items. Eg. Don’t use glues where cookies may be in contact. Consider the point that your cookie gift recipient may not always be as careful as you when replacing cookies back into containers. Think from their viewpoint and see whether there is an alternative method for better hygiene.
With that said and done, here are your “8 Yummy Creative Package Ideas”:
HOME-BAKED COOKIE PACKAGING IDEA 1:
“The Coffee Cup”
You may have seen a similar idea before, using a mug or coffee cup, but this is really a brilliant idea as people associate coffee cups with aroma.
Whether it be coffee or tea, this idea spells: ‘Good times with a friend over a cup of coffee/tea and some sweets!’
- Pre-pack about 2 – 4 cookies in cellophane or sealed bag and place inside cup.
- Embellish with a gift tag and fabric ribbon around cellophane. (You can also write a message or recipient name on the mug).
HOME-BAKED COOKIE PACKAGING IDEA 2:
“Milk Carton”
This is perfect for butter cookies or packaging cookies for children. Either way, the milk carton makes a great packaging box.
- Wash and dry container before use. Carefully open the top without tearing the cardboard.
- Place cookies inside.
- Seal top with staples or strong sticky-tape. (Do not use glues as they are unhygienic and not re-openable.
- Decorate exterior with wrapping paper or fabric and ribbon.
If you are computer savvy, you could create a milk carton label with recipient name, theme graphics and colors to print and apply to your cookie carton!
Use one litre carton for giving to an entire family or a smaller carton for children or single recipients.
This is a great container for refrigerating your cookies also. Plus, the benefit is that the design of the carton semi-closes on its own with the folding techniques incorporated.
HOME-BAKED COOKIE PACKAGING IDEA 3:
“Peanut Butter Bottle”
Great for peanut butter cookies! The theme, feeling and association is already there! And you don’t even need to worry about pealing the bottle stickers off. Use it instead to create a quirky cookie packaging.
Use a square piece of fabric almost twice as large as the lid size and cover cookies before closing with the lid to create instant effective packaging.
Create a label digitally and print out for a dynamic gift. You don’t have to cover the entire glass or bottle, leave a bit of room so they can take a peek at the yummy cookies you baked.
HOME-BAKED COOKIE PACKAGING IDEA 4:
“Butter or Margarine Containers”
Unusual but very effective and fun. What’s more, it has a lid and is lightweight for posting your cookies. Just keep in mind that most butter containers aren’t air-tight.
You can decorate the exterior by creating your own labels, or sticking appropriate wrapping paper over. I recommend a food style, earthy tones and colors for this method.
Lastly, tie a ribbon around the package like you would a gift box. Large wide ribbons would give you a dazzling package.
Great for milk and butter cookies.
HOME-BAKED COOKIE PACKAGING IDEA 5:
“Milo or Food Tins (with lid)”
Tins come in all different sizes and are great for air-tight cookie storing. And you won’t have to pre-package your cookies in bags first.
Ideal for cookies that do not need to be refrigerated.
Also makes a great cookie gifting idea for boys or men.
You can even etch in writing or graphics onto the tin if you have the proper tools and use correct safety precautions.
HOME-BAKED COOKIE PACKAGING IDEA 6:
“Candy or Chocolate Boxes”
Candies and cookies go hand in hand! These are little treats that the whole world love!
- Place your cookies lying flat into the box. You may need to take out the pre-made mould shapes used and use cardboard dividers to separate your cookies.
- Simply tie with ribbon and gift tag the package!
HOME-BAKED COOKIE PACKAGING IDEA 7:
“Cocktail or Martini Glass”
Great for alcohol-based cookies like rum balls during Christmas season!
- Place one cookie or two in cellophane, seal and place inside glass.
- Seal glass with clear food wrapping. Add ribbon and gift tag on glass stalk.
HOME-BAKED COOKIE PACKAGING IDEA 8:
“Tea Box”
Use small aroma infusion tea packaging boxes – usually ones that have only 10 tea-bags in each box. You can pack 2 to 3 cookies in each box and give more than one tea box for fun.
- Seal cookies with cellophane or food bag first and place inside decorated tea boxes.
Why not leave one tea bag in front of your cookies? It’s a perfect invitation to a relaxing snack with a drink.
If you do not have any of these containers handy, you can easily buy them and transfer contents to other containers. Just make sure that it’s well washed and that most of the original scents are gone (except in the case such as the peanut butter bottles).
Not only are these 8 Yummy Ideas creative and fun, they also bring out the aroma of your delicious homemade cookies.
Start using these mouth-watering cookie packaging ideas. It’s a sure way that your cookies will be eaten instantly!
Modern Aircraft – The Embraer E-170
The Embraer aircraft corporation of Sao Paola, Brazil has made a name for itself in recent years by designing and manufacturing regional jets. The first of these jets, the Embraer 145 made its first flight in 1995. The ERJ-145 is a 50 passenger jet powered by two rear mounted Rolls Royce turbo fan engines. It has a wing sweep of approximately 22 degrees and has a T-tail configuration.
The operational success of the ERJ-145 and its similar competitors such as the Canadair Regional Jet and the airlines’ desires for a larger model brought about the “E” series of jets from Embraer.
The Embraer 170 is the base model “E” jet. It’s a narrow body airliner powered by two General Electric CF-34 turbofan engines. Each engine is FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) equipped. The first flight of the Embraer 170 took place in March 2004 and the aircraft passed FAA certification in September of 2005.
The EMB -170 features a fully digital flight deck. The Honeywell Primus Flight Information Display provides pilots with increased situational awareness, increased information retrieval and better flexibility. The system consists of a total of 5 cathode ray screens and allows pilots to present flight, aircraft performance, terrain, weather and air traffic on the various displays.
The EMB- 170 cockpit is roomy which is a departure from the E-145. The base aircraft configuration holds 70 passengers in a 2+2 configuration with lavatories forward and aft.
The EMB-170 is operated with a crew of four. Two pilots and two flight attendants. It has a range of 2100 miles and a maximum speed of 481kt (mach .86). It’s maximum service ceiling is 41,000 ft.
Currently Republic Airlines, Shuttle America Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Egypt Air, Air Canada and Compass Air operate the EMB 170.
A Brief History of Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a graceful and artistic sport that requires a combination of strength, balance, agility, and muscle coordination, usually performed on specialized apparatus. Gymnasts perform sequences of movements requiring flexibility, endurance, and kinesthetic awareness, such as handsprings, handstands, split leaps, aerials and cartwheels.
Gymnastics as we know it dates back to ancient Greece. The early Greeks practiced gymnastics to prepare for war. Activities like jumping, running, discus throwing, wrestling, and boxing helped develop the muscles needed for hand-to-hand combat. Additional fitness practices used by the ancient Greeks included methods for mounting and dismounting a horses and a variety of circus performance skills.
Gymnastics became a central component of ancient Greek education and was mandatory for all students. Gymnasia, buildings with open-air courts where the training took place, evolved into schools where gymnastics, rhetoric, music, and mathematics were taught. The ancinet Olympic Games were born near this time.
As the Roman Empire ascended, Greek gymnastics for was more or less turned into military training. In 393 AD the Emperor Theodosius abolished the Olympic Games completely. The games had become corrupt, and gymnastics, along with other sports declined. For centuries, gymnastics was all but forgotten.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries two pioneer physical educators, Johann Friedrich GutsMuth and Friedrich Ludwig Jahn created exercises for boys and young men on sseveral apparatus they had designed. This innovation ultimately led to what is considered modern gymnastics. As a result, Friedrich Jahn became known as the “father of gymnastics”. Jahn introduced the horizontal bar, parallel bars, side horse with pommels, balance beam, ladder, and vaulting horse.
In the early nineteenth century, educators in the United States followed suit and adopted German and Swedish gymnastics training programs. By the early twentieth century, the armed services began publishing drill manuals featuring all manner of gymnastic exercises. According to the US Army Manual of Physical Drill, these important drills provided proper instruction for the bodies of active young men.
As time went by, however, military activity moved away from hand-to-hand combat and toward fighter planes and contemporary computer-controlled weapons. As a result of the development of modern warfare, gymnastics training as the mind and body connection, so important for the Greek, German, and Swedish educational traditions, began to lose force. Gymnastics once again took on the aura of being a competitive sport.
By the end of the nineteenth century, men’s gymnastics was popular enough to be included in the first modern Olympic Games held in 1896. The sport was a little different from what we currently know as gymnastics however. Up until the early 1950s, both national and international competitions involved a changing variety of exercises the modern gymnast may find a bit odd such as synchronized team floor calisthenics, rope climbing, high jumping, running, and horizontal ladder just to name a few.
Women first started to participate in gymnastics events in the 1920s and the first women’s Olympic competition was held in the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, although the only event was synchronized calisthenics. Combined exercises for women were first held in 1928, and the 1952 Olympics featured the first full regime of events for women.
By the 1954 Olympic Games apparatus and events for both men and women had been standardized in modern format, and scoring standards, including a point system from 1 to 10, were implemented.
Modern Men’s gymnastics events are scored on an individual and team basis, and presently include the floor exercise, horizontal bar, parallel bars, rings, pommel horse, vaulting, and the all-around, which combines the scores of the other six events.
Women’s gymnastic events include balance beam, uneven parallel bars, combined exercises, floor exercises, vaulting, and rhythmic sportive gymnastics.
Until 1972, gymnastics for men emphasized power and strength, while women performed routines focused on grace of movement. That year, however, a 17-year-old Soviet gymnast named Olga Korbut captivated a television audience with her innovative and explosive routines.
Nadia Comaneci received the first perfect score, at the 1976 Olympic Games held in Montreal, Canada. She was coached by the famous Romanian, Bela Karolyi. Comaneci scored four of her perfect tens on the uneven bars, two on the balance beam and one in the floor exercise. Nadia will always be remembered as “a fourteen year old, ponytailed little girl” who showed the world that perfection could be achieved.
Mary Lou Retton became America‘s sweetheart with her two perfect scores and her gold medal in the All-Around competition in front of the home crowd in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
These days gymnastics is a household name and many children participate in gymnastics at one time or another as they grow up. Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci, and Mary Lou Retton, along with all those gymnasts since, have helped popularize women’s competitive gymnastics, making it one of the most watched Olympic events. Both men’s and women’s gymnastics now attract considerable international interest, and excellent gymnasts can be found on every continent.
How to Design and Layout a Coffee Shop Or Espresso Bar
If you are planning to open an espresso bar/coffee shop, then developing an efficient store design and layout will be one of the most important factors in positioning your business for success.
Speed of service is critical to the profitability of a coffee business. An efficient ergonomic store design will allow you to maximize your sales by serving as many customers as possible during peak business periods. Even though your business may be open 12 to 16 hours a day, in reality, 80% of your sales will probably occur during 20% of those hours. Coffee is primarily a morning beverage, so your busy times of day (those times when you are most likely to have a line of waiting customers), may be from 6:30AM to 8:30AM, and then again around lunchtime. If you have a poor store layout, that does not provide a logical and efficient flow for customers and employees, then the speed of customer service and product preparation will be impaired.
Think of it like this; if someone pulls open the front door of your store, and they see 5 people are waiting in line to order, there’s a good chance they’ll come in, wait in line, and make a purchase. But, if they see that 20 people are waiting in line, there is a high probability that they may determine that the wait will be too long, and they will simply get coffee somewhere else. This is money that just escaped your cash register! And, if they come to your store multiple times, and frequently find a long line of waiting customers, they may decide you are not a viable option for coffee, and will probably never return. Poor design slows down the entire service process, resulting in a longer line of waiting customers, and lost sales. So in reality, your daily business income will be dependent upon how many customers you can serve during peak business periods, and good store design will be essential to achieving that objective!
The financial impact of a poor store design can be significant. For the sake of this example, let’s say the average customer transaction for your coffee business will be $3.75. If you have a line of waiting customers each morning between 7:00 AM and 8:30 AM, this means you have 90 minutes of crunch time, in which you must drive through as many customers as possible. If you can service a customer every 45 seconds, you will serve 120 customers during this 90 minutes. But, if it takes you 1 minute 15 seconds to service each customer, then you will only be able to serve 72 customers. 120 customers x $3.75 = $450.00 x 30 business days per month = $13,500. 72 customers x $3.75 = $270.00 x 30 business days per month = $8,100. This represents a difference of $5,400 in sales per month ($64,800 per year), coming from just 90-minutes of business activity each day!
So how should you go about designing your coffee bar? First, understand that putting together a good design is like assembling a puzzle. You have to fit all the pieces in the proper relationship to each other to end up with the desired picture. This may require some trial and error to get things right. I’ve designed hundreds of coffee bar over the past 15 years, and I can truthfully tell you from experience, it still usually takes me a couple of attempts to produce an optimal design.
The design process begins by determining your menu and other desired store features. If you plan to do in-store baking, then obviously you’ll need to include in your plan an oven, exhaust hood, sheet pan rack, a large prep table, and perhaps a mixer. If you plan to have a private meeting room for large groups, then an extra 200 sq. ft. or more will need to be designed-in, in addition to the square footage you are already allocating for normal customer seating.
Your intended menu and other business features should also drive decisions about the size of location you select. How many square feet will be required to fit in all the necessary equipment, fixtures, and other features, along with your desired seating capacity?
Typically, just the space required for the front of the house service area, (cash register, brewing & espresso equipment, pastry case, blenders, etc.), back of the house (storage, prep, dishwashing and office areas), and 2-ADA restrooms, will consume about 800 sq. ft. If space for extensive food prep, baking, coffee roasting, or cooking will be required, this square footage may increase to 1,000 to 1,200, or more. What ever is left over within your space after that, will become your seating area.
So, a typical 1,000 sq. ft coffee bar, serving beverages and simple pastries only, will probably allow for the seating of 15 to 20 customers – max! Increase that square footage to 1,200 sq. ft., and seating should increase to 30, or 35. If you plan to prepare sandwiches, salads, and some other food items on site, 1,400 to 1,600 sq. ft. should provide enough space to seat 35 to 50, respectively.
Next, you will have to determine the tasks that will be performed by each employee position, so that the equipment and fixtures necessary to accomplish those tasks can be located in the appropriate places.
Normally, your cashier will operate the cash register, brew and serve drip coffee, and serve pastries and desserts. Your barista will make all your espresso-based beverages, tea, chai, hot chocolate, Italian sodas, as well as all the blender beverages. If you’ll be preparing sandwiches, panini, wraps, salads, snacks and appetizers, or will be baking on-site, then a person dedicated to food prep will be necessary. And, if you anticipate high volume, and will be serving in or on ceramics, a bus-person/dishwasher may be a necessity.
After you have determined what you will be serving, the space you will be leasing, and what each employee will be responsible for, you will then be ready to begin your design process. I usually start my design work from the back door of the space and work my way forward. You’ll need to design in all of the features that will be necessary to satisfy your bureaucracies and facilitate your menu, before you make plans for the customer seating area.
Your back door will most likely have to serve as an emergency fire exit, so you’ll need a hallway connecting it with your dining room. Locating your 2-ADA restrooms off of this hallway would make good sense. And, because delivery of products will also probably occur through your back door, having access to your back of the house storage area would also be convenient.
In the back of the house, at minimum, you will need to include a water heater, water purification system, dry storage area, back-up refrigerator and freezer storage, ice maker, an office, 3-compartment ware washing sink, rack for washed wares, mop bucket sink, and a hand washing sink. Do any food prep, and the addition of a food prep sink and prep table will be necessary. If doing baking, gelato making, full cooking, or coffee roasting, all the equipment necessary for those functions will also need to be added.
After all the features have been designed into the back of the house, you will then be ready to start your design work on the front of the house service and beverage preparation area. This area will probably include a pastry case, cash register(s), drip coffee brewer and grinder(s), espresso machine and grinders, a dipper well, possibly a granita machine, blenders, ice holding bin, blender rinse sink, hand washing sink, under counter refrigeration (under espresso machine and blenders), and a microwave oven.
If serving food beyond simple pastries and desserts, you may need to add a panini toaster grill, a refrigerated sandwich/salad preparation table, soup cooker/warmer, a bread toaster, etc. If you plan to serve pre made, ready to serve sandwiches, wraps, and salads, along with a selection of bottled beverages, an open-front, reach-in merchandising refrigerator should be considered. Serving ice cream or gelato? If the answer is yes, then an ice cream or gelato dipping cabinet will be necessary along with an additional dipper well.
Finally, when all the working areas of the bar have been designed, the customer seating area can be laid out. This will, of course, include your cafe tables and chairs, couches and comfortable upholstered chairs, coffee tables, and perhaps a window or stand-up bar with bar stools. Impulse-buy and retail merchandise shelves should be established, and a condiment bar should be located close to where customers will pick-up their beverages.
A quick word about couches, large upholstered chairs, and coffee tables. Living room type furniture takes up a lot of space. If you plan to be opening evenings, and will perhaps serve beer and wine, and having comfortable seating will be important for creating a relaxing ambiance, then by all means do it. But if you have limited seating space, and are not trying to encourage people to relax and stay for long periods of time, then stick with cafe tables and chairs. The more people you can seat, the greater your income potential!
Features from the front door to the condiment bar should be arranged in a logical, sequential order. As your customers enter the front door, their travel path should take them past your impulse-buy merchandise display, and the pastry case, before they arrive at the point of order (where your cashier, cash register, and menu-board will be located). Exposing customers to your impulse items and pastries, before they order, will greatly increase their sales. Then, after the order and payment has been taken, they should proceed down-line away from the cash register to pick-up their beverage, and finally, the condiment bar should be located beyond that point. Be sure to separate your point of order from the point of product pick-up by at least six feet, otherwise customers waiting for their beverage may begin to intrude into the space of those ordering.
Don’t make the mistakes that many inexperienced designers commonly make. They arrange these features in a haphazard way, so that customers have to change direction, and cut back through the line of awaiting customers to proceed to their next destination in the service sequence. Or, wanting to make their espresso machine a focal point to those entering the store, they place it before the cashier along the customer’s path of travel. Customers inevitably end up trying to order from the barista before they are informed that they need to proceed to the cashier first. If this happens dozens of times each day, confusion and slowed beverage production will be the result.
On the employee’s side of the counter, work and product flow are even more important. Any unnecessary steps or wasted movements that result from a less than optimal design will slow down employee production. All products should flow seamlesly in one direction towards the ultimate point of pick-up. For example, if preparing a particular item is a 3-step process, then placement of equipment should allow for the 3 steps to occur in order, in one linear direction, with the final step occurring closest to the point where customers will be served.
Equipment should be grouped together so that it is in the immediate proximity of the employee(s) who will be using it. Beyond the actual equipment, empty spaces must be left on the counter top to store ingredients and small wares (tools) used in product preparation. Counter top space will also be needed where menu items will actually be assembled. Think of the grouping of equipment for different job functions as stations. Try to keep different stations compact and in close working proximity to each other, but make sure that there is enough space between each so that employee working-paths don’t cross, which could contribute to employee collisions.
Creating defined work stations will allow you to put multiple employees behind the counter when needed. When it is busy, you may need to have 2 cashiers, another person just bagging pastries and brewing coffee, 2 baristas behind the espresso machine, a maybe even a dedicated person working the blenders. If you’re preparing sandwiches and salads to order, then another person may need to be added to handle that task. Keeping your stations in close proximity to each other will allow one employee to easily access all equipment during very slow periods of business, thus saving you valuable labor dollars.
When you arrange equipment in relationship to each other, keep in mind that most people are right handed. Stepping to the right of the espresso machine to access the espresso grinder will feel more comfortable than having to move to the left. Likewise, place your ice storage bin to the right of your blenders, so when you scoop ice, you can hold the cup or blender pitcher in your left hand, and scoop with your right.
As you create your store layout, the equipment you select should fit your space and the needs of your anticipated business volume. A busy location will most likely require a dual or twin, air pot, drip coffee brewer (one that can brew 2 pots at the same time), as opposed to a single brewer. If you anticipate selling a lot of blended and ice drinks, then an under counter ice maker, one that can only produce 100 pounds of ice or less per day, will not be sufficient. You should instead locate a high-capacity ice maker (one that can make 400 or 500 lbs. per day) in the back of the house, and transport ice to an ice holding bin up front. Plan to bring in frozen desserts and ice cream? Then a 1 door reach-in freezer in the back of he house will probably be inadequate for you storage needs, so you’ll need to consider a 2 or 3 door. I always recommend a 3-group espresso machine for any location that may generate 150 drinks per day or more. And, I can tell you from experience, you can never have too much dry or refrigerated storage space!
Make sure that any equipment you select will be acceptable with your local bureaucracy before your purchase and take delivery of it. All equipment will typically need to be NSF & UL approved, or have a similar, acceptable, foreign certification equivalent. Your bureaucracy will most likely want to see manufacturer specification sheets on all equipment to verify this fact, before they’ll approve your plans.
ADA (American‘s with Disabilities Act) compliance will also come into play when you are designing your coffee bar. In some areas of the country, this will only apply to those areas of your store that will be used by customers. However, other bureaucracies may require your entire store to be ADA compliant. Following are some of the basic requirements of compliance with the code:
• All hallways and isle ways must be 5 feet wide (minimum).
• All countertop working heights must be 34 inches high (instead of normal 36 inch height).
• 18 inches of free wall space must be provided on the strike-side of all doors (the side with the door knob).
• All hand-washing sinks must be ADA friendly.
• All bathrooms must be ADA compliant (5 foot space for wheelchair turnaround, handrails at toilet, acceptable clearance around toilet and hand washing sink, etc.).
• No steps allowed, ramps are OK with the proper slope.
• If your space has multiple levels, then no feature may exist on a level where handicapped access has not been provided, if that same feature does not exist on a level where it will be accessible.
You can find the complete regulations for ADA compliance at the following website:
http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm
Beyond the basic Equipment Floor Plan, showing new partitions, cabinets, equipment, fixtures, and furnishings, you’ll need to produce some additional drawings to guide your contractors and satisfy the bureaucracies.
Electrical Plan
An electrical plan will be necessary to show the location of all outlets needed to operate equipment. Information such as voltage, amperage, phase, hertz, special instructions (like, “requires a dedicated circuit”), and the horizontal and vertical location of each outlet, should all be specified.
A small, basic coffee shop might get away with a 200 amp service, but typically 400 amps will be required if your equipment package will include items like an electric water heater, high-temperature dishwasher, or cooking equipment (ovens, panini grill, etc.).
In addition to the electrical work required for your coffee business-specific equipment, you may need to adjust existing electrical for additional or reconfigured lighting, HVAC, general-purpose convenience outlets, and exterior signs. Also, have your electrician run any needed speaker wires, TV/internet cables, and cash register remote receipt printer cables at the same time they are installing electrical wires. Finally, make sure your electrician makes provisions for lighted exit signs, and a battery-powered emergency evacuation lighting system, if needed.
Plumbing Plan
A plan showing all plumbing features will be necessary. At minimum, this should show stub-in locations for all needed water sources (hot & cold), drains, your water heater, water purifications system, grease interceptor (if required), bathroom fixtures, etc.
While a typical P-trap drain should be acceptable for most fixtures and equipment, some will require an air-gap drain. An air gap drain does not go through the “S”-shaped twists of the P-trap. Instead, the drain line comes straight down from the piece of equipment or fixture, and terminates 2 inches above the rim of a porcelain floor sink drain. This porcelain drain basin is usually installed directly into the floor. The air gap between the drain line from your equipment or fixture, and the bottom of the basin, prevents any bacteria in the sewer pipe from migrating into the equipment or fixture. I drain the following pieces of equipment to a floor sink drain when creating a plumbing plan:
• espresso machine
• dipper wells
• ice maker
• ice holding bin
• food prep sink
• soft drink dispensing equipment
To save on the life of your water filtration system, only your espresso machine and coffee brewer should be supplied by with treated water. Coffee is 98% to 99% water, so good water quality is essential. Your ice maker should only require a simple particle filter on the incoming line (unless your water quality is terrible). There is no need to filter water that will be used for hand and dish washing, cleaning mops, flushing toilets, and washing floors!
Be aware that many bureaucracies are now requiring a grease interceptor on the drain line from your 3-compartment ware washing sinks and automatic dishwasher. A grease interceptor is basically a box containing baffles that traps the grease before it can enter the public sewer system.
Also understand that a typical retail space will not come equipped with a water heater with enough capacity to handle your needs. Unless your space was previously some type of a food service operation, you will probably need to replace it with a larger one.
If cutting trenches in the floor will be necessary to install porcelain floor sinks, a grease interceptor, and run drain lines, then establishing a few general purpose floor drains at this same time behind the counter, and in the back of the house, will prove useful. Floor drains will allow you to squeegee liquids away when spills occur, and when washing floors.
Finally, if you added some new walls during your remodel, you may need to have the fire sprinkler system for your space adjusted or reconfigured.
Cabinet Elevations
Drawing cabinet elevations, (the view you would have if you were standing in front of your cabinets), will be necessary for your cabinet maker to understand all the features they will need to incorporate into your cabinet designs.
These elevations are not meant to be shop fabrication drawings for your cabinetmaker, but merely serve a reference, showing needed features and desired configuration. Where do you want drawers, and under counter storage space; and, where do you want cabinet doors on that under counter storage? Where should open space be left for the placement of under counter refrigeration and trashcans? Will cup dispensers be installed in the cabinet face under the counter top? These elevations will provide your cabinetmaker with a clear understanding of all these features.
While your kitchen base cabinets at home are typically 24 inches deep, for commercial applications they should be 30 inches deep, and 33 inches if an under counter refrigerator is to be inserted. Also, when specifying the size of an open bay to accommodate under counter refrigeration, be sure to allow a couple of inches more than the physical dimensions of the equipment, so that it can be easily inserted and removed for daily cleaning.
Dimensions Plan
You will need to create a floor plan showing all the critical dimensions for new partitions, doors, cabinets, and fixtures. This will, of course, help make sure that everything ends up where it is suppose to be, and will be the right size.
A final thought about design; unless the space you will be designing is a clean vanilla shell (meaning, nothing currently exists in the space, except perhaps one ADA restroom), you will have to make sure that all the features that you are considering keeping, will be acceptable with your local bureaucracy. Many older buildings were not designed to present codes. If the business type remains the same (your space was occupied by a food service establishment before you), then some times any non compliant features will be grandfathered-in, meaning you don’t have to bring them up to current requirements. But don’t count on this! You need to check with your bureaucracies to make sure. More and more I see bureaucracies requiring new business owners to remodel, so that all features are compliant with codes. This means you may have to rip-out bathrooms and hallways, add fire sprinkler systems, and provide ramps where there are steps. Better you know all these things before you begin your store design!
I always tell my consulting clients, that if I produce a perfect design and layout for them, they will never notice… because everything will be exactly where you would expect it to be. Unfortunately, if you create a less than optimal design for your coffee bar, you probably won’t realize it until you start working in it. Changing design mistakes or inadequacies after the fact, can be extremely expensive. Not correcting those mistakes may even cost you more in lost potential sales. For this reason, I strongly suggest using an experienced coffee business space designer to create your layout for you, or at very least, to review the design you have created. Doing so will payoff with dividends.
Top Ten Fashion Trends From the 1940′s
Rationing:
World War II impacted virtually every aspect of American life and fashion was no exception. In 1942, the United States imposed a rationing system similar to the one Great Britain had implemented the previous year, limiting, among other things, the amount of fabric that could be used in a single garment. Materials including wool, silk, leather and a fledgling DuPont Corp. invention called nylon were diverted for use in uniforms, parachutes, shoelaces and even bomber noses.
Jackets could be no more than 25 inches in length, pants no more than 19 inches in circumference at the hem, belts no more than two inches wide and heels no more than an inch in height. Hemlines rose to the knee in an effort to conserve fabric. Buttons, cuffs, pockets and decorative details like ruffles and lace were used sparingly. Women wore shorter, boxy jackets for a V-shaped silhouette reminiscent of military uniforms. Even Hollywood traded elaborate costumes for simplified designs, a move many claimed lent movies a new air of realism.
Nylon:
As soon as it was introduced in 1938, women embraced synthetic nylon as a replacement for silk stockings. In the early 1940s, however, with silk already diverted to the war effort, the government recognized similar uses for nylon and commandeered it as well. Women responded by coating their legs in tan makeup and drawing lines up the backs of their calves to mimic seams. By the time the war ended and stockings returned to store shelves, nylon had become a generic term for hosiery.
Swing skirts.
The swing skirt had a round cut designed to look best in full jitterbug twirl. Swing skirts were a common sight on USO dance floors as young women danced with uniformed men to the jazzy horns that characterized the Big Band Era. Housewives were known to wear a more conservative version of the swing dress, sometimes in polka-dot or tiny floral prints.
Hats:
Hats became one of the few ways to express individual style with minimal resources. They were worn in a wide range of styles and personalized with scraps of foil, sequins, netting, paper and string.
Hair and makeup:
Hairstyles became more elaborate as women sought ways to contrast their dull wardrobes. Shoulder length or longer hair was rolled into complex shapes and secured with bobby pins. Screen sirens like Lauren Bacall, Veronica Lake and Rita Hayworth popularized side parts and finger waves. Makeup was dramatic, characterized by matte foundation, powder, heavy brows and bright scarlet lips.
Platform pumps:
The wartime shortage of leather and steel forced shoe designers to get more creative and, as a result, shoes were cobbled from materials ranging from crocodile hide to cork. Shoes were more utilitarian than stylish, with low heels and limited color choices. By the mid to late 1940s, platform pumps with high heels in T-straps, ankle straps or open toes had replaced the dowdy wedgie with its flat shape and thick cork soles.
Menswear as womens wear:
A number of men may have spent the first half of the 1940s in uniform, but their civilian clothes came in handy for the women who filled their home-front jobs. Women raided the closets of absent men and tailored the suits to fit themselves. McCalls even introduced a pattern aimed specifically at modifying a masculine suit to fit feminine curves. Suddenly, the sexually ambivalent look pioneered in the late 1930s by Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich was radical no more. The emergence of the dress pattern and electric sewing machine led women to make their own suits from scratch, opting for gabardine due to the scarcity of wool. Many with physically demanding factory jobs soon began wearing practical pants and Rosie the Riveter jeans.
Sweaters:
By the mid-1940s, many women had abandoned the single-piece corset in favor of panties and structured bras that lifted and accentuated the bust line. In 1946, a well-endowed Jane Russell appeared onscreen in a cantilever bra designed by Howard Hughes, prefiguring the bullet-bra 1950s and the reign of the sweater girl. Loose-fitting cardigans were also popular, particularly on college campuses.
Sportswear:
The virtual disappearance of French fashion houses during the war led American designers to explore their own creativity. Designers like Bonnie Cashin and Claire McCardell were instrumental in the creation of sportswear, that singularly American look featuring coordinated separates that could be worn in layers or in various combinations. The trend not only gave women increased options and made it appear as if they had more clothes than they actually did, but also blurred the line between couture and ready-to-wear by showing women they could be both chic and comfortable without spending a fortune.
The New Look:
By the late 1940s, women craved a return to glamor and designers obliged with swirling skirts and shimmering evening gowns inspired by film stars like Ingrid Bergman, Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Crawford.
In 1947, French couturier Christian Dior almost single-handedly brought an end to wartime austerity with a fashion line observers christened the New Look. Severe angles were replaced with curves, hemlines dropped back below the knee and skirts were generously draped. Structured undergarments were key to the New Look, which featured broad shoulders, cinched waists, emphasized bust lines and padded hips. The pencil skirt was a figure-hugging alternative to bouffant skirts. Men, too, longed for freedom from conservative tailoring in khaki and olive drab. They found relief in wide-legged trousers, full-length coats and suits in an array of colors. Both mens and womens trousers featured higher waists, widely cut legs and cuffs and came in textured tweeds and jewel tones.
The New Look met with protest from women who had grown accustomed to baring their legs and were disinclined to cover them back up. Moreover, the opulent, fabric-rich designs seemed wasteful in contrast to wartime fabric restrictions. The desire for change prevailed, however, and the look flourished throughout much of the 1950s.
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America’s Top Ten Trout Fishing Streams
I’m going seriously out on a limb by naming the top 10 trout rivers in the country. I will doubtless leave out some rivers that are worthy of mention. But when it comes to a list like this, you have to eventually pick the streams, and I’ll apologize in advance if I don’t put you’re favorite river down. I’m sure these aren’t actually the ten very best streams around-there are dozens of backcountry Alaskan streams and private trout waters that are probably better than any of these. But these are all rivers that are easily accessible and provide awesome trout fishing. These are all well known streams, and they’ll be crowded from time to time. Still, they’re all long rivers and there is room to spread out. It’s no coincidence that Montana is well represented in the list;it is full of long, beautiful trout rivers.
1. Gallatin River (Yellowstone National Park and Montana)
This will come as a bit of a surprise that I’m listing this as #1. It’s one of those streams that everyone loves, but usually plays second fiddle to other famous rivers in the Yellowstone area. Most folks spend most of their trip on the really “classy” trout streams, like the Madison, Yellowstone, Firehole, or the Paradise valley spring creeks. The Gallatin is just that friendly little river that courses through gorgeous mountain territory and produces some small trout. The beautiful mountain meadow water in Yellowstone National Park, and for a few miles below holds several hundred small rainbows and cutthroat in it’s plentiful riffles. You won’t find the thousands of trout per mile that you’ll find on the Madison, or the 20″ browns, but it doesn’t get any more beautiful and the fish usually aren’t at all fussy. Access is easy and ample. Downstream, it gains power and roars through a whitewater canyon. It’s no longer an easy going meadow stream, but the trout numbers, and size of the fish, get steadily better. Below the canyon, the stream spills out into a wide sagebrush valley populated by elk and moose. Especially below the mouth of the East Gallatin, big browns begin to show up in good numbers under the undercut banks. This is good float fishing water, although waders can do well also. Finally, the Gallitin finds it’s way to Three Forks where the it helps form the mighty Missouri. The Missouri itself is an awesome trout stream, and it’s the next stream on our list.
2. Missouri River (Montana)
The Missouri River begins as a high plains river at Three Forks, Montana. From the river’s headwaters downstream to Holter dam, the river flows slowly, both as a free-flowing river and as reservoirs. This portion of the river has some excellent trout fishing during the spring and the fall. The fish here are almost all browns, although a few rainbows come up from the lakes that are located on the river. During the summer, whitefish form most of the action. Browns can still be caught, but they mostly become sluggish, or even move to the deep waters of the lakes.
Below Holter Dam, the Missouri becomes a tailwater stream. This is where most people go to fish the Missouri. The cold outflow from Holter Dam creates a habitat where trout can survive well throughout the year. Rainbows are much more common than further upstream, but browns are also present. The fishing remains excellent downstream to Cascade;it fishes decently all the way to Great Falls.
3. Madison River (Yellowstone National Park and Montana)
The Madison River begins as an odd spring creek in Yellowstone National Park. The reason it is so odd is that it is fed by both cold and hot springs that make their way into it’s two feeder streams, the Firehole and Gibbon. It fishes best in this upper portion in the late spring, early summer, and fall. During the summer, the water often grows too warm to allow the trout to feed, because of the hot springs. Rainbows and browns in the 10-14″ range are the primary residents,but in spring, large rainbows move up from Hebgen Lake. In the fall, large browns, also from Hebgen, do the same. Dry flies are standard fare for the residents. The migratory rainbows and browns prefer gaudy streamers and wet flies fished deep.
Below Hebgen Dam, there is a run of a few miles before the Madison slows back down into Quake Lake. There is a resident trout population in this stretch which is augmented by spawning runs from Quake Lake during the spring and fall. The summer fishery is somewhat better than the river above Hebgen, but the spring run of rainbows, and the fall run of browns are still the main event. Below Quake Lake, the Madison becomes a beautiful freestone trout river. It begins a run to Ennis Lake known as the 100 mile riffle. This is all fast water, but serious rapids are rare. Rainbows and browns hold in the slow water along the banks, as well as behind the many mid-stream boulders. The scenery is breathtaking, with the lush Madison valley in the foreground, and the towering mountains of Yellowstone in the background. This is the 100 most fabled miles of trout water in the country, and possibly in the world. It can be floated or waded.
Below Ennis Lake, the river drops into Beartrap Canyon. The canyon is full of big rainbows and browns, but it’s a long hike to get to the river. Still, it’s probably worth it, as this relatively unfished water provides nearly as good of fishing as the water above Ennis. Below the canyon, the river drops into an arid valley, where it meanders from one undercut bank to another. This is excellent brown trout water, but it gets too warm in the summer. Spring and fall are good times to target the good numbers of browns here.
4. Yellowstone River (Yellowstone National Park and Montana)
Yes, this is the fourth Montana stream on the list. The Yellowstone simply can’t be left out of any list of top trout waters, as it provides 250 miles of some of the most beautiful and heartstopping trout fishing in the world. The fishing begins deep in the Thoroughfare region of Wyoming. There’s no easy way to reach this water. It take’s a long hike and a dedication of a week or so to fish this water the way it should be fished. This is cutthroat water, with both resident fish and migratory trout from Yellowstone Lake. This is as deep in the wildnerness as you can get in the lower 48, and you must be sure you can be totally self-sufficient. In the case of an accident, you’ll be on you’re own. Also, Grizzlies, black bear, moose, and other dangerous creatures are common. That can be a deterrent or an attraction. You decide for yourself.
The river is much more civilized below Yellowstone Lake. Although it flows through country that has been left in it’s natural state by Yellowstone National Park, it’s far from wild. The park water is heavily fished, especially in the popular Buffalo Ford area. Cutthroat trout fishing isn’t as glorious as it used to be, but it’s still quite good. The river drops into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and then the Black Canyon. Those stretches are essentially unfishable. When it enters Montana, it once again becomes a great trout stream. It is a very readable mountain stream just below the park, with many pools and riffles that hold both rainbows and cutthroat. Below, it enters yet another canyon, this one called Yankee Jim. The canyon is hard to hike into, but the pocket water holds some rainbows, and they aren’t fished very often.
Below Yankee Jim canyon, the Yellowstone settles into the character it will hold for another hundred miles or so. It flows through a beautiful valley (although you can see the beautiful Absaroka Mountains most of the time), and the river has a steady, but not rapid current. This is rainbow and brown trout water in the main, although cutthroat are pretty common as well. The water around Livingston is most famous, but the fishing is very good for many miles up and downstream from that popular western trout town. The trout fishing holds up all the way downstream to Billings in Eastern Montana. Below there, it is a massive prairie river home to pike, smallmouth bass, and catfish, but few trout.
5. Green River (Wyoming and Utah)
The Green River is a stream with many faces. In it’s upper reaches in Wyoming, it’s a high plains river home to large brown trout. This is western ranchland country, and all through the summer trout hug the undercut banks in search of hoppers. That’s where you should be casting, with a Letort Hopper and maybe a Hare’s Ear dropper for good measure. The access isn’t great here, but there are places where visiting anglers can get on productive water for free.
The upper Green finally flows into Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The reservoir is home to big rainbow, brown, and lake trout, but it’s deep waters are hard to handle with conventional tackle, especially if you prefer to fly fish. The tailwater (which is actually in Utah), however, has some of the best trout populations on Earth. Some estimates show nearly 20,000 trout per mile in the first 7 miles below the dam. The tailwater is best known for it’s cutthroats, but it also fishes well for rainbows and browns. This river flows through a beautiful desert canyon. The water is air-clear, and site fishing is very popular. Further down, there are a few less trout, but the browns and rainbows can grow much larger. If you don’t have a boat, we recommend hiking in to some of the lesser known areas. You’ll find wilderness fishing on one of the most productive trout streams in the country. Local fly and tackle shops will be able to point you in the right direction. Just watch out for Rattlesnakes! There are also formal accesses where you can fish, including one right below the dam. You can catch fish in these areas, but the wilderness experience is mostly lost. Most people who are new to the Green float it in a driftboat with a guide. The guide will safely bring you through the whitewater and put you over fish. Just don’t expect it to be cheap.
6. White River-Bull Shoals Tailwater (Arkansas)
Arkansas’s White River is the only Southern stream on our list, and it’s also the only one that’s mostly put and take. This tailwater flows out of Bull Shoals Dam high in the Ozark Hills. The cold plume from the bottom of Bull Shoals Lake, combined with the cold flows of the North Fork River allow trout to survive for nearly 100 miles below the dam. It’s a tailwater with rapidly fluctuation flows, and it can be downright dangerous. It can be waded at low flows, but bank and boat fishing are the only options when there the dam is releasing a lot of water. Your first time floating, a guide will be helpful.
There are about 5000 trout per mile on the river, and the majority are rainbows. Rainbows are stocked by the millions by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Rainbows swarm almost all parts of the river, and they never seem to be difficult to catch. These trout average about 13 inches, so they’re fun to catch. Still, the browns are what draw many anglers to the White. The browns are mostly wild, although their numbers are supplemented by stocking. A new 24″ minimum insures larger browns, and there are also several catch and release areas on the river. A White River brown isn’t considered large until it hits five pounds; it’s not a trophy until it hits 10. To give you a frame of reference, on our last trip to the White, a fly shop owner showed us a picture of an honest, weighed and measured brown that he had just caught that weighed 29 pounds. He didn’t seem all that excited about it.
7. Manistee River (Michigan)
Michigan’s Manistee River is one of the best in the world. It starts deep in the lower Peninsula of Michigan as a small, spring-fed brook trout stream. This isn’t the place to come for trophy trout, but the brookies are beautiful and jewel-like, always ready to provide a wonderful experience. A few browns do make their way into this section, and they can grow surprisingly large. While most people fly fishing, spin fishing is both legal and productive.
From the M-72 Bridge downstream to the CCC Bridge, the river is fly- fishing only. There are good numbers of both browns and brookies here, and trophies are much more common than further upstream. This is famous trout water, and the hatches, as well as the fish are plentiful. The restrictive regulations insure top quality fishing. The fishing remains good for a few miles downstream from the special regulation stretch (mostly for browns), before the river forms Tippy Pond.
Below Tippy Pond, the river is a mixed fishery. While smallmouth bass and pike are the main species during the summer, migratory trout, salmon, and steelhead form the cool-weather fishery. King Salmon and brown trout are present in good numbers during the fall. As a matter of fact, a brown trout caught in the lower Manistee last fall is the current world record. Steelhead are in the river mid-fall- mid-spring, and they are quite plentiful.
8. Connecticut River, (New Hampshire and Vermont)
The upper Connecticut River is an Eastern stream with a western feel. Coursing through the beautiful Appalachian country of Northern New England, the scenery will not be beat. The headwaters portion of the river flows through 3rd Connecticut Lake, 2nd Connecticut Lake, 1st Connecticut Lake, and Lake Francis. This portion of the river is full of eager brook trout, and in the spring and fall, Atlantic Salmon run upstream from all of these lakes, and provide excellent sport in the river. There is some water that is legal to fish with a spinning rod, but it’s mostly fly fishing only.
Below Lake Francis, the river mostly becomes open to spin fisherman, although fly fishing is still most popular. The Connecticut provides excellent fishing for rainbow and brown trout for many miles downstream. You can wade, fish from the bank, or float this water. This area gives you your best shot to catch large trout. The fishing is good along the New Hampshire/Vermont border all the way down to Hanover, the home of Dartmouth College. It should be noted that there are several slow, dammed up sections of stream in this part of the river that are warm-water fisheries, but where you find good current, you’ll find some trout.
9. Niagara River
Did you know that below Niagara Falls, this mighty river is an excellent trout and salmon stream? This is a totally migratory fishery with good numbers of steelhead, brown trout, and various species of salmon. As you may have guessed, this is not an easy river to fish. There are probably some areas that can be fished from the bank, but it would be safe to say that wading is out of the question. There are many guides in the area that will help you out on this beautiful, dangerous river, and we reccomend their services to insure a safe trip. This isn’t a summer fishery for the most part. Any time during the spring and fall, you’ll find some sort of salmonid running up the river. In summer, switch your attention to smallmouth, which are abundant and large.
10. Beaverkill River
Is this one of the 10 best trout streams in the country? Well admittedly, it probably isn’t. It’s just that the tradition on this stream is so rich that it would seem a sin to leave it off. This famous Catskill River begins as beaver flowage high in the mountains. It’s full of eager brook trout up there, and few folks fish it. This water is on public land, so if you’d like to hike in, you may be pleasantly surprised. The first place most people begin their fishing is at the Beaverkill Campground. Browns and brookies both reside in the beautiful fast water environment here, and it’s always a pleasant place to fish. Also, it doesn’t get nearly as warm in the summer as the lower reaches, so you can probably expect to catch a couple if you have to come in July or August.
The river is mostly private, and therefore off of our radar screen all the way down to Roscoe, New York (also known as Trout Town USA). At this point, the Willowomec (also a nice trout stream) flows in to form the Junction Pool. Many people come all the way out here just to fish that pool;it’s synonymous with American dry fly fishing. After this pool, the river remains mostly accessible and has many other areas, such as Cairn’s Pool, Horse Brook Run, Cook’s Falls Pool, Horton Pool, and the Acid Factory that are legendary in the minds of fisherman. This is all famous trout water, and it fishes well whenever the water temperature is below 70 degree. Sometimes it will be in good, fishable shape all summer long, and at other times the water is so warm it is both irresponsible and unproductive to fish it.
There are only about 300 trout per mile on the Beaverkill, and given it’s fairly large size, that’s not a terribly high number. Neither is it much of a trophy stream, although admittedly some fine browns are caught from time to time. And therein lies the mystery to it’s fame. It’s real value lies in the fact that it was one of the streams where American dry fly fishing was pioneered. A trip here is more a lesson in history than an excursion to world class trout water.
These are just ten streams that for one reason or another, we think are worthy of mention. As we said earlier, it’s highly debatable whether these are really the ten best. But it is true that these are ten fine trout streams, and they all have some aspects to them that are beautiful.
The Hinomoto Tractor is a Dependable Machine
The Hinomoto Company is based in Japan and is a division of Hitachi Construction Machinery. A popular company that has been around since the 1800′s, it is known for making some of the best compact Japanese tractors in the world. The Hinomoto tractor is a tractor that people trust.
In the United States, tractors are used in agriculture, such as on farms. However, they are also used for construction. The Japanese use tractors on rice fields, for example. The Japanese are known for using compact tractors to accommodate the smaller size of their fields and many use the Hinomoto tractor.
Japanese tractors are some of the best tractors available for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is because of their state of the art construction. Another reason the Japanese tractors are of high quality is because of their low level of machinery problems.
Japanese tractors such as the Hinomoto tractor are shipped to areas outside of Japan on a regular basis. American farmers and those in construction find the Hinomoto tractor one of the best and one they can depend on.
A tractor represents a financial investment. Most tractors cost thousands of dollars. To get the most out of a tractor investment, it pays to invest in a strong, well made tractor. The Japanese built, Hinomoto tractor is that and a lot more.
Farmers and those in construction have found that there are benefits to owning a compact tractor as opposed to a larger sized tractor. Compact tractors are much easier to maneuver into tight spots. In addition, it is easier to haul and load materials with a compact tractor. The compact tractor is more versatile than a standard size tractor and is easier to move around in a construction site.
History of the Curling Iron
History of the curling iron. Is there such a thing or is the curling iron just a modern invention? Each generation is the same. We think we have invented something new when perhaps all we have done is to modify “old inventions” by applying modern technology. Let us begin to investigate the history of the curling iron or, as it is also known, the curling tong.
Let us begin with the definition of a curling iron. It is a tool, a cylindrical metal appliance, used to change the structure of the hair by applying heat to a lock of hair that has been curled around it. It is natural to think with a modern mind and assume that the heat is generated by electricity. However, the curling iron goes way back before the introduction of electricity.
We only have to look at carvings from the ancient world to see that people cared about the style of their hair and that a popular style involved creating curls. Babylonian and Assyrian men dyed their hair and square beards black and crimped and curled them with curling irons. Persian nobles also curled their hair and beards, quite often staining them.
Egyptian nobles, men and women, cropped their hair close but later, for coolness and cleanliness in their hot climate, shaved their heads. On ceremonial occasions, for protection from the sun, they wore wigs. The wigs would be short and curly or long and full of curls or braids. The Science Museum has an example of curling tongs used by rich Egyptians to prepare their wigs.
In classical Greece it is known that the upper classes used curling irons.
Through time there have been many methods devised to curl hair and to keep the curl in place. For example, in 1906 Charles L. Nessler, a German hairdresser working in London, applied a borax paste and curled hair with an iron to produce the first permanent waves. This costly process took twelve hours. Eight years later, Eugene Sutter adapted the method by creating a dryer containing twenty heaters to do the job of waving more efficiently. Sutter was followed by Gaston Boudou, who modified Sutter’s dryer and invented an automatic roller. By 1920, Rambaud, a Paris beautician, had perfected a system of curling and drying permed hair for softer, looser curls by using an electric hot-air dryer, an innovation of the period made by the Racine Universal Motor Company of Racine, Wisconsin. A significant breakthrough came in 1945, when French chemist Eugene Schueller of L’Oréal laboratories combined the action of thioglycolic acid with hydrogen peroxide to produce the first cold permanent wave, which was cheaper and faster than the earlier hot processes. To control the amount of curl, varying diameter of rods were used for rolling. Technology to hold hair in place was advanced in 1960 when L’Oréal laboratories introduced a polymer hair spray to serve as an invisible net.
The curling iron has remained a favoured tool in spite of all the chemical inventions. We have moved on from the metal rods heated by insertion into hot coals or heating on gas or electric stoves. With no control of the heat of the iron there must have been many cases of singed hair, not to mention burnt fingers and scalps! Modern day styles demand more control and flexibility of hair style with hair looking loose rather than “glued into place”. Electrically heated and electronically controlled irons and tongs are now available. The barrels come in varying sizes enabling a tight curl or loose falling curl finish. Some have a smooth easy-glide ceramic barrel to create a super smooth finish and you can also purchase drop curl hair tongs with a cone shaped tong to create loose, tumbling waves and tousled curls. The fluctuation in hair styles from curly to straight and back again means manufacturers will continue to dream up new innovations to attract both professional hair stylists and the consumer.
So who “invented” the curling iron? Inevitably you find many references to “invented” and “patented by” or “introduced by”. The original inventor is lost in the mists of time but examples of the previous sentence are:
In1866, Hiram Maxim, who designed the machine gun bearing his name, applied for and obtained the first of many patents at age 26 for a hair-curling iron.
Four years later in 1890 two Frenchmen, Maurice Lentheric and Marcel Grateau, used hot-air drying and heated curling tongs to make deep, long-lasting Marcel waves.
The Straightening comb however, is actually credited as first being invented by the late 19th century French hairdresser, Marcel Grateau, who also, invented the curling iron, the permanent wave and later the Gillette safety razor which became popular in Germany after World War I.
In related developments, Rene Lelievre and Roger Lemoine invented an electric curling iron in 1959.
The pressing/curling iron was patented by Theora Stephens on October 21, 1980.
In August 1987 the Wahl Clipper Corporation introduced to the professional market the ZeeCurl. This flat-barrel curling iron gave stylists a tool to create new hairstyles with Z-shaped curls, adding texture and body to all types of hair. In 1988, FrenZee, the consumer version, was added.
There is little doubt that fashion will demand and dictate new innovations to ensure continuation of the history of the curling iron.
Rodger Cresswell
How to Find Bereavement and Family Emergency Airfares
When an unexpected death or medical emergency befalls a loved one far away, it is often very challenging to find and purchase an emergency airline ticket. It has always been the custom for airlines to charge the highest prices for tickets bought at the last minute, and even more if you don’t know exactly when you will be returning.
For many years the airlines have offered bereavement airfares, but unfortunately most airlines have eliminated or dramatically reduced their family medical emergency and bereavement airfares in the past year. The airlines claim that competition has affected the marketplace so much that they just can no longer afford to reduce ticket prices any further. Really? We all know that last minute tickets with a flexible return date can often cost $1,000 or more! Thankfully three major US airlines are still committed to assisting folks during family medical emergencies. They are American Airlines, Northwest Airlines, and United Airlines.
Here are the steps you need to take to secure a bereavement or family medical emergency reduced rate airline ticket:
1) You must phone the airline’s reservation department. Contact American Airlines at 800-433-7300, Northwest Airlines at 800-225-2525, or United at 800-241-6522. Information for this type of ticket does not exist online. Airlines don’t even admit they have such fares on their websites! Tell the reservation agent that you need a medical emergency or bereavement reduced rate airline ticket and what the circumstances are.
2) You must be an immediate family member – sister, brother, parent, child, grandchild etc. If you have extenuating circumstances, by all means explain them to the agent, they have been known to bend the rules from time to time.
3) The airline agent will verify the information you are telling them, so have the following information at hand for verification: Your relative’s full name, Name and phone number of the funeral home
or Name and phone number of the hospital or medical facility, Name and phone number of the attending physician.
Flights should be able to be booked in the course of one phone call, so be prepared with your desired dates and times of travel before placing the phone call. If the first agent you speak with does not seem able or willing to deal with your request, end the call and dial in again. Finally, you may want to check on Priceline.com, Kayak.com and with low cost carriers that serve your area to see what a standard ticket would cost. You may find that there is a less expensive option available online than with a reduced rate bereavement ticket.