Reltix

No Air Fresheners at the Office Please!

No one wants to be surrounded by foul odors all day, especially when you’re trying to get your work done, but beware of trying to mask those odors with commercial air fresheners! There is plenty of doubt surfacing as to whether or not these perfumed culprits are actually quite harmful to our health.

If your office cleaning company uses natural green cleaning products, you should have no need for them in the workplace anyway, but many individuals like to have that little stick, or gel, or spray to chase away odors just in case. If you’re one of those people, here is a bit of information on the downside of air fresheners and also some tips on keeping the air fresh naturally!

Many air fresheners on the market today contain chemicals known as phalates, which are suspected of causing cancer, birth defects and fertility problems. Conclusive evidence has not been confirmed regarding the amount of exposure required before adverse affects take place, but as a precaution many countries have banned the use of phalates in some cosmetics and children’s toys. This should tell us that being exposed to this dubious chemical is not a good thing, and might as well be avoided if possible until evidence is found to the contrary. So, where does that leave us with our concerns about nasty odors in the office? Well, the truth is, some simple answers can be found right under our noses!

Cleanliness, of course, is the first defense against odors. As mentioned above, if you have hired a diligent and efficient cleaning company, your office should be free of odors anyway. But for those not so pleasant smells that waft in from time to time, you can try these things:

* Open windows to bring a bit of fresh air if possible to eliminate a temporary odor from a burned lunch or food spill.

* Empty all trash containers daily or immediately if something is really smelly and shake a bit of baking soda into the bottom of the trash can as well

* If you have a garbage disposal, run a piece or two of lemon through the system every so often

* Heat a small dish of water and cinnamon in the microwave for a few minutes to eliminate odors both in the oven and the room

* If someone in the office has a green thumb, consider placing a few houseplants throughout the office. Plants act as natural air purifiers and look pretty too! There are also commercial companies that will provide and maintain plants for the workplace in the event that no green thumbs can be found!

* Consider putting a small personal air cleaner on your desk. These can be found in a variety of sizes and price ranges and work quite well to keep small areas odor free.

* Zeolite crystals also help to eliminate stubborn odors that are sometimes hard to pinpoint. These crystals are usually sold …

Building Your Lifestyle – Part 1

Financial plans, cash flow analysis, savings plans, budgets, debt plans… These are the topics that most personal finance authors focus on. They are some of the most important pieces of personal finance but they are also the most boring, least read, and most importantly they do not help people change their behavior.

Breathe deep and relax, I am going to write about building your lifestyle. Of course there will be personal finance tips and strategies here and there. Of course debt and saving will come up from time to time. But the goal is to help you build your lifestyle, not to cut your debt or save more.

Let’s begin the journey. The first step is simply know what you want as a lifestyle. There is no wrong or right answer to this question. Want to travel the world solo? Build a family and grow deep roots in the community? What about working to the top of the building and have people work for you?

Spend some time on this and think about what you want your life to look like. What do you want to build towards? What would you be most proud of accomplishing over the next few years? What do you want to avoid? There are a myriad different ways to flesh through your desired lifestyle but the one that has been most successful for me is to write. The process of writing allows you to work through your thoughts and feelings through a ‘self-conversation’. Writing helps you understand yourself and your deeper thoughts and emotions. At times subconscious feelings will arise that you didn’t know that you had.

The point is take some time out and figure out what type of lifestyle you want to build. Use whatever tactics work best for you. When you are done write it up in a detailed description. Write what you own, who you are with, where you are and what you are doing. Write in enough detail to allow yourself to close your eyes and imagine yourself there. Don’t leave anything out, put your soul into it.

Taking action is what matters. Treat yourself to some soul searching and clearing up your life path. If this is done correctly it will not be a waste of time. In fact if taken seriously it may be an activity that you repeat.

My next post will detail the making money portion of building your lifestyle. We will cover how much money is too little, too much and how to find a job to support your desired lifestyle.…

The Basic Office Cleaning Supplies Every Office Should Have

When working, it is important to have a neat and clean ambience to facilitate good vibes and motivate employees in doing their tasks efficiently. Because of this, most offices invest in the training and hiring of personnel who can do the tasks involved in the maintenance of the workplace’s overall cleanliness. In addition to the people, there are the office cleaning supplies that should be always presently and budgeted well enough since they are essential in making sure the entire office is as clean as it should be.

Here are some of the essential office cleaning supplies that should always be present in any workplace. It helps to know what these cleaning supplies are, so one can always make sure they are every present and never out of stock.

1. All-purpose cleaner – A disinfecting cleaner is necessary for cleaning hard surfaces within the workplace. Tabletops, desks and the likes can easily be cleaned and free from dirt as well as bacteria with the aid of disinfectant. One can go with a cleaning solution that can effectively eliminate grease and all kinds of dirt. For tables in the office’s pantry or lunchroom, it is best to use a cleaning solution that has ample bleach content to deal with food stains as well as bacteria effectively.

There are also cleaning solutions that work for floors and walls. These are hardcore solutions that are designed for dealing with greater amounts and harder to deal with kind of dirt. Odorless solutions should also be odorless to avoid the possibilities of getting any of the staff be irritated by the solution.

2. Wipes – Aside from cleaning and disinfecting solutions, there are also wipes that help clean areas and items which cannot be cleaned using the liquid solutions. These include gadgets such as computers. It might be hard to eliminate the dirt that accumulates between the spaces in a keyboard or similar other areas that are hard to get to. Sanitized wipes are the best office cleaning supplies to use for these situations.

3. A working vacuum – For carpet cleaning, it is necessary for the office to have a working vacuum around. A vacuum that is medium to large in size and offers excellent suction power is the best option for the workplace. If possible, a model that allows attachments is more preferable as it gives one a chance to clean curtains and upholsteries as well.

4. Disposable bags – Eliminating the dirt and all the trash in the office cannot be completed unless they are all taken away. The perfect answer to this need comes in the form of disposable bags. Having an ample supply of such makes it possible to get rid of garbage and other dirt efficiently.

In addition to these cleaning supplies, the office should also be equipped with the basic cleaning materials that are necessary to deal with dirt and garbage. An effective broom and dusters should be available …

Canada’s Insurance Brokers Association – What Are the Benefits of Joining?

Belonging to Canada’s Insurance Brokers Association provides many benefits. But do these outweigh the time and cost of belonging to this organization? Because we are dealing with a business decision we must make our arguments for, or against, based on the business benefits it does, or does not provide. This short article will look into some of the benefits of belonging to this august organization, focusing especially on the education and training available to members.

We will divide this article in two main sections. Our first section will focus on the education programs available, while our second will highlight the improved service an Insurance Brokers Association member can offer. We hope this article can help you make a decision that will benefit you and your professional advancement in the insurance industry.

One of the satisfactions of being part of any industry as a professional is the opportunity of growth. True professionals never stop learning, and are constantly trying to better themselves through training and education. If you take on this challenge of continually improving yourself you can expect this constant learning and improving of your skills will allow you to take on higher levels of responsibility. What these higher levels of responsibility are will depend on your goals, ambitions and personal qualities, however you will not be short of options.

In order to provide their members with the best service possible the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada has created a Career Path that will allow you a lifetime of learning and training. This will make your career more interesting and vibrant, as well as making you a better professional.

There are nine main programs currently available to members. We will highlight some of them, although you are encouraged to do further research and find more information on all nine programs. The first step for a budding insurance broker is to carry out a Best Practices program. This program is designed to enhance the performance of members by comparing the broker operations of the 150 top performing companies in the U. S and Canada. This helps brokers identify the type of strategies that work in the insurance industry.

A great second step is to earn your CCIB, Canadian Certified Insurance Broker, designation. This qualification proves to customers you are prepared to offer a superior standard of excellence. These qualification do not only make you a better broker but also a more successful one financially speaking as customers prefer brokers that inspire confidence with an acclaimed qualification.

IRM, Introduction to Risk Management is another great program if you are interested in improving your professional skills. This program will provide you with a basic understanding of what risk management is all about, and how risk managers do their job. This is important for insurance brokers as their whole industry relies on the accurate management of risk.

If you take on one or all of the programs available through the Canadian Insurance Brokers …

Finding Condos And Lofts And More

Condos and Lofts are a very interesting idea when one thinks of getting a property. Some will want a large house in the suburbs. If raising a family then this normally is the usual idea, although everyone is different and therefore some might just prefer to have their children raised in the city. Whatever the case it is always down to the people who are going to be purchasing the place itself.

For the most part it is quite a popular idea to be living in a loft apartment. There are those with creative or artistic temperaments who might decide that this kind of building is perfect for them. Indeed, some might even want to rent out a place in order to use it as a studio for themselves as well. All of the finances need to be organized, however, if this is going to be the case and people need to be fiscally responsible with it.

Sometimes it is usually a much more cost effective solution for people to go out and rent a place themselves. A lot of the time families who have two incomes are going to be happy to know that they’ve got a lot of choice with regards to this. Therefore living in a rented place usually isn’t a bad idea as long as one knows just how to manage the money that is coming in.

People know that they have a lot of choices with regard to property. On the Internet it is possible to search through the different catalogs that websites will show, where there will be long listings of different types of property which are available in the different areas of a city. One can scroll down through all of them and see the different options that they’ve got in this regard.

Nowadays many people will want to get an apartment, as well as condos and lofts, in a good place so that they can avail of this source of income. Of course it is vital that one makes sure that the finances are worked out so that people actually gain a profit, whilst still not scaring off potential tenants.

People naturally need to ensure themselves that they organize everything properly if they’re making these kinds of arrangements. Land lords also have to deal with a numerous amount of different things, including declaring their income taxes.

Renting is always a good idea for those who are uncertain of where they want to live. In certain places there will be very good rent laws that have been put in place so one normally doesn’t have to worry about being evicted as long as the rent is paid.

When it comes down to purchasing things like condos and lofts and other pieces of property one needs to be very careful. This is going to be a huge investment when it comes to the financial side of things so one needs to ensure that they’re going to follow through …

What Is The Initial Home Foreclosure Process?

Foreclosure is the process which permits a lender to recover the amount owed on a non-paid loan, by either selling or taking ownership of a property that secures the loan. The initial process of foreclosure starts when a borrower fails to pay a loan. The lender then files a public default notice known as Notice of Default.

Home foreclosure is not difficult but it is very multifaceted. This kind of foreclosure starts when the home owner fails to pay the principle, interest and/or real estate taxes for a period of about 6 months.

Mortgage rates can go up at a certain percentage after the initial period. Some home owners may find this difficult and begin to get behind on paying the mortgage. Home foreclosure starts when the mortgage loan imbursement is 16 days overdue. At this point the whole procedure is usually not far away from start. It is at this time that the mortgage service provider tries to contact the offending homeowner so as to come to some kind of agreement of a possible repayment course of action.

Home foreclosure can end in four ways: the home owner can reinstate the mortgage loan by paying the amount he or she owes during the grace period that a mortgage service provider gives, or the home owner can sell the home to another person during the grace period and then pay off the mortgage loan, or the lender can seize and take ownership of the home usually with intentions of selling it, or the home can be auctioned at the end of pre-foreclosure period.

If the homeowner keeps on missing the mortgage payments for the next six months, home foreclosure procedures can start. A mortgage service provider orders a trustee to draft and record a Notice of Default. Notice of Default informs borrowers that they face foreclosure actions. It also sets off a restore period usually up to five days after which the property is listed or auctioned off. At this point home sale date is recognized and the owners receive Notice of Sale.

This notice is posted on the house and a copy is verified at the office of the County Recorder. Some County Recorders also advertise the home sale in local newspapers or post the notice in their websites.

The location, date and time of sale are specified at this juncture usually at the location of the home. At the local auction the foreclosure home is awarded to the highest bidder, who is expected to pay a specified initial deposit in cash due to upfront.

The remaining balance is usually expected to be paid in 24 hours time. The opening bid is usually set by the lender or the auctioneering company with agreement with their clients. This bid usually of the equal amount of outstanding mortgage balance including accumulated interests and other fees related with Trustee Sales. If the bid is not met, the property is considered as Real Estate Owned.

It …