Clogged toilets and drain pipes can someone’s worst nightmare. It’s even worse when it happens in someone else’s house or in your workplace. When the panic attack subsides, you need to fix the problem and plumbers are just a click or call away. What we don’t know is that plumbers have their own tricks of the trade that they won’t share with customers for love or money. Here are a few factors to consider in such situations:
What not to flush
Most clogged drain pipes are caused by flushing stuff that’s never meant to be, such as dental floss, face or baby wipes, long hair, diapers, sanitary towels, etc. Make it one of your bathroom rules not to do so and chances are that you won’t need clogged toilet repair any time soon.
Pricing and rates
Most plumbers have a fixed call-out charge and higher emergency rates, no matter what the problem. You could end up paying about $150 for a 10-minute job. They also make their money on parts and in some cases, material costs could run to nearly 25% of the final bill. The trick is to hire a service company that provides guarantees on workmanship/materials and offers attractive maintenance-contracts.
Licensing and credentials
Picking a name from the Yellow Pages is a bad idea. Not all plumbers are licensed and unless you ask, they certainly won’t tell you. Independent plumbers may not have background checks done to verify their credentials. Ask for documents if it’s the first time you’re hiring one. Reputed builders, hardware-stores, and trusted personal recommendations are the safest bet. You need someone who’s trained, experienced, and familiar with new technologies, products, and building-code regulations. You could have an insurance problem if you hire an unlicensed technician.
Home-based Solutions
Plumbers know but won’t tell that there are dozens of things that you could do yourself for clogged toilet repair; for example, they can be unclogged with a plunger, loosening the pipes, pouring boiling water and dish-wash soap.
Never on a Monday
Mondays are when weekend DIY disasters have to be fixed ASAP. These are the busiest days for plumbers but they’re not going to say they’re too busy when you call. Don’t pay emergency call-out rates if it’s not too inconvenient and you can wait another day or two.
While for years, popular fashion looked down on Christmas jumpers and sweaters but in recent times, ugly holiday sweaters are gaining popularity in a big way. Online sellers of various Christmas apparel, including Christmas suits and Christmas pyjamas, will vouch for the fame these sweaters have surprisingly attained in the recent decades. While there’s nothing subtle about an ugly Christmas sweater, most are downright outrageous, and these sell like hot cakes.
Celebrities sporting these cheap Christmas sweaters, make them even trendier. There was this famous instance of Justin Bieber wearing a Christmas sweater worth $1,650 during a live performance.
Somewhere at the turn of this century, three Indiana State University graduates were sharp enough to observe the rise in popularity of these sweaters during Christmas parties. From elf Christmas sweaters to reindeer sweaters to hideous sweaters sporting huge Christmas trees with decorations made of pompoms and appliqu, these garments appeared to have taken the holidays by storm.
Adam Paulson, Kevin Wool and Brian Miller, these graduates, are the men behind UglyChristmasSweaterParty.com. In their opinion, people are quite conscious and, therefore, sick to death of paying attention to what they wear and how they appear through the year, that during the Christmas season, they cannot wait to let their hair down, wear a Christmas sweater, be trendy yet uninhibited. Towards the end of that decade, they observed that people were having a tough time finding ugly cheap Christmas sweaters and started an online business. They bought 50 sweaters from Goodwill for an approximate $75 and everything sold in a matter of hours.
Today, online selling of cheap Christmas sweaters is a successful business with many making a good living from it. UglyChristmasSweaterParty.com, for instance, in the beginning of this decade sold nearly 15,000 sweaters for about $24 a piece during the holiday season.
Ugly Christmas sweaters have their advantages. For one, they make for great conversation starters. Nothing beats a hideous reindeer on bulky sweater as an icebreaker. Two, they make the perfect business gift for someone who has everything, or for anyone who doesn’t mind laughing at themselves. These sweaters can totally help one get into the spirit of things. Three, they are the perfect party idea. Ugly Sweater themed Christmas parties have been all the rage for years now and they don’t appear to be diminishing in popularity any time soon. Nothing like an “ugly themed” Christmas party with tacky sweaters and with hideous looking food and drink to boot to ensure everyone from children to the aged have fun.
In the USA, the day after Thanksgiving is called as Black Friday. It marks the unofficial start of the celebrated and looked forward to Christmas shopping season. Black Friday is not a Federal holiday, but in some States like Florida, California and the others, Black Friday is given utmost importance as a holiday. The Black Friday weekend, which starts from the day of Thanksgiving extends to the next Sunday, is amongst the busiest business and shopping periods in the USA.
Origins
There are several popular theories concerning the origin of the use of the phrase Black Friday’. Some suggest that it was in connection with the heavy traffic and pedestrian rush that occurred on the streets after the day of Thanksgiving. Some believe that the term was used in connection with the profit in sales for the sellers that is the day they mark in black. Snippet: black is marked for profit and red Is marked for loss.
The phenomenon
Black Friday deals include discounts on furniture, electronics, clothes, souvenirs and gift items, consumer essentials and what not. Electronics, specially cell phones, seem to be a popular category, as many people snap up best smartphone deals and best smartphone plans during this period, saving a lot. Other popular electronic categories include PlayStation, televisions, etc. Seasoned shoppers usually review the Black Friday emails and ads beforehand to see which items are available in stores and which are available online and decide what they wish to pick up in stores and order online. One tip: Remember to take note of the times listed for the items as some of them may be available only during particular time periods.
Even though the customers are assured of offers, surprise gifts, and low price tags, Black Friday is actually an awful day to go for shopping. All the shops will be crowded and mobs of shoppers will jam the retail outlets and shops. Bulldozed by crowds, bushwhacked by the noise and listening to the confusion in the air, shoppers have to face several challenges if they go for shopping on Black Friday. However, these problems could be avoided with the effective combination of cooperation of people and the stores and salespeople.
Not to forget, for the people who are interested in enjoying a day out shopping for or with their family, Black Friday is the ideal day. Thus, they forget the trouble of standing in long lines for hours and the rush for shopping and go home happily in the end.
Statistics
Black Friday became the busiest shopping day of the year in the USA in 2003 and has maintained that spot throughout all the following years. The only exception was the year 2004 where it came second to the Saturday before Christmas.
Be it a specialist or an all-rounder, splurging all your money on the wrong handbag can cause your woes. To prevent that, you have to do a bit of research and you should find yourself shopping for the right handbag in no time.
Handbags can give you freedom form carrying essentials hands-free or an expensive fashion statement. Depending on what you choose, shop for the right one and be happy forever.
Here are our top few tips on how to buy the best handbag.
Run An Assessment Test
Before you decide to blow your next month’s rent on the current ‘It’ bag, see what you’ve got in your arsenal currently. Are most of your handbags only tote or travel bags? Then maybe it’s time to buy a clutch or a messenger bag for a change.
Most shoppers buy on impulse and often find themselves buying the same thing – except a bit flashier with more features. Change is good and you should embrace it. Buy something different to expand your fashion repertoire.
Choose Your Function
There’s a difference between buying a good handbag and a great handbag. Great handbags are ones you use very often, almost every day. They become a part of your fashion identity. Before you embark on your handbag shopping spree, do a little window shopping and try out different handbags.
There are travel bags, tote bags, clutches, messenger bags, duffle bags, bucket bags and so much more. The fashion vocabulary is endless!
Dress Yourself Up
Whether you intend to use your handbag in winter season or in the summer, dress up to reflect the environment you are living in. To put it simply, wear the clothes you’d normally wear whilst using your handbag every day and go shopping like that. Test out your handbags by swinging them over your shoulder and trying them out.
The comfort factor is important and you shouldn’t overlook it for design.
Open It Up
Turn your handbag inside out and see if the fabric or material is as good as advertised. Chances are, good handbags look just as good on the inside as they are out. So, open it up, see how many layers of seams are and if the handiwork is good.
Put some items in the handbag. Carry it around and see. Notice how it holds up. Is it easy to open and access it? Simple enough to tote around without hassle? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then it might be your handbag dream come true!