Category Archives: Totally Random

Simple Tips to Make Your Lawn Greener

Having a lush green lawn is on the bucket list of every homeowner, most likely anywhere in the world. And it’s understandable! 

A green lawn not only increases the curb appeal of your property, but it can also increase the value of your property and make the time you’re spending at home more enjoyable. 

But, given that you aren’t a professional gardener, achieving the rich green color of the leave blades can be a bit hard. Even more, if you’re never done it in your life. 

And even though there are certainly more reasons than you can imagine why your lawn is yellowish, many times the reason isn’t that complicated and it all comes down to how well you’re taking care of your lawn. 

So, let’s go over a few things that might be the cause of your problems. Ready? Let’s jump right in. 

And it all starts with using natural fertilizers. 

Using the right fertilizer is probably both the number one tip you should follow, and the most important one out there. The reason is that the fertilizer will nurture the grass, which will have an immediate effect on how your back and front yard looks. 

In order to get a greener lawn, you’d want to use a fertilizer that’s rich in nitrogen, as its the main ingredient that will play a role in promoting leaf growth. 

But also, you’ll have to spend some time reading about weed fertilizers and how you should fertilize in terms of schedule, as it’s also going to play a tremendous role in how healthy your lawn is. 

Worst case scenario you will overfertilize, and this could lead to some irreversible problems. 

Don’t forget to try grass-cycling.

If you really want to use the best nutrients for your lawn, then definitely consider grasscycling your grass clippings. 

But wait, what’s grasscycling?

It’s pretty straight forward. Grasscycling is the method of spreading the grass that accumulates in your lawnmower during mowing. 

By spreading it evenly throughout the lawn after mowing, you’re providing the perfect nutrients for your yard. It’s proven that clippings decompose quickly and nurture the soil. 

So, why should you miss it? It’s a great chance.

Cut your grass to the recommended height.

And while we’re at the topic of grass clippings, it’s all about mowing your lawn at the appropriate length. 

If you’re cutting it too short, you’ll most likely kill every plant in grass leaf in your lawn. See, plants need to produce their food, and when you cut it shorter than recommended, it will eventually result in killing the plant. 

The general rule of thumb is to never cut more than one-third of the length of the grass. So, it’s better to skip a Sunday mowing, rather than over-mowing it. 

Try installing an irrigation system.

And, most likely the most expensive tip on the list. If you live in an area where rain is scarce, definitely consider installing an irrigation system on your property to take care fo the watering for you. 

Water is one of the most important aspects of grass to grow green and healthy, so you’d definitely want this taken care of. 

Sources:

Lawnstarter

Popular Mechanics

Clean Air Gardening

Young House Love

Gardening Know-How

Happy Anniversary: How to Achieve Longevity in your Marriage

We’ve all seen couples that got together as childhood sweethearts and have lived a long and happy life together. It’s something we all want, and dream about one-day finding ourselves. However, even when we’re married and found the person we want to spend the rest of our lives with, there are plenty of ups and downs. However, when you know what to be mindful of, you can ensure your marriage stays healthy and happy.

With this in mind, today we’re going to explore some of the best ways you can promote longevity in your marriage and keep your golden years rolling.

Don’t Compare

In the introduction above, we said about looking at other couples and thinking to yourself, ‘damn, that’s something that I want.’ Try your best not to compare to others. Every relationship is different and unique in its own right, and what you see with a passing couple is only what you see at that moment. No relationship is perfect, and every relationship has its good times and bad times.

Don’t waste your energy comparing yourself to other couples and instead focus on what makes your relationships special. What you and your partner have is unique, and when you focus on this, you can do anything.

Be Committed

This point may seem a little obvious, but it’s important to make sure you’re committing to being committed. When you see someone every day and have been with them for 40 years, it’s very easy to fall into comfortable habits and routines and becoming complacent. A long-lasting marriage takes waking up every day and deciding you’re going to be committed to this person through thick and thin, no matter what life throws at you.

While a large part of love is natural, the other part of it is a daily choice and commitment, and not just the commitment you made on your wedding day.

Listen to Your Partner

Listening is so much more important than talking when it comes to a relationship because you’re a team, and teams communicate with one another. They share feelings, set boundaries, and be vulnerable with each other, sharing fears, hopes, and dreams. Just as much as you want to open up to your partner, they want to be open with you, and just like you want to be heard and understood, they want that from that.

As you grow older, listening can become harder and harder, even physically with old age. This is why it’s important that you look into hearing devices that fit your preferences; all to ensure you can connect with your loved ones as best as possible.

Being There for Each Other

Perhaps the most important thing to remember in any marriage is that you are guaranteed to have hard times, and how you deal and respond to these hard times will determine how you grow and stay together. Whether you’re tackling something individually or you’re going through something together, hold each other close and work it out. Don’t leave them on their own. 

Summary

As you can see, there are lots of points to think about when it comes to creating and nurturing a marriage that will stand the test of time and can last for many years to come. Be proactive in your marriage, be committed to your marriage, and you can sure you’ll survive anything.

How Apps Can Help You Learn Sign Language Skills

Sign language allows us to include everyone in our circle of communication. Even if you don’t rely on sign language to communicate, learning it, even just some expressions, always prove a relevant skill. 

This moment of reflection encouraged me to research extensively on how we can learn sign language for the benefit of communicating with a family member or friend with some hearing challenges. I found this list, which I believe is worth the look. 

Helpful Sign Language Apps

Going through this list, I realized that technology had made even sign language quite easy for anyone to learn. The learning experts and researchers behind the sophistication of the sign language apps deserve credit. So, I resolved to write about what these apps can help you achieve.

Learn Complex Interactions in Sign Language

Comprehending complex interactions in sign language is one evidence that you’re making learning progress. Before attempting the complex interactions, you should have a mastery of the basics. They include the words and phrases that make up simple interactions. It is a necessary leap before shouldering the challenge that comes with handling complex communications in sign language.

Is it challenging to learn sign language? With the right motivation and learning tools, nothing is complicated. An example tool is ASL browser software. The browser displays two sign language speakers communicating with each other by creating actual conversation scenarios in the language. 

Videos in the format, allow learners to toggle and drag back the play speed controls. Videos also come with slow-motion options to learn at your own pace. Apps vary, but some come with options to save or “favorite” signs you’re learning for future access. You can also explore the multilingual options available on the app. Sign language doesn’t have to be only in English. You can explore what sign words are in French, Japanese, Chinese, or Spanish. The platforms support many languages.

Sign Language Learning Becomes Fun

Many top-rated sign language apps support various signs for diverse learners. The support covers basic to different signs like the ASL. Visual aids like images, creative forms like sign language games, and videos enhance the experience. To boost learner’s engagement level, daily learning goals, smart tips, offline support, and more, are listed as side-features to sustain learners’ interest. Many content platforms support sign languages too. 

Games available on the apps present learners the opportunity to apply their knowledge from the apps practically. Some games adopt tests and quizzes to reinforce learning and retention faster. Access to sign language can be an exciting experience as one app can feature 1000+ videos devoted to the practical education of sign language.

An exciting addition is the support that comes with these apps. One sign language app can feature a presence of over 150 instructors in different countries. There are video dictionaries with specific signs and explanatory instructions on how to comprehend them. 

You can explore instructional videos for every sign and their categories. You can learn Ideas in the form of words, animals, feelings, and actions with some exciting videos, learning quizzes, and drills to help sign remembrance. For example, an ASL video will provide learning resources related to schoolwork to help you communicate school matters with your child. Basic questions like “Did you finish homework?”

You Get to Improve Your Sign Language Vocabulary

Learning experts develop the websites and apps offering courses on sign language with strong consideration for learners’ convenience and experience. When learning vocabulary, random signs may pop up on your screen to help your understanding.

To test your progress, you can choose from various signs and categories. Choose from thousands of signs and groups, and test your knowledge. Take the time to review the questions that the games present. Also, avoid apps that encourage rude or vulgar sign language. A good sign language app notifies you daily of new words to learn. 

Conclusion

You may never know when you’d need to employ your sign language skills. Learning sign language separates you from the regular crowd. Why not start with basics? Check out the list above to get started on a great sign language app. 

Tips For A Memorable Bleisure Trip

The term bleisure is used to describe a situation where an employee tacks a couple of extra days on a business trip for some additional leisure time. This allows workers to save money and even look forward to upcoming business trips. The bleisure traveler understands how to mix business trips with leisure so that they can turn the otherwise inconvenient trip into a memorable one.

Although technology allows co-workers, customers, and clients around the world to interact with one another without being in the same city, sometimes face-to-face meetings are still necessary. This is where business travel becomes a necessity that cannot be avoided. Many employees do not like business travel which involves traveling to another location for a couple of days, disrupting their routine, having to say goodbye to their family and so on. However, this can be made into a more pleasurable experience by mixing some leisure time into the trip.  In order to make the most of your next upcoming bleisure trip, here are a few tips from the experts: 

Inviting Guests Along

Before you go ahead and invite your family or loved ones to come along, you need to be aware of your company’s policy about your company’s paid rooms being shared. This will help you avoid any awkward misunderstandings. If the company does not allow you to share a room, you can always book an extra room and invite your family or loved ones along. While you are at a business meeting they can explore the city and you can join them when you are free. According to the experts at https://www.chichillc.com/  employees will start seeing business trips as perks and learn to enjoy the benefits it offers by converting it into a bleisure trip. This is also a great way to spend some quality family time.

Expenses

You need to map out money matters before you leave for your trip. This will make it easier to understand what parts of the trip are handled by the company and which part you are responsible for. In case you are staying at the same hotel for the additional days, make sure that you add your personal credit card on file for the additional days.

Packing List

Using a packing list will make it easier for you to organize your essential items and cut down things that you do not need. Since the bleisure trip includes business and leisure, the packing list will differ slightly from your usual packing lists. You will need to include essentials like business cards, USB drive, laptop and charger, a Wi-Fi hotspot and so on. A capsule wardrobe is a great way to minimize the clothing you will have to take along with you. You can pair up different items to change your attire from business to casual with ease.

In order to plan activities for the leisure side of your trip, it is a good idea to do a bit of research before you arrive This will help you save time and dive right into the activities without stressing over what to do next. Rather than planning out the entire day, experts suggest planning one big activity and one meal for each day. This will leave room in your schedule for some spontaneity as well.

Get the Seating You Need in the 2020 Volvo XC90

The car you trust to protect your family, now protects their future. How you drive can make a big impact. When in Pure Eco Mode, the new XC90 Plug-in Hybrid Electric can drive emission-free for most of your daily trips. So you can make the most of your everyday life—with less impact.

Easy access for everyone

With the new six seat option, the third row is more accessible than ever—just walk through the wide middle aisle.

Looking out for you

Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) sees where you can’t and alerts you when there’s a vehicle in your blind spot.

The large screen leads the way

Connect to Apple CarPlay® or Android Auto™ and control popular apps like Waze navigation from the 9” Sensus Touchscreen.

Up to 400 HP

Experience power without compromise in the XC90 T8 Twin Engine, offering a combined 400 hp from its gasoline and electric powertrain.

Designed to help keep you safe

From seats tested on dozens of different body types to an automatic braking system that helps protect pedestrians, the XC90 is designed to keep you safe whether you’re in the car or not. It even monitors your blind spots and gently assists your steering to help you avoid collisions.

Discover more about the new XC90, the luxury SUV shaped by Swedish craftsmanship and innovation when you visit Volvo Cars Mall of Georgia.