Hiking Shoe Review

Hiking shoes are a hiker's main contact with the ground that they tread on, and they can make or break any outdoor endeavor. Unlike hiking boots, hiking shoes are built for speed. They combine the comfort and durability of a hiking boot with the svelte profile and support of a running shoe. When looking for hiking shoes, hikers should seek out shoes that maintain a healthy balance between comfort, stability and durability, without weighing you down on the trail. Hiking shoes should be fairly lightweight (around 2 pounds or less). Gore-Tex liners enhance shoes' temperature regulation, keeping your feet cool and comfortable. Also look for reinforcement on the sidewalls and toebox of the shoe to verify its durability. And look for shoes with a stability plate in the midsole to increase support and stability on rough terrain. Many hiking shoes are high on the durability level, but compromise when it comes to comfort and breathability, so look for a breathable liner. Also, shoe sizes can vary from company to company, so if at all possible, buy shoes in person so that you can try them on. If you buy online, make sure to understand the website's return/exchange policy if the shoes don't fit. Find shoes by manufacturers that focus on outdoor footwear-companies such as Merrell, Lowa and Montrail, which are known for their trail-specific shoes, as are Columbia Footwear and Patagonia. Find a sweat-wicking sock, such as Smartwool's PhD Trail Runner that will keep your feet dry and blister-free on the trail. Because hiking shoes are usually low cut, look into mid-length socks to keep scree from working its way into your socks.

Top 7 Ways A Knowledge Base Program Can Improve Your Office

One of your employees has just tried to print something and he/she gets a printer error. The error says, "Out of paper." Well the employee knows that the printer is not out of paper and it does not have a paper jam. What to do? Well the traditional answer is to call technical support. But wait. Hasn't someone else in the office seen this error before? Can it be corrected faster with the help of a co-worker? In this article we will review 7 ways a Knowledge Base program can improve overall office communication. Almost all offices have three dynamics to their software: Operating System, Productivity Software, and custom built software for your business. Entrusting all your business computers to all of this software is indeed a brave move. A Knowledge Base program allows your employees to enter detailed information on a variety of software topics including; how-to(s), program errors, settings and options, hardware settings, and many others. A Knowledge Base program is perfect for storing well, knowledge. Quite often your office will have an employee who has been with the business for several years and then suddenly submits their two week notice for a variety of reasons. This employee takes all of his/her knowledge with them. This leaves other less informed employees to fill their shoes. Not an easy task. It doesn't need to be that way any more. With a Knowledge Base program, an employee can be required to make at least one entry a week. If you have 5 employees, that is 260 entries in your Knowledge Base per year! How does one define knowledge? A Knowledge Base can be basically anything you desire. Quite often we have contact information, vendor information, and policies and procedures stored in hundreds of files over the whole hard drive; or worse, papers all over the office. A Knowledge Base makes it easy to have all that information in one place. If the Knowledge Base has a robust search engine; a search can be completed in a few seconds. A Knowledge Base can improve customer relations. Customers can now have advanced knowledge of polices and procedures and well as product and service pricing, and with a quick response from the employee. Often, you simply give up trying to find the information and take your best guess at what you think the material contained. While this may be acceptable to you some of the time, it may not be acceptable to the customer or client you are talking to. The same employee that had the "out of paper" error message found out from the Knowledge Base that he/she needed to re-install the printer driver. This saved the employee twenty minutes out of the work day. The competition may have never even considered using a Knowledge Base program in the office. By having this basic idea and software in place, you will be able to work smarter, save time, and save money. The competition will be left in the dust!

Benefit to help family cover cost

NEW GLASGOW - A benefit is being planned to help the Mills family with their son Jeremey's medical expenses. Four-year-old Jeremey, who is scheduled to undergo open heart surgery at the IWK on Tuesday, will have a lot of expenses to help treat his Marfan's syndrome. In addition to the costs of travel to the IWK - usually between three and six trips a month for regular appointments - his parents aren't sure how long they'll be in Halifax with him as he recovers from surgery. He also needs specialized shoes to help stabilize his ankles, which cost $600 and need to be replaced frequently as his feet grow. He also requires pricey orthopedic inserts, steel rods inserted along his spine, braces and specialized glasses. A lot of the costs are covered by MSI, but Adalai lost his job recently, as well as his benefits. That's left the family struggling, they admit. With three older children as well, they try to save every dollar they can for Jeremey's needs, but Adalai hasn't been able to find another job as they await Jeremey's surgery. "It's so hard," said his father, Adalai Mills. "I'd love to go to work tomorrow, but I'd have to ask my employer right away for a couple weeks off so I can be with him while he goes through this surgery." Vanessa, meanwhile, is a stay at home mom, her main job being ensuring her son remains as healthy as possible. "If something does go wrong, he can't be with a babysitter, they wouldn't know what to do for him," she said. "I need to be with my son." Annette MacLean heard about the family's plight and has organized a benefit that will be held at the Glasgow Pub on Nov. until close, donations will be accepted at the door and raffles will be sold to help raise funds for the family. MacLean didn't know the family until she saw a barbecue held outside a Sobey's store in the summer. "I wondered what his story was, and I went over to ask Adalai," she said "He explained what was wrong and told me how often Jeremey has to go to the IWK and I knew I had to do something to help. He's just a little boy." It's hoped, she said, a lot of people will attend and donate whatever they can to the cause. "It's a lot for a little child his age to deal with, so I'm hoping the community will come and help him," she said. "The people of Pictou County are very, very kind and generous. Pictou County always looks after its own, and I'm hoping the benefit will be very successful."

Trends aplenty in picking prom attire

The style for prom season this year seems to be… no particular style. "Some girls prefer the long poofy ones and some like the slim-fitting ones," said Betty Patterson of the Cat's Meow. "Some like them all the way to the floor, some like the glitz. Linda MacKay of Inspirations Ladies Fashions in downtown New Glasgow said printed dresses with flowers, swirls and animal patterns on them are popular this year among the girls. "A lot of the girls are choosing the straight, long, sleeky dress," she said. "We do have short ones in, but they aren't as popular as the long dresses." She said a lot of the dress colours are bright, but some prefer coffee and bronze colours as well. She added tiaras are the accessory of choice for many girls looking to add a little glitz to their gown, but flowers and hair pieces are also popular choices this year. Janelle Heighton of Lyons Brook knew her dress was the perfect the minute she saw it hanging in the store. "It was the first one I tried on," said the Grade 12 student at Northumberland Regional High School. "Mom said I should try on some others and I did, but I chose the first one." Heighton started shopping for her dress in March, but some girls started as early as November of last year, said MacKay. "It's usually in full bloom by January," MacKay said. Heighton estimates she will be spending about $1,000 getting ready for prom which includes her dress, shoes, accessories, hair extensions and transportation to the prom. "I'm not sure how we are getting to the prom," she said. "Some of us were talking about renting a limo and splitting the cost of that. Some grads chipped in and got a bus."

New Balance Orthopedic Shoes

Their line of custom orthopedic shoes promises the same level of quality that their customers have come to expect. Each New Balance Orthopedic Shoe is constructed over a wooden structure known as a "last". There are 13 different lasts that New Balance works from. Each one is uniquely engineered to address specific pressure points or problem areas for men, women and children. Some of the lasts are better for certain activities. For example, the Straight Last (SL) produces an orthopedic shoe designed for running and walking. The Athletic Last, on the other hand, is designed to support feet during fitness activities such as aerobics, jump rope and working out in the gym. By building the shoe on the last, New Balance is able to take into account a "360 degree custom fit". The goal of New Balance Orthopedic Shoes is to provide, what the company calls, "individualized solutions". The available features are varied. Anatomical Arch Support, for example, is available for people who suffer from arch pain, plantar fasciitis, high arch (cavus foot) or flat feet. These features will reduce stress and improve balance. The size of the arch support will largely depend on the customer's particular foot type and the source of the pain. Deep Contoured Heel Cups are available for those customers who suffer from plantar fasciits (heel pain caused by inflammation of the connective tissue that runs along the bottom of the feet) or problems with their Achilles tendon. Add-On Gel Pads are available to target particularly vulnerable sore spots on the feet such as bunions, corns, hammertoe, claw toe or calluses. Cushioning Foam is a more generalized support system that relieves pressure points along the sole of the foot. If you are considering purchasing a pair of orthopedic shoes from New Balance, the best thing to do is to get on the phone with someone from the company so that you can discuss your specific needs and identify which type of shoe is best for you. In addition to orthopedic shoes, New Balance provides shoes that come in extra wide widths or with extra depth as well as shoes suited to particular types of physical activity. When investing in a pair of orthopedic shoes, it is always a good idea to shop around. Check out other major footwear companies such as Nike and Reebok to see what sort of orthopedic options they offer. You should also look into companies like Brooks, Orthofeet and PW Minor who specialize in orthopedic shoes.

Ken Block Gymkhana Three Ford Fiesta unveiled

Meet the Fiesta that packs a serious punch. This is the car that stunt driving ace Ken Block will use in the next of his internet Gymkhana videos which is due to hit YouTube later in the summer. Block is the co-founder of sportswear firm DC Shoes, and became an internet sensation with his original Gymkhana video, which featured him drifting a modified Subaru Impreza around El Toro airfield in California. For his next firm, the Fiesta has been purpose built by Swedish firm Olsbergs Motorsport Evolution which specialises in rallycross cars. Tipping the scales at just 1,100kg, the Fiesta features a highly modified 2.0-litre Duratec engine which develops 850bhp. However, for Block's signature driving videos, which involve intricate acceleration, braking and drifting manoeuvres, the car has been tuned to develop 650bhp and 850Nm of torque for better response. As a result, the Fiesta can sprint from 0-60mph in 2.0 seconds. The engine drives all four wheels through a racing-spec six-speed paddle shift gearbox, while Block also has a hydraulic handbrake to hand to lock the back wheels in an instant to keep maximum control over the car's slides. To compliment the blistering performance, the Fiesta has been treated to wider arches, are carbon fibre front splitter and rear wing, and has also been given a similar livery to the Ford Focus WRC car which Block is driving in some events of the WRC this year.

Big shoes to fill for newest senior Timbermen players

Emms spoke highly of his long time friend. "He's a gritty player and likes to get dirty, I think we'll both fit well in Nanaimo," he said. Timbermen's general manager Earl Nicholson said the two have been on their radar for several years, going back to the when the late Keith Westwood was a scout with the club. "He indicated to us, even in their first year of junior, that these two would be guys that we had to have if we were going to get to the contender stage in the next few years," said Nicholson. The biggest hurdle they may face early, is the knowledge of who they were traded for. It will be unreasonable to expect either, or both, to entirely fill the void left by Ranger - an original Timber-men and the franchise's all-time leading scorer - but there will be no getting around the fact that they are who he was traded for. "People realize that Jake and are not Scott Ranger," said Dexter. "But we both bring our aspects and I'm sure people will see that we are coming out every night and doing the best we can and laying it on the floor for the team and hopefully people will appreciate that."