How to Pick A Nursing Home

Posted on July 31st, 2008 by admin

The decision to go into a nursing home is an tough one, for all concerned. Once you’ve made the decision however, you need to choose the right nursing home for your needs, and one that the elderly person will be happy and fulfilled in. These are some top tips to consider when making your choice.

Does the home feel Welcoming?

When you walk into a room you know what it feels like - whether it’s welcoming or not. Your first impressions of a nursing home are very important and will stick with you even after you’ve left, so if the home doesn’t feel right you might want to consider somewhere else.

Is the home Clean?

Nursing homes are often subject to a lot of wear and tear, but standards of cleanliness must be kept high. If the home looks dirty it isn’t the sort of place you want your loved one to go. On the other hand, if the home is kept clean that’s great. Don’t be afraid to ask about cleaning schedules both in common areas and in resident’s own rooms.

Are staff Friendly?

The staff are the ones who’ll be providing your loved one with care, so they should be open and friendly. If they don’t seem that way you won’t feel confident leaving your loved one with them. Friendly staff that interact well with residents and understand their personal needs are essential.

Do other residents seem Happy?

The other residents are a great indicator of how good a nursing home is. If you can, talk to a few of them to see what they think. Contended residents mean that they’re being looked after well. Ask about the sorts of entertainment provided, whether there are trips organised and activities planned frequently. Your loved one will want to be happy and engaged during their stay.

What’s the food like?

You don’t want to eat food you don’t like all the time, so ask to see the menu. Your loved one will want to have nice meals provided, or they might have special dietary requirements that will need to be provided for. The food in a nursing home is very important so make sure that they serve what you like.

Can you bring your own things?

You’ll probably notice special nursing home furniture in a lot of the common rooms, designed to help staff handle residents, but it may be that your loved one can bring their own furniture with them. Ask if they can furnish their bedroom or suite how they like it, or if they’ll have to leave everything behind. Being parted with possessions can be difficult and bringing them with you will make a nursing home feel more like your own home.

Can you pursue hobbies?

It’s important that your loved one’s quality of life remains high, so make sure that they can pursue their existing hobbies and interests. Are pets allowed for example? Is there a garden where residents can have their own allotment or flower patch? Is it possible to arrange trips to nearby bingo clubs/libraries/cinemas etc? Whatever your loved one likes to do, the nursing home should be able to provide it.

A nursing home has to provide an exceptional level of care, but at the same time it should fit around the lifestyle of your loved one. If it doesn’t, they won’t be happy there, and mental health plays a big role in physical health. Make sure your loved one feels at home and they have a good chance at a healthy, happy stay.

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Wedding Photographer Dublin

Posted on July 14th, 2008 by admin

Your wedding only lasts one day, but you’ll want to hold onto the pictures forever. A wedding is an amazing event.  Wedding photographers based in Dublin understand your expectations. Photodora are experienced photographers, a husband and wife team. We shoot a combination of traditional wedding style and photojournalism that will perfectly capture the events at your wedding. Photojournalism is mainstream wedding photography. Our style is candid. Relaxed, natural wedding photography for your Wedding Day. We allow the wedding to flow in a natural way, capturing the planned  events.  It is a privilege to be a part of your special day. Our work is more extensive, contemporary and always professional. We memorize one of the most important moments of your life, preparation, reception and when you are JUST MARRIED. We just work for you - coverage from the Bride’s house until the the reception. We will work with you to create beautiful images that reflect the happiness of your special day.


We make sure our clients receive high quality and innovative photographs with amazing details. Our package is reasonably priced, simply and easy. No hidden extras. The prices include three dvd with wedding pictures for parents and for bride and groom, 36 large prints. During ceremony two photographers are working to capture the real moments. We take care about details all the time.


No set limit on the number of photographs taken. CD of all images (at a suitable size for web and email, with standard editing included) . Additional photos on Black & White or Sepia versions. High-resolution version of all album images on a CD. All our wedding clients receive the negatives and copyright with all wedding photography packages at no additional charge. The wedding photographers do not retain the negatives - we are happy to give them to the wedding client at no charge.


Before you get married we offer you relaxed candid portraits. Engaged photos outdoors with beautiful Irish landscape.  The photographs are taken prior to the wedding. A short, 1-2 hours engagement photography with a photojournalistic style photo session usually done at a location that is chosen by the couple. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

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Glasgow Rangers

Posted on May 27th, 2008 by admin

Football in Scotland is a bit like religion - you don’t make any choices you are born into a club.  I, by accident of birth, was born a Rangers fan.  coming from Glasgow it is one of those questions that you just get used to asking and answering again and again. So I must have said Glasgow Rangers over and over many times so far in my life.

So now I am stepping off the edge of a cliff and starting to write about them on the net, this should be fun and hell, just like the game itself.

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Too Many Blogs For One

Posted on April 29th, 2008 by admin

Just needing to get a whole bunch of things indexed.  This is a page on Prague and Ireland. And I have got three blogs on blogger first on web design, another on Google, and the last is one Prague - all are fairly new.  This is my Prague at Google pages.  Life in Ireland has some info about my exit from Ireland.

Squidoo has just a jumble of information about me and some of the stuff I do, unlike my normal Life in Ireland, which has day to day stuff.  Vox is a cool new blog platform and I am writing there about my move to prague.  My space like everyone elses is just a complete mess and I begin to wonder when they are going to shut this down or totally do something else with.

Unlike some of the stuff I write at wordpress.com I write on some things that I really like - that is walking in Ireland, this one is one of my favs.   As time passes this platform is winning out against all the competition - good I say get rid of some of the crap.

Superglue is one of those one that I don’t know what to make of.  It keeps a lot of my stuff in the one place, but how do they make money?   time will tell but it is a long lead in time till cash flows it seems.

Tumblr used to be fun - but something went way bad with it last year.  I have some info here on VAT Reclaim, however it has very limited functionality. Maybe they will get better, they were good, maybe another one that will bite the dust this year.

And the last for today is feedraider - I use them all the time but have never figured out if they help my blogs or not.   Anyway lets see what happens with all this from now on.

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How to Build A Web Site

Posted on April 7th, 2008 by admin

Many people think that creating a website is a daunting task because in order to create you need to be proficient in HTML. It is true that you needed to know HTML to create a website but that was all in the past. In today’s context you no longer need to learn HTML as you can use a Visual HTML editor.

A Visual HTML editor is basically a tool that enables you to create a website just as if you were creating a power-point slide or a Microsoft office document. In other words, with Visual HTML editors what you type is what you are going to get. For example if you type the word “Hello” in the Visual HTML editor the word “Hello” will appear on your website. Typing and designing your website are probably the only things you need to do in order to create your website. It is just that simple.

Know that you know what are Visual HTML editors let me introduce you to some of the more well known Visual HTML editors.

The most known of all Visual HTML editors is Microsoft Frontpage. Microsoft Frontpage is a product created by Microsoft. Microsoft Frontpage to me is one of the most user friendly Visual HTML editors. The control panel are very clean and it is easy to locate all the tools necessary to create a website. Having a nice clean interface means that you are able to locate the tools you need faster saving you a lot of time and probably stop you from pulling out your hair from your head because you don’t know where is the tools you are looking for.

The second Visual HTML editor which is also quite well known is Macromedia Dreamweaver. Macromedia Dreamweaver similar to Microsoft Frontpage has a pretty clean interface which allows smooth and easy navigation. However, Macromedia Dreamweaver is lacking behind Microsoft Frontpage because Macromedia Dreamweaver has a much steeper learning curve. On the plus side, Macromedia Dreamweaver allows you to create better looking sites and it also gives to the ability to create flash and possibly even javascripts in the near future.

For the absolute beginner I would recommend you to use Microsoft Frontpage as it is much easier to use. However, if you are willing to put in more effort in learning how to design a website that Macromedia Dreamweaver is the tool of choice.

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Glendalough Ireland

Posted on April 3rd, 2008 by admin

GlendaloughThe Valley of the two lakes location was sought out as a peaceful retreat by Saint Kevin because of its remoteness and serenity, but several men who wished to follow his teachings built a temporary place of churches and living quarters in the valley below the site of his house. This soon grew and became an important school. The remains of the monastery are located beside the Lower Lake and the Upper Lake.

The Glendalough monastic site includes a 33 metres tall round tower and Saint Kevin’s Cross, a Celtic High Cross. It has been thought the round tower was built during the era of the Viking invasions into Ireland (up to and around 1066), in order to protect the religious books and chalices used around the monastery at the time.

At the west end of the Upper Lake lie the ruins of an abandoned miners’ village that is, normally, accessible only by foot. The mining of lead took place here from 1850 until about 1957 but the mines in the valley of Glendalough were smaller and less important than those around the Glendasan Valley, that are separated by Camaderry Mountain. In 1859 the Glendasan and Glendalough mines were connected with each other by a series of adits, now flooded, through the mountain. This made it easier to transport ore to Glendalough and process it there.

There are many walking trails, of varying difficulty, to be made around Glendalough. Within the valley itself there are nine colour-coded walking trails maintained by Wicklow Mountains National Park They all begin at an information office located near the Upper Lake where maps are available to purchase.The Wicklow Way, a long distance waymarked walking trail, passes through Glendalough on its way from Rathfarnham in the north to its southerly point of Clonegal in County Carlow.

The Upper Lake at Glendalough.

Glendalough’s granite cliffs, situated on the hillside above the north-western end of the valley, have been a popular rock-climbing location since the first climbs were established in 1948. The current guidebook, published in 1993, lists about 110 routes, at all grades up to E5/6a, though several more climbs, mainly in the high grades, have been recorded since then.

The granite rock provides excellent friction, and the climbs typically follow crack lines, with good traditional protection. The climbs vary between one and four pitches, and up to over 100m in length. There are several sectors:

  • Twin Buttress, a large buttress divided in the middle by a seasonal waterfall, which contains the most popular climbs. This area is approached via the zig-zag path at the head of the valley.
  • The Upper Cliffs, a band of cliffs high up on the hillside east of Twin Buttress.
  • Acorn Buttress, a small buttress just below Twin Buttress, which is a popular base-camp location.
  • Hobnail Buttress, a small buttress with some easy climbing, on the hillside one kilometre to the east.

The quality of the climbing along with the variety of grades attracts climbers of all standards to Glendalough, and makes it a favourite destination for Dublin climbers in particular. The Irish Mountaineering Club has operated a climbing hut in the area since the 1950s.

Below the crag is an extensive boulder field. This is a popular location for bouldering activities , the boulders within easy reach of the path being especially popular.

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What is VoIP

Posted on April 2nd, 2008 by admin

VoIP stands for Voice Over Internet Protocol. So what is VoIP ?

With the advent of broadband internet it has become possible to use VoIP technology to make regular phone calls through internet connections. You must have a broadband a connection though. Dial-up is too slow.

The benefits of making the switch to Voice Over Internet Protocol phone systems are mainly significant savings in call costs, and superior call quality. For example, you can expect free continental US calling (including to Canada in some instances). It isn’t like with cellphone companies where you have to wait until the evening or weekends to make free calls. If you have ever used Skype to make calls you will better understand what it means to experience amazing calling quality. It is much clearer than a phone as we know it.

As with your regular telephone service you get the usual standard features such as:

Caller ID
Call Waiting
Call Forwading

With a VoIP connection you can expect very favorable monthly rates starting as low as $6.99. A lot of businesses are catching up with this technology due to its associated costs.

Most VoIP providers require three main things to get connected, and these are:

Telephone
Broadband connection
Home Router

The good thing about using this service is that the person you are calling need not be a VoIP subscriber too. You can call anybody that has a telephone, be it a landline or a cellphone.

Do you make frequent international calls ? Voice Over Internet Protocol technology would be perfect for you then. Maybe you have family and friends abroad and you want to speak with them ocassionally, as opposed to sending text messages ? VoIP providers have you covered. Some providers offer free calls to countries such as Australia, France, New Zealand, Canada, and the UK, just to name a few. You need to check with the provider for more details. Rates to other countries, such as India for example, can start as low as 2 cents a minute. That is way cheaper than using those calling cards if you ask me. At least you don’t have to worry about connection fees.

Some VoIP providers do not even require you to be a resident of the United States in order to use their services. As long as you fulfill the requirements mentioned above, you are eligible to start using voice over internet protocol phone systems.

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