Q: Should I carry insurance with my car?
A: Almost all states make it mandatory for the car owner to carry insurance with his vehicle as a proof of financial liability in case there’s damage or injury delivered to third parties while being on the road. Not having sufficient insurance coverage (lower than the state minimum) is illegal and may result in a substantial fine, license suspension and even time in custody. This only applies to the liability portion of your insurance policy, as other types of coverage are strictly optional.
Q: Should I purchase insurance prior buying a new car?
A: In case you’re purchasing your first car, you should definitely buy insurance first, otherwise you won’t be able to drive it from the dealer’s shop. Moreover, if you’re using a car loan to finance the purchase, your loan provider will make it a strict condition to purchase specific insurance in order to get the money you need.
In case you already have a car and want to replace it with a new one, you should inform your insurance provider about that and get new rates for the car make and model you want to purchase. You usually have between 2 to 4 weeks to contact your provider regarding the purchase, depending on the company.
In case you’re purchasing an additional vehicle and want to include it in your current policy, the regulations vary from company to company. Usually, companies require notification within a period of 30 days, after which they will inform you about approval (or non approval). more…
Every now and again, Wikipedia is useful. Wondering when sliced bread was introduced, the cloud tells us the greatest step forward in baking took place in 1928. The bread, of course, stayed the same, preserved in its waxed paper wrapping to preserve its moisture level. At the time, this was hailed as the best possible evidence of US inventiveness. The Brits still use the phrase,”The greatest thing since sliced bread!” in ironic fashion to describe any development of form rather than substance. But the marketers are immune to irony and are always quick to jump on even the smallest change as a major breakthrough. With its new woggle, the widget is now unbeatable. Something it’s always a relief to know. Thanks to the addition of Z2134, your toothpaste is better than before. This is a miracle ingredient, converting the ordinary into the spectacular.
So, by way of introduction to the latest wondrous development, we need to open a dictionary because, this time, those bringing the news have broken out into new ground. Meet the word, “orodispersible”. This usually refers to tablets that do something very clever (assuming you ever do find new technology clever). They are designed to melt in the mouth and not in the hand. No, wait a minute, that’s one of those candies. Well, this is a different application of the same principle. These tablets will disintegrate when they come into contact with saliva. The sweat from your fingers should not affect them (famous last words) but, with the right chemical mix of bonding agents, some are soluble in water, i.e. you can drop one in a glass of water and it will dissolve. Why bother to change? As it stands, the tablets are designed to melt in the hydrochloric acid lurking down in your stomach. Once broken down into the basic chemicals, the bits supposed to do us good are absorbed into the bloodstream. This is a steady process, very reliable and, if you have just eaten a heavy meal with a high fat content, it can take more than an hour before you start to feel the effect of the medication. If the pill disintegrates in the mouth, it is immediately absorbed into the saliva and swallowed. Some of the active ingredients will be absorbed through the tongue and through the esophagus before they reach the stomach. Thus, no matter how many burgers you might have wolfed down, the drugs will entering you bloodstream before you finish swallowing. more…
The song originally carrying this title was sung seventy or so years ago in England as part of the propaganda to keep people’s spirit up after WWII started, but the version we’re interesting in comes from Eminem and starts with the line, “Some days I just wanna up and call it quits”. It’s a song about writer’s block where anxiety gets in the way of an author/songwriter trying to live up to previous glory. In the title, however, lurks an unexpected irony for even though you may feel you have hit a wall of bricks, running is actually good for you.
There’s new evidence emerging that physical exercise in general, and running in particular, is good for you. The idea was first seriously suggested about forty years ago when researchers observed that people who exercised regularly appeared less likely to become depressed than the couch potatoes. More importantly, the benefits appeared to stretch into the future with exercisers less likely to become depressed. But there was no longer term study to confirm this. The evidence was not scientifically convincing.
Ten years ago, a team at Duke University ran a formal trial, comparing one group of depressed people taking one of the standard antidepressants against a second group going through a program of aerobic exercise. To the embarrassment of the drug company, the exercise group had as good a level of improvement as those relying solely on a drug. This first trial has been repeated with comparisons being made against all the major drugs used in the treatment of anxiety disorders and depression. Without exception, the results of those exercising have been statistically the same as those taking medication. There is, however, a problem. All the exercise trials have been very short and have not involved many participants. To be credible, the trials must have significant numbers of people involved. Ideally, there should be more than one thousand. Without this, you cannot scale up the results and draw broad conclusions about how exercise would affect millions of adults. Nevertheless, there is a clear indication that exercise lifts mood and a suggestion it may have lasting effects. more…
