Author Archives: schatzi

Choosing the Best Protein Bars for Hiking Trips

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Hiking is a great hobby and physical pastime that can not only help you stay in shape, but that can take you to some great places and incredible views. Getting out into the great outdoors is fantastic both by yourself and with someone else or a group of people, but no matter how many people you are with, you know that when you’re hiking, you should try to keep the amount of items you’re backpacking to a minimum. After all, you don’t want to be so weighed down that you’re completely exhausted when you reach your destination! Protein bars are a great option, but choosing the best protein bars can be a bit of a trick.

Not all bars are created equal, so you will want to pay attention to the labeling on the package. Each protein bar is formulated differently and will cater to different needs, depending on what it is you are looking for. A lot of what you are looking for in a protein bar will be dictated by how long you plan on hiking and what kind of hike it is going to be.

Straight protein bars are packed with absolutely nothing but protein, which is great for body builders. These bars are also the best types if you’re going for a very long hike. You’ll be relying quite a bit on your muscles, and they’ll need to be replenished with protein to heal after all the work you put them through!

Other bars, such as meal replacement bars, also include carbs and fats in addition to protein. If you’re going to be out for a whole day on a hike, but want to keep the weight of your supplies low, meal replacement bars are the best protein bars in this situation. You may even want to combine these with the complete protein bars in order to get your meals in and still have a snack.

If you are using a bar as a meal replacement, you’ll want the protein content to be somewhere in the 10 to 15 gram range, and you will actually want something more than 250 calories. While you may think that’s a lot to be consuming in one bar, keep in mind that you’re hiking and burning off quite a bit of calories, as well as working your muscles on an almost constant basis. You will actually need these calories and those proteins, so don’t go thinking that any old diet bar will do!

Keeping the weight of your supplies to a minimum can make hiking that much easier and will allow you to travel farther, because you’re not wearing yourself out with the weight of your supplies. Just keep in mind that the best protein bars for hiking trips will pack a higher calorie content as well as a high protein content. In order to make it through a long hike, you will absolutely need all the fuel you can get!

Why Travel Agents Choose 0800 Numbers and 0845 Numbers

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Many companies within the travel sector use non-geographic telephone numbers as the main point of contact for their customers. A quick Google search for travel agents or a glance at Teletext holidays will prove this.

Non-geographic numbers (e.g. 0845 numbers and 0800 numbers) are so called because they do not identify the location of the company that is using them by the dialing code alone. So, a travel agent in Slough could have an 0845 number rather than using its local number with the 01753 dialing code. This is particularly useful for travel agents as they won’t be judged on their location if they promote their phone number on their website or in newspapers and therefore will receive calls from across the UK.

Another reason that non-geographic numbers are so popular with travel agents is because they can specifically choose a memorable phone number that will enable them to stand out in their advertising.

What’s more non-geographic numbers enable companies to smarten up their telephone systems – completely online, without the need for any additional hardware or equipment. Call management features that are prevalent in the travel sector include welcome messages (e.g. “Welcome to ABC Travel”) and caller options (“press 1 for bookings, 2 for…”etc).

Another key benefit of non-geographic phone numbers is the fact that they are totally portable. If a travel agent works from home for half the week and from the office from the other half, then their calls can follow them wherever they go. All they need to do is pop online and change the receiving landline or mobile that calls to their non-geographic number goes to.

It seems however, that no one number range is dominant and different travel agents use different numbers depending on their specific needs.

Many travel agents use 0845 numbers, the UK’s most popular business phone number. Everyone knows 0845 numbers and for this reason they are very established and have a high awareness. BT has also recently made calls to 0845 number free for 14 million of its landline customers who are on its Anytime/Evening & Weekend call packages. Therefore potential customers that are shopping for a holiday can contact travel agents free of charge from their home landline.

For travel agents that want to offer mobile callers a great deal (and according to Ofcom 40% of all UK calls

are now made from mobiles) – then 03 numbers  are ideal. 03 numbers cost customers the same to dial as a normal landline number – even from a mobile phone. Plus, they are also included in the free minutes offered by landline and mobile providers.

Additionally, 0800 numbers are popular within the travel sector because they are great for marketing. It is largely known that using an 0800 number can dramatically boost the number of calls companies receive. The Institute of Direct Marketing found that this can even be as high as a 185% increase.

It seems that the use of non-geographic numbers in the travel sector continues to escalate and when the above benefits are considered it is easy to see why they are so popular.

Affiliate Marketing For Beginners – Real Affiliate Marketing Tips

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Affiliate marketing without a doubt one of the most lucrative ways to make money online. Everyday more and more people are realizing how profitable affiliate marketing truly can be. Some people feel that this type of online money making method is to difficult to do and can not possibly produce any real income. This is indeed not true. With the right training and desire to succeed, a full time income is definitely possible. In this article I will share with you some valuable affiliate marketing tips that will help you reach your desired financial goals.

If you are not familiar with what affiliate marketing is let me give you a quick explanation. Affiliate marketing is the promotion of a product by a person who is not the owner of the product for some sort of commission. The people who promote these products are known as affiliates. Affiliates that know how to make a lot of money as an affiliate are known as super affiliates. Any serious affiliates aspires to be a super affiliate.

I am now going to share with you some affiliate marketing tips that can really help you get to wjere you want to be.

Tip 1 – Get focused. It is true that affiliate marketing can make anyone a ton of money. But to make this happen will take some focus and dedication. You must understand that it will take some work to make this happen but once you understand the game the skies the limit when it comes to your earning potential.

Tip 2 – Really study the art of it. There is a lot that needs to be learned when it comes to making money from affiliate marketing. No, you do not need a college degree to be successful, it wouldn’t hurt to treat affiliate marketing like a course that you are taking in school. The more information that you gather the better. There are tons and tons of resources out there that can teach you everything you will need to know.

Tip 3 – Pick products that people are buying. Doing your research is very important when it comes to earning big in this business. There are many techniques that you can use to determine if people are buying the type of products that you are interested in promoting. Choose one of these techniques to find the products that will make you the most money. Also make sure that you do a lot research on the products themselves. You always want to promote quality products.

Tip 4 – Keep your marketing strategy simple. Figure out what marketing techniques works best for you and run with them. Trying to many different marketing techniques can ultimately hurt your results. Its never good to spread yourself to thin. Pick 2 or 3 methods and use them to the cows come home.

These tips really ill help you. All you need to do s implement them and don’t stop until you have reached your goals. Learning how to make money online is very possible and real. I hope you see that now!

Giuseppe, Arnaldo & Sons – Is This Really the Best New Restaurant in Town?

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Giuseppe, Arnaldo and Sons opened at Crown Casino with great reviews and very fair prices. With that combination in mind we headed for the restaurant. There are no bookings so my group just rocked up for Sunday lunch.

We came to the restaurant but it looked close. We saw the menu on its stand at the front door but the doors were closed and it looked closed inside. You can’t see inside either as the outside is covered in art of old Italian buildings.

We walked passed it and around the corner. No open doors. We walked back to where the menu was on the stand and peered through the glass. We couldn’t see anything through the art on the doors. We looked around again. It looked closed. We decided to try the doors maybe they are open, why would they be closed? The giant glass doors opened and inside the restaurant was full.

This didn’t impress any of us. They should have the doors open inviting people in not keep them guessing. I wonder how many people wanted to go to the restaurant but seeing it all closed up thought the restaurant was closed and went elsewhere. This was the first of many disappointments .

The decor inside looks like large bathroom tiles from the seventies. The waiters look like scientist but are actually dressed as butchers. They wore jeans with a butcher coat. It is meant to represent the way the butchers in the old days wore the coats to prepare the meat. Hmmm…

On the table there are cutlery buckets which fit into each table. The knives almost look like machetes. The prongs on the forks were incredibly long. Everytime I tried to eat the sausage I ordered I kept biting those damn prongs!

The menu is on paper place mats. It is not easy to read. It is a little confusing considering the headings are in Italian.

I wanted something Italian and something different to what I normally order so I tried the G,A & Sons own Pork Sausages, Made from 100% Black Berkshire Free Range Pigs, Lentils and Pearl Onions.

My friend tried the Orecchiette Pasta, Cherry Tomatoes, Ricotta and Basil and my other friend tried the Hand Dived Wild Hervey Bay Scallops with Watercress, Radish Salad, Lemon, Green Chilli and Garlic.

It was disappointing.

My meal was served in a red enamel dish like the bushmen have in their napsacks in the outback. The meal was made for a truck driver with no class, it was all slop. It was three large sausages with lentils heaped on and three onions. It could almost be cheap prison food. The meal was incredibly salty and the sausages were dry.

The Hervey Bay Scallops with the the salad was poor. There were five scallops with scrapings of a little carrot, radish and juices. You come hungry and you leave hungry.

Unfortunately dessert wasn’t any better.

It’s always hard when you are lactose intolerant to find a suitable dessert to eat. I chose Chocolate Meringue, House Made Clotted Cream and Spiced Strawberry Compote.

It wasn’t a wise choice.

It was incredibly inelegant to eat. I was chewing on the meringue like a cow chews grass. It was hard to cut pieces with my fork. I was terrified my meringue would go flying across the room every time I tried to cut a piece to eat. The strawberries did not taste right. A few hours later the cream turned my stomach.

My friends decided to share the “Zuppa Inglese” My Trifle which is meant to be shared by two people or more. It wasn’t sweet. It was almost savoury. Maybe they should start a new category and put it under that. It certainly needed to be put under something.

And that is our first and last outing to Giuseppe, Arnaldo and Sons.