The best pain relief solution

Just as you would expect from a certified businesswoman who tends to work afterhours, I often end up facing some unpleasant musculoskeletal pain that has often affected my productivity at the company, leading to some less productive days that have probably affected all the company, giving my current status on that same company.

Keeping this in mind, I have been recently looking for the best musculoskeletal pain relief solution and I came up with Egoscue Inc., which is a pain management clinic that tends to use the most effective Egoscue Methos program that you will ever find and which doesn’t involve the use of drugs or any kind of manipulation or surgery. As a matter of fact, Egoscue Methos only involves a series of stretches and gentle egoscuecises ("e-cises") that will vary from person to person, depending on the specific cases and current situations of the patients.

So, have you been facing some major musculoskeletal pain over the last few years and would you like to put an end to that without taking drugs or surgeries? If that’s the case, then I am more than sure that you will find the clinic above extremely helpful for you as their effective techniques will give you all the pain relief that you have always needed.

Rediscovering Vienna

Have you ever been in Vienna before? Would you personally say that you didn't found anything special there? If that's the case, then you definitely need to read the msnbc.com article just below and discover how incredibly surprising Vienna may be even for those who have already been there:

"

VIENNA - Sachertorte. Magnificent palaces. Splendid museums. When Phillip Kalantirsky had his fill of Vienna the Opulent, he stayed on for a taste of Vienna Noir — in a walking tour built around the cult film "The Third Man."

"I'm obsessed with the movie," the 37-year-old lawyer from New York said on a recent afternoon as he and his wife waited for the tour to start. "Most old films are very dated, you don't buy into them. 'The Third Man' is different."

Kalantirsky's fascination with the film — set and partly shot in postwar Vienna — is shared by many. Six decades after "The Third Man" premiered in London in September 1949, tourists from around the world pound the Austrian capital's pavements — and even slip into its sewers — to see where the much-acclaimed motion picture was set. Fans can choose from the walking tour or the underground tour, visit a museum devoted to the movie, or even watch it in a theater.

Starring Orson Welles, the film tells the story of Holly Martins, a naive and broke American writer who investigates what appears to be the mysterious death of his old friend, Harry Lime, in a Vienna replete with rubble and racketeers, divided into zones run by the Western allies and the Soviet Union. Before long, he discovers that Lime is not dead but rather wrapped up in the trafficking of stolen, diluted penicillin, a scheme that has crippled and killed children.

Based on a screenplay by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed, the film is set to haunting Viennese zither music that's instantly familiar yet also unsettling — the perfect accompaniment for a noir film.

While "The Third Man" won an Oscar and grand prize of the Cannes Film Festival, it was less of a hit in Vienna, with locals unappreciative of the portrayal of the city's residents as grasping and cowardly. But with "The Third Man" wildly popular elsewhere, the Austrian capital now offers an array of attractions based on the movie.

Aside from the aboveground walking tour, film fans can delve into the city's underworld by descending into its extensive sewer system to see where Lime met his dramatic demise, shot to death by Martins.

Those with an aversion for damp and dingy surroundings can spend hours in a private museum crammed with photos, posters and other paraphernalia that grew out of a collector's love for all things related to "The Third Man."

The collection includes a tribute to the soundtrack's composer and performer, Anton Karas, who became a star in his own right. An audio terminal lets visitors sample more than 400 covers of the movie's theme music, including a version by The Beatles.

And for film neophytes or connoisseurs in need of a refresher or quick fix, the city's Burg cinema holds screenings three to four times a week.

Even on a recent balmy Sunday, while others enjoyed the weather, about two dozen people filed into the theater.

"It's a masterpiece," said Brian Davis, a 28-year-old tourist from Los Angeles, on his way in.

Cinema owner Kurt Schramek says the screenings are well-attended.

"The film is interesting for visitors because it was shot on location," Schramek said. "For some, it has become a bit of a tradition to go see it."

For others, such as Herbert Halbik, the movie evokes childhood memories.

The humble 64-year-old played Hansl in the film, the mischievous and chubby-cheeked boy who accuses Holly Martins of murdering Harry Lime's porter.

"I think the film is great, it's definitely one of the best," said Halbik, who played the part as a 3-year-old and now runs a tobacco shop. While he doesn't recall much of the shooting of the film, a trip to London to tape studio scenes sparked his lifelong love for orange marmalade.

"It was so unusual, you couldn't get it in Austria for years," he said with a chuckle during a recent interview, evoking postwar shortages that led to the kind of smuggling the film touches on.

Experts say the movie is more than just entertainment.

Brigitte Timmermann, an Austrian historian who spent a decade researching the production, describes it as an educational tool about life in the Austrian capital at the cusp of the Cold War.

"Graham Greene, as a former spy, was a very accurate observer, which makes the film an excellent documentation of the time," said the author of an extensive book titled "The Third Man's Vienna: Celebrating a Film Classic."

Timmermann, who has given walking tours for 20 years and often hosts student groups, said the movie continues to appeal to people from around the world because it is "tangible."

"There aren't too many films in which a city takes center stage," Timmermann said, adding that people from as far afield as the United States, Australia and Japan take her guided walks. Even former servicemen have shown up for her 2.5-hour trek through town.

"These people want to take the tour so badly they don't care if it's raining or if it's 17 below freezing," she said.

Peter Brunette, an expert on European film and a professor of film studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, enjoyed taking a "Third Man" tour while in Vienna for its annual film festival, the Viennale. He says the movie remains compelling thanks to superb acting, rich black-and-white cinematography, and the contrast it offers between "our idea of Old Europe" and Vienna's "dark underbelly."

"The world is corrupt and in fact people are evil," Brunette said, summing up the film's world-weary, existentialist tone. "There's a deliciousness to that."

"

Playing the card games that we have always loved

English review:

Even considering the fact that I am a businesswoman who really tends to play a very responsible role in the company, the fact is that I am also a lover of card games such as poker, amongst many other great card games that we can play with some other friends or simply play online.

As a matter of fact, it took me a while to discover how poker works and the basic rules around it but I am sure that it will now be a lot easier for any beginner to learn poker as it is now possible to enter this incredibly helpful and organized online poker university. Moreover, you may even read these interesting poker news so that you can always be up-to-date about the latest poker events all around the globe, the new great places for playing poker, amongst many other interesting topics that you may read about on the websites to which I have linked just above.

So, if you have always wanted to learn how to play poker so that you could also earn some money with a game that you really like, then it is about time that you get some extra knowledge and surprise all your friends with some new and interesting poker moves that will surely allow you to get even more joy from the best card games that was ever invented.

Spanish review:

Aun considerando el hecho de que soy una mujer de negocios que en realidad tiende a jugar un papel responsable en la empresa, el hecho es que yo también soy un amante de los juegos de cartas como el poker, entre muchos otros grandes juegos de cartas que podemos jugar con algunos otros amigos o simplemente jugar online.

Como cuestión de hecho, me tomó un tiempo para descubrir cómo funciona el poker y las normas básicas a su alrededor, pero estoy seguro de que ahora será mucho más fácil para cualquier principiante para aprender el poker, ya que ahora es posible entrar en esta increíblemente útil y organizada Universidad de poker online. Además, usted puede incluso leer muchas noticias de poker interesantes, así que siempre puedas estar al día sobre los últimos eventos de poker de todo el mundo, los nuevos lugares para jugar al poker, entre muchos otros temas interesantes que usted puede leer sobre poker en los sitios web a los que he conectado justo por encima.

Así pues, si usted siempre ha querido aprender a jugar al poker para que también podría ganar algo de dinero con un juego que realmente te gusta, entonces esta es la hora de usted obtener un conocimiento adicional y sorprender a todos tus amigos con algunos nuevos e interesantes jugadas de poker que seguramente le permitirá tirar aún más la alegría del mejor juego de tarjeta que jamás se ha inventado.

Surprising passenger bills

As a traveler who knows how surprising some trips are when we look at the bills that we get, I am experienced enough to sustain the theory that everyone must be prepared for one of those major bills that tend to surprise us sometime in our lives! Keeping this in mind, read the msnbc.com article just below and discover how you must deal with those situations:

"

—Airfarewatchdog wonders how many potential airline customers are refusing to fly until they can be assured that they won’t be trapped in a cramped airplane parked overnight on a tarmac. Every time another news story appears detailing the suffering of passengers in such situations, with no food or working lavatories, no doubt another few hundred flyers take to their cars and Greyhound.

Talk about negative publicity! So if only to avoid more bad press, you’d think the airlines would be behind two bills currently before the U.S. Congress designed to give airline passengers some peace of mind.

In truth, “only” about 200,000 U.S. airline passengers were stuck on a tarmac in the first half of the year (although this figure doesn’t include international flights or those on smaller regional aircraft).

The airlines note that this works out to an infinitesimally small percentage considering how many people they fly each year, but tell that to those unfortunate enough to have sat in a cardboard-thin seat surrounded by crying babies for 8 hours, with nothing to eat or drink.

And don’t use that logic on Kate Hanni, a victim of one of the more celebrated tarmac delays of recent years, and executive director of Flyersrights.org, the principal advocacy group behind the flyers rights movement. “If the problem is so small,” she said at a recent hearing sponsored by her group and the Business Travel Coalition, “then solving it shouldn’t be so bad.”

The two “passenger rights” bills, HR 624 in the House, and S 213 in the Senate, state that if a flight is “substantially” delayed, the airline must provide “adequate” food and water, “adequate” restroom facilities, cabin ventilation and comfortable cabin temperatures, and access to medical treatment.

After a delay of three hours during which the passengers have been unable to deplane, the airline must provide passengers the option of returning to the terminal if this can be done safely.

But there are some problems here. Most airlines no longer provide food on flights, except for business or first class passengers. So it’s not clear how they’ll be able to provide nourishment during a long delay. Does Pizza Hut deliver to airport tarmacs?

As for returning to the terminal in a “safe” manner, that’s a rather substantial loophole. If there are no available gates for a delayed aircraft to use, how will the passengers get off? They can’t simply jump out the emergency slides and walk to the terminal.

And if the pilot determines that deplaning would jeopardize passenger safety or security, then no deplaning.

There is no language in the bills specifying what penalties might be assessed for failure to adhere to the proposed regulations. So this could be a bill without bite.

Plus, as the two bills recognize, airports have to be part of the solution. They need to develop operating plans to handle unscheduled deplanings, including a way to safely transport passengers from the tarmac or taxiway to the terminal if no gates are available.

Some airports, such as Dallas-Fort Worth, are planning to add buses with mobile stairways to meet planes and carry passengers to terminals. DFW has also designated two terminal gates for unscheduled deplanings. But most airports don’t have this equipment, and without a workable plan any passenger rights bill that emerges from Congress may amount to nothing more than good intentions.

Airplanes arriving from international destinations that are diverted to airports without customs and immigration facilities propose another issue that must be considered.

Needless to say, the airline industry, and the Airline Transport Association, its trade group, aren’t thrilled. They argue that a passenger rights bill will have “unintended consequences,” forcing airlines to cancel flights at a time when capacity cuts make it less likely that their customers will find convenient alternatives.

Aircraft that go back to the gate for deplaning lose their place in line for take off, industry insiders note, causing further delays; others argue that this policy should be changed, allowing such aircraft to regain their takeoff priority.

And other industry observers, such as the University of Michigan’s Amy Cohn, suggest that tarmac delays are a symptom, not the disease. These delays wouldn’t happen so often, they say, if the U.S. air traffic control system weren’t stuck in the 1960s. It needs to be modernized so that more aircraft can share limited air space.

Delays could also be reduced if the FAA restricted the number of takeoffs and landings at the nation’s most crowded airports, such as Chicago O’Hare and New York’s LaGuardia and JFK. JFK has slots for 81 operations per hour, but averages 126.

But who knows: Now that airlines are eliminating flights and parking hundreds of jets in the desert, this problem might just go away.

"

Web hosting solutions for us

As a traveler who tends to share advice and experiences with the visitors of my blog, I have some experience as a webmaster that I may also share with you if you are already planning to own your own website or blog, where you will also share important information with other Internet users or where you simply tell your stories about your recent travels all around the world.

Keeping this in mind, you will need both a domain and a webhosting plan to get you started. As a matter of fact, while the domain is something that you can come up really quick and decide which you should take, the fact is that finding the best web hosting plan that best fits our needs as webmasters is often one of the most difficult tasks that webmasters need to fulfill. Personally, I would advise you all to have a look at the website to which I have linked just above and where you will be given the chance to find the best web hosting plans and providers, making it a lot easier for you to decide which web hosting plan you are going to get. Moreover, you may even read the interesting web hosting articles on their blog also, making sure that you deeply acknowledge how it all works and how you should choose your web hosting plan.

The perfect opportunity to discover Colorado

Have you ever been to Colorado before? Would you recommend it to other travelers? Well, even if you have never been there before, I am more than sure that you have already heard some amazing stories about the great adventures that many travelers had there. In fact, read the msnbc.com article just below and discover how incredibly easy it will be for you to discover Colorado:

"

DENVER - People who have never seen snow or built a snowman are getting a chance to do it in Colorado, in a big way.

The Colorado Tourism Office launched a contest Monday to give three "snow virgins" an expenses-paid, three-month trip to Colorado, January through March. With help from local instructors and guides, contest winners will sample winter activities like snowmobiling, skiing, snowshoeing, dogsledding, the all-important apres ski cocktail hour, maybe even ice climbing — and then they'll describe their experiences on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Winners also will visit Colorado restaurants, hot springs and spas.

Applicants are asked to submit videos to snowatfirstsight.com explaining why they should win. People can visit the Web site to vote, and 10 finalists will get trips to Colorado to audition.

The Colorado Tourism Office is spending about $150,000 on the contest. That's less than the $250,000 it spent on a promotion last year to erect a virtual ski hill and "bring Colorado" to New York City.

The office's budget was cut from $20 million last year to $15 million this year as the state tried to close a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall. Tourism officials hope the new contest builds buzz for Colorado on social media networks, with contest winners posting daily updates.

The idea is to show Colorado through the contest winners' fresh eyes, whether they're from the U.S. or not, tourism office director Kim McNulty said.

Contest organizers figure entrants might be students, job seekers, retirees or those who can arrange for time off work — basically the crowd that might go on a reality TV show.

The winners will stay at spots around the state. Exact locations were still being confirmed.

"

The best deals on diesel parts

When considering the fact that I love to travel all around the world, it is obvious that I tend to take the most out of my car so that I can travel all around the country without having to spend so much money with airlines, etc.

Still, after years of use, many parts from our cars need to be replaced and it is extremely important that we replace the old parts with new certified ones that can really continue to guarantee us all the reliability that we will ever need as travelers who love to travel by car. Moreover, as I have some Mercedes-Benz cars at home, I have recently been told to have a look at these OEM and aftermarket diesel turbocharger parts so that I could save hundreds of dollars while also making sure that my cars will continue to provide me with some amazing trips all around the country.

Discovering the Holy Land in Washington D.C.

Even if you you are not one of those persons who tends to spend many hours doing everything possible in order to follow the "rules" of your religion, the truth is that you may still be surprised with the amazing places that you can find right next to you! In fact, read the msnbc.com article just below and see how you can easily be surprised:

"

WASHINGTON - On a Christian pilgrimage with her church group, Kristin Toorop looks up to Calvary and her eyes open wide.

She listens as tour guide Gloria Harrington tells the story of where Christ was crucified, with Mary Magdalene kneeling at his feet.

"I'm sure you recognize the scene of Jesus on the cross, between two thieves," Harrington says, before leading the group to take a closer look. "Let's go up to Calvary."

But this is not the sacred Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, where Christian tradition says Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Rather, it's a replica of Calvary, hidden in a leafy neighborhood in Washington.

For nearly 112 years, Mount St. Sepulchre in D.C. has been home to a Franciscan monastery and its Memorial Church of the Holy Sepulcher — complete with replicas of Jesus' tomb and other holy sites. About 25,000 people visit each year to see its shrines representing the holiest places in Christianity.

During her first visit in October, Toorop, a 43-year-old accountant from Philadelphia, said she was more than impressed.

"To be honest, I think this place is better than the National Cathedral," she said, walking through the Byzantine-style church located across town from the well-known Episcopal cathedral that often hosts presidents and national events.

"This place is more spiritual," Toorop said. "I feel closer to Jesus and to his story and to the pain and suffering he went through because there's these relics here."

Her pilgrimage to the church with a busload of parishioners from Nativity of Our Lord Church in Warminster, Pa., came on the same day the Franciscan Order celebrated a remarkable moment — its 800th anniversary. The order was founded by St. Francis of Assisi, who traveled to Rome in 1209 to ask the pope's approval.

"They wanted to live the Gospel as literally as they could," said Father Jeremy Harrington, who heads the Washington monastery. That includes a simple life, serving others, with no real worldly possessions of their own.

Hundreds of friars have passed through the D.C. monastery over time, often in preparation to serve in the Holy Land where Franciscans serve as the Catholic Church's chief custodians of the holiest sites. It's also the place where Good Friday collections from all U.S. Catholic churches are sent before the Vatican distributes the money to support the Franciscans' work.

In the Holy Land, they try to foster peace and reconciliation among Muslims, Jews and other groups, Harrington said. They also strive to make the Gospel accessible to people in the tradition of St. Francis.

Harrington, 77, dressed in the friar's traditional brown robe, serves as guardian and commissary of the monastery. He's one of 20 who live there full-time, celebrating Mass twice daily and meeting together for morning and evening prayer. Other priests stay for shorter periods while studying at nearby Catholic University of America.

"We are the supply line for the friars in the Holy Land," Harrington said. "We recruit men to become Franciscans and go to serve there. We support them emotionally, spiritually and financially."

Their church is filled with intricate works of art and the unique to-scale replicas of various sites.

The site dates to 1897 when Father Godfrey Schilling purchased an old farm estate to build the monastery and church. He had returned from serving in the Holy Land and wanted to offer Americans a glimpse of those sites that many would never see in person.

Architect Aristide Leonori was hired to design the building, which was made in the shape of a Crusader Cross of Jerusalem. It incorporates the Byzantine style with Italian Romanesque elements.

Leonori also visited the Holy Land to take measurements and photographs of sites that were to be reproduced inside the church. Several artists created the colorful paintings, mosaics, stained glass and statues that adorn the altars and walls.

The details are exacting. The Altar of Calvary, for example, is set high in the church to show the actual height of Mount Calvary. Tour guides at the church said Jesus' body was taken to a tomb located the exact distance across the church where a replica of the tomb is situated. Stone from the real tomb in Jerusalem was sent for use in the D.C. replica, they said.

"I've never been over to the Holy Land. I've never traveled," said Debbie Schultheis, 41, a recent visitor from the Warminster, Pa., church. "But this gives you a nice documentation of Jesus' life."

On the basement level, visitors find replicas of the shrine at Nazareth dedicated to the Annunciation — when Mary learned she would bear the child of God — and the nativity in Bethlehem where Jesus was born.

There are also replicas of the catacombs in Rome with altars holding the real remains of St. Benignus, a second-century martyr put to death by the Roman emperor, and the body of St. Innocent, a child martyr, to show the persecution of early Christians.

Outside, the monastery's expansive gardens are filled with colorful roses and more replicas depicting the garden of Gethsemane, the tomb of the Virgin Mary, the Portiuncula Chapel that St. Francis restored and other sites.

The monastery is contemplating an expansion that could include private, solitary retreats on the wooded areas of its grounds to offer a place for prayer and reflection.

"That's our life," Harrington said, "to be people of peace."

"

Sending personalized letters

As a woman who tends to have little free time to dedicate to shopping and many other great things that everyone loves to do, I am experienced enough to assure absolutely everyone that it is still possible for us to buy and sell the things that we love online! In fact, I tend to clear my wardrobe every now and then so I really send many items all around the world.

Moreover, as a businesswoman I also tend to send important information in letters to other companies that work with mine, making it absolutely mandatory that I always pay attention to the address labels so that these labels may always be personalized and a nice way of getting free advertising. Furthermore, I would personally say that personalized address labels such as return address labels really tend to play an important role if you run a business that makes it necessary to send items all around the country as it tends to add a more professional look to every package or letter that you send!

So, do you run a small business or do you simply tend to send many letters to destinations all around the globe? If that’s the case, then you definitely need to check out the website to which I have linked above and see with your own eyes how incredibly helpful it will be for you.

Keeping your home safe when traveling all around the world

Even considering the fact that you may feel extremely confident about your neighbourhood and how secure your home is when you decide to travel all around the world, the truth is that you must always be conscious that it is possible that you may end up facing a major surprise when you get home. Therefore, read the msnbc.com article below and discover how you can stay protected:

"

By Caroline Costello

Murphy's Law for travelers: If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong while you're on vacation — which is arguably the worst time a household calamity can strike. Coming home from your honeymoon, African safari or Mediterranean cruise can be melancholic. But returning from a memorable journey and learning something has gone seriously wrong at home can be downright devastating.

To make matters worse, a house or apartment left empty while its owners are traveling is a tempting target for criminals. We don't want to scare you — or leave you fearing for your treasured belongings while basking on a Caribbean beach. But it's imperative that every traveler take certain key steps to keep his or her home safe and sound while seeing the world. Simple preventative measures (which take only minutes to complete) can work wonders to help you avoid power surges, broken pipes, home invasions and more.

1. Ask a friend to help
A simple, albeit crucial, way to gain peace of mind while traveling is to ask a friend or neighbor to keep an eye on your house while you're away. First, bribe your friend with some freshly baked cookies or cupcakes. Next, ask him or her to drive by your home once every day or so and check on the place. Give this person a key so that he or she can bring your mail in, feed your cat, water your plants, rake your leaves, etc. If you don't use a garage, you may also want to give this person a key to your car — you never know when your car may need to be moved. He or she should also have your contact information and a copy of your itinerary in case of emergencies. Do you have more than one person visiting your house while you're away? If so, tell them about each other! If the watchful neighbor you asked to keep an eye on your abode calls the police on your elderly cat sitter, don't say we didn't warn you.

2. Don't tip off criminals with twitter
In a world where it seems everyone is blabbing about their business on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, it's important to stop and think: who exactly is reading this stuff? The anonymity of the Internet can encourage us to share personal information without fully realizing that there may be hundreds of complete strangers receiving our daily musings. Would you announce to a crowd that you will be leaving your house unattended for two weeks this December? If not, then you should think twice about posting your detailed vacation plans on Twitter or Facebook — especially if that information is visible to Internet users other than your friends and family (and it probably is). Change your house phone message as well. Callers don't need to know that you're not home — they just need to know that you can't come to the phone right now.

3. Do tip off the police
Always notify the police if you're going on vacation. No need to let the cops know about a weekend getaway, but do call them if you're leaving town for a week or more. It's possible the police may go out of their way to drive by your house while on patrol, especially if you live in a small town. You may also want to contact your local neighborhood watch program if there's one in your area.

4. Curtains closed — or open?
Before you leave for vacation, you may decide to close your curtains to prevent people from peering inside your home and determining whether or not you're there. However, closed curtains also stop those who aim to help — the police, your neighbors or friends — from seeing inside your house. So what's your best bet? Leave your curtains exactly as you usually keep them when you're home, since noticeable changes could hint that you're not around anymore — especially if your curtains are uncharacteristically left closed for two weeks. Be sure to move expensive items, such as jewelry or cash, away from plain sight if they're visible from the window.

5. The lights are on but no one's home
Don't leave your lights on at home throughout your entire vacation in an effort to make it look like someone is in the house. Your electric bill will end up more costly than your mortgage, and, of course, leaving the lights on is not exactly “green” behavior. Plus, house lights blazing throughout the night might look a bit odd, no? Instead, purchase a light switch timer that can turn your lights on and off automatically according to a programmed schedule. Criminals keeping an eye on your house will notice lights flipping on and off, and will probably assume someone is doing the flipping. Nextag.com offers a comprehensive list of light switch timers available for sale online. Timers start at $8 (although more quality timers are priced around $16 and up).

6. Stop your mail
Either place a “stop” order on mail and newspapers (we also recommend this in 10 things to do before you leave home), or arrange to have a friend or neighbor pick up your mail while you're away. Otherwise, a week's worth of letters piled on your front step could signal to criminals that a certain homeowner is out of town. It's easy to put your mail on hold; that's why there's no excuse not to do this. Just go to the United States Postal Service Web site and you can place a “stop” order in a matter of minutes.

7. Put that in your pipe
If you live in a cold region of the world and your pipes are in danger of freezing during winter, you have another compelling reason to leave a house key with a friend while you're traveling. Ask your friend to stop by and check your faucets. If he or she turns on a faucet and only a few drops of water come out, your pipes may be frozen. Take other precautions like making sure your pipes are properly insulated or keeping your heat on while you're away. Show your key-bearing companion the location of the water main shut-off in case a pipe breaks. For more information about preventing and treating frozen pipes, visit Prepare.org.

8. Pull the plug
Unplug your television, computer, toaster oven and other appliances to protect them from power surges. Do this to save power as well. According to the Consumer Energy Center, many appliances use power even when they're turned off.

9. Remove your spare key
That plastic rock isn't fooling anyone. If a criminal figures out you're away on vacation, it's likely that he or she will check your porch for a spare key. So reach under the mat, into the mailbox, above the door frame or into the flower pot and remove your spare key. Besides, if you're locked out when you come back from vacation, you could end up having a beer with the president!

"