Why Lease Executive Suites?

Office space can be confusing. All you want is somewhere to place your business but once you start browsing your options you're inundated with a range of terms and conditions you never even knew existed. But it's OK! Unless you're an office broker or an office provider then you're bound to be a bit unfamiliar with all the key phrases which get thrown around when you're browsing the office space options on offer.

If you want a low-cost option which leaves you with one monthly lease bill then executive suites are definitely the right option for your needs. Executive suites are simply an office which comes fully furnished with high quality furniture and is equipped with a great range of amenities.

Key amenities which are included in the lease are broadband internet, reception staff, kitchen and bathroom facilities and phone lines. These executive offices are already set up so you can move in and get down to work instantly.

Because executive suites come with only one monthly bill they're great for businesses who are on a tight budget and who need to know exactly how much they're going to spend each month. Key facilities like electricity and gas are included in the bill so there are no set-up hassles when you arrive. Exec

Executive suites have been built specifically with you in mind so they offer a professional service and facility which can be hard to match. This option is versatile enough for any business and is usually located in a key area in a major city.

From Milton Keynes to Memphis, executive suites can be found right across the world and are home to a number of major businesses. All industries are suited to the facilities and amenities that come as standard with serviced offices like this and, as a result, executive suites are easily one of the most popular office space options in the world today.

Earthquake Risks in the Midwest

The New Madrid Seismic Zone

Although the West Coast and Alaska generally has the greatest earthquake activity, the potential for moderate-to-large earthquakes exist in the Midwest where three of the largest historical earthquakes occurred in the winter of 1811-1812 along the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) in southeastern Missouri. The three main earthquakes of moment magnitude 7.0-8.0 occurred on December 16, 1811; January 23, 1812; and February 7, 1812.

The NMSZ stretches from just the west of Memphis in Tennessee into southern Illinois, and consists of three fault segments: the northeast and the southwest segments which are strike-slip faults, and the Reelfoot or central segment which is a thrust fault. The probability of a New Madrid earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or greater occurring in the next 50 years is 25-40%, while a repeat of the 1811-1812 earthquakes is 7-10% according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) of the University of Memphis.

The Region of Potential Impact

Earthquakes in the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS) are less frequent than in the Western United States (WUS). However, they affect much larger areas because of the regional geology being different east and west of the Rocky Mountains, where the CEUS is a more stable region in which the energy released from a large earthquake is transmitted into the surrounding regions more efficiently, while the energy is relatively quickly absorbed in the WUS. For comparison, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake of magnitude 7.8 was felt 350 miles away in the middle of Nevada, while church bells rang in Boston, Massachusetts, from the New Madrid earthquake of December 1811 of magnitude about 7.5, which is 1,000 miles away. Therefore, a moderate-to-large earthquake activity in the NMSZ is capable of causing widespread damage over a large region in the Midwest. The region of potential impact is comprised of eight states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.

Ground Shaking Intensity

The intensity of ground shaking that a building will experience during an earthquake is a function of three main factors:

The earthquake moment magnitude where the larger the earthquake, the stronger is the shaking.

The closest distance from the segment of the fault that ruptured to the building, where the nearer the building is to the fault, the greater is the shaking.

The type of soil materials beneath the building, where soft soils amplify and prolong the shaking even at great distances from the ruptured fault, while hard bedrocks do not amplify the shaking. Deep soils in the Mississippi River valley would shake more than bedrock in the hills as a result of the persistent shaking where the seismic waves are trapped and reverberate. Unfortunately most urban development is in valleys.

Hazards Associated with Ground Shaking

Hazards associated with ground shaking in the Midwest includes:

Liquefaction susceptibility where partially saturated soil deposits may completely lose cohesion during prolonged shaking, behave like a liquid, and lose their ability to support structures. The highest hazard is in low-lying areas where there are loose, sandy soils or poorly compacted artificial fill. A liquefied sand layer can shoot to the surface through cracks, forming a sand-blow, and depositing sand on the ground. This results in permanent ground deformations such as lateral spreading and settlement, both of which increase the likelihood of damage to buildings and infrastructures.

Landslide susceptibility where steep sloping areas underlain by loose or soft rock are most susceptible to earthquake-induced landslides, damaging buildings and other structures.

Fires where earthquakes in urban areas are often followed by destructive fires because of gas lines break and electrical shorts that may quickly spread due to clogged roads and collapsed bridges that prevent firefighter access, or damaged water tanks that limit water for firefighting.

Expected Regional Economic Losses

The region surrounding the NMSZ is home to millions of people, including those in the metropolitan areas of St. Louis and Memphis. Most structures were not built to withstand earthquake shaking. Moreover, earthquake awareness and preparedness have lagged far behind as compared to the West Coast. A worst-case scenario study was conducted by the Mid-America Earthquake (MAE) Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for each state affected by a hypothetical earthquake of magnitude 7.7 predicted by the USGS.

The study concluded that Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois would incur significant direct economic losses that reach $56, $45, $40 and $35 billion, respectively, while Arkansas and Mississippi would incur nearly $19 and $9.5 billion in direct economic loss, respectively. On the other hand, Indiana and Alabama would experience limited direct economic losses of approximately $1.5 and $1.0 billion, respectively. It shall be noted that the regional direct economic losses can not be determined by adding the above mentioned values. These values would be significantly reduced for a moderate earthquake of magnitude 6.0-6.5. Indirect economic losses due to business interpretation and loss of market share may be much higher than the direct economic losses. For comparison, the insured damages from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the largest single natural disaster in the United States in recent years, were $45 billion. Additional federal aid and reconstruction expenditures were $127 billion.

Expected Buildings Damage

The MAE study demonstrates that residential buildings would incur more damage than any other building usage where wood frame buildings are the most prevalent building type in the Midwest and comprise a large portion of all building damage, while unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings comprise a much smaller portion of the regional building inventory. However, estimates show a much higher percentage of URM buildings would be damaged even from moderate shaking. In Tennessee; over 250,000 buildings are expected to be moderately or severely damaged from which 50,000 at least moderately damaged URM buildings from rupture of the southwestern segment of the NMSZ. Over 260,000 people would be displaced with over 60,000 casualties (injuries and fatalities). In Missouri; over 80,000 buildings are expected to be damaged leaving more than 120,000 people displaced and causing over 15,000 casualties.

How to Survive a New Madrid Earthquake?

Seismic Retrofitting

If your home is constructed before the 1980's, you probably need to retrofit it, especially if you live within the NMSZ (refer to the red, orange and yellow contours of the USGS seismic hazard map in the earthquake hazards section at http://earthquake-preparedness.net ). Seismic retrofitting measures ensure the structural integrity of your home to withstand earthquakes with little structural damage. Retrofitting is your own decision at your own risk according to your financial situation as it may be costly. However, it may be addressed one step at a time. The best return on the investment of retrofitting efforts is to initially address the foundations issues followed by bracing the cripple walls, then bracing the soft story, and ending with bracing or anchoring the masonry chimney.

Contents Mitigation

You should mitigate the contents of your home whether you retrofit it or not. Earthquake mitigation measures are simple techniques taken to secure non-structural elements and contents of your home to the studs of the interior walls, in order to reduce the risk to lives and investments, using inexpensive hardware tools and materials found in hardware stores and home centers. Items in the garage should also be secured to reduce damage to vehicles. Self-mitigation techniques can be undertaken by homeowners as they are simple to explain and require no special expertise, materials or tools to implement.

Earthquake Insurance

Homeowners insurance does not provide coverage for earthquake damage to your home. If you live within the NMSZ, you should consider earthquake insurance as an effective way to manage potential costs of future inevitable earthquakes.

Earthquake Preparedness Plan

You should review, update, or develop your own earthquake preparedness plan that includes maintaining emergency food and water for 1-2 weeks at all times along with personal survival kits and a household emergency kit. The magnitude 7.0 Haiti earthquake demonstrates the necessity of earthquake preparedness for anyone living in an active seismic region.

Concluding Remarks

Haiti earthquake is a wake up call for earthquake preparedness in the Midwestern States that has lagged far behind as compared to the West Coast. If you live within the region of the potential impact of New Madrid earthquakes, you should re-consider retrofitting your home or at least mitigating its contents to protect yourself and your family. The benefits of seismic retrofitting and mitigation go well beyond being simply reducing financial losses. It will make your home safer and help in returning your family much more quickly back to their normal life style. In addition, earthquake insurance would help in managing potential costs of future earthquakes. Finally, develop an earthquake preparedness plan that includes maintaining emergency food and water for 1-2 weeks along with personal survival kits and a household emergency kit.

Other Peoples Homes (2) Elvis, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee

In the words of Paul Simon, "I'm going to Graceland, Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee" and now I've been but, in my case, with a travelling companion several decades more than nine years old and a devoted fan of the "King of Rock and Roll".

Since Elvis Presley's death in 1977, Graceland, the house purchased by Elvis in 1957 and in whose grounds he is buried, has become a shrine to the memory of Elvis and a centre of pilgrimage for thousands of fans who visit every year.

Graceland was built on a hilly, heavily wooded thirteen-and-three-quarter-acre site on the two-lane Highway 51 connecting Memphis with Jackson, Mississippi, for a Dr. and Mrs. Thomas D. Moore. Over time the name "Graceland" came to refer specifically to the house but originally it applied to the entire area which was establish as a Hereford cattle farm in 1861, by S.E. Toof, the publisher of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. It was named after his daughter, Grace Toof. Ruth Moore, who built Graceland the house, was Grace's niece who planned the house for her daughter, Ruth Marie, who played the harp and piano. Music seeped through it's very foundations. The rooms were designed with an eye to future musical evenings and space was essential. A Commercial Appeal headline for Sunday, October 27th 1940 heralded the "Colonial Courtliness of Georgian Style Exemplified in Stately Graceland". The home that has come to symbolise Elvis.

The house was opened to the public in 1982. I understand about 650,000 people a year pass through the front door. Graceland has become one of the five most visited home museums in the United States and in 1991 gained the honour of being placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Joining one of the many shuttle tours that operate from downtown Memphis, I, personally was prepared to be disillusioned. Would it all be hype and tasteless, but hey, forever curious about other peoples tastes and extravagances it was a 'must do' visit. Surrounded by fellow travellers, devoted Elvis fans, who have all come to see not only where Elvis lived by how he lived, the tour began.

The neoclassical façade of white Tishomingo stone with windows shuttered in contrasting green present a truly tranquil, elegant and stylish house. Entering through the Corinthian columns on the front portico, the "formal" Dining Room and Living Room are lavishly decorated in blue, white and gold colour scheme and given a spacious feel by the mirrors which are a predominant feature of both rooms. The centrepiece of the Dining Room is a spectacular Italian cut glass chandelier purchased by Elvis on an after-hours shopping spree at Belvedere Lighting in Memphis in August 1974. In the Living Room stunning peacock stained-glass windows designed by Laukhuff Stained Glass of Memphis, separate the Living Room from the Music Room. The same company that did the stained glass work around the front door and the stained-glass billiard light in the Pool Room.

Moving into the Music Room, decorated predominantly in gold and white, a black Story and Clark baby grand takes pride of place. The most famous person to play it other than Elvis was James Brown who recalls singing gospel songs with Elvis. The wall mirror in the Music Room illustrates the fact that a lot of things were kept; things weren't thrown away and trashed over the years. This mirror dates back to the Presley's previous home on Audubon Drive where they lived prior to moving to Graceland. The stairway in the hall leads to the upper floor of the house that disappointingly is not open to visitors. I would have loved to have had a nose into the bedrooms and the four bathrooms. The chandelier over the stairs is the largest one of three in the house and the same design as the one in the Dining Room, in the Maria Theresa design. The third chandelier is Strauss crystal and hangs just inside the front door in the foyer.

The TV Room, decorated in black and gold with mirrored walls was decorated in its present style by Bill Eubanks who also decorated the Pool Room across the hall. All the chrome, glass, chrome arc lamps and sectional black furniture are very much the style of the 70's including a yellow leather topped bar and bar stools! The most spectacular feature of the Pool Room is the fabric used to cover the sofas, walls and ceiling. We are told it took something between 350 and 400 yards of fabric and three workmen about ten days to hang it. The room, with its French, Oriental and turn-of-the century European influences is an example of the Seventies American trend toward eclectic decorating, mixing styles of various eras and countries. A similar "retro" trend emerged again in the Nineties. None of the furniture is antique. Most chosen to complement the general décor including the reproduction Louis XV red leather chairs.

All the pictures are either prints, some signed by artists, or - like the Toulouse Lautrecs, just regular commercial reproductions. The gold, green and peacock blue light shade over the pool table is again, the work of Laukhuff Stained Glass in Memphis and done in the revived Tiffany style. Possibly the most spectacular and unique room of the visit though is the Jungle Room. Added to the house in the mid-Sixties it functioned as a screened-in porch, then it was closed in completely and made into a family room or den. Legend has it that Vernon, Elvis' father had been out and about and had seen some hideous furniture in a store in Memphis. Apparently, unbeknownst to Vernon, Elvis had seen the same furniture and had liked it because it reminded him of Hawaii. He bought a whole roomful of it. The big "monkey chair" is so enormous that one of the windows had to be removed to move it into the room. Much of the room's décor seems to be tactile, as with the fake fur on the bar stools and the heavily carved wood, the exotic feathered mirror frame and the ornamental animals.

The indoor waterfall completes the theme although we are told that it wasn't turned on very often because it tended to make the carpet wet.

Finally the office. Housed in a building that was already there when Elvis bought Graceland. Vernon ran the office and had a staff of secretaries to handle fan mail and all the household and personal bills. Elvis gave a press conference sitting at his father's desk in this office in 1960 the day after he returned from his tour of army duty in Germany. In photographs it is possible to see that it is the same desk, same blotter, lamp, filing cabinets and cards on top of the filing cabinet.

It is recorded that when Elvis was a child he made a promise to his parents that "One day, I'll buy you the prettiest house in Memphis, and I'll pay you back for all you've sacrificed for me". Graceland represented that to him. Both house and garden provided a fascinating visit. One I would have no hesitation in recommending to others and one I would happily repeat if I ever found myself back in Memphis, Tennessee.

Tennessee

Tennessee is a southern state in the United States. It was the 16th state to join the Union and is sometimes known as "the volunteer state" - a nickname that it gained due to the prominent role of volunteer soldiers from the state during the War of 1812.

The capital city of Tennessee is Nashville, and the state's largest city is Memphis. Other cities in Tennessee include Athens, Bartlett, Bristol, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Cleveland, Collierville, Cookeville, Franklin, Germantown, Hendersonville, Knoxville, Jackson, Johnson City, Kingsport, Maryville, Morristown, Murfreesboro and Oak Ridge.

The state is known nationally, and indeed internationally, for its musical connections, and it is to the music industry that many of Tennessee's tourist attractions are connected. In Memphis, you will find Elvis Presley's former home (now a museum), Graceland, and Nashville, there are many sites of interest to country music fans, including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country music fans will also want to check out Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, which is named after the country singer and actress, Dolly Parton, and is home to the the South Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame. Other sites that you will want to visit in Tennessee include the Eiffel Tower Replica in Paris, which not quite on the scale of the original in France, is 65 feet (20 meters) tall, and the Parthenon in Nashville, which is a full size reproduction of the original in Greece.

- Some of the major companies headquartered in Tennessee are AutoZone (in Memphis), Caremark Rx (in Nashville), FedEx (in Memphis), HCA (in Nashville) and the Gibson Guitar Corporation (in Nashville).

- Airports serving Tennessee include Memphis International Airport in Memphis, and Nashville International Airport in Nashville.

- Leading education institutions in Tennessee include the University of Tennessee (in Knoxville) and Vanderbilt University (in Nashville).

- Sports teams in Tennessee include the Chattanooga Lookouts (Southern League baseball) in Chattanooga, the Memphis Grizzlies (National Basketball Association) in Memphis, the Memphis Redbirds (Pacific Coast League baseball) in Memphis, the Nashville Predators (ice hockey in the NHL) in Nashville, the Nashville Sounds (Pacific Coast League baseball) in Nashville, the Tennessee Smokies (Southern League baseball) in Kodak, the Tennessee Titans (American football in the NFL) in Nashville, and the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (Southern League baseball) in Jackson.

Knoxville Crime Scene Cleanup

Knoxville Crime Scene Cleanup is a niche market within the cleaning industry of Knoxville. Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, behind Memphis and Nashville, and it is also the largest city in East Tennessee. Tennessee and the State of Washington have the nation's highest legal standards for methamphetamine lab abatement.

While no one wants to confront the possibility of a suicide, homicide or accidental death, these events often do occur. In case of a violent death several crucial tasks are performed by the investigation department and police force. But it's not their duty to clean up the scene. Crime scene cleanup is the responsibility of asset holders. Generally they are not well-known with the secure measures to clean up such scene. During the attempt of removing the leftovers the exposure to infected body fluids, HIV blood and further biological incidents could occur.

Usually after the occurrence of a violent death i.e. homicide, suicide or accident in someone's residence, the family members do not go out of the home. Here to remove all bio hazards and every mark of what happened in a result of such scene is the job of a crime scene cleaner. The tissues or blood at such event can be a possible source of contamination. Special expertize are required to deal with bio hazardous material. Moreover the permits are necessary to move and dispose of bio hazardous material.

Knoxville Crime Scene Cleanup Companies handle all aspects of the work from start to end. These companies are well equipped, ready to take action and provide their services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Once informed to a scene, whether homes, businesses, construction sites, boats and autos, their technicians assess the degree of the damage and get ready a written proposal. They immediately initiate the restoration measures after the acceptance of proposal. They clean, sterilize and deodorize all affected areas along with proper disposal. For possibly obtaining reimbursement they also present support with insurance procedures.

Using a Car Insurance Calculator

Car insurance is something that we all need in order to drive our vehicles. Many people hate the thoughts of how much this will cost them. This is something that a person can use a car insurance calculator for.

By using a tool of this nature a person can get a very food idea as to what the cost of the insurance that they require will be. They are not on the nose with accuracy but they do tend to come up with figures that are close to what you can expect to have to pay. People in this country like having an idea of what things will cost them.

There are a lot of these tools that can be found on the internet. Looking around at different places that offer a car insurance calculator can help you find one that you will find easy for you to figure out.

They are a very easy tool really. Instructions on how to use them properly are generally given on the website. It generally only takes you inputting some answers to general questions for an answer to be generated.

Basic things like your age, marital status, and whether or not there are kids in the home are common things that are asked. They also want to know what kind of car that will be insured as well. These things all make a difference on the cost of a person's car insurance.

Not only will you be given an estimate on the cost that insurance will be for you, but you will also be given the best options when it comes to the type of insurance that you should obtain.

By browsing the resources that are around the internet on car insurance calculators you will find something that will surely be usable by you. Some of them are very simple and a rookie computer user will get results. This is something that a person has to decide on their own.

Using the internet is one of the easiest ways to get the information that you need without having to worry about talking to someone with your personal information. This is also a great thing to have for when you get quotes from companies. You have something to compare the quotes that you get to. More and more people are using this type of tool all the time as they like the results that they get and are more able to prepare ahead of time for the costs that they will need to pay.

Egypt - A Place to Avoid, Or Enjoy in the Comfort of Your Own Home!

Egypt - I expect the very name conjures up romantic images of camels, deserts & ancient monuments, as it did to us before we went. 

Unfortunately, although the Pyramids, Sphinx, Karnak, etc were interesting we felt Egypt was the pits.  We had been warned that Cairo was very polluted and that was certainly the case, but the rest of the country was about as bad. It was quite the filthiest country I have ever visited and that does not refer to the ever present dust that one expects to find in a predominately desert country.  

Rubbish was everywhere, even built into the banks of some canals and pushed down the banks of the Nile.  The attitude to litter seemed to be, if you empty a packet of food or cigarettes in the car, just chuck the rubbish out the window.  If you have household rubbish in a bag, leave it in an empty allotment nearby, or sweep it down an embankment.  If you use a tissue on the street, just dump it in the gutter or on the pavement.  The people in the tourist areas were greedy, grasping pests, service was poor & the food was pretty ordinary too - not a patch on Thailand or Turkey (see my earlier articles). 

It was very obvious that graft was a way of life, with those at the top of the food chain getting the biggest slice of the action, so everyone was keen to fight their way up the ladder.  

Tourists were at the very bottom of the food chain and aggressively targeted.  

The star system of grading hotels & tourist boats reflected either a very low standard compared to the rest of the world, or that stars could be purchased, probably both.  We stayed in a 5 star hotel, which would probably rate 3.5 star elsewhere & only 2 for service.  The Nile cruise boat was graded 5 star and although it would again probably rate 3.5 star, I would grade it a bit more for the fact that the toilet was, thankfully, near the bed!  The 3 day cruise itself from Luxor to Aswan was OK, but nothing to write home about. 

The name of the game throughout was RIPOFF; eg at the Egyptian Museum which you paid to enter, you had to pay extra to get into the section containing the mummies of the kings.  A sign at the museum of Alexandria said it all: 'Foreigners LE35 , Foreign Students LE20, Egyptians LE2, Egyptian Students LE1'.  In other tours we have taken in India & Turkey, the tour guide doubled as the tour leader as well.  It was obvious that in Egypt the system was set up to ensure extraction of tips to the maximum number of people with a tour leader & then guides at every location visited.

General comments on the tour organised through a company I will not bother to name are:

- The Al Kalili market/bazaar was nowhere near as good as the one in Istanbul we had just visited, or that in Tehran that I visited in 1968 & we were constantly pestered, which put us off completely.  Egyptians just do not have the pleasant way of enticing tourists to part with their cash that the Thais have.

- The Citadel museum was a joke with most of the interesting bits closed off.

- The tour didn't cover the Step Pyramid & museum, which I did on my own later & which I found most interesting.  But avoid Memphis which is usually part of that option in a tour, where the only interesting thing was the great statue of Ramses II which was certainly not worth the LE35 entry fee (rip off).

- We did an overnight train trip from Cairo to Luxor (& returned the same way) on which we were advised dinner & breakfast would be served as part of the so called first class service.  Don't use the train!  If you must do it, make sure you take adequate food with you as that served on the train is inedible, (which our tour leader admitted when we caught him buying his own rations at a nearby stall!)

- The optional Nubian Dinner of the tour suddenly increased from the advertised LE40 because we had to pay the driver to take us from the out of the way hotel we were dumped in to the river, then the boat trip, then the tour of the village, then tips on top.  Also, we were too far out of the town to visit the Nubian museum without paying for a taxi. Another rip off!

- Because my partner was sick we visited the Gayer-Anderson museum in Cairo on our own after the tour, which turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for us.  It contained some lovely items & was a time capsule of a bygone era in an old style house no longer existing in any areas we saw in Cairo, to that city's detriment.

- One of the things I look forward to on any trip to foreign destinations is experiencing the food of the country.  In Egypt the food was pretty awful, especially after Turkey.  The bread was generally stale, choice & flavour were poor.  One of the best meals we had was at the Nubian village with freshly baked bread & home cooked servings of vegetables and meat.

- Naturally, the tour leader did not refund us the cost of entry to places that were included in the price of the tour, but which we had missed because of sickness.

We were both sick on the trip, my partner quite badly, despite taking every precaution.  This was the first time either of us have been sick on any of our trips in Europe, India or the Far East and we were not alone - all our tour group were either sick or feeling off at one time or the other.

My advice to anyone contemplating a trip to Egypt to see the ancient monuments is to visit your local library, borrow a book & DVD & enjoy them in the comfort of your own home. 

If you must visit the country, make sure you allow plenty of extra cash for the ripoffs you will encounter, ensure you have plenty of medication with you for stomach upsets, and make sure your travel insurance has good accident and health cover!  

Also, research where you want to go thoroughly, plan the shortest & quickest route between points & be very careful what you eat, so you are in & out of the country in the shortest possible time.  That way you may avoid being pestered too much & getting too sick, (although I wouldn't bet on the last).