Common Lawnmower Issues and How to Solve Them

Summer has finally arrived, and it’s time to pull out your lawnmowers and weed trimmers to get your lawn ready. As with anything, these machines can be damaged or break and require maintenance. Follow this guide for quick tips on common issues and how to fix them.

Failure to Start

You get your lawnmower out, you are ready to go, and it won’t start. While frustrating, this is a relatively common issue that can be solved easily. Start by looking at your fuel tank, is it full? Check for any signs of damage that could be causing leaks. Then go through and check for any issues such as a dirty filter. This can prevent your engine from starting. If both these areas are fine, check the spark plugs. Look to see if they are loose or dirty, anything that would prevent the spark from reaching the engine.

Engine Issues

When you mow the lawn, if you start to notice some sputtering or smoke rising from your mower, don’t panic. Check the filter, blades and spark plugs to see if you can find any excessive dirt, damaged or loose fittings. Once done, try and start your mower again. If you are still having problems, look for small engine repair shops near you, as this could be indicative of larger problems that require a professional eye to fix. Finally, if your lawnmower is putting off smoke, look at the color. White or light smoke is a sign of bigger engine issues that need to be fixed before you continue to use your mower.

Uneven Cuts

After you have put in the time to mow your lawn, the last thing you want to see is uneven or uncut grass. The best way to prevent this is by checking the conditions of the grass before you mow; wet or long grass can affect your mower's performance. Next, walk around your lawn checking for items that may block your mower’s path or damage the blades. Additionally, check the deck height to ensure your mower can handle the length of the grass. If you are still having these problems, check the blades for any damage that you may have missed.

There is nothing nicer than relaxing on a well-mowed lawn. Take the time to make sure your mower is up for the job this summer. If you have any issues, don’t shy away from asking for help. Have a wonderful summer!

How to Recover After A Tornado

Did you know that tornadoes can cost over $1billion of damage to properties every year? These don't mean total damage - not in every case - but even those minor repairs add up. Most buildings in th eU.S are not built to survive the fierceness of a tornado, so if one hits your area, you need to be ready for it. Not so much in the sense that you can stop it, but so that you can recover quickly after it passes through. 

You cannot eliminate the damage that a tornado will cost your building, but there is so much that you can do to mitigate those risks that come with living in a part of the country prone to tornadoes. For example, having the right insurance and knowing a Public Adjuster who can help you with the claim on your home afterwards is going to be invaluable to you. You need to be ready for a tornado, sure, with weather alerts and boards ready to go over the windows. But what about afterwards? What do you do to recover without too much loss of cash? Let’s look:

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The first thing to do when a tornado has passed is to check everyone in your home is safe. You need to make sure that the kids aren't too upset and you need to keep an ear on the weather. Sometimes, tornados touchdown in clusters and you need to know if there is more to come. You should stay with your family and wait in the safest possible place for the emergency services to arrive and assess you. Stay away from any heavy damage and watch out for power lines that have come down. You don't want the kids to step on broken glass and other sharp objects, either.

Next, you must contact your insurance company. When things are clear, you need the damage to your home and car assessed. Home and contents insurance are a must and these will have the right clauses for weather disasters. Review your policy and make sure that you have a list of all the damage that your property has taken from the tornado. It’s not just the exterior of the building, either. You need to know what the damage is to the grounds and any outdoor equipment, too.

Be aware of the fact that there are those who will try to convince you into bogus plans for insurance after a disaster. It’s a vulture's world out there and there are people who will try to take advantage of you when you are at the most vulnerable time of your life. When you can start to rebuild, choose only local companies that you know. You can help those who have also been affected by giving them work. They will be as empathetic to the damage you’ve suffered as they will have, too. Your children may need to spend time with relatives who are out of state while building recommences if you have nowhere to go.

Find the Right Professional for Any Job By Following These Simple Steps

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Emergencies of all types can disrupt life at any point. By their very nature, there is no way to specifically prepare for them. Individuals can, however, educate themselves regarding the best first steps to take when something major has gone wrong. The guidelines below are general in nature but can be applied to any emergency situation. Big or small, that issue will be resolved most effectively by following these steps.

Surprising Things That Can Make You Depressed

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Feeling depressed but not sure why? A number of surprising things can affect our mood and could be contributing factors as to why you feel so down. Here are just some of the surprising things that can bring on depression

Poor sleep quality

A good amount of sleep is essential for our mental health. It’s during sleep that we store memories and replenish brain cells – if you don’t complete a full 7-hour sleep cycle each night, you’re likely to feel irritable and unfocused and your brain won’t be able to cope with stress as easily. This can sink many people into depression.

Poor gut health

Our gut is responsible for producing 95% of our serotonin – the hormone that makes us feel happy. If you’ve got gut problems, it could affect your ability to produce this happy hormone leading to a greater risk of depression. There are lots of types of digestive diseases, many of which can be treated. If you’re experiencing gut problems, don’t ignore these problems – both for the sake of your body and your mind.

Thyroid disease

Our thyroid is a gland in our neck. One of its purposes is to regulate serotonin levels – if the thyroid is damaged, you could find yourself unable to get that serotonin kick. The symptoms of thyroid disease include tiredness, sensitivity to cold, weight gain and constipation. It can often be treated.

A cluttered bedroom

Clutter can make us feel anxious and overwhelmed. Our brains like a sense of order, and clutter can tell our brains that we’ve still got lots to do. The worst place for clutter to accumulate is the bedroom, as this can also prevent us from getting to sleep as easily. There have been studies between a cluttered home and depression. By taking the time to declutter, you could improve your mood.

Too much social media

Too much social media can also make many of us depressed. While it can be a way to connect with friends and loved ones, it often only shows us the fun things happening in other people’s lives, which can create a sense of inadequacy and feelings of FOMO (fear of missing out). By limiting social media use, you could reduce the risk of becoming depressed.

Reaching the end of a series

When a series that we love comes to an end, it can often leave a sense of emptiness that for some people can be equal to losing a friend or loved one. Studies have shown that we invest so much time in the characters and the world of these series that they become a part of our reality. If you’re nearing the finale of a TV or movie series, make sure you have things to look forward to after.

Birth control pills

An unfortunate side effect to birth control pills for many women can be an altered mood, which can lead to depression. In fact, some women can sink into such a low that they end up having to stop taking contraceptive pills altogether. It’s important to note that this is not a symptom that everyone experiences. With so many different pills out there, it’s also worth trying different options if one type of pill does make you feel depressed.

4 Misconceptions About Relationships You Must Avoid

Are you experiencing issues in your relationship? It’s important that you don’t fall back on some of the common misconceptions. This can lead you down the wrong path when trying to fix some of the problems that you might be facing. Let’s take a look at some of the most confusing elements here. 

Arguments Are Odd

This simply isn’t the case at all and it’s probably the fault of the rom-com that most people feel this way. Arguments are a perfectly normal part of a relationship and they can even be healthy. You shouldn’t be arguing all the time or trying to tear each other limb from limb. But arguments can be a healthy way to tackle issues in the relationship head-on and ensure that they don’t grow into something that can be more unmanageable. It’s far worse if the trouble remains underneath the surface undetected. The trick is to always resolve an argument and never go to bed angry. 

You Need To Do Everything Together

Some people are worried when their partner wants to do some things separately such as going out with their friends or perhaps exercising. However, it’s important to realise that a relationship doesn’t mean that you are joined at the hip. Again, this can lead to issues because everyone needs room to breathe on occasion. You should overcrowd someone. Of course, some people love doing things together all the time but it’s not going to be the right fit for everyone. You can still love someone and not want to spend every waking hour right next to them. 

Counseling Is Rare

On the contrary, these days counseling is quite common and it’s often seen as one of the best ways to work out issues in a relationship. As humans, we are flawed and it’s not always possible to work through these flaws without support and assistance. That’s where Commonwealth Counseling Associates Telehealth services and similar solutions can be beneficial. You can get the support you need and ensure that you work through the issues. If more people were willing to attend counseling with their partner, it’s possible that the divorce rate wouldn’t be so high. In fact, it’s common for most lawyers to recommend counseling or couple’s therapy first. 

Trust Should Always Be Given 

You might have heard that if the trust is gone in a relationship then that relationship is more or less over. While this might be true, it’s important to be aware that trust shouldn’t be a given, it should be earned. You should give your partner reason to believe that they can trust you. This means that you should think about whether they have provided you with a reason to believe that you never need to see what’s on their phone. It’s possible that they are hiding something from you. While you don’t need to know everything about their life in a relationship there also shouldn’t be any secrets or anything that needs to be hidden. 

We hope this helps you understand some of the biggest misconceptions that people often do hold about relationships. 

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