How to Build an Ice Rink in Your Backyard

Ice skating parties. At your own home. Yeah, you can host them, if you live where the mercury dips below freezing, that is. Or you can just skate in the moonlight by yourself. Build your own backyard ice rink with these helpful tips provided by Q&A site Stack Exchange.

Alain Asks:

I'm considering building a small temporary ice skating rink in my backyard. I'm hoping to do this without buying many or any materials, and without causing any devastating damage to my lawn when spring rolls around.

Does anyone have any suggestions/experience/techniques for building a good quality skating rink at home?

Tester101 Answers:

The usual recipe is...

- A border of wood, pvc pipe, or snow (not the best option).
- A large piece of plastic or tarp.
- Fill with water.
- Let freeze.
- Skate.

You'll want to make sure the area is fairly level, since if you have say a 3" slope across the area you'll need 8" of ice on one side and 5" on the other.

To reduce damage to the lawn below, I would remove the rink as soon as the snow starts to melt.

Kate Gregory Answers:

I've been making a rink in my yard for over 20 years. I don't use plastic or boards. To my mind that gives you the nasty task of getting up wet muddy stuff in the spring, putting it away somewhere, etc. We use nothing but snow and water to build our rink, and we can have it whatever size and shape we want as a result. When the rink melts, it melts, and the lawn never shows any signs of stress.

First, wait until you have good snow cover and you're confident it isn't going to melt away on a warm day. For us in Canada, Boxing Day (Dec 26th for those in the States) is the traditional rink-starting day. If the snow is "packing snow" we can stomp as is; if not we put a spray attachment on the hose and spray water on it as we go. Working in squares about 8 feet on a side, and wearing thick heavy boots (visitors in delightful city boots with narrow pointy heels don't get to help). We just stomp down the damp snow into almost-ice, walking over the same sections again and again to eliminate the holes and ridges from the time before.

This packed snow won't hold water indefinitely like plastic, but it will hold it long enough to freeze, especially if you water lightly at first and keep the hose moving. Use a spray nozzle.

We hook our hose up inside the house (you can use your laundry sink tap, which almost certainly is threaded to take a hose?we have a takeoff on a tank in the utility room that our well pump trickle-fills) and bring it back inside after each watering. Also, be sure to use brass nozzles on the hose end?plastic will shatter when you drop the hose, especially on hard ice. (This is discussed more, with pictures, in a Gardening question.) Buy warm work gloves at a building-supply store, too, so you can turn the nozzle on and off even when water is coming out of it. Rink-making is pretty much the only time I wear my adult snow pants (sold as ski or snowmobile pants).

We usually start by stomping just 3 or 4 squares. Then each night we add one new square and water all the old ones. This way, part of the rink becomes usable in a week or so. The minute it looks like ice, skate on it. Skating on lumpy ice is like sanding it?you'll cut off the ridges and give the water a place to stick. The only time it's bad to skate on it is if you might make a giant hole and let the water escape. If that happens, pack the hole with snow and carry on.

After a while you might not need to water every night, but we generally do. The colder it is, the more often you can water. At temperatures above -5?C (23?F), leave it alone. At -10?C (14?F), you can water once each night. At -15?C (5?F), you can do it twice, three times if you stay up late. And at -20?C (-4?F), you can water your rink as often as you can stand.

Shovel off any snow, get everyone out there to skate, then clean up with a quick scrape of the snow shovel, water, and go to bed. It's a peaceful time, outside in the quiet and the cold. (We have Christmas lights up around the edge of the rink for when folks skate in the evenings, but I often just water by moonlight and starlight. Heaven.) Every milimeter of ice you build up on cold nights is that much longer that your rink will last in the spring.

The only maintenance other than shoveling and watering is keeping dark debris off the surface. A large, partly rotted leaf, for example, can melt its way completely through the ice on a warm spring day, and then there's a hole for water to escape. Pick that sort of thing up if you see it, or cover it with a little handful of patted down snow. You can't get it perfect (especially not on a rink the size of ours with trees all around) but you can make a difference.

To make the edges, we lift the shovel carefully as we clear snow, and we water the edges too which hardens them enough to mostly keep pucks on the ice. We have over a hundred pucks (gathered by a bored younger brother hanging at the arena during years of skating lessons) so if a few go into the snow we don't worry, we can gather them in the spring. You can also water the hillside if you have older children who can handle it.

Making your own ice rink is less work than you might think, and it's incredibly rewarding. Ours is at the bottom of a hill so it also adds fun to tobogganing, but the real point is that anyone can skate any time, for 10 or 15 min if that's all they want, or all evening, and you can have skating parties. It doesn't really take any skill or equipment other than the hose and a snow shovel.

chris Answers:

You can buy a kit from Costco?not sure if they have them in the stores, or only online.

---

Find the original post here. See more questions like this at Home Improvement, the DIY site at Stack Exchange. And of course, feel free to ask your own.

Illustration by Sean Gallagher.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/C9I_p_TtWio/how-to-build-an-ice-rink-in-your-backyard

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A New Year for Discovery | deBugged

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Cell Phone Text Message Spying Software

Sending and receiving text messages is the MOST popular method cell phone owners communicate with each other. From a psychological stand point this is understandable because sending and receiving text messages is a very low commitment and low pressure method of communication compared to phone calls.

From the perspective of spying on a cell phone, or rather, the owner of a cell phone this means the ability to spy on the SMS of a mobile device is the most important and most revealing feature of mobile tracking software. The good news is literally every single mobile tracking software program allows you to monitor their phones text messages. This means you have a ton of options and you do not have to spend much money at all. In fact for as little as $49 you can have full access to the following information regarding their cell phones SMS communications:

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Whether you are in a relationship concerned your love partner is cheating or you are a parent wanting to monitor all of the communications regarding your son or daughters phone this information you can monitor is invaluable. Keep in mind ALL mobile tracking programs allow you to track much more than text messages. You will also be able to freely monitor calls, emails sent and received, web sites visited by their mobile browser and even see their physical location at all times. The quality of these different monitoring features varies from spy app to spy app but the good news is the quality of the text messages spy feature is really great no matter which app you choose.

How Text Message Spying Works

Once the text monitoring app has been installed (either to their cell phone or to your computer) the app silently and invisibly monitors for texts sent and received. As soon as either happens the app will relay this information either to the phone spy members area OR directly in the software programs main window (in the case of remote phone spy). Even if they immediately delete every message as soon as they get it you will still be able to see it.

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Editors note ? not being content with having the incorrect
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A Coming End to Foreclosures in Murphy NC? - REMAX Real Estate ...

Foreclosures have been a popular part of the real estate market not only in Murphy NC, but also across the United States. In many markets, both foreclosures and short sales have made a large portion of the total sales over the past 4-6 years. We?ve been fortunate in Murphy in the fact that they largely made less than 20% of the total marketplace. However, as time continues to march on, the?question?becomes, ?is an end coming to the foreclosures in Murphy NC??

Over this past year, we?ve noticed a decline in quality foreclosures. And by that, I mean homes that most folks would want to buy. Homes that are in good shape and repairable. Now, we are beginning to see a higher margin of ?junk.? Not only that, we are seeing less inventory of both quality and junk.

Ultimately, this can become a good thing for both buyers and sellers. For sellers, the reason is obvious. They have less competition and that yields them a better pool of interested buyers. For buyers, it can provide them with more quality home choices. As sellers being to realize they are competing with fewer foreclosures, they will list and sell their homes instead of continuing to wait as many have chosen to do.

Not only is this a positive step in the market for buyer and sellers, it is a positive step for the economy as a whole. As the foreclosures are sold and the market shifts more toward a traditional marketplace, confidence will grow. Spending will increase. And ultimately, that will strengthen the national economy.

When will the supply of foreclosures dwindle? Great question. I can?t tell exact, however I do know that it is not in the too distant future. We?re seeing the available and pending inventory drop daily. If you?re looking to buy a foreclosure, I suggest you act quickly before the supply is gone. Join our weekly Foreclosure Update that gives you all the foreclosures available for sale ? including land and houses.

The market has, and always will continue to change. It?s an amazing process and we?re watching history before our eyes. The folks who are buying real estate now are the ones who are going to look back and realize how incredible of an opportunity it was. Record low interest rates. Prices that are lower than a decade prior. Homes that are cheaper to purchase than build. It?s an incredible time and hopefully you?ll be able to look back and not only make a great investment, but enjoy the mountains of Murphy, North Carolina at the same time.

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Source: http://ilovemurphy.com/2013/01/01/a-coming-end-to-foreclosures-in-murphy-nc/

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US, Europe hope the new year brings better times

NEW YORK (AP) ? From the glittering New Year's ball dropping in Times Square to joyous fireworks in London and cheers in a once-isolated Asian country, the world did its best to ring in 2013 with hope for renewal after a year of economic uncertainty, searing violence and natural disasters.

"With all the sadness in the country, we're looking for some good changes in 2013," Laura Concannon, of Hingham, Mass., said as she, her husband, Kevin, and his parents joined hundreds of thousands of revelers lined up for blocks through bustling Times Square on Monday.

Yvonne Gomez, 53, a physician from Grand Forks, N.D., glowed as she and her husband, 63-year-old potato farmer Greg Halverson, took in the festivities in New York.

"I couldn't begin the new year in a more beautiful way," she said. "I married him two weeks ago and here we are in the middle of Times Square celebrating the new year ? two widowers who found each other."

Revelers with New Year's hats and sunglasses boasting "2013" packed the streets in the 35-degree cold to count down the first ball drop in decades without Dick Clark, who died in April and was honored with his name printed on pieces of confetti and on one of the crystal panels on the Times Square ball.

Matias Dellanno, 37, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, stood in the middle of the square with his wife and 3-year-old son, beaming with joy as his eyes caught the multicolored lighting illuminating the square just before midnight.

"I feel a completely new hope for 2013," he said. "It can't be any worse than last year, when my business lost clients. It was a rough year for everyone. The new year has to be better!"

Security in Times Square was tight, with a mass of uniformed police and plainclothes officers assigned to blend into the crowd. With police Commissioner Raymond Kelly proclaiming that Times Square would be the "safest place in the world on New Year's Eve," officers used barriers to prevent overcrowding and checkpoints to inspect vehicles, enforce a ban on alcohol and check handbags.

Syracuse University student Taylor Nanz, 18, said she and a friend had been standing in Times Square since 1:20 p.m. Monday. They hadn't moved from their spot because "if you leave, you lose your place," she said, shivering behind an iron barricade with a clear view of One Times Square, the building where the crystal ball hovered.

"It's the first time - and the last time," she said.

Elsewhere, lavish fireworks displays lit up skylines in Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai. In the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai, multicolored fireworks danced early Tuesday up and down the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated New Year's Eve with a vespers service in St. Peter's Basilica to give thanks for 2012 and look ahead to 2013. He said that despite all the death and injustice in the world, goodness prevails.

In Russia, spectators filled Moscow's iconic Red Square as fireworks exploded near the Kremlin. In Rio de Janeiro, revelers dressed head-to-toe in white as dictated by Brazilian new years' tradition flooded onto Copacabana beach for a concert.

Organizers said about 90,000 people gathered in a large field Yangon, Myanmar, for their first chance to do what much of the world does every Dec. 31 - watch a countdown. The reformist government that took office in 2011 in the country, long under military rule, threw its first public New Year's celebration in decades.

"We feel like we are in a different world," said Yu Thawda, a university student who went with three of her friends.

Parts of Europe held scaled-back festivities and street parties, the mood a bit restrained - if hopeful - for a 2013 that is projected to be a sixth straight year of recession amid Greece's worst economic crisis since World War II.

London, the often soggy British capital, was dry and clear, as the familiar chimes of the clock inside the Big Ben tower counted down the final seconds of 2012 and a dazzling display of fireworks lit the skies above Parliament Square. People cheered as the landmarks were bathed in the light of the display, which included streamers shot out of the London Eye wheel and blazing rockets launched from the banks of the River Thames.

Elsewhere, the atmosphere of celebration was muted with concern.

Hotels, clubs and other sites in New Delhi, the Indian capital, canceled festivities after the death of a rape victim on Saturday touched off days of mourning and reflection about women's safety.

In Times Square, some revelers checked their cellphones to keep up with news of lawmakers' tentative deal to skirt the fiscal cliff combination of expiring tax cuts and across-the-board spending cuts that threatened to reverberate globally. And the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and Superstorm Sandy mingled into the memories of 2012.

"This has been a very eventful year, on many levels," Denise Norris said as she and her husband, the Rev. Urie Norris, surveyed the crowd jamming Times Square for the countdown show with Ryan Seacrest as host.

Seacrest remembered Clark and his legacy, saying it was one that would be continued, and that Clark himself had told him, "Seacrest, the show must go on."

Elvis Rivera, of Manhattan, was taking photos in Times Square to capture the moment. He wasn't planning to ring in the new year there but went by to take pictures.

How did he feel about the end of 2012?

"Relieved," Rivera said, adding that there had been a death and job losses in his family this year.

___

Associated Press writers Colleen Long in New York; Aye Aye Win in Yangon, Myanmar; Silvia Hui in London, and Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-europe-hope-brings-better-times-230903344.html

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Social Media Marketing for Small Business :: %postname%

Social Media Marketing Checklists

Use these social media marketing checklists to find the essential steps for successfully marketing your small business with social media.

Ten Point Checklist for Content Marketing (Pruneau / Social Media Today) ? http://socialmediatoday.com/pruneau/994091/10-point-checklist-content-marketing

Content marketing is the new buzz that marketers and businesses are flocking to address the dramatic changes that have taken place in how to promote a product or service on the Internet. The idea is simple: Consistently create, publish and broadcast content that your prospects will find engaging and valuable (That?s easy, right?)

The Social Media Marketer?s SEO Checklist (Jen Lopez / SEOmoz) ? http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-social-media-marketers-seo-checklist

As the lines of SEO and Social Media continue to be blurred, it?s becoming very clear that getting a page to rank highly in the search engines takes a combination of the two disciplines. So what does the Social Media marketer need to know about SEO in order to make their social campaigns help with search rankings? This post gives those marketers who focus more on Social Media and less on SEO a checklist of ways to optimize for search before (and after) promoting content on the social sites.

Sensible Social Media Checklist [Infographic] (The Whole Brain Group) ? http://www.thewholebraingroup.com/sensible-social-media-checklist-v20-infographic/

If you find yourself stumped at the prospect of using?social media marketing to promote your business, our simple guide can help.?Follow these easy suggestions to create a consistent?social media?internet marketing presence on multiple channels.

5 Steps to Hosting Successful Twitter Chats: Your Ultimate Guide (Social Media Examiner) ??http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/twitter-chat-guide/

Hosting a Twitter chat is an amazing way to interact with your fans and followers, to better understand and grow your community quickly, as well as promote your brand and business.

Your Social Media Marketing Checklist for 2013 (Mashable) ? http://mashable.com/2012/12/07/corporate-social-media-marketing/

As we enter a hopeful new year, we thought it would be helpful to deliver some key items for your corporate social media strategy checklist for 2013. And, as we also enter a new year of Google changes to the ever-important search algorithm, we include a review of SEO from a social standpoint.

2013 Social Media Marketing Checklist (Jared Lamorte / Social Squirrel) ? http://www.squirrelsocial.com/1/post/2012/12/2013-social-media-marketing-checklist-part-1.html

To help small business owners, I?ve put together a list of must-do social media tasks for the upcoming year. To some of you these tasks might seem simple or mundane; however, they are extremely important for the success of your marketing efforts in 2013.

Daily Social Media Marketing Checklist (NikkiPilkington.com) ?http://wecai.org/attachments/-01_social-media-marketing-checklist.pdf

Inspired by a post by Chris Brogan ? 19 Presence Management Chores You Could Do Every Day ? http://www.chrisbrogan.com/19-presence-management-chores-you-could-do-every-day/

The Social Media Checklist for Small Business (Paw Print Network) ? http://www.pawprint.net/internet-marketing/social-checklist-small-business.php

Social networking/media is huge ? there is no denying this. However, just because it is so popular and timely doesn?t necessarily mean that you should focus your marketing efforts there, in fact it does not even mean you need to spend much time there at all. However every business should investigate it, consider their options, and then take at least some action.

This checklist gives you different ?degrees? of action to take depending on what you intend to do in social media and how involved you want to get as a business.

Getting Started with Social Media: A Small Business Checklist (JeffKorhan.com) ? http://www.jeffkorhan.com/2010/08/getting-started-with-social-media-a-small-business-checklist.html

?most small business are just getting started with social media. And their concerns with using it cover a range of challenges, with an equal number of associated emotions.? Mostly, they want to have a simple plan to follow?

New Year?s Resolution Checklist for the Social Media Manager (Steven Shattuck / Business2Community) ? http://www.business2community.com/social-media/new-years-resolution-checklist-for-the-social-media-manager-0366722

While most New Year?s resolutions fall by the wayside within a few weeks, vowing to make the most of your social media marketing efforts isn?t one you?ll want to turn your back on. In-between college bowl games and putting away holiday decorations, take a few minutes on New Year?s Day to review your social media accounts. The following simple tweaks can make a world of difference in 2013?

The Best Social Media Marketing Checklist

My advice: Start with the infographic from The Whole Brain Group. Download a printable version and tape it up where it can serve as a visual reminder. Develop some regular daily social media marketing habits.

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Upcoming Post: The Social Biz Local Biz Checklist: Social Media Marketing Essential Steps for Small Local Business

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Related posts at SBLB:

1. Small Business Social Media Marketing For Beginners
2. Photography Entreprenuers Grow Small Business with Social Media
3. Best Small Business Marketing Advice ? November 2011? John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing
4. Main Street Marketing ? Social Media Marketing in Tough Times

Source: http://socialbizlocalbiz.com/10-social-media-marketing-checklists-every-small-business-owner-needs-to-market-a-small-business/

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