The best way to accomplish this is to find a secluded spot for your personal “toilet” that is reasonably far off the trail to offer privacy, and on a slight slope to ensure it won’t be a likely campsite for future travelers. Stay at least 100 yards away from any streams or rivers.

The basic equipment to take with you for a wilderness toilet includes:
- a small plastic trowel
. two or three heavy-duty plastic bags
- a partial roll of toilet paper (leave the full roll at home)
- a small nylon sack to carry these items.
- book of matches (optional)
- several packs of individual pre-moistened cleansing towelettes

Carry a small roll of toilet paper inside one of the plastic bags, and use the doubled baggy to transport the used paper out of the wilderness for disposal at the bathroom nearest the trailhead. Some people prefer to burn their used toilet paper, and leave the ashes behind. But depending on the terrain, fire hazard, etc., this may not be an option. To be safe, be prepared to carry your used paper out with you.

Once you’ve found a spot for your bathroom, the next step is to dig a small hole to use as your personal toilet. If you’ve ever watched a cat scratch away dirt in their catbox, you get the idea. If the top layer of soil is covered with leaves and decomposing matter, gently move that aside to replace later and “camouflage” the dirt disturbed by your toilet.

To defecate, dig a hole at least six inches deep. You will need to squat down over this hole. Some people prefer to locate it near a boulder or log or something else they can use to lean against or onto for support. It may take some practice before you can comforta squat down and balance yourself over your “toilet” for the time it fakes you to finish.

“Remember:you ‘re only visiting the wilderness. You need to be a respectful guest.”

If you only need to urinate, you do not need to dig a hole. However, be sure to stay well away from any bodies of water to prevent contamination, and stay away from campgrounds to avoiding unpleasant “kitty-litter” odors.

After defecating, once you’ve wiped yourself off, do not throw the paper into the hole. It may become uncovered and wind up as trash near someone’s campsite, or get carried off by the wind and turn into an unsightly “daisy” stuck to a nearby bush. Instead, use some clean paper to wrap around the used paper, and stash this inside the doubled-up baggy in your nylon “toilet kit.”

Finally, use one of the premoistened towelettes to clean your hands.

As with all new and unfamiliar skills, this may seem awkward at first. But with practice it will become as routine as using your toilet at home.
If you are traveling with a large group, you may want to coordinate a variety of “bathroom areas” to avoid concentrating a large amount of waste in one area.

If you are traveling with children, depending on their age, you may need to supervise their bathroom activities. Obviously, if they are still in diapers, or new to being “potty trained,” it will be normal for you to be responsible for changing and packing out diapers or helping them with their bathroom. Even grade school kids will need some help with these skills, at least at first.

Explain to them how to make a “wilderness toilet,” and why it’s so important to keep the wilderness clean. (Children are getting more environmentally conscious all the timeˇŞthey will want to protect the local ecology.) Hike with them to a suitable location, help prepare the bathroom area, and then give them enough privacy so you both feel comfortable while they’re using the toilet. After they are done, make sure they carry out the used paper, and leave the area cleaned up for the next hiker.

If you are traveling with children who still wet the bed, employ all your usual safeguards (no fluids after dinner, have them go to the bathroom right before bedtime, etc.) and make sure they are using synthetic, not down, sleeping bags. Use a lightweight sleeping bag liner which is much easier to rinse and dry on the trail than the whole sleeping bag.

Anatomy of scented flameless candles

From afar scented flameless candles look exactly like what they are intended to look: real candles made of wax. Just like their genuine counterparts, they are hollow—as if to mimic the result of pillars of wax melted by the candle’s heat. They have wicks, too. The only difference is that their wicks are, of course, soot-free and will not burn anything. In fact, these do not emit heat, and if you look closely you will not see a flame. The light the wick emits actually pulses every so often such that the candle appears to be a “flickering” flame.

The real action lies beneath the simulated wick, for there is a compartment that holds the batteries. Some scented flameless candles have rechargeable batteries. Some require only one battery, while others need at least two to function at their best.

The compartment that houses the batteries also contains a circuit board with an LED (light emitting diode). As with any other flameless candles, LED technology is what powers it. This technology pertains to a process where electric current is actually converted to light energy when activated.

Story behind the scent

The feature that can be seen only in flameless scented candles is the presence of a fragrance compartment and a device which looks like a fan. The fragrance compartment houses the scent that is intended to be released by the candle. Some have replaceable fragrance cartridges, while others do not have this feature.

The placement of the fan is crucial because when the switch of the candle is turned on, not only will the circuit board be activated to convert electric energy to light energy, it also sets in motion the fanning action whereby air is blown toward the fragrance compartment.

The composition of the candle is such that the fragrance passes in an upward direction. This means that the air from the fanning device is strong enough to lift the fragrance so that it is “released” into the surrounding area.

This is how your basic scented flameless candle works. Know, however, that there are many variations of this technology. Some have incorporated timing devices so that even if the candle is off, gusts of fragrance are still released to the air. Some have also combined insect repellants to the fragrance. There are countless choices of scents.

Learning from LED Technology

LED technology has been around since the early 1900s. However, it had been used only for more practical and commercial purposes in the 1960s. Further, it was not until recently that LED technology has been maximized so as to get full advantage of its potentials.

LED is the acronym for “light-emitting diode.” It pertains to the diode or chip that is at the heart of the candle that is responsible for converting electricity into light. Depending on the composition and the size of the diode or chip, the device generates different levels of lighting. Some LED candles, for example, have computer-generated chips and have benefits of other available technologies, such that they now can boast of unique features like showing random patterns, emitting air fresheners or reflecting a variety of colors. Moreover, there are now LED candles that have timing devices, and most share the feature of a switch that can control the softness of harshness of light.

The powerhouse of an LED candle is its battery pack. Some LED candles have replaceable AAA batteries, while others run on lithium batteries. Some are even rechargeable. The life of the LED candle and the length of time it can be reused depends on the kind of batteries it has. Naturally, rechargeable and lithium batteries lead to longer-lasting LED candles. Remember that the beauty of the candle lies in the conversion of electricity to light, and the electric current comes from the battery that comes with the candle.

Internal Workings of an LED Candle

The battery supplies the electric current, which is then directed to the diode or chip. When this is received by the diode, it emits energy in the form of light. What color is emitted will depend on a lot of factors, but the predominant one is the composition and materials in the semi-conducting chip.

The application of LED technology in a candle is actually simpler compared to that of other applications. For instance, LED technology is now being used in remote controls of television sets and other devices. It is even used to purify water.

Suffice it to say that LED technology has come a long way since its discovery. Candles have benefited immensely from the fruits of this technology. Hence, you should not be afraid of trying LED candles because LED technology has been developed precisely so that you can become worry-free.

In a nutshell, the process by which LED candles came about is very simple. The bottom line is that LED candles provide simple solutions to your otherwise complex problems.

Materials alone are relatively expensive but the price of professional labour constitutes the greater part of any bill you incur, especially if it is necessary to call out a plumber at weekends or at an inconveniently late hour. Furthermore, stopping a leak quickly can save the expense and disappointment of ruined decorations or even the replacement of rotted household timbers. Even if you are insured against plumbing failures, it does not compensate for the disruption caused by major refurbishment. Lastly, there is the cost of water itself. A dripping tap wastes gallons of water a day, and if it’s a hot water tap, there is the additional expense of heating it literally down the drain. The few pence spent on a washer can save you pounds.

Direct and indirect systems
You should familiarize yourself with the plumbing system in your own house so that you can isolate the relevant sections and drain the water during an emergency or prior to repairs and rerouting pipework.

Direct system
In many older properties, mains pressure is supplied to all cold water taps and WCs. Hot water is fed indirectly from the storage cistern via the hot water cylinder. The only advantage with this direct system is that drinking water can be drawn from any cold water tap in the house.

Indirect system
Most homes, and certainly modern houses, are plumbed with an indirect system. Water under mains pressure enters the house through a service pipe and proceeds via the rising main directly to the cold water storage cistern, normally situated in the roof space. A branch pipe from the rising main delivers drinking water to the kitchen sink, and possibly to a garden tap through another pipe. All other cold water taps and appliances are fed indirectly, that is, under gravity pressure only, from the storage cistern. The hot water storage cylinder is also supplied with cold water from the same cistern. There it is heated either indirectly by the central heating system, or by electric immersion heaters, then drawn off from the top of the cylinder to hot water taps in the bathroom, kitchen and some of the bedrooms.

An indirect system provides several advantages to the householder and the water authority. Firstly, there is adequate water stored in the cistern to flush sanitary ware during a temporary mains failure. Also, as the major part of the supply is under relatively low pressure, an indirect system is reasonably quiet. (High mains pressure can cause ‘water hammer’ as the water tries to negotiate tight bends.) As few outlets are connected to the mains, there is less likelihood of impure water being siphoned back into the mains supply-an important consideration with regard to hygiene.

Drainage
Waste water is drained from either system in one of two ways. Up until the late 1940s or 50s, water was drained from baths, sinks and basins into a wastepipe which fed into a trapped gully at ground level. Toilet waste fed separately into a large diameter soil pipe running directly to the underground main drainage network.

A single stack waste system is used on later buildings where all waste drains into a single soil pipe. The only possible exception is the kitchen sink which still drains into a gully.

Rain water always feeds into a separate drain so that the house drainage system will not be flooded in the event of a storm.

So, you are up to make a paper plane. Here are some hints on how to succeed though you might think that you couldn’t.

Things You Will Need

You will need a sheet of paper, and maybe something like a ruler in order to make the edges sharp. If you really want that your plain flies, better make all the edges sharp. And another advice, the paper shouldn’t be too heavy, because of the same reason.

In Action

Put the sheet of paper on the table or on the desk. Put it vertically and fold it in half in length. Carefully fold the top corners and gather them together exactly in the middle of the paper sheet. Now that you have made a new figure on top – a triangle, fold it down the sheet. The top of the triangle should match exactly the central line which you made when folding the sheet of paper on half in length. Next step is again to fold the top corners and meet them in the central line. Now fold what you have made in half again, in length. It already starts to look as a little plane, doesn’t it? Make the wings by folding the two edges in a way that they align with the central line. Last to do is to unfold the wings. You have a plane!

Some Ideas

Choose the paper for the plane carefully. If it is too light and soft, your plane will look loose and will not be able to fly. You need a type of paper that will permit you to make exact and sharp edges. It should be hard but still, not heavy. If the paper is too heavy, again it is very likely that your plane will fall rather than fly.

You may think of some decoration of the plane. You may either decorate it when it is ready or before the whole process starts. In both cases there are advantages and disadvantages. If you decorate it after it is ready, it will be kind of hard for you to draw on it properly. You might end up drawing on the wings and body of the plane only. If you decide first to draw on the sheet of paper before starting the folding process, it would be easier for you to draw but difficult to guess which part of the drawing goes where. Best thing to do is to choose a coloured sheet of paper, make the plane and then just add a few details on the wings and the body.

It is important that you use some soft pencils when doing this; otherwise the drawings might damage the ability of the plane to fly. Then you have to decide what’s more important for your plane – to be able to fly or to look beautiful.

Don’t we always make decisions like that in life – what’s best: beauty or content?

Decide What Kind of Pillowcase You Want to Make

First things first. In order to make a pillowcase, you first have to imagine how it would look like and where it would stand. Do you need a sleeping pillowcase or you need a pillowcase for decoration? Do you want a large one or a small one? Will it be just one colour or it will have some art decoration? There are many questions you need to answer before you start with the job. Once you have a clear vision, draw it! See your pillowcase-to-be and then you can start working.

Some Technical Details – Size

OK. You know exactly how your pillowcase would look like. Now it’s time for action. Decide about the size. Have in mind that according to the standards, the sizes are: normal – 21″ x 32″, queen size – 21″ x 36″, king size – 21″ x 42″. Of course, you may choose to make a pillowcase that is not standard. It is up to your imagination.

Fabric

Second thing to think of is the fabric. The best always are the natural fabrics – 100% cotton, linen or silk fabrics. Buy more fabric you need, just in case you fail at the first attempt. It should be 45″ fabric. Normally you will need 2 yards if you are making 2 standard cases. For queen size you have to use 2.25 yards for a set, for king size 2.5 yards.

Making the Pillowcase

Real process begins. Cut the fabric. Make sure there is a half-inch seam allowance at three of the sides and extra four inches at the fourth one for the hemlin you will make. Usually it is made at the shorter side. Now comes the stitching, be careful to stitch the bottom and the sides properly. Again, you should leave half-inch seam allowance. Now you can choose what type of hemlin you will make. Usually it would be three-inch hemlin. In order to do that, you have to fold the opening twice. Before stitching, iron it well. Then you are done with the stitching part. All what is left is to turn out the right side of the pillowcase and decorate it the way you see it. Use your imagination. Make it unique and each time you look at it, you will feel positive.

What You Need

First you need is the idea of course. Practically speaking, you need fabric, scissors and needle, and of course sewing machine. The iron should be at hand when you are making the hemlin. You will need also matching thread and stuffing at the end.

Take the Best Out of Your Classes

First thing to do is to attend your classes. Nothing actually could be compared to the experience you get when listening to your professor. Remember that he prepares lectures for each class and they do not necessarily repeat the books. What you are going to get out oh him is much more. There might be even some researches of his own included and you might hear information which is not written anywhere. Besides, there is nothing like the personal experience. In addition, you and your colleagues may ask questions.

Write

Regardless of how good your memory is, after several classes on different subjects, you will forget most of the details. Therefore it is important that you take notes. You may take notes not only of the facts that you here but also of some details and clues you would like to check later on in the library. It is good not only to take notes at the lecture but to read carefully your notes at home and if necessary, rewrite them clearly and in more details. That will be of much help when your exams approach.

Study regularly

Regardless that this is the first thing you hear at school, very little of us do it. It is a basic principle to study regularly. When you study regularly, you have the time to digest the new information, think about it and apprehend it. Well, if we have to be honest, that is not the case. Usually we miss classes and hope that we’ll be able to catch up just before the exam. There’s nothing more wrong than that. When we push ourselves to study great deal of information for limited time, let’s say a couple of nights before an exam, we not only get exhausted but also it is very likely that we forget most of it prior to the exam. What is sure is that when studying this way we are not storing any knowledge long term. So, just cling to the well known system and study regularly. You will be thankful for that once the exams come.

Read

It is good that you do as your professor tells you. If he is providing a list of additional sources to be read, better read them. Remember, it is much easier that he tells you what to read, compared to the efforts you need to make in order to find the books which are important for your study. Be clever, profit of your professors.