Be Safe When You Camp – A Pest Control Issue

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I love to camp out in the great out doors like a lot of other people. It’s nice to hike, sit around a big camp fire, fish and meet new people. To make sure my trip is a safe one I have a check list I work off of to make sure I have all the safety equipment and supplies I need for a trip. Having a well supplied first aid kit is a must, plus enough water, food, sun screen, insect repellent, fuel for the vehicle so on and so on. There is one area of safety concerns for ourselves and family that we my neglect to think about that has become important. That area of concern is from rodents. If you live in either Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino or Los Angeles you already know that rodent control is a problem.

Weather its rats, mice, or ground squirrels, you have read something about the problems with damage they cause and the spread of disease these guys are responsible for. In one incident, a lady was coming back from a camping trip to Arizona. She became ill once she was back in San Diego with Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome. They found that her camper had mice that carried the disease and summarized she picked up these guys while in Arizona.

You need to add one more thing to your list of things to do when you’re planning a camping trip. When you plan a camping trip, check out the area you area going to, check with either the forest service or who ever the controlling agency is for that area. Ask about potential disease problems from rats, mice and other rodents that may be occurring at the sites you will be visiting.

Also, once you get to where you are going, check out the cabins for rats or mice. Open the doors and windows to air out the cabin, look for either rat or mouse dropping. Inspect for any rodent infestation inside the cabin. If you sleep outdoors, check potential campsites for rodent dropping and burrows. Do not disturb rodent burrows, or dens.

Avoid sleeping near woodpiles or garbage areas. Avoid sleeping on bare ground, Use a mat or cots if you have them. Store foods in rodent-proof containers and properly discard, bury, or burn all garbage.

When you get ready to leave check all your gear and the vehicle.You surely don’t want to carry anything back to your home and you don’t want to help spread a disease like the Hantavirus back to the area you live in.

Haunted Halls: Green Hills Sanitarium Game Review

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Explore a decrepit and otherworldly mental asylum in Haunted Halls: Green Hills Sanitarium. Your boyfriend has gone to the asylum to investigate odd happenings, and you haven’t heard from him in a week. Now you have to face your fears and go look for him. Solve intricate puzzles in this psychological mystery. Rescue asylum inmates from their fears and find your boyfriend in this creepy Lovecraftian hidden object adventure game!

Haunted Halls: Green Hills Sanitarium is a psychological thriller in the form of a hidden object adventure game. The story concept is similar to the recent hit Batman: Arkham Asylum game, where you have to enter a mental asylum and face a whole host of creepy and disturbing scenes and characters. The story and setting also contain elements similar to H. P. Lovecraft’s macabre science fiction horror stories. Slimy tentacles and eyeballs are plentiful in this game! Needless to say, the game might not be suitable for the younger crowd.

The story in Green Hills Sanitarium begins with you driving to the sanitarium, after a week of not hearing from your boyfriend Tim. Tim had gone there a month earlier to investigate odd happenings, and had constantly communicated with you until a week ago. Worried, you set out to visit the place and look for him (for a change, the girl has to go rescue the guy!). Odd and creepy things start happening once you arrive at the mysteriously deserted building, and you soon become entangled in a thrilling mystery that seems to have been born out of somebody’s nightmares.

As mentioned above, the setting in this game is pretty twisted, and is probably not appropriate for children. There are depictions of both physical and mental torture, as the asylum inmates are made to face their greatest fears. An inmate who is afraid of water is trapped on a barrel, the only dry thing in a room full of water, eels and broken pipes with water gushing out. Similarly, an inmate with a fear of creepy-crawlies is stuck in a room full of ants, spiders, worms and other assorted creatures that make your skin crawl.

It is said that a good piece of entertainment should evoke emotion. Green Hills Sanitarium certainly does, although it is definitely not the warm-and-fuzzy sort of emotion! Playing the game will engulf you in a world that’s creepy and bizarre. In addition, the artwork and sound effects complement this atmosphere very well. The art has a painterly feel, in the style of the early 20th century, with an element of darkness that is very Lovecraftian. This is enhanced by the haunting soundtrack and the creepy noises coming from things like skittering bugs and slithering tentacles.

The gameplay here is of the interactive hidden object adventure variety. Like other games in this genre, you adventure through the many locations in and around the asylum, interacting with various things around the place and picking up objects that could prove useful in solving future puzzles and obstacles. Progression through the game is controlled via obstacles such as locked doors and obstructed passageways that are only accessible once you have solved the required puzzles in the previous areas.

Some of the objects that you interact with in the game will require you to fix a problem, such as gathering some piping and a wrench in order to get a water tap running. Examining other objects will either trigger a hidden object scene or puzzle. The hidden object scenes will require you to find objects strewn about the scene, some of which are crucial items that are needed to solve other puzzles. These hidden objects are very well hidden, providing you with a decent challenge in finding them.

The puzzles and minigames will also present a satisfying challenge. They run the gamut from those requiring logical problem-solving to those that test your pattern-matching and perception skills. They aren’t straightforward, but can be skipped if you’d rather continue on with the story instead of spending hours pulling your hair out trying to solve them. This story can also be experienced by reading your journal which contains scraps of notes and a developing story that is revealed as you achieve the many milestones in the game.

Haunted Halls: Green Hills Sanitarium is more a visit into a demented mind rather than an adventure game. Be creeped out of your skin and satisfyingly frightened as you explore the inner sanctum of the asylum and a twisted nightmare. You will like this game if you liked previous psychological games such as the Redrum series. The basic version of the game is not out yet, but you can get the Collector’s Edition of the PC game which includes exclusive content such as bonus gameplay, a built-in strategy guide, an exclusive soundtrack and more.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Wonderful Warwick: A Top Destination for Primary School Trips

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Teachers and educators looking for an inspiring destination with plenty of cross-curricular potential for primary school trips need look no further than Warwick. This beautiful medieval town in the heartland of the country is a magical destination in its own right, as well as being the perfect gateway to a wealth of exciting attractions in Warwickshire and the West Midlands. Whatever your curriculum focus, there is bound to be something to ignite your young learners’ minds, so read on for some of the top activities that can be enjoyed in Warwick and beyond.

Warwick Castle

While the whole region is bursting with history just waiting to be investigated on primary school trips, the star attraction has to be Warwick Castle, for the closest it’s possible to get to an authentic taste of Medieval England. This fully restored castle is rich with fine details of life and culture from the Middle Ages, providing a challenging, exciting atmosphere for learning. With the halls, towers and dungeons, there’s plenty to explore, while a specially-tailored programme of educational events adds a whole extra dimension. Students can participate in historical activities, watch a joust, take one of the interactive tours led by costumed guides, or attend talks on a range of subjects including the Trebuchet and Birds of Prey.

Stratford upon Avon

Perhaps the most celebrated writer in the English language of all time, Shakespeare continues to captivate new generations with plays full of wit, drama and action. Although those plays span countries and eras, there is plenty of insight and context to be gained from visiting the picturesque town of the playwright’s birth, and learning about his world. The house that he grew up in, and spent the early years of his adulthood, provides plenty of interesting material for discussion, while tours of his wife Anne Hathaway’s cottage offer a glimpse into another side of Shakespeare’s world – guided tours catering especially to primary school trips can be arranged. And, of course, there’s also the Royal Shakespeare Company, which offers regular productions of the plays, as well as an engaging programme of workshops with professional actors and directors – what better way to get children excited about drama?

Cadbury World

For the ultimate treat, organisers should definitely consider putting Cadbury World on their itineraries for primary school trips. The history of chocolate, and of the Cadbury company in particular, is a fascinating one, and discovering it at Cadbury World is a mouth-watering adventure. Students will have the chance to investigate the origins of chocolate in Central America, and trace its development through the ages, from the Aztec civilisation to the Victorians to today – as well as the opportunity to design their very own Cadbury’s chocolate bar.

Troubled Teens Boot Camps

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Troubled teens boot camps are military-styled institutions for disobedient and ill-mannered teens. Parents of these troubled teens often resort to these boot camps when they become helpless in dealing with them. They seek out boot camps with the supposition that only a wake up call is all that is required for their troubled teens. At these boot camps, the theory is that these teens will learn discipline and structure through some military exercises, and stringent physical training. The purpose of boot camps for troubled teens is to straighten the struggling youth and introduce some obedience and attitude changes within.

Troubled teens boot camps to a certain extent can assist a defiant teen to return to the society as an individual who will obey his parents and authorities, follow rules, with improved behaviors at home and school. There are several types of teen boot camps that range from state run to privately run. Boot camps can also be long-term or short-term boot camps. The long-term boot camps have an increased recognition for their capability to help defiant teens develop better behavior at homes and schools.

The reality is that these types of camps rarely produce results. The types of programs are designed as quick fixes and may help struggling teens to only a certain extent. However, they are not good long term alternatives for troubled teens. As a matter of fact, the programs and activities at boot camps for troubled teens can turn a hillock of problem into a mountain of disaster. These boot camp style programs are usually ineffective for teens who have developed bad habits over a long phase of time. Once the teens are out of the boot camps they return to their old behaviors with a vengeance. This is because there are no internal transformations through forced interferences. A major disadvantage of these boot camps is that there is no psychological involvement to deal with the fundamental emotional and behavioral problems of these troubled teens.