By the time you reach age 40, you should have resources set aside for your future retirement. Planning for a successful future retirement does take some effort. It would be best if you utilize your employer’s 401(k) option. If your employer does not offer a 401(k), 403(b), or a defined pension program, you should make an effort to save money in an IRA. If you are self-employed, you should start a SEP account. However, planning doesn’t end with saving money.

What happens when your health changes due to an extended illness, an accident, or just the impact of aging? As you get older these health risks increase substantially. Will your retirement plan survive longevity?

Retirement planning for long-term care has become a top priority for many Generation X and Baby Boomers. Many people from age 40 to 70 have personally dealt with the impact of long-term health care with a parent or other loved one.

The problem is too many people forget to protect those retirement funds from the high costs of long-term care. The financial costs and burdens that come with aging will impact you, your family, your savings, and your lifestyle.

You will experience changes in your health, body, and mind increasing your need for long-term health care. Caregiving is challenging for your family. Depending on your children to be caregivers is not a good plan. They have or will have their own careers, families, and responsibilities. It is not that they don’t love you but having a son or daughter or an in-law be a caregiver is stressful. It also can impact their health and careers.

Spouses are also not a good option for caregiving. As you age, so will they. They will also have their own health and age issues to deal with.

Paid care drains your assets and adversely impacts your income and lifestyle. According to the LTC NEWS Cost of Care Calculator (www.ltcnews.com), the cost of long-term care services and supports continues to increase. Even a significant nest egg can be adversely affected.

The current national average cost of care at home, based on a 44-hour week, runs almost $4500 a month. Base assisted living facility costs start at $4300 a month plus surcharges based on your needs. Skilled care in a nursing home averages $8900 a month – over $100,000 a year. The cost of long-term care services increases over time.

Many people incorrectly assume that Medicare will pay for any long-term care needs in the future. Health insurance, Medicare, and supplements only pay a limited amount of skilled services – and only if you are getting better. These insurance options do not cover the costs of custodial services, which help with activities-of-daily living. However, most people require custodial services as they age.

While most long-term care happens when we are older, people of all ages do require extended care. Early-onset dementia, including Alzheimer’s, the most well-known form of dementia, can happen even in your 30s. Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and even strokes happen at younger ages.

It is your good health today that gives you the opportunity to plan ahead.

Medicaid, the medical welfare program, can pay for long-term care, but you must be poor or end up poor. For most people, this is something you want to avoid.

The fact is the financial costs and burdens of aging will impact your savings and your family. Affordable Long-Term Care Insurance safeguards your assets and eases the burden that is otherwise placed on your family.

Although some think Long-Term Care Insurance is expensive, it is actually very affordable for most people, especially if you plan before retirement. Premiums can vary over 100% between insurance companies.

If you enjoy reasonably good health, these policies can easily fit in most people’s budgets. The problem is that too many people seek a financial advisor or general insurance agent with little knowledge in this area. They often make recommendations that are too large or sometimes too little. In addition, many of these professionals only work with one or two insurance companies. Since they don’t have a good grasp on how policies get used at the time of claim, their recommendations are out-of-line with what you may actually need.

Plus, 45 states offer Long-Term Care Partnership policies, which provide additional dollar-for-dollar asset protection.

There are several types of policies that are available in most states. These include traditional plans, partnership plans which provide additional asset protection, single premium ‘hybrid’ plans, which also offer a death benefit, and short-term plans which offer wider age and health qualifications.

The key is to work with a Long-Term Care Insurance specialist who works with the major insurance companies. I always ask many detailed questions to design an appropriate plan based on the client’s specific concerns and budget.

The cost of long-term care services varies from location to location. Most claims start with care at home, and many people avoid a nursing home altogether since they get the proper attention at home or in an assisted living facility. These costs are much less than skilled services in a nursing home.

Long-Term Care Insurance will pay benefits either at home, adult day care centers, assisted living facilities, memory care, and in traditional skilled nursing homes. With most policies, you and your family get to decide how you use your benefits.

Does Long-Term Care Insurance work? Absolutely. In 2020 the major insurance companies paid over $11.6 Billion in benefits to American families. These families would have otherwise had to drain their own assets to pay for care, have family members become caregivers or both.

Since policies are custom designed, you get to decide what is important to you. The key is to plan prior to retirement. Long-Term Care Insurance isn’t sexy. It doesn’t shine like a new car or a new piece of jewelry. You might not show your policy off at a party. It will, however, give you and your family peace-of-mind.

Working with a Long-Term Care specialist will allow you to get the accurate information you seek. Start your research in your 40s and 50s when you have the most affordable options.

The fact is Long-Term Care Insurance is easy, affordable, and rate stable income and asset protection.

Approximately 70% of older adults will need some type of long-term care at some point. This type of care could include a nursing home or various degrees of in-home care, whether that includes skilled nursing care, help with activities of daily living, or some combination of services.

The problem is that these services are very expensive-and the costs are not covered by Medicare, outside of a 100-day period where skilled nursing care is covered for those who qualify and which does not cover non-medical care.

Medicaid does cover some costs of long-term care, but the income requirements to qualify for Medicaid assistance are very strict. It is not uncommon for older adults to spend everything they have on their care in order to qualify, so that by the time they do, they are near destitution.

This can be prevented with an LTC insurance policy. But these policies come with challenges of their own-and not everyone is a good candidate. Here is an overview of when you should – and shouldn’t – consider long-term care insurance.

If you have assets to protect. If you have significant assets-such as a valuable home or savings account-that you want to protect and leave to your family, you may want to buy LTC insurance. If you can afford it, this type of insurance will cover your long-term care without requiring that you “spend down” to meet strict income requirements.

If you have a health background that suggests you need it. Long-term care policies can be expensive on their own, and sometimes include significant out-of-pocket costs. Essentially, you are taking a gamble that you will need long-term care someday. If you have a history of health problems in your family that typically need this type of care, however-such as dementia, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease-you may be more likely to need it yourself.

If you have no family members to rely on. If you have no close family members who could care for you, then buying long-term care insurance may be a better bet. That being said, it is possible that even if you have a family member ready and willing to care for you, he or she will not be able to provide the type of care you need as your situation progresses-or your future caretaker’s financial or job situation will change and make caring for you less of an option. Regardless of whether you have family members who might be able to care for you-and you should discuss this with them first-it is important to take the steps you need to prepare for your future.

If you can afford it. Long-term care is expensive. Generally, you should consider long-term care insurance only if you have at least $75,000 in assets excluding your car and home, and an annual income of $35,000 per year at minimum (although this can vary by state) according to the United Seniors Health Cooperative. Premiums can also increase significantly, so you will need to be sure you can afford them comfortably without making major sacrifices.

Because of the expense, making the decision to buy long-term care insurance is never easy. But for many seniors, it can be crucial. Do some research on your options, and hopefully you’ll be able to make the best decision for your situation.

I sometimes hear from folks (usually wives) who have no idea when (or if) their spouse is coming back to them. Sometimes, they are legally separated and sometimes their spouse has just up and left either after a fight or after announcing that he’d like a break or some time to himself. Sometimes the spouse who is leaving is in constant contact or gives you a good idea of when they might be coming back and sometimes they don’t.

I hear from many spouses who are getting very tired of (and nervous about) worrying when their spouse is going to finally come home. I recently heard from a wife who said, in part: “my husband left me six months ago. He told me that he just wasn’t sure if we should be married any longer and indicated that he would be in touch with me regularly to check in. I’ve only heard from him a handful of times. I did hear from him last week, but he didn’t sound all that promising. When I am honest about this with some of my friends, they tell me that I need to stop waiting for him to come home and just live or move on with my life. They say that I am putting everything on hold for my husband when he doesn’t deserve it. I understand what they are saying, but the truth is that I don’t want to do anything with my life right now, especially without my husband. I don’t want to see other people and I certainly don’t want to give up on my marriage. Are my friends right? Should I move on with my life? My husband hasn’t asked for a divorce and hasn’t made any moves to legalize our separation. So I still hold out some up. But sometimes, I feel very stupid and naive for doing so.”

The Time Frame In Which You Feel Comfortable Waiting On Your Spouse To Come Home Varies: There isn’t one right or wrong answer for every one in terms of how long is appropriate to wait. My husband and I really struggled for about a year when we were separated before we finally got it together. I suspect he saw other people. Friends and family told me I was delusional to continue to hold out hope. But, like the wife in this example, I just wasn’t ready to begin again. I still felt connected to my husband and invested in my marriage. And I didn’t feel it was right for other people to force their own time frame or beliefs unto me.

However, I do understand that some people just don’t have the patience and the inclination to wait. In fact, sometimes when I hear from some people asking me how long they should wait for their spouse to come home before they move on, it’s clear that they truly are already ready and wanting to move on and they are almost looking for someone to give them permission to do so.

Although this is probably a conversation that you’d want to have with your spouse, you both likely knew that if the separation did not resolve itself favorably, there was always the chance that one or both of you would move on (or at least start living your lives again while you wait for a resolution.) I don’t think that you need any one’s permission to start living again, although it might be honorable to discuss dating other people with your spouse, if this is what you are considering right now.

I didn’t really think about dating other people. I was still very invested in my marriage, although I don’t think the same was true for my husband. These are very individual decisions. I don’t think that there are necessarily right or wrong answers, although I do believe that it helps if you are honest and open throughout the process so that no one feels as if they’re been deceived or mislead. And, quite frankly, I don’t think that it’s a crime to continue to live your life while you are separated. In fact, I think that it can actually help you cope with this process, which I’ll discuss now.

Who Says You Have To Stop Living Your Life While You Are Separated Or Living Apart?: Many people (myself included) sort of stop everything when we become separated. For a while, it is difficult for us to even do basic things, like show up for work, get ourselves decently fed and dressed, and interact in a meaningful way with our families and friends. And it’s understandable that we feel this way, but withdrawing into yourself really doesn’t help all that much.

All it ends up doing is isolating us and making us feel more closed off and depressed. There is nothing wrong with going to dinner with your friends, pursuing a hobby that will get you out of the house, or reaching out to other people. You certainly do not have to date again in order to continue living your life. I am being very honest when I say that isolating myself during my separation was probably the worst choice that I made. I became depressed and as the result, when I did interact with my husband during the separation, I was most definitely not at my best. I was insecure and needy. It’s no surprise that my husband didn’t want to be around me when I was acting this way and he avoided me. And, this really hurt my chances for a reconciliation.

It wasn’t until I became sick of my own loneliness and isolation that I literally had to force myself to go out with friends, do the things that I enjoyed, and to just get out there. And you know what? Not only did this make me feel a little better, but it made me appear more attractive and my husband soon became interested in me again so living my life again helped me in more ways than one. It restored my confidence and optimism, and it also restored the woman who my husband feel in love with in the first place. If this hadn’t happened, I honestly don’t know if we’d still be married today. So to answer the question posed, I think you can live your life right this very minute, even if you’re separated. And this is true even if you still love your husband very much and hope for a reconciliation.

Reloading or Building Your Own Ammunition

This is not as crazy as it sounds. Reloading ammunition is something that has been safely done by individuals for decades. Almost any caliber cartridge can be safely reloaded at home. All it takes is the right equipment, the right supplies and a set of detailed instructions. After that all it takes is time. That is what we are going to look at now.

Steps Of Reloading or Building Ammunition

Let’s take a detailed look at how long it takes to reload or build ammunition. First, let’s look at the steps of the reloading process.

1. De-prime and resize the case.
2. Remove the crimp around the primer pocket. (Only needed the first time you reload military brass.)
3. Cleaning and uniforming the primer pocket.
4. Inserting a new primer.
5. Charging the case with powder.
6. Seating the bullet.
7. Crimping the bullet.

There are several different types and manufacturers of reloading equipment. Some of these combine some of the steps listed above and shorten the process. In order to answer the question about how long it takes to reload or build ammunition we set up an experiment and reloaded 20 cases of once fired military brass. Here are the results.

Timed Steps to Reload 308 Winchester Brass

I set up my reloading press, camera and timer. I counted out 20 cleaned 308 Winchester cases and timed each step of the reloading process. Also, I did not rush nor did I slow down for the camera. Here are the results.

1. De-prime and resize the cases = 9:30
2. Trim the cases to proper length = 7:30
3. Remove primer crimp and uniform the primer pocket = 9:45
4. Build the cartridge = 9:30
5. Crimp the bullet into the case = 2:00

Total time to build 20 308 Winchester cartridges was 38:15 seconds. That is less than 2 minutes per cartridge. Using this data here are the build times for larger quantities.

• 20 Cartridges = 38 Minutes
• 100 Cartridges = 3 hrs. 10 minutes
• 500 Cartridges = 15 hrs. 50 minutes
• 1,000 Cartridges = 31 hrs. 40 minutes

Understanding Each Step Of The Build Process

Reloading ammunition is fun, easy and safe. When you are done you will have quality ammunition to shoot for fun, hunting or defense. The cost to reload ammunition is less than purchasing the same quality already manufactured.

The equipment that is used varies in cost but is affordable. There are also books to read, videos to watch and even social media groups that will help you get started.

Most of the time, spouses who are reluctant to separate in the first place hope that the separation is over as quickly as is possible. Often, they fear that the longer the separation goes on, the less of a chance there is that they can save their marriage.

I heard from a wife who said: “my husband and I have been separated for almost nine months. At first, it was just supposed to be a brief trial separation. He said he just needed some time to sort out his feelings. He said he wanted some peace and quiet for himself. I didn’t think that this would last for very long. I figured that the worst case scenario was him being gone for a month or maybe two. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that almost three quarters of a year would go by and we will would not be back together. Some friends of mine told me that the separation has gone on for so long that it is time for me to face reality. They say that the length of the time is too long and that it means my marriage is over. Are they right?” I will tell you my opinion on this below.

Why There Is No Deadline For Getting Back Together: Admittedly, the longer the two of you are separated, the more discouraging this can be. After all, things often become more and more awkward. As a result, you can start to wonder if the long separation just indicates that there is no hope left. However, I have known of many couples who reconciled many months or even years after their separation started. Admittedly, this isn’t the norm. But it does happen. I know because it happened for me. And often when it happens it is because someone has made a deliberate and valiant effort to hold onto their marriage. Below, I’ll offer some suggestions on how to do this.

Make Sure That You Don’t Become Complacent And Allow The Distance To Become Both Literal And Figurative: One of the main reasons that the passage of time is such a threat during a separation is because the passage of time causes doubt and awkwardness. One or both people begin to wonder why their spouse isn’t reaching out more and, because they fear rejection, they may back off also.

And before you know it, a good chunk of time has gone by without any interaction. And then one day leads to another and eventually you are looking at weeks or even months since you’ve spoken to or seen your spouse. You want to avoid this if at all possible. Even if things are uncertain or awkward, you still want to keep the lines of communication open. Sure, things might be so awkward that all you can manage is a weekly cup of coffee together. This is certainly better than nothing and if you can see it up so that your time together is pleasant and that you both come to expect or look forward to this time, then that is something on which you can build.

But it is better to have regular and awkward or tense conversations and meetings than none at all. You don’t want to let too much go by without any communication at all. If this is the case in your situation, then it can make sense to take the initiative to try to change this. Yes, you may feel vulnerable and like you are risking rejection. But keep things very simple and light hearted. Your goal is not to save your marriage in one meeting or even a series of meetings. Your real goal is just to begin to improve your interactions, even if it is only a little bit. You already know that this is going to be a gradual process. But if you can get your relationship back onto the road of something regular, even if it is just casual and short meetings or communications, then this is something that is worth doing.

There Is No Expiration Date On Your Marriage: People often think that if too much time passes, their spouse is eventually going to forget about them or their marriage. Or, they fear that their spouse may meet someone else. These things do sometimes happen, but they are also only temporary sometimes. People get back together and reconcile all of the time. There’s no expiration date on your marriage or any period of time where you have reached the point of no return. Of course it is in your best interest to try to keep things positive and to try to improve things so that a reconciliation happens sooner rather than later.

Your girlfriend broke up with you, you’re heartbroken, and you want your ex back. So far though, there’s been no contact at all.

Is there a set rule for how long you should wait before calling an ex girlfriend? And when you DO call her, what exactly should you say?

Contact after the break up is one of the most confusing things to figure out. It’s a mystery that always leaves you wondering if you’re doing the right thing, no matter how you choose to handle it.

On one hand, you want to talk to her. Hell, you miss her like crazy. You need to hear her voice again. And besides, you don’t want her to think you’ve forgotten about her, and possibly move on with some other guy, do you?

But on the flip side of the coin, she hasn’t called you. Calling her might seem needy, or desperate. And you wouldn’t want your ex to think those things of you… especially not if you’re trying to somehow win her back.

So is there a middle ground? A time when it’s okay to call or contact your ex girlfriend without looking like a fool? Some kind of conversation that actually makes sense, rather than stumbling and tripping over your own lame words?

Even better: can you get HER to call YOU?

What it Means When She Won’t Contact You

First, understand that your girlfriend not calling you doesn’t mean she’s not thinking about you. The fact is, she’s probably thinking about you quite a bit.

What your ex is doing right now, is ignoring you for a very simple reason: detachment. She’s decided she wants you gone, and the best way to keep from caving in and taking you back is not to see or hear from you at all.

This is because during your relationship the two of you formed some very powerful emotional bonds. Love, sex, intimacy; all the fun you had, the places you saw together, the family and friends and holidays you shared – these things forged thick connections that can’t be easily severed. And some of these connections remain in place, even after she dumps you, for a very long time.

Getting your ex back requires simple reversal techniques that are geared toward making her face those emotional bonds. You want her to SEE what she’s losing, rather than turn her back on those feelings and pretend they’re buried.

So what does she do? She loses your phone number. She unfriends you on Facebook, detaches from Instagram, stops talking to your friends and tells her own friends not to provide any information about her. In this way, she can move on

Should You Call Your Ex After the Break Up?

No, not immediately.

There are several steps to getting back with someone. The first step is always the no contact rule. It’s exactly what it sounds like; you need to promise yourself that you won’t call (or text, or email, etc… ) your ex girlfriend no matter how badly you want to. This is hugely important.

What this does is create distance between you and your lover. You might think that’s bad, but in the beginning it’s actually very good. It’s human nature to want to be right; your ex wants to think she made the right moves when she ended your romance. So to verify this? She’ll often look back at you to see how you’re doing.

If you’re doing bad? That’s a good sign to her. It shows that she’s better off without you because you’re worse off without her. Sounds messed up, right? But again, it’s human nature.

Now if you’re doing good? That’s not what she wants to see. It actually reverses her way of thinking and makes her question whether or not she should’ve let you go. A guy who’s doing well without her is a guy who’s got his stuff together. You’re suddenly valuable again, simply because you didn’t care (or appeared not to have cared) when she tossed you away.

Which brings me to the next big rule of human nature: you always want the things you cannot have.

When To Call Your Ex

If you’ve stopped ALL contact, and your ex hasn’t called you, there’s an acceptable time during which you can reach out to her. While this varies from case to case, as a general rule you’ll want to wait about four to six weeks.

“BUT THAT’S FOREVER!!!”

Yup. It is. And it’s going to feel like double-forever to you, because your heart is breaking and you desperately want to hear from her again.

But you know what? Waiting this long is going to do something very important: make her curious. It’s going to make her wonder where you mysteriously went, and how come you seemingly haven’t looked back.

This makes her ripe to hear from you.

Understand something: calling your ex too early, within the first few days of the breakup, is a BIG red flag. Not only doesn’t she want to hear from you, but even worse, your ex girlfriend hasn’t even begun to start missing you yet.

Wait four to six weeks, and not only is she going to listen to anything you say, but your ex will already be at the point of nostalgia. She’ll be missing you. Hearing your voice will take her back to the relationship, and probably to the GOOD part of the relationship when everything was all unicorns and rainbows.

You’ve heard the phrase ‘Time heals all wounds’. It does, but it also blurs out the bad and accentuates the good. As time goes on, your girlfriend will forget all the fighting and nastiness and other bullshit that broke you up. When she thinks back to what your relationship was all about, those things will have faded.

What’s left? The GOOD STUFF. All the happy times and cool things and great sex. Her heart will tug on those strong emotional bonds I talked about earlier, playing them back in her memory.

Okay, I Called Her. Now What Do I Say?

Before you even think of calling your ex girlfriend, you’re gonna basically need a script. You’ll want to know exactly what to say, and more importantly, what subjects to avoid at all costs.

If you think you can just pick up the phone and go totally solo, you’re going to crash and burn. In other words, you MUST know what you’re doing. A step by step plan always beats a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ type of approach.

I sometimes hear from folks who ask me how long a person is supposed to stay on the nutrisystem diet. I’ve also had people ask me how long a membership is good for. This is one of the common misconceptions that surround this diet. I find that there are some people who think that you need a prescription for or must pay a membership fee while on this plan. Neither of these assumptions are true. This is a diet for which you order foods from the company (and generally on a month to month basis.) There isn’t any long term requirements or commitments and, for the most part, how long you stay on it depends upon a few factors, which I’ll discuss more in the following article.

Many People Stay On Nutrisystem Until They See The Weight Loss Goal That They Set For Themselves: Of course, if you’re looking at making drastic life style changes, you’ll want to discuss this with your doctor. With that said though, most people simply order the food until they have lost the amount of weight that is right for them. Since there’s no commitment, you can stop placing orders when you feel happy with your results. And, you can generally look at the average of your weekly weight loss to determine how long it will take you to get there.

And with a range of around 2 – 3 pounds per week for many, this is the sort of gradual and non drastic weight loss that most consider optimal and safe. I’ve heard people describe nutrisystem as a fad, crash, or drastic diet but I really don’t agree. You’re looking at around 1500 calories per day which is far less than some of the more drastic or overly restrictive diets. Plus, you add in your own fresh foods with every single meal so you are not just relying on the provided prepackaged foods. I suspect that they ask this of you to make sure that you are getting a good amount of the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs from the fresh foods.

The Shelf Life Of Nutrisystem Foods: Sometimes, when people ask me how long you’re supposed to stay on this diet, they are really asking if the foods expire. Most of the foods are soft canned which means that they don’t require refrigeration and this gives them a pretty long shelf life. The nutrisystem select line offers frozen choices (which are delivered to your home) and which are also pretty slow to expire. Of course, you always want to check the expiration date (and you can usually call the number on the box if you aren’t sure.) But, it’s my observation that most people eat their food within the month that they receive their shipment so this concern usually doesn’t come into play.

The company does offer free counseling so there should always be someone available who can answer these types of questions or concerns. You can usually either call, participate in a life chat, or contact them online depending on which works better for you.

The Jack Russell Terrier breed has a double coat of thick hair that requires to be taken care of regularly. Also referred to as the Parson Russell Terrier, the dogs may have rough, smooth or broken coats. The rough-coated or long haired Jack Russell terrier has longer tresses than the smooth-coated terrier, and have surplus trace hair on its head, legs, body and face. The hair is crude to shield the breed from the elements, and silky, curly or soft hair is taken to be a fault. However, the long haired Jack Russell Terrier requires some grooming to appear their best all the time. Here are various ways you can use to groom your dog:

Brushing

Brushing is one of the most vital feature of grooming a long haired Jack Russell Terrier. Its main aim is to aid the dog grow a hard and water repellent coat. You can start by combing your dog’s whole body with a wide-toothed comb. You can also engage in daily brushing using a slicker brush when your dog blows its coat. This kind of brush includes a rubber cushion rooted with metal pins that help to remove the undercoat hairs soon as they become loose.

Stripping

Besides brushing, you can also strip your long haired Jack Russell Terrier twice a year to groom him. This is best done when the terrier is blowing the coat. Use a stripping comb to strip all the hairs off and examine every section to make sure that all dull hairs have been plucked. You can also use a stripping knife, but if you are uncomfortable doing this, consult an expert groomer for instruction and advice.

Bathing

According to the Jack Russell Terrier Club, shampoo is detrimental to the long haired Jack Russell Terrier as it mitigates the hair. Instead, the dogs benefit from dry shampoos. You will mix equal fractions of cornstarch with child powder and then work the mixture into your dog’s coat. After that, brush the coat carefully. However, if the dog is very dirty and needs a full shower, use top-quality dog shampoo manufactured especially for long haired dogs.

Trimming

Jack Russell Terrier breeds requires little trimming. You can trim the slack hair on your dog’s face using blunt scissors. However, avoid trimming more than required. Leave the whiskers and eyebrow hairs around his mouth and remove enough to poise the face uniformly on both sides. It is also a good idea to trim around the genitals to enhance hygiene, and the excess hair in between his toes. Thinning scissors can be used for the job.

Conclusion

The grooming process for a long haired Jack Russell Terrier is more delicate and time-consuming than grooming a short-haired Terrier. One point to keep in mind is that you should never cut a Terrier’s hair. This is because cutting his hair alters the coat texture, turning it softer, whereas a Jack Terrier’s coat should be wiry and firm. Another important point is that grooming should always be performed on a table. This is to save you from having to bend to meet your dog. You will also be comfortable while doing the job.

The ” Long Tail” is a colloquial name given to various statistical distributions characterized by a small group of events of high amplitude and a very large group of events with low amplitude. Coined by Wired Magazine writer Chris Anderson in 2004, the Web’s Long Tail has since gone on to perplex academics and challenge online marketers.The concept is straightforward. Think Hollywood movies: there are big hits that really hit big, and thousands of films that no one ever hears about. In economics, it’s the Pareto principle: 20% of anything products 80% of the effects. It’s these non-hit misses that make up the Long Tail. Anderson claims to have discovered a new 98% rule no matter how much content you put online, someone, somewhere will show up to buy it. eBay would seem to be a perfect example. The online tag sale contains millions of items drawn from every Aunt Tilly’s closet in the world and still seems to find a buyer somewhere for just about anything.

On the Internet, where storage and distribution costs are near zero, Amazon is able to offer 3 million books for sale compared to a typical large bookstore with 40,000-100,000 titles. The same is true of CDs, DVDs, digital cameras, and portable MP3 players. Wherever you look on the Web, you find huge inventories, and a great many items that few people are interested in buying. But someone is almost always searching for something. With a billion people online, even a one-in-a-million product will find 1,000 buyers. According to Anderson, online music sites sell access to 98% of their titles once a quarter. According to Netflix, 60% of its 85,000 titles are rented at least once a day by someone. Unlike physical stores such as Wal-Mart and Sears, online merchants have much lower overhead costs because they do not have physical stores and have lower labour costs. Therefore that can load up on inventory including items that rarely sell.

There are several implications of the Long Tail phenomenon for web marketing. Some writers like Anderson claim that the Internet revolutionizes digital content by making even niche products highly profitable, and that the revenues produced by small niche products will ultimately outweigh the revenues of hit movies, songs, and books. For Hollywood, and all content procedures, this means less focus on the blockbusters that bust the budget, and more emphasis on the steady base hit titles that have smaller audiences but make up for it in numbers of titles. The Long Tail is a democratizing phenomenon: even less well-known movies, songs, and books can now find a market on the Web. There’s hope for your blog and garage band! For economist, the Long Tail represents a net gain for social welfare because now customers can find exactly the niche content they really want rather than accept the “big hits” on the shelf. The Web’s Long Tail makes more customers happy, and the possibility of making money on niche products should encourage more production of “Indy” music and film.

The problem with all these misses in the long Tail is that few people can find them because they are- by definition- largely unknown. Hence, in their native state, the revenue value of low-demand products is locked up in collective ignorance. Here’s where recommender systems come into play: they can guide consumers to obscure but wonderful works based on the recommendations of others.

In many cases, recommendations are made based on past purchasing behaviour of the user, which may or may not reflect the needs or preferences of the user today. The ability to narrow down the list of potential options, however, makes the information gathering process more efficient and for many users very helpful.