The celebration has ended, the 108 year drought is over, and baseball on Chicago's North Side should return to normal. In other words, fans of the Cubs can go back to worrying.

Several big concerns face them as they look toward the 2017 season, in addition to the near impossible task of topping the World Series Championship they earned in October. No team has won the Fall Classic back to back in this century, although a much shorter span than the Cubs endured between titles.

That trip to the World Series was made easier by the early schedule, an arrangement the Cubs will not enjoy next April. Chicago did not play a winning team until April 18 against the Cardinals, which was their fifth series of the season. The Cubs did not play another winning team until May 2, when they played the Pirates.

Spending the first month against the likes of Cincinnati, Arizona, Atlanta, and Milwaukee would provide almost any team with the confidence needed to carry them through the most important stretch of the season. To emphasize just how important a hot start is, examine the National League from last season.

All four of the teams who reached the Division Series posted winning percentages over.700 during the first week of 2016, led by the Cubs and Nationals winning eight of their first nine games. The Giants were victorious in six of their first eight, and the Dodgers won seven of their first ten.

The advantage of opening against non-contenders will not be available to the Cubs in 2017, when the early part of their schedule features matches against the only two teams that had winning records against Chicago last year. They open in St. Louis on April 2nd, a Sunday night game between the two rivals that will be broadcast on national television.

What could make that initial series even more troubling for the Cubs is the strong possibility that one of their most exciting players from last year will be playing for the opposing team. Center fielder Dexter Fowler, Chicago's spark plug at the top of the batting order, is a free agent. Many baseball writers have planned St. Louis as the most likely team to sign Fowler.

After the series in St. Louis Louis, the Cubs must play the team that nearly eliminated them in the NLCS. The Dodgers, who won both of their regular season series against the Cubs in 2016, have the opportunity to avenge their play loss on the opening weekend in April.

The hot start Chicago used to build momentum for their World Series run last year is far less likely to befall them in 2017, simply because of the competition. Instead of opening against last place clubs like San Diego and Cincinnati, the Cubs will be tested right out of the chute by teams expecting to be contenders.

Many people in America have pachinkos in their basements, garages and attics. But they were put there years ago by parents, or former residents, or maybe they were picked up at garage sales or flea markets. How did these crazy Japanese stand-up pinball machines all end up in America? The history of pachinkos in America is rather surprising.

As the owner of a website devoted to the repair and restoration of pachinkos, I have learned quite a bit about where they are today and how they got there. Utilizing tools such as Google Analytics, I have been able to compile some statistics that let we can use to tell where they are today. Thousands of people have visited my site, and all looking for information on these rather odd-looking games. Where these queries originate, combined with orders and sales data provide a fairly clear picture that I will share with you below. But first, a bit of history on how all of these pachinko machines got here in the first place.

Japanese pachinko parlors for decades only allowed machines to remain in service for about a year before they had to be removed and disposed. This led to huge numbers of used machines available in Japan, and most were simply destroyed. However, it was not unusual for American servicemen to send or bring them back to the states as souvenirs. The numbers that trickled in spread out from our major military installations, but in the 1950’s and 1960’s these numbers were small, somewhere in the thousands. Few of these pachinkos have survived today.

In the early 1970’s a few enterprising gentlemen got a good idea for a use for all of those piles of expired pachinkos. They formed a company called Target Abroad LTD, and started buying them up by the thousands and filling shipping crates with them. They then shipped these crates by the thousands to America, and sold them through major chain stores such as Woolworth, K-Mart, and even Sears. Several other smaller companies quickly formed and opened pachinko specialty stores across the country. Two of the most successful were Pachinko Palace and The Pachinko Factory, and many vintage pachinkos in America today still bear their stickers. Literally millions were sold between 1972 and 1976, but sales began to plummet when video games were invented and then mass- produced. By 1978 nearly all imports of pachinkos to America had ended, and the retailers sold off their inventory and closed their doors forever.

The largest concentration of these vintage pachinko machines in America is California with 16% of the total. While it is true that California is a very populous state, the ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles were the major deliver points for pachinkos shipped from Japan. It only makes sense that many would be sold there.

The second largest concentration is in Illinois at 8%. For decades Chicago was the place where most pinball and arcade machines were manufactured, and the port and transportation infrastructure there was an obvious distribution point for the populations of the Midwest. Even today, vintage pachinkos seem to be abundant in the suburbs there.

The third highest population is Texas at just over 6%. Texas has population going for it, and several good ports as well. Several of the distributors had major outlets in Texas, and the dry climate appears to have preserved the pachinkos in a superior manner.

Next up at number four is New York with 6%. As usual, a state with major ports with access to major population centers. Pinball machines were outlawed for decades in New York, so it seems only natural people would turn to pachinkos as an alternate for of entertainment on boardwalks and arcades. Eventually they found their way into private hands as video games replaced them.

The absolute worst states in the continental United States for pachinkos should be no surprise. North and South Dakota score dead last. No ports, low population, and little general interest in some silly looking pinball games from Japan.

So, now you know where the vintage pachinkos are, and how they got there. If you are inclined to find one, try San Francisco or Chicago, and you may get the best deals and best selection. But if you are in North Dakota, you might be better off ordering pachinkos online, because it may be quite some time before you find one at the local flea market.

The LAX airport, or the Los Angeles International Airport, was originally named Mines Field and was a general aviation base during World War II. LAX is located in none other that Los Angeles, California. It is ranked as the fifth busiest passenger airport in the entire world. It also is ranked sixth for the world in carrying cargo. Even if you never travel through LAX, (although chances are good that you will) you may find the following facts and information interesting and fun.

Fun And Interesting Facts About The LAX Airport:

1. There are more than 50 million people who travel into or out of LAX every year. But, not only people travel through. An additional 2 million tons of cargo passes through this airport every year as well.

2. The LAX airport employs over 59,000 people to get you and your luggage safely and comfortably to your destination.

3. A U-shaped road with two levels connects the 9 terminals at this airport.

4. The airport has four parallel runways and a 277 foot control tower. The original control tower was only 172 feet tall.

5. LAX has the only Coast Guard Air Station located right on the premises. They provide 24-hour service to the passengers and employees of the LAX airport.

6. One unusual feature is the Encounters restaurant, which is located in the Central Terminal and is 70 feet above the ground. It is a space-themed restaurant and has an observation deck that is located on the roof of the LAX airport.

7. Worried about parking? The airport has over 21,000 parking spaces at the terminal including long and short term parking and the outdoor economy lots.

8. Transportation to and from the LAX airport and its vicinity is simple with shuttle buses, taxis, rental cars, the airport and public buses and even light rail.

9. While many airports today are located on the outskirts of town LAX is located on 3,425 acres right in the heart of Los Angeles.

10. How many airports do you know that have their own song? LAX airport has a song that was written by Leann Scott and performed by David Frizzel in 1970 called LA International Airport. Then, in 1971 Susan Raye, a famous country singer redid the song and it shot to number 9 on the country charts and 54 on the pop chart. Just recently, in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the LAX airport, it was sung again by Susan Raye and then it was given new lyrics by Leann Scott and sung again by Shirley Myers.

11. The Los Angeles International Airport also supports the public arts programs of the community. Right at the entrance of the airport are 100 foot high pylons and 32 foot high letters that spell out LAX. This is the work of the artist Paul Tzanetopoulos. There is also a program at LAX airport which allows high school students from the area to display their works in the airport in a revolving display. The students not only gain some notoriety and recognition, but they also can get university credit for participating.

12. You can also find all of the typical airport services at LAX. You will find bookshops and restaurants, lost and found, shoe shine stations, baggage storage, banking machines, and first aid stations.

Your trip to (or through) Los Angeles International airport can be enjoyable and relaxing if you know what is available to you. The airport is working to become more easily accessible and passenger friendly. To get you in the mood for your trip, take a listen to the theme song. You can find it online.

Get information from your state’s department of insurance or go to their site online. They usually have resources that will make it easier for you to get the best value. Knowing you have information you can rely on will help you make the right decisions in your case.

Ask those around you their take on different insurers. What was the value they got from the insurer they used previously and what is their experience with their current agent or insurance company? Your work is easy if they rave about their agent and/or insurer. All you’d have to do is simply shortlist them as possible options for you.

I must stress, though, that you should avoid going with just one friend’s recommendation. It’s possible they might not have done extensive shopping themselves. Get quotes from each agent. Have some talk with them all and you’ll easily spot who offers not merely the lowest price, but the best price to value ratio. This may take you quite some time.

You can make your shopping much more rewarding by taking advantage of consumer guides. You’ll get price ranges for your home insurance policy. They also offer great advice that will help you make considerable savings and get the best value in home insurance.

Even though they tell you insurers who have the best offers, their figures are normally estimates or for a particular profile. Because of this, ensure you request quotes from as many agents as possible. If you’re for the lowest rates then you have no alternative but to ask for a good number of quotes.

Get your home insurance coverage from an insurer that has a good track record.

It will be a smart step to skip an insurer if too many complaints have been brought against them. Check their ratings across different independent research companies.

You might save several hundreds of dollars by just obtaining and comparing quotes from about three quotes sites. And, it will require just about 15 minutes on the whole.

When you have a clogged drain, it may seem like your entire house is off balance. Whether it is a clogged sink, in the kitchen or bathroom, a clogged toilet, or a clogged drain in the shower or tub, plumbing repairs need to be handled as soon as possible.

Many people attempt to unclog their own drains when a problem arises. Whereas this may solve the problem temporarily, in the long run it will be best to contact professional plumbers to make sure your home and its plumbing system will work properly for the long term.

Excess hair in the bathroom sink, tub or shower is usually to blame when the plumbing becomes clogged. Many people will use a wire coat hangar or other household item to try to pull the hair out of the drain. This usually ends up making a big mess in the bathroom, and the clog will still be there. Using a plunger may also work temporarily, but again you will want to bring in the plumbers to clear everything up and get your pipes back on track.

If the bathroom sink is clogged up, the plumber will get under the sink and remove the trap. The trap is the u-shaped section of pipe under the sink. If they cannot locate the clog in the trap, the plumbers will go further down the line and use a cable auger, more commonly referred to as a snake. This process will not only locate the clog, but clear it out as well. Shower, bathtub, and toilet clogs can also be cleared out in a similar way. In any case, make sure to trust your plumber with these important repairs in your home.

Part I: Mexican Food: Muy Barato

When I moved to Los Angeles in 1992, I had a roommate named Lynn. Lynn was a man who would drink two beers, matriculate to several lines of cocaine, and then culminate the evening with a perilous motorcycle ride across Hollywood to El GRAN BURRITO on Virgil Avenue. There he would order and consume a burrito, taco, and horchata. He never invited me to sit behind him on the motorcycle, and I foolishly neglected to ask. I did ask Lynn's friend Celso, the first Hispanic man I met in LA, where to find the best Mexican restaurant. He frowned and said: "What am I, a food critic? Go to El Gran Burrito, knucklehead." I might just as well have asked my inebriated Irish roommate with the feminine name, but it seemed wiser to inquire about Mexican culture from a Mexican person. In any case, I listened to Celso and boarded my roommate's motorcycle. For $ 4, I ate the "Lynn Special": a burrito carnitas, a carne asada taco, and a large Styrofoam cup of horchata. My five year experiment with vegetarianism was conclusively resolved. My pursuit of great Mexican food in Los Angeles had commenced. El Gran Burrito was discovery # 1.

o The Burrito.

The ideal burrito is the al pastor, filled with marinated pork, and complimented by rice, beans, cilantro, and onions. EL TAURINO on Hoover Street serves an al pastor burrito that is "primo" to the Greek gyros and the Armenian shawarma. Like the gyros and shawarma, El Taurino's marinated al pastor is sliced ​​from a crispy chunk of meat on a rotisserie, and then roled into a big tortilla with the aforementioned ingredients. Like any great burrito, the beans are whole, not refried. The slender pieces of meat crunch and melt as you masticate. The al pastor at EL TAQUITO MEXICANO, located above the 210 freeway in Pasadena, relies less on texture than marinade. The meat is arranged in a dense sauce that resembles the wonderful rendang dish of Indonesia. The flavor is smoky and juicy, with taste and texture augmented by grilled onions.

YUCA'S, a tiny hut located in a Los Feliz liquor store parking lot, exemplifies the regional cochinito pibil burrito of the Yucatan region of Mexico. By definition, cochinito pibil is a young, pit roasted pig. While verifying the age of a pig subsequent to pit roasting is regretably beyond my know-how, I've many times contemplated the age issue as the tender meat slowly dissolved in my mouth. If young is good, than Yuca's cochinito pibil is a puerile beast. Speaking of young meat, I brought my two sons to Yuca's after a morning of forced sprints up a Silverlake staircase, and had the honor of watching them shed tears over a burrito. Asada devotees heretofore, the tomato influenced pork juice that dribbled from their possessed lips changed their ways. Now whenever we leave the house for an outing, regardless of where we go, the kids say, "Great, we can go get a pibil burrito at Yuca's!" But we're going to Oxnard, I remind them. "Is not that close to Los Feliz?" Close enough.

o The Huarache.

In the world of attire, a huarache is a sandal. In the culinary world, it is a flat, crisp, chewy, sandal-shaped slab of masa. At EL HUARACHE AZTECA in Highland Park, a huarache is topped with meat, cilantro, and crumbled bits of white cheese (cotija, me thinks). I usually request al pastor or chicharrones on mine, but all sorts of flesh suffice. Chicharrones, deep fried pork skin with unhealthy doses of fat and meat attached (kind of like a chunky rendition of bacon), are normally sold ala carte in panaderias. On the huarache, the chicharrones are stewed in a spicy red sauce, so that their texture is more reminiscent of tendon. Tendon reminds many people of Jell-o, just chewier. It's an acquired taste; you might opt ​​for pork, beef, or chicken. The white cheese that melts into the meat is rich and somewhat dry, similar to a parmesan or feta. The contrast of crunchy and chewy, juicy and dry, create a sensation deliciously unique in Mexican cuisine.

o The Tamale.

There are almost as many tamale vendors in this metropolis as there are burrito trucks. Some people swear by Liliana's in East LA, while loyalists in El Sereno love The Tamale Man. It's all good stuff, but I tend to spend my tamale money at East LA's LA MASCOTA BAKERY. They make three essential tamales (rojo chile, verde chile, and queso), and one that I Just do not get (dulce), so I just do not get it. The rojo is filled with pork in a red salsa, and the verde is chicken in a green salsa. The contents are critical to the superiority of one tamale over another. The rojo at La Mascota consist of several tender pork chunks that one dreams about finding in a carnitas burrito. The cheese in the queso tamale is soft, rich, and permeated with green chile. I would not be able to prove it in a culinary court, but I'm pretty damn sure it is towel cheese. The masa that encases the contents is dense and flaky; it feels light, yet it firmly holds its load (mmm!) without crumbling apart.

o The Gordita.

What can not you do with masa, the Mexican wonder dough? At ANA MARIA'S, a food stall at Grand Central Market, they mold the masa into flat, grilled cakes that they split and stuff with so much stuff, it's like eating a taxi cab with an endless supply of clowns … but even tastier! This is a gordita. It's basically meat, beans, cilantro, salsa, and a crema that tastes like the tzatziki with which the Greeks douse their gyros. The best meat here is the carnitas, which are oily, stringy, and plentiful, like a folded pork sandwich. Between the meat, beans, and fried masa, a $ 2.50 gordita can assuage and punish an empty stomach for hours. Being as weak as a gordita myself, I often order two.

o The Hot Seafood.

There are many consistently solid mariscos restaurants in Los Angeles serving variations of fried and grilled fish, and I've yet to decide upon one as being transcendent. SENOR FISH has a very nice scallop burrito, and seafood quesadillas that are remarkably excessive. Senor is not as good as its reputation, nor as inexpensive as it used to be, but it's still a damn good meal. VIA MAR, in Highland Park, is an inexpensive, ordinary mariscos stand that serves one extraordinary item. Their langostino burrito is filled with buttery, sautéed crawfish, green peppers, and rice. The langostino meat is the nearest thing to the taste of lobster. The succulent pieces detonate in buttery bursts of indulgent gratification. For value and consistency, the SIETE MARES chain of mariscos restaurants may very well be the best in Los Angeles. Most branches consist of a taco stand and a sit down restaurant. Go to the taco stand for fish and shrimp tacos, burritos, and ceviche tostadas. The restaurant is a good place to sweat over a big bowl of siete mares soup, or a plate of fried or grilled fish with rice and beans.

o The Cold Seafood.

Ray's is the legendary pizza joint in New York City that was voted "Best Pizza" a few decades ago. Soon after, dozens of Ray's Pizzas popped up through Manhattan, leaving the neophyte unsure as to the location of the original Ray's (originally Ray's also being a frequently repeated pizzeria name). I think the original is on 11th Street & 6th Avenue, but I can not prove it. It's kind of like the "Tommy's" & "Tomy's" scenario in Los Angeles, or the Mexican seafood trucks that line Figueroa Boulevard along Sycamore Grove Park in Highland Park. Only one of them is legendary, but luckily each truck has a different name. You want the one labeled LA MAR AZUL.

La Mar Azul serves seafood cocktails (cocteles de mariscos) and several variations of ceviche on tostadas. The cocteles are fresh, inexpensive, and generous of portion. The ceviche (raw, citrus marinated seafood) tostadas are sublime. You can order abalone, pulpo (octopus), camarones (shrimp), jaiba (imitation crab), or mixta (combination of all the above). The meat is heaped upon a bed of rich creamy, cilantro laden sauce (sour cream? Mayo?) That combined with the cool seafood is inefficiently tasty. The crisp, salty, foundation of the tostada effectively supports the substance. One tostada will bring your belly to a standing ovation, and two will close the show at a tab of no more than $ 5.00. Your tummy will remission for days to come, but without the painful reminders of a gluttonous love affair such as experienced over the gordita. This is a healthy relationship.

o The Taco.

What do you want with a taco? Get a burrito, silly. It's bigger, and it's got beans. If the burrito does not quite fill your tank, or you're an anti-beanist, then purchase a taco for supplementary succor. Any of the aforementioned burrito joints can make a tasty and efficient taco.

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

Soon after I discovered El Gran Burrito, it moved west to Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont. I followed. They expanded the dining room and added additional rooms, but the place still looked the same. Its progressive growth from small dump to big dump brings to mind the definitions in Steve Martin's childhood home in "The Jerk". Success changed the size of El Gran, but it did not alter the substance. It's still an inexpensive dump serving great food to patrons wondering in off the street. It was not until a year or two ago that they finally raised the prices of their burritos (from $ 2.50 to 3.00 or 3.50), which are still gran in quality and quantity. Much like my children cry over Yuca's pibil, I still blubber over my El Gran carnitas burrito. Let it be known that I, being of satiated body and mind, request they cater my funeral. Wah!

o LOCATIONS

o Ana Maria's / Grand Central Market, 317 S. Broadway

o El Gran Burrito / 4716 Santa Monica / 323-665-8720

o El Huarache Azteca / 5225 York / 323-478-9572

o El Taquito Mexicano / 467 N Fair Oaks / 626-577-3918

o El Taurino / 1104 S Hoover / 323-738-9197

o La Mar Azul / Sycamore Grove Park, Figueroa Street between Ave. 45 & 49

o La Mascota Bakery / 2715 Whittier / 323-263-5513

o Senor Fish / Alhambra, E Rock, L Tokyo, S Pasadena

o Siete Mares / Silver Lake, Lincoln Heights, Whittier, etc …

o Via Mar / 5111 Figueroa Boulevard / 323-255-4929

o Yuca's / 2056 N Hillhurst / 323-662-1214

This weekend I went to Norwalk California in the suburbs of Los Angeles for a brief visit and reluctantly traveled via Freeway 5 starting in from San Diego to get there. I say reluctantly, because with each passing year the trip gets increasingly more frightening and much more stressful and that is putting it mildly. I was not afraid because it was my first time on this route, but afraid of the scary possibilities that come with the changing times and increased population we now enjoy. In just a short span of time, say the last 10 or 15 years, the gross negligence and absolute lawlessness of driver’s up there has become truly frightening. I must have seen at least 25 people with only one person (the driver) in the car in the “Diamond” (express) lanes arrogantly trying to avoid traffic tie ups. I know I could have counted 50 cars with drivers on the cell phone in their hands either talking or texting with someone while swerving down the road. They seemed completely oblivious to the fact they were driving too slow, swerving and quite frankly loving breaking the law.

Study after study has shown that this idea of Multi-Tasking is not a reality, but only an illusion when our mind switches between two tasks at such a high rate of speed, but they go on to say that accuracy of tasks decreases drastically when we try this with two attention demanding tasks at once. What’s even worse is the FACT that there were absolutely NO Highway Patrol Officers on the freeway for the full 113 miles of the trip. Except of course, if you saw an officer helping a stranded granny or another car, perhaps from south of the border on the side of the road. NOT ONE actually patrolling for speeders and road acrobatics. The Donut shops must be doing very well these days.

This is not to mention those who arrogantly blast their way down the express lane who were 1) alone in the vehicle in the express lane when it requires 2 occupants. 2) who were carelessly driving too fast, 3) on the cell phone, 4) tailgating. they were doing one or more of these tricks while all alone in the Diamond Lane! This situation really reminded me of the comedian Chris Rock who said, “sure I can drive with my feet too, but that doesn’t mean its a good idea!”

In a Nutshell the real problem is no representation from the officers we pay to keep the freeways safe by ACTUALLY “enforcing” laws. How do we get something done? How do the CHP get “anything” done? If you feel vulnerable to bad drivers when your on the Big Freeway 5 on your way to LA, you’re NOT alone. But as anyone can plainly see, currently you are very alone as to the law enforcement resources available to you along the way. I now have an HD Mini DVR High Definition Car Dash Camera to use for evidence should something happen. It is better to have something to back up your story like this dash camera should something come up and it’s your word against theirs. It could also be used by police or in court in case someone else has a crash with no witnesses around to corroborate the story. A little personal security on video and with sound is better than your word in a court of law.

If you have an opportunity, please talk to someone in authority in the city that you live in like the mayor, police commissioner, or even write the governor. Tell them to start enforcing laws and to have the CHP officers try to pay more attention to those who break the law in a serious way. The life you save may be your own.

What is an Apostille?

In short, an Apostille authenticates the signature of a public official on a document that is intended for use outside of the United States of America. An Apostille does not bear witness to the authenticity of the actual contents of the document, but rather to the authenticity of the signature of the official who signed the document and the authority in which that official acted. In essence, an Apostille is an extra step of precaution that is taken in order to ensure the integrity of the identity of the signatory and the officials certifying his or her identity.

For example, you have in your possession a document, such as a Power of Attorney, that has been issued by your company for use in an international document signing transaction. In order to obtain an Apostille for this particular document, you must first seek out a notary public who will verify your identity as the signatory and seal the document with an official notarial certificate and the stamp that was issued by the Secretary of State. Then, you must submit the officially notarized document to the County Clerk or Recorder to substantiate the fact that the notary public who verified your identity as the signatory is appropriately commissioned and in good standing with the state. Once this step is completed, you must submit the duly certified document to the Secretary of State in order to authenticate the signature of the County Clerk or Recorder. When all of these conditions are met, the Secretary of State will affix an Apostille to your original notarized document, thereby legalizing it for use in foreign countries. Again, the Apostille does not authenticate the contents of the document, but rather the integrity of the identity of the signatory and the officials certifying his or her identity.

What types of documents require an Apostille?

The following are common types of documents that ordinarily require an Apostille for use in another country:

• Birth Certificates
• Marriage Licenses
• Death Certificates
• Power of Attorney
• Background Check
• Papers for Adoption Purposes
• Certificates of Non-Marital Status
• Mortgage Loan and Real Estate Documents
• School Records, such as Diplomas and Transcripts
• Corporate Documents, such as Articles of Incorporation, Certificate of Good Standing, Bylaws, Mergers, Amendments, etc.

History of the Apostille – The Hague Convention

The Apostille was established in 1961 by the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents. At this conference, a number of countries gathered together to create a simple procedure for legalizing documents and agreed to recognize the Apostille as the method of authenticating foreign documents. Today, the Apostille is used for certifying foreign documents and is valid in countries that are in compliance with the provisions of the Hague Convention.

The nations involved in the Hague Convention are listed on the following website:

http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.status&cid=41

Apostille vs. Certificate

Put simply, member nations of the Hague Convention only require an Apostille. Non-member nations require further signature verification by means of a Certificate and possible authentication by the United States Department of State.

How do I obtain an Apostille in Los Angeles?

There are two ways of obtaining an Apostille in Los Angeles. You can follow the steps on your own or you can hire a mobile service to take care of the entire process for you. Getting an Apostille can be a daunting and complicated process, especially if you are not used to working within the parameters of what is required, but it can be done.

If you want to obtain an Apostille in Los Angeles on your own, you will need to contact the office of the California Secretary of State and ask what steps are required for the particular document you have in your hand. This may take quite some time on hold. You will also spend time on the phone as the employees advise you of the steps you need to take in order to complete the process successfully. The requirements vary by document. Once you have discerned what steps you need to take, you will spend most of the day following and fulfilling them. As long as you follow the steps correctly, it can, however, be done. It will simply take time and effort on your part. Whether you have that time or not is up to you.

For example, if you want to obtain an Apostille on a Power of Attorney document in Los Angeles, you need to contact a local notary and ask them to notarize your signature on the document. You can find a local notary on Yelp! or Google. Then, you need to take the notarized document to the County Clerk’s office in Norwalk, wait in line, and ask the County Clerk to verify that the notary who notarized your document is commissioned and in good standing with the State of California. The County Clerk’s office is located at 12400 Imperial Highway, Norwalk, CA 90650. You can reach them at (800) 815-2666. After that, you need to take the notarized, certified document to the California Secretary of State office in Los Angeles, wait in line, and ask one of the state employees to affix an Apostille. The California Secretary of State office is located at 300 South Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013-1260. You can reach them at (213) 897-3062.

As you can see, obtaining an Apostille is a daunting and complicated process. The steps listed in the example above are guidelines for one type of document. Each type of document carries with it a different set of rules. If you do not want or need to become an expert in the Apostille process and what it entails for each type of document and, if you do not have an extravagant amount of time to spend driving around Los Angeles in order to meet the various requirements that need to be met before the California Secretary of State office in Los Angeles will affix an Apostille to your document, it is more cost-effective, time saving, and better all around to contact a reputable and professional mobile Apostille and notary service in Los Angeles. You can find reviews on Yelp! and Google that will assist you in selecting the best service for your needs.

I have had the opportunity to perform Rhinoplasties and a whole variety of nasal septal reconstructions over a 30-year period. This has allowed me the opportunity to closely evaluate my long-term results. Conservatism is the key word in cosmetic nose surgery.The nose keeps changing for 10-15 years following Rhinoplasty. Inevitably, it gets slowly smaller, the skin thins, and one can get more retraction of the nostrils and thinning of the tip over time. What might appear to be an excellent result one year postoperatively can often change over time into an undesirable result or at least not as aesthetically pleasing as the one-year result. Here is an example of patients who were followed over 12-15 years. These patients had a portion of their dome cartilages and lateral crus of the lower lateral cartilages removed to a certain extent through intranasal approaches.

One year postoperatively, they looked excellent. When seen 12 years later, even though they were happy, the tip had thinned too much and in hindsight probably less cartilage should have been taken out. I present this so the younger plastic surgeons in the audience will learn that conservatism is critical in cosmetic nose surgery. The patients always ask for a smaller, smaller nose, and yet they want to look natural. The surgeon tries to please the patient, but he must inform them that, if he makes the nose too small or removes too much cartilage support in the tip, 10-15 years later, the patient could potentially have pinching or too small atip that could look like a nose job or certainly not aesthetically pleasing.

In addition, lateral osteotomies are overdone in many cosmetic nose surgery procedures. Often you can remove a large nasal dorsum on a person with a large hump, and yet lateral osteotomies and/or breaking of the lateral nasal bones is not required. Often in crooked noses, you just have to perform a unilateral osteotomy, in which only one side of the nose is fractured, and that alone is a very neat way of making the nose look more symmetrical without actually fracturing both nasal bones, which would make the nose look too thin. Another procedure you can perform is to make a nose straight is by adding cartilage grafts that are trimmed and sculptured individually and placed through a small intranasal incision in an area of indentation or curve which will help give the nose a straighter appearance without having to do any fracturing of any bones whatsoever.

Cartilage taken from the ear or septum, crushed and pulverized and made like putty, and placed in the tip area gives a very excellent refinement to the tip without any obvious signs of cartilage grafts, which, when not crushed or morselized, can be sharp and noticeable. Another approach is to give the appearance that the nose is elevated by placing a piece of cartilage through a right rim incision into the base of the columella. This gives the appearance that the nose is raised without actually raising the tip. This is a wonderful procedure for those patients that have large nostrils and really could use a raising of the tip but would not be ideal in their particular circumstances because of their anatomy, poor maxillary protrusion and/or inferior migration of the base of the nasal vestibule and nasal nostril. Therefore, bringing down the columella, particularly the base, makes the profile look much better and gives the appearance that the nose has been elevated without truly raising the tip.

Cosmetic nose surgery is considered probably the most complicated of all the cosmetic surgical procedures, and rightly so. After 30 years of doing cosmetic nose surgery, I still learn on every case. The learning curve never ends on performing cosmetic surgery of the nose and, therefore, every time you operate, you need to evaluate the case, the patient, their facial features, the size of their whole body, head size, shape size, and 20 other items in order to determine the best result for them. Just looking at the nose alone will never give the ideal result. You must fit that nose to facial features of that individual. This is often missed by many physicians, in that they just truly concentrate on trying to “improve the nose to make it look better” without thought as to whether that truly is the proper fit for that individual face, feature, and body type. Every nose is a new challenge, even after performing so many thousands of noses over the years you spend doing this procedure. I find cosmetic nose surgery to be a very satisfying operation and, when done properly, the patients are so very much appreciative. I do feel that the closed procedure is a more appropriate procedure to do because it causes less scar tissue and allows for more leeway if any future revisional surgery is needed.

Moving to another place can be a really stressful experience. Alongside the sheer amount of physical efforts, you must also be concerned about the safety of your blessings and the ones who are helping you. Carefully plan your move in order to avoid property damage and injuries. Check the following safety tips.

The first thing to do is to ensure that your home is ready for moving operations. This means that it must have clean and dry floors. So, you should keep some cleaning products handy and load them last, in order to clean some areas, when needed. Furthermore, you must remove all objects from the main path for transporting boxes. Cover the walkway with non-slip plastic sheeting and carpet film.

Pay attention to narrow spaces and make sure that you do not damage the walls or the items you are transporting. Taking corners when moving fragile items or furniture must be planned ahead. You can protect the walls with cardboard, using tape to secure it. Moving items on stair railings is also challenging. You should cover the railing and make sure you do not damage the spindles.

Door jambs can be easily scratched and damaged, especially when moving cumbersome furniture. Use professional covers to protect the door frames during relocation.

When it comes to protecting your beloveds, the best tip is to use high quality moving supplies. You will need professional and specialist moving boxes, depending on the nature of your cargo. It is a good idea to buy multiple boxes, of different sizes. Additionally, there is a vast number of specialty boxes for various electronics and fragile glassware items. Scan the market for the most suitable boxes.

Have plenty packing supplies at your disposal when you start packing. Packing paper, moving blankets, stretch wrap and paper padding are typically used for protecting your items. For fragile items use extra layers of protection.

When moving furniture, it is a good idea to measure the doorways, hallways and stairways. Also, if possible, dismantle the furniture, in order to make transport easier.

And, of course, you must protect yourself during the move. Make sure you do not overburden yourself with too heavy boxes and take some breaks from time to time. Make sure you are well hydrated, especially if you move during summer. Use proper lifting techniques when moving furniture or other heavy items. In order to avoid cutting or pinching your hands, you should wear gloves.