A thousand five hundred fifty-four. That’s the number of homes destroyed so far by the rash of wildfires stampeding across many parts of central Texas. The federal government has allowed $30,000 for each affected family to cover such disaster-related expenses outside those covered by insurance as temporary housing, hotel bills, and construction costs. Firefighters, meanwhile,…

Texas is burning. As this is being written 50 wildfires are scorching different parts of drought-dried Texas, setting houses, barns, farms, and ranchlands ablaze. The fires, originating from lightly populated west Texas, are roaring eastward toward the big cities propelled by dry winds. Near Austin, in the Bastrop County Complex, the fire has torched 30,000…

At last after two weeks of wanton wildfires and failed firebreaks, desperate residents are finally hearing a break in the wall of bad news—and it’s a big one. The firefighters are reporting that biggest blaze so far (the one in Basrop, about 30 miles southeast of Austin), is 50 percent contained. It’s fantastic news for…

After days of cruel conditions creating firebreaks to contain the unprecedented wildfires in Texas, firefighters have finally caught a break—the winds have died down, and firefighters, local authorities, and nervous residents hope that they stay down. The chances of that are good (considering that Tropical Storm Lee, which had been fanning the flames, has dissipated),…

So, now that you’ve done your pharmacy technician training program (preferably you did it with Meditec.com), you’re ready at last to take your pharmacy technician certification board exam (PTCE). The PTCE is a 90-multiple-choice test. Ten of the questions are pretest items and therefore don’t count in your final score. However, you won’t be told…

It means filling prescriptions and assisting clients. It means interpersonal interactions and smiles all around. It means working in a medical environment as an integral member of a healthcare team and helping people get well. It means being in a growth career field that’s expected to expand by 25 percent through 2018. It means $45,000…

Who can forget the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, quite possibly the world’s worst industrial and environmental disaster of all time? It killed 11 workers and cost untold billions in damages. It also galvanized the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to develop an action plan on international standards to aid…

Finally after three continuous days of stiff winds fed by the fast-dissipating Tropical Storm Lee, meteorological conditions have calmed down enough to enable fire crews to make significant headways controlling the wildfires. According to fire chiefs, about 30 percent of the big fire in Bastrop, Texas has now been contained, fuelling hope that the end…

It is September 12. In Basrop, Texas, where the biggest of the wildfires occurred, 1,554 homes have burned to the ground, 34,000 acres have been torched, and 17 people are missing and remain unaccounted for. But, fire chiefs estimate, 50 percent of the fires are now under control. Search and recovery have started to go…

Irene’s storm winds may have missed Texas, but the vientos calientes (hot winds) of a year-long drought have been hitting their mark since August 31—igniting over 180 wildfires this first week across the state and sparking one of the most catastrophic wildfire outbreaks in the history of the Lone Star State. As of this writing,…

Planning on doing some home wiring? Good man, brave man. It’s not the easiest thing to do, and certainly not the safest. If your experience in things electrical is limited to stringing up the fancy wreath lights on the tree in Christmases past, don’t even try it. An undersized electric wire can easily set your…

Sure it’s that time of the year again (October) to renew cosmetology licences. But what if you don’t have your license yet, what’s in store for you? The long and short answers, fortunately, are the same: cosmetology licensure exam. It’s mandated by the NIC, a.k.a., National-Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology, and whether you’re…

“I sing the body electric,” may be the title of a book about seeking the meaning of life, but it may as well be an oblique reference to the body of electricians who, like many in the construction trade, have found themselves in a familiar situation—front and center of rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane…

In an article posted on the Food Safety News website (“Mythbusters: Learn the Truth About Home Food Safety”) Howard Seltzer, national education advisor for the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, plays mythbuster to four myths about food. Myth 1: A vegetarian diet doesn’t cause food poisoning Bad presumption and one that could land…

If you’re doing the grocery today, remember to check the expiration dates on all your consumables. It’s not only the smart thing to do for yourself, for your family, and for the family dog in these none-too-salubrious salmonella days, it’s also Food Safety Awareness Education Month! Every September since the campaign was launched 17 years…