6 Tell-Tale Signs You Need To Replace Your Tires--Unless You Want To Drive Like This Guy...

With winter coming up in a few months, it's a good idea to give your tires a good check to see if they need to be replaced, especially if you are not planning to have winter ones put on. 

But how do you know when it's time to replace them? 

Here are some tips that will help you:

1. Measure thickness of tread: The tread on your tires should never fall below 1/16 of an inch (or 1.6 millimetres). For proper traction on the roads, it is best to have at least double that. To check, you can buy a tread meter that will give you an accurate reading, or you can use the penny method: Take a Canadian penny, and place it in the main groove of the tread with the Queen's crown facing down. If you can see the top of the crown, you need to replace your tires. Refer to the chart below for further information.

Tread Depth	Action
6/32"	Your tires have sufficient tread depth
5/32"	Consider replacing your tires if wet road conditions are a concern
4/32" to 3/32"	You should consider a tire replacement or monitor closely
2/32" (1.5mm)	Your tires are considered legally bald and need to be replaced

Graph from Canadian Tire

2. Check the tread wear indicators: Most tires today have tread wear indicators, which are flat rubber bars that run horizontally across the tread of the tire. When the tires are new, the indicators are not visible; however, they become visible when the tires start to wear down. If one or two of these indicators begin to show, then your tires are beginning to ear down.

Tread wear indicators, as seen blocked off by the red squares.

4. Look for any uneven tread wear: Uneven tread wear can indicate issues apart from simple tire wear, such as alignment. If you spot this on your tires, have a mechanic do a series of checks to determine what underlying issue is causing the uneven tread wear before you have new one's installed.

AAA: When to replace your tires

5. Check the sidewalls: It's important to check the sidewalls of your tires for any bulges, cracks, or bubbles. If there is such damage, your tires need replacing--and you should have that taken care off sooner rather than later. Such damage can be caused by having driven through a pothole, driving with low air pressure, or other issues. Whatever the cause, driving with cracks or bulges in the sidewalls is dangerous.

6. Minimum every 6 Years: The minimum time to replace your tires is ever six years, with the maximum ten years. Check your owners manual for specific requirements and recommendations, and always lean to the side of caution and overall safety for you and your passengers.

18 Things About Burn Out You Need To Know But Probably Don't

The end of summer may seem like an odd time for people to experience burn out, but it can hit any of us at any time. Understanding what burn out is will help you either spot it in your own or your friend/loved one's life, and obtain the tools to overcome it. 

Burn out is something that hits many people of different ages and professions; however, one common characteristics seems to be a high-achievement orientation to the world, and a proneness to overwork and push oneself beyond the efforts of the 'average' person. For such people who feel they can do everything, according to Psychology Today, burn out can creep up unnoticed. And because many high-achievers tend to be passionate about what they do, they often do not realize how many extra hours they're putting into their work, and the extra projects they're taking on. 

In a study by the Sloan Work and Family Research Network of Boston College, those who overwork tend to fit the following profile:

• People between the ages of 30 and 49
• Parents of teenagers tend to work longer hours than parents of younger children; and those who are in elder care situations tend to be more overworked than employees without such responsibilities
• Over the past 25 years, dual wage-earners combined work hours per week increased from 80 to 91 hours on average.
• Workers of the Baby Boom generation tend to feel more overworked than those of other generations.
• The largest number of people in work situations of mandatory longer hours are those in executive and administrative occupations
• Small business owners work the most hours (paid unpaid) at their main or only job with 38% working more than 50 hours per week.

Burn out is a state of chronic stress that is comprised of the following:

• physical and emotional exhaustion
• cynicism and detachment
• feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment

The New York Times, in an article titled, Dealing With Burnout, describes this condition as "not just when you need a vacation to recharge. It’s when you feel overwhelming exhaustion, frustration, cynicism and a sense of ineffectiveness and failure." It used to be something experienced mostly by people in the human services occupations--health care workers, social workers, therapists, police officers--but has expanded to many other professions.

Psychology Today outlines the following symptoms of burn out:

1. Chronic fatigue: In the early stages, you may feel a lack energy and feel tired most days. In the latter stages, you feel physically and emotionally exhausted, drained, and depleted, and you may feel a sense of dread for what lies ahead on any given day.

2. Insomnia. In the early stages, you may have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep one or two nights a week. In the latter stages, insomnia may turn into a persistent, nightly ordeal; as exhausted as you are, you can't sleep.

2. Forgetfulness/impaired concentration and attention: Lack of focus and mild forgetfulness are early signs. Later, the problems may get to the point where you can't get your work done and everything begins to pile up.

3. Physical symptoms: Physical symptoms may include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, gastrointestinal pain, dizziness, fainting, and/or headaches (all of which should be medically assessed).

4. Increased illness: Because your body is depleted, your immune system becomes weakened, making you more vulnerable to infections, colds, flu, and other immune-related medical problems.

5. Loss of appetite: In the early stages, you may not feel hungry and may skip a few meals. In the latter stages, you may lose your appetite all together and begin to lose a significant amount of weight.

6. Anxiety: Early on, you may experience mild symptoms of tension, worry, and edginess. As you move closer to burnout, the anxiety may become so serious that it interferes in your ability to work productively and may cause problems in your personal life.

7. Depression: In the early stages, you may feel mildly sad, occasionally hopeless, and you may experience feelings of guilt and worthlessness as a result. At its worst, you may feel trapped, severely depressed, and think the world would be better off without you. (If your depression is to this point, you should seek professional help immediately.)

8. Anger: At first, this may present as interpersonal tension and irritability. In the latter stages, this may turn into angry outbursts and serious arguments at home and in the workplace. (If anger gets to the point where it turns to thoughts or acts of violence toward family or coworkers, seek immediate professional assistance.)

If you're facing burn out, don't give up--you can get back on your feet and to the level of performance that you are capable of; however, it will take some time and discipline. Here are some ways you can work to overcome burn out, according to Psychology Today:

1. Take an Inventory: List all the things that are causing you stress and anxiety right now. Take your time to make the list--don't rush through it. If new things come to mind in 24 hours, write them down.

2. Itemize: Next to each item, jot down ways that you can change those situations so that they don't feel as stressful--little strategies to get around them and reduce the stress. Again, this is a process, not a race--take your time. If you can't find strategies for some--or all--of them, don't worry; just keep working through them.

3. Just say no: It's good to say no to people and situations if you don't want to do them or you feel obligated to do them. Saying no is a way of gaining back a sense of who you are. Some people prescribe saying no for an entire week, even to things you might want to do, just to get in the habit. 

4. Delegate: You don't have to do everything. Get in the habit of delegating to others, even if they won't do it as well or fast as you. Releasing the burdens will start to take the weight off your shoulders, and help you recover.

5. Take breaks between big projects: Often we are tempted to rush from one project to the next, especially if it promises monetary reward, promotions, or just keeping your position as Alpha Dog. But taking breaks are an important way of regaining your stamina and having the time and space to reflect on your successes and prepare body and mind to move on.

6. Turn off devices: It is not implausible that our devices are the reason for a surge in burn out. We are no longer really in control of our lives--our devices control us, through which we are always on call, always expected to be available, always multi-tasking. Turning off your device gives you adequate time and space to reflect on your actions.

7. Socialize outside of work: If your only source of relationships are work colleagues, then you are ever-mired by the issues and toxins of your workplace. Getting out from under that and hanging out with people of different interests and backgrounds can be very healthy.

8. Avoid bringing work home: Resist the urge to bring work home; you can get everything you need done at the office--the rest is either not that important, or a way of bolstering your ego. We are often validated based on our work, so we do it all the time. Your recovery will require you to rethink your work habits.

9. Effort, not outcome: Be more engaged in process, not product. Enjoy the work, get into its flow; and let the outcome emerge from the joy of the process itself. 

10. Consider a support group: This is a common problem, and there are therapists and communities that can help you rethink and re-prioritize. 

Why Texting And Driving Is Harming You Without You Even Knowing It

We have heard time and time again that distracted driving, particularly with mobile devices, can kill you. We have seen many public service announcements showing the grave dangers associated with driving and texting--both for the driver and those around him/her. And while the importance of these messages is not under challenge here in this post, there is a sense in which we all get it: driving and texting, driving and talking on the phone, driving and tweeting, driving and Facebooking, driving and   fiddling with your iTunes playlist are all dangerous activities (think about the number of times you've changed songs on your iPhone--after, of course, searching for about 10 seconds--and you look up and don't know when the last time was that you saw the road). 

However, there is another serious, perhaps more subtle but just as real, threat to your well-being than simply knocking your vehicle into someone else's, or into the side of a pedestrian or trunk of a tree: that the perpetual engagement of your digital device while driving is taking away important down-time needed for reflection, decision making, and dealing with emotional baggage of the day. In a study at the University of California, San Francisco, scientists discovered that when rats have new experiences their brains show signs of new patterns; but those explorations are processed into persistent memory when the rats have taken a break from those activities. And humans have shown to learn in similar ways: We learn most when we step back from a given activity, and, even unconsciously, have time to reflect on them. The New York Times article in which this study was reported continues,

“Almost certainly, downtime lets the brain go over experiences it’s had, solidify them and turn them into permanent long-term memories,” said Loren Frank, assistant professor in the department of physiology at the university, where he specializes in learning and memory. He said he believed that when the brain was constantly stimulated, “you prevent this learning process.”

The fear with constant distraction from our digital devices is that our brain patterns are literally being shifted in a way that is detrimental to how we have evolved over time as humans. When you are constantly being stimulated, you are unable to back away and reflect in meaningful ways on the interactions and experiences you've had. We may call this constant stimulation "multi-tasking," but according to some brain researchers, such activity is merely repetitious distraction, which, to many, is actually rewiring our brains:

"Our daily routine is filled with repeated distractions from information that demands our attention; making each day the opposite of “ordinary.” Research is beginning to show that our devices affect our minds cognitive ability to function."

What led to the renaissance period in human history was people's profound ability to learn, reflect on their learning, and create amazing works of art, philosophy, and invention (Leonardo da Vinci was not the anomaly that many make him out to be--there were plenty of them around). We are losing the profundity of the reflective life to the false urgency of the digital device. 

What I am getting at here is that the commute to and from work can be a time and space that allows you to reclaim the reflection on your experiences that you desperately need to de-stress, decompress, and just simply process. By remaining hooked up to our digital devices while driving, not only are we endangering our and others' lives, but we are overstimulating our brains, frying our neurons, becoming more stressed, and carrying all that home with us into our families. As one brain scientist responded to a well-known New York Times Op-Ed by popular brain-guru, Steven Pinker, 

"The fact that people who fiddle with cell phones drive poorly shouldn’t make us less concerned about the cognitive effects of media distractions; it should make us more concerned."

The concern is, according to Steven Yantis, a professor of psychological and neuro sciences and Johns Hopkins University, each time you switch tasks and switch back again, your brain has to recall where you were in the previous task. This may cause you to have to work your way back through the problem again, or re-read the previous paragraph, which makes "Deep thinking about a complex topic...nearly impossible."

We are not merely robotic computing machines--we are reflective human beings. We live in a complex world in which stepping back from our experiences, reflecting on them, and making deep decisions on them is critical for our well-being and that of our loved ones, friends, and colleagues. Take the time on your commute, especially home from work, to avoid the device. Consider putting it on 'Do not disturb', and then simply work your to not engaging it at all. For not only does it distract from the immediate task of safely operating a vehicle moving on average 60 kilometres per hour but also from the brains natural function of reflecting on past experiences, learning from them, and planning new ways forward. 

If You Have To Drive At Night, These 11 Tips Could Save Your Life

It's late: you're driving home from your cottage and got held up with family members, or that amazing dinner you just needed a little more time to enjoy. Now you're driving home along highways of variegated lighting--some with none at all--and you're pinching open your eyes to stay awake. There's no help from your spouse whose asleep next to you, mouth gaping open, perhaps even snoring; and your kids have long since escaped consciousness in the backseat, with earbuds still left in their ears. "Did the lady at Timmy's give me freakin' decaf?!" you wonder as you imbibe that double-double yawning widely between ill-fated swigs.

It's lonely out there; you're still two hours to mothership, and the longed-for comfort of bed--

Many of us have experienced this one time or another; and many of us in those moments kick and berate and curse ourselves--we should know better. 

Indeed, night time driving is one of the most dangerous things you can do--statistically speaking. Some studies have shown that sleep deprived driving causes impairment as severe as alcohol. It impairs one's abilities in the following four areas:

• Coordination
• Reflex
• Judgement
• Information retention

Moreover, your chances of coming in contact with impaired drivers, sleep deprived drivers, animals, and just plain weirdos increases the later you're driving. 

For those moments, and others like them, here are a few tips to help you with those late night drives:

1. Check that all exterior lights work properly (front and rear, brake and high beams). If your windshield is dirty, clean it at the next gas station: your ability to see can be compromised if your windshield is full of bug debris.

2. Use your high beams in areas without sufficient light, but not when it's foggy--the light beams will simply reflect back on you further impairing your vision.

3. If your rear-view mirror has a day/night function (usually activated by flicking the knob at the bottom of the mirror itself), use it: someone behind you with high beams on, or a truck whose grill sits nice and high, will blind you otherwise. If someone is coming towards you with high beams on, turn your eyes away from it, and look straight ahead--do not be tempted to look at it head on, which is a natural reflex when we see bright lights.

4. Avoid turning on your interior lights, whether to check a map or otherwise (who uses maps anymore?); and for crying out loud, don't use your mobile device.

5. Keep your eyes moving by checking your rearview, and side mirrors intermittently. This will not only keep you well informed of those around you, but will keep you more alert.

6. Leave more space between you and other drivers, in the event of hit brakes ahead of you. With attention and reflex impairment, you need to give yourself plenty of time to respond.

7. If you have candy or a pack of your kids' bubble gum, use it. Sucking on candies and chewing on gum can increase attention and brain function--same goes for driving. It's good to keep some with you nevertheless as a private stash for just those occasions.

8. Avoid taking any medications that will make you drowsy. If you have to take a medication, try to take it long in advance to allow the initial drowsiness to wear off. There are serious risks involved in drugged driving. 

9. Eat a meal higher in protein, rather than carbohydrates, before hitting the road. If you are out with family or friends, avoid the big pasta dinner, and go instead with the steak and caesar salad--the protein will not make you as drowsy. And avoid all alcohol content, passing that over for a stiff cup of coffee instead.

10. Keep a road side emergency kit, in the event that you God-forbid get into a collision, or get thrown into the ditch by a collision with a lugubrious moose or darting deer.

11. If possible, avoid traveling at night. If you need to be in town the following day for work, consider, if you can, keeping an extra set of clothes, getting some sleep, and leaving early in the morning.  

Check Out Some Of The Cheapest And Most Expensive Cars To Insure In Canada--Especially If You're Justin Bieber

When considering insurance, there are a number of factors, one of which is the kind of car you drive: Is it a sports car or family vehicle? Does it have a high rate of theft? Is it expensive to repair? Is it a new or older vehicle? All these factors weigh upon the amount you will have to pay to insure the vehicle. For instance, if you're buying a new sports car that is highly attractive to thieves, has a statistical record for high-rates of accidents, and is expensive to repair, you'll pay much more for that car than one that is an older family vehicle. 

The Cheapest Cars To Insure In Canada

For a very detailed analysis of vehicles and they're insurance rates, check out the How Cars Measure Up report by the Insurance Bureau of Canada. For the purpose of simplicity, below are top 10 vehicles that are known for having some of the lowest insurance rates in Canada:

1. Mazda Tribute
2. Jeep Compass
3. Pontiac Grand Prix
4. Chevrolet Equinox
5. Subaru Forester
6. Smart Fortwo Coupe
7. Dodge Grand Caravan
8. Honda Odyssey
9. Ford Edge
10. Volvo XC90

The Most Expensive Cars To Insure In Canada

With the cheapest cars to insure out of the way, it remains necessary to list some of the most expensive vehicles to insure, with some being tagged as such for their appeal to car thieves, and others for their capacity for break-neck speed. 

1. BMW M6
2. Mercedes-Benz CL550 4MATIC
3. Audi R8 Spyder Quattro
4. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT
5. Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG
6. Ford F-250 Super Duty
7. Honda Civic Si Coupe
8. Acura MDX
9. Toyota FI Cruiser
10. Toyota Camry

For a detailed list of the cheapest and most expensive vehicles to insure in Canada, check out How They Measure Up: a document put together by the Canadian Insurance Bureau.

4 Simple Tips You Have To Read To Treat A Bee Sting

The bees and wasps are among us; and knowing how to avoid their nests and deal with their stings and bites is an important part of summer life in Ontario.

In a recent Examiner report, a pregnant mother of three, named Sarah Harkins, was in her back yard when she accidentally disturbed a wasp nest, and succumbed to a wasp attack that ultimately led to her tragic death. 

While rather uncommon, there was another wasp death this past July: Lucie Roussel, the Mayor of La Prairie, Quebec, died from 15 wasp bites after inadvertently stepping on a wasp nest at her cottage, according to CBC News. It is unclear from the story whether she was allergic to wasps, or had tragically died from the shock of the bites. While deaths by wasp and bee attacks are uncommon, it remains important to know what to do in the event of a sting or bite. If you have a terrible reaction to a sting or bite, you will need to consult your physician for any signs of allergies; he or she may prescribe you an epipen to keep with you in the event of any future run ins with bees or wasps. 

4 Tips for How to Treat a Bee Sting

1. Remove the stinger: If it is a honey bee, remove the stinger. Simply pinching and pulling it out with your fingers should work, otherwise find something else, like tweezers, to extract it.

2. Check for allergic reaction: If prolonged swelling in the face, mouth, or throat appear, wheezing or difficulty breathing or swallowing, or hives spread out beyond the sting, it is likely there is an allergic reaction. Take an antihistamine, or better yet an Epipen, and get to emergency immediately. 

3. Take ibuprofen, such as Advil, to treat the pain.

4. There are a number of home remedies to treat the bite or sting. You can simply ice the area, or apply a calamine or antihistamine cream. If you're more desperate, or adventurous, try applying toothpaste or honey to the wound. You can even try rubbing a slice of potato on the sting--but make sure it's raw.

3 TED Talks About Risk That Will Strike, Maybe Even Alarm, But Surely Won't Bore You

With the rapid pace of information technology, we have access to all sorts of information. These three TED talks cover issues pertinent to our future. This is an important part of this blog simply because the future is becoming more and more rapidly NOW, especially as technology and human knowledge speed up. 

This is a kind of TED theatre. What's important about the exercise of watching multiple TED talks is not the individual talks themselves, but how the ideas from the collection of talks meld with and bounce off each other to create higher-level questions and observations that ultimately lead to discussions with others. 

It is important that we learn more about the future, especially when we are talking about the broader context of insurance as the act of mitigating and securing against risk. 

1. Hubertus Knabe: Dark Secrets of the Surveillance State: The first talk is about the dark secrets of the surveillance state. With news traveling about the power of Google and how our locations are being perpetually tracked on a daily basis, not to mention the NSA and other organizations, being aware of privacy issues is critical for living in the 21st Century. Hubertus Knabe studied the Stasi, the East German Secret Service, and was even spied on by them. 

 Hubertus Knabe: Dark Secrets of the Surveillance State 

2. Nicholas Negroponte: 30 Year History of the Future: Inventor, innovator, and scholar, Nicholas Negroponte (of the Negroponte $100 laptop computer), talks about predictions he made in the 70s and 80s that came true, and leaves you with a prediction for the next 30 years.

Nicholas Negroponte: 30 Year History of the Future

3. Lorrie Faith Cranor: What's Wrong With Your Pa$$word? Lorrie Faith Cranor has studies thousands of internet passwords and has discovered a number of common mistakes users make when creating them that compromises security. How did she get at these passwords to study them? That's part of the story itself.

Lorrie Faith Cranor: What's Wrong With Your Pa$$word?