Ever since carrying liquids in your carry-on baggage became a misdemeanor, taking some wine back from your holiday has been quite a pain. Your options? Down the bottles before you hit security (no need for Xanax!), take the chance of packing them in your suitcase where breakage and spillage are very real possibilities or ship ‘em home.

Or consider the WineSkin.

The WineSkin is no engineering feat. It’s basically just a big bubble wrap envelope shaped like a wine bottle. It has a dual-strip seal to keep any spillage from spilling over into your suitcase. However, a thin sheath of bubble wrap won’t prevent breakage caused by overzealous baggage handlers. So while we like the idea of the WineSkin, we’d still want to wrap it in a shirt or two, just in case

From the Source, the company who manufactures WineSkins, is not stopping at wine bottle protectors. It’s also in the process of working on skins for Vodka (called PotatoSkins!), Olive Oil, and Vinegar, so the home cook will be able to smuggle all kinds of liquids back to the kitchen. You can’t order the protective sleeve directly from the manufacturer, but you can check out a dealer near you right here.

From www.jaunted.com

It has been a long time since I’ve moved abroad. I’m not even sure if migrating from the US to the UK and then from the UK to Australia counts as moving ‘abroad’. But there was a time when my husband and I nearly bought our first house in France – a beautiful old ramshackled (and very cheap!) stone house with grapevines hanging from the windows and multiple barns to ‘do up’. I think that’s generally the kind of moving abroad that Lorraine Mace talks about in her new book The Greatest Moving Abroad Tips in the World, but the advice is applicable to any kind of move from one country to another. Mace knows what she’s talking about. An Englishwoman by birth, Mace has lived in five countries, including France, where she now lives, Africa, and the Mediterranean. The book contains information about many aspects of moving abroad that I had to learn the hard way - through trial and error. The book is small, concise, and easy to follow, with colourful images and a very simple point format. Mace is humorous and uses a light-hearted, relaxed writing style that gives the reader the sense that a sage friend is providing advice you can trust. You won’t want to sit down and read it like you’d read a novel, but using it for an overseas move can prevent costly mistakes, and smooth what might otherwise be a pretty tricky transition.

The book is divided into 11 chapters, each of which looks at a specific aspect of the move. Each chapter is lightened with a piece of trivia, a quote, and a neat one page summary. The first chapter covers where to go in the first place. If you’re considering a move, but haven’t decided where, this chapter takes you through a series of questions that you need to consider when making your choice. Other chapters cover things like managing the removal process, dealing with pets, buying a house, dealing with communications from post to Internet, working, playing, driving, staying healthy, and handling money. Although brief, it’s reasonably comprehensive, with lots of checklists, contacts, and a number of questions.

Cardboard seems to have more uses than just storage because Jonathan Coop, an industrial design major, is being honoured for his cardboard chair design.

After reviewing 171 cardboard chair designs from 11 universities and colleges, the judges of the American Institute of Architecture Students 2009 Chair Affair Design Competition chose Coop’s chair design as one of the top six designs.

All six finalists will have their chairs displayed at the AIAS 2009 National Convention and Design Exposition in San Francisco on April 30. A second panel will look at the top six designs and choose those who win first, second and third place, while the three others will receive honourable mentions. All six will be displayed at the National Building Museum this summer.

This was Coop’s first try at making something functional out of cardboard.

Cardboard is made from a natural renewable resource and has the best recycling rate of any packaging material used today.

“I wanted a simple form that transitioned from the armrest into the backrest,” Coop said.

Coop used a cookie-cutter stamp, razor, glue and hammer and voilà! Thirty hours and 260 layers of cardboard later, he had built a chair.

All the students in Coop’s class were required to build cardboard chairs, but entering the competition was optional.

The Chair Affair Design competition is meant to challenge students and also introduce the students to the cardboard industry, which has career opportunities for students graduating in architecture and design.

Industrial design is a true passion for Coop.

From the Dailey 49er.com

TRAFFIC was brought to a halt when motorists came across an unusual obstacle in the middle of the road - a house.

A full-sized home was being transported through Armidale on a lorry when it reached the bridge in Niagara St.

The house, headed for a site in Madgwick Drive, became lodged on the bridge rails and couldn’t go any further.

Acting Inspector John Walkowiak said the problem arose as the load was wider than the trailer and when the truck reached the bridge it became evident the railing was too high for the house to clear.

“It took some two hours to negotiate the bridge,” Insp Walkowiak said.

“They had to jack the whole thing up to get over.”

Police had the road blocked diverting traffic while the wide load crossed the

bridge.

However, once the load had cleared the section of Niagara St there were no further problems.

If you’re moving house in the near future give Lok’nStore Business & Household Self Storage a call on 0800 587 3322  to discuss your needs or visit the Lok’nStore website.

This cool tree-house, designed in Germany, is made out of 100% cardboard and is super easy to assemble. It looks great in white, but it can also obviously be customised with paints.  Should tree-houses not be your kid’s thing, they can choose from a palace, castle or pirate fortress.

Lok’nblog Business & Household Self Storage brings you a brief history of bubblewrap!

What we now know as Bubblewrap was invented by Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes.  They developed the AirCap cellular cushioning while they were trying to create textured wallpaper by capturing air between two thin layers of plastic. The wallpaper idea didn’t work out, but they realized that their invention would make terrific protective packing material and their idea evolved into Bubble Wrap.

Used to pack thousands of  fragile items during transit each day the sheet of bubblewrap provides a added level of shock absorption that is far better that the newspaper used to wrap plates etc in the past.  There is also a special type of bubblewrap which has anti-static qualities that are used by the electronic industry to ship sensitive parts.

Bubblewrap has also developed an image of being a superb stress reliever.  Why does everyone start popping bubbles as soon as they open a box that contains the plastic sheet? 

It has become such an integral part of our lives and culture that it has been used as material for wedding dresses, by artists, and popular TV culture.  For those who haven’t seen the cult Sci-Fi programme the wacky crew of the Red Dwarf travel back in time and patent the ‘Tension Sheet’ which is nothing more than a sheet of bubblewrap painted red and become millionaires.

So if you need bubblewrap to make that new dress, or you’re feeling slightly stressed, get down to your nearest Lok’nStore Business & Household Self Storage centre.  They have a huge stock of bubblewrap for you in 10, 50, or 100 metre rolls.  Give them a call on 0800 587 3322 or drop into your local centre for a look round.  Or you can check out the Lok’nStore website which contains details of prices for bubblewrap plus the locations of our friendly storage centres.

Too much stuff?  Don’t ignore it… Lok’nStore it!

GLEN COVE (New York) - A FORMER New Jersey beach house designed by acclaimed architect Robert Venturi has been placed on a foundation at its new location in New York.

Last month, the 186 square meter modernist structure was taken 150 kilometers by barge to Glen Cove, Long Island, from Barnegat Light, New Jersey. It was lifted onto its foundation Monday.

Robert Gotkin and Deborah Sarnoff already live in a house designed by Venturi.

Their new acquisition - which was saved from the wrecking ball - will be used as a guest cottage.

The little beach house was built in 1967. It’s best known for the huge number 9 on its front, and a sailboat-shaped window on one side.

The iconic window now faces the Manhattan skyline.

If you’re moving house give Lok’nStore Business & Household Self Storage a call on 0800 587 3322 or visit the Lok’nStore website.

Surprising as it may seem, about three billion people still eat meals that are cooked using firewood. This adds considerably to deforestation and global warming. Introducing a solution: a cardboard box.

A Kenya-based company, Kyoto Energy, has created the Kyoto Box, an inexpensive solar cooker made of cardboard that people in the developing world can use to heat water and cook food without the need for wood. The box took first prize last week in a competition sponsored by Forum for the future to promote new green technologies that will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Kyoto Box is made from two cardboard boxes, one inside the other, which use reflective foil and black paint to maximize absorption of solar energy. At a cost of approximately $6 to make, it can be easily mass-produced at local cardboard factories.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

Loknblog found this painter who uses bubblewrap instead of brushes!  Well if he needs more bubblewrap at the lowest prices in the industry he should drop into his local Lok’nStore Business & Household Self Storage Centre.  With a huge range of stock he’ll be able to walk away with a 10, 50 or 100mtr roll.  For more details on all our services give us a call on 0800 587 3322 or visit the LoknStore website.

Steve Plout a painter from Princeton doesn’t always use a brush for his paintings.  For his latest piece of work Plout created patterns suing bubblewrap for filled in dots, and cardboard tubes for circles and pieces of tile for squares.

There are no boundaries,’ he said.

Loknblog, the Business & Household Self Storage Blog brings you another storage story from across the globe!

Researchers have developed a critical part of a hydrogen storage system for cars that makes it possible to fill up a vehicle’s fuel tank within five minutes with enough hydrogen to drive 300 miles.

The system uses a fine powder called metal hydride to absorb hydrogen gas. The researchers have created the system’s heat exchanger, which circulates coolant through tubes and uses fins to remove heat generated as the hydrogen is absorbed by the powder.

The heat exchanger is critical because the system stops absorbing hydrogen effectively if it overheats, said Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering who is leading the research.

“The hydride produces an enormous amount of heat,” Mudawar said. “It would take a minimum of 40 minutes to fill the tank without cooling, and that would be entirely impractical.”

Researchers envision a system that would enable motorists to fill their car with hydrogen within a few minutes. The hydrogen would then be used to power a fuel cell to generate electricity to drive an electric motor.

Loknblog, the best Business & Household Self Storage blog in the industry found this useful guide about moving to Greece.

For most people, the fun part of moving their life and family to Greece is definitely in the early days of the decision. When long weekends are still being filled by impromptu trips to idyllic Greek islands in search of the perfect new home, it’s hard to put a damper on things by thinking of the practical planning that such a move will require.

Practical planning though is the key to a smooth move from the UK to Greece, so as soon as the decision has been made, the search should begin to find a home removals company that can safely transport your belongings to your new home in Greece. Unlike many other European countries, Greek geography is complex because almost one sixth of the country is made up of its 2,000 or so islands. It makes sense therefore, to use a removals company that know the country inside out, not only the mainland areas but also the many islands, as their local knowledge will be invaluable at the Greek end of your move. When talking to removals companies, do discuss in detail the location of the property to which you are moving and ensure that they are equipped to access it, particularly if it is located at the top of a steep hill or in a remote village. A reputable company who are specialists in UK to Greece removals, will be able to offer the support and guidance that you need at this stage of your planning.

The next essential step is to evaluate your current home contents, to decide exactly what will be making the move with you. If this is a permanent move, you will need to be more ruthless in your evaluation than you will if your relocation is temporary. If there are items that you don’t want to take, decide whether it is practical to have them stored in the UK and if not, now may be the right time to have a clear out.

At this point, you should also give some thought to customs and immigration requirements. It is usual for most countries to permit the duty free entry of household goods that are more than one year old, but most will not permit duty free entry of items that are less than one year old. Certain items are also restricted and it is important to get up to date advice and guidance from the appropriate Greek authorities well before your move.

Once you have decided what items need to be shipped to Greece, the best plan of action is to get a survey carried out by a professional haulage company. Only then will you get an accurate quote for your move, as your own estimates of ‘a few crates’ will probably be wildly inaccurate. Many removals companies offer a packing service, to help ease the pressure of moving abroad, so if this is of interest to you, discuss it with them during the survey. Selecting a reputable company will give your precious home contents the best protection during the move, but insurance in transit is essential. It’s quite likely that your home contents insurance won’t cover your property during a move abroad, so it is prudent to check with your insurers in good time so that you can take additional cover if required.

You may need to store your household contents before shipping them out to beautiful Greece?  If so give us a call at LoknStore Business & Household Self Storage on 0800 587 3322.

The date of your move to Greece may well be dictated by the start of a new job, which will give you less flexibility in your choice of removal date, but if you can be flexible, try to avoid choosing a date towards the end of a month, as this tends to be the most popular time of the month for most people making a move overseas, so it is also the busiest for all organisations involved in the removals process. The local holiday calendar in Greece should also be taken into account, as national holidays are often different to UK holidays and avoiding them can help to reduce unnecessary delays at the Greek end of your move.

When you are planning the shipment of your home contents, it’s easy to forget about personal travel plans for you and other family members, but don’t leave it too late to book your own flights and other travel arrangements, particularly if your move will be during the peak summer months, as flights often get booked up quickly in advance by holiday makers. If your family members include pets, they will need a Pet Passport and you will have to arrange for their shipment. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs can provide you with up to date advice and information on moving your pets abroad.

Official documents such as marriage and birth certificates, driver’s license and financial papers should really be packed with your personal hand luggage so that you have everything to hand if required when you arrive in Greece. As you will probably arrive before your shipment, having all your paperwork with you will mean that you can use the time wisely, to sort out the essentials such as a bank account, car hire and medical registrations if they haven’t been arranged before you move.

Careful planning will help you to keep control of your move, which in turn helps to reduce the anxieties of moving abroad, leaving you free to start enjoying your new life in the sun.

Alison Thompson