Problem: Article: Transfer the wood ash you've collected in your metal buckets to the barrel. Shovel the wood ash over top of the straw. Fill the barrel to within 4 inches (10 cm) of the top of the barrel. Mount the barrel on sturdy blocks so the holes underneath are accessible. The barrel has to be high enough off the ground to accommodate a bucket underneath. You can also mount the barrel inside an open wooden frame. Make sure the barrel is sturdy and will not fall over. Place a lye-safe bucket under the holes in the barrel. This bucket will catch the lye water, so it has to be a lye-safe material. Acceptable bucket materials include: Glass Stainless steel Number 5 plastics Heavy-duty plastic Slowly add rainwater to the barrel by the bucketful. You want to add enough water in total to make the ashes wet, but not soaking. If you start to see the water line at the top of the bucket and the ashes are starting to float, stop adding water. Pay attention to how many bucketfuls of water you add. This will give you an idea of how many buckets of lye water to expect from the barrel. You don't have to put a lid on the barrel, but make sure that it's protected from rain in case you get a storm. Lye is very caustic and corrosive. It burns skin, causes blindness, and can damage organic tissue and inorganic materials. When working with lye and lye water, it's very important to be extremely careful and to wear personal safety equipment, including: Goggles Hard shoes or boots Elbow-length plastic gloves After a few hours, the first run of lye water will start to trickle out from the holes in the bottom of the barrel. Let the bucket underneath fill up to within 4 inches (10 cm) of the top of the bucket. When the bucket is full, carefully remove it from under the barrel. Be careful not to spill the lye water. Replace the bucket with a fresh one to catch the rest of the water. Your lye water has to be a certain strength before you can use it to make soap. The lye water will probably not be ready after a single run, but you can test it. There are four different tests you can use to test the strength of the lye: Use pH test strips. You're looking for a pH of 13. Use a pH meter to see if the pH is at 13. Place a small potato in the lye water. If it sinks, the lye isn't strong enough. If it floats, the lye is ready. Dip a chicken feather into the lye. If the feather doesn't dissolve, the lye isn't strong enough yet. Most lye water solutions will have to be run through the ash barrel at least a second time. If your lye wasn't strong enough after the first run, carefully pour all the lye water back into the ash barrel. Be extremely careful not to spill or splash the lye water, as it can burn your skin. Replace a bucket under the holes in the barrel. Let the water drain through the ashes again. The lye water that comes out the second time will be stronger. When all the lye water has drained through a second time, test the pH again. Run the lye water through again if necessary.
Summary: Fill the barrel with wood ash. Prop the barrel up on sturdy blocks. Position the bucket. Pour rainwater over the ash. Put on your personal safety equipment. Collect the water that drains out. Test the strength. Run the water through again until it's strong enough.

Problem: Article: Throw away their toothbrush and any other brushes it came into contact with to prevent the sickness from spreading. Soaking your toothbrush in antibacterial mouthwash for ten minutes after your illness ends may kill germs that might cause a return of the illness, however it is a better idea to simply replace the toothbrush. Even trace amounts of bacteria can be dangerous for those with compromised immune systems, so keeping your toothbrush disinfected is advisable. Use an antibacterial mouthwash before you brush your teeth. This may help reduce the amount of bacteria that gets onto your toothbrush when brushing. Rinse the toothbrush with antibacterial mouthrinse before brushing. This may reduce the amount of bacteria deposited on the toothbrush. Replace your toothbrush more frequently than every three to four months. This may help reduce your exposure to bacteria over time. Consider a toothbrush sanitizer. While studies do not show any particular benefit to these devices, you can purchase one that has been cleared by the FDA. Toothbrush sanitizers kill up to 99.9% of bacteria on the brush. (Sterilizing means that 100% of bacteria and living organisms have been killed, and no commercial toothbrush cleaner can claim this.) Studies show that people who are wearing appliances on their teeth collect more germs on their toothbrushes. Rinse with antibacterial mouthrinse before brushing to reduce the amount of bacteria deposited on the toothbrush. If you have braces, you may also find it helpful to also use a water flosser or waterpik to clean between your braces and your teeth.
Summary: Take extra precautions if someone in your home is sick. Take extra precautions if you have a compromised immune system or are particularly susceptible to illness. Take extra precautions if you have braces or other appliances.

Problem: Article: The target should be willing to hand over audited financial statements for the past five years. If the company is publicly traded, it should file financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). They file 10-K statements each year and 10-Q statements quarterly, which you can obtain online at the EDGAR website. If the company is private, you still want their audited financial statements. You'll want to use five years' worth of statements to create a trend line comparison. This allows you to see whether the company's finances are improving or deteriorating. The financial statements should also include a cash flow analysis. This report shows the sources of cash and why it is used. Confusing financial statements are a red flag. You should probably avoid buying a target whose statements you can't understand. Instead, look for clean and clear financial statements. You might need help reading the financial statements. If so, you should hire an accountant. You can find an accountant by asking another business or contacting your state's accounting society and asking for a referral. If it has, you'll want to know about these earlier sales efforts. Ask the target why the sale fell through. It's also a good idea to ask why they are selling in the first place. For example, the owners might want to start a new business in a different industry, or they may want to retire. Those are good reasons. However, the business might be losing money. If so, then the owners could be trying to get out before going bankrupt. You'll want to avoid a company that's losing money unless you know how to turn things around. If the company is publicly traded, you can find this information on the stock exchange. This is the amount it costs to buy a share of the company. If you want to buy all of the shares, multiply the total number of shares by the share price. If you want to buy only a majority stake, then multiply a majority of shares by the share price. However, you should assess whether you think the market is over- or under-valuing the company based on your analysis of its financials and other fundamentals. Also check the share price over time and consider whether the share price has been recently inflated. It's not unusual for a target to try and inflate the price when it anticipates being bought. If you are buying a private company, then there is no purchase price on the market. Instead, the purchase price will be whatever the owners want to sell for, so be sure to ask. You'll still need to analyze the price based on the company's assets and liabilities, which is discussed below.
Summary:
Ask for audited financial statements. Check if you can understand the statements. Ask whether the company has been up for sale before. Research a public company's purchase price. Ask a private company for its purchase price.