As most of you know by now, Zara is becoming a big name in the fashion world. Bringing the world professional suits, flirty skirts, shirts and trousers in both men’s and women’s collection, this is one name that absolutely will not to be forgotten. Now, Zara is offering shoes that will blow your mind with a variety of colors, styles, sizes, and prices. The creators at Zara have brought something to the table for everyone to try, and have made it possible for just about anyone to walk the street in style with their affordable prices.

Some brand name shoes cost up to five hundred dollars if not more, you can find Zara’s brand name styles for as little as one hundred and sometimes less than that, I’ve seen as low as forty dollars online! However, these aren’t your run of the mill cheap shoes; Zara shoes are gorgeous and can make anyone look good. Zara offers women strapped heeled sandals, thick pumps, flats, and many other various styles. By offering so many styles, Zara is creating something for everyone and gives everyone a reason to check them out.

Zara also offers men’s shoes, and while this collection is less popular, it is still a decent collection. Zara shoes for men offers sandals, traditional laced up sneakers and more unique edgy sneakers for those looking to try a bolder look. The men’s collection of Zara shoes is quickly becoming a big trend, what’s most unique; the Zara trend is to wear sandals with long business like trousers. Shockingly enough, this trend has caught on and looks pretty good on men everywhere.

This season, it seems that Zara is experimenting with flats for both men and women. In bold colors like purple and yellow, both men and women are treading the streets with bold colored flat sneakers that look so awkward, it works for them. That seems to be the Zara way though, they have made a fortune off of making things that just shouldn’t work look fabulous on anyone and they have taken styles that are considered traditionally ugly, and made them stylish. That is what fashion is all about, and that is one of the biggest reasons people are clinging to Zara this season, everyone is oozing wondering what will be next for this daring clothing brand.

Thanks To : birkenstock sandals

Have you ever noticed that some 10K runs are actually open to people who want to do a 10K walk? We might assume that the walkers would get run over by the runners but this is far from the truth. In most cases the walkers are accepted as part of the group.

Many people enjoy taking a leisurely 10K walk instead of training to run that distance. They enjoy the scenery as they walk by it and they like the excitement of the race. Some of these races will have a competitive walking division while others will just give space to the walkers.

As an example, sometimes the walkers will start before or after the runners so that they can be at their own pace. Some people are going to just walk casually for the 10K walk and if that is the case they won’t need a lot of training to do it. However if you want to be competitive with your walking you will need to train for the 10K walk.

If you just want to take this stroll make sure that your running shoes are comfortable and that you have been practicing walking 45 to 90 minutes steady. This should have been done in the last month or two of your interest in the 10K walk.

You will want to know that a 10K walk is actually 6.2 miles. You will want to make sure you practiced a bit before you try to do this in a race because you will want to finish this distance. In general people who do a 10K walk actually train for it over an 8 week period. This seems to be standard if you want to walk in competition.

One of the most important areas you will need to master is the art of race walking. This gets you moving at a very fast pace if competition is on your mind. There are also rules for race walking: You have to have one foot on the ground all the time and the leg that is moving forward has to be straight at your knee until it is under your body vertically. This will help you do a better 10K walk as well.

Some people who decide to do a 10K walk may be former runners who either decided to stop running or had to stop because of injuries or illness. The good thing about this type of race is the fact that people in wheelchairs can also be a part of it.

There are many senior citizens who enjoy a 10K walk because it is exhilarating and because they can do it over a long period of time. This is a sport that combines physical fitness with a competitive focus for some. However, you can race walk at a leisure pace if that is what you want to do.

If you are interested in a 10K walk it is a good idea to talk to others who have done it. You may just find a buddy or two to walk with you.

Visit : New Balance Running Shoes

So you are considering printing your own wedding invitations, this is surely a money saving idea. The cost to print wedding invitations professionally is not cheap and you can obtain similar quality by printing on blank wedding invitations.

There are many types of blank printable wedding invitations on the market, especially online. You can find almost any wedding theme blank you are looking for online or at your local print store. I would suggest to first of be sure of how you want your wedding invitations to look before you go shopping. You don’t want to get confused and spend to much time trying to make a choice of what to buy.

Start shopping for your blank printable invitations early enough as a precaution. You don’t want to find out at the last minute that the design you want is on back order. For this very reason you should also have a second pick after you have located your first preference.

If you decide to do the printing yourself you would either be using an inkjet printer which most people have at home or a laser jet. Make sure you know what kind of printer you will be using and double check to make sure the blank printable wedding invitations you purchase will be compatible with the printer.

Laser jet printers offer a better quality print than an inkjet printer and they don’t cost as much as they used to. Consider purchasing a small laser jet printer for your invitations, its an overall good investment even after your wedding printing. The cost per page for printing is a lot less than an inkjet printer.

Make sure you also buy enough extra blank invitations, you will have a learning curve so you will need a few for your test runs and also incase of any mistakes you will make when printing.

Its also a good idea to have another eye check over your invitations as you print, they might detect errors you might not be able to catch.

Tags : shoes cheap

After finally managing to mount the new LCD TV on the wall of my living room I sat back to admire my new toy. As pretty as it looked hanging there in mid air, I realised that I was going to have to do something about the dangling wires. The black and red tubes sprouting from the back of the TV were hanging like unwelcome snakes from the branch of a tree, right down from the middle of my cream coloured wall and onto the carpet.

After contemplating my predicament for half an hour I realised that I had one of two choices. Either I could learn to live with the wires as they were (possibly painting the entire living room in a darker colour so as to blend in with the rubbery cables) or I could buy something to stick in front of them.

I had already spent a small fortune on the TV however I didn’t much fancy the task of painting the whole of my living room another colour just to camouflage a few unsightly wires. Taking what I thought was the more sensible of the two options I hopped on the computer to try and find some shelf fitments that I could put in under the TV. It would have to be something big because the TV was quite high on my wall and I would need it to house the DVD player and the freeview box, then there was also the XBOX and the Playstation to think about.

After a week or so of scouring the web (I live in a rural area so choice of furniture shops are minimal) I eventually found something that looked almost ideal. The measurements fitted perfectly and the colour of the wood would be perfectly in keeping with the rest of my living room furniture.

After buying and paying for the piece I waited eagerly for its delivery. Taking a day off work on the estimated arrival date I sat by the front door and waited. After a few hours a huge truck pulled up outside and a hairy looking man popped out holding a clipboard. When the formalities were over I helped him carry the box to my door, thanked him and left.

After a few hours of assembling I pushed the new fitment across the carpet and under the television. It fitted perfectly and looked brilliant. The varnished wood creating a pleasant reflection from the television on it’s highly polished surface.

I sighed and stood back to admire my work, made a cup of tea and sat down with the remote control. It was then that I discovered a problem.

The shelf fitment was a crucial centimetre too high. To change the channel with the remote control I had to stand up to point the buttons at the right part of the TV, completely taking away the actual point of having a remote control. A semi remote it now was.

I bought the LCD to improve my quality of life. I guess I’ll have to settle for stronger thigh muscles.

For a range of items from electronic goods to garden products, furniture, a cheap LCD TV through to a new computer to clothing and even a four poster bed, Shopping.com is a great way to find products online, and includes product reviews.

Friends Link : LCD TV Reviews

Got on the streetcar this morning, but this month the service is diverting two routes for a few blocks to avoid construction. This is handy, since I live at the last stop on the detour before the car I usually walk blocks to catch heads south again, and then that same route lets me off right at the front doors to my office building. Laaaaazy no walking!
 
Despite several weeks of this detour thing, daily commuters (people who presumably ride the streetcar every morning and every evening, and whom I can’t understand missing this detail until now) don’t pay attention and just hop on any old streetcar, and then freak out when they forget to pay attention to what the driver is announcing. Namely, that he or she is now about to turn right, head south, then continue east along the regular route. Everyone suddenly hops out of their seats, dinging the the stop-bell and grumbling about whatever the heck what’s this what’s going on why didn’t the driver say something.
 
So then.

This morning, this wee little hobbled and rickety old lady gets on board with the assistance of a team of about a half-dozen men, each helping with her walker, purse, satchel, taking her arm, laboriously helping situate her in the correct position to take a seat, and meanwhile at the top of her voice she’s shouting her gratitude, thanking these men, telling them about all the things she would bake for them to make them fatter and to say “thank you” properly, and shouting to the driver thanking him for waiting and being patient and not driving while she is trying to walk and sit down like them other drivers what don’t pay attention to an old lady, and thanking the man who surrendered his seat, and thanking all other passengers for being patient while she does her thing.
 
I am sure you can imagine where this is going.

Immediately, the streetcar heads south, and she starts shouting “OHHH MY GOD! Now you turning! Driver! You turning! Why you doing this?! Ohhhh my goooooood! I needa get off! Let me off! I can’t go this way! You turning!” THe streetcar lurches to a stop, the doors swoosh open, and the whole process takes place in reverse, unloading the lady and getting her back up the hundred metres or so to College Street to wait for the proper College-bound car.
 
Awesome.

**************

Hours later:

This truly is the day that keeps on giving. At lunchtime, I cut through the department store across the street from my office, heading to pick up a sandwich at a place I love a few blocks south. I’ve learned that the fastest route through the store is the men’s department; perfumes, stockings, ladies’ wear and household appliances will be jammed with office ladies on their breaks, and add a good ten minutes to the trip. I was zipping along not paying much attention to the neckties, pyjamas and weird weekend warrior clothing lines (oh my gosh, so many ugly shirts bearing so many ugly designs!) when I hit the underwear aisle.

Slowed down…something was amiss…checked out the mannequins…and, it seems someone had been hard at work, if you will pardon the pun. The parade of white plaster dudes displayed not just their customary Calvin Kleins, but also great big boners, wads of tissue paper crumpled and crammed into each pair of y-fronts and boxer shorts.

I am so going shopping and giving the mannequins little tissue erections next time I am at a loss of how to spend my lunchbreak! Childish, certainly, but like potty humour and bad swears and the right kind of physical comedy, dang did this ever this made me laugh!

Well, the name-calling has reached new levels in my home.  Not to mention creativity.  A few days ago, I put my children to bed.  I let them have ’sleepovers’ in my son’s double bed (he’s 9 and she’s 6) they think it’s a blast, it’s like a sleepover with a friend, almost.  so I’ve put them to bed and gone downstairs to do whatever needs to be done.  When I tucked them in I told them no noise, and yet, I hear my daughter start crying and calling me.

When I get to my son’s room, she is in tears and climbing out of the bed. “Ok, what’s going on?”

“He called me a ….(sniff sniff) he… he….called me a (sniff sniff-more for drama than anything this time)….butt crack.’

“What???” I looked at my son, and I knew it was true from the shit-eating grin on his face. “Why did you call her that?” more grinning and some weak excuse.

“Ok, well, let me tell you both right now, if I ever hear that again, someone is eating some soap.’

Then I removed my daughter to her bed, not only because of the name-calling but because I specifically told them no noise. which instantly caused more noise in the form of crying.  But oh well, it’s all about follow-thru, right?

Which leads me to a time when I was a child.  I dont’ remember who it was that said it, I just remember my parents telling us about it.  I have a brother 3 years younger.  Just like my children, we were friends one minute and mortal enemies the next.  I dont’ know the exact situation, but we were young, early elementary school.  And one called the other a “fart face f**k butt”.  Yep.  Can you imagine how hard it was for my parents to keep a straight face?  It was hard enough for me with ‘butt crack’, but with a four-letter word to boot?  OMG!  I don’t think I mentioned, but it was really hard for me to not laugh when my daughter looks at me all watery eyed and told my what my boy had said.  I can’t laugh, that’s encouraging a behavior that is not acceptable. But dammit, that was really creative!

The floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift their waves. Psalm 93:3

Trouble comes our way, according Psalm 93, in relentless waves that surge and pound against our souls and break upon them with furious force. “The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice,” and they are deafening (verse 3).

Yet above the temptest we hear the psalmist’s refrain: “The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea” (verse 4).

Indeed, “the Lord reigns”! He is clothes with majesty and strength. He sits as King, exalted higher than the waves that rise above us, deeper than their immeasurable depths, greater than their strongest surge. The storm is in His all-powerful hands: “The world is established, so that it cannot be moved,” for His rule over it was established long ago (verse 1). He rules the raging of the sea; the “wind and the sea obey Him” (Mark 4:37-41). He speaks and they are still.

The storm will not last forever. Yet, while it rages, you can cling to the Lord’s promises of love and faithfulness, for His “testimonies are very sure” (Psalm 93:5). Waves of trouble and grief may sweep over you, but you will not be swept away. He “is able to keep you from stumbling” (Jude 24). Our Father in heaven is holding your hand. —david roper

When overwhelmed with problems, when weak or tired or ill, when storms are fierce and raging just hear His “Peace, be still.” —jarvis

When adversity is ready to strike us, then God is most ready to strengthen us.

Sometimes I don’t know what people are thinking. Do they choose to do these things to hurt you or are they just plain insensitive. Who knows…

1.When your wedding theme is silver and your fiance’s mother chooses to wear gold. Enough said.

2. When you want to make your brother your best man because he is truly one of the best friends you could ever have but your fiance’s mother says that would mean that her other son would be marching with your brother and it would make him look gay.

Side note: He is gay.

3. When your fiance’s father complains that their names are not on the invitation saying “with the blessing of our parents…” He wants us to redo the invitations. We have 550 guests and at that point all invites have already been printed out as it is less than a month before the wedding.

4. When your fiance’s mother looks at your mom’s guest list and then crosses out mutual friends from her list to make room for more of her friends.

5. When your fiance’s mother wants to feel “more involved” with the wedding so you let her have her best friend do the flower arrangements for the church. Nothing wrong with that except her bf is a total bitch to you, the bride.

6. When your fiance’s father and maid of honor/fiance’s sister (by default as your mother-in-law said it couldn’t be your bother and had to be her) say nothing nice about you or your husband in their toast and just end up blabbing about nothing relevant. (Yes my dad and brother said a lot of great, wonderful things about my husband in his toast.)

7. When your fiance’s parents know you are supposed to do the massive (550 guest list) seating arrangement 2 days before your wedding and schedule a family “talk” that your fiance is obliged to attend. They end past 1am and you post-pone the seating arrangement for the day before the wedding.

8. When you have to arrange the seating arrangement the day before the wedding and you end up finishing 3:30am on the day of the itself. (Refer to #7)

9. When your fiance’s father tells your finance that his mom is jealous with the engagement ring he bought me because he never bought her diamonds.

10. When your in-laws complain you don’t spend any time with them ( we were out on a 2 month honeymoon in Europe and Australia…duh!?!).

I marvel at the God that we serve! This has been a particularly difficult week for me but in the midst of it all God is continuing to speak of a hope and future.

I’m grateful for the strength to follow through on some spiritual disciplines.

I’m grateful that God gave someone a dream that ministered to me.

I’m grateful that someone called and gave me a Prophetic Word right in the midst of the storm.

I’m grateful that God told me to stop screaming and shut my mouth.

Im grateful that He told me that the rejection is for my own protection.

I’m grateful that when we go through a trial He is right there speaking to us every step of the way.

I’m grateful that He orders my steps even in the small thing like when He told me “ no, don’t go see that movie.”

I’m grateful that Jesus is not just my SAVIOR, but my LORD!

In this season of Thanksgiving, what are you grateful for?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Well, I was having some trouble and then fixed it so I might as well document it for future reference.

The problem: I’m running Windows 7 and my ipod touch 2gen won’t sync with itunes.

My hardware: Asus P7P55D motherboard with Intel i7 processor. USB is based directly off the motherboard.

Symptoms: I could plug in my ipod and get the windows ‘USB found!” sound, but it didn’t show up in “My Computer” under devices and itunes gave me error 0xE000065 which isn’t terribly helpful other than to google help.

I tried first: restarting various things (drivers etc) and setting the “AppleMobileDeviceHelper” process into compatibility mode (and admin run) as per a forum’s suggestion.

Uninstall and reinstall itunes (both 64 and 32 bit versions) and apple drivers. (forums led me to check the MTP problems within the USB with no avail.

People have tried PCI based USB and it seemed to work for them. Since I didn’t really want to buy new hardware I kept searching.

Also, I tried two itunes alternatives (Media Monkey and Sharepod) which both refused to find my ipod connection. This is weird because remember, the computer was getting some sort of USB connection, the ipod charged and made the plugged in sound.

Also tried “uninstalling” (unchecking the control panel box for) windows media player (which apparently helped others)

Nothing worked in the software / drivers so I dug deeper: the bios.

The true solution:

On my particular hardware’s bios there is an option for “Intel C-State” which was disabled previously. I enabled it and booted. It worked.

As was explained on a forum (and my further research revealed) C-state refers to the processor’s idle speed. (please excuse my probably inaccurate lay-mans description) and the power consumption of the entire PC. This included USB ports.

So, it seemed safe enough to enable and seems to solve my ipod /itunes issues. If my tower gets unstable in the near future I’ll update this post.

Hope that helps!

I Don’t Wish To See You For A Short While
I Need You To Walk The Distance, The Mile
I Need To See You For All Times In My Life
Not When You Feel For A Little ‘Invasion’
I Don’t Need Your Casual Attention
I Need More Than Your Penetration
You’re Just Someone Who Doesn’t Care
And Will Get What You Want Without Fear
Go Away With Your Frivolous Intentions
I Am Worth More Than Your Casual Temptation
I Don’t Need Your Hurried And Casual Time
I Need Someone Who Can Be With Me For All Time
Don’t Come By Because You Need A Squeeze
Don’t Make A Fool Of Yourself I Beg You Please
I Won’t Give In To Your Temptation
I Am Worth More Than Your Intentions

Written by Donique C. Perez Copyrighted 2009/11/24 All rights reserved

Ryan did it again.  You may remember about 6 months ago when I wrote about a very similar story (here).  Well, over the last few weeks Ryan hasn’t been quite as tired at nap time and has either been taking a really long time to fall asleep or not sleeping at all.  Well, today was one of those days.  We got home from Ryan’s Thanksgiving luncheon at Woodchase Academy and daddy put him down for a nap.  Only he wasn’t napping. 

Daddy checked on him after about an hour and he was getting into some innocent mischief and Ryan claimed he “didn’t want to nap.  Just play.” so daddy put him back into bed and closed the door.  Well when mommy went in about 30 minutes later the smell of baby vicks filled the air.  Yep, he did it again!  Baby vicks all over everything!  Books, clothes, hair, legs, arms, belly, face and even the rocking chair.

He immediately told me “I naughty.  I no listen.  I put this ALLLLL over.”

Yep, he did.

But, on the bright side, he does have a cold and this lingering smell of baby vicks that is going to last for at least 2-3 days should keep his airways open!

Have you ever felt like you are being pushed against a wall that you feel like screaming when someone says to you that they know you very well? Do you know anyone so well, can you swear for someone and can you assume you know someone? They try to belittle you in ways to bend you into their perception of you and you may bend to the accusations. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

There are times when people assume that you are someone you are not probably because they are like the same which they have accused you of or have judged you on your past misdeed. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Don’t be moved by others perception of you. What’s important is what you believe; who you genuinely are, your ideals and principles and most importantly your truths about you. Not what others perceive you to be. Not their assumptions or preconceived notions of you probably judged on your appearance and your past. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

There are others who wish to see you fail in life and falter simply because they can’t believe that you are who you say you are. They like to climb their ladder of success while they keep pushing you down. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

They are going to assume everything inconceivably bad about you and if you love and believe in yourself, you will never be moved by it. There are those wanting to find some bad things to whisper against you, that they will make up a story about you, so convincing that it becomes believable rumors and gossip. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

There are those who will look for every corner to lay obstacles in your path to see you fail and beware some are done by your close friend as they may know you very well. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

They’ll even set you up with friends to see that you are stained, and when all fail they may create strife between you and the ones who are closest to you. Be aware of those. Reminding you again, they maybe your close friends and family. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

There are those who will smile with you and will stab you in the back as soon as you have turned you face/back with idle whispers to another. The two-faced ones. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

There are those who hate to see you climb that ladder of success, those who would see you down and can help but won’t because you will become a better person and will be a challenge to them.

There are those who hate that you are well educated and has become a force to reckon with as you are no longer spoon fed with their garbage and has become well informed and no longer depend on them to ‘nurture your mind’ like babies. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

Importantly, watch your friends who really befriend you to maliciously want to know about you, so they can talk of your confidential whispers to them. You usually know your enemies but they are sometimes in the midst and closest to your heart; the ones whom you trust with your innermost thoughts and secrets, entitled friends, but are really ‘fiends’ in disguise. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

Probably something they tried for years at and never was successful at and you did it with one whiff of a breath and has become envy and jealous of you. They may overlook the fact that what they had tried was not for them but was meant for you but some tend to walk around all their lives believing that life is unfair to them, when things they wanted were not meant for them and envy you all their lives, carry around bitterness and animosity towards you all because of jealousy and envy. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Instead of finding our purpose and enjoy and fulfill it. We tend to envy others and what they have; their jobs, status, finances and even their children/family to try to be like them or be better than them; poisoning selfish greed. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Sometimes people are jealous of you that they would cause you to lose your job, and family with false accusations leading to strife in family and jobs. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

I am always happy for others and their achievements in life as long as it’s done honestly. Your accomplishments are yours, your gifts are yours, they are distinct gifts from your design. I don’t envy others, I may see something and wish for it, but I don’t envy. There are times when you must let go off those wishes which are sometimes borne out of envy, jealousy, selfishness and greed because you want to be better than someone. However, everyone can achieve success in life.

Just don’t assume that your next door neighbor’s success will be same as yours. Try and find your purpose and distinct niche. Not saying you can’t achieve success like someone else, just don’t dwell on becoming exactly like someone because you may get what you wish for and don’t know what to do with it nor able to handle it because it was not meant for you like the one you envied as all it really was simply greed.

Don’t get discouraged by someone’s perception and opinion of you. Everyone will not love you but some will and when others find lies and misconceptions about you to make you feel small, the ones created in their minds. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Who cares of others opinion of you? Don’t stress nor lose a wink of a sleep on it, that’s their perception and that’s their business, not yours. Know who you are and believe who you are. Live who you are and love who you are. Only try to change the negative things you could change about yourself. Stop convincing others of who you are.

Stop living up to others expectations of you. Aren’t you tired of living up to others expectation, impression, perception and opinions of you? That’s their opinion. That’s their business, who cares?

You can’t please everyone and don’t go changing to fit someone’s personality, you are who you are and uniquely so.

Stop pretending to be who you are not, to appease their minds and please them.

Stop trying to keep up with the ‘Joneses’ on the outside while you are ‘bankrupt’ on the inside. Simply be the very utmost best you can be.

Stop hiding your face and hiding your face behind somebody. Show your entire face, be bold. Walk in/with your own shadow, not anyone’s.

Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

I love who I am. Every pore, way down to my core.

Written by Donique C. Perez Copyrighted 2009/11/24 All rights reserved

Yes, onethousandseas.org is very, very down. Keep checking that status page for updates, we should be back up when Dreamhost is.

I found these photos from a newspaper blog. There were others, but these two captured me.

A child searches for recyclable material in India.

Child laborers in a balloon shop in Bangladesh.

]]> http://canucknews.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/facebook-causing-rl-problems-again/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:54:53 +0000 beerdude http://canucknews.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/facebook-causing-rl-problems-again/

People post everything on Facebook and it never ends well. This latest case may prove to be quite costly for one Canadian woman. Her insurance company revoked her benefits after noting that she posted vacation pictures on her Facebook page. She was supposedly on long term disability suffering from depression. The pictures appear to show her having fun during her birthday party. The insurance company decided that was enough proof that she was fit for work and not entitled to benefits. It now becomes a touchy issue whether pictures from a social networking site can be used to determine someone’s mental state.

Another posting has the Federal Liberal party in a tizzy. Stephane Dion’s wife has ripped the current “leadership” for lack of progress and ineptitude. She also touts her husband as being more fit to lead and rebuild the party. Grab the popcorn! This one’s gonna be a good one.

A lifeboat assists a gas tanker that was unable to lay its anchor and was left drifting off Cornwall…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: fast boat. The blog is also related to: boat names.

Lift Glass and Pull Lever 

If I live to be a hundred, I’ll never forget the indelible memory of those simple instructions, first read in my youth.  I don’t exactly remember my age at the time but, because I was old enough to read, I’d say about eight or nine.

Back in the day, being without a driver’s license didn’t keep my mother from getting around town.  On a particular Saturday, the day I learned a little more about the workings of the grownup world, my mother rounded up her small tribe of three kids for a bus-ride into the city and a day of shopping.  The plan had been to take the bus into town, spend the day shopping and then, later in the afternoon, catch a bus that could drop us off at my dad’s shop.  Then we’d simply ride home with him in the car.

I don’t remember much of that day before the event occurred.  I’m sure my behavior earlier in the day had been saintly, knowing how my two younger siblings looked to me as an example of pristine behavior.  It was when we were waiting for the afternoon bus that I found myself like many kids with nothing to do and too much time on their hands: bored.

People—some shoppers and others workers—waiting for buses, in order to leave the city, crowded the corner where we stood.  As we waited with them, I became aware of a red metal box with a glass cover situated on a pole next to me.  Having nothing better to do, and with the curiosity of a youngster attempting to expand his horizons, I moved in for a closer look.  Printed across the top of the box were the words, Lift Glass and Pull Lever.  As one never to be put off by a challenge, I did just that.  When I pulled the lever the box began buzzing.  Confused, I examined the box for further instructions.  Just below the glass cover, printed in bold letters, were the words, In Case of Fire.

As my chest constricted, forcing the air from my lungs, I couldn’t think of anything better to do, so I started bouncing up and down where I stood.  A million thoughts went through my head all at once, and every one of those thoughts ended with me being killed by my dad.  And where were we headed?  To see my dad, that’s where.

I don’t know if I came to my senses and ran to my mother or she noticed me going into cardiac arrest, but somehow she had figured out what I’d done.  As the sirens of the approaching fire trucks grew louder, my mother directed me, along with my brother and my sister, into the alcove of a furniture store and pretended we were window shopping.  All I could manage as I stood staring at furniture through a thick plate-glass window and seeing none of it was a sense of impending doom . . . my dad was going to kill me.

Several fire trucks had rolled into the intersection nearest the buzzing fire alarm and a squad of firefighters, dressed in fire fighting gear, had exited the trucks and begun searching for a fire.  After an exhaustive but futile search for the blaze, the Chief made his way to the center of the intersection and announced, false alarm, folks.

A short while later our bus pulled up providing us a means of escape.  All I can remember of that ride was the anxiety associated with having to face my dad and give an accounting of what I’d done.  When we arrived at our stop, I didn’t want to get off the bus, but what choice did I have?  It had been a good life and, at eight or nine, I felt as though the end of mine was just across the street in my dad’s shop. 

As soon as I walked into the shop, I immediately knew fate was laughing in my young face.  Across the room and pinned to the wall, a poster declaring National Fire Prevention Week urged responsible citizens to observe fire safety.  If the people in my dad’s shop thought enough of fire safety to hang posters, none of them would be too forgiving of a little miscreant setting off fire alarms.  This was it, the final nail in my youth-sized coffin.

As it turned out, when my mother told my dad what I’d done, he laughed.  He didn’t get angry at all.  However, he did put a fear in me that lasted for months after that day.  He told me that I’d better hope those fire trucks didn’t run over anyone as a result of me pulling that fire alarm.  It seemed, according to my dad, if anyone had been hit by a fire truck on the way to my false alarm, the police would go to the fire alarm box, retrieve my young fingerprints, and then come to the house and get me.

I guess the one good thing that came from the whole ordeal: I learned to pray.

My life today is based upon boredom. For the reader to fully understand this post, I must detail a bit about my life today.

So the past few years have been hell. Not to say that it has been a waste of time or that there was no happiness. I learned a lot and have matured far beyond my age from those experiences.

Today I live with my dad awaiting the start of the spring semester. This will be my first time attending college and can not wait for it to start. This is where the boredom comes in.

Me and my dad live in the middle of nowhere and he is retired. I know no one out her nor how to meet new people in the country. So most of my day consists of running errands, doing chores, watching tv, and messing around on my new laptop. The latter two make up most of the day as I am almost always in front of the TV with my computer in my lap.

For someone of my age it is extremely difficult to live life like this. Days seem to drag by and I feel as though I am wasting my life. When I feel like this I have to remember I am about to start school. I have to remember that nothing comes without a price. This is my last option of a place to live as I have burned my bridges with everyone else.

Now back to the point of this post. The simple fact that this extreme boredom can get someone into trouble.

My sister in law is a bit nosey so I decided to mess with her today, but apparently she is smarter than I thought. Because of my actions today she might not ever talk to me again. If I was not bored I probably would not have done the things today to piss her off. Although this does not mean it is not my fault.

The only other way I know to deal with boredom is by doing drugs and alcohol. Specifically hallucinogens as those pass the time by very quickly. This is another thing that can get mew into trouble as drugs have in the past. I should remind myself that is the reason why I was homeless for so long.

I guess this post is mostly for my benefit in remembering to have some self control and not let boredom take control of me. I am in a hurry so I typed this really fast cause I need to go to the store. Hopefully someone else can get something out of this but I am doubtful. Just remember that you control boredom and not the other way around. At least I have trouble remembering that sometimes.

For anyone that reads this:

Thank you! I get so much out of other people’s comments and would like to hear some feedback. It gets me out of myself to remember that not everything revolves around me.

Why do people distrust flowers delivery services?

No matter the occasion, flowers delivery is always the right choice for a gift. However, this service is now provided mostly online. For that reason, a lot of people are suspicious about the reliability of the service. Seemingly, there isn’t really a way of making sure that your order arrives safely and on time.

What is the method of payment?

There are many questions that arise when it comes to flowers delivery. Most of them involve the method of payment. You should know that most flowers delivery companies demand that you make the payment before they can process the order. The only payment method accepted by these companies is credit card.

That is why if you do not consider that entering your credit card information online is safe, you will most probably not be able to enjoy flower delivery services. Something that you should also take into account is that with flowers delivery what you see is not always what you get.

Will the recipient get the exact same flowers that I pick?

In many cases, suppliers provide online images of the flowers but they are only indicative of the product being delivered, for that reason the flowers may not resemble the online images. Similarly, your flowers of choice may not be available in the delivery area of your choice. In these cases, companies proceed to substitute the product for another one.

Am I entitled for a refund if the product I choose is not available?

You should be aware that even if you are not notified about the product substitution, you are not entitled for a refund. In fact, you have to agree to this term before placing your order. So make sure to ask a customer service representative if the product that you chose is available.

Am I entitled for a refund if my delivery does not get to the recipient on time?

There are many situations in which your delivery may not arrive on time. Weather conditions, closed business or recipients that are not found are just some of them. Flowers delivery companies do not consider that this situations are their responsibility, thus they do not offer refunds.

How can I know if the recipient got the delivery in a timely manner?

Even though most companies do not offer a confirmation service, you can request them to send you a notification of the delivery via e-mail. During especial holidays, they are so busy that they may not be able to send you a confirmation but you can call their customer service number to get that information.

Is there such a thing as international flowers delivery?

You can have access to international flowers delivery services in some companies. However, this service does not guarantee next day delivery, so be sure to make your order with time. The same applies to deliveries during holidays. Also, note that not all products are available for international delivery.

What else should I take into account before placing my order?

The previously mentioned facts should be taken into account before placing your flowers delivery order. However, some terms change from company to company, so make sure you read the terms and conditions section in the company’s website to be sure that you know what kind of service you are getting.

Am I ready to hire a flowers delivery service now?

It is important that you make sure to check out their payment policies. In some cases, there are penalties that can be applied if you cancel your order. So do a thorough research and choose the flowers delivery company that better suits your needs.

The boss at Advertizia, Julian J. Lenox reviews and writes articles for Home and Garden Top 100, a focused Gifts and Occasions websites views stockpile. Stay tuned at .