Spin It Lucky

There I was on a restful weekend by the sea; enjoying coffee and croissant in a quaint little café at the end of the North Shore pier.

Looking outside through a musty rain smattered window my gaze was attracted to the contours of the magnificent edifice that is Blackpool Tower; drinking in the lines of the intricate steel framework that leads to the observation deck, to the twin platforms one above the other, and all the way up to the crow’s nest.

Arriving at 380 feet there is a breathtaking panoramic view. On a clear day you can see as far as North Wales, the Lake District, the Trough of Bowland and as the sun sets on a cloudless evening, The Isle Of man is visible across the Irish Sea.

1. What if I was a scaffolder, a steeplejack, or a mountaineer?
2. What if I could scale this world famous monument?
3. What if I removed the Union Jack atop the crow’s nest?
4. What if I exchanged it for fluttering skull and crossbones?
5. What if I did it for a bet?
6. What if I used the experience it as a publicity stunt to promote my books?

What if instead I crafted a tale wrapped around my daydreaming?

On the back of a menu I scribbled an outline, stuffed it in my pocket, and forgot about my wild blue meandering until I returned back home.

At three o’clock in the morning I awoke to a torrent of jangled thoughts rushing around in my subconscious; unconnected thoughts that gradually joined together to form the nucleus of my tale.

Three hours later I had completed the first four chapters; a few days later I had my first draft, and by the end of the week a final manuscript that was good enough for submission.

Then I broke my own golden rule of a lifetime: never submit to more than one publisher.

I sent my mss off to three sources and several weeks later received by telephone an offer of publication subject to contract.

And so my comedic novella “The Blackpool Tower Caper” is to be published by a leading fiction house and is scheduled for the bookshelves in the spring of 2007.

The moral to this article; storylines crop up at the oddest moments so when yours arrives, and no matter how inane you consider it at the time, grab it, nurture it, treasure it, develop it without delay – or it will be lost and gone forever – and with it a golden opportunity for publication.

Jim Green is a bestselling author with an ever-growing string of fiction and niche non-fiction titles to his credit. His offers a course of instruction for download at
http://1st-creative-writing-course.com

So often writers will tell me that they cannot think of anything to write on and that they have completely run out of expertise to discuss. Well there is a way to get beyond this issue rather quickly, you see. By participating Internet Blogs and Internet Forums and stir the pot of chaos and controversy and then taking all the points of all sides of the debate and then make them into articles you will then have a new topic or perspective to discuss.

Once you are done hashing out all sides of the issue, well then tell all those in the forum or blog your real thoughts on the issue and state; “I enjoyed the thought process of it all and attacking the issue from all sides to get to the bottom of all the issues involved. Thanks everyone for helping me use “Blog” content to write articles and develop content.”

My point of the day is to recommend this technique to further your article content. You see, by participating in Blog discussions and Internet Forums, you can use this to help you formulate ideas for your next article or series of articles, in one case I turned a single topic on a Blog into 16 articles and perhaps could do some more to round it out at 20 or so. Blog and Forums are excellent places and ways to develop content and the more controversial the subject the better for your articles.

If your industry or next subject has Internet Forums or Blogs discussing an issue then be sure to check them out periodically, especially if you find yourself running out of content, subject matter or a new perspective to write on. Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Health cover broadly speaking isn’t a priority when planning an education. Generally, health insurance is the last thing on a student’s mind. Teens suppose that they are immortal and that they can never get ill. As we all know, this is seldom the case no matter how fit an individual may seem. A reasonable student medical insurance plan is not only a great idea, it is an essential. For individuals who are lucky enough included in their parent’s policy, in general most family insurance policies will include a college student up to their twenty third birthday. For the student who doesn’t have insurance cover through their parent’s plan, exploring an appropriate student health insurance policy has to be a crucial part of preparing for college.

What’s fundamental in an insurance plan designed specifically for college students? Deductibles: It is an annual sum you must pay prior to any medical benefits commencing, much the same as an auto deductible. To illustrate, if the deductible is $500, $500 must be paid before getting any payment from your plan.

What’s your co-pay? When your deductible is covered, most policies expect you to contribute a part of the cost of each visit to the doctor, medication or procedure. This, put simply is a co-pay.

What is your area of coverage? Many plans include HMO or Partnership for Prescription Assistance. This may mean particular doctors may possibly not be in your “network” or not be covered by your health insurance plan. Generally all programs should provide a directory of approved providers, be sure you take that into consideration when you pick out an insurance plan.

What is catastrophic coverage? Be mindful that there may be a limit on health insurance specifically for students especially as far as critical illnesses are concerned, in most cases, it is usually significantly less than any regular insurance plan. Restrictions: Student medical coverage policies may place some restrictions. It is very important to read any policy carefully to discover what is and is not included. Carry all of your medical insurance documents nearby no matter where you travel. It is not only impossible to anticipate an accident or an illness, they are also liable to happen at a bad time. Familiarize yourself with the details unique to your low-cost college medical insurance policy even should you be covered by your family insurance policy.

Make sure to surf to our marvelous resource for inexpensive health insurance facts!

Looking for alternative avenues like college scholarships to help finance a university education is lengthy and intimidating. These scholarships are not the same as a student loan because the funds are a grant, so it doesn’t have to be repaid. While researching methods to finance your college degree, research the many more other choices, for example left hander scholarships.

Funding for Southpaws: A southpaw grant may initially look a bit strange, however it’s worth looking at this: Albert Einstein was left handed, so is the president of the United States, Barack Obama. Raphael, Da Vinci, Bob Dylan also were left handed as well. Figures indicate 11% of people are southpaws. Often considered more artistic and more intelligent, lefthanders have frequently experienced discrimination in the past. Today, lefties are no longer stigmatised or thought of as odd, as a matter of fact they are frequently associated with the great people noted above.

There are many scholarships accessible for left handed students if you search around. The Frederick and Mary F. Beckley Scholarship for anything up to $1,000 is available at Juniata College in Huntington, PA. For scholars of Juniata College and it was instituted in the 1970’s, this unique scholarship has helped forty plus southpaws in their pursuit for a college degree.

When searching for scholarships, do be aware that a few grants may have requirements and restrictions. In some cases certain grades may be necessary or certain financial requirements must be satisfied. Do apply for the maximum number of scholarships possible to increase the chances of funding a college education incurring a minimal level of debt. Societies, groups connected to your hobbies and also local organisations may offer grants. Left handed grants are simply one example; money is accessible in numerous different instances such as to the children of veterans or if you are disabled.

Seeking out grants can take some work, of course the rewards can be huge. The debt generated by a college education may be reduced by these scholarships utilised alongside a standard student loan. Leave no stone unturned and research every source of funding. Do remember the different choices as well as left handed scholarships – write a list of every last alternative you can envisage and be sure to utilize your resourcefulness. Apply for everything you might possibly qualify for, keeping your student costs to a an absolute minimum, also you will be able to expect a better career future when you graduate.

Internet marketing material and forums are full of advice about writing articles to boost your traffic numbers. Articles are definitely search engine candy for your site. They provide a good resource for getting incoming links to your site, and even generate business from the links you place in your bio. While these benefits are all highly desirable, one benefit of article writing has been pretty well ignored throughout the material available on the craft.

An important aspect of building a business is to develop solid business contacts. Other sites and businesses can be very helpful in word-of-mouth advertising for your site. These contacts can also become alliances in selling services and products as you develop different aspects of your business. Article writing provides a great means of making a valuable contact with these other members of your niche community while producing material for you to write about. It is a means of getting value and giving value without spending a fortune to do so.

When choosing a subject to write about, always think about sites that compliment your niche and services. For instance, perhaps you have a great outdoor adventure site. You find a site that features outdoor cooking ebooks and advice. This is a great site for you to have an alliance with, relevant, and of continual interest to outdoors crowds. Perhaps in the future there will be a good way for you to do some joint marketing. Exchange links are definitely a benefit. So how do you make good contact and develop a solid rapport with this site’s owner? Write an article that requires that you interview this person for information.

People love to talk about their business subjects, yet they hate being spammed. Contacting these businesses without being seen as a nuisance can be a tricky matter. When you contact someone for material for an article, it is highly unlikely that the person you contact will be put off by your inquiry. Asking for information is an extremely easy method of gaining access to otherwise unapproachable individuals.

To follow the example given of the outdoor theme, perhaps the owner of the other site would have some good tips on what kinds of lightweight cooking utensils a hiker might want to include in their backpack for trips that will require cooking a meal during hiking. By interviewing this person you not only now have subject material, you have made a contact for your business. You have opened the path for a great future business alliance.

When you write the article, make sure to offer at least one quote or a credit to the person who you interviewed. If you talk to just one site owner, credit your information to that person right from the start. For example you might write about what the problem is in deciding what to carry for meals and that Joe Wildchef has offered some good advice on the subject for those that seem to always be missing something or are tired of the same old backpack cuisine. If you interview more than one site owner or other expert for your material, add a quote from each person you interview.

This method of article writing gives the other site owner exposure as an expert and gives your material extra credibility. It will also produce some word of mouth traffic as the person you interviewed will tell others about the article. By adding a link to the other person’s site in your article, you are helping to gain traffic to both sites. Many articles written from interviews result in a link exchange between the sites. As you are creating traffic to both your site and theirs using an interview article method of advertising, your alliance with the other site becomes even more valuable.

As with any other area of business, creating value for others is the surest means of getting value for yourself. Interview article writing is one of the easiest quality means of creating a great value exchange for all parties involved. It would be wise not to ignore this overlooked benefit when planning your writing schedules.

©2006, Sally Taylor: Sal is an avid gem and treasure hunter, explorer, writer, and Internet Marketer. She is the owner of http://www.rockhoundstation1.com and author of a controversial Internet Marketing Beginner’s Guide to Business Building: http://rockhoundstation1.net/ps/sally

Graduation Gowns

The type of graduation gowns worn has changed from the previous versions. Institutions of learning adopted the gowns from the religious leaders who used to wear such gowns. Years ago, the gowns were designed to be worn at all times, when one was at the learning institution. Nowadays, they are strictly reserved to be used during graduation ceremonies only. Most institutions used to wear black gowns only but this has changed with some learning institutions preferring to wear gowns matching their school colors. One will find that at most graduation ceremonies, the graduation gowns worn are black. The school colors can be represented by the tassels worn. The tassel is the only graduation piece that is not required to match the gown.
The cap, hood or the tam must be the same colors as the gown. At the graduation ceremony, few gowns will be of a different color than others. This is because those graduating with masters or doctorate degrees are given different colored gowns. These graduates are given different colored graduation gowns so as to separate them from other graduates. The gowns used by bachelor graduates are simple in design than those worn by masters and doctorate graduates. In some universities, doctorate gowns have emblems embedded on them to show the person’s field of study.
GraduationSource, a leader in graduation regalia products since 1960.

Are you on the brink of a divorce? In the process? Already divorced, and wondering how you’re going to move forward as a single person? The first thing to remember is: everything happens for a reason. You are right where you are supposed to be.

This may not be what you want to hear. Most people going through a divorce never thought they would be in that situation. The breakup of a marriage can be disconcerting and bring about a flood of grief, anger, and depression. Yet, learning how to move on from a divorce can allow us to heal so that we grow and become better, stronger human beings.

In working with divorced people, it is apparent that the breakdown of a relationship can be quite a shock. No matter how long you have been miserable in the relationship, coming to that final decision to separate can be quite traumatic and stay with you for a long time. Sometimes it may seem surreal, taking months or years for the reality to just sink in.

During the initial period of divorce, you may be asking yourself dozens of questions about what went wrong. You may be trying to figure out who is at fault, what you did wrong, why the other person left, and many other questions. Sometimes you can feel like you are drowning in self-doubt and questioning. Yet, there are ways to change your thinking so that you are moving in a more productive and healing direction.

By thinking more positively about your relationship, even though it may have ended, you can get better perspective on yourself and your relationship. Focus on how things started with you and your ex-spouse and how you were together. Figure out what attracted you to each other and why things were good. Then you can question how things changed and what outside factors impacted your relationship. Ultimately you will want to determine why you could not overcome your differences. Though these thoughts will be upsetting sometimes, they allow you to see ways for you to grow emotionally and spiritually. Journaling or writing letters may help you work through your thoughts about these questions so that you can learn to let go of the guilt, anger, despair and confusion you have been feeling.

While you are trying to work through the deeply rooted emotional upheaval in your life, you may also need to do some things to keep the practical tasks of everyday life in order. By keeping track of your responsibilities, you will gain some perspective of your life and realize that life will go on even though you are single. Make arrangements for how you and your spouse will handle vacations and holidays for your children. This will alleviate conflicts later.

Create a budget and/or a schedule to help yourself get things done. There is a significant change happening in your lifestyle, and with all of the emotions surrounding this change, having a practical approach to your money and time can ease some of that burden. Make sure, though, that you schedule some fun activities for you during your day and week. Sometimes that time appreciating art, nature, or activities can allow you to move on a bit every day from your breakup. Also, maintaining and sticking to a budget can keep other stress from compounding the sense of loss you feel from the divorce.

While taking a practical approach to moving on is helpful, so is taking a spiritual approach. Divorce can take its toll on your mind, body, and spirit. Journaling can be helpful in the healing process, but so can meditation or support groups. Sometimes connecting with yourself and others can help you understand what you are feeling and have confidence that your emotions are normal. However, if you feel that you are slipping further into depression or you are having suicidal thoughts, you should seek professional assistance immediately.

Learning to move on after divorce is important to allowing your mind, body, and soul to heal. As you work through your emotions and connect to yourself and others you will find yourself getting stronger little by little. Remember that grief is normal and healing takes time, but working through it will allow you to become a stronger, more well-adjusted person who embraces life and lives it well.

Ultimately, the choice is yours. If you want to learn from your marriage, you will. It was not a “failure” if you have taken some lessons with you, and are willing to work on those things in yourself that get in the way of true intimacy. Give yourself permission to heal and let go at your own pace, and, at the same time, allow yourself to look forward with anticipation to the future. You will be re-inventing yourself and your new life. It’s like a second chance to live a full, purposeful, balanced and joyous life. Don’t miss this gift!

Marcia Breitenbach is a speaker, author, therapist and songwriter dedicated to assisting others to live a magnificent life. Sign up for her free Songletter at http://www.thesongletter.com and receive free original inspiring music and strategies for living your best life.

You know that you should back your data up. But you still don’t because you don’t know what to get. Here is the overview of four budget backup solutions that I’ve personally used and can vouch for.

Acronis True Image 8.0 (Acronis)

Acronis True Image allows you to create an exact disk image for complete system backup and disk cloning providing the most comprehensive data protection. The disk backup file contains the exact copy of a hard disk, including all the computer data, operating system, and programs. After a system crash you can restore the entire system or simply replace lost files and folders from your disk backup, so you don’t need to reinstall Windows.
Acronis True Image 8.0 is quite speedy, creating an image of a 46 gig partition in approximately 8 minutes with little compression. Restoring a complete image can be a lot longer than creating one, but with the built in Rescue Media Builder, its as easy as booting from that CD, telling it where the image is, and what partition to restore it to. You can wander off for dinner or TV and reboot your computer to the image you have saved, ready to go in roughly 30 minutes for an 80 gig drive. The time to save and restore images is hard to estimate here because larger partitions and more compression takes longer then a smaller partition and no compression.

Genie Backup Manager Professional (Genie Soft)

Genie Backup Manager Professional is a very easy to use yet powerful and flexible software that can backup and restore files, documents, emails, settings, programs and more to virtually any local or remote device including internal and external hard disks, FTP locations, across network, CD/DVD discs, removable media, memory sticks, and tapes. GBM Pro is perfect for users of all computer comfort levels. Novice users will find it easy to create their first backup job in matter of minutes after installing the software, thanks to its intuitive wizard-based user interface, while advanced users will appreciate the software’s extended flexibility and features such as preserving NTFS Alternative Data Streams, Email notification, Self executable backup sets, and scripting capabilities (GRunScript and GenieScript).

HandyBackup (Novosoft)

HandyBackup is so easy, you might actually find yourself backing data up. HandyBackup is designed for an automatic backup of your critical data virtually to any type of storage media including CD-RW devices and remote FTP servers. You can use HandyBackup to make a reserve copy of any valuable data on your system. Special addons are provided to facilitate the backup of MS Outlook, system registry and ICQ files. Restoring is as easy as clicking a button, but you can also use a number of advanced options. The program can be also used to synchronize files between two computers on a network.

HandyBackup is designed for MS Windows 9x/NT/2000/ME/XP. Strong file encryption and multi-choice zip compression on the fly, as well as many other useful features, will protect your valuable data. All backup activities are recorded in a log file. Detailed online help is available, which is always nice.

Backup4All (Softland)

The software performs all four fundamental backup types: full backup, differential backup, incremental backup and mirror backup. Using the wizard you can easily set up any backup configuration you wish. You can define powerful file filters and schedule your backups any way you want. Once a backup is performed, you can see what files have been changed since the last backup using the explorer-like tree view or you can read the statistics about the next backup execution. You can use the context menu from the tree to run standard actions associated with the file type. I now use Backup4all to do my day-to-day backup, and I recommend it for those who want a more automated solution. It uses its own file catalog to keep track of what’s been backed up and when. That’s the only completely reliable way to do it — you can sometimes miss files with other methods.

Another safety feature – all files and subfolders are included unless you expressly exclude them (by unchecking). This means that if new files or subfolders are added to a folder, the next backup will pick them up as well. Not all backup programs work this way. Once in a while you may not want to back up a file that has been added to a folder, and if you forget to exclude it, it will be backed up anyway. Better to have backed up and not meant to, than not to have backed up at all.

Download Links

Acronis http://www.deprice.com/acronistrueimage.htm
GBM Pro http://www.deprice.com/geniebackupmanagerprofessional.htm
HandyBackup http://www.deprice.com/handybackup.htm
Backup4All http://www.deprice.com/backup4all.htm

John Deprice runs a website devoted to backup tools. To see his picks, visit http://www.deprice.com/utilities-10-1.htm

Sports shoes is thought to be the most indispensable piece of equipment you will buy so it is important that you pick & choose the most suitable shoes.

A large number of people do not appreciate that there are many differences in the way in which sports footwear help your feet. It’s not great for your feet if you participate in football or tennis in the exact same footwear that you wear for running.

“Unfortunately, sixty-five percent of the England’s recreational men sportsmen and women put on the incorrect shoes for their chosen sport,” he says. “Trainers are the most necessary piece of fitness kit you will ever splash out on and varying what you wear on your feet can thwart damage.” Find superb deals on running clothing online today.

Football can put a great deal of pressure on the feet, particularly when playing on tough surfaces like that of AstroTurf. The shoes can also put tension on your feet, and it is not bizarre for a footballer to suffer from corns, calluses or damaged, thickened and ingrown toenails. A good, well-fitted pair of shoes is necessary & there should not be any signs of pressure on the foot after a game or training session.

Racquet sports: It is imperative when playing racket sports, such as tennis or squash, to elect on shoes exclusively designed for the purpose. These sports involve a great deal of left-to-right movement & sports footwear won’t offer the proper firmness. Racquet sport footwear are heavier & more harder than jogging trainers, because their toes are produced for stop-&-go action. Comfort is instructed to be your chief priority & It’s very important to swap your sports trainers recurrently.

Walking is a good way to begin a gentle fitness schedule, whilst the more experienced go for climbing. It’s good for your cardiovascular health but is lower impact & so comes with less risk of damage.

Algebra traces relationships between things that change over time. These variables include things such as the relationship between supply of an a product and its price. Mathematics is not an easy subject for a large percentage of students. Many software programs are available with a mixture of subject area explanations so students able to handle any capacity of learning algebra can work around the subject without difficulty. These applications also facilitates students to comprehend utility of Algebra in real life as well as within industry solutions. Larger functions utilized in algebra include Graphing linear inequalities , Solving compound inequalities, Solving quadratic inequalities , Adding and Subtracting matrices etc.
Although algebra is an easy to follow course of study, students may face a lot of trouble if they do not practice the basic concepts hard enough. This makes elementary math skills essential to help students successfully advance from algebra and go on into graduate math with self-assurance.

How to Succeed in Algebra

Helpful algebra software programs offer more than what can be found in the students textbook, such as homework help, interactive tutorials, games and a worksheet tool or graphing calculator. The high quality software will have all these features as well as easy usability and coverage of wide area of topics.

Such instructional tools come in handy when different forms such as audio, video, animations and games are put in to use in order to teach the lessons. All the important topics should also be covered from Pre-Algebra through Algebra II. Important topics normally include: Finding complement of an angle, composition of functions, finding type of polynomial, determine if line is vertical

How to Utilize Algebra Software

Some algebraic software would only show results, while some other (much more suitable for elementary algebra) give away techniques and ‘how-to’ guides on mathematical rules that are in use. The most central software feature from the students perspective is the ease of use. Thus, the software ought to be loaded with value added options like high quality and timely user assistance, embedded help options, and simply explained math wizards.