A Most Pimped Cruise! – How I Learned to Love Long Lines, Open My Wallet & Get With the Program

The Setup – Although veterans of many cruises, we had never had the “Drive Port” experience. Just throwing everything but the dog into the SUV – bypassing the hassle and inconvenience of airports, airlines and transfers – seemed like a good idea. From Memphis the logical choice was Carnival’s Triumph sailing to the Eastern Caribbean out of New Orleans. (7 days-July 24 to 31)

Embarkation – Docs we printed out online indicated boarding was from 12:30p to 2:30p with ship sailing at 4:00pm. So, we got in line for pier-side unloading and parking at 12:20p. Once parked and out of the SUV we stood in line for about 45 minutes – outdoors – in 95 degree mid-summer New Orleans heat and humidity. (What logistical genius arranged for that little bit of torture?) From parking to boarding the ship took a total of 80 minutes – during which long lines with many switch backs were the norm.

Continue reading “A Most Pimped Cruise! – How I Learned to Love Long Lines, Open My Wallet & Get With the Program”

How to Plan the Perfect Open House

Have you ever spent time and energy planning an Open House, just to have less than five people attend? Have you ever had a ton of people show up at your Open House, and been unable to convert a single one of them into a sale or a future client? Are you unsure about why your Open House failed?

Open Houses are now more important to the real estate agent than ever. A report in 2015 by the National Association of Realtors Home Buyers and Sellers indicated that 48% of home buyers cited the Open House as an important source for most of their information. The reasons for this are obvious, for many it’s the first time that they’re getting to smell, see, and feel the home in person. It’s also a way to see what other people think of the house, which is a powerful push in a person’s perception of a particular home. Continue reading “How to Plan the Perfect Open House”

How Your Credit Score Can Open and Slam Doors for You

There are many ways to get ahead financially: attend seminars where you cut up your credit cards with hundreds of other people, participate in financial assistance service that help you take out a home equity loan or refinance your home, or you can transfer debt on one credit card to another credit card with an introductory rate of 0% (which goes up to 12% six months down the road).

The reason these methods don’t work is because we don’t concurrently cut our expenses while implementing these strategies. Even if we’re making more money, unless we cut expenses, we will continue to spend more money than we have and incur debt. Manage yourself and your money. Money is like food; we don’t eat only when we’re hungry, and we certainly don’t spend only when we need something.

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This Key Factor Affects Our Health On A Daily Basis, Can You Guess What It Is?

This is beyond doubt that our ancestors lived a longer and healthier life than an average person does today. Besides the obvious pollutants present in the environment, there is an even more important factor that is slowly deteriorating our health on a daily basis. The culprit is hidden in our kitchen – yes, it’s your cooking pot!

Although our eating habits have a direct impact on our health and well-being, for example, eating too much of junk food increases cholestrols levels and creates a deficiency of proteins and vitamins. Even if you are having a healthy diet regularly with just the right balance of essential nutrients, you may not see the desired impact on your health. This is because how you cook your food greatly decides its nutritional value.

Continue reading “This Key Factor Affects Our Health On A Daily Basis, Can You Guess What It Is?”

Sarde in Saor (Venetian Style Sardines)

The humble Sardine is named after the Sardinian island where the sardine is found in abundance. Sardines are a superfood, they are not promoted as such because they are not deemed to be sexy, but they are packed with nutrients. Sardines, are a small, sleek and silvery sea fish, one of the few foods that contain Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is a natural nutrient found in the body’s cells. As well as CoQ10, they contain vitamin B12, Vitamin D, selenium, omega-3 oils, phosphorous and protein. Fresh sardines are very popular in the Mediterranean diet and on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, tourists consume fresh sardines grilled over the heat from a volcanic vent.

This beautiful blue fresh fish with a tinge of silver is revered all over the Mediterranean, the Spanish have a celebratory day to celebrate the Sardine. It can be found all over the Mediterranean on the beaches, five or six fresh sardines on a stick and chargrilled over a wooden fire. From Almeria to Gibraltar the prevailing smell on the beaches from June to October is the smell of the fresh sardines being cooked. Continue reading “Sarde in Saor (Venetian Style Sardines)”

A Clearer View From Vision Villas

Silence Day

I arrived in Bali on the eve of the Hindu New Year in the Balinese Saka calendar.

“You know tomorrow is Silence Day, yes?” The friendly customs officer informs me. I tell him I am a regular visitor to Bali, but this is my first time during the sacred holiday. It makes an impression.

I am greeted by Suta, driver from Vision Villas. He hands me an ice-cold bottle of Aqua and we set off to manoeuvre through the many colourful parades that are spread out along the road as the Hindus celebrate on the evening before their day of silence.

In Indonesia they celebrate their New Year through purification and sacrifice. On New Year’s Eve, the villages and homes are cleaned, food is cooked for two days and in the evening people make lots of noise to scare away the devils. Continue reading “A Clearer View From Vision Villas”

The Flavor Game – Sweet And Salty

The drive was taking an awfully long time. Traffic, although not too congested, was heavy enough to slow things down. Mom was getting irritated by the look on her face. The speed of her thumb thumping the steering wheel was getting faster and more vigorous. My mind was wandering, thinking about this visit to the dentist. It was probably the first visit I could remember. I kept feeling the tooth that was troubling me with my tongue. It felt painful but it kept me occupied for the duration of the trip. We finally arrived, and I was beginning to have second thoughts about agreeing to the visit. What’s going to happen? My mind was working overtime!

Sitting on the dentist’s cold chair, a chill went down my spine as I viewed the dreaded-looking dental instruments neatly laid out on a tray. Suddenly, the dentist was sitting next to me with gloves and a mask. I felt like fainting. “Please open your mouth,” he said. I could barely move. I then felt the cold steel probing my teeth. As he located the bad tooth, I felt a sharp, searing pain. “Doc, you’ve got to fix this,” I said to myself. “It’s got to come out,” said the dentist. I just nodded and told myself to be brave. I was given an injection which was surprisingly not as painful as I had anticipated. A while later I heard the dentist say, “Done.” My bad tooth was gone. I didn’t feel anything. What an anti-climax! Continue reading “The Flavor Game – Sweet And Salty”

Why Do Tomatoes Irritate Cold Sores?

A lesion on or around your mouth may be a cold sore. This itchy painful sore is a result of the herpes simplex 1 virus. This virus is transmitted by close interpersonal contact and after the infection will remain in your system for an undetermined amount of time, usually forever.

No one can tell precisely what will trigger an outbreak, sometimes cold sores appear for no apparent reason. That being said there are a few things that have been known to increase the likelihood. One of these is an injury or trauma to the tissue. This prompts the herpes virus to come to the surface creating a painful sore. In some cases, what we eat can play a role in that.

While no food is directly responsible for an outbreak ones that are high in acid content can cause severe irritation of the sore. Tomatoes for example are high in sugar and acid both of which can cause cold sores in some people. This is due in part to an allergic type reaction to the acid or sugar. Continue reading “Why Do Tomatoes Irritate Cold Sores?”

I Hurt Therefore I Eat – The Truth Behind Emotional Eating

We live in a culture in which food has become inextricably bound up with emotion and situation. We eat because we’re bored, because we’re sad, because we’re happy. When we want to celebrate, we go out to eat. When we’re grieving over a romantic breakup, we drown our feelings in ice cream. When someone is sick or someone dies, food becomes the way in which we show our sorrow and support-great amounts of casseroles and cakes and salads.

I’m not saying this is all bad. While food has inherent limitations in meeting our emotional needs, an emotional connection with food is part of a normal and healthy relationship with food. Food can and should bring us pleasure and comfort. Just think of the associations certain foods and aromas stir up for you: the sense of “home” you feel when you smell cinnamon and vanilla; the sense of safety a meatloaf and mashed potato dinner can provide; the sense of longing you get when your sister makes your grandmother’s famous broccoli casserole at Thanksgiving. On rainy Sundays, a cup of hot cocoa is a wonderful accompaniment to reading the paper, while the ritual of a celebratory cake adds meaning to birthdays. Continue reading “I Hurt Therefore I Eat – The Truth Behind Emotional Eating”

Are You Thinking About Throwing a Surprise Party for a Relative or Friend?

“Look Jim!” I chuckled. “We don’t have to take you out for your birthday dinner, there’s a barbeque right here.” Jim grabbed a hold of the latch and swung open the large outside door to the Angle Armoury building. At that same moment a chorus of voices shouted out from inside the building. “Happy Anniversary!” Stunned, I instantly glanced over at Jim still holding the door open. Jim glanced back at me. Then a lady yelled from inside. “Gordon and Trish!”

Trish and I were completely taken aback and were completely dumbfounded! We had no idea that our relatives and friends had gathered here to celebrate our 30^th wedding anniversary! I was in a daze. It took us several minutes to wrap our minds around the fact that we were NOT going out for our son-in-law Jim’s birthday celebration! Continue reading “Are You Thinking About Throwing a Surprise Party for a Relative or Friend?”