Linda Common - My Journal

When you’re a child, you look up to the kids that are older than you—siblings, friends of your siblings, older cousins, the upper grades at school. You try to hang around them and soak up their world because it’s certainly more fun and exciting than what you’re allowed to do. It’s as though, somehow, just being around older kids will rub off and make you older, too.

I remember very clearly that when I would see my older cousins at family functions, I always tried to stay with their group. At first, it would be hugs all around and they’d spend a little time fussing over me and playing with me, asking me about my school and my friends. Inevitably, though, I’d find myself fighting to stay with the older kid pack.

The older kids were faster, knew games I didn’t know or didn’t yet have the ability to play, and talked about things that I didn’t understand. It hurt my heart so! Hour after hour, I’d feel more and more excluded, see more and more of their backs, until finally I’d give up following their crowd. I would settle into playing by myself, feeling mopey, or I’d find my parents. At least with your parents, no one expected you to “keep up” with the adult conversation. But the older kid stuff seemed like it should be within my reach, but it was still a bit of a foreign language.

As the only child in my age group, I went through this for many years. Eventually new kids were born and then I was the older one that was looked up to. I tried very hard to give the littler kids more of my attention than I felt I’d gotten. But as the family gatherings went on, I’d feel myself slowly pulling away from the younger kids. I wanted more time to do things I was interested in. Then I realized that my older cousins hadn’t been so bad after all. The circle of life’s journey was simply playing out as it was supposed to.

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We’ve all seen the commercials offering relief if you’re in debt and over your head. There are a lot of feelings of shame, guilt, embarrassment, and anger that go along with being in debt and not able to stay on top of your bills. You may be thinking over your options—bankruptcy, making payment arrangements with individual companies, or consolidation help for getting out of debt. One of these options may offer the relief you need to get your finances back under control and get out from under the black cloud of negative feelings.

If you would like to consolidate credit card bill payments, there are some things to keep in mind. First of all, remember that if it seems too good to be true, there’s a good possibility it is. Credit card debt management companies regularly fill mailboxes and inboxes with easy promises of reducing debt by up to 50% and/or slashing interest rates down to nothing. Just because your credit card interest rate gets slashed, doesn’t mean the debt consolidation company isn’t going to stick you with a loan with a 20% interest rate! It’s kind of like trading one heartache for another. Who needs that?

Don’t pay someone else to do what you can do for free! Sure, it’s scary to face the credit companies head-on when you’re in debt. But if you add it up, is it really worth it to pay an extra 10% to a debt management agency if you can accomplish the same thing yourself? Steel yourself, grit your teeth, and hold someone’s hand… but make the calls yourself and keep asking for a better deal. Be polite but firm. Explain what you can handle, what you need, and constantly emphasize that you want to make good on your debt. Keep checking this site for more useful information!

If you’re a student then you’re busy with studying but still need money to pay the bills we all face in life. Problem is, since you’re busy studying you’re both paying a school for that education and don’t have time to work and make a ton of money. The good news is that many retailers offer student discounts to those people stuck in this conundrum. Everywhere from movie theatres, to restaurants, to computer retailers offer student discounts in order to help out this penny pinched portion of the population. So if you’re a student you should ask a business if they offer a discount for students. Don’t be shy, a business owner would rather gain a young, loyal customer by giving a discount to lure you in anyway! You can save hundreds in a year by using such offers as an Apple student discount for buying a laptop to J. Crew 10% off student discounts when buying your clothes.

Many students also are not aware of the fact that you can get software for a greatly discounted price. Sometimes their university will have a relationship with Microsoft in which you can get a copy of a program that costs $600 for only $8. That sounds amazing, but it’s true, just inquire with your university technology center about what software licensing programs they have setup for students.

My favorite student discount that’s almost ubiquitous is at movie theatres. Why pay $14 for a full price adult ticket when you can get a student ticket for $10? Sometimes all that money you pay just to have a student ID feels like it pays back a little bit!

When the cost of going to school is often over $10,000 a year, even for state schools, you have to do everything you can to save on costs elsewhere in your life and taking advantage of student discounts is one sure way that you can do that.

Throughout the years, I’ve heard more and more people complaining about the volume of kids’ stereos. Parents of teenagers, especially, seem to have a lot of complaints. From time to time I, too, have heard a throbbing bass beat while walking downtown and have turned my head, only to find a car full of teenagers driving by. I can’t imagine what the purpose is of having their stereos so loud—surely conversation cannot take place when you can’t even hear your own thoughts? Not to mention the damage they must be doing to their hearing! Just another example of teen belief that they are indestructible and invincible.

I digress. With the growing volume of our world, I find myself yearning more and more to spend time in nature. Not just a central park where street noises would still be accessible to the ears, but far-reaching, deafening “nature silence.” Just me, the birds, the bees, the trees, and hopefully not too many mosquitoes.

Sometimes all it takes for me to find my natural silence is to listen to some pre-recorded sounds of nature on headphones, close my eyes, and imagine I’m deep in the Grand Canyon or on a secluded island in the middle of an ocean. Other times, I satisfy my cravings by going to the library and pulling out the grand old encyclopedias and travel books and planning trips I would take, if only finances allowed. After all, the library is one place one can usually find silence, even in Metropolis

What are you doing? Still in the same job you had when you left school? Still hoping for a goofy record contract or something? Do you know how easy it is to access a bit of training and change your life forever?
First there’s sales training , that will give you a job anywhere. Cars, homes, dental care, even the clothes you are wearing right now were all sold by somebody - it’s guaranteed work, you don’t have to be a certain size, height or physique, you just need to know how to sell - easy.
Maybe you already know what you want to sell so you’re looking to specialise, let’s say in banking. You look for a course in Corporate finance training and kick start your career working for a major corporation planning their next growth and development.
Or you could be looking around where you already work - or thinking of going it alone, and saying to yourself ‘I could have planned that better, I could have made that happen or run more smoothly’. Your boss didn’t do it right, and rather than kick him while he is down you could think about doing some Project manager training allowing you to back him up - get him to pay for it, after all you’re doing him a favour, and you’ll be better placed to replace him.

There are so many shops opening and closing today it’s hard to stay up to date. Historically the tailors would travel around, call to your house and measure you, especially if you were rich. Then we had catalogues and they are still useful sometimes. Some shops give them away for free from their stores, other businesses operate almost exclusively from them, leaving them with no retail costs, rental/purchase fees etc, Catalogues are still de rigeur, only now they are utilised through online shopping. The main driving force behind any shopping revolution has always been women, and so many of the online catalogues focus on ladies clothing and goods for children. Catalogues often also offer a credit payment service, which allows the bill to be paid monthly, and these considerations are always valued. Very few services surpass that offered by Canadian online shopping, the mixture of old world style and modern taste bring the ideal online catalogue experience to life. No longer is home shopping or catalogue shopping a sedentary experience but you can now get involved in a whole new experience.

Amazing really, never thought I’d see it, the cost of gasoline. It kinda reminds me of a great aunt of mine when she got electricity, only this price development doesn’t seem to be quite so positive yet. Of course we instantly think of ways to save cash, but then we start to think about anyone with a vehicle fleet. Local governments will have to increase charges for waste collection and disposal the world over, and anyone with a subsidised sales fleet will have to start thinking about fleet fuel cards which will tie in their fleet to a specific oil company - or through a middle man handling the deals and some cost. But then it’s not just the whole operating system, it’s the added responsibility to each and every driver who must now remember their fuel cards in order to make the system work. Still it’s good to know when the economy is against you there is a system ready to help you carry the increase in cost and fleet cards are definitely the way forward.

If you are like most people today, you are looking for a healthy weight loss plan that really works. Before you know what is going to work the best for you and your lifestyle, you need to know what options are available to you.

Many people look for an easy way to loose weight with weight loss pills. There are many different types of weight loss pills available on the market today. Be sure to check weight loss pill reviews on the Internet as well as checking with your family doctor for any possible health risks and side effects.

If you are planning to lose weight, you need to know how much you should lose. It is important to know your body mass index or BMI, before beginning any type of weight lose plan. You can find a BMI (Body mass index) chart and weight loss table on just about any weight loss assistance site on the Internet.

You should keep in mind that there is no easy weigh to lose weight. Eating right and exercising on a regular basis is the best way to a healthy new you. You should enlist the help and support of your friends and family, as well as your personal physician. In some cases, a professional such as a dietitian or personal trainer can be helpful.

Have you found the person with whom you want to spend the rest of your life? Have you decided to have a wedding and invite all of your friends, family and co-workers? Are you planning a theme wedding or something more traditional? Why not both? Be the envy of all of the brides and grooms to be with a traditional Chinese themed wedding.

You can start the event off right with Chinese wedding invitations. Check local stores where you purchase invitations. Private vendors will usually have a great selection of Chinese wedding invitations from which you can choose. There are some great ones with beautiful Chinese artwork displayed tastefully. You may want to choose some with some ancient proverbs on them. Be sure to check online, you may be able to find custom Chinese wedding invitations that you and your special someone can design for yourself. Some websites even offer free wedding invitations.

Once everyone has been invited, then it is time to plan the reception. Plan to finish your perfect event off right with the perfect Chinese Wedding Tea Ceremony. A grand addition to any marital occasion.

With the right food choices and some creative decorating decisions your Chinese theme wedding will be the one all your friends will talk about for many years to come.