In 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip sailed his ship into Sydney Cove and one of the great cities of the world was born. Today Sydney is home to over four million Aussies who love to bathe in the glorious sunshine and surf on the open waters that break upon its wonderful beaches. Sydney Harbour is irresistible. Its famous bridge dominates the view, a magnificent feat of engineering. But for sheer elegance, the Sydney Opera House takes centre stage with its unique appearance and over 2,500 shows annually to keep the opera buffs fulfilled. Try to catch the Sydney Film Festival when all manner of Hollywood stars honour the city with their presence. If you’ve joined in with the Aussie spirit and sank one or two pints of lager, try burning off the calories with a climb up the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The ascent commences at regular intervals and the view from the top is inspirational, though you will need a strong nerve and a good head for heights. Today Sydney is a multicultural city. Prior to WWII, most of the inhabitants were of British or Irish descent. But later years have led to an influx of immigrants from all over Europe and Asia. The diverse ethnic groups have led to a vast range of bars and restaurants throughout the city, catering for most people’s tastes. One must-try restaurant is the Longrain. Serving an excellent choice of Thai dishes, diners are catered for well into the night. Once dinner is over, try drinking schooners at the Hollywood Hotel. Don’t forget your best slacks and designer shades if you’re out to impress. Alternatively, take in a movie at the OpenAir cinema in the Domain. Watch the latest Hollywood blockbusters with the moon and stars for company. Revelling in the limelight, Sydney is all about glitz and glamour, always ready to offer you a memorable experience.
Saturday, October 1, 2016
When daddy moves to an apartment
Divorce is hard, there’s no question about it. Not only has your marriage ended but, most likely, your lifestyle is undergoing some drastic changes also. This is especially true if you are forced to leave the place that was home to you and your family. Depending on your particular situation, you may find that moving into an apartment is your only option. Many times it’s hard to think of an apartment as home after you’ve been accustomed to living in a house surrounded by family. But, if you choose your apartment wisely, you may find it’ll become a cozy, comfortable haven. Take some time to select your apartment. Remember, this is going to be your new home. Don’t rush the selection process. Decide how much you can afford to spend for rent and look at as many apartments in that range as you can. Location should be one of your prime considerations. Your life is complicated enough right now, don’t make it worse by choosing an inconvenient location where commuting becomes a problem. If your children will be visiting regularly be sure your apartment is large enough to let them feel at home. If possible, select an apartment with a room just for them. Let them have a hand in decorating it so they’ll feel a part of it. If you have joint custody of the children and they will be living with you while attending school, you’ll also want to choose an apartment that is convenient to their schools and recreation areas. The type of apartment you choose will be important to how well you adapt to living in it. Like a house, choose one that fits your personality. If you like puttering in the yard, make sure there is some private space where you can do that ~ even if it’s just planting flower boxes on your patio. If you enjoy cooking, make sure the kitchen meets your requirements. You also need to consider the atmosphere of your apartment complex. If you’re going to have children living with you part time, most likely a singles community would not be the best choice. Neither would you probably want to choose an apartment in a building that is filled with senior citizens. If there are pets involved, make sure rules don’t prohibit them. Turn your apartment into a home. Don’t consider your apartment a place of exile! It’s your new home and if you want to be happy there, you must give it your attention. Unpack the boxes and arrange your furniture in a way that’s pleasing to you. Hang pictures or other art work on the walls and stamp your new home with your own personality. If you take pride in decorating it according to your own tastes, you’ll find it becomes a welcoming and comfortable place to be. Remember you no longer have to consider anyone else’s preferences ~ this is all yours to do with as you please! The more you’re apartment reflects you and your interests, the more it will seem like home. Enjoy it!
Contemporary or classical musical instruments
Playing a musical instrument is a gift to all those who hear it. Does it really matter if you play a classical musical instrument or a contemporary musical instrument? It can. First and foremost, playing a musical instrument should be fun and rewarding. If it’s not, you are not likely to practice it at all and eventually you will lose interest. Playing classical music with a classical instrument can be remarkably challenging and rewarding. As a general standard, classical music is more intricate that contemporary music, although there are naturally exceptions to every rule. Playing contemporary music with contemporary instruments can also be tremendously satisfying and rewarding. While not everyone may agree that contemporary music is a gift when they hear it, those who appreciate it will appreciate it deeply. One of my favorite trends as of late is to either play contemporary music with a classical instrument or classical music with a contemporary instrument. Both sounds are considerably remarkable and both aspects take quite a bit of talent and practice. Creating this interesting twist can ultimately please more crowds, as classical music played with a contemporary instrument can reach the younger generations and actually turn them on to classical styles. The same can be said about contemporary music that is played with classical instruments. When choosing between classical or contemporary instruments, the best method of decision making is simple preference. When choosing for a child, or helping a child make the decision, preference of course still matters, but opening the doors to new music and different experiences can really benefit the child tremendously. The basic goal for choosing an instrument, either classical or contemporary, is finding an expression that works well with the personality. Children who learn at least a little of both classical and contemporary expression are more equipped to make the decision for themselves later on. Classical music and instrumentation can teach strong basic skills, while venturing into contemporary music and instrumentation can be both inspiring and fun for kids, especially older children. Being well versed in classical music can actually provide a better platform for kids or adults who want to play a more contemporary instrument. Contemporary music is often written with the use of only a few chords and a basic beat while classical music demands a higher level of instrumentation. If we never teach kids the classical instruments or the classical music, the classical arts are destined to die.
Big questions that could change your business
How does your business perform in these areas? Effecitve Meeetings What if people: * Called a meeting only when they had a specific goal supported by a detailed agenda? * Checked with the key participants to help them prepare for the meeting? * Involved all of the participants in the work during a meeting? * Obtained results with a team process based on consensus? * Took responsibility for implementing the decisions made in a meeting? > Could this help your business become more profitable? Business communication: What if people: * Helped others express their ideas during a conversation? * Created a safe environment that facilitated clear thinking and free expression? * Treated each other with respect in their conversations? * Listened carefully and completely to what the other person was saying? * Let others be the star in their conversations? > Could this help your work proceed more efficiently? Business presentations What if people: * Understood the goal for a presentation before preparing for it? * Spoke with key people in the audience to learn about what they hoped to gain from the presentation? * Rehearsed what they planned to say with a clock (to make sure that they finished on time)? * Spoke about the audience and their needs instead of about themselves? * Delivered compelling presentations that informed and inspired others? > Could these leaders be more influencial? Personality styles What if people: * Could recognize how others preferred to think, work, and communicate? * Knew their own strengths and how to apply them for maximize benefit? * Knew their weaknesses and how to manage them? * Were able to work together in harmony? * Could earn trust and respect from each other? > Could this help people get along with each other?
Unlocking your dungeon how to finish a basement without finishing off your checkbook
One thousand square feet, fifteen hundred square feet, three thousand square feet—however big your home is, you know it could always be a little bit bigger. Whether you’re in the throes of parenthood and trying to find spaces to stash your kid’s toys, or you’re starting a home business, you could probably use an extra room or two. One way to get more space is to buy a whole new house. For those of us in the real world, though, a far more economical and practical solution is to finish the basement. Yes, that creepy, crawly dungeon can be turned into a playroom for your children, a home office for your bustling new business, or an entertainment room for the weekend’s big game. You’ll just need to cover over the cold concrete floors and the gray foundation walls. Then there’s the pipes hanging from the ceiling that you’ll want to hide, and the washer, dryer, and storage boxes that you might want to section off. OK, maybe this project isn’t sounding so practical or economical anymore. But actually, despite the time and effort that goes into it, finishing your basement is basically easy and cheap—if you know how to go about it the right way. There are eight key considerations you ought to make if you’re down with finishing your basement. They’ll help you figure out how to go about it, as well as help you decide if you really want to go about it in the first place. No. 1: Just how much value will the basement add to your home. Chances are, a finished basement will make a “cellar” want to offer more to buy your home. But by how much? To be worthwhile, make sure the increase in your home’s value will over-compensate what you spent to finish your basement. Talk to neighbors who have finished their basement, or do research online or with your real-estate agent to see what houses are worth in your area, with and without finished basements. No. 2: Have a good sense how long you will be in your home after you finish the basement. Sure, a finished basement will bump up the value of your house, but you also want to be sure you will get some value yourself out of all that new space. No. 3: Be realistic about costs and work time. Depending on your basement, finishing it could be more intensive than you first imagine. Can you really spent (or borrow) $10,000 at this time? Do you want contractors in your home for two weeks? No. 4. I don’t need a contractor to do work I can do myself! (Oh, really?). Even handymen or women can get themselves in over their heads when it comes to major projects like finishing a basement. And don’t get us wrong. You may be capable of doing all of the necessary work. But are you able—meaning, do you have the time and energy after your 9-to-5 job, your children’s sports practices, and a few hours of sleep? No. 5: Local laws may have something to say, too. Hiring a contractor or doing it yourself—whatever way you decide, you may have to comply with local or state codes for such construction. Again, a neighbor who’s recently done a similar home renovation could be a wealth of information, as well as municipal or state Web sites. Following such regulations may seem like a pain, but they may help you prevent real pain that comes from injuries if you carry out your project without safety codes in mind. No. 6: Sure, it’s a good idea to finish the basement—but exactly how? Here’s the fun part. Once you determine that it will be worth it to go through with the project, now you need to figure out what sort of room you want down there. Will the theme be a spare bedroom, a playroom, work-out gym, office, home theater, etc.? No. 7: Are you being realistic about the basement’s new theme? OK, it would be great to have a fitness room down there, but do you really have the room for the treadmill and the weights? Do you have the square footage for two couches and a 60-inch high-definition TV? Will you have the ceiling height to fit your 7-foot-tall bookshelves? No. 8. Your basement can handle your vision of finished glory—great, now make it happen. Start shopping around for all your necessary appliances and furniture. Do your research on price and selection and get your best value. In many cases—such as with office furniture or fitness equipment—buying used is the way to go. Used stuff can be none the worse for wear, and at online classifieds or auction sites, you can more often than not--get great deals on it. Steps 1 through 8—just like that, it’s simple to make your house that much closer to being that figurative castle, or that is, to turn your castle’s dungeon into the king’s (or queen’s) court!
How to build your own web site for your online business
: Most everyone will agree, if you are going to do business online, you need your own web site. It can be a mini-site or a full blown multi-page site. These days, maybe you just need a blog as a web site. Find out what you need to know to build your own web site, get web hosting for that site and start your online business right. If you are serious about sustaining a long term home based internet business, you should have a web site of your own. Having your own web site will give you much more flexibility on how you approach your online business as well as provide you with a means to give your web business a presence on the internet. Having this presence and making yourself known on the internet will improve the level of trust you will receive by your potential customers. Having your own site may open up many possibilities that you could never have imagined. For the many who embark upon their own web site adventure, it becomes a learning experience with no equal. Your web site will take on a personality of its own and be the front door to your online home business. You may see it as a very patient friend, waiting calmly for you to discover some little hidden function, which opens up a whole range of entirely new possibilities, and starts your thoughts racing - thinking about how to capitalize on that particular feature. You may get a little careless, or get too relaxed with it, then bam! Right between the eyes - you end up with a big problem. But, building your own web site for your online business is fun, can be profitable, and most certainly can feed that creative flair in all of us. The first thng to do when starting your web site is to pick a domain name. The domain name will be something like yoursite. A domain name should be researched carefully. Its best to have highly searched for keywords in the name. A neat and free tool to help you pick a domain name is The Domain Twist. There are many places to get domain names. I prefer Godaddy or Netfirms for domain name registration. Netfirms currenty has a promotion to receive a 1 year domain registration for $4.95. You can also use Wordtracker's FREE trial to give you keyword ideas: wordtracker Searching Google at google will give you an idea about competition for any particular keyword. Use Overture's search box to find how many times your keyword was searched on last month: inventory. overture/d/searchinventory/suggestion Once you have a domain name you will need a web site hosting account to host the domain. Web hosting accounts vary significantly with disk space allowed, bandwith, number of supported domains, and other important considerations. Most annual hosing accounts that would be more than adequate to run your online business will cost between $6 - $10 per month. Currently, I recommend BlueHost and Host Gator web hosting accounts. Both have recently received performance awards and they have very competitive hosting plans for your web site. When selecting a web host, pay special attention and compare capability like PHP support, MySQL database allotment, subdomains, script support and others. The next thing that you need to do is build your actual web site. I am not an html or javascript programmer per se, but I can do minor html programming/editing with a good editor. I like Coffee Cup or HTML Edit for small jobs and one page web site editing. You can also use a template to build your actual web pages. You can find them all over the internet for free. ibdprince - has all kinds of webmaster goodies, including really great looking CSS templates. diyminisite - templates and videos about mini site creation - click the "not yet a member" link to join. It's FREE. Then go to the download area and pick what you need. My absolute favorite for program for building web sites though is Killer SEO Site Builder. This is a PHP script that you install on your web host account. The script provides you with a real easy rich text html editor. It also has tons of features that optimize your site for the search engines. Get a FREE copy of "7 days to Massive Web Site Traffic" at seoelite. It outlines the steps to a web page that can rank high in the search engines, and even goes beyond just your web pages, to tell you "the rest of the story." I thoroughly enjoyed it. When you get ot the SEO Elite web site, scroll through the sales pitch, then close the page. The "7 Days" popup appears. It sounds like a lot of trouble, but believe me, it's worth it. Don't load your site down with slow loading banners and images. Use low-res images that have been optimized for use on the web. Write your web site page content, commonly referred to as copy, then play editor: write, hack, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, until it is crisp, clear, to the point, and utterly understandable. Repeat your strongest point or benefit a number of times (at least three). Some people just don't get it the first time or two. Spread your text out a bit. Don't double space, but use very short paragraphs, and lots of headings with some space between the heading and the paragraph. When you put together your web site, target your audience. Don't talk about network marketing to veterinarians. They may be interested in network marketing, but they probably got to your site via a search for a pet animal product and that's what they're looking for. When you know your target audience you can be sure not to speak (write) above their heads. Use words they will understand without Webster's help. You may get by with writing a little below their level, but never above it. Keep your fonts constant throughout your site. Variety may be the "spice of life" but can really look lousy on a web page. You can vary the size a bit, and throw in a little color, but stay conservative with the type style. Know your target audience, and be sure not to speak (write) above their heads. Use words they will understand without Webster's help. You may get by with writing a little below their level, but never above it. Highlight important selling words and phrases with bolding, italics, underlining, and color. Just don't overdo it. Don't forget, purchases are never made on logic, but on emotion. Use copy that is designed to trigger an emotional response, such as a sense of loss, one of the strongest: "If you wait, this offer may no longer be available at this price. Get it now at this ridiculously low price, and it's yours forever." Once you have your web site built you will need to upload it to your web site host (unless you are using KSEO Site Builder). A good and free FTP program to use for uploading and downloading to and from your host is SmartFTP. When you upload your site, you must upload the index. html file, any other linked HTML files, all the graphics files and any external CSS or Javascript files you may have created. Once you are online focus on driving targeted traffic to your web site by writng articles, getting backlinks and Search Engine Optimization.
Travel insurance tips advice resources for seniors
RIDDLE! What is it? They spend thousands encouraging us to buy it. We are advised never to go on holiday without it. But when we want to buy it, they don't want to sell it to us. Read on ........... So after much deliberation we have chosen the holiday destination, sorted out the flights, and already we are picturing ourselves languishing on warm sands with the inviting blue sea stretching before us, and we just have the minor formality of the holiday travel insurance and then all the arrangements will be complete. Did I say MINOR? Well, yes, holiday insurance was once just a minor formality, but now for retired folk or senior citizens it has become a MAJOR, MAJOR problem. (In fact, when talking to friends it appears that holiday insurance has replaced house prices as the after dinner discussion). The problem is not just about how health affects the cost of insurance but it's about how age affects the cost of insurance. Isn't it amazing how an insurance company can take your annual holiday insurance payments for years, you have never made a claim, and suddenly because you have just passed a certain birthday you are too risky to consider. Your medical history may be fine, in fact you may be fitter than the 30 year old couch potato on the end of the telephone, but that doesn't count - the only thing that counts is the date on your birth certificate. And when you do find an insurance company who will cover you, you find that the premium costs more than the holiday. However, one thing is certain, WE MUST HAVE HOLIDAY TRAVEL INSURANCE (you realize how essential it is when you consider that an air ambulance from the USA will set you back approx Ј35,000), and another important point is to be honest when declaring your medical history, because Insurance Companies are not charities and will possibly look into your medical history hoping to find some information (however slight you may have considered it at the time it was recorded) to avoid paying for example that air ambulance cost from the USA. A timely reminder that the E111 was discontinued on 31 December 05 and was replaced by the EHIC (the European Health Insurance Card), which you can obtain from the Post Office or dh. gov. uk. It is useful to take this, but it is definitely not a substitute for personal holiday insurance. And whilst on the subject of European holidays; a couple of years back we met a group of Spanish pensioners having a great time on the Costa del Sol. We found out why it was such a joyous occasion, it came courtesy of the Spanish Government - the Government treats senior citizens to a week's free holiday. On reflection, it could possibly work out cheaper for the National Health if our senior citizens were sent to warmer climes during the winter when bronchitis and respiratory problems abound. Mr Brown, it's food for thought. After all, he informs us that in 2008 we shall be receiving free bus travel throughout the country, so perhaps we can but dream that the boundaries be extended somewhat. However, there is still the problem of the necessary holiday travel insurance. A recent survey found that 9 out of 10 annual travel policies impose an upper age limit. It is slightly easier to obtain single trip policies: but this can work out expensive is you plan to take more than a couple of holidays a year. Here are a few worth contacting, but do shop around as prices vary enormously – All Clear of Brentwood - allcleartravel. co. uk Citybond - citybond. co. uk Churchill - churchill) Age Concern ) will insure the over 80s Help the Aged ) will insure the over 80s Saga ) will insure the over 80s Norwich & Peterborough - npbs. co. uk Flexicover - flexicover. co. uk