Content Maker Network Blog

What is massage therapy? Massage therapy is a manipulation of muscles, ligaments, tendons, skin, fascia, and joints in the body. It is a practice that has been around since the beginning of peopledom. In fact, ancient techniques are still employed in today’s modern world. The benefits of massage are extensive. Not only can it help alleviate pain and aid in physical maladies and day-to-day functioning, but it impacts mental and emotional wellbeing. Relaxation, awareness, anxiety, and depression can all be aided and eased with massage therapy.

Massage boosts the immune system, relaxes and reduces anxiety, alleviates pain, reduces blood pressure and heart rate, stimulates lesser used muscles, increases endorphins, aids physical rehabilitation, and improves circulation (blood and lymph).

There are many different techniques and therapies in the field of massage. Some of these may be familiar to you already, even if you do not know specifically what they entail.

Swedish: Probably the most well known technique, and for good reason; it’s quite popular.

Acupressure is like acupuncture without the needles. Specific points are targeted and pressure applied to create a therapeutic effect.

Aroma Therapy is often used in tandem with other techniques. It consists of using fragrant oils for healing benefits. These oils can be applied to the skin or simply allowed to perfume the air thus allowing those nearby to receive benefits nasally.

Canadian Deep Tissue Massage: A technique that focuses on a muscle group working with the fibers of the muscle tissue to rejuvenate each level of muscle including deep tissue.

Deep Tissue Massage works to invigorate and stimulate the muscle issue on a deep level. It involves more intense manipulation and can provide tremendous benefits on many levels. Not only does it help release toxins from the body, it helps

Hot Stone Massage: Warm stones are used on the body with gentle pressure to provide a soothing, therapeutic sensation. Infant Massage: Becoming more popular everyday, infant massage has been proven to help infants gain weight and speed development. It is taught to mothers as a way to bond with their new children.

Other techniques include Chi Nei Tsang, Reflexology, Shiatsu,Thai Massage, Amma Therapy, Alexander Technique, Aston Patterning, Bioenergetics, Bowen Technique, and Craniosacral Therapy.

Massage therapists are required to pass standardized tests in order to receive a license and become a registered massage therapist. Training is often completed at a trade, vocational, or career college and is usually completed in 2 years or less depending on the school and the program.

Massage therapy is considered a health field and massage therapy is often covered under many health plans because of its proven healing and beneficial results.

Massage is private and safe. Depending on the type of massage you receive, partial body, full body, 30 minute or longer, you may have to undress completely or not at all. The room should be warm and comfortable and there may be light music playing. If the environment makes you uneasy, do not hesitate to inform your therapist; a massage should be a relaxing and pleasant experience. This is true if you feel pain during any part of your massage experience. Some techniques are more intensive and may be a bit uncomfortable at times, but if you feel anything that makes you uneasy, do not hesitate to speak up.

Massage therapy is a valuable service whether you are considering a career in massage therapy or if you are just interested in finding out more information about what it is and how it can benefit you.

Fibromyalgia is a complex chronic neurological disorder that generates a wide range of symptoms. Most people with fibromyalgia complain about recidivating muscular pain, rigidity of joints and a generalized state of body weakness. Although these manifestations may point to rheumatoid arthritis, clinical examinations can reveal any signs of physical damage in people with fibromyalgia.

Due to the fact that most medical treatments are unable to overcome fibromyalgia, the disorder is considered to be incurable. However, this belief is far from the truth. Although fibromyalgia is a serious disorder with a pronounced chronic character, there are actually effective means of treating it. Acupuncture has proved to be a very reliable form of therapy for fibromyalgia, providing symptomatic relief and preventing the recurrence of the disorder.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese practice that has been successfully used to treat various illnesses for thousands of years. This oriental therapy can relieve most of the symptoms generated by fibromyalgia in a relatively short period of time. Acupuncture can quickly restore physical and mental balance, improving the overall health of the people who follow this form of therapy.

Acupuncture can quickly ease fibromyalgia pain and fatigue. This form of alternative therapy uses needles to stimulate various nervous centers of the body. In Oriental medicine, it is believed that the internal activity of the organism can be influenced by activating certain points on the body. These points are referred to as “acupuncture points” or “acupoints”. Therapists use acupuncture needles to activate specific acupoints on the body, correcting the activity of the entire organism simply by stimulating the nervous system.

This ancient Chinese practice is very benefic for people affected by fibromyalgia. Acupuncture inhibits fibromyalgia pain by stopping pain impulses from reaching the brain. This form of therapy can also regulate the body’s production of hormones, increasing the levels of serotonin, endorphins and encephalin, which have a very important role in relieving pain. Acupuncture can also improve the blood flow, restoring muscular tonus. Furthermore, acupuncture can help people with fibromyalgia relax, inducing them a state of comfort and wellbeing.

The majority of people affected by fibromyalgia admit that they have experienced an amelioration of their symptoms after only a few sessions of acupuncture. The first symptoms that can be relieved with the means of acupuncture are muscular pain and weakness, rigidity of the joints, and fatigue. After a month of ongoing therapy, acupuncture can also reduce stress, depression and mental confusion.

Chinese therapists claim that acupuncture works on multiple levels, healing the body, mind and spirit altogether, helping people re-achieve their balance. Oriental therapists also state that acupuncture stimulates and increases the vital “chi” energy, improving the overall health of the organism.

Acupuncture is very benefic to people with fibromyalgia and it can quickly alleviate their symptoms. In present, this form of therapy is probably the most effective means of overcoming the disorder.

Children between the ages of one and seven are open to emotional hurts. Temper tantrums are a way a young child expresses his frustration over a situation or a person. When your child feels thwarted, he feels many mixed emotions. Usually temper tantrums are brought about by stress. This stress is anything that disrupts the normal balance of the body. There are two types of stressors: the physical and the psychological. These stressors cause your child to feel a sense of anxiety, confusion, frustration, sadness, and anger. When a child feels out of control and not in balance, your child will react with a temper tantrum, whining, or teasing to get their way. This is a part of living and growing up.

Understandably, parents make an effort to keep stressful situations out of their child’s life, but this is easier said than done. Even changing a simple routine in a child’s life can create a tantrum.

Thank goodness, children have ways of overcoming the stress in their lives. They do this by crying, screaming, talking, playing and laughter. These stress-releasing mechanisms help your child cope each day. When your child accidentally breaks his favorite truck, he will cry and perhaps show rage. He is feeling despair at his loss. Crying is a very important way for your child to get out of his system the hurt and disappointment he feels. Crying energy helps your child to reduce the tension he feels, the stress he feels, plus lowers his blood pressure and heart rate. This is beneficial to his entire bodily system. Parents should try to allow their child to cry out their misery rather than repress these feelings. Repressed feelings usually bring about physical illnesses and behavioral problems down the road. Most parents understand this and give their child love and support to their child in this type of situation.

But what if your child has temper tantrums and you can’t understand why your child is carrying on? What can you do when your child is experiencing a temper tantrum because he didn’t get his own way? Being with a crying child usually makes parents feel angry, powerless, anxious and impatient. When you find yourself in this type of situation and you are facing your child’s explosion, try these three tips to create an emotional safety catch for both you and your child:

► Become immediately relaxed – hum a little tune to yourself and thereby distance yourself from any emotional stress you may be feeling toward your child. Your child needs unconditional love and acceptance, not unconditional attention based on his crying. Your child will release his feelings more effectively if he knows that you accept and acknowledge him as he is crying, kicking, screaming, or flinging himself onto the floor. This keeps the very important emotional connection with your child strong while your child is experiencing his temper tantrum.

► Once you feel relaxed, tell your child (not by criticizing or threatening) that you understand he is upset. You can’t dodge all temper tantrums, but you can tell your child that once he is finished with his crying, you would be happy to talk with him. Now go about your own business, doing anything that brings you comfort, and behave as if the tantrum is not affecting you and your inner balance.

By paying attention to your child’s undesirable behavior, you are actually encouraging your child to continue his performance. Giving in to temper tantrums and other demands causes these misbehaviors to increase in the future. When a child knows there is a pay-off (like a reward or bribe offered in attempting to guide your misbehaving child into good behavior) for out-bursts, a pattern develops which is usually very difficult to change. Your child may learn that one way to get a treat is by acting unhappy and having bouts of temper tantrums. Don’t reward this behavior because then you would be rewarding his unhappiness and this would only encourage him to exhibit this behavior over and over again. Your child would then learn to manipulate you and your actions.

► When your child cools off, or even if the tantrum continues for a long time, pop in to wherever your child is crying and suggest something fun you can both do together. Speak softly and slowly and tell your child that as soon as he is done, you are ready to play with him. Your patience is what your child needs at this time.

By following these three tips, you are acknowledging your child’s feelings of despair, you are attending to your own needs by not getting sucked into an emotional roller coaster, and you are communicating to your child that by not paying attention to his words and actions of undesirable behavior, you are still around and willing to give him love and support once it is out of his system.

Copyright © 2006 by Linda Milo and Empowering Parents Now. All rights reserved.

Linda Milo, The Parent-Child Connection Coach, specializes in helping mothers and fathers turn their parenting challenges into a more livable, more workable, and more enjoyable family life. Her FREE better-parenting newsletter covers specific, proven, and immediately usable methods for overcoming the most common parenting challenges. Visit http://www.empoweringparentsnow.com to subscribe to her FREE newsletter and also sign up for a free 45 minute consultation to learn to parent with less stress.

It is in MySpace.com and at many other virtual hangouts, that those teens find a home for their self-expression and a way to meet other teens online. They will routinely post images and videos, showcase their accomplishments, blog their thoughts and feelings, “hook-up” and hang out with other teens, rate each other’s space, watch music videos, and download pictures, video, music, ring tones and games.

This is also a place for teens to pretend they are someone else, create nasty rumors about others, discuss their drug use and sexual escapades (real or imagined), post sexually explicit videos and images, actively promote their sexual prowess, find sexual partners of all persuasions, and post and trade copyright-protected videos, music, and images.

Well there must be an age limit… And yes there is, sort of… According to MySpace, “users must be at least 14 to join. According to the Terms of Service, if a user is under 18 and misrepresenting their age, the account may be deleted. Although MySpace tries to enforce their rules, they are hard pressed to monitor over 20 million users.

If your child is under 16 and says so, then only basic information (Name, picture, age, gender, interests, city and state) is available for anyone online to see. You cannot see anything else.

But if your child’s profile says they are over 16, then their entire “space” is open to the public. Regardless of their age, most teens say they are “16″ or older. Open to the public means that anyone, anywhere online can view your child’s profile, image, posts, friends, etc. It also means that anyone with a MySpace account can post to your teen’s blogging space (unless they are specifically blocked by the teen).

There must be limits to what a teen can post there. You would think so… Although, MySpace.com says your child’s profile “may not include the following items: telephone numbers, street addresses, last names, and any photographs posted by you may not contain nudity, violence, or offensive subject matter. Information provided by other MySpace.com Members may contain inaccurate, inappropriate or offensive material, products or services…” it happens anyway.

Teens don’t think twice about posting their names, addresses, the school they attend, and personal information in their “space.” They post: images of themselves (with and without clothing) in sexual poses with members of the same and opposite sex; images of their drug and alcohol use; violent images and videos, and post rumors or lies targeted at other teens. There are even teens that will post scanned images of their school id or driver’s licenses! Don’t believe me? Go to Google.com and search for driver’s licenses in the Images search area. This readily-available cornucopia of information is a sex offender/pedophiles dream!

In a recent survey of teens at a Southern California High School, the students responded to the following question:

Which of the following have you put online? Do not include secure sites.

83.2% Your first name
61.1% Images of yourself

6.5% Images containing drug use
71.3% Your city
6.5% Images containing sexual content
31.0% Your full address
6.0% Images containing tobacco use
49.1% Your school name
9.3% Images containing alcohol use
16.8% Your school’s location
3.8% Videos containing sexual content
20.7% Your parent’s name
4.9% Videos containing drug or alcohol use
23.4% Your brother or sister’s names
15.2% Copyright-protected images or videos
2.7% Your driver license number
21.2% Copyright-protected music
6.0% Your student id

Nearly 70% of these high school students have a MySpace account.

No problem. My child doesn’t have a MySpace account. Don’t be so sure…The dangers inherent in MySpace are there for both MySpace users and non-MySpace users. How can that be, you ask? It happens when someone else signs your daughter or son up for a MySpace account. When my 13 year-old granddaughter’s friend signed her up for an account, she started to receive requests for dates, relationships and sex, quizzes to find out whether she preferred boys or girls, and sexually-explicit images and videos. The friend only needed my granddaughter’s email address to do it.

In the same survey, 19% of online high school students discovered that someone signed them up for something online (forums, quizzes, virtual communities, etc.) without them knowing it and 24% received at least one or two solicitations per week through email for a date, sex or relationship by someone they did not know.

I still don’t see how MySpace can affect my child’s future. What if I told you that anything put on the World Wide Web stays on the World Wide Web? That means that what your child is posting on MySpace or anywhere else on the Internet may be dug up later and used against your child by co-workers, divorce attorneys, government agencies, etc. What your child posts today, can come back to haunt him/her tomorrow.
Think back to your wild high school days, was there anything you did or said that you would not want your spouse, child or employer to know? Fortunately for you, those memories belong to you. Unfortunately, children today will end up sharing those memories with the world.

Take a look at some of the memories that have come back to haunt others:

• FEMA Director Mike Browne emails shed the real light on the Katrina Hurricane mess. He probably wishes he didn’t send those emails.
• Michael A. Mullen (aka Agent Life) was charged with murder after writing about it in his blog.
• Carl Edward Johnson was convicted of sending threatening emails. Although he used fake email addresses and forged email addresses, law enforcement found him.
• A Florida teenager pleaded guilty to a DUI manslaughter charge after prosecutors discovered a confession on his online blog.
• Internet bloggers were jailed on charges for allegedly posting material critical of a judge online.
• Gerald Velardi through a rock over an overpass causing damage to a tractor-trailer. His weblog post helped convict him.

If I ask MySpace to cancel my child’s account, then everything is fine . Think again… Did you know that if you hit the delete key on your computer, the file is not truly deleted until another file is saved over it on the hard drive? Even if you ask MySpace to remove information from their servers, it still lives in other places: backup files and drives; people who downloaded the information to their computers, search engine caches, etc.

The only real way to protect your child is to be proactive.

Children should…

Parents should…

Be wise, be proactive. Protect your child from him/herself!

Rhonda Goetz
Parent Smartz
Empowering Parents…
866.241.9927

Rhonda Goetz is a high school technology teacher and instructional designer. She deals daily with the Internet and student’s Internet use. She designed an easy-to-use online course to help parents understand Internet perils and how to monitor their child’s activity.

Want to learn more about the Internet and how to monitor your child’s Internet activity?

Sign up for the online Parent Smartz Protecting Your Child’s Future class. Learn about Internet perils you child faces daily and the techniques to monitor your child’s activities. Contact Rhonda at 860.241.9927 or visit ParentSmartz.com.

One of my newsletter subscribers wrote to share how profoundly she was affected by thinking about three questions I asked in my last article, The Power of Acknowledgement.

Perhaps these questions deserve further reflection:

1. Are you affected by what happens to you?
2. Do you affect what happens to you?
3. Which would you prefer?

In The Art of Possibility, authors Rosamund and Benjamin Zander remind us of our tremendous ability to attract what we want in our lives by being purposeful. In addition to being co-author of this wonderful book, Ben Zander is also the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a teacher at the New England Conservatory of Music.

After 25 years of teaching, Ben Zander recognized that students would be in such a chronic state of anxiety over the measurement of their performance that they would be reluctant to take risks with their playing. One evening Ben brainstormed with his wife, Roz (she is a therapist), to see if they could think of something that would dispel students’ anticipation of failure. Here’s what they came up with.

Ben had a class of 30 graduate students taking a two-semester exploration into the art of musical performance, including the psychological and emotional factors that can stand in the way of great music-making. He announced at the beginning of the semester that each student in the class would be getting an A for the course. However, they were asked to fulfill one requirement to earn this grade.

Sometime during the next two weeks, each student was asked to write him a letter dated for the following May, which began with the words, “Dear Mr. Zander, I got my A because…”. In the letter they were to tell a detailed story of what would have happened to them by next May that was in line with them receiving an A in his class. In other words, Zander asked the students to place themselves in the future, looking back, and to report on all the insights they acquired and milestones they attained during the school year, as if those accomplishments were already in the past. He asked them to write about the person they would have become by next May.

You’ll have to get The Art of Possibility to read some of the amazing letters Ben Zander received from his students.

Zander tells us that “the A is an invention that creates possibility for both mentor and student, manager and employee, or for any human interaction. The practice of giving an A allows the teacher to line up with her students in their efforts to produce the outcome, rather than lining up with the standards against these students. In the first instance, the instructor and the student, or the manager and the employee, become a team for accomplishing the extraordinary; in the second, the disparity in power between them can become a distraction and an inhibitor, drawing energy away from productivity and development.”

Those in charge often fall into the trap of identifying their own agendas and standards, along with a message that “my way is the only right way.” Virtually everybody wakes up in the morning with an unseen assumption that life is about the struggle to survive and get ahead in a world of limited resources. This limited view squelches innovation and creativity, and it also trains people to focus on what they need to do to please their superiors by doing things the “right” way — whether that way works for them or not.

As a youth I had planned on a performance career as a coloratura/lyric soprano, so I was thrilled when I was offered admission to Eastman School of Music — a very competitive and top-rated music conservatory in New York. I vividly recall one of my lowest moments during my freshman year at Eastman…

My roommate was a bassoonist, and we were both giving recitals near the end of our freshman year. She needed a scheduled break in the middle of her recital to rest her embouchure (the formation of the muscles in the mouth and lips, designed to create pressure on the reed), so she asked if I would perform something from my recital on her program. I agreed to do so, thinking it would also be good practice for me as I prepared for my own recital two weeks later.

The week before her recital, my voice teacher noticed a flyer advertising my roommate’s recital program, with my name included on her program. That week when I entered my teacher’s studio for my voice lesson, she pulled out a copy of my roommate’s flyer and informed me that I would not be performing in her recital because I was not ready During the ensuing rage-filled lecture that followed, my teacher instructed me that I was never to perform in public without her permission. After all, her reputation was on the line! She could not believe I had the audacity to consider performing anywhere in public without first getting her permission to do so.

Recalling this most unpleasant outburst from my Prima Donna voice teacher 28 years ago, I have great appreciation for something that Ben Zander said: “It is dangerous to have our musicians so obsessed with competition because they will find it difficult to take the necessary risks with themselves to be great performers. The art of music, since it can only be conveyed through its interpreters, depends on expressive performance for its lifeblood. Yet it is only when we make mistakes in performance that we can really begin to notice what needs attention.” You don’t have to be a musician to appreciate the value of his wisdom.

Zander actively trains his students to celebrate their mistakes by lifting their arms in the air, smiling, and saying, “How fascinating!” As I read the book, I tried to imagine what it would have been like as an 18-year-old performer if I had studied with a teacher like Benjamin Zander.

You may be wondering what happened after my voice teacher ripped me to shreds. At the age of 18, I did not have the backbone to stand up to a person of such famed stature, so I did not perform in my roommate’s recital. Just two weeks later I performed the same piece in my own recital…and my teacher was very pleased with my performance. After completing my freshman year, I transferred to Macalester College in Minnesota, where I got a great liberal arts education and studied with an outstanding and affirming voice teacher for my remaining three years. There I received encouragement and support in an environment where it was safe to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from them. Instead of feeling defeated, I flourished.

Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytic psychology, sums it up by saying that “Criticism has the power to do good when there is something that must be destroyed, dissolved, or redirected, but it is capable only of harm when there is something to be built.”

Zander suggests that mistakes and negative experiences can become great opportunities for growth. He tells the story about a tenor who came to him after losing his girlfriend. He was in such despair that he could hardly function. Zander was secretly delighted, because he knew that this heartbreak would enable the tenor to more fully express the heart-rendering passion of Schubert’s Die Winterreise (about the loss of a beloved). Zander recalls, “That song had completely eluded him the previous week because up to then, the only object of affection he had ever lost was a pet goldfish.”

In The Art of Possibility, the Zanders share a fundamental practice that is captured in the catch-phrase, “it’s all invented.” It’s all a story you tell — not just some of it, but all of it. And every story you tell is founded on a network of hidden assumptions.

Zander explains, “We do not mean that you can just make anything up and have it magically appear. We mean that you can shift the framework to one whose underlying assumptions allow for the conditions you desire. Let your thoughts and actions spring from the new framework and see what happens.”

Here’s a great example of the power of shifting your framework and assumptions: A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of Africa to study the prospects for expanding business. One sends back a telegram saying, “Situation hopeless. No one wears shoes.” The other writes back triumphantly, “Glorious business opportunity. They have no shoes!”

Perhaps you’ve applied limitations that were not given to you, but were assumed. So what happens if you open up the possibility of using the space beyond the dots rather than confining yourself to work within the square formed by the outer dots? If you are still struggling with this, scroll down to the end of this article to see what is possible when you invent a new point of view.

Here are some simple questions the Zanders suggest you ask yourself as you practice “it’s all invented.”

• What assumptions am I making, that I’m not aware I’m making, that gives me what I see?
• What might I now invent, that I haven’t yet invented, that would give me other choices?

Remember the three questions I began this article with?

Are you affected by what happens to you?

Do you affect what happens to you?
Which would you prefer?

Using the “it’s all invented” practice, perhaps you can begin to see how you can profoundly affect what happens to you.

I invite you to take out a piece of stationery and write yourself a letter, dating it for June, 2006. Project yourself into the future as you write a letter about all the insights you will have acquired and the milestones you will have attained during the year, as if your accomplishments for the next twelve months were already in the past.

“In the realm of possibility, we gain our knowledge by invention. Language creates categories of meaning that open up new worlds to explore. The pie is enormous, and if you take a slice, the pie is whole again. ” –Benjamin Zander

Kathy Paauw helps busy executives, professionals, and entrepreneurs de-clutter their schedules, spaces and minds so they can focus on what’s most important. She is an organizing & productivity consultant, certified professional & personal coach, and speaker. Contact Kathy via email: kathy@orgcoach.net or visit her website at http://www.orgcoach.net and learn how you can find anything you file or store in 5 seconds…guaranteed!

A lot of money is spent in this country to reproduce fragrances for perfumes and air fresheners. The majority of these manufactured fragrances have alcohol and other additives that can actually irritate the membranes in your nose. Nature has done it the best and these are some of the most heavenly fragrances you’ll ever smell.

1) Hyacinth! This highly fragrant flower is actually a member of the lily family. Lily’s tend to grow much larger than the hyacinth but if you look closely at this flower you will see that the clusters of these blooms are tubular in shape just like the lily. Hyacinths have been a popular garden flower since the 17 hundreds because of the brilliance of there color (of every shade) and because of the incredible fragrance they have. Whether you have them planted out doors or in a pot in your home, this beautiful flower will brighten up any space and give off a constant heavenly fragrance, but, it is not overpowering. I just can’t imagine a perfume that smells any better than this. And men, instead of giving her some fresh cut flowers, try giving her a hyacinth plant. It will last longer and she can replant it again next year if she wants to put it in a garden.

2) The most fragrant flowers are the pure white Casa Blanca and the dark pink Stargazer lily. They are absolutely beautiful, but beware; the fragrance they give off is so strong, that, one bouquet of lilies can fill up an entire room. Don’t place them where you are going to sit for any length of time unless, that is what you want. They don’t do well in direct sunlight or drafts so place them in a more diffused lit area. If you replace the water every couple of days and add flower food plus a new snip of the ends, you’ll have a long lasting, beautiful fragrant arrangement.

3) Tuber roses are not actually roses. Like the hyacinth, a tuber rose has a stem with clusters of flowers that are all white. Once again, the smell is fantastic. I once picked off one little petal from the cluster and put it in my car. A few hours later I return to my vehicle and was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful it smelled. My children noticed it as well. It was the perfect natural air freshener.

4) Gardenias! These flowers that bloom on trees have a very short life after they are cut, but for the little time you have them in your home is worth it. Generally gardenias are made into a corsage for special occasions, but if you don’t want to do that, you can place the flower in a low dish of water and then just leave them alone to do their work.

5) There are some roses that have been bred for their fragrance such as the peach colored Oceana rose or the Sterling Silver rose (which is actually purple). Each of these have a light perfume to them. Any of the purple roses have a wonderful smell.

You can order any of these flowers from your local florist. If they don’t have them on hand you can ask them to order some for you. In most cases, if you place an order before noon, you should be able to pick them up later in the afternoon.

Rather than putting chemicals in the air, you may want to get some flowers now and again and enjoy nature’s perfume.

Enjoy!

Willie is a freelance writer and researcher and is dedicated in bringing information on health related issues and other topics. www.gardeningandflowers.com

Ever been on a mega date? Wondering what in the world is a mega date? Probably best described as more fun than two people should be allowed to have in one day. A mega date is an all day date taking in all the typical dating activities. It’s not for the weak! You need a great sense of humor and a great sense of adventure. Why a mega date? Between working, going to school, taking care of the kids, having any type of social life can be difficult and time consuming. Finding time to date can be next to impossible. You meet someone, maybe meet for lunch one day, go out on a typical Friday night date, take in a movie and dinner, make small talk. Yawn! Life is short! Kick it up a notch! A mega date is a great way to get to know someone new or add spice to a stale relationship. It will take a bit of planning but doesn’t have to be expensive, there are plenty of activities you can do that don’t cost much. Here is how it works.

You plan out as many activities as you can fit into one day. The mega date day will start at 8am and go to midnight! You will need to figure out how long each activity will last and how far apart they are. You need to allow for travel time between activities and some time for unexpected things that can pop up. It is best to find a number of quick activities that don’t take more than an hour or two. For example, instead of playing 9 holes of golf you can just go to a driving range and hit a bucket of balls. Instead of an all day bike ride, ride for a half hour, have a picnic, then ride back. I think you get the idea.

Your day may start with something like a walk around a lake and then going out for breakfast or just a bagel and coffee. Your next few activities should include more physical things like golf, tennis, biking etc. Try and schedule a picnic for lunch. The afternoon might include visiting a local museum, other interesting landmarks or your local “must see” tourist destination.

Try to include things you or your date have never done but had always wanted to. Take in a movie, a show or other current event. Have dinner at some romantic restaurant or local hot spot (as long as the wait isn’t too long!, you don’t want to get off schedule.) Try a carriage ride, horseback riding, miniature golf, anything on the water, rent a canoe or paddle boat, Go for a swim at a waterpark or beach. Visit an art gallery, Go to a casino, put $10 in a slot machine and see who is the bigger winner. Go bowling. Go hiking in a park, Play Frisbee golf. Go indoor ice skating, Go rollerblading. Get a couples massage, Visit a vineyard. Visit a petting zoo. Plan both indoor and outdoor activities. Have backups if there is a change in weather. Put your thinking cap on and search for fun things to do in your area. Cram in as much fun as you can.

At the end of the day, you and your date will be exhausted but it will be the most fun you have had in a long time. You will both be thinking “I can’t believe we did all that!” Don’t forget to bring a camera to capture the day, then make a scrapbook of the mega date day.

A few mega date rules:
Stay on schedule.
A sense of humor must be maintained at all times.
The person who plans the mega date is in charge.
The person who was invited on the mega date is not to ask what the next activity is. The day is a total surprise for the person invited. All activities must be kept confidential.
No whining.
No napping.
The person invited must be a good sport and go along with all activities.
The person invited must read these rules.
Have fun!!

More great dating ideas can be found at The Mega Date Cafe Free dating advice, dating tips, news and links http://www.megadatecafe.com.

Michigan – May 20, 2005 – MicroWorld Technologies, Inc. the leading solutions provider in the area of Anti-virus and Content security, has announced the launch of its new version of MailScan Ver. 4.5, the antivirus and content security software for mail servers.

The new version of MailScan provides additional security features to allow users to monitor the TCP connections on their systems, and use enhanced Anti-SPAM control to fight SPAM.

The new security feature interface displays all the active TCP connections to your computer. It lists information about the processes, protocols, local addresses, remote addresses and Process Status on the computer. It allows you to identify any unauthorized access to your mail server and take effective counter measures to safeguard your system.

MailScan 4.5 provides the user with real time access to Relay Blackhole List at <http://www.rbl.org> for IPs of known Spammers. The site maintains active real-time Blackhole list that you can use to verify if any IP that connects to your MailServer is listed as that of a known Spammer, and take appropriate action.

MailScan 4.5 is the next step in the continuing process to provide added security to mail servers against virus attacks, SPAM and other forms of security threats to networks via e-mail.

Mr Govind Rammurthy, CEO, MicroWorld Technologies, Inc. says “MicroWorld’s MailScan 4.5 with its new features, is a step forward in strengthening our products to ensure that corporate gateways are well-protected from ever increasing and smart Internet intruders. Continuous development has made MailScan one of the most popular mail gateway security products available in the markets today.”

Many people work for hours and hours, days and days to make sure the Web site they have is ready for Google and it’s Googlebot whenever it might come for a visit.

The problem most folks run into though is how do you know it is there? Some forum and blogging scripts come with better ways to track bots as they comb through your pages. What about everyone else though? Well this is where these scripts come in. All you need is to be able to parse PHP through your Web site and you too can track the Googlebot even better.

I am not totally sure who wrote these PHP scripts up first, but I have not seen it talked about many places at all. Hopefully this will a handy tool for you to use.

Easy Version

With this version of the script you need to replace the “yourdomainname.com” with your own domain name and replace “you@youremail.com” with your E-mail address.

Expert Version

Hopefully this will be of some use to people working on their Web sites who want to keep a better eye on where the Googlebot is looking at.

Visit Authors Website
www.freebooksoft.com

Richard Daris
http://www.freebooksoft.com

The first question is, what is a conservatory?

There is no standard definition of what constitutes a conservatory (apart from “greenhouse”). This is one reason why quotes vary so widely.

The conservatory industry itself does not have a consistent approach. So, the only way out of this is to be specific about your requirements. *Don’t be afraid to ask questions if the sales rep or designer’s comments don’t make sense*.

If you want it to last and keep looking good, buy the best one in the most expensive material your budget allows. The cheapest supplier rarely supplies the best product or the best service. Do not try to beat the price down too much. Less professional suppliers will agree to it, but sell you short later. Get the best you can afford. Allow 10% for ‘extras’ or additions you may make later to the order.

A 10% deposit is normal. A larger one is appropriate only if the work is ‘bespoke’. Try to pay in stages according as the work in completed, and withhold the final payment until the work is completed to your satisfaction.

Inform your insurance company; your home policy may need amending.

Contact your local planning office early in the design process. You need planning permission for a conservatory.

Check out different designs on the internet. Send off for brochures. Make your conservatory as big as your budget or actual floor space will allow. Stake out the dimensions of the conservatory on the ground with pegs.

Decide if you want a conservatory with glass full height or one with dwarf walls.

Consider your neighbours; will the conservatory affect their enjoyment of their sunlight, their garden? You can avoid legal action!

When you build a conservatory in the UK it should ideally face towards the south and should not be overshadowed.

Materials: Aluminium is strong, with a small risk of condensation when humidity is high. Hardwoods look good but can be difficult and expensive to mantain. Double-glazed, white uPVC is inexpensive, popular, heat conserving, easy to maintain and long-lasting.

Suppliers: Don’t rely on the Yellow Pages or advertisements as proof of proficiency. Anyone can place an advert, join a trade body, or display badges they’re not entitled to. Always use a reputable company that you have had independently checked out.

Don’t rely on the fact that you have heard of them, as even some of the biggest advertisers may have had several incarnations. It’s very easy in Britain to shut down one company and open up again under a similar name. Always pay deposits by credit card, as this will afford you some level of protection under the Consumer Credit Act. If the company will accept credit cards for the whole job then that is even better. You have 30 days to make a claim with your credit-card company. You have to show how you were given bad goods or workmanship i.e. they contracted to give you X and gave you Y instead.

Also ask them how long the delivery will be. Have this stated in the contract. Additionally ask for an estimate of how long the work will take to finish once they are on-site.

Check, double check and get independent advice on the contract before you sign, as some contracts are considerably more onerous than others.

The best way to avoid salesmen’s traps is to be sure of what you want before the salesman arrives in order to present him with your requirements and use that as your bargaining chip.

Getting a specific quote against a specific set of requirements is the only way you can be certain of getting like for like quotations and getting the best prices to compare at your leisure.

About the author: T. O’ Donnell (http://www.tigertom.com/conservatories-uk/index.shtml) offers conservatory quotes, advice, and an ebook, in London, UK.