September 27, 2004

Today's Tune (On/Off)

"My Heart Will Go On"
(Theme from 'Titanic')

From the Inside Out...
76 Days Adrift

Yes You Can!...
Select a Comfy
Plane Seat

Far Horizons...
Puerto Plata

Links That Shine...
My Collie Haven

Just for YOU..
Special Goodies

Laughing It Off...
Criteria for the Clever Cat

Untangling the Web...
What a Site!
&
Computer Ease

Look at That!...
Koko Calls a Dentist...

Web-Wize Updates...
Daily Security Alerts

Joyful Lifestyles...
Developing Our
Higher Awareness

BE the World
You Want to See!

Most things that happen
in life we can choose to call "gifts" ... though it's often difficult to see the treasure in a tragedy. As time passes and extenuating circumstances reveal themselves, however, I believe we can always find the 'diamond that arrived... wrapped in a square of toilet paper.'

~ Chelle ~

From the Inside Out
76 DAYS ADRIFT

In 1982 Steven Callahan was crossing the Atlantic alone in his sailboat when it struck something and sank. He was out of the shipping lanes and floating in a life raft, alone. His supplies were few. His chances were small. Yet when three fishermen found him seventy-six days later (the longest anyone has survived a shipwreck on a life raft alone), he was alive — much skinnier than he was when he started, but alive.

His account of how he survived is fascinating. His ingenuity — how he managed to catch fish, how he fixed his solar still (evaporates sea water to make fresh) — is very interesting.

But the thing that caught my eye was how he managed to keep himself going when all hope seemed lost, when there seemed no point in continuing the struggle, when he was suffering greatly, when his life raft was punctured and after more than a week struggling with his weak body to fix it, it was still leaking air and wearing him out to keep pumping it up. He was starved. He was desperately dehydrated. He was thoroughly exhausted. Giving up would have seemed the only sane option.

When people survive these kinds of circumstances, they do something with their minds that gives them the courage to keep going. Many people in similarly desperate circumstances give in or go mad. Something the survivors do with their thoughts helps them find the guts to carry on in spite of overwhelming odds. "I tell myself I can handle it," wrote Callahan in his narrative. "Compared to what others have been through, I'm fortunate. I tell myself these things over and over, building up fortitude...." I wrote that down after I read it. It struck me as something important. And I've told myself the same thing when my own goals seemed far off or when my problems seemed too overwhelming. And every time I've said it, I have always come back to my senses.

The truth is, our circumstances are only bad compared to something better. But others have been through much worse. I've read enough history to know you and I are lucky to be where we are, when we are, no matter how bad it seems to us compared to our fantasies. It's a sane thought and worth thinking. So here, coming to us from the extreme edge of survival, are words that can give us strength. Whatever you're going through, tell yourself you can handle it. Compared to what others have been through, you're fortunate. Tell this to yourself over and over, and it will help you get through the rough spots with a little more fortitude.

THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE: Two sailors ran into each other in a pub. Over a few beers, one of the men told the other about his last voyage: "After a month at sea," he said, "we discovered our masts had been eaten through by termites! Almost nothing left of them." "That's terrible," said the second sailor. "That's what I thought at first too," the first sailor said, "but it turned out to be good luck. As soon as we took the sails down to fix the masts, we were hit by a squall so suddenly and so hard, it would surely have blown us over if our sails were up at the time."

"How lucky!" exclaimed the second sailor. "That's exactly what I thought at the time, too. But because our sails were down, we couldn't steer ourselves, and because of the wind, we were blown onto a reef. The hole in the hull was too big to fix. We were stranded." "That is bad luck indeed," lamented the second sailor. "That's what I thought, too, when it first happened. But we all made it to the beach alive and had plenty to eat. But now here's the real kicker: While we were on the island whining about our terrible fate, we discovered a buried treasure!"

As this story illustrates, you don't know if an event is "good" or "bad" except maybe in retrospect, and even then you don't really know because life keeps going. The story's not over yet. Just because something hasn't turned out to be an advantage yet doesn't mean it is not ever going to. Therefore, you can simply assume whatever happens is "good." I know that sounds awfully airy-fairy, but it's very practical. If you think an event is good, it's easy to maintain a positive attitude. And your attitude affects your health, it affects the way people treat you and how you treat others, and it affects your energy level. And those can help pave the way for things to turn out well. A good attitude is a good thing. And a bad attitude does you no good at all.

So get in the habit of saying "That's good!" Since you don't know for sure whether something will eventually work to your advantage or not, you might as well assume it will. It is counterproductive to assume otherwise. Think about it. If someone ahead of you in line at a store is slowing everything down, say to yourself, "That's good!" They may have saved you from getting into an accident when you get back in your car. Or maybe, because you slowed down, you might meet a friend you would have missed. You never know.

The truth is ... life is uncertain. And even that can work to your advantage.

~Adam Khan is the Author of "Self-Help Stuff That Works" and
has been published in Prevention Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Tea Magazine,
The Body Bulletin, Think and Grow Rich Newsletter and At Your Best

Read "one of the best adventure books of all time" (National Geographic Explorer):
Adrift: Seventy-six Days Lost at Sea....By Stephen Callahan
Steven Callahan: Adrift at Sea....By Holly Cefrey

Yes You Can!
SELECT A COMFY PLANE SEAT

It's about more than aisle and window — seat pitch, leg room and bathroom proximity can all directly impact how comfortable you are on your next flight. Travel agents and websites allow to you to select a particular seat when you fly, but other than window or aisle, how do you make an informed choice?

Travel experts recommend two easy-to-use sites — www.SeatGuru.com and www.SeatGxpert.com — for details about the best and worst seats, and some in between, on every type of aircraft flown by large carriers.

Seats are rated on such factors as legroom, engine and lavatory noise, how well they recline, underseat storage capacity, view and more.

For example, on American Airlines' Boeing 777-200s, which mainly fly Asian Pacific routes, seats 25 A, B, H and J are rated "bad" by Seatguru, because "you'll hear the lavatory flush all flight long." Seats 31 H and J, meanwhile, are "the best coach seats on the plane with tons of legroom and power ports."

Delta Air Lines also flies Boeing 777-200s, although its planes are configured differently, making row 44 the tops in coach class, despite the lack of a good view, according to Seatguru.

"Most people would be surprised to learn that, even on an airline that has an all-coach configuration, all seats are not the same size," said Randy Petersen, editor of Inside Flyer magazine.

In fact, not all first-class seats are created equally either.

For Northwest Airlines' Airbus 319s, Seatguru says "be aware!" of all seats in row 4, because "only a curtain" separates them from the coach cabin, which can be noisy. Also, because food service begins in row 1 in the first-class cabin, passengers in row 4 "most likely won't get a meal choice."

Within the coach cabin, the conventional wisdom is that bulkhead and exit seats are the best. But this is not always the case. For instance, on Delta's MD-88s, seats 24 D and E are in an exit row, but "the aging door seals often make the area cold."

Yet this is not true on Delta's entire fleet of MD-88s, Seatguru advises, since the Atlanta-based carrier bought a handful of these aircraft from another airline that did not configure them the same way.

Unless you've got a travel agent who knows all the different permutations for seat configurations, which vary by carrier and plane type, experts said it is a good idea to do a little advance research.

The computer reservation systems used by travel agents denote exit and bulkhead seating, but that is where the details end, said Terry Trippler, a travel consultant with Cheapseats.com in Minneapolis. The average travel agent wouldn't know "whether a particular seat doesn't recline," Trippler said.

Internet travel sites show airplane seat configurations and real-time availability, but they do not offer qualitative descriptions.

Of course, landing a plum seat requires more than just the knowledge available at seatguru.com or seatexpert.com, travel experts said. There are often fewer than a dozen coach-class seats on any given airplane that are considered above-average or better and these are often reserved for first-class or full-fare travelers. That is why on Internet travel sites, which cater to budget-conscious travelers, the premium seats will usually show up as unavailable.

That said, the information available at seatguru.com and seatexpert.com can help travelers avoid unwittingly selecting the worst seats available.

~By Brad Foss, The Associated Press, MSNBCNews.com

JON GORDON AMERICA'S #1 ENERGY COACH & AUTHOR OF Energy Addict: 101 Mental, Physical and Spiritual Ways to Energize Your Life Jon will be on NBC’s Today Show October 4, 11,18 and 25, and is offering a special promotion for his book as part of his ongoing Get Energized Today series and his desire to help YOU energize your life! You can order the book today for only $11.16. Jon is also giving more than $500 in free bonus gifts just to say thanks. While you’re there, be sure to sign up for his free Energy e-Newsletter. It’s a weekly energy boost that I’m sure you'll enjoy! Simply visit www.JonGordon.com/Amazon.htm for details.

>>> Inspiration Line's International Forum

The Amber Museum - Dominican Republic

The “Silver Port” of Puerto Plata lies 130 miles
northwest of Santo Domingo. Near its Victorian town square you’ll find the Amber Museum, housed since 1982 in the elegant 1919 Villa Benz mansion. Amber is not unique to the Dominican Republic, but the greatest reserves are mined near Puerto Plata. When removed from geologic layers, amber looks like an unspectacular stone. Cutting and polishing, however, reveals its true nature — not a stone at all but a translucent fossilized sap. Amber ranges from pale yellow to dark brown, depending on the soil. A rare blue-tinted amber is colored by volcanic gas. The most treasured pieces are those that have inclusions, entrapping leaves, insects or even small reptiles. In the Cofresi resort area, the brand new Ocean World isn't about strolling past gigantic aquariums — it's about actually getting inside. This is the first park of its kind, where you're interactive with all the sea lions, dolphins, sharks, stingrays, tropical fish and tropical birds.


ARCHIVES~

 

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Laughing It Off
CRITERIA FOR THE CLEVER CAT

I. DOORS
Do not allow closed doors in any room. To get a door opened, stand on hind legs and scratch the frame. You may also reach under the door and pull clothing towards you; silks get the quickest reaction. Once door is opened, it is not necessary to use it. After you have ordered an "outside" door opened, stand halfway in and out and think about several things. This is particularly important during very cold weather, when it's raining or snowing, or during the height of the mosquito season.

II. CHAIRS AND RUGS
If you have to urp, get to an overstuffed chair quickly. If you cannot manage this in time, get to an Oriental rug. If there are no Oriental rugs, shag is a good substitute. When urping on shag, be sure you project; it is a must that it stretch for as long as a human's bare foot.

III. HELPING
If one of your humans is engaged in some semi-closed activity and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called "helping"; humans are known to refer to it as hampering". The following are the rules for "helping":
a) When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted.
b) For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book, unless you can lie across the book itself.
c) For knitting projects or paperwork, lie on the work in the most appropriate manner so as to obscure as much of the work or at least the most important part. Pretend to doze, but every so often reach out and slap the pencil or knitting needles. The worker may try to distract you; ignore it. Remember, the aim is to hamper work. Embroidery and needlepoint projects make great hammocks in spite of what the humans may tell you.
d) For people paying bills (monthly activity) or working on income taxes or Christmas cards (annual activity), keep in mind the aim - to help! First, sit on the paper being worked on. When dislodged, watch sadly from the side of the table. When activity proceeds nicely, roll around on the papers, scattering them to the best of your ability. After being removed for the second time, push pens, pencils, and erasers off the table, one at a time.
e) When a human is holding the newspaper in front of him/her, be sure to jump on the back of the paper. They love to jump.

IV. WALKING
As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as possible in front of the human. Especially effective places to strike are: ...On stairs, when they have something in their arms ...in the dark ...and when they first get up in the morning. This exercise helps with improving their coordination skills.

V. COMPUTERS
1: Only show interest in computers that are turned ON, the operator will need your help.
2: Monitors are bad for human eyes. It might ruin your owner's sight and cause them to buy less cat food. Always get in between the monitor and the person operating the computer. For best results, stands as close to the monitor as possible. If you are removed, go and sulk in a corner for a minute, then repeat. Look as innocent as possible.
3: Keyboards are great to lie down on. Make yourself as comfortable as possible. Marching over the keyboard several times is fun too. Practice aiming at alt-F4, N, and ctrl-alt-del.
4: Always chase the mouse. Your owner can't blame you for this, since it's your feline instinct to chase mice.

Reprinted from www.The-Cats-Meow.com

ARCHIVES~ .

Untangling the Web

WHAT A SITE!

"Restaurant.com"
How do you get out of paying full price for your meal at a restaurant without having to scrub dishes? Simple, just buy Restaurant.com Dining Certificates. Restaurant.com is an online network of thousands of restaurants across the United States — including some of the hottest names in dining. Find a member restaurant and buy Dining Certificates for a fraction of the actual value. You can also buy gift certificates.
www.Restaurant.com
(Contributed by Bob in St. Cloud, Florida )

Reference List of for the WorldWideWeb

COMPUTER-EASE

Scroll Wheel Mouse Trick?
Here's a cool trick for the scroll wheel mouse users out there... If you are in a web browser (Explorer or Netscape) or reading an email in Outlook Express, hold down your Ctrl key and spin the wheel. It makes the text larger or smaller depending on which way you spin. For Opera users, it magnifies both the images and the text. ~WorldStart.com

When Koko used the American Sign Language...
gesture for pain and pointed to her mouth, 12 specialists, including three dentists, sprang into action. The result? Her first full medical examination in about 20 years, an extracted tooth and a clean bill of health. Koko, a 300-plus-pound ape who became famous for mastering more than 1,000 signs, began telling her handlers at the Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, California, she was in pain. They quickly constructed a pain chart, offering Koko a scale from one to 10. When Koko started pointing to 9 or 10 too often, a dental appointment was made. While gorillas in captivity are known to live into their 50s, they are susceptible to heart disease and a thickening of the arteries. Her teacher, Francine Patterson, was at her side when the anesthesiologist prepared to put her under in the morning. Afterwards, Koko asked to meet her specialists — a Stanford cardiologist, three anesthesiologists, three dentists, an ear and throat specialist, two veterinarians, a gastroenterologist and a gynecologist, who had all volunteered to help. Koko motioned one woman to come closer. The woman, awed by this brilliant animal, playfully handed Koko her business card, which Koko promptly ate. ~REUTERS

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