Outdoor living
As soon as the temperatures hit sixty degrees in Ohio we had our shorts on and we were ready for summer. Sometimes we would get our hopes up too soon and Mother Nature would be playing a trick on us and go right back into winter.
That is what makes summer so much fun in the Midwest, or anywhere where there is a definite winter, you live outside the entire summer because you’re just not sure when the next time you will get to be outside. So summer means grilling out and having parties.
Having a grill is one of the best ways to cook. Even when it was snowing my dad would fire up the grill because he wanted a steak so much. So despite the fact that we had to cover ourselves in bug spray we were going to move the party outdoors.
I became totally spoiled when my parents moved the family out to Arizona. You could grill all year long and the magic of the summer season changed. Mostly because it was a little bit warmer than back in Ohio.
Out here in Arizona people are lucky enough to get to live outdoors almost year round. They can grill outside and have parties while the rest of the country is out shoveling snow and making snowmen. After being out here, you start seeing that people have these massive outdoor kitchens in their backyard almost more extravagant than the ones in their house.
You can see some on the website of Steven Barbarich, chooseoutdoorkitchens.com. It’s really amazing what they can do now. It’s a far cry from the plain old charcoal grills of the past.
No matter where you live it seems grilling is a part of the American family and life. There is just something about grilling out with your family, no matter what time of year it is.
Complaints Management Software
In organizations that use manual methods for handling customer complaints they are faced with the challenge that the complaints arrive from a variety of sources. These can include letter, phone, email, website, reps etc.
The problem that arises from this lack of formal procedure is that the customer complaints can become stuck as the lay in a employees inbox or email program. A complaint management system requires timely and efficient responses so that customers have their complaints dealt with and resolved as soon as possible.
Many organizations now use customer complaints management software or complaint handling software to handle the tasks. When this is used in tandem with specific procedures and processes then there can be vast improvements in levels of customer satisfaction.
Does Drug and Alcohol Abuse Increase the Risk of Suicide?
In studies that examine risk factors among people who have completed suicide, substance use and abuse occurs more frequently among youth and adults, compared to older persons. For particular groups at risk, such as American Indians and Alaskan Natives, depression and alcohol use and abuse are the most common risk factors for completed suicide. Alcohol and substance abuse problems contribute to suicidal behavior in several ways. Persons who are dependent on substances often have a number of other risk factors for suicide. In addition to being depressed, they are also likely to have social and financial problems. Substance use and abuse can be common among persons prone to be impulsive, and among persons who engage in many types of high risk behaviors that result in self-harm. Fortunately, there are a number of effective prevention efforts that reduce risk for substance abuse in youth, and there are effective treatments for alcohol and substance use problems. Researchers are currently testing treatments specifically for persons with substance abuse problems who are also suicidal, or have attempted suicide in the past.
The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) in 2002 reported the following:
* In 2000, approximately 3 million youths were at risk for suicide during the past year
* Youths who reported past year alcohol or illicit drug use were more likely than youths who did not use these substances to be at risk for suicide
* Only 36 percent of youths at risk for suicide during the past year received mental health treatment or counseling
Suicides among young people nationwide increased dramatically in recent years. Each year in the United States, thousands of teenagers commit suicide. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15-to- 24-year-olds, and the sixth-leading cause of death for 5-to-14-year- olds. More than 50 percent of teens who commit suicide have a history of alcohol and drug use. That’ why young adult drug rehab is so important.
In many cases, it’s important that an alcohol and drug treatment or drug rehab focus on depression or thoughts of suicide along with the recovery from drug or alcohol abuse.
Mauritius Writer Jean-Marie Le Clezio
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio is a Nobel Prize winning author who was born in April of 1040 in the City of Nice on the French Riviera. His family had settled on the island of Mauritius though they divided their time between the island and mainland. Le Clezio has a dual citizenship status and considers Mauritius to be his little fatherland. He was raised in the small French village of Roquebilliere, near Nice when France was occupied by Italy. In 1948 he, his mother and brother took a ship to Nigeria to meet up with his father. He would later write a semi-biographical novel of these early experiences, titled Onitsha.
While inspiring famous novelists is an aspect of the island of Mauritius it is not the only thing that draws numerous tourists to its shores every year. The natural beauty of the island is unsurpassed and contributes to an almost romantic atmosphere. Tourists staying in the best hotels Mauritius enjoy the luxury accommodations and frequently feel as if they’re in their own private paradise.
Clezio began writing at a very young age and wrote his first book about the sea. He studied at the University of Bristol in England for about a year before transferring to Nice’s Institut d’etudes litteraires where he finished his undergraduate degree. He went on to pursue a master’s degree from the University of Provence and completed a PhD at the University of Perpignan. He wrote his dissertation on Mexico’s early history. After spending years in school, he went on to teach other people, and has taught at many universities around the world. As a novelist he has enjoyed a successful career and has published many books and won numerous awards. He had already become well known and critically acclaimed by the age of 23 when he wrote the book Le Proces-Verbal, which translates as The Interrogation. He won the Prix Renaudot for this work.
Snowing in India
Winter continues through India’s summer, but not every where in India . Only at the world’s biggest Snow Theme Park, Snow World located by India 5 Star Hotels in Hyderabad. Snow World is India’s first Snow Themed Park and has established, by pioneers, a leisure industry in the state of Andhra Pradesh as a part of the Ocean Park Mulitech . It has become a landmark within a year after its launch and has been attracting more and more tourists not only from India but world round.
Snow World has a floor area of 60,000 square feet and an auditorium seating capacity of 800. It’s special chill zones are of a special delight to all. Lovers of fun will experience the chill as they move through different temperature zones with temperatures variants between 5 degrees centigrade in the snow house to 18 – 20 degrees centigrade in the auditorium zone. During the day, fun lovers will enjoy ice skating and in the evening they will be treated to a spectacular ice dancing show featuring internationally known ice-skaters from Russia, England and Brazil along with well known choreographers all invited to create ‘Magic on Ice’, which has been compared to the Lido show of Paris .
This largest indoor Snow Themed Park includes an vast variety of winter themed park attractions that offer professional coaches for figure skating, ice hockey, ice curling and even ice carving. To complete the snow experience there are facilities for snow skiing, snow sledging, snow boarding, tobogganing, tubing and anything else a family can think of as fun times in the snow. Right now, an indoor slope of 110 mts is being developed. It is a unique experience that nobody in India would have ever imagined. Probably, it’s the first ever experience one can imagine in the whole of India. Experience the chills and thrills, the fun and frolic and create wonderful memories of being cool in the heat of India’s summer.
Hiking in Singapore
Singapore is well known for the architecture of the skyscrapers, the various mosques and churches, and the Singapore luxury hotels. The downtown district is a cosmopolitan city, full of the hustle and bustle known in all the big cities of the world, such as Paris, or Los Angeles, or Manhattan. What one may not be aware of are the hiking tours through the wilderness that lies just outside the city borders. For some, the walking through the city streets is enough, but for those out door types and those looking for more of a challenge, the hike at Tree Top Walk will provide one with such and experience. The hike begins with the secondary mature forest. After an hour or so, most like to take a pause here to catch their breath, and to take in the birds and the various plant-life and wildlife. After about one hour further up the trail one will reach a suspended bridge, which may provide some with difficulty if one is afraid of heights, as the bridge is two hundred and fifty meters long, suspended over a drop of twenty five meters. If one can bring themselves to cross, the views from the bridge are spectacular, worth the entire day of hiking.
Some inexperienced hikers may want to start off with an easier trail, such as the one that is located off of Venus Drive. This allows one with a bit less of a strenuous hike. And even the seasoned hikers, not familiar with, nor having traveled to Singapore in the past, should be aware that the climate is hot, and very humid. Which will provide detrimental if one is not properly prepared and stocked up with sufficient water. Most guides suggest that hikers begin their treks up Tree Top early in the morning to avoid some of the uncomfortable and hottest times of the day, much as the advice given to those hiking the Grand Canyon in the United States. And also to be aware of, once hikers reach the suspended bridge, there is no turning back, and the trails begin narrow enough to require that the hikers continue on in a single file line. There is much to consider when taking a hike of this nature, but for those looking to discover the other side of the city of Singapore, this will be a journey very well remembered.
Builder women outside Johannesburg
One recent morning in the township approximately 125 kilometers southwest of Johannesburg , strong hand and strong back women were stretching and arching their backs. More than a dozen women busy building a nation; one sidewalk block at a time. No one was complaining, even as they shoveled heavy mounds of wet cement or pushed a heavy brick laden wheelbarrow. Emerging from their labor were walls, floors and simple roof lines.
At the edge of Kgotsong , as vast empty wilderness, an ever-growing township of well over 72,000 people, these women are solving one of South Africa’s biggest issues: a housing shortage of tremendous proportion, leaving 7 million of the country homeless. We were fortunate enough to be staying at one of the many Hotels Johannesburg has to offer, but these women were staying in crumbling corrugated metal shanty’s while building with their own hands, 28 houses with materials they themselves salvaged or purchased by pooling scant resources.
Working with a technical adviser, five women can build a three bedroom house in five days. For generations, millions of the poor, black South Africans had no choice but to squeeze entire families into the crude corrugated shanti’s, which did not provide much shelter from the rains and winds that will suddenly whip by and tear apart or blow off roofs. Some shack dwellers will visibly shake if you mention the word fire.
So, twice a week, these builder women gather on a dusty plot and do a Kgotsongs version of a barn-raising. They pool their resources, each woman contributing a rand per day. The money is usually earned by fund-raising parties, working as a domestic many many miles away or sell fruit to passers-by. The Government has long understood that for the poor in South Africa, mostly the black, buying a decent home has been a great and difficult dream. But a dream these builder women are bringing into fruition.
Hippy Market Ibiza
I was lucky enough to visit Ibiza in Spain and come upon the Hippy Market not far from the main hotels Ibiza has plenty of to handle such tourists as myself. I was a mere child when the hippies were spreading philosophies of free love, non-violence and flower power. So, now as an adult, stumbling upon this market influenced my creative spirit and filled me with tons of original and colorful arts and crafts ideas when I get back to the States.
Last Sunday, I got some startled reactions when I was doing a demo of macrame’ with hemp. Many people thought macrame’ had died out with the 70’s. I know if definitely had its heyday back in the 70’s. I remember making plant hangers, wall hangings, belts, vests, purses and I even added jewelry onto the macrame’. Now, it’s mostly hemp jewelry popularized by college students trying to earn spending money. That is no reason we can’t use it for grand things like we did back in the 70’s.
Actually, macrame’ has been around for a very long time and was once popular with sailors as both a form of self-expression and as a practical tool. Other crafts that were big in the 70’s and still enjoy popularity include candle making, leather crafts, tie-dyeing, ceramics, pottery making, weaving hand spun wool and beaded jewelry. You can see many hippy crafts on Esty My favorite place to get dye is on Dharma Trading. They also sell plain silk and cotton or hemp garments. Other accessories such as canvas bags or plain white cotton shirts and summer dresses ready for any kind of dyeing pattern I choose.
Of course there are also many books on making your own dyes from botanicals, and that is well worth exploring because when I was at the Hippy Market in Ibiza what was selling the most was anything organic and anything made with organic dyes. I now consider myself a happy hippy-crafter.
Delhi’s Treasure: Ravi Shankar
There is an abundance of hospitality in the Delhi hotels, and the numerous amenities make for an experience that is luxurious in old-world charm but laced with new-world technological savvy. Grace and style permeate the atmosphere, and the day-to-day life here will seem like a waking daydream. Comfort and generosity of spirit are always at hand, and there is no limit to the possibilities for exciting new experiences. One of the largest cities in the world, and the capital city of India, Delhi is a heady mix of cultures and traditions, and as one of the longest continually-inhabited cities on the planet, is also a place of enormous history.
One would expect a surplus of artists and intellectuals in such a cosmopolitan place, and of course Delhi is no exception. One of the most important political seats in the world, Delhi has attracted fascinating people of all sorts of disciplines and areas. Perhaps one of the most famous residents is the brilliant musician Ravi Shankar. With family roots in Bangladesh, Ravi Shankar was born in Benares in 1920. His family moved to Paris in 1930, and back to India in 1938. The Paris experience would be extremely influential to the young Shankar, who would learn about music and dance by watching his brother’s troupe there. It would also serve as an early exposure to global music culture, and this would be very important for someone who would later become known as one of the fathers of world music.
He studied under Baba Ustad Allaudin Khan, who taught him how to play the sitar. The sitar is now internationally recognized in popular circles, probably due to Shankar. In the 1960’s, the young George Harrison studied under Ravi Shankar. An interest in Eastern philosophy and culture at the time brought the two together, and the famous Beatle introduced Shankar’s music to the Western world. It should be noted that by this time Shankar was already quite famous in his own rite in India, having won several awards, and composing the music for the famous Apu trilogy. But his performance at Woodstock certainly added to his growing international reputation. He has children who are following in his musical footsteps, including his sitar-playing daughter Anoushka Shankar, and the famous pop vocalist Norah Jones.
Taj Mahal Palace Resort Mumbai
There are many interesting cultural and entertainment aspects to the city of Mumbai, India. In fact, it is often considered to be the entertainment capital of the country, being home to India’s Bolllywood, which is the nation’s equivalent of the United State’s Hollywood, California. There are many other dynamic aspects to this city and some of the 5 star Mumbai hotels also serve as major landmarks. This is certainly the case with the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower. It is one of the most prestigious luxury hotels located in the Colaba region of Mumbai.
This magnificent building is over 105 years old and is as intriguing as it is an important heritage icon. It first opened its doors in 1903 and is actually constructed of two separate buildings. In total it has 565 rooms, of which 46 of them are suites. There is a beautiful view of the Palace resort from the harbor, though this actually shows the back of the building. There has been some suggestion that this is due to a design error and that it was originally intended to face the harbor, though that has been disclaimed.
The Taj Mahal Palace resort as played host to a great number of famous guests. Some of these include Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, The Beatles, Mick Jagger, The Prince of Wales and Bill Clinton . It also has played an interesting role in history. During the First World War it was transformed into an army hospital with 600 beds. On a darker note, there was a series of terrorist attacks in the Southern part of Mumbai in November of 2008. The Palace was a target for some of the attacks and it received major damage. Hostages were also taken, and some of them were killed. The tower and Palace itself have reopened, though the repair to the hotel will probably continue through the rest of the year.