The gift of writer s block

Anyone who writes knows this scenario at one time or another: You have something to say, great ideas to express. So, you go to the page only to find your mind has gone as blank as the sheet or screen before you. Paralyzed, you write not a word. Somewhere in the synapses of your imagination, you know there lives a fully formed novel, or story, or play, or even one single poem, but you cannot magnify it enough to see the individual words. So you leave it for another day…until your vision is clearer, until inspiration strikes and reveals all 350 pages of text, all 36 lines of poetry. Until the writer’s block is gone. Sometimes inspiration does strike from out of the blue, and words pour down like rain. Ideas synthesize, fingers fly and Voila! You’ve created a masterpiece…or at least a pretty good piece of work. But such strikes of inspiration are not, for most of us, the norm. Writing takes commitment, and good writing takes practice. Still, what about writer’s block? Even when your diligent with your practice, even when you show up day after day, you’re not immune from block, from finding yourself without two words that make any sense. What then? First, shift your perspective on what writer’s block is. It’s easy to panic, to believe it means you’ll never write again, that you have no real talent or that you have nothing worthwhile to say. But none of these is near the truth. Writer’s block is not the lack of skill or worthiness as a writer…it is, instead, a signifier revealing one of two things: · There is a truth you are not yet ready to tell · There is something more that needs to be learned or experienced before the ideas can be fully crystallized When you write you cannot help but come up against and touch upon your own inner sore spots and the edges of your comfort zones. To write deeply you must delve inside of and push against these, stretching, questioning and seeing more and more clearly. The truths you tell yourself are the markers that guide you through. When you come to a place you are not yet ready to go, to words you are not yet ready to say or to something that is not yet in focus…you get stuck. Willingness to face the wall, to approach it with patience, compassion, trust and honesty, is the way through it. There is no way around it. Your blocks are gifts that push you to grow, to break through the hard places to reach fertile ground. Let me share an example to explain. When I was writing my novel, I found myself going in circles around a primary relationship in the story…one between the main character and her mentor/teacher. I would talk about the teacher, but I couldn’t dive into the center of her role in the novel, most specifically I couldn’t find ANY words to put in her mouth. As long as she didn’t speak, I was okay. But that was a problem. There came a point when I could no longer keep her mute. She had to speak. But every time I tried, I ended up sitting in front of the screen, hands poised and my insides twisting in frustration. Finally, I decided to get up and move. I went for a walk, and as my limbs fell into rhythm my mind fell into the story. The dialogue played out in my head. Away from the computer, I could have a conversation with the characters; I could get inside them and hear what they wanted to say. On that walk it occurred to me that I had been unable to claim the voice of the mentor before then because I had not been able to claim her within my own being. Whenever the story demanded she speak, I would feel the panic of putting on paper what was being shared as wisdom. Who was I to say such things? Who was I to be the voice of wisdom? But just realizing what was “blocking” me, what I needed to learn, freed me. And along the way I opened doorways to my own growth. When feeling “blocked” take a walk. Let your body move and your mind ease and flow. Ask yourself what you might fear in the work you are doing…what truth you are not yet ready to claim or tell. And know that we cannot always control the readiness of things. Time teaches us and directs our understanding, and our understanding directs the depth and breadth of our writing. Be patient with yourself. And keep writing.

Pride mobility scooters parts list

Where To Find Service And Parts List For Pride Mobility Scooters Pride Mobility Products Corporation is the privately owned company that manufacturers a very popular and respected line of mobility scooters. This very successful company was founded in 1986 and has consistently grown, now exceeding $76 million dollars in annual sales. It is obvious that many people are purchasing Pride Mobility’s line of mobility scooters and for good reason – they are available in a wide variety of models and styles, moderately priced, feature rich and durable. But even the most reliable motor scooters need routine maintenance and care in order to operate at optimum levels at all times. So, if you own a Pride Mobility scooter and want to keep it in optimum operating conditions, you will need to have a list of the parts applicable to your particular model mobility scooter and a reliable source from which to obtain Pride Mobility replacement parts, a price list, and, if necessary, access to an authorized service technician. The operator’s manual for a Pride Mobility scooter is provided at the time of purchase and includes a list of parts specific to the model purchased. If by chance this manual has been lost, you can download a copy from Pride Mobility’s website at pridemobility/resourcecenter . The manual also supplies information on routine maintenance procedures, parts lists, repair options and troubleshooting advice. The web site also provides a lot of useful information including their contact information so you can contact them directly for information regarding parts lists and repairs. Most distributors of Pride mobility scooters carry many of the consumable parts most often purchased such as batteries, tires and chargers. Many carry convenient accessories such as cane or walking stick holders, oxygen holders, cup holders, baskets and canopies. However, should you been in need of a mechanical repair you will need to know where to obtain the appropriate replacement parts and possibly some help from an authorized service center. Pride Mobility has authorized sales and service distribution arms throughout the United States. Each authorized service center has parts lists for all Pride Mobility scooter models. Should you be mechanically inclined and have already identified the parts you need, contacting one of Pride Mobility’s authorized sales and service centers should be all you need to do to purchase the parts you need to do. These authorized service centers also have technicians that have completed the required Pride Mobility repair training program to efficiently repair your mobility scooter with genuine high quality Pride Mobility parts. Drop off and repair service is usually available should a distribution center be within a short distance for you, and even house calls within a limited local area are an option from some providers. Spinlife, LLC, is an authorized Pride Mobility sales and service distributor. Their expert technical staff is well qualified to repair your mobility scooter using genuine parts from the manufacturer’s recommendation list. They also commit to finding someone who can help you with parts and repairs should they be unable to do so themselves. You can find out more about Pride Mobility Scooters and Spinlife LLC at Spinlife

Moving with pets

If you’re a pet owner and are planning to move to a new home, remember that moving can be even more stressful for your animals than it is for you. But there are several things you can do to make it easier on your dog or cat. Start your packing well ahead of time; it’s not only easier on you, but on your pets as well. During the time leading up to your move, try to keep your pets’ eating and exercise schedules as normal as possible. Give them the same amount of attention and affection as you always do. Things to do before your move: • Get copies of certificates, medical, and immunization records from your veterinarian. • Purchase identification tags with your new address. • If you’re planning to travel by air, schedule your flights early and try to book a direct flight – this will be much easier on your pet. You need to find out what the airline’s regulations are for transporting your pet. You will also need to find out what kind of crate will be necessary to contain your dog or cat. • If you’re driving and the trip will take more than one day, be sure and check ahead and reserve motels that will accept pets. • Contact the state to which you’re moving and find out the regulations regarding animals. Some states require an entry permit for pets. • If your new home is nearby it’s a good idea to take your pets for a visit and let them become familiar with the neighborhood and the new sights and smells. This is especially true of dogs. Of course, keep the dog on a leash and the cat in a carrier. When Moving Day Finally Arrives . . . All the confusion is certain to upset your pet so the best solution is to have a friend or family member keep Fido or Fluffy while the loading is being done. If that isn’t an option, keep your pet in a small room, perhaps a bathroom, along with sufficient food, water (litter box for Fluffy) and some favorite toys. Attach a “Do Not Enter” sign on the door so the pet is secure and won’t be accidentally set free. You’re on Your Way . . . The packing and loading are all done and now it’s time to head for your new home. There are things you’ll want to make sure are packed for your pet. These include: • The new identification tags. • Medications and veterinarian records. • Recent pictures of your pet in case it becomes lost. • Litter box or scoop and plastic bags. • Paper towels in case there are accidents. • Leashes. • Toys and treats. • Food and water bowls. • Can opener and cans that can be resealed. • Regular food and water from the old house (enough for several days). Different water can upset an animal’s digestive tract so it’s a good idea to provide water from the old house for the first few days after moving. This would not be a good time to try a new brand of food either! Your New Home ~ At Last . . . When you finally arrive at your new home, let your pet explore with your supervision. Then place Fido or Fluffy in a small room with a crate or bed (and, of course a litter box for Fluffy) while the unloading and unpacking are taking place. Make sure to put some favorite toys in there and perhaps an old sweatshirt, or something that smells familiar. It’s very important that you not let your pet outside alone without a lead or tie for the first few days. Cats usually require about a week but dogs adapt quicker. You don’t want your pet to wander away and get lost. Your pet may be insecure and more prone to misbehaving during the first few days in a new environment. Try to be patient and not punish the initial misbehavior, instead, try to find ways to reduce stress. Extra TLC can go a long way toward making pets more comfortable. It’s also a good idea to follow the usual feeding and exercise schedule. In closing, there are just a couple of things you should be aware of to keep the moving experience as trouble-free as possible: • If you intend to fly, be aware that puppies and kittens less than 8 weeks old will not be transported. • And finally, never move a sick animal ~ it could well make his condition worse and endanger his health. Enjoy your new home!

Special education needs causing financial crisis in california schools

Now, I am all for special education for children with disabilities. I attended school at a time when such children were either put into “special” schools or thrown in with the general student population to sink or swim on their own. It was a terrible inequity. It finally was addressed in the 1970s with a law designed to correct such discrimination by giving these children the civil right to an equal opportunity to learn. The law covered children from birth to age 22, guaranteeing them the right to a free and “appropriate” public education. It is the ambiguous word “appropriate” written into the law that is creating a crisis for the California schools, according to Nanette Asimov, staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. The article cited a situation of one California schools child with a disability. The assigned public middle school offered special college prep classes, daily help from a special education expert, a laptop computer, extra time for tests, the opportunity to temporarily leave class if the child’s had an anxiety attack, and a special advocate to smooth over any problems with teachers. The parents hired a special consultant instead, who found alternative schooling opportunities — all were private schools and all were out-of-state. They settled on a boarding school in Maine, outside the main city, that had one-tenth of the enrollment of the California schools. The one thing this school did not offer was a special education program. The mother said that smaller classrooms and a smaller campus were more important than a special education program. Since the possibility of anxiety attacks was mentioned in the article, no one can truly judge the merit of this situation except the child’s physician and/or psychologist. After the child was placed into the private school, the parents then hired an attorney, who specializes in special education cases, to file papers with the court demanding the California schools pay four years of tuition and family travel costs between California and Maine. Tuition was $30,000 annually. The California schools met the demands. This is only one such case in the California schools, which may or may not have been justified. The problem is that it is not the only case. In 2005, there were 3,763 California schools children with disabilities that were the focus of formal complaints — the vast majority of which came from parents. This is triple the number of only ten years ago, and the numbers are growing. With a cost of almost $40,000 to go to a court hearing and the possibility of an expensive judgment, the California schools attempt to settle cases before they get that far. In 2005, ten percent of the California schools’ cases went to a full hearing — 386 in all. The remaining 90 percent were resolved through confidential settlements. With 700,000 special needs students currently in the California schools and already paying hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for private placements, the school system is headed for a financial crisis. In 2004, the California schools received $4.1 billion for special education from the government and local sources. It was still not enough to pay these extra settlement costs, and the California schools had to take $1.6 billion from the regular class budget. Twenty-eight percent of the special education expenditures that year came from the regular education budget. California schools educators complain that parents who are able to afford an attorney are assured more opportunities for their children than those who cannot afford to do so, creating an inequity between the haves and have-nots. Additionally, special education teachers see benefits to special programs, such as horseback riding therapy, but acknowledge that such parent demands are not education related. California schools parents and educators are at odds. Parents are making tuition payment demands of the California schools for such programs as private day schools, boarding schools, summer camps, horseback riding therapy, and aqua therapy. Additionally, the California schools are expected to pay for computers, airfare, car rental, hotel stays, meals, new clothing and tailoring for the children, cell phone calls, stamps, gas and tolls, and future round-trip visits from time of enrollment until the children graduate from high school. In all, the California schools are paying billions of dollars each year for private placements and auxiliary costs. It is creating an inequity for children the civil rights law was passed to protect and a financial crisis for the California schools. I have to admit that I wanted every opportunity possible for my child to live a happy and normal adult life. I had a special needs child and spent many hours sitting in principals’ offices and at the school board demanding that his needs be met. I was thankful that he received access to the available offerings within the public school system. In my view, however, it is not a question of right or wrong, justified expenditure or not. It is a question of the legislators going back and specifically defining the word “appropriate”. Until then, the California schools are borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, which means less opportunities all the way around.

Uk secured loans are they the right choice for you

You might be surprised to learn that a UK loan can be a great and powerful financial tool to have in your financial tool belt. They offer many different options for money management, consolidation, and even money-making opportunities for you! A UK secured loan can help someone consolidate their bills by providing them with one bill to replace the many credit card and utility bills that they may have accumulated over time. Often, by consolidating several bills together, you may be able to negotiate a better interest rate with the lending institution simply by having a larger amount of money on loan. In fact, when you compare interest rates from lending institutions and credit cards, you'll probably discovered that consolidating many of your bills automatically reduces the overall interest you'll pay on average. A UK secured loan can also help people the things they need to get. This is because we are inundated with bills throughout the month as they come to us in the mail. Unfortunately, we are not always able to paint in the very day they arrived in our post box. Instead, it you came secured loan can pull all those bills together so that we have one bill in the month and we know how much it is going to be. This will help us as we budget our finances. Finally, a UK secured loan can help someone leverage their investments by providing them with initial capital to make improvements on their home. Often, these improvements increase the value of your home much more than the actual value of the loan plus interest. If you shop around, you’ll find a loan that gives you the amount of money you need to borrow as well as a variety of choices for the period of time you’d like to repay it. At first glance, a loan may seem like an odd choice to add to your portfolio, but consider the advantages you get from consolidating your bills, helping you with your budget, and leveraging your investments and you will see that eight UK secured loan may be a good choice for your financial portfolio.

Silent fans do the work for you

Mold is an inevitable challenge of indoor living. That can be a problem, because exposure can cause allergic reactions, asthma, nasal stuffiness, eye irritation, wheezing or skin irritation. If you have a mold problem in your home, the only way to control its growth is to control moisture. Here are some things you can do to control mold growth in your home: • Fix the source of the water problem or leak to prevent mold growth. • Clean and dry any damp or wet building materials and furnishings within 24 hours to prevent mold growth. • Clean mold off hard surfaces with water and detergent and dry completely. • Reduce the potential for condensation on cold surfaces (such as windows, piping, exterior walls, roof or floors) by adding insulation. • Absorbent materials, such as ceiling tiles, that are moldy, may need to be replaced. • Don't carpet areas where there is a perpetual moisture problem, such as around sinks. • Reduce indoor humidity to less than 60 percent to decrease mold growth. Vent bathrooms, dryers and other moisture-generating sources to the outside with a ventilation fan. A humidity-sensing fan is the perfect solution for proper ventilation. Broan's new Ultra Silent Humidity Sensing fans are automatic-once there is a rapid rise in humidity, the fan automatically turns on to exhaust excess moisture and turns off once the job is done. They're also quiet, making less noise than even a quiet refrigerator. Energy Star-qualified, the fans use 65 percent less energy, on average, than standard models. The humidity-sensing fan uses Sensaire technology to detect a rapid increase in humidity at the ceiling, where it's most prevalent, unlike humidistats, which only detect simple humidity. This feature makes the humidity-sensing fan more effective at protecting a bathroom from mold and mildew. Now it's easy to control mold and moisture in the home.

Creating traffic for your website

Generate Traffic and Create Hits This article is a quick overview of some methods of traffic generation and their advantages and disadvantages. It is the goal of any website of the internet to get traffic to the site, to be seen. One of the problems is the internet is now so huge that there are more pages on the internet than people on the planet. How can you get hits and a flow of traffic to your solitary page. If your generating a page for general interest or fun without traffic your goals are not met. In the case of creating traffic for a business website it is literally a case of have traffic or have your business die. It doesn't mattter if you have the best website site, with great content, fantastic pictures, audio, video and a multimedia experience better than disneyland, if no one comes it is for naught. The internet is not like field of dreams "if you build it they will come", no they won't. Google has about 8 billion pages indexed on the net and its growing everyday. If you create a new site your chance of having a visitor just stumble on your site is about the same as winning the lottery. How then do we change the game so people can at least appreciate the work put into a website, or in the case of a business or affliliate website visit to make a decision to buy? The following are some of the most common methods. Search Engine Optimisation. Basically this means you optimise your pages with the right keywords in the right places so that the search engines index your page as having great CONTENT in relation to key search words. The simple fact of the matter is that your chance of being on page one of the most popular search terms is next to nil. You will find thanks to the American domination of the internet that the most popular searched keywords tend to be American personalities, like Oprah Winfrey, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, etc. (Wonder why there are so many gossip magazines? The internet is no different, gossip is one of the most popular topics) If you were to create a new website about one of these people thinking hey I will get some of that traffic for myself, I'll do an Oprah Winfrey site, content rich, etc your chance of getting to the top is practically nil, why, firstly because you have 1000's to millions of competitors and your chance of being optimised not only with great content but with relevant links and relevant links with the important keywords will be nil as well. All is not lost, it is possible still to create a niche website and get rated in the first page e. g. type "vegetable gardening on hard clay" into the google search engine and you will see I am rated number two and three. One a blog and the other an article, probably a boring topic for most people but for gardeners a nice niche topic. Its not a university degree on the subject but the basics on the subject and it rates high because the site's content strongly matches the search phase vegetable gardening on hard clay, type in gardening or vegetables though and the site is lost from the radar. In summary one of the first methods of traffic generation is to have a site geared to keywords and content that will draw in search engine traffic. Remember though the more competative the keywords the harder this will be. Some companies specialise in generating rich content and links from other like rich content site targetted to high rating keywords and charge big money for the privelage $50,000, etc, why because free traffic to websites from search engines means big chance for profits. Adwords and the like. Another method of traffic generation is to buy it. Yahoo, Google, etc sell advertising space. In the case of Google adwords you can pay to have you site on the first page but this can be an expensive proposition, $1 or more a click, to mere pennies. Why do people choose this method. Firstly it brings targetted traffic to your site. The advantage of targetted traffic is these people are looking for your exact topic and thus more likely to stay on your site and it results in higher conversion rates. The problem is although Google says its rewards content rich sites with lower click costs the truth is the better ad wins, not necessarily the better or most relevant site. To explain this further, google will lower your cost of your clicks and even raise you in the list if more people are clicking through - its says its rewarding you for having a relevant site - the truth though is its rewarding you for having a great ad that people want to click on. Advantage of this method is you are guaranteed traffic - disadvantage - its costs and takes time to tweek your ads so they work at maximum efficiency. However I know of businesses that survive on google adwords alone for advertising and make a very good turnover on their business products so it works well for them. But one again the greater demand for the keyword, the greater the number of competitors there are. There is one way to can cut this disadvantage down though, choose to limit your target audience to a particular country, region or even city. Obviously the target audience is further limited by language. Not much point in advertising your english content site in Mongolia, firstly because not many mongols speak english, but secondly because not many have internet access either. If your paying money for advertising on the internet make sure you are reaching the right audience for your ad. Surfing Programs. Another way to generate hits to your site is to join numerous surfing programs, like traffic swarm, instantbuzz, fast freeway, traffic pods and many more. These will generate HITS to your site. In fact you can buy thousands of hits and get them in a very short space of time but although normally cheap e. g. $9 for 1000 hits, it has a myriad of disadvantages. Firstly you are only advertising to other surf members, many of them are competitors, already in the same programs as you, not really interest in your ad. I've found that you can build a downline and contact list from surfing programs, however keep the ad or website display very basic. With a 15-30 second counter on most programs people just aren't going to read a saga even if its mindly blowingly good, they are going to scan and then click the letter or number required. It that 15 seconds you've got to grab there interest. You can do this by free offers, appealing to their needs or wants, often in this case a single page with an e-mail enrollment form it the best bet for getting results. One distinct advantage of most of these programs though is if you build a downline with them the amount of free traffic you get increases. You can surf for traffic at your leisure if you can't afford to pay for it, you might even find a program that perks your interest. Also in this category can be including banners, banners exchanges, etc which work on the same principle of you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. If you are interested in surfing programs the link below to free traffic hits has many of the most popular. Longer term methods. I call these longer term methods because they require a greater work on your part, however they can result in great traffic results. One of these is article writing. Articles submitted to articles sites like goarticles, article fever, etc act as a magnet for search engines. Content rich and quality controlled if you get an article listed in one of these forums/ libraries you have the ability to have a constant stream of traffic through attached links. Why do you think I've written this article. To generate traffic. Yes I like helping and educating others and I do create not for profit websites and articles but most are to generate traffic. Another long term method is to contact and link to other similar sites. You can do this by requesting other webmasters to do this or create you own sites and link them to one another. Another long term method is to create an op-in e-mail list and encourage people from you list to visit your 'great' site with your 'unbelievable' offer. Creating a blog like this doesn't hurt either. In summary I don't reccommend any method over any other. Each has advantages and disadvantages. It can depend on what you are advertising. On the whole though I don't think you can go wrong if you do all the above methods as a wholistic internet campaign. If you do over time your internet presence will increase as will your total traffic.