Golfer Looses Tournament Along With His Mind
Hanson and Adam were friends the both attended the local college in town. They were very active in many different organizations. They were also very competitive. The two had very distinct personalities. Hanson was laid back in accomplishing his goals.
Adam on the other hand was extremely aggressive. The slightest thing could make him angry. He especially did not like to loose. It was really bad if others saw him loose. He simply could not accept the embarrassment.
If he lost at anything every one knew it because he would storm around like a mad man for hours and sometimes days. Many always thought there was something mentally wrong with him. For the most part they just ignored his rages until he quieted down.
Hanson and Adam both had a fancy for golf. In fact they were both on the community charity golf team. They were quite good. The annual town charity golf tournament was fast approaching and they would be in it.
The two were normally on the same team. This year there was a shortage of players and they were going to be on opposing teams. It really did not matter to Hanson since all the proceeds were going to charity. He just viewed as a chance to get out and have a little fun with the local folks.
Adam on the other hand wanted to win and show everybody that he was the best. Even though Hanson had no control over it, Adam resented him for being on the other team. He even went a far as to call him a trader.
Hanson just thought it was Adam blowing off steam again. He did not think much of it since he had seen it all before. They both continued to practice. Adam bragged that his team was going to win the tournament and show Hanson who was the best.
He did this up until the day of the game. On the day of the game Hanson and Adam met at the starting hole with the rest of their teams. Everyone was ready to have a fun game of golf. Adam was still bragging.
The tournament got underway both guys played extremely well. It was a long tough game. It finally came to the final hole. It was between Hanson and Adam as many had predicted. Hanson shot first it to him 3 strokes to sink the ball.
Adams turn came, he knew he had a victory. He knew he could make such a simple shot in fewer than 3 strokes. He even went as far as to do a victory dance before the shot. He took the shot in came within good range to sink it on the next shot. He was reeling.
Something came over him, he swung at the ball with too much force and it put him far away from the hole. He knew he had to make it on the next shot or risk loosing the game. He became very nervous and agitated.
The crowd was tense as they watched to see what Adam would do. Adam chose his club. He lined up and swung. The ball rolled right by the cup as if to punish the player. Adam could not believe, he was furious.
He slammed his club to the ground and stormed toward Hanson. He had a look in his eye that meant trouble. He approached Hanson and said this is all your fault. Hanson said do not worry man its all for fun and charity.
Adam said you made me look bad and now I am going to make you look bad. He grabbed a golf club from his bag and swung at Hanson. Hanson backed up but Adam kept swinging. At that point, Hanson knew they no longer friends and that Adam was trying to hurt him.
Golf course security was alerted. When they arrive Adam was still swinging. They tried to reason with Adam to no avail. Finally to put an end to this a security officer whipped out a Taser and fired it at Adam, he fell to the ground and they were able to arrest him.
Some people have a difficult time dealing with loosing. They cannot get past the embarrassment. They believe they must win at everything.
If they do not win they may become violent. You must be on the alert for this kind of behavior even among friends. You must also be prepared to defend yourself if necessary.
Johnny A. Jenkins, Distribution Director of Repeller Technology,provides self-defense and safety products, tips and advice to fit most situations. Make your surroundings safer for you and loved ones today
at:”http://www.repellertechnology.com”
Internet Coupons Fraud
It seems a logical next step for food manufacturers to spread their coupon distribution policy to the Internet in their everlasting attempt to lure customers into trying their products. However, strangely enough, this is the one area of Internet coupons that has not taken off.
In the first analysis, it is estimated that a small proportion of the coupons issued, including those printed and distributed in the Sunday newspaper, are really used, resulting in an enormous waste to the retailer. Doesn’t that make coupons a natural for the Internet and environmentally friendly too? Not necessarily.
Initially, offering manufactures’ food coupons over the Internet, even sending them directly to users email in boxes, seemed a good idea. Not only could coupons be printed only as needed, thus saving manufacturers printing and mailing costs, but also, the Internet targeted a more affluent segment of the population. It was reasoned that computer use and computer and printer ownership rested in a group of people that had a bit more money, education and general savvy. Herein may be the problem.
Manufacturers began to realize a new phenomenon, coupon fraud. This problem did not arise from customers printing out multiple coupons of, for example, 50 cents off a popular shampoo and buying quantities of it. Of course people did this too, but the real problem came when the savvy computer user altered this coupon to allow one dollar off and then printed it in bulk. The retailers and manufacturers took big losses from this type of coupon fraud and began limiting or ending their involvement with Internet coupons. By the end of 1994, interest in pursuing the area of Internet coupons for groceries was nearly at a standstill. It was thought that print at home coupons for groceries offered on the internet, while seemingly a good idea, was too insecure for the huge distribution that was offered by the Internet. Furthermore, the security involved and the risks out weighed the potential advantage Internet coupons offered as an advertising and marketing tool.
Today, however, manufacturers and merchants seem willing to revisit the concept of offering printable coupons on the internet, since consumer interest is still there and growing.
Better security is the key to this turnaround. Manufacturers are hoping that better distribution policies that target legitimate customers will make coupons less accessible to all users. Manufacturers are offering coupons to consumers who registrar on a merchants website or in a shopping club website, rather than bulk e-mails. Also, better software security has been put in place by the manufacturer to prevent the alteration of coupons before printing. And security is now available to the retailer to detect fraudulent coupons.
These security efforts are being made to fight against fraud to allow Internet coupons to safely be distributed in the future. It is advantageous to the consumer and to the companies to offer more target based coupons based on the customers needs. The good news to consumers is that as more solutions are found to eliminate coupon fraud, more coupons are returning to the Internet.
Jim Brown writes about http://www.einfachbestekupons.de/
Wild Horse Drug Him Away
Casey worked security at the local video gaming room. He had worked there for almost 5 years. He thought he had seen it all. He had seen people who tried to cheat the machines. He had also seen those who had fits when they lost a game.
He had even seen people who talked to UFOS to get information. Most of them were just a little weird. For the most part, he considered them harmless. The majority of them just came to play the games. If they lost their money they would go home. Even though there were more loosers than winners, the place always grew a crowd.
Casey was even considering opening up a small place of his own one day. He wanted to learn all he could and start when he could afford to do so. For now he was content with working there. He was grateful that had never had any serious security issues.
One night while Casey was on duty, a man walked into to the gaming room. He was an ordinary looking guy. He walked slowly straight to the bar and ordered several beers. He drank all of them one after the other.
Casey thought it was strange but lots of guys come in the place to drown their sorrows. After the guy drank all the beers he stumbled over to one of the gaming machines. He started playing the machine.
He was not happy with the results nevertheless; he kept on playing. With each pull of the handle he became more and more angry. He started cursing the machine. Casey had seen this before.
The guy had a little too much to drink and was taking it out on the machine. There was nothing he could do unless the guy damaged something. The guy played on and finally the machine paid him a small jackpot.
Casey thought, good he won something now maybe he will leave. The guy did not leave. He went back to the bar and ordered another beer. Then he went back to the machine and continued to play. He was on the loosing streak again.
When he had lost all of his money, he slammed his fist on the machine breaking the glass covering. Casey saw this and knew it was time to take action. He ran over and tried to reason with the guy. The guy took a swing at Casey but he missed.
When he spun around Casey tackled him and they went to the floor. The guy was more powerful than Casey had anticipated. Casey had trouble holding him down. By this time two other security guards joined Casey in an effort to subdue the guy.
The guy seemed to have the strength of five horses. The guards wondered what was going on. They never had this much trouble bringing someone under control. Two more guards came and they were finally able to handcuff the guy until the police arrived.
They were all exhausted. They wondered what could give a man such strength. They thought no man should have that much power. When the police arrived they instantly recognized the guy. He was a drug user that they had arrested before.
He was known to use heroin, which sometimes gives ordinary men superhuman strength. That along with the alcohol must have triggered his rage. He was taken to jail and charged.
If you are dealing with a person who is out of control, you may have to take drastic measures. The quickest way to reduce an individuals ability to cause harm is to remove their sight. Its simple, they cannot fight what they can not see. It maybe your only way to escape harm. Many ordinary items can be used to temporarily blind an assailant.
Johnny A. Jenkins, Distribution Director of Repeller Technology,provides self-defense, safety and hidden surveillance equipment, tips and advice to fit most situations. Make your surroundings safer for you and loved ones today
at: http://www.repellertechnology.com
American History Through The Eye Of A Needle ~ Part V
For more than a year British ships had blockaded Boston and British troops had occupied the hungry city. Americans had fought and died at Lexington, at Concord, on Breed’s Hill and at Charleston. The Green Mountain men had taken Ticonderoga.
British armies were coming down the Hudson and a British war fleet with troopships was nearing New York harbor when at last, losing all hope of freedom with peace, the gentlemen of the Continental Congress soberly risked their lives, dipping a quill pen in an inkhorn and signing their Declaration.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un-alienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness… We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America… appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.”
They denied the Old World’s ancient, traditional, never-before-rejected belief that human beings are born members of classes, low class to work or upper class to rule. With nothing but certainty of this truth, they faced the oncoming military forces of the British Empire, strongest of the world’s Great Powers. They had no ally, no army, no money; in the scattered colonies the people lacked gunpowder for their muskets.
They had not even a flag. They were devising their symbols of freedom: the Pine Tree flag of Massachusetts; Carolina’s Rattlesnake coiled under its defiance, “Don’t Tread on Me”; New York’s Beaver. The Continental Congress appointed General George Washington to raise and command the Continental Army. An army in battle must have a flag.
In Philadelphia three rebel leaders hurriedly conferred: General George Washington, the planter; General George Ross, the prosperous merchant; Robert Morris, the rich financier. General Ross thought that his nephew’s widow, Mistress Betsy Ross, might make a flag. They walked to her little upholstery shop on Arch Street.
She never had made a flag, she said; of course she would try. She studied their hasty sketch and said that, for her part, she would not choose six-pointed stars; five-pointed stars would make a pattern more to her taste. They thought that five-pointed stars were too difficult to make.
Mistress Betsy took a bit of paper, deftly folded it, and with one snip of her scissors made a five-pointed star. General Washington accepted it with no more words. The gentlemen said they would send her a colored sketch at once.
A breathless messenger brought it, drawn and colored by the renowned artist, William Barrett. Mistress Betsy threaded her needle and made the flag. She made it of patchwork: thirteen five-pointed stars set into a blue square, thirteen strips of red and white sewed together. Clear, gay colors, white for purity, red for courage, blue for faith; stars for light, and straight lines to ripple strong and free against the sky. This was the tradition of American patchwork, and this is what Mistress Betsy’s grandchildren and their grandchildren, and theirs, would tell of the making of the star-spangled banner.
In the tradition of American patchwork she made the flag that stands today, with its fifty stars, for the inalienable liberty and human rights of every human being, the flag of the Revolution that already has carried the New World far around this earth and some day will help banish the last tyranny and free all mankind.
John Wigham has been a professional author and editor for 20 years and is a co-founder of http://www.patternspatch.com an online cross stitch club dedicated to counted cross stitch. Sign up for
Cross Stitch Tips & News at ppp_totw@aweber.com.
Take Two Verbs and Call Me in the Morning!
The use of language is pure magic! As far as humans go, it’s one of our species’ most amazing evolutionary developments. No matter what country we live in or continent we call home, the use of language is one of the few things all of us share.
Around the world mankind uses literally thousands of languages and dialects. All of them express our deepest thoughts and most private feelings.
Language also records our histories and tells our stories. It doesn’t matter whether we are using the written or spoken forms of our languages, we cherish them.
Language is powerful. It expresses our opinions, and some of us will argue to the bitter end just to have the last word of it. Everyone knows the last word is always the most important one.
Nothing like a word can cut us to the quick or impassion us with emotions we didn’t know we could feel.
Language is personal, intimate, and much more. It defines us individually. Our use of spoken words is a huge part of our personal, national and cultural identity.
Language is our soul, the very essence of our being. Our accent and use of words identifies us with certain geographic areas. It makes us part of a group.
Just as we have different fingerprints, our voice prints are different too. When one becomes accustomed to hearing the beautiful lilt of a sweet, southern drawl, there’s nothing else like it in the linguistic world. Itss simply the type of language and sound that makes us feel comfortable and “at home”.
The sounds of our own voices are ingrained in every fiber of our beings. One of my adult students once said that when he began to speak Spanish it not only felt funny but it sounded funny too. He said it was like hearing a cartoon duck’s voice coming out of his mouth instead of his own!
From the moment we wake up each morning until we fall asleep, most of us are talking. We simply don’t think about the amazing neurological process that is involved in making every sound we utter. We simply open our mouths, and words pour out.
For most of us, the ability to use the English language is one that we take for granted. But, have you ever thought about just how important language is to you?
What would you do if you woke up tomorrow in another country where your native language wasn’t the one you heard, understood or needed to speak? Could you develop a communications strategy that would allow you to not only survive– but to thrive?
Today this complicated issue faces many of our citizens. Thousands are learning Spanish, while thousands more are struggling to learn English. Somewhere we will meet in the linguistic middle.
Learning another language in adulthood is outrageously difficult. All the linguistic cards are stacked against us.
Acquiring a new language takes dedication, desire, and practice; however, we are impatient and we want to acquire fluency with ease. We want to learn to speak another language at the speed of a Porsche cruising down a superhighway.
In actuality, the process of learning another language in adulthood is more like riding in a Model T bouncing down an unpaved road. Your journey probably won’t be smooth, and you can expect some starting and stopping along the way to achieving proficiency.
Many professionals I work with experience these painful bumps in the linguistic road. One of my great joys is hearing their success stories, and one of my greatest challenges is motivating them to continue their journey when they have a Spanish language fender-bender. So, I was surprised a few days ago when a doctor who had participated in one of my seminars called to invite me to lunch with his family.
“There’s something I want to share with you,” Dr. Taylor said.
Over lunch he explained his personal goals for learning Spanish to me. “Reaching out to my Spanish-speaking patients so they understand their illnesses and their treatments is constantly on my mind,” he said. Then he continued, “I want to find out as much as I can about their lives and their families. This helps me treat the whole person and not just the parts.”
At the end of our lunch together Dr. Taylor told me that he had come to realize something about the art of practicing medicine and the art of communication.
“No matter how hard we try,” he said, “both are imperfect sciences. You told us it was more important to communicate and not to worry about our grammar mistakes. So, I don’t worry about it now. I just get out there and do my best. My patients seem to appreciate that.”
“Well, doc,” I said, “I couldn’t be happier to hear of your progress. It looks like you are going to make a full linguistic recovery.
“Take two verbs and call me in the morning!”
Myelita Melton is the author of the SpeakEasy Spanish TM series. She is a nationally recognized speaker and expert in language and cultural diversity. http://www.speakeasyspanish.com.