Ice Cream Trucks - A Blast from the Past?

We still have ice cream trucks in my neighborhood in Hamburg and the best is Eis Charlie - Charlie makes his own ice cream and serves up as many scoops as you want - not only that, he remembers your favorites and if you order something you don't normally order he asks you if you are sure.

When I was a kid, the ice cream truck was a big event in the summer...we all ran out with our nickels to buy ice cream sticks or püpsicles...after playing in the sprinklers or playing Lemonade Lemonade or Red Rover in the street, there was nothing better than a popsicle from the ice cream truch.  I buy ice cream from Charlie because it reminds me of my childhood and when I hear his bells, I am compelled to go downstairs and buy a scoop or a cone...two scoops please, stracciatella with whipped cream and chocolate...

Ten Ways to Save More Than $1000 per Year

Saving money is always easier said than done.  If you want to save money but still maintain your lifestyle, you can save money in small ways and still enjoy your daily indulgences.  These ten tips for saving money are pretty simple to implement (except perhaps for quitting smoking and drinking).

1.    Buy a regular coffee instead of a Latte or other special coffee drink.  Based  on $1.00 savings per day 312 days a year, you save $312.00 and still get to enjoy your stop at your favourite shop.  If you give up the coffee shop altogether, you can save as much as $1,000 per year depending on what your favourite drink is.   
2.    Stop smoking.  If you are a smoker and you smoke a pack a day, you are spending about $2,000 per year  (assuming one pack a day)    .  Besides, think of all the health benefits, as if you don’t hear that enough from your family and friends.     
3.    Drink water with your meal when you go out to eat.  If you go out to lunch most days and out to dinner a few times a week, drinking water with your meal instead of ordering a Coke or other drink can save you at least $500.00 per year, assuming drinks only cost $2.00. 
4.    Use coupons.  Actually, coupon clipping or rebate gathering can be a fun way to spend an hour or two, you can even go online and find coupons, if you are online very much, you probably get bombarded by ads from Groupon,  there are several websites that specialize in coupon distribution.  If you are able to redeem even $10.00 worth of coupons a week, you have saved around $500.00
5.    Buy Generic.  The truth is, most generic products are manufactured by the same companies that produce manufacture the branded products.  Consumer Reports says that buying Generic results in average savings of 25-29% - if you spend $100 a week, you can easily save $1,300 per year.
6.    No one wants to give up going out to lunch altogether, but pack your lunch two days a week and you can put about $800.00 in your pocket.  You can step it up in summer and bring picnic lunches to save even more money.
7.    If you are a fried food lover and need to get your fix of French fries, fried chicken, fried whatever, buy a deep fryer and make your chicken wings, onion rings and other junk food at home.  So if you, like me, always order something fried when you go out, consider indulging in your fried foods at home.  I figure I save at least $25 dollars a week by getting my fast food fix at home, which translates to $500.00 per year.
8.    Turn off the lights and other appliances.  This is good for the planet and can save you at least $100 per year, probably more.  We own a pub  and when we got rid of one small  freezer and started closing the pub for a day each week, our electric bill dropped from €340 a month to €120 a month – which translates to over €2,000 a year in savings. 
9.    If you go out to dinner a lot because you are too busy or too tired to cook, consider ordering in instead.  You can indulge in a bottle of wine with your meal, set out a few candles, and enjoy someone else’s cooking in the comfort of your own home and save 20-30% off your meal costs.
10.    Shop second-hand.  You can buy almost anything second hand at various stores, check out which stores offer the most in your city.  You may be surprised by the quality of goods and how much you can save on everything from clothing to furniture. 

Think Before You Eat - Especially if You Are Considering Chick fil A

I am appalled at Chick Fil A and the posters they have put up - what is more appalling is the right wingers that say now they are going to eat there on a regular basis because of the company's stand on liberals and gays - too bad that the land of the free and the home of the brave has become the land of idiots.

Eight Goals the World Can Agree On

There are eight goals nobody can argue with, the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were set out in 2000 and agreed to by 189 countries.  The target is to achieve all the goals by 2015.  Are the UN Millennium Development Goals achievable, or are they just another pie in the sky promise from politicians?  What makes these eight goals different is that they are being measured, that actual programs are being implemented around the world to achieve results.  Nobody can argue with the UN Development Goals, there is no political agenda other than helping people achieve a decent quality of life in developing countries.

The goals have not yet been met in most countries, but there is progress, increase in cultivation areas, abolition of school fees, debt relief, health services, reduction of AIDS, promotion of small businesses, housing construction and  sustainable living programs have been implemented in Africa, South and Central America, and Afghanistan.

In 2010, the MDG Summit presented an MDG Acceleration Framework which provides a systematic way for countries to develop and pursue their own action plans with the support and guidance of the UN.  The key is to ensure that governments address the needs of the vulnerable, particularly women, youth and children who are the most affected by poverty and lack of access to education, health care, jobs, and financial support.

Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• Reduce by half the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day.

• Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

Goal 2 Achieve universal primary education

• Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.

Goal 3 Promote gender equality and empower women

• Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015.

Goal 4 Reduce child mortality

• Reduce by two thirds the mortality of children under-five.

Goal 5 Improve maternal health

• Reduce maternal mortality by three quarters.

Goal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

• Halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

• Halt and reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.

Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability

• Integrate principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse the loss of environmental resources.

• Halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

• Improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020

Goal 8 Develop a global partnership for development

• Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system.

• Address special needs of the least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island developing States.

• Deal with developing countries’ debt.

• In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for decent work for youth.

• In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.

MATTERS OF FACT

• 1.2 billion people across the world are hungry. Seven out of 10 of them are women and girls.

• Millions of children start school but eventually drop out — leaving school without basic literacy and numeracy skills.

• Women hold 18 per cent of seats in parliament.

• Every year, 536,000 women and girls die as a result of complications during pregnancy, childbirth or the six weeks following delivery. 99 per cent of them occur in developing countries.

• Two thirds of those living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa. Most of them are women.

• 1.2 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. The vast majority of them live in rural areas.

• Aid to the poorest countries falls far short of the 2010 target.

Challenges

The challenges facing the MDGs are numerous.

• While the share of poor people is declining, the absolute number of the poor in South Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing.

• Rapid reductions in poverty are not necessarily addressing gender equality and environmental sustainability.

• Lack of progress in reducing HIV is curtailing improvements in both maternal and child mortality.

• The expansion of health and education services is not being matched by quality.

MDG progress is also threatened by the combination of high food prices and the impact of the international financial and economic crisis. Sustained poverty and hunger reduction is at risk because of vulnerability to climate change, particularly in the area of agricultural production. Weak institutional capacity in conflict and post-conflict countries also slows MDG progress, and rapid urbanisation is putting pressure on social services.

Shakespeare - Entrepreneur Extraordinare

Found this great little tidbit on the web - Shakespeare had to find ways to make money and it wasn't easy but he managed it through a combination of business sense, and, of course, good writing. Shakespeare was not only a writer, he was an entrepreneur.

All I Can Be

When you wake up each morning

Say to yourself, today I’ll be all I can

And all I can be is all that I am

And all that I am is me

Take a look in the mirror

Say to yourself

I am beautiful, smart and strong

Affirm yourself

Love who you are

And the you you know you can be.

What is your dream for the rest of your life?

What is your burning desire?

You hold the future in your hands

Believe in Yourself

Believe in your dream

Believe in your powerful plan

Never give up, never say “I’ve done all I can”

Never say never, never say can’t

Never admit to defeat

There are no limits to what you can do

If only you believe

Know who you are

Know what you want

Build your life on positive thought

So when you wake each morning

And as you go through the day

Remember your dream and how special you are

Trust in yourself and have faith

Love yourself, faults, failures, and strengths

And tell yourself each day

I have a plan to do all I can and I can do it

I see the me I want to be and I can be it

I have a goal and I will achieve it

I have faith in myself and I believe it

I can look failure in the face and defeat it

I will take every challenge and meet it

I am all I can be, the best I can be

All I am is all I can be

And all I can be is ME

Ten Easy Ways to be Happy Each Day

It is in your power to be happy and to be at peace, with yourself and with the world.  Even in the face of negative emotions and events, you can maintain a level of happiness and peace within yourself.  It is not always easy, how can you be happy when you feel like your life is falling apart, when things are simply not going your way?   The fact of the matter is, you cannot be jumping up and down happy all the time.  But you can be at peace, you can have an inner happiness that will give you strength to overcome negativity and enjoy each day of your life.  There are a few basic, very easy things you can do to reach the peace and happiness within you, they don’t take a lot of time, and they will make each day happier for you.

1.       Give thanks each day for the good things in your life.  What things make you happy?  Who are the people you love?  What things are you grateful for?  Food, clothing, shelter, loved ones, a sunny day…give thanks.  Gratitude is a happiness maker, and no matter what, there is always something to be grateful for!

2.       Take time to meditate or pray each day.  If you don’t have a formal structure for meditation or prayer, at least take 15 minutes to sit quietly, even if it is with your cup of coffee.  Take 15 minutes to clear your mind, to think about your life, your day, your future.  There is a reason that prayer, Yoga, Tai Chi, and Chakra meditations have been around thousands of years-they work.  Take 15 minutes to find a bit of peace within yourself.

3.       Get some exercise each day.  Even if it is a simple walk around the block or a trip to the corner store, get some exercise, get the blood flowing.  You don’t need to go to the gym or start jogging (although that might not be a bad idea), simply get a bit of exercise each day.

4.       Smile.  This is really pretty easy, isn’t it?  Smile at strangers, smile at your family, it’s good for you and it’s good for them.  Smiling makes people happy.

5.       Tell yourself you love yourself.  OK, it feels a bit funny.  But do it.  Repeat it over and over again, at least 20 times, “I love myself, I love myself, I love myself…”.  When you start to feel negatively about yourself, rinse and repeat, “I love myself.”

6.       Forgive yourself.  Guilt is a sickness, feeling guilty about things brings you nothing.  Whether you feel guilty because of something that happened yesterday or ten years ago, forgive yourself, say to yourself, “I forgive myself.  That was the past and this is now and tomorrow is the future.  I have to live in the now and plan for the future, what is past is past.”  Face it, you cannot change what is in the past.  So give it up, give it up to the universe, to God, to whatever you believe in, but simply let go of it, as you would let go of a balloon in the park.  Let it go!

7.       Do something nice for someone else or yourself.  Simply do something nice, compliment someone on their work, help someone else, even if it is so simple as holding a door open or helping carry packages.  Be open to helping others, and you will feel happier with yourself and with the world.

8.       Keep a journal, even if you only jot down your feelings or your to-do lists, keep a journal and write in it each day.  You don’t have to be Shakespeare to write, simply keep a few notes about your day, your feelings, your goals, your plans.  Writing is cathartic and can help you feel happier and more at peace with yourself.  

9.       Listen to music or sing.  Music affects emotion.  Listen to music that makes you happy or makes you feel at peace, even to music that makes you nostalgic or sad.  Music can sooth the wild beasts of negative emotions.

10.   Eat regularly and drink lots of water.  Not eating makes you tired and grumpy.  You need to eat to have energy and eating healthy foods and snacks can be both pleasurable and healthy.  Drinking water washes out the impurities in your body and rehydrates you so you keep looking young.  Imagine every glass of water as a river of peace flowing through you.   

None of these things require much effort once you are in the habit of doing them.  In fact, they can make your life better, happier, and overall, much more enjoyable.  Even the most difficult of days can be made better by practicing these ten things on a daily basis.  They require no particular expertise or religious faith.  You don’t need to take any classes or much extra time.  Ten simple things anyone can do, regardless of age, location or financial situation.   

See the potential in every new day, enjoy life, enjoy who you are and the people you love.  Take care of yourself, body, soul and mind and remember that you are the greatest gift God has given you.