Saturday, March 31, 2012
25 Most Beautiful Animals Photography on StumbleUpon
I think the most beautiful pictures are those made in nature. Nothing compares with the expression of a tiger, the majestic flight of an eagle or the strength of a white bear. Below you can see 25 the most beautiful photographs that will capture your attention, and were stumbled on StumbleUpon.
Romantic cold weather date ideas
Heat Up Your Relationship This Winter
Forget the dinner and a movie routine because romance can be found in unexpected places when the weather turns chilly. With these date ideas, you can use this winter as an opportunity to snuggle up and really get to know your love interest.
Snow tubing
Pack on the layers, rent some tubes and find the area's largest hill for a fun outdoor date. If you want to be guaranteed another date, start a flirty competition. Challenge your partner to a race down, and whoever wins gets to choose what you do on your next date.
Trivia night
This is the perfect idea for a first date. Plan the ultimate night at home and pretend you're snowed in. Look through your cupboards (stock them before if you're the type that never has food at your place) and get creative by making dinner using the items you have on hand. Then, print off tons of trivia questions at Triviachamp.comand have fun getting to know each other's likes and dislikes.
Late-night drive
Pour some hot chocolate into a thermos and drive around looking at homes with impressive Christmas lighting. Bring some wool blankets to cozy up with and make a Christmas tunes playlist for the ride. You can use an onlineChristmas light directory, or just get lost and enjoy each other's company.
Bed and breakfast
This may not be the best idea for a first date, but if you feel comfortable spending the night together, why not try out a bed and breakfast? Bring two robes so you can stay in your room watching movies all night in a comforting atmosphere. Then wake up, take a long, steamy shower and enjoy some hearty home-cooked breakfast.
More date ideas
Budget date night ideas
Romance On A Budget
With the pressure from work, kids and everything else in your life, you might not spending enough quality time with your husband. To keep the romance alive, you should plan a date night at least once a month. Date night doesn't have to be expensive to be rewarding. Check out these 10 fabulous budget date night ideas that won't break the bank.
Plan a picnic.
When the weather is nice, pack a picnic basket with fruit, cheese and wine. Head to the park for an afternoon or evening of relaxation in the outdoors. In the summertime, most cities offer free concert series at local parks, botanical gardens and other locations. If it's too cold to picnic outdoors, spread a blanket in front of your fireplace and enjoy a little romance at home.
Turn off the electronics.
One night a week, make a date with each other just by turning off all electronics. That's right: Turn off your TV, computer and cell phone, and enjoy some couple time. Take a bubble bath or shower together, give each other massages, or just relax in bed and talk. You can even skip the electricity and do it by candlelight. Without the electronic distractions, you'll be able to get back in touch with the feelings that drew you to each other in the first place.
Take dance lessons.
Get close again on the dance floor. Look for classes offered at the local community college, your parks and rec department, and neighborhood bars. Consider ballroom dancing, merengue or even square dancing.
Hike or bike.
Stay active, get healthy and spend time together by exploring your neighborhood or nearby areas by bike or on your feet. Hiking, biking, skating and other outdoor activities are fun (yet inexpensive) ways to spend an afternoon date.
Go out for dessert.
You don't have to head to a fancy, expensive restaurant for Date Night -- instead, cook dinner at home and go out just for dessert. Go to your favorite eatery for a indulgent, decadent dessert and coffee. You'll also save a few bucks (and calories) by ordering one dessert to share.
Enjoy a nostalgia night.
Stay at home and enjoy a casual meal in your living room while flipping through old photos, watching your wedding video and talking about what you love about each other. Taking a trip down memory lane could be just what you need to ignite the spark in your marriage again.
Have happy hour at home.
You don't need to head to the bar for cocktails -- create Happy Hour at home! Margarita mix, tequila, salt and lime will cost you less than $20. Just add some tortilla chips and salsa, and you'll be good to go.
Go househunting.
Even if you aren't in the market to buy, checking out the homes in your area for sale is a fun way to spend time together thinking about your future. Look at fixer-uppers that might tempt you to actually put in an offer, as well as dream houses that are out of your price range.
Have a little taste.
Local wine bars, wineries and even liquor stores hold wine-tasting nights. It's very inexpensive, and you get to sample some terrific wines. Chocolate shops, cheese stores and other specialty shops often hold tastings, too.
Spend the night at a hotel.
Even if the hotel is just around the corner from your house, book a room for a special getaway. Look for coupons and discounts, and go during the week to get the cheaper rates on a luxurious room. Romp on the big bed, order room service and sleep in each other's arms until checkout time.
Friday, March 30, 2012
5 Reasons You Don't Really Want to Win all that Lottery Money
Do you find yourself dreaming of the day your lucky lottery numbers are called? Or fantasizing about what numbers lurk under the silver bar of that scratch-off ticket you impulse-bought while gassing up?
The lure of "Mega Millions," "Powerball" and other lottery jackpots has millions in search of, well, millions. And while it's fun to daydream about what having more money than you can count would be like, winning the lottery might not be all it's cracked up to be.
[Related: World record $540 million lottery drawing]
[Related: World record $540 million lottery drawing]
A windfall of widely publicized winnings that finally allows you the luxury of affording a trip around the world, a fancy car or flat-screen TVs for every room in your house just might ruin your life.
Here's a look at the ugliness landing all that loot can bring to your life. And a reminder that being mega rich isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
1. Your friends will take advantage
Once word gets out that you had the winning ticket, you can expect everyone to try to cozy up to you, from the college roommate you haven't heard from in 20 years and the kid who tortured you on the kindergarten playground, to fellow carpool parents and "friends" you barely recognize. It's common for lottery winners to see a flood of online and in-person friend requests that range from wanting to share a meal to suggesting a weekend getaway to relax or catch up. Of course, these "buddies" all hope that you'll ultimately pick up the tab for their good time.
After she was one of a pool of 12 people who won the Missouri Powerball in 2006 and split $224 million, Sandra Hayes had to rethink her social network. "It became necessary to be careful about who I make friends with because some people can be cruel and have alternative motives for befriending you. Some feel that just because you have money, you owe them money," she says.
"When I would hang out with friends and we would stop to get something to eat, they would order their food and then announce they did not have the money to pay, which happened a few times," says Hayes. She quickly figured out her friends' plan and stopped going to eat with them. "I eventually stopped hanging out with them altogether."
Lottery winners get pleas from pals and hopeful BFFs in need of a personal bailout, too.
Hayes says one of her friends even expected her to rescue their family from their serious financial woes. "I did not rescue them thanks to the advice of my financial adviser, who told me if I bailed them out they would continue to sponge off me. If I did not draw the line, I would go broke," she says.
[Related: 7 Things You Could Do If You Winthe Mega Millions Jackpot]
[Related: 7 Things You Could Do If You Winthe Mega Millions Jackpot]
2. Your relationship could fail
Money woes can put a strain on a relationship . But those who come into big windfalls find coming into a lot of money all at once can also overtax a relationship.
Alexey Bulankov, a certified financial planner who's worked with a family who won a lottery jackpot saw this devastation firsthand. "Following a string of unfortunate financial decisions, the family fell apart," he says. Bulankov says the husband, who was emotionally unprepared for the enormous responsibility and pressure of winning the lottery, took to gambling and womanizing to deal with the troubles adjusting to his new lifestyle. When his wife found out, she retaliated with vindictive shopping.
Eventually, they talked and sorted it out, says Bulankov. "Needless to say, the level of trust was not the same and the fighting and blame-placing for the squandering of their fortune became routine occurrence in this once tightly knit family," says Bulankov.
3. You'll have an increased risk of bankruptcy
Given the fact that you'd have enough dough to clear up your debt, bankruptcy seems a long shot after winning the lottery. But experts say lottery winners actually are at greater risk of bankruptcy.
"Winners suddenly have significantly more credit available to them than they ever had. That makes them more likely to make purchases on credit, rather than use cash," says Scott Dillon, a senior bankruptcy attorney at Tully Rinckey in Albany, N.Y. "Winners are much more likely to make significant impulse purchases far beyond their previous means. So the purchase amounts will be much higher, making the interest accrued on those credit cards much higher. And because they don't stop to think the money could run out, winners don't generally think they need to create or live by a monthly budget."
"While it may be counterintuitive, a large influx of wealth without proper planning can easily cause people to forget the need to save for the future," adds Dan White, founder and president of Daniel A. White & Associates, a financial planning firm in Glens Mills, Pa., that specializes in asset protection and transitional and retirement planning.
4. You'll have to fight off a host of long-lost family members
Jeff Motske, a financial planner and president of Trilogy Financial Services, headquartered in Huntington Beach, Calif., says lottery winners often become targets for long-lost relatives who knock on the door with one hand and hold the other palm up. Somehow they think when one family member wins the lotto, the whole family wins the lotto. "A family member who wins the lottery will appear as a better option than a bank for fast cash that comes with the price tag of little to no interest paid and no application process," says Motske.
So many winners find themselves fielding pleas for help with a pile of credit card or medical debt, foreclosure or car repairs.
"The majority of my family members treated me the same as they did before I won the lottery, however, there were those family members who suffered the entitlement syndrome," says Hayes. "A few of my family members with whom I did not have a previous relationship with before winning the lottery came out of the woodwork and started calling me to butter me up just for money."
[Related: Charitable Donations: What You Need to Know]
[Related: Charitable Donations: What You Need to Know]
Hayes says she faced her share of bad experiences, including family members borrowing money that they felt they didn't have to pay back. "Some family members I gave a monetary gift for a special occasion thought I should have given more," says Hayes.
5. You'll be a target for a litany of lawsuits and scams
Hoping to carve out a chunk of your fortune, Motske says lottery winners are often targets for bogus lawsuits because everyone starts to come after them. "If the winnings are public knowledge, winners can bet their phone will never stop ringing. Winners hear from investors, reputable firms and scammers, and every planner/schemer under the sun," he says.
They also need to be wary of people who purposely "slip and fall" on their property, including claims of winners rear-ending them and so on. That includes contractors, babysitters, friends and family who visit you, borrow your car, etc.
Hayes says she endured some less-than-honest business deals. "Some people I dealt with were honest, but others were not. I experienced contractors changing their work bids to a higher price after they found out I won the lottery," she says. "Now I will only work with people who have been referred from trusted associates, friends or family."
50 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do
Self-reliance is a vital key to living a healthy, productive life. To be self-reliant one must master a basic set of skills, more or less making them a jack of all trades. Contrary to what you may have learned in school, a jack of all trades is far more equipped to deal with life than a specialized master of only one.
While not totally comprehensive
, here is a list of 50 things everyone should know how to do.
, here is a list of 50 things everyone should know how to do.
1. Build a Fire – Fire produces heat and light, two basic necessities for living. At some point in your life this knowledge may be vital.
2. Operate a Computer – Fundamental computer knowledge is essential these days. Please, help those in need.
3. Use Google Effectively – Google knows everything. If you’re having trouble finding something with Google, it’s you that needs help.
- Google Guide
- Google Advanced Search Operators
- Google Web Search Features
- 20 Tips for More Efficient Google Searches
4. Perform CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver – Someday it may be your wife, husband, son or daughter that needs help.
- Learn CPR
- How To Perform Adult CPR (video)
- How CPR Works
- How to Perform the Heimlich Maneuver (video)
5. Drive a Manual Transmission Vehicle – There will come a time when you’ll be stuck without this knowledge.
- How To Drive a Stick Shift Instructional Movie (video)
- Learn to Drive a Stick Shift
- Learn to Drive a Car with Manual Transmission
6. Do Basic Cooking – If you can’t cook your own steak and eggs, you probably aren’t going to make it.
7. Tell a Story that Captivates People’s Attention – If you can’t captivate their attention, you should probably just save your breath.
8. Win or Avoid a Fistfight – Either way, you win.
- How To Actually Win a Fistfight
- How To Win a Fistfight (video)
- How To Win a Street Fight
- How To Avoid Confrontations Like a Samurai Warrior
9. Deliver Bad News – Somebody has got to do it. Unfortunately, someday that person will be you.
- How To Deliver Bad News in Writing
- How to Deliver Bad News to a Customer
- Good Ways to Deliver Bad News
10. Change a Tire – Because tires have air in them, and things with air in them eventually pop.
11. Handle a Job Interview – I promise, sweating yourself into a nervous panic won’t land you the job.
- The 25 Most Difficult Questions in a Job Interview
- Job Interview Questions and Answers
- How to Handle Your Job Interviews Successfully
- 10 Sticky Job Interview Situations and How to Handle Them
12. Manage Time – Not doing so is called wasting time, which is okay sometimes, but not all the time.
- How To Manage Time and Maximize Effectiveness
- Managing Your Time
- 10 tips for time management in a multitasking world
- Time Management Tips and Exercises
13. Speed Read – Sometimes you just need the basic gist, and you needed it 5 minutes ago.
14. Remember Names – Do you like when someone tries to get your attention by screaming “hey you”?
15. Relocate Living Spaces – Relocating is always a little tougher than you originally imagined.
16. Travel Light – Bring only the necessities. It’s the cheaper, easier, smarter thing to do.
17. Handle the Police – Because jail isn’t fun… and neither is Bubba.
- What to Do If You’re Stopped by the Police
- How To Handle the Cops if They Knock on Your Door
- How To Handle the Police
18. Give Driving Directions – Nobody likes driving around in circles. Get this one right the first time.
- How To Give a Complete Stranger Driving Directions
- How To Give Directions
- Giving Good Driving Directions
19. Perform Basic First Aid – You don’t have to be a doctor, or genius, to properly dress a wound.
20. Swim – 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. Learning to swim might be a good idea.
21. Parallel Park – Parallel parking is a requirement on most standard driver’s license driving tests, yet so many people have no clue how to do it. How could this be?
22. Recognize Personal Alcohol Limits – Otherwise you may wind up likethis charming fellow.
23. Select Good Produce – Rotten fruits and vegetables can be an evil tease and an awful surprise.
- Produce Primer: Selecting the Best
- Tips on Choosing Produce and Keeping it Fresh
- Buying Fresh Vegetables
24. Handle a Hammer, Axe or Handsaw – Carpenters are not the only ones who need tools. Everyone should have a basic understanding of basic hand tools.
25. Make a Simple Budget – Being in debt is not fun. A simple budget is the key.
26. Speak at Least Two Common Languages – Only about 25% of the world’s population speaks English. It would be nice if you could communicate with at least some of the remaining 75%.
- Free Online Language Courses
- Learn a Foreign Language Online Free
- Language Learning with Rosetta Stone
27. Do Push-Ups and Sit-Ups Properly – Improper push-ups and sit-ups do nothing but hurt your body and waste your time.
- How To Do a Proper Push-Up
- Chris Comfort’s Push-Up Workout (video)
- 19 Variations for a Push-Up (video)
- How To Do Sit-Ups (video)
- How To Do an Abdominal Crunch (video)
28. Give a Compliment – It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give someone, and it’s free.
- How To Give a Good Compliment
- 5 Kick-Ass Reasons to Give a Genuine Compliment
- How To Give a Killer Compliment
- 10 Best Compliments a Man Can Give a Woman
29. Negotiate – The better deal is only a question or two away.
30. Listen Carefully to Others – The more you listen and the less you talk, the more you will learn and the less you will miss.
- Tips on Effective Listening
- Listening Tips for the Classroom Environment
- Techniques for Active Listening
31. Recite Basic Geography – If you don’t know where anything is outside of your own little bubble, most people will assume (and they are probably correct) that you don’t know too much at all.
32. Paint a Room – The true cost of painting is 90% labor. For simple painting jobs it makes no sense to pay someone 9 times what it would cost you to do it yourself.
33. Make a Short, Informative Public Speech – At the next company meeting if your boss asks you to explain what you’ve been working on over the last month, a short, clear, informative response is surely your best bet. “Duhhh…” will not cut it.
- How To Conquer the Public Speaking Fear
- Better Public Speaking and Presentation
- How To Write an Informative Speech
34. Smile for the Camera – People that absolutely refuse to smile for the camera suck!
35. Flirt Without Looking Ridiculous – There is a fine line between successful flirting and utter disaster. If you try too hard, you lose. If you don’t try hard enough, you lose.
- Guide to Flirting
- Flirt Without Frightening
- The Rules of Flirtation
- The Science of Romance: Why We Flirt
36. Take Useful Notes – Because useless notes are useless, and not taking notes is a recipe for failure.
37. Be a Respectful House Guest – Otherwise you will be staying in a lot of hotels over the years.
- 10 Ways to Be and Excellent House Guest
- How To Be a Good House Guest
- Have A Pleasant Visit By Following A Few House Rules
38. Make a Good First Impression – Aristotle once said, “well begun is half done.”
- How To Make those First Impressions Count
- Making a Great First Impression
- Tips for Making a Good First Impression
39. Navigate with a Map and Compass – What happens when the GPS craps out and you’re in the middle of nowhere?
40. Sew a Button onto Clothing – It sure is cheaper than buying a new shirt.
41. Hook Up a Basic Home Theater System – This isn’t rocket science. Paying someone to do this shows sheer laziness.
42. Type – Learning to type could save you days worth of time over the course of your lifetime.
- Online Typing Lessons for Everyone
- Free Typing Lessons for the Standard QWERTY Keyboard
- Free Touch Typing Program
43. Protect Personal Identity Information – Personal identity theft is not fun unless you are the thief. Don’t be careless.
44. Implement Basic Computer Security Best Practices – You don’t have to be a computer science major to understand the fundamentals of creating complex passwords and using firewalls. Doing so will surely save you a lot of grief someday.
- 4 Steps to Protect Your Computer
- Security Basics for Home Computers
- SANS Basic Computer Security Whitepapers
45. Detect a Lie – People will lie to you. It’s a sad fact of life.
46. End a Date Politely Without Making Promises – There is no excuse for making promises you do not intend to keep. There is also no reason why you should have to make a decision on the spot about someone you hardly know.
47. Remove a Stain – Once again, it’s far cheaper than buying a new one.
48. Keep a Clean House – A clean house is the foundation for a clean, organized lifestyle.
- The Keep-It-Clean Plan
- Keeping a Stress-Free, Clean House
- How To Keep Your House Clean in 20 Minutes a Day
49. Hold a Baby – Trust me, injuring a baby is not what you want to do.
50. Jump Start a Car – It sure beats walking or paying for a tow truck.
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