There Is No Place Like London

     I recently had the opportunity of visiting London, England.  I had never traveled to the United Kingdom before, and was excited at the opportunity.

     I cannot wait to go back!!!

     There are so many practices that they do over there that make much more sense than we do here in America. There is the obvious, such as we drive on the opposite side of the road, to the more discrete.

     In the City of London, the stop lights do not switch from red right to green.  The yellow light comes back on to warn the drivers that it is about to change, and then it turns green.  In America, the lights flip to green, which leaves people blankly staring at the road, unaware that the light has even changed.  With that warning, the drivers can prepare to drive, and not be honked at for slowing other people down.  That can also be slightly dangerous, because there were many times were people were driving while the light was still red, over-anticipating that it was turning green.

     All of the public museums have free admittance.  From the science museum to the museum of natural history.  This encourages not only the tourists to visit, but the citizens as well.  There are many people here who live down the road from a major museum who have never visited it because of the high admittance fee.  Donations are encouraged, but you are not obligated to fork over $30 per person (or should I say more like 19 pounds).

     People are so friendly.  Not only is there almost no road rage, but they are willing to help you with almost anything.  If you are struggling with something, they will stop to help you.  Or they will patiently explain how something works to a tourist.  In America, people like that are few and far between in many places.  The only thing you have to worry about in London is being pick-pocketed, but that fear is everywhere in the world.

     There were a few things that did irritate me.  For one thing, the 1 and 2 pound (the currency) are coins.  That just adds weight to your wallet, and more coins to learn the difference between.  Paper money is easier to organize.  Only a slight negative, especially since most places work on chip and pin cards (where you can pay the bills right at the table - another positive).

     The suggested gratuity is less over there, but the taxes are a lot higher on purchases (give and take).

     The roads are TOO narrow.  The lanes were barely any wider than the width of a car, and there were many close calls.  No one seems to have fear on the roads, and have no problem skimming right past one another.  People on bikes and motorcycles also squeeze through between cars.  It just makes tourists like me nervous.  I can never see myself driving in those conditions, especially since the streets are not straight, but twist through the city.

     This was such an amazing trip!!!  I was fortunate to have to opportunity to go, and hope I get the chance to go again.  I will post pictures soon.  Cheers!

Tip: To Do Lists

     This may seem juvenile or tedious, but if you find yourself with more tasks to complete than time left to do them in, make yourself a To Do List.  When you do, you will have it organized of what you have left, and can arrange everything by priority.

     When we have our minds in a million different directions, it can be difficult to remember what we had to do, when we had to have it done by, and if we completed it already.  A list organizes that information in one location.  It also feels as if you are accomplishing something when you get to cross one of them off of the list.

     Try one for a week if you do not use them already.  It will alleviate that unnecessary stress of when your teacher asks you to pass in your homework or your boss asks for your report, and you just THEN remembered what you forgot to do last night.

Do a Good Turn Daily

     We have all heard the expression “do a good turn daily.”  The Boy Scouts know what they are talking about.  We cannot only help ourselves, but must give back to others in any way possible.

     There are two main groups of people that can be categorized by this saying.  One will not listen to it at all, and the other takes it to heart.

     Some people take it overboard.  They try to help EVERYONE.  One day they are soliciting for cancer research, the next they are trying to save the rainforest, and the following day they are trying to save premature baby hippos.  You can’t save EVERYBODY by yourself.  If you focus your energy on one or two charities/causes, then you will get somewhere.  When you spread yourself too thin, no one wins.  It is better to give $1 to one organization, than one penny to a hundred different charities.

     Sort out your priorities, find out what matters most to you, and fight for a cause.  Or start your own.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Today is Talk Like A Pirate Day!!!

Rrrrrr ye speaking like a true pirate?

Give 'er a try!

Tip: Fight for the Right Ideas

     If an idea is worth fighting for, then fight for it.  Whether it is an original idea, or just a good cause, it will not get anywhere unless someone speaks up for it and sticks by it.  When others try to beat the idea down or stop you, you need to know if this is something you should go after, and go after it.  Knowing what you want is 75% of the battle.  Defending it is the other 25%.

10 More Things That Irritate Me

1)  When people don’t understand that “12 items or less” is not referring to 12 DIFFERENT items.  Sorry, 30 yogurts automatically puts you over the 12 item threshold.

2)  When people cut you off in traffic (especially when there is no one behind you), and then come to a DEAD stop so they can take the next turn off.  Why couldn’t you wait ten more seconds for me to pass?

3)  When pedestrians decide to cross the street a few seconds before you’re on top of them, ignoring the crosswalks, and then have the gall to get angry when you almost run them down.  Or worse, they press the button for the walk signal, but cross whenever they feel like there is an opening.  Then you are left sitting at a pointless red light.

4)  Bees.  I know they’re important to the cycle of life or whatever, I just do not want them flying ANYWHERE near me, thank you very much.

5)  When people (especially comedians) laugh HYSTERICALLY at their own jokes, particularly when they are the only ones.

6)  When my television program is interrupted by a “breaking news” bulletin (especially when there are no new developments).  There’ll be a national crisis if I miss the finale of my show!

7)  When I get my take-out home and the order was messed-up beyond recognition.  Me hungry and on a tight schedule; not the time to make mistakes.

8)  When you go to kill a spider on the wall but only manage to knock it to the ground.  And then you have a great battle, but it escapes, getting loose in the room.  Why didn’t I leave you alone?  I would rather SEE it, than know it is running around.

9)  Never-ending chores.  By the time I get around to folding the laundry or drying the dishes, there always seems to be another load to be done.

10)  When people say you look tired.  Just tell me how crappy I look to my face!

Ten Years Ago...

     Where were you on September 11, 2001?  Did you know what was going on?  History was in the making.

     I was in school, and no one told us anything.  When I left at the end of the day my dad and brother picked me up.  They had the radio on, which they never did.  The news caster was saying that the World Trade Centers had fallen.  I had never heard of those before in my life.  My brother said that they were the Twin Towers.  Not one bell was going off in my head.

     When we got home, we put television on, and all there was, was coverage of the terrorist attacks on our country.  That’s all that was on for the next six months.

     During that time, America changed.  We became a family.  People banded together to clean up, take care of one another, and were nice to each other (even while driving).  Nearly every house or car sported a flag or a “Support Our Troops” ribbon.  It was nice to see America as a family, but the reason for it was something I would have liked to never happen.

     I cannot believe it has been ten years since 9/11.  Let’s make sure this never happens again.

Comic Corner

Fast and Easy Healthy Dinner: Recipe Repertoire

Chicken Vegetable Alfredo

What you will need:

-Ronzoni Garden Delight pasta (variety and amount of your choice)

-Classico Light Creamy Alfredo pasta sauce (at least on 15 oz jar to every box of pasta)

-skinless, boneless chicken breasts

-asparagus spears or broccoli florets

What you do:

1)    1) Grill the chicken breasts or bake until the juices run clear.

2)    2) Sauté the asparagus or broccoli.

3)    3) Dice the chicken and asparagus/broccoli into bite-sized pieces.

4   4) Prepare the pasta according to the directions on the package.

5)    5) Simmer the sauce in a separate pan on the stove.

6)    6) When everything is cooked, mix the ingredients together and serve immediately.  Enjoy your garden fresh pasta dinner!

Something to Think About

The first thing many people do after a disagreement with someone, is think of the perfect comebacks they should have said.  “Yeah!  That would have showed him!”

What most people do not realize, is maybe our conscious is getting the better of us.  Perhaps those “zingers” would have made bad things even worse.

No matter the reason for our delay in genius epiphanies, we should think more and talk less.



That is not to say that we should spend all day coming up with mean things to say in case we get ourselves back in the same situation.  Instead, we should do quite the opposite. 



If we spent the time thinking of insults and comebacks to think of compliments and praises, we would start finding ourselves in much less predicaments where we need to tell people off in the first place.