Saturday, December 31, 2011

Writing Jobs in Los Angeles

Writing Jobs in Los Angeles

Los Angeles can be thought about as the creative hub on the western shore of the United States. California has admittedly no dearth of publications, newspapers, journals that are all the time hungry for population with creative talent. And then lets not forget Hollywood. The La film manufactures is like a mom lode for writers, with constant openings for discrete posts in the writing department. Best part is, Hollywood pays, and pays well!

A busy movie manufactures also means an equally busy newspaper and magazine industry. These two go hand - in - hand, and this is good news for writers. Ca has innumerable publications, with robust growth and scope, with more cropping up each day. The Los Angeles Times is good example, and one of the biggest newspapers in the Us. Not only that, there are also magazines covering every possible topic under the sun. And it doesn't stop there. There are also other language publications, such as Spanish. This converts into a larger user base, which in turn creates more jobs. More jobs, for you to fill.

Why Not Try Tv?:

Even if all that doesn't impress you much, there's all the time Tv. Los Angeles has a prosperous optic media industry. Script - writing, screenplay, whatever your forte is, its quite easy to get a job. Here is another dinky nugget for you people: La also happens to be the second largest designated television store area, with nearly five percent of the whole of the United States. Now that's a lot of jobs! And as with most jobs, the more experienced you get, the more you can question for your writing.

Writing Jobs in Los Angeles

Friday, December 30, 2011

Treatment of Ingrown Nails

Treatment of Ingrown Nails

Ingrown toenails can be caused by abnormal nail structure, irritation and pressure from poorly fitted shoes, and most commonly by improper nail trimming where the corners of the toenails are rounded off. Once the nail begins to grow into the skin, the body will begin to treat the nail as a foreign object, which results in pain and redness in the soft tissue on the side of the nail. If left untreated, the ingrown nail can begin to cut into the skin, which can lead to a skin tissue infection with oozing or a granuloma formation. (Granuloma is tissue around the ingrown toenail that is red, moist, and increases in size.)

Non-Surgical Treatment: If the ingrown nail is at the end of the toe, a simple procedure called a partial wedge resection (also called a slant back procedure) can be performed. This is performed by using a nail clipper in a slanted approach to clip off the offending portion of nail. Proper subsequent and routine nail trimming after a partial wedge resection can prevent the ingrown nail from recurring in most cases.

Surgical: In most cases, simply removing a wedge of nail at the tip does not completely resolve the problem, especially if the toenail is severely embedded within the skin.

Surgical procedures for treating ingrown nails are performed in the office. With the exception of the injection to deliver the local anesthetic, there should be no pain during the procedure. There are two major ways to remove the nail surgically. The first is a complete or partial nail removal. In this case the nail will grow back over the course of the next 9 to 12 months. In most cases as long as the causing factor (e.g. improper nail cutting or tight shoes) is avoided, the ingrown nail should not reoccur.

The second method is a partial or total chemical matrixectomy. With this method, a portion of the nail or the entire nail may be removed permanently. The nail matrix is a thin tissue layer under the nail fold that produces new nail; when this tissue is removed the nail no longer grows.

Nail Avulsion: In this procedure, the nail root, known as the matrix and found beneath the cuticles, is left alone. This will allow the nail to completely grow back. This procedure requires a local injection to numb the toe, a specially designed nail splitter to separate the nail from the nail bed, and a small clamp to remove the nail.

Local injection: Local anesthetic is injected into the toe to numb the area around the nail. The injection is not performed at the location of the ingrown nail but is injected at the base of the toe. Most patients describe the injection as a burning and stretching sensation.

Nail Removal: Once the toe is adequately numbed, the attachment of the nail to the soft tissue and cuticle is released. The portion of nail to be removed is then spilt from the nail plate using a blade and nail splitter. This is followed by removal of the nail with a thin clamp. Antibacterial cream is applied to the area, and the toe is dressed with bandages. It may take the toenail about 8 to 10 months to grow back to its original length.

Partial Chemical Matrixectomy/Total Chemical Matrixectomy: In this procedure, the nail root/matrix is removed chemically using either phenol or sodium hydroxide. This prevents the nail from growing back. The local anesthetic injection is performed using the same technique as in the above described nail avulsion procedure.

After the toe is adequately numbed, a tourniquet is applied around the toe to prevent blood flow into the area. Preventing blood flow prevents diluting the phenol or sodium hydroxide solution and keeps the chemicals strong enough to adequately destroy the nail root/matrix.

Nail Removal: When performing a "partial" chemical matrixectomy, a blade and nail splitter is used to cut out a portion of the nail. The blade and the nail splitter are applied to the end of the nail and gently pushed down through the nail plate to the cuticle. A fine-jawed clamp is used to remove the portion of the ingrown nail. Until this point in the procedure everything is the same as performed in the nail avulsion. Next a Q-tip with phenol or sodium hydroxide is inserted in the area deep and beneath the cuticle to kill the nail root. This procedure destroys the nail root on the side of the ingrown nail and allows the remaining nail to grow as usual.

If a "total" chemical matrixectomy is performed, the entire nail will be removed and the phenol or sodium hydroxide is applied to the entire area beneath the cuticle. In this case, the entire nail will not grow back.

Surgical Cautions and Complications: It is possible that all or part of the ingrown nail that was treated with the chemical may grow back. Since a chemical matrixectomy is a chemical burn, this procedure will cause mild draining during the healing process. This procedure creates a burn that is not suitable for patients who have poor healing or poor blood flow.

Post-Op Management: Between the time of the surgical procedure and the next appointment, Amerigel should be applied to the wound to aid in the healing process. While this wound is healing, it is expected to have mild drainage from the area with mild redness and swelling. Additionally, there may be some soreness, which can be alleviated with pain medication like Tylenol. Usually after the surgical removal of an ingrown nail, a follow-up appointment is scheduled in order to perform proper wound care to the surgical site and monitor the outcome of the ingrown nail removal.

Copyright (c) 2010 Bruce Lashley

Treatment of Ingrown Nails

Thursday, December 29, 2011

What Everyone Should Know About Worker's Compensation

What Everyone Should Know About Worker's Compensation

Though many people have heard of worker's compensation insurance, there are many aspects of this protection that people do not understand. Lack of information can lead to difficult issues when deciding whether or not to choose this path, after work related injury occurs. Understanding your rights and protections under these laws beforehand is important, and will most likely not come in a straightforward explanation from your employer. Worker's compensation insurance was developed to protect both employers and employees from devastating consequences rising from injuries to workers at their place of employment. The laws related to this form of insurance were written to strike a balance between fair protection to workers for injuries suffered on the job, and protection to employers from paying crippling settlements to employees as a result of people being hurt due to work related causes. As with any laws, the scope of protection is not perfect, and there are many hidden aspects of the procedure which can cause a great deal of concern and grief in getting through the process. The following points will help you to decide what to do when you are injured on the job.

1. Time is important - When you turn to worker's compensation for help with an injury, it is vital for you understand that time is of the essence. You must decide quickly if you want to file a worker's compensation claim, and you must be very assertive that this is the path you want to take. You should inform your employer immediately that you are hurt, and tell them the circumstances surrounding the incident. You have a limited amount of time to file a worker's compensation claim by law, so you need to act within the legal timeframe to qualify for the coverage. A worker's compensation claim follows a completely different path and procedure than claims covered under your regular health insurance, so the care you seek outside the worker's compensation channel should be minimal, because any care you receive from your regular doctor will NOT be covered by your health insurance, even if the treatment would normally be covered by that policy. It is also highly possible that the care you receive outside the worker's compensation system will have to be paid out of pocket by you. When you are hurt, you must decide to file a worker's compensation claim, or seek treatment from your health insurance provider. Your injuries will be covered and treated by one or the other, but not by BOTH.

2. Worker's compensation claims are handled by doctors provided by the system, and you will not necessarily have a choice regarding who is in charge of your care, or where you must go to receive your diagnosis and treatment. In some cases, the injured person may feel their worker's compensation doctor is minimizing care, and understating the extent of personal injury. These perceptions may be well founded, because the system is set up to minimize employer liability and treatment costs. Do not be surprised if a worker's compensation doctor appears unsympathetic to your pain and suffering. You will have to be more assertive and insistent with these care givers than with those who treat you under your regular insurance coverage.

3. Your supervisor may not understand the procedures established for filing a worker's compensation claim. If they advise you to seek care from your regular insurance provider, and you are sure that you want to pursue a worker's compensation claim, do not seek care outside the system based on your supervisor's recommendation. Regardless of the circumstances or advice, you must be cared for by a worker's compensation doctor and facility, if the care is to be covered by this claim.

4. Unless you have been through the experience of a worker's compensation claim, you will not understand how much incorrect advice, misleading direction, and undue intimidation can be associated with trying to pursue this type of action. You will likely receive misinformation from within the system, and you should be prepared to defend your position. Even though employers pay insurance for worker's compensation claims, the "insurance" company handling these claims will be particularly mercenary in trying to deny you coverage, minimizing your treatment, understating your injuries, and intimidating you into settling for less than you deserve. You should seek legal assistance to help you sort out your rights, clarify your position, and advocate a reasonable settlement for you. Once your claim is settled, you will not be able to make further claims against your employer for this same injury, so you should make sure the end result is the best you can do.

5. Once the curtain opens on staging a worker's compensation claim, the focus immediately turns to how much money will wind up being paid on your behalf, and how much of the money that is due to you for your injuries on paper, winds up settling into someone else's pockets. Do not expect a quick and simple end to your worker's compensation claim; it will likely be a protracted process that will result in a "standard" amount of your settlement being paid to your lawyer, agreed payments for care to your doctors, unsettled bills the insurance company has weaseled out of paying becoming your responsibility to settle, and whatever is left, coming to you. A good metaphor for the entire process is thinking about a group of jackals tearing away at a carcass until nothing is left.

6. For some reason, a worker's compensation claim also carries a stigma with employers that can become immediately apparent to an injured employee. Though few companies will have the courage to admit it, when a person files a worker's compensation claim, many employers mount a campaign to eliminate that employee from their work force. Some will use illegal methods, while others cover their tracks with legal but unethical treatment. As the injured employee, you can pretty well be sure your days at your job are numbered when you step forward with your worker's compensation claim, even though such treatment is completely unwarranted for the level of your service and performance. This information is mentioned to help you understand the hidden consequences and costs of using worker's compensation. If you decide to pursue this direction, you should be sure the harm to you is serious enough to warrant enduring the process which will lead to a settlement. You might want to consider using the potential degree of permanent disability your work related injuries have caused you before you choose your avenue.

Sadly, the protection of people and businesses has often reached a dividing line that is not so narrow or certain when it comes to fairness. The current system of worker's compensation insurance is somewhat like Solomon's suggestion to settle the dispute over who was the rightful mother of a child; rip the baby in half, and give each party a useless piece of what they wanted.

What Everyone Should Know About Worker's Compensation

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Time Management - The Wasters' and Savers' Styles

Time Management - The Wasters' and Savers' Styles

Time is equally important in an organizational set up as it is in day-to-day life. It cannot be retrieved if spent or wasted once, so better is to spend it in more effective way. Whether it's a professional business or work environment or a casual social or house hold gathering, ensuring things to be done within a particular time frame not only helps to maintain an order but also to get rid of various tensions. It is, however, the concern of prime importance to identify what are the things that actually waste time and what save. Being in the fastest time ever it is a bit difficult to find out all such activities, so in order to stop wasting time let's start from the general activities of time wasters and savers.

Taking a start from wasters, here are some activities, which almost all of them do:

Thinking about something without coming up to a decision. Worrying Implementation without analysis Starting many tasks at the same time without identifying the importance of each Unanticipated interruptions (starting doing something else during an important task). Procrastinating. Unrealistic Time estimates. Poor Crisis management. Poor Planning Poor Organization. Ineffective meetings (lack of effective communication) Doing urgent rather than important tasks. Failing to delegate. Lacking priorities, standards, policies, and procedures. On the other hand the time savers do all what that wasters do not and they also do not do what wasters do, all they do is: Manage the process of decision-making, not the decisions. Concentrate on doing only one task at a time. Set daily, short-term, mid-term, and long-term priorities. Ensure effective communication. Throwing unneeded things away. Set deadlines and attempt to meet the same. Do not waste others' time. Ensure the purpose of meetings, projects etc. Maintain calendars and abide by them. Know when to pause and when to restart. Maintain good delegation. Keep simplicity in the processes. Use checklists and To-Do lists.

Knowing these styles help in managing not only business and work environment with lining up communication [http://www.blogoxide.com/Business/Communication/], management and other aspects but also improves social skills and attitudes and hence let one explore the each avenue of success

Time Management - The Wasters' and Savers' Styles

Luxury Homes - Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

Luxury Homes - Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

Being able to buy a dream home is something that whatever would love. If you plan on purchasing a home in America, you can be sure that Los Angeles is the only city that can meet all your needs in regards to the best location and the best house.

Although many of the homes that are available in Los Angeles are quite high-priced compared to the rest of the country, it is not the price, but the capability of area the home purchased is settled that is important. Many of the homes here are precious but remember that the key to buying a home is still location, location, location; Los Angeles offer many different pockets that are truly very wonderful, The Dell, Lake Hollywood, The Birds road to name a few.

One of the best places to start house hunting in Los Angeles is Hollywood Hills as the houses here are modern, architectural wonders. These exquisite masterpieces contain everything you would ever want as they have large, sprawling compounds that contain concrete, glass and even steel fittings. So, irrespective of either you have four or even six cars, you can be sure that the combination would be large enough to accommodate all of them. Many of these homes have very high ceilings and even entertainment cabinets. When you choose a home at the Sunset strip in Hollywood Hills, you know that you would be provided a luxurious house that can meet every whim of yours. There are dining rooms, halls, dens, sound recording studios, gyms, libraries, living rooms, saunas, offices, family areas and even a foyer area to welcome guests. Combining these with a large swimming pool, and you know that a home in Hollywood Hills is meant for you.

The Hollywood Hills will all the time remain a very desirable area in Los Angeles.

Luxury Homes - Los Angeles, Hollywood Hills

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Los Angeles - The Largest City in California

Los Angeles - The Largest City in California

Nicknamed the 'City of Angels' Los Angeles is the largest city in California. In a true representation of multiculturalism the city is home to nearby 13 million residents who speak close to 225 languages! Most travelers reconsider Los Angeles to be the grandest city in the world and no wonder: it is home to the world's most glamorous industry, Hollywood. Upscale travelers, therefore, like to stay in the best five star hotels simply oozing with luxury.

Would you blame them for choosing a hot pick surrounded by Los Angeles luxury hotels like the Peninsula Beverly Hills? This king surrounded by Los Angeles luxury hotels exists at the core of Beverly Hills, the world's glamour axis. Settled within walking length of the enterprise district and shopping it is the only five star hotel in the southern part of California to have received a rating of Mobil Five-Star for 11 successive years. Elegant interiors and comeliness are decidedly the hallmarks of this five star luxury hotel. Guests who love slow tea should join other like-minded guests in the Living Room.

Any seasoned guest will tell you that luxury spas complete the feel of a five star luxury hotel. In this respect, the luxury spa at the Peninsula Beverly Hills delivers big time. Great body massages and revolutionary treatments render your stay truly memorable.

Exploring Beverly Hills can be great fun especially places like Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood home in which she lived with her footballer husband Joe DiMaggio and where she breathed her last.

Guests also like to pay a visit to the Universal Studios known for some its great shows like the Waterworld Sea War Spectacular with its fireworks, jet skis, and great stunts. Next, you may drive down to the Hollywood Boulevard to Grauman's Chinese Theater Settled on Hollywood's renowned 'Walk of Fame' designed by Oliver Weismuller, renowned artist from south California. Home to Hollywood premiers and parties, the theater's most necessary feature is the set of concrete blocks bearing imprints of signatures, hand impressions et al of renowned cinematic personalities from the 1920s right up to the present.

One of the landmarks of La is its Disneyland. Divided into eight 'theme' sections it is full of fun rides that are constantly updated. Other fun things like fireworks, boat rides, and electric and laser parades are designed to bring out the child in you.
Your La trip would remain incomplete without a visit to the Getty Museum featuring European paintings, sculptures, and sketches. It also has an impressive range of Roman as well as Greek antiques. The architecture of the museum is one of the most animated pieces in all southern California.

Do take the time to drive down to Venice Beach renowned for its ocean front. The beach is a truly animated sight replete with dancers, roller skaters and bikers. Food stalls and boutiques make this place especially interesting. Walk nearby the canals and waterfront at night especially, and feel the cool ocean breeze on your hair and face. A true fun place it is also very relaxing.

You will all the time want to come back for more.

Los Angeles - The Largest City in California

Monday, December 26, 2011

uptown Los Angeles Hotels

uptown Los Angeles Hotels

Unlike other cities, downtown Los Angeles isn't the town point of the city but is a cosmopolitan area with many ethnicities that form a whole mini city on their own. Traditionally this is the business town of the city and hotels in this area were regularly occupied by business travelers.

All this is changing today thanks to a major clean-up initiative taken in the last 90s. Today the downtown La area is the cultural town of the city and also had many nice restaurants, development it a beloved destination for freedom travelers.

There are abundance of hotels to choose from in downtown Los Angeles. The hotels are filled by business travelers straight through the working week and when they leave over the weekend, the area takes on a new image... One that is vibrant and colorful. Most of the hotels offer weekend packages at exquisite rates. These packages give exquisite value for money.

If you choose to live in downtown La, you don't have to worry about city highlights being too far away. Many freeways pass straight through the area and you can drive to any place wit minimum problems. However try and avoid rush hour traffic, as you might find yourself stuck in a spot for hours. Alternately, you can take the Metro Line up to Universal Studios.

Despite the low weekend rates and irresistible weekend packages, downtown Los Angeles can at times feel like a ghost town. The moving and energetic surroundings of Venice Beach or West Hollywood will be missing. There isn't much nightlife in the area and it is particularly dead after sundown.

uptown Los Angeles Hotels

Sunday, December 25, 2011

A Valentine Story - The Greatest Love Story Ever Told - The Lord Jesus Christ Obtains a Bride

A Valentine Story - The Greatest Love Story Ever Told - The Lord Jesus Christ Obtains a Bride

A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.....Awake, O north wind, and come, O south! Bow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits.....I sleep, but my heart is awake; it is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, "Open for me, my sister, my love, My dove, my perfect one...My beloved has gone to his garden. To the beds of spices, to feed his flock in the gardens, and to gather the lilies. I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine. (Parts of Song of Solomon 4:12,16, 5:2, 6:2 NJKV)

And the Spirit and the Bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come" And let him who thirst come, Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelations 22:17)

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write, Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" And he said to me, "These are the true saying of God." (Revelations 19: 7-9 NJKV)

The greatest love story ever told, is summed up in the gospel tale. God in Christ, reconciling men unto Himself, and from among the redeemed selecting those who by the power of the choice of their faith make themselves commensurate to Himself, to the end that they might enter an eternal marriage with the Creator and Redeemer of men. Where did it have its beginning? It began before time, in eternity past when the Creator purposed in His heart that He would bring forth a natural world with people upon it that would be created after His very own image. A world that would be filled with people that would be honored with the freedom of choice to choose good or evil, and henceforth in possessing that ability would make the decision to respond to Him in love, versus loving their own ways and being a part of the world's system which belongs to Satan. Why did the Creator do this? The short and simple answer is this: to make a demonstration of who He really is. (Ephesians 1: 1-14) No, not in the egotistical manner that is so common among men, but in the way that a God who is 100% holy and wise (which means He is 100% pure, true and just, a God who loves light only and in whose presence sin and darkness must be judged, and that has unlimited understanding) can only do. And in making such a show of His divine attributes He opens up an avenue of life, beauty, glory and immortality for all that would choose to love and embrace Him and His ways, and in doing this He calls to Himself a bride. A people who truly are individuals, yet corporately stand as one, who being commensurate to Christ will share an entitled relationship with Him throughout the ages of eternity.

So the Creator made all natural things as a home for these elite beings whom He referred to as man. (mankind) He created two varieties of this same species. They were made very similar to each other, but at the same time completely opposite. He created the male and the female. He created the first of them as grown adult people, a man and a woman, a husband and a wife. He purposed the continuation of the human population, but choose that to be done through the relationship and act of marriage. This started with the very first couple He created, and then couples thereafter. So that the miracle of His power of creation was to be acted out as a part of the beauty of the love that He had purposed to exist between the male and the female in the marriage relationship.

I am beginning to get a head of myself, Speaking of what they were to created and assigned to do, but first lets speak of the depth and beauty of the genius and power of our God to create the male and the female persons. None of the innumerable aspects of either the male or the female persons are by accident, but absolutely every aspect is with reason and intelligence. Eternally cursed is the lie and corruption of truth that is called evolutionism, which teaches that the formation of the universe happened of its own accord, discounting the truth that the human person, which is the highest of God's creation sprang forth by God's power and wisdom.

The man (created as an adult male) was created to be a living-breathing mortal illustration of God Himself. He firstly was made in the image of God, as the Christian minister Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 11:7. The woman (created as an adult woman) was created to bear the same image, but only through the man from whose rib she was made. The Creator's objective for her was that she be a living mortal illustration of that "One" who was to become the exceeding object of His attention and heart: the Church. That's right, the woman is meant by God to be a living mortal expression in every aspect of her being of the individual Believer, and at the same time the collection of all Believers: the Church. Thus in the very act of creation we begin to see the exceeding numerous parallels between the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Church, and the Church back to Him, and the relationship of the man (husband) to the woman (wife), and the woman (wife) back to her husband.

Starting with the truth that the woman is to be subject to the man in all things in that she came forth from the man, just as the Believer is to be subject to the Lord Jesus in that only by Him every Believer has passed from the death of sin into the the life of God's kingdom. The Believer has life through Christ and is therefore subject to Him, the woman has life by man, and is therefore subject to him. For reason it self dictates that anything that is created by, or comes forth from another is lesser than that which it was created by, or came forth from. Now it exists that as the Lord Jesus is seen to be these things to the Church: lord, savior, guide, deliverer, teacher, redeemer or purchaser, provider, visionary, friend, partner, lover. In like manner, in regards to the man woman relationship (expressly husband-wife relationship) all these same attributes of character and service are also to be seen. The husband being the initiator, the wife being the responder. Christ being the initiator, the Believer being the responder. In short, Christ owns the Believer and meets the Believer's needs, the Believer responds in love and gratitude seeking to fulfill the Lord's purposes. In like manner the husband as lord over the wife owns her, and seeks to meet her needs, and she responds and seeks to fulfill his purposes. Obviously it has been Satan's objective to corrupt the workings of these truths, but in the end he will not win. And every soul of man who aligns itself with these truths will be shown to have great reward at the appearing of the Lord Jesus.

God's plan was a beautiful thing right from the beginning, however, Satan tempted the first woman Eve, and she being deceived gave her self to sin. The first man Adam was not deceived by the wicked one, he simply chose (with his eyes wide open) the woman instead of the Lord. ( 1 Timothy 2:14) Therefore sin entered the world and has from that time until this time been passed unto every soul of man upon the earth. Thus the Eternal God (not that any of this took Him by surprise, for He foreknew all of it) began from the every beginning to implement salvation for men, which would be found embodied in the act of His very self becoming a human person born of a virgin woman, who would live among men approximately 30 years and then conduct a ministry that would be ended in the giving of His life as the sacrificial payment for the sins of all men. Thus He would earn the title the Lamb of God Who Takes Away The Sins Of The World. This atonement for sin being available for every person who will turn from sin and place their faith in the salvation which God has provided through Christ.

The story of the bringing forth of the forgiveness of sin is filled with exceeding aspects of wonder and beauty, but it is not to be the final focus of this article today, but rather let us focus on the culmination of the the drama of Christ calling a bride unto Himself. Which is to be culminated at the end of the age.

This time is at hand.

The Lord Jesus while upon the earth spoke a very revealing parable, the which would be good for us to consider, from it we can gain basic and extremely important information. It is found in the book of Matthew 25:1-13, and it reads: Then the kingdom of heaven shall be liken to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard, "behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet him!" Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out". But he wise answered, saying, "No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves." And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying "Lord, Lord, open to us!" But he answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you." Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

I will now give in brief terms my understand of the meaning of this parable. I do not claim perfect knowledge, and undoubtedly others will disagree with me to varying degrees. None the less I will speak as I see it.

Those that will be counted worthy to occupy the Kingdom of Heaven are likened unto virgins. For they, by the new birth, (John 3:1-11) which is equal to the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:5) have in spirit become virgin before the Lord, being sanctified (set apart) in regards to their spirit, which has been made pure from the corruption of spirit found in the world, and abides in the salvation of Jesus. Undoubtedly all of these are wise in the sense that they have come to Jesus and have been washed from their sins in His atoning blood, for it is the very wisest decision that one can make. However, after making the decision to believe unto salvation it is necessary to continue to make the decision to seek the Lord and surrender one's self to Him in discipleship, becoming conformed to Christ and to His purposes. (Romans 8:29) Half of this group in the end are considered wise, and the other half are considered foolish. (No doubt there is a certain reasoning for the use of the number ten, but I do not know it) All of the virgins had lamps. This speaks that they possessed the testimony of Jesus as their Savior, the testimony of being transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. However, five of them had oil enough, and the other five did not have oil enough. The oil speaks of the Holy Spirit's involvement in their lives to bring forth in their lives the true and complete expression of the living out of God's commandments and His promises. In short, the foolish virgins are the picture of those who do not press on to "put on Christ" (Colossians 3:10) as the Holy Spirit would convict them to, they do not have "ears to hear" His voice as He works to bring them to full maturity. So five make it the habit of their life to respond to the Spirit's voice and unctioning developing all godly attributes, growing up into the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the other five do not.

At Midnight the cry is heard that the bridegroom is coming. This bridegroom is Jesus. The "midnight hour" is when the Holy Spirit convicts the believer to put off foolish and wicked works in order to grow up in Christ and become fully an expression of Him in the world. It is also a point at the end of time when the cry of the Spirit shall be heard saying, (and is heard even now) "Jesus is coming again, therefore put off every foolish and sinful way and get ready to meet Him." These expressions are summed up in scriptures like these: "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection.....", (Hebrews 6:1 NKJV) "Brethren I do not count myself to have appended; but one I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind....(Philippines 3: 13-15 NKJV) Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5 48 NKJV) Finally, brothers, goodbye, aim for perfection...(2 Corinthians 13:11 NIV) Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. (Colossians 1:28 NKJV)

Five of the virgins rise to trim their lamp (their testimony) only to find out that they lack the depth of being able to comprehend and thus obey the Spirit's voice and unction. We see this in the parable because it is said that their oil was running out, forcing the virgins to go to buy more to sustain their light (testimony). This speaks of the reality that to follow God unto full maturity is going to cost the Believer something. This process will never be completed simply by a Believer praying, "Lord, make me like You." Yes, this is the right prayer, but every effort must be added to that prayer, and continued in, in order for this process to come to completion. Five of the virgins are not willing to invest time and life into this effort, and in the end are caught un-prepared by either death or the Lord's coming.

The Bridegroom's coming speaks that an appointed time is set for all things. Death has an appointed time, the Lord's coming has an appointed time, the end of the world has an appointed time. Now, as we read this article, and as we go about life, as the Holy Spirit's conviction is there dealing with us, now is the time to respond to the Spirit's dealing and seek the Lord and put on Christ in all of our affairs. ...Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts. (Hebrews 4:7 NKJV) ....behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is he day of salvation. (2Corinthians 6:2 NKJV)

...the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut, afterward the other virgins came also, saying "Lord, Lord, open to us!" But he answered and said, "assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you." (Mathew 25 10-12 NKJV) This speaks plainly that there will come a time when the invitation to be a part of the "bride hood" of the Lord Jesus will come to an end. Some having missed the opportunity will cry out to God begging to be considered, and the answer will be no. For to be chosen for this elite honor there must be a level of depth of relationship, of both knowing and being known of the Lord, and the five in the parable who were rejected from entrance did not know the Lord in the way that is required for this relationship and honor. Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wire has made herself ready." (Revelations 19:7 NKJV) This verse very plainly speaks of each Believer's responsibility to make himself ready. Oh yes, as in all expressions of grace it is by the empowering of the Holy Spirit, but it will never happen without the full cooperation of the Believer.

Are there any Scripture verses that encapsulate what a Believer by the Holy Spirit is to do, in order to be found acceptable to enter this eternal, intimate and powerful relationship with Jesus? I believe so. I suggest these: And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her off-spring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelations 12:17 NKJV) Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (Revelations 14:12 NKJV) And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:12-14 NKJV)

The Lord, whose eyes search the motives and deeds of all men looks to and fro through the earth in every generation searching for those whose ways are pleasing to Himself. It is He who righteously will make the final judgment as to who is appropriate to be arrayed in the fine garments that this bride shall wear, and be honored from that point onward to have a place in this special relationship, but it is our part to make our selves ready, to grow up in Him in all things. The following are scriptures that denote the specialness of the calling of the Bride of Christ.

These who are found worthy shall .....be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.. (Revelation 19:8 NJKV) Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then, I , John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:1-2 NKJV).... and he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. Having the glory of God.....(Revelations 21: 10& 11a NKJV) but I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, (this statement proves that there is a whole population of people saved who are not chosen to be a part of the Bride of Christ) and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day. And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. And He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. (Rev. 21:23---Rev. 22:5 NKJV)

These words are illustrative of the person and calling of the Bride. Quoting the Apostle Paul, (Philippians 3:14-15) I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this same mind....

Amen!
A Watchman

A Valentine Story - The Greatest Love Story Ever Told - The Lord Jesus Christ Obtains a Bride

Try Our Los Angeles Golf Courses

Try Our Los Angeles Golf Courses

When you visit Southern California, you'll find no fewer than 144 public and underground Los Angeles Golf Courses from which to choose. Los Angeles Golf Courses offer something for every golfer from the green newbie to the seasoned pro, and there are opportunities for curious and enjoyable play for every budget; greens fees at Los Angeles Golf Courses range from as much as 5 to as diminutive as depending on location and times.

Here is just a sample of what awaits the devoted golfer at Los Angeles Golf Courses.

Bel-Air Country Club

U.S. Route 66, the "Mother Road" of which John Steinbeck wrote and Nat King Cole sang, was completed between Chicago and Los Angeles in 1926. Near the place where Route 66 came to an end and not long after it was completed, Bel-Air golf policy opened right nearby; it is among the oldest of the Los Angeles Golf Courses. Ranked as one of the best golf courses in the U.S., Bel-Air offers curious greens, but at a price: green fees currently top out at 5 for peak tee times. Bel-Air is hilly and not for the faint-of-heart; unless you are in exceptionally good corporal condition, you'll either want to hire a caddy or a golf cart. However, as one of the most scenic among Los Angeles Golf Courses, it's certainly worth it.

Calabasas Golf & Country Club

With its rolling hills, narrow fairways and water hazards aroung five of its holes, Calabasas Golf & Country Club is certainly for more experienced players.

Desert Aire Golf Course

Desert Aire is ideal for for novice and inexperienced golfers, with virtually flat ground and only a particular water hazard. This municipal course's nine holes are guarded by sand traps; those wishing to play a full eighteen holes can use extra tees.

Mission Hills Golf Course

Situated on the grounds of the local V.A. Hospital, this is primarily a putting green used for the rehabilitation of patients. However, as a public, tax-payer funded facility, it is also open to the public. The Mission Hills Golf policy offers a driving cage; seniors 60 and older receive a discount on Friday tee times.

Ocean Trails Gold Club

There are a few Los Angeles Golf Courses that feature specatular views of the seaboard and the Channel Islands; Ocean Trails Gold Club is among the best. It is alos strictly for advanced players; undulating slopes, narrow fairways and ocean crosswinds are known to tax the skills of Pga golfers - not to mention the gorgeous and most distracting scenery!

Try Our Los Angeles Golf Courses

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Things to Do When You Visit Minneapolis

Things to Do When You Visit Minneapolis

Minneapolis has been referred to as one of the "biggest little cities" in the United States, and it is definitely overflowing with both charm and activity. For example, the city has 24 lakes that are an ideal setting for ice skating in the winter and going on a picnic in the summer. Also, visitors from across the nation and locals both can enjoy relaxing at a sidewalk cafe, spending an evening at the theater or shopping in the city's impressive variety of stores.

Where You Can Stay

You can take your pick from the many outstanding three- and four-star hotels in downtown Minneapolis, and they are interspersed with several cozy and more affordable bed and breakfasts. The most popular venues for visitors are centered around the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities and the city's convention center and basic motel accommodations can be found on the outskirts of town.

Where You Can Eat and Drink

The city is known for its hardy German and Scandinavian roots, and immigrants from virtually everywhere have brought their ethnic cuisines with them as well. Perhaps this is the reason that a 12-block area on Nicollet Avenue, which runs from 29th Street to Grant Street, is home to such a variety of ethnic grocery stores and restaurants that it is often referred to as "Eat Street."

The northwest section of the city's downtown is full of nighttime activity, including several nightclubs and about 40 bars. This area is the center of dancing, late-night dining, bar hopping. The Hennepin Theatre district, which is located uptown, also promises visitors an enjoyable night out with a good choice of restaurants and three historic theaters nearby.

What Sports Fans Can Do

If you visit in the spring or summer, you may want to join the crowd and cheer for baseball's Minnesota Twins. In the fall, you can watch the Minnesota Vikings play football at the Metrodome, and in winter, basketball enthusiasts come out for a Timberwolves game at the Target Center.

If you also think of shopping as a sport, you won't want to miss visiting the Mall of America. Located in suburban Bloomington just outside the city, it is the country's largest shopping mall, covers 4.2 million square feet, and boasts 520 stores.

A Few of the City's Cultural Highlights:

Since it is internationally famous, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is considered to be the world's best multi-disciplinary museum, and it offers stunning film and video exhibits and a vast array of programs in the visual and performing arts. Along with that, the city also has many notable theaters, including the State Theater, the Orpheum Theater, the Pantages Theater, the Guthrie Theater, and the Hey Theater.

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1934, the architecture of the Malcolm Wiley House emphasizes the relationship between the use of natural light, orientation to site, and the interplay of space, eliminates superfluous ornamentation, and is also notable because of the expertise the architect showed in the way natural materials were used when he designed this home.

Things to Do When You Visit Minneapolis

Friday, December 23, 2011

Meaning of IQ Score - Part One

Meaning of IQ Score - Part One

When a person ask what is a meaning of an IQ score, it can mean few different things: it can be what is the acronym IQ stands for, or what is the formula to calculate an IQ score, or how to relate to the number - what the score indicates, am I smart or dumb?

So as first step let us learn some history how the IQ score come about.

Way back before the term IQ exists, based on experiment that started in 1905, in 1911 a French psychologist by the name of Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon, established the concept of "mental age" (MA). This concept basically states that just as our body grows over time (chronological age = CA), our mental ability also grows over time.

Some other experiments further proofed that the absolute difference between a person MA and his CA keep increasing over time. For example a 6 year old child has a mental age of 8 years old, when he becomes 9 years old his mental age become 12, and become 16 when he reaches age of 12 years old. We can put it in a shortform as below:

6 ---> 8 === difference of +2 years (8-6)

9 ---> 12 === difference of +3 years (12-9)

12---> 16 === difference of +4 years (16-12)

Where the CA at the left of the arrow, and the associated MA is the number on the right of the arrow. But if you are observant enough, just as William Stern, a German psychologist had been in 1912, you will notice that the ratio between the CA and MA are always the same. As for the example above it has always been 4/3 i.e:

8/6 = 12/9 = 16/12 = 4/3

Further studies have shown that this ratio is actually remains constant throughout ones life - given the condition that no external environment change.

This finding of constant ratio forms the basis of Intelligent Quotient ( IQ ) score formula which is:

IQ = 100 ( MA/CA )

So if the meaning of IQ score that you want is the formula for its calculation, it is basically it just the ratio of your CA over MA then multiplied by one hundred.

For the example given above the IQ of the child is:

IQ = 100 (4/3) = 133

OK, now we know where the IQ score number come from, but a number on its own is useless.
Just like I ask you is 1 meter short or long? To an astronomy who measuring distances of stars in light years, it is very..very short. But to a chemist who is measuring a radius of a molecule in nanometers, it is very..very long. Its the same to an IQ score, we have to put it into a reference so that you can actually relate a meaning to the IQ score.

The average IQ score is by definition 100. Scores above 100 indicate a higher than average IQ and scores below 100 indicate a lower that average IQ. Theoretically, IQ scores can range any amount below or above 100, but in practice they do not meaningfully go much below 50 or above 150. Mapping of score ranges to overall population can give better picture on the meaning of IQ score.

We can put this IQ score distribution categorization and mapped it to typical employment type that fit each category:

IQ Score-----------Description---------% of Population-----------Employment Options

**********************************************************************

130+ --------------Very superior--------------2.2%-------------------Scientist,Professor

120-129 -----------Superior--------------------6.7%------------------Engineer,Manager,Executive

110-119 -----------High average--------------16.1%-----------------Teacher,Accountant

90-109 ------------Average--------------------50%-------------------Police,Machinist

80-89 -------------Low average----------------16.1%-----------------Clerk,Teller

70-79 -------------Borderline-------------------6.7%------------------Any close supervision job

Below 70 ---------Extremely low---------------2.2%

A disclaimer, I am not trying to stereotype people based on their IQ score, this merely to give a reference point on the typical society assumption. For example, Marilyn Savant, Guiness record holder for five years as the person with the highest IQ is a writer and a housewife - not a scientist or a professor.By the way, her IQ score is 228.

In the upcoming second part of this article I will cover topic such as different types of IQ tests and the shortcomings of the IQ tests.

Meaning of IQ Score - Part One

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Is It Possible That Being A Success Is Easier Than We Think?

She was a woman way ahead of the times in which she lived!

Florence Scovel-Shinn told us how to be a success in this world and did it better than thousands of other authors who tried to coax from success its secrets. A model, artist, illustrator of children's literature in magazines, and for much of her life. Her self-published book in 1924, The Game of Life and How to Play It, is as imaginatively real now as the spirit of its message during the heyday of the roaring twenties, Al Capone, bathtub gin, flappers, and prohibition.

Why the affirmations of Florence Scovel-Shinn work may be explained by the French healer Emile Coue's work. Coue', who operated a busy healing clinic in Nancy, is best known for the phrase, "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." For more about Coue's astonishing career as a healer read my article Healing Words on the web.

From Shinn's books Your Word Is Your Wand, The Game of Life and How to Play It, and The Secret Door to Success, I've chosen the following success, health, happiness, and weath affirmations, a word which means "to make firm" by repeatedly saying and reminding your inner mind of their reality.

"Magical purse of the spirit. I rebuke the waves and winds of negative thought. The open door of destiny set before me is nailed back. My seemingly impossible good now comes to pass. The four winds of success now blow from North, South, East, and West towards me. I am more than equal to this situation. I gather in my harvest of endless opportunities. The tide of Destiny has turned and everything comes my way. As one door shuts, another opens. I have a magical work in a magical way, I give magical service for magical pay. My ships come in over calm seas. My barns are full. I am fearless in letting money go out and come in. I am at one with my heart's desire. The floodgates of my good now open. I shop Fifth Avenue, New York. My faith knows it has already received and acts accordingly. I am unmoved by appearances, therefore appearances move. Before I prayed, I was answered. I cannot lose what is rightfully mine. It will be restored or I'll receive its equivalent. All obligations are now wiped out under grace in a miraculous way.

"Faith never looks out the window at the blizzard, it has already prepared for all contingencies. My angel of destiny goes before me, clearing the way. If it's mine, I cannot lose it. I now fill the place no one else can fill. I now do all the things which I can do and no one else can. When I see myself as God sees me, I will become a radiant being, timeless, birthless and deathless. Light now streams through every cell. I will give you the land that you see. I see clearly now the perfect plan for my life. Before it rains, I dig my ditches. I have the power to bless and multiply. My part in this: Act rich, act blessed. Act as if I've already received. When I have no inharmonious response to a situation, it fades away from my pathway forever. My Unconscious is my silent partner at my side. Infinite Spirit, don't let me miss a trick. On awakening I say, "I give thanks for this day, miracle shall follow miracle, and wonders shall never cease." I look with wonder at everything. Grace gives me the power to "rub out" my mistakes. There are those who scatter, yet increase; those who withhold and end up in poverty. A bounder in space loses its weight; problems taken to God lose their weight.

"How long must I remain in the dark? Until I can see in the dark. I cast this burden of resentment on the Christ within and I go free to be loving and happy. Make believe you're wealthy. This impresses the subconscious. People I meet provide golden lines in the chain of my good. I salute the divinity in you. Infinite Spirit, reveal to me the way, let me know if there is anything for me to do. Spirit says, "I will restore to you the years the locusts have eaten." The telephone was seeking Alexander Bell. Father, I'll take nothing less than what I've asked for, but more. I am an irrestible magnet for all that belongs to me by Divine Right. My good now flows to me in a steady, unbroken, ever-increasing stream of success, happiness and abundance. All that is mine by Divine Right is now released and reaches me in avalanches of abundance, under grace in miraculous ways.

"My supply is endless, inexhaustible and immediate and comes to me in perfect ways; all channels are free and all doors fly open! The tide of destiny has turned and everything comes my way. With God and myself all things are possible. The warrior within me has already won, that I'm aware of. Something wonderful is about to happen. My seemingly impossible good now comes to pass, the unexpected now happens. I have MORE than I ever dreamed possible. Happy surprises come to me each day. Fields of divine activity open for me. All my money is sent forth fearlessly and with a blessing. I cheerfully pay my bills. I am able always to climb over the word impossible."

Shinn says to choose the affirmation which appeals to you the most and wave it over the situation which comforts you. It's my magic wand, for my word," she says, "is God in action. Choose words which bring a flash of the fulfillment you aspire to. "Never say 'I can't afford it.' Instead say, 'I can have that.'" "My word shall not return void but shall accomplish whereunto it is sent." "The subconscious," Shinn says, "has no sense of humor and people often joke themselves into unhappy experiences." "If one asks for success and prepares for failure, he will get the situation he has prepared for." I give thanks that the end is already accomplished. We need others to help us hold onto our visions. This is what we can do for each other. By our words we make our laws (I always miss a car; I never miss a car). "Thus the invisible forces are ever working for man who is always "pulling the strings" himself though he does not know it; owing to the vibratory power of words, whatever man voices, he begins to attract." "What's the matter with you?" is always answered by "Who's the matter with you?" Shinn says evil is a false law mankind has made for itself through soul sleep, a soul hypnotized by the race belief of sin, sickness and death.

Affirmations are magical, Shinn says, as there really is something in the power of the spoken word! "When you say, "'I don't want to,' or 'I need,' then you attract energies which sustain the 'need' or 'don't want.' She points out that "You may have to fight your reasoning mind on this one, and repeat such an affirmation (as 'I feel great' or 'My body is healthy in every way'), over and over until it clicks. But it truly works!"

Affirmations, which Dr. Emile Coue' might have call Conscious Autosuggestions, "can modify the way your subconscious mind works. Even when you feel things are hopeless, the spoken word can begin the healing." Shinn gives this example: "For instance, for more prosperity, you must catch yourself each time you think a thought of 'lack.' Immediately replace it with an affirmation such as, 'I accept all the abundance that is coming my way. Do this for 20 days and I know you'll see results."

"And once you say the affirmation, you must act as if it were true. For instance, regarding money, say a prosperity affirmation before writing out any check to make sure you aren't vibrating a fear or anxious thought about money. And when you are in a store and see something you'd love, but don't think you can afford, NEVER say 'I can't afford it.' Instead say, 'I can have that.'"

There is no mental struggle when we know 2+2=4 and we know we can have faith and confidence in our future. The Secret Door to Success was published just before Florence Scovel-Shinn's death in 1940 and about 1945 her followers and fans put together, from her writings and notes, a book called The Power of the Spoken Word.

Her books on success in life should be read more than once because each time they are read, to lift Dr. Coue's famous phrase and apply it here, they become "better and better," and I would add, "richer and richer."

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Accidents Happen

Encountering a disastrous vehicular crisis that can cause upon the victim a life threatening personal injury or even an instant death is assuredly not a joke. Expect that when a car crisis happened, the resulting personal injuries are severe. The most coarse cause of these vehicular accidents regularly points out to the negligent performance or inaction of another person, regularly a reckless driver, a drunk driver or a driver taking prohibited drugs. Of course, we do not have any control over these drivers on the roads. What we can control is just our own driving. We can be faithful and succeed the speed limit set on a singular road, street or highway. By doing this, at least we are trying to lessen if not prevent the chances of us getting involve in a vehicular accident.

However, we may have been very faithful while driving on the roads, streets or highways, there are still times wherein a vehicular crisis interesting us and another car driver still occur. As they regularly say "Accidents do absolutely happen". But if we come to think of it, we can say that accidents can be prevented. In fact, they are not inevitable. If we just exercise the required diligence in our dealings and affairs, particularly in our driving, we can say that these accidents can absolutely be avoided.

Now is the time to make a difference. Let us not be careless. Let us serve us examples to other population in proving that vehicular accidents can be avoided. By being serious in this campaign, who knows? Maybe we can absolutely prevent the happening of these unfortunate incidents. Let us also make a stand and spread our advocacy. We should create awareness about our fight and let us do our best to perform this goal of ours because contrary to what others think that car accidents are inevitable, we just believe otherwise.

Fructose-Free Diet

Too much of anything is not good for the body, together with basic nutrient like the fructose sugar. Meat is free of this sugar. So meats of all types and also fish can be consumed without any problems. Dairy products and eggs are also free of fructose. Do not consume dairy products which are artificially sweetened.

Fructose is the simple sugar which can be gift in vegetables, fruits, some syrups and berries. It is also a part of the table sugar or sucrose. If a someone has fructose intolerance, he cannot metabolize the fructose as a matter of fact and health problems start to develop. So, citizen with fructose intolerance have to avoid eating foods with fructose.

Fructose intolerance is divided into hereditary intolerance and malabsorption. Hereditary intolerance is a genetic disorder, which is rare and citizen with this disorder have a scantness of an enzyme known as aldolase. This enzyme helps in breaking down and metabolizing fructose. This disorder can lead to liver or kidney damage.

Fructose malabsorption is a health in which a someone cannot Ant. Eject fructose. This may lead to bloating, diarrhea or gas.

Some citizen without knowing may eat foods containing fructose and land up with health problems. Many of the natural as well as synthetic foods comprise fructose. So, citizen with fructose intolerance have to eat food without fructose.

The fruits which should be consumed for the citizen with fructose intolerance are pineapples, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, lemons, limes, avocado, bananas, rhubarb and orange. The fruits that should not be consumed or avoided are prunes, pears, cherries, peaches, apples, plums, grapes and dates.

The vegetables which can be consumed by citizen suffering from fructose intolerance comprise asparagus, cauliflower, green peppers, broccoli, leafy greens, celery, mushrooms, white potatoes, shallots, spinach, peas, cucumber, beans and root vegetables.

When doing your grocery shopping, keep an eye on the labels and see that the food does not comprise any fructose or sucrose. Honey and sorbitol should be avoided completely.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Six Classic Elements of a Best Selling Novel

Late in the nineteenth century, painters such as van Gogh, Cézanne and Seurat looked back to the Old Masters of the seventeenth century-geniuses like Rembrandt and Poussin-for techniques that would add richness to their work.

Why do today's fiction writers so seldom do something similar to help in writing a novel: look back to the Old Masters of the best-seller list-to the Tom Clancys and Michael Crichtons and Stephen Kings of our parents' and grandparents' day-to learn more about their craft? Let's examine the work of six writers who not only ruled yesterday's best-seller lists, but whose consistent crowd-pleasing abilities also place them among the most successful authors of all time. In their books lie techniques of good storytelling that are timeless, of value to the commercial novelist of today-or any day. Extract these timeless elements and apply them to writing your novel:

ERLE STANLEY GARDNER

The creator of lawyer-detective Perry Mason and a lawyer himself (it is said he is the model for Mason), Gardner was easily the best-selling and most prolific of all mystery writers. From the early thirties until his death in 1970, he produced two or three of his The Case of ... novels a year, enough to keep five secretaries busy transcribing his dictation full-time.

Technique #1: Put Your Story Front and Center Story was literally everything to Gardner. Characterization and background were of secondary, if any, importance. To Gardner, the novel was simply the most effective means of presenting his detective puzzles. Like Agatha Christie, Gardner relied heavily on dialogue, so that his books often read like scripts.

Here's the no-nonsense beginning of The Case of the Screaming Woman, an example of how Gardner hooks us immediately with the first bizarre aspect of his story:

Della Street, Perry Mason's confidential secretary, entered Mason's private office, walked over to the lawyer's desk and said, "You always like something out of the ordinary, Chief. This time I have a lulu!"

"Unusual?" Mason asked, looking up from the papers on his desk.

"Unique," she said.

"Give," Mason told her.

"A Mrs. John Kirby telephoned," Della Street said, "and wanted to retain you to cross-examine her husband."

"A divorce case?" Mason asked.

"No, she and her husband are good friends."

"Yet she wants me to cross-examine him?"

"That's right."

"About what?"

"About where he was last night."

Mason frowned. "Della, I'm not a lie detector. I'm not a psychoanalyst. I don't handle cases involving domestic relations."

"That's what I told Mrs. Kirby," Della Street said. "She told me she only wanted her husband's interests protected. She said she wanted you to listen to his story, puncture his self-assurance, and rip him to pieces."

Though few would be tempted to call Gardner a stylist, there's no arguing that he could arrest us with a wildly unlikely premise at the start of each of his books. It was this ability to build a novel on strength of story, rather than on how he told that story, that made him the favorite of millions.

Sometimes this kind of get-to-the-point storytelling is exactly what readers crave-for example, when what they really want is a challenging puzzle in novel form.

If you share Gardner's gift for ingenious plotting, why embellish your book with unnecessary detail or description? You might be doing yourself, and your book, a disservice. Bare-bones, plot-oriented writing may be the perfect approach for your novel of mystery or suspense.

ERSKINE CALDWELL

"From the day of my birth until I reached the age of twenty years, I rarely lived longer than six years in the same place," wrote this red-haired, Georgia-born son of a Presbyterian minister, who at eighteen was running guns for a revolt in Central America. He also worked as a plowboy, poolroom attendant, cotton picker, lumbermill hand, professional football player, taxi driver, stagehand in a burlesque theater, stonemason, soda jerk, cook and waiter, book reviewer and journalist.

Caldwell is best known, however, as the author of sometimes scandalous novels about the Southern poor, most notably 1933's God's Little Acre, among the most popular novels of all time. Not far behind is Tobacco Road, written the year before.

Technique #2: Paint Characters With Heart Caldwell's novels about "American primitives" have enjoyed their phenomenal success largely because Caldwell (like Mark Twain and Bret Harte, to whom he is frequently compared) truly loved the people he wrote about. This love for these people at their best and worst would not have existed if he had not known them so well, and it was this knowledge that allowed him to show them in all their humor, eccentricity and pathos-qualities that make these people irresistible to readers.

In this excerpt from Tobacco Road, Ellie May Lester shows her feelings for Lov Bensey. Lov is married to Ellie May's younger sister Pearl, who refuses to sleep with Lov. Ellie May, though harelipped, is all too willing to give Lov what he wants.

[Lov] was looking at Ellie May now. She had at last got him to give her some attention.

Ellie May was edging closer and closer to Lov. She was moving across the yard by raising her weight on her hands and sliding herself over the hard white sand. She was smiling at Lov, and trying to make him take more notice of her. She could not wait any longer for him to come to her, so she was going to him. Her harelip was spread open across her upper teeth, making her mouth appear as though she had no upper lip at all. Men usually would have nothing to do with Ellie May; but she was eighteen now, and she was beginning to discover that it should be possible for her to get a man in spite of her appearance.

"Ellie May's acting like your old hound used to do when he got the itch," Dude said to Jeeter. "Look at her scrape her bottom on the sand. That old hound used to make the same kind of sound Ellie May's making, too. It sounds just like a little pig squealing, don't it?"

Chances are these are not like the people you encounter daily, but to Erskine Caldwell they might as well have been, and he painted them exactly as he saw them, with a brush full of color, and broad, lively strokes.

In most novels it is vital that the author give us characters we can know and like as much as we find ourselves knowing and liking those in Caldwell's. To create such supersympathetic characters in your novels, look directly to the people you know and love better than any others. Only by knowing and loving your characters can you make us do the same.

IAN FLEMING

Drawing on his experience with British Naval Intelligence, Fleming created James Bond 007, and indeed Fleming and Bond often became confused in the public mind. Though Fleming called his work "trivial piffle," his espionage adventures had been phenomenally successful around the world, with John F. Kennedy among his most avid fans.

Technique #3: Appeal to Our Wildest Fantasies The success of Fleming's books has been attributed to the way they appeal to our wildest dreams. James Bond, more than any other fictional hero, lived many people's fantasy of a life of total self-sufficiency and self-indulgence.

At the climax of You Only Live Twice, Bond is a prisoner of his old nemesis, Ernst Blofeld, in the cliff-top Castle of Death. Bond manages to escape the deadly volcanic mud of the Question Room, save his neck from Blofeld's massive samurai sword, and ultimately overpower and strangle Blofeld. He even sets the Castle to self-destruct-only to climb out a window and find himself trapped on a narrow balustrade.

. . . He looked over the side. A sheer hundred-foot drop to the gravel. A soft fluted whistle above him caught his ear. He looked up. Only a breath of a wind in the moorings of that bloody balloon! But then a lunatic idea came to him, a flashback to one of the old Douglas Fairbanks films when the hero had swung across the wide hall by taking a flying leap at the chandelier. This helium balloon was strong enough to hold taut fifty feet of framed cotton strip bearing the warning sign! Why shouldn't it be powerful enough to bear the weight of a man?

Bond ran to the corner of the balustrade to which the mooring line was attached. He tested it. It was taut as a wire! From somewhere behind him there came a great clamour in the castle . . . Holding onto the straining rope, he climbed onto the railing, cut a foothold for himself in the cotton banner, and, grasping the mooring rope with his right hand, chopped downwards below him with Blofeld's sword and threw himself into space.

It worked! There was a light night breeze, and he felt himself wafted gently away over the moonlit park, over the glittering, steaming lake, towards the sea. But he was rising, not falling! The helium sphere was not in the least worried by his weight! Then blue-and-yellow fire fluttered from the upper storey of the castle, and an occasional angry wasp zipped past him. . . . Now the whole black silhouette of the castle swayed in the moonlight and seemed to jig upwards and sideways and then slowly dissolve like an ice cream cone in the sunshine. The top storey crumbled first, then the next, and the next, and then, after a moment, a huge jet of orange fire shot up from hell towards the moon. A buffet of hot wind, followed by an echoing crack of thunder, hit Bond and made his balloon sway violently.

. . . Punctured by a bullet, the balloon was fast losing height. Below, the softly swelling sea offered a bed. . . .

It seems clear that Fleming never forgot that most people who read for pleasure read to escape, and that these readers want as much escape as they can get for their time and money.

Are your own characters humdrum and mundane, doing humdrum and mundane things, when they would be so much for interesting being and doing things we've only dreamed of? Fleming knew-and every novelist should remember-that one of the greatest joys of writing is that the impossible can be made possible. Give your readers a run for their money. Let them find true, wonderful escape in the worlds you create for them.

MICKEY SPILLANE

His mystery-detective novels have been called nasty and sadistic, but they've won Spillane millions of fans just the same. The Brooklyn-born son of an Irish bartender began his writing career selling stories to the "slicks" and the "pulps," then writing comic books. His novels, most of them starring rough, tough Mike Hammer (said to resemble his creator), landed Spillane on the all-time best-seller list again and again, from 1947's I, The Jury to the fifties' My Gun is Quick, The Big Kill, One Lonely Night, The Long Wait and Kiss Me, Deadly, to 1961's The Deep.

Technique #4: Torture the Reader to the End Of his method of creating suspense, Spillane said: "You don't read a book to get to the middle. You read a book to get to the end. You deliberately torture yourself all the way through, hoping that after all the garbage the end will be worth all the time you spent in the reading thereof. True? It's got to be totally satisfactory in the last line.

A superb example of how Spillane puts his words into action is the ending of I, The Jury (I've used a few dashes so as not to give anything away):

"No, ----, I'm the jury now, and the judge, and I have a promise to keep. Beautiful as you are, as much as I almost loved you, I sentence you to death." . . .

The roar of the .45 shook the room. ---- staggered back a step. Her eyes were a symphony of incredulity, an unbelieving witness to truth. Slowly, she looked down to the ugly swelling in her naked belly where the bullet went in. A thin trickle of blood welled out.

I stood up in front of her and shoved the gun into my pocket. I turned and looked at the rubber plant behind me. There on the table was the gun, with the safety catch off and the silencer still attached. Those loving arms would have reached it nicely. A face that was waiting to be kissed was really waiting to be splattered with blood when she blew my head off. My blood. When I heard her fall I turned around. Her eyes had pain in them now, the pain preceding death. Pain and unbelief.

"How c-could you?" she gasped.

I only had a moment before talking to a corpse, but I got it in.

"It was easy," I said.

Remember how we all love being surprised, and hold some things back as you write your novel, whatever sort of novel it is. It's a wonderful feeling to read a book and realize that a truly skillful novelist has gotten the best of us. Be careful to play fair with your surprises, however; make them believable and be sure to plant any necessary precedents or clues.

FRANK YERBY

Georgia-born Yerby is best known for his vivid and complex Southern tales, the most successful of which are 1946's The Foxes of Harrow, 1947's The Vixens, and 1949's Pride's Castle. A critic once wrote that "Mr. Yerby could be a pretty good novelist if he ever got his mind off the neckline and the cash register," but the world always welcomed a new Yerby novel unconditionally.

Technique #5: Evoke the Magic of the Moment Yerby is famous for his vivid language, for his multiplicity of characters and for writing, in the words of Arna Bontemps, with "a flair for color, an air of easy abandon, the ability to live in the moment and to create characters that live in the moment, a touch of very elementary magic."

Devilseed is Yerby's story of Mireille Duclos, who, like many women of her time, sails penniless into gold-crazed San Francisco in the 1850s and there climbs to riches and respectability. In this scene we see Mireille riding into town as the new wife of Judge Alain Curtwright.

Mireille's imposing mahogany-and-rosewood-paneled landau swept eastward down Clay Street toward Portsmouth Square, drawn at a spanking trot behind her pair of night-black, imported Australian horses. Perched high on the driver's seat before her, the Swithers brothers, James and John, her coachman and footman, sat, clad in livery every bit as imposing as the landau, their faces, under their tall silk hats, blacker than the hides of her splendid five-gaited pair, set in frowns of stern self-importance.

"Mammy" Pleasant had sent the Blacks to Mireille with a note suggesting that she hire them, which Mireille had been pleased to do, even knowing that Mary Ellen Pleasant had surely placed them in her employ to spy on her. Now, staring at their sturdy backs straining against the frock coats of their livery, she had the wickedly delighted feeling that she had "turned" them both: that they now were, if not wholly on her side, at last double agents. For, by awarding them a treatment involving so much kindness, real consideration, even, at times, an easy, affectionate familiarity that no Black menservants in the 1850s could dream of receiving from a young, stunningly beautiful white woman, she got as much information about Mary Ellen Pleasant's weird, devious, and plain evil doings out of them as they carried back to the house on Washington Street about hers.

As she rolled along, with the rear calash top folded back and the breeze stirring her raven hair under her smart little bonnet, all the men on the sidewalks took off their hats and waved them in her direction. More than one of them grandly bowed. The women-what few there were-glared, and ostentatiously turned their backs. Mireille smiled with quiet satisfaction at that sight. Ever since the fabulous Lola Montez, mistress of the immortal pianist-composer Franz Liszt, mistress of the ex-King Ludwig of Bavaria, mistress of-the list was endless!-whose Spider Dance drove men of the cloth, not to mention mere miners and businessmen, out of their minds, had left San Francisco that preceding fall to settle-permanently, she swore-in the pleasant little California mountain town of Grass Valley, Mireille had inherited, by default, Lola's crown as the most celebrated demimondaine in the city. . . .

Yerby uses details of place and time as tools to evoke character, making Mireille and Mary Ellen functions of where and when they live, and vice versa. The Swithers brothers, coachman and footman, very much a sign of affluence at this time, are the device by which Mary Ellen spies of Mireille, who in turn uses them for the same purpose. We see the people on Clay Street showing their feelings for Mireille through social customs of the place and time-grand bows and waves of the hat from the men, exaggerated turns of the back from the women. Note the use of a real and colorful figure, Lola Montez, to bring Mireille and her role in San Francisco into even sharper focus.

Use these techniques to make the characters in your novel virtually an extension of their place and time. Have them use, abuse and react to objects and customs distinctly of their world, so that we cannot recall these characters without recalling how they were dressed, how they spoke, what they ate and all the other ways they interacted with their world.

Not a person has been born who has not been shaped to some degree by where and when he or she lived. The magic of moment in reading fiction is learning how people live in, adapt to and make use of their where and when as we do with ours.

HAROLD ROBBINS It was a tribute to Robbins's staying power and adaptability that he was as much a titan in 1988 as he was forty years earlier, when he published 1948's Never Love a Stranger.

Robbins's publishers once announced that every minute someone bought a Robbins novel-another tribute to his never having let his public down. Not bad for a poor kid from New York who started his career as a grocery clerk, short-order cook, cashier, errand boy and bookies' runner.

Robbins has been praised most for the authenticity of the world in which he sets his novels. Never Love a Stranger drew heavily from Robbins's experience growing up in New York, and so vividly depicted that world of hustlers and racketeers that one critic called it "a Les Misérables of New York."

Technique #6: Make Background a Character In 79 Park Avenue, in which heroine Marja starts out a poor kid from Second Avenue and winds up a Park Avenue call girl, Robbins describes the seamy beachfront world of prostitution as he no doubt observed it growing up:

She walked into the hotel lobby and chose a seat in a discreet out-of-the-way corner. Opening a copy of Vogue that she had carried with her, she glanced through it idly. . . .

A few minutes passed. Then a bellboy stopped in front of her. "Room three-eleven," he said in a low voice.

"Three-eleven," she repeated, a smile on her lips.

He nodded. "Right. He's waiting there now."

"Thank you." She smiled, holding out her hand.

"You're welcome, miss," the bellboy answered, taking the two bills from her. He walked away quickly.

Slowly she closed the magazine, glancing around the lobby as she stood up. It was normal. The house dick was looking the other way, the desk clerks were busy with check-ins, the other people in the lobby were all guests. Satisfied with her quick check, she sauntered toward the elevators. She had nothing to worry about. Everyone was taken care of. Mac, the landlord of the rooming house, had put her wise to that.

"Pick a place to operate from," he had said knowingly. "Then before you do anything, make sure that everybody who might be interested is paid off. They'll leave you alone then, even help you."

Obviously, Robbins would not have undertaken a novel with a background of prostitution if the hadn't felt he could do so convincingly. But his use of detail and ambiance is what sets this and his other novels apart, makes them as memorable for their depiction of world and place as for their characters.

When deciding on the world in which to place your novel, consider the worlds you know so well that you may be overlooking them entirely. Writers have found these worlds, literally right in front of their noses, to be the richest and to work most authentically. What, after all, does a writer-or anyone-know better than his or her own life and the lives of those he or she has observed firsthand?

MASTERPIECES TO UNCOVER

On the shelves of your library and your used bookstore are countless masterpieces of yesterday that excited and moved their readers because of certain techniques that could work in any age. Isn't storytelling, after all, a timeless art, one we've been perfecting since we first appeared on earth? Why not take down some of these erstwhile blockbusters by the Old Masters? You may want to borrow a few strokes for a best-seller of your own.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Top Transferable Skills Web Sites

To be successful in the workplace, employees have to possess transferable skills. Knowing about these skills will help teens and adults prepare to be successful in the workplace. Transferable skills are a product of our talents, traits and knowledge. These skills determine how you respond to new activities, work situations or jobs.

Transferable skills are non-job specific skills that you have acquired during any activity or life experiences. Student activities and experiences include campus and community activities, class projects, and assignments, hobbies, athletic activities, internships and summer part-time jobs.

Transferable skills skills fall into three (3) groups: Working with people, working with things, and working with data/information. These terms are defined below:

Working with people skills happen when people sell, train, advise, and negotiate. Working with things skills occur when people repair, operate machinery, sketch, survey, or troubleshoot. Working with data/information skills involve budgeting, researching, and analyzing.

The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) is a model for transferable skills resources and web sites. In 1990, a commission of schools, government, unions, and corporations developed five SCAN competencies and three SCAN foundation skills. The five (5) Competencies are: Resources, information, interpersonal, systems, and technology.

The meanings of the competencies are:

Resources competencies describe the allocation of time, money, material resources, facility resources, and human resources. Information competencies involve acquiring, evaluating, organizing, maintaining, interpreting, communicating and processing information. Interpersonal competencies include team participation, teaching, customer services, leadership, negotiation, and cultural diversity. Systems competencies work with understanding systems, performance monitoring, and systems designs. Technology competencies involve the selection, application, maintenance, and troubleshooting of technology.

Besides competencies, there are three (3) Foundation Skills: Basic, thinking, and personal qualities. The terms are explained below.

Basic skills involve reading, writing, arithmetic, mathematics, listening, and speaking. Thinking skills include creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, seeing things in the mind's eye, knowing how to learn, and reasoning. Personal qualities are responsibility, self esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity/honesty.

Universities and professional organizations, such as California State University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Quintessential Careers, and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) agree these transferable skills are important. These organizations have created transferable skills surveys, exercises, and web sites.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is a professional association connects more than 5,200 college career services professionals at nearly 2,000 college and universities nationwide, and more than 3,000 HR/staffing professionals focused on college relations and recruiting. NACE has compiled the twenty (20) top personal qualities/skills that employers requested the most:

Analytical skills Communication Skills Computer skills Creativity Detail-oriented Entrepreneurial skills/risk-taker Flexibility/adaptability Friendly/outgoing personality Honesty/integrity Interpersonal skills (relates well to others) Leadership and management skills Motivation/initiative Organizational and time management skills Real Life Experiences Self-confidence Strong work ethic Tactfulness Teamwork skills (works well with others) Technical Skills Well-mannered/polite

Communication skills are the most popular skills listed on the web sites. Communication deals with speaking effectively, writing concisely, listening attentively, and other abilities that result in the expression, transmission and interpretation of knowledge and ideas. Communication skills help you communicate what you know. Examples of communication skills include:

Collaborating Forecasting Negotiating Projecting Publicized Selling ideas, products or services Speaking Translating Writing

Communication skills are involved in the other skills, such as organizational management, human relations, program administration, research & planning. Organization, management, leadership, and human relations skills are the ability to supervise, direct and guide individuals and groups in the completion of tasks and fulfillment of goals. Organization, management, leadership, and human relations skillsconsist of:

Making decisions Assuming and delegating responsibility Organizing people and tasks Negotiating agreements

Management and administrative skills organize and coordinate people, projects and events. As a manager, you handle multiple tasks, set priorities, and adapt to changing conditions and work assignments. As leaders, you use skills to motivate individuals and groups to assess, perform, set goals, evaluate, and follow through situations effectively.

Managers and leaders use human relations skills. Human relations, interpersonal, or people skills develop rapport, negotiate, and help people overcome their differences.

In addition to human relations skills, managers and leaders need planning and reasoning skills. Program administration, research and planning skills are essential when you gather information, analyze data, present ideas, and generate solutions.

Analyzing, planning, and reasoning skills are used in the field of research. Research skills help you search for specific knowledge, determine future needs, investigate and record findings, find answers, and evaluate strategies.

Besides planning and reasoning skills, problem solving and creativity activities involve the ability to find solutions to problems using experiences, information, and available resources. Problem solving and goal setting involve assessing a situation, gathering information, identifying key issues, anticipating problems, and generating multiple solutions.

Transferable skills are also called Soft Skills. Simon Fraser University, a leader in management education, lists the ten (10) Soft Skills:

Adaptability Communication Dedication Dependability Energy Flexibility Hard-working Honesty Integrity Leadership

There are surveys, activities, and exercises that help identify your transferable skills. An example of a transferable skills survey is the Transferable Skills Scale.

The Transferable Skills Scale is the only researched and validated assessment on the market focused on transferable skills. The Transferable Skills Scale is a short assessment that identifies an individual's strongest transferable skills. The eight (8) Transferable Skills are:

Analytical Numerical Interpersonal Organizational Physical Informational Communicative Creative skills

The benefits of the Transferable Skills Scale are -

Complete in 20-25 minutes Is easy to use Has color-coded design Is Self-scoring and self-interpreting Can be used as both a career exploration guide and a job search strategy tool Includes suggested resources for career exploration as well as a worksheet for comparing possible careers Includes job titles from the most recent O*NET database Can be given to groups or individuals

The Transferable Skills Scale has 5 sections -

Mark Your Answers Add Your Scores Interpret Your Scores Identify Occupations that Match Your Skills Explore Occupations that Match Your Skills

Resources:

Binghamton University, State University of New York, Career Development Center, LSG 500, PO Box 6000, Binghamton, New York, 13902-6000, 607-777-2400

Career Center California State University, Chico Chico, CA 95929-0700, (530) 898-5253

Career Center, Student Affairs, Carnegie Mellon University 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Identify Transferable Skills Exercise. Career Development Services, A Division of Undergraduate Studies, Auburn University, 303 Mary Martin Hall, Auburn, Alabama 36849, (334) 844:4744

Identifying Transferable Skills in Career Planning. William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627:0107

Identify Your Transferable Skills. Career Center University of South Carolina H. WILLIAM CLOSE (BA) BLDG., 6th FL. Columbia, SC 29208 o Phone: (803) 777-7280

Job Outlook 2007, What employers want (and you need to have), National Association of Colleges and Employers, 62 Highland Avenue, Bethlehem, PA 18017-9085, 800/544-5272

Quintessential Careers, DeLand, FL 32720

Rochester Institute of Technology, Office of Cooperative Education and Career Services, 57 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, 585.475.2301

Transferable Skills Checklist. Missouri State University, Career Center, Carrington 309, Glass 103, 901 S. National, Springfield, Missouri 65897, 877:836:JOBS

Transferable Skills Exercise. Wisconsin Job Center, 201 E. Washington Avenue, Madison WI 53702

Transferable Skills Guidebook. Simon Fraser University (SFU) BUSINESS, Career Management Centre, 2361, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, V5A 1S6

Transferable Skills Survey. Career Services, University of Minnesota Duluth, 22 Solon Campus Center, 1117 University Drive, Duluth, MN 55812:3000

University of Alabama Career Center, 330 Ferguson, 205:348:5848

USC Career Planning & Placement Center, 3601 Trousdale Parkway, Student Union 110, Los Angeles, CA 90089:4897, (213) 740:9111