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September 30, 2005
A Short Treatise on Life
I keep having general thoughts about certain aspects of life that keep nudging at my brain and interrupting my current activities, whatever they may be at that time. For me, that is an indication that I need to put 'thoughts to words'.
Or at least take the words I see in my head and relay them to my visual cortex via my writings of those words.
Regardless, this is where I am, and how I am at this point of my life sitting here writing what essentially are thoughts that heretofore were only known to me and my gray matter up in the ol' noggin.
So, what is it that I feel so compelled to share? Good question.
Basically, I think that it all boils down to this…
Life as we live it is pointless.
Not hopeless.
Pointless.
There IS a difference and hopefully before I am done with this short dissertation I will have effectively relayed my explanation of this rather esoteric realization.
You see, as a man of my age I've come to this realization through a rather atypical fashion. With reference to the history of mankind I am not so arrogant to assume that I am the only human who reached this assumption. That would be ludicrous.
I'm just stating that this realization is not one that most folks care to ponder over until perhaps it's too late and most of their life is spent and unrecoverable.
But, regardless of how I've gotten here I do know that many have come before me and many are still to reach these waters in their due course of life events.
What really matters, to me, is not how I got here but rather how I came to this realization in the first place.
And that is worth discussing.
You see, I'm the typical middle-aged male in Western society.
Wife.
Kids.
Cars.
House.
Career.
All the usual stuff that we are driven to follow and ruled by within this society.
And most, if not all of this activity related to producing these results goes unquestioned by most, if not all, folks in the same rut that I find myself in.
But I'm questioning it all here. Now.
I see things in life that can't be disputed and are not worthy of argument because they are, after all, my perceptions and opinions and just like anyone else are not worthy of placing under a public microscope for examination because what is it to society what I think anyway.
Most humans in society have a full time job relaying and trying to figure out what is happening within their heads, never mind what of consequence is occurring in someone else's, in this case, mine.
So, I've come to realizations that have lead to certain opinions about life events that are compelling me to write out my thoughts on these matters. And it's all about the pointlessness of life and how what anyone thinks about all of this is of really no consequence to others since that is part of the pointlessness of it all.
I know, it's all getting rather confusing, perhaps, so maybe I'll try to rephrase my thoughts in a more pleasing manner.
There's no purposes to life, as it stands, for most of us beings on this planet. Most of us sentient beings on this planet, anyways.
Oh sure, we all think that we have a purpose for being here. But so many people can't seem to figure out, and do go to their graves without ever figuring out, what their purpose is/was. They just exist through life wandering around this mortal plane until the great darkness takes them again into its fold.
And what did they accomplish in the meantime while growing from point A - birth to point B - death? For the most part, little, if anything of consequence.
Oh sure, a person does the usual...
School.
More school.
Marriage.
Kids.
Career.
House.
Retirement.
Vacations.
Travel.
And then Death.
Now, someone might be tempted to ask 'what's wrong with all that?'' And I would be tempted to answer.
'Absolutely nothing.'
If it pleases you, keep doing it. But you don't need me to tell you that. You're doing it and going to continue to do it no matter what my opinion of it is. Remember what I discussed earlier? About other's opinions really being of no consequence to us as humans?
Well, this is a prime example of that.
You see, my words here are not a diatribe about life and slamming how most every person on this planet chooses to live their life. Especially us Westerners.
And I know that everyone thinks that they're the exception to all of this 'wrong' thinking. That they're different. They're special. They've accomplished things with their lives and done lots of advantageous stuff that has benefited society, overall.
Heck, I've done it too. I have three boys and who knows where that genetic chain will end up in several hundred years. Perhaps nowhere. Perhaps in thousands. Who Knows?
But does that mean that that, for example, is what my purpose here on this sphere is all about and was all for?
Is that why I was placed here?
Is that what my purpose to my existence is? OR was?
Is that what makes it all worth it?
To me?… No.
Is it all meaningless? A waste of time? No.
Is it what life is all about? For some, yes.
But for me, there is a voice inside that says more. This voice asks for more from my life than what I currently have in my possession.
It gnaws at me. It tugs at me. It bores into my soul at times and says I'm not going to let you forget me.
You see, I just know that within my life there is more to existence than what is surrounding me. The voice inside won't let me forget that what's inside is what needs to be worked on and spoken to.
~~~~~~~~
Don't worry. I'll explain all this in a bit. And don't jump ahead of me. I'm not going to get all religious and say that I've found the answer. I haven't.
If I knew the answer I'd be living it now. I'm not, so I don't know it.
~~~~~~~~
Okay, back on track.
You see, for too long I lived my life in a dark cloud without even knowing it. It was called depression. Chronic depression.
Maybe not clinical. But chronic.
I lived it.
I hated it.
I detested it.
And yet…
I loved it and as I now know I gained a lot from it. Since I did have it within me.
This dark cloud was my identity, my existence; it was who I knew myself as. It was my identity. My lover.
Because I did love it. Why else would I have kept it around for so many years of my existence?
But in behind all of that darkness there was something. Something that didn't want me to forget some of the reason behind my pain being a physical being on this planet.
Pain that I wouldn't until very recently truly have a good grasp on what was its original cause and possible solution.
And what was that pain?
It was my desire for peace.
Peace inside.
Peace in my life.
Peace in my mind.
Peace with my thoughts that never stopped.
Peace in my heart.
Peace knowing that I wasn't genuinely alone in this existence.
And have I found this peace?
No.
But I now know that that was what was driving me.
Driving me through my career.
Driving me through many relationships that failed.
Driving me through experiences and events that eventually proved meaningless and sometimes destructive.
Driving me to business ventures that were more bad than good. All in an effort to find the magic bullet that would end this pain and allow me to find that peace.
Even all the therapy and other addictions to behaviors. Behaviors based on maintaining and sustaining a sense of self that was grounded in the acceptance that these behaviors and states were real and were meant to be overcome and conquered. Not true.
However, I will state that they were virtually eliminated from my existence through certain omnibus realizations that drove them out of my thinking and beliefs. And that all took time. But it did happen successfully.
Okay, this peace. What is it all about? Why was it there? Did it have meaning unto itself? Or was it there as a dream, a hope, a future in existence to torment me with the fact that I didn't currently have it?
At times this seemed so. But now I know that the peace was always there. I just had too much of 'me' in the way to see it.
You see, I just see people in my daily living events and I wonder about all of this because so much of it just doesn't make sense.
Yet we all live our lives with the blind acceptance that it is, therefore it's right and it should be.
Well, to me that is not right. I like to question stuff and my not being able to come up with answers for so long tormented me and bothered me and perhaps sustained my depression for so long.
You see, some day I thought that I would find a way out of my depression. An attitude that I find many other people hope for. I was willing to find whatever it was that would take me out of the darkness and into the light. But what was happening is that I was looking for this light in the wrong sources. I was trusting the wrong people. The wrong events. The wrong things and assumptions. How did I know they were wrong? Because I lived for over a dozen years thinking, hoping, wishing, believing that someday they'll work.
That day may have come closer. But it never truly arrived.
So, I gave up on that route that so many others continue to keep themselves in, as I did, like a hamster running on the wheel to nowhere but thinking it's going somewhere.
But in back of all this was that nagging. That voice. That persistent, 'there's got to be more than this'.
Perhaps it's a matter of maturity. Not just physical, but emotional and mental.
Let's face it. When one is in their twenties and thirties the world is still theirs to conquer. Everything's looking up and growing and it's all rosy. But hit the later years in life and things change. Not necessarily worse, but like any climb a person has a different view from higher up the path.
So, I see all these people all doing the same things with their lives. All seeking, searching, hoping, depressing, wanting, yearning, lusting, thinking. ON and ON and ON and ON.
It's all so endless. Generation after generation after generation.
And yet one would seem to think that sometime during a person's life one would come to the realization that 'hey, wait a minute' we've all been doing this for now millennium after millennium and yet we're still all seeking. Something isn't right here.
But how many people come to this realization? This questioning?
Few. Very few.
Why? Because people like the way their life is structured. The spouse. The kids, the job and all that. It's all so comfortable. It's established and set. Why disturb it by waking up to what is really happening. Or not happening?
That wouldn't feel good to do that. Things might get upturned and in turmoil.
'I might have to change. And I'm afraid to change'.
So, everyone keeps doing the same stuff and yet everything stays the same and still yet everyone wants things in their life to be different. And yet no one dares to question the absurdity of all this.
Well, very few do.
It just doesn't make sense. How we live our lives going through this existence getting a sense of our self from each experience we participate in. And allthewhile not realizing that we are only going to go through experiences that won't potentially upset the state of our existence so we make sure that we only participate in events that we are certain will turn out the way that we expect that type of event to turn out.
You see, basically, humans just want to tiptoe through life until they die.
They want it all safe.
NO disturbances.
NO problems.
Just everything happy and safe and sound and expected.
But do people live like this? Do they live in nirvana? Is their existence here on earth problem-free and delightful?
No.
No.
And NO.
But yet everyone thinks that their life is the best it can be. The only way it should be.
But what I realized about all this when I heard a seed of truth once was that life doesn't have to be this way.
Essentially, there is another way out.
And this all intrigued me enough that I pursued the esoteric teachings that are part of this thinking and to this day they are helping me figure out why life is as mixed up for us beings as it is and what one can truthfully do about this.
Again, life truly is just so pointless. But most people think and live every day as if what they are doing at that moment, and during every moment is the most important thing for them to be doing at that time. That's just the way we humans are.
We get a sense of who we are by what we do. And this is how we live our lives. Until we die.
It truly is insane. All of it.
I go to work and see people at work who do nothing but detest the fact that they have to go someplace in reality they'd rather not be at and be with people that they don't even care for as friends and do things that if they had the ability they wouldn't give another thought to doing.
And yet these people don't even question this and instead blindly continue to go to work like a drone in some factory thinking that this is their life. And yet while they're doing this they truly believe that getting out that memo is absolutely crucial to the betterment of the company cause.
They live lives of quiet frustration and don't even know that they're dying with every event they're in that takes a little bit of the life out of them.
See, I know I've gone way out in left field here so I'll try to take this back home.
There's more to life than what we do in it. And there's more to us than what we do with our lives.
But most people, if not all of them, think that the gaining of possessions and the accumulating or the chasing of wealth and power is what is important in life.
Get yours.
Get your fair share.
Own what you can get.
What you have in life is who you are.
We're all brainwashed by society, whatever that is, into believing that this is the point of our existence as a creature on this planet.
Go to school so you can get a job to earn money so you can live and get things and be happy until you die. Take vacations. Drive a nice car. Own a fine home. Pop out the kids and save for retirement.
It's all so accepted. And yet people don't even know that it's all so empty.
It's all just a way to make our time here on this physical plane more bearable as we go though what we must go through in an effort to obtain this supposed happiness everyone is told exists.
And as I stated earlier it's like the hamster in the wheel going around and around and not knowing that it's going nowhere. But we somehow think that all the iterations of what we go though are getting us somewhere. And does one need to go through the proof that this ISN'T happening?
We can see it in people's faces. We can see it in the high crime and divorce rates. The endemic problems with addictions to food, and everything bad.
Sometimes I find myself wondering why people don't see what's being done to them all under the guise to make society another dollar.
It's staggering to see at times.
And at the same time it's totally understandable. As long as a person is going to let the environment outside of them dictate and define who they are inside in relation to that environment then the results of that are going to be fairly predictable.
For example, as long as I allow myself to identify with my career as who I am in life, i.e. a successful business person, then when that part of my life 'dies', i.e. I retire, then I am going to be in a serious identity crisis at that time. Why? Because I used what was happening outside of me tell me who I was in relation to it.
But, people do this throughout their existence. They allow outside factors to them to tell them who they are.
I did...
A student.
A career professional.
A husband.
A father.
A man.
All of this worked but it didn't answer what was really at the heart of the matter.
Why do I need to identify with anything in order to know who I am on this planet? And if I'm so identified with all these aspects of myself in relation to the world why do I still feel so lost in all this worldly stuff with other people and events?
Again, that was an issue that I didn't have an answer for so I went seeking for the solution to the issue.
And what did I find out? It all boils down to obtaining non-identification with what happens around me. With what happens in my life.
I don't become a drone.
I become alive to who I am not as I am in relation to what is around me.
But just me.
Relating to myself. Whatever that may be.
Esoteric, yes. But to-date has proven very effective at calming the inner-storm
Okay, so getting back to what I've figured out about there being more to life than what we do in it.
I simply got tired of doing things that were supposed to make me happy but ended up, eventually, leaving me feel empty inside.
And what did I finally do with this emptiness that I was trying to fill? I stopped trying to fill it with pointless activities and business.
Television.
Newspaper.
Radio.
Noise.
Music.
Distractions.
Buying.
Achieving.
Thinking.
Crying.
Complaining.
All that stuff.
You see, that's what we humans do. We live our lives not wanting to avoid the inevitable. We all came here alone and we're all going to die alone.
And throughout our entire existence here we do everything that's within our human ability to do, all in an effort to NOT be alone.
We don't want to be alone. We don't want to be alone with ourselves. We don't want to be alone inside because then we feel lonely and that's not a nice feeling to have.
Let's face it. It's not nice to feel lonely. When one feels lonely and alone it's as if the world is against us and no one cares about us.
So, we do all that we can to fill this void. This hole. This emptiness.
Well, when I realized that that was what I was doing. And I became conscious of that effort: I stopped doing that.
And when I found myself still sleeping in life and going back to old behaviors that maintained this filling the inner-hole stuff, I stopped them too.
And what has all of this gotten me?
A sense of peace.
An inner quiet that can only be experienced to be known.
Yet, it does make one seek out times to be alone. But it's at times like this that I am finding that I feel most in touch with life. I find that I'm more aware of this inner pain when I am trying to relay to someone else what is happening in the moment versus just being in the moment.
It's subtle. But it's something that I've become aware of. And I do what I can to have in each day of my existence this empty time. If even for only a few moments
You see, what else is there? Really, what else is there in life?
We truly can't do anything in our lives that will give the time a sense of lasting meaning. Even having kids is temporal. Because your meaning to those kids will eventually disappear in time and through the generations. It's not sustainable.
So, sure there's the immediate pleasure of knowing that one was responsible for creating life forms. At least being somewhat involved in the creation through our physical actions.
But that aspect in itself is fleeting as well. It doesn't last. Sure the parent-child bond of love matures and develops and never goes away even through death. But for me, I found that this wasn't enough to quell the voices inside that haunted my existence every day.
Having the kids was not the means, for me at least, to quell the inner war. The war for peace.
And so where does this leave one?...
(to be continued as life continues to unfold…)
Thank you kindly.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 1:52 PM | Comments (4)
September 23, 2005
Arizona Vacation Safety - Stay AWARE to Stay SAFE
Why? To save yourself grief. And pain. ENSURE your Arizona vacation safety. Learn about safety issues NOT found in the travel brochures or vacation websites.
You see, when on vacation in Arizona there are a few things that one should be aware of when visiting here. These are the type of things that you won't read about in those slick brochures you find in the travel agent's office.
These are the only things that one will learn about by living here for an extended period of time.
Let's face it. It's a real downer to not have a safe vacation. It's not fun to spend a night in the local emergency room with the kids when they get sick from eating some bad local food or have an accident. Not fun indeed.
But, these vacation safety tips I'm going to share are not about the infrequent accidents that do happen on vacation. The vacation safety tips I'll be sharing here involve things that are totally preventable.
As long as one is aware of them first.
So, let's get started with vacation safety tips that'll help you have a safer vacation here in Arizona.
1. The first of these vacation safety tips is for you to be aware of where you go when you're vacationing in Phoenix. Phoenix is a big place and like most big cities it has areas of the city that are not too upscale.
Now, what are you to do about this?
Well, just realize that there are certain places within a big city like Phoenix that one should be extra careful about visiting.
If you find yourself in a part of town that has a lot of run-down houses, properties with garbage strewn around them, and abandoned cars parked along the streets - then common sense should tell you that these neighborhoods are not too safe.
Trust that instinct. I'd suggest you find other areas of the city to visit or drive around.
You see, Phoenix has, in my opinion, a high crime rate.
I moved here from Canada twelve years ago. What truly shocked me when I moved here was that Phoenix had more murders occur in two months than where I used to live had in a year. And I lived in, at the time, the 'murder capital of Canada'.
So, just do yourself a favor with this vacation safety tip and stay aware of your surroundings. If it doesn't look like a good place to be - it probably isn't.
Trust your gut and get out of there.
2. The second of these vacation safety tips involves somewhat of a local health issue. I'll explain...
The entire metropolitan Phoenix area is located within a large valley. It's surrounded by mountains and mountain ranges. And within this valley is a certain type of 'bug' that lives in the soil.
Actually, this bug issue is similar to most other country's bugs (e.g. Canada's Beaver Fever bug, Mexico's 'don't drink the water' type bug) because it's a bug indigenous to Arizona.
And what does this bug do? It wreaks havoc on a persons health when a vacationing visitor is infected with it. In our case, this bug causes what is known as Valley Fever.
And how does one get infected with Valley Fever? By breathing in the microscopic spores that make up this nasty bacteria.
And what does this bacteria do to a person when breathed in? Well, it can cause flu-like symptoms that grow all the way up to pneumonia, internal bleeding, and very, very rarely... death (gulp).
Now, I'm NOT trying to scare you. So don't go cancelling your vacation plans to Phoenix. We need your sales tax revenues.
You see, this Valley Fever bug usually only becomes a problem when a person who hasn't had Valley Fever comes in contact with it.
And a person comes in contact with it by breathing the bug in.
And the bug is found in soils that are not old and dried out, but rather soils that are newly disturbed.
So, how can you protect yourself with regards to this vacation safety tip? Easy.
Do all you can to stay away from soil disturbing activities.
* Like to visit new construction sites on your vacations?
* Like to do local gardening?
* Like to take up archaeology as a hobby when you're on vacation?
One word of advice... DON'T.
Essentially, don't go digging around places or near digging activities that you shouldn't be around. At least not while on vacation here in Phoenix.
I know, I know, why would you go on one of your southwest vacations in Arizona just to dig in the soil, right? Silly me.
Well, just so you know. I got Valley Fever the first year I moved here. It progressed on to walking pneumonia and left scars on my lungs. I was lucky that that's all that happened to me.
And what was I doing to be exposed to the bug? Just some simple landscaping in my desert landscaped yard.
See? It doesn't take much.
So, just do your vacation planning while keeping this vacation safety tip in mind. Let's not have you getting sick on us. Okay?
3. The last of these vacation safety tips applies to most of Arizona. This one is about bugs too. But this is about a different type of bug.
The real thing...
Scorpions and Black Widows.
Why is this one of our vacation safety tips? Because these little critters can be a nasty safety issue when you vacation here and get bitten by one of them.
You see, these two bugs are extremely common here in the state. Not quite as common as cokroaches, but almost. Why? Because it's a desert here and they're desert creatures.
They like the heat and they like dark cozy places. So, when you vacation Arizona just be aware that these little critters do like to live in places that the kids may go probing around in. Don't let them do that.
Keep probing hands away from dark crevices both inside and outside the house, rental, villa, hotel or apartment.
And if someone does get bit, call the local poison control center and ask for help.
Oh, and by the way, unlike the Hollywood horror movie depictions, these bugs are NOT half the size of a horse. They're SMALL. Black widows are maybe half an inch long. And scorpions get 'as big as' two inches. But... scorpions are FAST. And both can HURT you big time.
So, please ensure vacation safety for your family. Stay away from places these critters habitate. And when you get up in the dark in the middle of the night to get a drink of water - wear slippers. Just in case.
So, to sum up...
Don't get paranoid about these vacation safety tips.
Go vacation.
Have fun. Just keep your eyes open to possible vacation safety concerns. Simple, right?.
Anyway, I hope these vacation safety tips prove helpful to you. Do have a safe trip here to Arizona. Just improve your vacation safety by ensuring you remember these vacation safety tips I've shared with you.
Good luck.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 2:04 PM
September 20, 2005
Want to VACATION Phoenix or DISCOVER Phoenix?
A Phoenix vacation is NICE. But we can help you vacation Phoenix RIGHT. You might come to Phoenix to VACATION. But with our help you can DISCOVER Phoenix.
Everyone takes vacations. But not everyone gets the vacation they want. This can be real disappointing for some adults. But for most vacations - it's the kids who get let down.
Although a person may try real hard to plan the best vacation for their family, sometimes it just doesn't turn out that well. Why?
I think it's because of the amount of searching on the Internet that a person has to do to learn what's really fun to do on a good vacation trip.
Oh sure, the travel agent offices have all the slick brochures with all the pretty pictures inside. And almost all those vacation websites have the nice looking shots of the outside of the hotel and JPEGs of all the pretty people lounging by the spa pool.
But you know the drill...
When you get there is this pretty stuff what you find?
What do you end up doing outside of the hotel?
Where do you go for fun?
Where do you shop for the best clothes?
Where do you get the best deals on things?
How do you find the secret local places that only the locals know about? The places that make the vacation just that much more fun. And special.
Well, good luck finding that kind of information on the Internet.
Oh, I know... You can do that. But you have to search far and wide, usually, to find that kind of information when you're doing your vacation Phoenix planning.
And just so you know...
When You PLAN to Vacation Phoenix Just Know That Sometimes Taking a Great Vacation is MORE Than Just Making Good PLANS
So, why am I telling you all this?
Because, I hope to offer you genuine help when you go vacation Arizona. But I'll be offering most of my help for when you plan to spend a bunch of time here when you vacation phoenix. Why?
I live here in Phoenix. I've lived here for almost 12 years now.
I know this place.
I know what it's like to wake up here when it's COLD, when it's FOGGY, when it's searingly HOT.
I know the TV stations, the newspapers, the theaters, the shopping malls, the secret places to visit. The bargain places, the museums. The nasty city neighborhoods, local safety tips.
All that kind of stuff.
I know a lot of the things to do when you vacation phoenix.
But do know that I also know about southwest vacations stuff. Vacation stuff in Arizona.
I know about the Grand Canyon. Native American sites, and other tourist attraction stuff. All those kinds of places that can do nothing but make your vacation Phoenix-style just that much more unique.
And memorable.
But with this site I'll be writing mostly about Phoenix stuff - because I want to share what I know in detail. Stuff that you might benefit from knowing before you go vacation Phoenix.
Sure, you can find all this out during your Phoenix vacation days here. But why spend your vacation in Phoenix searching for this information...
When I've done it for you.
You just have to get here and then enjoy your vacation when you get here.
You see, I don't know you. But I know what you want. You want that week or two weeks spent on your vacation Phoenix-wise to be a good time spent. You want the perfect vacation in Phoenix.
That's how we humans are. We spend 50 weeks a year working hard so we can afford a great vacation and then we take two weeks (hopefully) having a great vacation.
In this case ... a great vacation Phoenix-wise.
So hang out here for a while. Read some of the information on my site. Let it help you with your vacation planning stuff. Take notes, jot down a few good ideas to help you vacation Phoenix right.
Do this first. So you can vacation Phoenix RIGHT.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)
September 17, 2005
Travel To Arizona - But Plan WISELY
Why? Because Arizona IS a desert. So travel to Arizona but use common sense. Learn HERE what is not common knowledge BEFORE you travel Arizona. THEN go do Arizona.
Let's face it, when you travel anywhere there are things you need to know before you get where you're going. Well, when you travel to Arizona that is no different. What is different though are some of the things that might benefit you to know.
You see, Arizona is a unique place. As I mentioned earlier, it's America's desert state.
Yes... desert. Not dessert...
...DESERT.
Now, let's clarify something about this desert stuff before we get too far along...
If you were travelling to the Sahara desert, the one we've all seen in the Hollywood movies, there'd be certain things that you'd prepare for before you went there. Wouldn't you?
You'd make sure you had the right clothes, medicine, documents, travel arrangements, transportation, maybe even camel food. All that kind of stuff. Right?
Well, when you travel to Arizona that's about what you need to do too.
But, what I will do here to help you out is limit what you will need to make sure of before you travel Arizona to only a few major areas of concern. I'll let you figure out the rest when you get here.
Don't worry. I'll cover the biggies here. So that you stay safe as you travel Arizona, perhaps during one of your southwest vacations.
Let me explain what I mean, by just covering the biggies, with an example.
I'm not going to give you information on how to travel safely nowadays via airplane. If anyone is travelling now, they well know about how to travel via airplane. Especially after 9-11. A lot of the tips for that kind of travel to Arizona are no-brainer's, so they don't deserve covering in any detail here.
So, let's move on to some of the biggies, like for example, overall vacation safety when you vacation Arizona. There are certain things to know when you vacation here.
Another big travel Arizona travel tip involves car travel. When one plans to travel to Arizona via car or travel around Arizona via car, especially in Phoenix, there are going to be certain things that you'll want to know.
Like, for example...
When you travel to Arizona just know that travelling around this desert state can be FUN... or it can be DEADLY.
And one more thing about all these tips...
As I mentioned earlier, Arizona is a desert and when you travel to Arizona during the summer there are definite summer travel tips that you're going to want to make sure you know before you go anywhere. These can make or break your vacation.
At least they can make your trip rather unpleasant if you don't apply them.
So, don't worry.
You may need to pay special attention to when you travel Arizona.
But, just like you'd prepare if you were going north of the Arctic Circle to Tuktoyaktuk in northern Canada - you need to think of a few things before you come to a place that can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (in the shade) on a hot summer day.
Remember, this is all common sense. But not too common knowledge.
But after reading some of my travel-related pages you will know this stuff.
And then when you next travel to Arizona you'll do nothing but have a good time (getting) here.
Good luck with your plans to travel to Arizona. I hope this information was helpful.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
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Posted by Andre Best at 3:05 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2005
GREAT Summer Travel Tips are NOT Typical
So how DOES one learn the BEST summer travel tips? PERSONALLY learn them, and maybe get hurt. OR learn from someone elses pain. Learn OURS here. Pain-free.
You see, when you vacation Arizona basically there are three true summer travel tips that you might benefit from following. These travel tips are specific to Arizona and surround the fact of this place being a desert state.
And that it's hot.
And dry.
We have a beautiful state. But one also needs to take several precautions when traveling here or vacationing here so as to best enjoy their time spent in Arizona.
These summer travel tips are not too hard to follow. But they do require one to pay extra special attention to their surroundings at times. Just to make sure that everyone stays safe.
I'm rambling. So I'll get right in to the three biggest summer travel tips that I think you should be well aware of when travelling to Arizona or vacationing here, as part of one of your southwest vacations.
Here they are (in no particular order )...
1. The first of these summer travel tips focuses on something that is a pretty rare commodity here in Arizona.
Water. And more specifically - drinking water.
Drink it. LOTS of it. When you're here.
You see, you may not feel it but when you come to Arizona in the summer months your body is losing a lot more water than it's taking in. You see, you won't feel this because as you may have heard before Arizona may get hot, but "it's a dry heat".
That's true.
But when it's a dry heat one does not feel themselves sweat. And if you have too little water in your body to begin with you aren't going to sweat no matter how humid it gets.
So... drink lots of water when you're here. Buy those small water bottles and carry one with you everywhere you go. Day and night. Force yourself to drink (the water, silly ) even when you don't feel thirsty.
You must consume lots of water if you're going to be in Arizona for any length of time. You need to keep your body hydrated. Especially if you're not used to the heat or you are travelling here to Arizona from some colder state. Or country.
Now, why is this so critical? Perhaps even seeming like rather like a nuisance?
Because you don't want to have happen to you what happened to me the first summer I lived here.
You see, I moved here from cold Canada. More specifically, real cold Alberta. So I didn't know anything about keeping myself hydrated, outside of eating snow when lost in a blizzard.
Essentially, I just moved here and went about my daily activities and didn't pay any attention to keeping myself full of water.
So, after being here about two months I ended up in the hospital with a nasty and good-sized kidney stone. The pain from that experience was (I was told) the equivalent of a man giving birth (how anyone figured they could equate the two events, I don't know).
But I wouldn't doubt that statement.
It hurt. Bad.
Now, just to tell you - I never had a kidney stone before, or since. So this definitely wasn't something I'm predisposed to having.
So, again, drink water when you travel to Arizona or vacation Arizona. LOTS of it.
Stay away from the pain of having your body tell you you didn't stay hydrated enough. It's a real bummer, or should I say 'punch in the kidneys', to find out the hard way.
Moving on...
2. This second of these summer travel tips protects you in a different way. You'll stay protected from the sun if you follow the guidance offered here.
You see, Arizona is one of the most sunny places in the United States. Yes, even more than Florida.
And the sun here is hot, especially in the summer. So it doesn't take much to get sunburned or even sun scorched when travelling here.
You see, I know that you will travel here most likely to do a lot of outdoor stuff with the family.
Suntanning.
Pool stuff.
Boating.
Hiking.
Shopping.
Well, when doing this summer travel stuff it doesn't take much to get a bad sunburn that you'll remember for a looong time.
Why? Because the sun is so hot here in the summer and directly overhead and intense. You can end up getting a bad sunburn in less than an hour of exposing your skin. That is, if you're not tanned and are visiting here from a place that doesn't get a lot of sun exposure.
Oh, and don't forget that if it happens to be cloudy when you travel here - you can still get burned. Bad.
Ask my wife.
Several years ago we went to a local beach and spent the entire day hanging out outside because it was cloudy and we figured it was okay to do this with the sun hiding behind the clouds. Boy, were we wrong.
And, holy-moley, did she get a bad all-body sunburn. Yeesh. I think it raised her body temperature a couple of degrees, it was that bad. She was hurting. Big time.
So, what can you do about this? I suggest you stay covered up with light, loose fitting clothes.
I know, I know...
Getting the rugrats to wear clothes in the pool is like convincing a pig to use a napkin when it eats. I just ain't gonna happen.
So, since that is the case I suggest that you use a good sunscreen in lieu of wearing clothes. But use one that doesn't contain all those chemicals that both protect and soak into the body. Not good.
I hate the idea of my kids, and myself, 'wearing' chemicals in order to stay protected from the sun. It doesn't make sense.
So, I finally found myself an all-natural sunscreen that our family has been using for the last couple of years. It really helps. And it doesn't contain any chemicals. None.
Finally, the kids can go out in the sun and I can have peace of mind knowing that I don't have to worry about contributing to the ill-effects of the sun on their still unblemished skin.
3. This third of these summer travel tips also focuses on water. But this water you won't be drinking.
You'll be playing in it. Or your kids will be playing in it.
It's pool water. Or more specifically, swimming pool water.
Now, why is tip one of these summer travel tips? Because most people come to places like Arizona to vacation and have fun in the local pools. The ones at the hotel or the ones at the local resorts. Or even the ones at their local friend's house.
But, regardless of where the pool is, they all share one thing in common that can turn out deadly to Arizona visitors. That not-so-nice fact is the fact that Arizona suffers from more child pool drownings than any other state in the United States.
And that's not a ranking that most Arizonans are proud of. So that is why I put it here. To save you from any grief while visiting here or vacationing here.
So, what can you do about this? You can stay aware of your surroundings and where the kids are at ALL times when around water. Especially swimming pools.
Again, ESPECIALLY swimming pools.
You see, it's local law that swimming pools have a five foot high steel fence around them with special self-closing locking gates. But not every residence has installed them yet. Especially the homes where no kids live at.
Like Great Uncle Bill's and Great Aunt May's house.
Or your perpetual bachelor cousin Joey's place.
These are the places to worry about when bringing the kids to them. And these are the places where you need to watch your kids like a hawk. At all times. Even when they're indoors.
I can't emphasize this enough. It would be a real tragedy to have you come vacation here and then have some mishap happen to your little ones.
Don't let it. Please.
Enough said? Good.
So, I hope these summer travel tips will help you have a more enjoyable visit or vacation here in Arizona.
I know you travel here to have fun and 'get away from it all'. That's the way it should be.
And that is why I offer these summer travel tips that you won't hear about from your local travel agent. You know, the kind of summer travel tips you needn't learn about the hard way but instead can know about without having to personally experience them. Or get hurt going through.
So, now you know about these summer travel tips that mostly only the locals know about. And you can now plan to use them during your trip here to Arizona.
I hope these summer travel tips prove helpful. Good luck.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
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Posted by Andre Best at 6:02 AM | Comments (0)
September 12, 2005
Which Antivirus Software Is Best?
Before we get into discussing which antivirus software program is best, let's start out from the beginning and clarify what these software programs are all about in the first place.
The Random House Unabridged Dictionary (1993 Ed.) defines a virus as “a segment of self-replicating code planted illegally in a computer program, often to damage or shut down a system or network.” Today’s antivirus programs are as the definition says software programs specially designed 1) to detect those nasty viruses that, unbeknownst to you perhaps, lurk in the e-guts of your computer and 2) to combat viruses that try to penetrate your box.
It’s interesting that the word virus can be found in the dictionary (ca. 1993) but not the word anti-virus. Goes to show one how new this all is. But no matter how it’s sliced I would guess that one cannot have an anti-anything without first having a thing to be ‘anti-’ about. But whichever came first, the virus or the anti-virus, is irrelevant when it comes to protecting you, your computer, and the sensitive personal information you happen to store on your box.
And how these programs do the voodoo that they do is something that only techie’s, hackers, and 17-year-old teenagers with a lot of time on their hands know. But that doesn’t matter to us, for the most part. Instead, what is important is that every computer user, even those who aren’t actively surfing the www, have an antivirus program properly installed and regularly updated on their machine. Let me tell you why.
Three years ago I received an email from my sister in Canada. But she didn’t send it to me. It was sent out by a virus on her machine – automatically - to me, my brothers, and my father because we were all listed on her personal email list. My computer was messed up for a few days and my Dad finally had to reinstall Windows on his machine. Quite the nuisance. And ‘yes’, we all had antivirus software on our machines at the time. But one not only gets a nasty infection from Internet emails – a computer can also become infected through offline activities such as insertion of floppy disks, CD’s, DVDs, flash drives, and shared file usage.
You’ve most likely heard of the biggies in the antivirus industry: Norton, McAfee, TrendMicro, Kaspersky, Panda. They all cost around the same ($50 - $70/year with ongoing virus updates). But just make sure that whichever program you use/plan to use is automatically installing regular (that is, every few hours, yes - hours) updates to your machine. Why? Well, I read a recent statistic that the first virus program to propagate worldwide only a few years ago took four days to do so. The last, and most recent, virus to go global took only 15 minutes to do so. And this is only going to get quicker, with advances in technology and networking capabilities. So do your utmost to protect yourself. At ALL times.
So to sum up, I know you’re all good little computer users and you either already have regularly updating antivirus programs on your machines at home, or you’re going to rush over to your nearest Fry’s Electronics, put it on your wish list, and get one for a present from your spouse or partner, right? Good.
Now. . .does anyone have a dictionary that actually defines what an antivirus is?
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 9:54 AM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2005
DO Phoenix With GOOD Phoenix Arizona Maps
Why? Phoenix is BIG. So get Phoenix Arizona maps that HELP you get where YOU want to go. Phoenix has LOTS of neat places to see. Be sure the Phoenix Arizona maps YOU use help you FIND them. Easy.
Again, in case you didn't know... Phoenix Arizona is a BIG city. I think a few years ago it surpassed Los Angeles in sheer land area size. It's now over 500 square miles in area. Of course this includes all the annexed areas.
But no matter how you look at it - Phoenix Arizona is BIG. And you're going to need some good Phoenix Arizona maps if you're at all serious about getting around town.
Or should I say... 'metropolis'.
Anyway...
Whether You Plan on Coming Here as Part of a Southwest Vacations Trip or a Business Trip You WILL Need to Know How to Navigate Around this Place
You see, Phoenix Arizona is just too big to think about getting around via any other way but by car, truck, or van.
* The bus system here leaves quite a bit to be desired. Trust me on this.
* We don't have a light rail transit system (yet).
* No subway.
* Hitchiking is much too dangerous here.
* And it's way too expensive to think about taking taxis anywhere distant.
So, that's where a good set of Phoenix Arizona maps come in. I've used Thomas Bros. maps for over 12 years now.
You see, Phoenix Arionza is set up as a place that can be fairly easily navigated. With the exception of the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix and Sun City (which both have curving, circuitous roads) - all of the Phoenix Arizona streets are laid out as a grid system.
All the main roads are one mile apart and go in both north/south and east/west direction. So if you look at a map of Phoenix you'd see that it's about 500 little squares of streets and roads.
Now it is easy to get around these streets with such a simple system as this.
But it just gets quite difficult, even for me still at times, when you want to find an address that isn't on one of these one-mile major roads. That's where and when you need those Phoenix Arizona maps to guide you.
You see, you can travel from the north end of Phoenix all the way over to the east end of Mesa Arizona and do this all by highway and you would be traveling over 85 miles. All on the freeway.
That's BIG.
And that's why...
It's CRITICAL to Your Vacation Success That You Have a DECENT Set of Phoenix Arizona Maps to Show You Around This Place
Don't worry if you're looking for major attractions, parks, hospitals, mountains, racetracks and such around Phoenix, you will find this information on some good Phoenix Arizona maps.
But just remember that for them to be useful to you down here in the big city, any Phoenix Arizona maps you use should (MUST?) show this type of stuff.
If you want this kind of detail, I'd still suggest you try using local metropolitan Phoenix maps you'll find here. They're in color and show lots of detail of things around town.
Or you could try this online store which is also a local phoenix Arizona store. If you don't like the map you bought just go to the store here in town and return or exchange it. Simple. Convenient.
I hope this maps information was helpful and will prove useful during your vacation here in Phoenix Arizona.
Good luck on your quest for a good bunch of Phoenix Arizona maps.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 8:43 AM | Comments (0)
September 7, 2005
How to Make Your Computer Faster
Let’s start this article out by me asking you four questions.
When was the last time you dumped a cup of ice cubes in your garbage disposal, turned the water on, and then let the disposal unit run until the cubes were pulverized?
When was the last time you poured about a cup of vinegar in your dishwasher when it was empty and let the machine run a short cycle?
When was the last time you took one of those pointy long bristle brushes and cleaned off the coils under your side-by-side refrigerator?
When was the last time you cleaned and defragged your computer’s hard drive?
Believe it or not – the answer to the first three questions should be “About three months ago” and the answer to the computer hard drive defragging question should be “About three weeks ago”. Why?
Because while you may not notice the price of not maintaining your kitchen appliances until they actually break down, you will generally pay the price everytime you try to use your neglected computer. It will run slower and slower and take more time to get started, shut down, and process stuff. And all you’ll know is that the little bugger ‘just takes so long’ to do stuff that you want done now.
You see, the more you use your computer the more you are asking it to take whatever remaining space it has on the hard drive, its version of a brain, and store that stuff for potential later use. But unlike the grey matter in your head the computer is not just using less than 10% of it’s useable space. It will make use of all available space as it needs to. So, the more you use it, the longer you use it, the more stuff you have it do – the more e-clogged up and e-full it becomes.
Eventually, as the computer fills up its hard drive, it just begins to stuff files and things wherever it can fit them. It doesn’t care where they go. As long as it can find a space – it starts stuffing e-files in. And the result is your computer just responds slower and slower and s l o w e r.
But, unfortunately with this filing mess you can’t yell at your computer “Go clean up your room, NOW!” Well, I guess you could. You might even want to yell at it to vent a bit. But neither will work.
You see, you have to do a couple of things first. You have to set up the cleaning schedule. And you have to at the very least do manual and regular hard drive defragmentations. And how do you do these things? Easy.
Every few weeks click on Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools and then click on both Disk Cleanup and then Disk Defragmentor. On the pop-up screens click where you need to and follow the simple instructions and then let your computer do what it needs to do – uninterrupted. In an hour or less you’ll be done.
Oh, and after you do this don’t be like I was when I got my first computer. I waited 673 days between defrag sessions. The tech support guy I called to find out why my computer was running so slowly said I ‘set a new record for not doing what I should have been doing’. That’s the type of record you don’t need to try to break.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 5:37 AM | Comments (0)
September 3, 2005
Do You Need a Firewall?
With the literal proliferation of world-wide attacks on current vulnerabilities in Microsoft-based operating systems I don’t know about you but I feel pretty safe and secure every time I turn on my computer at home. Okay, all kidding aside, during this article we’ll learn about three things you can do to better e-protect you and your computer.
If you’re not already doing it, the first thing you can do, if you’re bent on protecting yourself as you do your web-surfing or even when you are just typing away that long neglected killer email to Grandma, is to make a good ‘firewall’ a vital part of your computer system.
“What God's green earth is a firewall?” you ask? Good question my dear e-reader.
The easiest description I saw of one of these puppies was during one of the afternoon cartoon shows my kids watch. One of the cartoon characters was sucked into a computer and wasn’t able to make it into the guts of the computer because he came up against a huge, wide and tall, wall of fire just roaring away in front of him and essentially blocking his path beyond it. [He also yelled out “Oh no! A firewall!” so it was crystal clear (to all the kiddies watching) what this object was.]
But just to make sure that we’re on the same brain wavelength – firewalls aren’t really like this. You see, real firewalls come as either: a good piece of software installed in the computer [e.g. ZoneAlarm or BlackICE (just note that any software program is not foolproof)], or as actual hardware installed outside the computer [like a simple and relatively inexpensive (<$75) Linksys router. I know, I know - it used to be that a router was just a thing that Dad used as he worked in his garage workshop. But no more.]
But no matter which type is installed, a firewall still can save one a whole heap of e-grief before some techie wiener’s computer bug finds its way into one’s computer system – usually without one’s knowledge.
So, do what you can to protect yourself while you’re using that technological (black) box of wonder sitting in that back office at home because using it without some form of e-protection against cyber-tampering is kind of like going on that trip without that spare set of underwear Mom always packed for you. Remember? You never knew when you were going to need it but when you did need it, you were sure glad you had it.
And with the Net being a potentially invasive e-monster if left to its own devices, that is oh-so-much truer today. Make your Mom proud - get that firewall installed. Software or hardware. Just do it, eh?
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 1:59 PM | Comments (0)
September 1, 2005
Should You Do A Computer Backup?
Have you ever considered getting life insurance for your computer? You should. Okay, before you think that I’ve been sitting in front of my computer monitor for too long please bear with me for a bit.
Life insurance for your computer is not the typical life insurance stuff you’re used to. Think of it as insuring YOUR well-being – when your computer dies. Or at least threatens to do so.
Okay, André, get to the point. Fine. Let me say it as simply as I can. . .“Back up your computer.”
Take the time to back up your computer’s hard drive(s). Think about it. What’s on that simple little wondrous circle of modern technology? If you use your computer a lot, pretty much everything that’s important to you. Documents. Receipts. Emails. Proof of this. Proof of that. Pictures. Programs. Sensitive data. Lists. Forms.
And how would you feel were you to lose all of that without prior notice? Not good, right? Well, let me help you no longer live in denial/ignorance (and I mean this in a good way since this is a ‘family-friendly’ newsletter ;-) about one simple fact of modern life
Your computer’s hard drive is part of a machine. Machines break down. Especially the parts of them that move. Your hard drive has moving parts. So it’s a safe bet to guess that your computer’s hard drive IS going to break down. Not if, but when. And, to quote some famous commercial I saw when I used to watch television – ‘Will you be ready?’
So, just how do you get ready? Back up your hard drive to an external device. Regularly.
I know, I know - it’s annoying. It’s a bother. It’s something we’d rather not think about. Or actually do. But when we need it, like insurance, we’re glad it’s there.
Back up your computer to an external device like a CD, DVD, or external hard drive. Regularly. I do mine every two weeks so as to not lose too much information in the event of a permanent, fatal crash. And yes, it has happened to me. Twice in the last year. And yes, before those events I didn’t back up my hard drive. Why not? Because of the “it won’t happen to me” mentality almost all of us live in.
Don’t let it happen to you. Go out this weekend, or go e-shopping, and buy software that costs less than $100 to help you out. Try ‘Back Up My PC’, ‘Back Up Plus’, or ‘Second Copy 2000’, to name a few. And if you’re REALLY serious about backing up your entire system do check out Drive Image 7.0. It saved my derriere. Twice.
Good luck. And don’t ignore this article. By the way, when this happens to you and you happened to be one of the few that listened to my advice just make your thank you to me in the form of anything from the ‘dark chocolate’ family.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com - Learn About Life From Another Perspective
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 1:45 PM | Comments (0)