I believe my dream vacation would consist of a trip to Brazil.
I always wanted to take a trip to Rio de Janeiro, known as the cidade maravilhosa (marvelous city), is nothing if not exhilarating. Flanked by gorgeous mountains, white-sand beaches and lush rainforests fronting deep blue sea, Rio occupies one of the most spectacular settings of any city in the world. Tack on one of the sexiest populations on the planet and you have an enthralling tropical cocktail.
You can surf great breaks off Prainha, hike through Tijuca’s rainforests, sail across Guanabára, dance the night away in Lapa or just people-watch on Ipanema Beach which would probably be my favorite thing to do when I was there. The more I look into this vacation the more excited I got. I really think it would be an awesome vacation and maybe even top my “MARDI GRAS VACATION” which would be very, very hard to do.
Does anyone get as irritated as I do when watching these Politcian’s on TV promising the world? I can’t even watch TV or listen to the radio without hearing one of these idiots tell me how great they are, and how everybody else they are running against is nothing but a liar. The fact is every one of them tells some kind of “white lie”, and when they are caught in a lie; all they do is lie again and say that they “miss spoke” or were “misunderstood” who are they trying to fool? How can they even look at their self in the mirror? As they drive around expensive car, take vacations every other week and give their self raises every year; and also try to make everyone think the world is coming to an end if they aren’t elected into office. What are the qualifications for being a Politician? Being able to look thousands of people in the face and tell lie after lie. Or maybe; being able to spend more money than you have or, just taking anybody but your wife or husband on a vacation with you. I’m sure there is probably one honest Politian somewhere, but I guess I could be wrong.
I just read this awesome book called THE ROAD and I highly recommend it to anybody that likes to read. Here is a brief summary of the book.
Imagine the world as a dark, cold place as your standing over your child wondering if you were going to make it through the winter. A father is faced with this dilemma after some unnamed disaster. The father has only a nap sack, pistil and a lighter that he keeps in a shopping cart. The fate of two unnamed characters, rest in the hands of several factors such as, the weather, finding food, and shelter. Nor has the sun shinned since the disaster. The father and son stop at an a banned gas station, the father tries to call his old phone number grabs some oil, and leaves heading towards their distention the coast, where he thinks it will be warmer. Along the way ‘THE ROAD’ seems to be a very unsafe place. On the way they find out there not alone, there are a few other people who also survive. Along the way they stop at another farm house, locked in the basement to their horror they see people chained up and missing limbs apparently eaten for food. They run out after seeing people returning to the house. The father drops the lighter on the way out. After a week on the road with no food or fire they realize they need shelter and food they stumble in to a house and find a hidden root cellar full of everything they need. After a couple days they head bake out meeting an old guy on the road they give him some food and move on. The father is starting to get sick but he keeps pressing on. They do make it to the coast and find a ship caught on a sand bar. The father swims out to investigate and finds a few things they can use so they leave their belonging an off load the supplies. When they return their stuff is gone they follow the tracks and eventually find him and get their belongings back. They make camp the father knows he is dying and soon passes away. The boy covers his father with blankets and only ironically to meet a man on the road who promises him to take him back to his family.
As I dove deeper into my research paper, I found many interesting fact, and a lot of information on the difference between generic drugs and trade name drugs. The main difference that I found between the two was the cost. The cost difference between the two is about 7o%; another word if you’re spending one hundred dollars to fill a trade name prescription you could save up to seventy dollars if you asked for a generic brand instead.
Many questions have been asked whether the quality and effectiveness of generic drugs have been compromised to make the less expensive competitor. The American government has been extremely active in ensuring that legal drugs are safe. More than Sixty-five years ago, Congress directed the FDA to create a system for assuring that Americans have a drug supply that was safe. Forty years ago, Congress required that legal drugs be proven to be effective as well, because modern medicines – when they are produced, distributed, prescribed, and used properly – should not only be safe but also should prevent the many complications and side effects of diseases. With a more global world unfolding, Congress enacted the Prescription Drug Marketing Act in 1988 to establish more safeguards as a way to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the United States.
Many doctors would rather use the trade name drugs because they make more money selling you trade name drugs. Generic does not mean an inferior product. In fact, they go through the same scrutinizing analysis that trademark drugs go through at the FDA. As consumers, people need to start talking with their doctors to see if there are viable generic pharmaceutical alternative. If you can get something that is equally effective as a brand name, but perhaps with one noticeable side effect--more change in your pocket—isn’t it worth investigating?
November, 15 the mother of all days! Better then, Christmas, your birthday, and winning the lotto. One million hunters will take to the woods on Michigan’s opening day of firearm deer season to try in bag the allusive whitetail deer. Even with the economy in the tank hunters will still pump millions of dollars into Michigan’s needy economy. License fees, clothing, gear and ammunition will be the bulk of money spent. Several families’ still make the trip over the bridge to their favorite hunting grounds in the Upper Peninsula; many will stay in cabins or make shift deer camps. The hunt isn’t all about shooting a big buck or even seeing deer, for many it’s about family tradition spending time with family or good friends, family tradition still runs strong in the “hunting community” many fathers pass down all their skills ( luck) and years of knowledge (bull s###) to their children along with several far fetched tails.
As the sun breaks the horizon I hear a whisper saying dad, dad, here comes some deer dad. One has horns, is it a shooter dad? Dad, do you think they are going to come our way? As we watch the deer a flock of geese fly over looking for a place to land. As we watch the deer walk away from us, we notice a squirrel perched on a limb staring at us. The squirrel climbs down the tree grabs an ear of corn and takes off into the woods. As we talk about past seasons and present life, the time passes quickly and before we know it, the sun is starting to fall. We see several more deer before the sun sets but instead of shooting we watch them and wait for the big one. At dusk we gather all our stuff and decide to call it a day. As we head back to the house my daughter Britt asks, so Dad do you think will get one tomorrow?
I’m doing my research paper on the difference between trade name drugs and generic drugs.I thought it would be a good topic due to the rising prices of medical insurance.My opinion on this topic is that we’re getting screwed by the drug manufactures on their ridiculous prices that put on these drugs.I know that there is cost in making these drugs but, the profits they make are astronomical.Drug companies have a patent on the drug that last from five to seven years, after the paten runs out any drug company may manufacture the drug.What most people don’t realize is that every drug has some kind of side effect.The more research that I do on this topic the more pissed I became.Hospital have two different rates that they charge patient, people who have insurance have been known to pay one hundred fifty dollars for an aspirin while people who can’t afford medical insurance usually walk out of the clinics with handfuls of free sample, and we wonder why medical insurance is outrageous. I do believe that there is no price for the cost of being healthy but when the average cost of a doctor visit runs between one hundred and two hundred and fifty dollars for five minutes of the doctor’s time the numbers just don’t add up. With more and more doctors getting busted for medicate fraud are they really in the practice to save life’s or to get richer? Here are a couple of web sites http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=46204http://www.bcbsm.com/member/prescription_drugs/generic_drugs.shtml
If you need to catch up on some sleep, I would highly recommend this movie. For me, I love adventure movies and was anticipating lots of action, especially when you have a film with three middle-aged men. Unfortunately, the action-packed, shoot ‘em up adventure I anticipated turned out to be nothing more than a scenic tour across India with some predictable humor.
When you’re checking your watch during a movie, that’ s a tell-tale sign that it’s more than likely not going to be one your favorites. I’m often told that I have a different sense of humor, so perhaps some of the humor was lost because I was focused on looking for some action parts which were few and far between. After the death of their father, the three pill popping brothers arrange to have some bonding time with their mother in India. Francis, the oldest, plans a trip to the foothills of the Himalayas where their mother is now residing. The personalities of the three brothers are relatable, yet once again, predictable for the genre. Francis is the older, controlling brother of the two who takes on the bossy role. The other brother Francis brings along his assistant, Brandon, who has planned every waking hour of the trip. Then you have Jack, who is depicted as the typical womanizer, embarking on this journey after a recent breakup with his latest fling. It doesn't get more stereotypical than that. Next, you have Peter, the remaining brother, who is married with a child on the way. In an adventure, I expect more interesting conflicts from three middle aged brothers rather than stereotypical behaviors of the characters in this film. Travels in the exotic land of Jodhpur were nothing like I anticipated for an "action" movie.
At the first stop the train makes the three men visit a temple and end up getting blessed. Along the way, there are a few memorable scenes that aligned with the characteristics of an adventure movie. For example, I was somewhat engaged when Francis had a three thousand dollar shoe stolen by the shoe shining boy and also when the brother’s poisonous snake escapes and gets loose on the train creating a frantic search for the reptile. This put me more to the edge of my seat. This is what adventure should do. When the brothers are given a warning and are limited to their rooms, once again, the genre fell flat because the action sequence was non-existent. After the next stop the brothers end up getting blessed again. A physical altercation ensues between the two brothers, which eventually gets them kicked off the train and deserted in the middle of nowhere. This particular sequence meets the criteria for adventure and climaxed a bit more when Francis and Brandon part ways. The three brothers come across some young rafters attempting to cross a raging river, which leads to another cliché moment, but fits the genre. Peter, Francis, and Jack have to rescue the boys whose raft ended up flipping in the raging current. The cliché presses on: one boy drowns, while the other three survive providing the ultimate formula for a family bonding moment for the three brothers.
The saga continues as they are unwelcome to attend the funeral of the deceased boy, but of course, an expected change of heart takes place and allows the brothers to attend, pushing them even closer together. Finally, the brothers reach the Himalayas where they find their mother. The meeting between the three brothers and their mother was brief but served as a springboard for the circular ending where they find the key to their life through these experiences and a culminating mountain hike. Will Francis learn a lesson in humility? Will Jack come to terms with his wild ways and realize he cares about the girl he left behind? Does Peter come to grips with the reality of having a child?
Don’t get me wrong, the movie wasn’t horrific, but several of the scenes just didn’t match up to the expectations in my head for an action movie, nor the high dollar blockbusters you see roaring across the screen in the theater these days. If you’re expecting computer generated images that you see in many action packed adventures, like Avatar, spoiler alert, you’re going to be disappointed. Too many of the scenes played out in my mind before they happened, but I found moments of humor that kept me somewhat interested and half awake. Compared to other adventure movies I’ve seen¸ I’d give this movie two and half star rating out of five.
WARNING: Only read this post if you have a sense of humor.
In my opinion, the following things are all equally irritating, so I placed them in random order.
1.Loud talkers on their cell phones in public. I’m in the store trying to get a few groceries. What do I hear? A lady with a booming voice talking about little Joey’s soccer game and how he it wasn’t fair he didn’t get to play. Does everyone in a 10 mile radius need to know? I know I don’t. All I can think is, quit yapping and move your cart!
2.People who think they know everything. I don’t know where to start but, if I was someone who knew everything, I would.
3 Finding tortoises on the highway, not of the reptilian type. It never fails, I find myself stuck behind a four door Buick LeSabre that is traveling at the whopping speed of 40 mph down the one lane highway. 30 miles later, the car turns into the Bingo Hall. Imagine that.
4.Christmas decorations in July? Does it really require that much energy and effort to take Rudolph off the roof and take the deflated frosty off the lawn before summer? When you have to mow around your Christmas decorations, that’s a pretty good sign you need to put them away.
5.A certain furniture store is having a big sale. Okay, you’re probably thinking this is a good thing, but what’s really annoying is that the “biggest, blow out” of the year takes place every other week.
6.A blanket as outerwear?#! You know exactly what product I’m talking about. The ridiculous commercial looks like a skit for Saturday Night Live. Who wants to wear a blanket with arms? Are you kidding me? You might as well be walking around in a hospital gown.
7.Spandex in public and I’d argue private, should be outlawed. No one and I mean no one, looks good in spandex. The 80’s are over and unless you’re competing in the Tour de France or late night wrestling, you have no business wearing sausage casing. Enough said.
The strong aroma of a delicious turkey is pulling me in to a dream-like state. It has been cooking for hours. Pots and pans continue to rattle and the smells intensify. I offer to give a helping hand, now that the meal is almost prepared. Chopped sweet Vidalia onions make my nose and eyes run like a faucet. Grandma tells me to put a silver spoon in my mouth to minimize the tears pressing against my eyes from the onions. Surprisingly, it works. The noise in the room elevates as more family members arrive. My eyes and stomach are drawn to the delectable goodies being carried in. I can’t resist. My nose is drawn to…What, Gordon Food Service Apple Pie?!#
No assigned seating here, first come, first served. It’s Thanksgiving Day. I opt for an end seat, more elbow room. My plate is loaded and the party in my mouth is ready to begin. I shovel in some turkey. My stomach confirms that the turkey is delicious. My plate is heaped with food. Cranberries explode with flavor like Pop-Rocks. Potatoes, gravy, and rolls, oh my! My stomach is signaling to me to stop, but I loosen my sweat pants and press on. Sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, rutabaga find a new home in my stomach. A hungry dog has nothing on me. The second helping of turkey lights off fireworks in my head, but the grand finale is on its way as Grandma carries in the Gordon Food Service Apple Pie to the table. Do I wait? No!
I dive in fork first. Houston, we have lift off as the pie prepares for its journey into the unknown. If taste buds could talk, let me tell you, they would be singing from the roof tops or putting on a theatrical production about the food they’ve been eating. The warm apple pie and the cold vanilla ice cream mixing in my pie hole are indescribable. My facial expression says it all. It doesn’t get much better than this. The smells that teased me in the morning matched up to the afternoon taste. My festive wear has done its job well. Just when I think my waistband can’t take any more, I settle in on the couch with a mug of hot apple cider. Gulp, gulp, gulp. Uh oh, Houston, we have a problem!
