Mon
7
Mar
12:37 am

Josh was pissed. The project’s due date was looming. It was a mere two weeks ahead, but changes kept coming, specs changing, computers stalling, and the supervisor getting madder day by day.

The heavy silence hang in the air, and the whole floor seemed deserted, although there were at least 50 people working, hidden inside their cubicle’s walls. It was 10:20 am.
He got up and went to the elevator. Thin, industrial carpet muffled his steps. He didn’t have any clear ideas why he was going downstairs. Whatever it was, maybe to sort out his thoughts, but he went.
Outside, autumn clearly manifested itself by throwing wet drops in the form of a fine mist, and sent gusts of cold wind in the short, circular motions. Although it was Friday morning, his mood was not concentrating on the weekend’s activities.
Josh’s wife, Chloe, who was at home with their 6 months old baby, Hilary, called 30 minutes ago, sounding hysterical, because baby refused to eat, was hot to the touch, and crying. Chloe wanted Josh to come home and drive them to the emergency room, so she wouldn’t feel alone.

Josh stood for a few seconds at the revolving door of the building, and then noticed a cluster of people, pressing themselves to the wall, at the right from the entrance. They shivered and tried hiding their faces by turning their backs to the wet drizzle and wind, all the while trying to smoke.
Josh didn’t smoke. Well, when he was younger, he went through the periods of exploring various venues to the bad for the psyche and health addictions, found none, and happily forgot about the experience and short-lasted joys. Now, 33 years old, he was a man, who made his choices and lived his life happily and quietly.

The waft of a cigarette’s smoke drifted toward him and awakened something vague in his memory.
The security guy came out of the building and asked smokers to move farther away from the entrance. Now the smokers were angry and dangerously talkative. “What a society! Instead of providing a smoking room, they send a person to the rain, cold and wind, so somebody get sick, and subsequently his co-workers will catch it, too. This will result in a lower productivity and morale.” There were also other similarly voiced, but expressed in much angrier tone and peppered with expletives, objections.

Josh walked over to Robin, their office secretary. She was middle aged, thin and drained looking woman, who looked miserable, but managed to have a defiant fire in her eyes. “Robin, may I ask you for the cigarette?” said Josh. Robin’s eyebrows moved up in a surprised motion, but Josh’s posture and absent-minded tone somewhat affected and successfully shut up her stream of questions. She quickly controlled herself, fished out a cigarette from the pack she held in her hand, and quietly gave it to him.

Josh walked away from the group, closer to the road. He stood under the painfully naked young tree, at the edge of the sidewalk, watching cars confidently trading wet road and rolling by with an angry woosh. He turned his head right, toward the intersection, where loud beeps stubbed the thick air with an angry sounds of a bottled impatience. He slightly squinted to see the reason for the commotion.
He didn’t see a little green car briskly, at the sharp angle, changing three lines, skidding in a puddle of water, and plunging to an exact spot, where Josh stood.

Josh never heard Chloe’s message, that the baby is having her first tooth coming out, what doctor said about her condition, and that a project due date is being moved another two months ahead.
He never found out, that a drunk driver, whose alcohol blood level was three times over the legal limit, was in a hurry to meet his buddy to celebrate the happy date they shared: 18th birthday.

The burial ceremony was short, appropriately sad, and attended just by a half of dozen people. Afterward, everybody quietly went to manage their own affairs and lives, which didn’t include Josh, anymore.
Two more things happened in the world: first, Robin abruptly quit 15 years old habit of smoking. To answer the question of “Why?”, she shrugged, and said to no one in particular: “Smoking – kills”.

Second thing was, that in the city’s downtown, hurried office workers continued going in and out of the building, tired of an ugly weather, and nobody really noticed an irony of the change of the scenery: the new billboard across from the building. In a rainbow display of the colors, for all to see, lightly dampened by a gray wetness, floated an image of a tipped, crystal bottle of a new brand of vodka; with no visible slogan, but projecting an inviting promise to taste something fireworkingly exiting.

Just a subtle, sublime reminder of what makes one’s life complete…

Fri
10
Jul
9:41 am

 
Just a short note for those of you who is thinking of buying an electronic book reader Kindle: on Wednesday, July 8, Amazon has reduced a price of its prized reader to $299 from $359.

 
If you need more information, read this article at:
News.cnet.com
And don’t forget to read a lot of helpful comments, too. You future vacations and free time may depend on it.

 
If you received this post by electronic mailing and can’t see the image of Kindle Reader provided at the top, please click on the title of the post to be transferred to the site.

 

 
When was the last time you played with the Rubik Cube? How much time did you spend trying to position those sides and colors, only to give up at the end? Are you still wondering how it’s done? Or were you able to solve it?

 
If you still are that person who tries to solve the puzzle, you’d be happy to know that the inventor of the Rubik Cube professor Ernö Rubik had invented a new gadget for you: Rubik’s 360.
It’s been 20 years since his last invention and the professor says that this one is much simpler.

 
“Rubik’s 360, which goes on sale next week, features six small balls inside three interlocking spheres. The task is to lock each ball into colour-coded capsules on the outermost sphere. Professor Rubik said of his cube that it was “easy to understand the task, but hard to work out the solution”. It is just as aggravating to crack the 360. ”

 
Judging by the reaction of the Times Online staff, which published the news, it isn’t, but you’ll have your say when you get you hands on it it . Meanwhile, read the article here: Timesonline.co.uk and see a good picture of it as well.

 
Meanwhile, you can order it from Amazon.com for $14.99. It should be shipped within 1-2 months.

 
And if you can’t wait to see how it works, here is the Youtube video for you: Rubik’s 360 Demonstration.

 

 
Have you ever hit a “Send” button in your email only to notice in a last minute that you forgot to attach a document, misspelled a simple word or just changed your mind all together?
It’s been a few months, I think, since Google has added a new feature in its arsenal of email tricks: a function, where you can stop the email you sent.

 
Here is how it works: once you finish writing your email and click “Send” button, you will see a yellow bar with the words “You message is being sent” and “Cancel”.  Then it changes to “Undo”.  At this moment you have 5 to 10 seconds to stop that email from being send.  All you have to do is to click on “Undo”.  The email you composed will come back on your screen (it will be in the “Draft” folder now) so you can correct and resend it, delete it, if you wish, or just leave it in this folder until you decide what to do with it.

 
If you don’t see the word “Undo”, when sending email, you should adjust your Settings for email.   It’s easy: click on the word “Settings” (at the top of your screen for email).   A new half-screen will be opened, where when you scroll down, you will find the action for the “Undo Send” and activate it by clicking on the box and choosing a desired time of 5 or 10 seconds. Save the changes. Then just go back to your email’s Inbox. A green “tree” symbol will appear next to “Settings”, indicating that you’ve activated 1 feature.

 
From now on you will be able to stop your email from being send any time you wish. Just don’t forget: you have only five to ten seconds to do it.

 

faberge-creation

If you live near or planning a vacation to Germany, you now have one more destination to go: a new museum in the German town Baden-Baden.

 
On May 9 2009 Russian tycoon Alexander Ivanov is planning to open first “world’s only museum dedicated to the Russian Imperial jeweler Faberge” there.

 
“The collector had originally planned to show his treasure trove of Russian art in the country’s capital and now reveals it will open instead on May 9 in the German spa town of Baden-Baden. Ivanov, 46, says he’s a patriot and only changed his mind because of the high cost of building and Russian bureaucracy. He says his 3,000-piece collection is worth about $1.5 billion. ”

 
“Ivanov said he chose Baden-Baden, near Germany’s western border, because it’s “close to France, a resort for the rich, and historically it has always been the most popular resort for Russians.” The local government has also been supportive, he said.”

 
“The German word ‘Baden’ translates as ‘to bath/bathe’”.
“The 19th century saw the town rise to become a meeting place for celebrities, attracted by the hot springs as well as by the famous Casino, luxury hotels, horse races, and the gardens of the Lichtentaler Allee. Baden-Baden was then nicknamed the European summer capital.”
Read about this city here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden-Baden.

 
“Entrance to the Faberge Museum will cost 20 euros. Ivanov’s most pessimistic forecast is 200,000 visitors a year, and he’s planning for up to 500,000.

 
“Even at 100,000 visitors a year we would cover costs,” said Ivanov, whose office is one block from the czarist-era Faberge shop in Moscow, now occupied by a bistro. “The collection needs to make money and to pay its way.”

 
“The House of Faberge was founded in St. Petersburg in 1842 by Gustav Faberge.”
Company’s goldsmiths made jewelry and luxury items for the Russian tsar’s family and other kings and riches.

 
“In addition to Easter eggs, the company made a wide range of jewelry and decorative artworks, the most famous of which are semi-precious stone and jeweled figures of people, animals, and vases with flowers. The company had international brand recognition, with a shop in London, and it counted as a customer the King of Siam (now Thailand).”

 
Read more about Fabergé Easter eggs here: Wikipedia.org. Faberge Eggs

 
About House of Faberge here: Wikipedia.org. House of Faberge

 
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com

 

 

Paree
Creative Commons License photo credit: AchimH

 

 
Today I would like to bring to your attention a very interesting and useful article:  “6 sites to make flying a whole lot easier”.

 
Read it to find out how to find and book the best flight, how to check for the timely plane’s arrival or departure, what to do before you leave for the airport, how to find an outlet and a Wi-Fi once you get there, and many other interesting tips.

 
Find out about The Wiki, which ” is a guide to airports all over the world, letting you know where to look for a free outlet.”

 
As usual, read the comments. You’ll learn some more.

 
Click on this link: www.makeuseof.com and enjoy your learning.

 
After you are through with this article, check the categories of the site, you won’t regret it, especially, if you are a computer geek. The amount of fascinating information will keep you busy for a while.

 
If you liked this article, send it to your friends. If you wish to receive future updates you may sign up by RSS or Email.

 

Thu
22
Jan
9:09 am

 
If you are tired of getting unsolicited phone calls from the telemarketers, it’s time to take an action: register you phone number (it’s free) at National Do Not Call Registry: https://www.donotcall.gov/

 
Make sure you enter correct email address.

 
After completing a very short (entering your phone number and email) registration process you will get a confirmation letter to your email address, where you’ll have to click on the provided link to make the process complete.

 
For the list of related articles, scroll down the screen past the comment form.

 
If you like this article, send it to your friends.

 
You may sign up for the future articles from this site by clicking an orange square at the address bar of your browser (when you are at Infogift.info). If you sign up to get the updates by email, you will get an automatic confirmation email in your inbox. Don’t forget to click on the link provided in there to complete the request.

 

If you take a lot of pictures and dread the time you have to sit down and transfer it to a computer, you’ll like the Wireless Eye-Fi Memory Card. With this electronic device every picture you take can be automatically transferred to your computer (provided you have a wireless internet connection). All you have to do is to replace your camera’s memory card with Eye-Fi. Makes a great gift, too.
You may buy it at Amazon.com. Read the comments, too.

 


 
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If you like this article mail it to your friends.

cala_-mix

 
It’s only a month left until February 14, and if you think of a gift, it’s time to move.
Of course, there are still holiday sales going on and you can buy some jewelry. You may buy flowers.  And, of course, there are always book store options, gift baskets, hobby items or a gift of wine.

 
Now, consider a wine with a message (not in the bottle, but on the label).

 

 
Personalized Wines have an an array of offerings: personalized wines, champagne, gift boxes, accessories, labels.
The prices start from $8 and choices are numerous.
All you have to do is submit a photo of yourself, the recipient, or whatever image (hopefully, decent) you have in mind, and you have an unusual present to present.

 
Also, if you consider a gift of chocolate, I suggest you try Recchiuti Confections.

 
It is so different from anything I’ve tried before, that I feel I must tell you about it. It’s rich, it’s creamy, it’s tasty. The presentation, the taste and the smell are absolutely exquisite, surprising in its intensity and unexpectedly complex and delicious in taste.
You may watch a video about the company and its production here.
Try this chocolate. You won’t regret it.

 
If wine or chocolate is not an option, you may check this site: CafePress
Enter a word (cat, cards) in a search box and find an abudance of items depicting your interests: t-shirts, calendars, home gifts, cards, stationary, etc.  Sift through the choices and order.

 
Consider yourself ready for the  Valentine Day.

 

 
If you think you may use a professional financial advice, you may buy  “Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan” book at Amazon.com or any other book store.

 
At the same time, you may download it for free from here: Oprah.com.
Read the whole article and the instructions on downloading, too.

 
The book is copyrighted, so you can download it, but can’t copy, share of forward it.

 
The book is available for free download only until January 15, 2009.

 
If you like this article, forward it to your friends.
If you are reading this article from RSS Reader, you may have to click through to the site to see the images.

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