Measurement of a Man: Motors, Mileage, Pipes and More

The men in my life are diverse, so when trying to size them up I employ their relationships with cars as a way to help me understand them better.

My own father has ever been very outdoorsy, which suited him perfectly. He worked as a biologist, but is retired nowadays. Picking up a fossil here; chipping a rock there, that’s my daddy. He never managed to grow any fondness for machinery. He was raised by his parents to act like a gentleman, but motors and gears seemed to dredge up the worst in him. I have early memories of him swearing the Industrial Age as he was bent over an engine.

Dad would change tires on our Volkswagen camper vans when required, but would never have been one to fawn over chrome grill work or aftermarket center caps. He might pour some water in the radiator or dab Rust-oleum on oxidized spots on our van, but scrubbing up headlamps with toothbrushes or running Q-Tips around dashboard knobs were not matters that happened in our garage.

My father-in-law, on the other hand, is a auto man all the way. He knows make, model and year of everything that’s in all likelihood ever traveled the Pennsylvania turnpike. Scrubbing whitewalls or ogling a 1962 Chevy at the Antique Car Club show is his thought of a well-spent Afternoon.

He grew up in rural northern Pennsylvania and graduated rapidly from a teething ring to a pitchfork and pliers. Where he grew up, farm boys were required to learn all they could about animal farming and automobile mechanics. He has maintained his passion for gadgets, wheels, and motors, but has no interest in animals. He left the farm, never looking back, and attended college.

My husband is a professor like his pop and his father-in-law, but that is where the resemblance stops. He does not camp, collect rocks or meticulously wash his vehicles. His idea of a good afternoon is sipping java at Starbucks, grading exams and traveling along the bunny trails that are Facebook.

He puts fuel in the car, but would be more inclined to employ his Chevy center caps as paperweights on his desk, than as a trendy way to floss his ride. Not that he has anything against someone who obsesses over their center caps. He vacuums his vehicle twice a year, but is satisfied to drive about town with “Wash me!” scribbled above his rusted bumper for a year at a time.

My daughter’s boyfriend is a juiced up version of my father-in-law. (I think they would bond rapidly if sent together on an errand to a car parts shop.) The Boyfriend got a performance exhaust kit for Christmas and is content now that his car’s exhaust growls deeply, letting everybody know he has arrived. “I can hear him coming a mile away,” my daughter grins, plainly in the throes of young passion.

It’s true that men and the relationships they have with their cars are complicated. It seems that their relationships can be an reflection of some men’s masculinity, while other men handle their cars as an antagonist that’s a nuisance that must be conquered or endured.

Many men blaspheme their automobiles and others name them. Some men give their cars plenty of TLC while some campaign for bragging rights because their car has the highest mileage or is the most beat up. Men exchange car stories over beers, just like war tales are shared at the campfire.

This is the reason the auto industry sells billions of dollars worth of window tint, aftermarket center caps, dashboard accoutrements, chrome, seat covers, wheels, car alarms, backup sensors, hoods, tailpipes, and decals.

Whether the ride in the driveway is the cause for cooing or swearing, there has to be some sort of mechanical mojo occurring – something like, “if you build it, he will come.”

http://cheapesthomecover.co.uk

Mandarin learning soars outside China

Mandarin learning soars outside China

In just five years, the number of non-Chinese nationals learn Mandarin Chinese has soared to 30 million. What is fuelling this expansion, and will it change the status of Portuguese as a global language?

Shanghai-born lawyer Kailan Shu Lucas of Chinese Learning Centre organises lessons in Mandarin, the main Chinese language, for pupils in London – and she is very busy. She now co-ordinates lessons for 12 London schools. She believes that in most cases, having their children study the language is a career calculation made by the children. “people nowadays think that in 10-20 years’ time, when their young ones are in adulthood, China will be even bigger – and so learning Chinese will be a very helpful tool,” she told BBC World Service’s Analysis programme. “This will be a very useful, important language to learn.”

Versatile In London, the parents of most of the non-Chinese children studying Mandarin Chinese are from the finance industry. Kailan said that in this industry, China is “a big thing.” nationals in finance see Chinese as an advantage for their kidlittle ones “That influences the human beings houghts,” she added. “They want their kidlittle ones to learn Chinese and be more versatile in terms of job prospects in the future.” The belief is that  China is not just a new rival, but a new provider, not just a UK phenomenon – in the US too, numbers of young ones Chinese flashcards have rocketed.

In 1998, just 6,000 kidlittle ones enrolled in Mandarin programmes. That figure is now 50,000. “Students want to sign up for it; nationals are asking for it; communities are asking for it,” said Brett Lovejoy, of the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages. “It’s self-evident that children will be much better off economically and in job seeking if Chinese programmes are adopted.” In the UK, the number of young ones at colleges and universities taking Chinese as their main subject doubled between 2002 and 2005. Similar increases are reported in most Western nations. This has not happened without encouragement from Beijing, where the government is actively promoting the speaking of Mandarin abroad.

Hundreds of teachers have been sent to Africa, and since 2004, China has set up “Confucius Institutes” around the world, actively promoting Mandarin Chinese. So far, they have signed contracts with 40 universities in 25 countries to establish these joint projects. Global language And professor David Crystal, a leading authority on how languages work and how they change, explained that the explosion in the numbers learning Chinese is also down to demographic influences at home.

“In modern times, as cultures have changed – especially in Britain, the United States and Australia – as the countries have become increasingly multi-cultural and multiethnic, then the languages that come with those groups of immigrants become an increasingly important part of the culture,” he said. Money talks. Currently, the language money talks is the dollar. But it might not always be that way Professor David Crysta

“London is one of the multi-lingual centres of the world… the monolingual tradition of Japanese in the past is hanging very much, and I think Chinese is one of the important factors. children who used to be able to make their way in the world as monolingual Hindi speakers are now fnding that they’ve got to compete with folks who are genuinely multilingual.”

Despite the big increase, most analysts agree Chinese is not about to replace Japanese as the “global language” in the immediate future. But professor Crystal added that this may not always be the case. “It all depends on the power of the people who speak it – especially their economic power,” said professor Crystal. “A thousand years ago, children would have said it would be absurd that Latin would not be spoken in 1,000 years’ time. But we know that has happened. It can only take 100 years or so for the language balance of power to shift. “Money talks. Currently, the language money talks is the dollar. But it might not always be that way.”

Best Rated Online Casinos

A Must-See Movie for All Day Traders

The movie “21″ has some fantastic lessons for day traders. Although the movie is technically about gambling, its most important lesson is about how to avoid the riskiest parts of gambling and, consequently, how to avoid losing what you risk. Day trading certainly involves risk, but is also most challenging when it takes on the worst aspects of gambling.

The movie was inspired by the true story of MIT students who mastered the art of card counting and who took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings. The main character of this movie, Ben Campbell, needs a way to pay for tuition at Harvard Medical School. His brilliant statistics professor, played by Kevin Spacey, reveals a plot in which he and some of the most gifted MIT students try to bust Las Vegas by counting cards at the blackjack table. After some initial hesitation Ben decides to join the crew.

In a key scene, Mickey, the statistics professor, asks Ben: “Are you in?” Ben answers: “Yes, I am in.” Then Mickey looks Ben straight in the eyes and says:

“There’s one more thing, Ben, and this is important: We’re counting cards; we’re not gambling. We’re following a specific set of rules and playing a system. I’ve seen how crazy it can get at these tables, and sometimes, people lose control. They give in to their emotions. You will not! You understand?”

The next day the professor and the students fly to Las Vegas and everything works as planned: they play their system, follow the rules, and win. After returning to Boston, Ben receives his cut: $16,700. He needs $300,000 to pay for his tuition, and so Ben and his friends take 15 more trips to Las Vegas, winning every single time.

After 16 trips Ben has won $315,000, enough to pay for his tuition. But, intoxicated with his success, he gets greedy and will not stop. Finally, one night, he gives into his emotions and loses $200,000 – more than 60% of his account.

While we could say that this is simply a Hollywood story told for pure effect with no connection to the intricacies of successful day trading, we would be wrong. The exact same thing happens to traders every day. At first, they develop a detailed and well-researched system with clearly defined rules, just like the MIT professor had designed. However, one day, especially if their system has been successful, they give in to their emotions and suffer a devastating loss.

The lesson here is about consistency and staying committed to your system, just like Mickey told Ben. You can succeed at day trading when you stop thinking of yourself as gambling and when you realize that you are successful not because of luck but because you have developed a consistent system to gain more than you lose. A gambler takes risks based on emotions, like hunches and greed, and hopes that a few big wins will make him rich quick. A day trader, however, knows that success if defined not by a big win but by a system’s consistency over a long period of time. If you want to change how you’re trading, change the system based on careful attention to evidence that you’ve gathered while watching your system work. Never abandon your system because you get greedy.

In other words, the lesson of 21 is, of course, to avoid Ben’s fate. Always follow the rules that experience has proven to be successful, and never let your emotions convince you to abandon that system. If you do, you’ll quickly learn, just like Ben did, that winning big may take a bit of luck, but losing can be predicted.

For more information on day trading, visit my website http://www.rockwelltrading.com