When I first decided to stop procrastinating and get into archery I was at the Central Surplus store on Yonge Street in Toronto.
They had a Cherokee Archery Set on sale and it was, according to the clerk behind the counter, "ideal for beginners".
And he was absolutely-freaking-right!
I used that bow for 2 years before finally switching to a more powerful wooden bow because I loved it so much. It was wonderfully easy to use, surprisingly accurate and I had a very quick learning curve when using it. Some heavier bows are more difficult to learn with because you're not used to the pull and need to work your way up to it.
I still have my Cherokee bow (which is best described as a recurve / reflex long bow) and I now use it for teaching archery here in Toronto.
My only piece of advice is that you buy more arrows and a nice quiver to go with it.
I also have a handmade arm guard that I use made out of rawhide and a shoelace that is wonderful to use. Sometimes its the things you make yourself which do the best job.
No word yet on when I will be done carving my first bow.
And I thought, hey, $2.99, cheaper than a cup of coffee. True you do have to own a Kindle first, but that is easily done. If you are big on reading then going digital is easier than you think. You can even have it delivered. (Note: I checked the prices in stores and its actually cheaper to order a Kindle online.)
Basically its a guide to meeting people on the internet (and more specifically, having anonymous sex with people you met on the internet).
And its advice is very easily broken down into a long detailed list of tips. What to do, what not to do, safety advice, where to go, what to post, how to be funny and witty, etc.
Some of the advice was common sense, but a lot of it was things you wouldn't normally think of but was ultimately quite logical.
Furthermore it didn't just apply to finding sex partners (although that is certainly the angle the anonymous writer went for). A lot of the advice pertained to online dating in general and could be used when making a Plenty of Fish account, posting personals on Craigslist and so forth.
So happy reading and doing-the-nasty or whatever it is you are looking for.
I recently took up snorkeling and I thought I would share which pieces of equipment I purchased.
#1. BODY GLOVE silicone swim mask - Basically a pair of goggles these bad boys offer shatter resistant lenses, UV protection for your eyes, fog free and a strap for binding it around your head.
I picked this particular one in the store because it was: The most manly one there. That is really just enough reason to me. I could have got the really tiny swim goggles (for pansies) or some big huge honking goggles (for dorks), but I chose this one because it was normal looking and I didn't feel I would be embarrassed wearing them in public.
And not being embarrassed to wear something in public (ie. a god-awful ugly bicycle helmet) is reason enough for me. I don't think it matters so much what company it is so long as its quality, doesn't leak and you look good in it.
I chose the black goggles because I figured black matches everything.
#2. DIVE N' SURF professional dive snorkel - 100% submersible (meaning I can dive farther under and then come back up to breathe later as opposed to just floating near the surface), an attachment for my goggles, a purge valve and it is blue so I even liked the colour.
You can get a set for this which also comes with matching ugly goggles and fins, but I opted for JUST the snorkel because the goggles were so ugly and I don't want to wear fins. (Pourquoi? Les fins es tres embarrassing.)
Sadly I couldn't find a photo online of the snorkel without the set so instead I opted for a photo of a hot chick snorkeling. Huzzah!
I like the fact that it is 100% submersible. It has a piece which floats upwards and blocks off the tube to prevent water from getting in when going completely under, snorkel et al. However in actual practice I seem to have difficulty getting myself to go really far underwater. I guess I either float naturally or I am not that good at diving under.
Maybe I just need more practice.
#3. SPEEDO nose plugs - This is arguably the most important part of my snorkeling equipment. Without the nose plugs I simply can't control my breathing through my nose and end up having to pinch my nose when under water to prevent myself from inhaling. The nose plugs work wonderfully and make everything much easier.
HOT TIP: If you have to sneeze go back up first.
Happy snorkeling this summer and whenever else you get a chance!
When living in Canada there are several things you learn to expect.
#1. Sometimes websites (especially if you live in or near Quebec) will be in French.
#2. If the website is really professional they will have an English version of the website. In this example Déménagement Montréal is a moving and storage company in Montreal, and surprise surprise, they have an English version of their website.
C'est magnifique!
#3. If the website is really good they may even have videos showing what they do. Often the videos will be amateurish but they get the point across.
#4. If they're REALLY REALLY GOOD they will even have a professionally made video like the one below (which frankly really impressed me). So for those of you looking for "déménageur Montréal" (whatever that means...) you get sold on the quality of their service pretty quickly when you see how much quality their video has.
#5. I also really like it when people shown on their website dress professionally. Not necessarily suits and ties, but crisp clean clothing, well groomed people always makes a good impression on me.
#6. No annoying music. Call it a major turnoff but when a website has auto music on then its automatically annoying. However for the website in question, adtmoving.com, I like the fact that the only possible source of music is the video and its actually well chosen music (with no distracting lyrics).
#7. A well designed website always impresses me. Especially when its easy to contact the company. What does annoy me about the adtmoving.com site is that they don't list their email address and use a form mail instead. Form mails are ANNOYING to fill out (and often have errors in them). Plus you send the message and you have no idea if they actually received it and no record of what you asked them. It is my opinion that it is ALWAYS better to have a direct email to contact the company. Having a phone number helps too, but if I only have a question sometimes its better to just send a quick email. Having to fill out a form mail just doesn't cut it.
PET PEEVE: Websites which ONLY have form mail. SUPER ANNOYING!
#8. I also like it when companies have 1-800 numbers. Always handy.
So in summation I give adtmoving.com 4 stars out of 5, but it could have been better if they didn't have that annoying form mail on their website. I have never used their service but their video really impressed me.
When it comes to moving companies I have NEVER actually used any. Myself, family and friends have always just come together for a big move and had a BBQ or pizza party after the move is done.
ie. This past weekend I helped a friend in North York carry over 100 bags of dirt from a truck to the backyard for landscaping, +8 pieces of drywall and 6 huge things of insulation up to the 3rd floor where some repairs were being done. After we had a BBQ of hamburgers and beef hot dogs / sausages.
And don't forget free beer! And then the group of us hung out for a couple hours and relaxed.
So in my mind if moving things is an excuse to have a party, then why would anyone bother with a moving company unless they didn't have any friends? In which case sucks to be you.
In this era of drugs for everything from preventing erectile dysfunction to anti-wrinkle creams and any number of medications that may or may not work... it really does make you wonder who is lying to you more.
The Big Pharmaceutical companies producing patented drugs with tonnes of side-effects (ensuring that you need to take additional medications just for the side-effects).
or
The small time Naturopathic Healers pushing herbal remedies (although to be fair, many modern drugs like Aspirin were discovered thanks to herbal remedies and determining what the active ingredient is... acetacylic acid found in birch bark = Aspirin).
For example purposes I would like to avoid mentioning companies I don't actually like, so lets start off with the companies I do LIKE.
LIKE
Ibuprofen 400 mg (aka Advil)
Acetaminophen 650 mg (aka Tylenol Arthritis)
Echinacea (not for colds, I buy it for its tissue regrowth properties)
Creatine (found in red meat but also available as a pill it boosts energy sent to muscle tissue, and when combined with Echinacea it DRAMATICALLY boosts muscle tissue regrowth)
Any kind of multivitamin
Vitamin D
Iron Supplements
I also have some muscle relaxants I sometimes use when I hurt myself weightlifting, they're in a drawer somewhere but I can't seem to find them.
Now most of these medications you can find in your local pharmacy. But what happens when you CANNOT find them? ie. I sometimes have trouble finding pharmacies that sell Creatine.
Well then you will have to look online for DCA (cancer killing drug that isn't patented and thus big pharma won't produce it) or whatever you happen to be looking for.
For example lets say you are having problems sleeping at night (hair loss or trouble maintaining an erection would be more funny, but whatever lets pick something that is relatively boring).
Some doctors refuse to prescribe sleeping pills because they are worried some patients might abuse the medication (sleeping pills can be addictive) or even attempt suicide with them.
And pharmacists typically won't sell sleeping pills without a doctor's prescription, mostly because they are worried about people becoming dependent on sleeping pills.
So where do you go? What do you do? You could try chamomile tea, red wine, turkey or other herbal remedies, but maybe you've already tried that and want something more powerful.
Enter Eszopiclone. Ahem, aka Lunesta, a mild sedative drug created by Sepracor. Its out there, but you can't always find it in a pharmacy because usually they're pushing the heavier sedatives for people with chronic insomnia.
But if you mild to moderate insomnia then a 2mg or 3mg dose of eszopiclone (Lunesta) would probably do the trick.
In the USA alone there are over 45 million prescriptions for insomnia medications EVERY YEAR. It is a $3 billion annual business for pharmaceutical companies and much of it is based on charging people large amounts of cash for heavy sedatives with lots of side-effects.
Where in contrast eszopiclone (Lunesta) is a mild sedative and has relatively mild side effects like headaches, dizziness, drowsiness, etc which means you should lower your dosage because you are taking too much. For fun I read the full list of side effects (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eszopiclone) and it includes AMNESIA.
Wow. A pill that causes amnesia. I bet there are some women out there who had one-night-stands they would like to forget. Someone should be marketing "Forget-Last-Night Pills".
Anyway the point is you can now buy Lunesta online and many other types of pills. The website in question, buylunestaonline.net, tells you all Eszopiclone benefits, side effects and so on.
And there is a Big Red Button at the top for if you want to order online right now (always handy when websites have that button)... at which point it takes you to an ordering website wherein the minimum price for a bottle of 30 pills is $103.50.
At which point you realize that the pharmaceutical companies are really raking in the dough, but hey, if they make a good quality drug that solves what ails you then more power to them.
Now if they could get around to selling more DCA (Dichloroacetic acid, aka the cure for cancer) then I'd be happier.
