Internet Phone - Stationary Phones' Superior Phone Service

I’ve been intrigued to write this article by our recent experience with a local phone service. In the area where our new home is located, there’s only one phone company available at the moment.

The day after we got our new phone number, the phone started ringing off the hook. Telemarketers’ offers and special deals for “new home owners only” were pouring in at an unbelievable pace, morning till night to the point when we simply unplugged the phone because that was a lot more than we would ever be willing to take.

The funny thing is that unplugging the phone was perfectly fine since we’ve never got a chance to notify anyone of our new home phone number. We were far too busy answering the “spam phone calls”.

Therefore, with access to hi-speed Internet (broadband Internet connection), anybody’s best choice in stationary phones is to do some research on Internet phone companies.

Why internet phone?

Five obvious reasons:

#1 Internet phone calls are reliable, in high quality

#2 Very likely, you Internet phone will be the cheapest phone service ever

#3 Unbelievably low international rates

#4 Internet phone service usually comes with an option to have a video phone

#5 Equally price and quality efficient for home or business

It is always smart to take some time, do some research and compare different providers side by side: their installation fees, price of subscription, the price of local and long distance calls, and especially international rates which have a tendency to sky-rocket your phone bill (with certain providers).

In case the content of this writing lured you toward checking the Internet phone services and providers out, packe8.net is the one you should certainly consider.

We’ve been using it for about three years and are more than happy to plug-in our phone again into their service, especially after we had a chance to compare their services and rates to the ones from a short relationship with a local phone company.

Copyright © 2006-2007 by Daria Perse. All rights reserved.

'Take for Granted' Meaning While Living In Abundance

On Saturday morning I went to the farmers' market. Buying the usual weekly supply of fruits and vegetables, my last stop was at the pretty Chinese lady's stand where I was buying pounds and pounds of persimmons for the last few weeks. She was smiling at me as usually, recognizing my face and welcoming my interest in this extraordinary fruit, often referred to by Greeks as the 'food of the Gods' or 'kaki' in Japan.

While I was loading the fruits that looked the most ripe to me, the Chinese lady told me that the persimmons were now out of season and that this was one of the last days she was still selling them. I wasn't happy about hearing that. I got so used to have an abundance of persimmons on my kitchen counter week after week that I almost forgot that soon they wouldn't be available any more.

It has to be the nature of the human (or our ego) that we so easily take for granted everything that's available to us in bounty. We forget to be grateful (without even noticing it) and the biggest flaw is - we cease to enjoy all the plentiful goodies!

That is a shame because the persimmons aren't less sweet because I bought a few pounds of the ripe-tomato-like looking crop instead of a single fruit, and their nutrition value doesn't change with quantity available, either.

At first sight bad news about the fast approaching end of the season for one of my favorite treats, became unexpectedly a very beneficial reminder. When I started eating my first kaki this morning, I suddenly remembered that this might be one of the last of its kind until late next fall. Believe me, I enjoyed every bite of the ripe, nutritious fruit tremendously, appreciating the rich taste, the pleasing texture and the seasonal color, thanking God for everything good in my life.

Copyright © 2006 by Daria Perse. All rights reserved.

Inspirational Message Mirror - An Art-Piece that Should not Miss in Anyone's Home

For more than 25 years, Pamela and Charles Bogdonoff from Virginia have been creating stained glass mosaics. Their creations come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes, as birdbaths, mirrors, tiles and stepping stones, sun catchers, wall plaques and table tops, as well as cabinet panels and transom panels.

Every single piece of glass used in laying pieces into mosaic pattern is hand-picked because of its exquisite color and quality. After that it has to be carefully cut and ground in fine detail of another admirable stained glass art product by Pam and Charley.

But that is not what's so special about their artwork they make with so much love and devotion. What really separates them from so many artists who use glass to express their creativity in glass are their Inspirational Message Mirrors. They were inspired by Charles being diagnosed with cancer.

Ever since that time, inspiring words like: JOY, LOVE, BELIEVE, FAITH, DREAM, IMAGINE and others are incorporated in their message mirrors to motivate and heal themselves and others who decide to enrich their living space with one of Pamela and Charles' Message Mirrors.

There's no shortage of shapes, sizes or motives in the selection of Message Mirrors from this husband-and-wife art-team. There's something for everyone. Besides, they are still healing and you should know in your heart that whenever you decide to buy one of their products, you not only make your home more delightful, but also acquire a gracious art piece and foremost, support Charley in his healing from cancer.

To see Pamela and Charley's art pieces, visit:
http://www.laughingglass.byregion.net

Copyright © 2006 by Daria Perse. All rights reserved.

Simple Living Guide: Healthy Priorities and Healthy Finances

I’ve never been a financial expert and I have serious doubts that I’ll ever have time to become one (with all the things that interest me). But this morning I all of a sudden realized how the foundation of healthy personal finances starts with setting the healthy priorities.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a person entering the second half of your life, younger or older, the quality of life and priorities are something we should all be thinking about. Quality doesn’t necessarily mean luxury or expensive things. Little things that make us happy every time we see them or use them and things that make us feel better add to the quality of our life so much more than the shiniest car, a fur coat, or a piece of jewelry. Wait, I’m not saying that we should give up the material possessions to become happy... No, we deserve all the best! But we should cover the basics first.

Maybe you’re upset about how much it costs you to take your kid to school (and back home) every week. Maybe you’re complaining how expensive the schools are. For our own good we should not classify the cost of the education under the expense category. Because learning is always an investment into everybody’s better future: your kid’s, yours and better future of this whole planet.

Maybe you’re fine with the school cost but you’re paying a lot (to rent or own) a big screen TV when at the same time you’re short on money when you need an herb remedy from the health food store which would really make you feel better. In my personal opinion, TV is something that we all have but we could leave just as happily without it and small screen is big enough to see the shows we really enjoy.

On the other hand, something like natural progesterone lotion, tea tree oil, black cohosh root pills, herbal tea that you find beneficial or healthier fruits and veggies from the local farmer’s market. will definitely improve the essential quality or your life.

To satisfy this kind of basic needs of your body and everyday living means a big improvement in excellence of your life, healthy priorities and in the aftermath - healthier finances.

Simple Living Guide: Post Office Services from the Comfort of Your Home

When was the last time you’ve visited the official USPS webpage www.usps.com?
If it’s been a while, it’s time to pay a visit a gain! There were quite a few changes and improvements introduced lately. Plus, the webpage offers more and more services you can use from your computer - in the comfort of your home. This conveniently means: no driving to the post office, no standing in line - and more.

The variety of actions you can take from "the post office in your home" is growing. All you need to do to get the access to entire commodity is - to open an online account - and you'll be ready to go!

Following is the list of services that are really useful: they can save a lot of time (and gas):
· Buy stamps online: For a flat S&H charge of $1.00, you can have any quantity of stamps delivered to your door via priority mail. What I personally like the most about shopping for stamps online is - USPS online store has the most complete selection of all the stamps issued. You can buy different stamps every time or even match the stamp theme with the nature of your mailing.

· Are you moving? In that case change your address online. You can also arrange the holding of your mail if you’re going away for a while.

· Check the rates and compare the services: If you happen to have a postal scale at home, it’s really useful to use the "Calculate Postage" link from the USPS’s home page. You can get the exact price and all the services offered. After you decide which service you need, check out the special services if you feel like you need some extras to guarantee the delivery.

· Order your shipping supplies and forms: If you’re mailing frequently, using the same forms and shipping supplies over and over again, order them online. All the forms are free and so are some shipping supplies (like priority mail envelopes and boxes). Although the delivery is also free of charge, count on about five business days before you receive your order.

· Print postage and labels online: Click-N-Ship® is one of the newest services offered by USPS. It’s convenient and there’s no monthly fee for using it. The downside is that it only includes certain more expensive services (for example: Priority Mail®, Express Mail® etc.).

Maybe you don’t mind going to the post office whenever you need to. Particularly if one’s close to your home or work. But even if that’s true, you might want to check out the new issues of stamps every now and then at USPS.com.