Knowledge is Power

Are you kidding? Is having a drunk driving offense (DUI) a badge of honor in today’s society? I suppose there are worse things to be proud of, such as the types of terrible things you have to do to get “jumped in” and join a street gang… Well, if you’ve hung around a whole bunch of bars lately as I have, you might take this more seriously.

As marketing director of a DUI lawyer referral website, DWI has been on my mind quite a bit lately. In fact, I decided it would be important to interview 50-60 people who wear this badge of honor to see what they experienced when they were pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence of… drugs or alcohol, you pick.

I went to the bank and withdrew a whole bunch of five dollar bills and that night, off I went to the local bars to seek out interviewees. I figured offering someone five bucks to talk about their entanglement with the DUI police would be more than enough to get some juicy interviews.

And what better place to find people who’ve been arrested for DUI than a bar? If that sounds ridiculous to you, it sounded like a good idea to me, and it worked out just fine, actually!

Within the first 10 minutes at a local bar, I had found a young guy in his twenties who told me when he was pulled over, he blew a 0.13 and was taken into custody and thrown into the local “drunk tank” for an overnight stay before he got to see a judge. He ended up hiring a DUI attorney through the internet, spent one more day in jail, and ended up paying about $6,000 besides his ignition interlock fees and 3 alcohol counseling sessions.

The rest of my night was spent talking to about 3 other ex-DUI arrestees, and here’s where the crazy part comes in. None of the people I spoke to seemed too traumatized by their experience, and over the next week, I talked to about 7 young men whose friends had had their own DUIs. It wasn’t unusual to get one talking about his experience when his friends would chime in and start comparing “experiences”.

It was as if having a drunk driving conviction was the new “sheik”! Who’s ignition interlock was the most sensitive? Who had blown the highest BAC? Did you have to do the field sobriety test, well I did! It was bragging rights all around from what I could tell, and I was astonished.

Well, it ended up that I got the data I wanted, straight from the horse’s mouth, but needless to say, I was surprised by what I heard when I wasn’t asking questions. I don’t think we’ll be taking this into account when we’re running our myDUIattorney.org DUI lawyer referral site, but you never know. A badge of honor is just that.

Richard Jacobs is marketing director of myDUIattorney.org a new DUI lawyer referral service for those unfortunate people who have been arrested for driving under the influence and put through the meat grinder of the justice system.

You’ve made it to the writing process and you have done the right pitch necessary for your content that absolutely worked out. So what’s next? You’ve done editing and formatting your text in order to organize necessary information out of the topic that was given unto you. How about submit your work to your editor, teacher or to your boss. Then suddenly, they had asked you to cut down your writing’s word count. Ever feel disappointed about it? You shouldn’t have.

Has anyone scolded you for filling your writing with too many unnecessary words? If you’ve been spending your editing time trying to get rid of excessive word usage, we might be able to help.

The following is a list of specific items you can look for that will help reduce wordiness in your writing immediately, apart from using a good grammar software. They are extremely helpful because they are mistakes even the best writers can make when composing their first drafts.

1. Omit phrases like “it is,” “there is,” and “there are” during the start of sentences. Rewrite the sentence to make sense without them.

2. Remove verb phrases using “which” and “that” (e.g. “which performs”), replacing them with the “-ing” form of the verb (e.g. “performing”). In general, check all instances of “which” and “that” in your situations, looking for opportunities to remove it.

3. Omit “this” from the start of a simple sentence by combining it with a previous sentence.

4. Replace “should,” “could” and “would” with stronger verbs. It will not only shorten your copy, it will make your statements better and sound more confident.

5. Replace “-ing” verbs with a simple present or past tense form, whenever possible. For instance, a verb like “is happening” can be updated to “happened”.

6. In the case of two sentences, where the second one serves as an explanation to the first, you can combine them by using a colon instead. (e.g. “I ate my favorite food. It’s no other than ice cream.” to “I ate my favorite food: ice cream”).

In some situations, there are times where you don’t notice how you use excessive words in your content. Also, the fact that these words didn’t play any important role in your writing, it is better to get rid of these words as soon as your finish working out with your piece. What you need to do is to go over with your editing process. As you eliminate such words that are not that important in your content, you may find that your piece can stand alone well without it.

You don’t need to be disturb about it since most writers have to deal with this issue, word counting. That means, whether you’re writing for a certain school requirements, publications and even if its part of your job, it is better to determine how many words should your content must have.

Although you only need to omit certain words that are not essential in your sentences, there are times where they can be tough to handle. It may only disturb us for a while on how to minimize your word count but it’s a good challenge for you to become a good writer and grammar-observer.

Find out how to write perfect English letters, reports and emails by writing less. See Grammar Software in action! Read more

Crib bedding design houses have accumulated exponentially over the course of the past twenty years, and parents preparing a space for a little one have definitely benefited from the massive infusion of nursery linens now readily available in a host of stunning styles and colors. Of course, the sheer scope of the selection leaves many shoppers feeling a little bewildered as they begin their quest.

Companies who create and sell bedding for infants are dedicated to offering mothers and fathers affordable linens that mesh with their home’s existing decor. Infinite modern and traditional designs flood the market, but so too does an ever expanding group of truly unique linen ensembles, defined by their clever combination of time-honored details (like applique) and a decidedly contemporary approach to the use of color.

As you begin to accumulate all of the essential gear needed to properly outfit your beloved son’s haven, you will probably find yourself turning again and again to thoughts about baby boy bedding. Linens are the focal point of any baby’s room, and most decorators find themselves torn between their longing to create a beautiful space and their determination not to go over budget.

Bedding designers and manufacturers have addressed this challenge by developing well coordinated decorative ensembles that include all essential linens along with a host of matching accessories. These very reasonably priced sets leave shoppers with a fully dressed nursery and, better yet, a little extra cash in their pockets. The popularity of these collections has grown by leaps and bounds, since they are offered in so many different styles and patterns.

Baby bedding brands are too numerous to list here, but a few of the most well-regarded companies definitely deserve recognition. Trend Lab manufactures and sells skillfully crafted attractive linen sets that have found their way into millions of nurseries in the past decade. Like many of their competitors, Trend Lab markets a wide range of styles to grateful consumers who are drawn to the bedding’s good looks, easy care and affordability.

JoJo Designs has also enjoyed a meteoric rise as a result of its consistent commitment to safety and quality, to say nothing of its ongoing effort to produce fashionable linens at moderate prices. Both of these brands have stellar track records, and you should keep them in mind as you begin your online search for the perfect bedding and accessories for your precious little boy.

Baby bedding sets are a vitally important component of your baby’s life because infants spend a lot of on them. You should spend a bit of time to find some unique and attractive infant crib sets, but beauty is only a small part of the equation. It’s very important that you feel convinced about the safety of your baby’s sleeping environment.

It’s sometimes easy for new parents to get overcome by the onslaught of information about what they should and should not do for their little one. Whether it’s acquaintances, relatives, or well-meaning strangers, it seems just about everyone has an opinion to offer. To add to the confusion, it seems like every other day, news channels show another baby product that’s been recalled for being dangerous to babies. Amid this confusion, it’s hard to be confident, but if your baby bedding set is brand new, it probably meets all the safety criteria.

Smart parents, though, have realized that they can have an attractive nursery without spending too much money by purchasing an affordable baby crib bedding set. A convertible crib comes at a much cheaper rate with higher savings. This is because your baby will be able to use both bedding and furniture all through his toddler years.

Crib sheet sets are a crucial part of your nursery because your infant will spend many hours on them. Choosing the design and color for your infant’s crib sets, is just the tip of the iceberg. The place where your baby sleeps should keep him/her out of harm’s way and it is vital that you feel this to be so.

The vast amount of information given concerning how to care for your children, can at times be overwhelming for new parents. Everyone has their own individual opinion about the way something should be done, it doesn’t matter who it is. On a regular basis, we see news that baby products are being recalled because they are harmful in some way or another. This confuses the customers/parents. It’s not easy to be sure of yourself with all this confusion around you, but if it’s a brand new baby bedding set, all the safety criteria have probably been met already.

Fenella McPherson is a writer for Baby Bedding Zone, an online retailer of baby bedding, including a wide selection of baby bedding brands and Jojo Designs baby crib bedding.