PORTABLE MAGIC MINI STAIR STEPPER LEG EXERCISE AS SEEN ON TV -BURN ALL THOSE CALORIES! On Sales

1. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.
2. Check your email.
3. Read over the assignment carefully, to make certain you understand it.
4. Walk down to the vending machines and buy some coffee to help you concentrate.
5. Check your email.
6. Stop off at another floor, on the way back and visit with your friend from class. If your friend hasn’t started the paper yet either, you can both walk to McDonald’s and buy a hamburger to help you concentrate. If your friend shows you her paper, typed, double-spaced and bound in one of those irritating see-thru plastic folders, drop her.
7. When you get back to your room, sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.
8. Read over the assignment again to make absolutely certain you understand it.
9. Check your email.
10. You know, you haven’t written to that kid you met at camp since fourth grade. You’d better write that letter now and get it out of the way so you can concentrate.
11. Look at your teeth in the bathroom mirror.
12. Listen to one side of your favorite tape and that’s it, seriously, as soon as it’s over you are going to start that paper.
13. Listen to the other side.
14. Check your email.
15. Rearrange all of your CDs into alphabetical order.
16. Phone your friend on the other floor and ask if she’s started writing yet. Exchange derogatory remarks about your teacher, the course, the college, the world at large.
17. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.
18. Read over the assignment again; roll the words across your tongue; savor their special flavor.
19. Check your email.
20. Check the newspaper listings to make sure you aren’t missing something truly worthwhile on TV. NOTE: When you have a paper due in less than 12 hours, anything on TV from Masterpiece Theater to “Sgt. Preston of the Yukon” is truly worthwhile, with these exceptions:
a) Pro Bowlers Tour
b) any movie starring Don Ameche
21. Catch the last hour of “Soul Brother of Kung Fu” on Channel 26.
22. Phone your friend on the third floor to see if he was watching. Discuss the finer points of the plot.
23. Check your email.
24. Look at your tongue in the bathroom miror.
25. Look through your roommate’s book of pictures from home. Ask whoeveryone is.
26. Sit down and do some serious thinking about your plans for the future.
27. Open your door and check to see if there are any mysterious, trenchcoated strangers lurking in the hall.
28. Check your email.
29. Sit in a straight, comfortable chair in a clean, well-lighted place with plenty of freshly sharpened pencils.
30. Read over the assignment one more time, just for heck of it.
31. Scoot your chair across the room to the window and watch the sunrise.
32. Lie face down on the floor and moan.
33. Check your email.
34. Leap up and write the paper.
35. Type the paper, and while you’re at it, check your email.
36. Complain to everyone that you didn’t get any sleep because you had to write that darn paper.

Throughout the past several months living in my new apartment (an older apartment tower that has been newly renovated… we’re the first to live in this current unit), I have had a few unusual things happen. About once a month or so, I will wake up to find that my phone has been disconnected from its charging cable. I generally just discount this as not actually having plugged it in when I thought I had. The charger is always connected to the wall, but the connector comes unplugged from the phone… it happens, right? On one occasion, however, I woke up twice during the night to get a drink and found that my phone had been unplugged both times and had to plug it back into the charger. The next morning, it was once again disconnected and the phone died later during the day while I was at work. I took it with a grain of salt, and didn’t take it too seriously, even though the phone charges on the opposite side of the bedroom from where I sleep and I know nothing could have unplugged it.

What has me startled tonight is what happened this evening while we were watching the fireworks. This afternoon, we were watching TV and eating some snacks when we decided to go downstairs to swim. We swam and then came back upstairs and watched TV a while longer before turning it off and stepping outside to watch the fireworks. After, we stepped back inside and my friend and I decided we wanted to play Nintendo, so I went to set up the system and found that the machine would not turn on… so I checked if it was unplugged, which it was. I first assumed that, sure, we had probably unplugged it to make room for something else to plug in to the power strip behind the media cabinet, as we don’t use the Nintendo very often. I easily plugged the cord back into the power strip, though, as there were a least three open outlets. I then plugged the A/V cords into the TV and hit the power button on the TV. The TV would not turn on. I pressed the power button several more times and it would not turn on… I first thought it was broken, then checked to see if it was unplugged like the Nintendo. I checked and it had been unplugged as well. The cord was several inches from its outlet in the power strip. So I plugged it in and it worked fine.

Nobody unplugged the TV. We were watching it, went outside, and when we returned inside, it had been unplugged. This happening makes me question the times when my cell phone used to come unplugged as well. Is it possible for a ghost to unplug appliances? I know that ghosts do not have much physical strength in our world but can move and hide things. Should I be worried? Is there anything I should do to communicate with this ghost if there is one?

1.Ride mechanical horses with coins fished out of the reflecting pond.
2.Try pants on backwards at the Gap. Ask the salesperson if they make your butt look big.
3.Dial 900 numbers from demonstration phones in Radio Shock.
4.Sneeze on the sample tray at Hickory Farms and helpfully volunteer to consume its now unwanted contents.
5.At the bottom of an escalator, scream, “MY SHOELACES! AAAGH!”
6.Ask the sales personnel at the music store whether inflated CD prices are in pesos or rubles.
7.Teach pet store parrots new vocabulary that makes them unsalable.
8.Stomp on ketchup packets at Burger Queen,…
9….But save a few to slurp on as snacks. Tell people that they’re, “astronaut food”.
10.Follow patrons of D. Balton’s around while reading aloud from Dianetics.
11.Ask mall cops for stories of World War I.
12.Ask a salesman why a particular TV is labeled black and white and insist that it’s a color set. When he disagrees, give him a strange look and say, “You mean you really can’t see it?”
13.Construct a new porch deck in the tool department of Sears.
14.Wear pancake makeup and new clothes and pose as a fashion dummy in clothes appartments, occasionally screaming without warning.
15.Test mattresses in your pajamas.
16.Ask the tobacconist if his hovercraft is full of eels.
17.If you’re patient, stare intently into a surveillance camera for an hour while rocking from side to side.
18.Sprint up the down escalator.
19.Stare at static on a display TV and challenge other shoppers whether they, too, can see the, “hidden picture”.
20.Ask appliance personnel if they have a combo toaster/washing machine.
21.Make unusual requests at the Piercing Pagoda.
22.Ask a salesperson in the hardware department how well a particular saw cuts through bone.
23.At the pet store, ask if they have bulk discounts on gerbils, and whether there’s much meat on them.
24.Hula dance by the demonstration air conditioner.
25.Ask for red-tinted lenses at the optometrist.
26.Sneak up on saleswomen at the perfume counter and spray them with your own bottle of Eau de Swanke.
27.Rummage through the jelly bean bin at the candy store, insisting that you lost a contact lens.
28.Ask a saleswoman whether a particular shade of panties matches the color of your beard.
29.In the changing rooms, announce in a singsong voice, “I see London, I see France…”
30.Leave on the plastic string connecting a new pair of shoes, and wander around the mall taking two-inch steps.
31.Play the tuba for change.
32.Ask the Hammond organ dealer if he can play, “Jesus Built My Hotrod”.
33.Record belches on electronic sampling keyboards, and perform gastric versions of Jingle Bells for admiring onlookers.
34.Ask the pharmacist at the drugstore which leading cold remedy will, “give you a really wicked buzz”.
35.Ask the personnel at Peer 1 Imports whether they have, “any giant crap made out of straw”.
36.”Toast” plastic gag hot dogs in front of the fake fireplace display.
37.Collect stacks of paint brochures and hand them out as religious tracts.
38.Ask the information desk for a stroller, and someone to push you around in it.
39.Change every TV in the electronics department to a station showing, “Saved by the Bell”. Chant the dialogue in a robotic voice, and scream if anyone tries to switch channels on one of the sets.
40.Hang out in the waterbed section of the furniture department wearing a Navy uniform. Occasionally run around in circles yelling, “scratch one flattop!”
41.Hand a stack of pants back to the changing room attendant and scornfully announce that none of them are, “leak proof”.
42.”Play” the demo modes of video games at the arcade. Make lots of explosion noises.
43.Stand transfixed in front of a mirror bobbing your head up and down.
44.Pay for all your purchases with two-dollar bills to provoke arguments over whether they’re real.
45.If it’s Christmas, ask the mall Santa to sit on your lap.
46.Answer any unattended service phones that ring in department stores and say, “Thank you for calling Pizza Hut, home of the Big Foot Big Six. May I take your order please?”
47.Try on flea collars at the pet store while occasionally pausing to scratch yourself.
48.At the stylist, ask to have the hair on your back permed.
49.Show people your driver’s license and demand to know, “whether they’ve seen this man.”
50.Buy a jawbreaker from the candy store. Return fifteen minutes later, fish it out of your mouth, and demand to know why it hasn’t turned blue yet
give me star plz!!!if found weird or interesting.

By Thomas Gerbasi

Nearly 21 years ago, a teenager named Marco Antonio Barrera stepped through the ropes for the first time as a professional with a simple philosophy, one that had nothing to do with his middle class upbringing, the looks that earned him the nickname “The Baby Faced Assassin”, or his dreams of one day becoming a lawyer.

That would all get left at the steps leading into the ring in Mexico City, and as he told me in 2005, what happened in combat was akin to entering a different world, one where you might not be recognizable to those who knew you in your civilian life. You were now something different, more primal, and it had everything to do with the color of your passport.

“A Mexican believes that once you sign that contract, you go into that ring and leave it all there – all your anger, your pride, everything,” said Barrera. “And whether you win or lose, you can never come back and say that I should have done this, or I should have done that.”

All guts, all glory, no regrets, no what ifs or could have beens. The 15 year old Barrera won his first pro fight that night on November 22, 1989, stopping David Felix in two rounds. And while Felix would go on to become the answer to a trivia question, the topic of the question, Barrera, went on to greatness.

The facts are there – 65 wins in 73 fights with 43 knockouts, world titles in three weight classes, a classic trilogy with Erik Morales, and bouts against the best of this era, including Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Prince Naseem Hamed, Paulie Ayala, Johnny Tapia, Kevin Kelley, Junior Jones, and Kennedy McKinney.

And at 36, he is still here.

That shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, this is boxing, and boxers never leave until forcibly shown the door by younger, faster, stronger opponents. To Barrera’s credit, the only one who has given him that one-sided type of retirement party was pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, who did it twice, in 2003 and 2007. As for his only other two losses since June of 2000, a 2007 decision defeat against Juan Manuel Marquez was competitive, and deemed controversial in some quarters, and his last bout, a fifth round technical decision loss against young gun Amir Khan, ended prematurely due to a cut. Would he have beaten Khan that night in March of 2009? Probably not, but there is enough of a question mark due to the cut, as well as the possibility of late fight heroics from Barrera.

So predictably, Barrera dusted himself off – and not for the first time, as he has threatened retirement in the past – got back in the gym, and he will return to action Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, to take on Adailton De Jesus of Brazil.

“I never really left,” said Barrera. “I have always been there and was just taking a rest. Now I am here for maybe two, three or four fights. In México City the TV is open and all the people will get to see me fight. I want to show all of México how I can still fight.”

And even though De Jesus is no top contender, he packs enough pop to test Barrera’s chin and his willingness to dig deep for a victory should the fight go longer than seven rounds or so. In other words, he’s the perfect truth machine for a 36-year old fighter looking for one more run at making history.

“The idea is to fight for a world title in a short time,” said Barrera, who is looking to win a world title in a fourth weight class. “I know that I can and my body is good. I have experience and I don’t know the name of a champion that I will fight but I know that I am ready and will prove it in this fight. After that I will fight any champion. It doesn’t matter.”

Barrera has certainly hitched onto the promotional vehicle that can get him there sooner rather than later in Top Rank. Not only do they work with WBC champ Humberto Soto and WBA titlist Miguel Acosta, but they will also move Barrera in a way where he will see where he’s at physically before jumping into the fire. It’s a great pairing, but also an odd one, considering that Barrera used to be the one on the other side of the ring punching Top Rank fighters.

“He is a great fighter but I have to say, as Marco will tell you, he was always in the opposite corner,” said Top Rank boss Bob Arum. “He gave fighters that I was promoting fits. Now I am happy that we are in the same corner and I hope to have him, very shortly, fighting for a lightweight championship, maybe against Soto or maybe against Acosta – both fighters are under contract with Top Rank and so he’ll have that opportunity to fight for a fourth world title and become the first Mexican to win world titles in four weight divisions. So I look forward to being in his corner when that happens.”

Barrera is all in, so is Arum, but will the fans be? You know the answer to that, just like you know that if Mike Tyson returned tomorrow, you would have your cable remote in hand to order the fight. There are certain names in the sport that have earned
sorry article got cut off

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=28761

i would love to see him step back into the ring.

The news was filled with him.

“James Cartright.”

“James Cartright.”

His picture was on every TV set. Every wanted poster across the nation. Specials were run on him. Kids feared him. He was a household name in the worst way possible.

“James Cartright, serial killer.”

I stared fixedly at the TV screen in front of me, a bowl of popcorn in my lap. They were reviewing all the children, girls, he’s murdered again.

“Abigail Wilson, age 14.” A beautiful brunette girl surrounding by her friends at cheerleading practice appeared on the screen.

A brief flicker and a petite blonde girl holding a puppy replaced her,
“Trish Stanton, age 11.”

Another flicker and an older girl dressed as the devil, must have been Halloween, appeared on the screen,
“Nicole Summers, age 16.”

My eyes began to water, all those girls, those poor girls. Abruptly I reached for the remote, just as another girl flashed onto the screen.

“Rachel…”

I turned off the TV.

One would think all my years studying psychology, followed by my own practice, would get me more used to this sort of thing. That I would have developed an immunity to the world’s troubles and automatically understand why people do the things they do. But that’s not the case. I don’t understand people like James Cartright and I never will.

With a slight groan, I ran my hands over and down my face. I know better than to watch the news. What’s an old saying, “Don’t bring your work home with you.” ? Well it’s hard not too with my job. Where everyone is a project. A study. Something to be analyzed, like a lab rat. But someone like James Cartright? They’re too far gone.

There I go, thinking of him again.

Sighing, I grabbed my popcorn bowl. According to the clock, a coo coo clock just above my small TV set, it was 9:30. Way past my 9:00 bedtime and I must be bright eyed and bushy tailed for my 8:00 appointment. I’d hate to disappoint Mr. Jenkins about as much as he’d hate to see me disappoint him.

I rose from my couch.

I need a maid. I thought, looking around my over furnished living room.

“Or a storage room.” I said under my breath, tripping over my mother’s antique footstool on my way to the kitchen.

She passed away four months ago and I still don’t have the heart to do anything with her stuff. Sarah wants to sell it, but then again, she was always mom’s least favorite daughter.

Collecting myself, and the few pieces of popcorn that got flung from the bowl, I stepped into my small, on second thought, very small kitchen. That barely fit me, let alone Sasha, my Maine Coon kitten. A last Christmas present from my mom.

Where was Sasha anyway? I wondered for a moment before dawning on me, “She’s probably already in bed. The little bed hog.” I muttered, hurrying to dump out my popcorn.

Only six months old, and Sasha has already grown large enough and old enough to develop a fetish for covers ownership, “Sasha, you better move over!” I yelled, hurriedly scrubbing my bowl, “I don’t want to have another talk with you again!”

I placed the bowl in the dishwasher, shaking my head at myself. I’m beginning to be as crazy as my patients. Talking to a cat. I thought, chuckling as I walked a few short steps to my bedroom. Which, like the living room, was also crammed with stuff.

“Hmm.” It looked like a maze and, as small as the room is, I can’t even see my bed, let alone Sasha. Was it even this bad last night?

Huffing, I grabbed my mother’s blue quilt off her old sewing machine and stormed back into the living room. Guess it’s the couch for me tonight.
This is the second chapter.
Here’s the rest: http://stories.mibba.com/read/233675/James/