The Internet is full of unscrupulous businesses of all kinds, and discount contacts stores and outlets are no exception. It may seem like a tough proposition to find one store among the rabble that can be trusted to deliver quality discount contacts. The consequence of failure is to end up dealing with a scam business looking for customers to cheat, or perhaps a poor-quality company that ships the wrong prescription, the wrong contact lenses, or an otherwise defective product.

When it comes to correcting vision, only the correct prescription will help. When it comes to correcting vision with something designed to make direct contact with the eye itself, nothing short of flawless precision is acceptable. The safety of one's vision is not worth wasting on the wrong company.

This is why it is important for to look for discount contacts dealers who have a professional business model. Look for those businesses that demonstrate concern; their mission should be to protect the health and eyesight of their customers because when it gets down to it that is precisely what they are doing. They must be professionals who see it as their duty to provide the best quality lenses because they are part of the eye care and the medical industry.

The simplest indication of the quality of a discount contacts dealers is how long it has been in business. The companies that have been around for a decade are a safer choice than those that started just last year. Years and years of experience show that a company knows what it is doing, that it has a solid base of customers who keep coming back for more, and that it has not been run out of business by law enforcement. All that experience is also likely to mean good connections in the eye care and medical optical business. That dealer is likely to have working relationships with the best manufacturers in the business, which in turn supplies them with great products at low prices.

It's important to realize that discount contacts need not be no-name brand contacts. Only buy from dealers who fill prescriptions with lenses from the manufacturers available, such as Bausch & Lomb, Johnson & Johnson, CIBA Vision, Wesley-Jessen, and others.

Purchase satisfaction, prompt shipping, no membership fees, safe shipping, low prices, and other bonus features are also important qualities in a prospective contact lens seller. The safety of the eyes is worth the effort and research to find a dealer on the Internet that can provide everything the customer needs at a fair price. Such dealers are out there, and it is necessary to find them. Take the time to do the search properly, and your eyes will thank you in the long run!

If you are planning to have an outdoor wedding in Las Vegas, you may want to take a closer look at The Secret Garden at the Las Vegas Racquet Club.  This wedding venue is located on the grounds of a private Las Vegas country club and offers a beautiful ten acre garden area for wedding ceremonies and receptions.  The garden features a gazebo, covered patio, pool with fountain, and plenty of twinkle lights.  The Secret Garden also offers a lovely indoor wedding pavilion which also features a gazebo and twinkle lights.  Although the country club is private, anybody can have a wedding there.

The Secret Garden offers several ceremony and reception packages.  Packages include a ceremony with an officiant, flowers, and a disc jockey who provides music for both the ceremony and reception.  Hors d’oeuvres and cocktail receptions or buffet style dinner and open bar receptions are offered and include a wedding cake.  The Secret Garden can also provide photography and videography services.

Another very interesting and unique feature that is offered by The Secret Garden is a vintage horse and carriage.  This can really add to the romantic atmosphere of an outdoor wedding.  They also have classic cars available and can arrange Elvis and themed weddings.

Packages at The Secret Garden run about a thousand dollars more on Saturdays than the rest of the week.  If you are not set on having your wedding on a Saturday, you can save yourself some money by choosing a different day of the week.

It is definitely worth your time to give The Secret Garden a closer look if you are planning an outdoor garden wedding.  Their packages include everything you need and take the pain out of planning a wedding.  And you can’t beat the wonderful atmosphere that they provide.

Unknown creatures from folk tales and myths have the ability to become as realistic as possible to the cultures that create them. Along with beliefs and theories on the existence of wild men in Asia and North America, comes the tales of a wild being or savage man that lived in early periods in England. These wild folk have been the heart of many English legends and stories, and were called the wodewose, from the Anglo-Saxon term wudawusa, which meant wood-dweller.

Though the wodewose was said to have existed in the region before the 15th century, tales about the wodewose flourished during the Elizabethan Era in the 16th century. The wodewose is described as a large bearded man whose entire body was covered in curly hair. He wore no articles of clothing, and carries with him a large wooden club. Late-medieval church art in the areas of Norfolk and Suffolk in East Anglia have thousands of depictions of the wodewose on their structures.

Images of the wodewose can be seen carved in stone and wood decorations on Anglican churches. There were even pictures and books printed during the 15th century which told of stories of appearances made by the wodewose. Some historians of the church believe that the wodewose was used to symbolized paganism, to further stress the contrast between opposing religions at that time. Many stone statues depicting the wodewose show the hairy man defeating a beast such as a lion or a dragon-like creature.

Variations of the name can be written or spoken as wudewasa, wudu, or wood houses. There have been explanations as to the significance of the wooden club carried by the wodewose. Historians theorize that the wodewose may have been some ancestor of ancient man, and during the periods of its existence, the wood-dweller has learned to fashion and used tools from wood.

It is also believed that the wodewose may have sprung from interpretations of the Greek myth, the satyr, or a creature that is half-man and half-beast. Some additional descriptions of the wodewose say that only the feet were not covered with thick hair. Like the Neanderthals, their brow ridges protruded, and they had deep-set eyes. Their arms were abnormally long, while their legs were shorter. Known to be shy creatures, the wodewose have been told be numerous accounts to appear to humans during the winter.

Many attempts to link the stories of the wodewose with that of the North American Bigfoot were made. Some accounts even claim that in many parts of the world, hominids exist up to the present day. Hominids are a species in which humans and primates originated. Various versions of the wodewose can be read about in Italian, Spanish, German, Norwegian, Chinese, Indonesian, Mongolian, and other cultural accounts.

Here are some names associated with creatures that bore similarities to the wodewose: vedi of Croatia, basajaun in Spain, sasquatch in Canada, yeren of China, and almas of Mongolia, yowie of Australia, yeti of Tibet and Nepal, and many others.

Alcoholism and its effects on one family's history are integral to the story being told in my novel, Shades of Darkness, Shades of Grace. The Pierson family portrayed in the book has suffered the blight of alcoholism for at least four generations, with two of the children, Kay and Paul, forced to confront their dependency. The point of this subplot is to not only illustrate the character's flaws, but to acknowledge that the problem of chemical dependency is a far-reaching one affecting many families. But Kay and Paul's struggles are meant to give the reader hope; hope that it is possible for addicts to reclaim their lives, finding grace or salvation in sobriety.

When Kay suspects Paul's drinking has reached levels that point to dependency and abuse, this is not the first time those concerns have been expressed by the Pierson family. After his first wife's death, Kay recognizes Paul's attempts to salve his pain through alcohol. Never actually confronting him, the Pierson family believes Paul has found redemption in Pamela, and they push their fears aside. The Pierson family makes the mistake that many families confronted with chemical dependency do – they rationalize that the problem was only temporary and has been dealt with satisfactorily. But as Kay and her Mother realize Paul does have a problem, Kay recounts the Pierson family history and its path of devastation.

For Kay and her brothers, it begins with underage drinking as it does for many individuals. Underage drinking has reached epidemic status in the United States, with an estimated 10.8 million youth engaging in some level of alcohol consumption. These huge numbers of young Americans engaging in both illegal and risky behavior is behind the Surgeon General's March 2007 report, the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking. While Jack manages to escape the ravages of alcoholism, Kay and Paul's battles with chemical dependency as adults are not at all unusual. According to the Surgeon General's report, 40% of adults who began drinking before age 15 experience chemical dependency problems. With almost half of adults who begin drinking as teens suffering chemical dependency related difficulties later in life, Kay and Paul are far more typical than many may realize.

The relapse that Paul suffers after three months sobriety through attending Alcoholics Anonymous is also quite common. According to a study published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in 1989, nearly 90% of recovering addicts are likely to relapse at least once during the first four years of their sobriety. What triggers Paul's fall – an argument with Kay regarding his ex-wife – is not an unusual response. Two other triggers leading to high risk behavior in recovering addicts include social pressure and interpersonal temptation.

It's this episode that pushes Kay and her family to confront Paul with the knowledge that his chemical dependency is a problem they believe A.A. alone cannot solve. Kay gives Paul insights into the severity of her own battles with alcoholism by explaining her spouse, Tim, made it clear she had a choice to make. She could choose either alcohol or her marriage, but in the latter choice Tim demanded sobriety. Kay exhorts Paul to take a chance on sobriety, the only course of action that will allow him to discover who he really is as a person, reclaim his life, and find salvation from the ravages of chemical dependency.

Kay also inherently understands that both she and Paul are very fortunate in that they have not caused irreversible harm as their addictions sent them crashing head first to the bottom. Many addicts cannot say the same, and Kay reminds Paul that if not ever being able to drink again is the worst thing that happens to him, he is very lucky indeed. No one knows better than a recovering addict that real life is littered with temptation and good intentions gone awry. But no one knows better than a recovering addict that the salvation offered by sobriety, of reclaiming a broken life and turning it into to something meaningful is well worth any sacrifice. As Kay reminds Paul, he won't know that salvation unless he's willing to take a chance on sobriety.

If you or anyone in your family is confronting difficulties with chemical dependency issues, there are many resources available to you. A few of them are listed below.

Alcoholics Anonymous - The oldest organization of its kind, Alcoholics Anonymous is committed to helping alcoholics (and other addicts) stay clean and sober.

Drug and Alcohol Resource Center – Nationwide Alcohol and Drug Addiction Rehab Information

Hazelden – Provides addiction treatment, education, publishing, research, and recovery support services

Mothers Against Drunk Driving – For over 25 years the organization has been committed to activism, victim services, education, and keeping drunk drivers off our roadways.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - This government site offers extensive research and resources on the topic of alcoholism, trends, and current data.

Surgeon General's Report on Underage Drinking – Under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Surgeon General issued the report on the underage drinking crisis in March 2007.

Since the Early Roman Republic, the army was becoming a major part of the lives of the people. Wars and battles were fought just about every year, and it was common to have rituals to signify the beginning and end of the campaigns for the year. During the time of the republic, the army was solely a citizen army, and all citizens were liable for service (provided they were financially able to own some land) within the considered military age of seventeen to forty-six. Every year a selection process took place called dilectus. All men of military age were required to visit the capitol of Rome for possible recruitment. Citizens with property valued at over 400 Denarii—a silver coin which was the principle form of payment in the Roman times—were liable for service. When enrolled in military service, the men were required to serve a maximum of sixteen years, but often were only expected to serve six years with a callable period for the remaining ten years. Some went into service only one year at a time, and then would attend the selection process every year until their six years were up.  It was not uncommon that all youths who were eligible for military service served in a campaign for a few years during their lives.

The army also gave the chance to give glory and honor to the family name, though there was more pressure on the rich and elite property class to do this. This also is another important factor that affected the lives of the Roman citizens. Serving in the army and becoming a veteran or hero was one of the biggest honors a Roman could have. If a certain officer gained enough power and influence through the army, he was also respected and often times had place of leadership and power in the senate. Therefore, the army directly was related to the balance of power within the political realm of the empire.

In the late 3rd century B.C., the army of the Roman Republic was just emerging as a formidable power, as they now controlled the Italian Peninsula south of the Po River. The army was now rapidly becoming an offensive war machine. What made the army during this period so effective? The biggest contributor was the important trait of being able to adapt and improve. After fighting with the Greeks and other societies that used the famous phalanx as their main tactical formation, the Romans adapted a more flexible and looser fighting method, which had a distinct tactical advantage over the phalanx. Also, the struggle with Hannibal showed that brilliant generals with inferior numbers could crush an enemy of superior numbers with less able generals. Rome realized that they needed to superior leadership to be an effective fighting force.