Nightmares Of A Single Man

  During my juvenile age, I was the kind of guy who enjoyed the care of mom. She always was worried about my comfort and appearance. Every time I needed an ironed shirt or pants, mom was there; I never felt the necessity of washing or repairing my clothes, either. I couldn't steal the pleasure from my mom of doing those chores for me. I never had trouble with wardrobe malfunctions.

  Later, when I moved to my dorm and assumed my adult lifestyle, I learned to wash and iron my clothes myself. However, like the majority of single men, I was completely inept (clumsy) with sewing and mending tasks. I had the tendency to procrastinate when I had a popped button, unstitched hem, socks with holes, or pants with torn seams.

  After some time, I realized how shameful this behavior was. Soon, my wardrobe was almost full of clothing with some kind of imperfection or seam problem, yet I wore those garments anyway.

  I remember one time making a presentation at work while dressed in a shirt with just one lateral button on the collar. I also rolled up my sleeves because one cuff didn't have any buttons. Oh man! I didn't wear my double breasted coat because only three of its six buttons remained. Also, it was a nightmare when I visited one customer and he asked me to take my shoes off when entering his house. One of my socks had a huge hole in it, and my big toe was in the open air.

  Well, after these (and other) embarrassing circumstances, one day a good girlfriend introduced me to Sewing Aid. We went together to a party, and on our way the hem of my pant leg (which was fixed with tape) came completely loose. Before we arrived at the party, she took a Sewing Aid kit from her handbag and repaired my hem in the car. Later, she gifted me the kit and taught me a few basic tips of sewing and mending.

  Since that day my social life has been free of awkward and embarrassing situations, and my wardrobe has been emancipated from malfunctioning clothing. Wherever I have a sewing emergency, I take action with my Sewing Aid immediately. It is a great ally that I always carry in the glove box of my car, and I also keep another at home.

  Sewing Aid is a small and portable sewing kit with all of the necessary sewing supplies that I need. Everything is neatly organized into an elegant Pu leather case, and it even comes with a useful, illustrated “Instruction Sheet” for beginners like me. I love it!

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SEWING AID - The Best-liked Emergency Sewing Kit

I highly recommend this product. It was very useful when I went to camping last summer.

CHRISTMAS

   Christmas is a holiday that I anxiously wait for.  When I came to Canada in 2007, I settled at the Campus Resident Co-operative Association - CRCA, a Housing Cooperative system in New Westminster, BC. I live there with my wife, my little boy, and eighteen more tenants. Every year we celebrate Christmas with a big and charming party; everybody can invite relatives and friends. In order to calculate how much food to cook, everyone must confirm how many guests will attend to the party.

   Organizing this celebration demands many tasks. Activities are assigned to two teams. The Pre-party team decorates and tidies up the dining room, living room, and cleans up washrooms; others take responsibility for cooking. The Post-party team washes up dishes, cleans up the dining room and living room, throws away garbage, and puts leftovers away.

   In 2009, thanks to my initiative, this party turned a little bit different. The Christmas party consisted only of having dinner and socializing each other. But now, people can hear live Christmas music, sing and dance, as well. I set up a band with some members of the house: Angela - keyboard, Andrew - electric guitar, Josh - drums, and Rachel - flute. I play the acoustic guitar. We rehearsed a lot with enthusiasm during two months before the party.

    Because Christmas is my favourite holiday, the spirit of this special season has inspired me to write some Christmas songs which the band has played in the last three years. Here you can hear two songs watching my videos: “Celebrate Christmas” and “Christmas Forever.”  I hope you enjoy them and sing them next Christmas with your family and friends.

//Celebrate, dancing and celebrate,
Christmas, time of love.//

CHORUS
Happy Christmas in our hearts,
Happy Christmas in our home.
Happy Christmas in our hearts
Happy Christmas around the world.

//Celebrate, singing and celebrate,
Christmas, the Lord came.//

CHORUS

Instrumental

Verse 1 repeating first line 3 times
Verse 2 repeating first line 3 times

 Verses 1 & 2
A boy was born on Christmas,
the God's greatest gift.
//Goodness and love is His name,//
for everyone around the world.

 

A king was born on Christmas.
Beginning and the end.
//Kindness and peace is His name,//
now all the people rejoice.

 

CHORUS
//Alleluia! Merry Christmas,
the earth and heaven sing together
Christmas is to us forever//.

 

Verse 3
The Lord was born on Christmas,
proclaim this greatest news.
Glorious Christmas! amazing love for us.
 Precious Christmas! is His mercy upon us.

 

//CHORUS// x 2

MY CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP

   If coming to Canada was an exciting experience, getting the Canadian citizenship was another one.

   Through this process I have learnt more about Canada’s history, geography, government system, law, my rights and responsibilities as a Canadian citizen. During the time I studied these topics, I felt more identified and committed with this beautiful and thriving country. I came to Canada looking for better opportunities and standard of life for my family, and I am getting it step by step. It was a positive decision. I’m very glad because I know I will conquer my “promised land”.

    If you want to apply to Canadian citizenship, you need to be:

1. A person aged 18 years of age or older.

2. A permanent resident (landed immigrant) of Canada.
3. A person having met the citizenship residence requirements. It means, to reside in Canada 3 years (1095 days) in the four (4) years immediately before the date of the application.

   You can calculate your residence in this website: https://eservicesak.cic.gc.ca/rescalc/resCalcStartNew.do?&lang=en

   Also, you must be able to speak English or French, and know about: Canada’s history, geography, government, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. After paying the fees, and presenting your application, you will receive a confirmation and a study guide called Discover Canada. Then, some months later, you will be notified about the date of your written and oral tests (persons 55 years of age and over are exempt from taking the written/oral test). The oral test is an interview about your life in Canada.

   Below, I give you some valuable websites which I use for my written test. I suggest to you to make these tests many times until you get 100% correct answers. Also, there is a lot of information about Canada in the library of your city: books and videos.

http://www.v-soul.com/onlinetest/

http://www.apnavancouver.com/canada-citizenship-test/
http://www.yourlibrary.ca/citizenship/
http://www.citizenshiptest-canada.com/
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/games/teachers-corner.asp

   You can find all information you need in order to become a citizen in the next website:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/become-how.asp

   If you meet all of the requirements to become a Canadian citizen or to resume Canadian citizenship, you will receive a notice telling you to attend a ceremony to take the oath of citizenship. The notice wil tell you when and where the ceremony will take place. All the process takes around 19 months.

   Adults and children aged 14 or over must attend the citizenship ceremony and take the oath. Parents receive certificates of citizenship for their children under 14. These children do not have to attend, but they are welcome.

   Good luck!!

PERUVIAN LIME PIE

   One of my favorite Peruvian desserts is Lime Pie. I have learnt to bake this exquisite dessert and I want to share the recipe with you. I hope you can enjoy it with your family and friends.

6 - 8 persons
Baking pan glass – 24 cm (9.5”)
Oven preheated to 350 °F (180 °C)
Serving cold, preferably

Ingredients & Baking

Crust:
2 cups - Tea biscuit cookies, ground (Vanilla)*
½ cup - Butter without salt, melted, or coconut oil

   In a bowl, mix cookies and butter with a spatula. Put the mixture in the baking pan: spreading and pressing on the bottom. Bring it to the oven during 15 minutes. Taking away and leaving cool during 5-8 minutes.

* If you live in Vancouver-BC and suburbs, I suggest using ÜLKER brand, 175 gr. (6.5 oz.)
Check out this @: www.tulumba.com/storeItem.asp?ic=FB249067BD282

Filling:
1 can - Condensed milk (400gr/14 oz)
½ cup - Lime juice
4 units - Yolks, slightly mixed

   In a bowl, mix condensed milk, lime juice and yolks. When mixture get a gelatinous consistency, pour on the crust on the baking pan. Bring it to the oven again during 15 minutes more. Taking away and leaving cool during 5-8 minutes.

Meringue:
4 units - Whites
¾ cup - White sugar

   In a bowl, whisk whites until get a white froth. After that, add gradually sugar while mixture is whisked until it gets a snow point. Put mixture on filling on the baking pan. Spread with spatula covering completely. Make the small horns with a fork moving it in circle and raising it fast. Bring the baking pan to the oven again during 15 minutes more. Meringue must get brown color.

Finally, leave cool, put in refrigerator and serve.

I made this Lime Pie!

A HAPPY FINAL

   Personally, I don’t like to go to gatherings with mass audiences on the streets, but once I took part in one. It was a music concert in the downtown of my city. This event was organized by citizens who were promoting “values” such as integrity, truth, peace, honesty, social responsibility, transparency and justice. The stage was set up in front of the Sheraton Hotel, near the Justice Palace. At that time, my country had an election in progress.

   I went to the concert with my son Andres, who was 10 years old. When we arrived at the event, the street was almost full. A lot of people were around us and my little boy could not see the musicians easily. Then, I put him on my shoulders, but he wasn’t a baby and he really weighed a lot. When I was tired I put Andres down on the ground. After some minutes, he was restless and bored. In these circumstances, of course, I wasn’t enjoying the concert. Therefore, bringing to Andres wasn’t a good idea. But the worst was coming. Andres told me about his need to go to a washroom. I didn’t know what do, but I had to move fast because there were no public washrooms available in the place.

   I decided to go to the Sheraton Hotel with him. It was a big challenge for us because the hotel was behind the stage, 200 meters from our position. Also, we had hundreds of people in front us and the security attendants’ lines, too. Even though, my decision looked like madness, we had to do it.

  After that, things got better for us. When we were leaving to the hotel, we came across with some friends and their children who were members of organizing committee. They invited us to enter the VIP section, and we enjoyed the concert comfortably because in this section had chairs and we were very close to the stage. Finally, after the concert a friend dropped us off in our house.

URBAN COMMAND UNIT

   Early in a summer morning, Paul worked out by running around a park. After twenty minutes, he heard a loud noise. A huge bomb had blown up near the park. He waited a few seconds, and then he run as fast as possible in the direction of the sound. When he came to the place and saw the chaos, he remembered his days in the Middle East war. The explosion had taken place in Afghanistan consulate.

   Paul began to help to the consulate’s residents looking for injured people. After some minutes, he came across his friend Bob, who died with the explosion in front of the consulate while he was walking towards the Skytrain Station. When Paul saw his friend on the pavement, he went mad all of a sudden; he was hysterical. His friend Bob was with him in the war and Bob had been his commanding officer. Paul looked up to Bob.

   Paul went back to his house. He was very sad and called off his business appointment. He put it off for another day.

   After two days, Paul went to Bob’s funeral and offered Bob’s family his condolences. While they were waiting by the hearse, Paul looked back on the moments that Bob and he lived through the war. After a few minutes, he observed that Bob’s first son looked like his father, and Paul cried silently.

   After three months, Paul couldn’t get over the loss of his friend. In view of police investigations were slowly, he decided to take action against the murderers. He reviewed the officers list of his battalion and picked out twelve of them, and he recruited them. Paul made up an Urban Commando Unit (UCU)

   They started their investigation and found out that the police had left out in its criminal inquiry some details of the crime and threw away some clues. Immediately, UCU’s members prepared a strategy. Finally, after three weeks, they caught the murderers and handed them over to the police, and were rewarded by civilian authorities.

   Since that moment until now, a lot of media are inviting to Paul for telling his history. Urban Commando Unit’s history has made full many news headlines and has been covered  TV reports around the world.

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This story is not real. It has been created by me.

MAKING MONEY

   Money is present in every aspect of life. It's indispensable for surviving in a world increasingly materialist and consumption-oriented. Around the world, societies have classified their populations according to their incomes. Social status and purchasing power are determined by the amount of money made. Therefore, people strive to make money to get the best status. Chasing this purpose, there are some who make money legally and others who do so illegally.

   A biblical verse goes: "The love of money is root of all evil." In others words, when people put their complete trust and faith just in money, they can be capable of "selling their own souls" in order to have money in their hands. These wise words are true for both types of people.

   Some people make money breaking the law or by ignoring ethical rules. A great percentage of prisoners in the jails are serving sentences for crimes related to money. Crimes such as robbery, kidnapping, murder, corruption, prostitution, scam, fraud, and illegal traffic of drugs or weaponry, are a result of eager behaviors of people who love money at any price. Paradoxically, after their crimes, they don't have enough time to enjoy their money because soon they are arrested and imprisoned; otherwise, they live hidden and worried sick.

   On the other hand, people who make money legally can attain their money goals, however, a huge number of them, at the expense of hurting their health, breaking off their relationships, or immersing themselves in vices. Nowadays, many people work overtime on their jobs and they live so anxiously. Being "workaholic" is almost normal in our societies. A lot of medical offices are visited by people with symptoms of stress. Also, relationships are affected when somebody dedicates themselves to long working hours. Many divorces are product of partners being absent; many children demand the attention of their absent parents through bad social behavior; and many persons suffer loneliness.

   In addition, many companies, taking advantage of the social necessity of making money, offer to the people different kinds of gambling and lotteries. Making money easily is the dream of a lot of people, but it is “a double-edged sword” because they can be trapped in gambling and lose more than they have inverted.

   In conclusion, money is important in the lives of the people. However, happiness and prosperity doesn't come from money only. Money is a means, and it's not an end. Therefore, everyone should consider making money wisely, without badly affecting their health, violating ethics, breaking laws, exhibiting anti-social behavior, and destroying relationships.

AMAZING CHALLENGE

   Many years ago, I visited Cancun, in Mexico. Cancun is a paradisiacal place with charming beaches, and its coast is bathed by the splendid Caribbean Sea. The main industry in Cancun is tourism; therefore, the city offers several accommodations and facilities for tourists.

   When I was in Cancun, I rented a tour service by yacht to visit some islands around Cancun. The trip was so funny. While the yacht was sailing on the sea, the crew provided entertainment for passengers with some performances and contests.

   After some minutes, we arrived in Isla Mujeres (Women Island). The yacht landed in front of a restaurant that was located on a beach. The restaurant had a natural pool built into the shore of the beach. This pool was special because it wasn’t built for people. Two huge sharks of almost two meters in length were in the pool.

   While we were watching the sharks from a little quay, the pool attendant dove into the pool and came to the surface holding in his arms a shark. That was amazing! Nevertheless, the most amazing thing came when he invited us to do the same.

   Only two people accepted the challenge: a young American citizen and I. My heart was pumping to the max. I was fascinated. I swam under the water, and grabbing the shark with my arms, I emerged to the surface with it. The shark didn’t put up any resistance. After three or four minutes, the shark shook its body and it went to the deep end of the pool.

   I have never again have done anything as risky as that in my life.

A TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE

   When I was a teenager I had a terrifying experience on a beach. My family and I lived in Tumbes, in the north of Peru, and every weekend we used to go to a beach called "La Cruz" (The Cross). In summer the temperature reaches around 45 °C.

   We had enjoyed a fabulous time on the beach before this incident. My brother, my friends and I were so happy building sand casttles, playing "war of sand balls," surfing, and hunting a little animal called "muymuy" (they were the residents of our sand casttles.)

   The sea in this beach is moderated and it has medium-sized waves. In spite of it, you can swim in the water when you get some meters from the shore. That day, I was eager to go swimming behind the waves and I attempted to do it. When finally I got it, I was so excited. I had swum around one kilometer into the sea.

   While I was enjoying my great feat something happened. Suddenly, a huge medusa put her tentacles on my back and neck. It was terrible for me. I screamed with pain and swan as soon as possible toward the shore. I felt a strong burning in my body and I cried. My parents took me to the sickbay and a doctor put a cream on my back and neck.

MY CHILDHOOD

   When I was a child my mother bought clothes for me and my brother. We always wore the same style and design of clothes, but each with different colors.

   I was a very restless boy. I remember when I drove my little pedal car and descended a stairs towards the river of my city; my uncle ran quickly behind me and he avoided that I came down in the river. 

   I loved to play "Combat." My friends, my brother and I had our guns, Tommy guns with sound, our helmets, and grenades. We played running through all the house and the garden.

THE GARDEN

   In my country I lived in an apartment, and I didn't have a garden, but in front of it there was a park with a big garden. I could see it from the window of my bedroom. In that garden there were many tall trees and beautiful flowers. During the summer and spring the garden was watered through irrigation channels, and in the fall and winter with the rain. I was accustomed to running on the sidewalk that surrounded the garden and doing some exercises on the grass, but I often complained about finding some dog excrements in the garden because the people didn't clean it when walking their dogs in spite of the warning signs.

  
   Now I'm living in a house in New Westminster where we have a big garden with several plants. In the summer and the spring we have watered the garden with a long hose, and in the fall and winter it is watered by the rain. In our garden we have some plants, trees and vegetables. Some time ago we cut an old tree with a power saw and dug a huge hole to remove the root, while two buddies lifted the root others pulled it with a cord.

   In summer time we celebrate the birthdays in the garden, and I have already used the garden. I put a table and some chairs on the grass, and had a BBQ for my friends. I'm used to seeing squirrels in the garden, and fortunately the ravens don't visit the garden because I don't like them.

   During the night the garden is dark, and on one occasion a thief was hiding in it while the police looked for him. I was in the kitchen when I heard voices and a dog barking outside the house. I left and saw one policeman with a police dog and the other with the thief handcuffed. The thief had a bleeding leg because he had been bitten by the dog.

  

CANDIES

   I remember when I was a child and enjoyed eating candies. Near my house there was a candy store. The owner was a Chinese woman called Maria. She knew all the children in the neighborhood and she knew their preferences. When my father gave me my tips I always visited Maria.

   Next to Maria's store was the Montecarlo cinema and some Sundays my friends and I went to watch a movie. Before we enter the cinema, we bought our candies in Maria's store. Sometimes she gave us credit. Maria was an old woman and very loving, and on our birthdays she gave us candies in an ornamental little box.

   My favorite candies were the gummi bears, fruit candies, square pegs, chocolates candies, truffles, milk toffes, lollipops of different flavors and chocolate bars. I didn't like the liquor and peppermint candies. When I went to some fairs with my parents I prefered the cotton candy and the apple candy.

MY FIRST SUMMER IN VANCOUVER, CANADA

   On June 2007, I left the first days of the fall in Lima, Peru, but when I arrived in Vancouver I found a beautiful summer.

   My first summer in Vancouver was the begining of a new life style for me out my country. I live in New Westminster and the first step was to know the neighborhood. I found out that near my house there's a beautiful big park with picnic areas, gardens, playground areas and a theater. Also, around my house there are some churchs, a commercial centre, the New Westminster Skytrain station, a museum, the New Westminster City hall, the New Westminster library, some colleges and other public services.
  
   The second step was to look for a job. Owing to a contact I found my first job in the construction industry. It was a very hard job for me, because I have never worked in this field. After one month I began a new job. Today I work in a big warehouse of a commercial company that sells furniture, domestic appliances, mattresses, TVs, etc. I found this job when I went to a job fair in Surrey city. I know this job because I have had experience in my country.

   But, not all was work in my summer. On the weekends I took time visiting some places, going to some events and doing some activities. For example, I went to the Vancouver Jazz Festival and the Latin Festival. In both events I enjoyed listening to very good music. My friend Pedro played the electric guitar in the Latin Festival. Also, I went to Chinatown Festival and I enjoyed watching theather performance on the street, a cycling skills demostrations, a break dance competition and I visited the China park.

   On other weekends I went to know the Dique in Richmond. I travelled all the Dique on bicycle. Also, I went to visit Lonsdale Quay in the anniversary of North Vancouver District, knew downtown, watched the fireworks, had some picnics in the park near my house and enjoyed some BBQ with my friends.

MY FIRST MUSIC PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH

    My church organized an event called "U360 Talent Night." That night, I took part with my song: "It's all that I need." This experience was so exciting for me.

   A few minutes before my performance, I had that to correct part of my lyric. I wanted to show it on the screen. When my friend Matt was typing the song in the computer, he showed me a little mistake. Upps... I was nervous. Fortunately, the change didn't affect the melody of the song.

   A lot of people participated on the stage with different performances. Women and men; adults, teenagers, and children; everybody so good. I enjoyed every one. I hope that they have enjoyed myself, too!!

   You can watch my video in YouTube. Check: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxnvC5X4v48