Damian Papworth
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Posts by Damian Papworth
A Kookaburra with a Message
Nov 11th
I woke up this morning to my usual routine, an hour of work prior to the local cafe opening. Once 7am arrives, I dress my daughter in whatever is convenient, bundle her in her pram and head down to get my morning caffeine hit. I got to the front gate today thought and stopped dead in my tracks. There sitting on the fence post, a mere two feet from us, was the king of the kingfisher birds, an Australian Kookaburra.
My immediate thought was wonder that we got so close without startling it to flight. These majestic birds are not budgerigars, they tend to avoid humans. Seeing one so close is a treat so special it is to be remembered and treasured. So I backtracked and roused my wife so she could come and enjoy this beautiful bird while it rested on our front fence. There we stood, the four of us, enjoying each other’s company a mere two feet from each other for nigh on five minutes. What a spectacular start to the day.
Once it flew away, I went and got my coffee and reflected on the experience. I can’t believe I had to get within two feet of this bird before I realized it was there. Unbelievable, I am sure the kookaburra was watching me from the moment I stepped outside. Was I really that caught up in my own thoughts that I couldn’t see what was at the end of my nose?
If I had taken one more step I am sure the kookaburra would have flown away. My whole family would have missed this wonderful start to the day. It would have been a terrible loss, seeing these types of bird so close is such a rare experience. It turned out to be a bit of a wake-up call to me. I really need to slow down a bit and pay more attention. Why is it we get so caught up in what we are running towards, that we forget to enjoy that which is in front of us?
From my home on Australia’s Gold Coast, my young family of three are blessed with the song (or laughter) of kookaburras quite regularly. Never have I experienced one in such a personal way as I did today. I know from today too that the kookaburra’s song will have a special meaning for me; there will be a message in every verse. “Slow down Damian” it will sing. “Enjoy what is in front of you right now”. A message perhaps we all can benefit from.
Damian Papworth is a committed father. He recently went shopping for baby high chairs. He found the Fisher Price high chair products were very impressive.
Understanding The Caf? Lifestyle Worldwide
Oct 21st
Visiting a foreign land for the first time and totally clueless about where to go or what to do first? Just find a local cafe. Whether its right as businesses and markets are opening, during the slow afternoon hours after busy people have gone back to their jobs, or late at night instead of hitting a bar, there’s always something to learn at a cafe. In fact, the best way to learn about the country or city you’re visiting is by hanging out, having a coffee, and looking around.
You see, the caf? lifestyle is more than just a reflection on how the locals like their coffee (one sugar, two sugars, milk, no sugar). It lets you know how people value their time, how a day actually moves, and whether or not you’re going to find yourself waiting a long time for your friends to show up. In places like Western Europe, it’s literally possible to sit as long as you like, sipping on a cappuccino, watching the action of the city go by. In Italy, if you meet a friend for coffee and don’t stay for a couple of hours, they’re going to think something is terribly wrong. After all, where could you possibly have to rush off to?
A number of countries are rather relaxed, but others even elevate their culture from simply enjoyable to intellectually important. Over by the university on the left bank of Paris, a number of tourists flock to the cafes where Sarte and other existentialists wrote some of the most important books of the 20th century. In a city like Paris, the caf? lifestyle is about something more than just leisure. It’s about valuing the time to think and create on your own, but also thinking that is an exchange that can happen out in public.
In western Europe, the culture of France and Italy depends greatly on having time to sit and have a coffee, and leisurely public beverage consumption there is a thing of legend. For example, it’s not uncommon to see restaurants in small plazas all over Rome with outdoor seating, even in the middle of a hot summer, where the locals and tourists alike are hanging out, sipping espresso or cappuccino, and perhaps snacking on a small cookie. If you go during the afternoon time where everyone it seems is in a cafe, it’s also likely that you’ll get a snack, like some peanuts, too.
It’s pretty obvious how things work in The States when you realize that all your coffee comes with is a napkin or a dairy creamer. In other places, where you’re encouraged to sit and stay awhile, there’s practically a small spread presented with even the most regular cup of joe. In Buenos Aires, cookies, crackers, and some soda water come along, too. In Italy, at least a cookie is expected. In Holland, at least a couple of cookies come, too. And in Paris, if you’re going to a cafe to enjoy a coffee, you might actually save money by ordering it with some pastry or croissant item.
And that’s the thing about the caf? lifestyle: if you’re from a more rushed country, there’s something so amazingly freeing about having the time to just hang out and relax and observe somewhere else. Because if you’re used to coffee in a cardboard cup that doesn’t taste particularly great, it’s pretty amazing not just to taste genuinely coffee, but to actually change the pace of your life, even if it’s just for a vacation.
But as the world gets even smaller, countries influence one another even quicker, and the far-flung traditions become something more tangible. When Starbucks opened up in Buenos Aires, they made sure to include a latte with dulce de leche, the tasty local treat that’s a version of caramel. So now that Starbucks knows that is a popular item down in Argentina, they might be bringing it to the United States as a flavor, just like pumpkin or hazelnut.
So the next time you’re on the road, be it in your own country or around the world, if you want to get to know a little more about the city or country you’re visiting, head to any old cafe. The best way to get acquainted, after all, is by steeping yourself in the caf? lifestyle. Who knows what traditions you might pick up and take home with you.
Damian Papworth adores coffee. As such he created the One Cup Coffee Makers website. Her you can read up about your 1 cup coffee maker
The Correct Attitude for Successful Investment
Sep 7th
In the world of investments, attitude counts for a lot. Why is that, you may be asking? The answer is simple: in investing, it’s important that your decisions be founded exclusively on information and reasons pertinent to that investment. You never want to put yourself in the situation where you end up making a decision on an investment based on completely extraneous and irrelevant matters. Hence the saying “Plan the trade, and trade the plan.” I’ve listed some points which may help you with this.
1. Only invest with money that is not and will not be destined for basic living expenses. Even if the money is needed only several months down the line do not even think of using it for an investment. The reason for this is that if you do invest that money, subsequent decisions on the investment will be shaped by basic living expense needs, which strictly speaking is not a factor pertinent to the investment.
For example, Lets say you need that money in 3 months to pay a mortgage repayment. Your investment may temporarily drop on the very week you need the money. In this situation, the correct decision, based on your strategy, could be to hold for another week. But because you have the mortgage, you make the decision to close the investment. This decision was made on information which was irrelevant to the investment and ended up ruining the trade and causing a loss. This issue would never exist if you only invested money you didn’t need.
2. When you invest your money, it may help you to imagine that that money is completely lost as soon as you invest it. Quite often investments look like they are going bad before they turn around. It just happens as part of the typical fluctuations of the investment market. Many a good investment has been turned into a bad one by people (me included) who get scared and close a trade, instead of giving it the time to complete successfully.
Thus, by convincing yourself the money is lost once you invest it, you effectively spare yourself the nervousness many investors suffer doing this lapse of time. Take it from someone who knows: nothing is more frustrating than closing an investment early at a loss, only to watch the same investment for others pull a 180 and make them loads of money…if only!
3. Failed trades are a simple fact of life with every investor. You will make trades that lose you money. Your attitude to losing trades is extremely important. You will never end up a successful long term investor if you have the wrong attitude to making losses. Here are 2 great ways to view a trade which is not successful.
3a). Rather than considering your trades on a one by one basis, look at them as a complete group. For example, a certain strategy you use may make you a profit four out of five times, which is to say that one out of five times you run a loss. What you should do in this circumstance is rack up the net profit across all five trades, including the losing trade, and divide the result by five. The final figure would be your per trade profit. In this way, the losing trade is merely part of a broader winning strategy: 20% of the total net result is in fact due to the losing trade, because it is a necessary part of a broader strategy.
This way you will be encouraged to continue trading your successful strategy, rather than get discouraged when one trade goes wrong.
3b). Consider your losses to be tuition for your investment education. In case you are not one of them, most of the people in this industry have put down many thousands of dollars and dedicated many years of their lives on getting degrees in the matter. For those that jump in without such degrees, the education comes as part of the failed trades: hence, make sure you learn from each and every one of them! The right, professional attitude is necessary here, free of emotions, as otherwise you’re sure to lose the long term profitability of such endeavors.
The investment markets, any of them, can bring out the best and worst of your emotions. It is ultra important to get these under control so they don’t impact your investment decisions. Remember, Plan the trade, and trade the plan.
Damian Papworth invests for his lifestyle and his family. Not too long ago he investigated baby high chairs. He created a website with his analysis on high chairs for babies.
Knowing How To Get The Most Out Of Your Web Sites Advertising
Aug 20th
With the popularization of the internet, more and more people are refocusing their time and energy as business professionals on creating websites that sell a product, offer users a service, or simply act as a landing spot for discussion and advice. The more people who flock to the internet and use it as a resource, the more websites will continue to spring up. In other words, as the demand continues to climb, the supply will surely follow right behind.
Anybody who runs a website knows that there is a lot that goes into the creation and maintenance of it. There is no silver bullet answer to how to make a great site on the internet, but there are a number of common factors that are present in successful sites and are lacking in those that fail.
The first thing that one must consider when they are putting together a new or recently upgraded website is how it is going to look. There are dozens of questions that must be answered from a design point of view before a site can be launched and unveiled to the public. What will the overall, general layout look like? What color scheme will you use? What type and size will be used as the main font throughout all the different parts of the site? These questions may seem like simple ones to tackle, but the truth of the matter is the general attractiveness of your site can be a huge deal breaker toward the overall success or failure of it.
From there, you must understand and decide how your website is going to make money.
There are two major types of web sites currently spread across the internet. The first group is those based around selling a product to a consumer – with products ranging from socks, to shoes, to ski boots, to jet skis. The second, however, is based around offering users a service rather than a product. While online retailers turn a profit through the items they sell, member of this second group are forced to make money a different way, usually through advertising.
If you are somebody who fit this mold, the bulk and large majority of your profit most likely stems from advertising revenue. Advertisers rely on the internet in a big way to hit their target audience, just as they rely on magazine and newspaper ads. People who go to a travel site are going there for a specific reason – to get some sort of information about traveling. Therefore, a company who wants to advertise to travels (maybe a hotel chain or a car rental agency) would be wise to target these content-specific sites as a means of reaching a concentrated audience.
There are a number of different ways for an advertiser and a host site to work out the specifics of how their deal will unfold. However, one of the most common ways of doing online advertising business is through a pay per click setup.
Pay per click is a system that binds an advertiser to pay its host site every time their ad is clicked on. This works out for the advertising agency, as they are able to pay as they go, and not get locked into any long-term deals that tie up their money. Pay per click works for the websites as well, as it allows them to see how profitable an ad is (how many clicks it gets over a certain period of time) and cut ties with those who do not produce any stable or worthwhile income. This way, both parties can save themselves from being in a sour relationship for a long period of time, and both can constantly reassess whether or not the relationship makes sense.
In the end, there are a number of ways to make your website a successful one. As most peoples’ goal is to make money and turn some sort of a profit, be sure that you collect a fair amount from the advertisers you are in business with.
About the Author:
Pay Per Click advertising is an art which requires continual fine tuning. For this reason Damian Papworth provides his clients a monthly review and refresh service for all his internet advertising services Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
