Stories

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A North Carolina nurse working in the COVID-19 unit at a long-term care facility won a $1 million jackpot!

The nurse, Terri Watkins, had entered the $300,000,000 Supreme Riches second-chance drawing but didn’t really think she would actually win. Not surprising; the chances of winning a lottery, even a second-chance lottery, is not very high!

Winners of second-chance drawings receive a phone call or email notifying them that they have won.

And when the nurse got the call of good news, she could not believe her eyes, and she thought she was being scammed. And to be honest, I would think the same – it is unbelievable!

But it was true, Terri Watkins won the North Carolina Education Lottery’s Supreme Riches second-chance lottery drawing last week!

“You’re telling a story. I don’t believe you.” Watkins said in a phone conversation with the NC Education Lottery representative who was informing her of her delightful win.

“I thought that it was a scam. I was a little upset actually!” she said in a press release. “I thought that it was not real, couldn’t be real. It’s still something that I really don’t believe, I’m still in some shock here.”

Terri Watkins was the lucky one who was chosen from more than 513,000 entrants in the state’s “Supreme Riches” second-chance drawing, the North Carolina education lottery said in a press release. Apparently, it was the fourth and the final second-chance drawing for the scratch-off – talk about luck!

Watkins claimed her prize the following day at lottery headquarters in Raleigh, according to the release.

The healthcare worker said she was thankful for the money, especially after her exhausting work at the nursing home during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

She definitely deserved the lottery after the diligent and hard work that goes into being a nurse – especially at a time like this when it is the most needed.

“Just seeing some of the things that I’ve had to see, I am very thankful.” She said. “I had been praying for something to help me with this situation. It really is a great thing. I’m very blessed.”

It warms my heart to see people so happy, especially after the very challenging year that 2020 was, and what 2021 continues to be up till now, unfortunately, due to the presence of the coronavirus.

Terri Watkins had the option to either take home the $1 million prize in the form of yearly payments of $50,000, or a one-time payment of $600,000. She opted for the latter and took home $424,500 after taxes, according to the lottery.

Watkins is still unsure of what she is going to with the money, and still needs time to plan it, but noted she “would love a new home.”

“I’m just going to take it slow and easy and figure out what I’m going to do,” she said.

Don’t blame her – there are so many things you can do with so much money that you just have to calm down and think about what you are going to do first and what you are going to do next!

More about Lottery

The probability of winning the lottery is 1 in 13,983,816.

To get yourself a lottery ticket, either go to your nearest store, or you can buy it online.

To find more details regarding lottery – lottery tickets and lottery results – head on over to the Lottery Parakeet and you will get all you need to know!

Who knows, you might end up being as lucky as this nurse, and win yourself a second-chance jackpot, or even better, a lottery ticket?

Don’t wait!

 

One of the reasons A Christmas Story is so well-loved is because of its unique style of storytelling. In A Christmas Story, there’s a bit of a main plot, where Ralphie Parker is hoping for a BB gun. However, there are also a variety of short subplots. Here are all the most well-known moments that take place in the house from A Christmas Story.

• The Leg Lamp

One of the subplots of the movie revolves around its most well-known prop: a leg lamp. Ralphie’s father, the Old Man, receives it as a prize for winning a contest. However, his mother hates it, eventually “accidentally” breaking it.

• Red Ryder BB Gun

The main crux of the movie is the fact that Ralphie wants a Red Ryder BB gun, becoming enamored with it after seeing it in the window of Higbee’s Department Store. However, everyone mocks him for it, telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out!”

• Black Bart Attacks

As Ralphie continues to love the idea of having the BB gun, he fantasizes about using it to protect his family. An Old West-inspired scene occurs where he has to fend off attacks from the criminal Black Bart.

• Little Orphan Annie Decoder

Ralphie is a huge fan of the Little Orphan Annie radio show. He drinks gallons of Ovaltine to send away for the secret decoder, which will let him decode a special message at the end. However, he finds out that the secret message is just a commercial for Ovaltine.

• Christmas Tree

The Parker family bargains to get a great deal on a live Christmas tree, then decorates it and sets it in the front window. The problem is that the lights they used to decorate the tree go out as the unfortunate victim of a blown fuse.

• Furnace Soot

The Old Man and his fights with the furnace make up yet another subplot of A Christmas Story. At one point, the furnace starts blowing soot into the kitchen. He tries to go down the stairs, but slips on a pair of roller skates and falls all the way down them, cursing the whole way down.

• Hubcap Replacement

When the family car gets a flat tire, Ralphie tries to help replace it. However, when he drops one of the lug nuts, he repeats a word he’s learned from his father’s rants – according to him, it’s “the queen mother of dirty words.”

• Bathroom Soap

Ralphie’s mother overhears him saying this naughty word and takes him to the bathroom to clean his mouth out with soap. This has clearly happened more than once, as Ralphie states that he’s “quite the connoisseur of soap.”

• The Bunny Suit

As the family starts to open Christmas gifts, Ralphie gets gifts that vary in quality. One of the ones that he especially hates is a hot pink bunny suit, which his overbearing Aunt Clara gives him.

• Practice Target

Finally, Ralphie does actually get his BB gun. He sets up a target practice outside and goes out to shoot the new target. However, it ricochets off the target and strikes his glasses, causing him to worry for a moment that he actually has shot his eye out.

• The Bumpus’ Hounds

To top off their Christmas craziness, the Parkers find out that they can’t even eat their Christmas turkey. The neighbors, who are hillbillies with what Ralphie calls “smelly hounds,” accidentally let their dogs loose and the dogs end up eating the Parkers’ Christmas turkey.

Conclusion

The house of A Christmas Story is one of the most memorable settings of any Christmas movie; you can even go see the real house in Cleveland, Ohio. These are just a few of the most memorable things that happen in this movie home.

“Once upon a time,” This is perhaps one of the most famous phrases in the English language. One will often find that the eyes of a child or an adult who still is a child at heart, lighten up with excitement when he or she hears this phrase that is the typical opening for a story.

Stories, on the one hand, are the descriptions for a sequence of related events, told either verbally, via written text with or without accompanying imagery, or through films and documentaries.

On the one hand, are fictitious stories, the products of an author’s imagination, with fire breathing dragons, serial killers, love triangles, or anthropomorphized animals. The main genres of fiction are romance, crime, horror, historical fiction, and fantasy, with several sub-genres. Stories not borne from imagination and are at the end of the spectrum are actual, verifiable events that happened or are happening to real people, alive or dead. Non-fiction stories come in the form of biographies, memoirs, and essays, and they aim to either reveal a truth, resolve a controversy, or to provide an alternate perspective to an issue, to educate and inform or to demystify an intriguing character.

When a person writes an account of his/her own life, such an account is an autobiography. In contrast, a biography is an account of a person’s life written by another individual who, in most cases, is a close relative of the Subject of the story. A memoir is much like an autobiography; the difference is that a memoir details only specific memories from an individual’s life; it is not an account of a person’s entire life. As a result, a person may have several memoirs, each one chronicling different epochs in his/her life. The author of a memoir is referred to as a memoirist.

Reviews are Stories

A review is an assessment of a product, a person, or a service. It aims to effect change if necessary, as well as to educate potential clients. Reviews are not the products of an imaginative mind; a review is factual. Its basis is the experiences the reviewer has had with the product, person, or service in question. As a consequence, reviews will only hold water when the reviewer is the same person as the one whose experiences and opinions are propounded.

Reviews are stories. But for technicality, the argument goes thus; whoever gives a review is a reviewer. A reviewer is a memoirist, and a review is a memoir as it conforms with all that makes a memoir a memoir; it is a personal account of memories of a period in an individual’s life, and it aims to demystify, inform and educate, reveal a truth, and provide alternate perspectives.

In retrospect, a story describes an event or a sequence of related events. Ipso facto, a review does the same thing; it describes the event of interacting with the product, person, or service under review, and thus is it established that a review is also a story.

 

Photos are a great way to preserve memories and tell stories. Traditional albums are no longer your only option. Photo books are great. They save on space, they are convenient and easy to access. The following are some qualities that may help you distinguish good photo books from bad ones.

1. It Should Have a Specific Purpose

Your photo book should have a clear purpose. Do not stuff random photos in it. You may use your photo book to document specific events such as weddings, a baby’s milestones, or a family trip. If you need to document different memories, you should use different photo books.

2. Proper use of White Space

Even though it is important to have enough white space, do not overdo it. Even though you have the option to make your photo book long, it is not always necessary. You can have a good photo book without too much white space. A short yet detailed photo book saves you money and it is more captivating.

Resist the temptation to include all your good photos in a photo book. Use photos that best capture the message you intend to convey.

3. The Paper should be Good

A good photo book is printed on high-quality paper. If printers use low-quality paper, the entire photo book may look wrong. Low-quality paper does not hold ink well. It may look messy and dull. The adhesive should be of high quality as well.

4. Simplicity

A good photo book should be simple. Do not go overboard with your colors, photos, or designs. If there is too much going on, it may take attention away from the story you are trying to tell. Pay attention to the clarity, lighting, and brightness of your photos. You should only include the necessary photos.

5. Variety

If a photo book has too much of the same thing, it might get boring. The variety will make your photo book interesting. You don’t need to use the same background on every photo. Use different backgrounds that complement each other and do not shy from experimenting with different layouts.

6. It Should Appeal to Emotions

A good photo book should appeal to your emotions. It should tell a story. If a photo book has random or impersonal photos, it may not appeal to the senses. Customizing your photo book may give it the personality and uniqueness it needs. When designing a photo book, you should not be afraid to show your creativity. It is what will set the book apart from others.

Do you need help designing a photo book? You should consider working with Mixbook.com. It allows you to customize a photo book for any occasion. You can upload photos from everywhere including your Instagram, Facebook, computer, and SmugMug.

Mixbook is free and it allows you to start as many projects as you need. You will only pay for your printed books.

Everything is completely customizable. You can choose the size, cover style, and format that works for you. You even have the option to add your own logos and stickers.

If you are unhappy with your order, you can return it. Mixbook is popular because it is easy to use. You don’t need any special training to use it. The customer service is amazing and it is convenient.

 

As my good friend David Crawford often tells me, being a doctor is damn hard, it is in fact one of the most difficult jobs in the world. Despite the sheer volume of hard work and energy which a career like this requires, there are still thousands of people around the country who are signing up for med school with the dream of one day becoming a doctor. These doctors are signing up to make personal sacrifices, to invest massive amounts of time and energy into this career, and the question that I often ask David and some of our other friends who are working as doctors, is whether or not the career is worth it?

Dangers

There are many aspects of being a doctor that many of us just don’t see. For example the divorce rate amongst doctors is the highest for any profession, a direct result of the amount of hours which they must spend at the hospital and the emotional change which they go through as a result of doing this job. Personal sacrifice is huge and I’ve heard stories of cancelled honeymoons, canceled best man positions and doctors who have all but missed the most important years of their children’s lives. There is also the emotional turmoil which inevitably comes with witnessing death and injury on a daily basis.

Financial Reward

Doctors are the best paid profession in the country and it is true that there is huge earning potential in this job role. Something which many don’t realize however is that the big money really comes after the first 10 years in the career, and during those formative years the pay is really the same as teachers and fire officers receive. If you are prepared to stay the course and work your way up the career ladder then of course this is a career which is financially worth it.

The Reason Why It Is All Worthwhile

Every doctor who I have ever spoken to about this has told me that the career is absolutely worth it, regardless of the personal sacrifice and the problems that this job can create. It is not however the financial reward that is the reason behind why this is a job which they all considered to be worthwhile, but the personal reward which comes with knowing that they are providing one of the most important services to the community and the human race on the whole.

Whilst using a patient is of course sad, it is nothing compared with the joy and the pleasure of saving a child’s life, catching a disease early so that it can be cured or giving someone the use of their legs back after a catastrophic injury. The faces of the patients and the families of the patients in these situations are exactly why each and every doctor who I have spoken to, tells me that they wouldn’t swap their job for anything else in the world.

 

Are you trying to pick the right content writing services but don’t know how to pick out the best from the crowd?

You just found the right place to get your problems solved!

In this educative piece, we are outlining great tips that would help you pick the most reliable paper writing service provider that would provide you with academic assistance of the highest quality.

Before you master the art of picking out great content writing service providers, you must develop your skills and be able to write amazing short stories.

Do you need help sharpening your short story writing skills? You’ve come to the right place. If you want to improve your writing skills, writing short stories are your best bet to do that. Short stories help you work on your writing skills generally and improve your general writing skills and also to try out your creativity.

In this article, you will learn how to improve your writing skills and craft short stories with ease. There is something you have to know before going into the main content.

Short stories are usually writings with 10,000 words or less. There are micro-fictions which are 500 words or less. There are also short stories that contain up to 20,000 words.

Most well-celebrated authors you know all began their writing careers with writing short stories. You can get your long awaited break into the literary works by mastering the short stories writing process. Another thing is that you can start building your audience from this stage.

A good number of readers opt for short stories to long stories because they are very easy to read. Thus, working on short stories gives you’re an opportunity to make a good impression on your audience.

A mastery of short story writing skills will help you develop your skills generally and get you ready for other complicated projects.

Short stories don’t follow the traditional writing process for a novel.

Thankfully, with short stories, there is no need to go through the process of outlining all the minor and major details in a story. You don’t have to develop the character profile step to step; neither will you have to go through the process of outlining the minor events in the story. A short story is best for a quick writing project.

Most of the events in a short story will happen instantaneously and will be full of surprises until the end of the story. That doesn’t mean you don’t plan for your project. What you need to create is just a few events and a few characters to generate a flow. The amount of work and creativity required to write a short story is less than the one needed for a long story.

Now we have the less important stuff out of the way, let’s get down to writing a short story like a professional.

Write in a sitting

Once you start writing a short story, your goal is to write the draft as fast as possible. It is possible to write a short story in a sitting and three months or less to write a novel. As long as you have a good storyline, you don’t have to bother much on your plot.

When writing your draft, assume yourself to be an archeologist looking to discover a city buried under the earth and that the draft is your first discovery.

Good dialogue is vital

Good dialogue is very vital in any creative writing. It is only when you have an in-depth knowledge of your characters that you can effectively write like a professional dialogue. Each of your characters in your short stories must have a distinct voice.

You can effectively assign a different voice to your characters if you ensure that their dialogues are a direct representation of who they are.

When starting a dialogue, use the tags ‘he said’ or ‘she said.’ As much as you can, try to avoid words like ‘she announced’ or ‘she spoke intensively.’

Write about Death

Death is a natural occurrence and death should be included in any good story. Most good short stories have death as part of its theme. One other thing is that death theme makes your story stand out from death. Check out the likes of The Lord of the Rings and The Hunger Games.

Include suspense and drama

What makes your readers continue reading your story is suspense. Suspense grabs the reader’s attention and makes the reader eager to read through. To achieve great suspense, the fate of the protagonist must hang in the balance. Try not to reveal the next scene or happenings to your readers.

Edit like a professional

Most professional writers have to go through three or more drafts to get content that is good enough for the public. As you continue to edit, you publish out some of unwanted or extra scène and plot.

Share your work

After the editing process, you need to share your story with the public. The aim of writing in the first place is to get readers and build an audience. So try to share your content as soon as possible.

With these skills, you can see when a content writing service provider is about to rip you off and do something about it.