Coupons 4 Humanity

My First, My Last, My Everything

dan — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:41:09 +0000

As she began shedding every bit of tech coolness she has, groaning and writhing in unappeasable pain, I did all I could to comfort Bella as I voluntarily offed every nonessential component I could, all the while coaxing the pained beauty, “There, there, we’ll make it,” I urged her. But my well-intentioned consolatory gestures were hollow at best.

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. But if it is, do!

“Beeeeeeeeeeeep…” Uh oh! She’s flat lining! The red triangle of death warning light popped on. Death is nigh. “NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” I cried, pounding my fist on the heart of my babe. “Please put park in serene pasture,” the screen seemed to say, “and let me pass on peaceably.” “No! I can’t!” I shouted, slamming my fist harder, and harder, and harder on the center of her nav screen – her lifeless chest. And then, just as suddenly as the beeping started, my love silenced her shouting, her screen cycled off and on again, and she returned to her less hampered state, still in pain, but clearly to a muc

h lesser degree. As my beauty reported back a bit healthier, I continued to shakily guide us to her only chance of survival: the nearest Toyota dealership.I called ahead, urging the doctor (er mechanic) to send a medivac (um, tow truck) right away, as I couldn’t tell if my beauty could limp all the

way back on her own. The mechanic’s response? “Headquarters says no. It’s just too risky. If I send the chopper, none of you might make it back alive!” OK, what he really said was that his boss wouldn’t let him send the tow truck unless Bella had, dare I say, collapsed completely, unable to even crutch the last few miles toward the dealership. We were on our own.Bella and I hobbled together into the dealership, hand-in-hand as we always are. Greg and Mark, the manager and mechanic, respectively, charged with mending my ailing beauty, informed me that Bella would need a few thousand dollars in surgery to repair her busted valve. It would be a quadruple bypass. For a brief moment, I debate trading my dearest in for a newer model. But I can’t! I love her too much.

Bella and I have been through so much together. Much more than most have with their car. We’ve traversed nearly every state in the US sampling the various flavors of foods, music, environments, and people th
is great country has to offer. We’ve slept together under the stars, an spent warm afternoons in sand basking in unfettered sunlight. OK, this is starting to get a little creepy, right? Sorry. I’ll get to the point.

After a discussion with the manager and mechanic, we concluded that the repairs that needed to be done to the water pump were covered under a recall I never knew about, so the dealership would complete the repairs gratis. But they discovered a few other issues with the car. Small issues, but issues that would total about $900. As I debated trading the car rather than repairing it, the manager seemed to read my mind, “Don’t do it, man,” he pressed me. “What? Why?” I begged. “Because, you’ve only driven 112,000 miles,” he replied. “Only? That’s an insanely high number, right?” I asked. “Sure, for a normal car, but this is a Prius. These last forever. You should get at least 250,000 good miles out of your Prius if you take care of her. Do the repairs and take care of your ‘Bella.’ Don’t trade her; keep her forever.”

Over 111,000 miles is nothing in the life of a car. Why waste your money on a new one when you can put that money toward saving the world?!

For some reason or another the advice resonated; perhaps because I’ve recently been considering trading my Prius in for something newer and fancier. But the manager’s advice stopped me dead in my tracks. Why am I going to trade in my Bella when she’s been so steadfastly reliable? Sure, she’s had her fair share of issues. But many of those issues were the result of my negligence. Woah, woah, woah! Stop the clock! I’m drifting toward Crazyville again. Let me reel myself in real quickly.(Pause).OK, I’m good. Let’s continue…Why would I ever trade in a paid off car that has so much life left? Why buy something that costs me $400 a month for the next five years? Why not put that same money toward helping others? I guess it’s really a question of priorities, but why not eagerly prioritize truly sacrificing just a bit in my own life to help others? Make that my first task to complete on my daily “to-do” list! That’s what I plan to do. Five bucks here and there may not be a lot to you, but it can make a huge difference in the life of another. And if I have to sacrifice a shiny new car to help make a difference, so be it. I can live without a new car. After all, I have my Bella!

I was driving home from work the other day from the middle of the Nevada desert (that’s a whole other story) when the unthinkable happened: my first, my last, my everything, my 2006 Toyota Prius, “Bella” decided she had no sufficient recourse for my persistent abuse of her than to quit life altogether. As she began shedding every bit of tech coolness she has, groaning and writhing in unappeasable pain, I did all I could to comfort Bella as I voluntarily offed every nonessential component I could, all the while coaxing the pained beauty, “There, there, we’ll make it,” I urged her. But my well-intentioned consolatory gestures were hollow at best. [caption id="attachment_1906" align="alignleft" width="300"] If it isn't broken, don't fix it. But if it is, do![/caption] “Beeeeeeeeeeeep…” Uh oh! She’s flat lining! The red triangle of death warning light popped on. Death is nigh. “NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” I cried, pounding my fist on the heart of my babe. “Please put park in serene pasture,” the screen seemed to say, “and let me pass on peaceably.” “No! I can’t!” I shouted, slamming my fist harder, and harder, and harder on the center of her nav screen – her lifeless chest. And then, just as suddenly as the beeping started, my love silenced her shouting, her screen cycled off and on again, and she returned to her less hampered state, still in pain, but clearly to a muc h lesser degree. As my beauty reported back a bit healthier, I continued to shakily guide us to her only chance of survival: the nearest Toyota dealership.I called ahead, urging the doctor (er mechanic) to send a medivac (um, tow truck) right away, as I couldn’t tell if my beauty could limp all the way back on her own. The mechanic’s response? “Headquarters says no. It’s just too risky. If I send the chopper, none of you might make it back alive!” OK, what he really said was that his boss wouldn’t let him send the tow truck unless Bella had, dare I say, collapsed completely, unable to even crutch the last few miles toward the dealership. We were on our own.Bella and I hobbled together into the dealership, hand-in-hand as we always are. Greg and Mark, the manager and mechanic, respectively, charged with mending my ailing beauty, informed me that Bella would need a few thousand dollars in surgery to repair her busted valve. It would be a quadruple bypass. For a brief moment, I debate trading my dearest in for a newer model. But I can’t! I love her too much. Bella and I have been through so much together. Much more than most have with their car. We’ve traversed nearly every state in the US sampling the various flavors of foods, music, environments, and people th is great country has to offer. We’ve slept together under the stars, an spent warm afternoons in sand basking in unfettered sunlight. OK, this is starting to get a little creepy, right? Sorry. I’ll get to the point. After a discussion with the manager and mechanic, we concluded that the repairs that needed to be done to the water pump were covered under a recall I never knew about, so the dealership would complete the repairs gratis. But they discovered a few other issues with the car. Small issues, but issues that would total about $900. As I debated trading the car rather than repairing it, the manager seemed to read my mind, “Don’t do it, man,” he pressed me. “What? Why?” I begged. “Because, you’ve only driven 112,000 miles,” he replied. “Only? That’s an insanely high number, right?” I asked. “Sure, for a normal car, but this is a Prius. These last forever. You should get at least 250,000 good miles out of your Prius if you take care of her. Do the repairs and take care of your ‘Bella.’ Don’t trade her; keep her forever.” [caption id="attachment_1907" align="alignright" width="300"] Over 111,000 miles is nothing in the life of a car. Why waste your money on a new one when you can put that money toward saving the world?![/caption]

Haters Gonna Hate

dan — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 06:09:57 +0000

Cue the Music and Start the Party!

dan — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:52:21 +0000

The evening promises to thrill. We have a number of celebrities joining the fun to promote our wonderful company, and we’re offering wicked cool prizes. To boot, Oscar’s has graciously offered to support our party with delicious appetizers! Awesome, right?! Check out the flyer for our party. You can RSVP by following this link:

https://www.facebook.com/events/409046202448905/

What else do you honestly have to do on a Thursday night?! Don’t waste your night watching reruns of the Kardhashians. Instead, come down to Oscar’s and support Coupons 4 Humanity as we gear up for another huge milestone. And be sure to check out today’s Review Journal. There’s a neat little article about us that can be found here:

http://www.lvrj.com/view/daily-deals-website-giving-portion-back-to-area-charities-151490425.html

Buckle up, baby! Things are movin’ fast!

Cue the music: dun dun dun dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun…OK, so that’s supposed to be that song you here before sporting events that gets you fired up and ready to cheer like crazy for your team. Kinda tough to represent a tune in written word, but that’s beside the point. The point is that Coupons 4 Humanity is super pumped about our launch party this Thursday, May 17^th from 6-8 p.m. at Oscar’s Steakhouse in the Plaza Hotel, located in downtown Las Vegas! The evening promises to thrill. We have a number of celebrities joining the fun to promote our wonderful company, and we’re offering wicked cool prizes. To boot, Oscar’s has graciously offered to support our party with delicious appetizers! Awesome, right?! Check out the flyer for our party. You can RSVP by following this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/409046202448905/

Slide 1

tina.dixon1 — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:24:28 +0000

Polish Finesse

dan — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:39:54 +0000

I always arrive at the dance studio with a huge smile on my face. Today was even better thanks to my chance encounter with the Hulk’s doppelgänger. I was also thrilled to slip in a lesson with Mariusz into my busy schedule. Mariusz is widely considered one of the best ballroom dancers in the country, and he delights in passing on his knowledge and love of the sport on to budding stars. I’m one such “budder.”

What makes Mariusz so damn good is not merely his own brilliant dancing, but rather his ability to easily convey his knowledge on to others. And for a guy who’s first language is definitely not English – an easily discerned fact once you’ve met the guy – he’s a brilliant communicator. He imparts broad concepts that can and should be applied liberally throughout one’s dancing. The funny thing is, I also apply these concepts to my every day life.

Our lesson on this particular day focused on “dancing my body” to effectively influence the follower to “dance her body.” It was a lesson in lead-follow. Most people new to ballroom are unaware of the intense body-body connection fostered between a leader and follower, and translated between the two primarily though the arms as an extension of the body. To the laymen, this connection is reflected in sharp, polished lines and movement, or what I like to call, the “It Factor (IF).” The IF is what makes a pair of dancers seem to float across a dance floor, and it’s what Mariusz has devoted this lesson to plumbing.

Mariusz emphasized ad-infinitum the responsibility of me, the leader, to create this effect through the simple cause of moving my own body cleanly and precisely. He has repeatedly battled my body’s desire to forcibly move my partner through sheer might and physically – a fairly simple feat considering my 185-pound frame. This brute physicality, however, diminishes my dancing and my partner’s. It effectively neutralizes my ability to positively affect the outcome of any dance step I desire my partner to dance, and results in our losing the IF. Through force, he imparted, I could never count on my partner or any other to create the effect I sought to cause. This was a life-changing, light bulb moment for me.

My whole life – all twenty-something years of it – I’ve forced my way to goals and outcomes I could have more easily attained through concentrated finesse. Much like I had manhandled my dance partner, convincing her groaning muscles to contort her limbs and torso to design painful and unnatural shapes with the hopes of creating a musically-matched picture of beauty, so too had I beaten my surroundings into reluctant defeat. Though I’ve almost always successfully employed this method to reach what I’ve sought, it has never been easy, and I’ve never really exuded the IF. Until now.

Mariusz’s advice is simple, elegant, and almost always produces the IF I so desperately need in my dancing, and it’s now what I shoot for off the dance floor, as well. I no longer use brute strength in the form of harsh language, manipulation, or negativity to affect the outcomes I want. It just doesn’t work and causes too much pain in others and in me. That’s it! I’m resolving to use finesse in the form of respect, graciousness, and positivity as I move forward in my life.

I was driving down South Fort Apache the other day on my way to my ballroom dance studio, Delgado Dance when I happened to stop at a light next to the one and only Hollywood Hulk Hogan. I was in a bit of a rush trying to get to the studio in time for my lesson with my strict, Polish instructor, Mariusz, so I didn’t have the time to fully appreciate and savor this wicked cool happening. Alas, it happened. Well, sorta. It wasn’t exactly the Hulk, but the dude definitely looked like him. That’s undeniable. Either way, I was so pumped I rolled down my window and begged the guy for a picture. He obliged. I snapped the pic and rolled off giddily to pursue my dance lesson. Oh, and this isn’t the point of the story, so don’t read into it. It was just kinda cool. I always arrive at the dance studio with a huge smile on my face. Today was even better thanks to my chance encounter with the Hulk's doppelgänger. I was also thrilled to slip in a lesson with Mariusz into my busy schedule. Mariusz is widely considered one of the best ballroom dancers in the country, and he delights in passing on his knowledge and love of the sport on to budding stars. I’m one such “budder." What makes Mariusz so damn good is not merely his own brilliant dancing, but rather his ability to easily convey his knowledge on to others. And for a guy who’s first language is definitely not English – an easily discerned fact once you’ve met the guy – he’s a brilliant communicator. He imparts broad concepts that can and should be applied liberally throughout one’s dancing. The funny thing is, I also apply these concepts to my every day life. Our lesson on this particular day focused on “dancing my body” to effectively influence the follower to “dance her body.” It was a lesson in lead-follow. Most people new to ballroom are unaware of the intense body-body connection fostered between a leader and follower, and translated between the two primarily though the arms as an extension of the body. To the laymen, this connection is reflected in sharp, polished lines and movement, or what I like to call, the “It Factor (IF).” The IF is what makes a pair of dancers seem to float across a dance floor, and it’s what Mariusz has devoted this lesson to plumbing. Mariusz emphasized ad-infinitum the responsibility of me, the leader, to create this effect through the simple cause of moving my own body cleanly and precisely. He has repeatedly battled my body’s desire to forcibly move my partner through sheer might and physically – a fairly simple feat considering my 185-pound frame. This brute physicality, however, diminishes my dancing and my partner’s. It effectively neutralizes my ability to positively affect the outcome of any dance step I desire my partner to dance, and results in our losing the IF. Through force, he imparted, I could never count on my partner or any other to create the effect I sought to cause. This was a life-changing, light bulb moment for me. My whole life – all twenty-something years of it – I’ve forced my way to goals and outcomes I could have more easily attained through concentrated finesse. Much like I had manhandled my dance partner, convincing her groaning muscles to contort her limbs and torso to design painful and unnatural shapes with the hopes of creating a musically-matched picture of beauty, so too had I beaten my surroundings into reluctant defeat. Though I’ve almost always successfully employed this method to reach what I’ve sought, it has never been easy, and I’ve never really exuded the IF. Until now. Mariusz’s advice is simple, elegant, and almost always produces the IF I so desperately need in my dancing, and it’s now what I shoot for off the dance floor, as well. I no longer use brute strength in the form of harsh language, manipulation, or negativity to affect the outcomes I want. It just doesn’t work and causes too much pain in others and in me. That’s it! I’m resolving to use finesse in the form of respect, graciousness, and positivity as I move forward in my life.

Real People Helping Real People

ggafni1 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:08:50 +0000

Welcome to our company, our community, out lifestyle….Welcome to Coupons4Humanity.com – Real People Helping Real People

We here to offer you the coolest, money-saving offers via a stream of fresh, relevant, promotions through our exclusive Network of Merchants (NOM) that continually deliver great deals to great people….who in-turn, get the experience purchased, but that “Feel Good” feeling of donating to charity.

With that said…WELCOME!

We are doing some small tweaking, but the site is ACTIVE, infrastructure is SECURE and the first deal is here:>>>>>

Welcome to Coupons 4 Humanity

http://bit.ly/GVL6kl.

Tune in to Dancing With The Stars on ABC, Mondays/Tuesdays at 8/7c.

Welcome to our company, our community, out lifestyle....Welcome to Coupons4Humanity.com - Real People Helping Real People We here to offer you the coolest, money-saving offers via a stream of fresh, relevant, promotions through our exclusive Network of Merchants (NOM) that continually deliver great deals to great people....who in-turn, get the experience purchased, but that "Feel Good" feeling of donating to charity. With that said...WELCOME! We are doing some small tweaking, but the site is ACTIVE, infrastructure is SECURE and the first deal is here:>>>>> [caption id="attachment_219" align="alignnone" width="124" caption="Welcome to Coupons 4 Humanity"][/caption] http://bit.ly/GVL6kl. Tune in to Dancing With The Stars on ABC, Mondays/Tuesdays at 8/7c.