This year in the UK, we had the snow, which impacted supply of raw materials and hence production slipped, and hence many companies did not send out invoices until the 15th January, 25 days of not sending any invoices. During this time fixed costs and salaries were paid.

So now, mid February to end of March companies suffer cash flow pressure or even crisis! What can you do to ride out this storm? There are many actions which can be taken, but my three tips are as follows:

1. Examine your stock levels, do you need to purchase raw materials now, can you delay taking products or raw materials, place the orders, but be smart when the raw materials will be delivered and hence when you will receive the invoice.

2. If your payment terms are 30 days, 45 days or month end following, make sure plenty of time is spent performing credit control. Be polite, firm and persistent. Many companies will have cash flow issues, and most companies are in some form of supply chain, so if a company up the chain is suffering cash flow issues, this can obviously impact yourself. By you chasing your debts, there will be wave affects up and down the chain, make sure you are a high priority to be paid.

3. Create a simple cash flow forecast. Make it simple, take your bank balance as of today, and predict the cash going out, you will know this as this will be committed spend, and you know the amount of cash coming in, as your credit chasing will give you this information. The forecast will give the company a concrete plan to move forward.

I work with eight colleagues (SGBA), and we help small companies through cash flow crisis, in Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and Dorset who want to develop and grow their business. I worked for Oracle for 10 years, then founded several internet companies. I’m now an active angel investor, and give practical advice to small companies, specialising in turning round companies with serious cashflow issues.

The Posadas in Mexico are usually neighborhood events that begin on December 16 and continue up to Christmas Eve. They generally start around 7:00 p.m. Celebrating all nine nights is not mandatory, so some communities may choose to only engage in the Posadas three or four nights.

Some Posadas are very elaborate, while others are very simple. This depends upon the affluence of the members. In some communities, special costumes are made. In others, the participants may gather in street clothes.

Bags of treats called aguinaldos are prepared before the night’s activities. They are filled with guavas, sugar cane, mandarin oranges, animal crackers, candy, peanuts, jicama and tejocotes (fruits belonging to the hawthorn family.)

Piñatas are also part of the night’s activities. Members of the community are asked to purchase pinatas for one night, while others are asked to contribute by supplying a number of aguinaldos. Women in the neighborhood provide tamales or pozole (hominy soup) as assigned.

Each evening the same scene and procession is repeated. Neighbors, friends and family assemble with lit candles outdoors for prayers at a designated home. Next, the group travels to another home and asks for lodging. They are turned away. This is repeated at two more homes. At the conclusion, the children line up for their gifts, before heading off to break the pinatas. Adults socialize, while enjoying the tamales or pozole of the evening.

Ken Frick has been writing about family activities for the past four years. He also enjoys writing about paper products, like why to use laser photo paper for many of your laser printing needs.

Ken Frick

Guys can be “finicky” in their tastes, and boyfriends especially so, which is why research at the largest retail stores revealed a range of popular items and you’re sure to find something that he’ll love.

1. Godiva Truffles - Chocolate Truffle Assortment.

Excite him with a tantalizing selection of delicious flavors, including milk and dark chocolate, raspberry, French vanilla, coconut, roasted almond, and more. Great for those who love truffles.

2. Wii Game Console by Nintendo.

If he loves to play games, this will handle two disk formats and is backwards compatible with earlier Nintendo GameCube games. It includes a sports game and has wi-fi access to Nintendo’s gaming service.

3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Game For Playstation 3).

Among the game players, this stands out. It has free-flowing gun play, stealth combat, cinematic storytelling that has won awards, and both single-player and multi-player options. A delight for the shoot ‘em up fans.

4. Kenneth Cole Reaction Men’s Bracelet - Lon Chainy.

You want him to look his best and a stylish men’s bracelet from Kenneth Cole is just the thing. These have a chain link and a bright or antique silver finish. 9″ long with hook and ring closure.

5. Timex T5G971 Unisex Sports Personal Heart Rate Monitor Watch.

If he’s serious about wanting to keep fit, this watch-size heart monitor helps him review workouts and average/peak heart rates. It is water resistant, and has a night light and easily accessible function buttons. It even tells the time.

6. Apple iPod Nano 8 GB Black (4th Generation).

The 8 gb is enough to handle up to 2,000 songs, 8 hours of video, or 7,000 photos of you. The battery will play music for 24 hours or 4 hours of unrelenting video! The 2-inch LCD screen displays a clear blue-white LED backlight. It will cope with a variety of popular audio and video formats, including MP3 and MPEG-4.

7. Ben Sherman Men’s Face Tee Shirt.

He’ll look great, yet casual, in this 100% cotton, machine-washable T-shirt with a stylish graphic on the front. There is also a logo on the arm. It has a really cool look.

8. Gran Torino (Widescreen Edition) (2008) DVD.

This is becoming a classic “guys” movie. It stars Clint Eastwood and is also directed by Eastwood. A Korean War vet tries to reform his young neighbor, a teenager with tough friends who tried to steal his prized (restored) 1972 Ford Gran Turino muscle car. Clint received rave reviews for his performance.

9. Sperry Top-Sider Santa Barbara Men’s Sweater.

Just in case you want him warm and cuddly during those colder months, this crew neck sweater is 100% cotton and looks really smart, with its traditional fisherman’s cable weave and ribbed cuffs. Seeing is believing.

10. Ruby Red Netbook Computer. Acer Aspire One AOD150-1920 10.1-Inch - 6.5 Hour Battery Life.

If you really want his eyes to light up, this small, beautiful, portable computer will do the job! It has a 160 gb hard drive, 1 gb RAM, 1.7 hz Intel chip, and Windows XP OS. This powerful, sleek little all-purpose computer also has wi-fi internet connection and webcam.

This is just a small sample of the hundreds of great Christmas gift ideas that have been researched, grouped and indexed, with more details, in a free illustrated Guide you can download now at: Gifts for Boyfriend
It is also available at: http://www.GiftsForHimWithLove.com/GiftsForHim-FreeGuide.html Get it now!

The Posadas in Mexico are usually neighborhood events that begin on December 16 and continue up to Christmas Eve. They generally start around 7:00 p.m. Celebrating all nine nights is not mandatory, so some communities may choose to only engage in the Posadas three or four nights.

Some Posadas are very elaborate, while others are very simple. This depends upon the affluence of the members. In some communities, special costumes are made. In others, the participants may gather in street clothes.

Bags of treats called aguinaldos are prepared before the night’s activities. They are filled with guavas, sugar cane, mandarin oranges, animal crackers, candy, peanuts, jicama and tejocotes (fruits belonging to the hawthorn family.)

Piñatas are also part of the night’s activities. Members of the community are asked to purchase pinatas for one night, while others are asked to contribute by supplying a number of aguinaldos. Women in the neighborhood provide tamales or pozole (hominy soup) as assigned.

Each evening the same scene and procession is repeated. Neighbors, friends and family assemble with lit candles outdoors for prayers at a designated home. Next, the group travels to another home and asks for lodging. They are turned away. This is repeated at two more homes. At the conclusion, the children line up for their gifts, before heading off to break the pinatas. Adults socialize, while enjoying the tamales or pozole of the evening.

Ken Frick has been writing about family activities for the past four years. He also enjoys writing about paper products, like why to use laser photo paper for many of your laser printing needs.

Ken Frick

These moving and dramatic synchronized Christmas lights display with music is actually controlled by a software application on a computer that is connected with an MP3 board and Expander. The Christmas lights themselves are attached to the board in a series of channels that receives signals from the software application regarding the kind of effects that should be transmitted to the lights. The effects are actually carried out by controlling the flow of electricity to the lights, like the fading in and fading out, or the rapid blinking of random lights on a channel which would then appear to be like they are shimmering or sparkling.

Since the late 1980s, some creative thinkers have began to concoct ideas of synchronizing Christmas lights display with Christmas music for the display to radiate a more dramatic effect. This brainchild was inspired by synchronized music that is being played during events such as fireworks displays. The idea is that if one could control the sometimes unpredictable behavior of fireworks display, definitely electricity that flows to the lights can also be managed in the same manner. In fact, electricity would be easier to control through the use of several chips arrayed together to perform effects such as blinking slowly or fast, or fade, and a whole lot of countless effects anyone can think of.

There are many types of MP3 board and Expanders that are on the market today and these come with different numbers of channels. There are the simpler four-channel boards which are ideal for home use and allow you to connect up to five thousand Christmas lights. This type of synchronized Christmas lights display and music kit would definitely earn you the applause and praise of your neighbors. There are also the eight-channel and sixteen-channel synchronized Christmas lights display and music kit that would really spice up your Christmas decorations.

Since these Christmas synchronized music and lights displays have been proven to be real attention getters, your house would definitely be a subject of wonder and awe. So get these devices at your nearest electronic store, connect them to your PC, and see your Christmas lights display come alive as it dances in synch with your favorite Christmas music.

Suzie has been writing articles on interesting topics including relationships and family. Her new interests are in microwave ovens such as red microwave ovens and LG microwave ovens.

Puerto Rican Food

Puerto Ricans begin their Christmas celebrations early in December and perhaps would end on the first week of January. Of course, this is the best time to talk about Puerto Rican food. The Puerto Rican cuisine is similar to that of Spanish, Mexican, and Cuban with a delightful blend of African, Taíno, and American influences.

Nochebuena is a special dinner party done on Christmas Eve. Puerto Ricans like chicken so you would always see as part of the main dish, like baked chicken or turkey, and roasted pork or ham which is accompanied by Spanish rice with pigeon peas, local vegetables like cooked green bananas, fried plantains or cooked yam.

Some of the food appetizers and food during dinner generally includes with sizzling-hot appetizers such as bacalaitos, crunchy cod fritters; surullitos, sweet plump cornmeal fingers; and empanadillas, crescent-shaped turnovers filled with lobster, crab, conch, or beef. It is also thought that soups are a popular beginning for meals on Puerto Rico just like in other countries. There is a debate about whether one of the best-known soups, frijoles negros (black-bean soup), is Cuban or Puerto Rican in origin. Nevertheless, it is still a savory, if filling, opening to a meal. For their Holiday desserts, they have “arroz con dulce” (rice cooked with spices, sugar, milk, and coconut milk) and “tembleque” (a custard made with cornstarch, sugar, and coconut milk). They taste better cool down or cold, when its consistency becomes more solid. One for the festive Puerto Rican food is the lechón asado, or barbecued pig, which is usually cooked for a party of 12 or 15. It is traditional for picnics and al fresco parties. These are just one of the Puerto Rican food serve during holidays.

Despedida de Año is celebrated on December 31 in time to end the year and face and new one. The biggest and most important for all children is what they call, el Día de Reyes on January 6th. This is the day when children open their gifts the night before the Three Wise Men (Kings) left.

Their Christmas is different as they have a special “pava” (traditional straw-hat) to be worn just for Christmas. They have their own version of Christmas caroling which they call Parranda. It is when a small group of folks gathers to surprise another folk and they will be bringing their musical instruments like either guitarras, tamboriles, güiro maracas, or palitos in which they will play the traditional Aguinaldos.

From http://latinoflavors.blogspot.com

Christmastime in the city is typified by hustle and bustle, tension and stress, and is certainly infinitely more expensive. Not so for a country Christmas.

In a rural area, Christmas is much more a time of fun and anticipation. A time for simple excitement, more meaningful giving, a truer grasp of the real spirit of the holiday.

Country folk do not get overly wrapped up in the commercial aspects of Christmas as is the case with most urban dwellers. They take more pleasure in simple gifts from the heart than store bought expressions of the holiday. Country folk tend to not place as much importance on the price of a gift as they do on the underlying meaning and thought put into it.

A batch of freshly baked cookies, homemade and delicious, packed into a nice Christmas tin, go a long way in satisfying the spirit of giving. Baking those favorite cookies takes much more thought and effort than purchasing a gift from some overcrowded store - much more.

Some country folk give the gift of doing a favor of love such as repairing an older person’s roof or doing odd jobs for another, especially an elder who may no longer be capable of doing such things themselves. They do so much more than their city cousins. Such expressions of thoughtfulness go a long way to assuage any guilt of not buying a present and, I suspect, are much more appreciated by the receiver.

In the country, one does not go to a tree lot to buy a dried out and sometimes scraggly, exorbitantly priced Christmas tree. Instead, in rural areas one packs their recently sharpened ax, heads to the nearest wooded area, scouts out the best pine tree there, and harvests it.

Tree cutting day is an exciting time for kids. I remember vividly my brothers and my adventures into the woods to find the perfect tree to take home. Most times we had scouted that tree for years prior to actually cutting it. We watched it grow year by year until it had reached just the right height for our living room. A few weeks before Christmas, and once we deemed it the best we could find, we cut it down, tied it to our Flexible Flyer sled, and slid it all the way home to the back porch. (There always seemed to be snow at that time of year.)

A tree freshly cut from the woods always seems to smell so much better, look more Christmassy, and provides infinitely more satisfaction than one bought at an urban tree lot. Always did for me anyway. I always felt sorry for city kids who never got to experience this pleasure.

Even a snow storm at Christmas is cause for celebration in the country whereas in the city it causes distress. City people may find themselves stranded in traffic or at airports. Tempers flare, rude behavior surfaces, and the Christmas spirit fades. Snow in the city at Christmas is not something to wonder at or enjoy for its serenity inducing effect.

In the countryside, as Robert Frost notes in his poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”, a snowstorm at Christmas is an event to appreciate and marvel at. It somehow enhances the spirit of the holiday. Robert Frost points this out. Even though he had “miles to go before I sleep”, he reins in the little horse pulling his sleigh while passing down a wooded country road at night to “watch his (a landowner’s) woods fill up with snow”. He takes a moment to observe the snow and even listen to the distinct sounds of a snowy evening where he notes “The only other sound’s the sweep, Of easy wind and downy flake”.

Country folk eagerly anticipate snow at Christmas; in fact, they are truly “dreaming of a white Christmas”.

Yes, Christmas in the country is manifested by the simple pleasures country folk get from simple things as opposed to a more consumer-minded, materialistically affected city dweller. One of my favorite gifts as a child was a pair of hand-knitted mittens I received each Christmas for many years from an elderly lady, a friend of the family, who must have spent countless hours of loving labor to make them special. They had my name knitted into them. I was the only kid in school who had mittens like that. I was as proud and appreciative of those warm hand coverings as I would have been had they been bought in the finest store on 5th Avenue in the busiest, most harried city at Christmas possibly in the world. Those mittens were something real and unique - bright colored, expertly made, and toasty warm even on the coldest days. Those Christmas mittens were an expression of how much the lady loved me and I knew it even at a young age.

Does anyone knit mittens for Christmas anymore?

Major Dennis Copson is retired from The United States Marines and is a resident of Oceanside, CA where he is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Nature’s Big Bud Liquid Worm Castings, Inc. He is also a freelance writer. More info is available on his websites at http://www.naturesbigbud.com.

Doth Thou Know’st Ye Olde Lyrics?

The traditional carols have such beautiful melodies, but sometimes the lyrics to Christmas songs are hard to understand. After a “hither”, a “thou know’st”, and a “good league”, most adults start to lose the plot, so imagine how difficult it must be for children! To make the traditional Christmas songs more relevant for today’s kids, I decided it was time to write some new song lyrics.

So I set to work and wrote a collection of funny Christmas songs for children that preserves the original melodies of our favorite Christmas carols, but breathes completely new life into them. They’re Christmas songs like you’ve never heard them before! They’re wierd, wacky, and warped, but all in good fun! Here’s a sample:

Groove King Senseless

(To the tune of Good King Wenceslas)

Groove King senseless last looked out

On his fans all screaming.

Drove into a round-about,

Deep in his day dreaming.

Brightly shone the police light,

Though his fate was cruel.

When he stumbled out of sight,

Up went all the fu-u-el!

Turn the page and you will see

Why the news is selling

Vonda Shepherd, who is she?

What’s with all the yelling?

Says she jumped a giant fence

From a nearby mountain

For his love - it makes no sense

But she hit the fountain!

Bring me flesh, and bring me bones

Please don’t take forever.

How can I answer the phones?

‘Til she’s back together.

Here’s a left and there’s a right

Fixed with lots of good glue

Poor Groove King got such a fright

Do you think he’ll sue?

Funny Christmas songs are a great way to get everyone singing along and having a great time. The traditional Christmas carols have simple, yet powerful melodies that are so familiar to us all. But after hearing the same cryptic lyrics year after year, it’s no wonder some kids (and adults!) get bored with tradition. So why not try something new this year?

After all, holidays are a time for love and laughter, and what better way to bring families together than by sharing a joke in a Christmas song! Why not even have a go at writing your own funny words? The whole family could have a competition to see who can write the funniest lyrics. Surprise your friends and family this Christmas with some outrageous, warped, and funny Christmas songs!

Put a smile on your ‘dial’, with some funny Christmas songs that are sure to brighten up your holidays! For a chuckle, check out this cheeky site: Funny Christmas Songs For Children. Here you’ll find some great reviews of hilarious Christmas albums and MP3s available for download, plus more wacky lyrics. Start singing super silly seasonal songs so Santa won’t be the only jolly one this year!

For a funny musical interpretation of Good King Wenceslas, listen to “Groove King Wenceslas” on Audiojungle. This jazzy tune is available for download in MP3 format. Plus it’s royalty free so you can use it in any of your own projects. Explore the huge collection of Christmas tunes and themes at Audiojungle.

I love the idea of still sneaking in a bit of casual though, so will be doing this with a pair of gorgeous (but stretchy) leggings, paired with a cute little pair of knee length boots (obviously these will be swapped for wellies when we go out for our obligatory forest walk).

I will be teaming all of this with a gorgeous black tunic jumper and then topping it with a big, silver ball cluster necklace, a bit like the one off the ‘here come the girls Boots advert’ and with an oh-so-on-trend large Murano glass cocktail ring - I think I’ll feel glitzy but still in my comfort zone.

So with this in mind, I’ve also come up with some tips for styling over the Christmas holidays

Christmas eve drinks down the pub - a lovely black polar neck teamed with a silk shift dress with a sexy and modern patent leather belt, thick black tights, ever so high (almost can’t walk in them - but good if you are staying put in one place) patent leather shoes. Classic very long silver necklace and a lovely pussy bow hairband.

Boxing day at the relatives - now obviously this will depend on whether you have an annual table tennis competition in your house, or whether general drinks and a catch up is the usual. So for the former (our families choice), a lovely soft long black sweater/tunic with embellished beads around the neckline for added and easy glitz (it also ensures no necklace detachment during a vigorous backhand!), flat and chunky knee high boots. All the rest of the glamour can come in the form of a set of beautiful silver bangles - great for making a distracting noise whilst playing table tennis.

Trip to Panto - a British classic, to take the children and usually a few elderly relatives to shout ‘he’s behind you’ at oddly dressed men-folk in ladies frocks. But style is important wherever you go, so a lovely long military style coat, knee high boots (flat and chunky biker style) deep purple (this seasons hot colour) satin pussy bow shirt and black stretch skirt. A lovely very large amethyst cocktail ring, over-long silver charm necklace to drop at tummy-button level and a cute silver charm bracelet. Don’t forget you will need an over-sized handbag to carry everything in so go for Purple patent too.

Pearl and Butler are an online retailer, stocking Murano glass jewellery and other costume jewellery.

Walk down the road and every one whom you see will wave at you or greet you. It might even be the same person with whom you had an argument last month, or might be your neighbour whose last name your don’t remember but they all greet you or at least give a smile when you walk past them. It seems like the same dull neighbourhood has suddenly erupted with happiness and fun all of a sudden that is the impact of the Christmas season.

Christmas celebrated on December 25, which commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Although a Christian holiday, Christmas is widely celebrated by many non-Catholics, and some of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Catholic or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, and garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly. In addition, Father Christmas (known as Santa Claus in some areas) is a popular mythological figure in many countries, associated with the bringing of gifts for children.

Christmas Day is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in most countries of the world, even in many whose populations are not majority Christian. In some non-Christian countries, periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration, in others, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. Around the world, Christmas celebrations can vary markedly in form, reflecting differing cultural and national traditions. Countries such as Japan and Korea, where Christmas is popular despite there being only a small number of Christians, have adopted many of the secular aspects of Christmas such as gift-giving, decorations and Christmas trees.

Apart from all the happiness and joy that is in the air during the Christmas season there is also a lot of music in the air as well. It may not be the usual rock and pop numbers but the Christmas Songs or better known as Christmas Carols. Christmas is famous for these songs as in the Christmas season almost every house that you visit will have these carols playing; this sweet sound of Christmas melody adds the already pleasant environment all around.

Some of the famous Christmas Carols are “Away In a Manger”,”Coventry Carol”,”Go Tell It on the Mountain”,” Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!”, “Joy to the World” and there are a lot more. These carols are sung once the Christmas season starts. They are not only sung inside the churches but also in small gatherings at homes during this season. And then there is the carol parade in which a group of people which include people from the church, go around from house to house to spread to joy and happiness of Christmas

Get the latest and most popular Christian MP3 Songs and Sermon Downloads with us at Thirdmile.com

Mejason John,
Thirdmile Digital Media Team,
Australia.
E-mail - thirdmile22@gmail.com