There was a time, say thirty or forty years ago, when vegetarians had a difficult time telling non-vegetarians why it was so important to stop eating meat. The situation was made worse because vegetarians back then did not get the support from the food manufacturers and supermarkets that they do now either. In brief, it was far more difficult to be a vegetarian than it is now.

Furthermore, in those far off days, lots of hippies and others adopting an ‘alternative’ lifestyle were first generation vegetarians and so they could not look to their parents for support or advice. Those people are now in their forties and fifties with children and even grandkids of their own, many of whom are also vegetarian.

Being second or even third generation vegetarian is very different from being first, not least because they have been able to see the effects of a vegetarian lifestyle on their parents and even grandparents. It might never cross such a person’s mind to crave a bacon sandwich with tomato sauce or a French dip beef sandwich au jus, because the idea is abhorrent to them.

They have not had to make a conscious decision or a huge physical effort to strip meat from their diet after perhaps eating it for twenty years or more. My father gave up meat for ethical as well as practical reasons when he was sixty and he craved ‘bacon butties’ (sandwiches) for the rest of his life. He found it hard.

His reasons for giving up meat were fairly typical: he objected to the cruelty to animals that is brought on by intensive farming techniques in some countries; he objected to the use of hormones and preservatives in live animals and he thought that eating so much meat was not a sustainable lifestyle for a growing world population, that was becoming increasingly rich enough that everybody would would like to eat more meat sooner or later.

Society does not help or encourage the would-be vegetarian. The farming industry has grown huge and they have a personal interest in selling us their dairy, meat and eggs. It is hard to escape pictures and hoardings marketing their products. Although the situation is better nowadays, restaurants still cater usually to the meat-eaters and vegetarian meals always seem small and expensive in comparison.

Luckily there are plenty of ‘Eastern’ restaurants that cater naturally to the vegetarian because numerous Easterners are vegetarian. You can always find vegetarian meals on a Chinese, Japanese or an Indian menu. Hindus are vegetarian. Thai restaurants will also have a high proportion of meatless meals.

However, if you do not like spicy food, you are back in the pizza hut or the sandwich bar in most towns. Society has moved on, yet there is still a long way to go yet the vegetarian life is definitely becoming easier to sustain. There is comfort in numbers, so it would be worth taking vegetarian cookery lessons if your resolve begins to waiver.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on a variety of subjects, and is now involved with how to cook for diabetics. If you would like to know more, please visit our website at Cookbooks For Diabetics.

The Razor kick scooter is the present-day equivalent of the type of scooter that has been about for 50 years or more. In actuality, children have almost definitely been attaching boards to wheels ever since scrap wheels became available. As with those classic scooters, the Razor kick scooter is propelled forward by foot power. That is, you put one foot on the board and push forward, or in other words kick back on the ground with the other.

This method of movement makes this kick scooter an idyllic style of transport, exercise and pleasure for kids of all ages. In deed, Razor do not recommend a Razor scooter for the under fives unless supervised by an adult and maintain in their handbook:

“Children under age eight (8) should ride with adult supervision at all times. All children and preteens should ride with adult guidance at all times”.

This appears fairly strict to me and is almost certainly an instance of over-prudence because of the litigious culture we live in. Just try saying to a twelve-year that you have to use guidance on all of his or her journeys!

Having said that the Razor kick scooter comes in roughly seven different guises. There is the Kiddie Kick scooter for the under fives. It is constructed of tough plastic and has a third wheel for added stability.

Then there is the ‘A’ series of Razor scooters: the A, A2, A3 and AW. These models are more or less equivalent to a child’s development in size, ability and experience, although the heaviest suggested weight for all three models of Razor scooter is 65 kilos or 143 lbs.

The Razor kick scooter Pro is a leap up in technology and so has more facilities. It can be ridden for extreme sport and will bear a rider weighing up to 100 kilos or 220 lbs.

Last, but not least, is the Cruiser Razor scooter. It will carry 79 kilos (175 lbs of weight and has bigger wheels as it is intended for laid-back cruising about. The larger wheels mean that you won’t be aware of any rough ground underneath you while you are on this Razor scooter.

All of these Razor scooters have similar features. All of these models of the Razor kick scooter are of very tough manufacture and all but the Razor Kiddie Kick scooter are made of high-grade aluminium and are built to last.

These Razor scooters have extensible steering rods, which means that they can be drawn up to grow with your child or can be shared by children of diverse sizes. They also share a tough braking system which operates on the rear wheel, rendering them ultra-safe for operation in the vicinity of pedestrians.

A Razor kick scooter begins at about $40 and so is an inexpensive way for you to make certain that your youngster gets regular exercise, gets out from behind his computer, gets some fresh air and sunlight and learns about good manners while having fun being mobile. Besides all these benefits, a Razor kick scooter will give your child warm memories to look back on for the rest of his or her being.

If this article has whetted your appetite for a Razor Pocket Bike or one of the others in the range, just go over to our website now for information and bargains at Razor A Scooter

In order to be eligible for a twelve-months’ visa in Thailand, you have to have a certain amount of money in the bank: 400,000 Baht if you are married to a Thai and 800,000 if you are not married. (I have heard many times that two can live as cheaply as one, but never for half the price). Another condition is that that money has to be in a Thai bank three months before you need the visa.

This time my bank in Britain was slow sending my money to Thailand so I lost my year’s visa. There are a couple of alternatives open in this case but all need travel. My wife and I decided to go to the nearby Laotian capital of Vientiane, which is about 500 miles (800 kilometres) from where we live in northern Thailand, because neither of us had been there before.

The bus goes from Phitsanulok, which is about 75 kilometres in precisely the opposite direction from Laos, that is south-east. Since the bus was leaving at 22:00 there was no suitable bus to take us there and we had to find a taxi.

The journey to Phitsanulok took us four hours, because the taxi driver wanted to stop off and check that his mother was all right. He was not a real taxi driver, just a farmer with a car. There are no real taxis where I live and his mother was not sick, he merely wanted to take advantage of the fact that he was going to be passing nearby her village to check that she was all right.

None of that is out of the ordinary here, you take it in your stride as part of travelling through ‘the country’. The bus was clean and comfortable and on time, which, to be fair, they often are. When it came to saying good-bye, why wife’s daughter did not want to be left behind. Luckily, there was a chair left on the bus, so we took her along as well.

The journey to Udon Thani was enjoyable but long; seven hours of meandering through the mountains of north-eastern Thailand, but in the dark so you could not see anything. Udon was cold – the first time I have ever been cold in Thailand in six years.

Although it was probably about ten degrees Celsius, I have become acclimatised to a minimum of 20c and an average of 30c. We had no warm clothes and the daughter did not have a change of clothing at all. Nor a passport. And she had left at home her ID, which has to be carried at all times.

My wife rang a friend in Udon and she arranged a taxi to Vientiane, which is 22 kilometres over the border from Nong Khai, which is 50 kilometres north of Udon – a total of 72 kilometres. This time it was a shop-keeper with a car who wanted to go to Laos to get some duty-free cigarettes.

Once across ‘The Friendship Bridge’, we separated for a time because I had to use a different route through passport control. My wife and her daughter were waiting at the other side for me, but the taxi had deserted us and gone home. I have no concept how the daughter got through without an ID, but I know money changed hands. Finding a taxi, a real one, from there to Vientiane was simple.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on several topics, but is now concerned with Vientiane visa run. If you would like to know more, please visit our web site at Package Holidays to Thailand.

Have you ever thought about running a wedding car business? Although it can be demanding, because you do not want to let anybody down on their big day, it is also fascinating and exciting.

Some of the advantages are that you get to own good-looking cars – maybe a Rolls Royce or a Bentley and they are tax-deductible; you meet new people under happy circumstances and you are in the position to help them have a wonderful wedding day.

It is a very demanding industry, because you always have to bear in mind the desires of your clients and think about how you can realize and expand their’ wishes. That is difficult enough, but you also have to stay competitive. I hope that the following tips will be helpful.

1] Take care of the conditions under which you keep your vehicles. If you can afford to garage them, they will not collect dust and bird droppings so the paintwork will look better for longer. Do not have a gravel drive, because of possible scratching to the coachwork of the cars.

2] Get one or two really lovely vehicles. You will need to do a bit of research to find out what couples in your area like, but as a rule of thumb a Rolls Royce or a Bentley are sure bets. Or maybe a stretch limousine. Old vehicles go down well too. Build up your fleet of cars gradually but increasingly. Offer your clients as much choice as you can realistically afford to do.

Many wedding couples will not only require the wedding car, but also cars for the guests. Many of them want limousines or old cars for their wedding day. But a lot of other cars are required for the guests. Be flexible and consent to bedeck the cars according to the couple’s wishes with flowers and ribbons.

3] Employ good, sympathetic personnel. A fully trained chauffeur is a necessity, but a military style chauffeur can add to your firm’s image.

4] It is a good idea to offer various packages or elements that a couple can use to build a package. So, you could offer transportation from the bride’s house to the church as one element. From the church to the restaurant as another element and from there to the chosen hotel, the airport or the railway station, as another element.

5] Make sure that your clients know exactly how long they have exclusive use of the cars for. This is useful for them, so that they know precisely how long they have to take photos, eat or chat.

Transport plays a huge and vital part in any wedding day celebrations. In fact, poorly timed or scruffy transportation can ruin a wedding day. If you let that happen, your firm’s standing will suffer badly, particularly in a town or village. You will need a high sense of responsibility; reliable, well-trained, sensitive staff and high quality cars that look the part. White wedding cars are popular, but other colours are acceptable, especially for the guests.

If you are interested in a Welsh gold wedding ring, or Wales in general, go to our website at Welsh Products Online

Celtic wedding are an ideal way of expressing your being a Celt. It is also a way of integrating traditional values, symbols, themes and customs into major events in your life. However, Celtic wedding are massively popular not only among people with a Celtic heritage, but among other couples who are fascinated by the ancient Celtic culture.

Celtic wedding have traditional symbolic decorations, often based on the Celtic knot. Welsh, Irish and Scottish families will occasionally marry in ancient buildings like castles or old manors, but that is not the norm. A traditional Celtic wedding is not significantly different from a normal British wedding in a lot of ways.

However, the number of similarities between Celtic wedding ceremony traditions and normal British-style weddings goes a lot further than that. If you want a traditional British style wedding, you will be going unwittingly for a Celtic wedding. But you can beef up the Celtic element of the wedding ritual even further without sinking into silly theatrics.

This is a traditional Celtic poem about when to marry:

Marry when the year is new, Always loving, kind and true.

When February birds do mate, You may wed, nor dread your fate.

If you wed when March winds blow, Joy and sorrow both you’ll know.

Marry in April when you can, Joy for maiden and for man.

Marry in the month of May, You will surely rue the day.

Marry when June roses blow, Over land and sea you’ll go.

They who in July do wed, Must labour always for their bread.

Whoever wed in August be, Many a change are sure to see.

Marry in September’s shine, Your living will be rich and fine.

If in October you do marry, Love will come but riches tarry.

If you wed in bleak November, Only joy will come, remember.

When December’s showers fall fast, Marry and true love will last.

Here are a few other traditions:

Loving Cup: The traditional cup is a two-handled bowl with Celtic designs engraved onto it. The idea of the Loving Cup ceremony is for the bride and groom to share their first drink together as husband and wife and to demonstrate the coming together of their two families.

The Bell of Truce: A bell is blessed and then given to the bride and groom. The couple is required to ring the bell, while thinking loving thoughts of each other. The bell is then kept at home as a token of the wedding day. If an argument begins, the bell can be rung by either the husband or wife to call a truce. The tinkling sound is intended to remind the couple of their wedding vows and to help them relive happy memories from their wedding day.

Handfasting: Early Celts used to ?tie the knot?. It dates back to a pre-Christian custom of literally tying a couple’s wrists together in a form of probationary marriage lasting a year and a day, at the end of which a new agreement was made or the couple parted ways.

Bride’s Bouquet: In Celtic wedding traditions brides carried herbs beneath their veils to signify fidelity, and spices to frighten off evil spirits.

Ring finger: Ancient Celts believed that there was a vein in the third finger of the left hand that ran straight to the heart, so ring placed on that finger denoted a strong love and commitment to the other.

Wedding cake: A thin loaf was broken over the bride’s head at the end of the service to indicate fertility. The wheat from which it was made symbolized fertility and the guests enthusiastically picked up the pieces for good luck charms.

It was also common for the Celtic groom to toss a handful of coins into the crowd after the wedding, in the hope that this would bring them luck in the years ahead.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with theCeltic Knot wedding ring. If you have an interest in wedding rings too, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring