Fast Lane - E-Z Pass: your ticket to easy road travel

You know that iritating feeling when youre on a road trip driving down the highway and you see a sign up ahed for tolls? So you spend the next 35 seconds trying to pull up to the toll while searching for the exact change so you dont have to break your precious 20 dollar bill? Theres a solution for that; its called Fast Lane or Easy Pass. Doesnt matter which one, they both work on major highways. Fast Lane and Easy Pass is a system that consists of a small device that you insert on the inside the windshield of your car. The device then corresponds with the sensors at the toll that electronically subrtact toll fares from your account that you have when your a member with these companies.
Easy Pass and Fast Lane also make it easier for your life because it charges you at a lower rate than regular toll fares. For example; Each toll fare varies from $1.25 to $3.00 depending on the cities value. Fast Lane however states one set price for the tolls that you go through, saving lots of money. Also, at the end of every month that you remain a member for Fast Lane, The amount of tolls they expect you to go through in one month is reimbursed to your account. Pretty cool huh?
So botton line is that everyone who is an advid driver (especially if you live at Nichols College) should obtain an Easy Pass or Fast Lane membership. It saves a lot of time and money on the run.

Here is a video on the cons about owning an E-Z Pass, enjoy!

Cora Lincoln -- Post #3

Grocery Shopping the Right Way

Grocery Shopping is one of those things that can be a very time consuming and costly action to accomplish. Depending on what you buy, what time you go, and where your grocery shopping takes place are all factors that effect the cost and time needed for your grocery shopping experience. This question and answer blog with tips and tricks will help make your grocery shopping experience more effective one

Q: When is the best time to go grocery shopping?

A: The best time to go grocery shopping would be early in the morning, and during the week. People generally go grocery shopping on the weekends and later in the day. If you go during the week, most people are usually at work. And the earlier you go to the store to go grocery shopping, the less likely it is that the store will be crowded. 

Q: What is the most efficient way to go grocery shopping?
A: The most efficient way to go grocery shopping is to go when you are not, in any way, hungry. When you go grocery shopping when you are hungry, you want to buy literally everything in the store. You try to buy everything that looks good, but wen you are hungry, everything looks good. You are in the mood for everything and every little snack or big meal looks appetizing to you.

Q: Where are the best places to go grocery shopping?
A: The best places to go grocery shopping mostly depends on your location, and what grocery stores are located near you. You want to go to the grocery store with the lowest prices. For example, instead of shopping at Stop and Shop, Roche Bros, or Shaw's, try shopping at a Market Basket or Price Chopper. These are stores that offer groceries at lower prices. Also, try avoiding major retail stores such as Target or Walmart, and also avoid small local grocery stores.

Q: How can I successfully go grocery shopping and get the most for my dollar/
A: The best and easiest way to get the most for your dollar is to get as many coupons as you can, before you go grocery shopping. You also want to be as least picky with your food as possible. If you only buy one certain brand of everything, chances are you will not find that many coupons for what you want. Clip coupons first, and then buy the brands that you have coupons for. But that does not mean you need to go out of your way, and buy extra items just because you have coupons for them, only buy things that are necessary.

For more information on grocery shopping, you can read more on these websites about Shopping On A Budget and other Grocery Shopping Tips. 

How to become a Beruit Champion!! Blog #3

Move over Baggo and Horseshoes, because Beruit also known as Beer Pong, or Bar Pong depending where you are, is becoming one of the biggest party, tailgating, graduation, social games ever. I will be giving you tips on how to become a Beruit champion. I personally have now reached the milestone of becoming a five time Snatch Alley Tournament Champion. Snatch Alley Tournaments are played through out Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Rhode Island and have prizes that range from $150 to $500 for the winners.

Tournament Win #1
Team Donohues

First off, I would like to begin and advise people to play with water and not beer! Playing with water is a much safer option. You do not know where others peoples mouths have been so sharing cups is disgusting. Also the ping pong balls will be rolling around on the ground, I don't care if there is a "wash" cup the ball is still dirty. If you are going to drink on the side, drink responsible, too much alcohol will effect your play in a negative way.

Tournament Win #2
Team Donohues

There are two basic ways to shoot. Shoot using an arc, and shot using a line drive shot. Shooting with an arc gives you a better chance of hitting nothing but water, and less of a chance of the ball spinning in and out of the cup. If you are shooting a line drive shot you basically want to aim for the back of the cup and use the inside white part of the cup as a backboard. I tend to use a high arc, some tell me I shot ridiculously high, but it always seems to work for me. Depending what type of building you're in the ceilings can be low and will force you to use more of a line drive shot. 

Tournament Win #3
Team Donohues

Beruit is all about the wrist! A lot of people don't realize this but if you use your wrist more, you have a better shot of getting the ball in a cup. What I like to do as I'm shooting is, I set my feet, concentrate for a few seconds on the cup I want to hit, keep my arm bent in a 90 degree angle, shift my elbow left or right to line it up with the cup. Once I'm all set and lined up, I raise my arm keeping the elbow lined up with the cups and extend the arm towards the cup while flicking my wrist and releasing the ball hopefully resulting in a cup made.

Tournament Win #4
Team Donohues

In beruit it is important to know the rules. There are different rules in different venues. At Snatch Alley you play with six cups and get unlimited racks from four cups down. When I get down to three cups I don't like to use the normal triangle rack. The rack I like to use is either the Stop Light which is three cups in a row or the play button. These racks are beneficial because in both racks you already have at least two cups in a row, so all you have to do is keep your elbow straight when you shoot. I usually like to use the stop light but the play button can be an advantage if you tend to hit the middle cup of the stop light. If you hit the cup on the right of the play button you still have the two rack for the next player to shoot at, or if you hit one of the cups that are on the left you still have cups connected where in the stop

light if you hit the middle cup you have an open space. 

Play Button

The last two cups tend to be easy cups for me. What I do is keep my elbow straight and flick my wrist forward and I tend to easily make either the back or front cup. Last cup is hard for a lot of people. My hint for people is to pretend there is still two cups. It is easier to shoot at two cups then one cup. If you concentrate hard enough and imagine there being a cup in front of last cup you are either going to just miss short or get the ball in the cup. I usually make last cup on my first or second shot which is a lot better than most people who take at least five turns to make it. 

Tournament Win #5
Team Donohues

In Snatch Alley, distractions are legal. A friend of mine will do the good cop, bad cop routine on the other team. He will yell HURRY UP! WHAT ARE YOU READING A BOOK OR SOMETHING! While his partner will do the opposite and say its alright take your time we have all night. Distractions get in the heads of your opponents and give them a better chance of missing. Some of my favorite distractions include asking someone on the other team who has a tight shirt "is that a tap out shirt" while they are shooting, or if they are wearing a polo shirt "is that a gap shirt?". If they respond to you then you are in their head. Another distracting I like is something I call the "gosh dance". I will hop left and right waiving my hands in the air while yelling gosh. This distraction works because it obviously distracts the other team but also makes them laugh on top of it. 

Trying To Distract

If you're losing bad, there is ways to help make a comeback and win. First, stay calm and don't let the fact that you are losing get in your head. Second, think of ways to make your comeback. One way to get cups quick is by bounce shooting. Bounces count as two cups. Sometimes at house parties I will look at the wall in a horrified manner, and ask the other team if they can kill the spider on the wall. Some teams will turn around to see the spider (not there) and I will bounce the ball for two cups. At Snatch Alley I have looked to the left and start yelling to the person running the tournament (not there) saying we are going as fast as we can. This gets the other team to look allowing my partner to get in a quick bounce. My tip for bouncing is to keep a low quick bounce. Even if the other team has good enough reflexes there is a chance they will swat the cups instead of the ball causing cups to get knocked over. Another way to try to come back and win is by doing what I call a "Hail Mary". A "Hail Mary" is when you and your partner shot basically at the same time trying to get it in the same cup. If you both get the same cup its called death cup, causing the game to officially be over, giving you the win. In Snatch Alley there are no rules against people shooting at the same time. If other teams shoot at the same time I will just smack one of the balls out of the way and allow that person to re shoot. That eliminates the chances of a death cup happening on me.

There are some other blogs on the internet that talks about beruit. The blog I choose was on Bleacher Report . In this blog, it shows pictures and talks about what he thinks are the different types of players. It is interesting to see that there is actually other beruit blogs. Snatch Alley has a Facebook page where you can see where they have tournaments and see pictures of recent winners. The owners offered me a job, where I can run my own Snatch Alley Tournament at a bar near Nichols. I am in the process of finding a bar that will allow a weekly tournament, and once I do I hope for a huge outcome. All in all, I hope that my blog will help you master the skills of becoming a Beruit Champion.

Blog #3

Tips to Make Studying Easier



Step 1: The best way to start studying is by eating something healthy and filling.  It is very hard to stay focused on an empty stomach.  You should eat some food that contains omega-3's.  There are many foods that have omega-3.  A few examples of foods with omega-3s are nuts, fish, dairy, and grains.

 

 

Step 2: Make sure you have a comfortable study environment.  It is almost impossible to study somewhere when there any many distractions around you.  The best thing to do is take away all those distractions so you can stay concentrated.   This is very difficult, for me at least, because I always get distracted.  It is smart to shut off your phone and stay off websites that will take you off track.  The best place to go to study is in the library.  There is n0t much to do there except stay focused.

Step 3:  In order to make studying effective you should make up a scheduled time to study as well as a good studying technique.  If you make a schedule to study and follow it there will be no excuse for you not to study.  It is a lot easier to get work and studying done if you have a planned time to do it.  There are many different ways to study.  I think the best way to find out what best fits you is to try a way out and see how it goes.  The way you study may also depend on the material you are studying for.  Find a suitable study method that you like so you can remember the material.  A really good way I found that helps me is either rewriting my notes or taking notes out of the chapter.  If you re-take your notes that allows your brain to memorize the material.

 

If you are still having trouble with studying then ask a friend to help.  It can be very helpful to have someone help you study.  They can help in many different ways by quizzing you, study techniques, etc.  The one downfall of this is that they are your friend so you guys can distract each other.  It could be hard to stay focused.  If that is a problem another option that is probably your best choice is to get a tutor.  Especially at Nichols seeing that we have free tutoring.  A tutor will be able to get you through a study session successfully with no distractions.



Easy way to write an essay.

It is agreeable that writing an essay can take up to several hours of one's day, if not the whole day. Over the years of being assigned numerous papers, I have came up with a method that makes writing essays much less time consuming and not so stressful. Here are some key steps:

1.          When assigned any essay, instantly write down the due date in an agenda, a task board, or in your cellphone. In order to prevent forgetting about the assignment, also place two separate dates before it is due to remind yourself about the essay.

2.          Use the information given to you in class discussions or lectures wisely by writing down notes throughout each class. More often than not a professor will assign an essay that is about a topic already discussed. Having these important notes will give you the advantage of having a foundation from which to begin writing.

3.          Do research or read ahead of time! The best way to complete an essay without stressing is to take it one step at a time. Choose a date prior to the due date to do any necessary research or reading assignment needed for the essay. This way there will be no obstacles while writing; you will have all the information you need.

4.          Make an outline. The most helpful tool while doing an essay is one that you make yourself. An outline will give you a structure on which to base the essay preventing getting stuck in the middle of the paper. Having all the information neatly organized, you will easily glide through your assignment.

5.          Now that you have all your notes, information, and outline the only thing left to do is put it in a well written essay. Make time a few days before the paper is due to write your essay. This way you won’t be up the night before its due trying to finish it in 30 minutes. 

Basically, do not procrastinate! Procrastination may seem easy, but in the end you will be stuck with tons to due in a limited amount of time causing stress, anxiety, and making the paper much more dreadful.

Here I provided only a few helpful hints on writing an essay but on these websites there is an abundance of useful information to create a good essay:

http://www1.aucegypt.edu/academic/writers/

http://lklivingston.tripod.com/essay/

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/essay.html

Over the years one of the hardest things for me was tostay focused.  I would never get my work done and if I did it was either rushed or incomplete.  Focusing is hard for some and for others it’s like they were actually teaching the class the way they knew so much.  It’s not like my lack of focus was intentional.  It just happens. It starts off by me trying to pay attention to the teacher which I can do for about ten minutes then I start to drift and day dream.  It usually starts when the teacher lectures about a topic.  I go off into my own world and think about prior experiences in my life.  Such as high school basketball games, prom, and working out.  I never could stay focused because my mind was elsewhere.  So in order for me too I had to change up the way I learned.  I have five ways to help you focus better.

My first way to solve the problem is tutoring.  Some may say tutoring doesn't help but you’ll be surprised on the results you get.  Tutoring helps you individually.  If you have a problem with the way a teacher is teaching a tutor will break the subject down one on one so you can understand it better.  A tutor can give you tips on how to study and what you can do in class to pay attention.  

Another thing you can do to stay focused isgoing to sleep.  A lot of rest is important in the learning experience.  It’s kind of like a basketball game. When someone is preparing for a game they are rested so they can have enough energy to play at a high level.  

The third way is eating healthy.  It has been proven that junk food makes you sluggish and healthy foods such as lettuce, pasta, and fish give you energy.  

The next way is when you are working on something you should have a clean work space.  This will lead to no distractions so you can have more time to focus on the assignment.  

The last way is to set goals.  Having goals makes work easier because you are more organized and have a better idea on want needs to be done.  You can have mini goals to get you to your main goals.  Stay organized with these steps and you’ll be focused in no time. 

We are always looking for ways to save money some more than others, nobody wants to pay the top prices retailers are offering but instead want to spend as little as they can and still get a big bang for their buck. What I am going to tell you is how to save money for the best most comfortable sneakers that you can possibly imagine. It could be anything from Nike sneakers to Reebok sneakers. The most common websites or stores people go to are Nike.Com, Adidas.com, Reebok.com or any other website like that, but what people do not realize is that a website that has all of those brand sneakers but sells them for extremely less is Eastbay.com. I personally love Eastbay because not only do they sell me my favorite type of sneakers for wicked cheap they sell me any type of athletic wear or sports jerseys that I may feel like I need. This website is up to date with what other you may need too. Let’s say that you are a sneaker junkie and you live your life by buying the top of the line sneakers well eastbay has those the day it comes out and maybe even for a lower price you were originally looking at. I have tons of experience with this website, not only have I bought my sneakers for any basketball season that I have played in but I have also bought sneakers that I will just wear around or even a shirt that I use to lounge around in. but seriously guys this website is nothing but the best, I strongly recommend that you use this website because not only will you save money throughout a long time but the quality of everything is that exactly like the store. Ask any athlete about where to get the hottest sneakers and they will send you to eastbay. If I had to give this site a personal review I would say how everything I have bought off of this website is still holding up to this day. Everything and anything I will always go back to this website

Ryan Finn 

A way to save money when buying shoes on the Internet is to google search for coupons. Say I was to buy shoes on the eastbay.com I would type in coupons for eaststbay and it comes up with website that give you a code. The code could either be for free shipping, 20% off your order or 20 dollars off. I learned this though my mom because she always said my shoes cost to much money. She finally got fed up and told me that I need to find a way to get them cheaper. After I couldn’t think of anything she did her research and found a lot of website that give the coupon code. Ever since then I have been using those site