Stringing a tree with tinsel or spraying fake snow around your double-glazed windows is fairly normal behaviour when it comes to celebrating a religious festival at home. However, if you spend more time on the road carrying out haulage work then you do lounging around in your living room at home, then it's understandable that you may also want to decorate your vehicle. Here are some instances of customised trucks from around the world.
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<br>The Christmas Truck
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<br>Some people admit to only feeling festive when the Christmas Coca-Cola advert, with the beautifully lit up red truck, comes onto the television. This advert actually fell into disuse around 2001, after Coca-Cola restructured its advertising model to produce adverts locally rather than centrally in the companies' Atlanta headquarters. However, after many phone calls from consumers all over the world, saying that the advert represented the start of the festive season, the company were forced to place the advert back into use. Haulage workers driving the Coca-Cola trucks, like on the advert, are encouraged to decorate their trucks with the stereotypical red LED lights. These trucks are therefore a common sight on the freeways of America during the Advent season.
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<br>The Hola MohallaTruck
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<br>During the Sikh festival of Hola Mohalla it is common for participants to decorate their trucks, before carrying out haulage work. The decorations are similar in style to the Diwali trucks, but slightly less elaborate. Instead of floral offerings, crepe paper decorations hang from the bumpers and windows of the truck, whilst artificial flower garlands decorate the front bonnet and balloons hang from the side doors. However, during the festival the goods that the haulage workers are carrying slightly differ from those they are used to in their regular line of work. Haulage workers carrying participants to and from the carnival procession in their decorated trucks, whilst the participants sing Kirtan hymns in the back.
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<br>The Dekotora Truck
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<br>Whilst many haulage workers will only decorate their trucks for special occasions, in Japan truck decoration is actually an art form. The art is known as dekotora and trucks are painted in loud and brash designs. They commonly have neon or ultra-violet lights and are in some instances designed to look like animals or anime characters. The trucks can be used for haulage work, but more commonly they are decorated by hobbyists who drive them to special events. However, whilst dekotora sounds like a lot of fun, there are strict rules that the participants all have to adhere to. The side bumpers, for example, must be made with broad plankers instead of the usual pipes. These are often decorated with paper lanterns and different types of illuminations.
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<br>The Diwali Truck
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<br>Haulage companies in India are encouraged to decorate their lorries for Diwali; the festival of lights. This sport can actually become quite competitive with those carrying out haulage work during the festival, trying to out do their colleagues by having the most elaborately decorated lorry. Strings of marigold flowers are wrung around the front of the truck and the bumper and these are known as 'pura'. The flowers have already been offered to the goddess, Lakshmi and after receiving her blessing are then hung from the trucks as an omen of good fortune. Marigold flowers aren't the only form of decoration and ribbons are often hung from the wing mirrors, whilst tassels cover the mud-flaps and grill of the vehicle. Haulage workers also use the excuse of the festive period to treat their trucks to a new lick of paint, so that they really outdo their rivals on the road.
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<br>About the Author: Lyall Cresswell is the Managing Director of Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry across the UK and Europe. It provides services for <a href="http://www.haulageexchange.co.uk/ " rel="nofollow"> haulage work </a> to buy and sell road transport and freight exchange in the domestic and international markets.
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Monday, October 12, 2009
How To Know You Are Being Discriminated Against - 7 Signs To Watch
You may have noticed someone acting unfairly toward you whether blatantly or inadvertently and dismissed it in the past, but it keeps happening and you want to know whether they are discriminating against you because of your age, race, gender, creed, sexual preference, body weight, or religious views. The following signs will help you discover whether a person doesn't like you because of these things, but you will need more than one event to happen to make that determination and it must keep occurring to know whether a person is sincerely discriminating against you. So what are some specific signs you might be overlooking?
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<br>One. When conversing with this person, he or she makes stereotypical remarks, jokes or false assumptions about your age, race, gender ,sexual preference, body weight, or religion. You find yourself having to defend who you are and what you believe.
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<br>Two. When controversy erupts regarding your particular age group, race, religion, or gender, a bias person will make statements like, "Your people, you women, you young people, your kind..." You feel angry and often feel the need to explain why you or your group is different.
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<br>Three. When asking a boss or supervisor about additional opportunities to better yourself, share ideas, and service others, you are met with a negative attitude and are told, "Thank you, but I can handle it. You should stick with what you are doing." Sometimes people will act as if they are superior by saying, "I didn't know you knew that...I thought your people weren't interested in that sort of thing."
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<br>Four. When you share your personal experience, the person will belittle it, debate as if they were there, talk about their "friend" who is the same race, likes the same sex, may have a similar build or has the same religion as yourself and will do or say other things to make them look like the authority on the issue. They may say, "I told my friend he needs to lose weight. He was about your size. I know what those people believe. I have studied their religion. I know about gays, my friend is gay. I have a black friend and he talks to me about ghetto people."
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<br>Five. When you try to be friendly or make friends, you are greeted half-heartedly or not at all. The person doesn't include you in on any activities, meetings or events. When asked about them, he or she seems to always have an excuse as to why they hadn't included you such as, "I misplaced your phone number. I thought I emailed you. I told Bill to tell you...I thought you knew already."
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<br>Six. When you come around people act as if they don't trust you without any particular reason. They may even deliberately set traps to catch you lying or stealing so that they can replace you with someone else.
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<br>Seven. You overhear someone talking about your race, gender, sexual preference, religion, etc. and when you come around they quickly change the subject and act as if they like you. When you tell them what you have heard that offended you, they try to set you apart from the rest. "Well you know you are different...we like you but we don't like them..."
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<br>When you feel discriminated against you must not act on feeling alone, you must have solid information that proves that a person was acting unfairly toward you because of your race, religion, creed, sexual preference, or gender. A quick indicator someone is a racist or has some other issue with you is when you see that other people of a different race or has similar views are being afforded better opportunities than you and when you question it the company always has an excuse despite all the efforts you made to fulfill company requirements.
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<br>About the Author: Keep track of your workplaces experiences, take a look: <a href="http://www.jobjournal.shorturl.com" title="http://www.jobjournal.shorturl.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.jobjournal.shorturl.com</a> Nicholl McGuire is an Author, Poet and Freelance Writer.
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<br>One. When conversing with this person, he or she makes stereotypical remarks, jokes or false assumptions about your age, race, gender ,sexual preference, body weight, or religion. You find yourself having to defend who you are and what you believe.
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<br>Two. When controversy erupts regarding your particular age group, race, religion, or gender, a bias person will make statements like, "Your people, you women, you young people, your kind..." You feel angry and often feel the need to explain why you or your group is different.
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<br>Three. When asking a boss or supervisor about additional opportunities to better yourself, share ideas, and service others, you are met with a negative attitude and are told, "Thank you, but I can handle it. You should stick with what you are doing." Sometimes people will act as if they are superior by saying, "I didn't know you knew that...I thought your people weren't interested in that sort of thing."
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<br>Four. When you share your personal experience, the person will belittle it, debate as if they were there, talk about their "friend" who is the same race, likes the same sex, may have a similar build or has the same religion as yourself and will do or say other things to make them look like the authority on the issue. They may say, "I told my friend he needs to lose weight. He was about your size. I know what those people believe. I have studied their religion. I know about gays, my friend is gay. I have a black friend and he talks to me about ghetto people."
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<br>Five. When you try to be friendly or make friends, you are greeted half-heartedly or not at all. The person doesn't include you in on any activities, meetings or events. When asked about them, he or she seems to always have an excuse as to why they hadn't included you such as, "I misplaced your phone number. I thought I emailed you. I told Bill to tell you...I thought you knew already."
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<br>Six. When you come around people act as if they don't trust you without any particular reason. They may even deliberately set traps to catch you lying or stealing so that they can replace you with someone else.
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<br>Seven. You overhear someone talking about your race, gender, sexual preference, religion, etc. and when you come around they quickly change the subject and act as if they like you. When you tell them what you have heard that offended you, they try to set you apart from the rest. "Well you know you are different...we like you but we don't like them..."
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<br>When you feel discriminated against you must not act on feeling alone, you must have solid information that proves that a person was acting unfairly toward you because of your race, religion, creed, sexual preference, or gender. A quick indicator someone is a racist or has some other issue with you is when you see that other people of a different race or has similar views are being afforded better opportunities than you and when you question it the company always has an excuse despite all the efforts you made to fulfill company requirements.
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<br>About the Author: Keep track of your workplaces experiences, take a look: <a href="http://www.jobjournal.shorturl.com" title="http://www.jobjournal.shorturl.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.jobjournal.shorturl.com</a> Nicholl McGuire is an Author, Poet and Freelance Writer.
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Billboard Design Rules That the Pros Forget
<p>Have you ever had an ad designed by a professional that was completely terrible and did not produce any results? If so, you're not alone.</p><p>We recently had a client purchase several billboards, but when the vinyls (she ordered through someone else) were put up she was extremely unhappy at the quality and design of the ad. She thought that we did not install the vinyls correctly, but actually the vinyls were designed to look old, torn, and imperfect. The creative did not follow any of the rules and it was very hard to believe that this artwork came from a large national company.</p><p>Unfortunately, this happens on a regular basis so that's why I think it's important for every marketing person and or business owner to know the basic rules of billboard advertising.</p><p><strong>Rule #1</strong> - Effective billboards are short, sweet, simple and to the point. Passing motorists are limited to the time they can see your billboard and they can't safely read very much. They also can not read small copy (less than one foot tall) when "flying" by the sign.</p><p><strong>Rule #2</strong> - All billboard words should be at least one foot and 6 inches tall in order to be legible from the road. If your sign is close to the road, please do not ignore this rule, it still applies. Also if your sign is further away (higher than average) from normal, your copy should be bigger than this.</p><p><strong>Rule #3</strong> - All graphics need to be large enough to be seen at fast speeds and far distances. I generally try to make graphics as tall as the billboard with an exception to directional information.</p><p><strong>Rule #4</strong> - Use contrasting colors like yellow and black or red and white. Do not use colors that are similar to each other like blue and purple or orange and red because it will be hard to see two different colors from a distance.</p><p><strong>Rule #5 </strong>- Make sure your ads appeal to your target market. Use colors, graphics and words that they will be interested in. Make sure your target market can understand your ad also.</p><p><strong>Rule #6</strong> - All effective ads must have a smooth flow. When someone looks at your ad you want them to see one thing first, then another item second, and so on. You don't want them to get lost in your ad and not know which way to look next. If this happens, they will stop looking at your ad!</p><p><strong>Rule #7 </strong>- Getting attention is the most important thing your ad needs to do so it won't be overlooked. You can get attention in several ways, but the best advice I can give you is to be creative and do something out of the ordinary.</p><p><strong>Rule #8</strong> - Once your ad has captured attention, your next step is to create an interest in your product or service. Your main goal here is to make your product stand apart from your competition. Use benefits to tell your target market what's in it for them; do not bore them with the facts. For example, instead of saying "product xyz reduces fine lines" say "xyz will make your skin look 10 years younger."</p><p><strong>Rule #9</strong> - Create a desire for your product. Give your audience a small taste of your product or service. But don't give away too much information because the goal of your ad should be to get people to request more information.</p><p><strong>Rule #10</strong> - Call to Action - Don't leave your audience hanging; tell them what to do next. For example, "Call Now", or "Visit our website."</p><p>Selena McIntyre has been a Creative Designer for BPS Outdoor Media since 1999. She has a Marketing Degree and several years of customer service experience. She designs most of BPS's billboards and has written several articles about the outdoor advertising industry. Learn more design tips, about billboards and more marketing advice at <a target="_new" href="http://www.bpsoutdoor.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.bpsoutdoor.com</a></p><p>Stay updated - Look up BPS Outdoor Media on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn and become our friend.</p>
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