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Anybody who has ever purchased an individual health insurance may think that the phrase “affordable individual health insurance” is an oxymoron. With the rising cost of health care, it is entirely logical to suppose that the cost of health insurance is rising with it. There are, however, ways to keep such costs down.

One way is to be loyal to your insurance provider. Repeat customers are sometimes offered discounts for subsequent policies purchased. You can also buy all your insurance needs, such as auto, fire, theft, or any other type of policy you think you need, from the same company. This, though, is not always the case so that you will still need to explore the rates of other companies.

You can also save through the deductibles, copayments, and coinsurances. If you are generally healthy, exercise at least four times a week, eat a low-cholesterol diet, and that you do not expect to get seriously ill in a year or so, you can opt for higher deductibles, copayments, and even a coinsurance. This will lead to lower premiums.

If your job involves feeding sharks in an ocean theme park or lions in a zoo, try looking for employment elsewhere. If you really are interested in sharks and lions, settle with their photographs in books and magazines. As a librarian, your insurance premiums will definitely be much lower.

Mr. Crow is our next door neighbour. He is almost 70 years old. He lives in his old house with his daughter and her family. Mr. Crow is a nice man who is known to perform great magic tricks. In fact, when a kid celebrates his or her birthday, Mr. Crow would gladly execute some of them to the kids.

I was in Mr. Crow’s house the other day. I was paid by his daughter to mow their overgrown grass. Mr. Crow was reading his newspaper when I arrived that morning. He said he was looking for portable generators for sale in the classifieds. Mr. Crow continued with his reading and I set off to do my work. After a few minutes, Mr. Crow called me in to enjoy a bit of refreshments. He shared some war stories. Mr. Crow knows how fascinated I am with the world war history.

This morning, I heard my mom say that Mr. Crow was rushed to the hospital at dawn. He seems to have suffered from a stroke. I immediately rushed to their house and knocked on their door. His granddaughter, Milly answered the door. It was true that his grandfather was in the hospital. I hope Mr. Crow get well soon.

Sandy is a neat freak and obsessive compulsive. Her room is organized and tidy. Nothing is out of place or unsorted. Compact discs and DVDs are alphabetically arranged and by order of genre. Sandy’s clothes are neatly folded in a pile while others are hanged according to design, fabric and color. Her collection of books is arranged by height and by title.

For a regular person, Sandy is unnatural. No one in their right mind would even bother to do the things that she does. She always makes sure to flip her bed covers on the same corner to avoid messing it up, make sure the pen she just put down is straight and make sure that she eats her corn on the cob sideways from left to right.

On Sandy’s vanity, her beauty products are arranged by type and by size. Her ceramic flat irons and its wires neatly stored. Even her lipsticks are arranged by shade.

According to Sandy, she got her “trait” from both her parents but hers are just plain outrageous. She noticed this when she turned ten years old. Every time I visit their house, it is always neat and visitor ready. Even though there are kids around, there house is just spotless.

Andrea was his Daddy’s girl. Although she can also share some stuff with her mother, Andrea is particularly close to her father ever since. When she was just a little girl, Andrea’s dad would sing to her every night before bedtime. At times when her dad would come home after a business trip, Andrea would always get a new toy or book.

Andrea’s dad was quite the disciplinarian and she understood him. She was an only child and a girl at that. She fully understood why her dad was really protective of her. Nevertheless, Andrea’s dad was not the type to choke or smother her. In fact, he taught her how to be independent and how to be a self-starter. Now that Andrea is married, she still consults her dad about a few things including different kitchen lighting ideas.

Andrea hasn’t seen her dad in quite a long time. She is much too busy taking care of her small kids as well as her work. Andrea’s dad, on the other hand, is much too frail to travel. They really miss each other and they talk on the phone almost everyday. She sends her dad pictures and videos of herself as well as her kids.

I called in sick today due to a swollen ankle. I fell down the stair because I tripped on a few pairs of shoes and a soccer ball. It was a bummer really, but it nice to just relax at home.

After a trip to the doctor, I immediately went home. I stationed myself in front of the TV and watched. My closest bud, Greg, came over and bought me some Chinese food and pizza. As we chugged on some cold beer, I accidentally flicked on the remote to the Home Shopping Network. They were selling some items for shoe storage solutions and though I really need one, I switched the channel back to football. We watched Prison Break, CSI and House. We were enjoying the TV series marathon we were having.

A few hours later, Mikey and Dan, as well as their girlfriends, dropped by as well. They even bought me cake and some blueberry muffins. I didn’t know my friends were thoughtful. Ha!

I changed my position to a more comfortable one and shifted in the sofa. The guys were playing cards while I just watched and enjoyed a slice of chocolate cake. It was delicious. It’s great to have good friends.

When I was eight years old, I had a friend named Karl. Karl was an adopted son and he does not mind. He told me that he doesn’t care if he was adopted for he knew his foster parents love him with all their heart, even more that his real parents.

I was happy that Karl was happy. I could truly see that his parents love him very much. After school, I would usually hang out at Karl’s. Sometimes when my mom would come home late, Karl’s mom would volunteer to look after me. She says she does not mind as long as Karl would have a playmate. Karl’s mom was a great cook. So good, in fact, that I have gained weight during my stay at their house. She would serve us delicious homemade ice cream, cookies and cake. She cooks a really tasty macaroni and cheese to.

Karl’s mom was kind woman. She is a bit older than my mom was. Karl’s parents waited long time to have a baby. When they finally found out that they couldn’t have one, they went to an orphanage and adopted Karl. They treated him as their own. Though the difference was really obvious, Karl was ebony skinned while her parents were white skinned.

Mandy went to the mall to buy herself some shoes. Some of her friends told her that her favourite shoe store was having a sale. This made Mandy almost dizzy with excitement. It was a great timing. She had finally saved enough for those wonderful sneakers she had been lusting on and if it was on sale, she can even buy herself a new shirt.

As soon as she entered the mall, her heart was beating so fast that I almost ran to the direction of the store. The shoe store was located at the far end of the shopping mall and Mandy had to pass by several other shops to get there. At the mall’s atrium, Mandy noticed that there were lot of people carrying notepads and watching something.

Mandy got curious and got nearer to the crowd. It turns out a local baker was giving out free cake decorating ideas. Mandy would have loved to hear the baker’s ideas but she has no time to dawdle. She had to buy those shoes.

As Mandy arrived at the store, she frantically searched for the pair of sneakers she has been eyeing on for weeks. Her heart stopped a beat when she saw someone trying it on.

Annie is such a timid lady. She acts likes a mouse that scurries away when there are people. She shies away from attention and seldom goes out with friends.

I have been friends with Annie since we were in third grade. Though she is not attractive, Annie is not ugly either. She is just plain looking because of her earth toned clothes, squeaky clean face and freckles. I know for a fact that Annie cleans up really well. I had the chance to give her a makeover a few months back and she looked absolutely pretty. It’s just that it was too much of a bother for her to put on makeup or style her hair.

This weekend, I have invited Annie to accompany me to one of my white water river rafting trips. She was very happy that I asked her though she is not sure to go. Annie is timid as she is cautious. So I told her some the basic information about the trip. It is perfectly safe adventure that even kids can go too. Annie changed her mind a few times before agreeing. In fact, she is all excited and pumped to go on an adventure trip. She is also excited about the camping and the trekking too.

I finally got time to clean out my parents’ attic. Their house is a bit old and I admit I was scared when I first entered the dark and dusty attic after all these years.

I opened up a few boxes hoping that no rat, scorpions or spiders would come out. I prepared my nose for any foul smell of molds, dead rats and maybe some rotting wood or cardboard. I found my Dad’s collection of books and I wondered why he kept them up here since he was a voracious reader. I set it aside since I knew I would be taking it home with me.

In the far corner of the attic was an old chest. I gulped loudly and tried opening it. It was stuck and took a few more tries before I could open it. I jumped when I saw a large spider come out of one of its hiding places and crawled near my hand. I scourged the chest of its contents and saw an old outdoor fireplace plan. There was also an old yo-yo, a wooden jigsaw puzzle and a depilated football.

It took me almost the whole day to clean just a portion of the attic. Next weekend, I will tackle the room again.

Kate has been invited to go to a big party by her boss. It is going to be held at a huge hotel ballroom and everyone who’s anyone in the banking industry will be there. Kate’s boss specifically told her that she should dress up and look her finest for that night.

Kate had no problems finding the right dress and shoes for the said affair. She had even decided as to how to wear her hair – Kate’s going to pull her hair up and let a few tendrils drape her face. Her only problem now is her makeup. At work, Kate wears minimal makeup with just a dab of lipstick and a bit of mascara. She has no idea as to how to apply makeup that would make her look glamorous and beautiful.

Since she could not afford any makeup artist, she decided to browse numerous sites in the internet offering professional makeup tips through videos. With just two weeks to go before the big bash, Kate religiously imitates what she sees in the video tutorials. She is a fast learner and was able to use all the important techniques in makeup application.

On the night of the party, Kate was compliment by a lot of people. She looked pretty in her makeup.