Author: Chocolate Vent

Dating From A –> Z (literally!)

Need some date ideas? From A to Z, here are some things you can suggest for a fun evening out –

A – aquarium, arcade, art gallery

B – biking, brewery, bonfire, B&B, boating, bowling, batting cages

C – camping, cook, comedy show

D – dancing, dinner, dive bar, drive-in movies, dog walking

E – escape room, exercise

F – football, fishing, festival, fondue restaurant, frisbee golf

G – game night, go-kart racing, ghost tour, garden, greenhouse

H – hiking, happy hour, hockey game, horseback riding

I – inline skating, ice cream, ice-skating

J – jazz music, splurge on junk food

K – karaoke, kayaking, kickboxing

L – line dancing, live music, laser tag

M – massage, museum, mini-golf, music

N – new restaurants, new experiences

O – opera, open theatre, anything outdoors

P – picnic, photoshoot, paint, progressive dinner

Q – a quadruple date

R – road trip, race track, rock climbing, read together

S – scavenger hunt, watch a sunset, stargaze, staycation

T – theme park, top golf, touristy stuff, trampoline park, play tennis

U – unplug, hear a university lecture together

V – volunteer, vineyard, volleyball, visiting with others, vintage shopping

X –  eXploring

Y – yoga, peruse yard sales

Z – ziplining, zoo

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Dating Advice For Men

Guys are you still having problems understanding us women? If so, here’s some good dating advice from different women. Read.Do.Repeat.

 

  1. Be direct – if there’s something you want from us, let us know. We aren’t mind readers either, ya’ know.
  2. Don’t feel entitled – just because you have more options than we do when it comes to dating, doesn’t mean you should hold that over our head. As the woman, I am still the prize and will continue to carry myself accordingly
  3. Be secure with yourself – we all have our own insecurities, but yours should never play out in our relationship
  4. Be honest – this should be without saying.
  5. Be faithful – I can just drop the mic on this one
  6. Don’t lead us on – If you’re not looking for a relationship, let us know in the beginning. We may want the same (and we may not). Just don’t waste our time
  7. Learn to communicate – there’s nothing wrong with opening up, especially if you want the same from us. If you want a real relationship, it’s imperative that you learn how to communicate anyhow because that’s what will help us stay together long-term
  8. Leave the whole “I don’t show emotion” at the door – it is not 1960 anymore so there is no need to hold up a façade with your male ego. We NEED to hear/see/feel your emotions because that helps draw us closer to you
  9. Be consistent – however you treat us in the beginning, is how you need to continue to treat us throughout the relationship
  10. Validate your partner’s feelings – this doesn’t mean you have to agree with us, but at least hear us out
  11. Shower daily – for the love of pete, shower!
  12. Don’t purposely omit information – this is caused lying, men!
  13. Deal with your past traumas – don’t drag us down because of your issues. Don’t be afraid to see a therapist. Fix whatever your problems may be so that we can have a healthy, happy relationship
  14. Talk to me (like real talk) – we need you to open up to us; have a real conversation with us.
  15. Date me!

God Is With Us In Dark Times

Genesis 39:1-23

The life of Joseph teaches important principles about challenging times. Here are three of the lessons we can learn from the adversities he faced:

1. Difficulties will continue until God’s purpose is accomplished. In Joseph’s case, God’s plan was to prepare him to rescue his family as well as the nation of Egypt from famine. In order to ready Joseph for a position of authority and responsibility, God placed him in an important Egyptian household as a slave. There, in difficult circumstances, Joseph could learn key lessons needed for the future. Not only did he acquire valuable skills, but his faith and relationship with the Lord were also strengthened. God still operates that way so we will be equipped to accomplish the work He has planned for us (Eph. 2:10).

2. We learn more in the dark than we do in the light. Besides discovering the Lord’s faithfulness, Joseph learned how to discern God’s presence, reject temptation, and handle any position, whether respected or lowly. The lessons and principles of Scripture truly become “ours” only after they have been tested and proven reliable.

3. What we learn in the darkness, we are to share in the light. Joseph openly shared his faith and knowledge from God when he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams (Gen. 41:15-16). He did not let imprisonment stop him from helping others (40:1-23). What we learn in our trials is to be offered to those who are suffering.

Nobody looks for adversity, but hard times seem to find us often enough. Instead of fearing hard circumstances, we can trust God and embrace His plan, knowing He uses trials for His glory and our gain.

*Originally published by InTouch Ministries

#SaturdayStamps: Jan E. Matzeliger

Jan Ernst Matzeliger was an inventor of Surinamese and Dutch descent best known for patenting the shoe lasting machine, which made footwear more affordable.

Synopsis

Jan Matzeliger was born in Paramaribo (now Suriname) in 1852. Matzeliger settled in the United States in 1873 and trained as a shoemaker. In 1883, he patented a shoe lasting machine that increased the availability of shoes and decreased the price of footwear. He died of tuberculosis on August 24, 1889.

Early Life

Jan Ernst Matzeliger was born on September 15, 1852, in Paramaribo, Suriname—known at the time as Dutch Guiana. Matzeliger’s father was a Dutch engineer, and his mother was Surinamese. Showing mechanical aptitude at a young age, Matzeliger began working in machine shops supervised by his father at the age of 10. At 19, he left Suriname to see the world as a sailor on an East Indian merchant ship. In 1873, he settled in Philadelphia.

Invention of the Lasting Machine

After settling in the United States, Matzeliger worked for several years to learn English. As a dark-skinned man, his professional options were limited, and he struggled to make a living in Philadelphia. In 1877, Matzeliger moved to Lynn, Massachusetts, to seek work in the town’s rapidly growing shoe industry. He found a position as an apprentice in a shoe factory. Matzeliger learned the cordwaining trade, which involved crafting shoes almost entirely by hand.

Cordwainers made molds of customers’ feet, called “lasts,” with wood or stone. The shoes were then sized and shaped according to the molds. The process of shaping and attaching the body of the shoe to its sole was done entirely by hand with “hand lasters.” This was considered the most difficult and time-consuming stage of assembly. Since the final step in the process was mechanized, the lack of mechanization of the penultimate stage, the lasting, created a significant bottleneck.

Matzeliger set out to find a solution to the problems he discerned in the shoemaking process. He thought there had to be a way to develop an automatic method for lasting shoes. He began coming up with designs for machines that could do the job. After experimenting with several models, he applied for a patent on a “lasting machine.”

On March 20, 1883, Matzeliger received patent number 274,207 for his machine. The mechanism held a shoe on a last, pulled the leather down around the heel, set and drove in the nails, and then discharged the completed shoe. It had the capacity to produce 700 pairs of shoes a day—more than 10 times the amount typically produced by human hands.

Matzeliger’s lasting machine was an immediate success. In 1889, the Consolidated Lasting Machine Company was formed to manufacture the devices, with Matzelinger receiving a large amount of stock in the organization. After Matzeliger’s death, the United Shoe Machinery Company acquired his patent.

Death and Legacy

Matzeliger’s shoe lasting machine increased shoe production tremendously. The result was the employment of more unskilled workers and the proliferation of low-cost, high-quality footwear for people around the world. Unfortunately, Matzeliger was able to enjoy his success for only a short time. He contracted tuberculosis in 1886 and died on August 24, 1889, at the age of 37, in Lynn. In 1991, the United States government issued a “Black Heritage” postage stamp in Matzeliger’s honor.