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Brunch must have been invented by a female. When we lived on the East Coast, brunch was a late, Sunday breakfast at home. It was an edible excuse for me to sleep more and cook less.

On the West Coast brunch is big business. On the West Coast you don't have bunch, you DO brunch. On the West Coast you do brunch on Saturday or Sunday.

There are two kinds of brunch - menu and buffet. If it's my choice, it means my birthday is on a weekend.

I avoid brunches on major holidays - especially Mother's Day. I don't want to pick a corsage out of the eggs benedict.

I like buffet brunches more than menu brunches. If it's my choice, I choose the buffet with more choice.

Having my big meal at midday is good for my conscience, which foolishly feeds on the idea I'm going to exercise afterward. I don't - unless walking to and from our car to nap on the couch counts as exercise.

Having a fixed price for this munching marathon, no matter what the price is, is a bargain when you have teenage sons.

Some brunchers wait for a table with a view, which makes it easier to get a table with the view we want - of the buffet.

Our system is to make three trips to the table - appetizers, entrees and desserts. Okay, occasionally there are four trips. The extra trip is for the best of show in the appetizer and entrees categories.

I'm proud to say we've never made five trips. At that point I think our server would give us troughs instead of clean plates.

In the buffet line I'm usually behind Mr. Pile-it-on or Ms Indecision. Usually the almost-gones taste better than the hardly-trieds and few brunchers are willing to try something they don't recognize and that doesn't have a name card.

Not me. I'm always looking for something new and different. I can get runny scrambled eggs, dry sausage and unripe fruit at home.

Yes, some brunches are better than others; but I always eat too much. I leave the restaurant not wanting to see Belgian waffles, cheese blintzes or bread pudding for at least a month.

In the meantime, I wait for an enterprising chef - an enterprising, female chef to invent lunner. After all, by combining lunch with dinner, she'd have an edible excuse for sleeping more and cooking less.

KNIGHT PIERCE HIRST takes humorous looks at life. Take a minute to make yourself smile at http://knightwatch.typepad.com

Department of Insurance rules require all automobile insurance companies to accept premium payments in installments. However, some insurers offer the installment payment plans through their associate finance companies in which case you are generally forced to pay high rates of interest.

Clearly, shopping for car insurance smart infers that you shouldn't just seek and settle for low rates but also do your math on identifying low-cost financing. You can do this by simply asking who is providing your installment plan. There are insurance companies that proudly offer their own equated monthly payment plans. Whatever that be, make sure of things such as the outright down payment, the number of installments, interest charges, service charges, if there are any hidden charges and the final amount of monthly installment. But before you get insurance quotes with installment payment plan from any company, make sure you get everything about the plan in clear writing.

Asking for payment break-ups in writing is a way of committing the insurers to freeze your installments for the entire term of validity of the policy. Usually, when you do so, all possible charges which the agents had deliberately hidden till then will have to surface up which is to your advantage. Also you will not be in shock when you receive the bill later.

In the present market, all auto insurers and finance companies have their terms at least as good as follows:

* For a policy of one year's validity, the down payment will be 16.67% and ten (10) equal installments payable monthly. If you have your policy written through associations recognized by companies, then the down payment will be 20% of the total.

* On similar lines a six-month policy will require a down payment of 33.33%, and four equal payments payable monthly.

While the above is the stipulation, some insurers and finance companies are willing to offer smaller than what is stipulated down payment and are not so rigid on the term side too. However, an insurance company is at right to add a service charge to your payment, but make sure everything is crystal clear in black and white before you sign on the dotted line. Here is an indication of the basic service charge that can be levied - $3 per month, and the company is also at its legal liberty to add 50 cents for every $250 (or fraction) of premium paid over $500.

Alevoor Rajagopal, MBA, a business consultant, voices for fair practices in used car deals. He also writes passionately on showcasing individuality with MySpace layout. Visit his blog on online income tips.

An office chair is an integral part of a professional's life. A major part of the day of a working individual is spent on that chair. A chair is not just a piece of furniture, but also speaks volumes about the stature and authority of the individual occupying it. By looking at a person's chair, one can mostly make out whether the occupant is a lower, middle or a top level executive. Not only this, the chair, at times, can also be indicative of the nature of duties of the individual.

There are various kinds of office desks and chairs available in the market. In an office set up, one gets to view various kinds of chairs that adorn the place. Office chairs can also be classified on the basis of the material used in their manufacturing. The most popular varieties of chairs used in offices are:

1. Operator or Task chairs are used commonly by employees in middle or lower executive level. They are chairs with wheels (casters) and with the ability to swivel, hence making them the most popular chairs used in present day workplaces. Mostly, these chairs are not specific to a person's designation; hence, they may be used by different kinds of employees. The height of these chairs is adjustable to suit the convenience and comfort of the employee.

2. Executive Fabric office chairs are similar to Operator chairs but have better padding and a reclining back. These two features considerably increase the comfort level of the chair.

3. Though most chairs are equipped with a reclining back, special Reclining chairs are usually bigger in size, better padded, besides the reclining feature. Some are even designed with a foot rest for extra comfort.

4. Top level executives prefer an Executive office chair that has a longer back, bigger arm rests and usually of leather. They are heavily padded and provide tremendous comfort.

5. Visitor or Guest chairs usually do not have wheels as visitors are required to remain stationary. They are usually simple chairs and reasonably comfortable.

It is up to the organisation to decide what kinds of chairs are required and in what numbers. There are numerous styles, varieties, fabrics and price ranges to choose from when it comes to buying an office chair, but the foremost thing to be kept in mind is the employee's comfort.

About The Author: Brooke Theresa is an interior decorator who also has a passion to write for her area of interest. Currently she is focusing on office furniture (such as office chairs, reception desks, computer desks, office desks and glass desks) and current clientele includes leading organization in UK.

We are all aliens upon this planet, all acting out roles weve learned from each other during the course of our existence.

How to be noticed as a baby, how to communicate our needs, how to develop as a young child growing up, how to utilize our abilities and talents, how to get what we want as adults, how to live and interact with people in this world. How to dance, how to cook, how to seduce.

For every meeting, for every encounter, somebody is relaying as much of the people who have influenced his life as you are relaying your influences to him/her. Through words, feelings and perceptions you are learning the way people have spoken, felt and expressed themselves around him/her. You are learning his/life experience; he/she is copying and relaying every single thing he/she has heard and seen to you.

We are all actors and actresses; acting like people weve watched, reacting like people weve watched, thinking like people weve watched. This is how the cultures of people begin, this is how groups have identifiable characteristics and interests, and this is how things are classified into like and not like.

Interestingly, I think our brains actually get telepathic flashes of the people and events that replay in the eyes and expressions of a person relaying his/her personality to us. Laughter, clothing, hobbies, and even down to how you open the door to your room and walk in or pour yourself a glass of water. You are doing what you have watched done at some point in your life. Watched, heard, read about, deciphered intuitively. A series of repetitions.

Its why mentally impaired people that do not seem to fit the order of this world do not fit the order of this world. Their senses are not tuned into receiving and duplicating in some way, at least not the influence of people acting around them. They mix up the signals and cross wires. They stop copying; stop acting. They are disconnected from their roles in the drama of life.

Its fascinating.

24 Oct. 2005