INPUT ARTICLE: Article: When traveling spontaneously, a few minor mishaps are bound to happen: you won’t find lodging until late at night, a restaurant praised by a local will end up being disappointing, or a trail you’ve decided to hike may be closed seasonally. View these frustrating situations as opportunities rather than disappointments.  For example, if a restaurant isn’t enjoyable, leave and wander through a food-heavy district of town until you find a better place to dine. If you can’t spend the day hiking, rent a car and drive through the countryside instead. One of the major benefits of spontaneous traveling is that unexpected changes of plans become part of the norm. Leave yourself open to this, and enjoy where the trip takes you. Being open and flexible also allows for optimizing vacation time. A rigid schedule may not allow for spending less time at places that are not of high interest, and more time at another. Plan to spend some of your travel time simply wandering through new regions of a city or rural district. This will lead you to interesting local markets, shops, restaurants, and scenic vistas that you likely would not have found if you hadn’t wandered spontaneously. Opening your travel plans to the unexpected will yield unanticipated discoveries and bring a sense of independence.  If you do end up seriously lost, don’t panic. Avoid areas that seem unsafe or feel uncomfortable, and use your phone or map to find your way back to your hotel or hostel. If you’re lost in a town or city, you can call a cab (or find someone to call a cab for you), or book an Uber on your phone. It’s important to consider safety issues when wandering through a foreign city or region. If a part of a city makes you feel uncomfortable, trust your instinct and leave. Always have an idea of how far from your hotel or hostel you are by car, and avoid getting lost in areas without a phone or internet signal. You can find out about many of these in local “weeklies” or weekly newspapers, which will contain listings for upcoming concerts, shows, film screenings or theater performances, and other types of local entertainment that you wouldn’t find out about otherwise. These events will be largely devoid of tourists, and so will give your spontaneous travel a more authentic, local feel.  These local events could include large concerts or musical festivals, cultural holidays (e.g. Day of the Dead), religious holidays, food festivals, sporting events, or any other number of local events. On the other hand, large holidays, festivals, or holiday weekends may increase your travel costs or increase congestion on highways. An increase in a city’s population—say, due to a large ongoing music festival—will also make hotel and hostel rooms both more scarce and more expensive. If you’re traveling with a group, many places, including hotels, theaters, sports stadiums, day-tours, and concert venues, may be inclined to offer you a discounted rate, since you’ll be bringing several paying customers. Once you’re on the ground in a city or region, ask around (or check the weekly newspaper) to see if you can negotiate a group rate for an activity. If you plan ahead before you travel, you can take advantage of a group hotel discount through a site like HotelPlanner or even directly through a hotel website itself.

SUMMARY: Be open to the unexpected and to changing plans. Enjoy wandering or getting lost. Take advantage of local events and festivals. Ask about group travel deals.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Do not tape the paper down. This will allow you to rotate the paper as you work on your design, which is easier than curling your hand to get to it. If you don't have an embossing mat, you can use a dense, rubber mat instead. The white lines will "disappear" as you emboss the parchment paper. This is because parchment paper automatically turns white when you emboss it. Do not emboss over any black lines, however.  If you are doing a card, emboss the center guideline with a mall, ball point embossing tool.  If you are doing a card, you will need to do the outside/left side of the card first, then flip it over and do the inside/right side next. This is great for borders within your frame. For example, if you created a floral design, you could create a heart shape around it. When using such tools, you'll want to rock them top-to-bottom and side-to-side. This ensures that each part of the design gets embossed. This is great for delicate area, such as petals, leaves, or baskets. Press down with the tool, then lift it away as you finish the stroke. Work in layers and rotate the parchment paper a you work; don't curl your wrist to fit the design.

SUMMARY: Transfer the paper to an embossing mat with the back side facing you. Trace the white outlines with a small, ball point embossing tool. Use star and sun shaped embossing tools to create scalloped borders. Use a ball-point embossing tool to create graduated embossing.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: When you open the wall, you’ll see a wood block running above the wall section. Use a boring drill bit 2.5 in (6.4 cm) in diameter. Press it against the ceiling plate and drill through it.  If there is a floor below the panel that needs cable access, also drill a hole through the floor plate. Measure the distance from an external wall to the hole you drilled. This will help you find where to drill the attic hole if you can't find the point right above the distribution box. Go up to your attic and find the spot directly above where the distribution panel is. Then use the same 2.5 in (6.4 cm) boring drill bit and cut a hole through the floor plate.  Attics usually have double plates, so you may have to drill through 2 blocks of wood to create the hole. If you can't find the distribution point, use the measurement you took when you drilled the first hole. Run your tape measure from the same external wall and find that distance in the attic. Drill at this point. If your attic has loose fiberglass insulation, wear a dust mask to avoid breathing in any particles. While still in the attic, find the areas above rooms where you need cable access. Use the 2.5 in (6.4 cm) boring drill bit and make holes. The cables will exit the attic through these holes. Go into each room that you’ll run a cable to. Then find the location where you want your cable outlet. Then use a ruler and draw a 2 in (5.1 cm) by 2 in (5.1 cm) box on the wall. Do this in each room that you need cable access in.  If you know where the appliances will be in this room, then mark the holes near this location. Otherwise, locate them near an existing electrical outlet. Check for studs behind the wall before picking a location. Make sure you cut in an area with no studs. Use a drywall saw and cut through the lines you drew on the wall. Remove the square of drywall when you’ve cut all the way around. Repeat this for every room that you’re running a cable into.

SUMMARY:
Drill a 2.5 in (6.4 cm) hole through the top ceiling plate. Drill a hole in your attic floor plate directly above the distribution panel. Drill access holes above the rooms you’re running cables to. Mark cutting holes in the rooms that the cables will feed into. Cut out the box you drew on the wall.