People seem to have a natural need for friends and with good reason. Friends increase your enjoyment of life and relieve feelings of loneliness. They even can help reduce stress and improve your health. Having good friends is especially helpful when you are going through any kind of hard time such as when you are experiencing anxiety, panic(恐慌) attacks, or depression.

    When you are with good friends you feel good about yourself, and you are glad to be with them. A friend is someone who —

●you like, respect, and trust, and who likes, respects and trusts you

●doesn't always understand you, but accepts and likes you as you are, even as you grow and change

●allows you the space to change, grow, make decisions, and even make mistakes

●listens to you and shares with you both the good times and the bad times

●respects your need for secrets, so you can tell them anything

●lets you freely express your feelings and emotions without judging, laughing at or criticizing you

●accepts the limitations you have put on yourself and helps you to remove them

    A person once said, “Friendship is a continuing source of bonding（连接）, releasing, and creating in yourself and with the other person. There is an emotional bond between the two people.”

    A good friend or supporter may or may not be the same age or the same sex as you, and may not have the same educational, cultural, or religious background, or share interests that are similar to yours. Friendships also have different depths(深度). Some are closer to the heart and some more superficial, but they're all useful and good.

Day 1

    I first heard of “Show Racism (种族歧视) the Red Card” when my friend Jill asked me to support their work. Basically, it's an organization which uses professional (职业的) footballers to help fight racism in sport and society. A few weeks later, he asked me if I wanted to do a bit more for them. I thought he probably meant for me to give money or do some voluntary work. But then he told me that a group of about 20 people were getting sponsored (赞助) to play the highest ever game of rugby (橄榄球) at 5,140 meters on Mount Everest.

Day 4

    We're making our way up to the base camp — that's where most climbers start their final climb to the top — and then, we'll play our game. Today we started out at 8 am. We had to cross three suspension bridges (悬索桥). One of them was so high that you couldn't see the bottom. Then we walked through some beautiful forest areas before we started a two-hour uphill hike to Namche Bazaar.

Day 10

    Base camp is basically just a lot of stones and tents. The walk up was really exhausting. Maybe if I was fitter, I wouldn't find this so hard, but then it was not just me — all of us got very short of breath.

Day 11

    Today we played our game. It was supposed to be a “friendly” game, and last night, we had agreed we'd just walk and not run. However, it was a really heated game and two players were even sent off. We only played for 14 minutes. I think someone would have got hurt if we'd played any longer! My team won and I scored the last try! Of course, none of this matters. What's really important is that we did it and we've raised a load of money.

    Why are certain people so memorable, while some fade from our memories over time? This question crosses my mind often; there are many possible answers. When you are raising children, you realize that some people become very important to them, draw them in, accept and respect them. These people change them.

    Several examples come to mind with my youngest son. He was always more comfortable around his dad's friends than his own. He loved to spend time with them, fish with them, listen to their stories and just be with them.

    He has experienced the loss of several really meaningful friendships over the past few years, and it has been very painful for him. One, Dr. George, was a neighbor and fishing buddy who would call to see if Ken could go fishing with him. Dr. George always said Ken was the son he never had and that it meant everything to him. He died very suddenly while fishing with all of his best buddies a few years ago. The huge hole that left in so many lives simply cannot be filled — for Ken it was immensely painful.

    There was another fishing buddy of his dad's, Frank, who was always fun to be around. Ken was very young then, but he really enjoyed getting along with ＂the guy＂ when they were fishing. Frank and his family went to the Keys in the same week as we did one year ago and the memory remains to this day. Cheerful and happy, he was able to laugh at himself and accept everyone's abilities or lack of them, all qualities that impressed Ken so much.

    When he became deadly ill, Ken drove from his home in North Carolina to Florida for an overnight visit with him. He died a short time later. The day after his funeral (葬礼), Frank came to Ken in a dream and asked if he would take care of his wife, Carol. To Ken this was very meaningful, and today they share a special bond that Frank somehow knew would be important for them both.

    Sunstroke (中暑) is a condition that can quickly go from dangerous to deadly, especially if proper care isn't given immediately.

    Sunstroke, sometimes called heatstroke, is a result of the body temperature rising above safe limits. This causes the body's necessary functions to stop working.

    It's usually pretty easy to avoid sunstroke, as long as proper action is taken. In that case, you need to act as quickly as possible to return that person's body to a safe temperature. Here are a few tips to help treat sunstroke.

Call for help

    Call to get an ambulance as quickly as possible. This should be the first thing you do, especially if the sunstroke person has fainted(昏倒). Also, call for help from anyone nearby if you're in a public place. If there's no one around, call someone nearby if they can get there sooner than an ambulance. Ask everyone to bring you as much water as possible, if there isn't much nearby.

Get the person to a cooler area

    If there's a building nearby, aim for that. Anywhere with plenty of air conditionings and water is perfect. If a building isn't available, bring the person to a well shaded area.

Get the water flowing

    If the person is still conscious, get him or her to drink water. If there's a bathtub available，fill it with cool water and put the person in it.

If your water supply is limited, you have to save it. Dampen a towel or shirt and put it on the person's body. Focus on the face, neck，and chest.

Fan the person

    Getting moving air over the person cools him or her down. Use anything, a towel or sheet, a shirt your hands，or a piece of board. This is where having many people around really helps, as they can combine to fan the entire body.

    My motivation for starting our family tradition of reading in the car was purely selfish: I could not bear listening to A Sesame Street Christmas for another 10 hours. My three children had been addicted to this cassette（磁带）on our previous summer road trips.

    As I began to prepare for our next 500-mile car trip, I came across a book—Jim Trelease's—The Read Aloud Handbook. This could be the answer to my problem. I thought. So I put Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach into my bag. When I began to read aloud the tale of the boy who escapes the bad guys by hiding inside a giant peach, my three kids argued and fought with each other in their seats. But after several lines, they were attracted into the rhythm of the words and began to listen.

    We soon learned that the simple pleasure of listening to a well-written book makes the long miles pas more quickly. Sometimes reading became the most interesting part of the trip. I read Wilson Rawls's Summer of the Monkeys as we spent two days driving to the beach. We arrived just behind the power crews restoring（恢复）electricity after a tropical storm. The rain continued most of the week, and the beach was covered with oil washed up by the storm. When we returned home, I asked my son what he liked about the trip. He answered without hesitation “The book you read in the car.”

    Road trips still offer challenges, even though my children now are teenagers. But we continue to read as we roll across the country. And I'm beginning to see that reading aloud has done more than help pass the time. For at least a little while, we are not shut in our own electronic worlds. And maybe we've started something that will pass on to the next generation.

    The world's first robot police officer has started working. Its name is 'RoboCop' and it went into service for the Dubai Police earlier this week. Robocop's first official duty was to greet guests at the opening of a security conference in Dubai. Apart from greeting visitors' its job was to answer questions and give directions. RoboCop has a built — in tablet for people to interact with. People can use the tablet to pay traffic fines and use other smart police services. The tablet is linked to a police station, so people can talk to human police officers. In addition, RoboCop can speak six languages, including English and Arabic. The 170 - centimetre - tall robot can also shake hands, salute people and recognize people's emotions and facial expressions.

    Dubai Police says RoboCop is the first of many robot police officers for the city. A spokesman said that by 2030, 25 per cent of the Dubai Police force will be robots. He said: “We are looking to make everything smart in Dubai Police. By 2030, we will have the first smart police station which won't require human employees.”

    “The RoboCop is the latest smart addition to the police force and has been designed to help us fight crime, keep the city safe and improve happiness levels,” He added. He also said that RoboCop would, “assist and help people in the malls or on the streets”. An official at the security conference commented that the future is here now, saying: “The age of the robots is no longer coming. It has arrived.”