When I was young, I remember my mother trying to encourage me to write with my right hand. This was hard for her to do, since she was left-handed, and I wanted to be just like her! I actually have become ambidextrous, which is great, but I have developed a true empathy for “lefties” in a “right-hander’s world.” Taking notes, for example is a challenge because the notebook’s binder is on the left side, which becomes an obstruction to writing!
When Charlie told me about how he was trying to find a left handed guitar store to be able to buy a guitar for his son Jake, I offered to try to help him find one. Thank goodness for the Internet! Googling “left handed guitars” under their “shopping” tab brought up several places to check out.
When Cassie told me that she was learning to keyboard with her new casio lighted keyboard I thought she was talking about learning how to type on a computer keyboard! I remember when I was a kid in school, we learned to type on typewriters. Nowadays the schools teach the kids how to “keyboard.” Naturally I thought she was talking about typing! I was really surprised when she told me that she was talking about music! When I was a kid, we called it an electric organ!
I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July before our festivities begin. We are having a BBQ and I wont be on here later as I will be too busy. Be careful with your fireworks and have a wonderful day. Remember also, don’t drink and drive. Keep safe and have a great day!
My brother has a really large living room with lots of large pieces of furniture. He has several recliners and a very large sectional sofa. For several years I’ve been wishing that I had room for a sectional sofa in my smaller house, but I didn’t think it was possible until my best friend Suzie told me about a website that she found. She told me that you can design your own sectional furniture at ClubFurniture dot com. I just went onto that website and was pleasantly surprised to see a pretty good selection of sectional sofas with a chaise on the end for smaller spaces.
I think that I just might buy one of them! The sofa we have in our living room now is too large for the space, and doesn’t have a chaise. I love the idea of having a chaise on one end of the sofa – I love putting my feet up, and if we have a chaise section I could do that and still have room on the sofa for other people to sit!
When Dave told me that Ellie wants a pair of eskuche 33i headphones, I thought it would be easy to find reviews on them (I don’t want to buy anything that has bad reviews) so I went to YouTube (which is a place I tend to trust for reviews) and was disappointed (and frustrated) that I could not find any reviews on that particular set. On top of that, they don’t seem to be “in stock” at my favorite music supply website! So I guess I’m going to suggest to Dave that he ask Ellie if she has another choice that she would be happy with!
As we have become more aware of the impact of human behaviour on the environment, certain regulations have been put in place to limit harmful behaviours. One example is within planning and construction.
Planning
Planning refers to the way that we use our land, and how we control in which areas we can build and develop. It affects each of us to a greater or lesser extent. It might be that your local council intends to allow a new housing or business development in your area, or it may be that you wish to extend your house and require planning permission.
Planning permission
You do not actually need a solicitor in order to apply for planning permission. You can do it yourself, or you may find that your builder or architect will include the application in their services. If you have any concerns with regards to your planning application, or you wish to ensure that you are fully aware of any policy issues which may affect you, it would be wise to seek legal advice; you may find the assistance that you are looking for via the Free Legal Advice Centre.
If you are unsure how to go about applying for planning permission, or if you even need it, you can contact your local planning authority. A planning officer will normally be willing to arrange to discuss your development plans with you. They can, for example, let you know whether your development counts as a permitted development – in which case you will not require planning permission – or whether you should apply for outline planning permission or full planning permission.
Planning appeals
It may be the case that you are on the other side of the fence, so to speak. Whether it is a large development that is planned by the local council, or a construction company, or a relatively small change to your neighbour’s property, you have the right to object to a planning application.
In the case of a large development there are some key steps to follow to ensure that you write a clear and precise objection letter:
· Thoroughly research the planning application
· Be clear about your reasons for objecting –
o Protected trees
o Privacy/overlooking
o Ground stability/drainage
o Non-compliance with other council planning policies
· Research previous decisions, e.g. typical reasons your council cites for refusing proposals.
This is not an exhaustive guide, by any means, but there are some great resources out there if you feel that any large development may contravene environmental regulations in some way.
If it is your neighbour’s planning application to which you wish to object, there are a few things worth bearing in mind:
· Any potentially adverse effect on the value of your property is irrelevant
· Being overlooked, overshadowed, or losing your privacy are grounds for complaint
· Your objection will be more effective if you are not alone in officially lodging your opposition
· Petitions, however, are irrelevant.
Anyone thinking of applying for planning permission should be prepared to consider the impact that their development may have on the local environment.
As much as I hate to do it, I’ve decided that I need to go ahead and start my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. Last year there were a few things that I wanted to get for gifts but ended up having to order them because the stores were out of stock, and the gifts did not arrive until late January! Mark told me that he wants to get his nephew an inexpensive electric guitar for Christmas, so I’m starting now to look online for electric guitars for sale cheap to try to get the best deal and have it arrive in time for Christmas. Wish me luck!
I’m not that close to my family and am not sure how many people within my family have served in the military but today is the day to honor those that are veterans. There’s a local steak house that gives a free meal to all veterans that come in. It’s amazing to see the range of ages of these that served.
In this time of two wars, it’s easy to thank a veteran but there aren’t many left from WWII. I hope they know how much our country appreciated them. They fought one of the worst wars our country was ever in. They fought for people around the world that couldn’t fight for themselves, the Jews.
Let’s all make sure to thank a veteran today. If you don’t know one personally, it doesn’t matter, find one. Just look on their cars and you’ll see a Marine Corps sticker or maybe a ‘Retired Army’ sticker. Go up and tell them ‘Thank you for what you did for me and my family’ and shake their hand. They deserve to stand tall today and every day.
My children wanted me to put this picture on to honor the soldiers so this is from my children.
When my friends Linda and Michael were thinking about starting their own landscaping business, I encouraged them to hire a lawyer that would be able to be their official “business lawyer” that could help them with all aspects of running a business. A good business lawyer can help them decide whether to incorporate (and which kind of incorporation is the best one for the business, and can act as the employer’s representation when it comes to matters involving employees and the law. I hope they take my advice and don’t try to do everything by themselves! Sometimes being penny-wise is being pound-foolish!
skunk (free clip art)Last night I was driving home from my friend Elaine’s house and was very surprised to see three skunks in the middle of the road! The sun had set, and I was driving down one of those narrow country roads that have no stripes down the middle, or sides, and no street lights to improve visibility. There were no houses in sight, and the road was twisting and turning. I had just gone around a very sharp “hairpin” turn and saw the skunks walking, on “my” side, head to tail – like you would see elephants on parade! They all appeared to be the same size, so I couldn’t tell if they were a mother skunk leading her babies across the road or not.
When my headlights hit them, I braked as quick as I could, and started to steer the car away from the direction they were walking. Uttering a silent prayer “please, Lord, don’t let me hit these skunks” I tensed up and held my breath. I was SURE that I was going to hear that horrible “thunk” that would confirm that my evasive actions were inadequate. But no thunk came. And no skunk perfume wafted up at me. I let out a sigh of relief, and looked in my rear view mirror to see if I could see the skunks, but the darkness of the night had already enveloped the threesome. They were gone from sight. I offered up a silent “thank you Lord” and started to breathe normally again. But I kept my eyes sharply peeled for any other wildlife that might decide to cross the road as I continued my journey home. Thankfully that was the most exciting part of the trip.
Although I marveled at seeing the three skunks walking nose-to-tail like that, I hope to never see a sight like that again while driving in a car! And now I can’t get that song “Dead skunk in the middle of the road” out of my head! Maybe after watching this YouTube video about the song will help me get over it quicker!
