Online Tutoring Needs

Where was the Internet was I was back in school. I can’t even begin to imagine how different my education would have been if only the Internet had come along just a decade earlier. Today’s students can find Physics help, Chemistry help and Science help, along with all the other subjects that had us tearing our hair out back then, simply by going online.

I remember my physics tutor that was hired by my mother in her effort to provide me with some type of Physics problem solver. The tutor was this elderly lady who smelled of old fake fur. I just couldn’t get past the smell in order to concentrate enough to make her efforts worth while, so my mother finally decided to let her go. Strange how we remember things like that. I can’t remember her name, but I remember what she looked like and that smell will forever be embedded in my memory banks.

My niece is finding it necessary to find a Chemistry tutor. She has turned to the Internet to find some help. She is in her first year of college and is getting very frustrated with the whole college scene, bless her heart. She is the first one in her family to attend college and is giving it all that she has in order to make her parents proud and to make something out of herself.  She used to love science ( one thing that we have in common) it wasn’t uncommon for her to email or call me with some of her Science questions that she needed help with in High School. I always enjoyed science and that was our common bond for a long time. But now that she is in college I’m afraid it’s all a bit over my head.

I wish her all the luck in the world. It would be great to see her graduate and live a successful and prosperous life, then I could say that “I knew her when……”   LOL

Safeguarding The Public’s Food

This peanut butter recall has been going on for a couple of weeks now and I keep hearing about how more and more people are getting sick from food poisoning and at last count I think I read that 18 have died from complications. All because a crappy manufacturing plant has been getting away with unsanitary conditions for months and selling contaminated peanuts and peanut paste to people who used it for hundreds of different products. All those products are now suspect and being pulled from the shelves. Who knows what is safe to eat now?

There is a recall list on the Government’s FDA site, but it keeps growing longer and the story continues to worsen. I can’t take any chances on tainted food, so I’ve thrown out anything in my pantry that has peanuts or peanut products in it. That was like $60 worth of food wasted – and I despise wasting food. But I can’t afford to get food poisoning and die from peanut butter. Now I heard that there is a second crappy plant in Texas that has been doing the same thing. This is outrageous and one more example of the failure of both the FDA and the state health departments to inspect facilities and safeguard the public.

Kids Sitting At Home Enjoying A Snow Day, With No Snow

Winter storms have been brutal for a good amount of the country this year. We’ve had a lot of cold temperatures and rain, but not the snow that our neighbors to the north are dealing with. We thought all that might change last night, as the weatherman was calling for  2 to 5 inches of snow for this entire part of the state. Of course, officials immediately canceled school and there are thousands of kids sitting home enjoying a snow day. Except there is no snow. LOL

The air was filled with blowing snowflakes this morning when I woke up, but the snow melted as soon as it hit the ground. I’m actually glad that we don’t have the snow to deal with, and I’m sure the kids are happy to have a day at home playing video games and watching TV as well as playing with all the new goodies that they got for Christmas just a few weeks ago. So hopefully these kids who should be at school aren’t causing too much grief for their parents on a day that just didn’t turn out the way that all the weathermen predicted it would be, but that isn’t much of a surprise now is it? Even with all of today’s modern technologies that are in place, they still can’t accurately predict what Mother Nature has up her sleeve.

Pandora Charms Were A Total Hit On Christmas

My sister’s face was priceless when she opened up my gift of several pandora charms on Christmas day. I wish that I had been video taping that day or at least snapped a picture right at that moment, but in all the madness it just didn’t happen. It is always such a crazy day when we get over to my parents house for Christmas (or for any holiday for that matter) coming from a large family that keeps getting bigger and bigger each year, that it is just total chaos and extremely loud! I always get a head ache and end up having to take someone to keep me from turning into a total witch in front of everyone.

Pandora Reeds
Pandora Charms

Anyway, I knew that she really wanted some more charms for her charm bracelet but I wasn’t sure if she would like the ones that I picked out for her. So I’m really tickled that she fell in love with the ones that I finally decided on, bought, wrapped up and gave to her that day. Each time I have seen her since that day she has been wearing her charm bracelet and she has mentioned a few times how much she loves them. She isn’t the easiest person to please, never has been and most likely never will, so with that said I really don’t want to break my arm patting myself on the back for a job well done, but I am really very happy with the way it all turned out.

Movies On Demand

For some reason I ditched regular TV last tonight and decided to find a movie “On Demand.” I’ve been using the On Demand feature from Comcast for a couple months and I have to admit that I’m getting really spoiled with the convenience of seeing a movie not only when I want to watch but it lets me pause and rewind, as if it was a VCR tape or a DVD. Very cool for when you can’t hear a mumbled line and you want to know what they said. The movie I chose was Semi-Tough, with Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson as two professional football players in a love triangle with the team owner’s daughter. There are some great lines in this movie that reflected the social times and values of the early 1970s.

Most movies and TV shows that I watch from back in that era are so darned corny, and this movie did certainly have it corn balled moments but for the most part it was decent enough for me to get through the whole thing. Kris Kristofferson has always been one of my favorite actors and there are several of his songs that are really wonderful, such a unique sounding voice, that a lot of people don’t appreciate as much as I do. He is no spring chicken these days.

Oregon’s Coast Line

Last year I discovered Oregon and fell in love with the state’s coast line. A good friend of mine from the internet has a lodge on the Pacific Coast, just outside of Portland, but after going out there and driving around discovering the Oregon coast, I found the Klamath Falls area and the Running Y Ranch resort. This area is perfect for southern Oregon weddings, family reunions and just a great getaway to enjoy the great outdoors. The Running Y Ranch has a grand lodge and conference center that is perfect for retreats, weddings and other large organized events. They are selling building lots, too, and the chalets have a great floor plan with either two or three bedrooms that makes a perfect weekend cabin. I am seriously considering a chalet and have looked at their floor plans that are posted online. There are large windows for enjoying the magnificent views, decks, fireplaces – everything a luxury yet rustic vacation in the great outdoors demands. I can own the chalet for my personal use and for friends or family who want to get away, or I can rent it out to tourists when I don’t need it for myself. This is the perfect place for me because not only can I spend my days fly fishing in the Klamath Basin, but I can play a round of golf just steps from the Lodge. The resort has also made arrangements with a variety of local outfitters and guides who can provide everything from a day on horseback to guided ATV trail rides. I’ve not done any white water rafting in years, but this might be the year to get wet again. There is so much to do and enjoy that just one week at the Running Y Ranch isn’t going to be enough time to fit it all in.

Cigar Samplers

My mother just now posted the Christmas day pictures that were taken on her camera on Facebook to share with everyone. Bless her heart she tries so very hard to master all of today’s latest technologies. I know that a lot of our senior citizens are so intimidated by all of that tekki stuff that they really miss out on all that there is out. It took my parents, especially my mother, a good long while before they would even consider to just sit down in front of a computer and allow me to show them so that they could see what it was all about. Dad finally caught on pretty well, but mom basically settled for learning how to use their email and it wasn’t until last September that I got them both to give Facebook a try!

So I was really tickled that she got the pictures posted today. My favorite picture of all is when my Dad was opening the present that I gave him which was The Ultimate Plasencia Sampler that I posted a picture of below. He was grinning ear to ear. I know he really wanted to light one up right then and there, but mom would have kicked his butt for smoking in the house. I found some great cigar deals online, but even at discount prices cigars aren’t cheap.

sampler
Ultimate Plasencia Sampler