Category: Technology

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The “Aha Moment”

Sometimes a new concept comes up in conversation and it really strikes you as an “aha moment.” When your brain wakes up to something new and worthwhile. During the family Christmas dinner, one of the things that we talked about – and we talked about a lot of things and someone mentioned how much stress they are feeling in their everyday life. I was thinking that although I don’t feel a lot of stress, that I do have this unsettled feeling that gets bothersome and I could use a little re-assurance or motivation. Then someone else at the party mentioned a TV show about finding balance between work and your home life.

In fact, there is a new network dedicated to this subject and I read about it this morning on MindfulLivingTV.com. This website is my “aha moment” because their philosophy is to embrace the life you are living and experience it for the moments you have. They have full transformation episodes that can inspire you to face your fears, get advice from experts on medical and spiritual issues, and find your passion. I have sent the link to this wonderful website to everyone that was at the dinner table, most of them will delete it but maybe at least one of them will take a moment to check out what they have to say and have their own “aha moment.”

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Did you know…

It doesn’t take much to find all types of trivia these days, but I found this information on a print out that they give the customers at the coffee store that I go to once in a while. I don’t drink coffee, but once in a while I’ll treat myself to a nice hot mocha with whipped cream. It’s a nice quiet little place and I love that they have things for their customers to read and contemplate.

Shocking: An electric eel has a current-producing organ that can generate an average charge of 350 volts. The rivers of Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru are where you’ll find an eel that produces the greatest shock – from 400 to 650 volts.

Devoted daddy: The male emperor penguin shares incubating duties with the female when she lays her one large egg. Later, the female is away feeding when the egg hatches, so the male feeds the baby by regurgitating a milky substance.

Always the name: A nine-banded armadillo has an unusual claim to fame. It almost always gives birth to quadruplets of the same sex, resulting from the fact one egg usually divides into four parts.

The mile: It was Queen Elizabeth I who decided a statute mile should be 5,280 feet or 1,609 meters. It was based on walking distance established by the Romans, who said 1,000 paces made up a land mile.

Waking early: In 1787, Levi Hutchins of Concord, New Hampshire, came up with one of the earliest versions of an alarm clock. For the rest of us, it might not have been too attractive. It could only ring at one time – 4a.m.

Taken from Coffee News “News to be enjoyed over coffee”

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Monk, Reduced To ReRuns

private eye  I have been enjoying for the past few years the show on the USA channel about this poor/blessed man called MONK.  I remember the actor playing a part on the sitcom WINGS which was based in a small airport in Nan Tuckett, what a difference in characters for the actor Tony Shalhoub to play.

I’ve watched the show so much that Hubby has even gotten a soft spot for the obsessive-compulsive detective and now our youngest and some of his friends enjoy watching him when they get a chance.

Come to find out that even both my sisters have been MONK fans and have even read some of the books, which have been passed down to me to read, still waiting on the last one, hint, hint, sis!

If you haven’t seen the show check it out……Even though they stopped filming a few years ago, there are reruns galore of this outrageous hit TV show.

Monk is a detective afraid of the dark, a gumshoe afraid of gum. He has no problem cracking a case – as long as it doesn’t involve heights or germs, and is in close proximity to his apartment. Other than solving his wife’s murder, Monk would like nothing more than to gain back his position on the San Francisco police force, but can he pull himself together and get back to solving crimes full time?

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Fundraising Is A Fact Of Life

Gone are the days in most cities and towns across America when kids were sent knocking on people’s doors trying to sell folks items for a fundraiser.  Let’s face it, schools, churches, sports and all the other non-profit groups, they all desperately need money and fundraising can be a lucrative way to get it.

Unfortunately in today’s world it isn’t necessarily safe for our children to go around the neighborhoods anymore.  Most fundraisers specifically request that the kids do not go door to door anymore, they tell you to have family, co-workers and close family friends help in supporting the organization.

With having two kids I have done my fair share of fundraising and I certainly will still participate when I can.  It was a lot easier when members of my immediate family were all living pretty close to each other, now a days everyone is spread out all over the darn country so that puts a damper on using them as a resource, for the most part.

I ran across a really cool fundraising program on the Web called Schoolpop.com and I am going to contact our elementary school and see if they would be interested in participating in this non-traditional school fundraiser opportunity.

By using Schoolpop, you can pay down your tuition and any extracurricular activity costs, it can assist in paying back student loans for college and help your school earn monies, all year round by shopping at the several hundred listed of name -brand merchants and service providers whether it be online, in stores, catalogs purchases, even with gift cards or with the Schoolpop Visa credit card.

You can apply for the Schoolpop Visa credit card right on line!  Every purchase that you make for your groceries, gas, clothing, movies, restaurants  – it contributes 1% to the student’s school.

It sounds like Schoolpop may be a way to raise money that would/should be embraced by our school and the families, we shall see when I call them this week.  I’ll also call my sister who has a son in a very nice private school and see if she would be interested in learning a cool and easy way to raise money for private schools along with us in the public school system.

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Garage Repairs

When our neighbors tree fell in our yard last month it took out a chunk of our garage, too. It fell on a corner of the garage and tore the siding off the top parts of two of the garage walls. The insurance company adjuster said he would give us enough money in the claim check to fix all four sides, if we were smart about negotiating with the home improvement contractor.

The garage was here when we bought the house, so we didn’t have any say in how it was first built, but now that it has to be repaired, we are looking into the different types of vinyl and siding. I was reading about the benefits of vinyl siding over plasterboard and wood, which is more technical than I ever knew. To sum it up, vinyl is best because it lasts a long time and needs almost no maintenance. It doesn’t need to be scraped and painted or stained, like wood. And vinyl doesn’t split, peel or rot. So vinyl is the way to go.

I want to use a company like American Home Craft Inc to do the repair work. This company is fully licensed, bonded and insured, which is important if anything was to go wrong during the job. But American Home Craft Inc has an excellent reputation and uses only only highly trained and certified workers, so we can rest easy that the job will be done by professional who will take the greatest care with our property. I also like the fact that they use only the best materials, and every product has a lifetime manufacturer’s warranty. They care about the environment like I do, and use materials that are environmentally friendly and the most energy efficient products available.

I’m looking forward to having my garage fixed so we can start using it once again.

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My Memories Of A Mantel Clock

howard miller grant mantel clock
howard miller grant mantel clock

I’ve always wanted one of the mantel clocks much like the one in my grandparents house that sat on the side board in their dining room. They brought it over from England when they came over in the 1920’s and it was one of their most cherished possessions. After they both passed away it broke my heart that I wasn’t given the mantel clock that I so loved and remembered, but at least a cousin got it and it will stay in the family, for better or worse.  Every now and then I look around online and see if I can find one similar to my grandparents one that I could purchase and keep on my side board as well. I always check in on one of the more popular blogs that I read concerning clocks that I have book marked on my laptop.

There is a lot going on in the world of clocks that I find fascinating and try to keep up on as much as possible. It’s amazing what sites have good quality blogs to read that are actually fun and interesting to read, you gotta love that.  I know a lot of us don’t even use watches and/or clocks these days. Our cell phones, black berries and computers have become a much more convenient way for us to watch the time, but I’m still stuck back in time as far as that is concerned.

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Safe and Secure Mailboxes For Everyone

The apartment complex that is located behind our street is such a mess. The landlord is what we call a typical “slum lord” and doesn’t give a hoot about his tenants, their safety or the neighborhood in general. I feel sorry for the majority of low income people that have to live there. The place is littered with trash, old cars, drug dealers and loud music played all hours of the day and night time. Their Mailboxes are in such sad shape and most of the stair banisters and light bulbs are missing. Such a waste of valuable space.

A good quality source of Commercial Mailboxes is needed for that place. As you walk by you can see all the junk mail, newspapers and the such strewn about the stairs and entrance ways. I’m sure that identity theft must be an issue with a lot of those folks who’s mail boxes are not functioning and locking properly. I hate to see people taken advantage like that, there isn’t any excuse for conditions to be this bad for so many people.  My mailbox needs to be safe and secure. I’ve got one of the nicer of the Residential Mailboxes that I’ve seen in the neighborhood. It has my street numbers on it, but not my last name, which I was told was a smart move. It should last in the outside elements for years to come.

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The True Libra

Since I was born on October the 15th I am a Libra, what the call a True Libra. I fit the description of a Libra perfectly, which I can’t say happens for all the other Libras that I know and have in my life. There are hundreds of images online for the astrological sign of Libra. This particular image is definitely my favorite so far, must be the good looking dude holding the scales, ya think?

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Fighting the Clock

I remember a commercial for something like hair color where the model says something to the effect of, “I don’t intend to age gracefully. I intend to fight it every step of the way!”

I feel that way, too, and one thing I’ve noticed lately is that my skin needs a little extra attention. I’ve never been one for laying out in the sun and getting a deep tan, so I think I have an advantage over some of the other women my age. But I want to fight the wrinkles and age spots if I can find the products to help me.

From reading online about anti-aging treatments, it seems that there are two key ingredients to keeping youthful skin. One is collagen and the other is elastin. I’m going to start looking into this and start trying harder to keep my skin as healthy as I can for as long as I can. It’s the only skin I will ever have.

 

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Instant Access to Information

This morning I realized that we have all accepted and integrated the internet into our daily lives. We use it for all kinds of things and all the information is available to us instantly, at the touch of a few keyboard keys or mouse clicks.

Lately I have been using Wikipedia to research a lot of different subjects. I like the way it has cross references and a bibliography at the end of each article. Although a lot of people have been bashing the site and saying it is full of inaccuracies, that has not been my experience. I love the site and the enormous number of subjects that it covers in depth.