Tag: Technology

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Keeping Up With Kids

Even though a lot of people don’t like rap music, the reality is that this is the music that kids everywhere are listening to. If you want to know what’s going on inside the heads of your kids, you need to be in tune with what they are seeing and hearing.

There are a lot of different kinds of rap music, including hip hop and gangsta rap. As a parent, I feel it is important to at least give rap music a listen and to keep myself informed of the top rap artists. You can keep up the latest in rap by going to this website: www.rapartists.com

This site has info on all the popular rappers, with information on their albums, their biography, pictures and a link to the artist’s homepage.

The site also has a rap forum, where people ask questions and make comments. If you have a question, you can post it there and you might be surprised at the support and help you can get from the other forum participants.

I try and listen to a variety of music, exposing my kids to a variety of music along the way. I don’t like a lot of the rap that is so popular but I don’t give my kids a hard time about listening to it. I remember my parents giving me a hard time about the music that I listened to and that made me want to listening to it more as well as turning up the volume!

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From Flip Flogs to Hiking Boots

Summer means camping and fishing to me, so my wardrobe is going to need just a little boost from some more rugged outdoor wear. I need things with pockets and ventilated shirts so I don’t get too hot while I stay covered up against mosquitoes and biting flies. My usual flip flops and sandals are certainly not going to get me very far on the trail, so I’m looking for a new pair of hiking boots. I want good construction so they are not only comfortable but they should last for several years. Not something that I want to just pick up cheaply at our local Walmart.

Also, I want waterproof boots this time. There’s not much that can ruin a hiking trip like wet feet. When I think about work boots or hiking boots, the brand that first comes to mind is always going to be Wolverine. This is a brand that I have known and trusted for over 20 years. My very first pair of work boots for an outside and very intense summer job while in high school were Wolverine Boots and I’ve been a diehard fan ever since.

I really like the tread design so that these boots will grab the rocks and gravel on a hiking trail to prevent slipping and the high tops will protect my ankles from twisting or turning on the rocks. When I’m ready to order them, I plan on using the web site, metboots.com. They have my size in stock and a reasonable price, with a reputation for great customer service. That’s all I need to get my new boots shipped right to my house.

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Executive Motel Miami Style!

If she wasn’t my BFF (Best Friend Forever) for well over 30 years, a friendship that first got it’s start somewhere literally decades ago back in the fourth grade, I’d been green with the type of jealously that the female population is so “well-known for” acting out on . Usually acted out in some type of negative way that is considered acting like a drama queen within a very wide spectrum of levels and angles that has the potential to mystify even the best Geometrist.

I’m speaking of the plans (that she sent me all the links and info to via email) that she and her “new guy” have come up with to celebrate their first Valentine’s Day together, as a couple. It is so cool to see her so happy and excited with a guy that so far has proved himself to be of good character, has a wonderful sense of humor and appears to be generally a good guy all the way around. All this and more for almost 10 months now. She hasn’t been and stayed in a relationship for this long in many, many moons. I’m so enjoying watching the whole relationship blossom, praying all through the way that there won’t be too many thorns on the rose that she is so totally enjoying right now.

Executive Fantasy Hotels
Executive Miami Hotel

I’m the first to admit that I know nothing (but am certainly open-minded to) about any of the “Fantasy Hotels” anywhere, much less the one that they have reservations for that is down in Florida – The jumps right out there at me and makes everything else around it a blur!

Generally I’d be sending her off with a “Good Luck” and make sure to take plenty of pictures. But I think I’ll be leaving off the photo request for this particular trip that will be a once in a life-time opportunity to have a blast!

 

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Walmart

When The Eagles released their CD, Long Road Out of Eden, they did a special deal with Wal-Mart so that only Wal-Mart carried the CD. At first I thought it was clever of Wal-Mart to grab onto something practically guaranteed to be a big hit and use it to drive traffic to their stores. But later on I was reading web articles and realized that The Eagles were the ones who benefited from the exclusive distribution arrangement. What really happened is that the traditional record studios charge a ton of money for publishing, advertising and distributing music. That’s how they make their money and they make a lot. In the end, whatever other people make off your music is money that you, the artist, do not make. So by using Wal-Mart to handle the advertising and distribution, The Eagles could basically self-publish their music and keep a whole lot of the money for themselves. Sounds like a win-win situation for both of them.

You hear stories about how Wal-Mart comes to town and run the little companies out of business. Well, it looks like the mighty Wal-Mart has decided to grab even more of their money away from banks and record companies. Even though the Government told them that they cannot be a bank, they are doing everything a bank does inside of their stores – from cashing checks to credit cards and debit cards, and sending wire transfers of money out of the country and down to Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and everywhere else the immigrants came from and want to send money back to their families.

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Waterproof Binoculars

With my Dad’s birthday coming up next month I am already starting to stress about what I can buy for him for his birthday present. Buying gifts for either of my parents is a tough assignment, as they are well off and have just about anything they need or want as well as it being right after Christmas. So finding a present they will like and appreciate becomes a bigger challenge on every gift giving occasion.

My Dad is healthy and active, and loves to be out on the water, so I think that getting something nautical would be nice. He keeps a small skiff at a marina near his condo in Cape Coral, Florida, and also has the sailboat up on the Chesapeake. I went back to some old bookmarks and ended up on the www.opticsplanet.net web site. That’s where I got the great idea to get my Dad some Bushnell binoculars for his birthday. The web site has a huge selection of binoculars, so you can find the right pair to meet your needs. After all, you don’t want the same pair of binoculars on a hunting trip that you want to take to a Titans game or out on your boat. Everything that goes on a boat has to be waterproof and corrosion resistant.

Bushnell has several models of waterproof binoculars, with varying zooms and other features that span several different price points. Reading the reviews and buying guides on the www.opticsplanet.net will help me make the right decision and get my Dad the perfect birthday present.

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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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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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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.