Always Learning

Read an article that called a man LTU and I had no idea what they meant. Turns out it means “Long Term Unemployed.” This is one more casualty of America’s economic crisis. In addition to people losing their homes to foreclosure, many people are unemployed for a very long time. It used to be that you should allow one month of job searching for every ten thousand dollars in expected salary. So if you need to make $50,000 a year in salary, you should allow 5 months for serious job hunting.

But in today’s world, it can take over2 years for that person to find a $50,000 a year job. These are the long term unemployed that need at some point to get more education or get retrained to acquire new skills. It is not hard to find help with taking more college level courses. The WaldenU.edu web site has scholarship and financial aid information on their site.

People who have internet access and the desire to learn more at the college level can enroll in Walden University and work on their studies at home – without having to drive and send money to get to a college campus every day. This make great sense to me.

Lazy Man’s Sale Strategy

Yesterday’s newspaper had the normal chunk of sale fliers and brochures, which is one big reason I continue to subscribe to the newspaper. I want to see the sale prices and new items being cried by the local stores. There is no online source that is as informative and focused on my local met than the Sunday newspaper.

But a new item was stuffed in with the other ads. A big blue folder from Wal Mart. It says something to the effect of, “we’ll match any other store’s price on the same merchandise if we carry it, just put the other company’s sale flier in this folder an bring it with you to WalMart.”

Now, isn’t that the lazy man’s ideal way to put stuff on sale? Don’t bother paying for the models and photo shoot, the graphic designers, printers and dozens, if not hundreds, of other people who make their living producing and distributing sale ads. Just let someone else pay for all that and you just wave your arm and say, I’ll match that price.

This is exactly why WalMart is perceived as so evil to the businesses in America. They put people out of work and then expect them to come to their store and buy things.

Friday Came Quick

When of the best things about a week that includes a holiday is that Friday sure seems to come quick. With everyone taking off for Memorial Day on Monday, this week flew by. Friday is my favorite day of the week – full of finished business and great expectations for a weekend.

Really Clever Builder

cards

The guy who got this idea and then built it is pure genius in my book. What a clever idea to take a common phrase like, “House of Cards” and turn it into a real thing. I admire people who can come up with ideas like this.

Today’s Wild West

That crazy woman that President Obama put in charge of Homeland Security must have her head in the sand or is just a mouth piece for propaganda that the White House wants put out there. She keeps having press conferences telling everyone that our borders are secure, that the Government has a good handle on illegal immigration, and that Texas and Arizona don’t have to worry about violence along their borders with Mexico. I can’t believe that she expects Americans to believe this garbage! We hear reports every day on the news about violence along the border. People who live in just about any city or town in Arizona are experiencing violence and crime, with home invasions, assaults, drug trafficking and even petty thefts on the rise.

If I lived out there I’d been sending letters and making phone calls to the fed demanding they recognize the crime problem and that they help the State of Arizona deal with these serious and life threatening issues. I’d be searching for home security showlow and getting a home alarm system installed, have guns in both my house and my truck, and I’d make sure the women are escorted to the movies and restaurants so they are kept safe, too.

Another issue for people living in rural Arizona is lack of access to cable TV, cell phone coverage and internet. Thank goodness they have access to Direct TV programming.

Too Hot to Dig

It broke 90 degrees today and this was the day I needed to dig a grave for my beloved pet dog. She evidently had a stroke last night and passed away in her sleep. It was a very sad discovery for my family this morning.

To be honest, I’ve been down in the dumps all morning. She was a great dog – got her as a puppy from a neighbor and she’s been with us for 11 wonderful years. She was our New Millenium puppy, born in January 2000 and we called her “Milly.”

I can’t quite bring myself to dig the grave yet. I think I’m going to have to wait a few hours for the heat to break and then we’ll have a nice little funeral service for her as the sun goes down tonight.

This Just Ticks Me Off

impala

Look at what some young punk idiot has done to a perfectly good CLASSIC Impala! I am so enraged to see what he has done to this car! Some people obviously have way too much money and time on their hands – and no good sense, either!

Full moon

I ran into some friends today at the Tractor Supply Store.  We hadn’t seen each other in a while, so we decided to have coffee together at the local diner before we all headed home again.   We started talking about how tonight was the full moon and swapping stories about how the full moon sometimes effects them or people that they know. 

Bob said his wife is a nurse in the local Emergency Room and that they get a lot busier during the full moon than any other time of the month.  She said that they get more incidences of violence, saying the people’s tempers flare up more easily.  She also claimed that more babies are born during the full moon.

Gary said that his youngest daughter gets a lot crankier than usual during the full moon, and tends to start arguments with her brothers and sisters on full moon days.

I’d heard that the police department has more people scheduled to work during the full moon too, because they have more domestic disturbance calls during the full moon.  I don’t know if that’s true or not….  just something I’d heard.  I think it’s an interesting idea, that the full moon effects our moods in that way.

Netflix

My sister gave me a Netflix coupon that I just activated, last night, that just gave me one month’s worth of movies for free. I don’t have a lot of time for movie watching, but when I do have the time to sit down and enjoy some TV time it will be nice to be able to pick something that I really want to watch and to be able to watch it when I want to.  There are tons of movies and TV shows to choose from, more than I expected to find. So for the next month I’ll be catching up on as many movies as I ca

Save Time and Money, Shop Online

We really have become a society that expects and demands instant gratification in so many ways. We have gotten to where when we find we need or want something we run right out and get it as quick a we can in order to move on to the next thing. With us growing up and living out on a farm, things move a little slower, but by having the Internet available makes it possible to speed things up just a bit and save us money along the way.

Since money is so tight everywhere alot of folks are starting to take a step back and look around for the best deal on many of the items and services that we require and have become accustomed to, before just jumping in with both feet and buying the first thing available. There are numerous websites devoted to finding deals and one of my favorite ones to check out before buying anything is http://www.savings.com. It is very easy to use and has a wide variety of ways to save money for online shoppers. This site has an “Ask, Answer & Save” page that provides you with answers from their community of deal experts to your questions that you submit, which is pretty cool. There is also a blog that you can read for useful information on savings as well.

Before I purchase anything these days I take some time to look around for the best deal that I can find. Online shoppers have so many ways to save money, the first thing I look for is free shipping, that in itself is a money saver. With gas prices once again on the rise, I don’t want to go into town for anything that I don’t have to.