_bbR3iY5lLSjzaZNziPYc6VX6tk Inspiration CAN be found EVERYWHERE!: August 2009

Friday, August 28, 2009

And I'm back on Twitter too

Hooray I was finally allowed to rejoin twitter.

Not that I was a big tweeter - but I did like to read some of the blurbs that were posted - that is until I was stupid and allowed a link to "add more followers". I wrote about it here at if-you-have-twitter-account If you haven't checked it out - and you have a twitter account - make sure you read it and be warned.

After quite a few notes back and forth with support - I was able to get my account back. I've deleted all the offending tweets (not sent by me) and made sure I wasn't following any of those people ......... I had already changed my password when I saw what was happening. It was just changed too late to stop the suspension.

But now I am back to checking there too. Would have been a nice thing to check while on vacation ahh well that's ok I'm back online again.

Thank you Mr Twitter support personnel. You did make my day/night.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Yes sir I be backkkkkkkk

Yes I am back from the "sunny beach" as my father in law would have said. I'm beginning to think I need a vacation from my vacation, I am soooo tired now.

The ride down was pretty easy in comparison to the ride home - and all the stuff in the middle was fantastic. I already have a week booked NEXT year in July because we just loved it.

It is just such a LONG ride home - over 1700 miles (give or take). We left Marco Island Saturday morning at 9 and drove to someplace near Greenville, SC at around 9 at night, only stopping for "pee" breaks, gas and quick meal breaks. Sunday morning we left at 6:30 arriving in Charlottesville, VA to see my parents at a little after 1. We only stopped for an hour or so and got home in NJ about 8:30. It was so much easier taking the auto-train down (only 4 hours driving each way). But I'll do it again next year.

Hopefully I will upload some pictures in the next day or so.

Off to pick up the "fish" and then make dinner.

Have a wonderful evening everyone. I will spend the evening reading all the posts I missed during my vacation - got to be HUNDREDS of posts from my bloggy friends. So I will comment, fear not, but it may take a few days to get through it all.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Vacations

I knew I was going on vacation, heck I made all the arrangements, but was I ready to leave this past Friday morning? Yes and No.

Lets see where the No comes in:
bags packed? Yes
Jenn's car set for service while we are gone? Yes
everything fits in the car? Yes
Everyone ready to leave? Yes
Tickets / sign in paperwork in bags? Yes
Fish delivered to Jenn's friend? Yes
Cat delivered to Grandmom? Yes
Computer in trunk hoping to be able to get internet access? Yes
Posts set up just in case? NOPE
Post that we are going to be away and when coming back? Don't think so.

See I had lists, I had careful planning ............. and then I blew it. No posts that will automatically post so no "dead air time" for my board ........

I had great intentions - but what was that saying - the best laid plans of mice and men oft times go astray?

Well I hope I can come in every now and again to post something - pictures would be nice - but internet access is really really SLOW - like right now (wireless showing 2mbps) so I don't think pictures will be possible. But we shall see. I have some nice ones I think, but I'm afraid to look.

Sun, sand, sea shells, gulf breezes, gulf water, nice clear pool, sun tan lotion/spray, aloe for the burns, and lots of walking on the beach. And relaxation, I can't believe how easily I've fallen into that relaxation mode - and hubby ? My gosh I can't believe he cut the "umbilical cord" (ie cell phone) with his office and clients. He went to play golf today - and only brought his phone so he could call me to come pick him up!

We are here for the rest of the week, leaving Saturday morning for the long drive home. Oh we should have more vacations - mmmm when can I schedule another one??

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

A Family that breeds Heros - turns out to be mine!

Holy Moses, I am beginning to think I was born into a family that breeds heros!

I got a call from my Mom and Dad in response to my message to them about my son's job. And although they were really happy and excited to hear about it - they were able to top my story 5 fold.

My sister, Sharon, and her two kids came over to Virginia Beach to visit my parents on their mini vacation on Tuesday. They had a great day hanging out on the beach, etc so when it got to be evening, Sharon told them that she and the kids would come back tomorrow.

Here's were the hero part comes in. Either its that my family breeds heros or someone (read God here) decided that today was NOT the day for a 20 year old to die.

Sharon was in or by the ocean when she saw someone being thrown/tumbled around in the surf. Sharon starts yelling for help, people on the beach were yelling for help (lifeguard was in LA LA LAND) when she finally got to the girl and pulled her out of the water. The girl was purple. She had a seizure while in the water, and was tossed around and under the water. Another woman on the shore came to help Sharon and between the two of them saved this girls life. As Sharon told me later - she (the girl) was a minute from dead!

The Virginia Beach Emergency Rescue was there in minutes after they were finally called (lifeguard came back from LA LA LAND) with dad said about 5 cars and an ambulance and took over. Come to find out the girl was washed down the beach a little ways so she had been having the seizure and in trouble for a bit. Hopefully she will be ok.

When Sharon and this woman were relieved by the rescue people, they were talking about what happened, who they were, where they worked, etc. Now Sharon is a special ed teacher - a darned good one, thank you very much - and the other woman is a Emergency Room RN. Now this woman was probably use to these life or death moments with her line of work, but I'm pretty sure that Sharon has had to be involved in a lot of different things but I'm thinking this is NOT one of those things.

I don't know if the RN is from Virginia Beach or not - but obviously they were both meant to be there on the beach today to do something very special.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Employment update - the end of a saga ......

Hello all. I just had to send a quick note to tell everyone the latest on my son's quest for a "real" job.

As you may recall he graduated from University of New Haven with a degree in Fire Science with a concentration in Arson Investigation. I talked about that here: graduation-day With the current economy finding a "real" job (as he calls it) has been extremely difficult.

He has been working for a local town as a Per Diem EMT since March - working at least 4 days a month and I think one month it was at least 8 days (which was sending them into palpitations because that could make him full time). He also started working for our Township Board of Education in the "outdoor" maintenance department ...... cutting lawns, shrubs, making everything look "pretty" and dealing with the ever present bee population, in May.

He has been searching/testing/applying up and down the East Coast for a job with a fire department since March 2008. He even took the test for a job with Hilton Head South Carolina the morning of graduation (since it was offered at the university) and has been progressing up the lists/ranks/steps in a local town, Hilton Head,SC; Charlotte,NC; Virginia Beach, VA; Cherry Hill,NJ; Bethlehem or Allentown, PA I can't remember which. So this has been a very long drawn out process. I know I have been getting discouraged (especially with the economy the way it is) and I know he has been feeling a little concerned.

He had to be in Virginia Beach over the July 4th holiday - since he had an interview on the 6th. About the 11th of July he received a letter saying that he had a conditional employment based on the results of his physical at the end of July and some other "research" thing by Social Services. So back down to VA for July 27th Physical and Uniform fittings and something else. He felt everything had gone well - everything had been signed off so he had to sit and wait again as they had 3 weeks of physicals to do (but only 25 people made this cut). He had seen a list while at the physical that showed him as #2 on the list and since he was the first physical (8AM Monday morning) he thought that he might have just done really well in the interview. When they first did the test back in November, I think he said they had sent invitations to 1700 applicants.

Today he received an email from City of Virginia Beach dated today, with the Final Offer Letter of Employment! So as of today, my son has gotten a "real" job. The letter was to congratulate him on his new position as Firefighter Recruit with the Virginia Beach Fire Department.

So of course the real fun begins. He has about 1 month before the academy starts, but he has to move, get his EMT certificate transferred down there, get a VA drivers license, change his bank account, decide what has to be done with his truck (my name is still on the title with his so its on MY insurance) and probably get auto insurance .......... and who knows what else he will need to do.

Well just wanted to fill everyone in - I will have one less child living at home in 34 days.

I thought I would be so happy to say that - and in a way I am because he has a job in the field he really wanted - but my little boy isn't a little boy anymore; he's moving out and moving on. Wow talk about mixed emotions here.

Monday, August 10, 2009

If you have a Twitter Account .....

If you have a Twitter Account do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT click on any of the links you may find that say something about clicking to get more followers.

Silly me had a Twitter Account (kat1126) and at the moment it is suspended for Abuse. Since I haven't been on Twitter since sometime last week and hadn't been on the computer since last night I was at a loss. Then when I signed in this morning I opened twitter because I got an email of a new "follower" - I see I had sent a tweet about 3AM about getting more followers ......... so I tried to cancel my account with that site AND changed my password with Twitter. About an hour ago I see an email from Twitter telling me my account was suspended until August 17th.

The link for the messed up site is something like tinyurl.com or tiny.cc/LTRYc

Please be warned - it will mess up your account so that you too will lose your twitter account (at least for a week) and after that time you can petition to have your account restored.

Perhaps this is part of the problem Twitter was having last week - the flood gates opened with this site. You would think that Twitter would have figured out that this site is the problem when EVERYONE has the same link in their mega postings. So I'm guessing if and when I get my account back I will have been ignored by all my followers (not that there were that many) or blocked from everyone.

Just be warned - Twitter is taking this seriously - but YOU will be the one that gets suspended not the site that took over your account.

Questions regarding Health Care Bill

Now I will probably get flack for this - but I received an email today with a copy of a letter that a doctor sent to his Senator.

I don't know if all of these references are still in the bill - and I bet the Senators don't either since I'm willing to bet that most of them haven't read the bill (any version) just like they didn't read the "bail out" bill from last before they voted for it. If these items are still in the bill (as it stands now) I worry about what will happen to us.

Yes Health Care NEEDS to be reformed. Yes Health Care NEEDS to be available to everyone. Where is the REFORM to lawsuits that are for anything that strikes someones fancy - I don't like how my "nose job" turned out - I'll sue ..... That needs to be in here too since that would decrease costs. I'm not talking about real malpractice - I'm talking about the idiotic suits that get settled because its "cheaper" when in reality it just increases my premiums. As expensive as my current policy is (and I don't use it very often) I don't want anyone to tell me that my plan is "too good" and I have to decrease it for the same amount of money (or more). If anyone knows if these items have been eliminated from the current version of the bill - please advise.

Here are the points that the doctor included - and to be honest I've not heard ANYONE in ANY "discussion" about Health Care Reform show where these points don't exist, in some discussions they ignore the question/point. This may not be exactly what the President is saying he wants for Health Care Reform - but unfortunately we all know the Congressmen and Senators love to put in these little things that get hidden in huge bills that no one knows about until things start happening. And then we are digging out of a bigger hole and blaming those that are just using the "benefits" that were put into the law.

Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all employers that self insure!!
Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!
Page 42 of HC Bill:The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC Benefits for you. You have no choice!
Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: HC will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise
Page 58 HC Bill: Govt will have real-time access to individuals finances; a National ID Healthcard will be issued!
Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer.
Page 65 HC Bill Sec 164: is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions; community organizations: (ACORN).
Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the Exchange.
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Healthcare!
Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. Example - Translation: illegal aliens.
Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN; Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan.
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. AARP members - your Health care WILL be rationed.
Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: Medicaid Eligible Individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.
Page 124 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt Monopoly.
Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: Doctors/ American Medical Association - The Govt will tell YOU what you can make! (salary)
Page 145 Line 15-17: An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public option plan. NO CHOICE!
Page 126 Lines 22-25: Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.
Page 149 Lines 16-24: ANY Employer with payroll $401k and above who does not provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll.
Page 150 Lines 9-13: Business's with payroll btw $251k and $401k who doesn't provide public option pays 2-6% tax on all payroll.
Page 167 Lines 18-23: ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.
Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay)
Page 195 HC Bill: Officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access to ALL Americans finances /personal records.
Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" Yes, it says that!
Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors, low income and poor are affected.
Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors, doesn't matter what specialty you have, you'll all be paid the same!
Page 253 Line 10-18: Govt sets value of Doctor's time, profession, judgment etc. Literally value of humans.
Page 265 Sec 1131: Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries.
Page 268 Sec 1141: Federal Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!
Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever Govt deems preventable re-admissions.
Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission -Govt will penalize you.
Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Doctors what/how much they can own!
Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand.
Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required. Can u say ACORN?!
Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: Govt mandates establishment of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing.
Page 341 Lines 3-9: Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing people into Govt plan.
Page 354 Sec 1177: Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people! Unbelievable!
Page 379 Sec 1191: Govt creates more bureaucracy - Tele-health Advisory Comittee. Can you say HC by phone?
Page 425 Lines 4-12: Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life patients.
Page 425 Lines 17-19: Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney. Mandatory!
Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: Govt provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death. (assisted suicide)
Page 427 Lines 15-24: Govt mandates program for orders for end of life. The Govt has a say in how your life ends.
Page 429 Lines 1-9: An "advanced care planning consultant" will be used frequently as patients health deteriorates.
Page 429 Lines 10-12: "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOVT!
Page 429 Lines 13-25: The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.
Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life!
Page 469: Community Based Home Medical Services = Non profit organizations. Hello, ACORN Medical Services here!!?
Page 472 Lines 14-17: PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORIGINATION. 1 monthly payment 2 a community-based organization. Like ACORN?
Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt into your marriage.
Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, rationing those services.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Make it YOUR Bank Account

A wonderful story/idea that we should ALL take to heart.
I'm planning on starting each day with this in mind.

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even hough he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today..

His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

'I love it', he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year old just having been presented with a new puppy. 'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.'
'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied. Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.

It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life..

Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in'.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories!

Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank. I am still depositing.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

Spread this message to every other people you meet today. You will receive a miracle tomorrow.

Now, STOP! Did you hear what I just said. You WILL receive a miracle tomorrow. So spread it right now!

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.

Twitter is down ........

But is it down for the count??

If you have tried to access twitter today, you have been extremely frustrated. But I have the answer ......... I just heard it on the news.

Twitter is being hit by an external attack giving a denial of service to its users.

Twitter is trying to fix this for its many users, however it will not give a time frame as to when they expect people to be able to access twitter again.

I'm suspecting this is a rather "serious" attack.

I'm also glad I am not twitter dependent ......... I'd be going into withdrawals by now.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Zappos.com The North Face Review

Recently, I was asked to review the website Zappos.com, specifically for The North Face products (zappos.com/The-North-Face), so of course I went to check it out. I love going to see new places and new products, especially when there is no pressure to buy.

There is a quick history of North Face so you have an idea just how the brand came to be. The North Face company was started in 1966 by two hiking lovers and just seemed to blossom from there. High performance products were designed with their love of hiking in mind, but it didn’t stop there. There are clothes, shoes, boots, jackets, bags and sporting bags and all are available through zappos.com/The-North-Face.

One of the first things I noticed was that the index showed a breakdown by type and classification. Many sites will give you the classification, Men’s or Women’s, for example, and then you have to click and click and click to find that part of the site you are looking for. Zappos.com gives you the classifications, types and how many of each are available right on the initial search page. It also tells you, under a separate heading, New Arrivals by type, On Sale items by type, as well as the ability to view the whole collection. When you pick the type of item you are looking for, the site moves you to a new search screen, where you can narrow your choices even more.

Lets look at Women’s Shoes to show you what I mean. To see this search screen click here zappos.com/womens-the-north-face-shoes and you can see all the subcategories of women’s shoes. What I really like is that instead of having to look through all 158 pairs of Women’s shoes, you can narrow that down by type, size, width, color, and even price range. I really like this feature. I found 35 pairs of running shoes in my size AND under $100 in less than 5 seconds.

Another plus to Zappos.com is the Free Shipping – both ways if you decide your purchase is not the correct one for you. Yes, FREE shipping as well as a 365 Day Return Policy. Where else can you find that long a return policy and free shipping even if you return it? Those days and places are few and far between but at Zappos.com, this is the norm. Check it out here shipping-and-returns and you can see for yourself - unbelievable.

There are so many things to choose from that I am having a hard time deciding what to try. In this day and age of casual/business casual/dressed down days at work there are many items you could get. If you just want something to wear for your day off or on your vacation, this is the place to look. I bet you could even find something to use for back to school – some of their bags would be great backpacks for all those heavy text books.

Go check them out at zappos.com/The-North-Face . Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Do they know?

One day a woman's husband died, and on that clear, cold morning, in the warmth of their bedroom, the wife was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't "anymore".

No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more "just one minute."

Sometimes, what we care about the most gets all used up and goes away, never to return before we can say good-bye, say "I love you."

So while we have it, it's best we love it, care for it, fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick.

This is true for marriage .....
And old cars ..
And children with bad report cards,
and dogs with bad hips,
and aging parents and grandparents.

We keep them because they are worth it,
because we are worth it.

Some things we keep -- like a best friend who moved away or a sister-in-law after divorce.
There are just some things that make us happy, no matter what.

Life is important, like people we know who are special.. And so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thought I was a 'keeper'! Then I sent it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your turn to send this to all those people who are "keepers" in your life, whether you copy it from here or just make sure that they know.

Suppose one morning you never wake up, do all your friends know you love them?

I was thinking...I could die today, tomorrow or next week, and I wondered if I had any wounds needing to be healed, friendships that needed rekindling or three words needing to be said.

Let every one of your friends know you love them. Even if you think they don't love you back, you would be amazed at what those three little words and a smile can do.
And just in case I'm gone tomorrow

Hey listen up now--
I LOVE YA!!!

You mean the world to me

Live today to the fullest because tomorrow is not promised to anyone.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Sorry I've been MIA

Can't believe its been almost 2 weeks since I posted last. I don't know if its the weather here (rain or high humidity or both) or too much going on (strange sicknesses, employment procedures, meetings, all around blah) or none of the above.

I have been reading different bloggers - most on my favorites list, but not all - and making comments but just haven't had anything to say here. I wish I could say HEY ALL Dan got his formal notification of employment, I wish I could show more pics of Jenn's photo/movie/tv shoots, or something exciting like that. Unfortunately I got NADA. I may have to get my sister to tell me what's going on - since she seems to be more in the loop with my son than I am ......... at least where the job situation stands. I'm going to have to figure something out.

Vacation starts in exactly 13 days. I am excited to go - haven't been to Marco Island in too many years to think. Even if all I do is lay by the pool, swim, sit in the jacuzzi or walk on the beach for a week I will be in heaven. I guess I'm just so tired of all the rain we have had, I am tired of being stuck inside. Being in Florida in the middle of August is what we did for years - but being on Marco is so much different than other parts of Florida (that I remember) because you have the constant gulf breezes that the heat doesn't seem so bad.

Hopefully I'll have some nice pictures to share and be able to come back refreshed - looking forward to fall (even though it doesn't seem like we had a summer here) and be able to announce other good news.