Dr Copa

I have been trying to encourage my sister-in-law Susan to quit smoking for the past several years.  She has smoked heavily for over forty years, so it is not going to be easy for her to quit.  What bothers me is that her doctor has already told her that she needs to quit smoking because her lungs are not working at their full capacity.  And her doctor has told her that the age of her lungs are about fifteen years older than her actual age.  That tells me that she is on the path to an early death.

Unfortunately, she does not seem to have much interest in quitting smoking.  Even though she has repeatedly promised her kids that she is going to quit, and even commits to a specific date, that date comes and goes and she still smokes.  It seems that every time I turn around, she is outside smoking a cigarette and talking on her cell phone.  The smoke stinks up her clothes, and stinks up the car when she sneaks a smoke in there. 

I’ve been hearing a lot about the new electronic cigarette that has recently come onto the market  Although it does not advertise itself as an aid to quit smoking, what I have read about it seems to be a viable option for people who need to quit smoking but really don’t want to.  I’m going to talk to Susan about trying one and see if she would smoke one of them instead of the “real” things.  If these are really less harmful to one’s health, then I’m all for it!

Speaking of the Antarctica, I never did see the move Happy Feet! Maybe I’ll rent it from Netflix.

Guest post from: Constance Rodgers

The internet helps with homework by making it easy for students to find a specific topic all with a few clicks of the mouse. For example, I did a research paper on animals that live in Antarctica. I was able to type in those exact words in a search engine and click go. Within seconds I found hundreds of different sites that had information about animals that live in Antarctica. I was able to get statistics, graphs, pictures, and all the information I needed for my paper. I was also able to print out images to make a nice presentation as well. All of this was easy to do using ClearTVBundle.com to go online. My research paper was a breeze to do because the information I needed was all right in front of my face. After I gathered all the information I was even able to look up how to format it. I found a research paper template that walked me through writing the paper. I was even able to check my spelling and grammar. Within a few hours my research paper was ready to be printed and handed into my teacher.

Just got back in the house from walking the dogs and they were very upset during the walk. I couldn’t tell what was bothering them until we got around the back corner of our property and there was a black bear up on the edge of the woods. I only saw it for a brief moment, as the dogs barking must have scared it off. I’m rather glad that the barking didn’t agitate the bear into charging us.

It’s unusual to see a bear this close to the house. I am going to have to be more vigilant while outdoors from now on.

Sometimes I am reading a blog or a web site and I notice there are links to other blogs, either in the post or article, or sometimes listed on the sidebar. So, if I have a little extra time in the morning, I like to click on these other links and see where they go. I have found quite a few really good sites this way.

That is basically how I ended up at the web site called, The Chronicle, which is a site about academia. I was interested in the part that listed job openings in different colleges and universities, and I happened across a whole section of related blogs.

From this site, I surfed over to the Walden University web site. Although I don’t know anyone who has attended Walden, it seems like a good school for someone who wants to get their college degree online from an accredited university.

If you are interested in completing the college courses that you started elsewhere, or maybe want to just look into a higher Education, then try out some of the links I just wrote about in this post.

The new issue of Popular Mechanics has a list of essential tools for homeowners who work on common household repairs and do it yourself projects. Here is a good checklist of tools to have on hand:

1. Sledgehammer (8 or 10 pounds)
2. Center Punch
3. Putty Knife
4. Safety Glasses
5. Adjustable Wrench
6. Pipe Wrench
7. Socket Wrench
8. Combination Wrench
9. Jigsaw
10. Crosscut Saw
11. Snips
12. Needlenose Pliers
13. Power Drill with Drill Bits
14. Circular Saw
15. Measuring Tape
16. Hammer
17. Machinist Vise
18. Extension Cord  (12 or 10 gauge)
19. Screwdriver Set (or Multi-bit Screwdriver)

Something that is an actual bargain for the dollar is the washer and dryer that we buy for home use. They get used several times each week, in some homes they get used daily, and rarely break down or have any maintenance issues.

I have an older washer and dryer that I have been using for over 8 years. There is nothing wrong with them, but they are not the most economical machines. There have been a lot of advances in technology over the past 8n years.

The newest machines seem to be front loaders, that mount above a deep drawer unit that holds laundry detergent and other laundry supplies. The front loaders use less water, less electricity and hold larger loads than the older machines.

Math was my favorite subject in school. As soon as my Kindergarten teacher started talking about numbers, I was intrigued. All through high school and college, math was the subject that kept me interested and motivated throughout the school year.

Over all those years, I had one teacher who was not a good teacher. He probably didn’t even want to be teaching Algebra but it was his job, so he showed up every day and assigned us a lot of homework. I didn’t mind the homework, but I wish he had displayed some enthusiasm for the subject.

Thankfully, the following year, my Geometry teacher was outstanding. She explained the Acute triangle and the Isosceles triangle on the very first day of class and we hit the ground running. It was all smooth sailing after that.

Understanding a Line segment is also vital to learning and using Geometry. Kids who have a problem with the basics can at least get help online if their own parents are not a good resource for homework help. Many parents took Geometry in high school but have forgotten how to work with Indices and other critical math skills. Rather than let the kids get frustrated and develop an aversion to math, I hope their parents will try online homework help and free math tutoring for their kids.

Usually I don’t watch animated children’s movies. But I had to wait at my sister’s house for a couple of hours and my nephew was watching “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” on DVD.

The movie is about a kid who invents a way to make it rain food. He tries his whole life to accomplish something and make his dad proud, he is a geek and his dad wants him to be a chip off the old block. His dad just can’t seem to do anything but mutter fish metaphors and gently try to discourage his son’s endeavors.

It was a very imaginative movie. The raining food idea was just the tip of the story line. If you have a chance to watch this and spend some quality time with a youngster, I heartily recommend it.

When I was a kid, we went to grade school from kindergarten through the sixth grade. Then we had junior high for seventh and eighth grade. High school was ninth through twelfth. The earliest that I remember any serious math work was in the fourth grade.

My fourth grade teacher was Mrs. Wiebert. She was extremely old school and when it came to 4th grade math, she wanted no part of the “new math” that was being taught. The new math was introducing kids to concepts that required visualizing the numbers rather than just memorizing flash cards.

We are adding fractions in our heads because we understood how the numbers related to  the parts of a whole. This was actually a revolutionary for our time and now it is the normal process.

Kids today are solving equations as young as seven years old and learning advanced math in the second grade. If parents need help with the homework assignments their kids bring home, they can get online and sign up for free tutors and free homework help. When I was in school, we didn’t get any help unless we sat next to a smart kid in class.

The only thing I could find in the office that wasn’t already claimed with someone’s name on it was a big Idaho potato in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator. Usually I keep a few things stashed in the freezer or in a desk drawer. I guess I ate the last of the freezer dinners some time ago and forgot to replace it.

So lunch today was a baked potato. We keep butter in the refrigerator and sometimes there is dressing or dip. But no such luck today. It was baked with butter and a little salt and pepper.

It could have been worse. It actually tasted good and was nutritious. So tonight I’m going to the grocery store and stocking up on a week’s worth of food to keep at the office.

Two years ago I bought a netbook. I thought it was very cool to have a tiny computer. It does not work with Windows, but Linux is a good operating system for basic computing. The primary reason I bought it was for internet access while waiting for long periods, such as at the doctors office or at work waiting for a truck to arrive with product.

The netbook works great other than the keyboard is really tiny and my fingers seem to hit two keys with every keystroke instead of just one. I seem to spend a lot of time using spell check and fixing what I typed. So it is not good for sending long messages or anything that requires a lot of typing.

The netbooks are relatively inexpensive. I bought mine for under $200 and have already gotten my money’s worth.

Have you ever noticed when you travel that most of the newer hotel rooms are decorated with contemporary furniture?  I’ve always like the sleek, cleanlines of modern bedroom furniture, but my wife says that she thinks that the furniture lacks character and warmth.  She’s never enjoyed the “industrial look.” 

The last time we stayed in a motel room together, as we were getting ready to leave, my wife said to check under the beds to make sure that we had not accidentally pushed something under the bed.  I was surprised to see that they were platform beds. I wondered if that was done to prevent people from leaving things behind, or to save money on cleaning, or if the beds were cheaper to buy! Maybe they are easier to maintain if they have to spray for bed bugs! What do you think? Why are motels switching to them?

Sue was trying to convince me to buy some of her newly discovered healthy-trend products that she has bought recently. She knows that I have frequent stomach irritations, so she wanted me to try some of the Oregano Oil she got. She said that she bought it over the Internet, and that it is supposed to help digestive health. And she was telling me that my brother should try some of the Bio D-Mulsion that she got. She said that was full of Vitamin D, which she knew that his doctor told him to take. The last physical my hubby had resulted in the doctor telling him to take some Vitamin D, as his blood tests showed he was low on Vitamin D.

I have to admit that I am always leery of trying new vitamins and supplements. This is an unregulated industry, and who knows for sure what is really in these supplements? I know what the labels claim are in there, but I’ve heard and read and seen so many news stories over the past several years about unsanitary factories and the like that I resist taking any kind of medicine. I really try my darnedest to eat healthy, so we don’t have to take vitamins and supplements! I wish that these things were overseen by some kind of regulatory agency that would ensure the quality of the products!

Now that’s what I’m talking about! Something I’ve always wanted to do!

When I was a teenager, no one I knew had even heard of teen rehab or teen addiction statistics.  Sure, we had a health class in middle school where we watched videos about the dangers of drinking and doing drugs, but it was nothing like the DARE program that so many of the schools use now.

I think it is a really sad state of affairs that we are putting so much pressure on our teenagers nowadays to study so hard to get into college, telling them that if they don’t get into a good college then their lives will be ruined.  I think that is the main reason for so much substance abuse and teen suicide!  Of course, the social media now creates more intense peer pressure, too.  Geez, life was so much simpler when I was a teenager!

At least I’m glad to know that there are teen drug rehab facilities for our struggling families.  I do think that things would be a lot easier, though, if schools focused more on dealing with stress in healthy ways instead of putting so much pressure on them to succeed.

I don’t get very much “good” mail these days, but each month I do look forward to finding in my mailbox my Reader’s Digest that arrives faithfully year after year. My mother got me started on this wonderful monthly publication when I first moved out on my own she started a subscription for me and kept renewing it each year. It’s offered at a great bargain and it’s just plain good quality reading.

I have known a few people here and there throughout the years that are dealing with Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms and are always on the look out for good quality Multiple Sclerosis News. The more you know about a disease the better patient you will become all the way around. Knowledge is powerful medicine and the Internet brings a lot of that type of power to us, which is awesome. Of course you can’t believe everything that you read, we all grew up hearing that one, but you just need to use some common sense and if it sounds to good to be true then it is probably not true!

A close co worker of mine’s wife was just recently diagnosed with MS and he has been doing a good amount of research online during his free time at work. We are a close bunch so we are all learning along with him. As with most illnesses a good Multiple Sclerosis Diet and a good Multiple Sclerosis Exercise regiment is very important and plays an important part of the treatment plans. We found a great website at allaboutms.com that we have found a lot of good useful information and I would recommend that anyone who is dealing with any type of Multiple Sclerosis issues give it a look see.

This was a great story to read on Yahoo about a little girl born on the date of 8-9-10. The birth occurred at 11:12am. Too funny, right? What an easy birthday to have to remember each year. I was going to post the video about the special birthday girl but apparently there are copyright issues going on right now.

With so many people in the medical field and the numbers growing every day there will always be a need for medical attention, no matter how bad the economy gets. A good amount of people are going back to school seeking an education in some type of the medical field. It seems that where ever I go I see someone wearing either nursing uniforms and medical scrubs and most of them are wearing the clogs that have become so popular in the last decade.

Sometimes I’ll be in a drug store and see someone wearing something that looks like a lab coat and I’ll start talking to them as if they were employed and working there, only to find to my embarrassment that they are a customer but are wearing their medical uniforms which are better known as scrubs.

I mean folks that work in a doctor’s office, or dental practice, or in a pharmacy, or in medical records or in a nursing home or in any of the numerous departments at the local hospital are sporting this attire.It is good to see that they are making a larger variety of these uniforms, with all kinds of designs and patterns which must make it easier to tolerate having to wear this type of clothing day in and day out. I’ve seen them with balloons, Micky Mouse, frogs, happy faces just to name a few.

I am not really a big fan on using coupons. I will use one now and then, but I don’t get the Sunday paper and spend 15 minutes to a half an hour sorting and  cutting coupons for groceries. But I will use one or two of them on occasion if I have it stuffed in my wallet  and it it is for a decent amount. An amount worthy of me toting the darn thing around, if you know what I mean!

Recently our oldest son decided that he wanted to learn how to play the guitar.  Naturally, the places that give lessons require that the students buy musical instruments instead of loaning them out.  Fortunately for me, I still had my old acoustic guitar from when I was going through that “I want to learn to play the guitar” and I lent it to him for class.  The teacher told him that he needed a new bridge, so I took it to the local music shop where the owner repaired it for free.

He continued with the guitar lessons for only about six weeks, and then decided not to continue after that.  I sure was glad that we didn’t spend a lot of money buying him a new guitar!  And now the guitar is packed away for the next time someone decides to give it a try!

Come the end of September I will be free of my cell phone provider once and for all. Two years ago I signed a contract with them and I’ve been counting down the days until my contract is up. I have nothing good to say about that company as a cell phone provider. They are over-priced and have too many dead zones. As far as I’m concerned, their ads on television about their coverage is very misleading.

Of all the places for my nephew and his new wife to be relocating to they had to pick Texas. So now they are busy looking for Dallas Homes for Sale and utilizing the Internet for all that it is worth. Moving has never been an easy task and moving somewhere long distance is just a nightmare, thank goodness for the World Wide Web. There are tons of Dallas Real Estate options out there, weeding through all of them is time consuming but at least they can do that task online instead of having to make numerous trips in order to find the perfect match.

At least a good portion of the move is being paid for by his employer and he has a good paying job waiting for him to start at. They won’t know a soul in Texas, but they are good people and youth is on their side, so I’m sure it will work out just fine. In the mean time they are being kept busy Googling “Dallas Homes For Sale” and seeing all that Dallas has to offer folks in their shoes. In a few years I’ll make the time to take a trip out there and see how they are making out.

This was sent to me with the title of “Devastation from this morning’s Washington D.C. earthquake” Since I wasn’t aware of any earthquake it caught my attention and I had to open it up. Way too funny not to pass along here with you good folks. Laughter is the best medicine, as the old saying goes.

You can read more at the Washington Examiner

The word is that there are still Myrtle Beach vacation deals available for what is left of the summer season. A lot of school systems are starting school earlier and earlier which cuts out a good amount of vacation time for families. When I went to school, it always started the day after Labor Day, which of course is always in September. But I’m hearing from various friends and family members that most schools are opening in August. One friend’s kid started school yesterday, for goodness sake, it is only the first full week of August. The others that I’ve spoken with are starting August 22nd and the 23rd. I think that is so wrong, but nothing I can do about it at this point.

Anyway if I was to be planning a beach trip I’d being using the Internet to find the best Myrtle Beach hotel that might have accommodations still available. Being an avid golfer I’d certainly be looking for a place that could help with a good golf package to get my business, like what I found at http://www.grandeshores.com. They seem to have something for just about everyone at this resort. Too bad I’ve used up all of my vacation days for this year, the beach sounds great. It has been a long, hot summer this year. Can’t imagine what we are in store for this winter!

Customer: Yes, I want to cancel my account. I don’t want to do business with you any longer. 

The Bank: Why?

Customer: You’re giving credit to illegal immigrants and I don’t think it’s right. I’m taking my business elsewhere.

The Bank: Well, Mr. Customer, we don’t want to see you do that, but we can’t stop you. I’ll help you close the account. What is your account number?

Customer: (gives account number)

The Bank: For security purposes and for your protection, can you please give me the last four digits of your social security number?

Customer: No?

The Bank: Mr. Customer, I need to verify your information, but in order to help you, I’ll need verification of who you are..

Customer: Why should I give you my social security number? The reason I’m closing my account is that your bank is issuing credit cards to illegal immigrants who don’t have social security numbers. You are targeting that audience and want their business. Let’s say I’m an illegal immigrant and you’ve given me a credit card. I have a question about it and call for assistance. You wouldn’t be asking me for a Social Security number, would you?

The Bank: No sir, I wouldn’t.

Customer: Why not?

The Bank: Because you would have pressed ‘2′ to speak in Spanish. We don’t ask for that information when calling in on the Spanish line.

I’ll never forget my grandfather warning me about buying a pick up truck. He warned me that owning a pick up truck just opens the flood gates for people to call on you for help with Moving Services as well as coming to their rescue for when their motorcycle breaks down on the side of the road. This man rarely was wrong on any subject and with this particular issue he was dead on, but that is OK as far as I’m concerned that is what friends and family are for. I have a lot of friends and come from a large family!

Moving Companies are a necessity when you have a large move on your hands. Some times a pick up truck just won’t do the trick and a large truck is a must. Now a days you can go online and get Moving Quotes with just a few quick key strokes and their are a good amount of qualified Movers that have been in business for a long time that are well established and are trustworthy as well. We have all heard horror stories about people’s stuff being damaged and or stolen during a move, that must really bite. But the Internet has made it possible for people to find the perfect match for their situation and times are a changing with all that the Internet provides for us. If a company gets a bad rep you can bet that it will be on the Internet as well.

So in the mean time you can still call me if you need my truck for a few short trips, but if it is more than it can handle I’d refer you to the World Wide Web and all that it has to offer in these types of situations.

I really need to get a universal remote control, one that works on and for everything electronic. There are way too many remote controls laying around the entertainment center, it is easy to get confused on which one works with what. And trying to explain to someone not familiar with our system is just a road leading to no where.

My favorite uncle, who is a proud Vietnam Vet, is looking for a good Mesothelioma Lawyer to help with his fight against this Mesothelioma Disease that we are hearing more and more about, especially on the TV. There has been plenty of Mesothelioma Attorney commercials on the local channels these past few years and the issue isn’t going to go away for many inflicted people.

My uncle never got over his experience in the Vietnam Police Action mentally. He spent a good amount of his time in the service under the waters in a submarine, which is where they believe he contacted this type of cancer. So by serving his country his head is all screwed up for life and now we are learning that his physical condition, which is deteriorating rapidly is due to his time over seas as well. A double whammy, if you will.

The VA has truly been wonderful. They had such a bad reputation for so very long that my uncle stayed away from anything to do with the VA hospital, but thankfully he was persuaded to give them a try, which he did, and it’s all been good, so far and I hope that they continue to take the best possible care of this special person in my family’s life.