Dr Copa

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?

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!

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.

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.

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.

My sister-in-law told me that just the thought of the Muslim community even thinking about building a brand new Mosque any where near “Ground Zero” in New York City makes her stomach start to scream for the injustice of the whole idea. She’s very upset to think that there is a strong possibility of this plan going through.

I, on the other hand, realize that the Muslim community has no control over the extremists who planned and carried out the terrorist attacks. I wish people would just get over this racist hatred.

This depression hasn’t stopped a good amount of people from purchasing new vehicles. I’m seeing so many new cars with the bright white temporary tags on them. A lot of the new toyota camry, mercury milan and porsche cayman are now hitting the streets. I’m guessing maybe people’s tax refund checks are coming in, hitting the bank and a new car is high on their wish list and people are seeing to it that their wishes are coming true. It’s been a rough couple of years for us all.

I have never been a big fan of buying a new car. Hell as soon as it pulls out of the parking lot of the dealership the darn thing depreciates at least one or two thousand dollars. It isn’t all that unusual to hear stories of people totalling their brand spanking new vehicle just trying to merge into traffic from their local dealership. I had a good friend that worked for a major insurance company as a Claims Adjuster, the stories that he would tell was always good for a laugh or two. People and their cars share a special bond that no one can get in between.

My sister has always been totally in love with the volkswagen beetle. Her first car was a “punch buggie” and has her eyes set on the volkswagen new beetle convertible and has been talking about purchasing one these past couple of months. Her tax check just came in and she is planning on spending it all on a new beetle, bright yellow. I can see her behind the wheel of one with her blond hair flying all over and a bright yellow flower in the vase, conveniently located right on the dashboard that the “new” beetles are so well known for having for this newest generation’s beetle fans.

Of all of the daytime court room drama judges that are all over the boob tube each day, Judge Alex is the only one that I can handle watching the whole episode of. Judge Judy just scares me and all the other ones are way over the top with their sarcasm and major attitudes.

Every family needs a doctor, a lawyer, a mechanic and a computer geek to get by these days. I’ve gotten pretty good with the computer these past couple of years, but there is so much that I still don’t know and don’t know if I’ll ever learn or need to learn. I mean at work we have our IT people that are just a phone call away and my youngest brother, who lives pretty close by is the computer whiz of the family so I have plenty of support at my disposal. Of course my needs don’t always coincide with their schedules but we seem to work it out some how.

I can’t even imagine me needing to know about a dedicated server, or anything to do with managed hosting or colocation services in my type of career and/or personal computer needs. And if I need to know what colocation is all about, I’m a firm believer of Googling anything that I need to learn about. The Internet is such a wealth of knowledge just waiting to be taken advantage of by some one just like me.

Seems to me that at least once a day we get a telephone call at our house from some company that is trying to get us to sign on to their debt settlement plan.  They talk about how debt negotiation can lower our monthly payments and make our life easier.  I always think it sounds like a grand idea and turn the telephone call over to my wife.  She makes a face at me and reluctantly takes the call.

She listens politely for a few minutes and then declines their offer of their plan for our debt relief.  It always upsets me, because I want to lower our monthly payments!  So the last time one of the solicitors called, I listened on the extension to what my wife was saying to them, to see how she can justify turning down their offer.  From what I hear, the interest rates they are offering us are higher than the interest rates we are currently paying!  I was surprised to say the least!  So my advice to all of you out there is this; be careful and listen carefully.  Make sure that the offer they make you really is going to save you money!  Don’t be fooled by slick talk and pretty words!

Guest post by Linda Bradshaw

Well, I had had hopes that Ms. C.P. was going to help me put an end to my misery with the Bank of America mortgage problem.  She assured me that she had closed the case and that Bank of America would notify the credit agencies that the debt was settled.  Then the business of Credit Repair could begin.

That was several weeks ago, and yet so far all of the records indicat that I still owe Bank of America the mortgage money!  I’m still getting notices from Bank of America, for crying out loud!  Even their website shows I still owe them the money!  The Best Credit Repair Service in the world would not be able to help me until Bank of America finishes the job and does right by me!

I’m beginning to think that Credit Repair for me is just a pipe dream; never to happen.  Is this any way to run a business?

I know that my wife has been wanting to order one of the Howard custom computers that she’s heard about from her brother that bought one recently.  Her brother is a major computer geek, and he is always bragging about how he always buys custom computers and always has the biggest and the best.

I don’t see anything wrong with the computer that we currently have, but I wouldn’t be against supporting the idea of buying a custom laptop computer.  At least that way when we go on vacation she could keep up with the things that she feels are important so she won’t be “on edge” the whole time we were gone!

When we lived in New England, I had a video security system hooked up at the shop.  Since the shop was left unattended for hours at a time, Iwanted to be able to see who was on the property in the event anything turned up missing or vandalized!  I had a lot of expensive equipment on the grounds, and expensive tools and equipment inside.

Before I bought that system, I asked Joe for some tips about what kind of system he liked the best. He’s had several different systems in the past, and I trusted his judgement.

Joe actually gave me one of his used systems that he didn’t need anymore, and he helped me with the installation of the system too. When we moved down here and sold that shop building, I brought the system with me. I haven’t hooked it up yet; I haven’t decided whether to hook it up to the house or to the storage shed out back!

I have never really liked the taste of Pringles. They just don’t have the light crispness that I have become accustomed to and their flavors just don’t float my boat. The other day my wife brought home a tube of Pringles, the sour cream and onion flavor.  I was starving so I grabbed a couple to tide me over until lunch time. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised and found myself wanting more!

I guess now thatall of our kids have graduated college, our younger siblings have been asking for advice from us about how to get money for their kids to go to college.

Unfortunately for them, there seems to be more money available for the minority races through minority scholarships than through “regular” college scholarships!  I know that for a fact myself because I was looking around for some college grants for my wife to go back to college and get a pharmacist’s degree!

As smart as my wife is, we will never be able to afford for her to go back to college – we depend too much on her income to survive.  We’d never be able to survive while she was in school.

One word of advice I’d like to give people – go to college BEFORE you get get married and have children!  It is so much easier when you are not bound to a specific location and have to support a family!

What a wacky summer season we have gotten into. What with the economy still in such a mess and people looking for ways to save money and yet still have some sort of entertainment during the summer months and most of the beaches on the east coast overflowing with oil due to BP’s nonsense people aren’t sure what to do and where to go. It is possible now to find cheap flights if you know what you are doing and can use the Internet to the best of it’s ability to get the best deal possible. There are plenty of sites to find good travel information that can make the task of finding the perfect get-a-way much easier these days.

Since so many of the beaches are being destroyed by all of the oil mess, a lot of people are flocking to Myrtle Beach this summer. I’m sure that it is next to impossible to find accommodations anywhere near that place at this point, even if you could find good affordable airline tickets to get there. Myrtle Beach has been advertising like crazy these past couple of years in an attempt to get people to come spend their money there and all it took was an oil spill, go figure.

One good way to start a new business is to find a good franchise for sale and buy one for your area.  Often times buying a franchise is a great way to become your own boss and own your own company, without having to invest quite so much elbow grease and money.  I always have envied those people who have their own Burger King or Ruby Tuesday or Applebee’s franchise!  I’d love to own a Longhorn Steakhouse or a Bob Evans!

When someone buys into a franchise, they tap into the power of an established business that is set up to help train them for success.  They also have the advertising power of a large national corporation, so their advertising budget tends to be lower than starting a business from scratch.  And as we all know, advertising a business is very important, and very expensive!

With the serious lack of rain that we have been dealing with this year, it is good to see that people are doing what they can to help conserve our precious rain waters. Rain barrels are coming back in a large variety of styles and prices, which I think is a great way to help out. We used to have several rain barrels in our back yard, back in the day, but they were the standard wooden ones, not much to look at, but they did the trick.

I was online last night and stumbled across a site that is selling rain chains. I really like the idea and looks of these rain chain items. They have a wide variety of these very affordable chains rain and their accessories. I have to tell you that I’ve never seen one before, maybe I am behind in the times, but I’d like to get the word out about this products and see more people investing in them. So if you could take the time to visit rainchainlink.com and see what they are all about and all that they have to offer I’d appreciate it. It can be easy being “green” no matter what Kermit The Frog says. LOL!

The mortgage company tells me that they’ve closed my case on the deed-in-lieu for my house in New England, and that they would fix my credit score by notifying the three credit agencies that the mortgage is no longer overdue.  I’ve been quite upset over the past almost three years now because I couldn’t keep up the house payments after I had my accident.  We tried repeatedly to get some assistance and cooperation from them but they have not been helpful at all.

And because of their poor handling of the situation, my credit report has suffered big time.  It will take years to build my credit back up to where it used to be.  This accident I was in has caused me grief on so many different levels!  I don’t think that my life will ever be the same again.  We still haven’t seen any insurance money yet!

There are times when my wife comes home from work quite upset because one of her co-workers is very disrespectful to the other employees. She tells me about the kinds of things that he does and I have to say that it certainly sounds like he enjoys causing trouble for everyone there! I just don’t understand how or why these types of people can even keep a job! I know that when I ran my own company I didn’t tolerate that kind of behavior in anyone!

It is interesting that Tiles are coming back in fashion as of late. I ran across a great site that sells a great variety of Tiles and a decent prices to boot. They offer free shipping and take Pay Pal, which is a plus for people like me that use Pay Pal frequently. Companies are targeting online shoppers and free shipping is a good way to get consumers to order their products online. Using the Internet has made the task of shopping so much easier and more people are turning to the World Wide Web all year round, not just during the holiday seasons in their effort to keep away from the crowds and all that goes along with that yearly mess!

It’s amazing the variety of Tiles that are available these days. I really enjoy their selection of Subway tiles and their Brick Glass Mosaics and would encourage anyone to give glasstilestore.com a look see if you are in the market for the latest in Tiles. They aren’t just for kitchens and bathrooms anymore.

I’ve never been much of one to visit art museums to walk around and appreciate the art.  My “art” has been working on my cars, trucks, and bikes.  So I wouldn’t know the difference between a couple of shepard fairey prints and a couple of Andy Warhol prints.

But I did notice when we were walking around looking at the different apartments this past weekend with our son that many of the rooms we were looking at did have at least one obey giant poster hanging on the wall! To be honest I thought that was rather odd, that so many young people seemed to be gravitating towards this type of graphic art.

And I’ve noticed that there seem to be a large number of T-shirts being worn by folks that also have obey giant art pictures on the fronts of them. I guess this artist has captured the imaginations of the youth!

Many of our friends have been raving about the new Mandarin Japanese buffet and sushi bar restaurant that opened in town recently. So I decided to take the family there for dinner last Sunday evening. The atmosphere was nice enough, but the buffet was smaller than I would have liked. Our sons enjoyed the sushi bar (no raw fish for me thank you very much!) and my wife and I found plenty of food that we liked. But when the bill came for about $20 each, I was not impressed. I’ve had better meals at other buffets for much less money. I don’t know if this restaurant is going to be able to compete with the others if they keep their prices so high!

Today when I was driving to town I noticed that all of the BP gas station signs have been changed to simply the word “Shop” with the BP logo beside the word.  In much smaller letters you can read BP gasoline.  I’ve been wondering how the local stations were going to be able to survive in the aftermath of the horrible destruction in the Gulf from the massive oil spill.  I’ve heard so many people talking about how they will never buy BP gasoline again.

It will be interesting to see how this consumer reaction will affect the local gas station owners.  I wouldn’t be surprised if many of those gas stations go out of business.

One of the things that I think is exceptional about the Internet is how small it has made the world.  News that used to take months to travel around the globe now only takes seconds.  Competition between businesses has increased many times over.  And educational opportunities abound.  I think that the educational opportunities is one of the most important aspects of today’s Internet and technological advances.

We’re going to need all the help we can get to solve the world’s troubles down the road.  And many of those problem will require math skills to solve.  There was a time when common belief was that girls were not good at math.  But now anyone who is struggling with Math Problems only need to go as far as their nearest Internet connection to get the Math help that they need.  There are many educational websites that are geared up to assist the struggling math student.  With just a few clicks on the mouse, Algebra help is easily acquired.  In many cases, the help is free!

Yes, the Internet has opened up many options to the world.  I hope we make the best of it.

Guest post by Linda Bradshaw

When my hubby was injured in my car accident in 2007, I tried to get my mortage company for our house in New England that we were trying to sell to grant me a hardship forebearance. Since he wasn’t able to work due to my injuries, I was hopeful to get some empathy from the company. Boy, was I wrong!

Long story short, the mortgage company has dropped the ball and tossed me around from department to department, where I have been met with gross incompetence at every turn.

After over two years, even though we FINALLY did a deed-in-lieu with the company last November, and the deed to the house was transferred into their name in December the company is continuing to send me notices that I owe them the money and the company is still sending notices to the credit agencies that the mortgage is overdue. This is resulting in credit card companies closing my credit cards or lowering my credit limits.

Every time I call Bank of America I am shuttled around from department to department, and told the matter will be escalated and someone will call me back within the next week. That never happens. I have called them about once every two weeks, and nothing is resolved. I have sent them letters, and I get replies that someone will contact me within 20 days, and that never happens either! I got collection calls several times a day for years on end until I finally blocked their telephone number!

As of today, I have been on the phone with Bank of America for the past four hours, being shuttled around from department to department, trying to find some help. I’m on hold at the moment, waiting for a supervisor to talk to me. The lady I just spoke with said that my account was in the process of being assigned to someone in the home retention department!

I have contacted my state senator Mark Warner’s office, asking for help a couple of weeks ago. Haven’t heard back from them yet.

Anyone know a good lawyer that would like to sue this company on my behalf to get this resolved and maybe some punitive damages for emotional distress it is causing? I had hired a lawyer that I was told is an agressive lawyer that loves to sue people, but for some reason he just doesn’t seem to be in the mood to take this on! If you know of a class-action suit going on for people in situations like this, or know a good lawyer that could/would help me, please post comment to this blog and I’ll get the information!

Can you feel my pain?