Dr Copa

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It took me a while but I eventually got hooked up and started using my free Yahoo IM to chat with numerous friends and family. Now they are trying to get me to get on Face Book. My goodness, when will it ever end? Let me get comfortable on the IM and maybe one day I’ll tackle Face Book.

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.

One of the best shows that the wife and I both enjoy watching together is America’s Got Talent. It is fun and interesting to watch all the different types of folks that are trying to break into the world of entertainment. There are a lot of good acts out there, I’d hate to be a judge on that show!

Today’s drug treatment and alcohol treatment center options have turned around big time in the past 15 years or so. With the economy is such a mess there is a growing need for drug rehab and alcohol rehab, not just for celebrities but for the common folk that are hurting big time with stress from finance issues. Back in the day, going into a treatment center meant going to a dirty, ugly, run down extension of some abandoned mental institute that doesn’t make for a pleasant stay during a difficult time in life while going through detox or drug or alcohol treatment.

Dr. Drew made a major impact in drug and alcohol rehab with his hit show (I think it was on VH1) that was on a few years ago concerning Celebrity Rehab and Celebrity Sober Living issues. It was an interesting series that I believe opened up a good amount of people’s eye to what is all involved in the detox and rehab process. It isn’t a pleasant sight but a necessary process that helps and needs to help so many more people that are in need in today’s wacky world.

I just got settled in with my laptop, a hot cup of coffee and the TV on a decent day time channel when a severe thunder and lightening storms comes about and knocks the power out. Good thing that my laptop was on the power surger, but the cable TV are “temporarily unavailable” what a way to start the day.

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!

Thanks for the article from Glenda Hanson

Vacation planned! Success. I love hughesnet internet. I’m finally using high speed internet orrs island now, as my previous land line provider was awful, and it is so nice to be able to get online and do what I need to do this easily. I was able to go on the web and score some cheap tickets to visit my family this summer just by trolling around various travel websites throughout the day and waiting for a sale (sorry boss).

Soooo much easier then when I used to have to call each airline individually. And since my mom wanted to get out of the city for a few days I read some travel reviews and hotel reviews and picked a cute B&B that’s a few hours away from her house for us to spend the weekend at. Not only that, but I’ve been searching for things to do in the area since then and I already have a mini list that I’m going to present to mom, and she can pick her favorites. Which hopefully will be my favorites – maybe I can guide her a little, lol. I’m counting down the days!

I’m not all that much into Gospel music, but there is this one song that I heard back about 15 years ago that I really got into and I haven’t heard it since then. I was on YouTube.com last night and actually remembered the name of the song and found the video there, it was so cool to hear it after so many years. It’s called “Stomp” and it’s done by Kirk Franklin, enjoy……

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!

I never used to watch television other than the weather channel.  I would get up early in the morning and put on the weather channel to see what the forecast was and then head out to work.  I’d leave the house by 4:30 in the morning and wouldn’t get back until around 7:00 or 8:00 at night.  I’d check the weather channel again, and then hit the sack.  In between time I’d be busy plowing and sanding roads and driveways and parking lots in the wintertime, and doing groundskeeping in the summertime.  I was even the town cemetery sexton for a few years and took care of the cemeteries, mowing the grounds and digging the graves. 

So it really wasn’t until after my accident back in 2007 that I started to watch a lot of television.  I really don’t like the fact that I can’t go out and do the things that I love to do, but the pain from my injuries prevents me from doing much of anything.  If it wasn’t for all of the specials on television, I’d go absolutely insane!  I’d love to upgrade our television service to get more of the cable specials, but my wife keeps telling me that we can’t afford the extra monthly rates for the premium channels.  She’s working two jobs now, trying to pay the bills, and it is difficult for me to argue with her about what we can or cannot afford.

I do find it difficult not to envy my brother-in-law, who has satellite television and is always talking about how he divos the dish specials to watch later on.  But my wife is right; money is just too tight now for those kinds of luxuries.

My sister was asking me yesterday where she could find a local digital camera repair shop. She says she has been having problems with her camera and wants to get it fixed. She told me that she lent her camera to a friend and she thinks it was dropped.

To be honest, the whole concept of having to need camera repair was a little bit of a surprise to me.

I have had about eight different cameras in my lifetime and none of them have ever broken! I even have my old Polaroid “Swinger” camera and it works just fine! The problem I have with that is finding the film, if I were inclined to want to use it! So I’ve never had to worry about where to take one for camera repair! I usually only buy a new camera when new technological advances inspire me! I guess I’ve been lucky in that department!

Our youngest son has finally graduated from college and has returned home to stay for a few days while he looks for an apartment to rent closer to his new job. He’s actually looking for a place to share with other young folks, so sharing a house is also an option. Today we went into town together to look at a few places. I was amazed to see how many of the places seemed to have a really big screen lcd tv in their living rooms.

I would have thought that with the economy as rough as it is, that people would be pinching pennies harder and spending their hard earned money on survival items, not luxuries like a brand new wide screen lcd tv!

I mentioned that to my wife, and she laughed at me! She told me that these young adults seem to think that all of the electronic devices that we think of as luxuries, such as a laptop computer and a lcd tvare considered a necessity to them!

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.

I was browsing the Internet this morning and saw a lot of hoopla about a new creation – a wedding dress that dissolves in water. The photos that are provided with all of the articles look like ballet tutus. What’s up with that? I can’t imagine a bride walking down the aisle in a tutu! Is that really the dress?

The articles talk about how women buy wedding dresses, wear them once and never again. And what a waste it is. In my family, it seems that the women save their wedding dresses in the hopes that one day their daughters will wear them to their weddings! Of course women who only bear sons might have problems with that!

I can remember going to a historical place that held lectures and the lecturer spoke of how wedding dresses used to be black, and that the women wore the same dress to church every Sunday, and that the dress was also used as dress that the woman was buried in. I guess those dresses really earned their keep!