Thoughts after a long time

Goofy picture in the hotel. We poured out the ice from the cooler right before I was going to take a shower. Brrrr.

Jay won this shirt for Emily. Thank you Rebecca!

At Debi's house with Tara.

Hungry Mother Mountain where Nancy and I stopped for lunch. We walked 5.7 miles and it got really tiring! But it was beautiful in the mountain and among the trees.

In a coal mine. If the coal didn't have the "grave" bump, the miner wouldn't get paid. Kids came to help. Many died.

A cave in Tennessee

I lost my grandmother a month ago. She was 91. One of her cousins who is 93 came. She looked just like my grandmother! I had never met her before. They were distant cousins since my granny was an only child. I hope she is enjoying heaven.

I can't put into words how much I miss my mother. Mostly I feel sad for her that her life is over. Surreal.

I have not had the motivation to blog but am coming around again.

I have to start sentences without "I".

Nancy and I went south for a mini vacation. I came back with bed bug bites all over my feet. I know it's gross. I called the hotel and they didn't believe me. I faxed them a doctor's paper and picture. All I want them to do is get an exterminator. I didn't even ask for my money back!!

Caves are very cool. I got to see one for the first time in my life.

Coal mines are also very cool. I read a book about a coal miner after visiting the mine. Hard workers those miners.

Online classes are a necessary part of my job. Sigh.

I'm excited to go to Virginia Beach with Jenny and family. Go Alex!

Abbey, Tom and Sheri's daughter, is ADORABLE.

Tara donated her life savings to Kenya. She did it without any prompting. She was recognized at VBS. They said her note which explained her desire to give 126 bucks to feed starving kids, made them cry. Tara is special.

Emily has a passion for Stardoll, an online fashion site. There is a lot of cyber drama with "hackers" and "mean girls". It seems like more trouble than it's worth but it's her thing.

Summer vacation never gets old. :)

Landscapers are worth their weight in gold.

If I had it to do again, I might have tried to be a photographer or a pilot.

Emily gets her front braces in a couple of weeks. She has a separator so she wouldn't need to remove teeth. That's better than the 8 teeth I had removed for braces!

It is quite a generous thing to allow someone into your home. I never forget that when I enter any person's home.

I better stop rambling and put up some pictures.

The things kids hear, haha

We saw some fireworks for 4th of July, and a politican was walking around campaigning for congress, handing out his materials.

When someone asked for one position the politican campaigned on, the politician replied, "I wanna get rid of Dennis," a reference to congressman Dennis Kucinich.

After he left, my oldest daughter was staring ahead in disbelief. Finally she said, "I don't understand that man." We asked her what was so confusing and she said....

here it comes.....

Why would he want to get rid of DENTISTS???

This cat picture cracks up Jay every time

Good news for people over the age of 70

(Post being entered by Jay)

The good news is that if you're over 70 it is healthier for you to be overweight:
LINK: Overweight septuagenarians live longer

Weeeeeeeeeeell, doesn't this just fly in the face of conventional wisdom. Admittedly, the study said you can't go too overboard, and that moving around is still a good idea. But it's one of those things to make ya go hmmm.

Now that I have broached an uncomfortable subject, let's ponder it a little longer. Like lots of other people, I (Jay) am on a personal quest toward fitness. What I keep encountering though is that good science seems to be in short supply. If you watch one of the many TV shows about weight loss, you will be told the ageless mantra that the only way to lose weight is through extreme exercise and caloric restriction. While this works, I also think it is approaching the issue with tunnel vision.

Perhaps because it won't fit into a sound bite for radio or TV, we don't often hear about how the Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio of stomach bacteria may just prove to be the biggest cause of weight gain. Or that some colds and respiratory infections contain the adenovirus-36 strain which can trigger weight gain. Or that bisphenol A (BPA) can disrupt endocrine function to the point of forced fat cell accumulation. Even if these things are shown to be of only marginal effect, or exceptions to the rule, I would still like to see the media gurus acknowledging them.

[sarcasm mode]
NAW, let's just revert back to reductionist thinking and do things the way they've always been done. 'Cuz that's always right, right? That is why these guys cut their grass the way it's been done for thousands of years, using scythes:

You wouldn't dare tell those guys there is a more efficient way to cut grass, would you? Let's totally eschew anything revealed by science. Let's make sure to do everything like the olden days. The older the better. That's the way it was, and we liked it. And by the way, why doesn't my new-fangled doctor treat illness the way they did it in the good old days, through bloodletting? That was also used for thousands of years, and we liked it.
[end sarcasm mode]

I realize in my journey I am still gonna have to eat my veggies and hit the bricks. But while the "experts" keep trying to give everyone guilt trips about eating, I have a sneaking suspicion that one day they will receive a major guilt trip of their own. If it doesn't hit them from the grassroots side of things, it will come from empirical studies in laboratories. Prepare to watch them eat a steaming helping of humble pie.

I'm so glad software companies don't want to be annoying or anything

(Post being entered by Jay)

Just a minor rant. Before getting on here today I got a system request to update Adobe Reader. Again. This time it was the 9.3.0 update. Did you get that one recently?

How about the thirty-seven updates before that one? Seriously, a READER program. A glorified image-viewer. Except not even as complex.

We all know what is happening really. It's just another way for the software company to nag you into buying some "more" full version of their software.

This kind of stuff has been tried before. Anyone remember Real Player? If you don't, you're lucky. If you do, you are probably wondering why you don't see it anymore. It's because at the grassroots level, every computer user decided they'd had enough of its constant self-updating. Stock in its parent company, RealNetworks, Inc., has gone from $82.60/share to its present-day $4.52/share.

Are you listening, Adobe Systems????

Take THAT, Geek Squad!

(Post being entered by Jay)

May I share with you how I saved $167 by NOT listening to Geek Squad? (And you can too!)

It all started a couple of months ago with a new notebook computer for Joann's school. I made an error in judgment: I told Joann it might be a nice computer for the kids to use too. On their first night of use, the kids managed to do one of these:

"No problem!" I frantically assured everyone as I grabbed Q-tips and rubbing alcohol. Thankfully, I managed to clean out every key and the keyboard was working fine again. Bliss!

The following week, the kids were on the computer again. Although they were told to be VERY careful this time, they quickly managed to do one of these:



This time our home cleaning remedies were not so lucky. Half of the keyboard was acting as if something were on top of it. Like perhaps a 600-pound anvil.

I took it to Best Buy's Geek Squad, thinking this would be a 24-hour repair. But they told me it will be shipped to Kentucky and then I will get a call. ONE WEEK LATER I finally get a call from a Geek Squad representative in Kentucky. He told me that this repair will cost $191.00. ONE HUNDRED NINETY-ONE DOLLARS!!!!!!!!! I kindly asked him if he could explain what part of that cost was labor vs. for parts. He got very defensive and said "Either you want it done or you don't." I told him to cancel the repair.

Having NO IDEA how I was going to fix things, I stumbled across this very helpful website.

Then I searched online for replacement keyboards. Found one for $24, shipped. It arrived before our computer made it back to our local Best Buy, which must have used a shipping route that passed through the rings of Saturn because it felt like forever.

The keyboard snapped in place like a dream. The repair was easier than changing one's socks. Total cost: $24. Total saved: $167. Fight the power!

Some pictures that make me smile.

Becky's pup
Taking my own picture in the hotel I was at for my first business trip, a conference. I feel so grown up! I should. I am almost.... 40. Gosh, that sounds old.

Bonfire at Becky's

Family

The room is dusty but I love this picture of Emily being her happy self at my dad's house.