Like it’s not obvious with not being on the MUD recently, I haven’t been around much.  I’m working toward being able to post more frequently again.  Until then, you can check out my articles on the Examiner.com website 🙂  I think I posted a link to the side.  If not, there are several posted below.

~Shar

So I did get the letter from my oldest, and he’s doing well.  He sounds so mature already, I’m so proud of him.  I wrote him back the day after I got the letter, but I need to write again already.

And I’ve started writing for somewhere else too.  I signed up to write for Examiner.com as their Oklahoma City Weight Loss Examiner.  My URL is at http://www.examiner.com/x-22761-Oklahoma-City-Weight-Loss-Examiner.

My first article went up tonight.

California unloads on eBay (Opens in a new window)

To help close the gap in the budget, California is selling their surplus on eBay instead of just auctioning it like most states.  To try to get more money out of these repos and impounds, the governor is autographing many of the items.  All a great idea, in my humble opinion. 

What I find really hilarious on one level and mind boggling on another are the comments being made at the bottom of the article.  There are many, many people saying that the problems with California are the fault of the liberals in charge, etc etc.  Uhh, hate to break it to you, Schwarzenegger is a Republican.  The whole problem with California’s economy is two-fold, and neither problem can be placed at any one party’s feet. 

First, they were spending much more than they were making for years.  You can’t do that. 

Second, many in California are being hard hit with the problems with the housing bubble and the economy tanking. 

So in essence, California was spending as much as if not more than they really had coming in, and then they suddenly had less coming in.  Oops.  Seems to me, that’s the problem many people are having too. 

On a personal note, I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much.  It’s been a very busy summer.  My oldest made it off to boot camp, and I’ve gotten one (form) letter back from him already.  I’m sure I’ll hear from him again soon… this time in his own words 🙂

I live across the street from the park where my city sets off the fireworks.  This means nothing to me except that I can walk to the park with my daughter occasionally, and I can sit in my front yard to watch the fireworks every year.  Oh yea, and sometimes the softball games get very loud, which can keep myself or my daughter awake since our bedroom faces the softball field.

Now, I’ve also heard stories about how the park is dangerous after dark, that there are drug deals that go on.  One time someone shot a gun off up the street at about 11:30 pm, and then ran into the park.   I just deal with that by avoiding the park after dark, and being aware of where we are when we go during the day.  I’m also very careful to lock my doors at night.  I sleep lightly anyway, so this is generally enough of a precaution against trouble.

There was an issue last Saturday night (the 4th).  I overheard one of the cops directing traffic tell someone that there had been a stabbing at the miniature golf course attached to the park.  The golf course is about a block from my house, so understandably I was very concerned when I heard that.  However, the cop directing traffic didn’t have any more information, and the newspaper hasn’t had any information since that night.

Because of the lack of information, I’m finding myself wondering how many similar incidents have happened over the years, but haven’t been published in the newspaper.

Ok, so maybe not any lions or tigers.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of the big scare for the swine flu lately.  There’s a varying number of dead, mostly in Mexico, with one Mexican toddler who died here in the US.  I don’t mean to sound callous, but it’s hard to get worried about this one.  It seems like there’s always a global pandemic happening.  The avian flu scare wasn’t all that long ago.  It also seems like they’re only making things worse with their rushing around.  I’ve seen reports that hospital workers who have been vaccinated for the flu have died.  Any vaccine will lower your immunity for a few days, making it easier for you to catch anything.  Add that to working in a hospital where you’re treating those with the flu and you’re definitely going to catch it.  Then with the lowered immunity, it’s too easy to die from it.

Don’t get me wrong.  Yes, there’s reason to be concerned, but I guess my feeling on it is a bit fatalistic right now.  If it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen.  I’m sure a dear friend of mine will disagree with me on that… or he may not.  I don’t remember talking to him about things happening as they’re supposed to.

As for the rest, my feeling is you need to stay away from the flu vaccine and do what you can to stay healthy.  Yes, that means eating your fruits and veggies.  Get plenty of sleep and do what you can to take care of yourself.

And on the note of getting plenty of sleep, it’s past time for me to get some myself.  G’night and stay healthy.

It’s been rather difficult for me to post lately.  The area that everyone was saying wasn’t going to be affected has been affected pretty badly.  The company my husband works for laid off 25 people.  Another company in town laid off over 200, and oil wells are closing down.  It’s become as bleak here as it’s been in the rest of the country all along.

The other day, I was walking during lunch and feeling sorry for myself when I noticed someone kneeling behind an electric scooter working on it.  I stopped to see if he needed any help, and the nut had come off the wheel in the back, and the wheel was in danger of falling off.  Someone else found the nut, and the giy said that his disability check blew out of his hand when the wheel had fallen off his scooter.  I looked around and didn’t see his check.

I should be grateful, I have both hands and both feet.  I am able to walk where I need to go, and I am able to work.

Then there’s this last weekend.  Wildfires devastated Midwest City and left over 100 people homeless.  They lost everything.  I remember going through what they’re going through.  Our trailer burned when I was a sophomore in high school.  We lost everything.  Even the electronics melted to unusability.  We only kept our pictures because they had been put in the addition.  Now, I can’t imagine going through that.  I have my laptop and another computer, all with priceless information.  Pictures uploaded to my computer that I could never replace.  It’s scary.

I need to be grateful.  I haven’t lost my house, I still have a place to live and still have a job to pay my rent.

Things are tight all over, but there are reasons to be grateful out there.  We need to be conscious of our decisions.  We need to stop focusing on the bad, no matter how bad things are around us.  Unfortunately, the media has a tendency of focusing on the bad.  They escalated the problem with the AIG bonuses until there were death threats made to the executives.  Now the media doesn’t know which way to turn.  There may be signs of improvement, they may not be.  They have no clue what to say so they keep going in circles and contradicting themselves.

My feeling is, don’t focus on the big picture, focus on what’s around you.  Take the time each day to enjoy the fact that we’ve got one more day above ground.  We have another chance to get things right.  Hug your families and give thanks that we have each other.

I obviously haven’t been keeping up with the national news.  A week after my last postm I see the picture of Michelle Obama digging for a garden and the information that they’re encouraging everyone to plant one.  Oops!

*edit, I just found this in my drafts dated 3/26.  I thought I published it, but I must have gotten sidetracked.

I have a couple of tips today.  The first one was one that I got in my email this morning that I hadn’t thought about in awhile.  Ideal Bite sent out an email reminding everyone that you use less printer ink if you set your printing to Draft when the print quality doesn’t matter.  Save paper by using both sides of the paper, and you’re saving money there too.

My tip is to start a ‘victory garden.’   You can do this even if you’re in an apartment.  Buy plants that work well in pots like tomatoes, and water them daily — I’ve tried this and it’s harder than it would seem here in Oklahoma, so I’m working on a way to keep everything watered.  I’ll be sure to share with you when I do.  You can also buy a herb window garden to get fresh basil and thyme for your recipes. Or you can plant the basil with your tomato plants, basil is a natural repellant for the bugs that like tomato plants.  Other plants that work well would include broccoli, and cauliflower.

And if you have a bit too much basil, cut a piece of it and stick it down the garbage disposal, leaving your kitchen smelling like basil instead of whatever it was that last went down the sink.

So this week, don’t let the idiots on Wall Street get you down, do some planning to see what vegetables you can have in your garden.  Since seeds are fairly cheap at the moment, you’ll save money and have help keeping food on the table this summer.

Ok, so I forgot to wish everyone a happy Pi Day.  Though as Steve and I were commenting tonight, it won’t be a true Pi day until 3/14/15 (get it 3.1415 LOL).  Ok, we’re geeks.  Though I guess I can’t say too much according to one of Adam Savage’s tweets this morning (link here opens in a new window)

You can all have pi, but c’mon, that’s irrational . . . (heh. heh. get it? irrational number? Pi? No? sigh. Never mind)

*grins* so I do get a kick out of Twitter some days.  I have a few people I have their tweets sent to my cell phone — I get free text messages.  The messages are always good for a giggle, or a gigglesnort.

Since I’m an avid reader – otherwise known as a bookworm – and have become a writer of sorts, I’ve noticed I’ve developed a pet peeve.  Maybe it’s being nitpicky, after all it’s just a minor annoyance. However, if you’re writing advertising copy especially for the web, you really should make sure you know how to spell and know the difference between any homonyms (words that sound the same but are spelled differently) you might use.

Now, I have no problem when chatting with someone online and they misspell a word, I just sort out what they mean and move on.  If I’m reading an article or a book and notice a misspelling, I wonder how well things were proofread. What really annoys me is reading a web advertisement and seeing “without further adieu.”  Uhh what? without further goodbye?  If you’re going to use a phrase, make sure you’re using it correctly. It’s “without further ado.”  And for those who speak French, I’m well aware that adieu isn’t pronounced like ado so it’s not technically a homonym and it doesn’t technically mean goodbye, it was just easier to say it that way.

Yea, ok, so that’s a minor pet peeve, really just a small annoyance, more to keep my mind off the stresses of the weekly grind.

I’m still trying to figure out the article that was in the paper a few weeks ago, about how Oklahoma has a lower unemployment rate than the national average, and the county I live in is even lower still.  Yea, that’s true I guess.  Except I was speaking to someone this week, and she said that the local temp agency said the available jobs dropped 40% in the last few months.  Except someone at church said that one of the local companies is laying off a bunch of people (I think they said 16k).  Except my husband’s employer cut everyone back to a 4 day work week.  Yea, the city I live in is still doing well, but the rest of the world has been knocking very loudly on the door.  We’re not as cut off from things as the city elders would like you to think.  Instead, they’d rather you focus on widening Randolph Ave, cutting away at people’s properties.  Or mandatory inspections for rentals and rent-to-own houses, making sure they meet a minimum code. The former I think is ridiculous, the latter I agree with in theory, though the area landlords association is against it.

Later this week, I’ll do more money saving tips.  I think we all could use some at this point.  I know I’ve been wishing I lived where my parents do, or at least in my own house where I could start a garden.  I think we all need a ‘victory garden’ this year.