While watching CNN Pipeline...

While watching the Podcasts from my favorite talk show host Glenn Beck - I saw an interesting cast that not only made me feel like taking up drawing again but this time actually try to get better at it. Akiane is her name and painting as well as writing is her way to reach people in a religious nature. The image below was created when she was only 9 years old.

Saturday's Photo Hunt... "New"

This one was kind of simple for me because it had to happen whether I liked it or not. The images below are of my old car and now my "New" car duh. The Tempo was giving more headaches than I could handle. Yes the new car looks a little cooler but trust me although it won't breakdown on me any time soon it sure is costing me a bit, Christmas this year was a dread because of it, wasn't able to see the smiling faces that was used to seeing this time of year :( .


Old - 1988 Ford Tempo



New - 2006 Chevy Cobalt

and that's not all that's "New" :)
I even have some car payments that are also "New".
Feel free to send in donations lol.
:)

To pea or not to pea... nut that is

In an article I saw today by Elliot Minor - I read that we are going full blown on the engineering of peanuts to the maximum degree, from what I understand we have been working with engineered peanuts for about a decade now. It seems that other countries are moving ahead of us in trying to better the nut a little more so of course we had to answer with...
"The foundation (American Peanut Council) urged scientists to move ahead with "due diligence" on genetically engineered peanuts."
Well all I have to say to this is...
"Pass the altered jam while your at it."
:)

Learning an edge on life...

I read this during my lunch hour in today's USA Today -
More officials in Midwest, South adding Spanish lessons to training courses

I heard during Glenn Beck's program that the fill-in for today had a problem with this issue, his stance was that it's bad enough that the American way of life is gradually changing but now we have to learn a different language because there are those that refuse to learn English. I agree with him in some part, if your going to live here and are going into the workforce please for god's sake try to learn the language. It would make the job and experience a whole lot better. Now where I disagree with him is when it involves the police. This isn't the first time I heard of the "Language Bonus" given to those who speak two languages. In a 2001 article printed by the St. Petersburg Times it states that they had a problem that kept growing in regards to the need for bilingual police officers. I speak both English and Spanish fluently. My mother made sure that I learned both languages very well. She informed me at an early age that to get ahead in life I would need the added skills to place me ahead of those other hispanics who chose not to learn.

I want the officers to learn what ever language is needed for there region whether it's Spanish, Asian or German or whatever other language. The one thing I don't want is some scumbag getting away with something and then simply saying that he didn't understand.

I also read that they were giving bonuses for those who spoke the added language - today's replacement was totally against this, but ask yourself is giving a raise for an added skill a bad thing?
Does the CEO of a company become CEO by just doing the same job day in and day out?
To get ahead in life and protect the innocent you must learn to adapt while still keep in mind of what the true values are.

Lines Lines Everywhere there's lines...

Okay here we are and it's my second entry to the Photo Hunt. I have read many entries and viewed many lines especially my wife's one of me or lets say not me :).

Here are my entries;
and before viewing I have to send a special thank you to my daughter Emily and her ski trip, it's because of her that the idea came up. Enjoy

Entry 1
Entry 2
Entry 3

Coming soon that is New... Well here at least :)

Tagged Tuesdays

Every Tuesday I will come up with a list(s) of certain tasks to complete and share with the world.
So stay tuned for the tag.

"50 Travel Sites You've Probably Never Heard Of"

I don't know where to start -
Well for starters please visit the following site to better understand where I'm coming from. I would love to visit Spain and its' country side. The following would be my selections in order to achieve the perfect experience.

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first - #27 Travelistic.com, I wouldn't mind viewing some parts of my destination before arriving and planning.

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second - #38 Hostels.com, I wouldn't mind roughing it in Spain but I'm pretty sure the Mrs. would approve :).

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and finally
third - #44 Onebag.com, There's nothing more annoying than carrying too many bags. This site has a little insight on how to do so.

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Operation Christmas

Just watched a video on CNN Pipeline reflecting the good will of the people and best of all the community. A family of 12 from Lithonia, Georgia received a huge truck load of gifts that were in part from Wal-Mart and The U.S. Military fittingly named "Operation Christmas". It feels wonderful knowing that a community can come together with other groups and make things happen for those unfortunate ones.
God Bless them for their help and support.

Up to $100 for sleeping not a bad deal...

Now this deal has got to be one of the greatest I've seen so far. I travel quite a bit especially towards the east coast. I normally drive straight through but during my last trip I experienced a lot of cars on the road (Thanksgiving weekend). I decided to leave right after I got home from work. Even though my wife had wanted to make hotel reservations - I quickly denied it. Now that I read this offer I'm kind of upset with myself for not doing it. I mean what's sounds better than resting after driving for 10 hours right after working 9 hours and then receiving a rebate; or driving straight through and hoping not to get angry with my fellow motorists.

Not that kind of convenience...

I just heard that the carry-out by where I live was hit last night. The amount of money stolen is unknown but I'm pretty sure it was quite a bit. Including this one it's been four convenience stores hit in the past month. I hope this stops soon before somebody takes it upon themselves to hunt down these individuals and deliver their own justice. Or better yet the store owner will end up blowing the crook's head off and then simply grab the mop and bucket clean up then call the coroner for the pick up.

What can Brown do for you?

Well Brown can't do much for me personally but I can sure expect packages to arrive a little sooner at work next year if the No Left Turn kicks in.

from ZDNet:

Optimizing the delivery of 14.5 million packages per day
In a CIO Sessions interview, United Parcel Service CIO Dave Barnes tells ZDNet editor in chief Dan Farber that his company will save $600 million per year through package flow technologies that include preloading vehicles in the morning, routing drivers according to volume and favoring right-hand turns.

Hopefully with the extra money being saved the cost for shipping might go down a bit.
:)

Bonus, Bonus, Bonus - NOT

Just got done watching a video on yet another company presenting their employees with a nice end of the year incentive.

My situation on the other hand is a little different. The company that I work for has been known for handing out "extras" in the past but since sales aren't going the way they were projected - looks like we won't be seeing one this year or maybe next.
Boy would a bonus help me out especially during this time.

:)

Being tagged for the first time....

I was tagged today by my wife Lisa Renee. I hope that the outcome of the following doesn't make anybody think any less of me... :)

"Well, with any luck, the Ministry will catch him" said Hermione fervently. "Oh I can't believe this. Where have the others got to?"
Fred, George, and Ginny were nowhere to be seen, though the path was packed with plenty of other people, all looking nervously over their shoulders toward the commotion back at the campsite.

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Here are the rules/requirements -
1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, go down to the 4th sentence.
3. Post the text of the following 3 sentences on your blog.
4. Name of the book and the author.
5. Tag three people of your own.

and the lucky tagged ones are:
Angelo
Marianne
Barbara
and an extra bonus person,
Holly

Have Fun!!

Just gets worse and worse every year...

It seems that every year there's something new for the scammers/hackers to try out. This may sound weird but the best way to solve the gift card issue is by simply buying or purchasing money orders written out in the person's name. Yes money orders, there are some individuals out there that don't want to send a check out knowing that your bank account number is on the bottom w/routing number (me being one of them). This way you can help out the local carry-out or grocery store as well as the community.
Or. You can take your chances at buying a $100.00 gift card and having the receiver find out that it only has $3.15 on it.

:)
Check out the above link and learn some more tricks that are being played.

Merry Christmas!!!

First Photo Hunt participation - Annoying

I was introduced to the hunt about two weeks ago when the theme was "lights". I have finally found some time to join in and be part of the fun. The image you see below is an image that can be seen pretty much on a regular basis in my backyard - live that is. Between my wife and myself we try to keep the bird-feeder full for the "birds" but every-time we fill it, about fifteen minutes later it's about half empty with almost all of it on the deck. Well I decided to keep an eye on it to see what's going on, to my surprise it was a squirrel helping himself to the sunflower seeds that were mixed in with the other common seeds. I quickly grabbed the camera to try and catch him on the act but it looked more like he caught me and the bird is giving me a look of annoyance that the bird food is scattered all over the deck.



Join, Participate, Share and above all have FUN.

Brace yourselves...

Next year will be the year that the movie industry will attempt anything in order to have a hit...
Click here to find out what I'm talking about.

"One nation Under Dog"...religious zealots will go ballistic if this ends up being the final tag line.

God help us all.

I'm Going...

Smoking ban meeting:

Members of the Northwest Ohio Licensed Beverage Association have scheduled a meeting for 3 p.m. Dec. 20 at Sommerset Hall, 2458 Tremainsville Road in Toledo to discuss the state's smoking ban. For more information, contact Bill Delaney at (419) 476-2883.

For those of you with concerns and questions please attend.

The Confusion Continues

I just read this article in today's Free Press. Violators will be sent a letter reminding them of the law and its' contents, and yet if you read a little more into it you will see that not even the "Toledo-Lucas County Deputy Health Commissioner" Larry Vasko knows what the fines are going to be. I'm telling you this law is going to be dumped in a matter of months because of a lack of definition in regards to the law.

Well it could of been worse...

I seem to remember not too long ago how some people were ok with passing a sin tax on both alcohol and tobacco.

Well let's be glad that that deal didn't go through otherwise we would of seen a pretty nice drop in funding for the arena, but wait now the solution is to tax motels and hotels.
Someday we'll get this funding issue straighten out.
:)

Just one more stab at smokers...

I read this earlier today when I was at lunch. This law is just going way too far -

A.P. CLEVELAND - Truckers who want to light up a cigarette in their cabs better think twice. The statewide smoking ban that takes effect today includes company vehicles, with only a few exceptions.

"How are they going to enforce such a ridiculous law?" asked Steve Kerr, a 55-year-old truck driver for United Parcel Service.

We are having trouble protecting fellow Toledoans from true crooks and yet the people want the police to enforce something that can not be.

One way to deal with it...

Sorry for the gap in posts.

This story caught my eye today, it seems that this individual just couldn't keep his hands away from his presents.

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) -- A fed-up mother had her 12-year-old son arrested for allegedly rummaging through his great-grandmother's things and playing with his Christmas present early.

"My grandmother went out of her way to lay away a toy and paid on this thing for months," said the boy's mother, Brandi Ervin. "It was only to teach my son a lesson. He's been going through life doing things ... and getting away with it."

Now when I was growing up and something like this happened trust me there weren't any phone calls made to anyone. My mom would of located the belt informed me that the belt was in her hands and then she would proceed to the kitchen to fetch the rice. Why rice you ask? Well you see growing up - spankings weren't an everyday thing, but punishments were. The rice came in to play after the stern talking to and the understanding that what was done was wrong. Now I would proceed to the nearest wall that did not have carpeting adjacent to it. My mom would pour some rice on the floor and then tell me to kneel down on it for about a half hour. So for those of you out there who say that you have rice crispy knees -
#1 It's not even funny.
#2 You have no idea of the pain and the additional half hour it took to dig the rice out afterwards.
:)
So I say good job mom - teach that kid a lesson without torture.

At the laundromat - Part 2

Here I am posting from the mat once again. The last time I was here we only had a few items to do, but now I am finishing up the remainder of the laundry. Things here are a little quiet but trust me I prefer quiet over loud and rude kids running around asking for soda and candy from the vend machines. This endeavour should only last about an hour and 45 minutes tops, then the real fun begins :). I have created a honey due list for myself that includes wiring, adjusting picture frames and furniture moving plus a few other items. Trust me I am by no means complaining - these things were to have been done a long time ago. So if anything I'm clearing my plate and getting it ready for the next serving. Well I'm going to read some more of the "borrowed" book that belongs to my wife.

l8er

At the laundromat on an empty stomach...

Got a call from the mrs. asking me to meet her at the mat. This posts comes to you live from the mat. Yeah this little site actually has an internet connection. There's nothing like doing your laundry and blogging.
:)
I will try to include more details on what's going with me probably tonight or tomorrow.
Til then have a good one.