Mr Clock Radio
Take a look at the video to see Mr Clock Radio in action.
Myblogspan.com Archive Page
Take a look at the video to see Mr Clock Radio in action.
Maps at Classmates
Classmates.com has a new feature that I really like. Now when you go to one of your friend's profiles you can click on button that says "View on a Map" and you'll be able to see where they live on a map. Now you'll be able to see where all your friends are living.
If you go to your School or Work page you can see where all your friends from that School or Work are living. Over on the right side of the page is an icon that says "Where are they" next to it. When you click on this you'll be able to see where your whole group lives.
* Although Classmates.com has given me a one year gold membership so I can explore their site more thoroughly, this will in no way influence my entries about them or change my opinion about their site.
Monday munchings
Who gets credit for this? Who munched on the leaf on the left, giving it that nicely symmetrical shape?
I had thought at first that some sort of insect had done this (aren’t there leaf cutter bees and ants?). Yet the symmetry of the cuttings seems too good for the work a tiny insect could do. Yes, an insect could probably cut such swaths from the leaf, but I don’t think it would try to achieve a pleasing balance.
What is hard to tell in this photo is that the tip of the stem of the plant has been snipped off as well. That suggests a deer is the culprit. I’m not sure a deer has any more aesthetic sense than an insect, but here’s how I think it could have worked.
The deer could have grabbed both edges of the leaf in its mouth at once, folding the leaf down the center. It would then munch off what it could, chew it to satisfaction, then have another bite, folding the leaf in a similar manner and getting similar cuts on each edge.
I suppose the deer didn’t like the taste of the leaf (I think it might be a cherry tree) since the leaf beside it is unharmed.
Actually, I’m sure this kind of thing goes on in my forest all of the time — the leaf cutting — but I can’t recall ever seeing it before my last trip to Roundrock. A long time ago I vowed to pay better attention to the small details in the woods. I’m not sure how well I’m doing.
Missouri calendar:
- Bobcat kittens are born through the month.
- The site for the town of Franklin was chosen on this date in 1816. The town later became the starting point of the Santa Fe Trail and was the boyhood home of Kit Carson. Franklin was washed away by the Missouri River, but New Franklin still stands today.
- The crinoid became the state''s official fossil in 1989.
agnificent Miller Sells for $2,035,000
When Joe MacPherson began his collection of sports, racing, custom cars and vintage motorcycles many years ago, he probably never thought it would eventually be worth in excess of $10,000,000. But that's how much was raised by RM Auctions at Monrovia, California on Saturday. Enthusiasts from all over North America had the opportunity to pay tribute to Joe and purchase a piece of the state's renowned car culture as 50 historic motor cars, 25 vintage motorcycles and a range of selected memorabilia from Joe's Garage went on the block. The entire collection was sold, with the top price of $2,035,000 going for the supercharged 1923 Miller 122 racer seen above. The late Joe MacPherson was a successful auto dealer, a lifelong collector, a sports car racing fan, and a gentleman who was proud to display his collection to the many visitors who passed through the museum's welcoming doors.
Travels With Teddy
Rizzi recommends checking maps or GPS units for National Parks, monuments and historic sites along the route. To keep costs down, purchase the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass
Here are some other suggestions:
Family Car Games. Put away the video games and DVDs and play family games like "collecting" license plates from different states and counting how many different animals you can see from the car. These games help build family memories, engage your children with the landscape and turn the drive into an on-the-road contest.
. Fill A Scrapbook. Give each child a disposable film or small digital camera. It will help them connect with what they are seeing and at the same time, they are building a scrapbook to remember their adventure.
. Bring A Friend. Bring along your child's favorite teddy bear or stuffed animal. Traveling with a long-time friend is a comfort on a trip to new places, they make great pillows for naps in the car and they (the teddy bear) love having their picture taken wherever they travel!
Learn more by purchasing a copy of Rizzi's book Teddy's Travels
The Higher Costs of Single Living
Being single can mean many things: fun, spontaneity, independence, loneliness, and even higher living costs. A new article from the Guardian UK says "Who Can Afford to Be Single Now"? It talks about a subject that many married people just don't seem to get, that being alone means you have to handle the bills yourself. That often means higher energy bills, food bills, and then there's that little detail of paying to go out in order to meet someone new!
The other thing is that singles don't seem to hit the bulk or discount grocery stores like married folks do. When I was single I grocery shopped much different. I went out a lot, so often times dinner was a last minute thought. I thought I was saving money by making my own meals, but in reality but not shopping in advance and having things on hand, I was spending much more than I did when I got married.
What are your thoughts? If you're single, how to manage to keep up with the rising costs of living?
Image via Morguefile.com
Will the Web 2.0 Bubble Burst?
A video about the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco predicts that their will be another tech bubble burst in the near future. Do you remember back before the tech bubble burst and Internet companies where giving away tons of things, like t-shirts and mugs, to their viewers for free? They're starting to do it again.
Big tech companies like Ning are putting away money in case the bubble bursts. Meanwhile new smaller tech companies are starting up every day. Some of them may make it but with the economy going the way it is, many may not.
What do you think about the Internet economy? Will there be another tech recession?
Inner Critic
© danagraves
Recently I was doing a speech and I asked the audience how many of them were their own worst critics and almost every person raised their hands.
What you need to ask yourself if you're being positive or negative with the criticism. Are you beating yourself up with your little voice telling yourself you screwed up, you failed, etc? Or are you positively critiquing your work?
For many years I would beat myself up over everything and was very negative toward myself. Over time I realized how destructive I was being and worked on only listening to a more positive inner voice. Like all habits, it will take time for you to tune out the negative and start listening to the truly constructive.
For example:
"I sucked at that speech, those people probably sat there and laughed at how bad I did. I will never get another speaking engagement after this one"
Obviously the little voice is being pretty negative and offering nothing of value. Now compare that to this:
"OK you had a good intro, you could have made your transitions a little better, you had good organization but you needed a better close".
Now this is clearly constructive criticism that can help you improve your performance.
So stop listening to negative criticism whether it be internal or from external sources.
Rich from the New Foot Smell Blog also has some comments on this subject.
Train Pushers
Maybe if I prayed....
This is a post in two parts. Part one is about how I read things in the news that really set me off, like this grand piece of stupidity from CNN: Moms'' new battle: The food price bulge.
Now at first glance this seems to be a cheery little story about how moms have found ways to save money and slash their grocery store shopping, but it''s really once again a glorification of poverty, from those who wouldn''t know poor if it bit them in the ass.
The moms in this story grow their own herbs and veggies (meaning they probably own their own home, since few apartments come with sufficient land to plant tomatoes and beans, much less corn. They also stock up on sale and discount items they bought with coupons, which shows they have pantry or garage space.... because it doesn''t look like that stuff is stacked up in their living room.
I can''t help myself, I just HAVE to relabel all the photos from the story:
OK, that was hard.... I didn''t want to get too mean because, you know, they could be perfectly nice people.... they just don''t know what poverty is really like, or how to deal with it without compromising their kid''s health. BTW, did you SEE the stuff used to make laundry soap? Do you have any IDEA what that stuff costs compared to generic detergents?
One of the amusing things is that the photo shows boxes of sticky sweet breakfast cereal stashed into shelves.... just the kind of thing you DON''T want to rely on eating if you''re having to mix everything with rice or bread, since mom and the kids will weigh 300 lbs by the end of the year. Unfortunately, you don''t see coupons for fresh fruit and vegetables very often. Generally they''re for things like sugar laden kids'' breakfast cereals, frozen breaded and fried chicken, and high sodium soups. So when mom is cutting back to spending $200 for a family of 4 you know she''s feeding everyone nothing but crap.... oh, except for the stuff she''s growing out in the back 40.
Even moms who spend $200 for a family of 4 per week are generally going to run out of things.... usually they''re relying on stuff they already have in their pantry. Middle and upper class families (the ones with enough land to grow tomatoes in their back yard) are likely to have food in the big freezer in the basement, or a well stocked pantry already, and these cut backs are just part of their monthly food intake.
There are families out there who are eating ramen noodles every day because that''s the only option they can afford. They don''t own their own homes and planting tomatoes would mean filling their bathtub with soil in their cheap apartments. They don''t have a freezer in the basement, and yes they buy cereal with coupons and get criticized for letting their kids get chubby. Schools wonder why the kids don''t do well on tests when all they eat are carbs and sugar. Parents are run down and unhealthy. These are what families who REALLY live on $200 or less a month look like.
Part 2 of this post is where my friends tell me that I should live like that rather than spend so much money on food. I buy RBBH free milk, organic free range eggs (well, in all fairness I''m allergic to the antibiotics used on most eggs), and loads of veggies and some organic lean meats. I spend about $500 a month at the grocery store, but to be fair, that also includes toilet paper, cleaning products, feminine hygiene products, school supplies (cheaper than Walmart sometimes!), shampoo, soap, over the counter medications, and discount gasoline for the car (Smiths Rewards program saves me about 15 cents per gallon!)
They think that I should eat ramen and rice (despite my current weight loss attempts) and pray.
Praying is going to make my situation better, because of that whole thing about God not giving his children a snake (or a stone, or other non-useful stuff.... although I suppose you could always eat the snake....) when they ask for a loaf.
There are millions of people asking for loaves in the world right now. Apparently God doesn''t deliver. I just tell my friends I''ll save God the bother, since He already has His hands full, and get my own damned loaf. Better yet, I''ll cut back in other areas and instead of bread, get a couple boneless, skinless chicken breasts and some fresh greens.
God isn''t going to be lifting anyone up above the current economic crisis. No one is there. Yet more and more people rely on a god and Kellogs to get them through this tough time. This tough time isn''t something you can just wait out. It''s here, it''s real, and it''s going to get a heck of a lot worse. Time to STOP taking stop-gap measures like the Ramen Diet and prayer and getting serious about how to live a healthy life as the economy goes down the crapper.
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