As you read this issue of The Beazler everything may seem backward. I couldn't find a way to reorder the posts once I finished them and it felt strange to write them in reverse order. Luckily you can read them in whatever order suits your fancy.
I've been telling myself I need to write on the blog put I kept putting it off. Today seemed like a good time because things have come together in a way. I guess I can call this the USD issue, I think I will. All the entries have something to do with the University of South Dakota.
Blind as Eye Look Photography (that's me) took Andrea's senior pictures earlier this month. We went to Stately Oakes Plantation the reported inspiration for Tara in Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. We enjoyed turing the house and seeing the grounds. Here is a link to the Smugmug gallery. http://www.blindaseyelook.com/Portraits/Andreas-Senior-Pictures/ Those of us in the Atlanta area email blindaseyelook@live.com if you'd like portraits taken.
As soon as I knew Andrea had been accepted to USD I made a master list. Things to do before she leaves, financing ideas, lists of what to take, what she already has, and the costs there of, both estimated and actual. I know, I'm anal retentive, detail oriented, and probably OCD. I remind you; I planned and executed our move from Arkansas to Georgia all by myself and had no, count them ZERO, snafu, or is it snafus? When August the something rolls around next year I will have done all I can to make it happen. And if it happens I bet it will be smooth.
Our candy bar sales started out slowly. We got our candy the same time as the elementary schools around here got theirs. I won't lie; I was perturbed. I'll tell you why. The last time I say a school selling candy bars you could buy directly from the kids was back when Holiday was in the sixth grade. That would have been at least ten years ago. Until this year the kids have been taking orders and delivering months later. The good thing is we plan to sell until it gets too hot next Spring.
It is so nice be be able to get up and go when we please. Andrea's having her driver's license has been wonderful. We don't go as much as I expected because of gas prices this summer but it has been nice.
Hopefully I will stay on the once a month schedule for The Beazler.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Online Scholarship Search Frustration
"Has anyone won a scholarship offered through Fastweb?" I saw asked somewhere online. I don't know but we went through the process. We answered all their profile questions and VIOLA! seven pages of "matches" were found. I was feeling elated. By the time I finished looking at page seven I was feeling just pretty good. Some of Andrea's "matches" we for graduate students, law students, students attending a particular school, employees of the XYZ company, or some other criteria not listed on her profile. Now throw out the ones that say sighn up with us for a chance to win..., take a photo or make a video and get likes, and you're down to the ones that can be tried for. Because I like to start early I found may sites with last years information still posted. That is gradually changing.
I asked my oldest daughter if she knew of any good sites to check other than Fastweb. She said Fastweb was the best one. Doing more research made me a believer. Google has many entries for scholarship searches; most of them crap. Some send spam, others call you milliseconds after you click on the submit button for more information, and I even found one that wanted money; in this day and age.
How many of you have hear about scholarships for all kinds of weird categories? Me too. We must not be weird enough. I thought surly I'd find scholarships that fit more of our strange categories in some way. Where are the scholarships for children who lost a parent, children of left-handed, legally blind photographers, Children who volunteered in the Bishop's Storehouse but aren't attending BYU, children who are the go to person in the neighborhood when someone has some IKEA to be assembled, person who got all her points for parallel parking on the road test, drove across country five days after getting her license, last and definately least had five different hair colors in less than a year. Tongue and cheek, sure, but they do advertize scholarships for odd ball things. We only have homeschooled biracial student to help stand out in the crowd.
Andrea will probably want to make mush out of me after the ACT. Part of English time and Fridays will be devoted to a master essay. When it is finished she can copy and paste the relevent parts into these scholarship applications we find on Fastweb.
Please keep your eyes and ears open for scholarship offerings out there. I hope we can make this happen.
I asked my oldest daughter if she knew of any good sites to check other than Fastweb. She said Fastweb was the best one. Doing more research made me a believer. Google has many entries for scholarship searches; most of them crap. Some send spam, others call you milliseconds after you click on the submit button for more information, and I even found one that wanted money; in this day and age.
How many of you have hear about scholarships for all kinds of weird categories? Me too. We must not be weird enough. I thought surly I'd find scholarships that fit more of our strange categories in some way. Where are the scholarships for children who lost a parent, children of left-handed, legally blind photographers, Children who volunteered in the Bishop's Storehouse but aren't attending BYU, children who are the go to person in the neighborhood when someone has some IKEA to be assembled, person who got all her points for parallel parking on the road test, drove across country five days after getting her license, last and definately least had five different hair colors in less than a year. Tongue and cheek, sure, but they do advertize scholarships for odd ball things. We only have homeschooled biracial student to help stand out in the crowd.
Andrea will probably want to make mush out of me after the ACT. Part of English time and Fridays will be devoted to a master essay. When it is finished she can copy and paste the relevent parts into these scholarship applications we find on Fastweb.
Please keep your eyes and ears open for scholarship offerings out there. I hope we can make this happen.
Financing USD
Thank goodness we have almost a year to make this happen. The University of South Dakota has very reasonable tuition; even for out of state students. "If you're going to pay out of state tuition pay it to South Dakota," is still my mantra. Paying tuition anywhere is bad enough but there's also room, board, transportation, supplies, and in our case, winter clothes. (I've been told by several and I believe them; wait until she gets there to buy winter clothes.) The jury is out when it comes to engine block warmers, snow tires and/or chains. I'd welcome any advice about those.
Now we're looking to finance this venture. I know the Pell Grant, work study, and the federal student loan won't cover everything. Andrea is looking for a better job, We've been making lists of scholarships to apply for, selling candy bars, and set up a You Fund Me account. After she was accepted to USD I changed the color scheme on the site to match USD's CoYOTE colors, red and white. Here is the link to Andrea's GoFundMe page. http://www.gofundme.com/bsswgc There is also a banner at the bottom of this page.
The Universality of South Dakota has some school scholarships as well. Most are contingent on ACT/SAT scores and whether you applied for admission before a certain date. I know we made the application deadline, now for the ACT scores. I had been using Fridays as test prep day; now part of everyday will be devoted to test prep until until ACT test time next month.
"Admission without test scores?" I hear you asking. I was surprised too. Andrea's admissions counselor explained they admit students based on their transcript is their GPA is high enough. He said they use standardized test scores to determine in school scholarship eligibility for those students and math and English placement for all incoming Freshmen.
Our goal is to get a high enough ACT score for as many in school scholarships as possible..
Now we're looking to finance this venture. I know the Pell Grant, work study, and the federal student loan won't cover everything. Andrea is looking for a better job, We've been making lists of scholarships to apply for, selling candy bars, and set up a You Fund Me account. After she was accepted to USD I changed the color scheme on the site to match USD's CoYOTE colors, red and white. Here is the link to Andrea's GoFundMe page. http://www.gofundme.com/bsswgc There is also a banner at the bottom of this page.
The Universality of South Dakota has some school scholarships as well. Most are contingent on ACT/SAT scores and whether you applied for admission before a certain date. I know we made the application deadline, now for the ACT scores. I had been using Fridays as test prep day; now part of everyday will be devoted to test prep until until ACT test time next month.
"Admission without test scores?" I hear you asking. I was surprised too. Andrea's admissions counselor explained they admit students based on their transcript is their GPA is high enough. He said they use standardized test scores to determine in school scholarship eligibility for those students and math and English placement for all incoming Freshmen.
Our goal is to get a high enough ACT score for as many in school scholarships as possible..
Applying To USD
After our visit to the University of South Dakota Andrea decided that is where she wants to attend college. She liked Vermillion because she likes small towns. Despite being small the town was vibrant,and the people were friendly.
We continued to peruse their website and learn more about South Dakota. Google became my friend when it came to finding facts not readily findable on their website. Google found the requirements for admissions for homeschooled students for me. The only difference was I had to show papers proving homeschooling for each year I homeschooled. Easy.
I got all the ducks in a row and told Andrea to apply Early. They start accepting applications after Junior year. I wanted t have plenty of time to answer any questions the admissions office may have about her homeschool career. Andrea mailed the application and we prepared to wait.
A couple weeks ago Andrea ran downstairs yelling about getting accepted into USD. I started babbling about not getting a letter. Our neighbors who were visiting reminded me that everything is done electronically these days. Andrea said the email stated a letter would be coming. We all praised Andrea and Andrea and I jumped up an down.
Tuesday we had an appointment to speak with Andrea's admissions counselor. We were able to get all our current questions answered. Everything still looks good and we are still excited. I think the best pieces of new were she can register for classes over the phone and Freshman Orientation takes place once they move in. No need to budget for an extra trip for orientation.
We continued to peruse their website and learn more about South Dakota. Google became my friend when it came to finding facts not readily findable on their website. Google found the requirements for admissions for homeschooled students for me. The only difference was I had to show papers proving homeschooling for each year I homeschooled. Easy.
I got all the ducks in a row and told Andrea to apply Early. They start accepting applications after Junior year. I wanted t have plenty of time to answer any questions the admissions office may have about her homeschool career. Andrea mailed the application and we prepared to wait.
A couple weeks ago Andrea ran downstairs yelling about getting accepted into USD. I started babbling about not getting a letter. Our neighbors who were visiting reminded me that everything is done electronically these days. Andrea said the email stated a letter would be coming. We all praised Andrea and Andrea and I jumped up an down.
Tuesday we had an appointment to speak with Andrea's admissions counselor. We were able to get all our current questions answered. Everything still looks good and we are still excited. I think the best pieces of new were she can register for classes over the phone and Freshman Orientation takes place once they move in. No need to budget for an extra trip for orientation.
A Great Summer
If wish I could figure out how to have these posts appear in the order of my choosing. I'll give it another try and hope for the best.
The last time I wrote Andrea was getting ready to take her road test. Well, SHE PASSED!!! She got a 90% on it. They took of eight points for taking two attempts to back into a spot and only two points for speeding. She got all her points on parallel parking.
We learned the Streets And Trips maps were so out of date we didn't dare trust them. We sprung for a GPS with free up-datable maps and the screen changes when it's time to change highways so you can get a better idea of what's ahead. Our initial itenary got cut down quite a bit. We visited ASB, relatives, and USD.
We'd planned to leave the morning of June 26th after rush hour. We were just about packed the morning of the 25th. We kept telling ourselves we wish it was tomorrow and we wish we could leave now. We decided there was no reason to wait. Andrea remembered she was waiting for the mailman. We said if the mailman runs before 3:00 we'll leave today. The mail came just after noon and by 1:30 we were on the road.
After reading several websites about homeschooling I discovered that homeschool students can earn a high school diploma. I'll leave it at that so I don't bore you with all the details. I figured a high school diploma from homeschool is more desirable than a GED. I spend time coming up with curicula, ordering materials, viewing websites, and making lesson plans. Andrea worked sporatically at Panera Bread and job junting, sleeping, and hanging out with the neighbor kids.
The last time I wrote Andrea was getting ready to take her road test. Well, SHE PASSED!!! She got a 90% on it. They took of eight points for taking two attempts to back into a spot and only two points for speeding. She got all her points on parallel parking.
We learned the Streets And Trips maps were so out of date we didn't dare trust them. We sprung for a GPS with free up-datable maps and the screen changes when it's time to change highways so you can get a better idea of what's ahead. Our initial itenary got cut down quite a bit. We visited ASB, relatives, and USD.
We'd planned to leave the morning of June 26th after rush hour. We were just about packed the morning of the 25th. We kept telling ourselves we wish it was tomorrow and we wish we could leave now. We decided there was no reason to wait. Andrea remembered she was waiting for the mailman. We said if the mailman runs before 3:00 we'll leave today. The mail came just after noon and by 1:30 we were on the road.
From a Facebook post. Snippets from our trip. Left a day early and spent extra time with Mom. (Beazle) Visited relatives, friends, and old haunts in Little Rock. Had a blast down memory lane at the ASB Convention. Andrea made friends with my schoolmates kids and she wants to come back next year. Sparkles spend two nights at doggy daycare and enjoyed himself. We fell in love with Vermillion, South Dakota; beautiful little town, clean campus, friendly people everywhere, and Hyvee's muffins are do die for. Did the campus tour and got our Coyote gear. (Pronounced co-YOTE, Yote for short as in "Go Yotes!" Picked up Sparkles at another doggy daycare down not one but two dirt roads. Back to Mom's for a few days. Andrea went to the lake for the fourth and the mosquitos loved her. Went to church at my old ward. We saw more of rural Texas than I ever thought existed on the way to Ennis. Don't know why the GPS didn't send us through Dallas. Got to visit with lots of Edwin's family. The trip back home was long. A full stretch back to Decatur. Went through Shreveport and saw the worst rush hour traffic we've ever driven through. Atlanta has nothing on Shreveport when it comes to rush hour traffic. That was the only time Andrea said she was scared.
After reading several websites about homeschooling I discovered that homeschool students can earn a high school diploma. I'll leave it at that so I don't bore you with all the details. I figured a high school diploma from homeschool is more desirable than a GED. I spend time coming up with curicula, ordering materials, viewing websites, and making lesson plans. Andrea worked sporatically at Panera Bread and job junting, sleeping, and hanging out with the neighbor kids.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
On The Road Again
It has been close to ten years since I've been on a long road trip. Edwin liked to drive so the longer the better. Andrea says she took after Edwin because she likes to drive. I hope she feels that way when we get home from the trip were planning.
Andrea takes her road test on June twentieth. We'll spend a few days getting the van serviced and getting things squared away around here. After that, we hit the road.
Our trip has had many incarnations. We put everywhere we thought we may want to go into Streets And Trips and then clicked on "Optimize Trip". Our optimized trip was over five thousand miles lasting over three weeks. The only thing that concerned us was boarding Sparkles for such a long time. We'd get a room two nights; the nights before the campus visits in North and South Dakota; if we weren't staying with relatives we plan to sleep in the van in Walmart parking lots. Hotels in Galveston are too expensive so it came off the list. Next went the University of North Dakota, tuition is up there. Merritt announced her marriage and Holiday moved to Kansas City, so no go to KC. Then we learned the ASB Alumni Convention will be later in the year so we can attend. Add it to the list. Lechelle wants us to meet up at Myrtle Beach the first part of July.
Now for fine tuning. If the ASB thing is the last of June the University of South Dakota (USD) thing can't be the middle of July. If our trip is optimized I'll miss church in Pine Bluff, something I don't want to do. Our optimized trip will also put us on the road on the fourth of July, no way. We decided we want to spend the fourth in Pine Bluff. To make that happen we head for USD after the ASB thing, then drive to Pine Bluff for the fourth and church. So I call USD to reschedule our visit. The person I need to speak with stepped out but the lady gave me her direct number. I was told to try back in fifteen minutes. I call back in half an hour and get the voicemail. No return call yet. I'll try again tomorrow. After we've had our fill of Pine Bluff and wishing for even more Irish Maid Do-nuts we'll head for Texas to visit Edwin's family. I'm going to set andrea on researching things to do while we're there. Then either head home or to Myrtle Beach depending on dates.
We plan to take it easy and enjoy the trip. Andrea asked me to schedule a break every ninety minutes. That sounds like a lot but if she needs them we won't fall behind schedule. If she doesn't need them we'll have time to visit some extra places or get a few more pictures. You know I'm taking my cameras, right?
We may have to rely on paper maps. The cigarette lighter doesn't work and I don't know how much it will cost to fix it. We have no way to keep our electronics charged in the van. If we don't get it fixed this will be our first lesson on the Life Skills course I'm going to teach next fall.
I Don't Want to Take My Medicine
My doctor prescribed diuretic pills to go along with my eye drops to try to control the pressure in my eyes. She said side effects included drowsiness, and frequent urination. She also said to take them with food or they could upset my stomach. I made sure they wouldn't make me gain wait, break out, or lose hair.
My friend, Artie told me to start taking a potassium supplement because the diuretic leaches potassium from the body. I picked up the prescription when I got back from the wedding. I spent the rest of that week eating a banana a day since I forgot to buy potassium tablets.
I started out bright and early Monday morning taking the pills. To me drowsy means a bit sleepy, like when you stay up later than usual. I was not drowsy I was verging on narcolepsy. One minute I'm sitting at the computer watching something on Hulu and the next thing I know, where my forehead meets my hair line is resting on the monitor's screen. I sit back but am oh so sleepy. I guess I dose off again because this time my eyes are closed but I don't know where I am. I decide to take a nap. I wake up with a headache. I think I went to bed around 7:00 p.m.
I woke up the next morning feeling exausted. My body was stiff and achy and that pesky headache was back. I slept on and off at the computer until I decided to give up and take a nap. My friend, Lee, calls and I thought I was talking to her for a while until she said she would let me go because my medicine had me sounding groggy or funny. I don't remember her exact words. Here I was think I sounded fine after my nap and all. My plan was to go downstairs but I found myself sitting in the bed several minutes later. When I do make it downstairs I decide I'm to tired to stay up. I tell Andrea I'm going to bed. She informs me that it is only 5:00 o'clock.
"I can't live like this." I think to myself. "Give it a week; you'll adjust and things will get back to normal. You want to preserve the little sight you've got in your left eye. It's already useless." I debate with myself most of the morning. I take my pill vowing to give it a week. I'm getting wiped out sleepy again. "I can't live like this."
I pick up the phone and call the doctor. Lo and behold I got to speak with her! I explain the overwhelming sleepiness and headache. I even explain how I had no diuretic effect. She said to stop taking them and she'd call in a prescription with half the dosage. I can't half the pills I've got because they're time released capsules. The Grady pharmacy takes a few days to fill called in prescriptions so I'll pick it up Monday or Tuesday. I hope I don't have those side effects on the lesser dose. I'm feeling better as the medication leaves my system. Last night I stayed up until 8:30. It is already after 8:00 and I'm not sleepy.
For some reason my experience caused me to think about people in nursing homes. There you see people who are just plain out of it and others who don't want to take their medicine. If I had been in a nursing home could I have convinced a nurse to call my doctor? When a person in a nursing home doesn't want to take his/her medicine is it because they want to avoid unpleasant side effects they've been unable to communicate to someone who can do something about it? And the ones who are out of it, just sitting there not tuned it; are they ever alert enough to tell their doctor it's a medication that's causing that state?
I'm so glad I decided to go ahead and call my doctor. Hopefully changing the dosage will do the trick. I guess it all comes down to what you can live with. When I first started using the eye drops I'd feel dizzy for about ten seconds after I put them in. Then I was fine until the next time. After about a week the dizziness lessened in duration and happens infrequently. I could live with that; it didn't impair my ability to function.
My friend, Artie told me to start taking a potassium supplement because the diuretic leaches potassium from the body. I picked up the prescription when I got back from the wedding. I spent the rest of that week eating a banana a day since I forgot to buy potassium tablets.
I started out bright and early Monday morning taking the pills. To me drowsy means a bit sleepy, like when you stay up later than usual. I was not drowsy I was verging on narcolepsy. One minute I'm sitting at the computer watching something on Hulu and the next thing I know, where my forehead meets my hair line is resting on the monitor's screen. I sit back but am oh so sleepy. I guess I dose off again because this time my eyes are closed but I don't know where I am. I decide to take a nap. I wake up with a headache. I think I went to bed around 7:00 p.m.
I woke up the next morning feeling exausted. My body was stiff and achy and that pesky headache was back. I slept on and off at the computer until I decided to give up and take a nap. My friend, Lee, calls and I thought I was talking to her for a while until she said she would let me go because my medicine had me sounding groggy or funny. I don't remember her exact words. Here I was think I sounded fine after my nap and all. My plan was to go downstairs but I found myself sitting in the bed several minutes later. When I do make it downstairs I decide I'm to tired to stay up. I tell Andrea I'm going to bed. She informs me that it is only 5:00 o'clock.
"I can't live like this." I think to myself. "Give it a week; you'll adjust and things will get back to normal. You want to preserve the little sight you've got in your left eye. It's already useless." I debate with myself most of the morning. I take my pill vowing to give it a week. I'm getting wiped out sleepy again. "I can't live like this."
I pick up the phone and call the doctor. Lo and behold I got to speak with her! I explain the overwhelming sleepiness and headache. I even explain how I had no diuretic effect. She said to stop taking them and she'd call in a prescription with half the dosage. I can't half the pills I've got because they're time released capsules. The Grady pharmacy takes a few days to fill called in prescriptions so I'll pick it up Monday or Tuesday. I hope I don't have those side effects on the lesser dose. I'm feeling better as the medication leaves my system. Last night I stayed up until 8:30. It is already after 8:00 and I'm not sleepy.
For some reason my experience caused me to think about people in nursing homes. There you see people who are just plain out of it and others who don't want to take their medicine. If I had been in a nursing home could I have convinced a nurse to call my doctor? When a person in a nursing home doesn't want to take his/her medicine is it because they want to avoid unpleasant side effects they've been unable to communicate to someone who can do something about it? And the ones who are out of it, just sitting there not tuned it; are they ever alert enough to tell their doctor it's a medication that's causing that state?
I'm so glad I decided to go ahead and call my doctor. Hopefully changing the dosage will do the trick. I guess it all comes down to what you can live with. When I first started using the eye drops I'd feel dizzy for about ten seconds after I put them in. Then I was fine until the next time. After about a week the dizziness lessened in duration and happens infrequently. I could live with that; it didn't impair my ability to function.
Getting Together
We were all together the weekend of May seventeenth for Merritt's wedding. I was both good to see everybody again and to have a mini vacation. We went to Kansas City Missouri for the wedding.
Andrea and I flew in from Atlanta. Merritt, Holiday, and Merritt's fiance Gabriel met us at the airport. Merritt and Gabriel dropped us off at Holiday's while they went to meet Beazle at the hotel where the Collins were staying. Holiday took us to our hotel, to grab a bite to eat, to Walmart, and on to the stake center.
Andrea and I spent our time at the Stake Center next door at the Temple. We were scouting out places to shoot good pictures the next day and getting shots of the grounds.
After that we go to Merritt's to pick up Beazle and head for Merritt's favorite restaurant, Jazz. Here I met Gabriel's family for the first time. We were seated next to the band so we could only really talk when the band took a break.
the whirlwind continued the next day. Farmers market, hair dresser/makeup artist, family luncheon. Constance and Maria arrive in time for that. Andrea and I go with Beazle, Constance and Maria to get settled into their hotel.
Maria used OnStar to navigate us to the temple. The computer says we've reached our destination but we're in the middle of nowhere. She calls OnStar back and asks for the Stake Center and is given another address but Constance called Holiday or somebody for the address. Turns out the invitations had the wrong address. Ggggrrrrrr.
We got there before the newlyweds came out of the temple. For the next few minutes was a picture taking frenzy. I went on about that in a Blind as Eye Look blog post. http://blindaseyelook.blogspot.com/2014/05/weddings.html
Now everything starts happening in reverse. We say goodbye to Beazle, Constance, and Maria after the reception. Andrea and I slept in Sunday. Later Andrea went swimming while I watched TV. We had the bright idea we'd go find something to eat. I get out my phone and learn there's a subway almost a mile away. We head out. When we get there we discover it is closed; so was pizza hut and KFC. Merritt said downtown is dead on Sundays so nothing is open. I said downtown is dead in Pine Bluff all the time but Subway is open.
I hope Holiday isn't planning a wedding anytime soon. I'll need at least two years to recooperate from this wedding and trip.
Andrea and I flew in from Atlanta. Merritt, Holiday, and Merritt's fiance Gabriel met us at the airport. Merritt and Gabriel dropped us off at Holiday's while they went to meet Beazle at the hotel where the Collins were staying. Holiday took us to our hotel, to grab a bite to eat, to Walmart, and on to the stake center.
Andrea and I spent our time at the Stake Center next door at the Temple. We were scouting out places to shoot good pictures the next day and getting shots of the grounds.
After that we go to Merritt's to pick up Beazle and head for Merritt's favorite restaurant, Jazz. Here I met Gabriel's family for the first time. We were seated next to the band so we could only really talk when the band took a break.
the whirlwind continued the next day. Farmers market, hair dresser/makeup artist, family luncheon. Constance and Maria arrive in time for that. Andrea and I go with Beazle, Constance and Maria to get settled into their hotel.
Maria used OnStar to navigate us to the temple. The computer says we've reached our destination but we're in the middle of nowhere. She calls OnStar back and asks for the Stake Center and is given another address but Constance called Holiday or somebody for the address. Turns out the invitations had the wrong address. Ggggrrrrrr.
We got there before the newlyweds came out of the temple. For the next few minutes was a picture taking frenzy. I went on about that in a Blind as Eye Look blog post. http://blindaseyelook.blogspot.com/2014/05/weddings.html
Now everything starts happening in reverse. We say goodbye to Beazle, Constance, and Maria after the reception. Andrea and I slept in Sunday. Later Andrea went swimming while I watched TV. We had the bright idea we'd go find something to eat. I get out my phone and learn there's a subway almost a mile away. We head out. When we get there we discover it is closed; so was pizza hut and KFC. Merritt said downtown is dead on Sundays so nothing is open. I said downtown is dead in Pine Bluff all the time but Subway is open.
I hope Holiday isn't planning a wedding anytime soon. I'll need at least two years to recooperate from this wedding and trip.
Is Spring Here?
It's April tenth and my heat still comes on in the morning. We've had some warm days put too few for this time of year. the windows have even been open a few days. Usually by now the heat is off and the windows are open all the time. All the rain would say Spring has sprung.
We've got pollen and more pollen. The van is covered in it. The sidewalks are yellow with it. The radio announcer says the pollen count is way above normal. This is one of those allergic reaction years for me.
First I started sneezing. I can live with that. Next my nose stuffed and post nasal drip set in. I began to feel bad. As night approached, the worse I felt. I went to bed around 6:30 two or three nights. Next came dizziness and I lost my voice. All I could do was croak. My friend Tammy thought she had the wrong number when I answered the phone.
Some allergy medicines say not to take if you have glaucoma, others don't. I wish they'd all use the formulation that would allow me to take them.
Beazle thinks I should go to the doctor. She tries to send us to the doctor even though she doesn't like to go herself. I figure it will run it's course with or without seeing a doctor.
I don't know if it's allergies or a virus. Andrea says I gave it to her.
We've got pollen and more pollen. The van is covered in it. The sidewalks are yellow with it. The radio announcer says the pollen count is way above normal. This is one of those allergic reaction years for me.
First I started sneezing. I can live with that. Next my nose stuffed and post nasal drip set in. I began to feel bad. As night approached, the worse I felt. I went to bed around 6:30 two or three nights. Next came dizziness and I lost my voice. All I could do was croak. My friend Tammy thought she had the wrong number when I answered the phone.
Some allergy medicines say not to take if you have glaucoma, others don't. I wish they'd all use the formulation that would allow me to take them.
Beazle thinks I should go to the doctor. She tries to send us to the doctor even though she doesn't like to go herself. I figure it will run it's course with or without seeing a doctor.
I don't know if it's allergies or a virus. Andrea says I gave it to her.
Beazle The Best
I woke up this morning with so much gratitude for Beazle, my mother. She has done so much for us that we can never repay. I also know I have fallen short in my accomplishments compared to her. You can read about her drive and accomplishments on one of the stationary posts on this blog.
Beazle thrived before, during, and after the Civil Rights Movement and she has always had pride. She was no stranger to hard work. She didn't make excuses for why something couldn't be done; she just did it. In retrospect, she made it too easy for us. I have not and probably will never achieve half as much as she did.
"If I was just twenty years younger there's no telling what I would do," is something Mom said quite often when she was in her late seventies. I thought of this when I got up this morning. I am at that twenty years younger age range she was referring to. I pledged to do a lot more with my life than I have been doing.
First I will stop bemoaning the fact that Getty dumped millions of stock photographs on the internet for free. They didn't deluge the free market with footage so I should concentrate on that. Photo opertunities are endless so get out there and shoot. I can't control Getty or those who will snap up free photos. I do know buyers will pay for the right image and I need to concentrate on producing varied, quality, photographs and footage. Beazle didn't give me this gift of everyday photography to let stagnate.
I've adopted the phrase, "What would Beazle do?" Beazle would be doing; doing something around the house or yard, not wasting time all day. I'm going to get this house in order, the yard too. I hate yard work so I need to suck it up until I can earn enough through photos and footage to hire someone to do it.
Now is the time to work on becoming a well-known legally blind photographer. I don't want to look back when I'm in my late seventies and say, "If I were twenty years younger."
Beazle thrived before, during, and after the Civil Rights Movement and she has always had pride. She was no stranger to hard work. She didn't make excuses for why something couldn't be done; she just did it. In retrospect, she made it too easy for us. I have not and probably will never achieve half as much as she did.
"If I was just twenty years younger there's no telling what I would do," is something Mom said quite often when she was in her late seventies. I thought of this when I got up this morning. I am at that twenty years younger age range she was referring to. I pledged to do a lot more with my life than I have been doing.
First I will stop bemoaning the fact that Getty dumped millions of stock photographs on the internet for free. They didn't deluge the free market with footage so I should concentrate on that. Photo opertunities are endless so get out there and shoot. I can't control Getty or those who will snap up free photos. I do know buyers will pay for the right image and I need to concentrate on producing varied, quality, photographs and footage. Beazle didn't give me this gift of everyday photography to let stagnate.
I've adopted the phrase, "What would Beazle do?" Beazle would be doing; doing something around the house or yard, not wasting time all day. I'm going to get this house in order, the yard too. I hate yard work so I need to suck it up until I can earn enough through photos and footage to hire someone to do it.
Now is the time to work on becoming a well-known legally blind photographer. I don't want to look back when I'm in my late seventies and say, "If I were twenty years younger."
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Not Quite Right
Andrea and I have always been computer people. We use it for school, entertainment, shopping, banking, you name it. I've never been big on monitoring because Beazle didn't monitor my sister's or my reading, music, TV shows, or phone calls and we both turned out well. Unfortunately, now I can make a case for monitoring internet use.
My youngest Daughter got cought up with someone I would call a predator. At the end I learned she had deliberately lied to me about several things. Her behavior had became erratic, defiant, and uncaring. To me, it seemed as if her reasoning ability had gone out the window.
According to Andrea she met, I'll call him "X" through a friend. "X" is reported to have a fairly common name but not so common to arouse suspicion. He's supposed to live across the country, eighteen years old, and a college freshman. They would play games online and Skype.
Shortly thereafter, Andrea starter referring to "X" as her boyfriend. I didn't pay much attention because she'd had quite a few boyfriends for a couple weeks each. Her internet relationship stretched into months. I asked her on numerous occasions how she can call somebody she never met her boyfriend? I suggested we pay "X" a visit during our road trip this summer. She didn't want me to meet his family because she said they were prejudiced against Black People. I told her she had a problem on her hands and that's another reason to meet. I told her she needed to see if this is something she can live with.
As time went on Andrea spent more and more time playing games or using Skype with "X". When I'd tell her to get off the computer or to do something she'd get angry and belligerent. Andrea's grades started to suffer but we were able to buckle down and get good grades first semester.
Andrea had a math course she needed to make up second semester. That gave her two math classes and what a mess? She was having trouble with the makeup course again. She said "X" was good in math and could tutor her. They spent a long time doing the wrong assignments. That was all our faults because even though the first semester assignments were listed, they did have due dates and one of us three should have noticed. Andrea was discouraged because she'd done all that work for nothing. "X" started telling her she should get her GED.
I told Andrea she should keep plugging along. I told her to work on her other subjects she got behind in trying to learn that math. I started looking for another tutor because it was clear "X" was trying to learn the material along with Andrea. The math and school issues are another problem interlaced with this on. I may deal with it another time.
Andrea let her studies go. All she was interested in doing was playing games and Skyping with "X". I questioned Andrea about why he had so much time on his hands. He wasn't away long enough to even be at school part time or working at all. She said his parents didn't mind that he spent so much time doing nothing.
Andrea wouldn't do her school work, wouldn't help around the house, had tremendous mood swings, was interested in little other than games and Skype. She started talking about moving in with "X" after graduation. In one sentence she'd say she doesn't want to live in a camper/trailer all her life. I'd tell her if she doesn't want to live in a trailer all her life not to move into a trailer. The next sentence she's talking about how to make everything fit.
Andrea started telling me what she wasn't going to do. She wasn't going to go to church, she wan't going to help around the house, etc. I told her she was going to mind me as long as she was a minor or face some steep consequences. If she didn't pick up her mess and be in church Sunday morning all she was getting is basic support. No cell phone cards bought by me, no eating out, no new clothes, no more make up. Just basic food and pads. And on December31st she could get up and out of here. To show how short sighted she is, she didn't go to church that Sunday. I had already told her she had to got to church until she gets her drivers license in June. We're talking two months at most. Conference is one time we don't go and if our ride doesn't go, we don't go.
Since she was passing only two classes and had no chance of passing the rest this semester, I decided a GED would be her best bet. For some reason she signed a contract saying she would study the curriculum I lay out toward her GED. She did well for the most part. One day some new game came out and she thought she and "X" should spend the day playing it.
I felt something was seriously wrong; something more than my inability to control my daughter. I placed a FaceBook post asking for prayer. I didn't go into detail but lots of people said they'd pray. And it worked! It worked quickly. Things started falling into place. Thank you Heavenly Father.
"X's" FaceBook page was disturbing. No location, no contact information, no photos at all. I even have a few. He only had cartoons and graphics. Only 37 friends. What active FaceBook user has only 37 friends?
Yesterday morning started off really well. Then Andrea said something about waiting until she gets to where "X" lives before she gets her drivers license. She said that would be easier. I explained to her that she wouldn't have to retest. All they'd do is take her Georgia license and give her a license from there. She blew up all of a sudden and among other things said she wasn't driving, she is flying. That did it. Why I don't know. I decided I was going to put a stop to this if I could.
My incoherent thoughts. She's going across the country to live with somebody she hasn't met with no means of escape if she needs to. .
I couldnt get much useful information from Andrea so I Googled him with the information I had. I found a few entries with the age range I was given so I jotted down the phone numbers and people he may know. My intent was to call his parents to express my displeasure and to remind them of Andrea's age. I didn't want to call these random people looking for his parents though.
Next I called my sister, Constance, to see if she still had contact with her lawyer friend who was good at finding people. Andrea was in the room Skyping with "X". I decided to speak a bit loudly so they could hear me. I had been looking up how to report a suspected child predictor. To my surprise the Department of Homeland Security has a lot to do with investigating suspected child predators. I told Constance about my plans to call his parents if I could find them. I went on to say if I couldn't find them I was going to contact Homeland Security. Maybe they could drop by and see if he is really who he says he is. I don't what made me think or say that but when I did it made sense. We really didn't know if he was an 18-year-old kid, or who. I told Constance that way I'd know if I've got a big problem or a gigantic problem.
Next, Andrea said "X" wants to speak to me. I said I didn't want to talk to him, I want to speak to his parents so have them call me. Andrea said to, "Grow a pair and talk to him." I said I'm not talking to "X", Have him give his parents the landlines number. I was told they were at work. I just said have them call me tonight or I'm calling Homeland Security.
The phone rings a few minutes later and guess who? "X". He says if I don't want him to date my daughter he won't. He says if I want him to disappear he will because he didn't want to get Homeland Security involved. He admitted being older than 19 but didn't say how old. He says he's in the state Andrea said he was. I told him I thought his disappearing is a good idea if that's what he does but I'm skeptical. Your relationship isn't right when Andrea is compelled to or feels she needs to lie about your age.
He had the audacity to ask what made me suspicious. I told him the obvious one; plans to live with someone she has never met. I left the rest vague, "Too many things didn't add up."
I called Constance back to tell her what happened. She asked how Andrea was taking it. I said she wasn't mad enough so I've got to keep a close eye on her. Either She and "X" cooked something up or she's hurt because he didn't even try to fight for her. Constance thinks I should report him anyway. If if find out he and Andrea are in any kind of contact I will.
I dialed Star 69 to get the number he called from. It was a cell phone from yet another state. Granted, I kept my Arkansas number for years after moving to Georgia, but it could be another red flag.
I made another FaceBook post asking people what does Homeland Security do other than deal with terrorists and be a pain at the airport. I got one response and it had nothing to do with investigating suspected child predators. So if hardly anyone knows Homeland Security deals with this issue, why did it spook "X"? Yeah.
I decided to give Andrea a couple days to process and think about all this. Then we'll have a talk.
My youngest Daughter got cought up with someone I would call a predator. At the end I learned she had deliberately lied to me about several things. Her behavior had became erratic, defiant, and uncaring. To me, it seemed as if her reasoning ability had gone out the window.
According to Andrea she met, I'll call him "X" through a friend. "X" is reported to have a fairly common name but not so common to arouse suspicion. He's supposed to live across the country, eighteen years old, and a college freshman. They would play games online and Skype.
Shortly thereafter, Andrea starter referring to "X" as her boyfriend. I didn't pay much attention because she'd had quite a few boyfriends for a couple weeks each. Her internet relationship stretched into months. I asked her on numerous occasions how she can call somebody she never met her boyfriend? I suggested we pay "X" a visit during our road trip this summer. She didn't want me to meet his family because she said they were prejudiced against Black People. I told her she had a problem on her hands and that's another reason to meet. I told her she needed to see if this is something she can live with.
As time went on Andrea spent more and more time playing games or using Skype with "X". When I'd tell her to get off the computer or to do something she'd get angry and belligerent. Andrea's grades started to suffer but we were able to buckle down and get good grades first semester.
Andrea had a math course she needed to make up second semester. That gave her two math classes and what a mess? She was having trouble with the makeup course again. She said "X" was good in math and could tutor her. They spent a long time doing the wrong assignments. That was all our faults because even though the first semester assignments were listed, they did have due dates and one of us three should have noticed. Andrea was discouraged because she'd done all that work for nothing. "X" started telling her she should get her GED.
I told Andrea she should keep plugging along. I told her to work on her other subjects she got behind in trying to learn that math. I started looking for another tutor because it was clear "X" was trying to learn the material along with Andrea. The math and school issues are another problem interlaced with this on. I may deal with it another time.
Andrea let her studies go. All she was interested in doing was playing games and Skyping with "X". I questioned Andrea about why he had so much time on his hands. He wasn't away long enough to even be at school part time or working at all. She said his parents didn't mind that he spent so much time doing nothing.
Andrea wouldn't do her school work, wouldn't help around the house, had tremendous mood swings, was interested in little other than games and Skype. She started talking about moving in with "X" after graduation. In one sentence she'd say she doesn't want to live in a camper/trailer all her life. I'd tell her if she doesn't want to live in a trailer all her life not to move into a trailer. The next sentence she's talking about how to make everything fit.
Andrea started telling me what she wasn't going to do. She wasn't going to go to church, she wan't going to help around the house, etc. I told her she was going to mind me as long as she was a minor or face some steep consequences. If she didn't pick up her mess and be in church Sunday morning all she was getting is basic support. No cell phone cards bought by me, no eating out, no new clothes, no more make up. Just basic food and pads. And on December31st she could get up and out of here. To show how short sighted she is, she didn't go to church that Sunday. I had already told her she had to got to church until she gets her drivers license in June. We're talking two months at most. Conference is one time we don't go and if our ride doesn't go, we don't go.
Since she was passing only two classes and had no chance of passing the rest this semester, I decided a GED would be her best bet. For some reason she signed a contract saying she would study the curriculum I lay out toward her GED. She did well for the most part. One day some new game came out and she thought she and "X" should spend the day playing it.
I felt something was seriously wrong; something more than my inability to control my daughter. I placed a FaceBook post asking for prayer. I didn't go into detail but lots of people said they'd pray. And it worked! It worked quickly. Things started falling into place. Thank you Heavenly Father.
"X's" FaceBook page was disturbing. No location, no contact information, no photos at all. I even have a few. He only had cartoons and graphics. Only 37 friends. What active FaceBook user has only 37 friends?
Yesterday morning started off really well. Then Andrea said something about waiting until she gets to where "X" lives before she gets her drivers license. She said that would be easier. I explained to her that she wouldn't have to retest. All they'd do is take her Georgia license and give her a license from there. She blew up all of a sudden and among other things said she wasn't driving, she is flying. That did it. Why I don't know. I decided I was going to put a stop to this if I could.
My incoherent thoughts. She's going across the country to live with somebody she hasn't met with no means of escape if she needs to. .
I couldnt get much useful information from Andrea so I Googled him with the information I had. I found a few entries with the age range I was given so I jotted down the phone numbers and people he may know. My intent was to call his parents to express my displeasure and to remind them of Andrea's age. I didn't want to call these random people looking for his parents though.
Next I called my sister, Constance, to see if she still had contact with her lawyer friend who was good at finding people. Andrea was in the room Skyping with "X". I decided to speak a bit loudly so they could hear me. I had been looking up how to report a suspected child predictor. To my surprise the Department of Homeland Security has a lot to do with investigating suspected child predators. I told Constance about my plans to call his parents if I could find them. I went on to say if I couldn't find them I was going to contact Homeland Security. Maybe they could drop by and see if he is really who he says he is. I don't what made me think or say that but when I did it made sense. We really didn't know if he was an 18-year-old kid, or who. I told Constance that way I'd know if I've got a big problem or a gigantic problem.
Next, Andrea said "X" wants to speak to me. I said I didn't want to talk to him, I want to speak to his parents so have them call me. Andrea said to, "Grow a pair and talk to him." I said I'm not talking to "X", Have him give his parents the landlines number. I was told they were at work. I just said have them call me tonight or I'm calling Homeland Security.
The phone rings a few minutes later and guess who? "X". He says if I don't want him to date my daughter he won't. He says if I want him to disappear he will because he didn't want to get Homeland Security involved. He admitted being older than 19 but didn't say how old. He says he's in the state Andrea said he was. I told him I thought his disappearing is a good idea if that's what he does but I'm skeptical. Your relationship isn't right when Andrea is compelled to or feels she needs to lie about your age.
He had the audacity to ask what made me suspicious. I told him the obvious one; plans to live with someone she has never met. I left the rest vague, "Too many things didn't add up."
I called Constance back to tell her what happened. She asked how Andrea was taking it. I said she wasn't mad enough so I've got to keep a close eye on her. Either She and "X" cooked something up or she's hurt because he didn't even try to fight for her. Constance thinks I should report him anyway. If if find out he and Andrea are in any kind of contact I will.
I dialed Star 69 to get the number he called from. It was a cell phone from yet another state. Granted, I kept my Arkansas number for years after moving to Georgia, but it could be another red flag.
I made another FaceBook post asking people what does Homeland Security do other than deal with terrorists and be a pain at the airport. I got one response and it had nothing to do with investigating suspected child predators. So if hardly anyone knows Homeland Security deals with this issue, why did it spook "X"? Yeah.
I decided to give Andrea a couple days to process and think about all this. Then we'll have a talk.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Entering the 21st Century
I've wanted a tablet from the first time I saw an iPad. I thought it would be so great to have all that internet capability with me at all times. Because iPads were and still so expensive I didn't buy one.
Tablets by other manufacturers got cheaper and became tempting again. Kim Komando said not to buy a cheap tablet because they didn't measure up to the iPad and most people would be disappointed. So I continued to wait.
The Samsung Galaxy became popular and also got Kim Komando's okay. My neighbor has one and she likes it a lot. I was unempressed with her internet speed so I continued to wait.
Earlier this month Andrea and I went in to Best Buy Mobile in the mall. They had a really good deal; buy a hot spot for a dollar and get a hundred dollars off certain tablets. I was excited because the salesman told me I could use Google Voice or a third party app to use the tablet as a cell phone. That clinched it for me, I could get rid of my cell phone and have a tablet to boot!. I got the small Samsung Galaxy S3 or whatever it is.
Andrea started setting it up while we were still shopping. The hot spot worked great because our internet was fast. I got the google voicy app put we couldn't get it to work. I thought I needed to make some changes to my account on my computer or something like that. I got the MARTA app that has all the bus and train schedules but the best part is it will show where the bus is along its route. I was really excited about that one. I had Andrea pull up coupons to show the cashier in JCPenney and Kohls so we could take advantage of discounts we didn't have paper coupons for. I'm loving this thing and couldn't wait to get home to explore it more on my own.
I found it difficult to use. Some was due to my sight problems and some was due to the size of the tablet. I couldn't hold the tablet and magnifyer at the same time it tap the screen wery well. It was combersome to use. typing on the touch screen was a challenge for the same reasons. I thought I could get used to enough of thses things to still make it worthwhile. Then I discover Google Voice isn't set up for what I wanted to do. I kept getting a message saying I can't forward to a Google voice number. So we tried the third party phone apps. They either didn't ring any phone or the delay was too annoying to deal with. I was disappointed and decided to return everything.
I got Andrea to show me her smartpone. I played around with it and made an unexpected discovery. The smaller size is better for me than even a small tablet. I asked her lots of questions about when I needed the phones internet and when I could use WiFi. I came to the conclusion I could use a cheap smartphone like the Virgin Mobile's Awe to do all my tablet use and have a phone if I wanted to.
Between Ebates and a Virgin Mobile sale I got the Awe for $42.50. I got the cheapest card to see how I like everything. I still have Sprint because neither my billing cycle or minutes cycle is over. I want to make sure I like the Awe before I cancel Sprint.
I like the tablet features such as all kinds of apps. I don't like the touchscreen keyboard but I don't text anyway. Once I get my contacts in I won't need the keyboard much. I need to call people and talk on it more. I'm considering keeping Sprint and using the slow random WiFi when out and home WiFi at home.
These are the apps I have: my favorite department store and grocery store apps, Domino's Pizza, LDS Library, apps for ringtones and wallpapers, flashlight, MARTA, and Smugmug. I don't plan to do banking on my phone because I make too many mistakes on the keyboard and there's always the theft issue; but I do have my banks apps just in case, but I'm not logged in. I didn't get the Facebook app because I waste too much time there already, plus the keyboard issue. I don't like browsing for apps, too many things that look like games but when I hear about or come across something that sounds interesting I get it.
Tablets by other manufacturers got cheaper and became tempting again. Kim Komando said not to buy a cheap tablet because they didn't measure up to the iPad and most people would be disappointed. So I continued to wait.
The Samsung Galaxy became popular and also got Kim Komando's okay. My neighbor has one and she likes it a lot. I was unempressed with her internet speed so I continued to wait.
Earlier this month Andrea and I went in to Best Buy Mobile in the mall. They had a really good deal; buy a hot spot for a dollar and get a hundred dollars off certain tablets. I was excited because the salesman told me I could use Google Voice or a third party app to use the tablet as a cell phone. That clinched it for me, I could get rid of my cell phone and have a tablet to boot!. I got the small Samsung Galaxy S3 or whatever it is.
Andrea started setting it up while we were still shopping. The hot spot worked great because our internet was fast. I got the google voicy app put we couldn't get it to work. I thought I needed to make some changes to my account on my computer or something like that. I got the MARTA app that has all the bus and train schedules but the best part is it will show where the bus is along its route. I was really excited about that one. I had Andrea pull up coupons to show the cashier in JCPenney and Kohls so we could take advantage of discounts we didn't have paper coupons for. I'm loving this thing and couldn't wait to get home to explore it more on my own.
I found it difficult to use. Some was due to my sight problems and some was due to the size of the tablet. I couldn't hold the tablet and magnifyer at the same time it tap the screen wery well. It was combersome to use. typing on the touch screen was a challenge for the same reasons. I thought I could get used to enough of thses things to still make it worthwhile. Then I discover Google Voice isn't set up for what I wanted to do. I kept getting a message saying I can't forward to a Google voice number. So we tried the third party phone apps. They either didn't ring any phone or the delay was too annoying to deal with. I was disappointed and decided to return everything.
I got Andrea to show me her smartpone. I played around with it and made an unexpected discovery. The smaller size is better for me than even a small tablet. I asked her lots of questions about when I needed the phones internet and when I could use WiFi. I came to the conclusion I could use a cheap smartphone like the Virgin Mobile's Awe to do all my tablet use and have a phone if I wanted to.
Between Ebates and a Virgin Mobile sale I got the Awe for $42.50. I got the cheapest card to see how I like everything. I still have Sprint because neither my billing cycle or minutes cycle is over. I want to make sure I like the Awe before I cancel Sprint.
I like the tablet features such as all kinds of apps. I don't like the touchscreen keyboard but I don't text anyway. Once I get my contacts in I won't need the keyboard much. I need to call people and talk on it more. I'm considering keeping Sprint and using the slow random WiFi when out and home WiFi at home.
These are the apps I have: my favorite department store and grocery store apps, Domino's Pizza, LDS Library, apps for ringtones and wallpapers, flashlight, MARTA, and Smugmug. I don't plan to do banking on my phone because I make too many mistakes on the keyboard and there's always the theft issue; but I do have my banks apps just in case, but I'm not logged in. I didn't get the Facebook app because I waste too much time there already, plus the keyboard issue. I don't like browsing for apps, too many things that look like games but when I hear about or come across something that sounds interesting I get it.
Another Kick in the Pants
I posted this on my "Blind as Eye Look" Facebook page. I think it's worth posting here in case there's a different audience.
Getty just shop all stock photographers in the foot. they're offering 35 million stock photos online for free. They say because people used to copy and paste them anyway. So they think rewarding them is the answer? They should crack down the way the RIAA did with music a decade ago. I've never contributed to Getty thank goodness. They still have images for sale but they think offering all these free ones will enhance sales. Bull. People will get the free images and look for more. I don't think many will even take a look at the paid once. They say the free images are only for noncommercial use, yet right; if people stole in the past they'll steal in the future, but now with Getty's blessing. http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/06/tech/social-media/getty-free-pictures/
to add to the facebook post I'll give a personal experience. Once I let Fotolia offer an image in their free section. I had hundreds of downloads. Was there an increase in sales of regular portfolio files? No. Was there and increase in views of regular portfolie files? The answer again is no>
Each agency will offer a few free images voluntarily offered by the photographer. I feel that is enough free material to offer. We are already competing with everybody and his brother for pictures due to cameras being put on phones and tablets. I say take your own pictures or pay for them.
Getty just shop all stock photographers in the foot. they're offering 35 million stock photos online for free. They say because people used to copy and paste them anyway. So they think rewarding them is the answer? They should crack down the way the RIAA did with music a decade ago. I've never contributed to Getty thank goodness. They still have images for sale but they think offering all these free ones will enhance sales. Bull. People will get the free images and look for more. I don't think many will even take a look at the paid once. They say the free images are only for noncommercial use, yet right; if people stole in the past they'll steal in the future, but now with Getty's blessing. http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/06/tech/social-media/getty-free-pictures/
to add to the facebook post I'll give a personal experience. Once I let Fotolia offer an image in their free section. I had hundreds of downloads. Was there an increase in sales of regular portfolio files? No. Was there and increase in views of regular portfolie files? The answer again is no>
Each agency will offer a few free images voluntarily offered by the photographer. I feel that is enough free material to offer. We are already competing with everybody and his brother for pictures due to cameras being put on phones and tablets. I say take your own pictures or pay for them.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
A Little But.....
...prescriptions still went up.
I get my medical care and prescriptions through Grady Memorial Hospital. Grady has a charity division which allows residents of Fulton and DeKalb counties to receive reduced priced medical care and prescriptions. I've been going to Grady since I was diagnosed with glaucoma in 2011. The prescription benefit has either been $3 a prescription or full price depending on income. I ordered from a Canadian pharmacy when my income put me on the full price plan.
Today, after I got my prescription, I was told, "Beginning April first prescriptions will be five dollars each". I thanked her for the heads up. Now I'll pay ten dollars for my eye drops instead of six. It doesn't sound like a lot of money but it is a 66% increase.
I am glad they didn't skyrocket the way Beazle's medicine did. She used to get a ninety-day supply of one of her medications for three dollars, according to her. When she went to refill this particular prescription a couple weeks ago she said they wanted sixty dollars. I told her it was because of obamacare. She thinks the pharmacy is just being gready because obamacare is supposed to help people. Yeah right! Beazle had her doctor prescribe a different medication and she took it to a different pharmacy. Now she pays twenty dollars for a ninety-day supply. Again, it doesn't sound like a lot of money for a ninety-day supply but it's a 700% increase. That kind of an increase is a lot for a retired person on a fixed income.
Remember Social Security gave a 1.5 cost of living increase this year.
I get my medical care and prescriptions through Grady Memorial Hospital. Grady has a charity division which allows residents of Fulton and DeKalb counties to receive reduced priced medical care and prescriptions. I've been going to Grady since I was diagnosed with glaucoma in 2011. The prescription benefit has either been $3 a prescription or full price depending on income. I ordered from a Canadian pharmacy when my income put me on the full price plan.
Today, after I got my prescription, I was told, "Beginning April first prescriptions will be five dollars each". I thanked her for the heads up. Now I'll pay ten dollars for my eye drops instead of six. It doesn't sound like a lot of money but it is a 66% increase.
I am glad they didn't skyrocket the way Beazle's medicine did. She used to get a ninety-day supply of one of her medications for three dollars, according to her. When she went to refill this particular prescription a couple weeks ago she said they wanted sixty dollars. I told her it was because of obamacare. She thinks the pharmacy is just being gready because obamacare is supposed to help people. Yeah right! Beazle had her doctor prescribe a different medication and she took it to a different pharmacy. Now she pays twenty dollars for a ninety-day supply. Again, it doesn't sound like a lot of money for a ninety-day supply but it's a 700% increase. That kind of an increase is a lot for a retired person on a fixed income.
Remember Social Security gave a 1.5 cost of living increase this year.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Bad Dreams
I guess we all have bad dreams occasionally. Mine take one of three themes; naked in a public place, difficulty moving forward, or I hope this is a dream. I had the last type last night. That is what gave me the idea for this post.
Last night I drempt we moved from my home in the suburbs to the projects. The building was delapidated and the unit was small. Like in all dreams where I hope it's a dream I asked myself how I got there. Even though there is no clear answer it feels real. As usual I hope it's a dream but can't see how it could be. I am always relieved to wake up and find it had indeed been a dream.
In some dreams I'm going along just fine until I can't easily go forward. I may be crossing a street or something is chasing me. All of a sudden movement slows to a snails pace. I can crawl or scoot or even move backward if I first turn around in a circle. The dream resolve itself somehow but I don't wake up.
The naked dream is the most embarrassing. At the beginning I am inappropriately dressed out in public. I'll be wearing something like a towel or just my bra and under pants. I tell myself to got to a store and buy a cheap outfit. When I get near a store I discover I'm naked and the store has moved.
Thank goodness I've never had a dream where I'm naked, can't move very fast, and wonder how I got there wondering if it's just a dream. That would be a nightmare.
Last night I drempt we moved from my home in the suburbs to the projects. The building was delapidated and the unit was small. Like in all dreams where I hope it's a dream I asked myself how I got there. Even though there is no clear answer it feels real. As usual I hope it's a dream but can't see how it could be. I am always relieved to wake up and find it had indeed been a dream.
In some dreams I'm going along just fine until I can't easily go forward. I may be crossing a street or something is chasing me. All of a sudden movement slows to a snails pace. I can crawl or scoot or even move backward if I first turn around in a circle. The dream resolve itself somehow but I don't wake up.
The naked dream is the most embarrassing. At the beginning I am inappropriately dressed out in public. I'll be wearing something like a towel or just my bra and under pants. I tell myself to got to a store and buy a cheap outfit. When I get near a store I discover I'm naked and the store has moved.
Thank goodness I've never had a dream where I'm naked, can't move very fast, and wonder how I got there wondering if it's just a dream. That would be a nightmare.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
You've Got to Tell People That?
I find myself asking my self just that quite often these days. I've been listening to WSB Radio a lot during the ice storm we're having. I'm surprised when I hear the announcer say, "If you lose power please do not call 911; call your power provider." I posted this on Facebook and my friend, Ron posted this.
Wanda this just came to me in an email and I have to post it after your post earlier.
Subject: THE "STELLA AWARDS"
*It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy. Here are the Stellas for year -- 2012: *
** SEVENTH PLACE * Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son Start scratching!
* SIXTH PLACE * Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. Scratch some more.
* FIFTH PLACE * Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson
$500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish Keep scratching. There are more... Double hand scratching after this one.
* FOURTH PLACE * Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun. Pick a new spot to scratch, you're getting a bald spot..*
** THIRD PLACE * Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. Only two more so ease up on the scratching...
*SECOND PLACE*Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure. Ok. Here we go!!
*** FIRST PLACE * *
*This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , who purchased new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down? $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home.
Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.*
Wanda this just came to me in an email and I have to post it after your post earlier.
Subject: THE "STELLA AWARDS"
*It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico , where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy. Here are the Stellas for year -- 2012: *
** SEVENTH PLACE * Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son Start scratching!
* SIXTH PLACE * Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. Scratch some more.
* FIFTH PLACE * Terrence Dickson, of Bristol , Pennsylvania , who was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson
$500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish Keep scratching. There are more... Double hand scratching after this one.
* FOURTH PLACE * Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun. Pick a new spot to scratch, you're getting a bald spot..*
** THIRD PLACE * Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. Only two more so ease up on the scratching...
*SECOND PLACE*Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure. Ok. Here we go!!
*** FIRST PLACE * *
*This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , who purchased new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down? $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home.
Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.*
Friday, January 24, 2014
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Before long someone will have to tell some people how to breathe. I'm shocked about some of the common sense things being announced on the news. When did the general public take leave of its collective senses?
I'll copy a Facebook post I did today.
Last week the news was full of advice about what to do when it's cold. They were telling people to put antifreeze in their cars. Don't cars use that stuff year round? Bring in your pets. It's supposed to get down to single digits and somebody has to tell people to bring in their pets. Drip you faucets so your pipes don't freeze. That one I can understand. If you're not used to this kind of cold you may not know that one.
Atlanta was hit with a big snow storm in 2010. I still can't get over the fact that people left their cars on the freeway and started walking. After a couple days the police announced they'd start ticketing cars if people didn't come get them. You've got to tell people not to leave their car on the freeway and start walking in a snow storm?
The TEA Part in me cringes at this one. Another proposed Government program to help the children. If these programs are helping the children these same programs are fostering more Government dependence for the people and taking more and more responsibility from the parents. The proposal, school dinner. So parents who choose not to feed their kids don't have to. (Except on weekends) Georgia has a high percentage of Title 1 Schools, these schools are subsidised by the feds because they have lots of low income Students. https://www.gadoe.org/School-Improvement/Federal-Programs/Pages/Disadvantaged-Children.aspx In order to receive Title 1 funding 40% of the student body must qualify for free or reduced lunch. http://www.dpsnc.net/about-dps/title-i-in-durham-public-schools/general-information-about-title-i. Because I've had children in school I know if the family gets food stamps the student automatically qualifies for free breakfast and lunch.
So if kids aren't eating at home what are their parents doing with their food stamps? Parents who get food stamps YOU ARE GETTING THEM TO FEED YOUR KIDS, NOT SELL THEM OR USE THEM FOR UNAUTHORIZED PURPOSES. I'd be willing to listen to anyone who can make a case for kids getting reduced meals to have school dinner. This is the only group I can see a slight possibility. For those having to pay full price you can cook at home for less than the price of school Dinner.
When will your kids have family time and learn your family's values? If they're on the school bus at 6:30 a.m. (See my article about that) and stay at school until after dinner, what time will they get home?
We laughed at the lady who sued McDonalds because they didn't warn her the coffee was hot. Now we've got this man not wanting to pay child support for a child he admittedly fathered. What next?
I'm telling you so you can't say nobody ever told you.
Bundle up your children when it's cold
Unless you order iced coffee, your coffee is hot
Your car is safer than the open in a snow storm
Don't father children the ordinary way if you don't want to pay child support no matter what
documents you sign
If you have kids plan on feeding them instead of buying them cell phones, designer sneakers and such. Just Sayin.
Pets should be brought in during extreme temperatures
I'll copy a Facebook post I did today.
We're having bitter cold temperatures, single digits and teens with wind chill factors of zero or below. The Atlanta Public School System has announcements on the radio telling parents to dress their children in layers, with hats and gloves, because of the cold weather. All a person has to do is hear the temperature to realize they need to bundle up their children. I think this is common sense yet I had quite a few Facebook comments talking about seeing children improperly dressed for the weather.
Last week the news was full of advice about what to do when it's cold. They were telling people to put antifreeze in their cars. Don't cars use that stuff year round? Bring in your pets. It's supposed to get down to single digits and somebody has to tell people to bring in their pets. Drip you faucets so your pipes don't freeze. That one I can understand. If you're not used to this kind of cold you may not know that one.
Atlanta was hit with a big snow storm in 2010. I still can't get over the fact that people left their cars on the freeway and started walking. After a couple days the police announced they'd start ticketing cars if people didn't come get them. You've got to tell people not to leave their car on the freeway and start walking in a snow storm?
The TEA Part in me cringes at this one. Another proposed Government program to help the children. If these programs are helping the children these same programs are fostering more Government dependence for the people and taking more and more responsibility from the parents. The proposal, school dinner. So parents who choose not to feed their kids don't have to. (Except on weekends) Georgia has a high percentage of Title 1 Schools, these schools are subsidised by the feds because they have lots of low income Students. https://www.gadoe.org/School-Improvement/Federal-Programs/Pages/Disadvantaged-Children.aspx In order to receive Title 1 funding 40% of the student body must qualify for free or reduced lunch. http://www.dpsnc.net/about-dps/title-i-in-durham-public-schools/general-information-about-title-i. Because I've had children in school I know if the family gets food stamps the student automatically qualifies for free breakfast and lunch.
So if kids aren't eating at home what are their parents doing with their food stamps? Parents who get food stamps YOU ARE GETTING THEM TO FEED YOUR KIDS, NOT SELL THEM OR USE THEM FOR UNAUTHORIZED PURPOSES. I'd be willing to listen to anyone who can make a case for kids getting reduced meals to have school dinner. This is the only group I can see a slight possibility. For those having to pay full price you can cook at home for less than the price of school Dinner.
When will your kids have family time and learn your family's values? If they're on the school bus at 6:30 a.m. (See my article about that) and stay at school until after dinner, what time will they get home?
We laughed at the lady who sued McDonalds because they didn't warn her the coffee was hot. Now we've got this man not wanting to pay child support for a child he admittedly fathered. What next?
I'm telling you so you can't say nobody ever told you.
Bundle up your children when it's cold
Unless you order iced coffee, your coffee is hot
Your car is safer than the open in a snow storm
Don't father children the ordinary way if you don't want to pay child support no matter what
documents you sign
If you have kids plan on feeding them instead of buying them cell phones, designer sneakers and such. Just Sayin.
Pets should be brought in during extreme temperatures
Thursday, January 23, 2014
That Damn Martin House
Nobody wanted to pay a high enough price for it so I wouldn't need to bring money that I don't have to the table. The first time it was on the market all the lookers talked about how much work the house needed. When I set up a water collection system to catch the roof leaks I took it off the market and borrowed money to replace the roof.
We resolved to stay and hired a painter to paint the exterior. People gave me compliments on how good they thought the house looked. I contented myself with the rock maple floors and charming architecture. My contentment was short lived.
My eyes were getting worse and I wanted to learn a new city before they got so bad I couldn't see much. This is the first time I've mentioned this. To add fuel to the fire, nearby fast food joints we closing or moving to other parts of town. I was afraid I'd be stuck in Pine Bluff with no way to get around to anywhere.
Then came the Wood Revolution. We'd gotten some wood circles from somewhere. They don't burn like split wood or even round wood. FYI, round wood is branches cut to length while wood circles are like trees cut into six inch slices. Even when split, they don't fit in the stove in a manner conducive to burning. One day I caught the devil getting and keeping the fire going. I'm out splitting wood circles and smash my finger. Right after that Andrea comes out to tell me the fire had gone out again. I can't begin to describe the fit I had. After I calmed down I turned the furnace all the way up to 66 and considered myself done. With or without the wood fire our gas bill was still in the mid $300's. My consolation; no more scrounging wood, shoveling ashes, splitting wood circles, buying wood, or bringing in wood. The Campbell s were the only holdouts now.
I decided I had to go. Because I was dissatisfied with the former real estate agent I decided I'd market the house myself. That man couldn't even figure out how to get the pictures I emailed him on the MLS. I held an open house almost every Saturday and Sunday, ran ads in the paper, advertised on Oweners.com, zillow, Front Door, Craigslist, and even Ebay; no takers unless you count people wanting to rent to own.
I listed with another agent. Pine Bluff agents are allergic to pictures. He managed to post two or three exterior pictures. I don't know what possessed him to post those backyard photos. For the record they were crap he took. I didn't choose my cousin who's a real estate agent because he said he likes to work with sellers. He said buyers were too much trouble because he had to find houses for them to look at and then take them around to see them. Anybody can get listings and hope another agent shows the house. I had more people through that house than the last agent had. There was no way in hell I was giving him 7% for nothing. I stopped calling to find out how things were going. I just let the listing time expire and told him to come get his sign.
I half heartedly posted a few more free ads and a Lady contacted me. She was looking to rent to own: I was so over the Martin house I agreed. We worked out the dates and we moved to Atlanta and she moved in. She stayed until her job transferred her across the country.
I ended up renting to another couple. What a disaster. They had no concept of rent to own or much else. I would have sent them on their merry way if I'd known. Beazle was my property manager and she let them move in without their paying the full rent and deposit. Beazle gave me the full amount as if the tenants had payed it to her. Later I found out they had payed her part and she had made up the rest.
Hurricane Isaac brought it all to a head. Pine Bluff got so much rain that the old oak tree in the back yard of the Martin house toppled over. It was a miracle nobody was killed or hurt. It damaged the tenants cars, neighbors carport, truck, and work van. The insurance declaired it an act of God and didn't pay for the tenant's car damage. They only had liability so their insurance wouldn't pay either. Her estimate to fix the car was more than the blue book value and I couldn't pay even if I had to. They decided not to pay rent. I reminden them if they didn't pay rent I wasn't paying the mortgage.
The Martin house was foreclosed on almost a year ago. I thought I was rid of it and good riddens. I'm still glad to be rid of it. As cold as it has been I can't imagine trying to keep warm there and not to mention how high the gas bills are now.
The Martin house has sense sold. I keep up with it on realtor.com. It was priced several thousand dollars less than what I owed on it. I saw when it sold but realtor.com hasn't posted the sales price yet. I'm curious though. I'll keep watching. I wish I could have seen the expression on the new owner's face when they got their first gas bill.
The other day I got a 1099A reporting the outstanding balance as ordinary income. I did my taxes today and found I owe $1003 in taxes. OUCH. I hope the IRS will let me pay in installments for such a small amount to most people. I look at it this way, if I'd stayed I would owe that amount in two or three months of weather like this and take about the same amount of time to pay it off. I'll call the IRS on January 31st to see what can be arranged.
When I get the IRS payed off I sincerely hope I will be done with that damn Martin house.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Driving Culture
Lately I've been encountering the driving culture. Yes, drivers have a different culture than those of us on public transportation. Drivers pay little attention to time and distance when it comes to local venues. MARTA runs from around 4:30 a.m. to midnight or 1:00 a.m. so technically we're more fortunate than many of my bus bound friends.
Just because the bus is running at midnight is no reason for a 16-year-old girl to be on one at that hour. Even though I told Andrea to make sure her new employer knows she is on MARTA they still scheduled he to close some nights. If she takes the bus around 10:30 at night she'd get home around midnight. No regard for the time it takes to get anywhere on public transportation.
My neighbor and I usually picked Andrea up from work when she closed. One rainy night my neighbor told me she couldn't pick Andrea up because she was sick. She sounded terrible. Only problem, Andrea was scheduled to get off in half an hour. I couldn't go get her because it takes about an hour and a half to get there on a week night. This was a Saturday night and buses and trains don't run as often. To make a long story short, a co-worker and his dad brought her home.
One Sunday Andrea's boss called to see if Andrea could come in to work right now. She needed her for only three hours. She should have called somebody who lives close by or someone who drives. Spending the same amount of time commuting as working is rediculous.
Today one of Andrea's co-workers came to visit. He said he had to be at work by one. His dad dropped him off but he'd planned on taking MARTA to work. So he and Andrea are looking at the schedule trying to decide what time he needs to leave. He said no to the 10:37 because, "I don't have to be there until one." He decides the 11:07 looks good and goes on with his visit. At 10:55 I tell him I don't mean to get rid of him but he'd better hustle if he's going to catch that bus. He said he'll call his dad to come get him later because he had been here only a short time. We live a ten minute drive from work.
The missionaries and a Ward member came to visit one evening. The missionaries asked me about my New Year's Resolutions. I mentioned getting more photographic ideas. The ward member seemed ashtonshed because there are all thee mountains around here. I reminded (or told) them that no MARTA buses go into the mountains. No bus even goes into Stone Mountain park. No knowledge of where a person can get on public transportation.
If I could be Queen for a day I'd declare a car free Month. Everybody would have to take public transportation or stay home. Then the general public would be conscious of it limitations and by extension its riders limitations.
Just because the bus is running at midnight is no reason for a 16-year-old girl to be on one at that hour. Even though I told Andrea to make sure her new employer knows she is on MARTA they still scheduled he to close some nights. If she takes the bus around 10:30 at night she'd get home around midnight. No regard for the time it takes to get anywhere on public transportation.
My neighbor and I usually picked Andrea up from work when she closed. One rainy night my neighbor told me she couldn't pick Andrea up because she was sick. She sounded terrible. Only problem, Andrea was scheduled to get off in half an hour. I couldn't go get her because it takes about an hour and a half to get there on a week night. This was a Saturday night and buses and trains don't run as often. To make a long story short, a co-worker and his dad brought her home.
One Sunday Andrea's boss called to see if Andrea could come in to work right now. She needed her for only three hours. She should have called somebody who lives close by or someone who drives. Spending the same amount of time commuting as working is rediculous.
Today one of Andrea's co-workers came to visit. He said he had to be at work by one. His dad dropped him off but he'd planned on taking MARTA to work. So he and Andrea are looking at the schedule trying to decide what time he needs to leave. He said no to the 10:37 because, "I don't have to be there until one." He decides the 11:07 looks good and goes on with his visit. At 10:55 I tell him I don't mean to get rid of him but he'd better hustle if he's going to catch that bus. He said he'll call his dad to come get him later because he had been here only a short time. We live a ten minute drive from work.
The missionaries and a Ward member came to visit one evening. The missionaries asked me about my New Year's Resolutions. I mentioned getting more photographic ideas. The ward member seemed ashtonshed because there are all thee mountains around here. I reminded (or told) them that no MARTA buses go into the mountains. No bus even goes into Stone Mountain park. No knowledge of where a person can get on public transportation.
If I could be Queen for a day I'd declare a car free Month. Everybody would have to take public transportation or stay home. Then the general public would be conscious of it limitations and by extension its riders limitations.
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