Canton 2005

Monday Madness Meme 12/12/05

2005-12-12T05:36:00.000-05:00

1. Words most commonly mispronounced. Poinsettia, asterisk, litigious

2. Words used improperly. their/there, your/you're

3. Words most often misspelled. secretery/secretary, occasion

4. Words or phrases that you feel are over-used. like, you know, fo'shizzle

The Nose Knows

2005-12-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

Well, I did a stupid thing Saturday night. And I wasn't even drinking! We went to a holiday party at a friend's house, and my middle son was sitting on the floor playing. When some people came in the front door, I reached down and scooped him up to get him out of the way. Unfortunately, this startled him and he threw his head back......right into the bridge of my nose. So, now I have a lovely bruise.

I called the doctor Monday, and the nurse told me to go get an X-ray. The ER doctor said it was either a bad bruise or a small fracture. Gee, really? I'm thinking he must have gotten his medical degree at Sears. Then he tells me that if I stop breathing, I'm to call them. What, I should just tap on the phone and they'll know it's me????

So, the moral of the story is, don't go to the ER if there is nothing they can do for you. Should have followed my own advice.

On to better news: I have been accepted into a clinical trial for weight loss. I'm not sure what this pill is, but it is something that has been used for quite awhile in treating some other disease. They happened to notice that those patients were losing weight and wanted to see if it was from the pill they were taking. So, apparently, this pill is safe. The people who have already started in the trial have lost as much as 42 pounds in 2 months. I guess the men are losing more than the women, and the women are averaging 10 - 15 pounds. That's not bad for 2 months, I think.

I went last week for my screening appointment, then I meet with the nutritionist today, and go back to the research place tomorrow for my first bottle of pills. I guess they make everyone start on placebos, just to make sure they can count on you to take the pills. I'll start in the trial on 12/22 - great time to start a diet, no? I won't know at that point if I'm on placebo or low, medium, or high dose of the actual pill. It is supposed to stop me from "grazing". I'll let you know how it goes.

Please enter comments with your weight loss successes & failures. Maybe we can get a little support group going here.

Monday Madness Meme 12/05/05

2005-12-05T05:28:00.000-05:00

This week's questions are all about moving... Have fun, and thank you so much for playing! =)
1. When is the last time you moved? 1994
2. How many times in your life have you moved? At least 15 times
3. In your opinion, what is the worst thing about moving? Lugging boxes to a 3rd floor walk-up
4. What is the most exciting thing about moving? I always find something I thought was lost!
5. If you've lived in the same place all your life, do you plan to move in the future?
6. Do you WANT to move somewhere else; if so, where? Somewhere with no SNOW! (maybe coastal Georgia)

Monday Madness Meme 11/21/05

2005-11-21T05:09:00.000-05:00

From The Daily Meme

It's that time of the week again! Enjoy! =)
1. I have little or no patience when it comes to poor customer service.
2. I wish I could spend more time playing with my kids.
3. The most productive thing I accomplished this past weekend was making Christmas candles.
4. The most enjoyable thing I did this weekend was taking my son to the new Harry Potter movie.
5. I've always wanted to learn how to arrange flowers.
6. If money wasn't an issue, I'd buy a dog daycare business.
7. I blog because I need a creative outlet & to promote my business.

Sudoku

2005-11-18T10:52:00.000-05:00

Have you tried this new game yet? I got hooked the first time I played. Now I have always been the weirdo who loved math, but even if you don't, this game is really more about logic anyways. Here's how it works: the puzzle comes to you as a grid of nine large boxes, each of which contains a grid nine smaller boxes. Some of the boxes will have numbers in them, some will be blank. The goal is to fill in the blank boxes with the digits 1 - 9, so that each digit is used only once in each small block, once in each row, and once in each column.

The harder ones are sometimes pretty frustrating, so find easier ones to start with. There are tons of sites that have puzzles on them; a few examples are listed at the end of this post.

Michael Ventre had a good article on MSNBC today about Sudoku. He seems to have captured the frustration as well as the fun. I had to laugh the other day - I drove past a McDonalds with outdoor seating & saw a guy looking very disgusted & erasing something in his newspaper. I knew he had to be a Sudoku junkie. Sometimes I erase clear through the paper before I come upon the solution. Not always because they are that hard, but because I rush through & make stupid mistakes.

I did find a book that tells you basic strategies, though. The simplest is that you should go to each empty box & pencil in the numbers that could possibly fill that block. You would eliminate from contention any known digit that is already used in that small 9-grid, or in the same row or column as the empty block. Once you have penciled in all of the possibilities for each block, you are ready to start using your logic skills. Once you have eliminated a possibility for any square, you erase it from your list in that square.

Some blocks will only have one possibility, so you can fill those in right off the bat. In other cases, there will be two blocks in the same row that have the same 2 choices, so you know those two numbers will be used in those two blocks, but you just don't know which one goes where. At first you may think that is no help, but if there are blanks in the same column or grid that have one of those numbers as a choice, you know you cannot use either of those two known digits in that column or grid because they will have been used in the two boxes in a particular row.

For instance, if you can, picture a grid of 3 blocks x 3 blocks. Across the top row, you may have one number filled in, and in the other two blocks, the only possible numbers are 7 and 5, so you know one of the blocks in the top row will be a 7 and one will be a 5. You can't fill in those two blocks because you don't know which is which. However, if you go across row one through the other two 9-grids, you may find other blocks in which you have listed a 7 or a 5 as one of the possibilities. Since you know you will be using 7 & 5 in the first grid in that row, you know you cannot use 7 or 5 in either of the other grids in that top row, so you can erase those choices.

The same principle holds true for three blocks with the same three choices, and so on. There are other tips that apply to harder puzzles, but this should get you through the easier ones. I usually play in the daily paper because it is easy to get hooked & forget your other responsibilities, but there are many books available online & in stores, such as Target, WalMart, and Amazon. There are also online games, which I have not yet played, but here are some of the millions of links I found by searching on Google: www.sudoku.com, www.miniclip.com/sudoku/sudoku.htm, sudoku.com.au. Some of these also contain instructions, and probably pictures that will make them clearer than what I gave you above.

Please comment & tell me how you enjoyed the game! Also, let me know what sites you use to play. Sometime soon I'd like to find the time to start playing on line.

Prayer request

2005-11-16T20:08:00.000-05:00

One of my employees came in today after spending a couple of days off with her grown son at the hospital. Turns out he needs a heart transplant or they think he will not see his 30th birthday. So sad. He is only 23, and may or may not qualify to be put on the transplant list. Once on, he must come up with the money, as he does not have insurance. Please keep Nate Brown and his family in your prayers.

The Daily Meme 11/14/05

2005-11-14T16:04:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since we've done this; I ask each of you to choose a letter of the alphabet and answer each of the following with a word/group of words that begins with the letter you've chosen... And as always, thanks for playing! =)
1. Name one color. Yellow
2. Name one song. Yellow Submarine
3. Name one movie. Yentl
4. Name one vehicle. Yugo
5. Name one food. Yolks
6. Name one household item. Yak (what? You don't have one in your house?)
7. Name one book. Ya-Ya Sisterhood (ok, so that's cheating)

"The Children of Willesden Lane"

2005-11-13T20:24:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know I'm way behind on my posting. So sue me for putting my paying clients first! That's right, my business is really beginning to take off. I'm so glad I did this. I'm not making enough to cover my expenses yet, but I am getting a steady stream of small jobs. And, I'm done with most of my big start-up expenses, so it won't be too long before I break even. I'm way ahead of the short term goals I set for myself, so I am hopeful.

Anyways, enough about my favorite topic (me!) for today. I just read this great book. I almost didn't read it because it didn't look all that appealing at first. What a mistake that would have been! Check it out at your local library - it will be well worth your time.

Here is the review I wrote for AssociatedContent.com:

The Children of Willesden Lane, Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival, written by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen (2002, Warner Books, Inc., $13.95 in paperback) is not a book I normally would have read. I tend much more towards thrillers and murder mysteries, but this book was recommended by a librarian who was recruiting for a new book club. I ended up not having time to read it before the club meeting, but I really wished I would have. It would have been a wonderful opportunity to hear if others were as moved by this true story as I was.Set in Vienna at the outset of World War II, the book traces the journey of Lisa Jura as she lives through Kristallnacht and is sent alone to England by her parents, who can only afford transport for one of their five family members. Mona Golabek, Lisa’s daughter, relates what one presumes is an oral history related by her mother over the years. It is both intense and incredibly moving. The horrors of Jews living in Austria are related factually, but briefly, in the first few chapters. We see Lisa’s beloved father being beaten, neighbors being arrested, and conditions in general deteriorating for the Jews. Showing these facts as a personal history really brings to life the horrific conditions inflicted by Hitler’s SS.

When it becomes clear that the atrocities are going to continue to spiral out of control, a Jewish relief organization arranges for children to be taken by train and boat from the European mainland to foster homes and hostels in Great Britain. Lisa’s parents have to make the heartrending decision of which of their three daughters can take the last available spot on the next train. Because of her prodigious piano talent, Lisa is chosen. Placed first as a nanny in a wealthy country home, Lisa is unable to practice her beloved piano. Although she is treated well by her employer, Lisa knows this is not the life she is destined to lead. She saves enough money to buy a bicycle and a train ticket to get to London, where she convinces a woman running a hostel for 30 other children to take her in. As it happens, the woman’s son, who was recently blinded, was also a piano prodigy, but now is unable to play. Lisa sneaks to the piano one day, and is stunned to find out that the matron is not angry, but rather encourages her talent. Lisa misses her family in Austria terribly, but makes several close friends at the hostel. Set against the background of the London Blitz, the beauty of Lisa’s music is even more poignant. With the help of her friends in London, Lisa is able to try out for a prestigious music school. I don’t want to spoil the ending, so I will stop there.

One of the dominant themes throughout the book is perseverance. When Lisa is being put on the train for England, her mother tells her to always hold on to her music. It quickly becomes clear that the music is what keeps Lisa sane through the insane circumstances in which she finds herself. As much an historical novel as a personal and tragic account, The Children of Willesden Lane grabs you on the first page and keeps you turning pages and wishing for more.

Mona Golabek, Lisa’s daughter, states in the forward that a piano lesson with her mother “was much more than a lesson in music --- it was a lesson in life --- filled with extraordinary stories of love, passion, struggle, and survival.” Ms. Golabek takes these lessons and turns them into a must read for people of any religion who are interested in tenacious faith in the face of unspeakable tragedy.

The Military man

2005-11-04T14:32:00.000-05:00

Someone sent me this via email today, and I thought it was really neat. It was not attributed to anyone in particular, so I can't give credit where credit is due. Please include all of our soldiers in your prayers.

THE MILITARY MAN

The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.

He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm howitzer. He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.

He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity.

He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.

If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all.

He has seen more suffering and death then he should have in his short lifetime. He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.

Like I said, it's always something

2005-11-04T14:17:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wonder how my life got so crazy. As I was doing my hair this morning, my middle son, Jimmy, was playing with the dog, Kayla. I heard this huge bang of something hitting the doorframe, and thought sure Jimmy would be knocked out. When I turned around, he was still standing, but holding his mouth. OK, I thought, here we go to the emergency room to get his teeth put back in. I'm not sure if the dog knocked him over, or if he slipped, but he was gushing blood from his mouth. Once we got him cleaned up, we saw that it was just a small cut where he had bitten his lip. So, I changed out of my blood-stained clothes and continued getting ready for work.

Next, Kayla went downstairs and stole a Nutrigrain Bar from my youngest, Billy. So, he chased her upstairs and continued to torment her for about 20 minutes, trying to get the bar back. (Even though we had 3 more boxes in the pantry.) After awhile, I heard Kayla growl, and told Billy he'd better get away from her and just let her eat it. Then, I heard a nasty yelp, and Billy came into the bathroom, gushing blood. He had decided the way to get her to let go of his breakfast was to jump on her back, so she turned around and nipped him, but her tooth must have gotten stuck in his cheek, because there was a long, deep tear in the skin. Almost all the way through, but not quite. Apparently, we were destined to go to the emergency room today, no matter what.

So, after two layers of stitches, antibiotics, and steri-strips, Billy is fine. In fact, he wanted to go to school today so he could show off his stitches. He'll have a pretty good scar, but I told him it would make him look like a tough guy.

I went ahead to work and left Billy with my partner to go to the toy store. (He was SO good at the hospital.) Then, I got a call when they got home that our kitten with the dislocated ankle had gotten his cast stuck under a chair and was just howling to be set free.

I'm almost afraid to go home tonight! I don't even want to know what else happened today.

Happy Halloween!

2005-10-31T19:54:00.000-05:00

The kids were too cute for Halloween. Billy went as a Power Ranger - he says to tell you it was the blue one. Jimmy was, as he is every year, a firefighter. This year, in addition to the fireman's coat and hat, he found a respirator mask at the dollar store. I didn't mind spending money on costumes this year because they got to wear them a few different places.

We started out Friday night, trick-or-treating at the mall near our house. Sadly, it is dying a slow death with many empty spaces, but that's for another post. The kids had a lot of fun going to all of the different places and getting their candy. Also, a new hair salon just opened that is affiliated with a local church - they were giving out religious T-shirts in addition to candy, so that was kind of neat.

Saturday, we went downtown to an event sponsored by a different church. They rented out the Civic Center for literally thousands of kids to come to play games, eat, and watch a fabulous blacklight puppet show. I had never seen one of those before - it was fabulous.

Finally, Sunday was time for trick-or-treat. In our county, most of the jurisdictions have trick-or-treating during daylight hours for safety. I really like how our little neighborhood gets involved. Some streets have block parties, where all of the neighbors set up a table in the middle of the street so the kids only have one stop to make. Many people sit on their front porches with a bowl of candy, or take the top pane of their storm door out & reach through. In nearly every house, the Browns' game is on, so you can keep track of the score as you walk along. This is the kind of small town neighborhood where you don't have to check the candy too closely before your kids eat it, which is nice. Fire trucks and police cars drive around handing out chips and pretzels. My kids really love that part.

Robbie was sad to discover that 15 is just too old to go out. He did have fun passing out the candy at our house, though.

So, that was our busy weekend. How was yours???

Honoring the fallen

2005-10-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

Wednesday night, we went to a candlelight vigil to honor the 94 Ohio soldiers who have died in Iraq. I guess it should have occured to me, but didn't, that this was a form of an anti-war protest. Even though I am against the war, I really went only to pay my respects to the soldiers who have died for our country. My feelings against the war have nothing to do with the honor these young men are due. When we got out of the van and walked toward the gazebo at the Veteran's Memorial, we walked past family members of several soldiers from Stark County, holding large poster-sized pictures of their sons and notes that talked about honoring their memories. I stopped for a few minutes to look at the photos, which seemed to be the respectful thing to do. OK, maybe I'm naive, I still didn't get that they were there protesting against the vigil. I proceeded into the gazebo, where there was a very moving tribute, reading each soldier's name, ringing a bell, and lighting a candle for each one. We then had a prayer & sang Amazing Grace. As I looked around, I noticed that the people with the signs had not come in to the gazebo. It was then I realized that they were not part of the ceremony, but were in fact against it. I read in the paper this morning that they felt that people were using their sons' deaths for political means. I wish I had realized it sooner. I would have invited them into the gazebo so that they could feel the respect we all had for the sacrifices they had made. I felt terrible that we had offended them, because nothing could have been further from my intentions. I wrote a letter to the editor this morning, trying to express that. I hope they print it.

So, readers, what do you think? If a person who is anti-war attends or even organizes a candlelight vigil to remember the war dead, is it disrespectful to the families? Clue me in - am I just being naive, or is it possible to hate the war, but love the soldiers?

It's always something

2005-10-26T10:52:00.000-04:00

See, I said I'd post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but here it is Wednesday at almost noon, and I haven't done anything yet. Let me tell you what has happened since my last post. We got a call Friday saying that one of our employees (who is also a friend) had passed away suddenly. Right after we learned her funeral would be Monday night, I got a phone call Monday morning from another of my employees who called to say that her brother had died suddenly Sunday night.

Not that this is anything compared to that, but I also got fired from my keyword search job that I thought was going to be my ticket to steady work. Now I'm haggling with them over how much they owe me for the work I did. They thought I didn't move fast enough, but I'm not sure how I could have done it any faster. Most of the delay was in waiting for THEIR search tool to download, but whatever. If they are going to be this much of a hassle to work with, I'm not sure I wanted to do it anyways. So, I dust off my feet and move on.

The kids are doing well. We are in the midst of changing meds for my youngest to see if we can get his anger under control. I just love dealing with ADHD. There's never a dull moment at my house.

Last night, my oldest got the new kitten out of his pen (where he was safe), then dropped him when he squirmed. Of course, the dogs chased him downstairs, thinking he was an hors d'ouevre. Somewhere in the course of all that, he ended up breaking his foot. The poor baby is at the vet's now having it X-rayed.

Other than that, things are going well. I have sold some of my articles to associatedcontent.com, so I should be in print soon. And I continue to search for other ways to market my business. I need to make some quick money, as we have promised the kids a trip to DisneyWorld this winter.

Please post comments - tell me how things are going in your world!

A normal night at my house

2005-10-21T22:37:00.000-04:00

When I arrived at home, the kids were fighting over their toys, as per usual. Then, my partner absolutely SHOCKED me with the news that she is now willing to take in more foster kids on an emergency basis. (Which no doubt means we will be getting up at 2 am tonight, when the bars close and someone gets their kids taken away.) I'm thrilled though, I have really missed fostering.

Made scrambled eggs for dinner, which my kids all love, but I had to beg them to eat tonight. They wanted to go back to fighting.

Then upstairs to try to work. I got the instructions today for my new assignment from Guru.com. I love that site - can use it on a limited basis for free, or pay a fee to upgrade. There are a ton of jobs in there from people who have no problem using freelancers, and you just bid on what you like. The site is very organized and helps you to deal with the bidding process, contracts, setting up an escrow account to make sure you get paid, etc. Anyways, I ended up not getting much work done because I got started watching Law & Order (my favorite).

So, I finally sat down at the keyboard around 10:30, which is way past bedtime. I must be getting old - this is about the time I used to be getting dressed to go out!

Anyways, as you can tell, there is not much news from here. I'll try to do better on Monday.

Progress (and sorry!)

2005-10-20T09:01:00.000-04:00

Well, I have really been neglecting "all" of my faithful readers as I got my new business off the ground. When I left off two months ago, I had decided to start my own business. After two months of grueling, never-ending marketing, I finally have two clients. And I've made a total of 14 whole dollars so far! Oh, well, at least it's a start. And I only spent about 45 minutes making that much, so I guess that's not too bad.

I have tried to do some direct mail to companies both here in Stark County and elsewhere, but did not get any response. I have my website up (ProBizAssoc.com), and I have started another blog, giving tips on management (ProBizAssoc.BlogHarbor.com) with a link to my website. I have had a few hits there, and have gotten some of the major web crawlers, like Google, to stop by, so hopefully that will help some.

My biggest success, as far as website hits, has been the Google adwords ads I have put out. I spend about 50¢ per contact, and have had over 600 hits in the last 2 months. Not too bad. Now I just have to figure out how to turn those hits into customers.

The other thing I have had some success with is surfing for freelance jobs on the internet. A lot of employers have not yet bought into the idea of telecommuting, so it is hard to convince them that they should. However, those who advertise on the freelance sites already like the idea, so I just have to convince them that I can do the job. Some of these sites are free and some, I have to pay for, so we'll see which works best.

I did get three of my articles published on AssociatedContent.com, so you can see them there, if you'd like. I also was contacted about one of my bids from a Freelance site, so I hope to be making a regular income from that soon.

Now, I need to get back to a regular publishing schedule here - probably Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of every week. I hope to enlarge the scope to cover such topics as foster parenting, adoption, weight loss, and my kids, as well as general interest pieces about Canton. It really is a nice town to live in.

Please let me know if you've read my blog, what you thought of it, and if there are topics you'd like to see covered. And feel free to link to this site from your blog if something catches your eye.

I'm Published!

2005-08-11T16:16:00.000-04:00

Nothing like jumping in with both feet. Check out my new website: probizassoc.com

Day Two

2005-08-11T10:11:00.000-04:00

The library got back to me with some assessment tools - trying to get a password from David Culp at SCDJFS. I think I have narrowed down my interests to marketing and adminstrative support. Maybe starting my own business would be good. I could do direct mail, promotional material publishing, develop marketing strategies, plan special events and promotions, design consumer surveys, analyze competetitors, do market research, and train customer service employees. Maybe even offer invoicing and bill-paying services. I guess I'd have to probably be bonded for that part - wonder how much that costs?

I could put together a web site of some of the stuff I've done previously and a brochure to send out. The web site could also include some "freebies" - articles on complaint resolution, customer service, collections, - stuff I've actually got some experience in. I'd probably target small businesses in Stark County first. Maybe non-profits and political campaigns to get some experience. I suppose I could give them free labor, just charge for materials, to build up my resume. Need to track results to have hard numbers.

In the beginning

2005-08-10T13:28:00.000-04:00

I am trying to decide whether or not to change jobs. I have been with this company for 10 years, and have shown steady advancement, but it appears there is no where left to advance unless I relocate, which I'd rather not do. I don't hate my job, but there is very little challenge left for me and I am getting bored.

I'd like to switch into marketing, but don't have very much experience. I checked several books out of the library on vocational guidance, but they are mostly directed at high school students trying to figure out what they want to be when they grown up.

I signed up for an aptitude test to see what it says about me. I know I am strong in business and have a master's in management, but I don't have a specific skill set to point to on a resume - I'm a generalist. I'm even considering working somewhere for free in my off hours to gain some experience - maybe then open my own shop?????

More later......