Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Life's Uncertainty
I can't believe we made it through the first week of school. Is it just my kids or does any one else's seem to act up as soon as they start going to school? I have been noticing a trend of my kids behaving well during vacations and weekends. But as soon as they start school, they start to adopt other kid's behaviors, or that is where I think it is coming from, even though the less to be desired attitudes don't work in my house, they still try it. I want to believe that they are just trying to find themselves and testing the limits. But there is something inside of me that is telling me that this "new" behavior is here to stay. Oh Gosh, I hope not. This year it is yelling, last year it was getting in trouble during school, the year before it was leaving class without permission and the year before that it was wanting to wear make-up. What is going on?
I am hoping for another good school year for the kids because last year they got perfect attendance. They missed zero days, even though each of them went to school when they were sick. They still went to school and didn't go to the nurse's office and made it through the day without having to come home. This year we are shooting for perfect attendance again, but this time with zero tardies. So far, mission accomplished.
On another note, my car was hit the first week in August. My husband and I went to a concert and we got home in the wee A.M. hours. We had just gotten home when our neighbors were outside and asked if we heard that. Heard what, I asked. They said someone just hit my car about five minutes ago. We were walking up and down the road in the dark. Finally, they found the tire marks in the road which went on our grass and into the back of my car. Someone hit it and did not leave any information. I have basic car insurance, which does not cover hit and runs. This is not good. I couldn't believe that someone could just hit my car and just run off, pretending like it never happened. Do they have any idea the snowball effect that is happening because of their dishonesty? First of all, this is not only my car, this is a safe, reliable vehicle for my kids to get to their doctor's appointments, school, visit family and friends, travel to work and whatever daily business may occur. They took away from me but ultimately, from my kids. My car is overdue for a grease and oil change and has a July inspection sticker. I haven't done any of those because I wanted to decide what I was going to do with my car. I don't have the money to fix it. I didn't know if I was going to save money to fix it or if I was going to have to sell it. So, I went to Rick's Auto Body to get an estimate. A man came outside and looked at my car. I showed him where and explained what happened. He was walking around to the other side of my car and noticed another damage. I told him not to worry about that because that was from a different accident and I had an insurance check to fix that, but I wasn't worried about that anymore because of the new damage. He introduced himself and said, I am Rick by the way and we shook hands. I said Rick himself? And he said yes. How cool? It is not often that you meet the actual owner. Before going there, I had just been at a friend's house. Her mother offered to pay me to iron her laundry, which I agreed to. The basket was in my car because from her house, I went straight to Rick's Auto Body. He asked me to take everything out of the back and he would take a look at it. So, I went and did exactly that. While taking the basket out, I explained that a woman was paying me to iron her laundry. He said: so you are capable of working, then. I answered yes. He asked me if I had computer experience, if I knew how to type, if I had any office experience. All of which were answered with a big fat yes. So he said that he liked me, he didn't know why, but he was going to talk to the girl that hires and fires about me and ask her to talk to me. How awesome is that?! Then he said he would fix the driver's side door, the back door, put new tires on, an alignment and fix the tail light, so that it would pass inspection for the amount of the check. How awesome? I don't think anyone, including himself has any idea of how much that helped me. Here I was before even going there, wondering how was I going to get a new car if I had to sell mine, feeling down on myself for not having a job and feeling bad for the kids because they would have to walk to and from school, no matter the weather or weather conditions. And with one man and one moment, he changed my whole life's perspective.
The next day I showed up to drop off the check, car, keys and have that interview. I sat down with Sue and we chatted for a bit about my work experience, employment history, work hours and such. It was nice to be able to talk about that but at the same time, nerve wracking. You never know what people are thinking inside their heads.
I am hoping for another good school year for the kids because last year they got perfect attendance. They missed zero days, even though each of them went to school when they were sick. They still went to school and didn't go to the nurse's office and made it through the day without having to come home. This year we are shooting for perfect attendance again, but this time with zero tardies. So far, mission accomplished.
On another note, my car was hit the first week in August. My husband and I went to a concert and we got home in the wee A.M. hours. We had just gotten home when our neighbors were outside and asked if we heard that. Heard what, I asked. They said someone just hit my car about five minutes ago. We were walking up and down the road in the dark. Finally, they found the tire marks in the road which went on our grass and into the back of my car. Someone hit it and did not leave any information. I have basic car insurance, which does not cover hit and runs. This is not good. I couldn't believe that someone could just hit my car and just run off, pretending like it never happened. Do they have any idea the snowball effect that is happening because of their dishonesty? First of all, this is not only my car, this is a safe, reliable vehicle for my kids to get to their doctor's appointments, school, visit family and friends, travel to work and whatever daily business may occur. They took away from me but ultimately, from my kids. My car is overdue for a grease and oil change and has a July inspection sticker. I haven't done any of those because I wanted to decide what I was going to do with my car. I don't have the money to fix it. I didn't know if I was going to save money to fix it or if I was going to have to sell it. So, I went to Rick's Auto Body to get an estimate. A man came outside and looked at my car. I showed him where and explained what happened. He was walking around to the other side of my car and noticed another damage. I told him not to worry about that because that was from a different accident and I had an insurance check to fix that, but I wasn't worried about that anymore because of the new damage. He introduced himself and said, I am Rick by the way and we shook hands. I said Rick himself? And he said yes. How cool? It is not often that you meet the actual owner. Before going there, I had just been at a friend's house. Her mother offered to pay me to iron her laundry, which I agreed to. The basket was in my car because from her house, I went straight to Rick's Auto Body. He asked me to take everything out of the back and he would take a look at it. So, I went and did exactly that. While taking the basket out, I explained that a woman was paying me to iron her laundry. He said: so you are capable of working, then. I answered yes. He asked me if I had computer experience, if I knew how to type, if I had any office experience. All of which were answered with a big fat yes. So he said that he liked me, he didn't know why, but he was going to talk to the girl that hires and fires about me and ask her to talk to me. How awesome is that?! Then he said he would fix the driver's side door, the back door, put new tires on, an alignment and fix the tail light, so that it would pass inspection for the amount of the check. How awesome? I don't think anyone, including himself has any idea of how much that helped me. Here I was before even going there, wondering how was I going to get a new car if I had to sell mine, feeling down on myself for not having a job and feeling bad for the kids because they would have to walk to and from school, no matter the weather or weather conditions. And with one man and one moment, he changed my whole life's perspective.
The next day I showed up to drop off the check, car, keys and have that interview. I sat down with Sue and we chatted for a bit about my work experience, employment history, work hours and such. It was nice to be able to talk about that but at the same time, nerve wracking. You never know what people are thinking inside their heads.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
I Love Google
I Love Google! I just do! Throughout the years of my disorganized online and offline life, Google has always been there, creating new and better ways to simply all aspects of life. Today they came out with Google Chrome. Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier. I was thinking it would be something less to be desired. I am a Firefox Fan, myself. But it turns out, I was wrong. I downloaded it today and have been using since that moment. I have to say... I Love It!
It seems quicker than Internet Explorer and surprisingly, doesn't slow my computer down one bit. My computer seems to shut off whenever it feels like it. This happens whether I use Internet Explorer or Firefox. I know it doesn't have anything to do with the browsers. That's not what I am getting at. When this does happen, if I am using Internet Explorer, I lose EVERY tab I had opened. I guess I could look through the history, but why when you could use FireFox. When this happens and you are using FireFox, it saves everything. So when you go to click on FireFox, it asks you if you would like to restore session or start a new one. There are no words to explain how crucial this is to me, because of my computer's illness.
It is inevitable. My computer did restart itself once, only once. That's right, it is not uncommon for my computer to restart itself as many times as it wants, nor does it feel that it needs to have a good reason why. It must be a Sagittarius, like ME! :)
I reloaded Google Chrome. It saves your Most Visited Sites, Recent Bookmarks and then has a neat little link that says Show Full History. This made it very easy to go find the pages that I had open and was working on, playing with, etc.
I have to say, I like it, I like it Alot!
The other things that Google has come out with that has helped me, made my life easier or tied everything together in one place are; Gmail - Google's own email. It automatically saves typed emails as drafts until you either delete them or send them. Saves all conversations with the person you are emailing and replying in one email, allows you to search, has the best spam filter that I have seen yet and when there is a date or time in the email, it asks you if you would like to add it to your Google Calendar.
Google Calendar is cool because you can make it private or public. You can also specify a person or persons to share your calendar with, emails you reminders if you choose and can save several calendars and you can color code each one.
Google Documents because your documents are web-based, so you can access them anytime you want, anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. I use mine for my resume and other miscellaneous things that I may want to access wherever.
Google Bookmarks - you can give them tags, add them to the notebook as well and just click a little star to bookmark it instead of the semi-lengthy process in Internet Explorer.
I also love their toolbar, it's all right there and you can send pages via your gmail account by simply right clicking and choosing send to gmail.
And last but not least, let's not forget about Blogger. I have never had a problem with Blogger, but wanted something that seemed less amateur. So for a while I was trying WordPress. But quickly found out that they don't allow you the amount of stuff that Blogger allows you for FREE.
And to me, FREE over rules everything else. 8)
The only thing I have not tried, but I will find out soon enough, is when you copy and paste from FireFox, it copies it as the html. I am hoping that Google Chrome will do this as well.
Monday, September 1, 2008
MySpace Mobsters Friend Adds and Friend Trains
Looking for more members to join your mob? Here is a link-dump of places to get more friends for mobsters!
Some sites ask you for your mobsters Id. This is NOT your MySpace Id.
In Mobsters, to find your id#: Click on My Mobster. Then click on stats and look at the url in the address bar. Your id is the last set of numbers in between the quotes at the end of the url.
So, for instance, my Mobsters Id is: 2234065177
and other sites ask for you MySpace Id.
To find your id# on myspace : The simplest way to find your id on myspace is to go to your profile, for example : myspace.com/yourprofile, and click on add to friends. Look at the url the address bar at the top, your id is at the end of &friendID=90012549. You can also right click on add to friends, click properties, and scroll the url to the right to get your id.
also, you should check out Mobster Survival Guide
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Most Feared Mobsters or Cheating?
Is this the case of The Most Feared Mobsters or is it cheating?
Check out these people in MySpace Mobsters, it seems that they are low levels, haven't completed many missions at all and yet they have ridiculous amounts of fights won and mobsters whacked. This is humanly impossible. I would love for my readers to take a look at these people and let me know what your take is on this. I am interested to hear some feedback.
MostFearedMobsta {id: 22398244347} Level 11 Insomniac
Stats:
Career Stats:
Missions Completed 15
Jailed 0
Escaped 0
Bounties Collected 7
Fight Stats:
Fights Won 44755
Fights Lost 328
Death 2
Mobsters Whacked 3082
Pussy Control {id: 22408382106} Level 6 Tycoon
Stats:
Career Stats:
Missions Completed 16
Jailed 0
Escaped 0
Bounties Collected 8
Fight Stats:
Fights Won 11677
Fights Lost 51
Death 5
Mobsters Whacked 929
Check out these people in MySpace Mobsters, it seems that they are low levels, haven't completed many missions at all and yet they have ridiculous amounts of fights won and mobsters whacked. This is humanly impossible. I would love for my readers to take a look at these people and let me know what your take is on this. I am interested to hear some feedback.
MostFearedMobsta {id: 22398244347} Level 11 Insomniac
Stats:
Career Stats:
Missions Completed 15
Jailed 0
Escaped 0
Bounties Collected 7
Fight Stats:
Fights Won 44755
Fights Lost 328
Death 2
Mobsters Whacked 3082
Pussy Control {id: 22408382106} Level 6 Tycoon
Stats:
Career Stats:
Missions Completed 16
Jailed 0
Escaped 0
Bounties Collected 8
Fight Stats:
Fights Won 11677
Fights Lost 51
Death 5
Mobsters Whacked 929
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Navigating MassLive is about to become easier
An even more complete look at WMass
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Navigating our Web site, MassLive.com, is about to become much easier.
Beginning on Wednesday, there will be a completely new home page designed to make finding what's important to you a snap - or a mouse-click, as it were.
The Web site team has gathered research data and listened to users for months before coming up with this new look. The changes are not the least bit superficial because the team pulled no punches in addressing impediments.
For example, one of the major benefits of the new home page will be a wider, less cluttered look that will make finding your favorite areas of interest effortless. And to make it easy to stay on track when moving around the Web site, a new navigation menu will be available throughout. An illustrated index of the site also will help, and that is a change that users cited often as much needed.
You weather devotees will be pleased to see that the usual current weather conditions, forecasts and access to live weather radar that has become a staple is being enhanced. Since New England weather changes more often than the price of gasoline, links to key weather information will be prominently displayed at the top of the home page, since it's top of mind. Users will be able to select the community that's most important to them in order to customize the weather information for their favorite town or even neighborhood. Severe weather alerts will show up on the home page 24/7.
MassLive is the Internet home for local news, sports and information about our region, and it is the place to go to make sure you're up-to-the-minute on local breaking news. Our reporters and photographers are devoted to getting the news to you via our Web site when it breaks and when they learn about it. We have reporters in courthouses, city and town halls, police stations, the Statehouse, sporting events - you name it. While a more complete story, sometimes with graphics, will appear in our daily newspaper the next morning, breaking news is put almost immediately on MassLive, and it is updated as more details become available.
I used to write news stories for radio and television stations, or broadcasters, so many moons ago that I've lost count. Back then, the editor's mantra to us was "immediacy is the soul of broadcasting." That's true today of news organizations such as ours that use the Internet to keep readers informed. That immediacy extends to the user, since you now can even sign up (no charge) for a feed that will alert you when we have posted a new local story on MassLive, and you can keep up with local breaking news via your cell phone.
In conjunction with the new MassLive home page, later this month, The Republican will begin running an extensive daily index on page A2 to assist our readers in finding content on the Web site that augments our print coverage. This could be videos, photo galleries, podcasts, searchable data bases and a host of other features to provide a complete look at everything Western Massachusetts.
Anyone who develops Web sites will tell you that the successful ones driven by news content must be vibrant, robust, searchable and interactive. Since MassLive.com was launched 10 years ago, it has become that and much more, and the new design will make it easier to zip to the page or content that's important to you, whether it's keeping up with local news or finding a restaurant, movie review, high school game results, stock quotes, what's on sale and what's for sale.
If you're shopping for a car, a house, an apartment, a refrigerator or a used mountain bike, you can find it. That's why they call it one-stop shopping. No matter what you're looking for, MassLive is by far the best local connection to the Greater Springfield market.
One of the fascinating segments of our Web site is the growth of interactivity. Citizens are now contributing news, information and content about the communities in which they live, and conversations, some civil and some not so civil, occur in the forums that focus on cities and towns in the region.
Many of you had a hand in shaping the new MassLive design, and you and others are invited to weigh in with your opinions and suggestions beginning Wednesday. I would say "Don't be shy," but we learned long ago that's really not necessary. So fire away.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Navigating our Web site, MassLive.com, is about to become much easier.
Beginning on Wednesday, there will be a completely new home page designed to make finding what's important to you a snap - or a mouse-click, as it were.
The Web site team has gathered research data and listened to users for months before coming up with this new look. The changes are not the least bit superficial because the team pulled no punches in addressing impediments.
For example, one of the major benefits of the new home page will be a wider, less cluttered look that will make finding your favorite areas of interest effortless. And to make it easy to stay on track when moving around the Web site, a new navigation menu will be available throughout. An illustrated index of the site also will help, and that is a change that users cited often as much needed.
You weather devotees will be pleased to see that the usual current weather conditions, forecasts and access to live weather radar that has become a staple is being enhanced. Since New England weather changes more often than the price of gasoline, links to key weather information will be prominently displayed at the top of the home page, since it's top of mind. Users will be able to select the community that's most important to them in order to customize the weather information for their favorite town or even neighborhood. Severe weather alerts will show up on the home page 24/7.
MassLive is the Internet home for local news, sports and information about our region, and it is the place to go to make sure you're up-to-the-minute on local breaking news. Our reporters and photographers are devoted to getting the news to you via our Web site when it breaks and when they learn about it. We have reporters in courthouses, city and town halls, police stations, the Statehouse, sporting events - you name it. While a more complete story, sometimes with graphics, will appear in our daily newspaper the next morning, breaking news is put almost immediately on MassLive, and it is updated as more details become available.
I used to write news stories for radio and television stations, or broadcasters, so many moons ago that I've lost count. Back then, the editor's mantra to us was "immediacy is the soul of broadcasting." That's true today of news organizations such as ours that use the Internet to keep readers informed. That immediacy extends to the user, since you now can even sign up (no charge) for a feed that will alert you when we have posted a new local story on MassLive, and you can keep up with local breaking news via your cell phone.
In conjunction with the new MassLive home page, later this month, The Republican will begin running an extensive daily index on page A2 to assist our readers in finding content on the Web site that augments our print coverage. This could be videos, photo galleries, podcasts, searchable data bases and a host of other features to provide a complete look at everything Western Massachusetts.
Anyone who develops Web sites will tell you that the successful ones driven by news content must be vibrant, robust, searchable and interactive. Since MassLive.com was launched 10 years ago, it has become that and much more, and the new design will make it easier to zip to the page or content that's important to you, whether it's keeping up with local news or finding a restaurant, movie review, high school game results, stock quotes, what's on sale and what's for sale.
If you're shopping for a car, a house, an apartment, a refrigerator or a used mountain bike, you can find it. That's why they call it one-stop shopping. No matter what you're looking for, MassLive is by far the best local connection to the Greater Springfield market.
One of the fascinating segments of our Web site is the growth of interactivity. Citizens are now contributing news, information and content about the communities in which they live, and conversations, some civil and some not so civil, occur in the forums that focus on cities and towns in the region.
Many of you had a hand in shaping the new MassLive design, and you and others are invited to weigh in with your opinions and suggestions beginning Wednesday. I would say "Don't be shy," but we learned long ago that's really not necessary. So fire away.
Some of my Favorite Alice In Wonderland Quotes
At first, Alice in Wonderland quotes sound quite mundane. However, if you search them carefully for inner-meaning, you will find these quotes rich in truisms and life's great philosophies. Find your philosophical statement in these Alice in Wonderland quotes. Alice
What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?
Rabbit
Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!
Alice
Curiouser and curiouser!
Alice
I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!
Eaglet
Speak English! I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and I don't believe you do either!
Alice
I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir, because I'm not myself you see.
The Duchess
If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.
Alice
If it had grown up, it would have made a dreadfully ugly child; but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.
The Cat
We're all mad here.
The Hatter
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
The Hatter
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at.
The Queen
Off with her head!
The Duchess
Tut, tut, child! Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.
The Duchess
Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.
The Mock Turtle
We called him Tortoise because he taught us.
The Mock Turtle
Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic -- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.
The Mock Turtle
Well, I never heard it before, but it sounds uncommon nonsense.
The King
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Alice
I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it.
The Queen
Sentence first -- verdict afterwards.
Alice
You're nothing but a pack of cards!
Alice
But then, shall I never get any older than I am now? That'll be a comfort, one way -- never to be an old woman -- but then -- always to have lessons to learn!
Alice
A cat may look at a king. I've read that in some book, but I don't remember where.
Alice
I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it.
The Duchess
That's nothing to what I could say if I chose.
The Queen
Now, I give you fair warning, either you or your head must be off, and that in about half no time! Take your choice!
Alice
If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?
Alice
It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.
Doorknob
Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.
Mad Hatter
No wonder you're late. Why, this watch is exactly two days slow.
Alice
Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is -- oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!
Alice
It was much pleasanter at home, when one wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits.
Alice
Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin; but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever say in my life!
The Duchess
There's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is -- The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours.
The Mock Turtle
What is the use of repeating all that stuff, if you don't explain it as you go on? It's by far the most confusing thing I ever heard!
The Mock Turtle
Ah! Then yours wasn't a really good school. Now at ours they had at the end of the bill. French, music, and washing -- extra.
Alice
Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin.
What is the use of a book, without pictures or conversations?
Rabbit
Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!
Alice
Curiouser and curiouser!
Alice
I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!
Eaglet
Speak English! I don't know the meaning of half those long words, and I don't believe you do either!
Alice
I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir, because I'm not myself you see.
The Duchess
If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does.
Alice
If it had grown up, it would have made a dreadfully ugly child; but it makes rather a handsome pig, I think.
The Cat
We're all mad here.
The Hatter
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
The Hatter
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at.
The Queen
Off with her head!
The Duchess
Tut, tut, child! Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.
The Duchess
Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.
The Mock Turtle
We called him Tortoise because he taught us.
The Mock Turtle
Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic -- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.
The Mock Turtle
Well, I never heard it before, but it sounds uncommon nonsense.
The King
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Alice
I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it.
The Queen
Sentence first -- verdict afterwards.
Alice
You're nothing but a pack of cards!
Alice
But then, shall I never get any older than I am now? That'll be a comfort, one way -- never to be an old woman -- but then -- always to have lessons to learn!
Alice
A cat may look at a king. I've read that in some book, but I don't remember where.
Alice
I think I should understand that better, if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it.
The Duchess
That's nothing to what I could say if I chose.
The Queen
Now, I give you fair warning, either you or your head must be off, and that in about half no time! Take your choice!
Alice
If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?
Alice
It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.
Doorknob
Read the directions and directly you will be directed in the right direction.
Mad Hatter
No wonder you're late. Why, this watch is exactly two days slow.
Alice
Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is -- oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!
Alice
It was much pleasanter at home, when one wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits.
Alice
Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin; but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever say in my life!
The Duchess
There's a large mustard-mine near here. And the moral of that is -- The more there is of mine, the less there is of yours.
The Mock Turtle
What is the use of repeating all that stuff, if you don't explain it as you go on? It's by far the most confusing thing I ever heard!
The Mock Turtle
Ah! Then yours wasn't a really good school. Now at ours they had at the end of the bill. French, music, and washing -- extra.
Alice
Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Funnier Side of Mobsters
I was banking my money on mobsters this morning and read my bulletins. Someone had posted a link to Crabby Old Geezer. He writes about how he innocently got started into mobsters in a very funny and cute way. I have to say, by this particular post...he isn't very crabby at all. :O)
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350" caption="Crabby Old Geezer"]
[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350" caption="Crabby Old Geezer"]
[/caption]
Sunday, August 17, 2008
My day is on hold
My day was on hold today because I slept in and Mel still was not home. She visited a "friend" last night and ended up sleeping over there. She got home at around 4 p.m. today. I kept calling her cell phone but I think she didn't answer because she didn't have service.
When she finally got home, she called me and wanted to know if I wanted to come over to take care of the stuff. I wanted to, but in a bigger way, I really didn't. I wanted to earlier, but not now or later. For today, at least. Today would have been perfect, though. Because my husband was home and he could have stayed with the kids so that Mel and I could put that stuff into one of our vehicles and bring it somewhere. Other than that, the kids would have to come with us and we really didn't have the room to spare.
I was supposed to go over to her house and see about having the tag sale and then dispose of all the stuff. Since it was Sunday and all and I was really tired from the day before, I spent the day playing Mafia Wars and Mobsters. I finally got ahead, a little. I did the dumbest thing ever I think on Mobsters. Two times already, and I did not learn my lesson. I sold my properties hoping to get more money. But in fact, I forgot that when you sell your equipment and/or properties, you don't get the full amount that you paid. You only get back half of that. So, I ended up having to re-buy them to keep my income coming in. Meaning that I spent two times more than necessary. Secondly, I am not strong enough, members-wise, that when I attacked, I ended up having to continuously pay money to be healed at the hospital. Meaning that I was spending my money instead of investing it.
So today I spent the day working on gaining more members. You can have up to 500 members and somewhere else I think I read that you can have 501 members. Either way, I have a ways to catch up on that. So now I am almost satisfied with my amount of members. I hope to get even more, though.
I also worked on buying properties so that I can increase my hourly income so that I can buy back the stuff that I sold.
Meanwhile doing missions after my energy regenerated, which allowed me to invest it and put some in the bank so that I could fight a little bit and be able to afford to visit the hospital.
When she finally got home, she called me and wanted to know if I wanted to come over to take care of the stuff. I wanted to, but in a bigger way, I really didn't. I wanted to earlier, but not now or later. For today, at least. Today would have been perfect, though. Because my husband was home and he could have stayed with the kids so that Mel and I could put that stuff into one of our vehicles and bring it somewhere. Other than that, the kids would have to come with us and we really didn't have the room to spare.
I was supposed to go over to her house and see about having the tag sale and then dispose of all the stuff. Since it was Sunday and all and I was really tired from the day before, I spent the day playing Mafia Wars and Mobsters. I finally got ahead, a little. I did the dumbest thing ever I think on Mobsters. Two times already, and I did not learn my lesson. I sold my properties hoping to get more money. But in fact, I forgot that when you sell your equipment and/or properties, you don't get the full amount that you paid. You only get back half of that. So, I ended up having to re-buy them to keep my income coming in. Meaning that I spent two times more than necessary. Secondly, I am not strong enough, members-wise, that when I attacked, I ended up having to continuously pay money to be healed at the hospital. Meaning that I was spending my money instead of investing it.
So today I spent the day working on gaining more members. You can have up to 500 members and somewhere else I think I read that you can have 501 members. Either way, I have a ways to catch up on that. So now I am almost satisfied with my amount of members. I hope to get even more, though.
I also worked on buying properties so that I can increase my hourly income so that I can buy back the stuff that I sold.
Meanwhile doing missions after my energy regenerated, which allowed me to invest it and put some in the bank so that I could fight a little bit and be able to afford to visit the hospital.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
A moment of Zen
I had a few moments of zen between yesterday and today. The first thing is about Stuff. Yes, like George Carlin put it best;
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac]
Either way, that man was right. My zen about stuff has actually come about quite a few times over the past few years. But I have a hard time getting rid of stuff. I am what many may call a "Hoarder". Or in my case, a "Compulsive Hoarder". According to WikiPedia (Which in my opinion, is pretty reliable for it's content and information) and also, for those of you who may be wondering; no, my situation has not been clinically diagnosed, it says;
I finally came to the zen or realization that the reason why I held onto all of this stuff was because I wanted to give it away to someone who really did need it or sell it. So, today my friend, Mel and I had a tag sale and I brought some of my "stuff" to the tag sale. Today, I sold my stuff for .10 cents each item, fill a shopping bag for $2.00 or fill a trash bag for $5.00. I even allowed bargaining. It was pretty fun, and for the most part, everyone was satisfied with the price. But then again, it all didn't sell. I was for sure this was a way to get rid of it.
After cooking in the sun all day and finally no more people stopping, we decided to pack up. We weren't sure if we were going to have it again tomorrow or not. So, we decided to play it by ear. (We both are Sagittarius's). Just before packing up, we decided that we would leave everything out, just the way it was during the tag sale and whatever made it by morning, we would sell. We even went on freecycle to let people know that the stuff was out there. And I left to go home and she left to go visit a "friend".
I got half-way home when she called me to tell me that I should cover everything up because it was raining where she was and said the rain was moving my way. So I took by what she was saying that we are going to have it again tomorrow. So, I drove back to cover it up with the tarps that were on the ground for the stuff to lay on. Meaning that I had to pack up all the stuff, alone...and with my children's help.
And that was when another "Zen Moment" happened again. I was questioning myself and asking myself "What am I doing!?!?" "I just wasted more gas to drive back to her house" "I should just leave it there and let people take it" "Whatever gets wrecked we can just throw it away" "There I go again, saving stuff" and most importantly, She knows I have a problem with saving stuff and rescuing stuff from being wrecked. She said that she would help me get rid of the stuff and then she calls me frantically to save the stuff.
George Carlin on StuffOr view it on you tube here:
Actually this is just a place for my stuff, ya know? That's all, a little place for my stuff. That's all I want, that's all you need in life, is a little place for your stuff, ya know? I can see it on your table, everybody's got a little place for their stuff. This is my stuff, that's your stuff, that'll be his stuff over there. That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That's all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time.
A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down, you see everybody's got a little pile of stuff. All the little piles of stuff. And when you leave your house, you gotta lock it up. Wouldn't want somebody to come by and take some of your stuff. They always take the good stuff. They never bother with that crap you're saving. All they want is the shiny stuff. That's what your house is, a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get...more stuff!
Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore. Did you ever notice when you go to somebody else's house, you never quite feel a hundred percent at home? You know why? No room for your stuff. Somebody else's stuff is all over the goddamn place! And if you stay overnight, unexpectedly, they give you a little bedroom to sleep in. Bedroom they haven't used in about eleven years. Someone died in it, eleven years ago. And they haven't moved any of his stuff! Right next to the bed there's usually a dresser or a bureau of some kind, and there's NO ROOM for your stuff on it. Somebody else's shit is on the dresser.
Have you noticed that their stuff is shit and your shit is stuff? God! And you say, "Get that shit offa there and let me put my stuff down!"
Sometimes you leave your house to go on vacation. And you gotta take some of your stuff with you. Gotta take about two big suitcases full of stuff, when you go on vacation. You gotta take a smaller version of your house. It's the second version of your stuff. And you're gonna fly all the way to Honolulu. Gonna go across the continent, across half an ocean to Honolulu. You get down to the hotel room in Honolulu and you open up your suitcase and you put away all your stuff. "Here's a place here, put a little bit of stuff there, put some stuff here, put some stuff--you put your stuff there, I'll put some stuff--here's another place for stuff, look at this, I'll put some stuff here..." And even though you're far away from home, you start to get used to it, you start to feel okay, because after all, you do have some of your stuff with you. That's when your friend calls up from Maui, and says, "Hey, why don'tchya come over to Maui for the weekend and spend a couple of nights over here."
Oh, no! Now what do I pack? Right, you've gotta pack an even SMALLER version of your stuff. The third version of your house. Just enough stuff to take to Maui for a coupla days. You get over to Maui--I mean you're really getting extended now, when you think about it. You got stuff ALL the way back on the mainland, you got stuff on another island, you got stuff on this island. I mean, supply lines are getting longer and harder to maintain. You get over to your friend's house on Maui and he gives you a little place to sleep, a little bed right next to his windowsill or something. You put some of your stuff up there. You put your stuff up there. You got your Visine, you got your nail clippers, and you put everything up. It takes about an hour and a half, but after a while you finally feel okay, say, "All right, I got my nail clippers, I must be okay." That's when your friend says, "Aaaaay, I think tonight we'll go over the other side of the island, visit a pal of mine and maybe stay over."
Aww, no. NOW what do you pack? Right--you gotta pack an even SMALLER version of your stuff. The fourth version of your house. Only the stuff you know you're gonna need. Money, keys, comb, wallet, lighter, hanky, pen, smokes, rubber and change. Well, only the stuff you HOPE you're gonna need.
All material written and owned by George Carlin.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvgN5gCuLac]
Either way, that man was right. My zen about stuff has actually come about quite a few times over the past few years. But I have a hard time getting rid of stuff. I am what many may call a "Hoarder". Or in my case, a "Compulsive Hoarder". According to WikiPedia (Which in my opinion, is pretty reliable for it's content and information) and also, for those of you who may be wondering; no, my situation has not been clinically diagnosed, it says;
Compulsive hoarding (or pathological hoarding) is the acquisition of, and failure to use or discard, such a large number of seemingly useless possessions that it causes significant clutter and impairment to basic living activities such as mobility, cooking, cleaning, showering or sleeping.So, back to my point. Over the years I have collected clothes, baby stuff, furniture and so on. Many things should have been thrown away, but I never could bare to. I always have the "luck" of throwing something away and then needing it or finding out that someone needed that particular item. I think a very large part of it stems from when I was pregnant and didn't work, and then had my children and became a stay at home mom. We were a family of two living on one income and then became a family of three and four, still on one income. So, to save money, I saved all the baby stuff for the next one, and then I thought we would have a few more. But we didn't. And then I saved it for when my brothers and sisters had their own children. But one sister had her first child while my children were still using their stuff and then a brother who moved to a different state and my other sister didn't even want it. So, here I was in this situation where we don't have a need for baby stuff anymore. I tried to sell it on ebay, but quickly found that I didn't really have the time to sit and check my email for questions every hour. And then I tried to sell it at a tag sale. A lot of it went, but also, a lot did not sell. I didn't want to sell it at a tag sale price, I tried to sell it for what it was going for on eBay. And again, I was stuck with all that "stuff".
It is not clear whether compulsive hoarding is a condition in itself, or simply a symptom of other related conditions.[1] Several studies have reported a correlation between hoarding and the presence and / or severity of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Hoarding behaviour is also related to obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). Hoarding rubbish may be referred to as syllogomania or disposophobia.
Characteristics
While there is no definition of compulsive hoarding in accepted diagnostic criteria (such as the current DSM), Frost and Hartl (1996) provide the following defining features:[2]
The hoarder may mistakingly believe that the hoarded items are very valuable, or the hoarder may know that they are useless. A hoarder of the first kind may show off a cutlery set claiming it to be made of silver and mother-of-pearl, disregarding the fact that the packaging clearly states the cutlery is made of steel and plastic. A hoarder of the second type may have a fridge filled with food items that expired months ago without ever eating them, but would vehemently resist any attempts from relatives to dispose of the unusable food items.
- the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of limited value.
- living spaces sufficiently cluttered so as to preclude activities for which those spaces were designed
- significant distress or impairment in functioning caused by the hoarding
- Reluctance or inability to return borrowed items. As boundaries blur, impulsive acquisitiveness could sometimes lead to kleptomania or stealing.
I finally came to the zen or realization that the reason why I held onto all of this stuff was because I wanted to give it away to someone who really did need it or sell it. So, today my friend, Mel and I had a tag sale and I brought some of my "stuff" to the tag sale. Today, I sold my stuff for .10 cents each item, fill a shopping bag for $2.00 or fill a trash bag for $5.00. I even allowed bargaining. It was pretty fun, and for the most part, everyone was satisfied with the price. But then again, it all didn't sell. I was for sure this was a way to get rid of it.
After cooking in the sun all day and finally no more people stopping, we decided to pack up. We weren't sure if we were going to have it again tomorrow or not. So, we decided to play it by ear. (We both are Sagittarius's). Just before packing up, we decided that we would leave everything out, just the way it was during the tag sale and whatever made it by morning, we would sell. We even went on freecycle to let people know that the stuff was out there. And I left to go home and she left to go visit a "friend".
I got half-way home when she called me to tell me that I should cover everything up because it was raining where she was and said the rain was moving my way. So I took by what she was saying that we are going to have it again tomorrow. So, I drove back to cover it up with the tarps that were on the ground for the stuff to lay on. Meaning that I had to pack up all the stuff, alone...and with my children's help.
And that was when another "Zen Moment" happened again. I was questioning myself and asking myself "What am I doing!?!?" "I just wasted more gas to drive back to her house" "I should just leave it there and let people take it" "Whatever gets wrecked we can just throw it away" "There I go again, saving stuff" and most importantly, She knows I have a problem with saving stuff and rescuing stuff from being wrecked. She said that she would help me get rid of the stuff and then she calls me frantically to save the stuff.
Mobster Mayhem
While surfing around the internet tonight, I ran into this interesting article. Something I did not know, probably because I have just recently started playing these games is that Mobsters used to allow you to purchase rewards points. But apparently MySpace had suspended that application instead saying that they were "down for maintenance". But because people had exchanged U.S. Dollars and paid for "enhanced game play", they were required to continue usage of the game (for a reasonable time) or it can be interpreted as fraud.
Quoted from the site;
"If the application you created is in violation of MySpace’s rules, regulations, or criteria then you can not only be brought to court with civil charges demanding the immediate reimbursement of funds to participants plus legal fees, but also you could suffer punitive damages. Due to the sheer number of participants who exchanged US Dollars for “Favor Points”, the claims would inevitably be consolidated into a class action lawsuit against you. Additionally, criminal charges can be filed.
Furthermore, if MySpace allowed your application to operate in violation of it’s policies (purposefully, or through its own incompetence) on as large of a scale as it did while allowing you to collect monetary compensation from it’s users then MySpace could also be held liable and can potentially suffer the ramifications of a very public class-action lawsuit aimed at punitive damages against MySpace or its parent company News Corp."
Quoted from the site;
"If the application you created is in violation of MySpace’s rules, regulations, or criteria then you can not only be brought to court with civil charges demanding the immediate reimbursement of funds to participants plus legal fees, but also you could suffer punitive damages. Due to the sheer number of participants who exchanged US Dollars for “Favor Points”, the claims would inevitably be consolidated into a class action lawsuit against you. Additionally, criminal charges can be filed.
Furthermore, if MySpace allowed your application to operate in violation of it’s policies (purposefully, or through its own incompetence) on as large of a scale as it did while allowing you to collect monetary compensation from it’s users then MySpace could also be held liable and can potentially suffer the ramifications of a very public class-action lawsuit aimed at punitive damages against MySpace or its parent company News Corp."
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