|
Viewing 64 - 72 out of 244 Blogs.
| Page:
|
|
8 |
|
|
Many of my cyber-friends know that I’m not much for watching TV. I love music, and I love to learn new stuff, so I am a fan of YouTube. Politics is something that I won’t discuss if at all possible. So much of what is on TV is focused, either directly or indirectly, to current trends and politics, peppered with antagonistic, hurtful, and unsubstantiated accusations. I’m a Canadian, living in an area that apparently produces ‘dirty oil’. Maybe they meant to say that oil makes your clothes dirty!!!! We have our share of domestic and government problems, as do many other countries. We are inundated with American News and politics, as well as our own, but in a democracy, it is our votes that count. Voting to me is still a privilege, and I have never missed an opportunity to cast my ballot. Some will applaud the outcome of the vote, others will disagree, but we have to live with it. Why is it so hard to find a positive result instigated by a government decision? In my opinion, the rhetoric, the falsehoods, the anger, the personal attacks are shameful and degrading. Wouldn’t it be nice if the media would choose guidelines to integrity and honor into their reporting, instead of headlining disasters, crime, and anything that will fuel controversy? How can we, the public, know for sure, if what is published is the ‘whole truth, and nothing but the truth… so help me God! Regarding blogs posted on ‘The Hill’, I again read the guidelines posted in Terms & Conditions by the Owners of NOTH, and adhered to by Staff. It is their goal to keep NOTH a happy and well-run social network, including the content of the many Groups and Blogs. We don’t own the site, they do, so they get to make the rules. Over the almost 10 years as a member and Staff Helper on NOTH, I have met wonderful people, and some have become personal ‘cyber’ friends who I will never meet face to face. Our lifestyle may be very different, our likes and dislikes are interesting, and our opinions are our own without judgement. I’m still a huge fan! I love WORDS… written, spoken, printed! I write blogs… long ones at times. Recently, I have been ‘itching’ to write another blog but couldn’t decide on a topic, until this morning. I reread the Terms and Conditions of NOTH, posted at the bottom of every page on this site, to refresh my mind of the guidelines for Blogs. Here is the part that was a good reminder …. “..... A blog, simply put, is something you have written, or written about. As long as you are not slandering anyone, we don't have too many rules. Please don't post things you have copy/pasted from some place, don't advertise anything, don't link to other sites, and don't use it for a sounding/complaint board. …..” My hubby reminds me when I talk too much, and I have read many books on many topics in my lifetime… some entertaining books, some teaching books, some controversial books. We have enough books in our home library that would make a good start for a community library. The best and treasured book is the Holy Bible… a guidebook in my life. My eyes are not what they used to be, so I now read it on my tablet, my phone, my computer (whatever is handy), replacing the leather-bound Bible in our library that was gifted to me by my parents. It helps me learn what I need to know, what I want to know, what I strive to be … and to be reminded the GOD IS LOVE … not God HAS love! It is a treasure of words! 
Tags: Canadian U.S Blogs News Books
Last week, I experienced several ‘gold-star’ events and my mind is still whirling. It was a week of emotional highs and lows, mixed with hugs, smiles and tears. In my quiet times back home, I’ve thought about the friends that I have ‘accumulated’ over more than ‘three score and ten’ years in my life. Friends… how did they get to be on my ‘List of Friends’! Where did I meet them? What happened to make us think that we could be friends? My week began with a text message, telling us that a long-time friend had passed away after a devastating disease. Our emotions were mixed… sad and thankful! He no longer had to suffer but sad for his wife and family. I had known him for many years, since my high school days, and my hubby knew him in business. We had many mutual friends who attended the memorial service to honor him. I reconnected with friends that I knew in my teen years… school friends, youth group friends, and ‘sisterhood’ friends! In spite of the added grey hair and visible wrinkles, we still recognized each other. I must admit that there were instances where the greeting started with, “I know who you are, but I don’t remember your name!” Following that introduction, the fond memories began to surface. The following day, I was able to attend an Open House event, to celebrate the 60th Wedding Anniversary of long-time friends. The celebrating bride had been my locker partner in High School. That was a long time ago! A great crowd of family and friends attended to tell stories, enjoy great food, and ‘catch-up’ with friends and acquaintances. To top off the week, two long-time friends and I were able to meet for a visit and lunch. We had been a vocal trio in our teen years, singing in our church choir and youth group. Following high school, we went our separate ways for education, marriage, and family. To the best of our recollection, we had not been together for at least 50 years. Needless to say, our lunch time was filled with conversation but little food. After two and a half hours, it was time to leave but it seemed that we had just started our journey down memory lane. I also have ‘cyber-friends’ that I treasure. How did they become my friends? In the beginning, it seemed like a repeat of having ‘pen-pals’ in school. We were assigned a student in a different country who was in the same grade, and we knew their name. We wrote letters, told them about our school, our family, our favorite sport, etc., and sometimes, if there was a camera available, sent a picture so that we had a face to associate with the letters. We would eventually learn that there were some things that we had in common, some things were completely foreign to each other, but it was a special day when a letter arrived from that ‘special friend’. Sometimes the contact was only for that school year, sometimes it lasted longer, but it never entered our expectations that we would ever meet face to face.
Does any of that sound familiar? Our Pen Pals are now on the Internet, halfway across the world, and we can have two-way conversations with them in real time. If we don’t speak the same language, we can exchange messages and comments (and emails, if preferred) that can be translated for us. We read their profile, look for some common interests, send friendly greetings… and sometimes we start sharing personal stories. Even though we don’t know their full name or how to contact them when they are off The Hill, they have become a cyber-friend who we may never meet in person, but their friendship is still treasured. I'm so thankful for each person who I can call my friend!
Tags: Friends School Celebrate
I don’t think that I ever explained … and perhaps no one has asked, but I’m here nonetheless! It’s about my username here on The Hill. I’ve often thought I should change it and pick one that sounds less “self-centered”! There is a story about how I picked it in the first place. About thirty-five years ago, when our children left our ‘nest’ and ventured on their own, I was looking for something to help fill my time… being that I had been a full time homemaker, taxi service, and weekend hostess to a gang of kids. I had been away from the nursing profession for too long, and not interested in returning to the ‘halls of learning’. However, I had been introduced to a fancy machine that was called a computer, and it grabbed my attention. My hubby thought that if I learned how to use a thing like that, perhaps it would be of help in his real estate business. That was the beginning of my ‘love affair’ with the computer. The first thing that I had to learn was the language in the instructions… I could read English very well, but I needed to have a dictionary to find out the meaning of words in the instruction. I did all the tutorials, but they were boring. I had read that for a small amount of money, I could get a disc with some ‘pictures’ that could be added to my letters. For five dollars, I could order a disc with 50 graphics. WOW! My husband didn’t think that what the dot matrix printer produced was ‘professional’ looking as what a typewriter could produce, so he purchased a ‘daisy-wheel’ printer for my computer. It was just like a typewriter, except I didn’t have to push the handle that moved to the next line, it didn’t ring a bell as I approached the end of the line, and it printed at a lightning speed of 17 characters per second! We stood and watched it in utter amazement. However, I no longer could use those wonderful ‘graphics’... that was just for the dot matrix printer. My venture outside of our home was to do medical transcribing… it seemed like I was able to have a finger (just my little finger) in the medical community. My first job didn’t last too long because there was no Internet, and I would have to drive to the city to pick up dictation tapes, go home to my office, transcribe, print the files, drive back to the city, pick up revisions (and my errors), back home… do you get my drift? Any money that I earned paid for the gas in my car to drive back and forth. Jumping ahead… new technology, upgraded office computers, etc. and the Internet. I again ventured out and did contract work for seven years in a medical clinic. I loved it, kept learning computer stuff, and hearing about all the changes taking place in the medical community. I also did a lot of volunteer “computer” work in our community and in our church congregation. Then my husband suggested that I set up my own company and get some pay for work that I could do at home. What should I call my company that hasn’t been already registered? I would be looking for work in the small town near us, rather than travel to the city, and I planned to create suggested layouts for business cards, local advertising, Welcome Wagon participants, etc., and then let the prospective customer decide what they would prefer. Starting from ‘square one’ I would have to learn about their preferences. With all that in mind… my registered company was "Your Choice" Designs! Now you know where the username came from! 
Tags: Computer Internet Designs Logo Username
I’ve had some extra time this past week to do different things, some that I put off for a long time, and some were experiments that I’ve thought about before, but didn’t have any “spare” time. It has been very cold in our area… some claiming that there were a few record lows in the past century. Of course, there are always some who will complain if it is only two degrees below freezing, or raining on their planned day for travelling, or shopping, or any other outdoor activity, or the heat is so intense that it is causing someone to sweat, even without any physical activity. I agree that these examples are extreme, but if you have any awareness of global news, what would you do if you were in a different location or situation? What would you do if you lived in Australia, were asked to evacuate your home and all your possessions, with the possibility of returning to nothing but ashes? A dear friend of mine, who moved to Australia less than a year ago, is in that position. What would you do if you lived in the Philippines and could watch the explosion of the Taal volcano? Several of our Phillipino friends are scrambling to get help to relatives and friends in that situation What would you do if you were a new resident in a far-away country, and you lost family members in a massive plane crash? Many who died in that crash live in our province, and we hear and read family stories who are trying to figure out what they can do for the remaining family members who live here. What would you do if you woke up in Newfoundland and discovered that the snowstorm during the night had buried your car, blocked your doors, had no electricity, and you needed medical care? I can only imagine what is going on in those neighborhoods. I have no answer, even to myself, because major stress-causing situations in my life are still “small events” compared to what we are hearing this month. There is no excuse for complaining about a bit of cold weather, the inconvenience caused by the tardy snowplow, or the need for an extra layer of clothing.
It seems to me that we need to be more thankful… and do less complaining. Sometimes, we could just say, “It is... what it is!”
Tags: Stories Hard Times Imagination News
Some years ago, when my husband was working on several projects in Palm Springs, CA, we were introduced to warehouse shopping, particularly Sam’s Club. We got a membership and made sure that we made at least one stop there before returning home. It was cheaper than shopping at the Mall in Palm Spring and there were items there that we hadn’t even seen at home. When Costco came to Canada, we felt right at home. The kids were still at home, I had a bigger deep freeze, so shopping in larger quantities was certainly good for us. We still shop there, but less frequently. As one lady said to me, as we stood in line for a cashier, “I’ve come to the conclusion that if Costco doesn’t carry it, I don’t need it!” We both had a chuckle, and I agreed. We became aware of Costco’s Customer’s Satisfaction Guarantee policy several years ago, and it is almost beyond belief. If for some reason, an item that was purchased at one of their warehouse locations comes to a point where it needs repair, it is not what you expected in the product, and many other reasons, bring it back. Their computer system is amazing, and they will find your purchase just by your membership card. They will refund the amount that was paid for it, placing the refund on a cash card that can be used on any purchase at any of their locations. This week, I got to experience this policy first hand. I was busy at home, printing documents in preparation for “tax time”. Without warning, I received an error message on my printer, stating “cannot find the print head”. What? I’ve already printed ten files, with two more to go, and now there’s no print head. After reading the instruction book and online directions, I had to give up trying to get it to work again. We packed up the printer, had no idea when it was purchased, and certainly had no idea if we still had the receipt, and headed to the city. When we arrived at Costco, we first went to see if they still carried the same HP printer, and learned that our printer was obsolete. The latest comparable model was available at a reasonable price so we headed for the Customer Service desk. It was a quick and pleasant experience (no need to bore you with the details), except to tell you that we had purchased our printer 5 years ago, and they knew how much we paid for it. They placed that amount on a Cash Card, we returned to the printers, placed a new HP printer in our cart, and headed to the cashiers. The end of my story is: Cash Card minus purchase of new item = $93.00 profit (for more shopping at Costco). I’m not making this up! I wonder if Sam’s Club has the same policy.
Tags: Experience Shopping Customer
This week has been a mixture of busy, busy, and quiet hours in my favorite chair. Christmas Day was wonderful, even though there were several grands who were missing, either because they had to work, or they were invited by their “significant other” to celebrate with their family. We do know that they still love us and will show up on our doorstep when the opportunity presents itself. As for the Christmas Dinner… I wasn’t disappointed. There was a pile of mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, and jello salad (but I turned down the offer of pureed turkey), and my “new” teeth managed quite nicely. I keep reminding myself that it will get better, and no complaining. There are many in this life who don’t have the luxury of teeth and somehow they still manage. Hubby has had his tractor out once since Christmas to clear the snow on our driveway but we are happy that the roads are open in the community. We may have to think up an excuse to take a trip to the city, just in case we need a few groceries for unexpected guests. If that doesn’t happen, I’m happy to have my laptop on my lap, reading, listening to music and trying to be creative about something. There are always friends that I can chat with on the phone or online, if I find them home. I refused to be bored… I think I’ve said that before. I read a statement this morning that got me thinking… “Here come the 20s!” I have a feeling that it will take on a different meaning than when my parents talked about the 20s. The 20s to them was the era of their young adult years. Looking for work, making do with what they had until something came along, and grateful for living in freedom. It sounds a bit different these days for many people. They had learned a lot of things that they could pass on to our generation. I hope that we’ve done the same for our children.
Having said ‘my piece’, I close with my New Year’s greeting to you… and to all my NOTH friends…. 
Tags: New Year Greetings Friends
Here I am again... having extra time on my 'puter this week. Music fills our home... and Christmas gives us special favorites. Today I was reminded of a tradition in my home many years ago. My parents and I sang in a church choir, and Christmas was the time to enjoy the annual concert of Handle's 'Messiah', performed in the city's best known concert hall. Because we had learned some of the music, we would take our choir book to the concert so that we could follow the words of the music. The special song, when the audience stood to their feet, was the Hallelujah Chorus. I have never tired of that song. Today, a friend sent me the link to a very different rendition of the song, with the participation of Quinhagak Alaska 5th Graders. I just have to share that with my friends... I hope you enjoy it too!
Tags: Choir Children Tradition Handel
My 'To Do' list is getting shorter these days... and writing a short blog will take another item off the list. I have been dropping by NOTH to see what's happening, visiting pages to admire Christmas decorations, and reminding myself that I need to change my page... enough with the "Winter" theme! Because I was a bit short on ideas for my page, I decided to share photos from of our Christmas decorations. We do tend to be somewhat "non-traditional" (not a Santa or an Elf to be found), but it is still fun. As our grandchildren were growing up, they loved to come to our home and play "Christmas" with the manger scene and the various figures. Nothing was breakable (the figures are carved in myrtlewood, and were a gift from a friend in Israel). They are all young adults now but I still assemble it every year. For us, that is what Christmas is all about! When you have a spare minute, drop by my page and have a look! When we had room for a Christmas tree, the majority of the ornaments were items that we purchased in our travels, and made them into a tree ornament. There are stories with each piece... a sail ship when we experience the Tall Ships in Nova Scotia, the felt 'Beefeater" when we watched the trooping of the Colours at Buckingham Palace, a glass ball made from ashes at Mt. St. Helens, etc. etc. We no longer travel or have room for a tree, but we still hang the ornaments. Our tree is now one that was made by a dear 'quilter' friend, which is just fine because our family have not exchanged gifts for many years. It was our two adult children that suggested that none of us need anything, and/or if we do need something, we don't wait for Christmas! As for the grandkids, we grandparents were instructed that it was to be ONE gift per child, and that didn't mean one big box with twelve items in it. Now we give "just because" gifts... at any time of the year. To take the place, we now look for a charitable project that we can participate in. To add to my celebration this year... I have a date with a dental surgeon in two days, and will have multiple teeth pulled, and upper dentures installed. If I don't heal up in two week, it will be mashed potatoes with gravy, jello and pudding (but no pureed turkey) for Christmas dinner! I can hardly wait!!! Thank goodness that I will still be able to talk... and type, so you may hear from me again. If I don't get back soon, have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!
Tags: Christmas Decorations Gifts Celebrations
If you are not familiar with our "neck of the woods" (as some would refer our location), I'm wondering if you have any idea why I took this picture yesterday...? There is one clue in the photo! 
Can you believe it... December arrives tomorrow! Complaining doesn't help anyway, so on we go! Yesterday was my favorite type of winter day... a beautiful "blue and white" day! The sky was clear blue (not a cloud to be seen) and the landscape was covered with a white blanket of snow. We could see deer tracks across our yard when we got up in the morning, the sun made everything sparkle, and hubby said, "Let's take a trip to town; at least to get a coffee and a box of TimBits." It was -17*F but no wind, our winter gear was in the duffel bag in the back, and my cell phone was working! Off we went... and we are glad we did! The mountains in the distance were gorgeous, the roads were bare, and the traffic was OK. I guessed that there were a lot of people at the shopping malls because of Black Friday instead of the roads leading to the mountains. So, do you know why I took the photo from the highway? No, it wasn't a massive fire of some buildings. The location is Canada Olympic Park (built for the 1988 Winter Olympics), and the snow machines were at the max, making new snow for the family skiers on the weekend . Apparently the blanket that was provided by Nature wasn't enough! Sigh! I even have "winter" on my profile page, hopefully to create a few smiles instead of sad faces!
Tags: Snow Winter December
| Page:
|
|
8 |
|
|
|
