Angels

In the arms of an angel.

I want my job back!

I'm going to be laid off and most of the people I have worked with and loved for 20 years have either already been laid off or soon will be and mostly all of the jobs are being outsourced (IT and customer service positions) to India, Pakistan and Mexico.

We spent years honing our skills and making the company we worked for a finely oiled machine and now people in other countries who know nothing about our company and could care less and can't speak English well enough to be understood are going to be given our jobs. We're all just standing, watching from the wings and predicting that the company will fail miserably within the next year or sooner.

Had the company asked most of us to take a cut in pay or even work from home to save office space they could have held on to a highly dedicated, highly trained staff of professionals who really gave a damn about this company and were proud to be employed by it. We loved our jobs!

We would have worked in dimly lit offices, put up with flucuations in air conditioning or heat or anything to keep our jobs if the company would have just made us an offer. We would have put on our game faces and pitched in to keep the business growing and maintain our jobs. In return the company could have still managed to turn out quality product while maintaining a highly motivated and dedicated staff.

I saw this coming. Everybody I talked to saw it coming. Why didn't we do something before now? I've finally woke up and I'm trying to find ways to help stop this madness.

As of this writing I only know a couple of things to do to take an active stance.

Stop purchasing anything but American Made products. Find US Made.

When contacting service and are confronted with a foreigner on the other end of the phone demand that you speak with an American.


Write your Congressmen or even the President.

Speak up and let all of our friends, family, social website contacts know and try to get them involved in the activism necessary to have our voice heard.

I can soooo relate to the words of this song by U2.

"Give Me Back My Job"
I don't want your millions, mister
I can't use no diamond ring
I want the right just to live, mister
Give me back my job again

I don't want your Rolls Royce, mister
I can't use your pleasure yacht
I want some food for these children
Give me back my job again

We work to build this country, mister
While you enjoy your life of ease
And you steal all that we build, mister
See them folks, they starve and freeze

I don't want your millions, mister
I can't use no diamond ring
I want the right to live, mister
Give me back my job again

No I don't want your millions, mister
I can't use no diamond ring
I want the right to live, mister
Give me back my job again

I don't want your foodstamps, mister
And that welfare line don't interest me
Give me a chance to earn my wages
And give me back my old job please

(This track can be found on the Carl Perkins album Go Cat Go, and features Bono, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Tom Petty)

Getting pumped

I'm really getting pumped about the move back home. I found out there are wonderful bike trails that you can travel along the river and gain access to several small surrounding towns.

I snitched the following pictures from another person's site. Hey I didn't see any copyright information so if the owner comes along and wants me to take them down, drop me a line and I'll oblige.






I'm hoping we go into a period of Indian Summer once I get settled in so I can use the trails a bit before the snow sets in. Actually I don't even mind walking in the snow if I'm dressed properly. Bike trail information.

There are also scads of festivals and other activities that go on throughout the year so it looks like there will always be a new adventure to look forward to.

Just take a look at all the listings. City of Franklin.

And they have a pretty nice civic theatre. I've been here a couple of times with my daughter. Barrow Civic Theatre.

Plus I'll be fairly close to my beloved Cooks Forest.

I need a mountain bike for my rides and my goal is to eventually have a pink kayak with a headlight for night time and an ooga horn.

Inspirational links

Every day I go looking for positive inspiration.

Here are a few links that you might enjoy. I hope you manifest as much peace and comfort from these as I have.

Even Now

The Goodness of Life

The Wonder Of It All

Don't take it to a social network

I'm going to exercise my freedom of speech on this site, afterall, that is why I created this blog...so I could talk about what's on my mind far away from the maddening crowd of social networks.

For instance I found this article with a petition to save the world from stupidpeople.

The Internet is a tool for people to conduct business, and have fun. However, all too often, stupid people screw things up, for everybody. How does this happen? What can we do to stop it?

First, I would like to illustrate the nature of the problem. There are two major ways in which stupid people ruin the Internet for everybody. Each point will be discussed, followed by the solution the signers of this petition wish to see implemented immediately.

1. Spam. If stupid people were not allowed to use the Internet, we would have less spam. Allow me to prove this by the following logical argument. Why do people send spam? Because they know there are stupid people who will click on the "f-r-e-e p0rn" links. They know people out there will actually buy pills from a non-reputable seller online. If we remove the stupid people from the Internet, all the companies which rely on spam to do business will go bankrupt within a short time. Other sources of spam, like viruses, are perpetuated solely by stupid people. Anyone with half a brain knows not to open an attachment called "my_webcam.zip" from "sexygurl@hotmail.com". Finally, the last source of spam, chain letters, will be reduced by many orders of magnitude due to the fact that only stupid morons forward meaningless joke emails that you have heard 100 times already to you after you told them to cut it out and threatened to block them and did but they got a new screen name and didn't get the hint.... In conclusion, banning people from the Internet will stop spam.

2. l33t sp33k. peoplE whO typE likE thiS anD thinK itZ cooL. lol omfg rofl bbq stfu. PEOPLE WHO TYPE IN ALL CAPITALS CAUSE THEY DONT KNOW WHERE THE CAPS-LOCK KEY IS OR WHAT IT DOES. People who just wont shut up, and break every code of decency on the internet in forums, IRC channels, and instant messengers. Poor spelling and uncool typing style wastes approximately 10,000,000 (ten million) person-hours of hard-working people's time a day. Trying to de-cypher the questionably literate is a waste of everyone's time and money. I have a dream! I have a dream, that when stupid people are banned from the Internet, prosperity and intellectual discussion will take place of Role Playing. Proper grammar will take the place of smilies. I have a dream, that one day, little Asian boys and girls will not drop their vowels and overuse the letter Z. One day, people of all countries and dialects will forsake making up crappy new words like "hax0r" and just speak english the way it was meant to be spoken: like an ENGLISHMAN! Together they will join hands and sing the words of the old British monarchy: "You and I", "You and I", not "me and you", but "you and I"!

I hope that you, Mr. President, can introduce a bill to ban American-based ISPs from giving stupid people access to the Internet. Furthermore, I wish that international ISPs that do not wish to comply be economically blockaded and/or bombed until they come to their senses and join the fight for justice.

This will be good for the economy, too! I know you like that word "the economy"! lol

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Now I realize that this post was all in fun but you have to admit there is a lot of truth to what the writer is saying.

I'm aware that a lot of people don't know how to spell properly and their grammar usage is atrocious but it's the pettiness that really gets to me.

For instance, I split up with my boyfriend and we still both have a presence on some social networks with mutual friends. He removed me from his friends lists, and that's perfectly understandable and probably the best for both of us to not be able to see what the other is doing or saying. I too made my sites private so he couldn't see the anger and bitterness I was telling my personal friends about, but I didn't do it on social sites where it was visible to anybody other than the intended audience of a few select friends.

However, we still share a couple of common friends (although the ones I'm referring to are certainly not my friends) and I chose not to remove them from my friends list because I didn't want to appear to be angry at them (it's not their fault we split up) and I didn't want to be petty.

I've kept my messages on a personal level knowing full well they would be watching what I wrote. I've even tried to be sociable with them by posting a nicety or two but of course... no response.

One person though, names unnamed, posted a message that was fully intended for my eyes regarding the living arrangements of her brother, my X. Just a little blurb to let me know he has a new apartment and is living alone and loving it. Well good for him!

Not wanting to stoop to the same level of pettiness exhibited by this person...I read the message and moved on. But deep down inside me I wanted to ask...how he is being transported to his job with no vehicle, how he will maintain an apartment on his own with drug addictions that cost him more per month than the normal cost of an apartment. I wanted to ask if she has seen history repeat itself with his various relationships and how each woman he has been with has complained about his bad temper which is displayed when he is drinking (most of the time but can crop up at any given moment). I wanted to let her know that she doesn't know as much about her own brother as she thinks she knows and that the previous women he has been with can't ALL be crazy.

I wonder about the similarities of the temperment of the people in this family. They all seem to possess the same identifying character of being openly opinionated, argumentative, judgemental and having a bad temper. Hmmm... makes you wonder doesn't it?

But no... I will post my message on my own little board and if perhaps you stumble upon the words I've written and recognize yourself as a character in this story... Keep your comments to yourself. You know my email and phone number and if you want to engage in a war of words... have at it. Ready and waiting.

Wide open space

This is my night... I'm gonna to cry...come hell or high water... I need this and I won't be denied!

Good story... I'll think of another title and post a picture.. when I'm in the mood and I'll even clean up the format.

When I was a little boy, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits.. And I'll never forget what he said: "Son, I love burned biscuits."

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burnt biscuit never hurt anyone!"
You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people.. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook. What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship.

And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!


"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket - keep it in your own."

The cost of stress with a broken heart

Somehow I've always known and felt this was true. I'm dealing with it now, or at least trying to deal with it.

“Broken Heart Syndrome”: Severe Emotional Stress and Heart Disease

Research has shown that some people may respond to overwhelming emotional stress by releasing large amounts of catecholamines, such as epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenalin), into the blood stream. Along with this massive release of catecholamines are small proteins produced by an over-stimulated nervous system.

These substances are temporarily toxic to the heart and can disrupt its function. The result is stress cardiomyopathy, a condition that mimics a classic heart attack, including chest pain, fluid in the lungs, shortness of breath, and actual heart failure.

Researchers have dubbed this condition “broken heart” syndrome, because it is brought on solely by emotional stress rather than by the classic physiological causes, such as plaque build-up. Patients who have experienced this condition do not have blockages in their arteries; they do not have elevated levels of cardiac enzymes that are typically released into the blood stream after a heart attack; and they do not suffer permanent muscle damage. Instead, the muscle damage suffered after broken heart syndrome is reversible, unlike that suffered from a classic heart attack. Recovery time after broken heart syndrome is also much faster- most completely recover within two weeks.

Patients who have suffered broken heart syndrome show initial catecholamine levels that are two to three times that in patients who suffer classic heart attacks, and seven to thirty-four times as high as normal levels.

But broken heart syndrome is not the only way the heart is affected by emotional stress. While broken heart syndrome can be caused by a single traumatic event, the deleterious effects of stress on the heart can also be cumulative. Stress that lasts over a long period of time can negatively affect the entire body, including the adrenal glands. The importance of strengthening the body from the effects of years of chronic stress is critical to heart health and function.

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I saw the doctor and he suggested pray, meditation, walking and exercise. I have been doing all those things as I feel moved and have time to do them. My back problems have been flaring up again which is another thing I've always believed... that my physical problems are made worse with my emotional problems.

It's not just the love interest problems I've been having that are wearing on me either. I'm about to lose the job I've had for 20 years and am on a path of being alone on a financial upgrade. I've always made enough money to support myself and others around me and now I'm facing the inability to do so and it's happening during a time of a faltering economy. I'm scared. I'm lonely and I so desparately want and need to cry but my stubborness hasn't let me give way to the free fall of tears that I need so badly. My motto has usually been... "don't cry because all you'll get is a wet face".

I've always tried to think positively and always thought I had the strength to make it through whatever difficulties life presented me with but thoughts were carry overs from younger years and I am so much older now.

I've lost faith in humanity. I've totally lost faith in men (which has always been an issue with me anyhow) and I wonder if there is such a thing as compassion or empathy anymore. Oh wait... it does still survive or I wouldn't have held on to and tried to help others less fortunate than me!

However, I'm becoming a bitter, crazy old bitch and this is something I always swore I wouldn't allow to happen to me. I always said I wanted to age gracefully like Katherine Hepburn. Oh well, there is the face that is presented to the screen and the world... maybe she was as bitter as I've become and we just never knew it.

Okay, I've vented and I feel a tad bit better... off to find other positive reading material that will at least help me get through the next hour or so of this life.

Abraham Hicks - Limit irritation to 17 seconds

Cancer update from John Hopkins

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY',BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.


Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:


1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not
show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion.
When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in
their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect
the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3 When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed
and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional
deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle
factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and
including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6.. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also
destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal
tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages
healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become
resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to
spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not
feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.


CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important
food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,
Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural
substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts.
Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative
is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b.. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and
substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment.. A meat-based diet is acidic and
it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat
also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are
all harmful, especially to people with cancer..

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water.. Distilled water
is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or
eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer
cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac,
anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer
cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment.. Learn to have
a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily,
and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level.. Oxygen
therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.

Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Looks like I need to make a few changes in my life.