I Remember The First Time I Ever...

I remember the first time I ever had a crush on a girl. I was in the fourth grade and we were in Mrs. Thompson homeroom together. The girls name was Lavanda (I think that was how her name was spelled but I could be wrong).

One day after school I asked if I could carry her books for her. She said yes and off we went. She lived on the other side of the canal from me. The town we lived in has a canal that runs through almost the middle. I rarely went on that side of the canal but with her I didn't care. We got to her house and talked outside a while before I headed home.

Over time I walked her home more and more. Finally I was invited over by her and her mom. We went into her bedroom to play and she shut the door. Her mom came and opened it right away. At the time I didn't understand what the big deal was but I understand clearly now - LOL.

One day shortly after that I went to visit her on a weekend and no one was home. The lady living across the street said they had moved. I was heart broken. Lavanda was my first crush and my first heart break. I have thought of her often since that day and still from time to time find myself wondering where and what she is doing. Many years later I was visiting Mrs. Thompson at school and even told her this story. She too remembered Lavanda.

Adoption: Sharing Your Love Aboundantly

When I was a year and half old I was adopted by a family that provided me with a wonderfully loving home. I have a education and worked hard for most of my adult life. I'm proud of the fact I was adopted. I always knew I was adopted and often times wondered what my biological mom and dad looked like.

On my eighteenth birthday I was awaken to my mom asking me to come to the kitchen because she had something to show me. In our local paper was a one inch by one inch square box that said, "Happy Birthday Danny. Please Call Mom". It also include a phone number. Mom informed me that it was my biological mother trying to find me. I read the ad again, turned to mom and said, "OK" and went back to bed.

It wasn't until a Friday before I gave it any further thought (the ad was in the Wednesday paper) while at school. When I got home I asked mom what she thought about all of this and if I should call my biological mom. Mom told me it was up to me with only two bits of advice. First - never forget who raised you. Second - it was up to me if I allowed them to know where I lived. I called my biological mom that evening and met her and her family at the mall the following day. Since then I have met more family members then I ever thought I had. I have also realized I am a very confused person because I am - an Only Child (my biological mom and dad only had me between them and I was both their first), the Youngest Child (my adopted parents had two older kids already out of the house) and the Middle Child (my biological mom and dad were divorced and remarried and had other children). For those that know me can now understand a little bit of why I'm so screwed up. LOL

Adoption is one of the best gifts you can give a young person of any age. It doesn't matter if you are advanced in age and have children full grown or if you are looking to expand your family or if your desire to adopt comes from the lack of ability to have children of your own.

If you are going to adopt don't go over over seas to do so. According to a 2009/2010 statical report there are over 114,000 persons in the United States waiting for Adoption. Many of those young persons spend years in adoption waiting for someone to take them home.

I started this post with the intention of ranting about Celebrities who go overseas to adopt but don't even adopt one young person from right here in the U.S. but I decided against it.  I just wanted to share my story and offer encouragement in hopes that other young people can experience the love and compassion from someone who loves them enough to give them a home and a FAMILY.

Judge and Others Have It Wrong!!

According to so called professional journalist reporters and their so called professional news reporting agencies unemployment is down and will continue to go down. They want use to believe that people are going back to work.

According to the same so called journalist and our so call government 120,000 jobs were created and unemployment is down. They continue to white wash us with BS about how the economy is improving.

A number of years ago a newspaper announced that a United States President was defeated in the election and yet they were so badly off it has been an embarrassing reminder for them.


Recently a judge ruled that a blogger wasn't a journalist.

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When I want to know what is going on in the United States and even the world I don't depend on the professional journalist. I don't turn on the World Leader in News. I don't rely on hearsay or gossip. I go straight to the bottom of online news stories and read the comments. I visit FaceBook and other places where acquaintances and friends are talking about real dealings with events.

These are the people that matter. These are those people who I trust to tell me the truth not our government and not some newspaper, or news website. Our government, newspapers, TV news are controlled by politics. They will only tell us what they want us to hear, see or know but they won't tell us the real truths.

Right now a lot of this news about lower unemployment and jobs being created is to make Obama look good and help him get re-elected. It has nothing to do with what is really going on in the United States. 120,000 jobs is nothing more then seasonal workers. Once the holidays are over most of those jobs will be gone.

Bloggers may not be REAL JOURNALIST but when it comes to getting the truth or shred of honesty they are the source to rely on the most.

FaceBook WTP Poker

I admit I am not the best poker player. I never claimed to be even a good poker player. I am however willing to risk everything for what I believe is a winning hand. I don't play for real money any more even though I have played a few cash games in the past. Never online however. My one attempted to play for money online was shot down thanks to our greedy Government getting their hands into things.

Facebook has a number of Online Poker games from various poker companies or sites. For this post I'm staying only with WTP on FaceBook.

WTP Poker on FaceBook is likely one of the over all worse of all the poker games they offer. There are at least main complaints about WTP that many players have expressed over time, myself included.

The first complaint are the 75 play money gifts that your friends can send you. If you are lucky you might be able to collect one maybe two of them. The rest seem to never appear in your WTP inbox yet they do appear on your list under Game Request.

When I first started playing WTP on Facebook we used to be able to collect all the 75 play money gift your friend gave you. Also you could find hidden chips worth 5000 play money on tables in the lower right hand corner. That help those of us that have gone broke to possibly keep playing. Now we can only depend on the daily lottery spin.

This brings us to the second complaint which are the lottery spins. If ever there was a joke WTP has one of the biggest going. Most everyone I have spoken too rarely ever get more then 1000 per day. Even at the maximum multiplier of 5 that is only 5000. Many, if not most of the other poker games on FaceBook give you a whole lot more then 5000 daily. Earlier today one person I know got over 60 million play money lottery on a different poker game but his last 15 spins on WTP was no more then 1000 (plus the multiplier when applicable).

Finally the last complaint about WTP and we'll add just about all other games, including Facebook itself. Customer support is a waste of time. Chances are they will make excuses but won't address the problem directly. A large number of people have complained about the lack of response from Support and when there is a response it mostly comes across as a smoke screen.

Sadly, in America today customer support and personal service is taking a back seat in many businesses. This is a tread that has very easily been adapted to many areas of internet websites. Some could say that the lack of concern about the customer is larger a classic example of how big business  chooses to operate (They need our business so we are going to ignore them mentality).

Social Security and Me

According to the November 2011 report at SSA.gov the total number of people receiving Social Security is 60,542. Of that number 52,426 receive only social security, 5,352 receive only SSI and 2,764 receive both. You can review the rest of the list by clicking on the link.

I am one of those that get both. I never made a lot of money in my working life. My average yearly income never amounted to more then around $9,000. If you do the math on that it comes to $750 a month (or $187.5 weekly before taxes). The best yearly income I ever saw was just over $13,000 and that was working two jobs for a period of time.

I have been on medical disability retirement since 2008 and average $694 monthly. $52 monthly I never see because Child Support is taking it for back support (my daughter has been over 18 yrs old since 2006). Like many others I pay rent, utilities, phone, cable/internet, gas for my car and a city water/sewage bill. That all average out to around $670+/- monthly. Thankfully my girlfriend and I share a house together and split the bills. Neither of us could afford to live alone.

According to Health and Human Services website (2011) poverty level for one person is $10,890 (two persons is $14,710). Doing the math on this it is easy to see that my yearly income on disability is $8,328 by which I am currently $2,562 below poverty level based on the HHS guidelines. If we use the Census Bureau poverty thresholds figures (poverty level for one person is $11,139) I am $2,811 below poverty (a $249 difference).

I survive. Mostly I have learned to live on what I have and only splurge on one main thing which is having cable/internet service. The phone (in case anyone things that is splurging too) is a medical necessity for my girlfriend.

For years I have heard people talking about how they can't survive on their income. I listened to people whine about how they can't afford to buy a new car or take a longer vacation yet almost everyone who says this lives on more then I have ever seen in my life time. Almost all of them make two or three times weekly more then I ever did.


I am sorry if I don't show sympathy for those of you who can't afford to survive on your $40, $50, $100 thousand a year income. Sorry if I don't understand why you think you deserve a raise on top of your already nice incomes. My apologies if I offend you for thinking you don't need a new car every year or a vacation in some far off country once or twice a year.

I have enough problems of my own surviving. I can't afford a vacation or a new car. I will likely never know how it feels to own a home or remodel an older one. I love to travel but I can only afford to go 20 miles a week if I plan to have gas to last me a month so going across country is out of the question. I would go to work if I could. Even part time to supplement my current income but the government seems to think any extra income is making too much (even if it doesn't bring me over the poverty level) so they will cut my current income if I do that.

Occupy Movement

Occupy Movement seems to be going strong and getting stronger. But is that a good thing or a bad thing? One thing is for certain - Not everyone is happy about the Occupy Movement. Strangely enough some of the people that are doing the most complaining make up the 99% of the population that the Top 1% don't give a damn about.

I don't know much about the Occupy Movement other then what I've read. I know the Occupy Movement got its start in Canada and that it has been growing larger and larger since 2003. From what I've read there are a lot of good things that can come from the Occupy Movement - if and when more of the top 1% start listening and supporting it.

As a person who has spent his entire working life never making more then $8,000 a year and now living on Medical Disability Retirement making only $8,300 a year I strongly support the Occupy Movement.

My support for them is largely tied to the fact I am not allowed to make more then a given amount of money if I was to get a part time job, nor am I allowed to maintain a bank account with more then $2,000, nor am I allowed better medical care because Medicare and Medicaid won't cover it.

I find it hard to believe that for people living on disability and making far less then poverty that they should be penalized for trying to make more money some how. I find it saddening how most of the medical professionals don't give a damn about you or your health unless you have insurance and (seemly) let you die before treating you for something that isn't covered by your insurance.

Those are some of the many reasons I support Occupy Movement. For once in my life I feel like maybe someone is standing up for me - the little guy - and saying what I can't say. Our Government, Special Interest, Wall Street, Big Business and those that make up the top 1% of wealthiest don't give a damn about you, your kids, your job, your money or your life.

If you think they do then think about this - Why is it that a very wealthy television personality who is one of the wealthiest people in the world is more concerned with other nations when it comes to starting schools and other things? Why is it that a wealthy celebrity couple and also a wealthy singer have adopted from outside the U.S. yet don't spend a dime supporting American children in foster care? 

Something else to consider - The only reason Social Security is going broke is because our Government leaders have robbed it blind to support the pork crap that cost more then it is worth. Heaven forbid if the 99% of the American people who pay into their retirement get back what they are fully entitled to receive. Government, per request of the wealthy 1%, has stolen from every PROFITABLE program that supports the 99% of American people. They have stolen from things like Education, Social Security, Medicare, and other programs they had set up in the first place.

I'm no expert. I'm not even a good writer but I am an American who is sick and tired of the Wealthy walking all over everyone.

I know things will likely never change and in the end that is as it is. This doesn't mean we shouldn't try to change things. If you fail to try to change how things happen in America then we are already doomed to fail. Even Facebook is control by the wealthy of America and the sadder truth is we (the 99%) give them the power to control us by supporting them.

ARE THEY FOR REAL??

Cost of living hasn't gone up according to them so they didn't allow a raise for Social Security recipients. Now they claim they should get a raise? What the hell is going on in Washington.

Is this really the right time to start talking about giving themselves raises? What about the rest of the country that is struggling to make in meet? What about those of us on SSI or SSDI?

According the Rear Admiral Barry C. Black during a sermon broadcast on TV over the 4th of July week most of the Senators and Representatives are millionaires. If that is the case then where do they get off claiming they deserve more for the amount of work they do serving this country?

STOP THIS MADNESS!!!

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS! TELL THEM NO RAISES! GIVE THEM THE FACTS - do their job by creating jobs, improve education, provide for the citizens of the United States better then you do for other country, stop supporting only the wealthiest.

What Kind of Cuts?

What will be cut when our elected officials pass a debt ceiling raise?

I haven't looked up any information yet but I am taking a guess based solely on pass experience watching other "hard to agree upon measures".

First is Social Security. I'm sure some how they will find a way to cut into. They always take away from the working class.

Second is Medicare and Medicaid. Again this is likely a given knowing how our government works. They love taking away from these programs while forcing people to take Medicare upon retirement even if those people don't want it. Taking more from Medicare and Medicaid is like beating a dead horse - all you do is disturb the maggots and the flies. Problem here is that there are many many people that depend on these programs even if it is a dead horse.

Thirdly is Education. Politicians for years have been crying about the state of the educational system yet they continually take away more and more funding. According to a few National news interview a large number of politicians send their kids to private schools. Maybe that explains why they cut public school funding - after all their kids are protected.

Another thing that wouldn't surprise me with any "debt ceiling increase" is pork spending that will be tacked onto the bill. Cut spending in programs that help the general population but increase pork spending that only helps politicians and big business.

Seems the only reason we are in this debt ceiling mess is because of all the trillions of dollars our government gave big business to bail them out. Even that cost the general population because of all the governmental cuts to allow for those funds to big business.

Unemployed Not Welcome?

It is bad enough that our government isn't doing anything to help put America back to work but companies hiring or leaving the unemployed out in the cold.

You can read the story here - Unemployed need not Apply

Where does all this madness end? When will the American people stop being treated like second rate citizens of the world?

Our American government doesn't want to spend time talking about putting Americans back to work. Companies don't want to put Americans back to work - at least the unemployed. At the current rate of things the headlines in the near future will read - America sold for $1 trillion and analyst say that is an over payment of $900 billion.

Things We Don't Like on the Internet

The longer we spend time online the more we find things we don't like. Here are a few of them:

1. Those 20 second to 1 minute advertising's before a 30 second to 2 minute video clip. There is nothing more frustrating then having ads everywhere we turn. Thankfully when an ad appears on videos online I don't watch the video nor the ad. Isn't worth it to be bothered by commercials.

2. Facebook looking more and more like a pay site. If you've spent much time on Facebook you have likely noticed that all the games are converting over to use the Facebook coin system. Facebook is already a billion dollar business yet now they are getting even greedier by forcing us game players to spend money on their stuff.

3. Seemingly bogus information sites. Recently I searched for information about my Blazer. The site I found wasn't even the site that owned the information but a skeleton site that looked like the main site.

Children are not the only ones being denied treatment on Medicaid. Adults too have been refused treatment or made to wait extended lengths of time for treatment. This isn't a new News story and surely isn't an uncommon one.

We the people are confused how and why this kind lacks in medical coverage can happen in a place called the United States. We the people are confused how it is that people are refused treatment that can improve their quality of life based solely on what kind of medical coverage they have or how much money they have. What ever happen to the Hypocritical Oath that those within the medical profession take concerning conserving life?

We only have to look as far as our local gas station to get a better understanding how something like this happens in the United States - MONEY! Those with money don't give a rip about those who don't. One, now ex-talk show host, had a show her last season about secret millionaires. Those people who hide their wealth didn't do so because they enjoyed surprise people with their generous giving. They did so strictly to gain a tax write off; the surprise was only an added bonus to that.

Rapture: Worlds End?

As you may have been reading all over the internet today is the day that the world is suppose to end. If you haven't read about it then here is the latest found on Yahoo News -

We the people are confused about this speculation. Being a Christian we have prayed not out of fear for the rapture but for its coming. We will rejoice in its arrival.
For Christian it should be a day of rejoicing not sorrow or tears. Upon the coming of the Rapture Christians will be in glory with Christ.

We are confused because we don't understand how or why any pastor or Christian would go to these "publicized extremes" to claim a given date. Jesus talks about end-time events and explains how people will be going about their daily life when the rapture happens. No one knows when that appointed time will be except God himself.

We the people don't condemn or look down on the minister who started this or the people that believed him. We feel saddened by how they tried to dictate something that only God knows.

Medicare and Social Security

We just read that both Medicare and Social Security are struggling worse then believed. The reason here is the effect retiring baby boomers are having on those systems and weaker-than-expected tax receipts. Now these "trust funds" are looking to be gone by 2024. That is five years earlier then before.

We the people are confused. If congress is really so dang worried about both medicare and social security why is it they continually take from it?

Over the last 30 or 40 years congress has lowered the amount of tax monies going into funds while "requiring" peoples of a certain age to take medicare regardless if they want it or not. If that isn't enough congress voted to give themselves Social Security benefits despite the fact that most, if not all of them don't need that income.

We the people think its about time that congress grows some balls and starts working FOR THE PEOPLE!! NOT AGAINST THE PEOPLE!!

Congress can do the right thing and save medicare and social security but they choose to let it fail.

Confused about bin Laden

September 11, 2001 will always be remembered as the day the Twin Towers were destroyed by terrorism. That was brought about due largely because of people like Osama bin Laden and others.

Yesterday, we learn that bin Laden is dead because our military, CIA and others finally got a break with viable information about bin Laden's location. Yesterday should have been a day of rejoicing and thankfulness because bin Laden is no longer a threat to the United States or anyone else. I can't rejoice or feel proud of the fact bin Laden is dead. All I can think about is that day the towers fell and those planes full of people that went down elsewhere.

I remember that morning as if it was yesterday. I was getting ready for work and as it so happened my father-in-law happened to be awake watching the news. We watched in horror as the media showed live video of the first tower bellowing smoke from where the plane had crashed into its side. We sat mortified as we watched live the second plane crashing into the other tower. And we were numb with disbelief and shock as those towers came crashing down sending debris, smoke and ash for miles. To add to our terror we listened to the news as we learned of yet another plan crashing into the Pentagon and yet another into a field.

As days passed and more information became available we heard stories of survivors at the Twin Tower site. We prayed together, cried together and cheered together with each story of survival. We once again came together as a nation united against those who dared to attack us.

Weeks, even months would go by and still we found we had reasons celebrate as we learned of the heroism on Flint 93, though all were lost. On Flight 77 passengers managed to phone loved ones and send messages to friends advising them of what was happening again all were lost.

We will never fully understand someone like bin Laden and for that reason we will remained confused about him and others to come after him. America is still the best country in the world. We The People are Confused about many things concerning our American Government and their under handed dealings but we are proud to stand beside our fellow man and call America Home.

They can tear down our towers, burn down our homes, kill our people and crash our planes yet they will NEVER EVER DEFEAT AMERICAN PATRIOTISM!

We will not cheer or celebrate bin Laden's death or any of our enemies. We choose only to celebrate the lives of those who were lost, who chose to take a stand and believed in our freedoms and paid the ultimate sacrifice in making America what it is today.

Somethings we are not confused about...

There are somethings we are not confused about. One of those things is small book publishers.

Twin Trinity Media is by fair one of the fastest growing small publishing groups out there. Run by Michelle Devon, Twin Trinity Media offers all the services a up and coming writer needs to reach and develop an reading audience.

Twin Trinity Media in conjunction with Accentuate Writers Forum gives every writer, no matter their level of writing experience a full scale experience when looking for publishing, editing, and writing improvement advice.

Run like an extended family unit Accentuate Writers Forum has provided an outlet for up and coming writers to learn their art, discover their voice and share their successes, as well as, their failures. Together with TTM and regular writing contest many writers have realized their goal of seeing their work in print.

If you are a writer or inspire to someday become a writer TTM and AWF can offer you all you are looking for and more.

Accentuate Writers Forum welcomes new members. Check them out at http://accentuatewritersforum.com/

For more information about Twin Trinity Media check their homepage at http://www.twintrinitymedia.com/

How young is too young to take to a funeral?

Company just left the house and the conversation had touched on the funeral I recently attended. There seems to be a little bit of a mix opinion concerning how young is too young to be taking a child to a funeral.

Crystal is a young mother of three kids under the age of four. She stated that she wouldn't take her children to a funeral unless the person who died was their dad or grandfather, etc. She never clarified exactly how old they would have to be not to be concerned which lead to this post.

How young is too young for a funeral?

I've seen children of all ages at some of the funerals. What is your input on this?

We the People Remain Confused

No matter how long I have lived I find that the older I get the more confused I get about a lot of things. As I look back over this blog I have noticed that I have become somewhat political in some of even more of my comments.

I want to apologize right now for that. We the People Are Confused was never intended to be mostly a political blog. Yes I had intended to post a few things related to government and their underhanded workings. But that was never my sole intention. I don't know enough about politics to argue my points logically or intelligently.

We the People are Confused isn't only about me and what confuses me. It is for everyone and by everyone I know that also is confused by some of the BS that is going on around us. We are tired and frustrated with things and with people of all walks of life.

It is disturbing to us how often we read the same stuff and no one seems to be doing anything about it, except the same things that haven't worked the first 100 times they did it. Politics is one of the biggest examples here. No matter what party is elected they both seem to do the same thing - give tax breaks to the wealthy, allow businesses to ship our jobs overseas and take away from the working class people such as my friends and I.

Another confusing thing are actors or celebrities. Can someone please explain how is it that someone like Lindsey Lohan can continue to do the things she does without any long lasting punishment? Is Lohan wasn't a celebrity she would have been locked up in prison serving her sentence without being pampered like is has been so far.

Confusion also comes from our educational system. The educational system lacks the very thing its promoting - knowledge, understanding and logic. First we have college education cost running sky high keeping some people from even thinking about attending college. If these colleges were run the way the teaches within them teach they wouldn't be so expensive. My college math professor hit the nail on the head when he stated that college charge so much because they are run by business people who only care about making a profit, not educating the youths of America.

Another things confusing about our educational system are the rules they following. I understand the "anti-gang", "anti-weapons" policies schools implemented. They are a needed part of protecting those within the schools (employee and students alike). What I don't get is suspending or expelled a 8 yr old for bring a plastic toy gun to school (Link here). What about when a 5 yr old being expelled for the same thing (Link here)

Schools get even more confusing when they refuse to work with students and parents because the child has a mental or physical problem. A student with A.D.D. shouldn't be disciplined the same way other students are for not paying attention. A student requiring a cane, walker or wheelchair shouldn't be punished for being late for class. And a student with hearing loss shouldn't be teased about not paying attention when the problem is they didn't hear. If you read this paragraph and think these things don't happen you are mistaken. They happen daily all over America.

With the current attention Bullying is getting now days its time to add these things on that bullying list too. Sometimes the Bully is the very educational system or the teachers working in that system that is the biggest problem.

We have some great teachers and pretty good educational system in America but some times they lack common sense. I admire the teachers I had and respect them highly. I had a few (very few) that didn't understand my hearing problem and didn't understand other physical limitations. I wouldn't trade my education for anything only wish I could continue with it at times.

We the People are Confused about all these things and many other things. If you happen to see this blog tells us what confuses you. We can all be Confused Together and who knows maybe I'll talk about it here some day.

Wal-Mart: Retail Giant Losing Sales

Wal-Mart is still a giant amoung retailers and likely will be for a few years yet however they are losing ground. As this article points out.

The article talks about how Wal-Mart is losing customers and competitors are chipping away at its dominates. Some customers are complaining about lack of lower prices or missing name brand, quality products that once made Wal-Mart what it is.

There are other problems with Wal-Mart that goes beyond "in-store" shopping. Customer service at Wal-Mart has become almost as bad as trying to call the Yahoo services for help - next to worthless and not effective in getting results. Another problem is Wal-Mart has many registers yet it isn't uncommon to find long lines in the few they will actually have open at any given time. What is the point of having 20 to 30 registers if you don't use more then five to ten of them at any given time?

Another problem at Wal-Mart is parking for handicapped people. It is fair to say here that Wal-Mart isn't alone in this. No business truly gives a damn about those folks who have legitimate handicap plates. It is a daily accurate to drive into a place of business only to fine two or three cars parked illegally in a handicap parking locations. Also it is fair to state that part of the blame is city policy also. Many times the city won't allow their police officers to enforce the laws concerning handicap parking. This is something I was informed of by both Wal-Mart and the city personal I spoke with via phone the other day while complaining about two cars. My girlfriend and I are both handicap and value those spaces.

Social Security and Its Stupidity

My girlfriends son-in-law has high blood pressure (220/150 on many readings), has had a stroke, congestive blood pressure, and he's a diabetic. He can't work and hasn't for a number of years yet in spite of this the Social Security Administration denied his disability claim for both SSI and SSDI.

I wasn't that surprised about him being denied for SSDI since he hadn't worked for a number of years, however I am outraged over his denial for SSI. How in the world can they justify denying someone benefits, who has a history of medical problems like those stated above. His doctors and specialist have all stated he needs to be on disability yet he was still denied.

I don't know but would be willing to bet that the people making these decisions have no medical experience what so ever. They even likely get bonuses for denying claims. I'm also not saying that everyone who applies should be approved but that is something that needs to be decided on a case by case bases. It is also something that needs to be verified through medical records of each persons case. Denial shouldn't be across the board happening and shouldn't be done solely on the lame attempt of cutting cost so the government can waste money elsewhere.

Will someone please explain how it is that those who deserve it the most get denied while the crack pots out there playing the system get it right away?

Perplexing Perplexity

I'm not a genius but I'm not stupid. There are things I know well, things I know some what and things I think I know. There are also things I believe I know better then other people but have my doubts about so I keep my mouth shut when ask concerning those things.

There are also things I don't know much about and things I don't know at all. In this is also other subclasses of things - things I don't know and don't care about, things I don't know now but knew at one point, etc.

I can't say at all that I know everything about any one thing but I will claim I know a lot about most everything. Many times I find that the things I don't know anything about are the things I can give the best advice about and people seem to think I know what I'm talking about.

One example of this would be building a garage. I haven't a clue about construction but I know what looks right and what doesn't. I also have a keen sense of what would work better to get things done easier which is why when my landlord was building the garage he listened to me and seemed to follow my lead, in spite of the fact he has/had more knowledge about construction then I do.

Blogging is something I haven't figured out yet either. What is the point of blogging anyway? We put on the screen for the whole world to see (yes I know I can make things private but whats the point of that anyways?) and maybe if you are lucky or have built up a following, which I haven't, you will get comments regularly about what you post. The key question however is why? Why bother with blogging?

So far blogging has, as far as I'm concerned, managed only to take time I could be doing something else and enjoying more. Yet I have found that I have been blogging more and playing less (well not this week based on the amount of activity I've had on Facebook).

Facebook is something else I don't understand. If it wasn't for the apps they have there I wouldn't even bother maintaining an account there. I don't "blog" on Facebook and I don't post pictures there. I only play games. Once in a while I'll respond to someone else in their post.

Maybe one day I will be less perplexed by the perplexity of things and learn to understand more. For now I will continue to go thru life wondering how I ever got involved with all this goofiness in the first place.

Knee Replacement Surgery

MY girlfriends nephew is going in for knee replacement surgery today. That wouldn't be so bad except its just too dang early.

I'll be back to post more on this later.

Be back soon.

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Well the Nephew come thru surgery OK and is recovering nicely. We were a little freaked out when we first walked into his room. He was in pain which we expected but is knee and leg was soaked in blood that had seeped thru the bandages. I went to the nurses station and asked told them about it but they assured me that was normal.

When I told my girlfriend she got up and walked down there. The nurse said she was on her way in and would take care of it but it was normal. After the nursed came in she admitted that it was a little more bleeding then she expected and was a little concerned. Still insisted however it was normal and wasn't anything to worry about.

I jumped ahead of the story a little by telling you the ending first so let me back up a little here...

The Nephew was suppose to be at the hospital by 7 a.m. with surgery scheduled for 9 a.m.. They finally took him back to the pre-op room around 9:45 a.m. and he was suppose to be in recovery within 90 minutes. Everything ran late by about 90 minutes which made for an even longer day.

After many hours of sitting and waiting for word about the surgery we finally heard from the doctor. He said that in all his years as a doctor he has never seen arthritis. He was also surprised that the nephew was able to handle that amount of pain because of the severity of his knee.

After the doctor we spent another 90 minutes waiting for word about the nephew being moved into a room. That ticked us off. Like my girlfriend said it wasn't like they didn't know he was going to be there or that he came in thru the emergency room excepted. They knew for a week about that surgery and a room should have been ready in advance.

I could talk about my option of hospitals with all the things I've seen or experienced as a patient but I won't bore you right now with that. I'll close this post by saying that all seems well, I'm tired and cranky and I'm sure I hear my bed calling me. That might be a bill collector calling but either way I fall over dead for some good sleep right now.

Facebook App: Truths About You

I have been reading some of the responses that others have answered about me on Facebook Application called, "Truths About You". Truths About You allows others to answer general yes/no questions about someone. Some of the answers about me surprise me also disappoint me. I would like to personally answer some of these questions with yes/no answers about myself.

1. Do you think that Jeff B. has ever given money to a homeless person? This was answered on Facebook as no but the truth is I have many times given my last dollar to a homeless person or someone less fortunate then myself. One time giving as much as $10.00, cup of coffee and food to a guy just trying to get home.

2. Do you think that Jeff B. still sleeps with a teddy bear? Someone said yes to this but the truth is I have never slept with a teddy bear. I have most of my life had a cat or dog around to sleep with. I did however have a stuffed tiger once that I allowed to stay on the bed part of the night.

3. Do you think that Jeff B. voted for Obama? Answered yes on Facebook but I have to admit I haven't voted since Carter was in office which was my one and only time I voted in a presidential election. Yes, I voted for Carter, no I wouldn't never have voted for Obama nor would I have voted for McCain. I grew up in Illinois and was familiar with Obama's politics (a little) there. McCain on the other hand is more out of touch with the American people (read some of my other post) and doesn't even deserve to be in office any longer.

4. Do you think that Jeff B. is a good friend? This was answered as a no and I admit sometimes I'm not. I try to be a good friend and desire to be so. My biggest problem here is so many of those I was a good friend with stabbed me in my back and left me hanging so its hard to allow myself to get that close to others again.

5. Do you think that Jeff B. has ever pranked call someone? Do you think that Jeff B. would pull a fire alarm as a prank? They answered no to both of these yet the truth is I have pranked called someone many years ago while I have never pulled a fire alarm.

6. Do you think that Jeff B. has ever cheated on a test? I appreciate that someone said no to this but the truth is I have at least twice cheated on a test. Once in High School for Algebra the other was in College for a required English class.

7. Do you think that Jeff B. speeds when driving? Though someone said no (thank you) I do speed when driving in some places. Mostly I speed while on the interstate or back country roads.

8. Do you think that Jeff B. should not wear tight clothing? I agree with who ever answered yes to this question. My body style and size would make me look like a stuffed turkey ready for Thanksgiving if I wore tight clothes. Ain't going to happen.

9. Do you think that Jeff B. has ever skinny dipped? The yes answer here gave me the chuckles since I can't even swim. The closes I have ever come to skinny dipping was standing outside under the garden hose without my shirt on.

10. Is Jeff B. fun to be around? This was also answered with a yes and I can't give you a good yes or no answer about myself on this one. Do I joke around a lot? yes. Do I like teasing and having fun? yes. Most of the time when I am in a group of people regardless if I know them or not I'm pretty quite and only talk to one or two people within the group. I do loosen up after a few visits with the same group of people and tend to find one or two persons who I can tease or pick on to help break the ice each gathering.


If I am anything its naive at times since I tend to speak openly about what I am thinking. This could also be called being blunt.

I hope this helps you understand me better. If you have a few general questions you would like to know the answers to leave me a comment or send me a response via Facebook. I just might answer them.

Facebook and other Internet Demons

Like so many others I have become addicted to Facebook. I never planned on ever using Facebook and had no intentions of ever making it one of the first places I go everyday but I have.

I used to visit Pogo.com regularly and even paid for the Club Pogo membership for years. Once that price reached $40 a year I started wondering if it was still worth the cost. The games are fun and many people I've met that are pretty cool to hang out with while playing games. I like the chat box most of all because it meant I didn't feel I was alone online.

Facebook seems to have a chat box but its has limits and understandably so since Facebook is about friends on your list. Facebook is for the most part not 100% a "social networking site". Facebook is actually much more then that.

Most people using Facebook will post on the Walls various comments, thought and other things daily but a great deal of time is spent playing many of the games there. Farmville, Frontierville, and Cityville are three of the popular ones. I'm sure I've left out some that are even more popular.

I can't say I completely like Facebook and I won't go as far as saying I've fallen in love with it but I do go there daily. Most of the time you can find me playing poker or working on one of the games mentioned above.

I've admitted to being or growing addicted to Facebook but I have to wonder what is the actual appeal to Facebook over other sites both past and present? There are Forums, blogs and game sites that have some better features then Facebook just not as many in one place. There have been many sites over the years that tried to do what Facebook seems to have created a niche for. But why are we so addicted to Facebook?

Maybe the better question would be to ask why have we all become so addicted to the Internet? That is a question I will save for my next post, right now my pigs, cow, ox and other animals need fed and my land needs re-cleared on the Frontier. Have game with travel.

This is my dog, Buddy. He's a Chinese Crested Powderpuff. He weights between 11 to 13 pounds depending on time of year. Despite his breed and how lovable of a dog his is, I think he needs to see a psychiatrist.

See Buddy has two main problems. First he's lazier then a coon dog on a hot forth of July. If it wasn't for his tail wagging once in a while I would have to check for a pulse. Most of the time if I don't see Buddy somewhere near by I'll find him on our bed snoozing.

The second problem is he's scared of most everything and barks at himself. Let me explain the barking part first. Every time someone knocks at the door or walks past the house or knocks on the wall Buddy barks. Normal, right? Well a while back Buddy was sitting by the front door and had to scratch himself. While doing so his paw would come down and smack the floor. He jumped up and started barking at the door as if someone else beside him was making that noise.

Now back to the scared part. Like I said Buddy is about 11 to 13 pounds, a small dog. A friend of ours came over and brought her dogs with her, Sara and Kita (Keta). Kita is a big beautiful care free type dog that wouldn't hurt a flea. Sara is a chiawawah. Both dogs are female. Buddy, being a guy went a sniffing and needless to say was run off by the big mean vicious....

chiawawah - Sara.

Buddy came running over to me on the couch and coward under my arm. I tried getting him to get down but he wouldn't hear of it until that big brute Sara was out of the house.

I'm feeling very protected with my little Buddy in the house. I'm sure he'll scare those leaves outside off our lawn so I don't have to rack them.

Whom wrote what?

I've been a member of Accentuate Writers Forum now for about 4 years. The interesting thing about AWF is the variety of people who are members there. They come from a wide range of backgrounds with differencing levels of experience. Everyone at AWF have interests that are as varied as the number of members we have. If they have anything in common it is they write or have a love for the written word. Each of us at AWF also share in a desire to someday have our name in print and many of them have succeeded in some way.

If we have learned anything from AWF its that it isn't easy to go from a writer to a published author. It takes work and dedication far greater then many other fields of work. A person doesn't become a published writer just by sitting down at a typewriter and spending a couple of hours. It takes many days, many pages and many more re-writes of everything you've said to polish those pages into something publishable.

Not everyone who dreams of being published will reach that goal and not everyone who does should have. There are some published writers who lack the "real" skills to tell a story or to express an emotion in a compelling way. Some published writers lack imagination and originality of thought to make them stand out.

Sadly many times the greatest writers with the best talent don't write to reach publication but to satisfy their need to write. To them it isn't important or a dream to be published. They only desire to write something for themselves and on occasion share their work with a hand full of others. Some great writers also don't see themselves as talented writers and feel they are not good enough to be published.

As I sit here and re-read this post I realize now that I'm rambled and strayed from my intentions of this post. I started this post planning to talk about TV personalities, mostly evangelist who seem to publish something new almost weekly. I was going to talk about how they are either not that busy or have too much free time on their hands to write so much. I wanted to say too they likely have or use ghostwriters who spend hours reading and listening to sermons or speeches just to pull material into a book format. My point is these evangelist can't possibly be spending that much time at a typewriter (or computer) to write that much.

It is important to understand writing isn't something to be taken lightly. Writing as a profession is a noble and honorable career choice if you have the dedication to see it thru. Many don't and some who do shouldn't.

Leukemia go away please!

A friend of ours from the Accentuate Writers Forum has found out recently that she has leukemia. Currently she is getting chemo treatment and is expected to have a long stay at the hospital.

First off let me tell you I don't know much about Rissa. I know she is married and has a young son who I believe is 6 years old. I also know she is a writer and a friend to many many people. Besides that she is sometimes goofy and almost always high spirited with a ready word of encouragement for others.

If you read my blog only once in your life I ask this be that time. I'm asking for your support and help in sowing upon Rissa and her family a monetary gift of support.

The easiest way to do this is thru PayPal at Rissa@rissawatkins.com. If that doesn't work for you I would ask you to visit our writers forum (Rissa's writers home)and click on our donate button there. All funds donated for Rissa will go directly to her and her family to help with mounting hospital bills and other cost related to her battle with Leukemia. You can find our writers forum at accentuate writers

Finally I would like to ask that you send her via her website - rissawatkins.com words of encouragement, prayer and supportive uplifting message to let her know how much you care.

Thank you from me personally for anyone who takes the time to do this for my friend and God Bless