Dec 05 2009
Happy Weekend! Good News for December 5, 2009
Winding down the year – seems almost impossible. We had our first snow the other day and it stuck. Can still see the grass through the thin layer of snow…but snow nonetheless and the kids were thrilled. Now we seem to have entered the first phase of winter where the temperatures dip in earnest. Yuck!
Enough whining about the weather – on to the good news!
Grandma Delivers Baby While Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner
Patricia McCalop was preparing Thanksgiving dinner when her daughter went into labor two weeks early.
McCalop called 911 and a dispatcher talked her through the delivery. Paramedics arrived right after the baby was born and mother and newborn to the hospital. They are both in good health.
Patricia McCalop kept running between the kitchen and her daughter in labor because she didn’t want the turkey to burn.
Gates Foundation Commits $12.9M to College Tech
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help community colleges use technology to improve. The foundation announced $12.9 million in grants to support a variety of programs.
The grants will focus on science and math and will affect colleges across the nation.
Not only will this help improve online and digital classes, the foundation will help create new tools to make learning interactive and relevant.
Former Businessman Lives On No Money for a Year
Mark Boyle believes that giving up his job, possessions and money to live in a rusty old caravan was the best decision he ever made.
Boyle vows to continue with his money-free life permanently.
Boyle survives by growing vegetables on his one-acre plot of land. He forages for mushrooms, nuts and berries and scrounges for waste food from supermarkets and restaurants.
“Even the simplest tasks, like having a shower or flushing the loo, become incredibly time-consuming.”
Boyle decided to give up all his possessions and spend his last ÂŁ350 installing solar panels in his van to power his laptop.
Says Boyle: “I realized the only truly sustainable way was to give up cash and reconnect with nature, so I gave away all my possessions.”
