Archive for the 'This and That' Category

Mar 20 2010

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Rambler

Make That Degree a Reality!

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Have you heard about some of the options available for people who want to earn a degree, yet cannot fit college into their already full lifestyles? People like me, for instance? In this case, finding a quality online university is exactly what you need to do.

This is the way to earn that online mba you have been putting off for all these years. No more procrastinating…there’s no reason to anymore! Not with online universities such as Western Governors Online University ready and waiting to help you achieve your dreams. Accredited, affordable and flexible…three things that are so important for achieving a goal like this.

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Mar 06 2010

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Rambler

Happy Weekend! Good News for Saturday, March 6, 2010

March is firmly underway. In our  neck of the woods it came in like a lamb…so we’ll be hanging onto our hats at the end of the month. It’s uncanny how that old adage seems to ring true every year.

If anyone is following our pregnancy progress, this last week we found out we are having a healthy GIRL, so we are celebrating this in our family!

On to the good news!


Fresh Veggies Need Light
veggiesThe lights above the produce in the produce section help keep spinach fresh and producing new vitamins. These findings should apply to other fresh vegetables as well. This is good news for figuring out ways to keep produce fresher longer.

Grocery stores often display fresh spinach in clear plastic containers. They keep temperatures constant at around 39 degrees F under fluorescent lights 24 hours a day. Spinach kept under lights has been shown to have significantly higher levels of vitamins C, K, E and folate. Leaves stored in the dark actually lost nutrients.


Diver Wrestles Frisbee Off Shark’s Neck
sharkJohn Dickinson was diving off the coast of southern Florida when he found a nurse shark laying quietly on the ocean floor. After tugging on its tail, the shark began to swim away. At that point, his diving partner went after the shark, grabbed it with both arms and wrestled with it until he was able to remove a frisbee. The shark swam away safely.

The shark was emaciated because it could not eat properly (wasn’t able to open his jaw because of the ring around his neck). The Frisbee also might have been preventing it from getting the oxygen he needed.


Massive Head of Pharaoh Unearthed in Egypt
pharoahArchaeologists have uncovered a huge red granite head of an Egyptian pharoah who ruled nearly 3,400 years ago.

The head of Amenhotep III (approximately the height of a person) was dug out of the ruins of the pharaoh’s mortuary temple. The leader of the expedition says it as the best preserved sculpture of Amenhotep III’s face found so far.

Amenhotep III, was the grandfather of the famed Tutankhamun. He ruled from 1387-1348 B.C. at the peak of Egypt’s New Kingdom. He also presided over a vast empire stretching from Nubia in the south to Syria in the north.

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Jan 10 2010

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Rambler

It’s the Dead of Winter and…

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have you given any thought to beautiful beaches and warm blue water? No? Trying to avoid thinking about such things? Me too…

BUT…there are times when I just cannot help myself and my mind wanders to thoughts of turks and caicos all inclusive getaways.

Honestly…how could this not be a good idea? Visiting a Caribbean paradise when the snow is piling up and the wind is howling? Last night we had a low of -9F. Um…seriously? YES! Unreal…time to get away somewhere warm!

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Dec 26 2009

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Rambler

Happy Weekend! Last Good News for 2009! (12/26/2009)

Can you believe we’re on the brink of 2010? Unreal…I remember so vividly ten years ago when we were turning over into a new millennium. The excitement and the trepidation about what the turn-over would bring.

There is more unease and unsettle around as we approach this new year. A lot of the news is not good. Food shortages, unemployment, credit woes…everywhere you turn there is bad and depressing news.

Let’s shut that out for a bit and concentrate on the GOOD that is happening!


Ex-Conjoined Twins Leave Hospital for Birthday
twinsFormerly conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna were discharged from an Australian hospital five weeks after their separation surgery. They are home in time to celebrate their third birthday. The girls were joined at the top of their heads and they also shared brain tissue and blood vessels before they were separated in a 30-hour operation.

The twin sisters have made amazing progress since the November 17 surgery. They were using walkers to move around the hospital.

“I look forward to seeing them live a long and happy life; that’s my wish for them,” neurosurgeon Wirginia Maixner stated.

They will spend their birthday at home in Melbourne. The girls will stay in Melbourne to receive outpatient care at the hospital.


Mom Fights, Gets the Delivery She Wants
momWhen she was seven months pregnant with her fourth baby, Joy Szabo learned that the hospital where she was planning to deliver was going to require her to have a Cesarean due to her previous Cesarean history.

After pleading her case before hospital executives and being adamantly denied her right to a VBAC, Szabo and her husband decided to move their family six hours away to be near a hospital that would allow her to have a vaginal birth — three weeks prior to her due date.

On December 5, Marcus Anthony was born in Phoenix in an uncomplicated vaginal delivery. The baby weighed seven pounds, 13 ounces.

The Szabos’ story has a happy ending. It illustrates an alarming trend; however. The C-section rate is now one in three and women who want vaginal births sometimes have to fight for them.


America’s Top Donors of 2009
IGWTThe top donation in 2009 was a $350 million payment Bill and Melinda Gates made to their foundation for construction of a new 900,000-square-foot headquarters in Seattle. Here is list of Americans who donated $30 million or more to charitable institutions in 2009:

George Soros: $155 million
Michael R. Bloomberg: $125 million
William P. Clements Jr.: $100 million
J. Ronald Terwilliger: $100 million
Raymond A. Rich: $85 million
Julian H. Robertson Jr. and Josie Robertson: $69.5 million
Patrick Soon-Shiong and Michele B. Chan: $65 million
John W. and Susan G. Jackson: $50 million
Pierre and Pam Omidyar: $50 million
Jay A. Precourt: $50 million

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Nov 14 2009

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Rambler

Happy Weekend – Good News for November 14, 2009

Greetings! Halfway through November already…hardly seems possible. Our house is gearing up for Thanksgiving with everyone beginning to anticipate the family that will be arriving and the good times ahead. It is one of our favorite times of the year.

Quote for you:

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet~~James Openheim

I’m in the mood for some good news…how about you?



Ring Returned to Vietnam POW 44 Years After Imprisonment

ringJust over 54 years ago on October 1, 1955, James and Phyllis Hivner were married. Ten years later, then-Capt. James Hivner and his co-pilot were shot down , in their F-4C Phantom fighter-bomber over North Vietnam.

Soon after they were captured by North Vietnamese militia and then they became residents at the infamous Hanoi Hilton, a POW facility.

Just as the wedding ring symbolizes love, it also symbolizes the Air Force family the colonel is a part of. On Veterans Day, people from Sheppard Air Force Base made the two-hour trip to Addison, Texas, with a special surprise.

After being captured, Hivner and his co-pilot were stripped of all belongings and valuables – wedding rings included. After being imprisoned for approximately eight years, the war ended and Hivner was released…but returned home without his wedding ring.

Rick Tolley, a retired U.S. Navy commander from San Antonio, found the colonel’s original wedding ring and dog tag. After performing research, he located Hivner and the ring made its way back to its rightful owner.



West Africa’s Giraffes Make a Big Comeback

giraffesA hundred years ago, the giraffes of West Africa were as many as over a thousand and they lived from Senegal’s Atlantic Ocean coast to Chad (in the center of Africa). Currently however, their habitat stretches only 150 miles long.

But instead of disappearing altogether, the giraffes are bouncing back from the brink of extinction. Today there are more than 200.

Experts surmise the recovery is because of a combination of concerned conservationists, government looking for money, and harmony with villagers who have accepted their presence.

Giraffe hunting is prohibited in many countries. And some, like Kenya, have taken giraffe meat off the menu of tourist restaurants that once served them up on huge skewers. New laws were created that banned hunting and poaching. Giraffe killers would be punished with five-year jail terms and fines amounting to hundreds of times their annual income. By 2004, the giraffe herds had increased by two.

The government also realized they had a lucrative tourism resource as well.


New Evidence That Dark Chocolate Helps Ease Emotional Stress

stressThe “chocolate cure” for emotional stress is getting a boost from a study published online. New research has found that eating about 1.5 ounces of dark chocolate each day for two weeks reduces stress hormones of people feeling highly stressed. It now appears that antioxidants and other beneficial substances in dark chocolate may reduce heart disease and other physical conditions. Chocolate may also ease emotional stress.

Scientists have identified reductions in stress hormones and other biochemical changes using volunteers. The volunteers rated themselves as highly stressed and then ate dark chocolate for two weeks. The study shows evidence that a daily consumption of 1.4 ounces over a two-week period is enough to modify the metabolism of healthy human volunteers.

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Nov 05 2009

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Rambler

Disturbing Trend

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I have noticed something that has been developing gradually over the last several years. I used to be an avid reader…always had at least one fiction and nonfiction book going and kept my eye on the best seller list so that I would know when my favorite authors were finished with their latest novels.

I’m not even sure when life got away from me and I stopped reading books like I used to…

but I am determined to take back my mind! I went to the library the other day…and I brought home two books for myself to read. One fiction and one nonfiction. I’m proud to tell you that I have started both.

And I’m loving it!

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Nov 05 2009

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Rambler

Online Educational Opportunity

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Someday when life settles down somewhat, I would really like to pursue an online degree. I have become an Internet junkie over the last several years, and it just seems like it would be a perfect result of utilizing the Internet like I do to use it to earn a degree.

I was just reading about the online Masters Organizational Leadership program at Lewis University Online.

This is a program that will provide practical knowledge, leadership techniques, learning about human behavior, and prepare students to assume an important role in important organizational environments.

There are five different fields of study from which to choose and I had an opportunity to look over the course descriptions as well.

This would be ideal for anyone looking for an educational opportunity to fit in around “life.”

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Nov 01 2009

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Rambler

Sigh – Televisions are Humming

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I’m almost ashamed to admit how much TV we’ve been watching lately, since being sick. Normally, we are very minimalist where the television is concerned…but somehow when you lack the energy and ability to concentrate on anything else, the TV becomes the source of entertainment everyone falls back on. We have nothing fancy or high tech…no plasma mounts to be found in our home…but we’ve definitely been giving our TVs a workout lately.

I can’t wait to turn them off when we all feel better!

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Nov 01 2009

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Rambler

Yearning for Health and Sunshine

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We are suffering a horrible virus in my home right now…in fact, at this writing I am planning on shuttling several of us to the doctor tomorrow for h1n1 testing…it’s that bad.

I’m telling you…when we recover from this, we are all going to need orlando vacations. They will be sorely deserved.

Not only do we all feel wretched, but the house is literally falling down around us. The grey November days outside are doing nothing for the psychological factor of this either.

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Nov 01 2009

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Rambler

Fun Pumpkin Facts

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A few fun pumpkin facts while you are munching your candy harvest and contemplating Orange NJ invisalign dental work to fix what that nasty caramel did to your bridgework.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau: The US major pumpkin states produce more than one billion pounds of pumpkins annually, worth over $100 million. Illinois is the leading pumpkin producer. California, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York come in right behind Illinois.

The largest pumpkin ever recorded is a 1,725 pound monster grown this year in Ohio.

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