Well, it is snowing again.  It is suppose to snow through the night…then turn to rain and sleet by tomorrow morning.  So, I know that tomorrow will probably be a day to stay home.  But I don’t mind all the snow.

For the past few days the mounds of snow which we already have had started to melt down pretty good.   For February this really isn’t so bad…not yet.  It has been said that February goes out like a lion…meaning either a lot more snow or plenty more cold.

On Monday, I decided to do something that I had been hoping to pay someone to come in and do for me.  Through the years my parent’s house has taken such a beating.  And the kitchen walls and woodwork looked so terrible…and I would have liked to have found someone other than me to come in and clean them.  But since the house is without heat due to our blown furnace as you may or may not have read in a couple of my earlier blogs…I have been keeping the stove on with a couple of pots boiling water.  This has caused everything in the kitchen area to stream up.  Which meant that all that filth that I had been forced to look at which had caked upon the doors and other woodwork over the years in the kitchen have been steaming down off  the doors etc…etc…   So, since it had already loosened up the years grime….I just decided to pull out a bucket and an old scrub brush and get busy.  And that is how I spent my President’s Day.

It  felt good to be finally getting those doors scrubbed down and then standing off to view my handy work.  Real good.  I had been loathing touching the doors or anything else in the kitchen…or for that matter around the house.

When we were kids…I hated those Saturday mornings when my parent’s woke us up early in the morning with buckets of soapy hot water waiting on us.  It meant that we would be scrubbing most of the day.  Oh, how I hated those Saturdays when they would have us scrubbing down all the woodwork in the house and then scrub the floors too.  And my father liked to have us get on our hands and knees to do that.  Oh, how I hated it.

But as I started washing down those filthy doors with the old scrub brush thoughts of those days came back to me…and I was filled with pride.  Because here I was…in my parent’s house again…and I was taking care of their property just the way they had taught me so many years ago.

While my son was talking to me last night…he happened to mention that I wouldn’t be able to watch TV anymore if I didn’t go out a buy a converter box.  This is the thing I hate about new technology.

Why do they have to force it down our throats?

There are so many people who went out and invested in those large projector type televisions or other older models…only to find out that  that television system is now out dated and they have no option but to convert it to a digital reception system.

They did the same thing when they decided against 8-track tapes, beta systems, turntables, records, VHS tapes, cassette tapes etc…etc…etc…all gone now.   What you see is…is that the old stuff goes on sale and those looking for great deals rush out unaware that the only reason the stuff is on sale in the first place is because they are out dated…and that format is no longer going to be available…because they simply stopped making it.

Today, I’m looking for someone to build me an external floppy drive disk reader.  I hadn’t realized it until the other day when I was looking for something…that I didn’t have those files on anything digital…but on a floppy disk.  For which I have also run into the same problem with my word-processor files which I had saved on my processor’s little disk.  I had not been paying any attention and before I knew it word-processors were no longer on the market…they had been replaced by computers.   And it had took me a long time to convert from a regular typewriter to a word-processor.   So, by the time I finally bought one…the item was nearly dead already…and computers were coming into the marketplace in their place.  And I had never noticed.

This is why when my son wanted to buy a 10″ DVD player…I cautioned him and told him no.  I suggested that he invest in a laptop computer instead…where he would have a choice of much larger screens plus be able to do more with it.  And he did just like his mother had suggested…just like the good little boy he is (smile).  Now, when his mother is away from home or can’t get on-line on her own computer…I just use his laptop.   Now, how good is that…for being resourceful?

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/38843

http://www.dtv.gov/

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

No, no need trying to fight it.  It is a done deal.  If you want to continue to watch television…and got rid of your cable provider years ago…then you will have to go out and invest in a converter box.  The good part though is…I rarely watch television.  So, it really doesn’t affect me much.

Well, it is still Black History Month…and I really haven’t spoken about anyone in these blogs…outside of giving you their names.  What good is my telling you all about them…when researching to find out that information for yourself will prove more valuable to you…in that you may remember them or something about them because you looked up info on them on your own.

I can only say that I have a deep fondness for black people…and have for all of my life.  I have read many books…and loved Langston Hughes’ book on Jesse B. Simple.  I used to always have a copy of the Black Anthology.  Read Baldwin’s ‘Amen Corner’…which I saw performed by Kumuba Workshop under the direction of  Val Grey Ward.  It was one of the things which also inspired me to move to Chicago…besides, of course, my hopes of getting hired by a radio station there…WGCI or WJPC.  I have forgotten the other black radio stations they had in Chicago back then.  But I loved those productions by Kumuba.  But even more I enjoyed the time I actually met James Baldwin.  He wasn’t a very big man…and he looked very much like his photos.  But there was something about him…an aura about him…I guess you could say.   He extended his hand out towards me looking me right in my eyes.  And I knew I was in the presence of greatness…yet so humble…and kind.  He was quite gracious.  I loved him.

I had seen the play…‘Amen Corner’…and I had read his book ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain.’  But at that time, I never knew that he was still alive until he went to Mt. Holyoke College to teach.

Alexis, a friend of mine had introduced him to me.  They had become very close and I could see and understand why.  They shared something in common.  It is hard if you have never felt that you looked as good as everybody else…it is hard to understand how some people battle with these feelings most of their lives…as did James Baldwin and myself.  It is what I thought about Gwendolyn Brooks when I looked upon her picture as I added it into my last blog.  Yet, in every picture of her…she always seemed so happy and smiling.  And as I looked upon her pictures…I thought-

“She must have been a most beautiful person in ever possible way.”

Most recently I had to take some pictures.  I should preface this by saying…I am not a big picture taking person…because I have never liked the way I looked.  But I needed a promotional picture for my book.  So, I set about trying to get one that I felt I could live with.  But upon taking a few pictures and looking at them…I found that I have my grandmother’s nose.  I must admit I have been laughing and smiling every since.

I have my grandmother’s nose.  And I never knew it.

My grandmother didn’t have just any old nose…it was unique.  And I had not seen anyone else with it until we went to the church convention in Detroit this past July.  While there we re-united with some long lost family members.  And I sat there almost the whole time looking at this woman…a cousin…and thinking-

“She has Mauh’s nose.”

It was all I could think.  I just kept thinking that over and over again in my head…and I rarely took my eyes off of that woman’s nose because I loved seeing it.  So, to look into a picture and find that I have my grandmother’s nose is like finding out that all of these year’s God had played a trick on me.  I have my grandmother’s nose.

I love having my grandmother’s nose.  I can’t believe I have it.  And I have it all by myself…no one else just me and that woman…my mother’s cousin in Detroit.  We’ve got Mauh’s nose.  Seeing that nose I didn’t feel so ugly anymore…because Mauh was not ugly.  And in her day…she really must have been something…and even up to the time she died…she still had a boyfriend.  Or should I say…male friend.  I used to kid her about Mr. Alexander…the old man who everyday used to come by her house to visit with her while we down there. 

Mauh’s entire wardrobe was made of red.  Everything in her house was red.  Every pocket book she had was red and every pair of shoes.  Her bed spreads…everything…table clothes…everything all red.     Everything Mauh owned was red.  And if  it wasn’t…then it was pink.

Daddy used to say that from the time he met Mauh-

“She’s always been 30.”

He would grin real wide when he said it…because Mauh never admitted her age to anyone. 

But she was never ugly.  And I had her nose.

And from that moment I started seeing myself in a different light.  You know what?

I’m not ugly.  I’ve got Mauh’s nose.

I’m not ugly.  And for all these years I though I was.

Hope you enjoy your day tomorrow.  I will probably be buried up under the snow…but I will be loving every minute of it…and still smiling.  Because…well…because I’ve got Mauh’s nose.  And it feels so wonderful.

Well, God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

At last they have reached an agreement on the stimulus bill which will hopefully create  jobs and get this economy back up and running.  Though I must admit to not being one of those who was hit by the problems going on with the economy…I must always say that I am concerned about others.

Many people did suffer and are suffering because the economy took a deep plunge under George W. Bush.  I doubt whether gasoline prices will ever get back down to $.99…but it would be nice. 

Wouldn’t it?

We take so much for granted until it is gone.  We never knew just how good we had it until gas prices at the pump started getting over $3.00…and when they neared $4.00…and did hit $4.00 and over in some places…we suddenly realized the party was over.

Food prices went up…everything…you name it and it all went up…due to some lousy war in Iraq that nobody wanted in the first place but George Bush and his people.  If the after-effect could have been seen before hand I doubt that little ol’ George would have stood a chance at getting that war started.   Well…maybe I should take that back.

The fact is…is that there were some pretty greedy people pushing for that war.  You saw them at the Republican National Convention…they were holding up signs that read ‘prosperity.’  

You do remember seeing those signs all actively displayed around the
Republican National Convention floor this past August?   Many of those very people realized what the outcome was going to be…long before hand.  In fact, they were hoping for it.and began buying like crazy whatever they could on the stock market.   They care about nothing… but…   prosperity …at any cost. 

They went into the stock market and started buying up everything that had to do with heating, utility companies, insulating, home improving, coal mining, oil drilling,  trucking, food…etc.  Oh, they saw it coming…and they knew it would come big.  So, what did they do…they pushed for the war.

They were going to go into Iraq and squander it…rob it…pillage it…destroy those museums and take every artifact, painting, golden vessel and piece of pottery they could find…and smuggle it out of that country.

Then they were going to set themselves up as the saviors and peacekeepers of the place…while all the while looting it and the American taxpayers too with bogus invoices…and double billing ploys…while thousands of American people innocent sons and daughters lost their lives fighting in a senseless war brought about by greed.  

It did not make sense for the United States of America to arbitrarily begin a preempted strike on Iraq…when all the world was against it and most of the American people.   Iraq had not done anything to us.  Nor were we under threat by them.

What?

For a man and his 2 sons.  Two ton bombs were unleashed upon those people, their homes, their businesses, their infrastructure, their schools etc…night after night upon building after building. 

That could not have been about Saddam Hussein and his 2 boys.  It was greater than them…it had to be.  The expense and tally was too great to just desire to depose a tyrant and his sons.  

Could it have all been for profit?

As Barack Obama came into office as President of the United States…72 hours later Blackwater pulled out of Iraq…and the others are following.  And a country is being left in devastation.

I have heard somewhere about how ‘leaving something in a better state than when you found it.’

The state of the Iraqi people has changed…but many would argue whether or not it is a better state than when George Bush and his boys went into it.

So, yes…I am happy that the Senate has finally stopped hemming and hawing.  Everybody is trying to make some points…it is so…so…like politicians.  The Republicans held it up…so the Democrats couldn’t get the credit…when they knew all the time that they were going to have to pass the stimulus package or else face the music again come another election period.

You would think those dog gone Republicans would learn.

They can stop the band…but they can’t stop the music.

Hooray, for the passage of Obama’s stimulus package.  Now, maybe some of these companies will not have to continue to lay people off or fire them.  Jobs are very much needed…they help to pay the bills.   And they are good when you want to go somewhere…you’ll have money to do it with.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/congress_stimulus

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/us/politics/12stimulus.html_r=1&hp

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=11990303&ch=4226716&src=news

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38970000/jpg/_38970537_203b_uday96_vt.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3089379.stm&usg=__zsRi

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3089379.stm

Well, First Lady Michelle Obama will grace the cover of Vogue magazine next month (March)…making her only the 2nd First Lady to do so.

I have been trying to find a picture somewhere on the internet…but alas…to no avail.

I has to be out on newsstands by now…not to mention out in the mailboxes of thousands who subscribe.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/10/AR2009021001579.html?hpid=topnews   

February is just one of those months…I suppose that much of it has to do with the passing of my mother during the first of this month some years ago…as to why I tend to be quiet and rarely have much to say.   I had been wondering why I had so much to do…and seemed to not want to do any of it.  I had forgotten that it was February.

Even with these blogs by this time during a regular month I would have done at least 4 to 5 of them already…but this is only my second since the month has begun.  Oh, I am not as bad as I used to be…there was a time not so long ago either that every month and every day was just like the day she had passed.   Even my being able to form and shape the word ‘passed’…in my mouth or mind in connection to my mother is something new for me.  I could never put the 2 words together…’she passed’ for years upon years.

I never wanted to accept that she was…was…was gone.

I am who I am because I was given the very best of everything by God.  I had the best mother…and the best father. 

My parents never discussed with me the fact that I was gay.  There was never a mention of it…though they knew.  I had bought most of my girlfriends by the house…so, they had met some of them.  But they never discussed anything about gayness or gay people with me.  They never called anyone names…or talked negatively about anything.

When I called home from Chicago…to tell my mother that I was pregnant.   Yes…gay me…pregnant.  It is a rather long story…but in short it happened because I became depressed over loosing a lover.  I began thinking that maybe the life (gay life) was not for me.  So, I decided I would try the other side.  And the one time I did…BAM.   I was pregnant. 

Being gay I was very naive about straight life.  I would have never have thought about protection or anything like that…because…   Well, because I had never had a boyfriend…and had never dated in my life until I got into gay life…which was sometime during the age of 25.  And I had my son when I was 28.

I must say that I am a strong advocate for ‘pro-choice.’  Without choice I may have chosen differently.  I did think about abortion…even called the abortion hotline.  But when that lady started talking about ‘full anesthesia’ or ‘partial anesthesia.’   And I thought if it was going to hurt either way…then I might as well have the baby. 

So, much for my analytical process at that time.  But I thank God…I made the right choice.  I could not image life without my son…who is the best thing that ever happened to me.  And he is definitely a far better person than his mother…honestly. 

So, I called home and I tell my mother.  I don’t even know what I said…or how I phrased it or whether I just came right out and said it.  Nor can I remember what my mother said to me upon hearing that.  I am sure that perhaps she may have believed that I might not ever have any children…as I was gay.

Nor can I remember how long it took me to pick up the phone to call my parents to tell them that I was pregnant.  I had to have been months…because I knew that they would be disappointed. 

But I remember what my father said upon my arrival home during my 7th month of pregnancy…after my mother had sent one of my sisters to Chicago to bring me home.

My father said-

“Now, you will never be alone.”

That was the extent of it. 

“Now, you will never be alone.”

He was right.  I am not alone.  I am now the matriarch of our family…which continues to grow even in their absence.  And they would proud.

But during the entire period of my mother’s lifetime…I had never shown much interest as an older child or an adult child in church or church matters.  I rarely went…and was so happy when I finally moved out of my parent’s house…just so I wouldn’t have to continue going to church.

Today, the church is my whole focus.  I can’t imagine what my mother would say.  But I know she would smile and be happy.  Because it is true…it is what you put into your children that matters.  Yes, they may wander but somehow…what was pour into them when they were young will surface in their lives at some point.

It’s February…Black History Month…and as tears stream out of  my eyes as I write this thinking about my mother.  I am so thankful for those who walked before us…they poured something in…and today it has surfaced.  Many years of insults and degradation.  But today…the number one person in the world is a black man.   I am so happy…that my nieces, my nephews…my

 son…and us…we are all here to bare witness to this time in American History.  

Pictured above is…the grave stone of Benjamin Banneker, Dr. Charles Drew and Dr. George Washington Carver.   You can CLICK on the LINK right below to find out as to who they are, their accomplishments and those of other black people in American History.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cdcmaafa.org/images/pictures/famousinventors.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cdcmaafa.org/inventors.html&usg=__IuPSOBVxF7tkcjLbtwfssKU0l5U=&h=211&w=207&sz=14&hl=en&start=31&um=1&tbnid=W3F9JcICaeeMsM:&tbnh=106&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpictures%2Bof%2Bfamous%2Bblack%2Bscientist%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

It is February…

http://books.google.com/books?id=L2RMRwJ1IUsC&dq=pictures+of+black+people+in+african+american+history&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=imKTSY6QNJKasAOs_KC1Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=12&ct=result#PPA2007,M1

The weather has broken for a spell…and we are getting a break from the cold…the ice and the snow.  The sun has been shining for the past 2 days so lots of snow has been melting.  But today…was absolutely beautiful.  It felt like spring.  And the house has not been quite as cold.  I look forward to spring…I actually love all the seasons.   Winter…spring…summer…and fall…

Well, God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009  

CLICK LINK BELOVE to trailer to Michael Moore’s lastest film on the bank bailout.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-trailers/?g=f359d88a-4848-43c3-be13-bf505c57cc30>1=28101

It is freeeeeeezing. 

I have been up half the morning trying to get the oven to light up.  And finally it got started…but then I went to turn on the faucet and nothing came out.

Oh, nooooooo!

The pipes can’t be frozen…I left the water running all through the night.  I only turned it off at about 9 something this morning.  I rushed to the bathroom…the hot water was running but the cold water….

I started praying.  

There was no way I could stay in my parent’s house without water.  Then I thought maybe the water had been turned off…and the only reason the hot water was running was because it was what had been left the hot water tank. 

But I kept praying…and trying the cold water faucets.

And finally the cold water started running a little tiny bit…then a little bit more…and finally it gushed through.  I had come so close to the water pipes freezing.   So, bright me…I went upstairs to the vacant apartment upstairs which has been vacant since one of my sisters moved out a couple years ago.  I went up to check the water upstairs…the kitchen and the tub faucets worked…but there was no water in the toilet and the basin faucets didn’t work. 

So, I left the 2 faucets that worked running a little…only to be walking downstairs and hear what sounded like water dropping in the basement.  And that is exactly what it was…water was running out of a pipe. 

And all I could think about was how was I going to pay for this?

First, the furance and now this.

And then on top of everything else…I had gotten a letter last week from the lawyer of the mortgage company saying-

“We’re in possession of the property.”

Could it get any worst.  But I am a believer…my faith and trust is in God.

I had already gotten an injunction against the mortgage company and had filed a complaint against them…Citifinancial or CitiMortgage as they call themselves are crooks.  The unfortunate thing is that many people do not know how to go into court and file their own complaints against these companies.  If they could some of these companies would think twice about some of their practices and their treatment of people.

But I will not complain.  As cold as it is…it is still not as cold as it was in this house last winter when the gas had been shut off.   Without gas…there was no hot water in the house.    So, I can bare this…as long as I have hot water.  But now this water problem…that could be questionable.  

But I am believing and trusting in the Lord.

I used to go to auctions…and still do.   But I no longer seek out distressed property.  Because I now realize who the people were who were distressed before that property became distressed.  If people stopped going out to bid on auction property many of these mortgage companies would work harder with people to keep their property from going into foreclosure.

So, no…now I no longer go to view or bid on distressed property where people were forced out of the property and cast out into the street.   No, I do not want any property like that.  And I am determined to fight for my parent’s property.

I know that there is nothing free.  Bills do have to be paid.  And I understand extenuating circumstances…and many times there are extenuating circumstances behind why people fall behind in their debts.  Everybody is not trying to get something for nothing.  And not everybody is trying to take advantage.  But many people have this attitude about veryone in foreclosure…and it is just not so.

Whatever your circumstances I pray that God opens a door and pours relief into your situation.  There is nothing worst than worrying over something that you have already put into your mind that you are on the loosing end of.  I serve a mighty God…you should try Him.   He was the one…no me who  got that injunction against CitiMortgage…and it was an unbelievable situation.  The lawyers never showed up. 

The judge then sent me out and had me to have them re-summon to court a second time.  And the 2nd time the lawyers failed to show up.   I know it was God.   I have never been in court where the lawyers didn’t show up.  Lawyers, of course, get paid to appear in court for their clients…but they did not on these 2 occasions…and they probably still got paid.   But I got the injunction…and I have no reason to believe that God did that just so that later on I would loose my parent’s house.  

I don’t think so.

Be encouraged.

I can’t believe the pipes upstairs are burst.  It never dawn on me to go upstairs and turn on the water up there to keep those pipes from bursting too.   And I would not have realized that the pipes had started to freeze if I had not gone to fill back up the pots I have been boiling on the stove with water…with the hope of aiding in keeping the kitchen to stay warm.  If it hadn’t been for that…man…   Thank the Lord.

I don’t care about the pipes upstairs right now…just as long as the pipes down here are not affected.  It just means one more thing I will have to get fixed later.  But first things first…and that is…get my parent’s property out of foreclosure.

It is soooooo cold.  

I have not been keeping up with the weather…because who wants to sit up in a cold house watching television?

But I was just sitting up trying to type this…and my baby toe on my left foot started freezing.  It has to be terribly cold outside.   And if you know anything about a cold house…it is always colder inside than it is outside.

Once, Iwent to visit someone…I can’t remember for what but I think it was during a time when I was doing door-to-door sales.  The woman answered the door and both she and her husband were wearing coats inside the house and I could tell why.  Their house…or apartment…whatever it was was freeeezzzzing.  And I really couldn’t see at the time how they could bear it.  But I understand now…you do what you got to do when you have to do it.   And you do it when you can’t do any better.

God bless…

Boy, what I wouldn’t do to be cuddled up in front of a big beautiful warm cabin fire…right about right now.   That day is coming.  But for now…I am happy to be here on and in my parent’s property…just keeping watch over it. 

But I will tell you one thing…living in an apartment…and trying to maintain property are 2 different things.  Having for the most part grown up in this house until my parents decided to purchase a second house…one that was bigger by at lease 9 additional rooms and sat on a hill overlooking water.   But my father did everything.

I could not imagine marrying a man who couldn’t do anything. 

Daddy was the plumber…the electrician…dry-waller…painter…wall paper hanger…automobile mechanic….bike fixer…    Daddy was eveything…including a great cook, Kool Aide, lemonade and ice tea  maker…ice cream maker…gardener…   Wow, there was  nothing that daddy couldn’t do.

I only wished I had recognized it before…I might have bought him less neck ties and socks…and more of other things.

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009 

Just getting in from cracking ice.  My hands are all blistered…and I am cold.  The ice on the sidewalk was about an inch thick.  It didn’t take me long to decide that if I could only make a walkway…then I would have to be satisfied.  I enjoyed it though…but now my hands are aching me.  And I rip some skin on my thumb…but I got it done.  Now, I don’t have to worry about someone slipping on ice in front of the house.

Yesterday while it was coming down…the freezing rain and ice…I started wondering if  it was still true…you know that saying ‘through the rain, the sleet and the snow…”

Well, it is still true.  And I told our mail man as he hiked up to street to our house looking more like an astronaut than a mail man…I told him that I was happy to see that that saying was still true.  And he said-

“Yeah, it’s still true.”

But he didn’t seem to be too happy about it…but I was sure happy to see him.  Not that I was expecting anything in particular.  And as I looked up the street I saw where the ice and sleet hadn’t stopped UPS either.  When you pay for these services you want to know that your stuff is getting delivered just like they promised it would…the next day…or whatever you paid for…no matter what.

With all the talk about email through the years…and the possiblity of it replacing the old stamp and envelop system…all I can say is this-

“I hope not.”

Can you imagine not being able to go the Post Office to send out your mail, packages, or to purchase stamps and boxes etc. ?   I can’t.

I am a believer that the more options there are the better off we are.  I don’t mind email…I use it everyday.  And some days several times a day.   But I sure would hate to see it replace my receiving the hard copy of  actual letters, bills etc.   There is something about being able to look at something in my hands…and being able to review it as often as I want without having to turn on a computer to do it…that I like best of all.  And I like the hard copies of everything…magazines, books etc.  

The only thing that viewing over the internet is probably best for…for me…is reading news stories.   I hang onto things…so I definitely don’t need to have any newspapers in my house…or magazines.  I get tons of magazines though…and rarely touch any of them.   But if I were to…I can flip through it at my leisure.  But I can’t read magazines on-line…but newspaper articles I can.   I only read certain stories and never the whole newspaper…not even half  of  it.

I get those little on-lind cards sometimes in my email…and it is not the same as an actual card.  I barely glance at them.  I appreciate people sending them to me…but I think that they are a waste of time.  The can’t beat a really beautiful or funny card that you can glance at from time to as you want to.

There are companies that no longer print their catalogs anymore…they tell you to go to their website and see what they have to offer. 

Who wants to do that?

I’m sorry…but there went a sell.  Because I hate going to a website when I am interested in checking out what a company has to offer me by way of products and/or services.  When I buy I’m a comparative shopper…so  I go over info back and forth until my ultimate decision is made.   This means a hard copy of the companies catalogs are invaluable to me.

I am all for technology and advancements in the improvement of how man lives…but some things are more a hindrance than an aid.  When you look at cable television the ability to be able to view a wide variety of  TV channels was a great offer. 

But do you remember when television channels used to be free? 

You may have had limited selection but the channels were clear for the most part…and best of all you got them for free.

When you consider it…whether they tell you it or not…most people still watch network television more than the ton of other channels.  The problem with network TV today, however…NBC, ABC and CBS…they offers far less than what they used to.    They used to make movies, run mini-series…and had a lot of other more interesting television programs than they do today. 

Today television offers nothing but a bunch of reality shows and everybody trying to become millionaires.  It is boring…and I just stopped watching television for the most part a long time ago.  And they have the nerve to change over the system this year to force everybody to get a digital television.  The whole thing is one big racket…and I am so glad that people didn’t fall into that trap twice but rushing out to pay for radio too.

Lets face it…who needs another bill?

And for something you used to enjoy for free?

And that is how I feel about the Postal system…I don’t mind paying for the service.   And even though today email is free…I guarantee you if the US Postal Service closed their doors today…email would cost us something by tomorrow.   So, I am all for keeping things just as they are right now…because even though the rates go up occasionally the increase is not enough to be a hardship on any of us.

Though I must say that the phone system has changed for the best.  Now, that is something I can applaud.  I remember the day when a single phone call could have cost me $40 or $50.   Yeah, I like the fact that gone are the days of the $300 to $500 phone bills for long distance calls.  I am so glad those days are long gone.  The funny thing though is that I now don’t have anyone that I want to sit up all night long on the telephone with…like I did back in those days.  But that’s okay.  I’m happy…and I won’t complain.

But you do have to keep your eye on your cell phone bill…because the cell companies will get you if you don’t watch your bills.  And I do mean…get you….and get you good.  You have to closely monitor your cell phone bills because they will ease all kind of charges in on you.   And definitely look out for charges like ‘roaming.‘  They did that to me…and I had not gone anywhere.

The other thing with your cell phone that you have to be careful of  is that you don’t go over your minutes.  I had a concert promotion thing going on and I had to make a ton of calls…and had a ton of calls coming in.  Before I knew it…my minutes were gone.   I had to rush a $100 to the cell company every day for several days just to keep my lines open.  

They really got me…but I got smart quick.   I quickly revised my cell phone plan.  I never even come close to my total allowed minutes now.  And the plan is much better than the one I had before.  I have a family plan now.  It cut out having multiple cell phone bills to only having one bill and at a monthly cost that averages out to about what I had been paying for just one bill alone before. 

In these times you really have to look to…’how can I knock out a bill or two? ’ 

• First thing…get rid of cable.  There is nothing wrong with just having local stations…which you probably watch more often than you think.

• Second thing…check into getting a family plan for your cell phone service.  It really could save you lots of money…and give you all more minutes monthly.

And this is something my father taught me…

• Third thing…keep your gas tank on full.   When it gets down to about a half of a tank fill up your car…it will save you money.  And if where you live is like here…the gas prices have already started going back up.  We’re at $1.69 per gallon now…had dropped down to $1.39.  Do you remember when gas $.99 per gallon? 

In my forthcoming book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE…I write how due to technology no one knows anyone actual street address anymore.  Because most people contact each other via email rather than by sending actual letters today.  This is really not a good thing.  (not that that is what my book is actually about…it is a fictional story about a woman…  Well, yeah…it’s about THE BISHOP’S WIFE…and it’s unlike anything you have read before)

At any rate, we should all know the actual street addresses and zip codes of those people who are important in our lives.

Do you remember the day when you used to remember everybody’s phone number?

Those days are gone too. 

Unless you have experienced loosing a cell phone or breaking your cell phone…you will never know just how problematic not knowing anyone’s phone number can be.  With speed-dialing and all the other quick reference and access technology in the marketplace today…we are using less and less of our brain. 

We have calculators, speed-dialing and I don’t know whatever else.  But our brains are being put out to pasture and on an everlasting holiday. 

Have you ever heard-

“If you don’t use it…you’ll loose it?”

Take a look around the number of  people with Alzheimer’s is raising.  And it is starting at earlier ages.

We no longer have to remember anything anymore.  Everything is done for us.  This really can’t be good.   It may be convenient…but it is not good.  If all of the sudden the electic went out…and you were unable to go up on-line who would you be able to contact?

Do you know and remember every person on your email list off the top of your head?

And I am not talking about knowing their actual names but their email names and addresses.  I would bet you don’t…and I don’t either.  Who can keep up with all those (alias’) letters and various numbers people go by over the internet. I can barely keep up with all of my own…and we won’t talk about passwords.

But if something happened to your cell phone…if it went dead or became unusable…lets say all the cell companies lost service.   How many people could you call?   Who would  you still be able to contact? 

How many of the numbers in your cell phone do you actually remember?

This actually happened to me sometime this past year when my email carrier’s server was hit with a virus.  I tried all day trying to sign-on and couldn’t…and it was at the worst possible time.  I had emailed myself some documents that I needed to print out for a class assignment and I could not retrive them.  And the only place I had saved them was in an email that I had emailed to myself. 

It was a good lesson in technology…it will let you down.   Let me say it again…technology will let you down.  Don’t put your trust solely in it.  Some people say-

“Back up everything.”

But even this can let you down.  If there is no electricity…nothing works.  If the cell lines go down…you can hang it up.   Because you will definitely be out on a limb.   Or if the server goes down…yeah, it happens.  Then there is this thing called  ‘out dated formats.’  

Have you ever heard of  that?  

Well, we have all experienced it.  It is when you saved on a floppy  disc…but they no longer make computers with that type of  hardware…or a firewire in-put because everything is flash drives now.

A few years ago the whole Northeastern part of the United States was faced with this problem…of all the electrical lines going down.  I remember it well…I was in New York and BOOM! 

Luckily, I had just finished my editing session or I would have lost everything I had sat there for hours editing.  But I remember the number of people walking the streets with their cell phones plastered to their ears trying to make calls and couldn’t.  They were all lost without use of their cell phone service…and no one could figure out what was going on.

Then cars started riding by with people shouting out their windows-

“There’s a blackout!  There’s a blackout…and there’s no cell service.”

I didn’t have a cell phone at the time so that didn’t affect me.  But I remember hearing that none of the cell phones worked…but the land lines did.  Whether you know it or not…there are far less land lines today than there were some 10 or 20 years ago.  A lot of people have cell phones but not all of them have regular home phones any more.

Since most people walk around with cell phones…the outdoor phones that used to be on every corner…have your noticed that most of them are gone?  And the ones you do see…   Well, most of them do not half work.    And they are so filty you really do not want to pick them up…much less place them to your ear. 

Cell phones, computers, email, laptops, cable etc… all of these things may be great  but do you see the draw backs to them?

Now, there are cars that park themselves…cars with GPS systems designed to get you where you want to go.  I was even in a car the other day that didn’t need a key. 

I don’t know about you…but I don’t feel safe if I’m in a car that doesn’t use a key.  I don’t trust them.  And I definitely don’t want any car parking for me. 

In the on-set it all looks great…I thought having a hundred different channels to chose from was great too.   But soon you all learned something that we  had not been anticipating…they keeping showing the same shows over and over again.  So, what good is having a hundred different television channels when you keep thinking to yourself-

“There’s nothing on television?”

It doesn’t make sense.

“So, why do you continue to pay for it?”

I don’t want a car with GPS.  When I get lost I want to ask somebody and hopefully they will give me the right directions.

I don’t want a cell phone that takes pictures, text messages or has a thousand different ring tones.  I just want a cell phone that is audible.  I want it so that the person can hear me clearly and I can hear them clearly.  I don’t need to text anybody or take pictures with my cell phone.  I just want a good phone…that is all I need.   And not more charges for things on  my cell phone account that make no sense to have on a cell phone…like texting somebody when you can call them.

Why do all that work of trying to type something out like your cell phone is a typewriter?

As I end this let me just say…that we are becoming too dependent on technology.  We are relying upon it to store and maintain information that we used to easily extract from that thing which sits between our 2 ears…that we now barely use.  And we should all get back into the practice of writing letters…not emails…or dropping a real card into a mail box addressed to a friend or love one every now and then.   There really is something nice and quite special about receiving an unsuspected letter or card in your actual postal mail.

Think about it…outside of signing our signature every now and then none of us writes anything anymore.  I mean physically picking up a piece of paper and then put a pen or pencil to it to write a letter, a poem or something.  We do everything on our computers or in our calculators, cell phones…and whatever else we might have.

Well, one of my sisters has her train ticket to catch Amtrak into DC on the 20th.  I’m thinking about taking 2 of my younger nieces and a nephew and that we might drive down the night before and sleep in the car somewhere nearby.  I mean I was at the Million Woman March in Philly…I was in New York for 9/11…and I was at the 25th Anniversary March on Washington. 

How could I not be in DC for Obama taking his oath as President of the United States of America? 

I know that I can watch it on TV…but when you get right down to it…it is not the same as saying-

“I was there.”

God bless…and thanks for reading this blog…and  please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

As I lay here trying to keep warm…and happy about not having to go outside and shovel any more snow.   But I love it.

I am so thankful that my parent’s house is still standing…that water is not leaking down through the roof…that the raccoons are blocked off from traveling downstairs to meet me in our back hallway…and that God  blocked my parent’s house from going up on the auction block earlier this year in March.

I have much to be thankful for…including not having suffered what I thought was an on-coming stroke or heart attack last week when my right hand started shaking very badly, and then just froze up on me.  And ultimately forced me to have to rush from my class to go directly to a hospital emergency room.

But after having endured that…this past weekend I was out shoveling snow straight up to the day before yesterday.  We are buried in it.  And I am loving every minute of it…and I am so blessed not to have to be spending my holidays in a hospital.

Though the weather is cold…freeeeezzzing to be exact.  It looks pretty.  No, beautiful to me…because if I take a notion…I can get up and go outside and walk through it…when I know that I should not be able to do so.

But in regards to my warmth…I keep looking at our fireplace wishing I  could make a big bustling fire in it.   But I am afraid of risking starting a fire in the wall of the chimney since we haven’t used it or had it cleaned out for a while.  But a big bright and warm fireplace lighting up our living room would be nice…and especially on days like this.  And even more especially since the furnace is still not fixed. 

So, yes the house is cold…but not as cold as it should or  even  could be.  Though the oven is on (and I am being very careful monitoring it)…and most of the doors are closed to block off the cold.  And I do have a portable electric heater (which I am also keeping a close eye on) which you really have do when you run electrical items overtime.  And then on top of it all…I still have hot water.  

So, I’m doing pretty good.  Thank God for the hot water.

And believe me having hot water is important. 

I will not forget how last year this time I was almost in the same situation though the circumstances were different.  From August straight through the  1st of January we had no gas.  This meant that there was not any hot water either…which is a very hard situation…and particularly for women.   Because unlike men…women must bathe.   Washing up is okay…but it is not the same.   And to do it for months…in freezing cold water… 

Well, let me just say it again…women must bathe.

So, I was forced to have to bathe in freezing cold 2 times a day…once in the morning before leaving out from the house and again once I got back in.  And this I did religously in the freezing cold of the house…and cold water only gets colder as it runs.   It was quite quite quite freeeezzzing cold.  In fact, it was far colder inside our house than it was at any point outside of it.  

I know I was miserable during all those days.   But thank God…He brought me through it.  And I got through it without a sniffle or a sneeze.

And so though I can’t light a fire in our fireplace…I am not as cold as I should be either…and no where near as cold as I was in this house  last year. 

I am blessed.   

And I am finally finished with all my classes and their assignments…I got everything in even though at times my right hand continued to occasionally act up.  But I made it through…and yesterday I returned to the school library 2 books that I owed them.

 So, I am in the house for the duration of the holiday…short of having to go back out to shovel more snow…or throw down some more salt if it gets slippery again.

I can’t imagine what the temperture outside is today.  But  I know it is in the low something.    It looks very cold and dark outside.   There is no sun anywhere to be found…nothing but snow upon snow. 

It is like a freezer outside.  So, I am inside…trying to keep warm.  But I am loving it…because God has been good to me.

Remember those who have less than you and who may or may not have a roof over their heads…or a car in their garage…or food in their refrigerator…or in their pantry…or a coat to put on…or electricity…or gas to heat their home.    Let us pray for them…and keep them lifted up in our prayers throughout the year.   They would love to be in my situation I have no doubt.   So, I have nothing to complain about.   I’m blessed. 

Yes, I am blessed…and very highly favored.  And I thank God for His ever loving mercies.

So, whatever your holiday plans are…be careful and enjoy those whom you love.  And may God grant you to step into a wonderful 2009.   I am looking forward to it…and all the God has in store for me.

And always be mindful…that there is nothing like family.  And nothing at all like a good family…definitely worth more than gold.  

We pray also for family unity…unity from this point on…in Jesus’ name.

God bless….Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

And may your Santa give you exactly and everything that you are hoping and looking for.   

Praise ye the Lord…for He is mighty in all things.   And I am sure He has so much more for you…in 2009.

Well, God bless…and thanks for reading this blog…and  please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2008

Double CLICK the screen above in order to view the second video…ignor the text on the screen monitor

Happy holidays…and may God richly bless you too.

Just DOUBLE CLICK the screen to view the above video.

Maybe you’ve been like me do not have enough time to watch television.  Due to my classes and other things I rarely watch TV. 

So, I therefore never knew when Obama’s program was going to be broadcasted. So, today I decided to Google for the date only to find out that it had all ready aired.   Well, if you were like me and missed it…here it is.  Just CLICK on the LINK below.

I don’t know if I think infomercials work. But if it gives you a chance for people to better understand who you are…and what you are concerned with as it lines up with the concerns of others…then perhaps it does work. It’s Saturday…and Tuesday is quickly rolling around. We cannot afford to make a mistake.

I was invited to lunch today. A Chinese student wanted to treat me because we do this exchange thing. She aids me with my Chinese and I aid her with learning English. 

Since I took the time this past week to aid her with her oral presentation she wanted to show me her appreciation by treating me to lunch. S o, we met this afternoon. We got on the subject of the Elections…and I asked her who was she going to vote for. She informed me that she could not vote because she is not a citizen.  She was also not familiar with who either Obama or McCain were.

But she said, “I know Bush. He like to fight. That not good.”

And I agreed.

A lot of what is wrong with America came about as soon as Bush first entered the White House…and in particular as soon as he decided to start dropping bombs on Iraq. That one act caused the gas prices to soar like we have never seen in this country.

That one act also caused everything else to also soar right along with it…food, utilities, clothing costs, traveling costs etc. We can’t afford to have anyone else sitting in the White House who does not consider what his or her actions will do to the average family or person in America.

That war is killing us all…one way or another. We have and are all suffering because of one foolish move which most people in this country and others aboard were all against from the very start…including Barrack Obama who voted against it. VOTE Tuesday…and let’s make a real change in the direction of this country. Everyday people count too…and we have voices too. And it is in the power of our votes. 

 I loved the video of Barrack dancing…though one of the girls in my class said she found it offensive.  Whereas she saw it as Obama being a joke…I saw it as Obama proving that he too has a sense of humor. And that he also is not afraid to show his human side.  If you want to see Obama dancing just stroll down to the bottom of this blog.

The thing about John Edwards that really bothered me…was that I believed he was for real.  To see him in that video talking about people seeing him as ‘Ken’ of the Ken & Barbie Dolls…none of us even had a clue as who he really was.  We all thought he was some sweet doting father and loving husband.  Edwards was a clear disappointment and gladly he has now dropped way off the radar screen. 

That is not to say that we don’t all make mistakes.  But his was more than a little mistake…it was out and out deception.  And he did it knowingly and without any remorse or fear of being caught. 

Indeed, Edwards was a master at his craft.  He was a real politician…who mostly all come out of the legal profession…lawyers, just like Edwards. 

And someone will say, “So, doesn’t Obama.”  

Yes, Obama does.  But thank goodness some people are not crooks, deceptive or liars…nor a bunch of thieves.  I am oh so thankful that there still is some degree of morality among us…a remnant.  But it beats none at all. I don’t see Obama trying to pretend to be anybody but who he is. And we have seen that every time we have seen him. He remembers his roots, his family ties, the lessons taught him, the struggles he has had…and though he has risen to levels you and I may never get to…he has not forgotten.

He doesn’t try to recreate himself based upon other people’s opinion of what is or is not right. He goes with what he feels is right.

How can you argue against that?

Get out and vote Tuesday.

I have to admit that since writing this blog I have been listening to the entire half hour segment by the Obama campaign…and you know what?

“It does work.”

It was money well spent.

Now CLICK TO SEE BARRACK DANCING on Ellen…and Michelle.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/28/cnn-rejected-obama-half-h_n_138687.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20081028/pl_mcclatchy/3085327

 The Presidential Election is so important.

Please be sure to share this blog site with your friends.

…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com 

God bless…and thanks for reading  ©2008

Last night after getting in from an affair I smelled a funny odor in the house.  At first it was faint and I didn’t pay much attention to it.  But as the night worn on…nearly an hour or so later…the smell became more and more evident to me.

Finally, I got up and started sniffing around.  It is funny how much like animals we are.  But that is what I did.  I started sniffing and began discounting area after area.  But the smell was growing. 

I started thinking about the possibility of a fire being inside the walls.  We have all heard those stories.  How for nearly a week the family smelled something and didn’t know what it was. 

Besides, I had recently had to unplug my diesel truck when I had smelled something upon awakening in the middle of the night…something that very much smelled to me like fresh popped pop corn.  It wasn’t fresh popped pop corn…but turned out to be the outlet that I had plugged to the truck.  More to be exact it was one of those multi-plug things we all use for our computers and everything else we have to plug in.  But the extension cord running from inside the house to truck is constantly on…and I guess the outlet just couldn’t take it. 

Upon sniffing…I found out I didn’t have a pop corn problem but an electrical outlet problem.  Which I quickly solved by unplugging the cord and cutting off the multi-outlet.  But because I have seen so many Christmas news stories about electrical outlets and Christmas trees…and of course those electrical extension cords causing fires…that I didn’t hestitate to unplug the whole thing for good. 

When I smelled what I smelled this time…I immediately began to assume that maybe I hadn’t solve that problem at all.

I thought that maybe even though I had unplugged the truck and killed the outlet switch…that perhaps it had caused a fire to start in the inside of my parents house’s wall.  So, I sniffed and I sniffed but when I went near the area of the shut-off multi-plug outlet there was nothing.  Now, Sherlock really had to go to work because the smell was getting stronger…and I felt an urgent need to find it.

While I was sitting in a certain area of the dinning room the smell seemed it’s strongest.  But there was nothing there.  And when I sniffed the area…I could smell nothing outside of a whiff of the smell.

That is when I decided I better go check downstairs in the basement.

When I opened the door leading towards the back hallway of my parent’s house the smell suddenly grew stronger.  Now, I knew…I was on the right track.

As I started down the stairs, I felt heat like I had never felt before from down there.  I was hit with like a wall of heat.   Immediately I headed for the furnace.  And the furnace it was.

It was all lit up…bustling red hot…it was as I had never seen it before.  The coils running out at the bottom of furnace were red hot…and this was something that never was before.

I tried to look and see if the furnace was out of water.  And as far I could tell it was.

So, I reached up and took the knob to the water pipe and began to release water down into the furnace.  But the furnace response to water was violent. It started making all kinds of weird noises.  I feared that the furnace was going to blow up.  Which is exactly what I thought upon seeing how red hot the elements on it were.  It looked like it was going to explode.

So, I quickly turned off the water upon hearing its reaction to the water being released into it.  And I ran up the stairs.  Well…I tried to get up the stairs as quickly as I could.  I went directly to the thermostat to the furnace, and I turned it all the way off.  I hoped that this was going keep the furnace from blowing up my parent’s house…which upon looking at that furnace that was exactly what I thought would happen.  I definitely felt that the furance was well on its way to exploding.

We have all read stories about furnaces blowing up…leveling the house and killing everybody inside.  That is just what I envisioned.

All I could think about was my parent’s house…and how it had no insurance on it.  If it were to blow up…where would I go?

What would I do?

Where…what..how could I…

Not to mention…I would have been the cause of blowing up my parent’s house….something that they had work hard for…and made all kinds of sacrifices for.

So, I prayed…and I prayed…and asked God, “Please don’t let my parent’s house blow up.”

When I awoke this morning the house wasn’t as cold as I thought that it would be.  It hadn’t blown up.  But I knew I had to call the furnace people.  Because I was not going to dare turn it back on without calling someone to come and check it out first. 

I was so happy that the house hadn’t gotten leveled to the ground…and that God once again had stepped in on my behalf.  And He did…as always.

So, a few minutes ago the furnace guys came and ran water into the now very cold furnace.  And after a while the water ran out of furnace onto the ground of our basement…which was the thing what they were looking to see if it would happen.

They then informed me of what they knew I really didn’t want to hear.  They told me that I should not have turned on the cold water but rather I should have turned off the furnace and then allowed it to cool all the way down first.  This is message to those of you reading this as to how not to end up costing yourself an additional $4,000 to $5,000 bill by having to replace your furnace. 

Yes, that is what I have to do. 

I must pay to have a whole new furnace put in because I reacted without thinking before turning on that cold water.  This was something we have all learned in our grade school science class…but who remembers this stuff when thrown into a situation many years later?

Though I must say…I am not sure that I may not have turned on that water anyway.  Sometimes we all learn best…when we end up having to pay for it. 

This is a lesson I have now learned…and learned it the hard way (much like that other story I told you in a prior blog when I stuck a fork into an electric toaster while the toaster was on…you’ve have got to read that blog).  But I have now well learned this lesson too.  And I am not subject to ever forget it again.

My parents used to take us to Florida during the summer to spend some time with our grandmother.  Once, while driving to Florida many years ago when we were still kids.  I had just started driving at this paricular time.  On road down to Florida, our car overheated.  I clearly remember now…how we sat along side the road waiting on the radiator to cool down before daddy poured some water into it.  I also now remember him risking burning his hand to take the cap off the radiator so the heat that had built up inside the radiator could escape.

None of that came to me last night.

Daddy was sure something.  He really was. 

Somehow, I appreciate him and all the things he did and could do a lot more now than ever before.  And it grieves me to say that…because I certainly didn’t appreciate him as much as I should have when we had him with us. 

Daddy did burn his hand.  But after a while we were soon back on our way.  And everytime we stopped…daddy got out and kept checking the radiator from that point down and all the way back home.  And he never complained about his hand.

I am so happy I didn’t blow up my parent’s house.

Who cares about that furnace….that can easily be replaced.  Yes, it will take me some time.  And yes…I may not have any hot water either for a while.  But at least I still have roof over my head.

Let us all pray for the homeless and those facing foreclosure…and those who’s problems are not so easily fixed.

Early this morning I had the chance to meet Nikki Giovanni…and I took it.  I cut my History class and found my way down to the auditorium where she was speaking.  She was all of what I expected and much more.  But while there I ran into an old friend.

This old friend was a woman whom I have known from the days when my parents used to pack us up and send us off for 2 weeks to camp.  She was then one of the little campers…just like me.  But she told me how her daughter had died instantly in car crash on her way to the airport.  Then she commenced to tell how her sister, Darlene, has just passed.  Darlene had been a little camper with us…she was just a couple years older than her sister telling me the story.  She also told me how Darlene prior to dying had been in intensive care for 2 months.  And then she told me how she had also just buried an uncle. 

She ended it all by glancing over at me with a pair of the saddest eyes and saying, “This has been a very bad year for me.”

When you think that times are bad…or that you have it hard.  Just keep this in mind.  That there is always someone going through something worst.

Enjoy your weekend…and be bless.

Before closing let me thank each of every one of you for reading these blogs.  About a week ago my stats for these blogs were barely over a 1,000 hits.  But that isn’t bad considering I had only gotten started blogging back in June of this year…and who ever thought I would be blogging.  I didn’t even know what blogging was…much less how to do or that I cared to do it at all.  But within a weeks time from last week I have neared almost 4,000…and that is because of you.  By some time Wednesday it may be 5,000 if not more.

When I started I wondered about how people would find my blog?

There were times when only one or two people read them…but now…it is over 200 hits per day.

I think that is wonderful. I certainly would not have thought anything like that. 

Who could be interested in reading anything I have say…on anything?

I just hope that I am saying something that makes sense to you, that may inspire you…or even give you reason to pause and consider some things.  But most of all I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share with you…and be able from time to time to tell you just how good God is to me.  

Thank you so very much.

I found this picture and loved the colors so much I just could not resist including it along with this blog…it is simply called “The Wedding”…

TUESDAY…TUESDAY…TUEDAY!!!!!   Just can’t wait. 

 Even the little ones support Obama!

Have a beautiful day…and thank you for reading.

Well, it is about 4 o’clock and I was suppose to go to the bank today.   Guess I won’t have much money for the long weekend.  I’m trying not to use my bank card too much…because frankly I can never trust my balance when I do.  I did a transaction for a couple of thousand with my card…but later there was a disbute between me and the company.  At the end when I just couldn’t take it any more…and yes, I’m talking Xulon Printing…after one obstacle after another…I finally said enough is enoug and-

“Give me all my money back.”

I think that they were kind of tired of me anyway…but I never complained without good reason.  I do not like any company who feels they have you over a wheel barrel just because they have already gotten paid.  Perhaps you have experienced a simular situation.  But when you have paid $2000 plus dollars…even tolerance for the sake of just getting it done soon will fall by the wayside if the company is flagrant in their dealings.  And that is just how Xulon is…flagrant in their dealings.

Believe when I tell you-

“They only want your money.”

“It’s all a game.”

What else do you want to hear…because I could tell you a lot more.

So, I recently went over the internet to check my bank account balance after giving them the axe last Friday…and yes…they have yet to reimburse me any part of my $2000 plus.  But from the on-set I did realize that they would want to keep as much of my money as they could on  their side of the table. 

In fact, Xulon is only going to reimburse my bank account some $300…but I knew from early in the game…and had realized that I was probably going to have to go down to Florida and sue them…and that is not so bad since they are located near Orlando.  But based upon the facts…I am entitled to every dime of my money back…as Xulon failed to fairly meet any part of our contract.  And the kicker in the whole thing was as they not only wanted to rob me…but wanted me to say it was okay to rob me by having me sign off on our contract.  They wanted to rewrite our contract by getting me to sign off on an email that they had sent me.  

To have signed off on that email would have meant…had I signed…that I would have been writing away any chance of every later taking legal action against them.

I really was not born yesterday…but I think Xulon thought so.

If I had signed off on that email…they could have also printed up my book any way they pleased and just thrown it at me.  Because in essence really that was what they were trying to get me to sign off against. 

Since Xulon had failed to provide me with an original cover…as the cover they sent me to approve was actual a cover they had used for a  prior author’s book…yet they charged that design against my funds.  I had also paid for rush service which was to take about 45 days…what a rip-off that was.  That was way back in March and my book to this date had not even gotten into the print room…due to one hang up after another on Xulon’s part. 

Then they have this author’s site where you supposedly retrive your proofs and inter-office emails.  My access code…provided to me by Xulon never worked.  When I informed them that it did not…I was told they had thousands of other authors and none of them had any problems with their’s.  So, I could not use that service…for which they charged against my money…I am sure.   After going over the Galley twice…upon which the last time I thought this time it was really going to go to print finally…but this is when they held up the printing…yet again…and told me that if I didn’t sign off on that email that they had sent me they would not print my book until I did.

So, I sent Xulon an email concerning several issues…(1) since Xulon did not want to reimburse me my rush fee money ($299)…a service they never provided me…I told them I wanted 30 books instead of the contracted 10 in exchange for my money.  Now, that is fair…as the charge to authors for their books printed by Xulon is $5…at $5 a piece I come nowhere near my $299.  But I felt I was entitled to something for my money…and I was not just going to let them rob me and me not try to get something out of the deal.

I also said I wanted my cover printed on quality glossy cover stock…really is that too much to ask for?    Besides, Xulon claimed that they did that anyways.

So, then why did they want me to sign off  on the printing of my book…if they already provided all of that?

Because I told them that if the printing of my book didn’t meet with the quality and expectations I had paid for…then I would not be satisified. 

And why should I?  

I had afer all paid them more than $2000 to do the job…for which they had breached every term and condition concerning the services that they claimed to provide.    Such things like…a professionaly designed original book cover.  Xulon even goes as far as asking you for your suggestions for the cover…of which they follow nothing.   I said put the title in thick bold fonts…not.  I said no people in the design…not.  I said something classy and ritzy…very not.

So…I said it in my very first blog…and I am going to say it again.  You will never know the type of company you are dealing with until you actually go into business with them.  Some people may fair well with a company…but that may not be your experience.   We weary of the sharks.

However, look out for my book, “THE BISHOP’S WIFE”…once I get it published…and it will be published.  I know you will enjoy it.  It is my second piece of fictional work…about woman in the mid-fifties who can’t put out of her mind a pass love though she marries a Bishop who is not what or who she expected him to be.

Oh, forgot to tell ya’ that Small Claims in Florida allows you to sue for up to $5000…that gives me plenty of money to fly down and soak up some sun too as I visit with relatives.  But I will be going down…and soon to get my money.

Check the comments below…someone commented that she had a similar experience with Xulon.  Where was anyone writing stuff like this so I could find it when I was trying make a decision on who to get self-published with.  It certainly would have been helpful.  

Currently, AUTHORHOUSE has my contract to publish my book.  I must say…I like them already.  They even create you a website as part of you deal for no additional money.   They have a legitmate contract…something that I never got from Xulon.  They have a payment plan…and their rates are nowhere’s near Xulon or some of the others depending upon what package you buy.  And if you use them…well, they have a referral plan as well.   I know…I know…shameless of me but I want every $100 I can get…I can help to finish paying off my publishing fee since Xulon ripped me for all of my money.   So, send me a comment if you decide to go with AUTHORHOUSE…so I can collect my referral fee.  And I am not kidding.

Had something else I wanted to say but it has fleed from me now.

The other reason I am trying not to use my bank card too much…is because of the current financial situation.  I have always been told -

“A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bushes.”

I know what I have and I intend to hold onto my money…what little I have after my $2000 Xulon investment…until I’m sure which way this thing is going.  With these banks threatening to cumble you really can’t be too sure about anything.  But since the gas prices are down…keep your tank filled.  Because who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Enjoy your weekend.

God bless…  ‘pass it on…’    www.bsmith101.wordpress.com 

God bless…and thanks for reading  ©2008

After 8 years of essentially nothing but a bunch of failed economic schemes on the part of the Bush Team where we have seen one large company after another go under, Enron, WorldCom, AIG, Bear Sterns…now Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac and many large banks are headed for the drain.  Somebody needs to call in the plumber…and I guess that is what that $700 billion bailout is all about.

But what could have led George Bush to possibly believe that anybody in their right mind was going to underwrite for him a blank check giving him what would have amounted to a have virtually amounted to a $700 billion free roller coaster ride with taxpayers money with no oversights written into it…no promise of ever getting back…and was earmark directly to Wall Street.

Paulson had real cause to get down on his knees in the Senate and beg Nancy Pelosi to bless him with what evidently his boss, George Bush, had sent him to Capitol Hill to do…beg for it.  And as he dropped to his knees he was probably snickering to himself thinking about the big bonus he was going to get for brokering the deal.   And everybody…including large number of Republicans (well, it is an election year even for them…and many of them would like to return to Capitol Hill after November too)…so, they hemmed and haa-ed until finally all slowly broke down and gave him a yes.

Henry Paulson declaring that we were in a dire straits and if we didn’t act quick the walls would come tumbling down…sounded much like what Bush spewed out while rushing Capitol Hill into signing in that thing that…thereby ingratiated George Bush with the first blank check…called the Patriot Act.  And there was nothing Patriotic about it…it just gave Bush and all his little men much to much power, infringed upon our rights of privacy, allowed them to essentially set up a dictatorship right here in America.  And they had wrote it in a way that no one could…either say anything…or pose them any opposition.   They in effect have had total and absolute free reign.

At that time the powers that be on Capitol Hill…blindly turned everything over to a bunch of crooks worst than Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the George Bush Administration gang.  The Senate gave them everything but the kitchen sink without any restraints, oversights or means of appeal.  George and his people got to do whatever they wanted to…and they did.  That is exactly how he happened to order a preempted strike against Iraq…which unarguably has been one of the biggest financial mistakes in Presidential history…and World political suicides since Woodrow Wilson launched the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Bush and his crew put us into a war without end that has been draining this country of manpower, lives and absolutely huge unheard of amounts of money per day.

Since George Bush stole his way into the White House in 2000 this country has suffered one calamity after another.  Today America is in its worst financial condition since the Great Depression with both the Euro and the Chinese yen outperforming the American dollar.  Eight years of Bush Economics has virtually put this country in receivership to both China and Europe.

Since George Bush’s cooked the books on weapons of mass destruction throwing us into ‘yes’ a very un-necessary war inflation has ran wild in this country in ways we would and could have never imagined in the years prior to Bush taking over the country after Bill Clinton.

Who would have thought we would have ever seen nearly $5/gallon of gasoline at the pumps in this country?

When the gas went up…the food costs went up…clothes…medical expenses…everything went up.  And they are not going to come down…even if the cost of gas temporarily has .  The cost of gas as we once knew it is gone.  It will never be anywhere near where it used to be…$1.99 to $2.50/gallon ever again in this country…thanks to George Bush.

Everybody around the world, at the time….realized that when Bush had declared he was going to strike Iraq that the decision was for one primary reason…that decision was for the oil.  He sent troops in to plunder and destroy the infrastructure of that country…that could have never been about just a single man and his 2 sons.  The orders were too broad, too vast and far to destructive to have ever have been just about Saddam Hussein.

Halliburton was sent in….and a bunch of Halliburton sub-companies…all companies with special ties to Bush and his Administration were the only companies given contracts to enter Iraq to supposedly rebuild that country at a cost of billions of dollars to America’s taxpayers.  While Halliburton and others sent back to the U.S. Pentagon a bunch of bogus invoices and padded bills…filled with lies stealing from everyday people like you and me millions upon millions of dollars…for which they suffered no penalty and/or penalties for and are still on the Pentagon payroll.

Bush stole his way into the highest seat in this country…and immediately ate away the Bill Clinton surplus plunging America in a deficit his very first year in office.

Once he stole his way into the Oval Office, America came under attack for only the second time in her history…but this time it wasn’t some small distant South Pacific island that was hit.  A strategically planned and deployed attack on America took place on September 11, 2001… the likes this country or no country has ever seen.  It was a day I will never forget along with millions of other Americans and millions around the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/business/29bailout.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/business/29markets.html?hp

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-bailout29-2008sep29,0,855202.story

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/20/bush-asking-for-700-billi_n_127926.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/28/congress-white-house-reac_n_129964.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-080928bailout-deal-reached,0,2436591.story

9/11….2001

At the time I lived just on the other side of both the Brooklyn and the Manhattan Bridges, in downtown Brooklyn. 

I remember awaking to one ambulance and siren after another…non-stopping all day. 

I remember looking out my bedroom window and watching the Twin Towers engulfed by heavy black smoke that soon became white/grayish billows of smoke as they went down. 

I remember the congestion of that day of all the roadways being block, train service being suspended, people having to find their way out of darken train tunnels all over New York City.   No cabs or buses allowed through the police barricades posted all through the city in every borough…nobody could drive anywhere. 

I remember looking out the window and watching as people lined the streets passing out bottles of water to those laden with ashes from their heads down who were walking the streets in disbelief trying to find their way home from Wall Street. 

I remember sitting near the radio listening and waiting most of the day…and all of the night to the reports…the questions… and people searching for answers. 

I remember hearing that the Pentagon had just got hit…and then how a plane went down in Pennsylvania.  And everyone was trying to figure out how many more planes were out there…and wondering what would be the next target…and where? 

I remember getting dress and walking into the Brooklyn Mall area with droves of people rushing pass me…stopping to stare into the window of an electronic store to watch the TV monitors along with many others who gatheed around…just watching the towers getting hit time and time again.  And hear in disbelief “Just like in the movies.” 

I remember trying to find my way to one of the medical emergency centers set up all over New York for victims so that I could volunteer.

I remember going to the medical center they opened up in downtown Brooklyn near where I lived…and nearing the location seeing the staff standing outside their door turning droves of people away who had all come to volunteer just like me.   But they had no victims…there was no one to help.  Because they had either gotten out…or they were gone…as if they had never been.

I remember crying and wondering about friends who worked in those buildings…if they had survived? 

I remember my utter and complete feeling of lost and being lost during that whole day. 

I remember how everything had been turned upside down…and I was sitting in the midst of it less than a mile from Wall Street and the World Trade Center.

I remember the days that followed…how there was not a sound down in the subways. 

I remember how no one spoke…not one word…not even a whisper.  There was no laughter or mirth on the trains, or buses or anywhere in New York.  Every face was like stone…expressionless, empty, devastated and shocked beyond all words. 

New York was in shock for months…and New Yorkers rallied behind each other as never before during that day, and days to come.  Every fraction and group was dissolved…everything that had separated them was gone…they were all now only New Yorkers and they had been attacked.  And nothing was as unusual.  But nothing would ever been the same ever again…the towers were gone.

The towers lit your nights…gave you direction if you got lost.  They stood beautifully…long tall and straight as could be.  From Jersey to Far Rockaway…from Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan and the Bronx…the towers stood as beacon on a hill lighting the way home…and now she was gone.   And nothing would ever be the same.

 

Please be sure to share this blog site with your friends.

…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com 

God bless…and thanks for reading  ©2008

 

Reform…Change …McCain????

The real agents of change…McCain…or Obama?

It was interesting hearing the Republicans talk about change during their convention as though they were the first to conceptualized that idea of change…or that America was in need of a change.

And man do we need a change.

And that change is by way…of removing the Republicans out of office…getting their hands off of regulating the business of the United States of America.  Under Bush this country has hit rock bottom.  It has gone to places where it hadn’t been since the stock market crash of the 1930’s bringing about the Great American Depression, which lasted into 1940’s.

How could one group of people do so much damage?

From a huge surplus left by Bill Clinton to a massive deficeit that continues growing moment by moment as another bullet is shot or a war tank is moved through the dessert sands of Iraq.

Under Bush has come war, attacks on American soil, home foreclosures, U.S. takeovers of huge companies  with the hope of trying to stablize a highly flautering economy.  Companies like Freddy Mac and Fanny Mae…who ever thought anything would happen to her…or them?  

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21cong.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/20/AR2008092000883.html?hpid=topnews

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/lehman_brothers_holdings_inc/index.html?inline=nyt-org

And they say that Bush was an Economics Major. 

Well, that is one degree that Yale should go back and reclaim quick before everybody starts wondering just what is Yale teaching its Economic Majors?

It is easy to preach change…but without it being actually in your heart…or having the heart to actually implement it….change just becomes a catch phrase…a means of merely trying to get elected without the hope of making any change.  And that is exactly what ‘change’ means to the Republicans.  It is a catch phrase…a practical joke that everytime they said it…they almost choke trying not to laugh.

Those Republicans…they have no real desire to change anything.  And why would they want to?

From what I heard at the Republican Convention….they’re all happy with the way things are.  And why not…they have reaped the benefits from this mess that the Bush Administration has sunken us into. 

Who ever heard of paying $4.00/per gallon for gas in America before George Bush got into office?

Even under Bush senior…this country still was under 90 cents per gallon for gasoline.

But when you go into office and the first thing you do is increase your own salary that really should speak volumes to everybody in the country.  Bill Clinton as President of the United States only received $200,000 a year…but George Bush felt that wasn’t enough.  So, the President’s salary went up to $400,000 a year.  That meant that within the first 4 years of Bush’s term he was paid all of what Bill Clinton got for the whole of 8 years Bill was in office.  And Bill Clinton never took any 4 week vacations at any time while he was in the office of President of this country…a thing George Bush really loves to do  (that’s that party boy attitude he’s had all his life)…and he started taking them shortly after he stole his way into the Oval Office.

Honestly, when you look at the American Economy…Bush has really been on vacation for his entire 8 years that he has been in the White House.  Well, maybe if he had…then maybe we wouldn’t be here where we are right now. 

What a mess!

So, yes…drinking champagne and watching their stocks vested in fuel, food goods etc. go soaring through the roof those Republicans loved that. 

Why shouldn’t they?

They’re making money.  That’s why they are against better health packages for employees, more taxes for the richer Americans, help to the poor, disabled, sick and disenfranchised

When you get right down to it….those…those…those REPUBLICANS are a selfish bunch!

They could care less about anybody but themselves.

So, for the most part they enjoy their standing in America…they are vested.   Vested in things remaining just as they are.

When you looked out upon the people who filled the coliseum where the Republican National Convention took place…it looked more like a meeting of the Wall Street Klan.  They for the most part looked like a bunch of stuff shirt business people (who all by the way looked sad to be at their own convention).  The Republican Convention certainly didn’t seem to have a cross section of people from all sectors of America as were the people that attended the Democratic  National Convention.  And besides that…the Republican Convention didn’t have one person who was just an ordinary Joe or Jane who came up to tell their story…like the Democratic Convention did.  And all of those stories were quite moving and compelling…as to what the Republicans have done to the American Economy and how people…everyday people are truly suffering.

Not only did there seem to be a deep difference between the 2 types of crowds attending the various Political Conventions…but also…the Republican National Convention was geared towards personality and had nothing to do with what the maverick McCain would do differently for America.  In fact, the whole Republican Convention was one big war hero story.  It would have been great for Memorial Day or something…but it didn’t speak to what McCain plans to do for America.

The Republicans attacked Obama…his eloquence and ability to rally the crowds.  But they failed to offer up any meat on a Republican agenda.  They talked ‘change’…and spoke about ‘reform’…but never said ‘how’…or what differently they were going to do.  Because the reality is…it is all talk as it has always been when it comes to the Republicans. 

The Republican make promises…but only continue to enrich the rich and could care less about those who are struggling to keep above the water…as the Republicans steadily watch their bank accounts grow having invested in energy, oil and whatever else that is bleeding us into nothingness…we who don’t have their deep pockets…and have to work hard at trying to make every dollar stretch as far as we can get it.

McCain may well have been a hero…but having served in the military and making the decision to stay with his troops is not something that many others also did not decide to do when they had the option of doing something else.  I have watched stories of such people all the time on PBS.  And no one has said of them-

“This qualifies you to become the next President of the United States.”

If so, then we would see more military people running for political office along with mostly lawyers and other professional types who choose to become Senators, Governors, Mayors etc…  But no, you don’t see them…those just plain military people…and if they were to stand up and say-

“I can do a better job than of those guys.”

Somebody would tell them to sit down….and that they just did not have the experience or whatever else it takes to be in politics. 

So, therefore, military service is no prerequisite to be President of the United States…nor can it be a substitute for qualifications or experience.  When your military record is all that can stand on or all that can be said about you…one really has to wonder about John McCain.  And believe me that Republican Convention was all about John McCain’s military record.  Not once did I hear about some bill or anything else he managed to push through.

I say, give me a person who knows what it is to serve people though he may have not have been Governor or a corporation executive…but a honest caring person who has made it his life work to serve the everyday woman and man.   And that is the history of Barack Obama.

“Drill, baby…drill.”

Sounds like the Republicans don’t mind destroying what little lands this country has set aside in order to protect certain eco-systems and various species of wildlife, foliage etc.  As long as they can make money the Republicans could care less about anything else. 

Is this not the very reason that the investigators laid claim to about Hurrican Katrina?

Did they not say that that if the wet lands had not been removed that perhaps New Orleans might have had the flooding it suffered?

It was the eco-system that had been destoryed in order to increase the city limits…and in the end nature dealt New Orleans a death defying blow by the name of Katrina.

But destorying the eco-systems mean nothing to the Republicans.  Because they reap all the benefits and none of the fall-out from such decisions.

Money is the only thing most Republicans put first.

That sign being waved by many at the Republicans at their National Convention which said ‘Prosperity’ looked so much like a Hersey’s Chocolate wrapping…to me that I started craving a Hersey’s bar for the remainder of the night.  And finally got one just this week.

Prosperity…not change is what the Republicans want.  Its their same old game…they’re just trying to repackage it and give it a new name.   And during their own convention those Republicans were bold enough to display large signs reading just that…”Prosperity.” 

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761584403/great_depression_in_the_united_states.html

Remember to get registered if you are not…the clock is ticking.  And be sure if you are registered to go down to the Voter Registration Office in your city or town and double check on your registration…just to make sure you won’t run into any problems on election day.  You vote counts.

Well, God bless…and enjoy the rest of your day.  And thanks for reading…and please remember to share this blog address with your friends….‘…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com 

God bless…and thanks for reading  ©2008