Insufficient Education In America.

I've been reading and hearing about the children in America not getting enough education and how the rest of the world is passing us by. Sheer arrogance has taught this country that we have the best and brightest, but we sadly don't. Once upon a time we did but we chose not to compete on the education front and now it's biting us in the rump big time. I hear parents concerns that changing the school hours to longer days and shorter vacation spans will disrupt the work environment of the parents, whether single or dual. It's funny how modernization has also caused the 'dumbing' down of America. Both parents are working full time and the kids often leave and return from school with the parents nowhere in sight, latch-key kids to the extreme. There are quite a few school systems, in budget cutting mode, that have even eliminated physical education programs that once were required before a teen could graduate high school. Now we have fat and dumb kids, compared to the rest of the world. Sorry, but it's true and all you have to do is open your eyes to see it. The kids need to learn more if they are to survive in a stable environment and have the ability to provide for themselves and their families down the road without creating a massive welfare state. Uneducated people give up on things that are more complicated more easily than someone with an educated mind would and their children will almost always follow the lead of the parents and create the proverbial vicious circle of state reliance to live. The cure? Is there one? I think there is but it's going to take some bi-partisan support from lawmakers and voters alike to accomplish. Better day care for latch-key students, more funding for proven educational programs, better special education programs(special ed doesn't mean stupid), return to phys ed requirements and remove unhealthy food from the schools(soda, chips, candy, etc.), longer school days that are productive, elimination of grade levels and base it on ability levels, less summer time off to forget what was just learned(3-4 weeks is appropriate), make bullying a felony where second offense legally affects the parents for not doing their job properly, proper sex education at an earlier age because they see more negative education on television before they reach age 12 than schools can correct by age 16. We have to be realistic about educating our youth as they'll be holding the reigns when we can't anymore and do you think some dumb adult is going to care if you get a disease or not when your 78 or if your retirement doesn't even pay for aspirin, let alone proper food? Think about it before someone who can't think for themselves does the thinking for you and the rest of the country!

Information Please?

I don't think I have a sign on my forehead that says "Get Your Life Altering Information Here". I really don't think so. So why is it that almost every time I go into a particular big box retailer(not the red one) I get tapped for information on products and locations? I never thought I had 'the look' of an information czar or anything. I even had one guy the other day ask me, when I was buying some shampoo for normal hair(you'll understand this point in a sec), where he could find on the shelf the best shampoo for thinning hair. I don't know why he asked me of the three people total in the aisle, but he chose me. I don't have a hair problem. My hair is not thinning, thank goodness. My hair isn't even as short as I want it to be. Maybe I shouldn't complain about that one. Last week a woman asked me where the extra absorbent pads were. I know I don't have one of those to reference!

What's a Good Night's Sleep?

I have no idea anymore what a GODD night's sleep is. Since I started working the third(graveyard) shift my sleep cycle is completely shot. I recently got into a cycle where if I went to bed no later than 4 p.m. I could generally wake up ready for the hour long drive to work by 10:30 p.m., for the most part. Now for the little things that can keep you awake. The television you have on real low starts broadcasting loud commercials and soft whispers are from the show, one of the cats getting antsy with the claws, that nuisance cough that pops up because your throat got dry, getting up to use the bathroom because of the water you've been drinking to soothe the dry throat, etc. Some of the things I've done seem to help like the night time cold meds that no longer have alcohol to help you fall asleep, melatonin, blindfold, ear plugs(too uncomfortable), nose strips, and liquor(didn't help, didn't hurt either). I think I wasted my time trying to get enough sleep to work my 12-8:30 shift. Why is that? It's because I'll be starting my new 10-6 a.m. shift in 2 weeks! Back to the drawing board.

Do They Look at These Things?

I've been on some great websites on the Internet and I've been on some real junkie ones as well. The sad part is that some of the junky ones are retail sites. I don't know about you but I will never buy anything from a site that has misspellings, poor visuals, and useless information. To me it looks like a scam site that'll take my cc number and run with it. I still don't know why these people don't invest in a business website builder who can make their site and products 'pop' at you when you visit them and instill confidence in you to make a purchase. The site name is very important but once there you want to keep them there. Things like no graphics or heavy graphics are a turn-off. Who wants to see just text or, on the other side of the spectrum, wait for a long time while useless graphics load and suck up valuable memory. I don't!

Carnival Splendor, Half True at Least.

The Carnival Cruise Line ship Splendor is partially correct. The latest cruise was more Carnival than Splendor, for those watching the debacle that is. The unhappy guests weren't appreciating the carnival atmosphere that was unfortunately thrust upon them by an engine room fire that crippled essential services such as air conditioning, food services, and bathroom facilities(I don't even want to guess at how that was handled). I guess you could say they had a poorly managed hosting service that didn't cater to them, or at the very least the 20% of the guests that happened to be children. Wow, that had to be painful! The ship finally limped back to San Diego with the assistance of a few carefully placed tugboats, thank goodness for SeaTow for their sake. Helicopters and other craft were able to bring needed supplies to the cruise ship to let them get by till they were safely back in port. I guess they won't be asking for pop tarts anytime soon!

When Will People Learn?

How many years has it been since lead paint in older buildings has been made VERY public along with the health risks to those directly exposed to it. I've watched dopey homeowners on these building and do-it-yourself television shows go and say "oh wow, I never knew we had lead". It makes you want to reach into the screen and slap them in the back of the head. The worst part is that most of these 'nimrods' have little children, or even babies, in the house. My question is simple. How in the world were they allowed to buy an older home without testing it, before closing the mortgage, for something as important as lead paint? There is no home in this world that's worth overlooking lead paint because it's a 'great deal that can't be passed by'! I mean all you have to do to protect you and your family from lead is to get some simple instant read lead test kits. If the prospective seller can't give you anything to prove there is no lead paint all you have to do is, while walking around, do some sampling swabs in areas where children would frequent(window sills, doors, moldings, etc) and then see for yourself. If the seller takes offense to it just walk away, FAST! I think it's funny when people say any lead paint that may have been used years ago is no safe because there are other coats of good paint on top, and this essentially is true, unless you chip the paint! That's why ALL the paint has to be removed. Lead paint removal is a very costly service best left for the sellers and not the buyers! The cost of the kits is negligible compared to the removal costs. When it says EPA in front of any removal service the price skyrockets. Remember asbestos?

The Return of the Cards!

That's right, the return of the dreaded Christmas cards is upon us again! (shudder) The first and foremost question I have is do people actually read the cards or just look to see who they're from and put them with the rest of the thin cardboard symbols of Christmas and Hanukkah! I don't count the other one because that one doesn't even pretend to be a legacy holiday, just a recently made up one to fill an ethnic void. I have no opinions against it, I think they're all made up by the greeting card and gift selling company's. I knew one person that never opened up a holiday card that had return address labels on them. She said "why look inside when I already know who it's from?". I guess that would be a truism except that she often found notes in them after the holiday passed regarding invitations to gatherings before the holiday came around. Ha ha on her, she was a bore anyways. Happy Card Holidays!

Weightloss and Diabetes Link

I was recently reading an article about a surgical procedure for chronically obese people who have a body mass index of at least 35 that can actually cause a person's diabetes to stop and revert itself to a dormant state for an undetermined amount of time. It's undetermined because it's just been identified that bariatric surgery(gastric banding) effects Type 2 diabetes in a positive way and lengthy clinical trials have yet to be done over at least a ten year period. I tried to find additional material in weight loss pill reviews, lipofuze reviews, herbal remedy articles, and even Google searches and the findings are still under review. The surgery is one way and cannot be given to diabetics with reasonably normal weight, only obese individuals with BMI's 35 and over. In the meantime it's still best to lose that extra weight and never get the diabetes in the first place and there are many helpful products on the market to help. This is a good thing and can actually save millions of dollars and many lives in the process.

It's Gotta Be Rougher Than Puberty!

Seriously, what could be rougher than puberty? Adult onset acne. I can't even imagine how people have to deal with that. I know when I was a teenager getting pimples was a right of passage but it was still painful to go trough. I remember the clearasil and benzoyl peroxide dabs here and there to dry them out, not to mention the stress you'd be under if you happen to get a couple just before an important date with that special someone who, by the way, you probably wouldn't give a second look to now, or vice versa. I know there are adult acne treatments, there I go with treatments again, that do work but the really important thing to determine is why you're getting them if they start to get severe. There is probably an underlying medical concern that your doctor may need to address before it gets worse, such as a hormone imbalance. When I say it's a right of passage the key aspect of that is pass, outgrow, gone after puberty. Most times it's probably nothing but better safe than sorry I say.

Treat Yourself to Treatments

Turn on the television and what do you most often see? Treatments for this, that, and the other thing(I don't want to know what that is). It's a veritable plethora of products that 'we all need' to have a full life. There are treatments for baldness that use creams, foams, and even lasers in brushes. There are eczema treatments, psoriasis treatments, and even yellow toenail fungus treatments. I wonder why, when the word was first used, the word treat is foremost in the word treatment? I suppose there should be a pleasurable outcome from using these treatments so why not state it in the word itself! What a thought and how on Earth did I ever get there?

Unique Web Site Creations Your Way.

Creating a unique, or even a boring, web site is so much easier today that it ever has been. The stress and strain for writing HTML code is in the past as the newest versions of software do the hard stuff for you. Web site creation is simpler than the commonplace WYSIWYG(what you see is what you get) from the past several years. You can now use pre-existing formats that will put you in the ballpark with a site and then allow you to tweak the almost finished product with custom add-ons to your satisfaction. Heck, you can almost say that setting up a web site is easier than popping a zit, for crying out loud. With major interests like Blogger(Google) and Wordpress(the rest of the world) you can't go wrong. If your going to make a commerce site make sure the web hosting is appropriate to your needs by querying the net for experience feedback from others that have already done what your going to do, it's free advice!

How Plans For The Future Are Fragile.

I was thinking about how I got to live in Florida when I never thought I'd ever leave Massachusetts. My feet were well planted in the north and everything I could ever want, except for a nice house mortgage, was there for the asking or taking. Things like food choices from many countries, scenic locations for every season, art, entertainment, museums, and especially historical venues such as the Freedom Trail, Bunker Hill Monument, and the USS Constitution(the 2nd oldest continued commissioned warship afloat). Now I live in perpetual sunshine and moderate to hot temps year round. I don't miss the snow, sleet, ice, and worse yet Black Ice. My spiral towards Florida started before my wife's father received his Mesothelioma diagnosis. They were all set to retire to Florida with property in hand and the world stopped for them as they watched his life wain. Events after that allowed me to eventually meet his daughter on-line of all places and eventually led to marriage. If he never got sick we probably would never have met and I'd still be in Mass. I think it's very ironic how lives change when other lives change. Some call it Kismet and others call it manifest destiny. I still call it ironic.