Crimson's Musings

Posted by Gaylord Campbell

One of my favorite things to do in my down time (haha, yeah like I actually have extra time) is to shop online. You know how it is these days around the holidays when you have to get a gift for everyone in your life and you don’t want to spend one million dollars on gifts that you know your friends and family may or may not use. It is hard to find that perfect item for everyone on your list. One place that I know I can always find something is zapos.com. I know that I can always find something for myself on that site and most of the time I know what size to order. Luckily they have a great shipping and return program just in case I choose the wrong size. For gift items they are also great from a returns aspect. I purchased some shoes for my brother for Christmas from there and I don’t have to worry if they fit or not because their return process is so easy! So the next time you are using your satellite internet oregon check out zapos.com, you won’t be disappointed.

I wasn’t sure this is what I wanted. I had entertained the idea, but hadn’t planned on returning to school in pursuit of a higher degree until life had become more settled. But, life had other plans.

In this economy, jobs are sparse and competition fierce. Locally, it is not uncommon to find those with four and six-year degrees applying for entry-level jobs. Job requirements have also changed, where once a two year degree with experience would suffice in an application process, a four year degree is now required in positions I’m seeking. So, back to school I go.

However, there were things to consider and plans to be made. At the top of the list was money. Would I be able to get financial aid? Would I need to take out a student loan? Is the program I’m interested in local or far away? Are there online or evening classes available? This led me two a few months of research both online and chatting with coworkers who had since returned themselves back to a school in order to finish four or six year degrees.

After searching locally, I took the advice of colleagues and explored online options, among them was WaldenU.edu. Their website was both welcoming and easy to navigate; I was able to locate Walden University’s online degree programs within a few seconds of hitting their home page. I was delighted to find that they offered degrees in my area of interest. If I weren’t so close to finishing my bachelor’s degree in psychology and local options weren’t what they are, I would have seriously considered enrollment.

With my first term underway, I am slowly finding my footing. So far, upper division course work is suiting me just fine. Of course, this is the only the second week, a few more weeks in and I may not feel quite the same. If you’re out there and struggling, you’re not alone. So, whether you prefer to take classes on a traditional campus, hit the books at night, or do all your classes from the comfort of your own home behind a screen in your pajamas, there are options available. I know I’m already considering a Masters and making a list of universities that provide them. To learn about Walden and the online programs they provide be sure to check their site for more information.

Spring usually triggers that need to clean and while I did suffer from symptoms of the spring cleaning bug, I found that it didn’t strike until the final few weeks of August. Sadly, it was brought on more by necessity than a willingness or want to clean. There are times where I wish I had enough disposable income so I could keep a cleaning crew on speed dial for moments such as those, a company like the following perhaps:  http://www.thesteamteam.com/austin-cleaning-services/ 

We’re owned by two cats, because we knew we were going to bring them into our life, it stood to reason that carpet was something that would be sparse in our household haven. However, in places where carpet or rugs reside, one can never have one too many carpet cleaning tips pet stains. Having had experiences in other homes I’ve learned that one of the most important things to do in regards to pets soiling the house with urine is that it needs to be mopped up or neutralized immediately. 

In some cases, the process of cleaning indoor accidents can lead to an increase in odor rather than decrease. In cases like these, you could be looking at permanent damage to the soiled area. If in doubt, before you immerse yourself too, far take a gander in your phone book and see what companies turn up. There’s nothing better than picking a professionals brain, especially if they can relay some money saving notions.

Guest post written by Gayle Laws

I’m really trying to grab life by the moment, especially now that me and my husband are retired. We just have so much more time to do fun things together and we’re trying to take advantage of that. Plus, these last few years we’ve been more frugal with our money so that we can enjoy spending it during our retirement.

One of our first trips that we’re taking is in a few weeks to New York City. We’re both big movie buffs, so we want to see a lot of famous sites from films there. While I was online trying to look up a bunch of these, I saw the site http://hearingaids.miracle-ear.com/hearing-locations/massachusetts/l/lawrence/. I showed it to my husband and we decided to go and get a hearing aid test together after we get back from our trip.

I’ve already found a few places from Ghostbusters that we can go and see, along with a few others from hte movie You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. We’re going to have so much fun!

A decade has come and gone since I last wore a pair of scrubs. Needless to say, they weren’t the most comfortable. Back then the variety seen now weren’t available unless you were a talented seamstress with time to spare. My first and only pair of scrubs were a dark purple and chafed in places best not chafed.

When I did my clinicals, I had to procure my scrubs from a medical store, but now days, stores have small sections where scrub purchases can be made. If you hop online you can find entire websites dedicated to the sale of scrubs like the following http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/ - all of which are far more stylish and comfortable than my stiff and purples. Having seen a number of inexpensive patterns, it’d be easy to make a weeks worth of colorful and scrubs of your own. In fact, I know a number of ladies who do.

Over the last year I’d thought about the possibility of obtaining an LPN. However, the more I looked into and thought about it, I chalked it up to watching one to many evening medical dramas on television. While I’m currently pursuing another avenue in academics at least I know that should I have a change of heart I’ve got some great choices when it comes to purchasing sets of medical scrubs.

In the 15+ years I’ve been free-floating around the web, I marvel at the lives I’ve lived online. My journey has been anything but linear, though I’m famous for walking crooked and lengthy sets of miles. It’s been an adventure so far and looks as though it’ll continue on the same path. Online advances and the way we utilize technology in our day-to-days never allows things to grow stale.

Before blogs, there were personal websites. I still recall the work that went into creating my very first page and trying to decide on web site hosting. The decision making and research that sometimes went into such things were never my favorite part of the process. For me, I just wanted to get to the creative side of things. Luckily, my partner and co-creator was better versed in this department and steered us in the right direction.

It’s been awhile, a decade or more at least, since I thought about creating a personal site again. I’ve been going back and forth on the idea and weighing all the pros and cons. I’m not sure it’s a worthwhile investment at the moment as the amount of time I’d have to devote to upkeep and content creation would be minimal. Things to think about and consider for sure. Oh to have the time I did a decade ago where I balanced work, college, multiple writing sites, blogs, and a mailing list - those were the days.

In the meantime, when time allows there’s research to be done. Luckily, this time, I’ve got a network of people to poll if I’m looking for web hosting reviews. One of the many great beauties of having been so long on the net…the wealth of knowledge you find you can pull from the vast amount of people you meet or have met. The weaving of webs is both a powerful and wonderful tool.

Summer, wasn’t sure you’d show and now that you’re here -sweltering, humid, and hot. I long for days spent alongside the river with friends, but gone are carefree summers with no responsibilities. My days now replaced with air conditioned offices, long days, and household chores. I smile though, close my eyes, and recall days we were sure would never end.

Even on weekends, favored swimming holes have now become heavily populated. The best kept secrets seem to be ones everyone knows. A game of telephone gone awry. So, I look for alternatives…alternative ways to chill and cool during hot summer days.

The new neighbors in the house behind happily shriek and splash behind the high wooden fence that acts as the great divide. I envy their private pool haven. The family and I survey our own property in consideration of our own cool water getaway, but we have trees.

Messy tress.

Before commitments can be made there’s research to be done. Pool covers will have to be taken into consideration as playing Pool Girl is not on my list of How to Enjoy the Summer. The other option as suggested by family members is to kick it old school and run through the sprinkler in the front yard. If that’s the way it’s going to play out then how about a lawn chair and an umbrella drink to go with? I’m not heavily opposed to a cabana with eye candy to look at either.

-Fun in the Sun

Thanks to Aurelio Delacruz

Last week I caught some reruns of “The Office” on satellite TV from http://www.direc4u.com and they happened to be going through one of my favorite blocks of the series. The best episode during that block of episodes has to be “Back From Vacation.” It has all the best elements of the show, branch manager Michael putting his foot in his mouth, a nice moment between Dwight and Pam and it is back when the Jim and Pam hadn’t yet come to completion and become stale.

The episode begins with Michael’s return from Jamaica where he immediately lets it slip through e-mail to the entire company that he went with his boss Jan. He also wants to bring the Jamaican vibe to Scranton and decides to throw a Hawaiian party in the warehouse. Only Michael would equate Hawaii to Jamaica, but I digress. Meanwhile, Jim and Karen have an argument over Karen moving into an apartment close to where Jim lives. Pam mediates a solution between them despite being madly in love with Jim. She tries to put on a happy face, but Dwight later finds her crying in an isolated corridor. Jan calls the branch to inform Michael that she will be attending the warehouse luau. Everyone thinks it’s because of the picture, but it turns out that she really makes the trip because she wants a relationship with Michael.

Guest post written by Linda Brewer

I remember when I was in college it seemed like no matter how much I tried to do to prevent it, my dorm room was so drafty and cold in the winter. Right now my daughter’s a freshman in college and living in one of those ancient high-rise dorms on the south side of campus. So I also worry about her sleeping in that drafty room.

Her birthday’s also coming up in a few weeks so I thought that when we came to school to take her out to dinner for the ocassion, I would bring her a homemade quilt to keep her warm in her dorm. It’s been a long time since I’ve made one so I went online to try and find some directiosn for it. While I was online doing that I ran acorss the site http://www.GETCLEARWIRELESSINTERNET.COM and after I read through it a little bit, I decided to switch over our home internet service to the internet company.

I decided that of course the quilt shoudl be the color of the school and went out and bought the fabric. I even found some fabric that has her school logo on it, which I’m going to include in the quilt!

Guest post written by Mikel Trevino

At our house, family television night revolves around NCIS on Tuesday night. The first run episodes are seen then, but there are also re-runs available on direcTV. As long as there are no conflicts between kids sporting events, this is the night where everybody gathers around the television to watch the adventures of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his team of investigators.

Everybody has their favorite characters, whether that is the goofy Anthony DiNozzo, quircky techno wizard, Timothy McGee, transplant Ziva David or team leader Gibbs. The entire cast all seems to mesh well together, solving crimes and squabbling as only a close knit family would.

One of the best episodes involved a crime committed against a marine from Gibbs hometown of Stillwater, Pennsylvania. This coal town produced the steely-eyed ex-sniper and now he has to go back to solve this crime. Along the way we get to meet his father (played by Ralph Waite) along with some rivals from the past.

The team is broken up initially, but when Tony and the forensic specialist Abby Sciuto uncover some clues, they join the group in the small town to break open a mystery that had been buried for a number of years. We also get to see a reunion of Gibbs and his father.

This is one episode that I could watch again and again.

The author of this post is Chloe Baker

I have found so many great ways to stay in touch with all of my family-using the hughesnet internet! My family is scattered just about everywhere, even in Germany! We are a large family, and I have 4 brothers and 2 sisters myself! There are lots of kids in the family and always lots of pictures and news to share.

I have used the Internet for about 4 years now, and currently use hughesnet new hampshire . We all have accounts with Facebook and MySpace. We are all posting photos on there all the time.I am starting to think they will stop letting us post photos on here!

We also use You Tube to send videos. Everyone in the family can see them, and YouTube is great for organizing all the videos we upload. I also like being able to download them so I can access them easily.

My sister has her own Blog Web site for the family. She keeps us updated on her 4 kids and always has new pictures for us to see. Her blog is always funny and great for everyone to read. She is in California.

As long as we have the Internet we all will be able to stay close. It is so great to have all thse tools available to stay in touch.

When I witnessed a neighbor mourning the loss of their faithful Ford Escort, I felt sympathy trip. There’s been a procession of Fords in my past. In fact, my own beloved 1989 Taurus lies beneath a shroud in the back forty. She seized up in 2007 and despite attempts at revival, she has failed to purr.

Like photographs, vehicles hold memories. I have miles of them. Even though the years pass and the timing belt is a bit off, I drive down memory lane and smile.  Relive the multitude of beginnings, middles, and (sometimes) ends. If the inside of a vehicle could talk, the vehicles from my past would have a variety of tales to tell. Though some are probably best left locked in the trunk.

In the family, there’s been rumors circulating of giving the Taurus another go despite previous mechanics knew not her ailment. In 2006 she experienced a pretty serious bout of trouble and had her water pump, tubing and other innards replaced. She starts, but after a short distance, shudders and shuts down. Heartbreaking really. 

She’s been three years absent in my life and while the memories remain, I’ve grown comfortable with the Dodge Caravan that sits parked in the garage. While Cara can never replace her, unlike my mourning neighbor, my grief is not fresh. Even if resurrection were possible, like my first car, I’m ready to let go. And should she become road worthy again…I hope she adds as many adventurous miles to her next driver as she did to mine.

- Memory Muse

Post from Guy Potter

It is a time of renewal. It is a time to bring the family together. It is a time to explore and visit places you only dreamed about. That is the summer vacation. Throw off the worries of work and the boss and break away to exotic destinations, pampered cruises, or fun parks. This is the time to let the hair down. However, before you can trip the life fantastic, you must do some due diligence to protect your home and its valuables. Inspect the outside of the home first looking at the windows and doors to see that they are sturdy. Check all doors and locks to see they work. Secure and lock valuables in either a home safe or bank lockbox. Have mail suspended and held at the post office till you return from your vacation or have a neighbor or relative pick up your mail daily. This can be risky because if they forget to pick it up, the mail could pile up and that could be a signal that you are not home. Stop the newspaper till you return. Keep lights on in the house and if possible have a radio on or stereo playing music to indicate someone is home. Pets should be placed in a kennel or if agreed in advance sent to relatives or neighbors. If you are going to be gone for a long time, notify the local sheriff or police department you will be gone. If you don’t already have one, you should look for security alarm systems around San Antonio and get one installed before you leave.