On Wednesday night, April 8, 2009, Nick Adenhart debuted as the starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels in the 2009 Major League Baseball season, throwing six shutout innings. Nick was 22-years old. His father flew into LA for the game; they spoke about it after. Nick was “living his dream” after overcoming serious Tommy John surgery at a very early age, but going on to grow up in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm team system, finally debuting in 2008, and pitching the first game of the 2009 season.
A few short hours later, Nick Adenhart was critically injured in a hit and run accident. Two of his friends in the car, Courtney Stewart, 20, and Henry Pearson, 25, died at the scene. Nick died in surgery hours later. Another friend, Jon Wilhite, 24, survived and was hospitalized, but on Sunday his condition was upgraded from critical to serious, while remaining in ICU. Hopefully, his physical recovery will progress.
I didn’t know Nick Adenhart. I didn’t know his friends; I didn’t know his parents. In fact, I hadn’t even heard of him since, although I enjoy baseball, I was not an Angel’s fan. I didn’t live close enough to be one.
I didn’t know the person who murdered those three young people. That 22-year-old driver ran from the scene, was later apprehended, found with alcohol three times the legal limit in his body, and was driving on a suspended license after conviction on another DUI charge. He went through an intersection against the signal. Since he ran from the scene, I can only assume that he was conscious enough to know that he killed three people and critically injured another. I hope he remembers. I hope he suffers. But probably, numbed up by alcohol, he will be able to “forget” or “not remember.” He is being charged with, among other things, three charges of murder. Well deserved, but sadly, another young life ruined.
Not everyone who is the victim of a drunk driver is a “celebrity” or “sports figure.” And while Adenhart was known by more than some, he is still a victim, one among many. His story made the national news – millions more of these tragedies don’t and the stories are only known by those left behind - parents, siblings, extended family and friends. The pain, the suffering, the endless torment of “Why did this happen to them? What was that person who hit them thinking?”
Accidents such as these illustrate the useless waste of lives by people who insist on driving drunk! I have a hard time talking about this subject because I so vehemently oppose the concept of drinking and driving…yes, I understand that alcohol lowers your ability to reason…but hasn’t anyone who has driven drunk ever planned ahead? Rides to and from the bar, designated drivers, the bus, a cab? (Yes, I know that many do and I am not talking about responsible drinkers.)
I guess the only way to attempt to protect yourself from people who insist on endangering your life by driving drunk is to follow something my father taught me at a very early age: defensive driving.
Dad taught me to never enter an intersection without looking both ways (even if you have the “right-of-way”) – this need not slow you down all that much, although some drivers behind you will get annoyed. Too bad, it’s your life you are protecting and perhaps theirs as well. And never assume that the other driver sees you, or knows what you are going to do. When in doubt, slow down until one or both of you is aware of the other and understands what the other is doing.
People don’t have to be drunk to make bad decisions. We all do from time to time. We’re tired, we’re late, we’re stressed … we’ve all done it. But this isn’t about those people. It’s about the victims of irresponsible, drunk drivers.
May Nick and his friends who are gone rest in peace. May God bless their families and friends and fill up the spaces that are left with the comfort of His love. May God heal the hurting hearts of all those who are left behind by tragic circumstances such as these. Whether we knew the victims or not, we feel the pain. I know I do…deeply.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
UNIQUE STAINED GLASS
After a winter of careful spending, I decided to cheer up my home a little for Spring. Since I work nights and get home at 3:00 a.m., my family leaves one of the kitchen lights on for me. I hate to think what that costs me energy-wise, but it is comforting.I love to peruse the Hand-Picked Lists at Bonanzle and found this adorable Ladybug Night Light on one of the lists and decided to order it! It comes from Unique Stained Glass and the items there are all handcrafted. She has a wonderful selection from birds,cats, insects and flowers, to unique items like the 3-D Eyeglass Holder pictured on the right!
You will find Lyn's workmanship impeccable and her customer service is extraordinary. My little Ladybug arrived in a few short days, so well packed the delivery truck could have run over it and it STILL would have arrived intact.
If you are looking for a unique, affordable, handcrafted item for Mother's Day, Graduation, Father's Day or another special occasion, please visit Unique Stained Glass at Bonanzle! It will be a wonderful experience!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
SANDYPAWS - BEACH CAT RESCUE
Last month, Pieper talked about Sandypaws and her friends at the Beach Cat Rescue. These pictures are from Sandypaws' booth. You can donate to neuter a cat, feed a bunch of cats, or buy one of the beautiful items that Sandypaws makes to benefit the cats.
Beach Cat Rescue is a NJ Non Profit Corporation with 501c3 pending! Their rescue was created to address the needs of abandoned stray and feral cats in our community. They are a small home based rescue that focuses on the rehabilitation and adoption of abandoned, homeless and stray cats and kittens. All of the proceeds from Sandypaws and Willow Blue, their other booth at Bonanzle, are to support the cats and their needs.
So much energy and love goes into the beautiful handmade creations fashioned by Renee and sold on Bonanzle. Pieper and I hope that you will visit either Sandypaws or Willow Blue and perhaps help a cat or two. It was a hard winter on the beach; summer may be coming, but with it comes a whole new set of challenges. We thank you for looking and loving these little critters in your heart.
CAT FACTS: Did you know that cats smell with their mouths? It's true! It's called the Flehmen reaction. The cat sucks in pheromones through the nasal cavity to an area of cells that specializes in processing them. This area is known as Jacobson's organ and lies in the roof of the cat's mouth...And here I thought Pie's mouth was always open because she was just so in awe of me!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
A CLEAN CAT IS A HAPPY CAT
A clean cat is a happy cat...a clean cat's owner...maybe not!
No matter how good Pieper is at cleaning herself, she always has something to share with me later...also known as "the hairball!"
It's a good thing that cats don't normally need baths (although I've heard there are some who love them) because Pieper would NOT be a clean kitty...but generally kitties clean themselves quite well with their rough tongues. They spend about 30 percent of their time grooming themselves (how is that possible when they sleep 90 percent of the time?).
Nevertheless, all cats benefit from regular grooming. Longhaired cats should be brushed once a day, shorthairs, once a week. Pie loves to hold onto the brush and just rub the sides of her face against the bristles. She fairly purrs doing it...all she needs me for is to hold the brush! I tried putting velcro on the wall at about her level, but no, she likes me holding the brush better!
Anyway, supposedly having us groom them lessens the chances of them swallowing too much fur and leaving us gifts...LOL.
PIEPER'S PLACE NOW MAKES CUSTOM BOOKMARKS
Need a special gift? How about a set of five bookmarks, personalized with pictures of a cat (or dog) you love, check out Pieper's Place booth at Bonanzle to see bookmarks like the ones pictured above. You simply e-mail me your favorite pictures. Pieper and I will fit them to bookmarks, add sayings, and put them in heavy-duty plastic covers with coordinated ribbons in the top. The price is $10.00 for five personalized bookmarks! Don't forget Mother's Day! Easter! Or that Special Birthday!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
BRAINSTORMING BONANZLE
BRAINSTORMING BONANZLE – MONDAY MARCH 16, 2009
Bonanzle booth owners and other interested parties gathered last night at the Brainstorming Bonanzle podcast, hosted by auctionwally and attheboutique. We meet every Monday night at www.talkshoe.com at 8:00 p.m. EST for a two hour community discussion; on alternating weeks, we have special guests – either Bonanzle booth owners or others in the ecommerce business world.
Last night, we were delighted to welcome John (ColderICE.com) Lawson, the CEO of 3rd Power Outlet and a Platinum PowerSeller on eBay. John spoke to us about social media, i.e., using YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other network services to promote our businesses.
One of the more interesting facts I learned was that YouTube is actually a more popular search engine than Google! I had never thought of looking up information on YouTube…have you? I always thought YouTube was for fun stuff, like watching cats play the piano, or people falling all over themselves. I never spent much time there because I never had much time to spare! Now I find that you can search for just about anything there and find out something about it just by viewing a video that someone has made.
John named three components that we can use to network: words, voice and video (which we just mentioned). Words would be blogs, voice is chat rooms and forums.
About blogs: John said that a blog is three things – not about YOU, not about YOUR STORE, and not a MONOLOGUE. I respectfully disagree with him on this point. I think a blog is about YOU – it is a revelation into your character, your beliefs and your world view; it’s about what you care about, what means something to you; what makes you “turn on.” Is this a bad thing for potential clients to know? I don’t think so. The Internet is very impersonal and quite scary when you hear some of the things that happen there. Building a following in a blog should be about people getting to know the real you!
Another, and more important point, is that you, as an ecommerce business person, need to define what works for you. If you aren’t comfortable with a blog, but love to mess with your video camera, do YouTube videos about your products or ways to use them. If you’re scared of Twitter, have tried it and found it not to your liking, then don’t do it. If you love Facebook or MySpace and are comfortable there, then by all means use it.
I always come away from Brainstorming Bonanzle with a head buzzing with ideas; it takes a couple of days to digest everything. Open forum nights are also very productive – last week we talked about the changes on Bonanzle which enhanced our selling abilities. If you’re interested in talking, you call in and share your ideas or thoughts via phone.
For me, the bottom line is get moving – don’t just THINK forever about which direction to go – just go. If it’s not for me, then I can turn back and try something else.
“You’ll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.” (Thanks to my friend, Susan (Renagade), who twittered this quote this morning!
Bonanzle booth owners and other interested parties gathered last night at the Brainstorming Bonanzle podcast, hosted by auctionwally and attheboutique. We meet every Monday night at www.talkshoe.com at 8:00 p.m. EST for a two hour community discussion; on alternating weeks, we have special guests – either Bonanzle booth owners or others in the ecommerce business world.
Last night, we were delighted to welcome John (ColderICE.com) Lawson, the CEO of 3rd Power Outlet and a Platinum PowerSeller on eBay. John spoke to us about social media, i.e., using YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other network services to promote our businesses.
One of the more interesting facts I learned was that YouTube is actually a more popular search engine than Google! I had never thought of looking up information on YouTube…have you? I always thought YouTube was for fun stuff, like watching cats play the piano, or people falling all over themselves. I never spent much time there because I never had much time to spare! Now I find that you can search for just about anything there and find out something about it just by viewing a video that someone has made.
John named three components that we can use to network: words, voice and video (which we just mentioned). Words would be blogs, voice is chat rooms and forums.
About blogs: John said that a blog is three things – not about YOU, not about YOUR STORE, and not a MONOLOGUE. I respectfully disagree with him on this point. I think a blog is about YOU – it is a revelation into your character, your beliefs and your world view; it’s about what you care about, what means something to you; what makes you “turn on.” Is this a bad thing for potential clients to know? I don’t think so. The Internet is very impersonal and quite scary when you hear some of the things that happen there. Building a following in a blog should be about people getting to know the real you!
Another, and more important point, is that you, as an ecommerce business person, need to define what works for you. If you aren’t comfortable with a blog, but love to mess with your video camera, do YouTube videos about your products or ways to use them. If you’re scared of Twitter, have tried it and found it not to your liking, then don’t do it. If you love Facebook or MySpace and are comfortable there, then by all means use it.
I always come away from Brainstorming Bonanzle with a head buzzing with ideas; it takes a couple of days to digest everything. Open forum nights are also very productive – last week we talked about the changes on Bonanzle which enhanced our selling abilities. If you’re interested in talking, you call in and share your ideas or thoughts via phone.
For me, the bottom line is get moving – don’t just THINK forever about which direction to go – just go. If it’s not for me, then I can turn back and try something else.
“You’ll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.” (Thanks to my friend, Susan (Renagade), who twittered this quote this morning!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
B.U.S.Y. - BEING UNDER SATAN'S YOKE
B.U.S.Y. - Being Under Satan's Yoke...or busy but productive?
I'll tell you friends, I'm doing this blog today totally off the top of my head, from my heart, so forgive my little rant if you can.
I find it harder and harder to keep my center, to keep my eyes on the Lord, to keep my wits about me. The economy is bad, people are losing jobs and I worry about everyone. How will they survive? Can I help? What would I do if I lost my job? What if I can't pay the electric bill? What, what and what??? It is driving me crazy.
I cannot seem to find a minute to call my own, which, of course, is not true. My family is grown, I have several hours a day that are my "own" and despite the fact that my 90-year-old mother demands almost no attention, I get overwhelmed by the amount of hours that are consumed by her paperwork, doctor's appointments, taking her cat to the vet, and other minutia, as well as my own.
So, I was thinking...why am I allowing myself to be so consumed by all the stress around me? Yes, I do have an anxiety disorder, but that is managed with meds. Every day I throw away precious hours that I could be enjoying what I'm doing, whether it's the "must do's" of life, or a hobby which I consider "fun," because I am running under someone else's priorities.
And that "someone else" appears to be Satan. Now, my idea of Satan and yours may be two different things - is Satan a guy in a red suit, with horns and a pitchfork? Or, is Satan the thoughts and actions that rob the joy from your day? Perhaps both.
So, now, when I get overwhelmed and resentful of all I have to do, I stop and ask myself: "Are you B.U.S.Y (being under Satan's Yoke) or are you busy being productive. Are you enjoying what you are doing? Will you feel good when that task is done, no matter what it is?"
Life is fleeting; enjoy each day to its fullest; have joy in your life no matter what!
Have a wonderful day and thanks for letting me vent!
I'll tell you friends, I'm doing this blog today totally off the top of my head, from my heart, so forgive my little rant if you can.
I find it harder and harder to keep my center, to keep my eyes on the Lord, to keep my wits about me. The economy is bad, people are losing jobs and I worry about everyone. How will they survive? Can I help? What would I do if I lost my job? What if I can't pay the electric bill? What, what and what??? It is driving me crazy.
I cannot seem to find a minute to call my own, which, of course, is not true. My family is grown, I have several hours a day that are my "own" and despite the fact that my 90-year-old mother demands almost no attention, I get overwhelmed by the amount of hours that are consumed by her paperwork, doctor's appointments, taking her cat to the vet, and other minutia, as well as my own.
So, I was thinking...why am I allowing myself to be so consumed by all the stress around me? Yes, I do have an anxiety disorder, but that is managed with meds. Every day I throw away precious hours that I could be enjoying what I'm doing, whether it's the "must do's" of life, or a hobby which I consider "fun," because I am running under someone else's priorities.
And that "someone else" appears to be Satan. Now, my idea of Satan and yours may be two different things - is Satan a guy in a red suit, with horns and a pitchfork? Or, is Satan the thoughts and actions that rob the joy from your day? Perhaps both.
So, now, when I get overwhelmed and resentful of all I have to do, I stop and ask myself: "Are you B.U.S.Y (being under Satan's Yoke) or are you busy being productive. Are you enjoying what you are doing? Will you feel good when that task is done, no matter what it is?"
Life is fleeting; enjoy each day to its fullest; have joy in your life no matter what!
Have a wonderful day and thanks for letting me vent!
Monday, March 9, 2009
INSTALLING LOVE ON THE HUMAN COMPUTER
INSTALLING LOVE ON THE HUMAN COMPUTER: HOW TO INSTALL
Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?
Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to
install Love. Can you guide me through the process?
Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?
Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?
Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?
Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?
Tech Support: What programs are running ?
Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.
Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However,you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?
Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me
how?
Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been
completely erased.
Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?
Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.
Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components." What should I do?
Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before
you can Love others.
Customer: So, what should I do?
Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.
Customer: Okay, done.
Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming.
Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files.Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?
Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running.
One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.
Customer: Thank you, God.
God/Tech Support: You're welcome, anytime.
- Anon
Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?
Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to
install Love. Can you guide me through the process?
Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?
Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?
Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?
Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?
Tech Support: What programs are running ?
Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.
Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However,you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?
Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me
how?
Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been
completely erased.
Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?
Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.
Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components." What should I do?
Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before
you can Love others.
Customer: So, what should I do?
Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.
Customer: Okay, done.
Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming.
Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files.Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?
Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running.
One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.
Customer: Thank you, God.
God/Tech Support: You're welcome, anytime.
- Anon
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