PeachPages writer has been sick.

Tara, at Peach Pages, has been sick for a couple of weeks which is why I haven't heard from her lately. She has an unusual malady called Valley Fever, and a case of the Whooping Cough, so you know she's having some pretty bad chest pains. I hope she gets well now that the doctors know what is ailing her. She is blessed with two loving boys and a husband who are making her life as comfortable as possible so she can come back to being mom again.

If you haven't ever visited Tara, you will be surprised by some of the things she writes about. Her words of faith will either stir one's unbelief, or they will assure and support you. They will give you pause to think either way. I can't even imagine that they would inspire indifference.

So, if you do have some time, stop by her journal and give her a get well wish. I'm sure she would love to meet you!

Get well, Tara!

Tags: Peach Pages,

Discovery quote

The real voyage of discovery consists not in exploring new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

Wally Amos, 20th century American Entrepreneur

 

And this one found in my Turning Points journal as well. In response to Donna's comment. It is about seeing things with new eyes, isn't it?

Tags: Wally Amos, Turning Points, Nightmaremom

Turning points revisited

Since we are capable of change and modifications, the future will be in many ways only as good as we have the courage to make it.

June Tapp (b.1929) American Psychologist and Writer

 

When I found this quote, it reminded me so much of what Martha (lifes2odd) at Just Visiting had written in her journal earlier today, so this is my journal response to it. The quotes are very similar indeed! If you haven't read her entry today, check it out. I find it curious that I would find this quote without even looking for it. I call it synchronicity.

How did I chance upon it? In my paper journal, Turning Points. The page I opened to and set my pen down upon had that quote printed at the top of the page.

Tell me that's not a message to pay attention to! If this seems to be a message for you, maybe you are at a turning point.

The Turning Points journal is a journal book (that's the actual title printed on the cover) where I write in at least once a year to record something that is a turning point for me. This year, that turning point was when I transferred to another school. I didn't really want to leave, but I felt the need to leave, and now, looking back already, I see that it was about changing my future, and the future of others.

Turning points don't have to involve a good event. What it does involve is changing your direction, allowing something new to happen in your life, thus changing your future, and perhaps those involved with you (friends, family, co-workers, students, etc), for the better.

Do you have a turning point in your life right now, maybe that you haven't recognized as a turning point?

Would you write about a recent turning point in the comment section? Or, write about it in your journal and come back and leave a link.

Tags: lifes2odd, turning points, June Tapp, changing the future

Dave is back!

Dave is back!

You know, from Dead Investigations.

If you haven't read Dave's journal lately, check him out. He's been away for over a month, and I've missed his office humor, or I should say officer humor.

Dave is recovering from shoulder surgery, and seems to be enjoying his R&R. He'll enjoy it more when you stop by his place and wish him well. While you are there, browse through his archives. Once you get started, you'll find yourself laughing at his adventures on the job or off the job, ... or are they misadventures? A little of both, I think.

Welcome back, Dave!

Tags: Dead Investigations

The problem with cell phones...

This is in response to John's weekend assignment, in which he refers to the YouTube video of an angry professor reacting to a student answering a cell phone during his lecture class.

Weekend Assignment #132: Was that professor justified in doing what he did? Have people completely lost all sense of courtesy when it comes to their cell phones?

                         

 

I don't think people in general have forgotten their courtesy when it comes to their cell phones. I think, for many of us, having a cell phone is something new and we may forget to turn the ring off. Forget is the key word. Not intentional.

I haven't gotten into a familiar routine myself in regard to my cell phone. My husband and I take turns carrying it around. We determine who should keep it by which one of us is on the road, or which one of us will need the phone to make long distance phone calls, or which one of us is away from the house while the other is at the house.

Sometimes I take it to school with me, to church, shopping, a trip to a distant locale ... anytime I'm going to be away from home. So, there is no routine established, no habits about where I keep it. As a result, sometimes when I'm supposed to have it with me, I forget to bring it. Likewise, when I have it with me, I may forget I have it and forget to turn the ring off. I have found myself remembering to turn the ring off just as church service starts, or just as the kids come into class, or just as I sit down for a staff meeting or workshop. I have never had the phone ring during a workshop, class, or church service... yet. I dread the embarrassment I will feel if it rings in church or at a workshop.

Most speakers I've seen have been very patient about the annoying ring during their presentations. Most will announce a gentle reminder before they begin speaking to turn off all pagers and phones. When the ring is heard, and usually at least one phone will ring, most speakers will ignore it. I've seen only one education speaker from out of state, at my teacher orientation in 1999, actually go anywhere near ballistic... and he simply stared with effective disdain after the person who meekly left the room to answer her phone.

Sure I sympathize with the speaker, but I also sympathize with the woman who may have had to take that call, may have had kids at home, or someone in the hospital, or any number of stressful emergencies that required her to tend to the ringing phone. Maybe her phone was new and she didn't know how to cut the ringer off. There are a lot of ifs.

I don't think people are blatantly rude in these situations.

If this video is not staged, and if the professor had previously warned his students about the cell phone, his reaction may be not entirely appropriate, but perhaps understandable. I think taking the phone away was enough, but throwing it on the floor with such a display of anger was a bit over the top. The man had lost it. I understand his anger, but not his response. 

Of course, we don't know the circumstances of the situation. How many times had the professor had to deal with that same student taking phone calls before this incident? I'd say he was justified in throwing it to the floor if the student had blatantly disregarded previous requests to turn off the cell phones.

Extra credit: One time I answered my phone while I was driving. This was early in my days as a new cell phone owner. I nearly ran into the back of another car because I had taken my eyes off the road trying to figure out how to answer the call. I kept pressing the wrong buttons. Fortunately, good brake technology in the car prevented the accident.

How do you respond to the weekend assignment question? 

Comment here, make an entry in your journal, or leave a comment in Scalzi's journal, By The Way.

Thanks for visiting!

Bea

Tags: Angry Professor, cell phones, Weekend Assignment #132

It's Wednesday... I'm Lost!

It's Wednesday!! Which means more than that it is "hump day" and the week is half over.

The reason I love Wednesdays, and have for the past year or so, is because Lost! airs on that night. And tonight is the season premiere.

 I started watching the show last November, and of course, due to all the reruns, I think I've seen most of the important shows... may have missed a few from Season One, but with all the flashbacks that occurred, I think I have an idea of what's going on, related to what the directors have presented for our viewing. Can we ever know what's really going on in this show?

I was first intrigued by the metaphorical references, the premise that there were these people lost on an island. Likening it to real life, I thought about how we are all lost in this world, spiritually speaking, waiting for a divine Rescue of sorts.

We learn that others are different from us. We fear others who are not like us. We try to make people to be like us so that we can like them more easily. Cultures clash, we reject what we don't like and we embrace what we do. But between you and me, there are those we call They and there are the ones who belong to us, the We group. We are right, we are good, and we are truth. They, on the other hand, are not right, not good, and not truth. So we don't like them. We aren't mean to Them, we just don't accept Them. We are surrounded by Others. And the Others are surrounded by Us. We are their Others.

When we distinguish between Us and Them like that, there is distrust, and more than anything, what brings people together in a strong bond of friendship is Trust. When we lose the trust, we lose the ability to form a friendship, a team, a partnership, a marriage, whatever relationship one needs to survive. Trust is vital. The enemy of trust is often guilt and betrayal.

On Lost!, the crash survivors have come involuntarily to the island filled with guilt (is that not what most of us are filled with when we "wake up" to spiritual reality?).

Each one needs forgiveness and reconciliation for something they have said and/or done in their lives, for someone they have hurt or been hurt by.

They all need redemption.

They need someone willing to sacrifice his/her life for them. Sound familiar?

I'm thinking that person is going to be Sawyer, the one perceived to be the island's bad guy.

                                        

After the second season we know that these survivors have crossed paths with each other before getting on the plane. We also know that at least two people, disabled or terminally sick before arriving at the island, have been completely healed ever since they crashed on the island.

I didn't get the beginning, Season One, with the suggestion that there were creatures living on the island. Since I've been watching it, there have been no mysterious presence of giant beasts. Just the fearsome Others. The plane crash survivors are afraid of the Others because many of their numbers have been taken by the Others. For what purpose, we don't know.

Maybe now that Jack, Kate, and Sawyer have been captured by the Others, we will find out who these perceived bad guys are. I'm thinking they are not the bad guys at all. Misunderstood, different perhaps, but not bad. There will probably be some "tribal" clashes as these two groups of people deal with each other and share the island until rescue arrives.

Then there's the question about what happened to Locke and Mr. Ecko. It appeared that they had died in that electromagnetic event, but since the camera panned away and left us to wonder about that, I'm thinking they are not dead. My theory is that they will raise up to help our captured favorites when things start to get a little tight again, in otherwords, when Kate, Jack, and Sawyer need a fast rescue themselves. But not a rescue from the Others... from something even more threatening.

I hope They don't bring the dinosaur creatures back... that was getting too much into the realm of children's fantasy and, though I love fantasy, I don't like mixing my "plane-crashes-near-island" fantasy with a "Jurassic Island" fantasy. I don't think this story needs the element of prehistoric life.

Are you a Lost! viewer, follower, fan? What do you think is going to happen this season?

Journals Editor Jeff had some theories of his own at Magic Smoke, and a couple of great links to more Lost! sites if you are Lost! fan. Check out what he has to say.

Above Photo of Josh Holloway/Sawyer, from TV.com at http://www.tv.com/josh-holloway/person/183695/photos.html

Tags: Lost!, Journals Editor Jeff, Trust, Others

Are you a Baby Boomer?

Are you a member of the Baby Boomer generation? If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you are.

Did you know that the oldest of the BBs are turning 60 this year? I didn't know that until I was browsing the North Carolina Conference on Aging website, and found out that the theme for the 2006 Conference is "Boomers Turning 60 - Implications for All of Us." The purpose of the conference is to provide educational and networking opportunities for all those interested in all the issues related to senior citizens: "long-term care, vital aging, family issues, work and retirement, leadership, and professional development."

That got me to wondering... what are the implications for all of us? More people retiring? More people needing medical care? More people selling their homes? And so, like we journalers like to do, I began doing a little personal search to find out what my turning 60 meant to the rest of the world.

Actually, I have seven years to go before I reach the big 6 - 0, and since there is only one direction in this movement of aging, I aim to move forward with grace and dignity.

Some facts:

Baby boomers are expected to live to the age of 83 and many will live into their 90's. So, I'm going to live a long time (if I continue to take care of my health).

Estimated number of BBs as of July 1, 2005: 78.2 million (US Census Bureau)

50.8% of the BBs were women in 2005 (US Census).

330 people turn 60 every hour, according to the census projections.

By 2030, almost 1 out of 5 Americans will be 65 years or older. USSEC fact.

I read several articles about Baby Boomers, and in one special report, the writer states that BBs will retire fromone career and start another (because they have another 22 years of life expectancy after they retire). Some will start new careers because they can't afford retirement, and many will go back to school for a fast-track degree. I did that one in my forties.

Many will become teachers, others will enter divinity school, and still others will become nurses. Service seems to be the theme for BBs these days. This is good, very good.

25-30 percent of BBs have four or more years of college, yet 11-13 percent lack a high school diploma. (US Dept of Labor paper). The ones who have the higher education will likely have some money set aside, a home all paid for, and good health insurance. For them, being retired will be more pleasant and golden.

Apparently, golfing isn't the dream of retirement for BBs.  Likely, they will continue to work part-time (whether they have to or want to), volunteer in their communities, and become family caregivers (Lifestyle, post-gazette.com).

According to the US Securities Exchange Commision, though our health is improving, many older Americans are disabled from chronic conditions. In the 2000 census, "14 million people age 65 and older reported some level of disability (high prevalance of arthritis or heart disease)."

Dating, gray-haired couples will become more commonplace as they live longer. Boomers have a higher divorce rate than other generations. I suppose this means that places for older dating couples will see a rise in business: restaurants, movie and play theaters, cruises, vacation packages, air travel, music concerts, etc. That 25% who have the higher education, and who continue to work past retirement will be able to afford these things.

Being 60 doesn't sound so bad anymore! I may be gray-haired, and have arthritis by then, but I will have lots of friends (gray-haired and arthritic) to go out with and talk to.   <grin>

When I retire, I think I should like to be involved in mission work while writing and illustrating a book or two. Maybe do some traveling.

What are your plans for retirement?

Tags: Retirement, Baby Boomers, NC Conference on Aging