My wife and I recently went to the local food bank, since we were between paychecks and needed food... This is the first time we have had to do that, but we really needed the help... It is very frustrating to be behind in the rent, owe money to utilities, have a car break down, and wonder where all the money to take care of these things is going to come from... Most of the problem started over the summer, when I wasn ' t driving the school bus, and my web design business was dead... It really makes it obvious why we like to spend more time with dogs than people... Anyway, the good news is that there were witnesses... The bad news is that the car that hit my wife ' s car had out of state plates, so they can ' t track it locally... If anyone knows how to find the owner of that car (we have the license number) please let me know... … View Post »

Today is blog action day, and is an effort to end poverty worldwide, through the power of blogging... When most people think of poverty, they think of third world countries, and all those ads you see on TV of the children starving... Here are some sobering statistics from last year: The official poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, not statistically different from 2006... Source Poverty is determined from money income before taxes, and doesn ' t include capital gains or noncash benefits, like public housing and food stamps... If you are in the position to contribute cash, do that... The court appointed special advocate program is always in need of volunteers to work directly with children in foster care, and advocate for them in the courts... These clubs are there to help support children in your area, but always seem to be underfunded... Find a foster parent in your area, or contact the local department of health and human services and let them know about your desire to help... … View Post »

My wife and I are going crazy(crazier) trying to figure out what to do with our 14 year old daughter... She has no friends, doesn ' t leave her room, and is not eating healthy... This has all started since she began high school a few months ago... Now it is fall break for a week, and we don ' t want her to spend the whole week in her room doing nothing... In the past, we sent her to the Boys and Girls club, but it is now 14 dollars per day, which we really can ' t afford right now... Oh yeah, the lack of money thing is another issue... Anyway, she needs to be social, and hanging out with kids her own age... The other major issue we are having with Jessica is that she is not eating right, and appears to have lost weight... … View Post »

I was reading the blog, Daily Kos : State of the Nation, and the first thing that I noticed that I liked was the reference to the "faith-based calculator" that must have been used to determine that Sarah Palin has an 80% popularity rating in Alaska, her home state... Apparently, that ' s not based on reality... If you visit the Daily Kos you will see that there was quite a protest the other day in Anchorage... What started out as a planned small rally by a few women turned into a major rally to let the world know that these women (mostly) did not agree with governor Palin on many issues important to women... Teens in this country are really intelligent and have seen that Bush is no good for the country... If they could, the McCain/Palin team would not be an issue... I want to know how you feel about Palin as a role model for young women... Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin , McCain Palin , politics , Alaska Are you in need of creative website design?... … View Post »

Are you in need of creative website design?... … View Post »

I am currently taking the FREE course from Caroline Middlebrook , about how to increase traffic to your blog using Stumbleupon ... For me, I chose animals, photography, web design, alternative rock, humor, and liberal politics (among others)... If you would like to see some sites that I like, you can visit my profile ... The course that Caroline offers shows you how to get your own content included in the pages that Stumbleupon shows other people... The full course is also offered for sale, and to purchase it directly, just click on the graphic below... You will notice that I also added a Stumbleupon button directly to the bottom of my posts, to help my viewers stumble my content easily... If you like this post, click on the stumbleupon button and fill in the description and tags in the window that appears... … View Post »

I have been following the news about politics, and listening to what my co-workers have been saying about the presidential candidates... What I heard at work when McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate is "I like her, she ' s pro-life, believes in one man, one woman..."... Pro-Choice I have worked with kids in foster care, and have, in fact, adopted one of them... What I can ' t understand is how anyone can justify bringing another unwanted child into this world... But in the case of incest and/or rape, how do you allow the child to be born, just because they are a human being?... Being gay is not the path my life was meant to take, and it is definitely not something I would like to experience, especially in this homophobic country... My soul-mate, it turns out, is a woman... If your soul-mate is female and so are you, or your soul-mate is male and so are you, how is that a bad thing?... … View Post »

The Charter Laptop-a-Day Giveaway is a great way for you to win a free laptop, just by signing up for any of Charter Communications ' cable tv, high speed internet, or phone services... Plus, if you place your order for their services online, you will receive a FREE $100 Shell gas card... Everyone needs high speed internet these days, and if you don ' t have it yet, now is the time to sign up!... You ' ll get the best price around, the chance to win a great laptop, and a free gas card... Don ' t hesitate, head over to Charter Communications now and sign up for any of their great services... Are you in need of creative website design?... … View Post »

Image via Wikipedia Our daughter ' s birthday was yesterday, and in an attempt to find something for her, I stumbled across this great site, where you can learn guitar and/or piano, by watching online video lessons... The local guy charges $20 per half hour for a once a week lesson... The videos are very clear and straightforward, and the instructors do a great job explaining things... I haven ' t signed her up for lessons yet, but they have a basic package for $7.95 a month, which includes unlimited techniques lessons... And you can request songs too... Are you in need of creative website design?... … View Post »