I realize that these things happen in most cities around the country, but this time it was in the park right next to my daughter’s school.  This article is direct from the Allen, Texas police blotter.

On Wednesday, November 18, 2009, at approximately 1820 hours, Allen Police
Department and the Allen Fire Department responded to an Emergency Medical
Call/Possible Assault at Ford Park, 630 Park Place Drive. When officers arrived,
they observed the victim, later identified as Agha “Faran” Khan, A/M, DOB: 03-31-
1988 to have what appeared to be a puncture wound caused by an unknown type
weapon. A bystander was performing CPR on the victim. Allen Fire Department
paramedics relieved the bystander and continued to perform CPR on the victim.
Khan was transported to Medical Center Plano where he was later pronounced
deceased by Dr. Regina Rivera at approximately 1934 hours.

Investigators from the Criminal Investigation Division were called to the scene and
have classified the incident as a homicide. Preliminary investigation revealed that
patrons of the park observed the victim lying on the ground and called 9-1-1. An
autopsy has been ordered and will be conducted by the Collin County Medical
Examiner’s Office.

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It’s been on the news all afternoon, tidbits of information about a deadly shooting at Ft. Hood, the largest U.S Army installation in the free world.

According to the AP, at least one shooter was killed after killing 9 and injuring more than 20 more.  There are 2 additional suspects/accomplices in custody.  A civilian police officer was apparently among those killed.

This is a very sad day in Texas and for all of America.  I will certainly be interested in hearing more about the shooter and the other 2 suspects as to their motives.

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I DID IT! I actually managed to update this blog to the latest version of Wordpress all by my self! I have to say, it feels quite amazing, particularly because I am so technically challenged.

I saw those dreaded words when I logged in to my blog’s dashboard, “a new version of Wordpress is available, please update now”. My stomach was doing the typical flip flops at the thought of having to do anything technical to this or, even worse, my other blog. Every time I’ve ever attempted to do something major like this myself, something has gone dreadfully wrong. So, the last few times that updates were needed, I either chose to ignore the message, or I begged and pleaded several blogging friends to complete the process for me. Thankfully, they obliged.

This time though, I opted to take the plunge. I have the Automatic Update plug in and it walked me through everything! I even understood everything it told me to do, it was in plain English, not Geek speak. It performed a necessary backup of my data, deactivated my plugins, installed the latest version of WP and then, even re-activated my plugins! It all took less than 10 minutes before I received a message saying my blog had been updated. The last thing I had to do was click to re-activate the plugins and I went merrily on my way.

I’m giving myself a big pat on the bag and thanking everyone who ever told me to install that plug in!

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I finally got both of my blogs up, running and current with all the latest versions of Wordpress and all the newest plug-ins. Both of my blogs were frozen and my webhost locked me out because they said I was “pounding the box”. I’m not an IT person in any sense, so I have no idea what that meant other than it was synonymous with frustration! Both of my blogs were running on outdated versions of Wordpress, but, other than that, I couldn’t see any problems that would lead to what my host did. I was beyond frustrated, I wanted to completely quit blogging.

Thankfully, a blogging friend came to my rescue and figured out how to get into my host account and get everything updated. Then, remarkably, the web host unlocked my account and I was back up and running. This to me was a very poor showing of customer service. Please understand, I pay money to my web host, it is not a free account. I think I deserve better treatment.

Since then, I’ve been looking for a new web host and I really sit up and pay attention when I see a site like webhostinggeeks.com that does web hosting reviews. At their site I can compare all the features and prices of a variety of web hosts so I can find the one that will best serve my needs. I can even read actual reviews of the different companies before I sign up with them. This saves me from having to make a long term commitment with a company I know little about. If that weren’t enough reason to check out the webhostinggeeks, their blog is full of beneficial tips on how to choose a web host, free or otherwise, and how to reduce costs. I would definitely utilize their information before committing to a web host!

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We updated my daughter’s bedroom just before school started. These are not necessarily colors I would have chosen, but, she’s 13 and has her own ideas! She loves her new look and I’m happy because it all looks fresh and clean. It was the first time we painted her room since moving in 2 years ago and the walls were dirty and filled with holes. Here is the before and after.

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This is so funny! I love the idea of menopause parking, and just had to share this!

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I have a credit card from CHASE bank, I’ve had this cc for many, many years.  I’ve been a loyal and good customer to them over the years.  I’ve carried a balance, but have always paid on time, usually more than the minimum required and several times have even taken advantage of their balance transfer offers.   The last time was to consolidate our other credit cards into one account, taking advantage of a 4.99% interest rate that was valid until the balance was paid off.    As I said, I’ve been faithfully sending in my monthly payments, always on time (sometimes even early) and almost always, more than the minimum due.

Well, CHASE decided to change the calculation for the minimum due and by doing so, more than doubled my minimum payment.  Now, I’m not sure about you, but I am not able to just change my budget in this way, I do have other monetary obligations including mortgage and utilities that I must pay every month.  Keep in mind, I’m not talking about an increase in minimum payment of $50-100, I’m talking close to $600 more per month than what I was paying before!  WHAT THE HELL?!

I called their customer service today and, after waiting on hold for over 10 minutes, I spoke to a lady who spoke very broken English and was told that yes, they could return the minimum payment to the original calculation, but, I would have to pay a higher interest rate and, the rate would convert to the standard cc rate effective 24 months from now.  I asked to speak to a supervisor and was informed that there was nothing more they could do.  I insisted.  I was transferred to someone I could actually understand and was given the same information.  I asked why, a loyal, trustworthy customer with an excellent credit history and customer of CHASE for many years would be treated this way and was not given an answer.  Instead, I was transferred to another woman who didn’t speak English well who informed me that if I would like to keep my current interest rate AND current minimum payment, I could be considered as a hardship case, would have 18 months to pay my account off and then my account would be closed!  WHAT THE HELL?!

I informed this woman that I was not wanting to close my account, I just wanted to be treated fairly and have my account treated the way it deserved, excellently.  I didn’t not feel this was being done, so, she transferred me (if you’re keeping count, this is transfer #4) and I was on hold for another 10 minutes.

I finally got to Will, an English speaking young man who I did not feel deserved my aggression that I was feeling by now and so, accepted the higher interest rate with the lower minimum payment calculation and asked for the address of where I could mail an official complaint regarding the change in terms on my account.  I feel defeated and extremely disappointed in CHASE.  And to think, I had recently been thinking about moving our bank accounts to one of their nearby branches!  NOT gonna happen!

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