Communati.com

This is going to be a running topic, because I’m ALWAYS finding myself saying the strangest things out loud to my children.

Today’s was:

“Put your head on the pillow and quit biting the bed!”

Today while talking on the phone, I went upstairs to check on the boys and make sure they’re really napping. I discovered my older son asleep peacefully, but the “baby”… he’s leaning his head over the side of the bed and is biting the mattress. Silly boy.

It’s Friday and I am happy. The weekend is near and I am loving that. I just want to get today over with and get to the weekend. Then the real fun can begin.

I met a new, nice friend (I hope we can stay in touch) yesterday online. She is very young (20). We had a great conversation and not once did she mention turning on her webcam so I could watch her or any other sexually related comments. That is refreshing. I just hope we can communicate every now and then.

I have a second friend who I am writing to also. I am not usually big on meeting someone online, but I do realize you have access to tons of people online. It’s just a matter of sifting through the bad stuff online to get to the good. I like to do this.

Brother-in-law is in jail. I have several concerns and comments on that one. The first one is “I told you so”. I knew the guy was not going to make it on his own. He never has before. I am very ticked off at the social worker. This guy is going to get an earful from me. He gave me a pretty good lecture several months back about the whole deal with brother-in-law after I made a statement about the guy was just no good. When my wife called him to let him know he just threw his hands up like he was no part of the deal. Well, he is part of the deal. It’s people like him who demand that idiots like my brother-in-law be given places to live, money, access to health care and such. I am going to really give him an earful.

What worries me about the whole deal is my wife. She will say she wants to leave her brother be. She’ll she he is no good and is getting what he deserves. Then she will go out and do something stupid, like bail him out of jail. We will see. I am not happy with the whole situation, but I can deal with it as long as my wife acts cool. He’s in for burglary. We found out he was arrested in March for the same thing. He’s such a nice fellow.

Has it rained enough here or what? We got about 4.5” yesterday. It has rained like 9 out of the last 10 days. I have written before it rains about 30” around here. It all falls in one week! We have more chances of rain today and even better chances over the next few days.

I had a great writing day yesterday. I did not blog any. I did finish my screenplay and my article for the magazine. Those were both good things for me. Now, I can take a few days break from anything heavy and get back to my regular regime on the whole deal. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment on both pieces. I can now get to the task of editing my screenplay to make it better.

So it’s time to go. I will try to write more over the weekend. I am ready for a very nice and fun weekend. More later!!

Since deciding that I’ll need to move elsewhere before my move to the UK, I’ve been doing a lot of searches on sites like Craigslist. Looking at areas, checking the job market, looking up apartments for rent. I’ve also been doing this for Australia (kind of my back-up plan)

I’ve noticed something odd ~ almost scary, really. There are ads everywhere, posted by men, offering free rent in exchange for companionship. Sure, we all know what that means, but it’s not just sex they’re after. They are seriously looking for someone to share time with and build some kind of life with.

Now, what bothers me about it is they generally want someone younger than themselves and someone in need. The ads tend to be all the same - “looking for someone who needs a new start” and “we can both start over together”. The men range between 45 yrs old and 60 yrs old. Though, they all add somewhere that drugs are not allowed in the scenerio, it really makes me wonder.

What is behind this growing trend of finding a damsel in distress to rescue and find love with? Is it really about love or abusing the ignorant? That, as I’m sure you all know, can go both ways. It strikes me as an almost a more civilized form of mail order brides. “I’ll help you out if you fill this whole in my life”. How lonely does one need to be before seeking to strike such a bargain? Do they feel they have so little to offer that they cannot meet a woman in the traditional way? Or, are most of these blokes just looking for someone they can dominate? My gut tells me it’s the latter.

Regardless of the reason, it really makes my stomache uneasy.

Yes, you read that right, more than 44,000 deaths each and every year in the US and hundreds of thousands of people disabled each year.

The cause: “prescription drug error”. No we are not talking about “accidental overdoses”, “kids that get into granny’s meds, or even suicides. These were all relatively healthy individuals who got a prescription from their doctor and died or became disabled as a result.

Statistics are now showing that this is the FOURTH leading cause of death in the US.

The causes of this type of death are:

1) Physician error - the doctor made a mistake and wrote down the wrong drug.

2) Handwriting - the doctors handwriting was so bad, the wrong medication was given by the pharmacist

3) Pharmacy error - wrong label on the wrong bottle

4) Lack of Medical History - the patient did not make sure the doctor and pharmacy knew ALL of the other drugs AND supplements they were taking

5) Treating symptoms - too many doctors now days treat symptoms they do not diagnose. So when a patient has a side effect to a drug they are already taking; the physician prescribes another drug to treat the side effect instead of trying to adjust the original medication for one with fewer side effects or a milder dose. Then, the new med causes a new side effect and ……

6) Propaganda - the drug companies advertise directly to the consumer who then demands their doctor prescribe the latest in medication for a condition that may not even need drugs and the doctor writes the prescription for them.

7) Just plain incompetance - this one actually happened to me; but, luckily I survived. Neither the person writing the prescription nor the pharmacist KNEW what products contain salicylates. Every doctor and every pharmacist can NOT know every little detail about every drug, supplement, food, etc. that exists. They are not “gods”; they are human beings.

Interactions - people who did not know and were not told NOT to take the medicine with other products. A lot of people know that you can’t take grapefruit juice with some drugs; but, there are a lot of other common items that can cause interactions too.

So, what can YOU do to help prevent this from happening to you or a loved one.

Question everything - what is this for, why do I need it, how should I take it, when should I take it, are there any things I should avoid while taking it, are there other treatments that don’t use drugs, etc. Get to know both your doctor and your pharmacist and educate yourself about your condition.

Most of all, don’t let them bully YOU. Yes, they have a degree and they are supposed to know their job; but, YOU are the one who lives with your body on a daily basis. You know whether you have had a similar problem in the past, you know what foods you normally eat, and what activites you normally do. YOU know more about YOU than they ever will. So, if the new medicine is making you feel “wrong” or “strange”; believe in yourself and tell them to get rid of it and give you something else or try a different type of treatment.

Older people especially are prone to “over-medication” for their health concerns. And, older people are also less able to take a constant bombardment of their kidneys and liver by various drugs. Many deaths that are actually “prescription error” are attributed to kidney or liver failure.

So be careful, ask questions, and don’t become a statistic.

“Solitude is the deepest well I have ever come across. I imagine it would be different if solitude was forced on you, but to choose it is to find a source of sustenance that never runs out.” –Robert Perkins

Looking at my life as a journey,
as a search into mystery,
I have inadvertently discovered that I can learn more about myself
in one hour of solitude
than in a week of noise.

One must, I think, tune out the world from time to time in order to discover who one is.

It was predicted by the United Nations Population Fund, that more than half of the world’s population will live in cities or urban areas. This happens mainly in developing countries of Africa and Asia.

UNPF predicted the unprecedented growth of population in urban areas of Africa and Asia by 2030. They say this will grow by 1.7 billion people which is more than the current population of US and China combined.

The problem with this growth of population in cities is that it results in increasing number of slums and radical nature in youth. For that reason the politicians have to make plans for balanced growth of economy and social things in the urban areas.

You all know when I bought the getpaidtowrite.com domain name - it was four days ago. Would you believe that I found the site on Google already? Stumbleupon is the main reason. Here’s how it happened.

And here are some resources:
http://www.doshdosh.com/social-media-optimization/a-comprehensive-guide-to-stumbleupon-how-to-build-massive-traffic-to-your-website-and-monetize-it/
http://www.mikebogo.com/ultimate-stumbleupon-resource.php

I think it is important to rest your brain. I got four hours of sleep last night and went to bed as the sun was rising. I am thinking of taking some time off so that I can clean my house and go to the mall and test out perfumes. Or maybe I’ll go for a long walk.

After finally getting that crazy assignment done, I am not sure I will be able to get a lot done today even though I still have something I need to tend to this week.

I think I had a dream that I took up painting and it seemed like fun. Maybe I’ll do that!

What do successful songwriters have that the rest of us don’t? Is there some magical formula that we can adopt to help us write Hit Songs! ??
http://www.news-reporter.com/news/2006/0427/Front_Page/008p1_lg.jpg
Successful songwriter Hillary Lindsey Picture from her home town newspaper The News Reporter Washington, Georgia.
Hillary Lindsey co-wrote Carrie Underwood’s Jesus Take The Wheel, she is pretty and looks a lot like the other Nashville Dreamers who do windows by day and sing in the clubs at night.

Luke Laird guitar pinking for Hillary Lindsey’s singing can be heard, no special “Media Player” needs to be downloaded, Click:
http://www.myspace.com/lairdtunes

Nashville Dreamers who do windows by day and sing in the clubs by night Copyright 2007 Steve Lee

As a writer it’s easy to become chained to my computer by deadlines and desires to finish my current novel. Busyness can overcome the common sense knowledge that a body needs to move around, get exercise and eat proper nutition. And yet eating healthy is a form of dieting. It’s about making healthy choices.

Writing is much like eating. It’s easy to get sidetracked and work on things that are fun when other items that pay for writing might seem a little more tedious. These fun projects are more like fun snack foods and if I’m not careful they can chew up my time.

Both writing and eating healthy take discipline. Goals need to be set to keep me on track. If I don’t set goals, life can easily take charge and I not only find myself with extra poundage but with an overwhelming amount of work to get done. One feeds the other as stress of unaccomplished projects lends to thinking I don’t have time to eat healthy and give way to eating quick easy to prepare processed foods or even worse skip meals and eat things like cookies and pretzels while I work.

So instead of only eating or writing what I want–I strive for balance. Setting goals helps to keep things in perspective as I progress through my list. Snacks are fun, but they do not constitute a meal. Writing things for fun stimulates the creative process, but they don’t always pay the bills. Finding the right balance allows for both.