These new technologies are very important to me because they will help us to slow down the pollution that we contribute to the ever-growing pollution problem. Ever since I can remember the teachers in my schools have been encouraging their students to reduce, reuse and recycle, and find ways to promote the conservation of our planet. Sometimes I wish that I had been able to go to college to get a degree in conservation and make my living in that field; I feel so strongly that too many people are trashing our planet. When solar energy becomes mainstream, I think it will be a great leap forward in preserving our planet!

I’ve heard that question several times from my kids, and it is a tough one.  I want them to be ultimately happy with the work that they do, but they also need to earn enough money to pay their bills!  And in today’s global market, and the new technologies that are already out there, and being developed, technology seems to be the key to the answer.

My advice has always been for them to think about their favorite subject in school and then talk to their teacher about what professions there are that use that knowledge from the class. What do YOU tell your kids?

At first I was going to just toss the sock in the trash, but then I decided that I will try to darn it to repair it.  In this economy, I’m trying to pinch every penny and stretch every dollar.  It’s been a few years since I’ve darned socks, but it isn’t hard to do.  So I’ve put the sock aside for now, will try to get to darning it this evening after supper.

I found that when it ripped and I was looking at the rip, thinking about darning it, memories of my step-mother teaching me how to darn socks came to mind.  I remember how she had a wooden bulb to use as a form to put inside the sock while working on it.  I don’t have one of those; I’ll just use a light bulb.  I find it interesting how often small and seemingly insignificant things will trigger a memory of a person!

It seems that all of our vehicles need immediate repairs.  Brakes, transmission, ignition switch, starter, serpentine belts, steering, new batteries! It’s going to cost a fortune to fix them all. I’m getting discouraged about keeping up with all of the costs of living.  And yet fixing the cars costs less than buying new ones. It’s not just about the monthly payments, although all of our vehicles are paid off. It is partly because the insurance payments would go up too. The vehicles don’t LOOK old and beat up, but they are getting old. I would like to just keep driving them forever. I hope things get better soon!

It all started when I reminded him to please turn off the lights and television in the living room when he is done for the night and going to bed and is the last person in the room. Does that sound like a reasonable request to you? I swear, sometimes I think that I’m the only one in the house that gives a darn about saving energy and trying to reduce our utility bills. Of course since I’m the one that pays that bill no one else cares at all, and that is obvious by the fact that I am the one that runs around the house turning things off.

One thing I am doing as well is making sure that all of the double glazing windows that we have are locked tight. I’ve noticed in the past when someone opens a window to let in the fresh air, when they close it again that there often is a gap up at the top of the window that no one notices until they go to lock it. It’s lucky that it has been a mild winter so far; the cold draft coming in from the windows would really be costing me a fortune in heating bills!

Besides her current favorite chair is getting very dilapidated from the cats sharpening their claws on it all of the time. It looks terrible! I think that a lift chair would be of great value to her.

The club member can cancel membership at any time. There is a variety of software to choose from several different interest areas – children’s software, business software, family interest software, games, creative, and graphics.  The family interest group includes a software program with 10,001 recipes in it!  I’d be interested in that!

I find this news very discouraging; I feel that women should earn the same amount of money if they are doing the same work as their male counterparts.

When I first entered the job market umpteen years ago, I found that the company that I worked for systematically paid the male employees more money than they paid the female employees – for the exact same job.  When I inquired why that was so, the reply was that “men had families to support and needed the money more than the females did.”

The logic behind that assumption was that the men that worked there were married, with children, and that the wives stayed home to take care of the children.  And the assumption continued that the women that worked there were young and single and only had to worry about supporting themselves.  So the company felt that they were paying their employees based on their employees needs, rather than on their level of production.

I have always felt that if I am producing at the same level as another person, I should be paid the same as that other person, regardless of marital/family status.  I ended up going to work for a large, unionized corporation, where the union contract prevented that type of wage gap discrimination.  For me, that was the best option for me to be treated more fairly.

Sometimes life gets hectic, and an unexpected gift giving occasion arrives and time doesn’t allow the luxury of making the gifts. That’s when buying a gourmet gift basket comes to the rescue. There are so many gourmet gift baskets on the market, it is pretty easy to find one that will suit almost any occasion and please any recipient.