Yesterday I took the girls swimming to the local aquatic center. And like any father with tree girls I went into the family change room, the last thing I need is for my girls to see a bunch of naked old guys. The is where the frustration begins.
Who do you expect to be in a family change rooms? Families right! Well it seems that to some people the family change room means that it is a place for single men, women, boys and girls to use. Come on people what part of family do you not understand. Family means, at least, Â one adult and one or more kids or a handicapped person.
So were waiting for an open stall, and final a couple become available. Â Out of these occupies stalls walk young men, 15+ in age, and you guessed it one out of each stall. I guess they were illiterate and blind, because the change room is clearly marked.
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This is the note the teacher received the next day,
Dear Mrs. Jones,
I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. Â
I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it.  Her picture doesn’t show me dancing around a pole. It’s supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot.
From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in.Â
Sincerely,
Mrs. Smith
I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I am tired about hearing the Big 3 automakers complain that they might be going bankrupt. Â Now I understand that there are thousands of jobs on the line, but who do they think they are asking begging for bailout money from the government. Â You don’t see Toyota or Honda going to the government begging for a bailout.
When are the Big 3 going to realize that people are looking for fuel efficient cars. Gone are the days of the big V8 and the 4 barrel carb. Â People want reliable cars that are good on fuel. Â For some odd reason Ford, GM and Chrysler can’t get this through their heads. Â
I find myself  laughing when I see ads on TV that say “we have 10 models with 33 MPG or more.”  In what world do they think that is an accomplishment. In 2000 I had a Honda Civic that got 44 MPG (in town), later I had a Jetta that got about the same mileage.  33MPG is nothing to brag about, when the Japanese have had better mileage than this for the better part of 10 years.
That being said if they get the bail out will anything change, I DOUBT IT!  Not to mention this starts a dangerous precedent. Who else gets a bail out? What about the small business who’s going out of business, does he/she get a bail out?
Why are the automakers any more important than the loggers in BC, or the fishermen in the Maritimes, or the small business person? None of which have ever gotten bail outs from the government.
Chapter 11 might be the best thing for these company’s. Â Then maybe something will change in the way they do business.
Don’t get me wrong I feel for all the people that could lose their jobs, at no fault of their own, but this problem has been a long time coming.
Just my thoughts!!!
I just heard about this charity Soles4Souls. Soles4Souls facilitates the donations of shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. They are trying to raise money to provide 50,000 pairs of shoes and they were trying to do it in 50 days.  At this point there are 17 days left and they only have 9440 pairs donated.
$5 dollars buys two pairs of shoes people in need.
Here are a few reasons why you’ll want to donate today…
And, the most important reason to give? Because it’s the right thing to do and a simple way you can make a difference in the lives of people in need. They’re nearing the end of this challenge and still have a ways to go to reach our goal.
What Can You Do?
1. Give
A $5 donation buys two pair of shoes. We can all give at least that much. Head over to 50000shoes.com and give generously and sacrificially.
2. Promote It On Your Blog
Why do you blog? Do you look at your blog as just a fun hobby or do you see it the way I see it – a platform to bring change and make a difference in the world? I don’t care if you have 150 readers or 5, you have been given influence. People have granted you the permission to speak into their lives. Use that influence to make a difference.
Would you consider writing a post about this amazing event and spread the word? There are graphics and banners available for your blog. You can also join the Facebook group and encourage your friends to do the same.
3. Spread The Word
Your sphere of influence is much larger than just your blog. You have friends and family that are just a phone call or email away. Set aside some time to reach out to some people and share this awesome opportunity with them.
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*Nashville-based Soles4Souls(TM) facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Since its inception, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 3.5 million pairs (or one pair every 23 seconds) to people in 61 countries, including Honduras, Romania, Thailand, and the Sudan. The charity has been featured on CNN Headline News, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, ABC News, FOX, CBS, and hundreds of regional outlets around North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS; donating parties are eligible for tax advantages.
In my short life I have had the opportunity to travel to a number of different countries. And in each of the countries I have been able to see how and where people live. I have seen the homes of the rich and famous and have seen the homes of the poorest of poor.
When I was 11 my family and I attended Youth With A Mission. With this missions group we traveled to and around Asia for three months. One of the most memorable places we visited, on this outreach, was the Philippines. To this day I can remember the smells, the smiles and the beauty of the people and the country.
Manila is home to an estimated 19,150,000 people and is the most densely populated city in the Philippines. With all those people crammed into one area there are hundreds of thousands of “homeless,” as 33% of the population of the city live below the poverty line. Everywhere you drive the roads are lined with tin roofed makeshift shacks.
If living on the side of a major highway is not enough, you can drive down said highway to place called Payatas. Payatas is the home of the Metro Manila dump. This place is not only a dump, but it is home to approx. 10,000 people. That’s right there are 10,000 men, women and children living on a dump. Without seeing it, it is hard to believe that people can live like that, but they do. There are whole neighborhoods formed on the dump. These neighborhoods include homes, and believe it or not stores. For the longest time I thought that this was one of the worst places to live, but then I heard of a worst place.
What can be worse than living with your family living on a dump? How about living in hell, literally? Also in Manila, Philippines there is a place called the Manila Northern Cemetery and believe it or not there are approx. 10,000 men, women and children living in the cemetery. If living in a cemetery isn’t bad enough the cemetery is so overcrowded (by dead) that every five years the crypts are broken open and the bones are thrown on the ground. Children live and play amongst the bones and skulls of the dead.
Don’t believe me, watch this video by Bill Wilson of Metro Ministries.
It’s hard for me to believe that there are people that live like this, but I have seen life on the dump first hand. It’s encouraging to know that there are people, like Bill Wilson and others, that are doing what they can to help these marginalized people.
You too, can help, by going to the Metro Ministries website and making a donation, or by sponsoring a child.
Boston.com has some great images of the new President Elect of the United States. These are two of my favorite.
A great glimpse into Obama’s family life.
Verdier Remix of VW Van is 100% eco with Sun Tracker solar panel working day & night charging the battery for the Hybrid motor – On board computer, Home theater, freezer/refrigerator, and the best Internet Connection !! Basically everything you need – I want one !! Maybe I can get it for Christmas. (From Trendland)
This is an interesting widget that show what’s going on in the world now. Â See the full sized widget at now.sprint.com. IN the bottom right corner you can click shuffle to see more stats. Â It’s pretty cool.
I used to be the outreach director at The Warehouse. Â The Warehouse is a community center in the heart of East Vancouver and was dedicated to helping people in the community in whatever way we could. Â That could involve any matter of things such as tutoring, ESL, helping people move, and other means of support.
One year we decided that we were going to help out a inner city school in Vancouver and an at risk neighborhood in our area. Â After meeting with the teachers and administration of the school we were able to assess that there was a need for students in the school to have backpacks and school supplies. Â
So we began on our new mission to procure 300 backpacks and fill them full of school supplies. We reached our goal and were able to bless 300 hundred elementary students with new backpacks and school supplies.  We went to a housing complex in our neighborhood and setup some BBQ’s and bouncy castles, had a block party and handed out the backpacks.  It was an amazing day.
Here are a few of the Thank You letters we got from the students who received the backpacks.
Here are a few images from “Things are Fine” aimed at getting people to vote using reverse psychology.
