Pentimento

Wordless Wednesday - The Furry Ostrich

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Visit my other blog iPentimento to read my latest genealogy posts too.

This Sign Keeps Salesmen Away!

I have to laugh each time I see some salesperson come up on our front porch. They stride up here full of purpose and high expectations, only to turn around right away rejected and dejected. I have had this sign up on my storm door for many years now and the only time I take it down is Halloween so the little kids don't get confused. Feel free to download and save it so you can have your own "pest repellent". Click on the picture to get the full size before downloading. Enjoy!

I Am A SEO Novice...No Surprise There!

Affiliate Lounge had the test, and I had some spare time (there are 75 questions) so I took the SEO Quiz on the site of the same name. Truthfully, I was surprised I did as well as 40%. Take the quiz and see how you do too. No doubt, much better than me. Good luck!

SEO Novice - 40%

Are you an SEO Expert?

She Had No Clue Why She Got Fired

You all remember the bar on Cheers and how it was such a great place to go "because everyone knew you there"? Well, my husband and I have a restaurant that we go to in Port Orchard that is somewhat of the same kind of atmosphere. It is located in our bowling alley and we have been going there for at least 16 years. The same two women have run it, and they know us (and a few million other people) when we walk in the door.

Jim and I stopped in the High Joy to have a quick supper after a long day of shopping for TV stands for our new TV, and we just wanted to have a burger and a chocolate shake. In all the years that we have gone in the restaurant, we have never had a waitress that was anything but friendly...until a couple weeks ago. We ordered our burgers and when Jim asked for a shake our waitress visibly 'slumped', as if she was being put upon. I thought it was my imagination until I too ordered a milkshake and this young girl actually hunched her shoulders over and trudged off to put in our order.

Our burgers came long before our shakes arrived, and as we were just about done eating one of the other waitresses we know came over and told us there would be no charge for the shakes because they were taking so long. At that point, I told the second waitress that I thought the young blond one was not happy that we ordered them. She didn't say much, and we eventually got both shakes. I had to ask for a to-go cup because mine was so thick and I wanted to get home.

On Thursday of last week we again stopped into the High Joy and our waitress was one of the owners, so I just asked her if the young blond one was still working for her. Sherry gave a derisive chuckle and said that, no the girl had been fired. As it turned out, the girl happened to be Sherry's cousin's granddaughter, but Sherry said that she didn't much care since "we are trying to run a business here". Sherry was the one to fire her, and the girl actually asked her "why", so she told her.

Sherry said that the girl had no clue why she was being fired, and Sherry informed her that it had everything to do with her attitude. She was rude to the customers (never tolerated) and she put a minimum of effort into her job.

Personally, I haven't worked that many jobs with the public, but I have some. There were things I didn't like to do, but I knew it was part of my job and I HAD to do them. I hope that this girl isn't representative of the majority of her peers because they will have a hard time in life.

Have you had a job you hated, but did it anyway? What are your thoughts on the younger generation's work ethic? Was this girl the exception, or the rule?

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If you're using Entrecard on your blog, this plugin will make it much more visible. Each new post will have your current Entrecard ad at the top, and if there should be no ad purchased from you at the time running on your blog, then your own Entrecard will show in each post. This is a free plugin from MattNutts.com Very easy to install on Wordpress

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How The FDA Is Putting Your Health In Danger

Big business, which includes pharmaceutical companies, continues to erode the rights of United States citizens, and they are doing it with the help of an entity of our government that was created to oversee the health and well-being of us all: The Food and Drug Administration. As we have all seen in the past with our contaminated food deaths, the FDA is completely worthless, and by all indications, controlled by pharmaceutical company moles, or worse. What the below issue comes down to, AGAIN, is GREED on the part of a big company whose only goal is to cut out the 'little guy' and make huge profits off a much needed compounded drug.

Oppose FDA's Action on behalf of Wyeth to Restrict BHRT
Alert Date: January 2008
FDA recently took action on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturer Wyeth to impose harmful restrictions on the compounding and dispensing of bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), specifically compounded medicines containing the drug estriol.  This action has critical implications for pharmacists, patients and physicians.  Take Action Now!

If you think this is an isolated case, think again! Take a look at these other alerts, and I bet you know someone who will be affected by them also.

Current Action Alerts

Oppose Genetech's Action to Limit Access to Avastin
Alert Date: November 2007
Do you or a loved one suffer from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD)? Does your doctor prescribe Avastin to treat it? Pharmaceutical manufacturer Genentech has taken action to restrict access to this medicine. Take action today!

Physicians and Healthcare Professionals

Patients

Tell Your Member of Congress About the Benefits of Compounding
Ongoing Alert
Play a part in educating policymakers.  Tell your story and help protect your access to customized, compounded medicines.  Take Action Now!  To begin, please select the category that best describes you below:

Physicians and Healthcare Professionals

Veterinarians

Patients and Healthcare Advocates

Pet Owners

IN NO WAY am I being compensated for this post, other than if we all take a stand and fight to keep big business from controlling our government and our health. We need to stop being "sheeple" and call a halt to this madness! I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore! Now, YOU get mad too! DO SOMETHING!

Seahawk Cockles Get A Warming

Seahawks at Packers
January 12th - 1:30pm PT
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
TV - FOX

Stadium:  Lambeau Field

 

Cockles of their hearts, that is. The big game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers kicks off this Saturday in Green Bay. The temps will range from a low of 19 degrees to a high of a blistering 31. What's a punter to do? Or a kicker, a coach or a lineman for that matter? All of them on the Seahawks team will be getting some toasty duds courtesy of Gerbing's Heated Clothing of Union, Washington. (Something about "Union suits" seems appropriate here, but...) Coach Holmgren will be sporting a heated coat, while the linemen will have heated gloves. All of the attire will only be worn on the sidelines though, not in the game.

                                  

Those football fans in Mason County really love their Seahawks. Especially Gerbing's Heated Clothing! I bet those Seahawks are really lovin' their 12th men right now too!

Thanks to the Kitsap Sun for this post idea.

Greg turned 36 so we took him to Disneyland!

Some people never do things when they should. When our son was younger we never traveled anywhere but back and forth to Iowa. Not much of a vacation for him. So, if the title of this post seems a bit odd, well, it is just because we finally got Greg to Disneyland. It was just a few years late, and oh, we took along his wife Jenn and two kids too.

We were able to park in the handicapped parking using my placard, so it was a short walk to the tram that would take us into the park. The temperature that day was in the 60's, but the wind was kind of cold. Not so cold that the snow on the castle is real. Still, it was very pretty and made for a great picture, don't you think?

As we were walking into the main park area we spotted Pluto and the grandkids wanted to have their picture taken with him. I had never been to Disneyland before or I would have known that they have "official" photographers who accompany the characters and so we just walked up and started taking pictures. Jenn told me later that kids that go to Disneyland can get autograph books and have the characters sign them when they have their pictures taken. The picture goes in a sleeve on the page with the signature. We'll know better next time....

With so many extra people there because it was two days after Christmas, many of the rides had really long wait times. We did get to ride the Disneyland Star Tours one, and the kids absolutely loved it! After snaking around in a line for what seemed to be an hour but was probably closer to 30 minutes, you end up at the entrance to several doors and when they slide open you file into the row to which you are assigned and strap yourself in. The premise of the ride is that there is a new droid pilot and it is his first day. Basically, you are watching a movie and the seats are rocking and rolling around. I was holding on for dear life and trying not to look at the screen so I didn't upchuck my recently eaten breakfast! I am pretty sure I left my liver near the Death Star....

My husband is a pretty quick thinker. Garrett is 7 and Katrina is 6, and they had gone to see Santa before Christmas, so when we were at the park near Frontierland the kids spotted Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus and their reindeer. Jim told them that they should go over and tell Santa "thank you" for bringing their Christmas presents, and they rushed right over and did that. I love this picture of them. Just for this day, they were just two innocent kids believing in Santa.

 

They got a ride in on the merry-go-round, watched a magician at Big Thunder Ranch, and had a chat with Chip and Dale. Garrett was totally into the magician and was cracking up watching the tricks. Katrina will probably always remember her visit with Ariel. We got there just as the character was taking a "3 minute break" but it turned into a little longer than that. I think the poor thing must have been freezing! She wasn't nekkid or anything, but in that outfit she sure needed a heated seat or something. Cruella DeVille could have loaned her a fur piece.

It was a pretty long day for all of us. I was on my last legs with all the walking. The grandkids were so good and patient with all the waiting and walking. It might not have been the perfect day, but it was sunny and I think we all had a good time. The good news is that right now the kids live about two miles from Disneyland and we can all go again, but this time NOT on a holiday.

New Year - New Changes - Pentimento Stays

I am going to play the "female" card and tell you that I have changed my mind. Pentimento will stay online for a while longer. But, the focus might be changing. So far, I have kept it pretty family friendly, or so I thought. Maybe not, but I tried. I am not going to make this something really sleazy or anything, but from time to time you might see some humor on here that you wouldn't have seen before. My other self-hosted blog iPentimento will be my main one from now on, with a mostly genealogical focus with stories like my most recent one, Chinese History In My 1954 Cookbook.

In the past year I have learned a lot about blogging and making blogging friends. When my father-in-law was here for a visit one time he asked me who taught me to cook. My answer was that everyone I had come in contact with (mostly) had taught me something about cooking. The same goes for blogging. All of these people have taught me something about blogging.

One of my first contacts was my friend Susan Reynolds. She and I have been friends for over a decade. Her original blog Artsy Asylum got me started. I unashamedly copied a lot of the things she did on her blog when I first began. Now, she is battling breast cancer and has an additional blog aptly named Boobs on Ice.

I can't forget one of my other first contacts, my friend Saj Sharazi.  He lives in Pakistan and his blog is Light Within. I think of him often these days, and send him warm regards and safe travels.

One of my most valued blog friends is Chris Lodge. He has helped me so many times and never yelled at me once! He probably wanted to....  Chris is now blogging less and working at another job there in Scotland, but his blogs Thermal (humor, wit, etc.), Blog-Op (if you are learning to use Wordpress, this is your blog. Tons of good info and help!) and Auto-focused (photo blog with amazing shots) are not to be missed.

Chris also has a sister, Alison, who is no slouch herself in the photo taking department. Her Eleanorblog has more than photos though. A true historian, she gives us insight into British history with her genealogical sleuthing.

This last Friday I was the proud and happy recipient of 50 *Entrecard credits and an upcoming spot on Blog About Your Blog's blogroll. I was very surprised to even win considering I was a doofus and called Matthew  "Mark" by mistake.  BAYB is one of my favorite blogs. Matt keeps it real by always giving us quality content plus some personal insight into his life.

And what about this new phenomenon Entrecard, huh? Are you using it? Why not? I have one on iPentimento, but I will be putting one on Pentimento too. Entrecard has been such a great success because it is simple to earn points and free. You get lots more traffic than other methods, and in the process you are finding new and interesting blogs to add to your blogroll or StumbleUpon.

So, as I said, Pentimento will stay online. Even so, if you would please subscribe to iPentimento too, I would really, really appreciate it. Thanks!