Jack Doodle

It has been quite a while since I have posted.  Other things have kept me busy.  I've become the happy grandmother of a new grandson who lives in Denver.  I just returned from a visit to see him. He is nearly 10 months old now.  He is such a joy.  I will update his latest photos soon.

More on Cell Phones

What did people do without them? We went to see a good movie for my birthday today ("One Day" with Anne Hathaway). For once, nobody tried to turn on their phones during the movie, which was amazing. BUT - the minute the movie ended, nearly EVERYONE in the audience immediately turned on their phones to check for texts, messages, or missed calls. So, I repeat - how on earth did people enjoy life without their cells. Then, we went out to eat. In the next booth, while waiting for people to join then, instead of enjoying a nice conversation, Mother, Dad and girl child were all playing with their respective cell phones. Will people one day forget how to talk to each other and merely text, "Please pass the peas" during dinner?

Save the Trees - Stop Junk on Cash Register Receipts

Does anyone pay any attention to all of that extra junk at the bottom of your cash register receipts? It's the ones that want to give you something, but all you have to do is go to their web site and give them your information. For that, you either have a chance to receive a free short stack of pancakes from IHop, or fill out a survey, or enter Walgreen's monthly sweepstakes to win $3,000 in cash, or whatever. I would like to know if anyone has ever gotten anything for giving up their e-mail address besides more e-mail? Think about it - they all have that junk at the bottom.

It's rather a pain in the neck when you keep your receipts and are balancing your checkbook, or reconciling your debit card charges when your bank statement comes in to find the dates and prices in the middle of all of those offers. I end up tearing it off the bottom when I save my receipts to balance my checkbook, so it does them no good to put it on my receipts.
Think about it - how many trees are wasted with so much extra junk printed on the extra paper that can range from 2 " to 4" or more of extra paper on a receipt for practically every store you go into? This happens all over the country. Maybe all over the world. It has to be millions of trees yearly.
What can you do about it? I sometimes tear the extra off and leave it with the cashier and tell her to tell the manager to pass the word on to "Save the Trees". Sometimes they even agree. I wonder who thought this up? Why did the practice spread so fast? Do they really think that people are going to believe that you get something for nothing?
Plus, at the grocery stores they print out a foot or more of savings coupons for things you never purchase. That's more trees. Leave that at the check-out counter, too.
We have no privacy anymore. Everything we do online can be seen, especially by Facebook (that's another post for another time). Every time we give some company our e-mail address, it gets passed on or used.
So, stop the madness and Save the Trees! Pass this on to your merchants. Tell them that you don't want extra junk printed on your cash register receipts.

Off to the Gem and Mineral Show

I'm off to the Gem and Mineral Show to see what I can find for my jewelry. Maybe some opals, or some nice sliced Geodes.

Cell Phones in Theaters

I go to The Grand Theater in D'Iberville pretty often. After years of having people using their cell phones to check messages and text during movies and driving others crazy, they established a no tolerance policy concerning cell phones. The policy states that if you use your phone during a movie, you will be asked to leave and you won't be refunded your money. I thought that policy was wonderful until I tested it. Not long into a movie last week, a woman in front of me opened her phone and started checking messages. I told her that she needed to turn it off or she would be kicked out. She just turned around and grinned at me. I said, O.K. and got up and got the person who is in charge of enforcing the rule. She did get the woman out, but a few minutes later, she was back in her seat. After I left, my husband said that she tried to pass the phone to someone else in her party. Soon after, the man sitting two seats from me on my row turned his on. He saw that the policy isn't being enforced. I don't know how the inconsiderate woman got back in, but I think that they should have a No Excuse policy that includes grown-ups, not just teenagers.

The problem is - why do people pay good money to go to a movie only to check their e-mails and messages and text all throughout the movie? Don't they realize that the bright light distracts others? In the case of people who have had cataract surgery, bright lights really bother their (my) eyes. Besides the fact that when a bright light comes on, your attention is distracted from the screen and you miss part of the movie. People used to be able to live without thier cell phone as another appendage to their body. They used to go to movies and their only vice was talking too much. They used to be able to go grocery shopping without having to talk up and down the aisle talking non-stop. They used to be able to drive a car without talking on their phone. And, worse of all, texting while driving. Texting while driving is the most dangerous thing that any stupid person could do. What is wrong with people like that? Texts can wait - they can't be that important. Don't these people have any sense of self? Must they always be talking to someone else? I think is that it would be a Wonderful World if people would just "grow up" and use their cell phones wisely, - not be co-dependent on them. It makes me wonder, "What's the world coming to?" I shudder to think.

What a Wonderful World It Would Be

I've always wanted to write a column to express my views on what would make our world and our lives a better and nicer place to live. I'm a fairly outspoken person, and I also feel that right is right and wrong is wrong - I'm a black and white person.

Since today's media and newspapers are so strictly driven by the everloving dollar, there is no room for easy reading. Newspapers delivers news (mostly bad) and is driven by advertisements.. Articles deal with rapes, murder, drugs, food, movie stars, world terror and lots of sports. You can't read articles about manners or self-improvement.

It is my aim to use my photography web site to still publish my photography while being to express my feelings about things that go on in the world. I'm hoping that you will not only follow me, but leave your comments.

Wow! It's been ages since I've posted a blog. I have to blame it on Facebook, which is one of the (seemingly) necessities of the Internet these days. I have to check it and read it, so it really does waste a lot of my valuable time. I am making myself a promise to post more of my photography here from now on. However, today I have to do some work outside in the yard today.