Good Bye Oscar my friend I will never forget you.

11/21/09

I laid my friend Oscar to rest yesterday (had him put down) as I stated in my prior post I tried the "fluid treatments" I had been watching him since Thursday evening and really he was not improving enough to merit anymore of those fluid treatments. Friday night into Saturday morning he slept with me all night not moving an inch from my side and I could still hear that his breathing was shallow and I just knew that things were not going to get better. Saturday after we got up I watched him and thought long and hard about it and decided that it would just be better to put him at rest. When I took him in the vet said you know this is the most unselfish thing you could do for him. And you know what she is right.......

Rest well Oscar maybe some day will will meet again Felix and I will miss you but I know you are resting now.

"The Rainbow Bridge"

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Pets touch our lives

Hi everyone sorry it has been so long since I posted and I will tell you ahead of time that today's post will not be a happy one. Some of you already know that my cat Oscar (picture above) Has beginning stages of kidney failure or renal failure what ever you want to call it. Starting about Thursday of last week he was getting sick the first couple of times I did not notice but he was throwing up every time he ate. Over the weekend it got no better and I could tell he was not feeling well at all he was very clingy and wanted to be right next to me or on top of me. Cutting to the chase I took him to the vet the beginning of this week they did blood work and I had the answer the same night I took him in. The verdict was beginning stage renal failure. (kidney failure) The vet told me on the phone that night that the best course of action was "Subcutaneous Fluid" treatments starting about once a week. These treatments would not be a cure but they would make him comfortable and could extend his life by as much as 3 years she said.

In all honesty my very first thought was to put him down but see I gave myself time to think about it that night. To put it bluntly this week has been a living hell! Every time I look at Oscar I cry, every time I think about putting him down I cry. I know I know he is just an animal. But he has been with me for close to 15 years.

I made the choice yesterday to do one of the fluid treatments I have to tell you I still have not made up my mind about this whole thing. I mean after seeing how these treatments are given and what is done I am not sure it is the best course of action for the animal. It is very uncomfortable for them when the fluid is being pushed in under the skin. With that being said if I see a "remarkable" improvement in his eating and attitude I may continue them for some time.

I did at least the one treatment for two reasons #1 I had never heard of it and wanted to see what and how it was done. #2 of course to see if the treatment helped Oscar. I could not have put him down with out trying this but now if it does not help him then I have a clear frame of mind and know that I have done everything I can to help him rather then saying "The hell with him I am done." He maybe "just an animal" But he is MY animal and has been one of my best friends for 15 years. Would you let your best friends pass with out trying to help them? I think not....

No mater what happens Oscar you will never be forgotten!

I will keep everyone posted as to how thing go

Never forget

Let us never forget those that lost their lives eight years ago. Today

Was Ted Kennedy a great man ?

You know I am going to have to revert back to my negative blog posting for this one. I have had just about enough of hearing about what a great man Ted Kennedy was.

I have basically one view of the man and I am sure you can already guess what that view is.

From Wikipedia

Chappaquiddick incident" is the name given to the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, a former campaign worker for the assassinated U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, and the surrounding circumstances.

In July of 1969, Kopechne's body was discovered inside an overturned Oldsmobile belonging to Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts under water in a tidal channel on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts.

After the body was found, Kennedy gave a statement to police saying that on the previous night he had taken a wrong turn and accidentally driven his car off a bridge into the water. Later, he pled guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury; he received a suspended sentence.

The incident became a national scandal and may have affected the Senator's decision not to run for President of the United States in 1972.

Events of the night of July 18, 1969

According to his own testimony at the inquest into Kopechne's death in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Kennedy left at "approximately 11:15 p.m." When he announced that he was about to leave, he claims Kopechne said "that she was desirous of leaving, if I would be kind enough to drop her back at her hotel". Kennedy then requested the keys to his car from his chauffeur, Crimmins. Asked why he did not have his chauffeur drive them both, Kennedy explained that Crimmins along with some other guests "were concluding their meal, enjoying the fellowship and it didn't appear to me necessary to require him to bring me back to Edgartown".[3] Kopechne told no one that she was leaving with Kennedy, and left her purse and hotel key at the party.[4]

Christopher "Huck" Look was a deputy sheriff working as a special police officer at the Edgartown regatta dance that night. At 12:30 am he left the dance, crossed over to Chappaquiddick in the yacht club's launch, got into his parked car and drove home. He testified that between 12:30 and 12:45 am he had seen a dark car containing a man driving and a woman in the front seat approaching the intersection with Dike Road. The car had gone first onto the private Cemetery Road and stopped there. Thinking that the occupants of the car might be lost, Look had gotten out of his car and walked towards it. When he was 25 to 30 feet away, the car started backing up towards him. When Look called out to offer his help, the car took off down Dike Road in a cloud of dust.[5] Look recalled that the car's license plate began with an "L" and contained the number "7" twice, both details true of Kennedy's 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88.
The Dike Bridge, Martha's Vineyard, pictured here in 2008 with guardrail.

According to his inquest testimony, Kennedy made a wrong turn onto Dike Road, an unlit dirt road that led to Dike Bridge (also spelled Dyke Bridge). Dike Road was unpaved, but Kennedy, driving at "approximately twenty miles an hour", oddly took "no particular notice" of this fact, and said he did not realize that he was no longer headed towards the ferry landing.[6] Dike Bridge was a wooden bridge angled obliquely to the road with no guardrail. A fraction of a second before he reached the bridge, Kennedy applied his brakes; he then drove over the side of the bridge. The car plunged into tide-swept Poucha Pond (at that location a channel) and came to rest upside-down underwater. Kennedy later recalled that he was able to swim free of the vehicle, but Kopechne was not. Kennedy claimed at the inquest that he called Kopechne's name several times from the shore, then tried to swim down to reach her seven or eight times, then rested on the bank for around fifteen minutes before returning on foot to Lawrence Cottage, where the party attended by Kopechne and other "Boiler Room Girls" had occurred. Kennedy denied seeing any house with a light on during his journey back to his friend's home, Lawrence Cottage.[7]
"Dike House" along Dike Road.

In addition to the working telephone at the Lawrence Cottage, according to one commentator, his route back to the cottage would have taken him past four houses from which he could have telephoned and summoned help; however, he did not do so.[8] The first of those houses, referred to as "Dike House", was only 150 yards away from the bridge, and was occupied by Sylvia Malm and her family at the time of the incident. Malm later stated that she had left a light on at the residence when she retired for that evening.[9]

According to Kennedy's testimony, Gargan and party co-host Paul Markham then returned to the pond with Kennedy to try to rescue Kopechne. Both of the other men also tried to dive into the water and rescue Kopechne multiple times.[1] When their efforts to rescue Kopechne failed, Kennedy testified, Gargan and Markham drove with Kennedy to the ferry landing, both insisting multiple times that the accident had to be reported to the authorities.[10] According to Markham's testimony Kennedy was sobbing and on the verge of breaking down.[11] Kennedy went on to testify that "[I] had full intention of reporting it. And I mentioned to Gargan and Markham something like, 'You take care of the other girls; I will take care of the accident!'—that is what I said and I dove into the water".[10] Kennedy had already told Gargan and Markham not to tell the other women anything about the incident "[b]ecause I felt strongly that if these girls were notified that an accident had taken place and Mary Jo had, in fact, drowned, that it would only be a matter of seconds before all of those girls, who were long and dear friends of Mary Jo's, would go to the scene of the accident and enter the water with, I felt, a good chance that some serious mishap might have occurred to any one of them".[12] Gargan and Markam would testify that they assumed that Kennedy was going to inform the authorities once he got back to Edgartown, and thus did not do so themselves.[2]

According to his own testimony, Kennedy swam across the 500-foot channel, back to Edgartown and returned to his hotel room, where he removed his clothes and collapsed on his bed.[12] Hearing noises, he later put on dry clothes and asked someone what the time was: it was something like 2:30 a.m., the senator recalled. He testified that, as the night went on, "I almost tossed and turned and walked around that room ... I had not given up hope all night long that, by some miracle, Mary Jo would have escaped from the car."[13]

Back at his hotel, Kennedy complained at 2:55 am to the hotel owner that he had been awoken by a noisy party.[2] By 7:30 am the next morning he was talking "casually" to the winner of the previous day's sailing race, with no indication that anything was amiss.[2] At 8 a.m., Gargan and Markham joined Kennedy at his hotel where they had a "heated conversation." According to Kennedy's testimony, the two men asked why he hadn't reported the accident. Kennedy responded by telling them "about my own thoughts and feelings as I swam across that channel ... that somehow when they arrived in the morning that they were going to say that Mary Jo was still alive".[13] The three men subsequently crossed back to Chappaquiddick Island on the ferry, where Kennedy made a series of phone calls from a payphone by the crossing to his friends for advice; he again did not report the accident to authorities.[2]

So please lets not talk about how great the Kennedy family is or was.

Where To Start

Wow I really have let things slide when it comes to this blogging. To tell you the truth I have just been super busy not so much with work but other things.

Lets see where should I start.....

I guess the best place to start would be with the love of my life. Many of you know that Amy came to Maryland for a few weeks this summer. Well I asked Amy to marry me and much to my amazement she said yes!! (Why anyone would want to spend the rest of their life with me I'll never know) I took Amy to a German restaurant in Hagerstown called The Schmankerl Stube

I was praying the day we were to go to dinner that it would not rain because I wanted to sit out on their patio. And have a nice late evening dinner and a nice setting to pop the question. For those that want to know I didn't get down on my knee. I waited until we were all done eating & sitting there having a chat about how great the food was and what a nice night it was. (If you have the chance you need to go to this restaurant but bring your wallet I have no complaint about the cost but I will say this you get what you pay for if you get my drift.) I then took her hand and the ring out of my pocket and after some stumbling over a few words I asked her to marry me.

I can't really explain the feelings that I had at that moment but for all the changes that will be coming down the road I have never been more relaxed about something then I am with the idea of getting married. I know there are still lots of details to work out the biggest one being we still are living 600 miles apart. But I know as committed as I am it will all work out.

I never thought I could love and commit to a woman. Boy was I wrong and the old adage is true love hits you when you least expect it. I never believed that but I do now. Amy is beautiful in every way to me now that I have had a taste of life with her I can not bare the thought of a life with out her. My thoughts and my priorities have shifted from myself to "us" and Brandon is included in that I am so thankful and happy to report that Brandon is looking forward to having a step dad & I am also looking forward to filling the role as a step dad to Brandon and a husband,lover,friend, & support system to Amy.

There is no date set yet but rest assured I will be keeping you posted.

Quote Of The Day

I saw this today and I thought it was worth posting.

"You don't marry the person you can live with. You marry the person you can't live with out."

What Would You Attempt If You Could Not Fail?

I saw this question on a friend of mines Face Book Status

What Would You Attempt If You Could Not Fail?

I thought about this last night after I saw that question. Basically fear of failure keeps me from doing lots of things. I have come up with an answer

1. I would open my own Automotive Repair Shop
(My fear of being able to manage the fiances, ie. mainly meet payroll for my employees that would be counting on me.) Keeps me from doing that.

What would you attempt if you could not fail?

LIFE CHANGING EVENTS

Maybe you would know this by looking at me and if you know me you would have a better idea about how I truly react to things.

I have made some "life changing" decisions in the last few months. And that is where the issue comes in with these changes. Some of them require changes that are still yet unknown and will be unknown for some time to come.

I can't stand the unknown it scares me to death I have never in my life wanted something so bad yet been so scared. And don't worry it's not any bad changes they are all good. (Unless something goes wrong...... *See that's what I do to myself!) I am dotting the I's and crossing the T's and hopping that no mistakes are made.

I am moving forward with the changes with happiness & great anticipation.... But at the same time am some what stressed out and worried so if I don't seem like myself you may know why.

Someone has a birthday today!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Can you believe how fast time passes by? Here I am not to far from 40 and you..... well ok never mind. (bet I get hit for that one)

All kidding aside Happy Birthday mom! I hope that life is all that you want and more you deserve it!

Love
your son
Danny

Todays Dear Abby In My Newpapper

I know this is not really a positive post but I was so mad when I saw this I had to post it and vent. What is wrong with people?

WOMAN HIDES HER BODY AND FEELINGS FROM HER HUSBAND

DEAR ABBY: I am 43, the mother of four children and just celebrated my 20th anniversary. Is it normal for someone to be married all this time and still not want your husband to see you naked?

I do not reveal myself to him. The lights must always be off, and I keep a shirt on. It's not because I am ashamed of my body; it's that I'm not attracted to him. I never was.

I married my husband for security and have learned to love him. But I love him like a brother, in a sisterly kind of way. I feel I owe him.

Should I tell my husband how I feel and risk losing my security after all this time? I had to talk to someone, so I confided in my best friend. She advised me to say nothing.

My husband had an affair a few years ago, and frankly, I was secretly relieved. Sometimes I wish he was still with her. Now that it's over, I'm back in hiding. Abby, please advise. -- HIDING IN PENNSYLVANIA

DEAR HIDING: What a sad situation. By marrying your husband feeling as you did, you have cheated both of you. Not only have you "not revealed" yourself physically, you have not revealed yourself emotionally or in any other way. You wish he was still with his lover because it took the pressure off you.

Your husband had an affair because instinctively he knew something important was missing in your marriage, and if you were happy you would not have written to me. What you have described is not a marriage; it is an "arrangement."

My advice is to talk to your husband about making another kind of arrangement -- one in which he supports the children and possibly makes some kind of settlement with you, while you both pursue your separate lives. Frankly, it won't be much different than what you are already experiencing.

Dear Hiding in PA. I have my own choice words to say to you but I will refrain from doing so! If by chance you should read this and I hope do. I would like to wish you a lifetime of unhappiness.

Scott Guenthner For Maryland State Delegate District 4A

Scott Guenthner is not in my district but I got a chance to meet him today. Please take A second to look at his web site and if you live in District 4A support him please.

A little something from his site:

Take Back Your Freedom.

Freedom is a responsibility, an individual responsibility.
Our freedom is precious, rare and fragile.
The cost of our freedom is personal responsibility and self reliance.
The product of our freedom and responsibility
is the realization of every individuals miracle.
Realizing individual greatness is Americas miracle.

Our liberty, economic freedom and individual rights
have steadily eroded to a river of overreaching government regulation
and a tsunami of government spending.
I am a citizen seeking the legislature
to represent our founding principles of
conservatism, capitalism and competition.

I believe we have reached a point
were our government has abused its power
so egregiously and with such frequency that now
citizens must act to alter or abolish it.



1. The greatest threat to our safety and sovereignty is
abusive government spending
and reckless accrual of debt.

2. Private sector business and investors have been
damaged repeatedly by unchecked
and unchallengable government regulation.

3. Personal property rights have been abused
through litigious larceny with cooperation
from legislators at local,state and federal levels.

4. Self defence and the right to bear arms has been abused
by a bigoted application of political correctness
and laws rendering firearms ineffective in self defence.

5. Our government has failed to enforce immigration laws
undermining the rule of law, elevating public service
expense to communities and exposing citizens to health risks.

I Didn't Think It Could Rain So Much.

Some of you know that I went to Georgia over the long weekend to go camping with Amy and Brandon. I kept looking at weather reports leading up to the weekend and it sure was looking like it was going to be a very wet one. And that sure proved to be true. :) I got to the Atlanta Airport Friday afternoon, Amy picked me up with the car already loaded and we headed from there to Indian Springs Campground (A Georgia State Park) We drove through a downpour on the way to the park. But once we got to the park even though everything was wet it had stopped raining and that gave us enough time to set up the tent and eat some sandwiches. Friday night we went to sleep with the sound of the rain hitting the tent.


Even though I have been carrying on about all the rain while I was there it was a great weekend and for the most part the day time hours cleared up enough that we were able to walk some trails, play a round of putt putt, take a boat out on the lake, and fix our meals in our out door kitchen.

I will post some pictures here that I took from Amy (hope she won't mind) But I was bad bad bad at taking pictures this time.

All in all what a great weekend it was and I needed to relax after last weeks trying times at work.







Amy and Brandon were great company!! And believe it or not I can't wait to do it again!

Computer Crashes

Well I have been trying to get myself together enough to write some kind of blog post for about a week or better now. Here at work on Wednesday of last week first thing in the morning we had a computer hard drive failure & crash. The crash was on our "server" So it was back to hand writing tickets for Wednesday. And of course as slow as we have been last week was not really one of our slow weeks we did have some business here. So it was totally insane we sent the server to a local repair shop. What needed to be done was replacement of the hard drive but I just had to much to do with all my other duties to be able to replace the hard drive and all the while trying to service customers and hand write tickets.

The computer shop we took the server to called late Wednesday afternoon (Computer Enhancement Systems) They said they had the new hard drive installed but could not transfer ANY data from the old hard drive. Let me jump to why we picked Computer Enhancement Systems on their web site they proclaim they experts in data recovery & disaster recovery solutions. Also I have been dealing with them since the mid 90's for some of my personal computer needs. We also have worked on some of their fleet vehicles in our shop.

Needless to say I feel very let down and to be very frank about the issue feel that we were over charged for the services that they did. Basically they charged us over $400.00 to install a new hard drive and do a fresh Windows OS install they did also install a new CD/DVD drive at the time of service. In order to attempt a data recovery they told me that they would have to "Send the hard drive out" and there would be a Min. charge of $200.00 - $300.00 and that would be the charge even to find out no data could be recovered!!!!!!!!!!!!! Back to what their web site says.....

We're experts in:
bullet Data Recovery Forensic Analysis bullet
bullet Information Technology & Onsite Services bullet
bullet Disk Wiping and Data Destruction bullet
bullet Software Solution Developer bullet
bullet Database Implementation bullet
bullet Disaster Recovery Solutions bullet
bullet Web Design and Training

To add insult to things after all the money they charged I still had to spend hours on the phone with Snap-on tech support to get our "point of sale system" and "customer database" re installed! and of course our newest back up (shame on us) was about two weeks old so we lost about two weeks worth of data.


My question is if you are experts in data recovery why would you need to "send the drive out" everything should be done "in house" if you are experts! That would be like my repair shop saying........ We are transmission experts but to rebuild your transmission we would have to send your car to another shop. We do not proclaim to be something we are not on our web site! Needless to say Autoworx or myself will never be using Computer Enhancement Systems again.

My First Trip To An Urgent Care Center Ever

Well I had to make my first trip to an urgent care center this morning. I am only 38 years old but I think I maybe falling apart. LOL

It all started yesterday morning at work one of the guys came up to my desk and said "Whats wrong with your eye?" And of course feeling no pain and no blurry vision I said "Nothing." After some conversation I came to find out that my left eye had blood in the white part of the eyeball. I am sorry for the lack of medical terms. I didn't think to much of it it was not so bad I looked at it in the mirror and I thoought ah it will get better. So cut to this morning I awoke and of course worrying about my eye the first thing I did is goto the mirror and look well it had gotten much worse then it was yesterday........ That brings me the the Urgent Care Visit and the diagnoses.

The Doctor there seems to think I have what is called a "subconjunctival hemorrhage" This is a result of a broken blood vessel in the white portion of the eye. It says blood will be reabsorbed with in two to three weeks. I am to keep an eye on it LOL The good one I guess. And see a regular eye doctor if my vision changes I feel pain or it get worse.

What is it with getting older I never had this stuff happen in my 20's LOL

Some pictures
sorry not so good I took them in the mirror (You can click on the pics to make them a bit larger

I Found This More Funny Then Anything

Thousands of Americans are receiving federal stimulus checks in the mail, this week. Only problem: many of them are deceased.

Recently, a Long Island, New York woman was shocked when she checked the mail and received a letter from the U.S. Treasury -- but it wasn't for her.

Antoniette Santopadre of Valley Stream was expecting a $250 stimulus check. But when her son finally opened it, they saw that the check was made out to her father, Romolo Romonini, who died in Italy 34 years ago.

Romonini was a U.S. citizen when he left for Italy in 1933, but only returned to the U.S. for a seven-month visit in 1969.

The Santopadres are not alone. The Social Security Administration, which sent out 52 million checks, said some of those checks mistakenly went to dead people because the agency had no record of their death. That amounts to between 8,000 and 10,000 checks for millions of dollars.

The feds blame a rushed schedule, because all the checks have to be cut by June. But strangely, some of the checks were made out to people -- like Romonini -- who were never even part of the Social Security system.

ASE Testing

I thought I was done with testing when I got out of school but as it turns out that's not the case. Wish me luck I have to take an ASE re certification test this evening after work. In this area the tests are even held in a High School in the evening. You also have to have your #2 pencils sharp and ready to go to fill out the bubble answer sheets. There are many many different tests you can take for certification in certain areas of automotive repair. ie. Like "Under car specialist" so on and so forth. I have two different certifications. "Automotive Service Consultant" & "Automotive Parts Specialist"

These tests are not free to take each regular test cost $27.00 each advanced level test cost $54.00 & you also have to pay a registration fee of $36.00 every time you take a test. And those fees are paid pass or fail. Some employers pay for thier techs to take the tests some don't. To be honest these tests don't hold much merit in my mind. I have been a shop manager and or service adviser for 15+ years now and I have to tell you I have seen techs that have many certifications that can't hold a candle to some that don't have any! But with that said it is always a good idea to stick with a repair shop that has ASE certified techs.

Ten Years Later A Life That Started In The Womb

Another positive post that still carries a message.
The Hand Of Hope

Nearly 10 years after a stunning photograph of his tiny hand traveled the world, Samuel Armas has a firm grip on what "The Hand of Hope" means to him.

"When I see that picture, the first thing I think of is how special and lucky I am to have God use me that way," Samuel told FOXNews.com. "I feel very thankful that I was in that picture."

On Aug. 19, 1999, photographer Michael Clancy shot the "Fetal Hand Grasp" — his picture of a 21-week-old fetus grasping a doctor's finger during innovative surgery to correct spina bifida. Nearly four months later, on Dec. 2, Samuel Armas was "born famous."

The photo, which first appeared in USA Today on Sept. 7, 1999, quickly spread across the globe as proof of development in the womb and was later cited during congressional debates on the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which passed in 2000.

"It's just a miracle picture, a miracle moment," Clancy told FOXNews.com. "It shows the earliest human interaction ever recorded."

Samuel, now 9 and living in Villa Rica, Ga., said the photo likely gave countless "babies their right to live" and forced many others to debate their beliefs on abortion, something he's proud of.

"It's very important to me," Samuel said of the photograph. "A lot of babies would've lost their lives if that didn't happen."

Julie Armas, Samuel's mother, said her eldest son has a "very strong sense of right and wrong" and understands the impact of his unconventional first baby photo.

"He identifies it more in terms of a pro-life message more than anything," she told FOXNews.com. "This photo happened and God used it to show people that this baby in mom's tummy is alive. He's pleased that his photo conveyed that message."

Armas said Samuel will wear lower leg braces for the rest of his life as a result of spina bifida, which occurs when the spine fails to close properly during early pregnancy. He'll also use a wheelchair during long trips, as he did at Great Adventure earlier this week. But the mother of three said Samuel "walks great" and has been lucky enough to avoid some surgeries associated with his condition.

"He's doing extremely well," she told FOXNews.com. "We pray that he continues to be as healthy and able as he has been."

Samuel's condition hasn't slowed his activities as a decorated Cub Scout or in the swimming pool, where he took first place last weekend in a 25-yard backstroke event.

"I love to swim," Samuel said of his typical Saturday activity. "You use your arms a lot and it gives your arms great muscles."

The third-grader also loves science and animals, especially orcas, bald eagles and tigers. And he still collects bugs, something his father, Alex, revealed during a Senate hearing in 2003 to highlight advances in fetal surgery.

"Anything we see, he wants to catch and put it in a jar to watch it," Julie Armas said. "He's a great kid, he really is. He's very gentle; he's very laid-back."

Clancy, who hasn't photographed a surgery since Samuel's, recalled meeting him for just the third time in 2007 during an event for Come Alive Ministries in Atlanta.

"His eyes just lit up because he was born famous because of that picture," Clancy told FOXNews.com. "It was amazing."

Clancy, who was a freelancer for USA Today when he photographed Samuel's fully-formed hand, now works as a motivational speaker at pro-life events. Prior to the picture, Clancy said, he was pro-choice.

"And that's what I'm going to do, keep telling this story," he said. "It can change people's hearts. What started off as an assignment turned into a responsibility to keep telling the story behind it."

A crucial part of the story, Clancy argues, is whether Samuel reached through the 8-inch opening in his mother's uterus and grabbed Dr. Joseph Bruner's hand, or if the doctor manipulated the hand during surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee.

"I could see the uterus shake violently and then this little fist came out of the surgical opening," Clancy recalls. "It came out under its own power. When Dr. Bruner lifted the little hand, I fired my camera and the tighter Samuel squeezed, the harder Dr. Bruner shook his hand."

Bruner, who could not be reached for comment, has told reporters that Samuel and his mother were under anesthesia and could not move. In a Jan. 9, 2000, article in The Tennessean, he said he pulled Samuel's hand out of the uterus, further complicating the debate surrounding the photograph.

But none of that matters to Julie Armas. Samuel continues to thrive, and he is leading the way for his 3-year-old brother, Zachary, who also has spina bifida.

"I don't care, honestly," Julie Armas said. "What I felt the picture showed is that this is a child engaging in some form of interaction. I'm a labor and delivery nurse, so I understand that Samuel was anesthetized to some degree.

"So if he reached out, I don't know. If Dr. Bruner reached out, I don't know. The fact of the matter is it's a child with a hand, with a life, and that's meaningful enough."

Another picture this is the same boy as above ten years later.

Ok so something positive....

Ok so I have been scratching my head and straining my brain to come up with something positive to write about. No wise cracks either. :)

I went to the doctor yesterday for an unrelated issue but while I was there he checked my blood pressure and went over some lab work I had done back in march...... All good news. My weight is staying consistent, all the things they check in a blood work up are in line with where they should be. And while its true I am still taking a pill for blood pressure its only a 10mg dose & in checking my blood pressure yesterday it is staying

(yesterdays reading was 125/71)

much lower then it had been last year at this time. so I must be doing something right. The only not positive thing I can think of at this time is I am going to the dentist next Monday this will be my first dentist visit in YEARS. I am going because I do seem to have an issue in my mouth.. So we will see - I HATE going to the dentist that's why it has been put off for so long. But I am trying to stay positive. :)

Cleaned Things Up A Bit

Well after thinking about this last night and talking to my cousin Sandy & Amy. I have had second thoughts about pulling the blog completely. I have spent some time today and cleaned up most of the political posts there maybe a few still here.

I guess this blog will be kind of like "Don't Ask Don't Tell" If you don't ask me political questions I won't give you my thoughts...

I will try to maintain more positive blogs posts from this point forward..

Have a happy hump day!

Could These Blog Postings Be Used Against Me?

I have been some what conflicted about things here on this blog of late. I had posted before that this blog is my way to vent. Really in all honesty this blog has turned into something that I did not really want. It has turned into nothing but a bitch session that no one wants to hear. Although I do post every once in awhile about something fun. I have a feeling that I have scared allot of people away because of my rants. (mostly political)

I also need to deal with the thought of.... What if I need to look for a job could a prospective boss Google me and come across my conservative rants what if that person voted for Obama do you really think I would have a snowballs chance in hell of getting the job? I don't.... Employers by law can not use this kind of stuff against you but bottom line is they do.

So in closing today I will leave this message up for a few days so anyone that is still reading might catch it.. But I will be pulling the blog. By the end of the week.

This rings true with me in some ways.

I saw this from a friends status post on Face Book.

I liked the saying and it kind of rings true given my relationship with a certain someone :)

"A woman's heart should be so lost in God that a man needs to seek Him in order to find her." -- Unknown

Happy Birthday Dad!!

The picture is an older picture but I have always kind of liked it. It is dad when he was over seas. Look at the size of that fish!

Dad just wanted to say Happy Birthday. Boy it seems like just yesterday we were heading to the river to spend our summer weekends most of the time it was just you and I. Hope you have a good birthday and MANY more!


I love you
Danny

April Is Alcohol Awareness Month

Just a little reminder to myself and to everyone reading April Is Alcohol Awareness Month. I found this out when I had posted about a DWI that I got here. There is also a good web site here about Alcohol Awareness

As you can read in my other post it has been three years ago this month that I got a DWI. Some things that I reflect on from that time period in my life. You are entitled to disagree these are just some opinions I have on alcohol and drinking. In the end if you have an issue with drinking you have to do what is right for you to get a handle on it.

Drinking in MODERATION is not a bad thing. Having a glass or two of wine with dinner is not bad. Having a drink socially is not bad thing. The major key to drinking or anything you do in your life is MODERATION. Doing anything to excess is a bad thing

I DO NOT believe in Alcohol Addiction. If you have an issue with drinking I believe there is something else that is causing you to turn to drinking excess. It is not the alcohol you crave. (at least it wasn't for me) Something else is going on there try to find out what it is.

I know what touched of my excessive drinking and it was not the alcohol craving - I am not willing to post the issue here. But lets just say I have fixed the issue.

I hope this post has helped and remember April is Alcohol Awareness month.

For those that want it the Alcoholics Anonymous web site.

Moderation is the key!

My Thoughts On Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

I have a question how many of you use those CFL Bulbs. I am all for reduced energy usage and reducing cost in the home. But really what are we saving and at what cost are we doing it?

First of all I have switched to using many of these bulbs for light so have my mother and father. It has been our over all experience that these bulbs in fact DO NOT last much longer then a conventional incandescent bulb, this is even more so a fact if its in a fixture that stays on more often then it is off. Heat and the amount of time that these bulbs stay on seem to shorten the lifespan greatly. Almost to the point where they DON'T last as long as the incandescent bulbs. That in turn leads to two more issues with these stupid little bulbs that may or may not be energy efficient & environmentally friendly. They maybe in fact save energy but I have NO doubt that they are not safe for the environment. I don't know about anywhere else in the country but here in Maryland there is no place to get rid of these mercury filled bulbs other then a landfill.

CFLs, like all fluorescent lamps, contain small amounts of mercury[37][38] as vapor inside the glass tubing, averaging 4.0 mg per bulb [39] ,and it is a concern for landfills and waste incinerators where the mercury from lamps is released and contributes to air and water pollution. In the U.S., lighting manufacturer members of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) have voluntarily capped the amount of mercury used in CFLs. [40] Many manufacturers now manufacture CFLs with only 1.0 mg or less than 1.5 mg of mercury per bulb.[41]

Read below for a little more information on these bulbs.... And one more question for those of you that used these bulbs how many of you follow the proper recycle or disposal guidelines for these bulbs? I did find it interesting that the Home Depot stores may have a program in place for recycling these bulbs. I will have to check it out. Until then I just threw one out last night and double bagged it in a sealed plastic bag and put it in the trash and after reading this morning it looks like that was the wrong thing to do!!! So who knows what to do with the damn bulbs.

Spent lamps should be recycled to contain the small amount of mercury in each lamp, in preference to disposal in landfills. Only 3 percent of CFL bulbs are properly disposed of or recycled. In the European Union, CFLs are one of many products subject to the WEEE recycling scheme. The retail price includes an amount to pay for recycling, and manufacturers and importers have an obligation to collect and recycle CFLs. Safe disposal requires storing the bulbs unbroken until they can be processed. In the US, The Home Depot is the first retailer to make CFL recycling options widely available.[46]

Special handling instructions for breakage are currently not printed on the packaging of household CFL bulbs in many countries. The amount of mercury released by one bulb can exceed U.S. federal guidelines for chronic exposure.[47][48] Chronic however, implies that the exposure takes place over a long period of time and the Maine DEP study noted that it remains unclear what the health risks are from shorter-term exposure to low levels of elemental mercury. The Maine DEP study also confirmed that, despite following EPA best-practice cleanup guidelines on broken CFLs, researchers were unable to remove mercury from carpet, and any agitation of the carpet—such as by young children playing—created spikes as high as 25,000 ng/m3 in air close to the carpet, even weeks after the initial breakage. Conventional tubular fluorescent lamps have been in commercial and domestic use since the 1930s with little public concern about their handling; these and other domestic products often contain more mercury than modern CFLs[49].

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that, in the absence of local guidelines, fluorescent bulbs be double-bagged in plastic before disposal.[50] The Maine DEP study of 2008 compared clean-up methods, and warned that the EPA recommendation of plastic bags was the worst choice, as vapours well above safe levels continued to leach from the bags. The Maine DEP now recommends a sealed glass jar as the best repository for a broken bulb.

The first step of processing CFLs involves crushing the bulbs in a machine that uses negative pressure ventilation and a mercury-absorbing filter or cold trap to contain mercury vapor. Many municipalities are purchasing such machines. The crushed glass and metal is stored in drums, ready for shipping to recycling factories.

According to the Northwest Compact Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Project, because household users have the option of disposing of these products in the same way they dispose of other solid waste, "a large majority of household CFLs are going to municipal solid waste". They additionally note that an EPA report on mercury emissions from fluorescent tube lamp disposal indicates the percentage of total mercury released from the following disposal options: municipal waste landfill 3.2%, recycling 3%, municipal waste incineration 17.55% and hazardous waste disposal 0.2%.[51]

Can't Believe A Honda Let Me Sit

Well there is nothing like having your car break down on the side of 70 west at the top of South Mt. just passed the point where the 3rd lane ends. Going home during rush hour traffic. A word of advice if this happens to you don't look in your rear view mirror and the BIG TRUCKS cresting the top of the hill in that 3rd lane if you are sitting on the shoulder just passed the point where that lane ends. I found myself saying "Is he going to get over or come right down this shoulder area here? YIKES!"

The good news is it was a simple repair well that is if you have tools and parts in your trunk (and I didn't) But a friend of mine was nice enough to bring me a new upper radiator hose(that's what came apart) also some coolant and something to get the hose clamps off. Thanks Jeff for your help! I was back on the road in about 45 min. And home in no time. Thank goodness for cell phones!

A Bad Day With Windows...

I saw this today and thought it was funny hope you do to you might have to click on the image so you can see it..

WHAT MAKES SOME DAYS BIGGER THEN OTHERS?

Just want to send out a big thank you to all the visitors to my blog that stopped by yesterday! It amazes me how some days I will get no views and other days I will get 12 or more interesting.

Fayetteville, GA, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:43:42 -0500
Colorado Springs, CO, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:48:38 -0500
, , United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:14:41 -0500
Vancouver, BC, Canada Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:06:25 -0500
Portland, OR, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:43:25 -0500
Atlanta, GA, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:31:09 -0500
Fort Bragg, NC, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:30:06 -0500
Hagerstown, MD, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:06:42 -0500
Denver, CO, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:42:58 -0500
Peyton, CO, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:04:49 -0500
Newnan, GA, United States Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:43:44 -0500

Fayetteville - I am pretty sure I know who you are.... Thank you for stopping by I hope you are doing well!

Vancouver - I think I know you as well.... Thank you for stopping by... I hope you have enjoyed your reading :)

Portland - Don't think I know who you are but thanks for reading!

Atlanta - I might know you thanks for stopping by Hope you enjoyed your reading

Colorado Springs - Hiya - LOL I know you just stop by to see how much Obama bashing I am doing LOL

Fort Bragg - Is that you from Face Book? - Thank you for stopping by. Even if your not who I think you are :)

Hagerstown - Hmm That might be myself...

Denver - Hmm Not sure But thanks for reading...

Peyton CO - Glad to see your still reading thanks for stopping by

Newnan - :) I know who you are :)

Conficker Worm a bust? - But still out there?

This came from one of the other blogs I read here Its an interesting take on the panic that sets in when people hear the word "Computer Virus" Of course we all know that ALL media outlets blow every thing out of proportion! i some times think if the media would just shut up about the economy things would get better.

I want you to imagine that there is a parasite that can invade your body and reside in there indefinitely. Once in your body, it could give you a heart attack, it could poison your blood stream, or it could make your liver fail. Once the parasite was discovered to be in the wild, doctors discovered that you could avoid getting the parasite by simply washing your hands before you ate. They also figured out that the parasite was going to change shape on a certain day. As that day approaches, people who haven’t been washing their hands go into a panic. They don’t know if they have the parasite or not. They start running to quack doctors who say they’ll make sure to protect these people against the worm if the potentially infected individuals just buy a prescription subscription for a special drug. After the parasite changes shape, though, no one’s had a heart attack or failed liver yet. So all the parasite-infected people celebrate that the parasite hasn’t done anything.

What?! Did I miss something?

Yes, the scenario I’ve just described in biological terms is exactly what just happened with the Conficker worm that’s infected an estimated 10 million Windows computers.

Microsoft discovered a flaw in its operating system and patched the flaw back in October 2008. The latest iteration of the Conficker worm, which takes advantage of this flaw, began surfacing around November 2008 and kept infecting Windows computers for months. The experts all knew that on April 1, 2009 the infected computers would have the worm checking for updated instructions from its creators.

Then the panic came in. Oh, no! It’s coming! It’ll be the end of the internet as we know it. I’m turning off my computer that day. If I buy this antivirus software will it protect me? Hide the children! Oh. Nothing happened? It has the power to attack and bring down major websites and government systems or steal personal information but nothing appeared to happen today? Oh. Okay. It was a big joke then. Ha ha. Who cares if I’m infected? I’m just going to go on my merry way.

Uh, no. First of all, Windows users should regularly install Windows updates. This was patched even before it was a real threat. And it doesn’t matter if the world didn’t seem to end today. The Conficker worm has the power to do serious damage, and no one knows when it’ll decide to do that damage or what kind of damage it will decide to do. It doesn’t mean you fly into a panic as if it were Orson Welles’ reading of War of the Worlds. But it doesn’t mean you go on your merry, care-free way either.

Educate yourself. Protect yourself. Be sensible. Conficker is dangerous but instead of flying into blind paranoia, just take practical and level-headed steps to protect your computer and your personal information. Silent can still be deadly, and I’m not just talking about flatulence.

And this comment was left on the same blog and brings up a good point.

Of course the worse part in the general media is that they call this a “computer virus or worm” it isn’t, it is a “Windows virus or worm”.

No sign of it here on Ubuntu.

I am just glad that with using Ubuntu I don't have to worry about a virus or anti virus software so much.

Spring Is Here!

Well although it feels more like its still winter here in Maryland today and they are calling for temps in the 20s tonight. Guess what today is...... It is the first day of spring! YAY warmer weather!

Sweet Thing :)

Every time I hear this song I think of you Amy I am blushing as I type this. But it is so true the guys at work even make fun of me because every time this song comes on the radio at work I get this big stupid smile on my face and start singing away (as bad as my singing is)

And Amy you ARE my Sweet Thing :)

Quick Trip To Georgia This Weekend

Some say I am crazy but I have to do this at least once to see how bad of a trip it really is. Today when I get off work I am driving to Georgia according to my GPS calculations it is about a 10 hour drive. So most of my driving will be night time driving. (I hate driving at night) Then I am returning on Sunday so it will be about 20 hours of driving for a 24 hour stay. (roughly)

The Picture above is Brandon (Amy's son) at his Karate Class look at the tough guy. He is the main reason I am going down oh wait & of course spending time with Amy.... But Brandon has a Karate Tournament on Saturday I can't wait to see how he does! I am looking forward to it and the long drive will be worth it.

March Is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month

I feel bad some how after living 38 years with CP this is the first time that I knew March was CP Awareness month. I don't have much to say about it other then that... I don't like talking about Cerebral Palsy all that much what it is is what it is. An interesting web site if you would like to take a look. Reaching For The stars

Day 6 & 7 & The Return Home

Day 6:

On Thursday day 6 of our vacation we stayed at the house in the morning while Sandy readied lunch for a get together with us and her friend Tisha. I wanted to meet Tisha and her BIG family of five children and counting it would seem. Tisha has a blog and I had started reading it. I keep up with it and as Tisha says "I disagree with everything she says." But Tisha I assure you that could not be farther from the truth. It was truly a joy to meet you and see your beautiful children. If the world had more people like you that were as committed to our children as you are & "family units" The world would be a much much better place. I look up to you and what you are trying to do. Keep up the good work and good luck with the international adoption!

(Side note: For those that don't know Tisha has five of her own children and is trying to do an international adoption. If I remember correctly from our conversation at our lunch that day they are looking to add at least two more children to their family by way of international adoption. You can read all about her on her blog here.)

Also kudos to Sandy for our lunch on Thursday (well and the dinners many nights while we were there) We had some great Indian food for lunch that day. And really Sandy's Indian cooking was great the entire week. While all the cooking was vegetarian that week I have to tell you I did not really miss the meat like I thought I would.

After our lunch that day we went to the Olympic training facility in Colorado Springs. It was a small free tour and lots of neat things to see there.
Day 7:

On Friday day 7 we (Amy and I) Set out to Manitou Springs & Pikes Peak. We got to the Cog Railway train depot at the foot of Pikes Peak where mind you I think the temp that day in Manitou Springs (at the foot of Pikes Peak) Was in the 50's.

We boarded our Cog Railway train and started our climb to the peak. I tell you it did not take to long for the temps to start changing as we climbed higher and higher towards the peak. Once we got above the "Tree Line" the winds were blowing about 40 mph & I think with the wind chill the temps felt like about 0. For this reason when we got to the top we did NOT walk around to much outside it was bitter cold (I know now why Sandy did not want to go with us on that day) she has done it before this time of year) We did stay out long enough to get a few pictures.

It was nice to go to the peak but having been there in the summer & now in the winter I think I would rather go to the peak in the summer.

We rode the Cog Train back down to the depot and when we were done there we spent an hour or so walking around Manitou Springs. What a cute little town that is with lots of nice little shops what a beautiful place.



On Saturday it was time for Amy and I to head home. We flew to Atlanta from Denver, in Atlanta we went our separate ways. For those reading that don't know Amy and I live about 600 miles apart.


In closing out my week long vacation I would like to say. Thank you to Sandy & Bartee for the GREAT TIME you showed Amy and I we had lots of fun. We will have to do it again soon.

To Amy thank you for being you thank you for being the one that I want to take vacations with. I have said it before. Before you there was never a need to take a vacation now I have that need. And for the life of me I will never understand how some would see spending time with you or Brandon a chore!

I love you and look forward to many more vacations with you!

Day 5:

Wednesday day 5 of our Colorado vacation was kind of a lazy day for us we did not do to much. There are no pictures from day five at least none that need to be posted. (Amy) We did do some shopping with Sandy. Also Amy had broken one of her nails so she needed to get her nail fixed. So we went to a nail place and..... (I know I will never here the end of this) Amy not only got her nail fixed all three of us Sandy, Amy & myself..... Yes I said myself you got a problem with that? Got a pedicure. I figured I might as well say it here because it will come out sooner or later. It makes no sense that I try and hide the fact that I got a pedicure. There is an even funnier part to this story. When we walked into the nail place the lady there asked what we needed and we told her we wanted to get pedicures & Amy had a nail that needed to be fixed. She told us all to pick out a nail polish color. Then she stopped and said well all but YOU (meaning me) pick out a nail color. LOL

In the evening on Wednesday Amy and I went out to dinner on our own to a very nice place in Colorado Springs called Biaggi's It was great food and I can't wait for them to start showing out on the east cost. They are a chain after all.

Thats about all I have for day 5 will be posting more.

Dan

Day 4:

Tuesday day 4 of our trip we as I said were back in Colorado Springs. We went to a very windy Garden Of The Gods. This is a park where there are rock formations of all different sizes and shapes. We started out in the visitors center and watched a short movie about the park. It was kind of cool to watch the movie I had been to the Garden before but the last time I was there I did not see the movie. One thing I learned this time about Garden Of The Gods that I had not known. The family that gave the garden to the city of Colorado Springs gave it to them under the condition that admission to the park always be free.

Day Three:

On day three (Monday) of our Vacation Sandy and Bartee were nice enough to take us sightseeing around the Breckenridge area. Man what a beautiful place it is there even if you don't ski it is beautiful to look around. The picture at the very top of this post is of the highest chair lift in North America it drops you off at about 12,000 + feet. Bartee says that he can ski from that hight I did not get to see it on this day but I would love to watch him do that one day so Bartee if you are reading you are on.

After our time looking around the Breckenridge area we headed back to Sandy and Bartee's house in Colorado Springs.

My Colorado Trip

My memory recall is bad but I will do my best to put a little story together about our trip to Colorado.

Well I am back from my week long vacation to Colorado. Amy Jo and I went to Colorado for a week to visit with my cousin Sandy and her family. We had a fantastic time but oh how I wish it was not over.

Day One:
Amy and I started out last Saturday (Valentine's Day) Flying out to Denver Colorado. Sandy and Bartee have a Condo in Summit County so we took a shuttle from the Denver Airport when we got there to a transportation center in Summit County where we met up with Sandy and she took us on to the condo. I have to tell you when we got to the transportation center that night I thought to my self "What have we gotten our self's into?" You see the wind was blowing at what felt like 100mph and the snow was blowing around it felt like we had dropped into the middle of Alaska. We hung around the condo Saturday night and just had some nice conversation.

Day Two:
I had made reservations to go on a guided two hour snowmobile ride with High Country Tours. I think Amy would agree that this day (the riding) was the most fun of our trip the guide we had was great the machines were super and the two hour time frame was just enough. We both had our own machines so there was no fighting over who was going to drive although by one or two of the pictures from that day you can clearly see who the better driver was. LOL They had longer tours but I don't think we could have handled much more. I for sure would recommend "High Country Tours" to anyone who was going to be in Summit County and wants to do some snowmobile riding.

Some pictures from that day.

As you can see the snowmobile is on its side want to take a guess who was driving that one? One hint it wasn't me. LOL. Amy blames it on the "soft snow" In her defense I almost lost it in this same spot :)

Our guide thought this was funny he is the one that took the picture with Amy's camera. After we were done with our snowmobile rides we had some lunch in Dillon. Then from there we took the Summit County Express (a free shuttle service) And met up with Sandy Bartee and the kids they were in Keystone on skis. Both Amy and I thought it was NOT a good idea to try and ski. We walked around Keystone a little bit with Sandy and Bartee and had a few cocktails and some good conversation. We left Keystone and headed back to the condo where we put on our swimsuits yes I said swimsuits. And jumped into the outdoor hot tub. Much to my surprise it really was not cold at all once you were down in the hot tub even though the outside air temperature was only in the 30's. We then headed back to the condo for the night where we had some wonderful soup that Sandy had made and played a few games of Greedy one of those games of greedy I think was the longest one I have ever played. LOL

This is where I am going to close this for now for the day. I will post more about our trip in the days to come. keep checking back.
I will also post a few more pictures below


Dan














The picture below was our guide on the snowmobile tour


Below is a picture from our 3rd day but I thought it was a good shot of Sandy, Bartee and the kids :)

POST CORRECTION FOR 2/11/19

Is there really a credit crises? I have to tell you I don't think so... I have come to the conclusion that it is all made up! By the media and the government!

If there is a credit crises and NO ONE CAN GET A LOAN( YES I KNOW HOW TO SPELL LOAN AND NOT LONE!!!!.) Sorry for the mistakes Why then do I know of 4 people that with in the last month have bought new cars??? Three of them were customers here at work and one was a friend. All of them had no issues borrowing the money to buy these cars.... Maybe its a credit crises for the people and the companies that should not be borrowing money in the first place.

Just a thought

CVT Transmission

Amy bought a new car this weekend a Nissan Versa. The picture to the left is not hers but it is that car. One of the things that is interesting about this car is. It has what is called a C.V.T. Transmission. ie. Continuously Variable Transmission Another words there are no set Gear Ratios. Her dad drove the car and wanted to know why he could not feel the car "Shift" gears and the engine RPM's stay more constant.

Well below is just part of the entry I found on Wikipedia

A continuously variable transmission (CVT) is a transmission which can change steplessly through an infinite number of effective gear ratios between maximum and minimum values. This contrasts with other mechanical transmissions that only allow a few different distinct gear ratios to be selected. The flexibility of a CVT allows the driving shaft to maintain a constant angular velocity over a range of output velocities. This can provide better fuel economy than other transmissions by enabling the engine to run at its most efficient revolutions per minute (RPM) for a range of vehicle speeds.

There are more and more Vehicles coming on the market with this type of transmission.


CVTs have been used in aircraft electrical power generating systems since the 1950s and in SCCA Formula 500 race cars since the early 1970s. More recently, CVT systems have been developed for go-karts and have proven to increase performance and engine life expectancy. The Tomcar range of off-road vehicles also utilizes the CVT system.

• CVTs can compensate for changing vehicle speeds, allowing the engine speed to remain at its level of peak efficiency. This improves fuel economy and by effect, exhaust emissions.

• CVTs operate smoothly since there are no gear changes which cause sudden jerks.

• Very few problems have been reported with the CVT transmission, lowering the cost of ownership.
  

• There are 25% fewer moving parts to a CVT transmission.
  

• They are also cheaper, but still expensive to repair.
  

My Health

Why is it that as we get older (I am not old by any means) we start thinking more and more about our health? Why do we not think about such things when we are younger?

Anyway I have been pestering myself silently to DO MORE exercise at least walk or something like that. And I'll tell you back in the late summer and early fall I got a good start to it I was walking at least once a week down around the city park that I took my first visit to when Amy & Brandon were up to visit. However the weather turned colder and I stopped my walking. And it has been bugging me that I am not walking anymore. Someone asked me the other day why I don't walk around the mall that is 5 min. from the house. I said because if I walk in the mall it will cost me money. Not that they charge if you are just walking around but I don't have the self control not to buy things I would see when I am walking. So I am waiting for warmer weather to get here so I can start walking around the park again with out freezing to death.

I also a few weeks ago started talking a "mens daily" multi vitamin supplement. I have to say I really have no clue if its all in my head or what but since I have been taking it I really do seem to have more energy and I feel more wide awake mostly early in the mornings. I have never been a morning person but maybe that will change now. I mean I get up early most mornings but it always takes me awhile to feel like I am awake.

Somers @ 62

Credit Fox News

Suzanne Somers has always been preoccupied with staying fit and looking young.

But has the former Three’s Company star gone too far?

On an appearance Thursday on "Oprah," Somers, 62, invited cameras into her home to watch her daily routine of hormone injections and supplement popping.

She begins with rubbing a syringe of estrogen on one arm, every day. For two weeks out of the month, she rubs progesterone on the other.

After that, she injects estriol vaginally, which she graciously spared the audience from watching.

But it doesn’t end there.

She can’t start her day without taking 40 pills, 15 of which she downs in a thick, yellow smoothie her husband makes for her (she says it's the secret to their marriage!). Then she ends her day with an additional 20 pills at night before bed.

While she admits the routine makes her seem “like some kind of fanatic,” she says it has helped her beat the “Seven Dwarfs of Menopause: Itchy, B**chy, Sleepy, Sweaty, Bloated, Forgetful and All Dried Up.”

“I wanna be there,” she said, pointing to her head. “Until I’m 110. And I'm going to do what I have to do to get there.”

And she isn't kidding. Somers has also been the spokeswoman for the fitness device ThighMaster, has admitted that she is “not against going under the knife,” and has released several exercise DVDs and books.

She would not be my pick but I have thought that Suzanne Somers looked good for her age I mean after all she is 62. But now that I have seen this sorry I put this right up there with plastic surgery and ladies getting boob jobs. Who needs them..... I think she has gone right over the edge. If you can't keep your looks the natural way then just forget it. That goes for men and hair weaves and hair plugs and all that crap... Give it up you are bald live with it.