Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Ahhhhhhhh... Finally! New Computer!

Last Wednesday night, near tears of frustration, I called my sister. "I've had enough... I can't take it any longer... do you want to help me go shopping for a new computer?"

My computer is really outdated... it was a chore to use it. I didn't get on it unless I had to. I could only do so much before everything was at a crawl, I could only have a couple programs running at a time, and I kept getting messages that I didn't have enough memory... etc. Sometimes I would try to open a program and nothing would happen... it didn't even have enough memory left to pop up a message. PURE TORTURE! I would end up having to walk away saying, "That's it, I've had enough for today." I really wasn't accomplishing anything worthwhile.

We decided to go Friday morning... I had already researched different computers and prices. Thought I had found "the one" at Sam's Club when I stumbled across this one at Wal-Mart. It was a $100 more but twice as good in some ways. Really well worth the extra money.

I checked Wal-Mart online for the stores that had them in stock. The computer I wanted was at a store about 45 minutes away... we rushed over, but they were out. She said two of them had just walked out. We came to find out they 'walked out the garden center'... they were stolen... about 10 minutes before we got there. The associate called two other area stores that showed them in stock. The one store was a half hour away. We called and explained we were on our way and could they hold one for us... they had one left and wouldn't hold it. Buttheads! So we rushed over, Laura dropped me off at the door and I ran in while she and the kids parked the van. I grabbed that thing and hoisted it onto my cart... it was MINE!

Initially I planned on getting one with at least 4 GB of RAM... I knew it takes at least 3 GB to run Windows Vista. **I dread having to get Windows Vista** Hard drive space is not my problem... I have an external hard drive that I keep all my stuff on in case my computer dies. So the 80 GB on my computer was fine... I needed speed and memory. I found an affordable one at Sam's with 6 GB RAM (expandable to 8 GB), Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor, 500 GB Hard Drive, 128 MB graphics memory, 24" widescreen flat panel monitor. I thought 6 GB RAM... oh yeah! I always bought lower priced setups that end up quickly becoming outdated. I wanted to be ahead of the game this time... even if it was just a little bit.

Then I found this gem! 7 GB RAM (expandable to 16 GB), AMD Phenom Quad-Core Processor, 750 GB Hard Drive, 256 MB graphics memory, 23" widescreen flat panel monitor and Windows Vista 64-bit (instead of the 32-bit). It was like Christmas!!!! Whoohoo!

The computer I was replacing I bought in 2004 and was an 80 GB hard drive, 256 MB RAM, Celeron Processor, 17" box monitor. Don't know what the graphics memory was. It was better than my first computer... which I bought in 1998. That one was only a 2GB Hard Drive and 32 MB RAM! *LOL* I have flash drives with more space and speed! *LMAO* I look at my 2 GB flash drive and think... this is my first computer and it's no bigger than a pack of gum.... Wow, so much has changed so quickly.

So I have spent the last few days switching over and setting up my new computer. One of the down sides is that with Windows Vista 64-bit a lot of my older programs are no longer compatible. *whaaa* Some I've had for 10 years and I know how to use them. That means I'm gonna have to find new ones and really take the time to learn them. Ugh! But overall I am soooo satisfied with my new computer... I did a good job. Used to be when McAfee updated it would shut me down for about an hour and a half to 2 hours. Now the only way I know it's updated is a slight hesitation for a few seconds as a message pops up stating an update and install has been completed. My email pops up in a blink of an eye, webpages turn in seconds instead of minutes, downloads are like hiccups, I'm flippin' around the internet doing things I haven't been able to do for quite awhile. Life is good again! *LOL*

Now... if only getting a job was that easy! I've been laid off for 5 months now. People like me get caught in a catch-22. Not enough open positions in the type of work I do... when something does pop up there is a lot of competition with so many out of work right now. You think you'll settle for anything that will pay some bills, but some companies won't hire you because they see what you've done in the past and how much you were making... they know if and when something better comes along you'll take it and they don't want to invest the time and money if you're not going to stay.

Oh well... I just keep plugging away. It's in God's hands and there must be a reason... I just won't understand until it happens. Then it will be one of those 'a-ha' moments. An, "Okay, now I get it!" type of situation.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Glenn Beck: The Letter

Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Glenn Beck: The Letter

June 19, 2009 - 7:45 ET

GLENN: I got a letter from a woman in Arizona. She writes an open letter to our nation's leadership:

I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when he will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.




If you feel the same way, then please take a moment and sign the petition!

Sign the petition: An open letter to our nation's leadership.


(I signed it... # 106172)