This is a page of miscellaneous stuff. Some is my babbling about my ideas. Some comes from e-mails other people have sent us. None of this is meant to offend anyone. If you have comments or other input, you can e-mail me... the link is near the bottom of our main page (the link to it is at the end of this page).

Junk e-mail. Spam. Whatever you want to call it, it irritates us. Some of it can be quite 'interesting', though it backfires on me, because that's the ones I WON'T spend my cash with. Ain't it neat when they 'don't know how' to spell key words, which incidentally is just their attempt to avoid email filters. A lot of them, I just don't know why I'm getting them. My lucky day, I guess!!
I think the "Reply To" address should be the ACTUAL address of the sender, so that you can reply & give some feedback to. Here's what I'D do:

•subject: "Are you satisfied with the SMALLNESS of your..."
from an obvious woman's name, trying to sell penis (or is it 'pe:nias) enlargement pills------ I want to reply back and ask them, "Are you satisfied with the Largeness of yours?"

•subject: "Mega Phaarrmacy u can trust " -
Oh yeah, they can't even spell 'pharmacy'... I'm gonna trust them to fill my perscription?!? Instead of Viagra, they'd probaly send Viactin... at least the calcium would make my bones harder.

•subject: "Cheating Housewives Personals" -
Uh.... there's something seriously wrong with your demographic profiles here. Go back and look at our living room and dining room page again. You see those drapes? How many self-respecting hetrosexual men do you know that would be caught dead with 'em in their living room?!?

•subject: "Join Free! Ashley Spears is the next pornstar queen!" -
Duh... not the first thing that pops in my head when I think of a "queen". See 'Cheating Housewives' above.

Since we can't do that, here's how I actually handle them:
Instead of trying to reply to them or just going through and deleting them.... I have my Yahoo! Mail set up with a Bulk Mail folder. Their filters do the rest and sort the spam from the legitimate emails. Their filters, I would have to say, catch more than 99% of the spam. VERY impressive! Occasionally, I go through the Bulk Mail folder and forward each of the emails to the Federal Trade Commission; the email address is:
spam@uce.gov
It's a snap to do once you get started; all you have to do is type the address one time and then paste it into each forward. The FTC have a big ole computer that scans through the emails you forward to them. The only catch; you have to have "full" or "all" headers so when it scans the emails, it can get the actual sender's information from it. Then they can gather information about the spammers and prosecute them.
Another thing I do: When you open a spam, the email sometimes lets the sender know that the mail was opened with what's called a 'web beacon', verifying that your address is valid & used Then it goes on a 'premium spam list' and you get lots more of it, and they get lots more when they sell your address. You really can't (or at least I don't know how to) tell whether an email has a web beacon in it or not. I have my mail options set to hide HTML, which keeps the sender's web beacon from working. Another fringe benefit of this is I don't have to see the 'bouncing titties' photos or any of the graphics stuff, and the sender has no way of knowing anyone opened their mail.

This is a Letter to the Editor I wrote that was published July 2nd, 2004 in the Greensboro NC News and Record.

How can we expect our elected officials here in North Carolina to place a referendum on the Nov. 2 ballot for voters to vote on regarding the Gay Marriage Ban when year after year, they strike down the chance to allow us to vote on whether we can have a state lottery?
Regarding the "sanctity of marriage" they keep saying they want to protect, the divorce rate has been over 50% for years; and that is exclusively marriages between "a man and a woman." It seems to me that our elected officials need to look somewhere besides gay and lesbian couples when pointing the finger of blame on why there's so much less "sanctity of marriage" in our society these days.
It was a pedominance of gay and lesbians that fixed and cleaned up Key West, Florida and once again made it a desirable place to visit. Perhaps it will eventually be the gay and lesbian members of our community that help clean up the reputation and the "sanctity of marriage".

You know, I am not the only one that is confused about and questioning the sensibility of our government spending BILLIONS of dollars in other countries and on missions to other planets while our citizens are losing their jobs and homes in record numbers.
We've almost destroyed this planet, so the government is spending billions trying to get to another planet (so we can destroy it too?) and we likely wouldn't be able to survive on it.
If our government had to handle its' finances like we have to, the government would make taking better and more thorough care of things here at home a first priority.

Regarding the War in the Midle East...

No, I do not believe we should have had to go to "war" with anyone regarding the events of the past with the Middle Eastern Countries.

Don't get me wrong... we DO support our troops that are involved in the war... but we CAN do that without having to agree with the reasons they are involved.

If our (US) government had stopped the suppression of alternative fuels' technology decades ago, we would not be NEARLY as dependent on fossil fuels (petroleum products) as we are now.
Our government has allowed (and at times, backed) the suppression of solar and wind alternative methods that could all be commonplace and as affordable by now. The 'big oil companies' have lobbied and paid off (for example, massive campaign contributions) the officials of our government to allow this to happen. The oil companies have purchased patents and technologies for alternative methods, just so they can suppress the knowledge... making sure that we cannot feasibly have the choice to use other methods to power our homes, run our factories, and 'fuel' our automobiles.

If we could sensibly choose, then the Middle Eastern Countires would not be raking in the billions of US dollars that they are. They would also not be the 'force to contend with' that they are today because of this. We would then not have had any reason to go to war against them... because they would be more on the same level as us 'common citizens'. And so would OPEC.

This would have also gone a long way towards eliminating the threats of Global Warming.

Gosh, if we had only known... we could have had Ecology and Economy walking togehter, hand-in-hand.
I guess our government views that 'relationship' to be as 'unnatural' as they do my walking hand-in-hand with my same-sex husband down the street.

Our 'Government' should learn to "Protect and Serve" for a change.

Speaking of junk mail & such, my Pearl sent me this:
Andy Rooney's tips for telemarketers: 

(1) Three Little Words That Work:  The three little words are: //"Hold On, Please..."  Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.  Then, when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.  These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.

(2)  Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?  This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone    calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.  This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales person to call back and get someone at home.  What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!

(3) Junk Mail Help:  When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.  When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.  Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right?  It costs them more than the regular 37 cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back.  It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.  

One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas.  Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back!  If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.  You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing, and it still costs them at least 37 cents. The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need  to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice!  Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea!

My neice sent me this (the first line is her comment, which I think is cool). The quote after is a favorite of mine, though I don't know where it came from.

Picking one verse out of the bible and saying, "This is what the Bible says"...is like reading one book and saying, "This is what the library says."

........ Dear President Bush,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from you and understand why you would propose and support a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage.
As you said "in the eyes of God marriage is based between a man a woman." I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate.
I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination? Oh, sorry. IS there degrees...

7. Lev.21:20 states that I may ! not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

In Jesus name, Consolidated Dumbasses of America

"Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car."

American Management 
  A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River.
Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day the Japanese won by a mile. Afterward, the American team became very discouraged and morally depressed. The American management decided the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found.
A Management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and one person rowing.
So American management hired a consulting company and paid them an incredible amount of money. They advised that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing. To prevent losing to the Japanese again next year, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the Rowing Team Quality First Program, with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. Even new paddles and medical benefit incentives were promised for a winner. We must give the rower the empowerment and enrichments through this quality program.
The Japanese won by two miles the next year.
Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment.
The money saved was distributed to the senior executives as bonuses.

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