Privacy Policies

Have you ever read the privacy policy of a website you open up?  They are quite extensive and use lots of legal jargon.

I’ll admit, I often scan for the essentials.

 What about when sites ask you to sign in using a social media platform?  Some of those sites put up BIG red flags for me!

I was recently in an airport trying to get onto their free WIFI.  They offered 4 ways to sign in, a form and three social media sites.  I first chose the form, which wanted way too much info for a public WiFi.  Closed that option and went for LinkedIn.  They wanted access to all my contacts.  NOPE, you can’t have that.  SO, I opted not to access the internet at this particular airport. 

 Would you say “NO”, if a site wants to access your contact list and other things (like photos, location, etc.)?  I hope so!

 Unfortunately, too many people are thinking about getting access to whatever they are trying to see, and not really paying attention to what the site is able to see.

 I have friends who share those Facebook quizzes and tests.  Sometimes I’ll click on them.  If it doesn’t ask me to log in with Facebook, I may check it out.  But… the ones that ask you to get to their site through a social media site, then tell you it will have access to your contact list and other things, I don’t do those.  I respect the privacy of my family and friends too much to let a site they didn’t even go to have their information.

 The reality is if I’m seeing it from a friend, and I have to share my info to get to it, they had to share their info to get to it.  Which means my information has been shared, by my friend, without my consent. I don’t particularly care for that.  Of course, I can “unfriend” those people, but the damage has already been done.  No point.  Annoying.

 Please read the privacy policies, or at least the list of what they will have access to, before you agree to sign on to a webpage.  It’s just common courtesy to help guard your friend’s contact info.

Where has your tail been?

Cat tails tell tales.  Puppy tails, too. Could it be that your tale tells about you?

 The other day, our cat, Cora Vette (“Cora” for short) sauntered into the living room with dried grass all over her tail. Only on her tail, nowhere else on her body. I asked her, “Where has your tail been?”  Of course, she didn’t answer me.  She just waved her tail back and forth, meowed and moved on.  As she passed by me I noticed all the dried grass was off her tail.

 I got to thinking about shaking things off.  Oops, just went into a dance break of Taylor Swift’s “Shake it off.”  Guess that’s what happens when you think in song lyrics.

 ANYWAY, Cats, dogs, foxes, rabbits, basically any animal with a tail goes through their day and occasionally the places they’ve been during that day are obvious on their tails.  At the end of the day they wave, shake, or clean their tail and the evidence of where they have been and what has happened to them disappears.  They start the next day clean and ready to go forth and conquer their world.

 While humans don’t have a tail that gets stuff all over it, we certainly all have tales that have stuff all over them. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could simply clean our tale, go to bed and wake up the next day ready to conquer our world?

 We can.  Okay, we can’t get rid of our tale (only a few animals lose their tail and grow a new one) but we can acknowledge that part of our tale is behind us and decide to move positively forward, forging a new tale.

To some this may sound easy, to others it may sound impossible.  I’m here to tell you… your past is your past.  You can’t change it, but you don’t have to keep reliving it, or be defined by it. You have the ability to make a new future for yourself.  It make take courage, it may be a challenge, you may need some assistance, but it can be done.

 No matter where your tale has been, tomorrow is another day.  Go get ‘em, tiger

*On a side note (and possibly the reason I am thinking so much about animals lately)…

I have written a Children’s book called “Silly Cora!” Cora is our cat. Silly Cora! is a book about our cat. We choose Cora during the 2017 Clear The Shelter event. She does some of the silliest things and makes us laugh often (except when she is waking us up early on the weekends - yawn).

 I thought it would be a neat idea to write a story about our adventures with our shelter cat. I have incorporated the assistance of, college student, Monica to do the illustrations.

 The book is already creating a buzz among animal lovers. The book will release July 18 2018, a month before the National Clear The Shelter event in August.

 Our hope is that the book will help promote the event. Pam and Monica believe in choosing shelter/rescue pets so much that they will be donating 1/3 of the profits to local shelters.

 Be sure to follow the FaceBook page for updates on the book and antics of Silly Cora!

https://www.facebook.com/SillyCoraVette/

Quiet the noise

Have you ever wished you were in a cartoon, and when all the noise got to be too much you could scream “QUIET!” and silence would prevail?

 Jim & I were reading in bed on a recent warm summer night, with the windows open.  He must have thought I was nuts when I turned and asked him that question.  He didn’t notice the refrigerator running, the crickets chirping, or the frogs croaking.  I wondered why he didn’t seem to notice it and for me, it was just too much noise.

 I think, perhaps I noticed it, just slightly at first, but then I started to concentrate on the noise, instead of my book, Russka.  Sort of like when you have an ache of some sort and you start concentrating on the ache, it seems to hurt more.  I’m sure you’ve heard someone say, I can stomp on your foot and then your (whatever) won’t hurt anymore, right?  Same thing.  We tend to be more aware of the things we concentrate on.

 So, how do we quiet the noise, or ease the pain?  One simple thing would be to quit thinking about it so much.

 After I got up to investigate the constant annoying noise, that turned out to be the refrigerator, I was able to get my mind back into my book.  Soon, the frogs and crickets seemed to disappear while Peter the Great died and Catherine the Great took over ruling Russia.

 What annoying, or painful, things are you concentrating on these days?  Could a simple shift in your concentration be a help?

Here are some ideas to get your mind off your woes…

·         Read a book

·         Listen to music

·         Play a game with someone

·         Call a friend

·         Do a puzzle

·         Take a hike and have a picnic

·         Go on an exciting adventure

·         Dance like no one is watching

·         Give it up to God

·         Insert your favorite distraction – grin

 Sometimes, of course, the things we are concentrating on need to be addressed.  Do not ignore the big stuff, but don’t sweat the small stuff.  Find a fun, relaxing way to change your mind set.

*Pam Horton is a Certified Stress Management Coach.*