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.*

An abundance of plants

Can you ever have an abundance of plants?  My immediate answer is no.  However, when you have limited space it seems the answer is yes.

 Am I the only one who hates to throw out a living plant? 

 We have a house plant that I transplanted three years ago, into two pots.  It recently needed to be done again.  I ended up giving one away and putting another in a large pot on the floor.  They all seem to be doing fine, but it was quite a struggle trying to figure out what to do with the divided plants.

 Outside, I have ever-bearing strawberries.  YUM!  I started with eight plants, five years ago.  I haven’t purchased anymore and I now have seventy-five plants.  I have given many way, as I prune and replant (because I hate to throw away living plants).  Today I actually pruned and pitched.  Oh, I hated to do that, but I have too many strawberry plants.  I will admit, you can never have too many strawberries, but you can have too many strawberry plants.

 Anybody want some tomato plants? 

Again, I have way more than I need.  I started this new kind that you can’t get in stores… (“determinate” ones that are not supposed to vine all over the yard) as seeds.  Three seeds per square, twelve squares.  Of course, you are supposed to use survival of the fittest and prune them. Well, they all looked pretty fit to me. So I repotted them.  Then they got bigger and I repotted them again.  The sun porch was full of strawberry and tomato plants!  We could hardly even sit out there, it was so full of garden plants.  Eventually, they had to go outside.  Four are planted but I still have seven in gardener pots that are too small.    I gave away twenty-one plants and still have too many!

Apparently, some people don’t like tomatoes.  Can you imagine?

 So, am I the only one who hates to throw out a living plant?   Do you all keep every off-shoot?  If so, what do you do with them all?  Or, maybe you are a brave enough gardener to practice proper pruning.  I’d love to know your go-to method for when you have an abundance of plants!

It’s just a game!

Can we talk about recreational sports for a minute?  You do know, if you’re not a pro… it’s just a game!  Right?

 In the past week, I have had some free time and been playing quite a bit of Pickleball.  I understand, when you are participating in rec sports you are going to get all different levels of play. 

 I have no problem playing with beginners, intermediate (my level), advanced, or even pro players.  In fact, I enjoy playing with people with a little higher skill levels, it challenges me to be better.   I’m happy to play with beginners, as well.  I was a beginner once.  We need to include them in higher levels of play to challenge them too.

 The issue I have had recently is that some people take rec sports too seriously.  

 The other night I was playing with a guy I had never met.  We were getting beat by two guys I have played with before.  They are better than I am, but I’ve beat them before.  It’s not impossible.  All four players were making their share of good shots and poor shots.  When I miss-hit a ball, or hit it into the net, I usually chuckle.  I mean whattaya gonna do?  Get mad about it?  Nah.  My partner turns to me and says, “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, but I’d like to beat these guys.”  I thought that was pretty bold to say to a total stranger.  Yeah, we lost and he wasn’t happy.  Seriously?  It’s just a game!

 Another day, I was playing with 2 people I knew, and one I didn’t.  Well, this guy was a “slammer.”  Every time he hit the ball it was as hard and fast as he could make it, right at one of his opponents.  After he did that at me a few times, I was able to get back a few short angle shots that he couldn’t get to. (Slam them at ME will ya?!)  So then he started slamming them at my partner.  She turned away every time and just tried to get out of the way.  Yeah, we lost and he was very proud of himself.  Seriously?  It’s just a game!

 Kids rec sports?  Oh, don’t even get me started about how obnoxious some parents can be over KIDS games.

 Competitive nature?  Sure I like to win, but I’m not a rude, overly zealous player.  It’s not really fun to play with people who take themselves, or the game, too seriously.  I suppose they may consider me rude when I remind them, “We’re not getting paid the big bucks.  It’s just a game.”

 If these players sound like you, it’s time to relax and remember… it’s recreational sports, it’s supposed to be fun.  

Play to win, but more importantly… enjoy yourself.  It’s just a game.

Flag Day

Did you know yesterday was Flag Day?  It’s on June 14^th, every year.  Has been since 1916.

 Some of you may know this, but for those who don’t…

 Our flag was fashioned to represent the union of the various states into one country.  The first US Flag was officially commissioned on June 14, 1777.  It started with the original 13 colonies.  As each new state was added to the country, a star was added to the flag.  It now has 50 stars, but keeps its original 13 stripes.

 The Star Spangled Banner was written by Francis Scott Key on September 13, 1814. It was inspired by the British bombing of Ft. McHenry during the War of 1812. It became our National Anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931.

The Pledge received official recognition by Congress until June 22, 1942, when the Pledge was formally included in the U.S. Flag Code. The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1945. The last change in language came on Flag Day 1954, when Congress passed a law, which added the words "under God" after "one nation."

 The U.S. Flag Code is actually a legal document, and is quite extensive.  

I believe we, as citizens (and non-citizens), have lessened the laws of respecting our flag.  It used to be if you stepped on or burned the flag in protest, it was jail time. However, in the 1990 court case, United States v. Eichman, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision struck down a congressional act that prohibited flag burning, citing the First Amendment’s protection of speech.

 For the purposes of this blog, Flag Day, there is an official way to “retire” a worn/ tattered US Flag. Burning is the preferred method in the U.S. Flag Code (Section 176), “A national flag that is worn beyond repair may be burned in a fire. The ceremony should be conducted with dignity and respect and the flag burned completely to ashes.” 

 Many people do know that you aren’t supposed to just throw your old US Flag out with the trash, but they are unsure what to actually do with it.  Or… they know it has to be “properly retired” but don’t know where to take it.  Consequently, lots of folks have old flags in their closet or garage.

 If you live in the Raleigh, NC area, you can take your flag to Hope Community Church’s Raleigh or Apex campus.  Mark it MFM (MilitaryFamily Ministry) and when they get a dozen or so, they turn them over to a scout troop for proper retirement.   You can also turn them in to a local

·         Scout troop

·         VFW

·         American Legion

 I know Flag Day has passed for this year, but you don’t have to wait for Flag Day to replace your worn/tattered US Flag.  You can do it anytime.  Just get it to the proper group, they’ll be happy to take it from you.

Summer heat can be deadly

I’m sure you all know that summer heat can be deadly, but with recent reports of dog and child deaths I feel the need to bring it to the forefront of people’s minds.

 On any given summer day you can read a news report or Facebook post about a pet or child being left in a car “for a minute” and then tragedy strikes.

 I didn’t find an exact number stat on pets dying in hot cars, but articles ranged from “hundreds” to “thousands” annually.  It’s a lot.

 Research shows more than 36 children die in overheated cars every year in the United States.

 Here are some facts from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

1. It takes 10 minutes for the temperature in a car to go up 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cracking a window open and parking in the shade aren't sufficient safeguards.

3. A child’s body temperature can rise up to five times faster than an adult’s. A child dies with a 107 degree body temperature.

4. Even if it’s in the 60s outside, your car can still heat up to well above 110 degrees.

5. It only takes a 57-degree outside temperature to cause heatstroke.

6. On an 80-degree day, temperatures inside a vehicle can reach deadly peaks in 10 minutes.

 My suggestions would be

·         If you cannot take your pet into the place you are going, leave it at home.

·         Never… ever… leave a child in the car. 

Perhaps a teenager, who can recognize and act on the need to get out of a hot car would be okay, or maybe even a ten year old who can reason and act, but NEVER a child young enough to be strapped into a car seat. I remember what a pain it was to wake up a toddler who had fallen asleep in the car just to run into the store for some diapers.  It’s tempting to think you will be “right out.”  Nope.  Don’t do it.  You may see a friend and get chatting.  You never know.  Don’t tempt fate.  It’s too dangerous.

·         When everyone piles out of the car, be sure to see that each one is in the house, or yard.  Make sure they ALL got out of the car.

 Also, remember the disabled and the elderly.  Check on family, friends, and neighbors on hot summer days. Make sure they are okay. It’s just the right thing to do because summer heat can be deadly.

 *Pam Horton is a Board Certified Advanced Christian Life Coach, in the Raleigh area.*