Tag Archive for 'community'

The Death of America Online Services

Published
by
Austin
on November 11, 2008
in General Chatter
. 1 Comment

I clicked a link to an old AOL blog of mine only to discover that AOL no longer has Hometown hosting. In an email from AOL I was informed that I should download all my photos stored on AOL and on Xdrive.com because those services will no longer be available past January 12th, 2009. If you have photos on AOL or their partner Xdrive.com you might want to start downloading them now. I had no idea Hometown was going to close but since I havne’t used those blogs in a bit I didn’t lose anything but I’d lose quite a bit if I didn’t get my photos backed up.

It’s not just the economy that caused AOL to fall. They sucked and they sucked big time. Even if the economy were strong this part of the company business would still fail. They may keep a name in Hollywood movies and with Time Warner but AOL can forget trying to get someone to use their net services.

That’s all for now

Austin

Crumbs at My Table

Published
by
Austin
on November 4, 2008
in Gratitude Journal and Soapbox
. 0 Comments

I watched Fife Senior playing the virtual reality game Simcity. Simcity is a virtual reality game where you build your own city and run it as mayor. The game then throws different scenarios at you such as the need for public programs, hospitals, schools, recycling programs and a host of other things. The game also lets you know when citizens complain or demand changes. In the beginning his city had no place to put trash so it was all over the streets. Then they wanted a new school and a new hospital. Every day he tells me a little more about Fife City and how hard it is to run it and keep it going. When his city goes broke he has to find a way to make money so he can fund public programs and such.

All of this is just a game. I don’t live in Fife City run by Mayor Fife so I don’t benefit from public aid or get protection from his police department. I live in Indianapolis where huge, huge deficits were created because someone treated our economy like a game. Politicians played Russian Roulette and pointed the gun not at themselves but at the citizens of Indianapolis.

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Where Do I Start?

Published
by
Austin
on September 22, 2008
in Pets and Soapbox
. 4 Comments

Photobucket

Save room for me will ya?

So what’s new in my world? Well, it appears I’m going to be a grandmother. Yup… but I’m not in the least bit thrilled about it. I took her to get fixed and they said they’d have to abort the puppies before they fixed her. Hell no, no you can’t abort the puppies.

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Two Strangers With Something In Common

Published
by
Austin
on August 6, 2008
in General Chatter
. 5 Comments

I left my therapy session and headed straight for Lowes where I can purchase a good size piece of Birchwood for dirt cheep to paint on until my heart is content. Instead of going to my regular spot I went to the Lowes across town. Inside there were only two employees in the lumber section. One helped count a huge number of items in a man’s cart and the other showed his annoyance for a gentleman who wanted to purchase cement. I knew I wasn’t going to get good customer service but I didn’t plan to walk around the store searching for this item till Kingdom come either so I bugged the irritable employee for help. He immediately shot me down. He told me I could buy the wood but he wasn’t going to cut it because I wanted it too small and he’d lose his job. I explained I have it cut like that all the time. He said, “I’m not going to lose my job over a piece of lumber.” My neck kinda went back a bit. I was somewhat irritated because I’ve purchased this same thing before with no difficulties and had it cut at a Lowes. But now this man has rested his entire financial future on one piece of wood cut for yours truly.

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Gratitude: Strays and Strangers

Published
by
Austin
on July 8, 2008
in Gratitude Journal
. 2 Comments

Strays

From time to time I do foster care for dogs and cats waiting to be adopted. Most of the dogs are strays picked up by Save-A-Pet but sometimes they’re dogs that need to be re-housed. The last time I posted about this I had two puppies that looked just like my Captain Crunch. Both were placed in a relatively short period of time in permanent homes. A few weeks ago I fostered two Wheaton Terriers, a brother and sister pair age 11. These curly balls of sweetness had been together all their lives. They stayed with their human until she passed; enter the pet foster care system.

Emily is a shy girl who stuck very close to her brother. Her age showed so her brother Rolly helped her find the stairs to climb up and helped her find the bed to lay on. It was the sweetest thing to see. While Emily’s age showed it was Rolly’s health that became an issue. Unfortunately he had to be put down but Emily found a home within days, a home three doors down from me. I get to visit with her and check up on her. I also found a friend in that neighbor which doubled the benefit of helping out Emily. This new neighbor friend and I have spent considerable time talking and getting to know one another. She is a very fine person.

Usually when I foster an animal food is provided and then whatever is left over goes back to the company. This time the food was offered to me. I got to keep a full 50 lb bag of Dog Chow.

Strangers

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Declaration of the Rights of the Child

Published
by
Austin
on June 30, 2008
in Abuse, PTSD and Soapbox
. 3 Comments

After reading Enola’s entry outlining the outrageous and baffling comments by a lawmaker, reasonable people could feel nothing less than sadness, despair and heart stopping fear for the degraded condition this society has settled itself into and gotten comfortable in. Her entry outlines a defense attorney’s horrific comments as he discusses child rape and the death penalty. The YouTube presentation is one that I personally will remember. His words are here: “I’m going to make sure that the rest of their life is ruined, that when they’re 8 years old, they throw up; when they’re 12 years old, they won’t sleep; when they’re 19 years old, they’ll have nightmares and they’ll never have a relationship with anybody.” Clearly he has never heard of the ideals behind the Decleration of the Rights of Children or it’s amendments. If he had any idea at all what it means to do the right thing he would have kept his mouth shut. If he had any listened to himself just once he would hear himself go against every single idea there is behind caring for and loving our children.

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Suicide Help Information

Published
by
Austin
on March 5, 2008
in Depression, Mental Health, PTSD and Segments
. 0 Comments

For Survivors of Suicide

Support Groups for Suicide Survivors

Responses and Emotions
Needs
Help and support

For those who are suicidal and information about suicide

Older Adults: Depression and Suicide Facts - from NIMH

How common is suicide among older adults?

Older Americans are disproportionately likely to die by suicide.

National Strategy for Suicide Prevention
A collaborative led by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Discusses race, age, gender and gender identity as it relates to suicide. Very helpful site.

National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide
A not for profit organization founded by three African American suicide survivors with the goal of educating the minority community about suicide and suicide prevention. Native American suicide and African-American suicide rates and help offered here.
The Kristin Brooks Hope Center, This links to an extensive database of information about suicide, those at risk and help available to them.
1-800-SUICIDE (800-784-2433)

Mental Health Links - Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Depression, PTSD, as it relates to suicide

SAVE.org
The #1 cause of suicide is untreated depression. SAVE is committed to the education of the general public about the depressive brain diseases (such as clinical depression and bipolar illness) that can result in suicide if left untreated medically and psychologically. By educating the general public about such brain diseases, SAVE strives to remove the stigma associated with these diseases.

Survivors That Abuse

Published
by
JoanofArc
on January 7, 2008
in Abuse, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Mental Health, PTSD and Soapbox
. 7 Comments

I don’t give a flying fuck that Hitler’s father beat him relentlessly. I don’t care how serial killers grew up. I don’t care to hear how abused a serial killer or sadist was in their childhood. If you want sympathy or even a slight bit of understanding from me then the survivor needs to remain non-offensive. It’s one thing to self abuse, it’s a different story to mar history cause your Daddy’s an asshole child beater. It’s one thing to loathe humanity in general or even women in general. It’s another thing to kill them. I don’t care how hurt a person was, once they cross the line into offender the word “survivor” needs to be removed from their history. Cause I just don’t care what a person went through, not if they decide to hurt others.

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Commercials For Social Change Part 1

Published
by
Austin
on January 1, 2008
in General Chatter, Segments and Soapbox
. 5 Comments

He wants to respond to Sally at the right time but it gets interrupted by a faulty kitchen sink. A guy would like to go fishing but he can’t stay with the pole long enough because he has an enlarged prostate which makes him have to use the restroom frequently. A couple of guys sit in a bar singing about a drug that lets them stand tall as men. You’ve all seen them and I’m sure many are quite tired of seeing the male part featured in commercials. I have a different take on it though. I think it’s about time men’s health was given the attention that women’s health is given. They sit through commercials about yeast infections, about pads and so forth. Red covers their faces if they’re young, if they’re older they’re use to it but certainly not a fan of commercials designed to keep us feeling fresh. In my opinion health is health, even when it comes to the male part a commercial promoting health is valid. I suppose what I object to is how the commercials are done. How phallic can you get with the exploding sink? I can’t believe they got away with that. In the commercial where the man is fishing they do an angle from the end of the fishing pole. Again, phallic and quite inappropriate in my opinion. It’s not the subject of the commercials that bothers me it’s how they’re made. So, I don’t have a problem with commercials that promote male health. I have a problem with the symbolism.

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Commercials For Social Change Part 2

Published
by
Austin
on January 1, 2008
in General Chatter, Segments and Soapbox
. 2 Comments

Boy have commercials stooped low. There’s one commercial that says if we buy a wireless phone we’ll be helping war torn Darfur. That disturbs me. Another such disturbance has arisen. There’s a new commercial out about how little girls in Africa miss out on their education because they don’t have a pad or tampon. So now when I buy Always brand I’m helping a needy child. I guess that means if I buy Stayfree or Tampax instead I’m a selfish little something-something. Come on people. Are we really so complacent about world conditions that the only help the media thinks we’ll offer is through products such a telephones and tampons? Or is it that the media knows our materialistic ways so they help us not feel so guilty by saying we improve world conditions by purchasing their phone, not just a phone, their phone. This isn’t about world conditions or saving lives, it’s about the almighty dollar the same as the tampon commercial is about the almighty dollar.

The issue of vulnerability, of disadvantage and sitting out while another group moves forward is a powerful media tool! Through out history women and minorities have sat out while others moved forward.

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