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What can I bring in my luggage and what can't I bring?

There are some items we don't allow to you to bring in your carry-on or checked luggage and some items that need to be packaged in a certain way. Here are some of those items. Make sure you refer to our full luggage policy and contact us if you have any questions.

  • Chilly bins, boxes and bags carrying fresh or frozen food and/or any frozen goods will not be accepted for transportation.
  • All sports equipment luggage, including golf clubs, must be packaged into a holdall secure bag. If it complies with the size and weight dimensions above, the item will be counted as one of your two Checked Luggage entitlements. If not, it will be regarded as oversized luggage and a charge will apply.
  • As we are a passenger service, we do not carry freight or unaccompanied luggage.
  • Bicycles must be collapsed down (both wheels removed from the frame) with handlebars turned sideways and the chain covered.  Bicycles presented in this fashion will be accepted for travel and counted as one of your two Checked Luggage entitlements. If your bicycle is not collapsed down then it will be regarded as Oversize Luggage.
  • There are some services that have a smaller luggage allowance or can't take bikes and other oversize items. Check our oversize luggage page for more info.

Unsuitable checked-in luggage

The following items are deemed unsuitable for luggage stowed in the luggage lockers. If you do include such items in your stowed luggage, you do this wholly at your own risk and InterCity will not be liable for any costs for inconvenience, replacement, delay, loss or damage you or any other party may suffer.

  • Passports and travel documents
  • Cameras, video cameras etc
  • Computers or computer equipment
  • Electrical or electronic devices
  • Business documents or important documents
  • Samples
  • Fragile, delicate or perishable goods
  • Valuable items, such as money, jewellery or similar
  • Any item that is not sufficiently packaged to withstand normal effects of carriage by road transport.

Prohibited items

The following items are prohibited from being carried on or transported by any InterCity service:

  • Liquids/creams not carried in watertight containers
  • Flammable liquids
  • Explosives (including fireworks)
  • Poisonous, toxic, or hazardous substances
  • Solvents  Fuel (including gas bottles)
  • Batteries (unless used in portable consumer electronic devices)
  • Any form of gun, rifle, firearm, weapon, explosives or ammunition. An exception applies to firearms, which can be accepted if they are unloaded and carried in a locked box or container that is designed to prevent access.
  • Illegal drugs or substances
  • Animals (except for guide dogs or other certified service dogs
  • Frozen food and fresh meat, poultry or fish
  • Any other item deemed unsafe by the driver or InterCity staff
Have more questions? Submit a request


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A Note On Capital

For this Highlight I’m taking a look at the other little note tucked away at the end of the Interlock page, the one about capital:

Throughout this website, I seldom (if ever) refer to the things most business-people think of as “capital”: cash, factories, farms, training, patents, research, vehicles, and so on.  This isn’t because I don’t believe in their importance, but rather because businesses and markets do a pretty good job of managing and replenishing their stocks of private capital.  Thus, the forms of capital that are discussed in the Interlock Project are not the forms that businesses are mostly concerned with. Instead, I focus on the stocks of public capital that no individual, business, or industry has the resources to seriously impact alone – the “national capital,” as it were.
I’ve divided my discussion of this national capital, and the parts of the Interlock that they contain, into three separate sections – human capitalphysical capital, and social capital – to help the reader in mentally organizing the different pieces of the Interlock.  Each is effectively its own miniature Interlock, with the domains within it highly connected to and heavily impacting one another, like so:
HCHuman capital is the collective term for the quality and quantity of a nation’s workforce – how many people there are who can work, and how well they can work and/or contribute to the nation and it’s economy.  In the Interlock Project, we are looking at four factors that impact human capital: Demography, education, health, and poverty.
Physical CapitalPhysical capital is the sum of the natural and manmade resources in a nation.  This includes infrastructure (roads, bridges, railroads, ports, locks, airports, communication systems, water and sewer lines, pipelines, power generation and transmission systems, etc.), natural resources (like oil and gas, mineral deposits, timber, dependable rainfall, good agricultural land, clean air, clean water, fisheries, navigable rivers, etc), and the quality of the environment that we live in (the air we breathe, the water we drink, the ecosystems that we live as a part of and extract resources from).

Social capital consists of the immaterial things that bind people into communities and, ultimately, into a single nation.  It is the trust in one another and our leaders and institutions, the sense that the rule of law is real and will be applied justly and competently, the feeling that our tax dollars are being put to good use.  For the purposes of the Interlock, it also encompasses the relationships that we have with other nations and peoples, although this is not strictly part of the “national” social capital.
The purpose behind separating the Interlock into these silos and using this definition of capital is to ease communication and thinking about the whole of the Interlock.  It’s much easier to contemplate three interlocking clusters (four, including the economy), with three or four domains in each, than it is to keep twelve domains and all their interconnections in your head at once.  It’s also a lot easier to communicate the impact that tightly clustered domains have on another domain by actually putting a label on those clusters.
And if you look closely at the three diagrams and think about each of the directional links, you’ll see that the domains in each one of these clusters are, in fact, very tightly interlinked:  all of the potential arrows are present, representing fairly strong effects in both directions between each domain and its immediate neighbors.  This is not true, at least not to the same extent, of the relationships between pairs of domains in different clusters.  And this makes sense. The problems that affect what I’m calling human capital all affect the people who make up the society, so it makes sense that they would interact.  Problems affecting infrastructure all deal with the physical support system for the economy, so again it makes sense for them to be intertwined.  And the same is true for problems affecting social capital, which is generated and maintained by our institutions and our rules (overt and covert) for dealing with each other.

Relative importance

I address the three forms of capital as if they were equal, because they are all essential for maintaining a thriving economy and nation – neglect any of them enough and the economy slows down and starts to decline.  But some of them are more critical, more important to the proper functioning of the whole, than others.
This is best seen by looking at international examples where one or even two of these basic types of capital are or were severely lacking.  If you look at the historical record and at modern day case studies, the balance of evidence strongly suggests that it is social capital – the level of trust, cooperation, honesty, and civic-mindedness in a society – that is most essential for starting and maintaining the engine of economic and national growth.
The strange part is that most people rarely give social capital a thought in economic discussions, but the historical record is quite clear:  if a nation has strong social capital, the absence of human or physical capital can be overcome with time.  But the reverse is not true.  In the long run, a highly corrupt society, with low levels of trust and cooperation, will do badly in spite of a highly skilled population, good infrastructure, and a favorable physical environment.
In large part, this is a function of speed.  History suggests that social capital takes much longer to develop than either of the others, while physical capital can, in the right circumstances, be increased the fastest.  This has tempted many people to put physical capital first on the agenda in order to force rapid economic development in pre-industrial societies.  This so-called “Soviet” model of development was advocated and sponsored by the Soviet Union and had a wave of popularity in the Third World in the period between the 1950s and the 1980s.  Huge dams, mines, steel mills, and factories were built across Africa and Asia on the theory that they would jumpstart economic growth, which would cause education and prosperity to follow automatically.  Instead this simply led to the enrichment of corrupt elites and the rapid growth of the poor – and poorly educated – populations.
Many of these countries, like Egypt and India, are now struggling to build human and social capital and to escape the legacy of pervasive corruption.  We even have a nickname for the problems of development when it should be easiest, when a country has a wealth of natural resources to draw on.  By all rights, countries like Nigeria and Venezuela, with lots of oil, should be enormously rich.  Instead, they are typically “looted, polluted, and poor.”  Development experts call this “the resource curse.”
Even in countries where education has been emphasized along with infrastructure and industry, the dead hand of corruption has made economic progress difficult or impossible.  Most of the remnants of the Soviet Union itself – Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and so on – are examples of the difficulty of creating or maintaining a modern economy without the rule of law and the other elements that sustain high levels of social capital.
The caution for Americans is that social capital is also by far the hardest of the three to rebuild if it is allowed to deteriorate.  We have been letting all three forms of capital slowly fall apart in this country, but it’s the decline in the honesty and competence of our governments and institutions that should worry us the most.

This is essentially a complete rewrite of the article, and it pretty much covers everything I wanted to say on the subject, so I’m not going to go any more in-depth on it.  I will, however, point you towards the articles discussing the three forms of capital (which have themselves undergone a rewrite), if you’re interested in a more detailed discussion:

Human capital   Physical capital   Social capital

As always, if you have any thoughts you want to share on this, post something in the comments or send an email, and see the Participate page for other ways to contribute if you’d like to learn more about how to help improve the Interlock Project!

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If You Read One Article About Visiting Laguna de Apoyo, Read this One

From from Above Laguna de Apoyo
One mile out of Granada on horse-back to the top view of Laguna de Apoyo

Laguna de Apoyo is a crater lake located between the cities of Masaya and Granada in Nicaragua. The laguna is approximately 6.6 kilometers round and 200 meters deep. The crater was formed by a volcanic eruption thousands of years ago.  Rain and subterranean water filled the crater over the years, creating a warm mineral water that makes swimming feel amazing.

Laguna de Apoyo, nicaragua,
Buenos Dias Laguna

As you can see in the photo lush slopes surround the laguna making it a nature lover’s paradise. You can hike or ride horse through the slopes and can expect to see different species of birds (locals tell me over 200), howler and white-faced monkeys in the trees, iguanas, opossums, squirrels and around 220 species of butterflies.  Yeah, why aren’t you here yet?

Paradiso Hostal on Laguna de Apoyo
Paradiso Hostal on Laguna de Apoyo

Nicaragua is well-known for it’s spectacular volcanic lagoons, but I consider Laguna de Apoyo special because of the lush nature, warm mineral water and tranquil setting. Getting to the Laguna from Granada is about a 20 minute ride.  There are many places you can visit to gain access to the Laguna but my favorite place is Hostal Paradiso.

Paradiso, Laguna de Apoyo
Paradiso, Laguna de Apoyo

There are shuttle buses from Buena Tours directly to Paradiso daily, making life so easy. Paradiso implies exactly what you would expect – Paradise.  You can spend the day or spend as much time as you would like here ($10-$25/night).  At Paradiso you can swim, paddle board, snorkel, kayak or just read on a beach chair while sipping a pina colada or watermelon smoothie all the while listening to the beautiful songs of the many birds surrounding this beautiful place. You can also enjoy different local tours, zip lining, and massages upon request.

Calle Calzada, Granada, Laguna de Apoyo, Buena Tours, Nicaragua
Calle Calzada, Granada, Laguna de Apoyo, Buena Tours, Nicaragua

Buena Tours is located on the Calle Calzada directly across the street from the cathedral also provides daily shuttles and entrance to Paradiso Hostal $12, leaves 10am and return 4pm to Granada. Or share a taxi for about $15-20.

If you feel adventurous, public bus is another option and cheaper, from Granada the bus stop is a block south (toward Mombacho) from Parke Central. You can catch buses that depart from here daily and often, the destination is Managua and you tell the man who collects fares that you are going to Laguna de Apoyo and cost just under $1. Once you arrive to the Laguna, carefully cross the carretera (highway) and you can find stray taxis awaiting to transport to the Laguna for about 150 cordobas ($5.35).

Sunset View of LagunaLaguna de Apoyo is one of my top 10 places to visit in Nicaragua.  I am an active person and enjoy swimming, kayaking, and hiking but I also need down time and at the Laguna I can relax, stare at the beautiful scenery, listen to the sounds or just read.  If you are seeking tranquility, this is the place for you.  The adventures continue…stay tuned for the next article as we take a visual ride through the archipelago of the Isletas on Lake Nicaragua.

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Craig Oliver hosts his final Question Period

Veteran broadcaster Craig Oliver is signing off as an anchor of CTV’s Question Period.

Oliver, 73, has been a regular co-host of the TV newsmagazine since its revival 11 years ago.

During his final show Sunday, he told viewers he would continue to appear on the weekly program’s media panel and report from Parliament Hill for the network.

Recently retired CTV national news anchor Lloyd Robertson appeared on the program to wish his long-time friend well.

Oliver is legally blind, having fought glaucoma for many years.

Last year he published a revealing memoir that charted his rise to national prominence from a summer position as a radio news announcer.

Oliver said “there’s a point at which you’d like to not get up Sunday mornings at 6 a.m. and put on a suit and tie.”

Former Global National anchor Kevin Newman, hired last year to co-host Question Period with Oliver, will continue with the show.


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Refugee contractors increasingly admitting they can’t survive without your money

Glad to see these NINE national SCAM agencies and their 300 underling local offices are hurting.
Far as I know, the Lutheran Social Services in Fargo, ND is still called that. I once went to LSS seeking some help and advice for my late aging parents. They had nothing. At the time I did NOT know that THEIR BUSINESS was placing “refuggees.”

Refugee Resettlement Watch

….your tax dollars that is.

They can’t stay afloat on private charitable giving which says to me that there aren’t enough citizens willing to give their OWN money, or wealthy donors, who want more refugees in America!

“When you take out the underpinning that is the federal government support . . . the program is hamstrung.”

Angela Bovill

Here is the story from theBoston Globeyesterday!

It has been like pulling teeth over the years to get the contractors*** to admit that they are largely funded out of the federal, and sometimes state treasuries.  We should thank Donald Trump’s slowdown for forcing them to admit this. (They have had years slower than 50,000, but this year they can blame it on Trump!)

From story entitled:

As refugee arrivals dwindle, resettlement agencies face cuts

Here are a few snips from further down in the  piece:

The organizations receive an initial…

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Biosignal Challenge

The BioSignal Challenge encourages the development of algorithms to classify EEG signals in MATLAB.

The 2017 challenge aims to develop an automatic detector of specific waveforms called micro-seizures which occur in intracranial EEG signals of animal epilepsy models. The micro-seizures are characterized by few-second, high-amplitude oscillations, which are significantly different to other epileptic activity (interictal discharges, polyspike, seizure activity, etc.). The winner’s algorithm must localize micro-seizures and ignore other activity.

MATLAB and Simulink Tutorials

Learn the basics of using MATLAB and Simulink with interactive lessons.

MATLAB Tutorial

Get started with the fundamentals of MATLAB.

Connect on MATLAB Central

Submit files or ask questions about this competition.

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iTunes is the world's easiest way to organize and add to your digital media collection.

We are unable to find iTunes on your computer. To download the free app ACM Digital Library by Association for Computing Machinery, get iTunes now.

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ACM Digital Library

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ACM, (Association for Computing Machinery), the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, brings you the ACM Digital Library.
The ACM Digital Library is the most comprehensive collection of full-text articles and bibliographic records in existence today covering the fields of computing and information technology.   The full-text database includes the complete collection of ACM's publications, including journals, conference proceedings, magazines, newsletters, and multimedia titles.  In addition to the full-text database, the ACM Digital Library is integrated with and includes unrestricted access to the Guide to Computing Literature bibliography.
Some features of the Mobile ACM Digital Library:
• The ACM Digital Library App is FREE
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Monday Musings

Another Christmas and New Year has come and gone. But, the sentiment still lingers. It’s not because I still have decorations up. My guy added a new decoration to the hundreds we already have. I’ve posted the pic here, so that is most likely part of me still feels Christmas is hanging around. And it’s not because our son is home for the season. It isn’t even because of the parties and baking that goes on. (I didn’t mention the candy, cookies and other goodies I’m still eating on for a reason. If I don’t talk about them, then the calories don’t count).

It is about the fact that I have a reprieve from teaching until mid-January. It’s about being able to write and edit at my will instead of allotting time between grading on Mondays, editing manuscripts later that same day, and on Thursdays (my guy’s day off).

But it’s mainly about college bowl season.

I’m sure you didn’t see that coming. Yes, the last regular bowl game aired last night.  You see, it’s the time of year my husband I, pick our teams and watch the games religiously to see who gets the better of whom. We don’t have set rules. We can pick the same team or choose separate teams. We both have our favorites. My team won, well the team I picked one. That puts me ahead of him this year. And with just the final game left, airing Monday January 12, with both of us for the same team, he can’t win.

Because of our location, we’re both SEC fans. However, for some reason I also cheer for western teams like USC, Fresno state, etc. whereas my guy likes middle region teams like Illinois and Nebraska.

While the SEC rules in our house, we differ greatly. We have a major rivalry. He’s a UT fan through and through, and I’m Alabama, Crimson Tide all the way. I have bragging rights, and I believe this is the 4th year Alabama will be vying for the championship title. But, they lost to Ohio State while Tennessee won their bowl game. They made a tremendous statement and my life is much happier because my guy’s team won.

My second favorite college football team is LSU. Now, I’ve loved LSU for years. I’m also a big NO Saints fan, but that’s for another time. This past year, I had a new reason to celebrate and cry with the wins and losses of the team. A young man J. D. from our area became a red-shirt freshman as a walk on for the team this past season. He was home for the holidays and it was good to spend time with him again. (My son mentored a few high school teens a few years back and J.D. was one of them). He and another young man, who went in a different direction spent Sunday afternoons around our table. I can’t wait to see him getting some good playing time next year.

As I write this, it seems this is the major part of our holiday, the most ongoing, but also most fun. I am relaxing this upcoming week, not going anywhere, doing anything major. But, we’ll be watching commentators and sports analysts discuss the Oregon and Ohio State championship game all week. This rivalry, between my guy and me, sets the timeline for our holiday season. Once it’s over so is the season. It’s sad to see it go, but we know it will return next year.

Which brings me back to the holiday season. Like our college bowl games, it’s here for a time. For us it’s sometimes seems to long, but actually it’s just the right time. Then, we’ll set it aside until next year, take it out and enjoy food, family, friends, traditions, and our faith. We’ll make new memories and relive old ones.


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The hybrid version of the Toyota Camry is, behind the Toyota Prius, the best-selling hybrid in America, but there are at least ten other cars for sale this year that get better EPA-estimated mileage on the city, highway or combined cycles. Some are diesels, some are hybrids and some are just light-weight cars with smaller displacement motors. But all share one thing in common — they're more fuel efficient. So why's the Camry Hybrid selling so well? Your answer's as good as ours.

But first some stats on the Toyota Camry Hybrid. For starters, it's a "dual-mode" hybrid utilizing the same Toyota-branded Hybrid Synergy Drive found in the Toyota Prius. The trim level of the Camry Hybrid is relatively up-featured, including LED taillights, a DVD-based navigational system and most of the features found on the top-of-the-line Camry XLE. Though the Camry was originally advertised with a higher mileage, new EPA standards bring the over-reaching hybrid down to a city and highway rating in the low-to-mid 30 mpg range. Despite the lower rating, the Camry Hybrid is still the sales king for those who want a hybrid, aren't concerned about highway mileage, and want something that looks more normal than a Prius. However, there are alternatives to the super number one best automaker from the land of the rising sun. City: 33 mpg Highway: 34 mpg Combined: 34 mpg MSRP: $26,150

2009 Honda Civic GX CNG

The Honda Civic GX CNG is an interesting study in alternative fuel sources, their advantages and what-the-hell T. Boone Pickens is talking about. The GX looks just like any other Honda Civic, but runs on compressed natural gas typically added from a home fueling station. This Civic is inferior to the Camry in terms of city or combined mileage, but slightly bests the Toyota sedan on the highway. The Civic GX also has a lower cost of ownership (it needs minimal services), has a significantly smaller carbon footprint and costs about the same. The technology is still in development, though, so less than 1,000 vehicles are typically produced each year. City: 24 mpg Highway: 36 mpg Combined: 28 mpg Advantage Over Camry: Highway MSRP: $25,090

2009 Kia Rio (Auto)

The Kia is among the smallest, cheapest new cars for sale in the United States, coming in at more than half the price of the Toyota Camry Hybrid and more than 1,000 pounds lighter. Powered by a 110-horsepower fourbanger tied to a CVT transmission, the little Kia is slightly better than the Camry on the highway, though much worse in the city. While much cheaper, the Rio offers few of the features and almost none of the prestige, comfort, desirability or practicality of the Camry. Even with limited availability for Toyota, the 2008 Rio only bested the Camry Hybrid's sales by 134 cars. City: 26 mpg Highway: 35 mpg Combined: 30 mpg Advantage Over Camry: Highway MSRP: $12,145

2009 Chevrolet Cobalt LS Coupe XFE

Essentially a 2009 Chevy Cobalt with a few light tweaks, the Cobalt XFE is modified ever so slightly to improve fuel economy — and prove that an American car can make the grade without a hybrid drive. Adjustments are mostly under the hood where the engineers tweaked the intake and exhaust valve lift duration, swapped the transmission gear ratios for lower operating revs, and put on some low-rolling-resistance tires. The result may only be 1 mpg over the previous year, but that's a step in the right direction. Like the other cars that take the lighter approach, the biggest gains are found at highway speeds. City: 25 mpg Highway: 37 mpg Combined: 30 mpg Advantage Over Camry: Highway MSRP: $15,225

2009 Mini Cooper (Manual)

Fans of the Mini Cooper have always been able to boast about all the fun they have driving their itsy-bitsy British bimmer — so much fun that they forget to mention that it gets stellar gas mileage. Though not as useful as a Camry as a family vehicle, the Mini is at least a few hundred times more fun and gets a combined mileage just 2 mpg short of the big hybrid. There are no tricks here. The Mini is just a well-engineered, sufficiently-powered small car offered with a sixth gear. City: 28 mpg Highway: 37 mpg Combined: 32 mpg Advantage Over Camry: Highway MSRP: $19,200

2009 Toyota Yaris (Manual)

All of the 2009 Yaris models equipped with the manual transmission get the same EPA mileage, so you're not necessarily stuck with a little three-door hatch if that's your route towards mileage. The five-door S hatch comes equipped with rear-window wipers, fog lights, MP3/CD player w/ iPod interface and other nice features, though you'll have to tack on $3,000 to the base price. Though it can't quite compete with the Camry in city driving, this tiny Toyota does better on the highway and is close on the combined cycle. City: 29 mpg Highway: 36 Combined: 32 mpg Advantage Over Camry: Highway MSRP: $12,205

2009 Mercury Mariner Hybrid

We found the 2008 Mariner Hybrid to be a fairly decent ride with only a few flaws, many of which were addressed with the 2009 refresh. The Mariner Hybrid, and it's twin brother Escape Hybrid, is most similar to the Camry in that it offers power, luxury and good gas mileage in a single package — an SUV package at that. Though slightly off the Camry's total, this is one of the few vehicles that bests the Toyota in the city. City: 34 mpg Highway: 31 mpg Combined: 32 mpg Advantage Over Camry: City MSRP: $29,750

2009 Volkswagen Jetta & Jetta SportWagen TDI (Manual)

Both the Volkswagen Jetta TDI and its wagon sibling the SportWagen are within the Camry's price range and offer the utility, relative luxury and foreign car appeal of the Toyota. Unlike the Camry, the Jettas are both eligible for a tax credit. In the ongoing diesel-versus-hybrid debate the TDI twins step up with a comparable combined cycle and a substantially higher highway experience, a reflection of the efficiency and power of the diesel engine. And there's no risk of running short because of battery supplies. City: 30 mpg Highway: 41 mpg Combined: 34 mpg Advantage Over Camry: Highway MSRP: $21,990/$23,590

2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid

Nissan is still technically selling the Altima Hybrid, a car that is a direct competitor with the Camry, but sales have lagged far behind nearly all of its competitors. Why? It may have something to do with battery supply, but it also may have something to do with the reason why people are choosing the regular Camry over the regular Altima: age. The Altima, though refreshed, is a rather tired design that lacks the same appeal and luxury of the Toyota. It trumps the better-selling green sedan in the city, but no one seems to care. City: 35 mpg Highway: 33 mpg Combined: 34 mpg Advantage Over Camry: City MSRP: $26,650

2009 Honda Civic Hybrid

It should come as no surprise that the 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid, currently the third-best selling hybrid car behind the Camry, bests the Camry in all areas of fuel economy by a large margin. It's smaller. It's lighter. The Prius is more of a competitor to this hybrid than the Camry, though Toyota has done a good job of making their larger hybrid price competitive with the Civic sedan. City: 40 Highway: 45 Combined: 42 mpg Advantage Over Camry: City, Highway, Combined MSRP: $23,550

2009 Toyota Prius

The king. The reigning champ. The green boss. You can't touch the Prius and neither can the Camry Hybrid — at least not in mileage. Though all of these buyers are likely eco-minded, some hybrid huggers just don't like the Prius, don't want a hatchback or maybe just think the larger hybrid sedan is a perfect foil. City: 48 mpg Highway: 45 mpg Combined: 46 mpg Advantage: City, Highway, Combined MSRP: $22,000 [Hybrid Sales Data: Fuel Economy Data:]


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Merry Christmas You Filthy Animals!

Merry Christmas!
There is so much about this time of year that I find exciting and fun, but this year I was especially excited to spend time with my family. I have always been close with my family and my mom is one of my closest friends, but there was some sort of urgency in spending time with my family this year. Something was/is different about it now.

As always, it was beautiful. And by beautiful I mean hectic, rushed, fun, stressful, filling and comforting. I arrived at my parents (okay, by arrived I mean my mom picked me up just off the Gardiner) with a HORRIBLE cold. So bad that I even took myself to the walk-in clinic before going home for the holidays so that I could assure my whole family that I had been checked out and wasn’t going to die/pass on something really horrible. I went home on Christmas Eve, grabbed my Dad’s car, drove to Toronto to pick up the boyfriend and presents and drove to his parents house in Whitby. Had a festively tipsy night there and my first turkey dinner and woke up after 4 hrs of sleep to drive back home to Brampton in time to open presents with my family. We still do the up at 8am to open stocking and presents because I’ve got two younger brothers and I guess we’re real big on tradition. I’ll admit it, I love it.

For Christmas we have two big days – one for my Dad’s side of the family and one for my Mom’s. My dad’s is a smaller family and Christmas is a bit quieter than the wild one for my mom’s side of the family. Traditions for both are changing since all of my cousins are getting older and either bringing boyfriends and girlfriends or having to miss Christmas for one reason or another.
While sitting around the dinner table (okay, 4 dinner tables pushed together so that most of us can sit together) with my mom’s family, my uncle and I talked about just how special it is that we can do something like this. There are so many of us on that side of the family and we are all able to get together and get along (for the most part) every year for Christmas and Thanksgiving and sometimes a few other times in between. I used to feel so much older and isolated from my more than 20 younger cousins, but now that they are all getting older we all get along so much better and usually stay up later than all the adults catching up and playing drinking games with all the newly legal ones. Christmas is always a nice reminder that another 40 people REALLY love and support me unconditionally and really DO want to know “how school is” or how “that job is going”.

And apart from all the family love and attention comes the gifts. Now that I’m older (read: broke) a lot of my gifts are things that I need or want and can’t afford to buy for myself. Here are some of this year’s highlights (according to me):

My youngest brother was really creative and got me a pass to go snowboarding with him one day this winter. He knows I’ve been complaining that I haven’t gotten to go in 2 years so now I have no excuse AND I have someone to go with 🙂

All in all,  Christmas was a great visit with family. Now bring on next year!!

Posted on January 4, 2011, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

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On Windows PowerShell and other admin-related topics

Bug in Exchange 2010 beta

As I didn`t explore the GUI before making my post about the new beta of Exchange Server 2010 I didn`t notice there is a bug which leads to an error message when using the Exchange Management Console. It displays a few moments after opening the EMC, as well as when trying to click on an item in the navigation tree.

The error looks like this:

Microsoft Exchange
Connecting to remote server failed with the following error message : The WinRM client received an HTTP server error status (500), but the remote service did not include any other information about the cause of the failure. It was running command ‘Discover-ExchangeServer -UseWIA $true’.

I made a post regarding this at the Exchange Server 2010 forums at Microsoft, and Erik Szewczyk gave a quick reply stating this:

“To fix the error open up the IIS Management console and disable anonymous authentication on the PowerShell virtual directory. This is a bug that should be addressed in later builds”

This worked like a charm. In addition when opening the EMC I would recommend you to click on the “Gather Organizational Information” on the right side. It will provide a really nice overview of the Organization, Servers and Recipients:

April 15, 2009 - Posted by | Exchange Server 2010

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Karen’s Story – Papillary Thyroid Cancer Survivor

“When I called Karen to ask her if I could interview her to write about her experience with papillary thyroid cancer, she immediately agreed and we made plans to meet at a local coffee shop. When she mentioned that she had a hysterectomy only 4 days earlier, I tried to postpone the interview because I didn’t want to be the writer who drags a woman out of recovery who had a full thyroidectomy only 11 weeks ago and a hysterectomy less than a week ago. But Karen was adamant about sharing her story. “If I can help someone going through thyroid cancer by sharing my story, that’s very important, and I really want to help. Plus, despite what my doctor’s say I know that my hysterectomy is related to my thyroid disease, and I want to help other women who may be experiencing similar symptoms. ” I was instantly inspired by her altruistic grace and strength.”

Karen’s Statistics

Age at diagnosis: 49

Age today: 49

Thyroid Cancer: Papillary – Stage 2, 3cm

Karen’s Advice to Other Thyroid Cancer Survivors

“There are differences in every doctor’s approach and in every patient’s experience. You are the expert on your own body, trust what your body is telling you, and don’t give up until you get answers. Educate yourself and do your research.  Don’t be afraid to go to other doctors for second opinions. Patience is truly a virtue, but that’s especially true with a total thyroidectomy… slow and steady as you go!”

Karen’s Story

In 2001, I was sitting at my desk at work when I found a lump in my neck. I got the lump biopsied, and the results came back as, “suspicious for thyroid cancer”. I didn’t like that so I went to another endocrinologist for a second opinion and my biopsy came back benign. I liked that diagnosis better!  I was prescribed a daily dose of 100 mcg of Synthroid to prevent the lump from growing. I started a yearly tradition of having my lump biopsied to check for cancer. Every year it came back benign. In 2013, my endocrinologist retired and my new endocrinologist told me to stop taking Synthroid. I felt fine without the medication and went on to live my life.  In 2015, my new endocrinologist’s PA reminded me to have an FNA (Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy) since a couple of years had passed since my last one.  I was experiencing other issues like anxiety, fatigue, unusual allergies, extremely painful menstrual cycles, and sleeplessness.

When I saw the new endocrinologist it became blatantly obvious that there are glaring differences in each doctor’s approach, and I want other patients to know that if they don’t feel comfortable with their doctor that they should absolutely seek out a new one.

For example, when performing my biopsies my first endocrinologist would make my comfort a priority. He had me lay back on a comfortable pillow, put a topical anesthetic on my skin to numb the area before injecting the area with a numbing agent so that I wouldn’t feel the biopsies. He was very thorough, taking 4 biopsies of the lump on my thyroid, one from each quadrant when checking for cancer cells – but I never felt any pain.

But my experience with my new endocrinologist was totally different and painful. When I laid down he just started taking biopsies of my neck without any anesthetic and it hurt. I didn’t want to piss off the guy with the needles pointed at my neck so I asked in my sweetest voice possible, “Just curious, do you ever numb your patients when you perform biopsies?” I was trying to hint at the fact that I was in pain and I would prefer to be numbed, but I don’t think he was picking up what I was putting down.

“No, because that would be sticking the patient with 6 needles instead of just 4 needles. It’s better to do it this way.” He said.

“Better for whom?” I wondered, as I laid there feeling my cells being sucked out of my thyroid.

He had a student doctor and a pathologist in the room. He immediately put my cells on a slide and the pathologist looked at them under a microscope and declared that everything looked good. I didn’t have cancer. But then two days later, his office called and told me that I had thyroid cancer. What?!?!

I didn’t like that diagnosis – I mean who wants to have cancer. Plus, it doesn’t run in my family so to me it was unlikely that I had thyroid cancer. A good friend of mine suggested that I try to see my original endocrinologist for a second opinion. It turned out that although retired, he was working part-time so I went to see him in May of 2016. Under his care it was determined via ultrasound and biopsies that I indeed had thyroid cancer and I needed my thyroid removed.

My thyroidectomy surgery was scheduled to take place only two and half weeks after my diagnosis. I went to a ThyCa support group before my surgery because I was terrified.  Fortunately, the people there raved about my surgeon which made me feel a lot better.

I brought my dear friend with me the day of my surgery and that really helped. She’s had multiple surgeries so she told me stories about her experiences that made me laugh to distract me from my anxiety about having my neck cut open. My surgery was scheduled for 1:30, but it was delayed until 3:30 which was tough because I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since before midnight the night before.

My surgery lasted 4 hours, and when I woke up in my recovery room my friend was still by my side.  She said, “This place is nicer than any hotel room I’ve ever stayed in.” At first I thought she was just trying to make me feel better, but it turned out that I was in the VIP Suite at Rose Medical Center! There were granite countertops, a flat screen TV, a guest suite, and a beautiful mountain view! I later found out that my surgeon had seen that the VIP suite was available and I think she worked some magic that she will neither confirm nor deny. She really is awesome!

I didn’t eat anything that night, but when I woke up in the morning I was starving and it didn’t hurt to swallow so I ate an omelet, fruit, croissant, and drank a cup of coffee. It was hard to move my head and neck which was uncomfortable, and I was very foggy from the anesthesia.  All in all I felt pretty good considering.  My surgeon checked on me at 6am and gave me the best news one could hope for.  The cancer was contained in my thyroid and had not spread to my lymph nodes. Later that day, I was released to go home.

I must admit I almost feel guilty because my surgery and recovery went so well, which I know isn’t the case for everyone. I had my thyroid and 19 lymph nodes removed, and fortunately none of my lymph nodes contained cancer. I didn’t have Radioactive Iodine Treatment because my doctor said that in my case, it could do more harm than good, since exposure to radiation can cause cancer and all of my cancer appears to have been removed surgically. Part of me still wonders if I should get a second opinion on RAI since text book “direction” reads, “ conflicting data”.   However, I do want to share my post-surgery symptoms so that if other’s experience the same, they will know they’re not alone.

My first day home post-surgery I woke up to find that my hands and feet were tingly with pins and needles, and my cheeks went numb. I didn’t know what was going on so I called my surgeon and she told me that I was experiencing hypocalcemia, which is a common side effect after total thyroidectomy surgery. It can take a while for the parathyroid glands to heal and start processing calcium again. She told me to start taking Tums as a calcium supplement and that made my symptoms subside.

I had major brain fog and was very forgetful, and the weird thing about it was that I was totally aware of my own mental deficiencies. I had trouble falling asleep at night, and I would wake up for no reason, like the wind would blow and I’d suddenly be wide awake. I’ve always had some level of anxiety, but my anxiety has increased post thyroidectomy. My joints ache constantly, and my back hurt more than usual. I had horrible constipation. And my hair has turned super dry like straw. Also, when I lean my head back I can’t swallow and I am thirsty all the time, I have dry mouth, and my lungs are wheezy.  I’m currently having TSH, T3, T4, calcium, PTH, and Vitamin D blood work done since I’m not 100% back to “normal” and fear my parathyroid glands are not functioning properly.

It’s been 11 weeks since my thyroid was removed, and I’ve had my dose of Synthroid adjusted several times since then – from 100 mcg to 112 mcg to 125 mcg to 137 mcg to 150 mcg – and now many of the symptoms I described above have subsided and I’m feeling a lot better…well except for the time when my angry uterus tried to murder me. Let’s talk about that!

I’ve always suffered with excessive and painful menstruation. Everything I read online states that thyroid disease can cause irregular periods, but when mine got so extreme post thyroidectomy that I had to have a hysterectomy to prevent me from bleeding to death, my doctor said that the two aren’t related. Um…seriously! Because it really seems like the two are related?! I believe my excessive and chronic menstrual issues are related to my chronic thyroid disease, known as Hashimoto Thyroiditis.

I’ve always had terrible periods, painful cramping, and hemorrhaging – to the point that I’ve wanted to stay home from work because I could barely get out of bed. My menstrual symptoms were so terrible that in 2007 I had laparoscopic endometrial ablation because they thought I had endometriosis. My painful symptoms subsided for a few years, but in 2010 they resurfaced and my doctors recommended that I have a hysterectomy. I didn’t want that, so I had a second round of laparoscopic endometrial ablation. But in 2013, my symptoms returned. The pain was horrific, so my doctor made three tiny incisions in my abdomen and went in with a camera to see what was causing my pain and hemorrhaging.

I was diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition in which endometrial tissue, which normally lines the uterus, exists within and grows into the muscular wall of the uterus. The displaced endometrial tissue continues to act as it normally would by thickening, breaking down and bleeding during each menstrual cycle. It results in an enlarged uterus and painful, heavy periods. The symptoms of adenomyosis tend to worsen over time. I was told by my doctor that the average uterus weighs 70 kg, whereas mine weighed 520 kg. The cause of adenomyosis is unknown.

July 26th was the date my uterus decided to put her murderous plan into play. I woke up hemorrhaging bright red blood, and I passed a huge blood clot. I was scared that I would die alone in my condo of exsanguination, so I got in my car and drove myself to the ER. They put me on drugs (medroxyprogesterone) to stop the bleeding and the next morning an ultrasound showed that I needed an emergency hysterectomy or else I would be in danger of a blood transfusion from blood loss in the near future. My periods had always been bad, but I think my thyroidectomy caused them to become deadly. My hysterectomy was scheduled for August 4th.

I was scared to have a hysterectomy because I thought the doctor would remove my ovaries in addition to my uterus and I didn’t want my hormones to go totally crazy – I mean I’m already down a thyroid! But I was very lucky when it came to my surgeon. He was able to remove my uterus laparoscopically, and he left my ovaries and cervix. So despite the pain of healing from surgery (my pants have been unbuttoned throughout this interview for comfort’s sake) I feel pretty good, and I’m looking forward to never having to have a revenge of the angry uterus period again!

Despite the fear, surgeries, and side effects –  being diagnosed with thyroid cancer has had a positive impact on my life. I’ve started working on my bucket list! I got scuba diving certified and went diving in Cozumel. I’ve been doing lots of volunteer work, and taking Spanish classes. Improv Comedy classes are next on my list as is almost anything else that pushes me out of my comfort zone. I feel like my bravery is increasing every day. I am learning a lot about myself and that is a gift!

For more information about papillary thyroid cancer see: http://www.thyca.org/pap-fol/

For more information about thyroidectomy see: http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/thyroidectomy/basics/definition/prc-20019864

For more information about low calcium levels (hypocalcemia) post thyroidectomy see: http://www.thyca.org/pap-fol/surgery/

For more information about adenomyosis see: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adenomyosis/basics/definition/con-20024740

For more information about hysterectomy see: http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/hysterectomy.html

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Of course it starts in Garland, Texas!

Season’s Eatings!

Christmas and the whole Christian story of the resurrection always makes me think of zombies. I read a lot about how to survive a zombie apocalypse….I found it highly suspect that the movie “Zombieland” began in Garland, Texas….The town where some of my deepest seated fears began. We moved there when I was really little and only lived there for approximately a year,  maybe a year and a half but in that time I was:

  • Electrocuted by crawling under my aunt’s bar and sticking keys into an electrical outlet;
  • Attacked by red ants;
  • Subsequently traumatized by being held down in an ice bath;
  • Told large black people were gorillas after going to the Dallas zoo and being shown the scary gorillas, when we lived in an apartment complex that I believe had 2 other white families besides us (oh yes, thanks passive aggressively racist family, you were my first lesson in needless hate) Pursuant to a family member’s WRONG assumption that this particular anecdote was about them; I would like to strike the above example to save face for them;
  • Pushed down the stairs by my parent’s friend’s daughter wherein I cracked my head open on the rock pad at the bottom;
  • Bitten so hard on the stomach by that girl’s brother that 30 years later I still have the teeth scars;
  • Was consistently put through windows to unlock the doors at people’s houses, including my own (did no one have keys???);
  • Watched “ET”, “Star Wars VI”, “Peter Pan” and “The Wizard of Oz” , truly it is surprising I have never been treated for some sort of neurosis….
  • Had my hair which was tied with some crazy fluffy cotton gauzy ribbon stuff get caught in a box fan;
  • Had my hamster escape and get into my bed, and my mother’s who has a preternatural fear of rodents, on separate nights;
  • Was threatened not to get out of bed in the dark because of “apartment bugs” which bit….turned on the light once to see the biggest roaches ever scatter….I didn’t know what they were until many years later, but i guarantee I never got out of bed after that….;
  • Was told (mind you I was 2-3 years old) about the lady of the lake and the copperhead snakes that were in the water and would kill me where we went swimming;
  • Went to the set of the tv show “Dallas” and was scared sh*tless by the HUGE buffalo there.

This is just off the top of my head. What the hell were my parents doing? Where were they? GEES.

Wow, what got me started on that? Oh yeah. Zombieland at Garland, Texas.

I digress(ed).

So. I think in the event of a zombie apocalypse, I would first seek out the mormon apocalypse pantries to set myself up with food. Hopefully, I would also have amassed enough guns and ammo to outlast the zombie’s starving, but I am not sure how I would fortify my home….I’m thinking that Will Smith in “I am Legend” had the bomb ass set up. Short of that, I don’t think life would be worth living. I may just sacrifice myself. I pray that when the human created (or nature created, for that matter) virus comes and starts turning us into zombies, it will be kind enough to create photophobic zombies and destroy the use of run on sentences.

How will you survive?

Will you sacrifice yourself?

Give up?

Or fight?

Praise the walking dead. Merry Christmas. Hallelujah.

5 responses »

  1. Lol NOT THE RED ANTS!! I still get attacked by those bastards. I also still seem to find myself having to crawl through windows to unlock the door…or maybe I’m just a burglar.

  2. well this is jani’s son not jani but i think one should stock up on food yes but guns and ammo are far more essential also one should no that zombies are sensitive to sound and voices like in most video games i play, (probably cause they just moan and another voice would make them known someone else is there) in left for dead 1 and 2 they were sensitive of fire sound and holy water (a brand of alcohol in the game ) also in resident evil 1 2 3 4 5 6 all the zombie were more zombie in the head then in the flesh like pyramid head and lastly the zombies in dead rising 1 and 2 were slow mindless beast who ate everyone and everything so what do i say get a flame thrower or welding / cutting torch and kill them all plus you’ll need ample amounts of cyanide so cover your bullets for full killing power

  3. Pingback: Student loans: A love/hate relationship « janiswings

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The Present Moment Warrior

I feel like I am in a new arena of my learning. I had a pretty dark winter which is why I did not do much writing. Well I wrote, I just did not publish. This latest period of my life had been interesting though, but I am really hoping I am done with it and moving on. The stasis of depression was too deep.
Up here where I live, we have an abundance of grey days. I work in a grey office with no natural light. I have three incandescent lamps in my office so that I get some semblance of more natural light. I hate fluorescent which is what is predominant. The training rooms are the center most of the building, so they do not have any windows. I go in early so often and there is no daylight and up until recently, I leave in dark when I come home. And the snow is terrible. It is March 30 and it started to snow last night. We have about a foot on the ground and it is to continue all day. It was warm when the precipitation started, so there is a slick of ice on everything. My poor dogs where slipping all over the place and the little one could not get off the deck because the snow is too deep and heavy for her to navigate. backyard 3-30-14
I also have not been feeling the best. I have a condition brought on when I was given massive doses of drugs including steroids and chemo when I first was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. The combination was too much for my right kidney which decided to stop functioning. I was able to heal it some but only have 40% usage and that will be it. It is better than none. But because it is sluggish, it produces stones pretty regularly. Nothing else causes it. There are stones lodged in it that hopefully will never pass as they are too big. My other kidney is just fine and clear. I have gotten to the point where it is just something I live with. I have produced over thirty stones I have captured. For the past couple of weeks, I knew I was in the process of passing a stone as I can feel them traveling. This baby had knives in it.

Kidney stones 3-28-14

Kidney stones 3-28-14

This is my present moment. But I am choosing to find alternative things to focus on and it is making all the difference. Interestingly along with the misery I was subjecting myself to there has been a wonderful current of hope and happiness. I am choosing to focus on that. Yesterday morning I sat outside and listened to the birds. I love that so much. We had a few that were eyeing up the real estate for homes as I have many bird houses. I passed not one, but two kidney stones on Friday night and they were big. The feeling of relief and no pain is marvelous and I am so grateful they are out. It is Sunday and I do not have to go anywhere and hopefully they will have cleaned up the snow and ice more so by tomorrow it will not be hazardous driving. Meanwhile, the dogs and my husband can kick back all day. I have chores but those too are ok because I do not have to go anywhere.

Princess LaLa snoozing

Princess LaLa snoozing

Village plows

Village plows

I am beginning to define my present moment as what is good in it, not what is wrong. It is a challenge when I am so used to being negative. My brain automatically turns to that and I must recode and process differently. In all my reading I found out that being negative is quite normal. We are preprogrammed for that to keep us safe. I just went too far with it. Not that I caused it. But understanding all this created such a sense of relief and release of guilt and shame that allowed me to move on. I also know that it is fine to embrace the sad and disappointment of life too. There has to be balance with expression from both ends of the spectrum. It is ok to be upset, sad and even angry if you know there is another end of the pole to reach. Until I had all the pieces of the puzzle there was no way I would have been able to put things together.
I understand so much more now. I understand I had to face a lot of junk from my past in order to understand my present moment. But it is not what defines me. The old voices are wrong, the people who choose to see me in only one light are wrong. But I do not have to prove anything to anyone any longer. (Could I say any anymore?) You could not have told me this two years ago or even a month ago. I had to reach this on my own.
I am congratulating myself and saying one more thing. It is not original, others have said this to me and I did not believe them. I am certainly no wimp. I am a warrior. And I am getting stronger and braver every day.

2 thoughts on “The Present Moment Warrior

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Day Fifty

The weekend studies were great! Sunday’s was especially touching to me, because I have a dear child that is running from God and, my husband and I have felt at times (during the toughest times) just like the father in Mark 9:22 – – “…If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” But in vs. 23, “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” And vs. 24 “…and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” I got a wonderful blessing. I called my mother and read it to her and cried some more. I didn’t know if she had read her study yet, so I was blessed again by sharing it with her. I know I’m supposed to be on Monday’s, but I had to encourage you, if you haven’t had time to read yesterday’s you might want to back track. You will be encouraged! (Angie, I think I chased a little rabbit here, but he did come in my yard- hope that was okay.? Sis- I love you the mostest!)

Scripture Text: Luke 9:46-48

In vs.46 the disciples were thinking “who was the greatest?” Kind of sounds elementary doesn’t it? (I’m bigger than you are!) The truth is everyone wants to be well thought of, but to think one is greater in God’s kingdom is different by the worldly standards. Money, fame, glamour, personality, etc… – these are all the world’s qualifications. Holding a child, in vs. 48, Jesus expressed the qualifications of being the greatest. How humbled they must have felt. He read their thoughts. (He’s pretty good at this if you didn’t know, after all, He knows our heart’s intent.)

Comparisons- I’m sure we all have been guilty of this one. Example: (High School Reunion)”I hope I don’t look as old as her.” or “By the size of the rock on her finger, looks like they are the wealthiest.” Maybe at church we say, “I wish I could sing, as good as, her.” Maybe at work we think, “I wonder if the boss knows I work harder than her?” The disciples maybe thought, “Maybe I’m closer to the Master, because after all, He chose me first,” or one of them might have thought, “I’m the greatest disciple, because I read the law three times a day, and give Jesus a place to stay every time He’s in town.” What if they even voiced, “The Master is closer to me, because He sits by me at the table,” or “I should be president of our discipleship club, because I’ve been with Him the longest.” I could go on and on – my mind is really clicking, but Christ does not like this attitude. Before long, if this attitude is not squelched it leads to envy and strife. James 3:16 says: “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

Lord, cleanse my every thought. I want to make it in the Pearly Gate and I don’t care if I’m the doorkeeper or the floor sweeper, I just want to make it in. (now sisters, I might have to just write that one down, it kinda rhymed)

In our devotion today, Beth talked about the Lord helping her continually to rid her life of the “self-stuff,” and she named so many: “self-exaltation, self-righteousness, self-will, self-pity, self-absorption”, etc….. Man, she stepped on my toes and sprung my ankle! Allow me to quote along with Beth, Luke 9:23 ….”If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Friends, may your day be blessed and filled with His presence. Come back tomorrow to see what Angie’s going to say about Day 51 and those “Blasted Unbelievers.”

Dear Lord, thank you for this time with you. Thank you for loving us. Allow your Holy Spirit to nudge our heart when our thoughts are not pleasing to you. Forgive us for all the times we have not been in line with you. Truly, we all want to draw closer to you or we wouldn’t be doing this study today. Fill our mind with pure thoughts. Clear the clutter and sweep out the cob webs, and speak to us again. Please show us every area you want us to polish up. We’ve all been busy Father, (it’s the day we live in) but help us steal enough time away with you to hear you whisper to our hearts today. In Christ Jesus’ name- – Amen.

Close your eyes, just for a moment, to pause and listen to what He is saying today ………………..

Keeping the Faith,

About Angie Knight

On a journey with purpose, with my best friend and love of my life--as we serve the LORD anyway we can! View all posts by Angie Knight

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Posts for Holistic Health

Your Body on Rosemary – Brain Strong, Heart in Motion & Gut Strong

December 8, 2017 Leave your thoughts

The Rosemary Effect You can’t help but be transported to an herb field, with wide open spaces allowing you to breathe better and think clearer. It has a distinct scent that almost everyone can recognize. When you see it, you feel compelled to rub the leaves immediately and sniff your fingers. It is a staple in the kitchen, in most herb gardens, and serves as an herbal Christmas tree during the holidays. The Rosemary Brain Rosemary has been labeled as one of the main brain herbs. I love rosemary not only to enhance my physical circulation (vein health), but to get... View Article

Get a Running Start to A Stronger YOU in 2018!

Get a Running Start to A Stronger YOU in 2018!

December 8, 2017 Leave your thoughts

Let’s hit the ground running to welcome the new year. This is the year you focus on YOU! Whether you make weekly appointments for self-care, take monthly “personal days” or plan a quarterly weekend getaway. Take time to personally assess your health – head to toe and inside to out. You do maintenance on your car right?  Well, your body is your main vehicle. Your main transportation. Time to check is and self-assess. How are you doing? If your body could talk to you, what would it say? What is working great? These body functions you want to keep and... View Article

Essential Oil Scent Contamination

December 7, 2017 Leave your thoughts

That’s MY Oil Did you know there is such a thing as essential oil contamination? I was recently at an event sharing the benefits of essential oils, and letting attendees smell and connect with the different scents. One lady came up to me and told me how much she loves essential oils. She then excitedly grabbed the bottle out of my hand, opened the lid and placed her fingers over the orifice reducer top to “shake it up” (you do not need to shake up your essential oils in this manner).  She then proceeded to dab the orifice reducer top... View Article

Take Charge! Earn Your Professional Holistic Aromatherapy Certification from JennScents Aromaversity!

November 30, 2017 Leave your thoughts

Why Become a Certified Professional Holistic Aromatherapist? Being educated and skilled in what you do can help you help your family and others with ease and confidence. There is much to know about essential oil therapies, properties, benefits and uses, as well as how to properly and effectively integrate them with botanicals, tinctures, flower essences and other medicinal remedies. Becoming a certified professional aromatherapy will give you the training and knowledge you need to accurately employ essential oils and aromatherapy practices, along with practice sessions to develop, improve and enhance your blending skills.  You will have the opportunity to learn how... View Article

JennScents Holiday Stress Management Tips – Aromatherapitized

November 30, 2017 Leave your thoughts

Who doesn’t need a little extra help managing their holiday stress?  I don’t see any hands. We all need love, support and reminders to help take care of ourselves, as we take care of others in our life. And wouldn’t it be great to add in some nice, pleasing scents to activate our mind, make us feel better and more motivated? Mediation Scents Meditation is a practice to calm and quiet the mind, bringing it to a greater consciousness of awareness and being. Having a profound effect on our health of the body, mind, heart and gut. When the body... View Article

A Stressed Mind Can Lead to A Stressed Body, and Vice Versa

November 29, 2017 Leave your thoughts

When you don’t feel good, it is hard to be motivated, inspired, empowered and confident. It is easy sometimes to fall into the misery trap, and not be able to see or think clearly, or positively. A stressed mind can cause a stressed body, and vice versa. Finding ways to connect and strengthen your inner power, can help you stand up in your own personal power. Having tools to get you back on your feet, moving forward and living freely. Developing the ability to conquer your dreams, goals and “to do” list with courage, joy, appreciation and gratitude, is essential.... View Article

Feelings of Self-Worth is Often Overlooked

November 9, 2017 Leave your thoughts

Self-worth is a powerful emotion that can drive you up, or force you down. A healthy state of feeling worthy can propel you forward in life. It can inspire your dreams, fuel your creativity and invigorate your spirit. You can accomplish anything when you are confident, supported, secure in who you are, what you want, and where you want to go. It’s like the old expression, “an object in motion stays in motion”. When you are surrounded by positivity, it fuels your own positivity, which then infects others around you with positivity. Therefore, positivity keeps paying forward. Until something stops... View Article

Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice This Holiday Season

November 8, 2017 Leave your thoughts

Bringing Comfort & Joy ‘Tis the season to add some spice in your life. The weather is cooler, stress management is in full gear and some tummy nurturing is much needed (or will be needed). Who can you call to be your “stress extinguisher”? Cinnamon!  I call cinnamon essential oil, a “hug in a bottle”.  It brings comfort, stability, feelings of safety and security, warms the heart and provokes self love. The holidays are a time to celebrate, but for some, it can be a lonely, sad and stressful time. Time to spice up your life, or help spice up... View Article

Using Aromatherapy for Self-Nourishment & Adrenal Fatigue

October 18, 2017 Leave your thoughts

Think about how many times during the day you help someone else. Now think about how many times during the day, you help yourself. Or take a 10-15 break, without any technology, just to do some deep breathing, walk around the block or nurture yourself. In most cases, you have a double digit number next to helping others. And you probably have a 0 or 1 next to helping yourself. Well, it’s time for self-nourishment aromatherapy! THE BANK OF YOU Start thinking of yourself as a bank. The bank of YOU – YOUbank, an Emotional bank, a Mind-Body Bank, whatever... View Article

Our Gut: The Worrier

October 16, 2017 Leave your thoughts

Where Do You Feel Your Emotions Did you know that each organ has an emotional counterpart? When you are experiencing a physical ailment, think about what emotions coincide with that body part. We hold the emotion of worry in the gut or gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Anger in the liver. Grief in the lungs. Fear in the kidneys. Not feeling supported is in the bones. Ailments in the front of the body have to do with moving forward. Ailments in the back of the body have to do with letting go of something from the past. Right now, I want you... View Article

JennScents VIRTUAL Custom Aromatherapy Blending Bar

October 13, 2017 Leave your thoughts

Creating Personalized Blends to Match Your Mind-Body Health Needs We are excited to be one of the first to offer a Virtual Aromatherapy Custom Blending Bar experience. I began my aromatherapy custom blending bar in 2002, at a local herb shop in my hometown. There was nothing like it and it really happened by accident. It started out with me visiting the shop frequently as I was working on regaining my health. I then came every day and talked with people when they came into the store. I shared that I made me an Intestinal Soother to calm my bowels... View Article

Essential Oils and EMF Protection

October 11, 2017 Leave your thoughts

I was recently asked if there is an essential oil that helps with EMF (electromagnetic field) protection. Antioxidants have been scientifically shown to be very beneficial with EMF protection. All 100% pure essential oils possess antioxidant properties, in addition to many other health supporting properties such as anti-inflammatory, antiviral, immune boosting, nervine, etc. They each have varying Hertz frequencies, which generate energetic protection by increasing the body’s Hz to combat the incoming stimuli. When you look at the effects that EMF’s have on immune system suppression, blood cell functions and health and cellular communication, you can see that essential oils... View Article


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To complete my major project I felt like I needed a big piece of impact graphics. A lot of my design work focus on the small details that require people to look close, but for this I wanted the impact to hit people from a far.

After researching traditional design styles I came across the idea of using the sign painting. Using one of the quotes my Dad said, the typographic piece would have more gravitas and meaning.

"Some people just don't Understand
not because they don't care
they just can't see it all"
Hand Painting The Words
Timelapse Video
This part of my project was designed with the potential in mind for it to be used in real situations, as doctors surgeries have the potential to be re-imagined in a way that is more impactful and meaningful to the patients always visiting. The signs could contain the real thoughts of people and be designed in a way that makes people think differently about long term illness and be more willing to talk about it.
Completed Design
In Degree Space
Close Ups
Back to Top


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One of my favorite things (okay, the only favorite thing) about Sarah Palin is her beautiful hair. So perhaps it's only fitting that her hair salon, the Beehive, should get its own two-part reality show.

The name: "Big Hair Alaska." TLC, which declined to renew the roguester's own reality show, will air the two part series in September. Weirdly, their announcement was cagey about the Palin connection, according to Reuters:

The identity of the salon was not revealed in a news release sent out last week by TLC. The release simply said the show "goes inside a busy hair salon in Wasilla, Alaska, where the personalities of the owner and her staff are as big as the hairstyles they create."

With all respect to the sartorial traditions of Wasilla, we're going to guess it's not a coincidence that this salon of all salons is being spotlighted. But maybe the reason Palin was left out of the announcement is because her brand has declining marketplace value, at least when it comes to the media business. Beyond the unrenewed show, a recent documentary lionizing her had a widely-mocked box office gross of $112,078. Though her first book did well, the more recent one tanked.

Surely we can blame this on the lamestream media, somehow. But at least she's always have Facebook.

Palin's Alaska Hair Salon Gets Own Reality Show [Reuters]


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Are you bored at home in the suburbs because you've already eaten your parents' stash of fancy crackers and watched every decent movie On Demand? Why not have some no-strings-attached holiday sex to pass the time? Let us help you orchestrate that.

1. Select a partner(s).

You can't have holiday break sex by yourself (I mean, you could, but that involves significantly less planning and then you wouldn't need this crucial guide), so first you have to decide who you're going to invite back to your pink canopied bed with the Lisa Frank dolphin stickers still stubbornly stuck to the headboard.

Write down the names of all of your exes who are also home for the holidays and whom you do not despise/still have complicated feelings for. You should also include a few would-be paramours: what about that babely friend you always had a crush on in high school but figured was way too cool for you because you were an insecure teen? Look at you now! You're so cool. Also, chances are he is still living at home and blogging part-time for his mom's website. The playing field has likely leveled in your favor.

Get to work figuring out if the people on your list are still single by utilizing Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/your most gossipy childhood friends. For clarity's sake, let's pretend you've narrowed the list down to Steve, the dude you hooked up with for a few weeks the summer after your sophomore year of college when you were both working at American Apparel. God, that summer sucked. But Steve looked super cute in Triblend!

Now you have to figure out a way to ask Steve to hang out without making your intentions pathetically obvious, because you don't want to be creepy if he's not down, but you do want to be clear enough so that he will know you're down, if he is also down. This takes skill.

No, not really. Send him this text/email/Facebook message:

Heeey Steve. How are you doing? I haven't been home in forever* and just [came across an old photo of us wearing matching neon headbands/thought about that time we got high in the stock room/remembered when we caught our manager jerking off to leotard ads in the bathroom/etc.]** Are you around?*** You should give me a call if so!

*Lie. You were home a few weeks ago, for Thanksgiving, but that was before you got dumped.
**Probably a lie.
***Lie. You know exactly where he is, probably thanks to the same social media site you are using to reach him. But it's more fun to pretend!

2. Pick a meet-up spot.

Why not ask Steve to meet you at one of the local bars that didn't know existed when you actually lived in the area? There could be some awesomely divey ones just down the block. Or you could take him to one of your old make out spots from high school and then giggle nostalgically about old memories, which can now lead to new ones! Sample anecdote: "Once I got a curfew ticket for hanging out here after 10 p.m.!" (Feel free to borrow that one if you weren't a rebel like me who hung out at skate parks in the San Fernando Valley.)

3. Seal the deal.

This is where you drop whatever advantages your childhood home has to offer. Does your dad have a great stash of medical marijuana? Did your mom make chocolate chip cookies from scratch? Do you own a Nintendo 64?

Hopefully you remembered to hide anything embarrassing in advance: awkward camp photos, Rent posters, an old pair of RocketDog platform sandals.

Also, make sure you have condoms that aren't from high school because those are most definitely expired.

4. Get them out in the morning.

Last night was great! Or, alternately, maybe you forgot that Steve thinks hickeys are the sexiest, talks in his sleep, and has Tupac's face tattooed on his very pale bicep. Either way, you probably need to get him out of your place without drawing that much attention to yourself, because it will be awkward if your father runs into Steve while he's walking down the hallway in a very old robe that shows a tad too much of his boxer briefs for comfort. (Your dad, that is, not Steve.)

Have a getaway plan. Is there a back entrance? A window? A doggie door? Remember to turn the alarm off as you silently push Steve out of your family abode with a kiss and a promise to let him know the next time you're back in town. Yeah, right.

Got any more tips? Let us know.

Image via Paul Matthew Photography/Shutterstock.


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James McPherson's Media & Politics Blog

Observations of a patriotic progressive historian, media critic & former journalist

  • By the author of The Conservative Resurgence and the Press: The Media’s Role in the Rise of the Right and of Journalism at the End of the American Century, 1965-Present. A former journalist with a Ph.D. in journalism, history and political science, McPherson is a past president of the American Journalism Historians Association and a board member for the Northwest Alliance for Responsible Media.

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Open letter to ‘journalist’ Michael Webster

Posted by James McPherson on June 17, 2010

Mr. Webster:

I am writing because, particularly as a journalism professor, I am troubled by the inaccuracy of an article you wrote this week, an article that, combined with a similarly misleading Fox News story, got quite a bit of attention in the conservative blogosphere. During the past couple of days I have made it a point to go to a number of conservative websites that have quoted from or repeated your piece or the Fox report, but of course I cannot know them all–and naturally, some of them are unwilling to run comments that contradict their opinions, anyway.

You call yourself an “investigative journalist,” yet it seems you did little or no investigation when it came to a report that happened to correspond with your political bias. For your June 14 piece titled, “The U.S. Gov: giving parts of Arizona back to Mexico,” you quoted some odd “reliable informant known to us as ‘Duck Hunter,” yet apparently didn’t even bother to pick up a phone to check with park officials.

As a result, you and Fox (though since neither of you is particularly good about attribution I can’t tell if one of you picked it up from the other, or if “Duck Hunter” served as the initial source for both)–published misleading articles based on a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service report that came out in October 2006. For context, you’ll remember that was when George W. Bush was president and when John McCain–the senior senator of Arizona, the state you’re writing about–opposed a fence on the Mexican border.

By the way, if you had bothered to risk a less dramatic story by sending an email or making a phone call, you might have found out the same thing that another generally conservative writer did, after he was embarrassed by the Fox News report. Quoting a park source:

“The news coverage is out of proportion and a great misunderstanding. The Fish & Wildlife Service is working to correct the situation. We were not consulted about the television or other coverage.

“The refuge is open as always.  Erroneous information came out on Fox News and this has led to expansion of misinformation in Web blogs.

“The southernmost half-mile of the refuge has been closed to the public and refuge staff since 2006 so that Border Patrol can be unimpeded in their patrols. It also helps ensure public safety to not be in that area right along the border, just in case. There is less immigrant traffic along the southern boundary of the refuge now as a result of the 12-foot fence.  There is some drug traffic in the mountains to the east of the refuge.  But we are seeing fewer impacts from immigrant traffic than before the fence.

“The closure involves 3500 acres, which is 0.02% of the refuge.  The remainder of the refuge’s 118,000 acres is open to the public . . . . Hiking, camping, bird-watching, hunting . . . as usual.   The refuge is definitely open and no additional closures have been instituted since 2006.    Likewise the Arivaca Lake and Ruby Road areas are open as always. … You’re welcome to visit!”

You can see that full report here.

I honestly do not know why your pieces are so widely repeated, but, judging by your vita, I know that you take pride in the attention your work receives. I hope you also take enough pride in your work to print the clarification that is clearly in order.

James McPherson

Next day update: I sent the letter above via email to Webster yesterday before I posted it here. So far I haven’t heard back from him either via email or via my blog, nor has he apparently responded publicly elsewhere. But the moderator for one of the sites that carried his column reports the following today:

I have had some communication from Michael Webster regarding this article. His position is that he stands behind every word he has written.

The issue as to whether or not Fox news reported this or didn’t….is not relative to Mr. Webster’s writing, in our opinion.

The article is Mr. Websters view of this situation.

My response, on that same site:

I have no problem with his opinion, of course, just with his distortion of facts and his laziness or carelessness in not following up with other sources–egregious behavior for someone claiming to be an “investigative journalist.” In fact, apparently in part because of his behavior, the park now has the correct info prominently posted on the front page of its website.

5 Responses to “Open letter to ‘journalist’ Michael Webster”

  1. mcauleysworld said

    UPDATE: From the official website of the U.S. Fish & Wild Life Service 06/16/2010
    Visit a landscape of rippling grassland flanked by mountains, and riparian zones rich in bird life. Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge provides approximately 118,000 acres of habitat for threatened and endangered plants and animals. The semidesert grassland supports the reintroduction of masked bobwhite quail and pronghorns.

    Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge Remains Open

    June 2010
    Recently there were reports in the news stating that the Buenos Aries National Wildlife Refuge was closed. This information is not correct. In early 2006, a small section of land (about 3% of the refuge) along the border was closed to visitation. However, no new restrictions are in place and the majority of the refuge remains open. Today, we are seeing a decline in violent activity in the southern most area thanks to ongoing cooperation between the US Fish and Wildlife Service and US Customs and Border Protection. The Refuge will reopen the lands along the border at such time that it is determined to be safe for visitors.

    McAuleysWorld: Let me see, “The Refuge will reopen the lands along the border at such time that it is determined to be safe for visitors” means the lands are in fact, still closed. Unless you are using some type of new math, 3% of 118,000 acres equals 3540 acres. Please note that the “Federal Fish & Wildlife Service” is in agreement with the Secretary of Homeland Security who claims the border has never been safer, well actually the Fish and Wildlife staff just say it is relatively safere, but not safe enough to reopen the “closed” section of the park. On the other hand the County Sheriff, as reported above, has a significantl;y different take.

    You can decide.

  2. James McPherson said

    Thanks for the comment. Any opinion on Webster’s (and/or Fox’s) sloppiness or intent to mislead?

  3. minutewoman1776 said

    “Journalist” James McPherson:

    I can’t help but notice that throughout your letter, you mention that Mr. Webster only checked with his source ‘Duck Hunter’, but not with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. I am curious as to how you know this to be true, then state it as fact when you, by your own admission, have not spoken with Mr. Webster. Because Mr. Webster did not copy and paste the canned response you received, does NOT prove there was no attempt by Mr. Webster. In my opinion, this makes you guilty of doing the same thing you accuse Mr. Webster of, “little or no investigation,” when it comes to proving YOUR point.

    Additionally, what response do you expect from the Dept.? We all know that this would not be the first time a governmental organization presented one thing to the public, when practice was actually very different.

    Finally, your, so-called, ‘open letter’ is, CLEARLY, nothing more than the lame attempt of a “journalism teacher” hoping to lure some of the followers/fans of a widely known, followed, and respected Investigative Journalist like Michael Webster, to his own blog. This “advertorial” is not free in most publications. I am sure, if you really wanted to draw on some of Mr. Webster’s fans, he would have no problem selling you advertising space on one of his many websites.

    In closing, only one thing comes to mind:

    Those who can, do. Those who can’t… Well, you get the point.

  4. James McPherson said

    Heather, sorry for the slow response; I’ve been out of town.

    “I am curious as to how you would know this to be true.”

    I’m actually giving Webster the benefit of the doubt, assuming he’s just careless or lazy and not a blatant liar.

    “does not mean there was no attempt by Mr. Webster”

    True, but any responsible and credible journalist would have noted making an attempt, even if it was unsuccessful.

    “Additionally, what response do you expect from the Dept.?”

    Perhaps the one they apparently gave everyone else?

    “We all know that this would not be the first time a governmental organization presented one thing to the public, when practice was actually very different.”

    Yes, but what would be the point in this case? Your conspiracy-theorist tendancies are showing.

    “Those who can, do. Those who can’t… Well, you get the point.”

    Indeed I do. And in fact I was a journalist for years, writing for publications with a much wider readership than these blogs have. In fact, there is little to be gained from the limited coatjails of any blogger or pseudo-journalist, and if you’d read more than the “letter” on my blog, you’d see that I have virtually nothing to gain from doing so.

    I do find it interesting that Webster apparently chooses not to defend his own work in this case, even on his own self-promoting blogs. I’m sure he appreciates your efforts, though. Thanks for the comment.

  5. […] July 22, 2010 · Leave a Comment Talk about the blind leading the blind. Or dumb and dumber. Paul Babeu, the Arizona sheriff most famous for posing as a “border sheriff” in John McCain’s goofy “complete the danged fence” ad, apparently gets his own information from… wait for it … Michael Webster. […]

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Out of Order

Out of order

The door is covered in paper, but the light is on inside.
A white piece of paper held to the window with a single yellow strip of tape.
Out of order, it says.
Up and down, up and down.
Forward and back, forward and back.
Ears covered but noises abound.
Forward with the words, backward with the melody.
Suddenly more resistance, suddenly less.
Constant motion, willing it to stop.
Cold and hard in hand.
Around and around and around.
Going somewhere, but going where?
Beating faster, seeing darker.
Brighter suddently, seeking attention.
Concentration limited, refocused.
Inside, seeing what?
A sign taped over the door.
The door, covered in paper.
Out of order.

Stop Bullying.

It may not be the primary cause of the day but it should be a focus of each of us every day: stop bulling. Now. It happens in schools and in neighborhoods and at camps and in the workplace. It matters. Please share.

Journey of the Dreamer

Journey of the Dreamer

All black, yet still he sees.
Images flashing through his mind, a smile upon his lips.
All around, there is a buzzing but he hears it not.
Music plays in his ears.

Haze lifts, transforms into white and gray cotton-ball looking
Clouds rise up, blue skies appear
Pure blue into the horizon where the sun brightly

As the world moves by, thoughts move
The future.

Ideas pervasive.
Opportunities endless.

Shaking slightly, sometimes more.
May be present but maybe distracted.
Happily perpetual motion.
Brightly. In the eyes.
Lines distorted, forward.
On the journey.

Not The Same

Look up.
Open your eyes.
To the beauty and variety of nature.
Differences that complement one another.
And create the whole.
A better place.

The Special People In Our Lives

I haven’t posted anything in a while. I do want to share what was on a recent birthday card from my Grandma. This is certainly true of the special people in my life –

The Special People in Our Lives

by Emily Matthews

The things special people
just naturally do
Make all our lives brighter
and happier, too –
It might be the warmth of a welcoming smile,
Or the time someone takes
just to visit awhile…
It might be a hug
or a heart-to-heart talk,
A companion who’s willing
to go for a walk…
It might be a favor,
a kind, helping hand,
A listening ear,
the words, “I Understand.”
They’re little things,
but we know beyond doubt
Each one’s at the heart
of what life’s all about.

I Close My Eyes And Smile

I close my eyes and smile.
Not because something amazing just happened.
Just because.
Just because I was thinking.
I was thinking about what makes me happy.

I close my eyes and smile.
You see, I was looking at old pictures.
Old memories.
Old memories of meaningful times in my life.
I was thinking about the people who are important to me.

I close my eyes and smile.
I hear music from my earphones playing softly.
Playing meaningfully.
Playing meaningfully through these memories.
I was thinking about how our senses are intertwined with memories.

I close my eyes and smile.
Not because someone just did something extraordinary.
Just because.
Just because they were, they are.
I was thinking about what makes me smile.

The Station: A Poem

Trains come rumbling through the station all day.
Nearby, roads are crumbling under tires.
Black locomotives glow from the sun’s ray.
Smoke fills the air blown by the coal fires.
Inside, the clink clank of change in machines;
A man waits on the chair, tears in his eyes,
Dressed in a flannel shirt and baggy jeans.
Dragging paper bags, he thinks of the lies.
So long ago he was sent to the street,
Left with nothing but the clothes on his back.
Never had money or enough to eat.
Ready for change he looks out to the track.
Black smoke rises, it won’t be a while.
Taken aback, he’s greeted with a smile.

The Circle Game

I was going through old files with my Grandma today and came across the lyrics to one of my favorite camp songs: The Circle Game.  I always enjoyed this song and now that I have rediscovered it, I find it to be relevant again, just at a different part of the circle.

Yesterday, a child came out to wander
Caught a dragonfly inside a jar
Fearful when the sky was full of thunder
And tearful at the falling of a star

And the seasons they go ’round and ’round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

Then, the child moved ten times ’round the seasons
Skated over ten clear frozen streams
Words like, “When you’re older”, must appease him
And promises of someday make his dreams

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now
Cartwheels turn to car wheels through the town
And they tell him, “Take your time. It won’t be long now.
‘Til you drag your feet to slow the circles down”

And the seasons they go ’round and ’round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There’ll be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through.

And the seasons they go ’round and ’round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return, we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and ’round and ’round
In the circle game
And go ’round and ’round and ’round in the circle game.

Don’t Quit

My Grandma shared this poem with me.  Someone gave it to her when my Grandpa was sick.  I like it a lot:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will; when the road you’re trudging seems all up hill;
When the funds are low and the debts are high; and you want to smile, but you have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must – but don’t quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns, as everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up; though the pace seems slow – you might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than it seems to a faint and faltering man.
Often the struggler has given up, when he might have captured the victor’s cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down, how close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out – the silver tint of the clouds of doubt –
And you never can tell how close you are, it may be near when it seems afar.
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit – it’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

Poetry Category

I have added a new “category” to my blog for poetry.  I used to love creative writing, but over the last few years have been doing it less and less.  I enjoy the ability to express myself through words and develop meaning through imagery.  While life is as busy now as ever, it may well be a good time to start positing some of my old poems and begin composing new ones.  I will occasionally post works by other authors and will, of course, note these as such.

I think I will enjoy this.  I hope you will as well.