Would $6 change your life?

A man named Alec Brownstein has managed to change his life with $6. As a man on the job hunt, Alec chose a very creative way to market himself to creative directors over the Internet. An admitted self googler, Mr. Brownstein bought the rights to some of his favorite directors and paid $.15 a click to add a link when their names were googled. He chose "Hey, (creative directors name) googling yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too." And then he posted a link to his web site alecbrownstein.com
He was contacted by all but one of the directors he did this to and was eventually hired by two of them.

Pretty amazing if you ask me! I am definitely impressed that he would think of something so cool. It also seems as though it paid off for him and gave him 15 minutes of fame at the same time.

I am not as creative as this gentleman, in fact I can't really think of anyone I know who is this creative! I say he deserves all the notoriety he can get and if those companies who hired him don't treat him well, there will be another in line to hire him from now on. Imagine what he could do for your business is he was in charge of marketing??

My first 5K

On May 15th, myself and plenty of others will be running (or walking) in a 5K event for the Joplin Family YMCA. The event is in honor of our Armed Forces, and is open to anyone member or non who would like to sign up.

I am running to honor my Grandfather, who was in the Navy in WWII. I have never ran (or walked) in an organized 5K before, so this is a very exciting event for me. 5K is actually just over 3 miles, so it isn't as bad as it sounds.

In the spirit or the day, I have recruited several other people to run with me. So far I have 7 other first timers willing to chug along with me on this early May morning. They are all pretty excited too. We will not be among the first to cross the finish line, but we will finish!

I read that most marathoners are most excited about the t shirt you get for finishing, and I must admit that proudly sporting a finishing 5K and then hopefully a half marathon and eventually a full marathon (26.2 miles!!) is definitely a motivating factor for me!

Intimate Body Scanning

An Miami airport security guard has been arrested for assaulting another guard. The source of the scuffle can be traced back to the body scanner used in security screening. Apparently, the guard who was assaulted taunted his attacker repeatedly about the size of his personal body parts. He saw these parts on the image from the body scanner. Civil liberty and privacy issues are coming to light over how closely the images show the body of people being scanned. The images are deleted and never recorded once the person being searched leaves the scanner.

I was concerned when I read this story. I did not know that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) used technology that was this intense. It is almost scary to think that you can be viewed this closely without even knowing it. I understand the need for increased security measures, but I am also a modest person who doesn't exactly fancy the idea of being naked in public...even if it is a simulated image.

I think this story is very sad. For someone to violently attack another is inexcusable. That being said, I can also see how humiliating it could be for a co worker to basically see you naked and to have to be tormented because of it is not only an invasion of privacy, but inexcusable as well. There will be no happy ending in this case, that's for sure.

Another flight disturbed by threats

In addition to the recent blog I wrote about the man who sprayed water on fellow passengers en route to his destination, another man has decided to freak out during flight. This time, Derek Stansberry, was on board a flight from Paris, France to Atlanta, Georgia and told the flight crew that he had a bomb in his backpack and was going to press the detonator device and blow up the plane. He later said he had taken 8 Ambien tablets and that is why he said those untrue things. He later said he only took one tablet. Two Doctors were consulted in the article and both agreed that Mr. Stansberry was probably not influenced to say those things because he said them in the context of where he was in real time and that is not consistent with Ambien side affects.

This story is not very original. To blame your actions on someone or something else is taking the easy way out.

Whoa. This is an unfortunate side effect of a medicated America. If there weren't so many different medications out there, it is possible that people who make terrorist threats wouldn't have a medication to blame it on. Or, he would probably just try to blame it on something else.

Possible new pet

My beloved dog of 14 years, Gizmo, was the best pet I could have asked for. He became very disoriented in his last year and also had a lot of arthritis pain. I made the choice to have him put to sleep because I loved him enough to want to release him from his pain. It was a very hard decision and one that I struggled with for a long time. The vet was so kind and made the process a lot easier to deal with. They even made a paw print in clay for me to take home. We buried him on our land so that he will always be near.

It has been a few months and I am considering adopting a dog. I am torn about what to do because I almost feel as though I would be "replacing" Gizmo, and that's not what I want to do. If I did get a new pet, it would be because I want to love it and give it a great life.

My sister has a miniature poodle/bichon mix that she has had for about two years. Her name is Gracie and she is so full of energy and love. My nieces and nephew are all young and not able to care for her on their own. Lately my sister has been talking about giving her away and I would love to have her! I think she would love living on the farm and I can give her all the attention she deserves.

Now the only thing I have to do is talk Ryan into it...

Morbid motorcycle rider

As sad as death is, a family in Puerto Rico has found a very memorable way to honor their recently deceased family member. 22 year old David Morales Colon was the victim of a shooting last Thursday, April 22nd and his family chose to have him embalmed and posed on his beloved motorcycle during his 3 day wake. He was placed in the cruising position bearing down on the engine and is wearing street attire with a hat and sunglasses. Critics are speaking up about whether this is what the deceased would have wanted.

When I first read this story it was hard to believe it was true, but after seeing the video feed and researching it a little more I found the story to be true. I am happy that the family was able to "honor" Mr. Colon's memory in a way they felt would represent him. I am a little shocked at the way they chose to do it, though.

When you lose someone, it is a very hard process. If you can ease the pain even just a tiny bit by showing them in a way that you feel fits them, then who is anyone to judge? Mr. Colon was buried in a traditional casket at the conclusion of his wake, so really the only thing out of the ordinary about this situation is the manner in which the family chose to portray him during the wake itself. While researching, I found another story about the same funeral home, in which the family chose to have their loved one standing up. My only concern is where will this end? After all, the dead are not puppets that can just be manipulated to entertain.

I would like the firing squad, please

Ronnie Lee Gardner, a death row inmate in the state of Utah will soon get his wish. He is choosing to be put to death by a 5 man firing squad. The law has changed since then that does not allow future inmates to choose death in this manner, but since this man had already chosen it, he can still be put to death this way. He was convicted in 1985 of killing an attorney. The last inmate to choose this method was in 1996.

I am kind of weirded out that someone would have to choose the manner in which they are executed. I naively believed that the only method that still existed is lethal injection.


I guess this inmate wants to go out with a bang.