CLASSES & JOBS

There once was a bug in the bathroom. I named it Hippity Hop. It was some kind of grasshopper. It scared the living heebee-geebies out of me! I was at work, went to the restroom, went in one of two stalls and there was Hippity Hop, in all his black and evil glory, perched right beside the garbage can! I swear he was looking right into my eyes!

So since he was sitting right next to the garbage can (and I knew this garbage can had a bit of space underneath the round can, don’t ask me how I know), I quickly picked up the can and he slid right under it!! Perfect!

The rest of the day and the entire next day, I kept a watchful eye to see if he had gotten loose from his cage. Well, two days later, I went to use the same restroom and when I was at the sink washing hands, I could see a slight movement from the corner of my eye -down on the floor next to the larger wastebasket in the restroom. So I peered down and, sure enough, there he was! He had been moving his itty-bitty antennae around for me to notice him. So what do you think I did? For the second time this week, I picked up this larger trash can to make him sit underneath it! I’m thinking the restroom isn’t big enough for the both of us. I showed him who’s boss! And I hope to never see Mr. Hippity Hop ever again. The End.

A child’s brain is still developing and evolving as they grow. An essential element to assist in this growth is education. A child needs to learn how to speak, to walk, to eat, to drink, to behave, etc. Parents are responsible for their child’s education. Many people believe that they must start their child in school at a young age and many people believe otherwise. Whether the child is educated in the home, public school, or private school they will learn necessary behaviors and traits to communicate effectively with others.

Businesses and families come together with education software and educational toys. They are created with the purpose of being beneficial as well as stimulating for a child to use or play with. Children have limited concentration compared to adults. Every child is different and has a personality all their own. Engaging in a social atmosphere enables a child to learn to share and to communicate with other children.

Another trend in child education is developing talents while young. Many parents will enroll their child in soccer, swimming, ballet, dance, piano lessons, baseball, basketball, or skiing at a young age as it is easier for them to learn these talents. Some children will learn different languages as a youth so they can gain a better understanding because of their malleable brains. Awareness of a child’s surroundings for safety can also be a part of their education. As a popular belief, to live is to learn and to learn is to live.

So what do you like to do in your spare time? It is amazing how many things we can choose from during any down time we may have. If you have the cash and the inclination, there are activities ranging from learning how to play the bagpipes, to tae kwan do, to stamp collecting, scrap booking, spelunking, zoology, and it seems the list never ends. You can find hobby stores carrying supplies for various models, puzzles, games, kite-making and hobbies galore. It is easy to locate websites designed to instruct or build communities around, say, bird watching or amateur photography. Unsure what to choose from the motley mix? There are even websites geared to help you pick a hobby, and any hobby retailer would be happy to provide suggestions.

You never know where your hobbies will take you. I knew someone in school who was engaged to a guy who was into entomology - or bug collecting. He absolutely insisted that he be allowed to display his collection of specimens at their wedding reception. She must have really loved him, because she went through with it. Can you just see it? I’d like you to meet the bride, and her parents, and the groom and his parents; oh, and please enjoy a tour of bugville while you drink your punch….

Some people even become famous for their hobbies. Television shows feature people and their hobbies – maybe you have seen shows about the strangest restaurants, weird and unusual homes, or what you can make with pipe cleaners. There’s an Al Yankovic song called “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota,” and it is about just that – a huge ball of twine – wound up just because a Minnesotan had the time and interest to do it. I know a girl who found her husband simply because she decided to take up square dancing. There is the Guinness World Records angle too – if you become a good enough juggler – and can juggle more items longer or faster than anyone else you can get yourself into the famous world record anthology. Pick a hobby – make it uniquely you. You never know what will come of it!

Sometimes I swear I am mildly O.C.D. and I have these little rituals that I do. It is an uncontrollable urge and I think about it over and over until it gets done. I haven’t gone to the doctor for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (nor am I making fun of people who really have been diagnosed with this disease). I just notice that sometimes I do weird things that my friends and family laugh at, so here they are:

• I constantly tug down on the bottom of my shirts. I buy long shirts, so this is pointless.
• Different foods can never touch on a plate. If they do, the parts that touch can’t be eaten.
• Shoes go through a morning “spider check”. I found a dead spider in my shoe one day after I took it off. Never got over it.
• The volume on my radio has to be on an even number.
• I rarely, if ever, open a soda can all the way (liken this to the spider story, except for this bug was almost swallowed).
• I have to repeatedly pet an animal on the bridge of the nose.
• I tug on my earrings and necklaces while I am thinking. I actually did this during an interview!
• I always have to wipe my hands on my pants after every bite. Note to self: This isn’t pretty when you’re eating greasy food and wearing white pants.
• I can’t help but touch something if someone tells me not to (fresh paint, wet floors, hot pans).
• I have to pick the second item of everything. So the second cup out of the dispenser, the second candy bar…you get the gist.
• Every poor animal that I deem “cute” has to go through my love tap torture…This consists of nine (yes, I’ve counted) consecutive fast little taps I give to their lovely little rear.

Anyway, these are some, but not all of the little quirks that make me well, me! So now it’s time to ask you, what are some of your bad little traits?

The world of antioxidants…Nutritious drinks popping up everywhere, new companies trying to make a profit any way they can. There has been a lot in the news lately about health drinks with antioxidants. So apparently they are popular. I looked up ‘antioxidant’ in Wikipedia and found that “Antioxidants can cancel out the cell-damaging effects of free radicals. Furthermore, people who eat fruits and vegetables, which are good sources of antioxidants, have a lower risk of heart disease and some neurological diseases, and there is evidence that some types of vegetables, and fruits in general, probably protect against a number of cancers” (from Wiki: Antioxidants). So minus all the biology and chemistry talk about these precious health-savers, I’m thinking they are very valuable for all of us humans to partake.

Then maybe these nutritious drinks are effective afterall. Hmm, I hadn’t thought of them that way. I have to admit - I immediately thought of multi-level marketing or some kind of scam. Which these companies may very well be MLMs, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad or evil in any way. They are part of the business world, trying out a new idea to make a profit, just like every other entrepreneur.

Living in Utah, I see dozens of health drink companies arising all over. It’s astounding - the frequency of new companies forming these days. Everyone makes it look so easy to start your own company. It like makes me even want to dive into my own creativity to form some sort of business -about what, I have no idea. LOL!

Oh, so I tried one of these fruit drinks once when I was home with my parents in California. And I must say, without mentioning exactly which company makes it, the taste of the drink was not pleasant. I get the fact that they have all these nutrients and antioxidants in them to help your body get stronger in defense of disease, yada yada yada. But could they please improve the taste a bit? Please? It’s pretty bad when you imagine yourself plugging your nose while swallowing this nutritious drink just to get it in your system without tasting it. I’d just rather take it in pill form. So maybe that’s the new way to go, start creating capsules of your antioxidant supplement drink so people like me can enjoy the benefits without complaining. Yeah I think that’s the best solution so far. Well, the best I can come up with. Any suggestions?

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with our computers. We rely on them to work, shop and bank. We depend on them for important research data or fun and mindless information. When they are working correctly, everything seems wonderful: the sun is shining in our hearts, the birds are sweetly chirping in our souls and the world looks great through our rose-tinted glasses. The next moment the system crashes or you get an unexpected error, or the power is out, and the lovely dreamy scenario plunges into a black abyss. Such is our connection with computers and technology.

A little humor can carry you through the times when, if looks could kill, and your computer was a living thing, it would be a frizzled piece of nothing lying on the carpet after malfunctioning yet again. Sometimes it requires more skill to fix the problem, and you have to call in an expert. Many of us can likely relate to the following:

Things You Never Want To Hear From Technical Support

“Do you have a sledgehammer or a brick handy?”
“That’s right, not even McGyver could fix it.”
“Duuuuuude! Bummer!”
“Looks like you’re gonna need some new dilithium crystals, Cap’n.”

What would YOU not want to hear from your technical support help?

So what is the value of an education? It would be easy to be sidetracked by stopping here to define just what the concept of education means, but I’ll save that for another time. Let us simply classify it as the means of obtaining a degree or certificate from an accredited facility. And again, I pose the question, what good is it really?

I have my bachelor’s degree, and I am proud of that accomplishment. I do not use it in the field I studied, but having a degree has been of use to me in diverse ways in my life. It sets me apart from those who have not graduated from college, and that is helpful when on the job hunt. It helped me learn to be a more divergent thinker. It broadened my horizons and gave me a glimpse into fields of study I would not have encountered any other way. And, truthfully, it is a feather in one’s cap to have a diploma which you earned by your own efforts.

Having the degree is important, but it is the process of getting it that really helps us become better people. It takes plenty of determination to stick with schooling. College and University life can be exciting and rewarding, but it takes a lot of time and money to make it through and accomplish your goals. Personally, I don’t think it matters one bit where your degree comes from-it is the discipline you learn along the way to getting that piece of paper which makes you a more valuable employee, spouse, boss and human being. Having a degree is like passing that difficult math class when mathematics is not even your major. You may never use the math again, but it gives you excellent character to persevere and finish what you started.

How well I remember a sign posted in the university free-use computer lab:
Your Procrastination Is Not Our Emergency
I laughed at this pronouncement, until I was in a self-inflicted crisis that truly was a make-it or break-it situation for my grade. Thanks to putting it off, I was down to the final hour and panicked! At those moments, this sign was more ominous than humorous.

While I was working in retail, I saw more than ever the need to post this same sign as a warning to all customers. I mean, yah, we’ve all been there-needing a last minute gift for someone-or trying desperately to buy something for those hard-to-shop-fors on your list. It is the attitude that makes all the difference, and anyone in retail knows it. You have to paste on a smile, no matter how aggravating the customer is, and bear with their stupidity. But oh how I would have liked to use that phrase, adapted, say, like this: “I’m sorry, sir, but your choice to shop on Christmas Eve 7 minutes before our store closes, makes it very hard for me to special order this item engraved with ‘To my darling Hepsibah’ and have it in time for Christmas morning.”

I’m sure everyone has had a customer, client or boss who wants the desired item or service to be ready before it is even requested. Of course, it is human nature to blame the other person, so those lowest on the job totem pole get the brunt of “Rush” requests. Wouldn’t it satisfy you clear down to your toes to look at your boss in such a circumstance and say “Your procrastination is not my emergency,” and get away with it? Well, we can all dream right?

One of my favorite holiday gift-giving traditions started with my extended family way back when. We call it Penny Christmas. It’s kinda like a glorified white elephant/flea market gift swap.

Each family brings a certain number of pre-wrapped gifts for the exchange. They can be anything at all, but there is one rule: nothing can be worth more than a dollar. (You gotta allow for inflation from the “penny” in Penny Christmas.) These gifts go in a pile. Then, beginning with the youngest person, go by age around the room, allowing each person to select a gift from the stash.

It can get interesting because, rather than choose a wrapped gift, anyone can pick a present someone else has already opened. Then the person whose find was taken gets to open-or “steal” another gift. If there is a lot of stealing going on, it can be very hard to remember who is next in line, because with each steal a new item is unwrapped by someone other than the person up for a turn.

As long as good-will is evident, this game can be a great deal of fun. Just try not to let anyone take it seriously-the gifts are under a buck-what’s to stress about? One Christmas, both my grandmother and I wanted a pair of matching dishcloths that had been wrapped separately. We each did a lot of maneuvering to get them. A gift may only be “stolen” 3 times and then it is “retired.” Also, it can not be taken directly back by the person who just lost it. So, if there is something you really want, and it has been taken 3 times, or just taken from you, you have to try to get an item wanted by the person who has it, so you can trade. (Trading after the game is finished is standard procedure for us.) I don’t know if either of us got the set, I know I had at least one. I just threw it away this year, as it had to many holes to clean anything. The “Dish Cloth” Penny Christmas is now family legend. Try it and see if it becomes a new family or roommate favorite.

I always opted for the less traditional whenever I took P.E. in college. Some of the more memorable were the bowling and golf classes I took. Those two have something in common–it’s all about your aim. I know just from playing Frisbee that I have a wicked hook when I throw-or swing. It makes for some interesting plays on the green, but you should see what it does in the bowling alley! I cannot ever seem to throw or follow-through without sending the object slightly-or at times considerably-off course. So I compensate, and that makes for some interesting moments as well. So, if you ever challenge me to a simple game of Frisbee, keep your eye on that flying disc-it’s not headed where you think it is. . . .