The Importance of Coffee

True Classics

I still love "I Love Lucy." I'm watching a rerun of it on Hallmark Channel. The word 'classic' gets thrown around a lot but in the case of shows like Lucy, MASH, All In The Family, and those like that classic is the only word to describe them. They never go out of style. They always feel fresh even though they are obviously dated. Most of all, it doesn't matter how often you've seen an episode, even if you can recite it word for word as I can most of them, it is still fun to watch.

Easy Riding with Amos Tamam and Verifone

Amos Tamam is a true American imigrant inspiration. Although he had a degree in electrical engineering in his home country when he came to America he started out as a mechanic servicing taxis. From there Amos Tamam worked his way up, always on the lookout for way to improve the new industry he was involved in and soon realized that the best way to improve the taxi industry was to make payment easier for people on the go. People who now rarely carried paper money.

Plastic money is the way people pay for everything now, and Verifone makes it a safe payment method for businesses as well. As CEO of Verifone Transportation Systems Amos Tamam is working hard to bring credit card payments to taxis everywhere. Starting out in New York City and other metropolises to show the benefits of the easy to use and secure system there is a hope that soon taxis everywhere will accept credit cards as payment for fares.

Stoned Enough to Appreciate Woodstock

I'm watching the History Channel and the show Woodstock: Now and Then. I have often lamented not being born earlier so that I could have been old enough to go to Woodstock. I was seven when it was going on. What an exciting place in history and a one time thing that will never again be repeated. It was the origin of some of the massive stadium concerts but nothing tame like that. Watching the program now, however, with much of the footage supplied by the actual film of the event it is clear that while it was all that and more, it might have been a little bit less 'romantic' than it sounds. I guess you had to have the frame of mind of the time as well. Be a "flower child" to truly appreciate some of the hardships they endured and still speak lovingly of. I'm not sure I'd be speaking with such fondness of the event if I went to it in the present day. I'm not sure any of us are stoned enough to appreciate that time.

Sak Narwal and the Harmonica

Sak Narwal is proof that you are never too old to develop a new passion. Life shouldn't be about limits. Sak Narwal started playing the harmonica as an adult on a business trip. He was in Germany and while looking for some entertainment found a harmonica competition. He has been devoted to learning the amazingly versitile little musical instrument.

What better instrument is there for a busy person on the go? One that can be carried in a shirt pocket or briefcase and practiced anywhere with little fuss, no electricity needed. Sak Narwal quickly fell in love, gathered as much information as he could muster and many recordings of great jazz and R&B harmonica players. He took lessons and within a week was playing tunes. That's how life should be. Learning new things is a never-ending endeavor and there is always room to expand an artful outlook on the beauty of music.

Trauma and Mercy: New Season Series

Two of the new series we're watching this season are "Mercy" and "Trauma". "Mercy" has been on a couple weeks now. It is good. A little soapy but still a slightly different twist on the trauma that a military veteran can face upon returning home in that the vet in this case is a woman. "Trauma" is pretty good so far even though it's only been on for two episodes. It too has a soap opera sort of feel but it's all based around emergency care workers in the field which is especially interesting for us since hubby is an EMT. So far they are keepers.

Closer and Closer

The time to make a final decision about what to do regarding a final home purchase is drawing nearer. As it gets closer I get more nervous about the decision on what to do. My husband is showing signs of wanting to leave the state altogether. That is not a really bad idea, but I dread a big move like that. In order to do that we'd have to find a reliable long distance moving company. It is one thing to move a few miles, even a few hundred miles with all of your belongings. In fact, we'd been thinking of buying a new home first and moving things slowly. That is a great idea if you are only moving a few miles. One city to the other. Even just across state lines depending on which state you're talking about. A move to Wisconsin (Lake Geneva was in the running for a choice and still is) wouldn't be too bad. We could move slowly ourselves. Even use the horse trailer for some of the big items. A big, really long-distance move makes that appealing idea of moving slowly over time more difficult. To move that far away we'd have to hire a mover with a semi-sized truck and just move it all at once, and not look back. That's the hard part. We were rushed, years ago, when we moved out here do to closing dates of our former home and closing dates of our current home being all messed up. That sting has never left the backs of our minds. We ended up leaving a lot of things, maybe not important things, but things we wanted behind because of the rush. Moving far away increases the chances of that happening again. I've come to the conclusion that at least if we can buy a new place first before selling this one we can take our time getting it all together for a mover. Maybe having someone else actually load it and unload it all would be nice after all.

Twit Spam

I don't know if anyone else has realized it but Twitter is becoming the new "spam" market ploy. Oh yeah there are still millions of legitimate users but I found out yesterday just how many spammers use Twitter. For months my account had been pretty inactive. I was ill, I was busy with other things, I was just not concerned with Twitting. Yesterday, just for a giggle I went back and posted that I was sorry I'd been gone. I deleted people I was following who were no longer following me, I added a few others... in general I just re-activated my account that had been stagnant. Well, not even a minute after I started I began to get 'follows'. They were obvious blind follows. Accounts with no real personality behind them. That continued all day long. Spam attack. What makes them worse is that along with flooding your twit account with 'followers' they flood your email box too with Twitter notifications of being followed, and if you follow them back you have given them an open door to spam your direct mail Twitter box. Twitter is big. It is growing bigger. It needs to address this annoying problem.

Getting the SEO You Need for Online Sales

Whether you are a writer or have a different product or service to sell one of the trickiest things in today's Internet world is understanding SEO. Getting the best out of a seo service requires a basic understanding so you know you are getting your money's worth. Finding free services for SEO are a great blessing because you can learn as you go and see what works and what doesn't without spending a fortune. Those just entering the market usually can't afford the high prices of companies offering these services. Even those that can afford it are skeptical until they see what SEO does for their sales. Free seo services let users grow into their online enterprises and overcome their reluctance.

Quote of the Day

I'm really laughing at today's quote of the day on my sidebar. It is:

Quote of the Day
Wisdom is knowing when you can't be wise.
Paul Engle

The reason it is funny is because of a conversation on a writer's board I read yesterday. People were talking about "bad writers" and how they should improve or move on. Someone else made the observation "Yes, but do bad writers KNOW they are bad writers?" Great point. Today's quote drove home the fact that true wisdom is KNOWING your limitations.

The Big Screen

Since my husband declared the desire to purchase a new big screen for the living room I have been a bit preoccupied with what type is best. To be honest I have a little trouble understanding the differences between LCD TV and plasma TV. The LCD we saw last week at the store was impressive and very large. The picture was great. The clarity and color were magnificent. Either all of the former arguments against big screens were baseless, or the manufacturers have made made massive improvements over the years but I loved it. Prices have come down a lot since big screens first made their debut, too. I can't wait to see it in my living room. I think I'll stick with a TV stand, however. I'm not hanging something that expensive on the wall. I'm not handy and with my luck it would end up on the floor--in pieces.

Hum, Hum, Hummus!

I've heard of hummus. It never appealed to me. It didn't look appealing. It didn't sound appealing. I never had a desire to try it... until yesterday. Yesterday I happened to glance at a post on the Spark People message board that mentioned hummus and how good it was and how they made it out of chick peas... BEANS. Now if someone had told me a long time ago that hummus was basically bean paste I'd have tried it years ago!

So I quickly looked up various recipes and found one that looked the most appealing (no cumin which I don't like, and no unrecognizable ingredients). Found one and off to the store I went.

WIN

I love hummus. It will now be a regular addition to my menus. It is healthy for you and tastes great.