Has it been since February 2009 since I posted an article? Oh my. I guess it is true that the older you get the faster time goes. I don’t know what I’ve been doing from February to July of 2009 but when July hit that’s when we met the xbox. Since then my life has been work and xbox. You can say that I am wasting my life away for those of you who do not understand the addiction of video games. But can you honestly say that you don’t spend your time in the evenings sitting in front of the tube? I know that there are a minority of people who actually do enriching things like work out or read a book or maybe even help a friend. At least it is something that I do with my son (unless I’m playing a single player game).
Right now I am torturing myself with playing Mass Effect 2 on insanity. I only have 4 more achievements to get in order to get every achievement in ME2 and the achievement for completing the game on insanity is going to be the hardest. But I’m slowly plugging away at it. I can almost taste the achievement! Mass Effect is only the best RPG game out there.
Anyhow, just thought I’d post a little something since I kinda disappeared for over a year. Back to Mass Effect now.
July 14th, 2010
Posted by
lori |
Uncategorized |
no comments
I’ve been spending way too much time with the following two things this past week:
Worms you might ask? How on earth could you spend too much time on worms? I mean, why would you spend any time on woms? Aren’t they disgusting things?
I’ll get to the worms in a minute. First let’s talk about the first bullet point. When I start a project, I can’t seem to stop working on it. This means that everything else goes by the wayside. This past week I worked on relaunching a new look for Planet my Heart. I couldn’t stop or think about anything else until this was completed. Then I kept thinking of other things that I needed to do with it. Like I discovered the importance of permalinks and it took me several days to figure out how to set it up just right. It’s funny when something seems so hard but ends up being so simple. All I needed to do was create a .htaccess file in the right location and put some mod rewrites in there. Operative word there was “right location”. Now I notice that author names aren’t displaying on the articles, so I need to add that in there since both Travis and I blog posts. No biggie, and again, it’s a modification that will be faster to make than typing this blog. There always seems to be just one more thing to do before I’m going to be satisfied. But I am almost there!!
Now the worms. Travis is doing a science project on worms and composting. You can read all aboutit in the blog on http://planetmyheart.com. Anyway, it takes a lot of time to find all the live worms that are hiding in the bedding and then weigh them. Not to mention gross when you’ve melted 70% of them and have to wipe their poor melted bodies from the container. Ewwww. I know, that was probably way too much information. I’m just glad it’s over. On to a new week and hopefully no worm killing will happen.
February 21st, 2009
Posted by
lori |
projects, school |
no comments
Hi all! I’m back home from a full week in San Francisco. It was a lot of fun but it is sure nice to be back! I’ve mainly been relaxing today and playing with the son.
I just learned that Travis needs to do a science project for school. I’d like to do one that deals with the environment. If you have any ideas, leave a comment. I have some thoughts right now but ultimately it will be my son’s decision. One idea is to do a project with earth worms and see how well they do when you give them different foods to eat. I kinda feel bad for the earth worms, so we may do something entirely different. We’ve been working hard recently on reducing trash, so maybe we’ll do a science project on trash to evaluate how much could be recycled or is biodegradable and can be returned to the earth. I’m not sure how much my son wants to be rooting through the garbage though. The earthworms may be out of luck.
February 7th, 2009
Posted by
lori |
Uncategorized |
no comments
It is a Blog-in. Help pass it a long.
As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They’re banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we’ve seen in decades. I’d like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.
Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.
The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too.
How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:
To the Parents of Young Students:
Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren’t originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.
To the Avid Reader:
Due to the new law, all children’s books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there’s always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.
Article from the American Library Association www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322
To the Lover of All Things Handmade:
Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it’s passed testing. It won’t even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.
To the Environmentalist:
Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can’t sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can’t even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.
To the Second-Hand Shopper:
Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children’s items all together to avoid future lawsuits.
To the Entrepreneur:
Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you’ll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America.
To the Antique Toy Collector:
Due to the new law, you’d better start buying now because it’s all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren’t certified as safe.” online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html
To the American Economy:
Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake.
To the Worldwide Economy:
Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses.
If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes
www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html
And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law
www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html
Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react.
February 1st, 2009
Posted by
lori |
Uncategorized |
no comments
Today I thought I’d do something that I have never done before. I submitted an article to a national women’s magazine. Why did I do that? Why not? If it does get published, I will tell all my wonderful fans that read my blog which magazine it is and when it will be published. If my article is not accepted, I guess I’ll just need to publish it here on my blog.
I’ve never been much of a writer but am trying to venture out into the PR and marketing world and heard that this is a great place to begin to get my name out there. I am curious to see where it will take me. I’ve also been focused on building my social network for the other site. I am waiting though until this next week is over so that I can really focus on my marketing plan.
JessicaKnows has a lot of information on her site and I’m thinking of joining her Rock Your Blog program.
January 31st, 2009
Posted by
lori |
Uncategorized |
no comments
- He forgets his lunch
- He leaves his school work in my van
- He forgets his book at school, and
- Tries to think of alternative ways to finish his book report other than reading the book.
Well, on that last point, I may have helped point him in that direction. Bad mom! Needless to say, it was a futile attempt and he’s been reading away as fast as he can. He actually read 40 pages so far today. The book report is due on Friday and naturally he’s far behind. We’ll be performing some speed reading drills over the next few days. He has had more than enough time to read it, but isn’t that how life happens? We all wait until the last minute to cram it into our time schedule. I’m sure there’s a life lesson in here somewhere.
January 26th, 2009
Posted by
lori |
Uncategorized |
no comments
How can I have slept for 12 hours and still be tired?!!?
Anyhow, I’m glad I got the sleep, I must have needed it. I feel like I’ve been fighting a cold for a long time. You know how when you are getting a cold and your throat feels a bit constricted and sore? Well that’s how I’ve been feeling for the past 2 to 3 weeks.
Yesterday I said I was going to be doing house cleaning and grocery shopping. I only succeeded in doing about 25% of house cleaning and 0% of grocery shopping. I’ll forgo the house cleaning today and go grocery shopping after I clean out the fridge.
Once my familial duties are completed today, I just may create an environmental, eco-friendly social networking site. Ok, I am not sure what an eco-friendly social networking site is but it sounded good. I am going to be extremely busy for the next couple weeks so I may hold off on building the social networking site. I’m not sure how much time it will require of me and all this social stuff is somewhat new to me so I’m sure it’ll take me some time to figure this thing out.
If you haven’t figured, I am socially challenged! I prefer to be alone than to be around a group of people. I need to work on that.
January 25th, 2009
Posted by
lori |
Uncategorized |
no comments
I finally upgraded my blog to the latest version of Wordpress and didn’t break anything, or so it seems. I wonder if wordbook will work now. I don’t feel like troubleshooting anything today so if it doesn’t it’ll have to wait.
This past week has been very busy! I am behind in anything house related so I will be spending most of the day cleaning and grocery shopping. Fun! Bleh!
Things that I want to learn in the next month are how to do my own online radio station at BTR. This is mainly for my other site that is focused on the environment and finding way that we can make changes that reduce our eco-footprint. I am looking for guests to interview on my show so if you know anyone, please let me know!!
Welp, guess it’s time to start on the house!
January 24th, 2009
Posted by
lori |
Uncategorized |
3 comments
This has been a busy weekend! Travis went whale watching yesterday with the student oceanography club over in the Monterey bay. It was such a beautiful day in Monterey too! I wasn’t able to go with Travis on the cruise but couldn’t believe the pictures that he took!! To see them go to my picasa photo album site and check them out in the album called “SOC field experience and MBAQ 01-2009″. Here’s one pic that was just amazing!! I am not sure if the link will work for Mac users, if not, just find the picture where you see part of the whale body and tail. Travis said that picture was an accident. Unbelievable!
So, that was yesterday. Today I’ve been working on building a new website (I used Travis’s whale picture as my banner). There was no housework done in my house this weekend nor grocery shopping. Just traveling, having fun and website building. The good part is that I learned a ton about customizing wordpress blogs in one day. I haven’t figured out how that will feed the family for this week yet though.
The website was something that Travis had inspired me to do. He’s been impacted so much by being a part of the student oceanography club that he wants to tell others the plight of our ocean and what they can do to help.
A kid’s inspiration + a mom’s somewhat geekiness = the inception of a new website! w00t!
I am hoping that I’ll have better luck keeping that website blog updated than this one. I have a better chance because my son has editor rights and can write his own posts. Keeping fingers crossed.
January 18th, 2009
Posted by
lori |
SOC, monterey |
no comments
Lately I’ve been thinking of getting started on some solar projects that I can do with my son. It’s one of my efforts to get him away from his video games and into doing something a bit more tactile and constructive. He loves science, so what better way to expand on his love of science than to build a solar project?
I have discovered that solar projects are for the folks who have money to spare. Why does solar need to cost so much? Seems counter intuitive to me. With all the hype of going green today, it sure is hard to get involved with alternate energy. Anyhow, I’ve been researching this for the past month and have found that I can buy broken solar cells (which still work) and solder them together to build a solar panel. Or, I can use a solar cell to make a small solar car out of legos or something. Sounds like a great project for us, I just need to take the first step and buy the tools that I need. I did buy a multimeter a couple weeks ago. So I guess I need to take the next step and buy the broken solar cells off of ebay.
September 7th, 2008
Posted by
lori |
Uncategorized |
one comment
Subscribe
