Suzanne's Journal: January 2006

Classmates - How Sweet it Is

I am just SO excited ..... I am putting together a DVD of pictures taken YEARS ago when I was in grade school and high school. I hope to have it ready to take to our class reunion this summer. I'm even putting music to it. This is a big undertaking, because all the pictures have to be scanned into the computer first.

I put all of my pictures in ...... but still need more pictures to add, even though I have around 150 already. I don't have enough in certain categories, especially sports and dances. In fact, I need more pictures in ALL categories.

This week, a dear classmate (Bob) has shipped me THREE ALBUMS of pictures and memorabilia ..... I am just SO excited to get them and walk down that memory lane. I will be VERY busy with it all.

Dry as a Bone and All Sunshine

Today is the 99th day straight without rain in the Phoenix area. No rain is forcast for the near future, either. Tomorrow (Friday) will tie the record, and Saturday will break the record if we don't have rain.

I guess I'm going to have to go outside and do my rain dance.....

The above picture of Ron shows what happened the last time I did my rain dance in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

CSR Incompetence

I get SO frustrated with Customer Service Representatives (CSR). It seems that they do not LISTEN to what you are saying.....

Everything must be repeated.....

They are so busy thinking of how to answer you that they MISS exactly what you are telling them....

We've had problems recently just trying to make medical appointments, etc. You must have THIS....you must have THAT.... you have to be seen by THIS person FIRST...... bla bla bla. Then, when you INSIST that it is not correct, FINALLY, they listen to you. It seems like such a struggle and is so time consuming.

As I've Matured......

I've learned what is important in life and what isn't so important. I have found out that MOST things are not important but relationships...... friends....... family....... are VERY important. I think that you will enjoy the piece below:

<http://www.frontiernet.net/~jlbeam/specials/life/life.htm>

It's Invisible

I got the neatest pen the other day. It writes with invisible ink. At first, I couldn't figure out why anyone would want a pen with invisible ink.....it didn't make sense. Then I figured out a GREAT use for it.

When I travel, I take a list of frequently used web sites and my log-in name and password with me, because it is difficult to remember them all. Now, with my nexXtech pen I can write down the information in invisible ink. The pen comes with a UV lamp that shows the writing when you shine the lamp on it (all built in, of course). It also includes a replacement invisible ink cartridge.

Because Circuit City does not offer the replacement cartridge, I ordered two pens...each with a replacement cartridge.

I ordered mine on-line from Circuit City at www.circuitcity.com Best of all....it was under $4.00!!

Hello? Hello? Not a Human Voice to be Heard

Oh brother..... some companies put you through all sorts of agony just to get to a HUMAN that you can finally talk to.

That type of telephone system is called "interactive voice response" (IVR). It is supposed to be more efficient (especially for the company) but proves to be very annoying to customers.

Want an "IVR Cheat Sheet"? This is a Copyrighted sheet by Paul English that lists a number of companies, and their telephone numbers, and tells you how you can cut through all the prompts.
Because the companies often change their system in order to prevent callers from getting through to a human quickly, you can sign up for a followup email from him with the newest information.

Thank you, Paul, for making our lives a little easier.

Obtain Paul English's IVR Cheat Sheet at http://paulenglish.com

Skype FREE Video Calling

I finally tried it.....Skype Free Video Calling.....

It works great....I love it!

I can't believe that Marcia and I talked for THREE hours straight. Can you believe it? But she is a former classmate of mine and we had a lot to talk (and giggle) about. We also had Ron in on a little bit of it and she could see us both with her web cam.

Marcia just got on Skype for the first time and was unfamiliar with everything, but she was really surprised at just how EASY it was to set up and use. At about the two hour mark we were just about ready to hang up when we tried conference calling with my nephew. He didn't have a microphone so we used the Chat line in conjunction with the video calling.

We also started sending pictures back and forth to each other and she was surprised at how easy and FAST it sent the pictures. It is much faster and easier than email. Because our class reunion is coming up this summer, I have asked some other classmates to try it. I hope that they do because we will have a lot of fun talking and sending old pictures back and forth to each other.

Don't you just LOVE all this new technology????

Check it out at www.skype.com

Ahhhhhhh PEACE

It was GREAT......the phone solicitors quit calling after I posted our telephone numbers on the Do Not Call national list. Sometimes, the phone would not ring for a month or more unless it was from friends and family or a returned call.

But it is HAPPENING AGAIN!! This time from those annoying automatic dial phones. So, once again, the phone is ringing more frequently.

There OUGHT TO BE A LAW against the automatic dial phones EXCEPT calls from a doctor's office or pharmacy.

Ever hear of a Cat attacking a Pit Bull?

Although most new stories involve pit bulls attacking people or animals, my son tells me that pit bulls are gentle if trained that way. He has a very sweet pit bull, and my daughter had a very sweet chow. Still, I'm a little cautious around pit bulls and chows. What do you think?

Check out this story of a cat attacking a sweet pit bull:

http://switchboard.real.com/player/email.html?PV=6.0.12&&title=0113dvs%5Fcat%5Fattacks%5Fdog.mov&link=http%3A%2F%2Fphoenix.cox.net%2Fcci%2Fapvideo%2F0113dvs%5Fcat%5Fattacks%5Fdog%5F300.wmv

Too Much of a Good Thing?

After playing a video game for hours over the holidays, a nine year old boy suffered seizure-like problems and was taken to the doctor. The doctor said he is to play no more video games. The boy seems to be OK now. View footage below:

http://switchboard.real.com/player/email.html?PV=6.0.12&&title=0113dvs%5Fvideo%5Foverload.mov&link=http%3A%2F%2Fphoenix.cox.net%2Fcci%2Fapvideo%2F0113dvs%5Fvideo%5Foverload%5F300.wmv

Where's the Rain?

It has be 86 days since rain last fell in the Phoenix, AZ area. And you ask why we say it's a DRY heat? Actually, it's said to be a dry heat because of the low humidity we have here. But things may be looking up. We might be having rain here this weekend.......we shall see......

(See the rest of January for some pictures of us)

Skype News

A lot of people in the United States are not familiar with Skype because many of our cell plans have free phone calling. Did you know that you can call all over the world FREE using your computer, a microphone, and Skype? Now those of us who use Skype are very happy because now we are able with Skype 2.0 to have FREE Video Calling. I haven't tried it yet, but I am sure anxious to do so. I'll let you know how I like it once I use it.

Free Information Calls to 411

I just found out somthing VERY interesting and want to share it with you. Are you tired of being charged for information on your home and cell phones?

The following companies presently charge:
Verison Wireless $1.25
T-Mobil $1.75
MCI Carrier $3.49

Now you can get information FREE by dialing 1-800FREE411 or 1-800-373-3411 without incurring a charge at all except for the minutes required to make the call. Program your cell phone so you will have it ready.

Don't believe me? Check it out at: Click here: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Inboxer Rebellion (Free 411)

My Second Favorite New Years Card

Have a happy New Year

THIS IS REALLY CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!! http://www.smilesr4u.com/kittyny.htm

The Snow Birds are Singing

The Snow Birds (winter visitors) are really singing this week. The weather here in Scottsdale has been fantastic!! We broke many records yesterday with a high temperature of 81 degrees. The rest of the week is expected to be in the high 70's as well.

Unfortunately, we haven't had a drop of rain since October, I believe. Now the officials are concerned with wildfire danger because of the dryness. And northern Arizona hasn't had a drop of snow yet, also breaking a record. The students at Northern Arizona University must be crying the blues.

This is My Birthday Today!

Yippee!! I made it one more year!!! But you will have to guess at my age....I'm not telling!

Problems with my Picture

As you can see, I am still having difficulty getting my picture to post on the right side of this blog. Thank you to Kirstin and Bruce for advising me to simply use the URL of the picture. I had figured that part out.... but the URL?? What the heck is the URL? I found the answer in the FAQ (frequently asked questions). The URL is the code of the picture IF it has been posted somewhere already, which mine hasn't been. In that case, you must post it to this web site first (on the left side), then move it to the right side. Thus, you see my picture below.

BUT, in the notes it says that the picture must be 50K or smaller in size. 50K??? Are you kidding me??? Only some very old pictures taken years ago are less than 50K. For instance, the picture below is 700 KB as are most of my digital photos. If I find one that fits, I will post it.

My Picture

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Happy New Year 2006

I guess my new toy this year is setting up my own blog (thanks to Bruce). I am just figuring out how to post pictures. I haven't yet figured out how to put my own picture beside my name. Check out the pictures we took at Christmas time.

Ron and I went to see "Cats" yesterday. It was a Christmas present from Jana. Not much of a story line but plenty of dancing and music.

Today Ohio State will be playing in the Fiesta Bowl at ASU stadium which is close to where we live. We saw plenty of red Ohio shirts walking around Tempe yesterday. I'm rooting for Ohio State, of course, because I grew up in Ohio.

Here is my favorite New Years card:

http://www.icq.com/img/friendship/static/card_16961_rs.swf