Suzanne's Journal

I'm Baaaaaaaaak!!!

2006-05-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

Did you miss me? I have been SO busy working on the Class Reunion DVD that I haven't had time to do much with this blog. I have it pretty much nailed now, though. It is 2 1/2 hours long. But it is very easy to watch because it is in segments according to year and activity.

I'm told the music is cute on it, too. I like the music. It certainly is an eclectic collection. It was a real chore to pick out the music to match each section. But it sure was fun to do. I enjoyed working with all the pictures and trying to figure out people's names. I had a number of classmates help me with that.

You won't believe the weather here! We are in the 100's now and it will probably stay that way for the rest of the summer. But, because of the low humidity, it is very comfortably. In fact, I plan to take a nice swim this afternoon (after my exercise, of course).

IT'S RAINING.....FINALLY!! 143 days later

2006-03-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to hear pitter-patter on the roof. Yes, it is finally raining! Today, after 143 days of record-setting dryness, rain came to the Valley of the Sun in Phoenix, Arizona. Last October was the last appreciable amount of rain but this amount of rain has not been seen here since around the first of August 2005. We expect a mild rain all day today, perfect for soaking into the ground.

Hog Heaven

2006-02-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

My former classmate, Jim V., really wanted to ride a pony when he was a youngster on his father's farm. Unfortunately, there were no ponies on the farm. What's the next best thing? A Bore Hog! So he broke the hog and rode it. Here's a picture of him at age 12 riding the hog. He's riding high on the hog now, though, because he owns his own engineering company. Even as a child he was persistent enough to get what he wanted. Good for you, Jim!

He eventually did buy a horse in high school and that connection served him well on one of our dates.....but that story is best told at our reunion coming up in August....

Still No Rain

2006-02-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

It still hasn't rained here in the Phoenix area. It's been 118 days. I guess I'm going to have to do my rain dance again because the last one didn't do the trick.

It was 80 degrees here today with plenty of sunshine......

Busy, Busy, Busy

2006-02-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm having SO much fun talking with my former classmates and getting ready for our class reunion in August. A lot of us already have our reservations at the same place. I have been very busy scanning in old grade school and high school pictures and memorabilia, and trying to make some kind of order out of it. I'm in daily contact with classmates Dan, Jim, and Bob. Sometimes, the emails come in all at once. They are all helping tremendously with pictures, advice, and humor! Why were we ever apart for so long? I guess it takes maturity and the freedom of retirement to stop and look around, and to have time for things other than yourself and your family. We have had a couple of sobering moments this year as a couple of our classmates died. We will miss them very much at our reunion. Want to see a cute picture? Oh how innocent they all look!!

Loving the Scrapbooks

2006-02-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

My former classmate, Bob, sent me three huge scrapbooks of pictures and memorabilia and they finally arrived. What a trip!! I'm loving it! I'm very busy now scanning in pictures for the DVD I am making for our class reunion, so I will probably not do much posting for a while. I probably won't know anyone when I get to the Class reunion, because I am so used to looking at what they looked like YEARS ago. That's OK though, because we will all be wearing name tags!

Classmates - How Sweet it Is

2006-01-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-26T20:58:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

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......

2006-01-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-01-13T09:55:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-01-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

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?

2006-01-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

Have a happy New Year

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

The Snow Birds are Singing

2006-01-07T08:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2006-01-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

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

Problems with my Picture

2006-01-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-02T21:31:00.000-07:00

Leave Comments

2006-01-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

If you leave comments, it will encourage me to keep posting.

Happy New Year 2006

2006-01-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

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

2006-01-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

The House at Christmas Time 2005

2006-01-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ron taking down the Xmas Lights, Xmas 2005

2006-01-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

Bruce on Mike's Hobby Reindeer, Xmas 2005
Bruce is my nephew (Elaine's son).

2006-01-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

Ed, Jana, and Bruce, Xmas 2005
Jana and Bruce are cousins. Jana is my daughter.

2006-01-02T09:28:00.002-07:00

Mike and Kelle opening Christmas Gifts 2005
Mike is my son.

2006-01-02T09:28:00.001-07:00

Jana, Ron, Suzanne, and Bruce at resort in Scottsdale, AZ, Xmas 2005

2006-01-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

Jana and Scout, Xmas 2005

2006-01-02T09:26:00.001-07:00

Mike and Bruce, Xmas 2005
Cousins meeting for the first time in years......

2006-01-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

Suzanne and Ron, Xmas 2005

2006-01-02T09:25:00.001-07:00

Suzanne and Jaqui, Xmas 2005
Jaqui is a dear friend of mine. We met years ago when we worked together.

2006-01-02T09:25:00.000-07:00

Jana and Tom, Xmas 2005
Newlyweds this year......

How Things Work

2005-12-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Are you as curious as I am to know how things work? Go to this wonderful site to find out! I love it!

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

My Favorite Christmas Card

2005-12-27T00:08:00.000-07:00

><http://www.reuters.hu/card_dom/index_content.html>

Merry Christmas Everybody!

2005-12-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog!

Check back here frequently.... And let me know what you wanna talk about...