Song For the Day: Well the mother and child reunion is only a motion away........Paul Simon

In Season: gardening, lower back pain, hot tubs

May all the mothers of the world be as blessed as myself....for I have two sons (young men now) who have been part of my life. 21 and 18 years ago I had the most amazing life changing experiences, that I hope to never go through again. I was tired then and still yet haven't caught up on my beauty sleep. The hardest part is after a parents devotion...they leave home. So, I sit here alone smirking. My young men participating fully in their lives, elsewhere. Thats what ya get for a job well done.

Ketchup Time (a chronically fatigued, procrastinator, agnostics attempt to summarize the world news....ppphhhew..... that made me tired!)

~ I ran into this little journal today, called the Middle East Intelligence Report. Very intriguing read.

~ Asteroids Collide and Rain Fire....Let us not forget; we are but a miniscule part of the cosmos....

~ Back on Earth...Salam Pax is back blogging in Irack (Americanized). He's getting totally hosed by democracy and paying $5 bucks an hour to go on-line.

~ I found this article in New York's Newsday. Portland, Oregon advertises:Klingon Interpreter Sought for Patients Who would have thought to put tv watching in your resume.

~ Oregon Mook Alert:
Sperm donors sought: The Sperm Bank at the OHSU Andrology/Embryology Lab needs donors between the ages of 20 and 39. Compensation is provided. Call 503 418-3780 for details.

~ Andy Rooney has some excellent ideas on how to reduce your junkmail.

Andy Rooney's tips for dealing with telemarketers
Three Little Words That Work !!

(1) The three little words are: "Hold On, Please..."

Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off
(instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each telemarketing call so
much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

Then when you eventually hear the phone company's "beep-beep-beep" tone, you
know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently
completed its task.

These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.


(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?

This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and
records the time of day when a person answers the phone.

This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a "real" sales
person to call back and get someone at home.

What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to
immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as
quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it
kicks your number out of their system.

Since doing this, my phone calls have decreased dramatically.


(3) Another Good Idea: When you get "ads" enclosed with your phone or
utility bill, return these "ads" with your payment. Let the sending
companies throw their own junk mail away.

When you get those "pre-approved" letters in the mail for everything from
credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the
return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them
more than the regular 37cents postage "IF" and when they receive them back.

It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50
cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In
that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in
these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes. One of Andy Rooney's (60
minutes) ideas. Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American
Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else
that day, then just send them their blank application back!

If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything
you send them.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them
guessing!

Eventually, the banks and credit card companies will begin getting their own
junk back in the mail.

Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all
they're paying for it...Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is
cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase
postage costs again. You get the idea !

If enough people follow these tips, it will work---- I have been doing this
for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.

I can not wait to start sending junk mail back....LOL... Just think of the possibilities.

~ Mr. Beer Drinker just came back from Germany...listen to him describing beer.