Nancie's Web

It's Official... This blog is moving.

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I decided to move my blog to my own server. Why? Well, it's mostly for convenience and some for experimentation (after all, that's what my personal website is for).

Of course, since I'm moving to a new location, might as well give it a new look and a new name. I now present to you "This Boring Life". Named so because I don't expect to much drama or craziness that seems to drive ratings and clicks these days. Hopefully, it won't really be boring to those who prefer not to waste a few IQ points on mindnumbing "reality" posts and videos.

Yes, I said "videos". Starting Tuesday, I'm hoping to be able to post some "boring" family videos as well. Drama free, and hopefully a little more edifying than "Buckwild", "Nutcracking" videos, and schoolyard fights. Fights that usually don't even happen in schoolyards between children.

The site, at the moment, is still lacking in some design features. Hopefully, now that I'm not babysitting for at least the next few days, I'll be able to finish it.

Now I present to you, my new home: nancieswebonline.com/blog

Waiting for the Stars to Align

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:23:00 +0000

I purchased my third "Four Hour Book" (The Four Hour Chef, by Timothy Ferris) and I have a confession to make. I knew about the 4 hour work week and the 4 hour body for a few years now, and I hadn't done anything about it.

Well, that's not entirely true. I have made a few halfhearted attempts to try to start a "muse" but I let life get in the way. Actually, the MOMETEK blog was a start and if you check the dates on some of the posts, they are pretty far apart, at least until recently.

I also have a store, well, sort of. It's pretty much selling items through Amazon Associates, but there's not much I can do until I can get enough viewership. Right now, it seems that the only people who are interested in what I have to post are other people promoting their products. Some make an attempt to post a useful comment, but it's obvious that they didn't read the whole thing.

I would do my research, but Facebook and Google+ and Imgur, and whatever other time waster site featuring the latest memes and odd pics are always so much more "interesting" or I would get caught up in physical busy work (that drawer could be reorganized - again), or one of the kids happen to be watching that really funny episode of Phineas and Ferb that I have seen 100 times and must see just this one really funny part, again.

I could go on and on, but then I might as well write a book (also another idea I had).

So, now I have to try something else. I do have some ideas peculating, and I plan on working on them in the next few weeks. This probably means that I won't be on Facebook or Google + - except to mention my blog posts or when I need some beta testers - which hopefully will be in a few weeks.

Elimination and organization - part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 22:54:00 +0000

So the past few days, I've been working to eliminate stuff. After years of neglect, I finally finished the laundry room, minus these glass storage jars. Not sure if I'm going to sell it on Craig's list or just stick them outside with "free" signs.

It took a few days to get the washroom done, mostly because I couldn't spend more than an hour on it. The kids have to eat sometime, and of course there was the usual fights, questions, and other acts that attention desperate kids do. It all comes with the territory.

The next step is to go through the pantry. Well, it was, at one point, but I haven't started on it yet as we have been busy with Thanksgiving. Now that the Holiday weekend is over, I can now get back to work.

More Blogging, Less Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 16:50:00 +0000

facebook engancha (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If it weren't for family and friends that I like to keep updated on, I would have left Facebook a long time ago. I do not like it when I cannot post anything, the lag when it comes to typing letters, or the browser crashes.

I did stop the browser from crashing by installing Adblock on Firefox. Wow, what a difference. Not only did Firefox does not crash, but it runs so much faster. I mean like I-just-bought-a-new-computer-and-only-installed-Firefox-on-it faster.

But Facebook is still buggy. When they finally fix the bugs, they add a new feature which causes more bugs. What's more, I think it's becoming way too invasive. Maybe I'm starting to show my age, and it's not like I share anything super personal, but given the political climate, I might be just getting a little paranoid.

That said, blogging is a bit more productive as it helps me get my thoughts out into text. This particular blog (if you haven't noticed) is a bit schizophrenic as I try to get my mangled thoughts out. So there are a lot more rants on here than news of my family life. You may see a lot of seemingly contradictory statement as I try to resolve contradictory thoughts, perhaps changing my mind on my original beliefs, or reinforcing them.

Feel free to comment and discuss, as long as you can back up your comments with references and are open to discussion, I don't have a problem with disagreements. As a matter of fact, I may see a perspective that I haven't thought of before.

Will there be any family news on here at all? Yes, I have been recording videos this week for a little project that I won't mention until I post it. It's mostly for the fun of it, getting used to using Magix again (a movie editing program). That's all I'm going to say on it.

Social Media: Dealing with Personality types

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 00:31:00 +0000

Chat bubbles (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I've been on the internet since 1996 when I had bought my phone, ordered a phone service and signed onto AOL. In those days, it was easy to cancel AOL. I had later switched to "Together Networks" which was half the price of AOL. I had no trouble cancelling it.

The first "social network" I had joined was a chatroom owned by MSN. It was free at the time and I met a lot of interesting people then. Some occasional troll would come on and we would all jump on them. They would eventually leave. In a time where it was mostly intelligent people who owned their own computers were chatting. We had a lot of interesting discussion. Some arguments did arise, but it was rare that you would see the useless "You're an idiot" "Nuh-uh, you're an idiot" type of argument.

Then there was ICQ and some community chat room where your Avatar would show up in a "Room", a 16x16 bmp avatar that you could design in paint and upload. I completely forgot the name of the chatroom because I would look it up to see if I can still download it, even if it's for nostalgic reasons.

ICQ was the first VoIP I used. But I didn't chat too much on there. That's when I started to notice a lot more, shall we say, not so intelligent people signing on. They weren't necessarily trolling, but assumed that every woman on the internet was only for sex chatting. Sexting was common long before it was called "sexting".

I joined Modblog in 2005. It was like Myspace, only better. Unfortunately, it was sold to an incompetent company and it died, as the bugs were not being fixed. I still miss that site and I bet it would have been what Myspace is if it stuck around.

People were still pretty civil then. As a matter of fact, I'm actually friends with one them on facebook - the same guy who quite socialist from England. If you don't know me well enough, my views more align with the libertarians (with maybe a few exceptions), so you can imagine what kind of discussions we would get into, but at the end of the day, we were still internet friends.

Then came YouTube. This is when I saw most of the haters. Granted, I may have not been on websites that had many haters, or I have been "lucky" enough to not encounter many, but on YouTube, it was the worse I've seen. It bugged me, but not because it was offensive or it hurt my feelings, I actually have a pretty thick skin, but it bugged me because I could not believe that people were intentionally looking like idiots in text. I didn't even think it was possible to look like Not only did they look like idiots, but they seemed to be oblivious to the fact.

I got used to it and moved on. I became more patient with people who really couldn't see what I was trying to say, after all, without facial expressions, or body language, or even tone of voice, you can't always get what a person is saying. I got used to the haters, too. I've come to realize that they're more than likely kids who are not allowed to even express their anger at home, so they do it online under the "safety" of anonymity.

I'm also a lot more patient with people who don't grasp concepts. It sometime drives me crazy when I see a post that could very well pertain to them. Knowing their mental capabilities, I usually don't say anything. When I do say something, they usually don't respond, but my comment stays, so maybe, just maybe, they'll come around.

So now, I have one more personality type to deal with... Willfully ignorant people who are proud of the fact. These are the people who when losing an argument will delete all of the comments, then post something to the extent of "I decided I don't want any negativity on my blog/forums/wall/comments so I deleted the post - then proceed to continue with a comment that invites negativity.

Just a FYI: If you think I'm talking about you... you aren't the first one who did this.

It's akin to someone putting their hands over their ears and saying "lalalalalala! You are just so that why you are not agreeing with me". I have the least amount of respect for these people as it's something I would expect from a child (that's not mine, of course). It's difficult to treat them with respect after that.

And yet, there's that possibility that they might come around, which is a lesson I haven't learned yet, as of just recently, I stopped treating someone who did that just that with respect and called him out on my facebook post. I apologized to him about doing that, but I still have no respect for him. None. However, that does not excuse my actions. I shouldn't have called him out, but not because he didn't deserve it (maybe he did, or maybe he didn't) but it does reflect on me as someone who has been working on self control and as a Christian.

I could blame it on the pregnancy. After all, hormones have a way to make it even more difficult to resist temptation to act out on an emotional rampage.

Whatever my "excuse"... He unfriended me. So any example I have to set, any possibility to open his eyes, at least through my posts, won't be there for him to see, all because I let my emotions get the better of me.

It's just one more personality type I have to deal with and learn from.

I better learn fast.

Interesting Fact (my last political rant, I promise!)

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:28:00 +0000

Your Vote Your Choice (Photo credit: alternatePhotography)

Regardless of who wins the presidency, you can negate the effects by voting local. So for those of you who are so afraid of winning, you really don't have to worry THAT much. After all, a lot of Obama's policies did NOT go through because of the republicans blocking it. (That should tell you a lot on how "obamacare" got through, some republicans did vote in favor of it, btw).

Romney is only better than Obama at pretending that he's better than Obama. I think he will win, regardless on who I vote for or who you vote for, but I have decided to NOT vote for either. No, that doesn't me I won't vote, just that I can not in good conscience vote for a candidate that completely ignores the founding father's precepts for a free country. As a Christian, I am not worried if EITHER gets in because really, I belong to God's kingdom which is outside of any government whatsoever. I'm stuck between voting for a REAL Christian (Ron Paul) based on REAL morality, or voting for someone who has a better chance AND by ending the church's complacency by legalizing moral issues AND would help this party get to the top 5%, forcing them to be considered a "major party" next election.

Rand Paul will not be able to run next election. As much as he pretends to kiss-up to the GOP, I doubt that they will appoint him next election as Mitt will be the incumbent. BUT if the libertarian party becomes a major party, he can run on that ticket and have more of a chance to win.

That all said, my actual point is that it doesn't matter if Romney flipped on the abortion issue again just three weeks ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iwafsTmNiY), or that he really never talked about WHAT he was going to cut in spending. Just that he will "evaluate" what we borrow from China, again excelling in saying everything and nothing at the same time.

It doesn't matter if Romney cuts the social services, without cutting the bureaucracy (like Obama cut the military without cutting the wars) then increase the military spending AND the wars (at least he will probably call it what it is, a war and not "bombing campaign" or "nation building").

It doesn't matter if Obama get re-elected and decides that he wants to turn us into a communist nation because, if we can help it - most of the policies that either wants to institute will not come to fruition, if we elect the house and senate full of liberty minded politicians. If there is enough of them, they can even overturn "obamacare" and block Romney's tweaked version of Obama Care.

So, with only a couple of days left to be informed, here it is: http://www.ronpublicans.com/ ; A website dedicated to liberty minded republicans. Unfortunately, I could not find a "liberty minded" democrat website, but if anyone has found one, please post it in the comments below.

Voting and Morals and God

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:07:00 +0000

Christian First - then American (Photo credit: J. Stephen Conn)

I've been seeing (as I do every election year), you must vote in a "Christian" or "Godly Person"

Here's the problem. Matt. 24:24 "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

Signs and wonders can be anything from false miracles (magic tricks) to just being moral. In a culture like to day, it seems that if someone stays with the same wife for more two years, that IS a wonder. By this verse alone, the antichrists or THE Antichrist will be moral, at least on the surface.

Here's another scripture that seems to beg attention:

Rev. 22:11 "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still."

This verse, in context, indicates that the time is about to happen, so just let people be the way they are going to be. Earlier in the New Testament, we are supposed to be just preaching the gospel and loving one another. (John 13:34)

In the New Testament, as Jesus went about preaching to the masses, usually kept speaking of peaceful change. The only force he used, was in the temple, (Luke 19:45) but take note, he didn't insist on government intervention. He did it himself. This is not to say you should go into church that's selling books and tapes in the lobby and tear everything up. You don't know if they are selling it just at cost (it could be a church that doesn't have the funding to give it away), and Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen as a result of his "outburst". (Luke 47).

He did once tell the disciples to have a sword, but soon after when one of them cut off the high priest's servant's ear, Jesus said "Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Matt. 26:51-52). For the most part, Jesus spoke of doing good to others, love your enemy, etc, etc. You can read all that in the beatitudes (Matt. 5-12)

A free government while allowing for immorality, also allows the church to thrive, as forcing people to moral only hides the real spiritual state of the country and causing more people to be "Christians" on the surface only. The church becomes complacent and stops doing it's work, which causes people to re-evaluate religion at all.

What you see today has been going on for a long time, we are just seeing it now surface as people start to suffer moral burnout. If you try to be moral just to look good or follow law (as in trying to please others) it becomes burdensome. If you try to please God, knowing that his grace abounds, the pressure is off and it become easier to be moral as you work at your own pace to improve for God's sake.

So now, going by real morality rather than perceived morality and lip service, and completely avoiding the economics issue, the four main (as in the most known) candidates are:

Ron Paul:
He's probably the only real known Christian out of the four as he lives his beliefs. This includes giving his services as an obstetrician for free to those who needed it, Treating patients that were considered taboo, like mixed race couples, never inciting violence (and when his supporter were itching for to start trouble, he always managed to talk them down), and his humility.

He never really wanted to run for politics and ran after being pressured by friends, and he ran for Senate. This guy, who was supposedly unelectable, won 12 times in the senate. Then he ran two times as a potential presidential nominee. But if you hadn't noticed, he never attributed his success on himself, aside from making the decision. He always attribute it to the fact that a lot of people want to be free and they are doing all of the work.

If you have been paying attention, what he does, he does it as if doing it for the Lord. He ended up getting 2 million votes in the primary - and that's even WITH the RNC cheating.

The problem? You would have to write him in. If you are "lucky" (in a metaphorical sense) that there's enough Ron Paul supporters to sign a petition that allows the write in votes to be counted that he might be counted.. Only eight in states write-ins are counted. He's also seems to be wanting to take a break. At least, he hints at it here: http://youtu.be/vSGNE07LHXI

Interestingly enough, his main issue wasn't abortion, or gay marriage but limiting the Government and expanding personal liberty: http://youtu.be/46q2iZ1K_78 possibly because he knows that only the Church can more efficiently spread morality than the Government can.

Mitt Romney: He is a Mormon who was an active leader in his church but when it comes to morals, it's hard to pinpoint on Romney. When in Massachusetts, he was very much - eh - socially tolerant. Massachusetts was the first to make Gay Marriage officially legal and he was very pro-choice. I don't have a problem with thinking one way than another, but not only does he pretend that it never happened, when asked about it, he puts quite a spin on it (a.k.a. lying).

Then there is the corruption that has been happening with the RNC. He was asked about this and completely denied even knowing that it was happening. You would think the future president of the US might try to keep up a little with the news - then again, supposedly he's busy campaigning. So, where's the denouncement of the RNC's actions? There is none. Perhaps there are Mormons who are Christians, but I don't think Romney is one of them. I could be wrong, but I haven't seen any "fruit" from his faith (Matt. 17:16)

Obama: I do believe in being fair,so I'm going to say this outright. Obama is as Muslim as Romney is a Christian. Technically, according to the Qua ran, he's a Muslim through genetics, but really, besides some lip service, he's really not. He was mostly raised by his stepfather who was a self proclaimed communist, and his mother was a progressive. If anything, he was influenced more by his stepfather, since being a communist, was also an atheist.

Interestingly enough, he has stayed with his wife since 1992 and so far, that we know of, he hasn't strayed. So much for basing elections on Morals.

Now here's the interesting thing. He hasn't changed the abortion laws (much) and even though he has said that he won't go after "potheads" where it has been legalized in the US. he has the highest marijuana drug bust of all the presidents since the whole "drug war". While he as said something about Gay Marriage, no changes to the Federal Law. He's actually more moral in actions than Romney was in Massachusetts. But we all know that Obama isn't a Christian. He has the form of Godliness but denies it's power (2 Timothy 3:5)

Gary Johnson:
He may or may not be a Christian but certainly acts like one. First and foremost he's humble enough to admit to his mistakes when he realizes it. He is perceived as being pro-choice, however, he will push to stop funding for Planned Parenthood as the Federal Government shouldn't be funding any health care whatsoever anyway.

The free market would put the last nail in that coffin. Have you considered why planned parenthood has been pushing for more government funds? It's because they can't survive on their own. Abortions will be relegated to hospitals where most doctors are still pro-life and it will only be performed under dire circumstances ( as in life or death).

He believes in letting the private sector take care of people rather than the Government and eliminate most of the acronyms or at least limit their power. The Church then can do it's job without being shut down because they supposedly violated a "law" made by an unelected entity. He also has been married to only one wife and never strayed (that we know of). Unfortunately, the Wiki doesn't have much personal info on him. That said, I can say, that we have more info on him than we did Obama when he was elected. We still don't have enough info.

And the most important thing that some Christians are looking at, and you can find it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Gary_Johnson#Israel
He thinks that Israel is an important ally and that they should remain a sovereign nation.

The downside: The republicans are doing to him what they did to Ron Paul: http://bit.ly/Pa25Dq although it does appears that the tables are turned in Washington State. Chances are, Gary Johnson will lose the states who's judges are easily bought off. He also has no qualms about humanitarian efforts, although I still think the private sector (as in missionaries from churches) are better suited for the job. He has less reservations about going to war and using drones, but at least he believes that the war should be declared by congress. It does seem that Gary Johnson is what the republicans were during the Regan years. Ron Paul is more of a libertarian than a republican.

To be honest, I don't think it matters who wins the election this year, unless by some miracle that Gary Johnson wins or Ron Paul just happens to have enough write in votes. Yeah, Obama is a bad president, but Romney has had the exact same record in Massachusetts. He's only appears different now that he's trying to flatter the "conservatives". I doubt that he would change much on domestic issues (but I thought that about Bush Jr and then he passed the patriot act), but he will increase war spending in which he believes that it will boost the economy (Keynesian Economics). As everyone already knows the economy started it's collapse while Bush was still in office - still fighting a war on terror in the Middle East that was supposed to help the economy.

This is why I have been trying to get people to do their research and possibly vote for a third party. Okay, I've been a bit too aggressive, but I do have an all or nothing personality and knowing that this might be our last chance to change the country had made me feel a little desperate... and desperate people do stupid things, like alienate everyone they know by trying to "make them" see what they see. I forgotten my most important rule: You can't MAKE anyone do ANYTHING.

So, I have backed off ... some... but it's hard as I see people so fear Obama's second term that they would vote for Hitler himself, just so Obama doesn't get a second term. If you are one of those people, don't think you wouldn't. Hitler was also the lesser of two evils as he ran against the communist party in Germany and never really indicated that he would put them in massive work camps, only that the Jews were cause of all of their problems. History proved that as correct as the Nazis killed less people than the communist did. Voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil.

If none of the candidates above are considered viable choices for you,then there are plenty to check out here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States

Then after you've made your decision, or maybe while you are making that decision, start stocking up on food, not only for yourself, but for at least one more family. That way, you can share God's grace with a neighbor when everything starts to collapse. Actually, If I'm wrong (and believe me, I hope that I am) stocking up on extras still can be used to help someone in need - which is what we are supposed to be doing in the first place.

Republican Scams will Follow to White House

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 02:42:00 +0000

So who would you choose: The Communist party or Hitler? Keep in mind that you can't vote for third party because that would mean the communist party will win.

Hitler was the "lesser" of two evils and talked a lot of good things. He built roads, improved the economy (at least for a short time) and History did prove that Hitler was indeed the lesser of two evils as he actually killed less people than the communist.

Think about that when you want to choose the "lesser of two evils". Will Romney improve the economy? He'll probably make a few superficial changes that might look good enough to investors to try to invest money, but it will be superficial. Keep in mind many more will die in the "war on drugs" and the "war on terror" - all in the name of security. Sound familiar?

That's was the excuse Hitler used to kill off the Jews. It was the Jews (potheads) fault for our violent culture. It's the Jews (terrorists) that are threatening our security. And before anyone says anything about "brown people", you are a terrorist if you stock up on food, buy extra flashlights, even state that you believe in the constitution.

Hitler tried to rid the country of Jews, Romney want to eliminate the liberty loving people. Hitler had started by making it impossible for Jews to do business, Romney has and will make it difficult for for liberty loving people to have a voice on who gets to represent them.

THIS is why I cannot vote for Romney OR Obama and anyone who would - just to make sure that that Obama won't get in, are the same kind of people who voted Hitler in.

My Itinerary this Week

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 04:21:00 +0000

English: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So tomorrow it really begins. I guilted Jonathan, my brother into babysitting my kids while Mike and I went out to eat at Panera Bread. We hadn't had a date like that in about a year. It was definitely long over due. Of course, being a parent of five kids, we still did errands afterwards, of course, but it was well worth it.

It was nice for once to be able to talk to Mike without being interrupted for one reason or another. And it's always the same three styles of "mom". The drawn out, two syllable "Mooo-ooom" when they are fighting. The short staccato or "broken record" "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom" when they just want attention. Then there is the "Mommy" when they want something - usually money, candy, games, etc, etc. I don't hear "Mommy" as often at the other two since they know I mostly say "No" but it does crop up. The good news is, they seem to be awfully good in the moment leading up to the interruption.

So, we talked just about everything. We talked about school plans, fixing Curves computer (which reminds me, I need to update my portable tools), fixing up the house, and other things that I can't repeat here on a family friendly blog. We are married after all.

I had such a great time and what I ate at Panera seemed to have given me a boost rather gas, bloating, and cramps like other places, I came home feeling pretty good.

We really need to do this again after all, Jonathan owes me a lot of babysitting hours...

Picture above is an old photo of the business district of Rutland. I see it in just about every "mom and pop" restaurant I've been to there.

It's that time of year again

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 05:27:00 +0000

I need to make a curriculum for 4 kids this year. Blah... I hate doing this because all the kids do pretty much the same thing. The only difference between them all is math and reading- as in Stephanie, my youngest girl reads at about a second grade level (she's supposed to be in first this year). The rest read about a college level and are well versed in chat speak.

Other differences is that Nathan wants to pursue filmography and the girls had asked me to get them some Lua books. Yes, it's a strange programming language, but they want it to be able to program objects in roblox. I was trying to steer them towards PHP or even flashscript, but no. They really REALLY want to program objects in Roblox. I hope learning Lua would help them learn other languages as well.

Math... That's next. This year we will be reviewing mostly, because they just started Kahn Academy a few months ago - just before summer. Like any kid in their right mind would actually do math - at least not formally. Kahn Academy also has other subjects besides math, including a new Computer science section, so I may use this site more than anything this year.

The rest is pretty much the same. Local History - all - as we tour a few historical museums together.Science - also a museum class. Or should I say museums as there are more than one I would like to visit this year.

It would be less redundant if we just had the teacher review, portfolio, or test at the end of the year. Do away with the whole submit a curriculum at the beginning and just have a notification law. After all, if the kids pass the test, then what's the problem?

As a result of this law, however, I won't be on much the next few days as I type one up for the state. Fun.

Why Politics Are More Frustrating Than Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 23:17:00 +0000

Usually, I don't get so frustrated with people... but this year, more than any other year, I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out the logic an reasoning of people. Consider the following scenario:

Me: It's "A" because reason A, reason A, and reason A
Other: No, I like B because reason B, Reason B, and reason B
Me: What about reason A? That negates Reason B and there's also Reason A
Other, No, Reason B is also important (giving one of the same reasons as before, only rewording to sound like a new reason)

At this point, I figured that this person isn't going to be convinced. So I let it go. Easy enough, right? Well, this year, it's a bit different:

Me: It's A, because reason A, reason A and reason A
Other: Yes, and also don't forget Reason A
Me (now getting excited that this person who previously disagreed, now agrees): Right! And of course Reason A!
Other: Of course! ... (the dreaded pause) but A isn't feasible because no one will choose A and therefore I must stick with B because it's not C
Me: But B and C are the same because reason B and Reason C are the same, also Reason B and Reason C are also the same... As a matter of fact, there really isn't much difference between B and C.
Other: No, B just isn't C
Me: but what about Reason B and C?
Other: That's true, but if I go for A then C has a more of a chance at winning, so I'm going with B because I don't want C.

So, instead of making a stand for what they believe in, they much rather choose the same that only looks a little bit different, because it's not the "other". Even if they agree that they are mostly the same. It doesn't matter that a lot of people think the exact same way and if those "lot of people" also took a stand, A has a chance.

But no, just follow the sheep towards the slaughterhouse - but at least it's not the same slaughterhouse.
Don't forget to berate and belittle those who try convince you to do otherwise on the way.

Where is this going?

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 04:56:00 +0000

I don't post on here often enough. No, this isn't one of those "I'm sorry I hadn't posted in a while" posts. Instead, it's one of those "should I keep going" or "should I start fresh" posts. It's been crazy the last few years, especially since I broke out in a rash last year. TMI? Well, it was on my arm face and neck. Not quite sure exactly what caused it, but eliminating wheat from my diet seem to improved things, drastically.

Once you get out of a habit however, it's difficult to go back. It's always, "There's something I want to blog about! I'll type that up tomorrow." Of course you know, tomorrow really never comes, so the blog never gets posted.

What makes matters worse, is that I always have a better idea for a blog. I'll start on up, post maybe 3-5 posts, and then promptly forget about it. My most recent excuse to not actually do something useful with my time: I want to move my blog onto my own website. So instead of blogging everyday or at the very least, once a week, I've been waiting until I get around to installing the blogging software on my server.

And waiting, and waiting... Yeah, I'll get to it... as soon as the kids act like perfect angels, people develop a psychic ability to know when I'm too busy to talk on the telephone, the stars align, and politicians tell the truth.

Of course, if I actually wait for all that, I will never blog again. So here I am... Blogging. I am still planning on moving my blog over, but instead of waiting, I'm posting again. Perhaps, I can post more than "well, I haven't been posting here in a while".

Tomorrow.

Parenting Dilemmmas

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:54:00 +0000

I usually don't rant online like this, but I need an outlet. It's not that I think I'm so great, I'm not. It's that I don't understand some people's "logic". I now honestly believe that kids are becoming screwed up because of these types of people.

Case in point #1: I Watched as some other family's kids play with my kids in the snow. I also watched as my son had thrown a snowball that got down her shirt. She ran home crying. I told Nathan to come inside and to be much more careful. A few minutes later, the mother called and complained that my son had hit her and her son, who was also there, with a shovel. I told her I was watching the whole time and then proceeded to tell her what had happened.

Fast forward to the following summer and again, while watching, she had attacked him and he stepped out of the way, causing her to tumble. She ran home again, and once again, a phone call. I finally told my son to try to avoid her because she's nothing but trouble. Even if he didn't do anything wrong, she will eventually get him into serious trouble.

Sure enough, a year later, another knock on the door. This time I didn't see what was going on. A neighbor was helping this woman of said daughter, who in spite of her illnesses, keeps getting pregnant. Keep in mind Vermont is one of those states who actually will pay for your birth control, long before the fed wanted to mandate it. The good news it that they are all from the same father - and before anyone jumps to THAT conclusion, it's way too obvious, they do look like him.

The neighbor said that Nathan had hit her with a stick - with a scratch (not a bruise). Now this girl did have her convinced that he did indeed do it, but I suspect that she had either accidentally scratched herself and took that as an opportunity as "proof" or (and I wouldn't have put it past her) inflict it on herself. Fortunately, this woman was a little more reasonable, so I said that they have been fighting an aweful lot and perhaps it was best if they just avoided each other from now on. It takes two to fight and since she or he cannot get along, this would be best.

The neighbor agreed. I still think that she thinks that my son did it, but she believes that the girl had instigated it. This scenario is not impossible, but not likely. Siblings are more likely to instigate stuff like that, after all, siblings know your weaknesses. He has never hit his sisters, maybe pushed a couple of times, in which he had learned quickly, you don't push anyone in this house.

Case in point #2: My kids love to wrestle (especially the boys) and I tell my girls that if they don't want to get hurt, then don't join in. The neighborhood boys came over and they were wrestling when a couple of their sisters showed up. They joined in and I had to turn my back for a moment to deal with my youngest and sure enough... both of the neighborhood girls came in, one was crying complaining that my son kicked her. I asked if they were wrestling, they said yes, and I said I'm sure it was an accident. I had asked where they were, and they said that he had left for his friends house. I said I will deal with them when they get back.

Yes, another knock on my door. This time it was the mother, going on about how boys shouldn't kick girls. I simply said that it was an accident (as in he was wearing winter boots and had probably didn't even know he had kicked her) and if she doesn't want to get hurt, then she shouldn't wrestle with the boys. Well, it doesn't matter, boys shouldn't kick girls, blah, blah, blah. I immediately knew what was coming next... Sure enough, she would hit, kick him and then claim that he can't beat her because that she was a girl and she would tell her mom. When he told her that he could accidently mistake her for a boy by the way she acted, it toned down.

That is until she DEMANDED that he would go out with her (keep in mind that she's eight years old) - or else she would tell her mom that he beat her up. *sigh* Thanks "mom", thanks for teaching your daughter on how to be a good "victim". Moron.

Case in point #3: Drama from our kids is annoying, and I can somewhat understand this guy's position (given his background) and actually, I'm really hoping that this is really a misunderstanding on either my part or his. But today, after my son had conned his way into getting his friend (we'll call him Todd) from another town to spend the night, I had sent a friend of my son's home (we'll call him "Brad") while I try to figure out how to solve this problem.

As it turned out, Todd, for whatever reason, had assumed that it was okay to spend the night tonight, even after I had told my son no. It appears that my son never told this kid no, so the mother (poor woman) had already made plans to drop him off to the point that he had no place to go if I had turned them down. I was understandably upset with My son, after I sent "Brad" home, and said I will see him Monday. I chewed my son out for pulling such a trick.

Now keep in mind that I send my son's friends home when he does things like this, simply because having friends over is a priviledge, not a right. I have five kids, and I can't keep kids over if there is too much drama going on with my kis. But apparently, I've done this too many times, and "Brad" got upset - (*ahem*) disappointed. So instead of teaching "Brad" to deal with life's disappointments, he just forbad him to play with my son at all. That's right, punish both kids forever, because he didn't want to deal with the "drama". I have an idea, how about forbid him to have ANY friends, because, you know, he will be disappointed by them just as easily.

There's more... I mean a LOT more. I can go on for hours because this town if full of them. I try to be compassionate... Really... and not all of my neighbors are bad... at least not the one renting the house from our other good neighbors. The one I mentioned above, that was helping out with the kids is also pretty reasonable.

The one besides me doesn't give me any trouble, but she seriously micromanages her kids. Every minute, every second is accounted for. I threaten my kids everytime they fight too much or aren't getting their schoolwork done that I will do it like them, if they keep it up. My kids immediately apologize and actually are pretty good for a while.

Although, I think I will start saving for a gym membership this summer. I'll would practically live there - until I meet the next problematic person. I do understand, those types of people are not limited to this town... It just I haven't met a family that I can actually relate to.

That Time Already

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 22:17:00 +0000

We are making plans for our trip already. I really wanted to take the camper with us, but gas prices are really high. So we are going to forgo the home away from home idea.

Since Mike wants this to be an educational trip, I will be doing a lot of research. This has given me an idea. I mentioned it to two people: my husband and my sister and they thought that it would be a great idea.

I can't say much about it at the moment since it's still in the percolating stage. I don't like sharing ideas with too many people before I can actually explain it to myself. What I do know is that this time, it may be useful to people outside of my imagination.

Making videos

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:36:00 +0000

I have a new camera and I have the software, so why haven't I made any videos yet? Well, I have been recording videos. The problem is that I haven't exactly got around to it yet.

Instead of editing the videos that I have, or even posting any "sit down vlogs", I have been splitting, editing, and burning to DVDs old home videos that my husband had converted for my parents. They wanted the videos, I wanted the hard drive space.

So, it will be a little while longer... but not too much longer, I hope.

My new tablet

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 04:35:00 +0000

My mother-in-law bought me for my birthday a Coby Kryos mid8025. It,s not bad. It dors have a resistive screen, but I'm suprised on how sensitive it is.

Right now, I'm using the one screen keyboard for this blog, and it does take some getting used to. As a matter of fact, I'm going to cut it short. I'll get more into it later.

SOPA (#SOPA) and PIPA (#PIPA)

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:46:00 +0000

I don't have much that's worth anything on my website, although, I hope that soon, I will. Currently, all of my content had been licensed under the Creative commons Attribution license. Pretty much, if you use my content (if I ever post anything useful), then all that I ask is that you link back to me.

However, if PIPA passes, I may just use Copyright. For those who know me, this may come as a shock, but there a reason... If I see as so much as a pixel of my content on any of these PIPA supporters websites without my permission, I will bring them down.

To be honest, I doubt that will ever happen as my content, at the moment is useless. But I honestly think other website content owners do the same. Perhaps by having their sites take down, the proponents will realize the idiocy of their websites - maybe.

I may post a "pre-permission" page where it can be used for non-commercial use - i.e. copied to a forum in a discussion, or something. Not sure how I will work this out. Hopefully, it won't come to that.

Starting a few projects

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:40:00 +0000

My husband and I decided to work on a project that we may be able to have manufactured and sold. Right now I need to come up with a few sketches so that we can get started.

I have found a decent and FREE cad program called FreeCAD. Yeah, the name is a bit unimaginative, but it seems to be a decent program and it’s free. Here’s a link if you want to check it out: http://sourceforge.net/projects/free-cad/ . Did I mention that it was free?

After I had found a decent project management site: www.manymoon.com. It let me send an email to invite Mike to help out in the project. This will come in handy as it will keep both of our notes and files in one location. It also integrates with Google Docs and we both have Gmail addresses, so this should work out well.

I have some ideas on how to integrate this into homeschooling projects…

The other thing I wanted to do is to work on my website. It’s seriously lacking. I have set up the content manager, added some text and that was about it. It was supposed to keep my skills sharp and I haven’t been using it to do so. So now, it’s time to reinvigorate it.

I’ll get back to the website in another post.

I’m not going to get into detail of the project we are working on just yet, because we all know that once you actually mention it, it mysteriously appears for sale somewhere a week later. As a matter of fact, I already said too much.

Some ideas, Health ramblings

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:50:00 +0000

I need to find a way to make some extra cash and at the same time save money. I know I’ve said this many times, but like my weight and my health, I had been sabotaging my efforts to succeed. Combine that with migraines and allergies, it became easier to just not do anything.

Last spring, I developed a rash on my arm, which I at first, dismissed at the usually seasonal psoriasis. However, when it didn’t go away after I’ve been out in the sun and doubled my dose of Cod Liver oil I realize that this was more than just psoriasis.

I recognize the symptoms as an allergy, as I had the same kind of rash on my face when I reacted to penicillin. So I started to work on my diet, as in getting rid of all the potential allergens, with no success.

Before I can think of anything else, we had to go to my mother-in-laws for a visit. During the two weeks there, my rash disappeared. My husband and I thought that maybe there was a mold growing in the upstairs rooms that may have been causing it. Our suspicions were confirmed after my allergy came back pretty much as soon as I got home – only to go away again, when I stayed in the Camper for a couple of days so that Mike can refinish the floor.

So out came the rugs and I slept downstairs. The allergy subsided and I went back upstairs to sleep – only to have the allergy back again. As it turns out, if it was the rug causing the allergy reaction, it wasn’t the only thing. I was allergic to my mattress.

So I slept for a couple more weeks on the couch, because by now, the cheap air mattress was leaky and my lazy-boy style chair was broken. The problem is that the couch was only 4 feet long, meaning that I wasn’t getting enough sleep.

That’s when the migraines started. So now, I still have them. My body hasn’t gotten a decent sleep schedule, so I’ve been somewhat incapacitated. Since I’ve moved upstairs, however, I have been feeling a little better and today’s migraine wasn’t as bad as normal. So perhaps tomorrow, I can catch up with housework a little and then work on some project that will make money.

Now is this an excuse? Am I letting these problems get in the way? Should I be farther ahead than I am?

15 Minute Random Ramble - 1

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 14:11:00 +0000

Okay, so I’m not blogging every Sunday like I wanted, something I was supposed to refrain from mentioning, but I’m mentioning it anyway. If I blog more often, perhaps I won’t have to talk about not blogging.

It’s been a rough week, as I have been not feeling well. We finally discovered that I am allergic to my mattress as well as the rugs. So I have put one on order. Until then, I’m sleeping on the couch, which is actually a love seat. the sitting space is about 3.5 feet, maybe four, and I’m 5 feet, 3 inches tall. Not completely comfortable. But I guess if my 6ft brother can sleep on it, so can I.

Okay, not really. As due to lack of sleep, I’ve been getting migraines almost on a daily basis. Unable to do much on the days that I have them, I’m falling farther and farther behind in the housework.

Today, I’m feeling a little better, but still tired. It doesn’t seem that any amount of caffeine will make me feel a little more awake. But at least there’s no pain today, And the most current reaction, when I went to sleep upstairs again now that the rug is gone, is finally looking like it’s going away. My face is clearing and there aren’t as many bumps on my arms.

I have been avoiding wheat and most grains, although I still have that gluten-free flour in storage, so I’ll probably use that on occasion. Maybe I’ll start using gluten-free flour for everyone. At least in the form of pancakes and muffins. Then I will be able to eat what everyone else eats.

I’ll have to use search the internet after this is done. Perhaps I’ll be able to make them in bulk and freeze them. Now that’s an idea. Maybe I can do that this afternoon.

I’m also thinking getting into programming again. I’ve considered Learning Java, as I can integrate that with web design and it’s not platform specific. I have a few ideas that I’m not going to say just yet, simply because I know that once I mention them, someone else will make it within a week, at least it seems that way.

Now, I’m off to catch up in housework. Yay?

Finding time

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:40:00 +0000

The first thing I need to do to keep up this blog is actually finding time. Not that I don’t have time, I just need to find the right time. During the day, it’s nearly impossible to find at least 15 minutes to blog. It’s difficult enough to find 5 uninterrupted minutes.

At night (like right now) I’m kind of brain dead so keeping focused enough to blog for 15 minutes – so instead, I play a game of minecraft online on Cole2sworld.com. I’m hoping that Mike finishes the rug soon because I will start to go upstairs to blog during the time I’m most mentally alert – which right after lunch – right after my walk.

I’m hoping to have our bedroom done tomorrow. Perhaps by Monday, I’ll be sleeping upstairs again. Then I will retreat upstairs for 15 minutes after my walk. Provided that I don’t let myself get distracted, I should be able to blog a little.

In other news

My grandmother visited today. It’s rare that she comes here since it’s so far from my mother’s place. But it’s nice when she does come. We had coffee and pretty much talked about everything, including (*gasp*) getting a computer for her. No kidding. She wanted to get one to see if she can watch what the great grandchildren are doing. I told here that a netbook would be sufficient, but I couldn’t recommend software because I personally took the “old-fashion” root of keeping the computers in the dining room.

Our dining room is in between the kitchen and the living room, making it the room with the highest traffic. I can take a peek at the computers as I walk by, doing my daily chores.

She left and I gave her a hug. She’s supposed to be with my mother in October, and I plan on visiting then.

Burn, Baby, BURN!

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:51:00 +0000

We lost two of our desktops today. Out of all the desktops, it just HAD to be the one that contained hours and hours of old home videos that I had digitized from VHS cassettes. In case you aren’t sure what they are, they’re the things that we used way back when there weren’t CDs, DVDs, Blu-Ray, SD cards, thumb drives, or even cheap desktop computers.

Desktops back then costs thousands of dollars, and had a whopping 128K and used what was called “floppies”, which looked kind of like a giant floppy SD card. Later came the slightly smaller version that was actually plastic – but I’m getting way off the subject here. If you want to know what a VHS cassette was, click on the link above. It’ll take you to a Google images page, so you’ll know what they look like.

My husband dug out his hard drive reader and tried it on the third Gateway, which didn’t seem to even know what an external hard drive was. Neither one of us wanted my youngest to hound him and me (mostly me, of course) about using the computer. His laptop is so old, you would think it played VHS tapes, so we use the only computer that was running, could read an external hard drive, AND no one was using (as in I was busy doing housework), my laptop.

We moved the files onto my laptop and then proceeded to move the files onto our terabyte book drive. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, anything more than 4GB was more than the drive can handle. This means, that I will be taking the video and cutting it up into pieces.

New problem, my hard drive is full. Well, almost. But it’s full enough that editing the 4GB video won’t happen, unless I free up some space. Movie Edit Pro 17 Plus (the video editor I use) is non-destructive, which means, that not only the entire 4GB file remains intact, but Magix will create another file with all the edit info. In order for me to edit all of the larger files (ranging from 4GB to 11GB), I have to work on the smaller files first.

So, I burned one DVD already and found that it wasn’t as tedious as I thought it was. As a matter of fact, it was quite fun. So now, after I finish this blog, I plan on doing another.

As long as nothing else goes wrong.

Earthquake

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 19:15:00 +0000

You know, at first, I thought it was just a truck passing by, or maybe a train, but after a few seconds, I realize that it was probably an earthquake. The house shakes sometimes when someone walks by, so it wasn’t surprising for it to shake so much when the earth started to move.

I took the kids outside (yeah, weak, I know) and saw two kids on the sidewalk, as if nothing was happening. So you really couldn’t feel it outside. But when I looked at my overgrown front garden, I saw the fennel swaying… and there was no wind.

Is Vermont the New California?

Sunday Ramblings 2

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 03:54:00 +0000

Alright, this will be difficult. I’m in the camper right now, realizing that at 11:30, I was supposed to post today.

Oops.

Well it was a busy week, and as usually, I started with a full head of steam at the beginning of the week, only to have it peter out by Thursday. The symptoms of the allergy would keep me awake at night, not to mention the air mattress would sag by morning, so lack of sleep would cause me to slow down by the end of the week.

Fortunately, I have been getting ahead a little more each week. I’m hoping Mike will finish the rug upstairs so that I can sleep in my own bed again. That would be nice.

The church had it’s give-a-way this week, so Saturday, I spent the day at the church, helping out. I didn’t clean as much as I would have like at mom’s house, since we weren’t there much this weekend, again. I still have to work on the church’s website, but I seem to be dealing with a web designer’s equivalent to a writer’s block.

I was able to sweep up all the dog hair. It’s amazing how much dogs can shed. There was enough hair on the floor to spin and knit a sweater, which might not be a bad idea, as winter will be here soon. Think of the money we’ll save. Perhaps I can use this opportunity to teach my craft-loving daughter how to spin and knit?

I’ve come up with a few money making ideas, I won’t say what they are yet, but I’ve been searching the internet to see if anyone has come up with it.

Not yet, but if I say anything – even to my husband, someone else will already have come up with the idea, and I’ll end up missing out on an opportunity. I will post more details on the MomEtek blog.

My time is up, but it’s because of the fact that I got distracted looking up my idea that I wasn’t able to write more

Have you noticed, my ADHD symptoms are showing up again?

Oooo, look at that shining object…

Sunday Ramblings 1

noreply@blogger.com (Nancie Neal) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 22:06:00 +0000

15 minutes.

That’s it. Every Sunday, I plan on typing for 15 minutes of random dribble. I don’t post here enough so at least I’m posting something. But is some nonsense post better than nothing at all.

Well, I thought it wasn’t, which is why I haven’t been posting. I’ve been struggling with a long and terrible writer’s block. Or, when I think of something good, I don’t have my laptop. By the time I get my laptop, I had forgotten what I wanted to post or completely forget to post at all.

I have considered using the speech to text engine that is already built into windows, so that maybe, I can talk into my blogs. I would just record a podcast, but audio isn’t as searchable as text.

That might be a good idea. As a matter of fact, if it works with Evernote, I can record my conversations with myself and search the later. Sometimes I do come up with great ideas for blogs, videos, or even something I might be able to sell and make millions.

I have listened to a few interesting books that gave me the idea to write randomly at least once a week. In writing your thoughts out as they come out, you engage a different part of your brain and sometimes problems that you thought were impossible to solve, suddenly has a solution.

I’ll list the books at the end of this post, if you are interested. As a matter of fact, it will be in my store on this blog.

Today, at church, we got all the schools supplies sorted and bundled for our big school supply give-a-way, which is next Saturday. I don’t know if we have enough, but we shall see.

This reminds me, I really do need to fix the church website. The layout is done, but it needs a little more… something. Not sure what, but after my writing exercise is done, that will be next project. I’ll also have to post to the blog. I did take some videos – which I need to tag. Perhaps I will get some takes from all of the videos I’ve taken and make a new intro video.

Well, time is up. There were a few distractions, but not bad for a first timed writing session.

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Where is this going?

Parenting Dilemmmas

That Time Already

Making videos

My new tablet

SOPA (#SOPA) and PIPA (#PIPA)

Starting a few projects

Some ideas, Health ramblings

15 Minute Random Ramble - 1

Finding time

Burn, Baby, BURN!

Earthquake

Sunday Ramblings 2

Sunday Ramblings 1