The following excerpt is taken from the book, "Make the Connection" by Bob Greene and Oprah Winfrey (Harpo, Inc. 1996).
Bob Greene shared the story of when he went skiing by himself in the beautiful mountains of Utah. "It was an incredibly clear and beautiful day. The snow was a deep, fluffy powder. The sun was out. The air was crisp and fresh. And as I stood there, overlooking this incredible view, in one of my favorite places, doing one of my favorite things, I had the sudden realization: 'I'm not happy.'"
He tried to figure out why by replaying the entire day. Then it dawned on him. For that entire day, he was mentally somewhere else. He realized he was thinking about career plans, buying a house, what day he was going home, whether his car would start after his two week absence, etc. Bob wrote, "I was preoccupied with everything that I was going to do, and not anything that I was doing. I asked myself if I had appreciated one single moment of that day as it happened. Then I tried to remember the last time I appreciated any moment." He took off his skis and sat down in the snow until he got into the current moment. He then began to enjoy everything around him and could feel true joy.
Bob stated, "I began questioning why most people focus on either the past or the future, when their entire life is lived in the present....I was sacrificing my present for my future, not realizing that the future never really arrives. It's always the future! I decided from that day on that I was going to experience as many current moments as I could...Now I realize, what's the point of good things in your life if they are never recognized or appreciated as they happen?"
His words of advice are, "Make an effort to experience real moments in each day." As many of you go on vacations this summer with your family and loved ones, appreciate and value each other and each experience, whether it be small, or large and significant. "I can't stress enough the importance of living in the moment, of experiencing each moment, both good and bad moments that make up your life. This will open you up to feelings of true joy, and that's what life is all about."
Have a great summer!
Showing posts with label JULY 1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JULY 1. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
What happens to it?
It seems that every day the newspaper has articles regarding seized drugs during transportation into our country. This “weapon” that is destroying many societies by destroying its most treasured asset of youth bothers me tremendously. I am high on life and do not understand why someone (either young or old) would want to feel miserable and consider it fun. I also cannot understand how human beings (if they can still be considered human, because they certainly are not humane) can purposely destroy the lives of others by providing drugs to them.
A few weeks ago an article in the Orange County Register was about a boat that was stranded off shore. When the Coast Guard arrived to assist those on board, they found two tons of Marijuana on board being smuggled from Mexico to San Diego, CA. They and their counter parts that were waiting for the arrival of the boat were all arrested. Then I wondered, “What does happen to the confiscated drugs and how it is handled by our police and related agencies. What do they do with it?” Here are some answers I was able to obtain.
• The drugs are destroyed (incinerated) and the cash goes to various law enforcement organizations and into the general fund of the federal government with some to each state involved in that particular crime.
• Money is used by the confiscating agency for other police purposes, such as vehicles, equipment, new buildings, etc. Any other property confiscated, such as vehicles, houses, etc., will be auctioned off, and that money in turn is used by the confiscating agency in the same way as confiscated money. All of this is after the case has gone all the way through the court system. As a note, money must be over a certain amount for the police to confiscate it.
• Confiscated money and drugs have an extensive security trail established, that will not allow drugs or money to be tampered with. It’s called the chain of evidence. Great security measures are in place to protect this recovered evidence. This evidence is held in extremely tight security areas, until time for court. Once all appeals have been met, the drugs are destroyed and the money is used to purchase police equipment or to support a charitable organization, like the Fraternal Order of Police Youth Camp.
I would like to go to one of these bonfires and cheer for the police and the agencies that try to get some of these drugs off the street. Every little bit helps.
A few weeks ago an article in the Orange County Register was about a boat that was stranded off shore. When the Coast Guard arrived to assist those on board, they found two tons of Marijuana on board being smuggled from Mexico to San Diego, CA. They and their counter parts that were waiting for the arrival of the boat were all arrested. Then I wondered, “What does happen to the confiscated drugs and how it is handled by our police and related agencies. What do they do with it?” Here are some answers I was able to obtain.
• The drugs are destroyed (incinerated) and the cash goes to various law enforcement organizations and into the general fund of the federal government with some to each state involved in that particular crime.
• Money is used by the confiscating agency for other police purposes, such as vehicles, equipment, new buildings, etc. Any other property confiscated, such as vehicles, houses, etc., will be auctioned off, and that money in turn is used by the confiscating agency in the same way as confiscated money. All of this is after the case has gone all the way through the court system. As a note, money must be over a certain amount for the police to confiscate it.
• Confiscated money and drugs have an extensive security trail established, that will not allow drugs or money to be tampered with. It’s called the chain of evidence. Great security measures are in place to protect this recovered evidence. This evidence is held in extremely tight security areas, until time for court. Once all appeals have been met, the drugs are destroyed and the money is used to purchase police equipment or to support a charitable organization, like the Fraternal Order of Police Youth Camp.
I would like to go to one of these bonfires and cheer for the police and the agencies that try to get some of these drugs off the street. Every little bit helps.
TV CONVERTER BOXES
TV Converter Boxes
The day of converting and converter boxes for digital TV has finally arrived, ready or not.
In our California lunch room we have an old TV that is about 25 years old. It belonged to my Mother when she was watching it at her home many years ago. I guess they used to make them last! This TV had reception of only 8 channels in our lunch room. We do not have cable so it operated on RABBIT EARS. These 8 channels were sometimes even compromised and hard to view. Some of you might remember the good old days of adjusting the rabbit ears or sitting in a particular place in the room so there would be a better reception. That’s what our employees had to do to watch this thing.
Some of the employees who work Saturdays at the office and have lunch, they watches the so- called TV in the lunch room. They called me last Saturday and told me that there were no channels on the TV, only white snow. Last year when Government was giving away the vouchers for converters, I was able to get a few knowing they would be necessary for the year to come. I purchased the boxes for the “D” Day.
In these challenging economic times, we discovered that this might be a blessing in disguise, and a savings for all of us (but at the same time, a loss for the CABLE companies). I will explain our situation as it happened.
I brought a converter box from home and had it connected it to this old TV. You would not believe how amazed we all were to see how simple it was to install. But more than that, we could not believe the vivid pictures we were experiencing on the screen. And that was only the beginning! We now have 99 perfect channels that can be watched on this old TV that was showing only 8 channels before. We could not believe how sharp the picture is and how we can surf through the channels. The instructions said to set our TV on channel 3 or 4 and then with remote that comes with the unit, we change the channels on the converter box. The channels are compressed. In other words, when you go to channel 18, you have 18-1, 18-2, 18-4, 18-5, so you have to select the one you want to watch. All channels are there. Now we just have to figure out what channels our favorite shows are on.
Now for the savings! You can get rid of your cable company that is charging you $39.00 - $49.00 per month for basic cable, go with your converter box, and you are watching quality TV free.
I think the cable companies lost on this one. For a change, we have something that works and is free. Pass the word around, but test it first at your home without the cable coming from the wall. Use the converter box to make sure it will work for you before telling the cable company to take a hike. The converter box with the voucher costs you a one time $25.00 - $39.00 depending where you are shopping.
I suggest that even if you do not need one now, get a voucher from the Government and buy a converter box just in case you might need one in the future. These will not be available for long. To get your Coupon/voucher go to: https://www.dtv2009.gov. Apply for the TV converter box coupons while supplies last, until July 31, 2009. Applications for coupons will continue to be accepted online, by phone, by mail and by fax until 12 midnight Eastern Time.
The day of converting and converter boxes for digital TV has finally arrived, ready or not.
In our California lunch room we have an old TV that is about 25 years old. It belonged to my Mother when she was watching it at her home many years ago. I guess they used to make them last! This TV had reception of only 8 channels in our lunch room. We do not have cable so it operated on RABBIT EARS. These 8 channels were sometimes even compromised and hard to view. Some of you might remember the good old days of adjusting the rabbit ears or sitting in a particular place in the room so there would be a better reception. That’s what our employees had to do to watch this thing.
Some of the employees who work Saturdays at the office and have lunch, they watches the so- called TV in the lunch room. They called me last Saturday and told me that there were no channels on the TV, only white snow. Last year when Government was giving away the vouchers for converters, I was able to get a few knowing they would be necessary for the year to come. I purchased the boxes for the “D” Day.
In these challenging economic times, we discovered that this might be a blessing in disguise, and a savings for all of us (but at the same time, a loss for the CABLE companies). I will explain our situation as it happened.
I brought a converter box from home and had it connected it to this old TV. You would not believe how amazed we all were to see how simple it was to install. But more than that, we could not believe the vivid pictures we were experiencing on the screen. And that was only the beginning! We now have 99 perfect channels that can be watched on this old TV that was showing only 8 channels before. We could not believe how sharp the picture is and how we can surf through the channels. The instructions said to set our TV on channel 3 or 4 and then with remote that comes with the unit, we change the channels on the converter box. The channels are compressed. In other words, when you go to channel 18, you have 18-1, 18-2, 18-4, 18-5, so you have to select the one you want to watch. All channels are there. Now we just have to figure out what channels our favorite shows are on.
Now for the savings! You can get rid of your cable company that is charging you $39.00 - $49.00 per month for basic cable, go with your converter box, and you are watching quality TV free.
I think the cable companies lost on this one. For a change, we have something that works and is free. Pass the word around, but test it first at your home without the cable coming from the wall. Use the converter box to make sure it will work for you before telling the cable company to take a hike. The converter box with the voucher costs you a one time $25.00 - $39.00 depending where you are shopping.
I suggest that even if you do not need one now, get a voucher from the Government and buy a converter box just in case you might need one in the future. These will not be available for long. To get your Coupon/voucher go to: https://www.dtv2009.gov. Apply for the TV converter box coupons while supplies last, until July 31, 2009. Applications for coupons will continue to be accepted online, by phone, by mail and by fax until 12 midnight Eastern Time.
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