Phone Calls

I am an individual with the right to a good life. I must not look to anyone else to make a good life for me, this I must do for myself. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 16 January)

I have been given certain tools with which to run my life, and the free will to use them. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 3 February)

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I enjoyed two nice long phone conversations yesterday. I talked with former co-worker, Noel, and I talked with genealogy friend, Jo. We had a good time remember things we did together. Have you called a friend or relative lately?

Mr. Dickie
28/Feb/2010 8:28

Search Engine

Search Engine

A friend asked me if I know how to install a Search box on a website. When I had my website on AOL I installed the code to search the components of the website. I've forgotten how I did it. I think I used a free routine I got from Microsoft. I decided to do a Google search to see what I could find about free search engine options.

I discovered that Google has a Search gadget that can quickly and easily be installed on the Google blogs. I believe this feature can also be installed on websites

I tested the gadget on one of my four blogs and it worked "like a charm." I decided to install the search box at the top of the sidebar on all four of my Google blogs.

Enter your search terms in the search box and click to search. The results of your search will appear in the display window on the left side of the screen. Notice at the top of the window there is a line with three search options and an "X" in a little box:. The options are:

• This Blog
• Linked From Here
• Links to Other Blogs and Points of Interest
• "X" - (to close the search results window)

Try all three to see how they work. With each "hit" the URL for the blog where the cited item was found is displayed.

I hope the "Search" feature will help you move around in the blogs and make it easy to find anything you want to look at a second time.

Mr. Dickie
28/Feb/2010 8:41

Carting Off

The nonspiritual being is motivated by achievement, performance and acquisitions. The spiritual being is motivated by ethics, serenity and quality of life. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, Real Magic, p. 47)

Suppose someone has enough to live and sees a brother or sister in need, but does not help. Then God's love is not living in that person. (1 John 3:17 in Grace For the Moment by Max Lucado, 11 February)

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Facebook must have some issues. Lately the automatic feeds from this Google blog haven't been showing up in my Facebook notes. Since it is all free I'll have to admit, I really don't have much to complain about.

Yesterday we experienced several hours of high winds. Our full trash can was rolling down the middle of the street. One of the neighbors went out to bring it back. Thanks, Jim. At least two semi-trailer trucks were blown over on the highway near Thurmont, Maryland. That's close to Camp David the presidential retreat. This morning we woke up to find a light dusting of snow on the roofs and the ground. It's nothing serious, just enough to help us keep in mind that winter isn't over yet.

Ever wonder why people think "it's not stealing" when they take a grocery cart home with them? There were two carts in our development. The other day I parked the minivan at the corner, near the gas station, while I pushed one of the carts back to the grocery store parking lot. On the way I noticed that another one, stuck in a snowdrift at the traffic light is still there. I left it alone because I didn't want to do the physical exertion to disengage it from the snowbank. I've hear that each cart costs over $700.00. The one closest to the house is still out in front of the rental property along with all of the other trash that comes out of that house and ends up at the curb.

Mr. Dickie
27/Feb/2010 9:06

Through Each Others Eyes

What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate. (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 7)

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each others eyes for an instant? (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 11)
26/Feb/2010 8:20

Resentment

Anytime you're filled with resentment, you're turning the controls of your emotional life over to others to manipulate. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, p. 103)

Your resentments literally send God out of your life while you're being offended. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, p. 112)

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More snow and high winds are predicted. There's still lots of unmelted snow on top of the bushes. The damage to the brittle azaleas will be severe even if no more snow falls.

For no particular reason I have been working on the genealogy of a family just to see what I can put together. My sources are: 1) a book of biographical and genealogical sketches, 2) two descendant charts from an Internet website, and 3) the 1880 census book that I own. I used the source citation feature of RootsMagic for the first time. The RootsMagic PDF document, with name index, for the family is twenty-five pages. Now I need to decide whether to share the work with others.

Mr. Dickie
25/Feb/2010 9:34

Unsafe At Any Speed

You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it. (Dr. Wayne Dyer, 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, p. 83)

Loved ones can seem to have such serious needs that we may wonder if their needs can be resolved. (Colleen Zuck, Daily Word, Day 7)

The cause of disillusionment is putting one's complete hope and trust in people. (Charles R. Swindoll, Wisdom for the Way, p. 40)

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The head of Toyota, in the United States, testified before Congress yesterday. He offered long apologies for their car safety problems. At the same time he avoided answering the question of how long they have known about the problem. And he didn't state whether they are certain they know what is causing the problem. I have a hunch that it has nothing to do with floor mats or accelerator pedals. Outsiders and accident survivors are saying it's a problem with the electronics (computer or software). All this reminds me of the problems many years ago with the Ford Pinto when articles with the titles like, "Unsafe at Any Speed" were being published. We owned a Pinto too. I sure do know how to buy good cars.

Mr. Dickie
24/Feb/2010 8:09

If You'll Recall

"All man's miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone." (Blaise Pascal in 10 Secrets For Success and Inner Peace by Dr. Wayne Dyer, p. 51-52)

Life will work for me when I realize ... I have the power to walk right! The power to talk right! And the power to live right! (Iyanla Vanzant, Until today! 3 January)

Too much of my life has been spent in dwelling upon the faults of others. (As Bill Sees It, p. 44)

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Yesterday we took our 2008 Toyota to the dealer for the recall repair. They replaced the accelerator mechanism with one with a shorter pedal and they replaced a styrofoam pad under the carpet with a thinner pad. They didn't both to remove rocks and gravel from the carpet before they pulled it up. I should have thought of that beforehand and cleaned it myself. We have no confidence that these changes actually fixed the sticking throttle problem. It's ironic that the head of Toyota won't be here to testify before Congress about the problems with the cars until Wednesday. I expect him to be as vague as possible or lie about what's wrong. This morning the newscast announced that there will be further recalls for brake problems. Millions of people are now stuck with cars and vans who's trade-in values will fall. Perhaps it will be difficult to get anyone else to buy these used vehicles. Good grief!

This morning I took the Ford minivan to the dealer to have the recall work done on this vehicle. To say the least we are somewhat stressed that we own two vehicles and both were recalled at the same time. Ford advised owners to not park the minivans in garages or carports until the fix is applied. They said this because they didn't want to buy car owners a new house if the minivan caught on fire and burned the house down. Good grief!

I didn't post anything to my blogs yesterday. I was too involved with the Toyota, going out to breakfast and going shopping at BJ's, the membership store where we buy our bulk items. I did work on keying some genealogy information. I noticed that there was a news item about Facebook having service problems. Some of my friends posted that old pages replaced more recent updates. I suppose that means they had to use their back up.

Mr. Dickie
23/Feb/2010 9:20