Chars Life and Times

There are quite a few social networking sites on the Internet these days. On these websites, you are able to stay connected with your long lost relatives, your current friends and even get to meet some new friends. However, social networking is not all you can utilize the Facebook website for.

Because the Facebook website is so highly recognized these days, more and more people are using that to their advantage. They are using Facebook as a marketing tool for their business, products or online service. 

You could decide to join any number of social networking sites online. However, if you really are looking for one of the top websites, then Facebook is your best bet. This site will enable you to market your products or services and help you bring targeted traffic to your website. 

Facebook is judged as the number one place to go, according to the vast majority of people, when it comes to marketing and networking. Facebook has over 100 million active subscribers so you can see why the site has the potential to increase your sales. 

I was listening to our local news on television and heard about a little four year old girl abandoned at a liquor store in Springfield, Illinois which is about 32 miles from where I live. Can you imagine that? Apparently what happened is that the mom and stepdad pulled the liquor store door open just enough to get the little girl in. They then pushed her in and ran off. The liquor store clerk said the little girl was cute as a button and he thought they just let her in to buy some candy, but then they just took off.

The clerk called the police who located the couple a short distance away walking. The couple was arrested and charged with endangering the health of a child. The stepfather posted $100 bail and was released. The little girl’s mother was still in jail and being held on a warrant charging her with violating a protection order. 

Meanwhile, the case has been turned over to the Department of Child and Family Services. They have the girl in their custody right now, and they say she is in good condition.

How can parents do that and why are they so stupid? If they really felt they needed to get rid of the little girl, why didn’t they just take her to Child and Family Services, a police station or even a fire station? If they would have done that, they wouldn’t be in so much trouble and then the little girl would be taken care of. Why did they just dump her at a liquor store? Some people are so stupid and ignorant. 

I got a phone call this afternoon from my sister-in-law, Sharon. I really consider her my sister because we are really close and would still remain best friends even if her brother and I weren’t married anymore. She lives in Florida and has for the last nine or so years. She was diagnosed with brain cancer about 8 years ago and has out lived the doctors expectations 100 fold. 

Anyway, I got a phone call from her and she’s leaving Florida on Sunday to drive to my house. I guess she plans on staying here for awhile. I don’t mind and I’d love to have her here but I still have my worries. One of the problems is I have five dogs that she can’t be around all that much because of her illness. I am also not the best housekeeper and even though my husband doesn’t mind a bit, she is a clean freak and I’m afraid she won’t be comfortable living here. I don’t know how long she plans to stay. She wants to stay downstairs away from the dogs. We do have a bed down there and my son used to live down there so I guess it’s livable, but it may not be for her. 

So I have my concerns, and I guess we will see how it goes. I’ll let you know more when she gets here on what happens. Have you ever had an unexpected relative stay at your home for an extended visit?

Today is the day that most all people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving. If you are one of those people, then Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Today I will be spending my day at home with my furry kids (dogs) and probably be eating delivery pizza for dinner. My hubby is up north with his family enjoying Thanksgiving turkey and all the trimmings. That is fine with me. I don’t really want to leave the dogs alone for that long and I don’t enjoy Thanksgiving anymore anyway. All you do is eat too much and then feel terrible for hours afterward. I will be home writing on the computer as usual and watching the dog show on television. I’m still taking care of my toes that had the toenails removed on Monday and since I have to wash and bandage them three times a day, being away from home makes that rather inconvenient to do. 

Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all God has given us and I do that in my own way. So enjoy your day and don’t eat too much! 

A plan that offers coverage for a limited amount of time is called short term medical insurance coverage. This type of policy just may be the perfect answer to some people’s insurance needs. If you have just graduated from college, or maybe you are between jobs this might be great resolution for you. Another example where this insurance might help is if you just turned 18 years of age and you are coming off your parent’s insurance plan. Maybe you just got a new job, and you have to wait three months until your new insurance kicks in, this insurance would help fill the gap. These are a few reasons why you might check into short term medical insurance coverage and see if it available in the state where you live. 

Generally, short term medical insurance only renders you coverage for 30 to 180 days, although some policies can be renewed up to 12 months if you need the coverage for that long. You might want to look into family or individual health insurance policies if you need coverage for longer than a year. 

Short term medical insurance coverage can be obtained online by searching for the term short term medical insurance. These types of policies can help you fill in the spaces of insurance coverage that you need when you don’t have it the normal way.

If you are at all squeamish about gross medical things, perhaps you shouldn’t be reading this so I am warning you ahead of time. I am going to talk about toenail fungus. I’m even going to put the photo of an example of toe nail fungus at the bottom so you can leave now if you want.

The reason I am writing about this is that I am diabetic and have had toenail fungus for years. Yes I tried the usual topical and oral treatment methods, none of which worked. My big toe’s nail had become very painful because the nail got real thick and gross stuff was growing underneath of it. (Hey, I warned you!) My regular doctor was concerned and sent me to a foot specialist, and we decided to take off two toenails on my left foot and two on my right. (the worst ones) They did one foot earlier today (November 24) and we’ll do the other foot in six weeks.

I wanted to let everyone know that the procedure is not as bad as it sounds. The worst part was when he shot the Novocain in my two toes. That really hurt badly! You would think a couple of little shots wouldn’t, but believe me, it almost had me coming off that chair. After the doctor got finished putting the two shots in each toe, I got to sit back and get my breath back for a few minutes while they became numb. 

The doctor then came back in and proceeded to take off my two toenails and scrape the gunk out. Meantime, I sat there talking about dogs with the nurse who was real nice. I think I felt two stings of small pain, but nothing I couldn’t deal with after those shots. In about fifteen minutes he was all done-no problem. I was amazed because I had been worrying about this procedure for days. The nurse wrapped my toes up in pretty blue bandages, gave me my instructions and off I went. 

I won’t have to worry about toe nail fungus on those two toes anymore. The doctor put some kind of medication on them so that the nail will not grow back, therefore no more toe nail fungus. Starting tomorrow, I have to change the bandages three times a day, after washing them with anti-bacterial soap, put on Neosporin on one day and some other spray stuff on alternate days, and go back to see the doctor in a week. I think I can handle that. 

The moral to this story is, if you have bad toenail fungus, and your doctor thinks you need to get your toenails removed, don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal. If I can handle it, anyone can handle it. 

P.S. This picture is NOT of my toes!!! 

I just read about the man that accidentally left his cell phone behind at a McDonalds and later found out that his wife’s nude pictures had been put up online. How embarrassing!! Phillip Sherman of Arkansas learned the hard way to take better care of his cell phone. He had photos of his nude wife on his cell phone, for his personal use I’m sure, and the employees at McDonald’s told him that they would secure it until he returned for it. Instead, they posted the photos online for all to see. 

Mr. Sherman and his wife are now suing McDonalds and anyone else they can think of because of it. I see nothing wrong with having personal photos, nude or not, on your cell phone, but you should be sure and keep it with you at all times. They filed the suit on Friday and they seek a jury trial and $3 million in damages for embarrassment, suffering the cost to have to move to a new home. 

I am currently taking courses online to obtain an Associate Degree in Medical Coding and Billing. Along with the medical courses I take, I also have to take the basic college courses. The one I am taking now is called English Composition. You would think that I would love this class, since I enjoy writing so much. I also was very good in English in High School and always got A’s. I have found out that it is a little more difficult than I thought it would be. 

The current assignment was to pick a big ticket item and write an essay on how you would proceed to compare two products. I chose a refrigerator and until I started researching, I had no idea how many different kinds of refrigerators there were. There are top freezer models, bottom freezer models, side by sides and a new kind called one with French doors. Of course, with all the options you can expect the prices to be from about $400 to over $1,200. So if you are in the market for a refrigerator and haven’t looked at the new ones in awhile, I think you will be as surprised as I was how new and technically advanced they are.  

One of the world’s most common diseases, diabetes, could cost the United States over $218 billion. The first comprehensive estimate of the financial toll diabetes takes was released Tuesday, November 28, 2008. This study was paid for by Novo Nordisk A/S which is a Danish pharmaceutical company. 

That figure includes direct medical care costs, from pills and insulin for keeping a patient’s blood sugar under control to hospitalization and amputation costs. It also includes indirect expenses such as disability, early retirement and lost productivity. 

From what I read, the number of people diagnosed with diabetes continues to rise each year along with obesity. Since I have diabetes type 2 myself, along with my husband, I can see the increase of the prices in medicine and blood glucose testing tools. I can just imagine how that increases with the more people that get diagnosed with diabetes every year. 

I was diagnosed with diabetes quite by accident about 3 years ago by an annual exam and blood work. My husband was diagnosed, again by accident, when he had a bump on his back that wouldn’t heal. If people were tested for this dangerous disease earlier, it might be able to be kept under control earlier, therefore saving money in the long run.

Today I’m going to talk about my life and holidays, especially Thanksgiving, since it is coming in less than a week. To put it candidly, these days, I don’t like holidays. Both of my parents are dead and the only living blood family member I have left is my 26 year old son. I am married and I recognize that I have his relatives as my family but it’s not the same.

In the past, when my parents were living, we used to make a big deal of Thanksgiving. Mom would roast this huge turkey, cram it with her homemade dressing, (I don’t believe you are even supposed to stuff turkeys anymore), and fix all the grand fixings. She would get up in the early hours, and it seemed like she would cook all day. The smell was utterly delicious. My dad and I would make sure and hardly eat anything all day so we would be sure to be good and hungry when the banquet was ready. We would have the same excellent foods every year. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with turkey gravy, and wide egg noodles with chicken gizzards, (my fav), sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, hot rolls, and corn were every time on the menu. We always had mom’s homemade pumpkin pie with Cool Whip on top for desert. My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.

Although my parents have been deceased for quite a few years now, I have difficulty dealing with Thanksgiving. My parents-in-law put on a fantastic Thanksgiving meal up north every year, but I really have a hard time enjoying the celebration. I haven’t gone up there for the holiday for many years now. I make sure my hubby goes and has a good time which he should. He needs to remember his family gathering for the yearly feast as long as he has them around. He will have those memories for years to come just like I do of my past holidays. I just hope he deals with them in the future better than I do.