Last Blog for Comp 2!!!

Hi everyone!
I don't know how many of you will read this, but I just wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading every ones blogs and learning a little piece about each of you! I hope that you all have a great college experience and have even greater success in your chosen careers. Remember to keep a smile on your face and enjoy your life, it flies right by the older you get!
Brenda

Learning in College!

   College is preparing students to train for a job out in the workplace. It is a big responsibility to attend college, you have to go to classes and  when you get home you have homework, homework, and more homework. Some useful hints to get all that homework done are;

• Have a place in your home where you can set up an office. Try to find a place that is quite, and away from noise, and the television. The less distractions the better.
• Leave your cell phone somewhere else. All those text you receive can wait till later.
• Get busy completing your homework as soon as you can. The fresher the material is in your mind the easier it is to complete the work.
• Try to stay well organized. The better organized you are the less time you spend looking for things.
• When you have spare time between classes, use it to do research in the library, work on reports, or homework. That way if you have questions about a certain topic or are stuck on a problem there are people at the college that are there to help the students.
• Take advantage of the free tutoring and help that the college offers.
• Get your bookbag ready the night before, that way you are not running all over the house looking for things you need for class in the morning.
• Get a good nights sleep!

   College is a lot of hard work, but it can be very rewarding when you put effort into your studies and learn new things. The responsibility to get things done is yours and yours alone. The teacher is there to help and guide you, but they are not going to do the work for you. It is very important to attend all your classes, you miss important interaction in the classroom that you do not get reading a book.
   As I said before college is preparing you for a job in a specific field. It is almost like having a job, in the fact that college is getting you ready to preform the job. The better you do in college, the better it looks on your resume when you apply for that job. A job in a specialized field will come with a lot of responsibility, and college is a big step towards helping you achieve that goal in your life. It cost money to attend college, so get your money's worth. Whether it is you, your parents, or someone else who is paying for your education, make sure that you are taking advantage of the opportunity that is there for you. It is throwing money away if you do not use your college experience to the fullest potential. College is also helping people to get along with others. You work on projects, and interact with other students everyday, just as you would interact with people in a work place. Who knows you might even make some new friends along the way.
   The responsibility is yours to set your goals high and then achieve those goals. The more you put into your college experience the more you get out of it. The last thing to remember about college is that it can also be fun, meeting new people, learning new things, and preparing yourself for a job that you actually have an interest in. Who knows you could do big things with your education if you take on the responsibility of learning, maybe even become president of some big corporation some day.
  

Medical Torturing of Animals

   Hans Ruesh in his story, "Slaughter of the Innocent relates to the reader about the torture that so called "researchers" make on animals of all species in the name of medical breakthroughs. Ruesh explains how animals are put through all kinds of experiments to see what happens to them and how these experiments could affect a human in the same situation. Researchers also inject diseases and illnesses into these animals to test different kinds of drugs and treatments to see if they work to cure the disease or not.
   Ruesh believes all these experiments need to be put to a stop. He says animals do not need to be tortured because animals and humans do not react the same way to drugs and treatments. Some medicines that different animals are fine taking for a disease would actually kill a human being if they were used on them.
   On the other hand, people who believe in animal experimentation and torture argue that the only alternative would be to experiment on humans themselves. They say until there is a better alternative, animals will still be used for experimental research. Although efforts are being exercised to limit the number of animal tortures with the 3 R's. The 3 R's are; 1. reducing the number of animals used, 2. refining experiments to cause less suffering, 3. replacing the use of animals with alternatives when possible (Morelle).

Morelle, Rebecca. "The Road to an Animal Free Laboratory." BBC News. 24 July 2006. Web. 7 April
   2011.                

My Dad is Getting Married!

  I am really happy for my dad, he is going to get married on June 11, 2011. He is 82 years young and has decided to get married because his girlfriend and him are going to be taking some overnight trips. They thought maybe people would not talk so much if they were married. I told him dad people really do not look at if your married or not anymore. But he thinks it would be better if they were married. I ask well do you love her? He told me yea and that too!
  I get to make the wedding cake, which is exciting to make a wedding cake for my dad! I asked them what kind of cake they wanted and they said, "Oh just a sheet cake." I told them if it was just a sheet cake they could go to the store and purchase it. So... they finally choose a small three tier cake with pastel colored roses sitting ontop of a fountain.
  My oldest brother and brother-in-law will stand up with him. Who would have thought my brother would be my dad's best man! I think everyone on both sides of the family are happy about the marriage. It will be kind of strange for my dad to be married again, but I am extremely happy for him and her! I think he has a very special girlfriend, we get along really well, and she puts up with my dad! 

Interview With a Firefighter

I interviewed my daughters boyfriend Mark, he is on the Pioneer Fire Department. Fire departments especially in small towns are usually made up of all volunteers. These men and women get paid very little if anything, they do this because they care about other people and want to help. They take time away from their families and their leisure time to be on the department. They not only respond to fires and accidents, they also have to have training, attend meetings and take care of the fire trucks and equipment. I have a lot of respect for firefighters, they put their lives on the line every time they respond to a fire call.

1.Why did you join the fire department?

   The biggest reason was to help people. The other reason is the adrenaline rush.

2. How long have you been on the department?

    I joined the dept in August of '02.

3. What are your responsibilities with the department?

    Being a volunteer firefighter, our responsibilities include everything that has to go with firefighting. Each

    firefighter basically does everything. In a city environment, firefighters are normally assigned with one job

    or duty.

    I am normally the first entry team on structure fires. We do a primary search of the home or structure.

   After that if we still have air we attack the fire. After we are done on scene, we have to wash trucks and

   do other clean up at the station.

   I am also a first responder for medical emergencies. We arrive on scene first to assess the patient and get

   them ready for transport with the EMS.

4. What do you like most about being on the department?

    The people, teamwork, and the satisfaction of doing a good job...knowing when it is all done, we did the

     best we could. We pride ourselves on thriving to be one of the best departments in the county.

5. What do you dislike the most about being on the department?

    The only thing that comes to mind is having to leave my family.

I would like to remind everyone, when you see those lights and hear those sirens move over and give the firefighters and rescue squads room to get by. You never know if it is your house on fire or your love one that was just in that wreck that they are headed to. Also say a little prayer for them and the families that they are on their way to help.

Thanks,
Brenda

Game Nights

We have been playing a lot of games at our house on Sat. nights (when racing starts it will have to move to Friday nights). My husbands sister and her husband usally come over and one or more of my children and their families. Sometimes we have a real big house full and have two or three games going at once. One of our favorite games is a card game called Dutch Blitz. It is an Amish card game that my husbands family has played  for years. He had ten brothers and sisters and the younger ones played this game all the time. There are four decks of ten cards each and you lay three cards down in front of you and have a pile of ten cards in your Blitz pile. You turn over three cards at a time the number 1 cards are put in the middle of the table and then you work up to the number 10 cards. You can play on anyone's piles, the object is to be the first one to get rid of your Blitz pile. You have to be quick to get your cards on the piles if not you get stuck with your cards. There are usually a lot of people playing so we often play with partners and sometimes with eight decks.  When his family gets together and plays you could get a broken arm if your not fast enough. They once broke the kitchen table playing! Other games that we play a lot are Nickle -Nickle and Sequence.
I am really excited about this Friday night because most of the older grandchildren are coming over for a game night. They are on spring break this week and so my grandson Zac that lives about three hours away will also be here. We will probably order pizzas, make milk shakes or smoothies and play games all night. It's always fun when the grandchildren come over, they all get along really well together and have a great time. The only part that I don't like is the fact that they are all getting taller than me and they let me know that grandma is short.

Antiques and Auctions

This summer I think that I am going to start going back to auctions. I only went to a couple last year, but I use to go all the time. Sometimes I can find very good deals on things and sometimes I do not find anything. Over the years my husband and I have had alot of fun going and bidding on things. It upsets me that so many antique dealers go because they often times bid the prices up higher than the average person would. I guess it would still be cheaper than going to the antique store and buying it after they have bought it at the auction.
I like watching the "Antique Roadshow" on TV too. Its amazing how many people have treasures that are worth a lot of money. I watch it thinking that one day I'll see something on there that I own. The problem with that would be even if it was worth a lot of money and it was something that was my grandmothers or mothers I probably could not bring myself to sell it anyway. I am sure after I am gone though my children will not have any problem selling the stuff.
I also am following a blogger on here Oh, Hello Friend. She likes to collect things and shows her collections and different things. It is kind of interesting to check out other bloggers, I never blogged before we did in class, but it's fun.

Workday and Did I Miss Anything?

The theme for Workday by Linda Hogan is that we ignore parts of our lives and the world around us that we do not want to face. People often think if they do not have to confront the evils in the world those evils do not really exists. The poem is a allegory form of narrative. She is telling the story of her workday and the things she does not want to know, and the things she is "seeing" for the first time. "I go to work...,I go to the university...,I ride the bus home...,When I get off the bus...," She uses visual imagery talking about the things  she sees. Linda says: "I look back at the light in the windows, and how the women are all alone, in each seat.
It's like the first time she made a connection with the other women on the bus." She also says, "then I see them walking on the Avenue, the beautiful feet, the perfect legs, even their spider veins,..., the shoulders which bend forward and forward and forward to protect the heart from pain." She is noticing others who are returning home from work. How beautiful these people are even with their crippled bodies and how they too try to ignore the things that cause them pain in their lives. She uses a free form structure in her poem. The stanza's have different amounts of lines. The lines do not rhyme, they are more like written down thoughts as she thinks about them. When she is talking to the bus driver she says: "We talk about the weather and not enough exercise. I didn't mention Victor Jara's mutilated hands or men next door in exile or my own family's grief over the lost child." It's kind of like how people know things happen but if we do not discuss it we do not have to face it.
The poem Did I Miss anything? by Tom Wayman, is saying that when we miss important things in our lives we cannot ever get that exact opportunity back. That moment is gone forever. This poem is diction, the choice of the words "everything" and "nothing" are used throughout the poem to let the reader know what you could have had and what you ended up with because you were not there.The figurative language he uses in part of the poem is hyperbole. He exaggerated things that happened because the student was not present in class. "A shaft of light descended and an angel or other heavenly being appeared and revealed to us what every women or man must do to attain divine wisdom in this life and the thereafter." The structure of this poem is also a free form. Wayman set the stanzas about everything to the right and the stanzas about nothing to the left. He separated them like on the right hand you could have had everything, but you chose the left hand and have nothing.

My Best Friend

"If I had one gift that I could give you, my friend, it would be the ability to see yourself as others see you, because only then would you know how extremely special you are."
~B.A. Billingsly~

     As most of you in class know Mickie is my Best Friend! We sort of became friends by chance, at work (thanks to someone who did not like to work). Our boss at the time put us together because he thought we would work well with each other. It did not take long until we were friends. Over the years our friendship has grown through good times, hard times, and down right bad times.

     Mickie is always there for me. Like when my Mother passed away, she was there. She went shopping with me to pick out an outfit to wear. Mickie brought food for us to eat and she sat with me at the funeral home, just to be there if I needed her. I don't know what I would have done without her, she's the BEST!
     We like to go antique shopping together, although it's more like antique dreaming because we can't afford the good stuff. Mostly we like to just talk about our families, what our children are doing and how they are. Husbands, that's always an interesting subject depending on if they made us happy or sad or angry. We can talk about things with each other that I would never tell anybody else. We try to go out to eat once in awhile but we don't get to as much as we would like to.
    She likes Indy cars, I like dirt late models and Nascar. She likes the Hampton, (so do I) but I like camping   Mickie and I also have our own opinions on a lot of subjects, politics, abortion, gay rights, etc. But we respect each others opinions and I think that is one reason we our such great friends.
     We have been through a lot over the years, losing our jobs, because the factory closed, starting school. School is something that I would not have done if it wasn't for Mickie pushing me to do it. I am really glad she did because I am enjoying it for the most part. True friendship that is there through thick and thin is hard to find, I'm so very happy that Mickie and I have that. I would love for everyone to have a friend like Mickie, but she's mine you have to go find your own!

A Boy Named Sue!

    This song is very familiar to me. My dad listened to Johnny Cash all the time when I was growing up. I think this was his favorite song.
    The song "A Boy Named Sue," is a poem. Cash uses imagery to make us feel, see, smell and hear what he is singing about in the song. "At an old saloon on a street of mud, There at a table, dealing stud, Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue." A person can picture an old western town with muddy streets, you can hear people walking on the wooden sidewalks and the swinging doors to the saloon squeaking as you swing them open. Walking into the bar you see your dad sitting there gambling. You recognized him right away. Just like a abandoned dog is filthy, you see how dirty your father is, you can smell his stench. The son is disgusted with his father for the name he bestowed upon him. Cash goes on to describe his dad further saying, "And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye. He was big and bent and gray and old." The scar that is a distinguished mark of identification, a dead give away of who he is. The look of pure meanness in his face. You see this enormous aged man that shows signs of having led a rough and turbulent life. Someone who probably was a fighter, gambler and a heavy drinker.  "A Boy Named Sue," is a very descriptive piece of literature.

Waiting for the Racing!

   I am a huge dirt track race fan. On any given Saturday night in the summer you will find me at a dirt track somewhere. Two of my favorite tracks are Oakshade and Eldora. Since Nascar started this week-end, it is reminding me of how much I am itching to get to the races.
   I miss the smell of racing fuel, motor oil, and the hot tires laying down rubber on the dirt. The drivers doing slide jobs under the car in front of them. Finding out where my son starts in the race, better off where he finishes, and if he beat his friend or not (the loser buys the burgers). My favorite food is the Polish sausage, with onions and peppers, that they make at Oakshade.
   We always have a great time when we go to the races. You meet new and old friends there. When at Eldora, we usually camp with a ton of people, from Ohio. Kentucky, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Everyone brings food and drinks, we eat constantly and if you drink you don't have to worry about driving anywhere because your staying. People come from all over the country to watch and race at Eldora.
   Eldora starts racing  on April 2, but I probably won't go until the 16th when the late models start racing, Oakshade starts April 30th. Until then I'm just "Waiting for the Racing." 
  

Have you ever?

  Have you ever had one of those days when you wished you could crawl back in bed, maybe stay there? Well I did a couple of weeks ago. We were having a new furnace installed, the guy said I'll have it finished today, that didn't happen some part he needed he didn't have. The new high tech heaters they have now days are good, they keep the house warm, but from my knees to my toes, Oh yeah, they were froze!
  Around five in the afternoon my granddaughter Cora calls and ask to spend the night. I said sure I'll pick you up in an hour. Leaving the house I hear a noise which I figured was the snow built up in the tire well. Driving down the road about two miles, I hear a noise that sounded like a gun going off. The car starts bouncing around, the tire blew. A man stopped to help me, and he went home to get his air compressor to blow the tire up. I said it blew, but he tried to air the tire up anyway, the air compressor would not work it was froze up. He finally decided to change the tire but he could not get it to come off the car. He kicked it, hit it with a hammer and kicked it some more, but it did not budge. I said I'll call my son-in-law he changes tractor tires all the time he can get it off. When my son-in-law arrived he kicked the tire once and it came right off. When he put the spare on he said go straight home and I will follow you. When we arrived home he tells me the spare was almost flat too. It was now eight o'clock.
   When my husband finally got home from driving semi for the week, he went to pick up my granddaughter.
So I thought I can get some laundry started. I washed a load of clothes and put them in the dryer. The dryer ran and ran and ran, they never dried. The heating element went out in the dryer.
   So I really do believe in Murphy's Law: "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." It happens all the time to me, but then if I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!

My Granddaughter's First Birthday!

Over the week-end we went to my granddaughter Marley's first birthday party She is so adorable, we walk in the door and she says papa and grandma. I knew that she was saying some words, but I had know idea that she talked as much as she does. Marley sings the alphabet song along with the refrigerator magnet, but only if she thinks your not listening. When she opened her presents she would get all excited about what was in the bag or box and started throwing the paper everywhere. Her birthday cake had a duck on it (Marley says quack, quack). At first she sat there and looked at her cake,  then she finally took a bite of it and decided that she liked it. It didn't take her long to get it all over her, the highchair and floor. Later her sister was playing with her new presents and Marley didn't want her to so she started hiding the little pieces to her toys under the couch.  The hardest part about visiting them is that it is so hard to leave when it's time to come home. I wish they lived closer so I could see them more.

Technology and Me

Cell phones have changed my life! My husband drove semi years ago when we were first married. Back that far cell phones were not even around. When my husband wanted to call home he had to look for a pay phone and call me collect, hoping I was home to answer the phone. We were only able to talk a couple times a week. Now he drives a semi again and he can call me anytime he wants. I can even call him, which is something I could never have done before. It's funny, if you leave your cell phone at home you feel like you forgot somebody. I often wonder how we ever lived without cell phones.

The internet is simply an amazing piece of technology. To think that you can type in any word or words and a ton of information is at your figertips. You can learn about whatever you want to. I use the internet for so many different things. I pay bills online, check out dirt racing schedules for tracks everywhere, look up recipes, play games, do homework, the list goes on and on.

Facebook is just the greatest! I can see pictures and videos of my grandchildren whenever I feel like it. Keeping up with friends and family, who I don't get to see very often, is really nice. It just makes me feel so much closer to them sharing everyday things that are going on in their lives that I would not know about otherwise.

Things My Granddaughter Says

My granddaughter Shea, who is four, makes me laugh at the things that she says. One day her mother asked her if she was hungry. Shea says,"Yeah". So her mother ask her,"Do you want pizza for supper?" Shealyn looks at her mom and very seriously replies, "No that will make me wild! It will make me kind of crazy to have pizza in my belly." I laughed for hours after hearing this.

Respond to "The Dead Grandmother / Exam Syndrome" by Mike Adams

 In Reading Mike Adams essay “the Dead Grandmother / Exam Syndrome” he expresses his concerns for students losing family members . This is a hazardous health situation and mentally disturbing problem. Something needs to happen to stop the spread of relatives, especially grandmothers, from dying. I agree with Adams on this issue, the population will be extinct at this rate in the very near future.

The correlation between the higher grades and the lower death rate compared to the lower grades and the higher death rate show the picture. This makes it apparent that the students who do not do so well in school will make any excuse they can to get out of an exam. His solutions to the problem are unconventionally funny.

But I have to disagree with the whole essay. Last semester my mother-in-law passed away the second week of school. The week before exams my father-in-law passed and eleven hours later my brother’s wife passed. I seriously doubt that any of them worried about my exams.

Empty Nest Cooking

Many, many years I have cooked for my husband, children and parents. Now my husband drives truck, he's gone all week. My children moved out to conquer the world. My mother passed away and my father moved. I find it extremely hard to cook without making huge portions of food. Who wants to eat the same thing all week long? Not me! All I can say is thank God for restaurants!

Response: Einstein's An Ideal Service to Our Fellow Man

Albert Einstein wanted people to experience things that are impossible for us to imagine or understand. He was not a religious man, he looked at religion more like a tradition and did not think that it will solve societies problems. Einstein believed that people should be educated on how to behave in society, so that they can contributed to the well being of all humans and not for their own financial or personal gain. He thought that most people in society are wasting their lives away not reaching out to their fellow man.

I totally agree with his ideas of educating people on how to behave in our society. Treating and caring for other people and not worrying about our own personal gain is something we should all practice. Most people want to better themselves for their own finacial gain and not for the better of the world. The part that I disagree with is how he looks at God as not being the Creator of all. He cannot believe that "a god who rewards and punishes the objects of his creations" exists. I realize that their are different religious beliefs, I just don't agree with his view on religion.