My Best Friend?!

Representing necessary magic for me. ↑

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Good Morning Everyone!
And welcome to your first Monday of 2010. hehehe  
Hope all is going well, (and that it remains that way throughout the year)!

I was treated for an ulcer years ago. I think I might have it back. The Pepto Bismol above has been my best friend for the past few days or so. I don't want it back! The treatment being much worse than the ulcer itself!
However, it would not surprise me to learn that is has returned... Maybe it has something to do with all the calcium I've been taking?


Casey has a doctor appointment this afternoon that I will be picking her up for and bringing her to. She has some awful pain once more. Think the Reglan™ Dr. S prescribed for her is beginning not to work so well. It is aka "metoclopramide". CLICK HERE for info.
You can only take that one for so long anyway before you get some bad complications- 
and that is why she can't 'wait' longer to have these surgeries done.

Speaking of illness and our kids, I came across this article, CLICK HERE, which says in short, "Flu Pandemics May Be Worsened By Short-Term School Closures" There is not much anyone can do about this, but something to think about anyway.
Am guessing everyone's children are back to school today? 

Casey was to begin 2nd term on the 25th- But that conflicts bad with her next scheduled surgeries. CLICK, if you don't have my calendar up on your page. She will be taking this semester off, and re-up come Fall.
Hopefully she will be well enough to enjoy her Birthday Party on the 23rd.
FYI to My Sweet Pea; We laughed our butts off, and had no grand comeback to your comment.
By way of explanation and apology for my mental lapse, this is for you...

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Your comment is as hysterical as this little guy!
We can only hope that one day you will not be as confused anymore.
HAHAHA

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It has been mighty cold- (Must be the Winter thing? hehehe)...
At least it is real pretty outside.
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    ~~ Sunrise on New Years, 2010


I know some of you were not able to see our blue moon last week because of the clouds.

Here it is from my bedroom window
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Moon, setting in the west...



Hmmm   Let's see.  Among other things, I scared the heck out of myself. and almost didn't HAVE a bedroom to write about-

I might have needed some of this...
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To fix this part of a cord...
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Not noticing the cord to my glue gun was more than a bit frayed; I reached over and plugged it into the outlet. HOLY JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH! Huge bright parks flew about a foot out of the wall, and off the cord! (Forgetting about NOT being able to jump, I think I cleared about 5 feet between my feet and the floor).

Confession: after repairs were made, I did put an ove~glove on as I plugged it in again. All was well and I was back in business in no time.  YAY!



FDA Recalls that I didn't post, but you probably already know about: (And I did post about hazelnuts, so will leave those off the list)

• Tylenol Arthritis, 100 count
• Nutty Guys Butter Toffee Peanuts & Yogurt Covered Peanuts
  

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And then there was this one:  "Publix Issues Allergy Alert on Pecans in Publix Pumpkin Pecan Streusel Pie"
I still don't understand it, even with the explanation: "because it was mislabeled and may contain undeclared pecans."

Call me st00pid~
If I were to buy anything that's called 'Pumpkin Pecan' I would assume that it might have pecans in it...


I'd better close for now and get my backside motivated and in the shower.

Hope y'all have a "wunnaful" Monday!

XOXO
Me

Copyright; Multiply; their Terms of Service, and What They Mean To You

http://astranavigo08.multiply.com/journal/item/408

Please read; then sign the petition...



From "The Celestial Navigator"

Some of you have expressed serious concern over the past few weeks regarding Multiply's Terms of Service.  To that end, I was asked by a couple of people who are also writers, and who also post original material on this site, to craft a petition requesting that Multiply change its Terms of Service.

Why is this a big deal?

It's a big deal because Multiply is still operating (indeed; they're the only major social-net which is still so-operating) under the TOS's which were used by Facebook and the others - they literally hold the right to your material, and may use it any way they choose.

As anyone who's ever published anything can tell you, this is serious, and significant.

From the TOS document:

"You retain all ownership rights in your Member Content. However, by posting Content to the Website, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to Multiply (and its successors) an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, assignable, royalty free, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, distribute and to prepare derivative works of such Content in connection with the Website and the Service, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing."

In plain terms - you still own your material, but if you use Multiply to publish it, you also surrender a license to them - for free - to use that material. 

• They can sell your original photos.
• They can re-publish your serialized novels or short-stories.
• They can take your video-series, and sell them for profit.

This won't apply to some of you, who use Multiply for a far-less-serious method of casual communication between your online friends.  

However, for those of us who view our material as having genuine value, not just emotional, but intrinsic, this is a very serious problem.

A few months ago, Facebook users created a petition, obtained over 10,000 signatures, and got that material in the hands of the media at the same time that they submitted it to Facebook for their consideration.   Facebook recognized that they were on the wrong side of history, and changed their TOS.

I have created a petition which may be found here:  (Click Here)   What I'm asking you to do - every one of you - is this:

1.    Go to the petition-site and follow the instructions.   If you feel like signing the petition, please use the "Guestbook" to do so with an affirmative statement.

2.     Forward a link to this post - the one you're reading - to every one of your friend's-list.   Yes; some will get duplicates, because we share, in a lot of cases, mutual friends.   That's all right.

3.    Encourage them to do the same thing - the sooner this petition goes 'viral', the sooner we'll reach our goal, which is to protect the material we've posted here.

4.    Please do not copy or create a new petition - refer people to this one.  Multiple petitions just confuse the issue - we want one petition with many thousands of signatures; in this way, it convinces Multiply that we're a serious group of people who want change, rather than a disorganized group with no cohesiveness.   Also, this looks much better when it's presented to media-outlets for coverage.

It has been my experience that these things do not change unless they're changed by people who care.   In the case of those of you who have put hours and hours (sometimes months and years) into the material you've posted here in the hopes of finding a publisher or gaining the attention of other writers with the eye to making a living from your writing, the existing Terms of Service are a serious impediment to your efforts, and could prevent you from publishing anything at all.

None of us who create for a living - or even a hobby - want to see our material co-opted by someone else.

Sign the petition today!

I'll thank you for it.

Best,

-- Will ("Astra")