Our Furry Family Friends

Guest post written by Glenda Burgess

With the weather getting colder and colder, my husband Ken and I have been trying to figure out what do around the house. Since we've retired, we've gotten a lot of time to ourselves, but having every day to ourselves has left us wondering just what we should do with our newfound time. Living in New England in the winter doesn't make getting out easy. The adverse weather conditions and cold climate gives people our age incentive to stay inside. Sure, our grandkids love the snow, but Ken and I aren't so enchanted with it these days.

To keep entertained, Ken and I have done things like subscribe to Netflix, order additionally cable channels, and spend more time reading books of interest that we order in from amazon.com. We've actually enjoyed all the additional entertainment. Just yesterday, I convinced Ken to let us get a cat. I think having a new little friend to look after would really give us something fun to do. Tomorrow after I do some HearingAidsREviews, I am going to purchase a new pair of hearing aids, and Ken and I are going to adopt a few new furry additions to keep us busy this winter.

Site Review: Earthwhile.com

Couple of days ago I was asked to take a look at another site, Earthwhile.com. Included was the below request:

We are a UK based online shop that specialises in eco friendly products.

At this time of year we are focusing our energies on energy saving products for the winter season including home insulation (items such as loft insulation, garage insulation and pipe lagging) and outdoor lighting (items such as solar powered lights).

As it is leading up to christmas, we also have a good range of eco friendly toys and gifts in our Toy and Gifts Category including: wooden toys, flip flap, slate coaster and placemat set, and our new range of designer reusable shopping bags
by Envirosax.

Visually the site's rather good, and the majority of selections facing a visitor to their site doesn't cause readers to 'get lost'. Specific areas of interest are easily found through their graphic user interface. What really caught my eye was a prominent link for 'toys', something I wasn't expecting from such a website.

Looking through that page, it gave me the impression the company's marketing section knows what they're doing. Toy placement within company portals isn't usually undertaken, and it reminded me of older company's years ago such as Hess. Children originally receiving their toy trucks at Christmas decades later feel a familiarity to both seeing 'their' children receive such joy, which creates additional value towards the main product line.

If you want to sell something, the kids are always great to target. As long as both toys and original products are of the best quality, return shoppers are almost a guarantee.

This site, I give a five out five for pushing my heart strings.

New Find: Forsaken Generation

Somehow Jacksonville always gets picked up as a homeless mecca, both for individuals trying to start a new life on the streets to the varying national chapters claiming to be making a difference.

One such is Forsaken Generation. One line states "With so many children in our community in need this is unacceptable", yet the closing paragraph includes, "Our time in Jacksonville was incredible". Given they claim umbrella 501c status and identify being based out of New York, what's up with 'that'?

The recurring thing about online advocacy is there's tons of people trying to personalize experiences, when in all fairness someone got paid to go somewhere else...talk to a few people...and go home to make 'their' website look good regarding content.

I actually found out about this agency's claims not through any of the service providers or mention of our local homeless coalition, a guy I know involved with developing a mental health advocacy site was checking 'my' stats and came across them.

He: "they've got a good site, they know Web2.0!"
Me: "look at the rhetoric. It's conflicting, comes across as anything someone in Istanbul could have done from their desk, even China."
He: "you don't think they're 'real'?"
Me: "didn't say that. Never heard of them and know of nothing 'done' by them here."

I'm curious if months from now no further mention of "Team Jacksonville" comes about. Maybe they're using invisible magic ninja skills to get their mission done locally.

Site Review: Coffee.org

Last week I was asked to review Coffee.org. My first thought was someone got lucky being able to nab a one word URL specific to both a general product and niche. Site links included for me to check them out included Gift Baskets, K-Cups, Office Coffee, and Coffee Pods.

Checking the "Gift Baskets" link, I noticed the site used a subdirectory with the name including a space. Visually for readers it's a nice touch, most web admin don't include spaces in their URL multi word named directories. Looking back however to the past, it was typical 'not' to use spaces in names. In the future versions of HTML and other internet languages/protocols I wonder if the these directories will need to be renamed, as well if the site's pages were created using relational assignment of pages to directories.

Graphically the site's pleasing to the eye. Color use is appropriate for both normal and color-blind individuals. Images used for buttons don't waste bandwidth with additional 'mouse-over' imagery.

One thing that stands out is the use of internal store banner placement on the left. They're about the best I've seen of any merchant, they highlight areas of interest to consumers without distracting from the page entirely with 'busyness'.

Overall a great site that both the administrator and content writer behind should be proud of. I give it 5 out of 5 points.

What homeless kids played with in my day

I remember my time in a shelter with my family. Some families were able to salvage and keep televisions, DVD players, PS3 or Xbox systems. My entertainment system amounted to the tower PC that doubled as a DVD player from the selections we'd find at the local library.

There was also the need for rechargeable batteries, one of the common items were Nintendo Gameboys with the majority of kids having one or the other of the Pokemon series. I remember the times parents had filled out forms for agencies that had adopted the shelter kids, and kids finding various items they realistically knew they wouldn't be getting that holiday.

The homeless world is a microcosm, full of good times and bad times. People are born, live, and die through it. On December 21st, many cities will participate in homeless memorial services...reading off the names and remembering those that died while experiencing homeless that year.

For each one lost we shouldn't forget those successfully living through it daily throughout the year.

To do lists that don't often come about

With many people experiencing homelessness opting for living in vans, most can't maintain regular payments towards maintenance, rv insurance, or impending issue funds.

Years ago I'd befriended a family in such a situation. They'd migrated from Wisconsin in a full size conversion van. Living out of it they'd made the couple had made their children and selves as comfortable as possible. The rear compartment set up as a mobile kitchen when the rear doors were opened.

Many people didn't 'get it', they armchair quarterbacked this family's RV use as wasting money towards a more conventional home lifestyle. They never considered the amount of things required let alone the price tags for each thing requiring other underlying things being in place.

Even when looking smack dab in the faces of happy children and proud parents, somebody had an issue how this family was living wrong...when all they were trying to do was live.

You get the house, then what?

Getting into a home requires a lot of legwork beyond the conventional running around town between service providers to pull it off. Relying on local transit options; when they're available; only narrows down a person's options. It's not just about the infrastructure of work, there's children's accessibility to schools, medical providers, and the never ending need for hitting the grocery store.

Fuel, car payments, car insurance, let alone upkeep keep many people from getting the implied freedom many take for granted. Two years ago my own cost of keeping a vehicle running amounted to as much as an apartment itself, 'when' I could afford everything!

Communities pursuing implied 'ten year plans' need to address the realities of both location as well as long term opportunities. Not just in ten year increments but in lifespan options.

Today's homed can too easily become tomorrow's homeless with lack of planning on short term advocates.

Making my own holiday village

Guest post written by Penny Sanderson

I remember growing up that my aunt always had a little village of holiday houses that she would put out on this huge table that she had in her den around Christmas time. Even though my mom would tell me to never touch any of it, when she wasn't looking my aunt would let me play around with the figurines as long as I was really careful about it.

I've considered buying the pieces and putting together my own village for quite a while, but decided that this year I would actually try and do it. I went on the internet to try and find some pieces that I could buy, when I found some internet deals and decided to get some MORE INFO about them.

After looking through a whole bunch of stuff though, I decided to make my own DIY holiday village because I could make it look exactly how I wanted it. I'm getting my husband to build them with wood and I'm going to paint them how I want once he's done with that part. It's turning into a pretty fun project!

I can't talk sometimes

A dab of one or the other of eye wrinkle creams and a woman's vanity is protected in her mind for the moment. But what if she didn't have that luxury?

What if she had to leave behind many things that defined her in a matter of minutes. Having to choose what she could carry, knowing she wouldn't return to a place ever.

That's what homelessness is like for the majority of millions experiencing it initially, and it sticks through the rest of one's life.

Many minimize this including those experiencing it, but deep down inside...it's what we all know and don't admit because nobody wants to hear about it.

Most of the time neither do we from ourselves, let alone others.

Where do they go when it hurts?

A child menstruating the first time while living with her mother and younger brother in a parked minivan. A woman not able to get treatment for migraines resorting to substance abuse in an abandoned building. A man found dead with a syringe in his arm to defend against the demons each night from the war he fought for his country.

They go where they can physically and mentally.

Different people see them they way they want to. It's a perception of reality people experience with homelessness.

Garland's easier than a tree

Guest post written by Kelly Long

Okay, maybe I'm just too lazy. But I really hate having to store, put up and then take down a Christmas tree and all of those decorations! It's just so much work, especially if you're like me and you're single, live alone and am lazy.

But that doesn't mean that I don't hate Christmas decorations all together. I just like ones that take up less space than a tree. I went online to try and find some ideas for a really festive kind of decoration to replace a tree and when I was doing that I came across some info about satellite internet packages. I weighed my options and decided to CLICK and order the package that I wanted.

I settled on making some Christmas garland that I could hang up on my wall and around my front door frame. I can even hang some Christmas ornaments into it! It really is the perfect holiday decorating solution for people who are too lazy and/or have too little space to put up a whole Christmas tree.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

I remember during the end of 2004 at the start of the holiday season when many hotels were donating toiletries to some of the non-profit agencies locally that serve the homeless. Not too much wrinkle cream, more in line with small soap bars, shampoo, and conditioner. There was an issue though: most of the lotions were coagulating.

While donating large parcels or lots of such items is seen as charitable giving, there are those that look at this as using the homeless. In most cases businesses expect; and often times get; receipts for their 'donations' which would have otherwise been discarded. I've often seen many people receiving bad products approach staff giving such items out for replacements. The majority of time I've also seen them told "be thankful you got that".

I've also seen donated items too often go out the back door with staff when this occurs.

For every spin you hear of how much someone does for the homeless, think again more in terms of consumerism. Not every picture painted can be beautifully made and the colors are beyond just black and white.

Lame Duck Benefits

With new HEARTH changes to the definition of what is and isn't homeless added to the issue of Congress extending Emergency Benefits for Unemployment, Jacksonville and other metropolitan cities are facing unprecedented numbers within months regarding people experiencing homelessness.

And it only compounds the need for adult acne treatment. Weather changes, dietary intake, and the biggie: stress!

Doing a search online found the majority of states reeling in the face of Tuesday's attempt by politicians to use Emergency Benefits as a token bargaining chit for their own agendas. The rich keep getting richer and some pundits have regarded the potential for this country's future one similar to what's occurred in third world countries, such as Albania's experience in what's best described as a Ponzi scheme.