Black Hole Friday

I'll offer my apologies right up front, because I'm sure I'm going to offend many of you. I have always disliked Black Friday and all that it stands for. What really bothers me is that, what has become more important that the holiday itself, spending time with family and friends, or the tradition of being thankful and showing gratitude for what we already have, has become the countdown to more mindless and gluttonous consumerism. We can fill up those carts at Wal-Mart, Toys”R”us and every other major department store faster than we can fill up our plates at Thanksgiving dinner.

Just makes me all warm and patriotic inside, you? 

Black Friday, like every other marketing scheme, is really just that; a scheme, a ploy (and most of these items that you will risk your life for can be had at an earlier date or right after, I mean after all, these people are out to make a sale) It's a sad day when our insatiable appetites are filled by spending, and adding to our already obese supply of material possessions. These newly acquired possessions fill our holes only momentarily ~ then soon evaporate, needing a quick refill. In this article read how less can make you much happier than more.

I know many of you love it. You can’t wait to get out there in the rush and excitement of the season - the hunter/gatherer syndrome. But it’s really time to slow down, examine our lifestyles and the hows and whys of our buying into the material world madness. I just hope that before you run off at 4 or 5 pm on Thanksgiving Day to your nearest Wal-Mart, you might take a moment to rethink it. You might be saving a few dollars but you are feeding the beast and sacrificing the really important possessions, time, peace of mind, connecting with self, family or friends.

If I could wish anything for you, I wish you would slow down, find satisfaction and comfort with less things, and more satisfaction and joy by sharing your time with people you love, cooking together, telling stories, laughing, having a glass of wine and just being ~ just being.  Together. No price tags.

Dear Sir, I write to you today concerning a large sum of money

Stress is one of the biggest factors when it comes to the state of our health. As I've said before, you can eat the healthiest diet, exercise regularly, but if your mind and body are being assaulted by stress, it is pretty much a guarantee that your health will be compromised.

In today's world with all of the gadgets, inventions and technology that we have, designed to make our lives easier, it sure can cause us to "lose it" when it isn't working properly. Like, for example, when your wifi goes down and you can't get online, or the garbage disposal backs up on Thanksgiving after the big meal, or heaven forbid, the cable TV goes down and the latest episode of House of Cards is about to start, and instead you spend hours on the phone with some customer service rep in another country.

But one of the things that can wreak havoc on our lives, and can be more than just a mere nuisance, is Spam. It can turn your life upside down.  And while it seems many of us are getting rather Spam savvy, a lot of us are still confused and scared by what shows up in our inbox. 

Spam is coming at us from all directions, our emails, on Craigslist, on home rental sites, just about everywhere. It seems that the Spammers can't really be monitored so the only solution I see is to educate ourselves. 

So, first and foremost, when you get ANYTHING from institutions like your bank, the IRS, credit card company, or PayPal via email stating that they need account info from you, or any other Urgent message, disregard it. If you look closely at any of these emails, something will be off.  Like their spelling. Or punctuation. If there is truly an account problem you will receive a phone call. And, if you think that possibly the email is valid, do not respond, but instead you should call whatever company is emailing you directly. And not to the number on the email, if there is one, but to the correct number that you have in your records or that you can locate legitimately. 

I mean seriously, are you kidding me? I keep getting this email from, what they would like me to believe, is PayPal. I love the use of the word "here" in the body of this email. But many people won't even see that ~ and they will panic and respond immediately to the Update Your Info button.

Your Account Will Be Limited. Dear customer, Your Account Will Be Limited , Until We Here From You . To Update Your Info . Simply click on the web address below (or copy and paste the link into your browser): Update Your Info So what I am asking all of you, is to look closely when you receive these types of things and share this information with others you know, especially older people who aren't quite as tech savvy and have a strong sense of "doing the right thing" ~ they are extremely vulnerable and the Spammers know it. Heaven knows, we don't need this kind of bulls*#t causing us any more stress in an already stressful world.