Jackie’s Magic Eggs – Expansion

Jackie held the syringe of yellow-brown poison up to the always-buzzing fluorescent lights in the secret laboratory, examining it carefully, and thought about what to do next.  What they did to the animals in the lab was a crime against nature, she thought, reasoning that her long years of study at the University’s School of MicroBiology and her graduate Genetics training in CRISPR, the latest genetic editing technique, which made her uniquely qualified to act.  What was going on here, Jackie thought, was unethical, evil, and risky, as they were using advanced genetic engineering techniques on these poor animals. The lab she was in had a contract with a obscenely giant pharmaceutical company, one that Jackie had serious reasons to distrust, no, rather hate.

Jackie looked down at the facility guard sprawled on the floor and frowned. He was out cold, but for how long?  He looked harmless, but should she take the chance?  Any delay and her chance of making it out of the facility with the prize she sought in her backpack would be slim.   Forget it, she decided, he won’t be awake soon, not with the nasty purple bump on his forehead where she hit him with the fire extinguisher. She had better things to do.

Grabbing her backpack off the lab bench, heavy with her prize, she turned and injected the poison into the air filter feeding the animal subject cages.  It would not kill the animals, but would contaminate the test area. The next lab results would be a complete failure, perhaps so that they would have to start over, or give up.  And in their financial condition, they would be bankrupt within months, never realizing that they had succeeded at their crazy genetic experiment.

She turned, went through the lab doors, and left the facility, walking down the hill quicky,  not looking back until she reached her car. Once in her car, she looked to see if anyone had followed her, and looked in the car’s rear view mirror.  Jackie put her fingertips to her face, then pushed her nails in behind her ears on both sides.  It hurt slightly as her fingernails dug in, then Jackie pulled both hands forward, and slowly peeled off the 3-D printed face mask. No one would know it had been her committing the break-in, Jackie thought, as she smiled and removed the silicone inserts from her shoes. “Call me Jackie, Jackie Bond”, haha, Jackie thought.

It was a few days later when she met up with Sam, who had run the initial tests on her hard captured bounty.

“You won’t believe the lab test report!”, Sam stuttered, holding the results in his hand, his glasses askew on his perspiring face. “Where did you get this?!! What you have here, or the source of them, are worth Millions, or Billions!!

He explained that the results showed extremely high levels of both CBD and THC plus a whole lot of hybrid sugars, so they were a naturally sweetened Cancer and Anxiety fighting combination, and super tasty, with low calories!

Jackie thanked Sam. After she left, she went into her basement, into her own mini lab behind the bookcase, turned on the lights, and looked down at her babies.

“Honey, let’s take a look”, she said to her fluffy favorite. Carefully lifting up the Mamma Goose, she saw it had already laid 4 more eggs.

The eggs were quite pretty, almost golden.   Jackie smiled, and picked one up, carefully holding it up the the light to examine it, and admired its color and beauty.  She was thinking they would make a very excellent and special omelet, good tasty medicine indeed, with perhaps some added garlic and parsley.

The next morning her baby girl, Jasimine, woke early and hungry.

“Ma-Ma!  I wanna cakes”, Jasimine screeched, meaning “pancakes”.  Jasimine’s wide blue eyes pleaded with her mother, almost buried under her somewhat scraggly blonde wig.

Jackie thought happily that Jas was sounding fairly healthy for a 3 year old child barely surviving after 2 rounds of chemo.

Her little body could take no more, thus Jackie had climbed the long hill, broke into the lab to take one big chance at saving her daughter.

“Honey, today it’s Magic Eggs for you, please eat them as they will make you better”, Jackie explained to her daughter. “I would do anything for you, and these are special special medicine!”

“Ma-a … ok”, Jas spurted, and began to tackle her special omelete.

Jackie felt a bit more relaxed now, and thought about the next steps in her plan.

She planned to mail eggs in heated containers all over the world, and explain the process to each sick person or doctor.  Each recipient would have their own goose and would further distribute magic, Cancer killing goodies.

The CBD/THC mix could be adjusted simply by increasing the level of light that fell on the eggs as they cooked.

Thus Jackie planned to slay 2 giants with one stone, uh…egg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty And Peril Of The Past

The first school I knew was a world apart, like other old places, and all the wood and stone kept its smell and coldness no matter how often washed. It was an old Catholic school, once a college but now served grades one through six. Too vast a space for such small students. Our wooden desks, which stood on cast-iron rods connecting several in tandem, resembled tiny sleighs, ready to launch into the air if we’d only had reindeer harnessed to them.

Our teacher was a young nun with an ivory face like a pendant, and we worshipped her. She was like a character from a movie, because she played guitar and sang. Her convent had given her the pleasure of two names but we thought she ought to have three, or four. She told stories featuring the class — these usually involved a monster which she would beat to death with an outsize rosary, making it clear she was willing to kill for us.

This was good to know, because I was certain there was danger here. The lowest floor of the school, for instance, was frightening with its slick cement floor and dim lighting. The stairs were also cement, and to my horror sometimes had vomit here or there which they would cover with sawdust. I detested going downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch. We went two-by-two: We were instructed to go in pairs, and you had to hold hands. If I tell you there was a little girl whose hands were covered in warts, with whom I was frequently partnered, you may think I’m exaggerating, but she was there.

The school itself was poorly equipped. There were no maps for my grade, except of ancient Palestine; no globes. I had no idea what the world looked like. This was all the world. Chalk and pencil were our supplies. We were so quiet, no one spoke out of turn even if the teacher left the room; not because of strict discipline. I think it was the high ceilings above us, the sawdust, the echoes and dark corridors. We were somewhere in God’s mouth.

Although my family moved and I left this school for brighter-lit ones, my thoughts return here more often than anywhere else. The grassy yards of the school and church seemed greener and more covered with violets than any others I can recall. Even inside that dark school, I remember the nuns moving about the halls like birds — clustering together a moment, then flying apart suddenly — and the black habits swung outward, illustrating the beauty weight gives to motion.

The days seemed quite serious, how could they not be when your feet made echoes everywhere you walked. The windows were unshaded and, like eternity, long and pointed. We were tiny but we had our own seats perilous here, and any moment our lives might assume a greater importance.

What Does Gender Have To Do With It?

I consider myself lucky. In fact, I consider myself luckier than most. I have a good job, a beautiful home, a pretty great wife, and two amazing sons. When I met Kelly, I never thought we would be married. I am older than she is, and I was also married at the time. But, let’s face it…you can’t fight true love. I believe that we were meant to be together.

Over the years I can say we have been through a lot. A lot of normal stuff that everyone goes through, and some not so normal stuff that made us stronger. The not so normal stuff included some addiction issues, which can tear you apart. In my world, you don’t give up on the people you love.

Just when we were on the upside of things, a horrible car accident happened which caused Kelly to be life flighted. Thank goodness that she only broke her pelvis and clavicle as it could have been much worse. I took care of her at home for six months while she was bedridden. You don’t realize how much you love someone until they are almost taken from you.

Less than three years after the accident, Kelly gave birth to our second son, Logan. He has the best of both of us in him. He makes everyday better.

When Kelly mentioned that her work was doing a blood drive, it only made sense for me to donate as well. It was very important for us to show Logan, who was now seven, how important it is to help others. When Kelly was life flighted, she needed blood and received it due to the selflessness of someone else. It was our turn to help someone the next time blood was needed.

We both felt pretty good at the end of the day, and were talking about the blood drive on the way home. I told Kelly something seemed strange to me during the initial screening questions. Although I had presented my license, the young girl doing my intake asked me what I deemed to be a weird question. “What is your gender?”

At first Kelly started laughing as she thought I was joking. “You are not serious. You are obviously a man. Six foot four, almost 300 pounds, tattoos, bald, and you resemble a Viking!” Still chuckling somewhat she let me know that she was not asked the same question. She said the only question asked of her was her weight.

For some reason, it was bothering me why the gender question was asked. Does it matter where the blood comes from, and who gets it in a transfusion? And even if it does matter, aren’t they going to screen it at the lab anyway?

I immediately did some research online later that night. I found little to nothing about the gender relation to blood donation. The only thing I did come across was that there may be some risk involving antibodies if a man receives blood from a woman who had a pregnancy. Again, the blood will be screened so really no reason to ask a question about gender.

Sometimes our society over complicates things, and asks a ridiculous amount of questions just because they have to “follow the rules.” It seems like everyone is offended by something nowadays so there are guidelines for just about everything. How about we return to the basics and just remember that the most important “ guideline” should be helping each other. Pay it forward and love each other. Plain and simple. Gender has nothing to do with it.

Content Repurposing – Blog to Twitter

I wrote a blog post titled Why Do We Pollute The Earth?

Below, I am repurposing the content of the post for Twitter.

This took quite a bit of editing to reduce the length and increase the focus.

 

 WHY DON’T WE ACT AND SAVE THE PLANET? We have heat waves, flooding from rising seas. Here is why:
#savetheplanet #nomorepollution #whydowepollute
DIFFICULTY – It takes more energy & time to clean up a mess than it takes to make one.
#itshardnotimpossible #dontbelazy

COST – It is costly to not pollute, so companies pollute and focus on getting higher short term profits.
#moneyisnteverythjing #itsexpensivetopollute

TIME –  It’s quicker to build something that pollutes vs. taking time to study the problem & learn to do it better.
#goodworktakestime #todayistomorrowsmemory

PRIORITY – We focus on “Now” vs. “The Future”.  But we should plan for our kids to have clean water, air.
#firstthingsfirst #motherearthdeservesprotection
OTHERS DO IT –  Companies see competitors pollute without penalty. We need even enforcement & rules.
#yourbrotheriswrong #makeyourowndecision
DISRESPECT FOR NATURE – We disrespect Nature and have low understanding of how the Earth works. …
#dontdisrespectnature #theearth
NATURE WILL RESPOND – … Nature controls and balances the size and spread of all species against another.
#dontmesswithmother #themightywillfall
INACTION IS DEATH – … If we don’t take action, Nature will reduce the amount of humans vs. other species.
#nomorehumans #extinction #thefloodiscoming
HABIT – We do like our parents did. Focusing heavily on reducing pollution is new.
#breakthepattern #noexcuses #badhabbits
GREED – Automakers cheated on auto pollution tests to get greater profits.
They made Billions but wanted more.
#howmuchisenough #wheredidalthetoysgo #moneygreed
GET IT FIXED – Let’s share the Toys, friends, & clean up after ourselves, or future Kids will get a huge mess to fix!
#sharethetoys #cleanitup

 

Blog – The Warming Earth: What Is The Greenhouse Effect

When someone is explaining global warming, he might mention a pot of water on a stove, which some frogs have jumped in. Frogs, the writer asserts, don’t realize the heat is rising until it’s too late and they are boiled alive. If they’d only had the sense to jump out of the pot!

We are not frogs, however. We have the science and the observations of climate from many years to consult. From the recorded data, we know the earth’s temperature is rising, fast. We are not frogs, but our oceans are warming although certainly not boiling. The oceans do not need to be hot to bring very serious effects; and our “pot” has a lid and we couldn’t jump out if we tried.

1. The Lid

Return for a moment to that simple image of the stove and pot. If you need to heat a big pot of water and you want it to boil quickly, just put a lid on it. A lid keeps the hot air above the water inside and increases the pressure, so the water gets hot much faster.

Our planet Earth has its own lid: It’s the magnetic field. That is basically a force field which holds the ozone layer in place, and all the air beneath it.

If we didn’t have the magnetic field, Earth would be like the Moon, and you’d need a spacesuit and oxygen tank to breathe, because the air would drift away. There would be no atmosphere, no blue skies or sky of any color.

We’re incredibly lucky. Astrophysicists scour space looking for planets like ours, and I’m not certain any — at all — have been found. Where else could we live?

The answer is nowhere. This planet is what we need. Conditions right here, right now are what we require to keep existing as a species; it’s what plants and animals on Earth need to continue existing, too.

2. Why is it getting so hot here? Why is the globe warming?

It’s because of the atmosphere under that lid I talked about. A few hundred years ago the atmosphere was quite different. It didn’t have nearly so much greenhouse gas in it as it does today. Between that time and now, greenhouse gases have been created at a very high rate. They’re created both by nature and by mankind.

Greenhouse gases you’ve heard of already: carbon dioxide, methane, and a bunch of manmade gases. These are the ones spoken of as the major initiators of the greenhouse effect.

Ideally, sunlight shines down through the atmosphere, warms the earth up, makes daytime and so forth, but then most of its rays bounce off the earth, pass through the atmosphere again and go harmlessly back out into space. Not now. Carbon dioxide and water vapor tend to absorb huge amounts of heat. Both the cloud layer and the carbon gases in the air act like a cap, because it’s more difficult for these substances to release heat. The heat is held closely to earth, warming the land and oceans.

Heat is building up, under our lid. It hasn’t escaped, and it’s starting to cook.

It’s not a cozy greenhouse here anymore. It’s more like the pot of water with frogs inside, with a lid on it. And we’re the frogs after all. We’re just frogs with big brains.

3. Heat and Weather

Weather is made by interaction with the oceans, the friction of the atmosphere scraping across the earth, as well as tidal forces from Moon and Sun. Mostly, however, it changes with temperature. Unusual temperatures produced by global warming disturb the usual, seasonal patterns of weather and bring about heightened frequency of massive storms, including catastrophic storms such as have been experienced worldwide in recent years.

In future posts we can discuss the mechanisms of heat and weather, and how they tie in with global warming.

Don’t chase happiness. Enjoy your life.

I listened to my father because I loved him and was taught to respect him. So for those reasons alone, I followed his advice.

“Happiness is out there waiting for you, work hard, take no prisoners and take what is yours!”

I believed him, and did exactly what he said.

I pushed – hard – and made it though school, and got a good job that affords me a comfortable lifestyle. I have constantly pushed and pushed. I have made many people extremely unhappy along the way, but I don’t care. They mean nothing to me and are responsible for their own happiness. I am striving to find my own.

My obsession caused waves in my marriage and my wife divorced me. Stating that I was unbearable and a tyrant.

I am now an old man, I have pushed everyone away in my quest. I have no friends to speak of, or with. People avoid me and say that I create a feeling of unhappiness. Tomorrow is my 80th birthday and I sit alone on a park bench and it is where I will be again tomorrow.

The next day, a small boy was walking hand in hand with his mother and saw me on the bench. He smiled and I smiled back, They sat down beside me, I smiled at him again, he said “ Mister, why are you smiling?”

I said  “Today is my birthday, and for eighty years I’ve been chasing happiness, and it was useless. And then I decided to live without happiness and just enjoy life. That’s why I’m happy now.”

Come to think of it, I don’t remember my dad being very happy.


Twitter example:

I respected my dad so I listened to his advice. Find happiness at any cost. So I tried.

#respectyourfather

#happinessisoutthere

#takewhatsyours

 

Take no prisoners and spare no feelings. Find your own way to happiness. If the wife can’t handle it, have a good life.

#happinessisoutthere

#obsessionrocks

 

Being alone and being lonely are two different things. However, we can all continue to learn.

#happinessisoutthere

#olddognewtricks

 

Don’t chase happiness. Enjoy your life. Your life is your own and you shouldn’t live it by someone else’s rules.

#happinessisoutthere

#nowimhappy

 

Jackie and the Magic Eggs

Jackie held the syringe of yellow-brown poison up to the always-buzzing fluorescent lights in the secret laboratory, examining it carefully, and  thought about what she would do next.  What they did to these animals here was a crime against nature, she thought, reasoning that her long years of study at the University’s School of MicroBiology and her graduate Genetics training in CRISPR made her uniquely qualified to act. It was unethical, evil, and risky to use advanced genetic engineering techniques on these poor animals.

She looked down at the facility guard sprawled on the floor and frowned. He was out cold, but for how long?  He looked harmless, but should she take the chance?  Any delay and her chance of making it out of the facility with the prize she sought in her backpack would be slim.   Forget it, she decided, he won’t be awake soon, not with the nasty purple bump on his forehead where she hit him with the fire extinguisher. She had better things to do.

Grabbing her backpack off the lab bench, heavy with her prize, she turned and injected the poison into the air filter feeding the animal subject cages.  It would not kill the animals, but would contaminate the test area. The next lab results would be a complete failure, perhaps so that they would have to start over, or give up.  And in their financial condition, they would be bankrupt within months, never realizing that they had succeeded at their crazy genetic experiment.

She turned, left the lab, and  and walked down the hill quicky, not looking back until she reached her car.

It was a few days later when she met with Sam, who had run the initial tests on her animals.

“You won’t believe the lab test report!”, Sam stuttered, holding the results in his hand, his glasses askew on his perspiring face. “Where did you get this?!! These eggs, or the source of them, are worth Millions, or Billions!!

He explained that the results showed extremely high levels of both CBD and THC plus a whole lot of hybrid sugars, so they were a naturally sweetened Cancer and Anxiety fighting combination, and super tasty, with low calories!

Jackie thanked Sam. After she left, she went into her basement, behind the bookcase, and looked down at her babies.

“Honey, let’s take a look, she said to her sweet bird. Carefully lifting up the Goose, she saw it had already laid 4 eggs.

The eggs were quite pretty, almost golden.   Jackie smiled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Wins Over Evil: The Sad Tale Of Rumplestiltskin, The Unfortunate Subcontractor

She’s a good princess from the top of her golden head to the tips of her tiny, do-gooding shoes. Everyone says so. Her company sells the best and sweetest-smelling straw you could want to bed out a horse stall with, and the crisp grasses it comes from are grown by the nicest farmers with red cheeks. She is kind to her subordinates and subjects. Yet amidst all her benevolent ways, a man came to grief by doing her will. We will never see his like again. And I blame her.

He had talent, that was plain. We were lucky to secure his services for the rebranding of her company, a sorely needed exercise. Our revenue was utterly in downfall, despite our sound product. Only two years ago our sales manager turned to the princess and said, “Aye, the bern is in spate,” which I guess is what Scots say when a creek’s at flood state, but he meant we were doing great, everything was turning to gold. But what do you say when the creek has run dry? Our name was slowly beginning to sound like failure, if a customer remembered us at all.

So we needed a rebrand and quick. After a ton of research and snooping around some other companies I finally uncovered a name: R Stiltskin Consulting. I learned it was headed by a weird little guy who didn’t like the spotlight, but could do miracles. The princess decided to try him out on a small project first, planting some good media hype about one of our smaller stores, and assigned me to manage it.

I tried to book with R Stiltskin by phone, but he never answered. Messages and email were ignored, which I found very odd for a consultant. So I drove out to his office, which was in a rundown section of town. I parked on the street, and entered by way of a shabby travel agency, where a clerk directed me to the fourth floor; ascending some creaking and precarious stairs, I eventually reached his garret.

The office was larger than I expected. I squinted and could hardly see anything in the dim light, but back in the corner past many shelves, filing cabinets, and one ancient metal safe, I spied him. His curved back in the chair was towards me, and he spun around at my footstep. I halted. Not meaning to stare, I had to take a moment to look at this odd person. Such a barrel little chest, above little bandy legs in tight green corduroy trousers! He looked through black-framed spectacles surely inherited from some great-grandfather, because no optician would carry such an item; the ends curved twice around his small round ears. His eyes were big, round, bright — a little mad.

He beckoned me closer, so I came forward and took a seat he offered. I started to introduce myself, but he forestalled me.

“Yes, yes, I know that you’re Wilson, and you represent Royal Straw which wants some good press,” he said. I have never heard a human speak so fast. His voice was high-pitched too, so I think I can be forgiven if I say it was just a little humorous.

“Absolutely,” I said. “I’ve compiled some info that will give you a clear concept of what we’re looking for,” and I handed him a thick folder. He snatched it from me and placed it on the tip-top of a very tall pile of books and papers. I began to speak again.

“I know exactly what you’re after,” he snapped. “I shall begin instantly. You’ll have results in 24 hours.”

“Wow,” I said. “Um, the standard agreement is there too, so are… we good to go?” This hasty resolution was rather unprecedented, even for a minor job like this one.

“As I said,” he squeaked, and turned back to his desk. “Please see yourself out.”

In the mid-afternoon of the following day, the princess showed up in my cubicle smiling. The little man had delivered results already. A couple of very nice reviews in high-ranking spots had shown up, with a photo essay featuring a pig farmer who’d bought from us for years, social chatter seemed to have bloomed overnight, and our stock picked up several percentage points.

Shortly I had a similar task, so I zoomed over to Stiltskin’s garret again, and handed it to him. He took it but told me, with accusing eyes, that he hadn’t received payment for the first job yet. I was surprised, and told him I’d get accounting to remit a check immediately. It was a particularly unfortunate oversight, because the princess had bigger plans for him.

Soon the princess gave the nod for R. Stiltskin to take on the rebranding. For almost a year I carried plans and work between his grimy office and Her Highness’ shining rooms. He really knew what he was doing, mapping strategy without hesitation. Our image was changing so quickly a joke started going round that the little man dealt with the occult and was magically transforming us. But some people are simply gifted. I assumed he was terrifically organized and probably a workaholic.

The princess had never met Stiltskin, but I knew they had a secret payment contract of some sort. He probably wanted a piece of the pie that he was perfecting. That seemed fair, but the details were never mentioned. I knew only that no checks had been issued in his name in quite some time.

One evening I had some documents to give him and stopped by his building. Luckily the downstairs door was still unlocked so I went up. On the landing of the 2nd floor I began hearing odd sounds. I definitely heard the clattering of hard heels. His door was ajar, so I peered around it. But I didn’t want to disturb him, so I tried not to make a sound. Workaholics can be so finicky. I looked, and put the papers at the threshold and went away as silently as possible. He was dancing — which I can describe only as the most sinister and unnatural dance I have ever seen.

At work the next morning I got a clue to Stiltskin’s jubilation. It seemed our brand had “arrived,” and the company was buying up farm after farm, and branching immediately out into new products of all sorts. We were golden. The princess had a corporate party, which included even employees of my level. Drinks and celebration took place all around, and the princess (surrounded by her people-in-waiting) came up swishing in silks, gave me her hand, and thanked me royally for bringing Mr. Stiltskin into her orbit.

Two days later I couldn’t find him. His office was unlocked, but there was no sign of him. I came back repeatedly with the same result. He’d vanished.

Now I want to straighten one thing out. If you’ve worked in marketing, you might have heard a rumor about our princess and a certain subcontractor’s disappearance. Maybe someone told you she blackmailed him to get lost; that she had some secret information about him or something. But our princess wouldn’t do that, that’s all. She’s good, like I’ve been saying.

It was just an unfortunate thing. Weeks after I’d last seen Stiltskin, I ran into the princess’ advisor, the royal Chamberlain Bertson in a bar. He looked a little ghastly. I sat and talked with him, and mentioned the odd little man, asked if Bertson knew anything. He took a long minute before answering.

“That had a bad ending,” he said. “A funny little person, and very temperamental.”

“You actually met him?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yes, he came to a meeting with the princess. That was the last day we saw him.”

“And what happened?”

He bit his lip. “Well, you know, he wanted a tangible part of the company — “

“Yes, I was certain of that,” I said. “Was the princess willing to give it to him?”

“He wanted to become the icon for Princess Land. He wanted to become part of the brand.”

“Oh, my God,” I said. “That’s a family thing, isn’t it?”

“Her son runs it,” Bertson said. “It’s a castle where they make the TV show. Can you imagine an insect like him becoming part of that beautiful, majestic cast of characters? Also, he has a criminal record and all cast characters have a morality clause. He has a pretty dark past.”

“She owed him, though,” I said. “What happened, finally?”

Bertson swirled his drink. “Well, he had a kind of fit. He was savage — threw himself into the air and sort of, sort of, injured himself. I think there was actually a puff of smoke.”

“My goodness. Was his injury bad?”

“I don’t know,” Bertson said. “I don’t remember, really. I think he left or something right after that. Anyway, I didn’t see him again. I haven’t heard about him.”

It was as if Bertson found the whole thing insignificant. How could they dispose of someone like that, who’d done so much for the company? No one seemed to have followed up to see if he was all right. How could the princess behave so? This was beyond anything. She was, as I keep telling everyone, good.

A little while on — perhaps a week — I got an appointment with the princess to ask about Stiltskin. She welcomed me warmly, and I sat before her gleaming desk. I asked what had happened to Stiltskin.

She looked blankly at me. “Who?”

I was speechless. I questioned her more, but could get nothing out of her. I stalked out.

In ensuing weeks of investigation, that was all I could uncover. Obviously the princess is hiding the fact that a vital worker went unrewarded for a very significant body of work. I am angry. When a benevolent company fails to reward its people — no matter if they’re regular employees or outside contractors — it’s no longer benevolent. I sent in my notice, and declined an exit interview with the princess. I didn’t want to see her anymore. She was flabbergasted because of my long relationship with the company, and sent me a very large severance check.

I’ve been looking for him at his office and everywhere around that part of town. I’ve also queried at other consulting and branding firms to see if he’s there, but no one seems to have heard of him. If I run into him, I’d really like to help him. Everyone deserves to be paid.

More than a Pretty Face

Why me? Why me? The same two words keep going through my head over and over again. Why am I always stuck doing all of the chores around here? Those other two get to do anything they want. I feel like I am being punished for something.

It all started when my Dad died. That is the day my whole world collapsed. He was the most amazing man, plain and simple. Shortly before he got sick he married a woman who I thought loved me. Boy, was I wrong. She didn’t love me. Not even close. In fact, her and her daughters have been jealous of me all along.

The worst part, other than losing my Dad, were my two new “sisters.” In my mind, we were going to be best friends, and tell each other our deepest darkest secrets. Wrong!

As I put on a happy face and do my long list of daily tasks, I am secretly plotting my escape. My escape from a life that would only be filled with sadness and hatred. Just waiting for the perfect time to make my move. My time will come; I just need to be patient.

The day has arrived.

My Stepmother has planned a huge party for one of my evil sisters. Of course I am stuck planning the entire thing. But this time I do it with a smile because I know it is the last time I will be forced to do anything. That is, as long as my plan works.

I am completely exhausted but I must keep going. After I was finally excused from setting up the party, I put on the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. I can’t believe that I made this dress! It may have taken me six months, but I did it. I felt like a Princess!

I sneak into the party hoping and praying that no one recognizes me. I see him! He is across the room talking to a few friends. I have to get close to him and get him to notice me. He is my only chance out of here!

Walking briskly, I stumble slightly. My shoe flies off and hits him in the head. I hold my breathe, hoping he is not mad. Instead, he bends down to help me up with my shoe in hand. Not only does he make sure that I am okay, but he delicately puts my shoe back on my foot.

Who is this guy?

He is my Prince Charming, of course. He may not know it yet, but he is going to save me from this horrible life. Sometimes fate just needs a little help along. After all, a girl can’t wait for things to fall into place; it’s not like life is a fairy tale.

Why Do We Pollute The Earth?

Global WarmingExtreme Heat WavesRising Seas.

Every week we hear about the consequences of our actions and ongoing inaction.

Why don’t we act and save the Planet?

Here are some answers to “Why do we pollute the Earth?”; with examples a 6 year old can understand.

  1. Difficulty. Harder to clean up. It takes more energy and time to clean up a mess than it takes to make one:
    Example: When you take your toys out to play, it is very quick, but putting them away takes more time.
  2. Cost. It is costly to not pollute. Companies focus on short term profit because capitalist markets pressure public companies to attain greater profits. If Companies did not have to spend money on pollution control, they would have more money.
    Example: Plastic bags cost less than paper, so we use them even though paper bags will dissolve in a year, and plastic takes 100 years or more.
  3. Time.  It is quicker to build something that pollutes a lot than taking the time to study the problem and write a report on how to do it better.
    Example: When you are hungry, you want the food now, not later.

  4. Priority. The focus is on “Now” versus “The Future”.  Solution: Plan mostly for the future generations to have clean water, air.
    Example: If you eat too much turkey at Thanksgiving, you will not be able to eat or enjoy the tasty apple pie dessert.
     5. Others do it. Companies see competing business get away with polluting. Solution: Even enforcement and even rules worldwide.
Example: If you know your friend breaks a rule ( Staying up past bedtime ) and is not punished, you want to break it also.
  1. Disrespect for Nature. We show low respect and understanding about Nature and how the Earth works. Nature is a complex and balanced system. Nature controls and balances the size and spread of ones species against another.  Example: If you kill a frog, that frog will not eat the mosquitos that bite you at night. You will get bitten more.
  2. Habit. We think and do as our parents did. Controlling and reducing pollution is something new. For most of the Western world, it was not believed to be important 100 years ago, and we did not have the technology to measure the changes, nor the technology to reduce or remove the pollution and damage.  Pollution control is a newer way of thinking.
    Example: If you like Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches made with Chunky Peanut Butter, you will not try the Creamy.

  3. Greed.  Huge Automakers were recently caught cheating on auto pollution tests and fined Billions.  They wanted higher sales, greater profits.  More money even though they made billions.
    Example: When you take all the toys, you leave your brother none.

Let’s share the Toys, friends, and do a good job of cleaning up after ourselves, otherwise the next Kids here will have a huge mess to clean up!