Satellite Television - I LOVE IT! (okay, it's the news channels really)

Hello, my name is U2BM and I am an addict. A news television junkie.

I have worked in legal offices for nearly 20 years. In all but three of those offices we had some sort of television in the conference room or reception area. Recently, we decided that we wanted some type of cable or satellite television in the office so that we could keep up with the national news networks while we work. Because in real life, every one of us is a news junkie who cannot stand not being connected to the world Every. Single. Minute. of the day. The building we occupy hooked up direct tv for lobby dwellers, and there is also a television streaming national news in the cafeteria.  I just needed to decide between direct tv and http://www.dishbusiness.com/index.shtml.  I recalling reading about direct tv for hospitals so I figured it wouldn't be that hard to arrange for my office. When I called to set up service in our office, it was easy as pie. Because there was already satellite in the building it was a matter of running wires and hooking up our televisions. First of course, I had to buy televisions. The boss wanted one specific to his office. We wanted one in the big conference room and we also wanted one in the reception area. Done and done. Now the only problem we have is that sometimes, national news being so addictive and all, on big news days, well, productivity is slightly less than normal.

Now, as soon as a certain contract with a certain other satellite company expires, my house will be directv too. At my house, news networks are always on in the background of my den while I am working or in the family room while I am cooking.

We now resume your normal programming

I'm not dead.

I got hacked.

I'm tired.

I have a sinus infection.

I have 13 weeks of class left and then I get my life back until the holidays!

I have three posts in draft.

I'm too lazy to finalize them.

My life has gone to crap. Good thing it's 117 today and I have no reason to be outside and the dramas refuse to swim.

Posts coming soon. And they're food! Yummy food! nom nom nom

Fresh Air Fund

Your gift of $24 becomes $48, good for TWO round-trip bus tickets from NYC to camp.

Make a gift before June 30th – and two inner-city childrens' lives will be changed forever!

The Countdown to Summer 2010 is on and The Fresh Air Fund is in need of host families. If you or someone you know is able to host, please sign up now.


In 2009, The Fresh Air Fund's Volunteer Host Family program, called Friendly Town, gave close to 5,000 New York City boys and girls, ages six to 18, free summer experiences in the country and the suburbs. Volunteer host families shared their friendship and homes FOR up to two weeks or more in 13 Northeastern states from Virginia to Maine and Canada.

The Fresh Air Fund relies on donations to provide memorable summers to NYC children.

The Fresh Air Fund needs hosts for the summer of 2010.

More than 65% of all Fresh Air children are re-invited to stay with their host family, year after year.

Mother's Day is coming up

Mother's Day is right around the corner. I've been thinking a lot about what I should do this year for my mom. She recently underwent a mastectomy and will find out today when she starts chemotherapy. Certainly this will be a memorable Mother's Day, just not for the right reasons I'm thinking.

However, there is a great Mother's Day Gift Guide and Giveaway's page over at MomCentral. There are also weekly contests to win awesome prizes including a Shark Cordless which I would love to own myself, as well as a Keepsake purse and See's Candies.

Check in weekly at MomCentral for new sweepstakes that run through Sunday, May 9th.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central. Mom Central entered my name in a random drawing to win a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Earth Hour - Will you participate?

My family has participated in Earth Hour every year. What we really enjoy is that our neighbors do too. We all congregate outside and chat while the kids run around or star gaze.

It really is the little things. John Lavallo from The Takeout Group sent me the following information in an email. I felt like it was something I could pass along to all of you.

Earth Hour occurs this Saturday, March 27th at 8:30PM (local time) around the world. EarthTV presents LIVE camera feeds from Paris (Eiffel Tower), Sydney (Opera House and Harbour Bridge), Berlin (Brandenburg Gate), and Munich (Church of our Lady). Tune in to earthTV.com to catch these landmarks turn off their lights to support Earth Hour. In addition to these live feeds, tune in this weekend for delayed transmissions from Dubai (Burj Kahlifa and Burjf Al Arab), Hong Kong, Amsterdam, New York (Empire State Building), Auckland (Sky Tower), and Melbourne (Arts Centre and Crown Casino).

About Earth Hour:

With almost 5 million supporters and a global network in over 100 countries, Earth Hour--organized by WWF--is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and build a future where people live in harmony with nature.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change. Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating. Global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, The CN Tower in Toronto, The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Rome’s Colosseum, all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for a cause that grows more urgent by the hour.

Well This Sucks

The below mentioned product was purchased by me for my personal use. I am not being monetarily paid for this review. I will give my honest opinion and thoughts regarding said product anyway.

I have four dogs. They shed enough hair to build a new dog each week. I sweep daily (because the house is tile) and I vacuum the family room rug every day. Because if I did not, it would not look like a rug so much as it would look like one of those old hairy sweaters that used to be in style.

Gross.

I had a vacuum for over ten years. It was red and its name rhymed with Flirt Level. And one of my foster kids killed it. I think they may have tried to vacuum a sheet. Maybe it was the cat? I forget. Regardless, it died.

And it had served me very, very well. My husband, thinking he was doing me a favor, he went and bought a shiny new black vacuum. Now, a vacuum, by its very definition is an electrical home appliance that cleans by suction. So what he bought, well, it didn't really fit that description much. Oh it sucked, but not in the way a vacuum should. Not. At. All.

When we moved from Utah to the scorching desert, vacuuming wasn't really an issue because we had the tile floors. However, after five years, I'm tired of cold tile floors. They're cold in the mornings and they're cold at night; They are cold in the summer because the air conditioner stays on constantly, and they are brutally cold in the winter. So, I finally broke down and bought an area rug. Suddenly we had warm feet again!

I love it.

The dogs love it.

The kids love it.

The vacuum did not love it. In fact, the vacuum failed to suck, when again, sucking is such an important part of being a vacuum! So, I went to buy my own shiny new vacuum. I wanted the old red one, like I had before. Because I had nothing short of a major crush on that vacuum. But, I ran into this beauty first: so I bought it. It is a Bissell Clean View Helix. And let me tell you: This Thing Sucks!

And I love it!

And my rug loves it!

And my tile floors love it!

And my wooden floor loves it!

And once across the carpet, I no longer have one of those gross fuzzy hairy sweater things. I have a pretty area rug once again. The upside? As if there could be something more exciting about this new friend of mine: It cleans carpet, upholstery, bare floors, cars and stairs (which I don't have anymore but if I did, this would clean them too). It has a HEPA Media Filter and one of those cool cups that gathers all the dirt so I can dump it and rinse it out and wala, no sneezing for me. It does not have the microban protection, but I don't care because hello?! I have four dogs. They bring in plenty of micro-everything and I have no plans to vacuum them off upon entry.

Another great thing, it has a 13.5 inch wide cleaning path. This means fewer strokes shorter vacuum time because I need only cover an area one time. And another thing? I seem to be dusting less because I'm not sweeping the tile anymore. I change the setting on the vacuum and wipe out the whole house in minutes!

I have used it successfully on my tile floor, my wood floor in the kitchen and my area rugs. I have nothing but nice things to say about this new member of our family.

If you're in the market for a new vacuum, I could honestly recommend this one. It has done me well. I might even have a crush.

Something is happening...

I toss out this quickie for your personal edification:

It is that time of year again when weird things happen. Clocks are set forward so you (because we don't change the clocks here in the scorching desert).

Everything comes in a pretty shade of pastel.

The devil breaks out his apron and starts making these: