Being A Kid again

go back...
....Before the Internet or PC or the MAC......
....Before semi-automatics and crack....
....Before Playstation, SEGA, Super Nintendo, even before Atari...
....Before cell phones, CD's, DVD's, voicemail and e-mail....
....way back...
....way.....way....way back.....
I'm talkin' bout hide and seek at dusk
Red light, Green light
Red Rover....Red Rover.....
Playing kickball & dodgeball until the first...no...second...no...third
Streetlight came on
Ring around the Rosie
London Bridge
Hot potato
Hop Scotch
Jump rope
Duck....duck....GOOSE!!!
YOU'RE IT!!
Parents stood on the front porch and yelled (or whistled) for you to come home - no pagers or cell phones
Mother May I?
Hula Hoops
Seeing shapes in the clouds
Endless summer days and hot summer nights (no A/C) with the windows open
The sound of crickets
Running through the sprinkler
Cereal boxes with that GREAT prize in the bottom
Cracker jacks with the same thing
Ice pops with 2 sticks you could break and share with a friend
...but wait.....there's more....
Watchin' Saturday Morning cartoons
Fat Albert, Road Runner, Tom&Jerry, Heckle&Jeckle, Pink Panther, Richochet Rabbit,
Schoolhouse Rock
Watchin' Sunday morning oldies (Abbott & Costello, Three Stooges, Tarzan, Shirley Temple OR WONDERAMA!!)
Wonder Woman & Super Man Underoos
Catchin' lightning bugs in a jar
Chanukah nights
Your first day of school
Bedtime Prayers and Goodnight Kisses
Climbing trees
Swinging as high as you could to try and reach the sky
Getting an Ice Cream off the Good Humor Truck
A million mosquito bites and sticky fingers
Jumpin' down the steps
Jumpin' on the bed
Pillow fights
Sleep-overs
A 13" black and white TV in your room meant you were RICH
Runnin' till you were out of breath
Laughing so hard that your stomach hurt
Being tired from PLAYING
WORK: meant taking out the garbage or doing the dishes
Your first crush
Your first kiss (the one that you kept your mouth CLOSED and your eyes OPEN
Rainy days at school meant playing "Heads up 7UP" or hangman" in the classroom, remember that?
Oh, I'm not finished yet....
Kool-Aid was the drink of the summer
So was a swig from the hose
Giving your friends a ride on your handlebars
Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school
Class Field Trips with soggy sandwiches
When nearly everyone's mom was at home when the kids got there
When a quarter seemed like a fair allowance;
and another quarter a MIRACLE
When ANY parent could discipline ANY kid, or feed him, or use him
to carry groceries...And nobody, not even the kid, thought a thing of it
When being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to
the fate that awaited you at home.
Basically, we were in fear for our lives but it wasn't because of
drive by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.
Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger threat! And some of
us are still afraid of em!
Didn't that feel good? Just to go back and say, "Yeah, I remember
that!"
Well, let's keep going!!
Let's go back to the time when...
Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo"
Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, "do over!"
"Race issues" meant arguing about who ran the fastest.
Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in "monopoly"
Catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening
It wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.
Being old, referred to anyone over 20.
The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.
Nobody was prettier than Mom
Scrapes and bruises were kissed by mom or grandma and made better
It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at the amusement park.
Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.
Abilities were discovered because of a "double-dog-dare"
Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.
The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.
Water balloons were the ultimate, ultimate weapon.
Older siblings were your worst tormentors, but also your fiercest protector
If you can remember most or all of these, then you have LIVED!!!
Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life......I TRIPLE DOG DARE YA!!!!!!

SIGN !!

How much does congress make in salaries ??

Most candidates don't seek high elected or appointed government posts with the sole intention of becoming rich from the earnings they receive from the U.S. federal government. While compensation for such offices as the U.S. president and others is very generous when compared with the average American's salary, most of these men and women would likely make more money in the private sector and often do.
Both George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, the current U.S. president and vice president, are very wealthy. In 1989, Bush invested $600,000 to become part owner of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team. When the team was sold in 1998, Bush earned at least $14.9 million from the deal, according to CNN. As the governor of Texas, Bush earned $115,345 annually. Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton, an oil engineering company, from 1995 to 2000. In 2004 he recieved $194,852 in deferred compensation from Halliburton. His net worth is estimated to be at least $30 million, and in 2004 he reported $1.3 million in total income, compared to Bush's $672,788.

As president, Bush makes $400,000 and gets additional money in various expense accounts. Cheney makes $208,100 and also has expense accounts. In September 1999, President Clinton signed legislation that increased the presidential salary to $400,000, effective January 2001. The Constitution prohibits pay raises for sitting presidents. This presidential pay raise was the first since 1969, when the president's salary was raised from $100,000 to $200,000. Adjusted for inflation, $200,000 in 1969 would be worth $930,232 today. On top of the salary and expense accounts, both the U.S. president and vice president are given free housing with plenty of amenities. The White House has 132 rooms, 32 bathrooms, a movie theater, bowling alley, billiards room, tennis court, jogging track and putting greens. Bush also has use of Camp David, the presidential retreat. Cheney lives in Number One Observatory Circle, which has been the official vice presidential residence since 1974.

Congress receives frequent pay raises. Since 1989 a cost of living increase takes effect each year unless Congress votes against it. Pay for the average member of Congress has more than doubled in the past 20 years. For example, the average salary in 1983 was $69,800 and $141,300 in 2000. However, if you were to adjust the 1983 salaries for inflation, members of Congress made $119,708 in 2000. As of January 1 2005, members of Congress make $162,100. The president pro tempore of the Senate and the majority and minority leaders of both houses are paid $180,100. The speaker of the House of Representatives makes $208,100.

Here's a list of some federal employees and their current salaries as of January 2005:

Executive Branch

President: $400,000; $50,000 expense account; $100,000 nontaxable for travel; $19,000 official entertainment account; free housing
Retired president: $150,000 pension; plus $150,000 to maintain staff
Former first lady: $20,000
Vice president: $208,100; $10,000 expense account; free housing
Presidential Cabinet member (i.e. secretary of defense, attorney general, etc.): $157,000
Legislative Branch
Speaker of the House of Representatives: $208,100
Senate president pro tempore: $180,100
Senate and House majority and minority leaders: $180,100
Other senators and representatives: $162,100
Judicial Branch
Supreme Court chief justice: $208,100
Supreme Court associate justices: $199,200
Circuit judges: $171,800
District judges: $162,100
Here are some interesting links:
The White House
Number One Observatory Circle
Cheney made bigger bucks than Bush in 2004
How did George W. Bush make his millions?
2005 Adjustments of Certain Rates of Pay
Congress and Pay Raises
Directory of Government Officials
A History of Congressional Pay Rates
U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
A look at the U.S. Supreme Court


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This comes from the URBAN DICTIONARY.COM

The man who successfully beat out Gerald Ford as the dumbest president in U.S. history. Having gotten straight C's at Yale, where his father had made generous contributions in order to get his stupid child into the school, he later went on to become addicted to cocaine and picked up a DUI, giving him the honor of being the only president to have a criminal record. He then proceeded to steal the 2000 election in Florida by THROWING OUT over 2000 votes in the only county in that state to have a majority of BLACK residents. There has still been no explaination for this act. He has now fucked up his job as president so badly that some of the most conservative military experts in the country have disowned his policies as lunacy (i.e. Richard Clark, former advisor to the Bush Administration on military defense). He has pushed for prayer in public school(why the fuck can't you pray on you own time?-it should be noted that the CONSTITUTION separates church and state, and that PRIVATE prayer in school is NOT illegal. Only ORGANIZED prayer is prohibited), and also introduced the highly oppressive "Patriot" Act, which has subsequently suspended the rights of Guantanamo prisoners, and almost American citizens as well. Here's something you probably don't know, and if you do, please spread the word- Bush has recently spent $28 million to REINSTITUTE THE DRAFT by SPRING OF 2005-that includes all men and women in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 26. This man has no regard for civil liberties and has set out on this terrorist witch hunt to distract attention from the economy, foreign relations snafus, and most recently, plans to bring back the Draft

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A man who has a disturbing number of similarities to Adolf Hitler early in his rise to power in Germany.

Like Hitler, Bush failed at everything he did before going into politics.
Like Hitler, Bush promised unity right after his appointments to the executive office.
Bush worked to create enemies so that he could consolidate his power. These enemies include "terrorists" and liberals. This is like what Hitler did when he came to power.
Bush also courts the right wing Christians much like Hitler did.
Like Hitler, Bush has made it very difficult for people to dissent from his policies. Protestors are shunted off to their own little area.
Bush loves photo ops that feature him standing in front of our troops saying he cares about them, despite the fact that Rumsfeld has pissed and crapped all over them.
Bush has been working to take away the protections that the working man and woman have enjoyed. He has made it very easy for his corporate friends to send labor to India and Asia and pay only a couple pennies per hour to these people.

So in summary, George W. Bush may be an Adolf Hitler in training.

Urban Legend ??? Must Read !!!

Origins: Despite dire warnings about the imminent release of cell phone numbers to telemarketers that continue to be circulated via e-mail year after year, no such thing is about to occur, nor do cell phone users have to register their cell phone numbers with the national Do Not Call registry before a soon-to-pass deadline to head off an onslaught of telemarketing calls. The panic-inducing e-mails (which circulate especially widely every January or June, since many versions of the warning list the end of those months as a cut-off date for registering cell phone numbers with the national Do Not Call registry) have grown out of a misunderstanding about the proposed creation of a wireless directory assistance service. Cell phone numbers have generally been excluded from printed telephone books and directory assistance services. However, since the use of cell phones has burgeoned in recent years (to the point that many people no longer maintain landline phone service), several national wireless companies (AllTel, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint PCS, and T-Mobile) have banded together and hired Qsent, Inc. to produce a Wireless 411 service. Their goal is to pool their listings to create a comprehensive directory of cell phone customer names and phone numbers that would be made available to directory assistance providers. 555-1212 [for out-of-area numbers] and, by providing enough information to identify an individual phone customer [usually a full name and city of residence], obtain that customer's phone number.)

-->Many cell phone customers are opposed to the proposed Wireless 411 service for a number of reasons:
They prefer the privacy of knowing that their cell phone numbers are available only to those to whom they provide them. They don't want other people being able to obtain their cell phone numbers without their consent or knowledge.
They are concerned that their cell phone numbers will be sold to telemarketers (or other groups that might make undesirable use of those numbers).
They see one of the goals of the Wireless 411 service as a ploy to spread cell phone numbers to wider circles of friends and acquaintances, who will then place calls to cell phones and thereby force cell customers to pay for additional wireless minutes. The wireless companies behind the proposed Wireless 411 service contend that their service will be beneficial to cellular customers and that they have addressed those customers' major concerns:

The service would save money for the millions of customers who have cellular phones and currently pay to have their cell phone numbers listed in phone directories.
The Wireless 411 service will be strictly "opt-in" — that is, cell phone customers will be included in the directory only if they specifically request to be added. The phone numbers of wireless customers who do nothing will not be included, those who choose to be listed can have their numbers removed from the directory if they change their minds, and there is no charge for requesting to be included or choosing not to be included.

The Wireless 411 information will not be included in printed phone directories, distributed in other printed form, made available via the Internet, or sold to telemarketers. It will be made available only to operator service centers performing the 411 directory assistance service. All of these points have been summed up in numerous media articles, such as the following from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

There is a grain of truth in the message making it believable, but it's wrong on two counts: Not all cell phone numbers will be listed in the national directory planned for 2006. And telemarketers will not have access to the directory. It is illegal for marketers using auto-dialers — and most do — to call wireless phone numbers. Here's the truth: A national directory will be compiled, but numbers will be included on an opt-in basis. If a cell phone subscriber does nothing, the number will not be listed. When the directory is ready, it will be available only as part of the existing 411 directory service, accessed by calling in and asking for a specific number.

It will not be published in a book or on the Internet. And it will not be sold to telemarketers. Cell phone subscribers can list their numbers on the do-not-call registry if they choose, but there is no deadline to get on the list, as the e-mail messages now circulating suggest Nonetheless, many consumers don't trust the Wireless 411 consortium to uphold their promises, and although Qsent and its clients plan to make the Wireless 411 service available sometime in 2006, its implementation is far from certain as the wireless companies are still contesting proposed legislation which seeks to regulate wireless phone directories. So, although the gist of some warnings are correct in alerting consumers to a proposed directory of cell phone numbers, they are misleading in stating that such a directory will "soon be published" (the word "published" implies making a printed directory available, which the wireless consortium maintains they will not do) and in directing readers to sign up with the The National Do Not Call Registry. The latter step will not keep wireless customer listings out of the proposed Wireless 411 database — it will only add their phone numbers to a list of numbers off-limits to most telemarketers, a step which is premature (because the Wireless 411 directory has not yet been implemented) and largely unnecessary (because the Wireless 411 directory information is not supposed to be supplied to telemarketers, and because FCC regulations already in place block the bulk of telemarketing calls to cell phones). Some versions of the exhortation to cell phone users to add their names to the Do Not Call Registry erroneously state there is a specific deadline for getting listed. Says Lois Greisman, the Federal Trade Commission official who oversees the anti-telemarketing registry: "There is no deadline; there never has been a deadline to register." Adding one's cell phone number to the National Do Not Call Registry won't have any adverse effect, but customers should be aware of exactly what that action will and will not accomplish. Updates: Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular Corp. have always declined to participate in the proposed cell phone directory, and initial partners Sprint Corp. and Alltel Corp. have since pulled away from the project due to concerns about bad publicity and possible new government regulations. So even if the cell phone directory database were compiled as planned, at least 45% of U.S. cell phone numbers wouldn't be included. Additional information:

The Truth About Cell Phones and the National Do Not Call Registry (Federal Trade Commission)

Wireless 411 Service: Q&A

John Kennedy - Is this True ???

Dearborn - Greenfiled village - Henry ford museum - Henry ford museum has a car from the time President Kennedy was Shot. In the evening on the anniversary he has been spotted standing next to his car waving to the security officers and leaving a single red rose on the hood of the car. Often felt a cold wind and was also told he said that there was two men that shot him, As well not the man that shot him there was another man out side the building that was standing on the lawn where there was trees and shot him.

Do you believe this ?? Its a Haunting we have at a local museum ~

My Ghost !!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, Im beginning to wonder if I have a ghost at home or am I just getting old -

My roommate (MO) moved from Philly to Detroit about 7 years ago and has told me stories of her moving into a rental home in Philly that had a ghost, he used to turn on radios and TV in the home she rented, after a while her 4 kids named him "Willie" over the years as her children grew, Willie seemed to disappear or maybe the kids just got used to him and started to ignore him as time went on.

Sometime sitting in my living room I can smell stale cigarettes and that reminds me of my father who passed in '94 - ( I have his ashes in my closet) he smoked for 60 some years before he gave the habit up. Mo sometimes smells roses and that reminds her of her mother being close.

I ve recently lost a pair of glasses that used to sit near my computer, I always have a spare around and one morning I woke up and both pairs of glasses were sitting next to my puter, I asked Mo where she found my 'other' pair and she said she never touched them .... recently our advil disappeared - then re-appeared on the kitchen table, I figured one of us just did not realize we picked up the container and moved it, but I think the strangest thing to happen recently was with the cuckoo clock.

My cuckoo clock stopped a few years back, and I tried everything to get it started. I figured since the clock was about 30 years old, it served its purpose or just needed a cleaning.

Last month when we had the hot spell, I woke one morning and looked up and the cuckoo clock had began to work again. I asked Mo, if she did anything to start it, and she said, no Chris, remember I said I would never touch cuckoo. I'M not sure if one of the cats bumped the strings or one of the kitchen fans just pushed it again, but is seems to be working like new.

Things seem to move around the kitchen and are placed in spots we would never expect them to be, now I know Im getting old, and misplacing stuff, but the cuckoo clock thing really freaks me out !!

COMMENTS WELCOME !!!!!!!!

Gene Simmons - New Series

I ve watched this the past few epsoides and I must admit Im hooked on this series. I think Gene is a mastermind when it comes to making money and promoting his image. He has been with this woman for 23 years and loaths the though of getting married, his son is 6.7 .. and wants to start his own band, Gene keeps getting in his face, I think he really wants to manage the band.

The mom is down to earth, she must be to put up with Gene all these years, and the younger daughter is a very normal child, I highly recommend you watching this show, and get hooked on him like I did ...

DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER

I happened to watch the 2 part special on Dog & Beth getting married, its a sad story and made me cry when I found out his one daughter was killed in a car accident, Dog has 12 kids totally and this was his first girl - the stolen suv rolled over and she was killed. Dog has taken her child and is raising it while she was in re-hab.

My question is, would you be able to go thru with the wedding ?

Also, dont u think this marriage is doomed from the start ??

Stay tuned for more - Dog can be seen on AET -