Feb 142012
 

One of my pet peeves is seeing incorrect spelling on a website where a professional image is most critical. What really scares me is that fewer and fewer people care enough to put the time and expense into making sure their web pages are error free. Errors such as misspellings, typos, grammatical errors, and general bad phrasing of sentences and paragraphs. I think with all the texting on cell phones, iPads, and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, it is common to abbreviate and use popular text speech. This is understandable when you are working with small devices and when making a quick casual comment.

However, for something as important as a website, especially a commercial or professional website, spelling and grammar are more important than some might think. It’s the first thing I notice when I am browsing web pages. Maybe it’s because of what I do for a living, but I’ve definitely seen a decrease in literacy over the years. It surprises me to see a large brand name company with errors in their ads, brochures, TV commercials, and web pages, and I see these more and more every day.

Unfortunately, a spell checker isn’t going to help with grammatical errors, and grammar checkers are not always accurate. For example, the misuse of apostrophes and words such as their, there, and they’re. Other common errors include words such as accept, except; advice, advise; affect, effect; complement, compliment; it’s, its; loose, lose; miner, minor; past, passed; principal, principle; stationary, stationery; than, then; threw, through; your and you’re. There are more common mistakes people make, such as seperate instead of separate. Remember, there’s A RAT in the middle of separate. Also, it’s “a lot”, not “alot”. There are to, two, too many to list. These drive me nuts!

There are some that I have trouble with, too, like accommodation and recommendation. Not so easy to remember if there is one c or two; one m or two. Do you remember the famous rule that we were all taught in elementary school, “i” before “e” except after “c”, as in the word “receive”? However, this does not hold true for other words like science or conscience. It’s certainly not a sin to not know the spelling of every word in the English language. However, there is this thing (as archaic as it may sound) called a DICTIONARY! There is a great site online that I have bookmarked and pull up regularly when I need a dictionary or thesaurus. The URL is http://www.merriam-webster.com/. How cool is that? You don’t even have to wipe the dust off of your books, it’s right there! The Merriam-Webster Dictionary! Continue reading »

Dec 222011
 

 

This is probably going to sound ridiculous to most of you, but what can I say, I’m an oldtimer set in her ways and not so savvy with new technology. I still use an LG flip phone from 2006.

It was around 1979 when Sony introduced a new way of listening to music with the Sony Walkman, known as the Soundabout in the U.S. Soon after, it was embossed with the name “Walkman.” The Walkman allowed people to walk around listening to their favorite music using lightweight earphones. I love music, but never really had a desire to walk around listening to it. To me, it was just a small cassette tape player. According to Wikipedia, “It will always be a symbol of the freedom and portability that Sony sought to convey among the younger demographic.”

Then, along came the Apple iPod and many more brands of mp3 players, including the Sony Walkman MP3.

Jump to present day… Continue reading »

 Posted by on December 22, 2011
Dec 132011
 

I know I’m posting this late, but you still have time! Time to get your little ones to behave like angels, at least until Christmas day!

I had absolutely no idea what elf on the shelf meant. I don’t have little ones anymore, but I know we all would have loved this when they were little. Just recently, my niece posted something about Elf on the Shelf, so I Googled it. There were quite a few links on Google, but I chose the one to Amazon.com because I love shopping there. They have competitive prices, fast shipping, a good return policy and great customer service. Anyway, that’s where I learned about Santa’s magical scout elves.

Start a new family tradition with the Elf on the Shelf. The Elf on the Shelf is Santa’s way of knowing whether your children have been naughty or nice. Of course, he can’t do it all by himself, so he sends out his scout elves to keep an eye on things. Continue reading »

Oct 242011
 

We live in west Knoxville, which is about an hour from Gatlinburg. My sister Donna and her husband Larry stopped here for a week of their month-long camping trip. They picked the perfect week (October 5th through the 12th) to enjoy the changing season, from green to full color in a matter of days. We were so afraid they wouldn’t get to see the colorful Fall leaves in the Smoky Mountains because when they first got here the leaves hadn’t started changing, yet.

These are some of the gorgeous photos they took while driving through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Continue reading »

 Posted by on October 24, 2011
Oct 222011
 

These adorable costumes are great for Halloween photos.

Lil Characters baby costumes include lined zippered jumpsuit with snap leg closures for easy diaper change, slip-on booties with non-skid soles (indoor use only), and character hood with snap/velcro closure. Machine wash.

Lions…
Lil Characters Unisex-baby Infant Lion Costume.

and Tigers…

Lil Characters Unisex-baby Infant Tiger Costume

and Bears, Oh My!

Lil Characters Unisex-baby Infant Teddy Bear Costume

Lil Characters Unisex-baby Infant Elephant Costume.

Lil Characters Unisex-baby Infant Monster Costume
Here are more adorable Lil Characters Unisex-baby Infant costumes at Amazon.com – Click Here

Most of these costumes are eligible for Prime Shipping. You still have time to order!


Sep 102011
 

Several years ago, I was called for jury duty. It was my second or third time that I was asked to do my civic duty, to which I complied since I really did feel proud to serve my county. Besides, I didn’t have any legitimate excuse not to.

That day, I headed out to the courthouse in my old car with a broken driver’s side power window. It wouldn’t go up or down. I hated that because I couldn’t go through the drive-thru window at the bank, or the drug store, or even the fast food restaurants. I would have to open the door and stretch to reach the drive-thru window. Very annoying, at least until I got the window fixed. It had already been fixed once already.

So, I’m driving and trying to read the directions that I had scribbled on a small piece of paper. No GPS back then. While at a stop light (no reading and driving at the same time), I manage to get my glasses from my purse on the passenger seat and put them on. After refreshing my memory of the directions, I then remove the glasses and slip them over the opening in my blouse. I never wear those eyeglass holders or chains that go around the neck. Continue reading »

 Posted by on September 10, 2011
Sep 082011
 

I came across this website this morning, and didn’t stop browsing for two more hours. I laughed ’til I cried, it was so heartwarming to read about the lives of these beautiful dogs, and the family raising them. The photos are fantastic.

I’m referring to http://augiedoggy.com. It chronicles the lives of two beautiful golden retrievers, Augustus and Tiberius, known to all as Augie & Ti.

Golden Retrievers, Augie & Ti - http://augiedoggy.com
I’ve bookmarked it and subscribed to their mailing list. Catching up with the lives of Augie & Ti is a great way to start the day.

 Posted by on September 8, 2011
Aug 302011
 

How many times have you seen the following posted on your Facebook page:

Place whatever disease/illness you can think of here . . . I am asking if everyone could put this as their status for 1 hour. I’m pretty sure I know the ones that will. Think of someone you know or love who has or has had [Place same disease/illness here]. My wish is that in 2011 a cure will be found. Will you post it for 1 hour. To honor those who have fought or are fighting [Place same disease/illness here]

You can fill in the blanks with any of the following diseases/illnesses and the message is still the same.
Continue reading »

Aug 272011
 

Do you ever wonder if anyone’s really listening to you? Do you find yourself talking to the TV or the cat? Do you ever feel like you’re invisible?

This happens to me all the time. I usually start out talking to my husband or my son, but when I turn around they are nowhere to be seen. Sometimes, if I’m lucky, my husband will have reached the top of the stairs and he’ll say, “Did you say something?” It can be frustrating, but I’ve grown used to it. Most of the time, neither one of them can stay still long enough to have a conversation.

This is how I feel about my writing, too, except there aren’t that many things that I write that are publicly available to read. I really don’t mind if no one’s reading what I have to say, but I wonder all the same. It doesn’t matter, though, I’ll just continue to post whatever I am thinking about at the time. Maybe some day someone will stop in to say . I look forward to it.

 

 Posted by on August 27, 2011
Aug 262011
 

Oh my gosh, have you ever laughed so hard that you cried? I was posting on Facebook in a group my sister invited me to yesterday called “You know you from Oakland Park if………..” I live in Knoxville now, but I lived in the Oakland Park/Fort Lauderdale area from June 1964 to March 2010. I’m from Boston originally, but I will always think of myself as a Floridian.

Anyway, this group and their topics have been jogging my memory. I’m remembering things that I haven’t thought of in over 40 years.

There are quite a few posts that my friend Cathy and I jumped into and, by this time, the following post/thread had me in stitches. Last names removed to protect the innocent. Continue reading »

 Posted by on August 26, 2011
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