Surviving the Circus of Life

There's so much information and mis-information going around about the first time buyer's house tax credit, that I thought I would list the facts, as they stand right now. Currently, the tax credit is for first time home buyers. The purchased home must be closed on between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009. (A new bill is being proposed that would extend the deadline until April of 2010). Now, to take advantage of the FULL $8,000 house credit: The home buyer must have an adjusted gross income of less than $75,000 or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly. (These limits would be raised slightly if the new extension bill passes.) However, those who had more income than the specified amount allowed, could still qualify for a partial tax credit. The home must have been purchased for less than $800,000. The home must be your principal or primary residence. The home cannot be purchased from an ancestor, descendant or spouse. The tax credit is only for purch

Every time they start to take away one of our rights here in America... they start with what seems to be a "small" thing. This "small" thing promises to make life better for everyone. Example 1 : Car insurance - We are forced to buy car insurance to take care of our car and anyone else's car that we might damage (I have never been in wreck and I'm 55 yrs old). This forced automobile insurance has cost me a small fortune - and I have never used it - thank God. The forced auto insurance was about protecting money and property. Why weren't we outraged over that? Example 2 : Tobacco Use - Everyone has been happy that most places are now tobacco free. This at least had to do with protecting our health. But now, at least in some areas, they are talking about making it illegal to smoke outside on your own property. This is taking things too far. What's next? Forced health insurance. Pay it (if you can afford it, and "they" will deci

Rick Broida over at Cnet.com recently alerted us to a few totally free sofware downloads that will be expiring soon. IOBit Security 360 Pro - ranked 4 out of 5 stars by users, free until November 11th. WinX DVD Author - free until October 31st. Turn your video files into DVDs. Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard (for students only) "Microsoft's DreamSpark program is offering this new Windows Server release to eligible high school and college students." Read more about it here - news.cnet.com

Jane Doe is alive, but has no memory. She was found on October 9th, and still no one has shown up to claim her as a relative. Very strange. I can't help but wonder if she might have run away with someone a couple of years ago who later deserted her, and then maybe some awful things happened to her. The kinds of things that caused her mind to "freeze" and protect her from the memories. Here's the link... maybe someone will recognize her soon.

This is an ongoing problem in the US... women consistently have to pay more for private health insurance. Guess it's still a man's world after all. We're not asking for special treatment, just equal treatment. Women pay 30-40% more on the private insurance market as men. Common pregnancy and c-sections are considered "pre-existing conditions." And in some states, insurers can even deny coverage to victims of domestic violence.The bills before Congress will guarantee, once and for all, that women are treated fairly and equitably by insurers. Let's call for an end to discrimination against women by health insurance companies. Take your ticket now ladies (and gentlemen!). SEIU.org/ticket

We visited another new church this morning. All the churches that we've visited are quite large, offering at least 2 Sunday morning services each week. This one offered 3 and we went to the last one, which started at 11 am. We heard that this one had an active college group, which is what we are looking for. My daughter has not lost her interest in church activities just because she graduated high school and is now attending college. I am amazed at the lack of support this age group receives from most churches - which is nada. We had to drive by two locations to find the church, because the internet had two addresses. I guess they have changed locations recently. So we were late, but we could hear the music and we walked in and sat near the back. I was quite impressed by the number of ministries they are involved in. Apparently, this was a Sunday of "recruitment" for volunteers for their many programs and we heard about each one of them. They participate in many local

The health reform plan that the senate panel has approved for presentation to the full house and senate is not as bad as many people would have us believe. In fact, I think it's the best plan so far. I am tired of so many people telling me what it's going to do, which is basically a worst possible nightmare scenario, so here are a few of the facts as listed on CNN. This healthcare reform bill would: subsidize insurance for poorer Americans establish nonprofit health care cooperatives (I assume this would be reduced fee clinics) cap annual out-of-pocket expenses prevent insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions create health insurance exchanges to make it easier for small groups and individuals to purchase coverage impose a new tax on high-end health care policies known as "Cadillac" plans impose fees on drug and insurance companies, medical device manufacturers and other industries tied to the health care sector

This first part is an update on swine flu from the post I did yesterday. According to "some" experts, NO flu vaccines work anyway, so if you don't usually take the flu vaccine, you probably have nothing to worry about. Here's part of the story: If vaccines really worked to save lives, then the more people you vaccinate, the lower death rates you should see, right? But that's not the case. Back in 1989, only 15 percent of over-65 people got vaccinated against the flu. But today, thanks to the big vaccine push, over 65 percent are vaccinated. And yet, amazingly, death rates among the elderly have not gone down during the flu season. In fact, they've gone up! Read the full story here. (Examiner.com) Yesterday's post on Swine Flu: My daughter and I received word that her great aunt passed away last Friday, from Swine Flu. This is the first person I actually know to have died from it. My grandson has already had it, and a great-niece has had it, a

My daughter finally got to go on a hike... her first since we arrived in Arizona! She's loving it!

Blessings come in all shapes and sizes, don't they? A couple of days ago a tenant moved out of our complex and left his microwave. The manager, who has been such a BIG help - God Bless Her! - offered it to us - free. The views are awesome in Arizona... here's a photo when we were driving south from Flagstaff...

It's been a week of rest, work and blessings as we got settled into our new apartment. My daughter and I took off from SC and moved to Arizona with only what would fit inside our SUV... call us crazy... lots of people did. I actually agreed that it was a pretty unusual thing to do, but I was also very excited to be on a new adventure at this time in my life. I feel blessed that my daughter wanted me to join her on this quest. We lived in a motel for a little over 3 weeks, which depleted our money terribly. Finding a place to live was much more of a chore than I had anticipated. But, finally, we found a place and moved our clothes, dishes, tv and computer into it. That's when we discovered that it is not at all unusual for people to just leave all of their belongings behind and start anew somewhere else. The manager here said it happens all the time. Maybe it's unique to Arizona, I don't know. It's a little disappointing in one way, and a relief in another way,

Today I read a news line from WIS TV in Columbia, SC, (on facebook) reporting that a Mother who was ill with H1N1 (swine flu) had given birth to a healthy baby, and then died. While it was a sad and tragic story, my mind immediately went to the strength of the story. This young Mother, with God's help I'm sure, was somehow able to live long enough to bring her child into this world, before she allowed this terrible virus to consume her life. What a victory! I hope that the child is told of the strength of his/her Mother... the strength that kept her alive long enough to give the world the best gift she could... her child - and what a special child this must be. Sometimes the greatest miracles are born out of tragedy. God bless the child!

There was once a fellow who was running around town gasping for breath, his eyes bulging out. This went on for a while until he finally decided that he needed to see a doctor. He went to a doctor, who examined him thoroughly. When the doctor finished his examination, he looked at his patient sadly and said, "I really don't know what's wrong with you, but I can tell you that if things continue the way they've been going, you have only two or three months to live." The man leaves his doctor's office and heads home to do some serious thinking. He decides that if his life is going to be this shortened, he has a whole lot of living to do in the time left. He started spending money like a madman, traveling all over the place trying to squeeze everything he could out of his last weeks on earth. One day, he entered a clothing shop and told the clerk, "I need fourteen shirts and I need them all with a 14 1/2 inch neck and a 32 inch sleeve." The cl