I was just watching house tonight and thinking about how much I love House’s new sidekick, private detective Lucas. Lucas is played by Michael Weston and he is breathing life into the show. He makes me realize how thoroughly depressing Robert Sean Leonard’s Dr. Wilson has become.

Amidst my hopes that Weston might stick around, I found some articles that show I’m almost tow months late on the news that House creator David Shore is creating an entire show around Weston’s character.

The new show won’t be a spinoff, in the true sense of the word. Rather, Shore is using House as a platform to launch the new show.

Either way, that’ exciting. I’ve seen Weston is his bit parts on Six Feet Under, Scrubs, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He actually has quite a lengthy filmography. He’s talented, compelling, and likable. I have high hopes for the new show.

Right now it looks like the Lucas character might be a new love interest for Dr. Cuddy.

I love blogging. I love the format mostly. The idea is to be able to regularly feed your readers fresh articles that feature your opinions, or some great new information, or maybe a useful tutorial. Your content is ideally always being updated and that, by nature, makes your blog “sticky” (as in, it compels people to keep returning to your site over and over).

Sometimes I wish I could just sit back and speak my thoughts and have them delivered to the readers without the burden of typing. I am, you see, not the quickest or most accurate typist. Thought I have been using some form of a keyboard for over 30 years and type articles, proposals, technical pieces, and tutorials every day – I have somehow managed to never get faster, and only a little bit more accurate.

That holdup in between my thinking speed and my typing speed generally results in missed ideas. When I talk, I am a lot more creative and detailed. My mind moves so quickly that when I am typing out my thoughts, I tend to lag behind to the point that I actually lose details and phrasing in the process.

Just like doing dictation, Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Preferred brings your speaking into written form, complete with paragraphing and punctuation – all without the need to actually type using your fingers. The software actually takes the sound of your voice and translates that into 150 words per minute. I cannot seem to break 40-50 words per minute when I am typing traditionally. For me, that means I will be able to blog more spontaneously. In fact, I can even use Dragon Naturally Speaking rather like a secretary, allowing me to put my brainstorming sessions right into a word processing format right away instead of jotting thought onto scrap paper and transcribing them later. When I do that, I never seem to get the full blossom of my ideas in the end result.Is typing as fast as I think a reality? It is if I use Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 Standard or Preferred. For more specs and details about the software, you can refernce the NY Times Review of DNS10.

Finally. I got an offer for a job I actually want. I got the call from the high school, but it’s an informal offer since the county has to receive the recommendation and extend the formal offer.

Although I am fully certified to teach, this position is on a paraprofessional level. I applied for these jobs on purpose, because I want more experience in the classroom with other, more experienced teacher before I take on my own classroom. Plus, the teaching jobs in the Tampa Bay area are very scarce this year and all of my local teacher friends agree that the important thing right now is to get my foot in the door with the district.

I’m excited. The job will keep me moving all day long, working with multiple teachers and lots of students. I will get a lot of variety and have little to no downtime. I need that kind of activity level to move me back into the healthier way of living I used to observe.

So, yay for me! Things are working out.

Added an hour later: ironically, I got a call from two otehr schools this afternoon looking to schedule interviews with me. *sigh*

When I got my first digital camera, I bought a special card reader at the same time so I would not drain the camera’s batteries each time I uploaded pictures to my computer.

So, when I bought my new digital camera (which ROCKS, by the way), I started shopping around for a card reader for the xD cards it uses. I did not find a great deal online at the same time I bought the camera, so I put off buying the reader with the intend of finding a good deal in one of the computer stores in town.

Time passed and I was still using the cables to upload pictures, draining the battery all too often. The, just as frustration was about to get the best of me, I looked up at the new fax machine – printer – scanner that I had bout a couple weeks before and had an “Aha” moment. There were all kinds of slots on the front of the printer that were quite obviously mean to be card reader. Not only was there a slot for my xD card, but the memory stick for my mom’s camera fits in there as well. There are even a few slots for data cards I don’t recognize.

So, that is why it turns out I don’t need to buy a card reader.

Thank goodness for promotional items. I think almost my entire collection of pens and pencils here at home is comprised on things that have been away as freebies by various companies to promote the company or a medication or a maybe an event. And while my first loyalty lies with the concept of frugality and all things free, I will admit right here and now that the promotional items have done their job. I found my last plumber by calling a number on one of my pens and I found my last yard guy on a magnet someone gave me.

When I was working for my old employer, a manufacturer of plastics bags, I actually enjoyed the ordering of promotional items for our trade shows. I’d look to people I knew who attended a lot of trade shows to keep me up to speed as to which items were the most popular and the most likely to be kept instead of just tossed out once a person leave a shows. Little gel-filled stress balls are popular, as well as travel cups, water bottles, and t-shirts. Everyone loves good food-related promotional items, but they don’t tend to be kept on someone’s desk for years on end, so they are not the best choice if you are on the business end of the deal.

Now that I am on a path to healing and independence after my divorce, the first things I have in mind are getting grounded in a new job and quickly following that up with the purchase of a townhome in the community where I lived when I was first married. I have a good bit of money saved and prices have come WAY down for local housing – so I thought things were looking up for me.

And now, here we are with a huge kink in the national financial situation. Massive banks are failing, especially those that were focused on selling mortgages. Lenders are logically going to go back to the days when it was just plain harder to get a loan, even with good credit and a steady paycheck. Times may be tough for first time home buyers, which would include me.

I suppose I will plan as I go, get my head up and continue to squirrel away my pennies, as I have been doing for the past couple of years. But then, there is the question of how safe my bank is right now. I use a credit union and a major national bank. Are they safe? Do I withdraw my money now and hide it in a firebox in a hole in my backyard?

While more banks are expected to kick the proverbial dust in the coming weeks, most are indeed safe. Even if your bank goes belly-up, your money is actually safe because the FDIC insures most deposits. You are insured for $100,000 per bank, per person for checking, savings, money market and CDs. So, if you happen to have $200,000 in an individual account, it might be a good time to at least diversify.
Retirement accounts are insured up to $250,000.
Still, I actually had a dream last night where I was standing in a line at the ATM and I was at least 100 people from the front of the line. In the dream, I was fearful that there would not be any cash left by the time I got to the machine – even though in all actuality ATM withdrawals are limited by a per day limit. Still, my underlying fear about banks now was driving my dream.
As an aside, let me just say I wish more people would listen to Glenn Beck. When that man goes out on a limb to make a prediction about money or politics, he tends to be spot on.

Even though I have Caller ID on my phone, I still find that I am screening more calls than ever. If you combine the fact that I am doing an active job search with the fact that it is election season, you will see that means a whole lot more incoming calls than usual from phone numbers I do not recognize.

Unfortunately, people don’t tend to leave messages anymore. So, I have been using reverse phone lookup tools online for some time now to weed through the incoming calls and determine which ones I need to bother returning – or at least answer the phone the next time a call comes in from that number. I also like being able to trace a phone number I find on my phone bill, but do not immediately recognize. As long as you know the phone number you want to investigate, you can perform a search that will return results like the owner’s name and address.

While some information is free using most reverse phone lookup services, you can generally purchase annual subscriptions that will include unlimited searches that return even more in-depth results. For example, you can get just such a service to cover both landlines and cell phone numbers at PhoneInfoTracer.com for less than $40 a year. I see that as a wise investment.

If you have a particularly large amount of prank calls or sales calls coming into your phones, a service like this is amazingly helpful, and the best thing is that nobody will ever know if you are searching for this information since the searches are all confidential.

I like having information as my fingertips and the internet has opened more doors for services that provide such information than I could ever have imagined.

I think my stance as a solid Independent when it comes to politics gives me a quite a clear view in this entire presidential election campaign. I can sincerely say that before the Republicans and the Democrats chose their candidates, I had absolutely no more compelling urge to vote one way or another. I’ve been able to look at the issues from a true middle position.

So, this new kink in the drama is particularly amusing to me. McCain has suspended his campaign in order to focus more time on the absolute financial crisis that Washington is currently examining.

Democratic supporters are ridiculously jumping at the situation, claiming this is a sigh that McCain is afraid of the debate. Other Democrats say McCain is using this as a “distraction” (Joe Biden) and “desperate” (Keith Boykin).

Excuse me while I take a few minutes to regain my breath. I laughed so hard I am wheezing.

It is not as though McCain is new on the horizon. The guy has a long, public record of being well-prepared, easy-going, confident and on-target when speaking. This is the man who actually tried to invite more debates with Barrack Obama, while Obama stodgily stuck to the idea that he was only willing to participate in the required number of debates.

I happen to agree that McCain’s decision to suspend his campaign is a move that shots confidence. If he were truly desperate, he would cling with a death-grip to every opportunity to further his own campaign. Instead, he is putting his CURRENT job as a Senator in the forefront of his life for now.

Obama’s people are very, very stuck on the word “multitasking” right now. That is all well and good, but do they understand that there is a time to multitask and a time to make sure you are not spread too thin?

There are just some cities that are perfect for long days devoted entirely to sightseeing. I lived in DC for most of my life and never tired of sightseeing there. I loved playing tour guide for my visiting friends and family.

When I go to other cities with the intension of sightseeing, I do not always have the benefit of knowing someone in town who can show me around. I’ve gone to New York City many, may times and each time I try and fit in a few touristy type of activities, but I’ve relied mostly on my own research. I’m planning a trip back up there this coming spring and although I will spend some time with friends, I am going to go all out and book a private New York sightseeing tour, so that I can ensure that I’m seeing all there is to see in one fell swoop.

I love the idea behind the Family in New York tour company. They show you all around the city, but in a style much like a family member showing around relatives from out-of-state. Since I have played tour guide innumerable times to family who came to visit in DC, I know that a personal tour like that means you get to see more, and you get to see the sights that big tour bus companies skim right over. Plus, you get a lot of input into what you’ll see and how you’ll do it, because the tours are custom.

It sure beats sitting on a bus with a lot of old people from Canada and only getting off the bus to see one or two overt tourist attractions.

He is finally admitting to the world that he is gay. That’s Clay Aiken, the former American Idol runner-up that made so many young girls swoon back in his heyday. Quickly, though, stories began to surface about Aiken using online hook-up sites to meet with gay men, as well as he overall effeminate demeanor, which seemed to get more and more pronounced over the past several years.

He’s on the cover of People magazine along with his new son, Parker, who was conceived via in vitro fertilization with his best friend, Jaymes Foster.

I think his biggest mistake is in assuming that people even care anymore.

****
This little tidbit “came out” about the same time that Lindsay Lohan went on record with what the world alreeady knew — she is also gay. Her secret might have been harder to hide, since she is rarely seen without her butch sidekick Samantha Ronson (who, by the way, is more manly looking than Aiken.)

Loons, diehards, avid supporters – whatever. They must have been out at the crack of dawn. Barrack Obama is speaking in the Blue Jays spring training stadium next door to my daughter’s school today and even though doors will not open until 10 a.m. and Obama will not speak until 1 p.m., the clump of people waiting outside this morning as I drove by around 7:30 was pretty big.

They were also partially obscured by cigarette smoke, just one more reminder of why I hate crowds.

Getting into the school this morning was not so bad, It took a little longer and there were already people trying to get into the school lot to park. They had to be turned away which was what was making the drop-off take so much longer.

This afternoon I have to be at the school about the same time as the speech starts for my volunteer time in the classroom. Parking might get a little tricky. I plan on parking in the driveway of a friend’s home and walking, but I have heard that particular street might be closed off this afternoon.

I’ve been to rallies before. I attended my fair share when I lived in Gainesville. I even walked across an interstate pushing a stroller. However, I stop at allowing an event like this to eat up my entire day. We live in the age of television and I can see pretty much any political speech I want to from the comfort of my own home. I don’t see my view as me being inactive or uninvolved. I just want to maximize the way I use my time.

Of course, it sounds like I will be hearing the speech whether I want to or not. Since the school is quite literally right next door, we will all be hearing it.

It’s true. I have no time at all for the gym. I’m a busy single mom and when I do have “spare” time, I really feel like it is better used at home with my child. She has gone through a lot of turmoil when our family split up and any time I can spend with her is time that is reinforcing her self esteem and happiness.

However, I need exercise. I gained a lot of weight during the last terrible part of my marriage and then my horrific divorce. So, my daughter and I walk together and sometimes use a couple of Yoga DVD’s I have here at the house. I need to step it up, though, if I am going to make a difference in my health.

So, listen to this. XFLOWSION™ by celebrity trainer Eric Paskel uses a TRIPLE TRAINING™ program that incorporates martial arts, power yoga, and dance all into one workout, combining the proven best moves from martial arts, power yoga, and dance. There is no reason to spend the time on three different workouts to get all of the variety of these three disciples.

Plus, the system focuses on getting you past the all-too-common results plateau. Since XFLOWSION™ is all the time changing things up and shifting movements, you avoid the plateaus – and the boredom. The program has been features in People and In Style magazines.

Best of all, in my option, it’s a great workout I can do AT HOME. I can be in the house and even spending time with my daughter and she joins in on the fun (modified for her skill level and age, of course), so we are getting family time and getting healthy all at the same time.

Check it out. I think you’ll be surprised at how FUN it can be to keep exercise as a regular part of your life when there is this much variety involved!

This week my daughter’s kindergarten class is doing all kinds of apple related lessons and activities in preparation of the celebration of Johnny Appleseed’s birthday this Friday.

As fortune would have it, we have apple blossoms coming in on the trees in the backyard this week. I think I have mentioned that we get two apple crops here in Florida. We make sure to help things along by helping the trees lose their leaves a couple of times a year.

Anyway, when I was little I would cut daffodils in the yard in the spring and wrapped the stems in a wet paper towel and cover that with foil. Them I would take them to school and present them to my teacher. Tomorrow morning, I am going to let Gigi cut a branch from the apple tree and bring some apple blossoms to school for her teacher.

Ok, in all actuality, everyone’s credit report is important. There are times, though when it is in the back of our minds and not putting too much of a direct impact on anything we are currently dealing with from day to day.

But, I am getting ready to buy a house. On my own. For the first time. All of the homes I owned with my ex during my marriage were mortgaged in his name, so this is the first time that my credit report will have to stand alone to make a big financial venture work for me.

So, right now my credit report is VERY important to me. And, it is not without some glitches, I must add. There is a medical bill on there from a company that failed to bill me for more than a year after I was in the hospital. On policy, my insurance company refused to pay it. I mean, it had been OVER a year that they waited to try and bill for it. Their attorney went after me and I settled. I have the letter form the courts saying the issue is settled, but there is sits on my credit report. On no fault of my own.

And then there is the money one phone company admits we never owed them, but that they keep selling to various collection agencies. I should not have to suffer for the poor communication going on in their company. Obviously, not all companies are using services like NCO Financial Systems to ensure they get things right the first time. The phone company I mentioned above might want to look into getting some help in that respect.

I do not want to be turned down for a mortgage due to things that were not my fault, false reports to my credit essentially. Fortunately, I have the right to see my credit reports and to dispute outdated or incorrect information that is showing on the reports. I can even work with an attorney to file a claim against a reporting agency that has published false information.

I already know where I want to buy and I have been watching the listings. I’m not going to let a couple of incorrect items on my credit reports get in my way now.

I’m not a fan of commercials in general, but I think I could watch this one over and over and over.