The end of 2015 and the start of 2016

Written By:  Andrew Eide

I will close our blog for 2015 stating that it has been a very good year. Although we are still trying to get our finances situated so that we can save up to purchase a home in 2016 we are still doing okay.

2016 brings with it the fact that I start receiving my Social Security Retirement in addition to my Navy Retirement. To be honest those two Retirement incomes combined is more than I made at my last full-time job which was from November 2008 to May 2009.

For 2016 I plan on writing about specific subjects each month. To give you teasers for 2016 here are the general topics for the months where I've already drafted blogs to post.

January = Discrimination
February = Love & Hate
March = March Related Comments
April = April Related Comments
May = Maybe I Shouldn't Have (subject goes here)

See you in 2016.

Andrew

Christmas 2015

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Christmas Day has been totally blown out by commercialism. Today I am going to talk about Christmas when I was a boy and then I will talk about what Christmas means to me today.

When I was a boy growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s Christmas was not as commercialized as it is today. You could not even find a Christmas tree until the second week of December. Today as the calendar turns from September into October there are already Christmas tree lots selling trees and all the stores have Christmas decorations for sale.

Growing up we looked forward to Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. Today Halloween and Thanksgiving seem to be obscured by all the Christmas hype starting in August.

I am not going to lie to you and tell you that I never asked my parents for specific gifts for Christmas. Us kids watched the commercials on television and we knew what toys and games were the ones every kid wanted so we did ask. We rarely got what we asked for though. We understood that our parents were not rich. However every so often we would get the gift we really desired.

Just to let you know how it was in my family I didn’t get my first multi-speed bike until I was a teen. Yes, you heard me correctly; my first bike with 5 speeds was when I was 13 years of age. I never was able to obtain that 10 speed bike from my parents though.

Then when all us kids turned 16 and obtained our Driver’s Licenses, all my friends were getting motorcycles and cars for Christmas gifts. Did I ever get a motorcycle or car for a Christmas gift? No I did not. My first mode of “real” transportation was a Honda 50 motor scooter. I worked odd jobs for my father and when I obtained $100 I purchased the Honda 50 motor scooter from my father’s friend. When I turned 17 I was able to trade my Honda 50 motor scooter for a 1959 Volkswagen Beetle. Actually it cost me the Honda 50 and $100 but the VW Beetle was a good purchase. That car served me well and I sold it when I joined the United States Navy in March 1972.

Today Christmas for me is a time to reflect on the year which has passed and to be happy I have a great loving family and great friends. Even if I had a lot of money I would not commercialize my Christmas experience. I always purchase a few simple gifts for my family and they purchase small simple gifts for me. We all appreciate what we receive because of the love behind the gifts.

My Brother's Birthday

Written By:  Andrew Eide

This month my brother’s birthday arrives. My brother, James (Jim), celebrates his birthday on December 17. This is a very significant event for my brother as he turns the magical 73 years this time around.

My brother is 11 years older than me and 9 years older than our sister, Starr. Due to our age difference I have very few memories of my brother when I was a child. By the time I was old enough to understand what was going on around me he was already enlisted in the United States Air Force. Jim is closer with our sister since they are 9 years apart.

I would like to tell you what my brother did for me back in 2009 when my life was falling apart due to many factors. I lost my job due to the poor economy. I couldn’t pay the mortgage on the house without a job so I lost my house also. My wife died of cancer on July 17, 2009 and my dog, Lucky, who was 14 years and 4 months old, died on July 19, 2009 just two days later.

With nothing left but the clothes on my back and in my closet, two desks, and two computers, I called my sister in Cleveland to ask if she could possibly take me into her home for about one year until I can get back on my feet financially. Unfortunately, due to a previous family situation which didn’t work out, she and my brother in-law had to make the decision that to invite family into their home again was not an option.

I contacted my brother in the San Francisco Bay Area and asked for his advice. Jim immediately offered his home to me by requesting I move back to the Bay Area and live with him until I am financially situated.

At the end of August 2009 I moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area and I resided with Jim and Carol at their home on Bethel Island until things improved financially for me.

Not many family members would do what my brother did for me. So, even though I could make fun of him this month, since he is turning 73 years of age, I will not do that. Well…I don’t do that publicly here in this article anyway…lol

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day is December 7. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii was attached on December 7, 1941, during World War II, by Japanese aircraft which flew in low off the ocean to accomplish the attack. Although it was a brutal attack, and extremely effective, I accept the fact that it happened and it is part of the history of a brutal World War.

I am going to state what happened in my own words. You are welcome to research the Internet to verify how close I came to the real story of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Most of the information I present today came from my father who served in the United States Navy during World War II.

The Japanese were very effective in the Pacific. The United States decided to get involved in the war in the Pacific. The Japanese leadership flatly told our Government that if they were to get involved in the Pacific there would be an attack on the United States. Of course us, being so damn arrogant, laughed off the attack threat as idle talk.

During the same time frame RADAR was still in the early development stage. The Military stationed a unit to scan the skies with the new technology of RADAR. From what I have been told the RADAR operator called his supervisor to report that he is seeing items on the RADAR. Even though the Japanese previously issued a threat to attack the United States the RADAR operator’s supervisor told him to ignore the blips as waves or reflections and say nothing more. Those blips on the RADAR were Japanese aircraft and not reflections or waves on the ocean.

Even if the United States Government had been put on alert I am fairly sure the attack on Pearl Harbor would have still happened but probably with fewer deaths and injuries.

What we should have learned from this incident is that when someone who claims to be your enemy issues a threat you need to take that threat seriously. Maybe the threat will never happen but it is better to be prepared and it doesn’t happen than to wave it off as an idle threat and then it does happen.

On Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day please remember those brave men and women who perished that day in 1941.

Thanksgiving 2015

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Today I am going to tell you what Thanksgiving has meant to me. I am not going to try to do what everyone else does which is to explain the early Thanksgiving and how it possibly came to be what we celebrate in this day.

In all honesty trying to equate our current traditions concerning Thanksgiving with that of the early settlers is an act of futility. The settlers were starving to death and wouldn’t have survived without the assistance of Native American Indians assisting them. To compare that to the over-eating and over-abundance we have during our current Thanksgiving celebrations just doesn’t make sense to me.

Growing up our family got together to have the traditional dinner of turkey and ham and all the goodies which go with them. It was a time for us kids to have two weeks vacation from school and for our family to get together and eat too much.

Over the past ten years or so Thanksgiving, for me anyway, has meant a time to count my blessings and attempt to help those who are less fortunate than I am at that point in time. Unfortunately for 2009 through 2011 I was unable to provide food for those less fortunate than me as I was also living on the low end of the economic scale.

This year has been better for me and my family. So this year I am thankful for numerous things.

I am thankful that I receive a monthly Retirement check from the United States Government for retiring from Active Duty in the United States Navy. I am thankful that Becx has a great job where she can use her skills as a Project Coordinator and utilize her vast IT Technical skills. I am thankful that Keira is doing great in school and that she loves going to school. 

Be thankful for all the things you have.

Scorpio Traits

Written By:  Andrew Eide

I am a Scorpio. Under the Zodiac sign of Scorpio those born between October 24^th and November 22^nd are Scorpios. Yes I am late posting this blog concerning the traits of a Scorpio since it is after November 22^nd but I still need to put the information out there for you.

The common Positive Traits of a Scorpion include:  Determined and Forceful…Emotional and Intuitive…Powerful and Passionate…Exciting and Magnetic. Yep…that’s me!

Some items Scorpios like include:  Unraveling Mysteries…The Comfort of Their Home. Again…that’s me!

Some items Scorpios dislike include:  Being Analyzed…Being Asked Personal Questions…Meeting New People…Having to Trust a Stranger with Anything They Consider Important Enough to Keep Secret. Oh yeah I hate those things!

Some important items to consider for a Scorpio include:  Lucky Number = 8 (for some reason I have better success with 7 and 3).  Lucky Color = Magenta Blue (any Blue will do for me). Lucky Day = Sunday

A typical Scorpio has the characteristics of self-criticism…intense concentration…a passionate drive…all which results in either complete success or utter failure. A typical Scorpio is suspicious and they need to be proven the facts before making a decision. The emotional aspect of a Scorpio makes them extraordinary at any career. Once again that’s me!

Scorpios are known for their intense and powerful natures. They never settle for mediocre and they always try live a good life or it isn’t worth living. Scorpios are rarely found at the center of activity but they always know what is going on. The intense sensitivity of a Scorpio makes them one of the best and most loyal friends…but that same quality makes them the most treacherous of enemies.

Finally Scorpios are extremely demanding of others…but they will never ask someone to do what they won’t do themselves.

Honestly I fit the typical Scorpio mold.

Election Day 2015

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Election Day in the United States is normally the first Tuesday in November. This year Election Day falls on Tuesday, November 3. I assume there are items up for a vote for the State of Georgia for November 3rd but I have no clue what they are. Unfortunately the State of Georgia doesn't let us know what is being voted on every year except when it is a Congressional Mid-Term Election or a Presidential Election. When I lived in California they always mailed a pamphlet to voters to let them know what was up for a vote. Whether it is a Proposition or a special election for something else, at least we were informed. Honestly I don't feel like driving to my normal polling place only to find out that no election items are being held and I wasted my time and gas in my car.

Daylight Savings Time (DST) 2015

Written By:  Andrew Eide

There is a saying here in the United States, where we practice Daylight Savings Time, of Spring Forward and Fall Back, designating the starting of Daylight Savings Time in the Spring and returning, or falling back, to Standard Time in the Fall.

When I was a kid, growing up in Oakland in the 1950’s, there was no such thing as Daylight Savings Time. Well there was but what I am talking about is that there was no observed Daylight Savings Time when I was a kid. I remember playing outside until past 9 p.m. when there was still daylight out.

I researched Daylight Savings Time through the United States Naval Observatory website at:  (http://aa.usno.navy.mil). This is the official website used when I served in the United States Navy to obtain official Sunrise and Sunset data anywhere in the world we were located. The United States Naval Observatory gives the following history of Daylight Savings time in the United States:

The Act of March 19, 1918, called the Standard Time Act, established by law standard time zones in the United States. The Act also established Daylight Savings Time. However, Daylight Savings Time was repealed in 1919 while the Standard Time in Time Zones remained in law. Daylight Savings Time was re-established nationally early during World War II and it was continuously observed from February 9, 1942 until September 30, 1945. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 provided standardization in the dates of the beginning and end of Daylight Savings Time in the United States but it still allowed for local exemptions from observance. This Act provided that Daylight Savings Time begin on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October and the time changed over at 2 a.m. local time.

In 1974 Congress enacted earlier starting dates for Daylight Savings Time. Daylight Saving Time began on January 6, 1974 and then in 1975 it began on February 23. After those two years the starting date reverted to the last Sunday in April. In 1986, a law was passed shifting the starting date of Daylight Savings Time to the first Sunday in April 1987. The ending date for Daylight Savings Time was not subject to those changes and it remained the last Sunday in October. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed both the starting and ending dates for Daylight Savings Time. The Act of 2005 changed the dates in 2007 to begin Daylight Savings Time on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November.

Now you see why I feel Daylight Savings Time is a waste of time. The kids of my day survived without Daylight Savings Time in effect. By the way…remember to set your clocks back one hour on 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2015.

Benghazi Embassy Attack Hearings

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Recently the Benghazi hearings to determine what happened with the attack on our Embassy, that caused four of our Embassy personnel to be brutally murdered, has concluded. Unfortunately the question I have was never answered. Here are some valuable facts and the question I wanted answered.

There was a General in the area and he told the State Department that he could have his troops there at the Embassy to provide protection in a short period of time. The State Department, under the direction of Hillary Clinton, told the General that he is NOT to send his troops to the Embassy in Benghazi. He was told to stand down and do nothing. When he protested Hillary Clinton told the General that if he violated her order and sent his troops to help the Embassy she would send him to a Court-Martial and have him fired.

Why did Hillary Clinton do such a horrendous thing that resulted in the murder of four of our Embassy personnel? That is the question I wanted answered and she refused to answer it.

In the late 1970's Iran held our personnel hostage and threatened to murder them. President Carter sent help and unfortunately the operation to rescue our personnel failed and people died. But at least I had respect for President Carter for trying.

Had Hillary Clinton allowed the General to send his troops to the Embassy in Benghazi and they were not able to prevent the attack and our personnel would have still be murdered I would have at lease commended her for trying. The fact that she refused assistance to the Embassy is beyond reason. She should be prosecuted and convicted for the murders of our Embassy personnel.

Hillary Clinton testified at the Benghazi hearings that she never received communications from Ambassador Stevens in Benghazi. She also stated she didn't know it was Islamic terrorists who perpetrated the attack. She refused to communicate with Ambassador Stevens about anything.

However at the same time she refused to communicate with Ambassador Stevens she was communicating with her friend Blumenthal, who was not authorized to receive State Department information, and she mentioned to him that it was Islamic terrorists who perpetrated the attack.

Why has she not been prosecuted for refusing to talk to our Ambassador in Benghazi and for releasing highly classified information to Blumenthal who had no clearance or right to know that information?

Hillary should be indicted, prosecuted, convicted, and sent to Prison for her allowing our Embassy personnel to be murdered and for releasing TOP SECRET information to people who were not clared to receive it.

Halloween

Written By:  Andrew Eide

My memories of Halloween as a kid was that of dressing up in fun costumes and going out on Trick Or Treat expeditions with my father, sister, and friends. We didn’t care where the day or the celebration came from. We only cared that we could come home with a bounty of candy and pig out on the candy until we wanted to puke!

Today I will discuss Halloween but I will keep the controversial aspects of it out of my article. I honestly don’t care what some religious groups say about Halloween but I respect their right to state how they feel. I simply wish to discuss some simple aspects of how this day came about and I wish to focus on the fun aspect of Trick Or Treating.

The word Halloween seems to represent a Scottish variant on the fuller term All Hallows’ Eve (Evening) which is the night before All Hallows’ Day.

Some people state that the origins of Halloween may be from the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, and also linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which is derived from the Old Irish Samuin meaning summer’s end. There is also an indication that this was the time of the year when the physical and supernatural worlds were the closest and magical things could happen.

There appears to be a later Christian influence concerning what we call All Souls’ Day falling on November 1.

Trick-or-Treating seems to be derived from the Middle Ages when poor folk would go door-to-door on Hallowmas (November 1) and receive food in return from prayers for the dead on All Souls’ Day. The modern Trick-or-Treating we have today is more along the lines of an evening out with the kids, where they can collect candy and other goodies, and have a good time. The original concept of stating Trick-or-Treat, which indicated that if the resident didn’t give the visitor a treat, the visitor would play an evil prank or “trick” on them, has given way to what we have today.

There will be those who go way out and say something which is insulting or degrading about Halloween but we have to remember that they have the right to voice their opinions.

Just enjoy the little ghosts and goblins and witches who come to your door and shout Trick-or-Treat and be sure to give them a little something for their enjoyment.

Earth's Van Allen (Radiation) Belts

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Today I would like to discuss with you the radiation belts that encircle the Earth. They are called the Van Allen Belts as they are named after Doctor James Van Allen who discovered them.

Without these radiation belts surrounding the Earth extremely harmful stuff from the Sun and elsewhere in our Solar System would slam into the earth and destroy us. The most devastating effect would be if the solar radiation coming from the sun wasn’t deflected by the Van Allen Belts within a short period of time our Earth’s water, including our oceans, would heat up and evaporate and we would perish shortly thereafter.

There is another interesting fact about the Van Allen Belts that needs discussion. What we know, so far anyway, is that there are inner and outer belts to the Van Allen Belts. Roughly the inner belt starts at around 600 miles above the Earth’s surface and rise to approximately 3,700 miles. That means the inner belt is approximately 3,100 miles thick.

The outer belt begins approximately 9,300 miles above the Earths’ surface and rises to around 15,500 feet. That means the outer belt is approximately 6,200 miles thick.

Combined you have the Van Allen Belts ranging from 600 miles to 15,500 miles which is a long way and very think belts indeed coming in at approximately 13,900 miles thick.

So now we move on to the very interesting part of this discussion. The International Space Station orbits at approximately 350 miles above the Earth and the Space Shuttle usually orbits between 250 to 300 miles above the Earth with the exception of when it needs to dock with the International Space Station.

Astronauts on both the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle experience radiation sickness due to the radiation from the Van Allen Belts penetrating their craft and entering their bodies. It has been determined that it would take a lead shield of approximately 15 feet thickness to totally prevent the radiation from the Van Allen Belts from penetrating the International Space Station and Space Shuttle.

Now if Astronauts on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station can be adversely affected by radiation from the Van Allen Belts being 300 or more miles away from the Belts then the question must be asked whether a thinly shielded vehicle could successfully transport humans through the entire Van Allen Belts safely. Remember we said that the total distance is about 13,900 miles or more.

Even as fast as space vehicles travel it would take a very long time for that vehicle to make it completely through the Van Allen Belts to finally come out the other side and be away from the radiation coming from them.

Putting this in the most basic terms I can think of without having that 15 foot thick lead shield around the craft the radiation from the Belts would easily pass through the destroy the humans inside the craft. The rough estimate is that the humans might survive for a few hours at best and even if they did manage to survive they would be more ill than those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were after a nuclear weapon was exploded upon them.

So this brings me to my final comments which are why I firmly believe the moon landing was faked on a movie set. There are two reasons for my decision.

FIRST is that if no living thing can successfully pass through the Van Allen Belts without being radiated to death there is no way we ever sent humans through the Belts to get to the Moon.

SECOND is that when you think that the United States went from launching an Astronaut on a rocket to go into the air and land about 200 miles away in the ocean to landing on the Moon in less than 10 years you have to think how impossible that would be.

My firm belief is that since Russia put the first animal in space, the first human in space, the first satellite in space, and they landed the first mechanical device on the Moon, the United States felt threatened and defeated so they had to do something to deceive everyone. What better way than to fake a landing on the Moon?

Aha! You claim that since Russia and China had devices to see into space then you are positive that they saw us go to the moon. Not so fast as I have evidence upon that also.

Notice that we claimed to have landed on the Moon in 1969 and then notice that Apollo 17 was the last mission to the Moon. Take notice that suddenly, and without warning or reason, the United States Government suddenly stopped all Apollo missions and ended all travel to the Moon.

Why would our Government do that when we spent so much money to supposedly go to the moon with humans? I have the answer for you.

Up until December 1972 Russia and China only had devices that could see into our local atmosphere and they were not able to see much beyond 500 to 600 miles above the Earth. After the December 1972 flight of Apollo 17 Russia and China developed deep space surveillance devices that could see clearly from the Earth to the Moon. The United States realized at that point they could no longer deceive China and Russia, as they now had devices to see clearly into the distance from the Earth to the Moon, so they quickly cancelled the Apollo missions and we have never traveled to the Moon again.

Back to the radiation from the Van Allen Belts. Every time we have launched a non-manned spacecraft through the Van Allen Belts, whether to the Moon, Mars, Venus, or beyond, the entire time the spacecraft is going through the Van Allen Belts we lost communications with the craft until it got far beyond the Van Allen Belts. The electronic devices were able to endure the radiation but organic matter, such as humans and other animals, would quickly die from the radiation from the Van Allen Belts.

My conclusion is that our Government faked the Moon landings to trick Russia and China into believing we really did it. Yes we have landed non-manned items on the Moon but never a human being. If you wish to watch a movie about a faked mission to Mars I ask you to please check out and watch the movie called Capricorn One which was made in 1977.

It involves a doomed mission to Mars where NASA was about to be defunded by the Government. So NASA faked the Mars landing at a movie studio in the desert. It is a fascinating movie and if you watch it all the way from start to finish you will see how it could have taken place exactly like that with our supposed Moon landings with humans.

I have provided you with a link to the site that describes the movie. And please, I beg you, please get a copy of the movie, or watch it on Pay-per-View, and see if what I am saying makes sense.  Here is the link to the description of the movie Capricorn One.

Movie Information for Capricorn One

Columbus Day

Written By:  Andrew & Becx Eide

Columbus Day falls on the second Monday of October. It is day for the remembrance of Christopher Columbus and his arrival to the Americas on October 12, 1492. This holiday is somewhat controversial because the European settlement in the Americas led to the demise of the history and culture of the indigenous peoples. So, basically, the people in the United States of America, celebrate the anniversary of the discovery of their country.

Christopher Columbus is often portrayed as the first European to sail to the Americas. He is also sometimes portrayed as the discoverer of the New World. However, there is evidence that the first Europeans to sail across the Atlantic were Viking explorers from Scandinavia. Additionally, the land was already populated by indigenous peoples who had previously discovered the Americas thousands of years before.

There is also the claim that Christopher Columbus, although he reached several of the islands in the Americas, and Central America, and possibly South America, may have never reached mainland America which we now call the United States. Therefore some people have contention with celebrating Columbus as the discoverer of what we now call the United States.

Columbus made four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean which led to the general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. Columbus actually was trying to sail West to reach the already known countries to the East. However, during his first voyage in 1492, instead of reaching Japan as he had intended, Columbus actually landed in the Bahamas archipelago at the location he named San Salvador. On his other three voyages Christopher Columbus visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America, claiming them for the Spanish Empire.

Although Columbus was not the first European explorer to reach the Americas, as we have already mentioned that Viking explorers such as Leif Ericson came before him, the voyages of Columbus led to the first lasting European contact with America. They did, in fact, have an enormous impact in the historical development of the modern Western world.

Although he never admitted that the had reached a continent previously unknown to Europeans, rather than the East Indies as he had set out for, Columbus called the inhabitants of the lands he visited Indios which is Spanish for Indians.

That is our brief history of Columbus Day.

First Day of Autumn 2015

Written By:  Andrew Eide

This year the first day of Autumn falls on September 23rd. When things like this are listed on our calendar they are based more on tradition than on facts.

As you know we used to live in California, in the Northern part of the State, in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the East Bay side of San Francisco Bay, and a bit further inland to the East than Oakland, in what they call the San Ramon Valley, in the City of Concord. We have lived in Duluth, Georgia, in the Atlanta Metro area since September 2012.

People who have never lived in California believe we have fantastic weather, lots of sunshine, and all our trees remain green and flowers are blooming, all year long. Take it from me, a born and raised, third generation native Californian, that we don’t always have good weather, we don’t always have sunshine, and we don’t have green trees and blooming flowers all year long.

I assure you that in all the places I have lived in California that most trees change colors and lose their leaves in Autumn. I assure you that we have a Winter season here in California. I assure you that we experience freezing temperatures even here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Before moving back to the San Francisco Bay Area in August 2009 I lived in the City of Redlands, California, which is located about 50 miles East of Los Angeles. It is North of Riverside and East of San Bernardino, where Interstate 10 & Interstate 215 cross. During the Summer months temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 80 percent humidity, or higher, was common. During January 2007 we actually had about a half inch of snow fall on the ground.

Where we live now in Duluth, Georgia, we have summer temperatures in the 90's with high humidity. Today is September 14th and this is the 3rd day we are in the mid-70's with humidity in the 50 percent range.

So I welcome you to the month of September 2015 and I hope you enjoy the first day of Autumn on September 23rd.

Nice Things You Find In The Park

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Today I took Keira to Shorty Howell Park so she could ride her bike and also play on the equipment in the playground. While Keira was playing and riding her bike I walked around to find things I could photograph with the camera on my cell phone. Here is the result of that walk around Shorty Howell Park.

Labor Day

Written By:  Andrew Eide

As previously mentioned my memory of Labor Day is with the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. I admire Mister Lewis for his life-long dedication to this worthy cause and I was sad to see him leave the hosting of the Telethon due to health reasons.

I am not here today to talk about the Telethon though. I am here to talk about the concept of Labor Day, where it started, and how it got to where it is today.

My research with the Department of Labor brought up some interesting facts which even I wasn’t fully aware of.

Labor Day, which is the first Monday in September, and for 2015 that is September 7th, is a creation of the labor movement and it is meant to focus our attention on the social and economic achievements of American workers.

Although there is no fact on who actually proposed a Labor Day holiday for workers we do have some possible answers. Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, the General Secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and Co-Founder of the American Federation of Labor, was the first in suggesting a day to honor workers.

However, many people believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, and not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. There appears to be more information to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, who later served as the Secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinist in Paterson, New Jersey, proposed the holiday in 1882.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 2882, in New York City based on the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday one year later, on September 5, 1883.

It was in 1884 that the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday day, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of this day.

So in this current time we have a national Labor Day holiday on the first Monday in September. Please remember to take time to thank those workers, who over many decades, and for over a century, have worked hard, and they built this great country we enjoy.

Keira Did Great Her First Week of First Grade

Written By:  Andrew & Becx

We're very proud of Keira. She had a great first week of First Grade. Her teacher, Mrs. Mathur, really likes Keira and she told us that Keira jumped right into the classwork the first day of school. She said Keira participates and she is doing very well with all the assignments. Here are scans of the classwork Mrs. Mathur sent home with Keira on Friday.

Wrong Number Calls

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Do you know what I find really amusing? Well, okay, I mean what I find really annoying? Wrong phone calls to my home.

I do not understand how I receive so many wrong numbers on my home phone. I’ve had this phone number for over two years. Here is what happens with these wrong number callers.

The phone rings and I answer it. The caller is asking for someone who does not live here and who has never lived here. I inform the caller that they have dialed incorrectly and they need to check the number they are calling. At this point one of two things happen.

The first is that they will apologize and then immediately call my number again and ask for the same person again. For the second time I inform them they have dialed incorrectly. They apologize for a second time and then immediately call my number again and ask for the same person again. At this point I have no patience left and I inform the caller about the extremely low level I.Q. they possess. Usually I never receive a call from that person again.

The second is that they will argue with me. I have callers who mis-dialed and got my phone number by mistake say, “I know (name of person) is there! You put them on the phone now!” So I have to inform this obviously insane person that nobody by that name has ever lived her or had this phone number. So they can demand all they want but I cannot produce someone who has never existed here. Often they will counter with, “Well this is the phone number they gave me!” At this point I have to inform the caller that just because someone gives them a phone number doesn’t mean they gave them their correct phone number. There is the possibility that the person you want to talk to knows what a complete moron you are so they gave a fake phone number to avoid your dumb self!

I then inform the caller that I have their number written down, from Caller ID, and that if they continue to call me when they know they have the wrong number, I will contact the Police and my Attorney and prosecute them for harassment. I don’t receive any further phone calls from these people.

Poor Customer Service - Specific Comments

Written By:  Andrew & Becx Eide

Today we are going to talk about what we classify as poor customer service. We will post additional topics during the month of August to give you specifics on poor customer service but today we are talking in general terms.

What constitutes poor customer service? Actually it depends on the person receiving the service whether they determine if the service was poor or not. Everyone has a different view, and tolerance level, on the service they receive.

For instance you go to a fast food burger restaurant and you order a burger with the specific request that they do not put pickles on your burger. If your burger is delivered with pickles on it then that, in our opinion, is poor customer service.

Andrew’s mother use to go to a burger restaurant in San Leandro called Jerry’s Burgers. She always ordered the same thing, and she frequented Jerry’s Burgers often, so most of the clerks knew her desires. Andrew’s mother would always order two plain cheeseburgers, plain as in no condiments, no tomato, no lettuce, no pickles, no mayonnaise or mustard or ketchup, just a plain cheeseburger on a plain bun. Most of the time the cheeseburgers would be delivered with all sorts of condiments and other items on the burger and she would have to return it and tell them to redo the order since they got it incorrect. That, in our opinion, is poor customer service.

When you go to a major chain department store or grocery store, and you need customer service but you are unable to find anyone to assist you that, in our opinion, is poor customer service. In this case we are talking in excess of five minutes searching for someone to assist you.

You take your car to the dealership for regular scheduled maintenance and it includes a routine oil change. When you get home you notice oil leaking out of your engine onto your driveway. You have to get back in your car and return to the dealership. They check and find out that the mechanic who changed the oil on your car didn’t replace the plug tightly so the oil was leaking out of your car’s engine. That, in our opinion, is poor customer service.

You get the idea what we will be talking about this month. Most of the specific items will be from Andrew’s personal experience. He has promised he would mention only the type of business, and not the actual name of the business or banking institution, to avoid problems with them complaining about our articles.

Keira's First Day Of First Grade

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Keira asked me to allow her to make a short video to quickly discuss her first day of First Grade. Here is what she said:

Poor Customer Service - General Comments

Written By:  Andrew Eide

There are three things I have low tolerance for: lying, stupidity, and poor customer service. Poor customer service is usually the result of people being lazy or stupid or a combination of the two. Either way my tolerance for poor customer service is low.

I run into poor customer service constantly. I try to consider numerous factors when evaluating poor customer service. The person may be new to their job and they are still learning. I cannot be hard on them as I have been new in jobs and I understand it takes time to learn the correct procedures.

Another factor I consider is that the person providing the customer service was provided incorrect information from someone else in their organization. In that case it is not the fault of the person providing the poor customer service; it is the fault of the person providing the information to that person.

Here is a personal example. I used to work at a Rehabilitation Facility as Part-Time Evening Receptionist; working Monday through Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. In addition to data entry in the patient computer system, I answered phones, greeted visitors, and provided information such as which room their patient was located in, and the direct phone number to their patient’s room, if a direct phone number was available.

I hate receiving poor customer service but I hate giving poor customer service even more. I was not the person who made up the patient room phone number listing. This list was prepared by the Maintenance Department. The list was usually about 75 percent accurate. When I took over Receptionist duties in the evenings I would look at this phone list and notice one-fourth of the numbers have been modified. For instance, most rooms have two patients in the room, one in Bed A and one in Bed B. One-fourth of the numbers on the patient phone number listing would be modified to indicate that the phone number for that room and Bed A is now changed to that room and Bed B. The phone number for Bed B is now changed to that room and Bed A.

Several times per shift I have relatives of patients call and I give them the phone number for their patient’s room and bed. They call back a few minutes later and tell me when they called that number, which I gave them; they reached the person in the other bed located in the room. Now I have to give them the other phone number for that room, which usually reaches the correct patient in the correct bed. Then I have to modify my room list to indicate that the numbers got switched back to the original numbers again.

Trust me that I will have one day where Bed A and Bed B phone numbers got switched and I noted it on the phone listing. The next day I find out that the phone numbers, which I switched the day before, are now back to the original numbers for Bed A and Bed B. Now I have to get the white-out and modify the list back to the original numbers.

The usual reason is that when a patient discharges room, the patient remaining in the room wishes to switch from Bed A which is by the door, to Bed B which is by the window. The Nurses and CNA’s make the bed change. Instead of moving the patient physically from Bed A to Bed B they move the entire beds including the phone for that bed. Therefore they move Bed A to the Bed B position and move Bed B to the Bed A position. Instead of switching the phones so the phone number for Bed A stays with Bed A, and the phone number for Bed B stays with Bed B, they just move the entire bed, phone included. Now you have Bed A’s phone plugged into Bed B’s phone jack and Bed B’s phone plugged into Bed A’s phone jack. Now my list is incorrect and due to someone else’s error I am providing poor customer service and I am not happy about it. The very next day the Nurses or CNA’s realize their mistake so they unplug both phones and switch them to the correct jacks. Now the very next day my phone listing is incorrect again and this explains why the phone numbers on my list reverted back to the original phone numbers for that room and the beds.

The other problem I have is the other Receptionists who rotate with me often do not update the Master Patient Listing we prepare in MS Word to reflect room changes, admissions, and discharges. So I take over the Receptionist duties and I am giving out room numbers and phone numbers to callers which are often incorrect. Without having the patients who admitted on the list or those discharged from the facility, it is possible to tell a caller that a patient is not in the facility when they really are, or that a patient is still located in our facility when they have been discharged. It isn’t that the other Receptionists don’t know that a patient changed rooms or admitted or discharged. They are fully aware of this information they are notified in two different ways. One way is that an e-mail goes to all persons within our facility giving this information and the Receptionist receives these e-mails. The other way is to log into the computer system for managing patients and on the very first page you have the Dashboard which lists every patient activity entered into the computer system. Also in this patient management system you can run a report with all activity for any period of time and it lists the following data:  patients admitted, patients discharged, and patients who have changed rooms. Therefore there is no excuse for the other Receptionists to leave me with so much incorrect information all the time.

My solution is that every time I assume Receptionist duties I print an alpha listing of all patients. I check the list to ensure that patients pending admission have been added to that alpha listing. I run a Dashboard listing and a Patient Transaction Listing and modify the main list based on the changes which have taken place. I then run a listing, from the patient computer system, of all patients, sorted alphabetically, and compare every entry against what I have on the listing prepared in MS Word. I usually find 2 to 6 errors daily.

This month I will be ranting about poor customer service. I will give you personal examples of customer service errors which directly affected me. I am not making these customer service experiences up…they are real and they really happened to me.

Keira's Trip To Bunten Road Park Today

Written By:  Andrew Eide

I took Keira to Bunten Road Park in Duluth, Georgia today. I like this park as it is new having been renovated about 8 months ago. Although it is a distance to get there and back being the nice park that it is makes it worth it.

I'm sharing a few photos from the park visit here. Finished the day at home with a Knumbskull Cherry Slushy from Race Trac convenience store.

Having What You Need

Written By:  Andrew Eide

One of my complaints, which is in the category of poor customer service, is going to a store which should have what you need, but they either don’t carry, or they are out of stock, on that item. Allow me to give you a few examples.

You see commercials on television from home improvement stores. They each claim they have what you need in stock and they each claim they have better customer service than the other home improvement stores. So you drive over to the one who brags the most in their commercials only to find out they do not have the item you want. I mean, come on, you need a home improvement item, you are in a home improvement store, and the store that bragged the most that they have everything you want in home improvement items, then you find out they don’t carry that item. So you drive around to several other home improvement stores until you find one that carries the item you want.

So you fully understand my rant here I am not talking about some totally obscure, never before heard of, home improvement item. I am talking about items that nearly every home uses but these stores don’t carry that item. That is poor customer service.

The same concept applies to major department stores, whether they are high-end department stores, or one of the discount department store chains. They brag about their inventory of items that everyone uses and when you go there they don’t have the item you use and want. This causes you to have to travel around until you find the department store that does, in fact, carry the item you desire.

The worst offender is Toys R Us. They claim to have the largest selection of toys of any store in the world and the lowest prices. My personal experience was during the 2011 Christmas season. We were looking for toys, mostly dolls, for our daughter and other relatives in the Philippines. The selection of toys and dolls at this major toy store was pathetic and extremely expensive. We ended up storming out of this store and we went next door to what I would call a discount department store. They had every toy and doll we wanted and at an extremely good price.

I know I ask too much to have truth in advertising, and I am never going to get it, but at least I try. The job of these advertisements is to deceive you and get you to spend your money at their store. What they seem to not realize is that when they lie to me, stating they have what I want at a good price, then I go there and they don’t have what I want, and what they do have is extremely expensive, they have lost a customer and usually permanently.

A Trip to Pinckeyville Park Today

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Recently Pinckneyville Park in Duluth, Georgia, upgraded all the play equipment for kids. They finished the upgrades about a month ago. Today was the first time Keira was able to see the new play equipment. I will share only a few of the photos I took.

The main play area has a Butterfly and Dragonfly theme and you can see the awesome Dragonfly See-Saw.

Then at the secondary play area the main theme is Spiders with a side theme of bugs or beetles. You can see Keira climbing on a very unique Spider-inspired device.

The Olympics - Marathon

Written By:  Andrew & Becx Eide

Every four years the Olympics holds the Summer Olympics and the longest-running (pun intended) event is the Marathon Foot Race which is approximately 26 miles in length. Also in Cities across the world nearly every week there is some sort of Marathon Foot Race being held and they are also usually around 26 miles in length.

Have you ever wondered where they got the name Marathon for this race and why they came up with a very odd distance of 26 miles?

The Marathon is a long-distance running event with a current official distance of 26.2 miles. The event was instituted in the first Olympics in 1896 and was designed to commemorate the fables run of the Greek soldier, Pheidippides who was a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens. The legend tells that he ran the entire distance from Marathon to Athens, without stopping, and he burst into the Assembly to announce the victory at Marathon, and then the legend says he collapsed and died.

Whether this is a true story, or a mere legend, the fact remains that Pheidippides’ legend is what instituted the run we call the Marathon and why it is distanced at 26.2 miles and it is a non-stop race.

The distance has varied over the generations but the distance of approximately 26.2 miles, the approximate distance from Marathon to Athens, remains in place since the first official Olympics in 1896 and it remains one of the most popular, and consistent in distance, races around the world today.

How To Catch A Fly

Written By:  Andrew Eide

In my younger days (yes I can remember back that far) I used to show off by trying to snag a housefly out of the air with my bare hands. If memory serves me correctly I was successful in about 1 percent of the attempts.

I used to also try to snag a fly that was standing still on a surface. Again I was successful in maybe 1 percent of the attempts.

Then I saw a video on a nature program which changed my odds. The video showed, in slow motion, that when a fly takes off, they jump up and when they move their wings to fly their motion is at first a backward motion. The backward motion is not very much in the way of distance but it was enough to give me the information I needed to obtain at least a 50 percent success rate in snagging flies with my bare hands.

So here is the technique I used when attempting to catch a fly which is sitting still on some surface. I knew that the fly jumps into the air and when it starts to fly it takes an up and backward motion before it starts flying forward. So I brought my hand slowly up behind the fly. My hand is about 6 to 8 inches above the fly but still behind it. I then quickly brought my hand forward and the fly will see and sense my hand coming and it will jump off the surface and start to fly. Since the fly goes up and back before going forward it literally leaps and flies backward into my hand. Although I was often unable to close my hand around the fly quick enough I used to catch a few in my day.

Please rest assured that I honestly don’t do this any longer and I haven’t done this fly catching thing for over 20 years. The reason is obvious when you review my posts this month concerning flies and the diseases they can bring our way. The last thing I want to do is catch a fly in my hands and have their sticky feet, and slobbering mouths, depositing icky stuff into my hands.

Flies - A General Discussion

Written By:  Andrew Eide

Today I am talking about flies. Actually, I just want to focus on the housefly which is the most common fly we humans have to endure. I am sure you are asking why I want to discuss houseflies, or any flies, this month and you have a valid question. It is because we (me along with my Becx) titled the month of July with the main topic of:  Flies & Fireworks that’s why.

The housefly is known by the scientific name of Musca Domestic. That scientific name sounds disgusting eh? It is a suborder of Cyclorrhapha. The housefly is the most common of all domestic flies and it accounts for about 90 percent of all flies in human habitations. It is also one of the most widely distributed insects found in the world. It is considered a pest and it can carry serious diseases. I will not discuss the disease carrying aspect of the housefly in this article. I will post an article later in the month which discusses the various diseases carried and transmitted by several types of flies.

The normal description of a housefly is that adults are 8 to 12 mm long. Their thorax is gray with four longitudinal dark lines on the back. The whole body is covered with hair-like projections. Females are slightly larger than males and have a larger space between their red compound eyes. Houseflies have only one pair of wings as the hind pair is reduced to small halters that aid in flight stability.

Each female housefly can lay approximately 500 eggs in several batches. Within a day larvae (maggots) hatch from the eggs. They live and feed on (usually dead and decaying) organic material such as garbage and feces. They live for at least one week. At the end of their third instar, the maggots crawl to a dry, cool place to transform into pupae. The adult flies then emerge from the pupae. Adults live from two weeks to one month in the wild. After emerging from the pupae the flies cease to grow. Small flies are not necessarily young flies but are instead the result of getting insufficient food during the larval stage.

About 36 hours after emerging from the pupa the female is receptive for mating. Flies depend on warm temperatures and, generally, the warmer the temperature, the faster flies will develop.

Houseflies feed on feces, open sores, sputum, and moist, decaying organic matter such as spoiled food, fruit and flesh. Since houseflies can only take in liquid food they spit out saliva on solid foods to predigest it.

Overall my determination is that flies, especially houseflies, are disgusting creatures to be kind in my words. All I can say is...Ewwwww!!!

Fireflies

Written By:  Andrew Eide

My topic today is Fireflies. Before I launch into my article please be advised that fireflies are not flies at all…they are beetles.

The scientific name for these beetles we call fireflies is Lampyridae of the beetle order Coleoptera. They are winged beetles which are commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs. This is due to their conspicuous use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. Fireflies produce what is called a “cold light” with no infrared or ultraviolet frequencies. This light is chemically-produced from the lower abdomen and the light may be yellow, green, or pale-red, with wavelengths from 510 to 670 nanometers.

There are about 2,000 species of fireflies found in temperate and tropical environments. Many are found in marshes or wet wooded areas. The larvae of the firefly also emit light and are often called “glowworms.”

The light production of fireflies is due to a type of chemical reaction called bioluminescence. This process occurs in specialized light-emitting organs usually on a firefly’s lower abdomen. The enzyme luciferase acts on the luciferin, in the presence of magnesium ions, ATP, and oxygen to produce light.

The production of light in the larvae, or glowworms, serves a different function than it does in adult fireflies. It appears to be a warning signal to predators since many firefly larvae contain chemicals that are distasteful or toxic.

It was originally thought that the light produced by adult fireflies was also used as a warning signal but the primary purpose is now thought to be in selecting a mate. They have various ways of communicating with their light during courtship including: steady glows, flashing, and the use of chemical signals unrelated to the photic systems.

The female of the Photuris fireflies are known to mimic the mating flashes of other fireflies for the sole purpose of predation. Target males are attracted to what they believe is a suitable mate only to be eaten. This has caused the Photuris firefly to be referred to as femme fatale fireflies.

I grew up in Oakland, California in the San Francisco Bay Area and I don’t remember seeing fireflies in the Bay Area. I believe I saw a few here and there when we camped in the mountains but they are not common in this area. When I lived on the East Coast, both in the States of Virginia and Connecticut, I remember those nights when I could sit outside and watch the fireflies flit around and flash their lights. It was a truly calming and relaxing experience.