Facebook - It's Out of Hand

Facebook, in my opinion, has gotten out of hand.

Two young, fourteen-year-old girls (best friends) have a fight.  One of these so-called friends found a photograph of a very sexy young woman (unknown person).  The friend proceeds to identify this photo as her ex-friend.  She went on to give the girls name, telephone number and cell number.  If this wasn't bad enough, when she gave the address it came with directions on how to get to the house.

What was supposed to be a prank turned into a very scary crisis.  The victim and her family have been bombarded with e-mails, letters and phone calls from all kinds of sicko's.  Strange men have been driving around her home and school.

She's afraid to go to school.  Her once all A report card is close to failing.  Since no one has done anything to her or to hurt her (so police say) the police can't do anything but reprimand the ex-friend.

Be sure you check what your children are doing on Facebook.

Give your family extra hugs today.

Grannie B

Diamond in the Skies

Fact or fiction:

Just in case any of you are planning to be around in thirty million light years there is talk of a new planet.  Several very famous scientists have come up with the idea that makes this planet worth waiting for.  It is suppose to be encrusted with my very favorite gem stone….DIAMONDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  

This may be a hoax but it certainly sounds great to me.

Five Grannie apples for the diamonds

Keep warm and safe. 

GRANNIE   B

Renew Old Acquaintances

The holiday season is here now.  It's time to renew old acquaintances and family.

A brother and sis who have not spoken to each other (except for an e-mail once in awhile) for fifteen years were reunited. Time goes by so very quickly!!!!  The reunion was really wonderful; they hugged, kissed and cried the entire weekend.

Two brothers, who live not to far from each other, have not been in touch for several years. They were reunited at a basketball game. It takes time to get back to a normal relationship (they're working on it).

Old friends never have time to write or call each until one of them becomes very ill.  It was too late. They found time to fly up north for the funeral. Let that be a lesson for all of us, good friends are hard to find!!!!!!!!!!!

There are so many stories like these.  Life is short!!! Let's not waste a moment of the time that we have left thinking about what we should have done. Do it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Thumbs up for old friends

Thumbs down for not remembering old friends

Happy Holidays 

GRANNIE B

The Olden Days

My weigh in was great this morning.  I seemed to have lost .8 of a pound – is that the weight of a lettuce leaf?

There is a lot to say about living in the olden days.  Things were more elegant and refined.

The dress code for school children and “please” and “thank you” were expected.  Respect was given to your parents (and anyone older).  Good grades in school were very important (since many of our parents and grandparents never were able to go to college) that their children had better lives then they did. 

Above all, attitudes were different, especially to teachers.  Watching so much TV puts the children into situations that are not for them to watch.

As parents, it’s hard to screen everything they watch.  Kids now know everything about everything - nothing is sacred.  Since many more moms are working very hard to help with the family finances, having someone around to “supervise” is no longer an option.

Not sure of my thumb up or down on this one today.

Have a wonderful day and say hello to someone who needs a smile.

Grannie B.

Home Entertainment in 2011

Comcast---Comcast-----Comcast---and more Comcast

It seems like Comcast is taking over the entire at-home entertainment world - - television, phones and computers.  Recently, my community and many surrounding communities are changing from AT&T to Comcast. The board of directors in these developments worked out what seemed to be a good deal.  BEWARE!!

We are told that in 2012 all of our current televisions that do not have HD will not work. So we went to check out the new sets (be sure they are 1080). Sony had very good choices.  Best Buy had the best prices in our local store.

       

NOW it’s time for Comcast to set up all our homes with new technology. Yippee!!!!  There was nothing wrong with our old sets. Comcast came with the DVR boxes. Installed them, the only problem was all the faces were bright pink!!!!!!  The second repairman came two hours late, with the wrong boxes.  Lo and behold, the third time was the charm.  A great repairman fixed everything. At last, I now have the most beautiful color Sony that I’ve ever seen. 

Sony gets five Granny apples;

Best Buy gets four Granny apples

Comcast has to wait for my review

Smile today even if you don’t feel like it.

Grannie B.

Credit Scores - Keep them high

Your credit scores are crucial. They range from 300 to 850. Eight Hundred and Fifty is the very best. You are entitled to a free copy. Read it very carefully.  The only place your copy is really free is annualcreditreport.com (there are three other web sites but they are only free if you purchase something).  If you find any errors or misspelled info be sure to notify the credit card company or the credit report company. Having a good credit score is very important when buying a car, home, and any large purchase, even borrowing money.

Thumbs up for good credit

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Grannie B

Holiday Shopping - Buyer Beware

Things to watch out for during the holiday season (and during the year):

Several of the local food chains had been overcharging their customers until more people started checking itemized grocery lists. Be sure when you buy something from the discounted rack that you are indeed getting the correct discount. Many times they charge more than discount on that same item (take a calculator with you).

If you are a television shopper (such as QVC, HSN) or jewelry network shopping customer be aware of what you are purchasing.  Always know the carat weight of any stones and the gold weight (10,14,18 or 24).  Go to a local jewelry store and compare what you saw on television.  This way you will not be disappointed when your purchase arrives by mail. 

Another thing to look out for is when you send flowers or plants from the 800 florists.  Always ask the person you sent the gift to was it nice? Many times you send gifts to a hospital and you visit a friend and on the table is the most awful looking dead plant. When you asked who sent it and they reply YOU.  You want to go through the floor!!  I must say the company does replace it.

I know all of us go out shopping and get excited over a bargain -- remember it's not a bargain if they steal your money. 

Never carry a wad of cash when paying for something – it only calls attention to you.  Get in style and buy a cross over purse that can go under your coat, that way you protect yourself from theft.  If you know you’re going into a busy store, try not to wear jewelry that will cause people to stare at you.  Good way to lose it and even get hurt.

   

With all this advice go out and have a wonderful time shopping!!

Grannie B.

The Final Reckoning - Interesting Reading

If you are looking for a fast moving detective book that are both fact and fiction, read the book THE FINAL RECKONING by Sam Bourne.

It is about a real person who was the Secretary General of the United Nations. As a young person, he belonged to a Nazi youth group. When confronted, he denied these stories and said they were just rumors (however, during his term in office very few, if any, Nazis were ever put on trial).

A hand full of Jews sets out to revenge and bring these Nazis to Justice.

There are lots of twists and turns. It makes for interesting reading. It is very informative.

Have a wonderful and happy day.

Grannie B

Holiday Discrimination

My community runs a Canasta tournament once a month for about 70 people. I'm in charge of all the food. If a holiday comes in that month I decorate the room according to the holiday. The month of December gives us Christmas and Chanukah.

So off I go to get the decorations. The first store I went to had an abundance of Christmas items. I managed to get everything. Then I looked around the store for Chanukah things. NOTHING!!!  That was Agrees. Next stop was CVS. They had a very a small shelve, so spare I found also NOTHING!!!  Now I go to the Dollar store, as always there is shelve after shelve of Christmas decorations. Now I'm tired and mad. I found a clerk in the store and asked where could I find Chanukah paper? He looked at me as if I was speaking Greek. He told me and I quote' we don't carry that stuff here'.  I kind of lost my temper!!!  90% of the people who shop in that store are Jewish people. Next store was Wal-Mart. It was the same thing no Chanukah items. The salesperson said I should talk to the buyer (who, of course, the buyer was out).      

It's just one more case of discrimination. I plan on writing to all these stores and asking why.

Thumbs down to certain stores not carrying all holidays!

Grannie B.

Holiday Travel

I have been given lots of tips to stay healthy while we travel during this holiday season. It is very easy to get stressed out with all the flight delays, added security, change in temperature, right clothes to take, lack of sleep and time changes.

First, check out what the weather will be for your destination (don't pack everything you own). Be sure you pack enough meds for your length of your stay and add enough for just in case you have to stay longer.

Your meds and valuables should always be with you in your carry on bag.

     

Leave for the airport in plenty of time so you’re not worried about being late because of traffic. Remember some of the airlines now charge for pillows and blankets (take your own). Always wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Drink lots of water. You can bring an empty water bottle with you and fill it from the fountain once you have passed through security (saves $4.00). It is nice to have hand cream since your skin gets dry.

     

Once you are seated on the plane and want to relax put your headphones on and read your book. You are on your way to have a great vacation.  Hope these little tips helped.

                                      

BON VOYAGE!!!!!

                                                                           

Smile and others will smile back.

Grannie B

Be careful of those "too good to be true" bank deals

Didn’t bother to weigh in this morning due to the hour.  Tomorrow….

As you are aware by now, the banks have been taking advantage of people with the foreclosure scandals.

So many seniors are getting foreclosure notices as well as reverse mortgage mail.  They have celebrity ad men trying to con us into turning our homes over to them with the reward of remaining in our homes until we die.  They hardly, if ever, mention the fact at the signing of this reversal, we pay them approximately $16-20,000 up front.  Now they own our homes.  Our families now get nothing.  All of us want to leave our loved ones with something – (if not money)- “our homes.”

As for the foreclosures, when we took out our mortgages, many, many years ago (when banks were trusted). We signed with Bank A – Bank A sold out contracts to Bank B – who in turn sold it to either another bank or to a mortgage company.  A program I watched concerning foreclosures said we are not obligated to pay anyone but the bank we took out our mortgage.  We never signed anything with these new people.  Call Your Bank!!

At our age, the last thing we need is to worry about is losing our homes!!

Where are the “golden years?”  They are tarnishing.  Beware of signing any papers!

Make someone laugh today we all need that.

Grannie B.

Airport Security - Give them a break

How easy we forget the about 9/11. 

Every day this week another person is upset about the pat downs in the airports.  If we had this security before over three thousand of our loved ones would be here to celebrate all the holidays, birthdays, graduations, etc.  It really makes no sense to me not to be happy that we have upped our security at the airports.  It really makes no sense to me to object to being x-rayed, patted down or waved with the wand. The way the world is now, we must do everything to keep us safe. If you have nothing to hide what is the problem?  Of course, some people take their jobs to show off their authority.  This is not necessary.  We must not let our guards down; it's up to us to be aware of what's going on around us.

Thumbs up for Airport Security.

Have safe travels this holiday season.

Grannie B.

Family Vacation - The price to have fun.

DO NOT READ my blog today!!!

Unless you are willing to let your voices be heard concerning the price of admission to the so-called family vacation parks….Disneyworld, Disneyland, Six Flags, Sea World, Bush Gardens, etc. These parks were touted to be safe places to take our children on family outings.

With the economy the way it is, how can an average family afford to go to these parks?

Even if you stay in mediocre accommodations for only two nights, the cost is very expensive, plus airfare, could run in the $1000s. A balloon is eight dollars, water is about four dollars, parking the car is fifteen dollars a day not to mention, heaven forbid, you need a stroller or wheelchair. All children over twelve years old are now charged as adults.

OOPS, I forgot to mention the fact that children [mom and dad] like to bring home souvenirs. Ca Ching Ca Ching Ca Ching!!!!!!!   Give us a break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let’s get out our pens, pencils and computers to let these entertainment moguls know how we feel about price gouging, at the expense of our children.

While the weather is still nice take the kids to a local zoo. Make a picnic and spend time together. 

Put a smile on a friends face today.

Grannie B

Holiday Fitness - All in the shoes!!!!

Weigh-in’s are now only once a week – I’m down .2 of a pound

Left this morning at 7:30 am to catch a flight home.  I flew into LAX for a quick meeting at KVP (Kenn Viselman Presents) office.  So many things are going on (I’m very fortunate to be included).

During the lunch break, the ladies (Kara, Eileen and Jamie) were talking about the fab new sneakers by Sketchers and Reebok.  So off I went with them to buy a pair of these exercise sneakers.

Can you believe I had to learn how to walk in them!  They are marketed as weight loss and tightening of the calves.  Normally, I wear a 7 ½ - these are a 9.   It takes a few minutes to get used to them…you have to balance yourself as you walk.  I have high hopes for them.  The best part is they make me 1 ½ “ taller!!!

Thumbs up for my new fitness sneakers.

Take a friend for a walk today.

Grannie B.

You Can Help Save A Life!

Up one pound this morning.  It must be the weather…

The American Heart Association wants to enlist as many people as possible to learn CPR. You never know when someone is going to need help. Adult CPR is never used on children under 8 years old.

I went online and saw a great website that outlines the procedure. 

 http://www.wikihow.com/Do-CPR-on-an-Adult

Ideally, only people who have received proper training should perform CPR.  Although, the faster a person receives CPR, the better. If no one else can help, follow these instructions to perform CPR. And get someone to call 911.

This is very important at our age to know how we can help each other and ourselves. 

Have a wonderful day and a very Happy Thanksgiving…..

Grannie B

It's The Shopping Season

Weigh in for the week wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.  Got to watch it before Thanksgiving.

It is fun to remember when my children were young at holiday time.  Each night they were given small gifts (slippers, pj’s, books, etc.).  All the Chanukah money was put away until after Christmas.  Then off we would go in search of all the things they wanted.  The best part was when we added up all the retail prices and added all the sale items.  It was amazing how much money they saved.  Those are great memories for me (hopefully, my kids feel the same!).

Happy Shopping!

P.S. Have to go now there’s a sale at the mall.

 

Do something nice for someone today.

Grannie B.

Fed Up with Commercials

Today’s weigh in wasn’t so good.  Up a pound.  URGH!

I am so fed up with commercials.

The Tide commercial shows a young girl asking her mom if by any

chance did she see her green blouse?  Mother answers her by saying

“no dear I have not seen your green blouse.” The mother waits for the

girl to leave the room, then rushes upstairs to wash the green shirt

because she had worn it. Next you see her daughter wearing the shirt

and tells her that she found the shirt in the back of her closet. In my

mind she lied to her daughter over something so inane.  Poor

example.

Thumbs down from Grannie B

Make today a wonderful day….smile

Grannie B

Black Friday Shopping - Watch out for those "deals"

As we are getting older, we expect change to happen.  It certainly did – iPad, Google, EBay, etc. has made our lives more interesting.

Along came “Black Friday” that was always the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Now low and behold, it has been moved to mid-October, right after Halloween.  Most, if not all of us, are just planning what we’re going to serve for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Most retail stores are starting their Christmas discounts.  Now it’s understanding that they want to get rid of old merchandise to make room on the shelves for new items.  They are pushing TV’s because in 2012 all the older sets will not work (new technology).  Be sure to ask the sales people if these are new or old models. 

Since I became a computer wizard (not really a wizard, a one finger at a time typer), I could now shop on the internet (I think I’m modern – haha).  But that’s not for me.  Somehow, I am one of the few that do not want to shop without touching to see if it scratches, or trying it on to see if the size is going to fit.

Wonderful wishes and happy smiles.

Grannie B

Cruising...on Cruise Ships

Carnival Cruise Line is a respected carrier.  I have been on their cruises many times.

I don’t understand in this day and age how a cruise ship can have a power outage without backup generators.  I understand there was a fire, but you would think they would have some type of Plan B.  And why didn’t they have another one of their ships come and take these people off?

The line must feel that because they are refunding the entire price of the cruise and (I think) they will be given a free cruise later, that gets them off the hook.

I’d think twice about Carnival now –

Happy Sailing

Grannie B

Dancing with the Stars - Lovely

Today is simply beautiful here.

I must be living under a rock!  One of the most popular shows on television is “Dancing with the Stars.”  I’ve never seen even one episode (play Canasta that night).

It’s a shame that I missed out on such an entertaining program.

Tom Bergeron and I go back a very long time.  Tom started his own TV Show in Boston (many, many years ago).  His personality made the show fun to watch.  He went on to host Hollywood Squares…of course we watched.

My friends kept talking about DWTS and how much fun it was with all kinds of celebrities.  Tonight’s (Canasta game was cancelled) was the night to see the show.

Jennifer Grey and her partner Derek were wonderful.  I haven’t seen her since Dirty Dancing.  She was stunning.

Randy and Max were great.  Max is so handsome – boy oh boy can he dance.  He can make anyone look great.  He can put his slippers under my bed anytime!!!

The best part of the show was watching Val and Mark (who had their own competition) play violin and guitar.  It was fabulous.  Then they danced.  Amazing.  

Very hard to say who won…both were given 5 Grannie Apples on my scale.

The judges, Carrie Ann, Len and Bruno are so much fun!  They get so excited.

I’m going to give Bristol Palin two thumbs up for trying so hard.  She is so cute and humble – nothing like her mother or Levi.

Have a wonderful and happy day.

Grannie B

Texting - Why can't we just talk....

Weighed in today and I’m up 2 pounds.  The button on my pants are a bit stretched to say the least.

Today is the day for us to talk about our family (young and old) and their social lives. It doesn’t seem to matter where they are or who they are with, texting, texting, and more texting, all I see are the tops of their heads. They eat, sleep, and think with their phones. Facebook falls in the same category, with too much personal information getting put on the web, nothing is a secret. For instance, I went over to my son and daughter-in-law’s house the other night for dinner where my daughter-in-law was telling me a story about an old friend. She had gone on Facebook earlier that day to find that this old friend had posted an entire fight in detail that he had had with his wife. Everyone then knew about it, which to me is certainly awful to their marriage in that it is none of our business what happens behind closed doors. The amount of voices heard in conversations now a day are so limited that children along with their parents forget how to express their feelings verbally to the people around them.

Thumbs down for texting

Thumbs up for my family and conversation

Have a wonderful day….

Grannie B

Stone Review

Weigh-in was good today.  Not up and not down, which is perfect.

I’ve been wondering who are the people who critique the theatre and the movies? I would assume if a movie is given 3 star rating, that means it should be a really good film!  Last night we [10 of us] went to see the movie STONE. It was long and boring. We wasted the evening, as well as 10 dollars each.

The cast included Robert DeNiro and Ed Norton.  It was a shame to waste their talent on such a nothing movie.

Thumbs down for STONE.

Make today a special day and smile.

Grannie B

G-Rated Movies - Are they appropriate?

Yikes, the scale moved a little to the right today.  Not good.

I went to the movies with my great nieces and nephews who are under the age of five. The movie was rated G, but I did not think it was appropriate for the younger children. The people on top of the movie industry need to incorporate a new acronym such as YC (young children) for the children under 5. How many of you have ever felt similar towards these ratings?

Thumbs Down for the Ratings Board

Thumbs Up for enjoying my great nieces and nephews

Make today a Happy Day

Grannie B

The iPad is AMAZING

Today I got up about 7 am.  The sun was just coming up - - it was a beautiful sight.

Weigh-in fit the day…good news – 1 pound down 

Recently, I received a gift of an ipad.   Everyone wanted to know what in the world I was going to do with it.  Guess what --  I'm having a great time!  I take it with me almost everywhere.  It helps me pass time while I wait in the doctor office, going on a plane, picking up the kids at school, waiting for my turn at canasta and best of all I take it to bed with me (I’ve been alone a long time ha ha).

              

I played a game on it with my son Jeff and my grandkids. The game is THE TREASURES OF MONTEZUMA. The family that plays on an iPAD together stays together!!!!

Two Thumbs Up for ipad

MAKE IT A HAPPY DAY.  SMILE A LOT

Grannie B

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE

Woke up early  - 6 am                                                                         

Weight Watchers same

Today I had a really special day with my grandkids.  It’s not easy finding things to do with them because of the age difference (14 and 10) and because they are so different from each other.

The idea came to us that we all like to eat, especially dessert. Today is going to be desserts day at Grannie B's (sh sh don't tell Weight Watchers).

Of course, it has to be made with chocolate and more chocolate!!!

We made chocolate chip cookies with extra chips and nuts. Then we made an old family recipe that we call Black and White pudding. The recipe is very easy.  We make it with a graham cracker crumbs on the bottom and then layers alternating with chocolate and vanilla pudding.  The next layer is made by grating hunks of milk chocolate (just throw it all over the pudding). Repeat the pudding layers until all is gone. Top layer is whipped cream sprinkled with more hunks of chocolate.

Now we decided to make corn bread from an old sisterhood cookbook (Temple Beth Avodah). It came out really good.  Finally. we made the greatest brownies ever!!!!  With the help of Ghirardelli. Their Caramel Turtle mix is fabulous!!!! (Sorry Beth, they were better than yours. It’s not bad to be #2).  IT WAS SO YUMMY we all wanted to lick the spoon and the bowl!!!!

My grandson wrote an essay for school telling his class how much fun he had baking desserts at his grannie’s house with his sister.  The very best part of his essay was and I quote  “I have the greatest grannie ever."

                   This made my whole day!!!!!!!!!

cookies       3 grannie apples

pudding        3

brownies      5 apples  and thumbs up

cornbread     4

Grandkids           xoxo

MAKE TODAY A HAPPY FUN DAY

Grannie B