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.