Walmartwatch.com has done a tremendous job in clearly displaying how Wal-Mart has continued to reign as Americas number one growing cancer.  Their primary focus is to:

“bridge the gap between ordinary citizens and community organizations concerned about Wal-Mart’s unchecked growth and negative impact on our society. We challenge Wal-Mart to embrace its moral responsibility as the nation’s biggest and most important corporation.”

What’s more is that they expose unethical marketing practices that focus on lower income shoppers spending clearly beyond their means on items that they initially believed were beyond their financial limits.  Meanwhile these same shoppers may skimp on necessities, and in the end spend more than they would at a standard retail or food outlet.  This pattern then repeats itself…get a bunch of food for a good price, and then blow the rest on flashy items that catch your eye in passing.

Walmartwatch also has a wonderful flash based map that allows visitors to update locations that aren’t already shown.  They state:

“With more than 4,000 units (stores and distribution centers) in the United States alone, Wal-Mart controls an enormous amount of real estate. The map below includes profiles for most current and planned U.S. Wal-Mart stores and distribution centers.”

Above is the most recent version showing all the Wal-Mart locations throughout the country.  You can update the map or see additional information here.

I always laugh at those houses that have the broken down cars out front, the completely dead lawns with matching ornaments, oil covering the driveways and yet the owners still want people to believe that they have installed a security system.  Of course they put the Brinks or ADT signs in a location for all to see and try to make us believe they are fully protected.  Unless you are a total fool you can easily and quickly see right through this.  You may even use one of the signs to break open a window.

Well there is a better way.  Just throw one of these bad boys in your window before you go away on vacation and cross your fingers if you don’t have a two story house.  The truth is, it’s a cheap form of protection for those folks that have choosen to go without insurance or simply want to add extra protection for their Steely Dan collections:

As many of us remember, Mr. Wizard’s World, was a faster-paced version of Don Herbert’s original show that ran three times a week on the cable channel Nickelodeon. The show ran from 1983 until 1990, and reruns were shown until 2000, making it the longest running show on Nickelodeon.

For me though, I just remember it as being really amazing, and by no means was I a scholarly genius. I would watch Mr. Wizard in all its 1985 glory, and just think that he was freakin magical. Of course I would then go ride my skateboard in traffic, and eat the “mystery fruit” that grew in the tree outside of my friend Joey’s house. I also remember getting excited when I would actually catch an episode as I was normally running around the neighborhood looking for trouble.

In reality Mr. Wizard was just a nonstop junior high science fair display, but I have to give him props for holding my attention for just that little while. It would pass the time in the summer, and stimulate my mind just enough to keep it from turning to complete mush. Thanks Don you’ll always be remembered.

With few certainties…with stress at work and with finances and all the worries we force upon ourselves, there’s a place within music that I’ve always escaped to throughout my life. The rhythms of Bob Marley have not only given me clarity during difficult times, they have given me the patience to step back from the chaos and not act with sudden haste. Timeless has certainly always been associated with his music, but to me it’s basic..simple..and while there are fan’s of Bob Marley that will always circle the globe, his goal was certainly to create a new mindset as well as promote equality.

Individually we are entangled in life’s complicated struggles…we all know that. We know that there are people that upset us and that the balance we assume will correct the lows rarely pans out. It’s nice though to know that you never have to give up the joys that got you to this point…in fact..they’re the basic truths that will always remain.

Having a Jack Russell is like having a part time job…period.  Personally, my wife and I are lucky that little Sophie gets continual attention as someone is always home throughout the day.  That way she is not starving for our attention, and her anxiety (crazyness) is somewhat kept in check.

When we first got her, we bought different books and gathered all the reference material we could find, but still our little rat finds unique ways to out smart us.  This includes the time when she ate a couple of pieces of Orbitz gum that was in a zipped travel bag deep in our closet.  Luckily she brought the pack out to the hallways as if to say, “Hey…look what I found!”  This was truly a blessing in disguise.  As it turns out, Obitz (sugar-free) contains Xylitol which is a sugar substitute found in products from gum to cookies and crackers. It’s safe for humans, but potentially deadly for dogs.  We rushed her to the emergency room and after they pumped her stomach, did full blood work, kept her on an overnight IV, and charged us accordingly (a lot), we were able to bring our little bundle back home.

The National Poison Control Center for Animals said Xylitol poisoning is on the rise, as more and more companies use the sugar substitute in their foods.  Below are some initial indications of ingestion:

• Overly lethargic or overly excitable behavior
• Vomiting or diarrhea, often with blood
• Muscle tremors, shivering or seizures
• Excessive salivation, drooling or foaming of at the mouth
• Redness of eyes and ears and skin
• Blistering on the mouth or skin
• Swelling
• Change in body temperature
• Pawing at the mouth and excessive licking

My wife and I literally have hundreds of pictures of this little girl around, but for whatever reason this was always my favorite.

I completely understand the fact that people often need some form of mobile transportation in their golden years, but the Hoveround craze is really starting to tick me off.  My wife and I were at the store today and we saw 2 different granny’s with their little pimp rides, and truly..they were so very lovely.  The first one beeped every time it moved….EVERY time.  God forbid she gets up to say…2 mph and there’s no hope for escape.  I just wanted to kick it on it’s side to silence the insanity.  The second lady had her little frosted perm and the attitude to match.  She would finish getting her item on an aisle and then drive right up to us to get by…no waiting…she was getting by then and there.  She’d look at us like ,” Hey…I was a slow sack of crap at one time and now I’m liberated.  So move your ass ’cause reverse ain’t happenin.”  If she did happen to need to turn slightly to avoid people she would give a sarcastic “thanks” when passing.  We had planned to hook her with chains to the tow hitch, but she must have had ninja training when she received her mechanical beast so we never saw her come out.  Clearly as you can see from the picture, not even little doggies are safe!

On an equally funny note, an older lady at work got into a elevator with a group of coworkers.  They stopped on the next floor down and a lady on a Hoveround got in.  The lady from work actually made the following comment, and was drop dead serious,” I’m going to probably get me one of those.”  (everyone looks at her weird since she’s standing without issue..she continues) “You know…they’re not just for handicaps… anyone can get one.”  To this day she has no Idea how wrong that was.  Awesome!