I took this picture with my Hitachi digital camcorder today when I was walking the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Mt Pleasant SC
 

I took this picture with my Hitachi digital camcorder today when I was walking the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Mt Pleasant SC
 

I took this picture with my Hitachi digital camcorder today when I was walking the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Mt Pleasant SC
 

I took this picture with my Hitachi digital camcorder today when I was walking the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Mt Pleasant SC
 

I took this picture with my Hitachi digital camcorder today when I was walking the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Mt Pleasant SC
 

I took this picture with my Hitachi digital camcorder today when I was walking the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Mt Pleasant SC
 

I took this picture with my Hitachi digital camcorder today when I was walking the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Mt Pleasant SC
 

I took this picture with my Hitachi digital camcorder today when I was walking the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Mt Pleasant SC 

Tropical Storm Troy arrives before Ernesto in Duck Ditch

When I woke up this morning I expected tropical storm Ernesto to be the one to take out our electricity sometime today. We figured that with the forecast for today that sometime beween 2pm and 8 pm that the full force of Ernesto would be upon us and we had a good chance of losing our lights. As the day has been progressing we have been getting a lot of rain from the tropical storm as it passes us going up the east coast. The weather forecasters are saying that we dodged this bullet for now and that the storm is going to hit up around Myrtle Beach or Willmington North Carolina.

I think it is pretty cool that we can add images to our blogs. It makes them come to life and gives you something to associate with the words. I am a weather watcher by nature because I absolutely HATE bad thunderstorms. One reason is because they have a tendency to spawn lightning, high winds and tornados. When bad weather events like this happen I am usually tuend in to any type of weather reports I can on whatever type of media be it cable tv, Internet or radio.
Unbeknown to me there was another tropical storm brewing and his name is Troy. I did not know that Tim the toolman has a cousin that is very closely related to him but apparently he does. Tropical storm troy came blowing into our house today and took out our power. As far as I know there was not any lightning or high wind or hail that came along with this storm but it took out the power anyway.
Troy happens to be our landlord and thanks to our main breaker dying a slow painful death this week he tried to get it fixed before Ernesto came into town. Little did Troy know that he would take out the power more efficiently than a thunderstorm. LOL.. I am happy to report that the storm did little damage and was very self healing as he found the correct part and got everything running smoothly in short order. I did have to smooth the feathers on the wifey unit when she came home with groceries and found out that we had an unplanned and unannounced electricity outage thanks to tropical storm Troy. LOL... I assured Katy that if anyone could fix the problem Troy could fix it. After all, Troy is a REAL man. hahahahahahaha There is a LONG story behind

In Loving Memory of Carl Hickson

I do not have a lot of time to write this morning however I do want to remember my Uncle Carl who passed away in Terrell Texas yesterday. This was my favorite uncle out of the several that I did have. Uncle Carl was in a nursing home and I do not have many specifics of what happened other than he passed away sometime yesterday. I do know that I have a LOT of fond childhood memories of this uncle. Uncle Carl was the one who had the patience to teach me how to drive as a teenager. I guess I was 15 or 16 years old when I started spending the summer vacations with my Aunt Mickey and Uncle Carl in Terrell Texas. Both my aunt and uncle treated my sister and I just like one of their own kids. My uncle was a contractor who built homes in the Dallas Ft Worth area for many years. I remember that I used to get up with him at 5 am every work day and have biscuits with peanut butter and maple syrup with a cup of coffee. Uncle Carl spent many hours in the sun and I can always remember the deep tan that he developed because of this. I remember how he would take me to a parking lot at the high school in Terrell and let me drive his new Chevy Silerado Pickup truck and teach me how to park and backup and parallel park. Uncle Carl loved to play golf and spent a lot of free time on the weekends on the golf course in Terrell Texas. I am forever grateful to both of my aunt and uncle who are now passed on for the love, affection and care that they extended to me and my sister as teenagers. I lived with them one summer when they took care of my grandmother who had several strokes and required a lot of nursing care at home before she passed away in 1980. I remember how hard that was on them and the family at that time. God bless you Uncle Carl, you are loved and will be missed.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.blogharbor.com/blog
james.moffitt@comcast.net

Momma Duck and chicks

Momma Duck and her little chicks

Sunday in Duck Ditch USA

Quack Quack... I say Duck Ditch USA because we have several ducks that live in our neighborhood at the bottom of the hill. If you are from the south you know who Jeff Foxworthy is. One of his famous lines is "You know you are a redneck if...." One of those is "if instructions to your house includes turn off the paved road". Instructions to my house includes go to the end of county maintenance sign, go around the old oak tree and then drop off the pavement and go to the bottom of the hill. Our doublewide trailer is next the last on the left. When it rains here it takes about 20 minutes but then the bottom of the hill becomes a pond and you have to use a life raft to paddle out to the car. I have noticed that the ducks that live here LOVE the rain and the pond. Just the other day I took a picture of the momma duck and all of the chicks splashing and playing in the muddy water. They could not have been happier and did not give me a moments notice as I sat there watching them.
We had an awesome time at church today. I attempt to sing on the praise team every Sunday morning and I found myself getting choked up during one of the songs. One of our challenges on the praise team is that we are to help the congregation to enter into worship. Over the last two years we have slowly been building our musical talent. Once upon a time all we had was one piano and four singers which happened to be the pastor , his wife and his two daughters. Since that time we have rebuilt our sanctuary and added all new sound equipment. We now have 4 to 6 singers that sing regularly , a piano player (pastors wife), keyboard player (praise and worship leader), bass guitar (pastor), drums, congas, electric guitar and saxaphone. We also have a flute player from time to time. We also have a 48 channel sound board, personal computer, digital projectors, compressor, cd/dvd player and tape deck. We have come a LONG LONG way with regards to technology and what we can do with regards to our church services.
Despite the fact I feel more comfortable back in the sound booth taking care of technology I was recruited onto the praise team to sing. At first I was a bit reluctant to do it because I do not think that I sing well enough to be up there. The worship team leader says differently and needs some more male voices to even out the ladies so I am getting used to it. It is very different to be on the platform singing with everyone being able to watch you vs being all the way in the back not being noticed until something goes amiss with the sound or with the projector. Then everyone knows to turn around and stare at you until the problem if fixed. LOL.
Anyway, back to signing on the stage and leading others in worship. How exactly do you lead others in praise and worship? What IS that exactly? Why do we sing at church? Is it for show? One of the things that I noticed quickly is that for the members on our praise team that have been singing for a long time it seems that their singing is really sort of mechanical. I can see how that would be easy to happen. It would be easy to get caught up in the mechanics of singing the song correctly and being in time with everyone else. One of the things that I have been doing is learning how to sing the songs correctly and to get the timing down. That does not come that easy to me so I have to work at it harder than say some others who have been doing it for years. I also have to close my eyes from time to time and imagine that I am out in the congregation singing right along with them. Then I am able to put my focus on God who I am singing to and for. I am not there to perform or put on a show. We are certainly supposed to have a spirit of excellence and do the best that we can do but it is not a performance to entertain anyone.
Today I got caught up in one of the songs and found myself getting choked up and had tears in my eyes as I identified with a need in my life and felt overwhelmed by how much God does love us. It is easy for us to say we know how much God loves us and how much we love him but do we really live that truth out in our lives on a daily basis? If we really realized how much God loves us and is really in control would we continue to worry and stress out over the little things in our lives? That is what praise and worship is all about. It is making a connection between our minds and hearts through the songs and lyrics to the throne room of God. Once we really engage ourselves like that then God can touch us and heal all of the broken and hurting places.
There is nothing more touching to me than to look out at the congregation watching people as they sing and raise their hands and lift their voices and close their eyes and allow the power of God to fill their hearts with his love. It is good to see them being real with God and connecting with him through the praise and worship time. That alone inspires us to do the very best that we can so that they will not be distracted from the main purpose for our being there which is to praise God in all that we say and do.
I hope you have a very good week in all of your endeavours.
God bless

Power boat for a power lunch

It rained and rained and rained again today. The rain started in Goose Creek around 6 am and apparently just kept on going for HOURS. At 9 am I wandered out into the RAIN to go deliver reports and print outs to all of the respective departments on campus and I found that I needed a boat to get around. Downtown Charleston floods if you drop a glass of tea at high tide so you can just imagine how WET things were after it rained for HOURS.
I got lucky and caught one of the mail room clerks hopping into a golf cart and hitched a ride with him for several blocks to get where I was going. I made the trip there nice and dry but that did not happen on the way back. I had planned on buying an umbrella YESTERDAY so that I would be prepared TODAY for the eventual FLOOD that seems to happen every afternoon. Did I make good on those plans? No, of course not, I just found OTHER things to do than getting an umbrella. I made my deliveries and after about 15 minutes of waiting the downpour turned into a very light rain so I made my move. I walked to the college bookstore with plans on making good on my PLAN from yesterday to buy an umbrella. I arrived at the bookstore looking like a drowned "big foot" to find that they were SOLD OUT. Can you imagine that they would be sold out of rain coats and umbrellas?
As I was squishing around on the side walk headed back to my building I saw some young ladies standing under an awning in two segways. Those are the motorized humanoid two wheel "cart you around" thingies that are so cool. I tried to get one of them to give me a piggy back ride over to the building but they were not about to budge out of their cover. They offered me coupons for a free bagel and all I could think is that I would need 500 of those things to act as an umbrella to keep me dry.
Before I made it back over to our building I stopped at the HUNGRY COUGAR for a power lunch which consisted of one slice of pizza and one banana pudding parfait. By the time I got through with my power lunch purchase the skies had let up on the drowning routine on the ground below and I was able to squish back across the street and go into the building and head for the freezer that I sit in every day.
I am alone in my walkin freezer for now and I have 2 hours and 16 minutes before I am free again. Until then I will sit here and wait for a customer to request this that or another. I figured I might as well drivel about something so that it will give me something to do. The power lunch that I ate at 1:30 pm is kicking in and I can feel the eye lids starting to try and slam shut.
Have a good weekend, stay dry and for goodness sake please remember to bring your raincoat or umbrella.




James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.blogharbor.com/blog
james.moffitt@comcast.net

Denver Colorado Picture

My friend Patty doctored up this picture and got some of the shadows out of my face in this picture. She did a good job, thanks Patty. I was in Denver Colorado when my friend James took this shot.

Drama less Monday

Today the moon and stars are lined up correctly and all is well at work central. The two ladies I am working with have not tried to kill each other yet nor have they yelled at one another either. I guess you could say that the drama needle is not even quivering this morning. Thank you JESUS for that one. I am not much into drama. I love a quiet peaceful environment to work in if at all possible. I work in a server room so I have to listen to the roar of the many power supply fans that are on the other side of our make shift cubicles here at work. I can not wait for the powers to be to allocate some new space and move us computer operators out of this computer room. It will be nice for someone to be able to talk to me and say something without me going HUH? When one of my co workers says something to me they have to talk loud or repeat themselves. I sometimes just roll my chair over to their corner and listen to what they are saying.
I wonder why "computer operators" are called computer operators when it comes to using the main frame. I would think that a computer would be a COMPUTER, wouldn't you? I mean, we have thousands of Personal Computers all over the campus and in all of the buildings that administrative folks use. We call them "users" instead of computer operators. Hummmmm I guess it has to be because when you use a personal computer you are in a client server configuration (client being PC and Server being where you log on for files, email etc) and the computer operators use a dumb terminal connection (attachmate) to communicate directly with the mainframe. So, if I am a computer operator (mainframe users) and a PC user that makes me a computer operator/user person.
In three years the powers to be have decided to ditch the mainframe and port all of the openvms code to Mickeysoft and Oracle. That ought to be fun and keep all of us busier than we care to be for years to come. LOL... I have spent the last 16 years in supporting Novell & Microsoft Network Operating Systems in five different industries so being a computer operator is quite different environment for me to be in. I am on week number 4 and I am much more comfortable with openvms than what I was on day one. Luckily for me I come from the DOS 3.3 world and typing in commands is no big deal. You just have to learn what command does what, what syntax to use and the directory the data is in and the file name you want to manage.
All is back to normal in our household. The billy goat (Ginger the terrier) is in her cage, Angel (the non destructive Lab) is gaurding Kristina's room and both children are at school, Katy is at her teaching job in North Charleston and I am downtown flying my keyboard. I have my last bowling night for the Summer league tonight and I think we might be in fourth or fifth place which means no awards money. We start our Winter league on September 17th so we have three weeks to rest up and do something else on Monday night like go to the gym.
Speaking of the gym, I am feeling much better and my shoulder is sort of back to normal after over doing things on Saturday afternoon. I guess I am not 18 any more. I can not lift what I used to. That is ok though, I need to be toning and doing more cardio anyway so I can burn some fat calories. If you burn more calories than you take in then you start to lose weight. It is amazing how many calories you can eat if you do not pay attention to it.
Ok, I think I have driveled enough for today. I hope you have a good day today.


James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.blogharbor.com/blog
moffittj@bellsouth.net

Sunday Musings

So far today has been a pretty good day. It started out at 7:30 am when my bladder awakened me to a new day. I went to bed at 1 am this morning after watching Lucky Louie on HBO. I normally do not stay up this late but this was Saturday night and I could sleep in later than normal.

Our youth at church were in charge of the service today and took care of the announcements, prayer requests and other things that normally the pastor or other adults take care of. This gave our pastor a much needed break. It seemed as if every gremlin that could show itself showed itself today during the service with regards to the sound system. We made it through the service without too many disasters. We went to lunch at Taco Hell and ate enough tacos to choke a horse. How many .49 cent tacos can one adult eat? LOL.. Well, I tried to behave myself but since I had not had any breakfast this morning I was famished.

After lunch was over we went home and I attempted to put freon in the wife's 93 Ford Escort Station Wagon. That task never was meant to happen. I think that the system is clogged because it wont take in any new freon yet the gauge shows that it is empty. I guess that is why the AC blows hot air huh? We are trying to keep from taking the car up to a garage because they already quoted us 150.00 to test for leaks and put in freon. That does not include any parts or repairs that might have to be done.

Now I am sitting in my favorite recliner thinking it is "happy nappy" time. I am so thankful that the AC works in the house and in my other car. I am wondering if there is some way that the wife and I can just use my car for us to get back and forth to work. Maybe she could take me to work early downtown and just take the car to work and then at the end of the day she could pick me up. It would mean more gasoline consumption but at least Katy would be much more comfortable. Perhaps I need to find someone that lives in my neck of the woods here in Duck Ditch and find a way to car pool with someone and share expenses.

I think I mentioned that I re injured my shoulder at the gym yesterday afternoon. It is much better now but it is not 100%. Hopefully it will be OK enough to bowl tomorrow night. Tomorrow ends the summer league and September 17th starts the winter league. Our summer league team "Not for Profit" has signed up to bowl on the Winter League. I have a whopping 139 average since I have been having some pretty horrible bowling nights in the last several weeks. I did have a whopping 143 average at one point. My bowling balls react better on wooden lanes and not synthetic ones such as the ones at the bowling center on the Weapons station. Basically speaking I throw the balls down the second arrow to the right and the ball is supposed to go long down the lane and then hook over into the head pin. I just can not seem to control when the ball starts to break so I am lucky if I even hit the head pin anywhere near the pocket. I got so frustrated last Monday that I took a house ball and just started throwing it down the middle at the head pin. I actually did much better doing that.

Happy Nappy time just caught up to me.

Drama and schedule changes

On July the 31st I started a new job in downtown Charleston. I am working in Information Technology which is probably no surprise to you. I was pleasantly surprised when a previous supervisor contacted me in the later part of July and asked me if I was available to give her a hand where she worked. When I was told that I would be working in the mainframe world I immediately told her that I did not have any experience in that part of I.T. My ex boss told me that she was sure that if anyone could learn something new quickly that I was the man for the job. So, before I know it she offers me a six month temp position and told me that it could very well turn into something more permanent. I was faced with working security 20 hours per week or get a substantial raise and work 40+ hours per week in a computer operations center. It took me all of 20 seconds to accept the position.

My contract ended in Moncks Corner when I worked as a network engineer for Systemtec out of Columbia SC. From June 23rd until the third week of July I was busier than a one armed man in a wind tunnel hanging paper trying to find a new job. My preference would have been full time with benefits but you have to walk through whatever doors are opened to you at the time. The whole month of July really messed up my schedule. I went from working 8 am to 5pm to whatever crazy hours the security company would give me. I worked mostly evenings but then wound up working some midnight shifts which really screwed up my sleep cycle.

For the last sixteen years I have worked in I.T. doing some type of pc/lan/wan/network support and most of the time the Network Operating System has been either Novell Netware or Microsoft Windows. I have always worked around the computer operators that maintain the BIG IRON mainframes. So, when I entered into this role I was already feeling like a fish out of water as I learned all the many different commands that I had to use while editing and printing and running jobs on the main frame. Open VMS is the OS of choice where I am working now and apparently it has been around a very long time.

My first two weeks were very stressful because my boss has high expectations that I will step into this role and pick up whatever skills I need very quickly so that I can be a resource for her in this department. I look back now and I remember that on the very first day I wanted to leave so many times it was not even funny. Probably the only thing that kept me there was a deep seated need for a regular paycheck that would help pay my bills and keep the toy fund alive. On top of my having to learn a completely new OS and understand the many tasks that happen on a daily basis in the Ops center I also entered into a less than perfect working environment. All I can say is that there was and still is some underlying tension between certain folks within our group. My hope and prayer is that those issues will be worked out very soon and that everyone can be a team member and we can all get our jobs done and get along while we are doing it.

Why must there be drama in the work place? I am a man working in a predominately female work environment. Usually it is the other way around however the roles have been reversed on me. The other day I was in a coworkers office and she laughed when I told her about the drama that I was having to listen to on a daily basis. This lady told me that she would much rather work with a bunch of men than with a bunch of women because the drama can be rather thick at times. I also have a friend of mine from church that works in an office with primarily women and she tells me all the time about the bickering and backstabbing ,rumor mill and drama in general. I just want to go to work and get the work done and then leave at the end of the day and forget about it all. I love technology because it allows me to solve problems. I also love technology because it changes all the time and it forces me to learn now things, like open VMS. There is not a day that I go to work that I don't learn something new and interesting.

Justin and Kristina went back to school this week at Berkeley County schools and Katy went back to her teaching job in a Charleston County school. Life as we know it is back to normal. We all scatter to the winds around 7 am each morning and then we come back together as a family unit in the late afternoon and early evening hours. Justin is in 5th grade and Kristina is in 8th grade. Thus far both children have been AB Honor role students for the last several years so I am pretty happy about that. Justin is in the gifted and talented class which means that he is taking advanced subjects of study for his age. GO KIDS GO. Get that education that you desperately need to survive in this world.

Back in May of this year I got serious about losing weight. Ok, let me correct that. I got serious about trying to do something about losing weight. Thus far I have not been very successful at that goal. I have lost ten pounds and then I will put some of it back on and lose it again and well, you get the picture. I have a 10 lb weight range that I keep taking off and putting back on. One of the things that I did accomplish was to get my blood pressure under control. Imagine that, there are benefits to regular exercise. I went from having a 140/90+ bp to 110/70 bp. That in and of itself is worth all of the exercise. I have been educating myself on counting calories and exercising. My body has been educating me about overdoing things as well. I have been using the treadmill for 20 minutes and the elliptical trainer for 20 minutes every other day and then hitting the weights. At first I was using too much weight and the trainer there told me that I needed to do less weight and more repetitions so I can tone my muscles and not build them. Muscles are heavier than fat and that was one of the things causing me to gain weight instead of lose it.

My left knee and right shoulder have been complaining to me for the last two weeks. So, thanks to the pain I have refrained from going to the gym. I finally went back to the gym today and figured out that my right shoulder does not like the bench press. As of tonight my right shoulder is not very happy with me. I am thinking it probably has something to do with my rotater cuff since it only hurts in the joint when I move it a specific way. Thus far my left knee is not hollering too much. I am going to stay away from the weights and stick to the tread mill this week. I am going to try and go early in the morning before work around 6 am. Starting over is my motto. Every day I start over learning how to eat less food, better food, less junk food and getting the right type of aerobic exercise for my heart. My focus is on living healthier more than just losing weight. If I can keep my focus right then the weight loss will come eventually. At least that is the game plan for now...

Technorati : Drama, job change, weight loss

Powered by Zoundry

New U.K. rules put laptops in checked baggage - Network World

New U.K. rules put laptops in checked baggage - Network World

Well, there ya have it. Thanks to the actions of some idiots who have nothing better to do with their time now we have to place the care of our delicate electronics with baggage handlers. Now, in defense of baggage handlers I am sure that their job is hard enough with the volume they deal with to have to gently handle every single piece of luggage as if there is a laptop inside. I guess they would never get the plane loaded at that rate. What that tells me is that if I am going to travel from point A to point B with my laptop and I have to check it I will be putting it into a large metal camera case that I can put egg crate padding in so that if it is dropped or shoved around roughly it will stand a better chance of survival. Anyway you cut this pie it still means extra hassle for everyone. I am glad that those 21 folks were nabbed BEFORE innocent lives were lost.

Happy Days Boat trip uploaded again to blip.tv

I received notice that Blip.tv experienced a hardware crash on one of their servers and that two of my videos which were pretty new did not survive.  I uploaded the Happy Days boat ride late last night and I will upload the Denver trip again between now and Monday.

Tags: boat, days, special, ride, blip.tv, happy, and, times

What end-users can't stand about you - Network World

What end-users can't stand about you - Network World

I really liked this article and agree with what it says. If you are an IT pro like myself check this out and see if you are doing these things. If you are please STOP IT. LOL...

Hamster Wheel Gone Wrong - Google Video

Hamster Wheel Gone Wrong - Google Video

This is TOO funny... Poor Hamster

HD Boat Trip 2006

HD Boat Trip 2006

Watch the video

This video shows the footage of being on the Ashley River and Charleston Harbor. We took five boats to another marina and had a cookout.

Tags: scssa, james, special, moffitt, happy, times, days

Protecting against vulnerabilities in wireless drivers - Network World

Protecting against vulnerabilities in wireless drivers - Network World

This is a very excellent article that discussing security vulnerabilities with regards to different OS's and 802.11 wireless protocol.

Happy Days Boat Trip

Happy Days Boat Trip

Watch the video

SCSSA and Happy Days and Special Times sponsored the 2006 Boat trip from the Charleston Harbor. This clip shows an interview with SCSSA members, a boat captain and the children playing in a pool that was also donated by SCSSA. Five boats were used by SCSSA to transport the kids with cancer, their siblings and parents.

Tags: scssa, special, happy, times, days

High-tech jobs recovery? Don't believe the hype

High-tech jobs recovery? Don't believe the hype

I read this article this morning and have to say that I agree whole heartedly. Information Technology for a career path is not the best move for anyone these days. Once upon a time, before September 11th 2001 , I could write my own check. Today I am struggling to find a contract doing desktop support and I am making way below what I was used to making. Because of this I am considering furthering my education and getting back into the medical field doing something other than computer support.

Starting over July 23rd 2006

Starting Over July 23rd 2006

Sun, Jul 16 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,790
Mon, Jul 17 2006
Total Calories Consumed 2,182
Tue, Jul 18 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,373
Wed, Jul 19 2006
Total Calories Consumed 2,031
Thu, Jul 20 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,414
Fri, Jul 21 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,814
Sat, Jul 22 2006
Total Calories Consumed 1,748
Sun, Jul 23 2006
Breakfast and Lunch thus far
Total Calories Consumed 1,360

Exercise Accountability

Mon, Jul 17 2006 Elliptical Trainer - Moderate Effort 35 949
Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 30 244
Total Calories Burned 1192.7

Tue, Jul 18 2006 Swimming - Breaststroke, General 20 542
Total Calories Burned 542.1

Wed, Jul 19 2006
Elliptical Trainer - Moderate Effort 30 813
Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 30 244
Total Calories Burned 1057.1

Fri, Jul 21 2006
Elliptical Trainer - Moderate Effort 30 813
Weight Lifting - (Free Weight Nautilus or Universal-type), Light or Moderate Effort, Light Workout, General 35 285
Total Calories Burned 1097.8

Sat, Jul 22 2006
Non-food Shopping - Standing or Walking 300 1,871
Total Calories Burned 1870.5

Sun, Jul 23 2006
Non-food Shopping - Standing or Walking 300 1,871
Total Calories Burned 1,871


Well, as you can see, I am committed to starting over. I feel great and have lots of energy and feel much much stronger than ever before. As for weight loss, that is not happening for now. Hopefully that will begint o happen very soon. I am counting every single calorie that I stick in my mouth and I am increasing the intensity of my workouts every time I go. I find that the Hydroxycut is giving me more energy and curbing my hunger pangs some. This next week I intend to increase the dosage of Hydroxycut to 2 pills per day, one early in the morning and one around 2 pm. Hopefully that will cause me to eat less food altogether. On a positive note my blood pressure is down to around 116/68. My exercising on a regular basis has really had a dramatic affect on my blood pressure. I am also not having as much swelling in my ankles as I once did which is a good thing.

So, I consider this last week a good week. I am still starting over...

zoomed in image of one of the boats in our entourage today 

zoomed in image of Arthur Ravenel Bridge  

Picture of Arthur Ravenel Bridge from Charleston Harbor July 20th 2006 

You can see the coast guard emblem on the side of the hull in this picture 

another view of CG Sailboat  

Coast Guard Sailboat in Charleston Harbor 

entourage of boats that were part of our party today. We took out about 50 kids for Happy days and Special times 

smaller boat zooming past us 

River shot in front of the boat 

control tower that raises the bridge for boats to go under it 

draw bridge on river we were on today 

captain of the boat I was on today 

Kristina Lynn "Princess" Moffitt during the boat ride today. She looks like a gangsta... 

Justin Matthew Moffitt on boat ride today sponsored by SSCA and Happy Days and Special Times 

Motorola Razr phone and Motorola Phone Tools issues

The other day I tried to use my cell phone to make phone calls. I was able to receive phone calls but not able to send them. The first thought that ran through my mind was, did I pay the bill or did they cut me off even if I did pay the bill? Stranger things have happened in the past. So, anyway, I call my friends over at Suncom Customer support later in the morning and I found out that two things needed to happen. The first thing that happened is that the Suncom System had been upgraded between 12 midnight and 6 am. In order for my phone to work properly I needed to turn my phone off for a few moments and then power it up again. The other thing that I needed to do was to go by Suncom retail outlet and have them swap out my version 2.5 SIM card for version 3.0. Apparently that version of SIM card has the updated software needed to interface my telephone with their towers. Ok, fair enough. So, off I go to the land of Suncom to sit in line (on the floor) waiting for someone to chat with me about this. I signed the list and sat down to wait with the other 25 people that were there for other issues. One of the sales reps happened to hear my conversation with another customer about my just being there to swap out sim cards so he tosses one on the counter for me to complete the transaction on my own. I managed to get the SIM card swapped out and connected to the service. Thus far, no problems sending and receiving phone calls with my Motorola VC3 Razr phone.
That event happened approximately 10 days ago and just today I decided to try and download some images that I have taken and stored on my phone. One of the features that I love about the Motorola Razr is that it has a very nice digital camera with a 4x digital zoom. I have taken quite a few photos with this phone since it is easier to do that then always have to lug around my other digital camera which is much bigger.
I installed the Motorola Phone Tools to my laptop computer the other day after I wiped the hard drive after testing Microsoft Vista. At that time I had not tried to configure the telephone with the software and just figured I would do that later. I knew that I already had the Motorola Phone Tools configured and functional on my main system. Today when I tried to run the Phone Tools software I was advised of an update so I allowed Live Update run and updated the software. To my surprise when I connected the phone to the laptop USB port the Motorola Razr was not recognized. Two hours later I finally gave up and figured that it would be more fun to download and blog pictures off the main system vs fighting with software on the laptop.
When I came over to the main system I was surprised to see that the already configured Motorola Phone Tools with the profile for the Motorola Razr no longer worked. I tried upgrading the software on the main system as well and that did not work. I uninstalled all of the Motorola Phone Tools and then just reinstalled the original software hoping to make that work. Guess what folks? No cigar.... No connection between the computer and the Motorola Razr phone either. All I can figure is that before I swapped out the SIM cards the interface between the software and hardware worked and after I upgraded the SIM card the interface does not work any longer. That means that interoperability between the hardware and the SIM card and software went out the window at some point. How special is that folks?
It just occurs to me that maybe one way around this will be to e-mail the pictures to myself from the phone to my suncom MMS e-mail address. Once that happens I can download those to my hard drive. Wait, no, that wont work either. The MMS e-mail address is what is used for someone from a PC to e-mail a picture TO my telephone. Sigh.... This can be sort of confusing at times aye? Back to square one. I have pictures that I need to download off of the phone. I wonder if I can take the SIM card out of the phone and plug it into a SD card reader and download the pictures that way. I think that is what the SIM card is , is a SD card with code on it. I will try that and get back to you if that worked.

Stick a fork in me I am done with Vista Beta on the laptop

As of July 14th my thoughts about Vista could be summarized by saying " Stick a fork in me, I am done". I decided that I wanted a fully functional laptop back under my control and having Vista installed at this point was not going to allow that to happen. For whatever reasons Microsoft has decided to over complicate the user interface to the point of frustration. Just because I uninstalled it on the laptop does not mean that there is no hope for the OS. I just decided that I need to install this under VMWARE or on a spare PC.
Originally I had intended to install Vista under Vmware and when I did not do this a friend of mine asked me what my thought process was making this decision. I guess that my first thought was " what the heck, go for it" because the laptop is considered a secondary computing device next to our main home pc and I feel as if I am a disaster recovery expert (has been drip under pressure) and I knew I had two critical pieces in place in case a disaster did happen. The first thing I had was a good , current backup of all my data. The second most important tool at my disposal was the Toshiba recovery cd which would allow me to recover the laptop back to factory specifications with all the drivers needed. So, with those thought drifting through the fog banks of my mind I went forward to where no man (in this houshold) has gone before and installed Vista. The following list are points of interest as I look back on my Vista BETA install experience.

A. the install (upgrade) took almost four hours

B. Wireless does not support wireless security (wep)

C. Networking configuration options are a nightmare

D. The user interface is just different enough to make you stumble around looking for the usual things we are used to in XP

E. I could not find Start RUN anywhere

F. Since I could not find START RUN I could not run MSCONFIG to edit the start up applications and get rid of the ones I did not want starting at boot

G. Vista BETA does not provide you with Anti Virus software even though CA does provide Ez Anti Virus for free for one year to Vista Beta users.

H. Windows Defender is not supported in Vista

I. Internet Explorer 7 SUCKS.... The application refused to shut down properly when it was running in "protected" mode.

J. Even though the upgrade recognized my Administrator status on XP Professional it does not give you FULL administrative rights to Vista Beta. Several times I was greeted with a nag screen that said something to the affect that "you are not a system adminstrator and therefore dont have the ability to do this function at this time. Please notify your system administrator"

K. Several of my applications just did not work after the upgrade which required my reinstalling them.

To see all the gory details on the install process and my thoughts AFTER the install go to http://jcmoffitt.googlepages.com and view my technology pages and read the Vista Beta review.
Thanks

Vista Beta 2 installation

Vista Beta 2 Software Review

Starting over every day

July 1 through July 7th

Calories consumed

Sat 2289
Sun 1748
Mon 1927
Tue 2189
Wed 1821
Thur 1710
Fri 1518

Exercise

Sat 1561
Sun 1057
Mon 487
Tue 1870
Wed 1057
Sat 2610

This week was particularly hard because I have been working security at night several nights per week in a grocery store. I would find myself getting the munchies more time than not and I had to contend with fighting the flesh and NOT purchasing those things that my flesh desires such as candy bars or fudge brownies or whatever you want to fill the blank in. Every time I would crave something I would pick up the package and read the calories. When I saw that it had enough calories to replace one of my regular meals I decided NOT to purchase it. Now, my friends, that was JESUS in ME and NOT ME. hahahahahahaha I remember a time I would have just given in and said " well, I can justify this because I am working out and getting exercise four times per week". I am finally making some good choices. As I like to say " Starting over every day".

This week has also been a particularly stressful week because now that I do not have a regular day job and my night security job has really screwed up my sleep habits not to mention being stressed out over trying to find a REAL job that pays what the budget needs for me to make so I can pay the bills. I have tried my best NOT to be stressed out but it is just not working. During these times of high stress I normally would be just saying "Oh to heck with this calorie counting" and exercise, it is time for me to self medicate and make myself FEEL GOOD." Once again, I have to say " this has to be Jesus in Me" working out the details and helping me to start over every day. I am still not losing any weight to speak of. My personal trainer is telling me that because I am hitting the weights that I will actually gain some weight and that eventually the muscle mass that I am building that is heavier than fat will start to burn off the fat calories and the weight will gradually start to come off. So, with that in mind I am starting over every day and learning how to make the right decisions. Therefore I can not focus on the numbers on the scales right now and I need physiology to take its natural course and just keep doing what I am doing and realize that in time the weight will come off. For now, my reward will be feeling great and having much more energy and the ability to deal with stress better.

Four days and counting

Tick Tock, Tick Tock... The clock is counting down and within four days I will be officially off of the propellerhead island. Well, what I mean to say is that my contract with the company I am at will be over and they are going to ship me out into the pond on a canoe with half a paddle. I have learned that is very wise for me to be sure and NOT name my employer(s) just in case they might be reading my blog. I have heard that employers do read blogs and they use the Internet to research future candidates for employment. Therefore it is very important that I keep all of my significant others as anonymous as possible. Every since May I have been looking high and low for a new place for my propeller to spin but thus far everything that I have found has seemed to vaporize into thin air. I guess that I have not stumbled upon the right opportunity. Contracting my skills out to the highest bidder sort of feels like sales. I am selling myself and my skills to the highest bidder. The only way that I can hear the YES I am waiting for is for me to hear all of the NO's that I should listen to. There are always more NO's than there are yes's. Of course, if I had STAR quality then maybe I would not hear as many no's. Star quality means that I have everything that employers are looking for. Those qualities include a four year degree in computer science and every vendor certification from every vendor that I would ever need to support. On top of those shingles I would also need to top that off with the type of personality that would allow me to SHINE above the rest of the crowd and make me popular with both the boss and my peers. The ability to shine above the rest also means that you have to thrive in the political arena and you have to be a good YES man or woman to your superiors. Last but not least it is not always what you know but who you know. Once upon a time employers rewarded people upon their merit. I want employers to hire me because I am a hard worker that has proven myself time and time again and not because of my popularity measurements. On the current island that I am on you must have a four year degree to even get into the starting gate and be considered for a mid level position. Without that degree I am the grand winner of a canoe and half a paddle. LOL...

I am already working security at night to supliment our income. I am so thankful that Katy does have her degree and is well on the way to establishing herself in her chosen career path as a teacher.
Hopefully I wont have to wear the gorilla suit for too long before some recruiter lands me a decent paying job. Until then I will do what I can to keep my sanity and keep the bucks trickling into our magically shrinking budget.

On a more positive and uplifting note my life changes have been slowly but surely taking hold. As I say in my accountability log on one of the forums I am starting over. My girth did not happen over night and I know that it wont go away over night. So, every day, I start over and make the right choices with what I stick in my mouth. I have been starting over since the last week of May and even though I have not lost a LOT of weight I have taken off a few pounds here and there. I am averaging around 2000 calories a day and I am working out and getting exercise four days a week. Every other day I go to the recreation center in Duck Ditch USA and I get on the elliptical trainer and quack my way through 30 minutes of fun filled excitement. Then I go downstairs and do light reps with the nautilus machines. Even though I am not seeing a lot of pounds melting off of the body I am feeling much much better. I have more energy, sleep better at night and can handle stress better during the day.
Slowly but surely I am learning how to eat less and better food. I am also living healthier by exercising my heart and hopefully making it stronger every day. A healthy heart is always a very good thing.

While I have been making healthy decisions about what I am going to put in my mouth my friend Chuck across the street has been taking on birds of a different feather. Speaking of birds my friend Paul Bunyon and his entire featherless clan has lifted off in starship one and blasted off to Yankee land. Paul Bunyon was very wise by leaving Chuck in charge of the feathered fowl across the street in the chicken coop because had he not it would have been a short lived chapter for one very worn out rooster. Chuck shared with me that one of Paul Bunyon's older sons has been complaining about the mighty rooster with a BAD ATTITUDE. Chuck told me that he figured that the featherless sibling was stretching the severity of the mighty roosters attitude. Chuck told me that he found out first hand how much truth there is with regards to the little bird with a bad attitude. Chuck had no sooner stepped into the chicken coop than when out of no where the big bad rooster fluffed up his feathers and charged at him for all he was worth. Having been forewarned about the nasty attitude Chuck was smart enough to bring along an equalizer. This equalizer enabled Chuck to enhance and reduce the attitude and altitude of the flying feathers on two legs. Chuck told me that he was able to teach this bird several aerobic positions and aeronautical maneuvers. Chuck also told me that the bird, no matter what position he found himself would shake his head, clear his bird brain and charge again and again. Luckily enough both the bird and Chuck are still alive and they are both sore because of the experience. The hens have been tended to each day , eggs gathered and feed spread. The rooster has decided to give Chuck a free pass to the chicken coop and has decided to watch him from behind the coop as Chuck goes about his duties. I told Chuck to keep his eyes open because the rooster is surely plotting on him and will find away to even the odds when he recruits some other feathered friends from up the street to gang up on him.

Happy Fathers Day DADS

I have two weeks before my contract is over and then I will be continuing the job search.  This is not something new under the sun.  I have been doing this on and off for 16 years and I must admit that I am sick of it.  Once upon a time companies had internal IT staff that took care of their network and the only time they brought in contractors or consultants was for large short term projects that was beyond their ability to handle.  For whatever reasons corporate America has decided that it is cheaper to have contractors doing more of the work than full time IT staff.  One of the money savings for employers is that they do not have to pay benefits for contractors so I guess I understand WHY they do it.  Understanding the reasons why does not make my life any easier.  

I am currently entertaining two options after this contract ends.  One is a full time position with a credit union here locally and the other is a 9 month to one year contract with the SC DMV which could turn into a permanent position at the end of the contract depending on how well the contractors do with providing support to the DMV offices in the state.  I am hopeful that I can land the full time salaried position vs the contract position but I will be happy if I can land one of them.  If I can not land either of them for whatever reasons then I will be forced to continue looking and find whatever job I can to supplement Katy’s income.  

If I wind up not being able to find a job or contract in the IT industry AGAIN I have decided that I will take the necessary steps to get OUT of the IT industry once and for all by going back to school and training to do something within the Healthcare industry like X-ray tech or whatever.  I am sure that Trident Technical College has several programs that I could get involved in.  I would have to get another student loan to do it but that is fine with me if it gives me the ability to find something stable for my future.  

If you are reading this and you are wondering if there is any value in a college degree please let me use my life experience and tell you that there IS GREAT VALUE in having a college degree.  There are so many more doors open to you because of the advanced education.  That does not mean that you should just go get a degree in basket weaving.  What it means is that you should target those industries where there is always going to be a need and those companies within that industry will have a track record for providing a stable working environment that will not just go away because the economy is having a problem.  Government, healthcare, law enforcement is three industries that will never go anywhere and will always be looking for a few good men and women that can provide them with a good workforce.   Information Technology for some reason does not provide the stability that the last three do.  If you do not have even a high school diploma let me tell you that you are going to be in a LOT of trouble if you hope to find a decent job of any kind.  Almost ALL of the jobs that I have ever pursued required that you have a MINIMUM of a high school education.  So, if you dropped out of high school to pursue your dream be sure to go get your GED certificate.  Without it you will be in deep trouble.  

Katy is halfway through her PACE class that is two weeks long and that started after summer vacation started for the kids here in the low country.  Katy will be so happy when this next week is over and she too can have a break of sorts.  Katy has been working very hard studying and studying and studying.  I think that she feels as if her brain is going to explode with all the stuff they are cramming into her head.  Go Katy Go!!!!  You can do it!!

Did I tell you that we switched from MaBell over to Vonage for home telephone service?  I just paid my first bill with them.  We paid 19.11 vs the 35.00 + that we paid with MaBell.  Wooohooooo, I LOVE that.   The talk quality is just as clear as MaBell and you can manage your account details and see the call information online.  You have to have a broadband connection to the Internet or it won’t work.  So, if you have DSL or a CABLE modem and have an always on connection to the Internet and you want to reduce your budget you can switch to Vonage.  If you are interested in all the features go to www.vonage.com and read up on it.  If you think about joining tell me and I will send you a referral link so that we both can get a free month of service.  It took me all of 10 minutes to hook up the Vonage switch in my existing network setup.   The only problem that we discovered after it was all hooked up is that we lost the ability to print to the network printer that is shared off of the main gateway pc in our home.  We have two computers and two laptops hooked up to our internal network.   I wrote Vonage tech support and they told me to give them an exact diagram of how the network was setup.  So, I was armed with my first cup of coffee this morning and a lamp and I discovered what the problem was.  My main Gateway system was the only pc on my network plugged into one of the switch ports on the Vonage switch.  All the other computers either connected wirelessly to the existing wireless router or the switch ports on the wireless router.  Once I unplugged the gateway from the Vonage switch and plugged it back into my Motorola switch/firewall/router/wireless device all the computers on the workgroup were able to see it again.  We can also print to the network printer anywhere in the house again.  Wooohoooo  If I had one of those EASY Buttons from Staples I would push it and it would say THAT WAS EASY.  LOL….

I have been working really hard at counting calories and going to the gym since the first of this month.   I have a fifteen pound window that I seem to be bouncing around in.  The other day I got on the scales and I had gained to pounds back that I had recently lost.  That was AFTER reducing my calorie intake and exercising four times per week.  I just could not believe that I had gained two pounds back after all of that.  LOL…  One of the things I have to realize is that I did not get where I am physically over night and I won’t lose all the weight over night either.  The other thing I have to realize is that as I use the weight machines at the gym that I am going to start to gain back some muscle cells that I have lost and I am going to be convert fat to muscle which will mean that I will gain back a few pounds.  The important thing is that I eat less, exercise more and drink water and lots of it.  I am supposed to drink 8 eight ounce glasses of water and I am falling way short on that folks.  I love sweet tea but that is not pure water.  If you drink a lot of water it will help you shed those pounds.  

Well, it is time to stop writing here and get ready for church.  I hope you have a blessed day and a good week coming up.  God bless

changing lifestyles to be healthy

Yesterday was a busy day, took Katy to Columbia SC so she could take her test she has been studying for. We came back home around 2 pm and I took the kids to the bowling alley for about 90 minutes and bowled three games. I had 2173 calories yesterday.

Today after church Katy went to the store to get hamburger fixings so I went home and put on my work out garb and went to the gym for an hour. I spent 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer at level 3 which is up from level 2 and ran 1.86 miles. I then walked around the track once to cool off and then went downstairs to the nautilus machines and worked on the weight machines for 35 minutes.

I am worn slap out but I feel good about my choices. I am at 1129 calories for today as of 3 pm so I am hoping to keep it under 2000 calories today.

I also had the opportunity to talk to one of the personal trainers while I was at the gym. This turned out to be a very good conversation. Sylvia told me to quit focusing so much on my weight. She told me that I needed to focus more on becoming healthy. She said that if I always focused on the FAT and how that made me feel that it would cause me to do things to make me FEEL better like eat more food. She told me that my focus or mind set should be to start eating the right things and less food and doing things like aerobics and weight training to cause my body to be healthy. She said that if I will do that then the weight will begin to come off slowly and surely. Sylvia told me that I need to set goals no matter how small they are. She said the goal should be obtainable. I told her that my goal for now is to show up at the gym every other day and to get on the elliptical trainer for a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes. I told her that the weight training afterwards was just an added bonus. Sylvia told me that I should write that down and then stick with it. She told me that every time I meet a goal such as making it to the gym and losing weight that I should record it so I can go back and look at it. On Calorie-count.com I am keeping a log of calories, weight lost and exercise so I can print that out.

Spring Valley High School Columbia SC

I am sitting in my car outside of a UPS store connected to Wifi (paid) waiting for Katy go finish her exam. We woke up bright and early at 5 am and hit the road at 5:20 am putting us in Columbia SC around 7:20 am. Katy was supposed to be at the school around 7:30 am to check in so that she could take the test around 8 am. Well, little did we know there would be several HUNDRED other souls there doing the same thing. Can you say parking NIGHTMARE. No, I am not talking about having a hard time finding a parking spot I am talking about those of us that were trying to drop our spouse off and just leave so they could take the test. Basically it worked like this. Drive in the first drive way go to dead end where there was other folks blocked in backing out and turning around to leave. I follow them and go to the next entrance and let Katy out of the car. I turn left to go down the driveway in front of the school to find that while it is a one way drive there are people doing the same thing. They are running into a grid lock at the gate that is closed and locked and they are turning around and trying to come out the same way they came in except for the fact that I and about 20 other folks were trying to leave the same way they were coming. We are all sitting in our cars shaking our heads wondering why we are running around like geese with our heads lobbed off. Security shows up and we all think "goodie, this person will make sense of this nightmare and help us". Think again, security was clueless and wondered how we even got onto the property in the first place. So much for being aware of your surroundings. LOL... Well, anyway , I dont fault the security officer he was only doing whatever it is he was supposed to be doing. I asked him if there was any way he would entertain the option of directing traffic and get it flowing in one direction or the other. He tried to open the gate down at the end which was the direction folks were supposed to leave and he did not have the keys. He called his supervisor who did not know where the keys were either. Imagine my surprise when I found that out. LOL... Approximately 35 minutes later enough cars filter out to where I can turn my car around and follow the secruity vehicle the wrong way down a one way driveway to the front gate where he kept people from entering in and eventually let me out. I was so thankful to be free of that clusterfuge.

One of the things that amused me was that security did not know how the gate got opened to begin with. The other thing that was amusing is that there is a huge parking lot that was empty next to the school that everyone was supposed to use this morning. My question is this. Why was security not notified of this and who opened the wrong gate? Why wasnt there someone there this morning around 6:30 am to guide folks from out of town to the correct parking lot? Well, I have to run, wifey just called and said she is done with the test. Yeah!! Go Katy!!

Starting over

I am starting over. Today I did the impossible and I joined the Goose Creek Recreation Center. If you live in Goose Creek it costs 25.00 to join. Adults are 25.00 and children 16 and under are less. No, it is not World Fitness however it does provide us a place to go and get some much needed exercise. I went back tonight with my shorts and tennis shoes on and got on the elliptical trainer for 20 minutes. I burned 247 calories and ran 1.25 miles. I am starting over. Every day I will be starting over.Every day I will determine to count my calories, drink more water, less sugary crap and exercise more. Every day that I have to live I can start over and take small baby steps to reach my goal. My first goal is to lose 20 lbs and leave it off. Over the last several years I have managed to take off 13 to 14 lbs but I have not been consistent with making the life changes permanent. Some folks force themselves into drastic weight loss diets. The problem with weight loss diets is that the changes are radically different and if you fall off the wagon the weight comes right back on. I need to practice using the knowledge that I already have. I need to eat less bread, sugars, carbs etc. I need to eat more veggies and drink more water and eat less sugary junk. I also need to realize that this weight did not get here over night and it wont come off over night. I have to take it one day at a time, one meal at a time and one exercise session at a time. Instead of eating the elephant all at one sitting I amgoing to eat him one tiny bite at a time. The elephant represents the weight that I am carrying around.

Now that I have spoken about my starting over with my weight loss I am going to speak about something that very few folks are brave enough to talk about in public. I am going to talk about rebuilding my/our credit rating. Most folks would not dare to admit that they have credit problems and or huge debt that they can not handle or an outrageous debt to income ratio. Approximately 1 year ago Katy and I decided to start over. Before that time I was so depressed about my weight problem and our credit woes that my attitude was to just ignore the problem and hope it would auto magically go away. Guess what folks, weight problems and bad credit do not go away, they linger on for a life time if you let them. Not only do they linger on but they can potentially cause you a lot of grief, pain, anguish, stress and sleepless nights. I am glad that we have started over with rebuilding our credit. The firstthing that we had to do was to realize that while things looked dismal the situation was not impossible. Do you remember that elephant? This is an elephant of a different color but an elephant nonetheless. So, we realized that the only way that our credit was going to get better was to do several things. The first thing was to get beyond the mental anguish and depression that it causes. My thought process went like this. Go ahead and put it on my credit, it is so screwed up it does not even matter. The sad fact of the matter is every single thing on your credit report does matter and in a big way. Lets face it folks,we live in a society that says if you do not have good credit then there are certain things that you just wont be able to do. If you have bad credit it will be difficult to lease a house much less buy one. If you have 10,000 bucks lying around in a mutual fund or IRA that you can cash in then it does not matter what your credit is except for a small little thing called an interest rate.There are tons of investors and mortgage companies that will give you an 80 or 90 percent loan but you have to come up with a huge down payment and closing costs AND you have to pay an enormous interest rate or balloon payment at the end. Is that fair?No, not really but it is reality and the sooner that we realize it the better off we will be.

Debt is not limited to nationality, religion or creed. Debt is a problem that most of us have. Debt in and of itself is not bad but how we handle it or dont handle it is what makes it bad. One year ago or maybe longer a friend of mine helped me past some mental road blocks that were hindering me from getting back on the long road to being more successful with regards to credit.

I had to quit viewing the credit problems like it was some sort of uncontrollable monster. I had a fear of this monster and I thought it was about to eat me alive. The only way I knew how to control this monster was to just lock it up and throw away the key and hide from it. Another defense mechanism that I used was to deny the monster was even there. Somehow the monster always managed to announce its presence through the US Mail and my answering machine. Nevertheless I was afraid of the monster and I chose to ignore it. I had to realize that this monster was really just a series of stupid mistakes I had madeand circumstances that I had very little control of. Neither one of these things negate the other, they just exist and cause bad credit. Not too long ago a mortgage brokersensed my despair over my credit and wrote something to me in her response. She told me that just because I have bad credit or a low FICO score does not mean we are bad people. So, with that in mind when I was afraid of the credit/debt monster I allowedit to give me low self esteem. I viewed myself as ugly and unlovable because of it. That also goes hand in hand with the weight problem. I am over weight, I feel bad, I must look bad therefore I am probably bad. There it is again, deriving my value orlack thereof because of my weight problem or credit problems.

My friend helped me to see that the monster really was not a problem but it was a problem that could be solved. The monster is no longer a monster but a puzzle to be solved. This monster isa challenge instead of an insurmountable obstacle. The next thing that I had to do was to take ownership of the problem and posses it. I could no longer ignore it and I had to realize that it would never just magically go away on its own. Once I did that I was able to view the challenge as a series of problems that needed to be solved. The first problem that I had to undertake was to make sure that I did not repeat further mistakes that caused the problems to occur. One of the best ways to keep from making the same mistakes is to educate yourself about debt. My friend gave me a series of books by Suze Orman and they are excellent. Not every single thing that she says applies to my situation however the basics do apply. I do not care who you chose to get that education but for your sake the sake of your credit find someone that you can trust and start learning.

Here is a basic fact that we had to grasp. If you do not have the cash to buy it then you do not need it, period. That especially applies to those of us that have a credit card. For those of us that use debit cards and cash this is how that works. You live by a budget and if what you want will cause something in your budget to get bumped out of place you CAN NOT get it, period. Years ago we started using a budget out of sheer necessity so that we could allocate the necessary funds to pay for necessary living expenses such as rent (mortgage payment), car payment(s), light bill, gasoline for the cars, water bill, telephone bill, cell phone bill , cable bill etc. Please note that of those bills listed there are some needs and wants. It is so easy to blur the lines between a need and a want. Your rent or mortgage payment is a NEED because if you dont pay those items you will find yourself swatting at mosquitoes late at night under a tree somewhere in a public park. If you dont pay your phone bills you will still have a place to live but you wont be able to make a phone call. I guess some folks would argue that having a phone is a need. The bottom line is this. You have to determine where the fuzzy line is between a want and a need and draw it in the sand.

What I did not realize was that we used our budget to pay for necessities but we did not use it to manage the rest of our income. Like most married couples we were living from pay check to pay check with little to nothing left over. The main living expenses were paid and we had a place to live and a car to drive to our jobs but we still had outstanding debt that was piling on theinterest and penalties. God forbid an emergency would happen that would be out of the ordinary such as a unexpected car bill or medical emergency with the kids. We needed to learn how to PLAN for emergencies and to PLAN for paying off that debt. We hadto take the credit report in hand and identify those things that were not ours and dispute it with the credit reporting agencies. Remember the monster I spoke of? Credit reporting agencies do not care what is on your credit report, they are paid to putwhatever is reported on there. It is our job to dispute it and prove that what is there is either valid or not. It took us approximately 45 days but I managed to prove that several of the things that were listed on my credit report did not belong to me.The credit reporting agency took those things off.

I have only scratched the surface on these two subjects. All of us are subject matter experts either on the cause or the effect. My desire here is not to relish in the negatives or my failures. My desire is to communicate to you that there is HOPE. There is hope to start over. One day at a time, one bite at a time. Reach out to your circle of friends and family and God and ask for help. Break out of the darkness and despair and drag that thing into the light. You can do it...

It's time to toss out your antivirus software by TechRepublic's George Ou -- Running antivirus on a personal computer is like having the bomb squad inspect a suspicious package inside the house right next to you. No matter how careful or how good that bomb squad is, one of these days they'll make a mistake and explode in your house. As a matter of fact, the bad guys are deliberately rigging the bombs in a way that will blow up the house if someone tries to scan it and this is exactly what's happening with malformed ARJ or ZIP packages.

James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.blogharbor.com/blog
jcmoffitt@gmail.com

Google Talk & Google Pages

Do you use Google Talk? Have you signed up for Google Pages? Maybe you are one of the folks on the "We Hate Google bandwagon"? Well, anyway, if you are not on that bandwagon and you do use Google Talk go to the following URL and visit my document on how to update Gtalk and change your fonts and use custom themes. One of the negative aspects of Gtalk was the inability to change font size and color. Thanks to Gtalk and the help of third party programmers we can now enjoy some of the bells and whistles that we have grown accustomed to with our other IM programs from AOL and Yahoo.
The nice thing about Gtalk is that it is not bloatware and does not force you to view video advertising when it starts up.

http://jcmoffitt.googlepages.com/gtalk