"Why Some Men Have Dogs And Not Wives..." 'Obama Da Dog'

Obama Da Dog explains why it's a good idea to adopt a dog!

Why Some Men Have Dogs And Not Wives:

1. The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.       2. Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.       3. Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.       4. A dog's parents never visit.       5. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.       6. You never have to wait for a dog; they're ready to go 24 hours a day.       7. Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk..       8. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.       9. A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, "If I died, would you get another dog?"         10. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and give them away.       11. A dog will let you put a studded collar on it without calling you a pervert.       12. If a dog smells another dog on you, they don't get mad. They just think it's interesting.       13. Dogs like to ride in the back of a pickup truck.       And last, but not least:       14. If a dog leaves, it won't take half of your stuff. To test this theory: Lock your wife  or significant other and your dog in the trunk of your car  for an hour. Then open it and see who's happy to see you.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could? ;D)

"Bug-out..!" 'Michael Herr' (Aloha Friday)

Renowned author Michael Herr is back guest-blogging on this awesome Aloha Friday about  being prepared for a natural disaster or emergency... Make sure and check out Michael's website at; http://www.michaelherr.com/

ALOHA FRIDAY

November 18

It's Aloha Friday.

"Bug-out !"

Where do you live? Never mind, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that no matter where you live you should have a bug-out bag.

I first heard the term while watching "M.A.S.H." on t.v. Bug-out was when the whole unit had to take everything down, throw it all into some trucks and move really quickly to in order to get set up at a new location.

What's the danger in your area? Tsunami, tornado, hurricane, massive snow storm, flooding, wildfires? Here where I live it's earthquakes or building fires primarily. After a recent fire displaced all twelve residents of one building, I got to thinking about how my wife and I would deal with having to move out of our building quickly. For us it's a problem. My wife is somewhat disabled and uses a wheelchair to get around outside our residence. I wouldn't have time to pack much if a fire forced me to get her outside quickly.

And so I bought a bug-out bag. Just a backpack really. A small one that I can stuff into the seat storage of a hall-tree we have had for years by our front door.

Now that I have the bag I have to decide what to put in it. For that I have to consider that we could be forced out of our unit at any time of day, or night, or any season of the year. Warm weather we can handle, so I need to plan mostly for cold weather. I figure we might be out only for a few hours, just until we can relocate to a hotel somewhere nearby. Then again we might be outside for many hours if the event that forces us out affects a great many people in our area.

So, what to pack? Socks, a light blanket or two, plastic raincoats, flashlight with batteries, sweatshirts, pants, medications list . . . this list goes on and on. So I'll have to do some prioritizing for what goes in the bug-out bag.

Do you have a bug-out bag? Have you even thought about what you'll do if suddenly you have to leave your home? No, you can't plan for all contingencies. But it doesn't hurt to do some pre-planning, make some effort to cover yourself in an emergency.

By the way, please be sure not to confuse bug-out with that wonderful British expression, bugger-off. Should you use the latter expression by mistake, you may indeed need to bug-out.

Much aloha.

There's still time to order a complete set of Michael's Books for the Holiday's. Buy all 6 books for only 18.00 including P&H. The books make great stocking stuffers, you may even want to add one to your Bug-out bag...
http://www.michaelherr.com
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could? ;D)

"A Financial pathetic disaster..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen'

World leaders from Asian countries last week gathered on Oahu for the APEC convention, what was suppose to be an economic boom for the local economy wound up being a huge tax burden for the people. If all the money used to transport all the world leaders to Hawaii and host them for 4 days would had been used to help save the economy, I would be elated, but no, these self serving narcissistic  politicians again show us their real colors.

check out the story on the local news;  http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/16040320/waikiki-residents-bid-good-riddance-to-apec

Honolulu Hawaii hosted the 2011  'Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference last week and to the dismay of many felt it was a government takeover with road closures and vehicle searches set-up all around the island. Business's lost money, many lost valuable hours of work and all the world leaders got to see empty streets and business with no patrons... All this at Taxpayer expense...

APEC was a financial pathetic disaster watching the state and federal Government spend millions of taxpayers dollars while giving all APEC members tax exemptions on anything they bought while in Hawaii.

First of all these APEC members are mostly wealthy politicians, why do they need tax breaks? By giving them-tax-breaks how are we going to recoup all the money spent on police, security, roadblocks etc?

Second, many business's prepared for record numbers with buying additional inventories and having additional staff on hand only to find out many streets had been blocked to traffic which translated into loss of business.

Third,with so much funding being lost during this current recession, with cuts to programs such as Head-start, medicaid and medicare only to find the government pouring money into APEC, which consisted of glorified luncheons and dinner parties which only proves again that politicians are self serving narcissists into their own agenda's.

Finally,until the recession is over may I recommend skype conference calls for all future meetings of such.
Last but not least, wouldn't it be pono(righteous) with all the political fundraisers upcoming to use that money to help our economy in lieu of using it for self serving needs?

This blog also appeared as an opinion article in the November 26Th, 2011 edition of the Kauai Garden News; http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_4c5a5052-18b6-11e1-9f23-001cc4c002e0.html

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could? ;D)

"Just like Family..." James "Kimo" Rosen

People know things about you before you do, just like family...This blog also appeared as an opinion article in the Kauai Garden Island news on 11-13-11; http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_1abee5c8-0dd3-11e1-a711-001cc4c03286.html  

Just like family
The beauty of living on an isolated island and small town is everyone treats you like family, or ‘ohana.
Many of my friends have either quit talking to me and give me the silent treatment and stink eye or spread vicious rumors that are hard to defend because everyone loves to gossip, just like family.
Living in a sleepy town where most don’t accept phone calls after 9 p.m. and if you dare call someone at 9:05 p.m. they will answer and go off on you on why you called so late, just like family.
The other great thing about an isolated island and small town is people know things about you before you do, just like family.
I use to take offense at the lack of aloha I experienced in Hawai‘i until I realized most people were treating me just like family.
Welcome to paradise where everyone is treated just like family, or should I say ‘ohana?

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could? ;D)

"The Best Teacher Ever... 'Unknown author' (shared through Truth-book)



Everyone has their burdens in life, even grade school students...

 There's a story from many years ago of a primary school teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson and as she stood in front of her fifth grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said she loved them all the same.

But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed he didn't play well with the other children, his clothes were messy and he constantly needed a bath. Teddy could be quite unpleasant.

It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last.However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise. Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners. He is a joy to be around."

His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle."

His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken."

Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs.. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful paper and tied with pretty ribbons, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper he got from a grocery bag.

Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my mom used to."

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead she began to teach children.

Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded.. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class, and despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time, he explained that after he got his Bachelor degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now, his name was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course Mrs. Thompson did.

And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs.. Thompson, for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me I could make a difference."

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me I could make a difference.. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

Thank you to http://www.truthbook.com/    for sharing!

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could? ;D)

"Living in the best area of both worlds..."'Judith Whitehead' (Inspirational Monday)

Judith Whitehead is back guest-blogging on this Inspirational Monday about her new found four legged friends that just might put some food on the table, so to speak. Judith lives in Amherst N.Y. has worked in the ophthalmology field of medicine for almost 30 years... (Blog and photo courtesy of Judith Whitehead)

Over 10 years ago we decided to build a home in a more rural area where there were still woods around us and spaces between the homes. Of course we didn't want to get too crazy and made sure there were stores within a few miles of our house. We have enjoyed living in the outer suburbs immensely and have recently discovered a new treasure only a few miles from our home, an alpaca ranch.

We Stumbled among these beautiful beasts one afternoon while taking a country ride looking for pumpkins for the upcoming Fall season, to decorate with. Unbeknown to us, there living in our backyard were alpacas of all ages who were as friendly as a dogs. They were very curious animals who are related to the lama family and have fur as soft as butter. They get sheared once a year and fill a bag of fur the softest of which you have ever felt.

I decided it was time to take up my knitting hobby and bought some of the yarn for making scarves with. Turns out the owners of the alpaca farm are interested in my wares and so are their customers…..a new symbiotic relationship was born.

 So, with our cold weather that is just around the corner in New York, my knitting needles will be humming away providing warmth for my fellow neighbors and friends and now for my prospective customers. If it turns out to be a cold winter, my little four legged friends will be building a thick coat for next Spring to recycle.

For more information and photo's of Alpaca's in Western New York, check out the following;
http://www.alpacabreedersofwny.com/list/default.html

 The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could? ;D)

"The Air Conditioner saga..." (A cool story) 'James "Kimo" Rosen'

"Air conditioners may come and go, but there's still nothing like the fresh ocean breeze. I use my air conditioner primarily as a white noise machine, to block out the chitter chatter of neighbors...I know it's November and many of you are battling cold weather and I am blogging about a broken air conditioner. :D)

This is a cool story (pun intended) that happened last week... 

Sixteen months ago I bought a Kenmore window type air conditioner from Sears. It quit working last week so I called customer service about my warranty, my warranty expired in May of 2011, one year after I bought it. I  sure wish I had bought the extended warranty for $60.00 at that time. 

 The person on the phone told me that there is a $97.00 fee just to see what's wrong and diagnose the problem, the same thing on the 'Mainland' United States is $65.00 and the $65.00 is applied towards your repair, however after much hoopla I was told the $97.00 is just to examine the air conditioner and any repair done in Hawaii is additional. 


I scheduled the appointment and decide to take the gamble on the diagnosis, I wait from 8:00A.M.-12:00 P.M.  the guaranteed time they say they will be at my residence,  one o'clock came around and I had a doctors appointment at 2:00 therefore I call Sears and they feel bad and reschedule and give me a $50.00 credit towards my repair for not showing. The customer service rep tells me  that the  $50.00 is only good for the repair and not the $97.00 estimate.  I was somewhat disappointed but decide to reschedule for the following Wednesday. 

In the interim I am shopping on Craigslist and see many used air conditioners and one in particular for $71.00. The lady says she will get back with the particulars, is it quiet, how old is it etc, I asked?  Even though I am ready to buy, she is not ready with answers or even ready to show it because she is so bogged down in work.


Sears comes and I show them what's wrong, within 2 seconds without touching the unit the repair-woman says, "I can tell you with-out touching it that it will cost you at least $190.00 for the repair alone not including the visit." The repair person sees the look of distress on my face and says to me, "I never touched the unit so I recommend you buy a new one." "If Sears calls for a follow-up tell them you just decided to buy a new one, Technically I was never here."


The repair-woman also stated make sure and buy the extended warranty next time, especially on the Hawaiian Islands electrical appliances take a beating from the salt air, and my place sits on a hill with the ocean slightly below. OK great advise, Mahalo Nui Loa, I replied. (Thank you very much)


I am thrilled I did not have to spend $97.00 just to be told my air conditioner was not repairable. I was ready to write off my Kenmore Air conditioner and look seriously for a new one with a warranty.  I decide for fun to give my air conditioner  one last  hard kick, I had kicked it a few times before calling customer service, but this time I really kicked it hard just out of frustration and low and behold, 'hallelujah' it starts spitting out cold air! 

 The air conditioner Goddess's decided that my Air conditioner needed a miracle healer and so be it, Amen. My air conditioner is fixed, for free, just with a kick. The moral of the story when your AC is sick give it a kick!

(The names of the air conditioner and store may have been changed to protect the guilty.... other than that this story is the truth!)


The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could? ;D)