I know you are reading...

Remember I blogged about finding a way to access my Gmail by adding a gadget to my igoogle page? I had searched the internet for ideas on how to add a shortcut to my start menu which would take me to my inbox. I could not find anything. I did find that others had the same question with no results.

Well, to my surprise today after I had blogged about my way of placing the gadget on igoogle and then selecting igoogle as your homepage, I discovered when checking my Gmail that google place a link to a new option. Can you guess what that option is? Yes, their new idea is to place gmail on your homepage whether that homepage be Google or Igoogle. Did they steal my idea? Well I guess the "big boys" can do whatever they want.

I know this will be a hit with many folks since you can read and respond to your gmail much quicker now. I wil continue to use gmail simply because it works well with my screen reader.

Hey you guys who look for cookies or whatever it is you do with our blogs and ads, send a little of your riches from this idea my way...

Thinking back...

I am thinking way back. About 48 years ago or so. I was thinking of the cold winter days in my childhood. I remember walking the five blocks to school. I was cold but I moved pretty fast, so I got to school fine. I now think of my mother, she walked me to school and then had to walk back home. I remember feeling the direction of the wind and figuring out if she would be walking back home with the wind or against it.

Our school was warm and cozy. I would go home for lunch. Most of the time I would eat chicken noodle soup and a sandwich of lunchmeat. That was at the time my favorite lunch.

Our house was heated with oil. We had a hut in the back yard which enclosed two huge tanks which would be filled with the oil. In the start of winter my grandfather would have the oil delivered and pumped into the tanks. Depending on how cold the winter was, this had to be done a few times during the heating season. I would enjoy watching the driver unreel this long hose from his truck and insert the spout into the tanks one at a time. He would talk to me while this was getting done. I don't recall what we talked about. Just stuff I guess. I recall likeing the smell of his truck. The fuel was diesel and it had a unique smell, I have always related the smell of diesel fuel with warmth. I never gave it much thought till now, but it stands to reason I would associate that smell with warmth since the truck which delivered the oil which kept us warm ran on diesel fuel.

There are other scents which make me think of certain things or events in my life. I guess this is not unique to me. What is unique is the fact that a scent which brings something to mind for me may not have the same memory for someone else. That is just one example of how cool life can be if we take the time to stop and smell the roses...

Working with and around Google...

I was til last week a loyal user of Outlook as my email client. When it decided to freeze-up and take with it all my inbox, I decided it was time to move on.

I always had Gmail as my email provider, Outlook was just the tool I used to access my mail. I went to my Gmail directly and removed all the ads I could and made it user friendly. I was then trying to place a shortcut to my inbox on my start menu. I could not do it. The closest I got was to place a shortcut icon on the desktop. I was not satisfied, so I did some searching. To my surprise I was not the only person trying to do this with no success. I was not about to give up. I kept thinking till I came up with a unique idea which worked perfectly.

I know someone is going to take credit for it but what the heck. Here it goes:

Create an igoogle page.
Make Gmail one of your gadgets.
While on your igoogle page select it as your only homepage.
You do this by clicking on the link which reads: make igoogle your homepage.
Now whenever you go to the internet your igoogle page will pop up with guess what? Your inbox! You cand read and compose mail right from there. How cool is that! I cleaned-up my igoogle page and the only gadgets are my inbox and the Chicago Tribune.

So you see, where there is a will there is a way....

Don't get discouraged...

You know when things aren't going right? When all your good dreams and ideas seem to have been flushed down the toilet? Well, don't lose faith! There is always hope as long as there is life to be lived.

I once saw my life as a grandfather with all my children and their children having dinners and such things which families do together. A few years ago however, things changed which kinda put a little twist into those plans. I thought it could never happen now as I would like. But, to my joy, they can happen if we are willing to adjust our way of thinking. As an example, my children their mom and their children, and me of course, had a very nice dinner yesterday. My son Dave had to work so that was the only draw back. It was very nice and everyone had a good time.

This is how things can work out if we are willing to adjust our thinking and give a little. I know that to some it just is not right to do things this way, I was one of those thinkers not so long ago. But, one only robs oneself of a pretty good life if one is not willing to give a little.

Life is way to short and it will end a whole lot quicker if we choose to live angry and always seeking revenge.

So, smile,laugh,dance,sing and enjoy life with those you love and love you....

Sure got cold...

No big surprise, it got cold on the first day of December, in Chicago. I remember when I was a kid I really did not mind the cold weather outside if I could still go outside. I did not enjoy it however when I would go out preaching with my mom or dad. My toes would practically freeze off. I did it the whole time feeling I was pleasing God. Maybe I was maybe I wasn't. Only God knows. All I know it was damn cold out there. I loved to get home and just warm up by the floor register in the downstairs hallway. Home was shat it was supposed to be, a welcome site. I can't recall not ever wanting to be at home. Even after I grew up, and wherever I lived, home has always been a welcome place to be. I guess that is primarily because I view my home as a safe haven, no not heaven, but haven, a place where I can escape from the crazy world.

I think life for those who are not able to feel so good about going home are missing so much. How and where do folks like that relax?

Anyway, about the cold. I have often heard that the cold is good to kell germs, I hope that is true cause there are plenty of germs making people sick.

About freezing. I thought a few times in my life I would freeze to death waiting on a bus or train. I recall going to Union Station and waiting on a Metra train, I was sitting on a bench which was frozen itself. I remember shaking so much that I wondered if the guy sitting next to me could feel it. I thought that if I had to wait another minute, I would surely die. Well, I did not die. I thawed out in the train. I really was not looking forward to arriving at my destination since I would have to leave my warm seat, but if I did not get up I would have ended up hours away from home. I recall other times waiting for the CTA and walking and hopping by the corner just to keep the blood pumping. Unlike today, there were not shelters where you could hide from the wind. I am sure that there are people, young and old, who are going through the same things I went through. It's part of life in the Midwest....

Venting our anger...

We all get angry from time to time. For some of us it is more often than for others. I am happy to say that my days of being angry all the time are long over. I have learned how to control myself. This I do both for myself and others.

One thing that really bothers me of certain people is how, or rather who they vent their anger on. By venting i don't mean the act of telling someone your problems with the hope that by doing so you will be able to handle the situation better. I am talking about venting by yelling or displaying anger over someone who is not the blame or reason for you feeling the way you do. I view these persons, who most of the time are children, as innocent victims. We really need to understand why and to whom our anger should be displayed to. It is a very dangerous thing not to do so. Until we face the reason and person for our negative feelings, we will not solve a thing and those around us will suffer. Adults will avoid you because they can, but childdren, especially your own children, will stay and take the mental and physical abuse because they have no choice. Actually they do have a choice but because of their age and innocense they don't realize it. It is actually a very sad thing when we attack the ones who can defend themselves the least.

Remember you can take on new adventures and try to hide your true feelings by inventing new things to do, but in reality you are just postponing the inevitable. You need to be honest with yourself and you must also be honest with the person or persons who you have an issue with. Believe me it is for the best. Not only for you, but for those innocent ones who are the ones quietly dealing with feelings they don't understand. It is so unfair to burden children with feelings of guilt when they are not responsible for any of our screwed-up life...

Do you need a reason?...

I was thinking of how families seem to only get together when the calendar suggest they do. You know, holidays and such. I wonder if back in history people invented such days just to have a reason to get together. I know that merchants really take advantage of the holidays and birthdays to promote their products. There are certain items which are difficult if not impossible to find when the holidays are gone. As an example, I love these butter cookies that come in a round tin container, they are delicious and only available during the Christmas holiday. There are certain candies which are only sold during Halloween. So certainly store owners enjoy the fact people look forward to celebrating the holidays.

The food enjoyed during the holidays is also very special. It seems that every ethnic group has a special dish or two for each particular holiday. I don't mind that at all since you can go to different restaurants and expect to find and array of choices.

Getting back to my main topic, do we really need special dates to get together? I don't think so, but trying to convince the majority would be very difficult. Maybe as the years go on someone will make a day for "Just Because,"" the greeting cards are already out there...