So many scams out there

I have been astonished to find out how many scams are “out there” nowadays. So many advertisements for “working at home and making a million dollars” are tempting the people who are having a difficult life to send in their hard earned dollars to sign up for a “pie in the sky” scheme. I feel so badly for the thousands of desperate people who are scammed by these piranhas of society! Even I have been the target of some scams where someone sent me a fraudulent money order and wanted me to cash it at my bank and send them money by Western Union. What is coming of this world?

The modern classroom

Guest post by Susan Schumaker

Computer Based Training is increasing in popularity in the work place and in the classroom. The Information Age has made many changes to the way people are approaching education. As a college student, there are many classes I took that included taking labs in the computer lab at school. In the workplace, several of the places that I have worked focused their training sessions in an office full of computers.

Many professions now require the passing of state certification exams, and the preparation courses for these exams are available over the Internet. The exams themselves are done on computers in modern, secure testing facilities. The Information Age has truly transformed the way that business and education are done in the United States.

In Maine, the public education system gives the students their own personal laptop computers to take home with them, and to continue using the same laptop through out their high school years. This kind of forward-thinking is something that I think every state should get involved in. The world is shrinking, and becoming more competitive every day. We need to give our students every competitive edge we can.

Having to move

Thanks for the article from Rubin Osborne

Having to move wasn’t something that was in the cards for me but I’m really glad we did. It’s been a great way to force our family to come back together and at this age where the kids are both about to be teenagers it’s nice having something we can all go through together. I sure wish I had more of a hobby but sometimes I get online on the Satellite Star Internet in South Dakota during the day and talk to my sisters and stuff…my husband’s new job is working out well though and he really likes it which is good since it’s the whole reason we moved out here in the first place! It’s nice being able to find time to spend as a family and I know my kids will adjust just fine after a few more months so I’m just going to keep plugging ahead towards a new life for all of us here in South Dakota where we’re living!

Thank goodness for the industrial revolution

Every now and then I will take a drive out to the country and enjoy the sights and sounds of farm life. When I was very young my grandparents had a farm, and my happiest childhood memories are from visiting them on their farm.  Last weekend I decided to take such a drive and found myself driving very slowly behind a caravan of farm equipment. As you can imagine, in the country roads there are not very many opportunities to pass slow moving farm vehicles, so I just settled in for a slow ride; I was in no particular hurry.

Eventually all of the trucks pulled into a long dirt driveway and as I passed I took a look at some of the equipment that was being hauled. One of the things was a huge conveyor belt device that I could only imagine would be used for silo unloading. I don’t know what all of the other machines were, or how they are used. Sometimes I fantasize about living on a farm and driving big farm equipment.  But then I think about the old sit-com “Green Acres” and start to chuckle – I don’t think my wife would take kindly to living the farm life at all!

So very convenient

Every now and then I run into somebody who still spends hours on end writing checks out to pay their bills. Ever since my own bank offered Electronic Payments service (they call it Bill-pay) I signed up and have been delighted ever since! I don’t have to spend any time writing out the checks, so it saves me time. I don’t have to buy the blank checks, and I don’t have to buy stamps, so I save money. The Bill-pay is absolutely free, so it saves me time and money; how can you go wrong?

When I run into those people who say that they still do their bill paying by hand, I ask them why they don’t use their bank’s Bill-pay service. Sometimes they say that they don’t have a computer, or Internet service. Those folks tend to be senior citizens, so I can understand that. But the people that are my age or younger, when they say that they don’t own a computer, I really have to wonder why. I don’t get the impression that they are hard up for money. I wonder if they are afraid of computers!