Against The Rocks

So Since March of 2020 Most of the world has had portable jobs working remotely. 

Not saying that everyone was able to work through the pandemic, but a lot of people with office jobs were sent home and were given the tools to work remotely.  Some of us got used to working from home and are not looking forward to having to return to the work place.  I currently have a job working remotely.  The only way I will have to go back to an office is if I have to get another job for some reason.  The only reason would be for money.  I have my podcast and really want to make it work and get an income coming in for that.  I need to find sponsors and the fees need to be by the month.  I think the fee structure needs to be based on pre-roll, mid roll or post roll.  Depending on the sponsor and how they want it set up. You get mentioned in every podcast and you pay a set fee.  

Other people have portable jobs but are still doing the same jobs they had inside a corporate office.  Those people will probably eventually return to a corporate setting.  However, if leases could be broken, the businesses could save money on overhead for having a physical office.  They could just revert to having a small office with a conference room and a small kitchen area to entertain clients.  

If all corporate offices reverted to that set up, what do you think would happen to all the office space around major metropolitan areas?  Would/could those areas be turned in to housing for people? Just think about the possibilities?  It would however only work if corporate giants didn’t take it over and make the rent so high that no one could live there.  Could it be turned in to stores?  Eating places?  Probably not, but they might be able to convert them to other useful spaces like medical offices, specialized schools, or maybe special homes for children that are taken in to foster care or from abused homes or maybe a shelter for women or children that need a temporary escape.  

I don’t really think we need all of that office space.  We’ve proven over the last 12 months that we can make it work outside an office setting.  I’m sure that there were those people that could not handle working from home.  I’m also sure that there are those people that learned to be more productive and balance work/life.  I was one of those.  I found a way to take care of the house, work the podcast, exercise to a healthier life style and take care of my family while working.  It can be done and that is really the lifestyle I’m looking to keep.  

I pray every day for help to come for my podcast in the way of a sponsor, a bigger audience and a break through on the program itself.  I’m seriously thinking about starting a second podcast and doing stories.  I have several books/stories that I have written and I think it would be good, but it would have to be from an author standpoint as I’m not any good with voices like in Audible.  

I’m not sure what tomorrow holds for anyone.  I’m not sure where the podcast will go, but I do know that this is something I’m supposed to do whether it is a personal journal or true crime or romance stories or just whatever.  

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Laura

So I’m not sure who watched it, but a remake of the Equalizer premiered after the Superbowl this year.  The first time The Equalizer appeared on Television was in 1985 and starred Edward Woodard.  He was a former Covert operations officer and the show ran up 1989.  Just like the new series, he obtained his clients from placing an ad.  However, in 1985 it was in the Newspaper.

Denzel Washington made the first film, The Equalizer and it came out in 2014 and it was based on an American Vigilante.  He was a Former Marine and worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency.  Now the name of the Equalizer in both the first series and the movie was Robert Mc Call.  

Both were excellent shows and I love it when the underdog wins in these shows with the help of a “Ghost” so to speak.  

The new series stars Queen Latifah and she is excellent in the show.  I believe she is ex-CIA and Chris Noth from “Law and Order Series” plays her ex-boss and is trying to get her to work for him.  But she says she can do more good on her own.  Her name in this series is Robyn McCall and she is every bit as good as the guys and she has a family in it which makes it a little unique as I don’t remember the guys having a family.  

Queen Latifah has some catchy come backs when she is scoping out the criminals and working with her peeps.  One, who is a hacker who McCall helped avoid a life sentence for hacking the police department.  However, he married the other peep who has a special skill as a sniper. And says he traded one life sentence for another.  Robyn McCall gets her clients the same as the men who played this part; however, she has an ad on the Internet. 

It is an awesome show and I highly recommend it.  

Check it out!  I can’t wait for the next episode. 

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Laura

Brachycephalic, Aggressive Breeds and Temperature

Everyone loves pugs, Pekingese, and French bull dogs, but those dogs are actually restricted breeds when it comes to flying.  Snub-nosed dogs and cats are considered Brachycephalic which can lead to severe respiratory distress. Brachycephalic means snort headed.  They are all cute dogs and cats and a lot of people don’t realize it can be an issue when you decide to relocate or take a job in another country. 

A lot of the airlines have list of restricted breeds that are allowed to fly. 

Common examples of snub-nosed dogs and cats are English Bulldogs, French Bull Dogs, Pugs, Pekingese, Boston Terriers and king Charles spaniels, Persian cats, Scottish Fold cats, Himalayan, Bermese and British shorthair just to name a few.  

Aggressive Breeds is something else that is restricted on airlines or what the airlines consider to be restricted.  Some countries even prohibited certain breeds from entering. Germany no longer allows Pitbull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier, Staffordshire-Bullterrier or Bullterrier.  You can transit through the country, but not stay. You can usually call or google the airlines to see what the restrictions are for flying dogs, but most if not all have restricted breeds.

Temperature is something else that has to be considered when shipping pets.  Most airlines have guidelines as to how cold and how hot it can be to ship your babies.  Airlines often require an Acclimation disclaimer or letter filled out by you and your vet with the max/min temperatures that are allowed.  Also, it includes the entire trip if there are layovers.  

All the reasons above are why you need to contract with a pet travel company  prior to making reservations to ship your babies to a new country.  They can tell you upfront what, when, where and how it is done. Don’t wait until it is too late to get your baby on the flight.  Call them when you first make the decision to relocate and let them help you get your baby there.

Check out the IPATA website and get a good pet relocation company.  Also check out the USDA site for travel and what is needed. 

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Laura

Today, we celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary.  Never in my life did I think I would say those words.  I actually never thought I would get married until I met the man that is my husband.

It was truly by God’s intervention that we met.  We had a small wedding, western themed.  My daughter was my maid of honor.  His brother was the best man.  We had his brother perform the ceremony.  It was a nice and small wedding.  We were surrounded by family and friends.

We had three cakes.  Grooms cake with peanut butter icing, the wedding cake with three different flavor layers and as a side note, a maid of honor cake. My daughter always referred to herself as the princess, so we did a German Chocolate with a Cinderella carriage on it. It was a special day for her as well.  

Our wedding was at a small country church where my husband’s mother was a member.  The reception was in the family life building/gym.  Our wedding wasn’t fancy but it was perfect for us. 

We tried to involve our kids.  His sons were part of the wedding party and my daughter was my maid of honor.  My niece played the piano.

We didn’t do formal attire as I stated, it was western themed and clothes were reusable – so money wasn’t wasted on a dress that I would never wear again.  Not that a wedding dress is wasteful, but money wise it was not within the budget and it just wasn’t me.

We also had a short travel by car, honeymoon.  We both had jobs to get back to and things that needed to be done. 

Honey I love you with all my heart, body and soul.  I have no regrets other than I wish we had met earlier in our lives.  

Here’s to the next 35 years – to make it to 50 years of wedded bliss.

Love you Honey!

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 Just because you are born in the south or living in the south does not make you a racist.  Are we good ole’ boys and girls, yes we are.  Do we enjoy hunting, fishing and outdoor gatherings?  Yes we do. I have never been a slave owner, now has any of my ancestors at least back to when they came from England.  I had a great, great, great grandfather that came from England as an indentured servant.  It doesn’t matter to me what color your skin is or where you came from or where you live or what you want your gender to be.  However, there are only two genders, male and female.  If you want to identify as a woman and you are a man that is up to you, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are a male. I say all of this because the whole world has gone on a tantrum about race, gender, religion and I’m really tired of hearing about it and seeing it on television.  Our history is just that, history. Removing statues and renaming schools, buildings, streets and parks is offensive to me because that is my history.  It is your history as well if you were born in the United States.  If you have come to my country, the United States of America to escape a country where you don’t have the freedoms that are available here, then do it the right way and become a citizen.  That means that you give up your citizenship from the country you left and you become an American.  You can’t still be Indian and an American unless you are going to hold dual citizenship and if that is what you are doing, then it probably means you didn’t leave the other country because of hardships.  If you were born in America, you are an American.   Again if you were born in America, you are an American.  You might have Hispanic ancestors or African ancestors or Asian ancestors, but you are an American if you were born here.  You can be proud of your ancestry, and you should be. If you are here to become an American, than do what you need to do to accomplish that goal.  Just because your parents dragged you here as a young child doesn’t mean you get a free ride or it shouldn’t.  If you have been here long enough to graduate from college or start college, they apply for citizenship like an adult and do what is right.  I’m tired of hearing about all the illegals that are coming here and they are getting benefits handed to them when Americans have to pay or they are fined or penalized for not following the rules.  I’m tired of working to pay for others to get benefits that just need to go get a job.  If you have a family to provide for then go get a job.  Minimum wage is better than nothing.  Pride should not keep you from getting a job doing something to put food on the table or pay rent.  You can apply for help with benefits, but it is not a permanent handout.  It is to help you until you are able to get a job that pays more. I have had to work all my life to get to where I am today.  I’m not rich and we barely pay our bills, but we have a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs and food on our table.  We do not look for handouts or expect people to just hand us things.  That is not the way it is supposed to work.  You have to work for the things you want in life.  You have to have ethics and morals and you have to obey the laws.  If you look for trouble you will find it.  If you pull a gun on someone, chances are you can lose your life or go to jail.  Those are all decisions you as a person makes.  It h

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In the almost 15 years that we have been married, we have owned, rented, owned and now we are renting again.  In all of this time, we have kind of made a mental list of what we like about the different places and what we don’t. 

We would like to be able to pay and build as we go but I’m not sure that is going to be possible based on our salary at this time.  However, we continue to make a list:

Things we don’t like:

·         No windows in the back/front of the house

·         Small bathrooms

·         Utility closet instead of a utility room

·         No screen/storm doors

·         Galley kitchens

·         No separation between living and dining rooms

·         Single sinks in the bathroom

·         Not having a usable fireplace

·         Bathrooms so small two people won’t fit in the room

·         Cabinets that don’t have movable shelves or are not the right height/depth for dishes to fit

·         Two garage doors

·         Square footage – we need about 1800

 Things we do like:

·         The smaller yard because it is easier to take care of

·         The shape of the rooms

·         Placement of the utility room off the kitchen

·         Carpet in all the rooms

·         Kitchen window

·         Covered back porch

·         Wrap around porches

·         Fenced back yard – 8-10 foot

·         Double car garage

·         Walk in closets 

·         Lots of electrical outlets

·         Attic storage

We know kind of what we want as far as bedrooms and bathrooms and work rooms

We know we like the smaller yard but we will probably have some land so I can do a rescue or have more pets.

Where and when are really our major questions.  Our lease was for 15 months and that started in November of 2020.  Our other issue is how we are going to finance it.  I’m no longer making what I was.  I would actually like a piece of land that we can build on and live there while it is being built. 

We pray every day that my podcast will take off and we will be able to pay cash.  

I try to find new ways to monetize the podcast and have a T-spring store with Against the Rocks on it.

We know that God will show us what we need to do and how we are going to do it. 

We just have to listen.

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Laura

Think about that word for a minute.  Everyone has one.  Its not just on a gun, although in today's time that is an important one. 

Trigger by definition is a small device that releases a spring or catch and so sets off a mechanism, especially in a gun.
It s also defined as "cause to happen or exist (event or situation).  For example "an allergy can be triggered by stress or overwork".  

If you think about it, other words that go with trigger are: finger, words, happy, warning, point, food and there are also triggers in psychology.  Trigger foods - this effects you if you have an eating disorder like compulsive overeating.  I fall into that category as well as some others.  A trigger finger is the forefinger of the hand that typically is used to pull the trigger on a gun.  

A trigger is something that causes someone to have a extreme reaction.  It can be fear, upset or anger or another emotion, especially because of some traumatic event in their life. 

Some of my trigger foods are cookie dough like sugar cookies or chocolate chips cookie dough.  Chips - they are another big trigger.  However, when I get upset or stressed, it triggers me to my addiction to antacids, Walmart's equate brand especially.  

My anger is also triggered when people talk down to me like I'm stupid or call me an idiot and whatever the irritation is, you do not want me to start yelling.  Calling me names is a sure way to get that started.  I get frustrated and angry when I can't pay bills or even set up a budget because of our salaries these past several months. 

My OCD is triggered when I can't keep things on calendar especially if I don't know about them. 

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As pet owners we are responsible to protect out pets, just like parents it is our responsibility to protect our children.  For some people, their pets are their children.  So it is really important that they are vaccinated before transferring or moving to another country.   
A lot of countries require pets to be microchipped and that microchip has to be implanted on or before the rabies vaccination.  There is a 21 day waiting period after that rabies vaccination if it is the first one after the microchip is implanted.

Some countries don't require proof of annual vaccinations but if you are transferring from the United States you should already have most of the annual vaccinations, especially if you have had your furry pet since they were pups or kittens.  If asked for proof of those it should not be an issue and you should be able to get those records from your vet. 

There are countries that don't even require proof of a rabies but if you are going to return to the US you will need to have that to return.  So when you are considering that move or transfer,  you will need to take into consideration updating vaccinations and rabies and maybe having your animal microchipped.  There is also going to need to be an export exam and a health certificate indicating that your pet is fit to fly. 

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So it is no secret about how I love animals more than people.  They love you no matter what!

Anyone that has a Facebook account will occasionally receive a post that has a post that you shared come up as a memory.  Well that happened today and I cried!  In September of 2020, I had to have my long haired Chihuahua put down because he was in pain and I couldn’t stand to see him suffer. The memory that came up today was from 11 years ago and we were living in Emory.  I had lost my beagle Dixie and I took Dooley from my nephew Nick.  He was so cute and cuddly, but I also had a dog that was over 100 pounds in the same house so it was very interesting.  Dooley would sit between my feet when the other dogs were running around and trying to get him to play.  It was fun times, but it was not a memory that I really needed to see this morning.  I was talking to my husband and I told him what was showing and I started to cry.  It seems I do that more these days then laugh.  Those are special memories though and some were funny as well of the dogs playing.

It is funny how those memories resurface more than the really truly happy ones lately.  

I have a picture of my granddaughter as my wall paper on my computer so that always makes me smile when it comes up.  I miss her something terrible these days.  We are all working and we don’t get to spend any time together.  I have the memories from the day she was born and I will never forget those and they are truly special memories.

Thursday night after Norman got home and we were eating dinner and I stated that I can’t figure out why I don’t have as much time to spend on the podcast as I did before.  He looked at me and said, honey you weren’t working a full time regular job.  Your podcast was your full time job.  I just stared at him, because that was the reality.  I guess because it took me a while to get it all set up and then the restart and at that time I was doing 3 episodes a week and some specials too! Those are good and bad memories, but they show me that I can be creative and accomplish something to share with people as well. 

 Memories put you through many emotions.  Happiness, sadness, wonder, awe, fear, love, loneliness – the full range.  You have memories from your childhood, memories of times when you were in school, friends that you had from school and your cousins and family get together and holidays before the bad things happened and the evil invaded your life.  

You make memories every day!  Every moment of every hour of every minute a new memory is created.  Emotions are a part of that process.  True sometimes we don’t like the emotions that it triggers, but memories are there to help us.  Today, I guess I needed that memory.  Maybe it is God trying to direct me to what and where I’ve always wanted to be.  I don’t know.  But I won’t ignore the emotions or that particular memory.  Enjoy those memories and make memories with family and friends as often as you can.  That might be all we have to get us through these next few months, years.

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Just needed to share some emotional things that happened in the last few days.  A visit from my mom, article on my niece that was murdered, some issues at work and just some really bad, horrible moments.  I know God will get us through it, but it doesn't keep them from happening. 

Enjoy, please keep sharing downloading and listening!

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