Create a Stronger Bond with Yaptime

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of YapTime. All opinions are 100% mine.

Hey there friends.  Ever tried to have a group conversation on Facebook?  It's kind of difficult to keep it for select members only and it usually turns into a public discussion.  It's not really the ideal situation when you're trying to let family members know of Junior's next basketball game.  With this free service, YapTime,  you can create group chats and have only the members of that group posting in that particular chat.  This will completely get rid of the pointless clutter of posts that would interrupt that discussion.

Just imagine, you're on a football team.  Create a Yaptime chat with only your football team mates and now you have a private medium where only your team can get updated schedules, talk over plays, and overall build a stronger camaraderie.  Or use the calendar to create events and have only family members in your group who can respond to it.  It's a perfect way to introduce young ones into the world of social networking.  With Yaptime, you can get rid of "pseudo" friend requests and know that the people you friended are people that you actually know. 

So for the teacher that wants to contact their students for homework assignments, the coach that wants to update his team on the schedule, or for the family that just wants to keep in touch, YapTime may be the answer for you.  You have nothing to lose with this free service so give it try and let me know what you think.  Later!

The Shredder

Don't judge.  The Shredder needs money too.

Blood Shed and a Smashed Finger

Hey there.  This story is old news for those of you that follow me on Facebook, but I wanted to make a post about it to get into the story and details behind it.  My youngest daughter smashed her finger.  She did it herself by accident.  She did it with the car door.  My wife had to unlock the door and open it to free our daughter.  That's how hard she slammed the door...  and the end result was not pretty.  Check it out after 2 days.

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

Yup...  It's black.  At first, it only looked a little bruised.  It didn't hurt when I flexed her finger and she seemed ok once the initial pain went away.  I didn't think that she would need medical care.  It did swell up a little and thought that an ice pack on it would be good and check it out in the morning to make sure she's ok.  Her finger looked bruised the next day but nothing to worry about.  It was expected since she took a hit to her finger.  She went to school with a huge smile on her face like it was no big deal.  When she got home, there is a letter attached to her folder stating that the nurse thinks her finger may be infected.  Infected?!?!  How can that be if she didn't even bleed?  Nevertheless, we didn't take any chances and my wife took her to see a doc the next day.  The doc says that she will need to go to urgent care right away.  Urgent care?!?!?!  What the...  we didn't even think it was that serious, why urgent care? 

After hours in urgent care, because urgency has a different meaning in California....  -.- ... we finally see a doc.  I look at my baby's finger and instead of a bruise, you see the above picture.  It turns out that when she smashed her finger, she began to bleed inside her finger.  The blood had nowhere to go so it was pooling up in her finger, causing it to look black and slowly increasing the pressure inside her finger, causing discomfort and pain.  The doc explained that we will need to drain out the blood by making an incision on her finger. 

My daughter didn't like that plan all too much.  She's not a fan of seeing blood and instantly associates blood with pain.  I told her what they were going to do and assured her that all would be ok.  After telling her that it wouldn't hurt and that she would feel nothing but a sting, she lied down on the bed and braced herself.  The doc used this super hot needle/pen thing to burn a hole in her nail.  He lightly tapped the nail until he got under the nail and blood began to drip.  I assume that the doc realized that the blood was not pooling under her nail but on the side of her finger so he grabbed a needle and poked a small hole on the side of the finger.  Bingo.  Blood oozed out of the finger.  All the while, my daughter kept cool and collected.  The doc then applied a little pressure to get the blood out of the finger and prescribed some antibiotics, just in case.  No complications, no nothing.  Just soak it in warm water and watch out for any discomfort or pain.  As long as there's no pain, there's no problem.

What?  We're done already?

So that's the story.  So far, no pain.  Her finger no longer looks swollen, but it's still a little black.  But at least it's a lighter shade of black.  I'm certain that after a few more days of soaking it in warm water, it'll start getting it's normal shade of pink, or is it brown?  Let's just call it human.  lol  I'll keep you posted on her recovery but she's a 5 year old girl that's super active.  Good luck in trying to keep her in "recovery" mode.  Until then, later!

Valentine's Day Chocolate

Hey there.  Valentine's Day is coming!  It's that time of year where love birds show their appreciation to one another.  Whether it be with an extravagant night out on the town or a sincere, heart felt gift of chocolate candies.  You can never go wrong with chocolate.

I don't think I've ever met a woman who doesn't appreciate a nice heart shaped box full of chocolates.  It's no wonder that retailers everywhere stock up on them just to appeal to the ladies.  There's just something about the heart shaped box that lights a woman's face.  And from experience, See's Candy seems to be the one that brings the brightest smiles. 

A friend once told me that chocolate is divine.  If that is true, then check out the selection of See's candies and experience first hand that their divinity is the best.  Chocolates are no longer a surprise gift on Valentine's Day, but where you get them, that makes all the difference.  Later!

The Root of All Problems

You simply cannot argue with this proof...  lol

Going to Work... With My Dad?

Hey there.  Do you believe in ghosts?  I believe that there definitely is something after life... not so sure of ghosts, though.  Maybe better referred to as energies?  You know, people have always been infatuated with things that go bump in the night and other "scary" occurrences that go on during a normal day.  If that wasn't the case, we wouldn't see films like Paranormal Activity being made.  I, myself, have experienced many things at home that I simply cannot explain.  I'm beginning to wonder if maybe those somethings are beginning to happen at work.

This morning, I walk into my office and I turn on my computer.  Nothing odd about that.  I go and grab my coffee and sit down, ready to tackle today's work load.  That's when it hit me...  why do I smell cigarettes?  I don't smoke, my window is closed, and no one has been in my office.  Why the smell of smoke and cigarettes?  Hmmm...  I walk around and sniff to see if maybe I can get to the bottom of it.  Nothing.  A coworker then walks by so I ask if she can step into my office.  I ask if she can smell it.  (insert inappropriate fart joke here)  lol  She says smell what and I tell her cigarettes.  She doesn't so she calls me crazy and walks away.  Hmmm... maybe I am crazy, but then again... I think I know what it is.

I wouldn't doubt it if it's my dad.

Yup, my pops probably followed me to work today.  Why followed?  Well, because I wouldn't doubt it if all the weird stuff that goes on at home is him as well.  Footsteps in the hallways, cabinets opening on their own, my dog being let inside the house when the doors were locked, corona bottles opening by themselves, cans and jars rocking back and forth... the list goes on and on.  Today... I can add, noticed my dad at work.

My dad had 2 distinct scents to him.  He loved to splash on Brut cologne (yup, old school) and he smoked... a lot.  You know how some people say that you can tell the presence of an "energy" by smelling a scent that they were most associated with.  I would say the two I mentioned definitely would fit my father.  Also, I recently mentioned to my kids that we would go see grandpa this weekend so maybe the smell was his way of reminding me that I better go see him.

It's been almost 20 years now since my pops passed and it intrigues me that most of the "activity" centers around the kids.  Their toys go off on their own, their swing sets swing on their own, bouncers are bouncing without batteries.  Recently, the baby has taken a liking to my dad's drawing on the wall. 

He'll start to point, laugh, and stare at it from time to time.  My oldest, when he was younger, would say that "a ghost" would tell him where things were and to stay away from fire.  And then not too long ago, my youngest daughter started mentioning that she's been talking to "little grandpa" and has shown a stronger interest in seeing him more at the cemetery.  So I guess today turned out to be, "tag along with my son to work to remind him to go see me at the cemetery" day.  lol  No worries, dad.  I'll be there.  And we wont forget the beer.  Later!