Deception abounds

I am taking out time from my normal positive remarks to warn everyone about a very deceptive business practice being done by a company called Force Factor. I had responded to an email about a month ago regarding a supposed 'muscle building' product designed to build stamina and endurance. Since I work outside in the heat in the summer, I thought it might be worth investigating. I have suffered the loss of Potassium from being in the hot sun for many years and this product promised many positive results. The offer was for a " free sample"; all I had to pay was a small 'processing' fee of under $5.

I paid the asking price with my debit card and thought the matter was settled. I would await the arrival of the sample, try it out and hopefully begin the 'body building process' as described by the advertisement. The sample never came. The days turned into weeks and about two months passed. I checked my bank account a few days ago and to my dismay, Force Factor had taken $64.98 out of my account. I had read the advertisement, I thought, but somewhere in the "fine print" there was an something that gave them the idea they could just take an amount at a certain time if I didn't decline it in some way.

You can imagine how I felt. I was livid. I began looking up the company, which by the way wasn't easy. All I had was a code on my bank account specifying the amount taken and little else. After a bit of effort I discovered that Force Factor was indeed the culprit. I went to the internet and found a contact number to call. This is where things began to get even more infuriating and frustrating. The Force Factor answering system is a never ending sales pitch that does not allow the caller to get to a live operator. The message goes on and on often repeating the message over and over again.

I waited for almost 25 minutes with the phone on speaker as I tried to continue my work while waiting to talk to someone. That never happened. I finally hung up. my next approach was a little more successful in that I did get a response from some unknown person on the Force Factor Facebook page. I typed in my angry feelings for being deceived and a answer came in the next day asking for my last name and zip code; promising to help me. That was the end of that. Even after responding to their request, Force Factor did not reply with any information or resolution to the problem.

BE AWARE AND BE WARNED... Force Factor is very likely using deceptive business practices to take your money without your permission. It almost cost me $64.98. Thank God for Chase Bank They immediately returned the money to my account after a 5 minute phone call.

I will continue to inform everyone I know about this unscrupulous company and I can only hope that each one of you would repost comment this on your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages. We have to stand up against such dishonest business practices. If someone has a real product, they certainly do not have to DECEIVE THE PUBLIC by hidden charges that come out of your bank accounts unannounced. 

...in sickness and in health

I can't remember the last time I was so sick. I was fine Saturday morning but by that afternoon I had passed out at least twice and was wringing wet with sweat after each trip to the bathroom to throw up. The dreaded flu bug had descended on our house with a vengeance. Dianna came down with it the Wednesday before and I thought I had escaped, but not so. This bug is devastating. My ribs are extremely sore and I have had a hard time keeping warm.
It may just be me or have the 'bugs' been especially rough these past few years? I have been spared the worst of it by far but still, I keep seeing and hearing about how bad this person was or how hard that person had it and it makes me wonder.
I can barely get out of bed and make it to the couch before I'm ready for a nap. I have little to no strength and I have had a small bowl of soup, a grilled cheese and some Ginger Ale plus a handful of snack crackers in the past 48 hours. I really feel sorry for the ones that have had this worse than I have. Dianna gave me a shot of Tea Tree Oil in some Ginger Ale a few hours before I got really sick. I think that cut my bout with the bug in half or more. Had we thought of it even sooner, I may not have even gotten sick at all.
Dianna spent the night on the bathroom floor when she got ill and didn't get out of bed for almost four days. I feel very blessed to have missed that ordeal. Even while I was getting so sick she was by my side 'doctoring' me and keeping me from falling and picking me up after passing out. I don't know how she does it. I could tell she was weak but she gathered enough 'whatever' to do what needed to be done hour after hour through the two days and nights of misery. There is no stronger trooper in my opinion.
"In sickness and in health...."

I can't get my head around this....

The mass hysteria of the holidays has begun. I see the cars moving faster, darting in and out and acting more frantic in the shopping center parking lots. The shoppers have a quicker pace about them going to and from ther stores and scurry back and forth. No one seems to be at peace in this, 'the season of peace'. How sad.
I like to think back to a time of relative peace when the "Christmas season" started after Thanksgiving and ended on Christmas Day. People stopped to visit as they went about the Christmas shopping experience almost as though it was a great big party and everyone was invited and knew the other person; neighbors as it were even if they were strangers. It didn't have to snow or be all lit up with hundreds of sparkling lights. It was, well, "cozy".
The suspicions of the day have seperated us from each other. That and technology. So many are 'buried' in their screens, intent on whatever it is they are viewing and anythng elae is insignificant at best.
I recently watched part of a documentary on 13 year olds. I was amazed at what I saw. These young people have a totally divergent lifestyle. They 'live' on their phones. And to make matters worse, they ridicule each other on an almost constant basis. Now, to be clear, these youngsters don't reach outside of their 'group' to ridicule asnd slander and torment; they do it all within a tight circle of peers, tearing each apart in a terrible game of destruction. The examples were astounding. Trash talk and pornography, character assasination and deceitful language are the 'norm' for these young ones. How could this have happened to a whole generation of people? They are so disfunctional and self absorbed. What's going to happen ten years from now; twenty? I can't imagine the chaos as these people take up the leadership roles in government and social services and private companies that deal directly with the public. Seemingly, no one is addressing the issue in the schools for the most part. It's accepted as normal teen behavior. The parents are oblivious; engulfed in their own 'seperate' lives; texting....
I can't get my head around this.

... still so true

It's been so long. I haven't even thought to write anything here; even knowing I should. We have been involved with so many things of late that the writing has taken a hit. I know I should do better and I even have several thoughts to pass along that are already written down; it's just a time thing.

How often do we take stock? I mean really look at the value of a project or duty or better yet, commitments? Have we taken on too many things and the burden is weighing on us like a rock in our pocket that  just won't go away?

I'm happier than I have ever been. The world around me is much smaller right now and I think that's a good thing for me. I tend to stretch out too far and over extend, in an effort to cover all the bases when I know I can't. But don't we all?

Our lives have so many options these days. There are far too many choices. People say choices are a good thing but I disagree. When the world puts so many things in front of us that we get confused as to which one is which, then there are too many choices. That's all there is to it.

Now I've said it and I'll have to stick to it..... Ha!

I trust that all is well wherever you are tonight. I am appalled at the course of events in Paris. So many dead and for what? No good reason that's for sure.

I know I keep pointing to Revelations but it's so true, so real and so right on time! The words pounce on me as I read them. Here is the daily news written thousands of years ago and yet, it's current news and still prophetic, still coming on strong, still coming about.... still so true.

Lord, help me....

What happens to the time? I look up and its been another couple of months. How does the time get by so quickly.

We have so many things going on in our lives today. The weather factors in and the many tasks we line up for ourselves creates a never ending list of choices and duties and we just keep on keepin' on...

I have to get my mind off the financial. It has plagued me for far too long. That's not what really matters and I know it. Worry sure takes all the fun out of life, doesn't it? And it's a proven fact that worry is far to overrated and stressful to be of any value. 

I so admire my wife. She doesn't seem to let anything stress her out but me. I think I stress her out, but it isn't on purpose. She must really love me or something... I think that produces a certain amunt of stress in and of it's self. The love. The attention and the thought process of caring and wondering how someone is doing at any given moment in time. Our brains process and we 'conclude' and rethink and process all over again.
Funny how the brain works. How the mind runs over all the possibilities and makes judgements and decisions based on perceptions and feelinngs. We are truly amazing creatures indeed.

I am wondering how long it will be until the next post. Lord, help me remember.

enjoying the rain and studying something new.

I have really enjoyed the rain. Most people I know have been anxious for it to be over but I don't think they are remembering the years when we had nothing but heat to look forward to each day from May to September.
I've been in line at the grocery recently. Almost every time someone either in line or at the register had something to say about the weather. The tornadoes and the wind have scrambled neighborhoods all across the state leaving some homeless and in some cases severely injured. It's hard to watch the reports on television when they show the families standing alongside a ravaged home. I marvel at how blessed Dianna and I are, not having suffered any loss and yet being so close to the total devastation that took place only a short distance away. We could easily be right there with the worst of them,waiting on The Red Cross to bring us things like blankets and other necessities,having lost everything.
I have been studying a new course on Social Media this week. It is pretty extensive but I think that once I 'master' the material I should be in line for certification as a Social Media Strategist. Thus far the material is pretty easy to understand even though the teacher has a squeaky voice that is so irritating I want to scream by the end of the day. Each session is about 20 minutes long and she moves quickly from one area to another with the mouse and not necessarily pointing to what she is talking about. It's confusing sometimes but I am recording the videos so I can go back over them later as needed.
I'm certainly not used to 'studying' after all this time. It's been almost 50 years since I was in school so its taking a little getting used to, as it were, 'watching' the teacher go through her routine. She knows her stuff front and back but she doesn't explain herself very well, skipping back and forth at a pretty fast pace. I'll have to do some extra work if I'm to be proficient with each facet of the material. I can envision a lot better teaching method for things like this but its not my course so I'll just have to conform to her standard and make the best of it for now.
If it turns out as planned this will be a big step toward knowing how to get good results for clients on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging, and other Social Media programs. We bought a Groupon for the course and I certainly don't want to waste the money, so I plan on passing the tests with good marks.
Look for major improvements on all my Social Media and hopefully, all of my clients.

...even if I don't 'get even'

I wanted to lash out in anger today but I held back. That's progress, right?
I was dissed in a round about way and ridiculed about my work. It hurt and I became angry; an old defense mechanism that kicks in.

How do we handle criticism? Are we to be silent or speak out? Are we to 'get even' or 'let it go'? Are we not human and vulnerable when attacked by our fellow humans, whose words often hurt more than blows? I wonder. The Bible tells us to 'be still' and let God fight our battles. I have a hard time with that one, as do most. We want to return evil for evil and retort in a way that makes us 'more than even'.
I am often saddened by my thoughts. I have such a vivid imagination anyway, it's not too much of a stretch to envision some drastic measures being carried out to 'get even'. I'll leave it at that and not explain further, but I suspect there are those of us out there that know some of the things I may be thinking.
What does 'getting even' really mean? Does that mean we do the same thing to an adversary or worse? Does that get us 'even' with them or do we always have to surpass their level of 'blow' to make an even heavier blow and overcome the enemy? Is that what people call "getting even"? I wonder.

At times like this I fret, I steam and fume inside and wish I didn't have to go through all of this, but here I am. Why doesn't everything just line up in a perfect row and let me go through my day with great joy and anticipation of what is coming next? Ideally, I would be king and all of my subjects would bow and scrape and make my life the pinnacle of success. Everyone would adore my music and my writings and I wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand.
Oh brother! What a disaster that would be. I am so far from perfection it isn't funny; not even humorous.
I better stick to repenting and going on my merry way and leave it at that. This whole forgiveness thing and not losing my joy is tough, I know, but I see the value in it; the reasoning, the end results. That's what makes it all worth trying even if I don't 'get even'.