Words to Live By...

I came across the following quote over at Life Discovered. Great quote!

"Without dreams and disappointments, life becomes a dull, quiet existence. It is only when we dream bigger than ourselves and experience sadness known only to our soul that we become alive and impassioned to truly live each day." ~ Author Unknown

Words of Wisdom

Keep your words soft and sweet -- just in case you have to eat them.

Remember...

Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth. ~ Horace

Don't Regret

Yesterday is a cancelled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is cash on hand.

Cat Definition

Cat: A pygmy lion who loves mice, hates dogs, and patronizes human beings. ~ Oliver Herford

Great Quote!

The trouble with rat race is thateven if you win, you are still a rat. ~ Lily Tomlin

Hi there! Last week we spent two fun-filled days at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. We had a blast. When you have a second check out the pictures that I have just posted over at Webshots.

Dance Benediction
by Ric Masten

Yes!
let it be a dance
let life be a dance
because we dance to dance
not to go anywhere
and let it be a dance
let life be a dance
because within the dance
we move easily
with the paradox
knowing
that for every step forward
there must be a step back
and anything else
would have us marching
away from the music

A human being is a part of the whole that we call the universe, a part limited in time and space. And yet we experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical illusion of our consciousness. This illusion is a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for only the few people nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature. ~ Albert Einstein

Dust Off

I received the following email from a good friend. Not sure if this was just another Urban Legend I decided to do a goggle search and found that the following is true.

This is a cautionary tale that ought to be heeded by teenagers and parents alike. This is for all of you who have children or have friends that have children. Very sad but very informative. Please read.

Fourteen-year-old Kyle Williams, son of Jeff and Kathy Williams of Painesville Township, Ohio, died on March 2, 2005 from the effects of inhaling the contents of a can of Dust-Off compressed-air cleaning spray (also known as "canned air"). And you thought it just cleaned the dust off your computer keyboard....

First I'm going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were # 2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn't allow it. He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs.

I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won't.

I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use one of them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my two sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them. On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn't have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer.

On March 1st, I left for work at 10 PM. Just before midnight my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 530 am the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was propped up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn't move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.

I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 AM

I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It's called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn't hurt you. Its just compressed air. It cant hurt you. His best friend said no.

Kyle was wrong. It's not just compressed air It also contains a propellant called R2. Its a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas. Heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out. That's why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It cant hurt you. IT KILLS YOU. The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It's not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. ITS NOT AN OVERDOSE. Its Russian Roulette. You don't die later. Or not feel good and say I've had too much. You usually die as your breathing it in. If not you die within 2 seconds of finishing "the hit." That's why the straw was still in Kyle's mouth when he died. Why his eye's were still open.
The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don't believe its huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn't fit here. And that's why its more accepted. There is no chemical reaction. No strong odor. It doesn't follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known.

Its easy to say hey, its my life and I'll do what I want. But it isn't. Others are always effected. This has forever changed our family's life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I cant describe it. There's nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don't ever cry. I do what I'm supposed to do but I don't really care. My kids are messed up. One wont talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I cant even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.

After Kyle died another story came out. A Probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don't have a drug problem there. They don't even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this "new" way of getting high they found, they hid it. The probation officer told the media after Kyle's death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn't have been in my house.

We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs. Using Dust Off isn't new and some "professionals" do know about. It just isn't talked about much, except by the kids. They all seem to know about it.

April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I can't help but wonder If I died and went to Hell.

The message above was written by Kyle's father, police officer Jeff Williams, who first posted it on a support Web site for grieving parents, where it inspired readers to copy the text and forward it to others. Mr. Williams also shared his story in a March 10, 2005 column by Connie Schultz of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

He is asking for everyone who receives this email to forward it to everyone in their address book, even Law Enforcement Officers.

Round-Up

Did you know that your change counts? At Petco, if you round up the amount of your purchase, your change will be donated to proactive spay and neuter organizations in your local community, as well as the Petfinder.com Foundation's spay/neuter referral program. Petfinder.com is the world's largest adoption network database.

Spay and neuter surgery is safe and affordable. Plus, it offers you and your pet several advantages, including the peace of mind in knowing you are a responsible pet parent, providing your companion animal with a healthier life.

Contact your local spay and neuter organization and visit Petfinder.com to located affordable spay and neuter services in your area.

Remember, spayed or neutered pets:
* on average, live longer than unaltered pets.
* have fewer bad behaviors, such as spraying.
* are less likely to be aggressive towards other animals or people.
* do not want to roam or run away as much.
* are less susceptible to many serious illnessess, including prostate or uterine difficulties, so you save on veterinarian bills!

Help end pet overpopulation in your community.

Speaking of pets...I have finally posted some pictures of Spunky and Tiger over on Webshots. For some reason or another I had to create a new album. Check it out when you have a moment.

P.S. Don't forget to stop by and say hi on my Bravenet Guest Map.

Once A Day

The more your life is packed with deadlines and stress, the more you'll benefit from taking time out to just "be" in the moment.

Clear your mind of everything that's gone by and everything that's to come.

Focus on the blue sky above, or the clouds racing by. Feel the warmth of the sun on your face, or the cool of the raindrops on your hand. Look at the grass, the trees or the people walking by.

For a moment, just "be". It will ground you and help you put everything else back into perspective.

From Meditations for Women

Getting to Know Yourself

You yourself are the child you must learn to know, rear, and above all enlighten. To demand that others should provide you with answers is like asking a strange woman to give birth to your baby. There are insights that can be born only of your own pain, and they are the most precious. Seek in your child the undiscovered part of yourself. ~ Janusz Korczak

My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can. ~ Cary Grant

Cary Grant...sigh...now he was a real movie star. Hey, speaking of movies, check out my reviews on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The War of the Worlds over at Let's All Go To The Movies.