ONLINE MAGICAL THINKINGYesterday, I received

ONLINE MAGICAL THINKING

Yesterday, I received an e-mail that was pretty typical of a number of them I receive, especially from certain people. This one came from a family member. The bulk of the e-mail consisted of screen names of people the forward had been sent to (a great way to get them in the hands of spammers) and at the very end, there were colorful happy faces and a nice verse about friendship. That, however, was followed with this:

Beautifully stated....
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time.
You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken.
You'll fight with your best friend.
You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.
You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love.
So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
So send this to all of your friends (and me) in the next 5 minutes and a miracle will happen tonight.

I sent it back with a note saying that the sender knew I didn't much believe in these things but I was sending it back because I love her. Personally, I would love to see a miracle in her life but things just don't happen that way. I guess I'm a skeptic, but I never believe these promises of miracles if the e-mail is passed along within a certain time frame or to x-number of people. Do you? Tell me what you think!

*****

I had a comment a while back regarding Ziggies, giving me the URL for GoComics, where it was possible to sign up to have the Ziggy cartoons sent to me every day. I went to the site and tried to sign up, but before I did, I read the "Terms of Service" as requested in the sign-up area. I learned that the owners of the site frown upon Ziggies received from them being published elsewhere. They didn't specify that blogs were included in the limitations but I'm not wanting to take a chance. I think I'll just wait for my friend Lynne -- who has been sending them to me from Australia -- to get back from vacation and start sending them to me again.

*****

My upper arm continues to hurt off and on. I am not looking forward to lugging my suitcase at Bend. (It does have wheels, but I do have some spots where I need to lift it manually.) I am going to try to take it real easy on the typing for the next couple of days. I think I'll get my suitcase out today and start packing it, though, so I get that bit of hauling over with.

Speaking of my vacation, I just checked the online weather forecast for Bend through Saturday (they didn't have Sunday's up) and it is going to be as warm there as it is here, but not much hotter, thankfully. I am hoping that I can pack a good quantity of light clothes and still get my suitcase shut. ;-)

AM I PART OF THE PROBLEM?Today I received another irritating

AM I PART OF THE PROBLEM?

Today I received another irritating forward, once again from my LDS friend, Fran. (If I tell her not to send such e-mails, she will simply say she doesn't care that I'm bothered, or else apologize when sending such sends for a brief while, but ultimately she will keep doing it.) Don't get me wrong, Fran is a dear friend and a good person -- I just don't agree with a lot of the items she sends me. Generally, I delete them after reading them, but I wanted to comment on this one.

Here is what she sent me. (I will explain what bugs me about it after the text and picture.)

"COMING SOON

I passed this on to you so that we all can see our future! COMING SOON!
















No apology for sending this ! ! ! After hearing they want to sing the National Anthem in Spanish - enough is enough. Nowhere did they sing it in Italian, Polish, Irish (Celtic), German or any other language because of immigration. It was written by Francis Scott Key and should be sung word for word the way it was written The news broadcasts even gave the translation -- not even close. NOT sorry if this offends anyone because this is MY COUNTRY - IF I T IS YOUR COUNTRY SPEAK UP -- please pass this along.
I am not against immigration -- just come through like everyone else. Get a sponsor; have a place to lay your head; have a job; pay your taxes, live by the rules AND LEARN THE LANGUAGE as all other immigrants have in the past -- and GOD BLESS AMERICA!

PART OF THE PROBLEM
Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone -- YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!
It is Time for America to Speak up

If you agree -- pass this along, if you don't agree -- delete it!


Yep, I passed it on!"

Do I believe that our national language should be English? Yes, I do. Am I offended by Hispanics singing our National Anthem in Spanish? Not really. Would I prefer, however, that they learn English and sing the National Anthem in it since they are part of our country? Well, yes. But I'm not getting hot under the collar about the issue -- there are a lot worse situations in the country to get up in arms over.

What really bothers me is the statement at the end about those who don't forward it being part of the problem. Who does the author think he or she is, to pass that kind of judgment about the character of people like me who may have very valid reasons for not sending it out to everyone in their address book?

I have Hispanic employees, and they are highly valued. They are legal, according to the documentation we required when hiring them. They play Hispanic music and listen to Hispanic talk on the shop radio. We buy items for our shop cafeteria that they like, so they can purchase them from us via draws from their paychecks. They speak Spanish to each other. This doesn't bother me at all. They are good workers, and do work that us all-too-often spoiled Americans wouldn't do. They do need to know enough English to successfully communicate with my son, Jeff; nephew, Nick; and our salesperson, David, all of whom are definitely English-speakers (although David and his wife were missionaries for a while in Ecuador so he knows Spanish).

I don't think that the author of this piece was expecting someone to blog about what he or she said. (Not that the aforementioned author will ever see this blog entry, but stranger things have happened.) No, I did not delete it. But I did not pass it on, either. I hope that wouldn't confuse the author. Hee hee!

The biggest irony to me is the computer-generated shot of the Statue of Liberty. Did the person who put this together forget what is engraved on that statue? "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free . . ."

At least, the text of the forwarded e-mail above does say that it's okay to allow immigration, as long as the law is followed, and I'm not objecting to those couple of lines.

Granted, the massive influx of Hispanic illegal aliens is a situation that needs an effective solution, with the strain being put on governmental services, but I think this kind of nasty forward (especially at the end) is counter-productive to a positive approach in finding answers to these difficult issues.

PROVE YOU LOVE JESUS?The following came through on one of my

PROVE YOU LOVE JESUS?

The following came through on one of my lists today:

"Knock, Knock I knocked at heaven's door this morning. God asked me...'My child, what can I do for you?' And I said, 'Father, please protect and bless the person reading this message.' God smiled and answered...'Request granted'. If you believe, send this to seven people and the one who sent it to you. By doing this, you have succeeded in praying for eight people today. 'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'


THIS IS PRETTY NEAT,
93 % won't forward this
























Place your mouse on the E below and drag to the U.

Even though you can't see Him, GOD is there for yo U [The portion between the E and the U was in white type, so it could only be seen when highlighted.]

When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you!
If you are one of the 7% who will stand up for Him, forward
this.


93% of people won't forward this."

Doesn't putting it on my blog show that I'm standing up for Him?

I didn't say anything on the list when it came through, but I was gritting my teeth as I read it. Since I am the co-owner of the list, I felt that silence was probably the best approach. I noticed that no one on the list responded by sending it back to the attention of the person who had posted it.

It seems I get a forward like this once every few days or so. A lot of them come from my LDS friend, Fran, in Utah, who I have asked to please not send them. She has ignored that. I always delete them.

Why? Am I ashamed of Jesus?

I can tell you unequivocally, I am not! However, God gave me my brain and I use it. I can sense that people who forward things like this blindly aren't thinking very well. How did the author of this forward come up with these percentages? What gives this person the right and the power to pronounce judgment upon other people?

I have seen items forwarded that say that they must be passed on to X-number of people in X-number of minutes in order for a big blessing of some nature to come through for the person forwarding it. I wonder if the people who continually send them out and/or forward them on realize after a while that they aren't receiving these great rewards. Maybe they experience some small coincidental good event and attribute it to having forwarded on that particular e-mail.

Just for the record, I can tell you that if you send me a forward that fits any of these descriptions, I will not forward it on. I will not feed into what I feel are the fantasies of someone who authored these e-mails and who is perhaps a megalomaniac or at the very least, extremely self-righteous, by sending on a forward that isn't verifiable and may key into the receiver's fears or other emotions rather than engaging their brain.

I wrote the above last night; this morning, I am feeling more sympathetic towards the friends of mine who have forwarded these things. And perhaps a bit self-righteous, in thinking, "Of course, I love Jesus!" I do object to people telling me how and when I have to prove it.

As it would happen, I received an e-mail forward this morning that I have received before (this is the case so many times with these sends -- they have been around and around the Internet). This one was a sweet story about an elderly man and his visits to his wife, who had Alzheimer's, in a nursing home. It was very touching, except for the preaching at the end. The person who sent it used to be on a list with me and when I get these items from her, I write to ask her how she's doing. I get no answer. I wish she would realize I'd rather correspond with her than receive the forwards.

There -- I think I've pretty much vented my feelings on this subject. I welcome your thoughts.

*****

Yesterday I got a few pictures to post on my Flickr site. It seems that my spring deer are visiting already. The first picture was taken through my kitchen window, and I think she is a little doe. ("Doe, a deer, a female deer . . . " if you want to sing along with me.) ;-) The second shot is of another another deer in my back yard. He has a rather mangy coat, as you will be able to see better if you click on the shot and go to my Flickr site.





Also, my housekeeper Norma noticed that a crocheted throw my sister Kathy made for me a number of years ago had fallen behind the couch, so she picked it up, folded it, and put it on the back of the couch. Silver has claimed it as his own.



*****

I am pretty worried about the economy. Maybe I shouldn't watch CNN. I saw blurbs running across the bottom of the screen saying that the economy is in the worst shape since the Great Depression. That is certainly not good news. All we can do is keep chugging away, doing our best in whatever our life's endeavors are.

For myself, I try to have faith in Jesus.