My Hero...

You served with Dignity
You served with Honor
You served with Passion

Your uniform you wore Proudly
Your Country you defended Loudly
In time of war you Fought
In time of peace you stood Vigilant

You sacrificed time with your family
You admired them for standing by you
In retirement you shed a tear

In ‘civvies’ you were satisfied
Because on your watch
Everyone was kept safe
Everyone remains Free

In honor of my hero:
Luis E. Aguilar, Jr. USAF Retired

In solemn, loving memory...

My dearest Desiree,

Today you’re laid to rest
Two Angels at your breast
It seems as though
Life is all but gone
It just seems all so wrong
But it is what must be
Acceptance from Thine to thee
The heart aches, and breaks
The world does not stop
It does not ease, it does not shake

A grieving sigh is what compels me
To say one final Goodbye
As you’re laid down
Into an eternal sleep
With your two babies
Tenderly embraced
As God had always
Intended it to be.

Rest in peace, baby
I love you!!
Your Tia Olga.

In Loving Memory...

On December 31st, 1978, I was given the honor of witnessing the miracle of birth. Desiree Mary Vinas made her debut into the world. She was a first for all in our family. The first ‘Vinas’ girl since my birth, the first child for my brother and sister-in-law, the first grandchild for my parents, and she made me an aunt for the first time. She became the center-of-attention for all of us.

As she grew, she was affectionately compared to as another ‘Olga,‘ (a.k.a., Pandora) and I affectionately teased my brother about him having to put up with my protege, a payback of sorts.

Throughout the years, he would call me to let me know of my niece’s latest shenanigans but we would laugh as we knew that she would eventually outgrow her stubbornness, as I did when I had my own children and I myself having to deal with the sibling rivalry amongst them, as brothers.

And as we knew it would happen, Desiree grew up to be a wonderful mother of 4!! She had two sons, Devon and Andon and then two girls, Rylan and Jaylan. She was a very patient and a very loving mother.

On September 28th, 2010 our beloved Desiree gave the ultimate sacrifice any mother could or would have given. She perished in a fire while attempting to save her two young daughters, Rylan age 2 and Jaylan age 1 year. Her two sons survived the fire.

We as a family are crushed by this loss, we are devastated. We lost two generations of women, the procreation of our women! We had relied on them as a means of our survival, a survival of our female species, a testimony to our own lives. And in one final act, it was all gone. There are no words, no gestures that can ease or soothe our pain, our loss. It is done...

As of late, when I pick up the phone to speak to my brother, I don’t ask how he is, I know how he is. His heart aches for his daughter and granddaughters. I instead ask what he has done thus far for the day. I encourage him to think of the survivors, my nieces’ two sons, my grand nephews, Devon and Andon. I push him to seek therapy to help him handle his grief, and to seek therapy as a family. It is still too early for us to remember the things that made us laugh about Desiree, we avoid those memories. I know eventually we will fondly visit them but for now, we avoid the tears. And most important, I allow my brother to grieve.

My brother has many doubts and questions about my niece’s soul. He doubts that God needed her more than we did, that it was just her time. I steer him away from any doubts or questioning of the ‘Why God’ syndrome. I don’t want him to fall into that trap, the devil’s trap. It’s not easy but faith is what I encourage him to seek and to hold on to.

We miss our beloved Desiree. Our journey in this life sometimes is not what we think it should be. But we must always have faith that God’s plan is how things need to be. In our end, according to God’s promise, we will all meet again. I look forward to that day!!

R.I.P., Desiree Mary Vinas, b. December 31, 1978, d. September 28, 2010.

R.I.P., Rylan Vinas, b. September 29, 2007, d. September 28, 2010

R.I.P., Jaylan Vinas, b. June 29, 2009, d. September 28, 2010

Me and My Projects...

Anybody who knows me knows I am very methodical about the tasks I undertake. I mean, anything that needs to get done, I will do it but all the details have to be broken down into sequences and each step has to be in order, it's my OCD. I also have to have all of the tools and materials ready for the job. Because if I have to stop due to missing materials or tools, it will frazzle my concentration. And once I start, I have to finish. I also don't like to be rushed because the job has to be done right or I might as well not do it at all.

To prepare for any task I undertake, I gather up all the intelligence for the project. I will pour over articles, google it and watch videos on YouTube. I will then make a supply list, see what I already have and or hunt for the best deals out there. I will write a step by step plan and then set the start date. I will estimate an end date but I am very flexible with that. Even if it's a project/job I have done many times, I still review how to do it, as technology is always evolving and there is always a chance new materials and or techniques will make the task easier for me.

And when my job is complete, there is nothing more satisfying than it being a 'job well done'!!

Your thoughts?

I went to the doc today. It was all routine but I still felt like I was not going to walk out of there standing up. My off the scale thought process may be due in part because we as a society are bombarded with so much negative news. Vitamins are good, vitamins are bad, too much will cause this, the side effects of taking this medication is that it might kill you but the benefit is that you will survive long enough to see it kill you. After so much health negativism, society becomes traumatized to the point where breathing will kill me and thus I am doomed.

As we mature, and you notice I did not say get OLDER, I just don't like that word, we become more aware of our mortality. According to the news, death and disease is running amuck. And if you sit and watch the 24/7 news, you hear the same thing over and over again. I have learned to sit in front of the TV but not turn it on, like now. I have my notebook on my lap, sitting comfortably in my favorite chair, itunes playing and I am typing away. I already know what awaits me, and I don't need some news-paparazzi-television-rating-monger telling me all the different ghastly ways I may end up there.

Your Thoughts?

On my oldest's Birthday...

My oldest son celebrated a birthday yesterday. And as always I became melancholy thinking back to the events of that day and the day before.

Back in 1984, it was still common for couples to be surprised with the sex of their baby. Sure we had ultrasound but it was only used for high risk pregnancies. And as strange as this may sound, I already knew what I was going to have without anyone telling me. I had a dream of Luis and exactly what he would look like. It was amazing!! After that dream, I told Louie (daddy) and he grinned from ear to ear.

And even stranger still, I remember the date he was conceived!! The pregnancy test was just formality. I remember Louie calling me at work and announcing, "Congratulations, woman, you're pregnant!" There was such an excitement in his voice and after I hung up the phone, it felt like I was walking on clouds. Yes, I was excited!!

So, every May 4th at exactly 8:59am, I make sure that wherever my son may be, he receives his proud parents welcome into the world!!!

Your thoughts??

The healing...

Has it been that long since I blogged?? Well, I can tell you that I have been very busy. I am taking a much needed break from work, a sabbatical of sorts. I just became so overwhelmed with it all that I fizzled out. I plan to come back, (thank you Lisa for understanding) and resume my pace around the holidays.

In the meantime, I am taking advantage of my break. I have been tying up loose ends here at home, worked on the family's genealogy and found a place for my youngest to stay while attending school at UCF.

I feel more relaxed and my stress level has fallen to a more normal manageable level. A friend of mine tried to analyze why I get so stressed at what she deems to be a relatively simple task. I answered her with the fact that I feel responsible for the success of others and I push myself to do more than what may be necessary. I feel that if they fail, it is my failure as well. And in having set such high standards for myself, I burned out very quickly. So, here I sit....putting out the fire.....(smile).

On a brighter, shocking note...

While researching my family history, I found out that I am of French descent and not just a smidgen of French, I am talking DEEP rooted French. I was shocked but it all made sense to me. I have always been drawn to the French language. In the few months I had to learn it, I picked up quite a bit and I still remember it, after 35 years!....goes to show you that one's heritage is deeply rooted in the genes. I have traced my roots 8 generations back to 16th century in France. In 1830, my great-great-great-great grandfather, Dr Francois Marie Normand, boarded a ship and settled in Natchatochez, LA, one of the first French settlements. While there, he married Marie Lolette Rachal, also French, and thus began the family in this great nation. While doing my research on ancestry.com, I came across a gentleman who was looking for the Cuban side of the Normand family. I contacted him and we connected the dots and realized we were first cousins! He was so excited to find a connection for the Cuban branch. And I am excited to say that my family is HUGE!!! I have family in France, Louisiana and Cuba!!

And that is what I have been up to...mostly healing me and after all that's said and done, ME is what's important.

Your thoughts??

I watched the Super Bowl last night. It seemed that the Colts were going to win it after the first half. So, I stepped away for a bit, enjoyed the halftime show came back and started to see the Saints slowly edge closer and closer to victory. I also saw Manning throw near interceptions. It was almost like he had blinders on and was not really paying attention to who was around his receivers. At that moment, I knew it was just a matter of time. Sure enough, an interception......And with that interception, the game was over....I knew it was.

I expected to see a more nail biting game, more action and maneuvering. Instead, I saw a quarterback half ass his passes and pass up opportunities to run the ball himself. There Manning was....with all the time in the world to pass, no one around him. He had several occasions to run the ball and there he stood stomping his feet, stomping his feet again and again looking for a receiver. On one occasion, he was so close to the end zone, no one around him and he did not run the ball in.....what a waste!!! Granted, there can never be another Elway, remember him? But still, the opportunity was there......take it!!!

I applaud the Saints for their win. They deserve it! They looked at the game, saw the opposing team's flaws and ran the ball in for touchdowns!! Way to go!!

Your thoughts?

Thinking back...

I am feeling a bit melancholy today. I am remembering where I was a year ago and how invincible I felt back then. I was in a classroom surrounded by my coworkers and we were learning how to better serve our customers. We were very eager to learn and to please.

It was an exciting time because being a work from home wage earner, until that classroom moment, we had never met. And we were so very excited because we felt that our jobs were very secure since the company was investing in our learning. Boy were we wrong.

As 2009 progressed, it started to become apparent that something was not right with our positions. There was delay after delay in the implementation of what we had just learned. We were never given full rein on the procedures that would have made a big difference in our call handling. Whatever was amiss, no matter what we tried to do to stop it, it was moving forward faster than a runaway train.

There seemed to be more than one factor involved in our demise. My take is that because we had more to do/more responsibility, the company who contracted us, asked for more money to contract us. I know it sounds confusing but I cannot elaborate any further than this. But trust me, money is the root of all chaos. The other factor that seemed to cause a mistrust of sorts was the animosity brewing which was caused by lack of communication and empathy. Anytime there is a breakdown of communication and a lack of empathy rumors will run amuck and amuck the rumors did run rampantly which ultimately destroyed trust.

I am no longer contracted with this company. I did try my best to keep everyone together, to keep the team working as a team. Decisions were made that pulled the team apart and I believe the wrong person, a self serving person, was put in place to keep the team abreast of new policies and procedures but instead, misinformed, did not properly train and lied about it altogether.

Am I bitter, no. Looking back, I am saddened to think that while believing we can all make a difference to better ourselves and those around us, there will still be someone who will only be looking out for themselves.

I am still hopeful because I know that the righteous will prevail. And whatever happens in life, it happens for a reason and I am comforted in knowing that whatever mission I had for that moment, it was accomplished and it's time to move on to the next one.....

Your thoughts?

As expected, Glenn Beck dissected President’s Obama’s state of the union address. It was what everyone expected Glenn to do and he did it so very well and with lots of pictures, graphics and timelines. It was so well presented that a 5 year old would have understood it.

I received an economic lesson from Mr. Beck and let me tell you, it brought back memories of an incident back in 2003 and I was right-on back then. I was told by a lending company in Miramar Florida that based on my husband’s and my credit score, we did not even need to have an income to qualify for a mortgage loan. I was so flabbergasted that I felt I needed to become my own loan officer and make sure for my financial health if I truly could afford to get into this home. After crunching my numbers, I then argued with this loan officer but she was too giddy with excitement. She was trying to convince me that my credit score afforded me an opportunity of a lifetime. I got such a bad feeling with this revelation that the full impact from a speech given by President Bush came to mind. The speech outlined how he was going to implement a program that will give all Americans an opportunity of the American dream, owning a home. What no one knew was that in order for this to happen, there had to be a lifting of certain checks and balances where under normal circumstances, would have red flagged certain applicants. The bankers were given green flags to package creative financing for applicants with less than desirable credit. In most instances, the applicants were not fully aware of what ‘creative financing’ really meant to their bottom line. When this loosening of restrictions became rampant so did the rising of home prices, and the greed, and then the bubble and here we sit...

In conclusion, my husband and I lost money in that deal because we backed out, our common sense radar kicked in. We knew that the lenders were not looking out for us, only themselves. After walking away from the deal, I made a comment to my husband in the car that this does not look good for the future of this country. I wrote about my experience and sent out letters to the Miami Herald, and CNN.com because I felt such a sense of responsibility in trying to stop this runaway train. But it seemed the ball wrecker was in motion and no one wanted to stop it or be the bad guy in calling attention to it.

I never like to say, ‘I told you so’ but I TOLD YOU SO!!!

Your thoughts?

WOW!! Yesterday’s announcement by Apple Computers was phenomenal!! The long awaited unveiling of the iPad came on with unprecedented excitement and fanfare. I can’t tell you how excited I am and what all can be accomplished by this remarkable machine. I know a lot of you are thinking that this is just another computer but it’s not. It’s lighter, less expensive, very very versatile and has untethered access to the internet. And the fact that it has 10 hours of battery life.....WOW!!!

It seems the more I think about how I can use the iPad, the more excited I become. The iPad is useful to photographers in the field so they can see the larger picture, edit and then quickly send off!! Those of us who love to read and take books with us on trips, can now do so in a very comfortable mode. And what about the RVers? They can take the iPad loaded with movies and or use the mapping feature to stay on track or keep in touch with their loved ones while sending pictures of their travels. Touche Apple!!!

Yes, I am such an Apple head!! I have owned Apple products since the Apple lle. I blog using my MacBook Pro and I am now envisioning blogging from an iPad. Yes, I am spinning iPad uses in my head and it seems the sky is the limit!!

Your thoughts?

I got up this morning and posted my usual greeting on Facebook and scrutinized it a bit. After I finished, I realized I was a day behind. Quickly, I signed onto Facebook and deleted the entry. I then wondered how I could have forgotten that yesterday was Tuesday and not today. Well, I was surprised at my embarrassed reaction. Surprised because I have a milestone birthday coming up next month and already concerned about my memory fading and not wanting others to know I had just experienced a lapse in it. Now on with the show...

I am chuckling at a conversation I just had with a friend of mine. She is troubled at how some people can flat out lie to her and in the same sentence proclaim that they are not liars. I pointed out to her that some people honestly don't think they are lying. They just think they are bullshitting and to them bullshitting is not really lying. And those who bullshit, they find that act hysterically convenient because if it works, well, it's not lying, it's bullshitting. I then informed my friend that bullshitters are really liars incognito. They like the title of bullshitters rather than liars because it romanticizes the truth. She chuckled at that and thought for a moment and said, "well, then I'm fluffy." That's my friend and I love her!!!

Your thoughts?

I am sure all of you are familiar with The Tonight’s Show fiasco, where Jay’s numbers were not meeting expectations and NBC wanted to push Conan back so his show will start 30 minutes later and Jay can have a better shot with his numbers. Well, a contract is a contract and The Tonight’s Show time slot has never changed in decades and I believe Conan did the right thing in sticking up for millions of Americans whom for years have tuned into the show at the same time every night.

Needless to say, Conan lost the fight with NBC to keep The Tonight Show in its legendary time slot. But out of respect for the show and what it stood for, Conan refused to stay on in a new time slot. He fought for an exit package for himself and his staff and Friday was his last short lived show as host of The Tonight Show.

Enough background, so, on with my story...

It was so lame, so very lame. Out of curiosity, I watched The Tonight Show last night to see if they would air one of Jay’s old reruns or, out of respect for Conan, put on one of his past shows. To my surprise, NBC went with Conan. But there was a hidden message in the show. In a skit Conan did where he is disguised as a focus group host to measure the reaction of older viewers to his jokes and show antics, he goes on to show the group clips of his show and gauges their reactions. Now, the ‘pretend’ focus group did not know that the ‘pretend’ host was Conan, in disguise, and obviously the group did not know this was not really a focus group. Needless to say, this focus group showed their displeasure with Conan being chosen as The Tonight’s Show new host. One attendee even stated that Conan was not a good fit and he would not watch the show.

The hidden message here folks is what NBC is telling their viewers that Conan was not really a good fit as The Tonight’s Show host......How lame and underhanded is that?? NBC decided to air this particular show as a slap in the face to Conan. And, yes, I am a Conan fan!!

Shame on you, NBC!!!

Your thoughts?

Hello Friends!!



Today I filed two complaints with the NHTSA, that's the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.

By now, all of you should be familiar with Toyota's accelerator pedal sticking, right? Well, I lost two Camrys that I believe was due to this 'known' problem. The first Camry lost was a 1997 back in October of 2005. I did not file a complaint for that one because I did not think anything of it at the time and I did do research to see if there were any recalls. The second Camry lost was a 2004 and that accident occurred in March of 2009. Same scenario and I did become very suspicious at the time and again searched for recalls but found none. I did pull repair records from the local Toyota dealer for the insurance company because I kept insisting that there was nothing wrong with the brakes. It was later in 2009 that Toyota finally issued its recall but the car was long gone.



I still own Toyotas and frankly am a little leery about it. I did speak to a legal expert who stated that he lost his 1996 Camry in the same fashion I had lost my Camrys and there was not a recall issued for that year. So, I have to be skeptical about the 2005 Tundra and the 2009 Yaris I still own. And I am wondering if I will have to wait until something BAD happens before Toyota will step up to the plate and inspect the remaining 'unrecalled' vehicles....at least for safety's sake.



Hmmm.....your thoughts?

Welcome one and all to the first day of my blog, my first posting. There are so many strange things going on in the world today which are just lightly touched upon but I can tell you there is much more going on in the background that for some reason or another is not being told, 'more than meets the eye.' We will explore all of the obvious and discuss the not so obvious..



Some Examples of my past observations:

** I knew that we were in a housing bubble and that it was going to blow long before a lot of you knew.

**I also suspected the run up in gas prices was/is based largely on speculation. I wrote an opinionated article to the Miami Herald but it was never published.

**I currently am theorizing that all of the products made and imported from China to the United States are largely unregulated. Why do you think we have had recalls on toys, infant powdered milk and recently drywalls. Interesting isn't it?



Stay with my blog as we explore the obvious...