REAL TIME COUPON FEATURES ON TRI-CITIES ON A DIME

Sunday, March 29, 2015

LAUGH FOR THE DAY - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

Some could say this is the what the current Government does...

LAUGH FOR THE DAY - SILLY STRING

They should lengthen the time to 365 days a year and post this in Washington, D.C. - Capital of Silly String. 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - 7 DANGERS TO HUMAN VIRTUE (THIS WAS JUST WORTH REPEATING)

SEEMS LIKE WE HAVE ALL 7 OF THESE WORKING IN ABUNDANCE IN THE USA.

Monday, March 23, 2015

LAUGH FOR THE DAY - HOUSEWORK


THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - RESPONSIBILITY


DID YOU KNOW THAT MANY FLIGHTS WERE REROUTED TO CANADA ON SEPTEMBER 11TH? THIS IS THE STORY OF ONE OF THOSE FLIGHTS - DELTA FLIGHT 15 ON 9/11 - AN AMAZING STORY.

Delta Flight 15 on 9/11 (amazing story)

It is 13 years since 9/11 and here is a wonderful story about that terrible day.   Jerry Brown Delta Flight 15... (true story)  Here is an amazing story from a  Flight attendant on Delta Flight 15,  written following 9-11:

On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, we were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt, flying over the North Atlantic .     All of a sudden the curtains parted and I was told to go to the cockpit, immediately, to see the captain. As soon as I got there I noticed that the crew had that "All Business" look on their faces. The captain handed me a printed message. It was from Delta's main office in Atlanta and simply read, "All airways over the Continental United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport. Advise your destination."   

No one said a word about what this could mean. We knew it was a serious situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. The captain determined that the nearest airport was 400 miles behind us in Gander , New Foundland.  He requested approval for a route change from the Canadian traffic controller and approval was granted immediately -- no questions asked. We found out later, of course, why there was no hesitation in approving our request.

 While the flight crew prepared the airplane for landing, another message arrived from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York area. A few minutes later word came in about the hijackings.  We decided to LIE to the passengers while we were still in the air. We told them the plane had a simple instrument problem and that we needed to land at the nearest airport in Gander, New Foundland, to have it checked out.    

We promised to give more information after landing in Gander ..There was much grumbling among the passengers, but that's nothing new! Forty minutes later, we landed in Gander . Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM! .... that's 11:00 AM EST.   There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground from all over the world that had taken this detour on their way to the U.S.

After we parked on the ramp, the captain made the following announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen, you must be wondering if all these airplanes around us have the same instrument problem as we have. The reality is that we are here for another reason." Then he went on to explain the little bit we knew about the situation in the U.S. There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief. The captain informed passengers that Ground control in Gander told us to stay put.

The Canadian Government was in charge of our situation and no one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No one on the ground was allowed to come near any of the air crafts. Only airport police would come around periodically, look us over and go on to the next airplane. In the next hour or so more planes landed and Gander ended up with 53 airplanes from all over the world, 27 of which were U.S. commercial jets.

Meanwhile, bits of news started to come in over the aircraft radio and for the first time we learned that airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in DC. People were trying to use their cell phones, but were unable to connect due to a different cell system in Canada . Some did get through, but were only able to get to the Canadian operator who would tell them that the lines to the U.S. were either blocked or jammed.

Sometime in the evening the news filtered to us that the World Trade Center buildings had collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had resulted in a crash. By now the passengers were emotionally and physically exhausted, not to mention frightened, but everyone stayed...amazingly calm. We had only to look out the window at the 52 other stranded aircraft to realize that we were not the only ones in this predicament.

We had been told earlier that they would be allowing people off the planes one plane at a time. At 6 PM, Gander airport told us that our turn to deplane would be 11 am the next morning. Passengers were not happy, but they simply resigned themselves to this news without much noise and started to prepare themselves to spend the night on the airplane.

Gander had promised us medical attention, if needed, water, and lavatory servicing. And they were true to their word.  Fortunately we had no medical situations to worry about. We did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy. We took REALLY good care of her. The night passed without incident despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.

About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th a convoy of school buses showed up. We got off the plane and were taken to the terminal where we went through Immigration and Customs and then had to register with the Red Cross.  After that we (the crew) were separated from the passengers and were taken in vans to a small hotel. We had no idea where our passengers were going. We learned from the Red Cross that the town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people and they had about 10,500 passengers to take care of from all the airplanes that were forced into Gander ! We were told to just relax at the hotel and we would be contacted when the U.S. airports opened again, but not to expect that call for a while.

We found out the total scope of the terror back home only after getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24 hours after it all started.   Meanwhile, we had lots of time on our hands and found that the people of Gander were extremely friendly. They started calling us the "plane people." We enjoyed their hospitality, explored the town of Gander and ended up having a pretty good time.

Two days later, we got that call and were taken back to the Gander airport. Back on the plane, we were reunited with the passengers and found out what they had been doing for the past two days. What we found out was incredible.

Gander and all the surrounding communities (within about a 75 Kilometer radius)  had closed all high schools, meeting halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places.  They converted all these facilities to mass lodging areas for all the stranded travelers. Some had cots set up, some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up.

ALL the high school students were required to volunteer their time to take care of the "guests." Our 218 passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45 kilometers from Gander where they were put up in a high school. If any women wanted to be in a women-only facility, that was arranged. Families were kept together. All the elderly passengers were taken to private homes.Remember that young pregnant lady? She was put up in a private home right across the street from a 24-hour Urgent Care facility. There was a dentist on call and both male and female nurses remained with the crowd for the duration.

Phone calls and e-mails to the U.S. and around the world were available to everyone once a day. During the day, passengers were offered "Excursion" trips. Some people went on boat cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went for hikes in the local forests. Local bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests.  Food was prepared by all the residents and brought to the schools. People were driven to restaurants of their choice and offered wonderful meals. Everyone was given tokens for local laundry mats to wash their clothes, since luggage was still on the aircraft. In other words, every single need was met for those stranded travelers.

Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. Finally, when they were told that U.S. airports had reopened, they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a single passenger missing or late. The local Red Cross had all the information about the whereabouts of each and every passenger and knew which plane they needed to be on and when all the planes were leaving. They coordinated everything beautifully. It was absolutely incredible.

When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise. Everyone knew each other by name. They were swapping stories of their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time. Our flight back to Atlanta looked like a chartered party flight. The crew just stayed out of their way. It was mind-boggling.   Passengers had totally bonded and were calling each other by their first names, exchanging phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.

And then a very unusual thing happened.    One of our passengers approached me and asked if he could make an announcement over the PA system. We never, ever allow that. But this time was different. I said "of course" and handed him the mike.  He picked up the PA and reminded everyone about what they had just gone through in the last few days. He reminded them of the hospitality they had received at the hands of total strangers. He continued by saying that he would like to do something in return for the good folks of Lewis Porte. 

He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA 15 (our flight number). The purpose of the trust fund is to provide college scholarships for the high school students of Lewis Porte.  He asked for donations of any amount from his fellow travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts, names, phone numbers and addresses, the total was for more than $14,000!The gentleman, a MD from Virginia , promised to match the donations and to start the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would forward this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as well.

 As I write this account, the trust fund is at more than $1.5 million and has assisted 134 students in college education!

"I just wanted to share this story because we need good stories right now. It gives me a little bit of hope to know that some people in a faraway place were kind to some strangers who literally dropped in on them.   It reminds me how much good there is in the world."

In spite of all the rotten things we see going on in today's world this story confirms that there are still a lot of good people in the world and when things get bad, they will come forward.   *This is one of those stories that need to be shared. Please do so...

Sunday, March 22, 2015

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - THE BEST PART OF YOUR LIFE


IS YOUR TV "SNOOPING" ON YOU? TO FIND OUT AND HOW TO TURN IT OFF - READ THE ARTICLE

Dear Readers:

I remember back in the 60's and 70's the different television series depicting the crazy little guy with the metal helmet telling the police officers that his TV was spying on him.  Well, maybe our TV's couldn't do it then, but they can now.  Today I came across an article about this very subject and how to turn off the monitoring.  

Below a link to the article. Due to copyright laws I cannot include an excerpt.  

 

How to turn off snooping smart TV features

 


Saturday, March 21, 2015

LAUGH FOR THE DAY - THE MOVERS AND THE SHAKERS


WISE WORDS FROM MY STATE REPRESENTATIVE ON "PROTECTING WORKERS RIGHTS"

Dear Readers:

It makes me feel good that I have a Representative serving in the Congressional House that has common sense.  Here is his take on this latest efforts of labor unions to take away workers' rights.  

Protecting Workers' Rights  
While the Obama Administration has proposed a number of rules and regulations that make it more difficult for employers to create jobs, there is perhaps no rule more unfair to employers than the so-called “ambush election” rule proposed by the National Labor Relations Board. The ambush election rule was finalized last December and could shorten the length of time in which a union election is held to as little as 11 days. The average certification election is currently 38 days. This flawed rule will limit the ability of employers to prepare for union elections and, more importantly, gives workers too little time to weigh the facts about joining a union.

Earlier this year, I was proud to join House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline and Senators Lamar Alexander and Mike Enzi to introduce a joint resolution of Congress to stop this rule’s implementation.

For far too long, we’ve seen the Obama administration’s activist NLRB – which should ensure fair and transparent union elections – put the interests of labor unions before those of job creators and American workers. This latest rule is nothing more than an attempt to speed up union elections, violating the rights of workers to make an informed decision and employers to communicate openly with their employees during a union organizing campaign. As I’ve said before, this isn’t about whether you are pro or anti-union—the purpose of this resolution is to stop the NLRB from moving forward with policies that will effectively cripple the rights of workers.

Even a labor attorney and former NLRB staff member spoke out about this rule in a committee hearing held on March 4. Arnold Perl said that, “workers’ rights had been abandoned by the new rules which imposes built-in obstacles which prevent or impede reasoned and informed choices by employees.” Also troubling, this rule requires employers to give information including work schedules, home and email addresses and phone numbers to union leaders, jeopardizing the privacy and safety of workers and their families.

Earlier this month, the Senate passed this important bill, and this week, the House did the same. While I hope the president reconsiders his position and decides to support worker freedom, the president has indicated he will veto this legislation, further proving that his administration is more concerned with supporting union bosses than ensuring a fair and impartial process that respects workers’ rights to make decisions that are best for them.

Last November, voters spoke out against the president’s destructive governing tactics loud and clear. Unfortunately, rather than change course, it seems this administration is doubling down on the same failed policies that prevent more robust job creation. Still, I am committed to fighting back and pushing for commonsense, smaller government. I want to leave a better country for my children and grandchildren, and I strongly believe President Obama is leading us in the opposite direction. As long as I have the honor of representing the First Congressional District, you can rest assured I will continue fighting to be a voice of reason in Washington.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - MAY YOU ALWAYS...


WHY I AM OPPOSED TO MAKING MARIJUANA LEGAL?

Dear Readers:

I have posted other articles about marijuana and my opposition against it.  Just read an article today that just backs up what I have said before.  Here is a quote:
"Like tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke contains cancer-causing chemicals.  There are 33 cancer-causing chemicals contained in marijuana. Marijuana smoke also deposits tar into the lungs. In fact, when equal amounts of marijuana and tobacco are smoked,
marijuana deposits four times as much tar into the lungs. This is because marijuana joints are un-filtered and often more deeply inhaled than cigarettes
."


Here is the link from the American Lung Association article where I got the quote:  http://www.lung.org/associations/states/colorado/tobacco/marijuana.html

Where are all the people that spout off about the dangers of cigarette smoking?  Many of these same people are okay with making marijuana legal.  Honestly, it just doesn't make since.  I guess it is okay to get cancer if you are getting high. 
  

Saturday, March 7, 2015

ONCE AGAIN - TECH SAVVY NEWS FROM MY FAVORITE TECH PERSON - WHAT SECRET IS YOU CELL PHONE COMPANY KEEPING FROM YOU?

If you are worried about your privacy when you use your cell phone, you will want to read this article.  Below is an excerpt from the article with a link provided to the complete article.

The secret your cellphone company doesn't want you to  know.
by Kim Komando
"Recently, AT&T surprised everyone when it added a new option to its GigaPower fiber Internet service: privacy. Yes, for just $29 more a month, AT&T promises it WON'T sell your search and browsing history to advertisers. How generous.

While there's still some doubt about how private your information is even after you pay the $29, at least AT&T is being honest about how it finances operations. The truth is, the major cellphone carriers are more than happy to sell your information to advertisers and serve you targeted ads over their networks.

I'm going to tell you how to stop them, and at the end I'll discuss other ways carriers and advertisers are working to get your information."

TIME FOR A LITTLE NOSTALGIA - THE BIG BOPPER AND "CHANTILLY LACE"


Thursday, March 5, 2015

LAUGH FOR THE DAY - IT'S ALL A MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE


SMILE FOR THE DAY - THE POUND OF DIRT

When I was a little kid back in the 50's, my grandmother always said, "A kid needs to eat a pound of dirt to stay healthy."  Maybe she was right.
 

WHICH "INDUSTRY" HAS THE WORSE CUSTOMER SERVICE?

And just think - we now have the FCC (government office) handling the internet!