Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Sentimental Memories & New Beginnings



For those of you who don't know this already, I managed to get on the wrong side of my alma mater's Dean Of Women back during the 1971-72 school year.

I would realize with the passing of time that she had been influenced by a "spin" put onto me -- and have come to realize just lately why such a spin came into being.

But I'm not going to go into all of that here.

However, I WILL say that I ended up getting a very upsetting letter from said dean shortly after completing my freshman year.  This letter informed me that she was requesting that I withdraw from college. 

It wasn't a request as in "Would you like to stop being a student at this college?  If this is what you want, who am I to keep you from it?"

Not by a long-shot!

Instead, it was a request/demand as in:  "Whether it's okay with you or not, you're no longer welcome to be a student at this college where you have had your heart set on going ever since one of our student representatives came to your church's youth group when you were in eighth grade and gave such a wonderful description of what being a student was like that you fell in love with our college and, as a senior in high school, you only filled out one college application:  to our college!"

As you can imagine, I was heartbroken when I read this letter -- but I was determined to return as a student a.s.a.p.

I had a lot of people in my corner, and "a.s.a.p." turned out to be the 1973-74 school year.

This would mean that I would be (if I didn't either get another one of those horrible letters from D.O.W. sometime on down the pike or else decide to quit going there on my own for one reason or another) graduating with the class of 1976 instead of the class of 1975.

The rest of the story plays out that I received no more of those horrible letters and ended up graduating in 1976 -- even though I would graduate with my major and minor switched and actually had to take a couple more summer school classes after the graduation ceremony in the spring before the album I was handed at the ceremony would contain a signed diploma.

There are more details to this story than what I'm writing here at this time, but I just wanted to show you how God works in mysterious ways and uses even shattered/delayed dreams to bring about positive, new beginnings in our lives!!!

For instance, this is what I saw myself doing during the summer of 1975 (before all of these changes took place):

Between my junior and senior year of high school, my folks and I had taken a vacation in the South with one of the places we went being Dauphin Island off the coast near to Mobile, Alabama.

When I was there, I saw this little schoolhouse that looked as if it had four classrooms at the most -- and I was thinking along the lines of two classrooms.  What ever amount of classrooms it had, it would be a mixed-age kind of classroom.

At the time, I was wanting to become a special education teacher -- and I had also found out that the college of my dreams didn't offer a special education degree.  However, I could go there to get an elementary education degree and, after that, either get my Master's in special education somewhere else or else take enough other courses somewhere else after I had graduated to end up with a special education degree at the Bachelor's level.

So, I had this game plan in mind:  

I would get an elementary education degree and, before working on my Master's in special education, I would get some teaching experience in a mixed-age classroom.  The Dauphin Island Elementary School seemed like one possibility.

Therefore -- before all of this withdrawing from college nonsense -- I was going to graduate in 1975.

During the summer of 1975, I saw myself back in the family home south of Anderson making preparations to move to Dauphin Island, Alabama and teach.  This would be, likely, for a period of only a year -- or two years at the most.

Then, I would be returning to Indiana and becoming a wife, mother, writer, and, in time (after finishing my Master's), a special education teacher (along with all of those other career descriptions, of course).

As it was, I was still a college student in the summer of 1975 -- and one who decided that summer would be the ideal time to get a very difficult required course out of the way instead of trying to do it while taking a full class load:

physics & chemistry

I ended up making As on the hands-on and very enjoyable lab assignments but getting mostly Fs on the "all Greek to me" part of the course -- with the end result being that I received a "passing" grade of D and, therefore, had that required course taken care of.

But the passing grade wasn't the best thing I got out of this class -- the best thing was getting a friend, and all because I was craving an orange.

I had a $20 bill, and the vending machine in The Campus Cupboard only took change for purchases.  The orange that was making my mouth water was on the opposite side of a transparent door from me.

I'd thought that the bookstore would be open so that I could break the $20 and buy the orange, but it wasn't.

So, I asked a classmate if he had change for a $20, and he told me that he didn't.  However, he had the two dimes that would get the orange for me and offered them to me.

I thanked him and told him that I would pay him back as soon as the bookstore opened, and he told me that it wasn't necessary, but I insisted.

It turned out that the bookstore opened before I even had the chance to buy the orange, so I went and broke my $20 and, then, tried to pay my classmate (who had followed me over to the student center) back his two dimes.  He kept refusing to take them -- but I was finally able to talk him into at least sharing the orange with me.

On that day in early July of 1975, a friendship that has endured for over 40 years was born!

A day or two later, Mark brought his "gee-tah" with him when he came to campus, and, after the class was over, he told me that he wanted to dedicate a song to me and did his own wonderful version of this one:

Click Here to see it performed by Paul and Ringo.

Mark was not quite 19 when we met.  On July 29, 2016, he'll be 60 years old.  I wonder, at times, how all of those years have gone by so fast.
It also doesn't seem that long ago (back in 1978) when my folks and I first met his fiancee, Barbara, and, the following New Year's Day,  my folks, Diana (another special friend who has blessed me with a bunch of godchildren -- and in so many other ways as well, even scolding me when I had gotten down and was considering dropping out of college after fighting so hard to get back in...a whole other story), and I attended their wedding ceremony.

This took place up in Lebanon, Indiana, and we had to park quite a ways from the church -- and it was really cold that night with the great outdoors flocked with snowdrifts, and we also had to be careful not to step on any slick spots.  These days, I don't know if I would have ventured out on a night like that -- but I'm glad that I was able to back then.

When I first met Mark, it had been his dream to go to medical school and become a missionary doctor in some Third-World country.  He ended up becoming an RN with most of his employment in that area being as a phlebotomist.  He was on-call with The Red Cross for many years -- not in some Third-World country but, instead, down in Tennessee where he and Barbara have lived since 1980 or 1981, raised one daughter who was born in 1982, and helped out various family members.

They have done all of this while dealing with various health and financial challenges of their own over the years and now are living in one side of a duplex in what they've found out to be a neighborhood that not only had the problem of inconvenience since their handicap-friendly vehicle was stolen a few years ago but, also, is getting to be very dangerous.

The last straw was when somebody fired 20 bullets into the other side of the duplex -- fortunately, not leaving a body-count behind.

"You've GOT to get OUT of there!!!" I told Mark when we were messaging online yesterday, and I added that I wished that I had the means to help them.

I asked him if there were anybody who would be able to help them to leave, and he let me know that he was already doing what he could to bring this to pass.  He had put up a GoFundMe Site in hopes of raising enough money to replace their vehicle and give them and their dog, Lady, the means to resettle elsewhere.

I was glad to hear this.  To a small degree, I was even able to help them by making the first donation of $5 and sharing the site.  I'm happy to report that, since I made the initial donation, a total of $50 more has been raised ($55 total) -- and I believe that this is just the beginning!!!

By the time you read this, I hope that even more will be donated.  You can click on the above hyperlink and watch the progress report.  If you feel able and led to, you can also donate.  Even if you're unable to donate, you can keep sharing this story.  You can share it either using the link to their GoFundMe site; using the link to this blog-entry; both; or something of your own if you happen to also know this wonderful couple and want to encourage people to donate to giving them a new beginning.



Thursday, October 29, 2015

Just-In-Case

After reading this:

Click Me

I decided to write this:

TY, David Moffatt, for sharing this story. I've just spent most of my time in library today writing this just-in-case kind of thing!

I need to also mention here that Larry is just (as of our last conversation last night) just 14,905 away from his 11,000,000th tab saved for Ronald McDonald House since 2003!!!

Here are the plain and simple instructions should I pass soon:

I want my resting place to be in Cunot Cemetery where my dad is already laid to rest and my mom's cremains will be, too. The latter are currently in storage.

Due to having to put lots of memories from a hurried move in a place quickly, there is a lot in front of a chest in my most southward unit.

There are already people authorized to go in there.

The chest is on the left in front of a table with photos and nik-naks on it. Inside are (among other things) a plastic container with a rectangular box-shaped "urn" in it containing my mom's cremains.

My cremains will be whatever is left over from body donation. Even if my organs can't be used due to being found too late (say, in a case like this), my hair can still be used to go towards a wig for someone who is losing hair from something like a chemo treatment, and I think my bones will still be usable as well.

Cremate at least part of me to be laid to rest in Cunot, even if most all turns out to be usable. I'm talking about face donation, too.

If there are enough ashes, scatter at least an ash or two in these three places: 1. Methodist Church inside of Mammoth Cave (Historical Tour Route) where there are wonderful formations of the face of Jesus, a cross, an angel, and a pulpit where ministers have actually preached to a congregation. 2. Mixed with the grass over the place where Larry "The CanMan" Van Ness will eventually be laid to rest. 3. In the waters of Lake Michigan on Kemil Beach (Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore).

My cousins and godchildren can go through my photos, home movies, etc., and pick what is meaningful to them.

Other items can be sold, recycled, etc. Aluminum products can be divided up between Big Dave (how I'll identify him here) and Larry Van Ness -- with pop can tabs all going to Larry. Newspapers that won't sell for some kind of value or without clippings anyone wants to keep can be divided up between Big Dave & Larry.

Auction for anything that isn't something needing to go to family (photos, home movies, etc.) with what's earned being divided between Ronald McDonald House Of Indiana; Rose Njilo for her work in Tanzania I've often mentioned; Snoopy Puckett for closing down places that are called boot-camps but are places where already hurting kids are being bullied; Indiana School For The Blind (where my aunt went for her high school); Country Music Association/Country Music Hall Of Fame (where my aunt also wanted more of her things to go after she passed); Indianapolis 500 (another favorite place of Aunt Kate's earmarked for use of Indy 5 activities for kids in Riley Hospital); research for better treatment for Retinitis Pigmentosa, Parkinson's, ALS, MS, & Alzheimer's. Food in my frig and pantry as well as things like cologne, soap, etc.donated to giving table in Community Room of Gillespie Tower (Muncie) and donated to Christian Center (Anderson).

Simple graveside service for both my mom and me with 23rd Psalm and Because He Lives; I've Been With Jesus; In The Garden; & How Great Thou Art.

Celebrate anything we (my mom, dad, and I) might have done to make a positive difference by paying it forward and giving the Glory To God!!!

Of course, I'm planning on seeing what it's like to turn 100 one of these days, but just writing this just in case.

One more thing: FULL CODE!!! No pulling the plug until I'm actually gone and DEFINITELY no euthanasia!!!







Thursday, October 22, 2015

They've Got Another Think Coming...

The latest news
is that
it's predicted
that we
won't be going to court
until
November
AND
that this doesn't refer to
2015
but
-- instead --
2016
!!!

I
don't
THINK
so
!!!

THIS:
is
NOT
what's going to be happening
in this case,
because
I'm not going to be sitting still for this
as
I've had
ENOUGH
of
playing a waiting game
!!!
That's all for now
...
BUT
That ain't all she's gonna write
...
Let's quit dragging our feet, peeps!!!


glitter-graphics.com



Friday, September 18, 2015

Spotlight On B105.7 FM Out Of Indy

This has to be the strangest blog-entry I've ever created!

What you're seeing here is somebody (yours truly) who has been fighting with her iffy Internet connection and wore herself out.

For starters, I got the last (as reported here) CanMan stats off by 1000. I should have reported that he was at 175,400 instead of 165,400.

Anyway, he told me last night that his stats were now at 171,385. 

I wrote that down, so I know that that is the correct amount.


Anyway, I posted this last night -- not even (as I indicated) having time to add my usual top and bottom graphics to it, as I couldn't even get Amazing Counters to open up.

No matter...It's worth reading, so please keep scrolling down........................



NO GRAPHIC THIS TIME AROUND


Note:  When you see something like this (as I'm demonstrating with my own website):AinsleyJo1952  (F) (T)

in the course of this blog-entry, it stands for having not only a personal website (mine, at this time, being in the early stages of construction, so pardon -- and, hopefully, enjoy -- my getting-things-done dust and clutter) but, also, a presence on Facebook and Twitter.



It's now Thursday, September 17, 2015, and the time showing on my computer clock as I finish the first sentence of this post is (Eastern/NY Time, which is also what time it is here in the central part of Indiana -- including right here in Muncie where I'm currently living) 3:46 a.m.

Last night, Larry and I talked, and I now know that I remembered the stat before this last one incorrectly.

However -- even though I didn't write it down to be sure -- I DO still remember the CURRENT stat:

Larry Eugene "The CanMan" Van Ness is now just 165,400 aluminum pop can tabs away from collecting his 11,000,000th one (since beginning in 2003 -- originally starting out to simply collect 1,000,000 as his contribution to helping a family he knew who had a child at Riley Children's Hospital  (F)  (T) and  was staying at Ronald McDonald House Of Indiana  (F)  (T)  ).

Time flies!

While I might have started writing this blog-entry in the early hours of the day, it's now almost four in the afternoon of the same day for the simple reason that John Lennon was so right about life happening to you while you're busy making other plans  -- and one of those happenings is an Internet connection with a mind of its own.

Soon, it became time for lunch -- and, then, BINGO.  And, of course (as I mentioned earlier in this entry), I'm working on my website.  Lots of twists 'n' turns involved with that -- not to mention lots of distractions that are both related to the website, itself, (e.g. listening to all of the amazing music I've selected and am selecting to be part of it) and to other aspects of my life, both in Cyberspace and in the real world.

And, now, it's 11:20 p.m., and I ended up with buggy connections for a great deal of the evening  -- then, after things got set right again, I got caught up in the Facebook scene.

I should know by now that there's no such animal as dropping into Facebook for just a few minutes -- but I never seem to learn!

Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to yet another supporter of both Riley Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Of Indiana, and that's B105.7 Soft Rock   (F)    (T)

Usually, I will provide some kind of item to go along with my updates on Larry's progress report rather than just post the number by itself.  For example, I illustrated my previous report with this totally-amazing video  .  And, in case you missed it, let me tell you why I think it's so amazing.

The reason it's so amazing was that I was thinking of songs that reminded me of how I feel about Larry, and this song came to mind.

Anyway, I found it on YouTube beautifully done on the aforementioned video, and all I can say is for you to enjoy the entire video, but be sure to be watching what happens just past the two-minute mark!

But you're going to be finding items ( such as this one ) from B105.7 playing a role in my stats announcements at least part of the time.

Enough said for now, because, due to some glitches with my Internet connection lasting for hours on end, it's now time for me to sign off, get this posted, and call Larry!

*********
UPDATE:  I'm not getting Larry -- which probably means that he's either out eating with friends or else there's a thunderstorm going on there, and he's not answering his phone.

No problem, because it's giving me more time to finish this up and get it posted.

I'm having to coax every little action out of my Internet connection as if it were a timid kitten hiding in the corner or else an obstinate child -- which means that it has ended up taking me almost two days to create this one post, so youse betta enjoy it, ya here!?!  Or ELSE!!!

Or else WHAT!?!

I dunno!  Maybe, I'll hold my breath until I turn purple...or, maybe, I'll just be glad that (as you're reading this), I did finally manage to get it posted.

Anyway, the Larry stats (so far as I know at this time) are no more than 165,400 -- and, likely, considerably-less by now...

Finished a few minutes after 10 p.m. on Friday, September 18, 2015!  WHEW!!!

NO GRAPHIC THIS TIME AROUND

Monday, September 7, 2015

I'm One Reason Why Round Tuit Stock Is Soaring!


The last time I wrote in this blog (as in creating a brand new entry as opposed to simply adding to continuing entries) was on August 20, 2015 in celebration of the day in 1872 that my maternal grandpa was born and his 87-years-long dash.

I had also planned on writing something about him on August 31, as that was the day he passed away back in 1959 (56 years ago), but I never got A ROUND TUIT.

Even so, I still plan on writing that tribute, but it will just have to be at a later time.

Anyway, I'm working on a new website -- and not just A new website but THE new website.

Although you can never tell, I believe that this website will truly make it a whole lot easier to manage my online life (as well as my offline/real-life life) once I get it to a certain stage.

This particular blog-entry is going to be getting added to in the time to come with links to places that will keep you up on the various things involved in getting A ROUND TUIT.

Here's the first one I have finished:

I, Obviously, Don't Know How To Kiss (or something like that...)!


Here's a second one (that is actually part of an unrelated blog-entry).

Stay tuned for more to be added in the time to come...

This spot reserved for my next link...








Thursday, August 20, 2015

A Tribute To My Grandpa On The 143rd Anniversary Of His Birth




I'm still working on my progressive blog-entry ( Seven Things I Want To Share With You ) but wanted to take some time out to make a tribute to my grandpa on the 143rd anniversary of his birth.

This started out as a Tweet at Twitter that automatically posted at Facebook  ...

George Elmer "Greeley" Jobe
8/20/1872--8/31/1959
Celebrating 143rd ann. of Grandpa's birth w/one of our fav songs:

At this point, I used up my remaining character-per-Tweet allowance to post the url to link to the song:

  This Old House by Rosemary Clooney 1954 

Then, I went over to Facebook and started leaving comments to continue the story.

The first comment I left was...

What you would find Grandpa and me (along with my folks and anybody else who might be visiting us then) watching on most Saturday nights:

   An Episode Of Your Hit Parade That Aired In March Of 1954   

The next comment I left was...

Here are some more episodes of that memorable show:

 A Collection Of Several More Episodes Of Your Hit Parade  

About that time, I noticed that it was quickly heading towards 11 AM and that I needed to think about getting ready to head down to lunch so that I wouldn't miss it, so I left the following comment next...

Going to lunch now but will be back with more memories.

When I returned, I made a couple more posts (shown below) before beginning this blog-entry you're reading now...

After we watched  Your Hit Parade, this is what we watched next -- and, soon after that, it was bedtime.

A Collection Of Episodes Of Gunsmoke   

Johnny Cash & Family -- Will The Circle Be Unbroken  

After that, I began to think about a more permanent tribute and one that I could add to and more easily share, so I decided to build it here and give it room to expand even more.

As I want to be sure that this initial page will still be able to have the August 20, 2015 date on it, I'm going to go ahead and post this and add to it later.

(to be continued)



Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Seven Things I Want To Share With You


It's now almost 9:30 pm on Monday, August 17, 2015, and I've just brought my last blog-entry to an end after writing on it for over two weeks.  All I have to do is to go back in a little bit and link it to this one.  But here's the link back to it in case you haven't read it yet.

********

It's now five in the morning of August 18 with time quickly marching on -- meaning that the first of seven is going to be a slightly-belated birthday present. 

Last night I talked to Larry, and I was all stretched out on the sofa and snuggled up under a blanket while doing this and didn't feel like getting back up to get online again afterwards and ended up sleeping like a baby until this morning.

One of the things he told me during our conversation was where he was in his tab count:  227,300 away from reaching his 11,000,000th tab!!!

Anyway, this is going to be another one of those Roman type of blog-entires (that is, not getting finished in a mere day--though I doubt that it will have a construction time of over two weeks like the last one), so be sure to return to see what's been added over the next few days.

Speaking of this...There's going to be a time when CLICK HERE will turn into a hyperlink.  When it does (and, for anyone who is visiting this blog sometime in the future from when I'm writing this now, it will have already happened), it will lead to a history of my Internet life leading up to this time when I've just recently gotten reconnected at home, albeit a different home than where I was when I became disconnected at home back on June 22, 2013.

On this note, I'll close this introduction and get on with the business of sharing those seven things with you, one-by-one...








It's now drawing close to three in the afternoon of August 18, and this birthday present is getting to be more and more belated -- but better late than never.  Yesterday, a very special man turned 44 years old, and he and his family (wife, mother-in-law, and young daughter -- and a kitty-cat, too!) have been going through some very challenging times in spite of all of them doing their best to better their lives -- and they haven't given up trying!  Far from it!!!  They were recently pleasantly surprised when an angel named Shannon recently set up a GoFundMe account  for them with a goal of raising at least $500 to help them out.  Already, they have been able to benefit from this (as recipients don't have to wait until the entire goal amount has been raised before they can start using it).

Having told you all of this, I want to share my idea for a special birthday present for this really nice guy -- and it doesn't have to cost you a penny!  If you want to/are able to donate, that's great, as all donations are VERY welcome!

But there's something anybody with an Internet connection (and, of course, connections to Facebook and/or Twitter) can do.

At this time, the total funds raised have been $392, and two of the ways that the word has been spread are Shares to Facebook and Tweets to Twitter.  At this time, total shares stand at 50 made up of 49 FB Shares and 1 Twitter Tweet.

Let's have fun increasing those stats.  Besides its being really cool to watch the numbers change to higher and higher ones, this also works to get the site information out to where more people have a chance of seeing it with at least some of them turning out to be donors.

If everybody reading this would take part, I wonder what the stats would look like 24 hours from now...3 days from now...a week from now...and so on and so-forth.

And -- when viewed by the people who decide to take things to the next level by actually donating cash  -- I wonder what the cash amount stat will look like as well.

Let's get started!!! 



 



For some reason, Taco Bell's latest slogan used to advertise its breakfast sandwiches really cracks me up!  Does it have that same effect on you?  In case you haven't read or heard it yet (in my case, I hear it frequently on my most-listened-to radio station, WMDH), here's how it goes:

"Are you tired of eating breakfast sandwiches shaped like circles?!?" and, after that, a strong suggestion to grab a breakfast sandwich from Taco Bell.

I predict that this one is going to end up a classic -- right up there with this memorable 1980s hoot from Wendy's.

One more thing:  If anybody looking at this now lives/has lived at Gillespie Tower, I think they'll know what I mean when I say that three of our older ladies could be cast in those same roles from left to right: Dawn, Doris, and Jane. The latter (who would get the part of shouting those memorable words) could use a lot of prayer at this time when it comes to current (I'm writing this on August 18) health issues.  If you happen to be somebody coming here in the future, you're going to find all of their names hyperlinked to other writings, as they're all very special in their own ways, and I'd like for you to get to know them better! Don't worry, ladies!  I'm not going to rattle any skeletons in your closets (in case you actually even HAVE any) -- just let others know some of the reasons I think you're people who make a positive difference just by being you!

On that note, I'm going to sign off and get #3 ready.  It's under-construction right at the moment, but I hope to have it out there before long...

 

On Monday, August 31, 2015 just before I went to lunch, I grand-opened my Christian Walk blog, 7 If By Land & 7 If By Sea....  It's my prayer that its content will bless you many times over!!!




Stay tuned for what will be going here before long...




Stay tuned for what will be going here before long...




 Stay tuned for what will be going here before long...





 

Stay tuned for what will be going here before long...