1.31.2017

Boycotting Starbucks? Here are some coffee deals in BULK size to help you out - 100 Count Cases of K-cups for $49 - 80 (depending on brand/variety)


When you add up the cost per cup brewed at home into your travel mug, not only are you saving about $2 - $7 per drink (depending on the kind/variety/flavor) you get, but you are cutting TIME off your morning commute as well.  You can sleep in an extra 10 minutes or more, depending on how long it takes you to do your morning coffee run.

We buy our k-cups in cases of 80-100 count. I typically just pick up a case at the local membership warehouse when I do our grocery shopping, but I also sometimes order online.  If you are looking for any variety packs, flavored or something other than the typical 2-3 brands, you won't find them locally so you pretty much have to order the case online.  My family members also order online;  one uses the actual Keurig site for all her ordering (I've ordered from them many times but not recently) and another family member just orders a case online from whatever site he happens to find the best price on.

If you have Amazon Prime (Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial) or if you are placing an order that is over $49 you can almost always get free shipping - and a lot of items are free shipping by the seller anyway no matter what the total of the order is.

So here are a few "100 count" bulk cases of k-cups to get you started on your search to save money on your morning coffee fix - or to boycott Starbucks if that is your personal plan.





COFFEE:



DECAF:






VARIETY PACKS:







FRENCH VANILLA (popular):





GREEN TEA (popular):
 

1.25.2017

Fake Mozilla Update: firefox-patch.js (often popping up on Yahoo Mail)


At 7:00 this morning I decided I'd do a quick post on the 'fake' Firefox Mozilla update that is tricking a lot of people into downloading.  However, as life usually does, things went a different way and it's already 10:00 am and I kept getting pulled away.

Instead of a quick post...  I just decided to do a REALLY quick post.

This is a screenshot I took of the FAKE update.
Note it's not from mozilla - it's from a random site called chongwhbash.org but more important to mention is that the download site changes ALL THE TIME.  So the particular site it's redirecting to doesn't so much matter (there can be hundreds) but the fact that it is not from Mozilla.

Second, it's a firefox-patch.js file - which the real updates are not.

Just exit the page and close it out.  

You can see your latest Firefox version by clicking on help in your browser and clicking on "ABOUT FIREFOX" and it will say what edition you have and if you are up to date.  They NEVER do a full page browser pop up like this.

And that's about all I have time for right now.  









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1.21.2017

One Minute History with your Coffee: When and How did the Political Parties Begin?



How did the Republican Party begin?

The Republican Party, one of the two principal political parties of the United States awas founded in 1854 by those opposing the extension of slavery into the new territories.  The party mustered enough support to elect their candidate in 1860, Abraham Lincoln.  During the 1880's party members nicknamed themselves the Grand Old Party; the vestige of this nickname is still around today, as the GOP.

How did the Democratic Party begin?

The other - and older - principal party in the United States today, the Democratic Party was founded around electing Thomas Jefferson to office in 1800 (against Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Party).  The party's platform favored personal liberty and the limited of federal government.  Installing Jefferson in office, the party - then called the Democratic Republicans - went on to get its candidates int o the White House for the next 25 years.  In 1828 they became known simply as Democrats, dropping the suffix.





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You might also be interested in;



The Handy History Answer Book, Second Edition (The Handy Answer Book Series)

A concise guide to all things historical, this compendium addresses people, times, and events in a wide-ranging and comprehensive manner, complemented by helpful illustrations and a chronology of major events. Some of the history-making events include the election of George W. Bush, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; spectacular images from probes in outer space, medical advances and debate, and many new scientific discoveries on Earth; a devastating earthquake in Iran and the deadly tsunami in Asia; the downfall of Enron and the comeback of Apple, as well as the dot-com bubble burst. Beginning with a section on historical eras, this popular reference source tracks history and organizes information in 13 specific subject sections, ranging from politics and war to science and religion. It tackles exploration and settlement, technological advances, legal fireworks, financial and business events, social movements, natural and man-made disasters, medicine and disease, and art and culture. This resource is the perfect fingertip, time-traveling guide through the pages of history.


The 2015 release edition;

The Handy American History Answer Book (The Handy Answer Book Series)

Early civilizations, Native Americans, the English colonies, slavery, the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights begin the journey and lay the foundation for the United States of today. The Handy American History Answer Book takes a walk through the economic, political, and social forces, as well as the military conflicts that created, changed, and built the United States. It explains the impact of the biggest events, the wars, the presidents, lesser-known personalities and figures, sports, music, and much more. This handy primer is a captivating, concise, and convenient history of America and Americans.



The Handy Civil War Answer Book



The Handy Supreme Court Answer Book


















Winnie-the-Pooh: quote that seems fitting for me today


 “Hallo, Rabbit,” he said, “is that you?”


"Let’s pretend it isn’t,” said Rabbit, “and see what happens.”

1.16.2017

Fighting for the right to die


Source:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4116308/This-fighting-right-die-Family-release-harrowing-pictures-MS-suffering-mother-final-days-torture.html


Years ago, while visiting extended family, we got into a discussion at the kitchen table one evening about assisted suicide and the right to take your own life.  My Dad and I were on opposite sides of the argument. So we agreed to disagree.  He believes no one should ever, ever have the right to take their own life.
I disagree.  And say it should be one of our most basic human rights.

And that's what I was pondering when I saw this news article the other night.  It really spoke to my heart and saved it in my files. 


___________________________________________




This is why we are fighting for the right to die': Family release harrowing pictures of MS-suffering mother in her final days of 'torture'

Floria Lormier, 68, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 20.
Her condition deteriorated over the past 2 years - leaving her in constant pain.
Her family say she was just 'skin and bones' before passing away in December.
They hope the pictures will convince politicians to change the law on euthanasia.

The family of a 68-year-old woman who suffered right up until her death are sharing her story in an attempt to fight for the right to die.

Flora Lormier, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) when she was 20 but her condition significantly worsened over the past two years.

Left in constant pain, she had begged her husband and daughter to help her die multiple times.

The debilitating condition had blighted her body, causing her to be paralysed from the neck down.

In hope of bringing about a change to the law on euthanasia, her husband, Tom, and daughter, Tracey Taylor, have released pictures of her in her final days.


Flora Lormier, suffered from multiple sclerosis since she was 20 but her condition worsened over the past two years. She begged her family to help her die.

"Mum was just left to suffer – it was torture, absolute torture. 
We were all around her when she passed but it wasn't peaceful."

'These pictures are what people need to see – this is why we are fighting for the right to die. 'There wasn't a thing we could do to help free her from her pain. We had morphine and sleeping pills and she begged us to help her end it, but we couldn't.

'She was like a prisoner of war who had been in a concentration camp.

'So why is it OK for a human to suffer? The Government need to see why people want the choice to decide when to die.'
 
Mr Lormier, who is registered blind, spent the past two years caring for his wife every day.

Showing her in a fragile state, she was left as just a pile of skin and bones before she eventually passed away naturally in December (pictured with her husband of 51 years, Tom, during her final weeks)




 Her daughter, Tracey Taylor, said: 'These pictures are what people need to see – this is why we are fighting for the right to die' (pictured together in the months running up to her death)




Assisted suicide are legal in Switzerland, Germany, Mexico and five US states.

So now divinity schools are instructing their professors to make sure they aren't teaching that "God" is our father or a 'He'?

Source:   http://www.nationalreview.com/article/443878/top-divinity-schools-use-gender-neutral-language-refer-god

 I remember years ago I read about Catholic colleges having to take down the crucifix's in their classrooms because it was 'offensive' to those attending school there who weren't Catholic.  After my initial "What the f@*k?" moment I was pissed.  As in; "Use common sense!  If you CHOOSE to go to a Catholic school then EXPECT them to have crucifixes around.  It's their religion and THEIR school."  But of course common sense went out the door about 15 years ago and it's never found its way back.

Tonight I'm wasting a bit of time before bed; having some hot coffee (decaf - tastes like crap but I don't need to be having MORE caffeine on top of the strong, black cup of hot coffee I had at 4:00...)  and I am just be-bopping through some random stories when I come across THIS ONE - which again, made me say "What the f@*k?"

Just stop.
Seriously people...  STOP.


Bits and pieces from the article: 



"if you are talking about the God of the Methodist religion, 
then it’s just plain inaccurate to refer to Him as anything but “Him.” 
It would be like teaching Hamlet and calling Hamlet “she.”


".... divinity schools at Duke and Vanderbilt Universities have instructed their professors to start using more “inclusive” language when referring to God because the masculine pronouns “have served as a cornerstone of the patriarchy.”

For example: This year’s divinity course catalogue at Vanderbilt tells professors to give “consistent attention to the use of inclusive language, especially in relation to the Divine,” because the school “commits continuously and explicitly to include gender as an analyzed category and to mitigate sexism.”

“It is up to the individual professor’s interpretation for their classes and is suggestive rather than mandatory,” the associate dean for academic affairs at Vanderbilt’s divinity school, Melissa Snarr, said in an e-mail to Heat Street.

Now, that may sound fair, but in many cases, it’s really not up to the professor. For example, if we are talking about the Christian God, every single reference to Him in the Bible uses a masculine pronoun . . . which kind of gives you the vibe that Christians have decided that their god is a dude. The fact is, teaching anything else would be giving inaccurate information — which is what makes Duke’s particular guidelines even more absurd.

According to Heat Street, Duke’s particular divinity school is “geared toward people already working in the Methodist church, taking supplemental weekend or summer classes.” Yes, “Methodist,” as in the Christian religion that has already completely, officially, 100 percent decided that their God is a man. And yet, Duke’s guidelines suggest avoiding gender specific pronouns when discussing Him and suggest using “God” and “Godself” instead.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/443878/top-divinity-schools-use-gender-neutral-language-refer-god










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1.13.2017

So... that day Ellen Degeneres taught me the words to 'Heart and Soul'



You know when you're a child and there is a piano around and someone in your group will march up the piano and show off their mad piano-playing skills by plinking out the little diddy that goes "duh duh duhhhhh... duhduhduhduhduhdu.... duh duh duhhhhh...."

You don't?

Well, if you heard it, you'd know the one I'm talking about.

Actually, although I had no piano skills (I played the flute) I had some pretty talented friends so they were actually more likely to burst into a concerto by Mozart or a church song (we were all Catholic school kids so mass twice a week was a thing) than that little diddy.  BUT when I was in high school my friend Nicole would scream loudly "OH I KNOW HOW TO PLAY!"  and either play that one or "Let's Go Fly a Kite".  Both are probably about at a 4 year olds level I think, for those playing piano.

Anyway.  Where was I?
(Sipping a little more peppermint coffee)

I have always heard this little plinked tune on a piano my whole life... by numerous (and I mean numerous) people.

BUT I NEVER KNEW THERE WERE WORDS????

So this week I have a kick-butt cold that has knocked me for a loop.  Just getting dressed pretty much exhausts me and I'm spending my day surrounded by mounds of Vicks-infused tissues, hot beverages and my laptop.  And while be-bopping around Youtube a few days ago, I stumbled upon the old "Ellen" shows.  NOT the ones she does now.  If you are perhaps a little too young to remember, she had a show back in the 90's called Ellen.  Where she ran a book store called "Buy The Book".   Being sick and miserable this week, I took the opportunity to watch back-to-back episodes of the old ELLEN show on Youtube.  All week.  Like...  I made it through a season a day this week.

And today I finished the end of season 3, episode 25...; which is where Paige and Matt don't get married AND where I learned OMG THAT PIANO DIDDY HAS LYRICS??

HOW did I never know this?
HOW did I miss this in life?
I know the most random songs.  The most random lyrics.  Doesn't matter if it's from 1933 or 2015 - I can't tell you who sings it, but I can sing along with it.

So here I am, feeling like a dummy because sure enough, after watching the Ellen show, I looked up "Heart and Soul" and OMG like everyone has sung it.  Everyone.  From Tori Amos to Helena Bonham Carter to Bea Wain and Larry Clinton to (of course) Dean Martin.

So I'm feeling pretty stupid and foolish for never knowing this.

But I thought, what the heck, I'll ramble about it on Coffee Talking because I bet somewhere,  there is someone else that has no idea those are the WORDS to that little piano diddy that every five year old can plink out on a piano.

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Source:  https://youtu.be/tm-SYk_50FI

Skip to the 9 minute mark for Heart and Soul




Although Ellen's version is a little different from the original, here are the lyrics I found as sung back in 1939.


Heart and soul, I fell in love with you
Heart and soul, the way a fool would do, madly
Because you held me tight
And stole a kiss in the night

Heart and soul, I begged to be adored
Lost control, and tumbled overboard, gladly
That magic night we kissed
There in the moon mist

Oh! but your lips were thrilling, much too thrilling
Never before were mine so strangely willing

But now I see, what one embrace can do
Look at me, it's got me loving you madly
That little kiss you stole
Held all my heart and soul





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1.09.2017

Pondering over coffee: I never thought about all the things left behind when an airport is suddenly evacuated


Source:  http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/08/travelers-lose-25000-items-after-florida-airport-rampage.html


By now everyone knows about the shooting that happened in Florida last Friday.
I immediately paid attention when I saw a headline appear on my computer about a shooting in an airport because our son was flying cross-country at that exact moment.  When we took him to the airport at 6:00 am that morning I was only concerned about the incoming ice storms and expected snowfall - an act of terror was not even on my radar.

After feeling immediate relief that the shooting happened in Florida - (none of the 3 airports my son would be in that day were in Florida) - I then felt awful for the people involved.  While I thought about those killed or harmed and the families it affected, I didn't even consider another issue that arises from this kind of an event;  all the things left behind when people have to suddenly drop their things and evacuate.

An article from Fox caught my attention when it focused on that topic... it was a good piece to ponder over morning coffee about.  All the wallets, passports, medications, luggage and shoes left in the security area as people were made to drop their things and run.....

Here are some bits and pieces of the article;  you can read it in its entirety at the source link above.


"Dan and Janice Kovacs and their two children were passing through airport security when the gunfire erupted. They were shoeless — with wallets, passports and carry-on items chugging along a conveyer belt — when they sprang into the mass of people running to safety.

Now they're among stranded travelers at Fort Lauderdale trying to recover what the airport director says are 25,000 pieces of luggage, cellphones and other belongings separated from their owners during Friday's shooting rampage.

"We have no IDs, we have no passports, no money," Janice, 39, said Saturday afternoon, wearing sandals borrowed from a brother-in-law. "We just had to leave our stuff and run."

___________________________________

The shooting Friday afternoon, which killed five people and wounded six, also stranded about 12,000 outgoing and incoming travelers, many returning from cruises or arriving ahead of the usual Saturday departures of the massive ships based in the tourism hub's Port Everglades terminal.

Some travelers were kept on planes for more than seven hours while police put the airport on lockdown; others scrambled to protected corners or were hustled out onto the tarmac. The Kovacs, on the way home to Vancouver, British Columbia, after a Caribbean cruise, went out onto that rough surface barefoot.

The Florida Highway Patrol sent computer-equipped buses to the airport Saturday afternoon to issue temporary ID cards to help travelers get out of state and even abroad. "We are doing what we can to help," Sgt. Mark Wysocki said.

_____________________________________



Airport spokesman Greg Meyer said most bags won't be available until Monday. The airport hired an outside firm to collect discarded bags and sort them by where they were found so they can be identified by their owners. Those with lost luggage were told to call a toll-free number. But there were exceptions as airport officials scrambled to work with individuals.

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Richard Lanbry, his wife and 15-year-old daughter were about to board a plane home for Montreal when the shooting began. Amid the commotion, he was separated from the other two and frantically searched for them for about an hour.

"I was pushed down, my wife was pushed down too. It was violent ... people screaming, people crying, old and young. It was very scary," said the 61-year-old, who was vacationing in Pompano Beach.

On top of that, they now have no luggage, no keys to their home and no coats or sweaters to wear once they arrive in chilly Montreal, only the T-shirts they we wearing the day before.

Larry and Joy Edwards were about to board their flight home to Columbus, Ohio, after a Caribbean cruise. They ran out the skyway and down stairs onto the tarmac, where they were told to drop their carry-on bags and dash out to the runway. They eventually were taken to a hangar and bused to Port Everglades. That's where they spent most of the night.

"The Red Cross came. They gave us food and blankets and pillows. Everybody did what they could," Joy Edwards said.
At 4:30 a.m., they were bused to a Miami motel. They had come back to the airport in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve their luggage, which contained their passports, medicine and other essentials.

Larry Edwards, a retired electric lineman, said they won't be able to get home until Monday and pointed to the clothes they had put on Friday morning.

"All we have is this and our smelly selves," he said.









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