Aunt Bytes - The Findings Of Nurse Brenda, RN, BSN

The jewelry ads are getting more and more coercive every year.

According to one ad, if you don't get your sweetie a diamond, she may actually forget the first time you both first heard your baby's heartbeat during an ultrasound. Wow.

If you don't get your sweetie a diamond, she may forget your anniversary trip to Venice.

Have you ever actually listened to the words these ads use? "Give her a diamond to help her remember your special times together."

Why can't today's women remember special moments without a diamond? Hmmm....

Okay, back to the point here (and I guess I was making one)....So let's say that I actually recieved the diamonds these jewelry companies insist I "need" so I don't forget all the special moments in my life.That's a lot of memories, folks. Let's count .

One wedding, 3 ultrasounds, 3 births, 13 anniversaries, 1 trip to Paris, 1 trip to Austria, 1 trip to England, 1 trip to East Berlin, 1 trip to the Bahamas, 1 trip to Hawaii, 13 birthdays, 3 graduations from high school, and 2 graduations from college.

That's 43 diamonds!
Should I bill my ex?

Now, if I could only remember who he is.....

I just don't understand it. When did the answer to the question "How was your trip?" change into an algebra test?

I'm supposed to calculate my miles per gallon, as well as know down-to-the-minute how long the trip took, including how many stops I made. Why? Who cares? I don't.

We've lost our sense of adventure. We're too busy. We have to get to our destination in the shortest amount of time as possible. I blame the interstate road systems in the US. This is not such a long stretch if you think about it from a different perspective.

Back in the day...not so long ago.....people actually enjoyed the trip! Some even took their time! That's because there was actually something besides billboards to look at. There were small towns to be discovered, diner food to be choked down, and in many places, the most spectacular views!

"But my vacation is so short and there's so much to do at Disney World!" Sorry, that doesn't fly. Disney World is so huge that you would need over a month to see it all. And just think about how much cooler your kid's stories will be to their friends when they talk about petting the manatees at one of the natural springs down US 19.

That's just one example of how you can make a small change and reap a big reward. I'm sure if you put your thinking cap on, you could alter your next vacation in order to slow down a little and enjoy the sights.

Me...I'm a gardener. Both my thumbs are green. So I'm always on the lookout for plants growing like weeds in public areas (like on the sides of the roads) that mimick my own yard and garden. Hey, free plants! And even though for every five I bring home only one lives, I still get the one that I didn't have before! And those "ones" add up after a while.

We also scavenge for shells every chance we get. We love rocks with character, and we're always on the lookout for twisted driftwood. We love using these natural elements as decor in the flower beds and potted plants.

So forget about the miles-to-the-gallon, and start calculating your smiles-to-the-gallon!

Dear Nurse Brenda,

I am from Elberta, AL; and I have a friend that lives up in North Alabama who has recently told me about Monavie - the juice and the business opportunity. I am relatively skeptical about such things, but I do respect her opinion. In an effort to obtain more information on the juice and the company, I have been searching the internet - the way I found your site. I am wondering if you are currently drinking the juice and if you are or were involved with the MLM business. Just looking for another opinion about the product and the company-yours would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Kim

Hi Kim!

You are wise to be skeptical. I was in the beginning too. We've all heard so many horror stories about MLM scams and fraud, that it's no wonder that everyone is so fearful of being misled.

This company seems different. True, the ultimate goal seems to be making money. But there's something else, something more substantial with this company.

They want you to be happy. They want you to be healthy. They want you to be physically active. They want you to be spiritually active.

The juice itself is like manna from Heaven. It helps me with inflammation in my post-surgery shoulder. It helps my husband with lower back pain. It helps my father-in-law with his recovery from lung cancer. It helps my mother-in-law with her diabetes and knee pain. And it has helped all of us with more energy!

Everyone who has used this juice as directed for a continuous period of time has seen remarkable results! Oh, and don't think we didn't try stopping it, thinking that it couldn't be helping enough to justify the cost. (you know what I mean) Anyway, every experiment like that had us running straight back to the juice (maybe limping back is a better description!).

Oh, and I love what they are doing with the MORE Project. That stirs up the warm and fuzzies, doesn't it?

I'm not trying to rah-rah cheerleader you into anything. That's not my style. I will tell you this:

This really is a good product.
This really is a good company.

The only issue we've had is with the price. Some customers in our downline found the product offered by other distributors on eBay for considerably less than we could offer it. Apparently these distributors were able to buy in bulk and pass on the savings that way. So, buying in bulk might be something you would want to try to do.

I hope I gave you some helpful information. Please let me know if you have any other concerns. I'd be happy to give you any and all information I have.

Truly,
Nurse Brenda

Here's another example of your hard-earned tax dollars at work!

I just don't understand the logic behind all of this. The guy has a prescription, he's in a freakin' wheelchair, and the Feds bust into his home, take his medicine, and leave. Why? What good can come from that?

The Feds even go so far as to claim that they didn't know about his status as a medical marijuana patient until after they left. COULD THEY NOT SEE THAT THE GUY WAS IN A WHEELCHAIR?????

I can just hear Senator Fatty-Pants saying something like this, "Well, you know, if this man has these illicit substances in his home, that fact opens him up to robbery, which then gets the "drug" out onto the street and into our children's hands. Blah, Blah, Blah."

So I guess the message here is that the person in pain must be punished for future alleged burglary committed by future alleged criminals who may or may not sell drugs to future alleged children. Yeah, that really makes me want to jump up and kiss the flag.

So what DID happen? Government thieves came in and stole his medicine. And now they're not even charging him with a crime yet. But I'll bet he doesn't get his stuff back. Or by the time he does, it's useless because plants need water and sunlight and I seriously doubt that anyone at the evidence locker is concerned with that. Official Government Thieves.

But, you see, that's the way it goes in these cases. The Feds come in, take your stuff, and dare you to try to get it back, saying that they will charge you with a crime if you even try. That's how sick people get their medicine stolen from them everyday in this country. AND THAT'S JUST PLAIN WRONG!!

So read the story and stand back as the drama unfolds in New Mexico.

Okay, it's time to set the record straight. I have heard many explanations for the origin of "420" having something to do with the time to smoke pot.

The one I hear most often is that 420 is the police code for a marijuana bust.

I recently read on Snopes that it actually started among a group of twelve students.

You can read the entire story here>>

I have been blessed with very healthy children. Thank You, God! Other parents I have known haven't been quite so fortunate.

I had a friend who lost her 5-year-old son, Bobby, to cancer. They were our neighbors in the military housing at Fort Meade Maryland while we were stationed there. My oldest daughter and Bobby were in the same Kindergarten class.

No 5-year-old child should have to go through the testing, medical treatments, doctor's visits, hospital stays, etc. And they should never have to go through chemotherapy with it's resultant side effects such as nausea, vomiting, weight loss, lack of energy, and insomnia (to name a few). Add on top of all that misery....pain.

Read More>>

This is an open letter written to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson regarding his recent decision to go ahead with his state's recently approved medical marijuana law - despite threats of raids by federal officers.

In July 2007, the House of Representatives failed to approve an amendment that would stop federal agencies from using taxpayer funds to conduct raids on medical marijuana users and providers in states where medical marijuana is legal.

This letter is to inform Governor Richardson of the more effective way to keep his programs in operation and stop the interference from the Feds once and for all.

You can read the letter here.

The amendment that was before the House of Representatives that would stop taxpayer funding for federal raids on medical marijuana patients has failed.

You can read the article on the Drug Policy Alliance's website here.

What this means is that in the states where medical marijuana has been approved, the federal government is still able to use your money to put sick people into prisons.

Read More>>>

"Smoking pot won't make you crazy, but trying to find the truth behind the recent rash of headlines regarding a supposed link between cannabis and mental illness might."

-- Paul Armentano of NORML and Mitch Earleywine, marijuana researcher, in The Huffington Post. They responded to recent headlines suggesting that a new study shows that smoking marijuana can increase a person's risk of psychosis.

FACT: The "new study," published in the Lancet, was actually a meta-analysis of seven past studies, some of which were many years old. In addition, the investigators concluded that the small connection between marijuana and psychosis did not reflect a causal relationship.

Here's Nurse Brenda's take on this linking of cannabis use with psychosis.......

In this country, it has become very popular for companies to require drug screening as a condition of employment. You've seen the "This is a drug-free workplace" signs, I'm sure.

This is wrong, wrong, wrong!!!

No company has the right to control what it's employees do in their off-time. No matter how much the pay. Period. End of story.

But there's more.

read more>>