Word of the Day: namaste (NUHM\eh\stey); a conventional Hindu expression on meeting or parting used by the speaker while holding the palms together while holding in front on the bosom
Weight: 206 pounds
Goal: lose 100 pounds in one year duration
Pounds to lose: 74 pounds
Waist Size: 43 inches
Rowing Duration: 90 minutes, five (5) seconds
Here we go again, another week, stop your kvetching and start appreciating that you have a job to go to, do you have any idea about how many people are out of work and would like to have your job? Count your blessings and be happy with all that you have in your life!
I wish I could go to work, I really do. Yes, I know it would mean giving up Florida, enduring the tough season of winter, but I would gladly welcome it if it would mean I could work again. But, I can't, and I have had to accept that, although my disability keeps me from going to the workplace, it does not have to keep me from participating in life, that is one of the reasons I write this blog. I feel I need to contribute something to society, even if it is just providing you with a smile, don't underestimate the power of making someone smile, I sure don't!
Yesterday afternoon, Zac and I looked at some homes that are for sale in the neighbourhood, they weren't bad, there was one that I could live in but it was a little overpriced, a little on the big side, but I like big houses. The big deterrent was the taxes it woud have cost to live there. The taxes on this one house were seventy-five hundred, plus, a year, which is quite alot for some place where were only going to be at most six (6) months in a year.
When/if Zac and I buy a house down here, we both want to really like it as we are probably going to own it for the rest of our lives, and the likelihood is that we're never going to be able to sell it due to the overload of real estate available down here. That means, we not only better be sure on our choice, but we both better love the house 100 per cent, don't you think?
There are now twenty-six (26) days left until Christmas and my kids are getting very excited about Santa Claus's impending arrival, I am too. On Christmas Day/Eve, I just love watching children ripping apart the presents in olympic time, enjoying all of the special goodies that are made, especially and only at Christmas, and going to church on Christmas Eve.
I love the Christmas service at church, for me, it is not only time to celebrate our Saviour's birthday, but it is a time to celebrate all of the love and peace that is uniquely special at this time of year, and the church always seems to say it better than anyone, with their selection of Christmas carols, sermons, hymms and prayer. I never miss going to church at Christmas-time, and if you haven't gone in awhile, why not give it a chance, you might just like it this time.
Did you know that Louis B. Mayer opened his first movie theatre on this day in 1907. Born in Russia, Mayer imigrated to Canada (don't they all?,) and then the United States (U.S.) with his family and began working in his father's scrap-iron business at the young age of fourteen years.
At twenty-three (23) years of age, Louis B. Mayer bought a small nickelodeon in Massachusetts, which I believe he named the Orpheum, and by the time he reached his mid-thirties (30s), Louis B. Mayer owned New England's largest movie theatre chan. In 1925, Mr. Mayer merged his film production company with others to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which, under his leadership, became Hollywood's most prestigious studio.
Louis B. Mayer is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in its golden years. Known always as Louis B. Mayer and often simply as "L.B.", he believed in "wholesome entertainment" and went to great lengths so that MGM had "more stars than there are in the heavens".
As a studio boss, Louis B. Mayer built MGM into the most financially successful motion picture studio in the world and the only one to pay dividends throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s. However he frequently clashed with production chief Irving Thalberg, who preferred literary works over the crowd-pleasers Mayer wanted. Louis B. Mayer ousted Thalberg as production chief in 1932 while Thalberg was recovering from a heart attack and replaced him with independent producers until 1936, when he became head of production as well as studio chief. This made Mayer the first executive in America to earn a million-dollar salary. Under Mayer, MGM produced many successful films with high earning stars including Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, Judy Garland and many others. I'm sure he would have hired me, had I been around, but I don't regret not being around at that time because I now would be probably dead!
Although Mayer had a reputation for ruthless expediency and allegedly narrow views about what subjects were suitable topics for motion pictures, Katharine Hepburn referred to him as a "nice man" (and claimed she personally negotiated many of her contracts with Mayer), while young actresses such as Debbie Reynolds, June Allyson, and Leslie Caron who matured as MGM contract players viewed him as a father figure.
I've decided to write a little bit about mental illness today as a salute to my sister Judy who suffers from mental illness with being bipolar. A Government mental health survey found that more than 45 million Americans, or twenty (20) per cent of United States (U.S.) adults had some form of mental illness in 2009, with 11 million falling into the category of serious illness. I'm sure that Canadian statistics would prove related numbers. Women, the unemployed, and young adults were more likely than others to be affected by mental illness. About 6.1 million of these adults had a mental health need that went untreated, and nearly half said it was because they could not afford it, which is a huge shame.
Young adults aged 18 to 25 had the highest level of mental illness at 30 percent, while those aged 50 and older had the lowest, with 13.7 percent, said the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or SAMHSA. "Too many Americans are not getting the help they need and opportunities to prevent and intervene early are being missed," Pamela Hyde, SAMHSA's administrator, said in a statement.
"The consequences for individuals, families and communities can be devastating. If left untreated mental illnesses can result in disability, substance abuse, suicides, lost productivity, and family discord."
The 2009 mental health survey hints at the impact of record unemployment rates, which last year hit a 25-year high as struggling employers slashed jobs to cope with a weak economy, can you imagine the statistics that are going to come out at this year's end?
For many, lost employment meant loss of health insurance, leaving many of the nation's mentally ill unable to get treatment. According to the survey, 6.1 million adults last year had a mental health need that went untreated, and 42.5 percent said it was because they could not afford it. It found 14.8 million Americans had major depression last year, and 10 percent of the jobless did, compared with 7.5 of retired people or those not in the job force, 7.3 percent who worked part time and 5.4 percent who worked full time. Only 64 percent of adults aged 18 or older with major depression were treated last year, compared with 71 percent a year ago. Being jobless also increased the risk of suicide.
Adults who were unemployed last year were twice as likely to have serious thoughts of suicide as people who were fully employed, with 6.6 percent of the unemployed considering suicide, compared with 3.1 percent of those who were working. The survey also found that 23.8 percent of women had some form of mental illness, compared with 15.6 percent of men. Too me, and I hope to you, these statistics are unacceptable and I will be writing to my mp (because in Canada our numbers are very relatable,) informing him/her that I feel the Government needs to address and action the needs of those handicapped with mental illness, clearly the Government is not doing enough to help out those poor people.
Topics coming soon:
Art
Politics
Technology
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