Monday, March 30, 2009

Mystery In The Sky : Is the World Coming To An End?

Last night here on the east coast there was what some call a phenomenon or a mystery. A lot of people heard what was described as a sonic boom and then saw bright lights in the sky. I personally did not see or hear it although I do live in the local area where most people did. Even our local news got a hold of the story and did a report on it.



The strange thing is that no one seems to know exactly what it was, even the experts? This is what http://spaceweather.com/ had to say:

ATLANTIC COAST FIREBALL: Last night, March 29th, around 9:45 pm EDT, people along the Atlantic coast of the USA from Maryland to North Carolina witnessed bright lights in the sky and heard thunderous rumbles. It was probably a meteoritic bolide--a random asteroid hitting Earth's atmosphere and exploding in flight. A spent Russian rocket body did reenter on March 29th, but that happened near Taiwan more than two hours after the Atlantic Coast event. Stay tuned for updates and more eyewitness reports.

Does anyone else find that a little unsettling? If even our scientist and so called experts can’t explain it then how many other things are out in space, that are that close to earth, do they not know about?

There are those that believe that the world will come to an end when something from space like a large meteor hit’s the earth and annihilates the human race. This mystery in the sky that nobody can explain is starting to turn my beliefs in that direction. I know it’s been less than 24 hrs since this phenomenon occurred and I have confidence that our scientist “may” be able to figure out what it was but it’s still disturbing to know that it happened right out of the blue without warning.

If you experienced this mystery last night I would be very curious to hear your story. Even if you didn’t please feel free to express your opinions and theories on what it might have been and please don’t forget to vote on the survey on the left side of the blog. Thank you

Happy Blogging!

Nora

Sunday, March 29, 2009

My First 3 Survey Results

I just wanted to give a summary of the results from the first 3 surveys that I placed on this blog. I decided a few weeks ago to start putting about one or two surveys on my blog per week to help learn what you want to see in a good blog. My followers are few but I have received some good feedback from them.

The first survey I placed asked:

What Kind Of Blogs Do You Like?

Blogs about anything and everything
History/Genealogy
Entertainment
Traveling
Teaching Blogs (like on marketing/social media)
Home Improvement
Games/Gaming
Other types of specific subject blogs not listed

I received a total of 10 voters and 17 actual votes. I opened this particular blog so that more than one answer could be chosen. There were 5 votes for blogs about anything and everything, 0 for history/genealogy, 2 votes for entertainment, 4 votes for traveling, 2 for the teaching blogs, 1 for home improvement, 1 for games/gaming, and 1 for other types of specific blogs. Based on this information the blogs about anything and everything and on traveling are the clear winners. I did find this very reassuring since I have made this particular blog about anything and everything. I also have a blog I started about my genealogy research but I have not really updated it in a while since I am trying to focus my attention on this blog first and get it read by more people. If I happen to take a trip somewhere then I plan to add any articles about that in this blog as well which will cover the traveling part too.

My second survey asked:

When Do You Tweet On Twitter?

Not every day, when I have free time
About every day, only when I have free time
Only when I’m out, I do mobile tweeting
Only when I feel I have something interesting to say
Every day, all the time, I’m a twitterholic! HELP!

Well, this particular survey did not fare as well as the first. I think it is because I put it on at the same time as I did my third survey which pushed it below that one. I think people did not realize this one was open too? There were only 3 votes. 2 were for only when I feel I have something interesting to say and 1 for everyday, all the time, I’m a twitterholic! HELP! I’m sure though that there are probably more tweeters that fit in the latter category than they are willing to admit, me included!

My third survey post asked:

How often does a blogger need to post to their blog for you to follow it?

At least once every day
Several times a day
At least once a week
At least once a month
Whenever they feel like posting

I received a total of 6 voters with 6 votes. I didn’t open this one to have more than one choice. The results were 1 vote for at least once every day, 1 vote for several times a day, 3 votes for at least once a week, 0 votes for at least once a month, and 1 vote for whenever they feel like posting. Due to the fact that 50% of the votes went to at least once a week, I think it is safe to assume that most people like to see a new post done once a week if not more often.

I want to thank everyone who did participate in my little surveys. You provide me with great feedback and information when you do them. Based on the information I receive from them and other valuable sources that I am learning from every day, I will try to implement them into my blog. Please do not forget to participate in my latest survey, What Is It That Makes You Stay And Read Someone’s Blog Once You Arrive At The Site? These blogs are only up for one week at a time, so please don’t hesitate to put in your votes.

Note: Once the survey is completed, the survey with the results are posted on the lower left side of the blog. If you didn’t get a chance to particpate in the older surveys please feel free to discuss your votes in the comments section. Also, please make suggestions of surveys you think would be informative. Thank you.

Happy Blogging!

Nora

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Forbes List : The World’s Billianaires - How Rich Do You Want To Be?

THE BILLIONAIRES

1. William Gates III
2. Warren Buffett
3. Carlos Slim HelĂș
4. Lawrence Ellison
5. Ingvar Kamprad
6. Karl Albrecht
7. Mukesh Ambani
8. Lakshmi Mittal
9. Theo Albrecht
10. Amancio Ortega
11. Jim Walton
12. Alice Walton
13. Christy Walton
14. S Robson Walton
15. Bernard Arnault
16. Li Ka-shing
17. Michael Bloomberg
18. Stefan Persson
19. Charles Koch
20. David Koch

Above is a list of the top twenty richest people in the world according to http://www.forbes.com The article stated that even the richest people in the world have gotten poorer. This year the billionaires have an average net worth of $3 billion which is down 23% in the last 12 month. I know what everyone is probably thinking. Boo Hoo right? Most people would kill to have that kind of money or would they?

How rich would you really want to be? What would your life “really” be like if you had a billion or even just a million dollars? Sure you might have the mansion, the best car money could buy, hang out with the movie stars, etc. but would you be really happy and stress free? I think the key words there are stress free. Now I know everyone has stress, so maybe the key words should be a less stressful life but everyone seems to think that if they had enough money they wouldn’t have the stress they have now? I really don’t believe that for a minute! You only change one kind of stress for another kind of stress. It really comes down to the kind of stress your willing to deal with in your life.

Do you want the stress of “How am I going to pay all my bills on this budget?” or do you want the stress of “I have so much money, how am I going to keep it and trust the right people to manage it?” Money management is the key to being rich and if you don’t know how to handle it or get trustworthy people to help you manage it, then you are bound to head for disaster. Just look at all the celebrities other people in the news that have lost millions due to mismanagement of their money.

Another question I have is: Do you really own anything? I have had discussions about this with my mother and my grandmother. They are always complaining about house payments, car payments, property taxes, etc. If for some reason you lose your income and default on these payments then your property gets taken from you? How is that owning something? Look at all the different auctions you can go to and get things people defaulted on just because they couldn’t pay for something they supposedly “owned”. I’ve always rented and the vans I have owned were not new; so I had little payment due on those, but I don’t really see a difference in renting and owning?

I’m not trying to say that you should not strive to gain more income and enjoy the finer things in life that you enjoy doing. As long as you are happy with your life and don’t put yourself in a situation where you are always working and not having fun to gain that extra dollar or living beyond your means, then go for it. Life is to be experienced the way you want to live it. It just comes down to how you want to live and what kind of stress you can live with in your life.

Well that’s my two cents worth. Please let me know your thoughts on this subject in the comments area and please don’t forget about the surveys I have on the left side of the blog. Thank you.

Happy Blogging!

Nora

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Social Media and Human Nature

Human Nature? What type of person are you? Are you the type to be skeptical about everyone you meet asking yourself “Ok, is this person for real or are they going to hurt me?” Are you judgmental when you meet someone? Are you willing to give a helping hand to someone who asks for it or do you want to know what their motives are before you help them? When using social media tools like twitter and face book are you less judgmental and more open to help someone as long as it is not face to face?

If I ask myself this question and if I am perfectly honest? I would have to admit the fact that I am somewhat more judgmental when I meet someone face to face rather than on the internet. Coming face to face with someone for the first time in today’s society can sometimes be a little scary. In today’s world the news is full of stories of people luring others to meet them and then hurting or even killing them. To actually meet someone that you have never met or have barely talked to on the phone or internet doesn’t give you a lot to go on what that person’s nature is like.

I like to think that I trust someone until they give me a reason not to trust them but within reason. I try not to put myself in situation where something could go wrong. For example, Chip and I met eight years ago through a yahoo chat room. I was a young disable woman and interested in finding someone to hopefully spend the rest of my life with and I was willing to take a chance on finding someone through the internet; although I had heard many horror stories about doing this as well. My first plan was to not put myself into a situation that would be hard to get out of. We chatted online for a good couple of months and I didn’t even give him my phone number until just before we met in person. When we finally did meet in person, it was in a public mall where I knew most of the people who worked there because I had worked there as a food delivery service person to the store employees for tips. Needless to say, I was relatively comfortable meeting anyone there. We spent about a month or so meeting and dating at the mall and other places around town. At the time neither of us was driving since he has poor vision and my van was out of commission. As I got to know him and realized that he was a very nice guy and I was falling in love I eventually let him know where I lived and we spent a lot more time together.

Anyway, my point is that I’m the type that likes to know what I’m getting into and that I am actually helping someone when I give them assistance. Some people are more trusting from the get go than I am. Willing to give help without thinking about it first. I wish I was a little more like this but sometimes I think it can also get you into some trouble that you didn’t count on.

There are two people on twitter that I really have to say that I admire. They are usernames Amtrekker and Twitchhiker. I first found out about Amtrekker on geocaching.com and then twitter. He is a guy that had a list of 50 things he wanted to do in his lifetime and he quit his job relying on the kindness of strangers from the internet to help him accomplish them by traveling around the U.S and Canada on a shoestring budget and not paying for a single night of accomodations. He then made videos and blogged about his adventures for all to enjoy. You can find his adventures here http://www.amtrekker.com . Twitchhiker is a more recent adventurer who, like Amtrekker, is traveling around the world as far as he can go within 30 days only through the kindness of strangers from Twitter. His adventures can be found here http://www.twitchhiker.com . I really have to say that the adventures that these guys have been through really have strengthened my trust in human nature. The kindness that has been shown to them is overwhelming and goes to show that there really are more good, helpful, and reliable people in the world than the news on tv would have you believe.

Happy Adventures and Happy Blogging!

Nora

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I Have A Goal!

Hi all,

I just wanted to do a small post about a new goal that I've set for myself here at Nochipra's Blog Spot. I think it's a pretty realistic goal, maybe? It is to acquire 3 new followers to the blog per day. Now I know I have not been a blogger long and their are far more experienced and much better blogs than mine but I'm always willing to learn. If anyone has any constructive suggestions on how I could improve my blog please leave me a comment. I will try my best to come up with some good future content that hopefully will keep you following me. Thanks to the 6 followers I have now for having confidence in me and giviing me confidence by signing up as a follower.

Happy blogging,

Nora

Monday, March 23, 2009

A Rant About Chip’s Hospital Stay!

Ok, I wasn’t going to do this blog but the more I think about it, I think I should, if not just to get it off my chest! Chip had to go into the hospital on March 7 and came out on March 17. Without going into too much detail he was pretty bad off with pneumonia and a few other things going on. I have several issues that I would like to address about his stay (none of which are good!)

First! Why is it that when you go into a hospital that it takes an act of congress to get a room! We had to spend 22 hrs in the emergency room waiting for a bed to come “available”. In other words (in my opinion)… you have to wait for the cleaning staff to come in and clean a room!

Second! How many different people do we have to give information to? There must have been at least 10 different people who came in wanting to know his name, date of birth, doctors names, insurance information, what meds he takes, etc. I can understand the name and date of birth stuff because every nurse wants to know she has the right patient but how many times do we have to give medicine and insurance info? After the first or second person it should be in the computer by then. I mean I even had a list of his meds they copied at the front desk!

Third! Why do some nurses have to be soooo mean! Chip cannot stand to have tape pulled off of his skin. He has a hairy chest and arms and about every nurse that came in there insisted on ripping it off of him without even giving him a warning even though we told them before that he hates it. I think a few of them learned their lesson though because when Chip was kind of out of it, I think he gave them a little something they weren’t expecting too without knowing itJ

Fourth! When a doctor orders a new medicine for you why doesn’t the nurse tell you when she brings it to you? Every time they brought his meds we asked what they were and a couple of times there was something he had never taken before? If we had not asked then he would have blindly taken anything they brought him when he was kind of out of it!

Fifth! Speaking about meds! Why does it usually take a whole day to get the medicines right! Chip has to take a lot of different meds for his kidney transplant, blood pressure, and pain and it seems like it takes forever to get everything straight! The first day he was getting one pill at this time and another the next hour til everything was approved!

Sixth! Now luckily Chip had either me or one of his family taking shifts to be with him 24 hrs a day. If we didn’t, he would have been waiting for a nurse to come to his aide which for the most part could have been too late for some problems he was having. Even though we were there, there were times he had to have a nurse and it ended up being too late by the time she got there. Which in turn ended with them having to do a clean up. Now I understand there is a shortage of nurses and God knows you could not pay me enough money to do the great work they do but I just wish that their services were not spread so thin.

Seventh! Why is it that one day you get a choice of what you want for your next meal and the next day you don’t? The whole time he was there he had two different food service people bring the food. One lady was extremely nice and asked what he wanted on his next meals and even brought something extra for me when I stayed with him; then there was an older woman who just popped in the room, dropped the tray off and didn’t say a word or ask what he wanted for the next meal.

Eighth! Why does it take forever to get processed out of the hospital? The doctor had come in and told us he was going to do the paperwork to let him go home and then about an hour later the nurse comes in after Chip had his clothes on and says “Where are you going?” We told her the doctor just told us he was able to go home and we were just getting ready? She says “Well, let me go check and see if the papers are ready for him.” So a few minutes later she comes in with the prescriptions and take home instructions and says “Ok, I guess you ready and leaves the room to call transportation for a wheelchair!” We wait a few minutes. Ummm…. Excuse me? But he’s still got an IV in his hand? I go out to tell the nurse and she come in giggling saying well “ I guess you don’t want to take that with you!” DUH!

Well I could probably go on but I think I got enough off my chest for now. At least he is better now and hopefully will not have to go back any time soon. These incidents are not just based from this hospital visit though! When we first started going to this hospital I really liked them because I thought they were the best and friendliest we had been to at that point; but it seems every hospital we have had to go to in the past had the same problems? Oh well, I guess hospital visits are not supposed to be like staying at the Ritz Carlton but I was expecting a little better service?

Let me say though I have the total utmost respect for what doctors and nurses have to go through to help the patients and I know for a fact I am not the type to take on that type of job and responsibility. I’m not sure what nurses get paid but I know it’s not enough for all the crap they have to go through. I just think it’s the system that needs to be worked on and probably some communication problems as well.

If you have any hospital stories you would like to share please feel free to share them in the comments. Also feel free to make comments on the past blogs as well as participating in the little surveys to the left. Thanks. Nora

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Affiliate Marketing: You Learn Something New Every Day!

Affiliate Marketing? Do you know what it is? Well I didn’t until recently. In doing my research on social media and marketing in general, I kept coming across the term and it got my curiosity going. So, as I usually do I turned to you tube for the answer (you can learn almost anything on you tube) and this was a good answer to my question.



In addition to the Adsense ads that you can place on your blogs, participating in an affiliate marketing program seems to be a pretty good way if not more profitable way of earning extra cash from your writings. The main thing that has to be considered before participating in these types of programs though is building the traffic to your blog or website and that is where the social media comes in; where you promote your web site to generate the traffic by using twitter, face book, myspace, etc. It really makes you wonder how the world functioned before this new age technology showed up? You really can learn something new every day.

Please feel free to leave comments, especially on the post "What's So Special About Twitter" below and fill in the surveys to the left. Thanks. Nora

Friday, March 20, 2009

What’s So Special About Twitter?

Hey all,

Today I thought I’d post a question that everyone seems to be talking about now. What’s So Special About Twitter? It seems to be spreading like wildfire! Even the Today Show and many other shows on tv are talking about it. This is your chance to tell everyone what’s so special about it and why you enjoy using Twitter. I’ll give it a week or so to see what comments are made and then I’ll discuss what was said and give my opinion in a later post. Please express your comments below. Thanks.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Group Blog Experiment Results

NOTE: Hi, I am so sorry this post is late. Chip went into the hospital on the night of the 7th with high blood pressure, high sugar, low potassium, and pneumonia. I hope this has not discouraged anyone from checking on my blog posts since it’s been a couple of weeks but here is the result from my previous Group Blog Experiment. Please feel free to post your comments about my conclusions. Thank you.

Hi all,

Well a couple of weeks ago I added a blog post asking for people to participate in an experimental group blog. As of the deadline on March 7, 2009 at midnight, I received only one comment responding to my posted questions. I want to thank Chad Engle for participating and giving his opinion.

The question was:

Will Social Media Die Out? Will Some Other Form Take It’s Place? How Important Do You Feel Social Media Will Become Or Not?

Chad’s response was: “I feel that it will never die out. Sure it may come in other forms but humans are social beings and there for I think that we will always want to connect and see what other people are doing. Thats why reality tv does so well.”

Actually I totally agree with Chad! People are social beings that want to engage in conversations and interact with others, otherwise the world would be a sad and lonely place. Some of the first great inventions (and most popular) like the telegraph, telephone, radio, television, and the computers gave new life to the way people interacted with each other. I mean what else was their before that? Letters by pony express! Each one had it’s own hay day for that particular marvel of invention.

People are always looking for the newest and fastest way to interact with their fellow mankind. Being able to interact with another human being in a split second when you are on different ends of the planet has really been the ultimate goal and the birth of what is now known as social media. Social Media has had many different titles through the ages of inventions though. With the telgraph it was a telegram, with the telephone it was a phone call, with radio it was a broadcast, with television it was a program (taped or live), and with computers, well that just took on a whole new life itself.

As for the first part of the group blog experiment question: Will Social Media Die Out? I don’t believe it will EVER die out! As long as there are two humans on this planet, they will eventually try to communicate with each other even if they are far apart if possible. I believe that is just human nature. I mean just look at the space program? Humans are even trying to talk to other “beings” that may be in outer space?

Part two of the question was: Will Some Other Form Take It’s Place? In my opinion, of course! Now a days there is constantly some new way to communicate being invented at an astonishing rate. Just look at all the different kinds of phones there are on the market, the development of Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace to name a few? There will always be someone out there to improve on what is already on the market and make it better and faster or come up with some new way entirely to communicate. The human race is very creative when it wants to be.

The third part of the question was: How Important Do You Feel Social Media Will Become Or Not? Well in my opinion social media will always, always, always be extremely important. It will never not be important. Just look at how businesses use social media today? Most businesses wouldn’t even exist without social media? Just look at how many businesses there would not be if the computer had never been invented? Most “standard” type businesses wouldn’t be as successful if they didn’t have social media to help advertise themselves. To be able to communicate, socialize, and sell your business (your livelihood) is what life is all about and without it there really is no “life” at all!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

I just wanted to thank everyone so far who has taken the time to stop by my blog and fill in the little survey in the left column and made a comment on the Group Blogging Experiment. My hope is that with your help, it will make me into a better blogger in the future. Please let others know about the experiment and suggest that they stop by and leave a comment to participate in the discussion. As this video suggests all feedback is helpful in creating successful and useful information.



So please participate in the Group Blogging Experiment below. Thank you.

Nora