5 Reasons you Need a Jetpack from Verizon

#5  Road Warrior Woes

Whether  you travel for business or you’re just hitting the road with the family for the summer,  WiFi  connections can be a complete source of frustration and pain. Many hotels offer “free” WiFi. They can be  slower than dial up speed, while they tout the use of  a higher speed.

  #4 How Much Does Free Cost?

Hotels aren’t the only people offering free WiFi.  I just saw that Khol’s  offers WiFi. For the husband waiting for the wife to shop, I suppose?  Many business people and travelers take advantage of free WiFi at coffee shops but there are dangers connecting to open WiFi networks.

 ” An estimated 90% of public WiFi hotspots at places like airports, hotels, and coffee shops lack the security to prevent even a moderately skilled teenager from hacking into an unassuming mobile user’s internet connection.”  Forbes

 

#3 How Much is it Worth to You?

So how much is it worth to have your own source of WiFi? We just discussed the dangers of using “free” WiFi.  If you’re traveling at all, this device is only $9.99 (pre-owned) and only cost $20/month to add to your Share Everything plan. So how much is it really worth for you to be without your internet? Why put up with slow internet, or put yourself and your data at risk?

 #2 Everyone Needs to be Connected

This device allows you to connect up to ten devices. That means you can have all of your tech necessities as well as allowing your traveling companions to connect. Whether you’re traveling with  business associates or family, everyone needs to stay connected these days.

 #1  Need for Speed

Remember the hotel and coffee shop WiFi we talked about? It’s so frustrating when you use free WiFi,  knowing that everyone in the shop is also on your same bandwidth. Chances are  they’re all streaming Netflix and Spotify. On average, it leaves you with 1Mbps or less download speed  to try to work. With your own Jetpack, you typically get average  download speeds of 5 – 12 Mbps down and 2 – 5 Mbps up. During my short time with the unit I saw speeds of up to 17.83 Mbps

So don’t risk the frustration and dangers of “free WIFI” any more. Get a Jetpack and get connected today.

People Skills

Today’s blog is a guest post from my son who turns eight today. He had a writing prompt in school asking him to write about a valuable lesson he has learned.

I was reading it again, and while, yes it is the miss spelled, run on sentence, hard to read scribbles of child, it is a valuable lesson for us all:

BE NICE

Take a moment read his philosophy and find a way to apply it today.

 

Learning to get along was a valuable lesson because later in life you might need people skills. Like if you’re having a fight and it gets intense, some people skills  are be nice to others, obey your parents, respect your elders, and those are only a small amount. So, BE NICE!

 

 

Go on…. Go be nice and use good people skills!  

 

Just Start / Keep Blogging

Finding inspiration is hard

It’s 8:50 PM and I’m still trying to come up with my inspiration for blogging today. I have blogged every day with the exception of Christmas Day and Christmas eve, including the days of my procedures.

Giving other people courage

There have been more and more people telling me that they’ve been inspired to blog.  They’ve seen my dedication to posting daily, but more than that they’ve seen other people, and their dedication to blogging. I don’t think  it’s that we’re doing it every single day that’s inspiring these people; it’s that we’re choosing to find things that are meaningful in our lives we feel worthwhile to share. I think because we have the courage to let our guard down, and share intimate thoughts, that gives other people the courage to do the same.

Join us

If you’ve been thinking about taking the blog-a-thon challenge, but you’re too intimidated to do it every single day, just do it. Start today, make that commitment. Maybe it’s not everyday, maybe it’s once a week, or every other day. Whatever it is, make a commitment to YOU.   Start up that blog, and share with us the things  you need to say. Share the things we need to hear.

You Matter

If you’ve been blogging, please know the things you’re saying are reaching people that desperately need to hear your message. Please continue even if you’re struggling with it. We’d love to hear from you, feel free to share your blog in the comments, or to share another blog that has touched you.

 

If Today Was Their Last Day by Dan Perez

This blogger is not one of the blog-a-thon participants,

but this post moved me today.


Medical update:

Like I said I am finding this easier to blog about other stuff than to blog about what I am going through.  At the start I thought I had it under control, (an illusion I know.) I knew what to expect as I have undergone this very procedure before. I even told several people that I knew what to expect, and that I was not going to kid myself about the am

ount of pain and the amount of time I would be out of commission. I also followed those statements with “but this one won’t be as bad, because they (my kidneys) are cleaner than they were the first time, and it is only one side.”

I was so wrongIn the days preceding the procedure, I had some significant kidney pain on the left side. So on the day of my scheduled cleanout, I told the doctor about it and asked that he look into it. I remember him saying “good call on the left kidney” when I woke up. Turns out they did clean out both sides. Over the next few days I had discomfort.  I expected discomfort. What I did not expect was that my pain and discomfort would get worse over the passing days. I wrote it off with the rationalization that you always hurt worse 24-48 hours after a crash.

Gaining more than expected

So I started retaining water, or so I thought. My torso started swelling and over the past few days I have grown to look a solid 8-9 months pregnant! So on top of the pain of the kidneys being beaten from the inside out, and the discomfort of having hard plastic crazy straws stuck inside me, I now had the pressure and discomfort of being pregnant!

I have had x-rays and a CT scan. I have no answers yet. But the doctor did wish to remove the stents tomorrow. It is a bit early and I still have lots of stone fragments that will need to pass. Maybe it is my body rejecting or revolting about the stents. Maybe it is my bottom of the barrel revelation that I do not want to be fat (or pregnant) ever again.  Maybe there is another medical reason for me to be so swollen.  But that is the hardest part: The Uncertainty. I just don’t know what is going on.

Thank you to all my friends for your continued help, support love and prayers.

It Matters

Content Matters

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NMA_zMSzyU&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Below are some of the bloggers participating in the Blog-a-thon.

Name                                              Blog

Stacey Shanks       www.YogaAndLife.com

BgKahuna           www.bgkahuna.com

Zachary Long        www.fenglongphoto.com/blog

Shanna Hall       www.healthyfitandsexy.com

Bonnie Schnautz       www.brenewed.com

Paula Diaco       www.signaramavt.com

Jennifer Tallini        www.yogawithstyle.com/blog/

Mary Biever        Real Life in the River City

Mandy Gregory        www.mamasowngreenclean.com

If you are not on here send me a link to your site and I will add it.

Reaching Out to Others vs. Allowing Others to Reach Out to me

As I mentioned yesterday I tried to reach out to others who were suffering in order to offer hope and encouragement.  I didn’t really let me guard down, express the anxiety I was feeling, and talk about what I was going though.

Wednesday night I let my guard down. I privately DMed my pastor @DaleBeaver

 “Please pray for peace/calm, starting to freak out.”  

 He replied within minutes with a Bible verse that was spot on what I needed to hear. I thought maybe others need to hear it too. So I thanked him and tweeted it publicly. As a side note for those who don’t know me: I am a Christ Follower, but I DO NOT post much “churchy” stuff. I hold more to the – practice kindness talk to people and show your love than the preach it method- that is just WHO I am.)

Much to my surprise this sparked several side conversations, and more DMs from other people. So I posted it on Facebook.

“THANK YOU!! To Dale Beaver who sent this to me via Twitter, at a moment of top stress about tomorrow. (I really NEEDED to hear it) Philippians 4:6-7

 

 Again, this is WAY out of norm for me.  What I found was more and more outpouring of love compassion and caring.  Many more started telling me stories of things they have endured and things they have suffered. And more than one THANKED me. Thanked me for saying I was scared? This seemed off to me, for them to thank me for posting, I was the one who was getting what I needed to hear not them.

There is a difference

When we drop our guard, and let people see we are hurting, or in need of friendship, we find something more special than we could have imagined.

-we find true and new friends alike.

-we find a deeper understanding of people’s beliefs.

-we find out how highly we are valued as people, not for our work, but for who we are.

-we find that through our suffering we can encourage others to be brave.

Baby Robin

If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching

Or cool one Pain
Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)

Finding Post Christmas Joy

What makes you happy?

 Really happy?

Do you do it?

Do you do it enough?

So often in life we spend too much time doing things we hate, thinking we will be rewarded at some point.

For some people,  that works. They perform well in school, go to college, maybe post-grad, and are “successful” people.

For some there’s a twist that loops into an infinite cycle like a Moebius strip. They work nonstop, pull over time, and take work home. They’re trying to get by and to give to their family the things they think they deserve.

The flip side of this is what does their family want.  Ask them.  Do you know what they want more than toys, or nice cars?

TIME

 Time with you.  And if you think about it, what makes you happy?  Spending time with your family is probably at or near the top of the list.

This year don’t resolve to make more money or save enough to go on the dream vacation.

Make a promise to spend more time with your family, with your children. Take the time to play games and sit on the floor and play Barbie.

What you will accomplish for yourself, and for the world, is a more peaceful place in the long term.