Are viruses killing your computer?

Photograph edited (clouds in background) by John Bond of Far Northern California--thank you Johnny.

My bro-in-law Mike (yes the same one that just had a huge cancerous thyroid gland the size of a baseball removed from his neck) has got major problems with his computers.

First of all, there are three or four of them in a row. One is for Mike, one for his wife Judy, one for their daughter Sabrina, and maybe one to keep track of the others--I am not sure.

Any way, Mike tells me that after he installed the latest MicroSoft web browser -- Internet Explorer 7 -- his computer won't recognize his keyboard or mouse any more. That makes it a challenge to actually use the computer!!

Another one of the computers is also acting strange. I think that is Sabrinas. So Judy's is the only computer that is acting normal. Sabrina likes to go all over the Internet, so I think she has several viruses or something.

Any way, Mike doesn't know what to do. He is not a computer guru. I explained to him that if things got really bad, he could simply reformat the hard drives and reinstall all the software. He did not seem to relish this idea. He will probably spend a lot of money taking the computers into a computer repair shop and having them fix them.

I did not tell him it would be cheaper to simply buy a brand new hard drive, remove the old one and just install everything from scratch. But that is true.

Of course they don't have anything backed up either.

BACK UP your hard drive

David A. Youngs

http://polybids.com

Can a can of soda pop kill you?

Today the timely message about health is by my great friend and health motivator, Steven Jenkins. Steven is also an incredible health coach, and has affordable life-changing seminars and body "cleanses."

Take it away Steve.....

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. " -- 1 Corintheans 10:31.

Would you like to improve your health and save money at the same time? I have a healthy suggestion. Avoid drinking soft drinks! This can be a challenge, because it's easy to drink 4-5 a day without even thinking about it! They are really hard on the bones and the rest of the body.

Phosphoric acid gives drinks the bubbles along with C02. Though it tickles going down, phosphoric acid is no laughing matter. It robs the body of calcium and can contribute to osteoporosis. The lack of calcium causes the bones to be porous and prone to fractures.

A study from Harvard showed athletic teenage girls who drink soft drinks are five times more likely to suffer bone fractures. My 18 year old daughter used to consume soft drinks like I consume water and her weight gain was evident, not to mention the ravenous effects from the acid and sugar. Fortunately, she no longer is "addicted" to them, but she is still dealing with being over weight.

The average cola has 12 teaspoons of sugar in each can. This gives it a sweet taste, but at a high price. The over consumption of sugar can lead to diabetes or hypoglycemia. In children, studies show an increase in both tooth decay and obesity.

In an attempt to be healthy, many people start drinking sugar-free products. Splenda is not a good substitute for sugar. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, Splenda has been linked to a number of toxic side effects including shrunken thymus glands (up to 40 percent shrinkage), enlarged liver and kidneys, reduced growth rate, aborted pregnancy, and diarrhea.

Aspartame (Nutra-sweet) is another popular substitute. It is an artificial sweetener with bitter affects on the body. Based on the research of Russell Blaylock, MD and H.J. Roberts, MD some possible problems are:

• Muscle aches


• Headaches


• Dizziness


• Numbness


• Depression


• Hyperactivity


• Seizures


• High blood pressure


• Brain tumors

Caffeine stimulates the adrenal glands and gives you a "lift" from drinking a soft drink. The old saying "what goes up must comedown," is absolutely true. Caffeine causes over stimulation and leads to mood swings, fatigue, and other disorders.

You are asking yourself, "What can I drink?" Good question. Here are five suggestions:

1. Purified Water


2. Sparkling Water


3. Herb Tea (Caffeine-free)


4. Green Tea


5. Fresh Fruit or Vegetable Juice

The money you spend on soft drinks really adds up. How many do you drink in one week?

• With a meal


• As a snack


• While driving


• While studying


• Whenever you feel thirsty


• Whenever you feel down


• While watching television


• While on the internet


• While listening to music


• While on the cell phone


• While walking through the mall

Multiply the number of sodas you consume per week times the cost of one drink. Then multiply that expense times 52 weeks per year. You could easily spend $500+ in a year on soft drinks. Save the money and spend it on a relaxing vacation instead!

If you will just eliminate soft drinks from your life style, your health will improve dramatically. If you are someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, or some other illness, PLEASE get off of these deadly drinks!

Until next time....

"The Doctor of the Future will give NO Medicine, but will interest his patients in diet and nutrition, exercise and the care of the human frame. He will teach them about the cause of ALL disease."--Thomas Edison

Steven Jenkins,

Health Motivator and Health Coach

Meadow Springs of America

P.O. Box 5595 Corning, CA 96021

(530) 585-2490

"To follow Jesus requires whole hearted conversion at the start, and a repetition of this conversion every day" -- Bible Commentary, vol. 1, 1113.

"God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus." -- Max Lucado

Take care and may the good Lord bless you with wonderful health.

A NEW START can be yours today... simply follow the 8 laws of health:

1. Nutrition


2. Exercise


3. Water


4. Sunlight


5. Temperance


6. Air


7. Rest


8. Trust in God.

THANK YOU Steven for that great report.

no more soda pop,

David A. Youngs

http://polybids.com/

The Horrors of Computer Viruses

Image enhancement by the famous John Bond of Far Northern California--thanks John.

We have all been told over and over "back up your hard drive," but how many people actually do it? I know that I don't. I just wait until a virus makes it past all my online protection (I am using SBC/Yahoo) and then I reformat my hard drive and reinstall Windows.

Of course I lose all my important data. I don't have a clue who was in my address book. I don't have the important pictures my wife took of our cats.

The worst is that I also lose all the programs I bought via the internet. I don't have the download any more and I definitely lost the password or key to unlock them. So I am out all those programs.

So why don't I back up my hard drive? Oh wow! Do you know how long that would take? I would have to find some blank dvd's and then start backing up. And it could take a long time.

Okay, maybe I am being penny wise and pound foolish. But how many other people do you know who haven't backed up anything yet?

BACK IT UP!!
David A. Youngs
http://polybids.com/

Cutting off cancer at the neck!!

Image enhancement (clouds in background) by John Bond of Far Northern California. Thanks John.

My brother-in-law Mike came through the seven hour neck surgery just fine. The day before his neck surgery, I asked him how he felt. His response was, "I feel like I have a noose around my neck--and it is getting tighter every day."

His thyroid glands were enlarged, one much more than the other. The super one was baseball sized. Imagine having a baseball sized tumor in your neck-- no wonder it felt like a noose! Both glands were removed, as well as the lymph nodes on once side.

The surgery was all day Thursday, and Mike actually walked two blocks outside today. (Sabbath) He is feeling kind of tired, but after a major surgery like that, I am not surprised.

The most surprising thing to me is that they did not use external stitches to hold the neck together after surgery. I am assuming the surgeon used internal ones. But all that was used externally were some little metal staples. But before they sent Mike home Friday, the little staples were all removed(!) and replaced with Steri-strips. Just little tiny pieces of tape holding his neck together!! I suppose it heals much better that way and doesn't leave an ugly scar like the running baseball stitch the surgeon used on my right knee over 20 years ago.

I am so glad that Mike is still alive. Now we have to wait for the laboratory reports to see which type of cancer he had. And Mike still has those spots on his lungs that showed up during the CAT scan. I am hoping these will go away with a little radioactive iodine treatment.

Don't get cancer...

David A. Youngs
http://polybids.com/

My aching shoulder

Picture to left enhanced by John Bond....

I hurt myself about four months ago. I was in bed and was reading while leaning on my left elbow. Suddenly something in my shoulder made a tearing noise accompanied immediately by intense pain. I think I somehow tore my rotator cuff.

This happened back in December or so, and I have been telling the doctor about it each month during our visits. Finally I reminded him about the shoulder today. He checked his records and found out where x-rays were taken back in January.

So I think I am on the verge of being scheduled to go see an orthopedic surgeon. My guess is that after he does his initial investigation, I will be scheduled for some type of surgery to reattach something or other in the shoulder joint.

Today I also found out that I had gained a whole pile of weight since I checked in about a month ago. I guess my eating out has taken its toll. So, I am going to have to cut back on fat foods again. I hate dieting... the first three letters of diet are die!!

I need to refocus on getting healthy.

Happy health hunting,

David A. Youngs

Adjusting reality

Take a look at the picture to the left. My friend "Johnny" adjusted reality for me by dropping out the background and "correcting" the color balance. If you compare this with the previous pictures appearing in my messages, you can definitely tell the difference. It is not a real picture (because of the changes) but it is better--at least Johnny thinks so. What do you think?

How often do we adjust reality in our memory? I heard about some whipper snapper complaining to his grandfather that grand dad lived in the "good old days" and he wished he lived back then. Grand father then reminded him that in the "good old days" the bathroom was 100 feet from the house and it was freezing cold to traverse that 100 feet in the winter. In the summer, the flies around that out house were thick and biting, and the outhouse had a horrible smell of .... (you know what.) So much for the "good old days. But how many of us forget the bad times, or in our memory adjust reality just a little bit?

I remember I used to run 3 miles almost every day. What I am trying to forget was how unsure I was of myself in those days. I was outwardly bold and brave, but inwardly quite shy--especially around beautiful women. I was not able to believe that ladies would enjoy me just because I am so very cool. I no longer run 3 miles a day. I wish I could, but I never want to return to that age where I was so unsure of myself.

A lot of people seem to pine for the good old days, but I'll just bet if they could really remember the "good old days" they would not seem quite so good!! It is just a case of adjusting reality. We all tend to do it.

A camping trip was wonderful--we forget all the hiking and mosquitoes involved! A party we went to was terrific--we have forgotten that we stayed up too late and were miserable the next day. Our previous job was better--we tend to forget the long hours and nagging boss. So we adjust our reality as we go along.

Happy reality,
David A. Youngs

We all need friends

Friends are what life is really all about. Without friends, life would be rather meaningless. There are friends that are more accepting of my faults and foibles than my own family. So how do you find a good friend?

Some people try chat rooms on the internet. That is probably one of the worst ways to ever get a friend. You see, when I used to go to chat rooms, I would even lie about my sex. I was a wonderful girl, and I was hit on all the time. You just don't know about people in chat rooms. Most of them could be exaggerating or lying, and there is really no way to check them out.

On top of that, we all put up personas or wear masks. We really don't want people to know our real selves. We have private things about ourselves we would rather nobody knew about. We have all made fools of ourselves at times in our lives.

So where is the best place to find new friends? Try the super market. Almost everybody has to shop sooner or later. People that never shop are probably people who would not be a good friend anyway, because people like that really don't have friends--they have very rich aquaintances.

So while you are out shopping, go up to the most attractive person you can find and ask, "does this melon seem ripe to you?" Always try to get them to help you pick out fruit or vegetables. Also note what they have in their cart. If it has the same kind of things you eat, hey--they might just be a great friend later on.

Then note something about what they are wearing and ask them about it. For instance, "Where did you get that incredible necklace?" (or whatever). Most people are willing to open up and tell you a little about themselves at this point. I have had some super intense conversations about crystals and crystal programming. I didn't even know you could program a crystal, but apparently you can.

Making friends is a good hobby. It doesn't take a lot of effort, but often you have to make the first move. Compliment people about what they have selected in their cart. Ask them where the gravy is. Almost anything can start a conversation.

Maybe I could be your friend. I like you....

David A. Youngs

Remembering BAD jokes

Why is it that I remember so many BAD jokes. You know what I mean--jokes that are so bad they are sick! I remember the "mommy, mommy" jokes from gradeschool. You don't know the mommy mommy jokes? Here then:

Mommy, mommy--I don't want to go to Europe for my summer vacation.

Shut up--and just keep swimming!

Here is another one:

Mommy, mommy--why is daddy running all over the field that way?

Shut up--and just keep shooting!

See what I mean--these are horrible jokes. Yet I can't seem to forget them no matter what I do. Blond jokes seem to fall into this category too.

How do you keep a blond busy? Give her a bag of M&Ms to alphabetize.
How do you make a blonds eyes light up? Shine a flashlight in her ear!

These are terrible jokes. Yet they are seared into my memory. The worst thing is that they aren't even really funny when you think about them.

People say that we actually remember everything we ever encounter--we just can't recall all of it. During surgery during the 1950's surgeons put tiny electrodes into patient's brains. Then they applied a very tiny voltage. A wild thing happened. Suddenly the patient was remember incidents that happened years ago in complete detail. It was like a video recorder was playing back a movie. He could see the pictures hanging on the walls in the room, the worn carpet--everything.

Some scientists are working on memory enhancers. Someday I may be able to take a pill and remember that I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow at 10:00 while at the exact same time I have scheduled a training session with the new public address person at the church because I forgot about the doctor's appointment. Hmmmm. Now if I could just be two places at once....


happy memories,
David A. Youngs

Remembering my memory

I used to have a memory. Oh I still do, but some times I can't remember what I did with it. :-) Actually, I have been blessed with a very good memory. I remember the names of thousands of people. Sometimes I even remember their names when I see them and need to remember their name! But sometimes I know I know their name, but cannot seem to recall it. Maybe I need a memory upgrade. Science is working on memory related medications. Maybe some day I can just take a pill and remember everything! Wouldn't that be great?

I take care of an elderly person. Okay, she is OLD--91 years old. And she can remember only things that happened a while ago. Her short term memory is basically gone. She can eat a meal, and then half an hour later, not be sure whether she ate or not. She has a creative memory. She can make up something in her mind, and then "remember" as if it did happen. This blurring of reality can cause some real problems. She will accuse me of doing something she simply made up, and I have a difficult time convincing her it never happened, because she "remembers" it clearly--even though it never happened.

It is kind of eerie seeing this lady actually living what the film Total Recall suggested--implanted memories. Wouldn't it be great to actually be able to get memories implanted? Or maybe not--my reality is tenous enough as it is. I don't think I want to be able to clearly remember things that never really happened.

But I am not sure that I want total recall either--there are some things I would prefer not to remember. Maybe God knew what he was doing when he made faulty memories.

Happy memories,

David A. Youngs

Preventing Hair Loss by Cutting It

Photo enhancement (clouds) by John Bond.

I have male pattern hair loss, and I am not excited about it. My wife thinks it makes me look distinguished, but personally I think it makes me look just plain bald, or should I say balding as there remains a lot of thin hairs. I guess what I need is a hair loss solution or some kind of hair loss treatment. Perhaps what I am really looking for is a hair loss remedy.

Oh I have read about hair loss shampoos that you can use every day, and if you do then maybe after three months or so your own hair grows back. The problem with them is that they cost a lot of money, and you have to continue to use them or your hair just falls out again. And I am not sure but what they have side affects. I mean, if you are using a hair loss medication to grow hair, isn't it a potent medicine?

I am not sure I want a hair transplant. First of all, unless done properly, they look like a horror film on steroids. Have you ever seen the little plugs some people used to have? It looked like cheap dolls' hair. Second, they too are very expensive.

Wigs and toupees are out because they are too hot, and can end up with improper treatment looking like some kind of animal crawled up on your head and died.

So far my hair loss solution has been to cut my hair real short. That way people may not notice the difference between very thin hair and very short hair. I haven't started shaving my head yet like some of my younger friends do. I really don't like the look of being completely bald, so I probably won't try that.

I used to enjoy long hair, but with the thinning on top, it just doesn't look right, at least to me. I suppose I should try some of the modern hair regrowth products, but ... they cost money. At least I have some hair left! And I grew a big beard. Yeah, people notice that instead of my hair.

Happy hair day,
David A. Youngs

dune buggies and mud baths

Some people feel that a good mud bath may be good for whatever ails you. I don't know about that, but I do recall the time I inadvertently gave my good friend whom I will call Marty a standing mud bath!

The day started out innocently enough as we were riding a borrowed dune buggy out into muddy pastures behind my house. I did not really know all the intricate workings of a clutch, as I had only very recently begun to drive. Suddenly as we drove along, the buggy hit a major mud puddle and the tire sank out of site in the mud. I knew I was in trouble, but I had no inkling of the type of trouble I was really in.

I suggested that Marty get out and push so we could get the dune buggy back to solid ground. Now this was a VW dune buggy, so it wasn't all that heavy, and I thought "Marty can do it." He got out, and began pushing for all he was worth. And I started the engine, raced the engine and popped the clutch. What happened next would have made a great scene in any adventure movie. The back tire buried in the mud began to spin wildly throwing up a solid wall of mud. When I looked back, I could not see Marty any where. All I saw was this pile of mud. Finally the pile of mud began to move, and I suddenly realized that this mountain of mud WAS Marty.

This time I let the clutch out real slowly and the dune buggy just crawled right out of the hole. Once we were out of the mud hole, Marty scraped a little mud off his face so he could see. He scraped some more away from his mouth. Finally he could open his mouth. The first thing he said was, "next time you can push and I will drive." I assured him there wasn't going to be a "next time."

We immediately headed for home where I had to wash Marty off with a hose for half an hour before he could even begin to remove his clothing. I have never seen such sticky clay in my life. Surprisingly, Marty and I had further adventures with the dune buggy.

Happy driving,
David A. Youngs

Are your vitamins killing you?

Most people don't eat right. We know that we should be eating fresh fruits, salads, and fresh vegetables every day. Not just a few, but that they should be the majority (if not all) of what we eat. But we don't do that. And so we are not getting all the vitamins and minerals we should.

Have you noticed how every vitamin, mineral, and food supplement company touts that their pills are absolutely the best, and how everyone should be daily taking them? They can't all be the best--some have just got to be better than others. But how do you determine which ones are the best? I don't really know.

Some vitamin companies are saying that their vitamins are "more natural" while others claim that there vitamins are "more balanced" and easily assimilated. There are even companies that tell you that liquid vitamins are more readily absorbed by the body.

But no matter which vitamin pill or liquid you take, do NOT take too much. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Vitamin D is produced by your body (and mine too) when we go out into the sunlight. And if all our vitamin D is self produced, we will never over dose ourselves.
But if we take vitamin D in milk (and who decided that adding vitamin D to milk was a good idea?) and take vitamin D in pill or liquid form, we just might overdose ourselves.

Some vitamins are water soluble, and flush easily out of the system. But some are fat based, and if we take too much get actually stored in our body fat. Not good--not good at all. These take a long time to get rid of the extra vitamins.

Too many vitamins can make you sick, sometimes deathly ill. God knew what he was doing when he gave us so many different delicious fruits to eat, and such tasty fresh vegetables. You basically can never over dose yourself on vitamins if all you do is eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

Maybe it is time to change what we eat and stop taking vitamin pills?

happy eating
David A. Youngs

Canoes, super sunburn, and pain

I don't know if you have ever paddled a canoe. The senior class had decided to all take a canoe trip on the local river that flowed by the campus. This was a major event as we were all living in a boarding academy that was church owned and run and was super strict. We just might get to look at our fellow female classmates in swimming suits, which was something really out of the ordinary. No two piece suits mind you--no, no, no!

Actually, most people wore cut-offs, and wore tee shirts. Oh well. I too went with a tee-shirt and cut off jeans.

When you are sitting in an aluminum canoe, the sides of the canoe are almost parabolic, and the canoe acts as a parabolic mirror reflecting ALL the suns rays into the middle of the canoe. And the sun's rays are bouncing off the water too. I don't know why I never realized this before the trip.

Within a couple of hours of getting into the canoe, I knew I was in big trouble. My legs which were NEVER exposed to sunlight were turning a nice shade of pink. Of course I did not have any long pants with me, and the sun tan lotion wasn't doing its job--this was years ago before people discovered how to create effective sun blocks. Another hour and I was in pain. The sunburn was bad. The worst thing was that the trip was about half over, and there was no getting out, no turning back.

It occurred to me that I was actually grilling my legs in a primitive solar oven. My legs turned bright red and the pain was unbelievable. Even the light breeze blowing across the bow of the canoe was painful. When I finally got home, I was almost unable to walk with the pain. I hobbled off to my dormitory room and smeared something on my legs to alleviate the pain.

The next day, I discovered that my shins had BLISTERED. My legs just hurt so bad. It took about three days before the pain began to subside. I could scarcely wear pants. But I had too. Cut-offs were not allowed in class, and besides, if I did wear them, I would only be getting even more sunlight. When the sun warmed up my pants I was in pain. I could hardly stand to walk, because the fabric rubbing against my skin was just excruciating, and the salve I had smeared on my legs was causing the fabric to stick to them. I was in complete and total misery.

If you ever go canoeing, or boating, or ever go anywhere near any body of water, limit the time your skin is exposed to sunlight. Wear appropriate LONG clothing and cover up just as your skin turns the least bit pink. A little sunlight is good, but please don't get burned. It makes the whole outing a misery.

Happy boating,
David A. Youngs

sunlight prevents cancer!!

Wow was I suprised when I read a major report by Dr. Mercola http://www.mercola.com/2002/apr/3/sun_prevents_cancer.htm
that sunlight does not cause cancer but actually can prevent and fight cancer! Dr. Mercola has been doing some very interesting research for a book that he is writing, and has discovered that the farther you live from the equator, the higher the incidences of cancer in a given population.

Dr. Mercola has decided from looking at all the scientific data available the simple act of exposing oneself to sunlight (without overdoing it) doesn't just feel good, but is actually good for your health on a number of levels--one of which is cancer prevention. He contends that exposing the skin to sunlight allows the ultraviolet rays to hit the skin and penetrate and then an amazing thing happens--the skin turns cholesterol into vitamin D. Vitamin D, as it turns out, is an incredible super anti-oxidant, and actually helps to prevent cancer, as well as doing all sorts of other good things for us. Anti-oxidants are one of the things that go around attaching themselves to free radicals (which are super bad) and neutralizing them.

There is an optimum amount of time to be out in the sun. Don't over do it and get sunburn. Just as soon as your skin starts to turn the least bit pink, cover up and get out of the sun. Sunburn is no fun.

Happy sunning,
David A. Youngs

Selling things on Ebay--how to work hard and get virtually no money.

I know you have undoubtedly seen advertisements on how you can make millions of dollars selling things on eBay. While this is fundamentally true, I found out that there are limits to how many auctions I could put up on eBay at one time. I could only write so many advertisements, and take so many pictures in the day.

I chose to sell books. I figured since I bought them over at the Salvation Army or other second hand stores for about a dime to a quarter apiece, I could make just tons of money on eBay. Well, I did sell over 100 items, and I did make a little over $200. Not exactly tons of money. If I had worked at a regular job at say McDonalds all the hours I spent writing up book reviews and scanning pictures of the books, I would have made far more.

So what is the secret to selling on eBay? You got to sell a whole bunch of little inexpensive things to make a whole bunch of money. Or, preferably, you can find things that sell for much more money, and then sell a whole lot fewer items.

My biggest problem was trying to figure out something to sell. Oh, the books sold... but for such a pittance that eventually I stopped fooling myself and went on to other things.

My good friend whom I will call Chris works for a guy that is actually a major power seller. He sells coins, stamps, and very valuable documents on eBay. He won't even touch something unless it is worth at least $10. And he has hired a cadre of people who are all coin experts to help him post auctions on eBay. This guy who I will call Troy is selling over $10,000 in coins, stamps, and precious documents every month.

But I don't know anything about coins. Well, okay, they are round disks. I do know that. But my friend Chris can look at the BACK of any penny and tell you within 2 years when it was minted. I did not believe him, but he proved it to me one day. After he had correctly guessed the dates on hundreds of pennys within 2 years, I had to believe him. Chris says that the back is called the "obverse" of the coin. Hmmmmm.

I know all about "drop shipping." That is where you actually sell things that you don't even own, and after they sell, send money and have some company that does own them ship them directly to the purchaser. In theory, this is wonderful. You never see the product.

But, and this is super important, what if the company shipping out the products is a little slow. Guess who is going to take a hit when reviewed by the buyer on eBay--you. I happen to have a perfect rating.

Once when I bought something on eBay, it did not arrive. After about a month, I finally wrote a negative report about the company selling the product, warning people that they would just take your money and then never ship the product. Suddenly they woke up, and immediately retaliated by saying nasty things about me. Finally they shipped the product, and we mutually withdrew our negative comments. They no longer are selling on Ebay. But I do have a perfect rating.

If you are going to try to earn money on eBay, find the big ticket items. It is a whole lot easier to put up three things in auctions than to put up 100 seperate auctions.

Good luck on eBay,
David A. Youngs

Home business adventures, failures, and bankruptcy

Of course the entire purpose of starting a home business is to make money. Well there are those who start a home business just so they can have a tax write off--but for me, the reason is basically to earn additional money. The question that the home entrepreneur is confronted with is simple: which home business to start. There are literally thousands of people promoting all sorts of home businesses that run the gamut from reselling e-books, to stuffing letters, to really bizarre things that are so complicated that people join them by sheer faith.

I got involved in one of the latter kind. My good friend whom I will call Ed suggested that I get involved in the business that he was in because I was sure to double my investment in about 3 months. That sounded pretty good. I mean, who wouldn't want to double their money every 3 months. He had invested about a two thousand dollars, and already he had withdrawn over $10,000 dollars of profit.

There was no product. We were all involved in buying advertising space on the internet. When you consider that web pages can be put up today that are FREE, I think we over paid considerably. But we did not care, because as other people invested and bought advertising space, we were paid double whatever we invested originally.

Now if you think about this, it absolutely cannot go on forever. Remember that if you start with just a penny, and double it every day for 31 days, by the 31st day, you will be dealing in millions of dollars. The huge pile of money being created for the founder of this concept (and he only took out a meager 11% for "expenses") was nothing compared to the millions of dollars that were being invested. But each time the entire pot doubled, it of course took at least twice as many people to invest to get it doubled again. After awhile, it took longer than three months to double. And then of course new investors began to lose interest as it took 6 months to double, then a year, then....

After awhile, nobody who had already invested was getting paid. The whole scheme ground to a halt. I did not ever get any money back. The whole program was revamped trying to get it going again. But it never did. I got an email recently that the whole business was bankrupt. I will never get a penny. The only people who did well were the original investors, and even now their gravy train has derailed.

One of the things I found out from this experience: if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. There are hundreds of people out there wanting to take your cash assuring you that you will make a pile of money by just investing in their particular home business. If the business seems pretty complicated, and you can't describe it in a couple simple sentences, don't invest.

If there is not a real tangible product, then warning flags should be going up all over the place. The business should make sense from a business point of view. You should be able to see that it will be in business for the long haul. Otherwise, just keep your money and you will be that far ahead.

Hoping your home business will succeed,
David A. Youngs

The back injury and playing golf

Well, after my brother-in-law Dale hurt his back digging mud out of the bottom of the swimming pool, he decided he was injured and should collect some money because of his injury. So he turned in a claim. And then one fine day, Dale decided that playing golf might help loosen up his injured back and proceeded to go out to the golf course and play a round of golf. I don't know how well he did, or what his final score was.

Unfortunately, that was the very day the insurance adjuster called and wanted to talk to Dale. My mother said, "well, I think you can find him on the golf course." There was a moment of silence and then the adjuster (who apparently could not believe his ears) asked, rather astonished, "Did you say the golf course?" I guess he was pretty amazed that somebody with a back injury that prevented him from working would find himself able to play a round of golf!

I don't know if Dale was ever successful in getting any money for his injury. And I don't know if playing golf really helped his back any or not. But I do know the insurance adjuster just could not believe his ears when told that Dale was on the golf course playing golf. Somehow, I don't think that playing golf helped Dale convince the insurance adjuster that his back was badly injured.

Happy golfing,
David A. Youngs

Gold fish farming and the government

Well, my brother-in-law decided the swimming pool out behind our house which was only 8 feet deep in the deep end wasn't deep enough. He broke out the cement bottom and began digging. Now in this area, the water level was less than 8 feet, so the swimming pool started immediately filling up with muddy water.

And the mud, being mostly clay and soaking wet, was extremely sticky and heavy. It did not take Dale long to wrench his back out of place--and that was the sudden end of the project. The swimming pool now had cement walls, and a mud bottom. So it was a rectangular pond. The water filled it up considerably. Naturally, mosquitoes found the pond a haven and began laying eggs by the thousands. I could see the wrigglers wiggling around and knew that if allowed to mature, we would be overwhelmed by mosquitoes.

So I went to our local pet store and bought 100 gold fish for 10 cents each. They were "feeders" that supposedly bigger fish were supposed to eat. I turned them all loose in the pond. A few died due to the sudden changes in temperature or whatever, but about 94 of them lived. And began to grow.

I went back to the pet store and bought some anacharis, a plant that grows in fish tanks. It flourished in the pond. And the fish kept getting bigger. Oh yes, they did eat the mosquito larva, and duckweed and nibbled on the anacharis. But they were hungry, so I went to the feed store and found they actually had something called Purina Trout Chow. The goldfish did not care that it was designed for trout. They ate it with pleasure.

In six months, the original gold fish had grown to 6 inches in length. Then an unexpected thing happened. They laid eggs and thousands of gold fish hatched out. Some of the little fish were of course eaten by the bigger fish, but since there was so many weeds growing in the shallow end of the pond, the little fish mostly survived.

I began to net out the larger fish and took them to pet stores. I sold them for $5 apiece, and the pet stores marked them up to as much as $15 apiece. Now I suddenly had a gold fish farm.

That year while filling out my tax papers, I noticed a place to mark down FARMING activities, so I unwittingly checked the box. Next thing I know, the United States Government is sending me papers every two or three months for reports on my fish farm. How many acres was it? How many "head" did I have on my farm? What was the estimated value of my "herd"? Did I own the land, or was I leasing it? Did I expect to take out a farmer's loan? And of course the most important thing as far as the IRS was concerned--how much profit did I expect to gain from my farming activities?

I don't know who read all the reports that I sent back, but all this paper work was sort of taking all the fun out of raising gold fish. So, we pumped out most of the water out of the pond, caught all the fish in nets, and sold them all to fish stores. I made enough profit to pay for the bags of Purina Trout Chow, and not much more. I informed the government I had stopped leasing the pond and was now officially out of the gold fish farming business. Some of the little fish escaped and they kept the mosquitoes from multiplying. But... I was officially no longer a "farmer."

It is almost tax time again. Hopefully you won't have to fill out myriad forms because you are a farmer!

David A. Youngs

I am crazy about mental health

Recently I noticed something--most of my friends are what you might call "edge dwellers." They are living on the edge of reality. Okay, they are certifiably crazy. One of them whom I will call "Bob" has only one basic reaction to everything in his life--he gets very angry. For example, one day a telephone employee showed up and began to do something with the telephone wiring outside Bob's apartment building. Bob immediately got very angry, ran outside and literally chased the telephone worker off the property. His explanation: "nobody is going to fool with my telephone wiring."

When I pointed out to Bob that the telephone company actually owned all the wiring up to and including his telephone box, and therefore the employee of the telephone company was actually working on his own wiring which was within his responsibilties, and he was probably fixing something that needed fixing so it would no longer be a problem, Bob began to cool down a little bit. But by then the telephone repair man was long gone.

One day, somebody parked in what Bob asserted was "his" space to park in. Oh my! Before the hour was up, he had gotten into a major word fight with the "offending" neighbor (who threatened right back) and it escalated to the point where the police were called. When they did not immediately show up, Bob got REAL mad and called them up and threatened he was going to KILL the neighbor. They showed up pretty quickly after that.

In fact, after a very short while, the police began to know Bob on a first name basis. They did not particularly enjoy coming out to visit with Bob, but his anger necessitated repeated visits. There never was a dull moment around Bob because you never knew what would trigger his next anger explosion.

Bob used to claim that external things "made me mad." In reality, nothing can MAKE us angy--we choose to become angry. And if we can choose to be angry, we can choose to be at peace. As long as Bob never accepts the blame for his anger--as long as he always says it is some one or something else's fault--he will never learn to control himself. Bob can't hold a job, because when a boss points out something he needs to change, immediate ANGER!!!

This one response is all that Bob knows. I enjoy Bob, but his anger has alienated my wife from ever having Bob around us again. Bob needs an anger management program like yesterday. But he won't go to one, because "it's not my fault. They made me angry."

It is like the patient that told his psychiatrist that his mother was the cause of all his problems. The psychiatrist wisely advised "well bring your mother on in so I can work on her then!"

I finally figured out that I really can't help Bob. He is going to continue becoming angry all the time. I wish I could fix him, but I can't.

If you have anger problems, they don't go away unless you do something about them. Get professional help!

Peace everybody,
David A. Youngs

Worried about worrying

Worrying never really helped anything. Oh sure, I read the cartoon where Charlie Brown was asserting "what do you mean that worrying never helps? Most of the stuff I worry about NEVER HAPPENS!"--implying of course that perhaps if he did NOT worry, it just might have happened.

There are so many things a person can worry about. If you want to worry, you can just pick nearly anything and then start worrying about it. Make up something if you have to -- like, "suppose my clothes fall apart while I am walking down the street?" Or how about, "what if a meteor falls from the sky and crushes me!" Your worries don't have to be about things that are likely to happen. You can worry about all kinds of things. "Suppose I trip over a crack in the sidewalk and break my leg in three places, and then I can't go to work, and I can't pay the rent, and next thing I know, I am homeless, living on the very sidewalk where I first tripped."

Most people worry about money--either they don't have enough, or if they do have enough, then they are worried they might lose it, or somebody might want to take it from them. The more possessions we have, the more we can worry about somebody stealing them from us. It doesn't take much to get some people worrying. "Oh, you are going on a trip! I sure hope you don't run out of gas, have a flat tire, the car engine blow up, and you get lost and are never heard from again."

If you point out to these worry warts that you think they are worrying far too much about too little, they will then start worrying about you! Are you crazy? Can't you see that not worrying is dangerous?

Or they might start to worry about worrying. "Maybe I do worry too much. I am now worried about that!"

There is no way to prepare in advance for every possible outcome, no matter that the motto of the Boy Scouts is "always be prepared." But I am of the opinion that worrying is a CHOICE. And I don't choose to worry any more. Plan ahead, yes. Consider alternate contingencies, sure. But no more worrying. It isn't worth it!

So stop worrying and enjoy life. Live in the "Now."
David A. Youngs

A vacation from vacations

I don't know if you have ever come back from a frenzied vacation so tired out that it took you several days to recuperate. I heard about a couple that took a whirlwind tour of Europe with one of those budge tours you can sign up for at a travel agency. They visited a different country of Europe each day. When they got back, the couple co-wrote a book about their vacation entitled, "If this is Thursday, it must be Italy," or something like that. I can't believe they really enjoyed their vacation--at least not as much as they could have.

Some people have so much planned out for their vacation that if they see something that looks like it might be interesting to explore it is "too bad -- we are on a tight schedule." Work-a-holics tend to plan their vacation like it is an invasion or something: every moment filled with activity, and each thing planned out to the minute. It seems to me that this is not really a vacation at all, but just another form of work. And when things slow you down (as they tend to do) these people get super upset because they are "behind schedule."

Once when I was out backpacking in the Marble Mountains of Northern California and hiking a leisurely 6-8 miles a day on the John Muir Trail, I met up with this one fellow who was hiking at least 25-30 miles a day, and some days even more, because he had to get to the end of the trail in about a week. Somehow a forced march doesn't seem like much of a vacation to me. His schedule was like this: 6am eat a big breakfast. By 6:30 start hiking. Hike all day until 8:00 pm snacking trail food along the way. By 8:00 he was setting up camp and since he was so tired, he was basically eating supper and then crashing. Sure, he was hiking in the mountains, but -- was he really enjoying it? I sure did not envy him.

Vacations in my opinion should relax the person. I once spent 3 days camped out by one lake. That is all we did. We went to the lake, and then we camped out. In fact, I had a motor home, so my setting up camp was pretty simple--drive the motor home to the edge of the lake and park it. I really enjoyed this vacation. We swam. We built fires in the evening. We sat around and sunned ourselves. We ate a lot of good food. And we watched the other campers. I went home feeling refreshed.

So if you ask me, if you need a vacation from your vacation--you are trying to do too much. Slow down and enjoy yourself.

Happy vacations,
David A. Youngs

How many dimensions are there?

Somebody actually read my last blog. Then they sent me this amazing link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html which leads to about three hours of incredible science movies in which not only do scientists admit they don't know what causes gravity, they also admit they really don't even know how many dimensions there are.

The latest guess is 11. This is all part of "string theory" in which scientists propose that everything is made up of incredibly small strings of vibrating energy. This is a fairly new theory and a lot of scientists are playing around with the equations it engenders.

I am having a bit of difficulty imagining what 11 dimensions are like. Imagine that our world is contained on a flat movie screen. Just like a movie screen contains only up/down, left/right, yet it does not contain the third dimension forward/backward. Are you with me so far? We watch movies and they "look" three dimensional, yet are only two dimensional, so it might be easy to imagine our whole world stuck on the movie screen. Then suddenly, when some danger is impending, the actor steps FORWARD off the screen into our world of 3 dimensions. Okay, so it is hard to imagine, but suppose somebody in our three dimensional world could figure out some way to step out of our world into the fourth dimension.

This is the basis of some pretty amazing science fiction stories. Well, apparently, today's science fiction often becomes tomorrow's science fact. Now scientists are not just proposing a fourth dimension, but 8 more dimensions. Perhaps our whole galaxy (these scientists propose) are on a huge sheet or membrane that contains the three dimensions, and this "brane" is floating around somehow inside of the other 8 dimensions.

Oh wait a moment. Einstein proposed a fourth dimension--time. That is why we sometimes speak of the "space-time continuum." So the string theoreticians are only proposing an additional 7 dimensions.

Where are they? That is the tricky part. Our brains are locked in a three dimensional world (four if you consider time a dimension) and we can't visualize any more dimensions. There are some really advanced mathematics that describe these dimensions, but they are way beyond anthing I learned in college.

So far, the "string theory" is just a mathematical model -- a theory. Some people are hoping that the new super colliders that they are making might start to prove these theories. Go watch the movies at that link I gave above and see if YOU can figure it all out.

More dimensions stretch the brain
David A. Youngs