Stingray Corvette

2014 marks the return of the Corvette Stingray. GM hopes that 2015 will be a better year. If you have $65,000 to spend on a base mid-line model you can design your own car on the Corvette website and have it delivered to your local dealer. 

Chervolet decided to discontinue the Stingray in the mid-1970s. There just weren't as many men going through a  mid-life crisis that could afford a sports car too. Price of a new Corvette in 1975 was just a little over $11,000. 

I appreciate a fast car and love to drive them but with so many bad drivers on the road, I'll stick with my beast! 

Where's Fluffy??

For many people, a pet is a member of the family. So a missing pet can feel like a missing person.

Like missing people, the likelihood of finding your pet is best in the first 72 hours. Taking a few steps can increase your chances of your pet returning home safe.

1. Report your missing animal
2. Let your friends and neighbors know
3. Post flyers

Report you missing animal to the authorities. Depending upon your local government you may need to call the local police, the sheriff or the animal shelter.

When you call, have your pet information sheet ready to answer questions about your pet. If they ask you to email the information, place the information in the body of the email as well as attaching the document.

Pet Information Sheet

The best pet information sheet includes the following: Your name and contact information at the top. Your pet’s information:  breed, height, weight, special marks, fur length, type of coat, length of tail, birth date, and possible aggressiveness toward people or other animals.

Pet Photographs

Three pet photographs that every pet owner should have:

• a portrait of your pet
• a full body pose of your pet
• a photo of you with your pet

Let your friends and neighbors know that your pet is missing.

Pets can end up in a neighbor’s yard or running somewhere in the neighborhood. Letting the people living closest to you know about your pet is the best way to look in a hundred places right away. Calling a few helpful friends who will call other neighbors for you is particularly helpful.

Post flyers

Missing pet flyers should include a picture of your pet, description and your contact information. If there have been sightings, include the last place your pet was seen. Print 25 flyers. Post on phone poles or place the flyer on your neighbor’s doors. Post your pet’s photo on social media so other people in town can keep an eye out for your pet.

Just in case: keep your pet information sheet and recent photographs available for the emergency we hope never happens. 

Editing: A process

What's your writing process?

Naturally insecure, seeking approval or to say our piece, writers often ask each other, what's your process? I understand the question as a cry for help.

Help me start this project, I don't know where to begin.

Help me with this project, I've just hit a wall.

Help me with this edit, I don't know what to cut.

Help me with this project, I'm done but there it sits.

If you are a writer, life is in a constant state of flux. There's always start. There's something to do. There's always to fix. There's always something to finish.

Oh yeah, an remember to have a life too.

Percentage of adults living with their parents skyrockets

A symptom of the disaster America calls an economy was revealed in the Pew Research Center’s report which contained information about the number of adults living with their parents. The socially acceptable term is multi-generational households.

Based on comparisons between households from 1970-80 and the past decade provides the dire truth about the loss of the American way of life. In the 1970s approximately 10% of young adults lived with their parents, which means 90% of post-high school adults were able to support themselves outside of their parent’s home.

In the past decade, with fewer living wage jobs available for high school and college graduates supports the Pew Research Center’s findings that in the 18-25 age range more than 70% of young adults are living at home, which means less than 30% are able to make enough money to rent a room outside of their parent’s home.

After college the future still looks bleak with one in five adults in the 25-34 age still living with their parent’s. More than half of those who did manage to move-out report they have taken jobs just to make ends meet, not what they studied or trained to do. More than 50% of adults in this age group also report postponing serious relationships, marriage, parenthood.

While we’d all like to believe the reports that the economy is on the mend, there is no proof to support that claim. We’ll know things are better when young adults can live on their own, college students can pay off loans in a couple years and young couples return to buying homes and starting families. 

Blender Fun

Summer is the perfect time to bring out the blender and try new juice combinations. The price of fruit at the farmer's market drops just before the close of business giving us a chance to try new fruit without spending a ton .

My Oster blender works great on ice drinks and blending soft fruit into juice. No fancy juicer needed to get a refreshing cold drink.

So far this summer I've enjoyed the following combinations:

Strawberry/banana/apple
1 apple cored & peeled
1 banana peeled
5 strawberries quartered
1/2 cup ice
1/2 cup apple juice

Banana/berry/apple
1 banana peeled
1 cup blueberries
1 apple cored & peeled
1/2 cup ice
1/2 cup apple juice

Peach/banana/orange
2 peaches peeled
1 banana
1 orange peeled
1/2 cup ice
1/2 cup orange juice

Do you make your own juice drinks? Will you share your favorite recipe? :)