Honey Bees

When was the last time you saw a honey bee?  You may have heard something about the recent decline in honey bees.  Today I realised where they've all gone.  Watched any of the Soccer World Cup?  And you thought that buzzing was kazoos...

Okay, so I'm making light of a serious worry.  Ever thought about what the hard working honey bee does for us?  Why We Need Bees explains:

"More than $15 billion a year in U.S. crops are pollinated by bees, including apples, berries, cantaloupes, cucumbers, alfalfa, and almonds.  U.S. honey bees also produce about $150 million in honey annually. But fewer bees means the economy takes a hit: The global economic cost of bee decline, including lower crop yields and
increased production costs, has been estimated at as high as $5.7 billion per year."

As much as I didn't enjoy being stung two separate times as a teenager, I've always been fascinated by honey bees.  And they need our help.

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

This arrived in an email today, regarding the New Zealand All Whites Soccer team at the World Cup.  Our lads didn't lose a match - they were all draws.  So technically we didn't lose.  Gotta love a positive thinker!

Vinegar!

Lately I've been using vinegar for cleaning all sorts of things.  It's a lot cheaper than standard cleaners and not as bad for the environment.  My two favourites (so far) are:

• use white vinegar instead of fabric softener in the final rinse.  You don't need much; half fill one of those plastic ball things that you can buy for fabric softener for a full load of clothes.
• apple cider vinegar is great on hair instead of conditioner.  Pour about a cup over your hair after shampooing - it will get rid of soap build-up and leave your hair shiny and soft.  They say you can use vinegar for a rinse every time you wash your hair, but I do it once a week or every other week.

Don't worry about having a vinegar smell - it's gone by the time it dries (the only time this hasn't happened was when I got a bit overzealous with one load of laundry and put in twice as much as I needed...).  Clothes come out smelling fresh like they've been hanging outside in clean air to dry.  Recently I reverted to fabric softener for a laundry load (the vinegar bottle was downstairs and I couldn't be bothered getting it) and when the clothes were dry I almost choked on the strong, sickly sweet smell of the fabric softener.  And I use a mildly scented one...  You don't notice how strongly they smell until you quit using them for a while.

There are plenty of web pages with tips, two good ones are HERE and HERE.  It's great for some plants too - azaleas, gardenias and rhododendrons love it apparently.  And it will stop ants from coming in the house.  Yay for vinegar!

Good Things to Come

A beautiful message of hope in a time of confusion and suffering.



The full text of Jeffrey R. Holland's talk can be found HERE

Last Man Standing: All Blacks & Lions

I just found this on YouTube - All Blacks & Lions playing Last Man Standing.  It's probably old news for the folks back home but it's a goodie!  These guys must have played a brutal game of bullrush when they were kids...

Some things to watch for:

• at 1:24 there's a Lion hiding behind the lamppost.
• at 2:20 a Lion picks up his teammate and drops him to the side
• it looks like All Black Joe Rokocoko (pronounced Rokothoko) might just make it through at the end

UPDATE: I played this to a couple of people here who didn't get what was going on... so a quick explanation:
At the start you have the All Blacks and Lions lined up at one end of the field, with one guy in the middle of the field by himself (Tana Umaga).  They all try to make it to the other end of the field, while Umaga tries to stop them.  He tackles one Lion in the first rush, who is now on Umaga's team and stands with him in the middle.  They both try to stop players in the next rush and end up with three new guys on their side.  It keeps going like that with more guys being tackled until there are only two left on the original team.  They rush the pack and try to get through...

Enjoy!!

Ba-BOOM!!!

Today I was at the petrol station (US translation: gas station) keeping my self-promise not to let the tank go below quarter full.  While I was experiencing a moment of stunned silence at the recent price hike, a chappie pulled up in a largish vehicle (read: something that should, in all honesty, require a special license to drive and a reversing beep).

Mr. Chappie hauled himself out of the beastie-sized ute (US: pickup truck), took a last couple of puffs on his cigarette then flicked it to the ground near the pump.  Did he extinguish it first?  Noooo that death stick had a nice little glow.  For good measure he left the car (and I use that term loo-oo-oosely) running and proceeded to call his mate/buddy/bubba on the cellphone.

Partly because I felt it my civic duty, but mostly that I was starting to add an unattractive cold sweat to the Hotlanta humidity 'glow', I walked over and squished it out with my foot.

"Excuse me but I'm just going to uhhhh put that out."

If looks could kill I'd be a pile of ashes right next to the remnants of the cancer stick.  Maybe he'd planned to pick it up again after he'd finished draining the station tanks into his storage unit on wheels.

180th General Conference Part IV

Just realised that I hadn't posted anything on the last session of General Conference...  Better late than never, I suppose.  At least I beat the May issue of the Ensign magazine, which has all the conference talks.  Or rather, it hasn't made it to my letter box yet... 

So here we go, with a few of the things that caught my attention during the final session:

• It is not why we face trials, it's how we face them.
• It's easy to look back and see what we learned from an trial.  The trick is to learn from the trial while we are experiencing it.
• Learn to serve and think of others, even in the midst of trial.  Jesus Christ is the supreme example of this attitude.
• Those who live only for themselves shrivel up.  Those who serve others grow.
• A peaceful environment is not just external, it is internal.
• The world seems to have slipped from the moorings of morality and the piers of peace.  Look to the Lighthouse of the Lord.

So there you have it.  Two great days full of inspired teachings from men of God.  And now I'm waiting with foot-tapping impatience for this month's Ensign... not to mention the 180th Semi-Annual General Conference, coming up in October.  Good times.

180th General Conference Part III

I watched Sunday's conference sessions with some friends from my first ward - and had my first Easter egg hunt between sessions.  It's tough when you're competing with seasoned professionals aged 7 - 15!!  Not to mention their parents...

Some thoughts from the Sunday morning session:

• We are all walking our own personal difficult path through life and we need each other to succeed.
• The teachings of the Saviour Jesus Christ must be more than just principles you memorise.
• Don't allow a perceived wrong to distance you from the Lord.
• Never let an earthly sacrifice disable you spiritually.
• The Saviour taught us to love even our enemies.
• We live in a noisy, contentious world.  We must find time to slow down, pray and ponder.
• No-one is exempt from the storms of life.

That's it for tonight - I'll finish up with the Sunday afternoon session tomorrow, 'cause I'm tired *yawn*.  Yay for the hot Southern summer which finally made its grand entrance this past weekend.

An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ

On Easter morning we turn our thoughts to the miracle that is the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.  His perfect life, His ultimate sacrifice, His eternal love - this is why we celebrate Easter.

Jeffrey R Holland, Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, speaks of the path that Jesus took.



"One of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so."

The full text of Elder Holland's talk can be found here: None Were With Him

180th General Conference Part II

That's likely the shortest two hours I've ever experienced!  It's amazing how quickly time flies when you're learning good things.  Here are more thoughts from conference, this time during the Saturday afternoon session:

• Throughout history, many have given their lives so that we can have the Word of God through scripture.
• Those who don't regularly read the scriptures are doomed to a) dwindle in unbelief and b) repeat the errors of generations gone by.
• Today the scriptures are easily available in many languages - but there is a great scriptural illiteracy because people don't read them.  We have forgotten what our grandparents knew.
• Where scriptural truths are ignored, the moral structure of society crumbles.
• Faith comes by the witness of the Holy Spirit, who will testify of the truth of what we read in the scriptures.
• We are surrounded by those in need of help and comfort, be they family, friends or strangers.
• Our partial or selective obedience to the Lord's commandments will cause us to fail.
• The Book of Mormon speaks to the spirit and the heart of the reader like no other book.
• We are experiencing a great moral decay and families are falling victim to it.
• True love is shouted from the rooftops - lust is clandestine and shame-filled.
• If a TV programme is vulgar - turn it off!
• If a movie is crude - walk out!
• If a relationship is developing in an inappropriate way - sever it!
• Follow Nephi's resolve to "... give place no more for the enemy of my soul." (see 2 Nephi 4:28)

Click HERE for a link to the 180th General Conference broadcast.  Right now you can select from talks given in both sessions today.  Tomorrow (Easter Sunday) it will show the live broadcast of both Sunday sessions, at 10am (Mountain Daylight Time) and 2pm (MDT).

180th General Conference Part I

I was baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seven years ago and apart from Christian celebrations of Christmas and Easter (because we all know how the world has managed to commercialise these sacred festivals beyond recognition), General Conference is my favourite Church event.  Broadcast live worldwide, we receive spiritual and temporal teachings from Church leaders including the prophet and First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other Church leaders.

In the fortnight leading up to conference, I like to pray about one or a few things where I'd like guidance.  I've only done this in the past couple of years, but it's uncanny the personal manner in which my questions are always answered - during a conference that is broadcast to millions.

Here are some thoughts from talks given during the Saturday morning session:

• Satan is persistent in attacking the home and the family - these being the basic foundation of society.
• You can trust that the Lord will guide you.
• Doing one's duty (to God, to our Saviour Jesus Christ and to our families) is a manifestation of one's faith.
• Through prayer we can know our personal path of duty even in the midst of crisis.
• Hope, peace and joy do not depend upon circumstance - rather they are products of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Through keeping the commandments of God, we gain confidence to go forward in faith
• Build your life on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ.
• Children and youth are learning from you and watching your example even when you think they aren't.

Happiness Is...

... your cat upchucking

on the floor

beside the bed.

Or not.

Salt in the Wound

Seems like my PC and I have something in common this winter.  We're both prime targets for viruses.  At least I'm at the light end of the scale this year - all I have now is a low grade cold that'll stick with me through the end of spring.

My PC, on the other hand, has been hit in a major way twice in the past few months.  I'm just happy that the latest bug didn't start popping up nasty sites like the first one did.  But even so, it's not much fun having your PC shut down randomly and there's nothing you can do to stop it.  You have 60 seconds to exit from whatever you're working on or you say bye-bye to it forever.

But that's not the most annoying part.  Yesterday I couldn't even get on the internet, so this morning I called my service provider for help.  As you can imagine I was overwhelmingly surprised to hear a sickly-sweet recorded voice telling me that they were currently experiencing high call volumes and the wait time was through the roof.

But even that I could deal with.  Speaker phones are great.  What raised my eyebrows was the enthusiastically helpful recording that announced I could get faster service by visiting their FAQ section online at www.blahblahblah...  It was my privilege to hear that eight times while the recording cycled.

Sets you up perfectly to react in a pleasant manner to the actual live voice when you do finally make it to the top of the wait list.