Free Mothers Day Cards

For you guys that don’t want to spend anything on your Mother-in-Laws, but don’t want to be placed into the doghouse try out the largest free greeting card site there is: 123Greetings.com or go straight to the Mothers Day Cards. As good as a ‘get out of jail’ free pass!

Dad’s Heart, My Life Article

Steve McKee wrote a great article in the Washington Post that hit home for me. My dad, Jack passed away at 60 from cancer and basically missed out on meeting all of his grandkids and countless other special moments that are what life is all about in the end. Years prior to his losing bout with cancer he had had a heart attack and barely survived it. All-in-all he was in horrible shape and his story and mine were quite similar to Sreve McKee’s and his father’s.

I encourage you to read the great article and post your comments on it here. Dad’s Heart, My Life

Happy Easter All

It’s not too late to send a nice eCard to a friend or loved one to let them know you care. Visit Cross Cards and pick from a wide variety of religious cards.

Dusting: A Police Officer Writes About His Son’s Death

My mom forwarded me the story below and because I have 3 teen Sons it really hit home. If you have boys it’s worth a read. A police officer shares his heart wrenching story about his teenage Son.

Talk to your kids! Beneath the story you’ll find links to more information about this problem called “dusting”:

One Dad’s Story:

First, I’m going to tell you a little about me and my family. My name is Jeff. I am a Police Officer for a city which is known nationwide for its crime rate. We have a lot of gangs and drugs. At one point we were #2 in the nation in homicides per capita. I also have a police K-9 named Thor. He was certified in drugs and general duty. He retired at 3 years old because he was shot in the line of duty. He lives with us now and I still train with him because he likes it. I always liked the fact that there was no way to bring drugs into my house. Thor wouldn’t allow it. He would tell on you. The reason I say this is so you understand that I know about drugs.

I have taught in schools about drugs. My wife asks all our kids at least once a week if they used any drugs. Makes them promise they won’t.

I like building computers occasionally and started building a new one in February 2005. I also was working on some of my older computers. They were full of dust so on one of my trips to the computer store I bought a 3 pack of DUST OFF. Dust Off is a can of compressed air to blow dust off a computer. A few weeks later when I went to use one of them they were all used. I talked to my kids and my two sons both said they had used them on their computer and messing around with them. I yelled at them for wasting the 10 dollars I paid for them.

On February 28 I went back to the computer store. They didn’t have the 3 pack which I had bought on sale so I bought a single jumbo can of Dust Off. I went home and set it down beside my computer. On March 1st, I left for work at 10 PM. Just before midnight my wife went down and kissed Kyle goodnight. At 5:30 am the next morning Kathy went downstairs to wake Kyle up for school, before she left for work. He was propped up in bed with his legs crossed and his head leaning over. She called to him a few times to get up. He didn’t move. He would sometimes tease her like this and pretend he fell back asleep. He was never easy to get up. She went in and shook his arm. He fell over. He was pale white and had the straw from the Dust Off can coming out of his mouth. He had the new can of Dust Off in his hands. Kyle was dead.

I am a police officer and I had never heard of this. My wife is a nurse and she had never heard of this. We later found out from the coroner, after the autopsy, that only the propellant from the can of Dust Off was in his system. No other drugs. Kyle had died between midnight and 1 AM. I found out that using Dust Off is being done mostly by kids ages 9 through 15. They even have a name for it. It’s called dusting. A take off from the Dust Off name. It gives them a slight high for about 10 seconds. It makes them dizzy. A boy who lives down the street from us showed Kyle how to do this about a month before. Kyle showed his best friend. Told him it was cool and it couldn’t hurt you. It’s just compressed air. It can’t hurt you. His best friend said no.

Kyle was wrong. It’s not just compressed air. It also contains a propellant called R2. It’s a refrigerant like what is used in your refrigerator. It is a heavy gas, heavier than air. When you inhale it, it fills your lungs and keeps the good air, with oxygen, out that’s why you feel dizzy, buzzed. It decreases the oxygen to your brain, to your heart. Kyle was right. It can’t hurt you. IT KILLS YOU!

The horrible part about this is there is no warning. There is no level that kills you. It’s not cumulative or an overdose; it can just go randomly, terribly wrong. Roll the dice and if your number comes up you die. IT’S NOT AN OVERDOSE. It’s Russian Roulette. You don’t die later. Or not feel good and say I’ve had too much. You usually die as you’re breathing it in, if not you die within 2 seconds of finishing ‘the hit.’ That’s why the straw was still in Kyle’s mouth when he died. Why his eyes were still open.

The experts want to call this huffing. The kids don’t believe its huffing. As adults we tend to lump many things together. But it doesn’t fit here. And that’s why it’s more accepted. There is no chemical reaction, no strong odor. It doesn’t follow the huffing signals. Kyle complained a few days before he died of his tongue hurting. It probably did. The propellant causes frostbite. If I had only known. It’s easy to say hey, it’s my life and I’ll do what I want. But it isn’t. Others are always affected. This has forever changed our family’s life. I have a hole in my heart and soul that can never be fixed. The pain is so immense I can’t describe it. There’s nowhere to run from it. I cry all the time and I don’t ever cry. I do what I’m supposed to do but I don’t really care. My kids are messed up. One won’t talk about it. The other will only sleep in our room at night. And my wife, I can’t even describe how bad she is taking this. I thought we were safe because of Thor. I thought we were safe because we knew about drugs and talked to our kids about them.

After Kyle died another story came out. A probation Officer went to the school system next to ours to speak with a student. While there he found a student using Dust Off in the bathroom. This student told him about another student who also had some in his locker. This is a rather affluent school system. They will tell you they don’t have a drug problem there. They don’t even have a dare or plus program there. So rather than tell everyone about this ‘new’ way of getting high they found, they hid it.

The probation officer told the media after Kyle’s death and they, the school, then admitted to it. I know that if they would have told the media and I had heard, it wouldn’t have been in my house.

We need to get this out of our homes and school computer labs. Using Dust Off isn’t new and some ‘professionals’ do know about. It just isn’t talked about much, except by the kids. They all seem to know about it.

April 2nd was 1 month since Kyle died. April 5th would have been his 15th birthday. And every weekday I catch myself sitting on the living room couch at 2:30 in the afternoon and waiting to see him get off the bus. I know Kyle is in heaven but I can’t help but wonder if I died and went to Hell.

To verify the veracity of this story visit: Snopes

Link to MSNBC’s coverage of the problem on the Today Show: Dusting

Link to the actual manufacturer of Dust Off: Dust-Off

Possible Help for Your Mortgage Woes

If you have a mortgage that was larger then the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maximum loan size of $417,000 then this post is for you.

President Bush signed a law in February that is going into effect right now that allows Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make loans as large as $729,750 in some markets and between $417,000 and $729,750 in others.

What does this mean? This means that these quasi-government lenders can make loans that will be backed by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) making it easier for homeowners in these markets to get a jumbo loan or to refinance if their current mortgage if they’re in between a rock and a hard place.

Here in Northern Virginia the new limit is at the new maximum allowed, $729,750, and there is hope that this will begin to turn the tide in the right direction for the local real estate market. Turning this financial blood bath around is in all of our interest as the amount of money that is evaporating is is enormous and threatens to drill our economy into far worse then a typical recession. Let’s hope it helps.

For more information on the new law you can visit the government site at: Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO)

For details on what the new higher limits are in your area visit: FHA Backed Jumbo Loan Limits By Area.

For keeping track of interest rates, mortgage news, calculating payments in different scenarios I use this great site: BankRate

For two years I worked as an Account Executive for a large mortgage lender so feel free to ask questions via the comments.

California Pinheads Trample on Parent’s Rights in Homeschooling Case

I’m stunned by the news that a CA appeals court has ruled that parents are not allowed to educate their own children unless they are credentialed educators. Over 160,000 children in CA are taught at home and this ruling means that these children must start going to a public school or private school with teachers that have credentials.

The case will be appealed and I’m hopeful less radical judges will rule to give parents rights that are as inalienable as the rights we all have as Americans. When did we Americans lose our right to raise our kids? When did teachers unions get the right to take our children against our will and indoctrinate them?

We parents must draw the line now before the “village” pushes us aside completely. If the arrogant pinheads ever get control of our healthcare system they’ll use that as an excuse to begin controlling what we feed our children, what they wear, how they groom themselves, and more. They’ve already made it their business to pass along their version of sex education. When is enough enough!?

For more details check out the article in the San Francisco Chronicle:
Homeschoolers’ setback sends shock waves through the state

Some relevant links:

Homeschool.com - great info and links for homeschoolers

Homeschool Legal Defense Fund - Hopefully they’ll be their standing up against the facist’s trying to wrestle our parenting rights away.

Typical Homeschooling Mom

National Sex Offender Registry

This site is worth bookmarking if you haven’t already. It allows you to see which of your neighbors are in the sex offender registry. Simply put your address in and you’ll be privy to who in your area has a record you should be aware of. They also offer an alert service where you’ll be notified if someone on the registry moves in nearby.
National Sex Offender Registry

Sex Offender Alert Service

Achmed the Dead Terrorist by Jeff Dunham

My boys just ran down to tell me to watch this video clip, ‘Achmed the Dead Terrorist’, which is a comedy sketch by Jeff Dunham. I wish I wasn’t the 32nd millionth person to watch it, but better late then never. It’s one of the most viewed youtube videos and one that every dad should watch. Then you can decide whether or not to share with your kids.

Laughing Dad at Comedy Barn

If you haven’t seen this video it’s a must watch. If you don’t laugh during this you’re hopeless. Enjoy.

Thank Our Soldiers

A soldier serving in Iraq sent me this link today and asked me to share it with everyone I could. Please forward the link along. Thanks.

Gratitude Campaign

The word is spreading…

The Seattle Seahawks, in stadium at Qwest Field and on www.spiritof12.com
The Pittsburgh Steelers, in-stadium at Heinz Field
The Seattle Storm, in-arena at The Key Arena
The Seattle Supersonics, in-arena at The Key Arena
The Portland Trail Blazers, in-arena at the Rose Quarter
YouTube, www.youtube.com/gratitudecampaign
KOMO 4 News, http://www.komotv.com/home
KING 5 News, www.king5.com

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