Tour of the Waterfalls

On Monday, my mom and I enjoyed our day of visiting different waterfalls in Transylvania County. Transylvania County is know as Land of Waterfalls because of the over 200 waterfalls within the county. Mom and I visited Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest and Hooker and Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest. It was a enjoyable trip and I plan to take Rayna for a swim at Hooker Falls with my friend Seth sometime this summer. I hope you enjoy the pictures of the three waterfalls.

Looking Glass Falls in Pisgah National Forest

Hooker Falls in Dupont State Forest

Triple Falls in Dupont State Forest

Wow, What A Week

This has been sad week in the news. We lost three great talents this week, South Carolina's governor admits to an affair, and the house passes another job killing bill.

This week we lost Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. It is said that famous people die in threes. I grew up watching all three of them on the television. I remember Ed McMahon mostly from Star Search. Watching Farrah Fawcett in reruns of Charlie's Angels was great. Of course, Michael Jackson was my favorite music artist. I enjoyed his music, dancing, and videos my whole life. So this week we lost a lot of talent. They will be greatly missed.

For the sake of South Carolina, I hope Mark Sanford will not resign. What will do him in, is the trip last week to Argentina and the lying to his staff. He was one of the people who called for Bill Clinton to resign for his affairs. I am glad that Bill Clinton did not resign even with the many issues I disagree with him on. Governor Sanford has done a lot of good for the state of South Carolina. He was a possible Presidential candidate for the 2012 race. At this time, it looks like a presidential run is gone for him.

On Friday, the House voted for Cap and Trade. This is another bill that will cost more jobs. This bills will raise taxes on businesses. I ask you where do businesses get their money. They get their money from us by selling goods and services. Now when a business' taxes goes up they have to raise the price of the services and goods they provide. When to prices go up we buy less of those services and goods. If a business does for sell the enough services and goods to make a profit they cut jobs or go out of business. If a business goes out of business the tax with not be pay. Besides the business could use the money that is gives the government to pay the taxes to come up with the technology that would be cleaner for the environment. Guess want that would create jobs and plus the government could collect for taxes with out raising taxes. Raise taxes cost jobs and less jobs means the government collects less tax money.

It is great to take care of the environment but there are many questions about the so called facts the global warmer supporter claim. Nuclear power is the cleanness way to make power but in is government that prevents more nuclear power plant. Wind and solar power would do more damage to the environment that good. They are the least effect ways to producing power. I feel sorry for the poor animals that will loose their home if we go with wind and solar like President Obama wants. It is time, that we stand up and pay attention to what our Representatives in government doing and demand that listen to us.

We will work hard to over gone the challenges we have in life. And even after all this sad news this week we can still rest assure that God is still in control.

Photo Of The Week: Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was and still is my favorite singer. This is a picture of his albums that I have.

Michael Jackson Dead

I am sadden by the news that Michael Jackson. I have been a fan my Michael since I was young. His music makes up the soundtrack of my life. Many other artist were inspirited by him. He has inspirited many others.

I enjoyed his music from the 1980s. I have not care as much for his latest albums. I would have loved to have gone to one of his concerts. Michael will be remembered for his music and his caring heart. Also he will be remembered for the many rumors that surrounded him.

Now, let us remember his family in our prayers. Michael is survived by three children. For many of his fans and I, he will always be the King of Pop.

All Signed Up For Classes

Today was a productive day with my school stuff. I met with my advisor at the college. After looking over my transferred credits and credits from class I already taking at Blue Ridge Community College, we scheduled my classes for the Fall Semester. If I go good in my classes and plan right I maybe able to finish my degree a semester early. All but one class is in the same building at the college. One of my classes is an online class. This will be my first online class. The professor's office for the class is in the same building as two of my other classes.

I also met up with one of counselor for the W.I.A. program at the Joblink Center and scheduled an appointment. I hope to be approved for that program. I am also waiting to hear from the Financial Aid Department about my financial aid package. I hope to get all my tuition and fees covered by the the package. If not a may have to cancel a class or too. As you know, if you have been reading Mountain Highs and Valleys Lows for long that I have committed to become debt free. That commitment means no student loans. Student Loans were the first thing to mess up my credit. I do not want to go through all that junk again.

Now, I just need to find a job. If I get in the W.I.A. program, I will get a job so I can use what I learned in school on the job. Until then I will continue to search for a job. Which I am sure something will come up soon.

Rayna's Trip To Pet Smart

Today, I took Rayna for a ride down to the Pet Smart in Greenville, South Carolina. I have been working with Rayna getting comfortable with been in the car. She got into the car with no problem. She enjoyed the ride. She responded well to other people especially the ones who petted her. While at Pet Smart, I got her some more treats and some flea and tick medicine. I trying Hartz Ultra Guard Pro for Rayna's tick medicine this time around. I will keep a eye on her and see if the medicine works.

After we left Pet Smart, Rayna and I went to a roadside waterfall on South Carolina Highway 11. The water is not deep enough for swimming but I just wanted Rayna to get use to the water. I got Rayna to get into the water up to her shoulders. I plan on taking her up to a swim hole that is just off of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Dog Hair

Today, I manage to gave Rayna a bath. Rayna does not care much for getting a bath. It was been a while since her last one. Something always seems a come up when I have planned to give her a bath. She was well behaved in the bath until a tried to wash under her legs. There are several tics that have made their home under there. Some it looks like its time to go to the pet store and get some stuff for tics.

After her bath, I let her go settle down in the yard. After a while, I went out and got her to come out of her hide place with the lure of a treat. I combed her hair and played with her a little. I got a lot of hair off of her in the process. I bet she will feel a lot cooler in the heat of the afternoon.

She sheds a lot of hair as you can see by the picture. It is often hard to get her to sit still long enough to to do any good. I am thinking of taking her for a ride to the pet store as a treat. May I will get her a road side water fall to get her use to the water for swimming later.

Photo of the Week: Slice of Hendersonville

This years, public art display on Main Street in Hendersonville, North Carolina is Slice of Hendersonville. Slice of Hendersonville features artwork on apple halves. This is the apple in front of Tempo Music.

I Had A Phone Interview Today

I got home today and had a message waiting for me on the answering machine. The hiring manager at a local retail store called about my resume. I called her back as soon as I listened to the message. She had stepped out of the store at the time I called, so I left my name an number. I waited a hour and called again. This time, she was the one who answered the phone. She asked me a few questions. At the end, I thanked her for her time and ask when she would be calling people for interviews. She said that would be in a week to ten days. I am sure that their are people who look better on paper but I know I could do a great job. Now it is time for the follow up stuff. Please pray for me!

This call has given we a lift in spirit. I have had only one other interview and it was a open interview. This was one that they called me and interviewed me on the phone. I can image that their where people who applied for the job that did not get a call. I will continue on looking for a job and getting ready for school.

Speaking about school, I am a little closer to having everything ready to start school in August. This week I got my financial aid forms filled out and turned in. I am not allowable for the Pell Grant. I will check with the college next week about other financial aid that is available for me when I drop off my high school transcripts. I can pick up the transcripts from the School Board Central Office on Monday.

I am excited about going back to college. I know that the degree I plan to get will help me get better jobs. It will also help me run my own business one day.

Visit to Urgent Care

I went to Pardee Urgent Care today. I have had a splinter in my foot for awhile that I could not get out or work out on its own. I put it off for a little since I have no insurance and no job right now.

I got great service. I had to wait for two hours before seeing the physician assistant. He did a great job at taking care of my foot. I believe he got the splinter out although he could not see the splinter itself. My foot just feels tender right now and does not feel like it has something in it.

OK, I would have like to not have had to pay someone to take the splinter out. Waiting two hours was not to big a deal since I had no appointment and they were busy. They even had an old lady who fell come in after me. They did the right things and took her in soon after she got there. She was in worst condition then anyone else there. Yes the health care system needs some reform. What it does not need is more government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. When I get a job and find insurance that I can afford I will get insurance. One reason insurance cost so much is some of the thing the insurance companies are required to cover by the government, even if the customer does want it covered in the policy. Its should be my choice what my insurance policy cover not some hundreds of miles away. And other things that made the cost so much is these people who suing there doctors for stupid stuff.

Again, our health care system needs some things fixed. The problem is not going to be fixed by the people in Washington. All we have to do is look at other countries that have try the things I hear the government planning to do, to know it all only make thing worst. Thank you Uncle Sam for caring but give my the help I need and get out of health care.

I would like to end this post by thanking the staff at Pardee Urgent Care for the great care you give me today. May God bless you and your families.

Photo Of The Week: Just Chilling

My friends and I went to the Greenville Zoo on Monday and this Lemur have just enjoying himself.

Things To Do While Unemployed

Being unemployed can be a stressing time in ones life. You often feel like you lost value in your life. I have used this time in my life to improve myself and look for new things to enjoy doing. I would like to share a couple of these things that I do to keep my positive outlook.

Exercise and Balanced Diet

We have all heard and read about the different studies about the benefits of regular exercise and a balanced diet. These benefits include prevention of disease, improvements in self-esteem and relieving depression, and weight control. One does not need a gym membership to do regular exercise. Their are ways to eat a balance diet with limited funds.

I have a couple routes that I walk around where I live. One is a loop that is 5 miles. I also enjoy going to walk around one of the local lakes in the area. For people who live in a city, I recommend walking in a park or going to the mall. Many malls have walking programs for people who work there.

You can also do sit-ups and push-ups at home. These and other exercise do not require exercise equipment. They are used to tone and build muscles.

To cut your food cost and still eat a balanced diet you have a couple thing you can do. You can buy fruits and vegetables that are in season. You can eat more beans as sources of protein.

Blogging and Websites

If you have not guess I do enjoy blogging. I also enjoy working on websites. You can set both blogs and websites for free at different services on the website. Blog and websites give you a chance to share your thoughts and knowledge with the world.

Volunteer

I volunteer to take photos of grave sites for people as part of the Photo Request program with Find-a-Grave. Volunteering with your church or other Non-profits organizations will not only give you the great feeling of helping people but it could help you getting job. Volunteering gets you experience and many employers like to hire people who volunteer.

Hobbies

One thing you seem to have is time when you are unemployed. Hobbies are a great way to fill the time you have. The hobby I enjoy doing is tracking my money with the use of Where's George. Genealogy is also another hobby you can enjoy. There are many websites and libraries that will help you in your research for free or little money.

Go Places

Take a day off from you job search and just explore different places around where you live. Take a hike at a nearby State or National Park. I enjoy visiting historical places. I go to Carl Sandburg home in Flat Rock, North Carolina ever once in a while. The park has goats at the barn and great hiking paths. I use TripAdvisor to find some great places to go.

Read

I enjoy reading different books and magazines. Take this time in your life to read books on a subject you always wanted to learn more about. You can also start reading a fiction book to help get your mind off of being unemployed. I enjoy reading books by Karen Hancock. She has a new book called The Enclave coming to store soon.

I hope that you will check back as I will continue the different things that I am doing. I hope the things I share give you ideas of things to do.

Keep Going

I spent my morning talking to Jo Anne, washing my clothes, and filling out applications for work and school. Only one of the job applications, I filled out was for a business that had a job listed. One of the other places, I heard through my network that two people got fired for not showing up for job without calling. I also just filled out an application for a store just because I would like to work there.

I will be glad when I get a job. The biggest thing, I try to do while looking for a job is keeping myself positive. I know that I am a great workers. Anyone who does not hire me is the loser bigger then me. I also have a good sense of humour in these hard times in my life. I have a couple shirts with different sayings. Several years ago when I was unemployed I brought a shirt that says, "I'd get a job... but that takes too much work." The shirt reminds me the looking for a job is harder then working a job. Once I get a job I can rest a little bit.

As I said at the begin of this post, I spent my morning talking with Jo Anne. Jo Anne and I do not let a day go by without some form of communication. More importantly we set time aside each day to pray together. My time with my Love is very inportant part of keeping myself positive. Even with her being on the other side of the world, Jo Anne always brightens my day and keeps me going. I long for the day that I can hold her in my arms again. That day will be even closer when I get a job. We do not spend our time only talking about me not having a job. We talk about the great things God is doing in our lives. We are sure that God is using this time to make our relationship stronger.

The lost of my job has diffidently changed my plans on by coming debt free. It has only slow the rate down a little. I have canceled a couple services and cut back on things. Even on unemployment, I am still making progress on getting my debt paid off. I am looking at having my car paid off in October or November. That is three to four month earlier then if I just paid the regular payment. Of course, once I get a job I will be able to save more money for the different expenses involved with getting Jo Anne here and getting married. After, I get the car paid off I will only have my student loan will be my only debt. The student loan will be quickly taking care of once, Jo Anne and I get settle down. I am glad that I have been working on getting out of debt because it has given me less things to worried about as I am looking for a job. I am able to focus on getting a job I want instead of just getting a job to pay my debt. I also about to use the money to do different things to get my mind off of not having a job. In a later post, I will share somethings that you can do to make dealing with being unemployed easier. I also would love to hear your ideas as well.

While being jobless you need to keep positive and believe in yourself. Things will get better. Focus on the good things that are going on in your life.

Getting Ready For School

Today, I went over to Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) to check on my registration for the fall semester. I was excepting to get a letter in the mail last week, since I do not get it I decided to check on it today. The lady in the Admission office say they had a back log of people registering for school. She told me the things that I needed to finish my registration. I also signed up to take a test to see if I could void taking some math classes. I picked up the form for Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). I will fill it out and see what student aid I can get. I also need to finish filling out the form for Workforce Investment Act (WIA).

I have signed up for the Business Administration Marketing and Retailing program at BRCC. With this degree I plan to used to start my own business one day. With the WIA program, I with working with a local business while taking my class. This will give we some on the job experience. In the end, I will get an Associate of Applied Science Degree. I hope it will also lead to better jobs for me until I can get things start with my own business.

Lunch At The Beacon Drive-In

My friend, Joey can up from Florida to visit. Today, he spend the day with Jonathan and me. We drove down to Spartanburg, South Carolina and ate lunch at the Beacon Drive-in. The Beacon was opened in 1946 by John B. White, Sr. Since then the Beacon has become a part of American history. It is one of the places your just eat at before you die. A guy at the end of the counter will take your order and yell it down the line. You then walk down the line and get your order. This is know as "Talk" and "Walk". The Beacon is known for it's chili-cheese burger a-plenty. The a-plenty is and big pile of onion rings and french fries. They sell more Iced Tea then any other place in the United States. They make over 62,500 gallons per year.

I had the double chili-cheese burger a-plenty. It was so good. They have the best onion rings I have ever had. They give you so much onion rings and french fries I only eat half of them. If you would like more information about the Beacon Drive-In check out their website.

Photo Of The Week: Common Snapping Turtle

Friday afternoon, on my way into town I saw this turtle along side the road. This is a Common Snapping Turtle. They live in the United States, from the East of the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean and Southern Canada. They are mostly aquatic animals and live in lake streams and canals. They will snap to defend themselves and have been know to remove figures and toes.

Before The Throne Of God Above

Last Sunday, we sung the hymn, Before the Throne of God Above, at church. The words of the hymn were written by Charitie Lees Bancroft in 1863. I enjoy the words of the hymn.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

This hymn reminds me that Jesus is my high priest that pleas my case before the Father. Because he died on the cross for my sins I am pardon from my sins. Even Satan can not override the forgiveness Jesus gave me.

I spotless in front of God for I have been purchased with Christ's blood. Freed from my sin and living with my Savior and my God.

Frustrations With Looking Up A Job

I have been getting very frustrated lately looking for a job. There are many things that frustrate me in my job search. I still am keeping my hope up that I will find a job here soon. Hopefully not working for one of the companies that do the things that frustrate me.

First there are job that have been listed for over a month. Have these job not been filled or have they? Take the listing if the job has be fill. If you can not find someone to fill the job in a month, then you have set your requirements to high. No one is perfect. If you have hired someone for the job and just not taking the job listing down, it leaves me to wonder what other problems you are having with your business. Do I want to work for a incompetent business?

Then there are the places I go and I see that they have hired someone who can not do the job or at least do not care to take care of the customers. I understand people need time to learn the job. I am not talking about those people. With the number of people out there looking for work I am sure you can someone who can serve your customers the right way. I should not be surprised by this at all. I have seen many times where someone got fired for making a business money and taking care of the customers. I thought people started to make money but it looks like some businesses are only there to provide a job for people. These businesses make me ask if I really want to give you my business.

Then there is the companies that will not even give someone a change because they do not look go on paper. Sometimes people job for stupid reasons. One's future success can not be ruled out because they failed in their passed. People learn from their mistakes.

Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward... ~ Thomas Edison source: Thomas Edison.com

Some of the best workers I have seen our people who have gotten in trouble with the law in their pass. I fully believe in given people a second chance. Sometimes one just needs a break to start a path on to greatness. Ask a people what goals they have and how they see their future. Giving someone a chance to show they have learned from their mistakes may give you a brighter future.

Then there are the places the tell you the reason they are not hiring you is not the reason they are not hiring you. Why bring that reason up if it is not the reason? And want is the real reason you are not giving me the job especailly when I will do a better job then the person you hired.

I know that I just vented with this post. It is good to just vent sometimes. I wish everyone good luck who are looking for a job. Those who are hiring people do not rule someone out because they may look bad on paper. They may be our best chioce for the job.

Remembering Tiananmen Sguare

Twenty year ago the Chinese government violently ended a student protest in Tiananmen Square. I found this video that I like the share with you. We must not forget history because history will repeat and you may be next.