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A Lifetime of Learning

Blogging from the University of Maryland

New Releases on Blu-ray and DVD

One of the best movies of the year is on DVD and Blu-ray. The movie is the smash comedy hit Tropic Thunder. The DVD’s packed with extras and the movie looks even better on Blu-ray. The movie is a spoof about big budget Hollywood blockbuster movies. It is supposed to be starring three of the biggest names in Hollywood. Ben Stiller, who also directs is the typical action movie star that is getting tired of sequels based on his first hit movie. He wants the opportunity to resurrect his career with a more serious action movie. Robert Downey Jr. plays the overly ambitious method actor who literally has to become his character in order to play the character. Jack Black is the drug addicted comedic relief. He is tired of playing multiple characters in dumb comedies. They all come together in the jungles of Southeast Asia to shoot the most expensive war movie ever filmed. They are already over budget two or three days into the filming.

The director wants to get real emotion, real reactions from the actors and cooks up a scheme to make them think they are really in combat. It all goes downhill from there and without spoiling anymore; I will let you discover the rest. The DVD’s extra features are full with behind the scenes goodies and out takes and deleted scenes. The DVDs and Blu-ray include a fake documentary on the making of the film in an ode to Apocalypse Now. It is probably the funniest thing on the disc, even rivaling the movie in how good it is. This is a very funny movie that doesn’t hold back on poking fun at itself, actors and the genre. If there is one thing that I would saw negative about Tropic Thunder is that you don’t really connect with any of the characters. They are all such caricatures of themselves, that they never quite seem real. The other thing about this movie is that all three stars are pretty popular with young kids right now. With Jack Blacks animated movies and Iron Man last summer and Night at the Museum for Ben Stiller, kids will probably want to see this movie because of the stars. It is most definitely not a kid movie. It earned its R rating very easily and deserved it. As a whole, this movie is very funny and very entertaining. It isn’t afraid to go for it and make fun of everything that it is trying to portray.

Posted on Friday, May 01, 2009 12:00 PM by Carol Ann

Juggling work and school

Going to school and working a full time job can be very strenuous. It takes it's toll after a while and can really wear you down. I always thought that when I was done with school and in the workforce full time, that it would be easier. Come tofind out the real world is not the most fun place to be. It is also hard to find an employer that will actually help work around a shifting class schedule and a not fixed schedule over the course of a year. It always seems like you have to fight to explain what is going on and hope that you can get a little understnding without being fired. I understand that most of the jobs that are available to students are entry position, bottom of the totem pole type things and that employers don't really care about the future of most of their employees. it is a matter of what is best for the company or retaurant or wherever. I will also admit that most students that are working are not the most reliable of employees. That is true early on, but as the students start to work in the fields that they are studying for, internships and the like, they start to focus on the future and possibly staying with the company they are interning for. There has to be a balance between the two and sometimes it is hard to find that balance. It gets even harder for the people that have families and kids. I think that most kids out of high school are not necessarily ready to go right to college. I tend to think that the people that take some time to get out in the real world first and then go back to school, whether it is after being in the military for a couple of years or working for the family business or in the workforce at large, have a greater appreciation for school and what it can help you accomplish. These people have an advantage of knowing just how hard the real world is and then being able to prepare for what they know is coming.

Posted on Thursday, April 23, 2009 6:14 PM by Carol Ann

Student Health Insurance

Students struggle to keep health insurance

On college campuses, there are lots of different reasons to stress out. The freshman fifteen, the homesickness, the exams, girls, papers, and everything in between are all acceptable reasons for students to freak out a little bit. These days, they have something new to worry about, and it might surprise you. Most kids will never think about their health insurance coverage before the age of twenty, but many are being forced to because of the restrictions on how they are treated. These days, the reality of falling off of their parents' medical insurance plan is very apparent and it is impacting more than just those kids who decide to stop pursuing their college education altogether.

The problem for many of today's college students is that they are being put in the middle and they are being asked to make difficult choices regarding their finances and their future. The changing nature of today's college world dictates that most people don't even think about graduating in four years. That is a thing of the past and the new college student is being asked to tackle a whole lot more. In addition to the typical course load, many of today's students are being asked to work, perform college-required internships, and travel abroad to gain experience in their major area. Because of these things, many kids just need a break every now and then.

A break isn't possible for most of them, though. Student health insurance regulations make it so that if a kid takes one semester off of college to clear his or her head, they are no longer allowed to stay on their parents' health insurance bill. For many kids and the involved parents, this can be a devastating consequence to something that is very minor. The costs associated with getting a new insurance policy can be burdensome and in many cases, students will just go long without the coverage. As one might suspect, this can create some interesting and difficult challenges for students, parents, and even the schools, which get a black eye because of the entire ordeal.

The student health insurance regulations are in place to make sure that kids don't hang around on their parents' plan long after they leave the house. As long as they are in college, they are able to count on the bill of their folks. But the implication here is that when a student drops below 12 hours (full time requirement at most universities), he no longer has medical insurance. Even if a kid drops a course and falls down to part-time status for as little as a few weeks, he is now out on his own as far as the medical insurance companies are concerned. As you might guess, this is causing a whole new level of stress for students that are already up against enough of it.

Because of the sheer need of the thing, student health insurance options are becoming more readily available. Special plans have now come on the market for kids who have to take a year or so off before going to graduate school, as that temporary hiatus takes them off of their parents' policy for good. The problem continues to get worse and not better, as more and more kids head towards a degree in what many would consider a non-traditional path.

Posted on Thursday, March 26, 2009 9:19 PM by Carol Ann

Promotional Item Give Aways

Advertising for your business can get a bit costly so when you are just starting out a business you have to make sure that you find good ways to advertise cheaply. One great way to advertise for a new business is through promotional products. Promotional products are the things that companies give away hoping that you will use them a lot and carry them around with you wherever you go. Promotional items like key chains, bumper stickers and coffee mugs, make great advertising items for your new company. Think about it. People put your bumper sticker (promotional item) on their car and drive all around town advertising for you. People see it wherever they go and they wonder what that?s about. If you can really do it up well with a catchy slogan so that people know what your business is about and do some really bright colors to catch people attention that is even better. Bright colored unique promotional items are the best ones.

Logo items like key chains and coffee mugs also get there exposure around town as well. They get taken into different businesses and get seen by all kinds of people and if it is a nice enough item, some people will say to your client, where did you get that mug or key chain. Then they will begin talking about you and your business. Logo items are a great way to get your customers and clients to talk up your business and a great conversation piece.

Promotional items like pens work very well also because pens tend to travel from one person to the next. People are always leaving a pen here or taking a pen from there. All the time different people are being exposed to your business name as well as your phone number, if you are putting it on there which you should. After all, what is the point of putting out promotional products without any identifying information at all that would be a total waste of time.

When you are starting your own business there are other ways of promoting your business in addition to using promotional products and logo products. There is also passing out business cards and hanging them in other businesses, but if you think about it, if someone hands you a business card, you probably lose it. If they hand you a promotional product like a pen or something then you are more likely to hang onto it and a few weeks from now when you want to remember that business, all you have to do is dig for that logo item and you will more than likely find it, and that is why businesses use promotional products and logo items to advertise for their business.

So when starting up a new business be sure to get yourself some promotional items and unique logo items to advertise for your business, they are worth their weight in gold.

Posted on Thursday, December 04, 2008 9:36 AM by Carol Ann

What You Can See, You Can Be

I remember reading this book to my children when they were younger. It is a philosophy that I have always believed which is the mind over matter, the principle that if you believe in something strongly enough, it will find a way to become your reality.

Sometimes, we become so wrapped in the hum drum of life, that we just can’t see beyond “reality” and envision anything that is less than tangible. Lately, as I have told you I have been wishing that I could afford to go on vacation, and now I have decided that I need to set this as a goal and find a way to achieve it.

I have now gone and planned out the whole vacation, everything from the Florida vacation rental to the cheapest airfare. I have laid out every detail of the vacation including the dates that we are going to go and the amount that it is going to cost. I am all ready to pack my bags. I am completely focused on making this Disney vacation happen. I really want to get it in before the kids get too old, although really I don’t personally think that you ever get to old to go to Disney World. I have been there only twice in my own life, once as a kid and once as an adult, but I really would like to go back and take my kids and share this experience with them. I really think that the whole place is something that should be experienced in a lifetime, and I really can’t imagine living your whole life and never getting to see it, that would be really sad.

I know that my husband would not be on board if he knew that I was planning this vacation, but I am not telling him for now. I know if I do then he will just invest some negative energy into it, telling me that we can’t afford it and it is not realistic.

I am not a good realist. I believe in things that go beyond human comprehension, and the truth is when I hear my husband talk like this, it seems to me that he sounds a little too much like my mother, always taking the negative stance on stuff. I think that they both really want to believe in things, but the realistic part gets the better of them. I am really glad, personally, that I believe in things bigger than myself and the real world, it gives me hope in an extremely uncertain world.

Posted on Monday, November 10, 2008 3:14 PM by Carol Ann

ON THE FINANCIAL FRONT

I have been thinking a lot about finances lately and quite honestly I am starting to wonder if going through school right now is really such a good move. I mean let’s think about it, I don’t need more debt, and I have to worry about my daughter and her education and will she be able to get the loans that she needs to get her education. With everything in flux, I am really glad that I don’t use my credit cards anymore. After all, I have been doing some serious online research of late, and truthfully all the experts say that although the government hasn’t said it yet, we are as a country already in a recession. One financial advisor basically said that credit is going to become a thing of the past and that bad credit or good credit it isn’t going to matter because from now on people are going to only be able to get things the old fashioned way, and that is by tucking away and saving part of their income towards what they want. I think this might just be a good thing, because let’s face it if we have to do that then the price of things will most definitely have to go down. Would they ever sell another house at the prices they sell them for, if people have to pay cash up front? Would they just go and put $30,000 on the table and buy a car? I don’t think that most people will, so if these big companies really want to make the sales without credit, then they are going to have to find a way in cutting costs in order to cut the price of things. Overall perhaps it will bring some things back down to where they reasonably should be. Let’s face it these people have been taking advantage for too long, and so have we, running up bills on our visa, American Express, and MasterCard, that we can’t afford and can’t pay back. We have all been bending credit for a long time, and I think it will be refreshing to return to a society that can’t live above its means anymore.

I just think it is time for all of us to accept the boat that we have been riding in is sinking and it is time to find a new mode of transportation. We can’t just sit there taking on water and pretend that we are all going to be fine. We need to take action and stop pretending that there really isn’t a problem. It has become the elephant in the living room, and we are all pretending like feeding it peanuts is going to make it disappear.

Posted on Friday, October 03, 2008 2:10 PM by Carol Ann

Peer Pressure --- At 10?

Well, as with all kids, they are each there own individual, and so is true with my 4 kids. My oldest, my daughter, and my middle son are both a little bit broader heavier build then their two other brothers, my oldest and youngest boys who are both rails and eat like horses. Genetics can be a really odd thing sometimes. Anyway, my son who is a bit stockier and is 10 has just entered the 4th grade this year, and seems to be struggling a lot. By far probably my most intelligent child, he is also my most sensitive and for the past 2 years has been in a class with a lot of nice kids and the class stayed nearly the same for both years. Well, this year they scrambled the kids up and he is without any of his old “standby” group. I can tell that he really isn’t enjoying it very much so far, and actually he came home on the first day of school and said that he hated it. Day one, someone insulted the wrestling shirt that he wore to school, which for the record he picked out an loved, so now he won’t ever wear that shirt to school again or the other 2 with the tags on them in the drawer. Then it was he doesn’t want to pack lunch, he wants to buy like everyone else, but this child is the pickiest eater I have ever met, so I am not sure how he plans to do this without starving. I am trying to encourage him to do it though, because I figure the peer pressure might get him to try something new. Now the latest thing is that he wants to lose weight. I think it is absolutely wonderful for him to exercise and eat healthy, but I am a little bit concerned about this new obsession of his. I don’t want him to get an eating disorder or something. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that I don’t think that he can stand to lose a few pounds, but he is playing soccer 4 days a week, and then he does other activities around here including playing soccer with his brothers and running on the treadmill. Well, I just worry if he wants to put too much pressure on weight loss and dieting. I think there is nothing wrong with exercise, good nutrition and getting healthy, but I just wish he would stop worrying about what everyone else thinks and just start focusing on what he wants. That is the most important thing of all.

Posted on Thursday, September 18, 2008 11:10 AM by Carol Ann

The College Reality Smacking Me In The Face

Well, I knew it was coming but this week I had to go to the college open house at the local high school and get hit right in the face with the reality of the whole thing. Now next month she will start taking an SAT prep course and will be taking her PSAT, before long it will be the SAT’s the college applications, scholarship applications and so forth. I really hope that she is at least able to get a partial scholarship for college because she is really a great student and I really dread taking out too many loans to put her through school. Don’t get me wrong, I will do whatever it takes, but still I know that college can be rather costly and with the way this child spends money, I assure you that the college that she decides she wants to go to will not be cheap. If anything, if there is a ranking of schools, just based on cost in the US she would definitely pick right off the top of the list. Now she originally was talking about going away to school, but somewhere in the same state, but lately now she is talking about just up and going to school in California and her answer to me is that she has always wanted to see it. I told her she should probably go and see the state first before she just decides to up and move there without so much as knowing anyone. She agreed, but I am not really sure what she will do. I am however pretty sure that once she hits college age she is out, that is just who she is and what she wants right now, and I am not really sure that I am ready to make the transition from parent looking over shoulder to parent of adult child, so I think I may have to do some real soul searching to make it through this one. I don’t think it matters too much what she decides to do, I am sure that whatever it is she will succeed. I secretly am hoping that she at least stays within a few hours so I can see her more often, but I wouldn’t dare discourage her from living her life, ultimately it is her life to live and her choices to make. I can just always be here for guidance and support, which is what a mom is for.

Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 11:11 AM by Carol Ann

Soon To Be Two In College

I guess time is really taking its toll on me. I am still working on getting my degree and I am realizing that it will soon be time for my daughter to choose a college. I feel a little behind the times in some aspects, however, I have and have had a full range of experiences in this lifetime, for which I am very grateful. I just wish that her going on to college didn’t mean her leaving home. I know that she will want to go and as her mother I should definitely and will definitely encourage it, but she is my only daughter and although the nest will not be empty when she leaves, I will miss her desperately.

She is a very strong academic student and she is taking an SAT test prep glass and contacting the admissions departments at some of the colleges throughout the state. I know that she is interested in a school that will offer her the opportunity to some schooling online, however she wants to go to a campus so she won’t be considering a completely online university. Although she is very much a good student, she is used to being in classes and going to school. I am afraid that if she were just working on an online degree that she would get really lazy and not finish her work. She is the type who needs a teacher standing over her every now and again to see what she is doing.

With me being in school, we will need to find her some money to go away to school and we have been looking into some academic scholarship programs that may afford her some free money to use toward her schooling. I know if she does some good test preparation that she can score really high on her SAT’s and that will really get her lined up for some good scholarships. She already has made plans to go away to school with her best friend, who is a year ahead of her in school, so I am not really sure that will work out, but that is what she is talking about, and I think it is healthy for her to make plans and talk of leaving the nest.

I know she will do well, and I can’t wait for her to have the opportunity to go away and spread her wings, but I just don’t know how I will survive in the house of testosterone…alone. (LOL)

Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 9:06 PM by Carol Ann

The Vacationless Summer

I can't believe summer is already coming to a close. Last year we went on two vacations over the summer break, but this year we haven't been able to go on a vacation at all. I am struggling just to get the kids back to school and am feeling really kind of sad that we haven't gotten to go on a family vacation. We love to stay at hotels and even motels and in the past I have been able to find a weekly vacation rental that did not cost a fortune. Unfortunately, with a large family, normal hotel accommodations don't always cut it. We sometimes have to get two separate rooms, just to accommodate the family and that leaves my husband and I sleeping separate, as leaving the kids to have their own room is not really an option at their ages. Although, I think the older ones would love it, they are not quite to that place yet.

I am really hoping that I can afford a beachfront rental in the coming month or so where the weather will still allow for an enjoyable beach vacation, but the prices will be down because it is off season. My soon to be 13 year old has informed me that he would really like for our family to take a ski vacation over this coming winter. He really wants to try and ski, but I am not sure how much staying at a ski lodge will cost. I will look into it for him, but I don't know if it will be possible to take 2 vacations this year, since I have been really struggling just to put one short vacation together.

Times are really tough and for a large family like ours we are really feeling the pinch. My husband finally has a better job again, but I have learned a lot over the past year and I now know that saving is way more important than getting in that extra vacation. We have had a really tough year, but in that time I have learned a lot more about the importance of saving money and trying to get ahead and stay ahead. With an unstable economy and rising food costs, it has become more important than ever to create a cushion for ourselves, even if that means tightening the belt more than it needs to be tightened. This is a lesson that I think our whole society is getting the hard way.

Posted on Monday, August 18, 2008 9:06 AM by Carol Ann