MEMORIES MEMORIES!!!!

Yesterday I received in the mail a catalog from HobbyTown USA which is a hobby shop in my town. As I flipped through the pages I saw all the neat things they have for the kids and adults today that were not available when I was a kid back in the 40's and 50's or if they did I couldn't afford them. I am referring to remote controlled helicopters, three dimensional puzzles, wooden train sets, race car sets that run on winding tracks and remote controlled cars. When I got near the end of the book I turned the page and there they were, something that I could relate too. The monsters of the rails and I'm talking about the trains. O gauge and HO gauge, passenger and freight trains, freight cars and passenger cars with lighted domes. This brought back memories because I had a Lionel freight train with an engine that blew smoke, a cattle car where the cattle moved out of the car onto a platform and back into the car again, and many more unique working cars. I had gates that went up and down when the train approached, a man that came out of a building to wave a lantern, switches and many more things that go along with a very nice train setup. As it turned out, my father gave it all away to a guy so he would build a bathroom in the basement of our house. This was done when I was in the Army. Can you imagine what the set would be worth today? In today's market a Lionel train is not by no means cheap. In this catalog the Santa Fe El Capitan passenger train with engine and three cars plus track is $369.99. What a Christmas present that would make for a kid.
Looking at books like this sure brings back memories, memories.

BE AWARE OF WHAT IS AROUND YOU.

With the retailers pushing the Christmas shopping season this is the time of awakening of the undesirable people who will crawl out of the sewers, walls and wherever else they hide. Keep an eye on your belongings such as purses, KIDS and purchased items. Don't lay purses or purchased items on counters or floors because with the number of people in the stores and restaurants it will be gone in a minute. When looking for a parking space, get as close to the door as possible and if you can, go during daylight. Be aware of who, if anybody, is following you. Don't go to the washroom alone if possible and if you do, be aware of who is in there with you. Also beware of pick-pockets. Men, if you can wear jackets to cover the back pockets of your pants. One thing that I do is carry my wallet my jacket pocket where I can feel it.
Have a safe shopping season.

ZOO - YOUR ANIMALS

I like zoo's. Every year we manage to get to one of the two zoo's that are located in the Chicagoland area. One is Brookfield Zoo and the other is Lincoln Park Zoo. Lincoln Park is free and Brookfield is a pay zoo. The Lincoln Park Zoo is more convienent because all the buildings and animals are close together whereas Brookfield requires a lot of walking. One thing that I enjoy about Brookfield is their Dolphin show. When watching it there is a lot of excitement involved and it is almost a circus atmosphere. As far a having a favorite animal I would have to say it is the monkey's. I could watch them for hours on their monkey island.
I can say that when I visited my daughter in Florida I really enjoyed the St. Petersburg Zoo with the beautiful flowers and the open concept that surronded the animals. No bars, or fences, just original or manmade landscapes.
When in Texas I went to the San Antonio Zoo, although it was 110 degrees I still enjoyed it for it's openess and beauty and good shows. I don't know if you can concider Sea World a zoo but that place, again in San Antonio, blew me away with it's show's.
If every in the Chicagoland area I would suggest that you visit one or both of the fine zoos that we have here.

HALLOWEEN TRADITION A GOOD THING

Halloween is a happy time for kids and the school that my granddaughter goes to, Protsman, thinks the same thing. What happens before Halloween is of course the parties at school but this is carried on step further. There is a parade at the school for the parents to see. The whole school exits one door and walks around the school for everyone to see their costumes. All parents, grandparents and friends and whoever else wants to see, are lined up as the children go by and every guest is calling their child's name to "look this way", "smile" and whatever else is needed to make a good picture. The whole thing lasts about 2o minutes but it is a tradition at school that is liked by all and will continue on for years.

PAROLED OFFENDERS MUST GO TO HALLOWEEN MEETINGS

Trick or Treating should be a happy time for our kids and parents not having to worry about sex offenders who live in the neighborhood. Maybe you know who they are, maybe not. Well the State of Indiana has taken a step forward to keep these people away from your children at least during the trick or treating hours. It is called Operation Safe Halloween where it is mandatory for most paroled sex offenders MUST attend the Halloween meeting. If they don't they could have their parole revoked. This has been going in Indianapolis since 2004 but this year it has been expanded throughout the whole state. Good idea but that doesn't mean that some creeps are still out there who have not been caught and are not on parole. Keep our kids safe. GO WITH THEM AND CHECK WHAT IS IN THEIR TRICK OR TREAT BAG. To all of the little one's, have a good time and be safe.

GRADUATE JOBS AND CAREER INFORMATION

If you are a graduate or are going to graduate and are undecided about what you want to do or where you want to go I suggest that you look into the following website and you will get hundreds of ideas, that site being http://www.eurograduate.com/. Here you can view a careers database, education database and get information about working abroad. All the information is at your fingertips. If you are interested in the careers database click on the title and an array of subjects will come up. You can search any combination of industry, type of occupation, degree /diploma qualification or country of employment. If you are really interested, click on Recruiter login and do what is says. Log in.
This is the site where you can find graduate jobs and careers information Want to further your education or find work abroad, this is the site to visit. They can help you with all of your needs and give you all the information you will require. I can tell you one thing, if I were not retired a graduate looking for a job career this is where I would look. It's all here and there are people to help you. Do yourself a favor and log into http://www.eurograduate.com/ to get your career job underway.

PRIMETIME TV - FALL 2008

TV TV TV. I think that for many American families this is a very large past time that people can't break away from and I think that the tv networks and advertisers know this. There is big money involved in this and they are counting on you to listen about and buy their products. That is why the networks keep pushing the upcoming fall programs. I hate when I am watching a program and really get into it then I am distracted by some advertising of a program coming on next week or next month. Why then do they have tv guides in the Sunday papers or on your cable network. I already know what programs I am going to watch. My favorite being CSI. I am fascinated at how crimes are solved and I find the acting to be very good. I do watch other programs but not like I do CSI. Seeing that I do not have one of those fancy recording pieces on my cable I can't record other programs while watching one, so I am stuck watching only one at a time.