Britney Spears to age

I admit it, I own this perfume.
It smells nice.

The headline of a featured story from the AP reads, "Britney Spears looking forward to 30." The article discusses how Spears does not mind getting older and states:

"I hear the older you get, the wiser you get and the more you know what you want — so hopefully it'll be a good year."

I turned 30 once. I should have told the AP. 


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Is that a valid credit card number?

Credit card numbers are not assigned at random. Who new? By looking at a credit card number and doing some simple math (addition and multiplication), you can verify if a credit card number is real or not. So, business owners, before you accept a random credit card number as payment and find out you were bamboozled, ask the customer to wait a minute and give this a whirl.



Budget Planner Software - Mint.com

When I did this for myself, I thought the highlighted step (see image below) was kind of confusing. I made some arrows to show you how they added the non-doubled numbers to the doubled ones for clarification.

Follow the arrows

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The easiest way to save a life

It's easy!

If you could help save a life by simply giving an hour of your time, would you?

I learned about the importance of platelet donation after my sister was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in October 2010. With the help of God, the support of family and friend, a great team of doctors and nurses and the donors who gave their blood and platelets, my sister is thriving. After noticing the UNC Health Care Blood Donation Center after my sister received a platelet transfusion for the third time in a row, I decided to learn more about the process and made an appointment to donate some of my own platelets. The staff was very friendly, helpful and professional. They made the donation process a pleasure and something I look forward to doing again.

My Donation Experience

My arm: one poke, three tubes

After checking into the donation center, I filled out a health questionnaire in a private room. The questionnaire asked about past illnesses, vaccines, medicines I take and other health-related issues. After completing the questionnaire, a nurse took my blood pressure and temperature. He also made sure I was not anemic by picking the tip of my middle finger and testing the blood; the test took three seconds.

After speaking with the nurse, I picked out a movie, a snack and a couple of beverages. I sat in a comfortable lounge chair and put my right arm over a warm heating pad. A different nurse had me squeeze a warm stress ball full of gel and tied a tourniquet around my right bicep. She then said, “Squeeze the ball twice, and hold,” so I did. She then cleaned my skin and told me to breathe in as she stuck a needle in my arm. The needle didn’t hurt; I thought the nurse was scratching me with a cleansing pad when she stuck me.

Separating my platelets

Once the needle was in, the nurse held it in place with a bandage before she covered me with blankets because it was important for me to stay warm during the process. The machine next to me then began to whir and my blood began running through the plastic tubes in it. After a while, I could see my platelets fill the bag hanging next to me. During the 57 minutes it took to give my platelets, I watched a movie, ate my snacks, drank my beverages and texted on my cell phone. The nurse then removed the needle from my arm and wrapped it with a compression bandage. After I finished my juice, I was good to go on with my day.

Facts about Platelet Donations:

How it works

• In 2009 UNC Health Care used an average of 350 platelets per month. However, the UNC Health Care's Blood Donation Center collects only 210 platelets a month.This deficit of platelets is seen in hospitals throughout the U.S.
• It takes six to eight bags of donated blood to fill one bag of platelets. However, you can donate just platelets.
• When you donate just platelets, you are only poked with one needle and the blood taken from you is returned with the same needle.
• A lack of platelets in a cancer patient can cause bruising, hemorrhaging of the eyes, the inability for wounds to heal and blood blisters in the mouth.
• It only takes an hour to donate platelets.
• You can donate platelets every two weeks.
• Blood type does not matter when it comes to donations.
• Check with your local donation center to see if you are eligible to donate platelets. 

My platelets

The platelet donation experience was awesome and worth it. When I work, my time as a professional is worth a certain amount of money. A life, however, has no price and takes something as simple as an hour and a platelet donation to save.

Save a life today.




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ID theft dates back to the 1930s

Mrs. Scrader Whitcher comparing  her
real card to the fake printed in wallets.

ID theft is a big problem with which I hope to never have to deal.

One of the earliest recorded misuses of Social Security numbers dates back to 1938, when Hilda Schrader Whitcher's brilliant boss, Vice President and Treasurer of the E. H. Ferree company Douglas Patterson, a wallet manufacturing company , decided to show prospective buyers that a Social Security card fit perfectly in the wallet. I guess people carried their SSN cards around back in the day.

Consequently, others thought it would be a genius idea to use the "specimen" Social Security number as their own. Its usage peaked in the mid-1940s. This ID theft became such a problem that the FBI visited Mrs. Schrader Whitcher to investigate why so many people were using her SSN. The ID theft victim later explained in an interview, " "They started using the number. They thought it was their own. I can't understand how people can be so stupid. I can't understand that." Needless to say, Mrs. Schrader Whitcher was issued a new Social Security number.

The "specimen" card

The crazy thing is that this is not the first time an incident like this has happened. Read more about this story from the Social Security Administration.

[photos: Social Security Administration]

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Pull out your red and blue 3-D glasses

While advances in 3-D technology are far superior compared to 10 years ago, you can never get rid of your red and blue 3-D glasses. I admit I have a pair in almost every room of my home. The glasses came in handy when I stumbled on Swell 3D, a site that features 3-D pictures.

Here are some of my favorites (you will need a pair of red and blue 3-D glasses to view these correctly):

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25% of men travel with a stuffed animal

Personally, I don't see a problem with this. There are a lot worse things men (or women) can take with them in their luggage. An ABC News report stated that a British hotel chain that has hotels all over the world reunited 75,000 with their owners within the span of a year.

ABC News reports:
"Travelodge surveyed 6,000 Britons and discovered that 35 percent of adults admitted they sleep with their teddy because they found cuddling their bear comforting. Additionally, many said the calming feeling of a bear hug helped them lower their stress level after a hard day.

"...Travelodge said that 25 percent of men reported they take their teddy bear away with them when going away on business. The stuffed animal supposedly reminds them of home and -- some say -- helps fill a cuddle-void left by distant partners."


Stuffed animals make great pillows, especially when most normal pillows are torture on my neck. Three cheers for teddy bear travelers!


[photo: Lin Pernille Photography]


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Wizard with a press pass

I came across the funniest review while doing some research on the Universal Life Church. The review is from a person who purchased a press pass from the organization:

"I purchased this Press card with the intent on becoming a wizard or a mystic warrior. My life has changed since I can now do magic. I do not know what to say other than god is great. People look at me differently now. I am the wizard of life and god is my creator. I am the wizard of life and god is my creator."

After laughing out loud, which I don't often do when I'm in a room by myself, I grew curious. What in the world is a wizard (or a mystic warrior) going to do with a press pass? How does magic enhance a press pass? Is is like Doctor Who's psychic paper now?  So many questions...

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