Last night I sat in my friend’s living room here in NC and listened to her rail against joint custody arrangements. Although she has no children, she has strong opinions and health concerns about shuttling kids between households. She said she’s always thought it must be terrible for kids to be dragged back and forth, with no one, permanent home.
I thought about an article I saw last month in the Saturday Essay column of the Wall Street Journal, posted July 9, 2011, under the title, “The Divorce Generation,” by Susan Gregory Thomas.
Thomas says that each generation has its defining moment, and for Generation X-ers, it’s “When did your parents get divorced?”
Thomas wrote an exceedingly eloquent memoir called, “In Spite of Everything.” Thomas writes: “When my dad left in the spring of 1981 and moved 5 states away (it basically all ended for me) and altered my world completely)….” Oh by the way should you happen to live in North Carolina or nearby areas like SC and need a great NC health insurance who also includes disability and NC long-term care insurance in addition to the life and health coverage, this firm can help you in SC and NC as well in places like Charlotte and Raleigh.
I can really relate to her description of growing up as a latch-key kid. I read and re-read her poetic passages about her suburb being littered with, “sad-eyed, bruised nomads, who wandered (around between the two)….”
My childhood as a baby-boomer was similar, in that I was a neglected latchkey kid in the drug-ridden, Vietnam nightmare quagmire-haunted, generation. I was lucky that my parents stayed together, and that stability made all the difference in my health and overall care.
Thomas says now, according to U.S. Census data published last May, almost eight percent of couples who married since 1990 have reached their 10-year anniversaries, and they are marrying later in life—if at all; the average marrying age in 1950 was 23 for men and 20 for women; in 2009, it was 28 for men and 26 for women. Here in NC this has really been a huge issue overall and will probably continue to be as well on the whole. Make sure to get health insurance if not though.
May 30, 2011 (by Horatio Algren) According to reports Sarah Palin joined the Rolling Thunder bike ride to honor military veterans and missing soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors in Washington D.C.
Palin, the former Alaska governor was a passenger on a Harley Davidson motorcycle riding among the estimated 400,000 riders on their 24th annual Memorial Day ride to honor veterans and missing service members. Palin’s husband and daughters also took part in the ride from the Pentagon to the Vietnam War Memorial.
Palin posed for pictures with service members, motorcycle riders, families and friends during the Rolling Thunder event. She visited the WWII memorials and the Lincoln Memorial and with her party read the words of President Lincoln.
On her website Palin stated that riding with the bikers that joined in the annual ride made it clear that everyone needs to do everything they can to remind Americans we have our freedom because of these veterans, the missing and fallen service members.
Motorcycle safety month is in May—learn what the experts have to say and for the motorcycle riders in Long Beach the California Highway Patrol has weighed in, the National Safety Council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Association.
The one thing that all of the motorcycle accident attorneys agree on is that riding a motorcycle can be dangerous due to drivers of automobiles on the roads that might not be as alert as they should when driving on the roads with bikes. Motorcycles represent three percent of the registered vehicles, but they also represent almost fifteen percent of traffic fatalities. These numbers combined with the Hurt Report that was a large scale motorcycle crash study that showed three quarters of the motorcycle crashes that result in injuries or deaths. The crashes were caused by drivers that were negligent in yielding to the right-of-way to the motorcyclist and other traffic errors.
The motorcyclist in Long Beach California is also in this danger, because during 2009 in the state there were 11,488 motorcycle riders injured an 396 killed, of this number 383 were the operator of the motorcycle. This number while it seems high for the total amount of motorcycle riders in California that were killed, 2008 was even worse for motorcycle riders, with 553 people killed on motorcycles and 529 of them were the operator of the bike. These numbers might be shocking to some motorcyclists that do not realize the dangers they face on the road.
The numbers from California were provided by the California Highway Patrol and the Integrated Traffic Records System.
Motorcycle safety month is in May—learn what the experts have to say and it can help the motorcycle rider know they have to ride more defensively and drivers of automobiles should take the total of these injuries and deaths that have occurred in past years and realize they need to be more alert on the roadways.
The more people that realize the dangers the motorcycle rider faces due to drivers not paying attention in traffic and at intersections are causing motorcycle riders severe injuries and hundreds of deaths in the state of California, including Long Beach. When drivers and motorcycle riders are aware of the dangers and the causes it can lower the amount of motorcycle crashes. The rider that is injured or the family of a rider that has been killed should have the legal benefits that the motorcycle rider can provide against negligent drivers.
March 30, 2011-According to reports a pedestrian was injured when a woman drove into a 7-Eleven. Doh! More crazy California news. According to Orange Police. Dan Adams the accident occurred at approximately 5:45 p.m. at a 7-Eleven convenience store at the northwest corner of Main Street and Palmyra Avenue.
The woman was driving a GMC Sierra pickup truck and accidentally hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, causing the truck to accelerate into a guardrail and then through the stores window. A female pedestrian was injured, when she was struck by the rail and transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. There were no other injuries reported by store employees, customers or the driver of the GMC pickup truck. Looks like they won’t be needing a personal injury lawyer doesn’t it? It really chaps my hide that people drive like such buffoons in California.
March 8, 2011-According to reports by Redondo Beach bloggers, workers from several local agencies are scoping up thousands of dead fish out of the waters in Redondo Beach.
According to Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors spokesperson Debbie Talbot workers from numerous local agencies are scooping hundreds of thousands of dead sardines, Mackerel and Anchovies out of the waters at King Harbor Marina.
The fish die-off was likely caused by severe winds seen on Monday night, causing the fish to seek safe waters, Talbot stated. She went on to say that there were so many in the waters that the oxygen was completely depleted and when the water was tested Tuesday morning it was at zero. Fish, according to Talbot can survive in water that is at an oxygen level of 5 or higher.
According to marine coordinator for King Harbor, Staci Gabrielli, the fish were so thick in some areas of the marina that boats could not get out of the harbor. Authorities state that the dead fish will be dumped back into the water, transported to recycling plants or landfills. Resident Walter Waite stated that everything looked normal yesterday and today there were millions of dead fish in the harbor.
One of the hallmarks of a good money manager is someone who automatically saves a little money each month, rather than going a little deeper in debt. Instead of using credit cards when those unexpected, yet inevitable, expenses arise, having money in the bank keeps your financial plan from falling victim to the unforeseen. This is why so many folks have been turning to debt consolidation, credit counseling, debt management and the like.
Commonly, debt management experts recommend that you try to keep 6 months worth of expenses in reserve, and that you automate regular monthly deposits into your savings account by direct debit.
Reduce your debt systematically. Here is the key: It’s not what you deserve, it’s not what you want or need, it is what you can afford. Limit unnecessary expenses, pay off existing debts; it sounds simple, but it requires a strong will and a strategy. You may want to consult a credit counseling or debt consolidation firm for assistance in this important matter.
Write a plan for your future. My son believes that writing down your goals brings them from the realm of thought into the physical world of actuality. There is power in having a formal, written plan. Put your heart and soul into the writing of it—design the human being you want to be in the world.
People put off making adequate plans for their future retirement because retirement seems so far away, and the wants and needs of the “now” seem so much more urgent. Your older friends and family can tell you the future rolls around so much sooner than you expect, and small amounts put aside now can make an enormous impact in years to come.
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