Economic “Stimulus” Act

For months so many people discussed the checks that we would be receiving in the mail and how badly they needed this money to pay bills and put gas in there vehicles, the talk has now turned into how people didn’t get as much as they expected. I think everyone understood that a single person would receive either three hundred or six hundred dollars but when questions were answered everyone believed they would be getting the ladder amount.
Why is it that the government insists on handing out “free” money to its people that are scraping to get by in hopes that they will go out and by unnecessary items? With so many houses being foreclosed and electricity being turned off and complaints about the gas prices why would they think that anyone would be crazy enough to go shopping? Why give us the opportunity to spend money on things we don’t need when they could just pay some of our bills for us?
All talk is on how much everything costs and how bad the economy is, there should be talk of what we are going to do to fix it. If everyone would just stop complaining and put their minds together to find solutions I think we could change some things. It has been said many of times that we the people have an opportunity to change things in this country, let’s do it.

Special Education Going Mainstream

My sister was assigned a speech for her English class; Special Education going Mainstream. She asked me if I would help her with the topic as she didn't know much about it and come to find out neither did I. I never heard anything about the topic being an issue or becoming a possibility in the future and I was intrigued. During the time I attended all my years of education I had always had a strong opinion on the education the "SPED" students were receiving. I have always thought that the schools were right in separating the students that needed more attention but were wrong in allowing them to slide through school and earn a diploma without the proper knowledge. I do not believe that these students should be put into a classroom with others that have the ability to learn with out supervision where they will either fall behind or take the much needed attention from the teacher. I think that the only efficient way for these children to get the education they need is to remain in their classrooms and instead of being given the answers be coached and taught properly. Every person learns differently and not everyone can be taught in the same way but beyond that there are a group of people that have trouble paying attention or have medical issues or personal issues that need to be considered. The people in that group need to then be put into different groups and in a way be studied to figure out how they can receive the same knowledge as everyone else.
Each and every person in this world has the ability to learn and be taught, we just have to make an effort to discover ways we can make that possible. I hope that this issue is being given as much thought as I have put into it.

Weather...

Have you ever noticed that when you wake up in the morning if it is cold and dreary out your mood will reflect that? The weather these past few days has caused myself and everyone I know to lack all motivation and generally be dull. Why do we let the sun and the temperature decide our mood? I've decided to try an experiment today considering there is somewhat of a blizzard and it is quite chilly. I woke up this morning knowing perfectly well that is was going to snow and that I would ultimately be dull and frustrated and all around crabby but instead of giving in to the less than perfect image outside my window I woke up and smiled. I made a cup of coffee, took a shower, and prepared myself for a day of warmth and happiness. I discovered that it works, you are in control of your mood and your outlook on everything. As I sit here I look out the window and see a whirl wind of snow and the trees blowing heavily in the wind and I am able to just smile and giggle. For I know that it will not stay this way and in a way it is beautiful and rare, in a month's time I will not be able to sit in this very spot and stare out this very window and see anything remotely like the image in front of me now. Your life and your mood is what you make of it, just smiling about nothing or the simple things in life can completely turn a day around... try it.

Goals and Organization

Like so many others in my position I have felt that I have reached the point of no return; you procrastinated, you made a bad decision, or you just plain gave up. I am taking a stand and I am not going to give up and I don’t think any one else should either. In the upcoming weeks I plan to do research for my article on a different topic, one that I can see myself actually caring about and wanting to learn about even more so than my first decision. I am going to do my blogs on time and actually think about them for longer than ten minutes. I want to do a feature article on one of the most amazing woman I have ever met in my life; she works on the school board and allows that to consume her thoughts if something doesn’t feel right. There are people in my life that I need to become organized for and reach certain goals for. If you work hard, the only place you can go is up. To everyone, make goals and get organized because tomorrow is a new day.

Confusion and Catch Up

I thought that I was ready for school, ready for a challenge. I realize now that I have a difficult time focusing on something, as important as it may be, when things in my life become chaotic. I thought that doing a class online would be a little be easier than sitting down in a classroom, it is not. I love school and I love to learn but at the same time I love structure and guidance. I am glad that I took my baby steps and chose to take just one class rather than a full schedule. I have learned my lesson and opened my eyes, I’m not in high school any more. For what is left of this semester I will try my hardest playing catch up and do everything it takes to pull myself together in time for the fall. There are things in life a person cannot change but that doesn’t mean a person has to give up on everything. I hopes for the rest of this class and my future.

The Mystery of Foreclosures

In talking with my family and friends lately I have heard much talk about the possibility of going into another depression. With every conversation foreclosures and loss of houses were brought up and I found much interest in this. I wanted to know why our economy is getting so bad and why families are losing their houses.

I started researching on the internet and found a lot of good information about mortgages and also discovered that it isn’t just A.R.M. mortgages that are the problems but also scams involving mortgages. I hope to interview some people from the bank who provide mortgages and refinancing as well as people in my community. I hope to collect a lot of information and facts about today’s foreclosure growth.

It is difficult to focus on one point in my research because there is so much information that I never realized. It is difficult to sit and think about how I will one day not only own a house but be at risk for foreclosure on that home. I would like to do this article not only for myself but to provide my family and friends with knowledge that could benefit them in their own life.

Super Freakin' Tuesday

When I first read the blog assignment I was excited, I didn't even know what a caucus was and I, for once, am some-what interested in this year elections. I spent the three days before the caucus trying to figuring out what one was, asking everyone I know and trying to look it up. I didn't realize there were so many vague and different definitions of what a caucus was, all of which were wrong. I looked up where my local caucus was, Big Lake High School, and made plans to go with my boyfriend and my little sister.

Tuesday came around, 6:45 rolled around... no one told me about anything going on at 6:30.... we got in the car and drove to the high school. When we arrived all there was outside were signs for the Republican party and we are anything but republicans, in fact there's no way I would've even walked into a caucus if it was for republicans. Huffing and puffing we walked into the school and saw these little computer paper signs with marker written on them, "DFL PARTY", we finally breathe and follow the signs. Making our way into a lunchroom with maybe thirty people we were already disappointed. I am a person who needs to know absolutely everything right then and there and I was walking into this room with no idea what I was doing or where I was suppose to go, I'm frustrated and annoyed. It was very unorganized with people looking around and at each other saying nothing at all. We take a seat.

An older gentlemen with a beard and glasses starts talking loudly reading off of a piece of paper, we assumed he was speaking to the crowd of lost people. When the three of us realized it was time to listen up and figure stuff out a middle aged lady walks in front our table, blocking our view of the room (we were in the back), she wants to take a picture of us for the newspaper and she spent nearly ten minutes interviewing us. When we got a chance to listen to the speaker again the first thing we heard was "no campaign can win without money to back them and the only way we are going to win is if you all open up your checkbooks tonight", this angered us immediately. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to offend any one (everyone put their guards up now), but we aren't religious people and the reason why my entire family stopped going in the first place is because the church we went to when I was little (and every church any of my family currently attends) passes around a little dish and asks for money and treats you like crap if you don't put some in it. We felt like we came there to give money and they didn't talk about any issues or mention anything about the presidential election. When they asked the people who had never been to a caucus to raise their hands nearly everyone in the room did and yet nothing was explained about why we were there and what we needed to be doing.

I'll admit it, I lasted twenty minutes and I learned absolutely nothing. I'm a very opinionated person and I don't believe in listening to nonsense or something I am completely against. I will continue to follow the campaigning process and I will vote at this years election but the caucus was all to much for me, I'm sorry. Maybe I need to broaden my horizon.

My Community of Target

I don’t know exactly how to approach this topic; do I answer the seven key questions or go on a rant? Is there really any right or wrong way to discuss the community I know so much about and so very little about all at the same time? I work for Target and that is really the only community I am involved in other than my family life. Up until a week ago I loved my job and I loved the community and atmosphere as a whole. My community of Target consists of the morning or day crew and as of this week I learned that all of these people have very selfish goals and aspirations in mind. Each member of my community is in the position they are with the intent to one day be in a higher position. In order to be in a higher role in my community you must do everything for yourself and attempt to be noticed by any and all members that are above you. Each day we gather in a “Smart Huddle” and discuss any events or information that is valuable to each and every one of us. We are given updates on “The Numbers” and what departments are “Green, Yellow and Red”, this information is vital to you only if your department is anything but Green. My Target is a new store, not even a year old, so we try as hard as we can to measure up with those stores that have a history as we do not. There are many stereotypes in the workplace as far as what jobs do what type of work and what sort of person you are for holding that position. The FLOW team is considered the lowest, least important yet, without them the store would not even have products on its shelves. And the “big wig” at Target would be the Store Team Leader, the guy that everyone is intimidated by. The fun part about that is, last week I had to work with him and he was asking me questions about how to do things.

Target is my community I loved and grew to hate. There’s so much going on in every community it is difficult to imagine and picture how it functions day to day.

Who is Davina?

My name is Davina and I am all of eighteen years old. I graduated from high school in Big Lake last year and found myself wanting to further my education but knowing well enough I was not ready. I don't know what I want to do yet much less where I enjoy working; I've had five jobs over the coarse of nine months. In the beginning of October I found myself starting a job at Target, one of my favorite stores, turned out to be my favorite job as well. For the first time I saw myself staying at a job for more than three months, moving up quickly in the workplace, and making more than enough. With that said, it was time to start taking a class and seeing if I could juggle that with my work load. So, here I am, over joyed and finally taking a class.