Never hang up on strangers

You know how everyone gets random phone calls that aren't meant for them? It happens all the time and chances are its happened to you before. They could have simply dialed one wrong number or had a completely wrong number. It happens all the time. Anyways, when I was younger I use to be very rude to people who would call me randomly, I never had the patience to deal with them and I would usually do one of two things, chew them out or hang up on them.

About a year ago, I started getting calls from this lady in Florida who thought I was her Grandson. At first, I admit, I was irritated. Especially because of how many times she would call. I would always tell her that NO, I was not her Grandson and that she had the wrong number. She would be very apologetic and tell me how she just wanted to know how her Grandson was doing. After a while, I started getting the feeling that the old lady was alone and may have dementia or Alzheimer's because she always seemed surprised when I would tell her that I wasn't her Grandson and that she had the wrong number.

Now to provide you with a little background information, my Grandfather had Alzheimer's and I never met any of my other Grandparents, so there has always been that missing piece in my heart especially now seeing how much my nephews and nieces love spending time with their Grandparents. Because of this, I always have had a soft spot for the elderly and especially those with mind altering diseases. So, I made a conscious decision to start talking to this elderly lady and "pretended" to be her Grandson. She would call me asking me about how my life was going and I would tell her about my actual life. I would tell her how I was going to school to become a teacher, how excited I was when I graduated and started subbing. I told her my hopes, fears and desires. I told her more details about my life than I have ever shared with a complete stranger before. Sometimes we would just talk about life.

I told a couple of my close friends and family about this elderly lady but not many because to be honest, I didn't want to come off as a crazy person who was pretending to be someone I wasn't. Deep down I always looked forward to her calls and even when if I was busy, I would be sure to always answer and talk even if it was only briefly. Then about a couple months ago, the phone calls stopped. I was worried and had no way of reaching her since she always called from a restricted Florida number. The only information I knew was that her name was Beatrice. I assumed the worse and hoped in some small way I made a difference in her life.

Today, I received a phone call from a Florida number. It was from an orderly who identified themselves as an employee at Sutton Homes in Florida. I had no clue who this person was or why they were calling. I almost hung up on her to be honest. Then the girl said something that caught my attention, she said one name, Beatrice. She told me about this lovely elderly woman she had been taking care of for years. The woman would always talk to her about her Grandson and how proud she was of him becoming a teacher. She would say how she knew what an amazing teacher her Grandson would become. The orderly was confused about this because Beatrice had no living family, yet she would always call the same number and speak to a young man. It was then she told me that Beatrice had passed away at age 87 on Monday, July 16. She wanted to call and let me know how much my phone conversations meant to Beatrice over the years and how she always proudly spoke about her Grandson.

I sat there, stunned, as tears started pouring down my face. I never met this woman. I don't even know what she looked like. What started off as a joke, became something so much more that I looked forward to and in a way this lady took the place of my Grandparents I never was able to meet. I never was able to tell Beatrice that I got a job as a full time teacher. She would have been so proud, just like I know my own Grandparents would have been. There's still so much more I would like to share with her but can't now.

The moral of the story
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I suppose is that you don't know how much you mean to the people in your life especially the random ones. Love with all of your heart and never hold back, but most importantly, never ever hang up when an elderly woman calls hoping to speak with her Grandson, it may just end up changing your life.
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From Joshua Hertweck on Facebook

Fun

Pivotal Fun – Jokes about the cold

It's so cold ...

It's colder than a gold-digger's heart.
It's colder than Jack Frost's toes after he skates on an icy pond.
It's colder than a brass toilet seat on the shady side of an iceberg.
It's so cold the dogs are sticking to the fire hydrants.
It's colder than a witch's belt buckle.
It's colder than a day-old dumpling.
It's colder than skinny dipping in a snow storm.

Q. What's the difference between 'weather' and 'climate'?
A. You can’t 'weather' a tree, but you can 'climate'!Let’s enjoy a chit chat session with our guests…
Words froze in the air. If you wanted to hear what someone said, you had to grab a handful of sentences and take them in by the fire!Two men are meeting on the street
“It was very cold this morning”
“How cold was it?”
“I do not exactly, but I saw a lawyer with his hands in his own pockets.”

What is the opposite of a cold front?
A warm back

It's so cold ...It's colder than in a freezer Antarctica.
It is so cold even property taxes are frozen.
It is cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.
It is so cold my cat climbs into the refrigerator just to warm up.
It is so cold snowmen are migrating south.
It is so cold it feels like I'm breathing liquid oxygen.
It is so cold my campfire froze.

Canadian Summers...
- Hi, did you have a good Summer?
- Yes indeed, we had a great picnic that afternoon!!!
Submitted by Paul Bourque, Quebec City, Canada

It's so cold ...It is so cold even the dog wanted a cup of coffee.
It is so cold my eyelids froze shut.
It is so cold I'm using an icetray as a heating pad.
It is so cold my sweaters need sweaters.
It is so cold even global warming tree-huggers are wearing hats and mittens.
It is so cold the polar bears are shivering.
It is so cold you can toss a cup of hot water in the air and hear it shatter into ice crystals.

Q: Why did the Great Woolly Mammoth cross the road?
A: Because they didn't have chickens in the Ice Age.Q: What time is it when a Great Woolly Mammoth sits on your igloo?
A: Time to build another igloo.

It's so cold ...It is so cold I had to turn off the air conditioner.

It is so cold my teeth froze together.
It is so cold my heartburn is cured.
It is so cold that even the squirrels had thermal underwear.
It was so cold hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs.
It was so cold the eye doctor was giving away free ice scrapers with every purchase of a new pair of eyeglasses.
It was so cold squirrels in the park were throwing themselves at electric fences.

Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Emma!
Emma who?
Emma bit cold out here - let me in!Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Mandy!
Mandy who?
Mandy lifeboats - the ship has hit an iceberg!Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Avery!
Avery who?
Avery time I come to your igloo we go through this!
Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Howard!
Howard who?
Howard you like to stand out in the cold while some idiot keeps asking "Who's there?"Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Guitar!
Guitar who?
Guitar coats, it's cold outside!

It's so cold ...It was so cold Grandpa's teeth were chattering . . . in the glass!
It was so cold teenagers stopped worrying about acne. The new problem . . . goosepimples.
It was so cold I chipped a tooth on my soup.
It was so cold when we milked the cows, we got ice cream.
It was so cold UN weapons inspectors suddenly decided that chemical weapons might be hidden in Hawaii.
It was so cold we had to kick a hole in the air just to get outside.
It was so cold my moustache shattered when I laughed.

Q: What did the big furry hat say to the warm woolly scarf?
A: "You hang around while I go on ahead."Q: What's the difference between an iceberg and a clothes brush?
A: One crushes boats and the other brushes coats!Q: What kind of coffee were they serving when the Titanic hit an iceberg?
A: Sanka!Q: What do you call fifty penguins in the Arctic?
A: Lost! REALLY lost! (Penguins live in Antarctica.)

Q: What's another name for ice?
A: Skid stuff!

Q: Why is the slippery ice like music?
A: If you don't C sharp - you'll B flat!

Q: What's an ig?
A: A snow house without a loo!

Q: Where do seals go to see movies?
A: The dive-in!

Q: What sits on the bottom of the cold Arctic Ocean and shakes?
A: A nervous wreck.

Q: Getting a job in the Arctic in the winter is great! Why?
A: When the days get short, you only have to work a 30 minute work week.

Q: Which side of an Arctic Tern has the most feathers?
A: The outside!

Q: Why didn't the tourist in the Arctic get any sleep?
A: He plugged his electric blanket into the toaster by mistake - and kept popping out of bed all night!

Q: If the sun shines while it's snowing, what should you look for?
A: Snowbows.

Q: What do women use to stay young looking in the Arctic?
A: Cold cream.

Q: If you live in an igloo, what's the worst thing about global warming?
A: No privacy!

Q: When are your eyes not eyes?
A: When the cold Arctic wind makes them water!

Q: What did the icy Arctic road say to the truck?
A: "Want to go for a spin?"

It's so cold ...It was so cold tea cosies were being used for things that tea cosies should never be used for.
It was so cold we had to salt the hallway.
It was so cold when I turned on the shower - I got hail.
It was so cold the mice were playing hockey in the toilet bowl.
It was so cold we had an ice-fishing shack in the bathtub.
It was so cold we had lunch down at the "Greasy Spoon" - just for the heartburn.
It was so cold our aquarium didn't need any glass. The downside? The fish were motionless.

Lessons we can learn from a snowman:

Wearing white is always in style - even after Labor Day.
Getting outside in the winter is good for your health.
It's fun just to hang out in your front yard.
We're all made up of mostly water.
Accessories don't have to be expensive.
Don't get too much sun!
If you're a little bottom heavy - hey, that's okay!
In a confrontation, a hand-held hairdryer can be an effective weapon.
You know you've made it when they write a song about you.
If you look down and can't see your feet - you're probably not very active.
Sometimes sweating too much can have disastrous results.

It's so cold ...It was so cold worms were sticking out of the ground like sticks.
It was so cold when Dad tried to sneak upstairs to bed, the crunching sound under his feet would wake us up.
It was so cold my shadow froze to the ground, and when I took a step it snapped right off.
It was so cold the politicians stopped blowing hot air.
It was so cold if you made an ugly face, it really did stay that way.
It was so cold sitting on that smouldering compost heap wasn't all that bad.
It was so cold the winner of the ice sculpture contest was disqualified when it was discovered he WAS the sculpture.

No matter how cold you are, DO NOT attempt to build a fire in a kayak!

You can't have your kayak and heat it too.

It's so cold ...

It was so cold we thought Grandpa had grown a beard, but it turned out to be just an icicle of frozen drool.

It was so cold kids were telling the most outrageous lies just hoping their pants would catch on fire.
It was so cold we couldn't go outside for weeks at a time, and we were hoping that cabin fever would raise our body temperature.
It was so cold Scotsmen started wearing pants.
It was so cold that when I tried to take the garbage out, it didn't want to go.
It was so cold my car wouldn't run and my nose wouldn't stop.
It was so cold the flame froze on the candle, so I threw it outside. When it thawed out in the spring, it started a forest fire.

Cold Winter

The Indians asked their Chief in autumn if the winter was going to be cold or not. Not really knowing an answer, the chief replies that the winter was going to be cold and that the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared.

Being a good leader, he then went to the next phone booth and called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is this winter to be cold?"

The man on the phone responded, "This winter is going to be quite cold indeed."

So the Chief went back to speed up his people to collect even more wood to be prepared. A week later he called the National Weather Service again, "Is it going to be a very cold winter?"

"Yes", the man replied, "it's going to be a very cold winter."

So the Chief goes back to his people and orders them to go and find every scrap of wood they can find. Two weeks later he calls the National Weather Service again: "Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?"

"Absolutely," the man replies, "the Indians are collecting wood like crazy!"

It's so cold ...

It was so cold you could tell how much someone had been crying by the length of the icicles on their cheeks.
It was so cold firemen couldn't convince people to get out of their houses when they caught fire.

It is cold enough to freeze the balls off of a pool table.

Cold Weather Behaviour…

"Cold" is a relative term. Use the handy list below to overcome the confusion. Degrees (Fahrenheit)

(This is definitely American, so for you Australians perhaps you could substitute “Canberra” or “Hobart” for Minnesota, and Gold Coast or Cairns for California …)
75 above zero Aussies put on sweaters (if they can find one in their wardrobe)
(technically, they call it a jumper, which explains why they can't find a "sweater")

65 above zero: Floridians turn on the heat. Minnesotans plant gardens. Hawaiians declare a two-blanket night

60 above zero Californians put on sweaters (if they can find one)

50 above zero: Californians and Vancouerites shiver uncontrollably. People are sunbathing in Duluth. You can see your breath

40 above zero: Minnesotans drive with the sunroof open. Italian cars don't start. Vermont residents go to outdoor concerts. Minnesotans go swimming

32 above zero: Distilled water freezes. The water in Bemidji gets thicker.

25 above zero: Ohio water freezes. Californians weep pitiably. Minnesotans eat ice cream. Canadians go swimming

20 above zero: New Mexicans don long johns, parkas and wool hats & mittens. Minnesotans throw on a flannel shirt. Maritimers put on T-shirts. Politicians begin to talk about the homeless. British cars don't start. New York City water freezes. Miami residents plan vacation further South

15 above zero: New York landlords finally turn on the heat. People in Minnesota have one last cookout before it gets cold. Toronto water freezes. Vancouverites weep pitiably. Manitobans eat ice cream on the patio. Maritimers go swimming.

10 above zero: You need jumper cables to get the car going

5 above zero: You can hear your breath. Politicians begin to talk about the homeless. Montreal water freezes

Zero: Miami residents cease to exist. Minnesotans close the windows. Alaskans put on T-shirts

4 below zero: French cars don't start. You plan a vacation in Mexico. Cat insists on sleeping in your bed with you

10 below zero: Californians fly away to Mexico. Minnesotans dig their winter coats out of storage. Too cold to ski. Manitobans do up the top button. German cars don't start. Eyes freeze shut when you blink

15 below zero: You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo. Arkansans stick tongue on metal objects.

20 below zero: Cat insists on sleeping in your pyjamas with you. Politicians actually do something about the homeless. Minnesotans shovel snow off roof. Japanese cars don't start

25 below zero: Hollywood disintegrates. Girl Scouts in Minnesota still selling cookies door to door. American cars don't start. Yukoners put on T-shirts. Too cold to skate.
30 below zero: German cars don't start. Swedish cars don't start

40 below zero: Washington, D.C. finally runs out of hot air. People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors. Ottawans shovel snow off roof. Canadians put on sweaters. Your car helps you plan your trip South

50 below zero Too cold to think. You need jumper cables to get the driver going. Congressional hot air freezes. Alaskans close the bathroom window

60 below zero: You plan a two week hot bath (if you could only thaw the water). The St Lawrence freezes over.
70 below zero: Vancouverites disappear. Maritimers put on sweaters. Other Canadians put on overcoats. Your car helps you plan your trip South, but won't start

80 below zero: Yukoners close the bathroom window. Hell freezes over. Polar bears move South. Viking Fans order hot cocoa at the game

90 below zero: Lawyers put their hands in their own pockets

100 below zero: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Minnesotans get upset because the Mini-Van won’t start.

460 below zero: ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale). People in Minnesota can be heard to say, “Cold ’nuff fer ya?”

500 below zero: Hell freezes over. Minnesota public schools open 2 hours late

Lifestyle

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Lifestyle

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Lifestyle, Stories

“I Didn’t Want the Janitor to Lose His Job”

The primary responsibility for instilling good values and building character is with parents. This doesn’t mean, however, that teachers and coaches don’t have a critically important role.

The unfortunate fact is that far too many kids are raised in morally impoverished settings that foster lying, cheating, and violence. If we don’t give these children moral instruction, many of them will become predators. And I know it works because of Jesse, a young man I met in Tulare County, California.

Jesse was in an alternative school because he had serious behavioral problems. About a month after his school incorporated character-development strategies into the curriculum, Jesse found the janitor’s keys. To a kid with a history of theft, this was a mighty temptation. When he voluntarily turned them in, people were shocked. When I asked him why, he surprised me with his answer. He didn’t say anything about a new commitment to honesty. He said simply, “I didn’t want the janitor to lose his job.”

It’s likely Jesse would not have thought about the janitor weeks before. What changed was he had been given a simple thinking tool that helped him see the way his choices could affect other people. Jesse was taught to identify “stakeholders” – all the people likely to be affected by a choice – and to think about how they might be affected.

Despite Jesse’s flaws, he had decent instincts and didn’t want to do something that would hurt the janitor. His teachers didn’t teach him to care about others, but they gave him a way of thinking that unleashed the caring part of his nature.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

Michael Josephson is an influential and internationally renowned champion of character education for youth and ethical conduct in business, government, policing, journalism, sports, healthcare and law. His website: What will Matter has Quotes, insights and images about a life that matters.

Lifestyle

8 Steps to Achieving Your Best Health ever!

Have you ever noticed those people who look super lean from head to toe, but have a weird little belly? Chances are it could be to do with their digestive health.

Being healthy is misunderstood these days. Health is all about taking responsibility for ALL areas of your life. Here are the tips I use with my clients, to help them achieve a whole new level of good health.

1. If it is white, don't eat it! The four white devils are white flour, white sugar, white salt and pasteurisation and homogenisation milk products. If dairy is a necessity and you can't get hold of raw dairy, choose certified organic as your second choice. For those who are lactose sensitive, full fat cream is very low in lactose.

2. If you can't pronounce a word on a label, do not eat it. Your liver won't like it!

3. The longer the shelf life, the more harmful it is likely to be to your body!

4. Choose products and meats in this order:

o Certified organic produce and free range meats
o Organic produce and organic meat
o Locally farmed produce and locally farmed free range meat
o Commercial produce and commercial hormone free meat
o Commercial meat

5. Always season foods and water with 100 per cent unprocessed sea salt. The best is Celtic, followed by sea salt from New Zealand, because there is less heavy metal toxicity there.

6. The minimum amount of water you should drink each day can be calculated by multiplying your body weight (kg) by 0.033. This gives you the amount of water (L) that you should consume per day. Remember, nothing substitutes for water, not tea, not juice, not beer – nothing! Always choose top selling brands such as Evian, Fiji, Trinity and Volvic because they sell the fastest and, therefore, have the least exposure to plastic bottles. The most health-giving waters have a hardness factor of 170 mg/L or greater and a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) of 300 or greater. Adding a pinch of sea salt to water is recommended to replace electrolytes. Additionally, it will harden otherwise good but soft waters and will significantly increase the TDS.

7. Follow the 80/20 rule. If you live healthily 80 per cent of the time, you can absorb the other 20 per cent.

8. Get to bed by 10pm and sleep until 6am minimum. The body (physical) repairs itself from 10pm to 2pm, while the mind (mental) repairs itself from 2pm to 6am.

After years of living an unhealthy lifestyle it will take a bit of time to repair the damage so you need to be patient and realise that this is a long-term endeavour, rather than something that will change overnight. Depending on how toxic your body is you might experience a number of reactions from eating proper food, which could include weight gain, weight loss, enhanced mood, increased energy and vitality.

When your foundation is established, there are other areas as well that can be looked into such as your digestive health, hormones, adrenal glands, amino acids, to name a few. In conjunction with the guidelines above you can start with the Gut Healing Program. If we eat all of these great foods and take all of these high-end supplements but have a gut dysfunction (low SIgA, parasites, fungus, bacteria, dysbiosis, etc), then what we eat will not have its benefits. The gut healing program consists of the following and should be done for a minimum of four weeks:

1. Remove caffeine, alcohol, refined sugars and processed foods and bad fats (all irritate and create inflammation in the gut).

2. Remove foods that you know you are sensitive to. It's worth getting a food intolerance test to find out.

3. Restore probiotics daily such using lactobacillus acidophilus/bifidus.

4. Repair with healthy fats such as fish oils and nut oils.

5. Eat whole foods, unprocessed, lightly cooked and organic wherever possible.

6. Remove antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, aspirin and tylenol.

7. Be aware that many other medications affect the GI tract(i.e., osteoporsis mediations, antidepressants, acid reduction medications).

8. Repair with herbs such as garlic, aloe vera, oil of oregano, and turmeric, nutrients such as L-glutamine, quercitin, fish oils, as well as specifically formulated low antigen medical foods to help promote healing.

You now have the healthy, natural tools that will help rekindle your health and save you a truckload of money on those vitamins and pills, and right now we all know how important it is to save money!

Article by Blake Worrall-Thompson. Blake's fitness industry experience and knowledge is outstanding having worked in an elite personal training studio in London along with owning and running his own bootcamp and holding management roles within Fitness First. He is the director and owner of Raw Solutions, which is an international mentoring and coaching program for those in the health and fitness industry looking to get the edge over others in the industry. Along with being the director and owner of Ministry of Wellbeing the corporate health and fitness program aimed at improving each company's productivity and health. Blake is also the author of the best selling book 'Switched on Health & Wellbeing Professionals' and is a regular contributor to a number of publications including Fitness First and the Network magazine.