Nessas Place

Energizer has launched a new campaign and asked me to tell you about it! This new campaign is to help launch one of it's newest products. The Energizer_® Recharge Smart^™ Charger is simply an awesome idea. I am a huge fan of rechargeable batteries since my kids use batteries in their video game controllers, camera's hand held games and well, too many other things to list. Before I was introduced to how convenient rechargeables were I probably spent anywhere from $30-50 a month on batteries. When I converted to rechargeable batteries my initial investment was probably $30 but i haven't bought any batteries since then. That was about a year ago, maybe even just a little more than a year. SUPER savings there!

Well now, I'm just about drooling over this new Smart charger. It has 3 new features that my current Energizer battery does not have.

• A countdown clock with large LCD numbers displays how much charging time remains

• A fuel gauge communicates the current level of power in the batteries

• A bad-battery detector alerts users if the batteries are no longer useful or if they’ve inserted a disposable battery by mistake

These new features will take a good bit of guesswork out of which batteries need to be charged first, why some aren't charging and when they are done so that they can be taken out. My current charger has some level lights but I'm never really certain what they mean. So I'm excited about this. Like I said we use a ton of batteries around here!

To celebrate this new product, Energizer has come up with a great idea. An opportunity for their young customers to show their creativity and raise money for their favorite charity. Energizer wants to know what kind of mischief your kids get in when they're favorite battery powered toys are without battery power. If your kids are like mine, I bet they get into A LOT of mischief. Like oh I don't know......shooting themselves in the hand with a bb gun maybe? Still can't believe my son did that! If your kids do something as silly and hopefully not as dangerous, they could raise money for their favorite charity just by doing a 60 second video and uploading it to youtube. The first 250 submissions also get a free Energizer_® Recharge Smart^™ Charger of their own. The official rules can be found at the Energizer Kids Take Charge website, along with some sample videos.

As a bonus, Energizer has given me the opportunity to give one of my readers a Smart Charger of their very own. You can enter 2 ways.

Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with your Twitter user name here on my blog.

Leave a comment telling why you prefer Rechargeable batteries or why you might consider converting to them.

You can also do both and they will count as 2 entries. A winner will be chosen May 1st 2010 at midnight.

Nessa

I've pretty much decided that Freecycle, a non-profit organization that tries to help keep the landfills clear of usable items, is a drama llama. At least my local group is anyway. It never fails that at least once a week one of my local groups has a big blowup and everyone gets their panties in a wad. It's not very often that it's anything important mind you. It's almost always pretty dumb really. I just can't figure out what the deal is.

It's not the fault of the Freecycle Network, it's the users in the individual groups that cause the problem. Freecycle has been in the news for the good things they do and in the grand scheme of things it's a great idea and could be even better, but that's a whole other story. We won't be going there today.

Yesterday the following post was made in my local area. ( Names have been left out to protect the stupid)

Subject: Leftover Clothes In Conroe

The following was posted not once but Three times by someone else in response to this ad:
I believe this is blatant and inappropriate verbage for our organization. We are all part of this WONDERFUL organization that meets many needs, wants, and allows us to give our things to someone who will value them as much as we did.
Making a conscious effort to bully us into wanting what is available by threatening to set them on fire if we don't respond, has no place here.
Moderators - I kindly as you to let me hear from you on this matter.


Now it was apparently posted three times because the link at the bottom of the page was apparently much too difficult to read. You know the one that says "List owner" and gives the email address to contact the moderators. The same thing found on ALL yahoo groups. Plus.....hello? This person didn't even go get the items but she feels bullied? I'm missing something here aren't I?

Not long ago there was a big fight about the fact that the group members were allowed to post animals for free. Sometimes they were strays that showed up, sometimes they were family pets that needed a new home. It got to the point that no matter why the pet needed a home, anyone who posted free animals were subjected to rude, hateful emails about what kind of horrible person they were for giving the pet away. I guess it was better to just keep your mouth shut and take the animals to the pound to be euthanized than to attempt to find a loving home. Gee what were these people thinking?? Try to find a pet a home??? Puh-lease! How irresponsible! Anyway, It was ridiculous but the moderators of the group finally stepped in and made the rule to disallow pets on the Freecycle group itself. Keep in mind most people on the group are over 18, many in their 30's and 40's. Despite the fact that it's almost exclusively adults, the drama continues.

Last night someone had the misfortune to mention on the cafe group where pets ARE allowed that they needed to find a home for a guinea pig. It has somehow turned into a free for all regarding pressing 1 for English and the whole group is up in arms again. I'm not sure what gunea pigs have to do with speaking English because the one I had sure didn't say much other than "weet weet". I'm wondering now if that meant "death to America, the infidel" now. Figures I'd totally miss something like that. Yeah, there's A LOT of sarcasm in that statement.

Anyway, I guess i'm just missing something and should start acting like it seems the majority is so that I'll fit in, but I think I'd rather just keep sitting back and laughing at these people who really need more to do with their life. If nothing else, it's at least entertaining sometimes.

Just so it's clear, Freecyle really is a great thing to join for your community, don't let this story scare you away. You might have more "adults" where you live than I do lol. To join visit the link above and click on "browse groups" at the top or put in your city and state in the " find a group near you" box.

Truthfully, this last month has been anything but fun. I swear if it could go wrong, it did. That's as simple and succinct as I can say it. Tyler shooting himself in the hand, no hours at work, the young man we allowed to stay with us, my Aunt dying, the subsequent pre-funeral drama, etc. You get the point? These were just the highlights.

On the upside, the young man that was living with us has moved out after being asked to do so. He unfortunately forgot to take his drama llama with him but at least it's a bit more peaceful here. He was asked to move after it was discovered that he was texting and emailing 2 different girls telling them that he loves them and wants to be with them, etc. Normally that just would have been teenage drama that I wouldn't pay attention to. This time though it was with 2 girls who have already shown a penchant to take issues out on my daughter rather than the person who did them wrong. It was just the last straw in a great big pile. The girls behaved as predicted. Attacking not only Ashley but myself on Myspace and Facebook for kicking him out and deleting his myspace and facebook pages as he asked us to do. They'll grow up someday maybe and I hope they have daughters exactly like themselves with friends exactly like themselves.

I'll talk more about the funeral in a few as there are some specific things I want to say about that whole debacle. Suffice it to say I'm so happy the drama is over with that whole thing.

I'm still working on my new website. Not that you can tell by looking at it mind you. I haven't published anything just yet since I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with it exactly. The one thing I am happy with there is that the web hosting is in better hands than it was before. With that whole issue I was nothing but frustrated at the breakdown in communication with my former hosting company. It was a totally ridiculous situation and the URL that was stolen isn't even being used so I have no idea why the person bothered to steal it from me in the first place. No telling really. Before I set it up initially I wish I had read more web hosting reviews so that I could get better information as to what I was getting into. Oh well, live and learn right? At least it's better now and my current hosting company is listed high in the reviews. Yayyyyy for me.

Nessa

I think my desire to help people has finally gotten me into trouble. About 2 months ago my daughter came to me crying because one of her friends, John, was being kicked out of his home and had nowhere to go. Since it was a guy,that was a good reason to say "NO WAY" til I was clear there was nothing at all romantic about their relationship. Basically all I could think was "what if it was one of my kids?". That of course is what convinced me to help.

I called this boys family and asked WHY he was kicked out before I let him come here. They assured me he wasn't really kicked out, it was just that there was no room for him where he had been living and that he was supposed to be staying with another relative. Apparently the other relative was told by her landlord that she was the only one on the lease and would have to move if she allowed her grandson to stay there with her. Soooooooo, I made a decision to help.

Keep in mind I asked both relatives I spoke with if there was anything I needed to know about the young man. They both said no. They stated that he was helpful, well behaved and hard working. They lied!

At first he seemed okay. He likes to help clean up........I can't say that bothered me a BIT lol. But then I started noticing other things. He was almost obsessive about using the computer. I thought at first it was just his age but soon realized he was having cybersex with married and single women he met on facebook apps. I discovered quite by accident when I saw a different chat client on the screen and happened to look closer just wondering what it was. It looked cool lol. Well it did til I saw certain phrases on it anyway. Then I just walked around in a daze for about 30 minutes. I personally think that sort of thing is disgusting and a bit stupid but I also know a lot of people do it. I think what bothered me the most was that he was doing this with all of the rest of us in the room with him. I just think that's creepy as hell. Maybe it's just me.

The next thing that started getting to me was the fact that he and my daughter argue constantly. In all fairness neither are innocent as to who starts the arguments, but once i've stepped in and stopped them, he waits til I leave to confront my daughter and take the opportunity to call her names and be a jerk. Then when I get home and Ash tells me what happened, he denies he said what she says he did and acts all innocent. I really thought Ashley was starting it when I left til my 14 year old told me what he heard and it was definitely not Ashley causing the problem.

It was after this revelation that I found out that John is Bipolar. That explains an awful lot. The cleaning sprees, mood swings and inability to control urges all suddenly make sense.

Just so it's clear.........It's not the fact that he's bipolar that has me going crazy. It's that I can't figure out how to handle it or how to get him to understand what is required in this household. He seems to have a developmental issue as well that causes him to think more like a 12 year old than a 20 year old. This is probably explained by the fact that he was in CPS custody from 12 til he was 18, he's not on medication, his father is in prison for raping John's sister and his Mother according to John is a "crack whore". There are also serious inbreeding issues in the family it seems according to John but he stretches the truth a bit so who knows if that's true or not.

Basically I'm lost. I'm doing everything I can to try and help him. We've taken him to look for jobs. We've taken him to family functions. We're literally trying to show him we are willing to help him with anything we can but the more we help the worse he acts. Yesterday he decided HE doesn't have to wear a seatbelt and proceeded to stick his upper half of his body out the window while going through town so he could taunt my sons in the truck behind us. We'd already had a discussion or 2 about wearing seatbelts so he knew this was a no no plus hellooooooooo, it's a state law!!! I removed his computer privileges for the rest of the day for that one but again, he's 20! I shouldn't have to do this should I?

I swear sometimes it feels like I've taken in a 5 year old. He gave out my 14 year old sons cell number to strangers on the internet. One of those people is someone he was having cyber sex with. That was dealt with and he was no longer allowed to use facebook or it's apps or even Tyler's phone. As a matter of fact, facebook is now blocked on all computers except for mine.

When it was clear he just moved his sexual conversations from facebook to myspace he was again punished by having his computer time per day reduced to 30 minutes per day. He continually went over the time limit and would get mad at me when he was called on it and act like he was being mistreated or something even though he is very clear on the reasons the punishment was handed out.

His newest thing is contacting any boys that my daughter talks to and trying to tell them that they can't talk to his "sister" anymore. Something which has infuriated Ashley to no end. John has started "dating" one of Ashley's former friends via myspace. They haven't met face to face yet. When he first moved here he was dating a girl from the town he came here from. Ashley has been cussed out, talked about and even threatened by these girls over the fact that John lives here with us. Ash has told them she wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole and wants NOTHING to do with him but they just don't get it. She won't allow him to use her phone anymore because of this and the fact that these "girlfriends" seem to think that they can demand that Ashley give John her cell phone so that they can text and talk to him all day. Ash has just enough of her Mom in her to tell them just where they can stick their demands but we're having to change her cell phone number so that they can no longer call Ashley.

Bottom line, I am just absolutely going nuts. I don't know what else to do here. I don't feel that kicking him out is the right thing to do but I also don't know how much more I can take. Is there a better way than others to deal with someone who is bipolar? Is there nothing I can do? At the end of the day it's my own kids I need to protect but does this mean he's a lost cause if no one can get through to him?

I've tried to take him to get help at the county mental health agency but they won't help until he has a letter denying him for medicaid which just delays the process and the potential to get help. Anyone have ideas? Better yet..anyone have experience? I just don't know what to do anymore.

Nessa

So BB Boy, Aka My 14 year old son Tyler still has the bb in his hand. As it turns out, according to x-rays, the bb passed from the point of entry in his palm up to the top of his hand and has lodged between the 3r and 4th knuckle. This apparently means that surgery is necessary. He saw an Orthopedic doctor last week and surgery is scheduled for this coming Thursday. I'll be so glad to have this over with. I know Tyler will too but I think i'm more stressed than he is over it. I cannot stand the idea of him needing to be under anesthesia for anything, much less over something so completely needless. I get that boys do dumb things. His older brothers did quite a few themselves, but this tops it all.

As stressed as I am over it, his brothers are mad. They have always taught Tyler gun safety and the rule is "EVERY gun is loaded". So it's not like he didn't know better or hadn't been taught how to handle guns. He definitely was. The guns have now been taken away but the damage is done. Maybe literally. His doctor says that it's entirely possible that because the bb is lodged near a nerve that there could be permanent damage in his hand. So we may be looking at therapy for his hand for awhile as well.

Soooooooooo, because of this happening I thought maybe I'd share a few links with other parents regarding BB gun safety.

BB Gun Safety Rules
4-H BB Rifle Safety Guide
Daisy Safety Rules

They all basically have the same rules with a few additions here and there and cover some things that parents may not think of to teach their kids. I can't say that reading them stopped Tyler from hurting himself, but until there is a cure found for "teenageritis", I'm afraid there are plenty more boys and girls apt to do dumb things. Maybe someone else reading these WILL prevent an accident though. I can hope anyway.