Author Archives: Karen

Terminal Mines

Just the name of this post might conjure up thoughts of a movie title. A story on the big screen about a bloody murder mystery or an undercover super secret agent that might include an array of blockbuster stars such as Tom Cruise, Matt Damon or Daniel Craig.

Sorry to disappoint, but I would not be talking about Mission Impossible, the Bourne Identity or even the elusive James Bond. Yet, as this story unfolds it does take on its own nature of espionage or it could be thought of as a tale of reconnaissance as you will see.
 

Let me ask you this:

Have you ever been stuck somewhere?
Detained against your will?
Trapped like a caged animal?
Confined within the four walls of a nightmare?

 
What if I tell you that it involves an Airport.

 
Oh I get it, I get it(snap finger and point); it’s that Tom Hanks movie about the guy who arrives at JFK only to find out that he isn’t allowed into the United States. That while en route his country is no longer looked upon as a sovereign nation and he’s denied entrance into the country and forced to live in the airport, schlepping his luggage and a can of Planters peanuts around from gate to gate.
 

Okay, that’s close—but not quite it.

Give up?
 

What if I told you that someone was stuck in the San Francisco International Airport for eight days?
 

That’s right, eight days.

Eight days spent at an airport in limbo, filled with nothing but fear and humiliation.
 


 

This is no Spielberg movie folks, this actually happened.
 

A woman named Terri Weissinger arrived at the ticket counter to check in her baggage with only thirty dollars to her name. She was on her way to start a new life in Idaho, only to find herself stuck in San Francisco with sticker shock instead.

It had been five years since Ms. Weissinger had stepped into an airport. In fact it had been so long since she had flown anywhere that when she checked in with her baggage, there was an assess fee of $60 for her additional piece of luggage. She was thirty dollars short and it was all the money she had in the world. It was as if a minefield had just opened up in front of her.
 

Now what would she do?
 

First, she offered to pay the fee when she arrived at her destination in Idaho, but the agent had flatly refused. Then she offered to leave one of her bags there at the San Francisco Airport to be sent to her later but that would’ve been a violation of airport security regulations.

So she got on the phone. She made several attempts to call all her friends but to no avail. By the time she had finished, she had missed her flight. And that’s when this story turns into a movie-like drama. It was the “The Terminal” and she had become the new Viktor Navorski, although she looked nothing like Tom Hanks.

You see, in order for Ms. Weissinger to be put on a new flight, she was required to pay for not only the baggage fee but also the $150 exchange fee. By this time it was late and with no where to stay she spent the night at the airport. When she awoke she learned of more bad news. Since she couldn’t afford the exchange fee, U.S. Airlines told her she would have to book a new flight. She almost croaked when she heard the cost: nearly $1,000.
 

This is a joke, right?
 

Over the next week Ms. Weissinger did nothing but meander up and down the San Francisco airport staking out the terminal seeking obscurity, while at night she slept hidden away in a small space she had discovered underneath a nearby stairway. At one point she was treated for anxiety at the airport medical clinic and when she sought out the police for assistance they almost charged her with vagrancy charges.

This ordeal continued for eight straight days until a nearby church gave her the $210 necessary to restore her original flight and only then did U.S. Airlines apologize for this terrible mishap, thus giving this story a happy ending.
 
 

So what do you think? Granted, this story does give new meaning to being stuck at the airport. But have you ever felt stuck in your life? Was there ever a time when you thought you couldn’t move ahead, that you were going nowhere, stuck at a dead end? How were you able to move forward with renewed zeal for a positive future?
 

If you enjoyed this post, you may follow by email for future posts.

Thank you for your many thoughts and kind comments everyone!
Karen
 
 

A big shout out to Kristen Lamb and all my new WANA classmates and friends. And a big thanks to all others that may grace my presence by visiting this post. Take care and make it a great day!

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My Address is the Walmart Parking Lot!

This is the story of a town named Williston, North Dakota where you can find a job, but you might just find yourself homeless.

Williston is America’s newest oil boomtown with more than 6,000 job seekers coming from every corner of the country looking for work. Yet, oil companies and other developers haven’t been able to build housing fast enough. In the past year, only about 2,000 new units have been built, leaving many workers seriously out in the cold.

With dozens of job seekers arriving by the day, leaving fewer and fewer places for them live in, people are taking desperate measures. If they can’t find a vacant room at a nearby hotel, some are finding themselves sleeping in their cars or in sleeping bags on patches of grass along the main highway. Only a chosen few have snapped up cots in dormitories, an emergency shelters known as “Man Camps” that oil companies have built to house their workers.

Though living conditions may not be quite up to standards, some of these workers are lured into this way of life because of the high unemployment rate. With the security of doubling or tripling their wages, workers feel it’s compensation for the physical or mental turmoil it can make.

Many are pulling down six figure salaries, but have been forced to leave their families behind. One man lives in a white room cubicle of 160 square feet, room enough for a steel framed twin bed and a picture on the wall of his daughter. He has hopes of moving his family to the area and is waiting for an apartment suite at one of the local hotels, but it won’t be ready for occupancy until February. The rent—a whopping $6700.00 a month. The price you pay in Boomer town to keep your family together.

It was just this past July that a man named Matt was transferred from a Walmart store in Minnesota to the Walmart in Williston, more than doubling his salary. When he arrived, after realizing there was nowhere to live, he bought an RV and soon the store’s parking lot had become the closest thing to home he was going to see for quite some time.

Each day Matt is forced to buy something from his place of employment in order to justify his reason for staying there. Then at night he and his new neighbors bring out their lawn chairs, fire up the grill, drink down some beers and share their stories. Stories about hope and what they’ll do with all the money they’ll be making from the black gold.

“Some people look at us like we’re homeless,” he said. “But anyone who needs to can find us. We have a street address: its 4001 2nd Ave., Walmart.”

Though it doesn’t sound like there’s a recession going on in this modern gold rush town, somehow one can’t help but think of what sacrifices these people have had to make in order to have a job and put a roof over their family’s heads.
 

So please tell me, what do you think? Many of us may know someone who has been affected by this economic downturn. Perhaps it is a neighbor, a friend, or maybe a member of our own family. Doesn’t this make us feel grateful for the little things that we may take for granted while we’re busy taking care of the more important things in our lives?
 

If you enjoyed this post, I encourage you to follow by email for future posts!

Thank you for your many thoughts and kind comments everyone!

Karen
 

A big shout out to Kristen Lamb and all my new WANA classmates and friends. And a big thanks to all others that may grace my presence by visiting this post. Take care and make it a great day!

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Guest Post by Natalie Hartford

It is because our special guest loves all things pink that I have decided to declare this day an “International Day of Pink” throughout the entire blogosphere! In the Pink means to be the very pinnacle of something, and that something would be none other than Natalie Harford.

Natalie, back away from the Bedazzler! I said back away! Whew, okay, now where was I?

Natalie comes to us from the beautiful province of New Brunswick, Canada where she lives with “the Hubby”, an 18 year old step-son “the Dude”, her furry baby, a 10 year old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever named “Tess” and lots of snow.

No, I said no glitter, remember Natalie? Now put it down. Thank you.

Writing and journaling have been an essential part of Natalie’s life from just about as long as she can remember. She has since embarked upon her first novel, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and at her day job she moonlights as a communications specialist.

No surprise there! Hee, hee! Oops, I’m sorry Natalie. I didn’t think you were paying attention.

Natalie is a previous graduate of Kristen Lamb’s “Blogging to Build a Brand” workshop. She has been blogging for just over a year and is here today to share some of that Urban Redneck inspiration that she’s so famous for, along with tried and tested “What to do and what Not to do” recommendations for blogging.

So without further ado, may I please introduce to you, the always uberlicious Natalie Hartford!
 
 

Thank you Karen! I am delighted to be here.

I was super pumped and honored when Karen invited me to do a guest post on her blog! But then the anxiety set in. What would I write about? Should I write about something funny, maybe a little urban word fun or a post on a ridiculous gadget? Or maybe her readers would be interested in something poignant about my greatest inspiration; my Mom? Yikes! It’s a lot of pressure to “guest post” and this is only my second time, so I feel…well…like a newbie!

So what did I settle on?
 
 

Five pieces of Intimidating Blog Advice I Somewhat Ignored and Made My Own 
 

Tip 1) Determine what your blog will be about. It is important to have a solid idea. Try to be as specific as possible. This can make your blog distinctive and stand out from the rest in that category. Also, the blog subject should be something that you are interested in. If you can’t produce content regularly on that subject, it is a good idea to think of something else.

Yikes! Talk about pressure. I have to have one solid idea that is specific, distinctive and will stand out from the rest while still being a subject I am interested in and can produce regular, great content on. Good lord. Do they know how many blogs are out there? Honestly, I’m not sure it’s possible. The elusive totally unique, never-been-done blog?!?!

This will be difficult. Not to mention, I really don’t have any specific interests that are totally unique and different from everyone else that I can blog about and really “wow” people with. I’m just an urban redneck with a serious addiction to anything pink and sparkly. I like to write about typical things in life and add my own humorous spin. I like to think I am funny (actually hilarious…I am surprised no one has scooped me up to be a standup comic yet?!?! Weird!).

In the end, I took Kristen Lamb’s advice and made ME the topic! Definitely distinct. Certainly specific. And I think I am totally a stand out! Voila!
 

Tip 2) Start planning. Determine the number of pages you will have and what will go on them. Generally, the home page will be where you’re recent blog posts go. A page should be made for what the blog is about. The rest is up to you. Be creative, but remember to stick to your subject. Don’t stray too far.

Ahhhh shikes! I messed this one up as well! Dang it! My plan—to write a blog. BAM. That was it. I figured inspiration would hit constantly. I mean, when I’m with friends and family you can’t shut me up. Surely to God I’ll have something uberliciously amazing to say every single day and the readers will FLOCK to me, right?

I started with my Main Blog page and About Me page. Then a few months later I saw someone had a Contact page so I got me one of those. Then a few months after THAT, I added my Disclaimer page – everyone’s gotta that to protect their fab content. My last two pages were added recently; one on Impaired Driving and one for ROW80.
 

Tip 3) Produce a good foundation of content. It is a good idea to do this first before creating the blog. If you have a lot of content, you can make your blog substantial before it’s even launched. Try to have at least 5 to 10 blog entries written before the launch.

Oops. Well it’s not my fault. I didn’t read this tip until just now and I launched over a year ago so?!?! But I mean really—who does that? I launched my blog with my hello world post, an About Me page, and not much else in the Hopper. Then I waited for inspiration to strike.

Ok. So that didn’t work out so well. This is actually a good piece of advice. Inconsistency is something I have learned (by my stats) that readers do NOT like. For nearly a year I posted sporadically at best. And it led to a dismal downward spiral in readership. When I started writing consistently, numbers went up. So now I have drafts for each day in the Hopper for those weeks when I get busy. Not posting on my scheduled days is not an option.
 

Tip 4) When writing your blog entries, remember who you’re writing for. Write for your target audience, not for you.

DANG. Can I do anything right? Seriously? Write for my target audience and not me? I’m not sure I can do that since if I don’t enjoy the writing, I doubt I’ll keep up with it. Ok. Wait. Let’s see—who would be my target audience?

I’d say anyone with a pulse and a sense of humor. Hmmmm…not very “targeted,” eh!? Well, I guess I could go further to say its likely people like me: primarily women, ages 30 to 65, urban or rural, single or hooked up, and with a good sense of humor. There. Voila. I will write for me and in that way, I AM writing to my target audience. How convenient!
 

Tip 5) Update your blog daily. It is acceptable to update once a day, but aim for more. Blogs that update four to six times a day are the ones that become popular. If you are struggling to come up with content every day, take the weekend to plan out your blog entry schedule.

Seriously? Every day but more like four to six times A DAY!?! Give me a break. Who ARE these successful bloggers? Do they have a life? Who writes this advice? I think they’re on crack! When I started out, I blogged on average of twice a week. Now I am blogging five days a week and I can tell ya, that’s my maximum.

I will say I learned from Kristen’s course to create themes for each post day and that’s helped me immensely in creating content and staying consistent (in blog post frequency and style). My overall tone is funny and quirky.

As with any advice I dispense, I think it’s important to take what’s useful for you and ditch what isn’t. Besides, I know I’ll be a famous blogger someday regardless. I just know it! I mean…have you SEEN my blog…its inevitable!
 

Thank you everyone! It was an uberdelight to be here and I hope y’all enjoyed the post!

Thank you sooo much for having me Karen!

Visit me at: nataliehartford.com
Talk to me at: natalie@nataliehartford.com
Follow me on: @NatalieHartford
 
 
 

No, thank you sooo much for coming Natalie!
 

This was an awesome post full of helpful advice for everyone! Whether you are just starting to blog or have blogged for several years, we can never learn enough. And to have the benefit to learn from someone else’s mistakes and successes is a real gift! No, thank you Natalie Hartford for your most kind, ubergenerous post!

What about you? What fahhhbulous blogging advice have you taken, made your own, or totally ignored? What tips or mistakes have you made along the way that you can you share with others?

If you’ve enjoyed this post, feel free to follow by email. And thank you all for your many kind thoughts and salutations!
Karen
 
 

A big shout out to Kristen Lamb and all my new WANA classmates and friends. And to all others that may grace my presence by visiting this post, take care and make it a great day!

Click to "Follow Me" and receive new posts by email

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Trains, Rails and Puppy Dog Tales


 
I am sooo cute! But you won’t believe what happened to me.

Imagine this:

You are sitting in a car with your family at a red light as you watch a slow train passing by. Then suddenly, out the corner of your eye you catch a glimpse of something familiar, yet completely out of place.

At first it appears to be a pile of garbage on top of one the many double-stacked train cars. But as you look closer you realize that it isn’t a mound of garbage, but actually something that resembles a puppy.

You do a double take and look again—it is a puppy!

The train had departed from a Pennsylvania railway station and was in route on its way to Atlanta. While making its journey through a small South Carolina town, a woman called 911 and reported that she had just seen a puppy riding on top of a Norfolk Southern train.

Now typically one might expect to see a vagabond, a free-loader riding the rails from time-to-time, but a puppy? “Yes,” the woman had said to reassure the powers that be, that indeed it was a puppy and not a mound of garbage because they had seen it move.

The woman and her family continued to follow the train for six more miles in their efforts to help rescue this sweet little three month old chocolate Labrador retriever. And by the time authorities had shown up on the scene, the train was traveling at a steady speed of 50 mph.

It took awhile, but only then when the train had stopped was a fireman able to climb up a twenty-four foot extension ladder to rescue the puppy. The poor thing was scared to death and had licked her way to a happy deliverance.

To this day no one has any idea where her outing began or how long a ride she had taken. Thankfully this story had a happy ending, for the woman and her family chose to adopt this lovable puppy and decided to name her Boxcar Hunter or Boxey for short.

When it comes to puppies, one of the first words that might pop into our minds is “adorable”. Their innocent eyes stare into our own and give us something back that doesn’t always occur with our fellow human beings—unconditional love.

And maybe that is why we love our animals so much. Not that they ever would take the place of our family and friends. Oh they can be stubborn of course and are totally depended upon us much like our own children. But when it comes to receiving their warm affection and true blue loyalty, there’s nothing like it in the world.

So whether they’re riding on trains or rails, we will always love Puppy Dog tales.

 

So please tell me, what do you think? Do you love animals? Would you have called the authorities, then raced after a train in the attempt to save a puppy’s life? What kind of animal do you have? And to what lengths would you go or have gone to save an animal’s life?

If you’ve enjoyed this post, feel free to follow by email. And thank you all for your many kind thoughts and salutations!
Karen

 

A big shout out to Kristen Lamb and all my new #WANA classmates and friends. And a warm welcome to all others that may grace my presence by visiting this post. Take care and make it a great day!

Click to "Follow Me" and receive new posts by email

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Reality Bites!

That’s what Bobby Gumm, not to be confused with Bubba Gump, must’ve thought when a large great white shark took a huge chunk out of his surfboard off the northern Oregon coast while he sat there terrified.

Bobby Gumm is a chef in the quaint coastal town of Newport and was roughly 600 feet off South beach when an estimated sixteen foot shark tried to take him for his next meal. On its first approach it had brushed against his leg, then took a ferocious bite and ripped off the front of his board lifting him out of the water.

Observers were quoted as saying that it looked like a bunch of piranha were churning up the sea, when all of a sudden a dorsal fin was spotted at least two feet high, then watched as Mr. Gumm was shot up in the air like Old Faithful out of the water. Cowabunga dude!

Gumm is a native of Hawaii so surfing is in his blood, but he was counting his blessings that day, all five of them—his children as he arrived back safely into shore. And when he got home, he kissed each and every one of them. Yes, he was grateful and he credits his survival to a morning prayer he says everyday before surfing.

So even though white sharks are commonly known to hang out off the Northern California coast in fall, they can on occasion be spotted off the coastline of Oregon. They prey on elephant seals and sea lions. Really? That’s interesting. It seems this particular shark had apparently mistaken Mr. Gumm’s silhouette as one of the many pinnipeds. Oh, that makes me feel so much better. It was mistaken identity. Right.

Okay, if that’s the case, then what accounts for the deaths of three more people who have died recently off the southwest coast of Australia, a renowned aquatic playground from a rogue man-eating predator? This area of the world has been better known for dolphin and whale watching cruises, white sandy beaches, world-class surf breaks and the peppery Shiraz of its Margaret River wineries than for shark attacks.

A 32 year old Florida man who had moved to the area six months ago was diving solo off a boat by Rottnest Island, a few miles away from the city of Perth. Again, just like Bobby Gumm, he was attacked last week. But this time someone died. This episode pushed Australian authorities to take emergency legal action, then set up tuna-bait hooks as a deterrent to protect the area’s many inhabitants for the first time in history since the great white was named a protected specie.

Mistaken identity?

Since I live off the southern coastline of California, a well known surfing mecca, it made me think. At any given moment, one of hundreds of surfers who ride the waves, come off the lip or shoot the pier could end up the same way. Yet, just as these other individuals, they all must recognize the potential danger involved before they take the risk, right?

How many of us think about the risk we take in our everyday lives? We may feel there are days when we are swimming amongst the sharks and that at any turn we could come under attack. Then there are others who have already been assaulted, undergone surgery and are now going through therapy licking their wounds.

Some of us lately have been going through real challenges in our lives. Some have been dealing with sickness, death, unemployment, family issues, and the list goes on. Although we try not to make this our main concern, sometimes it’s all we can do to get through the day. Just know that you are not alone.

Yes, there are times when we all need to put things into perspective, but sometimes there is really nothing we can do. Sometimes—reality bites!

 

So please let me, what do you think? Do you or have you ever surfed? Do you enjoy snorkeling along the shore? Do you feel safe? And how many of you feel like you’ve been attacked lately by one of life’s many unexpected challenges? Because it seems like we are all going through one thing or another and we could use a little encouragement.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, feel free to follow by email. And thank you all for your many kind thoughts and salutations!
Karen

 

A big shout out to Kristen Lamb and all my new classmates in my #WANA1011 class and all others that may grace my presence by visiting this post. Take care and make it a great day!

Click to "Follow Me" and receive new posts by email

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