Kiva- loans that change lives

I want to tell you about this really awesome website Kiva.org

Kiva.org is all about microfinance. Microfinance is a really cool way to lend money. You lend a small amount of money, usually under $100, and that is combined with loans from others and then once the total is raised, the loan is giving to someone in a poor country. With Kiva.org, the smallest amount you can lend is $25.

What I am thinking about doing is lending $25 a month to a different entrepreneur. Then as the loans start to be repaid, I will reinvest that money in someone else. There is no financial gain for the lender because all the money you loan is paid back without interest. I think that helping someone buy a goat for milk or bags for onions, just to help them is far more rewarding then making a 4% return on $25.

I hope that you will check out Kiva.org and check back here for updates on the entrepreneurs that we decide to loan to.

Monday Morning

Today is the start of a new work week. There is a lot of pressure on poor little Monday. A good Monday will start the week of great but a bad one could take out Tuesday and Wednesday without a second thought.

I am looking forward to going back to work today and moving on from this weekend. This weekend was full of ups and downs. We were going to move some friends into their new house but once again, that has been put off till next weekend. My little sitter (20) had a baby girl and is starting to realize that maybe having a kid is not a fun as she thought it would be. My best and his girlfriend lost their baby girl when for some reason mom went into labor four months early. And my wife and I got into a pretty good fight.

I wish that there was something that I could do for my friend. He is the most loyal person and nicest guy you would ever meet and my heart hurts for him. I love you man.

The big planned events for this week are that my wife has two nursing tests this week, I am taking the cat to the vet, and I have a doctors appointment on Thursday with the VA. Wish us luck.

It's Morning Time

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved the quietness of the morning. The morning as always been the most peaceful time for me and I enjoy waking before anyone else and surrounding myself in the silence of the world.

I love the fact that the things I might have been stressing over the night before seem to be much clearer in the morning.

The world starts every morning with a fresh slate and I love to see how the day unfolds. I listen to the news almost all day and hour by hour the slate starts to fill up. It is so exciting to learn about everything that is going on in the world and to see the impacts on my own life and on those that I love.

I hope that you will decide to check back in on this blog and leaves some comments as well. I would love it if people read it in the morning over a cup of coffee or tea as part of their morning routine.

Good idea: Crane Lake wine

I don’t know about you but I’ve never been much of a wine person myself. It as always been easier to just order a beer then try to pick out a wine to try. I am happy to announce that tastes do change. A few months ago my wife and I started to really drink wine and we’ve had a blast doing it!

Our current favorite wine is CRANE LAKE brand, either the Cabernet or the merlot. You really cannot go wrong with either of these to wines. I prefer the Merlot and the wife likes the Cabernet, which is a little bit of a surprise because the Merlot is a little sweeter.

Good news: Crane Lake wine does not make my wife cough. If you cough with wine then Crane lake might be for you.

Better news, Crane lake at Winco is only $3.49 a bottle.

Looking to spend a little more? Go for the Chilean wines ☺

Telekinesis iPhone Remote

I have found an application for the iphone that will let you access EVERYTHING on your home computer right on your iphone! I had to dig through several different sites and blogs to figure this all out and my goal is to give you all that information right here.

Step 1: go here. http://code.google.com/p/telekinesis/ and download the file iPhoneRemote_0.9.21.zip under the Featured Downloads on the right side of screen.

Step 2: unzip the file after it downloads and click on the iPhone Remote application (may take a second to load)

Step 3. Enter in a user name and password. I suggest you make this different then your other user names and passwords. Hit enter. This should launch Safari and connect to your computer via your IP address. The web address should be
https://:5010

If the page opens correctly then enter the URL (address) into your iPhone’s browser. You will be prompted to “Accept Website Certificate.” Click Accept. Enter in your user name and password and hit Log in. Bam! You’re in!

If the page did not open then you will need to find your computer’s IP address. To do this go to http://www.whatismyip.com/ Once you have the IP address, goto
https://:5010

Once the page is open I clicked the blue “+” at the bottom of screen and clicked the “add to Home Screen” and now it will be on your home screen like an application.

Up to this point you can now access all the documents and files on your computer (not music or video)

In order to play music/videos you have to go into the Iphone Remote Preferences.
Once there, click on the box that says Share media insecurely – This is why you want to have a really good User name and password. Otherwise someone would be able to access and download your media files.

Launch the program on you Iphone and go into the file screen. Find the music or video that you want to watch and click on it. If it is playable in Itunes then it should play on your phone.

In order to access my media I had to change my firewall settings. Here’s how

Step 1: log into your router
To do this you need to know your router ID which can be found by going to your System Preferences, then Network, then TCP/IP, then copy the Router field -192.168.?.?

(If you have never signed into your router then the following website might help http://www.phenoelit-us.org/dpl/dpl.html )

Step 2: This step is going to be a little different for each router. I went into the firewall settings and selected the computer that I wanted to access. Then I clicked to allow all applications. Then Save.

Step 3: Step 2 changed my IP address so I had to go back to http://www.whatismyip.com/ to get my network IP address. Be sure not to give this to anyone or the might be able to access your computer.

Step 4: From your iphone goto https://yourIPgoeshere:5010
You can now enjoy your media files on your Iphone…You Rock!

****Final thing. Your computer must be on, logged in, and have an internet connection. I am using a laptop so after I log in, i just close the screen almost all the way and let it "fall" asleep on it's own. ****

Hopefully this was easy to follow. If not, please let me know and I will attempt to make things clearer.

Book List of 2008

Coming Soon!


This is going to be the list of books I've read in 2008