First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.
Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets,
and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps,not helmets, on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes..

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren’t overweight.

WHY?

Because we were always outside playing…that’s why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.

–And, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, andn there were no lawsuits from those accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and -although we were told it would happen- we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.
The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas..

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of those born

between 1925-1970, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it ?

~~~~~~~

The quote of the month by Jay Leno:

“With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?”

For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us…go ahead and delete this.

For the rest of us…..pass this on.

– Dale Carnegie

Now…. to fulfill that promise!

—-

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:  If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…. How many other things are we missing?

http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/bell.asp

The weekends are going to be even sweeter in September with free Zone 2 bus travel.

For each Saturday and Sunday in September, you can travel for FREE by bus to any destination within Zone 2.

It’s all part of discovering how handy buses are to catch cross-town. What’s more, buses are a great way to get from one leisure point to another on the weekend.

The dates for free weekend bus travel in Zone 2 are as follows:

• 5-6 September 2009;
• 12-13 September 2009;
• 19-20 September 2009,
• 26-27 September 2009.

On the above weekends, free travel is available to passengers travelling on buses (including NightRider) within Zone 2. This includes travel within the Zone 1/2 overlap and the 2/C overlap.

Free travel on Zone 2 buses is available from 12.01am on Saturday morning to 11.59pm on Sunday night on the weekends listed above.

Your local Zone 2 bus driver will be happy to wave you on free-of-charge during the weekends in September. Just be sure to have a valid Metcard if you’re travelling beyond Zone 2 or switching to a train or bus.

To get to Zone 2 shopping centres, cinemas, parks and sporting grounds, check out metropolitan maps and timetables.

So why don’t you give it a go? With free bus travel at your fingertips and Zone 2 ready to be explored, the weekends have just become a whole lot better.

source: http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/news/news-promotions/free-zone-2-travel-on-weekends-in-september

Now this is brilliant for those of you relying on PT to get you places and when Google Maps and Whereis fail miserably.

NOW, all you have to do is wait for the train… or bus… or tram..

http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/

“A house must be built on solid foundations if it is to last.
The same principle applies to man, otherwise he too will sink
back into the soft ground and become swallowed up by the world
of illusion.”

– Sai Baba

source:

http://www.aweber.com/

Your Inspirational Quote
Monday September 07, 2009

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http://www.aweber.com/

We’d like to share a message to you from an Indigenous homelands resident, Barayuwa Mununggurr:

“We all have equal rights to be clothed, to be sustained, to have shelter, and this also includes our homelands, big and small. These are places of significance to us, that have our songlines, where our names come from, where our dance comes from, where our art comes from, and where our law and culture comes from – it makes us who we are.

Next week we are meeting with the Government to look at ways in which we can work together in partnership for our future in our Homelands. But we can only solve this together. When we walk into meetings at Parliament House, it would make us so confident to have thousands of Australians there in spirit – then I’m sure they would hear us.”

Can you help Barayuwa by signing a petition to secure the future of these vibrant homelands?

www.getup.org.au/campaign/Homelands&id=747

Homelands are small remote communities where Indigenous Australians are living on land that has nourished their mothers and fathers for thousands of generations. They are demonstrated success stories. Homelands mean better health and longer life expectancies. They are areas where locals are applying traditional knowledge to ‘care for country’ and tackle climate change through traditional burning techniques and carbon preservation. Plus they are the source of much of Australia’s beautiful Indigenous art.

But these success stories are under threat. The NT Government plan to funnel funding increases into just 20 ‘growth towns’, leaving over 600 communities with woefully inadequate resources. In effect this will force homelands residents off their lands to access services that are often hundreds of kilometers away. The Federal Government needs to step up and ensure these communities receive the funding they need.

Next week Barayuwa and a delegation of leaders from homeland communities are meeting the federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs. At stake is the survival of over 600 unique, vibrant Indigenous communities.

The Government think they’re meeting with just 8 people next week. But imagine if those 8 can carry with them the support of tens of thousands more – a pile of petition signatures so large it takes all of them to carry it in.

Can you make it happen? Watch this personal video message from the homelands and sign the petition before Barayuwa presents it to key politicians next week:

www.getup.org.au/campaign/Homelands&id=747

Thanks for being part of this,
The GetUp team

PS – The future of over 600 vibrant Indigenous communities is under threat. Support Indigenous leaders by signing this petition before they present it to key politicians next week.