Dr Layne McDonald on Blogger

Lots of organizations coordinate youth community service work.  And you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would oppose the idea of kids pitching in and helping make the community a better place for everybody to live.  It suits the community because we are using the youth's boundless energy and physical stamina for a good cause.  It is ideal for the causes that have been helped because the work has no end.  It is perfect for kids because it allows them to think about other people, gives them a strong sense of self-esteem, helps them learn new skills, and will enable them to meet others in the community they might never meet otherwise. But when those in leadership at the local, state, or national level propose some form of uniform mandatory community service for youth, it seems to change the nature of the program so dramatically that the discussion turns sour pretty fast. It might be that the term ìmandatory community service has a negative connotation because, ...

Whether it is you who is approaching those golden years we call retirement or one of your loved ones is in those years, no question making that transition from the working world and decades of responsibility and hard work is not always easy.  The sudden change of lifestyle and the feeling of no longer being helpful is one of the most challenging aspects of retirement and growing older.  When you combine that with reduced activity and the natural decline in physical ability that aging brings, you have a powerful emotional transition. That is why people who actively counsel the elderly have learned that the most positive thing a person can do to combat the depression and sense of ìuselessnessî' that plague retirees is to make themselves useful. And there is no better place for them to do that than in community service. There are a variety of reasons why volunteering among the elderly is a great idea. If you are in a position to counsel an aging family member or friend, it is imp...

Each year, as the Christmas season begins to go into full gear, we hear the complaint that Christmas has become commercialized and that we have forgotten its true meaning. î  When we make that observation, it must come from a nostalgic time, perhaps when we were children, and we remember that Christmas is about the sacrifice of the Christ child and that the gifts we give reflect the gift of life that God has brought to us. Even if Christmas is not full of religious imagery, the stories, carols, and traditions of the Christmas season point to values that are more about giving to each other out of the heart and being together as a family than the economic side of the season and the hustle and bustle that can weary the soul more than bless it. That is why it might be time to try a different kind of Christmas this year.  If you feel that your family has gotten too bogged down in the commercial aspect of the holiday, maybe there is way to remind each other that Christmas is about g...

Cordless phones, also known as portable telephones, use a wireless handset in order to communicate with the phoneís base, which is connected to a telephone landline. In order for cordless phones to function properly, they must be used within a specified proximity to the base. Most individuals find that they can use their cordless phones throughout the house or in the yard without interruption. In their earliest days, rotary telephones were common and required nothing more than a connection to a landline. Cordless phones require the same, along with an electrical outlet in order to charge the internal battery. This function is what allows the telephone to operate when away from the base and these batteries are automatically recharged when the phone is not in use. After years of use, the battery may need to be replaced. This can often be difficult on older models, but a compatible battery can sometimes be purchased directly from the manufacturer. In some cases, it may be less expensive t...

 I recently replaced the business phone systems in the company I own to accommodate the needs of my staff. I wish I could say that it was to accommodate the needs of our customers, but sadly, that isn't the case. You see, our old phone system had many more extensions than we had lines for. It was built with the assumption that inter-office communications would be utilized more than incoming and outgoing calls. Since my company deals primarily with internet business and doesn't do much in the way of transactions over the phone, the system I put in place in the late 90's had served us well until very recently. As of late, I have had vendors who had traditionally reached me by phone sending me e-mails. They were complaining that it's often impossible to get through to me. I looked into the matter and this is what I foundÖ Most of my employees were spending a great deal of time talking on the phone. They weren't talking to vendors, customers, service providers or other ...

Statistics show that the first three hours after a child's abduction are most critical to recovery efforts. By combining the efforts of the wireless industry with the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Center for Missing & Exploited ChildrenÆ (NCMEC) and law enforcement agencies, the Wireless AMBER Alerts™ initiative will be a catalyst for the more than 200 million wireless subscribers to aid in the search for and recovery of an abducted child.  AMBER  According to NCMEC, more than 260 children have been recovered since the AMBER Alert program began in 1997. The program-an early warning system to find abducted children-started as a local effort in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area and became a national initiative in 2003. AMBER stands for "America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response." The program is a legacy to Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, and was later found murdered. An est...

Before you decide to go wireless or not, there are many points to consider.  You may be asking yourself if wireless is for you.  Well, today, many people are asking themselves the same question.  If you watch the headline news, you are bound to see stories involving mergers, federal regulations, and new tax rules.  This all points to the fact that VoIP has made a definite impression on American citizens and is here to stay.  It may be difficult for some people to remove the telephone cords from their homes; we have depended on them for over 100 years.  But once many people take the time to weigh the pros and the cons, most choose to go wireless. Here are some reasons, why you should make the switch to wireless. 1. Wireless Creates a Faster Network Wireless networks are fast.  With VoIP, you can create a network that incorporates data, audio, video, and computer web features. You can easily monitor your network for problems and troubleshooting is much...