FINDING A MENTOR

FOCUS ON THE FAMILY

 

From TODAY, Voices

Wednesday, 04-February-2009

 

By Dr James Dobson

 

One of the best contributions a single mother can make for a young son is to find him a mentor. In her book, Mothers and Sons, Mrs Jean Lush talks about the challenges all mothers face in raising sons.

 

The ages of 4 to 6 are especially important and difficult. The boy still loves his mother, but he feels the need to separate from her and gravitate toward a male image. If he has a father at home, he’ll want to spend more time with his dad apart from his mother and sisters. But what if the mother is raising her son alone? It’s difficult for any parent to admit to limitations, but a mother can’t expect to meet all of her son’s needs at this time of his life. Her best option is to recruit a man who can act as a mentor to her son, spending time with him and providing a role model of mature masculinity. Of course, mentors can be difficult to find. Single mothers should consider friends, relatives, or neighbours who can offer as little as an hour or two a month. Or you could engage the help of a mature young adult who likes kids.

 

Certainly, single mothers have more than enough demands on their time and energy, but the effort they put into finding a mentor is a worthwhile investment in the well-being of their sons. 

 

Sunlight and Vitamin D - an inseparable pair

From TODAY, Health
Tuesday, 03-February-2009

I was reminded of a parent who was complaining about her primary school child getting tanned under the sun during the child's PE session. Of course, it may be valid, but on the other hand, it may be over-protectionism. I held my peace, until the school replied: no such thing as PE under the blazing sun right above your head, or no direct exposure to sunlight. Actually, the argument was, why are the students wearing a short-sleeved uniform, and why not make it long-sleeve to protect them from the sun?

I remember when we were students, the 7am to 9am sun was our body heater, and Vitamin D enhancer. These were all explained to us by our teachers, so although we were complaining of getting hot and tanned, which, or course, is reduced by the passing of time, we understood that eventually, the exercise was for our good, primarily physical, and secondarily, mental (from the bones come our blood, with blood our life).

Anyway, here is the recent article from the daily paper Today. Read on, and find out more. Sun or no sun?

FOCUS ON THE FAMILY

 

From TODAY, Voices

Tuesday, 03-February-2009

 

By Dr James Dobson

 

The self-doubt that typically accompanies adolescence, if experienced in small doses, may not be all that bad. When we see our children struggling with the conflicts associated with the teen years, especially low self-esteem, it’s tempting to wish we could sweep aside all those problems.

 

Sometimes we have to be reminded ourselves that the human personality grows through adversity. “No pain, no gain,” as they say. Those who have conquered their problems are more secure than those who have never faced them.

 

I learned the value of mild stress when I was 13 and 14 years old. It was the two most painful years of my life. I found myself in a social crossfire that gave rise to intense feelings of inferiority and doubt.

 

Yet, those two years have contributed more positive qualities to my adult personality than any other span of my life. I can say confidently that your child needs the minor setbacks and disappointments that come his way.

 

So, our task as parents is not to eliminate every challenge for our children, but to serve as a confident ally on their behalf, encouraging them when they are distressed, intervening when the threats are overwhelming, and above all, giving them the tools they need to overcome the obstacles.

 

FOCUS ON THE FAMILY

 

From TODAY, Voices

Monday, 02-February-2009

 

By Dr James Dobson

 

I talk to a number of mothers, especially those with younger kids, who feel like they’re suffering from burnout – If they have to do one more load of laundry, or tie one more shoelace, they’ll just explode!

 

This problem of parental burnout is much more common today than it was a few years ago. Remember something called “the extended family”? When grandmothers and aunts and sisters all lived nearby and everyone gathered together daily? Those days are apparently gone forever. That’s why I strongly encourage the stay-at-home mother of small children to resist the temptation to pull within the walls of that house and allow them to collapse on her. She should develop relationships with neighbours and other mothers, and get together regularly. They could trade baby-sitting services, so each is free to go bowling or shopping.

 

The husband of a full-time mother should understand her circumstances. He should be careful to schedule a date with her every week or two, leaving the children at home, and even forgetting about them for an evening. This helps the couple to connect and achieve intimacy.

 

In short, burnout can be avoided, but only if we pause long enough to recharge the batteries. 

 

 

I've been seeing my Secunia PSI report for some time, and it was telling me that my Office PC Macromedia Flash Player ActiveX was unsecure (take note, unsecure, not insecure). And since there is a link to an update, I clicked that. Not once, not twice, but many, many times! Can you imagine that? Even though I know that there are five options, one of which is the blog/forum link, I never bothered to go there.

 

But today, after 3x of re-installing the update, and still ending up with the same 'unsecure' message, I decided to go to the forum.

 

Voila!

 

That is where I found the key, the solution to the 'mysterious' no-change status of the ActiveX, despite numerous times of update and re-installation.

 

But that's not only the point. The good thing about forums is that you always get some by-products.

 

Which is why I write this blog now. I stumbled upon a new freeware, I haven't tried it, but the guys in the forum knew what they were doing, and as I've gone through the description of the product in their webpage, I'm putting it up for everybody who might want to grab it and use it. It is FREEWARE, and that makes a huge difference, when, after trying, you like the product and want to keep it, and use it for life, or until the better product comes. Mind you, it was described to be 'better' than the usual Windows Add/Remove utility, and anything that is 'better' than the incumbent may stay for long (if not swallowed up, choked dead, or squeesed dry).

 

So, here it is, Revo uninstaller!

 

.NET Framework multiple versions installed - need to clean-up?

I was thinking, since the alert from Secunia Personal Software Inspector keeps on coming back, telling that MS .NET FW 1.x is posing a security threat, and that when running windows update, it is not reported as a security threat. That's my first roadblock.

 

I went in, and found that several versions of the .NET framework are installed in my development PC. For Java versions, I know that I am supposed to uninstall the older versions manually, as this is not done by the updater program, but what about MS .NET FM older versions?

 

I browsed through the wide networld, and found some answers.

 

I'm sharing to all who might be encountering the same problems and asking the same questions.

 

Read the articles to gain some nifty insights as provided by the authors.

 

Link 1: http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2007/08/31/4678599.aspx

Link 2: http://cybernetnews.com/2008/12/18/remove-or-reinstall-net-framework/

Link 3: http://kbalertz.com/938244/Availability-services-Messaging-hotfix-rollup-package.aspx

Link 4: http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/17/33OPsecadvise_1.html

 

I am linking directly to the tool provided by MS for cleaning up .NET FM versions, and as always - USE WITH CAUTION.

Uninstall Cleanup Tool for Microsoft .NET Framework versions

 

Or course, there are a lot more articles and discussions on "removing older versions of the .NET framework", and these are yours for the browsing…

 

Ciao!

 

Recession, Layoffs, then Jobhunting!

From TODAY, Tech
Friday, 30-January-2009

Layoffs, layoffs everywhere,
and all the world in crisis;
Jobhunt, jobhunt, everyone,
which applicant to pick?!

Some tips on how to do your jobhunting, even if you haven't been retrenched, or if you want to switch job...

FOCUS ON THE FAMILY

From TODAY, Voices
Friday, 30-January-2009

By Dr Bill Maier

One of the greatest gifts you can give your mate is to believe in them.

Sometimes the difference between pursuing a dream and staying on the couch is as simple as having somebody say: “You can do it!”

And what better way to strengthen your mate’s self-esteem than to encourage them when they have a goal?

One of a husband’s greatest needs is to have a wife who respects and believes in him, no matter what.

Even when we fail, we want to think that our wives are behind us, cheering us on, saying: “Don’t worry about that; you’ll make it next time!”

And wives need a husband who will listen to their dreams and encourage them to pursue their goals and to stay the course, no matter how hard it gets.

When life knocks us for a loop, it’s nice to know there’s somebody in our corner cheering us on.

Never underestimate the power of believing in your spouse.

Dad's Dilemma Resulted to Murder

From TODAY, World
Friday, 30-January-2009

Husband and wife divorced, and with the ensuing battle of custody over their 3 children, the father became psychologically unstable, then...

CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY

FOCUS ON THE FAMILY

From TODAY, Voices
Thursday, 29-January-2009

By Dr Bill Maier

What would you say is the most important asset in a marriage?

According to Drs Les and Leslie Parrot, the most important asset is your attitude.

It’s the one thing that you have total control over – even when everything around you seems out of control.

For example, if you are miserable today, you could probably point to a set of circumstances that made you that way.

But you’d be wrong.

It’s not what happens that makes us unhappy; it’s our attitude toward it.

And attitude is a choice.

Mr Chuck Swindoll once said that life is 10 per cent what happens to us and 90 per cent how we react to it.

Happy couples aren’t happy because everything always goes their way.

They’re happy because they choose to rise above their circumstances and take charge of how they will and won’t react to them.

Using a baseball analogy, when life throws you a curve ball, you shake it off, smile and wait for the next pitch.

Perinatal Blues

From TODAY, News
Thursday, 29-January-2009

Perinatal woes, husbands be aware of what your pregnant spouse is going through...