Bradley

Dead tree

Flowers Doodle

Sunflowers

Brushes

Customer Complaint Business Letter - Lab 4

Jeff Interiano

Customer Service Rep, Popfizz Beverages

911 Diabetes Drive

Waukegan, IL 60085

(123) 456-7890

jokshan@yahoo.com

Thur 1st September 2016

I.M. Clueless

12345 Sesame St.

Paddock Lake, WI 10000

Dear Mr. Clueless,

I understand that your party was ruined and you were embarrassed  because all of your Popfizz Diet sodas floated in your ice chest giving the appearance that they were defective cans, while the others sank to the bottom.  

Well, here at Popfizz, we are dedicated to providing the most satisfying beverages for our customers.  To show our appreciation in your business, we will reimburse you with the cost of your diet sodas.  However, to prevent future occurrences of this situation, I would like to inform you of the nature of diet sodas.  Lab tests of our product have shown that diet soda is less dense than our sugared varieties.  This is because the sugar in the regular soft drinks make the product more dense and the can will sink in water.  The cans of diet soda will naturally float because they are same density of the ice water and the cans also have added air.  For any questions or concerns of this matter, please feel free look it up on youtube like everyone else.  Ta ta for now.

Sincerely,

Jeff

Red Jalapeño

Money Tree

Repentance - What it is, what it is not.

Repentance is turning away from what you are doing, to go completely the other direction.  In the context of "sin," it means to stop sinning.  Repentance is not doing something wrong and keep asking for forgiveness over and over again.  If that is the case, repentance has not happened and the guilt of sin  remains, we are not forgiven.  We cannot go to heaven if our sins are not forgiven.  Our sins must be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  2.  God forbid.  How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Hebrews 10:26 For is we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Matthew 6:14-15  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15.  But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Pachira Aquatica a.k.a "Money Tree"

Phone in the Fridge

This really happened...

See the Dragonfly?

Jalapeño Plant 6/9 to 6/17

Hammie, syrian hamster

This is not his home, this is just his "hangout" while his aquarium is getting cleaned.  I discovered that hamsters need more room than these plastic habitats provide.  It's like if a human lived in a closet.  Not comfortable and not enough room.  Hamsters need room too! (www.aeonity.com/jeff)

Jalapeño Plant

Succulent

Valerie and her Grandma Clarice

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Mary's Bird Shop

Words with Friends

Hahaha..., nobody wants to play when I am winning, what's up with that?!

Furry Gears (Novella)

Scruffle, scruffle.  Scratch, scratch.  "There is something in that trash can!" Exclaimed Seaman Recruit Davenport.  "Oh, that's the squirrel everybody likes to feed, they call him P. Nutty." Said Seaman Recruit McGurts.  Just then the squirrel climbed up out of the half full trash can and onto the pavement close to where the two sailors were standing.  They had just witnessed him chomp down a french fry whole as if he'd been doing it for years.  He had an orange plastic ring around his neck.  You know, those rings at the top of a milk gallon that the cap was attached to before you opened it.  It looked like he put it on intentionally, as if it were jewelry.  Or maybe it slipped on as he was climbing out of the trash can.

"There he is, P. Nutty..." said another sailor.  The chubby squirrel stood there looking up at Davenport and McGurts, as if waiting for them to give him some food.

Road Trips vs. Flying

A family that wants to strengthen their bond with one another should go on a cross-country road trip instead of flying for their vacation because they can spend quality time together, share interesting experiences and create meaningful memories. There is no greater adventure with the ones you love than being on a one, two or three day road trip to see the country. Some of my fondest summer memories when I was a kid were when my dad would drive the whole family down to Atlantic City or Virginia Beach for the weekend.

Once, when I was a teenager, I was trying to fly back home to Memphis from visiting family in upstate New York for the holidays. There was a problem with the airplane which caused me to be stranded overnight with another passenger, a ninety year old elderly woman. We received rude and marginal service from the lonely hotel restaurant the airline provided us. The elderly woman and I both had a restless and anxious night due to the fear of missing the morning flight. The whole experience was miserable and I have come to dread flying.

The United States has an abundance of landmarks and historical locations a family can visit along their journey. Depending on your starting point, whether it be the East Coast, West Coast or somewhere in the middle, a family would need to take a month vacation to see a good majority of the country.

According to North American tour guide, Peter Greenberg, “I’ve driven across the U.S. many, many times. I do believe that a cross country road trip should be required for Americans. It’s a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to see world-class cities, a wide variety of National Parks and vast stretches of deserts, mountains and plains” (Greenberg). Traveling to a destination with a family or even a group of friends will prove to be rewarding. A road trip makes for an exciting adventure that will create memories to last a lifetime.

Going on an extended trip with loved ones creates many bonding opportunities such as sharing many meals together and stopping for picnics. Meeting new people who have similar interests and people from other parts of the country is another advantage. Staying at a hotel can also be a satisfying experience as you get to enjoy some luxuries that you don’t usually have at home. Some hotels feature excellent recreation facilities such as pools, saunas, gyms and internet cafes. There are many restaurants and tourist spots that run along the major U.S. interstates. Many cities have museums or exhibits that are unique to the area. Some examples would be the Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, which features astronaut training simulations for all ages. Another example would be the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, which features science exhibits, petting zoos and a planetarium. There are numerous theme parks throughout the country such as Six Flags, which are located in many states. There are several national parks such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon that are worth visiting while on an extended road trip. Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota, is another famous landmark and among many that are listed on the National Park Service website, (www.nps.gov). There are plenty of other amazing sites to see, such as the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. In Memphis, Tennessee there is Mud Island, a museum and tourist attraction on the Mississippi River where you can learn about Mark Twain, steamboats and history of the river.

Road trips are just a lot of fun. They provide a chance to really get to know your family members and friends that you would not normally have. It’s a real opportunity for families to grow closer together as they create exciting times and amusing moments. It also allows for a good educational experience as you learn more about the U.S. and what makes every state unique and worth visiting. When driving, a family can take their time, relax and not worry about being anywhere at a certain time. There are no luggage issues to worry about, no security checkpoints, no agents inspecting your belongings and no body scans to walk through. The money you spend on a road trip feels like it is going to good use. It feels like there is a return on your investment. When you look back over the years you will be glad you took those road trips with your family.

Flying, on the other hand, is ordinary and overrated. There is no sense of adventure in flying across the country or just over to another state. I’ve been flying since I was a kid and it’s just not as fun as I remember it. The luxury, excitement and appeal commercial flying had in it’s early days has since faded away. According to Suzy Strutner, Associate Lifestyle Editor for the Huffington Post, “But in the 50s, flying was something different. It was something magical and marvelous. Air travel exploded into its Golden Age, and airplane trips weren’t just a means of getting to your vacation -- they were a vacation in themselves. Passengers dressed in their finest to fly. They lined up for group photos before boarding. Riding an airplane made them feel like a movie star because it pretty much took the salary of a movie star to do so.” The magic is gone now and flying has become a mundane activity. Unless you are flying Business or First Class you get to feel like cattle pushed into a barn stall as you’re squeezed into coach with the rest of the passengers.

For many, flying is a convenient way to travel. But for others, it can be a tremendous burden. Unless you are flying out of a small airport like General Mitchell in Milwaukee, Wisconsin or Harrisburg International Airport in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, you can expect extra long lines as you wait to board your plane. Instead of having a memorable experience with your family, it can be a tiresome, long day as you wait through excessive security lines. Though a family may fly together, the trip is usually not long enough to create any significant memories and it is not the best way to promote family bonding.

The post 9/11 years of traveling for me has turned sour. I dread going to the airport because I never know what may go wrong. There are countless anxieties that flood my mind starting on the morning of my flying day. It’s not until I get off the last flight and pick up my baggage that I can finally sigh out of relief that my day is over. Flying usually isn’t so horrible on every occasion, but it’s the knowledge from experience that it doesn’t take much to ruin my day at the airport.

Imagine bringing a whole family to fly. Now you are spending not hundreds but thousands of dollars for the convenience of getting to a destination within several hours. That is more luggage that has the potential to getting lost as well as more luggage fees. With the family on the journey, where is the excitement? Where is the bonding moments as you are racing to make the connecting flight which is on the other side of the airport. Your first plane is behind schedule so now you have to make up for it hurrying through the airport so you don’t miss your flight. I don’t see how any of this makes a good family vacation.

I have many fond memories of being on the road with my family growing up. None of my memories of flying ever stood out. I am glad for the times we drove because it made it worthwhile to look back and actually remember the things you did when you were young and on vacation with your family.

References

Greenberg, Peter “7 Must See Road Trip Destinations Across America” Petergreenberg.com Web 08 March 2016.
http://petergreenberg.com/2012/05/01/7-must-see-road-trip-destinations-across-america/

Strutner, Susy “This Is What Your Flight Used to Look Like (And It’s Actually Crazy)” Huffingtonpost.com Web 08 March 2016
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/15/air-travel-1950s_n_5461411.html

My Battleship

Upon graduating from navy bootcamp in the summer of 1991, I received orders to one of the most accomplished ships in U.S. naval history:  The battleship, USS Missouri BB-63, or “Mighty Mo” as it was nicknamed.  I had little to no idea how fortunate I was to be sent to such a famous warship.  I didn’t know that the Japanese surrender of World War II was signed just a few yards away from where we held our daily quarters.

I was assigned to Deck Department.  We handled the mooring and rigging lines, ship upkeep and maintenance, underway replenishments as well as helm and lookout watches.  The topdeck was made of teakwood which was a highly used ship building material due to its durability and low maintenance.  In Deck Department there were six divisions which maintained various sections of the ship.  I worked in 5th Division which was responsible for the small boats and their associated areas of topdeck.  

The navy’s way of life was so new to me and the Missouri made it very exciting.  I faced many challenges and hard lessons to learn.  On one occasion, after being on the Missouri for a couple of months, a friend of mine named Tommy and I impulsively decided to drive down to San Diego on a week night.  Our intent was to hang out with Tommy’s friends and drive back to Long Beach (a two hour trip) to be back to the ship by 7:00am for morning muster.  The consequences of poor planning and acting on a whim was a lesson we learned the hard way.  Tommy’s car broke down in San Diego.  We were stuck at his friend’s house waiting on new parts which caused us to be U.A. (unauthorized absence) from the ship for twenty-four hours.  The punishment was not worth the crime.  The price for waiting around and doing nothing in San Diego was fifteen days of restriction to the ship and extra duty.  

My first time underway on the Missouri was our cruise to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  It was December of 1991 and President George Bush Sr. was going to meet the ship at the base for “Operation Remembrance.”  It was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan.  This was a big event for naval dignitaries, historians and the media.  All hands were topside in their dress whites.  Everyone from cooks to engineers had to be in their formal attire, on the mere chance that the President would walk into their areas.  In the opening scenes of the movie Under Siege, real footage of the Missouri pulling into Pearl Harbor and President Bush’s speech was used.  The whole pier was overwhelmed with tents, chairs, red, white & blue decorations and a multitude of people.  All of us on the topside saw President Bush approach the ship and the officer of the deck announced, “United States, arriving.”  I have always heard admirals and other captains announced but hearing the President arrive was monumental. 

A few months later when Under Siege was in the making, Steven Seagal (the main star) and his wife then, Kelly LeBrock, came onboard the Missouri to have lunch with the captain.  I was on watch at the quarterdeck and had the chance to see them up close.  Mr. Seagal was a towering giant, well over six feet tall.  I made eye contact with his wife as she smiled happily.  It seemed that everyone on the ship was finding a reason to be in the vicinity.  My division officer, the First Lieutenant, was used as an “extra” in the film.  He played one of the Chiefs of Staff in the war room.  The movie wasn’t actually filmed on the Missouri but some of the aerial shots may have been authentic.  

The Missouri decommissioned on March 31, 1992, the same day I was to transfer to San Diego, California.  There I served onboard the USS Ranger CV-61, the USS Constellation CV-64 and the USS Jarrett FFG-33.  Finally, in January of 2003 I was up for orders overseas and was sent to a major communications station in central Hawaii.  It was the break I needed after being on so many ships and doing so many deployments.  

Since the Missouri decommissioned, it had been sitting, “moth-balled,” in Bremerton, Washington all of these years.  It had become a faded memory.  In October of 2003 the Missouri was towed back to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to become a museum ship.  It was docked just a few hundred yards from the USS Arizona Memorial.  The place where United States entered and exited World War II were now in the harbor together.  Time and nature had its effect on the old warship.  It was in dire need of maintenance and rehabilitation.  A volunteer workforce was called upon to restore and polish the ship.  Grass was growing out of those old wooden decks I used to maintain.  It was a shock to see the ship in such poor condition.  It reminded me of one of those “life after humans” documentaries.  A young woman named Angie and I volunteered on our day off to help clean and fix the ship.  There were dozens of other sailors from various commands there to contribute.  Once again, excitement over the Missouri was in the air.  

Two years had gone by and in the fall of 2005 some friends and I went to pay the Mighty Mo a visit.  She was squared away, looking clean, sharp and well taken care of.  We took a tour of the ship and I got the chance to see some of the formal officers’ areas that I had never seen before because I was enlisted.  The tour route took us through one of the living areas to show what shipboard life was like.  The compartment that was on display was my very own division’s berthing.  Part of the setting was an ironing board with a set of old dungarees pinned up.  The beds and lockers were the same as I remembered.  I was so fascinated that they used my old berthing and work space as an example.  I felt very privileged to see my humble little home on the Missouri on display for the whole world to see.  From the first day I stepped onboard to that very moment I was honored to be a part of the mighty battleship’s history.  

References
https://ussmissouri.org/learn-the-history/the-ship/ship-characteristics/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105690/  Warner Bros. Under Siege (1992)

pet owners vs non pet owners

I would tell my grandmother that the experiment mentioned in the newspaper is not 100% proof that having a pet will help a person to live longer.  There are a lot of factors and variables that are unknown.  The experiment does specify where the different groups of people come from.  There are other possible variables that could be affecting the groups of people with or without pets.  The researchers in the article are making a correlation of pet ownership to living longer as if it were the cause of the latter.  What the researchers failed to mention was that there are possibly other variables that would be causing people to live longer.  I would tell my grandmother that there is not enough scientific evidence to prove that owning a pet would cause a person to live longer.  For instance, what if the people in the experiment who did not have pets lived in an environment that had long term health risks associated with them such as industrialized pollution as opposed to the other group which may have lived in rural areas that were cleaner and healthier?  There are a lot of unknown and untested factors that could be causing the different test results among pet owners and non pet owners.