Category Inspire

A book, some Baci and the ocean… What could be better?

brilliantviewpoint 15 Comments

Recently, I was in the San Francisco area. I was by the ocean, went into a very small book store. Small bookstores are wonderful, they have a more interesting choice of books. Usually, many local authors, which I like.

As I went to purchase The Cat Who Saved Books, they had the Italian Baci candies at the check out. What a treat! I haven’t had them for so long. I thought it was a lovely idea to buy a book, a few Baci chocolates, then head to the ocean and start reading. I bought three!

This story sounded interesting about a boy who is depressed when his grandfather dies. He meets a talking cat and goes on quests to “save books.” I was curious about the talking cat and saving books, how/where and what kind?

I’m at the beginning stages of reading this book, so no book review yet. Summer is coming, I think this will end up in the beach bag for summer reading. Life is so busy right now, no time to read.

What small bookstore have you found lately? We do need to support them, I try!

Ah… Amazon and feeling cheated.

brilliantviewpoint 18 Comments

We all know that ordering off of Amazon is quick and easy. I don’t do it very often, prefer to shop local, but when I can’t find what I want —> There is Amazon.

I recently ordered a backpack. I needed one, shopped around, was trying to find a sale, wasn’t finding one, so had to buy at full price. I found this Adidas bag I liked. It was $60, I wanted to spend $30 or below; however, my daughter has one, good quality, I liked the style, so bought it.

Imagine my SURPRISE. I am looking it over and I see this tag that says, “CLEARANCE $17.98”

It’s hard to be HAPPY with a purchase, when we see a tag like that. I engaged with Amazon’s Customer Service. They said they understood my frustration, but sales come and go, they couldn’t do anything. So, I have to decide, how much ENERGY do I want to put into this? I KNOW I should write to the top, let the CEO know what’s going on. If they are selling at $60, sale over, then take the $17.98 Clearance tag off.

Actually, writing to the top helps. I recently bought a sofa from a big Dept store. They sent me a USED sofa, it must have been a floor model or been in storage for YEARS. I called Customer Service, they said an inspector would need to come in 3 weeks, etc. I didn’t want to deal with that. So, I wrote to the CEO of the Dept store. I took a guess on his email.

Guess what, within a day, I received a response. Within four days, bad sofa picked up and account credited. I had sent photos of the “bad sofa,” I was polite, but asked if this was the type of quality this Dept store was sending out. I wanted HIM (CEO) to be aware of this.

So, as I write this…

I KNOW — I must once again, sit at my computer, crack my knuckles and write a stellar message, wasting valuable time to seek justice OR at least alert the top that this is happening.

MAYBE the top will have the same message as Customer Service, an “Oh well, sorry.” However, there is a chance that they will be “shocked too,” and make things right!

It’s exhausting to fight for justice.

This Bald Eagle Dad is Incubating a Rock

brilliantviewpoint 6 Comments

I was catching up on the news the other day and I saw a short segment on this bald eagle and his rock. Have you seen it?

This bald eagle’s name is Murphy, he lives at the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri. Apparently, he’s a devoted Dad, he’s incubating a rock. He wounded his wing when he was young, so will never fly. Murphy is going through Spring hormones, so that’s why he’s in “nesting phase.” He built the nest, found this rock and has been taking care of it. He’s very territorial of his rock. It takes 35 days before an egg hatches. Well, we know this “ah… egg” won’t be hatching.

You can view Murphy taking care of his rock here.

The video is worth watching. Murphy has excellent parenting skills.

These bald eagles are so beautiful!

The Sneaker Battle: Adidas vs. Puma

brilliantviewpoint 8 Comments

Last night, I was looking for a show to watch on MHz Choice, an international streaming app. As I was browsing, I saw this movie, “Rivals Forever – The Sneaker Battle.” You can tell from the photo that this looked interesting. German subtitles.

Imagine my surprise when the story turns out to be about the sneaker brands, Adidas and Puma. I had no idea these brands were German and created by two brothers. If you don’t know the story, I don’t want to give it away. Definitely, interesting and eye opening. A great, but sad story.

Highly recommend it!

I feel like Roger Ebert, two thumbs up.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

A Cat is WATCHING you!

brilliantviewpoint 23 Comments

Recently, I saw a video that showed how different pets wake up their owners. There were some really aggressive pets. One dog pulled himself up on the side of the bed, took his paw and proceeded to hit the owner in the face, multiple times. It was funny, well, not to the owner. Another clip showed an owner sleeping and the cat went on top of its owner and bit the owner’s nose. OUCH!

My daughter was asked to watch a friend’s daughter for a week while they went out of town. Here’s what’s comical. My daughter was hoping all would go well with this young girl. Turns out the girl was easy, it was the cat that was full of drama.

The cat would constantly whine and cry. She didn’t know what to do. She gave it food, water, petted the cat — WHAT else? I laughed and said, “You used to do that when you were a baby, I couldn’t figure it out.”

One morning, the cat wanted breakfast. The cat jumped on the bed. THIS is what she saw, two eyes staring at her.

I don’t have any pets, just an alarm clock with a rooster sound. You laugh? It works, I hate it, I get up!

How does your pet wake you up?

St Patrick’s Day this week – NEED a book for LUCK?

brilliantviewpoint 5 Comments

Since St. Patrick’s Day is this week, I thought I’d share this book. A friend recently told me – GO GET IT! I listened to it in audio. As with any book, some really “good” parts, then parts where I yawned a bit, but didn’t want to “fast forward,” because I “might” miss something CRITICAL.

Has it changed my fortune? Stay tuned in the coming months to FIND OUT.

Spring is almost here. LUCK does seem to be in the air!

When Earpods go haywire!

brilliantviewpoint 19 Comments

Something really funny happened to me recently. I walk a lot and needed some Earpods. The Powerbeats that Apple recommends are good, but pricey. I have a pair, but they are getting old.

I was at TJ Max the other day and I saw these Earpods that looked pretty snazzy. Great price, around $35, I think. DONE, I decided to stop searching for Powerbeats, buy these instead.

There’s a reason why Apple always recommends using “their” products versus other brands.

Here’s what happened…

I charged these new earpods, which seemed to do well. I put them in my ears and headed out for a walk. My girlfriend called. I could hear her really well. I was feeling proud of my purchase and saving money. BUT WAIT… that didn’t last long.

Here’s where it went haywire. It was really windy, I went to put my hair behind my ear. Doing this, I gently touched the Earpod. Well, that hung up on my girlfriend and turned my audio book on. How weird is that. I didn’t push on anything, just barely touched the headphone. My girlfriend was calling me back and I was still trying to turn the audio book off.

Wait – there’s more. Somehow, these Earpods made my Garmin watch go crazy too. This has NEVER happened. Suddenly, my watch was indicating that I needed to count my breathing. I did E -V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G to get out of that breathing segment. No button I pushed worked. My Garmin watch kept telling me how PROUD they were of me for using the breathing segment. You know, those rah-rah messages they send us. I was really going insane.

Man-O-Man! When I took those Earpods off they were constantly flashing red/blue, red/blue. It was so annoying. I wondered what other device of mine these Earpods were trying to “attack!”

I had renewed appreciation for my Powerbeats. I never had an issue like this.

So, cheaper is not always better. Not in this case.

What electronic issues have you had lately?

Travel: Italy’s Cinque Terre

brilliantviewpoint 1 Comment

Sometimes a photograph is all we need to brighten our day. Winter in Italy.

My friend recently took this beautiful picture of Cinque Terre. I haven’t been there. It looks like we would definitely get our hiking/steps in, right.

Spring will be here soon. Time to go on an adventure somewhere.

Warning, California Prop 65 – Cancer and Reproductive Harm… on EVERYTHING?

brilliantviewpoint 20 Comments

Have you noticed this issue lately? You look at something, want to buy it, and when you take it out of the package or turn dish around on the bottom you see the CA Prop 65 Cancer and Reproductive Harm Warning.

I ask you, “Why are companies even allowed to make the product if they put that warning label on it?”

Take this flashlight. I found it over the holidays. An outdoor shop had a sample to test. I tried it out. I measured it, so you could see, it’s small, but powerful. I thought it was great. Well, I get home, I pull the NEW flashlight out of the box and THERE is the CANCER WARNING.

It’s funny. As soon as I saw the WARNING, I almost dropped the flashlight on the floor. You know, like if you suddenly saw a spider on your hand. Fling it away. What does that warning really mean? If I keep holding that flashlight I could get cancer?

This is maddening. I was in a furniture store the other day. I saw a leather recliner. Nice looking blue color. I went to look at the tag. It said, “CA Prop 65 – Cancer, etc. WARNING.” Really, a recliner too? Now, who in their right mind would buy this leather recliner? Do you want to sit in your expensive chair with the constant thought of cancer on your mind?. I saw some dishes at the store. Guess what, turned them around and on the bottom — the cancer warning.

I’ve seen the warning in the past, but lately, I seem to see it constantly. No wonder there are so many people sick with cancer. It seems to be everywhere. Did you hear the egg one now? Fried eggs could cause bladder cancer, but boiled eggs are Ok.

So, opinions — What do I do with the flashlight? Take the risk of getting cancer or return it?