Blog of Josh Hall

Yesterday, someone sent me (and a bunch of others) an email saying that cell phone numbers were going public and they had to call some number to make sure they were added to a do not call list.  I got another email from someone else that said that there is a state wide speeding ticket blitz and to be careful.  That same email was flowing around the office twice today and both times I had to tell them it’s false.  Here are the emails:

and the two links on snopes that say they’re false:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/cell411.asp

http://www.snopes.com/politics/traffic/speeding.asp

So basically, if you are going to forward me something, CHECK YOUR SOURCES.  If you don’t have any, CHECK SNOPES.  This is textbook chain letter crap we’ve been dealing with since 1996.  When in doubt, snopes.

Through my childhood, throw my teenage years, through my adulthood, and hopefully continuing through my life, I’ve had the privilege of having some amazing women play a part in my life.  I won’t rank them, because they all are very important to me, each for their own reason.

• Mrs. Sofran – My kindergarten teacher.  She knew me so well and she was so kind.  I was so fond of her, and I still remember her unique nasal voice.
• Mrs. Sepesy – I don’t know her official title, but she was involved with the academic team and "that group" of kids in high school.  She’s probably the most insightful and wise person I’ve ever met.  Truth be told, I asked her if she married me but she said she would never remarry after her husband passed.  She lit up my life every day I got to talk to her with her personality, sarcasm, and sense of humor.  She really cared about us.
• Grandma Hall – I’ve told her before, I wish I have half of her strength and energy when I’m half her age.  She’s over 80, has had a heart attack and stroke, has had so much tragedy in her life, but she still lives alone and can take care of herself pretty well.  My Grandma is awesome.
• My mom – Of course.  How she raised so many kids is beyond me.  So much has gone on in her life, and she is so selfless.  That’s probably her best quality, besides being my mom.
• Harriet – My post office lady.  I miss her.  She retired last July.  Sometimes, I’d make an excuse just to go in and see her.  I’d send her my heart priority mail if she asked for it.  She was so genuine and sincere, and I felt connected over the 5 years or so of me going to see her.  When I went to Italy, I mailed her a post card from the Vatican.  When she retired, she gave me big envelopes to send books in because I’d always buy them from her.  She kept saying that it’d be so much cheaper just to buy a bunch at walmart and pack the books at home, but I always liked coming in with a book and she’d grab me an envelope without me having to ask.
• Cindy – My first psychiatrist/counselor.  I talked about her in a previous post, but she definitely played a part in my life and forming my mind to make decisions.
• All 4 of my sisters – J’aime, Serah, Keren, and Deirdre.  I try to play roles in their lives too, but I wonder if they know how big a part of my life they are.  They’re all so different, but we all are so close.  I recently heard that we’re an intimidating force when we’re together because we seek each other out and need to be together.  That’s all we’ve ever known and relied on in our lives.

on review of the list…3/10 were my teachers in one realm or another…you’d think I would have learned how to form a better sentence than the title of this post…

remember to tune into http://parockshow.com tonight at 8pm to listen to us play live.  There should be a chat session up too!  if you don’t make it tonight, the podcast should be up to listen to tomorrow.

the YMCA just announced that they’ll build a new YMCA in the hill district, about…oh you know…1 block from my house.  Not only build a brand new one, but add on to their existing one further down centre avenue.  Awesome.  3 year plan is in full effect now.

So, we’ve got Hal, our 3 legged cat.  Now there’s this new "babygirl" cat making headlines and I think Deirdre is going to try and adopt her too.  Apparently she had 5 legs but needed to have 2 cut off.  Deirdre sent them an email and they said to send in an application, but you need to be 21 to apply….Why?  I have no idea.  I’m guessing so you can buy it alcohol to drown it’s sorrows.  I told her if she’s really interested, to fill it out as me, but that means that she’ll have to be twice as responsible about cleaning after them.  How much of a mess can 2 cats with 3 legs each make though?  That…2/3 the paw traffic.

"Walking has the pace of thought."

– Jean-Jacques Rousseau