Do you still have shopping to do? I do as well, just a few more items not a whole lot. I have been looking at the deals coming out on the web tomorrow for CyberMonday, actually alot have already come out.

Browsing around I have found that one of the toughest places on the web to beat is Amazon.com for the price and selection. It’s amazing some of the deals that they have, not only for CyberMonday, but everyday as well. If you want to check out some of the great deals for CyberMonday at Amazon.com, use this link: Amazon CyberMonday Deals which will take you directly to the page with the latest deals. You can claim these items right now since these will go fast and there is limited quantity.

Nikon Coolpix L100

One amazing deal that I found is the Nikon Coolpix L100 10MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom. This is an awesome camera if you are shopping for a point and shoot model. It has 10.0 megapixels to start with, which will give you a lossless print size up to 20 x 30 inches. It also has a 15x optical zoom, this is not like many cameras that have a digital zoom which can reduce the quality of the photo. There are other cool features like smile mode which only releases the shutter when a subject smiles, 3.0 inch LCD display and a blink warning that tells you when a subject has blinked. There is much more and I am personally recommending that you give it a look if you are in the market for a great camera. The price is the greatest part, at $189.99 this is a tough deal to pass up. Use this link to go directly to it: Nikon Coolpix L100 10MP Digital Camera with 15x Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom

Another site I recommend for not only gifts, but everyday items for decorating and furniture is Hope Road Gifts, you can get 25% off through CyberMonday by using the coupon code “BlackTurkey” during the checkout process. The reason I like this site is simple, 25% of all proceeds are contributed to 200million-nickels.com, so whenever you buy you are helping to build a future for the homeless people right here in our country.

Just wanted to throw this info out there for everyone, hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Take care web.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

I think I was pretty young when I heard that now famous quote by Zhong Ni – aka Confucius.  I am pretty sure that I did not understand it at that age and I asked my Dad or someone about it and got explanation.  There is so much in life that we pick up at a young age and give no credit to it; it probably has a lot to do with relating the memory of something to a particular behavior.  I would guess a great deal more to having that memory in the first place; we forget so much of our childhood it seems.

This quote in a nutshell describes the difference that I talked about in my last post.  Many organizations and groups out there are more than happy to give a man a fish.  Give those in need a meal, or a temporary place to lay their head, sometimes even clothing.  There are many people, groups and organizations that provide those in need with the tools that they need to be successful, literacy training, works skills, financial skills.  But tools are only good if there are resources to apply them to.  I can give you many different hammers, and thousands of nails, but they are worthless if you have no wood.  I can give you any saw that you want to make wood from trees, but what good is the saw if there are no trees?  How about I give you millions of seeds to hundreds of varieties of trees?   What good is it if you have no land to plant them?  Do you see my point, there always has to be a resource to apply a tool to.

That is what I think puts the end goal of 200Million-Nickels.com in another league from most of the other entities out there are doing in their approach to the problem of homelessness.  These efforts are great and they do make a difference, but I think that there needs to be more.

And more there shall be.  When the funds are raised there will be the acquisition of housing, industrial space, retail space and professional to make it all come together.  Homeless people will be recruited as employees to help build, retool and remodel these facilities to a usable state.  Once complete more will be recruited to fill positions in the manufacture of consumer products to be distributed through the retail spaces.  While employed they will receive job training and provided with housing and transportation.  Additional training will be available to further their skills outside of manufacturing to assist them on both the personal and professional level.  Once 18 months of employment are completed they will be placed into a job placement program to assist them in furthering their careers with other companies and have the skills, confidence and resources to continue on with their lives.  This will create a new opening for another person to enter in and get the assistance needed to rebuild their life as well.  In addition to getting the benefits mentioned above, they will also be provided a paycheck and health insurance.  Who doesn’t like it?

Now that you all know my dream can you be a part of it?  Will you help me?  Again, here are two ways to do it; go to 200Million-Nickels.com and click on the  Contribute button at the top of the page and give what you can, or you can go to BirdHousesandFeederStore.com and make a purchase of which 20% will go to this project.  Here is a bonus way that you can help, simply share this with others.  Helping to spread the word to others will help this dream become a reality much faster than keeping it to yourself.

That’s all for tonight, leave me some feedback and share your thoughts and your dreams.

Take care web.

…man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?

Popular vote on statistics reveals there are more than 3.5 million homeless people across America with over 1.2 million of these people being under the age of 18 years.  It saddens me to think about the things I take for granted in my life, the things that I complain about on a daily basis.  I try really hard to look at how petty these things are, but it is usually in hindsight that I see it.  Think about your own life and some of the things in your daily routine that upset you.  You get up and get a shower, but the water is not hot enough because of the shower before yours, yet there are people without a sink to wash up in.  You grab a sandwich on your way to work and they forgot to put the cheese on it, and your fries are too salty at lunch, dinner is chaos trying to find the time to get that ready; while there are those out there doing anything for a single meal.  Your windows and doors are drafty, yet there are those that are without walls.

I cannot imagine what these people go through each day, what they must think about when they think about tomorrow. I think about what outfit I am going to put my son in, while there are those that think about where they can get clothing for their children.  I don’t sit at the table with my son, with my family each night for dinner we eat as individuals; the table is just a place for things to collect.  Imagine what I could learn from someone without, what they could teach me about the value of these things.  How many people truly understand how valuable something as simple as a dinner table is?

A few weeks back I happened to catch a snag in the carpet with the vacuum, made a run in it about 1.5 feet long.  I hate looking at it, it irritates me that it happened and upsets me that I caused it.  I wonder how long it would take for someone who had nothing to notice it if they were to be granted this house to live in.  Then I wonder after they notice it, how long would it take before it bothered them?  I wonder if they would pick apart every little thing that is wrong with the house.  Would they mind the little nick in the cabinet door under the sink the way I do?

I guess these blemishes in the house are not too unlike the blemishes and scars we all carry around.  They are caused by accidents, mistakes, and wrong decisions.  While slicing potatoes a while back with a slicer I happened to get a little close with my hand and took a nice slice out of the top of my thumb.  I didn’t want to do it, I knew it could happen, but made the decision to slice too fast and mistakenly injured myself.  I found myself in a situation I did not want to be in, bleeding over the sink trying to patch myself up.  On a much smaller scale I bet this is how some peoples live go, one day they are going about things the best way they know how, moving forward, progressing their lives until something happens that puts a stop to everything and throws them into a setback too great for them to overcome.  Just like me with the slicer, the metal blade on that was too great for my flesh to overcome, and a setback promptly followed.  Many of us are fortunate in that we have a place to turn; friends, family and others.  But, just because we have a place to turn does not mean that everyone does.

I think that I have succeeded in making people think at least a little bit, so I won’t continue to grind the point into the ground.  I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and insight into what prompted the birth of 200million-nickels.com and what makes this project different.  Stay tuned; tonight at 11:00 I will share more about making a difference.  In the mean time I urge you to take a look at 200Million-Nickels.com and contribute, or you can also make a purchase through BirdHousesandFeederStore.com and 20% of the proceeds from your purchase will be contributed to 200Million-Nickels.com.

Take care web.