My Hair Loved WEN, my Scalp . . . Not so Much . . .

          I had heard that a lawsuit had been brought against WEN® Hair Care Products,  although I hadn't known when or why.  I recently looked it up on line.  I don't know how many articles share this information as I read through only a few.  I personally haven't had a problem with the product itself.  If there was any hair loss, it went unnoticed.   I LOVED the product.  I immediately felt a tremendous difference with the texture of my hair and Jenna's hair.  I could actually attempt to style our hair without cringing.  I loved the feel of my hair and heard that it smelled great.  I wasn't happy with the "build-up" that seemed to be forming on my scalp - though I never blamed WEN.  As I have stated in several posts before, I have a LOT of hair.  Often the thickness gets in the way and my scalp doesn't always get a proper rinse. 

          The WEN ads made sense to me - why do we feel the need to have a shampoo to clean and then a conditioner to tame the blow of the harsh shampoo?  WEN claimed their product (the cleanser cream) replaced 5 bottles (shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, leave-in-conditioner, detangler) but then they mail you a kit with SIX containers.  I was interested in their conditioneing cleanser, not their anit-frizz or treatment mist . . . come on!  Why are you sending me six things to replace five?  And that hurtful brush!  They must have had an overstock and started including those in packages.  No thank you.  I wanted the cleanser ONLY

          I don't know how many packages arrived before they finally got it down to just two bottles of cleanser only, but they were still sending them too often.  I think if I used the product two or three times daily, I may have run out, but I finally called and put a permanent stop to it.  I said I'd be moving to Oregon and may provide my address at a later time.  I have moved twice since leaving Utah and have run out of cleanser but do have two tubes of the anti-frizz left.  Do those things expire?

          I don't plan on starting back up again.  I do miss how my hair felt.  But my scalp does not miss it.  Attorney Amy Davis (here) explained it this way, " It’s like using lotion to wash your hair. So instead of removing the product when you rinse it off, it just becomes impacted in your hair follicle.” Okay, I can agree with that comparison - although I think "lotion" would have been gentler to my scalp.  Build-up made it itch.  But I've always had dry scalp.  It wasn't just when I used WEN.   though the itch seemed to be more present when I was using WEN.

          Everybody’s scalp is different.  We all have different hair types.  We all have various reactions.  I Things happen.  Sometimes we have control.  Many times we do not.    I’m not trying to endorse the product, nor do I defend them.  There are things I loved about the product, there are some things that didn’t work for me.  That’s life.  

In the Event that Heidi may be Searching . . .

            When commercials come on, Roland will usually watch them and critique them.  Depending on the station, he will sometimes tire of them and start changing channels.  Recently during his channel hopping, he landed on a program focusing on individuals searching for  biological connection.  As the story unfolded, a connection was made due to a facebook post in which the biological mother wished her unknown daughter a happy birthday.  It matched the same birthday of the child who was seeking her mother.  It got me to wonder if the boys half sister on their mother's side might be looking for her biological past.

                About six months before Roland met his first wife, she had given birth to a part white/part Asian daughter.  She'd given her up for adoption and said that the adoptive family had named the baby Heidi.  Roland said he was willing to raise the baby as his own, but Deborah said that it was too late - which I find odd as almost every adoption I have known about has had a one year wait-to-see-if-the-biological-mom-may-change-her-mind requirement.

            I remember Tony having mentioned it first.  He was hoping to establish some kind of connection.  I don't know if that will ever happen in this lifetime.  Heidi would be about 33, I think.  Possibly turning 34 by the end of the year?  Roland does not have many details to go on, and I have even less, I'm sure.  I suppose if Heidi were to look for answers about her biological mother, she would have to ask Aunt Judy - as she seems to be the family matriarch, but I could be wrong.  She may have at least some clue to who the biological father might be.  Roland doesn't have any information.

            Clyde & Barbara Walden [not their real names] gave birth to eleven children. Five are now deceased along with mom and dad.  Judy is their eldest daughter.  I met her for the first time after Jenna had turned two.  We had missed Clyde's funeral by only three days and had been invited to the family barbeque (here) - which is when I met at least eight of  Deborah's siblings and their families.  Waldens are truly hospitable people.  If indeed, Heidi is looking, they will definitely embrace her.

Quality Customer Service? A thing of the past

          I'm actually quite impressed with Roland's phone skills.  I got rid of cable as we were paying outrageous amounts each month.  We have been able to pick up six stations with an antenna we purchased, but there was a day when I'm assuming the weather had interfered and we were only down to two.

          As mentioned previously, Jenna and I could live without the TV or cable.   We watch it because it's there, but would not miss it if it wasn't.  But Roland likes having the TV and had called another company to see how much cable would run.

          So our internet was with Charter.  We NEED the Internet.  Roland works from home online.  We both go to school online.  We need the Internet.  We do not need the cable.  Nevertheless, Roland found a great deal in which Frontier promised a cable and Internet package for the same amount that we were paying Charter for Internet only.  The first call placed was answered by a young guy from California who was living in Salt Lake.

          Why the heck would we be calling Salt Lake?  I had never even heard of Frontier until we got to Oregon.  The guy was friendly and after the information was exchange, we got a little personal (which I know is how he's from California) and he told us some jokes before he hung up.

          Our cable contract is through Dish and NOT Frontier.  And of course we are locked into it now because apparently Roland's electronic signature proves that.  The cable box was sent - but Roland wasn't sure how to connect it.  Someone came out to connect it and we had a SLOW connection.  Not even 12 full hours. Fortunately we had not cancelled Charter.

  

          I don't know how many times Roland has been on the phone with Frontier - asking employees for their first and last name and employee identification (because thus far none of the employees have been willing to give his or her last name - which I don't blame them.  Most have been good to give their employee number - or a number anyway (how do we really know) as Roland explains for the umpteenth time that "I need this for work . . . I was very clear about that from the beginning"  He always tells the employees to make notes on file and asks for the supervisor and that supervisor's supervisor.

          He is calm.  Although he is frustrated, he doesn't express anger.  But he does become more irritated with each call explaining himself again and again.  We still have the box.  We have asked for a box to return it in.  I have even taken it to the two locations here in Myrtle Creek - a warehouse downtown and the communication center? in Tri-City.  It was closed.  I wonder if it ever opens.  Or why it's there. 

          Frontier will probably go out of business.  We heard that from an employee.  No kidding.  I don't guess their exceptional customer service would have anything to do with it.

          I've been dealing with crisis of my own.  We're doing our taxes.  Need I say more?  No matter how prepared we believe we are, we're always missing forms.  At least three 1099s.  And so I've been trying to make contacts with each of the companies getting nowhere fast. 

          Actually, I did make progress with one company.  I've listened to at least 7 different recordings for another.  I finally left my phone # when I was given the option to leave with a promise of a call back within 24 hours.  Oh, they did call back alright.  But it was the WRONG company.  I was contacted this morning by one who received my phone number.  It took us a few minutes to realize that the number I retrieved from the other website had been connected to the other at one time, but was no longer a part of them - therefore she couldn't help me.  (Ugh)

          And the one human I get has an accent so thick that she had to slow down when pronouncing "Annual Summary" because I was hearing "Animal Movie" and I knew that is not what she was saying.

          I wish I had the patience and control that Roland does when he is speaking over the phone.  I am just too dang emotional.  Customer Satisfaction really hasn't seemed very satisfying this century.   

       I told Roland that one of the things I really like about living in Oregon is that I feel like a person and not just a statistic.  When I am calling corporations I feel even less than a statistic.

Back Off!

            Roland comes off as a domineering parent sometimes.  Jenna absolutely hates it when she is told to comb her hair or wear a coat or dress nicely or what have you.  The more he makes suggestions or "harps" on the subject, the more rebellious she is about it.

            I will admit that I am not as observant.  For three and a half years I have tried fixing her hair and seeing it wreck before we get to school.  I stopped fighting.  Richard has only begun.  Although he has been a teenager, he's never been a girl.  We have hormones.  There seem to be chemical imbalance just before that time of the month.  Let it go.

            The rain in Oregon is different from rain in Utah.  Desert rain is wet.  It soaks you.  Oregon rain - even when it falls hard - feels more like a mist.  It hasn't soaked me the way Utah rain has.  We purchased a coat for Jenna.  Cute coat, but she refuses to wear it.  She doesn't like being told what to do and what not to do.  I've been there.  I get it.  I've told Roland that he needs to back off as she is rebelling and an accessory in her hair or a warm jacket has to be her idea, and if he's always harping, she is never going to come up with the idea on her own.  In fact, she'll do the opposite.

            Her zipper's broken (that child is HARD on zippers.  I don't know what she does, but she has not owned a coat or backpack yet in which the zipper hasn't broken) and because it was raining outside, Roland threw a rain poncho over whatever she was wearing.  She was crying and claimed she looked like a condom.  I've never heard anyone compare themselves to a condom before, and started laughing - which brought even more tears to her eyes.  That's silly.

            I noticed that Jenna removed the poncho between the driveway and the street.  She stuffed in near the bushes.  I know she will learn if Roland will just back off and give her some breathing room.  I think he's overcompensating - not having had the opportunity to raise his oldest two girls and being gone so much from knowing the boys - although I recall his harping on them too. 

            We learn at our  own pace.  We're not all equal.  I think Roland needs to realize we're not all him.

Where I'm at With College

            I am now in my eighth mod (school credit courses crammed into a four week period) at school.  I have taken thirteen classes (ten credited), have had twelve instructors, 33.6 credits and have maintained a 4.0 average (which for me is quite an accomplishment)

            For three weeks we are required to post and participate in a discussion. Only five of my classes offered a discussion during the fourth week.  Thus far all of my female instructors have made comments to each student on the discussion board except for one week my English instructor (see here). I think that week was just an exception for that class, or so I am guessing.

            Each week for three weeks students are graded upon discussion, an assignment, and an assessment.  References are required when posting discussions.  I spend more time researching for references.  I don't like how time-consuming it is.  I like to post as soon as possible so that I don't use the same reference as another classmate - as though I wasn't able to find one on my own.

        The fourth week is generally the easiest (for me anyway).  Before the student can even start the fourth week, a survey is required for rating the class and instructor. One cannot sign into Canvas until the survey is filled out.  We also have to fill out a career integration and take a final assessment (usually it's a quiz, but I have had a few on either excel or word).  That is usually all there is. 

             5 of my classes have had a fourth-week discussion and I guess about half of my classes have had a fourth-week assignment in addition to the assessment.  Only three of my 'fourth weeks' have had four things to turn in rather than the usual three or the fourth weeks normal two.   

         I notice that the female instructors (thus far anyway) have been very different from the males, and while I've only had three assigned male instructors, I've had exposure to four.

            Females seem to put more passion into their lectures, and they comment on every post. They are also strict about posting on different days and creating an actual discussion.  My male teachers haven't seemed to care when anything is posted. Most of my instructors have been female. I had one male instructor who would comment on every post - it was the computer training class, and I think he was required to set an example.  Though I only had been assigned three male instructors, I have had exposure to four.

           I had one professor (here) who enjoyed class participation but was very hard to follow.  I usually sat through the lectures of another who taught the same class.  He would spend 40-45 minutes reviewing the last week's work.  Often it seemed that he was just going through the motions and would rather be most anywhere than at the computer giving a lecture.

            The instructor I have now DOESN'T cover anything from the last week.  It hasn't been graded yet.  He doesn't grade until the following Tuesday (the morning after his lecture).  For the most part, I can understand what he's saying - though sometimes he sounds like he's either bored with the routine or the subject itself.  Overall, I think he is probably quite lenient with the grading. The subject at present is taking taxes and other wages out of payroll (as mentioned here)  

              This is where Roland wants my focus right now.  I'm not bored.  I am angry.  I have tried so hard to keep my emotions out of it.  Surprisingly, there are very few in the class who haven't expressed emotion.  Also surprising is that I am doing very well in this class.  It's my third accounting class and I believe the best grades of the three.  So evidently I am understanding it.  Not agreeing with it, but understanding the concepts, I guess.

            Only 147.5 credits to go.

Keeping Accurate Records - or Trying to Find Them rather . . .

I have an ancestor named Robert Stuart Stirrat Purdie.  That's his name.  Both middle names are pronounced "Stew-ert".  My mom had told me that it was a custom (whether in the family or community is unknown) for the parents to name the child (in this case middle name) after the first visitor who calls after the baby was born.  Friends Stuart and Stirrat (whose last names are unknown to me at this time) arrived together to call upon the family - thus Robert was given two identical middle names, although different spellings.  Comes in handy when trying to piece together if various records do indeed belong with the ancestor you're trying to find.  I have not run into any juniors or seniors on either side of my family (well, not until the lines of royalty - which thus far are just names - the accuracy of their relation is also unknown.  They didn't actually use Junior and Senior but I, II, II, IV, etc.)  

My grandmother wanted to name her youngest son after his father, but my grandfather did not wish to have a "junior" in the family, thus they gave him a middle initial but not a middle name.  I have a daughter-in-law who has a rather common name.  Her father is a junior and his father is the senior, thus when ancestry presents hints, it is very important to pay attention to the dates as both names will come up as suggested matches for either.  It used to be if you deleted one name on the branch, it would wipe out the entire line.  That doesn't seem to be the case with this new format - which may be easier to understand, but one I am certainly not used to and don't find it at all convenient.  

I was given a great number of hints for those I believed were already in my system.  They were.  I discovered I had duplicates.  I don't know if I removed them all or not.  I have actually been finding names that don't seem to be connected to anyone in particular.  So why are they still in there?

Years ago we had learned that my brother-in-law bill is not only an uncle to my boys by marriage but also their sixth cousin once removed on their blood line.  We had his line and the boys line as two separate lines and thus had duplicate names and that bugged me.  In family search, you can connect the two rather than resubmit them as new people with duplicate names.  I like that much better.  I'm getting really tired of the duplications.

I notice that there are a lot of names that get used again and again honoring the grandparents - and it is nice when the names skip a generation, or when the names given are so unique that I don't recall ever having had heard it as a name before, like Thankful and Remembrance Fish.  When the name is so unique like Robert Stuart Stirrat or Priddy Meeks - it's gratifying.  Oh, yes.  That's got to be him.  Whereas Brigham Young, Joseph Smith, Jose Rivera, Roberto Martinez, Jennifer Anderson . . . say what? 

Family History can be very time consuming - and I think the most common names actually require the most attention.  I want to thank all of those from my tree who gave unique names to their children and putting distance between the more common names . . . well, many of you anyway.

There's Much Drab in the Air Right Now

I went outside to put a card in the mailbox.  The air is so bleak right now.  It's a stay-at-home-and-cuddle-at-the-fireplace day.  I could hear this song (the tune itself) describing more than just the weather

Just Names on the Payroll

          I still like the feel of a book in my hands rather than having to constantly refer to the screen and "turn" the page by pressing next or arrow.  When the library had the book sale back in October and November, I found an accounting book that was in great condition - but it was from 1979.  I picked it up anyway. 

          Thus far I have taken two accounting classes and am now on my third and so far my outdated book has been compatible to my first two courses.  I obviously hadn't taken payroll or taxes into account.  Guess what my accounting focus is on for this class?

          The government laws are constantly changing.  This tax is taken out for this purpose, that tax for another.  We no longer have just FICA and SSN - now there is IRCA created in in 1986, FMLA created in 1993, PRWORA created in 1996, the list goes on and on.  I don't know that I'm expected to memorize every initial and reasons for the organization for this week - but I'm certain I'll need to understand them all before I get a job doing payroll.  DANG!

          I'm trying not to take these laws personally and actually have a better understanding of WHY I had taken that history class.  Our last discussion post was on the topic " Equality vs. Equity".  I wrote the following:

        "When I first saw the topic Equality vs. Equity, I was confused as I was looking at equity to mean: "the value of the shares issued by a company" rather than " the quality of being fair and impartial"  Sadly, it was the antonyms that further helped me to understand.

        "Several thoughts have entered my mind since Saturday when I started reviewing for this upcoming discussion, including topics such as the education system, the school's meal program, or a continuation of my "soapbox" from last week's discussion [a post about Political Freedom in which I questioned the words “All Men are Created Equal” written at the time of slavery - thus not applying to ALL men] , but I have since decided on a topic that I picked up from 60 Minutes last a night.

        "According to Community Tool Box, about 18% of the American population has some kind of disability.  In 1990 a law was passed which enforces businesses to comply with stipulations enforcing guidelines for wheelchair access (CTB, 2016)

        "The 60-minute feature took Anderson Cooper to different business locations that don't seem to meet the guidelines here. Many of these businesses were being sued because they were not actually up to code of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

        "For those with disabilities, I think that the act is more of equity than equality.  There are just some differences that will [never make us equal]. We need to embrace those differences and not discriminate or bully. I think equity is better than equality especially if we constantly fight in the name of "equality" if we are looking to be cookie cutter images of one another. I like what makes me unique.

        "We can share our talents and learn from one another.  Equity is a good thing - but can also be taken advantage of."

Bibliography

60 minutes (2016, December 4). What's a "drive-by lawsuit"? (A. Cooper, Interviewer)

Section 4. Ensuring Access for People with Disabilities. (2016). Retrieved from Community Tool Box: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/physical-social-environment/housing-accessibility-disabilities/main "

          I now have two chapters to read for my accounting class, and really am trying to read with an open mind.  This morning I believed I would be wading through a lot of jibberish that I wouldn't fully understand and would put me to sleep. By noon it seemed to be doing the opposite- stirring up emotions which I know I should not allow to rise to the surface, and yet they have.  Instead of taking a nap, I am riled. I am livid, even sad.  All these "governing rules" or stipulations is what has been flushing our economy down the toilet.  Well in part anyway.  Or at least that is my opinion.

         It has been suggested that employers use a payroll system – someone outside the company who specializes in cutting checks.  I think it would be a lot easier to work for one of those companies cutting paychecks for people that you don't know rather than follow all the "governing rules" on your employees'' paychecks knowing that skimming just one or two dollars from every tax or deduction it will take food off his table.  It would be much easier to do payroll when the names are just names and there is no personal attachment.

          Roland has always been able to separate personal from business.  I can’t even separate my class discussion or material without personality.  How the heck would I ever be able to do a job?  It’s funny how often I have stressed out over assignments or classes and have ended up doing well – as if all that emotion had been unnecessary and wasted.  I hope that is the case now.

        I’ve had an option of reviewing videos in addition to the manual of each course thus far.  This course doesn’t have any cool videos – or even lame ones for that matter.  I have no choice but resort to the book, the power point outline of the book and my instructor’s lecture – which is a bit more helpful than trying to analyze the text myself, but still . . . I want a video that will teach me and make me smile.  As of now, I’m really not doing a whole lot of smiling. 

Majestic Beauty

I LOVE the way the sun glistens through raindrops right after it rains.  I have tried several times to get pictures of what I see with my naked eyes - but it isn't always what the camera lens captures.

Just before the first meeting started for Church yesterday, I looked out the window and saw many drops hanging from a tree and though the branches are brown, they seemed a brilliant white as though frosted in snow.  The sun glistened over the tree and through the drops resembling so many interpretations of Lehi's tree. 

I tried to photoshop something similar to what I saw.  I failed.

I attended a Sunday School class and the instructor talked about his love for waterfalls.  They really are awesome.  Most all forms of water are:

Cable Cars and Thesauruses

Thesauras -  a book that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts. 

 synonyms: wordfinder, wordbook, synonym dictionary

          Of course, Jenna and I haven't been able to celebrate every "Every-day's-a-holiday" holiday.  We knew that before we had purchased the calendar.  Many holidays we won't be celebrating still.  Take "tempura day" for example.  I had to look it up as I didn't even know what that was.  Jenna was not all that happy to learn that seafood was involved.

          Monday was "hot and spicy day" and  I had jokingly asked my tomboy,  "How will you celebrate today?  Will you be posting a picture of yourself wearing something hot and spicy?"  That look of disgust on Jenna's face and her revolted reaction made me laugh.  How could I have even thought such a horrid thing?  Not a pretty picture. Not funny, MOM!

          Roland made a goulash that was perhaps a mild spicy.  It was definitely hot when he served it.  I thought it was good, but she refused to touch it - although her lack of desire to try the goulash did not give off the same reaction as wearing a hot & spicy outfit.  She is also grossed out when Roland and I kiss in front of her.

          Yesterday was cable car day.  I remember riding the cable car in San Francisco.  I'd ridden as a youth as well as an adult. 

The apartments in the background look similar to the ones where Grandma lived

 According to Wikipedia, the San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated cable car system but this site lists Venice, Tampa, Las Vegas and Milan - which doesn't necessarily mean that they are the same type. 

          Cable car is known by other names such as trolley, tram and streetcar.  I don't know if I would have included tram except for the this video

 - cars hanging on a cable. 

          When Jenna returned home from school yesterday, I sat her down to watch this videos as well as the above

          She asked about the fares, which I was unable to answer yesterday, but did find this in my research this morning.  I also found this post from 2012;  and here's a fun one to watch dots on the map indicating the routes

          So we have at least two different types of cable cars.  I suspect the hanging cable is now the most popular though there was a time when the nation (or certain parts anyway) seemed lined with cable cars and trolleys.  I know they existed in downtown Salt Lake at the turn of the 20th century.  Salt Lake Tribune featured photo galleries (here and here ) on what used to be.  I had also expressed comments about the tracks in this post

no railroad ties, but some of downtown still has this snakey outlay of rails

          Here is just one shot of the tram seen in Portland. 

           I wanted to give credit to the photographer (as it wasn't me) but every time I clicked on the page or picture, I would get an error message.

          I have a VT companion who has ridden on one of the trams.  She was freaked.  I think it would be awesome to view Portland up from the air like that - but from my understanding, they are used for transportation from hospital and health centers - like extended elevators.  That was why she had ridden in it - to get from one building to another due to medical reasons.  I's called an aeriel tram (see here)  I don't think it's referred to as a cable car, but as you can see, it is on a cable.

          Today is Thesaurus Day - which "celebrates the birthday of Peter Mark Roget, author of the first modern Thesaurus.  He was born on 18 January 1799 in London, and studied medicine at Edinburgh University.  Roget retired from medicine in 1840, and spent the rest of his life on ‘Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases’, a dictionary of synonyms".  This helped him with his depression.  I found this article as I was searching the definition mentioned at the beginning of this post as I did not accept Jenna's imitation of a "grammar dinosaur"

          Jenna hasn't ever been all that fond of poetry except for Mirror Mirror (here and here) and song lyrics mostly.  She doesn't care for her English class and though she was an eager learner while we were living in Kearns, she somehow has become dulled with the idea of being educated, thus the last two holiday "celebration" have not been greeted with great enthusiasm.

         

          There was a nearly overflowing waste basket under the sink and thus I went around the house and collected from every other waste basket or trash can and went outside to roll our can to the curb as today is garbage day.  When I returned to the house I told Jenna that it is garbage day aka trash day, waste day, collecting junk day . . .  ha ha ha.  I told her that we can celebrate Thesaurus Day by listing synonyms to different words we say - though she didn't seem impressed. 

          I looked up some other words for garbage:  debris, rubbish, dust, litter, residue, fragments, filth, shavings, odds and ends  . . .    I also found more words for cable car:   grip car, gondola, city conveyances, cable railway

          I'm going to continue and will bug Jenna in a similar manner to what I'm sure she was hoping for on "static electricity day" but just couldn't seem to generate enough friction to make it work.  
         When she rolls her eyes at me for laying on the synonyms as thick as I'm hoping to, I will tell her it's a metaphor for the static electricity that she'd been yearning for.  

         I, for one, am very grateful for the Thesaurus.  I use them more often than the dictionary.  I expect today will be fun.