PetePedia- 2.0

I started PetePedia over a year ago as a way to encourage people to research things for themselves. In the beginning, I would often take an article, or a comment, and show the opposite viewpoint, usually with references, solely to inspire people to look at all the information, rather than relying on a single source. An informed decision is the best decision.

Somewhere along the line, PetePedia morphed into a mish-mash of opinion/observation/ feelings kind of blog. To put it simply, I lost the focus of the original intent of my blog. So I feel it necessary to start anew, with a new look, a new perspective, and a new format to the blog.

Problem is, I still haven't decided where I want to go from here with the blog. I have the new look, and I hope you like it. Editorially, I have not yet figured out exactly what I want to do though.

I could write strictly opinion pieces. I would express my opinion on certain topics, and then show the path that led me to those opinions. I would hope that format would encourage discourse, where others would comment with other references and facts that might raise my awareness, and that would be good. I may even learn some things that could change my opinions. Isn't that the ultimate goal of seeking knowledge?

I thought about a blog that asked questions. For instance, pick a news story, or a hot topic, and ask the questions that I don't hear being asked. Or maybe just asking questions that get my readers to think about things a little differently.

I could just try to be irreverent, and write snarky little pieces of sarcasm that people might find entertaining. Some would say this is a strong point of mine. Or maybe if I just focused on writing tongue-in-cheek style, seemingly taking one view while actually pointing out its absurdity.

The fact is, I don't know right now. Maybe PetePedia 2.0 will be one of those things, or none of those things. Most likely, it will be somewhere in the middle of those things. So, I have a great deal of contemplation ahead of me, but when I figure it out, I hope you like the result. In the meantime....

Take care my friends.

Facebook to the rescue

On June 3rd, 2010, a new chapter in the story of my life unfolded. I can't say that I never expected it to happen, but I never thought I would be dealing with it before I turned 50. Because on June 3rd, I had chest pain, shortness of breath, and pain shooting down my arm. I went to the emergency room at my local hospital, and, after a cardiac catheterization, I was told I had an artery in my heart that was 95% blocked, and I needed to have a stent implanted. I was transferred to Boston Medical Center, one of the top cardiac care hospitals going.

There was little or no warning. I was doing some housework (that'll teach me) when the shortness of breath started. It was a muggy day, so I attributed that to a "bad air day". But when the chest pain hit, I felt something was wrong. I sat down, and it went away. Almost as soon as I resumed my activity it returned, now with the arm pain. I ended up in the hospital for five days. In addition to all the medical stuff, something else very interesting happened to me. An epiphany of sorts. I learned that there are actually people out there who care about me. I never imagined that was possible.

I've mentioned many times on this blog that I am on Facebook. Through this network, I have gotten reacquainted with many people from my past. But while I was in the hospital, I had my smart phone with me, and had access to Facebook with it. I posted that I was hospitalized. The wishes started flowing in. While some were the token "Get well soon" type, some were paragraphs being written by people I would never have expected. Daily, I was getting several comments encouraging me, wishing me well, and offering support and assistance to me. I was overwhelmed.

Normally, a hospital stay is endless hours of hoping someone will visit. But my Facebook friends did something for me I never imagined a social network site could do.

It made me feel loved.

That, my friends, is a feeling I have little experience with. But, for the first time in a very long time, I felt as though, if something bad happened, I would be missed. When that dawned on me, I was overcome with emotion. My Facebook friends reached out their virtual arms to me, and enveloped me in one, big, cyber hug.

The 2 stents they put in my heart are meant to heal the physical pump in my body.

My friends on Facebook helped heal a wounded, broken heart.

You tell me which is more important.

Thanks for reading, and take care.

An Urgent plea from PetePedia...

There used to be a television commercial where a woman said a friend told her about a shampoo, and she liked it, so she told two friends, and they told two friends, and etc.. Soon, the screen was full of women all telling two friends. I am hoping that this blog has the same effect.

A woman I went to high school with recently got on Facebook, and we contacted each other. She told me about her daughter, Caitlyn, who isn't quite two yet, and has a disease known as XP. Basically, this darling little child cannot be outside exposed to UV rays, as she is extremely reactive to them. I cannot imagine the amount of care raising a child with this condition would take.

Also living in the same house, is an elderly relative with Parkinson's Disease. He also requires special equipment, and much attention. The house this family lives in is much too small, and ill-equipped for the challenges that they face, yet they struggle daily to take care of their loved ones.

The woman, when she is not at home taking care of her family members, is a Nurse Practitioner in a facility where she cares for elderly patients. The size of this woman's heart and her spirit of giving knows no bounds.

There is currently a campaign on Facebook to nominate this family for Extreme Home Makeover, in hopes that the show will pick them to receive a home that suits the needs they have. In my opinion, this is exactly the kind of family the show was designed for.

So I am asking all the readers of this blog to click on the link, and nominate the McCabe family. Feel free to copy and paste the link in your social network status.

I've told two friends. I hope they tell two friends, and so on, and so on.

Thanks.

Click here to nominate the McCabe Family

Keeping life in perspective

Like many of the readers of this blog, I am on Facebook. Many of my blogs are inspired by my friends Facebook links and statuses. I saw this one link to a YouTube video and thought I'd take a look. Lately, I've been feeling a little down, and sometimes these links lead me to places that cheer me up. This link was different. It made me feel ashamed of myself.

2010 has not been the of years for me. I started the year struggling with a medical issue that required surgery. Once that was cleared up, a different issue reared up to interfere with my life. My job hasn't been going as well as usual, and there are a couple of issues in my personal life that aren't exactly spectacular. So, feeling a bit of self-pity, I clicked on this link to this video. As I watched it, I felt the tears well up in my eyes. After listening to the message this brave man gave, I felt ashamed that I have ever complained about anything in my life. Please watch this video.



The man in the video is named Nick Vujicic. Born without arms and legs, his life has been nothing but hardships and troubles. At the age of eight, he contemplated suicide. Eight. Think about how hopeless, lonely, out of place an eight year old child would have to feel to even think about ending it all. And yet, this man rose from the depths of his despair to live a very meaningful life, providing inspiration for others.

A little while ago, I wrote a blog about the man I want to be. Well, I hope that someday I can have the positive attitude on life that Nick does.

If everyone on Earth shared his attitude, the world would be a much better place to be.

Take care my friends.

The man I want to be- Post surgery thoughts

My last blog was written before I went in for PCNL surgery ten days ago. I'm glad to report that all is well, and I'm feeling better each day. But I have a confession to make. I had seriously contemplated signing a Do Not Resuscitate order before surgery. I'm glad I didn't.

The procedure involved two separate surgeries.In the time between the first and second surgery, there was an apparent struggle to keep my Oxygen level high enough. The second surgery was delayed for three hours while the staff pumped Oxygen into me. Had I signed the order, who knows what could've happened.

A couple of women friends had voiced their objections to my signing the order. I listened to their arguments, but it wasn't until I heard this song on the radio that I decided not to sign it. The song is by country singer Chris Young, and it's called "The man I want to be". Please read these lyrics. They are spectacular, and fit my situation better than if I had written the song myself. To watch the video, click the title.


The man I want to be by Chris Young


"God, I'm down here on my knees
Cause it's the last place left to fall
Beggin' for another chance
If there's any chance at all
That you might still be listenin'
Lovin' and forgivin' guys like me
I've spent my whole life gettin' it all wrong
And I sure could use your help cause from now on

I wanna be a good man
A do like I should' man
I wanna be the kind of man the mirror likes to see
I wanna be a strong man
And admit that I was wrong, man
God I'm asking you to come change me
into the man I wanna be

If there's anyway for her and me to make another start
Could you see what you could do
To put some love back in her heart
Cuz' it going to take a miracle
After all I've done to really make her see

That I wanna be a stay man
I wanna be a brave man
I wanna be the kind of man that she sees in her dreams
God, I wanna be your man
And I wanna be her man
God, I only hope she still believes
In the man I wanna be

Well, I know this late at night that talk is cheap
But Lord, don't give up on me

I wanna be a givin' man
I wanna really start livin' man
God, I'm asking you to come change me
into the man I wanna be"

Thanks for reading. It's good to be back.

Taking a break...

PetePedia will be taking a break for a bit. Monday, March 8, I will be going in for surgery to remove a rather large Kidney Stone. It has been the source of much pain for the last 5 months, and I can't wait to have this demon exorcised from my body.

I looked on YouTube for a video showing the procedure, so I'd know what to expect. If you would like to see, watch this 3 minute video. It shows the highlights of the procedure. It is not explicit or gory, if you are concerned.

They say that without complications, I should be home in 2-3 days. Once my mind is clear from pain-killers, I will resume PetePedia.

Thanks for reading my blog. I enjoy researching these topics, and sharing what I find with you.

See you soon,
Pete

Goodbye to PetePedia?

I started this blog just over a month ago. I started it for two reasons. First, I found out that I actually enjoy the process of writing. Taking an idea, researching information, and putting down on paper (or a text input box), is quite enjoyable. The second reason is because of the proliferation of mis-information I was seeing all over the web. Posts on Facebook, MySpace and such, blogs galore, all spouting untruths. I thought that I would try to show people the facts of some of these issues, so they could make an informed decision on their own.

What a waste of time.

People do not care about truth anymore. They do not care about documentation, credibility, or facts. They seem to thrive on opinions, the wilder the better. I actually had a comment from another blogger who said "Blogs are supposed to be about what you think, not facts. Facts aren't interesting." The last blog article I wrote, on the Stupak Amendment, proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt.

You see, I read all these articles that said the amendment was going to do this, or do that, while the text of the amendment clearly stated otherwise. But I was informed that the other articles were talking about speculation of long-term effects of the bill. I found it odd that the group of people who were speculating about the infringement upon women's rights, are the same group of people who will shout you down when you point out the obvious economic failures of the Pelosi bill. Apparently, they are allowed to speculate when it suits their agendas, but you're not allowed to speculate if it goes against them. But I digress.

So now, I sit here at my keyboard wondering what I should do about my blog. Should I join in the speculation game, and terrify people with all the bad things that might happen? Should I just make up stuff for lemmings to follow blindly? Should I maybe write about benign things like scrapbooking?

I doubt it. You see, I was raised to always speak my mind. I was always taught to tell the truth, no matter how painful it might be to hear. Tact was never a strong point of mine. So I think, at least for now, I am going to just call it like I see it. If you can't deal with that, too bad. Read another blog. But if you want an opinion from somebody who shoots from the hip, keep reading PetePedia. I'm throwing away my kid gloves. I may not always be right, but I sure will try like hell to be honest and entertaining. And, if you can prove to me I'm wrong, I'll admit it. After all, it happens every once in a while. A great while.

Welcome to PetePedia 1.1. Update now.

Happy Halloween from PetePedia

I have had a very hard week personally. I wanted to write a blog about the spirit of Halloween, but time just hasn't been available to me to do so. However, I have a friend who wrote a wonderful piece on the historical meaning of Halloween, as well as much information on the many different traditions that have merged to form the current traditions. Please check out my friend's blog at:Virushead.net. If you enjoy PetePedia, please leave a comment on her page thanking her for inspiring me to start my blog, for without her inspiration and encouragement, I would have never started this endeavor. Have a safe and Happy Halloween.

Welcome to PetePedia!

Hello. Thank you for stopping by. I started this blog primarily because 2009 has been a renaissance year for me. I have become more aware of the things going on in the world around me, and, more importantly, have started to actually care about some issues. My comments on Facebook have been getting longer and longer, and touching on some very important subjects, so this blog seems like a good idea at this time.
I am currently attending college, and, as required by the powers that be, am required to write essays from time to time. One I have written recently is about the health care issue going on currently in this country. I have posted this for you to peruse and discuss if you like. My intent is never to convince you of anything-I am not here to convert you to my beliefs. My blog is intended to start discussions. To encourage free thinking. To get people to research things and use facts to make decisions, not just other people's opinions, or the party line for whatever political party they are enrolled in. Ignorance is our enemy. Let's stamp it out.
I hope you will be a little patient with me at first. This is my first blog and it will take me a while to get into the flow of it. In the end however, I hope it becomes a great tool to motivate discussion and free thinking. Dare to dream. Thanks again, PetePedia.