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Each new parent has video clips and thousands of pictures of their new pride and joy, especially if it’s the first child who has graced your presence. There must be some kind of bug that infects the parents the moment the little baby comes into this world. When our first child arrived, we video taped her daily to make sure we captured the ever quickly changing child. There was never a special moment missed. In fact, every day of her first year is captured on tape if only briefly. Then the second child arrived just 15 months after the first child was born.

We did try to keep up with the taping but when you throw in the challenge of packing up of a household and moving to another country within the next five months, the video taping can be almost impossible. I still have the video camera although I haven’t used it in the last seven or eight years. I also have all the video tapes. I’m thinking that perhaps one day I’ll dig out the camera and the tapes and see if I can get them transferred to a DVD. Then perhaps, I will keep that DVD hidden away until some daring boy comes along and thinks he can sweep my baby off to who knows where. His first assignment to prove whether he is worthy of her will be to watch that entire DVD. I’m sure that if the pictures of the entire body covered in food don’t turn him off, and the shot of the power puke reaching from one end of the room to the other doesn’t work, he may be just the right guy for her.

All those pictures and videos are little treasures that if not viewed, are really not treasures at all. However, The Home Automation Store has produced an X10 Showtime Wireless Digital Photo/Video Viewer Kit which allows you to view your videos and photos on television from your computer. With the help of the Powermid remote control extender, you can watch/view those pictures without ever leaving your lazy boy. Oh yes, these would be classic items to have. When hot-boy comes over to pick up darling daughter, flip the switch and let him view her during her finest hours. I guarantee you; you’ll be the only one who sees her as a darling. When that awesome picture of a line of drool hanging down out of her mouth comes on, let’s see how thirsty lover boy can be.

Ah, yes. Parenting is inflicting revenge upon your child for what your parents did to you. Seems a bit odd that it works that way but it’s been going on for centuries and doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon. Let this be fair warning to my two daughters.

My husband’s profession occasionally affords him the extraordinary luxury of driving and reconditioning some of the world’s finest vehicles. He enjoys this perk but recognizes that even the best vehicles with their high price tags come with low comfort factors. Last week he came home from work driving a black Lotus. It was a sporty looking car with a name that conotates speed, luxury and exclusiveness.

When my dear husband arrived home, he complained about just how uncomfortable this high end bomb on wheels was to drive. He challenged me to get in and sit in the driver’s seat. It didn’t take me long to discover exactly why he was complaining. The kick panel was approximately five inches wide which makes entering and exiting the vehicle a challenge for even the most agile person. Once I pretzelled myself into the driver’s seat, that was just mere inches from the ground, I then realized that indeed this expensive ride afforded the driver very little padding on the seat. Not only was there no cushioning for the tush but the seat width was meant for an anorexic.

However, since this high end and high dollar vehicle was entrusted to our care for safe keeping, we thought it would be best housed in our garage for the night. I pushed the garage button on my X10 Slimfire Pocket Remote and we deposited the toy inside the garage for the night. The next morning, my husband had to drive the car approximately one hour south to a dealer and pick up a 2006 Mercedes to drive back. This trip was to be made via the highway. That meant that the driver of the little tuna can was going to feel every pebble on the freeway. Woopee! Just how many bruises can one gain on their backside in one hour?

When my husband arrived home that evening, he expressed his relief at off-loading the Lotus and exchanging it for a ride that offered more than just a high dollar name. Now bear in mind, my husband is only forty years old. He is extremely fit and healthy and can tolerate a pretty good beating but he was certainly rejoicing when he had dumped the Lotus for the Mercedes. He had been fortunate enough to be able to keep the Mercedes over the weekend. Each time he drives it, he make a comment about how nice it rides. The downfall to having such a career is that tomorrow he will probably be driving a beat up Chevy Citation. I suppose the correct cliché would be into each profession a little bomb must drop or perhaps don’t judge a car by its price tag and label.

September 11, 2001 will always mark the beginning of the war on terrorism for the United States. The sheer horror and fright that each of us felt on that day has left a mark that, though somewhat dulled, will never be forgotten. I truly believe that if it were not for the grace of God, this country would have experienced something much more horrific than what we actually did. It was a day that the whole world stood at attention and recognized that life as we knew it was changed and not for the better.

However, the United States was not the first to experience terrorism on its soil by far. For many years prior to September 11th, 2001, Britain dealt with terrorism on a constant basis from its own territories. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was constantly plotting and carrying out attacks on both the mainland and in Ireland. MI5 got very good at foiling most of the attacks before they happened but there were some that they couldn’t stop.

I can remember when I lived in England, being lectured on being aware of our surroundings, varying our routes, and making sure that we were not easy targets. On one particular visit to London, we were traveling on the subway and had just entered the Bakersfield station to find that there were Bobbies all over the place. There were literally hundreds of them on each floor and some with dogs. We didn’t have to ask what was going on because to us, it was very obvious. The best and only thing we could do was get out of there.

It was while we were living there that the British government decided that the big black and gold steel trash cans that were on the streets needed to go. The IRA loved planting bombs in them and they were virtually undetectable because the cans were made of solid construction with just a side entrance, therefore concealing the contents. When the bombs off, the damage caused by large chunks of flying sharp steel was phenomenal. It was in essence a very lethal weapon. All of those trash cans are gone now and only a few wire mesh waste baskets exist. Of course, it is much more difficult to conceal a weapon in them and if they were able to, the damage would be far less. It was such a simple fix to a horrendous problem. The British pride themselves on the cleanliness of their country and rightly so.

Yes, the British have done away with the attacks from the IRA but the threat from Al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations is still very real. With the cooperation of British and American governments, both countries have foiled many attempts. Both countries have scars because of it and both are willing to do what it takes to prevent any more.