SCAM

Tonight I need to share a scam with you.  Please share with everyone you know.  I have contacted the BBB, as well as posted a review on the company's website.  I’ve also posted this on Facebook.

BEWARE!!!!  THIS IS A SCAM!!!!

This is the only pic I have right now that I got off the company website.

This company offers a free jar of their cream for the shipping cost of $4.95.  DO NOT order this youth cream because this is a scam.  This company is just a bunch of crooks.  They charged my credit card $119.95 plus the $4.95 shipping for the supposedly free jar of cream (except shipping).  It’s on my credit card statement under goldenskin. 

I called my credit card company immediately and they investigated, but came back in favor of this company, so I filed an appeal.  I told them there was no disclosure that I would be charged anything other than $4.95 for this small sample jar.  BEWARE!  DON’T DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY! 

I’m going to have to pay the $119.95 to these scam artists, but I have blocked them from any further access to my account.  If you are smart you won’t get involved in the first place.  This cream didn’t do anything special either.  It’s not worth it.  I can’t believe they are still in business and will post this all over the net so other people aren’t scammed like I was.

On top of this I made a few phone calls to get things straightened out.  At no time was I told I would be charged other then $4.95 for this cream.  I’m very disgusted at this point and will warn anybody I can to stay away from this company.

This company deserves NO STARS but needs to be locked up.

If you’d like to read all the negative reviews for yourself, 

click here.  Please share with family and friends, or reblog if you want to.

You’re never too old to try something new

Me in a kayak for the first time

I had my first kayak experience about ten days ago.  My good friend and sister from another mother, (because we were born two hours apart on the same day and in the same year), had been after me coaxing me to try it.  I finally decided “why not?”  I felt nervous, but pretty safe as my girlfriend is a retired RN.  She also helps with “search and rescue" efforts in the area.

So I finally arrived at her house an hour late on kayak day because my biggest fault is always being late.  I swear I’d be late to my own funeral, except I won’t be in charge of getting me there then.

We met up with another experienced kayaker and “search and rescue” worker.  Once everything was unloaded and we were in our life vests, the three of us set out to enjoy Sand Hollow in our separate kayaks.  At first I was very nervous, as I can’t swim, but gradually relaxed as I learned how to use the oars to get me right and left and how to go forward and turn around. 

Me at Sand Hollow.  Rocks are all over like the ones behind me.  It's really beautiful.

Sand Hollow is actually pretty shallow.  It was clear enough to see trees and bushes growing in the bottom and there are rock formations all over so I had to paddle around them.  I didn’t run into them too many times.  It was a learning experience for sure.

I did learn a thing or two about oars too.  They come in different weights, shapes and sizes.  The one I started with was too heavy for me, so I traded for a lighter one and did much better.  I actually was having fun doing this and it was so relaxing once I got over my fright and realized I wasn’t going to turn the kayak over. 

However, I had no idea how to get out of the thing once we got back to the dock, so I fell into the water and hit my rear-end on the rocks.  I still have a sore bottom, but it’s getting better.  And since I was wet from that, my two companions took me by the hands and pulled me out to knee deep water and had me sit down so I could get it through my head that I would float if I ever did overturn the kayak, or fall overboard.  This was the worst part of the whole trip having to sit down and lift up my legs and then my arms, so I didn’t have a firm hold on anything.  They were there to rescue me though, otherwise I don’t know if I could ever do this by myself.

We ended up staying out there two hours.  My arms were very sore for a couple of days, but that quickly went away and I feel like I’m ready for my next trip.  It wasn’t so scary that I won’t do this again and actually probably more than one more time.

Enjoy nature while you can

And I really do enjoy all the birds we have here.  I’m so happy the squirrel still comes daily to stock up on winter provisions and he/she hasn’t fallen prey to predators in the desert.  The same goes for the desert toad.  I only see them in the hot summer months and only late at night.  I was so happy to see this frog again on my patio last night.  As I mentioned before, most of the lizards have become lunch, or dinner, for the roadrunners.  I have to face the fact that this is life in nature.  The bigger critters feed on the smaller ones.

Desert toad

When the birds gather around the water bowl, I can almost imagine they’re there visiting friends and sharing the latest gossip.  LOL.  I guess I have an overactive imagination, but I believe that animals carry on much as we human people do in our daily lives, just without all the trappings of clothes and shoes and toiletries we use to make ourselves presentable.

Birds at the water cooler

On another note, I’m looking for a second part-time job because hours at my current part-time job have been cut until people start returning to the desert for the winter.  About half the people in the area leave for cooler climates when we have triple digits here.  I’m hoping to find something for evenings that isn’t too far of a drive to make it worth my while to go there and that I’m not too old to get hired.  Time will tell.  I’ll be looking into this all next week, so more on this later.  If I get lucky, I do intend to work both jobs for the foreseeable future.  I need to pay some bills off.  After that maybe I won’t be so stressed and I can relax more.  Right now I feel as if I have an ulcer half the time.  I think its only nerves.

My ankles have gotten so much better after the cortisone shots.  I can actually walk normal again and I’m so happy about this.  I go for a follow up this week.  More on this later too.

On another note, I have two ill friends right now that will be undergoing surgery this next week.  I would appreciate it if you could send some healing thoughts their way.

Critters in the desert

Somehow all these little creatures thrive here.  I’ not sure how they do it with the extreme heat and the cold in the winters.  We’ve had lots of visitors.  I even saw a baby squirrel yesterday, but by the time I got the camera it was gone.  So I put peanuts out in hopes it would come back.  I had to go to work so I don’t know if it did or not.  I hope so.

We even have a huge grasshopper now that I’m sure is feeding on my few living plants.  Where are the roadrunners when you need them?  LOL

Enjoy the pictures.

Birds at the water bowl

Desert toad

Lizards

Quail family

Roadrunner

Squirrel

A helpful hint

At my new place of employment there’s an older lady who transferred from another store.  I can always tell when “Mary” has worked because there will be price stickers stuck on everything.  I’ve tried to help her out by giving her some hints on how to avoid this, but she isn’t interested in any constructive criticism, no matter how much it’s sugar-coated.  And she seems not to care if there are stickers all over our department.  She’s oblivious to any kind of mess.

All this stuff looks crappy around our workplace and so I set out trying to scrape it all off.  These things must have super glue because it takes me several hours between customers to get them all up.  I know the next time “Mary” works it’ll be the same situation.  I keep hoping she’ll get better.  The price tags come out of the printer sticky side up, so I’m not exactly sure how she manages to get them sticky side down and stuck onto everything.  It takes good old elbow grease and a wet rag to get them off after scraping with my fingernail.

Hand sanitizer - not a real clear shot

A young man working for us told me to try hand sanitizer on them, so I did.  Guess what?  It works!  Who knew?  So I have a tiny bottle in my pocket.  If I squirt that on it and smooth it around, it’ll come off after sitting a few minutes.  I thought this may come in handy to know when we bring things home with those stickers that leave behind tons of sticky glue to remove.  Try this some time.  I think you’ll be surprised.

Who knew such beauty grows in the desert

The desert is a very harsh place, as I’ve said before.  It’s so hot and dusty in the summers that it’s a wonder anything survives.  I always feel bad for the critters who call this home.  Somehow they endure, although I’m sure some of them parish in the heat, or the extreme cold when food is hard to find.

There are very few plants that stay alive here.  We all think of cactus and sagebrush when we think of the desert landscape.  Today I wanted to share the Texas sage plant with you.  

These pics are from the Texas Smart Scape website.  I couldn't find the ones I took and downloaded.  They are vibrant purple.  These pictures don't do this plant justice.

These bushes thrive here and get loaded with flowers like this about four times a year.  This plant is so stunning it takes my breath away.  They can be spotted all over when in bloom like this.  The blooms last quite a while too.

Do you believe in ghosts?

To set the mood - photo from unsplash

This might be a controversial subject because I think people either do or don’t and there is no middle ground.  My husband is one of the don’ts, but I definitely do.  I know at least some of my family members’ do, as well, having seen ghosts themselves.

The reason I’m even bringing this up is because I think my sister-in-law visited me about three weeks ago.  She was such a wonderful person and has been gone a number of years now.  She came to see me the day she died.  I was sitting in the closet putting on my makeup when she appeared in the doorway, a ghostly shape dressed in white.  I think she came to say goodbye.

This is my sister-in-law not long before she passed away.  RIP

Since then I’ve seen shadows out of the corner of my eye but I’m not really sure if the light is playing tricks with me, or she’s just checking on me.  Anyway I was in the shower about three or four weeks ago and a small jar of eye cream went flying off the shelf in my closet.  My closet doesn’t have a door so I can see in there while in the shower.  That bottle was at least six inches from the edge.  I just couldn’t figure out how it tumbled to the floor all on its own.  Then I thought it might be her checking on me again.

I know some of you are probably wondering why I put my makeup on in the closet.  I have no other place and the lights are good in there.  I keep my makeup and magnifying mirror on a shelf in the closet, so it’s convenient to sit on a stool and do my face every day.  Weird I know, but I have to work with what I have.

Have a great day everyone.  It’s to the shower and off to work for me.  I hate the night shift, but we all have to share.

Overrun with roadrunners

This roadrunner is looking at the cats through the big windows in the back

This sure has been the case over the last month.  We’ve had five of them hunting aggressively in our yard and surrounding desert.  Most of the lizards are gone.  I imagine they probably became lunch, or dinner, for these hungry guys.

Roadrunner taking a rest on the wall

At first we were very surprised to see so many at one time because a pair is the most we’ve seen at once since we’ve lived here.  Then we began to think it was the parents showing their “kids” how to hunt. 

If you remember last year I wrote a post about a roadrunner nest in a tree on the vacant lot next door.  I think the little rascals have probably built another nest over there this year and that’s why we have so many roaming about. 

The young ones aren’t really afraid of us and jump into the tree next door quite a bit.  I haven’t had time to go out there and look around for a nest, but I bet I’d find one.  This particular tree is just like the one the roadrunners nested in last year, but it’s quite bushy and thick and hangs over our wall a bit.

Here's the lizard in the fireplace

As I mentioned, we had a lizard living in the fireplace a few years ago and another one had moved in and was entertaining the cats.  It’s since disappeared.  I suspect it’s become roadrunner food.  It’s been missing about two weeks now.  The cats still look for it in the fireplace, as do we.  I like the lizards because they eat all the bugs.  And yes, we have bugs in the desert.  There are many things that survive here, which seems incredible to me.  I know it must be a hard life, but I’m sure they don’t know any different being born here.  The same situation we all had as kids, not realizing what humidity was because it was just hot in the summers.

A roadrunner proud of his catch

These roadrunners have stopped traffic once on our street that I know of.  One had caught a chipmunk and the others gave chase hoping to get some of it, I guess.  They were actually running down the road.  Traffic going by had to stop in awe.  I was off work that day and looked out just in time to see this spectacle.  I wish I had had the time to grab the camera and take a quick video.  But roadrunners run fast and they all soon disappeared onto the vacant lot next door.  I lost sight of them in the scrub brush.

Is there ever enough time for everything?

I think I must be kidding myself into believing this.  I’m the eternal optimist and always think I’ll get to it, but I have to admit one day goes by and then another and soon a week or two has gone by.  I still haven’t accomplished writing one post in over a month’s time.  There’s a lot going on in my life, but still you’d think I could manage one post in thirty days.  Wouldn’t you?

It’s hard to believe it’s been so long.  Impossible even for me.  I promise to get something out here in the next day or two.

One thing is for sure, it’s burning up here in the desert.  We’ve had 104 several days now.  It’s still 90 when I hit the sack at midnight.

We have another lizard in the fireplace entertaining the cats.  I have a new job, a messy house and I’m way behind in doing everything.  I’ve also had a couple of adventures.  I have some pictures I haven’t had time to download yet and a website I’m trying to revamp.  I’ve been reading too trying to get myself inspired to finish my mystery series.  Who else better to inspire one than Stephen King?  I can never put his books down.

Z is for Zirconia

Most of you know this as synthetic diamond and probably a few of you have some of these gems at home.  They are sparkly and beautiful and can be almost any color.

It may surprise you to know that the main use of zirconia is in the production of ceramics as in dentistry.  It’s used in reconstruction, such as crowns or bridges.  Stabilized zirconia is used in oxygen sensors.  It also has potential applications as an insulator in transistors.

A brilliant cut cubic zirconia - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

When used in jewelry it has a high index of refraction and the same crystal structure as diamond.  It’s very difficult to determine the difference of a diamond and zirconia by visual testing alone.  A thermal conductivity test needs to be performed.  Diamond is a good thermal conductor where zirconia isn’t.

Y is for Yuksporite

Yuksporite - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

This is a rather pretty color mineral found in Russia.  This is a silicate mineral.  It contains rare elements of strontium, titanium and niobium, as well as the commoner metallic elements potassium, calcium, sodium and manganese.  It was found in Russia in 1922 and was named for the locality, near Mount Yukspor.

Yuksporite - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

The mineral is brownish-pink, rose pink or yellowish in color.  It has a silky vitreous luster.  Its makeup is similar to quartz but closer to tourmaline.  So far, the only occurrences of this mineral have been in Russia.

X is for Xyloid jasper

Xyloid jasper - courtesy of Wikipedia

This one is very interesting.  This is petrified wood that has fossilized.  All the original chemicals have been replaced with minerals, making a stone-like replica of the original wood.

Xyloid jasper - courtesy of Wikipedia

Xyloid jasper can be found all over the world, if conditions are right.

W is for Wulfenite

Wulfenite - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

This is found in tabular crystals with bright orange-red or yellow-orange color.  It’s found in many localities associated with lead ores.  In fact, the yellow form is sometimes called “yellow lead ore.”  Its also a secondary ore of molybdenum and is sought by collectors.

Wulfenite - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

Wulfenite was first discovered in 1845 in Austria and is named for Austrian mineralogist, Franz Xavier von Wulfen.

Wulfenite - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

Different colors of wulfenite seem to be found in different mines.  In Arizona the crystals are deep red in color.  In Mexico they’re thick tabular orange crystals and in Slovenia they’re yellow.  In 1997, the crystal was depicted on a stamp by the Post of Slovenia.

It’s soft and brittle and probably better as a crystal specimen instead of a candidate for jewelry.

V is for Vulcanite

Here is an interesting one.  This mineral is also called ebonite.  It’s a hard, moldable polished dark color of brown or black.  This was early rubber.  Vulcanite was produced by adding Sulphur to vulcanized rubber.  It was used for combs, ornaments and buttons.

Vulcanite - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

Hard rubber fountain pin bodies, hockey pucks, battery cases and mouthpieces for clarinet and saxophone are other uses for vulcanite.

U is for Uranium

This is a metal that can be used in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.  Uranium can also be used as a dye for stained glass and pottery.  This was the main use until people found out it was radioactive. 

Uranium - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

Uranium is a dangerous substance.  It’s silver-gray and forms a black coating in the air.  Where there is uranium you will usually see the radioactive hazard sign.  This metal can be found all across the United States. 

There are many problems with mining and milling this metal.  Many workers are exposed to high levels of radiation.  Radon gas can be inhaled by miners underground.  Accidental releases from uranium mines can also be a hazard.  Many mines are abandoned today.  This is a good thing in my opinion.

T is for Turquoise

Turquoise - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

Turquoise is an opaque green to blue mineral.  This mineral is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminum.  It’s been known by many names but ended up with the name turquoise because its arrival in Europe in the 17^th century was through Turkey from mines in Persia.

Turquoise is typically found in arid regions, suggesting climate plays a big part in its formation.

Turquoise - pics courtesy of Wikipedia

Turquoise was among the first gems ever mined.  The mining is done by hand in small scale operations.  It’s often discovered as a byproduct of large scale copper mining in the United States.  Copper mines are also found in Iran and on the Sanai Peninsula.  The southwest United States is a significant source of turquoise.  Sometimes in an attempt to meet demand, turquoise is treated or enhanced.  Sometimes these treatments also include  waxing or dyeing.

Even though turquoise was used in ancient times, it didn’t become significant until the 14^th century following a decline in the Roman Catholic Churches influence which allowed the stone to be used in secular jewelry.

Turquoise - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

Turquoise was thought to change color with the wearers health and protect him or her from untoward forces.

Turquoise was widely used by the Aztecs, Pueblo, Navajo and Apache tribes.  They cherished turquoise as amulets.

Turquoise - pic courtesy of Wikipedia

Turquoise is fragile and sensitive to solvents and even perfume.  Care must be taken so as to avoid contact with body lotion, sunscreen and cosmetics.  It’s also best to keep turquoise away from direct sunlight, as it can fade with prolonged sun exposure.

S is for Sapphire

Sapphire is a precious gemstone of the mineral corundum, an aluminum oxide.  Sapphire is typically blue, but natural “fancy” sapphires can be yellow, purple, orange and green, or “parti sapphires,” which are two or more of these colors.  The only color sapphire can’t be is red because red corundums are rubies.  The variety in color is from trace amounts of iron, titanium, chromium, copper, or magnesium.

This beauty is the Logan Sapphire and it weighs 423 carats - Wikipedia

Sapphires are usually cut and polished into gems and worn as jewelry although they can also be used in wristwatch crystals, high-durability windows and thin electronic wafers among other things.  Sapphire, like ruby, is also a 9.0 on Mohs scale of hardness.

A cut and polished sapphire gemstone - Wikipedia

Sapphire is graded like other gemstones, as mentioned before, by color, cut, clarity and carat weight.  The color of gemstones can be described in terms of hue, saturation and tone.  Hue is the “color” of the gemstone.  Saturation is brightness of the hue and tone is the lightness and darkness of the hue.

A beautiful teardrop cut sapphire - Wikipedia

Green or gray lessens the hue considerably and also the value.  Ideally it’s best to have violet or purple contribute to the intensity of the blue color of sapphires.

Here’s an interesting tidbit about parti sapphires.  Australia is the largest source of particolored sapphires.  These aren’t typically used in jewelry so are relatively unknown.  Particolored sapphires cannot be created synthetically and only occur naturally.

A padparadscha sapphire - Wikipedia

Naturally formed pink-orange corundum is very rare.  This type of sapphire is called Padparadscha.  This name comes from the name for the lotus flower as this is much the same color.  These stones are often from Sri Lanka.  Orange gems are often higher in price than the highest quality blue sapphire.  Because of heat treatment called lattice diffusion, more of these orange gems are being seen in the marketplace, but the naturally occurring ones are the most valuable.

Star sapphire - Wikipedia

The star sapphire exhibits a star pattern when viewed from a single overhead light source.  This star is due to rutile inclusions in the stone when it was formed.  As discussed earlier, rutile is titanium dioxide.  These gems are generally cut into cabochons (flat on the bottom) and mounted that way with the star facing outward.  The red stones like this are called “star rubies.”

Sapphire is the birthstone for September and also the gem for a forty-fifth anniversary.