Just wanted to let you know that you won't be seeing me for a few days, and to explain why I haven't been around much in the last few.
The night Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Northeastern coast of the US, I sat and cried as I watched the images on my computer screen. You may have seen me. It was very traumatic for me to watch all of this, while receiving tweets and facebook updates from people who were actually caught in this superstorm, and didn't know if they were going to make it.
Most traumatic of all for me were my friends who, like me, are animal rescuers, and who were not only fighting to save their own lives and the lives of their families, but the lives of the animals they have pledged to care for and protect.
Now, in the aftermath, these same people, many who have lost everything of their own, are on the ground helping the animals displaced by Sandy, caring for them and giving them as much as they can to make their lives more comfortable.
In addition, they are seeking out others, either rescues or those who have pets, who have run out of resources of their own to care for them, and they are rushing these wonderful people the supplies they need to take care of themselves and the animals they love.
Sitting here in the South, I felt pretty comfortable. It was chilly outside, but I was warm. The gas is on, the lights are on, if I want a cup of hot tea, all I have to do is go into the kitchen and make it.
So I decided I needed to do something. I partnered with another rescue and we started getting the word out that we were going to collect supplies here then head north with them, to a warehouse in New Jersey where a coalition of animal rescues are staging their relief effort.
We held an event at a local store, and got a good response for this rural area with supplies...raised a little money, but not much. But then the emails started flooding in from up and down I-85 and I-95...if I would stop on the way, there was more supplies, and more money waiting for me to pick up and take to the people and animals in need.
So yesterday I picked up a 26' truck that was practically donated to us by Penske. Please use these wonderful folks if you need a truck, to thank them for their generosity. I have to admit to some nervousness...I haven't driven anything this big except to move a few miles since I was a very young adult, when I used to work for my Uncle some. 1450 total miles is a little intimidating. But I'm going to do it.
So you won't see me for a few days. I'll be on the interstate, flying north to help people who don't even care about their own situations, as long as they can help the animals they care so much about.
But think about me, just for a sec...and then think about those that are sitting there, realizing how fast it can all go away... and maybe say a little prayer of thanksgiving, in this month of thanksgiving.
And if you'd like to make a little donation to help, you can go to www.humane.pro, and click on the Donate button. Be sure to specify for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. I promise you, every single penny is going to them.
See you on the flip side..........
Viddy
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
I need help...
If you watch me much at all, you know I'm an animal rescuer and that I work in a cell phone/computer repair store. You know that I'm not the neatest person in the world but that I do have some sense of order. And you know that while I'm not above a little self-promotion, I am not one to beg.
Yet, here I am, begging.
After we moved our cell phone store, business has been WAY down...so much so that the owner can't afford to pay me. I have been working some there anyway (it's kind of a family business) but after I found ImLive I've been spending more time at home on camera making money that way to help pay bills. The owner has built me a studio at the store though so you may see more of me there in the future.
Right now we can cover the absolute necessities...rent, utilities, food for us and the cats, gas for the vehicle we are lucky to use. But there are no extras. If my personal medication were not provided by a friend, I would not have it. We have no insurance, so if something catastrophic happens to one of us, we are truly screwed. I will be driving seven hours and several hundred miles this afternoon to go pick up a load of donated cat food, food I'm VERY thankful for.
Our feline medicine supplies have run very low. I have two cats that are in dire need of daily medicines, and about 20 others that also receive daily medicine and who probably wouldn't die right away, but their quality of life would quickly diminish without it. These are medicines I can order from online for about $60 plus shipping. Right now I have about $20 in my Paypal account. An order this size will last me about three months.
I've never done two awards on any camera I've ever had in one month with the exception of my first month on CW, where, on the very last day, about an hour before midnight local time, I turned over a second award. (I just checked my records and I am wrong on this. My first two months I did two awards on each camera. My apologies for misleading anyone. I was pretty upset when I originally wrote this - Viddy, 10/30/12)
I'm asking, if you are a voting member of CW, please vote for my cameras every day, all three of them. Please vote five votes. If you will do that, I will raise $30 more this month in my Paypal account, and can come up with the rest that I need from selling scrap metal. We have a week to do this, and I believe we can do it - with your help.
It costs you nothing but a moment to stop by each day, and can help so many of our cats that really need these meds. I can probably scratch together what I need to get the meds for the two cats in dire need...I'll go hungry before I'll let them go without meds, but it would help so much more if I can get all that they need at once.
Thanks for reading this, and for thinking of us.
Viddy
Yet, here I am, begging.
After we moved our cell phone store, business has been WAY down...so much so that the owner can't afford to pay me. I have been working some there anyway (it's kind of a family business) but after I found ImLive I've been spending more time at home on camera making money that way to help pay bills. The owner has built me a studio at the store though so you may see more of me there in the future.
Right now we can cover the absolute necessities...rent, utilities, food for us and the cats, gas for the vehicle we are lucky to use. But there are no extras. If my personal medication were not provided by a friend, I would not have it. We have no insurance, so if something catastrophic happens to one of us, we are truly screwed. I will be driving seven hours and several hundred miles this afternoon to go pick up a load of donated cat food, food I'm VERY thankful for.
Our feline medicine supplies have run very low. I have two cats that are in dire need of daily medicines, and about 20 others that also receive daily medicine and who probably wouldn't die right away, but their quality of life would quickly diminish without it. These are medicines I can order from online for about $60 plus shipping. Right now I have about $20 in my Paypal account. An order this size will last me about three months.
I've never done two awards on any camera I've ever had in one month with the exception of my first month on CW, where, on the very last day, about an hour before midnight local time, I turned over a second award. (I just checked my records and I am wrong on this. My first two months I did two awards on each camera. My apologies for misleading anyone. I was pretty upset when I originally wrote this - Viddy, 10/30/12)
I'm asking, if you are a voting member of CW, please vote for my cameras every day, all three of them. Please vote five votes. If you will do that, I will raise $30 more this month in my Paypal account, and can come up with the rest that I need from selling scrap metal. We have a week to do this, and I believe we can do it - with your help.
It costs you nothing but a moment to stop by each day, and can help so many of our cats that really need these meds. I can probably scratch together what I need to get the meds for the two cats in dire need...I'll go hungry before I'll let them go without meds, but it would help so much more if I can get all that they need at once.
Thanks for reading this, and for thinking of us.
Viddy
Mickey
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Kittens n Cams
For the seven or so of you that were up overnight and had my cam on, you may have seen me fooling around with some very small critters. These were 2-3 week kittens we found under a bush at our shop's new location. Mama is either feral or very skittish, and would not let us near her. She was also very protective of her babies, so while one of us lured her away with a dish of food, the other grabbed the babies and got them into a crate. We've named her Salem, after one of the roads our shop is at the corner of. Unfortunately, yesterday we were not able to catch her as well, so I was stuck with bottle duty last night every three hours. Bleh.
I love little fat kittens, and these babies are little butterballs. They were not interested in the kitten formula I mixed up and were not shy in telling me so. I am not mama, the milk is not mama's milk, and we want mama!!! lol
I left a trap loaded with more food overnight, and this morning one of my husbands went back by on his way home from work and sure enough, mama sat docile in the trap, food all eaten. Now mama and babies are reunited in the basement, where I had to evict another cat to have a cage to put this little family in. We are so full. Donations have been non-existent for months now, and we've all shouldered the burden on our own. That's one of the reason my cam is on 24-7 and I have so many cams sometimes - each time I get 1000 points that gives me enough money to but a 20# bag of cat food at the feed n seed. (They give me a special price as a rescuer). Unfortunately, the owner informed me that because of the drought this summer, corn prices are way up, which means pet and farm feeds are going up, so he's not going to be able to let me have the food that cheap anymore. I understand, he's gotta feed his family too. But my wages did not go up, and won't for some time unless this business move means we get way more business. I hope so!
I don't complain about points - or I try not to - because I look at them as a gift from those watching, and you don't complain about or demand gifts. I do give gentle reminders towards the end of the month if I'm close in hopes of generating a little more. When I first started camming last year, I was routinely getting enough votes to get two awards per cam each month. Now, sometimes I don't even get one award on some cams. I figure that's my fault though - lately between the business move and other stuff, sometimes a cam goes off the air and I don't notice it for hours or even days. If you're going to be a lifecaster, then the cams gotta be on.
Speaking of cams, I've started doing something to make a little extra money, since things are so tight. There's a website called www.imlive.com. ImLive uses home webcammers (called hosts or models) who are willing to do various things on camera and allows them to make money doing it. Some cammers are sex workers - and to be honest, I don't have a problem with that. If a woman decides that her best option is to work in the sex industry, on cam is a hell of a lot safer in so many ways. You can stay at home or work in a studio set up for such, set your own hours, keep your location confidential, it's clean, sanitary....a much better option than either exotic dancing or working as a street girl. It's gotta smell better. ;)
I'm not going that option, though. In my opinion, my body is not for public viewing - little too much wear on the tires. <lol> But that isn't the only video work that ImLive offers. They also have "Friends and Romance", which I have signed up for and worked a couple of shifts already. My computer is a little slow so I have to turn off CW while I'm working in order to avoid lag in my camera. I'm fully clothed and my job is to be the woman some man wants to talk to for $1.00/minute. What he wants to talk about (or show me, as the case may be), is his thing. And so far it's been easy.
So if you see me sitting here putting on makeup or fixing my hair some evening, that's what I'm getting ready for. And I think it says something about how I feel about my CW family that after my first shift, I immediately turned CW back on and "got comfortable". CW is "home", ImLive is "work". And that says it all. :)
I love little fat kittens, and these babies are little butterballs. They were not interested in the kitten formula I mixed up and were not shy in telling me so. I am not mama, the milk is not mama's milk, and we want mama!!! lol
I left a trap loaded with more food overnight, and this morning one of my husbands went back by on his way home from work and sure enough, mama sat docile in the trap, food all eaten. Now mama and babies are reunited in the basement, where I had to evict another cat to have a cage to put this little family in. We are so full. Donations have been non-existent for months now, and we've all shouldered the burden on our own. That's one of the reason my cam is on 24-7 and I have so many cams sometimes - each time I get 1000 points that gives me enough money to but a 20# bag of cat food at the feed n seed. (They give me a special price as a rescuer). Unfortunately, the owner informed me that because of the drought this summer, corn prices are way up, which means pet and farm feeds are going up, so he's not going to be able to let me have the food that cheap anymore. I understand, he's gotta feed his family too. But my wages did not go up, and won't for some time unless this business move means we get way more business. I hope so!
I don't complain about points - or I try not to - because I look at them as a gift from those watching, and you don't complain about or demand gifts. I do give gentle reminders towards the end of the month if I'm close in hopes of generating a little more. When I first started camming last year, I was routinely getting enough votes to get two awards per cam each month. Now, sometimes I don't even get one award on some cams. I figure that's my fault though - lately between the business move and other stuff, sometimes a cam goes off the air and I don't notice it for hours or even days. If you're going to be a lifecaster, then the cams gotta be on.
Speaking of cams, I've started doing something to make a little extra money, since things are so tight. There's a website called www.imlive.com. ImLive uses home webcammers (called hosts or models) who are willing to do various things on camera and allows them to make money doing it. Some cammers are sex workers - and to be honest, I don't have a problem with that. If a woman decides that her best option is to work in the sex industry, on cam is a hell of a lot safer in so many ways. You can stay at home or work in a studio set up for such, set your own hours, keep your location confidential, it's clean, sanitary....a much better option than either exotic dancing or working as a street girl. It's gotta smell better. ;)
I'm not going that option, though. In my opinion, my body is not for public viewing - little too much wear on the tires. <lol> But that isn't the only video work that ImLive offers. They also have "Friends and Romance", which I have signed up for and worked a couple of shifts already. My computer is a little slow so I have to turn off CW while I'm working in order to avoid lag in my camera. I'm fully clothed and my job is to be the woman some man wants to talk to for $1.00/minute. What he wants to talk about (or show me, as the case may be), is his thing. And so far it's been easy.
So if you see me sitting here putting on makeup or fixing my hair some evening, that's what I'm getting ready for. And I think it says something about how I feel about my CW family that after my first shift, I immediately turned CW back on and "got comfortable". CW is "home", ImLive is "work". And that says it all. :)
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Never say goodbye...
It is my belief that someone I've been watching on camera for months passed away. His screen name is Pax. I say it is my belief because, like everyone on camera that I watch, I don't actually know Pax, so I have no way of knowing for sure that this happened - but all indications would lead to it, and I have no reason to believe anyone on cam or off would want to lie about such a thing.
I've been watching Pax just like I've been watching everyone on CW, and I had deduced that he was very sick long before it was verified to me. It was little things - the feeding tube port on his stomach, the hospital bed that you could sometimes see if he was away from cam, the fact that he was in that bed quite a bit of the day...but I had come to the conclusion that Pax was dying about 2 months ago, when you would see his cam on, but the room would be dark all day long. I asked a cammer I occasionally chat with whether Pax was dying, and he said he was, and that he was doing so with dignity.
According to notifications from other cammers, Pax died sometime in the past week. He didn't actually die on camera - he left a note that he would be going away for a while, then another cammer posted that Pax had gone to hospice. I saw him one more time - my assumption was from hospice, from afar, while his bed was being made, and that was the last.
I regret that I never had the opportunity to know Pax. It is my belief that all but a very small segment of society have something of value to offer this life, and when someone dies, we all lose a great deal. Knowledge, a unique way of seeing life, a presence that cannot be duplicated (even in identical twins), talent this world has not seen and will not see again...all that is gone when we are. And the rest of the world is left behind to mourn us and and our loss.
Cancer runs rampant in both sides of my family. I've lost my Mom and Grandmother to lung cancer (Mom at only 56); aunts and one uncle to breast cancer (men, it is important that you get screened after 50 - breast cancer affects men too.), cousins who have survived cancer but who must ever be diligent because it's sneaky, it will come back eventually, and you have to be ready for it. Mom was hard...but not unexpected. She had smoked, and heavily, since she was 14. Grandmother was the same. What hit me the hardest though was the death of my baby sister last year at only 42. She too had smoked tobacco since she was 14, she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer right from the outset, and unfortunately at that moment she made the mistake of bringing her ex-husband back into her life, and he cut her off from us completely, so much so that by the time we found out she was in the the hospital dying, there was only time for my brother to fly down and he never got the chance to speak to her. I have no idea if she went through any treatment, and if not, why she chose not to. These are mysteries which will haunt me to the day that I too check out.
Because of this I try to be diligent about my health, figuring that it's not IF cancer will track me down, it's WHEN. And WHEN that happens, well, I don't know if I would be as brave as Pax was....to open my illness and possible death to the whole world to watch. Because there are times when you are ill that you have to go through some very undignified things - things you'd rather the world not see.
Pax showed me that death could be dignified, that it could be supported, that you can let your death be an example to others. I don't know for sure what Pax died of, only what I heard, but from the dates posted after his reported death he died young...only two years younger than me. It is my hope that whenever I die, be it young or old, that I show the dignity and the bravery that Pax did at the end of his life. RIP Pax, RIP Littlebit (my baby sister), and RIP all those who die way before their time, whenever that is. Live life to it's fullest, because we never know when our time is next.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
A Little About Me
First of all, this blog is meant for those who watch CW or Cameraware. If you don't know what that is, you can learn more at www.cameraware.com, and you can watch at kitkat-lounge.tripod.com/chat.html. I'm a life cammer, I have cams going 24-7-365, with the occasional break for a movie.
So, are you curious? Here's a little about me. I'm married, I live in the US in the South. I was also born and raised in the South, but not where I live now. I'm 1/2 Cherokee, half Hillbilly. I am an animal rescuer, primarily cats, and care for 48 cats and one dog on a daily basis. I do adoption and fundraising events a lot of weekends, as we are self-supporting and none of us have jobs where we make a lot of money. I'm a computer geek and have been all my life, having been lucky enough to have gone to one of the very first high schools in the nation that had a computer science program. I have a degree in Computer Science, but it's so old that if I were to try to go to work in the IT field I'd have to go back and practically get my degree all over again. When I graduated college there were only TWO women in my class other than me getting degrees in CS. I used to design and make Native American beadwork and jewelry, but haven't in a while.
I have two children and two grandchildren that live in another part of the US. I love and miss them all very much and hope to get to travel to visit them soon.
The cat you see on camera with me is one of 4 personal cats of ours, and the only one allowed in my office. Her name is Velvet, she's 13 years old and she is one of our very first rescues. You may occasionally see me with other cats in the office, doing routine medical or grooming. We have a small bathroom for that but it's currently occupied with a kitten I'm monitoring. :)
While I would like to be a full-time nudist I am not comfortable enough on several levels to do so on camera. So the likelihood of you seeing anything more than me in my underwear while getting dressed is low. Sorry. I was around CW (primarily on Cobracam) several years ago for a while under a different name, but hadn't had high-speed internet access until last fall for a very long time. I was not working at that time and was looking for any way at all to raise more money for the cats and I remembered CW and the voting rewards program. So I hooked one camera up, which became two, and sometimes three. My dream is to get my house wired.
I am an exhibitionist to a certain extent and I do like being on Camera. I am thinking about wiring other parts of the house for camera, but the other people that live here in the house are not so gung-ho about it and I respect their privacy. They know when they come into my office they are on cam, and that's about as far as they want to go. If I turn the cams off it's usually because we want to watch a movie online in my office, and the cams make the movies lag or jerk. I need a more powerful computer.
My work cam serves two purposes - raising money for the cats, and security. I manage a cell phone store/computer repair shop. We have a number of cams up and running in different locations for security, of course mine is the only one on CW.
If Cameraware were true video you'd notice that I get up from the chair very slow if I've been sitting here for more than a few minutes. One day I'll post my MRI here. The bones in my neck look like a handful of gravel due to a VERY old car crash injury, and because of the loss of support there the whole spine is shifting, buckling, etc. so I am in pretty much constant pain all through my back. In addition I suffer from fibromyalgia. There are certain days during the winter when I just don't leave the bed, or don't go any farther than my office chair (which is equipped with massage and heat. Sometimes you may catch me sleeping in it, because it's so comfortable.) I am not complaining - if nothing else the entry of another CW cammer into hospice (still praying for him) taught me that things can ALWAYS be much worse. In the last couple of years I have been trying to go natural-organic-chemical free in hopes of staving off the cancer that is rampant in both sides of my family. My pain management is completely natural, as I don't like and cannot use "pain pills" or shots. I rarely drink but like a nice glass of wine every now and again.
I am also a writer, and supported myself and my kids while in college writing stories for a magazine. I don't seem to be able to say anything in writing without writing a LOT. Sorry. :)
I've taken the nickname Viddy and you can call me that. Have a wonderful day, and if you're one of those that can do so, please vote for my cats. We buy cat food wholesale from a local feed and seed, and if I get my 1000 points in a month that will buy one 20# bag of cat food. We spend around $300 a month on animal food.
I like shows like Big Brother and after being on cam for six months I figure I could do the BB house no problem! I do like meeting other cammers via email so if you would like to chat, feel free to email me at videoworkinggirl@gmail.com.
So, are you curious? Here's a little about me. I'm married, I live in the US in the South. I was also born and raised in the South, but not where I live now. I'm 1/2 Cherokee, half Hillbilly. I am an animal rescuer, primarily cats, and care for 48 cats and one dog on a daily basis. I do adoption and fundraising events a lot of weekends, as we are self-supporting and none of us have jobs where we make a lot of money. I'm a computer geek and have been all my life, having been lucky enough to have gone to one of the very first high schools in the nation that had a computer science program. I have a degree in Computer Science, but it's so old that if I were to try to go to work in the IT field I'd have to go back and practically get my degree all over again. When I graduated college there were only TWO women in my class other than me getting degrees in CS. I used to design and make Native American beadwork and jewelry, but haven't in a while.
I have two children and two grandchildren that live in another part of the US. I love and miss them all very much and hope to get to travel to visit them soon.
The cat you see on camera with me is one of 4 personal cats of ours, and the only one allowed in my office. Her name is Velvet, she's 13 years old and she is one of our very first rescues. You may occasionally see me with other cats in the office, doing routine medical or grooming. We have a small bathroom for that but it's currently occupied with a kitten I'm monitoring. :)
While I would like to be a full-time nudist I am not comfortable enough on several levels to do so on camera. So the likelihood of you seeing anything more than me in my underwear while getting dressed is low. Sorry. I was around CW (primarily on Cobracam) several years ago for a while under a different name, but hadn't had high-speed internet access until last fall for a very long time. I was not working at that time and was looking for any way at all to raise more money for the cats and I remembered CW and the voting rewards program. So I hooked one camera up, which became two, and sometimes three. My dream is to get my house wired.
I am an exhibitionist to a certain extent and I do like being on Camera. I am thinking about wiring other parts of the house for camera, but the other people that live here in the house are not so gung-ho about it and I respect their privacy. They know when they come into my office they are on cam, and that's about as far as they want to go. If I turn the cams off it's usually because we want to watch a movie online in my office, and the cams make the movies lag or jerk. I need a more powerful computer.
My work cam serves two purposes - raising money for the cats, and security. I manage a cell phone store/computer repair shop. We have a number of cams up and running in different locations for security, of course mine is the only one on CW.
If Cameraware were true video you'd notice that I get up from the chair very slow if I've been sitting here for more than a few minutes. One day I'll post my MRI here. The bones in my neck look like a handful of gravel due to a VERY old car crash injury, and because of the loss of support there the whole spine is shifting, buckling, etc. so I am in pretty much constant pain all through my back. In addition I suffer from fibromyalgia. There are certain days during the winter when I just don't leave the bed, or don't go any farther than my office chair (which is equipped with massage and heat. Sometimes you may catch me sleeping in it, because it's so comfortable.) I am not complaining - if nothing else the entry of another CW cammer into hospice (still praying for him) taught me that things can ALWAYS be much worse. In the last couple of years I have been trying to go natural-organic-chemical free in hopes of staving off the cancer that is rampant in both sides of my family. My pain management is completely natural, as I don't like and cannot use "pain pills" or shots. I rarely drink but like a nice glass of wine every now and again.
I am also a writer, and supported myself and my kids while in college writing stories for a magazine. I don't seem to be able to say anything in writing without writing a LOT. Sorry. :)
I've taken the nickname Viddy and you can call me that. Have a wonderful day, and if you're one of those that can do so, please vote for my cats. We buy cat food wholesale from a local feed and seed, and if I get my 1000 points in a month that will buy one 20# bag of cat food. We spend around $300 a month on animal food.
I like shows like Big Brother and after being on cam for six months I figure I could do the BB house no problem! I do like meeting other cammers via email so if you would like to chat, feel free to email me at videoworkinggirl@gmail.com.
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