30

May

Baby Formula – Poor Ingredients

My wife has been breastfeeding our daughter the minute she was cleaned up from the nastiness of being in the belly. We believe that breast is best and of course it is so much more cheaper to feed something that your body naturally dispenses. However, there has been a time or two that we have used formula.

The first time we used formula was the first night that we had Kennedee at home. She was crying and screaming and just would not stop. Ashlee, my wife, was sleeping and could not wake up long enough to feed Kennedee due to the strong pain medication. I was desperate and grabbed the formula that we received free in the mail and made a bottle. Kennedee drank one ounce and feel asleep, this was a great moment in the night that I could think and hear what was going on around me again.

The second time we used this was this past weekend when my wife was sick, very sick. She was throwing up and, well I will spare you the gorey details. Luckily Ashlee’s sister was in town and she was able to baby sit for us while I was at work. While she and my in-laws had Kennedee they ran out of frozen breastmilk and we did not want Ashlee holding our daughter, so formula was the only answer. (Well we could have asked one of our friends who is breastfeeding their kids if we can have some milk, but that would be out of our comfort zone.)

At lunch today we were discussing the formula for some reason and my wife asked her mom if she read the ingredient of the formula. Come to find out the very first ingredient is corn Syrup Solids! What?! The very thing that we are trying to not give our daughter is the number one ingredient in her life saving powder.

I feel let down by the people who are suppose to have your babies health interest at the very top of their list. Just in case you do not know the ingredients of the formula, I have listed them below.

Ingredients
Unflavored Powder

  • Similac Sensitive EarlyShield Powder / 1.45-lb (657-g) SimplePac / Case of 6
  • Similac Sensitive Powder / 2.12-lb (963-g) SimplePac / Case of 6
  • Similac Sensitive EarlyShield Powder / 12.6-oz (357-g) Can / Case of 6

Corn Syrup Solids, Sugar (Sucrose), Milk Protein Isolate, High Oleic Safflower Oil, Soy Oil, Coconut Oil, Galactooligosaccharides. Less than 2% of the Following: C. Cohnii Oil*, M. Alpina Oil†, Beta-Carotene, Lutein, Lycopene, Calcium Phosphate, Potassium Citrate, Potassium Chloride, Sodium Citrate, Magnesium Phosphate, Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Magnesium Chloride, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Choline Bitartrate, Taurine, m-Inositol, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Zinc Sulfate, Mixed Tocopherols, L-Carnitine, Niacinamide, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Cupric Sulfate, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Phylloquinone, Biotin, Sodium Selenate, Vitamin D3, Cyanocobalamin, Potassium Hydroxide, and Nucleotides (Adenosine 5’-Monophosphate, Cytidine 5’-Monophosphate, Disodium Guanosine 5’-Monophosphate, Disodium Uridine 5’-Monophosphate).
* A source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
† A source of arachidonic acid (ARA).
Contains milk ingredients. Gluten-Free; suitable for lactose sensitivity.

This reminds me of the commerical that the corn industry airs where the two mothers are at a birthday party and one mom is pouring the kool-aid and the other is like oh that is corn syrup. Then the mom who is pouring pretty much makes the other feel stupid. Well, SNL did a great skit about this commercial. It is basically the same, however at the end it shows the mom’s daughter as a fat man wanting more kool-aid.

If you know me you may be saying, well Doug, you are on the heavy side. Yes I am, however we are trying to eat better and use better ingredients in our foods. My wife and I do not want our child to be obese.

I have learned a lesson from this incedint and will be going to the store to purchase some Earth’s Best Infant Formula. This brand does not have these nasty ingridents. Next time we are needing to use formula, I will not have a bad conscience. I hope you look at what you are feeding your children and together we can help stop childhood obesity.

Thanks for reading about a dugs life.

13 years ago Short URL 2 Comments

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29

May

Real Men Do Cry

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Whoever said real men don’t cry was seriously misinformed. I think our society is starting to turn around on this view, however there are still those people who hold to this belief. I for one do not agree with the thinking that men should not cry.

Crying is good for the soul, eyes, stress level, and just your mental well being. Here are seven reasons why crying is good for you. http://www.care2.com/greenliving/7-reasons-why-crying-is-good-for-you.html

I have heard people say the hardest they have cried was when they saw their dad cry. Is this true for you? I am not sure I have seen my dad cry and I don’t have that great of a relationship with him to really care if he does cry. Now I have cried when men that I look up too has cried. Maybe that is what it is like to have your dad cry in my head.

I was at church a few weeks ago and a guy was talking about Jesus and helping those who do not know Him by showing God’s love for them. He was really emotional and had to take a few pauses to collect his thoughts. Of course I started to cry as well, not sure if it was his faith or just that he was a guy crying, but I teared up with him. What is crazy is I overheard an older man say, “I don’t know what he was getting so emotional for.” This response could have been made due to his lack of relationship with Christ or because he was older and thought men should not cry in public, nay not at all.

Another time I remember crying with a guy crying was when I was at Camp Caudle listening to a friend speak at a camp session. He was talking about how he threw something away that his dad cherished and how his dad was not angry at him, but how he sat him down and told him a story about the object he through away. My friend started crying and if I remember correctly he mentioned his daughter. This is when I knew that I would be a dad soon and I started crying as well. I wanted to run down there and hug him.

When you become a father, you have all new fears, worries, wants and different outlooks on life. You are not so consumed about yourself or about your wife(at least this is how I am right now) it is all about your baby. There is this new beautiful creation that God has given us and said here she is yours to take care of, she is yours to show the love that I have shown you, she is your daughter. I have to admit that when I first saw her I did not bust out in tears, it took one night before I started welling up inside. I remember rocking in a chair that was in our room and thinking how she was so small and how she was my daughter. I also thought of the rule in the hospital that both parents could not be asleep with the baby in the room. So, I was rocking her looking into her blue eyes and thinking how tired I was but I did not want to take her to the nursery. Alas I had to wheel her down in the bassinet to the ladies.

Ever since then I have seen her at night before she went to bed and am the primary put-her-to-sleep-parent. When I was gone we were able to see each other via FaceTime. The other night she went to stay with my wife’s family because my wife is sick. When I carried her out to their car I was welling up inside and when I walked in my house I sat on the couch and cried for five minutes. I am not sure what my wife was thinking, I have not asked her. My daughter is six months old and I would do anything for her. It is amazing to think how six months ago there was this little baby girl that came in the world and we have never met before, yet I would die for her.

If my in-laws read this don’t feel bad about me crying, real men are allowed to cry. Thanks for reading a dugs life.

13 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

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26

May

AppleCare

If you know me, you know that I am an Apple fan.  I had an experience the other day with AppleCare when my iPhone 4 was having issues that only set that love for Apple deeper.  At my past job at an extended warranty company, this repair blows them out of the water.  Keep reading to get excited about AppleCare as I have.

My iPhone 4’s back glass was sliding around, which I have dropped it a couple of times, however I do not believe that would have caused this to happen.  The ear speaker had diminished dramaticly since I purchased the phone.  When I would be speaking to my wife I would say “Are you talking into your microphone!”  It was very difficult to hear people.  Another issue with the phone is the home button was having issues as well.

Since my warranty is ending on June 24, 2011 I figured I should call to set up service.  I went to www.apple.com/support/ and set up a service request.  With-in minutes I received an email advising me to take my phone to UPS and have them ship it for me.  After locating an older iPhone to survive the long wait for my phone back, I went to UPS to ship off my iPhone 4.  My wife and I thought we would have to pay for the box, packing material and shipping, boy was I wrong!  The guy asked for my repair id number which pulled up my service request and AppleCare paid for the box, packing, and AND OVERNIGHT SHIPPING.  I had no idea it was overnight shipping until I received an email on Friday May 20, 2011 stating:

Your IPHONE 4 reached the Apple repair center on 2011-05-20. We will notify you by email when your service request is complete.  Regards, The AppleCare Team

That is insane that a warranty company would send your device overnight to them to repair.  I used to work for a very large warranty company and the only way for this to happen is to escalate to a Corporate Resolution Specialist and demand overnight shipping.

The weekend came and went then on Monday May 23, 2011 I wanted to see what the status was on the repair, so I called 1-800-MY-APPLE.  A nice guy answered and asked some questions, but then said his system was down and could not give me any information.  I am not going to lie, I was a little perturbed with this, because when I worked for the extended warranty we could at least email a form that went into a folder and was worked and the person was called back.  If our computer system was completely down, we had paper forms that we could fill out and someone would call that person back.  I felt that there was no since in this person telling me that he could not assist me in any way possible.  Then a few hours later I received this email:

Your service request has been completed and we sent you a replacement IPHONE 4 on 2011-05-24. The replacement shipped via FedEx using tracking number########, which should be active within 24 hours. Please allow two business days for delivery (five business days if your product is an iPod or iPad that has a personalized engraving). Regards, The AppleCare Team

The email also contained my old iPhone’s serial number and the new iPhone’s serial number.  The best part of this is the fact they sent it back to me overnight!

This whole repair/replacement is crazy to me.  Working at the extended warranty company that I was at showed me that you can get things done with longer shipping, but we received so many calls just people wanting to know where their product was.  I am sure that if the company I used to work for would just overnight the parts to repair the products there would be a lot less escalations.

I must admit that I did not purchase the extended AppleCare on my iPhone 4 and now it is too late to do so, or is it?  I found an article about purchasing AppleCare on Ebay.  I may be doing this soon, as my manufacturer warranty will be ending soon.

Thank you for reading about a dugs life, have a great day.

13 years ago Short URL Comments

Apple Inc.

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22

May

Should be working on a Doctorate

Ashlee, my wife, saw a commercial on TV from http://www.atu.edu It was about finishing your degree online if “LIFE” has gotten in your way to finish in class.  So, I emailed the lady in charge to see what I would have to do to complete my bachelors that I have been working on since 2001.  She responded saying I would have 22 more hours to finish my degree and that I will be able to do this in two semesters!

Bad news is that I will not be able to take them all at once due to lack of money.  I will not be able to get financial aid due to me being behind on hours. I would not feel right trying to appeal it for the fourth time saying I promise this is THE time I will pass.

What is really sad is Ashlee and I were looking at my transcript and they post ATTEMPTED HOURS and PASSED HOURS.  The ATTEMPTED HOURS is 170ish and my PASSED HOURS is 109.  I have ATTEMPTED so many hours that I should be in a doctorate program.  No wonder I have so much debt in student loans!

I feel like finishing my degree this way feels cheap or cheating the system some how, but I just need that really fancy piece of paper.  I want to be able to tell my daughter that no matter how long something takes you YOU FINISH IT.  Yes, I have been in college on and off for ten years, yikes TEN YEARS!  But I am not giving up, I have been known for giving up on a lot of things, but there are two things that I strive to complete.  Those are 1. my marriage and 2. this blast degree.

What bothers me the most about the degree online is there is no real name for it, like I am working on my Sociology degree. This one is called “Arkansas Tech’s Accelerated Degree Program” and my emphasis area would be Criminal Justice.  I have a friend or two who are generally studied and they are really smart, so I have no problems being generally studied either.

Today is a new day; a new beginning.  It has been given to me as a new gift.  I can either use it or throw it away.  What I do today will affect me tomorrow.  I cannot blame anyone but myself if I do not succeed.  I promise to use this day to the fullest by giving my best realizing it can never come back again.  This is my life and I choose to make it a SUCCESS.

Thanks for reading a dugs life, go be a success today.

13 years ago Short URL Comments

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21

May

Good Morning

Do you ever need to get up really early to start your day?  I got up around six this morning and I do not need to be at work until nine.  The reason I am up so early is I need to study for my pet training class. I do not have time to read the curriculum at work, so I read it at home, shhhh don’t tell PetSmart.

Do you drink coffee?  My wife and I purchased a machine called Kuerig, they are single serve coffee machines.  I am drinking one called Dark Magic, yumm.

As I am typing this I look over to my right on my desk I see a whole stack of playing cards.  For some reason I collect them, but for what purpose?  I have a pack of “Red Hat Society” cards that have never been open! WHY!?  Here are the ones I have:

  • Red Hat Society
  • Major League Baseball (They are round)
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Texas Ranger Hall of Fame in Waco, TX
  • Las Vegas
  • Winston (Please don’t smoke)
  • Washington DC
  • Colonial Williamsburg
  • X-Men
  • Las Vegas
  • Arkansas Razorbacks
  • Transformers
  • Spiderman
  • Outdoorsman (They have a camo back.)
  • Outdoorsman (They have a hunters orange back.)
  • Walt Disney World
  • 18th Century Playing Cards
  • Baralho Espanhol cards
  • Jamestown Settlement card

I do not see the others cards, but I have two tins of Harley and something else.  Maybe I should have people over to play cards more or donate these to the http://www.ccsc-atu.org

Now that I have you bored out of your mind I will say good day to you.  I need to get ready for work and teach dogs how to “Leave it | Take it”, “Drop it” and “Down”.

Thanks for reading a dugs life.

13 years ago Short URL Comments

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21

May

New Blog

Good Evening everyone, this is where I am going to tell you about my life.  About my wife, daughter, school, work, pretty much whatever comes to mind.

Like about five minutes ago I got off the phone with my dad.  Talks with my dad are crazy, he is the type that lives in the past and does not know how to think of the future.  I cannot stand it when he talks about my mom, he does not say bad things about her, just stupid stuff about the past.  Oh, I forgot to tell you that they have been divorced since the beginning of Doug’s Life.

I had a pretty traumatic childhood, which I will tell you about more later throughout the blog. In the readings that I have done I have come across that I need to hear my dad say “I love you” or build a better relationship with him.  But I really don’t want to, is that bad to say?  For-instance, he wants my family to come visit him for a couple of days at his house.  We do not have money to just do this, but if we did, I am not sure I would want to introduce my baby to this man.  I may be making sound worse than he is, but he has hurt my mom and our family.  He was not the one that messed me up, that was my step-dad.

I would also like to read some books and write about them here.  I am not the best reader, so it may take me a little while to finish a book. Have you read a book and wrote about it?  Your tips are welcome, did you read one chapter at a time? Or the whole thing then talked about it?

Bible study is what I want to write about as well.  I have had friends tell me that I need to study the Psalms. I have started two or three times, however I always stop around the 23rd Psalm.

I have a very addictive personality, so I will talk about this as well.  Too bad I have not been able to get addicted to working out.  I saw on the Dr. Oz show today that eating carbs is releasing the same chemical in your brain as cocaine does.  No wonder want to sneak around and eat as much as I want behind my friends and family’s back.  I will tell you more about these things later as well.

I am a proud owner of a MacBook and iPhone 4. Yes, I do enjoy these worldly pleasures and I am happy to say that I converted my wife to the dark side.  She is now a, well maybe I can’t say proud like me, but an owner of an iPhone 3GS.  One reason I am happy about this is the fact we can text each other more.  Where I work is very difficult to call, since it is forbidden in the law book or PetSmart.  But when I have a chance, I can text her.

Well, that is enough for tonight and thanks for reading a dugs life.

13 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

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