Somethings A Little To Strange Here.

James Walter Reeder

• Levi is the #416 most common male first name
• 0.025% of males in the US are named Levi
• Around 30625 US males are named Levi

 That statistic came from the Name Statistics website. Its a pretty cool site, My name is the 470 most common female name.  Have you ever wondered why you were named what you are named? I know people name their kids after famous people, best friends , or family members. Some people just want to make up a name that they know no one else has. Let me tell you a little story , and this story is true. After you read this story, see if you think Something is a little strange here.

 All my life growing up , I said if I had a son, I would name him Levi. I don't know why I liked the name so much, but I did. In 1998, I had a son and fulfilled my dream of having a son named Levi. Now this story kind of goes back in time to some events that made me wonder was my sons name a dream of mine or destiny?

 My grandmother was Mary Ruth Ferguson, she had a brother named James Walter Reeder. James was in WWII. I never knew James, but he was a hero. He was a hero in my eyes because of the story that was always told to me about how he died. Although he was in the war, and died while serving his Country, he did not die in combat. Walter was swimming with some friends in the Ocean one day when one of his buddies got in trouble and started to drown. Walter went out and saved his friend, but drowned while doing so. Now I bet you are thinking, what does that have to do with your son. 

 Every year I would take my Grandmother to the cemetery on Memorial Day to put flowers on her Father and Mother's grave. We would put flowers on Walters grave too. or sometimes an American Flag. His marker had his name,James Walter Reeder on it and a photo of him in his uniform. He was a very handsome man. On one occasion while placing flowers, I noticed something. I was born on Walters birthday, August 20th.  It made me very proud to know that I was born on that special day. 

 The plot thickens, as it does in most stories. I am left handed. I am the only person in my family on both my mother and fathers side that is so, or at least thats what I thought. While at my grandmothers house one time, we were talking about me being a lefty, and how unusual that was and Nanny, my grandmother said. The only other person I know of in our family that was left handed was Walter. I kind of thought that was cool. The man I had always looked at as a Hero, had a couple of things in common with me. My date of birth and now my hand dominance. 

 Many years after that , family members passed on and time went by and I married and had my children, Mary Alex and Levi. One day I was discussing with a family member about Walter and what he and I shared in common. The family member said do you know what Walters full name was? I replied, James Walter Reeder, thats what on his marker. They then replied, thats not all his name. His entire name was James Walter Levi Reeder. I thought to myself how strange is that. The man that I shared his birthday, shared his hand dominance , had the name I had always vowed to give my son if I ever had one!! Now I bet you are thinking , boy that is a coincidence and your right it is....but the plot thickens again.

 Last year while on Facebook , I noticed that one of my old friends had a son named Levi. Her name was Tiffany Secula. I have known Tiffany all my life and always felt a special bond with her because she was born on my Birthday. Tiffany had moved out of the county . I knew she had children , but I did not know their names.  So we really had a lot in common. Are you seeing a pattern here?? Anyway back to Facebook. When I noticed Tiffany's son's name, I wrote her to say that I didn't know that was her son's name and that we had three things in common, and we all  know the three. Tiffany replied back to me and said "well that make three women in the county with birthdays on August 20th that have son's named Levi." I said I know me and I know you but who is the other? She said Phil Leaks daughter and called her name. Tiffany said she was born on our birthday and named her son Levi. 

 Thats my story , odd as it seems. My question to you is , is this coincidence or something far more than that???   You be the judge!

Just in Case You Were Wondering What Happened....

The Hatchet Day 2-2-2010

2-24-2010

The manufacturing sector accounted for 34 percent of all mass layoff events and

38 percent of initial claims filed in January 2010. A year earlier, manufac-

turing made up 38 percent of events and 44 percent of initial claims. Within

manufacturing, the number of claimants in January was greatest in transporta-

tion equipment, followed by food, fabricated metal products, and machinery.

Eighteen of the 21 manufacturing subsectors experienced over-the-year decreases

in initial claims, led by transportation equipment

That was the from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, now this is how all that impacted my Life.

February 2nd 2010- I do have to say that this was one of the most traumatic events in my life that changed it forever. It also opened my eyes to how cruel people can really be. You think you know people and then you find out you don't.

I have worked in a poultry plant for the past 11+ years. Now don't get me wrong, when I was in school I didn't sit around in class all day and dream of processing chickens. Actually I sat in class and dreamed of being in law enforcement , or criminal justice, but as you all know things don't turn out like you think they will in your life.

In Oct, of 1998, I started work at the local poultry processing plant as a product wash person, what that means is I would wash off the product when it hit the floor with chlorinated water so it could be safe to be consumed. I did that for about 6 months and was lucky enough to move into a line lead position. I set my goal on management , because that is what I wanted to be.In 6 months after being a lead, I was promoted to a management position. The work was hard , the environment was very cold , and the stress level was very high. As a manager it was hard to get people to work and to buy into the ideal that they could cut chicken at a fast pace and do this for a living. Most did not last a month, and many would never come back after the first day. As the years passed, though the plant did start to keep people and improve on its processes. I like to think that I had a role in the success of the company. I worked 9 to 10 hour days, and Saturdays when required or asked. Our plant went from being one of the least productive in 1998 to one of the top in 2009. We went through many changes to reach this goal, changes in equipment, changes in processing procedures and at times changes in Management.

I loved my job and if I had a complaint , I never voiced it to anyone other than my family or close friends. I am a firm believer in being a role model at work and outside of work also. I have a hard time when I see managers in a key position, doing things outside of work that make them look so unprofessional. I think you have to maintain your image both in and out or people will not respect you. If I were out in the community and people were bad mouthing the plant or the minority of people that were employed there , I would defend both my plant and my fellow employees. I often would miss many events that my children were involved in to be at work, because I valued my job.There were some years that I did miss quite more work than I wanted, but it was due to people that I loved having terminal cancer and I was a primary caretaker. I always did my job by the book and tried very hard not to show favoritism. I always said I would write up my mother if she worked there and broke a rule. She would be no different than anyone else while at work and I really would . Many did not like me and said I was mean, and there were many that did like me because I was strictly by the book. That way they were never left wondering what would happen. They knew that if they broke a rule or missed to many days , they would suffer consequences . If you are a good Manager and do your job, people are not going to like you, but you have to know that you are not there to make friends, you are there to run a business a certain way so the business can be successful.

On the week before Feb. 2nd, we were sent a email that all salary and class one employees would have a meeting and everyone had to attend. That would be approx 135 people that would have to cram into a room that seated 35 or so. No one knew what the meeting was about, but we had ideas that it might be to tell us no more bonuses, or insurance changes or something. We all knew that the company had been under heavy pressure to cut cost and be more competitive.

Tuesday Feb. 2 rolled around , I got up out of bed and put on my favorite "life is good" shirt. I have several because I love them. I guess I think if I wear them , my life will be good ...boy was I ever Wrong about THAT. When I arrived at work they told us to meet in the office at 12:25 to see where we would go. They said we would be broke up into groups because we all could not fit in one room. I was in my designated area on time, but noticed that I was the only person on my shift in that area. All the others were from night shift. My shift mgr, looked at us and said I need Lana , and called 4 other names to go to the admin conference room for the first meeting. He told every one else just to sit tight. Me and the others headed out to the room where the meeting was to be held. When we got there , several people were already in there. All the senior staff members were in there also. I still just thought I was going to a regular meeting. Our CEO came in and took the stand. He talked about how far the plant has come in years and how it has made several cut backs to be more competitive. He then said he got word from higher up that more cut backs had to be made to be competitive. He looked at all of us at the table, which was 20 people and said that they were going to cut 20 salary and class 1 jobs , and we were the 20. As of right now you are no longer employed with this company. You can leave your badge on the table and your senior staff will escort you to your office, where you can get your things, or you can come back and get them at another time. He said you are no longer able to log on to your computer . If you have something on there you need , I.T. will retrieve it for you .

I really could not tell you much more about that meeting, I was in total shock as well as everyone else in the room. I could not believe what I had just heard. I could only think of what will I do now? What will I tell my family? I can't believe what I just heard. All the years of hard work and time I had put in for them , and I get this??

My senior staff member escorted me to my office and I started removing my things. I was so hurt, I was crying, as I cleaned out all my memories of the past 11 years. I spent more time at work than I did with my family. I considered my fellow managers as my family. It was not uncommon for us to tell each other "I love you" , when we would leave in the afternoons. I had been with my co-workers through deaths, marriages, divorces, and many other life crises. Now I just had to walk away from all that and that chapter in my life. The tears fell as I removed the memories from by desk and threw them boxes, those boxes are still in the back of my van, I have never brought them in the house, I just keep dreaming that maybe they see they made a mistake, and want me to come back, back to the only thing I knew how to do for the past 11 years, back to my friends I love and have loved for 11 years, back to the job that I loved and had defended for 11 years,, but that call has never came. I now am living a life of memories and loss. I feel like I don't have a place anywhere, I cry all the time, I am crying as I write this. The best way I can describe it is like a death in the family. You have this big empty space inside, and you don't know what to do , It is like something is missing from your life daily , and you cant fix it. You don't want to go out in public, because you think people are staring at you . You know they have heard about you being fired and even though it was due to cut-backs, they still think you had to do something wrong. I kinda feel that way about myself. I wonder what I did wrong, why did they pick me? These questions haunt me daily, and I struggle to find answers. While my senior staff member was escorting me out, I asked "why me?" All he would say is management cutbacks.

So thats my story. I think it was a cold way to fire someone. I think they should have just lined us up against the wall and shot us. That is what I felt like happened anyway. I feel dead. I feel mad. I feel betrayed and lied too. I feel hurt, and I just ask why? I think they could have pulled us in one by one and not had a mass firing. So whatever you have heard on the street about me , and I know you have heard lots, this is what happened. This is how STATISTICS changed my life and made me a statistic, a statistic I did not want to be!

I Have Laptop Leg!!!!!!

Exhibit A -Lana's Laptop Leg!!!

I was getting in the shower the other day and noticed my on my left leg above my knee, there was a odd looking , very large spot. It was reddish in color, but you could see all my veins, and they looked kind of brown. I really didn't think much about it then, but then I noticed it never went away. I started thinking about the possible causes, and realized that it was where my laptop sits when I am on it.

I now have come up with my own condition, and I am going to name it LapTop Leg. I googled laptop leg burn , and found that I am not the oI know you did!!!

How the Statistics of Sending Greeting Cards Affected My Life

Rank / HolidayNumber of Cards Sent1.Christmas1.8 billion (including boxed and individual cards)2.Valentine's Day152 million (not including classroom valentines)3.Mother's Day141 million4.Father's Day93 million5.Easter63 million6.Thanksgiving27 million7.Halloween26 million8.St. Patrick's Day

These are the Statistics from Hallmark on card sending. I am going to tell you a story about greeting cards and how this statistic forever influenced my life.

Have you ever entered a store around a not so popular Holiday, and seen all the greeting cards placed about referring to that Holiday and wondered to yourself. "Who in the world sends a card on Halloween?" I know I have. I am going to tell you about a special person that was in my life as long as I have been on this earth, and how She used greeting cards to lift me up.

If you are like me, you are lucky if you send out a card or two around Christmas. I know with my busy schedule, I would do good to send any. Sometimes I get one in the mail from someone and think I need to send them one just because they sent me one, and did just that . Sometimes it would be sent out the day before Christmas!

Once upon a time there was a special lady in my life that would send me a card on every occasion, I am talking Birthdays, Holidays , and not just any Holiday, ALL Holidays! I would also get cards on special Occasions, like accomplishments in my life, wedding , graduation, or just how special I was. I wish I knew then what I know now, and I would have kept every single one of those cards and cherished them forever. These cards were sent to me from the time I was little and never stopped, even when I became an adult. My children were also fortunate enough to experience this gift. On Easter, or Halloween , we would check the mail and the kids would always say ,"Is there anything in there for me?" Their little eyes would just sparkle when I would look in the box and sure enough there was! They would run in the house with their prize delivery and open it instantly. Inside each card would be two crisp one dollar bills folded in half. On birthdays, there would be a five dollar bill. Just think , not only did my kids get these cards, but my sisters kids, and who knows what other kids. Think of the time and money that was spent all these years on that little feat. I think about it now and it just amazes me. One woman sent all those cards to everybody all the time, and I cant take the time to send any.

I know if you are a member of my family, you know who did this amazing act of kindness..... My Aunt Betty Ruth Bass. It will be a year ago on Monday March 1st, the the Lord decided he needed another Angel to come home, so he took Betty Ruth from this earth. Although we were hurt and upset , I look back and realize that it was an act of kindness on his part. You see Betty Ruth had never been sick before, except for once when she had to have her gallbladder out . Other than that, she could have out worked all of us. On Sunday , March 1st, 2009, Betty Ruth was in the hospital where she had been for two or three days, and suddenly had seizure type episode . It was bad, and the Doctor knew he had to get her somewhere., so he arranged for her to be flown to Vandy. I was there along side my Cousin Tammy to give her my love and encouragement during this time. She was awake , but could not speak for the tube in her mouth. As she lie in the emergency room awaiting transport. We talked to her , told her we loved her , and tried to make her feel at ease before her journey in the helicopter. I can remember kissing her on the head and telling her I loved her and to please get better and not leave me here on earth without her because I needed her.

Well the chopper took off, with my mother figure on board and I looked on and prayed that she would be alright. I then boarded my van and headed to Vanderbuilt to be by her side. On my journey down the road , I was alone and my mind was thinking what if she didn't make it out of this? What would my life be like without her in it. I prayed and cried . I was just getting ready to enter I-40 when my phone rang, and Tammy was on the other end. She told me that her momma didn't make it . She died in flight. My world was changed forever by that day. I lost the woman that had had such an influence on me throughout my entire life. We learned later that day that she died form an aneurysm in her chest. So she did not suffer and it was quick.

Well like I said that was a year ago. On the Holidays after that , my kids would be sad. When we would go to the mailbox to check for mail, we all knew that that card would not be in there and that special "I Love You " would not be delivered ever again. A few months ago I was looking in a cabinet and came across a money card that was folded in half. As soon as I spotted it, my heart began to race. I knew it was a card from Betty Ruth from Christmas that I had hid. She always gave me $15.00 every year and I had put this one away to spend later. The card read "Merry Christmas, I love you , Betty Ruth." I cried like a baby, but I think they were tears of sorrow and of joy . I was sad because she was gone, but I was happy because I had found a Treasure! I put the card in my lock box and it will stay there until the day I pass from this earth. Levi also found the last card she sent him tucked away under his bed. He cried when he found it and fussed on me for throwing away the others he had received through out his young life.

Yes Betty Ruth was a special lady , and I miss her more than words can say. When I see greeting cards I always think of her , and how that one little gesture on special occasions , can touch you and make you feel better. How that one little gesture can forever influence you for the rest of your days!

I love you and I miss you Betty Ruth!! 05/01/1936-03/01/2009

02/25/2010

Statistics and how they have changed my life.

This blog is going to be about my life. The happy , the sad , the good and the bad. There have been alot of changes in my life lately, and I guess I need to talk about them .

Let's start with a little bit about ME!

My name is Lana Owens and I am 42 years old. I live in a little town called Burkesville ,Ky; I was born and raised here and have never lived in another town. Burkesville is a quiet little town with nothing to do . We have one stop light, several gas stations and Churches. Not many places to eat, and no drive-thru!! We have no McDonalds and no Wal-Mart.. Yes we live a very primitive life and are in a little seclusion . You are probably thinking that is bad, but really it is not. This is where my point of view comes in and how I look at my life here.

I am married to one of the most wonderful men in the world, and that's a story in itself. We have two children. Mary Alex who is 14 going on 20 , and Levi Neal who just turned 12.

The way I see it raising my kids in this little town has its advantages... When we go to Walmart , its a treat and something special. If you live where there are malls ,and plenty to do then you kinda get bored and have nowhere to go. When you live like we do , then it's a special occasion to go somewhere else.

Statistics show that 66.5% of the people in Burkesville have lived in the same house for more than 5 years. I guess you can say that most people that live here have lived here for quite some time and don't plan on moving.

Now thats a good statistic. To me it means its a pretty good place to live and people are not leaving. You may ask why there is nothing there, and your right there is nothing here, like high crime rates. People here walk at night without guns or feeling unsafe. There has never been a drive by here, and remember there is no drive thru either. Well actually the two local drug stores do have a drive thru to pick up medicine.

In this town entertainment is going to Little League game's and benefit fundraisers for people that are sick to raise money to help them out. Now whats so bad about that??? A community that comes together to support our kids , and people in need.

This is my town and I am proud to live in it. People know people and will help in times of need...a special place.

I am The ONE !!!!!

All my life I have been the ONE!!! It seams every thing that happens or every diagnosis i get , if I having problems with an illness, and go to the doctor. I will present my symptoms, and they usually give me this funny look. Sometimes they say "thats unusual" or " I have never herd of that" , and then I get well there is this one thing I have heard of but very few percent of my patients have this, and I know right away , I fall in that one percent.

It seems I am always the ONE in the percent you don't want to be in . I am never in the good percent of things. I guess the way I look at it is it takes those unlucky few that have the odd problems, to make the other people feel that they are normal.. you see what I am getting at?? One of my motto's is If I were not fat, the skinny people would not look skinny. So I have come to the conclusion that I am here to help in my own weird way! Now you get it??? I am The ONE.

Oh well its getting late and I need to hit the sack. I will be back and I promise this is going to be a site that everyone wants to check daily for a good laugh, and sometime's a good cry!

tomorrow gang!