Grocers: Up and coming in Lake Norman!

Whole Foods at Exit 25 of Interstate 77

Publix at Exit 25/28 off Interstate 77

Publix at Exit 23 off Interstate 77

Harris Teeter is upgrading at Exit 23 off Interstate 77

The race is ON for completion before the Holidays 2014!!!!!

Sauce Review: Two Brothers BBQ Sauce

The Two Brothers BBQ Sauce is vinegar based and provides superior seasoning on short notice.  It comes in Regular and Mild flavors and sold in the local Healthy Home Market stores.

My trusted Grilling expert used this sauce to marinate twelve pieces of chicken for forty minutes before putting them on the grill, and the feedback received was that the chicken tasted very good and that the sauce was a favorite!  The chicken was gone before any pictures were taken.  Sorry.

Ready to try it yourself?  Please visit their website at www.twobrothersBBQsauce.com.

The company representatives boasts that no other seasoning is necessary!

Without a Clue, God Looks Out for You!

Without a Clue, God Looks Out for You!
by Benita Blocker

As I was new to this hotel lounge and loved live music,

I decided to join two other ladies already boozing.

Then after the band finished their set,

they noticed that we had not left yet.

A courteous invitation to their room was gladly accepted.

We followed the crew a few floors up 

and the private scene included some puffs.

So what are those funny looking cigarettes I decided to ask.

Upon hearing the answer, I decided to pass.

I never learned to smoke and knew my limits when

one of the guys asked to holler at me for a minute.

Upon seeing my driver's license and insulting my picture,

he then asked me to join him in an adjoining room for a mixture,

seeing 2am on my watch was a clue that my personal curfew was due.

I kindly said my cordial goodbyes and exited the scene without a clue

that God indeed has a special ability to look out for you.

Ferguson Missouri: Solely Peaceful Protesting Wouldn't Work!

So I peacefully protested the way I was mistreated at Carolinas Healthcare System by

1. Reporting to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
2. Reporting to CHS Human Resources
3. Writing about 20 articles online discussing my dissatisfaction with Carolinas Healthcare System
4. Bringing two small claims cases against Carolinas Healthcare System
5. Writing the CHS Chief Operating Officer

And at the end of the day, this is Carolinas Healthcare System response pictured above.

Essentially, it says (paraphrasing here)  "Nigga, we do not care about your feedback about our organization. You are not anyone special.  You don't have any political power, and don't forget that NC is an employment at will state. Keep it moving."

So in the case of the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager senselessly killed according to one side of the story, if the family did not have any political pull, then the police department was just going to count it as "another nigga down - who cares?"

But you see class action in the form of rioting and protesting and making some noise and standing up  and saying that the lives of Black youths have value despite our "class system" - now, everyone hears us.

Ferguson, MO 2014 Riot

These pictures are of a 2014 Civil Rights Protest in Ferguson, Missouri because an unarmed teenager was killed by a police officer. The identity of the officer had been purposely withheld, and some media coverage had been denied during initial protest days.  The scenes pictured are not much different from fifty years earlier (1960's).

Apartheid in South Africa required both violent and peaceful protesting to get justice.  The violent protesting gets everyone's attention paving the path for everyone to really appreciate the peaceful protesting.  I have not seen where progress has been made without some violence and suffering happening to the oppressor.

I engaged in a peaceful protest against Carolinas Healthcare System, and since no one died, there is no need to consider any type of violence.  But I am sure CHS has patients dying on a regular basis because they are a medical facility, and there are some "mistakes made" such as the case of Kenneth Chapman which resulted in a murder and suicide case and CHS reportedly reached a settlement with attorneys.  

But my main point is that Carolinas Healthcare System like many other political giants, do not value Black people's opinion unless they carry some strong circle of influence. Otherwise, Black people are just "blowing in the wind."

Why I Should Run for President of the United States?

Dead Broke
First of all, I know the definition of what is to be "DEAD BROKE."  For instance, I gave this young lady bus fare in order for her to get to a Walmart to return some items in exchange for some food and Pampers for her baby.  Now, do I consider this young lady dead broke? No, this lady does NOT fall into a category of "dead broke"  because at least, she had something of value to return to Walmart in order to get other necessities.

So for Hillary Clinton to mention to Diane Sawyer in a recent television interview that she was "dead broke" upon leaving the White House, she is too far removed from the "blue collar" working class in America.  According to the University of Buffalo, Hillary Clinton can command $275,000.00 per speaking engagement. You can not be "dead broke" ever when you can make $275,000 USD in one day.

I understand that everything is relevant to the context in which she was speaking; however, the reality is this:  if I do not consider the young lady who did not have bus fare dead broke in the above example, then Hillary Clinton should not utter those words anywhere in context to her own financial situation any time soon nor she should have uttered it in the interview with Diane Sawyer referencing her past tense.

Non-traditional family
Typically, Americans prefer the idea of the traditional family.  Husband, wife, and children.  However, the reality is that most families are blended families.  Different moms, Different dads, divorce as well as same sex partnerships.  The traditional family really is now "non-traditional."

With the pressures of the political office, making time for any type of family is hard.  So for me, I have a self-sufficient family base, and  I am already a workaholic.  So fellow Americans - I can devote overtime to the Presidency.

Privatized Prisons
According to the Centre for Research on Globalization, there's over a million manufacturing type jobs being completed by prisoners for $.25 cents per hour.  Prisoners are making military supplies such as helmets, bullet-proof vest, etc. as well as non-military items such as paintbrushes and other things.  The prisoners do not get vacation time nor labor negotiations.

Apparently, when taxpayers decided they did not want to support bonds to build more prisons, then Wall Street and private companies decided to get in the business of "cheap labor."  And our US media is always on top of other countries and their unfair labor practices or "sweat shops;" yet, we apparently got our own dirt happening in the form of the court systems.

You want more manufacturing jobs put back in to the working class?  I would look into the privatized prison sponsors.  They should have saved enough money using prisoners as cheap labor to start to re-investing into the regular working class Americans.

Human Resources
I remember when a company's Human Resources department actually wanted every employee to have a career plan.  I remember when the first line managers were your friend and looked out for their employee's work/life balance.  I remember when companies were afraid of being audited and having salaries unfairly distributed such that minorities were getting paid less.  I remember when companies invested in minority programs like INROADS in order to get top minority students working to show their commitment to diversity and inclusion.

I remember when job creation was nothing more than creating a job position code and a job description. The money to pay salaries was never a worry.  Companies would buy employee houses when they transferred to another city because they knew that they could re-sell the house at a profit because of the steady appreciation of real estate.  People could actually work from home without feeling like they were under constant monitoring.

Our economy has changed now, and we may never get back to a time when companies were loyal to the employees and the employees were loyal to the companies.  I can only hope that work relations will get better.

Congress Lawsuit and Vacation
So according to President Obama's weekly address on Facebook, he said that the House Republicans signed a bill to sue him and then went on vacation for their August recess.  Pardon me, but if the House Republicans have enough time on their hands to design and approve a lawsuit against President Obama- then our government should never ever have another shutdown nor furlough situation.

We complain about our children being desensitized to human rights, but the behavior of the Congressmen is hardly a role model.  They are highly paid, big kids running around without any parents to say "enough is enough."

As far as universal healthcare, our country is so large that there was no way that implication was going to go smoothly.  Even when Hillary Clinton pushed this agenda as a First Lady, it was not well received by the insurance companies. People need to be patient.  If we can fix the job market, then the Affordable Care Act will be a little easier to swallow.

My name is Benita Blocker, and this is my message.

Bizarre Sightings Along the Road

A misdirected water sprinkler.

I think a fuzzy vine is climbing up this tree????

I made sure that I did not see the owner of this snakeskin.  Needless to say, I cut my walk short this particular day. 

A stuffed animal/frog with a pacifier attached.  Interesting.  More than likely a family was walking for exercise, and they lost this frog.  May 2015.

This bird was drinking runoff water from my HVAC unit. I was amazed. May 2015.

At first glance, it reminded me of a spider's web, but no, it is someone's hair net that got stuck in the  tree branch. Laughing out loud.

The branches of this tree are the size of a separate tree trunk.  

Someone probably could sleep comfortable in a tree like this.

Pokeweed has fierce red branches from root to the top with dark berries.  It is a wildflower.

I found this huge worm outside my salon door.  I have no idea what its formal name would be.

Maybe a fat green caterpillar?

 As I am walking,  I saw this praying mantis with a few missing legs.

I see wild flowers and wild mushrooms.

And white wild mushrooms.

A Black Widow Spider near the transit bus shelter.

I see "tire" kill.  At first glance, I thought someone had lost their towel because of the fur.  Then I looked closer, and I froze for a minute when I realized that it was not a piece of cloth - it was something more organic.  My first thought was- was this a rat? However, there was no odor.  Then the more I thought about it, I bet- it was a squirrel.  The riding lawnmover probaby ran over it.

Well, this was an English muffin with what appears to be margarine spread on it.  The ants surround the "butter" circle.  I assume they will eventually get to the center of it.  The rest of the muffin looked dried out.

Big green worms

People driving everyday miss so many things, but some would agree - they probably could live without seeing some of these pictures.  I may add other pictures to this article periodically.