New Jersey Baby Boomer

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of USC. All opinions are 100% mine.

Apparently you can these days. As a “baby boomer”, that wasn’t how it was done when I finished High School. Then when my college years had passed and I was a stay-at-home Mom raising my children, I decided to take distance education classes, all done by mail…with tests proctored at our Library. I learned a lot, but it was still not as accepted as it is now.

Now there are many College courses that you can take online, including one I’d like to tell you about that’s offered USC (University of Southern California), the USC Rossier School of Education’s MAR@USC. Whether you are currently teaching or an aspiring teacher, their program offers the convenience of studying online. You can find program information here. Yes, without traveling clear across the USA a New Jersey resident may be able to work toward a teaching degree through this online study program.

Here are some “bullet point” facts about the program that might interest you:

• The program offers interactive online learning as well as field-based experience
• Offers a unique tuition reimbursement program
• Look carefully at the accelerated program that you can complete in as little as 12 months
• Visit the MAT@USC Student Blog and read insights about the program from actual students
• Rossier and the MAT@USC have received the AACTE Award for innovative use of technology in education

Sounds good so far, doesn’t it?  Here are some more things for you to consider:

• You can earn a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from a renowned research institution with a 100-year history of educating teachers.
• The school has been ranked #22 in the United States, and #9 among all private universities by US News and World Report.
• Again, you study through interactive online learning with field-based experiences in your local area.
• You have the opportunity to learn from distinguished USC faculty recognized for their contributions to modern education.
• When you graduate, you receive full USC student status and benefits, participation in commencement ceremonies and free lifetime Alumni Association memberships.

I finished mine yesterday…online.  You can do your New Jersey Income Taxes free online if you like, but since I’ve been using TaxAct for a few years now, and my records are all in their “system”, I just used it again this year….it was only $17 and change to file both returns.

But for those of you who want to do yours free, the New Jersey State return, that is, you can go to this link - you will probably qualify, I always used to when I used the service.

The IRS also has a FreeFile service that might be useful to you.

Your life circumstances will determine which is best, for us, paying the small fee to have our information carried over from year to year, and the Federal information transferred to the State return, and all filing managed by TaxAct works well, as do other similar income tax services.

What have you used to file your New Jersey returns?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

Pictured below is Big Spring in Missouri. According to Wikipedia, where I obtained this photo, it is “one of the largest in the United States, discharges 276 million gallons of water per day into Current River in Missouri”. I’m not sure how close this is to Branson, but it gives me a good idea of the beauty that can be found in the State.

I know that after all the times I’ve seen information about Branson, Missouri online, I want to go…we’ve traveled through Missouri, but never stopped for an extended time.

Personally, I’m a big fan of natural things, the beauty of nature and the outdoors, but there are many things to do in Branson and the Branson area…I’d like to focus now on things to do within a reasonable driving distance from Branson…they include:

• Fine dining at wonderful restaurants in the area, or you can take advantage of the eateries at two hotels I’d like to suggest, Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing and Hilton Branson Convention Center.
• Theaters and music, Branson is known for its entertainment, there are 49 live entertainment theaters!
• Shops and Boutiques to satisfy your urge to shop
• The River Walk
• Championship Golf Courses
• Theme Parks and Museums
• The annual Branson Tri-Lakes Building and Home Show
• The NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament
• Silver Dollar City’s Family Spring Break Day
• Young Christian’s Weekend
• Boat Shows
• AND MUCH MORE!

As “baby boomers”, we don’t have little ones to plan into our travels anymore, I miss that sometimes, but maybe it would be fun to take advantage of the “Romance Package” available until October 25th, 2010 at this typing.

You golfers might like the golf package which includes unlimited golfing for two, accommodations, and shuttle service.

To find all packages, click on the “specials and packages” links when you visit the sites using links above.

Have you been to Branson? I would be fun to hear your experiences in a comment.

I did an earlier post for St. Patrick’s Day about something in Camden, and remembered I’d read somewhere that the Victor Talking Machines were first created there.  The Victor Talking Machine Company was incorporated in 1901 in Camden, and the dog, Nipper, listening to “His Master’s Voice” became the trademark for the company and a symbol found on records for many many years.

I attend auctions frequently, and now and then come across old phonograph cylinders. The disc type records were experimental around the time that the Victor Talking Machine Company came to be, not considered a serious way to make music until over time and with some effort, the fidelity was improved so that records had a wonderful high-fidelity sound.  At the time, the powerful voice of Enrico Caruso was an excellent way to market the “talking machines”, as it enhanced and was enhanced by the improved fidelity of records at the time.

It was later in the 1920′s that Victor was purchased by RCA (Radio Corporation of America) and formed the well known company name “RCA Victor”.

Other Inventions and History:

Thomas Edison and the Stock Market Ticker

Also see “New Jersey History” under “Categories” for more posts of interest.

Image from Wikipedia

Are you having a hard time reading the text at some websites or on some blogs?  I try hard to use templates that make it easy to read posts to my blogs, and on my main website, but the way a person has the resolution set on their computer can affect font and image size.

There’s a very quick solution for making it easier to read text on the screen; hold down the “ctrl” (control) button on your keyboard, then tap the + (plus) sign on the keyboard to increase the size…to reduce size you do the same thing and tap the – (minus) sign.  A great tip for Baby Boomers who are seeing their eyesight change…and not for the positive.

Of course if you need eyeglasses, you may find that increasing the size of the font is not enough…letters and images are blurry. That’s the case with me, and most of us Baby Boomers, almost anyone after the age of 40. I was able to get one pair of eyeglasses at a fairly reasonable price because I have insurance, but asked the doctor for a prescription for just the reading portion of my progressive lenses. I am thinking of getting them online through Zenni Optical because their prices are incredibly low. My optometrist was a little put off when I asked him for the prescription, and said “why don’t you ask me what I would charge you for the glasses”, so I did, and he said $100. Well with a source online that can provide them for about 1/10th of that price, it was an easy decision.

Here’s an article, a review about Zenni that someone wrote that may interest you.

This post is a combination of personal and sponsored information.

A wee little town in Camden County is going green today, not necessarily in the ecological sense of the word.  Gloucester City is about 50% Irish, and so today, St. Patrick’s Day, is a special day of remembering the wonderful heritage of the descendants of family members who came to the United States from Ireland.

In fact there are plans in the works to make an Irish village on the Delaware River waterfront. Funding is a little challenging right now, but hopes and dreams don’t die, so I’m sure one day this fun little destination will become a reality.

A Schooner called the “North Wind” has already been purchased, and will be coming out of dry dock in April, it’s a great educational experience for students, and provides day trips and more…click here for more info about North Wind.