INTUITIVE SURVIVAL

Personal stories showing how intuition, signs, awareness and divination are used to give direction and aid survival in daily life, relationships and crises.

September 23, 2011

Facebook friend mining

Libby lost a good friend to technology a long time ago, and prefers to live in the real world rather than in an electronic bubble, but accepts that Facebook is an excellent tool for hunting down long lost people and admits to using it for data mining in the same way that Facebook does.

“I not only located my old friend, Toby, by Facebook but a lot of other people I hadn’t seen since leaving school,” laughs Libby. “So, signing up did give me the opportunity to search for old friends – but since their pages were essentially ‘dead’, no action for years – there was no point to me sending them a message.”

“Facebook is good if you are using it daily and keeping in touch with friends all over the world, but it is silly to use it when your ‘friends’ work next to you,” laughs Libby. “And it is ridiculous to use it hoping that a long, lost friend will find you because by the time they may locate your profile, you have moved on and your account is essentially dead.”

“After a week on Facebook, signing in every day to check on my workmate’s daily dribbles – and considering the remote possibility that someone from my schooldays may find me and message me - I’ve had enough,” says Libby. “I won’t delete the account – if that’s even possible – but I will set my privacy to the highest level so that my profile will not appear in any searches.”

“That way, I can get on with my life and will never have reason to sign in to see if someone is looking for me!”

“If someone wants to find me, they can do it the old fashioned way.”

Read more by Libby on this issue:

  • real-life friendship dies online

  • ideal couple split by net

  • Facebook friends

  • Single mom resents e-relationships at work




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    Facebook friends

    Libby has resisted joining Facebook ever since it rolled out in 2004, but since so many people have made their FB accounts so restricted that only ‘friends’ can see them she was forced into doing something she never wanted to do and now regrets that she ever let curiosity overcome her common sense.

    “I’m a social animal and I’m a loyal and caring friend to many people - male and female – in my real life,” says Libby, “and because I never saw the point of conducting relationships online I’ve also resisted getting a personal internet connection.”

    “For the past 10 years I’ve done all of my web-surfing and emailing at work, and I’ve watched the Facebook phenomenon grow – along with the world of Twitter – and never quite got it.”

    “After being nagged for so long to join Facebook, it was a new guy at work who finally persuaded me to sign in,” laughs Libby. “He aroused my curiosity about all the good stuff he was sharing online – but there was no way I could see it unless I signed in, so I did.”

    “And now, after giving all of my personal information to Facebook, and becoming one of this guy’s many Facebook Friends, I feel like I’ve been tricked into joining some massive social marketing scam.”

    “All this guy wanted was another ‘Facebook friend’ to boost his ratings,” laughs Libby. “He had nothing in his pages that I didn’t know or haven’t seen already, and now he pesters me every day to sign in and look at this or that on his page when I work right next to him!”

    “Now I most certainly ‘get it’, but I guess I knew all along it wasn’t for me!”

    “This guy – and other people I work with - actually get a kick out of sharing photos and stuff through Facebook, but most of us do all that already through email.”

    “I guess it’s useful if you’re not allowed to use work email accounts for private stuff – but then in a workplace like that you wouldn’t be allowed to use the Internet to connect to Facebook, or take time off to check cell phone connections.”

    “So, is it just a fascination for technology that I don’t share?” asks Libby. “Or is it a way some people distance themselves from real friendships?”

    Read more by Libby on this issue:

  • real-life friendship dies online

  • ideal couple split by net

  • Facebook friend mining

  • Single mom resents e-relationships at work




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    June 19, 2010

    doggy friends


    Emerald, 62, is two years into retirement and believes that her doggy friends are keeping her happier and healthier than anything else.

    "My two dogs are better company than any human being I know," laughs Emerald, "and it's not because they don't answer back. They are so full of joy and have such a zest for life. In doggy years they're almost as old as I am, but the society of dogs doesn't remind them of their old age every day! They don't know or care how old they are and can act like puppies and do what they like. Lucky dogs!"

    "Having dogs to exercise gets me out and about a lot more than most other people I know," says Emerald. "I've never been much of a cosmetic freak so I have a tanned face and from what I've heard about lack of sunshine and Vitamin D being the main cause of osteoporosis I'm glad I won't have to face that disease in old age."

    "Sometimes I feel just too tired to take the dogs for a walk," says Emerald, "but within five minutes I really do perk up and I suppose this has something to do with the feel-good endorphins kicking in."

    “My doggy friends really are keeping me happier and healthier than anything else I’m doing to stay alive!”

    Read more stories by Emerald related to longevity:


  • a smoker lives to 122!
  • overeating and early graves?
  • how to live to 122
  • everything in moderation








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    June 02, 2010

    Fergie’s Imaginary Friend

    We all tend to invent an imaginary friend in times when we may not want to admit that it is ourselves we are talking about, and on the Oprah interview – intended to be a public apology, a coming clean – Rhoda was gobsmacked that Sarah Ferguson, aka Fergie the Duchess of York, dug herself deeper into her pit of moral and spiritual bankruptcy by saying that the cash down-payment for introducing a businessman to her ex husband, Prince Andrew, was for the benefit of a friend in need and not for her own personal benefit.

    “Up until I saw the Oprah interview I was willing to give Fergie the benefit of the doubt,” says Rhoda, “but now I am absolutely convinced that she is either mentally ill, totally in la-la land, or a lying, scheming money-grubber – morally, spiritually and financially bankrupt.”

    “Because Fergie spoke of herself in the third person, deliberately compartmentalizing herself into naughty Sarah and good Sarah, I am more inclined to believe that she is a liar and wants to give the impression of being a fruit-loop,” says Rhoda. “Her imaginary friend, the person for whom she debased herself in this money-grubbing scam, was no other than Sarah Ferguson herself!”

    “I have often invented an imaginary friend when I did not want to admit that it was myself I was talking about,” confesses Rhoda, “but only in minor situations – such as ‘my friend told me you were at the party last night’ – and there is no way I would deliberately lie about something as serious as fraud, especially on an international television show.”

    “Not only does Fergie invent imaginary friends for serious situations, but she also imagines that the people around her are loyal to a fault,” sighs Rhoda. “It is obvious that someone she trusted as a good friend set her up for the sting, and in view of the fact that she has so many creditors – people she owes money to – it is not difficult to imagine that her personal assistants/friends are being shortchanged, too, and one of them decided to expose her in a spectacular manner.”

    “I also think that Fergie let Oprah Winfrey down badly by persisting in being a liar,” says Rhoda. “Oprah showed good faith and a good heart to give Fergie a spot on her show – believing the Duchess needed support and would truthful – but you didn’t need to be a mind reader to see that Oprah was not buying into the story Fergie was telling her.”

    “Oprah asked her whether this was the first time she had tried to sell access to Prince Andrew or any one else for financial consideration, and Fergie faltered in her reply,” says Rhoda. “Part and parcel of being human, having friends and associates, is a ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ agreement, and Fergie was so obviously lying when she vehemently denied ever engaging in such conduct.”

    “After having dug herself deeper into her pit of moral and spiritual bankruptcy by actually agreeing to the Oprah interview without any intention of being truthful,” says Rhoda, “I think all of Fergie’s ‘friends’ from herein out will be imaginary!”

    See also:

    Will Fergie and Andy Remarry?

    Marriage or Emigration for Fergie?

    Mother of the Year?

    Fergie’s chutzpah survival

    what's next for Fergie?

    How free is Fergie?

    Oprah tops Fergie’s retirement pot

    Fergie Flouts Family

    Fergie and the global gravy train

    Greedy Fergie!

    Fergie smokes, so what?

    Homeless Fergie?

    Fergie’s £15,000 pa was a lousy settlement

    Fergie’s menopausal mania

    star struck Fergie

    cashing in on the family Fergie style!

    Fergie’s broken homes

    Is Fergie reliving her childhood?

    a foghorn for silent whispers

    Sarah Ferguson’s Libran Balance

    Age Secrets of Prince Andrew

    Age Secrets of Sarah Ferguson

    Andrew and Sarah, Duke and Duchess of York



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    November 05, 2006

    friends, lovers and money

    Annie is 42, divorced and lives with friends in an apartment. She likes to work for half the year and take the other half off to enjoy herself, and right now she's not working and looking for a nice guy to settle down with.

    In order to keep on track Annie keeps a close watch on her savings, but admits that she’s a sucker for ‘lend me a dime’ line from friends and strangers, too!

    "These guys," says Annie, "are always hard up, out of spare change, about to get paid or receive a windfall and just want a few dollars to tide them over. I meet them every day on the street - total strangers - some beggars but some well-dressed people, too, who just want a coin for this or that."

    "The well-dressed types get a real buzz out of screwing passers-by out of a coin," laughs Annie. "I think they work on the premise that if they can con you out of a dime they can con anyone out of a lot more than a dime - and they will if given half a chance!"

    "The most persistent ‘lend me a dime’ types," says Annie, "are my friends and family members but occasionally I meet a guy who takes me for a sucker. I really appreciate the joys of sharing with friends and helping them when they’re down on their luck, but some of them can be real screwers."

    Annie always gets sucked in because she’s kind and generous, but she's well aware of the danger that these screwers can literally dime her to poverty if not death.

    They don't even bother to say: "I'll pay you back, Annie". They just expect her to provide them with spare change, and then a fifty and then a hundred, as if inflation has increased so dramatically in a few weeks.

    Annie tried to put a stop to this insidious manipulation by refusing to give anyone any money. She made it easier for herself by having no spare change at all. She usually does most of her purchasing by credit card now - but poor Annie even got screwed by credit card!

    "My so-called best friend got hold of my card one day and chalked up several hundred dollars worth of credit card purchases," laughs Annie. "She claimed that she was going to pay me back, but she never even asked permission to use the card in the first place."

    Annie now has several cards, with exceptionally low limits, and keeps them all well hidden from the screwers in her life.

    Another type of screwer Annie seems to attract is the gift giver. Some guy buys her an unexpected gift in order to place her under obligation. It works all the time because Annie is a giving girl and is overwhelmed when someone does something nice for her. She feels obliged to give them back twice as much.

    Annie could overcome this screwing obligation tactic by never accepting any gift that she would normally not reciprocate. If the screwer insists that she accepts the gift then she could let the guy know that she will only do so on condition that she can donate it to a worthy cause. That way, she will never feel under obligation.

    Annie is a giver in time and effort as well as money. The ‘do me a favor’ friend always tends to be tied-up or in some unfortunate situation. His tactic is to gain Annie’s sympathy or assistance, or to actually excuse himself from giving her assistance.

    "When I recently changed apartments," laughs Annie, "all but one of the friends I had helped in the past were strangely unavailable to help me shift my things!"

    The screwers in Annie’s life have a propensity to ask abominable favors of Annie, especially after performing a minor favor for her. They do this to test her gullibility and eagerness to please. Annie really needs to request time to think about any demands on her money, time or person and maintain the right to say NO.

    If the ‘do me a favor’ screwer is really insistent, then Annie needs to take a leaf out of his book and cite shortness of time or some unexpected problem as an excuse for not doing whatever he wants her to do.

    Annie made her roommates laugh the other day when she told them that she had just received a telephone call from a guy she had dated for the first time the night before.

    Rather than saying something sweet like "I miss you already", he had the audacity to ask her to pick up his dry cleaning as he was running late at work.

    It was such a blatant manipulative ploy that Annie said "sorry, can’t do" straight away and very reluctantly decided to let the guy go. He was otherwise very nice. Had Annie acquiesced to this small favor, the mind boggles at what he would be asking her to do after their second date.

    "Just because I’m not working right now, it doesn’t mean I’m available as a free domestic servant," explains Annie. "And just because I’m looking for a guy to settle down with, it doesn’t mean I’m willing to perform wifely duties before I’ve got a ring on my finger!"

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