I laughed out loud

Visiting with my parents today, my dad and I got on the topic of Keith Olbermann's sudden departure from whatever it was his stinky show was called.  I watched it a few times, it was utterly ridiculous so I would change almost immediately.  My dad and I made some silly mockery of his name, I said, "oh I just call them Dolberman and Madcow"  My dad said, "some people on the internet call her Ralph Maddow" and we laughed out loud.  She's just as bad as the other was, what was his name again?

End of Silence

It's been so long since I've written anything here the whole format seems to have changed, for the better I'm sure I just don't know yet. 

As per normal on this space I have no pre determined topic of discussion in mind.

I have Glenn Beck on at the moment.  I am extremely appreciative of his show and the topics he discusses.  It bothers me that I have met people that have never so much as watched his show, but are willing to dismiss him at best, and attack him at worst. 

I'm paying attention to what's going on in the world, but I have very little desire to discuss most of it on this blog anymore.   Apathy is not the word I would use to describe the situation, as I am paying close attention and do care.  No, it's not apathy.  It's just that there is so much that is mind numbingly frustrating that I can't stomach giving it the energy I used to.  It is the vitriolic hatred that some dare to pretend is political discourse that I just can't stand anymore.  Oh who am I kidding, I've damn near given up on the idea that people don't want the stuff that the shellacker in chief is peddling, they want it, and they want my family to pay for it. 

Whenever I decide to venture back into the never ending vortex once known as "blogdom" the first place on my trek is that dear Francis Porretto's Eternity road.  That is my one stop shop for seeing what "peeps" are saying "out there", or in any case, what people I think are worthy of reading are saying.  I must say I'm very pleased with the contributors that Fran has selected to enlighten and entertain us. 

So, for many months I have spent my time sitting at this ridiculous computer screen playing an online game rather than shout my unimportant thoughts and views into the wind.  That's pretty much where I've been!   What about you?!

How do you spell Totalitarianism?

I remember when I was 12 years old I read the Diary of Anne Frank, it was assigned reading as I recall.  The true story was moving and unforgettable.  I suddenly became aware of something in human history so mind boggling it was extremely hard to forget of course.  Something happened.  Something led up to those horrible years in Europe. 

Everytime I think of the government demanding to see our naked bodies, or to feel our private parts in order to board a plane I think is this one of those "things" that leads to even worse things? 

If our private personal space is not sacred, nothing is.  Will we soon be treated to these scans before we enter any public place?  This is not about modesty.   The argument, "well I'm not modest so I don't mind the scanner...."  

Someone I love would have to be a plane ride away, and dying in order for me to fly anywhere ever again.  I cannot believe people are willing to go along with this.

A Photo I found on the internet somewhere:

Thank God we have someone checking this man's prostate before he boards a plane.

Do As I Do and Not As I Say

I Know Better Than You

Last night I was watching a show on HGTV called Selling New York.  I had never seen the show before, but I thought it was interesting from the start because it was about selling high end properties in New York city, and by high end I mean places going for millions and millions of dollars.  One property that was up for sale was an 11 THOUSAND foot condo going for something like 12 million dollars or some fantastic amount like that.  It was an enormous condo that was designed for holding very large soirees which was one of the selling points that were being presented.  It had heated wood floors!  How decadent!  It was a beautiful place by all means, and just amazing to see.   It boasted a unique staircase that was designed my some person whose name isn't really important to me so I do not remember it.

Apparently, the current owners of the home were big wig New York city liberals, that have big parties there all the time.  One major selling point was the picture of Obama standing at the foot of the very unique stair case in the home seemingly going to give a speech or something.  I don't know if it was pre or post election, doesn't matter, I'd guess pre as part of campaigning/fundraising.  Anyway, it doesn't matter these people are big time liberals of some importance to get a guest of Obama's caliber to visit their home. 

I am not opposed to people having wealth or big houses if they can afford it, but I am opposed to the hypocrisy of the causes that the left supports.  It is the same criticism that Al Gore the jet setting liberal owner of enormous mansions received for lecturing the rest of us nobodies on being green.  Umm, hypocrit much?

I'm sorry, but my 1400 square foot home, that's FOURTEEN HUNDRED, not ELEVEN THOUSAND square feet... takes a heck of a lot less energy to heat and light then one of these 11 thousand feet monstrosities these fancy liberals live in.  So, the next time one of these blowhards wants to whinge on about carbon footprints I'm apt to tell I would be happy to stick my carbon footprint where the sun doesn't shine. 

I like to imagine

Reality

I like to imagine...one day...hopefully 50 years at the very least from now when I am dead and gone, my daughter will enjoy reading this blog. Maybe even my great grand children will find something of interest here. Who knows?

I haven't been writing much here for quite some time. Mostly, the reason for my absense, has been because I have been busy playing an online game (Everquest). Hell no it's not Podunktown, on Face Space or whatever the thing is called. Yes, I admit I did make a fake Space Face name so that I could go spy on people I went to high school with. Yes I did. I logged in check out a whole bunch of people's SpaceFaces and moved the hell on with my life. Just like I did when I graduated from High School. I did not look back. I have only passing interest in it otherwise, and just like face piercing's: I Don't Get The Appeal.

This must be the point where I get dropped off at some greasy spoon truck-stop just off of the great information superhighway of life to die with my bottomless cup of coffee and boring old blog. Blogging is so 2004, but I really can't see publicly humiliating myself in any other way. Blogging is real, people spend a lot of time (some of them, I'm not one of the people I speak of) putting their thoughts, concerns and care together on their blogs. Twatter, or SpaceFace, really those are fine. I don't want anyone to feel the need to defend these things at all, I just really don't have much interest in them. They feel too joiny to me.

Actually, I am very glad for those things though, and glad that people enjoy the networking sites. So this is not a slam for that, it really is not meant to be an insult, I'm more poking fun at myself.

I Don't Know

WHY?

I haven't posted in a while, and it seems like all of my formats have changed, and not for the better. BLEH. Well, I'll have to figure out how to use this again.

OH MY GOSH

Happy Turduckhenham Day (repost)

Why Not?

Well, it was about this time last year that I heard of it for the very first time in my 35+ years of life, the thing known as Turducken. Ever since my eyes were opened to the possibilites of how many different animal carcasses can be crammed inside a turkey, I've been somewhat interested in the idea. I came up with a new one though, although I've never actually tried it, but then again, I've never tried Turducken either.

For those who are just as in the dark about the whole Turducken thing as I was, let me explain. Apparently there are people who live lives that are so incredibly decadent that not only do they eat turkey, someone came up with the idea of stuffing a turkey with a duck, but if that wasn't enough they also thought it might be clever to stuff the duck with a chicken, hence Turducken was born.

Now, that was what they told me, I can't say for sure that a Turducken is not actually some sort of hybrid breed that will soon be all the rage at Thanksgiving, maybe rivalling even the new rage, the Deep Fried Turkey, eh? How many hours in the oven it takes to actually cook the turducken all the way through is beyond me, but just say it is possible, well heck, I got to thinking, what about cooking a Turkey, Stuffed With a Duck, Stuffed With a Chicken, Stuffed with a Cornish Game Hen, Stuffed With Some Ham. We could call it Turduckhenham, it does have quite a nice ring to it don't you think? I suppose it could be deep fried, although I'm not sure how the whole thing comes together. It seems like quite a lot of bird meat to me.

Anyway, whatever you eat tommorrow I hope you enjoy it. I know I have plenty to be Thankful for, I shouldn't need just one day a year to say that out loud, but this is as good of an opportunity as any.

Enjoy.

Uh

I did not plan so well.

Um, I'm sorry, announcing that I'm going to start actually posting while at the same time returning to school full-time was not the most well thought out post in the entire history of blogging. I can't handle the thing nagging away at me. I keep thinking why did I do that, and how rude of me. I'm sorry I can't really predict when I'll actually write something here. I'm so sorry. =(

The Rudest Customers

Grocery Store Shoppers.

When I was young I thought working in a grocery store would be a fun job, so when I got a job at the customer service desk in one a few years ago I was really excited about it. Oh was I ever wrong. It was not the pleasant customer interaction I had envisioned at all. My co-workers were often unpleasant and surly, and management were a bunch of ill breed baffoons. And the customers, my goodness, the customers, how can I say it? What a horrible lot.

Most people know that you don't mistreat the people who are handling your food, and those who don't understand this rule, well I pity you, you are a fool. At the customer service desk though, all bets are off. A day at the desk meant, selling people cigarettes, lottos, movie rentals, money orders and taking returns. One would think the people trying to return items they are displeased with would be the majority of the problem, but no, most of them were unusually polite as they should be. Most of the returners were scamming anyway, so they didn't want to draw attention to themselves in a negative light. These were the people who would bring in a quarter of a loaf of moldy bread expecting a refund, which was then taken next door the liquor store for a pint of some horrible tasting cheap liquor.

No, surprisingly, the most memorable mean customer was an old lady wearing too much rouge. This woman walked up to my desk one day asking for money orders, for "a hundred and thirty". I said, "you want a money order for a hundred and a thirty?" And it went like this:

Old lady: Scowls, "That's what I said, a hundred and thirty"

Me: "So, a money order for 100 and a money order for 30?"

Old lady: Snarls, "That's what I said, what are you some sort of idiot?"

Me: Glance at my supervisor who is observing the exchange

Old lady: Growls, "What are you looking at her for? She's an idiot too."

Supervisor: "Don't bring me into this, I'm just standing here."

Old lady: "What's wrong with her?" (points at me) "Is she stupid or something?"

Me: "Ok, so two money orders then?"

Old lady: "What an idiot!"

Supervisor: (wanders off)

That's how it went. Later that day, one of my nicer co-workers came in and I told her about the exchange with the customer, and she said, "Well, you would have to be stupid to work here."

My supervisor who seemed nice the first few days, got mean thereafter. There was a point that she treated me like a person, and then, one day, she stopped. I came in one day, and she said, "You stocked the cigarettes wrong." I said, "Oh, I'm sorry, what did I do wrong?" She showed me and then said, "And don't LET it happen again." I laughed, and said, "oh all right." and smiled, and she looked me straight in the face without even a hint of a smile and said, "I'm not joking.'' And she wasn't.

I walked past the Store Directors office one day, and overheard her speaking to one of her henchmen, err I mean managers. The conversation went like this:

Manager: "so and so called in sick"

Director: "tell him if he calls in again he could be fired"

Manager: "it's his first time"

Director: "let him know now that we don't tolerate people calling in"

Then there were the soccer moms. They came in with a gaggle of pre-teen girls, decided to skip standing in line at the check out and instead walked up to my desk and dropped about 40 pieces of candy on the counter. Our registers were sort of dated, and there was not a function to ring up multiple items at the same time. So, I started ringing them up, and the really pushy soccer mom sniffed and sighed and finally said, "What the hell? Can't you ring them up all at once?" I said, "No, we don't have that function on our register." I know because I had asked about it before these two bimbos had ever shown up at my desk. Here's how it went after that:

Snotty Soccer Mom: (rolls eyes) "Oh my God, this is ridiculous, you've got to be kidding me."

Me: "Sorry, there just isn't an @ function for several items at once"

Snotty Soccer Mom: (smirks, rolls eyes, expresses utter annoyance) "I'm sure there has to be, maybe you just don't know what you're doing!!"

Me: "Well, if you like I could call a manager and see if she can help"

Snotty Soccer Mom: (shakes head, rolls eyes) "There's got to be a faster way to do this"

Me: "One moment, let me call a manager" I'm doing that now just to piss her off, since she's so impatient, I figure she'll just love waiting on a manager.

Snotty Soccer Mom: (looks at her friend in disbelief) "This is ridiculous!"

Me: (laughing inside because every time she complains it takes longer to ring her up)

Me: (on the phone with manager) "Could you come to the desk, am having a problem with register, the customer would like to know why I can't ring up multiple items at once."

Manager: "tell her we can't do that"

Me: "could you please come and tell her, she's really mad, and doesn't believe me"

Manager: (sighs) "all right, I'll be there in a minute."

Me: (walk back over to register/customer) "A manager is coming to help you, since I apparently can't do it right" (walk away)

Snotty Soccer Mom: (looks about to blow)

Manager: (shows up about 5 minutes later)

Snotty Soccer Mom: (highly annoyed) "I can't believe this! Why can't she ring up my items at once?"

Manager: "our register cannot ring up multiple items at once ma'am"

Blah blah blah, manager makes me finish ringing her up.

Snotty Soccer Mom: (BITCH personified) "I can't believe how long this took!"

Me: (beyond caring at this point) "Would have taken a lot less time if you had just let me do it how I was doing it"

Snotty Soccer Mom: Hrrumph!

Believe it or not, every day was much more of the same. I worked at that job for 6 weeks, and finally, I called them one day and said, "Hey, I'm not coming back." I had a very strong job lead, which I later got, and I told those horrible people at that grocery store to kiss off. To this day I have not stepped back in that store, and I refuse to shop there, no matter what they have on sale. My friends and family secretly shop there behind my back, but I won't. It's the principle of the thing, I know I'm not affecting that stores sales at all, but I simply cannot bring myself to walk through those doors of unhappiness ever again.

I've worked fast food, I've worked day care, retail, and other types of places, but the grocery store was the worst as far as the customers went. The day care was awful beyond words as the management went, they were just terrible to us, but serving customers at that grocery store jaded my view of the public forever.

This Crazy Thing

I Have It.

I did something that might just have me branded a nut by many standards. A few months ago, I quit my job and am now attending college full-time. It's something I have wanted to do for many years now, and there just came a point where it seemed possible.

So, I'm that student. You know, the one who always has their homework done, the type who speaks with the instructor as if we are somehow on equal footing, the kind that asks questions in class, and will even contribute to discussion. Yeah, the annoying older student that I remember just couldn't seem to fail when I was that sleepy eyed kid years ago.

Well, I don't remember things like I did when I was 18, I've noticed that for sure. However, in some subjects, the second time around seems much easier. I listen better, study longer, and take the whole thing so much more seriously than I did when I was young. However, I doubt myself constantly, and wonder what type of fool I am to go back to school at my age.

The instructors, it seems, have a love/hate relationship with non-traditional students. They seem to love that many of us require little guidance, that we do the work, and are present for class. They seem to hate that we don't shut up, that we don't slurp up their opinions like spaghetti, and that their classes are merely speed bumps for many of us.

I try not to talk too much, ask too many questions, or contribute to discussion too much. I try not to come across as a know-it-all, or to confront or disrespect the instructor even if they deserve it. I do understand that this information is new to some people, and avoid making an ass out of myself whenever possible. The way I see it is, I had my turn when I was young to be naive, clueless, and immature, and I mean no insult by that. In some ways, that is the audience the instructors are trying to reach, not the old fart know-it-alls that never shut up. They focus on the kids, and that's where it should be.

Oh I've got plenty to learn don't get me wrong, I just have to remind myself of that now and then. A couple of my classes have been quite humbling. Going back to school at just shy of 40 is humbling in itself, and my doubts, they don't ever go away. The discussion in my head is a constant battle of reassuring myself that I can do this, that it's not a fools errand, and that everything is going to work out swell. I can say this, I've experienced more happiness in each and every day of going to school, than I did doing the job I had. So, there is that, even if I'm still sort of crazy for doing this.

What's even more silly of me, posting that I was going to post, and then not doing it. I don't know when I thought I was going to post anything besides in the middle of the night when I should be sleeping. I hope none of my instructors find my blog. My English teacher calls them "those dreadful blog things".

I Did Not Lie

Will Post Soon.

I didn't lie, I really am planning on blogging. I started school again, going full-time, life does not care about my schedule. I will be back soon. At least I have a picture!

I'm Still Alive

I Did Not Quit.

I just could not think of anything to say for a really long time. It seems I have come out of my stupified state, and I am suddenly driven by some unseen force to get up in the wee hours of the morning and spend precious sleeping time yacking on the internet. Here goes...

The End of An Age

A Golden Age.

My dad always says, "I lived at the end of a golden age" when he speaks of his childhood. He grew up in the 50s, and while society was not perfect, there were some great things about those times as well. I always tell him when he says that, no dad, I think I grew up at the end of the golden age, in the 80s when Reagan was President, after that is was downhill from there, and he usually nods in agreement. Then things get weird, really weird.

There is a knot in my gut that when I think about what is happening today, that is hard to explain, but I know things are wrong. They are just so very wrong. The so called solutions being offered by our hard left government literally shake me to my core. I've said this since the day the great Democrat take over took place, they have a pass.

The left has spent the last 8 years engendering so much hatred towards our president, and conservatives in general, that now, for the next at least 4 years every negative consequence for every single one of their policies will be blamed on Bush. The Bush hatred runs deep, it is irrational, and it is dangerous. As a result of the last 8 years of mindless personal attacks on the President, the cacophony stifled any serious or real criticism that might have been warranted, but it doesn't matter, the goal was not real discussion, the goal was to destroy, and they did it quite well, with the help of our mainstream media, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and if you can call it mainstream, MSNBC.

The right has been on the defense foolishly engaging these insane attacks on the President, and all the while the foxes were in the henhouse gorging on fresh eggs. They won, and guess what, part of the spoils will be to continue to blame Bush, freedom, and capitalism. That's what is going to happen, and it's going to work. I know it is going to work, their tactics have played in their favor, it is undeniable, the proof is in the fact that Americans elected a blatant Socialist as the leader of our nation.

This guy is NOT Clinton, he is not going to waste time diddling fat chicks in the oval office, oh that we should be so lucky. No, This Guy has thought it through and is wasting no time implementing the hard core far left agenda that he got elected on. There are enormous changes taking place with barely so much as a passing glance from mainstream media.

The left has systematically and successfully demonized every right wing position possible, from owning hand guns, to opposing abortion and gay marriage, and to proposing true racial equality, even though not all conservatives share the same views on any certain topic, the damage is done. The right has lost the ideological battle, I believe it has come to pass. I'm having a hard time convincing myself otherwise, perhaps I have simply not been alive long enough to witness the ebb and flow of political cycles, but this seems different. This seems strangely unprecedented.

The shift to the left will leave our heads spinning, before we know it this country will be completely changed. We're already failing as a result of our own greed, and it was greed that brought this bunch to office, and the promise to tax the hell out of all those rich bastards out there. A democrat can't say the words in reference to Bush's tax cuts without adding in FOR THE WEALTHY, appealing to the mounting wealth envy that brought them to power, and the shame is even our poor are richer than many of the people of this world. If I was rich I'd take my money and get the hell out of here as quick as possible, but really where is there to go?

I'm kind of out of answers here. I'm not giving up, I talk to people everyday who share similar views as I do, but we have very little outlet, and I'm tired of the lies and being demonized for having the audacity to say things like, maybe abortion is a matter of right and wrong, or maybe it's unfair to tax people more for being successful, or maybe women should keep their legs crossed, and men keep it in their pants unless they are mature enough to take care of the babies they make. How dare I suppose such things.

I Knew It!

I'm Not Lazy!

I just like taking naps. I have always loved a good nap, and frankly I've been dealt a lot of guff over the years for my nap taking. It started with my grandfather being appalled when we went to visit one summer, and I got up in the afternoon and went and took a nap. I was about 16 years old and I remember him standing in the doorway of the room saying, why are you in bed in the middle of the day, I haven't taken a nap since I was 2 years old! Naps are for babies!

Well I guess to his generation, a generation that survived the Dust Bowl, someone being so delicate as to require a nap in the middle of the day seemed lazy. Heck in his day I would have been out at least pulling weeds in the garden!

However, I've read time and again that naps are beneficial. Naps are good. I am a believer because I know how much better I feel after a nap. It's just miserable fighting through an afternoon when my brain is in a fog. Oh I muddle through, I get by without one, but on those days where I can get one that sweet savory moment of drifting off to sleep is so wonderful. Naps are such a great stress reliever, everything seems better after a nap. Get one people!

Link found at Tinkerty Tonk which has a whole new spiffy look, check it out.

Positivity Strikes Again

And Ruins Everyone's Day.

I realize I may be alone in this sentiment, but it completely cracks me up when people in authority start lecturing their subordinates about being positive. It's always in a meeting where the bosses will go on and on making their point about how crucial it is to be positive, i.e. agree with them. Usually these sessions are accompanied with small group activities where people are called on to come up with positive solutions to a certain set of problems, kind of like going to "centers" in kindergarten. Which doesn't really sound bad, I mean what kind of a grump does not want to reach a positive solution?

It's not really that, but as an amused observer of the lecturing, I can't help but crack up at what lousy moods everyone is in after we have one of these infamous pep talks. Here's the newest thing, they start off telling us that, "integrity is what you do when no one is looking..." and they expound and pound on that point for a good 10 minutes. We are told that it is crucial to the team that we do our work without the need for recognition, and that people of high integrity do the right thing when no one else is looking.

Phase two of this hump fest is when they elaborate that, if your co-workers don't see you working, then, they will be disappointed in you, and then, then, then, you have let the team down! Ok, yeah, I'm with ya...be seen working hard...got it. Sure, integrity is working even when no one is looking, but it is also important to remember to be "seen" working. Which leaves me to wonder one thing, if I have say, for example, a box of supplies to put away, but no one is around to see it, should I wait until someone witnesses me putting it away so that I can be acknowleged as working for the team?

Integrity says, yes, go ahead and put the box away it doesn't matter if anyone sees it, BUT my boss says, to be "seen" putting it away. I know this sounds silly, but imagine there are only 5 boxes of supplies to be sorted, and then there is nothing really else that needs to be done short of scrubbing baseboards I suppose, and then the rest of the time is spent taking care of customers as need demands. If Mabel goes and puts all the boxes away, but no one sees it, and then the company tattle tail comes through after Mabel did all of that work when no one was looking, finding Mabel lounging at the counter, has Mabel let the team down? Yes, according to the company tattle tail, who immediately runs to the manager's office to ask if there is anything to do since apparently Mabel can only think of lounging on the counter and looking at her split ends.

I really wouldn't have any issue with any of this except they hounded the point home that if your co-workers do not physically witness you working, they might assume you are up to no good. Personally, I don't spend a lot of time wondering what other people are doing since most of our work is done independently aside from a few extremely SIMPLE shared duties that we are all responsible for, and we do as we have time. In fact, I think it's pretty sad that they don't see how well we DO work as a team, but instead have decided to take the very negative route of seeing problems all around! And they tell us not to be negative.

It doesn't really matter to me, I do my work, and go home. I try to make people smile and laugh, and I try not to bitch too often about stupid things that don't matter. I learned a long time ago to smile ignorantly while I am told what and how to think, and then I do whatever I want. It's how I roll. So, while I snickered to myself during the last pep rally, I didn't really scan the room as I usually do to see how it was all going over with the other folks. It wasn't until later that I noticed a lot of people were having a crappy day that another person pointed out to me that they were all mad about the boss going on and on in the meeting, which made me laugh really hard. How negative! Hahaha. Positivity strikes again! Yippee!

The idea of remaining positive is being horribly abused by human resource management "toolsheds" (thanks for that term Serenity) these days. The idea of my boss standing in front of our entire staff espousing our need to be positive because she just attended some stupid seminar about how to motivate her staff is somewhat insulting, especially when she has been known to be downright snotty to people for no reason other than they bothered to test out her "open door policy". Real positive stuff there. No, but I guess what really bugs me about it is, it's all so freaking petty. People have the biggest coniptions about the smallest things at work, myself included, and this whole "Be Positive" crap irritates me.

The reason I pretty much tune it out is because, one, it's pretty darn condescending when you get down to it, and I don't like being talked down to. There is an underlying assumption that we are not positive people to begin with, and that we need to be force fed this tripe. Be happy, I get it, no one wants to be around a big grumpus all the time. I understand, but don't try to get into my head, it's nobody's business what goes on in there, except for myself and the 6 people on the internet who read this blog.

So, on lecturing your already pretty great staff about being positive: FAIL. Way to bring out the positive.

I Has A Neckerchief

You Don't.

It Is So On

I See Your Lolcat and Raise You One Youtube.

Dragonlady often posts the same Lolcat I was thinking of posting so I have to get a head up on her with this you tube. Enjoy.

What I Want To Know

A Simple Question.

So, our new leader would like to release all of the detainees at Gitmo his first week in office. Surely this would warrant a top-ten list of where to send the newly freed terrorists. Where will they go? Will they be sent back from whence (neat word, whence) they came?

I had a few ideas, but I don't think they would be popular. I say they should be evenly distributed amongst the members of Congress neighborhoods, given a map and sent on their way. Harsh! I know. I don't think the math would work out on that idea anyway.

Most likely they will be dropped, preferably with no parachute, back into their home countries. Air Mail! Perhaps they could be all sent to Chicago, repentant terrorists and all. Why not?

Where does one send a newly freed enemy combatant? I really don't know.

I Am Not Immune to The Cute

Brilliant.



Found at CuteOverload where else?