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Despite the floundering economy and important issues that need to be attended to, some cities across the nation are tackling the REALLY important issues:
The city council in Elmhurst, Illinois has asked the City Attorney to look into the possibility of making eye-rolling illegal. Yes, you read that right. Apparently a woman at the city council meeting was seen rolling her eyes and sighing at something a council member said, and was then ejected from the room. Holy sensitivity Batman! She dared to roll her eyes? and SIGH? Perhaps they would have preferred that she jump up and interrupt the statement while gesticulating wildly? Now the city council would like to create a disorderly conduct violation, and get eye-rolling included in it. I cannot even fathom the level of stupidity needed to come up with that idea.
Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina has passed an ordinance that adds hooting, singing, whistling, and hollering to the list of noise disturbances that you can be fined for. I can understand this particular ordinance if it was strictly in a residential area between 11pm and 7am. Sadly, it’s not. The ordinance is in effect 24 hours a day and especially at night. If you are near a home or office during the day and are singing and someone feels you are annoying them, you can be fined. Really? There’s nothing more important to be worried about than if someone is singing as they walk down the street?
I know there are ridiculous laws on the books already, otherwise sites like dumblaws.com and stupidlaws.com would not exist. I just figured those were old laws that never got removed (my favorite being the one where it is illegal to bring a live fish on a bus without any water). I never figured people were STILL making completely stupid laws…
Watching the Kings vs. Canucks game
Me: Wow. There are a lot of Vancouver fans there tonight.
Donald: That’s because they’re playing in Vancouver.
Me: Oh…
Donald: You’re so pretty.
Sometimes I amaze even myself.
A great blogger that I follow posted this yesterday, and I have been thinking about it non-stop since then. If you are a sports fan, go read it and then come back here. The rest of this post will make much more sense then. If you’re not a sports fan, you might be bored or disinterested in this entry. Consider yourselves warned.
I, like every other sports fan I know, have quite a few athletes or teams that I dislike irrationally. The Yankees, for instance. I have no real reason not to like them, but I cannot stand them. To the point that I will not touch their logo, if I can possibly help it. Illogical? Yep. So when my desk was COVERED in Yankee gear by a coworker who thought he was funny, I freaked the hell out, and refused to work at my desk until someone had removed everything. I hate the Yankees.
Some other athletes I can’t stand, and the irrational reason why:
Brett Favre – Retire already. You screwed over a team who loved you for years and years, just to bounce around from team to team, landing at the rivals of the organization that you found your fame with. Please just retire now, so you can be in the HOF and be remembered for being a great player, not the ass who can’t decide whether or not to retire.
Michael Vick – I don’t think I need to explain why I hate you. I also hate the Eagles for hiring you, even if it is for a backup position. You went to jail, therefore should no longer be allowed to play professional sports. End of story.
Eli Manning – You make dirt look intelligent. I cannot stand your postgame interviews, as you make my IQ drop with every word you utter. It amazes me that you and Peyton are so frigging different. Are you adopted?
Alex Rodriguez – You’re a cheater. You should not be allowed to play anymore. The fact that you were never punished for your cheating just makes me hate you more.
Manny Ramirez – You’re a cheater. You should not be allowed to play anymore. The fact that you were punished for your cheating does not make me hate you less.
Francisco Rodriguez – You were a great player when you came out in 2002. You helped us win the World Series. Off the mound, you’re a jerk. You’ll sign baseballs and pictures for the Hispanic kids who ask you, but completely ignore any other kid.
Steve Nash – You might be a great basketball player, but PLEASE get a a haircut that makes you look good. When you play you look like you haven’t showered in a month. It’s disgusting. (Please note: Shawn Germain of my beloved Ontario Reign had the same problem last year. This year he cut his hair and he is HOT. It worked!)
Scott Schoenweis – Whiny little bitch. You complained because the Angel management wouldn’t make you a starter. You bad mouthed your team to the press, so they sent you to Chicago to play with those idiots. You’re one of two traded players that I can recall being booed when you came back to Angel Stadium.
AJ Pierzynski – Speaking of Chicago idiots, hello the king of them! As I learned yesterday, not only are you hated around the league by fans and players alike, you’re hated in your own town! Maybe you should be less of an ass both on and off the field.
Sean Avery – You’re just a jerk. A dirty player on the ice, and a big mouth off of it. I didn’t like you when you played for my Kings, and I don’t like you now.
If I sit and think about it long enough, I could probably come up with a bunch more. But it’s time to move on to more positive things. Like searching for new recipes to try! Or sitting on the couch watching an NCIS marathon. Whichever.
Every now and again I look at the stats of my blog to see how people are finding me. I always click the random google searches and see what else was listed along with my blog. I get a lot of hits from kidney donation, and cute pug searches, as well as hits for people looking for the Italian company De Nora.
A few nights ago there was a search phrase which I found sorta odd, so I clicked on it. I saw my blog came up as the first hit as a post I'd written about my birthday last year, and there were three other links below it. Imagine my surprise when the last link looked exactly like mine. I clicked it and was shocked to find that someone had stolen my words and posted them as their own. A few minor details had been changed, but it was still blatantly stolen from my own blog. At first I was speechless. I just sorta stared and tried to figure out why someone would do it. It's not like it was stolen and used for an article, but rather stolen and used as a personal blog post. What's the point of that? A personal blog is there to express how YOU feel, not to steal the words of others and post them as your own. The more I thought about it, the more upset I became. I mentally wrote and rewrote nasty e-mails demanding that the post be removed. I finally settled on a polite but firm message to the author asking them to remove the post immediately.
It's a few days later and the offending post is still there. Technically, there is nothing I can do, as my blog is not copyright protected. But it seems that common courtesy should prevail in such a situation, and the post should be removed, yes?
UPDATE: Not only has the post been removed, but the blogger cancelled their entire account. I'd rather they had kept it and written from the heart, but if this is better for them, so be it.
You know what would be an awesome invention? A nifty little speech recognition program for my car. Because I tell you, some of my best blog worthy material comes to me while I'm sitting in the car going to or from work. And wouldn't it be fabulous if those thoughts actually got typed up and posted here for your viewing pleasure? My readership would go from 7 to like 11! I wouldn't know how to handle all the extra traffic!
Seriously though, I really do come up with great things to talk about while I'm driving. I'm very much considering getting some sort of recording device to document my driving genius, and then I can come home and put down the crazy thoughts that run through my head while left to my own devices. I have a TypePad application on my phone, but since California just outlawed texting while driving (which makes FAR more sense to me than requiring a hands free device to talk on the phone. But I'll cover that in a minute.) I doubt the cop who busts me would see the distinction between texting someone and typing up a blog post while driving.
Sidenote: Anyone from California know if it's also illegal now to use GPS units while driving? Because I know I can drive and text better than 90% of people who try and look for directions while driving.
So, last July California made the switch to hands-free only cell phone usage while driving. And for some unknown reason, I have not written about this in the past, so I'll share my thoughts now.
It's dumb.
Yes, it's important to be safe while driving. Thirty bazillion drivers get into accidents every year, and some of them get hurt or killed, and even worse, some innocent passenger or driver of another vehicle gets hurt or killed due to Driver A's stupidity. However, is the person talking on the phone via headset much safer than the person talking via phone in their hand? My argument is not that cell phone usage doesn't cause accidents. My argument is that STUPID PEOPLE cause accidents, regardless of where the phone is (if it's even involved at all). The woman trying to put on mascara while doing 80 mph down the freeway is far more dangerous, in my opinion, than I am talking on the phone. I am at least looking at the road that I'm driving on, rather than looking into a mirror while shoving a stick into my eye. How about the guy reading the newspaper while he's doing 75 mph? Shouldn't that be illegal?
Before anyone does an archive search and calls me a hypocrite (on this particular issue), I will admit that I have indeed read books on my way home from work. However, I was literally crawling down the freeway at a maximum of 10 mph, and was holding the book on the steering wheel to limit the amount of looking away from the road I'd have to do. Any speeds faster than 10 mph, and my book was closed and on the seat next to me while I drove. Admittedly, it's not safe and if they outlawed it, I'd completely understand. I do not, however, understand the hands free only law.
Proponents of the hands free law say that talking on the phone while driving is a distraction. Ok, let's go with that (however, they don't think that talking to the passengers in your car is also a distraction. Odd, since they're both completely comprised of TALKING TO PEOPLE). Explain to me then how talking on the phone via headset is less distracting than talking on the phone in your hand. Both consist of the aforementioned talking, and one has the added bonus of a hand off the wheel. Ok, so by that logic (or illogic) people should not be allowed to talk to passengers and change the radio station at the same time, as it requires a hand off the wheel. People should not be allowed to eat in their cars while driving as it requires both the mouth moving and the hand off wheel. (Though I do eat while driving, I am not opposed to a law making it illegal. Just because I am capable of doing it without presenting a danger to society does not mean the general population is.) Not texting while driving is a law that makes sense to me. Not holding up a phone while driving does not.
So what is the rule in your state? And do you agree with it?
There's a little cafe around the corner from my office where I eat quite often. The staff is very friendly, and the food is excellent. Usually I sit inside at a corner table and quietly read my book while I eat. Today the place was packed, and my normal table was full. No big deal. I told the waitress I'd have my usual whenever she had a chance, and that I'd sit outside. It's only 78 out today, instead of the 101 it was two days ago, so I figured I'd enjoy the sun. I was the only person sitting outside, so it was nice and quiet. Just as my food is being delivered, another woman comes outside to sit down. There are 8 tables outside, but she chooses the one closest to me. Again, no big deal. Until she lights up a cigarette.
I don't mind people who want to smoke, as long as they don't do it upwind from me. I don't want to smell it, smell like it, or have my food smell like it. California has a no smoking law in restaurants that I thought also applied to the patio. (I admit I'm not sure if the patio is covered under the law or not). I covered my nose and mouth with my napkin for a couple of minutes, hoping the woman would notice and move tables. She did not. Without a single word, glance, glare, or sigh I got up, grabbed my purse and plate, and moved to a table further away, which was not down wind from her smoke. I did not ask her to stop smoking. I did not ask her to move. I simply took myself away from what I considered a problem. So I was astonished to overhear her say on her cell "Oh I seem to have offended someone with my smoking. The bitch got up and moved away from me."
Excuse me? I'm a bitch because I moved away from her smoke? I don't understand that. Certainly I could be called a bitch if I'd gone with my first instinct, which was to ask her to stop smoking near me, or move away from me (because I can guarantee I wouldn't have been nice about it). But I refrained. It's her right to smoke, just like it's my right not to, and it's my right to walk away from a situation I'm not comfortable in. It is not, however, her right to call me names because I disagree with her choices.
I didn't confront her, though in retrospect I wish I had. Every time I think I can't be surprised by people anymore, I get proved wrong. It's no wonder I get more and more bitter and jaded as I get older.
Today I went in to the gynecologist to get my ultrasound on that left ovarian cyst. I get there 10 minutes early, pay my $30 co-pay, and get called in at exactly my appointment time. That’s where the good part ends. I sit in the exam room for 45 minutes, waiting for someone to show up. I don’t know if they were backed up, or if they just forgot about me, but I was a wee bit agitated by the time the doctor came in.
We chat for 2 minutes, and she says “I can’t do your ultrasound today.” Um, what? The whole point of me calling 3 weeks ago and scheduling for today was so I could get this taken care of. I even told them over the phone what exactly I needed to have done, and they conferred with the doctor before setting the appointment. Apparently, they need to do an ultrasound when I’m at a different point in my monthly cycle, so they can compare with the original findings. Fine. I understand that. Is that not a policy that could be explained to me 3 weeks ago when I made the appointment? I would have gladly postponed a week and saved myself the time off work and the extra $30 I had to pay. Now I have to miss work, again, to go back and start this stupid thing all over.
I’m sure there’s a very logical, reasonable reason for the mistake. People make them. I do it all the time. I’m just agitated at the incredible inconvenience I was put through, and she didn’t even have the decency to fake an apology.
The law of averages has kicked me right in the ass.
I’ve been buying things online for at least 10 years now, and any time I have the choice, I pick UPS for shipping. They’ve been great every single time. I’ve always received my shipments on time, never damaged, and have even been able to switch delivery addresses with no hold up. Until now. Last Sunday (the 9th) I ordered my camera that my parents bought me for Hanukkah/Christmas. I paid for the shipping that guaranteed my camera would be here by Friday (the 14th), and was delighted when the UPS website said it would be delivered on Wednesday. And it was! Buuuuut, I wasn’t home. Apparently in my excitement to order the camera, I forgot to have it shipped to my office address instead of my home address. Usually, the UPS driver will take it to the office of my apartment complex, and I just pick it up from them when I get home. For whatever reason, they chose not to do that this time, and I just got a note saying they’d try to redeliver the next day. So I call UPS and spoke to a wonderful man who was happy to change the delivery address for me, and told me the package would be delivered on Friday, since it takes 1 business day to get an address correction. I was a little sad, but I agreed that Friday would be just fine.
So all day Friday I’m chomping at the bit, waiting for the UPS guy to arrive. And he does! And he has an Amazon box! I can hardly contain myself! I start to rip into the box, and notice that it’s not addressed to me. Disappointment creeps in. I ask the driver if he has anything else, but sadly he does not. So I call UPS (who’s website says my package is out for delivery) and ask them when it’ll be here. The woman says she shows that it’s still coming, and that it’s probably just on a different truck because of the address change. Ok fine, I can deal with that. So I wait. And wait more. And more. And it doesn’t come. So I call UPS again, and they say I can pick it up at their hub between 8 and 9. Great. Now I have to drive 25 miles out of my way, but at least I’ll get my camera, right? Oh guess again, my friends. I sat there for TWO HOURS while they looked for it.
Final answer? “We can’t find it.”
It wasn’t on the truck that delivers to my apartment complex. It wasn’t on the truck that delivers to work. It’s not at the hub. They’ve lost my package. But the supervisor promises to call me the next day (Saturday) with some sort of update. Perhaps it got on a different driver’s truck, and that driver hasn’t returned yet. Not a whole lot I can do about it at that point, so I leave. Does he call Saturday? Nope! So I call them, and I’m told that they can’t connect me directly with the customer center in Ontario (umm why the hell not?) but they’ll get Ontario the message and someone will call me within an hour. You can see where this is going, right? No one calls, and when I call back three hours later, I’m told no one will call me until Monday. Can I tell you how furious this makes me? All I want is a status. I want someone to say “Hey, we still don’t know where exactly your package is, but we’re working on it” or some customer pleasing bullshit like that. I don’t want to be told someone will call me, and then have to continually chase down that person, just to be brushed off.
It is now Monday, and the UPS website still says I’m picking up the package at Will Call last Friday. I tried calling again, and got the “someone will call you in an hour” deal. This time, I’m not holding my breath.
**UPDATE: It’s here! My camera magically appeared on a UPS truck and has been delivered to my office! Not so surprisingly, no one from UPS has returned my calls. Law of averages says this was bound to happen sometime, so I’m not giving up hope on UPS altogether. But I’ll be wary of them for a while longer.
I sorta know where my phone is. And there’s nothing I can do about it. I called my phone company tonight to see if maybe they could turn the service back on and call the phone to see if someone answers. During this trial, I was looking into my account to see about getting a replacement phone. The wonderful woman at the phone company was unable to get through to my phone (the battery was dead, or the phone had been shut off), but she took a look at my account. Lo and behold there had been calls placed! To Syria! Now, I have friends all over the place, but none of them reside in Syria, so I was certain it was not me that had made those calls. $164 in charges to Syria made in an hour and a half.
Here’s the thing. The people upstairs from me, the elephant people, they’re middle eastern and a few don’t speak English. I admit, I fully 110% admit that this does not in any way mean that they took my phone. However, the guy next door said he saw them out and about during the time that my phone disappeared from the sidewalk. The fact that the phone was right outside their apartment stairs, combined with the possibility that they know people in Syria due to their ethnicity, combined with the fact that they were seen in the vicinity of the phone during the time of disappearance, sorta leads me to believe that they have it. Or at least had it. There’s nothing concrete saying they have it. Just because they are middle eastern does not mean they MUST know people there. Not all Asians know people in Asia. Same with Mexicans, Englishmen, and every single other ethnicity. I am am not accusing them of having it. I’m just saying that, to me, the evidence appears to suggest that they might be involved somehow. And that is SO frustrating. I went up there TWICE to see if they’d seen the phone. Both times I talked to the women there, so I think tomorrow I’ll see if I can find one of the menfolk. Perhaps the women are just too scared to say something. I don’t want to press charges. I don’t want to cause a fuss. I simply want my phone back.
Yeah, so I said I was taking a couple days off to rest my brain, but I thought I'd share this with you first.
I lost my phone. My iPhone. The one I've only had for a little over a month. Gone. It was raining when I left for work yesterday, and since I was wearing my glasses instead of contacts, I tucked my head down, and ran from my apartment to my car. Apparently, I dropped it between the front door and the door to the car, but I didn't hear it fall. I noticed I was missing it while I was at work, but I just assumed I left it on the back of the couch next to the door. When I came home, it wasn't here. I tore the place apart, but it wasn't anywhere. I drove all the way back to work, thinking maybe I'd left it there. Nope. I called the office of my apartment complex this morning to ask if anyone had turned it in. Nope. This afternoon when my neighbors came home, I asked if they'd seen it. YES! He had! He saw it lying on the ground yesterday as he was running over to the store, but it was gone when he got back. Great. Part of me was ecstatic, because at least I knew it wasn't in my house somewhere and I was just missing it. On the other hand, part of me wanted to smack him a little for not picking it up when he saw it the first time. But, whatever. He mentioned the people upstairs had been out at the time, so I went upstairs to the elephant people and asked if maybe they'd seen it. The girl at the door just kinda stared at me blankly. I repeated it. Twice. Still the blank stare. Finally I asked if she understood me. She said she did, but that she wasn't home yesterday and would ask her brothers and father if they'd seen it. So there's still the possibility that someone upstairs picked it up. If they don't have it, I'm going to start knocking on doors to see if anyone found it.
So yay for me being stupid! Again! What a way to start December, eh?
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