Dipped in Chocolate the World of Revog

Things that make you go hmmm

2007-02-12T12:18:00.000-05:00

Politics time, so if you are sensitive...don't keep reading...you HAVE been warned!!

Recent news articles show GW has a 28% approval rating and if he keeps it up, he'll match Nixon who is on record as having the lowest. In contrast, Kevin Federline had a 43% approval rating. Now that is just sad.......

News article yesterday was stating how GW wants to fix the medicare and medicaid system. Essentially those who have saved more for retirement, and have more will pay more for the medical and prescription plan benefits. My attitude on that? Someways I do not care for that I do my part and save for retirement and I will be penalized for it. Otherways, I go....if i made big time bucks, then i would eventually hit a cap where i didn't have to pay more social security and medicare, so i have no room to complain. My full attitude on this, is that there should be no cap....you make millions, you pay a portion of that to Social Security, not get to say $150k and that's it, you are done paying. That will fix some of the issue and make it proportional.

Now back to where I was really heading. In the news article they quote GW as saying we must be fiscally responsible and watch where our money goes for these things. Now that is funny considering the money he is WASTING on a war no one wants or thinks should be continued.

Okay, now the other big story? How Anna Nicole died.......My response? Who the hell cares? She wasn't anyone, she was famous for being famous. Slept around LOTS, did drugs, married an old guy for his money (it was for no other reason...puleeze) and yet we hold her up as an "Oh my god! how can this have happened!!!"
Let's pay attention to real things shall we? What about the people who die everyday and leave families? What about the woman who is preparing her family for her dieing of Lou Gehrig's disease and knowing she will never see them grow up? Let's discuss morales and values shall we?

Where Does a Computer Geek Go? CES in Las Vegas

2007-01-16T20:33:00.000-05:00

Well, last week was busy as I flew to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held annually in Las Vegas. Let me tell you about walking.....walking and more walking........

Lots to see, lots of cool toys to play with and drool over. Where's publisher clearing house when i need them? They had the world's largest LCD tv there at 108" for the mere price of $70,000....... I NEED ONE I tell you.....so what if my bay window would have to go in my family room. Everyone should have one!!!

And of course if you are going to have that, you need all the other phones, hd and blue ray disks and the R2D2 security and projection tv robot for your home (at least he was only $2500).

I learned a lot from the show, saw items that are actually ON the market.....including a quad core Intel CPU. When asking the Intel guy (who are you marking it to, as applications still don't use dual core's much yet? ) his response was "Gamers primarily" Enough said! Can I have a prototype???? Can I demo it???? what do you mean NO!!!!!

4 days of many many many people all in a few spaces and overall no one was overly rude or annoying (another miracle).

Another day I'll discuss vegas itself (at least i broke even on the slots! my system? significant other put $1 in and lost....i'd put $1 in behind him and win $2....figure it kept the money in the family )

Holidays and Children

2006-12-28T19:00:00.000-05:00

Now that Christmas is over and gift cards have been spent, I can finally sit down and breathe and look back. Unfortunately, this was a bittersweet year, as my older child succumbed to tween age and left Santa behind this year. She tried to hold on, but more than enough comments were made by her on Christmas morning to have me sigh and know that she is leaving a phase of her childhood behind.

During this period, friends and I were discussing how our respective children were behaving and the Santa Claus toy lists. Somewhere our children have become too used to having what they want and when they want it. This has led to lists of toys and electronics that are EXPENSIVE and that they do not look forward to Santa and the required good behavoir that entails. Our discussion led to the following decisions:
1) We want our children to have it better than we did and thus we tend to buy them more.
2) As we all have to work 45 - 50 hours a week minimum to keep our frantic rat race employment, we tend to buy more to make up for not spending the time with them
3) Commercials have led to "no santa exists" with many inferences and inappropriate commercials....for example Santa being pulled over by a police officer and their saying "don't count on santa, go to radio shack instead" and our children are learning to be desensitized.
4) We are TEACHING our children it is all about getting and not giving and they EXPECT it of us. To this I saw a commercial for cell phones where dad goes "got this daughter this cool cell phone, got son this cool cell phone. what did dad get? kids "we got you cologne"....dad: "no, dad got hosed!".....and although I laughed, it was more the laugh of how true that is!!! and that is purely our fault.

So what do we do about it? Well, I know my kids aren't getting anything that they don't buy with their allowances or at birthday time. No more "just because i can do it for them". As for allowances? "Chore list will go up and for every item not checked off each day, that is a deduction from the allowance until there is no allowance that week. 2 weeks without allowance will mean additional penalties."

I am the parent, I can lament with other parents, but I'm the one that has to change it, not only for my children, but for my future grandchildren and all those my kids will interact with over the course of their lives.........guess I just made my holiday resolution!

RIAA gets their teeth filed down

2006-06-20T13:34:00.000-04:00

Okay, so i'm behind in news items. Still think this is a great article that Sony has been found guilty and must refund consumers money for purchasing CD's that installed rootkit software on computers without user knowledge.

Here's the article: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9000687&source=NLT_AM&nlid=1

I'm glad to see the courts finally standing up to the big business's and telling them they can't do whatever they want to us consumers. At the same time, the only way to stop any of this is for the end buyer and user to stay aware of what is happening and to say "no, this is not acceptable" and doing something about it.

So to everyone that made their voices heard, joined the class action lawsuit or made sure CORRECT / VALID information was passed along to inform others, BRAVO! And to the big business that thinks they can do whatever they want with no repurcussions? Pay attention, we are not children to be patted on the head and say "it's for your own good".

Grandma Doesn't Know Everything

2006-06-13T11:08:00.000-04:00

Grandfather sent me this joke in email and I had to laugh...thus if I laugh, it must be shared..........

Little Tony was staying with his grandmother for a few days.

He'd been playing outside with the other kids for a while when he came into the house and asked her, "Grandma, what is that called when 2 people are sleeping in the same room and one is on top of the other?"

She was a little taken aback, but decided to tell him the truth. "It's called sexual intercourse, darling."

Little Tony just said, "Oh, OK" and went back outside to talk and play with the other kids.

A few minutes later he came back in and said angrily, "Grandma, it is not called sexual intercourse! It's called Bunk Beds! .. and Jimmy's Mom wants to talk to you"!!

How TV and Movies get their sound effects

2006-06-07T20:37:00.000-04:00

It is official! I now understand where some of the sci fi sound effects come from. The new version of Dr. Who on sci fi has dahlinks (phonetic spelling works wonders) in it and they all have mechanical voices. Okay, they sound interesting, nothing a synthesizer can't easily do. But what made someone think to use that?

Answer: Person had allergies and it plugged up their ear drums!

One ear is plugged at about 80% currently, other ear at about 40%. Everything I listen to sounds like the dahlinks and it DEFINITELY makes you pay attention to the TV show more as you go "what in blue blazes is THAT sound????"

The things you find out when allergy season arrives :)

Technology and the Average User

2006-06-06T09:30:00.000-04:00

I found this article today: http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/06/one_year_ago_ha.html#posts?GT1=8211

Everyone is up in arms because this gentleman had his hard drive sold that was supposed to be destroyed. Does the gentleman in question have a right to be upset? UNQUESTIONABLY! He even was technologically saavy enough to KNOW he had personal information on it and that it was a potential issue.

The bigger question is this: We are giving technology to everyone to use in all aspects of our lives now and we are not educating the people in how to keep themselves safe. Recommendations now when sending in computers for warranty work? take your hard drive out and make them use one of their own. Once the computer is out of your hands, you have no control over it. If it is the hard drive that is the issue? BACKUP your data and use one of the 400 million programs to clean that hard drive (and no, cleaning it once is not an option...it takes 7 - 10 times of 0's and 1's writing to clean the disk and THAT isn't even foolproof).

The issue here, is that as a consumer and a person that uses technology, you must understand how the technology works, how it can be used and essentially be paranoid. If that means you have to get nasty or you have to get things in writing to make a person legally responsible, then so be it. Understand what you are using and what the consequences are. Be polite, be firm and YOU are the one that must decide when the risk is acceptable or not.

Allergies and Jokes

2006-06-05T19:54:00.000-04:00

Since allergies decided to kick in this year....made it through the last 3 years with it being mild, guess i'm due..........okay, so trying to make yourself feel better about it doesn't really work, i'll pass on the jokes instead.

EVERYTHING HAS A GENDER

You may not know this but many nonliving things have a gender.

Ziploc Bags are Male, because they hold everything in, but you can see right through them.
Copiers are Female, because once turned off; it takes a while to warm them up again. It's an effective reproductive device if the right buttons are pushed, but can wreak havoc if the wrong buttons are pushed.
A Tire is Male, because it goes bald and it's often over-inflated.
A Hot Air Balloon is Male, because, to get it to go anywhere, you have to light a fire under it, and of course, there's the hot air part.
Sponges are Female, because they're soft, squeezable and retain water.
A Web Page is Female, because it's always getting hit on.
A Subway is Male, because it uses the same old lines to pick people up.
An Hourglass is Female, because over time, the weight shifts to the bottom.
A Hammer is Male, because it hasn't changed much over the last 5,000 years, but it's handy to have around.
A Remote Control is Female. Ha! You thought it'd be male , didn't you? But consider this - it gives a man pleasure, he'd be lost without it, and while he doesn't always know the right buttons to push, he keeps trying!

Here's Your Sign

2006-05-31T20:28:00.000-04:00

I will admit, I do enjoy some of the redneck comedians out there. Bill Engvall does a skit called "Here's your sign" where the premise is essentially when people ask you stupid questions. For example..... "You see someone with a coat hanger in a car door and you ask them "lock your keys in your car?" Nope! Just thought i'd see if the coat hanger would fit! ....Here's your sign!"

The true Here's Your sign happened to me the other day............

Unfortunately, a cell phone was lost. Immediately called and had a hold put on the account, then talked with the cell phone company about a replacement. Talked to the customer service rep, they assured me they had the cell phone information and would be sending me a new one the next day. Great! I said....talk about making it easy for me, giving me no hassles....customer service is working here!!!!! Okay, before we disconnect, I just want to verify that the replacement phone matches the old one so that I don't need new accessories. This should be relatively easy right?

So I ask the woman...."Ma'm? is this the same model as what i had?" Her response "It should be......we can verify that though. Do you have your cell phone in front of you?" I of course started laughing and said "Ma'm....you are the lost phone claims department, and i'm reporting my phone as lost.....of course i don't have the phone in front of me." Her response was "oh my, you are right!" I couldn't resist.....i tried.....i just had to say it.......I responded back "HERE'S YOUR SIGN"

Gotta love when true life imitates the comedian's jokes!

Memorial Day and Thanks

2006-05-29T08:15:00.000-04:00

It's Memorial Day here in the United States and most of us look at it as a "Thank God! a 3 day weekend".

Over the last couple years, I have seen a few parades and watched that there aren't many veterans left to walk in the parades. The last war we had was over 30 years ago and many of our veterans have passed on. This made me glad in some ways because I erroneously believed that we had started to learn as a country and a planet to get along and to not ever get to the point of "Let's kill and blow each other up".

Unfortunately, we have a new war making for new veterans to walk in these parades. To those who have lost someone in the Persian Gulf, given their life, given of themselves to protect others in the world and here at home, you have my sincere Thank you.

To the politicians in all the countries of the world who CAUSED these wars....try something different and work TOGETHER. We teach our children that fighting is not the answer to a problem and that it is a last resort. Funny how often it quickly becomes a last resort when someone else has what we want. To all of you...GROW UP and move us toward being a world that can SHARE it's intelligence, knowledge and differences rather than exploit and rub other people's noses in it.

An Apple A Day

2006-04-03T15:58:00.000-04:00

They say that an apple a day will keep the doctor away......

Reality Check.....It might help, but if you are around kids with their germs, their coughing, sneezing, sniffling, wiping noses anywhere they can syndrome....you don't stand a prayer.

So rather than go off to doctor....call the doctor say "need the vile stuff" and they give you the REALLY vile stuff and you whine and hopefully get better.

SIGH

Don't let this happen to you!

2006-03-26T09:41:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer: This is a joke...it is NOT kid friendly. And please do not drink anything while reading this. You have been warned! Now have a really good laugh.

Dear Friends,As many of you know, last year I had a near-death experience trying to do my own bikini-waxing at home.... Praise God that it didn't go as far as it could have! Please read the following account--it is a cautionary tale!

WARNING: What you are about to read may make you pee your pants!!!

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax.My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabine! t." So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom.

It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)

So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire!

With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my *hoo-hoo* and stretching down to the inside of my buttcheek (Yes, it was a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!!I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!

Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip.CRAP!!! Another deep breath and RRIIPP!! Everything is swirly and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal. I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair.

I hold up the strip! There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??? Slowly ! I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair; The hair that should be on the strip. I touch. I am touching wax.CRAP! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped up on the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. DAMN!!!!!!!! I hear the slamming of a cell door.*Hoo-haa? Sealed shut! - - Butt?? Sealed shut!I do the penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!"

What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off. Right??? WRONG!!!!!!! I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment. I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax!!! So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cement- epoxy myself to the porcelain!!

God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!! I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and have some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter - "So, my butt and who-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!" I calmly tell her.There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or hole or who-ha?" She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box.

YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions, I resort to scraping the wax offwith a razor. Nothing feels better then to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!!By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.

My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!!The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It is s-o-o-o painful, l but I really don't care. "IT WORKS!! It works!!" I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!! !!.

So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.Next week I'm going to try hair color.......

Award goes to me!

2006-03-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

Well, my soul brother over at Ramblings of SilverBlue had awards where people voted on blogs they liked best in each category. Imagine my surprise when I actually won something. 15 votes for best comeback blog? I'll go thanks! And display my award......my only issue? I get an award, but no chocolate or DBCC......and for those who don't know, DBCC stands for Death by Chocolate Chip Cake. It's 160 oz (yes 160) of chocolate cake including a chocolate ganache sauce that is the best in the world. I've been given the recipe, but it is never as good as when it is made by someone else.

So soul brother of mine....where's my cake to go with the award?????????

A Letter to Tide

2006-03-20T14:06:00.000-05:00

okay, in today's society it isn't funny funny...but i still snickered over it

I'm writing to say what an excellent product you have! I've used it since the beginning of my married life, when my Mom told me it was the best. Now that I am older and going through menopause, I find it even better! In fact, about a month ago, I spilled some red wine on my new white blouse.

My unfeeling and uncaring husband started to berate me about how clumsy I was and generally started becoming a pain in the ass. One thing led to another and I ended up with a lot of his blood on my white blouse. I tried to get the stain out using a bargain detergent, but it just wouldn't come out.

After a quick trip to the supermarket, I stopped and got a bottle of liquid Tide with bleach alternative, and to my surprise and satisfaction, all of the stains came out! In fact, the stains came out so well, that some detectives who came by yesterday told me that the DNA tests were negative and my attorney said that I would no longer be considered a suspect! I thank you, once again, for having such a great product.

Well, gotta go. I have to write a letter to the Hefty Bag people...

How We Fool Ourselves.....say what?

2006-03-19T15:21:00.000-05:00

So there i was reading the Sunday paper.....okay, every once in a while, it happens where I get to read about current events in something other than on msn or excite.

As I'm reading through it (after reading comic section first of course), I come across an article, that they are asking the FDA to remove the ban on gays giving blood to the red cross. As I read it, i went "oh...they were banned? when?" and found out it was back in the late 1980's. The justification for this, is that someone who was homosexual and had sexual relations with the past year or more was at risk of providing blood with infectious diseases (e.g. HIV).

Now although I understand and can see where we are trying to protect others, the actual ban made me laugh. Do you really believe someone giving blood is going to say "yep, i'm homosexual and i was busy in the sack in the last 12 months".................

This goes along with the "don't ask don't tell of the military". If you don't let anyone know you are homosexual (i.e. don't get caught, don't say anything and don't live your life except in a closet), then you don't exist. Or as a military member told me "There aren't any gays in the military, as then when i was showering around them, they might be trying to look at me or cop a feel". Thought i would bust up laughing at that one. Like knowing that someone is of a different mindset means they will all of a sudden start jumping every guy or girl they see. Please, we have more issues with HETEROSEXUALS than we have ever heard of from the homesexual side.

My point to all of this? As a general society, we make some really silly rules to allow us to feel better about ourselves and hide our head in the sand. What a persons persuasion is, is THEIR business. Instead of wasting time on useless laws that someone will lie about everytime, it would be more effective to develop tests that can find diseases or cure diseases in the first place would be a more productive use of our time.

Just something for everyone to think about........and if you disagree? By all means comment, as long as you keep it civil

The World According to Bush

2006-03-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

I try not to say too many things, since I didn't vote and thus didn't make my voice heard. Now, I keep watching news stories and shaking my head over and over on how our President doesn't care what the people want and are saying. Doesn't care that those who elected him and that he is supposed to be working for say "hey, we don't want this....." and "we think you are doing a terrible job" consistently over and over. Congress goes "hey, this isn't a good idea" and our president goes "I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF YOU....I'M IN CHARGE AND WE'LL DO IT MY WAY!!!!!!" that is called a dictatorship, not a democracy.

Case in point? Newest article on Bush's approval ratings and the allowing control of NY ports by a company that had / has ties to terrorism (remember? the people who killed innocents here in the US? the people we have spent 4+ years wasting money on fighting in IRAQ?) Oh yes, he conveniently forgot that was his excuse for us being over there...........

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060310/D8G8N12O5.html

So what is he doing now? Telling the american people AND congress that he wants the port deal to go through and if anyone tries to stop him he'll veto it. Can you say I don't think so????? Congress has had enough, the American people have had enough and it is time for a lame duck presidency for the remainder of his term. Essentially stop him from causing anymore problems until people can elect someone new. You KNOW a president is in trouble when his OWN POLITICAL party is going "ummm.......can we not claim him as one of us?????"

So keep writing your congressman and keep expressing your views that just because someone is elected, doesn't make them God. or as someone said to me this morning. We aren't the USA, we are USB....United States of Bush (thanks tink :) )

What's in it for me?

2006-03-07T08:04:00.000-05:00

My daughter is getting older and having a birthday party this weekend. As any parent will tell you, not only is it difficult for you to watch your children grow up, but it is more difficult to see them learn lessons about life that you can't protect them from. You have to let them experience it and go through the pain.

Everyone today is in the mode of "What is in it for me?" We can't help someone else, unless it is to our benefit. We must weigh every choice and decision on the advantages and disadvantages of what the return on our investment will be. Morals, ethics and social correctness do not enter into the equation anymore. This attitude is being taught to our children and is a sad statement on our society.

My case in point is when we were younger (yes, i'm dating myself), we used to buy cereal, not for the taste or that we liked it, but for the gratification of the toy in the box. Today children do not have that option, but they do have the option when deciding between McDonald's or Wendy's....who's giving out the best toy this week? Now add to that, my daughter invited someone to her birthday party. Her invitation was received first.......a day later the person received an invitation for another birthday party on the same day. Manners dictate that if they are both friends, then the first invitation received is accepted and the second is turned down. Instead, the parent allowed the child to choose which party they wanted to go to. The child chose the party with the coolest prize of course (our party is a movie party, the other party is a build a bear workshop party where the child will get to go home with a $25 stuffed animal). My daughter of course is upset about this and there is nothing I can tell her other than to hug her and say "yes, it is upsetting" "yes it is not fair" "and no, people should not decide based on What's in it for me?"

Some lessons in life are not fair and it becomes even harder when you are raising your children correctly and so many others aren't. It makes your child go "why should i follow the right path? it just means i'm doing the correct thing but that i'm losing anyway"......and to that you respond that "it isn't about winning or losing, it is about doing the right thing and feeling good about yourself that you haven't hurt someone else's feelings as they will hurt yours"

Can we please start reversing our trends of "What's in it for me?" and "It's all about me" before society degrades any further?

Gremlin Reward Offered

2006-03-06T12:47:00.000-05:00

Reward Offered!

For capture (alive or dead) of the multiple gremlins who like to increase the paperwork and add to the to-do list on your desk.

To date, these creatures are sneaky, conniving and quick. Extreme care should be taken in capturing them, as if they get loose, they will sound the alarm and everyone's to do lists will immediately increase 10 fold.

Description of the gremlin? This is an issue....if anyone has a reliable picture or description, it would be appreciated as with their quickness and slight of hand (they add to your list the minute you blink your eyes), they are difficult to describe.

Reward: Dependent on the verification of the to-do list and paperwork gremlin capture (no facsimilies or fakes will be allowed) and the proof that the paperwork and to-do lists are not increasing (i.e. that you only caught one and not the entire family)

Thank you!

Ads gone wrong

2006-03-02T15:15:00.000-05:00

This was forwarded to me and thought it was worth a snicker....enjoy

Ads Gone Wrong

For sale:
Antique desk suitable for lady with
thick legs and large drawers.
_________________________________

Wanted:
Unmarried girls to pick fresh fruit and produce at night.
_________________________________

We do not tear your clothing with machinery.
We do it carefully by hand.
_________________________________
For Sale
Eight puppies from a German Sheppard and an Alaskan Hussy.
_________________________________
Toaster:
A gift that every member of the family appreciates.
Automatically burns toast.
_________________________________
Sheer stockings:
Designed for fancy dress, but so serviceable that lots of women wear nothing else.
_________________________________
Stock up and save. Limit: one.
_________________________________
For Rent: 6-room hated apartment.
_________________________________
Man, honest. Will take anything.
_________________________________
Man wanted to work in dynamite factory.
Must be willing to travel.

_________________________________
Used Cars:
Why go elsewhere to be cheated? Come here first!
_________________________________
Illiterate? Write today for free help.
_________________________________
Girl wanted to assist magician in cutting-off-head illusion.
Blue Cross and salary.

Abortion versus Morality

2006-02-27T20:18:00.000-05:00

Well, my state made the news again!
We are trying to put a law into affect that would allow women regardless of age to get the morning after pill to prevent unwanted pregnancy. The bill has been defeated once, but the lawmakers are working on it to address the objections and we'll go from there.......

The major issue? "Advocates of the bill say emergency contraception blocks conception and avoids abortions, while critics say it is a form of abortion."

My view on this? How can it be abortion when it is not viable and is not anymore than 2 cells that are merged? In addition, they have put preventative measures in there to prevent people from stocking up by going to different counties, to prevent men from getting the pill and forcing the woman to take it and allowing only 1 pill at a time. Yes, it would be nice if everyone would go to the doc and get meds to prevent pregnancy.....yes it would be best if men would take responsibility also and use protection even if the woman says she is taking meds (prevention x2 and protecting against SIDS is a beautiful thing). But I do not care WHAT age you are....if you are stupid enough to have unprotected sex, then go get the pill and face the pharmacy and store to keep a child from being created.

How many unwed teen mothers do we need? How many children need to be created to unfit parents or to be placed in the welfare system? People say "hey, someone will want to adopt the child!"...not necessarily.....not if the child is of a certain nationality, not if the child is potentially "damaged" (read....AIDS, down syndrome, etc). Then add to that, the mother that has to go through 40 weeks of pregnancy, will not take care of herself because she doesn't want the child and the child feels no love from the parent they reside in.

My attitude is this should be allowed. Each person has to figure out their morality and upbringing for themselves. I'd rather see people get the pill and prevent a child from being mistreated right from VIABLE conception (read 6 months of pregnancy) right from the start.

When is it stealing and when is it legal?

2006-02-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

The Recording Industry is busy at work again in the news deciding that since IPODs have become so popular that they don't want you putting your music that you bought on CD on them....... or should I say that they consider it legal at the moment, but reserve the right to change their minds in the future.

My issue on this, is right back to the greed nonsense. I will pay for GOOD music (not re-release upon re-release of the same music ....read greatest hits or same song by 100 different artists), but once I have paid for it, I should be able to use it for MY enjoyment as I see fit. If this means I want to take 12 cd's and make 1 cd mix to use in my car, I should. If it means that I rip the songs I paid for to my IPOD for my enjoyment, I should. I already have issues with the amount they want for a cd when a) they don't fill a cd full of songs -- average CD has 12 songs on it...you can fit 17 b) it costs $6 to get the cd recorded, made, distributed and through channels to your local Wallyworld. That does NOT translate to $19 in my book.

I am not talking about giving the songs to all my friends, trading them on any of the services, etc. I am talking about using what I bought for my own use. Add to this, I have children. Who of course do not take care of things. I refuse to allow them to have a new music CD until I have backed it up for when the original is destroyed (or better yet, I let them use the backup and put the ORIGINAL away). When did it become you paid for it, now pay for it again and again and again? That's just wrong and greedy. Add to this the fact that the recording industry wants to reserve the right to change their minds at anytime they think they are losing money and make law abiding people into criminals.

And they wonder why people just go "To heck with it, I"m doing it anyway"? The reason is the recording industry refuses to get out of prehistoric times and work WITH the customer (you know, the people that keep you in business)........someone tell big business to wake up and realize profits can be made by working WITH people instead of DEMANDING that everyone do it their way.

Doctors and Malpractice

2005-07-21T09:54:00.000-04:00

Ran across this article in the news this morning that a court found a doctor liable for malpractice for leaving a needle in a patient.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20050721/D8BFIGF00.html

now in the doc's defense he did attempt to call in another doctor and they both spent time trying to find the needle. That's the good news.....

My attitude as a whole though is that there shouldn't have to have been a trial. The doctor is negligent and is liable when they lose instruments in a patient. I mean this is not the first case of this type of thing. If nothing else, close the patient up and then do x-rays to find the METAL object.

I do believe that as a whole, people are sue happy. Get all the money you do not deserve. But of course in some cases, my attitude is go get 'em where it is OBVIOUS that there is a screw-up. You really have to love that our country sues for everything, gets everyone overly nervous and then when it is something important, just goes...."ahh, let the lawyers fight it out and they'll take 50% of the money".

We really need to start taking responsibility for our actions and stop blaming others. We also need to settle things fairly without always going "you owe me millions of dollars to make me happy".

Jinxed Again!

2005-07-20T15:18:00.000-04:00

You would think at my advanced age (over 18, less than 40) that I would KNOW better than to say somethings...... At this point in life, you know never to say:

* I'll put this right here where I'll know where it is
Sorry, that is a black hole to someone else's house. You will never see the item again and just plan on buying a new replacement in the future.
* Things can't get any worse!
Guaranteed to have Worse start snickering and make a beeline to you and your house. Plan on charging to your credit card for repairs or a trip to the ER if you utter this.
* It's an extra paycheck month! or My raise kicked in and i'll have extra money!
Did that one......and guess what happens EVERYTIME...a major expense happens that costs you MORE than what you brought home in a raise or extra paycheck. In my case? Thought it and my Fridge blew itself to smithereens and decided food did not need to be kept cold anymore SIGH

So remind yourself NOT to use these phrases......or things could get interesting...very very interesting.

Michael Jackson Acquitted

2005-06-14T07:46:00.000-04:00

News of the day....Michael Jackson cleared of all charges.

Is he guilty or innocent? In our country today it doesn't really matter. It is a sad state of our society when regardless of whether you are guilty or innocent the real issue is do you have enough money to BE innocent??? Before the trial even began, I knew he would be acquitted. Why? Because he had enough money to pay the top lawyers, to waste on professional court testifiers, to pay all the "fees" that are required in a trial.

Is the fact that trials and courts are all about the costs and "fees" (i will never say bribes as that doesn't cover the whole gamut) something new? No, it has been around for quite a while, it is only lately that the news has shown it as more prevalent with the more celebrity cases that have come to light. The issue is the common man does not have the liquid income to "guarantee" their innocence. It is not innocent until proven guilty anymore, it is guilty unless you have the monetary funds to PROVE your innocence.

There is a case of a trial where a young 2 - 3 year old girl was going to be put on the witness stand as she had been put to bed by the accused and had been the last to see and speak with the person before the criminal act was committed. The mother was told 30 years ago that for $500 (remember that avg pay back then was a lot less than now) the prosecuting and defending lawyers would keep the child off the witness stand. What is a mother supposed to do? To protect her child she payed the money to the lawyer even though the mother was not part of the trial except as a potential witness. This is a true story and shows that the "fee" system has always been around.

What if the mother could not have paid the "fee"? The child in question would have been terrified, traumitized and very likely needed professional assistance to get past what the courts and lawyers do to people in a trial. Was it the correct thing to do? No one can decide that at the time and when you are pressured to protect your children.

In the Michael Jackson case, it doesn't matter if he is guilty or innocent. Our courts need to be fixed and parents need to take responsibility for their kids. Do I in my personal opinion believe he did it. Yes, I do.....but at the same time the parents are just as much at fault. They SOLD their kids to him for the immediate gratification of the gifts and trips and for the possible payoff by suing him in the future. The parents did not protect their children and as such are much more responsible for the unpardonable acts that happened.

Soap box done for today

News????

2005-06-09T08:26:00.000-04:00

Can you say busy?? Work is keeping me hopping all day (which is great for starting to work on my weight again), nighttime is busy with summer here and yard work and the kids needing attention......

Haven't even had time to catch up for more than 2 minutes with friends to say "hi! gotta go...talk to you later!"

Heard there was world, local and other news out there, but since my eyes open in the morning and the world APPEARS to be the same, I am not worrying about it. So off to work I go again to get 400 gazillion things done (none of them on the days to do list of course).

All in the Name of Money

2005-06-02T10:32:00.000-04:00

So now the last piece of the Nixon Watergate scandal is in place and the history books can be factually correct. Although as a person that believes filling in truthful history is a good thing, I believe the family of Mr. Felt is completely and utterly wrong.

Here is their father who has lived through many things and has kept a secret he did not want revieled all this time and the family pushes him to reveal the story in the name of "you owe the family this...we should PROFIT off what you did, everyone else will get money and we won't." If Mr. Felt wanted to share his information, that is his choice, but being pressured by family for monetary reasons is not a valid reason. The man should have been left in peace to live his remaining years as he wanted to.

Our society is getting so money oriented. Mr. Felt's family want to pay off student bills from a son going to college. Excuse me???? That was their choice to have their son go to Stanford. There are a lot less expensive schools out there.....
Everything now is about....what gossip or pictures can I sell, who can I tell on? What can I sue over? When will mom and dad kick the bucket so I can have the money I don't deserve.

Let's head back to core values of family and friends and living within your means instead of the anything I can lay my hands on syndrome! As my older daughter asked me....."mom, how do you know if you are rich?".....my response to her was "Honey, it is different for different people. I think we are rich as everyone is relatively healthy, we have each other, we have what we need and money is going to retirement and college funds."

Are Base Closings a Good Thing

2005-05-15T07:46:00.000-04:00

As you can see in the news, they are looking at base closings and "re-alignments" again and the impact is enormous. Affected counties are up in arms that rely on the funds and everyone has an opinion. The real issue is that people are terrified of change and having to learn to adapt. We want taxes down, we want the debt gone, but at the same time we want change to "happen to someone else"....the old "not in my back yard syndrome".

I live in a town that relied on 3 major companies having their corporate headquarters here. Now that the economy has changed so drastically, my town is not doing well. We went through the "oh my gods" and the "somebody needs to do something" and now we are evolving from a manufacturing town to a service and education town. It did not happen overnight and we still have a long way to go, but we are slowly adapting and finding new ways to do things.

As a former military wife, I have no issue with the base closings with the following caveat. I don't think we are doing ENOUGH. It is time for the 4 branches to be demolished and for us to become 1 military presence with pooled resources. That would eliminate all the duplication. The duplicate parts that are needed by all branches, the medical that could then become good for everyone and the sense of unity of having one military branch.

I have seen some of the wasteage and just went "you have got to be kidding". That a navy ship is taken out of service and $100 - $100,000 parts are thrown away because they can't be sent back to the parts depot (too expensive and no mechanism in place to accept them back). Workers can't take them home because that would be "stealing"....so they go in dumpsters and are WASTED. I've seen that air force medical is much much superior to navy medical. To the point that one of my children would not be with me if the navy medical had stayed in charge of the case. Why is this? As it is explained to me.....navy takes their budget and spends it on the ships and if there is anything left over it goes to medical and morale and welfare. Air force spends it on the medical and morale and then looks at Congress and says "we need money" and get it. The point here is that with consolidating the branches completely, we could get the needed resources immediately and increase efficiency and teamwork. I mean excuse me....if there is a war, it isn't just navy on the ships anyway. They are taking the air force, they are holding the marines....

So my attitude is if you are going to make change, never mind doing it a little at a time. Do it the right way and straighten out the military map completely to have what we need for the future with the correct use of limited resources. Any company that did it the way we are would be going bankrupt very soon versus the company that restructures and emerges stronger and better.

Where do we draw the line?

2005-05-11T08:26:00.000-04:00

I can tell I must be getting older as I am finding I get more upset over articles I see in the news.......

Case in point #1: Lions club has boxes all over to collect your old glasses to help those who can not afford them. My thoughts? GREAT! What a good way to use glasses and frames that you can no longer used and that someone else may with adjustment have clear vision from. Next I see an article on it on the local news channel and what do I find out? That the glasses aren't being used to help the underprivileged here in the U.S., they are being taken overseas to help in countries like Ethiopia...........

Case in point #2: Congress wants another 81 BILLION dollars for the war in IRAQ..........hello???? we never should have been there, where is this money coming from and what about our own problems with poverty, education, welfare reform, social security, etc?????
I have problems with budgets being cut for helping our citizens so we can keep spending money rebuilding and protecting another country? What about other countries helping out with all this money? We aren't the RICH POWERFUL BIG BROTHER anymore....(oh yeah, I forgot....all the other countries think we shouldn't have been there too.....)

My issue is not with helping others, but that we have to help the people in our country first. When we don't have a TRILLION dollar debt that my children and their children will have to deal with, when we don't have to do budget cuts and have to worry about social security being insolvent and education going downhill, etc.....THEN we can help others.......

Funny how all classes you go to on your personal spending say "SAVE your portion for the future FIRST.....next, pay down debt.....next, live within your means.....THEN help others"......I'm tired of seeing all our efforts go to other countries and not helping the people in our own first!

Why?

2005-04-20T08:18:00.000-04:00

Taking a page from my kids books.......

1. Why are packages only 1/2 full? (and settling is not the answer each time).
Either save resources and use a smaller package or FILL the package. In this case I opened a new bottle of ibuprofen and it's only 1/2 full.

2. Why is sealed for your own protection a good thing?
If you can't get into the bottle, you grab a sharp object to hack your way in........that could cause more issues than the bottle that has 10 seals on it.

3. Why is it when you are in a hurry everyone else slows down?

4. If you are waiting for a person or a call, why is it they KNOW to pick the 3 minutes you snuck away to use the restroom?

5. Why do we have to work more hours than we rest or sleep?

6. Why do children get so much energy and those who have to care for them run out so quickly?

Why??????

Priorities

2005-04-05T14:10:00.000-04:00

Was searching the internet and found this article on Texas legislation regarding cheerleaders and what they should and should not be able to do............

http://www.slate.com/id/2116060/?GT1=6334

Seems they are OUTRAGED at the "suggestive" moves that many of these cheerleaders perform. Now as a parent, if i do not like what my child is doing, it is MY responsibility to stop her, to educate her and to set the morales and principles that she will take with her through her life and build upon.

My issue with this is more and more of government is concerning themselves with "moral" issues and with issues that parents should be dealing with. They are determining for me what is correct and incorrect. Instead of working on these issues and forcing THEIR opinion on me and wasting my tax dollars and items such as this, I want to see them do THEIR job first. To work on safety issues, issues that will affect everyone, not the moral issues that everyone disagrees on in the first place.

Could we please get our priorities straight and work on crime, education, pollution and the other 10 million things that will affect the future of the country and leave parenting and morals in the venue that it belongs in (i.e. the parents!)

Everyone has an opinion

2005-04-04T15:31:00.000-04:00

Everyone has an opinion on whether what happened to Terri Shievo was right or wrong. As to who should replace the pope and millions of other issues.

My viewpoint is.....be willing to share your opinions, be willing to defend your reasoning, be willing to learn and take into account other facts that may adjust your opinion. In no case, should your opinion be FORCED onto someone else. It is interesting to see how many people are willing to express their opinions in public forums, to communicate their outrage or their viewpoint at the top of their lungs, but neglect to communicate with those they live with and see every day of their lives.

Terri's battle is over with no winner, the pope has done his best and now leaves his duties to the next person to complete with their vision and to the best of THEIR abilities.......now everyone needs to do these things for themselves.

TALK to your family....make sure everyone understands where you stand on important issues of who should raise your children, what should be done with your items, what health items you want performed or don't want performed. This is the single most important thing you can do after the will and living will. The written will assist for when you pass on, the living will can help for when you can not make decisions for yourself, but none of it will mean a thing without the help and support of the family and friends that will be there at the time of need. THEY are the ones that will make the decisions that will affect you and those around you. In some states, even the written document can be overwritten by your family (For example, in my state, I can be an organ donor, sign my driver license and have it witnessed and my family can override my wishes at the end). The pope made his wishes known that he did not want any more treatments at the hospital and the people around him respected them. Terri did not make it clear to her family and to make sure ALL of them knew what she wanted. Why? because no one wants to think of their own mortality or talk about it. Even if I disagree about Terri's situation being brought to the light in the manner used, at least her legacy is in getting people to plan better and to COMMUNICATE with their family members. Even in my family, Easter dinner ended up with everyone discussing their wishes if and when something happens. So to that, I say thank you to Terri and her family for making my family discuss difficult topics that needed to be addressed for those terrible situations like this.

Polly put the kettle on.........

2005-03-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

Okay, so my brain was off on a vacation without me this morning. Polly went to put the kettle on this morning so we'd all have tea........POLLY turned the wrong burner on and tried to start a fire in the kitchen since I use burner covers.

Good thing we still have snow around here....got that little puppy off and in the snow and watched the snow melt QUICKLY!

Can you say DOH!!!!!

When does the government step in too far?

2005-03-20T07:01:00.000-05:00

I keep reading more and more on the case of the Shiavo woman in Florida. And feel sorry for everyone involved..........

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7212079/

When is enough enough? When does the husband give up and say to the parents? If you believe that deeply, that she should be cared for by you, then you may take responsibility. And he gets a no fault divorce and walks away.

When do the parents say? We've fought this as hard as we can and it is time to say goodbye?

Doctors will not normally say there is nothing they can do. It has been 15+ years and there is no change. What happens when the parents pass away? Who cares for her then?

My issues on the entire thing are this:
1) Everyone needs to make sure they have a clear will made to cover their wishes (I am as guilty as anyone else, since guardianship of my children is a bone of contention, I keep putting it off).
2) There is a thing called QUALITY of life....where is the quality of her life? There has been no change in 15 years, is a 99% chance there will never be change. That is not quality.
3) That she will need to die by starving to death is the worst possible scenario and I consider cruel and inhuman. This is where we should be able to have a lethal overdose and pass quietly and painlessly if it is our choice. They will do it for criminals, but say it is illegal for the average american.
4) CONGRESS NEEDS TO STAY OUT OF INDIVIDUAL BATTLES.....excuse me?! under no circumstances should a law be made for 1 person. That is not congress' job. In addition, this has been through the legal system and the decision has been made. It is NOT CONGRESS' choice to do this. It is only because it is nepotism through Jeb being the Prez brother. I consider this abusing of governmental privileges and this type of abuse is scary. And we wonder what is wrong with our country.

What is everyone else's opinion?

One of those days

2005-03-07T14:46:00.000-05:00

Did you ever have one of those days? Where nothing is really wrong, but nothing is really right either. Where frustrations and tension are high and you start dreaming of deserted tropical islands (with free satelitte hookup of course) where you don't have to have a care in the world?

Anyone have the correct lottery numbers? Better yet......someone tell Mother Nature that spring would be good about now

Martha Stewart is now on Probation

2005-03-04T15:07:00.000-05:00

Does anyone even care?????

Excuse me.....she got a slap on the wrist, lost more money in court and lawyer costs than if she had just taken the loss on the stocks. Goes home to a mansion and servants and a $900,000+ salary and I'm supposed to feel sorry that she has 5 months probation to get through?

What about everyone else that gets out of jail and doesn't HAVE a job waiting for them or a private jet or any of those other things.

Add to this that it is the top news story of the day......come on......when did the Associated Press become the National Enquirer or Star news?

Kids and Driving Age

2005-03-02T15:24:00.000-05:00

Listening to the news this morning, the soapboxes were being pulled out of the cabinet to discuss my state lowering the legal driving age from almost 17 (you can get your permit at 16) to 15.

The viewpoints expressed by others seemed to be that letting children driver earlier made it easier on the parents playing chauffeur and that it all came down to the child and responsibility level of that child........

My viewpoint? Driving is a privilege and handing the keys to a 15 year old regardless of their responsibility level is just asking for trouble. Driving is not "free", gas must be paid for, car maintenance, insurance, etc........must all be accounted for. Thus my children are more than welcome to go get a driver license at 15, but until they have a job to pay for their car insurance and the maintenance etc, they can pretty much forget being able to drive without a responsible adult in the vehicle. In addition, if you would like to believe that each child is different and that some are responsible enough to drive at 15 versus others, that is a very true statement. Last time I looked, parents had responsibilities and unless I take my child to the DMV to apply for their license and to take the road test, then they are not going to get one.

Kids need time to be kids and although i couldn't wait to get my license, there is a reason why waiting for things until you have the maturity and responsibility levels to go with the privilege, you don't need it. Nothing in life is free and children need to be made aware of that.

Okay...my soapbox is going away now

Today's Working Environment

2005-02-26T06:56:00.000-05:00

As I stated to a couple people over the last few weeks, the days of the 40 hour work week and go home to your family are long gone. The days of the laws banning sweat shops that protected workers from long days have disappeared with the advent of "salaried employee" laws and lack of comp time.

Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against working hard, having to put in extra time "once in a while" to get a deadline met or to finish something so the next work week can start out on a good footing. My issue is with the advent of laptops to "allow the employee flex time", inexpensive cell phones and wireless networking, the employee is attached to the work environment 24 x 7 and EXPECTED to work in the evening, weekends and on vacation.

Even to this, as long as there is down time and appreciation, most people just do it and keep going because they have a good, stable position. Now those days are gone also, especially in the computer field. Now it is "do it or there are 500 other people that will for less money" or "you need another day off? you just had one last year"........

We wonder why prescription drugs and healthcare costs are skyrocketing? Human mind, bodies and souls can only take so much. We have been titled the human machine, but machines need repair and recharge time also.......

The key question is....will it ever get better in society or will the rat race continue to decline?

What is this blog about?

2005-02-25T19:58:00.000-05:00

This blog is a little bit of everything.....humour, things to make you think, family life, whatever comes to mind. As this blog was originally hosted elsewhere, I've decided to re-open it for now. The one thing I have learned though is that there will be no information ever posted on my career or co-workers as it can lead to job loss (been there once, don't need to be there again).

And as the title says.....yes, Chocolate is the be all and end all.....who needs anything else?