Yahoo is scared of Jesus

This has been bugging me for awhile, but I've kept it to myself. But no more. Today, with Cinco de Mayo on the calendar, Yahoo changed their splash screen. The wording in the tab is even "Yahoo! Celebrates Cinco De Mayo 2008". Check it out, tribute to millions of illegal immigrants in the United States:

And earlier this year, get this! We changed it for Chinese New Year! Oh yeah baby:

And you bet, Saint Patty's Day? Damn right, Pot O' Gold and everything. We're not offending anyone? Right?

I think we MIGHT have had a pumpkin on Halloween (no witches, that's baaaaaaaaaaddddd!) , and a cornucopia on Thanksgiving, but certainly not Pilgrims, that's offensive. Valentines Day was hearts (no blood). Groundhog day was certainly a fucking gopher, but I didn't take a screen shot. New Years Eve? Oh, you bet. Party whistles and fireworks, what else? The holiday Yahoo change has has been going on for years, and it wouldn't bother me if I hadn't noticed one thing last year. Christmas. Here it is:

That's right. Nothing. Zip. Zero. No tree, no presents, no baby in the manger, no nothing. No Santa Claus, no elves, no candy canes, no notta. No snowflakes, no stockings, no ANYTHING that would offend anyone for it being what it is. Pisses me off.

I've got my own religious beliefs and I don't pawn them on anyone, but give me a break. Christmas is, and always will be, December 25th and recognized because of Christianity. But whether it's Jesus Christ, Santa Claus or snow, it's going to happen the day after the 24th. We stopped recognizing Lincolns Birthday and Washington's birthday and merged them in to Presidents day. Why? Why is it at the same time to we still have Martin Luther Kings day as a Federal holiday? Columbus Day is on the chopping block, you just watch.

As always; Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Having a baby is a glorious thing....

Ever have one of those situations where the outcome is CERTAINLY not what you expected, but it sure makes sense now that the truth is known. Usually it means a happier outcome than it coulda been. Well, I got a story.....

I was outside watering plants, yeah, I do it. I spot the mail truck down at the cluster o' mailboxes 4 houses down, figured I'd hang around and carry my buckets to Amy or the other dude that fills in when they stop. I'm not paying close attention, when I catch him driving by and not stopping, whoever HE is, he doesn't look familiar. Crap.

So I grab the buckets and proceed to walk down to where he's unloading, and it's a guy I've never seen before. "Hey there!" (I pleasantly say), "These are for you!". He looks at me and says "3813?" meaning of course my address. "I was going to come back" and he points to a laminated, LAMINATED I TELL YOU, little card that says "Pick Up Daily at 3813 Desert Fox Drive!"

I'm thinking, Dude, you SO rate!

"Oh cool", I say. "Where's Amy? She sick?"

He shrugs and says no, but strangely, I sense a smile on his face.

"Wassup? She's not on vacation". I'm more stating a fact here. She was just gone for a few days to Napa, and she almost always tells me when she's going to be gone.

Another head nod and "Nope.... you'll find out in two weeks"

Two weeks? WTF is that about? Huh? "Two weeks? Not sick, not on vacation... She all right? What? Get in trouble or something?"

Another smirk and "You'll find out in two weeks"

Weird. And confusing. I go home. I have her number, I'll call.

I do, I get her voicemail and leave a short message just asking if she's OK.

Tick tock.... hours pass. It's later, and my phone ringy-dings. 775 number (local), unrecognized, and it's not Amy, at least not Amy's cell.

"Hello?"

"Hey Todd itCRRRRsssassa-ME!" Conenction is not great.

"Huh? Hello?"

"Hey Todd it's Amy!"

"Oh! Hey! How are ya!??"

"I got a neccrwCCRRRb job"

Oh great. My fav mail lady is moving on with a new job. Peachy.

"You got a new job?"


Scroll please







A little more......

"No! I got a BOOB job!"

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Now it all makes sense!! So the world welcomes in a new set of twins. Life is good :)

The wussification of corporate America

I seem to be saying this a lot lately, what is WRONG with people? And what is wrong with companies? My wife tells me you can't hug at her place of work, it's a big no-no. That's not far off from forbidding shaking hands, because that *IS* physical contact you know. How about the good ol' boy pat on the back? Only in baseball (butts allowed too!). When did everyone get carpel tunnel, ADD, restless leg syndrome, acid reflex and autism? Who decided a little ass wiping was a bad thing? Not my Mama, I can tell you that!

It particularly bothers me about the businesses, the entire "that's the way it is" and "it's what's best" mentality, without hurting anyone's feelings except for the accused. What happened to doing what's right? I love the anonymous phone lines for reporting inappropriate dress or performance. Think about it. If it's THAT bad, it'll be obvious and SHOULD fix itself (if the company isn't afraid of firing or some kind of discipline, but they are). But the phone line is set up in case ONE person is offended, but it's not bad enough to publicly complain about it. I heard a story recently about a guy that had to lay off his entire department. One person sued for discrimination cause she was mexican. One of the guys I used to deal with works for a major auto manufacturer, has been reprimanded for stealing from his company, and to this day still appears to sell stolen items on eBay. The company is afraid to fire him. That makes sense.

It seems to be getting worse. I've griped about eBay, in that they're changing their feedback policy so that sellers cannot rate the buyers as anything but good. That's just wrong. PayPal, an eBay company, is doing something similar yet different. If someone has gone past the 45 days to file a claim, they can still report that to PayPal, PayPal will note it and warn you, but you have no recourse. It's like our HOA "courtesy letter violations". The PayPal thing came out of the blue for me, someone who bought something a year ago, unknown to me, never got it. The email from PayPal indicated something to the affect of "While this claim was not processed, we've noted it on your record and it has no affect on your account". What a minute!? If it doesn't, why are you telling me? Where's my trial? How many anonymous strikes to I get before it DOES make a difference.

Now, the other day, I get something from Amazon. Seems like I stepped over the line again. What did I do? I don't know!! But by golly, they're letting me know I did bad!

From Amazon.com Seller Performance Team
Subject: Notice: Policy Warning

We have received a complaint about an inappropriate email contact that originated from your email address. Please note that sending excessive email is against our policies. Please consider the privacy of Amazon.com participants to be of utmost importance and refrain from sending unsolicited or excessive email.

So what did I do? Did I send someone their tracking info and they thought it was spam? Did I Respond to an idiot that was whining about something stupid and they reported me for responding? Was it sending the guy a link to my pinball site as he bought a pinball price guide (we all know solicitation is a BIG no no). Or what? Who was it to? What was it about? When did I send it. I'll never know, you want to guess why? Because the Amazon Seller Performance Team is a send only, never respond email. When I emailed asking what I did, I got this in response:

Thank you for writing to us about the notice you recently received. Please note that this is an automated response to your message. While we cannot provide a personal reply to messages sent to this address, please be assured that you are a valued member of the Amazon.com selling community and we value your communication with us.

Accused, tried and convicted. And don't do it again, whatever it is, we're not telling you, you should know better.

A Hair Above the Rest

What other business seems to have witty names besides hair cut places? You ever notice that? It struck me a week ago and then even more so when I saw something on Family Guy (which I forgot of course). There's one by one of my favorite taco places, and for the heck of it, I just checked the Yellow Pages:

Shear Bliss
Hair It Is
Shears 2 U
The Happy Lookers
Best Little Hair House (for Reno, that's funny!)
Urban Tangles

And I know I've spotted some other funny ones around town that are not in the book.

Just an observation.

The biggest change....

I've been in Nevada for 9 months now, and sometimes still can't believe we made the move. It doesn't seem like 9 months, yet in some ways it does. To date I'm still fighting the overcharges with the moving company, still don't have nary a tool or most garage items unpacked, haven't found (or looked for lately) my crock pot or EPROM programmer. When I do open up a box, I'm often struck with a sense of "Huh! Forgot about that!". Since there are no built in bookshelves like the old house, most books are still packed up. As are lots of things I probably don't need. Will I ever be unpacked?

But it's feeling like home. I no longer flip three light switches looking for the right one, and I can drive home without really looking for my street. My dogs are happy. I love my kitchen. But I tell ya, I'm still lacking PEOPLE. Some KC friends still seem close, others dropped me before I left town, it was kinda weird. Why is it that some people that you rarely saw in person, can no longer pick up the phone or email just cause you moved? In some ways I guess they were never good friends. And I'm not finding good friends here, but I've also kinda given up trying, at least as much as I was 6 months ago. Yeah, there are people that I like & seem OK, but too often I feel like I'm a third wheel, which is a feeling I've ALWAYS hated. One guy has turned out to be a real loser, and it's sad cause he could be OK if he wasn't always so full of bullshit. Another squirrelly guy has actually turned out to be pretty OK, despite being a bit of a loner and a conspiracy theorist. Thankfully we have pinball in common. I know my neighbors about THIS MUCH more than I did when I got here, but I've gotten to know my mailman fairly well. Who woulda guessed?

I'm looking forward to the warmer weather, and that means outdoor work. I actually miss mowing, and a garden is right around the corner! I was a long cold winter and I'm ready for a change. It's supposed to hit 70 today to really give us a taste of things to come. I'm sure in 4 months I'll be bitching about the 110 degree temperature, but I'm going to enjoy the time between.

Looking at my life, this is definitely the biggest chance & change I've ever made. Quitting my corporate job, getting married, buying a house, etc were all huge events, but nothing like this one. I'm still surprised.

(This ramble was brought to you by early morning Folger's)

Game over....

The title is about as witty as I want to get. I guess it happens to a lot of people, a little life changing moment that makes you slow down and think... I was coming back from a friends house about 20 miles North of me, two lane highway, speed limit 65. I had slowed down a bit for the car in front of me when I noticed the guy behind me approaching fast. Fast he was, and passed he did, both of us without using his signal. I then passed the vehicle in front of me and two miles later crested the hill and came upon this:


Unfortunately, the person in the picture is not the driver. The driver is in the ditch, dead. For some reason he lost control and flipped at least 2-3 times, and not wearing his seatbelt, he was ejected. He must have died quickly because it couldn't have been minutes. Life is that quick. I was home an hour later, seatbelt as always, but driving a little slower.

Is it Spring yet?

Today (Sunday), we actually started to get in the MOOD! No no no, not for that. That's later. I'm talking about outside busy work. It wasn't exactly warm, I don't think it cleared 50 out, but it was nice enough and the mood struck that we worked in "the yard" (Note 1). It was kinda nice. The back yard need a LOT of stuff done to make it livable, but I can picture it a lot nicer. Last summer we got rid of the hideous child prison, and now we've got plans & thoughts for a real garden, bigger patio and more plants. I'm looking forward to it. Paul? Send more round rocks please. (Note 2)

(Note 1): When I say Yard, I mean back property filled with dirt.

(Note 2): Flat Rate Priority is only $8.90! For whatever weight! You could fit maybe two in there!

Paranoid

OK, I don't give out my phone number, or Social Security number willy nilly, but you would THINK when ordering something, you would provide your name right? Today's customer paranoia goes like this:

• I received an order for a DVD. The ship to name is "no eye dee"
• I email for a real name, it's not a cheap DVD and I don't want it undelivered.
• Anne D. responds with "my name is anne...with my other quite correct information you should have no need for my last name"
• I note that the email address has her full first and last name. Ha.
• She emails again: "i would like to be erased after the order is in."

Damn right I'll erase ya. I'll get out my big old rubber eraser on a stick and reach over to Washington and WIPE YOU OUT!!! Maybe sign her up for some paranoia newsletters....

The US Postal Service

I shouldn't make it sound like there's nothing but assholes here, quite the opposite. Much of my griping about people are what I experience through the Internet. The anonymous blanket email can give you brings out the jerk in people. No need to be polite, just get to the point: "wheres my order??!!!?!?!?!?!". How much effort would it have been to say "Hi, can you check on my order?". Not much. Pressing the Shift key I suppose. And when emailing a short demand, the mix of question marks and exclamation points are supposed to indicate displeasure, anxiety and urgency. Yeah, I get it, you're impatient.

But that's not this blog. Let's talk about my mailman. (OK, she's usually a gal, but it's also still a manhole, get over it.) To date she has changed her routine to pick up my packages daily, makes a point to pet my dogs, hands me my mail quite often instead of sticking them in the community mail box, took and handled an international package for me, brought me supplies, had her boss come visit to thank me for my business, and just overall has been SUPER nice and appreciates my business. Oh! And I have her phone number in case I need something. This, in contrast to Kansas, where I received the following paraphrased letter:

Mr. Tom Svec:

Blah blah blah your recent online pickup requests are not scheduled in advance and do not include number of packages. Requests must be received by 2:00 am on the day your pickup is scheduled and must include the number of packages ready for pickup

Explanation? I'm a burden on the mail carriers end-of-day sorting routine. I figured out that I add 5-10 minutes. Maybe. I could do it in 30 seconds. I also figured out at the time I had spent tens of thousands in postage. Even though I'd often even carry my packages to his truck, I'm a burden. They want me to either call in daily, or take my packages directly to the PO. Smart.

Now I'm in Reno! I received the following, letter AND gift!

Now, the actual GIFT was a joke, it made me laugh, but it was the whole POINT of it all. In case you can't tell, it's a cardboard letter scale, if your letter weighs more than what slot it's in, it tips over. This sitting on top of my digital scale which anyone mailing 20 packages a day is likely to have. HA. Still, the whole EFFORT made me "Welcome to Reno". And they spelled my name right.

What's wrong with people?

Why is it that in an age with SO much great technology at our fingertips, people are still inconsiderate idiots. Case in point today is the fact I was supposed to meet a guy at 9:00 to pick up a stack of DVDs. We emailed back and forth about a half dozen times last night, him on his Blackberry, and set a time this morning, a good 20-25 minute drive for me. I called on my way and got no answer, and doubting myself, I turned around to go home and check the phone number. It was right, and I called again. No answer (and yes, I'm leaving messages). Maybe he gave me the wrong number, but the "Dave" matched up, so I emailed. Nothing. Now it's been an hour and a half and not a word back. We'll see if I'm wrong, that something tragic happened, but I'd place my bets on something else. He's sleeping, he sold them to someone else, he got busy with his jujitsu, SOMETHING. Or I'll never know, it'll just be deleted from Craigslist and I'll always kinda wonder.

Is this worth blogging about? No, maybe not to you, but it gets it off my chest. I'm tired of rude, stupid and irresponsible people, and it only seems to be getting worse. Watching Judge Judy sometimes astounds me, makes me laugh too but it's just appalling. The other day, a couple didn't pay their 19 year old babysitter and she called child protective service to be vindictive. Why didn't they pay? Well, first off, she gave the kids lice!! And well, partially maybe kinda might be because she had a coupla guys over to drink beer, and secondly, she was having sex there on the couple's bed!! Her defense? "My sex life has nothing to do with my babysitting skills!"That's it, that's her reasoning. Sheesh. I can't even comment (Can, won't)

I have this habit of holding the door for people. Maybe my mom brought me up right. It's polite right? And what do you say? Thank you right? Many, not most, but many don't. And all they have to do is look at you and maybe smile and acknowledge it with a nod. Nah!! That's too much effort. My reaction is to tell them "You're Welcome!" when they say nothing, and still, I rarely get a reaction. I'd get more reaction, and it would be more fun to hold the door open and as they walk through, slam it in their face! HA! Gotcha! Thought I was holding it for YOU eh?? WRONG!

What bugs me is it's accepted. Even taught. Misbehaved children have ADD or autism. In the workplace, you literally have to defecate on the bosses desk to get fired, doesn't matter if you're not doing your job! You don't want junk mail, sales calls or people at your door? Good luck, it's their RIGHT to bother you!! What's your good to bad ratio on calling any kind of customer support? I can tell you mine!

An Amazon customer of mine (and I use that loosely) actually used the phrase, "The customer is always right". It infuriates me. Whoever came up with that saying CERTAINLY meant try to give the customer what they want, and strive to please them, but they didn't mean that a customer can do no wrong. That phrase always bothers me for that one reason, it means that the vendor is always wrong when the customer complains. In my case here, the customer is complaining about something HE didn't read about, and he admits that, but he has no fault. Not only does he want a refund, he wants me to pay for return shipping. This is a $3 cable. Is there anything wrong with the cable? No. He just doesn't want it now. He has left me a negative rating publicly lying that the cable is defective and filed claim with Amazon to get his money back. Here's a bit of irony, he WILL get his money back, as Amazon also has a customer is always right policy. But what's interesting is Amazon allows that TWICE, saying that a buyer can make a dissatisfactory claim two times in the lifetime on Amazon. And while I don't get charged for this, it does affect my "Customer Experience Performance". Sigh.

So I ramble. It's what I do.

I started this specifically griping about how bad people are in email. Apparently they have enough brains to find & use a computer, and somehow run an email program, but politeness in email is thrown out for MANY people. Screaming, demands, and lack of common courtesy is the norm. Ignoring instead or replying is almost expected.

Fantasy world:

"For sale, blah blah blah blah"

"Hi! Do you still have Blah Blah? I'm in Sparks, could you tell me if it's green? If so, I'll take it, give me a phone number and/or directions and a time to pick it up"

"Why yes, you're the first to respond. It's an army green with little flowers around the edging. I'm also in Sparks and we can meet at THIS place at noon, my phone number is XXX-XXXX if you get lost, do you want me to cook you a sammich?"

OR

"I'm sorry, it sold pending pick up, I'll email you back if they don't show"

Reality:

"For sale, blah blah blah blah"

"Hi! Do you still have Blah Blah? I'm in Sparks, could you tell me if it's green? If so, I'll take it, give me a phone number and/or directions and a time to pick it up"

(NO RESPONSE)

OR (actually unedited responses to similar inquires)

"Here at home u can pick it up I leave in bluff apt by parr. When can u make it I'm going 2 my mma at 10 am.wat about 9 am "

--------------------------------------------------------

Well, my DVD guy called. Was I right? I dunno. He did apologize, but he was uh... Umm. In class. How about that! We'll see if he's there at 12:30.

Hello Neighbor!?

I finally met another neighbor the other day. Exactly 7 months, 6 days and 27 minutes (where HAS Pushing Daisy's gone!?!?) since I've moved in. She didn't exactly introduce herself, she was looking for one of her little shitty dogs that roam the hood quite often. Yip yip yip. I hadn't seen him/her, but offered to look in my back yard. Do I know her name? Not really. E-something-A. Anyway, Mitch had the perfect scenario:

N: Have you seen my leetle dawg?
Me: (Lifting and looking at bottom of shoe): NOPE!

Update to "I Hate People"

The guy that left me a negative on the CD (where I didn't get the email) removed it after I asked. Now get this! They other guy that griped about late shipping, has basically told me to screw off and says he's reporting me to Amazon for QUOTE harassing him! HA! What an idiot. In more ways than one. I admit I called him an asshole. Oh well, he was.

In addition to that, I got another negative today, comment was "Recieved speaker quickly but it never worked. Could not contact seller." I'm starting to think Amazon has a problem with their email system, cause I never got nothing. Emailed that dude too and haven't heard back. Sigh.

In Memory of.....

Not much discussion here, I just thought it was interesting. Shelly will appreciate it. Raised a lot of questions. I Googled and found nothing. Made me wonder what kind of impact Louis had on someone 70+ years ago to do this to their car. I can't be sure, cause I didn't see the driver, but I'm guessing the driver wasn't born when Louis passed on. I didn't get a picture of it but the entire back row was covered with those ribbons. Huh....

I hate people (a discusson on Amazon & eBay by Toddy)

I dunno where to begin, and I bet I don't end well. I'm just gonna blab about I hate people!

THAT, in a nutshell is it. I guess a better word is customers. I hate customers. Whiny customers. For me, it's mostly about the drama I get from the feedback on my Amazon and eBay sales. I've figured out that it has to do with the amount of personal interaction, from the most hands on to the least.

I've got really four areas of business:

1. My pinball and arcade game sales. The most hands on, and the most satisfied customers
2. My web site sales. Often some hand holding and advice, people ordering exactly what they need: the second set of satisfied customers (usual complaints are when I'm at fault for not shipping quick enough)
3. eBay sales. These people at least understand the feedback system.
4. Amazon. The worst. They click, they buy. They bitch.

A good percentage of the Amazon idiots just don't get it, and I'm getting tired of it. (eBay has announced changes in their feedback system, and it's just plain wrong in my humble Todd opinion.) I'm here to do ONE thing, fill your order. I mail most things the same day, within 24 hours for sure. Does that matter? Nope! Does it matter that what I sent is what you ordered and you don't like it? Well, I don't actually know how to answer my own question there, but let me just say it doesn't matter, it's still my fault.

On Amazon, negative feedback to me (the seller) is left with no recourse. Don't like the color? Leave me a negative. US Postal system took 2 weeks? Leave me a neg. (oh, don't look at the postage date where I mailed it the same day). Buddies at the same USPS smushed it? That's my fault. Don't like the software cause it SUCKS? Again, Todd's fault. OR! OR! This one is best! You're a grumpy old bitch that just didn't have a good day, how about leaving Todd a good old 3 out of 5 with the comment "it wuz ok".

THANKS GRUMPY OLD BITCH! You're a PEACH!

GRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I know. I know. So where is this going? Well I'll tell ya. See, eBay has, in their infinite corporate wisdom, decided that the seller shouldn't be able to leave a negative or even a NEUTRAL rating to the buyer ***AT ALL***!!! Only positive. Only "A++++ THEY PAID ON TIME", not anything like "Buyer took a week to pay and complained about blah or blah" or even yet "Buyer never paid for the item". NOPE! eBay's rationale was that they noticed when a seller got a negative, the buyer in turn got one too!!

Well no fucking shit eBay!!

Buyers aren't perfect, far from it. There are those that don't pay, there are those that take a week to pay, there are those that provide wrong addresses, complain about things clearly disclosed in the auction, insist on different payment methods, different shipment methods, expect 7 minute turnaround and Priority shipping times when not paying for it, and simply being a pain in the ass. The PC program won't work on an Apple. The screws not included are not included. The stereo with a non working left channel only works on the right. On and ON!!! At least on eBay, the way it used to be, you had a reason not to give the seller a negative; you might get one back! If it was that big of a deal, you did it anyway and risked it. On Amazon, people leave for me them willy-nilly, there is no recourse. Take a look at these gems:

"CD had a few small scratches - was advertised as like new - seller did not respond to e-mail - diappointing transaction" First off, I didn't get an email. Second, Uh, was there actually a problem with the CD? It really was like new.

"hey u gave some thing that does not work when i put it in to my os2 it dont work it wont load and u gave me a ps1 game shark i didnt want that u need to send my the rest of my stuff or send me 15 dollars for rippin me off if not im goin to report this" This one was tough, I have no idea what he means, I emailed twice and never got a response. Report to who? The Royal Canadian Mounted Police?

"i try to put it in 2 computers hp ,and dell and the cd to install the drivers wont run got stuck i try every method and its useless thats what i get to buy used things" Yeah, well, I pulled that off a working machine Bozo. Try reading the manual.

"This doesn't work!" That's it, no email, no response to mine.

"i'm honest and serios customer i don't nedd your 7 dollars please take alittle respect with customers i have an excellent reputation as customer and you only send one cd to avoid this problem review before send and asume your mistakes i hate somebody doubts from me" Go ahead. Say "Huh?"

"I didn´t receive the CD cover !!!" No Kidding!?!?!? That's why it was listed as: Comments: CD only in the case, no inserts.

"These games are awful, don't buy, no problem with Seller though." Personally my favorite negative.

Here's the problem. Amazon allows for these negative feedbacks, and I just have to accept them. Amazon collects the money, so payment is not a problem, and these people are free to buy from whoever they want! At least on eBay, as it is now, they buyer can be blocked if they have negative feedback within the past months, and it certainly hurts them if they try to sell. With the upcoming eBay changes, a buyer can harass the seller for positive feedback, and if he doesn't give one? He's free to leave a negative to the seller... Just... like... that! The sellers only protection is to blow smoke up the buyers butt: "Oh you paid so quickly!"..... "You're the BEST customer kissy kissy"..... "Gosh DANG I hope you love the used butt plug... come back for more PLEASE!!!". It sucks I tell ya.

The customer is not always right!

Where have I been?

Blogger's Block. That's what I got. Sigh.....

It's happened. Call the media

At exactly 150 days, 8 hours and 12 minutes, it happened. The doorbell rang. It was not UPS. It was not FedEx. Too late for mail-lady. It was not the gutter salesman. Neighbors exists. Not only do they exist, I guess they party. At least once a year anyway. 150 days. Almost half a year. Half a year wondering what in the hell is wrong with this neighborhood, but 150 days, 8 hours and 13 minutes later, I had a party invite in my hand. Will the world continue to survive?

PS: Want to know what's sad? I only know their last name because they have wireless. SECURED wireless BTW, but savvy enough to name their wireless after themselves. Me? I'd name my wireless network "IMGONNASHOOTYOUALLANDMOVEBACKTOKANSAS" but the damn router wouldn't take it.

Ex-spukes me?

DISTURBING PICTURE WARNING!

My Abby. Poor girl. She chews so hard. She means so well. But sometimes you just have to swallow. It's not pleasant, but it's REQUIRED. And some things are not meant to be swallowed. Like knives for instance. She wasn't feeling well for days, and finally, the TRUTH came out. I wish I had taken a picture of what it was before, blue, fluffy, squeaky (oh, you can't take a picture of sound?), one of her favorites balls. It's gone now, I think she's OK although it took another day to make sure. Poor girl.





PS: Our carpet was white when we bought the house. JUST KIDDING!

Merry Christmas, Damnit.

I vow to get in the mood this year! Last year (the entire year, but mainly the holidays) sucked because we were moving. Has it been a year? Yes. T started her job on December 18th, while she was home for a week over Christmas, we skipped a lot of things, including a tree and lots of presents (had to have SOME!). This year is going to be different. And to get myself in the mood, I stole this from Shelly:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Bags for most, but I do both.

2. Real tree or artificial? Fake. And after putting up with the fake tree made in O'Fallon MO for the past 20 years, we just bought a new 9 footer with built in lights.

3. When do you put up the tree? Supposed to be right after Thanksgiving, but we just did it a few days ago (12/09)

4. When do you take the tree down? Before New Years Eve

5. Do you like eggnog? You know, I do, but we don't have it much. Homemade is killer, and I'm looking forward to it this year (you do know it's made with raw eggs right?)

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A Radio Shack Electronics Kit, you could make all sorts of things, buzzers, radio, etc. I think it formed who I am.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? A what?

8. Hardest person to buy for? Hmmmm. My Dad is pretty tough.

9. Easiest person to buy for? When I get in the mode, my honey.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't want to be specific, but thoughtless gifts from certain relatives.

11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mail.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? A Christmas Story. You'll shoot yer EYE OUT!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I start early, procrastinate, then catch up 2 weeks before. Hey, that's today.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Hell ya.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Prime Rib, covered with salt, thyme and Farmland Cider House Bacon (sponsored by Pop-Tarts!), which I can't find here so hoping someone will overnight a few pounds.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored and blinky! But Noooooooooooooo!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the bells. I sing bass, "Ding dong, ding dong"

18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Stay at home, always. Christmas Eve too.

19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Doubtful. I won't even try. Can't name the dwarfs either.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star. Dog Toy. Beer can.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We had a tradition, we could open one present on Christmas Eve, and could not come downstairs the next morning until Pop was ready with the camera. And made coffee. I always thought the logic was so that it would keep us busy in the morning. Mom had to approve which present, and it seemed like it was often a book or puzzle. I still like that tradition and we carry it on. Stockings are done after breakfast dishes are cleaned up.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Politics. Merry Christmas is not a political statement. Happy Holidays is fine, but Merry Christmas isn't offensive, and if you think it is, likely YOU are. I hate that you never hear a lot of the songs that have anything to do with God, they've literally disappeared. Or they CHANGE the fricking words! Some companies don't have Christmas off, they have a family day. Whatever. Ho-Ho-Ho is offensive? Take my word for it, Yahoo will have turkeys and crap on Thanksgiving day, but look at how sensitive they will be around the 25th. Will we get a "holiday tree"?

23. What I love most about Christmas? Spending time alone with my honey and pups, eating lots, watching TV and feeling like a family.

24. Do you sleep in on Christmas Day? Nope, never can.

25th: Favorite Christmas cookies: Swedish Creme wafers and Spritz. First one is a family recipe coming soon to a blog near you, the other is a butter cookie, HAS to be colored red & green and not overcooked. Mmmmmmm

First big snow in Reno!

Hill's Pet food Presents The Science Diet Three Dog Blog (partnered with Purina)

I'm *SO* FRICKIN' *sick* of advertising. Junk mail, sales calls, pop ups, SPAM, crap slapped on football players, NASCAR drivers, flyers stuck in my door, kids pushing cleaning products and candy. Hell, the other night a kid showed up at the front door with PAINTINGS! PAINTINGS!? Leave me the HELL alone! Go play Battleship! What sparked this? Well, I'm not so sure how the hell it's so frickin newsworthy, but in the past 24 hours I have heard no more than 3 times that the Reno/Tahoe Open is now the.... (ready?)

THE:

That's just GREAT! What the hell is wrong with companies? This is such a big turn off that I've now got a "who cares" attitude about them building here. Great, more advertising. How long will it be before our driver's licenses are sponsored by Kodak? Our water bills featuring "Brita Water Purification products". Little signs along the highway saying "The fresh air you're breathing thanks to a donation in part by Frebreeze".

I think it started with golf a long time ago, and just snowballed. I remember being annoying by the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. In KC, they renamed Sandstone Amphitheatre to "The Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre". Think many people call it that?

"Hey Bob! I got tickets to see Rush at Sandstone, ya wanna go grab some chips & beer and go?"

"Hey Bob, I got tickets to see Rush on their new Atlantic Records Snakes & Arrows tour at The Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, wanna go grab some chips by Frito's Quality food products, some Anheuser-Busch Incorporated beer made in St. Louis by skilled midget artisans and make a road trip in my Ford F-150 Eddie Bauer Custom Special edition Extended TL4?"

Yeah..... That's it.

Racing and golf have got to be the worst. I don't think the Indianapolis 500 is pwned yet, but I bet they're working on it. I mean, look at all this crap:

• Allstate 400
• The Red Bull GP
• Budweiser Shootout
• Gatorade Duel 1 (and 2)
• Auto Club 500
• UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
• Kobalt Tools 500
• Food City 500
• Goody's Cool Orange 500
• Samsung 500
• Subway Fresh Fit 500
• Aaron's 499
• Crown Royal Presents The Jim Stewart 400 (by Depends Adult Diapers)
• Dodge Avenger 500
• Nextel Open
• Coca-Cola 600
• Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa
• Citizens Bank 400
• Toyota/Save Mart 350
• Lenox Industrial Tools 300
• Pepsi 400
• USG Sheetrock 400 (cause everyone knows racing and sheet rock are LIKE THIS!)

I'm stopping, but the list goes on and on. Isn't it pathetic?