I was gonna write a more meaningful post today, but my monitor is (still) broken (again) and keeps blinding me in the face. It's making com - (arg! blinded!) - puter using extrememly frustrating, which is part of the reason I've not been out to visit y'all lately. My old one kept going black. I'd turn it off then on again, and it would work for precicely one second before it went black. Then I got a replacement (yay for warranties, I think) and the r - (arg! blinded!) - eplacement one goes totally white after thirty seconds or so. Longer if it's been off for a while, shorter if it's been on) Off, then on, then I've got 30 more seconds to do what I have to do. Thirty times the usage, but the flash of light, then dark, then light in my eyes twice a minute gives m - (arg! blinded!) - e headaches. Good thing I've got more computer work than EVER I have to get done soon - report cards, big power point presentation, handout booklet for a big unit for my class and two others... ugh! (arg! blinded!)
I DID actually call them and have them send my a third monitor, but they managed to ship it to somewhere - (arg! blinded!) - in Manitoba instead of to me. Good times. Apparently there's a NEW, not refurbished, different model on it's way and should be here supposedly sometime next week. Till then I'm stuck with this baby. (arg! blinded!)
Whine whine whine. And yes, I'd like some cheese with it. Mmmm. Cheese. I've kinda inadvertently stopped eating it - partly for health, partly cause I just need to go shopping. I miss it.
What? OK, craziest post ever. (arg! blinded!)
The good news? It's been clear and sunny for four days in a row, and I love it! I went out to Lighthouse Park with a friend on Sunday and wandered around - it was glorio - (arg! blinded!) - s.
ok, that's it. I've gotta get off this thing before I get another full day long headache. Have a happy day!
(choosing labels when, you guessed it - arg! blinded!)
Showing posts with label Rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rants. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Return of the Beastmobile? AUGRH!!!
Ladies and gents, life is on hold. Strict, strict budget for things like entertainment and eating out. No travel. Maybe getting rid of the cell phone. And you KNOW things are bad when there will be no dancing lessons, either. Commence crying now.
My car has fallen under the curse. The evil, evil curse of the Beastmoblie. Those of you who have been reading this blog for over two years have read the posts about my old car. There were scores of them. This post is the best introduction, and one of my finer song re-works. When the Beastmobile (aka a 1989 Olds Cutlas) finally bit it in November of 2005 (thanks to a dear sir who felt that he didn't really feel like stopping for a red light), it was joyfully replaced by a beauteous issue-free 1994 Civic with a piddly 94,114 km on it. 59,480 miles, for you Americans out there. :) And it's been glorious. Only the routine oil changes and a scheduled timing belt replacement at about 100,000 km.
Until now.
Last winter my trunk began leaking. So much so that when I braked, you could hear it sloshing around. Off I went to my parent's house so that we could drain it and run a space heater in it to dry it out while it sat dry and toasty in the carport (I only have street parking). It was a few months till I could get it into the body shop to have the leak fixed, but eventually I did, and voila! No more leak!
This summer, though, my car began to overheat, so I took it in. It needed a water pump. Ok, fine, that's expected. I got that fixed and a few other odds and ends and forked over around six hundred and fifty bucks. Oof. Oh well, such is the cost of owning a car.
Of course, having just replaced the water heater in July, one would not expect that the cooling system - including a problematic fan that wasn't an issue last time - would have to be done AGAIN in November. Such was the case, however, when I began to overheat on a long drive out to the valley (which reminds me, I really need to write a few posts...). My mechanic - God bless him - charged me no labour. Still it was five hundred and twenty bucks for parts.
As summer turned to fall and fall faded into winter, the weather got wetter. So did my trunk. Just a bit at first, but come the full-fledged rainy season, it was back to a sloshing pool of rain water in the back of my trunk. Goodie goodie gum drops. Now, having the folding seats that I do, there's a little flap of fabric that rests in the trunk. All the better to soak up the water and bring it into the seats, my dear. This I discovered as I picked friends up for Christmas dinner and they arrived at my parents house with wet a$$es. Classy. All the subsequent driving around I did over the holiday involved folded up towels in the back seat for people to sit on. Double classy.
Over the last week of the holiday, I noticed that my car would chug a little bit when it was idling, and sometimes there was quite a bit of really nasty smeling white exhaust. But only sometimes. Then, last Friday, it chugged so much it felt like I was sitting in a massage chair and as I dropped off my friend Becca, it filled the neighbourhood with noxious smelling white smoky exhaust. I only has about 30 blocks to home, so I tried to make it. The temperature guage was up higher than the red and I was billowing massive clouds of smoke as I went. When steam began to billow out from under the hood, however, I pulled 'er over post haste and walked the remaining fourteen blocks to my house. Of course, not before opening the hood to find that the small amount of water in the overflow resevoir was boiling. So let's recap, shall wee? I had water in my trunk and no water in my engine. You'd think they'd learn to share or something. Geez.
I waited till the next morning and drove it straight to the mechanic to be parked there over the weekend. No chance I was gonna drive around with it ready to blow at any second. Of course, the drive there was without incident. Anyway, there it sat, to be looked at on Monday. Two guy friends of mine both told me - independently of each other - that from what I was describing, it sounded like a blown head gasket. Now I don't know much, but I know that THAT is expensive. Like really a lot. Oh happy fun times of joyousness.
I called to check in with the mechanic after school on Monday (yesterday) and he told me that one of the things that had puzzled him last time was still acting up - the computer that controlled the fan that helped to cool the engine. So he changed that. I asked about the head gasket, and he told me that while all the symptoms pointed to exactly that, he could find no evidence of a blown gasket. No mixed fluid anywhere, nothing on the spark plugs, and he drove it all over the place all day long and never once did it chug or smoke for him. He did everything he could and couldn't make it do what it was doing for me. Typical. He got the other mechanic at the shop to look at it, too, and he couldn't find anything either. He told me that when gaskets blow, they blow, and it's not intermittent, so he was very confused. Head gaskets are a very common fix, but he had never seen this problem before in all his years of working on cars. Goooood. That makes me feel SO much better. Yerg. Ah, but of course! We forgot that we're talking about one of MY cars.
He told me that he really couldn't bring himself to fix something he wasn't convinced was broken, so we'd leave it at the computer and the other tweaks he'd done and see how it fared. He was cautiously optomistic that this was the final fix. So off I went tonight after work to pick it up. And to unload another five hundred and twenty bucks. What are we at now, about $1700 since July? No problemo, I'll just go pick it off the money tree in the back yard... Oh right. I DON'T HAVE ONE.
While I was at the shop, I asked, "Well, just in case this isn't the final fix, how much would a blown head gasket actually cost me?" He told me that under normal circumstances it would be a couple of thousand dollars (CHOKE! COUGH! SPUTTER!), but that he'd have pity on me, and I shouln't worry, it would be painless. But the car is probably fixed now. So home I went with my probably fixed car.
Of course I watched the temperature guage and exhaust like a hawk all the way home. Temperature? Fine. Exhaust? Normal. Chugging? Non-existent. Woohoo!
That is, until about the last 8 or 10 blocks. Was that a cloud of white smoke I saw, or am I just paranoid? And I'm starting to feel that slight chug... or is my mind playing tricks on me? I pulled up to my parking spot and let it idle for a minute.
POUF!!!
And there is was. Billowing cloud, chug-a-lugging engine, crying Hillary.
Let's see how much my mechanic's pity is gonna cost me THIS time. Oh yeah, and that trunk leak is still not fixed, either. It's not like THAT can be left alone forever, either. Good thing I just got my Christmas mastercard bill and bought myself a bedroom suite, too. Anyone got some excess wealth they'd like to share?
Frickity frackity flappity FLIP!!!
Pardon me while I go cry now.
My car has fallen under the curse. The evil, evil curse of the Beastmoblie. Those of you who have been reading this blog for over two years have read the posts about my old car. There were scores of them. This post is the best introduction, and one of my finer song re-works. When the Beastmobile (aka a 1989 Olds Cutlas) finally bit it in November of 2005 (thanks to a dear sir who felt that he didn't really feel like stopping for a red light), it was joyfully replaced by a beauteous issue-free 1994 Civic with a piddly 94,114 km on it. 59,480 miles, for you Americans out there. :) And it's been glorious. Only the routine oil changes and a scheduled timing belt replacement at about 100,000 km.
Until now.
Last winter my trunk began leaking. So much so that when I braked, you could hear it sloshing around. Off I went to my parent's house so that we could drain it and run a space heater in it to dry it out while it sat dry and toasty in the carport (I only have street parking). It was a few months till I could get it into the body shop to have the leak fixed, but eventually I did, and voila! No more leak!
This summer, though, my car began to overheat, so I took it in. It needed a water pump. Ok, fine, that's expected. I got that fixed and a few other odds and ends and forked over around six hundred and fifty bucks. Oof. Oh well, such is the cost of owning a car.
Of course, having just replaced the water heater in July, one would not expect that the cooling system - including a problematic fan that wasn't an issue last time - would have to be done AGAIN in November. Such was the case, however, when I began to overheat on a long drive out to the valley (which reminds me, I really need to write a few posts...). My mechanic - God bless him - charged me no labour. Still it was five hundred and twenty bucks for parts.
As summer turned to fall and fall faded into winter, the weather got wetter. So did my trunk. Just a bit at first, but come the full-fledged rainy season, it was back to a sloshing pool of rain water in the back of my trunk. Goodie goodie gum drops. Now, having the folding seats that I do, there's a little flap of fabric that rests in the trunk. All the better to soak up the water and bring it into the seats, my dear. This I discovered as I picked friends up for Christmas dinner and they arrived at my parents house with wet a$$es. Classy. All the subsequent driving around I did over the holiday involved folded up towels in the back seat for people to sit on. Double classy.
Over the last week of the holiday, I noticed that my car would chug a little bit when it was idling, and sometimes there was quite a bit of really nasty smeling white exhaust. But only sometimes. Then, last Friday, it chugged so much it felt like I was sitting in a massage chair and as I dropped off my friend Becca, it filled the neighbourhood with noxious smelling white smoky exhaust. I only has about 30 blocks to home, so I tried to make it. The temperature guage was up higher than the red and I was billowing massive clouds of smoke as I went. When steam began to billow out from under the hood, however, I pulled 'er over post haste and walked the remaining fourteen blocks to my house. Of course, not before opening the hood to find that the small amount of water in the overflow resevoir was boiling. So let's recap, shall wee? I had water in my trunk and no water in my engine. You'd think they'd learn to share or something. Geez.
I waited till the next morning and drove it straight to the mechanic to be parked there over the weekend. No chance I was gonna drive around with it ready to blow at any second. Of course, the drive there was without incident. Anyway, there it sat, to be looked at on Monday. Two guy friends of mine both told me - independently of each other - that from what I was describing, it sounded like a blown head gasket. Now I don't know much, but I know that THAT is expensive. Like really a lot. Oh happy fun times of joyousness.
I called to check in with the mechanic after school on Monday (yesterday) and he told me that one of the things that had puzzled him last time was still acting up - the computer that controlled the fan that helped to cool the engine. So he changed that. I asked about the head gasket, and he told me that while all the symptoms pointed to exactly that, he could find no evidence of a blown gasket. No mixed fluid anywhere, nothing on the spark plugs, and he drove it all over the place all day long and never once did it chug or smoke for him. He did everything he could and couldn't make it do what it was doing for me. Typical. He got the other mechanic at the shop to look at it, too, and he couldn't find anything either. He told me that when gaskets blow, they blow, and it's not intermittent, so he was very confused. Head gaskets are a very common fix, but he had never seen this problem before in all his years of working on cars. Goooood. That makes me feel SO much better. Yerg. Ah, but of course! We forgot that we're talking about one of MY cars.
He told me that he really couldn't bring himself to fix something he wasn't convinced was broken, so we'd leave it at the computer and the other tweaks he'd done and see how it fared. He was cautiously optomistic that this was the final fix. So off I went tonight after work to pick it up. And to unload another five hundred and twenty bucks. What are we at now, about $1700 since July? No problemo, I'll just go pick it off the money tree in the back yard... Oh right. I DON'T HAVE ONE.
While I was at the shop, I asked, "Well, just in case this isn't the final fix, how much would a blown head gasket actually cost me?" He told me that under normal circumstances it would be a couple of thousand dollars (CHOKE! COUGH! SPUTTER!), but that he'd have pity on me, and I shouln't worry, it would be painless. But the car is probably fixed now. So home I went with my probably fixed car.
Of course I watched the temperature guage and exhaust like a hawk all the way home. Temperature? Fine. Exhaust? Normal. Chugging? Non-existent. Woohoo!
That is, until about the last 8 or 10 blocks. Was that a cloud of white smoke I saw, or am I just paranoid? And I'm starting to feel that slight chug... or is my mind playing tricks on me? I pulled up to my parking spot and let it idle for a minute.
POUF!!!
And there is was. Billowing cloud, chug-a-lugging engine, crying Hillary.
Let's see how much my mechanic's pity is gonna cost me THIS time. Oh yeah, and that trunk leak is still not fixed, either. It's not like THAT can be left alone forever, either. Good thing I just got my Christmas mastercard bill and bought myself a bedroom suite, too. Anyone got some excess wealth they'd like to share?
Frickity frackity flappity FLIP!!!
Pardon me while I go cry now.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
The GRRRR factor
It's a good thing it's been a few hours since I thought about writing this post, or there may have been some obscenities involved.
RAGA!!!!
Back in February, I got a parking ticket downtown after dance one Sunday night. It was a STUPID parking ticket, cause the signs were TOTALLY not clear and it looked like it was free to park after 6 on weekends. I am not the only one who interpreted the sign this way. There were at least 6 others who scrutinized the sign with me at various times and agreed that, yes, indeed, parking was free after six.
So great was my assurance that I was right that I went down and took photos of the sign, sent them to the parking company, and told them that I was disputing my ticket. Of course, after sending the signs away, I saw that, yes, actually I DID have to pay after six. BUT IT WAS STILL UNCLEAR! And I hold to that to this day. They have since changed the signs. And upped the rates. D'oh.
Anyway.
The ticket was for something like 45 bucks, and $65 if I didn't pay it within a week or something. Well, I was contesting the ticket, so they told me that it wouldn't go up.
But then I got no answer from them about my email. One week went by, then two, then three. Four. Five. Then I got a letter from the parking company stating that I now owed $75 - the higher ticket price, plus interest and fees for who-knows-what.
So I emailed back, stating rather bluntly that, uh, no, I had contested, and hadn't heard from them in five weeks. So they emailed me back on April 12, complete with no less than 4 condescending paragraphs about private property, right to collect revenue, legal blahbitty blah, I had infringed, yadda yadda yadda. Yeah, whatever buddy. Shaddup. At the end of the email (and it was LONG!) they said they'd accept payment for $26.75 so long as I paid it within 7 days.
So I did. Fine. Got an email, thanks for paying, here's your confirmation number, done. Finito. Or so I thought.
Around mid May I began getting calls from a collection agency (which, as the recorded voice never actually said what it was about - "a very important business matter" - I had no idea and just hung up on them every time, so didn't actually know it was a collection agency till maybe July sometime.). They called every. single. day. I got letters. The amount was now up to ninety-something.
I called in July and they told me the details of my ticket, which wasn't even with the right parking company. Clearly they were on crack, so I decided to ignore them. And still they called.
Around September I got fed up with the calls and called them back to tell them to get lost, I'd paid eons ago. Of course, by this time, I was getting more threatening calls from a DIFFERENT collection agency saying that my credit rating was affected, I'd be taken to court, and all that blahbitty blah blah.
So I called the original collections agency again. I was not rude, but I was not polite, either. I've paid this flippin' thing, I have email confirmations to prove the mount we settled on, and that I'd paid, where do I send it off to?
I got the fax number, prepared the documents, and faxed it off with a cover letter saying in no uncertain terms that they were to stop calling me immediately, and repair any damage to my credit rating, and inform me in writing via email when this had happened.
That was about a month ago. No email, but really, I wasn't expecting one anyway. But no more phone calls, either.
Until last week. More threatening phone calls. Now the amount is $125. Usually they're on my machine, but the robot got me home tonight. I called. I left a message (which ticked me off, too, as their stupid rigmarole voicemail thing took me almost TEN minutes before it rang through to an agent, and by that time they were closed. They weren't closed when I called in the first place). I left an aaaangry message.
Honestly, WHAT do I have to do to get these ........ [words you don't want to hear] off my back?????
ARG! I'm SOOO angry! Just leave me the heck alone!
Blah. Somehow barfing all that up on my blog makes things feel better. But seriously. If they call me back again....
In other, happier news, one of my kidlets totally cracked me up today - and a real live crack up, not just one of those "over enthusiastic for the sake of the kid" kind of laughs.
In their writing books (journals) today, I told them that they were to imagine that they were a turkey, and that the farmer was looking forward to a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. They, as the turkey, had to tell the farmer why he shouldn't eat them, or maybe who or what to eat instead. So complete with ESL grammar and kid spelling (which I don't have here to replicate, I'm just going with the gist of the grammar), here's what one grade two boy wrote:
"I'm a turkey. If the farmer want to eat me, I tell him you don't want to eat me, I'm too skinny. You should go eat Mr Chicken. If he say no, then go ask Mrs Cow. If he say no, then go ask Mr Pig. If he say no, you can go eat rice."
Laughing, I asked, "Really? Rice!"
To which he replied, "Yeah. Rice can't talk back."
RAGA!!!!
Back in February, I got a parking ticket downtown after dance one Sunday night. It was a STUPID parking ticket, cause the signs were TOTALLY not clear and it looked like it was free to park after 6 on weekends. I am not the only one who interpreted the sign this way. There were at least 6 others who scrutinized the sign with me at various times and agreed that, yes, indeed, parking was free after six.
So great was my assurance that I was right that I went down and took photos of the sign, sent them to the parking company, and told them that I was disputing my ticket. Of course, after sending the signs away, I saw that, yes, actually I DID have to pay after six. BUT IT WAS STILL UNCLEAR! And I hold to that to this day. They have since changed the signs. And upped the rates. D'oh.
Anyway.
The ticket was for something like 45 bucks, and $65 if I didn't pay it within a week or something. Well, I was contesting the ticket, so they told me that it wouldn't go up.
But then I got no answer from them about my email. One week went by, then two, then three. Four. Five. Then I got a letter from the parking company stating that I now owed $75 - the higher ticket price, plus interest and fees for who-knows-what.
So I emailed back, stating rather bluntly that, uh, no, I had contested, and hadn't heard from them in five weeks. So they emailed me back on April 12, complete with no less than 4 condescending paragraphs about private property, right to collect revenue, legal blahbitty blah, I had infringed, yadda yadda yadda. Yeah, whatever buddy. Shaddup. At the end of the email (and it was LONG!) they said they'd accept payment for $26.75 so long as I paid it within 7 days.
So I did. Fine. Got an email, thanks for paying, here's your confirmation number, done. Finito. Or so I thought.
Around mid May I began getting calls from a collection agency (which, as the recorded voice never actually said what it was about - "a very important business matter" - I had no idea and just hung up on them every time, so didn't actually know it was a collection agency till maybe July sometime.). They called every. single. day. I got letters. The amount was now up to ninety-something.
I called in July and they told me the details of my ticket, which wasn't even with the right parking company. Clearly they were on crack, so I decided to ignore them. And still they called.
Around September I got fed up with the calls and called them back to tell them to get lost, I'd paid eons ago. Of course, by this time, I was getting more threatening calls from a DIFFERENT collection agency saying that my credit rating was affected, I'd be taken to court, and all that blahbitty blah blah.
So I called the original collections agency again. I was not rude, but I was not polite, either. I've paid this flippin' thing, I have email confirmations to prove the mount we settled on, and that I'd paid, where do I send it off to?
I got the fax number, prepared the documents, and faxed it off with a cover letter saying in no uncertain terms that they were to stop calling me immediately, and repair any damage to my credit rating, and inform me in writing via email when this had happened.
That was about a month ago. No email, but really, I wasn't expecting one anyway. But no more phone calls, either.
Until last week. More threatening phone calls. Now the amount is $125. Usually they're on my machine, but the robot got me home tonight. I called. I left a message (which ticked me off, too, as their stupid rigmarole voicemail thing took me almost TEN minutes before it rang through to an agent, and by that time they were closed. They weren't closed when I called in the first place). I left an aaaangry message.
Honestly, WHAT do I have to do to get these ........ [words you don't want to hear] off my back?????
ARG! I'm SOOO angry! Just leave me the heck alone!
Blah. Somehow barfing all that up on my blog makes things feel better. But seriously. If they call me back again....
In other, happier news, one of my kidlets totally cracked me up today - and a real live crack up, not just one of those "over enthusiastic for the sake of the kid" kind of laughs.
In their writing books (journals) today, I told them that they were to imagine that they were a turkey, and that the farmer was looking forward to a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. They, as the turkey, had to tell the farmer why he shouldn't eat them, or maybe who or what to eat instead. So complete with ESL grammar and kid spelling (which I don't have here to replicate, I'm just going with the gist of the grammar), here's what one grade two boy wrote:
"I'm a turkey. If the farmer want to eat me, I tell him you don't want to eat me, I'm too skinny. You should go eat Mr Chicken. If he say no, then go ask Mrs Cow. If he say no, then go ask Mr Pig. If he say no, you can go eat rice."
Laughing, I asked, "Really? Rice!"
To which he replied, "Yeah. Rice can't talk back."
Thursday, April 26, 2007
RRRAAAUUUUURRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
Nearly every. single. minute. of today made we want to bang my head against a wall.
Car frustrations. School frustrations. Student frustrations (oh my goodness, I nearly LOST it today). Time crunch frustrations. Mess frustrations. Professional practice frustrations (as in, what the heck am I doing???). Parental frustrations (the kid's parents, not mine!). Food frustrations. Technological frustrations. Weather frustrations.
And then there was my photography class.
Ho-lee crapoli.
I keep hoping it's gonna get better. And it gets worse. This guy CAN. NOT. TEACH. He is the worst instructor in.... well, ANYTHING that I have ever had. Ever. He is all over the map. He is totally unclear. He gives NO background knowledge about what is actually going on in the camera, he just gives us whacked out scenarios (like taking a picture of the sun and making it look like a star. Making daylight look like night. Why? For what purpose? Or taking pictures of the TV screen. "Cause what if you don't have a picture of that good looking guy or girl on the screen?" Seriously? Huh?) and settings to make them work. But he doesn't explain WHAT the camera is actually doing.
This is supposed to be a beginners class (as evidenced by the fact that he has told us ALL THREE WEEKS that to take pictures we need film in the camera. Yeah. Ya think?) And yet he hasn't even TOLD us what aperture actually IS. Luckily I know a little bit from a few mini lessons from a friend a while back, so I can KIND of piece together what he's attempting to tell us. But tonight he totally lost me. Something about hypermode? And how it relates to depth of field? I think if I had a digital SLR it would be at least a little better cause I could take pictures and try stuff out in class to try and figure out what the hang he's talking about. But oh man.
And don't try to ask the guy questions. Oh, he gladly takes them. But there's just one teensy little thing. HE DOESN'T ACTUALLY ANSWER THEM. Last week he did not answer ONE single question I had. He just yabbered on about whatever he thought was kinda sorta maybe related. I was persistent to the point of near b!tchiness in trying to get an answer. I kept it polite and turned it around on me ("I'm sorry, maybe my question isn't very clear...") but WOWZA that took some effort.
I would just stop going, but there's JUST enough info I can pinch out from this otherwise colossal waste of time - perhaps 15-20 minues of the two hours is productive - that I'll stick with it, agonizing as it may be. And it's not just me. Everyone else is equally baffled at how this guy can continue to run this course. Oh man. It is B-R-U-T-A-L.
What if he finds my blog, you ask? Well, he makes absolutely ZERO effort to even TRY to learn our names, so he wouldn't know it was me anyway. I was asked for my surname on the first night so he could check the list, and now I'm "the little AE-1* girl." Yippee. [*AE-1 is my camera model]
OK. Now I feel bad. He's a jolly fellow, and really friendly. As a person, he's great. Kinda like a jovial older uncle. And he knows his stuff. But as an instructor? He's-a makin' me cray-zay.
Aaaand... nowI feel the great burning need now to take out some positives from my day. There has to have been something... hmm....
Oh yes. My kids totally cracked me up today in PE. We were playing skittle ball, which is kinda a combination between bowling with bean bags and dodge ball. They were flinging bean bags across the gym right left and center, and trying to knock down the wooden skittles (kinda like bowling pins) and trying equally hard to hit their opponents feet to get them out. They were SO INTO it, and it totally made me laugh. I had to get in there and play, too. Most of my time was spent running like a flailing fool back and forth along the front lines making "nah na-na nah boo boo" faces at the other team, trying to either distract them or make them try to hit me with the bean bags. At one point I was laughing so hard I couldn't even stand up straight. I'm sure they all thought I was insane.
Good.
Like I always tell them, "Hey! You'll aaalllways remember the crazy ones!"
Car frustrations. School frustrations. Student frustrations (oh my goodness, I nearly LOST it today). Time crunch frustrations. Mess frustrations. Professional practice frustrations (as in, what the heck am I doing???). Parental frustrations (the kid's parents, not mine!). Food frustrations. Technological frustrations. Weather frustrations.
And then there was my photography class.
Ho-lee crapoli.
I keep hoping it's gonna get better. And it gets worse. This guy CAN. NOT. TEACH. He is the worst instructor in.... well, ANYTHING that I have ever had. Ever. He is all over the map. He is totally unclear. He gives NO background knowledge about what is actually going on in the camera, he just gives us whacked out scenarios (like taking a picture of the sun and making it look like a star. Making daylight look like night. Why? For what purpose? Or taking pictures of the TV screen. "Cause what if you don't have a picture of that good looking guy or girl on the screen?" Seriously? Huh?) and settings to make them work. But he doesn't explain WHAT the camera is actually doing.
This is supposed to be a beginners class (as evidenced by the fact that he has told us ALL THREE WEEKS that to take pictures we need film in the camera. Yeah. Ya think?) And yet he hasn't even TOLD us what aperture actually IS. Luckily I know a little bit from a few mini lessons from a friend a while back, so I can KIND of piece together what he's attempting to tell us. But tonight he totally lost me. Something about hypermode? And how it relates to depth of field? I think if I had a digital SLR it would be at least a little better cause I could take pictures and try stuff out in class to try and figure out what the hang he's talking about. But oh man.
And don't try to ask the guy questions. Oh, he gladly takes them. But there's just one teensy little thing. HE DOESN'T ACTUALLY ANSWER THEM. Last week he did not answer ONE single question I had. He just yabbered on about whatever he thought was kinda sorta maybe related. I was persistent to the point of near b!tchiness in trying to get an answer. I kept it polite and turned it around on me ("I'm sorry, maybe my question isn't very clear...") but WOWZA that took some effort.
I would just stop going, but there's JUST enough info I can pinch out from this otherwise colossal waste of time - perhaps 15-20 minues of the two hours is productive - that I'll stick with it, agonizing as it may be. And it's not just me. Everyone else is equally baffled at how this guy can continue to run this course. Oh man. It is B-R-U-T-A-L.
What if he finds my blog, you ask? Well, he makes absolutely ZERO effort to even TRY to learn our names, so he wouldn't know it was me anyway. I was asked for my surname on the first night so he could check the list, and now I'm "the little AE-1* girl." Yippee. [*AE-1 is my camera model]
OK. Now I feel bad. He's a jolly fellow, and really friendly. As a person, he's great. Kinda like a jovial older uncle. And he knows his stuff. But as an instructor? He's-a makin' me cray-zay.
Aaaand... nowI feel the great burning need now to take out some positives from my day. There has to have been something... hmm....
Oh yes. My kids totally cracked me up today in PE. We were playing skittle ball, which is kinda a combination between bowling with bean bags and dodge ball. They were flinging bean bags across the gym right left and center, and trying to knock down the wooden skittles (kinda like bowling pins) and trying equally hard to hit their opponents feet to get them out. They were SO INTO it, and it totally made me laugh. I had to get in there and play, too. Most of my time was spent running like a flailing fool back and forth along the front lines making "nah na-na nah boo boo" faces at the other team, trying to either distract them or make them try to hit me with the bean bags. At one point I was laughing so hard I couldn't even stand up straight. I'm sure they all thought I was insane.
Good.
Like I always tell them, "Hey! You'll aaalllways remember the crazy ones!"
Friday, April 20, 2007
Oh no they di-in't!!!
There are very few things that flip my b!tch switch. I do not normally go on a random rampage when things tick me off. Few things really tick me off that much - I like to think I'm fairly laid back. Hopefully those of you who know me aren't laughing your collective butts off right now. I'd like to think that's fairly accurate.
But, there have been a few shining moments when somebody has done something really stupid or really wrong, and something in me just screams to let them know about it.
Like when I chased down and told off a driver who ran a red light, nearly mowing me down as I crossed the crosswalk - ironically enough carrying the two bags full of the contents of my very recently totalled Beastmobile. Totalled, I might add, by someone who ran a red light.
Or the time I was driving home from work after a sucky, stressful, kids-making-me-want-to-wring-their-necks kind of day, and some punks were walking along the street pelting rocks at cars. One hit the side of mine. The new one. The glorious replacement for the Beastmobile. I was in a pissy mood already, and that was the last straw. I wheeled the car over to the side of the road, unbeknownced (sp???) to the punks, as they were walking the opposite way and were nearly a block away by then. I once again chased them down, and, upon seeing the head punk launch another projectile at the oncoming traffic, screamed, "HEY! Yeah, YOU! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING???" He grunted something about it just being chocolate. What the? "I don't care! You're gonna cause damage to someone's car! You just hit mine!" sputter, sputter, lame excuse, lame excuse... "Come on!" I carried on. "GET SOME RESPONSIBILITY!"
Seriously? Get some responsibiltiy? Did that really come out of my mouth? That just may have been my most school-marm-ish moment ever.
But I mean, come on.
So today I got home from work and checked my messages. THIS is what I heard:
But, there have been a few shining moments when somebody has done something really stupid or really wrong, and something in me just screams to let them know about it.
Like when I chased down and told off a driver who ran a red light, nearly mowing me down as I crossed the crosswalk - ironically enough carrying the two bags full of the contents of my very recently totalled Beastmobile. Totalled, I might add, by someone who ran a red light.
Or the time I was driving home from work after a sucky, stressful, kids-making-me-want-to-wring-their-necks kind of day, and some punks were walking along the street pelting rocks at cars. One hit the side of mine. The new one. The glorious replacement for the Beastmobile. I was in a pissy mood already, and that was the last straw. I wheeled the car over to the side of the road, unbeknownced (sp???) to the punks, as they were walking the opposite way and were nearly a block away by then. I once again chased them down, and, upon seeing the head punk launch another projectile at the oncoming traffic, screamed, "HEY! Yeah, YOU! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING???" He grunted something about it just being chocolate. What the? "I don't care! You're gonna cause damage to someone's car! You just hit mine!" sputter, sputter, lame excuse, lame excuse... "Come on!" I carried on. "GET SOME RESPONSIBILITY!"
Seriously? Get some responsibiltiy? Did that really come out of my mouth? That just may have been my most school-marm-ish moment ever.
But I mean, come on.
So today I got home from work and checked my messages. THIS is what I heard:
Ok, first off, it's pretty hilarious. The drawl on that guy is spectacular. But still... advertising? On my voice mail? The message had been playing through my whole greeting, and it wasn't even done when my answering machine (bless it's soul) cut it off. SHEESH!
They're not the first ones to do it. I've had random companies leave ads on my voice mail before. And it's not right! Ads on magazines, fine. Ads on TV, fine. Radio? Sure. Billboards? Whatever. Flyers in the mail. Kinda annoying, but I suppose accepted. But on my voice mail? Not that that's sacred or anything, but still... there really isn't ANYwhere where one can escape stupid spam. Come to think of it, I suppose it's more spam than advertising.
Whatever it was, it really annoyed me, so I made a phone call. I told the customer support dude (while making it clear I wasn't mad at him, and thanked him very much for his help at the end of the call) in no uncertian terms that I did NOT appreciate advertising on my answering machine, and take my number OFF whatever list it was on, and that that is NOT a marketing ploy that is ok with me.
On the other hand, "Ah coould wee-ehn thahyat!" Maybe I should go play a hand or two!
Yaaaaarg!
Saturday, April 07, 2007
How NOT to ask a girl out
He’s already asked me a few times to go out for drinks with him. I’ve been busy with report cards, so haven’t been able to go. This was the latest:
I.: whats happening with you tonight?
Hillary: heading to a friend's place for dinner
I.: and later tonight?
Hillary: not sure, I imagine it'll be the whole evening at my friend’s place
I.: well i'm heading out to an irish club/pub in cloverdale [a suburb about 45 mins away]
I.: u interested in going after? u can bring ur girl too
Hillary: ?
Hillary: oh, the friend... it's about 10 people, my friend Lloyd is cooking an easter dinner for a big gang of people
I.: oh wow
I.: ur not going to leave early then
Hillary: no, heading out to cloverdale probably won't work
I.: ur not wanting to come out with me?
Hillary: what?
I.: u should come out tonight is what i'm saying
Hillary: no, I think this'll be the whole evening, and I don't want to head all the way out to cloverdale later on in the evening.
Hillary: simple answer: sorry, but I already have plans
Hillary: there, that was way less complicated! :P
I.: or way less fun
I.: one or the other
I.: :(
Hillary: you sayin' my friends are boring?!? :-O
I.: naah
I.: i'm saying u should come out to enjoy my company
I.: that's all
OK... #1 – it’s over MSN. You at least CALL a girl if you want to take her on a date. Duh.
#2 – he’s asking just a few hours from when he wants to go out. Nuh-uh. You want a date? You give me notice. Read the Rules.
#3 – he tells me my plans are going to be less fun than heading out with him. Um, HELLO??
#4 – apparently his company is so desirsble that I really should cancel my plans and be amazed by his stellar charm. Not, “I’d really like to get to know you better.” Not “I’m looking forward to spending some time with you.” But “u should come out to enjoy my company.”
Yeah, I don’t think so, buddy.
NEXT!
I.: whats happening with you tonight?
Hillary: heading to a friend's place for dinner
I.: and later tonight?
Hillary: not sure, I imagine it'll be the whole evening at my friend’s place
I.: well i'm heading out to an irish club/pub in cloverdale [a suburb about 45 mins away]
I.: u interested in going after? u can bring ur girl too
Hillary: ?
Hillary: oh, the friend... it's about 10 people, my friend Lloyd is cooking an easter dinner for a big gang of people
I.: oh wow
I.: ur not going to leave early then
Hillary: no, heading out to cloverdale probably won't work
I.: ur not wanting to come out with me?
Hillary: what?
I.: u should come out tonight is what i'm saying
Hillary: no, I think this'll be the whole evening, and I don't want to head all the way out to cloverdale later on in the evening.
Hillary: simple answer: sorry, but I already have plans
Hillary: there, that was way less complicated! :P
I.: or way less fun
I.: one or the other
I.: :(
Hillary: you sayin' my friends are boring?!? :-O
I.: naah
I.: i'm saying u should come out to enjoy my company
I.: that's all
OK... #1 – it’s over MSN. You at least CALL a girl if you want to take her on a date. Duh.
#2 – he’s asking just a few hours from when he wants to go out. Nuh-uh. You want a date? You give me notice. Read the Rules.
#3 – he tells me my plans are going to be less fun than heading out with him. Um, HELLO??
#4 – apparently his company is so desirsble that I really should cancel my plans and be amazed by his stellar charm. Not, “I’d really like to get to know you better.” Not “I’m looking forward to spending some time with you.” But “u should come out to enjoy my company.”
Yeah, I don’t think so, buddy.
NEXT!
Monday, January 29, 2007
I won!!!!
Holy shneikie!!!! I just got a phone call from some organization that had a draw that I entered who knows when. It turns out that they drew my name and I won two Canucks tickets AND a 2-for-1 voucher for a Carnival Cruise. Now before getting all excited about it, I was like, ok, right, and what 2 hour time share presentation or $500 lifetime membership to a furniture "discount" store hoop do I have to jump through before MAYBE winning these tickets?
I asked all the skeptical questions I could think of, but, it turns out, there were none! I entered, they drew me, and I won! Thoughts immediately jumped to spring break cruises or what have you...
"I just need to ask you a few qualifying questions"
Oh great, here goes. No, wait, that's like one of those "skill testing questions" or something, right?
"Maam, this promotion is for couples... are you currently married or living common-law with someone?"
Dangit.
"Uhhh... no?"
"Ok, I'm sorry maam. Then you don't qualify. But I'll put your name back in the box for hte draw next week for blah blah blah..."
Crap. Tell me again, WHY didn't I jsut say yes? Oh right. Lying is bad. Phooey to that.
Dumb lady. Call me and get me all excited about my sweet prize, then take it away from me! How RUDE!
I asked all the skeptical questions I could think of, but, it turns out, there were none! I entered, they drew me, and I won! Thoughts immediately jumped to spring break cruises or what have you...
"I just need to ask you a few qualifying questions"
Oh great, here goes. No, wait, that's like one of those "skill testing questions" or something, right?
"Maam, this promotion is for couples... are you currently married or living common-law with someone?"
Dangit.
"Uhhh... no?"
"Ok, I'm sorry maam. Then you don't qualify. But I'll put your name back in the box for hte draw next week for blah blah blah..."
Crap. Tell me again, WHY didn't I jsut say yes? Oh right. Lying is bad. Phooey to that.
Dumb lady. Call me and get me all excited about my sweet prize, then take it away from me! How RUDE!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Rant
And rave. And stomp my feet.
FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES, PEOPLE, IF YOU MUST CALL ME TO HAWK SOME PRODUCT OR SERVICE OR ASK ME SOME ENDLESS LIST OF QUESTIONS I MUST STONGLY, SOMEWHAT, OR MILDLY AGREE OR DISAGREE ABOUT, AT LEAST HAVE THE DECENCY TO GREET ME WITH A HUMAN AND NOT SOME SHTINKIN' MACHINE WITH A SUGARY SWEET RECORDED VOICE TELLING ME HOW LUCKY I AM TO HAVE BEEN RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM RESIDENTS OF MY NEIGHBOURHOOD TO RECEIVE BLAH BLAH BLAH AND WHEN I HANG UP ON YOU, DEMON MACHINE, DON'T CALL ME BACK!!! AAAARRRRGGGGG!!!!!
Thus ends my rant. And my horribly long run-on sentence.
PS... Go check out my new renter! I haven't had one in a while. Look right... see that lovely button with sunflowers on it? That's My So Called Ramblings. She's a fun read, go check her out!
FOR HEAVEN'S SAKES, PEOPLE, IF YOU MUST CALL ME TO HAWK SOME PRODUCT OR SERVICE OR ASK ME SOME ENDLESS LIST OF QUESTIONS I MUST STONGLY, SOMEWHAT, OR MILDLY AGREE OR DISAGREE ABOUT, AT LEAST HAVE THE DECENCY TO GREET ME WITH A HUMAN AND NOT SOME SHTINKIN' MACHINE WITH A SUGARY SWEET RECORDED VOICE TELLING ME HOW LUCKY I AM TO HAVE BEEN RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM RESIDENTS OF MY NEIGHBOURHOOD TO RECEIVE BLAH BLAH BLAH AND WHEN I HANG UP ON YOU, DEMON MACHINE, DON'T CALL ME BACK!!! AAAARRRRGGGGG!!!!!
Thus ends my rant. And my horribly long run-on sentence.
PS... Go check out my new renter! I haven't had one in a while. Look right... see that lovely button with sunflowers on it? That's My So Called Ramblings. She's a fun read, go check her out!
Friday, December 16, 2005
Bits 'n' bites
Yippeee! School's out for Christmas! I SO need a break. I'm telling ya, I was barely hanging together this past week. And of course, just in time for vacation, I'm sick! Typical! I could feel it coming Wednesday. It was the weirdest thing: like a hard ball of sick deep in my head that just began to grow and grow. Bah!
I'm hoping this will be a relaxing break. The goal is to get my house clean and my leftover marking/recording done this weekend, then have the two weeks to enjoy. Nevermind the fact that I've got to go car shopping now, still have appointments to go to for my back (which is still bugging me from the accident) and haven't yet bought gifts for any of my immediate family! *sigh* I did ALL my shopping in one day last year, every last bit of it. All on December 21. I was insane. Definitely not gonna go that route again, but I have a feeling it will be close. It will be so much easier if I get a car sooner rather than later.
On the way home from work/school today (I still don't know what to call it!) I witnessed the most abominable display of self-centered childish snark I have seen in a very very long time. I was on a crowded bus reading a book when I heard a string of profanities coming from a woman who liked to be in about her early twenties. I had no idea what had happened, but saw a woman trying to squeeze past snark-girl to get off the bus. As the woman was stepping off the bus, snark-girl replied, loudly, "Do that again and I'll *@#* bite them off!" Huh? Her phone rang just after that and in a hugely exasperated tone, she snarked "WHAT," then proceeded to recount what had happened - extremely loudly with great profanity - what had happened. I guess the woman who was trying to get off the bus was a little unsteady on her feet and went to grab the pole to steady herself as the bus stopped suddenly, but missed and touched snark-girl's mouth. OK, yeah, gross, but have a little grace, lady! As her conversation proceeded, you could tell that she was angry, angry, angry, and apparently was a drama queen and wanted the whole world to know about it. Passengers around her started to talk, because she was being SO ridiculous. We were all stupified at how this girl was carrying on. As my stop came up and I got all my stuff together, I guess she had seen me looking at her in astonishment and started in on me. I got ranted at for an entire block and a half and she was still going as I got off the bus.
Look, snark-face, you're right. I have no idea what's going on in your life. It might be really horrible, and if so, I really am sorry. But the way you treated that woman (and your friend on the phone, for that matter) was atrocious and there's no need to make everyone around you miserable, too. And ranting at a stranger? Classy.
I was really picked at her, because it was such a great afternoon - school had just gotten out, it was a beautiful day, I was enjoying my book, and she totally poisoned the good mood I was in. Normally I can just let stuff like that roll off, but today it really stuck with me. I need to go blast some happy music or something to wash all that nastiness out of my head. Blech!
I'm hoping this will be a relaxing break. The goal is to get my house clean and my leftover marking/recording done this weekend, then have the two weeks to enjoy. Nevermind the fact that I've got to go car shopping now, still have appointments to go to for my back (which is still bugging me from the accident) and haven't yet bought gifts for any of my immediate family! *sigh* I did ALL my shopping in one day last year, every last bit of it. All on December 21. I was insane. Definitely not gonna go that route again, but I have a feeling it will be close. It will be so much easier if I get a car sooner rather than later.
On the way home from work/school today (I still don't know what to call it!) I witnessed the most abominable display of self-centered childish snark I have seen in a very very long time. I was on a crowded bus reading a book when I heard a string of profanities coming from a woman who liked to be in about her early twenties. I had no idea what had happened, but saw a woman trying to squeeze past snark-girl to get off the bus. As the woman was stepping off the bus, snark-girl replied, loudly, "Do that again and I'll *@#* bite them off!" Huh? Her phone rang just after that and in a hugely exasperated tone, she snarked "WHAT," then proceeded to recount what had happened - extremely loudly with great profanity - what had happened. I guess the woman who was trying to get off the bus was a little unsteady on her feet and went to grab the pole to steady herself as the bus stopped suddenly, but missed and touched snark-girl's mouth. OK, yeah, gross, but have a little grace, lady! As her conversation proceeded, you could tell that she was angry, angry, angry, and apparently was a drama queen and wanted the whole world to know about it. Passengers around her started to talk, because she was being SO ridiculous. We were all stupified at how this girl was carrying on. As my stop came up and I got all my stuff together, I guess she had seen me looking at her in astonishment and started in on me. I got ranted at for an entire block and a half and she was still going as I got off the bus.
Look, snark-face, you're right. I have no idea what's going on in your life. It might be really horrible, and if so, I really am sorry. But the way you treated that woman (and your friend on the phone, for that matter) was atrocious and there's no need to make everyone around you miserable, too. And ranting at a stranger? Classy.
I was really picked at her, because it was such a great afternoon - school had just gotten out, it was a beautiful day, I was enjoying my book, and she totally poisoned the good mood I was in. Normally I can just let stuff like that roll off, but today it really stuck with me. I need to go blast some happy music or something to wash all that nastiness out of my head. Blech!
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favourite things
Then I don't feel so bad!
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favourite things
Then I don't feel so bad!
What are a few of your favourite things?
Friday, December 02, 2005
What's in a name?
Merry Christmas!Not "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" or "Have a good winter vacation." Merry Christmas.
Honestly, I get so sick of hearing well wishes and seeing Christmas decorations that so blatantly avoid the use of the the word Christmas it's laughable. What are we trying to hide here, folks? The holiday is called Christmas. I understand that there are also many other celebrations that take place in and around December. Hanukkah (or is it Chanukah?), Kwanzaa, sometimes Ramadan, etc. I agree that it's important not to forget about these celebrations and to acknowledge that not everyone celebrates Christmas, but it's SOOO over-the-top politically correct nonsense to remove all mention of the name "Christmas" from our lips. It's a struggle to even find greeting cards ... ahem... Christmas cards that use the ever-increasingly "dirty word."
Community centers put on events like "Frosty's Winterfest" and kids now go on "Winter Break." And apparently, even our beloved decorated evergreens are falling victim to this trend. In November, officials in Boston called a symbolic gift from the town of Oxford, Nova Scotia a "holiday tree," causing such a ruckus that the city council in Oxford made a decree that December was to be known as none other than the Christmas Season. Even Canada's Governor General told her officials to stop calling the the decorated trees at her residence "holiday trees," preferring instead the more traditional term.
It's important to be sensitive to people who don't celebrate this particular holiday. Don't go up to someone who you know doesn't celebrate Christ's birth and wish them "Merry Christmas." However, I don't think people are as offended as officials worry they are when they hear a cheery greeting using the name of the holiday instead of some watered-down don't-offend-anyone euphemism. How do you feel about the use, or lack thereof, of the word Christmas?
Regardless of how the culture changes and how much people try to push this fact to the background, Christmas will always be about Christ. It will always be about a baby born in a dirty, mucky stable in a nowhere town in Palestine two thousand years ago. But most importantly, it will always point to a cross, an empty grave, and the best Christmas gift ever given.
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Advertising gone bezerk
Last night, I took in an excellent play called The Elephant Man with my friends Dave and Rebecca. While I was out, I got a phone call, as the beeping diltone told me. I went to check my messages this morning (ooh! ooh! Somebody loves me! Who could it be?). I was disgusted as I listened to the recorded voice: "Hi! This is Mike from Trashbusters. Do you have any old furniture or other large items you'd like to get rid of? We're going to be in you area soon and so we'd like to offer you a special deal...."
Excuse me??? You're leaving an ADVERTISEMENT on my ANSWERING machine? Hello?
Automated telemarketing technology is geting smarter and smarter, allowing comanies to annoy prospective clients more and more. These recordings even know to start after the "beep." (I wish the automated library "Your requested book is in" system knew how to do that.)
But even more than knowing to wait for the beep, some sytems even know my NAME. It's civic election time here in BC, and I got a PERSONAL phone call from the outgoing mayor of Vancouver left on my phone. "Hello Hillary. This is Mayor Larry Campbell. I'd like to urge you to vote for my colleague Jim Green...yadda yadda yadda"
What the???
You nkow, ads on TV, in the newspaper, billboards, fine. I've even resigned myself to 15 minutes of ads (not previews, ADS) before a movie. But advertisements left on my answering machine???
I call Trashbusters and told them to remove my phone number from their call out list immediately. Funny, I seem to recall doing that a few months ago when they did the same thing. I also told them that I will never EVER use their service because of the way they advertise. RAR!
Oh, and while I'm on this rant, let's talk about the 40 foot high, 150 foot long billboard barge Nike put up to be paraded back and forth in the water off all of Vancouver's beaches this summer. WHAT? Are you kidding me? Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. What sunbather wants thier view of mountains and ocean obstructed by a great huge honking black Nike Billboard??? UG-LY!
And there you have it, my Saturday rant.
Excuse me??? You're leaving an ADVERTISEMENT on my ANSWERING machine? Hello?
Automated telemarketing technology is geting smarter and smarter, allowing comanies to annoy prospective clients more and more. These recordings even know to start after the "beep." (I wish the automated library "Your requested book is in" system knew how to do that.)
But even more than knowing to wait for the beep, some sytems even know my NAME. It's civic election time here in BC, and I got a PERSONAL phone call from the outgoing mayor of Vancouver left on my phone. "Hello Hillary. This is Mayor Larry Campbell. I'd like to urge you to vote for my colleague Jim Green...yadda yadda yadda"
What the???
You nkow, ads on TV, in the newspaper, billboards, fine. I've even resigned myself to 15 minutes of ads (not previews, ADS) before a movie. But advertisements left on my answering machine???
I call Trashbusters and told them to remove my phone number from their call out list immediately. Funny, I seem to recall doing that a few months ago when they did the same thing. I also told them that I will never EVER use their service because of the way they advertise. RAR!
Oh, and while I'm on this rant, let's talk about the 40 foot high, 150 foot long billboard barge Nike put up to be paraded back and forth in the water off all of Vancouver's beaches this summer. WHAT? Are you kidding me? Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. What sunbather wants thier view of mountains and ocean obstructed by a great huge honking black Nike Billboard??? UG-LY!
And there you have it, my Saturday rant.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Eeeewww!!!
Ok, I have to rant. My house (well, the house I rent a suite in!) is being painted, and overall, it looks pretty good. It's grey with blue trim now, as opposed to beige with green trim. I really liked the green, I've discovered, now that it's royal blue, but oh well.
But today when I got home from work (dodging paint cans and lumber and sawhorses and trailing bushes that have been taken off the house and are now mostly obstructing the walkway to my door - at least that's not permanent) the painter was painting the once beige posts of the balcony BRIGHT BLUE! The garage that I look at is green and is staying green. The yard, which I also look at, is gorgeous - grass and oodles of flowers in the summer and trees down the side. Green, beige, and garden.... it was all very natural looking. Even my patio furniture fit in. Now it's green, garden, and ROYAL BLUE. ICK!!! And what's up with the blue stripe around my door ? (see photos below) French doors... aren't they by definition white? He WAS going to paint the whole door blue, but luckily I was able to ask that it stay white before that happened. I'm all for the bright red door style on the front of a house, but not on a french door. Come on.
But today when I got home from work (dodging paint cans and lumber and sawhorses and trailing bushes that have been taken off the house and are now mostly obstructing the walkway to my door - at least that's not permanent) the painter was painting the once beige posts of the balcony BRIGHT BLUE! The garage that I look at is green and is staying green. The yard, which I also look at, is gorgeous - grass and oodles of flowers in the summer and trees down the side. Green, beige, and garden.... it was all very natural looking. Even my patio furniture fit in. Now it's green, garden, and ROYAL BLUE. ICK!!! And what's up with the blue stripe around my door ? (see photos below) French doors... aren't they by definition white? He WAS going to paint the whole door blue, but luckily I was able to ask that it stay white before that happened. I'm all for the bright red door style on the front of a house, but not on a french door. Come on.
I can't really say anything now, the deed is done. I guess I'll just have to suck it up. But those blue posts are really quite gross.
Maybe a can on beige paint will mysteriously spill down the balcony posts. Crap.
Maybe a can on beige paint will mysteriously spill down the balcony posts. Crap.
Before
After
(I told the painter I was taking comparison shots, and he asked to be in a photo. "What? You're not gong to take one with the guy who can take credit for all of this?" Sure, buddy. Fill your boots.)
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Do it RIGHT next time!
Someone just drove down my street and slammed into my car. My beastmoblile. The one someone broke into a while ago. The one someone stole at the beginning of June. And now the one someone hit and took off.
Just enough damage to make it a pain in the pocketbook (and a pain in the butt!), but not enought to finish 'er off. I had to pay $300 bucks to get my car back after it was stolen, and I'll have to pay $300 to get it fixed if they don't find the sleaze who took off after hitting my car. Tell me, WHY do I pay insurance every month?!?!
FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE PEOPLE... if you're gonna break into, steal, or hit my car, would you PLEEEASE do it right???? Drive it off a cliff, or smash it up real good, or SOMETHING! Just don't keep leaving me with a $300 bill for YOUR stupidity!
GGGRRRRRRR!!!!
(ok, I feel better now... kinda)
Just enough damage to make it a pain in the pocketbook (and a pain in the butt!), but not enought to finish 'er off. I had to pay $300 bucks to get my car back after it was stolen, and I'll have to pay $300 to get it fixed if they don't find the sleaze who took off after hitting my car. Tell me, WHY do I pay insurance every month?!?!
FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE PEOPLE... if you're gonna break into, steal, or hit my car, would you PLEEEASE do it right???? Drive it off a cliff, or smash it up real good, or SOMETHING! Just don't keep leaving me with a $300 bill for YOUR stupidity!
GGGRRRRRRR!!!!
(ok, I feel better now... kinda)
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Blogspam
RAR! I hate it! Do NOT leave me comments about second hand tents, cartoon animals, or the like. They will be automatically deleted. Phoey.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Even more ridiculousness
This follows on the heels of my food rant from a few weeks back...
So remember me talking about the teachers who eat all bran and cottage cheese every day for lunch? Well, it DID look pretty healthy, so I decided to give it a try. You get the fibre, the protein and dairy, and with a pear or some strawberries on top, it's actually not too bad. So, I'm doing pretty good, right? I should be so lucky.
I actually had this conversation today....
Teacher 1: Ha ha, you've really converted people around here to this all-bran lunch!
Teacher 2: (laughing) Yeah!
Teacher 1: (pointing to the box of bran) And you've got the healthy kind, too.
Me: The healthy kind? There's an unhealthy kind of BRAN?!?!
Teacher 1: Oh yeah! All those other brands have sugar in them, and some are made with aspartame. That stuff is awful!
Teacher 2: Yeah, your body can't get rid of it and it bubbles up under your skin.
Me: Bubbles up under your skin?!?!
Teacher 2: Yeah, or something like that. I don't remember exactly, but it's bad.
Teacher 1: And it's been shown to cause cancer in lab rats!
Teacher 3: (my best friend at this particular moment in time for saying this) Yes, but they have also shown that ORANGE PEEL causes cancer in lab rats. You have to take those studies with a grain of salt.
Me: (in my head) Touche! Except of course, salt will kill you, too!
So there you have it. I bought a box of WHEAT BRAN. How much healthier can you get??? But noooo, apparently it's gonna make some chemical bubble up under my skin! Or something.
Oh yeah, and cantoloupes? You're supposed to scrub them with a vegetable brush under running water before you cut them, because it's the fruit most likely to give you salmonella. You're supposedly (according to the lunchroom ladies) at a higher risk of salmonella from a cantoloupe than from raw chicken.
My lunchroom 'education' continues. I think my eyes are going to fall out of their sockets they're rolling around so much! :P
For those of you who are going to caution me that aspartame really *IS* is bad, yes I know, I know, I know! It's always a general rule to avoid it. My incredulousness is the extreme that food choices are taken to!
So remember me talking about the teachers who eat all bran and cottage cheese every day for lunch? Well, it DID look pretty healthy, so I decided to give it a try. You get the fibre, the protein and dairy, and with a pear or some strawberries on top, it's actually not too bad. So, I'm doing pretty good, right? I should be so lucky.
I actually had this conversation today....
Teacher 1: Ha ha, you've really converted people around here to this all-bran lunch!
Teacher 2: (laughing) Yeah!
Teacher 1: (pointing to the box of bran) And you've got the healthy kind, too.
Me: The healthy kind? There's an unhealthy kind of BRAN?!?!
Teacher 1: Oh yeah! All those other brands have sugar in them, and some are made with aspartame. That stuff is awful!
Teacher 2: Yeah, your body can't get rid of it and it bubbles up under your skin.
Me: Bubbles up under your skin?!?!
Teacher 2: Yeah, or something like that. I don't remember exactly, but it's bad.
Teacher 1: And it's been shown to cause cancer in lab rats!
Teacher 3: (my best friend at this particular moment in time for saying this) Yes, but they have also shown that ORANGE PEEL causes cancer in lab rats. You have to take those studies with a grain of salt.
Me: (in my head) Touche! Except of course, salt will kill you, too!
So there you have it. I bought a box of WHEAT BRAN. How much healthier can you get??? But noooo, apparently it's gonna make some chemical bubble up under my skin! Or something.
Oh yeah, and cantoloupes? You're supposed to scrub them with a vegetable brush under running water before you cut them, because it's the fruit most likely to give you salmonella. You're supposedly (according to the lunchroom ladies) at a higher risk of salmonella from a cantoloupe than from raw chicken.
My lunchroom 'education' continues. I think my eyes are going to fall out of their sockets they're rolling around so much! :P
For those of you who are going to caution me that aspartame really *IS* is bad, yes I know, I know, I know! It's always a general rule to avoid it. My incredulousness is the extreme that food choices are taken to!
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
AAAARG!
Reader, beware. This is a rant.
HONESTLY! We can't eat ANYTHING anymore without it being bad for you. All of a sudden EVERYTHING is off limits. Eat more of this, eat less of that. This causes cancer, that will make your hair fall out. No fat, no carbs, good fat, good carbs, no meat, all meat, low sugar. You think you've got a good thing going on then you find out it's bad for another reason. And there's no place like a teacher's lounge/staffroom to drown in the vast array of nutritional philosophies. Tell me, does the plate of spinach with a can of tuna dumped on top really do it for you? Or the cottage cheese, chopped up pear and all bran every day for lunch? Or how about the raw foodist's tub of green sludge? Nevermind that, how about the protein powder sprinkled on top of some lentil mush? And the plates and plates and plates of salads.
Now how's this for a nice, healthy breakfast:
* Multigrain Cheerios (see? No unbleached flour there!)
* Skim milk on the cereal (low fat!)
* A nice big class of orange juice (getting some vitamin C, a serving of fruit)
Low fat, well balanced, right? Nooooooo. Every part of that breakfast has been shot down.
Multigrain Cheerios: (after a comment about it not being a bad choice for a breakfast cereal cause it's got whole/multi grains) "Yeah, it's ok till you look at all the SUGAR that's in it!"
Skim milk: "Oh, I don't drink milk anymore. They pump those cows so full of hormones. I'm not interested in getting cancer, thanks."
Orange juice: "That's a caloric BOMB!" [ie. lots of calories]
ha-RUMPH! Now leave me alone, I have a burger and fries to go eat. And maybe wash it down with a nice big milkshake.
Super-Size Me be damned! :P
HONESTLY! We can't eat ANYTHING anymore without it being bad for you. All of a sudden EVERYTHING is off limits. Eat more of this, eat less of that. This causes cancer, that will make your hair fall out. No fat, no carbs, good fat, good carbs, no meat, all meat, low sugar. You think you've got a good thing going on then you find out it's bad for another reason. And there's no place like a teacher's lounge/staffroom to drown in the vast array of nutritional philosophies. Tell me, does the plate of spinach with a can of tuna dumped on top really do it for you? Or the cottage cheese, chopped up pear and all bran every day for lunch? Or how about the raw foodist's tub of green sludge? Nevermind that, how about the protein powder sprinkled on top of some lentil mush? And the plates and plates and plates of salads.
Now how's this for a nice, healthy breakfast:
* Multigrain Cheerios (see? No unbleached flour there!)
* Skim milk on the cereal (low fat!)
* A nice big class of orange juice (getting some vitamin C, a serving of fruit)
Low fat, well balanced, right? Nooooooo. Every part of that breakfast has been shot down.
Multigrain Cheerios: (after a comment about it not being a bad choice for a breakfast cereal cause it's got whole/multi grains) "Yeah, it's ok till you look at all the SUGAR that's in it!"
Skim milk: "Oh, I don't drink milk anymore. They pump those cows so full of hormones. I'm not interested in getting cancer, thanks."
Orange juice: "That's a caloric BOMB!" [ie. lots of calories]
ha-RUMPH! Now leave me alone, I have a burger and fries to go eat. And maybe wash it down with a nice big milkshake.
Super-Size Me be damned! :P
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