October 27, 2010 - Tis the Season

I have another political rant today. I just saw a Facebook post that reads:

Why is "our" president, who is supposed to represent all Americans, flying all around the country on the taxpayers dime to politically campaign for 1 particular party? Does anyone have a clue what this is costing us? "Coattail Tom" isn't going to get to ride the Obama Hype to Washington this time. Feel free to re-post, like or delete, but for Gods sake be a little pissed about the direction this country is heading!

Once again, I feel like I have to be the voice of reason.

You are an IDIOT if you think that Obama is the first President to do this. Why is this suddenly an issue? Bush did it. Clinton did it. Bush Sr. did it. Reagan did it. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Are you just now starting to pay attention? Stop the freaking blame game - it's not Obama, it's politics.

I've been pissed about the direction of this country for the past TEN years.

October 25, 2010 - File this under "Duh."

In 2001, when George W. Bush took office and Republicans controlled Congress, the budget was essentially balanced and the total national debt was about $5.8 trillion. Washington has run an annual deficit every year since. Over Bush's first six years, when Republicans controlled the White House and Congress, the debt rose by about $3.2 trillion. Over the last two years of the Bush administration, when Democrats controlled Congress, the debt rose by another $2.9 trillion. So over the eight-year Bush administration, the debt more than doubled, rising by a total of $6.1 trillion.

Obama, in his first two years, has added about $3.2 trillion more to the national debt. There are plenty of caveats. The pace of debt expansion under Obama is obviously faster, but that's due to the stimulus and to a shrinking economy that still hasn't regained all the ground lost since the recession began in late 2007. And both presidents passed programs with costs still to be tallied in the future. Still, any politician charging the other party with excessive spending could--and should--level the same accusation at his own party. Republicans and Democrats alike are addicted to spending money they don't have.

Rick Newman, US News and World Report

And while I'm at it:

This is still one of my favorite sites to separate fact from fiction in political ads, emails, etc.:

politifact.com

Especially entertaining is the "pants on fire" section.

October 22, 2010 - Travel Etiquette

I've been traveling for work, which explains my departure from daily postings. It has also given me an enormous amount of fodder for my rants.

Reader's Digest online had an article recently about things your pilot won't tell you and this was included in the article:

“If you’re going to recline your seat, for God’s sake, please check behind you first. You have no idea how many laptops are broken every year by boorish passengers who slam their seat back with total disregard to what’s going on behind them.” -John Nance

I don't know who John Nance is, but I certainly couldn't have said it better. And the word "boorish" is a perfect description of so many travelers I encounter. Why does common courtesy take a vacation when people fly?Even when I'm ridiculously tired, I never recline my seat all the way - it's just rude. You don't like it when the seat in front of you slams back - why on earth do you think its acceptable for you to do the same to the person behind you? And yes - I have been bold enough to ask the person in front to pull their seat back up some. I usually get compliance, but with a horrible attitude. After all, I'm clearly asking for a huge concession on their behalf.

The article also refers to the people that gather at the gate before boarding "Gate Lice." Ha ha ha - I love that. But then again I'm not one of the people that swarms the gate because I have an over-sized bag that I'm going to stuff into an overhead bin five rows in front of my seat. Granted, I understand trying to use only carry-on's with the new checked bag charges, but there are limits people. Fork up the $25 and stop stressing about it.

Thanks to airline corporate brilliance - the flight attendants have to deal with a whole new level of grumpy passengers who are all trying to use carry-on bags. I bought the smallest possible carry-on bag I could find. If I can't fit what I need in it for my trip, I use a larger bag AND CHECK IT. I just can't understand why someone would want to drag a huge bag through the airport, wrestle to get on the plane, struggle to get it in and out of an overhead bin, risk having it checked at the gate, piss off other passengers and stress out the flight attendants. I clearly must be the simpleton.

Here's some tips for not losing a bag when you check it:
1) Be nice to the skycap or bag agent. They have a bit to do with where your bag goes. TIP if appropriate. (Skycaps.)
2) Check the tag they put on your bag to make sure it has your final destination on it. Takes two seconds.
3) Make sure you have a luggage tag on your bag with current contact info. Better yet, drop a few business cards inside the bag in various pockets. Even if the outer tag comes off, it can be identified easily.

Back to the gate lice . . . we're all getting on the same plane and we all have assigned seats. Why is it necessary for you to elbow you're way in front of me? Oh yes ... because I am just carrying my briefcase and am seated at a window and you want to test my patience since you are in front of me I will have to wait for you to stuff your bag in the overhead bin. But you forgot something, so you pull it back out and dig through it, then stuff it back in and plop in the aisle seat. Yes, I'm going to make you stand and let me in, with my laptop that I can fit under my seat and I'll be polite about it. It's the 40 passengers behind me that you've held up that are pissed.

I could go on, but then I wouldn't have something to write another day.

October 13, 2010

Today was "Walk to School" day at my daughter's school. There are many reasons I'm in total support of this - cleaner air, healthier kids, less traffic . . . but I have to admit a very selfish reason: I want a sidewalk to connect the four parts of my neighborhood.

As of right now there is no sidewalk to connect the largest part of my neighborhood with my little orphaned street. The road connecting the two sections crosses over Noses Creek and has absolutely NO shoulder. Cars race down the road doing well over the 35 mph posted speed limit and it is dangerous. The kids in that part of the neighborhood can't safely walk to school and we can't safely walk to the pool or to visit other neighbors. We're going on five years now that we've been trying to get a sidewalk put in. And we'll keep trying until it gets done.

I guess I'm more of an urbanite than I realized - I like the idea of being able to ditch my car and walk places - to the store, to visit with friends, to a park.

No real rant today other than about the builder of my neighborhood who didn't bother to put in the sidewalk because it was too expensive. And then lied to everyone here, telling us that they couldn't get a permit to put it in over Noses Creek. Liar liar pants on fire: TRATON HOMES. Oh yes and I should also thank them for the crappy construction on my home, taking as many short-cuts and using the cheapest possible materials. Oh yes, and thanks for forgetting to tell us that our lot was a swamp and still floods every time it rains.

I could tell you some good stories like about how the construction supervisor was telling me to not put to much in my kitchen cabinets because they might not hold up? He said, and I quote: "I wouldn't put your grandma's dishes in there if you don't want them to get broken." I guess that should have been a huge red flag eh?

October 11, 2010

Musing again today with a mini-rant.

Don't always assume that people you meet are aloof, distracted, snobby. You never know what they may be facing in their own personal world.

The person that was so short with you at the store, may have just lost a dog they had for 15 years.

The person that just cut you off on the road, might have been heading to the hospital where their father just had a heart-attack.

The parent of the your child's friend who just walked by you without saying "hello," might have been lost in thought wondering about how to get four kids to football, soccer and cheer leading and yet feed them dinner.

I don't mean to excuse poor manners and bad behavior - but take a moment before you assume that they are all jerks. Just take a moment and remember that it's not all about you after all.

October 10, 2010

Today is a musing day instead of a rant day.

When my husband and I got home from wine club last night, we were cleaning up a bit from our rapid departure and my rushed prep of some darn yummy Buffalo Chicken Dip. As we were emptying the kitchen trash can . . . I discovered a medium-sized dried frog behind the trash can.

???????????

How on earth did it get there? How long had it been there? It was all dried up so had clearly been there a while. How did my dogs and cat not alert me as to it's presence in my house when it was alive? Curious.

October 9, 2010 -

I have a busy day today, so need to get my rants out of the way early. The first one is because there is someone in our neighborhood who is a repeat offender. The unfortunate thing is I can't say for certain who it is as they've never been caught, but I have my suspicions.

1) If you own a dog, it comes with certain responsibilities and if you can't handle them, you shouldn't own a dog. So this one is simple:

Curb your dog.

This doesn't mean keep it on the sidewalk. It means pick up your dog's shit.

This applies, but is not limited to, the following places:
- Anywhere public if you walk your dog or allow them to run free in the neighborhood.
- The dog park. This falls under the item one, but some people think it's an exception.
- Your yard, especially if you have kids and invite mine over to play.
- My yard or your neighbors yard, if you allow your dog to poop in it.

It's not pleasant, but it's part of dog ownership. So do it, or don't be surprised on Halloween to find a burning bag on your porch.

2) Merging traffic. It's been a long time since I took driver's ed, so I can't remember if they covered this - but here's a refresher course.

If you are entering traffic, don't stop. Adjust your speed to the traffic you are merging with and just do it. Now here's the important part. If you are on the road that traffic is merging into - be nice. Allow that car to come in front of you. One stinking car it won't make you any later for work than you already are. If you live in a large metropolitan area and it's wall to wall traffic - ZIPPER. You know, one car goes on the freeway, one from the exit, one from the freeway, one from the exit, one from the freeway . . . are you seeing the pattern? Now take off your grumpy pants and be nice. Everyone else hates the traffic as much as you do.

Introduction Post - October 8, 2010

Today I start a new blog. It will occasionally be peppered with stories about ridiculous things that happen to me. But mostly, this will be a repository for my rants and musings about life. For any of my friends and family that read this, please know that my rants are NOT directed at any single person. I may have picked up on something that happened recently and if it offends you, I apologize, but get over it. Either you're my friend and you understand - or you don't know me at all.

In 2000 I started writing a book. It was to be called "Common Courtesies" and it was based mostly on my experiences traveling, to teach people certain courtesies that our parents didn't necessarily know to teach us.

My parents never traveled, so they weren't able to teach me how to behave on an airplane, but through experience and observation, I learned pretty quickly. So my book, which is still incomplete, was to teach some modern courtesies, mixed in with common sense.

Enter life, marriage, kids, and ten years later it's still not done. So I've decided to start this blog to summarize some of the elements I wanted to include in the book. Who knows, maybe someone will publish my blog. After all, if Shit My Dad Says was picked up from Twitter . . .

Here are my first rants:

1) If you make an appointment with me, please keep it – even if you are late. At least call to let me know you can't make it.

2) On an airplane, don’t hit me in the head with your bag as you walk by. And please let me stand up to let you in so I don’t have my face in your crotch or rear end.

Bonus rant of the day:

I respect that you have a different opinion and I love a good healthy dialogue about our differences. But please don't spew hate about my opinion and back up your opinion with facts. I love that my friends have different opinions and I try to be open to learn from them. But be warned; if your opinion is based on carefully crafted and manipulated garbage meant to incite a hateful emotional response, I will point out that you're being a mindless sheep-like idiot.