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Sunday, May 22, 2011

My Wonderful Husband Marty

I am writing this blog about my wonderful, but sometimes odd husband Marty. I asked him if I could put him on my odd blog, because he just asked me if I would clean up my side of the desk. He said he had too much stuff on his side and needed more room. If you look to the left of this desk, you will see my little pink computer with an area of about 1 X 1.
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I laughed so loud, and kvetched a bit about that, but I removed my bills and other hoarded mail from my side of the desk because, well, he's a genius, and I know he is going to create something fantastical that will make our lives easier. Currently he is learning about all the hidden benefits of an Apple computer and teaching me what it can do as well. Additionally, he is setting up one of his buddies' new Mac Mini.
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Marty is one of those people who is a jack of all trades, but also a master of technical and mechanical devices. We are completely wired up in our house. Before I met Marty, I had a lousy Dell desk top and the only thing I ever did was check my email and surf occasionally for nothing in particular. When I started dating Marty he set me up with wireless and showed me the benefits of having a laptop computer, and I never looked back. He showed me how to sell things on Ebay and Craig's List; how to shop online wisely for the best deals; and also how to make the computer work best for me, including having me switch to Mozilla Firefox for my browser (way better than Explorer).
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I say he's wonderful for many reasons, most of which have nothing to do with his technical savvy, the main reason being that he's a loving, caring husband and stepfather. However, another reason I am very grateful for Marty is that he opened up my eyes to everything technical and science related, which has made my world tons more interesting. I say he's odd because he likes to take things apart and often times he reminds me of Rick Moranis in "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" :-) Of course his oddness is one of the many reasons I love him too.
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Please visit Marty's website: http://getamacnow.com/ if you're interested in getting an Apple computer for less.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

He does not want to be a juror!!

A man named Jonathan Greene blabbed his mouth to the media, so that he would be kicked off Jury duty in the Casey Anthony trial, and the judge fined him a whopping $450.00. I guess Mr. Greene didn't know that he could have just told the judge that Casey was guilty, and he would have been dismissed. I cannot say I blame the poor guy for wanting to get out of it though. I know it is our responsibility as Americans to do jury duty if called upon, but seriously, what do the people in our justice system expect when they don't sufficiently compensate us for performing this duty? The Anthony trial is expected to take weeks and, if it is the circus that most of these crazy trials are, it could take months. I just checked and a juror in Pinellas County (where the Anthony trial is taking place) gets paid $15.00 a day for the first three days and $30.00 a day for each day after that, IF he is not paid by his employer. Doesn't seem worth it, does it? A juror that is sequestered, as he would be in this case, has to spend days away from his family and friends, and does not get paid even minimum wage to be away from his job. This is why many people don't take jury duty seriously.
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This is my suggestion. The people who are caught in the act of a heinous crime, meaning that they are caught red handed, get a trial but only one. They do not get to appeal squat. The money that the justice system would save from not wasting time with all those silly appeals could be used to fairly compensate jurors for their time spent on legitimate trials.

Lady tells it like it is

A few months back I saw a post on Facebook where some lady caused an accident because she was attempting to shave her bikini area while driving. Apparently, she was getting ready for a date. This article written by Celia Rivenbark provides a few more details about how it happened, and it is laugh out loud hilarious.
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Seriously though, this type of behavior is odd, but I have also witnessed a number of other, just as dangerous, activities people take part in while driving, and I am shocked every time I witness moronic conduct behind the wheel of a one ton potential killing machine. What type of person does these things while operating a motor vehicle? They are, what I like to call, the stupid people. They are just not as bright as everyone else on the planet. They often end up becoming a valuable lesson for others on what not to do in order to remain with the living.
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Am I being judgmental? The answer is probably yes, but these people need to be told flat out that they are stupid because, well... they are, and they continue to put our lives in danger every day with no regard for anyone. Have you ever wondered how many people driving next to you are impaired (even just a little) by drugs or alcohol? I would guess that it is a lot, probably close to 50%, but that is definitely an estimate on my part. With as many people who come to South Florida to purchase Oxycontin, I believe it is a good guess too. There are a lot of sellers, buyers, and users all over the United States. The DUI statistics are staggering too, so yep... it's a safe bet that at least half of the people on the road are impaired in some way. Here are just a few statistics from Lifetips.com:

* One person is killed every half-hour due to drunk driving
* Each year approximately 16,000 are killed in alcohol related crashes
* Alcohol is a factor in almost half of all traffic fatalities
* Every other minute a person is seriously injured in an alcohol related crash

How about the women who just love to put on their face while driving to work or a hot date? What is that all about?? I see this all the time, and it baffles me. Why can't these ladies put their make up on while they drink coffee and watch the news in the morning? This way they could have everything all done before they get in their car. It only takes a little time management.
Photobucket However, the worst offenders of common sense these days are the ones who text and drive.
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If you are a follower of my site, you know that I enjoy putting a good public service announcement out there whenever appropriate, and I know the above has been reiterated many times, by so many people. However, it keeps happening, so I feel a desperate need to say it again. For those of you who don't understand what it means to drive an automobile correctly, please note: The only things you need to be doing while driving is paying attention, keeping your eyes on the road with two hands on the wheel. No one needs to be putting on makeup, eating a burger, reading a book, texting, drinking an alcoholic beverage, etc. All of this can wait until you get to your destination. It only takes one second of looking anywhere else other than the road, and your life could end, or you could end the life of someone else. It really is simple.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Idiocy is Rampant --Argh!

In my travels today, I saw some things that made me take pause. I often say, "To each his (or her) own," meaning I try hard not to pass judgment on people who don't think or behave the way society deems normal. I also hate that word normal because there really is no such thing. Everyone, and I do mean everyone is abnormal, even if it's just a tad bit. As much as I tried to keep my mouth shut, I could not help but judge the people I witnessed today because... well... they just deserve to be pointed out.
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The first thing I saw was this big black truck displaying a Rebel flag with the words "Git R Done" scrawled on the tailgate. The lady had a pink frilly shirt on and her arm hanging out of the window holding a lit cigarette. To each his (or her) own, right? However, as a co-worker of mine often points out (ad nauseam), there is "nothing positive that comes from smoking cigarettes." This lady will probably eventually die a slow and horrible death and live her last moments desperately gasping for air. Why does this concern me? It doesn't. She can smoke until she croaks and it matters little to me. However, our tax dollars will probably pay for the illnesses that she will incur from her risky habit or, at the very least, she will contribute to an increase in our health insurance rates. A few car lengths ahead was a man in a white Suburban, also sucking on a cancer stick. I thought to myself, "that is so unattractive." At any rate, I just wanted to get my public service announcement out there and say, "smoking is SOo not fashionable. Quit before it's too late. That's what Chantix is for" The alternative is quite scary.
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The second thing I witnessed was another black truck with children in the truck bed. They were not seat belted in and were crawling around, poking another child in the back of the cab, who was also not seat belted in. This enraged me, mostly because there were three children whose lives were being jeopardized by their idiot parents, especially on Southern Boulevard where accidents happen almost daily. Then there is the problem that, if the driver gets into an accident and the kids flip out onto the road, the other drivers behind said truck get to experience the horror of running the children over. The mother was in the back too. What a wonderful Mother's Day that would be, eh? Lastly, if the children survived an accident and ended up in the hospital, if they don't have insurance, who pays for it? You guessed it, we do.
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The last thing Marty and I experienced was this inconsiderate man who blocked our storage unit with his truck and all his belongings strewn about. We wanted to pull some more stuff out of our unit to get ready for our yard sale and could not get past this man. We asked him why all his stuff was all over the place, but he did not understand what we were saying. He did not care anyway. He was blah blah-ing on his cell phone and gave us a dirty look. He was just another inconsiderate person in, what seems to be, a growing number of inconsiderate people in our world. In the quest for world peace, I refrained from spraying him with my pepper spray and went home. I can look back and smile, so no harm done.
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Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day, 2011, and this mother's day has to be one of the best to date. Carley gave me a framed picture of her wearing her graduation cap and gown as a gift, which made me smile the biggest smile. It warms my heart that Carley completed high school, especially when, not too long ago, it seemed as if this would not be in her master plan.
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After she gave me my gift, we all went to the Red Lobster for lunch, which really brought back fond memories of my own mom (who is traveling today) and grandmother, Nan, who is no longer with us. As a family, we used to go there almost every Sunday after church and also celebrated major events there when I was growing up.
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Today, in celebration of old times, I ordered my favorite comfort food, popcorn shrimp, and I also had to have a few of those cheesy biscuits that only Red Lobster can make.
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Carley told us we were odd because we brought our mega camera. She said, "Who brings a huge camera like this to Red Lobster??" The answer is, "We do because it really does take the best photos," and we had such fun trying to find pretty places to pose for our Mother's Day pictures. Carley took this picture of Marty and I.
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To top the day off, my son David called from San Fransisco to wish me a happy Mother's Day. Today's events may seem simple to most people, but it's the simple things like spending time with my daughter that make me so happy :-)What did you do for your mother today?
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My Son David

Monday, May 2, 2011

Litter Box vs. Bureaucracy

So... I started my day hearing a breaking news announcement that Osama Bin Laden is dead, so you could say it started off good. However, as the day wore on, it just got lousy, and I just wanted to throw something (anything) out the window. I tried the "smile" thing thinking that it might make me feel better, but nope, nothing. It was just one of those crappy Mondays, so I ended my day by washing out Carley's cat's crappy litter box (say that 5 times really fast). Although it is a disgusting job, I felt remarkably accomplished after my chore. It felt so good to actually complete a task simply, with zero bureaucracy for a change, and Stinky was so happy. He even thanked me :-)
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