DragonBlog

My GOD they're EVERYWHERE!!!

When I get nicely printed, photo-quality copies of my pictures, I generally order from the Kodak Gallery web site. I've found out a few frustrating things about them, such as the fact that if you DO do the "zoom and trim", then you run the risk of having a super-cute photo get the top of it lopped off. Obviously there is a computer running the show over there, not a human being. If you do NOT order the "zoom and trim", however, you will get white bars on either end of your photo. It is becoming clear that I will have to resize them myself before uploading them onto their server, since it will be a whole hell of a lot easier than doing it online.

Also, there's apparently a glitch somewhere in their ordering system. I placed a huge order for about 5 months worth of pictures. One particular picture I ordered extra copies of, as I did for several others I planned on sharing with friends and family. Three copies of this particular photo, I ordered. Three.

Somehow, between my entering in that "3" and them processing my final total, it became THREE HUNDRED AND TEN!!!!

Not only that, but this particular picture is one of my in-laws. One that I didn't even take as it was from my father-in-law's camera! He gives me a CD every now and again, with copies of the pictures so I can make prints of the ones of my kid and so forth if I want.

Would someone please tell me who in their right mind would ever want 310 copies of a picture of their in-laws??? I mean, it's a nice enough picture of them, but COME ON ALREADY!!

Thus, I have decided that there is quite obviously no human being in charge of processing the orders. One big mega-computer is happily processing payments and orders and spewing out pictures at the other end. Because if *I* were the person who was told to print out THREE HUNDRED AND TEN copies of somebody's parents smiling at the camera, I WOULD QUESTION IT!

Needless to say, I have 307 copies bundled up with one of their return forms to go back to the pharmacy I picked them up at. I SO want that money BACK. I hadn't realized, as I was using a coupon and ordering a huge amount of pictures, that THAT little doozer cost more than the rest of the photos COMBINED.

*cough, gack, hack, wheeze*

I guess I'll either be ordering from someone else or triple-checking (I thought I'd double-checked it before paying, but it was a LOT of pictures) my order before paying next time. Sheesh!

Anyway, not sure what time Brian gets back tonight, but I can't wait. I watched three dvds yesterday and they were all undoubtably "chick flicks" indeed - The Prince and Me (Fluff. Entertaining if you're in the mood for that sort of fluff, but fluff nonetheless.), Alfie (Well, THAT was a total waste of my time. Sorry about that nasty little blemish in the careers of those actors. The movie was self-indulgent and without point. Kind of like the... um... protagonist?), and The Phantom of The Opera (Very pretty cinematography, but some gaps in the plot got left. It seemed like they added to the story and didn't want to get too specific in case it offended die-hard fans of the musical. Overall, I liked it. I love the music although some of it falls flatter on a screen than in a theatre and needed a little more to look at for the longer-but-slow songs. I hated Gerard Butler though. I didn't feel his voice portrayed what I wanted to hear in the music. He sounded too young for the part. I also didn't like the "puppet" scenes he was making in his basement. It made him seem more like a serial killer/madman than the eccentric genius/madman we could sympathize with.) - They weren't a total waste of time, but still sappy chick flicks in the end.

Yes. I cried. Yes. Kleenex was employed and then disposed of. Yadda yadda yadda. I can currently milk the "I'm pregnant and therefore emotional" excuse, so therefore will. *mumble, grumble, mumble* Besides, it kept me away from the ice cream. There's even still some cookies left. Go me!

That's all for now.

G'night!

Current Mood: surprised

The postman may ring twice, but the UPS guy only rings once while dumping the package in the dirt!

So, RainMoon reminds me last night that now that I'm pregnant I shouldn't be lifting anything heavy. And what do I go rushing off to do tonight? Buy a mattress. Yup.

But it's just a twin, for Jareth's new bed once it arrives. And Brian met me out at the place to help me pick one out and then do the worst of the "lifting" end of things. Not that a twin mattress is really very heavy in the first place. It's the bed that worries me. And the fact that the UPS guy is bringing it. And that he's now probably pretty pissed at me.

Did I mention about the latest UPS incident? Nope. I got distracted. It happens. I also keep forgetting to do Tuesday is Chooseday too, but I think I had a valid excuse yesterday. Maybe I'll remember to do that one next week. Wouldn't want TJ to think I'd forgotten all about it.

So Monday, I'm sitting here quietly dividing my attention between working on my collage of the zoo and paying attention to the various toys that Jareth seems to think require my inspection as he lines them up on the edge of my desk or puts them in piles on the floor next to me. I suppose we've moved on from him collecting them in piles on my LAP, so hey - progress is good. Anyway, the doorbell rings and I launch myself out of my chair so that I can answer the door in a reasonable amount of time after navigating my way through the obstacle course of toys that develops each day on the family room floor between my desk and the stairs to the kitchen. I survive the fisher price minefield and even avoid stomping on the cat lounging across the stairs. I get to the door and nobody is there.

Now, it took me less than 30 seconds to do all this. I'm quite sure of it. I'm an old pro at running to answer the door or the phone. When I lean out the door, however, I see the UPS truck. And then it starts to pull away.

Now, I've mentioned there's been a problem with them putting it under the mat. I've made a nice, readable sign that is stuck to the glass inside the screen door - right BY THE DOORBELL. It starts out with the word "deliveries:" and then gives INSTRUCTIONS. Aparently UPS only hires the illiterate. *sigh*

So I vault myself outside, down the stoop, and run barefoot down my driveway and then the sidewalk, trying to flag down the UPS guy. Fortunately he had a stop a couple houses down or I don't know how far I might have gone. Mind you, I was in "lounge mode" which meant no makeup, no bra, just a tank top and shorts. For the weather, just fine. For the neighborhood? Well, I'm not in the habit of bouncing my nipples around for show-and-tell, okay? Yeah. Oy.

So I manage to get the guy's attention (he was particularly oblivious) and ask him where the hell my package was. I'd taken a glance on my way out, so I knew it wasn't on the patio table, where the sign says to put it IF I'M NOT HOME! First he tells me he doesn't "have to wait if a signature isn't needed." So, in other words, if he doesn't need a signature, he tosses it in the first icky, disgusting place he finds and then hits the bell button on his way back to the truck, eh? I made him read the sign when he came back to show me where he'd left the package (on the groun between the garbage can and the cement stoop) before he shrugged, glanced back at the patio, and then walked off back to his truck. I suppose the soggy leaves between the garbage and the stoop is a slight improvement over blocking the door by putting it under the mat with the soggy leaves and dirt that tend to collect under there. We have several trees in and around our yard that seem to hone in on MY driveway when it's time to fall, and I haven't had time this year to really keep up with them. At least Monday's leaves weren't soggy, but they still stuck to the box something nasty. Yuck! Frustrated, I finally lodged an official complaint through their online "claims" section (since they didn't have a section titled "bitch about your delivery driver" in there to use instead).

I did get an e-mail and a phone call today, much to my surprise. They supposedly will do something about it. I even have a phone number for some local person who I can call back if the packages keep getting left in the ickiest place possible.

We shall see. My overall faith in the UPS system is not of the highest level. Perhaps this is will raise the bar a little. I can only wait and hope. I have a couple packages on their way to me via UPS - Jareth's bed, and 25 lbs of green coffee beans for Brian and his dad to roast up. Mmmmm... Ethiopian coffee... In decaf too, so I can still drink it while pregnant, and maybe still have a slim chance of sleeping at night. At the rate I'm going I might have to start trying warm glasses of milk at night or something. But I hate the taste of un-chocolated milk. And I don't know how badly the chocolate would counteract the milk effect. Or if it would even work anyway. It's a thought though. Maybe I'll try some tonight. We'll see.

Last, but not least, I just remembered that it's my friend Juli's birthday!

She moved far, far away last month. To the east coast. I don't even have an e-mail address or I'd e-mail her too. Oh well. Maybe she'll see this instead. *smiles hopefully*

G'night!

Current Mood: still bouncy about being pregnant!

The "Other" Store...

I was at the corner where my local grocery store is today, and as I crossed the intersection I changed my mind about stopping and kept on driving. The televisions in the checkout aisle are bad enough, but last time I caught Jareth watching the big flatscreen television in the produce department and I'd had enough. I finally went to the big Woodman's grocery store that has been looming further out there, awaiting its chance to intimidate me with its enormous size.

From the outside, it's one scary place. The darn thing has FOUR MAIN ENTRANCES into it for goodness sake! FOUR! Most grocery stores have two ways to get into their ONE main entrance. After further examination, however, it seems that one of those entrances into the Woodman's is, in fact, to the liquor section directly. I think it's kind of a separate entity. I dunno for sure though, as I didn't need to buy any liquor today. Nope, we're pleasantly stocked on that right now... *looks over at the mini-fridge, feeling tempted*

On first stepping into the store, it seemed HUGE. Big, honking grocery store. Now generally my experience with big, honking grocery stores has led me to believe that there will be a limited selection of brands to choose from for each item and that you will have to buy a bazillion of each just to get the one you need at a decent price. Fortunately, this store is not about bulk shopping. In fact, the produce prices were better than I've seen in a while, which was nice. There was an aisle where you could buy industrial jugs of mayonaise, but it was marked as "industrial" and there was regular mayonaise jars to be had elsewhere. This was good. Very, very good. I don't have room for industrial-sized mayonaise, much less the need.

I think I liked this store. I think I saw signs saying it was "employee owned" too, which suggests a few things in and of itself. The fact that they gave me paper bags for most of my stuff without my even having to consider asking was a nice touch in this over-plasticked instant-gratification-no-matter-what-the-cost society. Paper bags are more environmentally responsible. They are also, technically, more useful in my opinion. And they fold flat. Very cool. There were plastic bags available and those were used in the case of a few unweildy items (like some of the bigger fruits I picked up) instead of the paper.

And, oh-my-insertdietyhere, they actually knew how to BAG.

Woah. *cue Matrix music*

Considering that Jareth is coming down with something and wanted to be anywhere but the cart for most of the shopping trip, I actually came out of there not totally frazzled. And I didn't have to be bombarded with televised marketing while I shopped or waited to check out. The only catch so far seems to be the extra 10 - 15 minutes to drive there, which will go down some when a particular area of road construction finishes up.

Hmmm. I think I can live with that. Now I'll just have to deal with RainMoon and my mother-in-law being all "I told you so..." about checking that store out in the first place. Doh!

G'night!

Current Mood: hopeful

Current Mood: Annoyed

Okay, so I bought my charger for my camera battery from this site. I was under the impression that they had the damned thing in stock. Silly me. I found out my order was on "backorder" so I e-mailed them wanting to know why they didn't let me know that in the first place and when the heck it was going to arrive. They had something on the web site that said it would ship in 1-2 weeks, so I expected that's how long it would take. They told me that the manufacturer would have it to them by the 6th, which meant to me that it would ship out to ME on the 6th too - seeing as how that was the VERY LAST DAY of their two-week span to get it off to me in.

Today I get the following (and only because I e-mailed them yesterday wanting a tracking number for my supposedly shipped battery charger):

Looks like the manufacturer still shows a backorder, with an Estimated Ship Date of 6/14/05.

Sorry about the delay,

Sales
Technology Galaxy
tel: (702) 642-4123
fax: (702) 655-7262
sales@tekgalaxy.com

Now, I'm sorry, but that is about the lamest customer service I've gotten in a while. I'm going to look and see if there is another person who's got my damned charger actually in stock. If there is - I'm going to tell TekGalaxy they can cancel my order since they have defaulted on the time they had to get it shipped.

Damnit. Damnit. Damnit.

Oh - and the blog comment spammers seem to have noticed me again. I had to delete some 30-odd spam messages in my comments over the last couple of days. I have taken the usual measures against them and deleted the comments, but I still find it annoying as hell. Not quite annoying enough yet to pay the fee to get the latest version of MT yet though. I just can't afford it right now, and I can't use the free version as I have two blogs with "more than one author" and I have my blogs spread out over a couple of web sites. I did install the newer free version for RainMoon, when I set hers up, and it looked nice but I think they want me to pay something like $70 for the licensing on mine. Poop.

And on another note - my darling kitten decided wood beads are yummy and ate one of the little wooden beads off one of my favorite hemp necklaces that I've made. And here I was worried the cats would go after the actual hemp. Silly me again. I guess after I find another source for my battery charger I'll have to re-make that particular necklace. Good thing she ate a bead I have more of. The rest of the hemp jewelry I've been making has now found safe homes in some plastic drawers I picked up at Wal-Mart when I did errands earlier this week.

Thank goodness it's Friday. If this were a Monday, I'd think the whole week was potentially doomed to suck. Bleh. But weekends almost always cheer me up 'cause Brian is home. Then again, he'll spend most of tomorrow helping his sister move into her new apartment. I backed out of helping as Jareth is not very good at staying quietly in one place, out of the way, while we run boxes to and fro. I'm hoping I get to see her new place soon though - Brian's sister has a knack for finding some of the coolest apartments I've ever seen. They are usually the kind of places that have something a little unique about them and a certain measure of "charm."

That's all for now.

Later!

More Marketing Crap in the wind...

Okay, so I can deal with the small annoyance of having to get past the coupons and suggestions for a car wash while I'm getting my car filled with gasoline. I can deal with a lot of crap. In fact I generally do.

It's when the new crap shows up that I have to blink in surprise and wonder what the world is coming to. You'd think, for example, that the grocery store is already full of marketing ploys. There are bright, shiny boxes, bags, and jars of "marketing" all over the entire space! But no... they have to take it yet one more step further, don't they?

So today, as I went shopping for the remaining supplies needed for Saturday's party (Jareth's second birthday is Friday so we're throwin' the usual shindig at our place), I got to at least have a cart without advertising on it. Most of the carts have mini "billboard" ads on them these days. I get a cool one for Jareth - the front end of it is shaped like a truck with two seats and steering wheels. I can buckle him in and he has a blast riding around the store. Now if only the cart itself wasn't a bear to manuever and tricky as hell to unload at the conveyer belt...

But hey, at least I didn't have to see that one extra ad.

Aparently the toy in the box isn't enough though. Neither is the cross-brand marketing schemes, nor the sales and coupons. Nope. Now we've got television at the checkout.

WHAT?

Oh, yeah... it's not television - it's ads. On a little television screen facing you as you wait in line. In every line. The bastards. No wonder they only had two lines open when I got to the checkout. And one of those was 10 items or less. Yeah - party planning - like I had 10 items or less. Bah. At least someone finally opened another line while I was waiting and had the courtesy to invite little old me to be the first one to use it. I hadn't been the only one in the really long line unhappy about it. But I was the only one with a kid I think, which is probably why I got to have it.

I didn't end up having time to really watch the screen, but I saw enough to be rather annoyed. It's one thing to thrust advertising and coupons at me as I'm collecting my receipt. It's another to trap me in line and force me to watch their damned ads. I thought that's what all the "impulse aisle" crap was there for - last minute yummies to get me to buy more? Oy...

I think I'll have to go back to shopping at the "little" version of the store. You know - the one they never upgrade with the newest toys because they don't have enough customers in that area to warrant spending more money on it? Yeah. That one. Where the guy in the vegetable area knows what I buy for the iguana, and the gal at the deli knows I like a specific cheese to be in stock. That one.

At least it's not as bad as making the poor cashiers have to hawk stuff at me like they've been doing this week - telling me about their "specials" all the time. Grrrr. I'd quit the job - that's like abuse in my opinion!

Okay, okay. /rant off. Done now.

G'night!

Meetup.com

I was going to talk about the rest of my birthday. About how Brian took me out for a lovely seafood dinner at a Joe's Crab Shack where we split an appetizer, dinner, and dessert like we often do when we go out. Jareth had the kid's popcorn shrimp. We had alaskan king crab and crab-stuffed shrimp... mmm.

I was also going to mention what Brian got me for my birthday (a VisiBone card collection) and how geeky I must be that I was so excited to sit there pouring over pages of HTML and CSS stuff in teensy, tiny type.

I probably would have mentioned some cute stuff about Jareth too. I usually have a hard time leaving that out.

But not tonight. Nope.

Because I'm miffed. Pissed. Irked. Annoyed.

At meetup.com.

Why? I'm so glad you asked...

Because I got a short little e-mail in my box stating that there were some new features... and, oh, by the way, some new "organizer charges"...

Wait - WHAT? I just became an organizer last month for a roleplayer group in the hopes of getting them actually meeting and stuff. What's this about charges?

Now, I'd been considering looking to see what the cost was to "upgrade" to a paid membership in order to support them. I still don't know what that would have cost me. When I read the letter to find out what this new organizer cost was all about I found that they will be charging organizers $9 per MONTH until December. Then it goes up to $19 per MONTH!

Oh. my. *&%$ing. god.

Two months of that would more than pay for a year of what it costs me for this site and domain name. more than. for a year. not a month. a year.

So much for me being an organizer now... they suggest that you could pass that cost on to your members, but that group doesn't have any members that are even commenting on the board or RSVPing yet! If nobody shows at the meeting then it's still just me and Brian. And we can't pay that just to see if the meetup will work out. Not a chance in hell!

Someone on their discussion board accurately put it that they are "shooting themselves in the foot" with this move. A whole lot of meetup groups will die when their organizer steps down being unable to pay it and/or unable to ask the members to help them pay it. Also, it's on a PER GROUP basis, which means if you organize more than one group you are really screwed. Lots of people are putting up messages about moving to groups on other free sites like yahoo and msn, among others. I'm going to have to look into those. The pagan parenting one I'm working on a web site for (www.paganparents.com) will have to have its progress stepped up a bit so that the local group I'm in can have it's stuff there. I'm going to have to add areas for local groups on our message board now too I think, to make it easier. I was still working on graphics for the initial design, not planning to make up for meetup.com pulling the rug out from under the group!

With people moving their groups to other sites, there will be less traffic at meetup.com. With a fee, it is unlikely they will get many people wanting to be new organizers to groups - they will have to pay just to get it off the ground! Without new groups, meetup.com will cease to grow. Eventually, those groups that stay will drop down to a small number of paying customers - which will also change the dynamic of the type of people you will meet through meetup.com. It will only be those with the cash to pay for such things. Thus, essentially, defeating the spirit I had thought it was created in. I expect, if the situation goes as they have announced it, meetup.com will last another two years. Tops.

Following are the alternatives to meetup.com that are currently being posted on their discussion board by other protesters of this:

Yahoo Groups
Google Groups
Proboards
Evite
MSN Groups
InvisionFree

Anyway. I'm going to play a little more computer game tonight before I go to bed. I suddenly feel the need to inflict needless violence on fictional, pixelated, evil minions...

G'night!

Frugalities and Frustrations...

Well, despite my attempts to wind down last night, I didn't manage to get much sleep. I tossed and turned so many times that I started to wonder if maybe one of those decaf coffee refills at the diner last night wasn't decaf after all. I think I may try to cash in a little earlier tonight to make up for it. I don't want to be all cranky tomorrow morning with Jareth at Kid Rock.

Today was fun, as RainMoon (who I referred to as "RM" last night - now you can tell why) took me out to a couple of the decent bargain stores in the nearby area. I have been living here for more than two and a half years and haven't really found all the good places to find the best deals on stuff yet. She's been living around her far longer and can give me the scoop. I'm lovin' it!

So we did some shopping, and then later had a little time to just sit back and chat some more.

It feels like it's been a while since I spoke so openly with anyone other than my husband. I find it a refreshing change of pace.

In other news, I think I have to lobotomize have a "communication" with the UPS delivery person that comes to my house. The last four or so packages that they've brought me have been placed under the mat that is on the stoop outside my back door. On one hand, I'm sure they think they are doing me a favor by putting it under the heavy plastic mat to protect it from the rain. However...

Under that mat is a muddy mess of leaves and crap that keeps getting brought into my house every time I retrieve a package from beneath it! Not to mention the fact that the packages are sometimes higher than the step up from the stoop into the door - meaning I can't get the screen door open to get them in the first place! They are often light enough for me to push them out with the door, but there was one instance where I had to go out my front door in order to get the package sitting in front of my side door! I mean, what the hell was that? Perhaps the person has no depth perception and can't tell that the package is going to prevent me from exiting the house by way of that door?

I think I'll make a little sign and put it out there, telling them that they can just put my packages on the patio table from now on instead, since there's a roof over my patio.

Mind you - all this wouldn't even matter if they'd just ring the damned BELL!

I was home when they came today. RainMoon's car was in my driveway too. With two cars sitting in the drive, you'd think they'd have the common sense to let me know my package had arrived.

*sigh*

Okay. /rant off. Gotta go now too.

G'night!

Where a Kid can be a Consumer...

So...

Yesterday's meetup was at a place called Chuck E. Cheese's. Their motto is "where a Kid can be a Kid", but I have adjusted that in my mind to: "where a Kid can be a Consumer."

Perhaps you already see where I am headed with this. Perhaps you've been to one of the 420+ locations of this restaurant chain. Perhaps you just sense the impending doom of another of my rants forthcoming...

Basically, Chuck E. Cheese's is a pizza joint/arcade. It is the type of place where parents can go and for the price of a pizza and some tokens they can effectively ignore their children for an hour or two. Once a child is old enough, you can pay to pump their fists full of tokens that they can gleefully put into games one after another. The lights glow and flash, the games make loud pings and clangs, and every now and then an adult dressed as a giant rat mouse comes out to leer sing and dance with them. What more could kids want, right? (ohhh, maybe their parents to spend quality time with them instead?)

Yah. So.

And we wonder why so many kids have ADD? Because their parents are sticking them in front of television sets at home and going to restaurants like this one when they are out... There were only two things that I saw in the entire place that didn't either take tokens or propogate the "Chuckie" theme - one was a climbable aparatus with a slide and a couple of toddler-oriented things attached in the toddler area of the place. The other was the sky tubes thing - kids can climb up and crawl in these large plastic tubes that run in an area of the ceiling. I believe that also had a slide on it too. Everything else had a token slot in it. Or was the counter - where you could buy food, tokens, and Chuck E. Cheese merchandise. And toys - you could get tickets from some of the games and turn them in for stuff.

Okay, I will admit to a couple of positives to the place, considering it is just another shrine to consumerism and all. First off, the games only needed one token to play. And they gave me one when we walked in the door, as well as a couple more when I bought food. I got three tokens just for eating there.

There was also the pizza - I had this individual-size bbq chicken pizza, which was just enough for me to have a nice light lunch and still give a couple of the slices to Jareth too. It was a bit on the greasy side, but it was yummy.

But then there's the rat mouse. Yeah, I know, it's the theme. Micky Mouse is one thing people, but I just can't buy into the Chuck E. Cheese "concept" here. Maybe it's just that my mother didn't let me watch Saturday morning cartoons as a kid (a ritual that Brian and I agreed will be allowed once Jareth is old enough, as Brian's dad did it with him and Brian has fond memories of those times). Maybe that somehow, somehow, a person with my imaginative capabilities is yet unable to fathom the concept of how a grownup walking around (silently, mind you - there's background tracks for the music stuff, but I never heard "Chuckie" speak. One of the wait staff did all the talking when the music was off, guiding the children to "dance" along with Chuckie. Silent Chuckie was eerie that way.) in a rat mouse suit is... what, exactly? Believeable? Exciting?

Personally, with the way this country is, I'd be more like to worry that "Chuckie" would molest my kid when I wasn't looking. I mean, if priests are doing it, what's going to stop someone who's face I can't even see?

*stops gritting teeth long enough to remind herself that not all people that are willing to work in giant rat mouse suits are potential child molesters*

I suppose it's a better job for the grownup in there than standing on the side of a street as a waving Quizno's soda cup. I always feel sorry for the person stuck in there. Always. I can't possibly imagine enjoying doing that.

So... decent enough food, but still another temple to the consumerism gods.

*sigh*

Will I go there again? Probably. But only because that's where some of the meetups will be. Jareth didn't like the ride I tried putting him on - he cried. What he wanted to do was run. It was a bunch of aisles for him to run down and new stuff to look at, as far as he was concerned. And - his mommy ran along with him, playing catch-the-kid as he stretched his legs and zoomed all over the place. He seemed to like the pizza too.

But he didn't like the giant rat mouse. He clung to mommy pretty good when that critter tried to come near. Mommy didn't let it get too close. *shudder*

As for the meetup group itself, it seems like I'm meeting some nice people in these groups I've been going to. I still feel like the newbie, and don't really know anyone well enough to make any judgement calls about them. Mostly, I feel a little out-classed on the financial level. I'm reminded a little of high school, when where you shopped for your clothes was a status-setter. Apparently now it's where you shop for your kid's clothes too. Mine is not a Gap baby, for example, no matter how cute their clothes might be. It would be pretty surprising to me if their clothes could match the prices I get at WalMart, even if they are on sale. I've got a few items from Old Navy, but most of them were gifts. I'm working with a budget here, and an uncertain time limit on how long my husband's temp job will really last. Not to mention the lack of health insurance. I can't be just spending oodles of money on kid's clothing. I do try to dress him to look smart, but I make do with what I can afford is all.

So there is a bit of a separation there, I think, between myself and the other moms I've gotten to know anything about so far. Part of it is the types of topics that have arisen though. Other than our kids, the conversations that I've heard or been a part of have been about things like vacations and shopping. Honestly, I don't think I've gotten to know them well enough yet to decide if any of them are the type of women I'm likely to develop a decent friendship with.

Most of them seem super-skinny though. I am jealous at that. I know I could use to lose a few pounds (and I'm working on it, actually), but I'm not obese. But I start feeling as if I am next to them. I really want to find out the secret - most of those kids are younger than mine, so how the hell did they get their figures back so darn quick?

*grumble, grumble*

What I really want to know about them though, is whether or not we share some of the same values and ideals about raising kids. Like the fact that I don't want my kid really watching television just yet. I'd rather he be developing his brain by doing things than just watching them. I can see already that he can have tons of patience and focus if he is interested. I don't want to mess that up with the fast pace of the changing images on television. I don't want him to have the usual five-second attention span that so many kids seem to have.

I saw other kids at Chuck E. Cheese's yesterday that I don't want my child to be like either. Kids that shoved others out of their way so that they could go down the slide (not the kids in our group - they're too young for that yet). Kids that went from one machine to another and played it once before getting bored and moving on. Some of them looked excited. Others looked almost robotic. They took the tickets that the games spit out for them and dutifully went to the next machine for more tickets - greedy for the toys that they might eventually "earn" with all their tickets. Not even realizing that those toys were actually paid for already by their parents buying the tokens in the first place.

I want for Jareth to have a balance. To be able to wait in line for his turn to come instead of resorting to pushing others out of his way. But also able to make sure he gets his turn instead of getting pushed out of the way by others. I don't yet know how to find that balance for him. I'm a pushee - if I don't nicely get out of the way first, I'll get shoved. If I can help it, however, I won't allow that to happen to him. Not my kid. The dragon in me comes out when you mess with my kid. Oh yeah. Hear me roar.

If anything, maybe this week - after two outings where he was around other kids - he will be a little more social at Kid Rock tomorrow. Who knows. He didn't get to play with the other kids as much this week - most of them are much younger than he is - but he was at least in an atmosphere where there were other children with their mommies.

Here's hoping anyway.

G'night!

Well, shit...

Apparently the search for the phone continues. I got an e-mail today saying that it's been discontinued, which means I'll have to find someone who's got it in stock if I want to actually get one. What I want to know is why was it discontinued? Hopefully just not enough interest in phones that look so non-modern or something. Or maybe they mean that the place I was buying from discontinued carrying it. I'm not sure. All I know is that they've cancelled my order for me and now I have to track it down somewhere else. There's plenty of places that sell it, but the one I was buying from had the best deal. Damn, damn, damn.

So no more blogging for now - I gotta go online shopping instead.

G'night!

The Hardest $50 I Ever Spent...

I may have previously ranted about CompUSA. I'm not entirely sure, but I think I did. I had a previous experience when I went to spend the $50 gift card that my uncle gave me as a Christmas gift. Anything I wanted was unavailable or overpriced. Anything else was either overpriced or not something I'd be willing to spend my money on just now. In the end, after getting only the barest minimum of help from the overworked employees, and being nearly run over by no less than three employees (one of which did it twice and looked more like a manager), I bailed without buying anything. I left the store hot, tired, frustrated, and with a cranky little boy to boot.

Tonight, with Brian in tow to help me choose stuff and for moral support, we went back.

Now, apparently the guy that does the area where the cameras and pdas area was out sick with mono tonight. I only know this because it took about 15 minutes before they could finally get someone to even attempt to help me see if they had a battery for my digital camera. That was "choice A" on the list of possible things to get myself. The guy that finally tried to help didn't know squat about the cameras, so he went looking online and then some other guy helped me to find that they didn't have any of that battery in stock.

This was not the most promising start of the evening. While I was waiting to find out about the battery, Brian took Jareth and wandered the aisles to look for "choice B", which was a new USB hub. I could have gotten a very nice one for more than I wanted to spend, or another one not too different from the one I already have that isn't working properly. They did have one guy there who likely knew what the heck he was talking about in the matter of computers, who mentioned that I should check the output on my power supply first. Apparently there might not be enough power for everything I'm trying to run. The hub has its own power supply, so it must be internal. I'll look and see. Scratch "choice B" then, no point in spending money on something I might not even need.

The next option was whimsical - one of those little webcam jobbers. Mostly I figured I'd quietly point it at Jareth while he was playing and get some cute home movies that way. But the one they had that I might have wanted, and was in the right price range, was out of stock. Scratch "choice C".

"Choice D" was to get Brian some new speakers that matched mine for his computer. He's been slightly jealous of my snazzy speakers with their subwoofer that I've got under the desk. I've been rather enjoying them, so I thought maybe we could just upgrade him. But he said no, that he didn't need new speakers, so I shouldn't just spend my gift card on him. I finally agreed, since we were headed to a bookstore next where he was going to spend the gift card that my uncle got for him. Usually I opt for the bookstore one as well, but I have a hard time sticking to budgets in book stores. I had wanted a Best Buy gift certificate. But I got the impression that my uncle didn't want to try and go to Best Buy around Christmastime, so when he perked up at the idea of CompUSA, I thought - why not?

Silly, stupid me.

Thus, "Choice E" came into play - some computer games. We got a newer version of Risk and some Midieval Total War thing. They were only $10 each, so we got two copies of each so we can play together. Since I still had money left to burn, I upgraded my mousepad to this funky "microfiber" one. It's really soft. I'll have to get used to it though, as it slows the physical moving of the mouse down. It does have a feel as if I can get more accuracy now though, which will be cool when I'm messing with graphics and images.

Brian, on the other hand, had a harder time not spending more than his $50 at the bookstore. I don't blame him. Our budget doesn't allow me to look at books in the book store. I had a hard enough time not buying stuffed animals and books from the children's section. Jareth and I explored it while Brian was off looking for cool grown-up books. I think he re-arranged most of the stuffed animals on the lowest two shelves, and there were a few instances of him toddling of across the store and my having to zoom over to scoop him up and bring him back. Once you take the holds off this kid, he is off to explore everything if he can! It's like he takes a few moments to get accustomed to the "newness" of the place and then it ought to be just like home, yes? He gave me a mini workout!

Other than that, today was a run to get a new crock pot and a couple other items, and I finally did my online application to the community college, in the hopes that I'll be able to take a class I want to take. The trouble is, the class starts next week, so I don't know if everything will get processed in time for me to still get into the class. It's a credit class this time, not like the drawing class I took, so I have to be signed up like a regular student. We'll see. I was able to find that they do have day care there, so I could even take some classes during the day from time to time too. It may not be towards a degree, but I miss taking classes and learning new stuff. There are certainly plenty that I'd like to take, anyway.

Enough for now.

G'night!

All Hail the Consumerism Bastards...

Ahh, yes... time to rant... brace yourself.

Okay, I have just about had it - no, wait, I have had it - with the shoddy, cheap craftsmanship I keep seeing these days. Half the things in the stores these days seem to be made of chintzy plastic bits that fall apart the minute you give them any real use. As a consumer, I am sick and tired of handing over my husband's hard-earned money only to find out that what I thought I was buying is really a piece of crap that I'll have to replace in a year or two anyway.

But, apparently, I am in a minority here... Americans all around me snatch up these cheap-ass goodies greedily, thrilled that they don't have to pay an extra five bucks for something that actually lasts. And, in the capitalistic spirit of our country, the stores raise the prices of what used to be considered "cheap" up to where the "midline" ought to be, to gouge us of every last cent. So my own budget suffers horribly as I try to balance in enough "hamburger helper" that I can at least have a few things - like toys for my kid - that will hold up for the long haul. At least, in the instance of kid's toys, there are still places that sell toys that will survive a child banging on it - I can't say the same for many electronics products. What used to be "really nice stuff" is now considered "high end" apparently. Recalls and returns because something in it broke are becoming more and more common. I'm starting to think that half the products we buy these days are being thrown together and rushed off of mass assembly lines in China.

What happened to the "buy American" campaign? Oh, wait... they overpriced everything. Nevermind. Sorry, business folks, but I don't pay for labels, I pay for quality. Silly me, having standards like that...

But, what is starting to really piss the pants right off of me?

Packaging.

Today I opened up a couple of 12-packs of soda pop to transfer them into an empty cardboard case for the same soda and make it more convenient to store near our mini-fridge (which is on the fritz after only three years - go figure). Inside, after opening it from the ends (not the "recommended way", but how I wanted it to be able to break down the box for recycling) I discovered that the two cans that were positioned at either end of each box had bits of dried glue on them. The ends of the box were so sloppily glued together that the glue got on the cans. This happened in both of the packages that I opened, and it is not the first time I have seen the cans come out this way. In fact, I've been seeing it for some time now. Today's offender was Diet Mountain Dew, but it happens in a lot of the cases of soda pop we've bought lately.

It's "trivial" on one hand, but on the other...

The bits of glue usually pop easily off the can. So, if I slide it into a cover, to keep the can cool, I might not notice if the glue pops off in the process and ends up on the floor. Is the glue non-toxic? What if my cat or my kid finds it and eats it? I can't run around with a dustbuster, vaccuming 24-7. I'm still striving towards "supermom" here... I don't expect to ever be "mega-uber-vaccums-and-cleans-all-the-damned-time-mom". Not ever.

And what about the times when I've had a "half-can" come out of one of the cases. What? Did the machine stop and need something filled, changed, or reprogrammed at that point? How come I get the half-filled can?

Oh, yeah. I could take it back to the store and whine and complain until they did something about it. But they aren't the ones who didn't bother to check and make sure that the product they were sending out wasn't crappy. They're just mean enough to sell it to me at marked-up prices is all. They deserve much different punishment. Not to mention that it isn't the poor sap stuck at the "customer service" desk that really deserves to take the rap for it either.

I also opened up a box for a Lipton tea this evening too, and had to use my mystic oragami skills to put the damned thing back together again, and then put it carefully back into the cupboard such that it wouldn't just spring open and dump it's bags of lemon tea all over the shelves. I ended up having Cinnamon Apple tea instead - it was yummy. That box didn't stay together any better though. Apparently they don't believe in using glue or staples at all in their attempts to use "economical packaging". It may be nicer for our environment, but my cupboard disagrees. Maybe they could just compromise with a couple of staples on either end?

We put a gazillion "safety seals" on half our consumable goods, but then once we've gotten into it, the whole damned box falls apart?

What the???

How much of our money is going to which bit here anyway?

Oh yeah... the money they saved on that packaging is going into the company president's sports car... nevermind.

Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!

I want my money back!

NO! Actually I want the "good old days" when things were made to last. When part of what you paid so much for was the assurance that it would still work in ten years...

On a consumerism and capitalism level... we are not evolving well here folks. Let's start insisting on some Quality eh?

*sigh*

/rant off

Enough for now. I need to go fetch another can of soda pop.

G'night.

There ought to be a law...

Or at least a committee?

What, you ask, am I complaining about this time?

Oh, where to begin...?...

How about we start with the upcoming holiday.

Yep, that's right, Halloween. A holiday I used to thoroughly enjoy. A kid's holiday, for a large percentage of those who practice it (a wiccan one to others, but you can talk to my husband for more information on how all of that works), and last year we saw an exhibit at a museum in Chicago about "The Day of The Dead", which unveiled some interesting info on cultural differences south of the border.

But, for me, it has always been a kid's holiday. It's about mischief and candy, pretending to be someone else, and visiting your neighbors under enjoyable circumstances. Everyone is friendly - complimenting costumes, handing out candy (nevermind the razorblade-apple fiascos), and sneaking up on each other to say "BOO!" in good-natured fun.

So will someone please tell me where the giant glowing plastic inflatable scarecrow comes into the holiday?

I mean, really people - display some taste for crying out loud!

I'm all for the cobwebs and the teensy little spiders. I enjoy the scary creaky sounds and the triggered dodads that jump out to terrify the kids who come up the walk. And the pumpkins are an absolute must, along with the slightly salted baked seeds - yum! - and the glowy candles dancing inside the freshly carved orange faces. There should be straw, and corn, and corn husks, and squash to match the colors of the newly fallen leaves that are whirling about between the blades of grass in my lawn. And most of all - handcrafted artwork by children. Construction-paper ghosts with magic-marker eyes and big gaping "o"s for mouths. Tissue-paper ghosts hanging from the branches of the trees with twist-ties and fishing line so that they sway with every gust of wind. Wreathes made of dried leaves hanging proudly on the doors.

Not christmas lights that now have orange bulbs instead.

Halloween used to be about a whole lot more. And now, like every other holiday on the calendar, Hallmark and other companies have jumped in to make it plastic, and fake, and about money instead.

I'd like to take our blowgun and go around the neighborhood shooting down every goddamned inflatable ghost, scarecrow, bat, or other critter I see.

But I won't. I haven't that kind of courage.

I'll just sigh sadly each time I pass these tacky lawn decorations by, and wonder what happened to taste.

There are some neighborhoods not far from here that won't allow people to park an RV or a pickup truck outside. If it's not garaged, it's subject to a fine or towing. They want things to look a certain way. I think that outlawing specific vehicles is taking it a bit far, but I'd like to see some "tackiness laws" put into place. A license to decorate maybe? Or maybe we could just outlaw these decorations at the source? A national committee for tastefulness, to decide if certain products are sold or not.

*sigh*

Don't even get me started on Christmas. Wal-Mart has already shipped out their entire lawn and garden department to fill it with dancing santas and plastic glowing snowmen. I know this, as I went there today to see if they had pumpkins. They were out.

*bigger sigh*

Oh well. I'll find pumpkins tomorrow.

G'night!

The Armed Republic of The Zen Rayn Dragon, and other corporate affairs...

Okay, so I normally don't do the whole "politics" thing, but a friend of ours showed us this:

Too much potential fun to ignore, I dare say. Thus, I now have a "nation" amongst them (drumroll please):

The Armed Republic of The Zen Rayn Dragon

So far I've made voting mandatory. I plan to smack those nasty corporations around. Apparently there's more points to those who encourage nudity too, but I haven't decided on which way I plan to go on that particular issue.

On another note, someone sent me blog fodder in the mail yesterday. How kind of them. Seeing as how I was sick, I didn't open it until today, when I was privileged enough to read the following:

"There's a frightening takeover happening in America right now: a takeover of our schools, our government, our children, our communitites, and our culture.

No doubt you've already noticed the escalating intrusion of advertising and marketing into every nook and cranny of our lives.

At its most extreme, corporations are actually using Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) technology to scan people's brains in order to probe their reactions to advertising."

Now, in all fairness I'm only quoting the first three paragraphs after "dear friend" on this two-page, double-sided, legal-sized "letter" which also came with an addressed envelope (no stamp) and a "membership reply" form which I could fill out to send back with my *cough* money. Oh well, so much for fairness. I think you can guess my opinion of this load of crap already. By the way, all things in bold were actually bolded on the letter...

Now, see this stuff is intended for Consumer Type A. I am not a member of that group. I will admit to having tendencies towards Consumer Type B - the type that is easily convinced by some of those ads on TV that tell you that you too can have great abs in 30 days if you only spend the money right this minute. Fortunately, my pocketbook has mostly prevented me from actually succumbing to those commercials and I simply refuse to watch the shopping networks after my mom got some shoddy cheap silver bracelets and necklaces a while back.

But our friends, in Type A, will believe what they read in that letter I've been sent. And this is where some of the "household conspiracy theories" start. The "old wives tales" of today, in some ways. And Type A person will get to the end of that third, teeny little paragraph and put their hand over their mouth in shock thinking that the government and corporations are now watching us by shooting MRI "waves" out of our TVs or some such nonsense as that. Don't believe me? Good. That means you're not a Type A. They are out there. Even on the internet. I've seen them blogging in a couple of spots. It's not pretty.

There are also the combo-type personalities out there too. People who seem so incredibly smart one moment, as they divulge intelligent information that you feel privileged to be witness to. Then, out of the blue, they suddenly decide that the entire government or X Corp. are out to get us all. Our money? Perhaps. But the MRI studies that are referred to in this letter are likely done by the same organizations trying to stop the pervasive advertising all around us by proving its effects.

I don't like the advertising any more than they do, necessarily. I think it should be a law, for example, that all commercial ads have to entertain me. But, unfortunately that would prove impossible unless the law stated that it was me personally that they had to entertain. Because whether or not someone else would find it entertaining is subjective. You can't please all of the people - all of the time. Who said that first anyway? *shrug*

This letter talks about you becoming a "member". You're not a member of anything mind you, you just give them money and get bragging rights that you've donated to another "worthy" cause.

Sorry guys, but I'm looking at a "membership" to a decorative art organization as well, and it has actual activities to participate in. That's what "membership" is supposed to be. And don't call it a "subscription" unless you plan to at least mail out a newsletter. I've noticed some organizations use that tactic to try and strip me of my hard-earned cash. Some of these guys are no better than the corporations they are proposing they fight.

Not to mention - they're usually not lobbying, they're out starting lawsuits against these companies... which cause the companies to raise their prices. So now I'm supposed to pay for this TWICE?

Bullshit. (LOL - my spellchecker doesn't know the word bullshit. I shall have to educate it.)

So there. My rant for today. Big corporations suck - frequently, I must agree. I am also sick of being bombarded at every turn with advertising. I prefer to base a product on the quality of the product being purchased and the customer service that stands behind it. Not on how "pretty" their latest billboard or TV ad happens to be.

Now, if only more people would share my concern and act accordingly, we maybe could make a difference.

Then again, if my pocketbook were a little bigger then maybe I could stop giving Wal-Mart all my damned cash.

*eyes the word "hypocrite" glowing above her with a big red arrow pointing at her head*

Damn.

And so, the job hunt shall continue...

G'night!

Just Hush!

Okay, so don't anybody tell me what happens, as I'm one day behind in watching the women's gymnastics. Since we a) had Sunday dinner last night and b) weren't about to stay up until midnight watching it as Brian has this seminar today and tomorrow where he learns stuff from the job placement agency who's services are part of his severance package and so he had to be there from 9am to 4pm. So we taped it, thus giving us the advantage of fast forwarding through the other stuff that didn't excite us as much along with all the commercials. Mwahaha.

But, it also means I'm a day behind on knowing how we did. All I've seen is the qualifying stuff. Tomorrow night we'll get to see the stuff that is, in fact, about to finish taping right now, as I'm starting to type up this blog. If I had the time I'd watch most, if not all, of the olympics. I'm tremendously impressed with the people who can go the whole nine yards like that. I know my body isn't currently capable of athletics of that magnitude. And I'm not the type of person (this time around, anyway) who has the ambition to work myself so hard physically. But I have a lot of respect for those who can.

I'm also suddenly noticing that the olympics have changed dramatically since I watched them as a little girl. The minimum age for a girl to be in the gymnastics competition, for example, is now 16 (by the end of the olympic year)? When did this happen? I seem to recall a whole lot of 10 and 12-year-old girls being paraded out, if I'm remembering correctly. Perhaps I'm not. I always remembered it as - once you hit puberty, you were screwed as a female gymnast. Your whole sense of center changes when you sprout boobs and your hips widen. I also noticed that the USA girls used some sort of hand guards while on the uneven bars. I didn't know they could do stuff like that. And the vaulting horse looks entirely different. Hrm.

Is this the new, ergonomic olympic way nowadays? Are we putting in safeties? I thought this event was for the best of the best - the risk-takers - the ones who wanted it most... I'm not trying to belittle the accomplishments of the current athletes competing, but how can we compare their performance to the performances of those who've come before them when the sport is changing? The style of music for the floor routines are dramatically different from the classical music of the "classic" gymnasts.

Yes, yes... I know... I can find anything to whine about, can't I?

Pah - if not for me to rant, then what good is a personal blog like this anyway?

Oooooh... for updates on my son too... I see.

I received e-mailed pictures today from my father-in-law's digital camera - one of which is the "proof" that my son was working the "fork angle" last night:

Yep. That's my kid.

*beams with pride*

Although today he's all sick. We're pretty sure he's reacting to one of the vaccinations he had the last dosage of on Friday. He was so good and didn't cry, and what did he get for it? A fever of 102.9 F tonight, and a runny nose, that's what! Poor kid. We've dosed him up with baby drops-stuff, and tucked him into bed for now, after a quick call to the doctor to make sure we shouldn't be seriously worried. It's the first time he's had a fever this high. He's been such a healthy little boy...

*knocks on wood*

(oh - and to those who read my comment on another blog about superstitions working opposite for me, that doesn't count for preventative ones like the wood-knocking. It's only backwards on the ones that just happen, like mirrors breaking and Friday the 13th. Unfortunately, breaking a mirror on purpose does not bring me 7 years of good luck though. It still has to be accidental.)

So I'll be worrying over him all mother-hen-style tomorrow, I expect. Keeping track of his temperature and dosing him up to keep him from feeling so icky. He was fine for most of the day, but it suddenly crept up on him this evening, over the course of just a few hours I think. He was kind of suddenly snuggly and wanting to be hugged and held more often nearer the end of the evening, although I had initially attributed it to the fact that he didn't take a very long nap today and was likely sleepy. We'd already given him something for the stuffy nose he'd started having this afternoon, but the fever hadn't shown up yet. He was one warm little guy when we tucked him into bed a while ago.

*worry, worry, worry*

Not really, well, yeah. On one hand I'm not too worried, as the doctor seemed to think it was all good and he'd be fine, but on the other hand - I'm a MOMMY. Of course I'm worried, he's MY kid.

LOL! *I* need a nap.

Okay. Time for me to go "wind down" with a little computer game before I crawl into bed.

G'night!

Rinse and SPIT!!!

On the back of the box for a recently purchased tube of Colgate Total (plus whitening) toothpaste:

Directions:

supervise children as necessary until capable of using without supervision.

Um... yeah. What marketing genius thought to put that on the box?

First, there are no directions! Toothpaste huh? We have to put directions onto toothpicks, so I'm thinking we might need to with toothpaste too. I think it's pretty likely it won't get confused with, say, Monistat, for example, but someone who's never been introduced to a toothbrush might not know what to do... And toothbrushes can be pretty intimidating these days. They spin and shake and all sorts of crap. I had a coupon for a new Crest toothbrush too, and they had to include the word "manual" to not disclude the kind I wanted to buy. You know - the kind that just sits there with the bristles and you have to actually move your own hand while brushing your teeth? I know... such tedium. Oh, the horror to have to put so much of my own energies into such an otherwise simple task!

Then again, would the toothpaste company need a pull out leaflet in order to explain the different ways to apply toothpaste to the varying types of non-manual toothbrushes? Hrm. I think we could probably get away with some basic ones based off the "manual" brush if need be...

Directions:

1) removed cap

2) hold open end of tube over bristled end of toothbrush

3) squeeze gently, applying desired amount of paste to the toothbrush bristles

4) brush teeth with paste-coated toothbrush (for best results, consult your dentist for appropriate brushing techniques)

5) return cap to tube in order to maintain paste freshness

children should be supervised as necessary

There now. My job here is done. With my directions, the world is now safer (no, not safe, just safer - some people just can't be protected from themselves no matter how hard you try, and the jury is still out on whether or not we ought to with such knuckleheads) from unintentional misuse of toothpaste. I can now sleep soundly tonight.

G'night!

The Maxipad Dance

WARNING!!!!

Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

That's right - if you're a squeamish guy, who can't stand to hear talk of things relating to a woman's men-stru-a-tion, then turn back now. You may skip this post. It is not for you.

You have been warned.

Paper or Plastic?

Oooh... someone got arrested in front of my house today! State police and everything... Hmmm. State police? Here? Makes me curious, but not so curious as to bother leaving my house to gape with the other neighbors. I actually had a really good view from my kitchen window, technically, but I had better things to be doing than watch the guy wearing handcuffs chatting up the cops who'd just put them on him. From my vantage point it looked like he was getting along famously with them. None of this TV-show "slam him down on the trunk and yell at him" crap. I did find it interesting that a) one of the police cars was an unmarked green sedan, and b) they were nailing some of the speeders as I drove out to run errands. About damned time they got some of them - we've got a lot of people who seem to think the road I live on is a drag strip or something... any time I hear it at night when the windows are open I find myself holding my breath, fearfully waiting for the crash.

There ought to be a law....

Oh, yeah... there IS! Hmm.

So, anyway, I was at the grocery store today, waiting in line with the ten or so other people waiting in the same line as there were only two open for some reason, and I was reasonably relaxed. Despite having just rushed into their bathroom five minutes prior, where I frantically stripped off my jacket for my son to sit on before I unloaded on the potty. I figured I had a good twenty minutes or so in me before I might need the potty again (Irritable Bowel Syndrome - it's not a fun thing to have, but I usually have it under control. Four days of hamburgers leftover from the party did me in though), so I was thinking I could make it. (I did, by the way)

I've lately found grocery shopping to be a reasonably relaxing thing - odd for me, since I resist the "housewife" tasks with considerable stubbornness - the smaller grocery store by me is a whole lot friendlier than it's larger sister two towns over, where it's swamped with mean people who think they own the aisles. This is one where the guy in the produce section is starting to know me, as I always need greens or carrots or something for the iguana at the very least.

But, no matter what store I go to nowadays, it always amazes me that there is one trait in all the cashiers that seems to be universal... Right when you've finished paying them, they grab up that receipt and anything else the register spits out at them for you, then they fold it up in some impossible way that you would never do yourself, and then they hand it to you.

That's not the problem, though. Really. I can refold the receipt.

But there's no time.

Immediately upon receiving that receipt, it is apparently assumed that you must now vacate the aisle!!!

The cashier turns to the next customer, who all but hits you with their cart to get you out of what is now their space as far as they're concerned. They've received their signal - the cashier looking at them and saying hello, asking for their discount card - and it is expected for you to heed this unwritten law that says you must now get out of their way.

So, you grab up the wad of receipt and coupons and what-not, and you juggle that, your wallet, your open purse, your squirming son who's decided he wants to lean waaaaaaaaay over in the cart seat, and the handle of the cart so you can awkwardly push it off to the side so you can sort it all out!

I don't have that many hands! Perhaps I missed some hand-out (yeah, pun, I know) in the hospital when my son was born where they give you the extra pair of hands required to tend to his upbringing. I think the eyes in the back of my head are starting to grow in, but I may have had a head start on that one when my sister was still little.

So there's that. It annoys me every time. Not enough for me to actually turn and say anything, mind you. What would I say?

"Hey, hold on a minute while I get this all sorted out, okay? You know, right here where there's a little counter-like thingy for me to set my purse on? You just wait back there and - hey! No! Don't take his discount card yet! I'm not DONE here!"

Hrmph.

And don't even get me started on the baggers. Whoooo boy! My grandfather was once the V.P. of Marketing for this particular chain of stores... I remember my mom telling me how she once held a job at one of them and she had to learn how to "bag properly". Of course they were paper bags then, and you had to bag them properly or they'd break.

Instead, now the little jars break when they've all been jammed into one flimsy plastic bag which has a handle that breaks and they all go bouncing on the ground...

I actually put things on the conveyer the way my mom taught me - you group the stuff together so that it's easier for the bagger. But in her day, they put an extra bag around your frozen stuff so that it wouldn't melt on all your other groceries. And they tried to weight the bags evenly from side to side. And they gave a damn.

"Would you like help outside and loading your car today ma'am?" they ask me.

The last time I said yes, I had several things get smashed or broken the way the guy tossed them into my trunk. He had no care in the world about actually "helping" me - it was his job, he had to do it, so he did. But he had no pride in doing his job well.

I find it ironic that the best baggers are usually the ones who are "mentally handicapped" or whatever the PC term is to use today. Most of them seem to genuinely appreciate their job and try to do it well. The jewel I go to has a very nice young man who takes care of the carts. He may have conversations with himself while he's doing it, but some days I can't find a cart in the lot when I arrive and want one to put my son into... At some stores I've been known to have to move a cart to get into a spot - but not my usual store.

What does that say? Do we need to be less "smart" in order to take pride in a job well done again?

Of course, when it comes down to "work ethics", we're lacking in a whole lot more areas than just my local grocery store...

*sigh*

And on that note...

G'night!