Go along to get along?

Do you go along to get along sometimes or do you like to cause waves and speak your mind, regardless of the outcome?  Does it matter who you are with or where? 

 Just curious.  I tend to hold my tongue political sometimes when I am with friends.  Sometimes I hold it religiously when really I never should.   If it’s a neighbor or Co-Worker I might not speak up about something just because I have to see them every day. 

How about you?

TV Shows

My wife and I have been watching Seinfeld DVD’s lately and you know, you sometimes forget just what a great show that was….that is until you turn it off and see the crap that is on TV and then you remember.  And then you pop the DVD back in.  What was so great about this show is that there was no stupid plot line (“Can a single Dad raise two kids on his own?”) there were no “very special” episodes and there were no predicitable storylines (The Husband forgets to do something so comes up with a zany excuse to the wife that ends up snowballing into a huge, wacky situation).  It was just funny.  We need more of those.  The closest thing we have now is “My name is Earl” and “The Office”.  You know what is so great about these shows that no one seems to notice….NO LAUGH TRACK!  How sick and tired are you of those?  I feel like I am a 10 yr old and hearing “Happy Days was filmed before a live studio audience”. 

Something else that really grinds my nerves is when they end up cancelling good shows.  Arrested Development is one of those shows.  It was similar to Seinfeld in that there was never a “very special” one and had no laugh track.  It was also similar to “The Office” in that it was filmed in a sort of documentary way.  It won a couple of Emmy’s in the short 3 seasons it was on but it could not get the ratings for some reason or Fox didn’t want to give it a chance….yet “According to Jim” just keeps going and going and going.  Probably because they always keep the studio nice and cold for Courtney Thorne-Smith .  That’s the only reason to watch it.  You diffenetly don’t watch it for Jim Belushi.  Right?  Anyway, I would highly recommend picking up the first season of Arrested.  Just rent the first disk and you will be hooked. 

Family Guy and King of the Hill are two other shows worth noting that are actually funny and not so predictable. 

If anything, can we at least get rid of the laugh tracks?

Tipping

I’m sorry but I’m just sick of tipping.  Yes, I still do it but am so very tired of it.  It’s gotten to the point now that you have to leave a tip, even if you get horrible service. I just don’t understand why I am supposed to give someone extra money for doing their job.  Just pay the waiter or waitress more money!!!! 

You know what is worse is that many restaurants divide the tips between the busboy, greeter and waiter.  How about when the waitress takes your order then someone else refills your drink and still someone else brings out the food.  Who do you tip then???  Many times, unbeknownst to the patron, the wait staff has to share their tips with other employees such as bar or kitchen staff so if someone doesn’t tip, they still have to pay out from money they never got. 

Go to a subway lately?  How about a Baskin Robbins?  You see those little cups “Tips please”.  Hey!  You get paid minimum wage, unlike the true waiters or waitresses….I’m not gonna give you extra for doing your job!   

That’s what it really all comes down to these days.  You are not tipping someone for going above and beyond.  You are tipping someone for DOING THEIR JOB.  The stock room guy at Toys R Us who brings me out the bike and then proceeds to tie it to the roof of my car, in the rain, deserves a tip because really, all he had to do was to bring the box to me and leave but he went above and beyond.  Consequently, the 17 yr old chick at Chili’s who takes my order then brings me out the food is doing her job yet I need to tip her.   Do you tip the cashier at Target?  How about the drive-thru dude at McDonald’s?  Do you tip him when he hands you your Cheeseburger?  No.  That is their job.  So, why in the world do we have to tip a waiter or waitress? 

A friend of mines wife always leaves really big tips, even for lousy service.  She always argues with her husband saying “They don’t get paid much!  You need to leave them a big tip!”  I always thought that to be so amusing. 

Now, with fewer and fewer people carrying cash, for some services, tipping is downright difficult.  I almost never carry cash so, for a valet, I usually don’t have any money to give him.  The Pizza delivery guy usually doesn’t get much.  I’m just so glad that Trixie down at The Men’s Club takes credit cards!

Men wearing jewelry

Sorry….it’s gay.  Aside from a watch and a wedding band (note: BAND..not some diamond studded Elvis ring) and maybe…MAYBE a class ring (if you graduated from West Point or Harvard or something like that) and a Major Sports championship ring, men just should not wear jewelry.  This guy was in the office today.  He had a nice mock turtleneck on…and a long gold necklace.  He also had a gold bracelet.  This guy is married with kids but looked soooo gay!!  I wanted to ask him if his brother George was here.

Now, I will allow college dudes to wear those leather, bead or cloth necklaces or things like that but not gold and not silver.  Maybe a surfer dude can wear a shell necklace but only when on the beach.   Once you get out in life and are a working stiff, put that Saturday Night Fever stuff away!!!  Oh, and a pinky ring?  Please!  Just give it up.

Sorry if you guys out there who wear this stuff take offense at this but I’m just being truthful.  Most chicks I talked to at work thought it looked stupid as well.

Oh, and while we are speaking of jewelry, my 5 year old said she wanted her tongue pierced!  What is the world coming to???????

30 year moratorium on men wearing jewelry.

Illegal Immigration

Notice the title of this post.  See the first word?  That is key to this post.  Unfortunately, some people only hear the 2nd word and then turn around and play the race card and call you a bigot or a racist or, to put it quite simply, they say you hate Hispanics.  I am so very tired of not being able to talk about this without being referred to in this way.   We had a discussion recently on Mike Cope’s blog.  People there were insinuating that we were just against Hispanics.  Some just came out and said it.

What don’t people understand?  People are breaking the law and, according to the President, we should just grant them amnesty and move on.  What does that teach our children?  You break the rules? It’s ok.  I’ll give you a free pass this time.  Hmmmm…maybe I should cheat on my taxes this year.  My bonus got cut and I need the money so, really, who will it hurt?

I know that this will be tough to deal with, especially with how many illegals are here already which is why I would just like to see the leak taken care of before anything else.   Perhaps we need to make legal immigration easier.  Maybe.  Regardless of if it is hard to immigrate in legally or about how long it takes or this or that…one thing is for sure, these are law breakers that need to be dealt with and race doesn’t enter into the equation.  I know for some people it is a question of race but those people are just idiots.   

Now, with that being said, am I against immigration? No way.  My Grandparents immigrated over from England.  I am all for LEGAL immigration.  L-E-G-A-L.

I am writing this partly in response to several instances on the radio, blogs and newspapers where a simple discussion could not be held without race being thrown in and someone being called a bigot simply because they want to uphold the law.

We need a 20 year moratorium on people playing the race card every chance they get.    Many times Goodwin’s Law comes into play in these discussions and it’s just getting old.

Apologies

Doh!  I’m really sick of people apologizing for everything under the sun!!  Look, if I spill my coffee on your new blouse, I will apologize.  If my kid throws up on the slide at McDonald’s and your kids slides down on it, I’m sorry.  I will apologize over and over again.  However, if I meet someone from Japan, I’m not going to apologize about dropping the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima in WWII.  For one, it wasn’t me.  Two, we were at war.  Three, it was a long time ago.  The same thing goes if my great, great, great Grandfather owned slaves.

Another thing that bugs me is when these celebrities say something then come back later and apologize for it.  I’m not talking about saying something in the heat of an argument or when you are drunk or something.   Don’t backpeddle.  Have some guts and stand by your comments when you call Paris Hilton a Tramp or David Letterman an idiot.   I loved it when George Bush was overheard saying to Cheney “There’s Adam Clymer, major league a**hole from the New York Times…”.  The press went crazy and many demanded he apologize.  He did…for being overheard and not for calling him an a**hole.  I checked and as far as I know he never did apologize for it. 

That’s something else! Demanding an apology.  Who are you to demand anything from someone else?  If I know the person I may go to them and talk to them but where in the world do people get the gall to demand that someone apologize for saying something?  Get your own life!

10 year moratorium on needless apologies.

PitBulls

“They are just misunderstood…it’s just the owners..I mean, you hear about Labs tearing into people every day.  Don’t you?  Well, it’s just the breeding.  They train them and breed them to be so vicious.   Remember, judge the deed, not the breed.”

Need a shovel yet? 

Aren’t you tired of hearing about children being mauled by a Pitbull?  It seems that at least every year there is a story in your city about some Pitbull that got loose or something and tore into someone.  Usually children.    The papers and talk shows light up with condemnation on the breed and then the owners and breeders ooze out of the woodwork and feed you the lines like “The breed of dog should not be the sole factor by which an attack is judged.”  I’m sick of it I tell ya!

Just to add a few stats to this rant I found ”Fatal Dog Attacks, the Stories Behind the Statistics,” by Karen Delise.  She notes that Pitbull and pit mixes account for 21 percent of all human fatalities, while mixed breed dogs account for 16 percent and other non-specified breeds, 15 percent.   Also  Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People did a study of dog bites from 1982 to the present. According to the Clifton study, pit bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes are responsible for 74% of attacks that were included in the study.

I really didn’t need any study to know that I would much rather have my kids playing with a live bee hive then a Pitbull.  Yes, yes, I know that the owner DOES play a factor however, you could have the owner be your sweet Grandmother and I still would not want that dog near me or my kids!

Does this mean I am in favor of banning Pitbulls?  Possibly.  I can’t really say that the world would not be a better place without them…but it’s still a fine line.  Regardless though, I think a 20 year moratorium on them would be nice. 

Dittoheads gushing over Rush

I listen to Rush just about every day.  I enjoy him a whole lot less then I used to back 10 to 15 years ago.  He carries the water for the GOP  way too much.  He lost his true Conservative principals long ago when he first became such good friends with George H Bush.  Now he is just a mouthpiece for the GOP instead of for Conservatives.  I mostly listen to him now for news tidbits you don’t hear in the mainstream as well as for the humor.  He does have knack for pointing out the hypocrisy and idiotic schemes of the Liberals and he has great parodies as well.  All in all he is good for about 2 hours a day.  By the third hour I am tired of him. 

This post is not, however, a moratorium on Rush.  No.  Quite the contrary.  Now, if you don’t listen to Rush you probably won’t get this one so just skip it.  This moratorium is on Dittoheads gushing over Rush. 

•  ”Hey! Mega Dittos Rush. I just want to thank you for all you have done for this country.  You have pulled it back from the brink of disaster.”
• “Rush!  OMIGOSH! I am just so humbled to be talking to you!”
• “Dittos Rush.  I got my Dad to listen to you right before he died.  We had a falling out a few years ago and, Rush, it was you and your show that brought us back together before he died” (No lie.  This one really happened about 2 weeks ago).
• “Rush!  This country owes you a debt of gratitude for (“sniff”) saying what needs to be said and heard.  (“Sob!”) You just don’t know how much you have meant to me these past 10 years.”
• “Rush! You are so awesome!  I can’t believe I’m talking to you.  You mean the world to me.  Thank you! Thank you! Thank YOU!  Oh!  Rush!  Keep on keeping on!”
• “Mega Dittos!  Thank you so much Rush for not being afraid to stand up to these Liberals.  Rush, you are a true American Hero and I just want to tell you how dark these times would be without your lone voice out there urging us to stand and fight against the hordes of darkness.  Thank you so much Rush for not giving up.”

Yeah, I could go on and on but you get my point.  It’s sickening.  You know, talk radio owes a huge debt of gratitude to Rush for getting that medium to where it is today….but please!  Just say thank you and be done with it!!  He takes a crap just like everyone else does!!!

Dr. Phil

 

The guy can improve your self-esteem, repair your marriage, find you a mate, get your kids under control, budget your money, deal with your psychological disorders AND help you lose weight….all at the same time!

 Just as with Ty Pennington and Rachael Ray this guy has his face and name plastered EVERYWHERE!  Can we please get a 20 year moratorium on him? 

Murder

 

What is wrong with people?  Is divorce not good enough?  Can’t you just leave someone and move on with your life?   Stories like this just leave me speechless.  How can someone do this, especially when you have kids?  I don’t know.  It’s a wicked world we live in.   **UPDATE: The guy has confessed.

We need a lifetime moratorium on sick people like this…but that is not likely to come any time soon since it’s been going on since the beginning of time.

 Along the same sort of lines, what is wrong with people who have affairs?  I know that it can happen to ANYONE but…I don’t know.  It is just such a puzzle to me.  Are they that narcissistic that they cannot see how many lives they are tearing up? 

I guess this post shows how Satan digs his claws in and tries to cause as much damage as possible.  I firmly believe that many times when people are “getting away” with something it’s just Satan waiting to cause the most havoc and damage as possible.