Well..here we are again...it's been another year. Getting a better picture of how busy my life is? I wish I had more time to blog about the every day happenings in my life because, believe it or not, my life is quite the entertaining movie at times. Throw in a little drama (self-inflicted at times), a little comic relief (unintential, most times), romance (well, sort of), and you have yourself a nail-biting, tissue-needing, gut-busting, edge-of-your seat B-rated movie.
But what brings me here today? The subject of optimism. I'm tired of pessimism. I don't have time to participate in pity parties (mine or anyone else's) - literally. But besides that, it takes too much energy to be a pessimist. Being an optimist is so much easier. Why worry about the glass being half empty? Why not try to think about it being half-full instead?
Better yet, get off your butt and try to fill the glass all the way up! And if you aren't willing to get up and try to fill your own glass, then I don't want to hear about you're glass being half empty. I know we aren't always in control of our own destiny, but we are in control of our outlook on life. Gee, what a novel concept. Oh, don't get me wrong...I have my days that I melt down. These days aren't anything of which I am proud, but I pick myself up, dust myself off, and I try again. My motto: Try. Every day.
Besides, did you know that it physically takes more muscles to frown than it takes to smile? Why wear yourself out both physically and mentally? Do yourself a favor. Be more optimistic - get happy. Your body will thank you, your mind will thank you...and your friends will be relieved!
Luvs!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Taking the time...
Well, I told you...I guess it's been almost a year ago now...that I was going to begin blogging and how it's about time. Yeah, time. You can see, I haven't had much of that to share with my blog! Today's subject is going to be about where I see us all going if we don't stop "dumbing down."
We "dumb down" everything. Do you know there are warning signs on chain saws that tell us not to attempt to stop the chain saw with our hands? The sad thing is that someone had to put a warning on the saw because some idiot tried that. It's not that the idiot tried it that caused every chain saw company to have to put the warning on the saw. It's that the idiot talked to a lawyer, and the lawyer decided that there was a law suit in there some where making the manufacturer liable for the idiot's injuries. Companies are out there doing everything they can to protect themselves from suits because we are allowing idiots to dictate this country's every move. We're paying for that in more ways than one...
Another example of companies attempting to protect themselves from idiots is to have all of these company policies that make no sense - policies that allow them to hire idiots. Idiots that all they are required to do is repeat the policies like idiots so that they don't have to think for themselves... I will explain... Due to a pvc pipe rupturing in my master bath, my master bedroom carpet and the ceiling in my family room downstairs was damaged. The damage was in excess of $6,000, so I filed an insurance claim. The insurance company mailed me a check made payable to both me and my mortgage company. It used to be that the insurance company only made the check payable to the homeowner, but due to the mortgage crisis this country is in, they now include the mortgage company on all reimbursements for damage in case the homeowner owes the mortgage company money, the mortgage company can take their portion out of the funds first. I didn't owe the mortgage company any back mortgage payments, so they signed over the check to me WITHOUT RECOURSE (meaning that they would not come after me or the bank for any funds from the cashing of the check - the money was ALL MINE).
To expedite the availability of the funds, I took the check to the bank on which it was drawn - Bank of America (I bank at a small credit union - CMCU). The teller proceeds to tell me that she cannot do anything with the check that I have presented because the person from my mortgage company - CitiMortgage - has to be present with me in order to cash the check. I proceeded to tell her that I did not think that a representative from Missouri was going to come to Charlotte to be with me to prove that they signed the check without recourse. She kept repeating her bank's policy and telling me that it was to protect me. I told her that I was there with the check and my I.D. and asked her how her policy was protecting me? She couldn't answer. I asked her how she expected someone from Missouri to be at the bank with me to cash the check? She couldn't answer. Together, we called CitiMortgage. They told her that they signed the check without recourse and to go ahead and cash the check. After hanging up, the teller, and now the assistant manager, and the manager continue to repeat to me the bank's policies. I am standing there with a check that isn't worth a dime.
I tell them all that the only thing they have proven to me is that they are parrots, that they aren't capable of thinking for themselves rationally, and that policies are made so that idiots like them can be employed at banks like Bank of America.
Am I right?
We "dumb down" everything. Do you know there are warning signs on chain saws that tell us not to attempt to stop the chain saw with our hands? The sad thing is that someone had to put a warning on the saw because some idiot tried that. It's not that the idiot tried it that caused every chain saw company to have to put the warning on the saw. It's that the idiot talked to a lawyer, and the lawyer decided that there was a law suit in there some where making the manufacturer liable for the idiot's injuries. Companies are out there doing everything they can to protect themselves from suits because we are allowing idiots to dictate this country's every move. We're paying for that in more ways than one...
Another example of companies attempting to protect themselves from idiots is to have all of these company policies that make no sense - policies that allow them to hire idiots. Idiots that all they are required to do is repeat the policies like idiots so that they don't have to think for themselves... I will explain... Due to a pvc pipe rupturing in my master bath, my master bedroom carpet and the ceiling in my family room downstairs was damaged. The damage was in excess of $6,000, so I filed an insurance claim. The insurance company mailed me a check made payable to both me and my mortgage company. It used to be that the insurance company only made the check payable to the homeowner, but due to the mortgage crisis this country is in, they now include the mortgage company on all reimbursements for damage in case the homeowner owes the mortgage company money, the mortgage company can take their portion out of the funds first. I didn't owe the mortgage company any back mortgage payments, so they signed over the check to me WITHOUT RECOURSE (meaning that they would not come after me or the bank for any funds from the cashing of the check - the money was ALL MINE).
To expedite the availability of the funds, I took the check to the bank on which it was drawn - Bank of America (I bank at a small credit union - CMCU). The teller proceeds to tell me that she cannot do anything with the check that I have presented because the person from my mortgage company - CitiMortgage - has to be present with me in order to cash the check. I proceeded to tell her that I did not think that a representative from Missouri was going to come to Charlotte to be with me to prove that they signed the check without recourse. She kept repeating her bank's policy and telling me that it was to protect me. I told her that I was there with the check and my I.D. and asked her how her policy was protecting me? She couldn't answer. I asked her how she expected someone from Missouri to be at the bank with me to cash the check? She couldn't answer. Together, we called CitiMortgage. They told her that they signed the check without recourse and to go ahead and cash the check. After hanging up, the teller, and now the assistant manager, and the manager continue to repeat to me the bank's policies. I am standing there with a check that isn't worth a dime.
I tell them all that the only thing they have proven to me is that they are parrots, that they aren't capable of thinking for themselves rationally, and that policies are made so that idiots like them can be employed at banks like Bank of America.
Am I right?
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Idiots...
Idiots. That's a fun word, isn't it? Until you actually run across one and you have my personality. Nothing irritates me more than stupidity. I'm starting to think that I'm an Idiot Magnet, if there ever was such a thing. I have so many idiot stories to tell that I honestly have been asked by others to write a book on the subject. If there's an idiot out there, I probably know them. I'll share one of my honest-to-goodness, no lying, idiot stories with you... I call this one, Have you pushed a tiller lately?
So, I know a couple, I'm embarrassed to say, that asked a friend of mine to borrow her tiller to till the soil in their front yard. My friend gladly obliged. My friend and this couple live a mile to the mark from each other in a small rural town.
It was August. The day was hot and humid. The couple came, driving their empty-bed pickup, to borrow the much-needed, little machine. I happen to be there at this particular moment in time. The husband started the tiller, making sure he could operate it properly. Seems like a reasonable thing to do. Made him seem smart, too - prepared and forecasting any issues that might arise.
Well, all was good until he took the little machine to the back of his pickup where his wife met him. Now, you ready for this? The husband leaves the tiller on the ground behind the truck and started it again for his wife who takes the handles.
The husband gets in the truck, starts the engine and proceeds to slowly drive away. The wife, starts to walk behind the truck, following it. Off they go on their mile-long walk/drive home. My friend and I looked at each other with questionable faces, wondering why the couple didn't put the machine in the bed of the truck!
When the couple returned later than afternoon, I asked the wife how long it took her to get the tiller home. She said that it took them about 1/2-hour to 45 minutes. Then I asked this question, "Why didn't you put the tiller in the back of the truck so that you didn't have to walk behind the truck the whole way home? You would have been home in less than five minutes" Are you ready for her answer? She says to me, "Ah hell, I didn't think about that!" And evidently, her husband didn't either. So, I ask you - Are two heads better than one? Not in this case.
I don't know about you, but if my husband even suggested that I do that, I'd hit him first and then go see a divorce attorney. And even if I was mentally challenged, I think that after walking a few steps in the August heat and humidity, staring at the empty pickup in front of me in the 1/2-hour it took them to get home, it would have dawned on me that I could put the tiller in the back of the truck and ride with my husband!
So, I know a couple, I'm embarrassed to say, that asked a friend of mine to borrow her tiller to till the soil in their front yard. My friend gladly obliged. My friend and this couple live a mile to the mark from each other in a small rural town.
It was August. The day was hot and humid. The couple came, driving their empty-bed pickup, to borrow the much-needed, little machine. I happen to be there at this particular moment in time. The husband started the tiller, making sure he could operate it properly. Seems like a reasonable thing to do. Made him seem smart, too - prepared and forecasting any issues that might arise.
Well, all was good until he took the little machine to the back of his pickup where his wife met him. Now, you ready for this? The husband leaves the tiller on the ground behind the truck and started it again for his wife who takes the handles.
The husband gets in the truck, starts the engine and proceeds to slowly drive away. The wife, starts to walk behind the truck, following it. Off they go on their mile-long walk/drive home. My friend and I looked at each other with questionable faces, wondering why the couple didn't put the machine in the bed of the truck!
When the couple returned later than afternoon, I asked the wife how long it took her to get the tiller home. She said that it took them about 1/2-hour to 45 minutes. Then I asked this question, "Why didn't you put the tiller in the back of the truck so that you didn't have to walk behind the truck the whole way home? You would have been home in less than five minutes" Are you ready for her answer? She says to me, "Ah hell, I didn't think about that!" And evidently, her husband didn't either. So, I ask you - Are two heads better than one? Not in this case.
I don't know about you, but if my husband even suggested that I do that, I'd hit him first and then go see a divorce attorney. And even if I was mentally challenged, I think that after walking a few steps in the August heat and humidity, staring at the empty pickup in front of me in the 1/2-hour it took them to get home, it would have dawned on me that I could put the tiller in the back of the truck and ride with my husband!
It's common now between my friend and me, if either of us does something stupid, to ask each other, "Have you pushed a tiller lately?" It's our way of reassuring each other that as stupid as we are in the careless mistakes we sometimes all make, that we are not so stupid that we would push a tiller one mile behind an empty pickup in the blazing summer sun without stopping to think somewhere along the way that there's a better solution to what I was doing!
I ask you - Have you pushed a tiller lately?
ts
Monday, January 5, 2009
Laughing...
I'm here, and I'm laughing. No, not all the way to the bank...I'm still waiting for that ship to come in. My luck? I'll be at the airport... But hey, ya gotta laugh about it. You know the saying, "Laugh to keep from crying." Well, sometimes, it just damn works!
Trust me. Forget about all the biological reasons that laughing is good for you. There are so many better reasons to laugh. For one, especially when you're in your car alone, people think you're insane. Don't laugh (I mean, go ahead and laugh). It's true. Trust me. But wanna know a secret? They leave you the hell alone when they think you're insane.
Anyway, I love to laugh. I laugh every day. And I don't mean those pitiful little ha-ha's that occasionally slip out. I mean a tears-in-the-eyes, piss-your-pants laugh. That's the only way to do it. I figure, I work hard, so I'm going to play hard. I'm going to laugh like it might be my last one every single time. I don't know of anyone who has ever laughed themselves to death, so I doubt it will be the last thing I ever do, but I hope it's close.
In the great words of Tigger, ta ta for now.
ts
Trust me. Forget about all the biological reasons that laughing is good for you. There are so many better reasons to laugh. For one, especially when you're in your car alone, people think you're insane. Don't laugh (I mean, go ahead and laugh). It's true. Trust me. But wanna know a secret? They leave you the hell alone when they think you're insane.
Anyway, I love to laugh. I laugh every day. And I don't mean those pitiful little ha-ha's that occasionally slip out. I mean a tears-in-the-eyes, piss-your-pants laugh. That's the only way to do it. I figure, I work hard, so I'm going to play hard. I'm going to laugh like it might be my last one every single time. I don't know of anyone who has ever laughed themselves to death, so I doubt it will be the last thing I ever do, but I hope it's close.
In the great words of Tigger, ta ta for now.
ts
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Time...
Well, I've gone and done it! I've started blogging. Go figure. I guess it's about time.
Isn't it always about TIME? It seems I never have enough time - never enough hours in the day. Then, I stop at that one precise moment in time and realize that if I did have more hours in the day, I'd just cram more into it. Don't you think you'd do that, too?
It's like buying that favorite purse. You know the one. That little clutch that you think will look great with that new outfit you just bought? Oh, forget it! You can't shove enough stuff in it to get through the evening. I mean, really. Let's start with the basic lipstick and compact. Then we move to the much-needed cell phone and car keys (unless you can convince your husband or significant other to carry them in HIS pocket). Heaven forbid you need anything more than that. If you do, you're screwed. You'll just have to leave the breath mints or gum at home. And here I go...talking about never having enough time, and I'm rambling about purses that I refuse to carry anyway.
So, I don't have enough hours in my day, so I've decided to add one more item to my agenda - blogging. Oh, you won't see me posting daily. I can just about guarantee that one. But at least I've joined the land of the online living. Who knows what the future will bring to this new world I'm discovering? I'm about to find out. I don't know what subjects will touch me on any particular day, or what idiot I'll run into on my path through life, so stay tuned to see. I'll do my best to keep you entertained.
ts
Isn't it always about TIME? It seems I never have enough time - never enough hours in the day. Then, I stop at that one precise moment in time and realize that if I did have more hours in the day, I'd just cram more into it. Don't you think you'd do that, too?
It's like buying that favorite purse. You know the one. That little clutch that you think will look great with that new outfit you just bought? Oh, forget it! You can't shove enough stuff in it to get through the evening. I mean, really. Let's start with the basic lipstick and compact. Then we move to the much-needed cell phone and car keys (unless you can convince your husband or significant other to carry them in HIS pocket). Heaven forbid you need anything more than that. If you do, you're screwed. You'll just have to leave the breath mints or gum at home. And here I go...talking about never having enough time, and I'm rambling about purses that I refuse to carry anyway.
So, I don't have enough hours in my day, so I've decided to add one more item to my agenda - blogging. Oh, you won't see me posting daily. I can just about guarantee that one. But at least I've joined the land of the online living. Who knows what the future will bring to this new world I'm discovering? I'm about to find out. I don't know what subjects will touch me on any particular day, or what idiot I'll run into on my path through life, so stay tuned to see. I'll do my best to keep you entertained.
ts
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