Inquiring Minds Want to Slap People Around.

Which should have a subtitle of "She Took The Leash off her Brain."

Sorry. It's been raining for four days again and I'm grumpy again tonight.

I want to know from my fellow bloggers, how often do you read through your reader? I mean REALLY visit the bloggers that once upon a time you liked enough to follow or add to your reader.

I honestly try to read through at least twice a day. Now my reader isn't that big and let me tell you why. Because I want to read through it. If you lose my interest I will blip you from my reader and that will be that. I am not afraid to unfollow.

It's not fair to you to have a bajillion followers who never read your stuff. And here's why I feel that way. I have 29 followers on this blog. I think a handful comment regularly. When I check my traffic trackers (yes, I'm spying on you) over half never really come by. Why? Did I suddenly go boring and you decided you didn't want to hurt my feelings by unfollowing? Don't do that! Be real! If I am boring rocks to sleep, feel free to unfollow my beige behind.

And it can't be because I never post new stuff. I post at least once if not twice a day. Except on the weekends. I try to take those off sometimes.

Here's my theory. Blogging is a very narcissistic project. You talk about yourself, your opinions, your "stuff," and to gain traffic you have to promote the fool out of your blog and in essence yourself. I think some people start to become so obsessed with the promotion and in essence themselves that they quick looking around.

Maybe that's why my Show me the Funny doesn't work so well. Because people are only looking at their own stuff for contributions instead of reading and sharing what made them laugh. I have to give a wheelbarrow full of kudos to Jen at TuTu's Bliss because the last two weeks she's been playing Funny with me and she actually links to other people on her blog that make her laugh. She gets it.

So now I ask again. How often are you reading through your reader? Should you even bother adding blogs to it if you're never going to read it?

Maybe I need to add another aspect to my blog - The Weekly Rant. People seem to like to be mad more than they like to laugh. Bet a ranting meme would rock the house. Once again the optimist is trapped in a pessimistic world.

A New Meaning to Black Friday

You didn't think I missed the whole "Stampede Someone to Death for a TV" story from WalMart?

Oh no! My poor father took my rage on that one! You saw it right? A 34 year old temp maintenance employee happened to be the poor chap who opened the doors on Friday. Think that might have been a short straw moment?

It wasn't enough that these crazed maniacs tore the door off the frame! No, they stomped a man to death, knocked down a woman who was eight months pregnant and when other workers tried to help they roughed them up too.

I was shocked and dismayed at this much of the story but then I hit "Read full article." The shoppers complained and refused to leave the store when management tried to close. Are you kidding me? You waited all night by choice. You stomped a man to death. And now you can't stop shopping long enough to let them at least clean up the mess you made? Seriously?

I understand that the economy is tough right now and that no one has a lot of money to spend. I get that sales are important this year. I also understand that some of you are psychotic enough to shop on Black Friday. I get it that Wally World had some good deals.

But you kill a man for a TV! And then you complain because you have to stop shopping! I can't even begin to tell you how enraged I was at the human race Friday evening when this story came up. But I am getting even angrier as I realize that the chances this man's family is going to have any kind of justice is next to nil. They can enhance and study that security tape all they want but the chances that they are going to be able to bring anyone up on charges is next to nothing.

So his children (if he has any) get to look at a tree this year that probably won't have many (if any!) presents under it thanks to funeral costs and their father being gone! They also get to look at an empty seat at the dinner table and a missing stocking over the fireplace. But let's be clear. They won't just do this THIS year. They get to do it every year from here on out.

I hope you enjoy your TV. Perhaps you could send the widow the money you saved. Oh but wait; that would require you to act like a human!

Oh, Mainstream News Media! How I Love Thee!

Just when I think the blog inspiration well has gone dry, you do yet another new piece that just takes me to new levels and places of blogging joy! And for once I'm not going to pick on NBC. This time it's Ms. Sawyer and her network who is going to get my skewer! Ready?

Victoria Secret: Formaldehyde in Bras? So here's the story. A woman is suing VS for a rash that she developed in areas that contact her bra. Testing by her attorney's office has revealed the presence of formaldehyde in the bra; VS disputes that claim. That's the short version.

Now I took the time to actually look at some (not all 193 at last count) of the comments left for ABC on this news story and I am blown away! For two years or more in some of these cases women have been wearing these bras and having these problems. You never thought maybe there was a problem with the bra? You never thought maybe you should change your brand? You are just now putting two and two together because you saw it on the news?

I understand brand loyalty and as a woman I am incredibly aware that finding a bra that fits is a chore and a pain in so many areas other than your behind. But you are more willing to deal with rashes and blistering and SCARRING than you are to go find a new brand of bra? I don't know if you are crazy, lazy or just certifiably nuts!

Do I think VS should launch an investigation and find out what the problem is? Absolutely! Should some kind of restitution be made? Give them a refund on the faulty bras they can return to you and take the rest off the shelves. Pay them some kind of settlement? Not on your stinkin' life! Make people take responsibility for their own stupidity! You wore the bra even though it was giving you a rash! And someone else should pay you?

Well, if that's the case I'm going to go out and walk into a street sign. Then the steel industry needs to pay me for my head trauma! Or maybe the city for putting it somewhere where I could get to it.

And people wonder why children play the blame game when they get in trouble!

Stupid people tick em off! And shame on you Mainstream Media for giving them two minutes to be stupid for the whole world! But keep it up because someday I'll be able to say, "This blog brought to you by the find producers of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC and FOX NEWS!"



http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5195818

I Sent Hate Mail to Target!

And I don't even really hate them!

This was a mess! Don't offer me a multiple child cart if you aren't going to make your aisles wide enough for me to use it. This is exactly why I don't shop at WalMart - because they don't even give me the option. But those fine folks at Target in an effort to capitalize on my demographic (psychotic mother of three under 6) gave me the option.

They just didn't bother to try to operate said carts while they did layout. The main aisles were wide and open - thank you. But then I tried to go between the clothing racks.

First off, the clothes didn't seem to be in any kind of order. Let's put a rack of infant boys here next to a rack of toddler girls. Then a rack of toddler boys next to a clearance rack of women's workout clothes! What in the world! Let's put the girls clothes beside the women's clothes and the girls tights with the men's socks! Holy crap!! Was this put together by a random layout generator?

Then let's see if this lady who didn't have a choice but to bring her three children with her can negotiate this little shop of horrors. We'll stagger the racks so that there aren't any straight lines and she has to constantly turn ninety degree angles. But we'll make it super challenging (because after all this is a Super Target) by making sure that all of the racks are spaced just far enough apart to fit the cart through but not wide enough to turn at all. She will be forced to move in straight lines as if on train tracks while trying to keep her children from pulling everything off the racks which are in their faces because the aisles are so narrow.

For the amusement of our security team who is watching on the monitors in the back, let's make sure that there are at least seven team members who can see her at all times. We won't expect them to talk to her or ask her if she needs help because if she did she could go talk to those four ladies standing at the customer service desk talking about tonight's TV lineup.

Oh and we just HAVE to throw the sample lady into the mix with her double frosted red dye slathered sugar cookies. She'll be a big hit with the three children who are already bouncing up and down in their seats while Mom tries to rummage through 18 mo, 5T, 3T, 24mo (no lie! That was the order!) sweatpants looking for the last 4T.

Do you know that I ended up leaving my cart (with the three children in it) in the main aisle of the store and walking a full 10 yards away to get $6 worth of tights? There is no way I am going back there during Christmas to shop like that if they haven't fixed the problem.

I would expect these kinds of things in the middle of the holiday rush in a store that has been open for years. The associates really don't care at that point. I know that - I worked retail for 5 years right out of college. I get the holiday burn out.

But this store has been open 17 days. That's right people! Just over 2 weeks! You would think that the displays would at least make a little sense. And to those gifted individuals that did the store layout? Get a cart and go shopping in your own store! I mean it! Take 3 of your statues - I mean associates - and put them in a handicap wheelchair cart, behind a regular cart, and behind a multiple child cart and make them walk through the store with you. Or better yet, do it yourself.

In the meantime, you better pray that I don't take those spammers up on their offer to become a secret shopper. I've got your number.

Selfish Vent!

So if you don't want to hear me whine, move on to the next post on your reader.

When I cruise by blogs I try to find something (current or older) to comment on. It may just be a "how funny" or a long thought out comment. But I try to let people know I've been by! It's just a courtesy!

If you have managed to avoid the blogging addiction, you are unaware of the time, energy and effort put into writing things. We bloggers are a sensitive bunch. We know that people are critiquing us and judging our personalities based on what we write. We try to be humorous, informative, inspirational, or whatever our genre lends us to. And to do that day in and day out is tough.

So the next time you pop by a blog, leave some sign that you were there. Your blogger will appreciate it!

I Tried to Avoid it.

I tried very hard not to vent about the gas situation here in Metro Atlanta. I really did. I mean it's been ugly for over a month now and I am just getting to losing my mind so I think I did really well. But now I have had it.

For those of you who have been under a rock, the metro area is out of gas. No not low. Not suffering from incredibly high prices. No we're out. As is none. As in little baggies on all the pumps for a 50 mile radius (possible larger but I was afraid if I did anymore research I would be left). "Why?" you ask?

Because Ike knocked out some refineries. I understand that. But we weren't in this situation during all the chaos of Katrina. We weren't in this situation even when 9/11 happened and everyone panicked. So why are we in this situation now? No really! I'm asking why?

And as if being out isn't enough. When stations DO get shipments, folks pull stunts like I witnessed this morning. There was a line over a mile long which I had waited in for over 30 minutes with The Boy and Munch in the van. I watched a man fill up his SUV AND 5 2 gallon jugs. Now tell me. Why is a man driving and SUV and wearing a tie filling extra cans? Is he a landscaper? Is his wife's car low? I don't know and I really tried very hard not to judge him.

Until the pumps ran out just as I swiped my card to get a measly $15 bucks. Did the Tie really need to FILL UP? Did he really need those extra 10 gallons which would have done me for 2 weeks?

There's my real problem with this whole situation. If you are a commuter I understand, but are you carpooling at all? Have you looked at MARTA (our measley mass transit) if you work down town? Can you make do with less so that everyone can have some? I don't go anywhere so when I can find it I'm not filling up. I'm putting in enough to get me around for a week or two and then I'm going again.

Is this my own fault? Should I stop watching out for everyone and start being selfish like the rest of the world? Maybe. In the meantime I get to pray over my tank everytime I go out to pick Mo up from school (and yes, I should probably put her on the bus but she's only 5!) and subject my two little ones to morning gas raids until we can get anything.

And by the way if you live in a neighboring state that has plenty, could you talk to your lawmakers about sending us some relief? We would appreciate it!

It's Called a What?

Oh, that's right! It's called a dish - WASHER! Silly me!

Now I am not one to lose my mind and rip off a good vent unless someone has pushed me. Well, guess what? That's a hand print in the middle of my back!

After church yesterday I made a dash out to the grocery store with the girls so that I would be able to combine trips. (By the way, don't come to GA if you are looking for gas. We don't have it! Another day for that one.) I called home to see if Beloved wanted something special for lunch while I was out and got the following lecture.

B: No. I'm fine. And that was the end of the call. But no sooner did I put my phone back in my purse than it was ringing again.

B: Can you do something for me?

Me: Oh, you decided what you want?

B: No. I don't want anything. But will you please wash the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher? I'm cleaning up the kitchen (wait for me to pick myself up off the floor) and there are dishes in here with little bits of food all over them.

Me: Are you kidding me? This rhetorical question asked so incredulously was answered with a three minute lecture about how it's hard on the dishwasher to have to clean food off of dishes and how our dishwasher (which is run a minimum of twice a day) is going to start drawing bugs.

The lecture would have lasted longer but I oh so politely excused myself from the conversation (ok, so I hung up on him!) and went about my shopping. Now this has had time to simmer in me and it's getting a little like a bad pot of chili. I keep getting hotter and hotter.

It is called a dish-washer. I put dish detergent in it. The argument is that it only serves to sanitize the dishes. Then why is NO ONE using actual soap and scrubbing on the dishes before they go in? Why am I not buying a sanitizing rinse to put in there instead?

I rinse the dishes before they go in so they are food free. Sure there are specks of ketchup left behind sometimes but it's a dish WASHER! And maybe I would be able to shake it off, but my darling Beloved has found a way to effectively restrain his cleaning urges. Yes, I have said the phrase "lift your feet" to him when vacuuming. So now he suddenly can tell me that I am going about things the wrong way?

Has he avoided eating off of dishes I have loaded in the dishWASHER my way? Nope!

Has he come down with some flesh eating virus he ingested from my dishes? Not yet!

Has the exterminator moved into the playroom? Absolutely not!

So what is the major malfunction? After lunch today I intentionally put a peanut butter covered bowl in the "dish sanitizer" just to get his goat when he gets home from work tonight. Tomorrow it's going to be a plate slathered in mustard and egg stuff. That'll teach him!