nothing to say . . .

today is one of those days. . . you wish you had something witty to say, but there's just nothing. My ability to be verbose is failing me these days. Perhaps I will come back with some vim and vigor soon but for now, there's just nothing.

I have no desire to rant or rave, nor do I have anything on which to pontificate. Not that things are not still out there that drive me nuts, customer service as always being the bane of my existence, but still I have nothing really to say.

It is what it is . . .

Thank you Thank you Thank you.

Usually my blog is all about the ranting and raving of a sometimes negative nature. Trials and tribulations.

This quick post (or not so quick post) is not. I just wanted to put out there-to the universe at large-a HUGE thank you for the gift I was given today!

I have a child who has special needs. I have been blessed by the fact that the needs are not the drastic or life threatening type of special needs, but they are special needs none the less. My child will probably always need a little extra. You do what you can as a parent to prepare children for life as it comes at them at warp speed and but I always wonder am I doing enough?

We have been blessed to finally find a school, a public school, who understands and helps as much as state funding allows.

But we wanted, needed, to do more.

We have been blessed, with a very close friend to our family, who loves my child almost as much as I do. Through that friend we were able to find a private organization that has services that could help to supplement all the good work that is being done at school.

Now, private organizations have to have money just like every other business in order to keep its doors open, but we do not have lots of extra money and these services are not covered by insurance.

And just when you think the opportunity to give you child something potentially great towards their preparation for life is about to slip through your fingers, yet another blessing steps in and says let us help you.

Those who helped know who they are and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity you have afforded my child. We would not have been able to do this without you.

I know who you are and I thank you. It just goes to show that even the baddest day, or the toughest times, or the most stressful situations, if you really need help, it will come. It may take time, but it will come.

Okay enough sappy stuff, negativity will resume in next post :-).

Sisters of Size Unite!

Okay people here's my gripe for today....for what it's worth.

Here, in these United States of America, land of the free to eat whatever the heck you want and live with the consequences, home of the brave enough to accept the fact that you are fat or large or obese and still hold your head up high as you walk down the streets and are criticized silently or out loud for the extra weight you carry and how you dress your bulk, there is a new show called More to love.

Okay I get it, we're reality TV addicts over here, so coming up with new and exciting shows about the dysfunction of the human populace sometimes is difficult to do. But some brilliant person decided that this year, this year is the year of the Large and in Charge. There are two new shows (one reality and one not) actually that specifically target the larger portion of the population (and I mean that as size and in numbers of humans...you skinny people are becoming out numbered). The one mentioned above - which I will get to in a moment - and the second, called Drop Dead Diva.

Now, this DDD show, I find this one to be interesting and irritating all at the same time. I get the premise, skinny self righteous shallow girl dies and comes back as fatty, kind but hugely underestimated and mocked plus size girl. I realize the story line deals with the issues that touch some of today's larger women:

how some feel they are really skinny women trapped in large size human suits;

the issue of how larger women are penalized in the world for not being sexy, or pleasing to the eye as our counterparts (skinny women, or at least women who don't completely tip the scales);

how large women feel so pressed to diet and exercise, not just so we'll be healthier and live longer, but because if we don't try to conform we won't get very far in a world that is largely based on packaging.

How truly it is all about packaging. The typical stereotypes are played, pretty but not skinny, great personality but to big to even talk to, let alone find out that there is a person in side there, clothes that are made to hide the human and create a blend in with your surroundings state so you won't be noticed and the generalities that always follow larger size women.

Now, not to be one sided, the poor skinny women stereotypes are being explored - exploited you choose- too:

the beautiful but dumb;

the stand there and look pretty but please don't open your mouth and ruin it;

the self centered it's all about me.

I'd probably have more skinny women stereotypes to gripe about so this isn't so one sided if I wasn't a large girl, but this is the best I can do.

But here is the rub. It's fictional, fake, a story to be told. These people are telling a story. They are using the story to try and address real issues in today's society, but it is fake. No humans are being exploited for the television viewers. This is where my rant really comes in....I know, then what was all that ranting before, just wait.

Last night, for one of the few times in my life, I felt humiliated, not for myself, but for the women who are on More to love a new reality show based on the same premise as The Bachelor and the Bachelorette.

I have to be honest, I tuned in only because a friend told me it was on and I had to watch the car wreck this show seemed to be heading towards. I was prepared for some variation of a chubby chasers dream date type set up, but this was just sad. On other shows of this ilk, they put demographics for the women/men who are involved on the bottom of the screen, for example Brad from LaBrea CA Age 35.

Okay not an issue - but these women on this show were titled like this:

Melissa, Age 29 from Dallas Texas, 5/5" 220lbs.

REALLY, REALLY folks....we HAD to include their height and weight in their titles??? WHY - they are large women, anyone with eyes could see that, they were wearing dresses that ASSURED you'd know how large they were - side note, if they are happy and feel comfortable in what they were wearing more power to them! - I'd hate to think the show had them dress that way just to add to the hype - but did you really have to put in their height and weight. I'm sure those women are self assured and happy with who they are, heck they may not even care that their weight and height were included in the title but again - the other shows - of the same premise, people looking for love on national television because OF COURSE that's the way to find love, don't include height and weight in their titles ...why I wonder....BECAUSE IT'S NOT FREAKING RELEVANT!!

I understand the show is called More to love, and truly I applaud these women for letting it all hang out there for the American public to watch, dissect and be entertained by, but really how much exploitation is too much.

Now, you may say, but wait you don't have an issue with or have not expressed an issue with these other shows and their exploitation of their contestants, so is this just because you're fat and unhappy? No, this is just, at the moment, the last straw for me. Listening to these women talk about why they were there and what they were trying to achieve while reading that they were so and so from where ever, at whatever height and tipping the scales at whatever weight was just the last straw. AND you could see, maybe it was acting maybe it wasn't, I'll never know, but you could see that a lot of these women were broke, heartsick, tired and broken. And did I mention broken?

Have we come so low that we must exploit these women and men in order to find satisfaction with ourselves and our own lives. Why must the larger women be singled out by their height and weight when their counter parts on very similar shows never were and why in heck would they allow it?

Okay I think that's all for now. This blog is long enough.

OH...and for those of you who really know me..

I am moved into the new place.

Still chaos- getting settled and getting comfortable with new people and experiences - you'd think we moved far far away - in reality we're five minutes from where we started but hey, we're moved and it's done.

Thank you to all who helped physically and mentally, hopefully this is the beginning of a beautiful and stable new chapter.

wow has it really been . . .

so long between posts. Goodness no wonder why I have no followers...to much time in between entertaining blogs...oh well.

So what shall we discuss - or what shall I rant about today - either way you, the blog reader, are going to be subject to my whim - unless of course you click on to the next blog, but you'll be sorry if you do that....you'll miss what ever snarky comments I have to make today.

I think I shall ponder this - why is it that people will call, trying to get a hold of you - an assumption on my part, but if they are calling does that not in essence mean they want to speak to you? - and when you don't answer - for whatever reason IE screening, busy, bathroom...whatever - why, do they not leave a message?

I find that this happens most often with men. Men will call, but they won't speak to the machine. If you don't answer they don't leave a message. Generally, I would say okay and leave it at that. But here's where my issue comes into play. When I have missed said call, and no message has been left, then I don't - generally - call back.

Now there are exceptions, the elderly, the challenged, the child - those I will call back whether they leave a message or not because I know that if they don't get me on one number they will continue to cycle through the list of numbers that they have for me until they reach me, and will eventually figure I'm dead in a ditch if I'm not answering their call, they will panic -police will then be called and chaos will reign (okay so maybe not that drastic but you other moms/daughters know what I mean). So, I try to save them the trouble and call them back.

But when an able bodied person - males, mostly but let's not be sexist I suppose women do it too - chooses to call me and not leave a message AND THEN give me grief for not calling them back, well that folks is where my rant lies, lays, lies...whatever.

If you can't be bothered to leave me a message, I can't be bothered to call you back. Harsh, cruel even, but the truth. For the most part anyway.

Thank you for reading, as always comment or don't it's up to you - but banter is always accepted.

A word on Obsessive Compulsion

Ok, a few words about obsessive compulsion, or what I suppose to be obsessive compulsion.

I have hang ups, that I think are just like the rest of the world, which in hindsight may not be. When salt is spilt, and I'm there -whether I did it or not - a pinch must be tossed over ones right shoulder.

When thinking or speaking thoughts that are nerve wracking or something that one would "knock on wood" as superstition states for fear of them coming to fruition I MUST knock on wood even substituting my own feeble noggin for the wood...ha ha...you have my permission laugh, those of you who know me to be thick headed - the rest of you do not know me well enough to laugh so you can stop now, just kidding.

I can not read books out of order, the older I get the harder this is for me. I like to start at the beginning. That's it that's where you are supposed to start. Also, with books, I can not read the end no matter how much I try before I read the WHOLE thing. Even if I get a book that I don't particularly enjoy- if I've started it more than likely I HAVE to finish it even if having to read it a bit at a time over months.

When channel surfing I feel ill at ease when not starting at channel 2 and going up from there. I do this with music too....The IPOD Shuffle has been heck on my psyche.

I constantly worry about Karma and when saying or even thinking bad thoughts I fight myself because I worry about the Karmic repercussions.

There are times, more often as I get older, when I get a CD, for example my new favorite We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things by Jason Mraz, I must listen to it over, and over, and over, and over, and over again ...now this isn't totally as I've gotten older, my grandfather, bless his heart, when I was little, threw an audio cassette tape of the musical Annie out of the car window because if he had to listen to it again he was going to tear what precious little hair he had left out.

I do the same thing with movies I enjoy. I don't mean like normal people who watch a movie they like a couple of times over a year.... I currently have like 6 movies on rotation that the love of my life is forced to watch over and over and over again.

Also, with movies and music I tend to have the need to KNOW the words so much so that I can repeat them to the music or the movie, much to many peoples dismay. It doesn't make me a good movie partner sometimes especially if it's been a favorite. I could drive the Pope mad with my movie chatter.

To me these things and others seem to be comforting...I wonder why that is? Am I crazy or am I just as neurotic as the rest of the world, just in my own little ways? Ponder.....

****special thanks to Disney, Pixar or whoever the heck owns Scrat.....he looks how I feel sometimes!

to do over or not to do over that is the question!

Today has been one of those days where you wonder....what ever happened to do overs? When we were younger - or maybe I shouldn't speak for everyone, when I was younger I remember do overs.

A bad pitch in softball practice, do over....a rough start to a game of tag....do over.....a messed up art project... do over. You know do overs...what ever happened to those. Is it just another thing we loose as we grow up and get responsible. Or is it simply as an adult who would want to do this stuff over.

It's been a day, in case you can't tell. And the more I think about it, the more I'm glad I don't have do overs. Cause days like this where you are way more the bug then the windshield call for simply being over. The day is done and so am I.

And to think, I remember I couldn't wait to grow up. Such an adventure. Don't get me wrong somethings are totally worth growing up for, but there are days where I wonder what the heck was I thinking.

The "practice" of medicine....

So this weekend my son, jewel of my life, spiked a fever. When I say spiked I mean he went to bed fine on Friday no inclination that he wasn't feeling well and then BOOM he woke up on Saturday morning with a temp. Now, I'm told by the people who "practice" medicine that 99-104 isn't really anything to worry about. So, we went about our day after giving him Tylenol and waited to see what would happen. This boy almost never gets sick. He's the healthier of my two, so I was concerned with the fever but waited. By the evening his temp after three doses of Tylenol over the day was still 101.5. I called our "health professionals" and was told he needed to go to urgent care or the ER. So off to the ER we go as all the urgent cares around me closed at 4pm and it was now 6pm.

At the hospital things proceeded in a "practiced" fashion. My son's temperature was taken at triage and the first time she took it it registered 98.4 degrees. I had just taken his temp before we left the house and it was 101.5 there was NO way in 1/2 an hour it had gone down that much. So, the nurse took it again this time using an under the tongue thermometer and it registered at 102. Just slightly higher...right! Any way moving on...

We go to see a nurse to be triage yet again. I am told that the fever of 102 is really nothing to worry about and that we would still see the doctor, but there really wasn't anything wrong with him. 102 fever and NOTHING is wrong...I so don't think so, but again I am reminded to be calm and that a fever is a fever. It means the body is fighting something but its not that bad till 104.

We get in to the doctor. She decides to test for flu and strep and asks me if he's been given anything since we got there. Nope they didn't give him anything in the two hours we've been here. Huh, she says well let's take his temp and give him some Motrin. 103. So the fever is not going down. She wants to break the fever, do the tests and see where we're at. Temp in an hour 104. Temp in two hours 104.5. No flu, No strep, but there's a 10% error rate with the flu test and a 3-5% error with the strep. Lets check his white cells and see if we can find an infection. White cell test and Tylenol at three hours from the Motrin. An hour after that the fever goes down to 103. An hour after that we get down to 101.9. White Cells are fine, no infection. So, what does that mean? Could be a virus......but we can't test or do anything for that.

Yeah for the "practice" of medicine.

As a side note whatever it is or isn't I have, my dad has and my daughter now appears to have. We are all down for the count with fevers and other issues....but hey we'll "practice" at being sick so the professionals can "practice" at medicine.

Please excuse the harshness of this post but I am really sick with this nonexistent whatever.

Times they are confusing.

I find myself in a spot of contemplation. I'm not sure why or what provoked this un-natural state but here I am. What is the blogger droning about now you may ask. Well if I knew you'd know :-) . . . here's list of what it might be for those interested:

Moving - again. I am SO lucky. I feel for my poor children, but alas it is inevitable. I along with many many MANY others have made questionable choices during the "boom" and now find myself, and my loved ones, paying for it. Does this make me a bad person? Does it make me a good person who made bad choices? Does it really matter? Is it one of those situations where "It is what it is" fits perfectly and one should not dwell, but move forward with vim and vigor? Or should one dwell so as to not make repeated mistakes again? Is it genetic? Is it learned? What is it? Does it matter? We are healthy (relatively), happy (I hope), fed, clothed, housed (moving but can afford to put a roof over our heads) and working. Perhaps with all those blessings the rest is just that. The rest.

Sharing information - what does that mean. Well, I am a very paranoid individual, I think mostly due to the work I preform or the overly cautious nature of my being. I worry that too much personal information may or may not go out via sites that I choose to belong too. I wish to share with family who are far away, and with friends who are close by, but how much is too much and how much is safe or not safe. IE, pictures of my children, do I post them do I not post them? Is it safe to post them, is it crazy to think anything is "safe" via the world wide web and freedom of surfing the Internet? How paranoid is too paranoid? Also, my beloved (or not) blog. How many do I share it with? Do I want send it to others be them friend, family or foe? Or do I keep it un-published to them and if they stumble upon it great and if they don't then they don't? Can I do that? Keep it to myself that is? I have a hard time keeping anything to myself, especially if it's something I enjoy? But if I were to get criticism on what I blog, would that then cause me to not blog, OR would I not care as I have to let go some time right?

Okay enough list for now. Criticism is welcome, as it's the only way to grow. Advice, also welcome, maybe not followed but always welcome!

awe geeesss...so much for a graceful return

okay so here we go again. I have finally procured the tools needed to enable my blogging lazieness to become something of an historical hiccup if you will....does that even make any sense.

Let's try again. I am now the proud owner of a laptop that functions! I can now wirelessly access stuff and sites and things.

How exciting is that? Pretty exciting I guess as I am sitting here with eyes closing from exhaustion at 0021 hours typing out to my long neglected blog.

And I'm trying to decide if I want to share it with others who know me or let it remain obscure ...I mean really who, other than me, wants to hear me blather on about nonsense....well I don't even really want to hear it- but hey, I have to listen to me...don't I?

good night blog world hopefully I'll return with something wittier or more insightful (or something that makes more sense) tomorrow!

a graceful return...

I have been away from my blog as I have been "invaded" for the last two weeks. My wonderful sister and niece have been in for a visit and we've been busy with them and then another friend who flew in to join my sister and niece so we've been doing whirlwind visiting! It's always so much fun and hugely enlightening to see my world through their eyes. Things I have come to take for granted and things I have forgotten about are always brought right up front when they come. The grandeur of the desert we live in, as opposed to it just being dry sand, the actual laid back attitude of the population out here and I am saddened to say the much better customer service (or at least pleasantness of the people doing the customer service) out here as opposed to the sad state of customer service on the east coast. After having them here to visit the bad stuff doesn't seem as bad here once I'm reminded of what it was like back there! But then again they were on vacation so ....maybe a bit of rose color to those visions of loveliness out here?

Unfortunately, my return to the blog is due to their having left today to go home :-(. We are a saddened house hold but we look forward as always to the visit we will have with them hopefully next year on their turf (which would mean a return to the east coast for me which would be SOOOO cool and the first visit that my children would actually remember to where mommy comes from!)

So, I close this little blurb- happy for having gotten to spend time with my long lost love ones, for the new friend made from his joining my sister on her journey out here, for the joy they have brought my whole family (my littlest misses her auntie and cousin already) and for the "newer" look at the area I have come to call home.

See ya next year!

"The Happiest Place on Earth"

No silly, not the mouse's house...but an adult establishment (kid friendly..don't get dirty on me people) that causes close to the same euphoria for adults that children feel upon entering the Magic Kingdom.

For those of you who don't know me, I am not a pretty picture without coffee. For those who do know me, I hear ya, I'm not a pretty picture with coffee either...and aren't you people cute(you know who you are)! Anyway, on with the purpose of this little jaunt in to the my casual caffeinated mind.

I love coffee, and more importantly I crave coffee most days. I enjoy my mass market chain store along with the rest of the lemmings, but as with the rest of the lemmings I become more and more disenchanted as time goes on and prices go up.

I also have a lot of trouble with the lack of good customer service, I know I know that's a shocking revelation for some (who obviously haven't read this blog, or had the privilege of listening to my diatribe in person). So, why the long intro....who knows.

There is a place, a place I've been going to for about two years on and off that I LOVE. They have the best coffee, the best baked goods, and more importantly the BEST attitude when it comes to customer service. That place is LUX! If you love coffee, kind people, and great goodies THIS is the place to go! Jeff and Tara own/run the place (I think) and they are the kindest sweetest people. They SINGLE HANDEDLY restore my faith in the human race on a regular basis. No matter how long I've been away, or how often I go in, I never cease to be amazed at the wonderful people who work there and how welcome they make everyone feel, from the first timers to the old timers.

Because of their greatness I will do whatever I can to promote and support them! They deserve your patronage. I have included their website in my post here http://www.luxcoffee.com/ and if you feel like visiting great and if you don't GREAT, because while I support them and want them to do well, the less people there, the happier I'd be because I want to keep it all to myself! But that wouldn't be fair to Jeff and Tara and they deserve all good and wonderful things for continuing to restore what little faith I have in humanity.

As always, thanks for reading!

PS-I love this picture and I don't think it's copyrighted so I think I'm okay...if I'm not please let me know so I can mea culpa and remove it! Thanks

Irregardless . . . and other such nonsense

People, people I beg you...if you're going to murder the English language then at least please hail from a foreign country so that you have a clear and logical excuse (an accent might not be bad either...we tend to forgive almost anyone with an accent) to have the poor grammar that you use so flagrantly in public.

IRREGARDLESS is not a word!!! I repeat NOT A WORD...so don't use it! You do not enhance regardless...you just don't do it.

To quote a favorite passage from a favorite movie, "INCONCEIVABLE!" which is responded to with "I do not think that word means what you think it means."

Thank you for your time.
The grammar deficient management.

Do you want a BAG with that???**!!

My family loves me dearly, at least I'd like to continue living under that delusion. A long LONG time ago, in a town far FAR away, I had a summer job that entailed A LOT of customer service. This job was my first real foray out into the working world and for this casual mind it was a great adventure.

That being said it was an education as well. I learned that from that first fateful job that I WAS NOT cut out to do any sort of direct customer service. My attitude was far from congenial and my patience, even at that young age, was not enough for me to be able to deal with the general public and their never ending needs, "can I have bag with that, you didn't give me the right change, are there any fresh baguettes (said while standing in front of a basket FULL of warm steaming fresh baguettes), or is this Organic Raspberry Jam organic (I kid you not the jar said organic, but perhaps this "out of Towner" just thought we were pulling one over on her ....or she simply couldn't be bothered to read, I'll let you decide)" completely illustrated that I, me, personally was not cut out for customer service.

The title of this blog were the very words I uttered to my family, who I love mind you, one day when they came in to - poke the tiger as it were- see me in action at my first job. My fate was sealed and I will NEVER live that statement down. Now, in hindsight, I find it an amusing quirky story.

But that leads me into one of my every favorite gripes - If you don't have the talent or desire to do customer service then -PLEASE- do us all a favor and DON'T.

On Friday evening, I went rushing eagerly out to a local store. I was trying to get to them before they closed and knew that I would be pushing the time pretty close, but in today's economy, I thought hey, perhaps they'll be okay with me asking some questions even if I run over their closing time just a tad.

I get to said store and am greeted by the greeter, a young bubbly little girl with a smile and a headset. I am informed before I even set foot in the door, "you are aware we close at 8pm and it is now 5 mins till 8. We will be open again tomorrow for your shopping enjoyment, but if you have any real shopping to do you probably shouldn't come in now"

....I pause for effect here.....let that sink in a bit....okay.....good.....

so here's what I'm thinking at that moment, "um, hello, I'm a CUSTOMER, I have questions in regards to purchasing something from your overpriced and expensive store, I indicated to you that I wanted to make a large purchase but had a few questions to go with that and in today's economy where you can't get people to take some of these higher priced things FOR FREE, you - the CUSTOMER SERVICE REP for this establishment is saying please, take your money and leave and if you so desire to make a purchase, come back when it's more convenient for ME."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????

Sorry for all the caps but this really got me irritated on Friday and as I write about it now I'm getting all worked up all over again! What did I say to the bubbly little girl at the door.....I'm ashamed....I said, "uh, gee, okay, uh thanks?" Yup that's it folks that's all she got from me.......

Now do you see why I need a blog!

Casual Friday - the conspiracy

So, it's Friday and that for me my friends means - CASUAL FRIDAY!!! woo hoo! I know, I know, I get so excited over the little things (yes - all the little things) any who, it's my dungaree day (for those unschooled that means denim or jeans) and I couldn't be happier. My Fridays start off SOOO much faster when I get to wear "the jeans". Some how going to work doesn't nearly as dreary. There's more of a bounce in my step, swing in my ponytail and smile on my face. Now, if only I could go to work EVERYDAY in casual wear (to go along with my casual mind LOL).

There are those of you who look down on casual Fridays and you know who you are! I hear you when you say things like "Boy I'm glad I work where I do, they don't allow casual days so I don't have to see you poorly dressed urchins." But what you're really saying is "DANG, I wish I could wear my jeans to work, stupid office doesn't allow casual day, arg..grrr...grump...rrrrr..."

So to you and all my potential readers I say.......HAPPY FRIDAY!!! and thank goodness for Casual days!

**PS- the monkey is just cool so I thought he'd be a good "Oh no you didn't..." picture to post with this entry! The picture is in no way meant to represent the blogger, the readers or the above mentioned casual day denial person.

*Side Note to possible readers (if there are any)

Please forgive my lack of commas, possible run on sentences or incorrect grammar or word usage. This is a blog, or more accurately my blog. As the title states it's ranting and raving from a casual mind. Therefore if you're looking for prim and proper it more than likely won't show up here.

That being said, probably only people I know will read these and thus this note is superfluous as they all know my mind is terribly casual!

I'm writing for fun, mine and hopefully yours. I do hope that my posts are enjoyable and if they aren't, well they're mine and that's all I can say about that!

You are invited to comment, you are invited to tell others if you find me interesting, you are invited to email if you have ideas you'd like me to post on, otherwise you are stuck with whatever drivel comes forth from the casual wanderings of my weary but sometimes excitable mind.

***I have no idea where this photo came from but it ALWAYS makes me laugh. I sincerely and genuinely give credit to who ever created it and thank them for letting me post it here.***

Here comes the heat...

but it's a dry heat. If you don't live in this desert metropolis but know people who do, or if you do live here and are just trying to cope with what you know must be one of the rings of the underworld (that would be July, August and early September for sure) then you've uttered or heard uttered those very words often.

Today we will top out at 90 ish the local weather persons say. Around 1sih today while out and about the temperatures were 88 & 89, and as I turned on the air conditioning in the car I wondered, would I be any happier elsewhere? No probably not. I would more than likely cripe about the rain, snow, sleet, hail, humidity or other weather that is offered up in different locales, so it seems it may not be the weather per say just my need to gripe (cripe, or other words I use normally but will not assault the reader with here)

Is it really that bad to have 90 degree weather in April? Well, I believe yes it is! 90 degree weather now only gives us a foreboding sense of defeat as desert dwellers and the most certain knowledge that the short but beautiful period of pleasant weather may be at an end even earlier this year then last. Is it really time already for the pleasant little chill to be gone in the mornings replaced with the heat that most of the country gets at their highs during the day and that causes us to use a light sweater when walking to the car in the morning knowing that by 9am we will have removed the cursed sweater and have already started dripping with heat, causing us to long for a shower by 1030am???

but then again it's a dry heat, right?

A brand new day . . . or not

A friend commented just the other day that perhaps I should finally venture forth into the world of blogging. Not a new concept to me as I currently thoroughly enjoy blogs of others that are posted in this fabulous forum. However - I have never thought that my ramblings would or could be of any interest to others. But, alas, society and it's never ceasing ability to make me want to pontificate and has driven me here to unload. Perhaps this will continue, perhaps not who's to say - um, that would be me I guess.

So why today, you the reader may be asking, I say why not today! It's a day just like any other, why should today be any different...well it's not different and that, dear readers (if there are any who venture to this blog), is what saddens me.

I am not quite old enough - I think- to make this type of statement, but I must. You see I remember when (key old time theme musak in the background) customer service was a point of pride, ney, a staunch facet of working with the public. When you, the customer, were treated with kindness, respect and, dare I say, a reverence that screamed - You are our customer, without you we would have no reason to be here, we are here to make your day more pleasant and to SERVE you our customer, thank you for choosing to spend your hard earned money here as opposed to our competitor across the street!

Unfortunately today seems to be just another one of those endless days that reminds me, even during these tough economic times, when money is scarce and every penny (customer) counts, that nobody cares!! Shop here if you want, don't shop here if you don't want, we don't care. You, the individual, the customer, you don't count at all! If you feel you must shop here please don't expect us to serve you, the customer, instead let us make sure we emanate disgust and put upon-ness (I made it up, but you know what it's my blog so there!) so that we insure you will never want to frequent our establishment again, because we laugh at your money - Ha Ha Ha - we don't need your money, we just have our establishment here as a hoax! We're not here to serve customers, in truth we are here merely as a cover operation for some other dastardly plot involving other life forms! You gullible humans, we shall one day rule you!! - or something like that.

Huh, and here I thought it was just me.