Men behaving badly...yet again...

Okay, some senator from New York, two-term representative Christopher Lee, just announced that he was resigning his post because it was discovered he posted pictures of himself on Craigslist to solicit...well, you figure it out!  Regardless, WHAT WAS HE THINKING???

In today's overabundance of "social media" why are people using it, whom we would think have half a brain???!!  This guy's a millionaire.  How'd he get that way?  Inherit it?  Because if he's heading a Fortune 500 Company, and acting this way...sheesh...

Brett Favre would be another example.  It's never been "proven" (to me anyway) that he sent sexually-oriented pictures to someone via his phone, but again, if it's true, ...WHAT WAS HE THINKING???

This is not limited to men, re: Paris Hilton and the sex tape.  Is she (or I guess she was) that dumb not to think it just MIGHT get released by her less-than-scrupulous bed partner?  WHAT WAS SHE THINKING???

You're all in the public eye.  You're successful people.  Your lives are the envy of many of us.  What more do you want?  Try getting a REAL life,  and not an articifial, superficial one, via the web,  this Day 85!

Definition of classy??? *&^%$ no!!!

I just finished watching, or rather over-hearing, some sort of reality TV show about Beverly Hills Housewives?  I wasn't paying close attention because I'm in the process of sewing up some quilt pieces.  It's snowing, yet again, and I'm rather house-bound, so this passes the time.  The TV is on just for background noise.

That being said, there was a party at one of the wives' houses.  One of the gals started swearing up a blue streak (all bleeped, so I'm unsure what she said), probably would put the proverbial soldier to shame, threw over a dinner table, and stormed out. 

Then the camera catches her in a more private place, and she says "...I'm a very classy woman!  I'm Italian, and we have tempers!" 

Oh yes, that tirade was OH so classy!  I'm sure women all over the world, hey, maybe even Queen Elizabeth talks like that when she gets mad at one of her servants.  Michelle Obama probably spouts off like that.  Dontcha think?  PROBABLY NOT!!!

Oh wait, they're not Italian.    I think this puts all the Italians in a bad light also!  Wonder if all the Irish are mad because they got displaced as "people with tempers."  Or the red heads..again, "people with tempers."

I think it's hard to respect someone who cannot speak in full sentences without some sort of curse word, especially in front of "the world" (remember this is reality TV) and the fact that there were children present.  Oh yeah, I forgot that fact.  Again...classy...right?

Is Reality TV is just giving us TMI (too much information) on this Day 84!

Cairo and more...pleasant diversion???

Should I say "thank God for the unrest in Egypt?"  Probably not, as people are getting hurt, but...at least it keeps our own political brouhaha out of the news! 

I am SO sick of hearing about the past election, the next election, the future elections.  As soon as there's an election and the results are posted, the news is all about what the political parties need to do to win the NEXT election.  How about  dealing with the issues at hand?  Is anyone doing that?  Or are they just looking into such things as they pertain to if they, or their party, will or will not get re-elected next time around.  They'll even use unrest in Egypt as a reason to be elected, or not...  The biggest problem I have with Egypt is that everyone wants to know what and how our president feels about it.    We have enough problems here without trying to solve world problems with countries that may or may not have much more wealth than us!  I don't know what their GNP is, but they are an oil producing company...nuf sed there...

 SHEESH!!!  It's none of our business.  I say, let them sort it out in Egypt.

I feel sorry for the Egyptian people having to endure all this unrest, that puts their lives and livelihood at risk.  I hope they get the problems resolved, in a way that benefits all of them, regardless of race, religion, or sex.  But we are NOT the ones to tell them how to live their lives.  We have enough to do, here in the states, and NOT on how to get reelected...on this Day 83!

How cheap can Wal Mart get???

...and I'm NOT talking prices either!!!

I just heard, from a former employee, that Wal Mart is going to phase out profit sharing.  Well, not completely.  If an employee wants to put some money in a 401k, Wal Mart will match some of the funds.  But they are not going to automatically start a 401k, or retirement fund for an employee, as they had in the past.

Since the majority of Wal Mart employees live from paycheck to paycheck, they surely won't be putting much, if any money, in a 401k.  So any retirement will probably be in the form of social security, which has it own limitations.   Wal Mart saves billions!

Not exactly the way Sam saw it.  Again, memories of one of Sam's tenets fades fast!  He wanted to "share the wealth" with the employees.  When Wal Mart first went public (i.e. traded on the NYSE) and you were employed at the time, your retirement benefits became huge.  Wal Mart shares split several times, and people were retiring millionaires!!    Now the only millionaires are the CEO, CFO, COO, and other "titled" people.  And they get those millions, and millions more, year after year after year...

Wal Mart used to give out merit raises too.  Now they're loathe to pay minimum wage, and they've capped the salaries of the employees!  Therefore, if you work there long enough, you may never get another raise!  Now there's incentive!  NOT! 

Of course they will say "You can always opt for management."  Oh sure, everyone who walks through the doors is management material and/or wants that headache.

Oh yeah, they do community service; thay say they want to be environmentally friendly; they don't want to go where they're not wanted (remember that battlefield in Virginia?) etc, etc.   They talk the talk, but do they really walk the walk?

I'm taking more and more of my business elsewhere.  Other stores are becoming more and more competitive, AND they have better customer service, because they have MORE PEOPLE WORKING at any given time.  Ever notice how you can walk all through a Wal Mart and not find someone to give you a hand? 

True, no one's forced to work at Wal Mart.  And as long as they have the kind of turnover, which correlates to cheaper wages (i.e. no raises), and/or quality of help they seem to be leaning towards, they can continue their quest to conquer the consumer world, but not with all my dollars any more, and hopefully fewer of yours...on this Day 82!

Super Bowl... or was it Souper Bowl?

WOW...although I'm a BEARS fan, I did root for Green Bay, as we have friends who are huge Green Bay fans, and rather than argue the point, we root for whomever is on top at the time.  The game itself was interesting, and entertaining,  with a few nail biting moments.

Soup to nuts though, the ads, on the other hand...lacked the quality of previous years, IMHO (in my humble opinion.)  I really enjoyed the Audi ad, at the beginning, but it may have been a bit too high brow for most people.  It was a take-off on a jail break, at a rather upscale jail. When the jailer saw what was going on, and said "Send the hounds..." to get the escapees, the hounds proved to be Afghan Hounds.  Not exactly the dobermans we probably thought were coming!   I did get the gist of the ad though, and knew it was touting the Audi automobile.  Maybe because my brother owns one.

I also enjoyed Joan Rivers coming out as the next Go Daddy "spokesgirl" opposite Danica Patrick and Jillian Michaels and thought we might see more of that commercial, or different versions, perhaps like installments on Joan's progress. 

That being said, the absolute best ad I saw, never made it to TV.  It seems Pepsi and Frito Lay had a contest for amateurs to come up with a Super Bowl ad.  The ad selected concerned a church asking its congregation to come for free chips and pepsi.  These were handed in at a "communion-type" setting.  The church was generic, and the servers were generic...no particular religion was indicated.   From all the comments I read, on the interenet, this was a very popular ad, but it did not air during the Super Bowl because the powers that be thought it might offend some people. 

I did read, I believe, that the "winner" got their fair share of the prize money that should have/would have gone to this ad.

But the losers, are the millions of fans, who were held to mediocre ads, and probably would have loved to see this ad.  We can always good a good laugh, and this would have provided one.  And maybe garnered a few more liturgical fans who are always looking for ways to increase their flock!

Besides the game, we were all looking forward to seeing really meaty, tasty, full-menu gournet ads, but instead we got soup, plain old soup, watered down soup, to be sure...on Day 82!

Gotta gun?

If not, why not?  The headlines these days make you think everyone has one, or should have one, just in case...  Now they're even espousing carrying guns on campuses, and into classrooms...

You never know when you're going to be a the Mall and there's gonna be a madman shooting.  So, you should be able to shoot back.  Right?  If you hit a few innocent (or non-gun toting) bytstanders, well, you were just protecting yourself.  Right? 

How about just teaching some respect for human life?  How about stopping the violence depicted in video games?  In music videos?  In school?  How about spreading trust, respect, admiration, love? 

Nah, it's easier to sell guns and ammunition.  More profitable too.  So to hell with you, and excuse me while I ignore common sense, and stock up on 22 shells...this Day 81!

What happened to good old aspirin???

Not all that many years ago, if you had a wisdon tooth pulled, you were given a prescription for extra-strength tylenol.  Or excedrin.    Before the advent of tylenol, we used aspirin to control pain.   Now if you get a hang nail, physicians seem to want to prescribe oxycontin.  And all we hear about in the news is how addicting it is.  So who's getting paid off to prescribe this drug?  The doctors and drug companies would appear to be in cahoots, in a big way!

I have a bad knee.  I finally went to the doctor and got a prescription for something other than over-the-counter ibuprofen, or naproxen.  I got hydrocodone.  NOT what I was expecting.  I used it, with little success, and let the doctor know.  I then got some extra-strength naproxen.  Works well enough, but I can get the same pain-free advantage with extra-strength excedrin, so I use that instead.   It's cheaper, and I'm not interested in having a bunch of prescription pill bottles around.

Every single person I talk to, who volunteers the information that they got some pain pills from the doctor (for whatever reason), they get oxycontin.  And almost every one I talk to (again, the information is volunteered) say they get "funny feelings" when using this stuff.  But they keep taking it!  With the exception of one person who said he just took "tylenol" (surprise, surprise) to get rid of the pain (of a wisdom tooth extraction.)  The oxy made him feel itchy; I guess a common side effect.

Do you wonder why you or your child is addicted?  Ask the doctor who prescribed the oxy!   Glad to say I could pass ANY drug test on this Day 80!