Just enjoying good service . . .

Here's a joke my Dad sent to me the other day. Having lived with a toddler in the recent past, it struck me as hilarious. My husband? Not so much.

Okay, here is one of the stories my mother used to tell about me when I was just a toddler. (I am the youngest of a large family.) One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me and my brother who is four years older than I am. I was maybe a year and a half old and had just recovered from an accident in which my arm had been broken among other injuries. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys.

Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news and my brother was playing nearby in the living room when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea' - which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home.

My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was "just the cutest thing!!" My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy.

She watched him drink it up and then said, "Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet??"

Look out for the Looky-Loos

There are several things that remind me that it is once again election time around here but nothing so much as the boneheads who continually drive past our humble abode looking to see what they can see about where we live and what we have.

We live on a dead end road so we always get the two-fer deal. Drive by once, you gotta drive by twice to get out.

You'd think people would have better things to do with their time.

*sigh*

Beware the disgruntled customer letter-writer!!

We are in the process of redecorating our offices at work and, being the person in charge, I took a day off to travel to the city for some furniture shopping. We need a conference room table with several chairs, we need some guest chairs for the individual offices, and we need two really nice chairs for our reception room.

I put together a short list of all the best clearance and outlet locations so that I could use my one day wisely and, hopefully, successfully.

I started out yesterday at about 9am and by 1pm I had everything I was looking for except the two chairs for the reception room. I had seen a couple of nice riveted leather chairs earlier in the day but it was one of those "What if I find something I like better?" situations. But by the time I had visited all the stores on my list, I had not found anything better so I went back to make a deal on the two riveted leather chairs.

Keep in mind that this store is basically the scratch and dent dumpyard for a local furniture chain. And if you get lucky and have a little initiative, you can find great deals on furniture that requires minimal repair. Or can be strategically placed so that no one ever sees the damage.

Okay, so I go back to the store looking to make a deal on the two chairs. They were marked $244 each. One of them had a leg that would need to be removed, repaired, and re-attached. So I asked the salesman if he would take $400 for the pair. He told me that he couldn't make that call but I could speak to the store manager. So I go over to the manager's desk and say, "You have two chairs over there marked $244 each. Would you be willing to take $400 for both of them?"

Here's the part that tee-totally pisses me straight off:

He just looks at me.
Smirks a little.
Shakes his head.

Me: "Sooooooooooo, you're not interested in making a deal?"

Looks at me.
Shakes his head.

WTF?!!?!?!!! HE DIDN"T EVEN SPEAK WORDS TO ME! As if I am so dim that shaking his head is the only form of communication that I will understand.

And you know what? If he had just said to me, "Ma'am, we have this stuff priced as low as we can" or "I wish I could" or "That has been a popular item and it sells really well at that price" (or anything!) I STILL WOULD HAVE BOUGHT THE FLIPPIN CHAIRS! I was willing to take the hit on the $88 if he wasn't.

But you know what I did?

I walked out.

And straight to my computer when I returned to my office to write a letter to the company to inform them that they had lost a good customer forever. I bought my new living room and bedroom furniture there when my first husband and I divorced. I bought several tables and shelving units there when I opened my gift store a few years ago. And we were in there just last month looking at new mattresses and home office furnishings.

So yes, that company just lost a good customer. A good customer who USED TO spread the word about their good quality and great prices.

This time, I hope my letter elicits a termination of employment. Maybe that manager would do better as a telemarketer or something. NOT.

Immigration

Very interesting.

Getting Cut Off, Literally

Here's the news story.

Now here's my opinion. First, I have no problem with the government listening in on phone conversations of SUSPECTED CRIMINALS. Not just anybody but SUSPECTED CRIMINALS. And I have no problem with it when the authorities have PC (cop talk for PROBABLE CAUSE). Probable cause means that there is evidence of illegal activity. For example, it is ILLEGAL to drive an automobile that has an expired registration. Small potatoes, I know, but it serves the purpose for explanation. That expired registration sticker is PC for a patrol officer to pull you over and slap you with a ticket for not keeping your equipment properly registered.

Secondly, phone taps don't bother me because I have nothing illegal to hide. There are probably some personal issues I would not want to share with everyone but none that are illegal. I know, I know. It sounds as if I am all for "big brother" when that is not the case at all. But if we expect our law enforcement agencies to protect us and our property, why would we want to cut them off at the knees and not give them useful tools to use AGAINST THE CRIMINALS? Would we want to stop search warrants that uncover drug manufacturing labs and child pornography cellars? If you answer yes to that question you should probably click on to the next blog because me and you ain't gonna have anything to talk about civilly, my friend.

I know there are those out there who will start yammering about civil liberties and all the bullhockey that goes with it. I'm white and female and middle-class. The ACLU doesn't give a crap about me or my rights. As far as they're concerned, I have none and I need to shut up.

By the way, where is your ACLU when the drug dealer or kiddie porn perv is casing your kid's school playground?

P.S. FBI, pay yer damn bill!

Let the mudslinging commence!

Well, we're only 6 days in to the official campaign year and the horns are already sprouting.

I won't bore you with the grisly details, or foul language, but apparently one candidate's momma has rolled up her sleeves and is preparing for some bare-knuckled brawling.

Yeah . . . I see that getting him a lot of votes.