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Archive for February, 2007
United States Post Office (USPS) Strikes again!!!
Feb 26th
They’re at it again! Seems like every year we hear the United States Post Office needs more money for their monopolistic services. First class mail will be going up again 2 cents, one whole penny LESS than what they’re asking for. Now they’ve got an “excellent” idea. Instead of making us buy those little 2 cent stamps to cover the rate increase for our “outdated” stamps, they are suggesting a “forever” stamp.
The proposal of the “forever” stamp works like this; if you bought a “forever” stamp and the rate changes, you would be able to use that “forever” stamp on first class mail and they will honor it at the current rate so you don’t have to buy 1 or 2 cent stamps to make up the difference. Good idea? Possibly, but the joke is that it’s only with the “forever” stamp. If you bought other stamps before the increase you still have to buy the 1 or 2 cent stamps. So you’d have to buy ONLY forever stamps if you want to have your stamps honored at current rate, and probably in bulk.
What about the breast cancer stamps and others that a portion goes toward raising funds? Why shouldn’t those be honored? It seems to me that just because the rate increases, they should honor all outdated stamps regardless. You buy first class stamps to get a letter from A to B expecting that service to be performed once you place that stamp on the envelope. Postmaster General John E. Potter says “the Postal Service is not immune to the cost pressures affecting every household and business in America.
For example, each penny increase in the price of a gallon of gasoline costs the post office $8 million, and the post office cannot simply add a fuel surcharge to its rates.”
Yet, they have fewer implicated costs than a normal business. Such as taxes and insurance for their fleet of mail trucks. Those alone are MAJOR expenses that the USPS is exempt from whereas, a normal business is not.
The fact is that the United States Post Office is one of the biggest Monopolies in America. They let very little competition in because they want the revenue. Are they afraid that if there was competition that we would have a cheaper alternate? Fewer mistakes? Less mail arriving looking like it was in the midst of an illegal dog fight? Don’t know the exact reasoning behind it all is. In the past I had thought the price of postage was somewhat reasonable, but to see that they are now charging for EVERYTHING and the extras you add on to the first class letter even more expensive is becoming absurd. And that’s not all folks look at what other rates they’re hiking right along with it. I wonder… is it just me that thinks the USPS is the “Donald Trump” of the postal tycoon biz?
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20,000 leagues under the sea
Feb 24th
New Zealand fishermen caught a squid that is estimated to weigh a 1/2 ton and be 39 feet long. A real life 20,000 leagues under the sea squid come to life. It took the fishermen 2 hours to reel this monster in from Antartica waters. It is approximately 330 pound heavier than the next largest squid ever found. Squid expert, Dr. Steve O’Shea, a squid expert at the Auckland University of Technology said, “If calamari rings were made from the squid they would be the size of tractor tires.”
The shock of your life, Electroshock therapy
Feb 23rd
What would it be like if we were punished for all the hours spent on the internet by electric shock? Impossible…maybe not! China is the first country implementing electric shock therapy for individuals with an “internet addiction problem. They have created several rehab centers which runs approximately $1300 per month to stay, which by the way is an average Chinese salary for one month. They aren’t the only countries joining the fight, but if that were implemented in America, virtually the entire nation would be in rehab. 
You can read the full story here.
Britney Spears, the new G.I. Jane?
Feb 22nd
I can’t take it anymore!! I wasn’t going to write a blog with my thoughts on the recent Britney Spears, but with all the stupid jokes like “Hey did you hear Britney went skiing this weekend? Yeah, she was spotted from a mile away on Mount Baldy”, I just couldn’t resist any longer.
I’ve never been a fan of Britney. From her innocent days of the Mickey Mouseketeers, to her “innocent” look when she entered the pop world, to her slut battle with Christina Aguilera, to now a lame impression of Demi Moore playing G.I. Jane.
It’s gotta be hard being a star with the paparazzi following you everywhere you go, but she’s caused all her drama. Now she’s going through this “sick of men” stage and wondering why the Ex’s Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline want to share their intimate details. She does things for attention and she gets that attention, but now that things are down for her she wants it all to be hush hush, except let’s go out and shave our head and get a tattoo and exploit ourself all over again.
She needs help, but dropping out of rehab that she supposedly didn’t go to doesn’t help the situation. She needs to stick with it. Personally, coming from someone who again hasn’t been a fan of Brit, I would give her much more credit if she grew up and handled her responsibilities like the rest of us are expected to. Just because you have money doesn’t mean you should make a mockery of yourself and your motherhood. You need to look at life and what you have and make the most of it in the most dignified way possible. Read more here.
She’s a mom now. Not a single teeny bopper. Weather or not she’ll get her groove back, she’d have a better image respecting herself and being a good mom to the two children she’s had. She needs to realize that things are different now and that she won’t be that “Toxic” Brittany everyone’s used to and that there’s nothing wrong with creating a new more mature image for the future. With her former friend/employee saying that she’s embarrassed of what Britney become, it’s obvious to an average person that Britney needs change.
After all, when her kids grow up will they be more proud of a new Britney? Or a head shaving, tattooed, girl who’s longing for a pastime she cannot retrieve. Come on Brit R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
Cheap Professional Live Entertainment
Feb 20th
Need music for your event? We did! We searched local listings in the phone book and asked around for music for our wedding. The few that we found were out of our budget and the word of mouth groups weren’t anything worth writing about. We turned to old reliable, “THE INTERNET”. Sure enough we found a great selection for a variety of genre tastes at on online booking site for local artists Gigmasters.com. Sign up is free for the planning party and you browse through artists to your specified taste and budget and the artists bid for your event. For us we wanted a harpist for our beach ceremony and a jazz band for our reception.
After a few days of getting bids and interviewing artists we decided on our perfect musicians. Ted Nichelson, a harpist who knows his stuff! He’s attained a Doctorate, Masters, and Bachelors in his field. Seeming well qualified he was hired. For the reception we decided on a newcomer to Gigmasters. The Richman Jazz Ensemble had very little for us to go off of, just one picture but great prices. We asked him to send us a sample of some sort and they did. The demo CD was great and we hired them.
For our first time booking live entertainment we couldn’t have picked better. The harpist was wonderful we didn’t get to enjoy him as much as I wanted to during the service because apparently when you get married you tune a lot of things out when you’re that nervous giving away your life to the person you love. However, the music was just as beautiful on our wedding video of the ceremony. The Jazz band was great too! Everyone raved about the music for hire and it was a great opportunity to expose the artists for future gigs.
For us, being on a budget we found picking a newbie to the professional industry of playing events proved useful. It was a win win for both. We got an awesome deal for our $, plus we gave the artists an exposure for prospective clientele. Finding Gigmasters not only helped us save money, but gave us a great outlet of personal preferences for our Wedding entertainment.
Man sues IBM over being fired for adult chat rooms
Feb 18th
Yes, that’s right. A former employee of IBM is suing IBM for firing him for his addiction for “Adult” chat rooms. Instead of being held accountable for his own actions he says that IBM was wrong for firing him because he’s a sex addict and needs help. James Pacenza a 58 year old man of Montgomery, New York says that he developed traumatic stress in Vietnam while watching his Army buddy die in 1969. Since then the availability of the internet has prompted his entries into chat rooms which created his pathway into the “sex addiction”. Read full article here.
He also accuses IBM of age discrimination. He says that he had been there for 19 years and would have been able to retire in just one more year. However, IBM states that James was warned about his chat room behavior 4 months earlier and said he could be fired for that, but James denies the warning.
It has also been determined that IBM did not offer counseling for James’ medical condition. Whereas, other employees with drug and alcohol problems were offered counseling. IBM is trying to get a summary judgment, so we’ll have to wait and see if it ever goes to trial.
Whatever the case may be, this shows how litigious our society is. Some people are scared of what others may have the power to do so they threaten with a lawsuit. For others it’s a game of getting even for something, so again threaten with a lawsuit. In this case an employee was allegedly warned about his internet habits and the consequences that may be rendered. Weather or not he had been warned, for most of us in Greater America we are expected to work when we go to work. So being reprimanded for going to pornographic sites or chat rooms should be expected. If this guy felt that his chat habits at work were in fact directly related to his psychological illness incurred during the Vietnam war, and knew it was becoming and increasingly bigger problem why didn’t he try to get help on his own even if not offered by IBM? Why didn’t we hear of problems at home with his internet fetishes? Or is this just the beginning? If you are an employer you are paying your employee to perform their duties at work and not to surf sex sites during working hours. Maybe that’s just too logical. I do agree with one thing, without a written warning firing this guy may have been a little harsh, especially after 19 years of service. What will come next?
Valentine’s Day
Feb 15th
Valentine’s Day 2007
This was my second Valentine’s Day with my Sweetie. In the past he’s sent me floral arrangements throughout the year and co-workers have drooled all over them 
. This year, my co-workers were wondering what was going on. I got no flowers at work. They thought something was off. Were we fighting? Were we already separated? As I sat there laughing to myself about my puzzled co-workers and their prying questions, I wondered what was in store.
I was eager to see his face as he opened the gifts I wrapped for him the night before and left on the stairs to taunt him. Would he like what he was getting from me? And what was he up to?
After a long day of work and school I come home to a treasure hunt. That’s right a treasure hunt. He put the first clue on our wedding website. At the first stop a bouquet of Red Roses. At the second stop was a bouquet of Iris and White Lilacs. Every stop had cute little Photoshopped pictures indicating my next hint. A Very cute idea! So just because you don’t get flowers at work, there are some men that go the extra mile to be original and make that day special in their own way.
Super Bowl XLI , Snickers, and gay rights???
Feb 7th
Super Bowl time! A time to gather with friends, eat junk food and watch the game. Well for many, the commercials are just as important as halftime and the game itself, but in today’s modern culture we have voiced opposition of our cherished enjoyments. Controversy struck when Janet Jackson’s breast “popped” out during a half time performance with Justin Timberlake during Super Bowl XXXVIII . An unforgettable moment, yes, but we move on.
For Super Bowl XLI, MSNBC reports that this year the controversy is over a hilarious SNICKERS ad. Two guys are working under the hood of a car and one begins to chew on a SNICKERS bar, leaving it in his mouth to continue working. The other man starring longingly at the SNICKERS bar in his friends’ mouth decides to take a bite. Then like a scene from Lady and the Tramp they meet in the middle to seem as if it was a “kiss”. They both jump back and say they should do something manly. So they both yank off a patch of chest hair and scream…end of 31 second video clip.
Now our little prissy gay community, (The Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) is “outraged”. I have nothing against gay people my best friend is gay and I know many others that are, but what does bother me is their drama.
In the gay community everything seems to be OVER THE TOP. Many over react to small issues for whatever reason. Our world has become increasingly lax in the acceptance of gay lifestyles mainly because of the persons we know and not because we agree with it. That doesn’t mean that everything needs to revolve around the gay community though.
When gay jokes are being said out of the mouths of the actors/actresses portraying gays on gay “themed” TV shows such as “Will and Grace” or “Ellen” you hear no complaints. At a recent show at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood California, David Copperfield himself made a joke referencing that his magic was not “broke back” magic when he had a guest from the audience on stage helping with an illusion. The entire sold out audience laughed roaringly. Yet when a commercial is made that is comedic to the rest of us they complain enough to have it pulled off the TV and the company’s website. Now to me that’s GAY!
They make a big deal out of everything “gay” related so that they force their community on us and we’ve accepted, but to take away our freedoms of enjoying gay comedy because they don’t agree with it? How gay is that? SNICKERS you shouldn’t have conceded!
David Copperfield Grand Illusion
Feb 6th
I attended a recent venue of David Copperfield and his Grand Illusion. I have been waiting for years to see him live on stage and finally I get to see him and it’s bittersweet. I was overwhelmed with the reality. Two David Copperfield tickets for Grand Illusion Live at the Kodak Theatre Hollywood, California, and I was there! I couldn’t believe I had finally made it! Sitting there waiting for the show to begin I wondered what David was going to amaze me with that evening. The show began with a real mysterious self praising video collage of David Copperfield as the subject matter. For instance a clip from Friends, news broadcasts, political cartoons, and many more. This video lasted a good 5 minutes or more. Then he gave his magical entrance. The show started out slow and about 1/2 way through…yet another video clip. I know David Copperfield is a great in our time and that’s why I’m there! I wasn’t eagerly awaiting his performance to see how much video he could have edited and put into his act to praise himself in front of his audience.
Our seats were in the first couple rows, center second level…pretty good…price tag $60 per ticket plus ticketing fees. After all was said and done the show including the 2 video reels was a whopping 1 hour 45 minutes and there were only 3 or 4 illusions that left me amazed.
Do I think David Copperfield is great? Yes, of course he’s been able to create some illusions that will leave many of us puzzled for our entire lives. For such a man as he I felt like I had been taken by the price tag on the ticket and what I got for the show.
Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the whole thing. It just went by so fast and the lengthy videos seemed over kill since we were paying to see him perform instead of praising himself by his self edited videos. Are all the magicians/illusionist this way? Or was this a bad first experience? BRING BACK SIGFRIED AND ROY the tigers really do love you!
