Colfax, North Dakota

It's not everyday I receive a package from 'back home.'

I received a package from my cousin, Tom, the other day. The contents of it made me cry... In the package, along with other assorted items, was a letter I had written to my cousin Karey (Tom's sister) many, many years ago that included my school picture of when I was a junior in high school. On the back of my school photo was the endearing rhetoric I had written to Karey consisting of girl teen-speak complete with "all guys SUCK" and "gag this photo with 10,000 volts."

The explanation letter Tom included with the package he sent to me was that he was cleaning out his deceased parents home and came across some odds and ends that he thought I'd be interested in.

Of course I was.

The reason I think that particular letter I had written so many years ago was held onto for so long was because I'm not exactly sure whether or not Karey actually got to read it. Karey died in a car accident about the time I sent that particular letter. Did Karey read my letter before she died? I'll never know.....

Caskets at Costco

When you check out at Costco, you can really "check out."
....and I don't mean waiting your turn to get your receipt marked off as you leave....

I don't want to be subject to my inevitable death while exiting a routine, brain-dead shopping excursion complete with a basket piled high with: kitty litter, wine, toilet paper, frozen ravioli, 3 dozen eggs, orange juice, the latest tax computer software, tighty-whities, and butter.

It's a grim reminder of where all things will eventually end..... I don't want to be reminded of it while shopping for day-to-day necessities. I can't speak for all people, but I've dealt with the untimely death of someone close to me where I don't want reminders of it popping up at me while shopping - especially near the exit of a mega store located adjacent to the pizza/snack stand. WHERE IS THE DIGNITY?????

Job Losses

Signs of the crappy economy are worsening. Most people I know are holding their breath about their jobs -- they are completely in limbo. The people I know holding their breath expect some significant news regarding whether or not they still have a job around March.

My sister-in-law just got word that her job is cut effective the end of February. Her employer decided to eliminate everybody with health benefits. Nice corporate strategy. How's that for being a loyal and dedicated employee and going above and beyond for your employer? Great. Now us taxpayers get to subsidize even more uninsured, unemployed people.

Can we blame "corporate" for our woes? Yes and no. However, we consumers need to take responsibility for our choices. We all want our crap for cheap, but sometimes getting our crap for "cheap" turns out to be more expensive for all of us in the long run.

Somewhere in Texas......

a village is no longer missing its idiot.

YouTube: Music Videos

Yes, I'm a YouTube addict. I especially like music videos. What pisses me off is when I find old music I like on YouTube, save it in my "favorites" and then it disappears suddenly one day because of some 'copy right claim from a third party.'

Give me a break.

We are NOT going to go out and purchase an obsolete album or tape from a band from long ago that conjures up fond memories simply because you've banned it on YouTube. There is NO money to be made of trying to limit exposure on YouTube. We really don't care about your fucking has-been music career and that you're now broke and need money to send your kids to college or whatever. We simply want to relive some good memories. Get a job at WalMart if you need cash.

When you limit your has-been music on YouTube you make yourself look like an asshole. FUCK YOU because we won't buy your music anyway....go ahead and DIE with it. If you die with it NOBODY will remember who in the fuck you were 15 years from now. Isn't what what you really want? Immortality? No price tag is on that one...Mozart would agree. He died penniless.

Gran Torino

Finally.
Somebody from my high school located in the tundra outpost has made it.
Finally.
Somebody who failed to abandon his dreams got them realized. The screen writer for this new Clint Eastwood movie and I many years ago partied together. We also had some conversations on a "deep" level that only such party atmospheres could induce.

All I can say is.... congratulations.... party on, dude..... and don't spend it all in one place;)

Al Franken: US Senator

Leave it to Minnesotans to elect a comedian to the US Senate. There is so much truth in humor. Minnesotans just seem to "get it" on a very different level than the rest of the US -- and we manage to do it with common sense, razor sharp wit, and a sense of humor.

Minnesotans are good enough, smart enough, and gosh darn it, people LIKE us!!!!

Post Office Hell

I hate going to the post office. I avoid it like the plague. Yesterday's incident reminded me how much I hate going there. I needed to return a Christmas gift for my husband that I ordered through a magazine. I would have used UPS instead for the return to avoid the post office, but the address was a PO box and UPS does not deliver to PO boxes. Shit.

Here's the scenario: My daughter and I walk through the front door of the post office to be met by a long line. There are two windows open with clerks out of the 6 windows. There are countless postal employees lolly-gagging about in the background doing I'm not exactly sure what, but it did not appear to be productive.

As we patiently waited our turn and got closer to the front of the line I recognized the two postal clerks. One is an older Chinese guy and you can't understand anything he says, and the other is a nasty-tempered guy who actually speaks English you can understand. Window clerk lottery -- just which one will I get? I knew that I was going to be a loser no matter if I wound up at window #1, or window #2.

I ended up with the nasty-tempered English speaking guy. The package I needed to be returned was a little awkward, and I needed help in making sure I had it addressed and packaged correctly. I'm not sure what the rules/protocal are, so that's why I waited in line to get help from a window clerk. Otherwise, I would have slapped some postage on it and shoved it in a mailbox to avoid any interaction with these government sponsored intellectual midgets.

When my daughter and I approached the window, I told him that I needed help in getting the package off. Mr. Sunshine immediately took a tone with me and told me that the package did not meet post office standards. He was obviously annoyed. So, I asked him what would be appropriate. Again, Mr. Sunshine took a tone and started rattling off some internal post office jargon that I half-way understood. I stood there for a moment trying to digest what he said. He then threw some forms/stickers at me and told me that he had tend to other customers.

Stunned, I moved over to the side and guessed at what stickers/forms go where as he called the next patron to the window. I made my best guess and handed it back to him. I thought he was rude to abandon me in the middle of a transaction, so I returned the favor. He looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights. I think he got the hint that I was losing patience....

I swear, postal employees would not be able to hold jobs in the private sector. This is socialism at its worst.

Staples SUCKS!

About a year ago I purchased a laptop computer from Staples. Against my better judgment I was suckered into purchasing their "extended warranty" for any possible problems down the road.

Sure as shit, one morning my laptop just wouldn't turn on. Weird. It was working perfectly the night before. Soooooo... with the receipt and all paperwork in hand, I took it into the local Staples store to be fixed. Hey, this is Staples, right? I'm supposed to walk out of there thinking, "That was easy."

Or so I thought....

I received a call on my cell phone Christmas Eve from the third party contractor doing the repair on my laptop. The obviously scripted line of bullshit I received was, "I'm very sorry to inform you, ma'am, but we can not honor your warranty because the technicians detected there was a liquid spill on it."

What a load of crap. I treat my laptop better than my KIDS. Plus, I'm not an obnoxious asshole who tries to get something for nothing. There wasn't a spill, and I knew it... It was just an excuse not to do anything and to rip me off.

When the laptop came back to the local Staples store, I went in to collect it and give them a piece of my Quiet Rage mind. Along with me I had my computer geek son and his friend who make Bill Gates look illiterate when it comes to computers. In fact, my son and his friend build and repair their own computers.

Let the fun begin.....

I began with, "The repair center told me there was a spill on this computer, and I know there wasn't. I take care of this computer extremely well."

The Staples rep tried to feed me a line of bullshit, but it was quickly intercepted by my Techno-Geek kids and rebutted as to why the Staples rep was wrong. The Staples rep went onto to say that for an additional "fee" I could purchase yet another "extended" warranty that included liquid spills.

I snorted back, "Forget it. I've been burned. The extended warranty is obviously a scam to get you to purchase a warranty that ultimately ends up costing more than the computer itself. I don't have time to negotiate or fight with you for a lousy computer. My time is worth more than that. Besides, I'm in the market for all new computers in the office and a new laptop as well. I won't be buying them from here. AND... the thousands of dollars I spend here purchasing supplies for my business will gladly be picked up by a local, independent supplier. If my Computer geek kids can get this laptop up and running, they can just keep it for gaming, so hand it over."

The Staples rep looked like a fish out of water flopping around on the dock gasping for what to say next. He was obviously anticipating that I would engage in their warranty "dance" and asked if I would consider having it resent and speaking with their general manager and other assorted protocol. Like I mentioned, I'm a busy woman and I don't have time for such trivial bullshit. If somebody rips me off, I take my business elsewhere.

I grabbed the laptop, handed it over to my Computer Geek kids and told them it was theirs if they could get it up and running. Less than an hour later I received a phone call from them stating they had it working -- it was simply a loose cable.