Valentine's Day Weddings

Awwwwww look.  This is my cousin getting married in rural Minnesota.  It's her second marriage and I'm not sure what number it is for the groom.  My cousin is a gorgeous, tall, slender blonde who eats like a pig and never gains an ounce.  She also is in her mid 40's and looks like she's in her 20's.  Bitch.  No.....she's not a bitch. I'm just jealous and I will freely admit it.

My cousin's wedding was more or less a civil ceremony with some family and friends present.  What completely cracked me up, and I do hope it starts a nation-wide trend, was the fact that beer was served AT the wedding and DURING the ceremony (which was pretty short and sweet) see photo above.   I can't make this stuff up, people. 

The other wedding today was in San Jose.  A lesbian couple who have been together for 28 years and raised three mentally and physically handicapped children they adopted (kids of crack addicts, abandonment, and physical abuse horror stories) finally made it public.  I have never been to a same-sex ceremony, but I have a feeling it will be first of many.  Their wedding was dignified and small.

I guess my point is that there are all sorts of wedding styles and venues that go the spectrum.  For those planning on tying the knot, please don't think that there are rules and rituals you must follow. 

Valentine's Day = Hell for Guys

Nothing strikes more fear into the hearts of guys than the anticipated response from his beloved in his Valentine's gift or lack thereof.  Guys would rather be shot at parachuting out of a helicopter into enemy territory tolerating the risk being captured and tortured as a POW than face the wrath of an angry girlfrieind who expected "more" on this so-called day for lovers.

Today while I was running routine errands, I noticed many men in line at the check out stand with balloons, roses, wine, and whatever else they could scrounge last minute at CVS to bring to their woman lest they be chastised for forgetting the most notorious day for lovers.  The look of desparation on the men's faces was pathetic.  See, the items were not purchased for the sake of love.  Rather, they were purchased so their wives/girlfriend/whatever would not be on their case and not kick them out to the sexless dog house.

Which brings me back to Valentine's Day from my youth.  I learned very early on never to expect anything.  Good thing.  It was excellent training for adult life.

Anyway,  I'm really glad that I'm past the age of expectations.  Valentine's Day is really a Hallmark Holiday for ametures who are trying to impress each other with elaborate showers of showy materialism masquarading as "love."

My idea of a perfect Valentine's Day dinner?  PIZZA and BEER!!!!!!  hoot hoot

Stop Dragging My Heart Around: Literal Version

The play on words is not lost on me.  Are the writers really that clever to incorporate drag queen inferences into this headline?  I think the tabloid writers are brilliant;)

Jon Stewart: Another Reason I LOVE Him

This Jon Stewart skit hits close to home.  Literally. It should be required viewing.  Copy and paste into your browser:

http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2015/02/04/jon-stewart-goes-after-marin-county-over-measles-outbreak/

Cyber Security

My hunches were validated today when meeting with the City of San Diego's CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) in regards to cyber security and lack thereof.  Most hacks and such are due to lack of practicing computer hygene and common sense.  The public wants to blame some nafarious government agency for snooping, but mostly it's people voluntarily posting personal information on socia media sites and then they wonder why they are victims of identity theft.

Yawn.  I've blogged about that before.

What really intrigued me today was how vulnerable our public emergency response system is and how somebody with evil intent can jam it and take it down.  Now THAT causes me concern.

The other thing of concern is how huge corporations handling sensitive personal information are NOT following their own cyber security policies and how systems are breached.  The Hackers Convention in Clark County Nevada actually has a game where they get on the telephone and call someplace like Bank of America or the like and see how long it takes to obtain enough informatioin to steal somebody's identity.  It's shocking how much employees of these places will voluntarily divulge to complete strangers.  The hackers go just far enough not to break the law.  It's a game to show how employees are not thinking before disclosing.  A company can have the best cyber security policy in place, but if you have a dipshit employee it's useless....and it only takes one.

What is publically shown on 'main stream' search engines is only about 10% of the internet's capability.  I think the public is mostly unaware of this and I hope people figure it out.  There is this HUGE underbelly dark net that operates in the shadows.  Some of them are up to no good.

In the meantime be VERY selective about what you post about yourself online.  The first place hackers go and identity thieves go?   Facebook.

Cheap Food: Whole Paycheck

Groceries of quality cost a lot.  They should.  Whole Foods has the nickname of Whole Paycheck.  Think about this.  The entire human race throughout history has worked to 'put food on the table' and 'a roof over the head.'   It's not an easy task if done correctly. 

With the proliferation of cheap food we are poisoning ourselves and the environment with pesticides, herbicides, and preservatives.  Why?  Because it's CHEAPER and less effort for consumers.

I'm telling you.  My grandparents had it right all along.  They grew their own food and raised their own meat.  They preserved vegetables and fruits by means of canning in reusable glass jars (which is a practice I picked up and continue to this day).  Refrigeration was the "ice box" which was basically a big, prehistoric cooler.  It was a shed that was filled with ice blocks cut out from the frozen lake with sawdust used as an insulator to slow down the melting during warm weather. 

Want milk?  Go out and find Daisy the Cow and get it yourself.  And yes, the cream really does come to the top.  Don't throw that out.  Churn it to make butter.  Want chicken?  Grab one that's waddling in the yard and bring it to the chopping block to cut off its head.  Let it run around spurting blood from its neck until it stops.  Then de-feather and gut.  Make sure you get those pesky pin feathers near the butt.  Oh, but make sure you get the eggs first or you just screwed yourself. 

Soap was made from lard and also for frying food.  Oddly enough, humble lard is making a comeback.  Clothes were handed down from sibling to sibling and mended many times over.

Winter months proved challenging.  The furnace was (and still is in use to this day) a wood stove in the "cellar"  -- the word "basement" is not used.  The storm cellar is under the house and smells like moist dirt.   Don't even ask about head cheese and the out house.  "Don't let go of the rope" is an old saying stemming from when a rope was tied from the house to the barn so you would not get lost in the blinding, blasting blizzard making way to and fro. 

Anyway... I'm getting off track.  Just thinking that my old fashioned grandparents were in retrospect really cool and hip.  I sure do miss them. 

Super Bowl Sunday: Super Bowl Monday

Ahhhhhhh.  Super Bowl Sunday.  It's better than Christmas some may say.  Why?  Because there is no pressure to travel across the country to spend it with relatives who drive you nuts.  No pressure to get a shopping list together for gifts.  No pressure to get dressed up in ugly, holiday sweaters -- any old sports jersey will do.  No sappy, overly joyous songs that make you want to punch the sound system speakers. 

It's just food, football, and friends (and of course a little wine/beer). What's not to love?

This year MSS and I are doing a bunch of cooking for a friend's Super Bowl party.  Funny.  MSS and I are ALWAYS invited to events that center around food.  I suppose it's because MSS and I thought of opening up a catering gig or restaurant at one point.  People LOVE our food.  People downright beg for it.  Therefore, we get invited to lots of parties;)

Switching gears, I'm going to share a little human resources information tid bit.  The most unproductive day of the year and the day that has the most absenteeism is the Monday after Super Bowl.  Employers plan for this.  We know about 1/4 of the workforce will be late, not show up at all, or be completely hung over.  We want to establish it as a national non-work day.