Welcome to Slovenia

These are various pictures of random buildings in Slovenia. For those of you who don't know where Slovenia is, it's just east of Italy. It's part of the former Yugoslavia and gained their independence in 1991. This is the capital city of Ljubljana. (pronounced exactly how it's spelled....not really...Lubyana is the only way I can think of spelling it phonetically). I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed being there to take them. If you're ever in Europe, swing by Slovenia. It's a really beautiful place. And don't worry, most everyone speaks English. Or enough to communicate with you.

I was Right and the Lawyer was WRONG!!!!

I know that in deep down inside, most of us know that lawyers are wrong more often than not, but that on the surface, they get credit for being the all knowing, wise sages of a company. They get the final word, because after all, they went to law school and should know better. Most of us are going to deal with them in a corporate setting. In the courtroom setting, it’s usually one lawyer against another lawyer. Most people that represent themselves lose. Which is why they get a lawyer. They are trained to look at a case from all angles and argue your case. The ones that do it better than everyone else, get loads of money.

I’m going to tell you about the time I won an argument at work with a lawyer. As you can see this did not happen in a court of law. Since I work for state government, we have a whole staff of lawyers who presumably are supposed to know federal citations/laws/rules/regulations like the back of their hand. At the very least, they should be able to find them. They are also supposed to make sure that our documents and procedures comply with these federal rules, etc. among other things. We send official documents through their office to review before they get posted for public review. I find that they spend more of their time rewriting sentences that they rewrote the last time we sent them this exact type of document on another topic. They do check to make sure all of our citations are correct though. But let me tell you, if you don’t know what a citation is, apparently it’s my job, not theirs, to come up with the appropriate citation or alternative way to say it without the specific citation that would normally go there. I thought this was part of their job. But I’m getting sidetracked, as that was another story and another lawyer.

So this particular document I am referring to is being reviewed for me for the first time by this particular lawyer. This lawyer was relatively new to the job so I’m thinking this was probably the first time they had reviewed this particular type of document. They had already reviewed a whole set of documents on the same subject, for a different purpose for me months back. The lawyer sends back my document stating that according to federal citation “blah blah blah,” that my informational packet needed to be available for distribution at certain said locations, when I had in there to contact me for a copy of this informational packet, as I had for all other documents for this specific purpose. I looked up the citation referred to and saw clearly that it didn’t relate to this purpose but to the purpose this lawyer had already reviewed for me months back. I did see how this could be confusing as this revelation was based on one specific word in the citation. So I sent back an email pointing out this specific word and explained that’s what was accomplished in the prior set of documents and explained how the purpose of this document was different. I also asked if the procedure had changed for some reason to let me know so I could alert my superiors.

The lawyer sends me an email back disagreeing with me once again and saying the same thing they did the first time. At this point I don’t get paid enough to argue with lawyers plus, if I had, this lawyer could have used their hotheaded lawyerness to tell my superiors how disrespectful or blah blah blah I was. I had argued once and that was enough for my peewee position, so I passed it on to my superiors. My boss’s boss came over and told me that I was right and had handled it properly, and then we called the lawyer together at my desk. Huh…we got the voicemail. So my boss’s boss left a message saying that I was correct and that maybe they needed to check with their boss for clarification/understanding of the citation. And to please approve so that it could get posted in a timely manner and to call either of us with questions. Victory!!!!!! That was probably the best day I have had at work so far. It’s not often that I get to be declared right, even if I am.

Next thing I get is an email with the approval, but contesting our interpretation of the citation as this lawyer checked with a co-working lawyer who agreed that the citation applied to this document, (this other lawyer’s pretty flaky in my dealings so I sense easily persuaded) but their boss was out and so they’d check with her when she got back for future documents of this purpose. We’ve heard nothing back since, and I just sent another one over for this purpose last week. All I got back was a snarky comment and more rewriting of their own rewritings. It may not have been snarky, maybe it was just very much to say, I’m a lawyer and you’re not, so I’m going to make a comment to you to make sure you know that I better than you.

Yes Yes oh great lawyer….you are better than me. Tell me why it is that you’re working for pennies at the state, essentially as an editor with your commas and “is, and, or but,” changes, when you could be making more money anywhere else working the same long hours you do here probably doing more meaningful work than editing commas???? Yes yes great lawyer, you ARE better than me!!! But I WAS RIGHT AND YOU WERE WRONG!!!! Now I’m going to do a happy dance!!! In your face.

Baby Borrowers - Make Your Teens Borrow One Too!!!

So I don't know how many of you, if any of you, watched the stupid reality show called the Baby Borrowers that was on last night. It's one of those terrible shows the network can get away with because there's nothing else on in the summer. However, I must say, I like the concept.

They take 5 dating teenagers, presumably all 18 or more, but I might have missed something, and put them in their own house as a couple and transition them through the baby process. Presumably all of these kids think they are ready to get married and start having babies. What I really think, is the girls have no direction and don't want to try anything else in life out, and the boys are just along for the ride, because they're too chicken to break up with the girls and hurt their feelings and deal with the water works that will come if they break their hearts.

So phase one is the pregnancy belt for a day or two I guess, while they go to parenting classes. One girl was so "embarrassed" that she broke out in tears, and refused to wear it and refused to go to the parenting class. Then she had the nerve to throw a fit when her boyfriend did do what he agreed to, and go to class rather than stay there and pacify her. There's a girl ready for marriage, or a baby for that matter. That girl needs sterilization until she grows up!!!

Next comes the "delivery," which means the parents that have agreed to loan their babies out for 3 days arrive with the babies and detailed instructions on how to care for the baby. All the babies were under 1 year. Meanwhile the house is rigged with cameras and the parents are not far away if they feel it necessary to step in and give the kids some advice and mentorship. (side note, a professional nanny is in the house with them to intervene only in an emergency situation) So one of the girls who seems most passionate about being ready to have a baby, gets frustrated and jealous when the baby is calm and snuggly with her boyfriend but not her. There's another girl ready for marriage and a baby!!! Jealous, are you kidding me? Aren't you supposed to find it sexy when your man interacts so well with kids and shows signs of being a good father one day? But what could I possibly know about that since I'm not a parent? But no she pouts and has a cow when the baby's mom comes over to talk to them and give them some great advice about parenting, and points out their strengths and criticizes, constructively, their downfalls for the night. How does she respond? "I don't even want to do this anymore. And I'm just upset that the baby's mom came over" Honey, if you take that personal, how the hell do you plan to handle a teenager that hates you for cramping his/her lifestyle? Yep, she's ready to get knocked up too!!!

There was another girl that pouted when the mom came over to help them out when they failed to feed the baby all day. My hope is that at least 3-4 of these couples will break up after the show. There is about one couple that I don't hate so far, but that said, I hope that the show cures them or her from wanting a baby in the near future. You're still so very young. Give it about 10 years plus or minus a couple years. MINIMUM!!! Babies are not these cute little toys that love you. If that's all you want, get a puppy. I can vouch for their cute and cuddliness.

Every teenager, boys and girls, should have to babysit a sick baby for several hours. That baby needs to cry, throw up, poo while the diaper is being changed, and lets throw in pee all over the place while we're at it. Oh and when I say cry, I mean blood curdling screams that are unstoppable with the change of a diaper, bottle, rocking, or anything. If every teenager was subjected to this process, I guarantee you, the teen pregnancy rate would drop significantly. Either that or the adoption rate would go up and the amount of single mothers would drop significantly.

I know I talk about this a lot, but I'm very passionate about kids not having kids. And you're still a kid in your early 20's. Maybe that was just me. Either way, it's a process that I'm confident will work because it worked for me. I'm 30 and childless. I couldn't fathom being able to provide sufficiently for a child when I was 18 or 20 or 22 or 24. At least now, I know I could.

Lola's Corner

Welcome once again to my corner. My name is Lola and I'll be your hostess as usual. Because I'm really cute and adorable which is redundant, but I can't help it. I wake up every day this way.

So I was contemplating poo the other day and just want a funny word it is. I'm sure you will agree with me. So much so that you probably like to say it just for fun. Kind of like I like to play with it just for fun. Well and to get daddy's goat. And if you've never said it just for fun, try singing a song where the only word you use is "poo"....It's guaranteed to bring a smile to your face or make you laugh. And if it doesn't, then there must be something wrong with you. That's it.

So my first friends today are brought to you by Mr. Pickles, whom you've met before. Doesn't he look like a well loved and happy cat?

These are his furry little friends whose mamma made her way into his back yard. Aren't they just cute, cuddly little balls of fur? He makes sure that their mamma has enough food and water to feed them. Mr. Pickles, you're my hero for loving those kittens and giving them a chance at life. You get my "top paw of the week award". It's this brilliant new idea that I just had this instant. It consists of nothing but accolades. I have no budget for a trophy or certificate or even a can of special cat food. Congratulations Mr. Pickles!! Take an extra nap or get an extra belly rub or chin scratchin, or whatever tickles your fancy.

And this is Scout. He's a 4 year old Siberian Husky. Isn't he beautiful or handsome? or whatever is appropriate for a male dog. He had bright red eyes, so I tried to fix them. I can't tell if that means I gave him eyeliner in the process. If so, I apologize profusely. Anyways so Scout is the cousin of Riley, Maddie, and Hopper. You know Maddie and Hopper that are hated by their mother who clearly favors Riley. Scout is lucky he doesn't have to deal with that kind of nonsense.

His likes are howling, milk bones, playing with his friends (Ollie and Snickers), cats, and Riley.

His Dislikes are carbs, fireworks, and people messing with his food.

I don't blame you Scout, I don't want anyone messing with my food either, unless it's to give me more.

Well that's it for this week. Remember to send me pictures of your furry friends to Lolafrog@gmail.com. Have a great week!!

Until next time,

Lola

Gas Prices Beating You Down?

How many of you are not so rich that the price of gas isn't starting to affect your bottom line at home? Not that you're not getting by, but you don't have as much left over at the end of the month to put into savings, or to put aside for your next vacation, or to splurge on those new shoes you've been needing because your old ones are beyond worn out. We are all looking for ways to save on gas and we've all seen the emails to boycott getting gas for a day or tips on how to not waste money at the pump. Below is a link to a list of myths debunked if you bought into them in the first place. Don't bother to waste your time with these.Your time and efforts are better spent doing other things. http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/12/autos/ways_to_not_save_gas/index.htm?postversion=2008051515

You know what the quickest fix for a lot of families would be while the government sorts out to drill or not to drill, and other cost effective fuel initiatives? Making the move to work from home. Many of us have at least one if not two family members whose jobs are tied up in email, documents, and time-wasting meetings. All of this can be done at home, on your computer there and with your phone there. And many of us drive in from the burbs every day just to go to work at another computer. This would not only be a viable option for employees, but could save companies money from leasing space and other overhead, even if they wanted to keep a certain amount of facilities for those who didn't want to work from home or those who have proven not to be trusted to work from home. This could be determined by allowing those who have earned the trust in the work place and subsequently, at home, continue to meet deadlines and respond in a timely manner to emails and phone calls, as well as calling into meetings they are supposed to be apart of.

Already you read of reports of compressing the workweek all over the country. In fact today, we were offered that option, obviously with the threat that it can be revoked if abused or if you are somehow even less productive than showing up 5 days. While this is progress, and is better than nothing, it still won't curb the gas prices or take care of the fact that I have to dress up for work. It would save me maybe $15-$20/month at $4/gallon of gas. But I drive a Civic. I suppose it could save those of you with worse mileage or who live farther from work than I do, 2-3 times that. So it's a start.

My hope though is that there will be a trend to let workers telecommute. Incidentally this would help solve the traffic problems that many cities are facing today. And it would solve the problem of having to see moody, lazy, cranky, or just plain irritating co-workers everyday.

Cemetery

I don't know how many of you find these cemeteries interesting, but I do. As such, I am sharing some pictures I got of one in Brazil. This is only a small sampling of the enormous maze of plots. I also love how cemeteries like this always seem to have cats living there. Hope you enjoy.

Why?

Why do you feel it appropriate to sit in my cube while I'm on a personal call?
Why do you deny the fact that you have a favorite child?
Why do you think those of us without kids couldn't possibly understand the parent/child relationship?
Why does the sound of your voice sound like nails on a chalkboard?
Why do you make my skin crawl?
Why do I feel like I need a shower after you look at me?
Why do you need to justify hiring for an empty position when 2 of us are admittedly bored and the rest are just over-dramatic about how busy they are?
Why are you so opposed to efficiency?
Why is it necessary for me to do nothing at the office when I can do that at home?
Why is it ok for the government to take my hard earned money?
Why isn't the general public outraged by this?
Why are we so competitive?
Why is making more money of higher value than free time?
Why do some men wear pink?
Why do you feel it necessary to sell your pyramid electricity to co-workers?
Why won't you take "no" for an answer?
Why don't you believe it when you are told that a person doesn't make decisions like that without discussing it with their spouse?
Why can't you take a hint?
Why don't you watch Boiler Room and learn the lesson "Don't Pitch the Bitch?"
Why are greeting cards so expensive?
Why can't I be happy getting paid to do nothing?
Why can't people take responsibility for themselves?
Why can't I win the lottery?
Why should the government/hard-working public, pay for weight loss surgery?
Why couldn't Carnie Wilson keep her weight off after surgery?
Why isn't this enough proof that the hard-working taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for it?
Why do responsible people owe irresponsible people anything?
Why do you come to the ER for the flu?
Why do you lack the conscience to pay for your bills?
Why won't elephants just forget the bad stuff?
Why does sugar have to taste so good?
Why does cheese taste better in excess?
Why don't you see the stupidity of your question?
Why can't people make better choices?
Why do people blame anyone or anything but themselves?
Why do dogs have short life spans?
Why do you insist on using the stall next to me every time?
Why do feet and armpits have to stink?
Why don't we have a 2-day work week and a 5-day weekend?
Why doesn't my work matter enough for you to look at it but I can't do anything with it until you do look at it?
Why can't I be more of a risk taker?
Why does baby powder smell so bad?
Why can't I be funny?
Why do some people despise the greatest country in the world?
Why are they trying to turn it into the not greatest country?
Why do celebrities think we care what they think?
Why are most of these outspoken celebrities so ignorant about economics?
Why do you think written testimony is not sufficient enough for the record when the rules clearly state that it is?
Why did I think I could actually dress myself in the dark?
Why won't you people mow your lawns?
Why is it steamy hot outside?
Why aren't more people outraged by the price of gas?
Why can't we work from home and save you facility costs?
Why don't more people care about economics?
Why are people so rude in traffic?
Why are movie critics so critical?
Why were pleats considered a good thing on pants?
Why do I feel compelled to watch bad movies on Lifetime?
Why can't I be more of a Lady?

A High School Pregnancy Pact...ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!

This is a special post as I couldn't pass this up when I heard about it today.

If you haven't heard about this yet, you can go read about it here.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1815845,00.html

Is this what high school girls dream about now? Having babies at the same time, while still in high school. And how convenient that free daycare is offered at the school so the girls can drop their dolls off at daycare while they continue on with a normal life. These girls were in serious need of babysitting the sick babies job before making this decision.

The discussion goes back to the old discussion about whether or not schools should be allowed to dispense birth control to kids. That has nothing to do with this, because they clearly were trying to get pregnant. A homeless man as a father isn't enough of an indicator that they were trying to get pregnant? If you don't care who the father is enough to pick some random guy as your sperm donor, you don't deserve to reproduce. If you dispense birth control at the expense of the tax payers, these girls would have just thrown it away. Or taken what I like to call "air birth control" which I firmly believe accounts for the not 100% effective rate of oral contraceptives. I know I know, you were part of that group that got pregnant on it. Fine, I can't argue with you because I didn't watch you take it every day at the same general time. When it happens to me, and I know for a fact that I didn't miss any days or times, THEN, I will change my opinion on the subject. So I won't get into it any deeper as I am digressing from the point.

The point is, it's the parents' job to be so involved as to educate their kids about sex, and prevent a conspiracy like this from happening. You can argue abstinence vs. prevention all you want, but the fact is, there's only one guaranteed fix to prevent any teen pregnancies and I already wrote about it. If you didn't see the first time around, here it is.
http://sunshineinsight.blogspot.com/2008/05/mandatory-birth-controlwhat-concept.html
This story just provides further evidence that this isn't such a bad plan.
If you want to teach them abstinence, fine, just don't tell them they are on birth control.

Billy Ray Cyrus, The Father of the Century

I tried to ignore this subject, but it's out there and this is so ridiculous, I can't keep my mouth shut about it.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/17/cyrus.vanity.reax.ap/index.html

Here's the link to the story where the below quote is coming from. This is his response to the Vanity Fair photos taken of his daughter.

"I wasn't there at the time," the 46-year-old country star said in an interview Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show.

"(Miley's) publicist was there, and everyone seemed in control," he said. "I didn't know they (were) gonna strip her down and wrap her with a blanket."

"So I was surprised when I saw it, you know, but ... stuff happens. That's life. Things happen and sometimes things get a little out of control and you just gotta deal with life," he said. "Again, it's peaks and valleys and ups and downs."

Um YOU'RE HER FATHER. It's your job as a parent to be there and oversee something like this!!! If not you, her mother!!!

"Stuff Happens"!!!!! What are you a walking bumper sticker now? Stuff doesn't happen if you're there being a parent rather than off turning a blind eye to the daughter who is the basis for your revitalized career. That's no excuse to let her get away with whatever she wants, and take whatever pictures she wants, and post whatever pictures she wants. Your appearance on Oprah was scripted and rehearsed then I take it. Because this certainly doesn't back up any comments you or your daughter made to her.

Shame on you Billy Ray!!! Who, by the way, has turned into oogy middle-aged man by the looks of the picture posted with the above article. With is flavor savor grossness below his lip. Yuck!!!
You better take back the role of being a parent. I'm sure you've seen the many examples of where that road leads.

This is just more proof to my belief that parents should keep their kids out of show business while their under 18. When they turn 18, they can do whatever they want. I'm not saying there aren't underage kids out there in show business doing just fine, staying level-headed, and focused. But it's a lot of pressure to handle that they don't have time to be kids and so they rush to become adults before they are ready. It's a parents job to make sure they are kids and that they teach them to make good choices in life.

But what could I possibly know about parenting? I don't have kids and so I couldn't possibly comprehend the parent/child relationship. Even though I was a child not so long ago. Well a long long time ago...

That's it for this addition of entertainment outrage.
Have a great weekend folks!! tell your friends and family!

Lola's Corner - Meet this Mommy's Least Favorite Kids

Awww...Remember when I was a brand new baby puppy. This is from my first night in my home. I was scared, yet curious, and not the least bit shy. I was a charmer from the beginning. Too bad daddy thinks I'm defective. He swears to me he just says that to get mommy's goat. But I haven't seen a goat around here, so I'm not sure if I should develop a complex about this or not. Oh well...All I know is that I was just as cute as can be, and I'm getting cuter as I get bigger.

So today I'm going to introduce you to Hopper and Maddie. They are the sisters of Riley the German Shepherd I introduced you to awhile back. You know the one that is their mom's favorite. Apparently she cares so little for Maddie and Hopper that it was like pulling teeth to get her to send me pictures. And I don't care what she says, They are just as cute as can be. I even met them, and they are nice. It's Riley's fault I haven't met them again. I guess it's a case of loving the one with the most "issues" to hopefully help her fix those "issues." Too bad she doesn't realize that Maddie and Hopper are going to drop out of high school and become crack whores all because she didn't love them enough. Maddie and Hopper, before you turn to a life of sex and drugs, come over to my house. There's plenty of room in my kennel for 3.

This is Maddie. Believe it or not, she was the first one in the family, not Riley. How can her mommy be so cruel and heartless? Those eyes are saying "mommy, please love me, don't make my destiny be a life of crime."

This is Hopper. I think the name is proof enough. How can you not like Hopper though...she's nice and cute. And I don't think she barked once at me. But I have a terrible memory.

Well that's it for this time. Send me pics of your non human furry friends to lolafrog@gmail.com. If I hadn't begged for these, I might have had to share more pictures of me, and mommy needs to take more. So send them in!!! Pretty Please!!!!!

Until next time, milk bone dreams and beggin strip snacks.

Lola

Fairytale Weddings…Time for a Reality Check Ladies

In honor of wedding season, it’s time to discuss the fiasco that is weddings. As a disclaimer, I don’t believe I’ve been to, or been involved in an over the top wedding. So I’m not criticizing any of you my dear sweet friends. That said we have become a crazy whacked out society, teaching brides to be, to embrace their inner narcissistic divas.
This has never made any sense to me. I mean little girls are trained to dream about their weddings from birth. Maybe it’s just a programming glitch on the second X chromosome. Estrogen overload!!! “I Must Think About Girl Stuff, Which Means My Wedding in 20-30 years!!!” I can’t say I wasn’t into this somewhat. Because my mother still had her wedding dress and I always liked doing grown up things. So I can remember the few times she let me put on her dress.

The other thing that gets little girls obsessing, is if they are cute enough and the right age for a relative or family friend's wedding, they will be a flower girl at least once. They get to wear a pretty little dress. Have their hair done to maximize their cuteness. And take pictures with the bride wearing her pretty dress. I think somewhere in there mothers and aunts start talking to them about their wedding. At that moment we all realized, this is what our purpose in life is. We are born not for the pleasure of men, or to have meaningful careers, but so that on that special day, we can look the prettiest we’ll ever be, and everyone will comment on how gorgeous we look, and we’ll be the center of attention for one whole day. After that it will go downhill because purpose #2 is to have babies. Doll companies have made millions on this purpose for women so that we can get lots of practice being mommies when we are little. I hated dolls so maybe my second X chromosome was defective somehow.

So we plan and we plan for the next 20 years, and then vehemently search for and stalk Mr. Right until he asks us to marry him. During this 20 years of planning, we have been increasingly exposed to more wedding crap, because well it is a multi-billion dollar industry and the survival of the industry depends on our increased exposure and dreaming through commercials, pictures, and even television shows. It’s worth that kind of money to spend on advertising when many brides spend $20,000 or more for one day. ONE DAY!!!! If I ever spend 20 grand on one day I’d better be getting a house or something that will build our equity. Don’t get me wrong, my husband is worth more than 20 grand, but he’s also worthwhile enough to show him that I’d never waste that kind of money on a party or put our marriage in jeopardy from the start by accumulating huge debt for one day of fun.

I loved my wedding day, but not for the wedding itself but for the fact that I was marrying my best friend and partner for life. If I could do it all over again, I would have spent even less than we did. We could have easily accomplished this by having it outdoors in someone’s backyard, which incidentally was my plan until we picked an August date. And I would have sent out fewer invitations. Although rest assured, those of you reading this would never had been scratched from that list. I just wish we’d spent even less.

I think for most of the crazy brides portrayed on T.V., it is the happiest day of their life not because they are marrying their best friend, but because they are the center of attention. For them, it wouldn’t matter who the guy was up there. They probably wouldn’t notice or care if there was a stand-in for their husband.

I read and hear about stories of brides pushing up the budget for the wedding and passing on money saving ideas in favor of something more fancy or prestigious or pretentious. And they rarely consider the feelings and financial situations of the friends they’ve asked to be apart of the ceremony. Many brides put unrealistic demands on their bridesmaids and husband to be all in the name of the best day of their life. Let’s not forget the running joke of the over priced bridesmaid dresses that your bridesmaids will only wear once and probably look ridiculous in. But that’s right it’s about you the bride, so it doesn’t matter what your friends have to spend to look silly in your pictures.

Finally, I think that too many people focus on that one day rather than prepare themselves to focus on the marriage. I mean the 3 biggest arguments among married couples are about money, kids, and sex. Why would you start your marriage off with an unnecessary debt to argue over, or set the expectation of over-spending and extravagance? It just sets the marriage up to be strained as soon as you get back to the real world. The day goes by so quickly and all you have are memories. Don’t let your wedding memories fill you with resentment towards each other because you are still paying it off 2, 3, or even 5 years later. You’ll be much happier if you don’t.

I'm ENTP - What are You?

I don't know if any of you have heard of the Carl Jung and Isabel Myers-Briggs typology. It's basically a personality profile that types on a combination of 8 different types.
Extroversion vs. Introversion
iNtuition vs. Sensing
Feeling vs. Thinking
Judging vs. Perceiving

Go to this sight and answer 72 questions to find out what you are.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

The really interesting part is when you read what your combination says about you and you find certain things to be particularly true. Kind of like when you pay the $2 at the fair to have your handwriting analyzed by a computer. Only there's probably a little more science behind this.

What ENTP says about me - It is the "inventor" as described in the Keirsey version. One statement I found particularly true "Inventors are always on the lookout for a better way, always eyeing new projects, new enterprises, new processes. Always aiming to "build a better mousetrap."
http://www.keirsey.com/handler.aspx?s=keirsey&f=fourtemps&tab=5&c=inventor

The version by Marina Margaret Heiss states:

"ENTPs are basically optimists, but in spite of this (perhaps because of it?), they tend to become extremely petulant about small setbacks and inconveniences. (Major setbacks they tend to regard as challenges, and tackle with determin- ation.) ENTPs have little patience with those they consider wrongheaded or unintelligent, and show little restraint in demonstrating this. However, they do tend to be extremely genial, if not charming, when not being harassed by life in general. " SO TRUE!!!! about me.

"ENTPs are also good at acquiring friends who are as clever and entertaining as they are. Aside from those two areas, ENTPs tend to be oblivious of the rest of humanity, except as an audience -- good, bad, or potential. "
http://typelogic.com/entp.html

That explains why all of my friends are just as fun and entertaining as I am :)....except that I'm not....really....maybe just a little....I would hope....But they really are a lot of fun and entertaining but in very different ways. Which is why I love them all....

So take it, and share with me/us what your type is, and one or two things about it that particularly describe you. I hope you find it as insightful as I did. I just took it the other day and it explained why I have been feeling the way I have been the last few days.

Disclaimer, I did take it in 2003 or 2004 while in school, and I believe I came out ENFP - But I can pinpoint that time in my life where I distinctly started to change the way I thought about life in general and how to approach most situations I encounter.

Whatever Happened to Good Customer Service? Suck it Google!!!!

So as you can tell by the title, I’m ticked off at Google. I will use them as my example for my overall beef with a decline in quality customer service in this country. Who cares about your potential customers, if we just ignore them, maybe they’ll go away. Or if we make the two-way conversation impossible for either party to understand, maybe they’ll just give up and let it go. And well, when you refuse to talk to them and you’re a big time company and they are small potatoes, what are they going to do? They’ll get together and bitch about how you screwed them over, and maybe blog about it to whomever will read about it, but not much else other than that. Because you have deeper pockets than they do collectively and can afford fancier lawyers than they can collectively so what are they really going to do?

AdSense, part of Google, is the subsidiary that they handle their Internet advertising through. They make the deals with advertisers, and say that they will give those that publish those ads on their sites a piece of the action for it. But they cut me, and plenty of other people carrying their ads on their sites, off without warning, or reason for that matter. They have the same standard automated email that says you may be a risk to their advertisers and your account has been disabled. Funny thing, this happened right before I was supposed to get paid for the first time. And it’s a piddly amount compared to what they make, but when you add up the hundreds and probably thousands of people they probably cut off each month, it adds up to a lot that they are not paying out. I wonder how they report it on their books? Expense – Ad Revenue revoked to fatten our bottom line.

I will now tell you about the lousy customer service experience. So you can contact them via an email form on their site, but they will send you an automated response with some links that they already sent you when they disabled you. The message will say due to the high volume of emails we are sorry we can personally respond to you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No they aren’t. They would have to pay someone to do that and this saves them money apparently. So I finally found an appeal form. And conveniently they can’t find a publishing account with my email address. Well that’s probably because you disabled it. Of course you can’t find it. How convenient. So I guess I’m just out of luck.

The problem is I think customer service is trending in this direction. And having worked specifically in a customer service department as well as other jobs that required good customer service, I pride myself in knowing a thing or two about providing excellent customer service. It certainly sticks out to me when it’s terrible or sub-par. How many of us are ticked off when we call customer service and can’t understand the person on the other line and they can’t understand us? Google needs a VP of customer service, and I should be that person. And if they currently have one, they should can him/her. Because my theory is, bad customer service catches up to you eventually. There are other search engines, and there are other companies that you can sign up to publish their ads to get paid for. They aren’t the only game in town. They may be the top dog right now, but even the leaders of companies like that have slipped up and let their arrogance get in the way of making sound business decisions.

If Cooter Can Do It, Anyone Can

How many of you were Dukes of Hazzard fans? I was a huge fan!!! So huge that I turned down the recent movie since it got such bad reviews. If you're going to do a Dukes movie, it better be dang good. If you're a hard-core fan like I was, then you remember Cooter the mechanic.

So if you check out this article, http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/12/people.benjones.ap/index.html
you'll find that he went on a 20 year drugs and alcohol binge as only someone destined to play a character named Cooter and destined to be a politician could. But you know what else you'll find out if you read this article, he quit alcohol cold turkey.

Good for you Cooter! You are truly someone we can all look up to. Way to go Cooter! You proved that all the whiny people that complain that they can't quit drugs or alcohol or cigarettes because the addiction is so strong, even though they "really want to," are all full of it. They are choosing not to quit. You proved that such a strong physical addiction can be overcome if someone truly wants to overcome it.

Now go and give Lindsay, Britney, and all those other crazy Hollywood rehab kids a good swift kick in the pants and get them scared straight!!! Because their parents obviously can't. Well I give kudos to Brit's dad for finally stepping in...although I have no clue the status of how that's going.

COOTER IS KING!!!!!
Now I better not hear a tabloid story of how you're entering rehab tomorrow for alcohol addiction, or I'll be pissed.

Lola's Corner - Meet My Other Removed Cousins

Welcome once again, ladies and gentlemen to my corner. As you can see I'm busy cleaning out the pampas grass because we're getting a new fence hopefully on Friday!!! So I helped mom and dad cut it down to little stumps and bag it, because I'm a working dog, and that's what I do. I work. We did this so that they can put in a real fence to replace our falling down worthless fence that was bound to hurt someone soon if they didn't do something about it. Mom's arms got a scratched up and inflamed and made some kind of fancy arm art.

I don't think this picture does it justice, but you can kind of see what both of her arms looked like from this shot.

So today I'm going to introduce you to my other cousins once or twice removed or however that works. Their names are Snowball and Simon, and they are cats. I hope to have a boxing match with a cat someday. I think it might be fun. And I do think a cat would make a worthy opponent.

This is Snowball, I'm jealous because I would like to sit on the back of the couch like that.

This is Simon. Don't they both look snugglicious?

Snowball and Simon are the siblings of Buster and Aspen, who I introduced you to a few weeks ago. Since I have more pics of them, and they are boxers like myself, I will remind you of what they look like.

T

his is Aspen. Isn't she a cutie patutie?

And this is Buster. Partying like the rock star that he is.

So that's it for my corner. I hope you enjoyed it. Remember to send me pics of your furry, non-human, friends as it's official, I'm now out of pictures of my friends to share other than the 2 pictures I have that I will share with you at Christmas time. Lolafrog@gmail.com Tell your friends, family, and neighbors I want to meet their pets.

Until next time,

Cheese Rocks!!!

Lola

How Old is Too Old to Renew a Driver’s License Without a Driving Test?

You may have heard the story not too long ago about the 101-year-old woman who got her driver’s license renewed until 2011!!! There are many stories out there of vintage people renewing their licenses and I say good for them. I’m always encouraged when I meet a 90-year-old person who’s as sharp as a tack, and very independent. It gives me hope that you can live a very functional and independent life at that age. None-the-less, it doesn’t mean you are still going to be a good driver 3 years from now!!!! Who’s to say they don’t have a death wish themselves and are of sound enough mind to look for an accident? After all 100 years is a long freakin time to live. And with all the aches and pains I have at 30, I can’t imagine them being 3 times worse or more than now.

There are plenty of tragic stories out there of 80 and 90 year old drivers running people down and killing them, accidentally of course, and not even noticing that something is or was terribly wrong. I have a real problem with them not having to take some kind of driving test every year they want to keep their driver’s license. They should have to prove that they are alert and paying attention to the road and the surroundings related to the road.

Now I realize that some people can have good days and that the driving test won’t catch everyone that shouldn’t be driving, but it would be a start and could help keep dangerous drivers off of the road. I believe it is also the responsibility of families and friends to intervene if their vintage family member or friend is showing signs of being hazardous to themselves and other drivers by being on the road.

I also understand that there are 16, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 year olds that shouldn’t be driving who have been terrible drivers since they were acquired a vehicle. I also understand that sometimes terrible drivers get incredibly lucky, (or maybe it’s the people around them) and they never get tickets for reckless driving, or speeding through a school zone, or causing accidents. So I suppose maybe it would be fair to lump our vintage family and friends in with this group. Except that I’ll bet this group is more dangerous than the 101-year-old lady driving around. If there were a way to make this group pass a test every year without bogging down the system, I’d support it. But there are so many stupid and crazy drivers out there that think they own the road and think they are above the rules of the road, that I don’t know that this would be feasible. So I will have to continue being proactive and watching out for them. I think the over 80 crowd is more feasible to require yearly testing. Shoot, I don’t plan on driving at that age. I’ll hitchhike if I have to. Maybe they will have figured out the whole teleportation thing by then and this will no longer be an issue. I can only hope.

In the meantime, drive safe, and keep an eye out for the crazies out there. And be honest and forceful if necessary if your vintage family members and friends shouldn't drive anymore.

Dr Pepper, Meet Your new Cover Girl

Dr. Pepper, Meet Lola. She's irresistible. No one will be able to resist trying the sweet taste of Dr. Pepper after seeing how much Lola loves it.

It's so good, you can't let it go to waste. Even if it spills on the ground!!

Out of Control Lawsuits a Drag on Consumers

Every so often you hear of lawsuits for crazy things like suing PetSmart because a transplant donor got a sick hamster from there, and after dying and having donated organs, various recipients died. http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/2892
I’m sorry for your loss, but poor testing of the donor’s organs to find out if they are healthy to donate, is hardly PetSmart’s responsibility.

Just google “ridiculous lawsuits, and a whole host of sites will pop up telling you notorious lawsuits. http://www.the-injury-lawyer-directory.com/ridiculous_lawsuits.html
Discusses what they consider to be the 10 most ridiculous lawsuits of all time. While most of these were thrown out, fighting these lawsuits can cost companies millions of dollars, which are factored into the cost of doing business, aka the cost of goods or services sold, meaning defending and or settling these lawsuits are factored into the price that you and I pay for these goods and services.

Many of you may remember the phony finger in the chili at Wendy’s lawsuit that was planted by the plaintiff. Not only did Wendy’s have to defend themselves, they had to do some serious damage control after their image suffered because of the false accusation. Even if sales are back to normal, that income is lost forever. Who is supposed to pay for that? Who’s deep pockets can they go after to sue to recoup that money?

My solution is to pass loser pays legislation. And if the client doesn’t have the money, then the law firm representing them assumes that responsibility. And if either say “so what, I have no money for them to take,” then both the client and the lawyer become employees of the company they sued at minimum wage until the debt has been satisfied.

Unfortunately there are many legitimate reasons and needs for lawsuits, but they seem to pale in comparison to frivolous lawsuits that are in court. And the only people winning are the lawyers. They are walking away with most of the money. And they are ruining what could be a perfectly useful legal system at the hope of hitting a lottery of a case. At least this way, they would have assume more responsibility and do more research and fact checking before agreeing to represent a client and proceed with a lawsuit.

I’m sure there are many honest and responsible lawyers out there doing good, we just hear about the ones moving forward with the ridiculous lawsuits that are costing the hardworking people their hard earned dollars. And now you know the story of how lawyers got a bad rap. (or is it rep?)

New Kids Back N'Sync - Is That Ridiculously Genius or What!?!?

So I guess this one is for the ladies probably within 5-7 years of me either way give or take. And perhaps their parents as they are about to relive a time period they thought was dead. I was not a New Kids on the Block fan. But I'll admit, I secretly liked Cover Girl. Oh oh oh, She's my Cover Girl, oh oh oh, oh oh oh.....That song rocked!!! But back in the day I kept my like of that song in the closet. I guess because I was trying so hard not to be like everyone else. Oh and of course I still knew their names and had my favorite. Mine was Jon, while everyone else loved Joey or Jordan. REALLY??? Because those two looked the most like girls of anyone in the group back in the day. How is it possible that they were the dreamboats of the group? I guess I went for the shy underdog. I know you might call Danny the underdog, but give me some credit. I had taste. Poor Danny always called a monkey. He's changed the least of everyone in the group.

All of my friends, well at least some of them that I've asked about it, are freaking excited that they will be coming to a town near them. Tickets go on sale any day and they are planning to go. That is one concert that will probably be as bad as going to a Jonas Brothers concert because all the women, who are now mothers, who were huge fans, will bring their 6-12 year old daughters probably, and teach them how to scream non-stop at a concert because the boys singing and dancing on stage are sooooo cute. Never mind that they are singing a song you might like to hear. Screaming is much more productive, because of all the thousands and thousands of screams, yours will be the most unique and heard. And Jordan or Joey will look directly at you and motion for you to come up on stage so they can sing to you. Afterwards, they'll send you backstage to wait for them for the after-party. And it will be the best night of your life. That's what screaming at a New Kids concert will accomplish.

Never mind the obvious that they are what, 15-20 years older. I guess we all are. But inside these crazy fans of theirs still have the posters and buttons somewhere and hold on to the fantasy that their favorite will see them in the crowd and instantly fall in love. I don't know how many of you had the giant buttons and the posters, but I'm sure most of you at least remember all the girls that came to school with the giant buttons pinned all over their back packs or on the back of their jean jacket. They were so cool. I wanted to be just like them. I was so jealous of their big awkward pins that they were wearing on their jacket, looking all cool with their Keds, french rolled jeans, and side pony tail. I bet you all miss those days don't you? I wasn't cool enough for all those things. Well I did rock the french rolled jeans now and then, but it was hard since I was tall and fighting the high water look to begin with.

So to all of you brave enough, perhaps crazy enough, to attend their concert, I hope it's everything you ever dreamed of and more. Better than the first time around. As for me, I'll just pop in my mixed CD that has Cover Girl on it, and turn up the volume as I sing at the top of my lungs driving to work as my tribute to all you nutty fans out there.

Lola's Corner

So welcome back to another addition of my corner. For those of you that haven't figured it out yet, I'm Lola, and I will be responsible for your smiles and/or laughs today, because mom's a lazy bum. I hope I meet your expectations.

So this is me playing in the sprinkler. Well that's what mom and dad think. Really I've just discovered a really fun way to drink water. In fact, I don't even need a sprinkler. A hose will do just fine. Although I'm more likely to inhale the water that way. I like to drink like this on a hot day because it cools me off. It's so freaking hot here!!!! My parents need to consider relocating to a cooler state, or put in a pool for me.

Anyways as is becoming the custom, unless I run out of pictures soon, I am introducing you to my new friends. Today's friends all come from the same family. They are an inter-species family. But I think the cats are probably in charge around there.



Muffin is on the left and rules the roost. Bug is on the right and came along 2nd.


This is Samson and he's a few months older than I am. He's a Maltese. I'd probably be a little scary to him, because I'm a big oaf. Even though I just want to play, I haven't figured out how to do it gently just yet.



This picture of bug should be in a cat calendar or something cool like that.

Remember to send me pictures of your non-human furry kids to lolafrog@gmail.com so I can meet them and introduce them to the world. Send me their names and tell me a little bit about them to share. Who knows maybe they will get a modeling contract or something cool like that. If so, I get a 10% finders fee.

That's it for now. Until next week, I wish your pets peaceful fulfilling dreams of chasing rabbits or squirrels. Snuggling with the rabbits they catch, but doing what ever they'd like with those dang squirrels.

Lola

Are all Dentists Scam Artists?

So I was inspired to get this off my chest in light of my visit to the dentist today. How is it that every time you go to a new dentist, you miraculously have a mouthful of cavities or dental work that is going to cost at least $500 or more like you never take care of your teeth? I’m guessing if you have really good insurance they get away with doing unnecessary work more often than not. But when you have not so good insurance like me, more of a “group discount” than insurance, you have to be mindful of them.

Now my visit today was really to find out if they would pull my two wisdom teeth, one of which is stuck on bony material, which is allowing food to get caught back there. This is becoming increasingly more and more difficult to keep clean, in spite of the fact I do a good job of it. How is it you ask that I, a 30-year-old woman, still have wisdom teeth? I’m tempted to give out my parents’ phone numbers and email addresses for you to bombard them with this question that I myself still have. Nonetheless, I still have them and 2 of them have popped through the surface.

So before I made the appointment I called and asked if any of the dentists there pull wisdom teeth. This matters because of how much I will have to pay. I’ve already been referred to a specialist once, which they said would cost $60 just to find out how much he’s going to charge me. When I called they told me that they would pull some, depending on this that or the other. So I had to at least try, since I figured that these teeth being above the surface made my odds better. Apparently I’m doomed to go to pay a specialist if I’m going to get this food trap removed from my mouth. Thanks Mom and Dad!!!! You Guys are Awesome!!!! I take this as proof that my brother was the favorite. His were out in high school, while still under their responsibility and insurance.

Back to my mistrust of dentists: I had a dentist that told me I needed over $1000 worth of work. This included him pulling my wisdom teeth. But that wasn’t the expensive part. I wasn’t sure I believed him that I needed a crown, so I had him do 2 fillings to fix the immediate pain problem I was experiencing. I didn’t trust him not to mess with my teeth further while under anesthesia for my wisdom teeth extraction, so I switched dentists. Apparently, he’s the only one in town that will pull my wisdom teeth, and I trust him the least. The reason being is that no dentist since, has mentioned anything about me needing a crown on that tooth. So he must have been trying to scam me out of more dental work and more money than necessary.

My theory is that dentists can get away with it more, because unless we are dentists ourselves, we know very little about our teeth and mouth area. We just know if it’s sensitive, something’s wrong. So they can give us a whole list of things, whether we’re sensitive or not, and we blindly trust them. Because after all, they went to dental school and are now classified as “doctors” of Dentistry. Interesting how DDS stands for Doctor of Dental Surgery, and no one with a DDS will pull my wisdom teeth. Except for sneaky Pete whom I vehemently distrust more than anyone else in the world. Yes, so we blindly trust them and hand over our money and our mouths to these “experts” we know nothing about.

Hmmm. I’m seriously tempted to have them all pulled and pay for a nice set of dentures. I’m done after that. You can’t tell me I have 5 cavities every time I come in, you can’t tell me I need a root canal or a crown. Heck, I don’t even have to come in unless my doctor tells me to because of some other problem he/she can’t fix. Because I can take my teeth out and let them soak over night and they’ll be ready to go first thing in the morning. How nice would that be?

I know not all dentists are bad. In fact I’m going to switch back to my last one after I decide whether or not to get rid of these wisdom teeth now or later. Oh if only I could hit the lottery, then I wouldn’t have to worry about what the oral surgeon is going to charge me. Oh well, such is the hard life of being an adult. If I had one wish today, it would be to be 17 again long enough to get my wisdom teeth out on my parents’ dime. I mean it would be to win the lottery. I forgot.

Help a poor state worker; click some ads to help me pay to remove my wisdom teeth. Sniff sniff. Pretty Please….

Welcome to Brazil

As many of you know, I spent some time in Brazil. I will from time to time share some of the pictures I took while I was there as well as other pictures from my various travels.

This is a picture I've always liked. This is probably the most famous landmark in Brazil. The reason I really like this picuter is due to the sun being perfectly behind the statue and creating what I like to think of as an artsy photograph. However, since I'm not a photographer, I might be way off. So you professionals out there, feel free tell me that I couldn't possibly know what I'm talking about. I won't argue or get my feelings hurt.

I like this picture for what I feel are obvious reasons. How do you not take a picture of a tree that has busted up through the middle of a residential street? Maybe now, it's providing lots of shade to the many passers by.

Why I Support the Fair Tax and Why I Think You Should Too

I know that you all are smart enough to know that the government takes income taxes out of your check each time you get paid; taxes for income, Medicare, and social security. This is taken out for your convenience so you hopefully won’t have to write a check to the government at tax time. But it’s really a dirty trick to make you look forward to getting a refund and to forget about how much you actually pay in taxes every year. Most people of my generation already have accepted the fact that we won’t see a penny of our social security when retirement comes around. Either that or they’ll raise the “retirement age” to 90 before you can collect your social security. The problem is when the issue of privatizing social security comes up, we the people freak out in outrage because apparently letting the government control your money is much less risky than letting you decide who to help you invest it.

My intent with this is to simplify the Fair Tax enough to spark your interest to learn more about it. Basically speaking, it is a national sales tax that replaces the current income tax system that is such a drain on us today. The Fair Tax will do several things to stimulate your own personal economic situation as well as the macro U.S. economic situation.

Here’s what it will do for you and your family.
-You will keep 100% of your paycheck (I don’t know about you, but I can spend my money better than the government does)
-Medicare and Social Security stay in tact and your interest is still funded
-You will get a prebate (a check) every month based on the # of people in your house to cover the fair tax amount on basic needs regardless of income
-The cost of goods and services you use now will should stay about the same, if not go down
-You pay taxes only when you choose to consume
-Eliminate the tax deadline and the costs associated with filing the taxes that you already pay
-Eliminates inheritance taxes, gift taxes, capital gains taxes, and all other ridiculous methods the government uses to rob you and your family on a daily basis
-Increases your ability to save tax-free

Here’s what it will do for the U.S.
-Bring jobs that were sent overseas back to the U.S.
-Encourage global companies to set up shop in the U.S. providing more jobs to Americans
-Corporations will not have to pay income taxes either, thereby driving down the cost of goods and services
-Collects taxes from tourists, illegals, and non-income earners every time they consume
-Takes the power from the federal government and puts it in the hands of the people

I can’t go into every detail here but I’m going to explain one very important thing as many people don’t understand this. Since you pay income taxes and the company you work for pays income taxes and other taxes just to have you as an employee, these costs are worked into the final price of the goods or services they offer. Their job is to make money not break even. (Even non-profits are not completely in the business of breaking even, because where would executives get their big fat bonuses?) So any increased cost a company faces, including tax increases on them, is passed on to you the consumer already. If those taxes go away, the cost of goods and services drop. The reason your goods and services will stay about the same is because these imbedded taxes will be removed and implemented in the form of the fair tax. But remember you’re now taking home 100% of your paycheck and keeping it, rather than 80%-90% or less of it. And you are receiving a check from the government every month to cover the taxes for the basic needs of your family.

One other important piece of information for you to ponder that should spark your interest. The fair tax is only collected once on brand new items. If you buy a used car or a used house, it isn’t collected, because all of those taxes were already collected the first time around.

Here’s what you need to do about it. Read the book. I paid $5 for it at Barnes and Noble on the clearance rack. I’m sure you can find a copy of it for cheap. I’ll even loan out my copy. Your other option is to go the website http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer and educate yourself. You can see if your representatives support it or not, and if they are a co-sponsor of one of the bills, which is HR 25 for the house of representative and S 1025 for the senate. Once you are educated, start talking with your family and friends about it to spread the word. Write your representatives too.

Don’t think of this as a right wing or left wing piece of legislation. Think of it as beneficial to everyone. Win-win for everyone. The nanny programs are kept that are generally seen as a good for a lot of people, but without burdening those that despise the abuse of the nanny programs. I can choose not to buy a new car if I don’t want to support it. Who knows, it may even stimulate those abusers of the nanny programs, to become productive members of society rather than the drain that they current are. I certainly can dream if I want to.