More Than Just For Cleaning Dirt

I love the Swiffer line of products. They make my life easier. I use the little 360 Dusters, the Wet Jet and the Sweeper Vac. They all cut down on the time it takes me to clean my house. They make it smell fantastic while I am cleaning. And now, my Sweeper Vac saves me the trouble of getting too close for comfort to any of the dinosaur sized spiders that make their way into my house late summer and throughout the fall. I am an arachnophobe. I hate those hairy freaks. Who needs that many dang legs? And, why do they think they should live in my house? Because I have such a fear of them, if I have to take care of one that gets into my house because no one else is around to handle it for me, I usually panic and miss hitting it with a shoe or stepping on it. I don't know how it works. I just know that my panic gives me horrendous aim. It can take multiple attempts before I succeed at my little mini-murder. And, as a result, the freaky little too-many legged hairy offender gets warning that I am after him and, about 7 out of 10 times, it gets away and I spend the next several hours freaking out until it emerges again and I get another chance to scare it away, and make a fool out of myself.

But, a few months ago I had a "Light bulb Moment" while standing frozen in place, in my kitchen, as one of those hairy little intruders stared me down. My Swiffer Sweeper Vac would suck that jerk up and keep him in its container until it starved to death. I know...that is severely inhumane and I should be ashamed of myself. But, guess what...it is my house, it is my paralyzing fear, and I will deal with it how I want to. If I am going to be punished in the future for torturing one of His creatures, I will stand in judgment and fess up and hopefully I will be forgiven. But, until that day...let this be a warning to those freaky, hairy, eight legged abominations. You are not welcome in my abode and I will rid you of my home the best way I know how.

Swiffer Sweeper Vac is like my own little Roach Hotel for spiders...Spiders go in but they don't come out!

Millionaire MissMatchmaker

Forgive me if I have posted about this before and, if I weren't so darn lazy, maybe I would comb through all of my old posts to see if I have or not. But, if I have...too bad. It's my blog and I'll repeat myself if I want to. So, :P

Anyway...I have a newly renewed old-fashioned disgust for Patti Stanger of The Millionaire Matchmaker. She is every kind of wrong in my book. She obviously thinks she is stunning and someone with whom other women should model themselves after as she constantly councils the women that she interviews for her millionaires, to straighten their curly hair and color their red hair any shade but red. And, it isn't just the women whose red hair she has such an aversion to. In this evening's episode, she asked a man if he would color his red hair another color and when he refused, she dismissed him. I have seen her call another woman ugly, to her face. The woman she called ugly was infinitely more stunning, gorgeous and beautiful than Patti. Maybe I am biased. I don't see an inch of beauty in Patti. She obviously had her lips blown up and they look awful. If I had to pay her a compliment, it would be that her hair shines like silk. But, it is a horrible style. Her voice is grating. I won't resort to being further insulting to her but, she really aught to take a look in the mirror before she calls the kind of woman who would make Angelina Jolie jealous, ugly.

And, she toots her horn as having "an extremely high success rate" in her matchmaking business. Yet, in probably 99% of the episodes, she has failed miserably at making a match. So, I would like to see where she is pulling her success rate from. Furthermore, she is 49 years old and, recently split from her fiancee. Of course, she blames him, after being together for 6 years, because he didn't want kids. I don't see her as being the nurturing type so, I fear for any children she might have. Anyway, my point is, if she still hasn't made a match for herself, one year from the big 50, how exactly does anyone have faith that she can find their match for them?

I really have a hard time digesting most of what she says. Now and then, she will give good wardrobe advice to some of the women who walk into the interview wearing tops that look like they belong on a girl 3 times younger and 6 times smaller than them. On occasions she will dole out good wardrobe advice to men who look like they came in from climbing a mountain. No one wants to date a shlub and, I agree that too much skin gives the wrong impression of a woman...and I am not a prude. I just think a little bit of cleavage goes a long way.

But, as for her advice that everyone needs to flat iron the crap out of their hair and that red isn't as beautiful as blond, brown or black...I call B.S. What is beautiful to one person is ugly to another, so...who is she to think she has the final say on beauty?

From Zero to 3

Up until this year, I haven't known anyone who was deployed to Afghanistan. And, now I know 3 men. One of them is a High School friend, I worked a summer job with one of them many years ago, and the last one is an acquaintance through a family member. My friend from High School was recently injured so, he is actually on his way back here to the states. And, he is able to retire now so, he will not be going back. Even though he suffered an injury, I'm thrilled for him and his family! But, since he was injured, it seems to have made it even more real for me, that I still know 2 other men in Afghanistan. I don't hear from the guy I worked with back in the day and I worry for him all the time. I don't really know if he is ok. I don't know how things are for him in Afghanistan and I just keep him, and his safety, on my mind and hope that he is doing well. The friend of my family member was deployed in June so, he is halfway through with his deployment. One of his friends posts a lot of pictures of him and his unit on Facebook and always tags him in them. Seeing those pictures is surreal for me. There is a lot of sitting around behind big rocks while holding huge big boy guns, smoking cigarettes and probably just chatting away their hours. To be honest, the first set of pictures he and his friend posted back in June, brought me to tears. Even though they were all posing and goofing off, I couldn't help but be taken by the sheer danger of it. There is never a time, when they are outside of their rooms, that they aren't holding their guns. Someone is always looking out in the background so that, even when they are trying to pass the time and feel a little normal by goofing off a little, someone is always looking out for their well-being. It is poetically disturbing. So, I worry for the 2 men that I know in Afghanistan. I hope for the quick recovery of my friend who is on his way back to the states. I wish I could keep in constant contact with my ex-coworker, or at least hear from him once in a very short while, so that I can know that he is safe. And, I keep an eye on the pictures of my family member's friend on Facebook, and his few Status Updates, and that helps me to know that he is doing ok. But, for now, I wish them all a safe deployment to Afghanistan, and a safe and healthy return to the states.

What Do You Think...Please Leave a Comment!

As you can see, I've changed my template and, I am trying to decide if it makes my posts a bit hard to read. I do feel that the color of the text makes a difference. Red text, like in "Some Stuff" is hard to read so, if I keep this template, I'll probably refrain from using red text. Anyway, please let me know what you think. If you have any suggestions, I'll be very happy to give it a shot and see how it works out in a future post. Thank you, in advance, for any suggestions or comments!

I Want To Scream It...Stop Rewriting History...

I dislike politics. Worse yet, I dislike talking politics...especially with people who are on the opposite side of the fence because, while I can hold a rational and calm conversation, a screaming match will ensue and I will inevitably back down because I refuse to be screamed at in an effort to change my mind when all I want is to have an adult disagreement. I am not wrong and neither are you where opinion is concerned.

That being said, I really dislike it when people try to rewrite history. So, here is my soap box. I was at my nail salon a week ago and President Obama was on their TV. One of the salon employees changed the channel and my manicurist told me that it was because they have literally had complaints from other salon patrons when Obama has been on the TV before. So, in an effort to make everyone "comfortable", as soon as they notice Obama on their TV, they change the channel. Seriously? I find that childish. I feel that, if you don't want to see something, simply don't look at it. If you don't want to hear something, simply don't listen to it.

I have listened to people lambaste President Obama for the economy. This is what I mean by rewriting history. Let's get this straight right now. I really want to scream this point but, I hold back because I will not play the middle woman between crazy and crazier. The economy was broken for 8 years before President Obama ever got into the Oval Office. President Bush had 8 years to break America's economy. How does one forget that? How is it possible that people think that the economy only broke starting 2 years ago? Furthermore, how do people think that President Obama can just snap his fingers and fix, in 2 years, what Bush spent 8 years breaking? President Obama is highly intelligent but, he isn't a magician. It is going to take time to repair 8 years of damage. I will never understand how something can be broken but acceptable until another person is in charge of it simply because the person who broke it was of political agreement and the new person in charge of it is in political disagreement. In other words, you lost your job when President Bush was in office and that was ok but, now since President Obama is in office and you are having a hard time finding a job, it is his fault. Right...that makes sense.

As I chatted with my manicurist, her original thought was that it was President Obama's fault. Then all I had to do was calmly remind her that things were broken while President Bush was in office, before President Obama took over. All I had to do was have her think back to nearly 3 years ago and it was amazing the change in tone that she had.

Open your eyes! Take a trip back down memory lane to when you started to struggle financially. I bet you will see it started before 2008. So, how about we try to hold all parties accountable to your struggles, as far as the government is concerned, and stop blaming the new guy just because he is a Democrat and you are a Republican. There is no such thing as rewriting history because it is literally impossible. You can not, no matter how bad you want to, go back in time and change what has already happened. Good luck trying. You'll just come across as an idiot to people who have a strong grasp on the reality of history.

To Shred, Or Not To Shred...

...that is the question.

I am almost and OCD shredder. I shred anything and everything with my name and address on it. If it isn't staying in my house, it goes through my shredder. And, what got me thinking about that topic was when I shredded the envelopes from last years Christmas cards sent to me from friends and family (I save them so I can use them as a reference for the following year, should I forget anyone on my card list). So, not only did I protect my identity, but I protected my friends' and family's' identities by shredding their addresses as well. Now, the question is...are my friends and family as courteous of my identity? Or, do they simply throw the envelopes with my address on it away? Perhaps I am a bit over-protective. It's not like someone stealing the envelope from the garbage would have my SSN or even my birthday. But, if they have my name and address, it is my opinion that they have enough information about me to make my life Heck. So, in an effort to protect myself, I don't take any chances and into the shredder that info goes.

What do you think? Am I too protective? Do you shred everything with your name and address? Or, do you do what I worry that others do and just toss the envelope with your info, and mine, right there in the garbage for anyone with bad intentions to steal?

Socially Networked

I truly am Socially Networked. I don't know how I ever survived without social networks like Facebook and Myspace. Nor do I know how I will survive if they ever cease to exist. I am also on Twitter but, I haven't entirely figured that one out yet. I feel like there is a key component I am missing to it. I will post an update now and then but, I guess I really just need to sit down and navigate around it more than I have.

Anyway, I became Socially Networked in June of 2008 when I used Myspace to find a friend with whom I'd lost touch with 11 years earlier. I have been hooked on the social networking sites since then. And, since then, I have reconnected with some of my besties from high school, a few of my college friends, ex-coworkers, family I don't get to see very often, family friends from my younger years and, I've even made a few new acquaintances.

I know very few people whom disagree with the social network sites. And to them I say, you don't know what you are missing. I understand that some people think these sites are dangerous. And, they can be. There are some sick people in the world. Couple that with hackers and it can be a dangerous world. But, if you are careful and mindful of what you are doing, you won't have anything to worry about.

I do wonder if the teens and 20-somethings that are Socially Networked, can truly appreciate what they have at their fingertips and, have had for a major portion of their lives. If you've never lost touch with people who played a big part of your lives in your formative years, can you really appreciate a site like Facebook and all the reminiscent reconnection it has to offer those of us who went more than a decade before getting back in touch with people we swore never to lose touch with in the first place?

So, I am endlessly grateful to my social networking sites of choice. I'm grateful that I have been reconnected with people whom I have truly missed and thought about a lot throughout the years. That being said, I miss those whom I still can't keep in touch with on a regular basis.