I’ve been I’ll say lightly/moderately discriminated to before multiple times. A few times were in I’ll say “masculine stores.” I was trying to pick up a specific part to a heater and asked for it and they basically said I had no business asking for that part. It’s also happened a few times at the Home Depot when I asked an employee for help and they look at me like I have no idea what I’m talking about.
I’m not saying I know everything but I know how to ask for a part and I know how to ask for where a specific tool or part is in a store. I’m not dumb, I guess.
Those who know me know I like to dress not normal. I like to dress comfortably. I don’t conform to any norms. I wear “men’s” socks, “men’s” shirts, “men’s” pants, “men’s” shorts, etc. But they’re my style. I don’t feel like I’m a cross dresser… it’s just what I’m comfortable in and what I like to wear. I don’t think these clothes have any sex per-se. A t-shirt is a t-shirt. And I feel that way about a lot of other clothes. They have women’s clothes and men’s clothes.
And I just think that’s wrong. Why isn’t a hat just a hat? Why are socks different? Why are gloves different? I guess I get it with things like shirts and pants but come on… at the end of the day isn’t it just what fits and what looks good and what feels good to you?
So when I walk into a shoe store and ask to try on a size of whatever shoe is men’s, why did they point me to the women’s shoes? I look over there and see all pink and rainbows and shit. That’s not me. I don’t feel like that’s a lot of people. Shoes are fucking shoes. Men should be able to wear women’s stuff just the same.
In fact, sometimes men’s products are just better. Take razors. Take any random women and ask her if she thinks men’s razors are better and she’d say yes. Definitely. I don’t really understand how there is a market for women’s razors since they suck.
And I do wear women’s stuff… I wear bras, I wear women’s shirts.
I guess I’m just tired of the stereotyping and whatnot. It’s awkward enough picking out clothes. It’s just fucking clothes. Who cares? Or maybe why should they care? It’s fucking shoes. All feet are fucking different.
I walked out of there without shoes.
I haven’t had any friends prego in a while but every time I do I learn something new. Pregnant people get like weird changes in their bodies. Besides dietary restrictions (no sandwich meat, no sushi), constant peeing, and anything medical, there are just certain changes that are really scary or unpleasant. I’m glad I was never pregnant.
Anyway, I thought I would list all the strange things that I’ve heard from my pregnant friends on what goes on with their bodies.
- Your fingers swell up so you can’t wear a wedding ring.
- The baby sucks all the calcium out of you so your teeth and bones become weaker. A friend of mine said she got a lot of cavities while pregnant.
- Your ankles and feet swell.
- Weird hair growth.
More when I can think of them.
Sooo glad I decided not to have kids!
There are quite a lot of things I wish I knew before moving here. The journey still isn’t over yet as we’re still not settled into a place of our own. We are days away from closing on our condo we bought in Lagos. Getting this far has been a really difficult journey.
I thought I’d write down some of my thoughts on this as this process isn’t for the faint of heart and it has definitely been depressing, trying, challenging, and downright draining. It feels like the universe is against this decision I made and it’s trying to tell me to abandon hope of this dream.
Here are some things I wish I knew before and how much I’m so depressed about this difficult situation:
- Getting stuff shipped to Portugal is a VERY DIFFICULT PROCESS.
- Bri flew back to the states on December 3rd to try to get all the paperwork we needed together, titles mailed, inventory, organization, timing, etc. He STILL wasn’t able to do it in THREE WEEKS!
- Bri flew back a few days before Christmas without having much progress on getting our stuff shipped here.
- We had to go to the Junta to get a special form like four times. The shippers fucked it up, the Junta fucked it up, and the Junta had very difficult requirements for people to meet.
- We paid another $2,000 around January then another $6,000 in June just to get our stuff due to the shippers delays. All done I’d say we paid around $30,000 just to get our stuff here. Not worth it.
- UPDATE 6/13/2023: We finally got our stuff on May 30th 2023!
- You STILL need a US address for a lot of things!
- Shipping is a big one as they need to mail back the certificado de bagagem.
- Having your mail forwarded somewhere. The USPS won’t forward to Portugal!
- You need some people in the US to help you!
- My sister was able to help me with the certificado de bagagem as she can mail things and it gets there a lot sooner (and cheaper) than from Portugal.
- Brian’s parents have helped us a lot along the way. Our mail is forwarded to their house. We still use their address for official things that need a US address.
- Working with the embassy requires a US address.
- Shipping stuff!
- The dollar to euro kills you. The conversion rate varies and it makes A HUGE difference.
- Another reason Bri flew back to the States was to move our money from our US bank to our Portuguese bank. You can do this online but it is a lot easier to do it by going to your bank. Quicker too. Our big condo purchase we had a budget; we have exceeded it since the dollar dropped so much in value by the time we hit closing.
- Having a US credit card doesn’t help. I do minor things with euros (cash) but a lot of things I put on the credit card. It does a poor exchange rate and might charge extra since I’m out of the US.
- I’m not sure what others do. It really is like playing the stock market on how much it changes cause it changes constantly.
- When buying a house or a condo there are A LOT of taxes and fees. We are paying 8% of the price in taxes. There are also other fees the buyer (me) needs to pay such as 1% for the lawyer, a notary fee of 1,000€, registration fee of 250€, legal fee of 6,458€. All of these are on top of the full amount which is paid directly to the seller. No money goes into an escrow or anything like in the US.
- Finding things can be difficult.
- Sometimes you need to know the right things to search for in google. Example is finding carpeting. We are carpet people. In Portugal (maybe even Europe… and the US is starting to do this too) people like hardwood. Carpeting isn’t common. Finding a place that does wall to wall carpeting has been challenging. Turns out you need to google “custom carpeting” to find places that can hopefully do what they do in the states. We’re still not over this hurdle!
- Finding a furniture place is proving to be a little difficult too. There are quite a few places that do “custom furniture” and it can be very expensive! We luckily found a few places like Marlo (in the US) that has furniture you can buy already made.
- Without transportation, some things aren’t accessible.
- Getting your cell phone switched was challenging. I wanted to keep my US number so I can keep up with friends and family.
- When I originally arrived here I used my roaming which was $10 a day. Not ideal.
- I bought a sim card for 15€ for a month with 6 gigs. Great deal!
- Renewing this was a pain in the ass if I didn’t want to buy a new one every month.
- I had to port my US number to another service (leaving AT&T). I needed to provide the latest bill, your account number, password, and all your information. I’m using iPlum (which turns out to be really shitty). This porting over process can take more than a week.
- My US calls and texts are through an app on my phone (iPlum).
- iPlum is charging me $108 a year for their service.
- According to their Fair Usage Policy for Unlimited Plans “unlimited plans” are limited to 2,500 “credits” a month. Sending or receiving a text is a “credit.” Every minute you spend on the phone is a “credit.” I had to buy extra “credits” since I ran out last month and my service was going to be suspended. I bought $20 worth of “credits” which gives me 2,000 extra. It’s bullshit.
- The iPlum app is a piece of shit!
- Half the time I don’t know who is calling (I don’t recognize many phone numbers).
- When someone sends a picture, I don’t know who sent it.
- Sometimes I can’t even tell who sent the text message as it’s just a phone number.
- It’s clunky as I need to touch many things and menus just to send a text or make a call.
- I had to change my credentials since my phone is now Portuguese number and NOT US so it thought all my contacts where Portuguese numbers.
- The calls drop sometimes and it’s difficult to hear. I have my volume to the max and I still can’t hear my uncle very well.
- UPDATE 6/13/2023: I currently cannot text since iPlum has now required registration which I can’t prove that I’m an individual without paying a lot of money. It’s ridiculous.
- Bottom line: be prepared for a few days of hardship and stress and don’t get iPlum. They’re a rip off and a piece of shit. I will be replacing them next year.
- You get nickeled and dimed a lot when going through these processes. It feels like death by 1,000 cuts.
- Don’t import cars or motorcycles over.
- We did some research online and it felt like it was going to be a fairly simple process. It isn’t. We’re in the tenth circle of hell with this.
- The government agencies (IMT) and Hyundai and Honda do not help you.
- Your vehicles might need to be converted and it’s just a miserable situation. It isn’t worth it. Sell your shit. Let it go. Don’t bring it for the love of God.
I will be updating this post maybe from time to time. Many times I’m getting and got depressed about everything and it feels hopeless a lot. I wish I could go back in time and change some of my decisions.
So far I would change:
- I would have sold/given away a lot more stuff and went with UPackWeShip or something similar.
- I would have sold my car and my bike. It would have killed me because I love them but I would have.
- I would have quit my job sooner in order to accomplish more in the states and have done more research before I went over so I could have been more ready for the bureocracy which is Portugal.
I miss my friends and my sister a lot.
As I’ve blogged about before and before, Dexter endings seem to suck. And last nights was no better.
It’s pretty absolute. I mean, Dexter’s dead. Last night’s episode seemed so rushed. I would have liked to see more… I mean it just seems like Dexter’s life ended when Logan refused to comply. And Logan was cautious with Dexter to begin with… why didn’t he do typical police protocols like he did before?
The ending was too rushed. I mean, we didn’t even have time to process it. One event after another. Stupid decisions by Dexter.
I really did enjoy the Dexter New Blood season. It was awesome. I loved seeing him not be a serial killer. I loved him not going back to his old temptations.
And he was actually smart up to a point. He wasn’t like the old improv-Dexter where every decision was hap hazard and not thought out. He actually made decent decisions throughout the season. Just the final like two episodes that went to shit.
I really didn’t understand why Dexter did the flashback to all the people whom would still be alive if it wasn’t for him. I have issues with a few of them.
- It wasn’t Dexter’s fault about Deb. I mean maybe inadvertently. But it was that dude showing up like at the wrong time. I don’t see how Deb’s death is Dexter’s fault.
- Lundy wasn’t Dexter’s fault either. That was Trinity’s daughter trying to protect her father. How can Dexter be blamed for that? If it wasn’t for BHB, Lundy probably would have came back to Miami trying to hunt Trinity when he retired. Without BHB, he wouldn’t have met Miami Metro or Deb or Dexter or anyone; most likely.
- Doakes wasn’t 100% Dexter’s fault either. (Inadvertently again. I guess one could argue since he was alone in a cabin but Dexter was feeding him.) But his death is on Lila. She killed Doakes. Dexter even killed her for it in Paris.
- Maria; yes. 100% on Dexter there. He could have handled that a lot better but that was still Dexter’s hap-hazard improv days.
Oh and another thing… I loved to see Batista again. I loved all his scenes especially the ending one. But I’m in pain since the Dexter/Batista reunion will never happen. He’ll show up to Iron Lake and it’s a fucking dumpster fire with the FBI on Kurt Caldwell, Dexter being dead… what a disaster and not what most fans had hoped for. Sigh, another loose end.
When I heard John Lithgow was going to be in it I was ecstatic. But… just one fucking scene. Probably could have been done with CGI or voice over or not at all. Why bother bringing Trinity back for one tiny scene with one tiny line? I would have liked to see Trinity as a ghost or whatever… like Deb was.
Harrison is gone with the wind. How much money did Angela give him anyway? I mean a cop having a substantial amount of cash on her is extremely unlikely. I didn’t even understand how she got there anyway.
What I Would Have Liked To See
Definitely that Dexter/Batista reunion. Judging from Batista’s emails, Vince and Joey still work with him. I would have liked to see them. I would have liked it to play out like Angela said. Dexter holds trial for Matt’s murder and is extradited to Florida to stand trial for BHB. At least then we could possibly get a second season of trials and other stuff.
I love when series references older stuff in the past. Lost did this a lot. It just tied shit together. Gave things more complexity. Dexter did this a bit throughout with references. But having him be suspected of being the BHB would have been great. Re-examine the evidence, walk through all of Dexter’s kills again. That would have been awesome.
It was kind of unbelievable that Angela (a small town cop) could crack BHB when Special Agent Lundy couldn’t. That didn’t seem probable.
Also I would like to see her finally put all those missing persons to rest. I mean, she has a lot of work to do with that.
Who is Batista’s wife? Gosh, I really hope it was that vice detective, Barbara Gianna, he dated in season three. She was awesome.
I would have liked to have seen better. Now that Dexter is dead, the ending that I had pictured isn’t going to come true ever… I guess it’s back to the books again.
Update: I actually like how this Dexter: New Blood ending article explains it.
Well it happened again. I got called out for being wrong about something but, later, after a half hour of research, I found what I needed to to back up my argument. And I feel like a shit if I were to text them later to assert my claim.
Google is a real pain in the ass. It is REALLY hard to find things right as you need them to back up an argument. I’m not sure what I’m going to do going forward, I mean I don’t want to bookmark every single article I read just in case I need to back it up months or years later.
This time it was an argument about whether or not Biden can eliminate student loan debt. Turns out, most likely, I’m right. Trump even used the same kind of logic when he did it.
Here are some links:
And now doing a google search of this: can the secretary of education cancel student loans links to a bunch of articles! Fuck my life sometimes man. I hate feeling like I’m this jerk or crazy person who makes bogus claims and can’t back them up. Fuck me for not having the information right then and there. But looking back at it later, I’ll fucking find it.
Update bonus: Here’s a reminder that POTUS can give everyone Medicare for All under section 1881 A of the Social Security Act. In fact, that act has been used in Libby, Montana where residents can get free healthcare.
When we were at Myrtle Beach, during the night, my phone started having a coniption. The charging port was wet. During the rest of the trip it has been iffy to charge the phone by cord.
When I got home, the phone fully wouldn’t hook up to a cord. The wet “moisture detected” warning was always on. I could not plug my phone into any port. Not the PC, not our cords, nothing. I had to charge my phone with our ghetto wireless charger. It didn’t do a good job.
So I went to a place in Gaithersburg to see if they could fix it yesterday. They could not. The dude even lectured me about how the phones aren’t supposed to be underwater… I’m sorry… what? Why would they advertise they can? Why would they have an option to take UNDERWATER photos?
That place sucked. Bri called Samsung and they said go to one of their certified places. I took it there today. They originally said over the phone they had the part but when I got there, they did not. They could not fix my phone either. They suggested calling Samsung.
We did when I got home. After pronouncing my last name 23432359 times to the lady, she finally got my information and emailed me a postage. I was to mail my phone to them since it was still “under warranty.” However, I think I would be paying them since it was a “my fault” kind of thing since I took my phone to the beach and got it wet.
I couldn’t get my photos off my phone! And their fine print said they would wipe my phone. I had to get these photos off!
After trying various things, nothing seemed to work.
Bri wanted to try to charge the phone with it powered off. For some reason, IT WORKED! My phone was able to charge with the cable with the phone turned off! When we turned the phone back on, the wet/damp warning message was gone! Finally that nightmare was over.
However, it said it could not reach a network (the no sign in the top right). After another restart, everything was fine!
Let’s hope it doesn’t come back. WTF, Samsung?
I hope if someone looks for how to solve the wet/warning issue, they come across this blog and maybe it could help them.
I’ve been binge rewatching Silicon Valley on HBO. I remember a scene from a few years ago when I first watched it and am now rewatching. It’s a very good scene.
Gavin is trying to get the cheapest place and people to build his new box. China, Bengledesh, all the other cheaper labor places in the world he couldn’t do so he turned to the United States. Some little town in South Carolina.
He got them to give him massive tax cuts, cleaned up facilities, etc… ya know, what rich NFL owners, Amazon, and other big corporations do.
Unfortunately, that strategy did not turn out well for his factory. Here’s what happened:
- The mayor had the factory repainted.
- The painters left some oily rags in a garbage can.
- Because of cuts to the sanitation service, the trash was not collected.
- The rags smuldered and caught fire.
- Because of cuts to the fire department, the blaze spread.
- A number of concerned citizens tried to fight the fire, but because the water was cut off, they could not.
- The vast majority of the rare earth materials survived the fire until the flames evaded.
- Due to mass layoffs of police, the locals that were there to fight the fire, decided to loot the burned out factory.
- The national guard attempted to reach the factory to help stop it, but the roads.
It’s just perfect to highlight what all goes wrong when capitalism for the poor and socialism for the rich come together. In this instance, even though it’s fiction, it’s good to see how big companies can suffer from their own mistakes.
Isn’t it bull s**t that we have to pay “surcharges.” They’re getting to be ridiculous. These “surcharges” cost me $13 a month. My Verizon bill is almost $200 for two phone lines, 700 minutes, unlimited text, and 6 GB of data on one phone and unlimited on the other.
But these “surcharges” go up every month it seems.
It states:
Verizon Wireless Surcharges – Includes charges to recover or help defray costs of taxes and of governmental charges and fees imposed on us by the government. Other Charges and Credits – includes charges for products and services, and credits owing.
So it’s the governments fault? I see. The government charges too much in taxes so they need to pass that onto their consumer. Makes sense.
But wait. It turns out they don’t pay taxes! What the f**k? They actually make a s**t ton of profit and still pay no taxes. They even get money back from the government!
At least they create jobs right? Nope. Turns out, their tax breaks don’t even create jobs.
It’s such bull s**t. I think I’m going to start to complain. Why should I pay more to pad their bottom line even more than it is now when they pay nothing in taxes? I pay taxes! You pay taxes! Why should we pay more of “their taxes?”
I’m fed up with this country sometimes. It’s bull s**t.
Spread the word.
I’m going to make this quick but I am tired of feeling like I’m the only one who cares about climate change. The American people elected idiots the other day who plan to destroy the earth even more by limiting the EPA, pushing through the Keystone XL pipeline, etc.
I’ve changed my diet (I’ve been a vegetarian for like three years) because it’s better for the planet, I’ve recycled, I got solar put on my house, I put my life in danger to ride a fuel efficient scooter… I even researched what Halloween candy was more “earth friendly” and gave that out.
No one else seems to care. I have my husband on board for some of it but he wants me to tell him what to buy instead of looking for himself. He wants me to suggest meals. He doesn’t want to do any of the work.
I feel like I’m in this alone. None of my friends are vegetarians. They are all supportive and try to accommodate but it’s still hard.
My family is the same way. I go over there and all they have is meat. We go out to lunch and they all order meat; even my husband.
No one cares. Do people even know the earth is fricken dying? And people still don’t care and do and say anything to remain ignorant.
I don’t even have kids! I don’t have any legacy. You’d think people would give some sort of shit about it since it’s their children and their children’s children but they don’t. I don’t get it.
I’m tired of being the only one who cares. We only have one earth and this is my planet, too!
I know I’m not the first one to gripe, as I was griping through the entire season and last nights final episode. I’m just confounded beyond belief. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all.
Let’s start with the Titanic references:
- When Dexter was saying bye to Harrison, it did sound like “it’s good bye for a little while, only for a little while”. What fathers said to their kids before the kids got on the lifeboats.
- When Dexter put Deb in the ocean, it seemed like he was going to say “I’ll never let go, Deb, I’ll never let go”.
I don’t get Dexter leaving Harrison with Hannah. That’s like the last person he should be left with. First time Harrison talks back, the bitch will poison him. And why isn’t anyone looking for Harrison? Did they assume he went down with the ship like Dexter?
Didn’t Dexter sell his apartment? Didn’t he give his car to Astor? Didn’t he sell his boat? He was ready to leave a lot of loose ends before he left the country.
What about their stuff? Harrison’s never going to have all of Dexter and his belongings? What happened to the blood slides?
And a lumberjack? Seriously? What did they just throw darts on a dart board with random crappy ideas at the beginning of the season… Oka, Hannah’s back… oka, lumberjack… oka, Deb dies.
Dexter left too many characters hurt by his disappearance. There’s like no closure for that pain. Everyone just assumes he’s dead without ever knowing that he was a serial killer… I will give it this, at least it didn’t leave a lot of loose ends with the characters.
Elway’s asleep on a bus. Last of that awesome character.
Quinn is tore apart because of Deb.
And what about Deb’s body’s disappearance? No one is looking for the body? No one looked at the tapes and saw Dexter take the body?
I get it that Deb was Dexter’s last kill. I get that the whole lumberjack thing was his torture. He thinks that everyone in his life dies. He has no pain now; no nothing; he’s just a shell. Is that his punishment?
What I Would Have Liked To See
I wanted an ending where people found out about Dexter. I wanted an ending where Dexter died by the hands of Miami Metro via a shoot out or something. I wanted to see a semi-happy ending where, years later, Deb and Quin were married and raising Harrison. Where Astor and Codey were a part of their lives. Where Hannah was caught by Elway and he collected the reward. Where the Miami Metro department knew the truth… how some would praise Dexter as a hero and most as a villain. I wanted to see more cameo’s of past characters.
How I’m Imagining The Series Now
Like I said in an earlier Dexter post; the series ended right before the Rita death scene. Dexter and Rita meet and have a nice vacation together and Dexter continues being a hidden serial killer. Everyone’s happy. No one dies. It sucks that Deb doesn’t find “true love” and that Lundy died but hell… maybe I’ll imagine a season where Deb and Quin hook up and get married. I need to watch them again to complete this fantasy. Seasons 5-8 can be thrown away!
Series That Had Bad Endings
Big Love – In the history of all bad endings, Big Love takes the cake. Bill dies at the hands of his neighbor? Who the fuck saw that coming? And there was no closure with the other supporting characters. We never saw Wonda again or baby Joey… just some minor closure with the main characters… Still don’t understand how Margie could have taken a cruise 2 months after her husband dies but whatever. And her “dreams” weren’t reveled until that very last episode. They were in too quick of a hurry to wrap it up.
Series That Had Decent Endings
Frasier – I kinda liked it that he went to Chicago to find Laura Linney. It left me hopeful that he’d finally found love and happiness. It just sucked that he was far away from Martin, Niles, and Daphne. But I loved that Daphne and Niles had a kid. We never saw the other characters again though. No Lillith, no Fredrick, no Bulldog.
Lost – After rewatching it again and again, I like the ending. I just wish I knew more about how Hugo ran the island and if the plane made it safely to the main land. I know now that Jack dies which is probably for the best since he was a douche most of the time.
Series That Had Good Endings
Scrubs – Besides the “Scrubs 2.0” which was kinda funny; I thought they wrapped up Scrubs pretty well. It had a lot of closure. We saw a lot of the characters from before when J.D. walked out of the hospital for the last time. I thought it was nice. And it showed glimpses of their futures.
House – This TV show had an ending that everyone should take a lesson from: live your life. It was great that House faked his own death and that him and Wilson were riding motorcycles across the country together. It was a very happy ending and a good moral. We all need to live our lives more.
Monk – That show had an excellent ending. I loved the fact that they finally tied up the loose end with Trudy. I thought it was great that Trudy had an estranged daughter that Monk fell in love with (as a father). I loved the fact that he found that part of Trudy and how they basically lived happier ever after. He continued his detective work.
Before I start this post which I’m sure a lot of people would say I’m wrong on… I would like to say how pathetic it is that our Senate couldn’t pass one of the poorest, weakest gun control bills ever. And, no offense, how stupid some people are who believe the lies from the NRA. It’s daft that a bill that could have saved some lives couldn’t get passed in our country.
Anyway, to start my thoughts about what happened in Boston… I understand this was a terrorist attack but I’m shocked that the explosion that happened in Texas didn’t get covered. In Texas, one of their fertilizer plants exploded and killed 14 people and injured 200. Five times the amount of people were killed in Texas than were killed in Boston. And twice as many were injured in Texas than in Boston… Yet the media, all they covered was Boston.
It’s very sad to hear in our country of business’ not being regulated enough that something happens which costs people their lives. The last time the fertilizer plant in Texas was inspected by Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) was in 1985. Almost thirty years ago.
Due to them not being inspected regularly, the plant could get away with having crappy safety standards, or no safety standards at all. This happens a lot in coal mining and oil. They either pay the fine or don’t do anything at all. The fines are less expensive than to actually implement safety standards for their employees. We saw another example of this recently with the pipeline explosion in Arkansas.
I can’t understand anyone being against this kind of regulation. I can’t understand how anyone can argue on the side of the business. We all want clean water, we all want safe cars, police, etc. We all don’t want to see people or animals hurt or killed. It’s just sad.
It makes me angry that these kinds of things can be prevented. It also makes me sad that more people died from a lack of government regulation than from a terrorist attack; however we’ll always remember Boston. Will anyone remember Texas?
After years of finding my personal documents on google, I finally got a win and got docstoc to remove my documents!
I’m a paranoid person and I like to keep tabs on my online presence so I started googling my name every month or so. About two years ago I noticed that some of my personal documents got onto this lame website, docstoc. One of the documents was my resume (outdated) and a paper I wrote in college.
If you googled my name, this website would come up where you could download the documents.
I tried emailing docstoc several times to get them removed but they refused. They said I needed copyright status or whatever. It’s like, it’s a college paper and a resume. It’s no secret that the resume was mine considering it had my name and my email on it (the same email I used to email them). And who gets their college papers copyrighted anyway?
I emailed them earlier this evening and again asked them to be removed. I cited the usernames who shared them. These were two usernames consisting of weird characters, obviously not real people. I also said that if they did not comply, I would be contacting a lawyer.
That seemed to do the trick. They wrote me back and removed the documents. I’m a happy and accomplished Janny tonight!
Driving down the road last Sunday, I saw this…
If only the truck owner had someone to thank for having the ability to get parts to fix his truck. Chevy is still around producing trucks like his. You know, Romney was against the auto bailout… just sayin.
Not sure what it is about this week but something’s either pushing me out the door of my current job or else I’m having really REALLY bad luck.
Let’s start with the “bad things happen in threes” that happened to the Prius:
- Starting last week (around April 18th, when I gave my two week notice) I noticed that my tire pressure was low since the indicator light was on. No biggie, just put air in the tires. A day later it came on again. Come to find out there’s a hole in the tire. Okay. Luckily we went over Uncle George’s on Sunday where he was able to repair it.
- Monday morning, on my way to work, I get hit by a rock. I know because I heard it. It sounded like a big rock. Since it was raining I wasn’t able to see any cracks in the windshield. However Tuesday I noticed it. Called Geico Tuesday to fix it. They came yesterday (Wednesday) and repaired it.
- When I leave work yesterday (Wednesday), my car doesn’t start. WTF? The battery was dead. Called a tow truck since I didn’t think it was the battery. Bri arrived before the tow truck and we were able to jump it. I didn’t make it to yoga last night due to the dead Prius battery.
I forget to mention the fact that my scooter also decided to die. It too needed a new battery as it kept needing to be recharged.
The Camaro needs to be fixed again. Nothing out of the usual there.
Last night I accidentally poured hot wax all over my left hand. Worst pain ever.
My websites got hacked or something. When I go to any of them on any mobile device or in IE, I get redirected to sweepstakesandcontestsdo.com… I emailed Dreamhost but haven’t heard anything… I noticed this issue last night.
Then this morning my hair brush breaks! What are the odds?
Tell me, is this just bad luck?
After my previous post, this harassment didn’t stop. I received calls again at 2:51, 5:22, 6:37, and 8:23; with another call today at 11:40.
As I explained, I had spoke to Verizon yesterday and blocked a few of these numbers. I got this app on my phone, Call Control, which lets you block three numbers for free (then you have to pay for the pro). I also blocked another number with Verizon.
All those numbers again, plus a new one:
- 561-463-5521
- 443-419-2016
- 443-816-1645
- 216-282-5522
- 877-874-5811
- Restricted
Bri was actually able to call them yesterday. They are some education service that finds a school for you (for a fee)… much like Education Connection. Bri was able to get their location and a persons name (just in case we need to file a restraining order). Their PO box (if you’d like to spam them, please), is the following:
PO Box 515381-67004
Los Angeles, CA 90051-6681
We’re compiling all the information (when they call, what numbers, what’s said, etc) and will be filing a law suit if this does not stop.
I don’t know what really to do about this issue. It started yesterday afternoon, I got a call from a 443 number that I didn’t recognize. I decided not to answer it. They called twice but didn’t leave a message. I basically ignored it.
Then starting at 8:03 this morning, I get a call asking for a “Vanessa”. I said they have the wrong number and hung up. It wouldn’t stop after that. They called again at 10:17, 10:23, 10:31, 10:42, 11:24, 11:31, 11:35, 11:58, 12:06, and 1:50.
They call from various numbers and sometimes their number is blocked. Two of the numbers I looked up. It seems they’re some company asking if people want to go back to school or something. It’s a total scam and complete bull shit.
Around 11:30 I texted Bri about it. He said that I should call the police. He did for me and they said to call Verizon, my carrier. They weren’t really helpful as they suggesting downloading an app that blocks numbers and blocking them with Verizon. I did both and haven’t gotten a call yet.
Here are the numbers that they call from (besides unavailable):
- 561-463-5521
- 443-419-2016
- 443-816-1645
- 216-282-5522
I’ve tried several times to speak to these people. I asked them to please stop calling and remove me from their list… the other times, they just hang up on me.
This post intentionally left mostly blank since I can’t really say what’s really on my mind since religion isn’t something kosher to talk about.
That health care law requiring insurance companies to pay for contraception would do a lot of good. I am one of the women who would benefit from it. I want to live in THAT country where the government does good things for people.
Slavery for example (and there are many more examples) is condoned and practiced in the Bible yet it’s illegal in America; how come no one’s complaining about that?
Let’s just leave it at the fact that it’s entire bull shit that religion gets in the way of state and federal regulations that can do good things for people.
Why the hell is the so called “liberal media” not talking about this? This bill gives the military the ability to detain and arrest US citizens indefinitely who are suspected of terrorism… on US SOIL and WITHOUT TRIAL.
Obama, veto this bill. This bill is sick. How many more liberties do we have to give away in the name of terrorism? Especially when we’ve killed bin Laden and seem to have the whole “terrorism” thing under control.
If we keep taking away the rights of our citizens, there will be no country to protect. And let us not forget the wise words of Benjamin Franklin: “Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.”
I’ve been meaning to blog about this for quite some time. You ever just think about life or be in a situation where technology just lacks? And you think to yourself, why haven’t they done that or fixed that?
I have been in these situations quite a few times throughout the years and I have to say each time… It’s the year 2011!
Here’s a list of stuff that needs to just catch up…
- Vending machines – Take my stupid, folded up, ripped, and wrinkled dollar… in ANY direction. Why should I still need to have that crisp, perfect, straight from the mint dollar bill in order to get my soda???
- Toll Roads – Yes, they have EZ pass and that’s great. But what about the people who don’t have EZ pass and carry around credit cards? What about instances when it’s 3 in the morning and there’s no dudes there? I still need to have the exact change to put in the thing. (I’m looking at you, VA-267.)
- Digital Radio – Why aren’t all stereos in cars digital? And how come when they are, they’re always so delayed it displays the song name three songs later? And why does it take forever to scroll and see what the station name is?
- Crutches – Why haven’t we come up with something more advanced than crutches? They make your life hard. I don’t understand why they don’t come up with an iron boot or something so you can walk without those awful things under your arms.
- Food – How come it’s the future and we still have fattening food? How come we don’t have food that tastes good and that is good? And why the hell is fruit so expensive? Furthermore, shouldn’t all food be available 365 days a year? Why do I need to wait for my strawberries and zucchini to be in season?
- 24/7 – How rare is it that any place is open 24 hours? It’s the future. Almost all places should be 24/7 including BANKS. I hate time limits on food and clothing and shopping.
- Hoverboard – Because I had to put it in here!
- Baldness & Other Cures – Shouldn’t we have cures for obvious things? There should be no bald people. You shouldn’t have to take a few days to get better from a cold. There should be easy solutions to these problems.
- Simulation – How come you have to learn how to ride a bike the same way people learned 100 years ago? When learning to ride a motorcycle or a manual car, it’s real. How come there’s no simulated thing that you could easily learn how to shift? They had simulations for the space shuttle back before 1969! Why do I need to learn by really doing it?
- Automatic Transmissions – Why is it that everything isn’t automatic? It’s the future, you know. We should get away from this “manual” because we invented machines to do it for us. And they can do it better than us. Why do more when a machine can do it for you?
- Pennies – How come in the US we still have pennies? Inflation is so high right now, there isn’t a need. Our country can’t afford to make them anyway. Making a penny costs two cents, which makes no sense.
- Shoe Laces – Why do we still have these again? Isn’t the future supposed to be shoes that adjust to your feet? You shouldn’t have to manually adjust your shoes to fit.
- Pens – Is it so much to ask for a pen to actually work? Sure if you buy the really expensive pens, maybe. But this is the future. All pens should work without you having to draw 2,139,482 circles to get more ink or putting a lighter to the tip to melt the dried ink. Work!
- Lights On – Why isn’t it a requirement for cars to have their lights on when the windshield wipers are on. It’s a law in some states. Some cars do it but it should be a requirement.
- Lasting Batteries – Why do we have problems with charging things? It’s the year 2011. I’d expect our devices to run by themselves without a charge or have little requirement for charge. My phone needs to be placed on the charger like once every 15 hours (depending on usage). Seriously, create better batteries.
- Doors – Isn’t there a way to digitalize the doors already? Make it use a fingerprint or something or a card. Keys are so old and they’re so bulky!
- Adapters – Why is it that I need 3,428 different cords to power my different electronic devices? Why isn’t just one adapter fits all? (Thanks to @travey for this one.)
My car is basically brand new. His name is Orion. He’s a Toyota Prius. I’ve had him about two years now. He has about 20,000 miles on him.
So I’m driving to work, like usual, I had just dropped Brian off, when all of a sudden my accelerator stopped working. I just thought, oh Prius! I tried to use it again and it wouldn’t accelerate. It then flashed warnings at me. Check engine as well as the big fat red triangle with an exclamation point (that means BAD). So I pulled over. I’m on 270 I thought I can’t break down here, I got to get to work.
I just restarted the car. The warnings were still there, but I tried to get it to work. I was like a mile away. I drove it as far as it would go then it stopped going. Oh joy! I’m in the middle of the frickin road! I call Brian and freak out on him cause he just changed the air filter last night, thinking he did something. He told me to call Geico, so I did.
They were really cool. They called a tow truck for me. For free. They said an hour, so I called Bri to let him know. He was on his way, he called a taxi.
I waited there, must have been like 20-30 minutes just sitting there in the middle of the road. A cop came by but didn’t offer any help. Got lots of honks. But I actually had a woman in a minivan stop to see if I needed help. Just thinking, man, people are not like what they used to be.
Anyway, Bri finally got there. Then a cop shows up. This time one who wanted to help. He said we should push the car over, out of the road, so we pushed it over to the side.
I hugged Brian and walked to work. All that’s left is waiting for the tow truck and then Toyota.
So Bri went to Toyota with the car. About an hour and a half later they diagnosed the problem… it was rat crap. Rat crap had gotten into my engine.
Apparently rats and mice like to live under cars at night. While they’re there they poop and sometimes chew through wires. No wires were chewed, luckily. Just the poop got sucked into the air filter and had a hole in that, then into the engine.
Weird, huh? The bill will be around $200. They had to replace the air filter (which Bri had JUST replaced the night before) and clean out the engine.
Crazy… Size_t will now be in charge of watching for mice at night.
