Can you say, bitter?

I still hate Time Warner Cable.
I hate that they are a monopoly, and so their customer service sucks.
I hate that they have these really ridiculous structures around how their technicians get paid; structures that really only serve Time Warner's bottom line. Because they really cannot lose a customer. Because there really is no competition.
I hate that they won't listen. Did I mention to them on Tuesday that I needed a new modem? Yes.
Did they listen until Friday? No.
I hate that they won't use the tools they have, because their goal is to get a customer off the phone. Did they have the ability to see my modem had been essentially down since Saturday? Yes. Did they have sensors to check the levels in and out of my house? Yes. Did they give any of this information to the service techs who came and went, telling me that the .20c splitter was my problem, when really, it was that the modem was fried by the last storm.
So it took them four service calls to get it right.
And they've probably just created another Verizon customer.
***
Americans are illiterate.
I heard someone misquoting the Bible the other day at the gym and began to correct him, when he told me he wasn't listening to no... blah, blah, blah. Turns out Americans are racists, too. I am apparently lying to him and trying to undermine his faith because I know what the bible actually says, but I am white. And Jerusalem IS (actually) an artichoke, too, f.y.i. I was trying to make a point, but the humor was somehow lost
However, this illiteracy thing is everywhere.
As most of you know, I am a recruiter. And this is a very tough economy. So when there's a job open, the hiring manager can afford to be very, very picky and only choose candidates whose resumes are home-runs.
And, I contend, that if you want to make $80K a year, it is IMPERATIVE that you know how to construct a sentence, manage to get all of your verbs to agree, use adjectives where they belong and not make up words.
Effectivity is not a word.
Neither is impeccative.
If something starts in the present tense, it cannot finish in the past, unless it is a time-travel novel by Spider Robinson, and then, at least, the grammar will be effectative.
My boss and I are reading your resumes, and we are people who can spend half an hour debating the emotional and sociological implications of the plural possessive.
YOU MUST GET THIS STUFF RIGHT.
And yes, I'm yelling at you.
Go take a GD grammar class. Hell, download one off the Internets and listen to it in your car.
I promise, the 6 months you spend attending night classes could be the career you save: yours.
***
OK, So now, the Top 10 rules of dating Antje.... (for Shine).

10. You must like something (insert cake, wine, candy, ice cream) enough that I can buy it for you in small quantities as a treat and token of my affection. I may not be able to buy you Devore (*Unless it's at a thrift store), but I will buy you gifts. Take them.

9. You must bath, wash your hair and use deodorant, unless we are camping, backpacking or stranded on a sail boat in the South Pacific, in which case you will swim.

8. You must swim. If you do not like water, I will determine that you're irreparably broken. You will become jetsam.

7. Additionally, while you do not have to climb, ride a mt. bike or run on trails, you must accept that I do.

6. I cook. You will eat. You will not grump at me if I buy the most expensive cut of meat or the $15lb cheese.

5. I drink. Never by myself. Never more than three at a time. And never if it's cheap wine or champagne. But I drink and that's not changing any time soon.

4. Dogs live here.

3. Dinner parties are like sex. We will have them. There are three Cs in a happy sexual relationship. Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.

2. The only excuse for leaving months at a time without communication is capture by the Taliban or North Koreans.

1. I like kids. I have decided to eschew mustard sauce and teriyaki for Plucker's Medium Buffalo. But, I am now 39 years old and I'm not bearing yours. Please know this before you spend two years of my life with me.

What is wrong with people: Part 567, 397

Shame on the majority of voters in Maine who freaked out and let themselves be scared into denying equal rights to all their citizens. I am saddened and a little bit outraged that narrow-minded, fearful, hateful people still manage to control the debate on Human Rights. There is nothing noble or even evolved about acting like a selfish third grader and denying gays and lesbians the right to marry just because they are different. What is wrong with people who are themselves miserable and repressed, that they want to deny others the right to happiness, or at the very least equal protection under the law? I'm pretty sure that there is a cornerstone of being American.
I have to believe these voters are stupid. I just have to. There's no other reason you could be so mean and vile toward another human being.
***
Oh, and I'm still not doing any better with stupid people. But the saying, "She doesn't suffer fools?
Yeah, well as suffer has come to mean 'feel negatively' rather than 'endure patiently,' I do suffer fools. Every time I am around a fool or a relatively "unfoolish" person engaged in foolish behavior, I suffer greatly.
It's incumbent upon me, of course, to change my response to idiocy so that I can recognize it, remember it as something I never want to participate in or display behaviorally, and then let it go.
Still, I can't seem to control the urge to choke the living crap out of some douche bag who desperately deserves it.
***
Speaking of things I can't get over:
The city is repairing sewers and water supplies in the streets in my neighborhood. When they did my street, and the project neared the end, I came home one day to find 1000s and 1000s of gallons of water flowing into the street. I called, aghast at the waste, and was promptly told that this was simply the flushing of the system. It was necessary, I was told, to clean out the now repaired system and insure water quality.
OK, that's reasonable.
But they've been flushing the system at a major intersection in my neighborhood for more than a week now. WTF?
My "water is a scarce resource that needs to be conserved" reflex is kicking in and every day and seeing all that water flow into the gutter makes my brain itch.
***
And while I'm on the subject of things that make me itch... I have developed this nasty habit of not putting the toilet paper roll onto the toilet-paper roll holder. It just sits there until it's used up. Now ordinarily I would suggest this behavior required a slap upside the head. But, I've had a hard enough day. So, I think I'll just put it out there that someone needs to hold me accountable.
Thanks.

The ongoing saga of Panda and her little Abigail

I've had two responses to my post that Abby and Panda need a new foster home. I am hopeful that I'll be able to pick them up from their current foster parents (who are fantastic to have kept them this long) and take them on their next adventure. Of course, last night I was so sad. Because being reminded of how hideous this whole situation became brought up all the anger and disbelief. How could a family just dispose of a loved-ones pets with no regard for their lives? The pets just experienced a great loss, too. Do people really not get that pets have feelings and form relationships?
***
I just heard a story about rising stars of the Republican Party on NPR's All Things Considered.
Dear KERA, please go back to the pledge drive. So much less depressing than the creeps coming out of the woodwork now as "opposition" candidates.
***
And I was in a pretty good head-space, too. I just got back from the gym, where I did some Pilates and weights. The ankle hurts, but it did not hurt so badly that I was unable to continue. Abs, quads and ham-strings are happy.
***
I picked some fresh winter lettuce for our dinner when I got back. We are having pork chops and cauliflower and -
I think I'll make some of Don Berk's famous cabbage soup. And then, I think I'll invite him to dinner.
***

Next Tuesday it's time to vote...

The next election is next week Tuesday (Nov. 3) and believe it or not, there's one or two things you might want to vote on....
Here's the link to the voter's guide from the league of women voters. It's the one considered most non-partisan and fair. You can read both sides of each issue.
And it will help you find your polling place as well.
If you want a PDF copy of this, let me know. I can send it to you.

http://www.lwvdallas.org/2009-Nov4TexVoterGuide.html

i hear the eurythmics.

Not that anyone cares, but I did not get the back yard mowed while it was sunny.
***
I am, however, very grateful that we had four or five days of dry and pretty weather. And I'm glad that the yard is so green and lush. But then the question came up the other day about my green thumb... for years I had thriving plants in my offices at Paladin, plants that I watered and pruned and fed. I felt fairly secure in my green thumb. Then, I moved to this house, where I have killed more plants than ever in my adult life. My initial theory is that it has something to do with the light, but I'm not discounting the idea that there's something in the house that the plants don't like to breathe.... this I base on the fact that my sterling is tarnishing at a faster rate now that at any place I've lived in 39 years. Anyway, so is it the house? Or is my green thumb on vacation?
***
My second line of thinking regarding lush green plants goes like this:
Guy on NPR talking about urban farming says that fruit trees will produce anywhere. Huh? Has he seen my back yard? Has he tested my soil? Pecans, I have plenty. But the apricot tree drops its little, bud-like fruits every year. The fig and the peach look like they're anemic and need to move to Florida. And get a spray-on tan. Seriously... I watered and fertilized and added amended soil before I planted and tilled and tilled that spot where they are set... I see tons of other apricots and figs in my neighborhood. So I'm asking... what gives? Again... is it me?
***
And in the third place, my garden.... my herbs are abundant. More so than I need them to be. And what I can't figure out is what happened to all my herb-using friends? I gave oregano, thyme and peppers to Becky and Mike yesterday and ... I still have more than I can possibly use.
Also, I have a bunch, and I mean a bunch, of lettuce almost ready to harvest. Staggered planting is seeming like a fabulous idea all of a sudden. Yeesh.
***
Yes, I am concentrating on the good things about this rain. Because, well, it makes the dogs protest pottying and then they fart a lot while trying not to mess in the house. And it makes me feel like the walls are closing in. Again. And it messes with the bike trails. Grrrr.
But heck bring on the rain. The garden loves it.

Anyone want some Kale?

Public Service Announcement

Here are two things I think you should read today....

http://www.itcouldhappentoanyone.com/

http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1549

The Tale of Two Wolves

A Great Lesson...
One evening an old Cherokee Wise Man told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all."
"One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee Wise Man simply replied, "The one you feed."