WTF?

Usually it's Sharron who is a stickler with Customer Service, but today, it's my turn to rant.

Pinnacle Security - DO NOT USE THEM

We changed from ADT to Pinnacle in June of 2007 after my frugal sensibility saw a lower monthly cost than what I was paying and blinded me to what amounted to nothing more than a fast, hard sales pitch of the company and their services. I can't say we've been happy with the system, but I guess we haven't been unhappy with it either, it's just...there. I'd like to say I'm confident that if some Hannibal Lechter type got the munchies in the middle of the night and decided to break in, some omnipotent voice would come over the security system announcing "Are you alright? Help is on the way" like in the corny commercial, but some part of me is afraid I'd become dinner before the police would actually show up (unless they happen to already be at the neighbors...which is entirely possible since they are there almost daily...but I digress).

My uncertainty was reinforced today when I called Pinnacle to get a replacement sensor that fell off the door and disappeared only to find out that THEY SOLD MY ACCOUNT TO ANOTHER COMPANY!!!! In January of 2008!!!! Without notifying me! I have no idea who this new company is but they now have all my personal information...name, SS#, credit card account, passwords....WTF?

I've written a particularly stern letter of complaint to Pinnacle telling them I want out of my three year contract without penalty because I consider this a severe breach of my privacy. They could've at the very least notified they were going to sell my account -- and subsequent personal information-- to someone else. I'm sure they will argue, stating it's in the contract in tiny, unreadable, complicated legal-eeeze that they have the right to sell an account at anytime and without any prior notice WHICH IS COMPLETE, UNETHICAL BULLSHIT! I intend to copy the BBB on it (and if I have to, the Attorney General). I'll keep you up to date on what I hear. I'm not hopeful....but I'm still extremely pissed off!

That looks like a.....

...penis. Yes, I have a penis on my arm. In blue surgical ink.

Now, you might ask how one goes about getting a temporary tattoo of a penis on her arm. Well, it's rather simple-- just get a bug bite, make sure it gets infected and turns to cellulitis. I guess it's by pure chance that the outline the dr at the urgent care clinic did resembles something so phallic on my arm, but of course the key is to have co-workers who notice it, have no qualms about pointing out what it looks like and jump at the opportunity to add a few more realistic touches to the drawing (which fortunately came off with a good scrubbing of alcohol...rubbing, not drinking)

It almost reminds me of the ending to that one Austin Powers movie where everyone watches the space ship fly off.... "That looks like a big..." "Johnson!".

You call that a prom dress?????

If this was your daughter, would you let her go to the prom in this dress?
Well, someone did and the girl ended up being handcuffed and sat down in the back of a police car. Not so much for what she was wearing but for having a flat out hissy fit tantrum because she was told by school officials that her dress was indecent and in order to attend the prom she needed to go home and change.

Now, first off, I can see exactly how this unfolded. I've worked at a school district long enough to know the attitude some kids have (and usually get from one or both of their parents). She was told "no" and immediately went with the "you can't tell me what to do" crap. Sorry, sweetheart, you broke the clearly stated dress code rules. Uh, yeah, they have every right to tell you "no". It's not like they told you NOT to come back to the prom. They just told you to go home and change. It was reasonable and logical and you had absolutely no right to throw a temper tantrum like some spoiled two year old. She deserved what she got for not following the rules and being belligerent to school officials. Unfortunately, dealing with flack for taking action in cases like this is a problem with schools today. Parents are too upset that someone is actually holding kids accountable for their misbehavior...hmm, maybe if the parents had done a little more of that in the earlier years, the school wouldn't have to be doing it now. How's that for a concept.

Secondly, where were the parents? The mother? I think I saw one comment that said that the mother didn't know anything because the girl left from her grandmother's house. Okay, that's even worse. The grandmother let her go out like this???? I can just hear it... "But grandma, everyone dresses like this for the prom". Uh, doesn't look like your friend there does, so why was grandma okay with this? I also heard reports mom is offering up several excuses...she'd seen a sketch of the dress that was supposed to be made but the girl changed with sketch without mom's knowledge. Excuse me, she had the dress MADE for prom? Hope you didn't pay very much because that wasn't a whole lot of material they used. And sorry, excuse doesn't fly. Why wasn't the mom with the girl when the sketch was presented. Worse yet, what dressmaker would make changes without consulting the parent first???? Mom said she agreed with the school's decision and didn't approve of the the dress either....nice backpedal there mom.

Face it, the girl screwed up and then was held accountable. This shouldn't be news. That it is news shows how we've become a society of excuses. Sad, sad, sad. Okay, I'm down off my soapbox now. Back to writing in my fictional world...

(Now, so that no one jumps all over my ass, this is all ALLEGEDLY REPORTED. Don't jump all over me because I'll openly admit I don't know all the facts...I doubt anyone does except the people involved and that's probably subjective as well. Oh and the picture is labeled "courtesy" on a Houston paper website. Now, get off my back about it.)

But I wanna turn on the Harley!!!

My mother was deathly afraid of motorcycles having known someone that was hit while riding one and subsequently paralyzed. She always told me she'd kill me before I'd get a chance to kill myself if I ever dated a guy that rode one. Although I knew my mother well enough to know that she would actually carry out that threat to a certain extent, it may have stopped me from getting my butt on a bike but not fantasizing about riding one some day. Born and raised in Milwaukee, home of Harley Davidson, that's always been a part of that dream.

I've talked about it for years, my husband not really reacting to it that I can remember. But after seeing the movie The Bucket List (along with some encouragement from his boss who rides a BMW bike) he decided he wanted to learn to ride a bike and asked me to take the safety course with him. He passed (the rat) I didn't (hey, I'd just came back from Mexico, okay?) As luck had it, our neighbor was selling his bike and we now are proud owners of a 2000 Harley Sportster. The plan was to share it. He buys everything from the boots to the gear so that it will work for both of us.

Not that I can ride it yet.

My husband has taken to it like a fish to water. Meanwhile, being a beginner, thinking about riding an 833 cc scares the CRAP out of me. But, I'm going to do this because I wanna be a biker chick. Practice will help. But the question is, will I actually GET to practice? It just makes me wonder if and when I'll ever get to ride it. Maybe I'll just have to beat him with the helmet to get him off the damn thing so I can ride it once in awhile. Naaaa, it would destroy the integrity of the helmet.

Hey, I know...my birthday's coming up, he can just buy me one of my own!