Out of these 100 things, the ones that are in bold font are the ones that I have done at some point in my life:
Attribution: Swiv (flickr)
1. Started your own blog (my “established” blogs are Trial of Labor and MSO MusTek; my new blogs are this one and the one for the ICAN Clarion) 2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning (when I was pregnant with my daugher! not fun!!)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train 21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort (actually was just instrumental in the destruction of my kid brother-in-law’s snow fort one year, heh heh heh!)
25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run 32. Been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater (the first time I remember was with my parents for the premiere of Star Wars!)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (and was told to never ever do it again!)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter (first time was high school prom!) 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book (does my dissertation count?) 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (no, ewww!)
97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else’s blog to your own
Hardly a week goes by when I don’t think of Bresnan Communications with contempt. I have been angry with that company for a year-and-a-half. This is my story.
In the summer of 2006 we decided to switch from flaky satellite service to more reliable cable service. It wasn’t about the TV. It wasn’t about the cost. It was about having a reliable digital broadband. It was going to cost us more money, but we were ok with that. Bresnan is the only game in town for cable digital service, so we signed up. They sent out a newbie to install the service. He didn’t really know what he was doing, and it took him for EVER. I wasn’t pressed for time that day, so it didn’t bother me too much. Eventually, he hit the wall and called in his supervisor. They spent some time out in the backyard, and then the boss man took off, and the newbie was on his own again.
Ahhhh a reliable signal. Wunderbar!
And then I looked outside at what these idiots had done . . .
Instead of burying the cable line, they ran a cable about 12-15 feet above the ground diagonally across our entire backyard to connect to a nearby pole (not even the closest pole to our cable box). I called and complained. They scheduled me for an appointment to fix the problem.
They didn’t keep the appointment.
They NEVER keep the appointment.
A year and a half later, we still have that fucking wire draped across our yard. It’s dangerous – the wire does get hit by balls because it’s so low and covers the entire length of our yard. And now that we have a hot tub, the wire is even more dangerous. It doesn’t matter how much we complain, no one seems to be responsible because Bresnan subs out these jobs. So, it’s the sub’s fault that Bresnan refused to provide customer service? It’s the sub’s fault that a dangerous wire hangs above my yard? It’s the sub’s fault that the installer didn’t just use the buried wire that was already there to hook into the cable?
I’m about to chop that fucking wire down and strangle the next Bresnan employee that dares to knock on my door and ask if I’m happy with my service. Anyone have an alternative suggestion?
Thanks to @MarketingProfs on Twitter, I was directed to a piece by Paul Williams – “Can Your Brand Afford to Discount?” The main concern projected in the piece is that a lack of creativity on the part of companies trains consumers to accept discounts as norms.
The guiding philosophy right now seems to be “desperate times call for desperate measures.” Survival discounts offered by companies do cause confusion. Discounts communicate that the product/service really is only worth that much and that the companies were overcharging previously. Then again, in tough times, if someone wants me to buy something unnecessary, they’re going to have to offer a substantial discount to secure my purchase.
On the other hand, I’m quite irritated to see gas prices so low. Not that I’m a fan of high gas prices, but I thought the gas prices would finally force Americans to change their consumption habits.
I think companies have been taking advantage of the fact that so many Americans have been willing to go into debt to obtain luxury items and other things that are just not important. I’m kicking myself for it now.
Throw in the fact that credit card companies are now changing APRs “due to no fault on the part of the consumer,” and it’s nearly impossible to buy anything regardless of the discount. Discover upped my APR to 24.9; I told them I was going to cancel my card and pay off the balance; the jerk on the phone offered me 19.9 because that would at least be “going the right direction.” I again told him I’d just assume cancel the account and he offered me 1.9 for 6 months. (Ok, so I’ll cancel it within 6 months.)
Yep, it’s pretty tough to buy anything these days… huge discounts or no. And I can tell you that when I do buy something, I’d rather buy something locally created or produced. That makes it harder for Target, Starbucks, Outback Steakhouse, and other “brands” to attract my business.
Sometimes I wonder how it is that I’m related to my family members. First off, I’m a Capricorn, and both of my parents and my only sibling (my brother) are Leos. That’s one of my least compatible signs. (How the heck did that happen?!) On the other hand, I look just like my mother. No, I look just like my father. Actually, I look like whichever one of them you think. There’s no way a baby switch at the hospital justification will work. No, some how I am related to them.
I used to be a Republican. I wasn’t a good Republican, even back then, but still I thought Ronald Reagan was awesome. I worked at the 1992 RNC for CNN, the Houston Host Committee, and the Bush-Quayle campaign. But over the years I have become less Republican. I’m sure my family members think I’m a liberal wacko, but oh I could be so much worse!
The other night we did a video chat with my family. They were gathered at my brother’s home in Corpus Christi. My folks were there and so were my sister-in-law’s parents. We’ve razzed eachother from time to time about the election. Anyway, at one point I turned the camera towards the other side of the room which revealed this poster of President Obama on our sideboard.
My brother promptly turns his webcam towards the TV, and they’re actually WATCHING O’Reilly. I don’t watch any Fox news programs, mostly because I know there’s absolutely NO reason to expect balanced treatment of any politicized topic. Most of my exposure to O’Reilly has been admittedly through soundbites from other pundits. So, it’s perhaps a bit unfair for me to judge him when I refuse to watch his shows based on the numerous nasty soundbites I’ve heard over the years.
I digress. I was just floored that on a lovely Friday evening over Thanksgiving weekend, that my family was gathered around the boob toob watching such polemic horseshit. Awww, family togetherness and bonding with Bill O’Reilly. <shudder>
Remind me again, how am I related to these people?
The burger chain has launched a new, documentary-style ad campaign in which remote villagers in poor nations such as Thailand, Romania and Greenland pick between the twin titans of American fast food, the Whopper and the Big Mac. The name of the campaign: “Whopper Virgins.”
Why do people in “remote” areas need to be exposed to substandard food-like products such as the Whopper and the Big Mac? Hasn’t the introduction of fast food in foreign countries had a negative impact on overall health? Why should “poor nations” be targeted by Burger King and McDonalds? Do they think we’re so dummm as to see it as an altruistic endeavor? Seeing these people in their traditional garb trying to make sense of a burger just gives me the creeps. There’s a reason that ground beef is so cheap, right?! And that’s what we’re unleashing upon indigent populations in remote areas of the world?
My other issue is with the use of the term virgin. The descriptor is provocative, don’t you think? Oooo, virgins. Oooo, I gotta pop that cherry. Oooo, virgins are so pure and unadulterated. Virgins are naive and trusting. Virgins need experience, and there’s always someone there ready to give it to ‘em. Poor virgins don’t know what they’re doing.
“Ooo, so and so is still a virgin? How sad.”
“Ooo, so and so is still a virgin? Well not for long, heh heh heh.”
“Of course so and so is a virgin. S/he is so unattractive.”
“I only f–k virgins.”
Well, that’s exactly what Burger King is doing . . . “f–king virgins.” Over at Inquisitr, many people who are not opposed to the ad campaign suggest that it’s harmless. Or that it’s a good idea. Maybe. But personally, I think that’s an unexamined opinion.
I’m hosting a small election party this evening. Chili, cornbread, salad, booze. It is going to be exciting watching all of the election data come in. Polls start closing at 6pm Mountain time. I can only imagine that we’ll be celebrating a huge victory – for Obama, Schweitzer, excellent local candidates, and especially celebrating for average Americans like you and me!
This YouTube video is a song by local musician Amy Martin with most of the images coming from Missoula and a few from San Francisco. Watch, listen and enjoy:
Now I’m off to go vote for a bunch of Democrats including President Obama
How is this acceptable conduct. How can McCain address reporters and the American public and say that he is PROUD of his campaign or the RNC (who is evidently responsible for the mailer) and these tactics.
I hope people will consider that the conduct that has been displayed by John McCain in this campaign is neither Christian nor Presidential. If he is elected President, he instantly becomes reflective of the values that you and I supposedly hold true. I will not stand for a good, honest American and a true Statesman to be called (directly or indirectly) a terrorist. I will not be part of electing someone who will stoop so low and treat people with so little dignity and respect. I hope and pray that the “Christian” Right will see through this degrading and erratic behavior that John McCain has continued to exhibit and support the man who has the capacity to bring disparate groups together and lead us to a state of Global Harmony and Peace.
I did receive an e-mail about this today, but my source for the images was Smart, Stupid, Doomed to Fail. From there you can also watch a news report from St. Louis, Missouri’s KSDK NBC News. And look at the number of blog posts about this mailer. People are upset, John McCain, and I am one of them. I used to respect and admire you. I thought I could vote for you. No way. No how. Not with a gun pointed at my head.
I was ready for that debate to be over last night. You? I was tired of McCain’s anger and defensiveness and Obama’s smugness when McCain went on the offensive. Why was John McCain so angry? Why was his goal to rip down Obama’s statements and try and tell us (after the fact) what Obama was REALLY (wink wink) saying? Why wouldn’t he talk about his own plans and why they’re so great and let Obama do the same. Why is naysaying, negating, disrupting, etc. the way of political debate?
And why, Senator McCain, are you complementing crowds who yell things like “terrorist” and “kill him!”???? Why are you personally attacking Obama and playing the victim when your policy ideas are criticized???? You can’t be the bully and the victim all at the same time. Sorry not buyin’ it.
We have been receiving elections-related correspondence for someone named Aaron France who does not and never has lived at our address. (We are the first and only occupants of our home.) I’ve been growing increasingly concerned about this, as has my husband, but are confident that since we both voted in the primary and have our addresses on our driver licenses, that we’ll be ok to vote on Election Day.
However, we received an absentee ballot for someone at our address. How does this happen? And what is to prevent us from filling it out to our satisfaction and sending it in? Would his absentee ballot be checked and cross checked for validity?
I have contacted Forward Montana for advice and will post my findings here on this blog. Please be aware of this problem and do your best to promote the ethical and legal use of absentee ballots.
Update: It is a relief to discover that this was an honest mistake; the elections office had his address wrong. I am surprised, though, that they’ll let me walk it over to him and will accept a ballot with an incorrect address on it. I am sure glad that I called about it!
How is this acceptable conduct. How can McCain address reporters and the American public and say that he is PROUD of his campaign or the RNC (who is evidently responsible for the mailer) and these tactics.
