Thursday, December 13, 2007

You try and support the small business man .....


... and see what you get??

Two days ago we went to a local pet store (the one that was here before petsmart moved in and started to crush them) and asked about an alge condition we had. We were advised to take two sucker fish and let them clean the tank. So we bought two $4 sucker fish and went home.

Yesterday morning we woke to find one of the fish was dead.

No problem. We take the dead fish (in a ziplock casket) back to the store on the way to my second job. here is the conversation that followed:


ME: " Hi I bought two fish yesterday and this one died. Here is my reciept. Can i just get another one?"

FISH GUY: " I need to get a water sample before I can give you another fish."

ME: " Oh the water is fine, the other fish is alive, my gold fish are fine, I think this guy just went into shock - he wasn't acting quite right. can i just get another - I am kinda in a hurry to get to work."

FISH GUY: " I need to get a water sample before I can give you another fish."

ME: "Well this is my second trip, and I don't have time to make a third, and it is only a $4 fish - I have my recipet - can't I just get another one?"

FISH GUY: " I need to get a water sample before I can give you another fish - but I can give you store credit - fill out this form please."

ME: [looking down at the two page form he has pushed at me] "Um, as I said, I am on my way to my second job, and it is only a $4 fish, and I have my reciept, and if you give me store credit I am just going to buy another fish anyway - so can't we speed this up and just give me another fish??"

FISH GUY: " I need to get a water sample before I can give you another fish - but I can give you store credit - fill out this form please."

ME: "OK - so I fill out the long form and you give me store credit."

FISH GUY: "Yes"

ME: "Then I take that store credit and buy another fish."

FISH GUY: "Yes"

ME: "So basically you have just taken the long route to just giving me another fish - right?"

FISH GUY: " I need to get a water sample before I can give you another fish."

ME: [handing over the fish in his little ziplock casket] "Look, I am now late for work. Here - take the fish - keep your store credit - God bless..."

FISH GUY: " I can give you store credit ......"

ME: "That's OK - I won't need it - I won't be back!!"

What was that all about?? Did he not understand??? You would think with the mega pet store breathing down his neck he would be a little more flexible and customer friendly - I mean he certainly can't compete on price!

So we went from there to Petsmart. I found a wonderful lady who knew tons about fish and gave me excellent advice. i did not need the second fish. i was so happy I walked out with $38 in pet Christmas presents!

It is Petsmart for me from now on!!!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Don't like the government?


If you didn't vote you can't complain!!!

Voting and Registration Statistics in the Election of Nov. 2004

It wouldn't be funny if it wasn't so true...

Just got back from the doctor - my third visit in as many weeks! Two more shots, three more medicines - and no rest in sight for me! Opened my email to find this wonderful song! It really hits home today! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

---------------------------

It wouldn't be funny if it wasn't so true... Julie Andrews turned 69 - To commemorate her 69th birthday on October 1, actress/vocalist, Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan 's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was "My Favorite Things" from the legendary movie "Sound Of Music."

Here are the actual lyrics she used:
Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts, and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,!
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak, When the bones creak, When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don't feel soooo bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no need for sinnin', Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short, shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache, When the hips break, When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had, And then I don't feel sooo bad.

(Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores.)

Saturday, December 08, 2007

I wouldn't blame him one bit ...


Found this online - it is funny, but sad because it is SO TRUE! I feel exactly the same way!

"President Bush's Resignation Speech"

Normally, I start these things out by saying "My Fellow Americans." Not doing it this time. If the polls are any indication, I don't know who more than half of you are anymore. I do know something terrible has happened, and that you're really not fellow Americans any longer.

I'll cut right to the chase here: I quit. Now before anyone gets all in a lather about me quitting to avoid impeachment, or to avoid prosecution or something, let me assure you: there's been no breaking of laws or impeachable offenses in this office.

The reason I'm quitting is simple. I'm fed up with you people. I'm fed up because you have no understanding of what's really going on in the world. Or of what's going on in this once-great nation of ours. And the majority of you are too damned lazy to do your homework and figure it out. Let's start local. You've been sold a bill of goods by politicians and the news media. Polls show that the majority of you think the economy is in the tank. And that's despite record numbers of homeowners including record numbers of MINORITY homeowners. And while we're mentioning minorities, I'll point out that minority business ownership is at an all-time high. Our unemployment rate is as low as it ever was during the Clinton Administration. I've mentioned all those things before, but it doesn't seem to have sunk in.

Despite the shock to our economy of 9/11, the stock market has rebounded to record levels and more Americans than ever are participating in these markets. Meanwhile, all you can do is whine about gas prices, and most of you are too damn stupid to realize that gas prices are high because there's increased demand in other parts of the world, and because a small handful of noisy idiots are more worried about polar bears and beachfront property than your economic security.

We face real threats in the world. Don't give me this "blood for oil" thing. If I was trading blood for oil I would've already seized Iraq's oil fields and let the rest of the country go to hell. And don't give me this 'Bush Lied People Died' crap either. If I was the liar you morons take me for, I could've easily had chemical weapons planted in Iraq so they could be 'discovered.' Instead, I owned up to the fact that the intelligence was faulty. Let me remind you that the rest of the world thought Saddam had the goods, same as me. Let me also remind you that regime change in Iraq was official US policy before I came into office. Some guy named 'Clinton' established that policy. Bet you didn't know that, did you?

You idiots need to understand that we face a unique enemy. Back during the cold war, there were two major competing political and economic models squaring off. We won that war, but we did so because fundamentally, the Communists wanted to survive, just as we do. We were simply able to outspend and out-tech them.

That's not the case this time. The soldiers of our new enemy don't care if they survive. In fact, they want to die. That'd be fine, as long as they weren't also committed to taking as many of you with them as they can. But they are. They want to kill you. And the bastards are all over the globe.

You should be grateful that they haven't gotten any more of us here in the United States since September 11. But you're not. That's because you've got no idea how hard a small number of intelligence, military, law enforcement and homeland security people have worked to make sure of that. When this whole mess started, I warned you that this would be a long and difficult fight. I'm disappointed how many of you people think a long and difficult fight amounts to a single season of 'Survivor'.

Instead, you've grown impatient. You're incapable of seeing things through the long lens of history, the way our enemies do. You think that wars should last a few months, a few years, tops.

Making matters worse, you actively support those who help the enemy. Every time you buy the New York Times, every time you send a donation to a cut-and-run Democrat's political campaign, well, dammit, you might just as well Fedex a grenade launcher to a Jihadist. It amounts to the same thing.

In this day and age, it's easy enough to find the truth. It's all over the Internet. It just isn't on the pages of the New York Times or on NBC News. But even if it were, I doubt you'd be any smarter. Most of you would rather watch American Idol.

I could say more about your expectations that the government will always be there to bail you out, even if you're too stupid to leave a city that's below sea level and has a hurricane approaching. I could say more about your insane belief that government, not your own wallet, is where the money comes from. But I've come to the conclusion that were I to do so, it would sail right over your heads.

So I quit. I'm going back to Crawford. I've got an energy-efficient house down there (Al Gore could only dream) and the capability to be fully self-sufficient. No one ever heard of Crawford before I got elected, and as soon as I'm done here pretty much no one will ever hear of it again. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to die of old age before the last pillars of America fall.

Oh, and by the way, Cheney's quitting too. That means Pelosi is your new President. You asked for it. Watch what she does carefully, because I still have a glimmer of hope that there're just enough of you remaining who are smart enough to turn this thing around in 2008. So that's it. God bless what's left of America. Some of you know what I mean. Good Luck!

"The Stranger"


An interesting story I found online today - a good lesson in taking the time to renew your mind with the things of God!

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name? We just call him "TV."

He has a wife now. We call her "Computer."

Makes you think - eh? Joshua 24:15 - As For Me And My House We Will Serve the Lord

Friday, December 07, 2007

THE WATERMELON STORY ......


I had a really nice watermelon growing once!

I read this article that said that if you wanted a really big watermelon you should pinch off all the buds except for a few and let the plant just work on those few (it works for pumpkins too!).

Seemed reasonable to me.

So I pinched off all but a few and got this one really BIG melon. I watched it grow bigger every day with my mouth watering about all the juice I was going to get out of it.

Then one day it stopped growing. I watched it a few more weeks - no more growth. I figured it was done growing. I waited two days till my hubby had the time to help me lift it into the wheel barrow (this was a really big melon!)

We both took an end, planted our feet securely, braced for the weight of it, and heaved upward as hard as we could.

The melon went flying over our heads as if it were made of papier mache. It crashed about 10 feet away, splitting open to reveal - IT WAS HOLLOW!

Dumbfounded I looked down to the place where it originally sat only to see a small family of mice - very confused - and very upset that I had just removed their house!

The little buggers had chewed a hole in it and hollowed it out! Boy was I mad! My husband laughed so hard he fell down and almost had a stroke!!

THE MORAL OF THE STORY: IF YOU STOP GROWING IT IS NOT BECAUSE YOU ARE DONE - MOST LIKELY THERE IS SOMETHING EATING AT YOU FROM THE INSIDE!