Let me begin by saying, I am in no way against preserving the environment. I think we do need to take steps to make this world a better place to live, literally. BUT in this moment we are experiencing some economic hardships with more people losing their jobs every day. I just heard from a friend of a friend that his company laid off 30 of the 34 employees that work in his location…he happened to be one of the 4 and not one of the 30 with a giant sigh of relief and guilt. Circuit City is closing every one of their stores, putting some 30 thousand people out of jobs across the country in one fell swoop.

What is the point of this, you ask, besides a laundry list of statistics? The point here is that there are still environmental groups who are freaking out because someone wants to mine for coal or drill for natural gas in the barren wasteland that is the Great Basin Desert. Mining for coal and drilling for gas creates jobs. “Job” is really a commodity that will probably never “run its course” and now, especially, it is in the highest of demand. People are losing their jobs all over the place but these environmental groups don’t want to do anything that might harm the habitat of the Great American Dung Beetle – or make it hard to observe their migration patterns from the shoulder of the highway while sitting comfortably in your Subaru wagon. Forget humans, desert dwelling bugs are far more important.

Now before you get out your trusty brick and tie your hate mail to it… I understand that there are arguments larger than bugs. I understand that everything we do today will affect the Earth in the future but I can’t quit my job that I hate because there are no other jobs to switch to. And there are so many other people in my community (the same community where the illogical, irrational, human-hating tree-huggers reside) who have lost their jobs and have no other options ahead of them.

Things are in the works to help get us out of this but in the meantime, if someone has the money and backing to start a new business, to create new jobs in a time when they are slim, I don’t see any reason anyone should stand in their way. Human beings are just as much a part of the environment as dung beetles and have just as much right to protection as the beetle. And right now, creating jobs seems to be a pretty good way of protecting our fellow humans.

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Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.” ~Anne Lamott

So I disappeared for awhile. My computer died hardcore, life was crazy around the holidays, and then… well, I just wasn’t feeling it. Although, I had to crawl out of my hermit hole tonight and write an inauguration post. They would take away my writers card if I didn’t.

Congratulations, President Obama. Enjoy the parade, the concerts, and the balls. You deserve them. There was a lot of hard work put into the campaign and transition, and you have a shit ton more to do. I sincerely hope that you enjoy the day. That way you can get the fuck to work and help us out of this gods-forsaken mess.

For the rest of you, I have some inauguration trivia:
The first Inaugural Ball was held for James Madison.
The parade for Woodrow Wilson was the first to include women.
Harry Truman’s inauguration was the first televised.
Robert Frost was the first poet involved in an inauguration.
Lyndon Johnson is the only president sworn in by a woman.
Theodore Roosevelt’s 1901 inauguration was the only one that didn’t use a bible during the oath.

Until next time, I’m still clinging to hope.
autumn

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Nowadays, it is all in who you talk to. A couple of weeks ago, we went to WalMart on our weekly quest for groceries and other odd things. While we were there, we approached a CSA and asked where, in the store, would she suggest we look for ice melt. “They don’t send it here. They tell us it doesn’t get that cold here,” says the blue be-smocked lady.

Last night, the weekly quest led us through the outdoor/sporting goods department and there was a palette of …. ice melt. Bags stacked as high as me (which is not tall if you are a person but really tall if you are a pile of ice melt).

Over the summer, my sister called, different store, same chain, and asked if they had a specific Playskool playhouse that came with a slide. Through her attempts to find this specific playhouse, she had acquired its exact title and gave that to the CSA on the phone, who found one in the system then put Sis on hold to “go make sure it really was there.” She came back, said “I can’t put a hold on it but if you come in this afternoon we should still have one. I’ll set it aside and when you come in, ask for Melissa.” We went in, we asked for Melissa, Melissa was no where to be found. Nor was the playhouse. Nor was anyone in the toy department who might know where to find one or how to order one. “Go online,” was all the cashier in the garden department could offer.

I get not having authorization to do things but some CSAs or CSRs or GSAs or whatever their corporate title is simply don’t want to. It really does depend on who you talk to what kind of customer service you are going to get. Phone reps especially. You call a company once, ask if something can be done and “no way, no how, not gonna happen.” You call back the next day, ask the same question of someone else and you get, “Hmmm, I don’t know. Let me find out for you. Do you mind holding?” (Insert crappy hold music here) “Actually, it looks like, based on the fact that you have been a customer with our company for five years, you are entitled to….” Bingo, an affirmative answer to your question just because you talked to Susie today instead of Jim. Watch out for Jim. He might come into work tomorrow and start picking co-workers off with a high-powered sniper rifle.

Once upon a time, the adage was “the customer is always right.” Now, it’s “the customer is right if it doesn’t require me to do any extra work. Otherwise the customer is wrong, wrong, wrong, WRONG!”

I guess that’s really it for this installment. I could go on for days offering examples of poor customer service but instead I think I’m going to find me a high-powered sniper rifle and go pick off a few CSRs.

Crimson

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If you’re like most people, it is and you’re wasting valuable processor power. So do something about it!

Click the give back link at the top of the page and join World Community Grid and help with projects like Discovering Dengue Drugs – Together, FightAIDS@Home, Help Conquer Cancer, Human Proteome Folding 2, Nutritious Rice for the World, The Clean Energy Project

New projects are being developed as well.

You may even get a warm fuzzy feeling knowing you’re doing something good.

ethan

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Lori Drew, 49, of Missouri, was convicted of 3 misdemeanor charges of various types of computer fraud. Lori Drew, 49, of Missouri, killed her 13-year-old neighbor, Megan Meier.

Sure, she didn’t shoot the girl. She didn’t poison her or stab her or strangle her. She didn’t touch her at all. But Lori Drew, 49, of Missouri, pushed 13-year-old Megan Meier to commit suicide, hanging herself in her own closet.

Early in 2008, Lori Drew, with the help of her 18-year-old assistant and her 13-year-old daughter, created a MySpace profile under the guise of a cologne-ad-esque 16-year-old boy named Josh. “Josh” began flirting with Megan, who Lori Drew knew to be depressed and, as are most girls her age, insecure.

“Josh” carried on the relationship with Megan for four weeks while Lori Drew sat amused in her own home, planning all the while to build the girl up only to tear her down farther than she had been before the whole thing started.

Finally, one day, Megan told “Josh” he was the kind of boy a girl could kill herself over and “Josh” told Megan the world would be better off without her. Megan hanged herself in her closet with her parents downstairs.

Had the fraud and bullying been conducted by Lori Drew’s 13-year-old daughter, Sarah, that would be one thing. That would be kids being cruel to one another without quite comprehending what might happen. Not excusable but somehow less astonishing. Sarah, arguably, could plead naivete, saying she didn’t know that Megan wouldn’t know it was all a joke. Sarah, arguably, could say that she didn’t really think Megan would go through with it. Sarah’s 49-year-old mother can not make feasibly make those claims. Sarah’s 49-year-old mother knew what she was doing and knew what the outcome would be. Sarah’s 49-year-old mother has been convicted of three counts of computer fraud and will receive, at max, 3 years in prison and a $3000 fine – one year and $1000 for each count, maximum. Sarah’s 49-year-old mother deserves at the very least first degree manslaughter, at the very most first degree, premeditated murder.

And what is worse about all of this, in my opinion, is not that this woman did something deplorable which will go completely unpunished. It is that people are blaming Megan’s parents for not monitoring her internet usage. They are blaming MySpace for allowing “Josh” access to 13-year-old Megan’s profile. They are not blaming Lori Drew for being a malicious, heartless, cruel woman with absolutely no moral compass.

For what it is worth, Lori Drew’s home address and phone number can be found by Googling “Lori Drew MySpace.” Fifth hit from the top is the home address and phone number (which has probably been changed by now….) of Lori Drew in O’Fallon, Missouri.

Until next time, I’ll be looking for a horse’s head on my way to Missouri.

Crimson

*For the full story, click here:

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