Shit that Pisses Me Off

Ok, how many of you have *ever* read the terms and conditions?  But we still all check the box.  I had a vendor, who I pay money to, that had the new terms and conditions come up in the middle of updating some information on my site.  It was early Monday morning and I was in my usual foul humor!  So I blasted off an email about how stupid it was to change the terms and conditions in the middle of a contract and so forth. I get an email back saying that if I didn't say that I agreed to the terms and conditions by Friday they were going to cancel my contract.  Guess I hit a nerve.  Anyway, I replied that I had in fact agreed to their terms and conditions in the same fashion everyone else had and if that wasn't good enough, go ahead and cancel my contract and I will sue! Guess we will find out Friday what they decided since even though they are an Internet company, they cant seem to answer an email withing a couple of days. oh, it's VRBO or Vacation Rentals By Owner if y

Some fast food drive thru's have signs that say you can't use your cellphone while in the line.  Then you get up to the window and they are either on the cell phone or talking on the head set.  That's a double standard I refuse to accept!  The latest one was a car wash on Rt. 460 in Roanoke County near Botetourt County.  The sign said to refrain from cell phone use for the safety of the workers in the automatic car wash.  Here's what I could see from my car. And this in another part of the car wash. So if they were depending on my observation and reactions due to my non use of the cellphone, they are going to be dead! In Maryland you must use a hands free device if you are on the phone.  As I look around me, no one appears to be acting any differently.  Actually, before the ban, I would hold my phone up by the windshield so I could also see the road as I was texting or emailing.  Now I hold my phone down by the seat so I don't get a ticket...might die, but no

There are these new signs outside Fincastle that warn you that there is a 45 mile per hour zone ahead.  Is it just me or isn't that what the 45 MPH signs are supposed to tell us?  Wouldn't it be cheaper just to move the existing signs 100 feet out to where the new signs are if people are not slowing down in time. Perhaps people don't notice the 45 MPH signs, maybe that's why they put up the signs pointing them out.  It would be better to redesign the signs that people don't notice or else we are going to end up with two sets of signs for every situation. Where does this end?  If people don't slow down enough now are we going to have signs stating that there are signs ahead warning us that there will be a speed limit decrease after that?  Or a sign warning us of a sign warning us of a sign warning us of a sign?  You get the idea. I know, let's just give tickets to those who exceed the speed limit!  Wait, we do that already. Just confused by our highwa

So it appears that the driving infection of the metropolitan areas of Virginia has spread to Botetourt County. We had the unfortunate experience of returning from the new Harry Potter movie at around 6 pm tonight.  When we got off the interstate at exit 150, traffic was pretty heavy.  Even on 81 it was a little thick.  The usual offenders were in the left lane, but we made it in pretty good time. The ride from I81 to Rt. 779 was the usual cluster f**k of idiots in both lanes.  When we got to the stoplight, the left turn lane was green.  This effectively ruined the usual strategy of letting the turning traffic scrape off the slowpokes in the left lane.  So here we go from Daleville to Fincastle, 8 miles of slowpoke hell.  I was able to work my way up to the idiot in the old pickup that was driving next to the same car in the left lane for 8 miles with about 100 cars behind him and tried to work past him but he won the asshole of the day award!  I really worry that some of these guys a

I recently flew from Denver to Lynchburg and was chosen by TSA to experience the naked person scanner.  Out of curiosity I went ahead and went into the machine. They had me take everything out of my pockets and hold it in my hands over my head.  Then they yelled at me because my feet weren't in the little feet pictures on the floor.. The machine swirled around me and they told me to step out and stand on some more stupid looking feet things on the floor.  They then stared out into space, not a word to me about what was going on, and then asked if I had something in my pocket.  I checked and did not.  He said there was a piece of paper in there...why would a piece of paper be a concern anyway...I thought they were looking for guns and explosives!  So then he felt me up in my groin and on my leg.  After he was satisfied there was nothing in my pocket, duh, he let me go.  What a waste of the taxpayers money. I heard that the guy who sells this salted gold mine of a security device u

Ok, some people think I'm over the top on this one but WTF! I am 55 years old and look it! I should not have to show my ID to get served a beverage when the minimum age for the beverage is 21. Some states have a law that everyone has to have an ID to drink, fair enough, but if I am in the airport, I obviously have an ID or I couldn't even be there! Still no relief from the checkers. Usually if I ask for an exception from the manager they let me go ahead and drink without showing it since I am obviously old enough. Hooters in Towson is an example of this as well as Taco Mac in Atlanta. I still don't return to places that do that since I'm not fond of the practice. The Hooter's was next to a hotel we were staying and they lost our business as well, when we decided we couldn't stay there since the closest restaurant was carding everyone. A couple of locations that wouldn't even make an exception are the Brickskeller in Washington DC and The Buffalo Wild

I woke up yesterday at the hotel in Glen Burnie, MD and the back passenger window of my truck was broken! All they took was some quarters that I had in the console. There was lots of other good stuff, tools, silver dollars and so forth there but these guys were going for quantity not quality. They apparently hit 22 cars at the Comfort Inn across the street and 10 or more at the Days Inn we were staying at. They did not get the work van for some reason. The manager said he would give me a discount on my room for the expense. It was his opinion that a glass place nearby was paying people to do it. He said an undercover cop was working the lot one night and caught a guy doing it and that's what his story as. That guy was just breaking them and one time just took a windshield out and threw it in the woods. Like to find out who the glass company is so I can go kick their ass!

I remember when I was a child Andy of Mayberry didn't even carry a gun. He would talk to his neighbor who was shooting at him and get him to surrender his weapon. Of course, that was TV. In the 60's and 70's police officers were trained to only fire on suspects when they were fired upon first. I guess a knife attack or someone running at them with a baseball bat were also permissible reasons to fire on the citizenry. Since 911, and perhaps before, there has been a movement in this country to place public servants above the general population. For an example other than the police, one only needs to drive by any federal building...even the Department of Agriculture. Those building are surrounded by barbed wire, cameras, large cement barricades and other defenses. Next door is an old folks home with no protection. If the Dept. of Ag. is such grave danger, shouldn't we be concerned about the old folks? I was watching the Gun channel the other day (the name of the actual ch

Just a quick one today! On the anniversary of April 16th many organizations made statements concerning gun control pro and con. Both sides used exaggerations and hyperbole to make their point. The one thing that most disturbs me is the name of many of the anti-gun groups. There needs to be a correction. For example the group: Keep guns off campus Should be: Keep legal and law abiding guns off campus while allowing criminals to continue to carry. You can just add that part in your mind the next time you see a similar group name!

I live in a small town and have twice had many of my neighbors band together secretly to stop me and or embarrass me concerning political things I was doing. They are Obama Liberals and I am a free thinking Libertarian so their tactics are always covert and sneaky because their arguments cannot withstand the light of day. There is a couple that lives nearby who were very instrumental in both events. How do I know? Well in the first one they signed a petition against me, which was actually a great thing because now I have a signed list of my enemies! In a small southerrn town it's hard to tell who are your friends and who are your enemies because they just talk behind your back and are extra friendly to your face. I think that the friendlier they are to your face the more they hate you. I'm not like that even though I am southern born and raised because both of my parents were from New England. This makes me friendly, talkative, and truthful, unlike my neighbors. Anyway a couple

So one of my friends went off today on the Virginia law to allow concealed weapons permit holders to go to a restaurant that serves alcohol with their weapon as long as they don't drink. He smirked as he comment that people only go to bars to drink...therefore it's a stupid law. Right now in Virginia people can open carry in a bar and drink...that seems stupider. He just doesn't get that there are lots of people carrying guns in bars right now, most of them bad and he has no idea that they are carrying guns. The main reason this is a good idea is that people, myself included, sometimes want to have lunch or dinner in a place that serves alcohol and not have a drink, but not give up our right to protect ourselves. Some may say that that is what the police are for. Well, I'm not sure who said it, but, when seconds count, the police are only minutes away! We would also rather not leave our firearms in our vehicles while we eat as they could be stolen. The second amendment

I'm sure that I will not get a lot of folks arguing with me about unsolicited phone calls. I find they come in two flavors. Collection...usually they are after someone with a similar name who lives in another state or country. I know it's a tough job, but there's a special place in hell for these folks. They must go through some kind of Gestapo, big giant asshole, training before they can start harassing people. They have never heard of regular phone manners like "Hi, this is (insert your name i.e. Satan) calling from (insert that information i.e. Purgatory) calling about some strangers past due bill. The second category is telemarketers. They always seem to call at the most inopportune moments. They also seem to target cellular phones, I guess cause we all got rid of our land lines because of them!

It is interesting that there is no place to smoke in airports. It would seem that there are several negative impacts that follow from this. First, it must reduce productivity for the workers or promote illegal activity. Once they start smoking in forbidden areas, their behavior could move towards smuggling stuff on planes for terrorists, just like smoking a little pot leads to heroin. Secondly, all those traveling smokers (40%?) are pissed off and irritable, not to mention the law abiding employees. This creates a potent stew of building anger that could be the reason for the weird blowups that occasionally happen in the check point areas. In the Las Vegas airport, they have these little glass rooms with slot machines in them that used to be the smoking areas. Now they just make the slot machines a little less obnoxious. It seems like you could have a place in airports located near the security checkpoint where people could smoke. It would provide relief to a large number of employees

Waiting at the (Fill in your favorite store) as several customers work their way through the line ahead of you. Finally, it's your turn and the phone rings. The clerk runs over and answers the phone and begins to instruct the obviously elderly person on the other end on the subleties of the hours that (Fill in your favorite store) are open. At this point do you: a. Scream "Hey Bitch, I was here first!" b. Wait patiently until the hours have been repeated 22 times and the clerk returns to check you out. c. Quietly lay down your potential purchase and slink out of the store. You decide.

So, I call the pharmacy and ask for a refill on my prescription. They say I have no refills so they will call the doctor. The next day I stop by and find out that the doctors office told them I need to make an appointment and come in. Why do I hear this from my drug store? Anyway, I call the doctors office and my doctor is off today...hmmm. So I say, look, I'm going out of town and I need a refill on my allergy medicine that I have been taking for 11 years prescribed by my doctor I have been seeing for 15 years, can you help a brother out? Their reply? No!! Got to come in. Apparently, I have not been to see the doctor since 2007. Feeling pretty good actually! Just having a little pollen issue. Been having it for many years. But I will have to go pay the $40 or whatever the gatekeeper for my prescriptions wants to provide relief. (remember, the doctor is off so I'm going to see a nurse practitioner!) not counting the loss of income for waiting in the office for several hours u

Facebook is pretty complicated to begin with then they change the entire format every 3 months or so! When they do, they do it gradually so if you are one of the first ones, other people thing you are crazy. If you are one of the later ones, you think everyone else is crazy. It's a no win situation. Guess we are all crazy!

People who say "have a blessed day" right after they tried to scam you in some way. In fact, it seems many people who wear their religion on their sleeves or cars as the case may be, don't seem too willing to turn the other cheek.

Some bars serve beer in "shaker" glasses. They look just like pint glasses but have a thicker bottom. They only hold 14 oz max and usually only have about 12 oz in them. Conversely, some establishments serve their beer in an Imperial Pint. These hold 18 oz so even with a nice head you get at least 16oz i.e. a pint. A great way to find out is to order a draft and then order a 12 oz bottled beer for your second one. Pour it in your glass from the draft and note how full it is. Remember that even a real pint glass holds a lot at the top since it's the widest portion of the glass.

Here we go, "Springing Forward" out of control. Why? Anyone know? Not me, just my annual week of sluggish half assed work. I imagine that national productivity goes down this week. I've seen stories saying that heart attacks go up. We saw several deer hit by cars, perhaps the cars showed up an hour early today!!! Surprise, surprise. Somebody let me know if they can think of s good reason.

It almost seems like we are living in Bizarro world from the old Superman comics. Driving down Interstate 81 in Virginia today there were more people consistantly in the left lane than the right. I know everyone likes to argue about speeders and tailgaters, but the main thing is we have just become a selfish, mean society. We try to punish the speeders, but don't we have plenty of cops for that? As a matter of fact, people don't get tickets they deserve, because they are stuck behind squatters in the left lane.