They Call This Progress?

Received this in an email from the Moose Buyer's sister. Being in education I can say for certain that the 2007 senarios certainly ring true. (how sad) Just in case you are wondering, I didn't attend school in 1957 (I'm not THAT old)...not that having been in school in 1957 makes you really old...I'm just saying that I personally wasn't in school in 1957. I better stop now and just let you read this for yourself.

Without further ado...

School in 1957 vs. School in 2007

Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.
1957 - Assistant principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his own shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - School goes into lockdown, the FBI is called, Jack is hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors are called in to assist traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2007 - Police are called, SWAT team arrives and arrests Johnny and Mark. They are charged with assault and both are expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey is sent to the principal's office and given a good paddling. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra state funding because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some Aspirin to school.
1957 - Mark shares Aspirin with the school principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police are called and Mark is expelled from School for drug violations. His car is searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario: Pedro fails high-school English.
1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by local human rights group. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that making English a requirement for graduation is racist. US Civil Liberties Union files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway, but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak or read English.

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover Independence Day firecrackers, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up an anthill.
1957 - Ants die.
2007 - Homeland Security and the FBI are called and Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. Teams investigate parents, siblings are removed from the home, computers are confiscated, and Johnny's dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario: Johnny falls during recess and scrapes his knee. His teacher, Mary, finds him crying, and gives him a hug to comfort him.
1957 - Johnny soon feels better and goes back to playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces three years in federal prison. Johnny undergoes five years of therapy.

Sometimes It Pays To Make A Stink!

As I've mentioned before, DH bought a new car this past Friday. We decided to purchase a satellite tracking system for the car. We paid the money to the dealership, and an appointment was set for Saturday between 12 noon and 6pm for the system to be installed in the car, at our house. I won't bother you with all of the details, but suffice it to say, after many phone calls back and forth on Saturday, the system was NOT installed. In fact a technician was never sent to our house.

I spent part of Saturday afternoon and evening composing a lovely 2 page letter addressed to the Chairman and CEO of the company. Their corporate headquarters are located in the Eastern portion of the United States, so I woke up early Monday morning and called office of the Chairman and CEO of the company in order to get his email address. I spoke with his "executive assistant", "secretary", I don't really know her title, but she was very helpful and suggested that I send the email directly to the Vice President of Customer Care. Which I did, with a 'cc' to the Chairman/CEO.

When I arrived home this afternoon, I hadn't received any response from Mr V.P., so I decided to call his office directly. Surprise, surprise, surprise...he answered his own phone. I had a lovely conversation with Mr. V.P. He told me that he had received my email that morning, and had been in contact with someone on the West Coast, and he said that they had discussed my email extensively and he was quite surprised to hear that the West Coast person had not called me.

Within 5 minutes of ending my phone call with Mr. V.P., I received a phone call from "West Coaster" (WC). WC apologized for not calling me sooner (we all know she only called me, when she did, because she got chewed out by Mr. V.P.). She told me that they were sorry for the inconvience (lost time, implying that DH and I were liars...you know...minor stuff) they caused us and they wanted to try to make it up to us. She upgraded our system (approximately $100 value), said that she would send us free movie passes, and best of all, she made sure that a technician was at my house by 5pm this evening. In fact, she called me at 4:30pm to tell me that the technician might be a few minutes late, and then called me at 5:00pm on the dot to see if the technician had arrived.

Now that the system is on the car, and working, I hope that we never need it. Both DH and I are satisfied with how Mr. V.P reacted/responded to my letter. I'm thinking between my sister and I, if either of us need to make any extra money, we can always offer our letter writing services.

Post Birthday Rambling

I had a wonderful birthday yesterday. Elle and DH had gone shopping the day before and bought some great presents. (cause it was all about me).

Elle gave me a checkbook cover (from a store that begins with B and rhymes with frighten). Ten gave me a silver eyeglass holder for around my neck from the same store. And then both kids bought me a bright red shirt, because Elle thinks that I look good in that color.

We saw the movie "Enchanted" in the afternoon. It was cute for a Disney movie. I certainly left it smiling (and not just because it was over:~)

For the evening part of the festivities Joan and Rick came over and gave me a lavender scented neck warmer, and two small black purses (that I have been searching for, forever!). We then all drove to a restaurant, where we were met by my cousin The Moose Buyer. Dinner was delicious. Elle ran into some friends from school at the restaurant (which meant we didn't see her for awhile).

All in all, if one has to have a birthday...this one was tops in my book! (even if I never did get that nap)

Put Another Candle On My Birthday Cake...

Today is my birthday. I am ?? years old today. I'll admit to being 21, or even 31...o.k. fine, I'll admit to being 41...but I won't admit to any more. Let's just say, if you were to put another candle on my birthday cake, you would need to call the fire department first.


My plans for this day definitely do not include waiting for any service people. We'll go to services this morning, then I plan to take a long nap this afternoon. (cause that's what old people do...sigh) This evening I get to open my presents (cause it's all about me) and then we're planning to go out for my birthday dinner. I can hardly wait.

The Day After

Things turned out much better yesterday that I could have hoped for. DH and Ten left about 9:30am to go to a friends house for an "After Thanksgiving Day breakfast". As DH was driving, he spotted a telephone company truck down the block, and the repairman working on a huge box (located at ground level). DH asked the repairman if he had an order for our address and he said he did. He added that he would be giving me a call within 15 minutes.

Within 10 minutes the repairman had called to tell me that there were loose wires in the box and that whenever a car went buy it loosened the connection and that is why our phone service to that line had been intermittent. He said that he didn't need to get into our house, because it looked like he had fixed the problem, but that he would call me back in 1 hour to be sure that the problem had been fixed. Which it was.

DH came home from the breakfast around 11am and then he and I went and purchased a new car for him. (I'm thinking that this counts as his birthday present for at least the next 20 years...lol). It's a black on black Acura TSX, and it is a beautiful machine! DH hasn't had a new car in almost 14 years, so he really deserves it. Today the satellite alarm people come to put a tracking device on the car sometime between noon and 6pm.

The waiting begins again. sigh

Calling 611..."Can Anybody Hear Me?"

Why is it that the phone company can set up an appointment to check your line sometime between the hours of 8am and 6pm? How can they "run out of 4 hour window appointments"?

Fortunately, we have two phone lines in our house. Fortunately the computer is hooked up to the phone line that is still working. Fortunately we have cell phones in case of an emergency, (see, I'm still in the Thanksgiving mode:~) Unfortunately, (this is where reality sets in) we actually have things to do today. One of which is to go to a friends house for "Day after Thanksgiving breakfast" and the second thing is to go and buy DH a new car.

Of course the phone company needs someone over the age of 18 to be home at the time that they decide to stroll into our lives and repair the phone line. Leaving my 86 year old mother to deal with the repairman is not an option.

I hate waiting.

Thanksgiving 2007

I just want to take the time today to wish everyone a happy healthy Thanksgiving. I figure that now is a good a time as any to list some things that I am thankful for...

1. Having the love of my husband, who despite our differences (or maybe because of them) is one heck of a wonderful man.


2. Having two wonderful healthy children (who sometime drive me crazy, but I love them anyway)


3. Having a sister who takes on some of the responsibilities for helping to care for our mother.


4. Having my mom still alive, and able to continue live with me.


5. Having a roof over our heads and food to fill our bellies. (we may not always have what we want, but we definitely have what we need)


6. Believing (from experience) that no matter what curves life throws my way, I will survive. (I may be miserable for a while, but the part of me that matters...the essence of me will survive).

That being said, I want to wish you a Happy, healthy Thanksgiving 2007, and to my friends in Canada, a happy healthy November 22nd.