THE LONG, UPHILL BATTLE: The "mindless" attempts by government and
  society to eliminate all dangers in life are threatening personal
  freedom, says Tom Mullarkey, chief of the U.K.'s Royal Society for the
  Prevention of Accidents. "The application of common sense and balance
  is much more reasonable than the seeking of mindless increments towards
  'absolute safety'," he said, which is "a destination which is neither
  feasible nor, in all probability, desirable, since it would come at
  such cost to our freedoms." While some areas obviously need regulation,
  he says, such as nuclear power and aviation, individuals should merely
  be given information on safety and be allowed to make their own
  decisions on whether risks are worth taking, so long as they don't put
  others in danger. (London Telegraph) …The mindless elimination of all
  dangers: malarkey. The new patron saint of common sense: Mullarkey.

Vulcan, I am looking in YOUR direction!!!

So, to all of you wishing this would happen and think YOU have a shot. . .

I know I said I wouldn't be back until after Thanksgiving, but I just HAVE to get some **** off my chest!! After this post I'm going to go back to not coming here until then. But this site IS called pet peeves, and BOY OH BOY am I just aggravated.

Right now I'm wishing McCain never picked Palin, because now we have news people EVERYWHERE. Gretta Van Susteren is even up here. I hate that woman, and now she's in my city! Tourist season ended last week, but the number of people in town has NOT gone down as it normally does, all these reporters flew up here and took their place. GO AWAY REPORTERS!! You can report about Palin from the lower 48, you don't have to come up here and clog up my streets! Just yesterday I was driving home and I thought to myself "Damn, nobody knows how to drive, but it's not snowing yet" - and then after that I found out about all these reporters. They're making life HELL in terms of driving around town.

As for Obama, I'm SUPER pissed off at him right now. Why in Gods name did he send 30 "lawyers" (or as normal people would call them, investigators) to Alaska to dig up dirt on her? I don't want these people up here, and the only thing they're doing is pissing off the people that live up here! I have seen more and more people that weren't going to vote for McCain decide to vote for him based on Obama doing the smear campaign. And seriously O-man, GET SOME FACTS!! You see MOST of the people that live up here have personally gotten to know Sarah, have PERSONALLY spent time with her. You can't tell us a lie and think we'll believe it, we PERSONALLY know otherwise! 

It's pathetic. I guess it goes to show they really don't have a fight against her though, if they did they'd stop trying to attack her personal life. I guess when you're that good, people have no choice but to make up lies and call you a pig with lipstick (by the way, thanks for giving us up here something to laugh about, we really do love that one!).

I can't wait for this election to be over. I can't wait for these F'ing reporters to go back to the lower 48. I'm going to go piss Gretta off tonight, I'm going to go stand behind the camera guy and everytime she talks I'm going to just yell at her. Nothing rude either, just be loud enough to piss her off. She had on her heavy down winter coat too!! Us locals are still wearing T-shirts out, and she's got on a winter coat!!!

GO HOME REPORTERS!!!! We finally got rid of the tourists, we don't have long until the snow starts to fall, so PLEASE give us our few weeks of easy driving on the roads!! If ya'll don't leave soon, I'm filling my vehicle with drunk natives and paying them to do what it takes to make you leave!!

OK thanks guys!! I'll stop by later before I leave work. But after today I'm done coming here again. I stopped by today to say hi and get that stuff off my chest, and I see it's exactly how I predicted, too much political BS for me to stay around. 

it turned out to be pretty cool for a birthday.  haven't had a real good one in a while.  I had to work, but it was ok cuz my co-workers surprised me with a cake and ice cream!  when I got home, I had a couple of b-day cards, one from David's parents with 50 bucks in it and another from David and the kids with a $50 itunes gift card!  I already had a cake at home as well.  Later we went out to eat with the kids to Miyako, a hibachi restaurant!!  it was so cool and fun to watch the guy put on a show with the food.  the kids LOVED it and I hadn't been to one since I was a kid.  the food wasn't bad either.  it was a little pricey (116.00), but what the hell, it was a special occasion. 

along with all of this, David had an interview with Shell Motiva (a chemical plant) and they HIRED him.  he should start in Oct.!!!  so bye bye Fedex for him.  he was so happy and excited.  that's the job he wanted cuz he did his internship there.  I'd say all in all, it was a good day.  AND today I'm off from work so I get to chill today! maybe get my nails done and wash my truck.  Life can be good when you least expect it!

to take a MUCH closer look at my marriage! There! I said it! Here is what is happening - my wife just had her 43rd birthday Monday. Now, all last week she kept telling me I was FORBIDDEN to do anything or BUY anything for her. After ten YEARS of marriage (well ten years this October) I finally LISTENED! I got her NOTHING, no card, no flowers, no present! So what do I get in return? I scathing email when I got home (well back to my hotel, as I am still away in training) saying that I am NOT the kind of husband she expected me to be forgetting to do anything for her birthday even as far as getting her a card or flowers or anything! WTF?!?!?! It isn't like I wasn't TOLD by her CONSTANTLY to do EXACTLY WHAT I DID! 

So tell me, women of PEEVES, what exactly did I do 'wrong'? Should I have just done what I normally would do and IGNORE her? She told ME that I should not call her because she wasn't interested in hearing from me anytime in the near future and that she would have to 'THINK' about where we are! Now, I am not paranoid or anything, but dang if she doesn't sound like she is about to move out while I am up here!

On the other hand, I know she gets all 'squirrelly' when it is that time of the month for her (she did just buy the stuff for when that starts) AND she was SICK on her birthday to top it all off, but I only have so much patience and have put up with this and worse over the past ten years and SHE STILL DOESN'T GET IT!

I am NOT a psychic, I do NOT read minds, I am ONLY human, what did I do? Next time, I will just ignore whatever she tells me and do what I do and deal with any repercussions! GRRRRRR WE ARE NOT IN HIGH SCHOOL ANYMORE!!! I didn't play those games when I WAS in high school!!!

Alright, NOW I have to hit the hay, I gotta WORK at 8 tomorrow! Hope nobody sets me off, I WILL 'KILL' somebody if that happens!

Other than the post I just placed about the war deaths above, I will leave TGIX out of pointed posts. rkinne is correct, we are NOT in pre-school.

        It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'!

        F or those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico where she purchased the coffee.  You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right?

        That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S.  You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy. These are also the people that vote in this country!

        Here are the Stella's for the past year:

        7TH PLACE:

        Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son.

        6TH PLACE:

        Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles , California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps.

        Go ahead, grab your head scratcher.

        5TH PLACE:

        Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania , was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open.

        Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT, days on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish.

        Keep scratching. There are more…

        4TH PLACE;

        Jerry Williams, of Little Rock , Arkansas , garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500  plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun.

        Grrrrr … Scratch, scratch.

        3RD PLACE:

        Third place goes to Amber Carson of Lancaster , Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.

        What ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions?

        Scratch, scratch, scratch. Hang in there; there are only two more Stellas to go…

        2ND PLACE:

        Kara Walton, of Claymont , Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000….oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure.

        1ST PLACE : (May I have a fanfare played on 50 kazoos please)

        This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , who purchased a new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home from an OU football game, having driven onto the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich.. Not surprisingly, the motor  home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly,

        Mrs.. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down, $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home. Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs.. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home.

        Are we, as a society, getting more stupid…or what?

Obama Pays Female Staff Less Than Males

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 8:29 AM

By: Fred Lucas

While Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed to make pay equity for women a top priority if elected president, an analysis of his Senate staff shows that women are outnumbered and out-paid by men.

That is in contrast to Republican presidential candidate John McCain's Senate office, where women, for the most part, out-rank and are paid more than men.

Obama spoke in Albuquerque, N.M. last week about his commitment to the issue and his support of a Senate bill to make it easier to sue an employer for pay discrimination.

"Mr. McCain is an honorable man, we respect his service. But when you look at our records and our plans on issues that matter to working women, the choice could not be clearer," Obama told the audience in New Mexico, a voter-swing state. "It starts with equal pay. Sixty-two percent of working women in America earn half or more than of their family's income. But women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2008. You'd think that Washington would be united it its determination to fight for equal pay."

He continued, saying that he is proud to have supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which would extend the limit on how long an employee can wait before suing an employer for pay discrimination.

The legislation was named after Lilly Ledbetter, who was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire & Rubber's plant in Gadsden, Ala. She sued for pay discrimination before retiring after 19 years because she had made $6,500 less per year than the lowest paid male supervisor.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out her case, saying she waited too long to file a complaint. The court said that under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, an employee must sue within 180 days of a decision regarding pay if alleged discrimination is involved. The bill sought to change the law, but Democrats could not muster the needed 60 votes to override a Republican filibuster.

Obama voted for the equal pay litigation bill in April. McCain was campaigning that day and did not vote. But he has expressed opposition to the legislation, fearing it would open the door to too much litigation.

On average, women working in Obama's Senate office were paid at least $6,000 below the average man working for the Illinois senator. That's according to data calculated from the Report of the Secretary of the Senate, which covered the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2007. Of the five people in Obama's Senate office who were paid $100,000 or more on an annual basis, only one — Obama's administrative manager — was a woman.

The average pay for the 33 men on Obama's staff (who earned more than $23,000, the lowest annual salary paid for non-intern employees) was $59,207. The average pay for the 31 women on Obama's staff who earned more than $23,000 per year was $48,729.91. (The average pay for all 36 male employees on Obama's staff was $55,962; and the average pay for all 31 female employees was $48,729. The report indicated that Obama had only one paid intern during the period, who was a male.)

McCain, an Arizona senator, employed a total of 69 people during the reporting period ending in the fall of 2007, but 23 of them were interns. Of his non-intern employees, 30 were women and 16 were men. After excluding interns, the average pay for the 30 women on McCain's staff was $59,104.51. The 16 non-intern males in McCain's office, by comparison, were paid an average of $56,628.83.

The Obama campaign did not respond to written questions submitted on the matter Thursday by Cybercast News Service.

During his Albuquerque speech, Obama criticized McCain for supporting the Supreme Court ruling on the pay-equity issue.

"Sen. McCain thinks the Supreme Court got it right," Obama said. "He opposed the Fair Pay Restoration Act. He suggested that the reason women don't have equal pay isn't discrimination on the job - it's because they need more education and training. That's just totally wrong."

Obama continued, "Lilly Ledbetter's problem was not that she was somehow unqualified or unprepared for higher-paying positions. She most certainly was and by all reports was an excellent employee. Her problem was that her employer paid her less than men doing the exact same work."

© 2008 CNSNews.com. All Rights Reserved.

This person, call him 'f-tard' just called me this morning, just after his latest court date (which got put off another MONTH!!!) to complain about, well, let me just post the email I sent to her (no names) -

Thoughts, ideas, suggestions, 'contracts'

Hasn't she learned ANYTHING from watching Britney?

OK OK OK… I know I have posted saying I will buy a MAC for my next computer, but I have now been reassured. My coworker is on vacation (her son is graduating from bootcamp) and I am house sitting for her. Love it here too, no smoking roommate stinking up my mornings!! The fish are a bit scary (HUGE) and the dogs are SWEETIE PIES. She gave me the password to get on her computer so I could use it while here. I didn't realize when putting the password in that it's Vista. Then all of a sudden out of no where I get this pop up *internet explorer is having problems, please wait while it's figured out*…. What?? I don't care what the problem is, and I don't like Microsoft (Bill Gates isn't in charge anymore) so just reboot my internet browser!! I like the old windows where they say "You had a problem, do you want to send info to Microsoft" because I was able to say NO. No Microsoft, I don't want you to know what the problem was. Maybe I was doing something secretive that I don't want ANYONE to know about?

Also - I play games at pogo.com, and it was near impossible to get my games going. I had to hold 2-3 keys down to get it to allow the "pop-up" even though I had stated 4 times to allow it. I know this is only my first time using it, but this is NOT user friendly!!! It's user-pissed-off!!!

And IGGY - Where the hell is the "computer" category?????? I don't know what to click now! While you add the computer one, you should add an internet as a sub.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906 861&cl=7146786&ch=4226713&src=news

for my laptop. It has finally given up the last electyron it will EVER have.

Unfortunately for me, it is getting in the way of my responding to my PeeveFriends and others.

even nmow, I have to use my wife's store computer and since I am RARELY here, well, you can see the problem.

I DO feel somewhat comforted that TGIX is still using every post to rant against Bush (and still ignoring, I'll bet, any other 'charges' leveled with the old standby, 'Well, it wasn't as bad as Bush!' As if that somehow makes it 'better') as I see Mad Vucan is still yankinig TGIX's chain as well.

Dawn, sorry to hear that you were laid off, you will find something better, soon (liike me). Keep your chin up!

 conana, I actually haven't read any of your posts since I am not going back to search the other pages, but I am sure you have posted some 'great' feces stories to gross us all.

BTW, is AKSnowbunny still around? Or did a c ertain other person REALLY  chase her away. If not, AK good to see you stayed, if she is still in 'exile' (self-imposed), then I miss you.

Anyway, that is all, got some costomers (one would think with all this economy 'downturn' there would be NO business in antiques, but we sure are still doing well, I guess SOMEBODY lied about that, didn't they?

Ciao all. 

something they had only to ask ME!!!

Aretha makes PETAs worst-dressed list

NEW YORK - PETA thinks Aretha Franklin is no queen of soul when it comes to wearing fur. Franklin was crowned this year's worst-dressed celebrity by the animal rights organization. Her crime: wearing "yet another vulgar fur" at the Grammy Awards.

"… you looked as if you were going to perform `I Am the Walrus' by the Beatles," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Wednesday of Franklin's appearance. "You might be a queen, but you don't know jack about compassion."

"How 'bout some R-E-S-P-E-C-T for animals?" PETA added.

The other offenders are Marilyn Manson, Eva Longoria ("in her trashy furs, she looks like the streetwalker of Wisteria Lane"), Lindsay Lohan, Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue.

PETA called Minogue cold-blooded for toting a python purse. As for Lohan, the group remarked: "`I Know Who Killed Me' isn't just the title of Lindsay Lohan's latest bomb, it's the cry of the animals snuffed out so this `Mean Girl' can pose in their pelts."

Christina Ricci, Martha Stewart and Alicia Keys have said they've given up wearing fur since being singled out by PETA in previous years.

PETA asked people to vote on the Web site Fur Is Dead.

The group said it took Britney Spears out the running because they didn't want to kick her while she's down.

LOS ANGELES - Kirstie Alley and Jenny Craig may have gone their separate ways, but the one-time "Fat Actress" isn't giving up on the weight loss industry.

After lengthy negotiations, regretfully the Jenny Craig Company and I did not come to an agreement to continue as their spokesperson, Alley said in a statement posted on People Magazine's Web site Tuesday.

Alley, 57, told People that while her experience with Jenny Craig was "extraordinary," she wants "to create something new that will help millions of people end the seemingly never ending fatty-roller coaster ride."

Alley said she intends to develop her own weight-loss brand with plans to launch in 2009.

"We are sorry that she did not accept our offer" to continue appearing in the company's ad campaign, Scott Parker, vice president of marketing for Jenny Craig, told People. "We wish her all the best in her future endeavors."

A message left with Alley's publicist late Tuesday was not immediately returned.

Alley, who starred on Showtime's reality-comedy series "Fat Actress," became a spokeswoman for the Jenny Craig diet program in 2005. About a year later, Alley donned a bikini to show off her new shape on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." At the time, Winfrey said Alley, who is 5-foot-8, had lost 75 pounds, after hitting a high of 220 pounds.

Alley's TV credits also include "Cheers" and "Veronica's Closet."

 because I KNOW some of you were REALLY heart broken a few years ago!

Even if it is just to give this family SOME closure!

And THIS is why, I believe that it cost soo gosh dang much to see a doctor, a specialist, or go to the hospital!

I just wonder if this will actually show her the right straight and narrow road to go in life.  This reminds me so much of the Maury Povich show where he'll take trouble teens to jail or abusive husbands to the morgue to show them the consequences of their behavior.

http://news.yah oo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_en_mo/people_lohan

OH man she's dumb. I have a filing cabinet in my office that is used by maybe two people. One of them was at it, on his cellphone. She comes in and says "Hey XXX" - AS HE IS IN MID SENTENCE. Then she askes me if he's on the phone. No, I'm just sitting here playing computer games while he blabs on to me about job information… DUH. So she stands there and waits. I hear the phone start to ring. And it dawns on me - she is the ONLY person here to answer the phone. The other two that help her out are not in the office. Then I wonder, if she's back here, who is up front?

Answer: No one. She could have paged him to the front, and then been able to answer the phone AND help any customers that came in, but she was back here, as far from the front of the office as you can get.

Damn she's dumb.

I am promising you the 'love' of a lifetime!

Now how am I supposed to MEET anyone?

Hannah Montana caught using body double