As most of you know, Mrs. Constant Complainer is not a blogger. She doesn’t read this blog and thinks that it’s a waste of my time. But nonetheless, even she is not immune to getting riled up and uttering my trademarked “I feel a blog coming on” line.
Here’s a great example. We were shopping over the weekend and went into a store that my daughter loves. It’s a store just for girls that we visit whenever we’re in the area. I’ve always wondered what age they market to. So this time I asked them. Their answer - girls ages 7-11. And the employee went on to say that a lot of their business actually comes from girls ages 4-7. That made sense to me since my daughter is six years old and has been going to this store for several years.
But when I see certain products (like the ones in the below-pictures) being sold in this store, I get upset. And even Mrs. Constant Complainer gets upset. We’re not sure girls, even at age 11, should be on Twitter, for example. And I certainly know that they shouldn’t have tattoos. So why are stores promoting these ideas to them? Because it’s the cool thing to do? The kids might like it, but I think it’s sending them the wrong message. Heck, I could write an entire post about the social decline of America being directly related to people burying their heads into their cell phones and not talking to each other anymore…
I normally enjoy my anonymity on here. I have never once posted a picture of myself, said my full name or even where I work. And usually my complaints have nothing to do with my personal life, but more so are random things I encounter and think you’ll enjoy.
But for once, today’s post is different. I’ve had a very strange month and as it turns out, I made it worse for myself. Let me explain. Since May, I hadn’t been feeling very well. I had just run in a marathon, and figured my body simply wasn’t recuperating properly. So I went to the doctor and they ran some tests. Strangely, one obscure blood test came back positive. And it required me to see a special doctor. Panicked, after the call came, I immediately went to Google. Big mistake! I did a searches for this blood test, because even I had never heard of it. The first five things that came up on every medical site during the searches were all fatal diseases (ranging from two to 20 years of life expectancy). I started freaking out.
My next call was to try to find a specialist (physician) that I had been referred to. Of course, since I was a new patient, the first office I called couldn’t see me for two months. The second and third offices were a little better - 45 days. The fourth office I called was 30 days. So I made an appointment there.
And then I proceeded to worry for the next 30 days that I might have a fatal disease. Let me tell you something…when they say life is too short, it is. This was probably the worst 30 days of my life, and I wish it on nobody. I couldn’t do anything without worrying about the test result or my health. A buddy of mine, who is a doctor, insisted that the test was a false positive and said that unless it was a “million in one illness,” I was going to be fine. But stupid me, I kept looking on the Internet and doing research, with all of the searches coming back bad and making me feel worse.
But there’s a lot of good news to report. First off, I’m fine. The test was indeed a false positive. And I actually learned that a certain percentage of people actually test positive during this test and are perfectly healthy. The specialist I saw was probably the best doctor I have ever seen. She spent a great deal of time explaining everything to me and ran tons of additional confirmation tests. And as it turns out, my original theory held true - spending 18 weeks training for a marathon and then retiring from running the day after the marathon wasn’t the smartest move and caused my body to respond in a derogatory fashion.
Other than to my wife, this is first time I’m talking about this… But this post isn’t about leaving me comments saying that you’re glad I’m OK. I already know that. It’s about knowing that according to the Internet, a simple cut or pain in your leg could be fatal. LOL. It’s about knowing how scary it can be to think that you could potentially be sick, but have to wait to see a doctor for confirmation (health care at its finest). And it’s about realizing how short life is - the one thing I will never take for granted again.
This week’s “Moron of the Week Award” goes to Kelsey Grammer. The “Cheers” and “Frasier” star has admitted to cheating on his wife of 13 years, “Playboy” model Camille Donatacci. To make matters worse, Grammer’s new love interest, Kayte Walsh, is 26 years his junior and pregnant with their child.
Poor Kelsey - according to the National Enquirer, when admitting the infidelity to his wife, Grammer also admitted to contracting herpes from a “previous dalliance.”
Childishly, when initially confronted by his wife, Grammer’s response was, “Grow up - and get over it.” That came after he simply stopped calling her while he was working in NYC. Grammer later told TMZ that he plans to marry the pregnant Walsh after he “clears up some other stuff.” I wonder how Camille feels about being called “other stuff.” It sounds to me that Kelsey Grammer is the one that needs to grow up.
I thought “Yo Adrian” was a great way to start this post. As you know, that quote was made famous by Sylvester Stallone in the “Rocky” movies. But I started off with it because this post is about a new and quirky Philadelphia law that has many bloggers in an uproar.
The law requires bloggers to pay $300 for a business license. So, Marilyn Bess and Sean Barry, for example, who have made a whopping $50 and $11 respectively on their blogs over the last two years, have to pay $300 for a license. Because, according to this Washington Examiner article, Philadelphia thinks blogging is “a potential moneymaker, and the city wants its cut.” Bess said, “The real kick in the pants is that I don’t even have a full-time job, so for the city to tell me to pony up $300 for a business privilege license, pay wage tax, business privilege tax, net profits tax on a handful of money is outrageous.” When Bess complained to the city, she was told to “hire an accountant.” Apparently all Philadelphia-based bloggers who reported even the “smallest profits” on their taxes were sent letters informing them of this licensure requirement.
Now I don’t know about you, but blogging is a hobby for me. I do it on the side of my day job. I’ve picked up a few advertisers along the way and utilize tools such as Google AdSense. But this will never be my full-time job. I’ve spoken to Extreme John, Dani Cally and Jordashe Kingston about the money that can be made from blogging, since they’re all very successful. But to me, this will always be a hobby. And I think it is ridiculous for Philadelphia to require business licenses for people reporting $11 and $50 over a two-year period. Some states don’t even blink an eye until you’ve reported more than $200 in annual income from the Internet. My guess - as typical with Internet legislation, whomever proposed this law in Philadelphia has no knowledge whatsoever of blogging. Thanks to NeoConDon for the story lead.
I probably could have come up with an individual post for each of these news stories. But it’s been a long week, so I decided to combine them and have some fun. Feel free to comment on one or both.
Story #1 - Little Tikes is dialing up a lousy toy - submitted by Angella. Little Tikes, a well-known toymaker in Ohio has come under fire by a UPS driver of all people. Driver, Ron Boyd, was concerned that the Princess Cozy Coupe box showed a little girl talking on a cell phone. You can read the original Ohio.com story here.
Boyd may have a very valid concern. This story isn’t about some adults trying to take away a child’s fun. It’s a story about what we’re instilling in the minds of our children - that using a cell phone while driving is OK - when it might not be. We’ve all seen the studies - that texting while driving is dangerous - that talking on the phone while driving is dangerous - and whether or not your mind is really focused on driving if you’re talking on the phone at the same time. Every watchdog agency has an opinion on this topic. And that’s why 30 states now have legislation involving cell phone usage while driving. Let’s face it - our children imitate us and want to be like us. Therefore, I can certainly understand the criticism that Little Tikes has encountered. Interesting enough, Little Tikes was interviewed for this story in mid-July, but as of today, the same picture (of the child with the cell phone) is still on their web site.
Story #2 - Teacher fired for premarital sex - submitted by NeoConDon. A widow with five children starts dating. She also gets a job at a Christian School and becomes engaged. But she also gets pregnant and gives birth to a daughter three weeks before her wedding. And the school fires her for “fornication.” You can read the original Today Show story here.
Here at The Constant Complainer, in addition to my own posts, readers can submit Guest Posts on topics they’d like to complain about. Leo Nevoli is back with another Guest Post today. His post discusses a relative of his affected by the September 11th attacks. So without further adieu, here’s Leo…
At least once a year, I go through my saved e-mails and read the one my cousin sent me at 8:37 a.m. years ago. I always read it on the anniversary of the day he sent it to me, because it helps me remember the events of that day in my own way. It was nine minutes after he clicked “send” that a plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He sent that e-mail on September 11, 2001. Minutes after that he made a call to his mother to tell her that he was fine, a general announcement was made in the South Tower, where he worked, to remain calm and stay in the building. Despite that announcement, he began to make his way out - he had reconstructive knee surgery a few months before and was slowly walking with a cane. Seventeen minutes after that first plane hit, another plane struck his South Tower.
Just writing this I am recalling the emotions my family went through that day. The unknown brought uncertainty, worry, concern, and fear. Was this e-mail the last communication I was going to have with my cousin? What about that phone call he made to his mother? Was that the last she would hear his voice? Communications were down in New York, and the last time anyone heard from him - he said he was alright, but that was before the second plane hit. His mother waited for a phone call from him, and not one from someone telling her of other news. It was late morning when the call came, and it was him saying he had made it home. She received the call she hoped for, and experienced other emotions: relief and joy. Others did not receive a call from their loved one saying they were fine, or saying “I love you” one last time. My family was one of the fortunate ones to have someone walk away from those events, but the memories stick with my cousin and our family.
I’m sorry for the delay between posts. I was on vacation. It was nice to get away for a few days and unwind. But of course I came back with some great stories and pictures - as if I’d ever take a break from complaining…
Anyway, we had an out-of-town wedding, added a few days onto the back end of the trip and went to Idlewild in Pennsylvania. It’s a sister park of Kennywood. And I have to admit, it was so nice to go somewhere where the lines weren’t outrageous, the employees were nice and the environment was family-oriented. - things most amusement parks can’t accomplish these days.
However, in the same breath, an amusement park is an amusement park - so there’s always good people-watching to be done. And in this case, there were some pictures to be taken.
Wild Mouse - This classic roller coaster is always a crowd-pleaser - unless it breaks down. There were two kids stuck in this car for quite a while.
I love musical parodies. My brother-in-law showed this to me last weekend and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen it before. It is an absolute riot! So let me set it up for you…
If you like Katy Perry, you’ll love this. If you hate Katy Perry, you’ll love this this. If you like Pennsylvania, you’ll love this. If you hate Pennsylvania (or Pittsburgh), you’ll love this. Heck, if you’ve ever been to, traveled through or knew someone from PA, you’ll love this.
The group who created it is called “Sloppy Secondz.” And now I present to you - “Pennsylvania Guys.” Enjoy! Needless to say, there’s a lot to say about PA…
My wife and I took our daughter to see “Ramona and Beezus” on Saturday night. Before the movie started, we were sitting there talking about how many 3-D movies are coming out these days. It seems like every trailer we’ve recently seen has been for a 3-D movie. Now, of course we have seen some movies in 3-D, but almost consider it a waste of money - because the 3-D glasses are an extra $3 per person and we usually just end up throwing them into the donation box on our way out of the theater. Well…our feelings may have changed.
Shortly after the movie started, two high-school-age girls came into the theater and started walking up the stairs towards us. As they were walking to sit down, one of their cell phones rang out - at this point, I knew it was going to be a long movie. They ended up sitting directly behind us. Once seated, they proceed to laugh, talk and fart out loud. Several people around us made the “ssshhhh” noise, but these girls didn’t care. One of their cell phones rang out loud two more times and they also kept on talking.
My wife is always very political, but I could tell that her blood was boiling. However, our daughter was there, so I knew she’d keep it toned down, even if provoked. After their talking continued, my wife turned around and below is the conversation that followed:
Mrs. CC - “Can you please be quiet?”
Punk Girl - “Make us.”
Mrs. CC - “Your phone keeps going off and your talking is a distraction.”
Punk Girl - “Why don’t you shut up?”
Mrs. CC - “Do you want me to call security?”
Punk Girl - “Go ahead.”
Mrs. CC - “Don’t tempt me.”
Punk Girl - “Tempting!”
So my wife went to get security, at which time, I heard one of the girls say to the other, “Uh oh.” But here’s the interesting part - as my wife came back up the stairs with security, a woman also seated behind us jumped up and said, “Hey, I’m their aunt, I’ll take care of it, you (talking to the security officer) can talk to me.” So he did and the aunt told the girls to knock it off. My question…where was the aunt for the twenty minutes leading up to this incident? She was there, but did nothing.
After we left the theater, my wife told me that one of the girls had intermittently kicked the back of her seat for the rest of the movie. I wish I had known that, because I would have had them thrown out of the theater. But my wife decided that it didn’t occur enough to warrant further argument.
So let’s get back to the price of 3-D movie tickets. Yeah, we’re on board with them now. If paying an extra $9 as a family gets us into a movie with fewer riffraff; that will be fine with us.
It’s always interesting when you shop at Wal-Mart. Meaning - you never know who or what you’re going to see. So as a tribute to the famous “People of Walmart” web site, I decided to take a few pictures during my visit yesterday.
Odd Couple - The woman is on the left and the man is on the right. Note how his hair is almost longer than hers. Also note his Elmo hat and t-shirt which says “For All the Haters.” The only thing I couldn’t get in the picture was her embarrassingly low-cut jean shorts.
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