Lost Pet Prevention

Lately I've been a worry wart. We're taking a trip in the next few months and taking our beloved dog with us. I always have near panic attacks when I think about losing her, or any of the pets I've had over the years. Thankfully this has never happened, but it could. I never forget that just because I've never lost a pet means that I never will.

I don't want to, EVER. It will be like losing a child and things do happen.

So! I've been doing some research. There are a number of ways that you can fix it so that pets can be recovered, but there is no full proof way. The best way, from what I can tell, is actually several ways.

Gimp Review

One thing I love about the web are its amazing free resources. In this day, there is really no need to pay for most software because there is almost always a free alternative that is just as good, if not better.

I'm going to compile a list of my favorite free software, but for now I want to focus on one piece. It's called the Gimp.

Gimp is your free alternative to Photoshop (PS) or Paint Shop Pro (PSP), although I will admit that I did use PSP for many years. I finally made the switch to Gimp and what it can do is really amazing. It is a powerful piece and though professionals would still claim that it's not as good as PS, the average user wouldn't know the difference.

Now before I get to the glowing review of Gimp, and even the cons of using Gimp. I must say that I am a very nit-picky person. This can be a good thing though, because it makes me a great reviewer in that I point out all the things that bother me. It also may be a bad thing because a lot of what bothers me is usually quite trivial. My point is, just because I list annoyances does not mean I don't like it. I understand that there is nothing in the world that is perfect.

Fred's like false advertising.

Last week I saw an ad for a Bissell Power Steamer in the Fred's sale paper. I went down there and guess what? No Bissell Power Steamer. What I should have asked, but never imagined that I should have asked, is if this was something that they actually carry. Instead I asked the manager if I could get a rain check for the sale price. "Sure!" he said and directed an employee to write me one.

She was very nice and explained that the trucks deliver on Wednesdays. "Just call after 1:00 to find out if our delivery arrived."

For me, that sounded like, "... it WILL come, I'm just not sure if it'll be before 1:00 or not." How silly of me to have believed that.

So I call today, figuring that the delivery is definitely there. I speak to a girl who said that they don't have any. "That's not something we normally carry," she explained. "Maybe it'll be on the next truck."

I seriously hoped that the "next truck" would not be another week, but my hopes were dashed when she told me it would be next Wednesday. "We don't always carry what is in the ad," she tried to explain.

Excuse me? Then what is the point of the ad and the rain check? My understanding is that the ad IS what you carry and it IS supposed to be on sale, except for "disclaimers" which I address below. I am reminded of the Jerry Seinfeld rental car.



My rain check is sort of the reservation. I have reserved this Power Steamer, but this is even worse. What if Jerry went up there and though he made a reservation for a mid-size car, he was told that they don't even HAVE mid-size cars at this rental place? How is this any different?

In any case, when you publish an ad for a product at a price and you don't have that product at that price, does this make it false advertising? You are advertising something that is false. Right? There was no "disclaimer" saying that it was only "participating stores" written anywhere. I checked. It's not there.

Add this to the list of stores with terrible customer service.

PriceGrabber STINKS!!!!

I'm not a seller, only a customer. A very, VERY aggravated customer. What attracted me to PriceGrabber was the ability to set what they term, price alerts. Their FAQ defines this as, "You can add a Price Alert to make sure you know when it hits your target price." In better words, I can pick a price that I'm willing to pay. PriceGrabber is supposed to check this and email me if any of my saved alerts match the price I'm willing to pay. Sounds simple, yes? No!

Let's take a look at some of mine. As you can see, I have two DVDs that have alerts, which are met (the red blocks).

So why wasn't I notified? Obviously the alert exists, or it wouldn't be in red. I know! Let's check the settings.

Well I'll be! It looks like I DO have it set to email me when my price alert is met? So what's the problem? Let's find out. Let's go to the help section of the page.

Hmmm. I don't see my problem listed there, do you? I know. Let's see if there is a support forum for me to post my problem in. That's a great way for users to report issues and see if they're not alone.

Hmmm. Well that's obviously not it. Let's try the site map.

Hmmm. I don't see a forum for users, do you? Well there is the Feedback thingy. I guess I'll use that. Naturally I won't get a reply for ages, when all I want to know is WHY I'm not getting them. Also, all they're going to do is send me a form letter saying how price alerts work. How do I know this? Because I've been through this over a year ago. They still haven't fixed it!

Now do you see why I hate PriceGrabber? The only reason I'm there is to set price alerts, but I never get them. There is no point in having it then, is there?

Other Annoyances:

• You cannot Ctrl+click to open alerts in a new tab.
• The pages take absolutely way too long to load.
• The font is absolutely too small and there is no way to set a default setting.

I just hate that place. I don't know why I even bother trying it again and again only to see it's a failure.

FOXNews.com - L.A.: $111M in Stimulus Saved Just 55 Jobs

FOXNews.com - L.A.: $111M in Stimulus Saved Just 55 Jobs: "'I'm disappointed that we've only created or retained 55 jobs after receiving $111 million,' said Wendy Greuel, the city's controller. "

Excuse me?! That's 2 million per person! Are we to understand that they're paying 55 people 2 million each? WHERE THE FRICK IS THIS MONEY?!

Obamanomics is the worst in history.

Michelle Obama thinks life is 'Hell'.

FOXNews.com - Life is 'Hell' for Michelle Obama? So Reveals French First Lady: "Michelle Obama says life in the White House is 'hell' and she 'can't stand it,' dishes French first lady and former fashion model Carla Bruni in her new tell-all book"

Just more proof that the White House is loaded with idiots. The Obama household are a bunch of numskulls.

Checking online sellers, merchants or whatever you want to call them.

I buy a lot of stuff online these days. In fact, outside of groceries, cars and major appliances, I can say rather honestly that I buy everything else online. From auto parts to clothing to DVDs and books, they're all online to be had and you can comparison shop on prices. The web is just an amazing resource!

The only problem is whether or not you can trust these e-merchants that you find a great bargain on. The old adage, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is," applies here. While you can find good bargains, you risk getting ripped off. So the question is, how can you be fairly certain it is really a good bargain?

DIVISIONS WITHIN PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY: Further information

DIVISIONS WITHIN PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY: Further information: "One must first be 'saved' before the Holy Spirit will help you understand the Bible. Otherwise, the Bible is totally confusing."

I am always amazed to see what "scholars" believe Christians believe. Where do they come up with this stuff?! Of course there are "references" for the article, but no specific citations. Figures.

Obviously this person is no Christian, or at least, not a protestant. Clueless is the only word to describe the writer(s).

FOXNews.com - EXCLUSIVE: WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Fights Calls to Step Down

FOXNews.com - EXCLUSIVE: WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Fights Calls to Step Down: "'A provable outside smear campaign, a fraud from top to bottom, designed to destroy our effectiveness, by discrediting our leadership, splitting us off from our supporters and donation base -- the central pillars of any effective organization,' he told FoxNews.com."

What a freaking baby! Did he really believe that there wouldn't be mud slinging after what he did? Did he even think for a split second that the world would just slap him on the back and tell him what a good job he did?

This guy is crazy and has some screws loose. I call on all to continue the smear campaign. He opened the can of worms, now he must deal with it.

Liberals are losing it.

FOXNews.com - The Liberals Are Losing It: "Liberals have become hysterical. Who can blame them? Just when things were going so well, their beloved leader has done the unthinkable – he has flopped... Even more unsettling to those who still adhere to Obamanomics, the people—those unruly, pesky, ill-informed, racist, uncaring and misguided hordes who so recently embraced the message of unity and hope that swept an inexperienced youngster into office – have rejected policies that are for their own good."

Very well said! Too bad there isn't a poster big enough to carry this around, or a T-shirt.

What to do when you hate doing yard work?

Gardening can be fun, but also a hindrance. I love the way a nice manicured lawn looks, but I don't want to do the work myself. I mean seriously. Work? ME?! Get the heck outta here!

On a more serious point, it's not that I'm lazy, but I have rather serious neck and back problems. I'm not supposed to bend at all, but hey, life is full of don'ts. The thing is that if I do bending at all, I can really only tolerate it for short periods and when you have 2/3 acre of lawn that needs work, then it's impossible for me to keep up.

Additionally, I have plants that I hate. I have some cacti on each side of my driveway that refuses to go away. I've had a number of people actually ring my doorbell asking if they can take the blooms. "Blooms?!" I say. "Take the whole plant!" To my chagrin they never do.

I finally paid a drifter to dig them up and the following spring, I had new cacti growing. UGH! Those bad boys simply will not die.

Then I have the elephant ears and banana plants that I also hate. Yes, I live in a tropical area and yes they do well without any help, but I hate them. They also tend to be rather invasive.

You see, it is my belief that if it isn't beneficial in some way or another, then it's useless. They don't produce fruit (food), flowers (beauty, fragrance, etc.) and so forth so what is the point? They're not nice to look at, in my opinion either. I don't want them.

Cacti make weeding impossible. Why on earth does anyone want them as plants? Ours came with the house when we bought it, but really WHY?

Then don't even get me started on the bamboo that is taking over my yard. This one is at least beneficial, but spreads like wildfire and there is just no stopping it. It grows instantly overnight. Bam! A whole yard full of bamboo when the night before it was grass. I think that must by why it's called bamboo. Bam!

So for years I've tried different things to keep these things at bay and guess what? Nothing works. I've tried the sheets that you lay over which supposedly prevents weeds and things from growing; it doesn't. I've tried Roundup and while it does kill off the weeds, it doesn't do so for any length of time. Now when I just looked for a link to Roundup, I found one that is Extended Control which is different. Still, it only lasts 4 months. I guess I could try it.

Anyway the point is that I've tried digging up, sheets, weed killer and a variety of other things and I still have plants I hate. What does one do?!

Any advice out there? Whatever the answer is, it needs to involve no heavy lifting or bending. I cannot afford a landscaper either.

“Mr. President, please read the NY Times editorial today” « Gretawire

“Mr. President, please read the NY Times editorial today” « Gretawire: "The New York Times endorsed President Obama and heavily lobbied for his election - both in the primary election and then the general - and is now realizing that Americans are really hurting, things are getting worse economically, and that the President needs to act. You know things are bad when your chief cheerleader is slamming you."

The funny part to this is that us smart people, Republicans, knew this all along.

Message to NYT: You reap what you sow. Obviously intelligent choice is not your strong point. Learn from it.

Canton Man Wins Flagpole Lawsuit

Canton Man Wins Flagpole Lawsuit:

"I got a letter saying, 'Take your flag down. You can put it in your backyard' and I just refused to do it," Tripodo said.

Ha! It's nice to see someone fight for their rights and WIN! I am so very happy for him and he cracks me up. Sounds like a real pistol. The homeowners association misjudged this man and came out looking foolish.

GOOD!

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Death of the Movie Star: We’re Sick of Being Lectured by Lightweights

Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » Death of the Movie Star: We’re Sick of Being Lectured by Lightweights: "

Celebrities want attention, but they also want credibility because they typically don’t have any. Environmentalism is an easy cause for them to promote to get attention and at the same time appear somehow thoughtful and even educated because it is allegedly based on science. Of course none of this has anything do with reality, but this is the entertainment business. Reality is not important at all. Image is everything. Talking about recycling, stopping offshore drilling, solar power, and electric cars is a lot easier than really trying to do something for people in the world like feeding the hungry, helping abused children, or building houses for the homeless.

It also deflects attention from the obvious fact that celebrities are often some of the most wasteful, energy inefficient, materialistic, shallow, and superficial people in our society. A classic recent example was James Cameron, who talked about how his film, Avatar, was a shining example of environmentalism. Obama echoed this praise. This was the most expensive movie ever made about a war on an alien planet. What exactly about this movie helped to conserve resources or save our planet? The answer is absolutely nothing."

OH MY GOODNESS! I worship the ground that Pam Meister walks on. Okay that quote is from Christopher Grey, but the article is one in a million.

Gee, I can't even name a favorite part! It's all just so amazing.

Well done! That's all I have to say. Goodness I'm totally in love now.

Obama: An Example of Dictionary Failure

Does Barack Obama want to be re-elected in 2012? - Telegraph: "Obama does not suffer for self doubt. He has long seemed so convinced of his own virtue that to question his motives is illogical. Increasingly, his pronouncements carry the tone of one who believes those who disagree are stupid or bigoted. "

Boom goes the dynamite! Obama is the epitome of failure, insensitivity and lack of any real vision. He is a waste of any real human being.

The really pathetic part to this is that many of us saw it all along. Liberals have had to face the reality that they (as so many times before) are terribly out of touch with the real world. Most of the news media (with very few exceptions) fawned all over Obama, elevating him to such an extraordinary level that they were bound to be disappointed. Idiots, all of them. Their only saving grace is that even they are now admitting the mistake.

Too little, too late.

Another Research Scientist Fakes It

Harvard professor found guilty of scientific misconduct: "After a three-year internal investigation by Harvard University, researcher Marc Hauser has been found 'solely responsible' for eight counts of scientific misconduct.

This is actually more upsetting than the article tries to make it. We get climategate and now this? You know, this means that there are TONS more that are doing the same thing at this very moment and are not getting caught, right?

It just makes me sick. Our society is a ME world now and not a moral one. It's absolutely disgusting and you can thank liberals for that.

Annoying News: Georgia archaeologists find Confederate POW camp

This part interested me most...

The Associated Press: Georgia archaeologists find Confederate POW camp: "'What makes Camp Lawton so unique is it's one of those little frozen moments in time, and you don't get those very often,' said Dave Crass, Georgia's state archaeologist. 'Most professional archaeologists who ever thought about Camp Lawton came to the implicit conclusion that, because people weren't there very long, there wouldn't be much to find.'

Okay, so how arrogant do archaeologists have to be to just assume there is potentially nothing at a site? Do they want to find artifacts? Or are they more interested in the draw of the money?

This one sounds terribly suspicious that money deterred them from ever looking there.

Disgusting.

Mobile Sites You Simply MUST Bookmark

I know I owe another article that's in the waiting, but I wanted to first touch on this since it came up today. With all the hoopla over phones such as iPhone, Android and Blackberry, there still remains a few of us using pretty much a plain 'ol phone that just happens to still be web enabled. This means that we can use the web, but not the "mobile apps" that everyone is always bragging about.

That said, people like me are often pushed aside and forgotten about during the excitement of such cool web apps. There is still a lot one can do with a web enabled phone that is NOT a "smart phone". I call them "dummy phones" which are just plain phones.

Let's go over some of the essential sites.

You can't have your low calorie and eat it too.

Okay, well maybe you can. It would have been a bit more correct had I said, "You can't have your low calorie, low fat and low carb, and eat them all too."

That much is certain. In these pishy United States, we hear people preaching at us about how we should be eating better. Nevermind that if I were to preach to them that they need to save their souls by accepting Jesus Christ, they would sat it was offensive, despite it being a fact. They're pishers, all of them.

Now all that said, I personally want to eat better, but not because the pishers say I should. It's only because I want to.

I decided to do a bit of research and found myself chuckling. Even the pishers can't make up their minds on what is best. No, really. What is sad is that you can't have low calorie and low fat while keeping flavor. You can't have low carb and low fat while keeping flavor. It makes you want to just throw in the towel. You can pick one of the three and get flavor, but no mixing and matching.

Bob Riley's Endorsement

Well it looks like I've settled on who I'll be voting for. I was really tied up in knots because the runoff election is tomorrow and even after creating a spreadsheet, I was still uncertain as to who I was going to vote for. One I could easily eliminate but the other two were neck and neck.

Then I remembered something. Governor Bob Riley would have gotten my vote. I had a problem when my daughter tried to start college. I won't get into all the details, but to summarize they were slacking on the paperwork for my daughter and they even told her that she would have to come back next year, this after everything was complete. I called the President of the school who assured me he'd take care of it, only for him to not do a thing. I contacted the governor's office and the very next day the President called me and personally escorted my daughter to the office who refused to see her. He asked me not to call the governor again (which I did not tell him I did) so this was proof that the Governor helped us.

Phew! That was only the brief explanation, can you imagine if I added the details? Anyway, the point is that I would not care if Bob Riley robbed a liquor store, he will always get my vote in any election he ever runs in.

That said, I couldn't believe I had overlooked his endorsement. Why oh why had I not checked on that? Today when I was looking to see who Sarah Palin endorsed, which I never found, it dawned on me. I needed to check on Riley's endorsement and then that settled it.

I am now voting for Byrne without a shadow of a doubt. He was neck and neck on my list (my spreadsheet) alongside Bentley, but now I know for certain and feel good about it.

Many thanks again to the Governor Bob Riley for his help in my daughter's education and I look forward to tomorrow's primary runoff.

I'm keeping my finger's crossed.