Posted on

Retrograde whining

I have mentioned many times how much I detest Mercury retrogrades and this one is certainly no exception. It has sucked big donkey balls! First, the refinance had to be completely redone. Then I have to deal with the ineptitude of the Dekalb County court system on Wednesday when trying to pay for my speeding ticket I got in July. None of the phone numbers have worked for the past 6 weeks, so I get to spend a couple of hours of MY DAY standing in line at the Court Reporters office being browbeaten by the bitch assed black women that work there. After all that, I get to PAY THEM $10 EXTRA for the “convenience” of paying by phone, despite having to go in person to get my ticket put in the goddamn system in order to pay it! Then the Ford dies in the driveway with a broken timing belt and some ruined tensioners to the tune of $800 or more. On top of all that, I’ve been feeling slightly ill for the past 3 days. I am not sure if it’s strictly stress induced or if I’m fighting off a weak virus. All I know is that my stomach has been jittery and I’m very tired.

I suppose the good news is that we will close on the new refinance tomorrow afternoon, but since it’s in the middle of this LOVELY Mercury retrograde, I’m concerned about the overall outcome of it. Feh! Sometimes you can’t just stop your life because of an astrological event, but it still feels ominous when things have been sucky since the event started!

Posted on

Laziness or stupidity?

Today I’ve been pondering this question as I earn my tech support money by doing things that a 5 year old should be able to comprehend. After burning off the irritation of having to do such simple tasks, I really began to think about why people act the way they do.

Clients who refuse to learn anything at all about what’s going on, yet want to call you daily (for free, natch). “Webmasters” who haven’t a clue about how email works. People who cut you off for no reason. People who run red lights. People who are too busy chatting on the cell to take the turn signal. The crackhead who scratched up the whole side of my car with tree cuttings because he couldn’t wait until the car was moved. People who work in a customer service capacity, yet seem to know absolutely nothing about the service they support. The guy who ties up a whole city’s traffic for an afternoon then wants to sue the city for his injuries when he FALLS off the fucking bridge he was threatening to JUMP off of for 2 hours before.

Is it possible that all these people are really morons? I suppose it’s possible, but if that’s the case, then the US is in bigger trouble than I thought! I mean, really!

Again, I’m forced to point out that if everyone would simply DO his/her part as a sane adult and not expect everyone else to do everything for him/her, it’d be a waaaaay different world out there, wouldn’t it?

If people would simply take a few hours and learn the basics of how their computer works and how their applications work, then they’d have a clue about how to prevent/fix problems when they arise. I mean you don’t have to be a techie to understand how email works, right? You don’t have to be a genius to remember or write down your passwords, right?

If everyone behaved themselves on the road and did NOT do the things that piss them off when someone else does them (cutting off, running lights, cell phone use) then nobody would be acting like assholes, would they?

If everyone took pride in whatever job they had (even if they hated it) then we wouldn’t have the dismal attitudes we’ve all been victim of. If everyone would just be fucking adults instead of whiney, sniveling self centered little babies who just want someone else to take the blame for their fucked up/boring/whatever lives we’d not have these issues, would we?

Well, would we?

I thought not.

Personal responsibility is not automatic. Especially not in this age of blaming everyone else for your problems. Personal responsibility takes energy and diligence which are two things that I rarely see in the lazy. But if you rule out stupidity, that leaves laziness. And if laziness is the root of the tendency to whine and snivel, then I think we’re sunk.

Posted on

Female Rules

This weekend, I talked about this issue with some friends (male and female) and they agree with my evaluation of female behaviour. So, with the knowledge that there are others who feel the same way I do, I post this Rant for your amusement.

“Damn, Sparky! Don’t you know that you can’t argue with a woman!” – John Crichton, Farscape

I’d have to agree with John. When it comes to women, I just don’t understand them. They are two faced, back stabbing, petty, mean, underhanded people. And you will NEVER win an argument that is based on Female Rules.

But WAIT!! [I hear the cries already] You ARE a woman, idiot!

Well, yes, yes I am a woman, good catch there. However, I’ve never, EVER been able to act like one. Ask anyone who’s known me since I was a kid. I played with dolls some, but mostly I played with cars, trucks, guns and sharp things. I played in the sand pile and had sand fights with the boys. I climbed trees and rode bikes with the boys. I played army with the boys. Later, I rode horses with the boys. In high school, I was an honorary drummer – one of the boys. I also made out with the boys, but that never got in the way of me being more comfortable with boys than girls.

In high school, I had “girlfriends”, but I could never stay in one clique. Girls find that very disturbing, you know, when your alliances are split. Remember that song by Tori Amos “Cornflake Girl”? Well, that was me all over:

“Never was a cornflake girl/
Thought it was a good solution/
Hanging with the Raisin Girls/
‘She’s gone to the other side’/
‘Giving us a yo heave-ho’/
Things are getting kind of gross/”

So, I get through High School with few female friends and those I had were all from different cliques, so I didn’t really hang with them after graduation. I had other plans, like moving to the ATL to go to Music Business school and getting away from the fucking rednecks of Knoxville. Which I did.

This female friend issue has plagued me incessantly over the years. I have ONE good friend that has stayed with me since 1989: Sonya. We’ve had our falling-outs over the years, but we’ve always gotten over it. I’ve had a multitude of female “friends” that turned out to be only acquaintances so I tossed ’em. That goes for many males, too, but that’s another story.

What is it about women that makes it impossible for them to TELL THE TRUTH? Is it genetically encoded? Is it female culture? Is it a Southern thing? I just don’t know. If I knew, then I wouldn’t continue to get burned by psychotic women!! I swear, I know just how men feel! Women are neurotic freaks.

Women hate me. That’s all there is to it. I don’t know if it’s jealousy, fear, intimidation or all of the above, but I know fer sure that women do NOT like me. It’s a rare woman who thinks I’m spiffy and fun to hang out with for more than an hour. There are a few of the rare women who like me [you know who you are], but overall, I have dismal luck with them.

For the few women that I’m friends with now (I think I am, but am not sure) I still hold the hope that things will work out, but I’m not counting on it. I’m always the one who gets flamed, talked about, and otherwise treated like a pariah in the end.

I know I’m not an “easy” person, but I also know that I’m very up front about how I feel and I try to be honest if I have an issue. I’m tired of apologizing for being me. I advise anyone who wonders what I’m about to simply check your own personal information about me. Yes, there are parts of me that no one sees but my closest friends, but for the most part, what you see is what you get. If I’ve never mentioned that I dislike you, then don’t assume that I do. If I’ve never done or said [insert behaviour and/or opinion here] then don’t make up shit to fill in the blanks. ASK ME. I mean, damn, how hard can it be? If I hang out with you and talk to you, then WHY assume that I have a hidden agenda?

WRITE THIS DOWN: ANGELA IS NOT A NORMAL FEMALE. SHE HAS NO HIDDEN AGENDAS. IF SHE DOESN’T LIKE YOU, YOU WILL KNOW IT.

It’s too bad that being upfront, honest and opinionated are bad things according to the Female Rule Book. I propose that if more of those behaviours were the norm for women, there’d be a lot more REAL female friendships in the world and a lot less Female Psychosis. Notice how guys are with each other. A lot like how I am with everyone. Guys have friends without drama. Why can’t women?

It’s a mystery to me.

Posted on

Absence

They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but I’m not so sure about that. I think that it could, if you’re really fond of the person or thing, but not if it’s just that you like it. In the last couple of months, since I’ve been absent from writing Rants, there have been a couple of times I was gonna write but just didn’t. There were obstacles such as me trying to not be bitter about some stuff or trying to get this site wrangled by Movable Type or trying to stave off depression or just being used to being absent.

Continue reading “Absence”

Posted on

Dr. Phil, Save Us All!

As everyone on the frelling planet knows, I am essentially unemployed and therefore I do housewifey things like watch Oprah. I love Oprah’s Book Club and I have been an avid watcher of Tuesdays with Dr Phil McGraw, the Texas born therapist whose main philosophy is “GET OVER IT AND QUITCHER WHININ’!” I like that sentiment. It works for me. So, anyway, his latest opus is Self Matters and it’s a no nonsense, logical guide to getting down to the nitty gritty of what your own mind is doing to you and how it all got that way. If you have nagging, longterm “issues” that are holding your life back, get this book. I’ve found it to be clarifying and sobering to name the issues and then do something about them.

In other news, well, there is no news, really. I have ideas, but no way to get them launched. I have a profession, but no active clientele. I have no money and no prospects for gainful employment. The usual.

I don’t have a plan for this Rant, as you can see, but I really felt the need to put fingers to keyboard and see what comes out. Hrm, so far, not a helluva lot! Heh!

I’ve just come from a Divine Light session with Kari and I feel energized – if not particularly focused. The session was not really groundbreaking or anything, but I do feel more centered for sure.

I’ve been doing a lot of surfing the last couple of weeks and I’m more determined than ever to bring the REAL web to more people. I’ve always thought that the web is chock full of artistic and literary expressions and that 95% of the AOLers and Yahoo searchers never even get a glimpse of the true value of the internet. I’ve met some interesting people via the net. Some people I even know quite a bit about, but couldn’t tell you a thing about what they look like or where they live. It just doesn’t matter online. I really love that people connect on such an even field online. Try MetaFilter (MeFi to those of us who go there a lot) for instance. When the 9.11 attacks occurred, there was so much discussion about national issues as well as some very specific things like whether or not everyone should know the National Anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s cool to be able to toss out a question and get tons of responses from people of all stripes. More people should hang out there and learn something about other people’s views. If more people would get into discourse with a wide variety of folks who have a wide variety of views maybe we would foster more REAL understanding and change in the world. I know understanding and acceptance is probably a pipe dream, but sometimes I truly understand what John Lennon and Martin L. King, Jr. were wishing for.

I wish I could get a grip on either GreyMatter or Moveable Type. So far the database stuff seems kinda complicated. I have these huge dreams of having this website all neatly organized with groovy databases, but I just don’t think I have the attention span to get it all set up. This is a big site now! After 3 years, one tends to accumulate quite a bit of stuff on a site, you know? So, I don’t know if I’ll ever get it all organized, but I will have one of the blogging systems in use on this site. I really like the notion of feedback from my readers and I know that people do NOT email, but they are more likely to drop a line if you have a mechanism for that. So, I hope to have something installed soon. Just don’t hold your breath, though, because I have no idea how soon is soon. [This was remedied with WordPress, which I’ve used since MT became crap a VERY long time ago! -A Mar 2015]

Oh, I just thought of something else that’s been bugging me. Oh, nevermind. This just isn’t a bona fide Rant this time, I’m afraid! Damned Divine Light! I just popped over to WWDN (Wil Wheaton Dot Net for the uninitiated) and once again, I’m just taken by him. He’s a really nice, funny guy and the more I read his observations the more I like him.

Ok, I’m done here. I have nothing else to say that makes a bit of sense, so I’ll let you go!