Do NOT give this business your business

I am talking about the tire store that is named after the place where the Royal Tire Family resides.  If you live in 'Murrka, you know which one I'm talking about.

I was practically *forced* to buy new tires for the car because the ones that were on there were the original tires and they were dry rotted from the S Fla heat and humidity.  I was in danger of them bursting while driving and, in fact, they were bowing and making the car shake if I drove over 40 mph.  Unfortunately, tires is not something I can install on the car myself so I had to go to the tire store.

The old woman decided that we HAD TO GO RIGHT NOW!!! last night just an hour before the store closed, so by the time we got there, it was a half hour before the store closed and the mechanic had left.  The sales person/manager who my mother had talked to had to call the guy to get him to come back to the store to do the work.  It's really ridiculous that a "manager" knows that a customer is on the way to do hundreds of dollars worth of business and just lets the mechanic go home and then act like the guy just left on his own and he didn't know.

Then they pull the bullshit that they can put the new tires on but they can't do the alignment.  The car was pulling to the right really badly(which indicates that it is out of alignment) and it is not good to put new tires on a car that is doing that without doing the alignment.  So the sales person/manager or whatever title he had says that we would have to come back in the morning for the alignment.  My mother insisted that they do it then and the guy was like 'oh, we don't have enough time to do it.'

So when the mechanic finished putting the new tires on and it was time to pay the bill, the sales guy had charged for the alignment.  So we were like, "But we thought you said that you didn't have time to do it?"  And the sales guy is like, "Oh, he went ahead and did it."  I thought that was kinda fishy since I didn't remember seeing the mechanic move the car from the lift over to where the alignment contraption was.  I didn't think you could just adjust it without knowing from the machine *how much* to adjust it.

I paid the extremely painfully high bill that killed me a little inside, and then they closed up shop and we left.  Well, once I got out of the parking lot and onto the main street which was a straight road,  I IMMEDIATELY knew that the alignment was not done because the car was *STILL* pulling to the right.  I was so fucking pissed off!  These bastards lie and tell you anything knowing that you are going to have to come back the next day.  Do they just think you are too fucking stupid to not notice that the car is still doing the thing that you paid them to fix?  And this is not the first time that I (or the old woman) have experienced this kind of shit with this company.  If you don't watch them like a hawk, they pull the same shit of charging you for a service and then not doing it.  We were NEVER going to do business with this company after the last time, but because the competition is just as bad(had the same problems with them), we gave these bastards one more shot(because it was a different store location) and they still pull some shit.

We ended up having to take the car back today, bitch them out, and get the work done(which another mechanic actually did because I watched him, also the car was driving straight when we left) and also get a refund on a service that they sold us which we did not need.  That was another issue.  I paid cash and the guy was trying to give a song and dance that he couldn't refund me back the cash without going through corporate and a bunch of other nonsense excuses.  In the end, I got the refund.  It's better to give the refund than to have me flip out.  (On a side note, there was a nice Puerto Rican lady there who was overhearing me bitch about the numerous scams and she was nodding her head in agreement.  Then we got to talking and she has had the same experiences with these types of places.  She told me that she had to flip out on them, too, and you don't want a Puerto Rican woman flipping out on you!  LOL)

Anyway, I am not letting this slide.  I plan on writing a scathing report to corporate(not that they care, they set policy and know that this shit happens all the time) and telling EVERYONE I know not to do business with the shitheads.  Blogging about it is a good start!

I just want to punch her in the face

No, not my mother.   ;D

This chick.

It really pisses me off that Cat Zingano got injured and Miesha Tate replaced her as Rousey's opponent for the UFC title fight.  I think Zingano would have been a better opponent.  I never cared for Rousey as a fighter.  I'm tired of the one trick pony aspect of her winning every. fucking. fight. by. arm bar.  Can someone just please give her a front kick to the face?  Or maybe a liver kick?  Some well timed elbows?  Or perhaps use the most underutilized (but still legal) strike of all, the palm-heel strike?

I lost any respect I might have had for Rousey when she gave Tate the finger in her face during a promo for the fight.  I'm possessed by old school Chinese demons after all, and I'm all about the honor.  I *HATE* deliberate displays of disrespect.  Also, the last interview I saw of Rousey, she acted all put-out that she had to do an interview.  Poor baby.  I would get great pleasure in chopping her ear off or bashing her in the temple with a palm-heel.  Let's see what happens when tricksy kung fu meets that judo.  Of course, I'd have to grow 3 or 4 inches and fight 20 pounds more than my natural fighting weight.  And become a known fighter.  ;P

Like *that* is gonna happen!

I'd settle for seeing Cris Cyborg Santos beat the crap out of her, though.  Except the chances of that happening are as good as seeing me in the title fight.  Cyborg has the skills and experience to win that fight.  If Rousey would fight in a heavier weight class it could happen.  I think Cyborg is too large a fighter to cut down to 135lbs.  The weight issue is the main excuse for this particular fight not happening.  I think Rousey knows that Cyborg would be a real challenge.

Anyhoo, I found out an interesting little tidbit about my favorite Dutch fighter Bas Rutten:  he's from (very close to Arekino's neck of the woods)Tilburg.  He also confirmed for me(while commentating a MMA fight) that the palm-heel is indeed a legal strike in MMA.  I couldn't find a specific mention in the rules until then.

You'd think that this would appeal to a narcissist

I just heard about a movie called Her which is a sci-fi about artificial intelligence in the future.  Actually, it's more than just AI, it's AI as applied to companionship.  The movie stars Joaquin Phoenix and in it he is a recently divorced dude who falls in love with an AI "chick" (who is nothing more than a voice on his computer) designed to be a companion and to anticipate his needs.  Sounds pretty cool to me, although I don't think that is anything I'd want.  I think that would get old after a while having "someone" who does everything you want when you "need" it.  In my opinion, it takes the the fun out of interpersonal relationships.  I don't want someone or something that always does what I want and has the ability to anticipate my needs.  It all seems so very narcissistic.  And at its core, narcissism is a very emotionally immature way of being.

However, this is the sort of sci-fi movie that I like because it is thought provoking.  It gets you thinking about the implications of such a thing.  While it seems a really cool thing, ultimately it would seem to cause a retrograde emotional development.  To me it seems like it would make people even more antisocial.  Part of being human is to learn to not be so self centered and to learn to interact with others and to be able to develope the things that make a civil society.

When I first heard of this concept, the first thing that I thought is that it would be perfect for the old woman.  To have a "person" who anticipated all her needs and was programmed to agree with all her opinions and anticipate all her desires would be a dream come true for her.  Of course, I was wrong.  She thinks it's "perverted."  I'm sure she thinks that because it is in the context of a man having the relationship with an AI "woman".  She hates men.  Of course, it could also be that there is a component to narcissism that goes beyond just the self-centeredness and control and that they *know* that they are inflicting mental and emotional pain on others and that is part of the enjoyment--the narcissistic supply--that they get off on.  They are sadists at heart.  They love having power over others, and having an AI "person" to control isn't really control, so there's no narcissistic supply there.

Sigh.

Anyway, this is just the sort of movie that I'd like to see.  A though provoking sci-fi that isn't a ripoff of Voltron with stupid robots blowing shit up and massive CGI abuse.

No need to adjust your screen...

...because Xul has been adjusting it for you.

I decided that I needed to tweak my blog html settings to something a little more modern so I adjusted the width to look better on all these new-fangled wide screens.  So...wadya think?  I'm still hell-bent on keeping my old Blogger template because I like the minimalist look of it.  I'm not too keen on putting any fancy backgrounds on here, so no upgrading just yet!  ;P

I feel like a lumberjack, baby!

With all the cutting down of palm trees and other miscellaneous things around the yard, I really *am* starting to feel like a lumberjack!  Especially when I'm using the Big Scary Ax©.  When I'm using the Big Scary Ax©, I pretty much look like my avatar picture except without the armor.  ;P

Also, I feel very powerful when I'm using the Big Scary Ax©.  Not only do I look like an intimidating psycho ax murderer, but it's a very satisfying feeling to completely decimate some palm stumps with some cold, hard steel.  (And it gives the most fabulous back and shoulder workout!  All the big fat fatties out there who can't seem to lose weight should be made to go clear some of those forests that were recently burned in the summer fires.  Give the fatties three regular meals per day and set them to work clearing some felled trees with nothing but an ax.  They'd be slim and trim in no time if they didn't keel over and die from a heart attack first.  But I digress.  ;P  )

I am almost finished taking out the palm stumps.  The Big Scary Ax© has made fairly quick work of it and without having to ruin my chainsaws with all that nasty wet palm fiber.  And with me taking the stumps to the ground, I didn't have to spend a lot of money on a stump grinder or dull out my chainsaw blades cutting into dirt.  I only wish it wasn't 90°F and 65-70% humidity here, because after about 10 minutes of chopping I'm sweating so profusely that I have to stop and go inside for some A/C and ice water.  Otherwise, it's the most satisfying of workouts.  ;D

And hey, I managed to get through a whole post on this topic without using any innuendos or double entendres!

Русский Story

Okay, I know that the Leningrad Cowboys aren't *technically* Russian--they're Finnish, actually--but I really love this cover of Sweet Home Alabama.  ;D

Since I let it slip that I have many tales to tell from working with many different Easter European types, and since Russians allegedly bought the house next door, I'll go ahead and tell one of my Russian stories.

Not so long ago, in a city not so far away, I used to have a really fun job in the Arts and Entertainment district in the downtown of  a biggish city.  The manager of my department had a bad habit of hiring people who had absolutely no experience, but would hire them because she would be personally intrigued with something about them.

This one time she hired this Russian guy, I'll call him Pavel for the story, but that's not his real name.  Pavel was yet another one of her personal hires who had no experience in the job he was hired to do, but he had a tonne of experience in being a hustler!  This guy had some chutzpah!  He had been working there for only a few days when he started to try to take advantage of his position.

Right off the bat, he tried to finagle his way into a position that gave him access to expensive products for his personal use and to try to steal.  Then he got his girlfriend hired on.  She was as bad as he was.  This guy was such a trip, he used to hand out his personal business cards during work hours trying to hustle business for himself teaching peeps to speak Russian.  

Like I said, this was in the downtown area, so parking was at a premium.  Pavel used to bring friends with him on his days off and park in the employee lot and then go party at the nearby clubs.  He even got so bold as to come park in the employee lot and then come inside *our* venue and demand entry and then tell peeps that he worked here and it was okay to let him in.  I believe it was at this point that our manager was informed of what he had been up to and he was promptly fired.  If I recall correctly, this dude didn't last two weeks before his antics got him fired. 

I think I've missed my calling

It seems that I am really good at making baked goods and sweets and all things yummy and fattening.  That is ironic as I'm a bit of a health nut.  So every time I make baked goods it means I'll have to get in an extra workout!

Anyway, my latest foray into baking was recreating Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay biscuits.  And why would I want to do this?  Because the old woman wanted to buy a box of Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuit mix in the store and I put a stop to it because it's stupid to buy something that is basically Bisquick with some cheddar cheese mixed into it with some herb butter brushed on the top.

The old woman got pissy and didn't buy the mix but then bothered me for several days about it.  I ended up making the damn things yesterday and guess what?  They turned out fabulous just like everything else I make.  Of course the old woman couldn't say thank you or they were good, bad, or okay.  And she has the nerve to call me "ungrateful," "self-centered," or "spoiled" amongst other choice slurs.

Just like yesterday morning, I got up and started making myself an omelet.  The old woman is always bitching that she "can't eat eggs" or she "doesn't like that"(usually referring to whatever I may be making for myself.  But true to form, whenever I'm halfway through making myself something, she'll ask me to make one for her, too.  This annoys me so much!  I'm not sure if she does it deliberately or if she's just such a narcissist that she has no regard for me.  If you want a fucking omelet, ask me before I'm halfway through making one for myself so I can chop up enough ingredients for two omelets instead of one and can get hers made and out of the way first.

But NOOOOOO!!!!!!!  I'm halfway finished cooking my omelet and anticipating eating it when she wants me to stop everything and make her one too.  Uuuuugggghh.  ***heavy sigh***  This always ends up ruining it for me.  Anyway, this time I told her that I was going to finish making my omelet, go and eat it, and then I would come back and make her one.

Of course after I made the damn omelet for her, the first thing she does is bitch that it wasn't cooked in the middle. That was total bullshit. She had tomatoes in it which were runny.  I told her to put it in the microwave for a minute then.  After that she says that "these eggs are terrible."  Gee thanks.  Way to make someone feel good. (BTW, that's one of her new complaints--that the eggs don't taste like real eggs any more.  ***eye roll***)  Puts me through a hassle and then can't even thank me for my trouble.  Nothing but negativity about every fucking thing.

Anyway, sorry this turned into a rant about the old woman.  This was supposed to be a nice post about my cooking skillz but no matter what I do, my efforts are always ruined by the old woman's negativity.

Back to the bloody biscuits...

I looked up a recipe for the things on the 'toobs and found one that had a good rating.  The great thing about recipes on the 'toobs is peeps make the things and then leave comments about how they turned out and little hints on how to tweak the recipe.  I found out that you're basically making Bisquick drop biscuits with some shredded cheddar cheese mixed in and then the "secret" ingredient in the herb butter that you brush on the top is Old Bay fish seasoning.

Luckily for me, I happened to have a small tin of Old Bay seasoning.  As per the commenter, I also put a dash of it into the batter.  Since I've only eaten at Red Lobster one time in my life, I have no idea what they are serving there these days nor what the biscuits are supposed to look or taste like.  Judging by what the recipe said, I guessed that they were supposed to be smaller than a regular biscuit.

When I scooped the batter out onto the baking sheet, I used a 2 tablespoon sized scoop.  I think that was a little larger than what they should have been as it took about double the cooking time and only made 24 biscuits instead of 30.  What-evs.

Regardless, *I* thought they turned out absolutely fabulous!  They were very soft inside and the herb butter seasoning made them very delicious.  I ate four of them when they were finished.  That's how good they were.  I just had myself another two just a while ago and that's what inspired me to write this post.  Yummy-yummy nom-noms.  ;P

Anyone else make anything interesting lately?

Just add one Arekino

All the Disney talk of late has got me doing a good deal of toob surfing on the subject.  As a Native who has been to Disney a *few* times, there aren't too many things there that I *haven't* seen or done.  I remembered a TV show that showed the secret suite in the Cinderella's Castle that was originally created for Walt Disney and his family and was wondering if they did tours that showed it.  Apparently, a few years ago, it was completely redone and lucky winners got to actually stay overnight.  You can read all about it and scroll through the pics here.

Another thing that I did not realize existed is the Cinderella's Royal Table dining experience in the castle.  For one thing, it is a *bit* pricey and my parents would have 1) never been so thoughtful or generous enough with me when I was little to shell out that kind of money so I could dine in the castle and meet the princesses and 2) well, lets face it, they were too cheap and I was lucky to just be taken to Disney.  And even if they were to spring for it, my mother would have ruined it for me by complaining incessantly about the price and criticizing the food and the whole experience.  Sigh.

ANYhoo.

Here's the deal.  This is going to happen come hell or high water(assuming that Arekino agrees to it  ;P ).  I am taking Arekino to Disney.  I am booking a meal at the castle.  I don't give a shit about the price.  They address you as Lord this and Lady that.  I will be wearing Great Xul regalia.  Arekino can wear whatever he likes.  I don't care.  I'm going to have my fantasy experience, dammit!   ;P

And sorta related...

A few weeks ago in Walmart I came across a Regina/Evil Queen t-shirt!  Unfortunately, they did not have it in my size.  It was okay looking but it could have been better.  The picture of Regina wasn't that clear and it had some lame saying on it that I don't remember at the moment.  I *do* remember thinking that it would have been better if it had the saying 'Being good is overrated' like another shirt that I have.  ;P

Also...

I watched a program last weekend about Iceland.  There was a segment about a fashion designer named Steinunn Sigurd who I had never heard of before(but whose clothes are totally awesome) and another dude who designed fur coats(that totally ruled).  And then there was a restaurant featured which had really awesome decor like an all black leather and wood wing-back chair and a CHAIN MAIL curtain/room divider.  Apparently, the Great Xul needs to hire Icelandic designers for her kingdom.

And this future Disney trip...it's gonna have to be in the winter so I can dress awesomely and not sweat my arse off!

Uuuuuugggghhhhh....

After two days of cutting down various things in my yard in 90 degree heat and 80% humidity, my body went on strike.  My back was starting to seize up Friday afternoon so I called it quits, brought all my equipment back in, and had a nice hot shower.  I was so exhausted that I went to bed at 11pm and didn't wake up until a little before 10am this morning.  My back is killing me and so are my hamstrings. My hands are full of nicks and holes from thorns and I've got various cuts and scratches on my arms from falling tree limbs and thorny bushes.

It would be nice if I had a nice code monkey with soft, smooth paws to give me a massage.  ;P