Jazmee27 
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A quik story or two, then I get my bath and wash my hair:
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Reply #161. May 16 12, 6:27 AM
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Jazmee27
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I often sit and ponder the state of this world in which I live—and, more and more, I’m thinking I was dropped on the wrong planet. The injustices we humans subject each other to is bad enough—but when it comes to poor, little defenseless animals…
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Reply #162. May 16 12, 6:29 AM
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Jazmee27
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Take, for example, a story in Saturday’s ‘Reading Eagle’:  http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=288627. To me, people like that shouldn’t be pet owners. Sure, I have times when my birdie, Ethan, drives me absolutely nuts—especially when he’s picking at the bars. But I would *never slam the cage into the wall, or reach in there and grab him, in order to teach him a lesson!
As my Grandma related the story, I could hear the anger in her voice. “It would be like me throwing Little Girl [one of her cats] against a wall for being on the table!” Instead, she merely picks the animal up and deposits her on the floor. “She’s only eight and a half pounds, and that poor miniature pincher probably wasn’t even that!”
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Reply #163. May 16 12, 6:29 AM
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Jazmee27
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I can understand that the man was angry after the dog did its business on the carpet. And I’m sure that frustration was only magnified when it snapped at him. But to pick it up and hurl it against the wall… “He must have thrown it pretty hard to break its back… I would never even lift my hand to Little Girl. The most I’ve done is swat her on the butt—but it was more or less a love tap.”
When Ethan picks at the side of the cage, I’ll either ring one of his bells, play with his mirror, or clap my hands a few times. I don’t yell; he’s the sweetest little thing, and I don’t want to cause him to become aggressive. Now, grant you, I’ve had him over a year, but still… There are certain things you *don’t do, and losing your temper with your pet is just one of those things!
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I've come a long way over the years. It used to be difficult for me *not* to lose my temper with my bird when he annoyed me--but I love him so much, I feel guilty if I so much as raise my voice even a bit.
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Reply #164. May 16 12, 6:32 AM
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Jazmee27
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Wow--going way back here:\
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The Republicans want to redefine rape so that a victim can’t get a free abortion after—at least, that’s how I understand it. But that’s not what this story is about—not really.
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Reply #165. May 16 12, 6:34 AM
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Jazmee27
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One of my Mom’s friends attends classes in Ohio, at the local university… One day, she posted a link on Facebook with this initiative from moveon.org.
One of her classmates, without even bothering to read the article, stated her opinion on the subject, or what she thought to be the subject..
My initial impression was, and still is, ‘Why is this person in college?’ Now, some may argue that she needs an education—that learning will broaden her horizons—but I wonder… “With the mindset she has, all the knowledge in the world won’t make a difference.”
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It's sad when an education is wasted on one du to narrow views
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Reply #166. May 16 12, 6:35 AM
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Jazmee27
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The names used in this story have been made up to protect those involved (except for me and my mother, of course). It should be noted that, while this is my story, I did not play a role in its making.
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Reply #167. May 16 12, 6:36 AM
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Jazmee27
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“Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous?"
Mom has a co-worker who's so upset with her that she won't go to another co-worker's birthday party.
The situation is work-related but not something Mom isresponsible for (it's not her department ["I don't make policies, I just enforce them"]
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Reply #168. May 16 12, 6:36 AM
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Jazmee27
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Let's call co-worker A Beth and co-worker B Tasha. Here's what happened:
Another employee (we’ll call her Dawn) requested funeral leave when her foster mother died. Dawn was told that she couldn't have that, but that she *could* use vacation time (and here's the clincher:**Dawn was fine with this arrangement*).
When it was discovered that Dawn had no more vacation time until the end of March, when her new work year begins, the Director of Nursing (we'll call her Anita) called up the woman to offer her condolences-and to offer her half of next year's vacation time (which, it should be noted, she didn't have to do). And again, **Dawn was happy with the arrangement*.
Beth then gets involved and calls the president of the company (we’ll say his name is Mort) and then storms into Mom’s office in a rage. (“She was blinking back tears… She called me “inhumane”. And it didn’t matter to her that the matter’s out of my hands.” [“It’s between Mort and Human Resources. If they choose to give her the funeral leave, that’s their choice, and if they don’t, that’s also their choice. I’m not involved in any way… If we’re going to bend the rules in this case, everyone else will expect us to do it for them. The line has to be drawn somewhere!”])
Beth then stormed into Tasha’s office to inform her that “I won’t be going to your party”. (“This is a party where about forty other people will be there, and she won’t go because I’m there?!”
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Reply #169. May 16 12, 6:37 AM
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Jazmee27
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Mom’s feelings are hurt, and justifiably so. “You think you know someone,” I commented after hearing the story.
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And the past repeats itself more often than we'd care to admit!
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Reply #170. May 16 12, 6:39 AM
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Jazmee27
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Two years ago was... how do I describe it? I'm still trying to figure that out.
Technology's fine when it works (wait a moment-that wasn't *two* years ago; it was only *one*!)
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Panic. There’s nothing worse for the human body. Muddles the thoughts. Makes one impulsive. And, in most cases, makes one feel like a complete fool afterwards.
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Reply #171. May 16 12, 6:42 AM
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Jazmee27
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I’d been receiving anti-virus messages on my computer for quite some time which, given that “no firewall is installed,” I shouldn’t have listened. “If you have no protection installed, you shouldn’t be getting messages.” A logical argument—unfortunately, I didn’t talk to Mom until after it was too late.
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Reply #172. May 16 12, 6:43 AM
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Jazmee27
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March 9th: A message pops up that my computer’s been infected by Trojans. Eight have been detected, and their threat levels logged for me to see: several “high risk,” several “medium risk,” and one “critical…”
Which is when I panicked, and ran the program—ignoring the warning the computer gave me: “We don’t recognize…”
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Reply #173. May 16 12, 6:43 AM
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Jazmee27
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The next time I turned on the computer, I discovered I couldn’t do anything: I could get to the Desktop, click on the Internet… but if I tried to open a page, it was “Internet Explorer cannot display the web page”. And I couldn’t open a Word document. And I heard this clicking noise when I was at the Desktop. So I shut it off—and called Mom as soon as she was home from work.
I’m fortunate to have a “tech” in the family. And even more fortunate that she was able to help me that night. “You didn’t run a scan?” she asked me then. Well… Uh… And she did delete a program. “It’s not out of the woods yet, but it’s better than it was.”
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Reply #174. May 16 12, 6:44 AM
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Jazmee27
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But later, when I spoke to her, Mom was confident it was fixed: “I think it’s virus-free”. Which is why I panicked the next day when all the Symantech messages came back. “It’s a different issue,” she assured me.
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Reply #175. May 16 12, 6:46 AM
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Jazmee27
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And so, at the end of the day Thursday, I’d managed to convince myself that the “virus” was fully gone from the system.
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It's easy to overreact when one doesn't understand
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Reply #176. May 16 12, 6:47 AM
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Jazmee27
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Fast forward to Wednesday of the next week—a week to the day of said “virus”. An “unexpected error” message popped up. The breath catching in my lungs, I clicked on it—causing all errors to disappear. I tried two Internet searches—one on MSN and the other Google. “Internet Explorer cannot display the web page”. But I could access other sites, including Verizon. And so I wrote down the phone number—and spent the better part of a day on the phone with them, “getting shuttled from department to department, and being disconnected…”
End result? I’m locked in to paying $14.95 per month for “Expert Care” for the next ten months (there was a one-time fee of $89-something, but that only extended three days after). “If you choose to terminate the service, the fee is $59.95.”
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Reply #177. May 16 12, 6:48 AM
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Jazmee27
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Last year's musical was really good. Shame the school had to be unreasonable this year
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Reply #178. May 16 12, 6:50 AM
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Jazmee27
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“I didn’t ask you earlier because I wasn’t sure if I could get the tickets,” Mom explained. I listened, hardly daring to breathe, as she mentioned the name of the musical Lebanon high school was putting on this year. A memory rose to the surface: Beacon Lodge Camp, and the sound track… And, right after that, the memory of a night by the campfire came to mind, and the phrase “the blind leaeding the blind”. “So long ago,” I thought—and yet, because of a musical, still… well, if not fresh, at least there.
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Reply #179. May 16 12, 6:51 AM
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Jazmee27
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“They did good, didn’t they?” I nodded, too overcome with emotions to speak. ?For a moment, I’d forgotten those were juniors and seniors on that stage, instead of professional actors. “You can tell they worked very hard,” Mom continued. I couldn’t have agreed more.
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Reply #180. May 16 12, 6:52 AM
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