Compare and Contrast

You know, for the past few weeks I've done nothing but bitch and complain. Today, while driving around getting errands done, I had an epiphany.

See, I've had issues that have affected our relationship. However, to be fair, I want some kind of comparison to see how things stack up.

Know what? I think I've found it.

See, with me her major problem is my lying. I've been working on it. I'm MUCH better now than I used to be. I've still got a LONG way to go.

Now I've got a comparison for her: Her weight. It's been an issue for her since the beginning of our relationship. It's bothered her time and again. Hell, she's actually gotten heavier since I've met her than when we got together.

She tells me that I'm not making progress fast enough for her, and she's frustrated with my apparent lack of progress.

Turn the mirror around, please. She's been on one diet or another since we've been together. Yet she hasn't made ANY progress, in fact, she's WORSE now than when we met.

Now, she holds against me my past transgressions. She refuses to forgive, and when I fail all of my previous mistakes are brought back out and thrown back in my face. She can't let go of the past, and sees each step I take on my attempt to control my lying with a pessimistic attitude. I don't see any kind of support, only a "we'll see how this one does" kind of attitude.

Look at her: She's now at a weight loss camp to try to improve her coping skills. She's upset with my apparent lack of support. Yet I've seen time and again how she'll start a diet and lose some weight. Then she'll celebrate, take a week off, and go back to the diet only to find that she isn't losing weight fast enough, and abandon the diet. Rinse and repeat. I can't count the number of times I've seen it. Tell me.. Why should I believe that this one is going to be any different aside from the amount of cash that was spent to send her off for a month-long getaway? Is this any different than her "wait and see" attitude on my issues?

No. It's not.

By her standards, I should be leaving her because her weight issue hasn't made enough progress, and looks to stay a problem. Just like she's passing judgement on my lying.

However, with all that has happened, I LOVE THIS WOMAN. I'm willing to look past it all. I'm honestly hoping that this one will be the key, and she'll make the progress she needs. However, even if it doesn't, I'm still there to love this person FOR WHO THEY ARE.

Maybe I'm an idiot. Maybe I'm a complete fool who needs to get a serious dose of reality, and come down from cloud 9. Maybe I'll wake up and smell reality sometime soon.. Who knows?

I just wish that somehow I could get through to this person just how much I honestly care, and can't understand why they can't do the same..

The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round...

I'm caught in a vicious circle at work..

I've been informed by The Powers That Be that I need to define and reinforce the strict guidelines set down by corporate for it's computer and internet users.

So, these last two weeks I've been cracking down. Uninstalling browsers that aren't company approved, removing such items as Mozilla Firefox, and other download utilities, since no downloading of ANY sort has been approved, etc.

Enter in Manager Bitch from Hell.

She's now gone and faced off with me. Last week, we had a "discussion" where she informed me that since I'm still considered an associate, and she's management, I'm required to follow her directions, and do as I'm told. I pointed out the email from corporate, and informed her that I was following my directions, but that didn't faze this woman.

She proceeded to take her argument to our HR (human resources) manager. The HR manager called me into her office, and kindly informed me that she was going to overlook this problem, but that the manager in question is correct, and my refusal to comply with her wishes bordered on insubordination, which is a terminable offense.

She then offered me this "compromise":

I do what I'm told to, and she'll ignore the insubordination, and we can all get back to our jobs!

Sounds great, right?

Yeah. Right up until my corporate lead inspected some accounts, and found that there were still violations of our company policy regarding computer use.

He then proceeded to write me a nice, NASTY email, and copied my HR director in the missive.

It basically explained that I needed to enforce company policy, and failure to do so would be met with SEVERE consequences.

After our "discussion", I was sure that my HR manager would explain things to my corporate lead, but that's where I was completely and totally WRONG.

I got tossed under the proverbial moving bus, y'all.

Her response was as follows:

"Jormengrund has been given ample opportunity to take care of and resolve any internet and computer usage problems. Given the fact that many still exist proves to me to be a blatant disregard for his position and job duties. I suggest that immediate disciplinary action be taken in order to bring this problem to a close."

Yeah. After her pretty speech about doing what I'm told, I get the un-greased SHAFT from yet someone else I'd considered dense, but at least honest.

So I proceeded to document and present all emails and correspondence that I'd had from both of the argumentative parties regarding this dilemma. My corporate lead was surprised to find that I'd been told to go against the grain regarding their directions, but wasn't surprised at all about the shady dealings from my HR manager.

I assured my lead that I was willing to enforce the rules, but it might cost me my job. He told me to wait a while, and he was going to see about "levelling the playing field" some.

I'm wondering what kind of hornet's nest I'm stepping into now, but to be honest, I really LOVE my job, and don't want to lose it despite the morons that I get to deal with on a daily basis.

Job Security!!

Well, I know that as long as I'm able to deal with ID-10-Ts, I'll have a job here.

I mean, you can take this morning's conference call as a prime example:

Me: Hey. I was just curious. I've been working on that new laptop you sent me, and I can't get it formatted. Did you set up the hardware so that I can get this formatted and distibuted?

Tech: Of course! I got it all done last night. Should be right here.. No, it's not there.. Maybe I saved it here? Nope. Wait.. There it is! You can't access it there?

Me: Um, no. The formatting is automatic, and I can't change where it points the laptop to when it starts to format. You're going to need to move those files to the correct area so that I can get this laptop out of my office, and out to the warehouse floor.

Tech: Sure.. Give me about an hour to copy all the files down and move them.

Me: An hour? You can't click and drag them?

Tech: You can do that with these files?

Me: Nevermind. I'll get it done. Thanks.



You never know when I might start decorating the interior of my office door with divots from beating my head against it...

'Tis the season

To spend as much as you can humanly accumulate on gift for folks you know, but probably won't reciprocate, and then spend the rest of the next year paying it all off so you can repeat it all over again.

Isn't Christmas wonderful?

Let's put things into perspective here:

You go out, buy a couple of things for the kids. Then, you check to make sure that the gifts are going to be percieved by the kids as being of equal value. If not, then you struggle to figure out how to balance the scales. Maybe a knit sweater for the kid with the semi-laptop that-only-does-math-problems-but-looks-cool toy will lose some ground, and the kid with the Legos(tm) won't feel too snubbed.

Yeah. Kids and clothes. There's another Christmas gift BOMB.

Kids look for the toys and games. They will blow right past any and all clothes to fawn and drool over the newest toy that they've gotten, even if it's something they've never asked for before.

Why?

Because it's a TOY.

Just like they'll pretty much ignore any and all clothing. It's like asking them to read the card that comes with the gift. In their mind, the gift says it all, not the sappy words and sayings on the card.

Big present that was high up on their wish list? LOVE.

Socks and underwear (that they need!)? You're getting ready to deport them to some third world country.

How about family?

Yeah, we buy for my folks, her folks, her sister, and my brother.

However, I can't recall the last time her sister or my brother ever returned the favor.

But we still get them gifts, because we're the eternal (sucker) optimist.

That, and it keeps them quiet for another year!

Anyway, happy holidays. I'm sure that I'll rant and complain more as the time gets closer.

Enjoy!

ARRRGH!

I'm livid.

Pissed off.

Heated.

Add any adjective for angry as all hell here.

Why? You might ask?

Because I've got some lazy-assed managers who think that when my manager goes on vacation, they can come out of the woodwork, and use and abuse me to take care of their petty problems.

Case in point:

We've got some managers who have to drift from one desk to another during the week. Because of this, I have a special program I have to give each "travelling" manager so that they can have access to their email. However, this program doesn't give them access to the network site we have for some automatically generated reports and such that managers need for their End of Day reports.

Well, I've got a manager who is now telling me (once my manager left for vacation) that she needs me to install access for one of my "travelling" managers for emails at her location.

Why?

Because she doesn't like that she has to take an extra 10 minutes out of her day to print out the End of Day reports, when she could pawn it off on the "travelling" manager, and give her some extra time to BS and sip tea with other management staff.

Seriously?

And here I thought _I_ was the lazy buttwipe.

Not only that, but once I called her on it, she proceeded to try to rub it in my face that _She's_ the one with the authority, and _I'm_ just the peon to do exactly what she tells me to do.

Um, if there's anything that gets my anger up faster, it's someone telling me how to do my job when they know that I'll get my butt handed to me when it comes out that I've bent or broken a company rule.

This is one of those times.

So I did what any sneaky under-handed vengeful bastard in my position would do.

I copied all of the nasty emails, and forwarded them to my corporate advisors.

These are the folks who set policy for our company, and are the ones who informed me of how I was supposed to handle this situation a couple of months back, before my manager went on vacation. In it, they gave me specific instructions, and then told me to NOT deviate from this plan.

So, since the goddess decided to dictate her terms to me, I forwarded them on to others who would be interested in her actions.

I'm not sure what the end result is going to be, but I know for a fact that CYA is going to apply to me for a couple of years at least..

Or maybe only as long as this queen "b" manager lasts..

Time will tell.

Now, I'l going to head over and make some noise like I'm getting stuff done, but really just blow smoke up her butt until I get an answer from my advisors.

You all have a good day.

If you see a news entry about an IT guy who went postal on some management in the workplace.. That'll be me!

Yet more ranting and raving...

Yes, I'm on the bitch and moan express today. If you don't wanna listen, you can jump ship, and I won't really feel that badly.

Traffic has gotten worse this past month. This nifty stuff called "rain" has started falling, and folks living around this area seem to have forgotten what it looks like, and how to drive in it. Because of this, there have been TONS of accidents, and that in turn slows EVERYTHING down traffic-wise.

Not that I really mind, since the slowdown in traffic gets posted on the internet website that my boss watches, so that if I'm late getting to work, I've got the perfect excuse, and he just smiles, nods, and waves me on by.

That, and I get to listen to my CD a bit longer, and wake up a bit more before getting to work. I love music. 80's tunes, 90's rock and alternative. 60's and 70's classic rock.. It's all good!

Some of my favorite artists are:

Stone Temple Pilots, Cream, Deep Purple, Blue Oyster Cult, Metallica, Van Halen, Soundgarden, Godsmack, Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Ozzy (and Black Sabbath), Slaughter, Nine Inch Nails, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Incubus, Poison, U2 and Red-Hot Chili Peppers.

Just to name a few.

I actually made a few MP3 disks with a compilation of various songs, and wound up with three disks. Each disk has 150 songs on it, and there are no duplicate songs on any of the disks. I'm sure I could've come up with more, but I really don't have time to listen to all of one disk, much less all three!

Eventually I hear the enture disk in about two weeks time. Then I change out to the next disk, and rock out for a while longer. By the time the third disk is done, I can rinse and repeat, since my memory's so bad that I've forgotten what songs were on the first disk to begin with!

Heck, at the rate I'm going, pretty soon I'll be able to hide my own Easter eggs, and wrap my own Christmas gifts!

Watch out Adult Foster home! I'm on the path, and just waiting for an excuse to enter one!

Physician, heal thyself!

Yeah, I've got a serious problem with doctors today.

My kids were at their mom's house this weekend. The day that we go to bring them home, it's amazing, but my oldest suddenly comes down with really nasty abdominal pains.

I don't know how she manages it, but they seem to be just fine when they stay at her place, and then come down with the worst colds, pains, and injuries just hours before coming back home....

It kind of boggles the mind, really.

But, I digress.

We took my oldest home, gave him some Aleve for his pain, and decided to see how it was going to be that following morning.

It didn't get any better.

So, he stayed home from school, we called the doctor, and made an appointment for him to be seen.

Little did I know that this single decision and action was going to basically write off the rest of my day.

His appointment was made for 11am. We got there in plenty of time, got to sit and wait for about 20 minutes, then were ushered back to an exam room. Nurse took his vitals, the works, then left. Doc came in 10 minutes later, asked about 5 questions, then sent us off to their lab to get some samples.

We walked down to the lab area, checked in, then waited another 45 minutes for a lab tech to call us back. Blood was drawn, urine was given for a sample, then we headed back down to the doctor's office to wait.

Back in the exam room, we were able to sit for another hour before the doctor came in and asked me to take my son back down for a CT scan. This was going to be done that day, in order to rule out appendicitis. The doctor told me that if it WAS appendicitis, then they'd get him into surgery that day, and take care of the problem, but they needed the CT scan to be sure.

We walked down to the imaging lab, sat for 45 minutes, then got called up to the desk. It was there that we found out that this lab doesn't DO CT scans, and that the lab they've got a contract with doesn't give them the authority to schedule same-day or STAT appointments, so we had to head back down to the doctor's office, and have them set up the appointment.

This had to have been our lucky day, since when we got back into the doctor's office, nearly everyone had gone to lunch, and there were only three receptionist-types there to answer phones.

Luckily, one of the ladies knew enough to contact the imaging lab, and found that I was going to have to take my son to the hospital instead to get his CT scan done.

I took my son to the hospital, and they assumed that we'd been fully prepped for this operation.

Let me fill you in:

For the type of CT scan my son needed, we had to have him drink a water-soluable Barium Sulfate solution, plus he was needing to push about a quart of water. Add to this that he couldn't have any solid foods for at least 4 hours before the scan, and you've got an irritable teenager on your hands.

So, no, we didn't have him prepped, the lab we'd come from had given us the wrong type of barium solution, and he'd eaten before we'd left home at around 10:30 that morning.

The technician was actually quite helpful at this point. He took the wrong solution, and threw it in the garbage. He gave us the correct solution, and then asked us to come back in two hours so that they could get the optimal picture.

I nodded, had my son drink the entire thing. (It wasn't hard. He was hungry, and since he couldn't eat anything, he was willing to drink whatever was put in front of him!)

We went home for a short time, then back down to the hospital to wait yet some more.

Then we found that they hadn't registered us, so I got to sit in an office for 30 minutes writing down details about my insurance, and disclaimers, and agreements for the doctors to treat my son.

Finally, we went back to get the CT done. Because of the nature of the CT, they also put in an IV line, in order to get a contrast for the imaging.

Let's just say that they finished with the CT scan about an hour after they called us back.

I was told to check in about 30 minutes later, and they'd have results for me.

I nodded, and did what I was told.

They left the IV in my son's arm, just in case we had to take him to surgery. After all, why put a new line in if there was one already started??

So, 30 minutes go by, and I check up at the desk.

No news.

The receptionist calls back, reminds the technician, and asks me to go wait again.

30 more minutes pass by. I check back in yet again.

This time, the tech was working on the image, but still didn't have anything to go on. I needed to wait.

15 minutes later, the receptionist comes back letting me know that my son and I can go home.

That's it.

Really?

What about the IV in my son's arm?

Oh yeah.. I'll send someone to come take it out.

Yup. 15 minutes later, the nurse comes back to bring us back to the exam room, and take out the IV.

During this time, I'm still wondering what's going on. Was there something? Did they not find ANYTHING? Did they think that there was something else wrong, and it just needed to be treated different?

I'll never find out.

The tech and nurse can't disclose those facts to me, and I need to talk with my physician.

Really?

You mean that I can't talk face-to-face with the radiologist, and get answers?

I have to sit and wait for my doctor to get back into his office THE NEXT DAY in order to find out what's really wrong with my son?

First, I get a nice little panic attack from thinking that my oldest son is going to have to go in for surgery, and that I'm going to be spending a night in a waiting room for a report.

Then, I get to waste a total of 6 hours for imaging that could potentially let us know if he needs this surgery.

Finally, after getting the images taken, we get NO answers besides a "go home" answer.

I don't know about you, but that REALLY bothers and pisses me off.

I really wish doctors would get the same kind of shitty treatment when they're sick, just to let them know how crappy this heathcare system's getting...

Caution: Bitch warning!

Yeah.. I'm HEATED.

I take my job seriously, and I honestly love the work, but if you start to mess with my job, and make it so that I can't get my work done, I become a rather pissy, bitchy and complete asswipe to work with.

Yeah. That's how I'm feeling today.

In my job, we have to do random quality checks before stuff gets shipped to the stores, to ensure that not only do the stores get the items required, but that the employees are doing their job correctly.

Normally, this process takes around 1-3 hours, depending on the size of the store, and the amount of pallets and cartons to tear down and check out.

Today? It was over DOUBLE that.

First off, we have to do AT LEAST 700 cartons per store, so we try to keep it as close to taht number as possible, except for today. Yeah, we doubled that. That got me all excited and jumping at the bit to get started.

Then, we get the slowest person on the loading dock to stack the product. I kid you not, this person can load, and I can put cartons on the roller, then sit back and watch moss grow on the sides of the trailer while he looks for just the right place to stack each and every box.

Then, you add to this the situation of the dock manager wandering past our loading door every 30 minutes asking how much more we've got to do. If he really gave a crap, he could turn around and see for himself just how much is left, but all he really wants to do is annoy the shit out of me.

So, there I am, working to try and keep my temper while we're doing the stupid audit, and listening half-heartedly to the jerk manager ask every 30 minutes how much longer we've got to do...

I got to deal with this from 5:30am until noon. Yup.. NOON.

SEVEN HOURS stuck in a door that should have only taken us AT MOST 4 hours! I'm so pissed still that I'm seeing red.

Then add to this joy the pleasure of getting into my office, only to be able to read nasty emails from corporate folks about me needing to answer emails in a quick and timely fashion...

How exactly am I supposed to answer an email when I'm not in the office to get it? Imagine that someone's emailing me, run in, check the computer, then run back??

I don't think so.

So not only did this job waste over 3/4 of my workday today, it also got me in hot water with my corporate advisors.

So yeah.. I'm fit to be tied. I could chew a pound of nails, just to make a couple of bullets to spit at a certain manager..

Good thing I'm busy trying to get some computer complilations done, or I could be in some serious trouble today.....

See you all later!

Blah, blah, blah...

Well, it's that time of year again.

Corporate visitors who are determined to make your work week (and workday) hell on earth.

They come in, act like they're doing you a favor just by being there, and then tear apart each and every job that you do.

"You know, you could spend a little less time doing that job, and spend a bit more time doing this one."

"Why didn't you take more time doing (job I just said you could take less time on)?"

"By the way, I love how you've got control over this area, but here are some pointers to really help you get the most out of your time at this task."

Ad nauseum.

I'm at the tail-end of an entire network upgrade.

Beacuse of this, I've got computers, memory, and laptop stuff ALL over my office. I can't get rid of the towers or laptops until I've taken the memory and hard drives and disk drives out of these old pieces of crap. Once I do that, then I get to pile said parts into a HUGE box that I'm unable to lift by myself, and try to find some place to store it for a short while.

Then I can put the rest of the stuff on a pallet, and shove it in some dark corner of our warehouse until the disposal truck comes.

While trying to do all of this, said corporate inspector drops by, and offers these words of wisdom:

"You know, if you only did one or two machines at a time, your office wouldn't be as cluttered or crowded."

This is the same fella that two days ago sent me the email stating that all the PCs and laptops needed to be done by the time he got there, or my job would be at stake.

I don't know about you, but when given an ultimatum like that, I tend to take serious action.

Now, we've had the PCs and such for a LOOOONG time. Purchasing bought these back in January, and they got here in March. However, I couldn't DO anything with these machines, beacuse the computer lab folks on the corporate end hadn't gotten their machines yet, and as such, didn't have protocols set up for the new PCs to be installed on our network.

Yeah, that little gem there forced me to sit in my office with 40 boxes of computers that just gathered dust.

Once everything was done, it was time to take ONE machine, and work out the bugs. First, it was the operating system not liking some of the programs we run. So we start going over TONS and TONS of code in order to fix that problem.

Then it was access to specific much-used internet sites that were being denied. So we went back into the firewall hardware to reconfigure security settings.

Finally, I was able to install all the programs and configure the PCs the way that they needed to be. However, each PC took a little over 4 hours to get ready.

Do the math:

4 hours per PC

40 PCs

8 hour workdays.

Yeah. LONG time getting it ready.

Then comes the easy part.. Replacing the old one with the new PC.

Simple, right?

WRONG.

Then you get the calls about this screen saver not being on the new machine. Or this one program that they downloaded (against company protocol!) that they want back on the new machine... Yeah. I lost hair at this point.

So I'm frantically trying to get PCs done, changed out, and then stored in my "locked" office facility.

My office isn't really that big.

In fact, it's really quite tiny.

Once you add the networking hardware and servers, and battery backup and alarm monitoring equipment, it gets even smaller.

Now add 40 boxes of monitors, PC towers, laptops, and memory upgrades.

I have enough room to walk, very carefully, from my desk to my door. That's about it.

So, I finally get the stuff done, I get the drives and memory pulled, I get the towers stashed far and away from my office, I get the new PCs installed.

What next?

"You missed two PCs that need to be installed here this year."

Yeah. The two he's referring to aren't even here yet. One he's directly responsible for, since it's the security PC that hasn't been upgraded for 10 years.

The second is the "new" trial PC they're using for applications. This one is basically going to be a "dumb" terminal, where you turn it on, and it automatically boots to our application site on our LAN, and nothing else.

So yeah, I'd have replaced those if they'd gotten here, but since they're not here, nothing's been done about it.

So here I am, looking fondly at the reclaimed space I now have thanks to my hard work, and wonder just when this guy will leave so that I can get back to doing my job without having the moronic statements put me over the edge.

Wish me luck!

I'm gonna need it, I think.

A rant for those who could care less....

I'm writing this for all of my blogging friends...

Who really needs the added hassle of an anonymous commenter that writes with nasty sarcasm and vile towards something you've written?

I can't think of one.

Unless you're really into it, I guess.

As a form of self-flagellation, I could understand posting controversial things in order to mentally flog your self-esteem, and cause emotional scarring.

Other than that reason, I can't think of any use for an acidic remark from anonymous posters.

What could make someone want to spew nastiness on a person's webpage, and then decide to remain anonymous instead of stand up for their opinion or comment?

I mean, when I've got something to say, I really make no apologies for it, and say what I feel. If it's taken in the wrong context, I can better explain my meaning, but for the most part I'll make no defense for my opinion. However, I'll also make sure that folks know who it is who's doing the talking, and not wonder about the nameless faceless ass who rants and raves but doesn't believe in taking credit (or blame) for their decisions and actions.

In this day and age, it seems to me that it's more acceptible now to be faceless. That way, you can do or say what you want, and yet be "appropriate" when it 'really' matters.

Public opinion is as fickle as a teenage girl choosing a boy for her prom. They want it to look good, yet be fashionable. Trendy. Something that they're willing to show off, and make themselves look good.

This blog of mine isn't like that. If that's what you're looking for, let me save you the trouble. Go someplace else. I'm opinionated, and I really could care less if you agree or disagree with my stance. What I'm about here is letting you all know who I am, what I stand for, and what I believe in. Plain, simple, to the point.

No, it's not always going to be factual. Why? Because I'm going to be giving it my personal slant. A sliver I get might only be a tiny piece, yet the pain it caused me could make me feel that I've found Paul Bunyan's lost twig, and it's pierced me to my core.

That's called creative writing. Deal with it.

In closing, I'd just like to say that I don't mind comments. I love them, actually.

What I'd really like is for all that comment to at least own up to these comments, and not be some nameless faceless lump with acid for a tongue, and decide that anything and everything that I write is crap because it doesn't jive with what they believe in.

Be a real person, and disagree with me. But do it with a bit of dignity, and own up to your comment.

I'm done for now.

Have a nice day.

General Ranting..

Today, I'm just going to go off on things that have bothered me, and see where it takes me.

First, I'm going to go off on these "reality" TV shows.

How in the hell can ANYONE really think this is "Reality" TV when everything seen on the tube is cut and edited for "good television"?

Reality, by definition, isn't something that can be scripted. So how can a network seriously claim that their show is all about reality when they're cutting, pasting, and molding a story for their viewers who want juicy gossip about who's doing what on that one show?

Let's point out a few, and see who agrees with me.

American Idol. Not really a "reality" show, but it's still pretty pathetic in my opinion. Yeah, some good singers have been found, but the main premise behind the whole thing is to show off some nasty attitude Brit who makes biting and insulting comments to contestants, and gets THANKED for it.

Anyone else sense the irony here?

Big Brother. Yeah. Gossip-fest galore. At the start, it's all about who's going to shack up with whom. Then it's all about what person is going to backstab the other, and so on and so forth. Reminds me of the trite analogy of the two housevies gossiping along the fence while doing laundry.

Survivor. Seriously. You take a bunch of folks, stick them on a remote deserted place, starve them for a while, then make them jump through all of the hoops. Meanwhile, they're all still messing with each other's heads, and trying to be the last person standing. Pathetic.

The Biggest Loser. Yeah, losing weight is a great idea and goal. But to make a "reality" gameshow out of it? The weight loss is impressive. But have you ever really watched near the end of the season? At the beginning, all the entrants have very skimpy clothes on, and show off all the disgusting blubber. But at the end? They cover up the flab, in order to impress you with their weight loss. What aren't they showing? The piles and PILES of skin that are now draped from their bodies from the massive weight loss. This is usually only able to be corrected by surgery, and removal of the excess skin and fat collected there. So, is this reality? I don't think so.

The Batchelor. Now, come on. Take a guy, stick him in a romantic location with 25-odd beautiful women, and make him choose ONE. First off, unless the man is independently wealthy, he's not going to be living in a mansion like they house these women in. Second, they wouldn't be going on all of those lavish and romantic escapades. Third, if he's a TRUE guy, he wouldn't be able to juggle all of those women, and if these were TRUE women, NONE of them would stand to deal with the others if the man showed any promise or affection to one of them. Reality TV? Not even close.

I know there are more out there, these are just the ones off the top of my head. I know that Brad over at Diaries of the Professor did a blasting of Kate from the Jon and Kate plus 8 TV show. I don't understand the draw of that one. Get preggers, find out that you're unable to afford all of them, so sell your soul and lifestyle for a TV series where you can be a total bitch to your husband, and still get good ratings from women who NEVER want to be in your shoes.

How about Little People, Big World? What a load of crap. Yay. Dwarves on TV. So what? Yeah, they have to cope. It's not pretty, but it's life.

Maybe next we'll travel around with someone with Cerebral Palsy, and find out how tough it is just to have someone help you take a crap, or do laundry. Or even EAT.

When is this stuff going to stop?

I don't know. But it's pretty pathetic when we as a viewer are more concerned about watching how other people live than being concerned about how WE'RE living.

Get off the couch, and get into life.

Now, I can understand losing some life-time minutes for shows like CSI, and Fringe, or House, or Bones...

Now THAT'S good Television!

See you all next week!!