It's Official I'm a Texan

Today I got my Texas car tags & Texas drivers' license. Really overdue according to both states' laws.  Thank goodness I didn't get stopped by police for anything. That could have been a very expensive ticket or my 1st time in jail.

I spent about 3 hours waiting to get my license. The car tags were quick (no lines). So I had a lot of time to think. This is what I realized. The Dept of Motor Vehicles is an identity thief's prime place to score. I tend to carry a lot of stuff in my purse, but never my social security card, Passport, lease, car title all at the same time.....I mean just about every important piece of information  I have.  So needless to say...I came straight home to put all that info back in a safe place. I didn't stop to shop.

Besides thinking about my paperwork being stolen. I would have really died of boredom without Twitter/Facebook/texting.

And to top off my waiting until the last minute for things. I have to use my medical spending account money, so I have an eye appt tomorrow & will get new glasses. If only I knew where my glasses prescription was, I would be able to just go buy the glasses.

So starting next year, I'll stop procrastinating. LOL!

High Five!

I think the squirrels are sitting somewhere playing Truth or Dare. What else could it be when they run out in the street, but decide to cross back as you get close? They are devious little suckers...My question is what do they do when one of doesn't make it across the street?

I know that they are taunting my dog...frolicking through yards running up the tall pine trees. I just have to remember to wear my sneakers when I take him for a walk...so I can plant my feet firmly as he runs to the end of the leash.

Squirrels, it's about to be winter, I hope they hibernate. Because I need a break from those devious little critters. LOL!

Customer Service on the Phone

Have you ever made a call, gone through menu after menu which includes entering your account #, to finally get a person and they ask...FOR THE ACCOUNT#? Arrh! That annoys me still, but not as much it did before I worked in a call center.

There are sooo many things that can affect whether the person gets the info you entered or not. From the company not using all of the technology correctly, to a major outage from their phone provider, to short wrap up times between calls. So if the person doesn't answer the phone & say "Hello Ms. Remnants, how may I help you?" Then usually ask them what do they need to help me. Sometimes the account #, or maybe the reason for my call. The call can go smoother if they can go through their own menus and ask you for the info as they get to it.

One thing that I didn't know before I worked in a call center is that if the company has the right technology a call center an be a great place for blind or visually impaired people to work. I am soo in aww of the blind people that I worked with, because they have to listen to the computer in one ear & the customer in the other. They have to remember how many times to tab to certain places to enter info & just memorize so much that I just depend on my sight to do. But they pretty much had to meet the same goals that those of us that could see did.

I know I've called somewhere & there was a rude person on the phone, especially in those companies that once they have you locked into a contract they don't have to work to keep loyal customers. Can you say Cable Companies, Ricky? But I guess I try to be pleasant even when I have a major issue, like waiting during that half day window & the technician hasn't called or come.

I could probably go another 10 paragraphs on scenarios & situations, but I'm off to see a movie.

I do have to say again that I am in aww of my blind coworkers. Because they used to deal with some of the same rude people that I would talk to. I had a hard time concentrating when a person just talked & talked while I tried to complete some of the more difficult requests. So that listening to different things in each ear just wouldn't work for me a deeply dependent on my vision with my glasses or contacts person that I am.

A Penny & My Thoughts

• Why do idiots in cars speed up the minute I turn on my blinker to get over a lane or 2.
• I missed my exit earlier, passed a guy with a broken down van.
• Passed him again...black smoke, flames shooting from the hood. Not good, been there, no fun!
• Today was beautiful, it was sunny & 66 degrees (my kind of weather)
• Went to see that movie that gives dating advice, my friend & I enjoyed it. She read the book, I haven't. It had a very "Hollywood" ending. I wonder if the authors liked the changes.
• I think it's funny to see billboards of competing companies next to each other
• The 2 airlines that are headquartered here have quite a few dueling billboards LOL
• Should I be upset when the only compliment about how I looked the other day was from my blind coworker?
  
• I saw my doctor in the mall today, my friend wanted to know why I didn't introduce him to her. Well he didn't ask...Maybe he's Just Not...Yeah we used that statement for the rest of the day
• I saw my favorite author (Pearl Cleage) today in a restaurant, actually we spoke to each other, so cool, so cool LOL

Happy Inauguration Day!

I watched the ceremony today with my son that is home visiting from overseas. I do wish I could have been there in DC witnessing the ceremony in person, but I hate cold weather. So being at home with the heat on makes me happy, too. And when I didn't particularly like the view etc. I just changed the channel.

One of the more memorable moments while we watched it was when they mentioned that President Obama (ooh President that sounds soo good) is the Commander in Chief, I turned to my son and asked, "Wow how does it feel to have a black Commander in Chief?" We both smiled & laughed. I also thought about the fact that my father joined the Army when it was still segregated, and wonder what he would have thought if he were alive today. For me today it was exciting & bittersweet to think about those that didn't get to live to see this day.

Any comments about what this day means to you, or your friends & family?

More Thoughts

on a recent movie that I have seen. Go..ne B.ab..y Gone

There were some typical hollywood moments and outcomes in this movie. However, it really surprised me. Morgan Freeman did an amazing job as the police captain (not surprising.) Who would think Ben Affleck would do such a good job writing & directing this. I think I read a review that it was his directorial debut. But he did direct another movie.

I never really do a synopsis of the movie because I am afraid of giving something away. The trailer of course shows that it is about a private detective that helps investigate the kidnapping of a toddler. Even though he doesn't have experience in that type of case, family members hire him because the local people won't cooperate with the police.

One of the lines in the movie that I remember (not sure I am quoting it exactly right) "Murder is a sin...it depends on who you do it to."

That statement for me is the key to at least one of the moral dilemmas in this film. (I think that in an overview of the film it has another tagline, but I focused on that one.) I watch so many movies that I tend to know how it will end before the 1st or second scene is over. This one surprised me. The moral dilemmas that this presents tears relationships apart, and I think is a very good discussion point for those that like to debate or at least have an interesting conversation.

I hope that if you watch the movie, you will let me know what you think.

¡Silencio, por favor!

Information overload. I guess there has always been background music when you are out, in stores or some public places. That evolved into commercials, or maybe an announcement that something is on sale in the store.

Even at the gas pump I have heard commercials over the speaker. However, recently I have been going to a gas station that has TV screens at each pump. Basically it's commercials, and the advertising for the gas station that I am already pumping gas...is a waste of time and money IMHO. It also had a traffic update, but I had zoned out, so it was going off when I realized that it was information that I could use.

It seems that no matter where I go there are tv screens with news or some sort of advertisement. When I rode the train into town to work...TV's were on the train, actually they were also on the bus.

Where can I go for a little bit of silence?

Disturbing trend

Well, it disturbs me anyway. During my holiday time off, I have caught quite a few movies. I may do some reviews here. However, I never feel like I can do them very well without giving away some of the plot. But I guess I could work on that here.

Since I like going to movies so much, I tend to go during the day when it isn't as crowded, and supposedly when it is cheaper. But it seems that they are doing away with the matinee's. I am hoping that maybe I am wrong, and after the holiday season it will return.

Last year I went on a Saturday, expecting a matinee price at an "_ M _" theater, and was told that only the 1st movie of the day on the weekends had the cheaper price, so I paid the high price, and started going to their competitor. Then it appeared that only the movies that started before noon were given the cheaper price. Now, it looks like they are doing away with matinee prices all together. Maybe it will only be the weekend movies, and possibly only here in the Atlanta market. I will have to research it and see.

But it just seems to me that the way the industry calculates box office sales and the fact that they have made it too expensive for movie going to be a family outing that movie going may be a thing of the past soon. I know many people prefer to wait for video and watch at home, but I like seeing movies when they first come out. There is something about the big screen, and the smell of popcorn that makes that one of my favorite things to do. I know there are ways around the high prices of the snacks & the movies...and I will admit to nothing here. :-)

But I may spend less money if I invest in a big screen & popcorn maker at home. The prices are on the way done on the TV's.

2 Things

This is going to be a drive-by or a quickie.

I saw a dead armadillo on the highway this past weekend. Yeah, rather unremarkable bit of information. However, I grew up, and did quite a bit of driving in Texas, and it dawned on me that it had been years since I saw an armadillo, dead or alive.

When I was in girl scouts, and went camping. We had tents that were on a platform about maybe 2 feet off the ground. Yeah we were really roughing it, because there were 4 twin sized cots inside. But at night the armadillos used to make a lot of noise under those tents. Thankfully the didn't do steps. That was thing #1 on my mind.

Thing #2 on my mind...well you may think it's a gross & and a strange thing to have on my mind. But it is something that I learned in college, and I don't even have a science class. There are ducks, swans, and geese (actually they may have migrated) on campus. I used to wonder who was letting their small dog poop on the sidewalk, that is until I started parking on the other side of campus. Then I realized that it is actually, large bird (duck/swan/goose) poop. They are rather messy. LOL

Ok, now I am off to learn something else...in class. I wonder if it will be so profound. Heh-heh-heh.

Life & Death

Both have been on my mind lately. A number of things have happened recently that brings both subjects to light.

About 2 weeks ago one of my long time friends called, and told me that she was on medical leave, because she had a stroke. What?! We are only 42 years old, and I am older by a few months. She is still having various tests done, but she is ok. Of course in our conversations, she mentioned some of the things she had in place for her son. And a family member being upset because they wanted her car...WTF? Ok that will be another post.

However, all of this had me thinking about friends and/or relatives that didn't live to see certain milestones in their life.

1. My dad, who died shortly after his 50th birthday, but before his grandson was born (my son who just turned 19 yesterday.)
2. A highschool classmate that died in a car wreck, before our 5th year highschool reunion.
3. A close friend of mine, his birthday was the day before mine...he died of cancer a few months before he would turn 40.
4. Another friend of mine lost her sister to breast cancer a few months after we turned 40.

There are others some that I may not remember in this moment.

And I also remember things that have happened to me where I think, "Wow, I lived through that?" All of this makes me think that each day I get I need to be thankful for. Even if that is a day that I failed my math test, or don't quite have the money to pay that bill. I am not going to be happy every single day, but I have to make the most of the days that I have. And fulfill whatever purpose that I have on this earth, even if I am taking a little longer than most to figure out what that is.

Actually as I write this there is a report right now on the news, about a local 15 year old that died after a battle with cancer. They were interviewing children from the middle school he attended.

In Black and White

I think quite often race "colors" our perspectives. And of course I can only speak about my own experiences. I am a black woman (stating the obvious) and even though my elementary school years placed me in predominately white environments in the 70's, I still feel that my views differ from white people. Based on mainly race.

My most recent example happened in school. A small group of students between classes started talking about the high schools they went to. And one of the guys (white) commented on a school, and said "It's a war zone over there." Well, the young man (black) that had gone to the school said, "About 10 years ago when we moved to that area, it was mostly white. Now, the area and the school are predominately black. I don't think it's a war zone, it's just mostly black now"

The funny thing is I had been a party to conversations about that city before, when I was at work, so the people were probably 10 to 20 years older that these students. But the conversation was pretty much the same. The white people/person making an extreme statement about the area being dangerous/a war zone etc. and the black person/people commenting/thinking no, it's just mostly black.

I think it's ironic that no matter what the age, the perception was the same based on race. Although maybe it is a geographical thing. This is the south.

I must admit though even from my "black woman" perspective I chose not to live in that area because I didn't think the schools were academically up to par. I decided to live where I do so my son could go to a school that was diverse, not just racially, but economically as well. However, at the college level, I would love it if he decided to go to an HBCU. Ahh, I guess that will be another post.

But back to black and white. I think about a few conversations that I had were it seems that some of the opinions were along racial lines, as opposed to gender or age. Am I unusual? or does anyone else think the same/differently?