Rubbed the wrong way

Recently I heard something that really rubbed me the wrong way. It made me think of the quote I have on my board at work.

“Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people.”

Now, I’m not perfect. I too have discussed people and their choices from time to time. But when you are the one being talked about it tends to put a person in a foul mood and put it all in perspective.

Until you walk a mile in someone elses shoes, don’t pass judgement, don’t pass go, don’t pick up $100. It sucks when you are the one being talked about. At this point I really don’t care, but how I’d like to say something to these people. It sure would make me feel like I’ve accomplished something. But would it stop the talking? I doubt it. Small minds have nothing better to do.

My campaign for an iPhone

Some of you might remember my campaign for a new camera that resulted in me getting a new Canon Rebel T3. The camera has been wonderful and the more I use it the more I love it.

Now I’m on the hunt for a new cell phone. I really, really, really want an iPhone. Not just because they are cool or because I am the only one in the office that doesn’t have one yet. But I want one because of three things: Instagram (a photo app); the ability to sync with my Mac computer at work for emails and photos; and the camera on it is better than the crappy BlackBerry one I have now.

Not that I need (or want) another camera, but it would be handy to have a phone that can take pics when I don’t have a regular camera with me, i.e. on my morning rides.

My biggest fear about getting an iPhone is that it won’t work at my house. Some Verizon phones just don’t work out in the boonies. I guess if that’s the case I will have to resort to getting a landline phone so we have a working phone in the house.

What ever the case, I hope to have a new phone soon. Shaun does too, as he can’t keep his hands off my crappy BlackBerry.

Shaun already can’t keep his hands off my crappy BlackBerry. He wants momma to get an iPhone.

Snarky

Urban Dictionary describes snark as a combination of “snide” and “remark.” Sarcastic comment(s). Also snarky (adj.) and snarkily (adv.)

Sometimes in my social media outlets I have to refrain from stating my true feelings for two reasons. 1) likely there’s no one who wants to hear it and 2) my accounts are tied to my job, and the last thing I want to do is make my employer mad or give a bad impression of my field. That being said, I apologize in advance. Some of the things I’m going to talk about in this blog post may not jive, and if you are easily offended, I won’t be offended that you stop reading now on move on.

Occasionally my personality gets the best of me, and even though I try hard to be nice,  that bad segment of me shows its face every once in a while. I’m not sure where in my genetic make up the snark gene is, but there are times I have to keep my mouth shut (or keys in this case) and silence it.

Case in point, Facebook. I admit it. I spend entirely too much time looking at Facebook. I like it because I can keep up with old classmates, friends or acquaintances without having to reach out to them. Plus I like seeing the news come across Facebook or Twitter and scooping friends or family with the latest.

My biggest peeve (well I actually have three) with it is people who must “share” an account with their husband/wife/significant other. I get that you are a couple. I get you are committed to one another. I get it, but WHY not have your own account?? I guess I don’t share very well. My husband and I have separate accounts and I don’t know the password to his account and I prefer to keep it that way. I have nothing to hide.

My second peeve with FB? A business that doesn’t have a page, but a regular account. There’s so much more a page can do for a business than a regular FB account. It’s much easier to “like” a business page and look through their wares, than bother with the whole “friending” process. And a page can have a million likes, while a regular account is limited on the number of friends it can have.

Another peeve is those people who share EVERYTHING on their FB. There are some things that shouldn’t be said out loud much less on the Internet. Don’t be an attention-getting/seeking whore on FB just because you feel bad about a certain subject. How about you TALK to the person you have a beef with instead of bashing them on FB?

Twitter is a whole nother beast and in the last year I have finally gotten the hang of it and managing it with Hootsuite. One thing that bothers me the most is the spammers. They tend to bring out my ugly snark more often than not.

Phew.. I feel better now. Snark (much like farts) must be released otherwise they travel up your spine and cause all kinds of bad ideas and negativity. Ok, maybe not, but its funny.

PSA #238972398 – cell phones

Cell phones are wonderful inventions. They all have a time and a place, especially in certain circumstances.

Silent mode is a wonderful feature. I don’t know about other cell phones, but my crappy BlackBerry has a red blinking light that lets me know I have an email, missed call, or any other sort of notification. I set it on silent because I don’t want to hear it buzz. I’d much rather hear your goofy ringtone than buzz, buzz, buzz.

They are called mobile phones for a reason. If you have an important call, take it somewhere else. It’s a little less of a distraction to see you answer the phone and then make a quick exit than to force your company to endure the rest of your phone call. I don’t want to hear your supper plans, what the kids did at school today or what your bank balance is. Get up and take the call to a more private place. I will return the favor when its my turn.

Texting. Don’t call someone to see if they got your text, how about reply to the said text? Sure I can see if you are driving, but sitting in your chair at work, there’s no need for a follow-up phone call is there? Same goes for an email..

Cameras. Strange people and or events that would never be believed when the story was being retold are the reason why inventors came up with the camera phone. I want to see that guy with the mullet or the cross-dresser that served you your meal. I want to see that dead snake you killed or the funny thing your kid did.

So please be courteous of your neighbors when it comes to cell phone usage. End of PSA #238972398. Thanks for reading.

Turning in my grown-up card

As a kid I was in a hurry to grow up. I wanted to be independent and doing my own thing. Now as a grown up I often ponder, what the H**L was I thinking.

Yesterday my family ventured to a local water park. I couldn’t help but notice the kids who were tanned, fit and looked as though they lived at the pool. Once upon a time, I was one of those kids too. Every summer in my childhood we would spend extended amounts of time at our grandparents house. One of our daily rituals was to head to the swimming pool when it opened after lunch time. We would spend the entire afternoon there, have a snack and finish swimming and make it back to granny’s in time for supper.

Those were the days. Not a care in the world and only worry was what to get at break time at the pool. Hopefully my own kid can have summertime memories like mine. I’d give up my grown-up card if I could, but that doesn’t look like its going to happen anytime soon.

Shaun beating the heat during the record temps the last week of June.