Ten Things Tuesday- Changes

I have had a lot of things going on lately.
Some stressful and some a big relief.
Here's a rundown:

1. No TV in the living room
     We haven't gotten the outdoor antenna up, but we have a couple indoor antennas. Those are for the HDTVs. The third TV just sits there with no reception. It works to watch movies though.

2. Vacation time
     My husband got paid not to go to work. He gave notice and they gave him a deal so he took it. Lots of family time for a while.

3. No more lonely nights
     My husband found a new job. It is days and no weekends. After 7 years, I am more than ready for this.

4. Less pay
     The new job pays less so we will have to make some adjustments. I may be getting a job, the lower pay could mean the loan modification will actually work, and I may have to figure out how to pull money out of my ass.

5. New kitten
     Kiddo wanted a kitty from a friend. His name is Felix.

6. Permit time
     Kiddo finally got her permit. She had a lot of trouble so this last time, she took it orally instead of on the computer and she passed. The state has an app with a practice exam, but you can only get it if you have an android or iphone. The rest of the lowly people seem to have a lot of trouble passing, but the android and iphone people do great. Kudos to you, Iowa!

7. Cell phone
     My family is entering the modern age. We had to get a cell phone so Honeyman has one for work. They don't have pagers or radios, but give a monthly allowance for minutes used. It's not a "smart" phone, but it makes calls and that is all that matters.

8. Buying a dress
     I have nothing against dresses. I just never have a reason to wear them one since I never go anywhere. Now, I do. My oldest niece is getting' married in about a week so I need to find one. My first kilt wedding!

9. Having a kid on the go
     My daughter, at the ripe old age of 16, has found herself a social life. She's going to the pool or the beach, or to the MALL. It's a strange concept.

10. Lower stress levels.
     In a lot of ways, we have been happier with less money. This time is no exception. The atmosphere Honeyman was working in was horrible. The best thing about it was the insurance. That will be missed. But, it was like walking on pins and needles and never knowing what crap was coming down the pipe. It made things hard and it was affecting the home life. So, this is nice.

*******************************
Have a great Tuesday!

Ten Things Tuesday- Reasons I Got Rid of Directv

I finally got my antenna.
It's not hooked up yet.
I need the stuff to ground it.

After ordering one and not getting it,
using that refunded money to buy Christmas gifts,
and hunting high and low for another one.
I got it.

This week's ten things Tuesday is for all the reasons I am going over the air and saying good-bye to the dish.

1. Being treated like an idiot is not something I enjoy.
     I know how to read a manual and follow directions. But, sometimes, something just won't work. I call Directv to tell them what's wrong and they want me to do everything I just did. That didn't work the three times I tried. "Let's just try it again!" Turds!

2. Don't mess with my music channels.
     Whether you have Dish or Directv, radio stations come with the deal. Directv changed my channels. I had a favorite. They took that away. I found another one and they changed that one too. Turds!

3. Reality shows are the bane of my existence.
     You can take the Kardashians, Braxtons, Ax Men, Ice Road Truckers, Honey Boo Boo, etc., etc., etc. and set them on fire. The shows, not the people. That might be a little mean and it would smell really bad.

4. Same show, different channel.
     Over the years, there have been so many good shows on TV. But stations pick the new ones and show them all over. A few years ago, any hour of any day you could find Scrubs. After that, it was How I Met Your Mother. Now, it is Big Bang Theory. What happened to variety? Isn't that why we pay for 150 channels? Turds

5. The Audience channel blows.
     I think it used to have a different name. I don't remember. I do remember that they showed concerts most of the time. Now, they seldom do. Turds!

6. $104.48
     In the end, that was my bill a month. A $3 a year raise in price for programming, equipment or protection plan was the norm. If you got really lucky, they'd raise one and just a few months later, they'd raise another thing. When I called to cancel, they said they'd knock my bill down $35 and "that's less than new customers pay". Really? If you could charge that much, why didn't you? Turds!

7. Where's my anniversary gift?
     Directv started to do this nice thing after we dropped the movie channels( Later we did get Encore again). They started giving us three months free around the anniversary of me signing up. If I didn't like that channel, they'd add the one I wanted. Than one year, they just exchanged the one they gave me for the one I wanted. By the way, they always gave me the Showtime channels that I never watched. The last year I got a gift, they wouldn't even let me switch. What good is a gift that I am not going to use? Than, they just quit giving me a gift. But, they value my loyalty. Turds!

8. The Viacom/Directv debacle of 2012
     I remember it well. The only channels we watched much of were the Viacom channels like Comedy Central and VH1 Classic got taken off the air. Viacom wanted more money from Directv for showing the channels. Directv thought it was unfair to have to pay more even though they hadn't paid more in 7 years. Doesn't that seem a bit ironic? They bitch because they have to pay more, but it's OK to charge the consumer more EVERY year. To make up for the inconvenience that Viacom was causing Directv customers, they gave everyone free Encore channels. That's nice. But, we were already paying for those.
Like either one is in the right. Just greed. Directv generates a profit of $2 Billion per quarter. As of last year. Turds!

9. The storms make my dish go out.
     If something nasty is coming, losing my local channels showing weather and radar is not good. Speaking of weather, what happened to the Weather Channel? It really has gone to crap.

10. The movie channels have gone to pot.
     When I was a teen, the movie channels had fairly new movies. Just wait a few months and it would be on HBO. Now, all the premium channels are is older movies with a newer one sprinkled in once in a while. I have a theory that the premium channels made a deal with Directv( Dish, probably too) not to show movies that would compete with the movies on pay per view. Directv needs to make it's $4.99 a movie and they can't do that if it's available on HBO or Stars. The movie channels are possibly in cahoots with the movie studio/dvd sales too. Turds!

*******************************************
Have a great Tuesday!

Ten Things Tuesday- TV Show Names

Do you ever wonder where some people get their ideas when they name a TV show?
Some I understand.
Some I just don't get.

That's this week's Ten Things Tuesday. It's a list of TV show names that are weird.

1. Top Hooker
     It's a fishing reality show. Really, it sounds like a show about the best prostitute. Last week I saw an advertisement for it and they said "See which top hooker is going down!". I am sure if she is paid enough, she will. I just can't make this stuff up.

2. Graceland
     I am not sure what this is about, but something tells me it isn't Elvis.

3. The Real Housewives of ___________.
     Insert whatever place you want. I might be wrong, but don't a lot of these women have businesses or never do normal housewifey things?

4. The Willis Report
     Yes, it's a serious show. When I see the title, in my head I hear " What chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?"

5. Two and a Half Men
     I have never been a fan of this show. The kid is not funny or cute and Jon Cryer's character is so annoying. I used to like Jon Cryer. In fact, he was the ONLY redeeming quality of the movie Pretty in Pink.
OK, half a man cause he's a kid. Still lame. Now, he's not a kid and from what I have read, he is not on the show half the time anymore.

6. Design on a Dime
     I wish. What I consider an inexpensive remodel and what the people in this show do are two very different things.

7. Tanked
     Sadly, this show is not about people that are so drunk(and funny) they should be in the drunk tank.
This show is about people that make fancy fish tanks. I have one question. WHY?

8. Loaded
     Once again, not a show about booze. Or guns. It's a show on the weather channel. I guess it's about trucking. On the weather channel.

9. Beer Money
     What? These two guys go to bars and ask people trivia questions and pay them if they answer right. I guess that makes sense, but it's still a weird name.

10. Cat Chat
     OK, who thought this was a show about cats? It's a religious show. Cat is short for catholic.

**********************************************
Have a great Tuesday!

Say What?

So, I Goofed!

As much as it pains me to admit, this happens more than it should.

I like to think of myself as somewhat computer savy.
I know my way around the internet.

Apparently, I still have some things to learn.

A big, glaring example is this whole google reader going away.
I thought I knew what the reader was.

All these blog posts about getting this so you will still see your favorite blog updates.
So, I went and got bloglovin, thinking I am going to lose my updates.

I never even used google reader.
Hell, I thought they meant my blog list on my dashboard.

There is a difference between the dashboard and the reader?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The reader was supposed to go away on July 1 and I was baffled that the blogs were still appearing in my reader.
Or, what I KNEW was my reader.

So, I investigated and found out the reader is something completely different.

Why did I even get bloglovin?
I don't know.

And come to find out, it is not even sending me everything.
I thought it was and thought it was odd that this person or that person hadn't posted AGAIN.

Once again, I looked into that and found out those blogs had lots of posts I hadn't even seen.

Oh, the stupidity!

Ten Things Tuesday- The Independence Day Edition

There's that old joke: What country has the 4th of July?
Answer: They all do.

True.
But, you never see Happy Independence Day anymore.
It's always Happy 4th of July.

I am bringing Independence Day back.
Calling days of significance by nothing more than a date is a pet peeve of mine.


 This week's Ten Things Tuesday is what Independence Day is all about.

1. Declaration of Independence
     It was signed by the 2nd Continental Congress July 4, 1776. That's why we celebrate that date.
  The link above goes to the original document.

2. Fireworks
     Lots of cities set them off. Some states they are illegal to shoot off, but people do it anyway. In Iowa, most fireworks are illegal. Sparklers are fine and lots of people give them to little kids to play with. I really don't see how that is safe. But, if you have $10,000 to get a permit, it can be legal.

3. The movie
     It stars Will Smith and everyone's favorite actor in glasses. Yes, I am talking about Jeff Goldbloom. They show it every year at this time. Sometimes over and over and on several channels.

4. Knee high by the 4th of July
     It's a saying, in case you have never heard it. It's about corn and it is good to have your corn plants knee high by now. It means a good year.

5. Ka-ching!
     It's the day off with pay. If you are lucky.
It's the paid 1 to 2-1/2 times for working that day. If you're lucky.

6. The day you hope nothing breaks down.
     Cause no one will come to fix it. No one will answer the phone.
No A/C? Suck it up, buttercup!

7.  The flag
     It's a day when the not so patriotic become very patriotic. Break out the flag napkins and flag tiki torches.
Make a flag cake and eat a red, white, and blue cupcake.

8. Camping
     Lots of people camp over the holiday. The campgrounds are usually packed.

9. Grilling!
     Oh how I love to grill. Any excuse is a good excuse to grill. I will grill anything. Bread dough, zucchini, beer can chicken. It's all good!

10. Cops
     They love this time of year. Catch some drunk drivers, maybe confiscate some boom booms or give fines to those who shoot them off.

****************************************
Have a great Tuesday!

But Why?

Damn! I was really wanting to smoke here, too. What is their problem?