i hate stupid people

I hate stupid people. When I say stupid people, I mean selfish, mean, think-only-with-their-wallet, ignorant, and just plain rotten people. Now I hate to stereotype (actually I love stereotypes, they're so funny!) but often people who drive huge SUVs for no reason ("But they're safer!" cry the hockey moms of suburban Detroit) really irk me. Especially H2 drivers. Especially when it's some prissy little b*tch woman driving it by HERSELF. And even moreso when they think that driving this big pollutant-spewing tank practically up my ass - and all i see is that big GRILL in my rearview mirror - is an obnoxious entitlement to owning an obnoxious vehicle. It's not good enough to just drive the biggest car - they need to make sure that all the other cars in the road realize this too by means of tailgating, aweful parking, and cutting you off. JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN.

What got me in such a fuss this morning about this? Well it's not SUVs directly, but a survey in the Detroit News online accompanying an article I was happy to see. The survey acts "Did the EPA go too far?" with regards to the EPA demanding Michigan to test auto emission. The results? Most people thus far have said "Yes, it won't make a difference." Here's the article. I am so glad to see emissions testing return to Michigan. It is so frustrating that the Motor City sees owning a vehicle such a high and mighty right, and what comes out of the tailpipe is your proud salute to being American. Nearly every headline in the Detroit news deals with cars. I know this is a huge subject because most people work for a car company around here, but often the news is so biased towards the Big Three that anything dealing with pollution, oil, gas prices, SUVs, etc that the environment gets swept under the rug. Polluting less apparently equals less jobs, but that is not the case!!

Which is not to say there aren't more "conscious" SUV drivers out there now than there were. Some people "need" them, and some people drive the smaller ones to reduce fuel consumption. But I still cannot see any benefits of owning an H2 or Excursion around here. It's FLAT, people! If my Focus can get around fine in the snow, then you don't NEED it for 4x4! You don't NEED it for rough terrain - potholes in the road are not considered offroading! And they aren't safe - if you manage to NOT roll over, and the roof NOT to collapse, then the chances of you harming somebody else in another car are huge!

...This is one of the many reasons I hate living here because I have to deal with it EVERY DAY. When will society stop sucking around here?

what went wrong?

The evening was perfect - Jack & Coke, Red Hot Blues chips, passionate hockey fans, and lots of energy to burn while yelling at the tv.

"Come on! Shoot it! It's right there! ARRRGGGHHH!!"

But alas, the Wings had an embarassing shut-out against Nashville. Nashville?! How the heck can we be beat by them southern folk?! They sound even sillier than Canadians!! (No offense to Canadians - I love that accent, eh?!) The commentary I heard afterwards was absolutely stellar: "What the Wings didn't do, was move the puck well." No shit.

Met a cool guy by the name of Amadeo. Don't actually know how to spell it either but it's important enough that I'd like to remember it. I don't know how he does it - he's from Novi, but he's COOL. He's outdoorsy and is actually participating in the adventure race in Pinckney that I've been asking people about! Crazy coincidence. He's climbed Long's Peak in Rocky Mt - I didn't even get to climb it this summer. He's even one of those cool people that you see in JUNE with his snowboard strapped up to a truck going thru Rocky, subsequently hiking to the top of one of the last snow-capped mountains in the park (in his case, Flattop), and taking one last summer ride. He mt. bikes Pinckney (which is pretty hard - haven't done it in a while but I remember it being sketchy for my skill level) and is a paramedic, in hopes of going to grad school. He also knows how to surf. It's all that I aspire to be! (Except the med school part). Hold your horses kids - he's cool but he's also hooked up. Definitely a name I want to remember so I can have a new climbing/biking/adventure partner, assuming I ever see him again.

Once again, one of the S-girls takes a stand. I have to admit, the three of us have many differences but we are all definitely assertive, take-shit-from-noone type of people. I think all of us have had run-ins with our employers in some form or another, and we speak up when something is just not right. Not needlessly whiney but standing up for what we believe to be good and just. Well Sue was being shat upon at work about her clothes. I saw what she was wearing and she looked good, but apparently to the old ladies at her work, it's unacceptable. After being scolded by this one woman in particular every time she came in - "Your pants are too baggy! Your shirt is too big!" - and for being late, though she distinctly told the higher authorities in advance, she decided to tell her boss what was on her mind. Let me put it like this - you don't want to mess with Linda or myself, but we pale in comparison to a truly fervered Sue. Don't know where she gets it from, but she has the gall, the attitude, and the pure vocal strength to smack down anyone who steps outta line. And I mean that in the nicest way - we don't always (usually) get along but she has my respect there.

Anyway, she told her boss that if they have a problem with her clothing, then they can fire her right then and there because she doesn't have the money - they don't pay her enough or give her enough hours - to be able to just run off and buy clothes because they don't think they hug her butt enough (cooch clingers I think she called them, haha!). The boss apparently had no idea, she hadn't heard anything about her clothes being a problem - which, Sue says, means that this old hag that has been yelling at her was making things up, saying that the "boss" told her that she was dressing badly. She also asked another girl, wearing a black shirt (she was told not to wear black) if she's even been yelled at, and she and a few other girls said no. So she told her straight up that the next time somebody says something about her outfit, she's quitting on the spot - doesn't matter if she just walked in the door, or if she's with a customer, she's just walking right out without two weeks notice, because this is ridiculous. There's more to it but it's complicated. Amen, sister!

Now she too wants to apply to novi. We just never leave, do we. I might or might not take the physical agility test for the firefighter position after all. I didn't originally because I didn't intend on being in town this long; now it looks like I might stick around for a while. Don't even know why I bothered applying to grad school - I want to be a writer, or an outdoor guide. I should go to Outward Bound instead and take an instructor course. I just can't take the plunge and dish out $6,000 though. I know in my heart it's what I SHOULD do, but financially I just can't. And I know I'd never be able to live in Michigan if I did that - all the adventure and wilderness is out of state. I love the west but something about the hardwoods and lakes and seasons ofMichigan just keeps me here. And a usually excellent hockey team of course. Oh, and Joey Harrington too I guess. ;)

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i added a mixed drinks website to my links. it even has the nutritional information. not that anyone actually pays attention to that besides me (my pretend diet), but it's a good refresher on how to mix shots. did you know I took a bartending course? not much i haven't done, is there. hee hee. :)

chicago pics up

I posted the pics Steve took in Chicago here.

And this is why they are no longer filling that coveted zookeeper job I had been crossing my fingers for ever since January. Four months of waiting, only to be abruptly stonewalled by the city budget.

latest hottie

Here's the latest and greatest in my hottie line-up: Timothy Olyphant from Deadwood on HBO. Although I am still committed to Joey Harrington of the Detroit Lions and we are going to get married, I'm really digging Tim right now. I don't even like mustaches but hey that's the way things went in the old west I guess. He's not always hot in his other movies, but oooh baby sideburns and scruffiness definitely do it for me.

I've written in here three times today - what's up with that, Lisa? Well, hockey is over so I've got spare time on Sundays  now. That, and I've been reading my magazine writing book, so I feel compelled to write something. Not sure what or how to write to magazines but I think that if I just keep words flowing on here, my well will not go dry so to speak. Keeps the juices flowing.

My birthday is next weekend. Wonder if I'll get any two-week notice job offers in beautiful western states this week, or if I'll get called at all about working at novi. Linda can't find any other job so she IS applying to her old job again - the job I was trying to get! She says they hire two but it sounded like they only had one spot open. How embarassing if my younger sister got hired and I didn't - and I've already worked there 3 seasons. The boss has bought me drinks and we shared a shot before. Yet one evil, sexist man blocks me from going back to parks & rec, and i don't really want to coal patch all summer with DPW. This is why I am trying to be a writer. :)

Anyway, birthday is coming and looks like I may hit the road with Steve yet again to accompany him on a trip to check out Rutgers in New Jersey. Personally, I've got the itch to head west but I've never been around Jersey. Maybe I can con I mean convince him into heading to the coast while we're out there. I've only been on the northern atlantic coast once in the Hamptons in NY (which is a story unto itself) so I definitely have ulterior motives to being his travel buddy.

Hooters is opening in Novi after all. It's actually quite a drama. They did all they could to block it from coming (refused to give it a liquor license) so instead they went on the private market and bought one, rumored for about $60,000 (usually cost $500 through a govt). Guess now city council still doesn't want it to come in, but if they try to stop it, thereis no legal way to do it and they will get sued. Simple as that. Novi does nothing better than getting sued and plowing down everything green and natural. Maybe if we're really lucky they'll get sued and turn over the rest of the park they gave away to a builder. good thing they refused to put a conservation easement on the mt. biking trail park; that way their hands aren't tied and they can give that away too in case of another lawsuit! Good thinking and progressive action, city council!

anyway, beneath all that controversy and uppity drama lies a restaurant with need of employees. namely, female employees. i may soon chase the american dream by putting in an application to wear the orange shorts and tight t-shirt. mommy, i've always wanted to be a hooters girl. let's face it - i have an uncanny ability to make 30 something year old men fall in love with me. is it so bad that i try to capitalize on my assets? it's the american way! you watched "the apprentice", didn't you??

bedtime. dreaming of you, timmy boy. ;)

"Your application for the position of Biological Science Technician
(Plants), GS-0404-05 at BOULDER, CO has been evaluated.  You were found to
be eligible for the position and your name was referred to the
selecting official. If interviews are conducted or additional information is
needed, the selecting official or someone from the Human Resources office
will contact you."

Hmm... I've gotten three of these. It's a very good thing when you were referred to the selecting official. We should take bets on if and where I will end up. It will probably end up like last summer, where I got an offer and was told I needed to move to Colorado in two weeks. This sit and wait game is just not my style. Time for another long road trip. And I told my plans to be a writer OUT LOUD to Brynn and Casey. Now I am committed! It is public! I must make it happen! Once I finished reading the Dummy's Guide to Writing Magazine Articles of course. ;)