Xpinionated

You cannot believe how incredibly tired of the Pope I am. I understand a Pope died and that’s sad. But I feel now as I did when Princess Di died. People die everyday. I’m not going to mourn someone I didn’t know nor am I going to mourn someone that in no way shaped my life, touched my life, or inspired me. THe pope was the head of the Catholic Church…I’m not Catholic. I’m not saying I’m pleased he passed but I can say I’m pretty indifferent. Until there comes a time when a plumber’s death and replacement can become worldwide news for a month, I will be fairly indifferent (for lack of a better word) to the deaths of people I don’t know. Honestly, and perhaps this is ignorance on my part, all I remember about the recently departed Pope is him riding in a car waving. And I’m being very serious about this. He may have done great things but there are people doing great things everyday. I just can’t up and put my emotions on the life of some faraway person because the media decides to follow, and glorify them. Princess Di? She died a horrific death. But I can’t say that her death affected my life anymore than her life affected my life. ‘Twas a sad occurrence but mourn I did not do.

When Tupac died, I felt something but his music affected my life. Did I cry? No. I said a silent prayer and asked for a moment of silence at a comedy show in college. After that, my life went on pretty much on the same track it was prior to his death. Every now and then, I have a ‘I miss Tupac’ moment but nothing more than that.

By the way, what exactly does the Pope do?

I’ve had a bad morning oh yes I have. So I get up to get Magdeline to Kaufmann Tires on Lawrenceville-Suwanee RD in Suwanee, GA 30024 by 8 am. Why do I do this? Because when speaking with personnel on the phone two days prior I was told getting the car there as soon as they opened was best. Tell them the problem, they tell me an hour, hour and 15 and they should be done. This, again, was at 8 am. At approximately 8:50 am, I tire of the PSP and look out to see what the deal is with my ride. Yeah, still in the parking space I parked her in. Call the wife to vent a little bit….at 9:25, I tell the guy to give me my keys, I can’t wait any longer. He gives an apology saying they only have one guy back there. Two flippin’ problems with this: 1)Why didn’t you tell me that you were understaffed an hour and a half ago? 2)Why do you have two to three guys answering the phone and at the front desk and only one flippin’ mechanic??

So I leave this place aggressively to let them know the extent of my displeasure. Since it’s 9:30, I decide I might as well stop by the optometrist to get some new contacts because the Ocular Science one she gave me last week are horrible. Now last week during my 9:30 am appointment, the doctor showed up at 10. Fluke, misunderstanding, right? No, get to the office today and the doctor is not there. Now, it’s one thing if you’re open from 7am to 7 pm everyday and you happen to be late. But if you’re only open tuesday - friday 9:30 - 5 and Saturday 9:30 - 1, couldn’t you at least be on time getting to the freakin’ office??? You don’t even have a 40 hour week……So I tell the receptionist that I don’t have time to wait for her to track him down so she is supposed to be giving me a call sometime about something.

Now here it is, I’ve been ‘out and about’ for almost two hours and have absolutely, positively, overwhelmingly nothing to show for my time. Not a damn thing. Not a dingleberry in a horse’s tail.

On my way to work, I decide to stop at Chick Fil A. I’m thinking 10 am, morning rush done, afternoon rush not started, get in get out. Unless they put the most talkative lady ever on drive thru……..

When I get to work I realize I picked up the wrong lunch…..and I have to boil my coffee due to a water main break….and some of my most demanding users are once again demanding…..and I still have to get my damn car tire looked at….and I still have to get some eyes…..

I was posting this as a comment and decided to just make another post.

Smoking can cause all these diseases (as often stated in favor of a smoking ban). Well Red meat leads to cholesterol…ban it. Sex can lead to aids. . . . ban it. Tanning can cause skin cancer . . . ban it. Really since when has the government been that concerned with the health of its citizens. If they were truly concerned, they would ban the McDonalds, Burger Kings and Wendy’s.

As far as my wife’s personal preference, if she doesn’t want to smell like smoke, fine. I consider that part of the ‘going out’ experience. Do I like smelling like smoke? No. Will I let it determine if I go out or stay home? Hell no.

And yes I smoke outside of my home, regardless of the temperature, I’m outside of my home when I smoke. I’ve never complained about it and I see plenty of folks who do the same thing. Which brings me to why I enjoy bars so much. It is because I can smoke inside comfortably.

The point is if the govt is going to decide what is healthy for it’s constituents…then go all the way. Rid the world of ice cream parlors lending a hand to obesity, rid the world of tanning beds causing cancer, rid the world of chiropracters practicing a made up medicine, rid the world of guns ’cause people get shot, rid the world of poison ivy cuz that shit itches, rid the world of mosquitoes cuz they have cooties, in fact let’s rid the world of anything that is not 100% absolutely positively healthy.

TOday’s Pollen count: 2174

Greater than 120 (the highest mark on the scoriing chart) is extreme. So what exactly would almost 20 times the extreme mark???

So I was reading this website: click here. I found it very interesting that Governor Sonny Perdue was late on his taxes for seven years straight. I liked the overall message of the site (of course it’s sponsored by the Democrats) which is ‘Don’t raise our taxes until you pay yours’. Very catchy.

In other Georgia news, I recently read an article which stated that Fulton County taxpayers (guess that doesn’t include the governor) pay somewhere around 3 million bucks for part-time city council members to assemble and pay their staff. I mentioned before how silly I thought it was that a part time council member received $40,000 annual compensation. But then to have such a huge budget for a staff (which by reasons of deduction I can only assume is a part time staff….) is outrageous. But is this what the Georgia politicians in the house are focusing on. . . no! They want to stop people from smoking in bars…

Which brings me to my next topic…Smoking Ban. I have every intention of quitting my smoking habit in the very near future. And my stance on this topic will not change. I agree that smoking in malls, stores et cetera is inappropriate. Not necessarily because of the health risk ’cause I fear smog is probably just as bad nowadays. But more because it’s rude. However, banning smoking in bars is ludicrous. Bars are not a necessary destination. If you want to drink, you have plenty of restaurants with non smoking sessions at which to do it and in Gwinnett you have plenty of bars that are nonsmoking. But implementing a state ban is ridiculous. It’s an assault on personal freedoms. I go to bars mostly because I can smoke there without being patronized. I don’t smoke in my home, I don’t smoke in my car but I do smoke in my bar…..I know Iknow, what about the kids eating with their parents….that’s what the non smoking section is for….and it’s a freakin’ bar for smoker’s sake. You want to eat with your kids, take them to a ‘family friendly’ spot that doesn’t allow smoking, don’t take them to a sports bar.

And what’s next? Are they going to ban smoking in your car, on your property? Government needs to step the hell out of personal lives and run the bigger scheme.