Andrew and I are not the type of people that sit back and complain about the Post time and time again without acting on our anger. We like to call and complain and we do it a lot! Well really why wouldn’t we when the postal worker gives us sooooo many things to complain about?

Today I called and made I believe our 5th or 6th official complaint. I can’t be certain of the number for sure because I only started documenting them 4 complaints ago.

You see, our dick of a delivery man doesn’t like to deliver our packages. He likes to put a little blue card in our mail box and simply says we weren’t home. Well we all know that I work from home so this is just not possible. I am ALWAYS home when he puts those cards in the box. Sometimes he claims we must not hear the buzzer. If you’ve been to our place, you know that is impossible. It is LOUD. So this non-delivery problem used to happen ALL the time. Big packages, small… it didn’t matter. The douchebag just never bothered to do his job.

Back in December we had a bit of a breakthrough. We finally thought we complained enough to have some positive turnaround. We spoke to a customer service manager who stated that from now on if the driver attempted a delivery and we weren’t home, the driver was supposed to call this manager and let him know. The manager would then call me to confirm that I was not home. Well after this new protocol was set in place, everything changed. Any time a package came, there was a long and loud BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ  BUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ(remember… this guy is a DICK), at our door.

Well last week that all changed when another little blue card magically appeared in the box. We knew this was for three cases of wine and of course the fat slob doesn’t want to deliver 3 cases of wine. That means he’d actually have to carry the weight up two flights of stairs.

So we immediately called the previous customer service manager to report the problem. Unfortunately, his line that is written on the letter we received is no longer in service. So we resorted to the old methods of filing a regular complaint. Well after one week with no word, Andrew called again yesterday. The guy he spoke to assured us the packages would be re-delivered today.

So today there was a BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ at about 9:45 am. It’s the delivery prick asking if I’d be home in an hour for him to deliver my packages. Was he hoping I’d say no? Was he hoping he’d get out of doing his job again? Unfortunately for him I said yes and then he stated, ok make it an hour an a half. Over TWO hours later he finally comes back.

When he huffs and puffs up with all the boxes he says to me “You weren’t home when I tried to deliver before.”

ASDLKJNCWOEIRFNCOAWIERJAWERKNWAEIFJSEFNWIEHJR!!!!!

IS HE KIDDING ME???

Oh I did not handle that comment well. I told him I was home, as I ALWAYS am when he doesn’t deliver our packages. He actually told me that he put a note on our file stating that if I don’t answer the buzzer the first time that he never has to redeliver a package again. I reminded him of the protocol that he was supposed to follow where he needed to call the manager if we weren’t home. He basically denied that was ever the case (even though I SWEAR it worked for awhile) and just kept shaking his head no and saying “nope.”

I “kindly” told him that everyone we know has this problem with them so it’s not just us.

His response? “No, no, it’s just you guys. You weren’t home,  I won’t redeliver again.”

I can’t tell you how fuming I was. I just yelled “whatever” to him as he huffed and puffed down the stairs. I really wanted to kick him in his face. Seriously… WHY couldn’t Andrew have been home when the jerk came? Andrew is a lot meaner than I am… I would have loved to see what he would say to that guy!

So today… the Australian Post received another nice little complaint from me. This time it was against the driver personally. I stated that he was rude and I don’t feel comfortable being alone in the house when he delivers the package because he’s always a jerk. I don’t need a response from them, I just want every little detail documented so that hopefully one day he will lose his job. I simply cannot understand how someone can NOT lose their job after THAT many complaints. I can tell you right now that if I was as lazy as him and if our customers had that many complaints about me- I would not still be employed. How is it possible that he still is entitled to earn an income?

I REALLY want to order another case of wine now so he can refuse to deliver it and I can call and complain again. It’s almost a source of entertainment now.

I really feel that I deal with incompetence on a daily basis. I don’t understand why some people are just SO hard to deal with. My latest occurrence came about as I was trying to get quotes to have some sports shirts printed for a friend. I called a lady on the phone yesterday and told her that I need a logo on the front and the team name and number on the back. When I was on the phone with her she kept stating (in her incomprehensible English) that she would do the logo on front and the word “TEAM” on the back with the number.

NO NO NO…

I said I need the TEAM NAME… which happens to be Falcons. Again, she could NOT understand what I was saying. I spelled it for her about 4 times. I thought she FINALLY understood what I was saying until I got this email from her today:

Hi,

Further to our email in yesterday, please be advised that the quote on letter computer vinyl cut of ‘SALCONS TEAM’ is quoted on each letter.

i.e. Letter: 2” height

Price: $ 2.5 + GST each letter x 11 letters = $ 27.5 + GST per tees

Any unclear, please get back to us ASAP.

Wow. Yes lady, “any unclear” is right!!   Well, here is my response to her on that:

Thanks, I appreciate your quote but I think that there was a bit of miscommunication with what should be printed on back. When I spoke to you on the phone I said “the team name will be printed on the back… the team name is FALCONS.”  I tried to make it clear that the word FALCONS would be printed and even specified a couple of times that the word TEAM was NOT to be printed. When I was spelling the word falcons to you, you didn’t seem to understand so I said “falcon, like the bird”. I guess it still was not clear.  

I just need to make sure that any company I work with is able to understand my requests clearly. The other companies I spoke to did not have any troubles understanding my requests. Also, your prices are quite a lot higher than all of the other quotes I received so I will not be going with your company at this time.

Thanks again,

Elsja

 I think I need to start a daily posting called “incompetence of the day.” I’m pretty sure I would have  A LOT to blog about.

I’ve been calling and emailing around for quotes for transportation for our wedding. We need a bus to take guests from their hotels to the wedding. So I’ve probably contacted about 6 places. So far my range of quotes has been $700 to $1400 (including gratuity). Well, unfortunately the bus we REALLY want is about $1100. In fairness, his original quote was for $889, but that does not include a tip- which is why I did the math in my head to bring it up to  a rough $1100. When I emailed the guy saying we had quotes of $700-800 (inclusive of gratuity) and could he work with us on the price, here was his response:

There is nothing I can about the cost, the prices are set by the owners.

Doing the math I see that we are only about $177.00 higher. Not $400.00.So you have to ask yourself if that is worth going with a professional company with a impeccable safety record or giving up the safety for price. I am pretty sure the people riding on the bus would not advise you to give up their safety at their cost.

There is NOTHING you can do? REALLY? you are in SALES! Isn’t that your job? Can’t you speak to the owners?

And WHAT THE FUDGE is up with him acting like I am putting my guests’ safety in jeopardy by going with ANY other company. Seriously dude, I’m not a moron. All the other companies I’ve talked to have good safety records as well, plus insurance, plus nice buses… etc.

One company gave me a quote of $1200 minimum. I wrote him back right away saying it was way over our budget and we got other quotes from $700-800.

No response.

I guess people really aren’t struggling that badly after all. I guess they all have enough business and they don’t need mine. I guess I’m going to keep searching for someone who cares enough to do a bit of bargaining. I’ll let you all know how it goes.

Disclaimer: There have been a few really nice people who have provided quotes and in the end, I will most likely go with one of them. I just need to feel like people are actually TRYING to win my business, not that they are trying to educate me on why going with other companies will put my guests’ safety at risk. Idiots.

I hate you. I really do. You make me so tired. You cause me to sleep through my alarm for over 10 minutes. TEN!! While this may not seem a lot to some people, let it be known that in an entire year, my alarm only goes off probably 10 times total! I always wake up before my alarm goes off, so to sleep through it for over TEN MINUTES is just not right. You cause me to wake up with a massive migraine and hangover feeling even though I only had 2 glasses of wine last night. Two glasses of wine plus jet lag = feeling like I drank 2 bottles of wine. NOT NICE!

Dear US Economy,

I hate you too. I thought I was immune to your black pit of misery and despair- but no, you finagled your nasty tenticles into my life as well and you’ve put a big damper on all my plans for 2010.

Dear Vaccination,

You made me feel like I had a migraine in my arm for about 36 hours. That was a week ago. Now, thanks to you, my arm is STILL sore. It’s not terrible, but enough to piss me off.

Dear Stupid OC Housewives,

Ok of course I’m not talking to all OC housewives- there are definitely many of you I like. I’m just speaking to the pathetic, fake, backstabbing trashbags. You are all scum. People like you often make me happy that I don’t live in this yuppy, stuck-up county anymore.

Dear Bob at Sir Speedy Printing,

You sent all your customers an email today asking “how is your 2010 so far?” Do you REALLY want me to answer that question? I know you just want some business- but what if I reply to your sales pitch email and just say “shitty.” I wonder what you would say to that.

Dear Andrew,

I miss you.

Yes, I am having a bad day.

Andrew told me about you two while I was away. First to you Mr. Man neighbor- Andrew mentioned that everyone in the apartment could hear you beating your girlfriend. Evidently people heard the thuds and your poor girl was screaming and crying. Neighbors were yelling at you through the windows telling you they could hear you beating her and you still didn’t stop. Luckily some people had enough sense to call the cops. Clearly you are a douchebag.

When I returned last Saturday and heard what sounded like some serious sex occuring in the late afternoon, I actually thought I was hearing our other neighbors. But this sex did not sound like the sex that we usually can hear. You guys sounded REALLY into it. At least you did Ms. Lady neighbor. Yes, it partially did sound like you were being beat up- but when I heard “YEAH, YEAH” I figured you just like it rough. When I went into the bathroom again, I could hear you crying. Why oh why were you crying? Maybe you were just playing along out of fear because your creep boyfriend would beat you up again if you don’t fulfil his sleazy desires. I have never even met you but already I can see that you two have some SERIOUS issues.

I’m not sure what went on in the following 40 minutes but when Andrew and I returned from picking up dinner and a movie, your drunk trash boyfriend was on the ground being handcuffed by 5 cops.

While I do enjoy interesting neighbors, I don’t enjoy guys who beat up and possibly rape their girlfriends and wives. No one in the building wants to hear that. Someone needs to head to rehab and/or jail and someone else needs some major counseling. Good luck to you both.

P.S. I do like your Christmas stockings that you’ve hung in the window.

Did I mention that they don’t take credit cards? You probably knew that already, but seeing as how I haven’t been there in over 8 years, I just kind of assumed they would be a “modern” organization and take plastic. Do they realize how many poor people come through that place? Some people wouldn’t be able to pay the $28 license fee if they couldn’t use a credit card. (Yes Aussies, you heard that right, $28 for a 4 year license).They take personal checks (which surely bounce ALL the time) but they won’t take credit cards. Idiots. Unfortunately for me, my debit card is back in Australia with Andrew and so I’ve been living off cash and credit while I’ve been in CA. I had $23 bucks in my wallet when I got in line. I needed $28. I tried using my Australian debit card… that didn’t work. She politely said “You can run to the bank and just come back straight to me.”- Yes! That is EXACTLY what I feel like doing. Going to the bank to get out $5 measly bucks so I can come back to this hell hole and pay for my new license from a state that I don’t even live in. Some might say “why bother?” Well, unfortunately some eating and drinking establishments (i.e. restaurants and bars) don’t accept foreign ID and as I’m about to explain, some banks don’t either!

So since I was $5 short, I had to go wait for the bank to open at 9am in order to get cash out. I had to sit there for 25 minutes to get $5. How fun!They didn’t know what to do with my Aussie license, I didn’t bring my passport because I didn’t plan on having to make a trip to the bank that morning and when I showed them my US ID, they couldn’t accept it because it is expired. Duh, that’s why I need the money in the first place! Such a pain in the ass!! Finally I got the cash but seriously, not having my atm/debit card really made things difficult.

With all that said I probably would have been out of there in 15 minutes if I didn’t have to leave, walk to my car, wait at the bank, get money, drive back, park, and wait again to talk to the same lady. Making an appointment REALLY speeds things up. I felt really bad for the other 150 people waiting their turn. I hope they packed their lunches.

Andrew and I have lived here 2 years. In the 2 years, we’ve never ever had a late night noise complaint. I do specify late night because there was one time when we first moved in that I was on an elliptical machine that was making a horrible clunking noise and our downstairs neighbor kindly came up and mentioned that it was a bit loud. That was totally fair and we made sure to keep it down. That was 2 years ago. Since then, not one complaint… ever!

On the flipside, we’ve definitely had OUR fair share of issues with loud/annoying neighbors. Here are just a few I wrote about…

Sex neighbors

Foreign neighbors

But have we complained? No. Did we call and yell at these people? No. We don’t complain because it’s not a regular occurrence. If it were, we might be ruder.

So imagine how annoyed I am when someone actually calls me to complain on a Friday night at 10:40pm. This lady has serious issues!! There were 5 girls in my apartment playing a board game. Not even a loud game, just a simple game. We were laughing and chatting but that’s it. No screaming, no banging, nothing.

The intercom buzzes. WHO on earth could it be at 10:40? So I answer and this is what I hear (paraphrased):

Slutface (in a snotty, snotty tone): “You guys REALLY need to keep it down, you’re really loud and you’re bothering the ENTIRE apartment building.”

Me: “Oh I’m so sorry, I’ll close the balcony door.”

Whorebag (in a troll voice): “Yeah… and keep it down”

Me: “Yeah ok, I’ll close the door” (that was my attempt at passive aggression by reiterating that the only thing I was going to do was close the door. Andrew thought this was TOTALLY weak and  he would have told her off right then and there. )

WTF??? It was 10:40 on a Friday!! Now, while I TOTALLY respect that some people DO have to sleep at 10:40 on a Friday, I hardly think we were keeping the ENTIRE building awake. I also fail to understand why she couldn’t just say “hey guys, sorry to bother you but you guys are really loud- would you mind keeping it down?”

UGH I hate this evil witch and I would LOVE to know who she is so I could give her really dirty looks.

1. Andrew. Feels like I haven’t seen him in forever and it’s only been 5 days! I still have almost 2 weeks before I see him again.

2. TV that doesn’t include the Tru TV station. Don’t get me wrong- I truly enjoy the vast variety of stations here and I’ve been excited to flip through them all over the last few weeks- but why is it that everyone here (i.e. my dad and brother-in-law) ONLY want to watch Tru TV??? I just would like to say that is the worst TV station EVER! “Tru TV, not reality, Actuality.” I’d like to change the slogan to “Tru TV, not reality, just plain SHIT.” Operation Repo is satan’s latest crap contribution to cable TV and I do NOT understand how ANY civilized human being can enjoy that show. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed my fair share of reality shows and pointless TV in the past- but this show has to take the top prize for the worst thing on air. I cannot believe those fat, ghetto, painted-eyebrow scum are probably making WAY more money than me. Why did I go to school again?

For those of you who may not have been blessed enough to see this show yet… here is one of the cast members:

I think I liked her better in her first movie, The Little mermaid:

3. Yoga. I haven’t been in weeks!! Oooh how I miss it. Sure I could go here, but that would involve paying money- and I don’t like paying money for classes. I’d rather vacuum and wash mirrors for free classes! Then I can spend money on other non-essential items like Ugg boots, giant packs of orbitz gum, grape vodka and a pocket pie maker.

That’s all really. I’m happy with everything else here… the weather (finally), the comfy guest bed I’m sleeping in, they gym (for some unknown reason I find the gym here MUCH more tolerable than the one at home), Pei Wei, Panera, cheap brewed ice tea at every restaurant I go to, free refills!!! I just want Andrew back here. Either that or I want bring 3 months worth of Strawberry Poppy seed salad home with me and then just fast forward a few months so I can skip the Sydney winter all together. Oh and if they could open a Pei Wei or Panera in Sydney, that would be awesome. It’s not a far fetched dream- they did after all open up a Counter Burger.

I was at the nail shop getting a pedicure. I was chatting to the lady (well attempting to, her Vietnamese accent was pretty strong) and I mentioned that I moved to Australia.

She asked how long I had been there and I said almost 2 years.

Then she asked the following:

“Where in Australia you move, Toato”?

I couldn’t understand her and so I was trying to think of all the cities in Australia that sounded like what she had just said. But then she cleared it up for me…

“Where in Australia you move, Toronto, Quebec?”

I didn’t even know how to reply at first. I was so amazed. It’s not like I told her I moved to Australia and she asked if  I am living in Vienna (Austria) which at least SOUNDS similar.

So I just replied, “No, I live in Sydney…Australia… not Canada”

Then the woman proceeded to scrub my feet with exfoliating scrub. Everyone knows the heels and balls of the feet are the roughest, so it’s a good thing she spent 2 minutes scrubbing my sensitive arches.

Seriously… what a moron!

No… not you two… I’m talking to the ones upstairs who speak in some language I cannot decipher. I am really getting sick of your late night chats on the balcony. Seriously, I don’t hear you at all during the day or evening but for some reason you must go on to your balcony EVERY single night after 11:00 pm to have your daily 15 minute foreign chat. Oh and I REALLY don’t appreciate the random 1:00 am sessions. Those seriously suck.

It frustrates me that I can’t even eavesdrop and be nosey since I can’t understand you. Where the hell are you from anyways?? It frustrates me even MORE that you keep me awake at night. Don’t you need to sleep too?

Andrew was going to write you a letter once. Even though he USUALLY falls asleep before you start yacking, he really felt bad for me being kept up every night. But I stopped him from putting the note under your door one night at 3am because I didn’t think it was very nice. Here’s what it said in big black sharpie marker:

“SHUT THE F*%K UP”

I thought there must be a nicer way to go about asking you to be quiet, but considering I’ve lived here for over a year and a half and I still don’t think I’ve ever really seen your face, I  don’t exactly feel comfortable approaching you. So instead I just lie there each night waiting patiently for your 15 minutes of annoying chatter to end.

SO since I am afraid of confrontation, I’m REALLY happy that I now get to write this second letter to our OTHER neighbors. I thought I’d run it by you first. Let me know what you think…

-E

*********

Dear Other Mystery Neighbor,

You are wonderful.

When my boyfriend wanted to write a mean note to the yackies upstairs, I stopped him because I didn’t think it was very nice to use the F word. Well, clearly, that’s just something Australians do- or maybe just people in this apartment block. I remember on Halloween one guy in the block yelled “Oi F*%K off kids!!”  to some little teenage punks. That was pretty funny. Maybe that was your husband.

I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate what you did for all of us last night. I could hear you yelling “shut up!” numerous times. I just laid there smiling, comforted knowing that someone else had been feeling my pain all these nights. I always thought I may be the only one who was going crazy from their conversations. But the gabbers upstairs just didn’t hear you. I don’t know why because I certainly heard you, even with my window closed. So I found it thoroughly amusing when you finally screamed in your shrill, angry voice:

“SHUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUPPPPP. You F*%King talk out there EVERY NIGHT!”

Well, I think they finally got the hint because they did shut up and they went inside.

I truly think your message got through to them. Maybe using the F word really is the only way to get things done around these parts! Hopefully tonight we will all sleep a little easier!

Thanks again for taking care of the situation (and thanks to my BF who attempted to take care of the situation 2 weeks ago even though I intercepted his note and threw it in the trash bin).

-E

I am not afraid of the swine flu. It’s the flu. I haven’t gotten any sort of flu in over 6 years and I don’t plan on getting this pig  disease either.

Yet another reason I don’t care to eat swine.

Seriously though, why do people freak out so much? People die of the REGULAR flu every year. Mexican hospitals are clearly not up to par with health standards since they are the only country to report any deaths (for now). But seriously… people get flus every year. No more reason to worry about this particular one, right?

I’ll tell you what I AM afraid of…

This porky virus causing people to freak out like they did with SARS which would therefore cause flights to cancel which would therefore cause problems for Amanda and Stephen when they fly here next week!

I was standing by the bus stop in the city while waiting to meet Natasha and Tracy and I glanced over and saw a REALLY REALLY skinny young pregnant woman. At first I thought “wow, what a cute skinny prego!!” Then I changed my opinion drastically and thought to myself  “actually, not so cute… she looks like a speed freak- way too skinny, jacked up teeth, ghetto clothes.”

THEN, I noticed her 4 kids. Yes, FOUR- not including the one in her belly. The oldest was probably 9. This woman couldn’t have been over 33; however, all the drugs she’s done probably makes her look older. She’s probably 23. Next I happend to glance over at her red-haired  leprechaun husband (he was short)… oh no wait- NOT a husband… neither of them had rings. Ok so maybe they just hocked them to buy more drugs. The 3rd youngest kept calling him daddy- so at least he plays some role in their lives.

Speaking of the children, I felt really bad for the second oldest. (S)he was wearing a bandana and looked baldish which made me think the poor child had some form of cancer. I say (s)he because I’m not really sure if it was a boy or girl. I assumed girl because (s)he was wearing girly cartoon pink socks, but the uniform (s)he was wearing resembled that of her brother’s (who was clearly a boy). Maybe it was just a boy who likes bandanas and pink cartoon socks… ya’ never know! The eldest child (an obvious girl) wasn’t even wearing a uniform. Maybe they can only afford to put 2 of their kids in school? Maybe they picked the two with the most potential- who knows? To be fair, the parents were being very nice to their kids. The 115 lb, 8 month pregnant mom was picking up the baby and playing with him and smiling and cooing. The leprechaun was doing the same. They all seemed really happy. I hear that’s what speed does to you.

Before you start yelling at me for being super critical (and telling me maybe they just aren’t rich and can’t afford nice clothes) I want to reinforce that I do have my reasons for saying these people suck! After about 10 minutes of spying (trying myself to judge whether I was being overly harsh in my assessment), I saw something I’ve never actually seen before in real life… the mom started smoking. I’ve never seen a CLEARLY prego crackwhore smoking a cig in broad daylight on one of the busiest streets in Sydney (or really anywhere else for that matter). I know people do it, but it was just appalling. And she was smoking about 12 inches away from her daughter to whom she was talking during my moments of spying.

Seriously- I’m SO glad I’m not white trash and I feel so bad for the children who are brought into these trashy families.

Oh and finally, on my bus ride home I realized that I would shoot myself if I ever became a bus driver for the sole reason that people pushing those annoying beeping buttons to get off at EVERY stop would drive me INSANE. I was going mad after my 20 minute ride home! There is no way I could listen to that all day. I don’t know how they do it! That has nothing to do with sex in the city… but I thought you all should know!

A US supermarket has refused to inscribe a birthday cake for a toddler named Adolf Hitler.

New Jersey couple Heath and Deborah Campbell wanted to mark their son Adolf Hitler Campbell’s third birthday with a cake from supermarket chain ShopRite.

But the store refused to inscribe the toddler’s cake for the family, who are Holocaust deniers and have swastikas in every room of their house.

“We believe the request … to inscribe a birthday wish to Adolf Hitler is inappropriate,” Lehigh Valley Live News reported a ShopRite spokesperson as saying.

But Adolf’s parents have described the supermarket’s denial as “sad”.

“Other kids get their cake. I get a hard time,” Heath Campbell, 35, said. “It’s not fair to my children.” The chain offered to leave the cake blank for the Campbells to decorate themselves, but the family rejected the offer.

Their two younger daughters also appear likely to cause similar problems down the track.

JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, who is named after notorious Schutzstaffel head Heinrich Himmler, will turn two and one early next year.

ShopRite has already stated they will not make a cake for JoyceLynn.

Fellow supermarket chain Wal-Mart now appears set to create Adolf’s cake.

“Our No. 1 priority in decorating cakes is to serve the customer to the best of our ability,” a Wal-Mart spokesperson said.

The Campbells, who are both unemployed due to alleged disabilities, deny they are damaging their children or setting them up for harassment at school.

“They say, ‘He (Hitler) killed all those people’ … I say, ‘You’re living in the wrong decade. That Hitler’s gone’,” Mr Campbell said.

“Yeah, they [Nazis] were bad people back then but my kids are little — they’re not going to grow up like that.

“Other kids get their cake, I get a hard time.”

SOURCE

I honestly think Americans are becoming the whineyist (yes, that’s a word) bunch of people on earth. People seriously need to get over themselves, live their OWN lives and just stop worrying about the preferences of others.  I give the following examples to back up my statement:

• People whine that their kids say prayers in some schools. Then when they take prayer out of schools, people whine that their kids aren’t allowed to pray.
• People whine that their kids shouldn’t have to say “God” in the pledge of Allegiance.
• Easter Break as I once knew it has been morphed into Spring Break because people whined that Easter isn’t celebrated by all. But isn’t Easter the reason we started having a week holiday in the first place? We don’t celebrate autumn with an “autumn break.” I’m pretty sure if it weren’t for Easter- Spring break wouldnt exist. I could be wrong here… don’t feel the need to start giving me the real definition of spring break… i really don’t care- it’s not the point.
• Schools and work places now have to have holiday parties because people whine about using the word Christmas.
• A Christmas tree was actually taken down at an airport in Seattle because people whined about it. Seriously- since when is a Christmas tree offensive?
• Gay people can’t get married because religious people whine about it.

Now, I must say, I’m not complaining about other religions or anything, but seriously Pepsi even omitted the word “God” from their patriotic can awhile back because people threw a fit! I’m SOOOOO over whiney over-dramatic people. It’s like people got this freedom and they say times are changing and now all they want to do is bitch and moan about every little thing. Honestly, was anyone REALLY REALLY bothered that Pepsi had the pledge of allegiance on it’s can? If so… GET OVER IT!!! Drink Coke in protest! But seriously, just shut the hell up! If Coke started putting the Jewish star on their cans around Hanukkah, I wouldn’t care ONE bit. Seriously… who gives a shit!?!

Sometimes I feel like a high-stress person, but I realize I must be incredibly calm if other people on this earth are getting all hot and bothered about some of the lamest things.

America was obviously originally inhabited by Native Americans and then the Christian English people came over. They had their own views and as new people and religions landed on US soil, the country became more diverse. The problem is, all religions are different, people are different. You can’t please everyone- so instead of dealing with a few whiney people who bitch about the word God being on a Pepsi can, Pepsi chooses to take it off. I bet they lost more sales due to the people they pissed off by changing the pledge!

I bring all this up due to a speech I saw today. It was the Prime Minister of Australia giving a speech apologizing to the Aboriginals of Australia. The speech wasn’t what got to me. It was the fact that not only did the parliament hearing start off with a little blessing… but the blessing was then followed by the full Lord’s Prayer! You know, “Our Father, who art in Heaven…”

It seriously shocked me to see this kind of prayer in a government meeting. Andrew has explained to me that this country was built on Christian beliefs and people know when they come here that they can follow their own religions, but Australia as a nation is Christian. People don’t whine and moan about it because they knew that when they came here and they CHOSE to come here. People don’t  HAVE to come here or to the US. They make a choice. He also said that the government has basically stated to people that English is spoken in Australia so if you want to come here- learn English. In the US, our government is too afraid to call English our official language.

OK, I must point out that I’m not criticizing any religion. Religion actually has nothing to do with my point if you read it clearly enough. It’s just a matter of people bitching and moaning about every tiny thing that doesn’t work exaclty how they want it in THEIR lives. They just don’t care about what anyone else thinks or believes.

I wish people would all live their own lives and stop making such a fuss over such trivial unimportant things. I just want to shake people and tell them to GET OVER IT!!

Ok I’m ready for people and their opinionated comments here telling me I’m being one sided, blah blah. I’m only stating these things because I’ve come to see how different the US and Australia are and it really puts things into perspective for me.

End of Rant.

Today this place seems exceptionally loud. LOUD ASS trucks are driving by every 1-2 minutes. Cars NEVER END. There were some gardeners across the street using their leaf blowers and lawn mowers, 2 ambulances have gone past…. oh… in fact I hear a distant 3rd. The baby downstairs has been crying, earlier some random child was screaming its head off. I can hear hammering and banging every now and then from the construction site down the street and now there are some freaking annoying cicada bugs buzzing non stop. Oh, lets not forget the 18 species of birds that hang out in the trees out front.

Oh here goes another truck… oh and to top it off, there is now some “beep beep beep beep” from another truck that is obviously backing up.

I swear, our window is like a sound vortex. It sucks in ALL possible noise from the street and surrounding areas and it just amplifies a million times. The shitty thing is… we don’t have air conditioning- so unless I want to melt in here, I have to leave the patio door open. Oddly enough- even though the patio lets in all possible noise, it hardly lets in air.

Oh here’s another leaf blower… and a bus.

This is MISERABLE.

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