Lies & Deception from ABC

In a vain attempt to distance itself from other news stations and re-position itself as a “family” station, ABC news has stooped to fabricating stories for headlines.

As you’ve probably heard, 20/20 recently aired an “in depth” examination of the facts involving the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998. Their new version of the truth leaves out all of the plentiful evidence, including confessions from the murderers, showing the killing was motivated primarily as a ‘hate crime’. A hate crime is defined as . . . “any criminal act or attempted criminal act motivated by hate based on race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and/or mental/physical disability. The perpetrator views victims as lacking full human worth bearing any of those characteristics”.

Numerous parties interviewed by ABC have publicly come out against them for twisting their words thru editing to make it look like some sort of conspiracy. This includes the lead investigator in the case who cited numerous examples during the investigation of how Matthew’s murder was hate motivated and not a simple “robbery gone wrong”.

I normally don’t get on the bandwagon for boycotts etc as I think even closed minded individuals have a right to speak their mind. That said, I draw the line at lies. ABC is trying to change the truth for the sake of ratings. Enough already. How many more of my brothers/sisters do I have to watch die before America wakes up. WE are not a minority any longer and we will no longer be treated like one.

I will strike at ABC the only way I can, by not watching their programs or any affiliated networks. I’ve also emailed ABC expressing my outrage and unconditional opposition to their lies, demanding a public apology. I urge you to do the same. If you can, please donate to the Matthew Shepard Foundation. A small donation of $20.00 can help a lot of people. Think of it as a tax deductible write-off!

Gym Shinnanigans & Revelations

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is not my month! I’ve had more drama in one month than all of the previous months this year. For whatever reason, the fates have decided this is my month of trials. I guess its good for my blog because it gives me something to rant about. (G)

I ended up switching gyms today. Not by choice mind you. I’ve been a Gold’s member for just over 4 years (since I moved to SF). So today, I go in like usual and the desk guy tells me my membership is up and I need to renew. I’m thinking no biggie, I’ll just renew and be done w/it. As you can guess, things didn’t go quite so smoothly. Apparently, the City & County has decided not to renew their corporate plan w/Golds. Not that it should affect me as I’m already a current member right? Wrong! Golds wanted to charge me full price for a new yearly membership! Basically, double what I normally pay to renew. Rather than make a big deal about it, I just politely said, “no thanks, I’ll take my business elsewhere.” So then he says, “well unless you renew right now, you will not be able to work out today.” Didn’t matter that my membership actually expired today. At that point, I wanted to say something rather nasty but held my tongue.

I’ll admit, my sarcasm does get the best of me at times. Today was different. I guess I sort of expected it as this has been the month from hell. I’m a big believer in metaphysical energies, chakras, etc and I’ve just drained my “pool” this month. I have had a lot dumped on my plate lately and I’m fed up w/being upset by problems that are out of my control.

So back to the story, I leave the gym and figure, while I’m out, I’ll shop around. Apprehensively, I checked out 24 Hour Fitness. Five minutes in the door I knew it was a no-go. The energy was all wrong and the sales guy was a bumbling idiot who couldn’t answer one single question w/o looking it up. I’ll leave it at that. There is another gym called Crunch just a few blocks from where I work. I guess you could call it a specialty gym. It’s owned by Ballys and it sort of has a reputation for being pricey. I thought “what the hell, it can’t hurt to check.” Immediately in the door, I got a really good feel from the layout and they had most of the equipment I like. They also have a climbing wall, boxing ring, and quite a few amenities I’m not used too. I thought those might be extra but, it was all included. The sales rep. was personable and knowledgeable. She answered every question w/o having to once look it up or ask someone. She wasn’t pushy and never once tried to strongarm me. That goes a long way in my book. The only thing worse than a pushy salesman is a pushy lawyer. *shivers* I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, I joined Crunch. You’d be right. What you haven’t guessed is how well I made out. The sales rep. and I struck up a great conversation and I discovered she is looking into becoming a Paramedic as well. We had a long talk about my work and I gave her some advice on what to do. She ended up bending over backwards to get me a really great rate; even better than the original quote. In the end, I got the membership for a steal! Some might say it was my Karma coming back to me for not being nasty to the Manager at Golds. Who am I to disagree. (G)

I guess the point of all this ramble is simple. The older I get the more I realize, there are times in life when we are faced w/tasks or problems that can be very demoralizing. It is how we respond to these problems that define our character and well being. You can try to control every aspect of your life and go absolutely mad doing it. Or, you can realize that no matter what you do, sometimes shit happens. You just have to brace yourself, roll up your sleeves, and slough thru it. All the while, remembering who you are and what you hope to accomplish.

Ok, I’m done now. I don’t about you but, I feel MUCH better! (big grin)

Stuffing & Trimmings

Happy Turkey Day to those who celebrate it. Hope it was enjoyable for you. Overall, mine was good. I was a little sad this morning. I missed waking up next to my ex. He loves to cook and always made a big feast on Turkey Day. Ok, I’ll admit it, I miss him. I considered calling him but I thought that might come across wrong so didn’t.

I spent the day w/a bud from work and he put out a really good feast. I got to meet his new bf and his roommate. I also got to meet his roommate’s very handsome brother alas, he was straight. It was only 7 people total so it made for a nice intimate evening.

Anyway, I’m just home from the festivities, my belly is full, my eyes are blurry and I’ll probably call it an early night. Gobble Gobble!

Missed Blogs & Rants

Ever find an article you’re just dying to blog about and forget where you found it later? I do it all the time! I get so annoyed w/myself too. I’ll see something from work or while I’m out and about and think to myself “I’m gonna blog about that”. Course, I never write it down. I’m like “I’ll remember it this time” . . . NOT!

True to form, I had two great articles I stumbled across over the weekend I wanted to write about. Can’t find’em and don’t even remember where I saw them now.

DSL

They finally fixed the DSL this morning. Five full days AFTER it was supposed to be on. After all the pissing/moaning I did they could only give me a $10.00 credit on my bill. Puh-lease! If anyone is getting high speed internet, I highly recommend cable vs dsl. Faster speeds, easier to setup, and less drama anytime there is a problem. I’m definitely switching when my contract is up now that I have a choice again.

Frustration�

First off, my DSL is STILL down. SBC can go @#$%! themselves for all I care. If its not up tomorrow, I’m canceling and going w/Comcast, fee or no fee. The service is active but I keep getting the run-a-round as to why its not working. Its either their server or server connection…blah blah blah. I just want my freaking DSL working already. I’m like an addict w/o his drugs here….

On a depressing note, looks like I’ll be moving AGAIN. Yes, you read it right, AGAIN! As if I didn’t have enough drama in my life right now. This past thur/fri, I moved my stuff into the new place. Along the way, I encounted a few problems.

Problem #1:
The U-haul truck breaks down and has to be towed back to the yard. As luck would have it, it was half full so I got to reload it onto a new truck. [1]Oh the joy! The saving grace to all the drama w/the truck is I ended up not paying a dime. At least I got a small silver lining on this cloud.

Problem #2:
I finally get to the new place and the owner isn’t out yet. He was supposed to be out the first week of November. Here it is the 13th and he is still dragging his feet. Not unsurmountable but still annoying.

Problem #3: (and yes, I saved the best for last)
He leaves a lease agreement on the table for me to “look over” and sign. After moving my stuff in all day, I finally take a look at it and discover out of nowhere, he wants 3 months worth of rent up front. Basically, first months rent and then 2 more months as a deposit.

Now let me clarify at this point, HE came to me asking if I wanted to move into his place so he’d have someone he trusted in the house. He actually bent over backwards to make the offer appealing enough to me so I’d actually move. (The house is in the ‘burbs of SF and I like being in the center of the city) At no time does he ever discuss a deposit. It was all discussed as a verbal agreement between friends. Frankly, I wasn’t ready to move. I had given the idea some thought w/the breakup and all but hadn’t made any serious plans. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind paying a deposit or signing a lease but, 3 MONTHS! Thats fucking ridiculous. So after several arguments (I use the term “argument” loosely at this point) the deal is off and I’m looking for yet another place. I’m so annoyed I think I could really just snap if someone pushes me this week. I’ll probably end up here for at least 2 months while I save up money and search for a place. And just in time for Christmas. Merry fucking Christmas!

At this point, I’ve had some time to calm down. I should mention there have been some bright spots in my week as well. The ex is out of course. He moved in w/his best friend so at least that’s over. I discovered an old collection account from Cingular has been removed from my credit. Apparently, Cingular lost a class action law suit over unfair business practices and improperly charging customers. Score one for the little guys!

On a completely unrelated note, I made a casual date w/this hottie I often see at the gym. (No no drama fans, I’m not rushing into anything. Just a casual date for fun.) So maybe next week well go a little better! Hope springs eternal….

References

References
↑1 Oh the joy!

Moving & Separation

Well, I’ve been busier than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest this past week so haven’t been posting much lately. I had all these great rants I wanted to squeeze in but now I’ve misplaced/forgotten half of them.

I mentioned a few blogs back that I was moving. Well, today was the day. I am finished w/the first day of the move. I’m about mid way thru it and I don’t mind telling you I am tuckered out. I’ve been moving/packing all freaking day and I’m soooo over it. (g) I’m still torn about the move itself. I’m gonna be saving buttloads of cash but I really hate not being in the heart of the city. That said, I need to recoup from my financial losses this past year. (Yes, taking care of shithead was a big part of it) Not to mention, I plan to start paramedic training in the Spring or Fall. First and foremost though, I plan to be debt free by summertime. I don’t have that much debt in the scope of things. However, I’m tired of it constantly being over my head.

Since I mentioned Shithead, I guess I should give you the update on him as well. Surprisingly, he (my ex) came back from Palm Springs and didn’t put up a fight at all about me asking him to move out. As expected, he is moving-in with his best friend. He also helped out quite a bit getting ready for the move. Of course, the fact that I’m letting him store ALL his stuff at my new place for free until he gets back on his feet might have something to do with it. Everyone says I’m being too nice to him after the way he has wronged me. Try as I might, I just can’t be cruel in return. I was mistreated for so much of my childhood that I can’t or better yet, I won’t inflict that sort of torment on someone I care about. Make no mistake, I have no illusions that we’ll ever be together again. That said, I find that I’m still very much in love with him.

Tomorrow is the last day we will spend together and I just know I’m gonna be all blubbery about it. Being a typical Aquarian I’m loyal to the bitter end I guess.