Killer is going to KILL me..

Here's my lovely little doggie Killer. When we first saw him, he was barely 6 weeks old and belonged to someone else. Lucas, his original name, all 5 inches of him or so were soooo adorable. Awwwweeeeee. "What kind of doggie is he? A Miniture Pincher. "Really? Full breed? Does he have any sibilings? Any others like him for sale?" No? Awwwwwwweeeee. Shame. Fastforward 3 months. Lucas is back at my front door. This time his owner has a question. "Listen, we can't keep the dog, blah, blah, blah, would you like to buy him from me?" Ahh,sure. Deal. I got the doggie, I got the doggie! His name is now KILLER!! Went out got a book, got the dog to the vet, made it a comfty home. Aweeee,soooo cute,so cuddly.

Shortly thereafter, as with most marraiges, the love affair began to change. While Killer (my little escape artist) is still the love of our household, the 3 or so times he has managed to escape has found us wondering for hours, knocking on doors (cause we NEED him home) even though it turns out he is quite a untiring, high-jumping, yappie lil doggie. And while he does indeed make a great watch dog(Yes, really, better than any alarm you'll ever have), he is also a bundle of yap. And he does not give up! If he wants attention or has a desire to be let in the house. He will, for as long as you allow him to, jump up against the glass doors barking until you give in!! No amount of "Killer, hush, be quiet." will suffice. He is worst than any baby I ever raised!

I will admit at first I thought it was cute. "Ohhhh look. He can jump really high! Oh my and he is so determined to get what he wants. Sooo cute". But cute has now become annoying. I love my Killer, I really do. And I want him around a long, long time. Yet, all the yapping is driving me nuts....poor Killer, he doesn't even know he's making me insane.

I guess I just have to laugh...and keep on shhhhh-ushing my lil doggie Killer...what else can I do?

Do people seriously believe they can get things for practically free?

Seriously folks, I am a bargain hunter and seller,but some people border on the ridiculous for what they will bid on a item. They really think they can get something that is worth $100 or more for like $10???? In what world?

I put out some pretty serious bargains that not only save time, gas and money, but are also QUALITY! And still, it seems as though some bidders might just bid to bid knowing they have no intention of following through. As I say this, I can almost hear some of you saying, yah...but it gets the auction going and so it does but what doesn't happen is a realistic bid on the item.
I mean think about it, if I am telling you in my posting the approximate retail value of a lot where all items are NWOT/NWT and THEN I tell you that my SMALL reserve is less than half, would it not stand to reason a .99 bid is not going to suffice on a bid worth $100.00??

Drives me crazy. Makes me wonder if with E-bay taking half the profits I make this is all worth it. Buyers MUST think there is alot of profit margain on something that is worth lots and they get for pennies. I don't understand.
Anyone else?

Bee Crazzzzzzzzzzzzy!

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz...Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...I had begun to notice bees buzzing around our yard one day. Not just one either. Day by day....more and more and more bees kept appearing and I kept voicing my fear that maybe they were nesting somewhere near. Nearly a year passed and all the while, noone did anything about the bees. Bees came and bees went. Where were they hiding??? Bzzzzzzzz...bzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Swat, swat! Goodness. What a problem! But as passage along side the house became more and more impossible to do, it became very obvious we had a serious bee problem. Little did we know HOW MUCH of a problem we had. $500.00 and some serious honey collecting later, we knew the bees were more than trouble, they could have been deadly! Now the bees are gone but we have some great pictures to show and a story to tell! Check it out.

Did you ever see so much honey? The bee keeper took at least 2 coolers full of honey and we kept one. From that one we gave some away and kept some for ourselves. My kids were thrilled. REAL HONEY!! Imagine that?

Drives me crazy

There are some things that drive me crazy! Things like nasty public restrooms, especially in really nice places, rudeness, speed traps come to mind at the moment...

But let me just start with nasty public restrooms. Particularily in restaurants. And I don't mean just my local restaurants either. I spend a lot of time and money eating out, sometimes in different cities and states. Happens to be one of my favorite things to do. I love to be waited on, served and then the best part, I don't have to clean up a thing. So when I go out to wine and dine, I do a lot of observing about the place, it's staff, service, cleaniness and most important of all, the restroom. I think a restaurant can be measured not only by the way they treat their clientele but also by the way they keep the restroom. Let's face it folks, if the restroom is nasty, imagine the kitchen? I have been in many a place where you obviously don't have to visit the restroom to know it can't be good in the kitchen. Especially if you have ever had the occassion to observe how some of the servers DO NOT wash their hands after they use the facilities!!! These are the places, I've either walked out of before I sit down to order or given no choice because I have already been served or have eaten (gag), I stick it out but clearly make a mental note not to return. Then there are the places you figure, the restroom won't be a surprise, but oh my goodness! you were wrong. The place looks like a million, the servers treat you like royalty, the foods seems to be tasty and then you go to the restroom only to be disappointed once again by it's condition or lack of. THIS DRIVES ME CRAZY! Grosses me out.

I can honestly say that in all my years of eating out, there aren't many restuarants whose restrooms standards are very, very, very poor and very, very scary if you ask me. Someone is not doing their job for sure. I think the health department needs to take a closer look at some of these restrooms and their condition.

On the other hand, I will say that there are some restaurants (very few) that strive for excellence even in the restroom! Bravo! I wish there were more of them, don't you?

More of what drives me crazy..

Not being able to understand all of the fast moving technology behind getting an e-commerce business up and running to building a website is very frustrating indeed. Mama Mia! The jumble mumble in my head is almost incomprehensible. Someone help. I want to place ads, I want to make money, I want to see and be seen. But how, oh how? Are you asking yourself that question over and over again like me? Are you stressing about your investment and not being able to corner the market?

Well, check it out someone turned me on to this awesome site. They help you build a niche online! What a relief! Finally a place with some answers. And to boot they can help you make money as well. This is one of the best things I have ever been told about. So good in fact, I decided I couldn't keep it to myself. It also turns out to be one less thing to make me crazy.

What do you mean it's included in...

the bill?? Ever have gratuity tacked to the end of your food bill?? Especially after bad service?? Makes you feel ripped off. It's another one of those things that drive me absolutely crazy.......

Being forced to tip for bad service and or attitude. Yah, yah, yah. I know. Not everyone tips as they should even if they get it right. But when you automatically force me to pay a tip I feel the server did not deserve you also force me to think differently about your place of buisness. At least in my book. Especially if I am being forced to pay anywhere between 18% to 20% of my total bill.

I'm a big tipper, but I think a tip needs to be earned. And I just love when I get an ambitious server. A server who knows that well beyond the "obligatory" gratuity I must already pay, I can be suckered into leaving a larger tip if I am treated right. A server who is smart enough to realize the better he is the more he makes. Not so hard, right? Ha. I beg to differ.

See I think most restaurants who tack on this "obligatory" tipping is doing themselves a dis-service. They are encouraging their own employees to become complacent. At the end of the day, they know, no matter how they represent their employer, they will be getting a tip. So really, who cares? Shame, shame, shame. In their attempt to cover their employees, some restaurants have forgotten their most valuable asset. Their customer.

Anyone else??

Anyone else thinks it sucks when...

you go out to dinner for the service more than for the food and the service ends up sucking? I do. This got me thinking that if I could get some feedback on this subject. Especially since tonight turned out to be one of those "server sucked royally" nights. Seems the very popular "Chili's" chain out did their regular bad service this evening by offering even worst service served by one very rude waiter. Please let me explain.

Service started out bad so I guess it could not have gone any other way. It started when the server saw it fit to snatch the menu out of my son's hand before he was done with his order. It was followed by food that was brought out slowly, coldly and in intervals so that we were unable to begin our meal at the same time. Looking for the waiter to help didn't work out too well either as it seemed once he took our order we were "out of sight and out of mind". Finally finished with our "less than good" food, we catch him long enough to ask for the check only to watch him dash off to take care of the newer customers for the next 15 minutes or so. Still we wait. But after 20 minutes of "patience" we ask another server to please remind him. Nothing. Not a thing. Not even a sighting of our server! Ok. We know, we'll find him. We do and once again, my son asks him to bring the bill. Another 5 minutes or more. Nothing! Again. But then he finally reappears near enough to our table that I am able to ask for the bill AGAIN. His response? "Did you ask for the bill or him (looking at my son)?" "Are you kidding?" What difference does it make?" At this point, I mention to him that I was about to get the manager to which his response was "Go ahead. You want me to get him?" The nerve. That's it. I let him have it. I told him about how rude he had been and how bad his service had been. To which he had very little response other than "Ok. Should I call my manager?

"Ha! No. No, of course not. Can you just get me my change so I can leave? and with that he did and I did something I've never done....NO TIP! Maybe next time he won't be so rude and aim for better service. But from what I can tell from my last few "Chili's" visits, that isn't going to happen any time soon. Bad service with a bad attitude seems to be a motto for this chain. There seems to be an attitude of "ohhh well" in the air with their managers and servers. One thing I do know though is that I won't be back anytime soon to any of their locations. What ya'll think and this and other bad service?

Nail Salon Nightmares

After nearly 5 years of having artificial nails on...I took them off nearly a month ago. And even though it's been ugly and even painful at times, I am glad I'm getting my own nails back. Having been around town and trying out all kinds of salons has been such a nightmare! I don't know about you girls but I've not been able to get a good tech to do my nails in a very long time. Neither it seems has my best friend which is why she also took them off. My mom took them off too! Seems their experiences lately have been a nightmare too. From poor work to the free fungus some salons hand out, it is scary.

At best what I've learned about most of these salons is that it is foolish to expect to get quality work even if you are paying a decent amount of money for their services. Not only is the work shoody and last less than the expected 2 weeks, it is also EXPENSIVE! I know for a pink and white manicure, the cost is for a full set is upwards of $45 and refills start at $30. A regular pedi is $20 without a french manicure, $25 with, plus tips! $$$Total bill = upwards of $75.00$$$!

It's not just frustrating, it's crazy! I really don't mind paying, what I mind is the bad work and attitude. I came to dislike nail salons so much, I went back to doing my own mani and pedi's as I said. If I'm going to put my hard earned money into something and not get the results I expect, then I rather put it in my pocket and not someone elses.

My hope is that some salon owners will read this and if they wonder why their traffic is dying down lately, if it's due to state of the economy, they need to know it is also due to the state of customers who are sick and tired of being ripped off!