Septic what?

I grew up in a large city. Their sewer system was built a very long time ago. It never occurred to me that some people had to have a different system to get rid of their waste. Then I met a nice boy who also grew up in a large city but had a country house. I learned about a thing called a septic system. Out in the "country" where there isn't a Stop-n-Go around the corner, there is a big tank where all the poo goes to later be leached into the land (which seems grody to me, but whatever).

Now, come to present time and I live in Austin. And yes, I have a septic system. I find it highly ridiculous that I live in a very urban area and we have no sewer system. Leave it to Austin to not plan for this. Just like our wacko non-freeway system, sewer systems somehow fell to the wayside. So tonight, in the dark, my husband was hanging half-way down our tank hatch trying to fix some wires so it wouldn't overflow. I'm holding the flashlight so he can see and the smell is disgusting. So, thank you Austin for your lack of planning in so many respects. You rock.

SNATCH

Do they play "Austin is wonderful" commercials in California? Why are they all moving here? California is going to be empty soon. 99% of the Californians that I've met that have moved here have been entitled brats. And then they come here and complain. Go home. Go back to your perfect weather, no mosquito, excellent health care, earthquake-having state. Damn you Forbes and every other magazine for putting Austin on your top 5 lists. Please, I'm begging you, stop.

Facebook Snafu

This is the funniest thing I have seen in awhile. From HuffingtonPost.com's Facebook Snafus...

More Posts

Okay, so I started this blog for myself, just to vent. I thought if I put my feelings down in words, it would help occasionally. And it has. But I don't write here nearly enough. So I'm going to start writing more, even if it's not to vent but just to write. So here's to more blogging on my random blog...

Lawsuit Abuse

I don't understand it. We can put a man on the moon. We can help people with HIV live for years. We can invent and maintain this thing called the Internet. But we can't prevent lawsuit abuse. As someone told me recently, "that's one of the great things about America...anyone can sue anyone." Crazy me, but wouldn't that be one of the negative things about our country. I won't go into details (or else my attorney get mad) but I feel cheated. I feel wronged. I don't understand. All I say is that I believe in karma. So there. And occasionally, alcohol makes everything better.

Reality TV

Am I the only person on the Earth that doesn't like reality t.v.? Well, that's not entirely true. I did watch "Tori & Dean" (and got made fun of relentlessly). But I can't stand 99% of these shows. Survivor, The Biggest Loser, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor. I just don't get it. It's so cheesy and silly. But I'm obviously in the minority because they go on and on and on and on...

The Self-Employed

This is my therapy for the day, so here it goes. We rent some commercial spaces to businesses. So far, they are all self-employed individuals with maybe one or two subcontractors that help them. Don't get me wrong, I'm self-employed. It has its positives and negatives, but it works for me. Most of the self-employed people that I've encountered with these rentals should NOT be self-employed. And it's becoming more and more evident as the recession hits Austin. They were barely making it in easy times and here come the hard times. With nobody to tell them to work, they don't. Or they chose very particular times to work (3 hours a day). Why do they not understand that this isn't going to hack it? And paying their landlord rent is apparently not a concern. Or, at the most, at the very bottom of the list. Do you people not understand that this is part of our income, our job? MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO GET A JOB. A 9-5 job with an employer and a paycheck.

Our Kids are Getting Bigger

I am a strong believer in kids getting p.e. in school. Not only do we need to begin to teach kids to NOT sit on the couch all day and eat fast food, but physical education and sports teach so many skills, including discipline, concentration, responsibility and sportsmanship. Parents are obviously not doing their jobs, so once again, we have to try to rely on the schools to do it.

Richard Simmons is trying again to get the FIT Kids bill passed with the No Child Left Behind bill that's being rewritten by Congress in March 2009. You can learn how to write your congressperson Here.

Statistics (we should be ashamed of ourselves!):
3.8 % of elementary schools & 2.1 % of high schools had daily gym class in 2006, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Approximately 15% of teens in the U.S. are overweight.
The rate of overweight children and teens has tripled in the last 20 years.
Research shows that school-based programs can increase physical activity and improve nutrition among students.

You don't need these statistics to tell you what's going on. Look at the kids around your kids' schools or at the mall or at resturants. And then look at their parents.

This is totally off the subject (but involves Richard Simmons), and this is one of the funniest You Tubes I've ever seen: