BlondeMafia76's World

So, yeah I have been MIA a few days.. There is a GREAT reason for that..

My kids, my wonderful kids... Well they broke the ladder to the trampoline on Thursday, and then set it up leaning it on the trampoline. I, of course, got on the trampoline to jump with them, adn when I went to get off, the ladder collapsed under me and I went down. I am now the proud owner of 2 broken ribs and a strained shoulder.

Yeah, Im just getting over a broken ankle from tripping UP the stairs. Yes folks, I am the original Grace, because I have none.

I can honestly say that I have probably broken one bone of every area in my body.

Cheek, jaw, nose- Check all done in one fell swoop, ending my mil career.

Clavicle- Check

Shoulder- Check

Wrist- Check

Finger- check, many times over

Ribs- Check

Coccyx- Check, yes thats your bahoogie

thought I broke my hip after a 4 wheeler accident, but alas it was only my sciatic nerve...

Knee cap- Check

Tibia- Check

Ankle- Check

and yes Toes, too many to count.

I am a walking disaster. My friends are telling me that I should be wrapped in bubble wrap, like that one snapple commercial... They know me by name at the ER and urgent care.. Its sad, and I should have riders on my insurance, but I dont. I dont know why Aflac hasnt dropped me either.. knock wood.. err particle board...

So... broken bones? Neat Injury Stories? Anyone?

I've decided.. Im telling people I was doping car stunts and crashed... none of this wussy falling down crap...

~BM76~

This was a very heated debate on one of the message boards I belong to, and I wanted to share and get you all's opinion...

Moms Accuse Target Store of Discrimination


posted 4:13 pm Wed June 11, 2008 - FALLS CHURCH, Va.



Several local mothers said they're being discriminated against after a local Target store made it difficult for them to shop with their young children.

The problem is the shopping carts; they are built to be baby friendly, but when a local mom wanted to take a shopping cart into the dressing room, she ran into a roadblock.

Natalie Brooks does all she can to protect her disabled son, Brandon, because she said, "He is vulnerable." At fifteen months, he is just beginning to walk and during a recent trip to the store, a manager blocked her entry. to the fitting room. "I said are you going to discriminate against me with a disabled son, and she said you are not taking that cart in there no matter what you say."

Brooks said she told the manager her son is unable to support himself like other toddlers, and she claimed, the manager responded with unacceptable options.

"I can't hold him and try on clothes [and] I am not putting him on the floor and getting all these nasty germs, or have him fall off the bench," said Brooks.

Customers are welcome to use the carts as long as they don't take them into the fitting room. Stephanie Feeley told ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 reporter, Stephen Tschida that she had to skip trying on clothes when she found out that no shopping carts are allowed in the fitting rooms.

Several employees of the Falls Church Target store said it is official policy to prohibit carts in the fitting rooms for security purposes. But according to a Target spokesperson, the incident "appears to be isolated" and "shopping carts and child holding equipment are permissible in fitting room when required by a parent."

So, Target, I guess issued a statment to the fact that they DO allow carts in the dressing rooms. I checked with my local Target, because I was unsure of this. How is a company allowed to make a blanket statement about all  stores, when local statutes may not allow it? My local Target said, definitely, that they DO NOT allow them as a safety and security concern.

I agree.

Personally, while I feel for the mother, and I feel like she got a bone head manager and sales clerk, she WAS NOT discriminated against. They could have allowed her, given her the human decency to do so, but they didn't have to. They didnt tell her she could not go in with the cart BECAUSE of her son's disability, or BECAUSE of her color, religion, orientation. I am curious to see whether or not she will file a suit against Target... I think that people here are way too qucik to sue, to make a fast buck.

What do you all think?

I can remember watching ABC soaps since.. well forever. My mother got me hooked. I have always said, I was watching in utero. I don't think that in almost 32 years, I have missed very many episodes of my faveorite residents of Pine Vallety, Llandview and Port Charles. (comparitively of course.. there is a new epi, every day) We set the VCR everyday growing up, when there was school and work, and now I have Tivo and SOAPNET!

Why do I love my stories so much? Why do I cry when someone dies tragically, like poor Nash last week? Why do I get SO MAD at the villians like Dorian? I'm happy when good stuff happens, like Tad finding out that Kate was alive.

I think that I feel so much because in part, they have been a part of my life for so very long. They allow a sense of , well, escapism. You get to experience things that normally, you wouldn't. Which is pretty friggin cool. Plus, as I mentioned before.. there is a new epi EVERYDAY. There have been very few times that they have had to re play an epi. (9/11 comes to mind..)They follow what's going on in the world, give it some respect. Work it into the story lines.  I love that about my soaps.

My husband doesn't understand. He never will. And thats ok. I am a tv-aholic, in part due to my job, and in part, because I just am, and a big part is my soaps. Oh well. There are worse things to love. ;)

So.. anyone else out there have to have thier Stories??? Who do you love or love to hate? Fave soap? Mine is GH, love this show. Love or hate spin offs? I hate them... that dang Port Charles was stupid with its vampires and witchy things, and that other new GH is a take on Greys, and its dumb too. How many soapies do we have out there???

John McCain's Sons



Talk about putting what is most valuable where
your mouth is!


Apparently this was not newsworthy enough for
the media to comment about Can either of the other presidential candidates truthfully come close to this? ..

Just a question for each of
us to seek an answer, and not a statement. You see...character is what's shown when the public is not looking.

So I figured I would blog about something that has been on my mind as of late. And more so, because its getting better. But not perfect, and I want to do something about it.

On Christmas Eve, 2005, my husband returned to Ft Stewart Ga from a year long tour in Iraq. Little did I know that on that happy day would start one of the most tumultous times in my life.

My husband was a bradley tank mechanic. And we knew going into Iraq, that it would be dangerous. But the Army was his life back then. He had been active duty when we met, he got out, joined the reserves and then re-joined active duty after Sept 11. He wanted to do his part, and he wanted to go. It was his only tour overseas.

So, off he went, and it started a really weird time for us. It was bad. We both said and did things to each other that were awful. The stress was unbearable at times. But, when it was all said and done, we were together and thats all that mattered.

When he left, his command tried really hard to prepare us for what was to come. For those of us at home, and the guys. They told us that our mechanics would be ok. We lost 5 in the first 3 months. It was a humvee accident, flipped into a canal trying to avoid an IED. It was then that I learned how dangerous my husbands job was.

He was a "dismount" soldier. Meaning, he had to go out and retrieve the broken down vehicles. Where they were blown up at, shot at, etc. It was definitely more dangerous than we had originally thought. Many more missions let my husband see things that he never, ever thought he would. We lost a total of 11 men that year. My husband was part of retrieving them all.

So of course, when he came home, he was a changed man. My usually mild mannered husband drank excessively, and thats putting it mildly, he yelled alot at me, the kids, neighbors, the dog, anyone that could hear him, and he made impromptu decisions that he usually later regretted. I was lost.

I didn't know how to deal. And with him getting back so soon to his ETS date, he didnt have time to assimilate, and he didn't get the counseling he surely needed. And neither did our family in learning how to deal with it.

It wasn't until Spring 2007 that he was finally diagnosed with PTSD. It took a while to get the Dr's right, several that we went thru, and get his medication corrected. He wont see someone to talk to. And although it has gotten better, and thats by Leaps And Bounds, I know he could use people to talk to.

He isnt much for online talking either, I have a great support of a message board I belong to, but he doesn't. And I dont know too many people around here where we live that he can get together with, and just, you know share.

Sometimes things make him return to that dark place. Its scary for him, me and the kids. I know I want to start something, here in Houston, other than the VFW, and the Vet Hospital.... we've tried that route, and there just aren't men his age there. We love what the older ones have to say, but they weren't in the same place. And we have alot to learn from them, but its different, you know?

What I hope to do, maybe thru this blog, is to get a support group going. I know one of the Mom's here, got alot of stuff going for her Autistic Son, and I hope for much of the same. If anyone any of you know, would like to get together, a Men's group, Iraq/Afghanistan/Desert Storm vets, only the combatant for now, please, please let me know. Anyone you all know, would be super helpful.

I hope to eventually start a spouses group as well. But lets get started on the Guys first. You can respond here, and I can email you all later about it. I want to be sure we can secure a place to meet, and get enough ppl who want to participate first. Please, if there is ANYONE you know, in the area, please let them know that we are here, we are interested and we care.

Muchly Appreciated.

~BM76~

So I figured I would blog about some fun stuff too. How about a several time a week (whenever I hear juicy stuff!!) Gossip Selection???

Yehaw baby! I love celeb gossip and belong to several boards so I think this will be fun!

So.. Lindsay Lohan.. Her dad implies that she IS Gay....

Personally, why does her dad feel the need to say anything about this in the first place?? Both of her parents are effed up..

Amy Winehouse.. is supposedly in Russia to get a surgery to "cure" her from her drug addiction.. BLEEP?  A surgery? How about JUST SAY NO.. And has she ever looked any worse???

Peirce Brosnan on vacay with his lovely wife.. But why is it so surprising that he still loves her when she's "plump"???? They look like they are sooo in love, and thats AWESOME. Peirce and Keelye

I wanna be these Ladies when I Grow Up. Beautiful Dames in their 60's

Blind Items.. can you guess who???????

1. Model says Titanic Male star sucks in bed

2. Former First Lady's wild sex life Quote:
From Holy Moly:

HILARIOUS!
A mole has written in about a v. boring awards ceremony they were forced to attend. Anyway, after the grub the guest speaker stood up - none other than Max Clifford. After the usual tales of celebrity this and showbiz that, he left the crowd hanging with the revelation that his "retirement nest-egg", as he put it, is an old video he's got of none other than a former First Lady getting rifled from behind by a middle-aged guy while saying hello to a lady's front-bottom at the same time.
Couldnt really be more obvious who this is. Practically spelled out for you, so no cigar for anyone guessing it.

Lots of stories about her. Apparantly been in a long term relationship with another woman since her college days, but seemingly still likes to swing. As does her impeachably popular husband. Her public anger over his embarrasingly public dalliances were because he got caught, not because it happened.



Source; Digital Spy quoting Holy Moly ******************************************************
** 3. Divorcing husband wants his engagement ring back

So I have been thinking about it, alot lately. Gas Prices. That almost 4 bucks a gallon seems so high.

But in reality, its not.

Think about it folks, its roughly 1 dollar more a gallon than it was this time last year. 1 dollar. 1 dollar equates its self to 22 dollars a fill up (for us truck drivers). if you fill up (roughly) once a week, thats 88 bucks a month. 88 dollars that you could probably save by Not eating out just ONCE a month. Just ONCE. Even if you have to fill up TWICE a week, you can cut the little things like starbucks, designer energy drinks, eating out at lunch time and be ahead of the game.

Sure, its bound to get higher. Its a fact of life. Its gonna happen. As much as we would hate to admit it, our gov't isn't going to be any help aside from helping from taxes in getting that price lower. We can all make little changes to help with this so called "crisis".

People overseas do it, everyday. And they manage. Why can't we? I think we are so used to having it SO GOOD for so long, that its rough for us to have it a little rough. Toughen up people, it's not a dire as you all are makin it out to be.

really quickly, here is the body of the email I sent to Gullo Toyota....

After the horrible customer service that my husband recieved from your dealership on 05/21/08 after receiving a letter in the mail from you, I have decided to let the public know about your deceiving practices. I have also contacted the BBB and Toyota Motor Corp. I am here to tell you that the public is aware of your bait and switch tactics, your shell game antics, and your false advertisments. This type of treatment will no longer be tolterated and I will not rest until the public is made aware of the situation that your dealership imposes. Its very sad that there are very few dealerships who are reputible, ones that we can count on giving us an honest role and that will not give us the run around. (after much haggling the first time with your dealership for 3 whole days, I went up the road to Fred Haas and was off the lot in my new tundra with zero percent financing in 2 hours.)

 You have a choice, behave as your should or continue to run your business in the ground. This is only the start.

http://community.myfoxhouston.com/blogs/BlondeMafia
76

Word will spread. It will get out.

****************************************************
***********

Lets hope that they start taking it seriously.

SO I figured I would update about this ordeal that we went thru...

This morning, bright and early, we recieved a phone call from an outside customer service company asking for out opinion on the dealership and to PLEASE elaborate on the experince!!!!! Needless to say hubby ripped into them and let them have it. Then they had the GALL to ask if we test drove and came off with a new truck! LOLOLOL. I almost pee'd my pants with laughter on that one.

You know we talk about this alot. Especially as the business that I am a part of is customer service. It seems like there are so many business's that do not care as much about it any more, and it isn't any more prevalent than in the car sales arena. The suck you in with a really slick ad featuring awesome deals and when you get there, it's not what it was intended. I dont know about you, but I think that it's DISGUSTING that buying a vehicle has to be an all day affair. What happened to us was classic in the car sales industry, they would have bargained and bargained, but we would have never really got what was advertised. And that's not fair.

With today's economy being what it is, and I know Houston is alot better off than most places, but with it being what it is, you would figure that the goal was to draw people in and make them WANT to purchase with you. Whether its a car, a meal, clothing, whatever, but you would think that people would want to get it right the first time, so that the word would spread, and then in turn more people would want to buy? You would think. But people don't seem to care as much any more. Take flippin burgers at the dairy dip- half the time your order is wrong (did you say no onions, here have extra!!) and when you complain, you get the manager who doesn't give a flip.

Thats how it was at Gullo. NO one cared that we were upset. No one cared that they lied, and no one cared that we told them that we would spread the word. The manager, sure he apologized and said that he would try to make it right, and still hasn't called back. I won't hold my breath waiting for that one. His dealership would have made some real, honest money, and made a customer that would have spread the word. Not so now. And, that my dear readers, is how they roll.

UGH. Come on people out there, lets boycott this treatment by car dealerships, restaurants, clothing stores, bars, etc, and let them know that is DOES matter to us. Let's show the Gullo Toyota's of the world, that they should suffer for treating people poorly. Show them by letters, complaints and by taking our business elsewhere. Places like Fred Haas Toyota, where, BTW, when we bought the white beast after 3 days of haggling, it only took 2 hours. 2 hours. Thats unheard of when buying a car. They were nice, clean, friendly and most of all, cared about what we thought and how we were treated. That matters to me, and it should to you to.

So, let me tell you all a little story of the Rip off artists who could. (not)...

We own a 2006 Toyta Tundra double cab. Its white, with a TRD package and a very nice truck. We bought it, after much hassel with Gullo, at Fred Haas Toyota. (great dealership!!!!!) It looks brand spankin new. My husband, who is a mechanic, takes excellent care of his truck. But, seeing the new Tundras has put a bit of a shine in his eye. They are mean looking and OH SO pretty. Nice trucks. And you know what they say about Toyota's they have such a high resale value, that mileage on them goes alot further than one on say a Ford. They are reliable and nice to look at.

We had been looking at trading in the white beast because he likes the new ones so much better, but have decided to wait until we have cash to put down on what we would be upside down on. Being that we have zero percent financing, it wouldnt be much with 15 months of on time payments going right to the principal amount.

So what in our mail box should appear? But a letter from Gullo. The jist of it was this, they need used vehcles to sell for the memorial day weekend. With the economy the way that it is, they are looking to sell whatever they can, or so we thought. And you know they make more money off of a used car deal than a new car deal. They were offering to buy back our used truck for the MSRP that we paid for it, minus mileage. The letter said it didnt care about damage, just mileage. SO, we figured, there has to be a scam somewhere in this. So, we called and spoke to what we assumed was a manager, who told us what mileage costs were (11 to 55 cents per mile), and let us know that we would not be BS'd when we got there. He also LIED and said that avg useage was around 20 k miles per year, so we figured, heck, we could come off in the same position we are, just with a better truck. It sounded golden.

Cut to the dealership. We live in Huffman, Gullo is a ways away from us, but he drove it. It was going to be worth it. He gets there, they are RUDE beyond belief. No one seems to know about this "promo" that thier dealership was offering. The sales people and the managers SUCK. Finally after a while they take the truck to be appraised.

Get this.. They offer..... 16k dollars. On a truck that they would sell for  AT LEAST 22k. If we had went for the deal, we would be so upside down we'd be paying over 40k for a truck !! The ole bait and switch. They lied about the mileage, as they charged 11k dollars for MILEAGE. ON A TOYOTA.... Those things run for 200 to 300 k miles if you treat them right!!!  After much discussion with the manager and the sales person who scammed him, he hightailed it out of there. Nothing for his time, they acted put off. They could have made money off of the sale of a new Truck, when sales SUCK now, and gotten a sweet used ride out of it, but they have lost a customer for Life. We won't even let them change a tire on that truck, and I will spread the word about what a bunch of CROOKS Gullo Toyota of Conroe is, they are on the map with Landmark, they suck to high heaven, and I advise to never, ever go there. They are terrible!!

Take your business to Fred Haas or any of the other reputable dealerships around Houston. This place BLOWS.

Hm. SO I guess in this day and age its ok to kill a cop. Thats what it seems like to me. This guy, Quintero, gets 3 squares a day, education if he wants it, TV, shelter, clothing, plumbing, medical care, and everything else on OUR dime. Somehow, it doesn't seem fair. He is an illegal, he is getting a life that seems to be better than what he left. It doesn't seem fair. We paid for his defense, and we will pay for his medical care, food, clothing, etc, until the day that he dies of old age or disease. We should only have to pay until the State of Texas puts him to death.

But what can we do? He's here already, committed a crime and was found guilty. I must admit, I was praying for him to get death. Only that seems fair.

Say what you want about proper police procedure, and 1 or 2 or 20 cops per car, the fact is, that this has happened already. I don't think there are ANY mitigating circumstances that merit him getting life rather than death.

I'm so dissapointed in this jury. They should have voted death.

It's a sad sad day in Houston.