Friday, January 18, 2008

Sticky Fingers

Here is a glimpse of our sweet, innocent new additions. Cami is the mostly black female with a sincere and abiding love of people food who will stop at nothing to obtain said goodies and Frankie (Ole Blue Eyes) is the striking, standoffish male with the more timid demeanor.


One incident I’ve been meaning to mention is a “little” problem the Circe domicile had last month with a certain ethnic family restaurant. Ok, yes it was a Mexican restaurant. (In Podunkville, the choice of eateries beyond fast food pretty much narrows down to Mexican or Chinese.) Now while it’s true TBC was the intended patsy/chump/sap/dupe and I was not physically present, the lack of any remorse whatsoever when confronted greatly concerned me and I decided the BBB needed to be aware of this establishment’s sticky-fingered workers. Therefore, I filed a complaint. With a few minor changes, here is a close facsimile of the transcript I submitted:


A few weeks ago, in the middle of December, TBC and a relative went to the buffet at this establishment to eat lunch. He has always left a generous cash tip, whether eating from the buffet or ordering from the menu. On this day, the buffet bill came to $15.15 and he paid with his check card. The following week he checked his bank statement via his phone and discovered a $20.00 withdrawal from this establishment. Knowing this was incorrect, he drove to our bank and reported the error only to discover an additional $4.85 added as an unauthorized tip to his bill. Yes, they stole $4.85 by applying it as a tip in addition to the cash tip he had left which would make the tip approximately 50% of the actual bill. He returned to “insert name of guilty eatery” upon learning of this outright theft and after asking to speak to the manager, was told he "had just left." He then informed the waitstaff of the problem at which point the lady spoke in Spanish to the boy who opened the cash register and gave my husband back his money. No apologies, no explanation, no nothing. TBC told his regular waitress that he always left a tip in cash and she replied, "I know you do." I carefully went through our past bank statements to see if this had occurred before and it had not. However, I am concerned that other patrons most likely were ripped off that day and the thievery has been an ongoing unreported problem. I am not sure that the manager is aware of this stealing from what I can only assume originates from his relatives running the cash register. A heartfelt apology would be appreciated…We will no longer be patronizing this local business. Thank you for looking into this matter, etc, etc.

Under “Desired Resolution”, I wrote in part: "A heartfelt apology…was the $4.85 worth losing good customer relations and personal integrity?"


These thieves have not yet responded as this is the message at the bottom of my complaint:


*** We are waiting for the business to respond. They have until January 21, 2008 to respond to this complaint.


I’m not holding my breath for their reply but at least I feel I attempted to right a wrong and warn others because there is no way he was the only goober they tried or succeeded in putting the screws to.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Oh my gosh! I'm scared!!! I got the confirmation email today for Boot Camp. It reads:

LOG BOOK:
You will recieve a log book on the first day of the program...you will be required to fill out this log daily and brig it to class for it to be checked. I am including a half book in this email so you my read the intro to our program, please take the time and read it thourghly, if you have time before the program begin to adjust to this new schedule. ...see attached doc.


Are you kidding!? I have to admit that I sneak chocolate chip cookies!?!?

FREQUENCY:
Our program will be running all 5 days a week (Mon - Fri). if you have opted for the 3-day version you are welcome to pick any 3 days that fit your busy schedule....
Winter Schedule:
This means we will be doing 3 days Inside and 2 days outside. Please remember we have a 40 degree rule...if the temp is under 40 we will be inside.


We will discuss the eating program in detail plus do a sample workout. I suggest to begin doing some physical activity if you do not do some already. The first weeks of the program you are usually quite stiff and sore. I reccommend to start drinking plenty of water. (1/2 your body weight in ounces a day, Example: 160 lbs = 80ounces of water a day)


I pray my already very frequent and intense workouts... are good enough to get me in the starter program!

Things to bring:

Cross training shoes
Water
towel


We expect you to dress approiately...this means no short shorts or tube tops. We are professional and expect the same from students. Please wear spandex shorts under your regular shorts. When we are outside, dress for the weather, wear layers, gloves or whatever you may need to stay warm.


I also have to sign a waiver! I havent read it yet, but i'm sure it gives them the right to yell and scream and hurt us and make us use muscles we didn't know existed. yeah!!! What fun this will be! *kinda sceeered*

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Drop and Give Me 10

Kids! Momma's going to Bootcamp!

*cheerleader jump*

I'm so excited! For the month of February I'll be joining a group of temporarily insane fitness fanatics and going to bootcamp hell. I can't wait to be screamed at and degraded and belittled by my leader! Our leader has trained in Martial Arts for over 20 years and holds a 5th dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a 4th dan black belt in Kito Ryu Jujitsu.

He was the Hand-to-Hand combatives guest instructor for the 101st airborn in Fort Campbel Kentucky, 2nd batalion, was inducted into the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame as most Outstanding Martial Artist and he produced 5 world champions in the Native American World Games.

Sounds fun, doesnt it!??! My sweetie pie Richard bought it for me! Thanks babe!!!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Tricep Tuesday

It’s about time I checked in on the blogosphere so here I be. I thought it might be an auspicious time for the semester gym update. For starters, a female student had beat me to the punch in securing my fav machine but you’ll be proud to know I restrained myself from knocking her block off and reclaiming my rightful place as Queen of the Expensive Treadmill. Instead, I resignedly headed for the alternate fav which is its exact twin but squeakier. No biggie. Tuesday/Thursdays at noon make for entertaining people-watching as a phys ed class is held at that time and a motley bunch of students walk/run on the indoor track for a solid thirty minutes. And since it’s a brand spanking new semester, there are a lot more students frequenting the gym which aids in whiling away the endless hours (ok, minutes) on said machine.

Cast of Characters:

Napoleon Dynamite is a former Wellness Center student worker who bears an uncanny resemblance to that character and I've written about him in a previous post. He’s always at the front of the pack leading the suffering minions and actually, he’s a very nice guy. Just thought I’d mention him again.


Next came the Giggle Twins. This duo consisted of one petite adorable Asian gal and her taller American friend. Her pal must have be quite the comedienne as her little buddy burst into fits of annoying laughter during every lap. The giggle is actually more like a jarring gasp as if she was struggling for breath in a most irritating manner. (Yes, she’s jogging so therefore she very likely is gasping for breath, but I really don’t think that totally explains the racket). Like maybe her buddy reaches over and tries to strangle her every time she made that aggravating noise. I've been mulling this over for some time and I think I'd like turn Asian for a change and display a lovely exotic exterior. “S” swears I cannot pull this feat off but maybe if I dropped a few pounds and got brown contacts and a dark wig it just might work. No?


Then there’s Shelf Ass Gal. Now I don’t mean to sound cruel but just how does one get so grossly out of proportion? I mean, she’s not that large but her butt is massive. I would think the only solution to that perplexing problem would be lipo. Also, the poor dear truly needs to invest in a sports bra as a tremendous amount of boob floppage was going on. Just sayin’.


Another older gal who simply must weigh close to 300 lbs plodded around the perimeter. I heartily applaud her as I know heavier gals have a hard time even showing up at the gym for fear of ridicule, but by golly she enrolled in this class and is making an effort to change her passive habits. Baby steps, ya know? It all begins with baby steps.


And last but far from least, though they were not part of this class, were the Three Amigos strutting around the free weight area like badass Banty roosters. I swear they must have called each other up to coordinate their workout gear as they each sported snug black muscle shirts and humongous black and white athletic shorts that could have held at least one extra guy apiece. Now that is not a lense-searing image I really want to cultivate but it's true. I did a lot of covert eye-rolling watching those three but they must not be newbies to the gym as each sported emerging biceps.


Anywho, this concludes my report on the noon gym crowd and here’s to Tricep Tuesday! :)

Monday, January 14, 2008

British Ways

Lordy, y'all!

Did you see the latest video on Britney Spears!?! She's sporting a new accent. It's really freaky. The girl has gone off the deep end...

It's so sad really.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Speed of Lightning

Baby Z and I went with some friends to the Boat and RV Show this weekend. I fell in love with the Yamaha Waverunner!!!

My dad and I have been looking at boats. We'd like to get out skiing this summer and we've been eyeing a few boats... but then we spotted these! Gosh they are so much fun. I know you can't haul friends out with you and party hard while on the water... but jetting across the lake at 60mph is such a rush! (I see speeding tickets in my future!) I then suggested that maybe we should get a boat designed to haul your little watercraft. We could drive these right up the back of our speed boat! whooohooo what fun!