Life With Frenchie

I logged on today to post a blog about the aggravating drivers I encountered today and found out that I have been pegged as someone who Colleen thought should complete this Crazy 8’s meme:

8 Things I’m Passionate About

1. My daughter
2. My fiance (I love how that sounds!)
3. Finishing my Actuarial Exams
4. Doing good through volunteering
5. Expanding my knowledge
6. Opening my mind to new things
7. TRAVEL
8. Wedding planning for the next 14 months!

8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die

1. Visit every state in America (I cheated off of Colleen)
2. Get over my fear of heights
3. Finish my Actuarial Exams
4. Meet my grandchild(ren)
5. Live in another country
6. Run a marathon
7. Lose weight
8. Take my last breath? (This is harder than I thought!!)

8 Things I Say Often

1. I hate stupid people!
2. MM!!!!!
3. I love you!
4. Hey baby…. (to both MM and EP)
5. GRETCHEN!!!
6. What the f***?
7. Hey Goober (MM)
8. Don’t touch me there!!!

8 Books I’ve Read Recently

1. John Adams by David McCullough
2. ???? - I really haven’t had time to read anything lately! How sad is that? I have started several, including #1 on my list, but have not gotten anywhere near finishing anything..
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over

1. American Pie by Don Maclean
2. Cowboy Take Me Away by Dixie Chicks
3. Mary by Tori Amos
4. Spoiled by Joss Stone
5. ANYTHING by Prince
6. AAARRRGGGHHHH this is impossible!!!!
7.
8.

8 Things That Attract Me to My Best Friends

1. A sense of humor
2. Intelligence
3. Open mindedness
4. Non-judgmental
5. Someone who can tell when I’m being sarcastic
6. Loyalty
7. Fairness
8. Fun seeking

8 People I Think Should Do Crazy 8s

1. Kim
2. I don’t know 7 more people who blog…I could just list 7 others, but they wouldn’t necessarily read this. I need friends.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Okay, now that Colleen has taken up a good 30-minutes of my time, I will have to wait to kavetch about the drivers that ticked me off today! Time to spend some quality time with EP!

Goth who walks fiancée on a leash is banned by bus driver who told him: ‘No dogs allowed’ By CHRIS BROOKE -

Given that she describes herself as a human pet – and is happy to walk around on a lead – Tasha Maltby is used to odd looks and even odder remarks.

But nothing had prepared her for the reaction of the bus driver who allegedly told the self-styled Goth and her boyfriend: “We don’t let freaks and dogs like you on.”

Miss Maltby and her fiance Dani Graves were so angered they have complained to the bus company of being “victimised”.

Going walkies: Dani Graves and girlfriend Tasha Maltby were allegedly barred from a bus

“It is definitely discrimination, almost like a hate crime,” 19-year-old Miss Maltby said yesterday.

The music technology student had this defence of her lifestyle.

“I am a pet, I generally act animal like and I lead a really easy life,” she said.

“I don’t cook or clean and I don’t go anywhere without Dani. It might seem strange but it makes us both happy. It’s my culture and my choice. It isn’t hurting anyone.”

The bus driver, however, has obviously not been listening.

He has repeatedly refused to allow Mr Graves, 25, and his “pet” on to his bus in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

Last month, with Miss Maltby on a leash as usual, the couple tried to board a bus at the bus station.

The driver, who was off duty, was standing near the door.

Mr Graves alleged: “He shoved me off the bus. He called us freaks and he called Tasha a dog.

“He said, ‘We don’t let freaks and dogs like you on’.

“He basically grabbed my T-shirt and slammed me backwards.

“I got a bit angry and called him a fascist pig.”

In a separate incident, police were called when the driver, who has not been named, refused to allow other passengers on board after the couple ignored his orders and sat down.

The couple, who live on benefits in a council house and plan to start a family, have been friends for years.

They started going out together in July and became engaged in November.

Paul Adcock, of bus company Arriva Yorkshire, said: “We take any allegations of discrimination seriously.

“Mr Graves has already contacted us directly and as soon as our investigation has concluded we will inform him of the outcome.”

You can’t go wrong with Olan Mills.

I’m going to have to go searching for my pictures now! Some good stuff!

Wiretaps cut off after FBI lets phone bills pile up

By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press
Published on: 01/11/08
Washington — Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau’s repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.

A Justice Department audit released Thursday blamed the lost connections on the FBI’s lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. In one office alone, unpaid costs for wiretaps from one phone company totaled $66,000.

In at least one case, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation “was halted due to untimely payment,” the audit found. FISA wiretaps are used in the government’s most sensitive and secretive criminal and intelligence investigations and allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies.

“We also found that late payments have resulted in telecommunications carriers actually disconnecting phone lines established to deliver surveillance results to the FBI, resulting in lost evidence,” according to the audit by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine.

More than half of 990 bills to pay for telecommunication surveillance in five unidentified FBI field offices were not paid on time, the report shows.

Assistant FBI Director John Miller said wiretaps were dropped only a few times because of the backed-up billing, which he said didn’t significantly set back the investigations under way. He said the FBI “will not tolerate financial mismanagement, or worse,” and is working to fix the problems.

“While in a few instances, late payment of telephone bills resulted in interruptions of the timely delivery of surveillance results, these interruptions were temporary and in our assessment, none of those cases were significantly affected,” Miller said in a statement Thursday evening.

The report released Thursday was a highly edited version of Fine’s 87-page audit that the FBI deemed too sensitive to be viewed publicly. It focused on what the bureau admitted was an “antiquated” system to track money sent to its 56 field offices nationwide for undercover work. Generally, the money pays for rental cars, leases and surveillance, the audit noted.

The American Civil Liberties Union called on the FBI to release the entire, unedited audit. The group, which has been critical of some of the government’s wiretapping programs, also criticized telecommunication companies that allowed the eavesdropping — as long as they are getting paid.

Wow! This has been just a busy week! I feel like my poor blogs have been neglected. You too, my faithful readers!

It’s been over a week since I’ve posted anything on my blog. Surprisingly enough, not a whole lot has really happened, but you know me - I’m never at a loss for words.

Driving down the road the other day, I was sitting in a bit of traffic. As it’s truly beautiful here in Florida these days, I had my sunroof open and windows down. Motoring along, I hear someone’s radio absolutely blaring! Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t disturb me. It just piqued my interest cause I’m “curious” and wanted to figure out what song was playing (hey, I was stuck in traffic - I was bored!). As the car got closer, I realized that it was Cher…and it was really loud because I could understand it just as clearly as if I were playing the song in my car and this car was 2-3 lanes over. Now my question is: Which is worse - the person playing and rocking out to Cher at maximum volume or me being able to identify which song it was …”Just Like Jesse James”????

Sadly enough, that may have been the highlight of my week. *le sigh* Other than that, I’ve been working and EP was just as busy this week, so we mainly just crossed paths all week long. Hopefully I will have some semblance of a life again soon.

BERLIN (AP) — A man nearly died from alcohol poisoning after quaffing a liter (two pints) of vodka at an airport security check instead of handing it over to comply with new carry-on rules, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred at the Nuremberg airport on Tuesday, where the 64-year-old man was switching planes on his way home to Dresden from a holiday in Egypt.

New airport rules prohibit passengers from carrying larger quantities of liquid onto planes, and he was told at a security check he would have to either throw out the bottle of vodka or pay a fee to have his carry-on bag checked as cargo.

Instead, he chugged the bottle down — and was quickly unable to stand or otherwise function, police said.

A doctor called to the scene determined he had possibly life-threatening alcohol poisoning, and he was sent to a Nuremberg clinic for treatment.

The man, whose name was not released, is expected to be able to complete his journey home in a few days.

(Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

From Craigslist

Knock knock

Oh hi, how’s it going? It’s me! Every girl ever. I’m really looking forward to this date. I’m not nearly as attractive as you remember me being because when we met the bar was dark and you were drunk. Come on in.

Let’s start off with the unavoidable tour of my incredibly typical post-college-girl apartment.

You’ll notice that I went ahead and purchased everything that Ikea and Pier 1 have ever produced. There’s my decorative birdcage over there even though I don’t have a bird, and there’s my gay wicker basket with bamboo poles in it. I don’t know what the hell that’s thing’s all about, but I bought it.

Hey check it out, I have more candles in here than a Roman Catholic Church. Doesn’t it smell like Hazelnut!? If I were to light all of my candles at once you could see my apartment from space! I fucking love candles!

Come on into the living room.

Oh, I see you met my cat there. That’s “Freddy Paws Jr.” Why don’t you pet him and act like you like cats even though you hate cats? There you go. Oh, he took a little swing at your eye there huh? Yeah, he’ll do that. Hey, let’s check out the kitchen.

Hey look at my refrigerator. There are pictures all over it! Look at all these pictures of me and my equally vacuous friends from college! We were so crazy! You can tell we’re really good friends because our faces are all pressed up against each other like that.

And check it out, we’re holding up alcoholic beverages to the camera in every single picture. That’s to prove that we were partying. College was so fun! But of course I don’t talk to any of these girls anymore because now they’re all bitches.

Let’s go back into the hallway!

Hey, before we leave I’m going to go in the bathroom for ten minutes for some mysterious reason. Why don’t you sit awkwardly in my big, stupid, round papizan chair over there while you wait for me. It’s like you’re sitting in a hug! Be right back…

Sorry that took a half an hour, I don’t know what the hell I was doing in there. Let’s go!

Wow! Thanks for opening my car door for me! I’m totally going to blow that meaningless gesture out of proportion and delude myself into thinking that you’re a really good guy because that’s what I want to believe.

Well, here we are at the restaurant. No thanks waiter, I don’t need to see a menu, just bring me some expensive things. Hey I know, while we wait, I’ll tell you all about my unspeakably boring job. I hate my boss. He’s a jerk! I might get another job. Maybe something in pharmaceutical sales.

Now let’s talk about my family. I love my family. I want you to love my family. I want my family to love you. I want you to make love to my family! I want you to go golfing with my semi-retarded brother Travis. That would be so God damned cute!

Wow! I can’t believe I ordered all this food! I have no intention of eating any of it. No thanks waiter, we don’t need a box. Just throw it out.

Hey, I’ve got an idea, let’s go to a bar and have an after dinner drink! It’ll be great, it will be just like how we’re drinking here, only it will be louder and we’ll have to stand up. Come on!

See, isn’t this better? Oh hey, what a coincidence. Look over there! It’s a group of my friends that I knew was going to be here. Let’s go over there so that they can judge you!

Hey, I have to go to the bathroom for a half an hour again for some reason. You can stay here and talk to my unbelievably hideous friend Christine! Christine’s so ugly she scares kids! Talk to her! She has a job and a family that she wants to talk to you about too. Be right back.

I’m back! Sorry I was gone for three hours, there was a line. I want to go home now.

Well here we are at my door again. This was really fun for me and not you. You should pretend like we’re going to do it again sometime! Maybe I’ll see you at Target a few months from now and we can avoid eye contact because you never called me. Here, have this awkward goodnight kiss that’s as empty as my soul. Good night!

With it being 80 degrees and all, it’s sometimes easy to forget that it is actually Christmastime here in Florida. In honor of my favorite holiday, here’s that famous letter, which has become a holiday staple. Enjoy!

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
By Francis P. Church, first published in The New York Sun in 1897

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

I’m not really sure how “legit” this is, but you gotta give the guy an “A” for effort!