BAD TASTE? OR STUPIDITY?

"Dutch broadcaster BNN plans to air a television show next week where a terminally ill woman will decide who out of three young patients will get her kidney, Dutch media said on Saturday.

Viewers will be able to advise the 37-year-old woman, known as Lisa, via SMS which of the candidates to pick, the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper said. The show is scheduled for next Friday in a prime-time spot."

Uh - yeah - this sounds like a GREAT idea...

WTF?!?

If I've said it once - I'll say it a million times. Reality TV is for idiots.

Don't be an idiot.

LOSING MY RELIGION

I suppose to say I "lost my religion" implies I had any to begin with. Now I just seem to be losing my patience with religious people.

Oh don't get me wrong - I have lots of church (used in the broad sense) going friends but it's all of those people

OUT THERE

that are driving me batty.

I'm speaking of THOSE PEOPLE that see the virgin Mary in their corn flakes, hear God tell them to kill their sinning neighbors, and join the cult called "scientology".

OK - so really the fact is that I'm completely jealous. I mean, why didn't I think of creating a secret religion that worships an alien tyrant named Xenu? Celebrities think we commoners look upon them with awe because of how rich and/or famous they are. Oh we look, and read the Star, and watch tabloid TV but it is because we can't believe how incredibly STUPID this particular group of people has become.

I mean when one comes into a lot of money and fame do they look at the book Dianetics and think - this is the bible I've been missing! When I become rich and famous perhaps I will look upon "Interview with a Vampire" in a whole new light.

Is Lestat in fact God?

But I do have plans to go to Second Life and create a cat-based religion and get rich that way. I mean come on - those people live in a world of fiction - why NOT worship cats.

How about we all just be nice to each other. That doesn't cost anything but patience and it doesn't insult anyone's intelligence.

And I won't be forced to watch John Revolting - er - Travolta speak of his people anymore.

BOOKMOOCH.COM

If you are like I am - you read a lot. I have some pretty strange taste in books but that is besides my point here. :-)

There are a few sites where you can receive books and give away books - for free! Yea - I said FREE!

One is Bookmooch.com - the site I am registered on. I highly recommend it. The only cost - is the cost for you to ship a book (via media mail) to someone who requests it. All in all a fairly cheap endeavor. There are thousands of members and hundreds of thousands of books to choose from.

So sign up today!



Trade your books at BookMooch.com

THE QUEST FOR A NEW CAMERA

I have this thing about digital cameras... I like to break them. Well, "like to" might be a little strong - perhaps it is a propensity to breakage. Anyhow, I've managed to break two cameras in four months. My S.O. is a little peeved with me and I am beginning to think he won't let me leave the house anymore with one in hand. (Perhaps I should hire one of those courtroom artists to follow me around and draw things for me.)

I had the BEST little digital camera. Yes - the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 - a fantabulous camera. So, since I knew it was a good piece (and had been purchased SO recently that I knew they were still in production) I just wanted to get another one.

In this day and age you'd think getting a camera online is a no-brainer. I googled my beloved camera and received a listing for everyprice.com - one of those sites that does a price comparison of sites offering your selection. I did what a normal consumer does and selected the best price with cheap shipping and ordered away.

This is my experience:

Place order online
Receive confirmation email of said order asking me to call to verify the order (uh - OK)

I call:
Me: I'd like to verify order #blah blah blah
Them: I see you ordered the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01. It only comes with a 16 meg SD card - would you like to purchase an additional card?
Me: No thank you, I already have a 2 gig card
Them: Well the battery life for this camera is only about 30 minutes, would you like to purchase an additional battery?
Me: (First of all since I have one I know that the battery life is much longer but I say) no thank you, I already have an extra battery and charger.
Them: How about a case?
Me: Nope - have one of those too! I really just want the camera.
Them: [slight pause] Oh - I just noticed that this camera is not the US model - it is the Japanese model. The US model is $50 more. Would you like that one?
Me: [I will summarize my less than polite answer to] No thank you - just cancel my order.

Well, I am not to be deterred so I ordered from another site.

And I went through the SAME DAMN THING - TWO MORE TIMES!

So, I did some research cause now I'm just pissed. And I placed my order at Prestige Camera.

Here is what happened:

Place order online

Receive confirmation email of said order asking me to call to verify the order (not this again!)

I (angrily) call:
Me: I'd like to verify order #blah blah blah
Them: I see you ordered the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01. It only comes with a 16 meg SD card - would you like to purchase an additional card?
Me: No thank you, I already have a 2 gig card
Them: Well the battery life for this camera is only about 30 minutes, would you like to purchase an additional battery?
Me: [sigh] No thank you, I already have an extra battery and charger.

Them: How about a case?

Me: Nope - have one of those too! I really just want the camera.

Them: [again with the slight pause] Oh - I just noticed that this camera is not the US model - it is the Japanese model. The US model is $50 more. Would you like that one?

Me: No, I want the one I ordered.
Them: But it is in Japanese - can you read Japanese?
Me: As a matter of fact I can.
Them: Oh...well...OK...we'll send your camera.
Me: Thank you!

Shipment confirmation email received.

4-5 Days later camera received.

Just as I expected. In English.