Retail etiquette. . .or lack therof

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MEN!

Men stick in my craw today. Why is it they say they can't find anything, then when you look, it's behind the first thing in the cupboard, fridge or closet? It's like they don't want to move anything! My husband closes the bathroom door to brush his teeth, but leaves it wide open when he pees. I have to yell at him to close the door - I do not want to see that when I unknowingly walk by! And when they are sick, it's like it's the end of the world and we have to cater to every whim and need of theirs. But when we get sick, we are all on our own with no sympathy and wondering where dinner is? Where is the clean laundry? Picking up things - why do they just leave things around the house and you have to nag at them to pick up, then they get mad at you for nagging them. Another thing that sticks in my craw is when I leave one thing in the sink, planning on putting it in the dishwasher later. When I go back, there is a pile of dishes. Not mine. Instead of putting mine and his in the dishwasher, he leaves them all for me. He loves milk - a little too much if you ask me. He will put his glass in the sink or on the counter, but only when I ask him will he put some water in the bottom of the glass to get that hard milk circle out that the dishwasher never seems to clean. And rinsing dishes off before putting in the dishwasher - good lord, man, it takes a few seconds. Laundry - I have to ask him to bring the basket downstairs. Does he ever do laundry? Once in a while, but that is left to me, as is the dishwasher, washing any pots/pans that don't go into the dishwasher, cleaning the litter box and getting trash and recycling together for pickup. Yesterday, I got ALL the recycling together into the garage. What does he do? He rolls out two garbage cans, then leisurely leans against his truck and watches me lug 10 boxes of recycling up to the curb. If I say anything, I am nagging him. I GIVE UP. MEN SUCK!

Put Back Unwanted Items!

I work for a discount retailer part time. Not one day goes by where someone will either not want an item and just drop it on a shelf or throw it on the floor. If you decide you do not want something, either give it to a cashier or floor salesperson or put it back in the proper place! It's gross to find frozen or refrigerated items on a shelf. We have to throw it out! And since it's a dollar store, do you really have to steal an item? I mean, really, it's $1 (or less). Finding empty packages is sad. If you need it that bad, I will buy it for you for chrissakes!!! Don't open a package to see what's inside, then leave it open. Please close it. And don't fill a cart with items, then leave the cart filled so that we have to put it all back. BUY what you put in the cart, you fucking numbnuts. Parents - don't let your kids run rampant through the store, bouncing balls off the walls or ceiling or playing with toys you are not going to buy them. We are not babysitters. And teens, don't put on hats and walk through the store, then put the hats back. What if you had lice, sores or other head/hair problems? I personally would not buy a hat from any store unless I personally unpacked and stocked it. YOU ARE GROSS!! And be nice to the cashier - stay off your smartphone, it's rude. We don't get paid a lot and we still smile and make sure you found everything you were looking for. Smile back and thank us! Have a Happy New Year!

New Craigslist Scam Using Google Voice

I have some things up for sale on Craigslist. One listing is almost 500 books of all genres, fiction and non-fiction, from the late 1800s up to fairly current. I get a text from 603-664-4032: "Hi, wanna buy ur Almost 500 books for sale - all kinds URGENTLY. can i call you now?"

I do a google search on the number, it's in New Hampshire, and came up with nothing, so I told them to call me. I wait. Suddenly I get a call from a Washington, D.C. number, 202-455-8888. I answer and a female recorded voice asks me to input a 2-digit code to connect. WTF?

I get a text from this person saying it's him and to punch in 50 so we can talk. Supposedly it's a Google phone because his cell phone is dead. I respond, then why are you able to text from this 603 number if your cell phone is dead. He insists I answer the "google" call. I finally replied with "Go to netcrimes.net. That's me. If this is not a scam, then you can call me from the 603 number u r texting me from."

No answer.

Frelling scammers.

BTW, I did call back the 202 area code number and it's a poorly recorded message claiming it's a Google exchange. I wonder if Google knows about this?

Have a giggle and call that number yourself.

Here's a great resource on what to do if you DO fall for the scam and your number is stolen by these scammers

UPDATE!!!! This just sent to me via email dated 1/29/2017:

Craigslist Scammers Stick In My Craw

I sell and buy on Craigslist when I can. The majority of people are honest and nice people - some I have become friends with in real life. But then you have the lowlife scammers trying to take advantage of those who are trying to make some money on things they are trying to sell. I am going to expose a bunch of them here. If you are sensitive to foul language, read and look no further. I am going to show you screen shots of scammers and how they tried to scam me, then I will list all of their cell phone numbers and how to report them to their cell phone providers. For those who provided a link to a scamming web site, I will show you how to report those as well. Are you ready to fight back against these scamming scum of the earth? YES!!!! In the comments, list any cell phone numbers you have received scam texts from and I can show you how to report them.

Number one below: Cell phone number "707-736-7415" - put the phone number in quotes as shown into your favorite search engine (I use Google) and view the results. It took a few clicks on the links in the results, but I eventually found out this phone number was coming from Pacwest.com. Clicked on their Contact link and got the email address, abusepw@pacwest.com. I sent them a complaint with the phone number, explained they were Craigslist scammers and I had a screen shot if they wanted it. Web site URL do.am resolved to an email address of abuse@computbyte.vg - I use http://www.whois.com/ and put the web site URL in their search box to get the results. I sent them an email with the full web link that was sent to my cell phone and also offered a screen shot if they wanted it. Most of the time, I do not get a reply, but every once in a while, they do respond and let me know if they have taken care of it. The more you can report these bastards, the better.

Number two below: "406-763-7597" This cell phone number belongs to Qwest Corporation, which is owned by Century Link. Centurylink.com, clicked on Contact Us, found nothing. Went back to their main page, clicked on Privacy at the bottom and sure enough, an Abuse email address was shown on the righthand side of the screen - abuse@CenturyLinkservices.net

Number three below: "231-828-9751" comes from Frontier North, Inc in Michigan, https://frontier.com. I couldn't find any email addresses to report scams, so I put frontier.com in the WHOIS search engine at whois.com and got an email address, abuse@web.com, as well as hostmaster@frontiernet.net

Number four below: "779-216-5658" Peerless Network of Illinois, peerlessnetwork.com, had to do a WHOIS search (or could have filled out the Contact Us form, but email is faster) and got abuse@enom.com and whois@peerlessnetwork.com, as you can see he was having fun with me, claiming NOT to be a scammer.

Number five below: "424-274-6431", Bandwidth.com Clec, Llc - Ca, bandwidth.com, clicked on Contact, If you are not a customer, decided not to fill out the form and click on Law Enforcement link and got an email address, legal@bandwidth.com, also did a WHOIS search and got an email address of dnorken@bandwidth.com. As you can see, this scammer had a wonderful story to tell me. I told him what you see and to visit my web site, netcrimes.net. Didn't hear back from him, LOL.

Number six below: "617-684-5914", Allegiance Telecom Massachusetts, part of XO Communications, www.xo.com, there is a customer support form you can fill out, but I dug some more and under their Legal and Privacy link I finally found privacy@xo.com

Number seven below: "207-517-9081", hmm, this is in Maine, where I live, but aha, they tried to get me to click on the scam link, which was located on the web site goo.gl. Did a WHOIS search on that site and it came back to Google, but I suspected something was up with that. Typed in the whole address and it came to do.am - remember that web site from the first example? AHA! abuse@computbyte.vg. Now the phone number. Bandwidth.com in Maine. legal@bandwidth.com and dnorken@bandwidth.com.

Number eight below: "410-934-7720", Verizon in Maryland, verizon.com,couldn't find any way to report the scam and went with the default abuse@verizon.com, the web site was clan.su, which WHOIS showed an email address of admin@compubyte.vg. Are you seeing a pattern with some of these companies harboring scammers?

Number 10 below: "914-502-9774" which comes from Level 3 Communications, level3.com, customercare@level3.com. As you can see, this scammer was a bit different.

Number 11 below: "518-977-5945", Barr Tell Usa, Inc., barrtell.com, support@barrtell.com

Number 12 below: "818-533-1381", Well, this was a very interesting one. The number traced back to someone called The Exotic Muffin (also an escort service), but eventually found they were using Verizon, abuse@verizon.net

Number 13 below: "757-504-1292", Omnipoint Communications, which I found out merged with Voicestream Wireless, which became T-Mobile, t-mobile.com, privacy@t-mobile.com

Number 14 below: This is a twofer - "818-584-3721" and "818-584-3723" traced back to Pacific Bell which is owned by AT&T, abuse@att.net, the web site was do.am, our good old friend, reported to legal@bandwidth.com and dnorken@bandwidth.com

Number 15 below: "443-266-6738" Global Crossing Local Services in Maryland which is now owned by Level 3 Communications, level3.com, customercare@level3.com

Number 16 below: "602-904-8942" Cellco Partnership dba Verizon Wireless, abuse@verizon.net

Number 17 below: "210-399-2556" Level 3 Communications, level3.com, customercare@level3.com

Number 18 below: AT&T, abuse@att.net

Don't forget to add any numbers you received that you feel are a scam number from Craigslist. Post a screen shot if you can. Happy hunting!

What a bitching Monday

Haven't posted in just over year. Not because there is nothing that sticks in my craw, it's just that real life intrudes yet again.

I'll try to make it up to you.

Let's start with a photo.

This happened about a month ago. We go shopping here once every week or so. It's a nice local store where everyone knows your name (yes, really) and my dog. If I don't bring the dog with me, they get upset.

I have a BMW. I have mentioned this before. But I am not one of those Beemer assholes, like the one above. An older vehicle than mine, not the greatest of shape and they felt they had to take up almost three spaces for their "precious baby."

This is when I love web sits like You Park Like An Asshole. Check out their Facebook page as well. They even have a business card you can print up and put under the windshield wiper if you want to. Have at it:

Some people like to take asshole parkers into their own hands. Check this out at Collegehumor.com.

Ooooooh, Imgur.com has some good photos, too.

Even Reddit.com has jumped on the bandwagon. Check them out.

Now you can say thank you to me. I hope to post more things that stick in my craw soon. In the meantime, waste your afternoon checking out all the above links.

You're welcome.

Why does Facebook suck so much yet we still use it?

Because they are the best communication for many online users. I, for one, use it to stay in touch with friends and family and colleagues from around the world. But many things about Facebook stick in my craw - here are my TOP 10 - what are yours? 1) Why are there people on my Friends list I never approved as friends? I suddenly found five new friends I never asked to be friends with, nor did they send me friend requests. 2) Why am I being forced to install Messenger on my smartphone so that I can see any messages? Why take up space on my smartphone, Facebook? YOU SUCK. 3) Headline recently: "Facebook says page calling for death to Jews doesn't violate 'community standards'." Really? This is total bullshit. Facebook takes forever to respond to people who report forged profiles, harassing profiles, pages, and groups (like this one), but jumps on any profile that is made for a pet. I guess Mark Zuckerber must hate animals and love spammers, scammers, stalkers and other criminals. They also suck working with law enforcement, dragging their feet when subpoenaed for subscriber information, leaving victims vulnerable to more online (and offline) attacks. YOU SUCK FACEBOOK! 4) As for those pet profiles, Facebook is blind to the FACT that the pet owners who create those profiles are much more active on Facebook than regular users. They play more games, post more links, and even shop on Facebook. My dog has a profile and it hurts me to see her furry friends getting their accounts deleted all the time. This is so frelling stupid. 5) I hate the ads in the newsfeed where Facebook puts a "post" from a group, page or other profile that a friend has "liked," but I do not have anything to do with it. Then when I click on it to stop seeing the stupid posts, Facebook wants to know why. Because if I wanted to see something like that, I am adult enough to find it on my own. STOP SPAMMING MY NEWSFEED FACEBOOK! 6) Fake profiles abound on Facebook. I manage several groups that I had to put in CLOSED mode because so many of them were joining the group, then either spamming it with junk ads and links or sending me private messages trying to tell me they were in love with me. I reported all of these and Facebook sent back the notice that there was nothing wrong with those profiles. REALLY? You can't tell by the very little info on their profile and the obviously stolen photo, lack of friends and lack of posts that they aren't even a real person? I guess everyone at Facebook is just plain stupid. 7) Why, when I login, does Facebook insist on showing me Top Stories when I automatically go and change it back to Most Recent? There should be a way to set that so that I don't have to redo it every frelling time I log in! 8) I used to be able to go to the lists I'd made of friends to see just what those lists were posting. Now it's nearly impossible to do it, so I gave up. Why give that option if you're making it so damned hard to use? 9) For new users, why does Facebook make all the defaults "Everyone" instead of just "Friends?" Because THEY SUCK. When I do presentations, I have to show people how to change their settings - they usually have no clue there info, posts and photos are there for anyone on Facebook to see. 10) The same goes with the public search - did you know that if you don't dig through your account settings and uncheck the appropriate box that a screenshot of your profile, including whatever photo, posts and info are on there are available on any search engine results for ANYONE ONLINE WORLDWIDE to see? They don't need to be on Facebook. Do an ego search of your name and see what's out there about you (and not just including Facebook). You may be shocked. When you do the search, put your full name in quotes, such as "Anne Doyle" so that it refines the search. Otherwise you will get results for all the Annes, Doyles and Anne Doyles. You can refine it even further and put your name in quotes, then +Dover (or whatever city or state you live in). So Facebook, wise up. Kids and teens are flocking away from your web site because you suck. Pretty soon, us adults will find another site that doesn't infringe on our privacy, cares about its users and takes complaints about forged profiles, harassment and stalking seriously. I predict Facebook will be the next Myspace - floundering around trying to regroup while the rest of the Internet moves on and up. What are the things that stick in YOUR craw about Facebook? Let me know.

Yeah, Yeah, It's Been A Long Time, But I'm Here To Bitch

I hate when people invade my space when I'm in the checkout line or at the cash register. Do you REALLY have to stand so close that I can feel you breathe on me? This has happened a lot lately, now that the Massholes and other tourist assholes are in town. They have no manners whatsoever. I want to kick their asses sometimes. But I just smile sweetly and wish them a good day. Is parking really that hard? I've come out of a store to find that someone has parked thisclose to the drivers side door and I've had to get into my own frelling car on the passenger side. I need to get some of those "You park like an asshole" cards to leave on windshields. I also love the people who park in two spots for their precious vehicle. If it's so frelling precious, leave it at home and drive a rent a wreck, moron. Then there are the people who insist on parking right next to my car even though there are so many other empty spots (and I am not talking parking near the entrance - I like two walk when the weather is nice and tend to park towards the end). Then you have to park so close, YOU give ME a dirty look when you parked there after me. REALLY?!? I also love the people who have to sit next to me even though there are plenty of empty seats. Then they glare at me when I get up and move. F - U. And I still love the assholes who feel they have to play road games with me in my Beemer. Folks, it's not a race car. It's a nice car because I take care of it. It's a 1999, but some of you just HAVE to pass me on the right or left, then get in front of me and slow wayyyyyyy down, forcing me to get in the left lane to pass you. Then you do it again. Then I get pissed off, step on it and leave you in the dust. Do not piss off a Beemer owner. Just sayin'. Another thing I just love is pulling into the parking lot of our local grocery store, Hannaford, and finding that there is a vehicle coming at me on the WRONG side. I actually just stopped my car and waited for them to get on the correct side. The asshole gave me the finger, like I was at fault and wouldn't budge. So I pulled into the empty spot right there and waved and smiled at him sweetly. He did not like that. In the USA, you drive on the RIGHT side of the road and on the RIGHT side of the lane in the parking lot. Do NOT make your own lane by driving down the middle, forcing me to swerve, or insisting on getting on my side or I will sit and wait until you correct yourself. Or I'll just piss you off. So there. I'm done with my bitching for today. What sticks in your craw?

Miscellany Things That Stick In My Craw

People behind me at the grocery checkout who get mad because I'm talking with the cashier annoy the hell out of me. I like to talk to the cashier because I know most of them and while we're waiting for my credit card to be approved and the receipt to print, why not chat? Haters gonna hate. When I purposely park my car under the shade of a tree for my dog and it's at the other end of the parking lot, do you really have to park right next to me where there is no shade? When the light turns green, it means GO, not wait for a color you prefer. Giving me the finger when I let someone out of their driveway as a nice gesture on my part is only going to make me go the speed limit. And not one mile over it. If I'm at my local bar, I do not want to hear you very loudly complain, bitch and whine. Shut up and drink. If you are a dog owner and you have a poop bag, don't pick up the poop with the bag, then leave the bag on the sidewalk. Man up and carry it home to put in your trash! If you can't control your off-leash dog with your voice, it should be on a leash. There is a reason my dog (who is on a leash) doesn't like bigger dogs - she got nipped by one, so when your mastiff or german shepherd comes bounding up, she plasters herself to my legs because she is scared. Control your dog, dammit, or I'm going to kick yours! If I have coupons and one isn't working right, don't make loud fussy noises while the cashier tries to fix it. You won't make it work any faster with your rudeness. Please stop playing with me when I am driving on the highway. If you slow down, I will pass you in the left lane. That is not a cue for you to speed up, pass me, get in front of me and slow down again. I drive a BMW. I will blow you out of the water, you asshat.

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Things That Stick in my Craw: People in General

What is it with people? Good lord. I went to put gas in my car yesterday at Cumberland Farms. There are four pumps, two on each side. One car was in the middle of the two and a van was pulled up so that I couldn't reach my gas tank. He just stared at me. Then when I swiped my card upside down, the cashier inside demanded I come inside and prepay. I went in and asked him to reset it and explained I swiped the card the wrong way. He told me I had to prepay with him. I asked him again and said if he would not, then I would go elsewhere. He reset it. I went back out and the van was gone, so I pulled up to the end so that another car could fit in behind me. At least I was polite enough to do that. At the grocery store, I'm pulling slowly out of my parking space and was pretty much out of the space when this huge SUV came roaring up, beeped angrily at me and the driver gave me the finger. Yeah, right, speeding in the parking lot is always a good idea. A couple of weeks ago, a friend from Massachusetts brought her nephew to visit me. I took them to Short Sands Beach to enjoy the video games and such at Funorama, then had lunch at the Goldenrod. As we walked out and around the building, four teenage girls looked at me, what I was wearing and began whispering and giggling, then I heard them say something about me being a tourist. I was wearing turquoise shorts and a tank top. WTF? I deliberately stopped, turned and glared at them. I almost said something, decided not to, but as we walked away I said to my friend very loudly, "Teen girls can be so damned mean these days." She agreed with me. If I'm pushing my grocery cart on the right side of the aisle and you see me coming, don't switch from the left to the right side and force me to go around you. Please don't suddenly stop in the middle of the grocery aisle, then get mad at me when I politely say, "Excuse me." We went to a thrift shop the other day and my husband was looking at something when a woman stood right next to him. He tried to ignore her, then instead of saying "Excuse me" to him, she actually pushed him out of the way and hmphed at him. Then when we left, she was in my way. I said "Exuse me" and she gave me the dirtiest look. He told me he was ready to punch her. If I have coupons, don't start bitching if you're behind me in line. Go to another cash register, asshat. That's all for now.....

Things That Stick In My Craw - Tourists Part Deux

It's tourist season again in our lovely small coastal Maine town. Which means the Massholes, New York Nitwits, Connectitits and Canadiasses are back.

I know tourism drives our town, but do you all have to be such asshats?

If I'm running in the morning with my dog, single file, is it really that hard for the two or three of you to go to single file to let us pass? Of course it is! Force us into the road, which is busy with cars so that we almost get hit several times.

If you're in a road race and running alone, don't take up the whole frelling sidewalk and give me dirty looks because I'm NOT in the road race. Share the sidewalk, you moron.

When our local grocery store puts out sawhorses in front where it already clearly has "NO PARKING" in giant letters, it does NOT mean, park in front of those sawhorses and wait for your lazy ass wife while she shops.

The same goes with parking sideways in two handicap spots when you don't even have a handicap sticker/placard. If your child in his karate uniform can't walk to where you can legitimately park, then you need to put a special helmet on his head and put him on the short bus and get a real handicap sticker.

Don't pull out of your parking spot and then start driving on the wrong side, straight at me, then give me the finger. I can't help it if you got your drivers license in a Cracker Jack box.

When I go to my local stores and the employees who know me say hello (and are genuinely happy to see a local they know) or high five me and we wink or giggle, don't give me a dirty look - or them, either. Yes, we love you're here spending your money in our town, but we have this secret "handshake" that we can't wait for you to leave.

Stop throwing your garbage on the side of the road. Is it really that hard to wait until you get back to your hotel/motel or rental and throw it in the trash? I am SICK of picking up your trash in my yard.

If you stop me to ask for directions and I honestly don't know where you're asking about, don't get ticked off at me and claim I'm just not telling you because you're a tourist. Next time I see you, I'll direct you to get on 95 north and tell you to stop when they start speaking French.

If you're polite to me, I will bend over backwards to help you get to where you want to go - I've pulled my iPhone out of my armband to do a search in Maps for people. All I ask is for a sincere "thank you."

My dog is a Siberian Husky. She is NOT a wolf (good lord, people, she's only 35 pounds, wolves are MUCH bigger and illegal to own as a pet). If your child is afraid of dogs, don't wave me off the sidewalk in anger. You should seriously take the kid to a psychiatrist and find out what the problem is. What are they going to do when they get older and encounter dogs? You can't shelter them forever. Besides, my dog in on a leash, in full control of me. I don't want your brat's dirty hands on her, anyway.

If, however, you ask nicely if you and your kids can pet her, I don't mind. She is an edu-dog (she goes to schools with me to talk to students about cyberbullying), so she gets petted by many kids at once. But do ask first!

Well, I'm glad I got that all off my chest. Have a good 4th of July and don't be asshats!

Things That Stick In My Craw - More Driving Complaints

I swear my Beemer has a "screw with me" bumper sticker that I can't see. My husband is amazed how we travel in my car and how many drivers literally screw with me. Yes, I own a BMW. Get over it.

Going to Portsmouth, NH last week and on the highway. I was in the middle lane and the guy in front of me was going slower than the speed limit. I put on my blinker, moved into the left lane to pass him and what does he do? Speeds up.

Okay.

So I get back behind him and he slows down again.

I said the "F" word, got into the left lane and as this idiot sped up, I stepped on the gas and flew by him. My hubby gave him the finger. I got in front of him and slowed down (no, not to screw with him) set cruise control to a bit over the speed limit.

He rode my bumper for a bit, but finally backed off and went back to his plodding pace.

If you're going slower then the speed limit, please get in the righthand lane.

Pulled into the parking lot at Petco, turned to find a parking spot and a car is coming right at me - on my side. They swerved and actually gave me a dirty look. WTF?

Another time, I pulled into a parking spot at the grocery store at the same time as someone pulled in opposite me. I put my car in park and they were giving me a nasty look, like I was supposed to back out and let them pull through? Hello?

Last night we were in our Jeep (an '84 CJ7) and were pulling into the library parking lot when a small car came flying at us. Parking lots are supposed to be 5 MPH or so (you should go that slow in case someone pulls out of a spot without looking). This guy was going at least 30 MPH - no kidding! My husband had to swerve to avoid getting hit and the guy driving the other car gave *us* the finger. My husband had half a mind to put the Jeep in reverse and run the idiot down. I wouldn't let him.

This morning I was at a stoplight. There was a new BMW M5 convertible in the lane next to me. When I pulled up, he insisted on pulling up a bit more to be ahead of me. At a red light. Ohhhhhh. I'm scared now.

The light turned green and as we both turned in our lanes, he stepped on the gas and took off. Like I'm gonna race him. He ended up taking a left pretty much less than 100 feet from the turn and as I passed him, I yelled, "I'm so impressed."

Why do most people who drive act like such morons? There certainly is no shortage of them on the roads. And why do insist on picking on people who drive Beemers or expensive cars? My car looks new, but it's a 1999, so please folks, find someone else to pick on.

Look! There's a Ferrari, go chase it.

Things That Stick In My Craw - A Little of This, A Little of That

Just general ranting and raving today.

I was in the parking lot of a store, sitting in my parked car, talking to my hubby on my cell phone. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a car headed straight for me. Horizontally. Across empty parking spaces, not in the road behind me. I said to my hubby, "Some old lady is going to hit me!"

At the last minute, she stopped. Not even a foot from my drivers side door. I couldn't believe it. She backed up and corrected her path into the road. WTF?

This is why older folks need to have their drivers test every year once they reach 65. I'm just sayin'.

I purchased a great deal from Groupon.com (if you haven't checked out the site, DO!) I got 3 movie rentals from Redbox (a kiosk at most grocery stores) for just $1 and bought 3 of those so that I got 9 rentals for just $3. Such a deal!

Printed up the first three codes to use while we were out shopping yesterday. Went to rent Despicable Me, put the code in, everything was a-okay and "your DVD is being vended" appeared on the screen. We waited. There were some grinding sounds in the machine. Hubby and I looked at each other. That was not a good sound. It was almost like the DVD was being shredded, not being vended. Waited some more. Still grinding sounds. I called the 1-800 number for Redbox and while on the phone with the guy, the screen suddenly went blank, then an error message that the kiosk was shutting down. So the guy apologized and said he'd email me a new code to replace the one I'd used. Cool!

Went to another store closer to home, put in the second code in. Invalid promo code. Okayyyyy. Redid it and used the third code. Again, Invalid promo code. By this time, I was frustrated and we went home.

Called Redbox and the girl listened to my story and checked my account and said a new code *had* been generated for the one where the DVD never came out, but the guy never emailed it to me. She then typed in the two codes I'd tried to use and she said they came up as valid. WTF?

She told me to just delete those codes and she'd issue me three new ones and emailed them to me while I was on the phone with her. Bless her heart. I got the codes and used one today to rent Megamind. No grinding noises, no error messages. Phew!

Today I went to our local Rite Aid. I'd gotten a promotional email that I could get 30 4x6 color prints for just $3 if I ordered them online, then pick them up in the store. Such a deal! Then I got a coupon for $1 off of two Butterfinger Snackrs, which were on sale for two for $1 at Rite Aid. Hey, you can't beat free, right?

Ordered the prints on the Rite Aid web site. Total there came to $5.70, but I knew they'd replace that with the $3 coupon I had. Or so I thought.

I went to Rite Aid, grabbed two of the Snackrs, then went to the photo register. A girl came and got my envelope of photos and I showed her the coupon. She said she'd take me at the register.

As she went to scan in the envelope, I tried to explain that I had the coupon and it was $3 for the 30 prints, not the price on the envelope, $5.70. She ignored me, scanned the two Snackrz, scanned the coupon so that they were free, then scanned in the $3 coupon and charged me $3 more. She actually told me $9.85 (15 cents tax). I mean, hello? You *did* go to school and pass basic math, didn't you? No, I didn't say that out loud.

I calmly pointed at the coupon and said the prints should have been $3.00, not $5.70, which is why it added $3.00 to the total. She looked totally confused, went to the store manager and came back to tell me it was $3.00 *off* - I said that would mean they would lose money (only 30 cents, but hey). She said no, it was $3.00 off. Okayyyyy.

So she voided the whole transaction and started over. Scanned in the envelope, $5.70, gave me $3.00 off of that, scanned in one Snackrs, looked at the coupon for that and said, "Oh, it's $1.00 off of two of them, so I'll just scan the one."

And promptly charged me 88 cents, then announced I owed her $3.76 instead of the $3.15 it should have been.

I'll break this down for you (and I hate math):

$3.00 for the prints
15 cents tax for the prints
0 for the snackrs
equals $3.15

Instead, she charged me:
$2.70 for the prints
15 cents tax
88 cents for the snackers
equals $3.76

At this point, I was ready to blow up. I just paid the frelling $3.76 and left.

Things That Stick In My Craw - Traveling...Yes, Again

Just got back from a trip where I had to fly from Boston. Which meant I had to take the bus from my area to Logan Airport. I had a prepaid ticket for the bus, so when I got to the station, I asked the guy taking tickets if I had to go inside for anything. I told him I had one bag that I wanted to go in the luggage area. He told me I was all set. So I got in line to have the lady put my bag in and she told me I'd have to go inside to get a tag for the terminal I was flying out of. There was a long line. So I got on the bus with one bag under the seat in front of me and the other on my lap. Not a comfy ride.

Got to the airport. My first flight was on Jetblue. I couldn't get a seat assignment when I checked in - they said they'd give me one at the gate. Okey dokey. Went to gate and handed clerk my ticket for a seat assignment. She told me I'd have to wait until they began boarding. Okey dokey. So some guy goes up and she gives him a seat assignment. What the heck? I stood behind him and she looked at me like she'd never seen me before. Gave me seat assignment.

In the meantime, this guy who was short and in a business suit and looked like a mobster starts bitching about how we should be boarding, yadda yadda yadda.

We finally board and guess who I get to sit next to? Yep, Mr. Bitch. Oh, but it gets better - I'm in the middle seat and on my other side is a woman with a toddler who is going to sit on her lap. The plane was full, or I would have asked to move.

Honestly, I think all parents need to pay for a seat for their child and bring a car seat so that the child is safely buckled in (and can't kick the seat in front of them or cause mayhem).

So, as passengers are boarding the plane, Mr. Bitch, on my left, is complaining *loudly* about how the flight was late, how many people does this plane hold? Etc, etc. I tried to make him laugh by saying it was like one of those clown cars at the circus. He didn't get the joke.

So the flight attendant comes up just as the door was closed on the plane and apologizes to Mr. Bitch for the delay and says he could make it up to him by giving him alcohol. This is at 830 in the morning. So Mr. Bitch gets two little bottles of vodka and OJ. What about me having to put up with Mr. Bitch? Nada! Pfft.

Plane takes off. Toddler starts kicking seat in front of him. Mother does nothing. I plugged my headphones into the armrest to watch TV (thank God Jetblue has that). Toddler keeps looking at me trying to get my attention. I ignore toddler. Toddler hangs on top of seat in front of him. Mother does nothing.

Mr. Bitch is watching TV, so he's not bothering me...yet.

Mr. Bitch gets up to stretch. I take the opportunity to go to the restroom. Get back to my seat. Flight attendant brings two more bottles of vodka and an OJ to Mr. Bitch. Seriously? Is it really a good idea to get this guy drunk?

Mr. Bitch begins talking to me, very drunkenly. About his back, surgeries on his back, how much he is in pain and the alcohol is helping it....

Toddler unplugs my headphones from armrest. I calmly plug them back in. This is a new game for him. He unplugs them again. I plug in. The third time, I leave them unplugged. No apologies from the mother. Toddler begins kicking seat in front of him again.

I'm in airplane hell.

Mr. Bitch tells me how his mother is in assisted living, hates it there, that his brother stole the business from his mother, millions of dollars involved, yadda yadda yadda. Apparently, she was quite the businesswoman and had a haute couture fashion store in Washington, D.C. Her name is Harriet Kassman. Look her up. The son took over the store, closed the couture side and made it a wedding store, put his mom in assisted living. Now Mr. Bitch is going to a lawyer to sue the brother. I think he just wants the money.

Finally, the plane lands. I can't get off fast enough.

My next flight is better - no one sitting next to me. But because of high winds, it is as bumpy as hell and I end up gripping the armrests and gritting my teeth. I need a drink.

Land at the airport, which was the size of the one on the TV show "Wings," if you remember that. One gate for departures, one for arrivals. One airline flies in and out of there.

Called hotel for courtesy van. Comes a half hour later. Ramada Inn. Cheap. Room is clean but everything in it is old and worn out. The tiles in the shower are either bulging out or in. Doors are scarred, missing parts. Tub had someone else's pubic hair in it. Ewwwwwwww.

Checked email, then went down to the bar to have some wine and order dinner. Smoking is still allowed in the bar. Wow. Also has separate room with lottery/keno machines. Ended up talking to some of the locals. One guy who won $300 in the gambling room bought me a drink. Woohoo!

Went back to my room, slept. Woke up at 130 in the morning. Either next door or across the hall is having a very LOUD party. Find my earplugs, go back to sleep. In the morning at 630 am, I wake and turn TV up LOUD. Bastards.

Went to the conference, did my thing. I was told I'd get a check that day. Mortgage is due. No check - it's "in the mail." Great. Like I'm not stressed enough as it is.

Lady who drove me back to my hotel was a maniac driver. I literally was pressing my foot on the floor as a brake. I was glad to be back at the hotel.

Went to the bar again for dinner. It was very good. No complaints.

Next morning, go to take my vitamins. I mix in my lorazepam with the vitamins on purpose. I take it only if I am super stressed or the airplane ride is bad. The maid went through my things. I had four lorazepam. Now there were only two. Bitch. No tip for you!

Have breakfast, van to the airport, get on plane. Woman is sitting in my seat. I politely tell her. She gives me a dirty look, huffs and moves. No one next to me, thank goodness. But a man decides that because no one is next to me, it's okay to put his bag under the seat next to me. Geesuz.

Get off plane to head to shuttle to my gate. Woman in front of me stops dead and I almost run into her. What is wrong with people? I go around her and she moves her bag so that I hit it, then gives me a dirty look. Right back at ya!

Get on connecting flight. Window seat. No one in the middle. Nice, quiet flight.

Landed, waiting to get off plane and run like hell to bus stop so that I don't miss the bus (and have to wait an hour for the next one). Family two rows up stand in the aisle. Apparently, their adorable girl threw up on the seat. The mother presses the call button and asks for napkins. They're handed to her. Father wipes off girl and seat and asks for more napkins. By this time, the front of the plane is empty. Instead of moving out of the aisle and into the front of the seats where his daughter was so that the rest of us can get off the plane, he stays put.

I finally say, "I hate to be rude, but I have a bus to catch. Can you please move?" And I was being nice.

Dirty looks from mom and dad. Tough shit. But they move.

I run like hell. Make it to bus stop. Bus hasn't come yet. Yay!

Get on bus. Watch "Taxi" on the screen they have on the bus. They also have free headphones, water and newspapers. I like this bus. And whatever happened to Randall Carver from "Taxi?" He was the odd one out. Found him at http://randallcarver.com/. Wow. He didn't age well.

Finally home. I hate traveling. And stupid people. And rude people.

Things That Stick In My Craw - Parents With Heads In The Sand

It really saddens me when I go to give a talk about online safety for kids to parents and not one parent shows up. When talking with school personnel, it's mainly because some parents just don't care what their kids do online or they're afraid to find out what their kids are doing online.

The Internet is not going away, folks. Neither is cyberbullying or social networking sites like Facebook, or webcam sites like ooVoo, Skype, Tinychat and other sites kids and teens use like Formspring, Tumblr, Twitter, Myspace and Youtube.

Here's a clue for you parents: You need to know what your kids are doing online! If you say no to them getting a Facebook account because you don't have one, I can bet you they will open one up anyway. So meet in the middle and the two of you open your own accounts up and be your first mutual friends. If you don't want them to have an account because you feel they are too young for one yet, explain that to them and make a deal of some sort. Something like if they bring their grades up, do chores around the house, etc, you will consider letting them get an account. Technically, Facebook only allows kids 13 and older online, but because they don't make the kids verify their age or identity, many younger kids (some as young as 8, yes, 8) have Facebook accounts now.

You're the parent - act like one! As long as your child lives under your roof and you're paying for the Internet service and their cell phone, you have every right to see what they are doing online and on their cell phone. Make them give you the password to any accounts they have online, but don't be over vigilant and look over their shoulder or check their computer every time they log off. Give them some space, but do check once in a while to see what they're doing online.

As far as their cell phones, make sure they know they cannot delete any texts sent/received until you see them. If they do, then take the phone away from them or get monitoring software (I'll give you links in a minute).

Encourage your kids to come to YOU for help if they encounter something online or via their cell phone that makes them feel uncomfortable. Whether it's what turns out to be SPAM, a stranger trying to get them to reply or send them info/photos, or just someone trying to pick a fight, DO NOT freak out and make them feel like they are responsible for what they come to you with.

It is NOT their fault.

They did NOTHING wrong.

Show them you understand that and I can bet they will continue to come to you for help with anything else.

LISTEN to them and I mean REALLY listen.

If you don't understand what they're talking about, ask them to show you or explain it.

LEARN what they are doing online - ask them to show you how ooVoo, Tinychat, Formspring, or wherever they hang out, works.

Kids like to show off what they know - let them!

As far as Facebook goes, if you see a post or photo you don't approve of, don't tell at them and again, don't freak out. Suggest they change what they posted. If it's a photo, find a photo that's comparable but one you approve of and ask them to substitute with the one you like better.

It all comes down to meeting in the middle, folks.

As I wrote before, the Internet isn't going away anytime soon.

Learn to live with it. Learn what you're kids are doing online. And for heaven's sake, if your school or community offers you a FREE chance to have an expert like me come teach you how to keep your kids safer online, then make the time to come to the talk. We're not all a bunch of bores. And you just might learn something.

For info on monitoring/filtering software and more, go to:

WHO@-KTD Resources Page

Things That Stick in My Craw: Snooty People

I hate it when I go somewhere and someone thinks they are better than I am. Case in point: My sister and her husband came to visit last summer. We live in a touristy town, so we took her to the beach area where there are a lot of restaurants and bars. We know most of the owners of these places. We hit our fave sushi bar first for a drink, then went across the way to a new restaurant we'd heard raves about. It was up on the second floor of an old hotel that had been refurbished. As we walked up a beautiful set of wood stairs, we marveled at the wonderful work that had been done. We asked if we could sit out on the deck. No problem.

So we sat, laughed, talked and waited for a waiter. And waited. My hubby went to the outside bar and asked the bartender if we could get a waiter. We waited some more. The specials men, which was photocopied and nothing fancy, had my sister and I making paper airplanes and flying them off the deck. We giggled. We were having fun. The waiter finally came and took our drink orders. We asked for a menu. We had planned on having appetizers there, then dinner somewhere else.

The next thing we know another waiter came to our table with menus. We asked where our waiter was. We were told he asked to switch. My sister asked if she could smoke on the deck (it was outside). She was told she had to go downstairs and outside. Hmmmm. We waited some more for our drinks.

The hostess closed the sliding doors to the deck. I know we were not that loud. We *were* having fun and laughing. I didn't know that was against the law. She then kept looking out at us giving us dirty looks. There were hardly any tables inside with customers.

My sister and my hubby went downstairs to have a smoke. While they were down there, I heard my sister loudly say to someone how the smoke was coming right up on the deck, so why couldn't she smoke from up there? She had a point. Our drinks finally came, the waiter wouldn't even smile at my brother in law and me and I had had it. I admit, I went on a bit of a vocal rampage. I told the waiter I had never been treated so rudely, the place was pretentious and that we were not regular tourists - we lived here year round and I was going to make sure I told everyone I knew in town (and I know a lot of folks) how horrible this place was. I informed him we had planned on eating something, but I wouldn't touch the place again with a ten foot pole. He asked if I wanted to speak to the manager. I told him to forget it, give us our bill and we were leaving.

By the end of my tirade, my hubby and sister had returned and both knew it takes a lot to piss me off, so this was serious. I had my brother in law pay, because the waiter practically threw the bill on our table, then I stormed out of the place, my sister and hubby trailing behind, loudly saying I'd never come back to this restaurant again.

We ended up eating at a place next to the sushi restaurant and the owner there had no problem with us smoking outside. We told him what had happened and he told us he'd heard nothing but complaints about the restaurant we'd been in.

Why is it that some people assume they are better than you or me? I hate when people presume and point their nose in the air and act like they are better than me. You know what? You're not. You're a sad little person. At least I'm happy with what I have.

So there.

So, who has ticked you off?

Things That Stick In My Craw - Tourists

I know I live in a tourist town. For those that don't understand - we live near the beach in southern Maine and from Memorial Day through Labor Day it's tourist hell here.

My husband grumbles a lot, but most of his clients are tourists with summer places up here, so he tries not to complain too much.

Me, I'm complaining.

Yesterday, I was at the beach with my dog, resting in between runs. A car with Massachusetts plates pulls up. "We were going to ask you where (a certain restaurant) is, but we see it now," one of the four women in the car said.

I laughed and pointed at the restaurant, literally about 20 feet from us.

So, lady, why did you still pull over?

I hate it when I'm in the middle of running with my dog and someone flags me down for directions. I hate to be rude, so I always stop, but it gets me mad. The two of us get into this rhythm when we run and I hate breaking the stride when we get to that point. If I'm walking, it's different. Stop and ask me anything. If you see a person running, leave them alone.

If you realize you passed the road you were supposed to turn on, put on your blinker as you slow down so that you can safely turn around and go the right way. Do NOT do what some jerk did to me yesterday:

I was following my husband in my car to drop his truck off at the dealership for a tuneup and inspection sticker. A green truck with out of state plates in front of him suddenly turns left into a driveway. My husband blissfully continued on. As I drove by, this jerk, without even looking around, steps hard on the gas to back out of this driveway into the other lane and came thisclose to hitting my car. My heart was in my throat as I swerved and almost went up on the sidewalk and into a telephone pole. It happened so fast I didn't have time to hit the horn or yell at the idiot.

He drove off. I got myself back in my lane and caught up with my husband, but my heart was pounding. And I was mad.

Please don't turn around in our driveway. When you pull in, we think you're coming to visit us. There are plenty of public places to turn around in just down the street. And it's a pain if you're in our driveway and we're trying to pull in. One person actually gave me a dirty look as I impatiently waited for them to move out of my driveway.

If you bring your dog with you to our beaches, there are signs up and down that state they are not allowed on the beach from 8 am to 6 pm. This rule is for EVERYONE, not just locals. So, if we can't bring our dogs on the beach, that means you can't, either. I wish the police would ticket the idiots that still do this.

If you do bring your dog on the beach in the time they are allowed there, please keep your dog away from mine. She is on a leash for a reason - huskies love to run and run and run. She likes to play with smaller dogs. Big dogs scare her. So when your lab, retriever or german shepherd comes running up to us off leash, she goes into scared mode and lays down. This is not funny to me, even if you think it's funny. You're supposed to have voice control over your dog if they are off leash. I have yet to see that. Control your dog, folks!

When I travel and end up in a touristy town, I do everything I can to try to not look like a tourist. It's worked so far. I try to go to local places and blend in, sitting at the bar and talking with the locals, or just minding my own business. I've actually had tourists ask me where things were. That makes me chuckle. I do hate it when I see tourists who are loud, obnoxious, and rude. And I see that more often than not. I really hate seeing them when they come to my town. It's almost like they feel that because they are "paying good money" to stay here for a weekend or week, that us locals have to bow down to them and let them cut in line at the store or drive over the speed limit.

Speaking of, cops in my town love to ticket speeders. So year round we always watch our speed, especially on our road, which goes right to the beach. The speed limit starts at 35 mph when you turn on our road, then goes down to 25 mph. I can't tell you how many times I have a tourist behind me giving me the finger or honking their horn, or even passing me (over the solid line) because they think I' going too slow when I'm going maybe 28 mph. I love it when the cops pull someone over in front of my house. Revenge is sweet.

Just remember, folks, when you're on vacation, treat the locals with some respect, please.

Things That Stick In My Craw: Running and Dogs

We live near the beach. Every morning, unless it's pouring rain or sleet or blinding snow, I run to the beach with my Siberian Husky, Phoebe. She has a six foot leash, all her tags and I bring a "poop" bag, just in case.

So what sticks in my craw about this?

How about the people who take up the whole sidewalk when there is only one of them? Instead of moving to the left or right so that we can pass safely by them and not in the street, they firmly stick to the middle.

A few times I've encountered a group of schoolkids with their teachers. Phoebe and I politely cross the street and the teachers have actually yelled at me for being near the kids. Um, hello? It's a public street. I'm busy running. I don't care about your students. I care about my dog getting her ears or tail pulled by *your* students.

Sometimes I happen to run at the same time there is a marathon or road race in town. Don't tell us to move out of the way just because we're not in the race. Again, it's a public street. The race doesn't own it. I pay my taxes. As long as I'm not in the way, leave us alone, please.

People who let their dogs poop on the sidewalk and don't clean up after them, or do clean up and leave the little plastic bag. Are you serious?

Going to the beach at low tide, keeping Phoebe firmly on her leash, yet everyone else lets their dogs run wild. Of course those dogs come running over to "play" with Phoebe. She's a rescue dog. She's still skittish. Instead of controlling your dog and asking if it's all right for her to meet your dog, your dog is humping her, biting at her neck or scaring the daylights out of her. When Phoebe is backed up against my legs and almost in my arms, it's time to get your dog away from us. It's funny how the local law is that the leash has to be in hand at all times. Some dog owners think that means in their hands and not on the dog. One of these days I'm going to snap at these people to control their dog.

We usually run the length of the beach, then turn around and walk back the length to the street. If you see me running with my dog, don't ask if you can pet her while we're running. We're usually on a roll and in rhythm with each other. Phoebe loves to run. Let us do our thing and we'll stop by and let you pet her on our walk back.

I do like the people who ask if they can pet Phoebe. I don't like the ones who just reach out, especially people who have kids and the kids begin petting her all over. Please ask first. No, she doesn't bite or bark, but she may be skittish. I've worked hard to get her to where she is today, no longer afraid, and you could set her back.

I don't like people who tell me I should let Phoebe off leash and let her run free. For one thing, it's against the law (it's called a dog at large). For another, she's a Husky and she will run until she's worn out and may not come home. That's why she's on a leash at all times. That's why we have a big fenced-in yard.

And if you come to our house, please remember this is also Phoebe's house, which means you need to be aware to not leave a door open to the outside so that she can run away. I love my dog. She's beautiful and honestly, someone would just take her home if they saw her loose. I don't want to lose her.

Things That Stick In My Craw - Air Travel

These are the things that stick in my craw about air travel. . .

Airlines - get your frelling act together! Either charge everyone for everything or stop charging extra for what used to be free. US Airways, on the first leg of one of my flights, was charging for *everything* including water, coffee, tea, sodas, juice and pillows/blankets. So when I got on the next flight, I made sure I had a pre-purchased soda with me. Come to find out, the rest of my flights on US Airways provided FREE water, coffee, tea, sodas and juice, plus we got pretzels. And a pillow if we wanted one.

If you're going to charge the average Joe $25 for the first bag, then charge everyone. It got confusing when on one airline I had to pay, then the next I didn't. And if you're going to charge for checked bags, then make people pay if they have to gate check their bags. I almost checked one bag on a recent flight, but decided to carry it on. I had to gate check it. . .for free. WTF? So from now on, I'm carrying on and hoping they gate check it so that I don't have to pay the $25 to have it put in the same damned cargo hold. I mean, hello?

If you're stupid enough to miss your flight, for crissakes, don't take it out on the gate agent across the way. I experienced seeing a woman (who appeared to have been in the bar, if you get my drift) come across the airport to our gate to begin to berate the gate agent that she missed her flight because no one told her the gate changed. The gate agent patiently told this woman an announcement had been made several times. The woman burst into crocodile tears and asked who was going to tuck her children into bed that night and read to them? Then she said how could the gate agents have missed her red hair? The gate agent patiently told her that they don't know what passengers look like, so they wouldn't have been able to flag her down personally. Then the woman cried out, "Who will be with my babies (not children) tonight?" At this point, I called my husband, cracking up, and said next she'd claim she was pregnant and who would explain this to her fetus?

It ended up that three TSA agents and three local cops took this woman away. The rest of us in the gate area had been hoping the woman would start punching someone, but no such luck.

I really wish people would stop rushing up to the gate door when the flight is announced to be ready for boarding. It's like if they get on first, the flight will take off faster. Good lord, people, move away and let the people get on in the order they should be. If you're in Zone 4 and Zone 1 is boarding, move your fat asses. I hate it when I have to weave around people and they get mad at *me* if I bump into them when they're the ones in the darned way.

Next time I'm asked to change seats with a mom who wants to sit with her two kids, I will make sure my new seat is far, far away from them. I was nice enough to do this on a long flight from San Francisco to New Jersey and the boy was right behind me and proceeded to kick my seat for almost the entire flight. I don't care how sweet you think your child is, if they're rude enough to kick the seat in front of them, reach around the seat to grab that passenger (which this kid did and almost grabbed my breast), pull on the seat, put the tray up and down with force and generally can't behave, then you shouldn't be flying with them.

I say the airlines should have flights that are all families/all kids only and let people know when booking about this feature. If I knew I was going to be on a plane with kids, I'd opt for a different flight that was all adults.

That being said, when the flight attendants tell you to NOT use your cell phone in flight, DON'T DO IT. On that same long flight, I had two women in head scarves pull their cell phones out mid-flight and begin texting someone. I shit you not. I was on the window, I had the kid behind me driving me crazy and I knew that if I hit the call button, I'd probably lose it. So I ordered a small bottle of red wine, put my headphones on and listened to Keith Urban, very loudly, until I fell asleep for what little time I could before the kicking ensued again (besides hiding my boobs from that kid's grabby hands).

If you are sick and you can't change your travel plans, please keep a tissue or something over your face while your coughing, sneezing, wheezing and whatever else is coming up. I do not want to catch what you have. Thank god for Airborne. Ever since a friend told me about this years ago, my colds/flu have gone down significantly. I used to get sick *every* time I came home from a trip. Not any more.

If I'm in the middle or window seat and need to use the bathroom, don't get all grumpy on me and make it seem like I'm bothering you. Suck it up and let me pass.

If your bag is too big to fit in the overhead, don't have a conniption fit. You should have gate-checked it or just plain old checked it and paid the frelling $25, you dumbass. You're holding up the flight while you insist on trying to cram your dirty overstuffed undies in the overhead.

If I have earphones in my ears, that means I don't want to be bothered. Period. I don't care how much of a sweet old lady you are.

If you're airport personnel and you can't get the jetway to connect to the plane the first couple of times, please get us off the frelling plane when it's 1 am in the morning and we're all tired and just want to go home. My last flight ended at Manchester, NH airport where the airport personnel just couldn't get the jetway connected to the plane (it wouldn't budge). A half hour later, some idiot got the bright idea to roll some stairs to the plane so that we could get off. Geez, you think? All this time, three TSA officers were watching us through the windows, just as confused as we were (the TSA guys are in the terminal to the right of the jetway):



Now for a stumper - can anyone tell what's wrong with this photo? If you get it right, I'll be so darned proud of you: