I HATE QWEST

Oh, BTW, I'm going to start my letters tomorrow guys.  I like the Sept. 1st idea.

I just have to say...

Qwest Qworst, you can rot in hell.

Seriously, I hate them with a fiery burning passion.

After all the crap we had, and found out they were charging us for 7 but we can't even push 3 through our pipe, and then them saying they'd credit us back for the charge, they just changed their mind and said "Oh there's no different in price between 7 and 5 MB.  

EXCEPT WE AREN'T EVEN GETTING 3 MB THROUGH OUR PIPE WITHOUT ERRORS!


Even if we were getting 5 through the pipe now (which we are most assuredly not) then I think a refund is STILL in order for all the months we had the crappiest internet ever cutting in and out because they were tyring to push 7MB in an area that it isn't even supported.


They are lying, cheating, bastards.
Unethical.

I will be reporting them to the BBB.
As well as posting on every forum about the hell they've put us through.


I'm also switching to Comcast, like today.


Also, friends, I highly recommend you do not do business with a company who openly lies and steals from it's customers.  Their OWN EMPLOYEE, the tech that came to our house, admittedly told us to switch to someone else because of what they're doing. 

30 Letters

I saw this on sweet Leona's blog Cuppycake Lies, and thought it was really really cool.  So to get back into blogging regularly, I think I'll participate, though I'm a bit behind her.

Credit goes to the blog Sleeping With Lions for this.

I also figured this would be fun, it's like 30 days of Dear So & So, which seems to be the favorite of most of you guys.  So enjoy!

The Curriculum:

day 1 — your best friend

day 2 — your crush

day 3 — your parents

day 4 — your sibling (or closest relative)

day 5 — your dreams

day 6 — a stranger

day 7 — your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend/love/crush

day 8 — your favorite internet friend

day 9 — someone you wish you could meet

day 10 — someone you don’t talk to as much as you’d like to

day 11 — a deceased person you wish you could talk to

day 12 — the person you hate most/caused you a lot of pain

day 13 — someone you wish could forgive you

day 14 — someone you’ve drifted away from

day 15 — the person you miss the most

day 16 — someone that’s not in your state/country

day 17 — someone from your childhood

day 18 — the person that you wish you could be

day 19 — someone that pesters your mind—good or bad

day 20 — the one that broke your heart the hardest

day 21 — someone you judged by their first impression

day 22 — someone you want to give a second chance to

day 23 — the last person you kissed

day 24 — the person that gave you your favorite memory

day 25 — the person you know that is going through the worst of times

day 26 — the last person you made a pinky promise to

day 27 — the friendliest person you knew for only one day

day 28 — someone that changed your life

day 29 — the person that you want tell everything to, but too afraid to

day 30 — your reflection in the mirror

Starting tomorrow, who else wants to play?

Dear So & So: The Drama Never Ends

Dear iPhone,

I love you so so so so so SO much!  I really just wish iTunes would stop freezing when I try to use you with my computer.  It's incredibly frustrating.

Please get your act together.
-Proud New iPhone Owner

Dear Militant Android Owners,

I don't mind that you prefer Android over iPhone, it's cool, that's your opinion.  I'm just the tiniest bit tired of hearing "You should have gotten an Android" or "Android is better" on every status I post.  You may believe that, and that's fine for you to offer that suggestion, but seeing as I have the iPhone already it's a little late to change my mind, even if you could.  I'm not being rude, and my status about it was mostly in jest until you all continued to freak out over it.

Take a chill pill and let me enjoy my own choice.
-Proud New iPhone Owner

Dear J & J,

You are sure good with words, and I sure wouldn't want to be at the other end of insults such as "you goddamn fucking arrogant little pisswad of a jacked-off pygmy mule."  That wrath train is a scary scary train if you're standing in front of it.  I also like the clever word combo of "twat-ass" and plan to use it.  I'm on your side, for sure, it's time we all stood up and stopped letting certain people walk all over us because we're worried about hurting their feelings.

Be strong, and go you!
-Your Ally.

Dear Diva and Teenage Husband,

Where do I even start with this scathing letter I should be writing?  I tried so hard to baby you, and to wear the kid gloves while trying to encourage you to be more responsible, but there is a breaking point for everyone.  Yesterday, several of us hit it.  It has nothing to do with disliking you, or with wanting to control you, but more to do with the fact that you are making some really stupid choices that are going to effect so much more than your two little meager lives.

You guys are 20 and 18.  Neither of you have jobs at this point, and even before that you expected him to support you on a SUBWAY PAYCHECK.  Not just you, but the little life you're going to be bringing into this world too.  A life that will need hundreds of dollars in diapers, thousands in medical, formula, baby food, clothes, a crib, carseats, etc... You can't even afford to license your car or buy food, let alone have a baby.

The worst part?  You KNEW that before you PURPOSEFULLY got yourself pregnant.  You said "Oh I'll just get government assistance and Medicaid.  YOU KNOWING LY TRIED FOR A WELFARE BABY. That's just messed up.  You keep telling us that you "don't need" or "don't want" our help, however that's OUR tax dollars (seeing as you've never paid any taxes EVER) that you're trying to suck up.

You say over and over how much you hate your parents and never want to be like them because they're drunks, and they leach off their friends and society, but you're headed right down that same path.

The fact that you're not even looking for a job because you don't want to be told you're not good enough?  You don't want to be fired for doing a bad job like last time?  DON'T DO A BAD JOB!  Get off your lazy ass and earn something for yourself!  Your boss wouldn't fire you if you didn't treat the customers like crap and run to pout in the bathroom every time he told you something you didn't like.  You're a SPOILED BRAT and a sorry excuse for much else!

Not to mention you and your husband trying to tell us that men only cheat because they're biologically more sexual blah blah blah.  Stop generalizing people.  Men cheat.  Women cheat.  Some of the same reasons and some different, people are all different.  Stop acting like you know everything when in fact only one of you finished high school, and neither of you have any more experience in the matter.  I can't even begin to point out the flaws with that.

Do not think that when you have that child if you're not good parents, if you don't feed them and clothe them and treat them better than your parents did you, that we will hesitate to call CFS, just like everyone did on your parents.  We will.  That baby will have a good home, whether or not you provide it, because if you don't someone else will.

We all love you, and wish you'd listen to people who have been there and made decisions.  Yes, you're teenagers and have to learn for yourself, but some of these choices are too dumb, especially now that you'll have a helpless baby depending on you. 

Grow up.  You're bringing a child into the world, so it's about time you stop acting like one.
-Someone who agrees with most of your friends and family.

Dear Readers,

I'm thinking about getting back into doing spotlights, and showcasing some local artists around here and their sites.  I'll let you know what i find out.  :)  If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

-Me

Bridges

"The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn" - David Russell

Qwest Internet: The Biggest Rip-Off.

Anyone who is my friend on Facebook, or who follows me on Twitter may have noticed a lot of posts complaining about my internet being down.  Over and over again, it was the same old story.  It would work for a few minutes, or an hour, and then go down for a few minutes, an hour, or even a day.  It constantly cut in and out, and I was constantly frustrated with it.  I used Comcast a few years back, and NEVER had this problem with them. 

I rebooted the modem on several occasions, tried different wireless routers, and have even power cycled everything over and over to no avail.  The Roommate called them, and after several times being disconnected from their service (whether it was being hung up on, disconnected, or both) the tech finally said they would reset it on their end.  It worked for about a week before it started failing again.

When I worked at the bowling alley in Roy our internet was always down, and I remember good old Bob (the owners dad and our in-house IT) saying "Qwest's slogan should be "We're down more than we're up!" as well as when I lived with Ken and Kristi in Layton our internet (only like 1MB there) constantly crashed or would move slower than cold tar.  Kristi and Ken have since gone with Comcast in their new house, and haven't had hardly any problems with them.

I kind of knew we shouldn't have gone with Qwest, but it was slightly cheaper and we figured since we were in a more populated area this time that it would probably work better. WRONG.

What I didn't expect is to be paying for something I wasn't receiving, let alone something that ISN'T EVEN OFFERED IN MY AREA. 

I'll get back to that in just a moment.

Now this time when we called in to Qwest's technical support to fix the issue the tech ran us through the same old song and dance, and then told us a technician would be coming out to our house Sunday to check the lines.  They also said that if he had to come in the house to check the lines they would assess us a fee of $85.  At that point we decided that if they asked to come in and charge us that, we would cancel and use that $85 to switch to someone else-because we had a good feeling this wasn't an issue that was in any way our fault.  Boy were we RIGHT!

The technician came out and checked all the lines, and then came in and spoke with the roommate about it.  Apparently, while they've been charging us for 7MB, IT ISN'T EVEN OFFERED IN THIS AREA.  That's why it was crashing so often, because the lines couldn't handle them trying to push it to us and it was failing.  The tech called in and got them to switch us down to 5MB, and then 3MB, but both still provided errors on the line when pushed out.  When The Roommate said "Maybe we'll just go with someone else..." The technician replied "I would."

So for about eight and a half months, we've been paying for a service we weren't being provided.  This was not just because of technical difficulties, or user error-IT WAS BECAUSE THEY CAN'T EVEN OFFER WHAT WE WERE PAYING FOR IN OUR AREA.  Of course they knew that before, seeing as they know where they offer stuff and where they don't. 

So tell me, how is this not stealing from us?  They couldn't even push 3MB through our lines over here, they KNOW they don't offer 7MB in our area, so why when we called in to sign up would they let us sign up for 7MB and then proceed to try and send it through the line crashing our internet repeatedly?  Are they completely incompitent and don't know what they're doing?  If so they shouldn't be in the internet business, and if not, THEY'RE CROOKS.  Quite literally.

So we will be calling and canceling our Qwest internet and taking our business elsewhere.  We will also be asking for a refund, not only for the amount they've been overcharging us; but for all the time it's been down and we couldn't use it, and maybe even our modem that they charged us $100 for.  We would never have even gone with their service had we known we would only be getting 1MB.  If they don't refund it, well I think I'll be calling "Get Gephardt" our local TV guy who exposes scams.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Dear So & So: It Makes Me Want To Punch You In The Face

Dear People of Utah,

Can we PLEASE learn to drive in the fast lane?  Excuse me, I mean the PASSING lane.  Not the "let's drive as slow as we possibly can and let the slow lanes pass us" lane.  Every day, never fail, and it always is right about when I hit Draper before the Point of the Mountain.  ESPECIALLY when you're going over that pass, move the eff over if you can't make it up the hill.  OK?!?!?!? Argh.

-A really annoyed driver who wants to pass your slow ass.

Dear Semi Truck's in Pleasant Grove,

I understand that you're large and you need more room to turn, but maybe using the on and off ramps for that purpose isn't the best idea?  When I got in the left turning lane, and you were in the right-left turning lane, and then you tried to force me off the road so you could move from the right-left turning lane to the left-left turning lane where I was so you could hurry and get back on going the other direction-MESSED UP. 

-I'm just an itty bitty Honda Civic, you could have killed me asshat!

Dear Jillian Michaels,

Thank you for coming up with this awesome system that totally kicks my ass and is going to help make me fit.  However, that being said, I really don't like you very much.  Do you not realize that you're coaching a bunch of fatties on the other end of the camera?  (No offense to the fatties of course, I'm one of the, but it's part of my point.) So when you and your tight little bottom say things like "I wish I had her abs, I'd do just about anything to get them."  Or "I'm not very flexible..." blah blah blah, it just makes me want to punch you in the face. 

-Just sayin'


Dear MelanieGrace,

You are strong, stronger than most people know and even more so than you give yourself credit for.  If this is something you feel you must do, do it and be proud of it. You are amazing.  Be strong witch sister.

-I'll be here to support you.

Dear Kristina,

Thank you so much for being my partner in getting healthy!  I don't think I'd be as dedicated if I didn't have you there to help push me.  I'm glad we can help each other, and be there to support and motivate each other. 

-We can do this!


Dear Utah School System,

Get your shit together!  Treat your teachers well, they're the ones teaching our students who they're going to be.  Don't you think that means we should probably give them benefits and make sure they enjoy their job?  I don't know about you, but if we're starving for good teachers, I'd want to keep the ones we have as happy as possible!

-Duh!

Dear Readers,

I love your faces.  All of them. :D

-Me

Dear Searchers, 
(That's those of you who are searching and find my blog)

I use StatCounter to see what people are searching by, and the biggest thing they seem to be looking for and pulling up my blog with is the lyrics to Mockingbird by Rob Thomas.  It's funny how I see a million search links that say "Still that mockingbird wont sing" or "maybe we weren't meant for this love."  But every now and then there are a few that slip in.  Mostly normal, today however-NOT normal.  Someone found my blog searching "Naked Male Celebs" and "Jefferey Dean Morgan Naked."  How that brought up my blog, I'll never know, but it made me giggle none-the-less!
-Me 

Feeling The Burn

I'm three days into my 30 Day Shred.

Only 27 days to go.

How am I feeling?  I'll tell you.

This workout is hardcore! Jillian Michaels is scary and militant, and she pushes and pushes until I find myself panting and saying "I f*cking hate you!" as I hear her complain about not being flexible or wishing she had abs like her friend. 

In fact, this is pretty much what is going through my head, 30 minutes of: "Ok, I can do this... Feeling good... Ouch!  You can do it! Grunt, ugh, push push push, fight, punch, jumping jacks... Ow ow ow! I hate my life... Shut up fatty, you'll love it when you're hot. I hate you Jillian.  Don't call her buddy, she doesn't look like she likes you. YOU aren't flexible?  YOU'd kill for those abs?  What is wrong with you woman?  Ok, just five more minutes... five more minutes... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"    LOL!

All week I've been sore.  My arms, my boobs even, my abs, and especially my legs and knees.  I'm not getting as winded during the backups, but sometimes the strength stuff (those damn pushups) I feel my muscles shaking a little because they're tired.  Today my muscles hurt less, they feel like they're healing and I feel stronger.  I can't wait until day 30 when I can weigh in and see all the progress I made!

Change Starts NOW

I am done hiding behind my weight and the title of "Curvy Girl".
I want to keep my curves, but be fit and slim too.

I am done feeling like I have to warn guys on dating sites that I'm bigger.
I want to be the carefree girl who can meet people without worrying about size.

I am done passing up all the cute clothes to shop in the plus-size section.
I want to be able to grab anything I want off the racks and enjoy trying it on.

I am done taking pictures at a certain angle and only of myself.
I want to be in other pictures, and still think I look pretty in them.

I'm done passing up things because I think I'm too fat. 

I want to audition for that play, or go out on the dance floor without worry.

I'm done feeling winded on long walks, or after many flights of stairs.

I want to be completely in shape, I want to start running and run a marathon!

I'm done thinking other girls are prettier than me just because they're thinner.

I want to feel beautiful more often, and more confident to go out.

I'm done worrying about what I order and what people will think of me.

I want to be able to order a cookie at a restaurant and not think they're pitying the fat girl, even though I don't usually order deserts.

Most of all, I'm done making excuses for why I haven't already made these changes.

I'm done being a quitter when it comes to exercise plans and healthy lifestyle changes.

I'm done telling myself "It's ok, you're face is pretty"

Or "At least you have good boobs" or "You're not as big as so and so."

I'm DONE!

The change starts NOW.

No more excuses.

No more weak attempts.

Dedication to completion.

Who's with me?

30 Day Shred

Day one down...

I am in worse shape than I thought.

That kicked my trash! 

I am going to stick with it though...

I'm so tired of being so heavy.

Anyone else wanna get in on the fun?

Has this worked for anyone?

San Francisco: Angel Island

More pics from San Francisco!

See also:

San Francisco

Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum

Melanie's Mannor

Boudin Bakery

The Wax Museum 

Rainforest Cafe & Street Performer 

 The Winchester Mystery House 

Castro Street

Alcatraz

Angel Island

If you've never heard of Angel Island before, it's ok, neither had I before we went.  The only reason we learned about it was because they only had tickets for the Alcatraz & Angel Island Tour left.  In any case, it's an island that is kind of a hidden San Francisco treasure.  It was used for soldiers during the Cival War (though no shot was ever fired in anger) and also as a Chinese POW camp during WWII.  Now days it's a tourist location and a local boating harbor, the only people that live there are employees with the Parks Service.

Court, Ken and Kailee on the ferry over.

Court and Me on the ferry.

We're pretty sure this is Melanie's house that we can see from the Ferry.

You can't see very well, but those are sea lions sunbathing.

Angel Island Harbor.

Kaden giving his dad "tiger hugs!" haha

These kids are so cute.

Eucalyptis trees.  They're not native to the island and killed off lots of wildlife.

Golden Gate Bridge.

Courtney, the kids and Me in front of the Golden Gate.

Falkners in front of the Golden Gate

Kristi and me on the tram.

Kaden and Dad on the tram.

I love this little face.

Court and I waiting for the Ferry to come back.

That's a jellyfish!

Kailee waiting for the ferry.

 Courtney keeping Kaden warm on the boat.

Kailee and mommy bundled up on the boat.


I love ferry boats.  Love love love.  Plus, San Francisco Bay is really chilly during July and August!

San Francisco: Alcatraz

More pics from San Francisco!

See also:

San Francisco

Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum

Melanie's Mannor

Boudin Bakery

The Wax Museum 

Rainforest Cafe & Street Performer 

 The Winchester Mystery House 

Castro Street

Alcatraz

 Alcatraz was by far my favorite thing to see.  I loved the tour so much I bought the CD to listen to again later, and a book to follow along.  It was amazing, and the audio tour gave me chills as I walked through and listened to the stories while looking at the old desolate prison.  It was amazing.  I have lots of pictures.

Courtney and I waiting for the boat.

Courtney and Kristina waiting for the boat.

The kids attacking Ken.  Look at Kailee's face. So cute!

Ken and Kaden on the boat.

Court with the city behind her.

Golden Gate Bridge.

God I miss this city.

Kailee watching the city get smaller and smaller...

Their whole family on the boat.

Here are some shots of the island:

The Morgue.

The Showers.

The Courtyard

Kailee in front of a cell.

Solitary Confinement.

Kristi and the kids in solitary confinement.

Windows with bars...

Courtney and I being dorks with our headsets on.

Kailee kept the headset on and followed along.

Kaden with his headset.

Kailee behind bars.

When the prisoners tried to escape they made fake heads out of soap.  Then they used spoons to dig out teh wall to squeeze through and sneak out.

Alcatraz had the best food in the entire prison system.  They believed it directly related to the prisoner's behavior.

This is Ken's nephew's grandfather.  The last prisoner to leave. Kind of neat!

 Ken, Courtney and Kaden leaving the prison.

I love it and I can't wait to go back someday!