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13

May

This is hilarious and MASSIVELY NOT SAFE FOR WORK

wilwheaton:

So if you look at it (and you should because it’s equal parts WTF and OMGLOL), you have been warned.

holy shit. hilarious

5 days ago Short URL 288 notes

wilwheaton via wilwheaton

05

May

The foundation building the 9/11 museum at the World Trade Center has decided to charge an admission fee of $20 to $25 when the site opens next year.

wilwheaton:

Faced with hefty operating costs, the foundation building the 9/11 museum at the World Trade Center has decided to charge an admission fee of $20 to $25 when the site opens next year. The exact cost of the mandatory fee has not yet been decided.

Foundation officials had considered an optional donation but rejected the idea.

“We decided that it’s more fiscally prudent to have a straight ticket charge,” Daniels said.

This is fucking repulsive. This should this be owned by all Americans, and any donations should be optional.

If this foundation makes a single dime over the operating costs of the memorial, it all better go to the victims’ families.

1 week ago Short URL 446 notes

wilwheaton via wilwheaton

02

Feb

wages of service industry suck. I once worked at an ice cream shop where we were paid “waitress wages” and 98% of the traffic didn’t sit down to be served. They got their ice cream and left. Needless to say I worked 40 hours and walked away with something like $100 and ZERO tips. Not cool. As much as I loved the place, I left the job. I feel for those who got fired over this :( I do however believe that tips are earned, and if I receive poor service my tip reflects that. laurennmcc: “If you can’t afford to tip you can’t afford to eat out.” My husband works INCREDIBLY hard for his low wage, no health care and tips. He has kept us together while I have been in grad school by working at a job where he has to be nice to people that treat him like dirt. That this woman thinks that he wouldn’t be worth $6 of her “godly money” makes me insane with rage.  mercurialme: lukeybabee: guardiancomment: Chelsea Welch, the US waitress who was fired after she posted a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit, wrote for us: I was a waitress at Applebee’s restaurant in Saint Louis. I was fired Wednesday for posting a picture on Reddit.com of a note a customer left on a bill. I posted it on the web as a light-hearted joke. This didn’t even happen at my table. The note was left for another server, who allowed me to take a picture of it at the end of the night. Someone had scribbled on the receipt, “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?” I assumed the customer’s signature was illegible, but I quickly started receiving messages containing Facebook profile links and websites, asking me to confirm the identity of the customer. I refused to confirm any of them, and all were incorrect. I worked with the Reddit moderators to remove any personal information. I wanted to protect the identity of both my fellow server and the customer. I had no intention of starting a witch-hunt or hurting anyone. Now I’ve been fired. The person who wrote the note came across an article about it, called the Applebee’s location, and demanded everyone be fired — me, the server who allowed me to take the picture, the manager on duty at the time, the manager not on duty at the time, everyone. It seems I was fired not because Applebee’s was represented poorly, not because I did anything illegal or against company policy, but because I embarrassed this person. In light of the situation, I would like to make a statement on behalf of wait staff everywhere: We make $3.50 an hour. Most of my paychecks are less than pocket change because I have to pay taxes on the tips I make. After sharing my tips with hosts, bussers, and bartenders, I make less than $9 an hour on average, before taxes. I am expected to skip bathroom breaks if we are busy. I go hungry all day if I have several busy tables to work. I am expected to work until 1:30am and then come in again at 10:30am to open the restaurant. I have worked 12-hour double shifts without a chance to even sit down. I am expected to portray a canned personality that has been found to be least offensive to the greatest amount of people. And I am expected to do all of this, every day, and receive change, or even nothing, in return. After all that, I can be fired for “embarrassing” someone, who directly insults his or her server on religious grounds. In this economy, $3.50 an hour doesn’t cut it. I can’t pay half my bills. Like many, I would love to see a reasonable, non-tip-dependent wage system for service workers like they have in other countries. But the system being flawed is not an excuse for not paying for services rendered. I need tips to pay my bills. All waiters do. We spend an hour or more of our time befriending you, making you laugh, getting to know you, and making your dining experience the best it can be. We work hard. We care. We deserve to be paid for that. I am trying to stand up for all of us who work for just a few dollars an hour at places like Applebee’s. Whether a chain steakhouse or a black-tie establishment, tipping is not optional. It is how we get paid. I posted a picture to make people laugh, but now I want to make a serious point: Things like this happen to servers all the time. People seem to think that the easiest way to save money on a night out is to skip the tip. I can’t understand why I was fired over this. I was well liked and respected at Applebee’s. My sales were high, my managers had no problems with me, and I was even hoping to move up to management soon. When I posted this, I didn’t represent Applebee’s in a bad light. In fact, I didn’t represent them at all. I did my best to protect the identity of all parties involved. I didn’t break any specific guidelines in the company handbook – I checked. But because this person got embarrassed that their selfishness was made public, Applebee’s has made it clear that they would rather lose a dedicated employee than an angry customer. That’s a policy I can’t understand. I am equally baffled about how a religious tithe is in any way related to paying for services at a restaurant. I can understand why someone could be upset with an automatic gratuity. However, it’s a plainly stated Applebee’s policy that a tip is added automatically for parties over eight like the one this customer was part of. I cannot control that kind of tip; it’s done by the computer that the orders are put into. I’ve been stiffed on tips before, but this is the first time I’ve seen the “Big Man” used as reasoning. Obviously the person who wrote this note wanted it seen by someone. It’s strange that now that the audience is wider than just the server, the person is ashamed. I have no agenda here. I seek no revenge against the note writer. I have no interest in exposing their identity, and, at this point, I’m not even sure I want my job back. I was just trying to make a joke, but I came home unemployed. I’ve been waiting tables to save up some money so I could finally go to college, so I could get an education that would qualify me for a job that doesn’t force me to sell my personality for pocket change. I totally understand how this person feel I was a server at ihop This is fucked up and is the norm. You can’t demand that people play into the system as it’s set up, play the game, move up in life legally and with out the help of government ( and in many cases family) only to stiff them. If you can’t afford to tip you can’t afford to eat out.

wages of service industry suck. I once worked at an ice cream shop where we were paid “waitress wages” and 98% of the traffic didn’t sit down to be served. They got their ice cream and left. Needless to say I worked 40 hours and walked away with something like $100 and ZERO tips. Not cool. As much as I loved the place, I left the job. I feel for those who got fired over this :( I do however believe that tips are earned, and if I receive poor service my tip reflects that.

laurennmcc:

“If you can’t afford to tip you can’t afford to eat out.”

My husband works INCREDIBLY hard for his low wage, no health care and tips. He has kept us together while I have been in grad school by working at a job where he has to be nice to people that treat him like dirt. That this woman thinks that he wouldn’t be worth $6 of her “godly money” makes me insane with rage. 

mercurialme:

lukeybabee:

guardiancomment:

Chelsea Welch, the US waitress who was fired after she posted a picture of a tip receipt on Reddit, wrote for us:

I was a waitress at Applebee’s restaurant in Saint Louis. I was fired Wednesday for posting a picture on Reddit.com of a note a customer left on a bill. I posted it on the web as a light-hearted joke.

This didn’t even happen at my table. The note was left for another server, who allowed me to take a picture of it at the end of the night.

Someone had scribbled on the receipt, “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?”

I assumed the customer’s signature was illegible, but I quickly started receiving messages containing Facebook profile links and websites, asking me to confirm the identity of the customer. I refused to confirm any of them, and all were incorrect.

I worked with the Reddit moderators to remove any personal information. I wanted to protect the identity of both my fellow server and the customer. I had no intention of starting a witch-hunt or hurting anyone.

Now I’ve been fired.

The person who wrote the note came across an article about it, called the Applebee’s location, and demanded everyone be fired — me, the server who allowed me to take the picture, the manager on duty at the time, the manager not on duty at the time, everyone. It seems I was fired not because Applebee’s was represented poorly, not because I did anything illegal or against company policy, but because I embarrassed this person.

In light of the situation, I would like to make a statement on behalf of wait staff everywhere: We make $3.50 an hour. Most of my paychecks are less than pocket change because I have to pay taxes on the tips I make.

After sharing my tips with hosts, bussers, and bartenders, I make less than $9 an hour on average, before taxes. I am expected to skip bathroom breaks if we are busy. I go hungry all day if I have several busy tables to work. I am expected to work until 1:30am and then come in again at 10:30am to open the restaurant.

I have worked 12-hour double shifts without a chance to even sit down. I am expected to portray a canned personality that has been found to be least offensive to the greatest amount of people. And I am expected to do all of this, every day, and receive change, or even nothing, in return. After all that, I can be fired for “embarrassing” someone, who directly insults his or her server on religious grounds.

In this economy, $3.50 an hour doesn’t cut it. I can’t pay half my bills. Like many, I would love to see a reasonable, non-tip-dependent wage system for service workers like they have in other countries. But the system being flawed is not an excuse for not paying for services rendered.

I need tips to pay my bills. All waiters do. We spend an hour or more of our time befriending you, making you laugh, getting to know you, and making your dining experience the best it can be. We work hard. We care. We deserve to be paid for that.

I am trying to stand up for all of us who work for just a few dollars an hour at places like Applebee’s. Whether a chain steakhouse or a black-tie establishment, tipping is not optional. It is how we get paid.

I posted a picture to make people laugh, but now I want to make a serious point: Things like this happen to servers all the time. People seem to think that the easiest way to save money on a night out is to skip the tip.

I can’t understand why I was fired over this. I was well liked and respected at Applebee’s. My sales were high, my managers had no problems with me, and I was even hoping to move up to management soon. When I posted this, I didn’t represent Applebee’s in a bad light. In fact, I didn’t represent them at all.

I did my best to protect the identity of all parties involved. I didn’t break any specific guidelines in the company handbook – I checked. But because this person got embarrassed that their selfishness was made public, Applebee’s has made it clear that they would rather lose a dedicated employee than an angry customer. That’s a policy I can’t understand.

I am equally baffled about how a religious tithe is in any way related to paying for services at a restaurant. I can understand why someone could be upset with an automatic gratuity. However, it’s a plainly stated Applebee’s policy that a tip is added automatically for parties over eight like the one this customer was part of. I cannot control that kind of tip; it’s done by the computer that the orders are put into. I’ve been stiffed on tips before, but this is the first time I’ve seen the “Big Man” used as reasoning.

Obviously the person who wrote this note wanted it seen by someone. It’s strange that now that the audience is wider than just the server, the person is ashamed.

I have no agenda here. I seek no revenge against the note writer. I have no interest in exposing their identity, and, at this point, I’m not even sure I want my job back. I was just trying to make a joke, but I came home unemployed.

I’ve been waiting tables to save up some money so I could finally go to college, so I could get an education that would qualify me for a job that doesn’t force me to sell my personality for pocket change.

I totally understand how this person feel I was a server at ihop

This is fucked up and is the norm. You can’t demand that people play into the system as it’s set up, play the game, move up in life legally and with out the help of government ( and in many cases family) only to stiff them.
If you can’t afford to tip you can’t afford to eat out.

3 months ago Short URL 45,859 notes

kellysue via kellysue

31

Jan

wilwheaton:

We asked actor Wil Wheaton to accompany us to outer space for our #SteerTheScript commercial, plus gave him a chance to do his dream job on set. 

A Quick Trip to Mars in Wil Wheaton’s #SteerTheScript (by lincoln)

3 months ago Short URL 197 notes

bonniegrrl via bonniegrrl

29

Jan

mydrunkkitchen: I CAN T STOP IM SO EXCITED thursday = NEW MY DRUNK KITCHEN AND 12 hour internet party AWESOME!!

mydrunkkitchen:

I CAN T STOP IM SO EXCITED

thursday = NEW MY DRUNK KITCHEN AND 12 hour internet party

AWESOME!!

3 months ago Short URL 1,500 notes

mydrunkkitchen via mydrunkkitchen

08

Feb

leafarja:

SET FIRE TO THE RAIN
early morning jam sesh
ajrafael & lindsaypearce

thanks Adele for a great song. 

1 year ago Short URL 2,571 notes

leafarja via leafarja

12

Dec

going back

I’m going back to blogger. my one reader can’t seem to comment, and I’m just comfortable at blogger.

update your link folks I changed the name of my old blog to what this one was/is

Blonde at Times

and as a result i changed the address to my blog: www.blondeattimes.blogspot.com

1 year ago Short URL

03

Dec

gall bladders.. who needs ‘em?!

So back in August I got my gall bladder out. Dr. Muthavarapu at Greenfield Surgery said it was “non-essential” so I said what the heck I’m sick and tired of these awful attacks, so lets go for it. He said I could also change my diet, and “see” if that helped. I went for the surgery. Seeing as how my diet isn’t really *that* bad to begin with (especially in the summer when I tend to eat healthier), the surgery was prob for the best. Satish, as he introduced himself, was great. Nice and funny, very knowledgeable about the whole thing.. I felt I was in good hands. 

I’d like to thank my sister for pointing me in the direction of diagnosing my ailments. I was talking to her about the pains and awfulness that I was experiencing and she said, “hunny, you might want to get your gall bladder looked at. Sounds a lot like the problems I was having when I needed to get mine out”. hmm who knew. so I did some internet research. Did you know that Gall bladder problems are hereditary? I had no idea… also did you know you are more likely to have problems with your gall bladder if you are 1)white 2)female 3)have been pregnant 4)have someone in your family who also has gallstone. Guess who fits ALL of those categories? ME!! I win! oh wait. It’s really a fail. 

After a few months my body finally realized that it was missing something and my digestion hasn’t been this good in a long time! It had been sort of wonky since I was pregnant with Liam. Honestly he was the size of a 3 month old when he was born, and I don’t find it surprising that it’s possible he squished my gallbladder into submission during his time in captivity. It’s possible right? 

If you are in the same boat with what I thought were just really awful gas attacks, where I could take gas pills and burp for 4 hours on end and feel no relief causing my back to spasm right under my right shoulder blade, then you might be in the market for this surgery. Here’s a tip.. heat on your shoulder blade area during an attack was the magical treatment for me while I was waiting for my special day. When I discovered this, I was in heaven.. and possible risk for something bad sleeping with the heating pad, but it was my saving grace during those attacks… It meant I was actually able to get sleep, and not be in pain. 

also the best tip ever: vaseline on your scars to stop the *awful* itching. trust me. it was wonderful! I read it on the internet somewhere and thought, what the hell.. it won’t hurt anything, and I was desperate, and I already had it in my house- nothing else was working.

1 year ago Short URL 1 note

a post about people I don’t really know, but wish I did.

My first crush was pretty hunky. You may have heard of him. I think I was 8 or so when this one started. I may have watched Dirty Dancing about a zillion times because of him. You guess it. It was Patrick Swayze. Big surprise, huh? yeah me and about a million other girls… Why wouldn’t you want to dance with this man?? I recently watched the Havana Nights spin off movie, and I am probably not ashamed to say I throughly enjoyed the flick. I was sucked in right off the bat, and then, to what my wondering eyes should see? Patrick Swayze! I had totally forgotten that he had a small role in the film. It actually made me a little sad, now knowing that he has since passed away. Stupid cancer.. it always takes the good ones. 

As an adult I have moved forward.

After watching Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium a while back I rediscovered Jason Bateman. He was popular in my age group back in the day and faded away, and all forgotten about. I’m a weirdo, and think he’s pretty hunky these days.

Don’t hate that I *loved* this movie. It is one of my favorites now.. this one also got me a little teary eyed at the end. I think it was supposed to. It was just a wee bit sad and then happy! He has also starred in Juno, and the popular Arrested Development. This show was pretty awesome. By the time I caught on about it, it was pretty much too late and they canned it. I love his hair, his voice and the characters he plays. He appears to be a pretty fun guy. But I could be totally wrong. I follow him on Twitter..

Not only do I follow this one on Twitter but his tweets get sent to my phone. He’s pretty funny, and most definitely ’ruggedly handsome’ as his current character on ABC’s Castle reminds us of in many of the episodes. I first met him in this role. Malcolm Reynolds will always be my cap’n and I think I would’ve have a great time being a space cowboy in under his command. I had forgotten how young he was during this show as I currently watch his current series pretty religiously, whatever. I think the man has aged well and he has quite the following. It’s pathetic interesting to note that my favorite episode of Castle was during the first season. 

This made me all warm and fuzzy inside when I first saw this when it aired. Made me yearn to watch Firefly again. Which I think I may have done. My only regret is that I didn’t discover him sooner.

When I was a kid my mom had a thing for Robert Hays. I’m not sure this is actually true or not, but we sure did watch a lot of Starman when I was little. So much so that I have no problem recalling the name of the television show he was on. According to IMDB, it aired when I was 6 years old, and I have a knack for remembering weird shit. He was also know for his role in the Airplane movies. My favorite thing to mimic from that movie, is to pretend to have a drinking problem. Not many get the joke, and if you are reading this, and you don’t know, then you need to watch the movie. I’m not explaining. Tough noogies for you.

Some times I wonder if my mom had a thing for Robert Stack- seeing as how she used to watch all those episodes of unsolved mysteries, that I was too scared to watch. That man gave me nightmares! I really disliked it when she and my sister would tune in. His voice was super creepy to me, as a little very impressionable little girl. To this day I refuse to watch Clan of the Cave Bear. I remember watching it when I was 5 with mom, and I have been scarred for life… I was all excited to hear that Daryl Hannah, my favorite Mermaid was in this flick.. only she wasn’t a mermaid. How disappointing.

I’m not sure who my sister had a thing for growing up. Nor do I really know now. I should ask her. what about you? 

1 year ago Short URL

31

Oct

Domestic Enemies of the busy Mom

Do you read Rants from Mommyland? No.. well then you should. This post is in their style of “Enemies of the _________ Mom.”

I have a nearly 8 year old and a 4 year old. My older son is old enough to do activities like Cub Scouts and sports that are on Saturday mornings (ack and a birthday party to plan!). Thankfully Little Dude isn’t quite old enough for that stuff yet. I work full time during the day and sell Pampered Chef at night (might as well send you to the site so you can buy something, right?). Oh and I’m on 2 (yes two) PTO’s one of which I run. My Husband works as a teacher so he has all the work that comes home with that. He is also on the vestry at Church, goes to online school for his Ph.D, and participates in a class locally that meets weekly. Thus there are many a things that quickly become enemies to my massive juggling act.

1. Snow Days- it is Halloween and we are having a snow day. This is not a good sign for the winter to come. Everyone has a snow day today, including myself (as I work at a local University).. so I can imagine my work piling higher as it needs to wait, yet ANOTHER day.

2. The “how-do-you-do-it?” Mom/Dad- This one just gets on my nerves. “I don’t know lady, I just do. I don’t have a spare moment to contemplate your question.” Must. Keep. Moving.

3. Short notice events/schedule changes- My calendar is planned a month out, mainly because of my work. By the start of the month my schedule is set and often I have something going on nearly every single night. So last minute additions can rally mess me up unless of course you are willing to wait 3 weeks until I can fit you in.

4. Not enough hours in the day- My friend says that no matter what she does the constant feeling of never being caught up and the fear of getting so far behind keeps her going and wishing for more hours of the day. I agree. A full night of restful sleep would be nice. She recently got fouled up with this snow storm as her house has been without power for 2 days now. They are camping at our house.

5. People who live by themselves- I say this one, not to be mean, but because there are people who don’t have anyone they live with that they do not have to be concerned about, so they don’t seem to understand the frustration I have when they ask me to do something that can seriously screw up my act. I.e. my boss. The simple task of asking if I can work late for 3 hours to work on something is a HUGE deal for me to arrange. But for him, “It’s just a couple hours” and if you think he’ll be there working along side me, ha! Then he suggests, “just get a babysitter”… oy

6. People who have more money than they know how to spend it- I work to pay the bills and to get the cheap insurance provided to me by the University. But to some people, like my boss, who say, “Just get a babysitter”. That idea is easier said than done, because unlike them, we often just don’t have the extra cash to pay someone to watch the rugrats for several hours. I often reply to those people with, “Are you going to help pay for it?”, at which they are often stunned and say, “well, no”. So Don’t be surprised if I turn down your request to attend your short notice request because all my free sitters (of which I have about 3) are already occupied or frankly just don’t feel like watching the kids. For these people dropping $100 to go to the chiropracter on a whim, is no big deal and think that everyone else can do it too.

1 year ago Short URL