June 20, 2008
Back in October I posted about Nick Bollea, aka Nick Hogan, causing the horrific car crash that injured his former friend John Graziano. Hogan is currently serving 8 months in jail for his part in the accident, which is nothing compared to what John is going through. I guess it never occurred to me how bad his injuries were, because I found this video (put out by the Graziano family to be shown at Nick’s trial) to be incredibly shocking.
John Graziano literally has a hole in his head. His skull is crushed and shrunken. How did Nick end up with 8 months in jail after this was shown in court? You can watch the video of John Graziano here, but beware - it is graphic and heart breaking. (The video almost looks fake because it is SO unbelievable to think of someone living in this condition.)
I read about a similar case in our local paper where a young girl was driving drunk (much like Nick Hogan was) and she caused an accident that killed her best friend. Since then, this girl has done nothing but express remorse. She’s done countless hours of community service, ON HER OWN, without being forced to do so by a judge. She talked to teens and warned them about the dangers of drunk driving. Despite this, the dead girls parents asked for no mercy, and the girl is now serving a 4 year sentence. It makes me sick to think of Nick Hogan, showing NO remorse and calling his former friend John a “negative person”…serving 8 months. Nick is already wondering about what kind of reality show he can get when he gets out of jail, while John’s family is wondering how their reality came to be so horrible and rotten.
9:12 pm
Filed under Bitchy-Poo
1 Comment »
May 22, 2008
If we’re not supposed to have prayer in public school, why does the electronic marquee outside my daughter’s middle school proclaim, “God Bless Our Troops”? Don’t get my wrong - I’m not a God hater, or an atheist, or an agnostic. I’m Catholic, and I attend church regularly. I like Jesus. We pray at our dinner table. I’m just wondering why this is allowed when prayer in school isn’t. Is it because the sign is outside? I’m thinking not. How long til someone makes a stink about it? (I’m tempted to be the one to make a stink simply because it would be ironic for someone who believes in God to point out the error of the school’s ways.)
Rules are rules…if prayer isn’t allowed in schools, we shouldn’t be referencing God on the marquee out front.
(I love the troops too, and God Bless ‘Em! Just not at school.)
5:07 pm
Filed under Bitchy-Poo
6 Comments »
May 1, 2008
We’ve reached the point in the school year where my kids know exactly how many days remain, and they give me the updated countdown as I pick them up each afternoon. I think today’s number was 24…which means I’ve got about 30 days before:
- My kids get bored and whiny
- I’m sick of summer vacation and ready for school to start
It *almost* makes me wish for year round school with short breaks in between sessions!
8:30 pm
Filed under Bitchy-Poo
Leave a Comment »
March 17, 2008
I’ve had this post in draft status for months! I initially wrote it as a reaction to a situation, and then thought, I didn’t want people to read too much into my words and think I was pointing fingers. I’ve thought about posting it several times since, and I’m finally pressing the submit button today…
Have you ever…
If she only…
What a…
Doesn’t he…
Ever notice that the people who need to hear what you have to say the MOST won’t listen? No matter what you say, no matter how many logical arguments you make, you can’t change the mind of someone like that. Ever met someone with a chip on their shoulder? No matter how you approach a subject, they’re determined to make YOU the bad guy. It’s not a fun position to be in, but it’s a good chance to see how patient you can be. A little method I’ve been using lately to deal with people like this is to remain calm, cool, and collected. It just seems to piss people off further that you don’t get as mad as they are. If you have to deal with someone like this, it helps to think of them as being a farm animal. Go ahead - picture a pig, or a cow, ranting and raving and carrying on, having a hissy fit. It’s kind of funny, isn’t it?
(Remember - smile! It makes people wonder what you’re up to.)
3:38 pm
Filed under Bitchy-Poo
1 Comment »
March 12, 2008
(Thanks to Marisa for the inspiration on the title!)
I’m in trouble with the school principal….LMAO!
I just went to drop the kids off, and we were late. Catherine’s bus was already loading, and the line for drop off was HUGE, so I cut into the employee parking lot, next to the bus loop, and dropped off. As Grace and Matthew walked into the school I saw the guidance counselor intercept them, no doubt thrilled with spotting such evil rule breakers first thing in the morning!
Not 10 minutes later at home the school principal called me to find out if it was me, and said that one her staff told her I did it. I said, “Yes, I have no doubt she did, I saw her confront my child as soon as she walked up.” Principal says, “Well, we don’t allow that, and I want to make sure it won’t happen again.” I couldn’t resist replying with this super sweet “oh my gosh” attitude, “Oh, no ma’am, you can be ’sho of that!” And then dropped a “Buh bye” on her.
Seriously? One day I break the rules and get a call within 10 minutes? The school must be running beautifully if I’m the principals greatest concern at 9am in the morning.
1:26 pm
Filed under Bitchy-Poo
3 Comments »
February 29, 2008
::Ring, ring::
Hi, this is a dead horse calling. Can you stop beating me now? No one cares. Thanks!
2:08 pm
Filed under Bitchy-Poo
2 Comments »
February 27, 2008
We had a horrible experience last year with Matthew’s 2nd grade teacher, that resulted in several meetings between us and the principal. I’m thanking my lucky stars that while Matthew’s teacher didn’t seem to like him, and was a negative, unhappy person, she didn’t subject the kids to verbal abuse like the teacher in this video from Houston, Texas. Kudos to Megan’s parents, Diana and Oscar Mijares, for knowing something wasn’t right in their daughter’s classroom, and getting it caught on tape! I was absolutely floored to hear a teacher telling four and five year olds they they’re mean and stupid.
The teacher, who is a 30 year veteran, apologized and blamed her actions on medication. What an excuse! I’d like to know what kind of medication has a side affect of being verbally abusive to small children, especially when parents have placed their trust in YOU. The teacher has been reassigned, and while she’s still at the school as an employee, she’s not teaching. The school board should have NO tolerance for this, and the teacher shouldn’t have kept her job. There’s no excuse for talking like this to 4 and 5 year old children:
“Nobody are you good for. You’re just a bad kid. When are you going to be a good kid? Do you think any other class acts like this? No. You’re just mean to your teacher and I’m going to be mean to you, too. Everybody understand that? You’re mean to me so I get to be mean to you.”
“Ya’ll are just stupid kids. I swear to God”
“You don’t hang out in the hall, Camille, and you don’t act stupid”
Watch the video - the little girl looks like a real hell raiser, doesn’t she? This teacher had her suspended FOUR times for behavior issues. With a teacher like that, I’d act out too! The shame of this story is that had it not been for the tape, this woman would have never been caught.
9:40 pm
Filed under Bitchy-Poo
5 Comments »
February 20, 2008
So…I’m taking this online statistics course at school.
From day 1, I had a weird vibe about the instructor, for more than one reason. I won’t go into them here, but she’s kind of a no negative talk / control freak. She provided lectures for the first 7 chapters which made it a lot easier to follow the chapters. Starting with the 8th chapter, she said no more. We should be able to figure it out on our own by reading the chapter.
Well, 2 chapters into that and I’m NOT figuring it out on my own. It’s a constant struggle, and I know a lecture or some sort of instruction from my INSTRUCTOR would help. She repeated that no lectures would be made available, but if I had a specific question (and after asking several, I know she means a VERY specific question) she would assist.
I called the director of online learning for the university to ask if this was the norm, and he said all teachers are required to provide some course content. He provides power point presentations and chapter notes when he teaches his finance class. My teacher provides practice exercises and study questions - neither of which I consider to be instruction. The director had his people review her course content and they found it to be acceptable. Ridiculous! I can’t believe I’m paying $700 for a class where I’m basically instructing myself.
To add insult to injury, I arranged for a tutoring session on campus for this class this week, and drove 40 minutes one way to get there. When I arrived, the math tutor I had been assigned in advance told me he doesn’t do statistics…despite the fact that I made the appointment for statistics tutoring! I can’t freaking win…
11:34 am
Filed under Bitchy-Poo, Hot College Coed
3 Comments »
February 18, 2008
On Saturday I was invited to attend an Izea focus group in Orlando. I have two choices in driving there - the interstate, which takes me out of my way, or the back roads, past farms and forests, and through small towns that are barely a blip on my radar. That is, until Saturday, when I was (wrongfully) accused of road rage by a small town cop, threatened with cuffs and the back of his squad car, and a trip to the station!
As I leave my house, there’s one long stretch of road is only a single lane in each direction, with curves making it practically impossible to pass any slow poke holding things up. For 20 minutes or so, I drove behind 4 or 5 other cars that were all being delayed by a red Geo metro going 10 miles under the speed limit. As we entered the small town of Mascotte, FL, the road opened up, and became 2 lanes in each direction separated by a low concrete median. The slow going Geo Metro went into the right hand lane, and wanting to avoid him, I stayed in the left. The speed limit was 45 and I was doing it, along with the cars around me. Finally happy to be moving at the speed limit, I cranked up my Sirius radio and sang along.
Suddenly, traffic came to a quick stop. A few car lengths ahead of me was a pickup truck, attempting to make a left turn into the lanes going the opposite direction. There wasn’t a turn lane - only a median, and this truck was position so that half of the body of the vehicle stuck out into the left lane (the one I was in) completely blocking the flow of traffic.
I did what most of us probably would have done - I beeped my horn. Actually, I beeped it more than once, as the driver of the truck seemed completely unaware of the hazard he was causing. Kind of a “hey, blocking the flow of traffic here buddy” thing. The truck finally turned and I started to move again with traffic, going maybe 150 yards before realizing there was a City of Mascotte police car behind me, lights flashing, siren off. I carefully merged over into the right lane, and then pulled into the empty parking lot of a real estate office.
Two cops exited the vehicle - a female, who never spoke to me or even came to my side of the vehicle, and her male counterpart. As soon as he opened his mouth, I knew we had trouble. He barked at me, “What is your PROBLEM?!?!” and I was almost so flabbergasted I didn’t know what to say. Problem? I didn’t have one! He’s got to be referring to the horn beeping, right? So I started to explain how I was trying to avoid the Geo Metro and stayed in the left and the truck was blocking everyone….
“YOU’VE GOT ROAD RAGE!!”
Huh? Wait a minute…I was calm, polite, and reserved. What’s this road rage he’s talking about? Good thing I was thinking this and not saying it, because he kept going…barking at me and berating me…
“That truck was making a LEGAL LEFT TURN and he is WITHIN HIS RIGHTS TO DO SO! What’s your PROBLEM that you needed to beep the horn like that at THAT TRUCK? You could have gone around him!”
Seriously? Did this cop not see the ass end of this truck blocking a whole lane of traffic? That seems to be reasonably unsafe. And me changing lanes suddenly to go around him? Yeah, like that wouldn’t have gotten me pulled over!
“ROAD RAGE IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE! I could have you in the back of my car in cuffs right now, do you UNDERSTAND?”
Whoa, I understand that one of us has some rage, but it’s not me! Officer AngerIssues returns to his cruiser, presumably to look up some kind of offense he can ticket me on. His female counterpart writes up the ticket, and as I watch her through my rear view mirror, I can see her grinning! Lovely. There’s nothing like a smiling cop to make you think you’re helping to fulfill a ticket quota.
Male cop comes back up after 5 minutes to my window. Female cop goes to the passenger side of my vehicle…I guess to prevent my escape? Because you know, I’m a dangerous criminal. He again tells me how he COULD be arresting me, but he’s “only” going to ticket me for “improper use of horn”. He again mentions the road rage and then stops talking…I realize he’s waiting for me to reply in the affirmative, I guess to admit I was wrong? Not going to happen, so I simply say “O.K.” and sign my ticket.
Here’s the best part of the story though…
If you’ve ever received a ticket in the state of Florida, you know that you have the right to contest your ticket in court. How do you know this? Because the officer or sheriff or deputy who tickets you tells you, “You can contest this in court, if you wish to do so the court information is on the ticket…blah blah.”
Officer AngerIssues didn’t say anything remotely resembling the statement above. His words (and I’m paraphrasing here - the whole event was pretty traumatic for me) were:
If you consider fighting this ticket, I’ll be there with the three other cops who were out here this morning.
I took my ticket, put my window back up, and slowly drove away. I was seething inside. Pull me over for something bogus - fine. But how dare this cop try to intimidate me into not going to court to stand up for myself?
Obviously, I couldn’t stand up for myself or even speak up during the traffic stop, for fear that this cop would react badly, but little does he know…but attempting to intimidate me into not appearing in court…he made me want to go all the more. I plan to go and tell the judge exactly what he said - NO ONE should be intimidated like this!
I researched the Florida statutes this morning, and found out that the officer had NO basis at all for the road rage charge he claims he could have given me. The road rage statute is called “Aggressive careless driving” here in Florida:
316.1923 Aggressive careless driving.–”Aggressive careless driving” means committing two or more of the following acts simultaneously or in succession:
(1) Exceeding the posted speed as defined in s. 322.27(3)(d)5.b.
(2) Unsafely or improperly changing lanes as defined in s. 316.085.
(3) Following another vehicle too closely as defined in s. 316.0895(1).
(4) Failing to yield the right-of-way as defined in s. 316.079, s. 316.0815, or s. 316.123.
(5) Improperly passing as defined in s. 316.083, s. 316.084, or s. 316.085.
(6) Violating traffic control and signal devices as defined in ss. 316.074 and 316.075.
I didn’t do ANY of those things, and certainly not two at a time. Why did this cop think he could threaten to arrest me and charge me with criminal charges when I absolutely did not deserve those charges? It’s just a scare tactic! It’s so I would happily accept my $76.50 ticket and thank my lucky stars that the “nice cop” didn’t arrest me. Get this though - on my ticket, he checked the box for “aggressive driving”, even though I didn’t commit that crime. How can you be driving aggressively when you’re sitting still?
And let’s talk about that $76.50 ticket for “improper horn use”:
316.271 Horns and warning devices.–
(3) The driver of a motor vehicle shall, when reasonably necessary to ensure safe operation, give audible warning with his or her horn, but shall not otherwise use such horn when upon a highway.
(8) A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving violation as provided in chapter 318.
Gee, I blew my horn to ensure SAFE operation. It was a warning to the guy blocking traffic…sounds like attempting to be safe to me! Yeah, I probably blew it one too many times, but there’s nothing in the statute saying how many horn blows is too many.
What was this cop’s problem? Did his wife just leave him? Child support increased? Having a bad day in general? Whatever the issue, it seems like he took it out on me…did I look easy to pick on? Sure, a skinny white lady in a big SUV is an easy target…she’ll cry when you give her the ticket and you can let out all of your anger on her.
Did I blow the horn one too many times? Possibly, but did that “offense” warrant the treatment received? Absolutely not. I’ve been having all sorts of anxiety issues about this since Saturday, and I even had a nightmare about the cop. I’m fearful about going to court and having 3 offices of the law back each other up with the version of this story that isn’t the truth. If I need to pay for my ticket and court fees in the end, so be it, but I want it to be known to the court how this cop threatened and intimidated me. No one should be treated like I was treated, especially not for blowing the horn!
11:11 am
Filed under Bitchy-Poo, Daily Happenings
25 Comments »
February 16, 2008
I almost got arrested this morning on my way to Orlando, which all in all, is a super sweet way to start off your weekend. You just need a dick cop with a chip on his shoulder, and you too can experience the fear that you’ll end up in the back of a squad car.
Story coming soon, when I have the energy to type it up.
9:03 pm
Filed under Bitchy-Poo
1 Comment »
