It Breaks My Heart

This morning while blog stalking I came across this video. Within twenty seconds I was bawling my eyes out. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant and hormonal or maybe it's because I really feel for these people, maybe it's because I don't understand why some heterosexual people who are happily and legally married don't want the same thing for other people. Maybe it's because I don't understand that kind of hate. Homosexuals don't love differently than heterosexuals.



"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Oh, And Another Thing.

I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE ELECTION TO BE OVER.

I Can Tell, You're Going to Win Some HR Rewards

A little over two weeks ago we transferred a C.D. from one bank to Wachovia. I know they are struggling but they're FDIC insured and had better rates than their competitors. I didn't have an account of any kind there but in a very short time span a very kind young man (yes, younger than me even) opened the C.D., a checking account (free) and a savings account (5% interest). I was very pleased with the encounter. The man who opened the account also gave me information to set up online banking. The next day I tried to set up the account only to get an error message. I meant to call, but I am pretty busy and I don't plan on using that account for very much and I don't really care if I ever set up the online banking to be perfectly honest with you.

This morning I was on the phone with a girlfriend of mine when my cell rang. I was on the home phone and it wasn't a number I recognized so I let the voicemail take care of it, after I got off the phone with my friend I saw I had a message, it was from the nice man at Wachovia. I called back even though it was approaching nap time here in our home but I thought he may want to know why I hadn't activated my check card (I don't get out a lot, there is no money in that account, I was prepared for the why's). But he was calling because he saw that I hadn't set up my online account and he wanted to know if I needed help. He asked if I could get online and he would walk me through the process. He did, except I got the same error message. He told me he would call the helpline and get back with me.

When the phone rang again it was even closer to nap time. Instead of the nice gentleman from Wachovia it was an online account assitance lady. After she verified who I was she brought the nice man from Wachovia back on the line. She then proceeded to tell him that when new account members set up their online accounts they will always get that error message in a very patronizing way. I felt bad for him because she was very nasty about it and it seemed unneccessary to tell him that with me on the line, it seems that she could have told them that before our three-way conversation began. It also seems silly that new account members would always get an error message. Maybe I am lazy but so are they, maybe they should invest some time into a registration process free of instant error messages.

She begins to walk me through the registration for what seems like the umpteenth time. By this point my children are at my feet crying and pulling up and falling and crying some more. I get to the point where I have successfully (or so I assumed) entered in all of the new passwords and codes when I get yet another error message. She tells me that I have done something wrong and I need to start over. I tell her that we will need to do this later, I have to go take care of my kids when she tells me that "no, it is fine they deal with this sort of thing (you mean crying?) all the time, if it is bothering me I should deal with it". I wish I could record my phone calls for training purposes sometimes, her rudeness had me so shocked and taken aback that I didn't know what to do at first. I then told her "no, it's my children's nap time, I am getting off of the phone". She then proceeded to tell me what I needed to do next, I replied, cutting her off, "Thank you" and hung up.

I am still flabbergasted. I wasn't getting off the phone for her benefit or mine, I was getting off the phone for Bailey and Cooper's benefit. Because it was nap time and we try to adhere to a schedule around here. The children are now napping (they fell asleep very quickly I might add) and I think I will call the nicest employee at Wachovia back and apologize for her rudeness and my subsequent rudeness because I did appreciate his call and his attempt to help me set up my online account. Companies, especially those struggling, should take a look inwards perhaps. I know Wachovia isn't struggling bacause of their impolite employees but it can't be helping them.

-june

Better Than Sliced Bread

Would you like some unsolicited advice?

Great, because I have some to share.

Would you like to know my new favorite baby item?

Great, because I am going to tell you anyways.

Would you like to know how to make a million dollars?

Great, so do I.

Anyways, these are my new favorite baby item that I think every parent should buy, thus giving millions to Huggies:

I had been using these:

but they are just not the same. The Supreme wipes are like using wet soft quilted Bounty paper towels (really thick and soft) to clean the nastiest creations made by Sam's brand formula and pureed carrots. And even though they cost a little more and have a few less I would vouch that you will use less because they are so strong and thick.

These wipes rock!

-june

Thank You, Amazon

Alternate Title:

My Amazon Endorsement

I had been searching for some new music to listen to as I spend a lot of the day with music on in the background. I had purchased some new music from amazon earlier this year but most of it left me unimpressed with the exception of the new Magnetic Fields album Distortion. Then, about a week ago I went to order a game from amazon and on my amazon homepage there were recommendations for me. Among the recommendations was a new self-titled album by a band called Vampire Weekend. Amazon had recommended this album because I had recently purchased the new Magnetic Fields, and being that it is the only other new album so far this year that I have liked I thought I would head over to Rhapsody and give the album a listen.

Now I am hooked. I really like their sound (I find it to be reminiscent of Graceland). I picked it up at Target cheap and have been listening to it too loudly in my S.U.V.ever since.

I am also looking forward to new releases by R.E.M. and The Counting Crows.

Maybe 2008 is going to be a good year after all for music.

-June

Literary Recomendations From Us?

We were recently asked for our opinion on a good book to read. Something witty was the category I think. Well you should know that it is not safe to ask for our opinion if you're not ready for it, so here it goes.

Ward Says:

Well, it's been a while since I've read much fiction but I was always a huge fan of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and Mark Twain. In my opinion they are hands down the best American authors, pretty much ever. They both will deliver the wit that you say you are looking for, and I don't think that they go anywhere near goofiness.

Last summer I read the entire Harry Potter book series, because I knew I would never read them if the last book came out and everyone around me (who had been reading them since the beginning) ruined the ending for me. Other than that I mostly read non-fiction anymore. I guess I finally got tired of not knowing everything.

I'm currently reading: A People's History Of The United States by Howard Zinn, A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion the scientific writings of Albert Einstein edited with commentary by Stephen Hawking, Quantum by Jim Al-Khalili, A Briefer History Of Time by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, and A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle (this one I'm reading aloud).

I read A Brief History Of Time a few years ago, and ever since I've been a physics junkie.

June says:

I, too, like Vonnegut. Ward actually introduced me to Vonnegut’s Hocus Pocus and Slaughterhouse Five when we first met and I’ve been reading his stuff ever since. Ward also talked me into reading all of the Harry Potter books last summer, I was a few books behind him but once I got started I really enjoyed them. A group of our friends and Ward and I actually went to the release party for the seventh book (we never said we weren’t dorks) and spent the next week finishing the series. My point is, Ward usually recommends good stuff so you may just want to stick with his suggestions but I will add a few for good measure.

One of my favorite authors is Nick Hornsby and if you are looking for a good book I would recommend either About a Boy or High Fidelity.

I realize that even though I read a fair bit I wouldn’t say that I read a lot of humorous stuff. I also find that a lot of new authors while good and entertaining leave a lot to be desired. But some of my all time favorites are The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Once Upon a Day by Lisa Tucker, Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins, and My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. (This recommending stuff is harder than it seems).

Unfortunately I haven’t read a lot of real interest in the past year. I have read a lot but they have been pregnancy books and then baby books and now how to get your screaming infant to sleep books. I enjoy a good novel and can’t wait to be able to start reading for enjoyment again soon.

I am also listening to A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.

-Ward and June

The BEST of 2007

We have decided to compile a list of our favorite music releases of 2007. This was a tricky task as their just wasn't alot of noteworthy new music released in 07. Had we begun blogging say in 2007, a 2006 list wouldn't have been nearly as difficult to compile.

Here they are in no particular order:

1. Magic Bruce Springsteen

2. Cassadaga Bright Eyes

3. We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank Modest Mouse

4. Dirt Farmer Levon Helm

5. ga ga ga ga ga Spoon

6. Wincing the Night Away The Shins

7. Sky Blue Sky Wilco

8. Some Loud Thunder Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

9. Traffic and Weather Fountains of Wayne

10. The Stage Names Okkervil River

Honorable Mention:

The Good, the Bad and the Queen The Good, the Bad and the Queen

We were each going to make our own list until we realized that there weren't many good new albums out in 2007 and that our lists were tending to duplicate each other.

-June and Ward

May I Recommend...

That you rent or even buy the movie The Green Street Houligans, just make sure you watch it.

That you listen to Luna's Penthouse.

That you eat at Moe's Western Grill or California Tortilla.

That you read The Time Travellers Wife at least once.

That you try Munchos, the best potato chip ever concieved.

That you buy The Decemberists' Picaresque.

That you watch The X-Files starting with season one.

That you not put too much faith in the Colts, Manning is only a man.

-June