I understand the urge to let the air out of the tires and yeah, it would probably fly in a small town, but that's why we have civilian community volunteers working with the police department where I live. They take a picture of the car, front and back showing the license plate and absence of distinguishing placards and/or tags issue the ticket and move onto the next offender. If you forgot your tag or something, you can take the tag and the ticket to court and get the ticket thrown out. (Hell, you can probably do it over the phone.) But the majority of the tickets these guys issue are upheld.

Gosh, I just looked at their webpage and they now have 30 volunteers after starting out with 10 in 1995.

Heym karatekate, I had an office like that once. I finally got myself a lava lamp which I plugged in when I came into the office, and place it right in the line-of-sight of the motion detector. When I turned it on, the blobs of goo made the motion detector happy, and my visitors thought I was pretty retro-cool. (I did not tell them that I got the lava lamp out of a box in my garage, and that it was original 1970s dorm-room-decor issue...)

MamaTiger, your post makes me very angry and sad. I can't stand how poorly we treat the people who we have sent off to fight for us. I don't think it matters whether I support this war or not, I certainly support the very young men and women who are over there fighting under our flag, and I think we need to do everything we can to support them when they come home, whether their wounds are visible or not. And like you, I would have probably found myself making a scene with those young women at the table.

I have actually acted up in public over such a thing. I was once in a really long line in an airport bathroom. In front of the line was a young woman who was a member of the US crew team, and behind her was a woman in a wheel chair. The one handicapped stall (out of about 15) opened up, and the rower headed for it. I was instantly in her face. And she was all, "But I am in a hurry!" Grrr.

Oh I don’t think that europa1057 is advocating vandalism. This...

...is just a cute observation. It reminds me of when we were moving my grandmother, the sweetest little bird of a woman ever, to a home and found a fifth of vodka hidden in her closet.

Vigilante justice is always a horrific mistake, but it’s so much fun to imagine. Envisioning all of the wonderfully horrible things I want to do to people while I’m on the road cheers me up and passes the time. In practice, I realize that people who can so blatantly disregard the basics of common courtesy aren’t going to learn anything from being likewise abused- it will just reinforce their me-against-the-world mindset (and hit me with the Karma stick). This...
...is not only the only sensible option, but is also the most likely to hit ‘em where it hurts.

Sort of related topic: I was coming back from the mall at lunch and noticed a bunch of empty spots right near the door. I just figured they were handicapped spots, but when I got closer, I saw that they were spots for "Patrons with Children" and there was a picture of a stroller on the sign. Now, really, wtf is that all about? Now they actually give preferrential parking to people just because they have kids??? You have got to be kidding me! First of all, people shouldn't be bringing their stupid children to the mall anyway. All they do is make a lot of noise and get in my way! Secondly, those people chose to have children. Nobody put a gun to their heads and forced them to spawn. Why should they get the best spots just because they chose to squeeze out a few puppies and the rest of us didn't?

(Hmmm, I'm experiencing deja vu. Have I bitched about this before?)

Parking for Patrons with Children? Really??

Once upon a time, I think that there used to be a comic (Scott Thompson?) who had a bit about gays getting preferrential parking. I mean, if you're going to oppress us, at least we get good parking. (This was back in the Reagan-Bush era; not that being constitutionally relegated to second class citizens state by state these days isn't kind of sucky, of course).

I've seen those, Rachel. It's vile, I agree. The marginalization of people without kids is absolutely mind-blowing. Unfortunately, while many people I love dearly have kids, their perfectly reasonable attitudes aren't shared by the many people I meet who have kids and think it means that everyone else is responsible for accommodating their children.

When I was in college, there was a staff member who would bring her loud, rude, discipline-free eight-year-old daughter to the dining hall for dinner, and set her free to go sit (uninvited) with whatever group of students she wanted so that Mom didn't have to deal with her at dinner. Unfortunately, the kid chose my friends more often than not, meaning that we were pressed into involuntary babysitting duty every night, unable to carry on a dinner conversation because this child screamed at us, interrupted everything we said, and basically made a complete nuisance of herself. It just about drove us out of our own dining hall.

There's parking for preggos and those with young spawn all over Florida now, my girlfriend in Miami tells me. Preggos, I can understand; your feet hurt. But if women would use small, collapsible strollers like I used when my kids were young, rather than these size-of-a-small-SUV convertible do-everything-from-cradle-to-kindergarten monsters like they're all using these days, they wouldn't need extra space to unload/load the spawn. A little common sense goes a long way.

And speaking of common sense, the lava lamp is a brilliang idea, SorchaRei!

So my mother just told me that she told a friend of hers that we would be glad to go to her house tommorrow night for dinner! WTF???!!!! Tommorrow is TARsday. There goes my normal Tuesday night routine of watching last week's show before hand. Now I just have to try and get home by ten.

Me and four elderly retired people when I could be watching TAR! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Handicapped parking? My favourite was a few months ago at a grocery store in town with one extra large handicapped spot. A van with the proper tags was parked in the spot, as far over to the right as possible. Some asshole in a little sportscar then took up the rest of the space. They were a little embarrassed to say the least when they came out and found the police towing the car away so that the van driver could have enough room to get into the van with her wheelchair.

Everyone stood around and cheered when the tow truck driver drove away with the car even though the owner had showed up. Guess he won't do that again any time soon.

If this is in response to the danger of small children walking around a busy parking lot, all I have to say is bring back the bungee leash! I love children but why are they 'free-range' all of a sudden. I have seen so many kids running around moving cars in mall lots and bumping into people carrying hot drinks in coffee shops lately, and the parents barely correct them. I'm not saying that everybody should tie up their children just to keep them from annoying me; I'm saying that parents should maybe allow their darlings to suffer a bruised self-esteem in order to keep them alive.

Amen, Zivra. I had a twisty-phone-cord-like thingy for my son that strapped around his wrist at one end and mine at the other. He could run up to about eight feet away from me, but no farther. It saved his life several times, from me killing him if nothing else when he'd think it was "cute" to hide!

They had these in the Jungendberghe Stahleck, a castle I stayed at in Germany. It was not fun to be walking down a very narrow, stone staircase and have it go pitchblack. Kind of scary actually.

I agree that people without tags parking in handicapped spots should be reprimanded. Though, in my town, there is one handicapped parking space that needs to be removed because there is no curb by the parking space, so the person would have to go around the town square on the road to get to the curb, therefore making the handicapped spot the furthest possible from the shopping area. Apparently there have been motions to have the spot moved.

It's definitely possible that people who have the tags but appear very able-bodied are there for a reason. You'd never know it, but my bf is not supposed to partake in any strenuous physical activity, has never taken gym class because he wouldn't be able to do anything, had a triple-bypass at age eight, and has tubes implanted in his chest so he can go for dialysis every week. Now he doesn't have the handicapped tags, but he has had temporary ones after surgeries, though you really couldn't tell that anything was wrong.

Don't be too hard on her, Mama Tiger. All sorts of folks try to get handicap placards that flat out shouldn't. Be angry at the hospital and/or therapist that should have either assisted in filling out the paperwork or done it for him. When one of my acquaintances banged himself up, I became his transport. The therapy center took care of all the paperwork and all I had to do was show up and pick up the hang tag.

He and I traveled around quite a bit. Found some handicap spaces that were deceptively narrow. Some that were on such a slope I almost lost his chair with him in it. One completely shaded and thus covered in three inches of ice. We found valet parking to be worth every penny, anywhere.

Patrons with Children? Oh puhleeeeese! And I'm a mom! Uber-mommies, y'all gotta get over yourselves. Like now.

One of my closest friends has had a leg brace since childhood. In our state, you can get the handicapped plates or the tag that hangs down from the rearview mirror, but not both. My friend opts for the portable tag so that when she's a passenger in someone else's car, they can park in a handicapped space for her convenience. Three years ago, she also had cancer. So after the surgery and the chemo and all that, she felt weak for a long time. Then one spring day, she felt the burst of energy and optimism, and hopped in her car for a drive. While zipping along her favorite scenic drive, her CD player blasting, singing her heart out, happy for the first time in months, she lowered the passenger side window to get more of the fresh air -- and watched her tag fly out the window. Onto the surface of a river. It was no longer such a great day.

She did get a new tag, of course, but it took a while for the usual reasons of bureaucracy and paperwork.

That rather sucks. Wisconsin allows for both, recognizing that the person with the disability may not always be in the car with the tags. Mr Rabrab has the plates on his van; the hangtag is in my truck.

Tigerdaughter has both, too, courtesy of Louisiana. The plates are on her car; the hangtag is in her purse, to use when she's in someone else's car.

The worst part of Mama Tiger's story to me is the following: I would hope that the folks who would have the most sympathy for those who have different needs would be those charged with caring for those folks. What a shame.

I work for a Big Mega Corporation, and all employees get Veteran's Day off each year. (They observe it on the First Friday of Firearm Deer Hunting Season, because a large section of our operations would be shut down from folks not showing up for work in lieu of the chance to bag a big buck.) Yet my father, who ran a tank wash in Vietnam? I don't think he's ever gotten Veteran's Day off. I think all Veterans should get Veteran's Day off. Period. [/soapbox]

Back before we got onto discussing disabled parking permits (a topic I steer clear of ever since I was involved in a nasty flame war on misc.handicap lo these many years ago), blackwing asked:



Gentlemen will please refrain
From passing water while the train
Is in the station...

Yes. Yes, they did. You dropped a load, hit the flusher, and whoosh, straight out onto the tracks. I must have been six or seven when I first encountered that, and let me tell you, I trod carefully thereafter (and still do) whenever I went for a walk down a railway line.

(Confidential to M.A.: You think Beatlemania is bad? I just recovered a memory: Liberace.)

Correct, Zron. And now for a related question...Do passenger planes still eject blue (poo) ice into the skies???

Happy TARsday, everyone! It's so nice to have something to look forward to every week....

To add to Zron's observations on train WC waste release (after blackwing's query), they still do. At least they did in Europe when I went about 3 years ago (my first train rides, outside of subways and the Tweetsy Railroad train), on trains in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and France. I remember how shocking it was to me.

When MrKate and I went to Italy a few months ago, I don't remember noticing, though. But we didn't do as much rail travel.

SorchaRei, I am seriously going to have to find a lava lamp to try your idea. I've actually started to get pains in my elbow from flailing my arms about behind my head.

WRT "Parking for Parents", when I first saw these a few years ago it was at a big shopping complex near the Harris Teeter (grocery store). There were about 4 spaces (after the handicapped spaces) for "New and Expecting Moms". "New and Expecting Moms" I can handle there being spaces for (though even as an expecting mom, I still won't park in them because I don't think I'm to the point I need it (I'm only 6 months)). Like Mama Tiger said, though, I can feel the pains of those "great with child" in the 8th/9th month. You still have to go to the grocery store. And when the baby is really new - in those first few months before they can go in an umbrella stroller - and you have to either use a monstro-travel system or lug the carrier in, yeah, I can see that too.

"Parking for Parents", though, is just wrong. On so many levels. And while I can feel the pain of "New and Expecting Moms", there are other groups not covered by handicapped plates that have a case for my sympathies. But you've got to draw a line. You can't have the entire lot divided and color coded for Handicapped, Parents, the grossly overweight, elderly-but-not-handicapped, "Just dashing in for one thing" shoppers, single and childless by choice and shouldn't be discriminated against for good health and SINK lifestyle...

Though they do kind of do that on base, at least at Camp Lejune, NC. They had the entire parking lot corresponding to rank.

Hey kids, sorry I haven't dropped by in a while, but I've been absolutely swamped at work (funny how that cuts down on my ability to surf the net and post here!), and my best friend is getting married this weekend, so whatever free time I actually manage to eke out, I've been helping her out...

Anyway, hopefully I'll get home in time for the chat tonight (missed last weeks being at work till 1a.m.), but if not, I just wanted to drop in to say:

First Concert? Kool & the Gang at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia. I was on a teen tour.

And when my mom got really sick and had to use a walker or wheelchair part-time, she still had a pain in the ass time getting a handicapped tag for the car. I've never been so aggravated by people who park in the spots (but I wouldn't have let the air out of their tires - it would have just meant they got stuck in those spots longer).

Whenever my Mom is in my car and we see a parent with children spot she wants me to park in it. Her reasoning - she's the parent, I'm the child - so what if she's 85 and I'm 42, we still qualify as parent and child.

Thanks for the confirmation re the train poo. I haven't ridden Amtrak in years, but if they are still doing it that way, that's kind of disgusting. Yet another reason to not want to live near train tracks. Imagine the smell on a summer's day.

Surely planes do not do it the same way as well, do they? I seem to recall hearing that they did, because by the time the waste reached the ground it had disintegrated. But still, yuck.

Yet another thing I'm off to google......doobeedoobeedoo....Done.

Did you know that it's possible to "book this incredible stage show for your next event"? And I see that the tour comes to VA on August 20th. The web site doesn't provide a specific location, but hey, Virginia's not that big, right?

I am sooooo sleepy.

I forgot to share my news: I was offered a permanent position with the good ole federal gub'ment. Whoohoo! Pay checks are good! I'm forgoing the raise I would have received from my current company, but I'm welcoming some great benefits, one of which will make it affordable for me to finally get my Masters degree. I'll be in the same building, just one floor up. More or less a lateral move, but the growth potential is huge. Doobeedoobeedoo.

Does anyone here live in the Houston, TX area? (miri, you're pretty far from there, right?)

Edited because I totally forgot to re-mention that the job that was going to offer me the raise soon? Was also planning on letting me go at the end of September when the contract expires. It makes a whole lot more sense now.

I am! People, tie up your children and keep them from annoying me!

Yeah, those "Preferred parking for breeders" signs have started popping up around here, and piss me the hell off too. It's bad enough I have to put up w/ other people's kids, but now I've got to give them my parking spot? It's frikking ridiculous. I figure I can park there since I've got 'potential' children.

Hmmm.... I'll get back to you on that...

With the same sentiment as Rachel but maybe to a lesser degree, I was looking at cats at the animal shelter almost 10 years ago. (August 18th adoption anniversary -- big celebration, with turkey and salmon mushed into a disgusting paste for everyone!) I walked in one day and saw a cat with three strikes against her (for most people). One, she was 5 years old, and most people want kittens. Second, she had long hair, which makes cleaning the house that much more fun. And third, she was afraid of children. "That's my cat!" I told the volunteer. "She's afraid of them, and I don't let them into my house."

I live in a townhouse, and my neighbor talks to my cats through the windows. Priss really likes her. And that neighbor just had a baby. So it should get interesting in about a year or so. We may have a *very* brief touch-the-kitty-gently moment or two while I hold Priss to keep her from running off, biting, or scratching. Or maybe the kid can just practice waving to the kitty on the other side of the window.

Congratulations, Suga Wuga!

My sister lives in Houston, does that count?

Liberace?

My God. I'm, like, reevaluating my entire view of you right now.

Some VIA rail trains still use this method. I think they are slowly changing the type of trains they have but it is a multi-year process.

Here's an update on the Chicago boat tour hit by raw sewage. The article doesn't mention the name, but according to the Chicago Tribune and other media outlets, people are blaming the Dave Matthews Band. The driver denies it. From somewhere downstate, he claims he got a local police officer to check his waste tanks to confirm that they were nearly full. He claims that his tour bus looked like the one that people said did it, so they were scouring the area looking for any black tour bus. I don't know who to believe, but I just know it is truly disGUSting.

No. Just NO.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

It always comes back to poo around here doesn't it?

Having trouble keeping up these days but I am pretty sure my first concert was Loverboy at 'Superex' in Ottawa. Grade 7 I believe. The Headpins opened. Remember them? ugh.

Even though I sometimes think I am too old for concerts, the Best Concert keeps changing, so I know there are still some good ones. For the longest time it was U2 Joshua tree. Now it is a close tie between Bruce Springsteen 3 years ago in Toronto (he didnt play anything post Born in the USA, awesome) and Billy Bragg and Lowest of the Low, 2 years ago. I had just wanted to see Billy for so long and LotL are always awesome. I was speechless for some time.

SIde note: If you don't like the opening band, please do not talk really loud during their show and ruin it for everyone else.

Missed Concerts? Well I am too young for the Who I guess, so I will say David Bowie, back when he was the coolest man on earth.

I miss University sometimes where I could see bands like Spirit of the West, Blue Rodeo, LotL and of course Moxy Fruvous numerous times in tiny venues.

I think those volunteer parking spies are spreading across the country. It's a good idea, because as annoying as it is, the cops hopefully have better things to do with their time.

I always want to park in those 'family' spots but there is always a minivan already in them.

First Concert: Julian Lennon. When this topic (or something like it) popped up in this thread about a year ago, I think I maintained that my first concert was Sean Lennon. Alas, no. I am much too cool for that. I saw Julian Lennon at the DAR Constitution Hall in D.C. based on the one hit he ever had. Which I no longer recall.

Best Concert: Jane Siberry in a tiny concert hall at Georgetown. The places was filled with big, plush, red recliners that contrasted greatly with the spirit of the show. I was so excited and worried about getting good seats (general admission) that I made my mom take me really early. So early, in fact, that the lead signer of Betty -- the opening act -- came by and asked us if we knew we were listening to the soundcheck and not the actual concert. It was a pretty bitchy thing to say, but we really were there insanely early. Anyway, this was the "Speckless Sky" tour, around 1988 I guess, and just before Jane started her jazzier works. Marvelous.

Missed and Regretted: Huh. Band-Aid, maybe? U2 back in the day? I was most upset about missing The Cure's "Head on the Door" tour but caught their "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" tour so that softened the blow. Actually, my real answer would be missing Jane Siberry again when she did a series of concerts in people's homes about six years ago. I read about it on her website after the fact. A host (with an adequate space) would arrange for some number of people to come, and Jane would perform in his or her house. Mostly accoustic music and poetry or something. The price was pretty steep -- $175 or so? -- but I so would have paid that. Ah well. When I registered with her website a couple of years ago, I mentioned how she got me through high school almost single-handedly, and she wrote a short note back. Love her.

I wasn't sure where to comment on this, and I'm still not...

Here in the NY Metro area, TAR is being shown at 7 P.M. this week only, due to CBS televising the Yankee game immediately following. Is the special starting time consistent nationally?

Nope. Because they don't inflict the Yankees on us here, thank God.

Y'all is so lucky. I don't get why they don't alternate like a stupidhead Yankees game here with a Cubs game featuring NNOOOOOMAAHHHHH! That would justify all the caca scheduling.

In my experience, the "Just dashing in for one thing" crowd think they already have a parking spot. It's called the fire lane.


It's improving, right?

Never mind.

Passengers will please refrain
from flushing toilets while the train
is standing in the station. I love you!

We encourage constipation
while the train is in the station
If the train can't go
then why should you.

Googling Humouresque can be fun!



This is a great idea...the overweight should park as far from the door as possible and walk for the health benefits. And so as not to be throwing stones, I'll go first!

As a little girl, I thought he was so cute. That's the closest I ever got to any sort of Beatlemania.

And it's much toooooo late for goodbyes...deerneerneener...deerneerneener

Hey everybody! I thought that I would stop lurking and finally sign up for an account. Nice to meet everyone that has filled my days full of laughs (especially the amazing Miss Alli)

My SO and I, having lost 65 and 26 pounds respectively in the last 4 years, went hiking Sunday and befriended this heavy woman we encountered on a trail. She was maybe 70 pounds overweight, and also was a dedicated hiker who kept up with us, had been to a lot of national parks and done some of the "strenuous" hikes, and was quite obviously fit. She'd probably park at the other end of the lot on purpose. I find the whole "fit and fat" situation to be quite fascinating, and I don't know exactly why. Elsewhere on the Internet I've encountered a couple of men who've each lost over 100 pounds, who have between 30 and 60 pounds to go, and who are competitive bikers. I find it hard enough getting motivated to exercise regularly at "normal" weight. I keep thinking that having a lot of extra weight on the body would be a disincentive, but maybe not. Obviously not in the cases I noted.

There's this one really amazing lady who has lost 100 lbs. recently and who has some fascinating things to say about motivation and weight loss (though not specifically about exercise). Whether you are trying to lose weight or not, it's very much worth reading.

I am so psyched for a 7pm TAR today! It will even make the rest of my pseudo trashy TV watching for the evening that much better. Sometimes it's best to start out with the main course.

More Stupid Parent Tricks: I very rarely go to the mall, because, well, it's like a Dementor's Kiss to go there, but when I do I'm always astounded by the folks pushing toddlers and babies around A) at naptime and B) after 8 PM. Hello, if you are wondering why your kid is being cranky and whiney, perhaps it's because they NEED TO BE IN BED. Just a little hint, there.
The other thing that bugs, big-time, is when I see kids who are clearly able to walk a reasonable distance on their own two legs being pushed in strollers. A 5 year old has no business being in a stroller. Hell, in my opinion a 4 year old has no business in a stroller. (The only exception to this rule is when in the airport, because the stroller is very useful for schlepping all the other crap as well as the spawn.) I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old, and we use the stroller about never. I hate the thing.
I also try very hard not to bring the kids with me shopping. It's no fun for any of us. Then again, I'm lucky enough to have kidless time in which to shop, which is not the case for everybody.
I've never seen the Parents with Kids parking, only the Expectant Mothers and Newborn parking. It's generally empty, too, in my neck of the woods.

Aw. You have to be careful about going by her, though, because it took her about a hundred years, and she loses an ounce every time we get a new president.

Or so it feels, at times. Heh.

Ahh, nice to be back y'all.
First concert - I saw Glass Tiger at a cheezy bar in the market in Ottawa once.
Best concert? - too many to choose, Blues Brothers at Bluesfest last year was fab, as was Sting, at Bluesfest, on my birthday a couple of years ago. Also, Blue Rodeo is ALWAYS a great show, and this year a great double bill at Bluesfest of Colin James and Bryan Adams.
Missed concert - my parents wouldn't let me go see The Cure in T. dot one time, also, why does Billy Joel always forsake me and not come to Ottawa.

Side note - Moxy Fruvous played a dance at my high school one year.
Happy TARsday too!

Because the Yankees should be on all day, every day (except for 1 hour of TAR, of course) all year.

Silly.

I guess I've got two things to root for in November, then.