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Archive through May 19, 2008

Reality TVClubHouse Discussions: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Apr. 2008 ~ June 2008: Free Expressions: The return of The Return of the Gripe Thread: Archive through May 19, 2008 users admin

Author Message
Neko
Member

08-03-2001

Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 4:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Neko a private message Print Post    
Haha, just to explain that picture Twinkie put up (Couldn't you have picked a better one?? :P Like the one in my profile??), it's a very bad angle, so on the left I look quite a bit bigger than I actually am. LOL
So I had some fun with photoshop, and shunk myself down to a smaller size. haha

Ll, the guy you found is the Student Association President. To find my name, you'd have to look in Chelsea's "Spring Convocation and Grad Week Activites" booklet that was sent out around the end of March. Also, if she's on the Facebook group, I'm very easy to find LOL.

Still no response from the academic advisor. So tomorrow I'm calling to see if she is on vacation and if she isn't, going down and stalking her office until she makes time for me.
I've got to drop an invite off and pick up some forms anyway.

I'd much rather not have to do this though, because I'm sick now. LOL
I think worrying about this made it easy for this cold to sneak in, but hopefully I'll be fine by tomorrow rather than worse.

</endgripe>

Neko
Member

08-03-2001

Friday, May 16, 2008 - 4:15 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Neko a private message Print Post    
I guess I'm a thread killer.
Oh well, good news is I'm on the list. Meaning, I'm graduating next Friday! A week from today!!

Merrysea
Moderator

08-13-2004

Friday, May 16, 2008 - 4:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Merrysea a private message Print Post    
Yay, Neko!

Kitt
Member

09-06-2000

Friday, May 16, 2008 - 4:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kitt a private message Print Post    
Excellent, Neko!

Mak1
Member

08-12-2002

Friday, May 16, 2008 - 6:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mak1 a private message Print Post    
Yay, Neko! Good job!!

Twinkie
Member

09-24-2002

Friday, May 16, 2008 - 8:14 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twinkie a private message Print Post    
YAAAA Neko!!!

btw, I think you look beautiful in that pic!

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 12:52 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
Congrats Grad-2-be Neko!

Serate, I had to reread your story because it was too surreal and too great watching fantastic karma in action. [I DO believe in karma, both the good as well as the bite 'em in the a$$ bad karma.]

This saying kept cropping through my brain:

Give them a rope and they will hang themselves with a sour grapevine.

That couldn't have played out better if you had choreographed it. And the pooper scooper evidence was simply the 'icing on the cake' to boot. Wonder how long before your neighbors from hell find themselves hauled out wearing straight jackets? They're probably ready to blow a gasket!

Don't think you really need the flamingos now. ANY time they even look at your house, looking so innocent with its pesticide-free, water conserving lawn, will probably send them over the edge. Oh my, what a story! I just hope you can get some peace now.

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 1:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
Hope my gripe concludes as fairly and timely as Neko's and Serate's!

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 2:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Colordeagua a private message Print Post    
My gripe . . . . I never had too many problems with telemarketing calls. I am on the "do not call" list. But now charity calls are as bad, if not worse, as sales.

But what I HATE is a call when after they've probably got you to identify yourself, person asks, "How are you today?" I HATE THAT. It turns me off immediately. That's not the point of the call. Person calling doesn't care / isn't interested. That's stupid. Call and say immediately who you are / why you're calling. That would get a lot further with me.

The other day got a call. "How are you?" Charity. So I say (and I do), "I give to other charities," and I hang up. After the fact I realized she eventually had said "CSA" (Cancer Society of America). I would have talked to her if she had started out with that right away.

Hukdonreality
Member

09-29-2003

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 3:33 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Hukdonreality a private message Print Post    
Colordeagua, don't feel badly at ALL! This "Cancer Society of America" is a scam scam scam! They were hounding my poor mother, and one day I caught the mail before she did. They are a total rip-off of the American Cancer Society, and when you read their fine print, about 85% of your money goes to "administrative costs." Now I'm seeing more local use of that rip-off, such as the "Rochester Area Cancer Society of America." My mother doesn't see the difference, and if I don't catch her, she is sending in her cash to every jerk who sends her some lousy bookmark or a nickle taped to their plea...

These people, along with many other stinkin scam artist "charities" are taking so many people for a ride. I think they generally prey on the elderly, but now I suspect they're hitting the telephone circuit.

I have never, and will never, donate one dime to ANY charity over the phone. When I tell them to send me something in the mail...hmmm...they don't. That's a great tip-off to a rip-off!

Mamie316
Member

07-08-2003

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 3:35 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mamie316 a private message Print Post    
Tip-off to a rip-off would make a wonderful slogan for an ad.

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 4:00 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
Oh don't be fooled about the name of the charitable organization, either. Sometimes it looks legitimate, but if you delve deep enough you find out it's only scarcely legitimate and is likely misrepresented.

Paralyzed Veterans of America sells light bulbs. After purchasing bulbs from them several times prior, I was talking with a representative for a while and asking a lot of questions about the organization (that contacted me), he told me only a few paralyzed veterans actually worked for them and only a tiny percentage of the profits went to the Veterans.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 4:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
And the police and firemen's organizations that call you on the phone are not really police, sheriffs or firemen either. Tell them to take you off their call list and hang up.

Tess
Member

04-13-2001

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 4:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tess a private message Print Post    
My response to "How are you?" is "Who's calling please?"

Then, if it's a charity, even one we support, both DH and I always say that we do not ever donate over the phone. Then we hang up.

I found out the first year we were married by asking question after question that if a charity is hiring people to call and beg for money, the vast majority of the money goes to the telemarketers and maybe 10% goes to the actual charity. I was livid when the guy finally admitted that. Anyone who knows me very well knows that I rarely lose my temper but when I do, Lord help the object of my wrath.

Btw, if a charity calls and you don't want them to, tell them to take you off their list. By law, they have to if you've requested it.

Whoami
Member

08-03-2001

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 5:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Whoami a private message Print Post    
As much as I hate to (cause it makes me feel like a heel), I think I'll have to resort to telling these charities to take me off their list. Seems like there is a day every month when every charity out there picks that day to call. As someone who tries to get some sleep during the day, that can be very frustrating. I barely hang up from one, lay back down, and the phone is ringing again.

I pretty much endured it till last month, when one particular charity got very snarky with me when I said I didn't have any old clothes/household items to donate. That pretty much sealed it with me.

What these folks don't realize is, as rundown and old as most of my belongings are, even the stuff I still use probably wouldn't be suitable for donation.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 7:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
You don't have to feel bad about it, Whoami. Just tell them you are not in a position to be able to donate and to please take you off the list. There are plenty of people donating to those agencies. They don't have to take things from people of modest means.

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 7:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
double post

Tess
Member

04-13-2001

Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 10:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tess a private message Print Post    
Heck, Whoami. If they are making you feel bad, then they aren't being very charitable. Of course Juju is right about the police and firemen's "charity" calls. They aren't legit. I found that out early on in marriage also. See, if you were a pill like me, you'd know that most of these callers are making way more money than any "charity" they claim to represent (notice I said most, not all, so no one hit me please) and you wouldn't feel the least bit bad about saying no can do and hanging up. I don't even say that much when they wake me up, call at meal time or when I'm watching a good TV show.

I'll bet that second post of Juju's was going to be the one where she reminds you that you never, ever, ever give out any of your personal information over the phone especially to someone who is cold calling you and asking for money. Really, never. So that's another good excuse and one I use all the time. I simply say, "We do not donate over the phone" and then I hang up. DH does the same thing.

Now go have a cup of tea (or something) and relax. Be strong. I know you can do it.

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 12:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
One other point to mention. Some time ago I did a 'dance marathon' type gig for one of my favorite charities. So many friends, family, coworkers donated to my pledge sheet.

Sadly, I later discovered that the charity was taking the telephone numbers & addresses off the checks I was handing over to them. Wasted no time in calling to hound all those people for MORE donations, since several people came up to ask me why. They even called family members (long distance) in Arizona that would have no normal reason to donate to this local charity (my Mom was the one who clued me in). If a person donated once, more likely to donate again seemed to be the perception.

So, if anyone donates to such a charity situation, better to pay via cash, money order OR blackout your address and phone number. The check would still be 'cashable'. THAT really disturbed me & frankly, I didn't do another gig for them. Just donated myself via payroll deductions after that.

Prisonerno6
Member

08-31-2002

Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 3:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Prisonerno6 a private message Print Post    
When the grandmother of a colleague of mine passed away, several of us got together and donated money to a charity of his parents' choice, a teen retreat in which his grandmother was involved. I wrote the check, but blacked out all my personal information on it, and used our work address as the return address. That was at least three years ago. Every month since then, I've gotten a letter at work asking for more money.

They've probably spent more money on printing and mailing those letters than we sent them in the first place.

Ophiliasgrandma
Member

09-04-2001

Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 7:55 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ophiliasgrandma a private message Print Post    
Gracie, I just checked with Charity Navigator and found the Paralyzed Vets of America gives 64.5 percent to help their cause...not great, but not too bad either.

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 11:43 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
OG, when that happened with me several years ago, I was told by the solicitor the percentage was more like 2%. In checking, I also noticed there is more than one chapter with that name. Perhaps I was contacted by one chapter that only gave a portion of that 64.5%. If the percentage had been that great, I might not have been miffed.

Vacanick
Member

07-12-2004

Monday, May 19, 2008 - 7:18 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vacanick a private message Print Post    
I need to gripe ... my son spent the weekend with his father. His father let him swim all weekend without sunscreen.

When I picked Nicholas up last night, his father said nothing to me.

Nicholas is burnt to a crisp. He has never had a sunburn before and is just miserable.

I have to stay home from work today to care for my son who is in pain because his father is an idiot and can't take proper care of him.

I am so pissed!! Suggestions? Comments? Medication. lol!


Nyheat
Member

08-09-2006

Monday, May 19, 2008 - 7:20 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Nyheat a private message Print Post    
Aloe Vera! All over, it soothes the pain and speeds healing. Get the green gel stuff at the drug store. Sorry to hear about your son!

Hukdonreality
Member

09-29-2003

Monday, May 19, 2008 - 7:24 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Hukdonreality a private message Print Post    
Vaca, we used to use Noxema as children (we never used sunscreen, don't think at the time it was something anyone thought about). The only problem with it is that it is pretty thick and sort of hard to spread. It sure cooled things down though.

My comment, meant only to be helpful for the future, is to give Nick some responsibility for applying it himself. After this burn, he may think twice about using the pool without sunscreen!

Sorry you have a sore boy, I've been there many many times!