stupidity
« Previous EntriesNot My Hair in the Food
Friday, January 13th, 2012The title pretty much explains it all. Last week, TechyDad stopped on his way home from work to pick up some dinner because it was one of those nights. We opted for some subs. I was really in the mood for some grilled chicken and ordered that. As we were eating our dinner, I noticed a medium length hair of a color that is not mine sticking out of my sandwich.
Insert gagging noises, expressions of horror, and rage.
That was the end of my meal since there was no way I was eating something that was served to me with an unknown hair within it. TechyDad called the store and was told he could go back in for a new sandwich and see the manager. Oh sure, just what we want to do so late on one of the coldest nights of the year with two kids that need to go to bed soon. NOPE, I was not taking that as an answer. I decided to call and ask to talk to the manager. The manager came onto the phone and blew me away with the cluelessness. She did not get how bad this situation was, offered no solution, and certainly NEVER said she was sorry. The next morning, I went to the website of the main company since I did not have a way to get in touch with the local owner. This is what I wrote to them:
My husband decided to stop on his way home to get subs for dinner to take home. He ordered a roasted chicken and veggie patty. As I was eating mine, something caught my eye. A hair was embedded in my sandwich that was clearly NOT mine. That was it, I was done eating. I was disgusted with this. What I was not ready for was what happened when we called the store. First, my husband called. He was told to go back to the store to talk with the manager. He hung up and told me. It was dinner time, we have two young children, and it was freezing. He was NOT going back to the store at that point in time. I picked up the phone and asked to talk to the manager. It was a little after 6:00 at this point. I did not get the managers name. She was less than helpful at best. The manager clearly did not get the gravity of the situation. She stated "Oh you are upset and don’t want your food?" No kidding I was upset, disgusted, and appalled with how she had no clue how to handle this. I told her I was finished and was going to contact corporate. This is when she suddenly seemed to care and wanted to know what she could do. I told her no thank you and hung up the phone. Your Twitter feed helped me to located this page to report the incident. I would like to know what is the proper protocol for avoiding hairs into customer food and what is supposed to be done when a customer finds one within their meal.
Thank you in advance for your assistance with this matter.
After some time, an e-mail from the owner of the store arrived. It was 2-3 sentences long and did not really apologize, state what happened, or anything else. They may have thought it was a sorry, but it was not. Stating that you are “sorry that your experience at my store was not satisfactory” and telling me to print out the e-mail for a free sub next visit does not cut it. Nope, my business will now be going to a new location and I will make my own sandwiches at home without feeding my family hairs.
So my question to you this week:
Have you ever gotten a hair in your food at a restaurant? What did you say and what did they do in response to the situation?
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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.
Aloha #186
Drama at schools
Friday, July 16th, 2010As a former teacher, I am quite used to drama at schools. It can happen at all levels and I even remember some as a child. Still, I was lucky enough never to deal with the scenario that is playing out for my son. You see, once again there is a threat to close his school down.Yes, they are threatening to close a school that has had a steady increase in enrollment, high state test scores and a phenomenal community spirit. I am blown away with the so called rationale and backhanded politics behind some of the reasons. Of course, none of these things are really new in the area. The problem is that the state of the economy in New York has made this boil on our bottom even closer to the point where it will burst. (Can you tell I am in a mood?)
So yesterday, after digesting more uncertainties at the school board meeting, I had to take a minute and get some things off my chest. I wrote about it here: Education funding crisis – save our school.
Obviously, I am being a bit vague about things. Since I try to protect my son, I can not go into all of the details, or it will be obvious which school he is in. So this week my question to you is:
Did you or your child ever go to a school that was constantly threatened to close down or get shut down? If you have any experience, I would love to hear suggestions on things to do to help our school and especially my son who will be devistated if this happens.
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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.
Aloha #108
Blogger beware of content scrappers
Friday, April 30th, 2010For over a year now, I have been seeing ping-backs coming to my website from people linking back to my blog posts. A lot of them are from websites that are scraping content from multiple blogs for each of their posts. Typically, they use RSS feeds and go from there. They always link up to my post and put a line or two of my content. This bothers me, but at least they are not taking all of my written words and are linking back to give me my traffic for the content. If you are a blogger you have no doubt experienced this.
Now let us go to the Darkside of scrapers . . . cue the Darth Vader music. (Note: now an Update on the bottom)
Recently, I have seen a slew of ping-backs from Ubervu. I have to admit that I did not put much thought into it, I just assumed it was like the other RSS scrappers out there. Apparently, I am quite naive and many of you may be as well. Thursday, I saw the light. Thanks to Christina Gleason (aka @Cutestkidever on Twitter) sending out a Tweet with a link to her latest blog post called Ubervu Steals Your Blog Posts AND Your Comments. When I read her post, I was angry. How dare they think that just because our blog posts and comments are online that they do not have to abide by DMCA laws (FYI – DMCA =Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998)..
It quickly got worse. TechyDad helped me to check out what they had taken from me. He did the following search on Google to check:
Before my eyes, I saw that there were at least 43 mentions of my blog and Ubervu. I went back to Christina’s article to figure out what to do. Clearly, I did not want to allow them to steal my material and make money off of content they were directing back to their website and not mine. I went and submitted a request to have Ubervu take off any content/comments/links to my website. I reminded them of infringing the DMCA and started to re-Tweet to everyone to let them know about this new scraping phenomenon.
TechyDad also found the following items and sent out Tweets:
- Disqus is working with Ubervu?!! http://bit.ly/bCZIVj
- Also worth reading RE Ubervu: New Class of Scraper Site That May Kill Your Rankings w/ Duplicate Content http://bit.ly/cGeKRc via @pocketseo
I have to admit, my blood was boiling at this point, especially when I read how they were defending that they were stealing from people. Taking attention away from my content and pulling it up for you on Google – NO THANK YOU! Of course, to make matters worse the following ping came through at the same time:
Yes, while I was fighting back against them, they were stealing more of my content. So, if you are a blogger – please check this out and protect your writing. Also know that Ubervu has profiles that link up your comments on blogs and Tweets. We need to unite as a blogging community to make sure Ubervu stops and others know we will not tolerate this.
So my question to you this week:
Do you check ping-backs to your blog? Have you seen anything from Ubervu before and will you let them know that they are stealing from you and going against DMCA.
Please pass along this information to other blogging friends to check out. We must stand up against this so others know not to steal like Ubervu.
UPDATE: I wrote this post Thursday afternoon and since that time a lot has happened. Ubervu has replied on Christina’s post. They explained what their intent was and are working on fixing items as quickly as possible. I know that my links/comments are now giving 404 error messages, but my profile on their search is still there. What Ubervu is quickly realizing is that their idea may have worked had they asked bloggers/Tweets if they wanted to opt into this service. Autopilot grouping people into such a service is the WRONG way to do this. I will give the person on Ubervu’s Twitter account credit for replying to things and watching the Tweets as things have progressed Thursday into Friday.
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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the MckLinky there if you are participating.
Aloha #97
Fight to save our school
Thursday, April 1st, 2010Tuesday evening, when we went to the Passover Seder, I knew that many parents, teachers and students from my son’s school were at a very important board meeting. As I have mentioned before, our school was put on the chopping block because of major budget cuts. We have rallied as a school community, signed petitions and written letters. Still, this was the first board meeting since the announcement and many ups and downs along the way. The district scheduled this meeting on the night of the second Passover seder. It made me upset the minute I realized this. Of course, it made me even more upset when they rescheduled a meeting that was to be held today. Why? It is Holy Thursday and this was not acceptable to the board. I opted to keep my mouth shut and pick my battles, but made it known that I was not happy. I am not looking into religious discrimination because of this matter.
Last night, when we got home from the Seder, I tried to find news about the meeting. There was nothing, not even e-mails from other parents. I figured that was good news. This morning, I called NHL in from school and the school nurse asked if I had heard the news. No, I knew nothing. She told me that they brought up closing the schools again last night. In fact, this time they wanted to do a vote, but the members would not do it at the time.
Wednesday morning and afternoon, I spent a lot of time on the telephone and at my computer. I talked with several of the other parents that have been making the rounds to important people in our community. I heard more about statements that were said at the board meeting and got pretty angry at the blatant disrespect some members had toward our school. From that second on, I was a Mommy on a mission. I made called to the mayor’s office, assemblyman’s office, senator’s office, district communications director and several school board members. I managed to get to one of the school board members and talked with her for quite a while. Information was given to me that started phone calls to members of the school to get the word out about an emergency meeting. Several mothers made fliers and I stood outside in the rain handing them out to other parents and teachers in the school. This was news to everyone.
We all know times are tough, cuts will be made and jobs will be lost. What bothers me is that schools were picked randomly and not based on anything. Rather than close a school with enrollment that was declining and testing not meeting state standards, they picked on us. Our school has met state testing standards consistently and has a budding enrollment. Something was not right here and it needs to change. I am not backing down even though they claim we are safe for this year. I am going to keep battling along with others in our school to make sure we are a role model of things that are done right. We will be getting the word out to everyone about our successes and fabulous teachers, kids, community and parents. This is the least we can do for our kids. We MAY be safe this year, but I have been warned that next year may only be worse. We are in for a long fight.
The last few weeks have taught me lessons and made me feel like more of an adult than ever before. I have now had to fight for my child’s school to stay open, something my parents never had to do for me. Have you had to do this before? If you have, what has your school done to show the powers that be you are not going to give up for your kids?
TV interview and rally lessons
Saturday, March 27th, 2010Dear NHL,
This week has been filled with a lot of ups and downs. We started the week off trying to get the word out about saving your school. Then we were told that the school was safe. Less than 24 hours later the threat to close things down was back in full force. It has been a very hard time for me to understand as an adult, I can not imagine how it has been as a six year old.
Yesterday afternoon when you got out of school, we were asked to stay around. People had been told that a local new station was coming to interview people about what was happening. Much to your surprise when they came and we were ready to leave, the reporter asked to talk with you. You were not nervous at all. You went right up to the camera, answered the questions and made me so proud. You told her that you liked gym, art, time outside at lunch, computers and math. I will admit, the teacher in me was a little nervous that it took you so long to mention the traditionally academic areas of your school day. You also saw how the news takes a longer interview and chops it to fit within a story that they air.
This morning we got up and went in the freezing cold temperatures to a rally to save your school. Parents, students and neighbors were there to let the media and others know that we are fighting to keep the school open. For two and a half hours you stayed outside and marched by the street, held signs and chanted in front of cameras and cars that went by to save your school.
You had to regroup at one point, but once you sat down and talked with Daddy for a little while you were ready for more of the same. Today, you learned that in our country we are lucky to have the right to demonstrate our beliefs in this type of rally. I hope you know that Daddy, Mommy and the other adults are not going to back down. We are going to make sure that everyone knows that we will fight to the end to save your school.
Love,
Mommy
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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.
Houston. . . we had a BIG bloggy problem
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010Welcome back to TheAngelForever.com If you tried to stop by here over the last 31 hours, you probably noticed there was a problem going on. When TechyDad and I woke up yesterday, I went to check something on my blog. Much to my horror, my website was down. I went to TechyDad’s blog and nada there either. We were getting 500 Error messages about the server.
As time went by, we contacted Arvixe, the company that is our webhost. No real answers, lack of time schedule on the fix and on and on throughout the day. By noon, they finally admitted it was a hardware fail and were trying to fix things on the server. Then we noticed that data was not there. Thank goodness, TechyDad backs up our information nightly. The worst case scenario would have been me losing my Betty Crocker post (could redo if needed).
I had people that were questioning what was going on, so TechyDad set up something on the URLs of our blogs to let people know we were aware of the problem. We updated and put up a clock. This is what was here if you looked recently (click to enlarge):
Thankfully, we are up and running again and looking for a new host. We understand that things happen, but there is no excuse with not telling paying customers what is going on and updating things regularly – especially when we are talking over 24 hours of down time.
With a day lost, I will be trying to play even more catch up, so please bear with me as I settle back in. If you have any suggestions on web hosting companies please let us know. TechyDad is in charge of that and knows what he needs for our websites and his work.
Thank you again to everyone for understanding the technical difficulties that were beyond our control.
The importance of technology education
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010When I was teaching, I used computers and all forms of technology in my classroom whenever I could. If the computer lab had an opening, I would often take my Language Arts students there to work on a writing piece. Even my health classes went there to do projects while learning to use Microsoft Publisher. When I left to stay home with the kids, I was actually scheduled to get a Smart Board in my room (who knows if it would have happened).
Growing up, we hardly had computer education. Back in the dinosaur ages, there were horrid little computers that had Carmen Sandiego on them if we were lucky. I also recall my 5th grade teacher having a Disney print program on it. Loved the personalized Disney stationary he made us. It actually motivated me to write. We wrote things by hand because there was not wide spread use of word processing – forget about spreadsheets! I learned things on my own as it showed up on the scene. I was fascinated with all things related to computers. I remember sitting in front of our old Commodore 64 and typing in code to make it do something interesting.
When I switched majors from Pharmacy School to education, I took computing classes to beef up on my knowledge. When I was working on my Masters Degree in Reading, I took my electives in Educational Computer. I could have taken Special Education courses, but I preferred finding out new and inventive ways of incorporating technology into the classroom.
Fast forward to being a mother. . .
Right now, a lot is on my mind. Threats that the district will be closing my son’s school, thanks to budget cuts from higher up, have us thinking about looking at other options. (I will leave that topic for another day.) This was intensified with me feeling like I am failing my son. Is he being challenged and working to his potential, or is he being held back? While trying to remain calm this afternoon, my focus went to technology education.
At NHL’s school, they start having computer twice a week in first grade. I was thrilled and could not wait to see what they would be doing. As the weeks and months have passed, I kept asking what they were learning. Much to my surprise, I would hear the same thing – they were allowed to go on the internet and use PBS Kids and other websites. At the start of the year, this was fine with me, but I started to question TechyDad about it and said I was going to e-mail the principal to see if there was a technology education curriculum.
While at school today, my question was answered. I was told that the person that does computer is not a teacher. It was only recently that they had a person go to the lab and be with kids in this room. Apparently, they decided to do this since many of the teachers in the school were not utilizing the items.
My mouth hit the floor and I almost had to ask for help picking it up. I was stunned, mortified and ticked off. This day and age technology education is a must. To keep kids up to speed, they all need to have basic computing skills. Many of the children in our district may not have computers at home, so it is even more crucial for the schools to do this. For children to be ready for high school, and competitive in college computer skills are not just needed they are essential.
So my questions for you today: Does your school have a formal technology education? Is there a certified teacher following a curriculum with goals for each grade level?
I guess I was naive assuming that this was a given. Right now, I am taking it all in and trying to figure out how to approach this with the school. Of course, with threats to close 2 elementary schools, remove art/music educations for certain age groups this is not a good time to bring it up. *sigh*
Ever changing TOS on Facebook
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009How would you feel if you were a member of an online service and they changed the TOS (Terms of Service) without notifying you? This is exactly what Facebook pulled once again. We all know the controversy behind their view of photos of nursing mothers, but this will impact even more people.
In the past, when you signed up for Facebook, you basically gave them the rights to use your content. This relationship of sorts ended if you opted to delete your Facebook account, no questions asked. With a sneaky move, Facebook changed their TOS to now state that they can use your content even if you close/delete the account . The worst part, they note that they may even sublicence your content. So basically any blog posts, notes, and most importantly photo rights are lost the minute you put them onto Facebook (at least according to their jargon). If you are still unsure of what the ramifications mean, TechyDad wrote a great post about the latest with a link to an article on The Consumerist.
The fall out from this BIG change in TOS without notifying members was a hot topic on Twitter most of yesterday. Blog writers were scrambling to figure out what it means to them. Many bloggers have their RSS feeds put right into Facebook. So does this mean that Facebook now claims it as their work? Slippery slope if you ask me. Many bloggers were joining groups and writing to Facebook, as well as deleting their content from their pages. The fall out will once again be interesting to watch as Facebook meets the fury of the blogosphere.
What do you think about the latest Facebook controversy? If you are a blogger and use Facebook will you change how you post items there?
Life without an IEP
Thursday, December 4th, 2008Something I have not talked about much on my blog is the fact that NHL has been receiving physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) services for years now. It all began when NHL was almost two and still not walking. He was talking sentences for months, but could not seem to let go to walk on his own. Balance was also a big challenge for him.
Daycare was concerned at the time and suggested that we call Early Intervention (EI) for an evaluation. I finally did. We quickly qualified for more comprehensive testing. Of course listening to some of the talk made me paranoid. There I was in my first full time teaching job worried that my baby may have cerebral palsy or worse. JL and I took him to see a pediatric neurologist. She believed that NHL was hypotonic, hyperflexible and had very low muscle tone. She explained that his core muscles were making it hard for him to simply stand and balance.The simple things that we take for granted would exhaust him. She felt that adding aggressive PT into his mix would make a huge improvement.
A few months shy of his second birthday NHL began PT. Just a few weeks later while visiting Uncle I and Aunt M he walked alone for the first time. Lots of time and energy was spent working on his gross motor skills. Of course this was at a cost to his fine motor development. The December after he started EI I questioned the need for OT. Unfortunate for us, someone did not do their homework. Had we waited just a few short weeks to do the assessment NHL would have qualified for services. So more time went by. After a few months (almost a year into PT) I raised my voice more. I expressed my concern about the initial evaluation and was able to get another one done. This time NHL "failed" with flying colors. Yes, I was thrilled about that because my child could finally get the assistance he needed.
My goal was always to push hard and be able to dissolve NHL’s IEP before kindergarten. My wish was realized in January when we met with the district and NHL’s providers at the time. He did not qualify for an IEP, but would still receive OT and PT services in kindergarten.I completely value PT for helping him to walk, run, jump and keep up with his peers most of the time. PT has also given him strength to keep up with other daily activities. OT has been a major worry of mine. NHL’s wrists/hands get tired quickly. He has difficulty writing for long periods of time. Going into kindergarten where the demands would increase in this area had me quite worried last winter. Thanks to that and me being a BIG advocate, NHL was allowed to participate in a summer enrichment program. It was basically a half day camp that worked a lot with PT and OT skills. The problem – the OT that worked with him focused on other things rather than fine motor. I was aware of this and worked hard on items with him all summer. Coloring, play dough, bead stringing, cutting….all items that we did to keep up his skills.
To my horror NHL’s services did not begin for weeks once the school year began. He went without services for well over a month. OT in particular was very late and started in mid October. NHL loves to learn and is anxious to read and write. He does not like that his writing is not like others (read adults mainly). This frustration may hold him back and has been something I keep telling the OT. To make a long story short I just found out that his current therapist may be moved to another school in January.
WHAT?!?!
I was so upset I could not talk. We FINALLY just got things rolling and she may be gone? It takes time for a child to build a trust with a new adult and really take off. NHL is starting to do that now and it may be gone. When I mentioned it to NHL’s teacher she was floored. It was news to her. Now I sit here wondering what to do. I almost feel like I have little power because my child does not have an IEP. Who knew that that formal piece of paper had so much power?
I may be making some phone calls to higher powers that provide the services for our district. I want to know why they would sthey kneeone working with children in a school if they knew she would be leaving in January. They had to know this since the other school is reopening and some of the children will be going back to their home school. This would and should have been avoided and I am angry. My child’s success is in jeopardy and I know it is not the fault of the provider, but is 110% her provider and the district.
Motrin Makes Mommy Mistake
Sunday, November 16th, 2008Have you heard about the new Motrin campaign that was recently launched? Yesterday I found out about it thanks to a huge uproar on Twitter (#motrinmoms). Clearly the advertising department did not think about the consumers that they would be outraging. Nobody messes with the mommies of the world that proudly wear their children. None of us that have ever worn our child does it for a fashion statement.
Assuming the campaign has not been pulled when you read this, the video is on Motrin’s website. Just in case it is pulled, this is come of what the fast talking woman says during the promotion for Motrin:
Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion.
I mean in theory it’s a great idea.
…
And who knows what else they’ve come up with. Wear your baby on your side, your front, go hands free.
Supposedly, it’s a real bonding experience.
They say that babies carried close to the bod tend to cry less than others.
But what about me? Do moms that wear their babies cry more than those who don’t?
I sure do!
These things put a ton of strain on your back, your neck, your shoulders. Did I mention your back?!
I mean, I’ll put up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain; it’s for my kid.
Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom. . . .
Last night a lot of bloggers started their campaign to boycott Motrin for not using their heads and doing research with the Moms that wear their children. Had they done just this little bit extra they may have been able to avoid the headache they will be feeling come Monday morning.
Here are two of the amazing blog posts that I have seen in my travels:
- Motrin the Anti-Mom — by Christy of Shake the Salt
- Motrin’s new ad attacks babywearing, insults moms — by Amy of Crunchy Domestic Goddess
- Don’t Mess with Babywearers — by Stephanie Precourt of Adventures in Babywearing
- Motrin Makes Moms Mad — by Katja Presnal of Ladybugs Landings
Katja was also the one that asked her followers on Twitter to comment on what they felt about the new Motrin campaign and use the #motrinmoms on Twitter to allow everyone to follow along. She was asking for feedback to make a video message to Motrin. She has been wonderful enough to put her hard work on YouTube so we can all share this. Please look at the comments Katja received in such a short amount of time yesterday evening.
Update: Katja has also set up a Mr. Linky with other Motrin blog posts here on her Skimbaco Lifestyle blog.
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