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Saying Goodbye to Grandma & Being An Outcast From the Family

A day after I wrote the article about my “Uncle Billy” and his encounter with the Detroit Medical System, my grandmother died (the same woman referenced in the previous article).

This grandmother was my mom’s mom.  She was also the last of my grandparents as both of my grandfathers had passed away years ago, and my grandmother on my dad’s side has been deceased for almost ten years.

My parents and I headed up to Detroit to spend a few days with the extended family and attend to the viewing and funeral for my grandmother.  It was those few days visiting with my cousins (unofficially I’m the oldest of the bunch, but several of them are within five years of me) that I realized just how little I had in common with those people despite the closeness of my mother and her sisters.  My mom is the oldest of her five siblings, and except for “Uncle Billy,” they still have a tight bond with one another.

But when it comes to my cousins and myself it’s a different story.

One of my aunts had an idea of creating posters and filling them with pictures of people in my grandmother’s life, and putting those on display during the viewing and funeral.  That itself was a great idea and everybody at the funeral loved seeing the photographs.  For a grandmother such as mine and the extended family, there were a LOT of photos spread across many poster boards.

Anyway, it was helping my cousins with the posters that I realized just how little I had in common with those people.  While they were going through the photos and going, “Oh, remember this . . . ” or “Remember that . . .” or whatnot, and for me the most common answer was “No.”  I had no bond or connection with my grandmother while almost all of my cousins did.  A big problem was that my grandmother played favorites with her own children and her grandchildren, and my brother and I were at the bottom of the list.  We’re we bad to her?  Certainly not.  We were just not on her favorites listing, and when my family relocated to Georgia back in 1987, that wedge between my grandmother and I just grew deeper.

From 1987 through 2013, my grandmother came down to Georgia to visit us ONE time, and that visit was within the first year of us living down here.  That’s it.  She had the means to come down and visit more times, but she lacked the willpower or desire to do so. Read more…

Politics in the Detroit Medical System

Today we’re telling the tale of a relative of mine.

Let’s call him “Uncle Billy.”

Yes, Uncle Billy is really an uncle of mine.  The guy is in his fifties, he’s single, in his youth he participated in very objectionable behavior throughout downtown Detroit and the suburbs, he has AIDs, he’s never had a real job or actually worked for a living, and as you can probably guess, he’s lived off of welfare and probably a dozen other government benefits.  Uncle Billy is a pimple on society’s ass.  The guy is a social deadbeat whose purpose in life is to keep making his daily visits to the three gambling casinos in downtown Detroit and continue spending his welfare checks.

This isn’t an anti-gambling thing.  If Detroit didn’t have its casinos, then the guy would keep crossing the border into Canada and gambling in Windsor, Ontario.  If those casinos didn’t exist, then he’d be spending his welfare money on other garbage.

The guy is an embarrassment to the family and a complete waste of space.  He’ll use his memory skills and memorize your credit card and driver’s license information, using that knowledge against you.  I’m surprised he isn’t sitting in jail right now.  If it weren’t for the fact that he’s still living at home with his mother (my grandmother), then the guy would either be A) dead, or B) in jail.

I kid you not.

Last week, Uncle Billy was visiting his mother while she was there for probably her tenth hospital stay in the past year alone.  It seems like she’s being admitted to the hospital once every few weeks for a variety of reasons ranging from breathing issues to circulatory problems.  Grandma is rather overweight and has been a lifelong smoker and drinker, and a person’s body can only handle so much of that crap.  Sadly, her condition is only going to continue deteriorating as she chooses to do little to make the necessary changes in her lifestyle.

Uncle Billy was there in the hospital when he apparently began suffering from a heart attack.  From what I understand, he was admitted and underwent some testing to determine the extent of his problem.  As far as I know, no surgery took place when he was admitted.  I live in Atlanta, so my information is being relayed from relatives.  What I do know is that the following day we learned that Uncle Billy was going to need a quadruple bypass procedure to help fix all the clogged arteries around his heart.  Uncle Billy weighs about 300 pounds, he’s been a smoker for the longest of time, his dietary program is mostly unhealthy, and the guy’s exercise program involves walking from the car into and around the casinos. Read more…

Boston Marathon Bombing Conspiracies – From Saudi Arabia to West, TX

It’s been several days since the Tsarnaev brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, had the shootout with Boston cops and then put the city under siege and martial law until the surviving brother, Dzhokhar, was finally captured.

According to the media, the case is basically closed.  The vast majority of news stories have painted the picture of two boys originally from southern Russia who came to America and later decided to strike back against this very country.  They allegedly became “brainwashed” with a radical faction of the Muslim religion and carried out a personal jihad against the USA.  The Tsarnaev brothers placed IEDs constructed from pressure cookers (as described in online publications), and detonated them near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

It seems simple enough of a plan, especially when you look deeper into Tamerlan’s past including his mysterious trip to Russia that lasted for six months and the violence he’s used against his wife, a woman who was forced to convert to the Muslim faith.  New articles online hint that Tamerlan Tsarnaev may also be the person behind a still unsolved triple homicide that occurred back in 2011.

2013 Boston Marathon bombing

It seems so simple:  Construct pressure cooker bombs.  Start a fuse.  Place bombs amongst the unsuspecting crowd watching and cheering for the runners.  Walk away.  Flee with the masses when the bombs detonate.  Avoid capture and live to strike again (failed for these two starting with the chain of events that began early Friday morning).

But to many people, there’s much more to the Boston Marathon bombing than we’re being told by the media and politicians.

Saudi Arabia connection

Let’s start with a Saudi Arabian named Abdul Rahman Ali Issa al-Salimi al-Harbi. Read more…

2013 Boston Marathon Bombings – NOT International Terrorism (a theory)

While watching the news reports and reading more about the bombing that occurred on April 15th at the 2013 running of the Boston Marathon, I’m more and more convinced that the terrorist, whomever he may be, is NOT part of an international terrorism organization such as Al-Qaeda, Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood.

My theory is that the bombing was carried out by an individual, a.k.a. “lone wolf,” and not from orders from a terrorist cell or organization.  Whether this person has sympathy for the terrorist organizations, or is somebody just looking to cause chaos is still to be determined.  But I’m confident that this act was not ordered from any of the big militant organizations.

What evidence supports this theory?

With all due respect to those who were injured and killed in the blasts, considering the size of the crowds at the Boston Marathon and the relative crudeness of the explosives, there should have been a much larger body count.  As of right now the death toll stands at three people.  That number is remarkably low considering that a large crowd of people were unprotected and just standing around the bombs’ locations when they were detonated.

Whenever you hear about suicide bombers in the Middle East, the death toll is usually higher than just a couple of people.  When car bombs are used in attacks, especially coordinated bombings, the combined death toll can reach a hundred or more people.  But as far as IEDs planted in busy areas, or suicide bombers wearing explosive vests, death tolls are normally quite a bit higher than what we saw at the 2013 Boston Marathon.

We also know that if a large terrorist organization tried to strike again in this country, the attack would be much bigger than the bombing we saw in Boston.  These are trained killers who think big.  A bombing as small as the one during the Boston Marathon would be the equivalent of “tipping your hand” in poker.

Why would a major organization go through all the trouble of placing and detonating an explosive, knowing full well the reaction that it would cause with the media, police, FBI, and everybody else, if it’s not going to have a high number of fatalities? Read more…

Stupid Grammar Errors – Dave & Buster’s and Starz

The other day my girlfriend and I were walking through a shopping mall when a new sign for Dave & Buster’s caught our attention.  One word was definitely wrong but the advertisement was also in desperate need of some key punctuation marks.

Did you notice anything wrong with the grammar and punctuation?

How about now?

Obviously not every phrase and sentence on an advertisement like this needs punctuation, but you really need to have some punctuation in key areas like after asking a major question or stating a proud selling point.  As far as the your/you’re error, that’s a common problem for a LOT of people these days, and nobody seems to care about correcting it. Read more…

Experiences at Studio Movie Grill Movie Theater

In the past couple of weeks, my girlfriend and I have visited Studio Movie Grill movie theater twice, both times through a Groupon promotion.  We saw Olympus Has Fallen and then Evil Dead.  The location we visited is located in Duluth, Georgia.

Studio Movie Grill is part of a growing trend that combines a bar & full-service restaurant with that of a movie theater.  The front of the building has a bar and lounge area, and before and during a movie you can order a wide variety of snacks and food.  Of course, this is a movie theater, so don’t expect bargain or regular prices for any food or snacks.

A visit to Studio Movie Grill can actually begin several days before you go to see a movie.  You can go online and order tickets, and you can also reserve your exact seat(s) in the theater.  That alone is a mind blowing concept.  In each theater, each seat is identified with a row letter and a seat number, and you can pick your seat ahead of time if you desire.

The only minor issue with that is there’s a $1.50 ticket processing fee for online transactions.  If you want to reserve your seat ahead of time, then you have to pay the fee.  Otherwise you’ll pick your seat when you’re processing your tickets at the counter inside the theater.

When entering Studio Movie Grill you’ll need to head to the counter and have the workers process your tickets and give you a printed receipt.  This receipt is very important as it not only has your movie ticket, but it’s also connected to any promotions that you may be using.  For example, our Groupon deal was $5 for a movie ticket AND a free soft drink.  Near the end of the film we had to present the receipt with the promotion to remove the drink charges from our bill. Read more…

The Clueless Restaurant Owner, Part IX – What Does It Take To Fire A Worker?

Although it has been over a month since our last posting about a CLUELESS restaurant owner of a pizza buffet franchise within the metro Atlanta area, don’t think that things have been all well and dandy.

No, my friends, unfortunately that’s not the case.

As you can probably guess, conditions inside of the restaurant have continued to become more and more depressing as once again the amount of hours given to the workers are scaled back, and once again the restaurant’s owner fails in marketing the business and handling the problems inside of the restaurant.

For starters, the restaurant’s owner is a gutless coward for not pursuing the theft issue caused by the former shift manager, Blackshirt #1 (a.k.a. “Tamara”).  As we recall from our previous story, “Tamara” was basically caught red handed as she removed $50 that was in the restaurant’s safe.  She betted on nobody checking the safe after her previous shift (especially since the top manager, the assistant store manager (ASM), was not working that day).  This tactic normally worked for “Tamara,” but because of a fluke money issue with Blackshirt #2 (a.k.a. “Chris”), the extra money was discovered.  The next day the security camera in the office recorded “Tamara” taking the money and slipping it under her clothes.  Once the restaurant owner learned of this theft, “Tamara” was fired her next day at work.  Of course, the restaurant’s owner is a GUTLESS COWARD and chose not to fire this worker in person.  He made the ASM do this task.

That’s leadership for you.

Anyway, it turns out that the restaurant’s owner did NOT fire “Tamara” for the theft.  A different reason entirely was given for her official removal from position.  The kicker is that the reason given was so lame that “Tamara” could have fought the jackass for unemployment . . . and easily won her case!  The restaurant’s owner DID NOT contact the police as he threatened.  He simply removed the $50 from “Tamara’s” final paycheck (I later heard something about him actually paying her back that $50 later), and that was it.  It turns out that “Tamara” didn’t even need to collect unemployment as another fast food company promptly picked her up and gave her a job.

Are there any morals to learn from “Tamara’s” story?  Not as far as the restaurant’s owner is concerned.  Sadly, his lack of taking and pursuing problem employees is far worse than what we’ve seen with “Tamara” and the restaurant’s previous general manager.  Let’s take a few moments and tell some tales of “Señor.” Read more…

Customer Service FAILURE at a Florida Travel Agency

The other day my girlfriend noticed an interesting package deal for the Florida theme parks, and we’re seriously considering the offer.  It’s a decent price and we’d both like to spend some time again down there.

The company’s website (not listed here but it’s a reputable Orlando-based company) is okay at best when it comes to information about the promotions and theme park ticket prices.  It has the basic information, but some things are a little bit vague.  I had to send their customer service department an e-mail to clarify some of my questions.

I sent the company a clearly worded and nicely formatted e-mail addressing my concerns.  What I received back was a heaping pile of crap that was a blend between an automated response and somebody with Kindergarten-level grammar skills.

Here’s the company’s response:

“Good Day [REMOVED]:

My name is Irene; I am your personal Vacation Planning Specialist with [REMOVED].  It is my pleasure to answer your questions and ensure that you have the best possible experience with your purchase.

Regarding your email below for [REMOVED] tickets that we provide don’t have an expiration date on them, so if you are able to use them they will never expire, from the first day you use your tickets your will have 13 days to finish up thet rest of your days. Our prices are subject to change at anytime to better assist you, you are more than welcome to contact me at my direct telephone number listed below. Read more…

Random Topics – 2013 Daytona 500, Olympus Has Fallen, Yahoo! & More!

Today we’re discussing a few topics that have recently been in the news.

2013 Daytona 500

First is this past Sunday’s running of the annual Daytona 500 race in the NASCAR Cup series.

As a whole, the race was fairly boring until the last 20-30 laps when the drivers began making their moves to go for the win.  This is commonplace with today’s restrictor plate racetracks (Daytona and Talladega) as most of the drivers will simply sit back and “save” their car for the end of the race.  Those tracks also tend to pack the cars together, and when accidents occur, they can damage many cars.  As a result, some drivers will intentionally stay in the very front or rear of the pack and try to keep out of harm’s way for when “the big one” occurs.

Jimmie Johnson won the 2013 running of the Daytona 500, but as far as the media and commentators were concerned, it was rookie Danica Patrick (she did run a partial schedule at the Cup level last year, so she does have some experience at a few of the tracks, including Daytona) who led the headlines and commentary THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE RACE.

Danica won the pole position for the race.  Whoop-de-do.  A) It’s a restrictor place track where ANYTHING could happen.  Look at the 2011 race where a nobody won the race.  Again, ANYTHING could happen at Daytona and Talladega.  Winning the pole just means that at that point in time you had the fastest race car on the course.  It’s normally a different story during the actual race.  B) She has a weight advantage compared to other drivers.  Since her car was lighter her car was able to drive a little bit faster.  On a course like Daytona where top speed is more important than braking and cornering, then she has a clear advantage.  This next race at Phoenix will be a different story.  The same will be true for pretty much every other track on the NASCAR circuit.

It was sickening the amount of coverage that the commentators gave the Queen during the Daytona 500.  Apparently we needed non-stop updates on her position along with where all other drivers were in comparison to her car.  After five laps I hit the mute button and played my own music as background noise.  It stayed that way until the last five laps of the race.

Despite dropping from third to eighth on the last lap (that was impressive watching Dale Junior come out of nowhere and almost win the race), apparently Danica was important enough to have the FIRST INTERVIEW with the reporters after the race.  During most races it’s customary to only interview the top five finishers, but since Danica is a woman (a recently divorced one, too), she gets special privileges and extra attention.  Again, let me know IF she ever wins a race.

Olympus Has Fallen Read more…

The Clueless Restaurant Owner, Part VIII – Catching and Firing a Thief

It all began with an accidental miscounting of money at the end of Tuesday’s work day.

Keep in mind that these events occurred during the assistant store manager’s (ASM) days off.  Blackshirt #1 (a.k.a. “Tamara”) needed some time off for a surgery and the recovery period, and since the clueless restaurant owner didn’t have enough managers to cover “Tamara’s” absence, it was up to the ASM to cover those vacant shifts.  The ASM ended up working over two weeks straight without a day off, and some of those days required her working double shifts.  The ASM clocked in around 150 hours over the two week period.  No exaggerating here.

Anyway, “Tamara” finally returned to the work schedule and the ASM finally had some days off.  Tuesday happened to have a planned social event at the restaurant, and the restaurant owner’s wife panicked over there not being enough people on the schedule to handle the event, so she virtually blew up the ASM’s phone with an endless session of texting about her concerns.  It was all bullshit as the ASM worked shifts with fewer workers and handled a greater number of customers, but since the ASM was not in the building, the owner’s wife was having a full panic attack about the restaurant falling apart.

You could look at that and see a major compliment towards the ASM and the way she can handle the stress and responsibility of running the restaurant during busy times and with too small of a work crew, but it’s all virtual at this point.  It’s not like the ASM ever received a financial bonus for her dedication and all of her hard work.  According to these dipshits, it’s an honor in itself to work for this restaurant.  If you don’t like it then don’t let the door hit you on the way out.  That’s their attitude.  Of course, if the ASM were to give up and walk out that door, the restaurant would be f*cked royally as it’s the ASM who runs the show and keeps the place in business.  The restaurant owner and his wife are so clueless and stupid that they would not be able to handle running the place themselves, and the restaurant would have to close its doors within two weeks of the ASM’s departure.

The ASM worked a double shift and closed the restaurant on Monday night, counting the safe like she always does.  The safe was correct and at its required amount of money.  The cash register drawers were correct.  Everything was the way it was supposed to be.

“Tamara” opened the restaurant on Tuesday and left in the afternoon when Blackshirt #2 (a.k.a. “Chris”) and the newest shift manager in training, Blackshirt #5 (a.k.a. “Señor”) arrived.  The restaurant handled the normal crowds along with the crowds from the social event.  Everything seemed fine until later that night when “Chris” called the ASM and let her know that money was missing from the cash register.  A large amount was missing from the cash register. Read more…