How Pathetic?

Seriously… how pathetic can some people be that they post comments on others’ blogs, making inane and assinine comments, just so they can link to their sites to get hits and Google placement?
Today I see I have a VERY favorable comment on my “Random “Neo-Christian” Musings” post from a site for scholarships for women… and one on my ” Gardener’s Choice Tomato Tree” post from a “business man” extoling its virtues in order to promote a Russian investment Web site.
I mean, really, WTF? Are these blog spammers really that pathetic or is it just plain stupidity?

Tags: blog spammers

Random “Neo-Christian” Musings

In Luke 12:33, Jesus says, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.” In Matthew 19:21, he says, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor.” In Matthew 6:24, he says, “You cannot serve God and Money.”

If you include “the estimated value of their property and investments…the Palins appear to be worth at least $1.2 million,” according to ABC News.

Pat Robertson’s net worth is between $200 million and $1 billion dollars according to the 2002 book  The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast.

Jim and Tammy Bakker bought mansions and luxury cars and their doghouse was air-conditioned.

Tags: bible, christianity, conservatives, greed, religion, religious right

Gardener’s Choice Tomato Tree …uh, right!

I was a bit sad to see Gardener’s Choice is back on TV advertising their Tomato Trees. It was two years ago as I recall that I fell for the same TV ad… get 3 tomato trees that will grow 8 foot tall and produce more tomatos than can be believed.. and order NOW and receive 3 free early producing tomato plants. At that time I also ordered 6 pepper plants that were destined to produce a plethora of peppers.

Weeks passed… and I wrote to them and was told the demand was so high they were waiting for more plants to arrive so they could ship. More weeks passed. I wrote again. I was told the same thing. I replied that this seemed to be a job for the Ohio Attorney General. And, amazingly, within the week a package arrived… a package of 12 tiny plastic pots filled with vermiculite and wrapped carelessly with shrinkwrap plastic. There were allegedly seeds pre-planted in the dry vermiculite.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a decent gardener… and, to make a long story short, only one pepper plant grew out of all the planters. I checked the Web to find I was FAR from the only person who had received less than satisfactory items. It tooks a written complaint to the Ohio Attorney General for me to get a full refund.

And, it seems the complaints still continue…

The Scoop On Gardener’s Choice — http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/928/
Ripoff Report: Gardner’s Choice Giant Tomato Trees — http://www.ripoffreport.com/Nurseries/Gardner-s-Choice/gardner-s-choice-giant-tomato-fnaef.htm
Gardener’s Choice Complaints — http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/gardeners-choice-c198748.html?sort=ratea

It makes my teeth itch that places like this are allowed to stay in business. The FTC… FCC… Attorney Generals… someone should be able to do something! Or, has someone actually ordered one of these GIANT TOMATO TREES and actually received all that was promised?

Tags: Ads, False advertising, Gardener's Choice, misleading advertising, Tomato Tree, Web

Aaron Ashley … A Funny Guy!

Meet Aaron Ashley of Fairmont, WVa.

Aaron is/was a pet store owner. According to the Smoking Gun Web site, Police discovered that he allegedly killed a variety of animals by placing them alive inside a freezer.

Aaron is facing a felony rap in connection with “animals being frozen alive and starved to death,” including six kittens, one dog, five mice, one reptile and 10 rats.

Ashley reportedly opted to freeze some of the animals in lieu of paying for medical treatment they needed. Police also received information , according to a store employee, that Ashley had been knowingly selling dogs infected with the deadly Parvo virus.

What a funny guy!

Sources:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0412102freezer1.html

http://yourwvabc.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=78035&printview=1

http://timeswv.com/local/x1612532220/Pet-shop-owner-charged-with-cruelty

Tags: Aaron Ashley, animal abuse, fairmont, pet shop, peta, wv

Another Night In Hell

I really do enjoy my job… honestly I do. But every once in a while the ugly side of retail sales rears its head, baring teeth en masse… and last night was one of those times.

It started out with the manager on duty, usually a very cheerful person, passed by me and mumbled, “What is it with customers tonight? They are being goons!” I sorta chuckled and headed in to the fray.

Granted, there were a number of pleasant customers who were VERY happy to get my services, thoughts and suggestions. But there was one eastern European “gentleman” who came in and raised a fuss that we did not have the particular power tool he wanted. He demanded to know why our sister store, approximately 20 minutes away and (he admitted) closer to his home, had more stock than we did even though it was a smaller store. Then, in the same breath he pointed out that another tool we had was out of stock in the other store… and he bought it! As he walked away with tool under arm, I gave him a big smile and thanked him. It is funny that doing that seems to really piss-off customers who apparently come in more looking for a fight than a bargain.

Later I was in the rear of our department and noticed a sales associate showing an elderly man and his visibly vapid middle aged daughter (?) some items. I turned to continue my work and heard the salesman say, “And back here we have the full length…” At that point the elderly man angrily YELLED (seriously), “I don’t want full length!” I whirled around to see what that was all about and the look on the salesman’s face was that of total shock. I ran into that salesman as the evening progressed and asked what that had been all about. He said he did not know but it was the second time that evening he had been verbally blasted by a customer to whom he was simply showing selections.

I dunno… maybe it is the early spring heatwave… maybe it is post full moon syndrome… maybe it is people to whom the Easter bunny had not been good. In any case, I really wish shoppers would realize that sales people are there to help and not as a personal punching bag… that when they are going to make a sweeping statement to belittle the salesman’s place of work that they not follow it up with a statement that contradicts their opening slur. I guess I just wish people would realize that salespeople are people too.

Tags: Aaron Ashley, animal abuse, fairmont, greed, pet shop, peta, retail sales full moon customers

Plethora of Pathetic

I use the iGoogle as my homepage and one of the things I have on it is a link from the Smoking Gun Web site. The news that comes from them ranges from absurd to infuriating. But today the three listed are truly a masterwork of pathetic persons.

Tasha Lee Cantrell of Florida was in the car with her boyfriend as driver when they were stopped and her bf was arrested for DUI. With no way home she asked the sheriff’s deputy for a ride home which he agreed to. On the way she popped open a can of beer in the patrol car… and was immediately arrested for underage drinking.

Richard Zeh of Connecticut is a wonder. Pathetic Level 1… he went in person to answer a (fake) Craig’s List ad for group sex with a horny woman. Pathetic Level 2… he showed up at the wrong address where he let himself in and was met by an 18 year old female who informed him that she had no idea what he was talking about and asked him to leave. Pathetic Level 3… he went to the correct address where, as were other men, he was told to leave and informed it must have been a prank. Pathetic Level 4… he returned to the teenager’s home, let himself in again (was the teenager a bit remiss in locking her doors after the first visit?), made rude remarks to the girl and grabbed her. Richard was arrested for “a variety of criminal charges, including burglary, sexual assault, and trespassing.”

But the day’s winner, IMHO, has to be William Ferris of Ohio who was busted for solicitation and filing a false police report after calling the cops because he had been short changed by a prostitute in a White Castle restroom. Seriously… using a prostitute is sad… lacking the common sense to not call police after being ripped off by a prostitute is worse… but having sex in a White Castle restroom is hard to beat for “pathetic.”

Hmmm… maybe the only one worse today is the guy who posted 6 comments on this blog advertising cheap viagara and other fake drugs. Waste of time, my friend… much as your entire life seems to be! Go have sex at a White Castle.

Tags: dumb criminals, retail sales full moon customers, stupid criminals, white castle

Moved… Sorta

Yeah… moved my domain and blog from Lunar Pages to BlueHost and so this is the initial post in the new blog. Why the change? I have been with Lunar for MANY years… and BlueHost with BandNerd.com for less. While both are the same price and both offer quite good service, I found no problems with Blue and a much better CPanel version.

So, there you are… the opening salvo of … and other absurdities

Tags: lunarpages bluehost gwydian.com bandnerd.com