jacquedale's blog

My morning.... 

Here I sit at a light in the turn lane.  This light is notorious for only holding the green arrow for a short time.   Meanwhile, I watch the cars zip trhough the intersection in front of me.

Suddenly the flow of cars slows, and as I look to the left I see a growing line of cars begin to edge closer and closer to the intersection.  As I glance up quickly at the four different signs (in plain view) that read "DO NOT BLOCK INTERSECTION," I also look straight ahead and see a city police officer.  I thought to myself, "hey maybe they will actually stay out of the intersection since the cop is right there."  At that point the ever expanding line meets my line of sight and I realize I was wrong.  The cars no extend from one side to the other, making the road completely impassable- as the green arrow appears above me.  Read More »

I have wondered for the last several years where all the money is going.  The tax money that is allocated to the schools.  My small little town on the outskirts of a...not much bigger town...recently received the honor of the major high school being relocated here.  Not such a great thing as we would all find out. 

I attend a branch campus of a large public university, my campus is small in comparison to the main campus and rightly so.  What is sad though is that the new high school I mentioned above is much larger than the school I attend.  So big in fact, the freshman have a seperate "campus" (on the same grounds).  The sole purpose of this seperation is that it will allow rising freshman a much more relaxed and less overwhelming experience.  Well- that said I see that many of the tax dollars I (and my neighbors)pay each year went to the high school.  Fin, I am ok with that.  But meanwhile 2 blocks from my house sits my girl's elementary school.  They have so little money that the can't pay for someone to stand at the street and act as a crossing guard- so the school is considered a "Non-Walking" school.  And they wonder why children are get obese at young ages.  I am by no means saying that kids that live miles from the school should walk, but for pete's sake let my kids and my neighbor's kids walk the TWO blocks.  Pitiful!!  Well needless to say the street in front of the school is so crazy driving is pointless for me (I can't get out onto the road)and they live TO CLOSE to the school to ride the bus.  So everyday, 100 kids ride buses home and the remaining 750 are picked up by their parents!! You can not imagine.  I live two blocks from the school, school gets out at 2:30 and I have to leave my house at 1:45 and sit in a long row of cars to pick up my kids.  Where is the money for improved road and parking systems, etc?  And where is the crossing guard??  Ridiculous!!  Read More »

What the.... 

Spanked U.S. woman awarded in lawsuit
Sat Apr 29, 10:19 AM ET

FRESNO, California (Reuters) - A California woman who sued her former employer after she was spanked on the job was awarded $1.7 million (931,000 pounds) in damages and compensation on Friday.
Janet Orlando, 53, said she was embarrassed, permanently scarred and mentally anguished by the fraternity-like atmosphere and sales-building exercises at Alarm One Inc., which included paddling if an employee was late for a sales meeting.
The jury initially awarded her $500,000 in compensatory damages for lost wages, emotional distress and medical expenses. After further deliberation, the jury added another $1.2 million in punitive damages, lawyers said.
"Nationwide this will make for a safer workplace, help ensure less harassment in the workplace," Orlando's attorney Nicholas "Butch" Wagner told Reuters.
"The most compelling evidence is that they made a middle-aged woman go in front of mostly male co-workers between the ages of 18 and 24, bend over, put her hands on the wall and spanked her with a metal sign."
The swatting incidents occurred in 2003 and stopped as soon as executives at company headquarters in Anaheim, California, received a complaint, Alarm One Chief Operating Officer Patrick Smith said.
Sales people at the home security company's Fresno office, which has since closed, developed the unorthodox practices themselves.
Two original plaintiffs who sued over the practice settled out of court, defence attorney K. Poncho Baker said.
The company did not return calls seeking reaction after the jury announced its verdict.  Read More »

My philosophy has always been live and let live, you don't have to like me and I don't have to like you- we just need to leave each other alone to live our respective lives.

 Since when did the world become filled with whiners that insist on "political correctness."  Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying that people should go around saying the "N" word and such.  What I am saying is why can't we (Americans that is) be called Americans?  I know many people from many different races, etc. that insist on being called Mexican-American, African-American, etc.  Which I do not have a problem with in the least, if in fact they have actually at one point been a Mexican... most of my family immigrated here from various locations but I and simply an American.  I do NOT want anyone to call me a European American.  Why?  Because I am so far removed from Europe I have no real connection.  Just as, for example, growing up in southern AZ with a lot of hispanics.  Many of these kids I went to school with had Mexican heritage, yet had not EVER been to Mexico!?!  But these same people now want to be referred to as Mexicn-Americans. (For the record- most of these people are 10th and 11th generation).  Read More »