Dish wants to know

So, who are your favorite celebs to follow and why? Please post to the blog.
Yes, there is a reason for me asking this. All to be revealed Friday.
XOXO - MTMD
PS Please note: shortest entry yet

Help Desks Suck

My personal email isn't sending or receiving reliably. God only knows how long this has been going on. I have spent THREE DAYS on e-technical support and subsequently on the telephone to helpless Help Desks. Here's what I've learned so far:
~ No one really gives a crap
~ The people who are supposed to help you aren't really equipped to help you. You have to kick and scream to get anywhere. In doing so, you risk pissing off the little people who can write lies in the "log" about the problem, spouting such untruths as "she hung up on me, so I'm not fixing the problem since she is uncooperative". GOOD GRIEF! Why on God's Green Earth would I do something that would take LONGER to solve the problem???

Here's the morsel I've found to date:
If you get someone in India, you may request an American operator and they must transfer you to the next available on-shore operator. LOVE THAT!

Any tricks or tips or bribes that have worked for any of you to get you further up in the line of fellow sufferers would be most appreciated.

I think I'll need a lobotomy if I have to deal with much more of this. Alcohol won't dull the pain.

Need a Time-Waster/Mental Bubble Gum?

This Old House has a segment on their web page called [Range] Hoods Gone Wild. Apparently a few hood manufacturing companies decided to get creative with the range hood and have combined it with ways to charge unbelievably outrageous prices for range hoods (you know, those very noisy things that hang over your stove to keep the smoke out of your living room supposedly while you're whipping up a delicious treat).

You simply must take a gawk at this, Strudel. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20191317,00.html?xid=hinnewsletter-041508-vent-hoods Be sure to flip through all the pages to get the whole enchilada.

What proves most entertaining to this Diva are the posted comments under the professionally written product description. One, I swear, sounds just like our dear reader Allen (not the camp person Allen; Radio Listener Fan Allen - you both are morsels). See what you think and get back to me (NOT about the Allens; the Range Hoods, silly goose!).

Toodles, Poodles!

Err ... I (hack, wheeze, sputter, slurp) spoke too soon

Back on meds. Bronchitis, asthma, some form of infection in the lung/breathing area - yuck. Don't get me wrong, this is not stopping me from doing much of anything except singing - 'cause that's a lost cause right now, but I'm GONNA get better. I've got 2 weeks before the next singing performance, right Choral Group Heart-Throb?! Plenty of time.

So, for your Main Dish Fix, I submit a commercial for The Wine Cellar.

Kitten, you simply must stop by there PRONTO. It's really easy to get to and there's plenty of parking. It's off Hwy 31 in Vestavia. Turn in Publix. She's next door to a FAVE artist, Wendy LoVoy's Sips and Strokes studio (if you haven't done that, you're totally missing out, but that's another shameless endorsement).

Jennifer is a trained chef. O0h la-la! She can help you with your next party with menu advice AND suggest wines. It's just one of the many advantages she offers her clientele.

Think you can't afford to buy wine there? Think that specialty wine stores are tres expensive? Au contraire, mon frere. The Wine Cellar specializes in high-quality, low price (starting at $5/bottle!) wines. You can't afford to NOT check it out! Jennifer has sampled every single wine she carries. Now, is that a job benefit or what?! Are you hiring? Anyway, she stands behind everything she sells ... personally. And I was surprised to learn that not every specialty wine store does this. So, Jennifer is the exception, not the rule.

On a budget for your party? Who isn't! Give her a budget, the number of expected guests, and she'll work magic for you. Oh! She has the funniest cocktail napkins that will be the talk of your fete! I must snap some up the next time I'm in there.

Jennifer has eye-candy items that make fantastic gifts for your chic girlfriends - and you won't drop a lot of wonga paying for it, either! Doncha just love that?!

Want something totally fun and fresh to do Thursday night? Jennifer hosts wine tastings at the store. There's food, too! Learn and drink - a winning combo in my book! Click on her blog link for deets right away, Poodle! Also, you can see what Katherine looks like - her picture's on the blog.

If you haven't been to The Wine Cellar, you are missing out. Call 979-2151 if you need anything. Jennifer will probably even answer the phone. Tell her I said hey!

Another update

The bills passed both the House and the Senate committees yesterday. The compromise language boils down to this:

Good News: No School in June or July

Eh News: Schools won't start back until AFTER August 10th. It's still royally hot then, but it's better than Blount County's start date this fall of August 7th.

Out of the Blue: Schools will be allowed up to 6 weeks of vacation during the school calendar year. Currently there are about 5 weeks (Fall Break/Thanksgiving week, 2 weeks @ Christmas, 1 week spring break, 1 week of teacher work days).

THESE BILLS STILL HAVE TO GO IN FRONT OF BOTH THE HOUSE AND SENATE FOR VOTING BEFORE THIS GOES IN EFFECT, so stay tuned. Thanks to those who emailed. It made a big, big difference.

XOXO

Updates

1. HAIR. For those of you Sweet Peeps who have been concerned about the state/condition/color of my hair, please breathe a collective sigh of relief. The Main Squeeze is about to really like the color again (I usually pay zero attention to what a fellow thinks of my hair because if he's dating me for my hair, then I don't want him - The Main Squeeze isn't like that; he just likes the red, 'cause it's sassy. Tee, hee!) and for that, it's worth what I just dropped paying for it. The cut is great, though a little short. But to quote my mother, "The great thing about hair is it grows. Just wait." It just looks better. If you ever need a perk, go to a trusted stylist for a faboo cut and you're transformed.

2. Toenails = You're a Pisa Work, my very fave color (Opi brand)

3. Fingernails = French nude

PS I did 2 & 3 myself despite The Main Squeeze arranging for a mani-pedi for me. LOVE that a lot. The nail place was a disaster of an experience and reminds me why I don't like those foreign-jobby nail places, despite the fact they're time and cost effective. My feet were in tepid water they'd left running and forgotten about me until the thing nearly overflowed. To add to that experience, it was filled with Lysol, which was starting to slowly burn the skin off my body - NOT relaxing, by the by. The chair massage started a karate chop ... AT MY HEAD, which was really disturbing, but I thought, I'll just wait to see if the basin overflows and for sure, this action will go down my back. Well, it moved from my head (yea!) ... and got stuck in my back in such a way that you could readily see the kneading balls pushing through the pleather when you leaned forward. It just stopped like that. I couldn't sit back because I had these hard spheres in my back and to put my head on the head rest part, I had to arch my back. Remember, too, my skin is being seared off by Lysol cleaner that you add to water (like to mop with, I think). I sat bolt upright in a massage chair for like 15 minutes. No one noticed. The tub was about to overflow. No one noticed. I'd been left there in a foot-washing torture chamber and I wasn't at a country Baptist church. I decided that since I'm working to un-do the Hag look, I'd best get the hell out. If anyone knows of a good mani-pedi place that doesn't feature torture, please post. The Main Squeeze gets major points for thinking to get me a mani-pedi AND making the arrangements to surprise me. That was just beyond thoughtful. He's just THE Best!!!!

4. Fungus. Eyes are completely better. Contacts back in their rightful positions. The doctor's office never returned my phone call. Thanks to Voice Coach Queen, the doc's daughter had a lesson and VCQ inquired about the latest developments with the fungus down my throat etc. VCQ called me with the doc there b/c the doc realized she hadn't heard from me and PERSONALLY ON THE SPOT called in more RX's for me ... costing me more than $100 for this fungus treatment. It's on the mend and has cleared out of everything but my mouth and throat, which is an improvement.

5. I'm at the ballpark 4 week nights plus 4 hours every Saturday. I keep hearing from friends, "I haven't seen you lately." Well, I'm either driving to the ballpark (like to pick up children from across the globe and drive them to practice/games), at the ballpark, driving home from the ballpark, or scrubbing the red clay out of the baseball pants. Funny, the folks at the ballpark aren't the ones telling me they haven't seen me around. For those of you who know how competitive my boys are, you'll be relieved to know that one is on the #2 machine pitch team and the other one is on the #1 t-ball team at present.

6. When I'm not at the ballpark, I'm singing somewhere or in rehearsals. Mozart Requiem plays in my head at all times currently. Even when I sleep, it's going. Concerts start in about a month.

7. WAPI. I was a guest on Lisa Roxanne Holifield's morning talk show this morning. Being back in the studio was great! She is delightful. It's a great show featuring a smart, compassionate woman talking about timely topics and news. My topic, surprisingly, was not helpful tips, but the bill going to committee today concerning the school calendar issue. The phone calls were excellent and none staged, I promise! There was this one weird guy calling in claiming to be Roxanne's biggest fan, but I changed the subject of his conversation and she hung up on him. Yep, that's good old fashioned Girl Teamwork. The whole visit was great fun.

The Diva Comeback Tour continues. Well, actually, I have to go pick up in carpool line in a sec.
XOXO

I hate politics, BUT

In Alabama, there is a committee meeting TOMORROW that effects all of our school children. HB 179 and SB 241 propose a uniform start date close to Labor Day for ALL SCHOOLS and that they end just before Memorial Day.

Why is this a big deal? Do you remember the 107-degree days that we had in August? They're pretty typical in these parts. School children across Alabama go to schools either without air-conditioned buildings or with broken air conditioning. My kids (and probably yours) are a smaller percentage of kids who go to schools with good environments. Even in good environments, any child in the state riding a school bus is being transported in ovens in August. There are several stories of children suffering from heat exhaustion just from riding the school bus home in the afternoon. Children can't learn, do their homework, or feel invigorated to go to ballet lessons after suffering through these conditions.

When I was growing up, we had 11-12 weeks of summer. Now there are 8-10 weeks. We didn't go back to school until August 20th at the earliest. I remember one summer camp year when I was 14 or 15 dreading August 27th when school started. My kids' school starts August 11, 2008. UGH!

Kids with asthma can't go on the playground in August because the air is polluted (I have asthma, so I'm not knocking those kids). This prohibits the entire classroom from going on the playground. Kids need to get their energy out several times a day in order to behave in the classroom and to learn.

Not sold? How about the financial costs of air conditioning your home in August? Multiply that amount by a hormone-filled middle school of 500-1,000 kids PLUS the staff. THEN COOK for them and keep the lunch room at a reasonable temperature. WHY are we doing this at the historically hottest time of the year? WHY can't these dollars be put in the classroom instead of going to Alabama Power?

The Chamber of Commerces in the beach areas (Florida Panhandle and the Alabama Coastal areas) state that revenue goes down MILLIONS of dollars in August, the hottest month, because people are getting kids back to school -when they would otherwise be at the beach. This effects the amount of funds that go towards education and services, people! It's being taken out of our kids' educational pockets.

Educational Administrators wax on about test scores, more days needed in the fall to prepare for state testing, and the need for areas to set their own schedules. Let me debunk those for you.
1. Test Scores. The highest test scores in the state are in Mountain Brook. They are the latest starting school system in the state. They, by the way, have exams before winter holidays, too (another reason superintendents state the late start date is a bad idea).
2. More days in the Fall needed for state testing preparation. Homewood City Schools have MORE HOLIDAYS and WORK DAYS IN THE FALL THAN IN THE SPRING. If you require a fair break down that I emailed the committee members, I am pleased to provide it to you. It AMAZES me how miraculously these holidays and teacher work days fall right before or on, say, Columbus Day. See, superintendents have to work during the summer to get out those passing/failing test scores (never on time yet) and they want days off. They can't do it in the summer because they're trying to not fail the test score game. They don't care about kids learning anything. They want long weekends. To that point and bringing it to the hoity-toity level, my older child's teacher missed 5 days in the classroom to attend conferences that weren't scheduled during those appointed "work days". Hmmmmm....
3. School systems need to set their own schedules. Mobile is the chief complainer here - talking about Mardi Gras. Last time I checked, that's in the spring prior to testing. Well, if you don't take a fall break, you can make that adjustment in your instructional days. Boo-hoo. Get over it!

Our legislators hear from the superintendents all the time. They have been brainwashed by people who supposedly have our children's educational needs in mind. What I believe is that they have their own vacation plans in mind, screw our kids and let them melt. Folks, the heat in August in Alabama is dangerous and not conducive to learning. I urge you to email these people below who have the power to help our youngest citizens and do one more thing to help control their learning environment for the better. This is common sense. It is family-friendly. It makes economic sense. It helps disadvantaged children have a healthier, better chance at learning. Whatever of those reasons works for you, please communicate IMMEDIATELY with these people. Tomorrow's vote is riding on you - the superintendents have this beat if you don't email now to urge a Yes Vote and our kids will melt into dripping pools on their text books. By the way, they've heard from me personally TWICE this week. XOXO ~Marjorie

Email Addresses of Committee Members:
staterep@co.escambia.al.us ; staterep@co.escambia.al.us ; bboyd@calhouncounty.org ; macmccutcheon@knology.net ; house3@alhouse.org ; tommysherer@yahoo.com ; harryshiver@aol.com ; bsketa@aol.com ; camjulward@aol.com ; priscilla.dunn@alhouse.org ; lea.fite@alhouse.org ; john.robinson@alhouse.org ; yvonne.kennedy@alhouse.org ; terry.spicer@alhouse.org ; kbenefield@acs-isp.com ; bobby@bobbydenton.com ; senatorerwin@aol.com ; info@parkergriffith.com ; trip.pittman@alsenate.gov ; myronpenn28@hotmail.com ; qtross2002@hotmail.com ; wmitchell@faulkner.edu ; zeb@zeblittlelawfirm.com ; jabo.waggoner@alsenate.gov