Bathroom Ettiquite: WTF is Wrong With Some People

I feel like there should be some kind of unspoken law when it comes to how people act in the bathroom.  In a public bathroom it is extra disgusting that you can hear people use the facilities and then walk out without even glancing at the sink.  Some pople argue that the sink is the dirtiest part of the whole bathroom, but if you do it correctly it shouldn't make a difference.  You use the toilet, then you wash your hands with soap and water then get a fresh paper towel and turn off the sink with the towel.  This way you don't even have to touch the sink after your hands are sparkly clean.  And if the trash can is positioned correctly you can even use the the towel to open the door and then drop it in the trash while you walk out.  Is that really that hard?

And then there is the whole thing about flushing the toilet.  When should you flush it and what should you flush down there?  Apparently this isn't such an easy an answer that it should be.  I'm not a female so I won't comment on womanly products being flushed but besides that shouldn't the only thing you flush be toilet paper?  I've see all kinds of trash and other crap (pun intended) half flushed down the toilet and it boggles my mind!  I happen to live with a person who seems to think the toilet is their personal trash can, but the weird part is that this person doesn't ever flush the toilet it seems!  I go in the bathroom all the time to find cigarettes and toilet paper mixed in with a nasty soup of human waste sitting there waiting for me.  I don't know if she wants to save water or she's just lazy, but I know that when I go in and see that I have to flush it right away.  So if she's trying to save water then mission failed because I can't even go try to the bathroom with that looking back at me and I have to flush it every single time.  So no water saved, just nasty toilet and stinky bathroom achieved.  

Eww I think I just grossed myself out and won't ever usethe bathroom again.  Maybe I should just stop drinking and eating so I never have to use the bathroom again.  And don't even get me started on the bathtub, there is nothing worse than trying to get clean in a filthy tub.

Why Is EVERY Gun Law Unconstitutional?

It seems like the topic of gun control these days is just a two sided battle that pits the left and the right, with the options looking like they are only either all or nothing. Every time the democrats offer up a gun control law, the republicans strike it down immediatly saying that it is unconstitutional. They say that there isn't a limit on the first ammendment or any other ammendment. Well just because it limists access doesn't mean it is unconstitutional. There are already laws that limit other ammendments, including the first. I can't just go around wherever yelling what I want, calling people names, making false acusations, lying about stuff, or even say certain words or phrases on TV or the radio. The republicans are all for censoring people on TV shows, blocking and bleeping lots of different words (think of George Carlin's '7 Dirty Words You Can't Say On Television'). Some are just body parts. Others are just normal bodily functions and acts. But since some people don't like those particular words, now we are all being held to a their standards. Personally I these laws are a lot less invasive than the proposed gun control laws.

And it's not like there isn't any gun control laws on the books right now. The government just wants to make it a little harder to obtain a gun, so that there are fewer to go around that bad and crazy people can get to. A lot of people like to say that the criminals who use guns don't follow the laws anyways so why bother. Well there are laws against rape, murder, theft, and all kinds of other crimes, but people still disobey them. Should we just make it perfectly legal to kill someone and drink and drive just because people will always do it? Should be just give guns to anyone who wants one immediately just because we live in America? Should they be allowed to get any type of weapon they want because the first amendment says you can bear arms? A waiting period for a background check is not unconstitutional, it is just a procedure to check out the individual to make sure he or she is in their right mind to own a gun and has only good intentions for it. And why does anybody need a full automatic, or even semi automatic rifle? And why does it need to have a 30+ round clip? If you are being invaded by someone in your home and need to shoot off over 30 rounds then you are either a horrible shot or there are hundreds of them and they will get you anyways. Do you remember in the 1930's there was a gun called the Tommy Gun, it had a barrel clip with hundreds of bullets and could shoot so fast it was nicknamed the 'street sweeper' since it would mow down anybody or anything in it's path. They banned this gun and those types of clips a long time ago since there is no legitimate reason to have such a weapon. The same goes for today's weapons. I don't know exaclty where to draw the line, but there does need to be a line. Some guns are needed for hunting and self defense, but most guns sold today are simply toys for adults, who love to show off their firepower and go to the range and shoot stuff and watch it blow up. The typical hunter has a gun that needs to be re caulked every time you wan to shoot another bullet, and they only load a few bullets in the gun each time. The reason is that if a bullet is fired and misses, the animal in question will likely get spooked and run.

So why do people care so much about these overpowered guns that play part in mass shootings all over the country? In Australia there has been strict gun laws for about a decade and a half, and since then there hasn't been any mass shootings in that country ever since. Also homicide in general an suicide rates are way down also. So why are Americans so scared to give up their over powered unneccesary guns? There is no legitimate need for them. It is not unconstitutional to deny people guns if they happen to fail a background check., it is just smart. They are more likely to do something drastic and go on a rampage than normal people who would havew no problem passing such a check. Also people who know about guns and gun safety will pass the test, snd they will know how to safely handle and store their weapons and ammunition.

Personally I think that these proposed laws aren't that obtrusive at all. In fact they are neccessary if we are to keep our citzens safe from just anyone to get a gun. What are your opinions?

The Public Library: Why Does It Have To Be So Uninviting? I Thought It Was For The People?

So I come to the library today to get some stuff done including using their vast resources from books and magazines to DVDs and Tapes. It all started as I was walking into the building. I had a bottle of sparkling water in a glass bottle. You know, that famous brand of sparkling water with a dark green bottle that looks almost like a Heineken or other beer bottle. I knew they wouldn't let me in with it so I chugged what was left and while I was doing so some guy behind me said something rude about getting drunk at the library. I said to him, "Haven't you ever heard of sparkling water before asshole". This didn't go over well with the old man but I couldn't have cared less. Well I get there about 4:30 PM thinking I had a few hours of time left to stay there and get work done. Boy was I wrong. First of all I walked into the building and asked the lady for the current WiFi password since they change it every few days (why I have no idea. If you give it away to anybody with a library card, I think a hacker, cracker, script kiddie, or whatever you want to cell them, why change it every 3 days? As a information security expert, I know that it would be easy as pie to capture other people's association/disassociation packets in a matter of minutes or maybe hours depending on how many people are using the WiFi at the time. I'm sure the dumb library staff wouldn't know better, so I'll give them that. They also say that they turn off the WiFi access point 10 minutes before they close, but I'll get to that later.

So I go up to the lady who gives you the WiFi password of that day and she made me scan my library card and it comes up that I owe almost $20 in late fees and I have to pay them today to use the WiFi. Well after a while of arguing of how I don't have any money right now but I just want to use the resources at the library and not bring anything home. Finally she reluctantly gave me the password. Then I try to enter it into the program that controls my WiFi chipset, and that can only handle numeric values, not even hexadecimal. It took me another 10 minutes or so to figure out how to work around it (I just used windows to control my WiFi connections). Then when I finally got it working, I could barely get anything done because the lady came and told me at 4:50 that they were closing in 10 minutes! I asked her if they were closing early today and she said that they always close at this time on Friday's. The worst parts was that I was waiting for my computer to authenticate to the wireless access point and get and IP address so I had my head down a little and my eyes closed. I know she thought I was just either a bum who was being a mooch for a place to go and get out of the heat and use free internet, or that I was a student who wasn't doing any school work that I obviously had to do, since I look about 10 years younger than I am. So I set out to put back the periodicals I was looking at.

When I went to the counter and asked if I had to put the magazines and such in the chronological order and they said don't worry about it and to just leave them all on the table. I didn't want them to have to do it because that's not their job to clean up after me (well maybe it is a little bit). So I spend the rest of the 10 minutes putting them all back in place looking at the dates and getting them in the right spot. Then I go to the lady at the desk and told her thinking she would be happy, but all she did was be rude and say, "Next time just leave them there! We said put them on the desk otherwise they'll be out of order." I went out of my way to put them in the right spot and all I got in return is to be reprimanded. She simply thinks that because I'm young and have clothes that look like the "young punks" in their eyes would wear. Well it's not too hard to see that January 2013 comes after December 2012 and before February 2013, even a dumb college graduate who who finished top two or three in his class like me can do something that menial.

And since I owe so much I can't check anything at all out now until I pay off my debt. A debt that was obviously and accident since I didn't even know I had it! So I spent all my time there finding material to research with, connect my laptop to the WiFi password and then I had to put it all away and leave. I don't understand why they make the hours so strange. It seems that during the day when most people are at work and most kids are at school but they are always open during those hours (except Sunday when it's always closed). Then on Friday they have to close early? Kids only got out of school 2 hours ago, do they not have homework on the weekend? Or projects that they need to work on for the future? And to make it even worse, during the summer months which are soon coming up, the library hours are even shorter. They spend a whole bunch of money to build a library that is 4 times as big as the last one, and fill it full of expensiveequipment and things like DVD movies, audio CDs, and more. But they can't even skimp on the technology that nobody uses anyways and hire some more workers? I would love to work there, talking books all day and helping people use the computer. Well it might be annoying sometimes so maybe I should say like to and not love to work there. But nobody who works average hours could make it there before they close, let alone get anything done there. And what if their kids wanted to get a book to read or a educational video to watch over the weekend? Well you're out of luck. The only time kids should go to the library - when the school is closed - its closed as well.

So I leave the building after putting everything away where it goes and getting bitched at about helping out (I guess that's all those old lady's have to offer in life), I go outside to sit on the lawn. Luckily my laptop battery works, my old laptop battery bit the dust about a month after I got it. They say that they turn the WiFi router off a few minutes before closing time, but I've been here after they close and sat outside and used the internet, and today isn't any different. I'm on the lawn of the library now and still using the internet from their access point. Hopefully somebody doesn't see me on my laptop and turn off the access point as well. For some reason if an old person wants to bring his laptop and read his stupid email and type at 2 minutes/word (that's right, not 2 word/minute). But now my battery is going low and now I have to find a place with a strong enough signal from the access point that is next to a power outlet.

Why do they have to make it so difficult? There are more than just kids who use the library, and there are many more students using it than just elementrary school kids. High school kids have very different hours than younger kids, they stay up later and get out of school earlier sometimes. But what about the college student? Most college students have to hold down a s job and do all thier school work at the same time, so where does this leave them when they need to use a library? We live in a small suburb town of Las Vegas, named Boulder City that is very small so all the college libraries are located at least 20 miles away.

I better hurry and charge this laptop and move otherwise I know some library lady is going to come and kick me off the property soon if she sees that I'm using the plug to power my laptop as well as the internet service that they should have shut down. Well don't blame it on me, if it is still up, I will use it. If not then I will leave. But I have a strong feeling that I'm going to be forced out and not decide to leave because there is no internet. I could just as well be at home or a friends house but I like all the material they have to research from here at the library. Also it's nice and quiet and nobody bothers you (except when it's closing time). But for now I don't want to walk anywhere and it's actually pretty nice outside. I would take off my sure and try to tan a little but I know that somebody here would definitely have a problem with that.

So I ask: Why can't the library be more 'public'? Hire more workers or use volenteers to extend the hours. Change the hours so during the day when kids are at school and adults are working the library isn't just sitting there unused. It took me like 10 times as long to get here, find my material I wanted to use, and sign in for the WiFi than I had to actually do any work (if I could). I could go on longer about this place, but I think that is enough for now ;)

If you feel like I do about the library and would rather just skip all the hassle, why not get an ebook reader and never step foot in a library again. My mom has a Nook and she loves it. Especially when she travels. I wish I had one, I wouldn't have to ever come back here again! Plus being able to carry hundreds or thousands of books and periodicals on one device small enough to fi

Why Such A Push For Click-It Or Ticket? Does It Affect Anybody Else If I Wear My Seatbelt?

Whether or not you drive, you know about the Click-It or Ticket campaign and all the other ways that the government tries to get you to wear your seat belt. Your car even beeps at you and flashes a little light until you put on your seat belt. And now many jurisdictions are writing tickets to people who don't have their seat belts on. I know because I've gotten a ticket for it. And that is the reason I got pulled over and the only thing that I got a ticket for. Not speeding or anything else about how I was driving or about my car, but about not wearing my seat belt! It cost about $100 too! It leads me to think that they are just doing it to make money of the citizens and blame it on public safety, but how can they make money with all the advertising campaigns that tell you to buckle up? Personally I don't even see how it affects anybody else in the world other than me. If people don't want to wear it why should it matter? They are the only one who will be hurt by it if something happens.

Did you know that there is a law that all car manufacturers must install a device that warns the driver - both audibly to wear their seat belt? That's right, there is a law that has been on the books since 1975 that requires all car manufacturers install a 4-8 second audible and visual warning while the seat belt is not fastened. Not only that but now a lot of places have huge signs that tell you to wear your seat belt. Think of all the money that this costs. With our economy the way it is, should we really be spending that much money on stupid highway signs that only waste money. If the car already warns you and keeps beeping until you put your seat belt on, then why do are signs necessary? Why spend all this money and have so many redundant warnings? Next thing you know they will start making laws to force you to do stuff like brush your teeth or wiping after going to the bathroom! People either wear their seat belts or they don't. The only person that might have any bearing on whether or not they start wearing it is their mother. No amount of TV ads or warning signs will help. If anything, people will fasten the seat belt and put it behind them just so the warning bell stops chiming. I've seen plenty of people do this before. Heck I've even done it. That's how I know. So please stop the Click-it or Ticket campaign and making all those laws requiring warning devices and start spending money on something that will actually help the community and not just bother everybody.

I originally wrote this article up for my automotive blog but right before I posted it I thought it might cause some controversy among some people and might make people not like the blog and leave or unsubscribe. I hope that if you read this and disagree that you don't automatically just unsubscribe or even leave the page. Remember that you have the right to voice your opinion as much as I do, so you can respond in the comments section to tell me how wrong I am and how dumb I am for thinking this way. If you feel that seat belts save lives and if people don't wear them they get hurt and the tax-payers end up having to foot the bill, then tell me why. Tell me what you think and why you think it. Maybe if you have a good point you will change my way of thinking. Maybe you will make me think otherwise and I'll end up posting a follow up article for the other side of view. Let me know what you think. I welcome any and all comments - positive or negative, I will not censor or remove any comments because of their content (unless its blatent spam. Even if its clever spam I'll probably leave it lol).

If you have a problem wearing your seatbelt due to comfort, try one of these devices below that may make your ride easier and safer:

Time Heals All Wounds... Or Does It? It Turns Out No, It Doesn't.

Exaclty 3 years ago today, my dad died. Right in front of my eyes and my mom and I held his hand, he took his last breath and then he moved on to the afterlife. It was the worst moment of the worst day of my life, either before that or since then. I was absolutely devastated, for weeks I would cry uncontrollably. After 3 years it is a little easier to talk about it, but I still get teary eyed whenever I think about him. I still get emotional whenever somebody talks about their dad, and I get super jealous when people have elderly parents who are still alive. I get furious when people take their parents for granted, when people talk bad about their parents or generally treat them bad. My dad was my best friend, my teacher, my mentor, and everything else. He taught me everything I know and all my good personality traits come from him. (Not the bad stuff I won't blame him for my craziness). He will forever be missed by me and my family.

A picture of my dad sporting his new UNLV hat on Christmas. I miss you Dad.

It was two days before his birthday, and a week before he was at home, happy and (mostly) healthy. Unfortunatly things can change faster than you can imagine. In less than a week my entire world crumbled in front of me. I went into a depression that caused me to become reliant on drugs and alcohol to kill a little bit of pain to make living bearable. I lost everything as a result of being depressed and having no motivation to do anything at all. I ended up losing my job, my house, and eventually everything else I had: my car, all my belongings, my friends, everything else that ever meant anything to me. But still nothing mattered and nothing could compare to the pain I felt when I lost the one thing that did matter to me, my father.

People say that time heals all wounds, that time will make everything better. Well it is a little easier now, I can talk about it briefly without bawling my eyes out. But no matter how much timke has passed, I will still miss him more than I could ever imagine. The wound will never heal completely. I will never be the same again. I just wish that I had the chance to tell him this. I wish that I could let him know how much he really meant to me. The last time I talked to him I made sure to say 'I Love You' to him but I thought he was going to be fine, that he would be out of the hospital in a few days and be back to normal after that. I know that he knew I loved him, that I cherished his company and spending time with him. But I'm not sure if he knew just how much he really meant to me and how much I loved him, that he was my best friend in the world and he was the person I could relate to most in the world. We spent tons of time together over the years, and for that I am grateful. I had more quality 'father & son' time in the 24 years that I was alive until he passed than most people spend with their dads in an entire lifetime. I went to work with him on the weekend and almost every day during the summer. When I got older we worked together on many great projects, spending a lot of time together over the years. I will cherish these memories forever, and I will always wish I could have told him just how much he meant to me. But in the end, while time does not heal all wounds, it does become a little easier to deal with. You never quite get over the pain, you just learn how to deal with it.

One good thing that has happened as a result of his death, and that is that our family has become closer since then, as we have started to realize how precious life is and how we need to show people how we truely feel about them. My mom and I are now closer than ever and although my brother has moved out of state we are now closer too. I also try to spend as much time with other family members and close friends now, too. I try to tell those that I love that I do in fact love them and how much they mean to me. I try to keep my good friends and not care about those who aren't truely friends. So take this as a lesson to spend more with your loved ones, let them know what they mean to you, how much you love them. Please tell your parents that you love them, because you never know when it might be the last time you ever speak to them.

Woman Dies On Cruise Ship - What's Wrong With Cruising These Days?

Lately there have been a ton of problems with cruise ships and their operating companies that don't seem to go away, and now they are plaguing Royal Caribbean as well. Most of the problems have been linked to Carnival Cruise Lines, and no surprise as it is the biggest cruise line out there and owns and operates many separate cruise ship lines. But this latest news item revolving around a cruise ship involves a Royal Caribbean ship, who has remained relatively unscathed lately.

According to The Washington Post, this latest story involves an elderly lady who was found by her husband dead on-board the ship in their stateroom. The FBI says that this is a suspicious death, and that the lady's husband is being questioned.

I know that this isn't necesarily the cruise ship or their parent company's fault, but why have so many problems and news stories stemmed from cruise ships this past year or so? First there was the ship in Italy that the captain brought too close to shore and crashed it and then abandoned ship long before most of the people were able to board life boats and safely leave the ship. Then the latest story before this involved another Carnival owned ship that lost power for days and forced people to defacate in buckets and leave them in the hallways, while going without adaquate fresh water or food for days. Is there a way that these ships could avoid these problems? Or is this just an unavoidable problem that will keep happening just because there are so many people cruising and that there are bound to be problems with that many people? Well as an avid fan of cruise ships, I believe there are ways that they can at least help to limit these types of problems. I hope they do fix something quick because I gaurentee the general feeling about Cruise Ships lately has been pretty negative. If Carnival et al. don't make some changes then I think it could hurt the Cruise industry for good.

April Fools Day Pranks 2013

April 1st has always been a day for practical jokes and playing pranks on your friends.  But now April Fools Day has gone online.  Many companies are now getting in on the fun as ell, by issuing joke press releases on gimmick products or services.  In the past, sites like YouTube have got in on the act with things like YouTube DVD collection, and Gogle Maps 8-bit Nintendo version.  This year even more tech companies have joined in on the April Fools pranks.  Google and YouTube had special items released today that are obvious April Fools jokes.  Toshiba released info on its upcoming game console that reacts to the players emotions, allowing the game to tailor itself to angry players.

Howard Stern renamed one of his two satellite radio channels to America's Got Talent 101 instead of Howard 101 for a whole day, offering all programming about America's Got Talent, the Primetime TV show that Howard is one of the judges of. Many of Howard's listeners have gotten vocal about how they don't like it when Howard talks about being on America's Got Talent, so this was a joke poking fun of that. Many callers believed it was true and he constantly denied that it was not a joke even though the date was in fact April 1st. They even aired fake commercials about shows coming up later in the week on 'AGT 101' as the joke Sirius XM channel was called.

Speaking of Howard Stern, one TV news anchor announced that Stern was going to be guest hosting The Tonight Show for Jay Leno, followed by a very quick "April Fools!" Also on TV, Sharon Osbourne announced on her TV show that her and Ozzy had gotten help from an invitro fertilization doctor and Sharon was now pregnant. She let this go on for a while but announced later in the show that it was of course an April Fool's day joke.

What were your favorite April Fools day pranks this year?