Don't Put Family Businesses out of Business due to the "Don't Buy Foreign Oil" scam

I am sick and tired of getting all these "Don't buy foreign oil" crap.  I mean really people GROW UP!!!  Not buying gas from somewhere will ONLY hurt the mom and pop who have the station and are just branded that type of fuel.  Are you really willing to put a family owned business out of commission for something that is so far BEYOND their control?  To everyone who thinks this will really help, then maybe you should rethink many of the items in your home you enjoy as well...

I hate to tell everyone but, as a former oil company worker, one ship pulls in and it is rationed to various companies even if they "claim" to use non foreign oil, they still do at some point.  Best way to avoid foreign oil is to walk or ride a bike...  BUT where did the petroleum in your rubber sole shoes or bike tires come from??  most likely foreign so I guess that means we should all walk bare foot everywhere, but only on the grass as the asphalt most likely also has some sort of foreign oil in it.  LOL

As for the flying J's, race trac and Pilot...  Umm they take what ever is cheapest at the rack and they don't care where the oil comes from.  

There is no way to make oil prices go down until we get rid of all the bureaucratic BS and all the politics that is really behind prices.  I mean, maybe just maybe if the American Dollar was really worth a Dollar then we could have cheaper everything.  But that would mean more Americans would have to step up and start taking manufacturing jobs for less money so that businesses would WANT to have plants in the US.  Our labor costs are too high.  It would take a drastic overhaul of everything and no one wants to give up what they have now to rebuild.  We should, but why do that if we have a government that is willing to pay more in unemployment to someone than we pay to the men and woman who are risking their lives everyday in those foreign lands.  They are the ones who need the extra money not someone sitting on their rear collecting a check when there are plenty of nickel and dime jobs out there, like working in a mall or scooping poo at the zoo.

ok, stepping off my soapbox now...

UPDATE: Ignorance Runs Rampant in Gainesville, Florida

Mr Terry Jones is at it again…

How did I miss this last month?  He really did it, how can he honestly say he doesn’t feel responsible for the deaths of innocent people.  This man is no better than your average Sadistic Religious Fanatic.  Why isn’t the government doing their job to protect us, the average humans residing on earth, from this man and his hatred of other humans. 

He is surely creaming his pants knowing that he, one deranged little man, can cause such uproar all around the world.  He is a true Warlock of the United States of America!!  Yes, that is right I called him a Warlock, a traitor, not only to the country but to the basic religious foundations of this great country.  Why hasn’t he been sent to Guantanamo Bay like all of the other terrorists?  I ask this because he is doing his part to put our very brave men and woman both civilian and military in harms way by his actions.  Last time I checked the “Dove” was a symbol of peace, he is breaching his fundamental naming structure of his own cult by inciting violence.   

I know they say the squeaky wheel gets the oil, but where is the oil in this case?  Oil him down and let him lean over those flames to throw a book in.  I know violence doesn’t in any way stop violence but there must come a time where “We The People” need to rise up and take a stand against ignorant fools like this.  People like him need to be locked up in a solitary room and then silently executed.  Does it stop the war on terror, maybe not but it sure would make a clear statement that “We The People” won’t tolerate someone who is putting our fellow citizens and other humans around the world in harms way.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best in his most famous speech.  I know in those days he was talking about racism in America, but the quote I share with you today fits with the events that are unfolding here in these days and this era of world religious turmoil.

"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr."

Complete "I Have a Dream" Speech here

ATTENTION EVERYONE: FALSE ADVERTISING ALERT @ Rockafellas in Salem, Ma!!

We went in there tonight for dinner and asked before we ordered if they doing the special in the flier for the SO Sweet Festival and we told YES. At the end we were told they were only featuring the muddy berry bowl and we would have to pay for dessert.  Even in-spite of this we left a very generous tip, it wasn't the waitresses fault that management didn't know what was going on.  And I was part to blame since I couldn't print out the flier from the site listed below.

See ad on the Salem Commerce website listed here --> http://www.salem-chamber.org/salemssosweet44.html

The ad reads:

"Rockafellas, 231 Essex St. Your choice between Rockafellas raspberry chocolate mousse, muddy berry bowl or bittersweet chocolate infused with orange Grand Sequoia offered half price at lunch and complimentary for two or more at dinner."

Last time I checked "Complimentary was the same as free."  As I read it not only should it have been Complimentary but we should have had a choice from 3 different desserts:

1. Rockafellas raspberry chocolate mousse
2. Muddy berry bowl
3. Bittersweet chocolate infused with orange Grand Sequoia

Dinner was amazingly good but the FALSE ADVERTISING has now left a HORRIFIC taste in my mouth.

Snow Emergency Road Safety in Peabody, MA (or lack of)

I get really steamed at a town that is in the north and plows the roads like they are working on a Florida Snow Emergency fund.  Yes, I am talking about Peabody, Massachusetts.

During the last snow fall on 12/26/10 I thought it was a fluke that Peabody didn't get the roads plowed as well as Salem did.  But, low and behold it happened AGAIN on 01/12/10.  This is uncalled for.  I mean really, if you have plows out driving around burning up gas why can't they put the plow down and get the snow off the ground.  Ahhh many of you can't even imagine this can you??  Well, we were riding behind a plow with his plow up about 6 inches from the ground.  It had the flashing lights on like it was supposed to be plowing.  Well, who is going to be responsible when some elderly person or a small child, heck anyone for that matter, is walking across this street and slips, falls and gets injured or maybe even dies from the an oncoming car that can's stop fast enough and runs them over?

I say it isn't the drivers fault the roads weren't plowed, the city of Peabody should have to pay out of pocket for all medical expenses including a restitution of no less than 1.5 million dollars for the emotional and psychological damage such a situation would do to those involved and their surviving family.  Maybe, just maybe if that were to happen the city of Peabody, Ma would learn that spending their tax payers money on keeping the roads clear and safe is more important that driving around wasting money on fuel for plows who aren't even plowing and could cause the above mentioned situation to occur.

To all Peabody, Ma road safety workers...  Call the City of Salem and see how you can go about getting some training from them as they know how to get the job done and get it done exceptionally well.  Walk and drive safe everyone...  And look out for pedestrians like myself who are forced to walk in the road because the sidewalks are blocked with snow.

Blizzard 2010 Peabody, MA = EPIC FAIL

Blizzard 2010...
I live on the Salem/Peabody line and I have to say our side street (located in Salem) was 100 times better that Tremont St in Peabody. I saw Peabody City plows riding around plows up and not plowing the roads yesterday when they needed to be plowed. Were Peabody workers on strike??? I ask because as soon as the Salem line ended you could see what a HORRIBLE job Peabody did and how AWESOME Salem worked to keep all our roads clear and safe.
Peabody needs training from Salem on how to have an efficient team keeping everyone safe on the roads. Peabody road safety = EPIC FAIL!!!

Social Experiment

I was thinking last night while giving one of my ghost tours around Salem that I should try a social experiment.  I would be interested if someone had a really good platform just touching on everything that the average person finds in need of change, a friendly face which expresses compassion and honesty, is NOT a politician, and actually can think of all the outcomes possible out side of the box; how many votes this person could get by not spending any money on a presidential campaign only using the internet as their medium.  It could really get interesting.

Would you back an average American who is smart, witty, brutally honest with no sugar coating, kind hearted, tough on crime, able to create a sound budget, cut unneeded spending, increase taxes on the overly-wealthy not the middle and lower income families?

Ignorance Runs Rampant in Gainesville, Florida

It was told to me by a few friends back in Gainesville, Fl. that the Dove World Outreach Center pastor was going to burn the Koran on September 11^th.  My initial response was “What an ignorant fool” and then I thought about it and my psychology side started to kick in.  So here we have a man who is trying to do what exactly either get in the news or get some attention.  Mr. Jones could be considered a threat to himself, the citizens of Gainesville and even the nation’s fundamental freedoms.

So, I let the day pass and then I see on my news ticker that this person has made national news and gotten a phone call from the Defense Secretary.  I mean, come on people, this is just another book that was going to be burned.  People burn all kinds of books including the bible (oh yes, I went there) every day and no one ever gets this much attention.  Religion is an odd thing in Gainesville, Fl.  I learned this while I lived, worked and relaxed in the city.  What a surprise the man has backed down and is not going to burn a book.  This just screams of mental instability.  He is a grown man who is old enough not to be acting as if he is in high school.  He diverted the whole nation’s attention with an empty intention.

I will stress that this man, Terry Jones, was only seeking attention.  In the state of Fl. there is something called "Baker Act" and I think he is in desperate need of some good counseling and needs to have someone commit him.  If the President has to get involved then this man needs to become friends with the men and women in white coats.  This man who calls himself a pastor has now proven himself not worthy of leading a flock of humans to the promised land of salvation.  If Martin Luther King, Jr was here today he would be outraged to see that there are still people in this country that are bigots.  Dr. King worked hard to lead our country into a place of peace and interpersonal respect and out of the clouded world where there was hate and irrational fear of people who are not like a person’s set ideals. 

Isn't the fundamental point of being "religious" to be accepting of all and to turn the other cheek?  The Mosque isn't a threat to the country it is ignorant and delusional people like Mr. Jones that are the true threat to this nation and all who call this great country home.  He showed his true Anti-American ways when he threatened to burn the Koran and incite a war in our beautiful country over a personal opinion.  Mr. Jones, I hope you have learned that there are times you really should keep your thoughts to yourself and know when it is time to step down from the “claim” of being a man of God.