RVmamma has moved to SassyCityGirl.com

Formerly known as RVmamma.com,  I changed my moniker to SassyCityGirl to reflect a change in focus and direction, which means less focus on travel and more on humor.  Everyday humor that touches us all.

Part of this process involved a narrow escape from the clutches of Yahoo, who held me prisoner for over 10 years, and a tentative friendship with Google, leading to the waiting arms of GoDaddy and Wordpress.  So far, the honeymoon is just beginning, but I'll reserve judgment until we emerge from newlywed bliss.

Without question, Wordpress has been a challenge for someone who lives in a love/hate relationship with technology, and relies on 24/7 hotlines, but after a few hours of trial and error, it seems to be coming together. Perhaps you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Certainly, in the near future, I will share this entire process in the hope that someone will be saved from this burden of learning, faltering, cursing, learning, faltering, cursing....the progress is slow, fitful, and frustrating.
That said, I'm here!  I'm importing over all my old postings from the RVmamma.com site, as well as postings from Examiner.com and OpenSalon.com.

Please visit me at SassyCityGirl.com!

Freeway Etiquette 101

Dear Driver on I-5,

I'm sure you had an EXCELLENT reason for your erratic and dangerous driving patterns on the road last weekend, but I'd like to share a few driving tips that could save your life.

For one thing,  the definition of  FAST LANE is simply that... the lane where you drive FAST.  In fact, you are expected to drive well OVER the speed limit, while simultaneously monitoring the rearview mirror and radar detector.  Everyone else seems to understand this, except you.   If you ever paused to wonder why other drivers are riding your @$#, honking, and flipping you off,  these are just friendly reminders to move out of the FAST lane.

Secondly, if you feel compelled to exercise your constitutional right to be in that lane, it certainly is your prerogative; everyone else must defer to you.  However, when the FAST drivers swerve to the right lane to pass,  curb the urge to engage in a Mario-Andretti-Moment and do NOT speed up to prevent passing.  I know it takes a tremendous degree of self-control to refrain from that adrenaline-fueled aggression, but be aware that it leaves a plume of road rage in your wake.

Here's the final lesson:  You are NOT the center of the universe, despite what your enabling mother may have taught you.  Mindfulness of how your behavior affects those around you will save your life in LA, will win you friends in Seattle, and will earn you good Karma everywhere.

Yahoo Sucks.

I have been on the phone with Yahoo Tech support for an hour.  Here are some direct quotes from my perplexed Tech advisor:

"Hmmmm...well, that's very strange."
"No, I've never heard of that happening before.  That would be very unusual."
"I don't know why this is happening. Let me consult with our engineers and try to figure out."
"We are going to try to set this up from here since you can't do it from your end."
"Hmmm.....that's strange, the code should be different."
"This is a little frustrating." DUH.
"We'll see if my engineers have anything else we can try here. This is REALLY weird. "
"Well now, that is definitely broken."
"I don't know if we can do that from here.  They recently changed our user interface around, and I don't know if we can do that now."
"Apparently we can't forward this account anywhere. Wow, yeah.  That is definitely a problem."
"(sigh..........)"
I can hear the distinct sound of frustration and confusion in his voice
"For some reason, this is just not working. This is not how it's supposed to be."

It was gratifying to hear that their tech engineers are frustrated and stymied.  I've been beating my head against a wall for ages dealing with this crap, and have sent numerous requests for assistance via email, to no avail.  This is the first time I've called, which forces them to actually DO something and realize that I'm not an idiot who can't follow the on-screen directions.  THEY have a serious technical glitch on their end that needs to be resolved.

Oh, I also learned that Yahoo Business Email is NOT compatible with Apple Safari.  In fact, he was positively astonished I could interface with my email AT ALL while on Safari. Mac-ophiles out there, avoid Yahoo, like the plague that it is. 

Yes, cigarettes are biodegradable, but...

The common perception is that cigarettes are biodegradable, which is, of course, perpetuated by every smoker on the planet.  Yes, the paper and tobacco are organic, but let's not forget those nasty little plastic filters*, specifically designed to lessen the deadly impact to the smoker's lungs, but have no personal regard for anything else.   But then, who cares about the environment or any of the wildlife that may consume said plastic...isn't life about survival of the fittest?  After all, it is said that those species with stronger constitutions and a genetic predisposition to digest plastic should inherit the earth....

No, I'm totally all about teaching those animals to toughen up and appreciate the nutritional value in plastic.  Putting the needs of wild ANIMALS over the nicotinic NEEDS of real humans is simply inane....just ignore those damned animal-lovers and all their tree-hugging, carbon-stingy protests.

That said, what does concern me here, is the impact these butts have on the human designated to clean this ashtray in the photo above.  It already sucks to be the ashtray-cleaner, but to force this human to stoop down to pick up the butts on the ground because some inconsiderate parasite could not deign to place the butt in the tray is beyond offensive.

No, you may not care about the environment or wildlife; in fact, you may not even buy into the whole Global Warming conspiracy.  But trash on the ground looks like trash on the ground, so this winter take that extra second to warm your fingers with that nice, toasty butt and throw it IN the ashtray, rather than NEAR it.


*There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding cigarette butt litter. The biggest myth is that cigarette filters are biodegradable. In fact, cigarette butts are not biodegradable in the sense that most people think of the word. The acetate (plastic) filters can take many years to decompose. Smokers may not realize that their actions have such a lasting, negative impact on the environment.

-CigaretteLitter.org  

http://www.cigarettelitter.org/index.asp?PageName=Facts