Unregistered, unlicensed, illegal and dangerous

Last week my wife was driving south in 275 when a white van changed lanes into the side of her car. Thankfully she was aware enough to react just as he was merging into her and slowed. She called 911, relayed a description of the passenger, vehicle, it appeared to be a painters van, and found a suitable place to pull over. Any guesses on the description of the passenger? The dusky asshole grinned at her through the whole thing. When the officer arrived to make the report the tag wasn't valid, it was deactivated a few years ago. Imagine that. The officer supposed that had they pulled the guy over, he would not have had a license or insurance. The officer said that this was the third hit and run call that day involving an unregistered or illegal tag. Luckily the damage was minor and my wife was unharmed other than her nerves. It's not likely this guy will alter his behavior, and he's still out there.

What makes you grumpy?

I been posting here off and on for a few months. Its actually been therapeutic. Having an outlet like this, and knowing that at least some folks are reading it has made me a lot less grumpy. I know that I'm always gonna be a grumpy old fart, but letting it out does help. So I pose the question, what sort of things really piss you off? Anything lately just get your goat to the point you want to just pop? I promise that I'll be right back with more grumpy tales, but let me know that what winds you up besides the things I've already mentioned. Or even if I had mentioned it, let me know that too.

Looking for hookers in Tampa

Recently, I've started looking at the statistics from this here blog. One thing that came to my attention is just how many perverts out there stumble across my blog from Google or elsewhere by typing in "Looking for hookers in Tampa" or "Nebraska Prostitutes" or "Tampa Prostitutes." And they come from computers all over the country. Well, Hell, it's no wonder the streetwalkers are still working this area, folks from all over the US are potential customers. Well for anyone one of you yahoos who are here because you're trying to find prostitutes in Tampa, let me tell you. The community is very active along much of that street and are taking photos, video, tag numbers, and calling the cops. People are regularly being arrested and convicted. As a result there are only a few of the prostitutes left so find em somewhere else. We don't want you here, and by god if I catch one of you doing your thing in my alleyway, I'll make sure you don't have the plumbing to do it again, with a good old size 12 boot. Take your filthy behavior elsewhere.

My own economic indicators

Something dawned on me recently. Something that's been nagging me, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It's everywhere, but so insidious I'm not sure that most folks pay it any mind. Go to Target, or Home Depot, Barnes and Noble, or Best Buy. Publix, SweetBay, or many CVS's. You walk in and do your shopping and when it's time to checkout you approach and lo and behold, there's a dozen, or sometimes even twenty registers and one, maybe two cashiers. I'm not sure what the deal here is. Is it poor design? I've dug deep into the Grumpy memory banks and offhand I can't recall a time when I've seen even half of a bank of registers being used. Did someone overestimate demand? Even during the holidays I can't say I've noticed where they've had anywhere near even 3 out of 4 being used. I'm sure some industrial engineering has determined something about utilization and customer flow and all that, but in reality it seems like a waste of space and certainly has a negative impact on my impression when I walk up to that sea of registers at Target and a single port has the lighthouse on.
Customer service has become a misnomer these days, and this register system seems vestigial, a sign of old where giving prompt service has given way to lower costs and minimizing personnel.

I want to tell furniture salespeople to "Sit on it"

The other day Mrs Grumpy dragged me into yet another furniture shopping adventure. There are few different activities in this world that I despise with a passion so strong that I could inspire a cult following with. You've probably already guessed that shopping for furniture must be one of these activities. You got it, hit the nail on the head, bingo, right on target. Yes absolutely I do indeed concur wholeheartedly. I'm sure a few of the others will find their way into the blog one of these days. Now, back to the furniture shopping. Why do these guys and gals, always seem to come straight out of sleazy used car lot? Furniture shopping for me is bad enough without being stalked, interrupted, and pressured to buy something. The wife and I walk in and are just browsing as many times we just don't know what we're looking for, if anything in particular anyway. Sometimes we're just shopping for the sake of shopping. Anyhow, we walk in and I hear the Jaws theme start to play. The fin pops up and they start circling, I give them the glare of doom, but it only makes them hesitate for an instant...."Hi, my name is Bob, I'll be glad to help you find what your looking for, and while I'm at it try to force our extended warranty, because you're a moron if you don't take that, and let me throw in a complimentary stain protection that will only cost you twice what the piece of furniture does!" Toothy grin...No thanks Bob, we're just looking at the moment...."well, my name's Bob, let me know if I can be of assistance!" Ok Bob, will do. Next we meander through the displays, Bob keeping a perfect 18.4 feet away so as to not seem intrusive. We pause momentarily at couch just to look at my watch and Woosh! Bob materializes like something out of Star Trek, "Isn't this a wonderful piece, I have the same one in my living room, is this a color you like or perhaps you want something a little darker, a little lighter, a little...." No Bob, we're actually just browsing. And so it goes, my Grumpmeter raising every encounter until finally we get fed up and move on to another store. What I have to wonder is does this generate more or fewer sales because I for one refuse to engage these type of sales people. If I happen to find a piece, I will intentionally avoid the annoying ones by coming back on another day so someone else gets commissioned. Occasionally I will get a person that greets us at the door, passes us a card or just his name and offers to help us, but then returns to his desk, counter, assigned spot, until we seek him out. That guy/gal will get my furniture business every time. Needless to say, shopping for cars is another of those activities, but I'll save that for another day.

I like my votin' like I like my lovin', in and out and done in just a few minutes

I hope the machine got my choices right, and that they get put into the system right, and that they actually get counted. It was a hard year this year, I normally vote Republican, but this year I found myself picking the other guy more than ever. Truth be told, Bill Nelson seemed like a pretty good choice even if he was a Dem, but compared to Kooky Harris, that one was a no-brainer. I tell you what, there ain't no excuse for not votin' nowadays, I was in and out in a matter of minutes, almost as quick as Mrs Grumpy and me on our special night every coupla months. Now don't tell her I said that, I'll get a smack upside the head. But my point is, it's easy you can vote darn near anywhere in town and it only takes a few minutes. Just get out there and let your voice be heard, and just check that machine isn't changing your vote before you say OK.

Halloween ain't what it used to be I guess

All in all Halloween was ok this year, but a coupla things bother me year to year. The biggest one is the hoodlums without costumes coming up and expecting a handout. What's the point, unless it's just preparing em for their future, I expect to see some of them working the Interstate exits and some of the busier intersections in a few years. After a certain age you oughta just tell your kids they're too old to be out trick or treatin, now, I don't know what age that is exactly, but I'm thinkin 16 or 17 is well past it, though an exception is if they're with younger brothers and sisters. That's downright nice to see that it still happens sometimes. We only had one group of the crashers, so I'd rate this year a success. Almost all the kids said thank you, and most said trick or treat without prompting, though some were a bit scared of old Grumpy at first, so that mighta had em a little quiet. We didn't get any tricks played on my block so thats good too I reckon. Come on back next year.