Dropping truth

Posted on October 1, 2019 by backuphill

man in red crew neck sweatshirt photography

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HA! And double HA! HA!

Got someone in your life that likes to say, “We should get together sometime.”

HA!

Don’t count on it. Don’t hold your breath. Don’t get too excited. Don’t bet the farm on it.

It is basically a blow-off. It basically means, “Yeah, I don’t really want to get together with you but I am trying to be nice.”

Really, if they meant it, they would plan something right then and there. The truth is, nearly everyone carries their calendar on their phones in one form or another. That age old excuse of “let me check my calendar” is exactly that. An excuse.

If you’ve heard it and it didn’t happen, I am sorry someone lied to you.

If you’ve said it and didn’t follow through, quit being a jerk.

Truth.

Annoyed

Posted on September 25, 2019 by backuphill

man sitting on black leather padded chair

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There are few things more irritating than playing whack-a-mole on news websites! I mean seriously, why does this have to be such an annoying thing?

OK, to be clear, I am talking about all of the pop-ups, over-sized headers, loud videos, video ads, etc. you get when you visit just about any sort of news site. Whether it is a tech website, an entertainment website, or something else, there are just about always two or three pop-ups that have to be closed to get a clear view of the page.

Annoying! I say. Annoying!

I use an ad blocker, but even that doesn’t get everything. Sometimes it isn’t a third party ad. Sometimes it is even the website sharing it’s own information about something else they would like you to look at. More annoyance.

Why is this necessary? Yes, of course, I know…they make money by clicks and crap like that. Some websites I have just stopped going to (they used to be good ones and I liked them) because I get tired of the same “dance of the pop-ups.” I like whack-a-mole, but not really that much.

All I can say to anyone who might be reading this – STOP IT! You are seriously damaging your name, brand, reputation, whatever by continuing this practice.

*This applies to blogs as well. If you have ads on your blog, make sure you aren’t turning off your readers by having stupid crap like described above.*

Consequences

Posted on September 20, 2019 by backuphill

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Sorry, kids. You’re just gonna have to “deal with it.”

As much as you would like to not have consequences for your choices, even if those choices are based on good intentions, there are still consequences. There needs to be in a civilized society and you can’t change the rules every time they conflict with your beliefs.

I am not sure if you are aware, but right now there are probably hundreds (thousands?) of students in your community skipping school for climate change. Their intentions might be good (albeit questionable). Their intention is to draw attention to an issue you are concerned about. Great.

But, this can be effectively done on any other day at any other time. There isn’t a legitimate reason to skip school and I hope that the school district & school board in Seattle don’t bow to pressure and excuse these absences.

That also goes applies to these kids’ parents. Come on, parents, have a little integrity here! If you are a parent who excuses your child from school for such an activity then you are a part of the problem too. I know that is a bold statement, but you need to stop enabling bad behavior in your child.

Maybe you even agree with what your kid is doing, at least in the sense of the “cause.” Maybe you’re the permissive parent…you want to be “cool”…whatever…, but do you want to make a bigger impact with your parenting? Allow them the freedom to make the choice of staying in school or skipping it AND THEN let them deal with the consequences of that choice. Stop enabling everything your kid does. There are legitimate reasons for an excused absence from school and this isn’t one of them. You aren’t helping your child learn that making choices comes with responsibility.

Kids, stay in school.

No thanks

Posted on September 19, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Linda Eller-Shein on Pexels.com

I briefly considered a title of “Oh Hell No!”

This is just not OK.

There are some things in this life that should just be left alone. This movie happens to be one of them. Don’t even think about touching it!

News came out yesterday that talked of a remake, a reboot, a redo of The Princess Bride. Something about “famous people” or “big names” wanting to be a part of it. Obviously this is a ploy to add their names to the lore of the movie, to ride the coattails of a classic film that was perfect the first (AND ONLY) time.

I am not having it. It better not happen.

Cary Elwes’ response via Twitter was EPIC!! It expresses perfectly what nearly all fans of the movie are feeling.

Honestly, there can never be a remake of this. If there is, I hope it is boycotted to no end. I hope the studio that produces it takes a bath from cost overruns, production snafus, marketing blunders, etc., etc., etc. Seriously. I could wish nothing but ill-will on such a venture. If any endeavor should fail, it should be this one.

I feel that strongly about this classic movie.

“Hello. My name is ___________________. You messed the wrong movie. Prepare to die.”

Chain letter

Posted on September 17, 2019 by backuphill

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Irritating trend continues to the electronic age.

I am sure you are well aware of them. They seem to be everywhere. Honestly, I never thought I would see them in social media and yet there they are. I have done my best to ignore them and just scroll past them.

But then a close family member posts one…and I have a hard time biting my tongue. The one from the family member was worded slightly differently and talked about it being a “social experiment” so “don’t do it if you aren’t going to participate or you’ll break the experiment.” You have likely seen a version of this somewhere in your feed (provided you have Facebook):

The last few years have taught me that when it is our time to leave this world no one can stop it. We have one life to live. The material things we invest in are left behind only to be discarded. Memories are important to me. I’m going to start a “reunion of friends and family”. The idea is to see who reads a post without a picture. If no one reads my post, this will be a very short experiment. But if you are reading this message, make a comment using a single word about how we met. After that, copy this message on your wall and I will also leave you a word. Please, don’t leave a word and then not bother doing it. Grateful beyond measure!

I don’t like chain letters. While this isn’t exactly a chain letter, the idea is the same. Do something for me and I’ll do something for you and it will keep going (thankfully there is no threat of death like some chain letters have, LOL)

I also don’t like desperate attempts to get people to comment on something or “see if people are paying attention” or “cleaning out my friends list” type posts. I guess I am a bit of a rebel and refuse to play the game. I have had people tag me in posts where they have to do something and then “tag 5 more people” so they have to do it. I refuse to do it.

Call me obstinate. Call me difficult. Call me a jerk. Call me whatever.

Anyone else severely dislike these things? What other “chain letter like” things do you see on social media that irritates you to no end?

Reflect

Posted on September 11, 2019 by backuphill

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There will be not be a regularly schedule Piss and Moan session this morning. We are only going to reflect gratitude and respect today.

Respect for those who lost their lives on this terrible day 18 years ago. Those who were attacked and those who rushed to help them. Those who helped in the aftermath and now suffer the lasting effects on their health. No matter how you look at it, a terrible price was paid during the terrorist attack.

Gratitude for those who rushed towards the danger and didn’t return. Those who rushed to fight the enemy and protect the freedoms we enjoy every day of our lives. Those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us and those who have returned home wounded physically or emotionally. Thank you for doing what most of us can’t or won’t do.

America can never forget.

Don’t ever forget.

Don’t let those who hate this country destroy it from within. Don’t allow the freedoms that have made us targets, internationally and domestically, be eroded slowly and taken from us. Don’t take for granted the sacrifices of those who gave you those freedoms and protect those freedoms.

9.11 NEVER FORGET

Fatigue?

Posted on August 21, 2019 by backuphill

man in green jacket leaning head on blue case

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Are you tired? Are you worn out? Are you weary from the day to day stuff going on? Have you had it up to ears with everything and everyone?

Me too.

But, I am wondering have you had enough of Piss and Moan? I suspect not, but it is odd that the views and visitors have gone down over the last couple weeks. Maybe that is just those spam bloggers not doing their daily clicks to try and get people to visit their sites or buy their crappy services.

Or maybe I just haven’t done a great job of categorizing and tagging my blog over the last few weeks.

Or maybe I just haven’t Pissed and Moaned on a subject that really sparks your ire, frustration, anger, dissatisfaction, or discontent.

Perhaps it is all of those together or perhaps it is none of those at all. Maybe people are just on vacation and don’t have time to take a look.

Do you ever wonder why your stats are down? Me too.

Anyway, if you’re tired, just keep plugging along. Keep moving forward, no matter what it is from. I’m still here for you and I’m still here to chat about those things in your life that just wanna make you Piss and Moan. Even if you didn’t know you needed it!

Ambassador

Posted on August 9, 2019 by backuphill

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Why is it that every marketing campaign that involves a give away wants to contact you via email?

I was at a home show this last spring and every drawing a vendor had at the event requested an email address (among other contact details). Do I really want to give away my contact info if you’re gonna spam me with info? How do we even know someone one your drawing?

I recently got and email from a company who’s products I really like. They were doing a drawing for a whole bunch of gear from some other companies, including their own, that was worth like $7500. Sweet! Then you read the fine print any by filling out the form, which included your email address, you were agreeing to have the other companies send you marketing emails. Um, no. I didn’t sign up.

I get it. Everyone wants to sell their products and the best way to do that is to spam people who really don’t want to know everything about your products. But good golly, why can’t people just give stuff away without a catch??

Want good marketing of your products? Give it to me for free and then let me tell everyone I know about it because I like the product and use it myself. That would get you sales!

So, if there is anyone out there who is willing to sign me up as a “Brand Ambassador,” I am ready to sign on the dotted line. Hit me up in the comments and I’ll email you to follow up. 😉

Awards Culture

Posted on August 6, 2019 by backuphill

Yesterday’s post was the 300th post on this blog. It was kind of a serious post, which is mostly out of character for this blog since it is really meant to be kind of a tongue and cheek kind of attitude.

Today, however, I decided that I really needed one of those blogger awards. I see them being bounced all the time and I keep wondering when someone will nominate me. I am not sure they are really serious awards, I mean it kind of seems like people just decided “I like this blogger so I am going to award them a moderately fake and self-aggrandizing award.” Makes sense.

We live in an awards culture (some call it a “trophy culture”) where everyone gets an award just for participating. They don’t deserve it for anything other than just showing up. Makes sense. I get it. Showing up is hard and takes extra effort.

So, in the spirit of the awards culture, I created my own award! I feel much better about myself now. I mean, it’s about time someone is finally recognizing that I showed up and that I am almost worthy of an award, even if I have to do it for myself. Call it “self-care.” That’s a buzz word floating around out there these days.

Also, in the spirit of “sharing is caring,” I want you to nominate someone (or maybe even yourself!) who is totally undeserving of an award but maybe feels left out. Actually, please nominate yourself if you also think the “blogger awards” thing is stupid too.

Drop your nominations in the comments section, or borrow the award and tag me in the post where you award yourself. Either way, is fine with me! Have fun with this, since that is really the intent!

Exactly the point

Posted on August 5, 2019 by backuphill

Data doesn’t lie.

That’s the point.

It doesn’t minimize tragedy, it puts it into perspective. Perspective minimizes fear and hysteria.

The hysterical reaction to the above tweet proves the exact point Neil deGrasse Tyson was making. If you make a spectacle of something (which the media and illogical hysteria do), then you will of course have a perspective that is disproportionate to the event.

Should we want mass shootings to end? Of course. But are they really as big of a concern as we are led to believe? No.

You are more likely to die of a medical mistake than from a mass shooting. Do we see any hysteria around this fact? No. What if the media published or ran a body count update every evening on the news just like they did during the Vietnam War? Would people more afraid to go to their doctor or the hospital? Probably.

You are more likely to die in an automobile collision than from a mass shooting. We don’t see a call to ban cars (or really bad drivers) do we? No. Because it isn’t highlighted in the news like shootings are. A body count each night would do that though.

Is that what it takes to make the news these days? A body count? It would appear so.

Americans like to grandstand about highly publicized events, but don’t really think about their own irrational fears. Do bad things happen each and every day? Yes. Can you live in fear of cars, doctors, guns, crowds, mosquitoes, or whatever? I suppose you could, but does it really do you any good? No.

Let’s not be hysterical and have a knee-jerk reaction every time something bad and tragic happens in the country. Because it does happen, EVERY DAY. You just don’t hear about it because it wasn’t highlighted by the media. That’s exactly the point of the tweet.