Well folks, this is it....
After much pondering and reading of the archives, I have decided to shut down this particular blog for now. It is not going away, it is just moving as to allow more privacy. I have tried to promote my livejournal account for people but since you have to actually sign up for livejournal I don't think it's catching on. Still, you're more than welcome to sign up, and I'll add you as a friend so you can read my locked entries.
In the meantime, I WILL be keeping a public blog, just not at the oboesontour address due to privacy concerns. Since I like to rant about politics and religion, I figure it's best to try and cover up my trail as best as possible. I will keep this blog up indefinitely and please leave a comment if you would like to know the web address for the new one!
Hark! An era has ended!
But, off to the more private land of livejournal as well as much better hidden public blog at an unspecified time! :)
- posted by L. @ 12:35 AM

 
Happy New Year!
Wow, it's 2007! May it be better than 2006! Okay, 2006 wasn't too bad, but it wasn't fantastic, that's for sure.
Highlights of 2006: Getting my kitty!!!!!
Downsides of 2006: Too many to number.
Oh well.
Bring on 2007!!!
- posted by L. @ 7:13 PM

 
Happy Holidays my ass!!!
Pardon the foul language but I have gotten to my boiling point with this political correct bullshit. I think this subject has been hashed by some of my other friends and I don't want to steal their thunder but this is starting to work my nerves.
It is now time for our society to step back and realize just how ridiculous the term "politically correct" has gotten.
This War on Christmas is getting out of hand.
There is no reason to call a Christmas tree a HOLIDAY tree. Call it by it's name and HOLIDAY TREE is NOT it's name. I mean, if you want to call me the Duchess of Rosendale, go ahead, but I'm not the Duchess of Rosendale....mostly because Rosendale doesn't have a duchess for real and also because I'm just NOT the Duchess of Rosendale ... I don't even LIVE in Rosendale!!! Or call me the Queen of Kazakhstan. I don't care, because I'm neither the Duchess of Rosendale or the Queen of Kazakhstan! You might as well just call me what I am....Lauren.
Put up your damn Christmas decorations if you want to. Who cares if you insult other people???? Why should the fact that you put up Christmas decorations in a public place insult other people?? My place of employment was one of the first to put up our CHRISTMAS tree. If someone had told us that they were offended and that we should take it down, I'm pretty sure I would have laughed really hard and said No. We also have a big CHRISTMAS wreath up (complete with a viola in the middle of it...would have been a violin but the violin looked too small). We also have CHRISTMAS ornaments, and CHRISTMAS music playing all day long. We have lots of CHRISTMAS music books. If any of us were Jewish, maybe we'd have a few Hanukkah songs playing. I have no problem with that if any of my coworkers were Jewish. Play with dreidals, I don't care!!! Light the menorah, whatever!!
You know what, last time I checked the United States was all for freedom of religion. You can either celebrate or choose not to celebrate whatever holiday you choose. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa...I don't care! Celebrate what you want, and I'll celebrate what I want! But I am going to go sing Christmas carols, wrap Christmas presents and put up my Christmas tree...and don't tell me that it offends you because I don't care. If my neighbor were to start lighting their menorah (I don't have any Jewish neighbors that I'm aware of), go ahead! Celebrate your holiday! More power to you! I am NOT offended by people celebrating Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, so why should anyone be offended that I am celebrating Christmas because I am a Christian and believe in celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
Enjoy your holiday! Watch wonderful Christmas movies such as The Muppet Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...whatever your little heart desires. Go to church and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Make cookies, sing Christmas carols and drink eggnog. Whatever Christmas traditions you have, celebrate them and embrace them. Do not let society tell you to be more politically correct. Our lives are centered around politically correctness, let this be one thing that you are not politically correct about!
And if anyone tells you that your Christmas celebrations offend them, tell them to blow it out their rear end. I'm sure that's not very PC either, but I'm not about being PC right now.
To everyone: A MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
- posted by L. @ 11:41 PM

 
Me vs. the insurance company part 1
I know you all totally miss my stories of my ongoing battle with Cingular. I know, I totally miss telling said stories. But as I have not really had any major complaints with Verizon, there has been a severe lacking in my posts regarding my battles with large corporations. The most exciting thing that ever happened with Verizon is that we tried to switch our phones at the Verizon store and they said they "couldn't match" the internet offer that we had gotten from Verizon. So we used the internet offer, and, lo and behold, a few short days later we got our new phones. Presto. No problems.
Anyway, I know I can't go very long without having to be rather irritated with large corporations so this week's installment is Me vs My Former Employer/Insurance Company.
I terminated employment with My Former Employer (henceforth referred to as MFE) in July. To be exact, July 14. My supervisor at MFE somehow thought it was July 12, whatever, which was sort-of a hassle, sort-of a blessing. For example, upon getting to work on July 14, I couldn't get into the building, and all of my accounts had been shut down. But, on the plus side, I couldn't do ANY work the ENTIRE day. It was great. I got paid for 8 hours of pure NOTHING.
MFE consequently terminated my health/dental/life insurance on July 12, and initially did not pay me for the 13th and 14th (a vacation day as well as a day of sort-of work...hey, I was there, it counts as work, not my problem I couldn't do any work). The pay sorted itself out after about a month of emailing/calling my former supervisor...and I made about $50 out of the deal. If you get paid less, they take fewer taxes out! Hurray! But anyway.
So, MFE was very quick to terminate me from the insurance policy...however I'm still waiting on the COBRA information. I know, it's been five months. I think they've gone long past the point of being slow, and now are probably breaking several laws. When they termed me off my mom's insurance after I graduated from college, I had to sign something to waive my rights to COBRA. I haven't signed that with MFE...and I'm now on policy #2 since quitting. My temporary policy gave me the coverage letter within a few days of the term date which was pretty sweet. But nothing from my former employer on their COBRA information. Huh. THAT'S weird. I actually used to WORK FOR AN INSURANCE COMPANY! You would THINK they would know the rules. Because if they don't know the rules, god help the rest of us....
So anyway, today I got home from work and found three envelopes with the logo from MFE. "Sweet," I thought, foolishly, "they are finally offering me COBRA."
Oh silly silly me. Why would they offer me COBRA?? It's not like they are LEGALLY REQUIRED TO DO SO or anything. NO WORRIES. They definitely sent me THREE letters, one dated Nov 30, one Dec 2, and one Dec 4...which I got all three today, I know, weird...saying that they had previously requested a receipt from me for some meds I bought using my FSA card back in June. They have now "reminded" me that I need to send them those receipts (who knows where the hell those are, I bought that stuff in JUNE!!!).
Never mind that I haven't gotten my COBRA information. Never mind that I haven't gotten my letters of prior coverage that I should really be submitting to my current insurance company. Never mind that they screwed me out of 16 hours of pay initially....
Never mind that I USED TO WORK FOR AN INSURANCE COMPANY. Sweet, I am so ready to call those fuckers tomorrow. This battle is ON!!!!
- posted by L. @ 11:23 PM

 
Barf.
Today I saw the most disgusting bumper sticker on the back of Appleton's very own, albeit much toned down version of the Jesusmobile (if you are a Milwaukee native, you know what I am referring to)....Appleton's is much less obnoxious. Instead of a beat-up old station wagon it is a white car, and there is no jackass using a megaphone to tell you you're going to hell. But, the white car is plastered with stickers telling you that you're going to hell (okay, maybe I lied, but you get my point).
Anyway, the one that kind of pissed me off A LOT said this:
Friends don't let friends be homos.
WTF???
I had a burning desire to rear-end that guy, but that wouldn't be very Christian-like and despite what some people may think of me it IS possible to be Christian as well as being socially and politically liberal.
It sickens me to think that people actually think that being a "homo" (I would prefer to use the term homosexual, thanks) is a choice.
Because IT'S NOT!!
When I was younger and consequently more stupid and sheltered, I used to think that homosexual people were in the wrong.
Then I met the most amazing person who was the most sincere Christian person I have ever met. He was outgoing and fun, always had a smile on his face and totally practiced what he preached - that being a very Christian lifestyle. In fact, that person was studying to be a Lutheran pastor.
Very abruptly he left the study, and nobody knew why. It wasn't until months later that I found out why: he was gay.
His sexual orientation caused him to have to leave his ideal job, he had studied to become a pastor because he was truly a believer.
Why would someone like that CHOOSE to be gay?? Why would he CHOOSE to be completely ostracized from his religion, from his calling to be a pastor???
Yeah, I don't think that would be the choice of many.
And how could I, after that, believe that sexual orientation was a choice?? Why would anyone choose to be gay...to possibly lose family and friends who don't understand. Why would they want to pick a lifestyle that would have them running into closed doors everywhere....whether it be socially, religiously, or politically??
It sickens me to think that people could be so close minded. Homosexuality isn't a choice. I just wish that more people would realize it.
I also wish that more people, even if they were against homosexuality, would at least be open-minded to the fact that people are different from them and accept it blindly.
- posted by L. @ 7:40 PM

 
HECK YEAH!
WOOHOO! The Democrats have taken control again after 12 years!! So long to the GOP and their ridiculous ways!!
But to top it off - the Italian buttercream icing on the raspberry filling bakery made cake, Donald Rumsfeld stepped down!
Seriously folks, it doesn't get much better than that.
With a little bit of luck (it's been going so well thus far), we will have a Secretary of Defense who will have a little bit more successful tactics, rather than "we will stay the course."
Huzzah to the Democrats who have regained control in the House and the Senate!!!
Though this could prove to make the next 2 years pretty interesting.
With any luck, the Democrats will come up with a top notch candidate along the lines of Clinton to keep the Republicans out of the Oval Office in 2008 too.
Incidentally, I am much more satisfied with the outcome of my age group in 2006 than even in 2004 (I can't speak for 2002, I didn't vote and in 2000 I was only 17). Mad props to the people in our age group who actually went out and voted rather than just griping about how the elections turned out.
And as for Wisconsin politics, while the marriage amendment was passed and I'm not so happy about that, I can be very happy that we re-elected Jim Doyle, and voted Steve Kagen into the 8th District spot in the House...therefore Mark Green not only lost his bid for governor, but a Democrat took his open spot in the House...oh darn, he's out of a job (politically) soon.
Finally! There will be some change in Washington and hopefully in Madison too. So long to the GOP controlled Congress....
- posted by L. @ 11:55 PM

 
I promise it will be over soon!!
The "Fair Wisconsin Votes No!" facebook group that I'm in had someone post a pretty phenomenal letter found in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. I have to say that the person who wrote this letter to the editor pretty much summed up a lot of the things that I have been saying over and over again for the past few weeks.
In short, as I can't really articulate better than the person who wrote the letter, who, by the way, gets mad props from me, I will just attach the letter for you to read at your leisure.

Christian to gays: I'm sorry.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up.
Two days people.....
- posted by L. @ 12:21 AM

 
I hate these...
I hate when I have to write a blog because I'm sad.
Today I'm sad, because I received the kind of news I hate to receive.
A very close family friend died about 2 weeks ago of an apparent heart attack while traveling for business in Germany. He was 52 years old.
Those things make me sad because people who are that young (in the grand scheme of things) shouldn't die of a heart attack. They shouldn't die at all. This is the 2nd time in a year that someone who is just over 50 has died...and that is too young.
Gary was our tenant for a few years, long ago back when I was little. He used to throw Christmas presents down the back stairs and then run up the stairs like we didn't know it was him anyway. He used to watch our cat, Bear, when we were gone, and she would wander upstairs and visit him even when we were there because he would feed her people food (such as ice cream). He was the one who christened her "Hoover". He used to play his piano for me sometimes, and he was really involved with his church music.
It's been many years since he was my parents' tenant, but he still came by to visit periodically. He came to my high school graduation party and would often crash the block parties.
It's hard to think that someone like Gary could be gone. He wasn't sick, he wasn't old. But it was his time, I guess.
I hate thinking about it.

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
John 14:2-3 NIV
RIP Gary, you are home now, but you will truly be missed here.
- posted by L. @ 10:19 PM

 
Perhaps people should take more stock in these words
I've been reading far too much by certain conservative groups who seem to think that they can point fingers at others while absolving themselves of any sort of blame....
Maybe those same people have forgotten this chapter in the Gospel of John...

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
(John 8:1-11 NIV)

Perhaps instead of throwing stones, we should pay more attention to accepting anyone regardless of who they are. I'm pretty sure that was the message that Jesus preached to people.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
(John 13:34-35)

Sorry to be sort-of preachy today. I will return to my regularly scheduled programming some other time.
- posted by L. @ 7:09 PM

 
Not my photoblog but who cares??

This is my super sexy 2006 Strato Blue Mazda 3. And yours truly with said car. w00t!!
Just because I know you are curious as to why I am posing with my car - what? Your car salesman never took a picture of you with your car??
How can you NOT love this car??? I know I love it!

There has been a lack of posting because I have been sick. My apartment is a disaster area and probably should be condemned by the health dept...ick. Now that I have improved, there is a slow but gradual cleaning to be done. Given that I spent much of last week lying on the couch or in bed, it is not nearly as bad as one would think, but much more icky than I would prefer it. Bring on the cleaning supplies!
And, music lovers, I have decided to re-attempt to learn the guitar. I apologize to my neighbors who already have to put up with an oboe and a piano but my guitar playing is really terrible. This is why it was a short-lived experiment in 1999....but here's hoping my maturity will give me more patience...and hell, it can't take nearly as long to LEARN guitar as it takes to STRING a guitar....
- posted by L. @ 12:34 AM