Thing is, I want a more permanent form of birth control, get my meaning? A surgical form of birth control. These come in two flavors, male and female.

I go to this website. Under the female flavor it says:

Women who are looking for a permanent form of birth control may choose to have a tubal ligation, also known as getting your “tubes tied” or female sterilization….In some cases, a woman may choose to have a hysterectomy. This is when the entire uterus (and possibly the fallopian tubes, ovaries and/or cervix) is removed. Unlike a tubal ligation, a hysterectomy is not reversible….For women that are sure that they do not want any more children, or any children at all, having a tubal ligation can be a successful means of birth control. Although tubal ligation reversal surgery is available, all women should consider having their tubes tied as a permanent solution. Therefore, it is best to take your time and talk with your doctor as well as your partner so that you can be sure that this is the right decision for you.

All very good points. I was a bit apprehensive how casually this site dropped in The Hysterectomy. I mean, we are talking major, big time surgery here! Not just, “gee, I don’t want any more kids,” but more like “Gee, I seem to have a massive tumor or growth down there.” I didn’t think women got The Big H done for birth control. I’ll admit that it seems to have certain…perks. Major surgery? No thanks.

At any rate, I cruise over and look at the male flavor. You know, for giggles.

Aside from condoms, a vasectomy is pretty much the only other method of male birth control available. A vasectomy is a simple procedure that can be done in a doctor’s office and is a permanent way of preventing pregnancy. …Suits You?
A vasectomy is seen as a permanent form of birth control. It is generally recommended for men that are done having children or are absolutely certain that they do not want to have children….If you are not absolutely sure that you do not want children, would like to have biological children in the future, are being pressured to have a vasectomy, or have not taken into account life changes, such as remarriage and the death of a child, having a vasectomy may not be the best choice for you right now.

Now, I got to say, this is totally out of line. the female flavor gets a warning that is they want any or any more children not to get it done. Then the male flavor comes out with making sure they don’t want to have children, TWICE. Then say make sure you don’t want children, biological children, are being pressured (WTF?) or have not taken into account life changes???? Such as remarriage???? Why don’t we, as women, get the came warnings? I mean, doesn’t this go both ways? What if a woman gets remarried and wants to have “biological” children? What if one of her children dies in an unfortunate accident and she wants another? What if she is getting pressured for the procedure?

Why are all these riders only on the male page and not for the female?

Absolutely crazy.

Post from: Pavlina: Life is Not For the Living

Gender predjudice in…birth control?

Now it’s more like, the customer is right on adjacent Tuesdays in the leap year cycle, for the time interval of 1:59 to 2:03 GMT. This is null and void if the premises is located in the greater European region, the time interval is then from 6:01 – 7:59 GMT -6. During this time, the customer will be right, at all other times the establishment will be right and may kick the customer in the teeth with no recourse. Complain as you will.

Now, I know I wrote that tongue-in-cheek, but doesn’t it really feels like it?

I firmly adhere to the belief that the recent (last ten years) decline in customer service is directly correlated to the rise of the internet and the anonymity enjoyed by billions. People get so used to trashing other people with no recourse it’s only a matter of time before that behavior begins bleeding over into “real life”. Maybe that is one reason I am always saying preaching (over and over, till I’m blue in the face) that we must all play nicely on the internet and NOT SPREAD VITRIOL!!!

The economy is in the crapper, you would think retail establishments would be wooing customers, not treating them like something they scraped off the bottom of their shoe. So let’s list the key players of customer service (CS) abuse:

1. My break started 2 minutes ago. In this CS mishap, the perpetrator will do anything to get you out of their hair as fast as possible. An example could be if you are trying to return something, all of a sudden the store has mysterious return policies where you also need to show your driving permit that expired 20 years ago to bring back the pair of shorts you bought and only realized after you got them home they are two sizes too small.
2. My SO just dumped me. Good luck. That’s all I have to say. You are at this person’s mercy. This is the equivalent of a suicide bomber. This person feels like they have nothing to live for and their last mission is to make everyone else around them as miserable as they are. I hope you don’t mind your eggs getting broken.
3. I’m too good for this job. Well, you probably are. I STILL need to get this printer, so just tell me if I should get this one or that one, ring it up and I’ll be on my way. Oh, I see. You were laid off from Big A Company. Sorry to hear that. Oh, what’s that? You made three times as much as you do now for this crappy electronics store? That really sucks…hee harr, can we just ring this up?
4. I follow the rules to the T. Usually, this one works out to your advantage. That is, until their computer systems goes wonky. Then you will be treated like the garbage from the shoe. I don’t care if the big clearing house got the hotels dates wrong. I don’t care what it says! I need to sleep! It’s midnight and I’m tired! Sleep! Now! you get, sorry ma’am, the computer says you’re checking in tomorrow. Good luck. This one will hide behind the rules until the cows come home. When the cows arrive, she’ll slap them on the hineys until they run back out.
5. I’m too smart for this job. This sounds a lot like number 3, eh? Nope, different beast altogether. Usually number 3 has a reason, no matter how thin and flimsy it is, for thinking they are indeed better than their current position would indicate. Mr. too-smart-for-this could well have never graduated from high school. Hell, he went to the University of Hard Knocks! He doesn’t need a knucklehead like you rolling up in here, trying to bring back this item that you stole anyway! Ugh, good luck.

So, there you have it. Not a completely exhaustive list.

Oh, by the way. in order to make this blog as customer or reader friendly as possible I have reopened comments on older posts. Enjoy.

Post from: Pavlina: Life is Not For the Living

Treat me badly!

I realize that my About is very vague. It’s like that for a reason, but I do think it gives a feeling on the overall flow of the site. I think my long time readers will agree. No, I do not mean that life is for the dead. If you’re shaking your head over what I am writing, then this is goodbye for us two. We have nothing in common. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s just the way it is.

If you like what you see, and the site design is fabulous, no? Please stick around. I’ll look forward to seeing you in a few days.

Post from: Pavlina: Life is Not For the Living

Welcome!

This particular posting was about Calorie restriction. Now, I am not even going to go there. I don’t really want to write an entire post on calorie restriction as I am sure Wikipedia has a good write up on it, so feel free to go and check it out. I always think I do a kind of twisted calorie restriction. What I mean by that is that I don’t eat constantly , I stop eating when full (not over stuffing), I naturally seem to stay away form high fat//salt foods (no Spam, or pig brains for me, also not a fan of Mayo), and McDonald’s hasn’t seen me in years. So, I wouldn’t even call it Calorie restriction, per se, even a twisted version, as I eat when I am hungry. I think the point here is that I eat when I am hungry. Period. Actually I’m grateful for this, and it was struggle for me to get here. I had a twisted past history with food, let us just leave it at that.

I don’t have anything against the people who practice calorie restriction, anymore so that I have something against those whole eat a bucket of chicken everyday. Hey, my life is too short for that. What I do not like (no surprise here) is people getting their knickers all in a twist about what other people are doing. I know myself to be guilty of it on occasion, I know, I know. So all the comments were just laying down layer after layer of vitriol. Things like, “does it make you live longer or does it just seem like it” (okay, that one is a bit funny), “Notice that no one interviewed is over 70? Where are all the really healthy 100 year olds that use this diet?”, Mental. Illness.” , “Deep fried crazy” and my favorite, “This is too ghastly for comment except to say that the woman in the picture’s head is about 3 times to large for her shoulders.”

Ugh.

Be nice.

Really.

So I wrote this: “That’s right, why don’t we all pile negativity on those who can restrict their eating? I don’t practice CR, but I also eat a lot less than the average American. The fact that I am well within the average BMI numbers is no accident. We could all use a bit less food if you ask me. Just look at the average size of people today! I think it’s disgraceful.”

That was a bit disgraceful, but I was fired up after plowing through all that negativity!

Then this is what someone replies to me: “Eating less than the average American is one thing (I’m fairly sure I eat less than the average Americain). Deliberately making yourself feel hungry is quite another thing. I’m not really sure what “life is not for the living” means.”

I didn’t know one had to “deliberately” make yourself hungry. I always thought that what happened after a finite amount of time has passed since your previous meal and your body is telling you it need more. “I’m not really sure what “life is not for the living” means.” Ah, the killer blow! Guy never even came here! Such sadness! If anyone needs to know Life is not for the living, this guy does. Oh, he sent the arrow through my heart! He didn’t go to the About section! Could it be? Do I have *gasp* poor website design!!!

So then I reply that back. Cause I got ‘no life.

Actually this is what I wrote:

“Name of Guy: I didn’t know one had to “deliberately” make yourself hungry. I always thought that what happened after a finite amount of time has passed since your previous meal and your body is telling you it need more.

Thank you for summing up in your comment replying back to me. If these people want to restrict what they eat, how does this hurt you or anyone else? Calling them crazy, or OCD is uncalled for. Offer your opinion, but try not to let it cross over into personal attacks. It’s bad etiquette.”

So, I’ve written both about Life is Not For the Living, and comment etiquette so this guy just clicked the link to my site, but didn’t even bother reading anything. Then went back to the original post and left me that little snide comment.

Nice.

Post from: Pavlina: Life is Not For the Living

What does Life not for the living mean?

Sometimes this is purely a self-defense mechanism. Like in the movie Airplane where Ted Striker is giving a heartfelt rendition of his troubles to his seat mates only to have them commit suicide in various ways, ie, hanging, self-inflicted gunshots, burning, etc. I’m not intending anyone to actually kill themselves to avoid listening to a boring story, but the point has been made. The last thing anyone wants to do is stay fully engaged while someone is going on and on about their trip to Cleveland and all the exciting things they saw and did there. I’m not knocking Cleveland, I’m sure it’s a great place to live, but not exactly on the top 100 list of places to see before you die, now is it?

Now honestly, I think most of the time I am doing the dealin’ and not the receiving. Okay, maybe more of a 60/40 split. 60% of the time I am boring people to death and the other 40% I am being bored. It’s because of my big brain. People just don’t understand what I am saying. He he he. Okay, not really. I’m just a really boring person.

Sometimes when people are talking to me a weird thing happens. Their words fade away, but I am still looking at them. Instead of the words they are saying I hear something else. The words to a Backyardigans song maybe. I’m pretty sure the person is not singing “Hold on tight” but that’s what I am hearing. I am so there. Then I realize the person has stopped singing, I mean talking and they are looking at me expectantly. Oops, there I go again. Depending on the situation, I will either pretend I was listening all along, or fess up and confess I was spacing out thinking of a way to solve the problem at hand.

We’ve all been there, so the next time you are holding forth just a tad too long, and the person with whom you are holding has drifted, be kind. Like I said, we’ve all been there.

Hey, did you listen to anything I just said? Jeez.

Post from: Pavlina: Life is Not For the Living

Blah, blah, blah I’m hearing you but not listening