Putting out Fires

There are few things that get me as worked up as I do about snowbirds. I was sitting at a stoplight the other day, and I noticed that the cars all around me read like this:  North Dakota, Alberta, Minnesota, Nebraska…  Arizona has become the new Florida.

Not getting into the intersection when attempting to turn left (screwing everyone behind them), stopping in the middle of the road for no reason, driving on the wrong side of the road, cruising at 15 under the speed limit, waiting for the sound of honking horns (and not the actual green light) as a cue that its time to drive.  I could go on. 

You may be reading this and thinking how insensitive I’m being.  Well, my friends, you don’t live in the far East Valley.  You’ve never sat in the hospital ER bleeding for TWO HOURS because of the over-crowding.  You’ve never had your vehicle trashed because some snowbird chose to stop in the middle of Power Rd. just long enough to cause a chain reaction accident and then have them drive off.  You’ve never had to change grocery stores for 5 months out of the year due to the shear frustration of being stuck EVERY TIME behind someone who has all day to do their shopping, and they plan on using every second of that time HOLDING YOU UP. 

One thing I will say about the snowbirds though:  they’re the only people in this state who actually know how to drive in rain on the 10 days a year we get it.

I have a girlfriend who is the most giving person I’ve ever known.  She’s not one of those people who sits around and says, “Isn’t it sad about those poor children in the third world countries?”.  This girl actually does something about it!  She’s dedicated her life to helping people she’s never met. 

I’m ashamed to say that I don’t take advantage of nearly enough opportunities to help.  But, one cause I get behind more than any other is animals.  I’m the kind who sobs at Animal Planet.  If there’s an animal story on the news?  Waterworks.  A lost dog running scared through the neighborhood?  I stop and pick it up every time. 

So, here’s our opportunity to help the animals.  I checked the legitimacy of this site at snopes.com, so we know it has to be real.  :-) 

Go here: http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites.woa  and with one click on the “Help an Animal in Need” button the sponsors on this site give money for food for needy animals.  You can do it every day, and you should.  Its completely free and it’ll make you feel good every time.  Oh, and if you’re thinking about getting a pet, try a rescue society, pound, or the Humane Society.  And as Bob Barker says….  Just kidding! 

OK, so here’s the deal.  Those who know me know that I would be the absolute last person on Earth to do anything to jeapordize my marriage.  I know how precious a good marriage is, and I am so blessed to have one. 

So the thing with the Italian man, I should clarify.  The man was like SEVENTY, and sitting in business class.  I’m new to this whole traveling w/ other business people thing, so I don’t know when it is that you’re supposed to actually make contacts and give out the business card.  I honestly thought I was doing the right thing by totally pretending to not have my cards on me (which I did), I misspelled my name on purpose, and I tried (through the wine haze) to give the wrong number. 

I hate when I start to feel guilty about something, especially when I didn’t have bad intentions.

So DH, if you ever figure out how to check my blog, I’m so sorry for being that stupid. 

I hesitate to even post this because it makes it a bigger deal than it is, but sometimes it just feels better to get it out there.