Consumer Stupidity

I've had enough.

The gluten free trend is taking off so everyone is jumping on the band wagon and coming out with their own line of 'gluten free' products.

These companies know most human beings are educated to not ask questions, and so they hide ingredients which contain GLUTEN in the food because obviously no one reads LABELS!

Oats are not gluten free!

Barely is not Gluten free!

Spelt is not gluten free!

Whole grain DOESN'T MEAN GLUTEN FREE!!

AHHHHHH!

Oh and let's not forget the cookies that boast gluten free goodness as well as being corn and dairy free in flashy lettering on the front of the box, but turn the box around and read the teeny list of items on the back and CORN STARCH is listed as well as WHEY POWDER.

AAAARRRRRRRGGGGG!!

People, stop being so dumb and buying these impostor's products.  Stick to the little guy, the ones who sell in the Health food store or your local farmers market.

They know gluten free because they LIVE IT.

Get off my A$$!!!

You know what bugs me?

Tailgaters.

Seriously. 

Makes me have some serious road rage.

For the past two weeks, on our way home from dance class, in the DARK, there has been a vehicle riding my rear.

I am not impressed.

When the interior of my vehicle is as bright as daytime - IN THE DARK - with my very darkly tinted van windows, you are too close.  Get off my a$$.

Both times I suppressed my rage, and instead of slamming on my brakes (but officer, there was a dog/cat/coon on the road!) I just let off the gas.  And, eventually *both times* by the time the van slowed down to 20km, the stupids finally passed me.

If you want to drive faster than me, go for it.  Pass me, and speed on.

If you want to drive slower than me, get ready for me to pass you.

If you want to drive the same speed as me... BACK THE HELL OFF MY A$$!!

I Love Canada

But we can sometimes be pretty odd. By odd I mean unimaginably strange, bordering on insanity, etc.

This post would have included a lot more rage, but I have since learned that this monstrosity has been altered. Is it true, or am I just hoping I don't have to go on the hunt? From what I have been led to understand, there was enough of an uproar from the masses (rah! Rah! Rah! Or should I say Roar! Roar! Roar!) that the ludicrous rule has been redefined: it's now a subject of mercy. So any soccer team that is devastating the opposition by six points automatically wins without having to play the full game. The game just ends. This I can understand. This I am fine with. I will not eviscerate and defenestrate anyone anymore. (My fist of death was tingling for no reason, apparently. Calm down, fist of death. You'll get your day.)

So, I'm glad that this new regulation has been changed, but I can't help but wonder why it was even brought to the table at all. I mean, really! Let's teach our kids that trying your best and pushing yourself to the limit of your abilities is a waste of time! Yea! That's a great idea. Let's remove all hope for future excellence by telling them they can be no more excellent than the worst guys out there. That would be unfair.

What's next with something like this?

Canadian race-car drivers: slow down, geez! Do you want to win or something? Don't you know it's an automatic lose if you cross the finish first?

Pianists: don't play so well! You'll get the lowest score possible if you outshine the other pianists here! Make some mistakes, kid. Perfection makes other kids feel bad. Jerk.

Artists: um, yea...drawing a flower that doesn't look like a pile of hurl is a recipe for disaster.

No excellence allowed! No trying your best! We're looking for okayness.

I can see it now:

Future Canadian child: Hey Coach, I kicked the ball toward the goal, but it bounced off the post. Was that okay?

Coach: Yea, it was okay.

Future Canadian child: YESSSS!

Other Canadian child: Hey, his okayness makes me feel bad!

-_-

GARG!!!

You know what bugs me???

The fact that my brand-new camcorder records in .MOD, and NOTHING seems to work with .MOD files!!!

I'm pulling out my hair trying to figure out how to make it work.

I love Windows Live Movie Maker... but MOD files are not supported.

I've spent hours and hours trying to figure it out. 

I have just renamed some files, but then it lowers the quality of the movies.

Why can't JVC have it record in a supported mode?!??

GAR!

Seatbelt Laws and Fines - And My Right to Be Stupid

I've been thinking about this one for a while, and I hope to hash it out in a way that is understandable.

Seat belt laws bug me. Let me explain.

In Ontario, as of December 1, 2006, there was a new law:

"every person travelling in a motor vehicle must wear a seat belt or use a child safety seat."

Now, in and of itself this law would be fine, I guess. According to statistics, wearing a seat belt increases your chances of surviving a car accident. Another website states that 63% of people killed in car accidents were not wearing seat belts. So, it just seems logical to put your seat belt on when you're on the road - if you've noticed all of our posts under the "road rage" tag, you'll notice that we believe people on the highways are generally idiots. I don't have a website for the statistical average of idiots on the road, but I'm pretty sure it would be above 50%. Just saying. Knowing the high percentage of idiocy on the highways leads me to be more careful.

So, I agree that it's smart to wear a seatbelt.

But here's the part that bugs me. The MTO website goes on to state:

"The penalty for seat belt infractions is a fine between $60 and $500. Convicted offenders will receive two demerit points."

I don't believe it's right for the government to be able to fine me and give me demerit points for my own decision to put my life at risk. If I want to be an idiot and go without wearing my seat belt, who are they to fine me for it?

Warn me? Sure. Frown upon me? Okay! But fine me?

Let's just look at this for a second. I'm going to use another example of personal choices.

I could go buy 200 Twinkies and gorge myself on them. I could do this daily, and there would be no fine. Why? Because it would be my choice - although the world will tell you that obesity is a risk all on its own.

23.1% of Canadians are obese.

"In 2000, poor diet including obesity and physical inactivity caused 400,000 U.S. deaths..."

Just pause for a second and look at that number. 400,000 deaths were caused by obesity and physical inactivity. Now look at these statistics, from the same year (2000):

"41,821 people were killed in auto accidents in 2000 based on data collected by the Federal Highway Administration."

So that's just a little over a tenth, and don't forget that only 63% of those deaths relating to car accidents were because the people were not wearing seat belts. Someone else can do the math for that.

What this boils down to is an infringement on my rights. If I have a right to be obese if I want to, and to be physically inactive if I want to, I should have a right to go without a seat belt if I want to.

The government has every right to fine me if I'm speeding, or driving erratically. This sort of thing puts other people in danger. But to fine me for a personal choice, a choice which leaves only me and me alone in any sort of danger, is ridiculous.

Now, don't forget to buckle up. ;p

Boys.

I have OCD.

I MUST have a clean house for Christmas. MUST. It can't be dirty.

So.

Today, as I'm obsessively scrubbing down my bathroom, I realize, yet again...

Boys bug me.

Seriously.

They have a HOSE, people. Can they not aim with more precision?!??

Why is it that every time I scrub the toilet/floor around the toilet/walls/baseboard that the wipe comes away yellow? How can this be? They have a HOSE!

Boys are gross.

And that bugs me.

Confession

I have a confession to make.

We have a dancing, singing Santa Claus in our house. He is about five feet tall, and he has one of those flapping lips (you know, the kind that makes me want to break glass. Oh, you didn't know? Well, now you do. Isn't it wonderful, learning new things?).

When he sings, he swings his hips side to side and his arms flap back and forth (like he's trying to feel you up - I swear the thing has done it to me before. Do. not. like.).

He has beady eyes and a flat head.

And I want to drop-kick him.

Every time he is set up - that first time I see him, standing all smug in the corner, thinking he's loved by all - I want to drop-kick him right in his sassy face.

I don't like Santa Claus. Mostly because I don't like all the hype and the lies and the blagh* about Santa Claus. That 5' hip-swinging, lip-flapping dummy in the corner represents pretty much everything I dislike about the Christmas season - consumerism, lies, the "reason" for being "good"...one of these days I might not be able to stop myself.

Horrified bystanders will watch with shock as I pwn that sucker.

Merry Christmas.

* in other words, stuff that makes my brain tired, sore, and angry.