Dear Wasteful, Moronic Idiots of City of Mesa's Waste Management:
Posted on Tuesday, November 03, 2009 by ScrapCandy
Dear City of Mesa, AZ: What the hell are you thinking? We are knee neck deep in a seemingly unending recession right now and you have sent our city employees out in the night or the early morning (between 10:00 p.m. - 6:00 a.m.) to walk door to door to monitor garbage cans placed out for pickup?
ARE YOU INSANE???
Someone within our city government clearly has some judgement issues.
Our libraries in the City of Mesa cannot stay open for a full week because of "budget issues". Our museums in the Cityof Mesa cannot stay open a full week because of "budget issues". Our freaking CITY HALL in the City of Mesa cannot stay open a full week because of budget issues. But someone made the call to have employees out before working hours (I suppose they got paid overtime for this special job too!) so they could tape a notice on the top of our garbage can (AND EVERY OTHER CAN FOR MILES) letting us know that we should place our can in the street so that foot traffic (yeah, we live on a cul-du-sac and there is NO foot traffic) can pass by?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Moron is not a strong enough word for the genius that thought of this plan. So there were city employees travelling thru Mesa in the dead of night armed with little signs and rolls of masking tape, moving garbage cans and taping signs on the lids. And they did this to every. single. can. whether it was already placed in the street or not. Oh and it gets better. Not only were they moving and taping, they were CHECKING EACH CAN TO SEE WHAT WAS INSIDE! How do I know this? Because the helpful employees on our street took one of our cans and moved it from the curb to the front yard so that the contents could NOT BE PICKED UP THIS MORNING. Why would someone do this? Because we had some DIRT in our can. They lifted up the top bag and saw dirt from another bag which had ripped as it was tossed in the can. So since we had loose dirt we got yet another notice taped to the top of our 2nd can (which we pay extra for) letting us know that construction debris is not allowed.
IDIOTS!!!!!
Home Remodelling Part XXVVII
Posted on Thursday, October 29, 2009 by ScrapCandy
I thought I'd change it up a little here and do a home improvement post. I love getting to peek virtually and otherwise (I really love when our awesome neighbors let us in their house after they've had new stuff done!) into other's houses. I love to see what people do with their spaces. So this is a post about what we've been doing with some of our spaces.
We are remodelling our house. That statement is basically the understatement of the millenium. We started the project in 2007 shortly after we moved in. And by "we" I mean, Kevin, aka the guy who can build and/or fix ANYthing. About the closest I have come to helping with this project is to bring the poor guy a cold drink every now and then.
The remodelling project is really several projects rolled into one. They all sort of feed off of one another. Like flesh-eating zombies feed off the dead. The projects became necessary because 1. we pretty much bought a house that we outgrew before the last box had been unpacked and 2. Kevin has a need to make things better.
We have or are in the process of adding an office for Kevin (cause the dude literally has no space that's his other than a drawer in the kitchen. It's gigantic (his new office, not the kitchen drawer) and has some sweet brickwork and some beautiful arched niches and a barrell ceiling. Unfortunately his extremely sucky company just laid him off, so hopefully he'll have a brand-spanking-new job to do soon, hopefully right around the time the new office space is finished. 
In addition to the new office, we (Kev) added a room onto our master bedroom. This room is the bedroom for our littlest guy. He's happy to know he's right next to his biggest fans and we like having him close by. Someday when he outgrows this space (it would be a little awkward to have a 16 year old version of him having to walk thru our room to get to his!), he can share with his older brother or we can play musical rooms if an older sister or two move out. 
This new room is like an architectural masterpiece. It started out as less than nothing. As in it used to be our backyard - dirt and rocks. Kevin had a vision in his head how he wanted it to look and he somehow transformed it into exactly that. I'm serious - there's really nothing he can't do.
Here's an old photo of the backyard. The very corner of the house is where the baby's room is now.
Here's the inside of the baby's room. There are more shelves down the middle of the two closets now. They all have their own lighting and there's Kevin putting the finishing touches on some of the woodwork.
Here's looking into the new room, after the new carpet was installed.
There are now glass panneled french doors in that opening.
In addition to the two new rooms, Kevin also completely reframed our master bedroom ceiling so that we now have a tray ceiling, special lighting and speakers hidden inside the tray ceiling. While the little guys bedroom has a suede painting technique (makes a great photo backdrop too!), our celing has an antique leather technique. Very nice and visually interesting. Like I said he has a need to make everything around him better.
Next I'll post about my awesome scrapbook/craft oasis he transformed from an ordinary coat closet, our covered patio and before and in-progress photos of our new master bath, another huge transformation!
Have you done any work in your house you'd like to share? Even if you haven't expanded or remodeled, I'd love to see where you live! I hope to see someone else blog about their space!
Possibly the best use of the internet ever
Posted on Thursday, August 27, 2009 by ScrapCandy
This is so going into my "why didn't I think of that sooner" file.
While picking up some much needed crap necessities at Walmart the other day, I couldn't help but notice the ongoing freak show all around me. Parent's not watching their little brats rip stuff up, people not wearing nearly enough clothes, too many people riding those freaking electric scooters when they *might* be better off taking a real step now and then, all together too many idiots talking on their cell phones trying to feel important while they shop at Walmart, women that looked like they were just standing on the corner a minute earlier, etc., etc.
It helps me to cope with the Walmart lunatics if I mentally compose the blog post as I shop. Of course once I get home and take an acid bath to wash the Walmartyness off, I lose the desire to relive any of it and I move on.
At the very least I now feel slightly better about the freaks at my local Walmart cause they got nothing on some of these people. That and from now on I'm bringing my camera cause they've got a contest!
Disneyland Video from 1956
Posted on Sunday, August 23, 2009 by ScrapCandy
Just a warning - this is my personal rant about acceptable clothing choices when you go out in public. It is not deep, it is not important and it doesn't really matter in the end. Just letting you know ahead of time.
Just found this video from a Twitter link... 1956 Disneyland Video - I'm not a member of Vimeo that I know of, so I'm being really lame and putting the link here instead of figuring out how to embed the video. Anyway, it's a cute video that someone’s grandfather shot and shows their grandmother shaking hands with the Man, himself. I love all things Disney and vintagey Disney always gets my interest! The music on the video is a little creepy, but it's neat to see everything back in the day.
What struck me about the video was how nice everyone was dressed! Men had pants, belts and nice shirts on, women had dresses on. Now, we usually go to Disney World when it's rather hot and humid out (or maybe it's always hot and humid there?) so I'm not suggesting that people should be wearing pants and suits or even a dress for that matter. I am completely a shorts and t-shirt sort of girl, BUT the dress code of your average Disney World guest (and people in general) has gotten so far out of control, I wish we could meet somewhere in the middle!
Like, when did bra straps (and this is not just about WDW - this problem is EVERYwhere people!) become fashion accessories? It used to be a bad thing if your bra strap was showing. You know, embarrassing. Why are more people not embarrassed now when 1/2 of their underwear is hanging out? Want to wear that cute racer back tank top?? GET A RACERBACK bra ladies. They really do make them. They even make some that convert back and forth so you don't need to buy a special bra. Want to wear a cute tank top with teeny little spaghetti straps? You have some options; a) wear a strapless bra, b) if you're lucky enough to be able to do this, then by all means go for it - forget the bra all together or c) wear another type of shirt or tank top underneath the spaghetti strap top and d) here's the option more people should really be going with ---> choose something else. Most of the teeny tops with teeny spaghetti straps you see in the store are not for you, they are for your 17-27 year old cute neighbor. Don't try to dress like you are a teenager when you haven't been one for a few decades.
I wish I had my camera the other day as I picked my kids up from school. This hot mamma (or so she thought) came to school in a halter top dress. The top was smocked (bunched up with elastic), and ended right above her chest, the bottom dress part was see thru and appeared to be missing a few feet of material, but looking classy was not her objective obviously. Ok, fine, if you need a bra, then this would be the time to get out your strapless bra. You see where this is headed, right? Yes, she did want the benefits of wearing a bra, but not the hassle of the strapless bra, so there she is with her regular, over-the-shoulder straps coming out of the top of her halter dress. Very classy, indeed.
Don't even get me started on the moronic male youth walking around with their boxers showing, but their jeans hanging around their ankles. Do you have any idea HOW COMPLETELY STUPID you look? To have to keep one hand on your waistband in order to keep your pants from falling down is idiotic. To have to take gigantically huge steps in order to keep your pants above your knees is pathetic. It's really not cool to try to look like a prison inmate who is not allowed to have a belt. Not cool at all. Not cool to look like you can't afford a belt and really not cool to try to look like a prison inmate. Hey - if you really wanna look cool, why not just skip right over to the bright orange jumpsuit? At least you can have both your hands free. At the store the other day I saw some 10 or 11 or 12 year old (it's the age I think most boys become temporarily really undesirable as humans) punk boy in this sort of get up (not the orange jumpsuit get up), with a hat on crooked, trying to look his stupid-est coolest. He was shopping with his mommy. Probably the same woman who purchased the boxers and jeans 11 sizes too big for the little darling. I swear I wanted to slap both of them. What mother is buying this crap for a kid too young to have his own income? If they need you to buy their clothes, you still get to decide what they wear. If you don't buy it - they can't wear it.
When staying at Disney World, I find myself wondering (all too often), "Did they not include a mirror in your hotel room?" I know I like to stay at one of the nicer hotels and we do receive a few more Disney perks for our money, but I cannot image that mirrors are one of the perks. So how the hell did everyone else in your room let you leave looking like that???
Disney has some sort of loose clothing guidelines. I think they need something with a little more teeth!
Like...
1. No underwear showing. No bra straps, no peek-a-boo thongs, no boxers
2. Do not wear anything more than 2 sizes away from the size you should be wearing
3. No spandex. Ever. EVER!
4. Do not wear your bikini top if the only place you should be wearing a bikini top is your own backyard
I imagine that these ill thought out clothing choices are really a small statement about a lot of other ill thought out behaviors that have come about since the 50s when the video was made, but that will have to wait for another blog post.
WDW Wednesday - Where will you stay? Part II
Posted on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 by ScrapCandy
Ok, as promised, here is Part II – Perks for Guests of Disney Resorts and more about Resort categories.
Perk #1 Complimentary Airport Pick Up and Drop Off - It begins before you even arrive at your hometown airport. From the moment you put the super-duper-extra-special-reserved-for-Resort-Guests-only-Magical-Express-Luggage-Tag onto your suitcase your vacation begins and you have not a care in the world. You check your luggage as you normally would at the ticket counter or with the skycap. After that you say adios to 976 things you’ll never wear/use/carry/eat while at WDW and the next time you see them will be soon after you check into your Disney Resort room. It’s really that easy if you choose the complimentary Magical Express transportation option as part of your Disney reservations. When you arrive in the Orlando Airport (MCO) there’s no need for you to go to Baggage Claim like an off-property-staying commoner (well, technically you do have to still go to the baggage claim area as that’s where the Magical Express bus picks you up), but you don’t have to stand there fighting the crowds wondering if that was your black Samsonite that just whizzed by.
Perk #2 See #1 but think of it in reverse - As you leave your Disney Resort on your day of check out (a sad, sad day by the way – here’s a tip to make it thru – do not, under any circumstance make eye contact with the guests who are just arriving and about to check in), make sure the tags are once again on your suitcase. Leave them with the Magical Express staff and board the bus. They will take care of getting your bags onto the flight you’ll be on. How nice not to have to lug everything around with you because at that point, after 5 or 7 or 10 days in the *Magic* you are fried – both physically and mentally. The less you have to be responsible for, the better – trust me!
Perk #3 Extended Theme Park Hours - On certain days the parks open a little earlier or stay open a little later as a special perk for Disney Resort guests. Now Disney considers this a perk, but I’m not so convinced. You are sharing this perk with a million or so other people also staying at a Disney Resort. If everyone flocks to the same park with the Early Entry hours, there’s gonna be one long-a$$ line to get in (and don’t even get me started on the moronic “security” checkpoint lines). So take that one with a grain of salt. I think the real value in EE mornings lies in going to one of the parks not on the list to open early and possibly enjoy a slightly less crowded entry. 
Perk #4 Complimentary Transportation throughout Walt Disney World Resort – my favorite reason to stay on property! Specifically – the monorail. My favorite words to hear at the beginning of a Magical Disney Day? “Please stand clear of the doors - por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas”. That and “Welcome aboard Disney’s highway in the sky”. Oh, puts a smile on my face just knowing I’ll be hearing that every day for 10 days, in a mere 6 months, 3 weeks and 6 days now! J Staying at a Disney resort leaves plenty of *free* (free with purchase of a multi-thousand dollar vacation, of course!) transportation options at your disposal. Different resorts offer various methods of transportation. Three resorts are on the monorail line – The Contemporary, The Grand Floridian and The Polynesian. Maybe one day when Disney can spare the pocket change, they will spend a little $ and incorporate The Wilderness Lodge in the monorail loop and make it a little more accessible! Several other resorts have bus and/or boat and/or walkways that will take you to the Ticket and Transportation Center or in some cases directly to the parks.
Of course the individual resorts also all have other perks for their guests too numerous too mention. Nightly water pagents, character meet & greets, kid stations, on-site babysitting services, package delivery from the parks, etc.
There are also other ways to shave off some money from your sleeping dollars.
1) Disney has different categories of resorts – Value, Moderate, Deluxe and Deluxe Villas. These categories reflect varying price points, not to be confused with the Disney rate “seasons” of Value, Regular and Peak 2) Disney sometimes offers deals, coupon codes and discounts to help them make more money and fill up as many rooms as possible make your stay more affordable
. 
VALUE If you are the sort of person who doesn’t see a lot of value in paying more for a “resort setting” because “after all, you’re only going to be asleep when you’re there” (insert my own personal shudder every single time I hear someone say this) then the Value category might be a good fit. Unfortunately you also have to like large crowds, long lines at the food court, having no other dining options other than said food court, long lines for bus transportation and a motel feel to your stay. I really know how to sell it, don’t I? The resorts in this category are: * Pop Century * All-Star Sports * All-Star Music * All-Star Movies * Fort Wilderness Campground Sites and RV Sites (I wasn’t going to do the shudder again, but I can’t help myself.)
MODERATE If you’d like a little more of a resort-like feel to your stay, but still want to keep expenses slightly under control (by Disney’s standards of course, because they are nothing like under-control expenses in real life) you might want to choose a resort in the Moderate category. Great themes, fun pools, beautiful grounds and in some cases more than just bus transportation to the parks. The following resorts are considered to fall in the moderate group. * The Cabins at Fort Wilderness (FW) * Port Orleans – French Quarter (PORFQ) * Port Orleans – Riverside (POR) * Coronado Springs (CS) * Caribbean Beach Resort (CBR)
DELUXE If you really want to feel pampered and on a relaxing vacation, my personal recommendation would be a Deluxe level resort. Everything at these resorts seems to be at a step up from anywhere else. The service, the dining choices, the transportation choices, the recreation options, perks, etc. But a warning – once you stay at this level resort it will be very hard to ever not stay in a Disney Deluxe Resort. You will be spoiling yourself with this choice – especially if you choose a deluxe resort serviced by the monorail. Want to add upgrade to another dangerously opulent choice? Concierge Level – now known as Club Level. Hard to ever go backwards down the luxury ladder on some of these. Choose wisely dear readers – your future Disney funds will be greatly impacted by the choices you make today! The Deluxe Resorts are: * Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa (GF) on mono line * Disney’s Polynesian Resort (Poly) on mono line * Disney’s Yacht Club Resort (YC) * Disney’s BoardWalk Inn (BW) * Disney’s Beach Club Resort (BC) * Disney’s Contemporary Resort (Cont or CR) on mono line * Disney’s Wilderness Lodge (WL) * Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (AKL)
DELUXE VILLAS - Part of the Disney Vacation Club If you need a little more space than the average-sized- closet-turned-hotel-room, you might want to upgrade to the Vacation Club Villas. These resorts offer an atmosphere with the comforts and convenience of home, bedrooms, kitchens, etc. A hotel room with anything resembling a kitchen in it does not a vacation make if you ask me, but I hear these are very nice places. * Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo * Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort * Disney’s Beach Club Villas * Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani * The Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge * Disney’s BoardWalk Villas * Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa * Disney’s Old Key West Resort
And – for what it’s worth, I never promised these Disney Tips and Tricks would be chock-full of unbiased travel info!
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