Thursday 13

Haven't done one of these in a long time, and I'm feeling generally pissy. So...

13 Things That Are Pissing Me Off Today

1. The money being spent to look for this Fossett dude in the desert. I said it when the Croc Hunter got his and I'll say it again: flirt with danger long enough and it's going to do you in eventually. Stupid testosterone.
2. The general chaos surrounding tuition payments (and missing tuition payments), soccer, uniforms, etc. I mean, the school's been operating for like 60 years. Summer happens every year and classes start up again every September. What is the deal with the complete and utter panic, disorganization, and complete lack of information? Seriously, people, I have high blood pressure as it is. I cannot take this.
3. DH.
4. This freaky attachment that my DS (God love him) develops to every material thing in his world. I had out last year's Halloween costume to sell in a big yard sale this weekend--this huge stuffed dinosaur costume that has literally been hanging in his closet, untouched, for the last year. Can you say hissy fit over it? Dear lord.
5. They don't make soccer cleats in an 11 1/2 for kids. They make a 10 1/2, and a 12 1/2, but no 11 1/2. Which happens to be the size the child is. What...the...hell...kind of system is that? Huh? Or is the Sports Authority chick just lying to me and there's some kind of rogue shortage in that size in my particular store that spans every color and every brand?
6. The moron who wrote "Heaven has a tenor" as the headline announcing Pavarotti's death on cnn.com this morning. Oh puh-leeze!! I'm all about the heaven thing and the life-after-death thing, but I sincerely doubt that old Luciano is up there belting out Madame Butterfly in some opera house in the clouds. *Retch*.
7. Sally Foster fundraisers. Dumbest rip-off idea ever. And telling kids they can win prizes if they stalk their friends and relatives into buying this crap is just a load of manure. I refuse to participate in this one. Fifty percent...guess who's making the other 50 and getting rich AND getting a massive tax break for their "corporate donation" at the end of the campaign? Sickening. I'm telling you, give parents the option to write one check to the school and take a pass on the ridiculous fundraisers and 99 percent of 'em will whip out the old checkbooks right there on the spot. (Yes, our catalogue came home today. It's out on the curb in my recycling bin.)
8. People who fling Jolly Ranchers off parade floats. Um, OUCH.
9. Free community newspapers that pile up in driveways and turn into some kind of disgusting mushy street compost after several weeks. We don't want your free papers--if we did, my guess is they wouldn't be free. Quit chucking them in our yards!
10. Did I mention DH? I really should...
11. All the bitching and moaning about gas prices. Don't want to pay it? DON'T DRIVE. Or give up your big honkin' SUV for a Honda Fit or something. (I love big honkin SUVs, but I don't bitch about gas, see?). Visit Europe. Do the math and figure out that it equates to about an extra $200 per year per family at the moment over last year's prices, and shut up already. You're not entitled to cheap gas. Suck it up.
12. The research company that calls my house at 6 p.m. every stinkin' night.
13. Blockbuster Online. Which compensates for our rabid movie habit by shipping movies via pony express. Or snail. I'm not sure which.