September 17, 2009

Miscellaneous Miscellanea

Updated: I just realized that in mentioning a DIY workshop by name here, it may not have been clear to a reader just joining the program that the workshop was not paid for by me.  I have removed all references to that specific workshop.  Please bear with me as I figure out this whole review thing!


Updated, Yet AGAIN: OMG.  Am now questioning whether I should have mentioned the company who sent a junk mailer for the free family day at the pumpkin patch?  To be sure, am removing the company's name and link.  I know they have something to do with phones?  I think?


Selling Out, Buying In
Over the past 3-4 months, the PR pitches coming into my box have slowly increased ( and in many cases, it was difficult to differentiate some of them from spam!) Recently, I received a pitch for reviewing some DVDs which will be released soon.  Overall, my goal with doing reviews is to only accept products which make sense for myself, my family and for this blog.  And I have talked about shows and movies that I have enjoyed watching with my kids over the years.  Besides, it just does not make sense to turn down an opportunity to review Animal Planet videos when I have two children who are rabid for animals. It is something we are already doing anyway.

So yes, you will be seeing more reviews on my Queen of the Free Bees site, although I do not anticipate a tsunami of them.  Seriously. Reviewing products takes time and I do NOT want reviews to take away too much time from this site. In that vein, from now on, I will keep the links to reviews on the down-low, as an italicized paragraph at the bottom of a regular post.  I will also be doing a few giveaways to gauge interest - if giveaways are not something that my readers find to be valuable, then I simply won't do them.  Why waste anyone's time otherwise?

And finally, you will never, ever see a sponsored post here on Rancid Raves.  If I talk about a product here???  I paid for it myself.  End of story.

DIY Deadbeat
Folks wondered what was up with my Bathroom Pulls Pickle.  Well. Let me tell you why......Years and years ago, I learned the hard way with a luggage set that if you want a set of Matched Something, you should purchase that set together....all at once.... at the same damned time.  Trust me, Grasshopper. Otherwise, you will find yourself trudging through luggage stores and obsessively checking eBay in a vain, tragic attempt to find that very last piece of luggage to complete your pretty, smart set. That was my worry with the pulls - that I would buy what I need for the downstairs bathroom, then not find the rest of them when the time came to finish the upstairs bathrooms.

Anyway, I dialed down my OCD affectations a notch (or two...or three. Whatever.) and decided to go ahead and switch out the downstairs knobs for now.  I need a total of 21 bathroom pulls - the cheapest I saw was about $3/pull.  Spending over $60 on pulls is most certainly not in our budget right now.  I decided that ultimately, no one is ever going to notice that the downstairs pulls do not match the upstairs pulls.  Of course, now that I have pointed that out, everyone traipsing through my house from here on forward will notice.

And no, I never did find that last piece of luggage. And no, it does not still bother me. No, really!

Bait and Switch, 'Tis a Bitch
For the past few months, I have been excited about the circus coming to town.  Squee!  Whee!

Right????  RIGHT.  I tracked when the circus was coming to town using a site called Circuses.com.  The other night, I went out there to finish planning our Big Day under the Big Top and I clicked the link in the following line "For specific steps to take when the circus comes to town, click here."

The link directs you to an entire page about circus animal cruelty and the steps you can take to try and get the circus canceled.    Then, I noticed for the very first time that their tagline is "Please Say "No" Because Animals Can't".  Whoa.  Either their intent is to be sly or this is just a case of poor web site design.  I am going to go with poor web site design.

I did decide to not do the circus this year, but really for budgetary reasons. I checked our mailbox yesterday and found a mailer for a company that is offering a free family day this Saturday at a nearby, semi-expensive pumpkin patch, the KC Pumpkin Patch.  Truthfully, I have no idea what this company is all about, but I suspect I will know more than I ever wanted to know about them after this Saturday.  And that is fine - I am willing to subject myself to a daylong sales pitch if it means my kids get to have fun.  No ever said this parenting gig would be a rose garden.

Whipped Cream Dreams

X loves to give our over-indulged children shots of whipped cream directly into their mouths. Of course, I informed him of the error in his ways and he thought I was being a ninny, but then I was all "DUDE, give them something to look forward to in college!  They will never want to leave our house and you are circumventing our Ultimate Goal in Parenting- that they will LEAVE someday."  Oh sure, some folks may want to raise happy, independent children who grow up to contribute something to the world around them.  Me?  I just want them outta my house.

I say, lower the bar and you shall never be disappointed.



 See the flyswatter on the wall?  Cuh-lassy, no?  At least I remove it before guests come over.  After I am done flipping their food with it, of course.

5 comments:

Gori Girl said...

Yay! to whipped cream directly from the can.

That is all.

CPA Mom said...

I do the same thing with whipped cream for my 2 kids (and their dad)!

Olivia said...

Heh...I almost said something about the two bathrooms not needing to match, but decided it must matter to you.

The circus, the zoo *sigh* it's a moral quagmire for me. It's important to help protect animals, teach children about them, to respect them and it's fun. But, animals should be free and not subjected to our whims and possible mistreatment. I will still take my kids, but I always feel a little sad.

aibee said...

My fly swat is also my favorite piece of technology.

Although killing for sport is NEVER a good thing. Just sayin'.

;)

CarrieP said...

Oh man, ALL of my bathrooms have different pulls. It's a travesty, but I've almost convinced myself that it's a "design choice." All the ugly brass doorknobs, though? Hate them. Until I realized how many doorknobs I have in my house. I'll have to make peace for now. It's been fun to see you in workshop mode around your house, and I've so jealous of the drill!