Big Secret: I'm not perfect
I know, right..?...I'm sure you were all aware of this as I painfully admit this to myself. However, there's a reason I bring this up. While I realize that I'm no stranger to flaws, I do happen to take some measure of pride in my ability to communicate. As I said, I'm not perfect, but I think I do pretty well. I'm usually the guy that reads through something and I just happen to spot (and resist the urge to correct) spelling and grammar mistakes.

It's something I've done for years now; when something looks wrong, I want to correct it on impulse. I can be a real snob about it too, especially when it comes to my job. Fortunately for me, I have kept my mouth (and red ink pen) quiet when I see careless mistakes made by people who should know better. I acknowledge that this isn't right for me to say, but I tend to judge people on how they write. To me, what a person writes and how they write says a lot about them.

The reason I bring this up is because I work for someone who nitpicks me on my emails to our customers. I definitely can see how I could've reworded some things to make them sound more positive, but having her correct me on details like this absolutely makes my blood boil. It's very difficult to take pointers from someone that consistently makes grammatical errors in public communications with our customers.

There must be at least a few people out there that see the emails sent (from her) and judge her on it. I would not be able to sleep at night knowing I didn't at least make sure I sent an email without scanning it once afterwards. Sure I'm prone to make a mistake now and then, but seriously, compared to what I've seen thus far, I graduated from Cambridge and might as well have a PHD in English/Grammar.

Okay, I feel better now. /rantoff

Victums, Prey, and 'the Bash'
Lately, I've been witness to several instances of people who are either have perpetual bad luck, or they're constantly begging to become someone's victum.

There's been an email bouncing around this group I have recently joined (let's just call it the residents-and-friends-of-where-I-currently-reside group) whereas one member has been writing about her experiences in the last decade or so. I have no idea why the bully in me wanted to flame her for it. Maybe it's because I overheard her saying the same things at the 'bash' a few weeks ago. *shrugs*

/Digression

Oh, I forgot to mention the 'Bash', didn't I? It's a weekend-long Annual Party that occurs at my current home. Think of a big nerd party (Big nerds included) with food and drinks of the non-alcoholic kind (there's kids around too) that lasts 3 days. All of those invited are friends of the family (that live here) and their friends. It's more like a mass hodge-podge of people all talking at once and crowded into rooms all across the house.

My daughter seems to have had a good time with all the other little girls running about, but I was borderline annoyed pretty much the entire weekend. Here's why (in no particular order):

1. Other peoples' children - Have some fucking control over your demon-spawn and don't give me that 'don't-tell-me-how-to-parent' look when I catch your kid doing something he shouldn't be doing. You know your kid's a shithead~your fault, not mine! No wonder they responded so poorly to discipline!
2. Nobody I really found very interesting - I admit...it was a bit of a stretch to expect to meet anyone remotely interesting, in fact, there were several times when I felt like I was back in my High School Drama Guild meetings.
3. No Booze or Drugs - It's no coincidence that entertaining parties also include people under the influence of something. Seriously, I was the only one drinking at this party. I felt very out of place and the looks of contempt weren't very helpful. Clearly they were jealous!
4. Have I mentioned that I don't deal well with undisciplined children? I had to eventually place a ban on all children under the age of 13 in my room so I didn't have to deal with ungrateful brats.

That's all I have to share about this event right now.