American Idol is the Salvation of America!

I may be overstating it a tad but you read that correctly; Fox's American Idol is the salvation of America. Specifically, Simon Cowell.

Each season of this show has had its share of terrific singers (Carrie Underwood, for example) and its share of people who shouldn't ever be in front of a camera (this, the fifth, season's West Virginia cop singing, over and over again, "I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy.") Yes, I admit; I watch the show. I don't particularly care about the outcome but I enjoy the show from time to time.

Ok, so here's why American Idol is the salvation of America...

For years, kids have been told by everyone around them "Oh, you're good!" or "You're terrific!" and "Everyone's a winner!" or "We have no losers; everybody gets a trophy!" This is done out of fear of hurting their feelings or damaging their self-esteem.

When everybody "wins" it takes the significance out of being a winner! It diminishes the accomplishments of those who have actually acheived something. It doesn't level the playing field, it levels (and destroys) the winners platform.

Think of this. If you worked your ass off at work right next to someone who simply went through the motions you would expect a larger raise or bonus than this other guy. But, if everybody gets the same bonus or raise what would that do to your motivation? It would drop through the floor! (At least mine would.)

Such is the same with these kids on American Idol. Several of them can sing. Many, many, many can not and should not. Not everybody should "go through to the next round". But since so many people around these kids have told them "You're terrific!" when they're anything but terrific their little bubble is burst wide open when Simon, Paula, and Randy tell them they're not "going to Hollywood" and they fly into a rage.

The camera follows auditionee out. Between tears, the auditionee says, "Those guys don't know what they're talking about! I'll show them! I don't need American Idol! I don't need Simon!" Etc., etc., etc.

(First off, if they don't "need" American Idol why the hell did they audition for the show!? If you're really that good, go get your own recording contract by sending demo tapes!)

Simon, Paula, and Randy's opinion are probably the first real and honest opinion they've ever heard and these kids' egos which have been built up by well-meaning but naive people can't handle any kind of rejection. It's horrible to watch and it just makes me mad. Mad at the parents, their friends, their families, etc.

I'm not blaming the kids who can't sing but think they can. I'm blaming their parents et. al. for telling them they can; for over-inflating these kids' egos to the point of bursting. I know these people think they're doing good by encouraging them to follow their dreams; by telling them you can be anything you want to be. But, some dreams take talent; and you either have it or not. If your dream is to be a singer and you're completely tone deaf (I've personally seen it happen) you're never going to be invited to Kennedy Center Honors for your hit single.

At some point, these parents et. al. need to tell these kids "Singing is not for you. Let's find something else." It shouldn't have to come from Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, nor Randy Jackson.

The kindest rejections these three give are "this competition isn't for you; you're not what we're looking for". It's not telling them they can't sing; just that they're not what the judges are looking for. I know it feels like a personal affront but if something's not right for you, there's not much that can be done about it. But since these egos are about to burst at the slightest dent in the bubble the poor kid doesn't hear "You're good but not right for us" he hears "You're horrible; please never sing again." And, again, it's not the kid's fault; if they had been taught appropriate self-confidence, they would walk away from this rejection actually feeling good about themselves and maybe even get steered in the right direction for their singing voice.

So, parents, stop telling your kids they're good or terrific at everything they do; it only sets them up for tremendous disappointment down the line. Talent can't be taught. Encourage your kids to do things they're actually good at. Both you and they will be much, much happier down the line.

American Idol is finally telling people they're not good at something. And that is why it's the salvation of America.

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UPS Has a BIG Problem

The biggest problem UPS (that's United Parcel Service) has is their fuckin' drivers can't read a fuckin' map! I've lived here for about 6 months and have been sent several packages via UPS. About half the time, the driver apparently jus' glances at the address, sees my street name, has never heard of it and reports that they need a "correct address" to deliver. But the fucking address has been correct the whole god damn time!

This first happened in August with some water pumps I'd bought on Ebay. They sat around the fucking Fresno distribution building for a god damn week! before the fucking driver finally decided to look at a map and find my little street. To be reasonably fair, this is the first time an address has been here on the street. Even the Postal Service had trouble the first time.

During the week the damn things were bouncing around the UPS center in Fresno I was told several times that it would be delivered "today" but never made it. Once the boxes finally arrived, there were printed maps from Yahoo! showing where this street is. So I know they know how to find me now. And the driver--the regular driver--knows how to find me well now.

The next thing I got sent via UPS to me was from an internet pharmacy. (No, not one in Canada; from a real, legit US pharmacy with prescriptions from the doctor I see personally on a regular basis.) They arrived with no problem.

Same again for the next package.

But then, at the beginning of December 2005, UPS screwed up again. The driver reported that he needed a "correct" address to get the package (again, medication) delivered. But the address was already correct!!!! I had to call the pharmacy to check on the status of the prescriptions to know that they had been shipped and that UPS had screwed up. When I talked to the supervisors at the Fresno center, they told me they "didn't know where the package was" in their building. (How the fuck can they deliver a package if they can't fucking find it in their own damn building!?) All the UPS shitheads could do was apologize and say they'll deliver it on Monday.

Fast forward to today. I bought a $125 TV antenna on Ebay so I can be sure to get all local channels up here. Yesterday's package arrived just fine (it was a signal combiner) and I asked the driver if he was working today. He didn't know for sure but would make sure that the driver of today's package would know how to find me.

Well, the antenna got on a UPS truck and then was delivered to the front door. But it was the wrong fucking front door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some incompetent idiot at the Fresno UPS center took it upon him- or herself to change the delivery address to my old address in Fresno!!!! My $125 antenna was left on the front porch of someone else's house!!!!!!!

FUCK! I was fucking pissed!

What the HELL is wrong with UPS in Fresno!?!? Their drivers can't figure out how to read a damn map! They can't locate packages in their own facility! They lie about when a package is going to be delivered! And they fucking change delivery addresses for no damn good reason!!!!!! FUCK!

Originally, I was told that they would send a driver out to pick it back up on Monday. I told them they weren't going to do that and that they were going to go get it immediately and deliver it to me tomorrow.

Well, I'm supposed to just roll over and take the "inconvience" (for which I think they'll just say "I'm sorry" and expect that to make it better) of their incompetance and wait for it to be delivered on Monday.

UPS has a 50% delivery rate up here. That's fucking abysmal! And I simply don't see it improving in the future. Someone at UPS Fresno needs to take responsibility for these nearly incessant screw-ups and all they do is fall back on the fucking corporation.

I understand things are late from time to time. I understand that there are unforseen delays. But to CHANGE THE DELIVERY ADDRESS!? And I also realize that the DOLT! who made the change thought he/she was helping. STOP TRYING TO FUCKING HELP AND JUST DO THE JOB THE RIGHT WAY THE FIRST TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUCK!

Raining Up??

Just a quick little post...

You've heard of rain falling from the sky and it raining "sideways"... Well, just about an hour or two ago, we had it raining UP. Yes, up. The wind was gusting so damn hard up here on this hill, that rain was coming up from below. It marks the first time I've seen it rain up...

That is all...

(Oh, and we've already had our first power outage since having electricity! Yippee!!! I feel like a real person again!!)