Restaurant Review: IHop Danville VA

My first restaurant review! What a shame that it happens on such a sour note…

Location: 101 Teal Ct, Danville VA, 24541

Time: 9:45 AM to around 11 AM

Apparently a place for ALL of your needs...

Well, color me disgusted.  I dined in at the local IHop restaurant today, at around 9:45, with my daughter. Mind you, I didn’t go to IHop expecting first class here, but I was not expecting this.

First, it took my waiter 15 minutes to even notice that my child and I were waiting for him to take a drink order. It’s not easy to explain to a thirsty and hungry toddler why no one has gotten us a drink yet. Also, no one even offered us a booster seat. My child is 2, I would have loved to have the option.

Second, when he did come to the table, he was in a rush. The place was not that packed, and yet he flippantly told us that he was busy with other people and that he would be a few getting to us. This is for a simple drink order. I could understand that for food, but a drink order and getting a drink out takes mere minutes.

I found one of these. But opened. And more gross. 

Third, and THIS is what really made me upset… I can guarantee you that the staff at this restaurant is not doing their job cleaning right, because under the table where we were seated, was a CONDOM wrapper. Please keep in mind that I was with my very SMALL child. The fact that it was there alone is disgusting, but think of the germs it could have had on it! If my child had picked that up and then put her fingers in her mouth, she could have gotten so sick! Someone with an STD touching their dick could have opened that thing under the table, and slipped it on!

 Luckily I saw it and toed it further away from her sight. However, after waiting another 10 minutes for my waiter, who had proceeded to bring out a drink and rush off again without making sure things were ok, I got up to leave. As I did, he had our food, and as I had a hungry child, I told him instead what was under the table and he allowed us to move to another booth.

A rendition of the wait staff at this IHop.

Mind you, there was not ONE apology for the disgusting surprise we had found. Not a one. The whole thing was dismissed, and I never saw anyone pick it up before another table was seated there.

He checked on us one more time after food was brought out, and that was to give us the check. I had to flag another waiter down for a box to go, since, as I’m 8 months pregnant, and the child behind us was engaged in a rather disgusting conversation about diseases and pests and whatnot, I could not finish our meal. I stayed long enough to let my child eat, take a nibble, and then leave.

When I brought it up to the girl who rang us up, she did not apologize, she talked on the phone while ringing us up, and she simply took a dollar off our meal. In my opinion, if you find something THAT nasty under your table, so nasty that it plays a role in turning off your appetite, the whole thing should be comped.

What I looked like during this whole meal. At least
the kiddo ate... 

I was so disgusted with the service that I decided to just leave, I had other errands that I needed to get done, and I did not have time to ask for a manager, when I had expressed what had happened multiple times. A manager should have been informed IMMEDIATELY.

This was BY FAR the worst customer service I have gotten in a restaurant in a LONG while. On a plus, the food itself was delicious. The rest left a sour taste in my mouth. I more than likely will not be back.  

So, to finish off… not recommended. If you want breakfast in the AM, go to a different location or make it yourself, but do not go to the IHop in Danville VA. Terrible customer service in general. 

Munchkin Minis #2- Jahi McMath

Ok, I’ve had this one on my brain for weeks now, and I’ve honestly just been waiting to see how it will play out. But, it seems like, despite it all, the family is going to fight. So, I feel it’s a good time to speak my peace on it, and it’s going to be short, because to be blunt, the main thing I think needs saying, is one sentence.

Take that child off of life support and let her body rest in peace.

Mind you, I’m not saying that as if I just read about this. I’ve been reading about this from the beginning. I can’t imagine the suffering her family is going through. But, that said, the girl is getting no oxygen to her brain. She is brain dead. And I would LOVE for someone to link me to proof that hospitals are just using that diagnosis as a way to get organs from a site other than lifesitenews.com or whatever it is… I don’t read religious propaganda garbage and claim it as fact.

Fact: Many sources have examined her and have found her to be brain dead, including sources independent of the hospital. She is not coming out of this.

Fact: Her body is sustained by a machine, and without it, she would be dead in minutes.

Fact: As of writing this, there isn’t even a feeding tube in her to give her calories. She is going to waste away.

Fact: Jahi has NO SAY in the matter as to what she would want! Would she WANT to live her life unable to communicate with her loved ones or care for herself?

Would you want to be hooked to these the rest of your
unaware existence? I thought not...

There is more to this than the parents making a choice. It’s also about a teenage girl who, due to complications in surgery from a tonsillectomy and tissue removal to correct sleep apnea, has been taken from the world far before her time.

She needs respect too. And respect is not always in the form of being alive. Think about that. What would YOU want? 

Open Letter to Tech Support

Have I mentioned, ever, that I HATE when jobs, such as, oh, say, COMPUTER TECH SUPPORT, are shipped overseas?

See this? This is what happens with every tech
support job it seems.

Yeahhh…

This is going to sound BAD. But you know what, after the close to 3 or 4 hours TOTAL time I spent with tech support on my phone today… I think I’m entitled to sound a little bad.

First off, I would like to say, PLEASE fix your phone system if you’re going to outsource all your customer service jobs to goddamn India… PLEASE. If it sounds like you’re coming in live from a paper bag at the bottom of the ocean, near an erupting volcano, then guess what? Your phones need fixing. I have to be able to understand what is being said, thanks.

On that note, second… Please hire someone whose accent isn’t so bad that you have to ask them to repeat themselves over and over. They don’t like it, I don’t like doing it. It annoys everyone involved. I’m sure some of the tech personnel have problems understanding the people from Duck Dynasty… I cannot help that the thick accent plus the paper bag reception means I cannot hear half of what they say.

I'll contact you when you can do a better job than
I've already done, thanks.

Third, if I tell you three times that I have done this already, don’t have me do it again. That just pisses me off. I am not stupid, if I tell you I have done ALL of the tech support on the website before calling you… then LISTEN to me. Don’t just dismiss me as being another technically stupid idiot who doesn’t know a printer USB cord from an Xbox 360’s hook up cords. Just because I’m a woman, does not make me technologically illiterate. I know how to hook up a printer and get it working, and if I’m calling you, I’m expecting more of an answer than just to do what comes on the CD that comes with the printer.

 

Mind Blown, people. Mind is Blown.

Fourth, if I tell you the printer is not printing in black ink, why would you assume the whole printer is messed up? I said many times, the color is GREAT. The printer itself is working, it prints colors like a dream. It’s the black ink that’s messed up. Why would you try and give me a refurbished printer, and not even include a new cartridge just in case, instead of just replacing the black cartridge? *mindblown*

Fifth, if I say many times that I’m pissed about the ink levels in the perfectly fine color cartridge, what in your right mind would make you think that I am ok with it? Dude, your company screwed up! I printed about 30 pages of head cleaning sheets and test sheets and shit to try and get it to work. It didn’t. That is NOT on me, that is on YOU. This sucker was BRAND NEW out of the box for a CHRISTMAS gift. I sure as hell didn’t do anything to drain 1/4 of my ink already, especially with the black ink not working. Throw in a damn color cartridge, it costs your company a few pennies to make probably. It’s sure as hell cheaper than shipping me a new printer.

How I feel EVERY time I have to call tech support...

Sixth, if I ask to speak to your supervisor… connect me to a supervisor! I promise you I don’t forget the lack of compliance to send me to a supervisor, and I will bring it up the next time I call, and there will probably be a next time since I have a feeling you lied to me and are NOT sending me the color cartridge you promised to send.

(By the way, if that color cartridge is not there, I WILL make a formal complaint to the BBB and other places… Just so you know)

I mean come on now people! I never start out as a bitch when I call, I know it’s just you doing your jobs… but when you jerk me around like this and I have to spell things out for you, or you treat me like a dumbass, then yes, I am going to go from polite to annoyed pretty quick.

And if the best tech support you can offer is the same tech support that comes on the disc from the factory… then yeah, I don’t think you know enough to tell me what’s going on with my printer.

Get your shit together, tech support. 

Colds, the Flu, and Vaccines... this is all over the place.

Well, this isn’t going to be my typically loaded blog post.

Not me. I don't look nearly this good when I'm sick... 

You see, about 3 days ago I started to come under the weather. That was Sunday afternoon… the Sunday before New Year’s. I was tired, had a headache, a mild cough, dizzy in the evening… that could NOT prepare me for the misery I would feel on Sunday night and Monday morning. The fever that hit around midnight… and lasted ALL the next day. The severe cough, the pouring yet clogged nose…  The aches and muscle pain and chills… It was AWFUL. It was bad enough that my Dr. told me to go to the L&D unit and see a Doctor there, and have the baby monitored. So, midday Monday, my other half got off work and off to L&D we went…

This was my second experience in that place. Let me tell you… if I could have this baby somewhere else… I would. Their L&D unit at this hospital is HORRIBLE. I got there around 12:30 or 1 PM. I was taken to a room, told to pee in a cup, gave my info… and NEVER saw another nurse unless I called them into the room. 3 hours later, when the chills were rampant and I was coughing clumps of gunk up, a nurse came in… and DISCHARGED me.

The shitty hospital I went to. 

No doctor seen. No medicines given. Nothing to help me, no blood test to rule out the flu, nothing. Just a dipstick to do the usual urine test when pregnant to check proteins, and ‘I hope you feel better.’ And that’s a quote, that’s all I was told. Hope you feel better.

For real?

The Waiting room of my OB-GYN's office. Awesome place!

I immediately went to my OB-GYN’s office, and they got me in as a walk in almost immediately. I saw a new doctor I had never met before, and he did a check of my lungs, listened to all my symptoms, had them draw blood like they SHOULD have done at the hospital, and gave me a script for a Z-pack and told me to take some Robutussin DM and Sudafed as needed for the rest of the issues. Happy mommy is a happy baby. He even gave me info on my upcoming Pertussis vaccine, so I could do some research, didn’t put me down for wanting to look up some info on it, and took a look at a rash that my 2 year old’s face rash that she’s been getting when coming into contact with some foods, and told us what it could be and how to find out.

So, long story short, I got home, curled up with my new meds, and now, 2 days later, I feel a lot better.

I cannot say the same thing for my toddler.

Not my child. Like her mother, she is not nearly as photogenic
when sick as the child in this picture.

She woke up with a fever the day after I went to the Dr… luckily, her pediatrician said that she shouldn’t need a prescription to kick it, that my immunocompromised pregnant body is more susceptible to being sick than hers, and that she should feel better in a few days. And so far, she’s hitting the worst of it today, and hopefully will come around tomorrow if we stick to her Children’s Dimetapp and Motrin dosages and time schedule.

I hate when my baby is sick, but it has to happen.  She’s a kid, and getting sick is part of building up her immune system.

Before anyone asks, no, we did not flu shot. I don’t believe in them, I never got them as a child, and I don’t plan to get flu shots for ANY of my kids. Why? I don’t think they’re 100% necessary and I don’t think that they’re as beneficial as some would have us think. Same with Chicken Pox vaccines. I vaccinate for the necessities, rubella, mumps, measles, pertussis, etc… but I will not vaccinate for other, smaller, not NEARLY as dangerous illnesses with vaccines that are nowhere near as effective as others.

Nope. Not happening.

If the flu vaccine is so great, why do you have to have it once a year and why does it only cover the 3 or 4 main strands of the flu? And why do SO many who get immunized from the flu still get the flu? I’ve gotten a LOT of pressure from family to get this shot this pregnancy, and I’ve gotten the usual pressure to get my daughter immunized. I refuse and I told them to drop it, as I have to do ALL WINTER, every year.

Honestly, I’m not going to do something to hurt my child. I just believe differently than some do. There’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t think I need to pump my child full of a chemical with mercury in it to ‘protect’ her, and not even guarantee her protection. And since the flu is nowhere near as big of a deal as measles or mumps or polio, the two vaccines aren’t anywhere near the same. With proper treatment and a doctor’s intervention, then the flu can be treated 9 times out of 10. Polio can’t, it can only be managed. Hence why I get her that vaccine.

This post has been all over the place… I apologize. One of the downsides of being sick, I can’t get my thoughts straight.

Happy New Years, everyone. 

Munchkin Minis #1 - Deli Owner spreads his Love Juice in Bottled Water

Welcome to the first Munchkin Minis! This is where I'll be posting a small little thing here or there that caught my eye, and will share my views on it, in a smaller article format than my usual blog posts.

Ok so I was on Cosmopolitan.com, and came across this article here: http://cosm.ag/6185dVwv

So did you read that? Let me clarify. A deli owner opened a bottled water (Or many, who knows exactly how many bottles he tainted with his love juices?) and jerked off into the water, put the cap on, and sold it. To customers. Customers who could have been planning to use that water for their kids.

My face when I initially read that article...

Blech…

I have a few small questions about this…

First: WHY in the hell would a deli owner feel the need to DO this? Seriously, watch some porn and get off into your sock or some tissue like every other dude on the planet! You don’t need to spread your seed into the water you sell in your deli!

Second: Uh, is anyone else not wondering why the lady who bought the water didn’t check the SEAL before drinking it?? I mean… I ALWAYS check the seal to drinks, because there are nutjobs in the world nowadays.

May or may not contain jizz

Third: Has ANYONE thought to test the rest of the water that the guy was selling?? How many innocent kids or other customers could have drank this?? I used to buy bottled water to make formula for my infant in a pinch, I’m sure others have done the same… An INFANT could have drank that…

And lastly: Has ANYONE had this sick jerk STD tested? God only knows what she and others could have been exposed to!!

Yuck. I’m going to be more vigilant in checking the seal to my drinks from now on, I don’t know about you. 

Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty FIRED!

Ok, so this is a HOT topic right now. Phil Robertson, of Duck Dynasty fame, has been fired for some remarks he made on homosexuality in a GQ interview. He was quoted as saying “It seems like, to me, a vagina -- as a man -- would be more desirable than a man's anus," Robertson says in the January issue of the men's magazine. "That's just me. I'm just thinking: There's more there! She's got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I'm saying? But hey, sin: It's not logical, my man. It's just not logical." And “"Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there," he says. "Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men."

For whatever reason... this guy is popular...
I'm not a fan of the show, so what would
I know?

He then went back and said that he didn’t mean it like that and that it was taken out of context or something. (Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…. Sure you didn’t)

Where to begin with this…

First off, despite what I think personally, he’s entitled to his opinion, even if I personally do think it’s crap. I think we have the ability as humans to NOT watch the TV if he offends us, and just change the damn channel instead of being up in arms.

HOWEVER…

I agree with A&E’s decision to suspend him indefinitely. (C’mon people… he’s been fired. Just call it what it is and stop sugarcoating it.)

Why?

Because, they have the RIGHT to do so! I don’t care what he says, or what he does in his personal time. But once you are in front of a camera, you are held to a higher standard. You sign a contract. And I’m sure in that contract, there is a clause about what you can or cannot say to the press. (This is A&E we’re talking about, not PBS. I’m sure that’s in their paperwork) And you follow what they tell you when you are getting a paycheck from them.

See this? It's called a contract. You sign this, and
you do what they tell you, and say what
they let you say. Like it or not.

I support the right of a business to decide who they serve. Like that bakery who refused a gay couple a wedding cake, and got court ordered to do it anyways. I don’t agree with their message or idea, but I agree with them getting to choose who they want to serve. There are many other bakeries that would have been glad to make that cake, it wouldn’t have hurt anyone to go to one of them. Same thing applies here.

I don’t agree with Phil Robertson. His Bible is not EVERYONE’s Bible, it’s not the ‘Holy Word’ of the whole world, and he should not expect everyone to think what he does. And I sincerely doubt his ‘Loving God’ would be happy about all of the judgment and hellfire that they’re spouting.  You can make a rebuttal statement saying you didn’t mean it like that all you want, but when you’ve been filmed saying the same thing and WORSE while preaching before… yeah. Not buying it. That’s called apologizing or rewording your statement to try and save your ass. Nothing more.

But I don’t CARE what he thinks. Just like I don’t care what people think about unmarried couples, or what they think about other religions. It does NOT affect me. It therefore does not bother me.

But it DOES affect A&E and their brand. And if he can’t censor himself for a simple interview, despite what he was being asked, then they CAN hold that against him. This is the channel that brought us Queer Eye for the Straight Guy if I’m not mistaken, for crying out loud! Did he REALLY think that opening his mouth like that would come with no repercussions?? C’mon!

A&E has a standard to uphold, and this didn’t happen because he believes in God or the Bible and feels like he does. It happened because he opened his mouth and said things like he did in an INTERVIEW with GQ.

They don’t want to compromise their beliefs? That’s cool. But don’t expect A&E to put up with some of it forever, especially when they’ve been warning you about it for a WHILE now. And by some of it, I mean the things like what he did the other day.

In the same interview, he made racially charged comments about how he never heard black people complaining in the Jim Crow south, too. And people think that’s OK? Jeez, it’s like lemmings! Because this popular celebrity figure does something stupid, we think we need to stand behind him, because, you know, it’s all about his RELIGION and not about the crap he’s saying and how it can damage the brand of the company that airs his show! It’s all about his religion!

 

Pagan Traditions: Bringing
Christmas to a city near you!

This ‘War on Christianity’ crap is getting so old. My religion had people burned at the damn stake by Christians. Christians took over TONS of our traditions and warped them for their own faith… like the Yule Log, the Christmas Tree, the DAY Jesus’s Birth is celebrated on, EASTER and the Easter Bunny… the list goes on. And if you don’t believe me, look it up. All of those things are based off of Pagan traditions. Jesus’s birthday wasn’t even ON December 25, it was sometime in August or September. Look it up. Seriously. Some of the stuff that’s been used as Christian traditions came from Pagan holidays and traditions.

I hope that puts things into perspective a little bit. If anything, there’s been wars on religions, as people are putting it, for YEARS now, but it sure hasn’t been about Christianity. Christians are just getting mad about the fact that Christianity is no longer the big dog in the kennel when it comes to religion. TONS of other religions are picking up steam in the US. It’s not all about one religion anymore. And that is driving the more extreme Christians NUTS.

Anyhow, that’s off topic. Simply putting it, I agree with A&E’s decision. I support the firing of Phil. And I think people need to think about it more from a business perspective and less of a religious one.

Happy Holidays everyone! 

#NoTeenPreg ... AKA: A lack of common sense.

#NoTeenPreg

Common sense for dumbasses... 

Apparently, this is a thing. Kids now have to be told by celebrities that it’s a stupid as shit idea to get knocked up before graduating high school. When I was in school… we called this common sense. It was common sense to not get knocked up in high school.

It’s not about being judged, it’s about not rewarding when a teenager does something stupid, sometimes on purpose, and changes their own life, the life of the other person/parent, the child itself, the parents of the teenager… the whole FAMILY is uprooted.  But, you know, saying that teenage pregnancy is a bad thing is so wrong…

See? This prick wouldn't be calling people beached whales
if his mom had just swallowed... #NoTeenPreg!!

Anyone else seeing how stupid that is?

Honestly, think about it. I have a friend and an acquaintance who has had children in their teens. One of them is doing very, very well… she lives on her own, her son is 13, she’s an A student in college and she graduates with me in  May as an Early Childhood Educator. The other person I know, and many like her… well, she works minimum wage, parties all the time, shirks her child off on others, does poorly in school, gets all welfare she can get, etc. How does her life sound to you?

I know it doesn’t sound great to me. That’s why I did all in my power to keep myself from becoming one of those statistics.

But apparently, people think this campaign, the NoTeenPreg campaign, is shaming young mothers.

The minority in Teen Pregnancy. Not the norm. 

Really?

It’s not SHAMING the ones who already HAVE children… what’s done is done. It’s telling those who could possibly be trying to conceive on purpose or not using protection or thinking that it will never happen to them, that there’s so much MORE they can achieve than changing diapers. There’s no crime in that.

With shows like 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom glamourizing pregnancy for teenagers, they NEED the truth about teen pregnancy, or hell even pregnancy in general. When, on these shows, do you see just how bad the early pregnancy can be? Do you get to see the puking at all hours of the day? The shooting vaginal pains? The feeling of having a head pressed against your innards and making you ache? The sciatica, the swollen ankles, the peeing yourself when you so much as laugh too hard or sneeze or hiccup? No. You see girls who are getting some form of support, who usually have their basic needs met, who often do not have to work, who have HELP.

The Truth about Pregnancy. 

Ask any mother. Pregnancy sucks ass. It sucks HARD. It’s a lot of morning sickness and pains and aches and being kick-boxed like a MMA fighter is trying to break a record inside of you.

And the post-pregnancy? Motherhood? Oh don’t get me started… It’s a joy, don’t get me wrong, I love my snotface to death. I’d do anything for her, make any sacrifice I needed to, including my life, willingly. But it’s HARD. The infant months, the newborn months… Newborns are up half the night, you don’t get to ‘train’ them to sleep through the night like some people say. It’s tough. It tests you, tests all of your limits. And teenagers are mentally not developed enough to deal with all of that.

Think about it, teens brains are still developing. We don’t fully develop until we hit our 20s. Being a parent is an adult job, it’s something you expect of a grown-up, with a fully developed brain.

 

The truth about parenthood
summed up in one image...
MESSY!

So why would anyone expect a teenager to be capable of doing what an adult would?

And that, by the way, does not include the obvious thoughts of who is going to watch the child while the mom works, is the mom going to graduate high school, or go to college, how is she going to become self -sustaining?

And people are still defending teen pregnancy? Maybe if teenagers listened to their parents and stopped listening to the ‘stars’ of Teen Mom, they’d be making better choices. I don’t know about you, but a pothead mother who doesn’t even have custody of her own child and gets into physical fights with her mother and others (Jenelle) or one who wants to star in pornos and is more worried about plastic surgery and getting her kid’s eyebrow’s waxed versus her child’s well-being (Farrah), are not the best role-models for my child, or any child.

This is not a role model. This is a Porn Star.
There IS a difference, people.

So, I stand behind this campaign.

#NoTeenPreg