Can we change the top menu to say Register/Login?
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Can we have live Maine lobster for dinner tonight?
Yes.
It’s like my mom said..can’t means won’t, because there is very little that “can’t” be done.
We are only limited by our imagination and determination.
I don’t begrudge anyone a chance to make a living, and for the most part, don’t judge what line of work they choose. Using less-than-honest tactics to achieve an objective is not ideal, but it has worked, so it’s use continues.
My brother calls me-
Mike (my brother):
Dave, we got a call from someone saying they’re looking for Lisa (my ex-wife) to serve a summons
Me:
Mike, people who serve summons don’t call first (unless it’s a prearranged “friendly serve“).
Mike:
It sounds pretty serious.
Me:
Mike, it’s a collections agency.
***
I call the number Mike gave me and a deep, male voice answers:
Voice:
Corporate Office
Me:
Hey, somebody from this number called my sister-in-law about some kind of issue.
Voice:
What’s your name?
Me:
David Kelsen, they called for Lisa Kelsen.
Voice:
Nobody from this number called.
Me:
This was the number they gave her, so somebody called. I didn’t make it up.
Voice:
What’s it about?
Me:
They said there was a summons.
Voice:
Oh right, there’s a process server in San Clemente trying to find Lisa. There’s a civil case against her and we need to serve papers before we go to court.
Me:
Can you tell me what it’s about?
Voice:
Who’s Lisa to you?
Me:
My ex-wife
Voice:
We can’t share that information, if you were still married I could tell you but…
Me:
You said civil case right? Well that’s public information, you can share that with me or give me the case number.
Voice:
We don’t have a case number yet, the summons is for verification.
Me (getting heated):
You don’t get a summons without filing first and getting a case number, look, you’re talking to the wrong guy about this…this is some kind of collections issue, what’s the issue here? You guys are calling and pestering my family with phone calls about a non-existent summons..
Voice (interrupting):
Hey, don’t yell at me about how I do business, what do you want?
Me:
I want you to stop calling my family.
Voice:
Then ask me to remove their numbers from the call list.
***
This company tries to frighten friends and/or relatives by threatening that there is a summons and they infer that the person could get arrested unless they comply.
Total BS.
1. When I call the toll-free number, the voice answers “Corporate Office”.
It’s totally anonymous, no company id.
2. “There’s a process server looking for…”
Unless it’s a prearranged “friendly serve”, which typically means the attorneys in the case arrange for the serve, a process server will never call to alert the subject. Threatening to serve a summons is a scare tactic.
3. “summons for verification”
No such thing. Summons are not issued without a case being filed. period.
There are two major points to keep in mind when dealing with collections agencies.
If you tell them to stop calling, they are legally obligated to do so. If they don’t, they risk legal retribution or they are not legit. In either case, if they don’t leave you alone, contact the police.
Look, we all have times in our lives when things don’t work out they way we planned or would have liked. Ultimately, you are responsible and accountable for your financial obligations. Sometimes things go to collections, it sucks, but it happens.
It doesn’t mean you have to fall victim to their lies and intimidation.
The best thing I can leave you with is to be informed. Do the research.
The cliche is true: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Fresh (not really)
But different, certainly
Like to believe it’s fresh, whatever fresh is, what is fresh BTW?
Let me find out what fresh is, and I’ll get back to you.
Is that cool?
Welcome my friend.
Looking forward to meeting you.
Certainly there will be twists, turns, roadblocks and thoroughfares.
Heartbreak and elation
But if you know me at all, which you don’t yet,
There will surely be plenty of laughter.
Can’t help it..I laugh at everything..
My sick sense of humor keeps me (in)sane.
…
I’d ask what you have in store for me, but it doesn’t matter.
My plan is to kick your ass.
Just sayin..
Your brothers and sisters before you beat me up pretty good.
Almost got me a couple times, but it’s my turn now.
Hope you’re ready.
…
Love,
Dave.
Or you have an ass, but don’t we all?..
No we don’t
regardless of faith
regardless of what you believe,
when you walk out the door, you do it alone
you take all your thoughts, judgements and perceptions with you.
whichever ones suit you that day
some are right, some are under, some are completely fucked up
but they’re yours, you own them (at the time, even if you don’t admit to them later)
you can believe that a higher power is with you as you get slaughtered by an oncoming vehicle
but you’re still dead.
you can believe that your soul will move on to another place,
but you don’t really know.
you can say you know.
and you can believe it,
but you don’t.
you believe you know, but in actuality, you don’t.
how can you know, without seeing it?
believing and knowing are two completely different things.
i wish i knew, but i don’t.
Immediately (depending on socio-pressurized perception) you’ve formed an idea about my political leanings. If I’m wrong raise your hand or .. at least tap the spacebar.
Jeez, you can’t say anything anymore in this frenzied political arena spectacle without being attacked. A couple of Rush, Keith, O’Reilly, O’Donnell, Hannity, Beck, MSNBC or Fox keywords come out and you’re instantly tagged, sterotyped.
Listening and thoughtful discourse ceases. Ears become rocks. Brains, heretofore naturally absorbent, repel like fortresses in middle age Britannia.
Bunch-a-gonads, the lot of you.
The earth revolves on both axises, north and south poles, equally. Don’t be a dipshit.
Party affiliation and common sense have become oxymoronic. Let’s get real. You really don’t know what is going on do you?
Do you read the whole article and check it’s veracity or do you just skim the headlines and believe what you want to believe?
Policy documents are way too long and dry right?
You don’t understand any of it anyway right?
Are you really that stupid? Can you say baa?
There’s strength in numbers (or herds, flocks, whatever)
Manipulation is king (just ask Hitler, Stalin, Amin, Mao [oh…right, those guys are dead], Ahmadinejad, Chavez, al-Assad).
Which brings me to the onus of this piece.
I don’t care if you’re democrat or republican. What happened to making decisions based on research, facts and common sense?
The new manipulation is creating legislative documents that are so boring the average Joe or Josephine has zero interest in reading them through. And if there’s an attempt, part deux of the gauntlet is obfuscation.
Walter Cronkite is dead. Facts in the media are all but non-existent, replaced by subjective truths.
Subjective truths…Propaganda?
It occurs to me that many may not even understand the traditional definition, purpose or impact of propaganda.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana
This week I heard the Mitt Romney campaign accuse Obama of robbing Medicare of billions of dollars. And yet, Paul Ryan’s (Romney’s running mate) “Path To Prosperity” plan will end Medicare as we know it (according to him).
How is that supposed to be interpreted?
Each of these “plans” are unproven theory. I have no desire to argue conjecture, it’s pointless, my issue is spin. Enter Doublethink.
One campaign is bashing the other for doing exactly the same thing.
huh?
She left again
My highest high, my lowest low
again
wanted her so bad
wanted her so much
Can’t believe I held her in my arms again, then let her slip away
Kissed her delicious lips again,
Then screwed it up again
I can’t believe I screwed it up again
Can’t move, can’t think, can’t speak
Don’t want to do anything
Don’t want to go anywhere
My heart hurts
There’s a hole larger than sadness crying into it
Rivulets of tears soaking me in sorrow and regret
A future that no longer exists
My dream a mirror thrown against the wall and shattering on the floor
Stepping on jagged shards, cutting my feet, bleeding
Still bleeding, days of bleeding, gallons of blood
Wounds don’t heal, pain doesn’t stop
Echos of wailing against the hills
Gentle tremors from teardrops falling vibrate through my injured soul
Wishing today was a week ago, to get another chance
Another chance
I had another chance
I blew it
again
Slowly the secretions are filling her mouth as her pulse slightly fades
A tear trickles jaggedly down septuagenarian face crevices.
First a drop, then a drop, then the faintest stream.
Breath inconsistently consistent for days
Position, disposition, unchanged 31 hours
Sub-Acute Stroke, a tiny smudge on an MRI, destroyed my mom
Unable to conjugate CO2, brain under attack
Thinking, thinking, no thinking, no, don’t know
No food, no water, no meds, no movement, 72 hours
Breathing, just breath
And a heart that won’t stop beating.
Unstoppable heart.
beeps, buzzing, motorized transports, chatter, laughing, rubber souled shoes on shiny vinyl tile
A needle
Pain management, comfort care pathway
A doctor shrugging shoulders
Her smile and knowing look relegated to memory
And memories…flood
Her energy and brilliance, dimmed…but only in the physical sense, because her star continues to shine in the thousands of souls she has touched, and improved (BTW)
The sun sets, a soul rises, music is playing somewhere, and it’s better because she was here.
one draft will not suffice
1st draft
immediate attraction.
immediate engagement.
first night passionate kisses
first night embrace
first night naked
first night all night
We established names at dawn, bumping phones.
Our engagement continued
beautiful, intelligent, wily, impish, wise, independent, strong
my interpretation of you
bars, theater, sunset, music, caresses, kisses, blue men
us
u r not ready for me yet.
career path woman identified a bump in the prosperity road and dispelled.
BUT
your natural trajectory of kissing aims at my lips
half way to destination your mind kicks in and diverts to cheek
i see it every time
thank u