This is what I want for my birthday. I’ve decided. Since I haven’t been able to eak out the time to do it myself, I want the kids (and TW) to do it for me. No presents, just my bookshelves arranged by color. Do you think I’ll get my wish?
Daily Dose of Birthdays – My Wishlist Read More »
I feel old. I always feel old but today I feel extra old. It’s Christopher’s birthday. He is 20. How did that happen?
Presents have been opened. Candles blown out and wishes made. Cheesecake eaten. A lot of electric guitar has been played. His g/f is on the phone and I suspect he will head out shortly to celebrate the rest of his day with people who don’t feel as old as I do
today.
Old. Old. Old.
Daily Dose of Birthdays Read More »
I have this little pet peeve and I was reminded of it again when I ordered a present for my mom (at the last minute) for Mother’s Day. My pet peeve is webpage title lines that do not apply to the webpage you’re actually reading. (The title line is the very top most part of your browser, probably a blue bar, next to the icon of the type of browser you are using. If you’re on my blog, that title line says Daily Dose of Denise – if you’re in a specific post, it says Daily Dose of Denise: Daily Dose of ______)
A lot of websites use a generic title line, it stays static through the site, regardless of what page you’re on. That’s ok with me, as long as it isn’t in some way misleading. For instance, I don’t mind if every page I’m on at Amazon just says Amazon.com. I don’t mind if I’m at WebMD and all of the pages just say WebMD. (Neither of these sites have a static title line, I’m just saying – I don’t mind when sites do this.)
I do, however, mind a static title line if it is misleading to me because it is not representative of the page I am on. Let’s pretend I’ve been watching a lot of TV and I’m really falling in love with the Toyota Yaris (I’m not watching a lot of tv nor in love with this car, I do like the commercials though). I am bored at work and decide to go and look at them on the Toyota webpage. Imagine I click the Toyota Yaris icon and the title line changes to Toyota.com – Hybrid Vehicle. Ummm the Yaris is not a Hybrid but I, knowing not much about cars might assume that it is. I might base my buying decision on this, get to the dealer and find out that it is not a Hybrid after all. Bummer and it would really annoy me – maybe so much that I decided not to buy that Yaris after all. Maybe so much that I wouldn’t buy any car from them at all. (Luckily, Toyota does not have this type of misleading web design so my Prius lust is safe.)
Moonstruck Chocolate, on the other hand does, sort of.
TW was surfing some very pretty chocolates, just a few days before Mother’s Day. I asked her where she was surfing and quickly made my way to Moonstruck Chocolates. See that pretty pink chocolate handbag? See the browser title line? It says "Moonstruck Fine Chocolate Truffle Gourmet Gifts". That’s cool! I like that. I’ll click in and see what they have! So I click the pretty pink purse. (Pink purses are not my mom’s thing, maybe they have something else….) I’m on the Chocolate Couture page and the title line now says "Unique Chocolate Gifts, gourmet chocolate gifts". Excellent. I scroll down and I see these adorable flower pots. Yes! Totally my mom’s thing. I click and look up there at the title line, it now reads "Gourmet Chocolate Truffle, Unique Dark Chocolate Gift"! OMG excellent my mom loves dark chocolate! I click and I order and I’m done.
Two days later, my mom calls me to exclaim about how gorgeous these things are! She wants to know all about them but isn’t ready to eat them yet because she wants to share them with Ken. I tell her I thought she’d like them and they’re dark chocolate! So enjoy!
She calls me back on Sunday to thank me – they’re awesome but ummm they aren’t dark chocolate. What? Huh? I go to the webpage and I still see the subject line. It says dark chocolate! Did I screw up and miss the place where I had to indicate the type? No. Alas. The description on the product clearly says milk chocolate. Sigh. I was in a hurry. I read the title line because it appeared before the images. I saw the pretty picture and I ordered. My fault. But still. The title line lured me in. If it hadn’t said dark chocolate, I’d have read the real description and I’d have kept clicking on the site til I found dark chocolate.
I wrote to Moonstruck. I thanked them for the very pretty chocolate that my mom enjoyed, because she did. It was good. But I also suggested they change the title line in the browser because it was misleading. I did not ask for a refund. I was not rude. I simply pointed out that I was misled and would not like to see that happen to someone else.
Moonstruck’s rep emailed me back and needed me to describe what I was seeing because she was not seeing this title line. I explained browsers and I sent a screenshot. Her reply to this sent me over the edge:
Thank you for your reply. We appreciate your emails and the comments you mentioned. We have again reviewed the site and pages in detail and do not see anything mentioning Dark Chocolate when referring to the Flower Pots. The browser bar description is not referring to our flower pots and would most likely be displayed whether you were looking at our chocolate flower pots or boxed assorted chocolate collections, etc. The verbiage does not come from Moonstruck Chocolate but from our web browser.
Ummm hello. The verbiage does change from page to page. It isn’t static all of the way through. And, more to the point – What do you mean it doesn’t come from Moonstruck Chocolate? This is your page. You own it.
I didn’t want a refund. It was MY fault for trusting the title line and not reading the description very carefully. My mom did, enjoy the chocolate. What I wanted was a thank you for bringing that to our attention and I’m sorry if this caused you to order a product you might otherwise not have ordered. Even just a thanks for bringing this to our attention would have been FINE. I would have blogged about the good tasting, pretty chocolate that was inexpensive (inexpensive being a relative term). And I would have ordered from there again and again and again.
Now. I’m not.
If you run a web-based company and your title lines are misleading and misrepresentative of your product or your site then change them. Or own up to the fact that you MIGHT be misleading people. Do not tell me this is not your problem. Goodbye Moonstruck, it was not so nice knowing you.
Technorati Tags: petpeeves, misleadingcompanies, moonstruckchocolate
Daily Dose of Pet Peeves – Moonstruck Chocolate Read More »
Yesterday was "Beaning Day" aka our anniversary (for those of you who prefer things "normal"). The reason it is known as "Beaning Day" is TW presented me with a gold coffee bean charm to honor the occasion of official coupledom. (We aren’t into that gay marriage thing, in case you didn’t know that)
The gold coffee bean was presented to me four years ago and every year on Beaning Day I am given some gift or another, generally a coffee bean related gift. I believe last year I was given a mobile made out of a couple of sticks, some fishing line and real coffee beans (spray painted I think, though in the dark office it is hard to tell and I’m not good at remembering those sorts of things. TW is the marshmallowy romantic around here). E calls it the flying coffee bean because in the dark office, you can’t see the string so it looks like the beans are just hanging in the air.
Yesterday, TW gave me a candy bar. Hershey’s Caramel Cappucino Very amusing since I’m not really a fan of chocolate. (FYI it wasn’t all that great. The first bite, I liked. After that, not so much. I saved a piece for her and she didn’t like it at all.) The candy bar was nice and made me laugh but that wasn’t the only gift. She’d been griping about "fonts" for awhile for my "Beaning Day" present so I figured it was another webpage or a poem or a card or something.
So 7:30am arrives and we’re heading to Starbucks on the way to take her to work. She gets out of the car and I see she has her backpack slung over her shoulder. I said ummm why are you carrying your backpack into Starbucks. She blushed and giggled and I refused to go INTO Starbucks because obviously she was about to make some sort of huge production about Beaning Day IN STARBUCKS. She put her backpack back in the car but pulled a piece of paper out of the bag. I still refused to go in. She swore it wouldn’t be "bad". I grudgingly followed. Griping all the way. Griping while ordering. I see her talking to the barista and I griped some more.
I’m standing at the side counter, in my normal spot. Griping. Waiting for whatever it is. Griping. When I notice the cup in front of the barista looks funny. Ha! Cup #524! Ha! Very very amusing! TW created The Way I See It #524, put it on a label and had the barista put the label on the cup. Cup #524 is very marshmallowy and very very amusing. I’m soooo lucky. How many women have a Starbucks cup created just for them?
It was a nice Beaning Day.
And since I’m here talking about coffee, I think I’ll toss in a mini review of the Bloggers Fuel coffee we tried last weekend, Blogs of Bravery . It wasn’t nearly as good as the New Media Mavericks but Nurse Pam (who I generally think has excellent taste) seemed to like it. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t great and I wouldn’t order it again. This weekend, Bloggers Beach Blast!
Technorati Tags: coffeebeans, anniversary, starbucks, thewayiseeit, bloggersfuel
Daily Dose of Coffee – Presents Read More »
The Ten on Tuesday assignment was to create a list of 10 things that remind you of your mom. Of course I didn’t have time on Tuesday so here it is today… Happy Mother’s Day!
1) The Velveteen Rabbit
2) Moonstones
3) Instant Nestea Iced Tea
4) Hershey Special Dark
5) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
6) The color green
7) The monopoly shoe
8) The Carpenters
9) Schnauzers
10) Burnt toast
Technorati Tags: mothersday, mom
They say dogs should not eat chocolate. They say it’s not good for them. They even sometimes say it will kill them. Those dog lover fanatic people get all hysterical if you talk about dogs eating chocolate. I think its bull.
I think chocolate is only unhealthy for dogs in the same way it is unhealthy for people. I think it will only kill them in the same way it kills people. I think those dog lover fanatic people who get all hysterical are like the food nazis who get all upset about kids eating chocolate.
The reason I think this is I have dogs eating chocolate experience. Tons of it. Every single holiday – from Halloween to Christmas to Valentine’s Day to Easter the darn black dog eats an abundance of candy – generally chocolate candy. And he’s not dead. Yet. In fact, he has not even indicated he has a stomach ache after eating almost a full basket of Easter candy yesterday on top of eating a half dozen chocolate covered peanut butter eggs TW and the kids made the day before on top of eating a 1/4 of a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips that fell onto the floor the day before that.
So – if dogs do, in fact, die from eating chocolate – why hasn’t this one died? Or why hasn’t his much older, much more fragile, mother who has also indulged in a good bit of chocolate every holiday since she came to live with us fallen ill? And why didn’t the black lab who lived with us before these two cockers die from eating chocolate? And what about the white spitz we had before that? Or the mutt we had before that? What kind of dogs get sick from eating chocolate? What kind die? Is it a certain kind of chocolate and chocolate eaten on holidays doesn’t cause illness or death?
And while I’m questioning the truth vs myth factor of dogs eating chocolate – do cats get sick from eating chocolate? Do they die? Because I’ve got one who is working on eating her weight in chocolate… and she’s showing no ill effects. Sigh.
Daily Dose of Dogs, Cats, Candy & Questions Read More »
I am difficult to predict. I’m one small contradiction after another. I’m nuts. Ask anyone around here, they will tell you this is true. Oh don’t bother asking them, I’ll give you two Easter examples and you’ll see for yourself.
I am really not into the whole Christian Easter thing. Oh sure, I wake up ever Easter morning and say "He is risen" or post it on my private message board and I expect the children to know the proper response and to give it simply because it is Easter. But I’m not a Christian so I don’t really believe all of that crucifixion/resurrection thing except as a cool story that’s evolved from some really basic facts. That’s pretty much how I feel about all holidays.
Knowing this, you’d think I’d be comfortable attending the UU Fellowship on Easter. Instead, I really hate the UU on Easter. I hate it on Christmas too. But mostly on Easter. I hate it because I think it is ridiculous that UU ministers talk about how difficult this sermon is for them to preach. I hate it because I think it is ridiculous that a UU congregation that prides itself on its open-mindedness and its ability to embrace all beliefs would feel uncomfortable with the preaching of the Easter story in a more traditional sense. What exactly are UUs afraid of that they can’t handle sitting through an hour service with a minister telling the Easter story as Christians around the world are hearing it? Sheesh.
See – a contradiction. I’m not a Christian but I would rather hear a Christian Easter service than the tripe tossed out by UU ministers. (I will say that the Reverend Louise, who I generally dislike, made a good attempt at it today – and her sniffling through the sermon was sort of touching. She should have gone all out and given a good solid telling of Easter instead, though.)
Fast forward several hours to Easter dinner… TW asked the children what they thought my favorite part of Easter might be. E said "eggs benedict". Ha! no! TW explained that I do not eat eggs benedict as I stood in the kitchen giggling. (this revelation was just more fuel to the Denise is evil fire that we like to feed them) RJ suggested candy would be my favorite thing. Umm no, more giggling from me in the kitchen. TW said "Denise’s favorite part of Easter is the ham". Prince J said "Denise doesn’t eat ham, she’s a vegetarian"… I stepped around the corner with my plate… which did include ham. I showed it to Prince J and he just stared. RJ said "HUH?"
I explained that I do, in fact, eat ham on Easter. I can’t help it. Just like I can’t help eating a bit of turkey at Thanksgiving, the occasional horrible cheeseburger from McDonald’s and a Beef n Cheddar once in awhile on a road trip. Another contradiction.
I do love keeping people guessing but then I have been known to rant about how little people really know about me… (ack, a third contradiction I wasn’t going to share right now. Oh well, consider it a bonus.)
He is risen… and ham is good.
Technorati Tags: easter, ham, unitarianuniversalist, vegetarian, contradictions
Daily Dose of Contradictions – Easter Read More »
I like Twizzlers. I like them quite a bit. Only the regular flavor Twizzlers, none of the funny flavors. I’m a Twizzler purist. TW often buys me “new” Twizzler products and I don’t really like them. The most recent “new” Twizzler purchase is unfortunately on the “I don’t really like them” list, too. It’s unfortunate because they had potential. Sort of a combination of Twizzler Nib (though the pieces are smaller than Nib size) and jelly beans. But no, the combination doesn’t work.
First problem is that the coating is all cracked and grainy. Maybe that’s due to our Floridian existance, it was 97 in the car yesterday. Do you folks up north where it’s freezing have cracked and grainy Tweeterz shells? The next problem is that it’s overkill. Too much sweetness. What I like about Twizzlers is they are sweet but not too sweet. Adding the jelly bean coating was too much for me.
Another blogger doesn’t agree with my assessment. HMPH!
Technorati Tags: eastercandy, twizzlers, twizzlertweeterz
Daily Dose of Candy – Twizzler Tweeterz Read More »
Happy Pig Day!
That’s right – Pig Day. I haven’t thrown a decent Pig Party in YEARS which is a shame because my Pig Parties use to be legendary. Pig recipes, pig poetry, pig movies and TV and books, pig games and pig drawings.
Click the Pig to draw yours!
Wanna celebrate Pig Day? Post a comment about your favorite pig, your favorite pork recipe or your favorite pig poetry if you like. Or better yet, post your own Pig Day blog entry (just let me know if you do, so I can come and visit). **Edited to add a link to my friends in Indiana celebrating Pig Day with a photo of 4H kids and pig showing and Michelle talks about Boris**
Oh and one other thing – now when I think about pigs, I think about my blog friend Fat Blogger because he had a cute little piggy image on his blog. He went fishing and is due back any time now – so stop by and welcome him home.
Daily Dose of Holidays – Pig Day Read More »
