Stupid Ignorant People!!! Capt. Savage and the curse of email flaming

Daily I am so tempted to use my training and terminate some unfortunate idiot who stumbles into my road. Not sure if you fellow bloggers agree with me, or perhaps if I am actually one of the unfortunate idiots and have just failed to recognise my incompetence.

But today a particularly challenged individual at my workplace decided that he should walk metaphorically through the building with a neon stupid sign on his head.

Example of a stupid sign, well I thought it was hilarious actually… Just couldn’t find a neon stupid sign on Google (feel free to email me one if you find it at Mailto:Capt.Savage@searchforstupidity.com

This person was invited to attend a training course and received what I thought was a polite email confirming the date, time and venue for the course and what participants should bring with them. Fairly standard stuff I would have thought.

Well the response that came back from, well let’s call this guy Ronald McDonald, because he is a bit of a clown I think. It was pure nasty, almost reduced my staff member to tears. Now I must admit that Mrs J is a bit sensitive at the moment due to one reason or another, but when I read the email I couldn’t believe it either.

Now sending abuse is one thing, but this clown then chose to cc the email to all recipients, which I think is the act of a low life scumbag. If you are going to complain, have the courage to do it to the originator and maybe their manager (or the complaints line), not send abuse to everyone.

It’s because of idiots like this that I have to leave this post-it note all over my office to prevent me from reaching for my bayonet and slashing away at them.

Yep I literally have to remind myself not to go postal… God knows some people deserve it…

In my humble opinion emails, text messages, Facebook, Twitter and all the rest of the social media options have simply removed many of the controls or limits that used to be placed on bullying and harassment (just my view). In the good old days you had to have some courage to walk up to someone and either hurl abuse at them or perhaps slap them in the face or maybe in really bad cases a nice healthy knuckle sandwich.

Here you go, a pair of knuckle sandwiches…

According the Wise Geeks (am I one of those?) at http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-netiquette-mean.htm/.

Flaming is where you deliberately send out an email or make a web posting with the intent of insulting or abusing someone (or a group). There is a pretty good Wikipedia discussion thread on the subject at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaming_(Internet)/

Have you ever been flamed? I definitely have been, and most of them are cc’d to everybody for some reason.

P.S.

Have I just scored 1 million negative Karma points for this post?

Capt. Savage

(A perfect model of a gentleman… That was left out in the sun too long and warped)

The pleasures of fine dining! Well at least it started off that way…

Aubergine’s Restaurant in Canberra

The other night my brother and a group of his friends from my home town invited me to dinner at one of the finest restaurants in Canberra. I was surprised by the choice of venue as these blokes were in Canberra on a golfing trip to play all the courses in Canberra in one week (well most of them anyway). I would have thought from my last excursion with these guys that they would have been infesting all of the cheap eat joints and bars (with strippers) rather than seeking out La Grande Cuisine… But never mind, I never turn down a chance at a free feed (yep my brother was paying for me).

The evening started off really well as this is a full service restaurant, so we were surrounded by wait staff desperate to entertain our every whim. Chairs were pulled out for us, napkins were placed on laps, all the wines were carefully decanted for us and fresh glasses were brought round for every new bottle opened.

The performance was quite impressive, as was the menu when it came out. The selection of food sounded spectacular and I was getting hungry just reading the list of food. The menu was a 2 course degustation menu, which I hadn’t had since I left Sydney. For those of you who haven’t tried this style of menu it involved sampling small portions of all of a chef’s signature dishes in one sitting. This was for both the entrée and the main course.

These guys, 6 of them including my brother, were all my age or older and I’d played golf with most of them (badly) at one time or another either at the golf course in my home town or on one of my brothers extravagant golfing holidays (normally involving lots of resort courses, blokes behaving badly and drinking).

Yep this could be them drinking, playing cards and talking crap…

So these guys (including me) really didn’t suits this restaurant at all and as the night went on we suited it less and less. I however, am no longer a big drinker, much to my brother and his friend’s disappointment, as they kept pushing glasses of wine my way. They however steadily consumed at least one bottle of wine each (and I believe quite a bit more than that by the constant stream of bottles being opened and the way they were behaving).

As the night went on they just kept on getting louder and I started to realise how much I’d changed but they hadn’t… I used to enjoy their trips away, I’d be amongst it with them, talking crap, drinking heaps and basically being a pain in the butt or a source of amusement (depending on your point of view) for all those around me. That night however I was the sober observer and it was a strange sensation.

Now I’m not saying that they were complete idiots, they weren’t really, they were just loud and slightly obnoxious. You know, when they think every joke they tell is hilarious and every waitress (in their minds) finds them totally irresistible… The reality was a group of late middle-aged men (yep, apart from my brother, they were all older than me) acting like drunken bums, although their antics were amusing to be honest. As the night went on they got louder and louder and the wait staff began to look more and more interested in getting us out of the place.

In the end we were shovelled out of the restaurant and my purpose for being invited became clear… I had a 7-seater RV and could take them to their next destination, the Canberra Casino where they intended to continue to party on.

Now look at all that colourful stuff on the table…

Now will I go out with these wild country boys again if they invite me? Yep probably, because it is kind of fun to watch other people make idiots of themselves, and for once not be one of the idiots. Do I think they were actually idiots? Nope, just blokes being blokes, and maybe next time I’ll get a cab and join in as well.

Capt. Savage

(Reformed idiot, almost ready for his next relapse)

When we two are parted Lord Byron

When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted,
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning
Sank chill on my brow
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o’er me
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:
Long, long shall I rue thee
Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met
In silence I grieve
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?
With silence and tears.

When we two are parted
Lord Byron

butimbeautiful

A jug fills drop by drop.

Buddha

The Aspiration

To be a better daughter and to stop thinking mean and bitchy thoughts.

The Reality

The more I get into this thing the more I think, what exactly is the point? What am I trying to do here?

At first it was a joke. Like a lot of my life decisions, it just seemed like a good idea at the time.  Maybe, magically, if I did something different, my life would change for the better.  If not, at least it’d be an interesting experiment.

Now I’m starting to think it takes more than a few late night resolutions to actually change.  Changing is the hardest thing anyone can do – lots of people want to do it, and hardly anyone really does.  Real change is not just swimming upstream against the world, it’s swimming upstream against yourself.  The real me just…

View original post 394 more words

To visit or not to visit, that is the question…

So what do you do when you want to be

With someone who may not want to be with me?

Do I keep on bashing my head against their door?

Or do I move on before my head is too sore?

This is the dilemma that faces me

While I sit here pondering under a tree

The problem is that we get on so well

But maybe I’m biased so it hard to tell

If they actually love me popping around

Or if they would rather pound me into the ground

But being alone is such a pain in the bum

That I just can’t drive by without stopping for some

Tea and biscuit and a good old yack

Even if popping in could mean I’m attacked

So I guess I’ll continue to risk life and limb

Because the alternative seems rather dim

So I’ve decided that staying home is rather boring

And I want my life’s story not to end with me snoring

 

Capt. Savage

(Risking physical injury daily in his pursuit of friendship)

Rose’s excellent Week 4 Karmic Challenge post!!!

butimbeautiful

It’s Good News Week, da de da de da!

Well no actually not in THIS song – BUT – taking a trip around the blogosphere, I’ve realised – der! – that Captain Savage and me are WAY behind when it comes to the pursuit of Good Deeds  There are some amazing – and hilarious – things going on out there in the world of Karma.  To name but a few

What the World Needs

A chocolate shop where you buy chocolates not with money but with Good Deeds???  What a fantastic idea! (Do they pay the people they rent the space off with Good Deeds though?) ANYWAY it’s priceless. Literally.

Goooodnews!

We probably all know Gulf States have really tricky immigration laws – and if you don’t fulfil your visa requirements, they’re just as likely to beat you up as they are to deport you. Well, here’s a guy who…

View original post 263 more words

Capt. Savage’s ode to his kids (April School holidays in Queensland)

Ode to my kids

My week with the kids went far too fast,

I knew from the beginning that it wouldn’t last

For nearly as long as I would hope

The end left me wondering how I’d cope

Without my daughter’s infectious laughter

Without my sons scratching holes in the plaster

And without the continuous sleep deprivation

But mainly without the cuddles and the elation

Children are one of the greatest pleasures

The moments with them I will always treasure

But now I’m back home and my place seems so empty

Apart from all of the new photos that will tempt me

To think of all those brief moments of bliss

To sit in my unit, and ponder and reminisce

About the good times that I have just had

Those thoughts and memories could make me sad

But instead they inspire in me with hope and gladness

And the photos and videos bring even more happiness

I appreciate the access to my kids, just a bit

And feel so lucky my kids aren’t proper little shits

 

Capt. Savage

(Proud dad, but bloody tired and needing a rest)

Kids on Rainbow Beach, Queensland, April 2012

This week in Karma Gathering – Capt. Savage, the challenge for the coming weeks and beyond!!!

So what have I been or am I trying to achieve in my search for Karma this week? So far all of my energy for the past week has been absorbed acting as a life support system for my three little kids. All other pursuits have ended up coming a poor 2^nd or 3^rd place in comparison (even my Blog, Facebook and Twitter addictions).

(Is there a 12 step program for my social media addictions?)

But having the kids and watching a YouTube video kindly uploaded by Rose from ButImBeautiful, see her post on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/rose.livinginfairyland#!/rose.livinginfairyland/posts/300980526638632?notif_t=share_reply/ about Sherry Turkle’s clip ‘Connected, but alone?’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7Xr3AsBEK4/

It was food for thought for me and made me realise that perhaps a dose of reality is needed for Capt. Savage.

I totally agree with the points in the clip, that it’s so easy to replace real conversations and friendships with virtual personas and text messaging, Facebook posts, tweets, with the effort required to start and maintain a friendship. This is a bit of an admission on my behalf, but I think that I’ve been kind of separating my different worlds, i.e. my online persona from my reality, and investing far too much energy into the former rather than the later (reality).

I’m not saying I’m a social hermit, or that I don’t enjoy being with real people (although some do cause me to cringe a bit and gag in the worst cases), but it does sometimes seem easier to avoid making the effort required to keep in contact with friends by making conversation (real not virtual).

Now I do try to project my actual personality in this blog, although it is shrouded in my manufactured Capt. Savage character. Now don’ think that I am trying to hide anything, it’s just due to the nature of my work, both in my full time and part time military worlds, mean that I am required to be careful about what I say on the web.

So how does this relate to the great Karmic Challenge?

Well, I think it’s time I put up some aims that are a little more challenging for myself (and perhaps for Rose too)… To earn Karma I need to take some risks, stretch myself just a little further I think.

So what am I going to try to do over the coming days, weeks, months leading up to the end of this year (and the Karmic Challenge)?

How about this for the beginnings of a list, which I will add to as I think of things (or cross things off)…

• Introduce myself to someone new every week and try to engage them in conversation and get to know them (and I mean a real in the flesh person, not via Facebook etc.);
• Do a genuine good dead every day, doesn’t matter what, could be just letting someone in a line for coffee, giving someone a kind word;
• Contact an old friend by letter or phone every month and arrange a catch-up;
• Commit to a regular charitable donation like sponsoring a child, or making a regular pledge to a charity. I love kids so I’ll probably end up sponsoring a child;
• Be a good citizen at work and make an effort to socialise (note Australian spelling) with others (even those I can’t stand, but without being too creepy crawly);
• Commit to visiting my mum at least every month or so, she lives over 3 hours’ drive away, but she is 88 and she really appreciates seeing her kids;
• Try to make someone laugh or get a smile not a frown (but I don’t think I’ll carry a feather sword like my colleague Capt. Feather-sword of the Wiggles);

(the famous Capt. FeatherSword)

• Write an actual letter to my daughter every week for the rest of the year. Now this might sound harsh as I’ve excluded my sons, but due to their disabilities they have no language and can’t speak, read or write. My daughter however, well it’s hard to shut her up (but I love her regardless); and
• I’m going to get a pet and love it to death, if I can’t get a real one due to the rules at my apartment block, I’ll adopt one from somewhere and take it for walks, and give it lots of love and attention. Maybe I should just visit Rose as she has an abundance of pets that I could spoil rotten…

Now this is not the end of my list, just a beginning, and I’m not sure how much of this I’ll achieve… But I think I need to get serious about earning Karma, because I think Karma isn’t little ticks in a box, it’s not makeup that I can just put on and take off, it’s life changing stuff.

So Guys (and I know guys isn’t very PC these days, but it’s me so get used to it), any other suggestions of heroic Karmic Challenge tasks that Capt. Savage should hurl himself at?

Or am I just getting carried away and should I pull my head out of my arse?

Any thoughts out there?

Capt. Savage

(From by Psychiatrist’s answering service; if you are obsessive-compulsive, please press 1 repeatedly. If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2. If you have multiple personalities, please press 3, 4, 5 and 6. If you are paranoid-delusional, we know who you are and what you want. If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press. If you are manic-depressive, it doesn’t matter which number you press. No one will answer.)

Thanks Rose, yep I could be living in a movie script I think sometimes!

butimbeautiful

For a while now I’ve had this theory that everyone is part of a plot. No I’m not paranoid.

By plot, I mean story, novel, blockbuster movie.  For instance, someone I know seems to be in the ‘hardworking mum struggles uphill against the current of life, failing again and again, until…’ movie (think Helen Hunt in As Good as it Gets, Demi Moore in Strip Tease), while another hapless friend could be the star of Forrest Gump.  Parts of my life have been Jane Eyre (without the happy ending or miserable beginning, just the middle bit where Rochester calls out ‘Jane! Jane!) and other parts The Getting of Wisdom (dumb kid tries to be popular and falls flat on her face, thus learning…not to).

So I was thinking, suppose you CHOOSE your plot rather than be just accept the cosmic director’s casting choices. For a writer, that…

View original post 243 more words

Easter Eggs .v. Charity

Well how much money have you wasted on Easter eggs and other chocolate things? Excellent post and made me think!

All the Karmic Challenge points and just general good I could have done if I’d donated to charity rather than bought a basket of Easter chocolate crap! But I’m conflicted as my kids, especially Miss J and Mr B both love chocolate and Easter eggs. So maybe I’ll do both, donate and have the hunt, what do you think?

CS
(now feeling slightly bad about this Saturdays planned Easter egg hunt)

Modern Mummy Mayhem

Edenland

If you don’t already know about the amazing work Eden Riley is doing in Africa..right this moment you need to go directly to the link above and be changed forever by her posts. You also need to subscribe to her posts.

Eden is an Aussie Blogger in East Africa for World Vision. She is a Mummy too and a much braver woman than I could ever be…(I would be howling the whole time…as I am while I blog this)

With the excesses of Easter coming this weekend we would all do good to remember the current famines in East Africa …maybe even feel compelled to donate to World Vision.

Once again here is the link….Edenland

And again incase you think I am just rambling Edenland

I can’t believe I just told my Husband off for eating the kids Easter Eggs…they have kilograms of the crap…they don’t need. I…

View original post 95 more words