So, do you guys remember when I posted about the Allstate ad here?

Here is the letter I sent via their website:

Customer Message : I just have to tell you how offensive I found your
NASCAR commercial where the female cop (and those four women) pull over
Kasey Kane (Kahne) and then oogle him.

Is this really the message you want to be sending to young NASCAR fans,
male or female? That sexual harassment is not only funny, but it's
okay?

I have been a NASCAR fan for thirty years and I have to say this is one
of the most offensive commercials I have ever seen. I only wish I had your
insurance so I could cancel it.

Please re-consider your decision to run this terribly offensinve ad.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And as I was checking my gmail account today, I found a response:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Mrs. Lannom,

We believe that everyone deserves an individual response, and we value
the questions and feedback we receive. Therefore, we'd like to take this
opportunity to respond to your email.

We appreciate the comments you provided regarding our advertising. The
advertising we create is based on extensive consumer research, which we
use to determine the most effective advertising message that will appeal
to the widest audience. While we try hard to create messages that are
relevant to everyone, unfortunately there will always be some who may
find a particular message unappealing. We're sorry you found this to be
the case.

We hope that in the future you will find our advertising messages both
informative and appealing. Thank you for visiting the Allstate website
and sending us your e-mail. We truly appreciate you taking the time to
share your thoughts with us.

Sincerely,


Tammy Downs
Allstate Insurance Company
Customer Advocate
1-800-347-8277 Ext. 4469
Fax: 1-866-224-5564
Tammy.Downs@Allstate.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was, in a word, shocked. Shocked and appalled. Here is my response:

Ms. Downs,

So, what you're saying is that your "extensive consumer research" has found that a police officer mis-using her authority to aid and abet sexual harassment the "most effective advertising message" that will "appeal to the widest audience" and is a "message that is relevant to everyone"?

What world do you live in where this is not only okay, but an image you want to have associated with your company?

Sexual harassment is a crime. Mis-use of police authority is also a crime.

That commercial is not funny. It is irresponsible and it sends the wrong message to both women and men.

If it was a female driver being pulled over and oogled by a male police officer and a bunch of guys, it would never be allowed on the air.

Think about it.

Cathy Lannom
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't know what else to say.

Dear NBC,
Hi, how are you? What was that? Not so great? I'm sorry to hear that. Howcome? Ohhh, the ratings for the Olympics were not what you really expected when you laid out all that money. Well, I have a few suggestions for you, and if you implement them before 2010, you may find the viewers coming back.

First, show the events live whenever possible.
Because the next Winter Olympics is going to be held in Vancouver which is only two hours behind EST, there is really no excuses for "pre-packaging" the events. For me (and most people I know) the ability to stay unspoiled is very difficult due to the internet, the other networks, radio, etc. And if I find out who won ahead of time, I am highly unlikely to watch the actual competition. Yes, even figure skating. So, just stop it. I have fond memories of the way the Olympics used to be when the networks showed most of the events live, switching between them, focusing on the stories as they happened.

Which brings me to my next suggestion.
Just stop it with the "human interest stories" already.
You guys hyped up Bode Miller, Michelle Kwan, Irina Slutskaya, Lindsey Jacobellis among other American athletes, only to have them flame out, drop out, fall out and slip out--by showing off. Not to mention that, because you spent all that time and money to film all of those "stories" beforehand, you feel the need to use them anyway regardless of how the athlete is performing. I can tell you that there was so much eye-rolling going on here that both hubby and I got headaches. Why not just do the research and then put something together once the true stars begin to shine at the Games? I mean, I would have loved to have learned more about Ted Ligety (for example) but because he wasn't one of the "stars" beforehand, there was nothing.

My last suggestion is a more personal one.
FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS HOLY: DO NOT ASK DICK "I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT MODERN FIGURE SKATING" BUTTON TO COMMENTATE. EVER AGAIN.

Thank you.

Personal responsibility.

In today's litigious society, those words send chills down the spines of the civil trial lawyers who advertise on TV (I'm not talking about the "good" civil trial lawyers, btw. I'm sure there are some out there somewhere.)

However, in this instance, I'm talking about personal responsibility for one's personal health. There is a blog I often visit called Making Light written by Patrick and Theresa Nielsen Hayden who are among other things, editors for Tor Books. Theresa was diagnosed with narcolepsy many years ago and between herself and her doctor she has been able to control it with the use of Cylert (generic name "pemoline".) It seems that the FDA, under the urging of the Ralph Nader founded group Public Citizen, has now banned this drug. Apparently, there is a chance of liver damage from using it. It seems that only one person in the last six years died of liver damage due to Cylert. More people have died from liver damage due to acetaminophen (Tylenol) or alcohol...both of which are available over the counter and without a prescription. Unlike Cylert.

She and Patrick posted about it here. There are over 500 comments, most of which are very informative.

That's where the whole "personal responsibility" thing comes in. You see, Theresa's doctor prescribed the drug for her after trying many others which did not work. Not only that, her doctor monitored her liver functions to ensure she remained healthy. So, I wonder, why do the FDA and Public Citizen feel the need to push for a ban on this particular drug--which is primarily used to treat ADHD, but has also been shown to effectively treat both narcolepsy and MS? Why can't a person under the care of a physician make an informed decision and then follow through--knowing full well the risks?

This kind of thing just pisses me off. It smacks of "Big Brother", not to mention bullying. I hope that Theresa is able to find another source of the drug before she runs out of her current supply. And I wish the damned Feds would just go back to governing and let the voting adults in this country decide what is best for their own personal health.

Got called into the manager's office today for a follow-up meeting. They did not warn me ahead of time that they were scheduling a meeting--so I was totally unprepared. I am not good at "off the cuff" discussions with higher ups. Because I freeze up, I get totally tongue-tied and I tend to get very emotional--so I wind up either in tears or angry silence.

Today was "angry silence" day.

They ganged up on me without warning. They said they had discussed what I had talked about with the manager last week and decided to leave things as they are "for now". They also told me that I was "flawless" on the email responses to the customers (their words) and "fantastic" on the phones. They also think that "one day" they think I will be "ready" for the responsibility of being the "email lead". The biggest reason they won't let me do it now? Because in the past, I have "over-reacted" and then "apologized". The occasions have been when several bombs have been dropped on me (and other reps) without warning...

I admit that I am a very sensitive person. I react strongly at times and I admit it, emotionally. But, I have been working on those areas and thought I had shown them through my recent actions that I have been working to change.

Apparently not good enough.

They had also heard that I am looking for another job. You know what? Tough. I don't have to drive for an hour to and from work to do a telephone job. There are plenty of those right in the town I live in. The biggest reason I have been making that trek has been because I loved the job I was doing.

Fortunately, State Farm, where my husband works, is going to be hiring again soon. Hubby actually got the job they offered to ME last year. The reason I turned it down? See above. But, it seems that my loyalty was repaid with smeg. So, I told hubby to let State Farm know that if they call me again...the answer will be "yes". So, he told HR, got the number and I called and also let them know myself.

So, guess I'll be starting over AGAIN. Maybe I'll win the lottery. I wish that would happen. Shoot, I don't even care if I win the BIG prize...I'd "settle" for a couple hundred thousand. Enough to invest so I don't have to work.

Anyway, that's what's happening now. I'm pissed and bummed. Just going to keep my head down, and do my job and nothing more. When/if State Farm comes knocking, I'm going to answer this time.

So, I'm feeling really down these days.
( Long, bitchy work rant )

Anyway, work fucking sucks right now.

Not to mention the whole house is stalled and who knows if or when it'll get started again?

And now my car has decided it hates it's transmission. And for a car to be hatin' its transmission when it has to drive through hilly country...that's not good. (Anyone in the Middle Tennessee area know a good, trustworthy mechanic?)

And then I read my writing and just hate it all, think it's crap and want to give up on ever finishing my novel or my HP fanfic WIP.

So...the darkness is creeping in...I'm holding it off, but only just.

And my brain hurts. I am in a state of shock. I think I may have to abandon my fic now. I am reading everything I can find on all of the theories about the book. I don't know what to think. I wish book seven was coming out tomorrow.
There are spoiler-ish comments behind the link. Please be warned.

( Read more... )

Got a massive response back from someone as SH. But I don't really think it matters to me anymore. I will be giving some serious thought about continuing the story.

I feel so empty, drained and blue.

When I saw the news this morning, the first thing I thought was "OMG, I wonder if my online friends (particularly dora_the_nymph) are okay??"

Then I came to the LJ and went to KA and found posts from everyone I knew over there, checked Neil Gaiman's site and found that his daughter is okay, and I felt better for a bit.

Now, I have checked the Sky News and BBC News sites and I find myself getting upset...not angry, but nervous and uneasy.

I'm having flashbacks to 9/11--I almost had a nervous breakdown after that sad day.

For those of you who don't know, I used to work for American Express. That Tuesday was a day like any other...at first. (Just like in London this morning.) The center I worked in had televisions all around the room which usually just showed the company news, etc. After the first plane hit, they turned them on to the news--thinking it was a horrific accident. We watched in horror as the second plane hit. The customer I was talking to at the time, after I told him what I'd just seen, shouted: OMG, I have employees in that building!! and rang off.

Needless to say, the calls into the center stopped. We watched the news, watched the towers fall, watched the New Yorkers wandering around covered in soot and ash. What made it even worse was that American Express had an agency in Tower One...and no one survived. Not only that, our world headquarters building was right across the street and sustained some damage. It is the building with the pyramid on the top which had the huge American flag on the side.

I was so angry...I raged and raged...I know I scared my husband with my anger. I told him that if bin Laden was in front of me, I would kill him myself. I am not a violent person by nature, but I swore that I would kill that asshole with my bare hands and then spit on his dead body.

I was wild with grief. I would cry at the drop of a hat...I could not understand how people could be so heartless, cruel and just plain evil. I watched everything I could about the tragedy, including the documentary by the French guys whose film about a NY fire company turned into so much more.

A year later, I took that day off, because I knew I would not be able to work. I watched the memorial that was done and cried again.

I found www.tomatonation.com and http://www.tomatonation.com/thouart.shtml Sars' essay about her experiences of that fateful day and I wept again.

Thank goodness I haven't had to be on the phone today...because I have had tears welling up at unexpected times all day.

Reading the posts from the LJ that Lee linked has helped. The Londoners are wonderfully stoic and just "getting on with things". I love that about them.

{{{BIG HUGS}}} to London, England...I'm with you in spirit...

Last night my husband told me he likes his new job so much he just hates to come home!

Isn't that nice?

Yeah, not so much.

But where is home? It doesn't feel like here right now. And when I think of Ft. Lauderdale, so much has changed in a year that it doesn't feel like home either. But I want to go somewhere where I am surrounded by people who love and care about me and right now---that's not here.

Funny what a difference a couple of days makes, isn't it?

Yesterday started out okay, work went okay, got off early (use it or lose it time) and went home and got a few things accomplished. Was going to fix supper then settle in and seriously work on some fic while hubby mired himself in the last (thank the gods) of the college football games.

Nice plan, eh?

Then he came home. It was great at first, he suggested we go out to eat. I was putting my shoes back on and getting a sweater on when I made my big mistake. And I really should know better by now--

I don't know what I was thinking, saying it out loud. That I'd get support or something, I guess.

I said I was going to try, after the first of the year, to get some weight off. And my husband, the person who supposedly loves me more than anyone else in the entire world, LAUGHED at me.

Well, actually, it was more like SCOFFED.

It wasn't a chuckle, it wasn't a giggle, it wasn't a knowing smile and a shake of the head. It was an out and out scornful belly laugh.

And it hurt. I burst into tears.

I know I've vowed to lose weight before. And I haven't. I'm an emotional eater and there's been a bit of upheaval in my life lately. My kids moved out. Then we moved from FL to TN and within three months after we moved from the only place I've ever called home, my dear brother died. Last year was difficult, trying to find a job that I felt I could go to every day without dying inside, which took until May. Hating the apartment we live in, feeling like I have no friends here--which isn't completely true, there is one person but I don't want to cling to her like a drowning person...both my kids having kids and not living there to see the babies grow...

So, I'm sitting here at five til six in the morning, crying again because the love of my life just cannot understand what it's like to struggle with weight and how it feels to be mocked and jeered at and ignored because of it...

And he laughed.

I wish I could say that just inspired me to want to "show him", but it just made me want to go eat more chocolate. See? Emotional eater. I know it. I want to change it, I really do. I'm going to do something about it this year. Starting with baby steps.

I've lost a bunch of weight before--60 pounds--which went back on during the above-listed emotional upheavals. It was hard. I did it by basically eating the same thing every day. Obviously it was before I met my husband. I wonder how long it would take before he got sick of baked chicken? Yeah, I thought so.

But I'm really going to try this year. I just wish I had the support I crave. Why can't he just get over himself and the disappointments he feels and just support me?
It's not too much to ask, is it?

Literally. I cried myself to sleep last night and my eyes are leaking again today. I don't know what people are thinking. I don't know how they can look at that idiot and see a "leader" of any kind. A draft-dodging drug using party boy who has alway cheated to win. Looks like we're in for four more years of tax breaks for the wealthy and young men dying in the name of...oil.

I just don't understand. All I know is I'm going to encourage my son to marry his fiance as soon as possible. I don't trust the idiot not to reinstate the draft and my child is not going. He has a baby to take care of. I won't give up my child to an unjust war.

Anyway, I'm still shell-shocked. I don't know how I'm going to concentrate at work today. Because I will look at the people around me and wonder--why?