When my daughter was in second grade, I made the mistake of sewing a Jane Jetson costume for her school Christmas play. From then on, I was known as the mother who could sew and I was contacted every time someone needed a costume for school plays.

That was not so annoying, but it was really annoying when parents would cal me and ask if I wouldn’t mind making their child a Halloween costume. I told them that I did mind because I had to make costumes for my kids and I also had a full time job.

I felt like I was being used and I got so angry that people would not leave me alone that I ended up switching my kids to another school. I will not make the mistake of admitting that I made their costume ever again. I will just say that I paid someone to do it from now on.

I don’t really value the news and opinions of the people around me any more. I am such a sucker. People can get me to buy anything because I will believe anything that someone I trust tells me. I own so much jewelry and makeup because of wanting to help out my friends that I could start my own business.

I have been suckered in by believing that I am just doing some product reviews, and I end up spending a fortune to get my voice heard. It is such a scam and I fall for it every time. I wouldn’t say that I am naive, just a little too trusting.

I decided that if anyone wanted any more consumer reviews from me, they would have to give me samples and I would give them my opinions from this. I am standing firm to this decision and some of the people I know are not happy about it.

I have one friend who asked me to do some website reviews and I asked him what that was going to cost me. He took offense to that and it ended up costing me a lot; a friend. So, I am about done with it all. Please, do not ask my opinion on anything or try to sell me something because I am not interested.

Well, I made the plunge today and bought an iPod Nano.  I decided on the Nano because I was just going to listen to music, but from time to time I would take it jogging with me.  Getting an iPod with flash memory was key, as I didn’t want to jar and damage one that had a hard drive in it.

The transaction seemed pretty simple.  I picked the color, made sure to ask the clerk if everything was in the box, and I was on my way.  When I got home, I was so excited, I ran into the house opened the box, and looked at my new toy.

What?  Only the iPod, headphones, and a USB cable?

I guess that was it.  I was under the understanding that the common iPod Nano accessories would come with it like an armband case and maybe a charging cradle, but I guess I was wrong.  Now, I had planned to buy some stereo speakers for iPod later on, but what about the other stuff that I expected that would be in there?

My last MP3 player was one from San Disk - and it came with everything you would need.  I should quit complaining and try it out.

Well, it seems that the iTunes software is not included in the box either.  Once I downloaded it, my iPod worked great, but I think that Apple should include an important warning on their iPod boxes:

"Accessories Not Included"

I have been working with my supervisor now for a couple years.  We work very well together, but we have had our share of confrontations.  Being the assistant supervisor means that I need to challenge her ideas from time to time when I think they are not correct.  Except for these odd exchanges, we get along really well.

My only pet peeve is that she is dyslexic.  Now, I realize that it is not fair to say something about her disability, but I don’t hold it against her.  It is kind of funny too, as it is only a problem when she writes something, not when she types it out (I suppose thanks is due to the spell checker on her computer).

I am really frustrated with her because she ordered a test for dyslexia online, found out that she had a lot of the symptoms of dyslexia and has done nothing about it.  It ticks me off that work would pay for her to get special training to help her out with her condition.

I try not to butt in, but sometimes you need to do what you do.  Maybe I will get her attention now that I said something here… wait till I tell her at work tomorrow.  I am sure she will be so happy…