Sunday, September 6, 2009

Magic Tricks


My girls still believe in magic and I hope they always do. I managed to pull a rabbit out of my hat this week end- much to the enjoyment of my family and friends. See my previous blog post: It All Started With an Episode of Roseanne...... I finally was able to share a portion of my 'former' life with them.

My 'former' life was working as a PA in the music business. Some would say that I 'know' some people... most which have never been introduced to my life now. Oh, I run into some of them now and again... but not like it 'used to be'. Some of my friends I have now weren't around back then and my in laws have only been my in laws for 9 years.... add a couple of years to that and that's how long I've known my husbands family. So, they only hear snippets and blurbs about some of the things I did and people I knew and/or met.

But I digress. Back to magic tricks.... my kids think Twitter is magical. It can conjure up ALL KINDS of people Mommy used to know/work with. With a few keystrokes and a click of the mouse, they are miraculously transported into a world of band schedules, download links, the latest news and road shenanigans of ALL their favorite musicians (No, The Jonas Bros are NOT on that list... my kids have WAY better taste than that.. c'mon...). One of their ABSOLUTE faves is The Blues Travelers. See, I TOLD you my kids were cool.

They think Mom can twitch her nose or cross her arms and blink ~POOF~ Anyone they want to meet is in front of them.....(hate to disappoint them...) BUT I am 5 for 5 (well..... 5 1/2 for 5 1/2 if you count the phone conversations Lily and Damon Stewart have about music) thanks to the likes of Kevin, Scott, Pete and Adam from Candlebox and John Popper. I am so lucky that, so far, that's the ONLY people they've wanted to meet... whew!

I have to say, I was almost as excited as the girls were! Here was my chance to make my peeps day. Here was my chance to introduce John to my family and friends. Here was their chance to meet a VERY cool and sweet guy, who just so happens to be one of THEIR favorite musicians. I love magic! So does Lily!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

It all started with an episode of 'Roseanne'.....

We've all seen it. Roseanne... a television staple in our homes. Most everyone knows it. Especially my girls. Well there is a certain episode that has snowballed into real life... wanna know how THAT happened?? Grab a chair. The hook.... brings you back, I ain't tellin' you no lies....

There's an episode where Rosanne and Dan's high school buddy, Ray 'Sting Ray' Wilson (aptly portrayed by John Popper of The Blues Travelers) comes to Chicago with his band. You see, Dan and Sting Ray were in a band together in high school. Dan went on to be a family man and Sting Ray went on the road...

It's always been one of my favorite ones, too. Jackie is so goofy, thinking Sting Ray wrote the lines, 'When I saw through the voice of a trusted friend who needed to humor me and tell me lies' just for her because she couldn't go to the prom with him.. 'No! I REALLY did have a cold!!' so years later she thinks 'Run Around' was about her... LOVE Laurie Metcalf as Jackie... funny chick. Jackie makes a big deal about it and Ray has to tell her that it, indeed, was NOT about her so she chooses another BT song and she says 'C'mom... that HAD to be about me!!' To shut her up, Ray(John Popper) says, 'Yes, Jackie... it was about you'. Even though it wasn't.. she makes a scene, Roseanne shoves her out and Ray and Roseanne have a heart to heart about how she feels bad that Dan and his music went the wayside so he could care for his family. Ray convinces Roseanne that Dan has the better gig and all is good. John Goodman/Dan gets to sing 'Sweet Home Chicago' with his old band (which is QUITE good, I might add) and we never see Ray 'Sting Ray' Wilson again.

Enter that notorious Twitter again. Just because I know some 'people' in Seattle that would be considered 'famous' by musical standards, my children think I know everybody in a band... So, my kids, being the freaks they are, ask me to tweet the likes of people like AC/DC (which I don't.. lmao) and Candlebox(which I do). One day, my 8 year old says, 'Mom? Could you tweet John Popper and tell him that The Blues Travelers(especially John Popper) are my new favorite band??' I did, for two reasons. 1) I follow The Blues Travelers (with a follow back, I might add) and 2) she was sitting RIGHT here when she asked. Oh... the powers of children! He not only Twittered her back (oh the hook.. brings you back...I ain't tellin' you no lies) but he called her here at the house while the band was playing at the Snoqualmie Casino. She would have me Twitter him while they were touring this summer and he would send her silly little Twitters that kept her laughing. She had to keep him informed of her harmonica status (she got a brand new Hohner Marine Band harmonica in the key of 'D' so she can play 'Hook' along with her 'four' CD) and the best Twitter she sent was a version of one of the lyrics in 'Run Around'... Lily says: JP! You rock to the point I can no longer take! (taken from the line: 'I love you to the point you can no longer take'). Silly Lily! JP's reply?? 'Lily's not silly and soon we'll hang out... really!'

Really? You mean hang out with the man himself?? What? A few Twitters later and here we are, fresh off the phone. We've been invited to his home for music, lunch and shenanigans. I swear on all that is holy, John Popper is, in fact, the sweetest, kindest rocker on the face of the earth. If I wasn't married...... and I am dead serious when I say that... I know... the flames of Hell are lapping at my ankles...

Anyway, after they giggled and chatted on the phone, it was my turn! I had to tell him how this all started... that one episode of Roseanne... the hook... it brings you back... on this you can rely.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

When Being Radioactive Is A Good Thing

I received some FABULOUS news yesterday! News that made me whoop with joy, shout with glee and blubber like a baby with relief. Seriously... I cried... right then and there... shut up B-Dub ;) I can cry if I wanna. You see, Bill Wixey had his PET scan yesterday and it has to be the Daddy of ALL PET scans. I guess channeling Jerry Garcia helped out.

I just wanna run up to Bill and Catherine and hug 'em! I wouldn't care if I had to wear a suit like Homer Simpson to do it! I am so glad that this family has a second chance, if you will. I will probably ramble on like a blithering idiot here, but there is so much I want to say and I can't seem to form paragraphs right now. I feel there will be a lot of run-on sentences, so let me apologize, in advance, to all the grammar police and English teachers everywhere.

I never 'personally' knew Bill and his family Before Cancer (B.C.). I only recently met Bill, followed by the rest of the Wixey clan shortly thereafter. I only knew Bill the way most of Seattle knows him. Through the magic of television. B.C. I was just another viewer who rather enjoyed Bill's enthusiasm for sports, which you could CLEARLY see when he reported it on KIRO. I had also been a long time viewer of Q13 Fox News, so you could imagine my mood when I found Bill was there, too! He has a self-depreciating sense of humor that slays me! His style of reporting makes you pay attention, listen up, get involved, take notice and sometimes makes you laugh your @$$ off. That's why I was ecstatic that he was part of the Q13 team! Where else can you get hard news with a two drink minimum? He fit right in...

And now is the part where I get to blame Lily Jang for everything!!! Being a faithful viewer of Q13 morning news, Lily, Mark(you heard me, Ferndale!), Adam, MJ, Bill, Angela, Parella, Darren, Brian(apologies to those I may have left out) were in my living room EVERY morning. They were like family that came over for breakfast everyday. WAY B.C. But I digress. Lily kept mentioning this Twitter thing. I kept telling myself that I did NOT need another site to keep up with, but she wore me down. I'm forever grateful to her that she did. Thanks, Lil! Because of her, I grabbed myself a Twitter account and started tweeting with her and a few others there at Q13. Then came some tweets from Bill.......

WHAT???? What the hell do you mean...Bill Wixey has cancer.... nuh-uh... no way! Cancer pisses me off. It took my best friend from me when I was only 10 and too young to 'get it'. And now I had just been dealt another cancer blow.... a member of my 'family' has cancer. A guy who is in MY house, so to speak (that magical television thing again), sometimes more than people who actually LIVE here!! I wasn't going to take any of cancer's B.S. this time. To quote Guns and Roses..... 'get in the ring and I'll kick your bitchy little @$$!!!'

Fast forward.... Team Wixey gets it's start, the Facebook page started by Damien grows daily and, best of all.... we got to come face-to-face with the man himself....drum roll...... Bill Wixey!
I was honored to be introduced. I was quite floored by how humble, down-to-earth and gracious he is. He was so appreciative of the team effort and the support. That blew me away for some reason. I thought, "How could Bill NOT know that he his liked by so many in Seattle". He was so thrilled to find out how many of us out here wanted to offer support, well-wishes and stories. It took some convincing, but I think we FINALLY got Bill to see how much Seattle loves him. Y'all know what I mean....

Hit the fast-forward button again... we all know the hours of chemo and hair loss he had to endure. Sometimes very painful to READ about so it was hard to imagine how Bill felt. I prayed to God, asked Our Blessed Mother to pray, had a long conversation with our late Holy Father JPII... he was a cool dude..... I asked him if he could remember Bill and his family in his prayers, asked Jesus if, at all possible, to take this cross Bill was bearing and ease his burden. I even bothered the late Father Kolbe. Poor man.. lots of people ask him to pray for them, but I wasn't asking anything for myself. I figured it couldn't hurt. (for those of you who might sense a theme.... yeah.... I'm Roman Catholic). I spoke to everyone I knew about it. People at work, church, the grocery store.... you name it. My kids are spreading the word, too. Gigi and Will are their age and they want to help. I began to feel a sense of where Bill was coming from. WOW! The outpouring of support is overwhelming!!! "You know Bill Wixey???? OMG! He's so cool!! Please tell him we support him and good luck(paraphrasing)" See, B-Dub?? I done tol' ya so!

The came the PET scan day. I spoke to Bill a few days before. Team Wixey stuff, Bill-a-palooza/Rock The Night things, chit chat about kids. Told him I was keeping track of his appointments because SOMEONE had to have Catherine's back... ha ha Wished him my prayers and luck on THE BIG DAY.

BIG DAY came and went... damn protein diet thing... some exercise snafu... one more day. I must have sat in front of my Twitter page with my phone in my lap for most of the day....(not really but it seemed like it ha ha) I told you I was worried, right? I was worried and excited. Excited because I KNEW the results would be favorable. You see, the night before, I just went ahead and said, "OK... I'm just gonna ask You(God) Jesus and ALL the saints and angels. We need all the help we can get, God. Thanks" Well, God is not only a Bill Wixey fan but he's a Mariner's fan, too!!! Cancer free and a win in the 14th 1-0. Thanks for the bonus, God!!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Qwest pisses me off!!

The following letter is my post to PlanetFeedback.com regarding Qwest and their remedial tech department and their half-witted billing/DSL Loyalty depts. So far, I have my LD back, but am STILL waiting for a modem that could have been WALKED over from the CO by now...
All the products mentioned below USED to be bundled with my account until they screwed it up so much.... I just want to be back to "normal" again. WTF Qwest??? Give them a few days, my @$$!! You suck canal water, douche waffles. Without further ado, here is my bitch:

I moved from my previous address on Sept of '09. It's appx 1/2 mile from my previous residence. I had my service installed at the new house on Sept. 10. I have not had proper service since then. I have had 6 techs, numerous phone calls to have them fix this problem to no avail. My DSL keeps dropping at random. The first tech said I might be a little far away from the main office and he "dropped" my speed, against my EXPRESS wishes that he NOT do it, from the 1.5 I signed up for to 640K, yet I still paid the same price. After that, it still dropped at random. Another tech came out, installed a filter to the box on the house, took out ALL phone lines but one, mind you, he did this without asking us. Just told us he did it afterward. So, now we can't have a phone in any other room but the kitchen. he then had my speed dropped again, AGAINST MY WISHES, to 256K while still paying for 1.5M. SPEED IS NOT THE ISSUE!! Had it been the issue the problem would have been fixed at the first "unrequested" drop. I just got off the phone with a DSL tech. It's after 2 AM PST. I am on the phone 2-3 times a day with Qwest tech, yet you continue to bill me for service you DO NOT provide. Also, a few months back, I noticed some billing issues. When I called to ask why my PRICE FOR LIFE GUARANTEE was not being honored, I was told that it "expired"?? EXCUSE ME??? PRICE FOR LIFE!!!!!!! NOT PRICE FOR 5 YEARS. That issue was supposedly fixed until I got my next bill. When, AGAIN, inquiring as to why my bill was so high I was told, "Well, since you upgraded to the iMac service...." WTH??????? I don't own a Mac so there was no way in ___ I would EVER order that. So, once again, my bill was adjusted. I have wasted approximately 2 months of my time either on the phone with tech support, billing or waiting for a tech. I don't mean I have been calling for the last couple of months, I mean that Qwest has wasted ! appx 1240 HOURS of my time since Sept of '08, calling and waiting for you to fix an issue that is CLEARLY a Qwest issue. The techs tell me that themselves. It's not on my end. I have had techs do absolutely nothing but show up at my door, mutter something about swapping cards out at the main office and LEAVE!!! Without even coming in to investigate. For that I had to take the morning off of work, UNPAID, which costs money- money we need to feed our children. I have spent COUNTLESS hours on hold, dealing with tech support, billing, etc. all to no avail. On the previous call I made today BEFORE the 2 AM call ( so that's twice in one day with appx 4 hrs spent on the phone)I was told that my service has been dropped/disconnected/attempt to reconnect almost 10,000 times. That is NOT a typo. 10,000 TIMES!!!!!!! Yet, you want me to pay for your "service". I have yet ANOTHER tech coming at 3PM, most likely, do absolutely NOTHING but waste more of my time. I cannot even use the phone if someone is on the internet because the internet! connection is dropped, 9 out of 10 times, when someone either dials out or calls in. Remember that I JUST stated that a tech installed a hard filter to the box on the outside of the house??? I have DSL!! I should be able to be on the phone while the internet is being used. I also had noticed in the past week that pages were loading very slowly. So I went to the ActionTech modem site today to discover that I had a 64K downstream. That's DIAL UP speed!!! A tech reset something on his end which fixed it-temporarily- because that was NOT the reading the last tech was getting when I spoke with him at 2 AM this morning. At the same time, our phone lines suck, too. Half the time it crackles, breaks up and hisses like a 1950's party line.

I would like Qwest to do the following:
Fix my DSL once and for all and for good. Also know that I will not be paying for service I am not receiving until Qwest has fixed it. Qwest can go into my account and fix the HUGE billing mess your office people keep making. They have it splintered into 3-4 different accounts because they "claim" I owe money.. For what?? For 1240 hours of phone calls and 6 tech guys at my house?? For taking UNPAID time off to wait for them?? For service I don't get??? For changing my speed AGAINST my request to not do so??? I think not. Qwest can eat that, as far as I am concerned. They can just be wiped clean, deleted, adjusted to zero or WHATEVER you have to do to purge them from my billing address/number. They can also re-instate my long distance that they felt needed to be disconnected. You can also replace my modem, which I purchased from Qwest as part of my DSL package. Qwest can also issue me a refund for every dime I have given them since September of '08. And! not with credits applied to my bill, either. A check or direct deposit to my bank is the ONLY satisfactory payment I will accept. DIRECTV service and/or wireless service at no cost for a long while looks like an offer I wouldn't refuse, either. I have gone above and beyond as a Qwest customer, waiting for this issue to be resolved. 2-3 phone calls to DSL techs and/or billing a day is NOT "normal" customer actions. It's also not "normal" for a company that brags so much about customer care to leave a long time customer hanging like this. I am fully prepared to take further legal action, with the blessing of our state's Attorney General and our own attorney. I am also informing a few local consumer reporters from various local news stations in the GREATER Seattle area, which is a BROAD audience, I might add. I am just giving Qwest one LAST opportunity to make right an issue that is CLEARLY NOT the problem of the consumer before I take further step! s. I am relying on the fact that Qwest takes pride in it's customer service and rewards it's long term customer's loyalty.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Walk For Wixey

Recently, Q13 FOX News anchor, Bill Wixey, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. He chose to share his diagnosis, treatment and walk with cancer with his viewers, which you can read here. Well, I am one of those viewers. I could not stand by and let something like this happen with out making a stand.


You see, Bill and Q 13 cares about their viewers. From the latest traffic, weather and breaking news to health topics and making sure we don't get scammed, Q 13 has been a member of OUR family for a long time. Well, what do you do when a "family" member tells you they have cancer?? Sure, you go through all the "emotions" first. Shock. "What?? Bill Wixey?? That really cool dude on Q13???" Disbelief. "No way! He looks so fit, healthy and young. No one with THAT amount of hair can have Hodgkins Lymphoma!!" Grief. "He has a family. His children are the same ages OUR kids are! He's too young." Finally, comes resolve. Resolve to take a stand and fight with Bill, his family, his co-workers and friends.


This is my stand. I have started a team devoted to helping Bill fight the battle and WIN! Take a stand, too. Walk with us on September 26th, 2009 at Greenlake. Tell everyone you know that the LLS is sponsoring a walk to raise funds and awareness for cancer. If you can't walk with us that night, all you have to do is make a donation to our team, Walk For Wixey, who will do ALL the walking for you and for Bill. I want to turn this into one of those "Remember when...." stories. 20 years from now, I want to be able to say, "Remember when Bill Wixey had cancer and beat it?? Now, here he his on TV, STILL making sure we are keeping our Money Safe"


You can also reach me by:

Personal Twitter Page


BeatHodgkinsNW on Twitter



Thank you for your support!!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

If Ashton Kutcher can do it.....

Then so can I.

Twitter is amazing. It can bring you everything from what your favorite news channel's producer is having for dinner to the BIG C. Wow. Really?? My jaw dropped while perusing my recent tweets from my Tweeps.

Bill Wixey has WHAT???? Hodgkin's Lymphoma?? How can that be possible? He's young, looks healthy, has a great family, a cool job and seems like an all-around good guy. He is passionate about his work which you can see every time he anchors the news or reports on the latest scam or garage sale deal while keeping our Money Safe

Well, I cannot sit here, blog about it and do nothing more than pray. I truly believe in the power of prayer. I have seen it work miracles. I also truly believe in doing what you think is right. And, this is what I think is right. I lay down the gauntlet and challenge all of my Twitter buddies, bloggers, lovers of news and fans of Bill Wixey to band together. The Wixey Army ready to help Bill battle and win his fight with Hodgkin's.

I have created a fund raising Twitter page so that we can donate to Fight Hodgkin's
Fighthodgkins.org was created to provide information and patient support for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Donations are raised through fundraisers and 100% of proceeds are forwarded to the Lymphoma Fund at MGH Cancer Center.

We will also donate to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance who are personally helping Bill fight Hodgkin's. A 50/50 split between them. Let me know what you think.

If I were in a movie...

The movie would be "Dances With Booze" and I would be named "Stands With Liquor"- hence the name of my blog. I am so firmly entrenched in the cocktail business that when people ask me for a bar rag, I reply, "I AM the Bar Rag... can I get you a towel??"

People ask me why I don't drink what I pour. Well, let me ask you this: If you worked at Pizza Hut, would you want pizza for dinner when you got home?? Hell NO!! I see what the liquor does to people and I smell like a brewery by the time I get home so the LAST thing I want to do is imbibe. Don't get me wrong... there is nothing like a frosty cold "Blue" Piniella (think raspberry slurpee for grown ups) but, just because I stand behind the bar a lot doesn't mean I want to stand in front of it.

So, to my customers.... I adore you and love serving you. BUT... that's where it ends. I will not get off work and have a cocktail with you, I will not meet you at another establishment after we close to drink B-52's with you. I will not attend functions at my work when it isn't on my shift. People die, get married and have babies whether I am behind the bar or not. I enjoy your company and stories while I am there. I love your jokes and camaraderie. People need that in their lives. I have it. It's just NOT at my job.

Now, I am off to smoke tough and have a cold one... on my OWN time....