Queer Musings

A World of Idiots

Why must we suffer idiots to handle customer service jobs?

I sent a simple to the point email to Sprint PCS tonight.

If I decide to terminate my contract early what do I need to do?

See nothing too complicated. Nice, simple and to the point. What do I need to do if I decide to cancel my contract before it is completed. I thought I would get a response back saying that I needed to contact them at *2 and make payment arrangements.

I'm thinking about ending my contract with them for two reasons. The first one is just a stupid vanity issue. I talked to our T-Mobile sales rep the last time he was in the building and he is trying to work a deal where our company can get the Motorola Razr V3 free with activation. I don't really need a new phone, the one I have now is working fine. The camera on it kind of sucks, but other than that, I don't need a new one. But I want the Razr. I know the moment I get it a new and better phone will come out, but that's the way of technology.

The second reason I'm thinking about switching cell phone companies is a more practical reason. I'm planning a trip to Europe in October. I have at least one trip if not more planned to Europe next year, and given the world situation I want a cell phone company that has roaming world wide. I'm a mamma's boy, and would hate to think about my mom worrying about me if I went somewhere and couldn't call home quickly to say I'm OK in the event something happened.

Any way, back to what I was talking about. I sent Sprint the email asking them how I go about terminating my contract. I received in response,

Thank you for writing to us about the PCS Advantage Agreement.
 
Your Advantage Agreement started on May 16, 2004 and ends on May 16, 2006.
 
An early termination fee of $150.00 applies for deactivations prior to the satisfaction of agreement.
 
Thank you for contacting Sprint.

I guess that means I'll have to call them this next week or so and actually talk to one of their fools to try and get the answer.

Helping Others

This has been a busy week. With the passing of one of my coworkers, I've been picking up extra hours so that people who knew him and his family could have time off to spend with each other. I just knew him in passing, so I felt it wouldn't be right for me to try and take time off when there are others who knew him much longer than I did, and had worked with him longer.

Things should be somewhat back to normal after this weekend.

Queer Terrorism

For anyone that thought a bomb being planted at Babylon on QAF was just a work of fiction, it is closer to reality than you would think.

Thankfully this fire was set after hours and no one was in the bar. However, what will prevent someone from blowing up a gay establishment in the future? Nothing...

One striking similarity between the QAF story line and the incident in Brownsville is voters will get to decide how we get to live our lives. QAF has Proposition 14, which will limit rights granted to gays and lesbians. We will be voting in November to amend our state constitution denying same-sex marriage.

Chuck Smith, deputy director of the Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby of Texas, told the PlanetOut Network that the anti-LGBT rhetoric has increased in Texas as voters prepare to consider a state constitutional amendment on Nov. 8 that would deny same-sex couples marriage rights.
 
"It is conceivable that the anti-gay rhetoric that is prevalent can play a factor in that. We will be interested to see whether incidence of hate crimes has increased because of the lies and mistruths that have been spread against us to deny us our humanity," Smith said.

That doesn't make me too happy. I guess given that I'm tired of the "gay scene" here in the DFW area, and living in a large city you sometimes get stuck in a bubble that you don't always remember the hatred directed towards the GLBT community.

Under Texas law, arson is a second-degree felony punishable from two to 20 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. There could be additional penalties under the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, a bill named after an African-American man dragged to death in Jasper, Texas.

I think instead of classifying the incident as a hate crime, it should be considered an act of terrorism. This is no different that the bombing on Oklahoma City, the terror attack of 9/11, and the recent subway incidents in London. It is simply a way to instill terror in a segment of the American population. I don't see the politicians ever calling this an act of terrorism. This was an act of violence against a segment of the American population that it is politically correct, and sadly politically necessary to discriminate against.

Jenny Smokin' Crak

I find it hard to believe that JLo opened her first boutique in Moscow, and is now opening one in Chicago.

I'm sure the economy in Russia has improved, but come on; opening a specialty boutique there is about the same as opening a Burger King in Ethiopia. You're just teasing the people with things they can't afford.

Good Bye For Now

The hair had to go, I woke up yesterday morning and I had the start hair that looked like Phil Spector.

I guess I could have gone to the store to try and get some product to keep it under control. But then that would have lead to purchasing color to cover the grey that I'm still trying to deny is growing in.

On the plus side, I now look more like my ID, and passport. Probably a good thing since we will probably be stuck with the Patriot Act.

False Sense of Security

What good does it do to live in a gated apartment complex?

I got home from work today and there was a not on all the doors that said,

There have been thefts in your neighborhood recently. The main target is vehicles with after market stereo systems, upgraded rims, and items left in plain view. We at NPD#4 are dedicated in our efforts to prevent the criminal activity in the coming months. We are requesting your assistance with this!

Then it went on with a list of things for us to do. All of which are pretty obvious. Number one of course being don't leave anything of value inside your vehicle.

Luckily for me I have a piece of crap pickup with no stereo, so unless I happen to happen to forget my briefcase with my lottery winnings in the truck, I should be alright. But does that mean that others in the apartment community think that just because we have "controlled access gates" they can leave stuff in their car?

Gates don't keep people out; I've seen plenty of cars lined up waiting for someone to exit the gates or to show up with a card key to get in. I guess the gates are there so we can enjoy the illusion of security.

Constitutional Challange

I don't even know where to start on this one.

If Spain's constitution has a clear reference to marriage as being between a man and a woman, then gays and lesbians will probably have a long battle on their hands.

London Underground Evacuated

If this is in fact a repeat of the terrorist attack of July 7 in London, it is only a matter of time before New York or another major U.S. city can expect the same thing to happen.

I can't help but think that the British must really hate us right about now.

Lack of Travel Information

Does anyone know of any good and reliable gay travel sites?

It seems almost everyone has jumped onto the gay and lesbian travel bandwagon, except for publishers of travel guides. I just received my Germany and my Amsterdam travel guides from Amazon today, and not much is listed for gays and lesbians in either one.

I really wasn't looking for a gay guide to Amsterdam, because for that trip, that will probably be a mixed straight/gay trip. But when I go to Germany in October, I'm most likely traveling there by myself and would like to have an idea of where to go and have fun.

Now when I say that it seems everyone has jumped on the bandwagon, I simply mean this. Atlantis has gay cruises, and Olivia has gone a step further by not only having cruises for lesbians, but also resorts. And, PlanetOut has a travel section, but I still prefer to have an actual book that I can take with me and I don't have to worry about internet access once I get to my destination.

Even mainstream travel sites such as Orbitz, and Travelocity have booking tools for gays and lesbians. So wouldn't you think that it is high time that publishers of travel guides started targeting the GLBT community?

A quick glance through the index on my Germany guide shows that GLBT travelers can find information on pages 150 - 151. Well it really comes out to just one page of information. And for my backup destination of Frankfurt information can be found on 468 and 469, how they got page 468 out of that is beyond me, the only thing they have is on page 469 two clubs listed.

Oh wait... I found why page 468 is listed in the index. There's just a quick little blurb about most gay bars being located in a small area between Bleichstrasse and Zeil.

I'm sure it is because Amsterdam is probably the gayest city in the world (Sorry San Fran, love ya dearly, but I'm just repeating what I've heard), that is why there is about six pages of information listed in the guide I bought.

If any does know of a good GLBT travel site, please feel free to pass it along to me. Some of the ones that I've found online just look kind of cheesy, so I'm always skeptical of some of the info I find online.

As a quick note, Amazon does have an Amsterdam travel guide for gay travelers, and I may go back and order it later.

Four Down Too Many To Go

I still feel that it is a sad state of affairs that the supposed one true world power still doesn't allow civil marriages between people of the same sex.

This is the type of legislation we need in the U.S.,

The legislation also stipulates that the new definition of marriage is only binding on public institutions like courthouses and city halls.
 
It says religious institutions - churches, mosques, synagogues and temples - and individuals can continue defining marriage as they see fit.

I think most of us are of the opinion, who cares if the Catholic Church will marry us, we just want the same civil marriage that any man and woman can enter into together.