What to Do: When Pulled Over By the Police

I’ve only ever been pulled over once by a policeman. I deserved it. I was going about 72 in a 55 zone. In my defense, I was late for my Physics 101 class. He was courteous and let me off with a warning since I was polite and it was my first infraction.

It can be nerve wracking for those of you who haven’t been pulled over. I won’t lie, I was sweating and almost cried thinking of that potential $300 ticket I didn’t have money for. So for everyone who’s never been pulled over, here’s what you should do:

1. After recognizing you’re being pulled over, pull your car to the shoulder of the road and turn your car off.
2. After making sure it’s a marked police car, roll down your window 3/4 of the way. Enough to talk to the police, but not enough that they can reach inside to grab you (I’ll explain why this precaution below).
3. After establishing that it is a police car, if it is dark, turn on your interior light so the officer can see you.
4. If you conceal and carry, keep both of your hands on the wheel where the officer can see them. When they run your plates it will show them your permit and they will most likely ask to see your weapon and have you step out of the vehicle. They are not harassing you, this is protocol.
5. If you don’t conceal and carry, still keep your hands on the wheel or where the officer can see them. It’s a basic safety measure that helps everyone involved to stay calm.
6. Keep your doors locked unless the officer asks you to exit the car. This is not an insult to the officer, simply a basic safety measure.
7. If the officer asks to see your license and registration, provide them.
8. They will take these back to their car and run them.
9. They will return to your car and inform you on the consequences of why you were pulled over.

I’ve never been written a ticket, but I assume they simply write you one and you are obligated to pay within a time frame before they enforce other actions.

CALL 112:

If you are a woman, being pulled over can be especially scary. ALWAYS make sure the car that pulled you over is a marked police car.This means it has letters on the car with the local Police Department’s name. There should also be a car number to identify itself. There won’t be just one ‘bubble light’ on top, there will be multiple rows of lights both inside and outside the car.

If it is not a marked police car, KEEP YOUR CAR LOCKED and call 112 or 911. You will tell them your location, and that you were pulled over by an unmarked police car. They will check to see if there are any unmarked cars in the area.

There have been several incidents where women were pulled over by convicted rapists and felons in order to hurt them. This number has saved lives. I know several women and girls who are afraid to call the number in case it’s a real policeman. Don’t be. This could save your life.

TIPS

1. Don’t say “what’s the problem officer?”, this sounds combative and will likely irritate them. Let the officer talk first. Don’t mouth off.
2. I don’t recommend flirting ladies. It may work some of the time, but it can come off as annoying and may land you that ticket.
3. Try not to be defensive or angry. Whether or not you were in the wrong, they are the police and they are the authority. Irritating the person with the authority will only escalate the situation and potentially worsen your outcome.

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I Am Cinderella?

I don’t have an evil Stepmother, or evil Stepsisters (just normal evil sisters), or a dead dad. But, I do know what it’s like to do Cinderella’s job.

The summer of 2015 I worked as a house cleaner for a local cleaning service. I cleaned vacant houses and apartments, new construction, and a few houses I’m sure were haunted.

I was essentially Cinderella without the dress, ball, or hot rich prince.

I’ve had a lot of jobs, I’ve worked retail, fast food (at Disney World), child care, and tutoring. But they were all better than cleaning.

In new construction houses, there are construction workers. These workers, like any humans, need to use the *ahem, facilities, every now and again. They are provided PortaPotties, but for some reason they often use the new (and typically not running) plumbing in the houses they build. Part of the checklist when you clean new houses is to check and clean the plumbing. Need I say more?

There is nothing quite as foreboding as walking into a new house in 102F heat, with no air conditioning, no electricity, and no running water.

As you may imagine, this was the worst part of the job. If possible, we’d scoop it out with something, throw it out, and continue cleaning. Unfortunately, the after cleaning could sometimes take hours. Because there was no running water, you weren’t able to flush the toilet. Because you weren’t able to flush the toilet, this made the chemicals that you are using in the summer heat very strong.

I’m not sure if I almost fainted or blacked out or accidentally got high, but you learn the hard way to let it sit and revisit later.

Another experience is cleaning a college student’s empty apartment. I will say one thing and let you imagine the rest: used condoms.

There were very few perks to this job, but the people you worked with became your second family. Neither of you want to be doing this job, but you have respect for one another because you both know what sh*t you have to go through every day. You acknowledge each other because you’re both willing to do one of the dirtiest jobs in existence to make $11 an hour.

You do what you have to. And that is something not everyone is willing to do.

Traveling with Three Birds, a Tiger, and a Chihuahua

Traveling with my family feels like I’m traveling with a zoo. More specifically, three birds, a tiger, and chihuahua.

I’m in the middle row of our three row mini van with my two sisters with my younger brother in the back row.

The conversations sound something like this; “OMG! I can’t even! Chatter chatter chatter! Doctor Who nerdy stuff! NOOO! ROSE! JON! Stahp it!”

It’s a constant twittering. Constant. But that’s to be expected when traveling with three young birds.

Driving is the chihuahua, he randomly barks at the birds and tiger between his bouts of intense conversation. Usually about a favorite book or film. He drives with the attention span expected and makes abrupt turns to coincide with his barking points. He is scattered but vigilant.

And finally the tiger. She rides to the right of the chihuahua. She uses her navigating skills to keep the chihuahua on course and from getting too distracted. She has the heavy paw in the car and dominates the choice of topics. Ironically avoiding graphic and insensitive talking points.

Which leaves me as the unqualified supervisor. It definitely feels like a menagerie, but somehow no one gets devoured. I can only imagine this is like some odd version of Charlottes Web where we all coexist. Never before had I heard of this many contradicting animals working as a unit.

I guess we are a family full of firsts.

 

The Five Stages of Job Rejection

1. Disbelief

Opening my email… That interview went really well… I bet I’ll get the job no problem… It was a freakin slam dunk… WHAT?! Good luck in my job search?! You know where you can stick your good luck!

2. You’re Missing Out S**theads!

You’ve got no idea who you just ignored! You will rue the day you didn’t hire me! I will take over the world and destroy you! You will ruuuuuuuue the day! Gaaaaah! *evil laugh

3. Nonchalance

Whatever. I don’t need them. I’m sure I’ve gotten plenty other job offers from people who appreciate my talents and profession. *Checks email

Well. S**t.

4. B***hing to Friends

5. I’ll Never Get a Job but I Have to Keep Looking

Why do I even want a job. Besides paying my bills. And I really love ice cream and Netflix. And I would never hear the end of it from my parents. And I want to be rich. And live in a penthouse with awesome dogs and fast internet. Well, I guess everybody started somewhere. Old Navy here I come…

Top Websites Every Student (of All Ages) Should Know

I rarely use pen and paper for school or work anymore, so I thought I’d share these golden websites that I use on a daily basis to help make your life easier. Enjoy.

SurveyMonkey 

This website is a free survey service that allows you to create, share, and analyze polls and questionnaires.

EasyBib 

This free paper-formatting website allows you to enter sources for MLA format papers, for the ‘lifetime’ subscription (one time payment of $29.99) you can use thousands of resources, hundreds of formats (APA, Chicago, ect.), and save your lists of sources. I use it constantly.

Google Scholar 

If you need to google something for a paper and it needs to be from an atricle, or from a dependable source that your a**hole professor will accept, use Google Scholar. Whatever you search, only academic and reputable sources will be provided that you can source with peace of mind.

Rainy Mood 

Rain sounds are one of my favorite things to listen to while I study, so I use Rainy Mood. It’s free and a continuous loop with no ads or interference.

Khan Academy 

Full of free, easy, and professional tutorials, Khan Academy is a reliable source for free help on a subject you’re struggling with. I use it for learning about how to calculate stocks and bonds math-ish stuff.

Word Hippo 

Ever think of a word and what it means, but can’t remember the word exactly? If you use Word Hippo, you can type in a phrase and it will tell you words that match the description.

Grammarly.com

Grammarly.com is a free grammar checking website that prides itself on not just catching spelling errors, but structure errors in papers. It says to “Instantly fix over 250 types of errors, most of which Microsoft Word® can’t find.” This service is free with options to upgrade as listed below.

Monthly Plan

$29.95/ month

Quarterly Plan

$19.98/ month

Billed as one payment of $59.95

Annual Plan

Best value

$11.66/ month

Billed as one payment of $139.95

I have not been paid or compensated in any way by any of the above mentioned companies, these opinions are my own and unaltered.

 

Top Six Types of High Tech Ear Gear

I am the oldest of four in a largely German/Irish family. So as you can imagine, it gets loud. Very loud. As a result of my boisterous family, I have become an expert in ‘Ear Gear’, earbuds, headphones, ear plugs, ect.

I know for a fact some of you have loud families too, so here’s how I survive in a Irman household. Get it? ‘Cause I mashed Iris-forget it. Read the post.

Disclaimer: I am not rich, barely middle class actually, so all of these products you’re about to see are not $400 headphones. Beats by Dre, or any other state of the art tech will not be mentioned because: 

a. I’ve never tried them 

b. I won’t recommend something I won’t try myself, and Beats are freaking expensive. Ain’t nobody got dollars for that. Enjoy the post. 

Since I want you to read this whole thing, we’ll start with number 6 and work our way backwards.

6. Apple Earbuds

Apple Earbuds. I remember getting my first pair with my first generation iPod in 2001. I put them in for 20 minutes, and promptly removed them. Why do you ask? Because they were bruising my ears! It Physically hurt for me to put these massive earbuds into my tiny kid head. I would say it’s better to get the noise headache than have bruised and misshapen ears after wearing these.

5. Sony Earbuds

Before Sony got it’s s**t together, it was the leading provider in crappy plastic headphones and earbuds with shockingly small rubber earpieces. I can’t count how many times I dropped one of the ‘ear cushions’ and never found it.

4. iHome Headphones

I was a huge ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ fan last year, so one of my Christmas gifts was a pair of these exact headphones. The sounds quality was low, and they only lasted me five months. But honestly, I was more excited about the design anyway. These are good for tweens who are just getting into Disney movies and new music.

 

The last three are all by the brand Skullcandy, this is my favorite  brand. I know they’re not the highest quality, but they’re the best I’ve ever used. My family is a Skullcandy Family as well, we’ve been using them since 2011.

 

3. Skullcandy Ink’d Earbud with Mic. These are a basic installment that is sold at major retailers like Walmart and Target. I have had several pairs of these, and while they aren’t as noise canceling as they could be, they are still great quality and material for the price. As of today, these are sold on walmart.com for 13.19. As someone who currently works for minimum wage, this is a very reasonable price for the medium/high grade of earbuds that they are.

 

2.  INK’D 2, these earbuds are music to my ears. The balance between the earbuds and the endurance of the product are impressive. A pair of Skullcandy earbuds typically last me 6-8 months, but this is with extremely heavy use. My favorite thing about these, is the price. As of today, these are listed for $15.99 on skullcandy.com. These are practical, affordable, and durable. 

 

1. Hesh 2 Wireless. These are the best headphones I’ve ever owned. The sound amplification, plus the exterior noise reduction, added to the fact that they are wireless makes these the Holy Grail of headphones. I use these on a daily basis and have had nothing but success with them so far. 

I hope you enjoyed my list of “Top Six Types of High Tech Ear Gear”, let me know in the comments below what your favorite ear gear is and why! Stay savvy.

I did not receive compensation for any of the above written, all of the opinions are my own and unpaid for.

Hey!

So this is my first post on this blog. I suppose you’re wondering what sort of poor, lonely loser would spend all of it’s (yes, blog writers are a species) time writing and posting information we all already knew with stock photos.

Well, I do.

Is it the most ‘grown up, adult’ thing ? No.

Is it going to make me any money whatsoever? Phft. I wish.

Is it letting me write about stuff I love? You’re freakin right it does.

I have a passion for lots of random stuff, and I think you share some of them. You may think I’m a complete idiot, but I think a lot of people have a large variety of interest that don’t fit the cookie-cutter standard of whatever society classifies them as.

Are you a chick who likes parasailing instead of Barbies? Welcome. Are you a dude who likes talking about clothes instead of sports? Welcome. Are you a dog who likes parasailing and sports? Welcome.

This blog is the dump site for my  brain, I hope you enjoy my stories, lists, tips, and awesome information!