The Rotten Beef Blog

This monster called facebook has to be STOPPED!  Where is the line between REALITY and VIRTUAL REALITY drawn?

Take for example what happened to me recently. I am by no means Mr. Popularity but my “friend” list on Facebook had grown close to 500 people. It got to the point the “friend” requests were coming from stranger and stranger people. I rarely get on and when I do I was having trouble finding my real friends to communicate with. So I posted that if I haven’t heard from you in a while or you have not answered my Facebook messages, I was going to thin my “friend” list dramatically. True to my word, those I have not heard from were cut.

One of those “friends” happen to be a real-life friend I met in high school. I sent this friend at least 2 or 3 FB messages but they never responded. They continued to post on FB just not return my messages. 3 days after the cut was made, they finally realized they were not on my list. WHOA! Did all hell break loose.

This friend was so upset that they blocked me from seeing them online, blocked my email address and sent me a nasty text telling me how hurtful “I” was and never to call again.

WTF?! So if I go and remove my parents, siblings, children or cousins from my Facebook “friends” list they should never talk to me again?

HELLO people! Facebook is a “virtual” friend list! Friends can still chat on the phone, write letters or email. We don’t have to be online buddies too to know we care about each other. Grow up and get a life!!

The weather is starting to warm up throughout most of the country. With that comes Summer time fun. Time to be outdoors and maybe splash in the pool or take walks in the cooler parts of the day or night. Speaking of which, something I could never figure out (especially in the warmer regions of the country) is how people can sit in their garage with family or friends and actually enjoy it.

I’ve noticed this before and it struck me as kind of odd, but I seem to be seeing it more and more. People sitting in their garages. Inviting over the neighbors. Smoking some cigarettes, drinking some beer and sharing some jokes. I have no problem with this and I think everyone has a right to relax in the manner of which they choose. But this isn’t just stepping out to smoke a quick cigarette. They have progressed from having lawn furniture in the garage to bringing in (or out) full length sofas, love seats, recliners, television sets, even going so far as to maybe carpet or linoleum tile the floor of the garage.

Hey I’m all for keeping a smoke-free home, I’m just not a hot weather fan. Which by the way, I have seen some fans in these garages too, but they were just the little 12″ oscillating kind.

Is this a family tradition? Is it some part of a specific culture or regional upbringing? I am not sure. But if these people enjoy it, that’s fine by me.

I say, Bring on the A/C!!

I recently signed up for one of these social networking websites. Automatically I started searching for friends and then college buddies. I searched for co-workers and then I decided I would look for old high school friends.

Now I know there is a very good probability that the girls from long ago have probably gotten new names from marriage, but the guys names more than likely would be the same. Amazingly enough, I couldn’t find any! It appeared to me as if they all just disappeared.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only computer literate person from my class, but the only one who signs up on these sites? I’ve checked the “school” networking sites and have found a few people on there, but those sites are too expensive when you have a whole bunch of free ones out there.

It’s also understandable that people grow up, have families, jobs and other things to occupy their time. Don’t you wonder about what ever happened to that good friend from high school? I know I have more than once.

Just a random thought running through my head today.

Blog ya later.