Another Good Old-Fashioned Rant

There are many things I have an opinion on. Some are more frivolous than others. But today I'm going to give a few of them a moment or two in the spotlight.

First off - The Hunger Games. I love the books, and I'm excited about the movies, but seriously. How long are we going to drag out the whole movie-promoting process? It's getting to the point where I'm actually not all that excited about the movies anymore. Already I'm getting tired of the hype. And the first movie doesn't even come out for another seven months or so!

The teaser trailer that MTV made such a huge production over? No big deal. Kind of boring, really. Very anti-climactic.

The constant barrage of articles online claiming they have sneak peeks behind the scenes? Not so much. They have all the same stuff everyone else has.

The blatant self-promotion put forth by the Hunger Games movie people? Look, fan art! Oooh! Look, a sweepstakes to win a mockingjay pin! Oooh! Look! A one-in-a-billion chance to go to Hollywood and see the set! Oooh!

It would be delightful if they just gave it a break for a while. You're ruining my love of The Hunger Games trilogy, people!!!!

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Something more serious that bothers me is the reputation the military has for being notorious for infidelity. I realize that, chances are, there really is more infidelity in the military than there is in the civilian world. Husbands and wives have to spend a lot of time away from each other, and for some people (those with serious self-control issues), that leads to cheating. In fact, I believe there are even some people in the military for whom the military's poor reputation was a draw. There are, unfortunately, people in the world who don't believe in the sanctity of marriage. They figure they'll get married for the benefits that go with that, and get whatever other action they may desire on the side. They don't take their marriages seriously. And being in the military gives them lots of opportunities to get away from their spouse and have a little "fun." Therefore, the military lifestyle appeals to them. That may even be part of the reason why they joined the military in the first place! In that regard, the military's reputation becomes kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It's unfortunate, but I know that it does happen. The thing that really bothers me, though, is when people assume that your marriage is going to fail just because your husband is in the military. They assume that one or the other of you will definitely cheat. Your marriage is doomed!

I got a taste of this when I posted a comment on this topic on spousebuzz.com. The article talked statistics about the levels of infidelity in the military. The statistics were from the 90s, though, so it was old information. The article was discussing whether or not those statistics are still accurate today, among other things. The article is here: http://spousebuzz.com/blog/2011/08/infidelity-divorce-more-common-among-vets.html

I posted this comment: "That's kind of nuts that they're basing their study on information that came out when a lot of the current military force were still in elementary school (my husband, for example). 

I suppose their information COULD be accurate, but they certainly would need a lot more information to really back it up. And in the long run, I think the generalizations out there about military servicemen and women being more likely to cheat could be sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's possible that there are some people who join the military because of its reputation in regards to adultery (whether or not that reputation is deserved). It may appeal to them because they know they'll be spending a lot of time away from their families and therefore have opportunities to cheat.

At the same time, though, I don't think being in the military makes people MORE likely to cheat. The military lifestyle may be a draw for people who don't want to be monogamous, but I believe that people who truly love their spouse and don't want to hurt them (and who are willing to work at their marriage when things are tough) will remain fervently committed to each other in spite of their time apart. In fact, their time apart will probably make their marriage and their love stronger.
I'm lucky enough to be in that latter category. I know for a fact that my husband is as crazy about me as I am about him. I also know that he's 100% committed to me, and to our family - and vice versa. There's no possible way we would ever be unfaithful to one another. It definitely makes the separations easier. I'm so grateful that cheating is not something I have to stress out about (on top of everything else!) while he's gone."
Some people agreed, more or less, with my comments, but a large number had only negative reactions. One, posted as a direct reply to my comment, stated, "That's what I thought, too," then proceeded to talk about how his naivete was rewarded with a cheating spouse and a costly divorce. I know he was just sharing his side, but at the same time, it felt like he was calling me an idiot for believing that my marriage will succeed. And many of the other comments felt the same way. 

Here's the thing. Even if the percentage of cheating spouses is higher in the military than it is in the civilian world, it's still not such a high number that we can accept so many generalizations about how military marriages are doomed to failure. The cheaters are still in the minority. Most military marriages are strong. Most spouses are dedicated to each other. And frankly, the deployments and constant time spent apart can actually make marriages stronger! You develop a greater appreciation for your spouse. You don't take them for granted. You learn to be selfless, and put their needs before your own.

Being in a military marriage does not mean you or your spouse is automatically going to cheat. Believe it or not, there is such a thing as self-control. There is also such a thing as dedication. And loyalty. And love!

When you truly love your spouse, and you're willing to do absolutely whatever it takes to make your marriage work, your marriage will be a success.

I truly feel terrible for all the people who have suffered because of cheating spouses. It's wrong on absolutely every level, and there's no excuse for it. None! But it really does bother me when people in the military all get a bad rep because of the few sleazy cheaters.

My husband adores me, and I adore him. We're madly in love, and 100% dedicated to each other. He will never cheat on me, and I will absolutely never cheat on him.

So please stop trying to convince me otherwise!

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So, apparently PETA is no longer content to just post pictures of naked celebrities, demean those who are struggling with obesity, and throw buckets of blood on people. They've decided that what they really need to do is start their own porn website! Awesome, right???

Their plan is to intersperse x-rated pictures with photos of animals being slaughtered and tortured. Aside from the fact that most people would consider pornography addiction to be far more damaging than eating the occasional piece of chicken, there are other issues. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure that this grand idea will help their cause. In fact, it will probably do just the opposite. Think about it for a minute.

If you still don't see the problem, maybe this Wikipedia entry will clarify: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pavlov

There are already plenty of sick people in the world. We really don't need PETA creating more of them.

Enough said.

Stay classy, PETA.


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There's an Air Force Ball in a couple of weeks! Fun, right? Yeah, except for the part where they scheduled it at pretty much the worst possible time.

The guys from the current deployment (Ben included) will probably not be back by then. And the guys going on the next deployment will already be gone! So, they pretty much scheduled this event exactly wrong. There's a very small window of time where you could schedule something to exclude people from two squadrons, out on consecutive deployments. And yet, that's exactly what they did.

I get that this is a B-1 base, and that the C-130 squadrons here are not the main focus of the base. But seriously? They don't get any consideration at all??? I mean, they scheduled this Ball so perfectly wrong, it's incredible.

I'm a little bitter about it, can you tell? I get that the C-130 guys are second-class citizens compared to the B-1 guys, but this is stupid. All they had to do was move the Ball one week in either direction and they would have been able to accommodate the guys from either the group that are deploying, or the group that are returning. One week in either direction!!! And the B-1 guys wouldn't have been affected, so what does it matter to them?

It's stupid and annoying. And that's all I have to say about that.

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CHILI'S HAS STOPPED SELLING WHITE CHOCOLATE MOLTEN CAKE!!!!

Seriously, what is up with that???

I'm not a big fan of desserts at restaurants. They always have the same basic things: cheesecake, a brownie with ice cream, a chocolate chip cookie with ice cream, apple cobbler, and a piece of chocolate cake. Every once in a while you might find something different, but those are the basics. And I'm not saying these desserts are bad, but they're nothing special - especially for $6 each. I could make something like that at home for a lot cheaper, and usually it will taste better to me, too.

Every rare once in a while, though, a restaurant comes up with a dessert that I absolutely love! Usually it's something that I can't find anywhere else, and that I don't have the ability to create myself.

For a while, Applebee's had this amazing dessert called "apple chimi-cheesecake." It was a dessert chimichanga, with warm apple-cinnamon cheesecake inside, covered in cinnamon and sugar. It was amazing.


But they stopped selling it. I'm still sad about that.

Then, I discovered Chili's white chocolate molten cake!

They have a couple of other kinds of molten cake, as well. They always have regular chocolate molten cake, and from time to time they've also had chocolate chip molten cake and chocolate-peanut-butter molten cake.

None of those impressed me, though. They were too rich, and not super tasty.

The white chocolate molten cake, though... So. Ridiculously. Good.

It was really the only reason I ever went to Chili's. I've never been all that impressed with their food. They seem addicted to jalapenos and other similar spices, and I'm just not a super-spicy kind of person. But because of the cake, I was a frequent customer.

But a few months ago they stopped selling white chocolate molten cake! Seriously, Chili's????

Another fabulous dessert has gone extinct. Just like the apple chimi-cheesecake.

And now I have no motivation to go to Chili's anymore.

I suppose it's a good thing, since I'm on a diet, but still. What's the deal, Chili's?????

Rant over. Cassie out.