New technology is pushed on the consumer everyday. Just when you think you have the latest and greatest gadget a new “better” one is released. I understand the need to make money, but I feel like “we”, the consumers are being taken advantage of. Think of the competitive edge that those companies have over the average everyday person looking an electronic device. These companies know exactly what this new technology does, do we?

Should there be some moral code that these companies follow? Of course! We are spending our money making them rich. Did you know that the average 5 mega pixel digital camera is equivalent to your old 35mm camera? Meaning if you are  printing 4×6 snapshots you only need a 5 not a 12 mega pixel. For example, my camera is a Kodak, 5mp and I can print clear 20×30 inch prints, that’s bigger than the average poster. If you had that information you would have the option of buying a $70 camera versus a $400 camera.

America seems to have this obsession with new gadgets that these companies feed into like leaches. The government has joined the bandwagon with the conversion to DTV in 2009. I was extremely upset when this hit the news, why should the consumers have to spend more money for something that is being forced on us. The good part of the conversion is that it will free up needed frequencies for emergency services, and the government is giving out vouchers for converter boxes. The bad part is, consumers are very ill informed, the “leftover frequencies” will be auctioned off, you can only “apply” for 2 vouchers per household. If you have a TV that receives cable/satellite you will probably be just fine, although it may give those providers and excuse to raise your bill. If you have a TV that uses an antenna or is an old analog TV you will need the box. The voucher will cover $40 of the $50 price of the converter box. We have four old analog TV’s, meaning it is going to cost us $120 to watch cable on those TV’s.

Another question I have is why do Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony release new video game consoles every two years? Maybe it is so parents will have to buy them for their kids because all of them except for the Sony PS2 do not release new games for the older systems. I know the graphics and the technology is amazing in these new systems, but why does our society, especially our younger members keep feeding into this so furiously.

If all these companies banded together to come up with life saving technologies imagine what they could accomplish. Maybe a cure for cancer, or a way to stop polluting our environment. The world can make a super computer the size of a dime, but they can’t figure out how to run a feasible automobile without gasoline.

Short Cartoon – I’m sure we have all felt like this at one point in time.

After receiving an anonymous comment today I realized that maybe I should explain why I write what I do. Although my husband and I are in this project together I write the majority of the posts, due to the fact that he works long hours.

Most of what I write is like a therapy to me. When I was a young I always wrote about my confused or angry feelings. It just helped me sort through things going on in my life and generally made me feel better. There came a point in my life that I stopped doing that, I would let things that upset me fester and never speak of them. For me, that’s not good, it always comes to a point where I can’t take it anymore and I feel like a volcano ready to erupt.

The past two years, I tend to have that “erupting” feeling on a daily basis, due to a major change in our lives. That is why we had the idea for Boiled Over, a place to vent your frustrations. In the beginning I really had no idea how much this was going to help me, but it has tremendously. I am able to sit down, write how I feel and let it go until the next time I get fired up.

Today a commenter stated that our motto is “Every opinion counts, no feelings are wrong, we may not all agree, but we must all live in the same world together” yet we condemn our friend in the post.

Let me say that our friend’s opinion counts as much as ours, I was simply responding to the way I felt about what had transpired. That does not mean that I don’t respect her as my friend, I just simply disagreed.

In our quest to help ourselves by writing on this site, we hope that it will encourage others to do so as well. Expressing your anger in a constructive way relieves stress and anxiety. That is why I write.

Nothing Boils me Over more than one grown adult preaching, and pushing their religious beliefs on another grown adult. Let’s look at reality here most people by the time they reach adulthood have a “certain” belief as to a “God” or “Higher” power. It may not conform to what other people believe, but that is what makes us individuals. Most adults change their beliefs only if THEY choose to not because someone has told them they are going to hell if they don’t.

I consider myself to be an intelligent person with good morals. There is a vast universe of power out there and with the human brain being capable of powering only a 25 watt light bulb, I do believe there may be “something” more powerful. Don’t get me wrong faith is a wonderful thing and has a great power itself. My faith is a strong part of my life even if it does not conform to the conventional church teachings. Again it has to do with being an individual, thinking with a “free” mind.

I wrote a spur of the moment post on Friday called Why. In that post I mentioned “IF there is some higher power….” I was venting, angry and not seeing a bit of sense in this thing we call life. That is why we created this site, for that purpose. A short time later I received an email from an out of state, long time friend stating her concern. The problem is she was not stating her concern about why I was feeling that way, it was about WHY I questioned God!
Although I know she will read this post too I am going to quote what she said to me in the email because I was so angry I thought I was going to explode!

There is a God. There is a Jesus. We may not always understand His reasons for what he does, we have to trust him. Death is not permanent. We make a decision to trust Him or not. It’s Heaven or it is hell. It’s that simple. Being angry w/God is okay. He gave you that emotion, but questioning His existence is another. Yes, you are right when you say that it doesn’t seem fair that some people that have kids, abuse them, those that want them don’t have them or worse, have them then lose them. I couldn’t agree more. While I do not know your pain & pray that I never will, I do know that God loves you & He is in charge & has a purpose for everything.
Take care. I know today is a hard day for all of you. Time doesn’t make it go away, but it may make it easier.

• “It is heaven or hell. It’s that simple.” — When has anything in life been simple?
• “…questioning his existence is another” — If “God” is an all powerful being and he knows our every move then he will know what is truly in our hearts. He will judge us for the people we are inside, not the people we portray to be on the outside.
• “…but it may make it easier.” — If I hear that phrase one more time I am going to rip someone’s tongue out. Time does not make it better, it never will. You are still without a loved one that was torn away from you way to young. I understand that people who have not had that experience may want to say that to make you feel better, but imagine yourself in that situation, would time make it better for you? THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK!

See I used to be a very reserved person, not wanting to say what was on my mind in fear of hurting someone or causing a stir. Well on Jan. 23rd of 2006, that all changed for me, I now realize that life is too short to be what other people think you should be. I speak my mind and do not hold anything back. I will say again we are all individuals with independent free minds which we feel gives us the right to express our thoughts.

Best quoted by Toby Keith

Hate me if you want to love me if you can….

I would like to add that my “friend” did send an apology email and I was thankful for that. I did appreciate her concern, it was just the way she went about it that upset me.

Today is Feb. 25, 2008. People here in the Philippines are celebrating the 22nd anniversary of the first people power revolution. I, as a Filipino, am proud of this spectacular feat done to oust Marcos without the help of violence. And 15 years later, the 2nd revolution has exploded forcing Estrada to step down from his position as well. 15 years and several months later, a so-called 3rd revolution failed to make Arroyo resign.

“Everything is becoming a nightmare and we’re not even aware of it.”

What is the message being delivered here? Every time a new president is elected the people tend to oppose them. That’s democracy I get it, but do you call 911 every time you need to change the bulb in your lampshade? of course not. 22 years and a handful of coup attempt later, people are somewhat tired of sparking a revolution, even though the country is again, in the midst of a political scandal, the effort the mass is generating is still not enough to shake the administration. This maybe a good thing, but there might be a bigger cause for this. For decades, we have witnessed the corruption of every single politician. Like it’s already part of the system, It is already part of the system. It is already inevitable, and the people are coming to their senses, we are beginning to accept the wrongdoings as part of our culture. Everything is becoming a nightmare and we’re not even aware of it. Sure Gloria is doing a great job boosting our economy, but the policemen roaming the streets, are they doing what they’re supposed to do. I myself don’t have any conclusion to this problem, I don’t have any solution whatsoever on how we are gonna solve this dilemma. But this country has lost all its dignity and morality, and that’s where I think we should start.

This company is scamming the consumers in Michigan and Canada! I have been warning friends and family about this company for over a year and finally The Michigan Public Service Commission has stepped in to investigate.

Universal Gas & Electric promises it’s customers a “lock in” rate on their utility bills for five years. They entice people by scaring them with the threat of higher natural gas price, saying things like

“when the cost of gas increases your rate will stay the same.”

What they fail to tell you is that their rate is already HIGHER than your current rate and you will only benefit if the cost of natural gas goes “extremely” higher. This company also fails to notify their prospective customers that once they sign they are locked into a contract for five years with a $250 cancellation fee.

My personal experience in looking into this company has taught me to stay away and warn others. Over a year ago we began receiving promotional flyers for this company in our mailbox. They were offering a lock in rate for two years at $1.09 a CCF for natural gas. Our utility provider was only charging us $0.89 a CCF at the time, so wondering why I would switch I read the fine, fine print were it proceeds to briefly mention the “lock in” contract. Red Flag for me, but giving them the benefit of the doubt, I continued to check the CCF price on our monthly gas bills. For the last twelve months our rate has fluctuated from month to month, but never exceeding $0.96 a unit that is still well under the rate that Universal wanted to lock us in at. Salesmen representing the company have also appeared at my door a few times. Those poor fellas did not know that I knew the dirty little tricks of their company. They actually insisted that I show them my current utility bill, so that they could see what rate I would be eligible for. I went on to explain that I would not show them my bill and what our average usage was. They kept stating that they could not provide me a rate without the bill, so I asked them about “the contract”. As one salesman eyed my electric meter the other flat out LIED stating that there was NO CONTRACT! At that time both gentlemen said they would come back later when I had more time to find my bill. I had no intentions of showing them my bill and they never returned.

As I read the article on our local news site  about the company being investigated it broke my heart. People that are most effected are senior citizens and low income households. In our failing economy in Michigan who wouldn’t want the promise of saving money on your heating bills. Now these residents with a fixed income are encountering higher bills, and locked into a contract they can not afford to get out of!

On their website Universal Gas & Electric states

Universal Gas & Electric Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Universal Energy Group, a publicly traded company on the TSX. For more information on investor relations see universalenergygroup.ca

According to Business Week

Universal Energy Group Ltd. announced the release of its financial results for the three month period ended December 31, 2007. The company earned revenue for the three months ended December 31, 2007 of $80.1 million compared to $46.6 million for the 2006 period.

That’s almost double the revenue, scamming innocent people out of their hard earned Money.

If you are a victim of this scam you may visit Universal Energy Scam – and how you can get out of it. A very good article posted at Cheeze Wiz and Mustard.

Universal Energy Corporations Survivors Page – a self-help site educating people on how to get out of this mess