The heart-shaped Go Away! sign featuring a dancing skeleton has long been a hit, and now he has company. The dancing skeleton heart sign series has been expanded to include:

No Parking
No Soliciting
No Entry
Eat Poo

or any other custom saying you want on the darling little layout.

The layout is particularly darling because it juxtaposes the happy, lovey-dovey heart with a comical skeleton then tops it off with a warning or demand. Oh, the irony!

Why you need it:

Custom skeleton heart signs are a must for maintaining neighborly relations while securing your boundaries. You get to tell folks to go fly a kite in a fun and humorous way that won’t make them go running home crying.

It’s akin to providing rude gesture with a Cheshire cat grin on your face.
Try it, you’ll like it!

Specs.
Color schemes are up to you, the skeleton and text will be added in contrasting hues.
Standard size for the skeleton heart signs are about 12 inches long and 10 inches high, but you can go for any size your heart desires.

Metal signs have weatherproof paint and clear coat for indoor/outdoor use. Filed edges for safety. Wire loop for easy hanging.

If no color is mentioned upon order, sign will be reproduced in the green and yellowish No Parking color scheme.

Order now. Your driveway, front gate and office door can’t wait!

Sayings

No Parking Skeleton Heart Sign No Soliciting Skeleton Heart Sign Go Away Skeleton Heart Sign Eat Poo Skeleton Heart Sign CUSTOM TEXT Skeleton Heart Sign (specify text)

Paradise comes from happy hounds, good pizza and camping in Arizona — not necessarily all at once.

The hounds and the camping make a magnificent mix, but you’d be hard-pressed to get the crust of a DiGiorno frozen pizza to properly rise on a campsite grill. And to make sure the hounds-and-camping mix stays more like paradise than hell, make sure your planning consists of more than simply grabbing a tent and heading for the hills.

You should at least bring some water. Lots of water. It’s amazing how much water it takes to wash your hands, wash your face, brush your teeth, boil rice, hydrate two big dogs and have a sip or two left over for yourself.

Bring plenty of food. This includes dog food. For future reference, please note that the only dog food for sale anywhere near Roosevelt Lake consisted of three cans (count them) at the marina, or your choice of Old Roy or Purina several miles from the campsite.

Other amenities depend on how much or how little you feel like truly roughing it. Those who want the really rough can go as far as forgetting about luxury items, such as toilet paper. Those who like a bit of comfort in their lives will want to include fluffy sleeping bags, air mattresses and pillows—and dog treats to lure the dogs off the air mattresses and pillows.

Comfort items are especially important, so that you don’t end up being cranky, which can lead to becoming rude and obnoxious and starting fights with your significant other. Crankiness can also result in a devil-may-care attitude that makes you forget the rules of camping etiquette. There are several.

Stealing the portable chairs someone left by the lake is a no-no, as is blasting AC/DC in the middle of the night. Riding your bicycle into other people’s campsites with a large golden retriever in tow is typically frowned upon. This counts double if your only apparent purpose is to tell those campers that their garbage is going to “blow to hell and back” unless they take some of the garbage bags you are offering.

Bring garbage bags.

The biggest etiquette breach of all, however, comes from those god-awful noisemakers called generators. These beastly items are for the truly clueless, who think camping means driving a 90-foot RV to an out-of-town site where you can shut the curtains, crank up the air conditioning and sit in comfort while you drink beer and watch baseball.

While all of that is fine and dandy — for a sports bar — it kind of kills the point of camping. It disturbs other campers who would have surely hurled rocks at the generator, the RV or the people inside had it not been a night with a blazing super moon.

Generators are not the only dangers you should be aware of while camping in Arizona. Rattlesnakes are going to be part of the scene, and just like bicycling man with the golden retriever, they will slither into your space uninvited.

Bring a shovel.

Shovels can be used to smash rattlesnake skulls, scoop dirt to extinguish your campfire and help set up your little home away from home, otherwise known as your campsite. Setting up your site is an art in itself, with a number of rituals that can help ensure you have a safe and comfortable stay.

The safety comes through clearing your site of rocks, large sticks and other debris that can pierce your foot or poke a hole in your air mattress. Your dog’s paws will thank you for clearing out the wayward burrs.

Setting the tent on a plastic tarp aids in safety by further fortifying the bottom of the tent. If you leave enough plastic sticking out by the tent doors, legend says the plastic will deter those mean ol’ rattlesnakes. True or not, the measure does help you sleep better.

You’ll also sleep better if you bring your feng shui kit to cleanse the campsite upon your arrival. A Tibetan singing bowl works wonders for clearing out foul energy, evil spirits and the residue of bad karma left in the tent from your beau’s ex-wife. That stuff can be nastier than a mean ol’ rattlesnake any day.

Yes, I can too do cute, and this adorable floral bunny proves it! Thanks to loyal customer Cher, who requested a cute bunny with flowers, the pictured creation was born.

Although Cher got the original, I am up for making additional bunnies in similar fashion, with flowers or polka dots or the pattern and colors of your choice. You can also go for text on the rabbit, making it an ideal nameplate for a kid’s room.

Specs.
Adorable bunny is made out of sheet metal and weather-resistant. Filed edges for safety. Wire loop for easy hanging.

Prices depend in sizes:
$45 for custom rabbit sign approx. 18 by 14 inches
$40 for custom rabbit sign approx. 16 by 12 inches
$35 for custom rabbit sign approx. 14 by 10 inches

For more info or to add details to your order, use Etsy conversations or email ryngargulinski@hotmail.com

Buy now! with button below.

Sizes

Lg bunny 18 by 14 inches$45.00 USD Med bunny 16 by 12 inches$40.00 USD Sm bunny 14 by 10 inches$35.00 USD

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

Dear Cox Communications Collections Department:

I am in receipt of your URGENT letter dated April 23, 2012, that threatens to disconnect my service unless I pay the amount of $140.98. The letter goes on to further threaten reactivation or reconnect installation fees if my service is interrupted.

Give me a break.

Not only are your threats offensive to a loyal customer who has paid her bills on time for the past five years, but your information is inaccurate.

When I received my bill for May services, I was appalled to see charges of $140.98 and immediately called your so-called customer service number to find out what was going on.

I spoke to a Cox representative on April 24, 2012, who told me her name was April. She explained the payment I made for the April monthly bill did not properly go through. Rather than send a check as I usually do, I decided to try your suggestion to “Go Paperless!” and pay my bill online. It obviously is not as fun and easy as it may seem.

Since my bank account has enough funds to cover the monthly charges, which should have clued you in since I have been using the same account to pay your bills for the past half-decade, there must be some type of error in the transaction.

Rather than alert me right away that the payment did not go through, however, you decided to wait nearly a month before bringing the matter to my attention. This ensured I would be penalized with a late fee as well as a “returned payment” fee.

I paid the amount due for April services over the phone in the amount of $53.99. Your representative April said she would waive the usual phone payment fee and put in a request to waive the $25 returned payment fee as well as any late payment penalty fees.

Your representative then told me that cleared up the problem and left me with a balance of $53.99 due May 16, 2012. That is the balance enclosed, which brings my account balance current with no additional money owed by me until my next monthly bill due June 16.

It is unclear where the initial error lies, yet it seems clear that instead of trying to repair the situation your only interest is piling on additional fees, not updating my account when payment is made, and sending out notices threatening disconnection.

I would be happy to speak with a representative to provide further details on the matter, although that does not seem to work all that well with your company. My beau had an issue with Cox earlier this year when he closed out his account and you owed him a credit. Rather than paying the credit, as he was told would happen from a representative on the phone, he was sent a bill saying he owed Cox money instead of the other way around.

I would also be happy to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and other consumer protection agencies to alert them of your unethical and unfair practices.

I am already posting a copy of this letter on my blog to alert other consumers what may be in store if they choose to go with Cox Communications.

Have a nice day,

Ryn Gargulinski
Writer, artist, performer
Disgruntled Cox customer

Three fast facts about my first camping trip:

1. Mt. Lemmon has bicyclists and motorcycles that ride around like bats out of hell (well, the motorcycles do. Bicyclists can’t get the speed going up).

2. The dogs were wowed by the giant buzzard they saw eating their bowl of dog food.

3. The only other wildlife we saw was a wasp that got trapped in the tent.

Click HERE for Camping PHOTOS part 1

Three fast facts about my first camping trip:

1. Mt. Lemmon has pines, a nice switch from Tucson cactus.

2. The dogs spent more time in the tent than we did.

3. The dogs didn’t want to budge off the air mattresses.

Click HERE for Camping PHOTOS part 2