12.30.2006

Bricks and Mortar sucks!

Today was a case of those who would rather buy online, like me and those who have friends or family who would rather drag me to BB and deal with temporary holiday help who just talk out of both sides of their mouths...Sheesh, it was UNBELIEVABLE the number of contradictions uttered by those fools. And of course, we had to go there for the hot ticket category of HDTV. Outside of the Computers area, I am sure HD is the next big thing if not THE biggest area there. I understand the HD technology very well and was in the store for ONE cable..........ONE! Of course, my compatriot opens his mouth to confirm if his setup is correct like I already told him it was before we left his house, but for some reason he asks one of the clowns in the accessories area about how we have things...Blah, blah, blah, I walk over after checking prices on some other items and he says, "Explain the setup to the guy." I tell the story and after it's all said and done, when I had already spotted the 25ft cable we came there for as I walked up to both of them, the BB guy says, "You'll need Monster cable this and that." Correction sir. I would need a loan from my credit union to follow your advice...Idiot. I won't drown you with details on my verbal sparring session with this guy....So, we bounce over to the speakers section and listen to a pretty nice Klipsch set that was purchased soon thereafter. I confirm with the next blue shirt what he has pumping into those things and ask to see all wires so as to not have a secret amp out of sight that makes them sound better than what they are. Fine. This guy was much better than the two tools in the HD area. He pulled the receiver out of the cabinet and showed me everything and we followed the cables to the two speakers. Fine. Well, guess who decides to ask THIS guy about our setup? You guessed it...I finished explaining ish and the guy says, "Oh yeah, I would keep the setup you have." I said, "How interesting that you would contradict the guys in the HD area." He tells me in a low voice, "Those guys are morons. They think everyone comes in with absolutely zero knowledge of technology." Anyway, then it was a nice 35min wait in the line with only 5 people ahead of us when we got there....5 people!! Two did returns and the other three finalized their financing...Man, I wanted to pull my hair out. The only time I can say I ever go into BB is if I get a gift card, I get asked to go or I want to peep something I am going to just get online for much cheaper anyway...Thank God for the Internet! I have a few friends who have been in retail hell before and have told me some stories of the inner workings...BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY comes to mind. It's nice to actually deal with someone who is not a drone when you go to a bricks and mortar store....It's rare, but nice....Customer Service is dead Damas y Caballeros...

12.28.2006

Sweet Product-O-The-Day

If you were unlucky enough to snag a Wii this holiday season, how about one of the best boardgames of all time, Monopoly + Nintendo? The game features characters such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Star Fox, and Wario, and the specialized pewter game pieces include a Donkey Kong barrel, Link's boots, a Hylian Shield, a NES controller, Mario's hat, and a Koopa shell.

This has to be one of the coolest editions I have seen.

12.24.2006

It's Merry Christmas to you buddy!

Oh brother......One of those moments in my life that I wish could have just been a blip on the screen...Last week sometime, I was walking down a hallway at work and someone said a few words to strike up some conversation and points and counter-points were made and blah-blah-blah...At the end of our quick conversation, the person says, "If I don't see you, have a Merry Christmas....Oops, I mean Happy Holidays." I said, "Why did you say that?" The person says, "Merry Christmas is not the PC thing to say these days." I said, "I'm not offended by you saying Merry Christmas to me." The person says, "Oh, ok. I just know there are people who work here that don't celebrate Christmas." I said, "Right, but do you really think someone is going to file a complaint against you or something?" The person says, "You never know."

Moron.

I guess that person should have wished me a happy Festivus instead. :p

12.21.2006

"Dr. Death"

I forgot to blog about this story last week, but since this picture is absolute money, I decided to post today about the story and the man. You could not believe the airtime that Dr. Jack Kevorkian received locally when he was helping people die in MI. Sheesh. The story obviously grew wings for a national spotlight, but as every story that gains national attention, it's MUCH worse for the citizens near it. Mix in Geoffrey Fieger and you have serious drama. Anyway, I laugh at these fundamentalists who are trying to get their grills in front of the cameras to pop off about how Dr. Death is going to get back into the killing game the second he gets released from jail. The guy's own health is deteriorating rapidly; he's frail and has fallen a few times adding further injury to his person and yet people want to keep him in jail to rot.
Personally, I don't see the issue with Dr. Kevorkian as being a danger to society. People ASKED for his help and if someone was unable to request his help, then those who had legal say in a person's healthcare asked for the help. Explain to me how that is wrong? People say that Kevorkian was sick and twisted and LIKED to kill people. Are those same people saying anything about the hundreds (probably thousands) of doctors who are vacuuming kids out of the uteri of women across the US on a daily basis? Probably not, but when an ADULT asked someone to inject them with a compound that causes them to stop breathing, the person (Kevorkian) pressing the syringe is crazy? I'm not here to say that Assisted Suicide is right or wrong, but I am also not someone who lives every second of their life in excruciating pain and have been unable to get any relief through conventional or homeopathic options.

Let the guy out of jail and worry about bigger issues like a war, education, rising healthcare costs or the US economy. Some people just amaze me.

12.19.2006

12.16.2006

Unconditional Love?

Ok. Here's the situation. I recently overheard a conversation when I was somewhere about a person talking about how much they loved pets. The two people talking were fans of dogs very much UNLIKE myself. One person said, "I just love the unconditional love that my dog gives me." The other person says, "I know exactly what you mean. When I come home from work, it's so nice to have my dog get sooo excited to see me." You idiots!! You interpret THAT as love?! Pavlov, anyone? Sheesh, the dog does not "love" you. The dog just knows that you are the person who will feed it, let it outside to fertilize your grass, and walk it whenever you do that sort of thing. Unconditional love with pets and people is a human construct that just sounds nice, but means nothing. Swing for the fences with a golf club on that dogs hind parts or scream at it X number of times and see how its "unconditional love" just happens to change. Many people say babies and children show unconditional love, but again, not true. They lack the understanding on what love is. They just mimic what adults do as far as kissing other people and hugging and things like that.

People claim that caring for a sick loved one is a form of unconditional love, but that's not true. It's most likely the reciprocation of the care and support given by that person before they were sick.

My point is that there are ALWAYS conditions to love. Every time. No question. Thinking otherwise is just avoiding reality or seeing things for truly what they are. Any thoughts?

12.14.2006

Top 3

Luxury SUVs.

I am NOT an SUV person at all, BUT if I were, my Top 3 would be the following:

Land Rover Sport ($57,950US)
BMW X5 4.8i ($54,500US)
Porsche Cayenne Turbo S ($111,600US)

12.11.2006

Stupid Toys & RUNAWAY

So, on one of my recent travels on the Information Super Highway, I spot one of 2006's featured Christmas toys for the tots out there. I'm not sure if your mind works like mine in that there can be certain triggers (a sight, sound, smell, taste, or phrase) that immediately triggers memories. When I saw this toy, I began to think about the cinematic greatness that was one of the best and by best, I mean worst 80's sci-fi films ever--RUNAWAY. Tom Selleck & Gene Simmons on screen is a dream come true for any self-respecting sci-fi fan!I went to school for and I work in IT and this movie captures the essence of programming like no other film shown to the civilized world. How genius are programmed robots that kill? Deep. I know. Simmons is so evil. Selleck is so frustrated.
The 80's 'stache of Selleck was the great equalizer and made many women's knees quiver....so, I'm told. I never had a 'stache in the 80's....I don't even think I had hair on my legs in the 80's. When this film came out, I was 8. The only reason I happen to see it was either I snuck into the room when my parents were away and switched on HBO or my dad rented the VHS tape and somehow I was able to peep the film; I don't recall my exact method. Either way, you should see this film to see when Hollywood made great and ultra-predictablefilms on a shoe string budget.

In addition to Malta India, Pasta de Guayaba and the One to Grow On PSAs, RUNAWAY made me the man who I am today...........

12.08.2006

Corporate Hypocrisy

I've worked at a few places in my life on this earth. I am in no way a "job-jumper" by any stretch of the imagination; not my style. In fact, outside of several jobs I held while an undergrad, I have only been with two companies post BS and MS. Different positions, of course, but two companies and several different management styles and teams. Anyway, today was pretty interesting...Well, not really; it was a typical day in the rat race with a bunch of frightened rats scurrying about as the big cat one of the BIG, BIG bosses came into town. If there is one thing I cannot stand is a person or persons who are scared of another human being for some baseless reason(s). Seriously, I would not care if the CEO of my company came through the door any given day to observe me or talk with me. I have absolutely nothing to hide and treat everyday as IF the big man or woman were going to come in and ask me to justify my paycheck. I mean, come on! There were people today giving an approximation of when this Big Boss was going to arrive and to have everything "looking just right" so as to not piss the Big Boss off. What idiots! Again, if there is nothing to hide, what have you to fear? If you act in a professional manner to your own boss, fellow co-workers or even the janitor, there should be no fear. It was no different when I was at my previous company. A big account manager would come in from out of state to join us for a meeting and everyone was in a moronic frenzy....Unbelievable. There are so many people who take their jobs for granted and cannot justify what they actually do most times that they live in fear. Amazing! My conscious is clear and I welcome the opportunity to talk with anyone of a "position of power" because I operate in a deliberate manner. I wonder if this is just a US thing......

12.06.2006

12.04.2006

Land's End

I have an affinity for fashion. Be it the fashion on my person or other persons. It’s certainly not a status thing with me. I could care less if I have an Armani suit on or an outfit from Target; if it looks good, it just looks good. I don't necessarily have an allegiance to certain brands either, but I do have certain expectations if I buy a KCole shirt that it will hold up in terms of quality longer than 2-3 washes or dry cleanings. I like certain places for shoes unless I need sneaks or some other form of workout shoe, but I digress.

A guy at work was telling me about Land's End today. As I said earlier, I have no allegiance to a brand or store. I am pretty confident that I can find at least one item in pretty much any clothing or shoe store and make it work with whatever particular style/look I had in mind. I don't own anything from Land's End. No reason; I just don't. Most clothes and shoes have a really weak guarantee / return policy. Check out the guarantee policy from the Land's End site that this guy told me about:
The world is full of guarantees, no two alike. As a rule, the more words they contain, the more their protection is limited. The Lands' End guarantee has always been an unconditional one. It reads: "If you’re not satisfied with any item, simply return it to us at any time for an exchange or refund of its purchase price."
We mean every word of it. Whatever. Whenever. Always. But to make sure this is perfectly clear, we've decided to simplify it further.
GUARANTEED. PERIOD.®


That is just crazy! I may have to add some Land's End to my fashion options. That guarantee is just too good to pass up.

12.02.2006

My Top 3

I will do my best to keep up with this feature on my blog once every two weeks. We'll see how it goes. The premise is that I will provide a list (in no particular order) of My Top 3 anything. By 'anything' I could mean favorite vehicles, food item, shoes, exercises, etc. Essentially, it's the respective category of something that interests me and what I feel to be my top three favorite items at that moment. You can agree or disagree with me or provide your Top 3 or do whatever you see fit. Get it? Got it. Good.

Without further ado, the first entry for my Top 3 will be my Top 3 Reggaeton artists:

1. Daddy Yankee
2. Wisin y Yandel
3. Calle 13