Well I went basically from house husband to very Part-time worker to extremely busy person. Our (my aunt and uncle in law) moved into an area of PA pretty close to us and I have offered my services to assist them in anyway needed basically on my days off from Best Buy which has really picked up due to the holiday shopping season (I guess it is the "play-offs of retail"). So I am working 30-40 hours a week right now and then putting in at least 1 or 2 days (10-4ish) on my day or days off. It has been great making some extra money especially during the holiday season, making gifts not have such a big impact and actually adding to savings instead of pulling from it. In the midst of all of this I have also gotten all of my Christmas shopping done, presents are wrapped, only thing left to do is mail out a couple of things. On the tippy top of all of that my computer finally started dying again so I decided it was time to move on and I purchased a new one. I got to use my employee discount and got a printer too (we hadn't had one in over a year) so a pretty good deal. I have also developed a sweet Elmo impression. We got our Christmas tree, a nice little 5 or 6 footer from Lowe's for $16! So that is a quickie little update on where I have been, there was almost a week where I literally couldn't (because of time and computer issues) write so sorry if you have missed me!
Upcoming things:
Last week of Christmas shopping for work so that will be busy.
HUGE possible snow storm coming...20+ inches potentially Saturday.
More days helping out at Aunt and Uncle's after Christmas.
Once things calm down again I should be able to get back into the blog, especially now that I have a functioning computer!
P.S. Windows 7 review will be coming soon
Christmas travels and fun times.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Leftovers
One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving is the leftovers! I have found 2 delicious things to do so far this year:
Left over turkey
Honey Mustard
Onions
Saute in a pan
Toast a nice piece of pumpernickel bread (or other nice piece of bread)
Add cheese to turkey (shredded)
Once melted place on toasted bread
Eat as a sandwich or open faced
Add a little extra honey mustard depending on how dry your turkey is
Last night the wife came up with a Turkey Corn Chowder idea that was fantastic and simple.
Basically combine:
Turkey
Can of Cream of Celery Soup
Milk
Picante Salsa
Corn
Just heat it up! We also added mushrooms but you could add some onions or anything really. It was really nice, a little kick from the salsa and crunch from the corn.
My favorite thing to do (which we couldn't do this year) is the Thanksgiving Sandwich:
Turkey
Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce
Gravy
2 nice slices of hearty bread and you are good to go! We didn't keep our gravy and didn't make cranberry sauce annnnnnd I may have eaten the rest of the stuffing :)
Left over turkey
Honey Mustard
Onions
Saute in a pan
Toast a nice piece of pumpernickel bread (or other nice piece of bread)
Add cheese to turkey (shredded)
Once melted place on toasted bread
Eat as a sandwich or open faced
Add a little extra honey mustard depending on how dry your turkey is
Last night the wife came up with a Turkey Corn Chowder idea that was fantastic and simple.
Basically combine:
Turkey
Can of Cream of Celery Soup
Milk
Picante Salsa
Corn
Just heat it up! We also added mushrooms but you could add some onions or anything really. It was really nice, a little kick from the salsa and crunch from the corn.
My favorite thing to do (which we couldn't do this year) is the Thanksgiving Sandwich:
Turkey
Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce
Gravy
2 nice slices of hearty bread and you are good to go! We didn't keep our gravy and didn't make cranberry sauce annnnnnd I may have eaten the rest of the stuffing :)
50 States Game
We watched all of the Friends Thanksgiving episodes after the parade, which included the one where Ross wants to play the game where you have to make a list of all 50 states in 6 minutes...sounds easy right? Well I thought so and felt pretty confident and we tried it. Ross is exactly correct by saying you always forget 1 or 2, I had 49 by 5 minutes left and couldn't figure out the last one so as I tried to visualize and go back over all of them I found that I missed West Virginia with about 15 seconds left on the clock. I think you should try it, it is fun and a little bit exciting!
My First Black Friday
As mentioned in the last post, this was my first black friday as an employee. I actually had a pretty positive experience, which surprised me from how unorganized the job has seemed so far. It basically was just a normal day with A LOT more people, but we had a lot more people to help so it evened out. The nice thing was that all the "doorbuster" items were taken before we opened due to a ticketing system, so all we had to worry about was selling the regular computer line (for the most part) because nothing else was on sale!
What I found most amazing was that I guess it marks the first day of people coming out who are actually willing to spend money, the week or so before we had person after person "just looking" but on Friday it wasn't a big deal that nothing was on sale, they were ready! I guess they were probably waiting but figured if it wasn't on sale black friday it wouldn't be on sale ever. There should be a shift now in the just looking policy where people will be ready (for about 4 weeks) to buy buy buy.
This should be my last and only black friday, if you have read other posts about my seasonal job you realize that for now I don't think I'll be going past "seasonal" and don't expect to do it next year. It is nice to have the money but the seasonal aspect just kills all planning for the holiday season, making it even more stressful than normal.
What I found most amazing was that I guess it marks the first day of people coming out who are actually willing to spend money, the week or so before we had person after person "just looking" but on Friday it wasn't a big deal that nothing was on sale, they were ready! I guess they were probably waiting but figured if it wasn't on sale black friday it wouldn't be on sale ever. There should be a shift now in the just looking policy where people will be ready (for about 4 weeks) to buy buy buy.
This should be my last and only black friday, if you have read other posts about my seasonal job you realize that for now I don't think I'll be going past "seasonal" and don't expect to do it next year. It is nice to have the money but the seasonal aspect just kills all planning for the holiday season, making it even more stressful than normal.
Thanksgiving Dinner
It was our first Thanksgiving "on our own" and we did a pretty good job! The menu included:
Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Left Over Pumpkin Bars (from a previous dinner)
Since we did the parade my stipulation was that we would take dinner kind of easy because we wouldn't have as much time to concentrate on cooking things. The stuffing, green beans and dessert were all basically simple and we each had our own things to concentrate on (turkey for me and the potatoes for her). It all ended up pretty good but of course things didn't go exactly as planned. The turkey cooking time ended up being about an hour shorter than expected, so we had to rush the sides and actually ended up eating and finishing the dishes by the time we originally planned to start eating.
The only downfall to our dinner was that the eating portion of the night was pretty short, the typical 15 minute dinner time, since we didn't have a bunch of people we didn't have the normal sit around and chat about all sorts of stuff time. About 4 hours of cooking for 15 minutes of eating and then clean up time. So for a meal like that it was just strange since we are both used to having the big dinners (and for the last couple of years 2 different dinners). Due to my taking the seasonal job we couldn't really go home because I had to work (black friday) at 4 am the next morning, so that is the only reason why we couldn't celebrate with other family...I don't plan on having to work black friday next year!
Thanks to my brother who put his turkey in about 10 minutes earlier than we did for notifying us that his was done super early, otherwise we might have over cooked the crap out of it.
Turkey
Stuffing
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Left Over Pumpkin Bars (from a previous dinner)
Since we did the parade my stipulation was that we would take dinner kind of easy because we wouldn't have as much time to concentrate on cooking things. The stuffing, green beans and dessert were all basically simple and we each had our own things to concentrate on (turkey for me and the potatoes for her). It all ended up pretty good but of course things didn't go exactly as planned. The turkey cooking time ended up being about an hour shorter than expected, so we had to rush the sides and actually ended up eating and finishing the dishes by the time we originally planned to start eating.
The only downfall to our dinner was that the eating portion of the night was pretty short, the typical 15 minute dinner time, since we didn't have a bunch of people we didn't have the normal sit around and chat about all sorts of stuff time. About 4 hours of cooking for 15 minutes of eating and then clean up time. So for a meal like that it was just strange since we are both used to having the big dinners (and for the last couple of years 2 different dinners). Due to my taking the seasonal job we couldn't really go home because I had to work (black friday) at 4 am the next morning, so that is the only reason why we couldn't celebrate with other family...I don't plan on having to work black friday next year!
Thanks to my brother who put his turkey in about 10 minutes earlier than we did for notifying us that his was done super early, otherwise we might have over cooked the crap out of it.
I wanted to poop in a tuba
We went into the city to watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade. I am not much of a parade person so in my usual form when I go some where I am not typically thrilled to be I pick out things to make fun of (either the things themselves or by making things up). So during the parade there were High School bands marching and I thought it would be extremely disgusting (and probably funny) if you were to poop in one of the tubas and then see what happened when it was played! I also found that there is a "position" in the marching band which when moving basically has to clinch there butt cheeks as tight as possible and hold there hands at a weird angle at their sides. I did discover later that those people did some amount of conducting but while moving it was CLINCH and MARCH!
The parade had floats with "celebrities" and of course the balloons. Now these balloons were (to me) disappointingly small. I was hoping for some giant beastly balloons but they weren't really too big, some of them were just being blown up by little air machines and sitting on a big cart with wheels instead of flying on helium. The celebrities ranged from some chick from American Idol (who didn't win), the weather guy from Good Morning America and some former Miss America (and many others who were equally "famous").
The only other thing I was curious of was the clowns. There were a couple large groups of clowns including Shriners, that I have to assume were drunk. To be up that early acting like a clown (a poorly dressed clown) you had to have been drinking. I actually decided that I would be more OK with the clowns being drunk (because they weren't great) than them being like that and sober...so in my mind it was funny that they could be drunk that early in the morning!
We might try the Macy's Parade next year, but my stipulation on that is that there is no way we would be making a Thanksgiving Day dinner AND doing that.
The parade had floats with "celebrities" and of course the balloons. Now these balloons were (to me) disappointingly small. I was hoping for some giant beastly balloons but they weren't really too big, some of them were just being blown up by little air machines and sitting on a big cart with wheels instead of flying on helium. The celebrities ranged from some chick from American Idol (who didn't win), the weather guy from Good Morning America and some former Miss America (and many others who were equally "famous").
The only other thing I was curious of was the clowns. There were a couple large groups of clowns including Shriners, that I have to assume were drunk. To be up that early acting like a clown (a poorly dressed clown) you had to have been drinking. I actually decided that I would be more OK with the clowns being drunk (because they weren't great) than them being like that and sober...so in my mind it was funny that they could be drunk that early in the morning!
We might try the Macy's Parade next year, but my stipulation on that is that there is no way we would be making a Thanksgiving Day dinner AND doing that.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Saga Continues....Job Update
Just as I start to think this thing might be turning around I get hit with one of my biggest pet peeves. I was finally given the "blue shirt" which means I am official and mostly done training (for this store it means I have worked there for 3 or so weeks) and an official name tag. I was even given some compliments from some of the management (no big surprise).
And then it went back to square one...
I worked until 4pm (ended up staying til almost 5pm) and then wasn't scheduled to work until Monday morning. I get a call at 2:15 pm Sunday afternoon asking why I wasn't at work? My response: I wasn't scheduled to work today. "Well you are on the schedule now." I wasn't on the schedule when I left work Friday, so someone must have changed something and not told me. "Oh, well can you come in?" Long story short, SOMEONE changed my schedule and NO ONE called me, which is just basic management 101! If you change someone's schedule you should give the courtesy of 1. calling them to see if they can work the shift and 2. if you aren't going to do #1 then you have to call them and tell them it is changed. So when I worked Monday and saw my "supervisor" I asked if he made that change and he didn't really answer but instead asked if any of the rest of my shifts had changed (NO) no apology (not even sure if it was him but I would assume so). If you know me you know I don't miss work, and in this case there was no option for me and I ended up going in (this is the last favor for them).
Tonight I am scheduled (with no overlap of the last person scheduled) to close by myself. Guess what? NO ONE TRAINED ME HOW TO CLOSE, and there are usually 2 closers anyway. So while I attempted to let a manager know and get something fixed about it I ended up working off the clock because someone asked me for help for another 45 minutes and when I was done with her there was no update. So tonight will suck, and since no one wanted to do me a favor then I guess I won't help anyone else out.
My opinions on staying past "seasonal" are back to not staying, I just can't put up with the lazy management style and completely unorganized nature this place has. It isn't worth the hassle for the time, I am still open to it but they really have to prove themselves now.
On an exciting note I applied for a job with the Philadelphia Art Museum, really really interested in it. I will keep you updated if I hear anything about that.
And then it went back to square one...
I worked until 4pm (ended up staying til almost 5pm) and then wasn't scheduled to work until Monday morning. I get a call at 2:15 pm Sunday afternoon asking why I wasn't at work? My response: I wasn't scheduled to work today. "Well you are on the schedule now." I wasn't on the schedule when I left work Friday, so someone must have changed something and not told me. "Oh, well can you come in?" Long story short, SOMEONE changed my schedule and NO ONE called me, which is just basic management 101! If you change someone's schedule you should give the courtesy of 1. calling them to see if they can work the shift and 2. if you aren't going to do #1 then you have to call them and tell them it is changed. So when I worked Monday and saw my "supervisor" I asked if he made that change and he didn't really answer but instead asked if any of the rest of my shifts had changed (NO) no apology (not even sure if it was him but I would assume so). If you know me you know I don't miss work, and in this case there was no option for me and I ended up going in (this is the last favor for them).
Tonight I am scheduled (with no overlap of the last person scheduled) to close by myself. Guess what? NO ONE TRAINED ME HOW TO CLOSE, and there are usually 2 closers anyway. So while I attempted to let a manager know and get something fixed about it I ended up working off the clock because someone asked me for help for another 45 minutes and when I was done with her there was no update. So tonight will suck, and since no one wanted to do me a favor then I guess I won't help anyone else out.
My opinions on staying past "seasonal" are back to not staying, I just can't put up with the lazy management style and completely unorganized nature this place has. It isn't worth the hassle for the time, I am still open to it but they really have to prove themselves now.
On an exciting note I applied for a job with the Philadelphia Art Museum, really really interested in it. I will keep you updated if I hear anything about that.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Fruit Cake
Seriously...
The food I mean!
I was able to purchase a Hostess Brand Fruitcake at the grocery store this week. I have never tried it and always was curious to see if it was like they describe on TV! So I don't know if this version is standard or just a Hostess take on it but it is definitely weird. It isn't hard as a rock as they always say but I feel like it is a loaf of dried fruits (and I'm not sure but I think some gummy bears and jello too) with a small amount of "cake" poured around. It is very sweet and has some interesting fruity notes but I am not sure that it is good. I kind of feel like I am eating candy bread which honestly disturbs me a bit. I wouldn't recommend the Hostess version but I bet you could potentially make a good fruit cake. Glad I tried it out and found out the mythical stories are not entirely correct.
The food I mean!
I was able to purchase a Hostess Brand Fruitcake at the grocery store this week. I have never tried it and always was curious to see if it was like they describe on TV! So I don't know if this version is standard or just a Hostess take on it but it is definitely weird. It isn't hard as a rock as they always say but I feel like it is a loaf of dried fruits (and I'm not sure but I think some gummy bears and jello too) with a small amount of "cake" poured around. It is very sweet and has some interesting fruity notes but I am not sure that it is good. I kind of feel like I am eating candy bread which honestly disturbs me a bit. I wouldn't recommend the Hostess version but I bet you could potentially make a good fruit cake. Glad I tried it out and found out the mythical stories are not entirely correct.
Quackeroooonie!
I am watching my Duck Tales DVD's and in one of the episodes Scrooge McDuck refers to himself and the others as Humans...
OBVIOUSLY they are ducks performing human tasks so at the most they are Duckmans...just found it a little odd :)
DUCKTALES WEWWWWWHOOOOOOO
OBVIOUSLY they are ducks performing human tasks so at the most they are Duckmans...just found it a little odd :)
DUCKTALES WEWWWWWHOOOOOOO
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Movie Review - The Ugly Truth
Our 2nd romantic comedy of the weekend, and a much stronger showing than Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. Surprisingly rated R, and I think it helped. They pushed some boundaries and used some "bad language" and some other raunchy situations which was kind of refreshing for a romantic comedy. It wasn't the standard light hearted love story but it wasn't at all complex and groundbreaking either. Katherine Heigl is about as funny as she is in Knocked Up and Gerard Butler is great as the male chauvinist. I call this a rent and even a possible buy (red box rental first of course). Heigl was basically socially retarded because she was so into her work (I think it's because she spent so much time on the Grey's Anatomy set) and can't find a man that fits her list of 10 must haves. She tries an online dating service with no luck and then meets her new hunky neighbor. Butler basically teaches Heigl how to pick up a guy with all the guy tricks. I guess I really liked this one because they swore and talked like people actually talk, it felt more natural than some of the more proper romantic comedies. Some might say they went that way to cover up a lack of substance but as you all should know by now...NEVER go into a romantic comedy expecting Oscar worthy performances. These types of movies are specifically designed to be a movie version of a light hearted novel that would only get on the best seller list because of its humor and ease of reading. So enjoy!
Movie Review - Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
Standard romantic comedy with a "Christmas Carol" twist. No it isn't a christmas movie but it uses the ghost of ----- past, present and future. Matthew Mcconaughey plays kind of a douchey player who is anti-marriage and the main story revolves around his little brother's wedding. There are no big surprises when it comes to the relationship between Matthew and Jennifer Garner, and the best part of the movie is showing how their relationship changed from high school to present day. Garner was the only person in the movie that really called Matthew out as a douche which was also kind of funny. There were some laughs and not a lot of other emotions except for kind of hating Matthew's character. This is definitely a rent, unless you find it better than I did, if you don't rent it I don't think your life will suffer...just OK.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Movie Review - Groundhog Day
Ok this one seems like a weird thing to do but every time I catch it on TV it just makes me laugh! You all have probably heard of the movie by now, it stars Bill Murray who plays a weatherman from Pittsburgh who goes with his team to Punxsutawney PA to cover the Ground Hog Day festivities. He ends up getting stuck in a time warp where he has to relive February 2nd over and over for god knows how long. The best part is how he experiments with life from day to day, he goes from taking advantage of people to trying to kill himself with a high point of stealing the ground hog and driving off of a cliff and exploding! I find it to be a hilarious story about a guy who is a bit of an asshole and his journey to figure out how to be a good guy.
I also find it funny that we had gone to Ground Hog Day parties for so long growing up at the Measley's and we never really ended up watching this movie as a kid...instead we watched Encino Man which I think says something about Paulie Shore movies :) So a testament to our youth watch Ground Hog Day!!
I also find it funny that we had gone to Ground Hog Day parties for so long growing up at the Measley's and we never really ended up watching this movie as a kid...instead we watched Encino Man which I think says something about Paulie Shore movies :) So a testament to our youth watch Ground Hog Day!!
A House Husband's Guide to Unemployment - Balance
As I start working (even the small amount so far) I am finding it difficult to maintain the balance I had beforehand. I won't take all of the blame as I haven't had a solid schedule so far but I am surprised at the difficulty I have had with energy and what not on days I have worked (even the day after). I guess it is mostly just getting used to being out and up and around for most of the day (a lot of standing, walking, talking, basically effort), so I have seen areas of life start to slip.
I haven't been to the gym in about 3 weeks which is frustrating to me but I find a lot of the blame in the hours and unstable schedule at work mostly because I have been scheduled at night so I am not used to going to the gym during the daytime and then if I don't start the week strong I find it hard to get the steam up mid-week. So once I get a planned out schedule I think that will not be a problem any longer. Transitioning is also making it difficult to keep the apartment clean and organized as well as getting dinners ready, I am still getting it done but there is significantly less time to do it! This all has made me start to think about balance and routine, which depending on who you ask may or may not be important but I historically have had trouble with extreme transitions in routine...I guess the instability at work doesn't help.
I am a creature of habit I guess you could say, I love making to-do lists even if the most interesting thing I do that day is cross off something on the list! The to-do list is one of the things keeping things in check but hopefully I'll be able to make the transition soon! Even if I got to the gym once or twice in the near future it won't really click until I do it consistently. One of the best ways to check on my status is by the # of posts I make here, so I think I am coming around!
I haven't been to the gym in about 3 weeks which is frustrating to me but I find a lot of the blame in the hours and unstable schedule at work mostly because I have been scheduled at night so I am not used to going to the gym during the daytime and then if I don't start the week strong I find it hard to get the steam up mid-week. So once I get a planned out schedule I think that will not be a problem any longer. Transitioning is also making it difficult to keep the apartment clean and organized as well as getting dinners ready, I am still getting it done but there is significantly less time to do it! This all has made me start to think about balance and routine, which depending on who you ask may or may not be important but I historically have had trouble with extreme transitions in routine...I guess the instability at work doesn't help.
I am a creature of habit I guess you could say, I love making to-do lists even if the most interesting thing I do that day is cross off something on the list! The to-do list is one of the things keeping things in check but hopefully I'll be able to make the transition soon! Even if I got to the gym once or twice in the near future it won't really click until I do it consistently. One of the best ways to check on my status is by the # of posts I make here, so I think I am coming around!
Job Update
I have now worked 5 shifts as well as attended a store meeting. Things haven't really changed in the "getting trained deptartment" but I am learning as I go through asking questions and just figuring stuff out for myself. I can now ring people up on basic purchases which is about all the extra training I have had (basically gave me a login and watched someone for a little bit). I have continued to sell well, especially when it is busy, and I plan to continue that while developing my "selling extras skills".
Our department just got a new supervisor, I guess they had been without one for a month or more, which is part of why there has been a lack of training and structure (at least I hope that is why). He doesn't really fit in to the dynamic of the store (or if you look at it a different way he creates a dynamic in the department) because he is much older than the rest of the staff. I gave him the benefit of the doubt as someone who has been in charge before (first time I haven't been in a supervising position since I was 16) and I was fully willing to try to help this guy mostly by not requiring his attention so he could focus on getting things organized and what not. This lasted all of an hour until he came up to talk about his "supervising core values" which was basically our first conversation (strike 1), he should have gotten to know me a little bit first, then told me about himself THEN give the speech. The speech itself was mundane and common sensical with no real important insight (strike 2). The delivery of the speech, tying into strike 1, was like he was talking to someone who seasonal retail was the big show, like it was my calling to work seasonal retail and I'd be lucky to get kept on after (strike 3). I stopped him towards the end to let him know (what he should have found out in strike 1) that I am used to being in charge and I know what to do, and I had to explain to him that I worked at a casino and have dealt with reward programs (like the best buy reward zone) so I knew how to sell it. Finally strike 4 (yes he more than struck out) was his advice on selling the reward zone. Instead of asking if they were interested (if they didn't already have it) his advice was to just sign em up for it because no one would say no (if you force it on them) so at that point I realized that this guy was the kind of retail person I am trying to not be. The way he suggested basically just fudges the numbers of actual sign ups because he doesn't give them the option mostly because he can't sell so he has to force...good luck buddy!
I still have not been scheduled more than 2 days in advance so when I got to the end of my schedule this week I told them I wasn't working again until after the weekend to give them time to get me on a freaking schedule so I can organize my week and try to get used to not having all day every day to do what I need to do. Still looking for a full time job, with very little luck.
Our department just got a new supervisor, I guess they had been without one for a month or more, which is part of why there has been a lack of training and structure (at least I hope that is why). He doesn't really fit in to the dynamic of the store (or if you look at it a different way he creates a dynamic in the department) because he is much older than the rest of the staff. I gave him the benefit of the doubt as someone who has been in charge before (first time I haven't been in a supervising position since I was 16) and I was fully willing to try to help this guy mostly by not requiring his attention so he could focus on getting things organized and what not. This lasted all of an hour until he came up to talk about his "supervising core values" which was basically our first conversation (strike 1), he should have gotten to know me a little bit first, then told me about himself THEN give the speech. The speech itself was mundane and common sensical with no real important insight (strike 2). The delivery of the speech, tying into strike 1, was like he was talking to someone who seasonal retail was the big show, like it was my calling to work seasonal retail and I'd be lucky to get kept on after (strike 3). I stopped him towards the end to let him know (what he should have found out in strike 1) that I am used to being in charge and I know what to do, and I had to explain to him that I worked at a casino and have dealt with reward programs (like the best buy reward zone) so I knew how to sell it. Finally strike 4 (yes he more than struck out) was his advice on selling the reward zone. Instead of asking if they were interested (if they didn't already have it) his advice was to just sign em up for it because no one would say no (if you force it on them) so at that point I realized that this guy was the kind of retail person I am trying to not be. The way he suggested basically just fudges the numbers of actual sign ups because he doesn't give them the option mostly because he can't sell so he has to force...good luck buddy!
I still have not been scheduled more than 2 days in advance so when I got to the end of my schedule this week I told them I wasn't working again until after the weekend to give them time to get me on a freaking schedule so I can organize my week and try to get used to not having all day every day to do what I need to do. Still looking for a full time job, with very little luck.
Movie Review - UP
One of the most anticipated redbox rentals of the year for us was Pixar's UP. We see very few movies in the theater but this was one we really wanted to go see and never got the chance. Surprisingly we found it at redbox on our first try, which was a good omen.
The basic story is about keeping promises and at times is sad and other times happy and fun. Since it is Pixar the animation of course is wonderfully realistic (for computer generated art), even down to the growth of whiskers on the old man's face as the couple of days go by on their adventure. None of the characters were annoying, which I kind of expected the kid to be, and the various different characters together worked really well (old man, young boy, talking dogs, funny bird, crazy villain and even the house itself). Even though it technically is a kid movie the story and filming actually does make the house into its own character which actually symbolizes (I won't give it away, but its not a big secret) someone, something I think that was put in to give the adults a little more depth which is nice to see someone be able to make a great movie for kids as well as adults.
It is a sweet story and gets my full recommendation to at the very least rent (redbox, netflix, whatever) but it is worth buying in my opinion...just like almost every other Pixar movie made so far. This movie was the last of the original stories that the founders of Pixar had when they started the company (or should I say the last of the original ideas they had) so it will be interesting to see where they go next. Toy Story 3 which I feel is a mistake to make will be coming out next year and will probably see success, but I wasn't really a fan of the 2nd one so we will have to see what Pixar will come up with, I know they keep me excited!
The basic story is about keeping promises and at times is sad and other times happy and fun. Since it is Pixar the animation of course is wonderfully realistic (for computer generated art), even down to the growth of whiskers on the old man's face as the couple of days go by on their adventure. None of the characters were annoying, which I kind of expected the kid to be, and the various different characters together worked really well (old man, young boy, talking dogs, funny bird, crazy villain and even the house itself). Even though it technically is a kid movie the story and filming actually does make the house into its own character which actually symbolizes (I won't give it away, but its not a big secret) someone, something I think that was put in to give the adults a little more depth which is nice to see someone be able to make a great movie for kids as well as adults.
It is a sweet story and gets my full recommendation to at the very least rent (redbox, netflix, whatever) but it is worth buying in my opinion...just like almost every other Pixar movie made so far. This movie was the last of the original stories that the founders of Pixar had when they started the company (or should I say the last of the original ideas they had) so it will be interesting to see where they go next. Toy Story 3 which I feel is a mistake to make will be coming out next year and will probably see success, but I wasn't really a fan of the 2nd one so we will have to see what Pixar will come up with, I know they keep me excited!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Movie Review - Transformers 2
Rented this and finally got to see it, and I have to say I was largely disappointed. To make things short it seemed like they had 4 or more hours of actual usable movie footage but cut it down to 2 and a half hours(ish). There were so many transition pieces and parts of chases that just didn't add up, for instance: One moment in the National Air and Space Museum they step outside and they are in what appears to be the airplane bone yard in Arizona (Museum is in DC). There were also a couple of times that it seemed like Sam was in one place but he ended up being in another.
One of the really nice things about the original is that it was funny but not forced at all, and still had all the action and story. The 2nd one had the comedy shoved in your face for the majority of the movie and yea some of it was funny but not nearly as subtle as in the first one. They also added what I thought to be a Jar Jar Binks like character, the Autobot twins, they were there strictly for comic relief which was unnecessary. Also built in mostly for comic relief was the super old robot and the mini con that Megan Fox "tames", which maybe some of them would have been ok but the combination of all of these comical characters and Sam's parents was just too much when there was other more exciting story line and transitioning editing to do.
The fight scenes were inconsistent, starting with Prime dying in a fight against Starscream and Megatron (and some other baddies as well), but then when he is brought back to life he instantly is able to win a fight against the whole enemy army including the apparently epic "The Fallen" Megatron and Starscream. I was also VERY disappointed that they had a transformer that transformed into a human...if they could do that why wouldn't they do it more often, like take over the president or something? Instead of turning into a hot chick, turn into an influential character and get the Autobots destroyed so they could do whatever they wanted!
I was also surprised by the amount of swearing, I know the first one had some but this one seemed to have a lot more, which is fine with me but it may have been a bit much for parents and children.
So overall I didn't think it even compared with the first one in any way but they left it open for a third one and maybe they can redeem the series.
One of the really nice things about the original is that it was funny but not forced at all, and still had all the action and story. The 2nd one had the comedy shoved in your face for the majority of the movie and yea some of it was funny but not nearly as subtle as in the first one. They also added what I thought to be a Jar Jar Binks like character, the Autobot twins, they were there strictly for comic relief which was unnecessary. Also built in mostly for comic relief was the super old robot and the mini con that Megan Fox "tames", which maybe some of them would have been ok but the combination of all of these comical characters and Sam's parents was just too much when there was other more exciting story line and transitioning editing to do.
The fight scenes were inconsistent, starting with Prime dying in a fight against Starscream and Megatron (and some other baddies as well), but then when he is brought back to life he instantly is able to win a fight against the whole enemy army including the apparently epic "The Fallen" Megatron and Starscream. I was also VERY disappointed that they had a transformer that transformed into a human...if they could do that why wouldn't they do it more often, like take over the president or something? Instead of turning into a hot chick, turn into an influential character and get the Autobots destroyed so they could do whatever they wanted!
I was also surprised by the amount of swearing, I know the first one had some but this one seemed to have a lot more, which is fine with me but it may have been a bit much for parents and children.
So overall I didn't think it even compared with the first one in any way but they left it open for a third one and maybe they can redeem the series.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
My First Day
Started my job at Best Buy last night as a computer sales person. I have had a couple different styles of training for the handful of jobs I have held, and what I experienced with this job would be the loosest definition of training out there.
I arrive and am pointed to the back to "find someone working in the computer area", not a name, just any random person working back there. I am expecting them to know they have a trainee coming in, they had no clue. I am expecting to have some kind of binder to read through with training material, no binder. I am expecting to get a tour of the store, no tour. I am expecting at the very least a run down of the "extras" they try to sell (protection plans, etc), nothing. So basically I am shown how to clock in, which is important and then I am handed off to one of the sales people who shows me around my area (which I already basically knew from shopping in the store) and then we go to help a customer. I am standing there observing (assuming that is what I am supposed to be doing) , when another customer approaches me and I have no choice but to help them.
I am thrust into my first sale after watching my co-worker for maybe 10 minutes (this is about 30 minutes into my shift), so I sell a laptop and ALL the extras to my first customer and I had no clue what the hell I was doing, even got a pricey bag to go with it. So this sale apparently means I don't need further training (and might I remind you that I literally can't even use a register because I wasn't trained let alone given a login). I continue to sell about 7 or more computers with over half of them having the pricey protection plans and another 1 or 2 with all the extras. I would guess it was about as good as anyone could have done on their first day with no real training.
I just took what I know about computers (a fair amount) and spliced it with the kind of sales person I like to have when I purchase something and even some of that casino skill of reading people and boom! The easy part is that most people don't really understand computers and that is where having that knowledge and sounding like you know what you are talking about really comes in handy, assurance is really what these people are looking for.
I arrive and am pointed to the back to "find someone working in the computer area", not a name, just any random person working back there. I am expecting them to know they have a trainee coming in, they had no clue. I am expecting to have some kind of binder to read through with training material, no binder. I am expecting to get a tour of the store, no tour. I am expecting at the very least a run down of the "extras" they try to sell (protection plans, etc), nothing. So basically I am shown how to clock in, which is important and then I am handed off to one of the sales people who shows me around my area (which I already basically knew from shopping in the store) and then we go to help a customer. I am standing there observing (assuming that is what I am supposed to be doing) , when another customer approaches me and I have no choice but to help them.
I am thrust into my first sale after watching my co-worker for maybe 10 minutes (this is about 30 minutes into my shift), so I sell a laptop and ALL the extras to my first customer and I had no clue what the hell I was doing, even got a pricey bag to go with it. So this sale apparently means I don't need further training (and might I remind you that I literally can't even use a register because I wasn't trained let alone given a login). I continue to sell about 7 or more computers with over half of them having the pricey protection plans and another 1 or 2 with all the extras. I would guess it was about as good as anyone could have done on their first day with no real training.
I just took what I know about computers (a fair amount) and spliced it with the kind of sales person I like to have when I purchase something and even some of that casino skill of reading people and boom! The easy part is that most people don't really understand computers and that is where having that knowledge and sounding like you know what you are talking about really comes in handy, assurance is really what these people are looking for.
Ungrateful
SEPTA (Philly's public transit company) saw its workers go on strike as of 3 AM this morning, meaning all buses, trains, etc will not be running until further notice. It is unbelievable that living right next to one of the states (NJ) with the worst unemployment rates in the country on top of horrible unemployment across the country, literally millions of people without jobs...
These guys have the balls to go on strike for reasons dealing with pension, work rule issues and as most strikes do more money. This is a great example of why unions don't work anymore, every single person on strike could be replaced with the amount of unemployed bodies in the area (with plenty left over), and its not like they are being taken advantage of (why unions were put in place originally). I just can't believe these people would be so ungrateful to have a damn job that they would go on strike for dumb ass reasons instead of putting up with it and working together with management.
So these people aren't just ungrateful they are selfish too...literally moving hundreds of thousands of people a day (if not millions) to get to their jobs/functions/whatever. These people that rely on the transit now can't get to their jobs in a timely manner maybe not at all, meaning they could lose their jobs. Unions are so out dated, no one is mistreated in this country the way they were back when unions were a good idea, there is no reason to have them they only reduce efficiency and make standard work place actions so much more complicated.
So SEPTA employees who are on strike get your heads out of your asses and be grateful you have an EFF'n job, and for every job someone else loses you should have to pay their salary for a year you selfish bastards.
These guys have the balls to go on strike for reasons dealing with pension, work rule issues and as most strikes do more money. This is a great example of why unions don't work anymore, every single person on strike could be replaced with the amount of unemployed bodies in the area (with plenty left over), and its not like they are being taken advantage of (why unions were put in place originally). I just can't believe these people would be so ungrateful to have a damn job that they would go on strike for dumb ass reasons instead of putting up with it and working together with management.
So these people aren't just ungrateful they are selfish too...literally moving hundreds of thousands of people a day (if not millions) to get to their jobs/functions/whatever. These people that rely on the transit now can't get to their jobs in a timely manner maybe not at all, meaning they could lose their jobs. Unions are so out dated, no one is mistreated in this country the way they were back when unions were a good idea, there is no reason to have them they only reduce efficiency and make standard work place actions so much more complicated.
So SEPTA employees who are on strike get your heads out of your asses and be grateful you have an EFF'n job, and for every job someone else loses you should have to pay their salary for a year you selfish bastards.
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Boondock Saints
Just a quickie little blurb about an interesting movie. The Boondock Saints is a movie that came out in the early 2000's and was poorly reviewed but later obtained a cult following. I recommend seeing it if you have not.
Unfortunately they have made a sequel, which is something the cult following has been dying for since they were first exposed to the original. I don't know how this sequel will do but it seemed like something that should have been left alone at 1 movie. It wasn't so much a great movie for any one reason but all of the pieces fit together with a huge help from Willem Defoe, who I don't believe is in the sequel. It also has been 10 years since the original which is just too long since to really work well. I think it comes out in theaters this weekend. I wouldn't recommend seeing the sequel but please see the original if you have not (and it is not for young children!).
Unfortunately they have made a sequel, which is something the cult following has been dying for since they were first exposed to the original. I don't know how this sequel will do but it seemed like something that should have been left alone at 1 movie. It wasn't so much a great movie for any one reason but all of the pieces fit together with a huge help from Willem Defoe, who I don't believe is in the sequel. It also has been 10 years since the original which is just too long since to really work well. I think it comes out in theaters this weekend. I wouldn't recommend seeing the sequel but please see the original if you have not (and it is not for young children!).
Slow Week
It has been a very slow week, and I have had trouble finding much to write about. Something hit me though as I was watching a commercial this morning though.
I really get annoyed by outrageous claims made by commercials, for example:
There is a Heroes commercial on G4 that claims Heroes caused a television revolution and the one that really got to me was the commercial for the new Ice Age movie claiming it was the best children's/animated movie this year. There are many more of these commercials but these 2 really bother me. Heroes didn't spawn a tv revolution, not even a little bit...it didn't even cause anyone to try and copy it with another super hero show and no other shows try and film in the same manner they do so I am confused about what that revolution was about? did they revolutionize how stupid some super powers can be? I have watched some of the show and it is average at best (unless you really really like super powers, you might like it more) and I am a super power kind of guy. Ice Age 3 was at best unremarkable, I did not see it but heard only bland reviews. Also it was titled Dawn of the Dinosaurs.....dinosaurs DIDN'T come after the ice age but BEFORE!
so I figured I would just start making claims about things in my life, because apparently they just have to be one persons opinion in order to be said.
Wolf Weekly is the blog that changed the blogging game!
New Jersey is the worst state in the country.
Spring is the coldest season of the year.
Another frustrating thing is how TV shows have begun to edit clips of the show to make it seem like something super dramatic is going to happen instead of something kind of boring and predictable in their weekly "trailers".
I really get annoyed by outrageous claims made by commercials, for example:
There is a Heroes commercial on G4 that claims Heroes caused a television revolution and the one that really got to me was the commercial for the new Ice Age movie claiming it was the best children's/animated movie this year. There are many more of these commercials but these 2 really bother me. Heroes didn't spawn a tv revolution, not even a little bit...it didn't even cause anyone to try and copy it with another super hero show and no other shows try and film in the same manner they do so I am confused about what that revolution was about? did they revolutionize how stupid some super powers can be? I have watched some of the show and it is average at best (unless you really really like super powers, you might like it more) and I am a super power kind of guy. Ice Age 3 was at best unremarkable, I did not see it but heard only bland reviews. Also it was titled Dawn of the Dinosaurs.....dinosaurs DIDN'T come after the ice age but BEFORE!
so I figured I would just start making claims about things in my life, because apparently they just have to be one persons opinion in order to be said.
Wolf Weekly is the blog that changed the blogging game!
New Jersey is the worst state in the country.
Spring is the coldest season of the year.
Another frustrating thing is how TV shows have begun to edit clips of the show to make it seem like something super dramatic is going to happen instead of something kind of boring and predictable in their weekly "trailers".
Thursday, October 22, 2009
More Advertising Genius
This one is a part of one of the worst parts of our political system - smear campaign commercials. In NJ we have the current Governer John Corzine and the main opponent is some mafia dude Chris Christy (I know who names their kid that right?)
This has been a battle raging since just about when we moved here and most of the commercials are anti-Christy. I find them annoying but sometimes they can be funny, like this one that goes on and on about what Chris Christy opposes, my favorite combo is:
Chris Christy opposes funding for stem cell research and preschools.
WHAT?
how are those related at all? He might as well oppose jail for prisoners and food for elephants. I get that both can be seen as bad to oppose but really in the same sentence? They must have had a list of stuff to say and they grouped it up and it came down to these last 2. How do we make this flow? Well I guess we will just throw it all in there and no one will notice.
So finally I got a laugh out of one of these annoying commercials.
This has been a battle raging since just about when we moved here and most of the commercials are anti-Christy. I find them annoying but sometimes they can be funny, like this one that goes on and on about what Chris Christy opposes, my favorite combo is:
Chris Christy opposes funding for stem cell research and preschools.
WHAT?
how are those related at all? He might as well oppose jail for prisoners and food for elephants. I get that both can be seen as bad to oppose but really in the same sentence? They must have had a list of stuff to say and they grouped it up and it came down to these last 2. How do we make this flow? Well I guess we will just throw it all in there and no one will notice.
So finally I got a laugh out of one of these annoying commercials.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Health Update - Sauna
I have implemented the sauna at our gym as the end of my workouts. I honestly don't know the science about if it does anything for you but I love it. I have always enjoyed the sauna but at the end of a work out it just feels amazing.
When I first enter I do some stretching, which feels really good on the tight muscles and then I just sit on the bench for 10 to 15 minutes and just get a really good sweat on. It helps loosen me up and just feels really good. If you have access to one, or if you live in the southwest just hang out outside, take a rid on the sauna train, you might like it! I actually think it has been enhancing my results, I'm not sure why, probably just because the sweat helps the definition but whatever it is its working!
When I first enter I do some stretching, which feels really good on the tight muscles and then I just sit on the bench for 10 to 15 minutes and just get a really good sweat on. It helps loosen me up and just feels really good. If you have access to one, or if you live in the southwest just hang out outside, take a rid on the sauna train, you might like it! I actually think it has been enhancing my results, I'm not sure why, probably just because the sweat helps the definition but whatever it is its working!
Balloon Boy
As many of you may have heard this news story about the helium balloon that was wandering over Colorado the other day. The big part of the news story is that there was a boy missing and he was presumed to be in the balloon. Everyone seemed to be on edge that this boy was going to die when the balloon fell to the ground, but I seemed to be the only one thinking there isn't anyone in the damn balloon!
The balloon was made of like a nylon material, not rigid at all, so if there was a boy in it there would have been an outline. The boy would have been able to be seen clearly as helium was the only other thing in the balloon. Also I am sure there is an amount of helium that it would take to lift a 80-100 pound boy with the performance it had and there is the possibility it had that much helium but again I doubt it.
Why no one rationally thought about this amazed me, guess it was a slow news day. It turns out that the parents were on Wife Swap at one point, and I actually saw them on the Soup, they are a crazy family and there is no doubt in my mind that this was an attempt at another 15 minutes of fame. It turns out the missing kid during an interview even said to his dad, "You said we were doing this for TV", some people getting the assumption that they were trying to get their own reality tv show.
This family is plain dumb and the news reports were just as dumb, it was one of the few times there were so many dumb people that I felt like a genius! I love that now everyone is like oh it was a hoax....I should be a reporter.
The balloon was made of like a nylon material, not rigid at all, so if there was a boy in it there would have been an outline. The boy would have been able to be seen clearly as helium was the only other thing in the balloon. Also I am sure there is an amount of helium that it would take to lift a 80-100 pound boy with the performance it had and there is the possibility it had that much helium but again I doubt it.
Why no one rationally thought about this amazed me, guess it was a slow news day. It turns out that the parents were on Wife Swap at one point, and I actually saw them on the Soup, they are a crazy family and there is no doubt in my mind that this was an attempt at another 15 minutes of fame. It turns out the missing kid during an interview even said to his dad, "You said we were doing this for TV", some people getting the assumption that they were trying to get their own reality tv show.
This family is plain dumb and the news reports were just as dumb, it was one of the few times there were so many dumb people that I felt like a genius! I love that now everyone is like oh it was a hoax....I should be a reporter.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Blew My Mind
As many of you know I had a 2nd interview with Best Buy for some seasonal work, and they hired me. I will be selling computers over the holiday season. During the interview I was side swiped by one of those standard stupid interview questions.
Where do you see yourself in 2 years?
I gave a very generic answer which I can't even remember but it kept nagging me throughout the day and still is. What the hell will I be doing in 2 years? Lets rewind a bit:
2007 - 2009
I have moved 3 times, held 2 different jobs, got married, visited Costa Rica for 10 days, got a cat, paid off my car, applied to over 100 jobs, spent 6 months unemployed and many other things have happened over the last 2 years. I never ever would have imagined 2 years ago that if you asked me that I would have answered living in South Jersey, unemployed and doing house work. So after thinking about how much of a different path my life has taken, this question really made me think.
I can't even answer the question well, right now I can answer that in 3 months I may or may not be working at Best Buy anymore. In 6 months I may have moved again or still be living in South Jersey. In a year maybe I'll have found a permanent job, or maybe I'll still be working at Best Buy and in 2 years who knows! It amazes me the turns life can take, they can be good or bad, but you have to do what you can do with them. If you know where you will be in 2 years that is great, I envy you, because I am a planner. I'm sure that many people would say that it is a blessing not to have a determined route out ahead but as a planner I don't see it that way and hope to lay down some pavement soon.
Funny how such a standard interview question that really doesn't reveal much about most people can end up making you think so much.
Where do you see yourself in 2 years?
I gave a very generic answer which I can't even remember but it kept nagging me throughout the day and still is. What the hell will I be doing in 2 years? Lets rewind a bit:
2007 - 2009
I have moved 3 times, held 2 different jobs, got married, visited Costa Rica for 10 days, got a cat, paid off my car, applied to over 100 jobs, spent 6 months unemployed and many other things have happened over the last 2 years. I never ever would have imagined 2 years ago that if you asked me that I would have answered living in South Jersey, unemployed and doing house work. So after thinking about how much of a different path my life has taken, this question really made me think.
I can't even answer the question well, right now I can answer that in 3 months I may or may not be working at Best Buy anymore. In 6 months I may have moved again or still be living in South Jersey. In a year maybe I'll have found a permanent job, or maybe I'll still be working at Best Buy and in 2 years who knows! It amazes me the turns life can take, they can be good or bad, but you have to do what you can do with them. If you know where you will be in 2 years that is great, I envy you, because I am a planner. I'm sure that many people would say that it is a blessing not to have a determined route out ahead but as a planner I don't see it that way and hope to lay down some pavement soon.
Funny how such a standard interview question that really doesn't reveal much about most people can end up making you think so much.
Advertising Genius
Taco Bell is the newest victim of having idiots do their advertising. They have a new product out now called the Black Jack Taco, which from all it seems is a regular taco with black food coloring of the shell. Seems pretty stupid if that was it but the commercial is where it gets fun...
The commercial consists of this guy saying 2 letter phrases like Black Sheep (phrases that have Black and then a word) then he says Black Taco...
If you don't see where I am going with this, let me elaborate. Taco can also be used to describe the downstairs lady parts, one of the many different words for the Vajayjay. So instead of calling it Black Jack Taco throughout the commercial it is just Black Taco (until the end). I can't imagine they meant to make it sound like an african american vagina themed food item but that is what it came out as!
I am waiting for this ad agency to help Long John Silver's market their new Bearded Clam Strips or Waste Management to help sell their new and improved Come Dumpsters with the phrase, The best place to come and dump!
So don't forget to go to the border and grab your very own Black Taco :)
The commercial consists of this guy saying 2 letter phrases like Black Sheep (phrases that have Black and then a word) then he says Black Taco...
If you don't see where I am going with this, let me elaborate. Taco can also be used to describe the downstairs lady parts, one of the many different words for the Vajayjay. So instead of calling it Black Jack Taco throughout the commercial it is just Black Taco (until the end). I can't imagine they meant to make it sound like an african american vagina themed food item but that is what it came out as!
I am waiting for this ad agency to help Long John Silver's market their new Bearded Clam Strips or Waste Management to help sell their new and improved Come Dumpsters with the phrase, The best place to come and dump!
So don't forget to go to the border and grab your very own Black Taco :)
Health Update - Muscle Confusion
Just want to hit another exercise tip, muscle confusion is probably the most efficient way of working out. In a broad sense it means don't do the same thing every time you work out, this applies to lifting, cardio and anything in between. Your muscles can actually learn a routine and give false results by making you think you are doing better than you actually are. If you switch things up from day to day (or whatever routine you do) you will see much better results. When your muscles learn a routine they will get better at the specific thing you are doing, instead of getting better overall. For example if you do a work out that consists of running a mile, you sure will get better at running a mile but you won't be getting as much out of it as you could. In stead maybe do a mile one day, some different kind of sprints another day, swim another day then repeat. Using muscle confusion will train all parts of your muscle which will yield better results in the long run.
The way I use it goes into a bit more detail than just not doing the same thing each day you work out, I do something different every day meaning the area of the body but I also differentiate what I do each day (no work out is ever really the same). I use differences in grips, weight/rep combos and the order in which I do things. I also use our boot camp class to help because it is very different from what I normally do. This is the kind of thing that will yield long term results, so if you try it next week and don't see a difference don't give up, you will see results eventually.
The way I use it goes into a bit more detail than just not doing the same thing each day you work out, I do something different every day meaning the area of the body but I also differentiate what I do each day (no work out is ever really the same). I use differences in grips, weight/rep combos and the order in which I do things. I also use our boot camp class to help because it is very different from what I normally do. This is the kind of thing that will yield long term results, so if you try it next week and don't see a difference don't give up, you will see results eventually.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Why New Jersey Sucks
This is the story of our Sunday, I could go on and on but I will try and keep this short.
We found an orchard and decided to go apple picking, which in the past has been really fun and a great way to get some GREAT apples really cheap!
We arrive at Johnson's Orchard at 1:00 PM. FREAKING PACKED, which is fine, and maybe a good sign. We take a stroll around, getting our bearings and see the long ass lines, which again could be a good sign that this place has great apples (they also have pumpkins, corn maze, petting zoo, etc), so not only apple pickers there.
After walking around we decide to go ahead and stand in the lines instead of just buying apples in their farm store and leaving. There is a ticket line and a hay ride line, you had to take the hay ride in order to get to the apple picking. So that is why we stood in the ticket line (to buy hay ride tickets). Ticket line = 40 minutes, then we hop into the hay ride line which = another 30 minutes. That is over an hour to even get to the thing that you ride to the orchard and it was $6 total at this point.
Once we get on the hay ride, it is about 5-10 minute ride to the orchard and we get off. We get out and start going up and down the rows of trees, and I guess they forgot to tell us there were barely any apples left on any of the trees! After perusing the trees for about 20 minutes we ended up with 8 apples and decided that we were done, we didn't come to hunt for apples we just wanted to pick some of them off the damn trees. We get back on the hayride and about 15 minutes later we are back at the main area. The 8 apples ended up costing us $15 and 2 hours of time. So when told this way it doesn't sound horrible but let me elaborate on the finer points.
1. the "orchard" was literally 50 feet away from where we stood in line for 30 minutes to get on the hay ride
2. we paid $6 to get on the hayride which in the most round about way took us to the place we could have walked to for free and in about 30 seconds.
3. did i mention the 40 minutes standing in line to buy tickets for the 30 minute wait for the ride to the place that was 50 feet away
4. you know they knew how many apples were left, why wouldn't you say something to your customers to let them know it might not be worth it to go through this whole damn process or just let people walk to the orchard!
In the end it would have been much smarter to just buy the apples in the farm store, yes they were the same price but it wouldn't have included the hay ride price and there were actually MORE apples in the store. This probably isn't a strictly New Jersey problem, but once again we had a crappy experience doing something in New Jersey, put it on the F'n list.
We found an orchard and decided to go apple picking, which in the past has been really fun and a great way to get some GREAT apples really cheap!
We arrive at Johnson's Orchard at 1:00 PM. FREAKING PACKED, which is fine, and maybe a good sign. We take a stroll around, getting our bearings and see the long ass lines, which again could be a good sign that this place has great apples (they also have pumpkins, corn maze, petting zoo, etc), so not only apple pickers there.
After walking around we decide to go ahead and stand in the lines instead of just buying apples in their farm store and leaving. There is a ticket line and a hay ride line, you had to take the hay ride in order to get to the apple picking. So that is why we stood in the ticket line (to buy hay ride tickets). Ticket line = 40 minutes, then we hop into the hay ride line which = another 30 minutes. That is over an hour to even get to the thing that you ride to the orchard and it was $6 total at this point.
Once we get on the hay ride, it is about 5-10 minute ride to the orchard and we get off. We get out and start going up and down the rows of trees, and I guess they forgot to tell us there were barely any apples left on any of the trees! After perusing the trees for about 20 minutes we ended up with 8 apples and decided that we were done, we didn't come to hunt for apples we just wanted to pick some of them off the damn trees. We get back on the hayride and about 15 minutes later we are back at the main area. The 8 apples ended up costing us $15 and 2 hours of time. So when told this way it doesn't sound horrible but let me elaborate on the finer points.
1. the "orchard" was literally 50 feet away from where we stood in line for 30 minutes to get on the hay ride
2. we paid $6 to get on the hayride which in the most round about way took us to the place we could have walked to for free and in about 30 seconds.
3. did i mention the 40 minutes standing in line to buy tickets for the 30 minute wait for the ride to the place that was 50 feet away
4. you know they knew how many apples were left, why wouldn't you say something to your customers to let them know it might not be worth it to go through this whole damn process or just let people walk to the orchard!
In the end it would have been much smarter to just buy the apples in the farm store, yes they were the same price but it wouldn't have included the hay ride price and there were actually MORE apples in the store. This probably isn't a strictly New Jersey problem, but once again we had a crappy experience doing something in New Jersey, put it on the F'n list.
Health Watch - Boot Camp
We have been going to a Boot Camp class on Mondays for about 5 weeks now. The class is at 6:30 and goes about an hour long. I was extremely apprehensive of wasting an hour workout doing another one of Angela's classes due to my experience with a Yoga class she used to attend. The Yoga class ended up being about an hour of stretching on a balance ball and for me if over an hour of exercise I didn't feel like I burnt many calories...it is not a good use of my gym time.
Boot Camp can be many things, it is more of a general exercise class term and doesn't really have anything to do with the armed forces. This class is a kickboxing version, which I will say is a very loose description. The hour is split into 3 sections, a warm up, cardio and weights. the warm up is almost a joke, just gets your heart rate going and then its into the cardio which you can use light weights for. As a super macho dude I went into the first class ready to use 10's in each hand...found out that I am a douche because I dropped down to 4's and I almost died. Now I switch between 2's and 3's depending on the day, which is plenty. The easiest way to explain the cardio section is Taebo...it is very similar except that you use weights and there is no Billy Blanks. We are in constant motion for about 40 minutes, a lot of bouncing, punching, kicking, kneeing all with the intention of engaging your abs, getting your heart rate up and engaging other large muscle groups. I am one of the only guys that attends the class, most I am sure think they are too macho for it but it is a great work out...the teacher lady is like 50 or 60 and she is nuts! I sweat through my shirt entirely every time.
One of my favorite things other than the intensity is the focus on increasing my agility and speed, I found out quick that I might be strong but I am not quick. Sure I can run and I have speed in that department but I am not as quick or agile as I thought. As my wife says I am bulky :) This really brought a lot of things to light though. This is why I never was GREAT at bouldering, I am just a big sack of weight (which is mostly muscle), where my bro Chris (whose blog you can read at that link) is lean and mean and can climb and do all sorts of stuff with ease. He is agile and quick, which makes us a great adventure combo - me the work horse and he the everything else guy.
So in summary this class:
1. Is a good cardio workout
2. Is an OK weight workout
3. Is a good ab workout
4. Is a great balance, agility and quickness workout
5. Is a great way to keep muscle confusion going (more on that later)
We will continue doing this as many Mondays as we can!
Boot Camp can be many things, it is more of a general exercise class term and doesn't really have anything to do with the armed forces. This class is a kickboxing version, which I will say is a very loose description. The hour is split into 3 sections, a warm up, cardio and weights. the warm up is almost a joke, just gets your heart rate going and then its into the cardio which you can use light weights for. As a super macho dude I went into the first class ready to use 10's in each hand...found out that I am a douche because I dropped down to 4's and I almost died. Now I switch between 2's and 3's depending on the day, which is plenty. The easiest way to explain the cardio section is Taebo...it is very similar except that you use weights and there is no Billy Blanks. We are in constant motion for about 40 minutes, a lot of bouncing, punching, kicking, kneeing all with the intention of engaging your abs, getting your heart rate up and engaging other large muscle groups. I am one of the only guys that attends the class, most I am sure think they are too macho for it but it is a great work out...the teacher lady is like 50 or 60 and she is nuts! I sweat through my shirt entirely every time.
One of my favorite things other than the intensity is the focus on increasing my agility and speed, I found out quick that I might be strong but I am not quick. Sure I can run and I have speed in that department but I am not as quick or agile as I thought. As my wife says I am bulky :) This really brought a lot of things to light though. This is why I never was GREAT at bouldering, I am just a big sack of weight (which is mostly muscle), where my bro Chris (whose blog you can read at that link) is lean and mean and can climb and do all sorts of stuff with ease. He is agile and quick, which makes us a great adventure combo - me the work horse and he the everything else guy.
So in summary this class:
1. Is a good cardio workout
2. Is an OK weight workout
3. Is a good ab workout
4. Is a great balance, agility and quickness workout
5. Is a great way to keep muscle confusion going (more on that later)
We will continue doing this as many Mondays as we can!
What to Watch Update
As we approach mid-season I wanted to update what we have decided to keep watching after giving a few new shows a try.
Monday - The only thing we do on Mondays is watch the 2 episodes of How I Met Your Mother on Lifetime on Demand.
Tuesday - The Biggest Loser
Wednesday - Modern Family and Cougar Town
Thursday - The Office, CSI
Friday - Monk, Psych, The Soup
Weekends - Nothing really except catching up on shows we might have missed
We cut out Community, it really wasn't doing much for us after 3 weeks. Very similar to Parks and Recreation, we thought it had potential but it just can't seem to find its niche. Modern Family has taken a definite spot as my #2 comedy show after The Office, mostly because I feel like it is similar to The Office and the main character (the "normal" family dad) is very much like Andy Bernard. Cougar Town is still in the potential phase, it hasn't been great yet but I haven't given up on it yet. The Biggest Loser is just nice to watch for motivation on not to be like the people on it and also on occasion picking up some fitness tips from the trainers. Monk is barely getting by its final season, it has lost a lot of the crazy that it used to have, he is more of a detective now rather than a detective with a million disorders and fears. Psych is still going strong, I really enjoy it but Angela doesn't really like it, which means I end up watching it on demand or on Hulu. The Soup is still amazing, this is where Joel McHale really excels, and it might be why we don't find community very interesting. Finally CSI has been pretty good so far this season, it is just weird without Grissom and since it is on the same time as The Office it also is watched on demand.
Excited to see 30 Rock come back, I think that starts this week or next week. Also have been watching Family Guy and The Cleveland Show on Hulu. If you haven't discovered Hulu yet click on one of the links in the text, it is a great place to catch up on TV shows, better than on demand. There are also movies but it hasn't really gotten to the point of "good" with the movies. It is free and just great!
Monday - The only thing we do on Mondays is watch the 2 episodes of How I Met Your Mother on Lifetime on Demand.
Tuesday - The Biggest Loser
Wednesday - Modern Family and Cougar Town
Thursday - The Office, CSI
Friday - Monk, Psych, The Soup
Weekends - Nothing really except catching up on shows we might have missed
We cut out Community, it really wasn't doing much for us after 3 weeks. Very similar to Parks and Recreation, we thought it had potential but it just can't seem to find its niche. Modern Family has taken a definite spot as my #2 comedy show after The Office, mostly because I feel like it is similar to The Office and the main character (the "normal" family dad) is very much like Andy Bernard. Cougar Town is still in the potential phase, it hasn't been great yet but I haven't given up on it yet. The Biggest Loser is just nice to watch for motivation on not to be like the people on it and also on occasion picking up some fitness tips from the trainers. Monk is barely getting by its final season, it has lost a lot of the crazy that it used to have, he is more of a detective now rather than a detective with a million disorders and fears. Psych is still going strong, I really enjoy it but Angela doesn't really like it, which means I end up watching it on demand or on Hulu. The Soup is still amazing, this is where Joel McHale really excels, and it might be why we don't find community very interesting. Finally CSI has been pretty good so far this season, it is just weird without Grissom and since it is on the same time as The Office it also is watched on demand.
Excited to see 30 Rock come back, I think that starts this week or next week. Also have been watching Family Guy and The Cleveland Show on Hulu. If you haven't discovered Hulu yet click on one of the links in the text, it is a great place to catch up on TV shows, better than on demand. There are also movies but it hasn't really gotten to the point of "good" with the movies. It is free and just great!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A House Husbands Guide to Unemployment
PURGE!
Don't get an eating disorder! Instead go through all the crap you have been hording and get rid of it! Go through your clothing, your random crap, your DVD's, CD's, books, etc...and make piles, one for KEEP, one for GOODWILL, and one for maybe. The keep pile you will keep because it fits, you still watch/listen/read it etc. Goodwill is the pile of stuff you do not want anymore but why throw it away when someone else might be able to use it? The maybe pile is for the stuff you think you might be able to use but you will wait and see until you do this again in a couple of months. The act of purging helps you remain organized and saves you room when storage room might be at a premium and it also makes you feel good for helping those in need!
This brings me to my second point, do the things at home that you specialized in at work. For me that is efficiency, organization and completing projects. Doing this stuff will help keep you sharp and prepared for when (if ever) you are able to re-enter the workforce. It might not be making anyone big bucks but you will actually see some big similarities.
Enjoy re-organizing your life, it is very freeing!
Don't get an eating disorder! Instead go through all the crap you have been hording and get rid of it! Go through your clothing, your random crap, your DVD's, CD's, books, etc...and make piles, one for KEEP, one for GOODWILL, and one for maybe. The keep pile you will keep because it fits, you still watch/listen/read it etc. Goodwill is the pile of stuff you do not want anymore but why throw it away when someone else might be able to use it? The maybe pile is for the stuff you think you might be able to use but you will wait and see until you do this again in a couple of months. The act of purging helps you remain organized and saves you room when storage room might be at a premium and it also makes you feel good for helping those in need!
This brings me to my second point, do the things at home that you specialized in at work. For me that is efficiency, organization and completing projects. Doing this stuff will help keep you sharp and prepared for when (if ever) you are able to re-enter the workforce. It might not be making anyone big bucks but you will actually see some big similarities.
Enjoy re-organizing your life, it is very freeing!
Starbucks Via Taste Test
We went to Starbucks Friday night to participate in their new product taste test. Via is a new product they are selling that is an instant coffee mix that is supposed to taste just like their regular coffee. They had a taste test advertised for this past weekend, where if you tried Via you got a free coffee, so as we were right by a Starbucks Friday night we decided to go in and try it out! Unfortunately the D-bag that was at the register couldn't handle the business at the store and told us they were only doing it from 7 AM to 11 AM, not knowing what the actual ad said we decided that he probably knew what he was talking about. So we left and went to a local coffee store and got Mocha Floats! Anyway once we got home I looked it up on Starbucks' website and there is no mention of times or that each store can do it as they please. Michelle even verified it on Sunday that it was not during those times by going to a Starbucks in NYC around 3 PM and getting it. So what I did was something I have wanted to do and will continue doing is I wrote Starbucks an Email through their website detailing our experience, and I am very interested to see if they respond. I will keep you updated!
Movie Review - Observe and Report
This one was a bit interesting...I originally had no interest in seeing it but saw a review that made it sound great. Well even if you hear a review from somewhere that reliably makes good reviews on movies I guess it won't every time, this being the case.
The review dubbed it as a dark version of Paul Blart Mall Cop, which was a pretty light hearted comedy, and I thought it was pretty ok. So I am thinking a dark version would be something I would really like. The review failed to say that unlike Paul Blart, this movie was not so much a comedy, it wasn't just a raunchy version of Paul Blart, it was more of a story about a chemically imbalanced mall cop and how his life revolves around mall security. You would think haha that is funny! but the main character played by Seth Rogen is just a loser and everyone sees it except him so he basically gets crapped on the whole movie and people go out of their way to make his life suck more. Unfortunately not in funny ways, more in ways that hurt him and push him further toward crazy. By the end of the movie you have laughed a couple times and the movie pushes hard for about 10 mins where there is a funny chase scene and then a very unexpected twist. The twist is the exclamation point on (insert how you felt about the movie here), either you will love it or you will hate it at that point - I didn't like it for a couple reasons but I will let you make your own decision. I would rent it if you are interested but no more than red box $1.
The review dubbed it as a dark version of Paul Blart Mall Cop, which was a pretty light hearted comedy, and I thought it was pretty ok. So I am thinking a dark version would be something I would really like. The review failed to say that unlike Paul Blart, this movie was not so much a comedy, it wasn't just a raunchy version of Paul Blart, it was more of a story about a chemically imbalanced mall cop and how his life revolves around mall security. You would think haha that is funny! but the main character played by Seth Rogen is just a loser and everyone sees it except him so he basically gets crapped on the whole movie and people go out of their way to make his life suck more. Unfortunately not in funny ways, more in ways that hurt him and push him further toward crazy. By the end of the movie you have laughed a couple times and the movie pushes hard for about 10 mins where there is a funny chase scene and then a very unexpected twist. The twist is the exclamation point on (insert how you felt about the movie here), either you will love it or you will hate it at that point - I didn't like it for a couple reasons but I will let you make your own decision. I would rent it if you are interested but no more than red box $1.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
A House Husbands Guide To Unemployment
The second installment of this series deals with creativity!
I encourage you to be as creative as you can be. For me that has basically revolved around my inner-head-noodle always wriggling around new ideas. Anywhere from new business ideas, business ideas for existing companies (maybe your business is one of them, maybe you should give me a job) and the fun stuff like working on impressions, characters and comedy ideas in general.
My most exciting part is the impressions/character voices as my real dream job is to be a cartoon character voice. I have recently started working on Kermit the Frog, Raymond Barone and have been trying to evolve my Cleveland as well as a couple other random voices. It is just so much fun to do! It brings out the kid in you and you can't even help but smile when you do it.
If you don't do silly stuff like this you will surely go crazy!
If you have any impressions you do or suggestions for me please comment!
I encourage you to be as creative as you can be. For me that has basically revolved around my inner-head-noodle always wriggling around new ideas. Anywhere from new business ideas, business ideas for existing companies (maybe your business is one of them, maybe you should give me a job) and the fun stuff like working on impressions, characters and comedy ideas in general.
My most exciting part is the impressions/character voices as my real dream job is to be a cartoon character voice. I have recently started working on Kermit the Frog, Raymond Barone and have been trying to evolve my Cleveland as well as a couple other random voices. It is just so much fun to do! It brings out the kid in you and you can't even help but smile when you do it.
If you don't do silly stuff like this you will surely go crazy!
If you have any impressions you do or suggestions for me please comment!
New Interest
I have been increasingly disappointed with what people are calling music lately, especially the crap that gets rolled on the radio waves. Pop music stations can go forget themselves because pop music is just cornball BS where someone just repeats something and then there is the chorus which is repeated through the song and that is how you make a pop song! The music being played on the "hard rock" channels are full of Nickleback, Chris Daughtry and cry baby punk/emo crap. My old favorite was the classic rock stations but there isn't a good one I can find in the new area. So this lead me to a search of something I could stand to listen to, and to my very big surprise NPR is what I landed on.
Yes it is just talking, so there is very little music but it at least has some interesting information and stories with some original content. It has everything music doesn't anymore except the "instruments" (which are mostly done on computers anymore) and some train wreck singing a song she didn't write. It took a little getting used to but I find it much more enjoyable than the other crap on the radio especially on a short drive, it definitely beats hearing the same 4 songs over and over again.
Check it out if you would like, it is a nice portal to some information you might not get watching the news (not talking about stupid turkeys attacking people). National Public Radio doesn't even have the billions of commercials regular radio has!
Yes it is just talking, so there is very little music but it at least has some interesting information and stories with some original content. It has everything music doesn't anymore except the "instruments" (which are mostly done on computers anymore) and some train wreck singing a song she didn't write. It took a little getting used to but I find it much more enjoyable than the other crap on the radio especially on a short drive, it definitely beats hearing the same 4 songs over and over again.
Check it out if you would like, it is a nice portal to some information you might not get watching the news (not talking about stupid turkeys attacking people). National Public Radio doesn't even have the billions of commercials regular radio has!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
What we are watching
New shows:
1. Cougar Town - ABC
2. Modern Family - ABC
3. Community - NBC
4. Shark Tank - Fox
Returning to our line-up
1. The Office
2. The Biggest Loser
3. 30 Rock
4. CSI
5. How I Met Your Mother (On Demand)
6. Psych
7. Monk
8. The Soup
1. Cougar Town - ABC
2. Modern Family - ABC
3. Community - NBC
4. Shark Tank - Fox
Returning to our line-up
1. The Office
2. The Biggest Loser
3. 30 Rock
4. CSI
5. How I Met Your Mother (On Demand)
6. Psych
7. Monk
8. The Soup
Deliciousness!!
Just tried something out and it was wonderful.
Triple Decker PBJ with sliced bananas!
What you need: half a banana cut up into small slices, 3 pieces of bread, peanut butter, strawberry jelly.
Peanut butter goes on the outer pieces of bread and jelly on both sides of the middle piece, the banana slices go on the peanut butter...assemble and eat!!
Triple Decker PBJ with sliced bananas!
What you need: half a banana cut up into small slices, 3 pieces of bread, peanut butter, strawberry jelly.
Peanut butter goes on the outer pieces of bread and jelly on both sides of the middle piece, the banana slices go on the peanut butter...assemble and eat!!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
First REAL Philly Cheesesteak
We decided to finally get a real taste of Philly this weekend. Tony Luke's has been rated the best cheese steak in Philly for many years including this year. We look it up on the trusty google maps and we are on our way. Making our way down I-295 across the Walt Witman bridge, pay our $4 toll to enter PA and bare to the right at the first exit. While we just miss the yellow light we are stopped with one of the lovely homeless guys at the corner panhandling for money, waving and smiling at everyone stopped. We turn left once we get the green light pass by the skeezy looking gentleman's club Cheerleaders and take the next right. As we make that final turn we see Tony Luke's crappy little sidewalk stand with a line backed up 50 people deep and cars illegally parked all over...some great signs that this is going to be good. We park a little less illegally at an Aldi parking lot right behind the stand, where it looks many others are doing the same. We take our place in line and in about 20 minutes we get to the cashier. Now while we are waiting in line we have to get our order down so when it is our turn we are ready and can spout our order off in true Philly fashion (kinda like a dick).
2 cheese steaks, one with American, one with wiz, a side of onion rings and 2 cherry Pepsi's...BOOM I nail it, kind of felt like Frank from Old School when he is debating at the end of the movie.
So it is another 15 minutes probably until we have our food and if you have seen the place it is basically right up next to the sidewalk with a window and 6 tables of 4. As there are around 100 people converged here there is no where to sit, so we head back to the GTI and dig in. The steaks were great, I was very impressed. We both enjoyed ours, but I have to say the cheese wiz one that Angela got was a bit more flavorful than the mild American one I got (those are the 2 cheese choices). They were very cheesy and not at all dry, the bun was great too. Since this was our first time we didn't realize that if you wanted onions and anything else you had to ask for it so it was just steak, cheese and bun. So next time we will be more prepared!
Tony Luke's, worth the wait!
We still want to try out Gino and Pat's the 2 "original" cheese steak rivals, although I have heard they are not that great, but I guess you have to try t hem all if you want to be able to decide who is the best.
p.s. Don't forget the napkins...
2 cheese steaks, one with American, one with wiz, a side of onion rings and 2 cherry Pepsi's...BOOM I nail it, kind of felt like Frank from Old School when he is debating at the end of the movie.
So it is another 15 minutes probably until we have our food and if you have seen the place it is basically right up next to the sidewalk with a window and 6 tables of 4. As there are around 100 people converged here there is no where to sit, so we head back to the GTI and dig in. The steaks were great, I was very impressed. We both enjoyed ours, but I have to say the cheese wiz one that Angela got was a bit more flavorful than the mild American one I got (those are the 2 cheese choices). They were very cheesy and not at all dry, the bun was great too. Since this was our first time we didn't realize that if you wanted onions and anything else you had to ask for it so it was just steak, cheese and bun. So next time we will be more prepared!
Tony Luke's, worth the wait!
We still want to try out Gino and Pat's the 2 "original" cheese steak rivals, although I have heard they are not that great, but I guess you have to try t hem all if you want to be able to decide who is the best.
p.s. Don't forget the napkins...
Friday, September 25, 2009
A House Husbands Guide to Unemployment
As I have reached a milestone of 100 jobs applied for since April 2009, with believe it or not no real response. This has included entry level jobs, management jobs, supervisor jobs, basic retail jobs, almost every single thing you can apply for. But this isn't a post dealing with how horrible the job market is...because that would be kind of boring.
This is yet another series that I will write every once in awhile about what I do to keep myself occupied, because I have actually been asked that many times lately.
Today I will tell you about my unemployment beard. This is a beard that I am growing until I get an interview, it has been probably 2 months since I have trimmed it and I will not be trimming it until some kind of progress is made. I might do some touch ups so it doesn't get too horrible but the length will not be touched. I figure why not? Why not see how extreme I can take something that normally a working man would have to keep looking pretty. My beard is not the longest it has ever been but it is very close, in about another month it will be a lot longer than it has ever been. So grow an unemployment beard you unemployed losers...we must unite and fight the powers that won't hire us! This takes up every minute of everyday, so it keeps me pretty occupied... :-)
I have also messed around with the idea of shaving my head bald, Mr. Clean bald. I have always wanted to do it and who knows if that will be my next post! I would of course keep my beard though!
This is yet another series that I will write every once in awhile about what I do to keep myself occupied, because I have actually been asked that many times lately.
Today I will tell you about my unemployment beard. This is a beard that I am growing until I get an interview, it has been probably 2 months since I have trimmed it and I will not be trimming it until some kind of progress is made. I might do some touch ups so it doesn't get too horrible but the length will not be touched. I figure why not? Why not see how extreme I can take something that normally a working man would have to keep looking pretty. My beard is not the longest it has ever been but it is very close, in about another month it will be a lot longer than it has ever been. So grow an unemployment beard you unemployed losers...we must unite and fight the powers that won't hire us! This takes up every minute of everyday, so it keeps me pretty occupied... :-)
I have also messed around with the idea of shaving my head bald, Mr. Clean bald. I have always wanted to do it and who knows if that will be my next post! I would of course keep my beard though!
Why New Jersey Sucks - Ridiculous News Stories
New Jersey apparently has no bigger problem these days than wild turkeys invading neighborhoods. Government corruption not a big deal, unemployment...meh who cares but wild turkeys WATCH THE EFF OUT!
This is a true story...
Watching the news last night and there is a story about wild turkeys who have INVADED this neighborhood in Cherry Hill (they weren't living somewhere that was destroyed, they directly planned an invasion...). These turkerorrists (turkey terrorists) have been patrolling the streets to attack passers-by with the intent to kill... My favorite part of the news story is that they called it a WALKING NIGHTMARE! THEY ARE TURKEYS! I am all for animal rights but if I were engaged in combat with a turkey I KNOW I could take it. A walking nightmare would be bears, lions, zombies, etc (something I probably couldn't fight one on one). So these turkeys are basically going into defense mode when people walk by and they go after them trying to peck them just because they are scared, not because they are on a turkey jihad.
It blew my mind that 1. this story was on the news, 2. it was described as a walking nightmare and 3. there was no siding with the turkeys, no one saying well yea we destroyed their habitat so it is expected. What a bunch of idiots.
This is a true story...
Watching the news last night and there is a story about wild turkeys who have INVADED this neighborhood in Cherry Hill (they weren't living somewhere that was destroyed, they directly planned an invasion...). These turkerorrists (turkey terrorists) have been patrolling the streets to attack passers-by with the intent to kill... My favorite part of the news story is that they called it a WALKING NIGHTMARE! THEY ARE TURKEYS! I am all for animal rights but if I were engaged in combat with a turkey I KNOW I could take it. A walking nightmare would be bears, lions, zombies, etc (something I probably couldn't fight one on one). So these turkeys are basically going into defense mode when people walk by and they go after them trying to peck them just because they are scared, not because they are on a turkey jihad.
It blew my mind that 1. this story was on the news, 2. it was described as a walking nightmare and 3. there was no siding with the turkeys, no one saying well yea we destroyed their habitat so it is expected. What a bunch of idiots.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Book vs. Movie - Murder on the Orient Express
This will be a first in just another one of the types of blogs I'll be writing - part book report, part movie review.
Murder on the Orient Express is a classic who-dun-it tail from Agatha Christie. A strange choice for me but when you are at the library and a book catches your eye, it is always a good choice to give it a try. The movie is where I was first introduced to the story though. As you know I am a huge James Bond fan and from that stems a love for Sean Connery (as you might guess Sir Sean is in the movie). The funniest part of this review is that I watched the movie first and it really didn't even make sense to me, which actually turned me off from the story all together. It turns out the things that made the movie tough to follow were the amazing amount of plot twists, which of course are much easier to follow through the book.
Hercule Poirot is a world famous detective who gets into a murder mystery on route back home from the middle east. Poirot I believe is in many of Agatha's novels, this possibly being the most popular. There is a little pre-text about a murder that occurs in America that kind of shocked the world, it involved the kidnapping of a little girl, family pays the ransom and then the girl is found dead. Most of the story revolves around that murder because the man that is murdered is in fact the same man responsible for the kidnapping. That is about all of the plot I will give away, I do encourage you to read the book, it is a fairly easy read not too long and has some good plot twists.
The battle begins!
The book starts off with a left hook of detail and scandal, but is quickly blocked by the movie's visuals. A bob and a weave and boom the book is right back with nicely broken down chapters that flow well, making the movie stumble over some awkward story telling at the beginning. Just when you think the movie is going to come around with a big hook with the acting, the book ducks and dodges with better character development and comes back with an uppercut which hits the movie square in the jaw for the way Hercule Poirot is portrayed (more as a parody of a French detective) the book comes forward again with a Poirot who is methodical and a master of criminal psychology. It is looking grim for the movie...1...it is...2...having...3...trouble getting...4...up, tries...5...to pull itself...6...up on...7...the ropes...8...but slips...9...it looks...10...like the movie has been knocked out! The book wins hands down! If you are interested, I would say read the book then watch the movie, it makes much more sense.
On a side note, Sean Connery plays a very small roll and as a fan I enjoyed him!
Murder on the Orient Express is a classic who-dun-it tail from Agatha Christie. A strange choice for me but when you are at the library and a book catches your eye, it is always a good choice to give it a try. The movie is where I was first introduced to the story though. As you know I am a huge James Bond fan and from that stems a love for Sean Connery (as you might guess Sir Sean is in the movie). The funniest part of this review is that I watched the movie first and it really didn't even make sense to me, which actually turned me off from the story all together. It turns out the things that made the movie tough to follow were the amazing amount of plot twists, which of course are much easier to follow through the book.
Hercule Poirot is a world famous detective who gets into a murder mystery on route back home from the middle east. Poirot I believe is in many of Agatha's novels, this possibly being the most popular. There is a little pre-text about a murder that occurs in America that kind of shocked the world, it involved the kidnapping of a little girl, family pays the ransom and then the girl is found dead. Most of the story revolves around that murder because the man that is murdered is in fact the same man responsible for the kidnapping. That is about all of the plot I will give away, I do encourage you to read the book, it is a fairly easy read not too long and has some good plot twists.
The battle begins!
The book starts off with a left hook of detail and scandal, but is quickly blocked by the movie's visuals. A bob and a weave and boom the book is right back with nicely broken down chapters that flow well, making the movie stumble over some awkward story telling at the beginning. Just when you think the movie is going to come around with a big hook with the acting, the book ducks and dodges with better character development and comes back with an uppercut which hits the movie square in the jaw for the way Hercule Poirot is portrayed (more as a parody of a French detective) the book comes forward again with a Poirot who is methodical and a master of criminal psychology. It is looking grim for the movie...1...it is...2...having...3...trouble getting...4...up, tries...5...to pull itself...6...up on...7...the ropes...8...but slips...9...it looks...10...like the movie has been knocked out! The book wins hands down! If you are interested, I would say read the book then watch the movie, it makes much more sense.
On a side note, Sean Connery plays a very small roll and as a fan I enjoyed him!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Video Game Review - Boom Blox
In an attempt to save some money and keep ourselves entertained, every so often we decide to sell back some of our Wii games and get a new one or 2. This past weekend we sold back a couple of games and got $48 of credit for Game Stop. With that we picked up a used version of a game called Boom Blox.
Boom Blox is a party style game that is great for 2 - 4 people. There is a one player mode but the real fun is playing with some friends! As we have no other friends here yet, we had a blast playing 2 player cooperative and once we got a handle on it we went head to head. The game is simple yet challenging, you need steady hands and good aim as it uses the motion control (pretty damn well). It is basically a puzzle game but encourages competition and excitement. You use your Wii remote to grab blocks (like Jenga), throw different types of balls to knock blocks over and shoot blocks as well. There is also a level creator which we haven't dabbled much in, but as you play you get ideas you think would be so much fun, so I look forward to flexing my creativity!
I highly recommend this game, there is a second one out as well, I would guess it would be good too, but the original could be cheaper if you find it used ($20 for us).
Boom Blox is a party style game that is great for 2 - 4 people. There is a one player mode but the real fun is playing with some friends! As we have no other friends here yet, we had a blast playing 2 player cooperative and once we got a handle on it we went head to head. The game is simple yet challenging, you need steady hands and good aim as it uses the motion control (pretty damn well). It is basically a puzzle game but encourages competition and excitement. You use your Wii remote to grab blocks (like Jenga), throw different types of balls to knock blocks over and shoot blocks as well. There is also a level creator which we haven't dabbled much in, but as you play you get ideas you think would be so much fun, so I look forward to flexing my creativity!
I highly recommend this game, there is a second one out as well, I would guess it would be good too, but the original could be cheaper if you find it used ($20 for us).
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Movie Review - 17 Again
This was a surprising movie to me. Going in I am expecting a Freaky Friday sort of knock off, kind of cheesey and for the little kids, and I was mistaken. I really like some of the people starring in the movie including Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann and Thomas Lennon (Reno 911). I was most surprised that I really liked Zac Efron, only knowing him from High School Musical which I think is horrible, I was very pleasantly surprised. Matthew Perry plays the guy who is turned young into Zac Efron. Mike O'Donnell is the main character played by Perry and Efron, who as Lennon (Ned in the movie) puts it is on a spirit journey. Some of the funniest parts come between Efron and Mann when she can't get over how much like her husband he looks and it gets a little inappropriate which made it hilarious for me. Over all it has a nice flow and is very comical but not raunchy, so it is a good family film but not cheese-ball.
The other thing that took me by surprise is Lennon, who I have loved for a long time from being in Reno 911 and The State. He plays a former super nerd, dungeons and dragons and everything, who turns out to be very rich from creating software. He is still a huge nerd and that is the best part. His house is full of movie memorabilia from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and more. He also plays young Mike's dad when the switch happens as a disguise for the unbelievable situation. Ned meets the principal and falls in love (Jan from The Office) who turns out to be a super nerd too. It is just a nice exciting side story that really helped fill in a slow spot or 2.
I recommend checking it out, its not the best overall but it is good and has some laughs in it.
The other thing that took me by surprise is Lennon, who I have loved for a long time from being in Reno 911 and The State. He plays a former super nerd, dungeons and dragons and everything, who turns out to be very rich from creating software. He is still a huge nerd and that is the best part. His house is full of movie memorabilia from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and more. He also plays young Mike's dad when the switch happens as a disguise for the unbelievable situation. Ned meets the principal and falls in love (Jan from The Office) who turns out to be a super nerd too. It is just a nice exciting side story that really helped fill in a slow spot or 2.
I recommend checking it out, its not the best overall but it is good and has some laughs in it.
Movie Review - Watchmen
I sat myself down to enjoy this gem the other day. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews while this movie was out in theaters, some people said you had to read the graphic novel to understand it, some really enjoyed it and some thought it was just plain boring and way too long. I really enjoyed it and I have not read the graphic novel (although it is on my list now).
Watchmen is a story about the status of super heroes (in a fictional America) throughout the 1900's. It begins with a nice montage of credits and old timey super hero pictures/events. These are not your marvel or DC comic super heroes, they are something different (which the movie didn't dive deep enough in to for me), the "powers" are not clearly defined either but you kind of get the gist throughout the movie. It appears that the fictional time perioid the movie takes place in is cold warish with Richard Nixon on his 3rd or 4th term as president (again it is fictional). The super hereo's have since "retired" sort of like in The Incredibles, where it seems they were cast out in favor of more traditional methods of law enforcement.
As the movie unfolds it appears that someone is trying to kill these last remaining super heroes and the cold war is escalating "5 minutes til midnight" on the doomsday clock and not to my surprise the killing of the heroes and the escalation are intertwined. The killings re-unite some of the old gang and it is neat to see them take back to their hero days through out the movie.
The main story is told through the voice of one of the heroes, Rorschach, and the reading of a journal he has written. I don't want to spoil anymore of the story for you though. The plot unfolds in a nice way and it doesn't do it quickly (which I enjoyed). There is a surprising amount of sex and nudity (mostly of Dr. Manhattan and his glowing blue penis), which I found more funny than gross and the sex was well done. There also is a FANTASTIC sound track that really sets the mood throughout the movie, and it is nice that it is mostly older songs and not just cheesy movie music.
I really recommend seeing this movie, especially if you Redbox it for a $1. But I would say that I am way more into this type of story than a normal person, so if sci-fi/action/super hero isn't your cup of tea, you might not be able to get into it. I think I had an easier time understanding it because I am of that "type" but I will be trying to get my hands on the graphic novel to learn more. Hope you enjoy!
Watchmen is a story about the status of super heroes (in a fictional America) throughout the 1900's. It begins with a nice montage of credits and old timey super hero pictures/events. These are not your marvel or DC comic super heroes, they are something different (which the movie didn't dive deep enough in to for me), the "powers" are not clearly defined either but you kind of get the gist throughout the movie. It appears that the fictional time perioid the movie takes place in is cold warish with Richard Nixon on his 3rd or 4th term as president (again it is fictional). The super hereo's have since "retired" sort of like in The Incredibles, where it seems they were cast out in favor of more traditional methods of law enforcement.
As the movie unfolds it appears that someone is trying to kill these last remaining super heroes and the cold war is escalating "5 minutes til midnight" on the doomsday clock and not to my surprise the killing of the heroes and the escalation are intertwined. The killings re-unite some of the old gang and it is neat to see them take back to their hero days through out the movie.
The main story is told through the voice of one of the heroes, Rorschach, and the reading of a journal he has written. I don't want to spoil anymore of the story for you though. The plot unfolds in a nice way and it doesn't do it quickly (which I enjoyed). There is a surprising amount of sex and nudity (mostly of Dr. Manhattan and his glowing blue penis), which I found more funny than gross and the sex was well done. There also is a FANTASTIC sound track that really sets the mood throughout the movie, and it is nice that it is mostly older songs and not just cheesy movie music.
I really recommend seeing this movie, especially if you Redbox it for a $1. But I would say that I am way more into this type of story than a normal person, so if sci-fi/action/super hero isn't your cup of tea, you might not be able to get into it. I think I had an easier time understanding it because I am of that "type" but I will be trying to get my hands on the graphic novel to learn more. Hope you enjoy!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Pants of Destiny
Quick little story:
Right around June of 2009 we went to Dick's to look for a swim suit for my wife for the gym we had joined. As we are looking around, I venture off to the outdoors/hiking apparel area (not being very helpful in the swim suit search). After some perusing I find these pants from The North Face, and being an instinctual frugalista I go price first ($50). I am not a fan of paying much for clothes no matter how "good" they are, but as I inspect the pair of pants I start to think that I really can't live without them. There isn't anything incredibly special about the pants, no utility belt, no water proofing, nothing. They are just this really nice feeling material, and we are just clicking on what seems to quickly becoming a date with how much feeling I am doing... :-) . They are basically cargo pants made from some really light weight material and they are green (a nice dark green, my favorite). End of the day I decide I can't afford to pay $50 for pants right now, and try to find them online at maybe REI or somewhere to see if they are cheaper. I forgot to look at the style or name of the pants so I check out Dick's website and they aren't there...it was like they disappeared (even on The North Face website - nothing).
Last night we were out and stopped by Dick's to look around (as well as Best Buy) and I instantly go back to look for the pants (maybe they are on sale) and like on the websites they are gone. I am honestly kind of sad at this point, I was hoping after this many months they would be on sale, instead they were alllllllllll gone. Feeling like they had escaped me we decide to leave. As we walk towards the exit Angela sees a CLEARANCE rack on some men's clothing racks. Appearing to be all golf gear I make a turn to approach and BOOM THE PANTS! There are 2 pairs of pants left on the clearance rack so what are the chances one will be my size (pretty common 32 x 32). We look at the first pair, turning the waist out to see the tag and right there 32's! and the even better part, they are only $30 now! After all of this I can't say no, the price is right and everything. So that is the story of the pants of destiny...it will go down in history and be told for generations I am sure.
Right around June of 2009 we went to Dick's to look for a swim suit for my wife for the gym we had joined. As we are looking around, I venture off to the outdoors/hiking apparel area (not being very helpful in the swim suit search). After some perusing I find these pants from The North Face, and being an instinctual frugalista I go price first ($50). I am not a fan of paying much for clothes no matter how "good" they are, but as I inspect the pair of pants I start to think that I really can't live without them. There isn't anything incredibly special about the pants, no utility belt, no water proofing, nothing. They are just this really nice feeling material, and we are just clicking on what seems to quickly becoming a date with how much feeling I am doing... :-) . They are basically cargo pants made from some really light weight material and they are green (a nice dark green, my favorite). End of the day I decide I can't afford to pay $50 for pants right now, and try to find them online at maybe REI or somewhere to see if they are cheaper. I forgot to look at the style or name of the pants so I check out Dick's website and they aren't there...it was like they disappeared (even on The North Face website - nothing).
Last night we were out and stopped by Dick's to look around (as well as Best Buy) and I instantly go back to look for the pants (maybe they are on sale) and like on the websites they are gone. I am honestly kind of sad at this point, I was hoping after this many months they would be on sale, instead they were alllllllllll gone. Feeling like they had escaped me we decide to leave. As we walk towards the exit Angela sees a CLEARANCE rack on some men's clothing racks. Appearing to be all golf gear I make a turn to approach and BOOM THE PANTS! There are 2 pairs of pants left on the clearance rack so what are the chances one will be my size (pretty common 32 x 32). We look at the first pair, turning the waist out to see the tag and right there 32's! and the even better part, they are only $30 now! After all of this I can't say no, the price is right and everything. So that is the story of the pants of destiny...it will go down in history and be told for generations I am sure.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Worst Waiter Ever
So we get back in to town after our trip and we have no food in the house (pretty common). Instead of doing the grocery store and all that good stuff we just wanted to eat some damn food, trying to avoid fast food we decide on Chez Elena Wu (what we expected to be a sit down chinese food restaurant similar to Hong Kong Ruby in Harrisburg). We get seated and look at the menu, it was a very odd assortment of different Asian cuisine and incredibly over priced. As we are looking through the menu deciding maybe we will try something (the food is not the point of the story). So we are looking through and a waitress comes up and asks how we are doing (assuming this would be our waitress, it was not), we tell her we are still looking.
It was at that point we encountered him. Now I know not everyone who comes into this country adapts to our social norms but this guy wasn't even trying. It reminds me of the Friends episode where Mike Hannigan (aka Crap Bag played by Paul Rudd) is hanging out at Ross' apartment and it is super awkward. He then is asked to intercept all phone calls, where Ross states Mike was playing with the boundaries of social conduct.
This guy didn't even come up to us at first but was doing the "I am going to get uncomfortably close, within normal conversation range" in order for you to notice that I am here. He stood about 3 feet away from me over my left shoulder and hovered there not saying a word and not leaving. He was in this waiter limbo where he wasn't taking orders but yet he was so close it was uncomfortable to talk to each other. I knew as soon as he heard us say the name of a food he was going to pounce. This went on for probably 10 minutes, just kept hovering right by us not suggesting anything, not asking if we needed more time just standing there and kind of started pacing after awhile (like CMON AND ORDER ALREADY). We ended up ordering 2 rolls of sushi because it was actually the cheapest thing on the menu (and it tasted like it) and tipping him a minimal amount. This guy was kind of the exclamation point on the suckiness of the restaurant.
It was at that point we encountered him. Now I know not everyone who comes into this country adapts to our social norms but this guy wasn't even trying. It reminds me of the Friends episode where Mike Hannigan (aka Crap Bag played by Paul Rudd) is hanging out at Ross' apartment and it is super awkward. He then is asked to intercept all phone calls, where Ross states Mike was playing with the boundaries of social conduct.
This guy didn't even come up to us at first but was doing the "I am going to get uncomfortably close, within normal conversation range" in order for you to notice that I am here. He stood about 3 feet away from me over my left shoulder and hovered there not saying a word and not leaving. He was in this waiter limbo where he wasn't taking orders but yet he was so close it was uncomfortable to talk to each other. I knew as soon as he heard us say the name of a food he was going to pounce. This went on for probably 10 minutes, just kept hovering right by us not suggesting anything, not asking if we needed more time just standing there and kind of started pacing after awhile (like CMON AND ORDER ALREADY). We ended up ordering 2 rolls of sushi because it was actually the cheapest thing on the menu (and it tasted like it) and tipping him a minimal amount. This guy was kind of the exclamation point on the suckiness of the restaurant.
Annapolis
We celebrated our 1 year anniversary this past weekend by going to Annapolis, MD. We stayed in our first B&B, which for me was a little weird (staying in a stranger's house) but all in all it was very nice. We enjoyed some of our favorite Annapolis treats like sushi at Joss, gelato at Aromi D'Italia, pain killers at Pusser's and a new favorite fudge at Kilwin's. We went on a self guided tour of the Naval Academy, walked around the cute little streets, enjoyed the architecture, went on a sunset sailing cruise (same boat as used in Wedding Crashers) and did some shopping. Joss is still a 10, gelato is a 10, fudge is at least a 9. Next time we would like to check out Cantler's Crab House and possibly some more water activities!
Check out some more pics on my webshots: http://community.webshots.com/user/rw2839
Check out some more pics on my webshots: http://community.webshots.com/user/rw2839
Friday, September 4, 2009
Advertising Idiocy
The new movie Gamer is coming out very soon and it stars Gerard Butler, personally the movie looks like a remake of The Running Man with some technology updates. This post isn't specifically about the movie but of a trailer/advertisement about the movie.
The ad shows clips of the movie with a voice over guy talking it up. Here is the dumb part:
"The last time Gerard Butler kicked this much ass was 300 years ago"
I believe he is referring to the movie 300, which is a fight between the Spartans and the Persian Empire...you have probably all seen it. Now any rational person knows that there weren't Spartans fighting the Persians in 1709, America was being born, the Greek empire had ended, the Roman empire had ended and many more. The movie 300 is supposedly to have taken place in 480 BC which is 2489 years ago (just a small difference). But this was the best the ad agency could come up with to advertise this movie!
Remember how bad ass Gerard Butler was in 300?? yea he is bad ass in this movie too! Instead they come up with a ridiculously incorrect "fact" that was off by 2189 years.
The last time Ryan had a job was 1 day ago. (you can make anything sound good)
Even as I am writing this the commercial comes on again, maybe they thought that the title 300 was the number of years ago it happened? instead of the number of Spartans that fought against the Persian Empire when no one else would.
The last time Ahn-Tuan touched so much ass was 300 years ago. See it just doesn't work!
The last time Gerard Butler was in a movie this bad was Beowulf.
The last time this movie was made was in the 80's.
Etc, Etc, Etc.
The ad shows clips of the movie with a voice over guy talking it up. Here is the dumb part:
"The last time Gerard Butler kicked this much ass was 300 years ago"
I believe he is referring to the movie 300, which is a fight between the Spartans and the Persian Empire...you have probably all seen it. Now any rational person knows that there weren't Spartans fighting the Persians in 1709, America was being born, the Greek empire had ended, the Roman empire had ended and many more. The movie 300 is supposedly to have taken place in 480 BC which is 2489 years ago (just a small difference). But this was the best the ad agency could come up with to advertise this movie!
Remember how bad ass Gerard Butler was in 300?? yea he is bad ass in this movie too! Instead they come up with a ridiculously incorrect "fact" that was off by 2189 years.
The last time Ryan had a job was 1 day ago. (you can make anything sound good)
Even as I am writing this the commercial comes on again, maybe they thought that the title 300 was the number of years ago it happened? instead of the number of Spartans that fought against the Persian Empire when no one else would.
The last time Ahn-Tuan touched so much ass was 300 years ago. See it just doesn't work!
The last time Gerard Butler was in a movie this bad was Beowulf.
The last time this movie was made was in the 80's.
Etc, Etc, Etc.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Phillies Game
We attended our first Phillies game last Friday. This is something we were both really looking forward to because it was a first for us in this new area. Unfortunately it ended up raining the entire day, like a good house husband I sat at home throughout the day checking the status of the game. Even though it rained the majority of the day (and I mean it RAINED) the Phillies felt having the game was a good idea...seriously?? As we paid $28 each for these tickets we decided what the heck we'll go prepared (rain gear in hand) and take our chances. As we got there and paid $12 for parking the rain had stopped but the clouds had not gone away but we thought maybe we would break our curse of always having rain when we plan something. The excitement built as we got in the park and got our free knitted winter cap and found our way to our seats as we tried to take in the enormous Citizens Bank Park. We found our seats without any trouble and check out that view! As soon as we sat down I'm thinking...FOUL FREAKIN BALL...so I am really amping it up with the thought of catching one (apparently I have th
e dreams of a 5 year old). The game starts and Pedro Martinez is pitching...so there is the 3rd thing that was going for us (no rain, FOUL BALL, hall of fame pitcher). And then things fell apart...not surprisingly it started raining and we got 1.5 innings into the game and the tarp came out. Long story short, it rained a lot, they tried playing again (even though the rain didn't really stop) and the tarp came back out so we finally gave up after the 5th inning which took about 3.5 hours to get to and headed home (once they hit 5 innings the game is considered played). What really grinds my gears is that IT RAINED ALL DAY! there wasn't a chance of rain IT WAS RAINING AND WAS SUPPOSED TO RAIN ALL DAY! So the Phillies felt getting people to come down and pay $12 to park their car on a piece of land come to the game they paid for and eat/drink a bunch of expensive crap was the best idea. We might as well have had gone to a movie theater that didn't have sound all day, and didn't expect to except for short periods of time. We could have gone to an amusment park just to eat the food and play the games - no rides. My foul ball dreams were crushed just as fast as they were dreamt like Heidi Montag's singing career (although she is still singing and I am catching no foul balls). We did get to see 2 Home Runs which brought some excitement, which at the end of the day was as exciting as seeing a bum fight at that movie theater would have been.
Baseball Tix = $56
Parking = $12
Knit Cap = Free
Getting to use my Marmot Rain Gear to watch 5 innings of baseball = worthless?
p.s. i was dry as a bone in that rain gear....GOOOOOOOOOOOOO MARMOT
Is that a Kami in your pants?
Quick little story, it involves our cat Kami and myself taking a poo.
Late last night I got THE urge and quickly made my way to the bathroom. Fortunately for most of you that is where the poo portion of the story ends!
So I am in the normal stance, and I am (more like my ankles now) wearing undies and khaki shorts and Kami happens to be in the bathroom. She has been known to jump on your lap while sitting in the bathroom but this time it was different. She climbed into my underwear and made her self right at home, and cuddled up. I WISH I had gotten a picture (of the lower portion, not the whole picture) because it was hilarious and extremely cute at the same time.
Late last night I got THE urge and quickly made my way to the bathroom. Fortunately for most of you that is where the poo portion of the story ends!
So I am in the normal stance, and I am (more like my ankles now) wearing undies and khaki shorts and Kami happens to be in the bathroom. She has been known to jump on your lap while sitting in the bathroom but this time it was different. She climbed into my underwear and made her self right at home, and cuddled up. I WISH I had gotten a picture (of the lower portion, not the whole picture) because it was hilarious and extremely cute at the same time.
NJ DMV & NISSAN
So this will be a commentary on laziness and outsourcing customer service
As a new resident of NJ you are supposed to switch all your car info over by 60 days of living here, which seems to not really be a rule but a give us some money and I'm sure each state has some sort of rule about for the same reason. The process is loosely described online in how it should work in a perfect world (no time line is given).
Step 1: Get your brand new NJ driver's license --- No problems
Pick up your registration paper work --- Here is where the issues begin
Step 2: Fill out your registration paper work (now you have a few choices depending on if you are paying a loan on your car or not), as Angela is paying hers off she had to go that route. The paper work states that you fill it out then mail it to your loan people (Nissan) and everything takes care of itself (how nice)! The NJ DMV is actually supposed to call you when everything is ready and you can come back to finalize the process. After about 2 weeks of hearing nothing a call is made to figure out what is going on...DMV hasn't received anything so time to call Nissan. Nissan (who has outsourced their customer service to India, like many other companies) claims that the state of NJ requires the form to be faxed (now contradicting NJ's form), so we get the fax number and head back to the DMV. The form is filled out again and taken to the counter--this is the best part--Angela asks the woman to fax the form as she was instructed to do by Nissan, the woman's response, "Why would I fax it? It isn't my paper." This woman was not willing to fax something for a customer because it wasn't something for herself...So a disheartened Angela decides to fax it herself from work the next day.
She is told that it should take about 6 days to get things turned around (assuming Nissan receives it). After 6 days we make another phone call to Nissan to ask if they received it (as we have heard nothing from anyone) and guess what? They didn't (even though the fax was received according to the fax machine). So Angela is more persistant this time and asks for the fax number again to verify, then calls again after she faxed it to verify that they received it. So yay they did it! She is then told it will take about 30-45 days to get the title transferred from PA to NJ (I guess to prove ownership). At this point the inspection has become out of date as well as the PA registration making her Nissan Sentra not able to be driven until this gets resolved. Who knows what the next step in the process is but we'll see what happens.
Here are the 2 main issues: LAZY & POOR COMMUNICATION
The laziness of people today is remarkable, no one at any point during these events acted as if they had EVER encountered the situation before (which I find hard to beleive). No one went through the next step until an angered customer pushed and pushed for it. "It's not my paper" is one of my favorite quotes now because it signifies everything that is wrong with the workforce, especially those working for the state (all states not just NJ). The bigger issue is the incredible amount of money that is wasted through government agencies, and the lack of motivation for state employees to do a good job. Frustrating...
The issue of poor communication does not have anything to do with ethnicity, I have no problems with Indian or any other group of people. It is the act of outsourcing and what that means to the quality of customer service. These people who are outsourced to are trained to answer certain questions and anything past those certain questions are very difficult to deal with. At my last job, if you had an issue you could speak directly to the person that could help you (usually me, or one of my co-workers) and we would give you a specific answer to your specific question, not this cookie-cutter crap outsourcing creates. I understand the cost implications of the process but cutting customer service leads to frustrated customers who will go somewhere else that has better customer service (especially when product differentiation is not huge...Nissan, Honda, Toyota).
Final Word: The economy would be in a much better place if people stopped being lazy at work and did their fair share or were paid based on the amount of work they did instead just holding the position. Outsourcing customer service can work but I haven't seen it yet.
As a new resident of NJ you are supposed to switch all your car info over by 60 days of living here, which seems to not really be a rule but a give us some money and I'm sure each state has some sort of rule about for the same reason. The process is loosely described online in how it should work in a perfect world (no time line is given).
Step 1: Get your brand new NJ driver's license --- No problems
Pick up your registration paper work --- Here is where the issues begin
Step 2: Fill out your registration paper work (now you have a few choices depending on if you are paying a loan on your car or not), as Angela is paying hers off she had to go that route. The paper work states that you fill it out then mail it to your loan people (Nissan) and everything takes care of itself (how nice)! The NJ DMV is actually supposed to call you when everything is ready and you can come back to finalize the process. After about 2 weeks of hearing nothing a call is made to figure out what is going on...DMV hasn't received anything so time to call Nissan. Nissan (who has outsourced their customer service to India, like many other companies) claims that the state of NJ requires the form to be faxed (now contradicting NJ's form), so we get the fax number and head back to the DMV. The form is filled out again and taken to the counter--this is the best part--Angela asks the woman to fax the form as she was instructed to do by Nissan, the woman's response, "Why would I fax it? It isn't my paper." This woman was not willing to fax something for a customer because it wasn't something for herself...So a disheartened Angela decides to fax it herself from work the next day.
She is told that it should take about 6 days to get things turned around (assuming Nissan receives it). After 6 days we make another phone call to Nissan to ask if they received it (as we have heard nothing from anyone) and guess what? They didn't (even though the fax was received according to the fax machine). So Angela is more persistant this time and asks for the fax number again to verify, then calls again after she faxed it to verify that they received it. So yay they did it! She is then told it will take about 30-45 days to get the title transferred from PA to NJ (I guess to prove ownership). At this point the inspection has become out of date as well as the PA registration making her Nissan Sentra not able to be driven until this gets resolved. Who knows what the next step in the process is but we'll see what happens.
Here are the 2 main issues: LAZY & POOR COMMUNICATION
The laziness of people today is remarkable, no one at any point during these events acted as if they had EVER encountered the situation before (which I find hard to beleive). No one went through the next step until an angered customer pushed and pushed for it. "It's not my paper" is one of my favorite quotes now because it signifies everything that is wrong with the workforce, especially those working for the state (all states not just NJ). The bigger issue is the incredible amount of money that is wasted through government agencies, and the lack of motivation for state employees to do a good job. Frustrating...
The issue of poor communication does not have anything to do with ethnicity, I have no problems with Indian or any other group of people. It is the act of outsourcing and what that means to the quality of customer service. These people who are outsourced to are trained to answer certain questions and anything past those certain questions are very difficult to deal with. At my last job, if you had an issue you could speak directly to the person that could help you (usually me, or one of my co-workers) and we would give you a specific answer to your specific question, not this cookie-cutter crap outsourcing creates. I understand the cost implications of the process but cutting customer service leads to frustrated customers who will go somewhere else that has better customer service (especially when product differentiation is not huge...Nissan, Honda, Toyota).
Final Word: The economy would be in a much better place if people stopped being lazy at work and did their fair share or were paid based on the amount of work they did instead just holding the position. Outsourcing customer service can work but I haven't seen it yet.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The "Why New Jersey Sucks" Series - Jug Handles
JUG HANDLES!
The Jerstarded version of a left turn lane, approximately .25 miles of road to turn left rather than a left turn lane. Always remember in most places you have to turn right to go left. How does this make sense? That's right it doesn't make sense at all!
Only in New Jersey.
The Jerstarded version of a left turn lane, approximately .25 miles of road to turn left rather than a left turn lane. Always remember in most places you have to turn right to go left. How does this make sense? That's right it doesn't make sense at all!
Only in New Jersey.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Movie Review - The Soloist
We watched The Soloist Saturday night, Jaime Foxx and Robert Downey Jr are the main characters. Foxx plays a former Julliard attendee whose obsession with music drives him a little crazy. Possibly a little autistic, more likely schizophrenic (hearing voices in his head). Jaime Foxx again plays this character wonderfully, he is completely beleiveable as a homeless crazy ranting incredible musician. Jr. plays a reporter who finds Foxx on the streets and decides to write about him in his human interest column for the LA Times. Throughout the movie Jr feels he has to become Foxx's protector and kind of over steps, Foxx never asking to be helped. Jr. doesn't realize that music is all Foxx wants, he wants to play it and he wants to listen to it, he doesn't care if he is homeless or whatever. Jr. does a pretty good job but nothing extraordinary, Foxx is really the highlight of the movie. One thing the movie is missing is that it never really tugged at my heart strings, it was just kind of nice to see someone take an interest in what most would have thought to be a lost cause. Renting it would be good for a nice relaxing night.
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