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.
Friday, October 16, 2009
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!
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