Twitter

I’ve been hearing about this Twitter website for sometime now so a couple weeks ago I decided to explore more and see what all the hype is about. Well, after two weeks of exploring the only conclusion I can come up with is that Twitter is the biggest waste of time that we’ve come up with thus far. People who update their facebook status every hour are bad enough, but now there’s an entire new network devoted to updating us on what you’re doing? I don’t care that you had to eat Cheerios for breakfast this morning because you were out of granola, or that your dog peed on your computer and now the “Q” key is stuck. Do you have that much free time that you can update me on everything that you’re doing throughout the day? Well if you do then I suggest you find something to occupy your time that will actually make a difference instead of something as self-indulgent as Twitter. That is all.

Warranties

Last night after work I stopped by the local K-Mart to pick up a couple of things. Yes, I just said K-Mart because we don’t have a Target or a Wal-Mart here so I have been reduced to shopping at K-Mart. Anyway … so last night I go into K-Mart to get a mini food-processor to make salad dressing, pesto, etc. When I go to check-out, the cashier asks me if I would like to purchase a one-year warranty. I stood there for a second and thought about what he just asked me and what I wanted to turn to him and say was, “You mean to tell me that Black & Decker can’t guarantee their product even for a year so they’re asking me to pay them more money in case something on it breaks?”. But I refrained from making a scene and instead contemplated to myself all of the things you have to pay extra money (sometimes substantially more) for a warranty. To me this doesn’t seem right. I am paying good money for your product and you don’t have enough faith in it to think that it’s going to last even a year? You pay all of those Union workers a ridiculous rate and they can’t even assemble a food processor well enough for you to be able to guarantee it for a year? I mean, think about all of the things you buy warranties for. I have one for my iPod, I was asked if I wanted one for my vacuum cleaner and for my digital camera. Why pay $400 for a new iPod when they’re making you pay an extra $80 so that if something goes wrong they’ll actually fix it? I also have one for my computer and those Apple Care Plans are not cheap. I understand if you’ve had your computer for more than five years that it’s expected to run slower and you may have to replace a back light or something of the sort, but within that five year time frame it had better keep running well enough for it to be usable.

So needless to say, I refused the one-year warranty and kept my receipt. And you know what I’m going to do if that food processor breaks in the next year? I’m going to go back in there with my receipt and demand a new one.

Just Say No

So I’ve made another gym observation. You may be wondering why so many of my blogs are written about the gym so allow me to explain. A – I really enjoy people watching at the gym. B – Anything I can do to take my mind off of the fact that I am voluntarily doing something that causes me to pour sweat and gasp for air is graciously welcomed. But I digress …

Thankfully I haven’t noticed this as a trend just yet, but on Monday there was one specific incident of a man missing the sleeves on his shirt. I wanted to stop running and go up to him and alert him to the fact that his sleeves must have fallen off of his shirt when he was leaving his house earlier. You know, the way you would politely stop someone if you saw Chap Stick fall out of their pocket. But then I realized that for some unknown reason it was no mistake that his shirt was missing sleeves so I just started judging him instead.

The only reason a man should have on a sleeveless shirt while working out is if he is a professional athlete that’s sponsored by the company who makes his shirt, therefore he is being paid lots of money to wear it. If that’s not the case, then go buy a shirt with some sleeves. I mean, does it cool you off that much more when the sleeves are removed? No, it doesn’t. And if you get that hot while working out then just take off your shirt all-together (and go run outside because we don’t want your sweat dripping all over the machines). No, you wouldn’t feel comfortable with your whole shirt off? Then guess what, if you’re not in good enough shape to exercise with your shirt off then you’re not in good enough shape to wear a sleeveless shirt either. Actually this might go for all Under Armour that is skin tight ... leave the tight workout clothes to the girls so there's something left to the imagination.

Dude Uggs

So I can’t quite decide how I feel about the topic of men in Uggs. I mean on one hand they are very warm and practical for cold climates, but on the other hand I’d guess that 99.9% of Ugg owners are women. They were originally a trendy item and are still bought in order to be warm and fashionable at the same time because let’s face it, Sorel’s (http://www.sorel.com/) are just ugly and your Vasque Sundowners aren’t exactly warm. So I have come to somewhat of a conclusion. If you live somewhere that is legitimately cold then as a guy you are allowed to wear Uggs on very cold days. If you live in Charlotte and you’re walking around in Uggs, I will find you and make fun of you.

More Naked Ladies

So I’ve discussed naked ladies in the women’s locker room before on my blog, but I now have a new angle. Naked ladies in the locker room who try to talk to clothed people. So I’m modest, we all know that, and I don’t run around the locker room naked, that’s what your bedroom and bathroom at your own house are for. Anyway … taking into consideration that it makes me uncomfortable to see naked ladies frolicking in the locker room in general, imagine my surprise when one of them tried to strike up a conversation with me last week. It’s like, “Listen lady, I am not making eye contact with you or even pretending like you’re in the locker room for a reason, so go on about your business and I’ll do the same”. So this woman just starts shooting the breeze with me the other day in the locker room, first commenting on how she likes my boots (and I love compliments on what I’m wearing with the exception of when you’re naked) and then talking about the weather and how getting in the hot tub was the best idea she’d had all day, blah blah blah. I’m glad you’re warm and toasty from soaking in the hot tub but please stop cornering me with your nakedness and let me change in peace and get to the treadmill because I did not come in here to talk to naked ladies, thank you.

Lost Luggage

Having had my baggage lost time and time again when flying I have become very familiar with the process that ensues afterwards. Your luggage doesn’t show up on the belt, you have to wait in line and file a claim in that tiny baggage office, then your luggage doesn’t show up to your house at the expected time so you have to call and get real with the airline and demand your luggage and compensation (which by the way is never enough). “Here’s $100 for the three days we lost your bag, that will buy you similar clothes and toiletries right?” Lady, my flat-iron was more than that $100 you just told me I was going to receive (a month down the road I’ll have you know) so don’t think that would even begin to cover what my clothing allowance would need to be for three days.

Enough of that, the purpose of this post is to question how the luggage gets “lost” in the first place, not the terribleness that comes afterwards. I understand that they don’t hire rocket scientists to load luggage on an airplane, but let’s be serious here. Assuming that the tag on the bag is correct, how hard can it be? The tag tells you exactly where to take it and you throw it on the little conveyer belt that deposits the bag in the belly of the plane. I guess sometimes the plane is too heavy to take all of the luggage (that’s a whole separate post) but please explain to me how my luggage got to Mexico when I was flying from Jackson, WY to Denver, CO and then to Charlotte, NC. With the economy struggling the way it is you would think that customer service would be at its highest right now and that as soon as the airline realizes that baggage is lost they would get it on the next plane, but this rarely seems to be the case.

Today I had a client of ours call me from his honeymoon to ask me to please track down his and his new bride’s luggage that had been lost for THREE DAYS. Upon mentioning that the couple was on their honeymoon I expected Delta to fall all over the situation they were so willing to help, or offer compensation of some sort, but I even had to drag that out of them. So I have come to the conclusion that they should hire monkeys to load the luggage, at least then they would have a good excuse for how it got lost in the first place.

facebook and Work Don't Mix

Co-workers and facebook. It’s a sticky situation and I’m not sure that I’ve decided how to handle it. If they ask to be your friend and you accept then they have access to photos from college and beyond that you think should be kept separated from your professional world. On the other hand if they ask and you turn them down they’re sure to be offended and maybe even question why you haven’t accepted their friend request yet. This is how the problem originated and how it could have been prevented: facebook should have kept to college students and left myspace to deal with the older generations who like to pretend that they’re tech savvy. But, of course they didn’t and now we’re stuck with this dilemma. What’s your take on the issue?