Valentine Valentino

So Valentine's Day is days away and I have yet to buy anything other than a card for my fiance'. We are getting married in less then a month so we agreed to keep valentine's gifts to a minimum, capping our spending at $15. That of course is where the dilema begins. Does anyone have any suggestions for what to buy? I'm all ears truthfully.

On another note, did you know that those energy efficient light bulbs may not be so environmentally friendly? I came across a story today that said those "CDL" light bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, which can harm the environment if not properly disposed of. Who knew.

Politics in the Workplace

Depending on who you ask, tomorrow is the Chesapeake or Potomac primary. Voters in Maryland, DC, and Virginia can vote for their man or woman for president. For the first time in my young presidential voting career I am voting in an election that actually means something. Having previously voted in the late Pennsylvania primaries my vote never counted as the elections were settled by the time I hit the voting booth. This is a first and I am excited. That said I did find it quite irritating that people at work had the “courage” to send e-mails about a local political rally for a candidate. I fully value my ability to vote and the idea that we can support who we want. Worldwide we have seen essentially rigged elections and elections that spark violence like the current situation in Kenya. However please do not send me information about political rallies. Please keep you opinions to yourself. If you really feel the need to spread the word of your candidate please knock on doors or pass out flyers at the grocery store. You need not send me and all of my coworker’s e-mails about political rallies etc. Please let me know if you agree or disagree. I obviously have my own feelings regarding this subject, but please, I am challenging someone to change my mind on this topic. If you can truly find a good reason for someone to shove their personal political opinions down my throat let me know. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Please let me know.

Toast and the wedding songs

I know that I haven't written in several days. I have been quite busy. I am slowly moving along my list of cds trying desperately for songs to played at my upcoming wedding. However I have less then a 15 minute commute to my job as a professional pain in the ass so that is not really allowing me to listen to tons of cds. In addition I still feel the obligation to keep up with the modern music scene. As a result I am currently listening to Nora Jones' "come away with me" and have the remainder of the alphabet to sift through. I am still holding out to the idea I will be able to listen to every track of every cd, tape, and record that I own, but I am slowly coming to the conclusion that it is unlikely. That said I will simply expand that project until I complete it.

On another note I had the pleasure of reffing some quality indoor soccer games yesterday. Quality is said as an understatement. I you already know I hate indoor soccer, but definately do it for the money. I couldn't help but to laugh almost non stop during this game during this high school coed game. Toast won this game 11-2. Toast you wonder? Yes fully equipped with t-shirts (uniforms) that pictured a toaster up in flames. A burning toaster is not exactly funny, but was certainly comical during my days at the University of Rhode Island, where I swear there was a buring toaster in the cafeteria at least once a month during my college career. Hey it that is where it stopped I could have stopped myself from laughing for a full 48 minute game. They came with their mascot, a young gentlemen who wore 2 body-sized pieces of toast draped over his shoulders and performed a half-time show by "racing" the remote controlled car/toaster. What exactly is a remote controlled car/toaster? Simple a remote controlled car, who was stripped of the plastic car and had a toaster placed on top of it. It was certainly a nice, fun way of being goofy. I have done games where kids are "jokers" in the past, however they usually have sexual references to them such as "renob", "69", etc. I haven't seen such creativity out of a team since my intramural college days when I was playing (and managing) the angry dwarfs soccer teams or the platypus junkies basketball teams.

Notes from the Wii kend and the Superbowl

Yes, I do know how to properly spell weekend. Despite my lack of interest in technology, I am familiar with the Nintendo Wii, a new, interactive gaming system. Growing up I really wanted an Atari, however Nintendo introduced an awesome gaming system that trumped the old Atari. New gaming systems like Super Nintendo, Sega, Xbox, and Play station emerged, however for some unknown reason; I never followed up with the newest gaming system. As a result the Nintendo was the first and last gaming system I ever got.

In college I became addicted to computer games like a demo version of Grand Theft Auto and Snood. I also spent countless hours downloading songs from Napster (man do I miss a free napster download!). From time to time I would play Madden football, but as a whole I never really got into video games. So why am I talking about these old gaming systems and the Wii?

Yesterday was my first experience with the Wii. It was fun, although golf was a little boring. I was up for trying more games and I got my chance to play tennis. In an effort to do my Pete Sampras impression I decided to do an overhand jump serve. In my attempt, I lost track of where I was and swung, Pete Sampras style at the ball. However instead of hitting the tennis ball, I hit an overhead lamp, shattering the glass protecting the light bulb! What a guest I am!!!. Of course I cut my finger in the process. Thankfully a hospital visit was not necessary, but I certainly was embarrassed. The moral of this story is that there really should be some warning regarding this gaming system (or I lack common sense).

In other news from the weekend I, like 97 million other people, watched the Super Bowl. I do hate the Patriots, and as you can see I am not a big Giants fan either so I was cheering for a tie. Knowing that this truly is not possible, I had to find some positives of this predicament. I am happy to see that the Patriots did not have the perfect season. Arrogance does get you in trouble, but truthfully the Giants were the better team.

Despite this huge upset of the game, I was truly disappointed with the game. The game seemed to take forever and was pretty uneventful until the fourth quarter. The commercials were also uneventful. There was not one "landmark" commercial and lacked any "pizzazz". Truthfully aside from Coke and Pepsi I do not know who advertised for the game. That is a major problem considering that a Super Bowl commercial cost $2.7 million for a 30 second spot. You can check the USA Today's "Adometer", but here are my picks.

My top 5 (in no particular order)

Coke's Runaway Float - maybe I'm a sucker for balloons because I was behind Clifford the Big Red Dog when I was a high school student marching in the Macy's Day parade.

Audi's "G-dfather car commercial" - The car looked really cool, but it doesn't have the same impression as a dead horse in the bed.

Budweiser's "firebreath" - Although it was somewhat predictable, it was mildly entertaining. That said I remembered whose commercial it was.

Coke's "James Carville" - I'm not exactly Romeo, but neither is James Carville. He has a distinct look and since this is an election year having a feud between donkeys and elephants is somewhat entertaining.

The "head bob" commercial - Thought it was funny, but I don't know what company it was for. $2.7 and I don't remember what company ran the ad.

What ever happened to the Bud classics like Cedric the entertainer, Bud Bowl or others like Mean Joe's coke commercial or godaddy.com?

Online Commercials

Regardless of the reason there are often nights where I do get to see the friendly face of Brian Williams. Say what you want about the NBC Nightly news, but I do find them to be a reputable source for news. I am not opposed to Kate Couric or Charles Gibson, in fact I used to like Charles Gibson when he had his morning gig. However I remain fixed on Nightly News with Brian Williams.

I am not always home at 6 or 6:30, which means that I do not get my glimpse of the daily news. Other times I am preparing dinner and do not have a television near by. I am a bit of a news junkie and have a passion for history. Living through history is an amazing thing. When I do not catch the Nightly News, I go online. Tonight was one of those nights. However I became quite upset at the fact the the news is broken up. You watch a story and then a commerical loads up. Story, commerical, story, commercial. I realize that there is a need for advertising, but this has got to be the most irritating this ever. I am sure that it all evens out, but I was literally stuck. I could not "fast forward" through this. I wanted to watch the next story and 30 seconds is not enough time to do something around the house. Can someone help?

Random thoughts of the day

So I opened my new ink cartridge for my printer. Since it was cheaper, I bought the Office depot brand, which boasted about its "greenness" meaning recycling. I am all for recycling as you can see from this previous post. The package included a postage paid envelope to recycle my previous ink cartridge. What a brilliant idea. Am I wrong for thinking to myself "why did you insert this extra non-recyclable plastic piece to hold the cartridge in place?" Usually a couple of recyclable cardboard pieces are inserted to hold it into place. Does anyone else think that this is a bit of a waste and defeat the purpose “being green?”



Has anyone taken notice of the Atlantic-10 basketball conference? Traditionally a mid-major, the A-10 has gotten 2-3 teams in the NCAA tourney in March. Due to some personal connections, attending University of Rhode Island, growing up less then a dozen miles from Duquesne, and knowing a Duquesne recruit and another player being heavily recruited by URI, I have some added reasons for watching this conference.



Throughout various point of the season Dayton, Xavier, and my beloved URI have been ranked. UMass has also received votes in previous polls, St. Joe's, Charlotte, and Duquesne all have a solid record at this point at the season. Personally I expect 4 teams to make it and there still is a month left in the season, but could an extra one of those teams squeak into the tournament? That is what March Madness is all about!!!

Your Credit Rights

Unfortunately the Credit industry is quite confusing. As a result of confusing credit issues many people's homes are being foreclosed and has likely been the catalyst of the economic woes we are encountering here in the US. It of course does not there. Credit card companies add to the confusion by adding pages of legal fine print to their deals making those great deals not so great.

Many people don't read the fine print and others miss the fine details when making credit transactions. Seriously when was the last time you looked at the receipt that the waiter or waitress hands you afer you pay your restaraunt bill or after making any other purchase. This is something that I do pride myself in. I watch and read these things, particularly in restaraunts.

I hate to say it, but identity theft is a problem. Your Social Security Number and credit card numbers are a thief's prey. If you are not careful and pay attention it could get into the wrong person's hand and the local sit-down restaraunt could be a thief's jackpot.

Fortunately consumers are protected. Did you know that as of December of 2006 no restaraunt can put more than 4 digits of your credit card on a bill? I came across this after viewing this story on the Right leaning newspaper, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Click here to see the full story and please do not say bad things about Mad Mex. It is a great place, with great food and beer. The best part is that all food is half off after 11:00 PM (at least it was when I was in college).

Specialty mail.

I have come across many things that don’t make much sense. Sometimes I address it other times I don’t. Now that I started this blog, I now have a place to voice my complaints about people who “wrong me” or “wrong the people”. On that note, I came across another scam; our beloved U.S. Postal Service.

I have come to realize that “Priority mail” is a scam. Why? According to a Postal service employee, there is no guarantee that you item will arrive in the posted 2-3 days and that it could take as much as 5 days. A careful reading of Priority mail states: Mail is delivered in an average of 2-3 days. This is of course in the fine print. Simply put, they ask you to pay an additional $4.60, but do not get any guarantee. The only guarantee that USPS offers is for overnight shipping.

Truthfully I’m having trouble grasping this. You can guarantee overnight delivery, but not “2-3” days? You can guarantee that the most difficult thing can be done, but something that is much easier can’t? If you have the ability to deliver something overnight, you certainly have the ability to get it there in 3 days AND you should be able to guarantee it. Does USPS do this to increase their business of overnight deliveries, which starts at $16.25? Admittedly I did not major in logistics, but certainly this service can be done and can be guaranteed. The kicker is that a standard first class letter arrives in 3-5.

This is Cold

The New York "football" Giants are headed to the Superbowl. Boy am I excited.... Not! (Thanks Borat for revitilizing this joke). I generally do not like teams from New York City. If I liked the NBA, I probably would not like the Knicks. I hated the Mets since the 1980s when the Pirates and Mets were division rivals and can't stand the thought of the Yankees buying a championship every year. Truthfully I have a love/hate relationship with the Jets. How can you not love Joe Namath. Hey he's from Beaver Falls, my dad's hometown, and they had Curtis Martin from Taylor Alderdice High School and the University of Pittsburgh. Those guys made me cheer for the J-E-T-S, but I'm from Pittsburgh, and we don't like other AFC teams and they stole a great quarterback, Neil O'Donnell from us. The Rangers... Adam Graves enough said. Not to completely trash New York teams, but I really hate the idea that they generate so much money and are constantly talked about in the media because it is one of the largest media markets in the world. I never really hated the Giants, they started the trend of the "Gatorade shower" in the 80s and I never had a reason to hate them. Until Sunday.

Florida should be known at South New York. There are numerous New York City transplants in Florida. If they are not transplants, they are visiting relatives in Florida. That said, I have now come up with a reason to hate Giants fans. As I sat in a bar/restaruant during the game, I could not get more irritated with those who were sitting around the bar. I realize it was a huge game, but is it really neccesarry to scream at the top of your lungs after a 2 yard gain? Is it neccessary to curse after the other team gains 4 yards. Seriously it is quite irritating to listen to fans who cheer at every play. I understand cheering for a first down, stopping the opposition on 3rd down, a touchdown or huge play. Is it really neccessary to do this after every play? I was pulling for a great Brett Favre finale, but this just irked me to no end and officially made me a Giants hater. The worst part of all this was knowing that I would be returning to the cold the next morning and listened to sports talk guys talking about the Giants on XM satallite radio on the way home!!!

Other cold things:

Calling the superintendent of schools demanding an explanation why there was not a snow day.

Returning that phone call and screaming at the kid.

Truthfully they are both in the wrong. Who calls someone at home about this? If you truly want a day off, do what thousands of kids do everyday. Skip school. Why do you have a phone at school and why are you making these phone calls during the school day. I'm sure that the administrators could go through proper channels to discipline this kid.

If you are an adult, why would you acknowledge this phone call? Grow up lady!!! Why are you bickering at anyone. Igonore it. If you are really disappointed and have to say something, call back and simply explain that you do not appreciate the phone calls at this nature at home and politely ask the student to go through the appropriate channels to file a complaint.

Notes from the South

I know all those avid readers of tidbits and the angry consumer were waiting to hear about the rest of my trip to Florida. I will do my best to keep it brief. Yesterday's edition featured my experiences traveling. Today I will tell you about the remainder of the trip.

Friday - There is nothing like chillin in the nice warm weather. Truthfully, I spend as much time outside in the warm weather. I ran, not on the treadmill, got close to a swimming pool and wondered about the old people's community. There is nothing more refreshing then being oogled by an 85 year old women!!! I made my way to the mall in Boca Raton and ate at the Grand Lux Cafe, which is owned by the wonderful people at the Cheesecake Factory. Needless to say it is an excellent restaraunt. The service was great, the portions were more than adequate and the food was excellent. My fiance' and I split out meal and I forced myself to eat desert, which was shared by 4 others.

Saturday - See the picture above. Do I have to say more? There is nothing better than running along the water barefoot then jumping in to some crashing waves... memories of Rhode Island. I have been to the beach, but not enjoyed myself like I did today. The best part of the beach. Boobies!!! Ok I wasn't fortunate enough to be at a nude beach, but there were plenty of young, attractive females to oogle over. Beach and boobies are always fun, especially in January. I am eagerly waiting June's arrival

Sunday (Morning)- Flea Markets are a huge thing in this state so naturally I went to this mecca of a marketplace. Much to my chagrin, I had to wear jeans and a sweatshirt there, but hey it is better than the sub freezing temperatures up north and wearing gloves, a hat and winter coat. I have enjoyed flea markets since my days as a youth searching for the next Jose Canseco rookie baseball card at the Super Flea at the now demolished Eastland mall. For additional information on Eastland Mall and other "dead" malls click here. However, I just did not enjoy this one. I walked around and saw numerous merchants who all had the same stuff and the same prices. This to me just is not a flea market. I did manage to spend a whopping $4, on a belt and a key chain, but as a whole I came away a bit disappointed. Maybe next time.

Stay tuned for my adventures on Sunday (Afternoon)/Monday