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

Notes from Florida

Before you ask, the answer is no. I somehow made it to Florida and did not have any oranges or grapefruit. The closest I got was having a lemon with my water. Here are some notes from my travels.

Thursday: I got off of work early. It was not very helpful as we made our plane, but apparently we were the last people to check-in. We didn’t have any major problems. Although our seats were separated and we had to quickly chow down our dinners, no one was “bumped” and we did not miss the plane. However, I do have to ask why is it that when you travel you must listen to the same repeated instructions? “Please have your photo ID and boarding pass ready” and “be sure to dispose of liquids, take your shoes and belts off, etc. It is extremely irritating and I don’t believe that it saves any significant time. I’m not real sure of metal detector technology, but haven’t they developed a highly efficient metal detector that can detect things in shoes? I mean I understand someone tried to blow up a plane by lighting his shoes on fire, but you would think that they would have improved “shoe bomb detection” technology.

After my venture through check-in and the security check point I decided on some fast food. As I was ordering my dinner, why did the guy at Quiznos look at me bewildered when I asked for water? His response was “Water in a cup?” No Einstein, I want to water on my head. Seriously he did not know what to do as if asking for water was a strange request

I rapidly ate my dinner and boarded the plane. I figure that I haven’t traveled since 2004, but I did not realize that things had changed. There are no more phones on board (maybe that is just an Air Tran thing), however they did have XM satellite on board!!! This is great considering all I (and by “I”, I mean my fiancé and I) had was a portable DVD player to watch some stupid chick flick. She denied my request to watch the greatest television show on TV, Scrubs, season 4, so XM was just what I needed. As I have previously stated I am not a techno guru, and have not invested in either a Discman, MP3, or Ipod, and my semi-broken, old fashioned walkman is probably still in my parents house.

I have never listed to satellite radio. Unfortunately I did not have the pleasure of Howard Stern, but I did get to listen to Alfred Drake’s “What a beautiful morning” a 1940s classic. I also was able to have a joint with a refreshing Starbucks!!! No, marijuana and airline smoking laws have not changed. The joint is a reggae station on XM and Starbucks has their own station as well. Unfortunately there wasn’t a Penguins game and the Rhode Island game was not played, but there is a plethora of music, sports, and talk shows to listen to!!! Awesome.

We landed, rented a car, and made it to our destination without any problems. As for the rest of the trip, tune in tomorrow.

Pass this test

Pennsylvania Sixth graders, start sweating! Memorize those multiplication tables, memorize that jingle "in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue", start applying the quadradic equation, learn the scientific method, and start to recite Hamlet. The state of Pennsylvania is going to require you to pass a state exam to graduate high school. I have my opinions on this subject, which I will share in the near future, but I have decided to come up with my own version of this exam. Not just 1 version, but 2. Remember having those "A" exams and "B"exams in school? I certainly do.

Test A

1. How many songs can you download on a 1 GB ipod?

2. What is a microscope?

3. Read the following sentence and answer the question below:

"The cat walked to the store to and purchased a glass of milk"

What did the cat purchase at the store?

4. Add the following 1 + ___ = 3

A. 1

B. 1/2

C. 2

D. 3

5. What is the name of the first president of the United States?

Answers: 1. I have no clue, but I'm sure every 18 year old can tell you, 2. An instrument used in biology to see small things, 3. a glass of milk, 4. 2, 5. George Washington

Test B

1. What is the derivitive of 4X^3 - 2X^2 + 36X + 4?

2. Which of the following is NOT an effect of the Protestant Reformation

A. The Catholic changed their ideas at the Council of Trent

B. Numerous branches of Christianity emerged

C. The rulers of Europe allowed the citizens of their countries to choose their own religion

D. A series of wars emerged throughout Europe

3. Which of the following is a synonym of abdicate?

A. announce

B. renounce

C. abduct

D. application

4. What is the native region of cheetah?

A. North America

B. South America

C. Asia

D. Africa

I'm sure that none of these questions will actually show on a state exam, but generally these tests are written the the highest or lowest level. Keep your eyes out for additional commentary on the Pennsylvania and American education systems. Just remember, Texas is just starting to fingerprint their teachers.

Savor this entry as it will be the last for several days.

The "hat" in hat trick

Finally my teams have won. Pitt hoops won against Seton Hall and Georgetown, Rhode Island beat Duquesne, and the Penguins beat the Rangers. It was quite exciting last night when Evengi Malkin put his third goal in during the last minute of play sealing his second career hat trick. As I watched him celebrate, the fans celebrated too by throwing their hats to the ice, a hockey tradition. This, of course, requires that the ice staff (facility workers) clean up. I found it quite amusing that the referees grabbed a stick to help "shoot" the hats into a pile, expediting the clean up process. However it got better. As these poor guys rushed out, the fans began tossing their hats at the ice workers hitting one guy several times. Since it is not a beer bottle, or as I have witnessed, nachos, I found this Hilarious.

This honorable tradition lead me to this question. What do they do with these hats? Listed below are several suggestions.

• Sell the hats in the gift shop - You make more money and just remember, there is a sucker born every minute
• Donate them to Goodwill - mmm.... the tax deduction... mmm
• Allow the "ice workers" to seek their revenge on the fans by swinging their giant bags of hats at the fans while they leave
• Give them all to the player who scored the hat trick
• Ship it, without postage or a return address label so that it goes into the mythical US Postal service holding cell
• Ship them to the other team's goaltender with the following note:

"Dear Goaltender,

Thank you so much for allowing me to disgrace last evening. It was so much fun watching my team's fans cheer so jubulantly. They went home so happy. Do you remember the goal that went through the 5-hole, a beauty wasn't it? We will see that on highlight reels forever! With all sincerity it was so much fun to disgrace you and your team and the bonus money will allow me to kick a few back at the bar. Next time you head into town we'll go out for a few before the game and maybe I'll have a repeat performance"

Sincerely,

Hockey Player

• Give them away as a promotional giveaway
• Throw them away

Please let me know if you have an answer for this age old question.

There's no business like show business... I guess

Due to the writers' strike we are without new episodes of almost every show. With the exception of some of the late night guys and shows who have some episodes "in the can" we are not going to see any new television shows for a few weeks. I have little knowledge of the feud between the writers and the studios, but I do sympathize with the writers who most likely get shortchanged by the studios. The studios rake in money long after a television show or program is off the air.



I realize that this blog is highly entertaining and makes quality new material for about thirty seconds on network television. I know I would make it as a stand-up comedian, I've got all the talent. Many have told me that I am the next Jerry Seinfeld, but my professional work as a pain in the ass is too valuable to this nation. With my expertise in the entertainment, I couldn't help, but to comment on last night's Golden Globe awards. In all truthfulness, and with the forty-five minutes, give or take, of the the Golden Globes I witnessed last night, I couldn't help but to wonder why the awards seemed to award the wrong people. Seriously I was baffled by the awardees. Were there reprecussions against the writers and actors for striking during this event? It really did not seem as though the proper people won.