Wednesday, December 27, 2006

The Death of a President

Unfortunately the wrong one. President Gerald Ford has passed away at the age of 93. This follows the death of James Brown. I guess the song "James Brown is Dead" finally has merit. I wonder if the two deaths are related?

Hey kids! Christmas is finally f'in over! Christmas + retail = CRAPFEST! I'm so glad it's over. I worked just under 80 hours two weeks ago and slightly less than that last week. No fun! No fun at all! Being shortstaffed didn't help much either. New Years is nothing compared to Christmas. This week will be easy by comparison. I won't go into much detail, but things generally sucked. The best thing about Christmas day this year was simply having a day off.

I hope you all had a nice Christmas. Mine was decent enough. I really don't have much to report as I didn't have any free time to do anything. I did get together with some good friends for dinner and a gift exchange. My lovely friends (sisters) got me a kick-ass 550 watt 1/2 HP Waring Pro Blender for Christmas. It could puree a cow. In fact, I think I may try that sometime. Instant beef soup I guess.

There are a few interesting things coming up. This Saturday is a party at BST's and Monday is our college group's Secret Santa exchange. Both should be fun. I'm really looking forward to seeing Savion Glover in a couple weeks. I have tickets to see Savion Glover tapdancing along with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at the Max. That should be a hoot. He's an amazing tapdancer! Simply amazing! I think that he's going to dance along to Duke Ellington. A couple days after that I'll be participating in a wine "Jeopardy" style tournament. One of my distributor reps asked me to compete on his team. That should be a lot of fun. The next morning I'm leaving for New York for a couple days for the big Aussie wine event. I found out that I'm staying in SoHo so that'll be pretty cool. I love SoHo and the West Village. I'm really looking forward to that. I found out that one of my traveling compatriots from my trip in 2003 will be there and we're sharing a room. I haven't seen him since the trip so it'll be great to catch up with him. What's better than a trip to New York in the middle of January? Absolutely nothing! I just have to make it through the next couple of weeks at work. It'll be rough. That's all for now. I'm actually working on some Best Of/Top 10/Worst Of style lists for an upcoming post. Hopefully I'll be able to post it within the next few days. Have a great New Years everybody! I'll be at home alone crying myself to sleep...well, I hope not to be crying.

Random Poll- What was the highlight of your Christmas?

Random Poll- Where the hell is the snow and the cold?

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Yeah...about this posting thing.

Hey kids!

I probably won't be posting for a week or so as I worked a 14 hour today and probably will the next two days. On Friday I work from 8:30-4:30 and then go straight to the restaurant job to work until at least midnight. Another long day on Saturday and then a Christmas party to go to. Sunday is actually my only day off before Christmas. I've got this quarterly wine club project thing that I'm working on this week. That's why I'm working the extra hours. This wine club is the biggest pain in the ass. It's probably the thing I hate most about my job (and that's saying a lot). It doesn't help at all that I've got less help this year and more responsibilities. I really hate retail at Christmas. It's the kind of shit that may make me go postal some day.

Hope that you're doing better than I am! Peace!

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason

Monday, December 11, 2006

Just one question...

What the hell was the U.S. doing bugging Princess Diana's phone calls at/near the time of her death? WTF?!?

Jason

Friday, December 08, 2006

Free Parking!

Not much going on. Just thoroughly enjoying the holiday retail season. Anybody have a gun?

There is another very good opinion piece from Jack Lessenberry here.

I guess the biggest news of the week is that Michael Anthony has been kicked out of Van Halen only to be replaced by Eddie's 15-year-old son Wolfgang. Ouch!

A few weeks ago I was interviewed by the local rag for a fluff piece, but I didn't know when/if it would go to print. Turns out I was sharing the front page of the paper this week with our dead mayor. Weird. The article is largely inaccurate, but it's just a bunch of fluff anyway. The mayor was probably the largest proponent of paid parking in this here town, so I find it kind of funny that there is free parking for 3 days in our lot so people can go see him at the local church. There are cops everywhere directing traffic and there's going to be a funeral procession like none before. Try to find alternate routes because traffic is going to be f'ed up. He was a nice enough guy and hugely popular, but I don't agree with his politics. He's run this city for close to 20 years. It'll be interesting to see what happens in this town. I wouldn't be surprised if they immortalize him like Lenin in this crazy town.

Have a good weekend!

Cheers,
Jason

Monday, December 04, 2006

"Happy f'ing holidays y'all!" and "Please use protection while preparing a pomegranate"


BFF! Huey and Minnie


The elusive Hobo

Hey kids! My schedule changed and I actually had the day off today. I'm off next Monday as well. Next Monday will be the only day I have off until Christmas day. Ouch! Work is just dandy as well. Gotta love retail at Christmas time. I can't wait until it's over. It's going to be a long month.

It's cold outside and snowing. It's sticking this time too. Winter is officially here.

I ran a few errands today, but basically stayed at home. I cranked out 47 Christmas cards today. I don't think I've ever gotten them done this early. Today was my best opportunity to get stuff done. After this post I'll wrap some presents. I'd say that I've got about 90% of my Christmas shopping done. That's a record for me too. I'd say that I did about 80% of my Christmas shopping online this year. It's so much easier and there's so much stuff available. No lines, no shoving, no annoying Christmas music in the background. I've got Amazon Prime which means that I get free 2-day shipping (for a reasonable yearly fee). It's more than paid for itself. The only stuff I don't/won't buy on line are CDs, but I actually didn't buy too many as gifts this year. I listened to the "Best of Luna" 2-CD Import Only that I picked up at Glen's store the other day. Awesome CDs! The disc of covers is very cool! Huey and Minnie, the dogs from upstairs, hung out with me for most of the day. It was a nice relaxing day. I took a few pics because it's been a while since I have. I had one picture of Huey, Minnie, and Hobo (the cat) all together but I accidentally erased it. I was able to get some pics of Hobo though. She doesn't hang out downstairs too often. She's pretty funny. She calls all the shots. It was a decent day off. Tomorrow will not be so kind...

This whole West Dearborn development thing is a real fiasco. The paid parking plan is a miserable failure (people are avoiding paid lots and no one is using the parking structures). To make matters worse it's rumored that Moe's Southwest Grill and the Post Bar are closing. (I will not reveal my sources.) The Subway closed, but that was for lease reasons and they hope to move. I doubt that Dearborn will ever become the Birmingham or Royal Oak the mayor and city council expect it to be. I think that Dearborn may be the new Detroit (as far population decline and closed businesses are concerned). It's not looking good. There are still about 1000 houses for sale in this city...and they're not selling. Obviously the economy is not just bad in Dearborn, but the rest of the state as well. It feels like ground zero of an economic disaster though. It's not pretty...

I was in BST's car last week with BST (obviously) and Julie and we noted the horrid driving habits of an individual driving a Chrysler PT Cruiser. I've since had two more encounters with PT Cruisers that have made me determine that anyone who drives a PT Cruiser is an asshole. I think that most of the drivers are also having some sort of mid-life crisis. They buy a vehicle that they think looks cool and makes them look cool, while in reality they look like like a bunch of douche bags. The PT Cruiser is an ugly car...realize it. And stop driving like idiots before you cause another 1955 Le Mans disaster...

Pomegranates are in season so I bought a couple last week. I was cutting one open and spooning out the delicious seeds while apparently not paying attention to anything else. I happily munched on my seeds in the living room while watching TV and then returned to the kitchen to discover a bloody murder scene. There was pomegranate juice EVERYWHERE! It looked as if someone had bludgeoned a body repeatedly with a pick-axe. It was splattered on the counter, the floor, the cupboards, my T-shirt, and the microwave. WTF?!? It took me a while to clean it up. CSI would be impressed with the splatter and range. Please, please be careful when preparing your pomegranate...it could be messy. And don't ever scoop out a pomegranate in a white kitchen.

Good news! I'm going to New York again this January for a couple days. I've been invited to Manhattan again for an Aussie reunion. There will be no black tie dinner this year, but we're invited to a dinner. The mega cool Wine Australia is paying for our hotel and inviting us to dinner as long as I pour at a tasting for them and pay my own way to New York. I already booked tickets. I'm looking forward to it. I hope that some of the others from my group show up again. I love New York and it's even better with friends. I don't have much free time unless I add an extra day, but I'll try to get at least one good meal in. Maybe DB Bistro Moderne???

Random Poll #1- What's your favorite Christmas song?

Random Poll #2- Which Christmas song makes you most want to eat a gun?

Random Poll #3- Why are customers so rude and retarded at the post office during Christmas? ("What do you mean I have to stand in this line just like everyone else? I want you to kiss my ass.") It's Christmas. You have to wait your frigging turn with your incorrectly labeled package.

Random Poll #4- How would you like your stocking stuffed?

Random Poll #5- Eggnog, hot buttered rum, mulled wine, hot chocolate, Samichlaus, peppermint tea, hot Vernors, coffee with Baileys, or white lightning straight out of the jug?

Random Poll #6- You're Santa. Who do you want to sit on your lap?

ITMFA!

Cheers,
Jason
Your 1996 Theme Song Is: 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins

Shakedown 1979
Cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet


You Were Born Under:

You are quick witted, charming, and bring luck to all who know you.
A bit greedy, you tend to go after what you want - with success.
Clever, you seek out knowledge... and eventually use what you know to your advantage.
You are very loyal, and you treat your real friends like they are family.

You are most compatible with a Dragon or Monkey.


You Should Have Been Born Under:

You are totally loyal, faithful, and honest.
However, you don't trust others to be as ethical as you are!
Straight forward and direct, you really aren't one for small talk.
You are a great listener - and an agreeable companion when you're in a good mood!

You are most compatible with a Tiger or Horse.