How Mickey Shorr Lost my Business

It's simple. I need a new car radio, Mickey Shorr is 5 minutes away. Their website shows lots of radios - any will meet my needs.

That is until I see this:

Now, I'm no prude as anyone will tell you. But I've got to ask, wasn't one bimbo enough? I don't think you can see it in my post as the picture appears cut off - there is a second bimbo bending over the railing with her ass in the air (and a guy drooling), and a third with her ass cheek display. It was too much for me.  Obviously, "Mickey Shorr" is a pig.  And not where I'm buying ANYTHING. Well, unless you start having cartoon guys who are buff and almost naked, and in gratuitous displays.

To paraphrase some lyrics:

"Oh Mickey Shorr, you're so sad; your crass cartoon is a horrible ad."

Plane Old Boredom Games

I was going through old notes and found these I took on a flight some time ago.  Since I've been told by some my blogging tend to be too analytical/morose/melancholy, enjoy.

Games for the Severely Bored Flyer

1. "Oh the Obesity!" When you go to put your seat belt on, was the person who last used it thinner or fatter than you?

2. "I'm the Asshole" Fill out the magazine crossword puzzles with wrong answers or random letters. Or, write comments on articles in the margins (make sure you don't write anything that will result in your arrest!)

3. "Bye Bye Now" Before the flight attendant has a chance to say "bye bye," beat her/him to it. Extra points for creative phrases such as:

• "Have a good one!'
• "God bless you!"
• "Thanks for the memories"

I'd Hate to Work at Epsilon Right Now

So today, two messages (Walgreens & Marriott) that my email address was in with the Epilson "unauthorized access" incident.

Okayyyy, then both messages then told me "nothing personal" was linked to those email addresses.

Okayyyy,  but what galls me is that then both companies give me a primer on how I should guard against fraudulent messages regardless of who sent them.  I find this offensive. They are telling me that the company entrusted to keep my email address safe FAILED and they want to instruct ME on email?? Given that both companies sell things, how about a "We're sorry - here's a sweet discount coupon." Or something.

The Love Boat is Sinking - To the Life Rafts!

A friend responded to my blog on the use of "I love you" and made some rather good points. But, to me, the best was this one:

 "In the end it is the decision to love someone that drives me.  Feelings and hormones may come and go; however, that decision is persistent and eternal.  It may not sound romantic; however, not all of us are hardwired to be romantic."

". . . (T)he decision to love someone . . ."  That's really it, isn't it?  So many people blurt out an initial, "I love you" in a moment of emotion.  So few make a conscious decision to love someone and keep loving them. We behave as if love is an overriding force outside of our control - we fall in and out of love.  Perhaps if we accept that the romantic emotion of "love" comes and goes, and instead focused on the decision to love someone (faults and all) and to keep loving that person, we'd be more content.

Just a few thoughts to ponder . . .


Epilogue/Addendum  4/23/2011

I finished a novel last night and one passage seemed eerily familiar to the blog above. (I found the novel rather boring and cliched - full of brand name dropping - one more mention of Viking stoves and I would have assumed the author was being paid by them.) So, emily giffin (her spelling) wrote:

"But maybe that's what it all comes down to. Love, not as a surge of passion, but as a choice to commit to something, someone, no matter what obstacles or temptations stand in the way. and maybe making that choice, again and again, day in and day out, year after year, says more about love than never having a choice to make at all."

Still pondering life . . . damn it.

The Love Boat is Sinking

Ok, when I worked for my last company, every 12 months, they'd introduce some emotionally-tied, grand idea that would supposedly change our lives.  They'd introduce it at a company meeting with great fanfare: videos/audio/presentations/PowerPoint. Sometimes, they'd make us, get this, do book reports on the new theory. And, just as horrid, present or discuss how the new theory could be put to use in our professional or personal lives. We went through 212 Degrees, Getting Things Done, the Randy Pausch video/book, and many more. I left before the most recent African-inspired team building - there wasn't a team left.

What does this have to do with love?

When the company would introduce these grand plans, I believed them or made myself believe them. I was a company cheerleader but took it to heart too. I was of the: LET'S DO THIS! reaction. But, over time, I was troubled by the careless discarding of what we were once told to embrace. And what I did embrace.  The old theories were barely mentioned after being introduced and never appeared again.

What does this have to do with love?

When a man has told me he loves me, I've believed him.  When I embrace the concept (if you will), I say it back.  When we split up, I have the same reaction as my company discarding emo-organizational motivational pulp: If it meant something deep to you, how can you so easily move on?  This happens even when I've done the breaking up.  A little piece of me goes with any "I love you" level of relationship because I really believed it.

I think, fundamentally, most men and women think differently about love and the "I love you" phrase.  Some of my friends have opined that for men, "I love you" means "I like having you around," or, "I like the way I feel when I'm around you." I think, for women, it is something deeper.  We are supposedly more emotional after all.  To point, two friends of mine are dating.  He tells her he loves her constantly but she won't say it back.  He told me he doesn't understand why she won't say it.  She told me "I love you" means something deeper to her so she doesn't just want to throw it out there.  I think she's got the right idea.

So guys, think before you use the magic phrase. And me? Don't be confused if I don't say it back or if I ask you to explain what it means to you. 

That is, if I ever date again.

I've Had 3 Coffees This Morning But Not Drank One

And how is this possible?

1. Coffee #1 (from McDonalds) smelled so much like cigarettes I could not drink it. (YUCK!).
2. Coffee #2 (7-11) I knocked over reaching for something else. Great guys at 7-11, they first asked if I was ok; had a mop handy; and said get another coffee.
3. Coffee #3 sits to my right. Let's hope this one works.

So, how is YOUR morning going?

Promises

Ok, I've decided to write SOMETHING at least once a week.

SOMETHING

Just kidding. But I make no promises on quality of content. You get what you pay for folks . . .

So, on to Office Supply Stores.

I adore office supply stores.  As the offspring of a draftsman (ohh, such a non-PC word now!), I grew up with pencils, colored pencils (is it ok to call them colored?), more paper to draw on than I could have ever used, blueprints to unroll and draw on, erasers of every type, and gadgets for all the above (have you ever seen a manual grinder that dulls the tip of a pencil so it doesn't tear? I had one. Actually "manual grinder" sounds like a bad, but descriptive, porn name now that I think of it. But I digress.)

The point is (point. manual grinder. I slaaay me.) that when I walk into one of those cavernous shrines to work and the home office, I am filled with a sense of . . . well, hope.  Hope that I could be as organized, productive, and coordinated as all of the wares promise.

It hasn't happened yet, but I still get a warm sense of awe everytime those OfficeDepotMax doors open.