I Don't Feel (Very) Guilty...

6 years ago I fell prey to some very persuasive advertising that said I needed a brand new flashy pickup truck. There were pictures of it glistening in the sun flying through the Baja desert. At times it was bouncing over hills, leaving the ground flying in the air 3-4 feet. The truck was easily maneuvering through mud holes and deep snow and never got dirty! Needless to say, it had to have been a multi-million dollar ad campaign. And like any red-blooded, redneck pro-union consumer, I bit. I needed that truck... bad!

Now, 6 years later I see this commercial on Comedy Central during a Cheeto-filled afternoon of standup comedian marathon


Now I feel guilty for using a Zip-Lock bag, let alone driving my 10 mile a gallon (American Made)4 wheel drive. Is it my fault that I was watching TV 6 years ago and did my part to boost the economy and buy what was being put out there for consumers? I just don't think it is fair to pull on the heartstrings of TODAY'S consumers with solicitations like the above video. I am just one guy, working 40 hours a week, living in the midwest, staying out of trouble taxpayer.

I don't feel so bad though, there is another side to the polar bear story HERE so I will add "newly educated" to the string of adjectives in the above paragraph. And I will probably wait another day or so to check my tire pressure...

Shopping Cart GPS..

I was shopping at our local Meijer grocery store when this idea hit me. Why don't we have a little touch screen on our shopping carts that tells us where stuff is? I have been shopping at this same store for 10 years and I can still never find what I need. For example, we have taken a liking to Asian Sensations frozen egg rolls. I bought them a few times and now all of a sudden they are gone. I asked the frozen produce guy, and he went in "the back" for 5 minutes, then came out and we walked around the store for 10 more minutes because it turns out there are frozen egg rolls in 4 different places. He came to the brilliant deduction that they must no longer "carry them".


We could avoid this whole thing by having a product locater on our cart. Just enter "frozen foods", "egg rolls", Asian Sensations and boom, the screen will tell you exactly the aisle and location. We could take this a step further and you could "log in" to your shopping account and the cart would know what you usually buy (guy thing?) and remind you of your important items. It could also point out sales on similar items. Even one step further, have a GPS locater on the cart and it (the cart) could locate desired items for you! Wow, we could even have a UPC code scanner on the cart so we could have a running total or even check out right there in the cart!

Ok, I can wake up now because retail stores thrive on "impulse" buying. I go there just to get bananas and walk out with $50 worth of crap. Meijer even intentionally moves their produce around every couple weeks so I can't even find the damn bananas. So now I have to walk past the strawberries, ooooh and then the shortcakes, and then I need the red gooey liquid to pour over the strawberries, oh wait, the whip cream. What did I come here for?

Pop-ups on TV..

It was just a matter of time, but it is really starting to burn me up. On such television channels as TNT, The Discovery Channel or The History Channel, they have started using, for lack of a better term; pop-ups. It started out with just a small translucent logo on the bottom right of the screen, but it has evolved into a full blown animated 1/3 screen advertisement promoting an upcoming show or series. I find it so distracting and annoying that I will purposely not watch the show they are so hard trying to promote, but a lot of good that does. Below is a mild example. (watch it towards the end).



I don't see where this can go since they already run about 13 minutes of commercials on every 30 minute segment. I assume they will get bigger, more colorful and more animated. I realize the pressure is on to squeeze out every available dollar in today's economy, but they are fooling no one except the commercial skipper on the TIVO.

Ok I feel better now... NOT

Joe Has Chosen Sara!

It was a difficult choice, but Joe has chosen Sara to be his speaker-sitting companion. Sara has joined him and they seem to be hitting it off just fine. Since July 1st is the first day of the new quarter, they have their work cut out for them helping me earn tons of internet money. I hope they drum up some business, because Microsoft has dropped their referral affiliate program and no longer are going to be an income stream... ouch!

Sara was referred to us by Breanna (left) and Kaitlyn (right). Joe says thanks to them, and he promises to always have a speaker for Sara to sit on.

Sara Paid A Visit To Jade...

Sara was not at all happy with Jade's threatening photos, and went to confront Jade at her work. Jade, as you can see in the first photo, is saying "OK girl, it is on!"

Before Sara could even get a word out, Jade slapped her!

Sara, not one to take any crap, slapped Jade back.

Seeing an opportunity, Sara gives Jade a high kick to the face, a move she learned in cheerleading!

Jade falls to the ground, and Sara gives Jade the sleeper choke hold. Sara lets go, thinking the young brat has learned her lesson.... however..

Jade gets up and gives Sara an Army boot kick to the chin!

And Sara is out for the count!

When Sara regained consciousness, both girls realized how childish it is to fight, and like all good girl fights, they are best of friends... for now...

What will Joe think when he hears of this?

WARNING: there is a more complete and extremely violent version of these events. Contains graphic photos of the cat fight between Jade and Sara. CLICK HERE