I’m a bit baffled as to a certain category of spam that comes to my inbox.  Obviously there are the ones that pretend to be valid websites but you’re redirected to a sinister site.  Others are the result from being on a list from a web site you bought stuff from.  Some try to convince you that a Nigerian prince really does need your help, along with your bank account and routing number.  Some are links to good old fashioned porn.  Some want you to reply to the address so it knows that email account is used and then they bombard you with more spam. 

Is it some sort of secret code where most places have a sales bell by the area where the salespeople are?  While our tech people are kind of removed from where the sales area is, we still hear the damn gong of a bell whenever a big sale is made.  Maybe it’s good morale for those whose life depends on every sale, but for those of use who need to concentrate, it’s simply annoying.  Heck, I’d think that were I a salesguy and I was on the phone giving my sales pitch, I’d be distracted by someone clanging a bell as though it were dinner time on the farm.  Sales guys out there – is the bell truly necessary?

As someone who is passionate about environmental issues along with common “be good to your planet” sense, I am thrilled to see large retailers like Home Depot pushing the new types of light bulbs that last up to thirteen times longer than an incandescent bulb.  Being also a pessimist at heart, I wonder what Home Depot’s “angle” is for long-term profits on this item.  Yes, the initial cost of people paying slightly more for these bulbs will provide a nice padding of the bottom line for a few years as people switch over but what’s in it for them after that?  After the initial purchase, where do they make the same kind of profit?

Folks, we’re running down a slippery slope when it comes to free speech in this country.  It’s bad enough that radio personalities on “terrestrial” radio have been fired with an alarming frequency but now this has spilled into satellite radio.  Last week, Greg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia of the Opie and Anthony Show, were suspended by XM for comments made the previous week by a homeless man they had on the show.  Not only are they off the air for 30 days, the channel that’s dedicated to their broadcast and re-broadcasts (202) has removed all traces of their shows during this period and are airing the much inferior show (Ron and Fez) that is normally on from 12-3 and rerunning it nonstop.

You all know how I can get tweaked off the slightest driving infraction, sending me into a blind rage although I have mellowed out as of late.  I don’t claim to be a perfect driver but I do think I tend to follow proper driving habits, have a good knowledge of the rules of the road plus I am overflowing with plain common sense.  The latter part is where I think a lot of people behind the wheel fall short.  This subspecies is probably the same group of mouthbreathers who vote for American Idol contestants multiple times.

I’m assuming everyone has those type of commuting days where it seems as the forces of nature have conspired to crash your car, throwing every idiotic person in front of you to cut you off or make your commute unsafe using a myriad of methods to make this happen.  Slammed-on brakes, honked horns, loud cursing and potential hand gestures are necessary accoutrements on days like this when everyone but you (of course) is a nimrod.  Here’s a perfect example.  The entrance ramp that I use to get on the highway actually spits you out (unsafely) into the fast left lane.  Not only do you have to ramp up to the speed limit just to not get run over whil ...

Today’s post isn’t mean to incite, rather to make one think.  When you think of small town America, sometimes the mental image of the folk who live there being like the citizens in the movie “Footloose” comes to mind.  Then an article will come out which confirms your suspicions of rural America and their puritanical ideas on ideas like religion and alcohol.

It didn’t really hit me until I was talking to the cop who normally guards the referee locker room for the Gladiators games.  He gets paid extra to work the hockey games and after the game he would head off to his night shift.  Since Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day, he was not looking forward to dealing with all the drunks.  He said “St. Patrick’s Day is for amateurs” and I have to wholeheartedly agree.  He’s allowed to talk shit since he’s a 6’5” Irishman who pounds beer on a professional level.