The Affair of the Chair (amongst other things)
I want to visit Louisiana. It's 60 degrees there right now. It's snowing here. In fact it’s probably snowing right now outside your window. Go check...I'll wait.

In the meantime a multitude of issues have come up concerning the well being of my sanity, as well as the general shape of the world we live in today. I continually wonder how the world continues to operate, what with the consistent stupidity that runs rampant from sea to shining sea. For instance:

The Chair
Since coming home in June, I've upgraded my personal surroundings.: Wall painting with Erika, light fixtures, furniture. It’s become quite the Old Timey bachelors pad. So to be comfortable when I watch TV or use the computer I ordered a large leather chair on Dec. 26. I paid for it with gift money, job earnings, and store credit. About two weeks later I called the furniture store to see if it was ready for me to pick up. The gentleman states that I still have an unpaid balance on the chair. When I ask him how much the balance is, he states the exact figure of the store credit. I force him to realize that he never applied the credit and that's his balance. Thus two weeks after I ordered the chair, he ordered it for real. Or so I thought. Another two weeks later when I call to see what's going on, he states that the chair has been damaged in shipment, and needs to be ordered again. Two more weeks pass and I don't hear anything. I call them again. "What's the status on the chair? Chair? You mean sofa. Sofa?" King Assface ordered the original item that the store credit was applied to when he re-ordered the "chair." At this point I am fuming. Not only did he mess up twice, but now he tells me the chair will take 8 weeks to get here. As an alternative, they would give me the floor sample. But get this they wanted full price for it. Am I not getting something here? Is paying full price for something that is used acceptable these days? Did I accidentally get transported to Retardtown? With added pressure I finally forced him to give me the floor model price.

So as of now, I am sitting in the fabled chair, comfortably I might say. The chair that took 2 months to get here. The bigger meaning however is that nothing of this sort is ever easy. Let us not forget the wonderful people at AAMCO, the folks at the car wash, Villanova in general, and that woman who couldn't drive. And you wonder why I hate people.

The Snow
Weathermen should die. In fact all local news is useless. I find it completely unnecessary for anyone to "predict" the weather. You can't. End of story. You can guess at what's going to happen. You can post your little graphics all over the place. I will not plan my week according to what some stranger says. Also, don't go out in the weather to prove how much of a weatherman you are. "That's right Chuck, it IS snowing out here." What are you on the frontlines of the weather system? Are you fighting off the flakes? Weather does not equal journalism. Local news does not equal journalism. Its filler crap. 10 minutes is stolen news from the AP, then there’s the weather, then the "World News," which includes only the most important countries, then the entertainment report, the weather again. Which of course is the largest part of the show, followed by the hard hitting investigative spot and finally the good time happy piece. There, I just saved you one boobless hour.

Villanova
There are these brief moments when I actually miss the place. I want work to be cancelled tomorrow like class, just so I can bum around. Then those moments pass when I start thinking about the people actually there.

Y100
I just found out they took Y100 off the air in Philly; and replaced it with another rap station. Is that truly necessary? You took the ONLY alternative rock station in the area off the air and replaced it with ANOTHER rap station. They did the same thing with 96.5 the point a couple of years ago. I understand the local population likes rap music, but you assume that no one listens to the other channels? That my friend is narrow-minded.

I think that’s it for now. I'm getting more tired and annoyed when I continue talking about these things. It seems this high-pressure front of shit and lack of creativity will be settling over humanity for a while. Don't forget your shovels! Back to you Chuck.

QUICK NOTE: I'm still waiting for the money the furniture people owe me for my reimbursement.

Happy Sunday
This was a Boondocks comic strip...it was funny. Never the less, I forgot to save it.

End of the Day
It's the end of the day. It's the end of doing anything I feel I have to do. If things go undone today, they'll be there tomorrow. I do this alot. I never just go to bed. I need time on my own. I need time to just be me. I used to do this in school. It was easier when I was alone junior year. I could just listen to music. Maybe even get some work done. As soon as my door would close I'd be on my own time. No deadlines, no meetings, and no have to's. Anything I did in that time I did because I wanted to. It actually ended up being the most productive part of my day. Safety in my solitude.

Decline: Wolfgang is German.
Did it ever occur to you that the only way to teach right from wrong is to point out everything that is wrong morally in order to differentiate between the two? And in doing so, you expose the very thing you are trying to steer away from, and only make it more accessible by pointing it out.

For example, here at Mercedes-Benz, they are all about integrity, diversity, and all the other "itys" that are politically correct in order for them to maintain a morally driven company as well as to ensure no one sues the pants off of them. As a new hire, I was required to take this ten minute online training thing to learn how to make decisions based on required information, and not because of personal feelings. Example: Mohammad Al-Beted is applying for credit to finance a Chrysler Town and Country. He wants to use it to drive his entire family to the mosque. He has yadda yadda income, yadda yadda debt, and has owned yadda yadda car. Do you accept or decline the request? The obvious answer is accept or decline based upon his credit history and financial situation, but they throw that cultural reference in there to bring out the inner racist. How stupid do you have to be to answer that question? Are you really not going to finance him because he isn't American; because you don't want him or his entire family going to the mosque; or perhaps using the vehicle as a suicide bomb?

Actually, this is one of the more sedate examples. Other's included a Chinese couple that owned a Chinese restaurant, old people, and a Native American doctor named "Linda Runningfox." I'm surprised they didn't call her a medicine man or something. And the answers to these questions would be so blatantly inappropriate. Decline: Susan is a single parent with 3 children; she is going to get pregnant again and won't be able to go to work. Now if they didn't point that out, I would have never assumed that just because a single parent has lots of kids, they are going to keep having lots of kids. It's not like they are reinforcing any stereotype, but they are making you associate the wrong answers with the situation. If they really wanted to do it right, they would put it less crassly and assume that you aren't a bigot.

In the end I think my favorite was the German one. His name was Wolfgang, he owned a German auto parts company, he of course wanted to buy a Mercedes, a German car. They went into his financial information, and then as one of the possible answers they just put: Decline: Wolfgang is German. Apparently All well informed people know that being German is good enough reason to say no to anyone. They may be the only nationality that doesn't need an explanation.

QUICK NOTE: Don't even ask if I'm celebrating Valentine's Day.