Simple Randomness

Bluetooth Headsets are Officially the New “Status Symbol”

Just yesterday I was walking out of a building and I saw 2 guys about my age walking out of another door.  But one of them had a rather large bluetooth headset on his ear.  They were talking back and forth and it just got me thinking, “Why does he still have his headset on?  He’s talking to his friend, why doesn’t he take it out?”

Has anyone else noticed that this is becoming more and more common?  People are just walking around with their headsets on their ears whether they’re using them or not.  It seriously has become the new status symbol!

Look at me, I have a Bluetooth and you don’t!

I just don’t get it.  Now, I can see using a bluetooth when you’re driving your car or doing something where you need to talk on the phone but need both hands free.  For those situations I get it.  But do you really get that many phone calls that you need to have this thing attached to your ear 24/7?  Next thing you know we’ve going to hear about ‘bluetooth surgery’ were people are having these things implanted into their heads.  Maybe that will be the next status symbol….

For those of you that have bluetooths, please be polite to your friends and take it off when you’re talking to them!  Also, it drives me NUTS when people are walking around talking loudly on them in the store…

What’s Up With the Easter Bunny Anyway?

I have to admit that ever since I found out that Santa, the Easter Bunny, and all the other characters we are led to believe in aren’t real, I was always most curious about the bunny. I mean c’mon…a bunny that lays eggs? Seems a little weird.

Or maybe what really happens is that the Easter Bunny steals the eggs from the Thanksgiving Turkey and hoards them until Easter. Maybe it’s some long standing vendetta they have against each other. Who knows.

Honestly though, who came up with the whole Easter Bunny idea? I mean, when you look at some of the other characters like Santa, they at least somewhat make sense. Even from a religious standpoint you can kinda see where Santa comes from, especially when you think of him as Saint Nicholas. But the Easter Bunny? What does a psycho egg laying bunny rabbit have to do with what Easter is really all about - the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?

It’s official…this one has me baffled. Any ideas?

I’d Rather Have a Target….

I’m not a fan of Wal-Mart. I understand that they have a place in the world, and I’m not one of these irrational people that hates Wal-Mart because they are big business or something like that. In fact, as a business model you have to somewhat admire them because they’ve done so well!

I don’t like Wal-Mart because I don’t like the way I feel when I shop there. I feel like a sheep. I feel like a zombie. I don’t feel like myself when I go to a Wal-Mart. I can’t really explain it, but for some reason every time I walk into a Wal-Mart I get depressed. Ok, not really, but at least a little bit.

Maybe it’s because the store is never entirely clean. Maybe because people honestly have no understanding of how to pay attention to what they’re doing when I’m in Wal-Mart (I always seem to almost get run over by someone either in the parking lot or in the store).

That’s why I’d rather go to Target. Similar concept when it comes to the store idea, but they seem to have a higher level of self respect. The store always seems to be cleaner, and for some reason the people seem to be nicer.

I’m writing about this because they’re putting a Wal-Mart near my house. As soon as I heard this I was a little annoyed. Mainly because I’d so much rather have a Target nearby. Good thing there is one about 10 minutes away .

Spring is HERE!!! Or at Least the Calendar Says So…

On a lighter note (compared to my last post), the calendar officially says that Spring is here!  Yes Winter has finally left the land and we can expect to hear all of the birds start to chirp and all of the flowers start to come out!

I wish it was that simple…

Seriously…who decided that you can just put a day on the calendar and say that it’s the first day of Spring?  Did someone expect that nature would just comply?  Well, obviously not.  Last I heard we’re supposed to get more snow in my area this week.  Not cool.

But then in other parts of the country I hear that the Spring floods have already started….oh goodie!

Yes, this is officially a Random Griping… I think that we should just judge the seasons by when they seem like the season is what it should be.  Maybe we can nominate an official ‘Season Declarer Man’ that will watch for the real signs of a season and make a national announcement.  Then again, scratch that idea.  The government is getting too big as it is ;-).

Getting the Feeling the Spring is Almost Here

As you may well know, I’m sick of winter… But I’m getting the feeling that spring is almost here.

How can I tell?  Because I feel like my allergies are coming early!  I get hay fever just about every year, but usually it doesn’t hit until May, and then again in late July or early August.  But for some reason this year as soon as it started to get warm I started to sneeze a little bit more than normal.  Granted, this is not full on hay fever, but it’s reminding me of one of the things I don’t like about spring and summer….

I’m beginning to realize that I don’t have a favorite season.  I know a lot of people do, but I guess I’m not one of those people…  Oh well!

I Could Use a New Bed…

I’m starting to realize that I could really use a new bed.  My wife and I are still sleeping on the same mattress that we bought when we first got married almost 6 years ago.  I guess the normal lifespan of a mattress is supposed to be 10 years or so, but I’m thinking that only counts when you buy a high quality mattress.  Ours doesn’t fit that description!

So now I’m starting to think about some of the options out there.  Here are a couple that I’ve thought of:

• Sleep number
• Memory foam mattress
• Latex mattress

Granted I need to research each of these more, but I’m leaning more towards the Sleep Number or a memory foam mattress.  If anybody has any recommendations, I’d love to hear them!  I guess they all have their benefits and I’ll really need to research them more to decide what to do.  That and save up the money cause the good beds sure are pricey!

Getting Anxious For Spring to Arrive…

I have to admit that I’m officially to the point where I’m getting sick of winter and want Spring to come. I think I mentioned before that I tend to go through this cycle each year where for the first few weeks of a season I love it, then I’m ready for it to be over. Well I hit that point with Winter about 2 weeks ago.

I think the turning point for me this year was the insane blizzard that we had last week that knocked our power out for 8 hours. I know that only having the power out for that long is short compared to other outages that have happened around the country, but it was enough for me to think “OK, time for Spring!”

I can also say that I think I enjoyed winter a lot more when I used to go skiing a lot. Honestly I think it’s been 4 years since I went skiing. Too bad too cause I really love to go skiing. But since I now have 2 kids and a lot of other things going on I just don’t seem to find the time to go. I know I know…priorities right? Maybe next year I’ll make skiing a priority again!

Snow Snow…and More Snow!

It’s been 12 days since our last major snow storm. The last time I wrote about it I mentioned that tons of people were sliding off the road. I’m happy to report that this morning as I was coming in to work I didn’t see a single car that had slid off the road! Maybe people are finally remembering what they need to do to drive in the snow.

Except for this one guy who tailed me for about 3 miles!!! Grr… I know that a lot of people would say, “Well, just slam your brakes, let him rear end you, and collect the insurance money.” Sounds like a great plan, but here are a few reasons why I never even really think of doing that:

1. It’s cold!
2. I don’t want to chance actually getting injured
3. I don’t like dealing with insurance companies
4. Snow is cold
5. It was 6am in the morning…need I say more?
6. With the roads that slick, I’d probably get hit by another car when I got out to assess the damages
7. Have I mentioned that it was cold?!

So while I’m sure that if I did get rear ended I could collect some money for it, I think in this situation the cons definitely outweigh the pros. You may have a different view on the idea, but that’s mine. So please, don’t tail people when the roads are slick. You might not be behind someone like me. You might be behind someone that actually wants to collect insurance money .

The Price of Movie Popcorn - Monopolistic Behavior?

Ok, I’m not gonna get all ‘economist’ on you, so don’t worry. Heck, I had to take basic economics twice in college, so I’m no expert by any means. But after thinking more about the different strikes going on and my guess that the price of movie tickets going up, it made me think about my favorite movie going treat: popcorn!

I am a popcorn lover. In fact, when I was in high school I believed that these were the 4 basic food groups: nachos, skittles, cold cereal, and popcorn. And I did my best to have at least one serving of each every single day. In fact, I remember back in those days that I couldn’t imagine myself going to a movie without having popcorn with it. It just seemed improper not to have popcorn. Then, after a few years of being married I started to actually realize the price that I was paying for my favorite treat at the movie theaters.

Does anyone else agree that the price of popcorn at the movie theater is outrageous?! I mean seriously, the price of popcorn at the theater is almost as much as the ticket (if you get a large anyway). Now, compare this with the price of bag popcorn you can get at the store. You can get a box of 3 bags for a little over a buck! Remember, I’m not an economist, but isn’t this what we call monopolistic behavior?

Yeah yeah, I understand that the theaters probably make most of their money on the treats. Whatever. Does this mean that they are going to go on strike, too? That would be hilarious, the theaters go on strike because they want a bigger cut of the ticket price. Then we’d really see the price of movie tickets skyrocketing and Hollywood would really be messed up.

It was a sad day when I had decided to stop eating popcorn at the theater, but it’s a decision I stand by. I just can’t see the point in buying stale popcorn for $5. So sorry movie theaters… not gonna do it.

Strike One….is Strike Two Coming?

So I heard on the radio this morning that there is a rumor that the actors are going to go on strike just like the screen writers have gone on strike. The rumor is that they will go on strike sometime in the summer.

Now, I guess on some levels I can sympathize for the screen writers and stuff. I mean, without them there is no show and I can see that they are probably getting shafted. But the actors? Granted, not all actors make the kind of money that the superstars do. I get that. Maybe I just hate strikes. The other thing that is going to be lame about all of this is that you can expect the price of your movie ticket to go up. Isn’t that what always happens when there is a string of strikes like this?

The screen writers want more….then the actors want more…then the set guys are going to want more….then the directors are going to want more…it never seems to end. Forget the price of gas, I’m predicting that the price of a movie ticket in 2009 is going to be $25 a ticket! Then we’ll really hear people complain about how prices are going up!

The great thing is that my TV isn’t hooked up anyway. So if the whole entertainment industry gets all messed up, I really won’t care. So go ahead, strike away. But don’t expect me to start to shell out more and more for movie tickets. I’ll find other means of entertainment. Anybody read a good book lately?