We Are Marshall

I just saw an advertisement for the movie We Are Marshall. Just want to say there aren't many state governors who would make an appearance in such a movie, but Sonny Did...

Thoughts...

With Fox's recent cancelation of its controversial TV special, it makes one wonder if OJ is searching for the "real producers"...

Or if the book was ghost written, they may be looking for the "Real Author"...

I heard on NPR that some mothers have been protesting the airlines cracking down on public breastfeeding. It may have been on other news outlets, not sure if there was a lot of exposure...

A lot of people have been coming into the store to buy meals for our National Day of Thanks. I started merchandising a few items, but I quit cold turkeys...

We recently made an excursion to Ikea, no one was mad. But the good prices did Sweden the day...

Favorite Things...

Inspired by one of Katie's recent outings, where they each shared stuff they liked...

NPR Weekends: I really like to listen to the game shows and other programming that they put out on the weekends. Car Talk, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Michael Feldman's What Do You Know?, and many others. Good especially when listened to while yard-saleing

Bass: In my humble opinion, the best bottle beer out there.

Freecycle: A great way to promote environmental friendliness and also get a lot of loot, free of charge.

Clif Bar: One of the best energy bars on the market. Sticks with you throughout the day and can be used to replace a lunch or breakfast, if necessary.

Rechargeable Batteries: Another way to help save the planet, and it feels much more efficient.

Messenger Bags and Briefcases: Everytime I walk into a store, it is probably the item I am most likely to impulse buy. I don't know why...

Prinnie-Mack Lattes: The best coffee ever. Strong enough to taste the espresso through the flavoring. I also like supporting local bidnesses, when I can.

Container Store: We don't have one around here, but I like those stores a lot.

Bottled Water: You're not buying the water, you're buying the portability.

Atlantic Monthly: A great magazine. It makes me feel smarter somehow for reading it.

Eddie Bauer: Even though I was never a part of the Golf Shirt Council at PHC, I like the store.

So Close, Yet So Far

Every now and then an event happens that brings a sense of cosmic gravity to our daily lives, and crystalizes the meaning of life. Some of you may be aware of our recent visitor, a Supposed Member of Our Cabinet, a distinguished, destructive, mouse who pillaged through all of our baking soda, chewed our hand mixer (made out of plastic), consumed a plastic container of icing and its contents, and caused a massive syrup spill that covered the entire cabinet.

Of course, we bought and set traps for the mouse, after clearing our cabinets of all its contents. We used sticky, tempting foods as a lure. The combination of feta cheese, peanut butter, and marshmellow wafting through the contained air, we thought, would make an irresistable combination to said visitor, and draw him to his destiny. We also thought that he might be drawn to the trap itself, as it was made of plastic, and that maybe curiousity would prompt him to take a few moments out of his busy day of scurrying to meet an untimely demise.
Yet, days passed and no rodent noise was heard by us, and no further evidence of intrusion had been witnessed. Ever-so-delicately we would conduct twice daily rodent checks by gently opening the doors and peering around the outstretched fingers which covered our eyes, shielding us from the wood of the cabinet which further obstructed our view of the empty trap.

Then yesterday, the call finally came.

You know what call I'm talking about. The one at midday that catches you by surprise. When your wife is saying that something has happened, and you brace yourself for the news.
Our Friend, Our Rodent, Our Univited Plastic-Obsessed Guest, had indeed met his doom. But like so many of us who have lost our perspective in life, who have drifted far from the goals and ideals that we had set, who strayed from that purpose deep within... we found him ignobly dead. lying lifelessly where he had lain for maybe a couple of days in an adjacent cupbord, having become embedded with the syrup which he had made flow so freely. Reflecting on this, we thought about how many times Poetic Justice has caused us to wallow in a sticky situation we ourselves had created. But so far, it had never caused our own death, at least to the best of my knowledge. Now, he lay there, bound by it. Unmourned and unacknowledged (and I might add, unremovable without scraping him and the shelf liner just beneath him out).
Sadly, had he gone just a few more inches over, taken just a little more effort, not lost his perspective, he could have died in the trap. Douglas Adams had told us that we could learn much from the Mouse. Indeed, we can.

A Badge, A Raise, A Steak

Today I completed my "Total Store" Phase and received my official Blue Badge (which means that I am now a C0-Manager). I also got a raise, which made me happy, and I was told that
I answered the How to Handle a Bomb Threat question better than anyone had before. We went to celebrate the evening at Outback, as I was in celebratory enough of a mood that I didn't mind the calorie indulgence.

It's going to be a challenge, as now I am handling millions of dollars worth of inventory during our busiest time of year, and directing 160+ employees in a workforce ranging from 15 to 72. A big job for sure, but I am looking forward to it and am feeling pretty upbeat at the moment.

The store I'll be at is in a good part of town, with good clientel, and a good unit manager. Hopefully there is good bonus potential as well. :-)

Oh yeah, I also got six pairs of dress pants last night on Freecycle. They were all Ralph Lauren brand and some even had the original tags on them priced at $85. Yeah, stick it, Moel Joughon!!!

Car Talk

Well, I submitted an answer to the weekly Car Talk Puzzler, heard on National Public Radio. This is the email I received acknowledging my submission. I thought it was pretty funny.

Thanks for sending in your puzzler answer. Imagine how excited you'll be if we choose your response as the correct, winning answer!

In case you were wondering, here's the process we go through to select each week's winner: First, we have to be certain you have the correct answer. We start by sending your answer to Paul Murky, at Murky Research. Murky, working with our Statistician Marge Innovera, will place your puzzler answer in one of two heaps: "not even close" and "pretty much right."

Assuming it passes by Paul and Marge, your answer will then be zipped along to Central Processing, where it will be date and time stamped, and searched for attached currency. Next, it will be shipped electronically to our Correct Answer Verification Center, where our legions of lackeys once again search your answer for currency-- just in case someone at Central Processing missed it. Then, they make certain that your response fits the criterion we have established for correct answers. Please note that since we're often unsure of what the right answer is ourselves, we have very wide latitude in determining what constitutes a correct answer.

Incorrect answers, however, will be sent to the Jehovah's Witnesses, for immediate inclusion in their mailing list. Lastly, correct answers will be sent to Ms. Shirley Wright, who operates under the auspices of the Committee for Reviewing Answers to Puzzlers. There, operating under complete secrecy, Ms. Wright will pick a winner. If your response is selected as this week's winning entry, we'll announce your name on the air. You'll also get a gift certificate to our Shameless Commerce Division, which if you're smart, you'll trade to an unsuspecting coworker for a cup of coffee and twenty-five cents.

Cordially,
Tom and Ray Magliozzi
Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers

There Has to Be a Morning After...

Well, folks, it was an interesting election night. By the way,the key retail check went great. Autumn, Katie and I went to Mac Collins' election night celebration where we watched the results come in. We left somewhere around 10:00pm, and at that point, things were looking grim but hadn't totally collapsed. We came home and settled in here with the internet and our television set. We don't have cable, unlike at the celebration where the results were on Fox News, so the local stations reverted to covering GA political results. Man, it was a great night. For the first time since reconstruction we have re-elected a Republican Governor. And for the first time, elected a Republican Lt. Governor. The Secretary of State also went in the Republican column, and the majority in the state legislature also grew. The two federal races were nip-and-tuck, so things seemed so glorious. (It is also worth noting here that I was really fed up with the National Republican party and the way they have run things, but the GA Delegation is totally different. They are really in the mold of the Class of 1994).

Well, at any rate, the local stuff finally went off, and the national results were being shown on ABC News. It was quite a shock. I had really thought things were going well for the Republicans because of all the local stuff. Boy, was I wrong...

I was sad to see that Ryun lost in Kansas and that some of the Indiana delegation lost out, but I'm glad in a way that the Republicans are going back to the drawing board to rebuild. We really needed something to shake up the National Party. No more having to see people support No Child Left Behind, McCain-Feingold, Medicare Expansion, out-of-control fiscal spending, and so on. In fact, if it weren't for National Security, I don't think that we'd have anything "Republican" to have run on. And is it so bad that Lincoln Chaffee is gone? Or Mark Foley? Or all the Abramoff folks?

Even in the Federal races here, we didn't really lose out by having the Democrats win, as the differences between those running were (in a good way), hard to distinguish.

I think I'm longing for a return to the Clinton years of divided government.

Tommorrow is the Big Day

That's right. We're getting pre-certified on our Key Retailing practices tomorrow morning. It's not a small thing for us, and we're hoping to do well... (we should).

On the national level, there is an election. Republicans should be prepared to lose big tomorrow. We're actually going to a Victory Party for Mac, but only as a curiousity and because it is literally right around the corner from our house. I have never been to one before and wonder what the fuss is about. We're also hoping he wins. But his Liberal Democrat Pelosi-Loving Opponent is endorsed by both National Right to Life and the National Rifle Association, so it's hard to tell if we really lose out.

On another election note, don't forget the PHC Alum voting on Wednesday (I just got an email while writing this post). Looking at the list, it's going to be a bad night for both Republicans and Kool-Aid Drinkers.

Middle GA Facts

1. Three words in the English Language scare people here to death: Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

2. Therefore, early voting has been booming around here. And John Kerry also probably gets a lot of credit for that (think: Big Air Force Base full of offended stupid people, and those who love them).

3. You can be a respected and credible Republican candidate once Democrat Zell Miller has endorsed you.

4. We support our troops.

5. We support President Bush.

6. Sonny "Did"

7. Get 'er done.