Month: August 2008

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Blog Blockage

I want to blog something today but I can’t decide what topic I want to post. I’ve taken several laxatives and eaten several bowls of raisin bran. I think the problem will work its way out naturally.

I could talk about going to the eye doctor today. It was one of the fastest exams I ever had. The doc got the prescription correct. My vision hasn’t changed in a year and a half. The strange part, my eyes are the exact same prescription. The interesting part of the story lies in the fact the doctor talked to me about my job for about 20 minutes then said we should do lunch. No plans were made.

I could talk about what an awesome friend Kevin is. He gave me a bike. He’s taking me to the Browns game tomorrow night and asks very little in return. I have to provide a couch for his accommodations.

I could talk about picking up “Family Guy” seasons 4 and 5 on DVD. I could talk about how late to the party I was in becoming an absolute fan of the show. There are so many pop culture references in the show I can’t even deal with it. The show makes me laugh out loud.

I could talk about how screwed up the lights are on West 25th street and why getting them in some sort of sequence could save time and gas for Ohio City dwellers.

I could talk about this new online game that I’m playing that consumes about 10-20 minutes of my day and I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do. It’s called Travian. Please let me know if you’re playing.

I could talk about Friday night when a bunch of Cleveland bloggers are getting together to do dinner.

I could talk about the last funny line I heard on Family Guy involving uselessness, Debbie Gibson and her Playboy spread.

I could stop typing and let the blockage work it’s way out on its own,

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McDonald’s Love & Life

The manager at McDonald’s gave me some love today. Er, in the way of free food. I thought he was just going to give me a free breakfast but he comp’ed my entire order. I can’t tell you what that consists of because it would make me look like an absolute pig. (quick blog search confirms I haven’t divulged that in the past. thank God!) My weakness is McDonald’s breakfast. Afterward, I get that self-loathing feeling (think Crying Game, sitting in the bathtub with the shower going) Okay, maybe it’s not that bad but I do feel like I at least need to work out that night.

On another health note, I got this strange sore throat after this past weekend that was the weekend of the summer for me so far. Thursday night with a couple of friends eating out, Friday night at Twilight with some great friends, Saturday with the family and some awesome food, Krusty’s with some great friends and some new ones. Sunday was just an awesome day of rest. This morning, I had zero voice. This afternoon, it’s amazingly bad. My throat still hurts. Maybe it’s that freaky “i-slept-too-close-to-the-air-conditioning” syndrome or something.

I just spent about 40 minutes on the phone with one of my friends. I realize being on the phone focuses me. I can get the dishwasher loaded, windex my counter tops, put the dishes away, load the washer and dryer. Yesterday, I straighten up my closet. Believe it or not, I realize I have this awesome ability to multi-task while I’m talking to someone. The problem is some people don’t like the pots and the dishes making noise but they’ll get over it. My sister claimed she could still hear me over the vacuum, (why do I always misspell that word?) I don’t believe her.

On the technology front, Samsung and Sprint pushed out a software update for my phone, the Samsung Instinct. Push, I guess, is a strong word because I pulled it into my device. At any rate, the update, BF30, apparently corrects at least one of the issues I have with the phone. The volume over the bluetooth headset is not that loud. I have a stereo headset and I don’t like to hear the radio or the TV in my gym over my music. I haven’t tested it to see yet.

One of the other issues getting a lot of net buzz is the update to the calendar, which I think is admittedly weak compared to my old “Q”. Now you can set your appointments to recurring.

There’s apparently also an issue with voicemail, which is one of the strong points with the Instinct. I loathe having to dial voicemail, wait through the password sequence and then listen to the message. Some people are reporting problems with having the voicemail immediately download to their phone. I hope this is not the case.

I just hope Samsung fixed the constant prompt for a password I get through the e-mail. I always seems to think I changed my password even though I didn’t.

Well, if I’m to get this workout in sometime today, I better get my rear in gear,

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Supersize Frustration Please!

Admittedly I tempt fate leaving the office just before 10:30am just in time to get breakfast at McDonald’s. I left in enough time to get in line for breakfast before they change the menu over to lunch.

I normally go to the McDonald’s on Carnegie Avenue. It has two lanes so you can choose either. Of course, I chose the wrong one. The same thing happens at Wal-Mart, Target or any grocery store. This is why I do not gamble. I always pick the wrong one. A woman and a man were in front of me, the other lane had a person, I notice too late, he’s finishing up his order. At this point, I can’t back up and change lanes.

The woman and man in the car clearly didn’t know what they wanted. After about three minutes I rolled down my window to see what was taking so long. Here’s what I heard:

Customer: “I have an expresso as well.”
Drive-Thru Clerk: “Will that complete your order?”
Customer: “You know what? I’ll have two coffees.”
brief silence
Drive-Thru Clerk: “Would you like anything in them?”
Customer: “Nope.”
Drive-Thru Clerk: “Okay, would you like anything else?”
Customer: “You know what? I’ll have a cream for one of them. That’s all.”
Drive-Thru Clerk: “If you don’t want anything else, your total is…”
Customer: “You know what? I’d also like to have an ice water as well.” {scrunching up her nose as if she’s only now becoming a pain}
Drive-Thru Clerk: “If that completes your order, your total is $12.44, please pull around.”

Now, the clerk switches to the person in the other lane, takes his breakfast order then comes over to me.

Drive-Thru Clerk: “Welcome to McDonald’s, can I take your order?”
Me: “Can I still get breakfast?
Drive-Thru Clerk: “I’m sorry sir, we stopped serving at 10:30” {my clock in my car read 10:31}
Me: “So what you’re telling me is I can’t order breakfast because the woman in the car in front of me couldn’t make up her mind.”
Drive-Thru Clerk: “That’s exactly it sir. Can I take your lunch order?”
{conversation terminated}

I called McDonald’s and asked for the manager, who ironically answered my call. I don’t have a long history of complaining about much but this time my blood was pumping fast and furious. To the manager’s defense, he did listen to the above conversation and was very sympathetic. He said for me to ask for him the next time I came through and he’d take care of the situation.

I appreciate his generosity but instead of my beloved breakfast from the home of the Golden Arches, I had leftover DiGiorno pizza for my first meal of the day.

Talk about a supersized dose of frustration!

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Twilight at the Zoo

This is owl is 12 years old. I wish I could remember what kind of owl the handler said it was. I know that it’s lived its entire life at the zoo. Apparently when it was born it couldn’t take care of itself. These kinds of owls don’t live more than 7 years in the wild because other animals eat them because of their size. This one, I’d say, enjoys a good life at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

This is an African Hedgehog. I want to say this is a female. It has the cutest face. I want one but the handler said I couldn’t take it with me. I was bummed. The quills on it feel like someone’s hair who applied too much gel and hairspray. You want to make sure you go with the grain and not against it. When too many people got near, it tried to curl up in a ball. Go Sonic!

The paparazzi was out at the Zoo, nope, that’s just Skippy. He must have filled up his memory card with all of the pictures he took. By the way, I want some of them. Get on that Rebecca!

Rebecca striking a pose while Tim Richards pulls a winning number. The Zoo gave away some great prizes. It seemed like Becca & Tim rehearsed their schick but it’s just them being them. So funny!

Now, it’s Becca’s turn to pull a winning ticket. Lisa from the Zoo is part of this shot.

I don’t have a picture of it but the funniest thing happened when they pulled the grand prize winning ticket. The first winner didn’t claim their prize (you needed to be present to win) so this guy next to me yells out “Pull another one!”. Tim read off the numbers to the ticket and it was that guy’s ticket. He won an all-expense paid trip to somewhere. I didn’t listen that closely because I didn’t have a ticket because I couldn’t win anyway.

The crowd at the VIP event before the doors opened to the public. The Zoo really knows how to throw a great fundraiser.

It’s off to the Schorle Family reunion then Krusty’s, ah, rest tomorrow!