Category: Thoughts

Experiments, Random Ideas, and posts that don’t fit other categories.

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Live Reporting from the Mantua Chick-Fil-A

( @ChickfilA, #Mantua )

I was driving home from the gym today and noticed several tents popped over around the Chick-Fil-A that is scheduled to open tomorrow. My wife told me they were doing a free food give-a-way for the first 100 customers, so I (correctly) guessed that was the reason for the crowd. I decided to pop back over with my camera and capture the scene.

There were a few things that caught me off-guard:
1. I can’t believe how many people showed up that were willing to sleep in parking lot overnight.
2. Most of the crowd was not local, not even South Jersey local (which I have mixed feelings about).

I am glad that the Chick-fil-A is opening. It may be fast food, but at least it isn’t McDonalds.

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Putting the X back into Xmas

( #Cybermonday, #Xmas)

Black Friday is over. The masses turned out in record numbers to snag cheap, off-brand televisions, video games, and whatever the new Tickle Me Elmo is for this year. People crammed into stores on Thursday night and of course, there were incidents. It is easy to jump all over a few people acting like animals, because even though we all want deals, we don’t want to be this:

These events eventually lead to the discussion of how bad consumerism is and how the CHRIST should be put back into CHRISTmas (I cannot count how many times I have seen this on facebook in the last three days). The history lesson that I am about to break out (again) is not going for a whole “anti-Christianity” soap box moment, I am just trying to make you feel better about buying that flat panel. If there was a Jesus, most scholars (even Christian ones) do not think he was born in December. So if Jesus’ birthday is not on December 25th, then what are we celebrating?

The easy answer is: whatever the hell you want.

Many cultures throughout history had year-end festivals. Most were focused on the winter solstice and the fact that the days would be longer and brighter again. In fact, most historians believe that the Romans, while accepting Christianity, grafted their pagan celebrations and stories into Christian constructs to help ease the assimilation.

Looking at modern times and with our current shitty economy in mind, the whole “black friday” craze is a corrective market action to ensure (mostly retail) stores and business would become profitable for the year. I came across an article a few weeks ago (that I cannot find) that reported most retailers would not like to go to such extreme measures at year end to bring in customers, but consumers are conditioned to shop at the last minute. This is a “chicken and the egg” conversation, but the bottom line is that people are conditioned to shop during Black Friday and the last few weeks of the year; as a result, the stores save some of their best deals until that time.

I am by no means advocating overly-materialistic lifestyle, but I can say with no doubt that people like to get together at the end of the year and give each other gifts and have nice meals. If you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa… it does not matter. All of these “holidays” were pumped up and over promoted for the last 100 years because retailers want you in the stores buying stuff. Knowing all this, I say don’t fight it.

Leverage the sales, the marketing, the time off from work to spend time with the people you love. If the economy has you in a pinch, don’t stress out about it, talk it out and find a better way to spend the pennies you have doing something memorable (it still puts money into the economy and your credit won’t be going nuclear). I like calling the holiday season Xmas because “X” in math is a variable that stands for anything you need it to. For me X = an excuse to have friends and family over for dinner, exchange small gifts, and a nice way to spend a few days off from work.

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Occupy A Proper Plan

( #Occupy, #SuperCommittee)

For the last month or so I have been watching the Occupy movement in major cities waiting for it to turn bad. At first, I thought it would last a few days and was hesitantly supportive. It is about time Americans got angry at the state of this country (30 years too late if you ask me). The days turned into weeks and the movement was turning into a late night punch-line. A few weeks ago my wife asked me what I thought about the whole situation and I said “it is going to turn ugly.” She gave me and odd look and asked why…

Why? Because the people in the streets do not have a plan of action. They don’t even have the same goal. Going in front of businesses and protesting is not going to accomplish anything. Congratulations! You scared a few stock brokers and they had their sushi delivered…now what? Across the country people are protesting at the doors of corporations. These are the same people who are complaining about not having jobs… that does not make any sense. As the lack of focus and clarity expands, people are getting frustrated and making trouble.

Not big trouble. Little things like throwing feces and being generally disgruntled, but that was enough. The police have been waiting for an opening because they are getting tired of baby-sitting. The city governments also want these people gone ASAP because they are driving up costs. So where did it all go wrong?

The Occupy movement should not have started in New York, it should have started and ended in Washington. People are angry? Stake out congress. Yesterday’s “super-committee” failure should have been the final nail in the coffin. This goes far beyond Democrat vs. Republican, this is about a group of over-privileged, under-educated morons that have bankrupt this country. We let the devils in during Nixon’s reign and never got them out.

Screaming about the lack of jobs? Why aren’t we adjusting our trade regulations to make more domestic products? There should be a 5 year scale back strategy to make more products in America (that would cover the training needed to get plant workers properly educated). Congress will not support trade regulations because our Chinese overlords would be quite pissed.

What about a congressional study about the jobs we are outsourcing overseas? The claim is that we don’t have the right people domestically to do the jobs… for the moment let us assume that is true. The action item should then be to figure out where we are weak and develop high school level courses to train our kids how to do those jobs. Offer tax breaks to companies willing to open domestically and hire these kids (I don’t think you need a college education to work in a call center).

That would create a situation were young Americans can make a modest living without going to college. This opens the colleges back up to the people who should be there and stops it from being a 4 year, $100,000 baby sitting service. In case you are missing the point of this paragraph: NOT EVERYONE SHOULD GO TO COLLEGE (the system is broken, you are being robbed). Employers need to stop looking down at trade schools and start supporting and investing in them.

The protesters need to focus on the people who are the most venerable to this form of feedback… the politicians. Washington should be the target, the hotels that the congressmen sleep at during the week should be the targets. Let the swine known that Americans are on to them and it is going to stop. They need to know that their bullshit super-committees, weak spending cuts, and complete inability to develop a strategy is going to cost them their golden tickets and parachutes.

Go home protesters, get your shit together, regroup, and buy bus tickets to Washington.

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Rant: Drinking with Co-workers

( #co-workers, #drinking )

The Most Interesting Man In The World Says: “I don’t always drink with co-workers, but when I do, I wish I didn’t.”


I learned several lessons as a young adult about socializing with co-workers. Recent experiences while drinking with professionals (no just co-workers) have led me to create this rules of engagement document:

1. Unless expressly stated by both parties, a co-worker is not a friend. Do not treat them like one while socializing after hours. A co-worker can become a friend, but I suspect those chances are diminished greatly if people are losing control after a few drinks.

2. Don’t talk about work. You probably just left the office and that project is falling behind, but use the time together to get to know someone as a human being, not complain—we all have problems.

3. Don’t talk about work. Seriously, I know it is weird to try to start a conversation about something other than work stuff, but try, it pays off.

4. Be aware of other people around you: See how I said not to talk about work? I was in a bar a while back and people were complaining about work…LOUDLY. There was a girl who was obviously put off by the conversation and she had her head buried in her phone. I really thought she was tweeting the conversation. I checked when I got home but didn’t find anything—that could have been a horrible situation.

5. Try to keep some of your more personal beliefs to yourself for a while: Topics regarding religion and politics should be avoided. I know this is funny coming from someone who has a blog that talks about this stuff, but the point is, I don’t rub it in people’s faces. After a few social events, if you feel like you know the person well enough to test the waters, go for it, but be prepared to back off if you have different views because you have to work with this person.

6. Having marital problems? I don’t care. Open marriage? I don’t want to know. Please don’t ask the bartender for their number when I am in your company—that actually goes for any social situation and the rule applies to the wait staff as well.
Additional Advice: If you have a bar you really like or are a regular at, don’t bring co-workers there until you know they are okay. If things get weird you might get banned from your favorite watering hole.

7. If you happen to be invited to someone’s home, don’t go through their house (this happened to a co-worker several years ago). If you see a guitar or other musical instrument, don’t pick it up and start playing unless you are asked. You will look like a douchebag (well honestly, if you are rummaging around in somebody’s house, you probably are a douchebag).

8. Don’t start a fight at a bar when you are with co-workers. Sounds like common sense right? This includes saying anything that warrants you being punched in the face. Personally, I will not help you and will be hoping you lose a tooth.

9. Assuming we are working under the conditions I have outlined above—no shots.

Thanks for reading. It is my intent to help the workers of the world avoid making complete fools out of themselves and to (selfishly) avoid having to be in your company if you act like this. If you work with me, these are my ground rules for socializing. This article is a work in progress and will probably be updated several times.

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Customer Service: Pep Boys

( @pepboysauto, #repairs )

I had an interesting couple of days with our cars. On Thursday, my friend known as GTT texted me to tell me that my wife’s car in the driveway had a flat tire. I was in the office and could not deal with it until I got home (my wife and I carpool). Long story short, there was a screw in the tire and I decided to wait until the next day since we were both working from home.

The next morning, we got the spare on and I followed Allison over to Pep Boys so she could get the tired repaired. Heading down Woodbury-Glassboro Road in Pitman, the cops decided to have a check-point. Allison got through with no issue, but my car had a brake light out, and when they pulled me over I informed them that my driver-side window was broken. This thing has been giving me trouble for months (it kept getting stuck). Long story short, I got stuck with the cops for a while, but didn’t get a ticket. I knew I had to get this thing properly fixed. So after her car was fixed, we left mine. I knew this was not going to be cheap.

This is where I will pause and pose a question that I generally get: “Why do you take your car to Pep Boys?”

My answers are many and there will be several in the course of this little story:
1. They are close
2. They are a corporation, so should I get poor service (which I have not), there is a chain of command I can follow to get my issues resolved.
3. They always have parts
4. They are much much better than Firestone (I have a whole story with them for another day).

One other thing about this particular chain (Glassboro, NJ), they have done several small fixes for my wife and I at no cost. A month ago, a heat shield half fell off my car and they removed it and cleaned up the area at no cost (and told me I didn’t need anything else to be done even though I was willing to get repairs done). They also fixed my wife’s flat at no charge (but I think that comes with their tire service when you buy from them – but either way, it was nice).

Back to my story, the manager called me and told me the repair was not going to be cheap (over $500) because the motor in the window had to be replaced. As I said, I was expecting this. They had to get a part from another store, but the car would be done that day. THAT DAY. When the car was done and I went in to pay, they let me use a 10% off coupon and the cashier noticed I had a $30 mail in credit that I didn’t think I could use in combination (so I didn’t mention it), but they saw it in my hand and let me use. Pep Boys sends coupons for service almost every month. Its smart of their part but also works out well for the consumer.

I figured I would put this out there since several popular blog posts document my negative experiences with car rental places, ticketmaster, and other retail outlets. I always have decent experiences with Pep Boys and never feel like I got taken advantage of. Their monthly coupons are smart because they keep us thinking about services for our cars. They execute a nice mix of good service, good marketing, and availability. Well done.