Mom Wants an Update

Mom wants an update and what the mama wants, the mama gets. in direct response to mom's post my next concert is on the 26th at 8pm. in other news i had my first lacrosse game on thursday, we beat western 8-7. from an academic standpoint classes are going ok. im getting the hang of doing homework around my sleeping and lacrosse scheduals. and thats the way the cookie crumbes here in mount pleasant.

Updates, please

Brendan, did you get interviewed by the Michigan Daily? If so, when do you think it will be published?
Sean, when exactly is your concert? No promises, but I would like to attend, if at all possible.

Tonight is such a special Valentine's for us old folks. It is 8:30 p.m. We just watched Top Gun. We had pizza for dinner and now we are ready for bed. But don't go "Ugh." We will watch a DVR of Antiques Roadshow and Dad will fall asleep. And the weird part is we are both happy with how the day went.

bad joke

somebody called and asked if the store carried light bulbs. i told them that "yes, sometimes. i'll go check." they then asked, "low wattage, if you have them." and without really even realizing it i said, "there's nothing but low watt bulbs in this joint, let me tell you."




and there was this pause




and finally i said, "sorry, that was a terrible joke. we're out of lightbulbs too, um-" and they said, "um, what? that's fine, thanks."

not sure this brand of customer service would fly in corporate america.

sean, devon, please tell me you're still fighting the good fight because with jokes like that i'm on the fast track to turning into dad.

5 Addresses

i need 5 addresses for a lacrosse fundraiser. its a mailer thats gonna ask for some donations. i was thinking grammy and papa, aunt kim, aunt lori, brendan, and maybe nancy. i need the addresses asap. thanks

Passport Urban Legend

I had lunch with Nancy today at Olive Garden. It is now naptime but before I forget I wanted to pass on this idea. It may only be an urban legend or it may be true. Nancy says she knows somebody who heard that a friend went to Chicago and got their passport in an hour by going directly to the passport office downtown. Of course I don't have all the details (what office exactly? where?) But Brendan may want to track that down and try that route to speed things up.

life is skittles

and life is beer.

srsly, its so nice out that i could see the line for zingermans from my front door. as a cashier you learn to love the weather because it affects everybody, and thus, everybody can talk about it. so, when it hits that magical time of customer interaction when the credit card machine is FOREVER to print a receipt and things are getting awkward as we wait, it's helpful to have something so proletariat/ working class/ everyman as the weather to talk about.

i'm apparently not the only customer service representative who feels this way; the girl behind the bread counter at zmans remarked that she was "totally over winter. been putting up with it for too long now, and i'm glad it's out of my life, even briefly." and i had to run with it, "you know, i actually miss winter. i know its only been gone 9hrs but really, is winter actually that bad?"

yes, yes it is. it gets really cold. it gets cold enough to persuade me not to do things/ go places. it gets so cold that i wear 4 gloves, which is twice as many gloves as i have hands. it gets so cold that the first room i visit in any building is the bathroom so i can blow my nose and not pester an unwitting public with sniffling.

i'm going to miss zingerman's a lot when i move. excluding the catholic church across the street, it's the closest business to my apartment.

TSA Screening at Indianapolis Airport

I had an interesting experience on my way home from Indianapolis on Thursday evening.

I am pretty good at getting through the security screening without excessive trouble. I removed my belt and shoes. Placed the laptop and portable projector in separate bins. Took the foil covered Lactaid and wallet with the metal clip out of my pockets.

I passed through the metal detector with no problem. However, I did not pass the Full Body Scan. Details of this process are at http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/fullbodyscan.htm

The problem turned out to be the Chapstick in my pocket! Hard to imagine that is a threat to anyone.

The funny thing I realized later on was that I had forgot to remove the clear plastic bag with my shaving kit liquids from my suitcase. That went through the X-Ray scanner without an issue.