Better Ingredients. Better pizza. That's funny.
I'd like to recommend a new marketing slogan for Papa John's.
Better customer service. More return customers.
Or....
Give us 90 minutes. We'll get you a pizza.
I guess mine aren't that catchy.
The other night I had a terrible experience at Papa John's. But as I waited more than an hour and a half for my mediocre pizza I could only laugh at the whole situation. And I will return to Paps John's because the help wasn't rude, they were just buried with orders. They didn't lose me as a customer.
As if our society isn't lazy and fat enough we can now order pizza via the internet. Don't even have to talk to a human being. Just a few clicks and your pizza order gets rollin'. What a country we live in!
I ordered 2 pizzas for carry out from PJ's the other night. The order time was 6:22 p.m. The wait time I was given was was 35-40 minutes. Hey, no problem! I got to PJ's at 6:58 thinking that was about right.
I paid for my pizza at approximately 7:00. The sweaty girl with flour on her shirt told me: 5 minutes, sir.
Sure, no problem. I'll just wait.
Fast forward to 7:24 and I'm getting a little annoyed. I'm sitting in an area no bigger than my house's food pantry waiting for my order. The place is a zoo. A zoo! 9-12 employees frantically trying to keep up with the chaos. I kept myself entertained by counting how many delivery orders went out and how many drivers would return and yell "Driver In!!!" right in my ear because there was nowhere else to stand. If I moved anymore to the left of this place I would have been inside the soda machine. I could have gone outside but I was afraid they'd forget about my order.
There was an older gentlemen who was hating his life that appeared to be in charge of the pizza zoo. He kept looking at me as if to say: i'm sorry, this is a little more than 5 minutes, please don't flip out on me, it's really not my fault, and if you do yell at me I'm not going to care anyway because I hate this job and hate my life.
7:32- no pizza order yet. I've counted 12 employees working. 8 workers inside the zoo and 4 yelling delivery drivers. The zoo keeps chugging. I'm starting to just hand out sodas to people.
7:37- manager guy says my order is just about ready. He's trying his best but I'm tired and want to go home. Had I not paid for my order already I would have been at home with Wendy's by now.
7:44- manager guy has my order! And this is when manager guy says to me:
Here's your order sir... I think you'll like it.... Looks good.... Please be careful, it's very hot, it just came out of the oven.
I started laughing out loud and thought to myself:
No sh!t it's hot and just came out of the oven! I've been standing in your sweaty zoo for more than a half hour now waiting for this order I placed an hour and a half ago. I watched you make my pizza and put it in the oven. I then watched you take it out of the oven and put it in a box and hand it to me. I know it's hot and yes I'll be careful. Just give me my damn pizza.
He was nice about it but I couldn't help but laugh at his silly comment. The whole experience made me realize why I don't ever really go to PJ's in the first place. The pizza's OK- perhaps a step above Pizza Hut- but it's not worth a 90 minute wait. And nothing is worth hanging out in that little zoo of a pizza shop.
All in all, I thought pizza manager guy's comment was great. Truly made me laugh all the way home.
Oh Big Papa, oh big papa!
The 80's- What a Decade!!!
The 80's!-- What a Decade
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Easily Annoyed...
Things that have annoy me the last few times I've been out in public:
Parents who let their friggin’ 2 year old order food. We get it, OK. You’re trying to teach your kid socialization skills and how to be independent and all that jazz. Well, you know what? It’s stupid. Your kid and his limited vocabulary will have plenty of time to practice ordering food in his lifetime. Let’s save the lesson for another time. You’re annoying the person at the register and the 8 people behind you in line.
Guy with the hat who doesn’t remove the sticker. Take that stupid ass gold sticker off your hat. You look ridiculous. There’s nothing cool about wearing clothes that still have tags or stickers on them. I’ve heard these losers do this in order to steal hats from stores. This makes you an even bigger loser. Whoever started this ridiculous trend should be smacked.
Companies with facebook pages. I don’t get facebook in the first place but why on earth would you want to join Pizza Hut’s facebook page? I mean really. What’s the point? Are you going to connect with other people who eat at Pizza Hut or something? Hey, you like Pizza Hut? Me too! That’s amazing!
Visit us on Facebook. No thanks! So stupid.
8-9 year old kids on cell phones. My kid will not have a cell phone until he’s at least in high school. I see 8-9 year old kids texting and talking on cell phones all the time! Who is an 8 year old texting? Why does an 8 year old need a phone? How many people does an 8 year old kid really know? What important calls does an 8 year kid have to make? What moron of a parent is paying for this?
Movies and TV shows created/written by Tyler Perry. It’s insulting to black people that Tyler Perry assumes that black people would like the crap he puts out. That’s all I have to say about that. Bad movies. Bad TV. Obviously catered towards black people. But it’s awful. Nothing funny or endearing about any of his stuff. I’ve tried watching to see how this guy got so popular and I just can’t watch it. And I honestly don’t think black people can either.
The “I don’t eat the crust” pizza eater. Why? Why don’t you eat the crust? It’s the best part of the greatest food invention in all of mankind. And if you don’t find it to be the best part then go fly a kite. If you don’t like the crust then why not just put melted cheese, marinara sauce and pepperonis in a cup and eat them with a spoon? The crust is the same thing as the bread which is holding your pizza together. It’s the Essence of your pizza! God, this really annoys me. Eat the whole slice for goodness sakes!
What annoys you?
Parents who let their friggin’ 2 year old order food. We get it, OK. You’re trying to teach your kid socialization skills and how to be independent and all that jazz. Well, you know what? It’s stupid. Your kid and his limited vocabulary will have plenty of time to practice ordering food in his lifetime. Let’s save the lesson for another time. You’re annoying the person at the register and the 8 people behind you in line.
Guy with the hat who doesn’t remove the sticker. Take that stupid ass gold sticker off your hat. You look ridiculous. There’s nothing cool about wearing clothes that still have tags or stickers on them. I’ve heard these losers do this in order to steal hats from stores. This makes you an even bigger loser. Whoever started this ridiculous trend should be smacked.
Companies with facebook pages. I don’t get facebook in the first place but why on earth would you want to join Pizza Hut’s facebook page? I mean really. What’s the point? Are you going to connect with other people who eat at Pizza Hut or something? Hey, you like Pizza Hut? Me too! That’s amazing!
Visit us on Facebook. No thanks! So stupid.
8-9 year old kids on cell phones. My kid will not have a cell phone until he’s at least in high school. I see 8-9 year old kids texting and talking on cell phones all the time! Who is an 8 year old texting? Why does an 8 year old need a phone? How many people does an 8 year old kid really know? What important calls does an 8 year kid have to make? What moron of a parent is paying for this?
Movies and TV shows created/written by Tyler Perry. It’s insulting to black people that Tyler Perry assumes that black people would like the crap he puts out. That’s all I have to say about that. Bad movies. Bad TV. Obviously catered towards black people. But it’s awful. Nothing funny or endearing about any of his stuff. I’ve tried watching to see how this guy got so popular and I just can’t watch it. And I honestly don’t think black people can either.
The “I don’t eat the crust” pizza eater. Why? Why don’t you eat the crust? It’s the best part of the greatest food invention in all of mankind. And if you don’t find it to be the best part then go fly a kite. If you don’t like the crust then why not just put melted cheese, marinara sauce and pepperonis in a cup and eat them with a spoon? The crust is the same thing as the bread which is holding your pizza together. It’s the Essence of your pizza! God, this really annoys me. Eat the whole slice for goodness sakes!
What annoys you?
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Pride...
Very rarely do I blog about my job. But the other day I witnessed something that gave me great pride. It really encompassed all the reasons why I love education and coaching. It didn't happen inside the classroom; it happened on the athletic field. It was truly inspiring and probably something I'll remember for a very long time.
Right now we are in the middle of intramurals. Practice basically. It's not mandatory but it is mandatory. We have about 35-40 kids that come out and we practice them altogether- 9th-12th graders. All talent levels. We go over all the things the kids need to know in the game of baseball. Although it's tough to recognize on a daily basis, the kids that come out and make the COMMITMENT get better over the course of the winter leading up to the season.
My coachig staff is exceptional. I'm very lucky. When I took over the program in '04 I was nervous. I didn't have one single assistant and I was young and didn't know much about running an athletic program. Trial by fire. Well, I survived, the kids survived, we've had some success, some fun, some ups and downs, and lo and behold I now have a really good, solid coaching staff. There's 6 of us. We're a team. And I consider all of them good friends of mine.
We don't always agree on everything, and sometimes we fight about stupid stuff, but one philosophy we all agree on is- a strong work ethic and commitment. We are constantly preaching to the kids to work hard, put the time and effort in, make yourself better, make the commitment to the team and yourself, discipline in and out of the classroom, etc.
Really, we're preaching life lessons more so than anything else but the kids usually don't realize it until years later when they're in the real world. If these kids (and people in general) want to find success in this world, really, there's no shortcuts. You have to work hard, be disciplined, be committed, and so on. Most successful people in this world got to where they are through hard work, showing up to work, persistance and perservance. It's the same thing we preach to the kids.
I am constantly saying: make the commitment, come to baseball every day, be on time, work hard, don't make excuses, and good things will happpen. If they make this committment, guess what? They usually make the team. I take pride in rewarding kids that work hard and put the time in. There's always a spot on the roster for a kid that busts his butt day in and day out, regardless of his talent level.
Well, in a perfect world 100% of your student-athletes would show this type of dedication every single day. Well, it's not a perfect world. Most of our kids make the commitment and come to school and baseball every single day and what do you know? They're baseball skills improve. And usually they do better in school too. Go figure. But often you get the excuses as to why a kid can't make it to baseball. They're all terrible excuses and honestly I don't like them. And being as I only missed one day of school in 4 years of high school and zero days of baseball, I can't relate.
Well, every once in a while something will happen on the ball field which serves as a perfect example of what you've been preaching for years...
We were doing a routine fly ball drill and one of our kids got absolutely drilled in the face by a fly ball. Basically, he caught the ball with his face. He went down hard and there was blood and spit and crap everywhere. It was gross and scared me to death. I rushed out to the kid, took him to the trainer and hoped for the best. He was going to need stitches as his right nostril was split completely open. This happened on a Monday. I figured I'd see the kid in a few days while he recuperated. This actually would have been a pretty reasonable excuse to miss a day or two of baseball.
Tuesday. Less than 24 hours after this incident occured...
I got out to the field and was taking roll. My usual routine. I got to this kid's spot on the roll sheet and called his name. As I was about to mark him absent I heard- "here". I was shocked. I looked up and there he was. His nose was all bandaged up and his glasses didn't even fit right because of the bandages. I talked to him after warm ups and he had 7 stitches in his nose. He had been at the doctor's office pretty much all night.
If that's not dedication, committment, and desire then I don't know what is. I had never felt so proud in all my life for a kid. It serves as the perfect example for all the things we are constantly preaching about to all of the kids that come out to baseball.
Committment...Dedication...Hard Work....Desire...
What else is there?
Right now we are in the middle of intramurals. Practice basically. It's not mandatory but it is mandatory. We have about 35-40 kids that come out and we practice them altogether- 9th-12th graders. All talent levels. We go over all the things the kids need to know in the game of baseball. Although it's tough to recognize on a daily basis, the kids that come out and make the COMMITMENT get better over the course of the winter leading up to the season.
My coachig staff is exceptional. I'm very lucky. When I took over the program in '04 I was nervous. I didn't have one single assistant and I was young and didn't know much about running an athletic program. Trial by fire. Well, I survived, the kids survived, we've had some success, some fun, some ups and downs, and lo and behold I now have a really good, solid coaching staff. There's 6 of us. We're a team. And I consider all of them good friends of mine.
We don't always agree on everything, and sometimes we fight about stupid stuff, but one philosophy we all agree on is- a strong work ethic and commitment. We are constantly preaching to the kids to work hard, put the time and effort in, make yourself better, make the commitment to the team and yourself, discipline in and out of the classroom, etc.
Really, we're preaching life lessons more so than anything else but the kids usually don't realize it until years later when they're in the real world. If these kids (and people in general) want to find success in this world, really, there's no shortcuts. You have to work hard, be disciplined, be committed, and so on. Most successful people in this world got to where they are through hard work, showing up to work, persistance and perservance. It's the same thing we preach to the kids.
I am constantly saying: make the commitment, come to baseball every day, be on time, work hard, don't make excuses, and good things will happpen. If they make this committment, guess what? They usually make the team. I take pride in rewarding kids that work hard and put the time in. There's always a spot on the roster for a kid that busts his butt day in and day out, regardless of his talent level.
Well, in a perfect world 100% of your student-athletes would show this type of dedication every single day. Well, it's not a perfect world. Most of our kids make the commitment and come to school and baseball every single day and what do you know? They're baseball skills improve. And usually they do better in school too. Go figure. But often you get the excuses as to why a kid can't make it to baseball. They're all terrible excuses and honestly I don't like them. And being as I only missed one day of school in 4 years of high school and zero days of baseball, I can't relate.
Well, every once in a while something will happen on the ball field which serves as a perfect example of what you've been preaching for years...
We were doing a routine fly ball drill and one of our kids got absolutely drilled in the face by a fly ball. Basically, he caught the ball with his face. He went down hard and there was blood and spit and crap everywhere. It was gross and scared me to death. I rushed out to the kid, took him to the trainer and hoped for the best. He was going to need stitches as his right nostril was split completely open. This happened on a Monday. I figured I'd see the kid in a few days while he recuperated. This actually would have been a pretty reasonable excuse to miss a day or two of baseball.
Tuesday. Less than 24 hours after this incident occured...
I got out to the field and was taking roll. My usual routine. I got to this kid's spot on the roll sheet and called his name. As I was about to mark him absent I heard- "here". I was shocked. I looked up and there he was. His nose was all bandaged up and his glasses didn't even fit right because of the bandages. I talked to him after warm ups and he had 7 stitches in his nose. He had been at the doctor's office pretty much all night.
If that's not dedication, committment, and desire then I don't know what is. I had never felt so proud in all my life for a kid. It serves as the perfect example for all the things we are constantly preaching about to all of the kids that come out to baseball.
Committment...Dedication...Hard Work....Desire...
What else is there?
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Adult Truths...
I got this in an email the other day from a friend of mine, Lauren Huseman. Although most of my blog is original work written by yours truly I cannot take credit for this. However, it's awesome and that's why I'm posting it:
ADULT TRUTHS
1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.
2. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.
3. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
4. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
5. Was learning cursive really necessary?
6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure
I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.
8. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
9. Bad decisions make good stories.
10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the
rest of the day.
11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't
want to have to restart my collection...again.
12. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I
did not make any changes to.
13. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.
14. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
15. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
16. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
17. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
18. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to
prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and
sisters!
19. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.
20. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.
21. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away,
in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.
22. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and
the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men
to realize that their brain is also important.
Until Next Time...
ADULT TRUTHS
1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.
2. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.
3. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
4. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
5. Was learning cursive really necessary?
6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure
I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.
8. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
9. Bad decisions make good stories.
10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the
rest of the day.
11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't
want to have to restart my collection...again.
12. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I
did not make any changes to.
13. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.
14. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
15. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
16. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
17. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
18. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to
prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and
sisters!
19. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.
20. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.
21. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey -
but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away,
in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.
22. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and
the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men
to realize that their brain is also important.
Until Next Time...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Save the 'Dad' Talk....
My wife is now 6 months pregnant. 99% of the people I come in contact with ask me “How’s Erin doing?” Or “How’s the wife doing now?” Or the less communicative people “Wife OK?"
However, I was recently thrown a curve ball: How’s dad doing? I think my exact response was an awkward smile and "uh, good."
But then I thought to myself: Yeah, why not ask me?
Well, probably because I don’t have to gain weight, lose sleep, throw up, not drink beer, buy new clothes, go through labor and so on.
I also didn’t like how ‘Dad’ sounded. Yet. I’m not a dad. When my child is born I will be but not yet. You can’t be a 'dad' unless you have a physical baby. Something that poops and pees and cries and drools. I don’t have one yet so let’s save the ‘dad’ talk. I can't tell my wife's uterus to stop crying so again, let's hold off on 'dad'.
But to answer the question I’m doing just fine. Some people, well my wife, would argue that my life hasn’t changed at all. Not one bit. I beg to differ. It's changed. As much as my wife’s? Well, of course not, but it still has changed.
Just the other day we switched bedrooms. The guest room is no longer the guest room. And I can guarantee that if a baby wasn’t on the way this wouldn’t have happened. It didn’t take a long time to make the change but the baby room transformation has begun.
Names. Not once in my life have I ever thought what might sound cool with the name Stafford. Well, probably because my name is Derek Stafford, and it sounds alright to me. Well, now I'm in charge of naming another Stafford, so much of my idle time is thinking of names. I can guarantee you that 5 years ago, hell, 1 year ago, I never was thinking to myself: hmmmm, does the name James or Emily Stafford sound cool?
Drinking. Can I still drink? Yup. But it’s not the same without my wife being able to. It’s not. I enjoyed being able to drink some beers with my wife and I do feel bad that she can’t. She thinks I just love to drink without her and use her as a ride home. Not true. Well it is nice to have a driver, ha ha, but I guarantee that when my wife gives birth and we do our first post-baby happy hour it’ll be a great time! And it will be the best jaeger bomb ever! That is if we ever go out again.
Nerds. The candy. I haven’t eaten Nerds since I was 9 years old. Now I buy them all the time. Just the other day I ordered a case of 36 boxes of nerds. Why? Because my wife can’t get enough of them. Had a baby not been on the way my last box of consumed nerds would have been August of 1988. As it stands I'm eating watermelon nerds as I write this blog.
The biggest change:? Me. I’ve changed. My wife probably hasn’t noticed because I’m so awesome to begin with but since she’s been pregnant I have tried my damndest to be as helpful, caring, loving as possible. If my wife needs a cup of water in the middle of the night I’m her man. If she needs an onion to make dinner than I’m her man. If she needs a back scratch then I’m her man. If she needs her sink fixed then I call the plumber and he’s her man for a while, then I’m her man. If she needs Del Taco I’m her man. If she needs someone to bitch and moan at then I'm her man. If she needs her towel rack fixed I'm her man.
Ok, so I guess, technically, my life hasn’t changed a ton. But it’s definitely changed a bit. Life is different when a kid is on the way because when a kid is on the way your life is literally weeks away from being totally different. So your life does change. I mean, it has to.
Many people say it’s wonderful. It's a blessing. Greatest thing ever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m sure it’s wonderful when your changing diapers at two in the morning. So, take ‘wonderful’ and ‘dad’ and put it on hold for awhile ☺
Until Nest Time....
Dad, I mean Derek.
However, I was recently thrown a curve ball: How’s dad doing? I think my exact response was an awkward smile and "uh, good."
But then I thought to myself: Yeah, why not ask me?
Well, probably because I don’t have to gain weight, lose sleep, throw up, not drink beer, buy new clothes, go through labor and so on.
I also didn’t like how ‘Dad’ sounded. Yet. I’m not a dad. When my child is born I will be but not yet. You can’t be a 'dad' unless you have a physical baby. Something that poops and pees and cries and drools. I don’t have one yet so let’s save the ‘dad’ talk. I can't tell my wife's uterus to stop crying so again, let's hold off on 'dad'.
But to answer the question I’m doing just fine. Some people, well my wife, would argue that my life hasn’t changed at all. Not one bit. I beg to differ. It's changed. As much as my wife’s? Well, of course not, but it still has changed.
Just the other day we switched bedrooms. The guest room is no longer the guest room. And I can guarantee that if a baby wasn’t on the way this wouldn’t have happened. It didn’t take a long time to make the change but the baby room transformation has begun.
Names. Not once in my life have I ever thought what might sound cool with the name Stafford. Well, probably because my name is Derek Stafford, and it sounds alright to me. Well, now I'm in charge of naming another Stafford, so much of my idle time is thinking of names. I can guarantee you that 5 years ago, hell, 1 year ago, I never was thinking to myself: hmmmm, does the name James or Emily Stafford sound cool?
Drinking. Can I still drink? Yup. But it’s not the same without my wife being able to. It’s not. I enjoyed being able to drink some beers with my wife and I do feel bad that she can’t. She thinks I just love to drink without her and use her as a ride home. Not true. Well it is nice to have a driver, ha ha, but I guarantee that when my wife gives birth and we do our first post-baby happy hour it’ll be a great time! And it will be the best jaeger bomb ever! That is if we ever go out again.
Nerds. The candy. I haven’t eaten Nerds since I was 9 years old. Now I buy them all the time. Just the other day I ordered a case of 36 boxes of nerds. Why? Because my wife can’t get enough of them. Had a baby not been on the way my last box of consumed nerds would have been August of 1988. As it stands I'm eating watermelon nerds as I write this blog.
The biggest change:? Me. I’ve changed. My wife probably hasn’t noticed because I’m so awesome to begin with but since she’s been pregnant I have tried my damndest to be as helpful, caring, loving as possible. If my wife needs a cup of water in the middle of the night I’m her man. If she needs an onion to make dinner than I’m her man. If she needs a back scratch then I’m her man. If she needs her sink fixed then I call the plumber and he’s her man for a while, then I’m her man. If she needs Del Taco I’m her man. If she needs someone to bitch and moan at then I'm her man. If she needs her towel rack fixed I'm her man.
Ok, so I guess, technically, my life hasn’t changed a ton. But it’s definitely changed a bit. Life is different when a kid is on the way because when a kid is on the way your life is literally weeks away from being totally different. So your life does change. I mean, it has to.
Many people say it’s wonderful. It's a blessing. Greatest thing ever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m sure it’s wonderful when your changing diapers at two in the morning. So, take ‘wonderful’ and ‘dad’ and put it on hold for awhile ☺
Until Nest Time....
Dad, I mean Derek.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Giving Thanks
First and foremost, Happy Thanksgiving!
Things I’m thankful for but probably take for granted from time to time:
My health.
Being a U.S. citizen.
Having a job.
Having a home.
Being free to do what I want, when I want, usually how I want.
Having a good family.
Having a great set of friends.
Having an awesome wife who appreciates me most of the time.
Being a baseball coach. I really enjoy this part of my life.
Being 72 inches tall.
Murdock and Molly- my two dogs.
Having a retirement plan and health insurance.
God.
10 fingers and toes.
Thick hair.
All my teeth.
Plenty of toilet paper.
3 brother, 2 sisters. This falls under family, but i really enjoy being the oldest of my siblings. I think it's the most important job. I'm thankful I have it.
The ability to gamble. I’m not a degenerate but I enjoy the sportsbook.
Air conditioning in my home and my vehicle.
Food to eat.
A blog to write.
That’s all I got. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Things I’m thankful for but probably take for granted from time to time:
My health.
Being a U.S. citizen.
Having a job.
Having a home.
Being free to do what I want, when I want, usually how I want.
Having a good family.
Having a great set of friends.
Having an awesome wife who appreciates me most of the time.
Being a baseball coach. I really enjoy this part of my life.
Being 72 inches tall.
Murdock and Molly- my two dogs.
Having a retirement plan and health insurance.
God.
10 fingers and toes.
Thick hair.
All my teeth.
Plenty of toilet paper.
3 brother, 2 sisters. This falls under family, but i really enjoy being the oldest of my siblings. I think it's the most important job. I'm thankful I have it.
The ability to gamble. I’m not a degenerate but I enjoy the sportsbook.
Air conditioning in my home and my vehicle.
Food to eat.
A blog to write.
That’s all I got. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Monday, November 22, 2010
Matter of PrINciple....
Most people that know me know about my In-N-Out story/episode. Some people thinks it's stupid or stubborn of me to hold a grudge against arguably the best burger franchice in the history of the hamburger. First off, even though I haven't had In-N-Out going on 11 years, I still claim it's the best burger and fries money can buy. It truly is. The food I don't knock. And the customer service is excellent 99.5% of the time. Unfortunately for me- or for In-N-Out- depending on how you see it, is that one of the times that fall into the .5% percent was a time I was at In-N-Out.
The In-N-Out on Maryland Parkway (UNLV campus) was the store that did it. I had just enjoyed an animal-styled double-double and was going out to my truck to go home. My truck battery was dead. I needed to call someone for a ride or call a cab. This was before I had a cell phone, so I took some change and decided to use the pay phone out in front of the In-N-Out. To my dismay the pay phone was out of order. No biggy. I decided to go into In-N-Out and ask to borrow their phone. I kindly asked if I could use the phone and was told No. I explained that the payphone was broken and the answer was still No. I then asked the employee to see the manager. I was told No, he's busy. Lastly, and I was still being nice, I asked the employee if he could call Triple AAA for me. The answer- No. I was told that I could use the payphone outside several times (even though I stated several times it didn't work) and then I was told 'store policy' was to not let custiomers use the phone.
I wasn't asking for free food or the money in the register and I understand store policies but I thought this was ridiculous. On top of that the guy was being rude to me when he wasn't even busy. Very rare for In-N-Out to not be busy but at this time they weren't. I swore to myself after this experience I would never purchase In-N-Out burger again. I would not give one single cent to the company. To this day I haven't. Do I miss their burgers? At times, yes. It's damn good food. Will I ever go back to an In-N-out? Doubtful.
Many people think it's silly that I do this but it's OK. I think it's a matter of principle and I'm sticking to my guns. And considering how many high caloric choices there are out there I'm sure I'll be just fine without In-N-Out burger. They lost a customer for life. And I'd say that I used to eat In-N-Out about 5X a year. Doesn't sound like much but at 5X a year times $7 bucks a meal that's $35 a year. And take that times 11 years and that's $385 they losy out on so far. I'm sure they'll be just fine without me as I will without them.
Until Next Time.....
The In-N-Out on Maryland Parkway (UNLV campus) was the store that did it. I had just enjoyed an animal-styled double-double and was going out to my truck to go home. My truck battery was dead. I needed to call someone for a ride or call a cab. This was before I had a cell phone, so I took some change and decided to use the pay phone out in front of the In-N-Out. To my dismay the pay phone was out of order. No biggy. I decided to go into In-N-Out and ask to borrow their phone. I kindly asked if I could use the phone and was told No. I explained that the payphone was broken and the answer was still No. I then asked the employee to see the manager. I was told No, he's busy. Lastly, and I was still being nice, I asked the employee if he could call Triple AAA for me. The answer- No. I was told that I could use the payphone outside several times (even though I stated several times it didn't work) and then I was told 'store policy' was to not let custiomers use the phone.
I wasn't asking for free food or the money in the register and I understand store policies but I thought this was ridiculous. On top of that the guy was being rude to me when he wasn't even busy. Very rare for In-N-Out to not be busy but at this time they weren't. I swore to myself after this experience I would never purchase In-N-Out burger again. I would not give one single cent to the company. To this day I haven't. Do I miss their burgers? At times, yes. It's damn good food. Will I ever go back to an In-N-out? Doubtful.
Many people think it's silly that I do this but it's OK. I think it's a matter of principle and I'm sticking to my guns. And considering how many high caloric choices there are out there I'm sure I'll be just fine without In-N-Out burger. They lost a customer for life. And I'd say that I used to eat In-N-Out about 5X a year. Doesn't sound like much but at 5X a year times $7 bucks a meal that's $35 a year. And take that times 11 years and that's $385 they losy out on so far. I'm sure they'll be just fine without me as I will without them.
Until Next Time.....
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