"Experts"

Have you ever seen the Home Depot or Lowes commercials were they say that there employees are experts and are willing to help you with all of your do it yourself woes? I have and they are definitely not experts.

About a month ago I went to Home Depot to buy some lumber. I bought one 12 foot piece of treated 2X4 and 4 10 foot 2X4's. That seems simple enough except that the 10 footers were were not labeled and the 12 footer was mislabeled. When the clerk rang up the 12 foot 2X4 it rang up as a 2X6.

I said, "That's not a 2X6 it's a 2X4." Pause followed by dumb look from Cashier. I continued "This board is a piece of treated 2X4, it rang up as a 2X6, it is not a 2X6, which will cost more."

"Uhhh." scratches head.
"Do you want me to get another one?" I suggested
"Uhh no, hey Guber this isn't ringing up right, will you help me?"
Guber walks over, "Help me measure the length of this board." Guber says to clerk.
"Ok" says clerk.
"You don't need to, it's ringing up as a 2X6 and its a 2X4."
Blank stare from Guber, who continues to measure the board. "Well its 12 feet."
"Yes I know that, but its ringing up as a 2x6, but it isn't, it is a 2x4."
"Oh, well lets see here" Guber proceeds to measure the width of the board, "Yep its a 2x4." There is a vast difference between a 2x4 and a 2x6, its about 2 inches. I guess working in a lumber store doesn't allow one to gain that knowledge. I sure am Guber had a tape measure to solve that dilemma.
"Yes but its not ringing up right." I repeated once again.
" Well," to clerk, "you'll just have to look it up in the computer." Guber walks away.

The clerk then proceeds to ask me questions about the board, which I have repeated numerous times already and they have witnessed it being measured. Finally the clerk comes to an entry on the computer and decides that that is the right one.
"You won't charge me enough if you choose that one." I say, "This board is a treated board, the next one on your computer screen is the right one." Treated boards have a green tint to them, they are easily discernible from regular boards and they cost more.
"Oh, ok, um and what are those other ones that don't have tags?" Honestly? I could have totally ripped Home Depot off, but I like to think that I am an honest person and I really have been trying lately to be completely honest. So I directed the clerk to the correct entry, paid and went on my way being somewhat disappointed with Home Depot.

This morning I went to Lowes to purchase some plumbing supplies. I selected several things I needed including a P-trap. A P-trap is a piece of curved PVC that's shaped like a u with a tail. You can google it if you don't know what it looks like. It's basic job is to keep foul smelling gas from escaping the drain and filling your room with a foul stench. The P-trap has two pieces that connect with a nut. At Lowes and most home improvement stores you can not find the two pieces separately you have to buy them together. So having selected the things I needed I proceeded the the check out.

The clerk begins to ring up my items and pauses at the P-trap and scratches its head and proceeds to turn the P-trap over in their hands, looking for something. With a stern look on its face, "Did you put these two pieces together?"
"No, it comes that way, its a P-trap."
"Um are you sure?"
"Yep, you've got about two dozen just like this one on your shelf. Do you want me to show you?"
"Well no." The clerk rings up the P-trap and I go on my way.
Really? What was that all about? Have you never seen a P-trap before or have had ANYONE buy one from you?
I understand that not everyone is home improvement insight, but really? You work at a Home Improvement store, you should have basic knowledge about your products or at least have had a P-trap purchased from you.
This whole experience reminded me of the King of the Hill (The pilot episode) where Hank goes to Mega-lo-mark to purchase a hing or something and the employee has no idea what he is talking about and proceeds to ask Hank a number of questions about what he is doing or what he thinks he needs. Obviously Hank blows up at the clerk and people think that Hank is abusive. Part of me wanted to get upset at the incompetence of the clerks at these two stores, but somehow I remained calm the whole time.
So next time you go to Home Depot or Lowes, don't expect the employees to know what they are doing, because they don't, they can't even label things correctly. I am just glad that I have never had to rely on the employees of these stores for information on how to do things.

Load of Crap

This is how the socialist California government is using the bad economy to their benefit. This is just another way to take away our constitutional rights. I would much rather have a poor Christmas focusing on the true meaning of the holiday(The Birth of Christ for all you pagans), than to do something as ridiculous as this. If the time comes that there are no super markets, I will still be able to feed my family.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,463172,00.html

The never ending struggle.

A week or so ago after watching "New Moon" with my beautiful wife I turned to her and asked, "So be honest you'd like me more if I had less fat and flatter abs wouldn't you?"

"No I love you just the way you are"

"Bull! I don't believe that, be honest with me. You can't admit that you wouldn't like me to lose my belly."

"Well I guess, but it doesn't matter. I love you no matter what."

As being an Olsen the love of food is natural. We all love food and we don't know when we are full. I guess I would say that it is a disease that we have. We also have low metabolism.

For those of you who know my wife she couldn't gain weight to save her life. She could eat all she wants and somehow it magically disappears. This is very hard for me because I would love to eat the way she does and not suffer the concequences.

The point I'm getting to is that all I needed was a little motivation which I finally got. When Andrea admitted that she would like to see me lose some weight and firm up my abs it gave me the motivation I needed to stop eating as much. Now whenever I feel like over eating I just have to remember that "Andrea wants abs not flab." It works for me.

I have been following the Weight Watcher's Points system and working out a little. I'm only working my muscles every other day at the moment. I am still working on the cardio workout, but I know I'll get there.

I just wanted to let people know so that you can all support me. It is still very hard to give up a life style that is awesome yet unhealthy and I'm still getting used to the fact that feeling a little hungry is not a sin or a crime.

Sound Familiar

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."

C.S. Lewis

Sound Familiar?

Mac sucks

This post is in response to Spencers post about Mac.

I don't like Mac and I'll tell you why? Commercials.

Lets take the PC commercial: A family or student or what not is given some money and they look for a computer. Obviously they find a PC and everyone is happy.

Now lets take a Mac commercial: Hi I'm annoying guy and Mac is so dumb and you should buy PC because we are corporate America Blah blah blah. Then some other guy comes in and says oh you are ridiculous and make no sense so now I will confound you in some bias way and prove that everyone should buy a Mac because PC's are for sheep that just do what corporate America tells them to do

Analysis: PC presents that they have a good product that is affordable.

Mac presents that PC is created by a bunch of brainwashing corporate giants who just want your money, so you should obviously buy a Mac because PC is dishonest.

So PC presents their product and Mac bashes the competitor. I hope that I'm not the only one that sees what is wrong with Macs marketing technique.

I's rather buy a product from a buisness that doesn't spend the majority of thier time convincing me that thier competitor is worthless. Tell me what your product is and what it can do to make my life better. I'm pretty sure that in buisness school they don't teach you to trash talk your competitors.

Very Educational

The Soto Mayor

Sotomayor is an excessively ugly woman, I mean excessively, not just Hilary Clinton ugly, but a mixture of Chelsey Clinton, Sarah Jessica Parker, cousin It and Stevie Wonder ugly. I believe the proper term is fugly beyond anyone's belief. Remember that episode of Seinfeld with the ugly baby, uglier than that. Okay I'm done.