Its Beginning to Look a lot Like.....

Sorry for the delay in posting. With the rush of the Thanksgiving holiday and then the beginning of my busy season today, I've been a bit busy. Anyway.....

Black Friday. Ahhh, just the sound of it makes my adrenaline start to rise. As opposed to other people who work in the industry I do (retail), I LOVE this time of year. It brings out the absolute WORSE in people. Anyone who has tried to go shopping during this time of year knows what I am talking about. Shoving, pushing, fighting over stupid crap, trying to save that last dollar and finding just that perfect gift for someone you don't even like...man what a time of year. You're probably thinking "What the hell is the matter with this guy? Is he crazy? Love this time of year?"

Yup, I love it. Cause I can give just as much as I can take when it comes to dealing with stupid customers. Now I'm talking about the ones that come in looking for something, understanding that theres probably a good chance at this time of year we wont have it. Or the nice ones who say please and thank you and stuff like that.

No. I'm talking about the dumb fucks who think...no no...know the world revolves around them. "What do you mean you don't have the book? I drove all the way across town just to get it. I drove X amount of miles cause I knew it was here. This is just stupid. Your stupid. What are you stupid?"

I can take a lot of stuff from people. I usually give it back to them in such a way that they don't understand I'm calling them petty, stupid, dumb, ignorant, conceited, etc. But the one thing that you will not do is call me, or for that matter, one of my employees stupid. One, we work in a bookstore. This takes a certain level of intelligence in the first place. Two, you don't know me fucker, so back the fuck off. And third, and most important, by doing what you just did, you will NEVER get the book you want from me or my store.

I don't care how much it affects sales. I will do everything in my power to make your life a living hell. And I will enjoy every minute of it. My employees will enjoy it as well. And we will all know that you are currently our monkey, and you wont.

Merry fucking X-Mas, dumbass.

Gerbil Thought of the Day: If a parking space at a mall is so important to you that you have to nearly run over an elderly couple and their grandchildren, WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!! Its a parking space!!!! There are plenty more at the mall dumbass; just LOOK for them. Or here's an idea I will throw at you so you can chew on it you ignorant impatient fuck. Wait a few seconds till they walk across!!!! Wow...that was really hard. Geesh....stupid people piss me off.

Just a Little Today

I was surfing around online (wow...imagine that) and I came across some articles about the War in Iraq and the upcoming elections in that country. Something struck me as odd in one of the articles, but then brought up a question in my mind. There are some ideas going around, fairly widely it seems, that when they have the elections in January in Iraq, one of the candidates the people will be able to choose is Saddam Hussein. This struck me as ironic I guess and brought up this question to me. What would the Bush administration do if in a "fair and unbiased" election, which is what they are aiming for in Iraq, Saddam Hussein was actually elected by the people? Hmmm.....that one could be interesting.

After watching Ann Coulter on several occasions, and reading parts of her books we have at the store (couldnt actually read the whole things however....gah), it strikes me that she really truly is a frightening person. Does she seriously ever disagree with anything "the right" does? I really believe that if Bill Frist came out on the Senate floor and shot John Kerry dead, she would somehow turn it around and say it was Kerry's fault. I just dunno how intelligent people can listen to people like that and not just think they are "out there".

Gerbil Thought for Today: Fuck basketball players. Fuck basketball fans. I have a perfect way to end all the violence in the NBA. The next time the league has one of those "lockouts"....just lose the key. Simple enough.

Wow...has it been that long?

I didnt realize it had been that long since I posted something in the ol Blog. Man time flies when you dont have any.

Getting geared up at the store for the holiday season. If this past weekend is any indication, it looks like it may be a good one.

A few weeks back, a few of my online friends and I decided to start an RPG publishing company. Man, the things you think about doing when you're bored. Anyway, we have our official launch on December 1st, and as most small businesses, we have great plans for it, so stay tuned for more information about that and my experiences as VP of a new company.

I was surfing around and stumbled across this piece about the election. I realize that it was a while back, but since the election was an "important one", I thought you might "enjoy" this excerpt from it. I think it says a lot in such a short space.

On Media and the Election
Robert W. McChesney

"Perhaps the most important function our media serves is to provide voters with the information they need to make sound decisions in the voting booth. If people don't know what they're voting for, our democracy is in serious trouble.

Unfortunately, it appears that we're in serious trouble.

This election has been marked by a staggering amount of voter ignorance. Polls show that voters - especially Bush supporters - were grossly misinformed about their candidate's position on a broad range of issues. Surveying supporters of the President, a University of Maryland PIPA/ Knowledge Networks poll found:

72% still believe that there were WMD's in Iraq.
75% believe that Iraq was providing substantial support for Al Qaeda.
66% believe that Bush supports participation in the International Criminal Court.
72% believe that he supports the treaty banning land mines.

The catch? None of these statements are true...."


Wow, I guess there goes that whole theory about this election being "really important" and this being the "time of the informed voter". Then again, I guess the voters were in fact informed. The problem was what "information" they were using to become "informed". Sad...very sad.

I have to admit, I have been a little lost on what to post on the ol blog. During the campaigning for the election, there was always something to comment on. But since it has passed by us, I have been struggling to think of stuff to post about that people may enjoy reading. Then a thought struck me.

My blog is so insignificant in the world of blogs, why the fuck do I care whether people will "enjoy" reading it. I originally started this thing so I could make observations about things that I see around me in my little corner of the world. If people want to post any thoughts on my posts, I welcome them and look forward to seeing their responses. If not, I will keep on commenting on stuff that I see around me.

Gerbil Thought of the Day: Being an "Independent Minded Liberal" does not make me evil or less of an American, so get used to hearing it. Cause every chance I get, I will shove it down the throats of the people who think it does. And in the infamous words of someone who thinks it does, "Go FUCK yourself!!!"

Im back.

Just some thoughts from online

I thought I would just post a few things I came across online post election. Hope you like.

Not to get all Lady Bracknell on your Yankee asses but to choose G.W. Bush once is a tragedy; to choose him twice is utter carelessness. Bush and the rest of the junta have moved America forward for sure, but maybe not in the way you Americans had hoped. America is finally all grown up.

America has often been seen as a bit of an adolescent by the rest of the world. Awkward and prone to making silly mistakes, America seemed to make a mess of a lot of things but did so with such enthusiasm and hope that the world gave America a pass.

America embodied everything good about the young. A fervent belief in potential and what could be; idealism and a sense of forward purpose. America had that "can do" attitude, doing things because they were hard, because they were exciting, because they were for the future -- stuff that the rest of the world could only wish they had the balls to do.

Sure, there was a dark underbelly and everything was not perfect, but for the most part America was the America of Elvis, of Utah beach, of "On the Road," of the Jetsons, Mickey Mantle and Ford Thunderbirds.

But America has aged over the last four years. And it ain't pretty. America is now the beer-bellied ass who tells everyone else how to run their lives, kicks the cat and makes jokes about his spouse's butt in front of the family. America is the big guy on the block whom everyone tries to duck away from but can't because he's out there every day loudly telling everyone what he's going to do to so and so, and if anyone has a problem with that then they are gay. America is now a middle-aged oaf. America is now the America of Ashlee Simpson, porn, Abu Ghraib, NFL Sundays and gas-guzzling SUVs.

Yes, America is an adult now. Welcome to the neighborhood.

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You can say all you want about the Republican fear machine -- which is not to say that it isn't a powerful force -- but you have to hold everyone accountable for their own actions. And if the country can't see the problems with Bush now, can they ever? There is a much larger, and yet simpler problem here than you seem willing to admit: the majority of people in the United States support what Bush stands for. They oppose gay marriage, they believe Saddam had a hand in Sept. 11, and they believe that we can and must, indeed, that we have a right to eradicate all our perceived international threats. You saw it with your own eyes.

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First, as a supporter of Dubya, I'm not gloating. The election is over, Bush has a mandate, "president-elect" is passé, and so forth. The Dems have to go back to square one, and think about how they will become a viable party again, because a strong opposition is essential to a healthy democracy.

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An electoral haiku:
Gullible Red States
You know not what you have done
Too bad for the rest

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Many of my liberal friends are seriously discussing leaving the country, for Canada or Europe or New Zealand. It is, of course, tempting. How could we not feel a violent disillusionment and disconnect when we discovered this morning that the majority of voters in the country have a worldview we cannot comprehend? That hate and fear and ignorance can run a successful presidental campaign; that people will respond to these things with eager glee?

And if I wasn't tempted before leaving the house, one look at my car with its Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker -- the only car with such a sticker in the lot -- and how overnight it suddenly acquired a political statement consisting of eggs and shaving cream -- the only car in the lot so decorated -- certainly pushed me in that direction. I imagine the decorators (or their parents) voted on "moral values," as so many Bush supporters did.

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George W. Bush is the President, for better or worse. I am not blue; my friend is not red. There was no violence in the streets this morning and no killings in response to the results. We are Americans and this is the way our system works. So be it.

Just think. We get to go through this all again in 4 years. 4 looooooong years.