commanderargus

I don't want a credit card. No, nope, nada, nunca...

...NO.

I am getting so blasted sick and tired of every cashier I go to being FORCED by their employers to try and foist their store credit card on me. It's no wonder I try to do as much business online as I can because I don't have to deal with that crap (well, to some degree I guess I do since I get three or four spam emails from Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works EACH daily - I guess they can't tell from my name that I'm THE HUSBAND!!!!)

The very worst was waiting in line at one of the big box stores (If you're part of the Kimmunity, think "Smarty Mart") only to discover that the person in front of me FELL FOR IT. Now, that wouldn't be so bad if it was done the way I imagined it was. You'd think that person would be shuffled off to the customer service counter to fill out the necessary paperwork...

...nope! They do it right there and then at the cash register, not matter HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE WAITING IN LINE!!! (I've got a whole other rant about stores with 20+ registers and only have a couple of them open at any given time.)

It's almost like some bright exec at one of these companies will start a "This is the line where you can just pay and go" lane at their stores. No giving your phone number, zip code, email address or any of that other crap, just run your card through or (gasp) hand 'em cash (oh, I really scream at the TV when that stupid credit card commercial comes on and they glare at the cash paying person!) and walk out the door with your purchase.

I finally got to vote this morning. For the second Presidential election "Early Voting" has just not worked for me. A heavy work schedule going into Christmas left few windows for actually waiting in those extremely long lines. We tried Saturday, but after waiting an hour we did a calculation and realized we wouldn't have time to wait before I had to get to work.

I got to the precinct (#42 - for those among you who remember Douglas Adams) at 6 (they opened at 6:30) and there was already a line as long as the building. I heard the first woman in line had been there since 4. Yeesh.

My view: the concept of "Election Day" should be done away with and replaced with an entire week, where there are enough voting machines to keep the lines down to a minimum, and that once voting has started, all campaigning must stop. Well, at least keep these campaigners from working the line. I don't want to hold a dozen little leaflets.

The biggest complaint I had this morning was the smoking. Before the line made its way into the building (the neighborhood elementary school) it seemed every other person had a stinking butt in their mouth. Yeah, it's outside, but we're stuck near ya, and now my jacket has to be washed AGAIN just to get the smell out of it.

Best thing about today: Those ****ing ads on TV will stop now! What's next? A commercial that suggests Liddy Dole sacrifices infants on her roof?

Drat it, the one night of the year I wish I was pulling the closing shift! I do NOT want to hear my door being knocked on constantly (took off the doorbell years ago) tonight. Kids today don't seem to know the old signal - porch light on, we're giving out candy, porch light off, go away! I don't want to sound like an old curmudgeon (despite the fact I am one) but the kids in my neighborhood can be downright nasty on Halloween, so we just said the heck with it about ten years ago and stopped participating in it.

Already, somebody nearby is setting of firecrackers. Back on the 4th, they went all night, and I do mean until nearly dawn. It was just as bad on New Years too.

Okay, yes, I have to admit it, I'm getting older. Work was a HARD nine hours yesterday, not even considering that with the economy I'm doing three people's jobs during those nine hours. There were at least four other people going "Nelson, we need this ASAP."

Folks, just get in line. I've got a list of priorities and that's that. Don't come fussing to me...go to HR and tell them, they're the ones who figured it'd be better to try and kill a few people rather than bring in enough people to get the job done.

There was definitely one mistake I made...wearing new shoes to work. Ouch ouch ouch. I can tell they're going to be good later on, but not until the toe-box breaks in a little. They supported my bad ankle properly, but hell, you think sneakers would be a little more flexible than that out of the box.

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In other news: I'm back into playing "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess." I put the thing down last year because one, I was frustrated by the fire temple and two, it was a real pain in the butt switching between my DVD player and the GameCube on my old TV set. Not only that, but the tube on that 20 year old monstrosity was going bad, meaning I had to crank the brightness all the way just to see the game properly. My parents got a monstrous widescreen digital TV, so we got the hand-me-down - with all the aux connections to make all my accessories connect properly. I was even able to reprogram the old remote so it'd work on the newer set (meaning I get my own remote since Sandy hogs the other one.)

Still can't get the local CBS station (I ditched cable - I'm sick of $60 a month for CRAP.) Maybe once I get one of those digital converter boxes, it'll come in better. If not, maybe I'll spring for one of those 'Quantum' antennas.

Anything, and I do mean anything pink I'd change to either red or white.  I just don't like pink for anything.

Charlotte boasts five major Malls, and we visited four of them today:

Concord Mills: The largest mall in the area, and sometimes the strangest.  It's the only major mall I've ever been in that doesn't have a Chic-Fil-A.  Guess that's because CFA won't open on Sundays no matter what.  Oh well, there's plenty of other choices there, though we didn't buy any food.  Just funky panties for my wife at Victoria's Secret (she had a coupon for $10 off for her birthday - which is today.)  Went into the Bath & Body Works but left disgusted since they FREAKING WILL NOT LET YOU ALONE TO SHOP THERE!!!

Northlake Mall: The newest mall in the area.  It's been open several years now and stuff has grown up around it.  Unfortunately, there's not much to recommend in the place itself unless you need something specific.  It has the same mix of stores you can find in any store in the whole country (I realized today that I have never spent a dime in "Hot Topic" though I go in there regularly.)

Carolina Place:   There's still some life left in this mall.  It's at least 20 years old, but it's not showing its age...yet.  It helps that it's built at a major crossroads and has enough traffic to support the stores inside.  Yeah, it's got those same stores I mentioned at Northlake, but the whole place seems fresher (and the Bath & Body Works had the candle neither the other locations had.)

Southpark:  Charlotte's oldest mall (since they tore down Charlottetown Mall a couple years ago)  Southpark survived by being blessed with a great location on the 'snooty' side of town.  No Hot Topic in this mall, but a Nordstrom's and Neimann Marcus, as well as local chains Dillards and Belk's.  Sear's hightailed it out of there a few years ago when the place went upscale.  We stopped there today to see if they had something at the tobacco shop (the didn't) and to round out all the active malls.

Eastland Mall: We didn't bother stopping, though we were rather close to it.  Eastland is the typical mall that's fallen on hard times (this is the kind of place Chris Rock makes fun of in some of his routines).  The few independent stores still hanging on in there cater mostly to an ethnic crowd now, though they look clean and neat.  Gangs ruined the place, which I used to go several times a week during the late 70s and most of the 80s.  Absolutely nothing remains of those old places, like Tuesday's (later Annabelle's) and Farrell's, or even the old (and much hated by me in the day) Morrison's Cafeteria.  Recently, the management of the place reduced the hours, closing at 7 tuesday through Friday, and 5 on Saturday and Sunday (the mall is closed on Mondays - another reason we didn't stop today.)  The Sears still keeps their own hours, but the store itself has been converted to one of their 'outlets.'

Oddly enough, we found more goodies at a couple Goodwill stores (shoes for Sandy) since I'm looking for a set of cheap shelves to replace this crumbling plastic etergre in my office.

This may end up being a glaringly unpopular thing to say, but I did not like The Dark Knight.

I really have never been a true Batman fan, though I'm far from disliking the character.  Maybe it's because my real introduction to him was the good old Adam West version.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see that stuff revisited.  I just did not enjoy myself watching this movie.

Despite all the action, I found myself bored.  Action for action's sake, well, I kinda glazed over when I was watching what was really just another car chase, and honestly, the one in The Blues Brothers (filmed in exactly the same place) was a lot more fun and exciting.

Part of my problem is that we don't know anything new about this particular Joker.  Sure, he prattles on with a couple tales of how he got the way he was, but he told a couple different versions, so we don't know if there is any truth to either.  What we ended up with was a whack-job in botched clown makeup who seemed to have a lot more power in any given situation than seemed plausible.  I mean, that one scene with all the crime-bosses...nobody had a gun they could pull on him?  There were some other details, like, for instance, his hands...they were....well, too youthful for the Joker.  About halfway through the movie, all I could see was Heath Ledger in bad makeup (I previously knew him best for his roles in A Knight's Tale and The Patriot.)

The Harvey Dent/Two-Face plot, I think, ended up being grossly pathetic (his CGI burned face - well, in the real world he would have been dead from infections with that kind of burn after refusing treatment.)  I found myself strongly disliking the character and had no sympathy for him.

I just have to say this: I like Gary Oldman, but his glasses were distractingly ugly.  Then again, it seems a lot of people are wearing really ugly glasses.

There was one good point in the whole movie.  In the end, the Joker was not killed.  That was by far the biggest complaint I had about the 1989 Michael Keaton Batman.

A while back, my wife and I showed up at a rather popular bike ride on our tandem, sporting fenders.  Quite a few people actually laughed at us.

They weren't laughing four hour later when a thick, drizzly rain settled in over the area unexpectedly.  We were the only people there who didn't have mud-splats up our backs.

So, this morning, with thunder threatening as I prepared to go to work, I got out the old Schwinn with the polycarbonate fenders.  I'm sure glad I did - I was nearly dry when I got there.

I can hear it going now in the other room - the television.  I've come to the inevitable conclusion that my wife is as addicted to the TV as I am to the internet.  It has to be on.

Now, see, this really rises to prominence now that we are temporarily without cable.  Two weeks ago a severe lightning storm zapped our system.  Turns out it's not the feed, but the wiring inside the house, so it's up to me to fix or pay for a rewiring to fix....

...it's been a busy two weeks at work - I haven't gotten around to it.

So, Sandy's been into the DVD collection.  My own solution?  I've finally gotten around to reading the Harry Potter books (previously I'd only seen the movies.)  Reading is supposed to be better for your mind than TV, but I guess she can't help herself, the tube has to be on.

I reckon this is a bit better than her watching that inane drivel on History or some dreck like those two fashionistas  ripping some poor girl about how she dresses.

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On to a little about me.  My right foot has been hurting, not a blinding pain, but one that keeps me from getting comfortable or being able to walk around the house normally.  Quite distracting.  At least I was off today, or I would have had to call in sick because of it.  Doesn't feel like gout as it's in my right foot and feels more like a charlie horse, but pain after all is pain.  Maybe it'll limber up a bit for work.  I'll get up a little early and let Sandy take me in rather than riding my bike.  I'll take a book to kill time until I clock in.

Maybe it's because I'm reading right now, but I've got some ideas swirling around in my head for continuing my Kim Possible fanfics.  Maybe once I get past this four day haul I'll sit down and start putting a chapter together.  Maybe.

...traditional granola, with regular and gold raisins, dates, apple chunks - and one difference from what I used to buy at Fresh Market - strawberries!

When you eat that 'fruit on the bottom' kind of yogurt, do you stir it up so it's all fruity and delicious, or do you eat your way through the plain yogurt to get to the fruity goodness?

I was supposed to move to days almost a month ago, yet I'm getting ready to go to work again at ten tomorrow night.

*sigh*

I'm sitting here at the computer at a quarter after five in the morning, knowing about seven I'll have to jump in the shower and go grocery shopping before I can even think of lying down for some sleep.

One of these days, I'm going to have to get a TIVO, or something like it.  I'm so sick of looking at the cable guide and seeing nothing but "Paid Programming" listed for most of the channels.

What the freaking heck?

I pay for cable.  Honestly, I think that should also mean I've paid to see programming without the commercials, and if that wasn't bad enough, they're pre-empting the late-night feeds from many networks to show their stupid infomercials.  Just who the heck actually buys this crap?  I sure don't.  In fact, I'd probably go out of my way to avoid buying anything that's polluted the airwaves like this (just like I would never buy anything in an internet pop-up before I switched to Firefox and finally managed to block most of them.)

Cable is a racket.   They first get me to pay to get the service (and pay a lot I might add) then they make their money off the advertisers.  On top of that, they get even more money from local advertisers, and don't even have the professionalism to make the cuts clean on TV (about a second of a commercial will show, then they cut to the local crap, usually car dealers who think they're great.)  Then they have those damned infomercials, and considering the 'talent' they hire to hawk this crud, they must also pay a pretty penny to get it aired.  Frankly, I'm paying to see content, so I want to see the content the networks offer.  I don't care if it's the same "Mythbusters" I've seen 20 times already, show it!

I need a second VCR, so I can play my Kim Possible tapes in my office (the only player is in the bedroom, where my wife is sleeping.)

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In other news...I'm not bringing up my model building products in discussion groups any more.  See, I use MEK as glue.  It's the main ingredient in most solvent type glues, so buying quarts at Home Depot is dirt cheap compared to buying Testors or something.  Yet, every time I bring that up, there's some Dudley Dooright who chimes in about how dangerous the stuff is.  Yes, it's dangerous, but not that badly.  I'm using extremely small amounts in a 3 oz bottle that I haven't even had to top off after filling two months ago.  I'm not getting all that many vapors, so it's just like using the name brand glue.  People, before you start ranting about how dangerous something is, do some reading.  The warnings are for people who are exposed to it in large quantities every single day.

I'm feeling a little giddy at the moment, since we've gotten our 'Bush Bucks' (the "Economic Incentive Program" that sent us some tax money as a rebate.)  It comes at a good time, since I got crappy hours a week ago at work because of health issues.  I've done some light 'extra' spending (buying some stuff I've been holding off on) and we're going to hit the grocery store hard tomorrow.  I'm sick of being out of all sorts of stuff.

Somebody said something to me the other day that, the more I thought about it, the more it made me want to track down that person and wring their freaking neck.

Person: Oh, how long have you been married?
Me: Almost 19 years
Person: Oh, great!  How many kids do you have?
Me: None
Person: Oh, that's so sad.

Sad?  It's not sad, it's a cause for celebration in my book.  See, I don't want kids.  I don't like being around kids, and I certainly don't want to go through what I'd have to go through to raise one.  Call me mean, call me selfish, whatever.  I'm one of those people put on this earth who has no need or desire to breed a miniature copy of myself or my wife (my soulmate is with me on this 100%)

Not long ago, for the first time during my marriage, my mother actually broached the subject or why we never had kids.  It wasn't nagging, but she has been harboring this notion that she had done something wrong raising me that I felt that way.  No, she didn't.  I had a great childhood in a stable family (they're pushing 50 years together) so it's absolutely not an issue they created.

A few years ago, I encountered a support group called "Childless by Choice."  Huh?  I need a support group because I don't want kids?  I don't think so.  It's a personal issue, one that I don't think requires any guidance other than the fact we're getting to the point where my wife might want to go off her prescription and I get snip snipped.  I don't lie awake at night worried about this choice.  Frankly, I've stayed married a lot longer than my little brother did, and I strongly feel what broke up his first marriage is the fact they COULDN'T manage to have a kid.

I'll leave it to my only (by blood) 1st cousin to carry on the family.  She's about to have her third (and only just turned 25)

Yeah, finally broke down and signed up for one of these things.  Not much of a blogger (had one on my website, haven't updated it in years)

Actually, I've had a LJ for a while, but it's in the name of one of my RP characters, and I don't think most people who know me as the Commander would like talking through a 29 year old celestial avatar from the future (who's also a housewife and mother of three)