The world is full of perverts

The following screen captures are statistics from my blog. Specifically, they are the search words, terms, phrases that people have used that directed them to my blog. It's amazing how many people have visited since I put a few words and pictures to some attractive actresses.

Sunflower Market in Dallas

Last weekend the wife and I finally made it to the Sunflower Farmers Market. It's not a "farmer's market" like you (or I) would think. You know the one...every 'farmer' has a booth on an aisle on some outdoor parking lot or grassy knoll. It's essentially a grocery store, a small one, but one nonetheless.

A neighbor of ours was talking about it one day. We've seen the ads in the newspaper but have never been much less thought about going. I'm first a Kroger guy through and through. Kroger usually has the deals on the things I like and there is a store about two minutes across the highway. Most of the time I check all the ads from the three big grocers (Kroger, Tom Thumb, Albertson's) and compare their prices. If I can get milk and eggs cheaper at Kroger but bread and cereal cheaper at Tom Thumb, I make two different trips. If Albertson's has something to add to the mix, then I am making a third grocery trip. Luckily, Tom Thumb is about two to five minutes down the road and Albertson's is about five to ten minutes away. I love the convenience of where I live.

The neighbor likes to purchase what is considered "premium cuts" of steak like rib eye or prime rib. Most of the time for me, a steak is a steak as long as the taste and texture aren't like the sole of a shoe! A quarter inch thick is just as good as a half inch thick. Now don't get me wrong. I've had really, REALLY good steak that I can cut like butter from restaurants but that's once in a long while, a treat, for me and/or the wife. I'm talking outdoor grilling at home with the family and/or friends.

Anyway, this friend and neighbor said he got rib eyes from Sunflower Market for 40% off. I don't know what that meant in the sense of actual price but 40% off anything is a damn good deal. We planned on getting some rib eye ourselves and checking on other deals but we never made it. We are busy people and Sunflower Market is not 2-5 minutes down the street. It's more like 10-15 minutes south down US 75 to Haskell and then east on Haskell until about a block from Ross.

A week passed and I saw the newspaper advertisement again. I saw that they had $4.99/lb for rib eyes. This sounded like a fairly decent price so I decided, "I'm checking this place out this week no matter what!" The wife and I decided to go during my lunch hour on Friday of that week (that was two Fridays ago).

This particular time they had a few good deals on things like steak, certain beers my wife and neighbors drink, Boar's Head roast beef and a few others. For comparison, the Boar's head deli roast beef was two dollars cheaper than at Kroger as was the beer. I already talked about the steak. At the same time, there were items that were more, sometimes much more, than at Kroger. A dozen eggs was about twenty cents more (organic vs. organic). The bread was about the same (Mrs. Baird's whole grain white). Clementines were about a dollar more per pound compared to Kroger. So, basically, it's just like how I compare the ads from Kroger, Tom Thumb, and Albertson's...you have to know the prices acros the stores and find which one is best for the products you are wanting to buy.

I decided to purchase the rib eyes. Not knowing totally for sure how much of a deal I was getting, I rationalized by thinking that the rib eye (I bought three for no more than $4.99 each because they were either a pound or slightly under) was just like buying a fast food 'value' meal. If I spend something like $5-$6 on a #1 at Taco Bell, Wendy's or McDonald's, then $4.99 was a bargain on a thick, juicy steak.

After seasoning and grilling the rib eyes like I do a 'cheaper' cut, we decided once again that steak was steak. The rib eyes were great but I've made great skirt steak, fajita steak, and whatever other 'cheap' steak they have at the major brand grocery stores. I will continue to test and investigate price as well as taste of steaks from the many different stores but I don't think a rib eye or prime rib is necessarily the CHOICE steak.

But at a good price, it's doesn't hurt to purchase one and enjoy it...especially if your friends are impressed with such meaningless things.

Oh yeah, the point of the picture. I got a little off topic with the rib eyes instead of talking about the turkey bacon. While we were at Sunflower, I saw this display for bacon. It looked pretty good in the picture even though it said 'turkey.' I thought, "how bad could they mess up bacon?"

I decided to wake up Sunday morning to make breakfast for the wife and kids. I'm that kind of guy. I opened the pack to find the bacon to be sliced in neat little precise pieces. I sliced the pack in half as not to waste the other half if I didn't like it. I figured we could at least use it for baking beans or something.

Longer story shorter: the kids and I agree said, "It tastes alright but we prefer the 'pig' bacon. It's just better because it's crispy and fatty not just crispy like this. The turkey bacon is more like frying Spam but if I wanted Spam, I'd just eat Spam!"

Well said kids. Well said.

Email humor 04/20/11

Jumping On the Bed

Gotta love women...

A fifty-ish woman was at home happily jumping on her bed and squealing with delight.

Her husband watches her for a while and asks, "Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look?, What's the matter with you?"

The woman continues to bounce on the bed and says, "I don't care, I just came from having a mammogram and the doctor says I have the breasts of an 18 year-old".

The husband said, "What did he say about your 60 year old ass?"

"Your name never came up," she replied.

(Men, they just never know when to shut up, do they?)

Did I not say that they are glorifying teen pregnancy!?

Maybe not to the world, but I know I said it to the wife!

From a story here on The Superficial website.

That's all the time I've giving these stupid kids. Yes, they are stupid because they got knocked up in the first place. But...they must be smart because they turned that "mistake" into thousands of dollars in speaker fees or boob implants.

Guess, I should be encouraging people to farm out their teenage daughters for the 15-plus minutes of fame.

Stupid!

∞
That's all I got to say about that!
 

Why are America's families failing?

There is an article in the Star-Telegram that talks about the city of Hurst. This city is part of the H-E-B (Hurst-Euless-Bedford) ISD that I grew up and went to school in.

Anyway, there is a part of this article that makes me wonder, WTF? I'm not an economist, accountant or whatever kind of person calculates what wages people should make. I'm just thinking that the national average should be more. From the article:

The city's per capita income, for instance, is $27,020 -- $21 off the national mark of $27,041.

Click here for article while it lasts.

I can understand the national average being $27K/yr if we mostly lived in rural areas or farmed or something. I guess it just goes to show you the huge separation in how much people are considered worth in various positions of corporate America.

The grunt like myself who does all the important work such as the shit that if I don't do it the people above me or beside me can't do their job doesn't get paid shit. But the person above me that does a few SIMPLE tasks triples my salary, gets all the accolades and is the last to be let go.

I'm not saying I'm worthless. I will be the last guy to be let go unless the company is shutting down because I can do 3+ people's jobs and probably the person's above me if they needed me to.

I'm just thinking about the work force in general. You know what and who I mean.

Anyway, to me $27K/yr is below the sustainable living line especially in cities such Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and even other cities within the nation (adjusting the average for the cost of living). This is why the housing bubble burst. No one making $27K/yer can pay for a $60K home no matter how the web is woven.

Oh well...

Case study discussion in my Leadership & Culture class (Pt 1)

I am taking a Leadership & Culture class this semester. It's a required core course for my management major. The professor is teaching this for the first time on our campus although he's taught it before. I was a little hesitant to take the class (although I have to eventually to graduate) because I did not know what to expect of the class and professor. Without going into further detail and losing the point of my post, I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed this professor and the school would do the students a disservice by not keeping him around.

Now, he sent us a case from Darden as an introduction to our discussion of ethics. The case starts like this:

You are a senior executive in the sales department of a large manufacturing company. A competitor’s technological innovation has disrupted your company’s production and has plunged profits into the red for the last three quarters. Your boss has made it very clear that if you do not make your profit projections for this quarter, you will be out of a job. One of your staff members makes a suggestion to you about investing in new equipment to better monitor and service clients. After some research you realize that this investment, if enacted quickly, could increase sales and help the overall health of the company. Each quarter that you wait to implement this equipment will reduce its positive impact, but investing now will cause you to miss your profit projections and lose your job. What do you do?

It goes on to say

Most people have one of two reactions after reading a case like the one above. Either they have a strong moral intuition toward one of the options, or they experience conflicting moral intuitions and cannot decide between the two. Moral intuitions or sentiments (as Adam Smith called them) are our gut reactions to a situation as to what is right or wrong. They are developed over time from our past experiences and social interactions. We may regret decisions that are based just on moral intuition when we find they missed the mark. It is only when we do the hard work of analyzing a case and meshing intuition with reason that we can be confident that we are making better choices. This is because our intuitions are determined by past experiences, which may be of little help in new moral dilemmas. In addition, apart from following the stronger moral intuition, we cannot decide between two conflicting intuitions without a standard or some criteria for what is better or worse. In both of these cases, we need to turn to ethics.

So, what would you do?

A few of the kids said they would invest in the new equipment and "hope" that the boss would see that you have made a good decision and keep you around. Others said they would invest in the new equipment and plead their case with the boss to keep them around. These kids are so ignorant and lost to the realities of the real business world.

My response: I do not invest in the new equipment. My efforts are only recognized if I make my numbers not if I show improvement.

My reasoning based on the given/known facts of the case: It's me, the boss, the company and my impending doom or firing from the company:

• Sometimes it's about self-preservation. I would use the last quarter I have with the company to find a job and make sure I have a plan/job to maintain my income after being let go by this company.
• Why did it take three quarters for the boss to react to a competitor? Whose fault is it really, mine, my bosses or higher? Yet, I'm the one getting the shaft. Great company to work for!
• I am getting fired no matter what if I don't hit my numbers. So, investing in the new equipment improves the numbers but does not make me reach my numbers. This benefits the company but it does nothing for extending my career with the company.
• The company didn't take into consideration the importance of performance maintenance. I've missed my numbers for three quarters and just now at the start of the fourth does the boss give a crap about my work? I don't expect to be micromanaged but if I'm liable for missing my numbers so should my boss.
• My boss not looking into performance numbers failures sooner makes me wonder what kind of boss/company I was working for to begin with. If the numbers were more important until someone complained to him, is this who I want to work under anyway?
• If the company isn't going to invest in me to help me better the company as well as better myself, why would I invest in the equipment and better the company in the long run when I will no longer be with the company?

I guess that's a long enough list.

The professor says, "Really?"

I say, "Yes, based on the minimal information we are given in the case."

He says, "What about the group that works under you? Their kids? Others in the company and their kids?"

I say, "I would still NOT invest in the equipment. I'm bitter towards the boss and the company. I would not do it out of spite. As for 'the others,' unless I worked closely with them I have no real relationship with them and therefore less concern for them. It's my ass on the line and the company will probably continue after I'm gone! As far as anyone that worked under me, I would decide who would be the best fit to replace me and lead the group. I would tell him to bring the idea of investing in the equipment to the boss. That way he'd look like a savior with a fresh idea. He'll get promoted and the team will be okay. I would not invest my time and effort knowing that my situation would finalize in my dismissal."

He says, "Hm. Interesting? Anyone else?"

The young-uns in the class stuck with their "the boss will see I tried and reward me with retaining my employment." Or "there has to be a way to talk to the boss and keep my job."

Clouded their judgment is. In the ways of corporate America, untrained they are.

There's a bit more so I'll end for now since this post is lengthy.

Netflix's availability

I have admitted that I am a Netflix virgin. I've been a member for only two months and one month was the trial period. I've already mentioned my dislikes about the system as well as some of my likes. Now, I must share my lack of understanding some terms in the Netflix system.

For instance, this screen capture of my Instant Queue.

What does this "available until" mean? My assumption is that they can only have a movie available for Watch Instantly for so long but then I wonder what is the point? I guess limited time availability is better than no availability but some of us don't have the time to watch every movie we put in the queue in a short time. Sometimes it takes a few weeks, months, or even longer.

What's worse is the movie listed in the capture isn't a well-known, or even sort-of-known, movie. So, what gives?

It's un-American!

I overheard a conversation at work that I thought was amusing between two men.

One guy...let's call him Troy...is from Abilene, TX and is pretty much redneck through and through (very nice guy though) with a BIG 18x22 sized (I guess) framed Texas flag.

One guy...let's call him Kevin...is from Georgia, Alabama or some parts like that. He's a great guy/people person and seems like he could be a huge tailgating-type person because he loves to have fun and drink beer.

So, Kevin walks down the hall to Troy's office and stops in the doorway...

Kevin: How's it going Troy? You been watchin' any basketball?

Troy: No, I don't watch basketball.

Kevin: Well, that just un-American!

End of conversation that I paid attention to.

∞
That's all I got to say about that!
 

Women’s Auxiliary Annual Family Night at Six Flags

The parents of a friend of my oldest had free tickets to the Women's Auxiliary Family Night at Six Flags Over Texas on Friday, April 1^st, 2011. Well, they gave them to us for free but I'm not sure if they were free for the parents.

Anyway, this even is for a good cause and it was a fairly priced event. They discount the tickets to $25 if you purchase them in advance at a Tom Thumb. If you purchase them at the gate, they were $50.

Thursday morning, the mother sold this as "they are closing the park for a private event." She said she could get six tickets for her son and some of his friends. He's a pretty good kid and he even invited my younger child to go along as well as the same-aged sister of one of his guy friends. They are all friends more or less even though there is a two-year age difference. I tried to see if they could get me a ticket because I'd go for free and I know my kids aren't the biggest fans of riding the roller coasters...just about ANY of them. To me, that defeats the purpose of going to Six Flags but my kids said they'd enjoy just hanging out with their friends and seeing them have fun. Again, the friends try to pressure them to ride but my kids usually stick to their guns and hold firm.

Anyway, come Friday morning I see a story line in my Google Reader feed of the Dallas News or maybe the Park Cities People mentioning the Family Night. I click the link and it turns out the park will indeed close for a "private" event but when anyone can get the tickets, it's not really private in my eyes.

The bonus part about this is that I could buy myself a ticket for $25 and tag along with my kids which they were so adamantly against the night before. I consider myself a great, fun dad but my oldest kid didn't want me to cramp their "style." What effin' style is the question but I held off pushing the topic until I found out this private event wasn't so private.

Anyway, longer story short, the night was pretty fun. It was interesting to see the dynamic of my kids' friends and siblings hanging out together as well as the interesting people that attended the event. My kids were glad I came along because I am fun and I didn't get into their business. I only step in when I need to and a couple of times the friend that invited them all was a little hyperactive so I had to tell him to "sit" a few times.

I didn't ride every ride but I did ride The Batman, The Flashback, The Judge Roy Scream, The Texas Chute Out, The Roaring Rapids and The Texas Titan. We did a lot of walking and I was plum tuckered by the time I got home around 10 after midnight.

I think I can say that I've had my fill of Six Flags for the season. I don't see any reason to return as a full-paying guest if at all...maybe another freebie. It's not that I didn't enjoy my time. I think it's more that the rides are still the same and I've already ridden them a buzzillion times. I can find much better things to do than drive for 30-45 minutes to the park and then ride/walk all day long. I'm too old for that shit...did I just type that? LOL.

Anyway, it was good times and thanks for the event Children's Medical Center.

Why would I subscribe to my local paper...online or paper?

I get the Dallas News through my Google Reader. I don't always click on the headlines to read them but occasionally a story does catch my interest.

I guess it's been a while since I have clicked on a story because today I saw this page after clicking on the "Read the rest of the story" link on the article page.

I'm already a registered member online from years ago but now they want to charge me for content. I didn't read everything but I figure they want me to subscribe to the physical paper and they'll include the online content. Again, I'm not sure but at just a glance that's what I prefer to assume.

I would not pay for information that I can get for free somewhere else.