Stainless steel restroom facilities

I occasionally play tennis at Colleyville City Park. Sometimes I have to pee before, during or after I play. The images below are what greets me (and others) if using the restroom facilities is needed.

They're quite interesting and somewhat disgusting! Wouldn't you agree?

Truthfully, I can pee in anything. So, the urinals aren't really a problem. However, they are always filled about halfway with water or pee. I'm not sure which. The stench of old, puddled urine is overwhelming. The flooring around the urinals stinks as well which is surprising since it's a pretty open restroom in the sense that they keep the entrance door wide open and there is metal screening around most of the top of the walls just before the ceiling. So, it's 'airy' but the stench still settles within the cement walls.

With the very strong odor, it makes me think that maybe boys/men may pee in the urinal, on the wall, on the floor—basically anywhere that isn't in their pants! I don't blame the little boys. I used to do the same when I was a little boy for some reason.

Anyway, I don't understand the reasoning behind the stainless steel urinals and toilet other than they think it would mean less maintenance. Sure, it's probably impossible to damage them unless you have a metal bat or sledgehammer but the usefulness kind of ends there.

Who in their right mind would want to use the toilet at anytime but especially during the cold weather? Sometimes city parks and recreation managers do not think through an idea.

Oh well, random thought over.

Broken driver side mirror

So the street I live on is bound and determined to make my vehicle-owning life a living hell. First, my CRV was rear ended and then my Grand Caravan driver-side mirror was sideswiped. I don't see other cars on the block or along the street having this problem but it happened to me within a few months time for both my vehicles.

I have a two-car drive way but sometimes my wife's family stops by while I'm at work. I come home and one of my vehicles and an in-laws' vehicle is in my driveway so I have to park my second vehicle at curb of the street. The in-laws leave and I end up leaving my vehicle parked at the curb for whatever reason like laziness or I'm already in bed. Then some idiot comes by and hits my vehicle(s) and doesn't own up to it because they're probably some stupid drunk assholes!

I looked all over the world wide web and local auto parts shops like O'Reilly's or Pep Boys for a cheaply priced replacement mirror. I didn't want to buy from a dealership because of dealership pricing. I almost had to because my particular model seems to be rare for some damn reason. It seems my mirror is in-between the two models that are widely offered from various vendors and dealerships. Either, I can find a replacement manual mirror or mirror with remote and heat. My mirror is remote with no heat. I have no problem having a manual mirror as I hardly adjust my van mirrors but I didn't want to order online and then the damn thing not fit/work like I thought. Then I'd have to go through the process of returning and probably getting screwed out of some of my money that I thought I was saving. Since I couldn't find my particular model on the Internet or in retail auto parts stores and surely didn't want to go to a dealership, I had an epiphany and thought of looking at a junkyard.

Hell, I haven't been to a junkyard in something like twenty five years! I didn't even know if they still existed...for pulling parts, anyway. I figured there were ones around where they just crushed, stacked and stored cars for scrap metal but what the hell do I know these days. I don't work on my own vehicle much at all these days since I'm busy and they have all these new technologies and shit that only "smart mechanics" know how to fix. Anyway, I googled 'junkyard' and found a few in my general vicinity. The closest was about fifteen minutes away. It closed at 6 p.m. and I get off of work at 5 p.m. but with rush-hour traffic happening at that time AND going the direction I'd need to go, I'd have to either leave work early or wait for the weekend. The weekend timing won.

I made my first trip towards the junkyard and got about three quarters of the way before I realized that I did not bring ANY tools for removing the mirror if I found a replacement. I went ahead and drove the rest of the way to know for sure the location and to be sure it actually existed. I mean it did have a website and all but I just wanted to be doubly sure.

It took me a couple of more weeks before I was able to head to the junkyard again. This time I was prepared. I brought the old mirror as well as my tool box of which I really only needed a couple of tools.

I walked all over this junkyard. It was much bigger than I imagined. The area where most of the vehicles that would contain my mirror was the farthest distance in the farthest corner of the junkyard from the entrance. It was a hot, dry day with a slight breeze and this place was very dusty. After about fifteen minutes, my eyes were watering from the dirt, my nose was running from the dust and I think I was getting a farmer's tan from the sunshine.

So long story completed, I finally got my driver-side mirror replaced.

compared to

Minimum wage then (1970s) and now (2010s)

Saw an article on Reddit about a guy that used to work at McDonald's back in the 70s. A simple read but interesting to hear about the changes over the years as far as his experiences goes. One thing that caught my eye was someone asking about paychecks. This man earned minimum wage and felt like he was "rolling in money." Granted he wasn't supporting himself but he also didn't plan on flipping burgers as a life-long career choice but who does? Apparently those people protesting that minimum wage is to minimum.

I think this is what is lost on the current minimum wage debate — minimum wage is not a support-the-family wage. It's a stepping stone towards (potentially and expectantly) earning more money by either moving up within a company or moving to another company.

As defined:  Minimum wage is the lowest wage as permitted by law.

Do you minimum wage earners hear that? Do you understand it? It's the MINIMUM wage allowed by law! Employers can't pay below that rate but they sure as hell can pay just that rate.

If you want to earn more, learn a SKILL or take some college or continuing education courses specific to learning a skill or craft. Do you really, I mean REALLY expect to earn $15/hr working at a McDonald's or Wal-Mart? Those are very easily learnable duties and do not take any sort of educational training or specialized skills. Let's put employment at McDonald's and Wal-Mart into perspective:

At McDonald's you either take orders at the front or drive thru, flip burgers, deep fry things like fries or chicken and maybe occasionally clean the restrooms. At Wal-Mart you either walk the floor as a "helper" for customers or refolding/refixing things the customer messed up on shelves or hangers, "guard" the dressing room, checker, stocker or greeter. All in all the McDonald's employee seems more happy/friendly than the Wal-Mart employee even though both think they should make a lot more per hour but I feel the McDonald's worker could have a worse job because of all the grease, food smells, nasty restrooms, etc. Anyway, do any of the duties I listed require any kind of specialized training and/or education? HELL, NO! So, why in the world would you think you DESERVE ANYTHING more than minimum wage? Again, it's the MINIMUM an employer can legally pay and not a minimum LIVING wage. Hell, I'm not making too far above the latter and I AM skilled and educated! So fuck y'all!

Anyway, most minimum wage jobs were previously occupied by 15-18 yr olds or so until they went off to college. Sometimes they'd come back during holiday breaks and summers to that same job. I'd bet none of them complained about it like the minimum wage earners now.

Minimum wage is a stepping stone to learning about working hard to earn money...no matter how little that was after getting raped by the governmental taxes. A step to learning how to stretch that money over time until the next paycheck. A step to learn a sense of responsibility and build trust with employers, family and friends. A step towards life maturity. A step to learning that there's got to be a way to make more money whether it be a college education or learning a skilled profession as an apprentice or something. It sucked to earn minimum wage and sometimes it took a while to earn more but no one EVER wanted to stay making minimum wage in ANY job. The minimum wage worker at McDonald's typically stayed there for a long period of time to try and work their way up the ladder to assistant manager, then manager and then whatever is next. They didn't EXPECT to earn more than minimum (or even double as the bitchers are bitchin' for now) as a burger flipper or order taker.

Wake up people! Why should we cater to you people that want to stay in the same job doing the same duties for ever and ever and ever? Many jobs are like educational courses — you take one and then move to a new one at a higher level unless you fail or suck at it and you stay at the same level. Stop looking for free upgrades that you feel you are entitled to because you ARE NOT entitled!

Article here while it lasts.

What IS Blockbuster on Demand

I don't know how I got to this page—Blockbusternow—but apparently Blockbuster still has not realized that their business model is out-dated and over-priced although I guess it's now Dish's fault since they bought them.

Why would someone want to stream a movie from Blockbuster for between $2.99-$4.99 per movie when they can play a flat rate for Netflix, Amazon Prime Movies, or any other better-than-Blockbuster streaming service.

They were on top of the world with all their stick-it-to-you late fees and now...it's too little too late for these guys.

How much for that sandwich!?

You can barely read the prices but for the filet mignon steak sandwich you see in the photo, it costs $18.00!

Maybe next time when I attend the U.S. Open, I'll treat it like going to Six Flags and have an ice chest with drinks and sandwiches in the car in the parking lot because it did not taste like an $18 sandwich!

I did purchase it and I didn't taste anything special from it other than it tasted like a steak (meat) sandwich. It definitely wasn't worth $18 but there isn't anything cheap to eat at the U.S. Open!

Colleyville Public Library

I sometimes play tennis early on a Saturday morning in Colleyville. I think the park used to be called Bransford but now it looks to be called Colleyville City Park.

I've been to this park many times but have never walked around it. Years ago I brought my kids when they were little because it had a pretty cool playground facility made out of railroad-ties type timber...but not exactly. It was like a giant wooden fort or an on-the-ground tree house. That's been since removed for a "safer" playground.

This one particular Saturday I drove out to play I had arrived fairly early. My friends, for doubles play, weren't going to arrive for at least twenty minutes so I decided to take a walk around the park to stretch my legs from the thirty minute or so drive from my home in North Dallas. It was a pretty cool day compared to the energy-sapping heat/humidity we had been having. I walked about halfway around the park and saw that it actually backed up to the town square. I've driven through that square once years ago because I thought I could cut through it to get to the tennis courts. I was wrong.

Anyhow, this is the first time I noticed the Colleyville Public Library building.

It's not a huge deal for all people but it looked kind of cool to me. I walked in the little archway there to see what it looked like. I peeked into the building through the large glass windows like a little kid. Nothing extraordinary but nostalgic since I've probably not been in a public library in many, many years!

It briefly took me back to the days I'd go to the Euless Public Library as a kid for class field trips or the occasional origami book to check out so I could learn new paper-folding patterns to impress people.

Let's play "name that food item"

I'm going to sound like an old man but I can remember the days when you knew without a doubt if you were seeing an burrito supreme or a bean burrito. My, how times have changed!

I remember when I was in high school and we got to leave the campus for lunch. We would head over to Taco Bell with our cash in hand knowing that we could get a medium drink and two soft tacos, two hard tacos or two bean burritos for $2.00 even. If we wanted a burrito supreme, it was like $1.59 but it was much bigger and it would fill us more. We all usually did the $2.00 deal because we'd be saving our money for going out over the weekend to the movies, bowling or whatever.

If I remember correctly, back in the day the tacos and bean burrito were priced around $.59 and the drink was like $.69. Add the tax which was probably around 7.5% back then and we'd get the $2.00.

Now what is it, like a $1.09 for a bean burrito or soft taco and $.99 for a hard taco? However, you get a little less filling for twice the costs. Ridiculous! Oh well. Unfortunately I'll still pay some of their prices because me and my family still love us some T Bell!

So, let's play the "name that food item" game. You have a 50/50 chance of being correct. Easy right?

Which one of these Taco Bell items
is a Burrito Supreme
and which is a Bean Burrito?
 

 

Six Flags Over Texas survey

I'm on the listserv for Six Flags Over Texas. Yes, I joined on purpose when I was a season pass holder.

I was a season pass holder a couple of years ago and was for a few years. In my eyes, it's more of a value to purchase season pass tickets versus buying a one-day ticket. One reason is because you don't have to feel like you have to fit in getting to ride all the rides in one day and then feel jacked for not being able to do so because two to three rides had a wait line for an hour(s) or more.

Anyway, trust me. The season pass with season parking is the best deal becaus if you go 2-3 times the ROI on the passes costs is made back. Plus, the first time you go you can ride just five or so rides then the second time you can ride five different ones and the third five more different ones or even the same. That way you don't feel like you got jacked out of your money like you would with the one-day costs unless, of course, you got very lucky and went on a non-busy day for the one-day ticket.

My season pass days were for my kids...and me. I like to ride almost all the rides. There are some that sort of made me sick, mainly kiddie rides, because I guess I'm old(er) but all of the big rides are not a problem so far. We did season passes because my kids were younger and still wanted to hang out with their dad. But they got older. One wanted to go with just friends even though those friends liked to have me along because I'm a FUN. The other decided there was really no desire to go because of the hatred of roller coasters and anything else that goes higher than ten feet.

Six Flags Over Texas sent me a survey to complete via email. I thought it was interesting when I got to this part shown in the screen shot below.

The second sentence starting with "Below" must have been written by someone for whom English is a second language.

The questions to follow were about ideas of new rides and what I thought about them. Basically, they are querying people (well me) about things that are already being done at other amusement parks. I get it. They are trying to see if there is an interest in certain types of rides/attractions. That's what they should do.

But...can they really and truly hold me to clicking the "Yes, I promise" button? Who's going to know if it was me or someone else who spilled the beans?

Although, the best idea would be a NEW idea and not one that's already being done.

Anyway...stupid randomness, I know...

My Redbox rental blunder

I was in Lubbock over the weekend. While there, I was curious if there was a Redbox in town and if so, how close to my hotel because I had a coupon code for a free rental that expired on Sunday the 21^st. I found one but didn't really find a movie that I wanted to watch and I really didn't have much time to watch it between the activities for which I was in Lubbock. So, I just closed down the Redbox app on my phone.

Late Sunday night, I get home and think I'll use my coupon before it expires on some random but hopefully good movie. I open the app, find a movie, add to cart, enter promo code and as I hit the checkout/confirm (whatever it is) button, I realize too late that it still has the Lubbock location selected. So, I reserved a freaking "free" movie in Lubbock but I'm now in freaking Dallas!

So, that's my weekend blond moment. I've screen captured a portion of my receipt for all those that give a shit to prove my blondness. No big deal really because they send me coupon codes all the time. I just hate wasting "free" stuff and doing silly stuff like this...that's why I'm Absent-minded Jay.

How much is that doggy in the window

Saw this little puppy while walking during my lunch break around Snider Plaza. Apparently there's a pet boutique that opened up which specializes in teacup and toy breeds. A friend and I stopped in out of curiosity. She asked if the dog was full-grown. It's still a puppy but won't get much bigger than it is now.

My friend asked if she could hold it. The sales girl said that she'd have to sign a release which I'm sure says one has to pay for the dog or damages to the dog if it's dropped or whatever. Weird but understandable, I guess.

My friend then asked how much the dog was. The sales girl said that she'd have to make an appointment to know the actual costs but it was a few thousand. So in my mathematical mind, a few is more than two but less than infinity. Right? Ha, ha!

Anyway, if you want teeny tiny dogs, you might check it out. I would not like to spend that kind of money...a few thousand...on a pet, especially a dainty one.

The dog was a cutie though!

Weekend breakfast

Over the past few years or so, I've tried to create a tradition of making breakfast at least on one of the weekend mornings for the family but usually Sunday. This is about what it looks like but with a bit more bacon, eggs (scrambled and over-easy), toast (french or toasted).

Add Dunkin Donuts coffee for me, milk for the family and breakfast is good to go in the House of Jay.

I believe creating this tradition has worked as many times my kids have had friends stay the night and I hear them say, "Dude, you picked a good night to stay over because my Dad makes breakfast with bacon and eggs in the morning!"

I'm a good—no, great Dad and husband!

Call of Duty: Black Ops Map Packs

Why is Sony still charging $14.99 for the Call of Duty: Black Ops map packs? Black Ops came out in, what, 2010? How many new games have we had since then: MW3, BLOPSII, Ghosts, Advance Warfare and coming soon, BLOPSIII? If one were to buy these four map packs, they could essentially buy a brand new game in the series or if they found a good discounted deal like previously owned, two or more of the new games could be bought.

Yes, I still play BLOPS. I am more attuned to the weaponry in it than the newer games, especially when it comes to playing Gun Game or Core-Pure. I can't stop loving running around with my double-barreled Olympia shotgun and a pistol owning the other team and hearing on my earpiece after the game is over, "Who the hell is running around with a shotgun!?" Brings a smile to my face every time!

So, back to the costs of these map packs...just ridiculous! C'mon Sony, how about charging $15 for all four? I have two PS3 and two copies of BLOPS. If I want to purchase the new maps, I'd have to buy for both for my kids to be able to play on one or both of the PS3 systems.

Some protestor should've protested from home

Protestors are going to protest. There's always something out there people aren't happy with and they're going to show it with writing on a poster board. It's our God-given right in the great old U. S. of A.

However, it would be prudent to not show the world that you're a bleeping idiot and that there's a reason why there are stereotype jokes about your state!

Forrest Gump was right, "Mama always said, 'Stupid is as stupid does.'"

UPDATED: Some of the most stupid songs

Either aired on Spotify or if it is aired anywhere else. Unless you're a freaking idiot these songs are ridiculously stupid! I hate (sort of) promoting these just by hating on them.

I'll probably update this post as I hear more idiotic songs instead of posting multiple entries.

Dermatology Is a Lucrative Career

Went to a dermatologist appointment today. The office was in a building I've passed many times. I've been in it once — to eat and use the restroom. This was during a time that I took my kids and some of their friends to enjoy a little bit of Easy Slider Truck. They were parked outside this building.

Anyway, the elevators have a wall-to-ceiling glass window wall at the back of the elevators. I don't recall if the sides did too because I was too busy looking out and down through the back glass. Three of four sides of the building are offices and the fourth is all glass windows to the outside world.

Once I got to the dermo's office level, the 13th floor, this was the view...and the dermo office takes up almost all of the 13th floor. Daughters or sons, find a dermatologist to marry. :-)