word!

I continuously wonder at the amazement the human populous has with a well maintained turf around ones abode.

Really? What the hell does cutting grass have to do with the human condition? Does it say were not as good as our neighbor, if the retired bastard has nothing better to do with his day/life than chop off a few inches of plant matter every couple days? Does it mean were lazy or not as good as our neighbor if we don’t beat them to punch and get the yard cut before they do, again?

I wonder if it’s pointless to ask why we do it, even if no one outside the immediate members such yards belong to are the only ones to notice, unless it is not tended to in a timely matter.

Are we that far gone as a species of animals that the only thing we have to look forward to is mowing our grass?

What the fuck makes grass so fucking special?

I laughed this morning upon seeing the local news headlines overnight. Seems a crabby basketball player that ONLY makes $11 million a year after foregoing college because he couldn’t possibly pass it, got into trouble for throwing/tossing a basketball into the stands and hitting a fan.

It was even more impressive to see the great bit of drama acted out by said fan, all the way from his seat to the ambulance gurney for ‘head trama’. I wonder when, not if, he will reprise his role in a lawsuit towards said NBA player. Should be happening shortly.

And already pundits are saying the player was under the duress of a piss-poor season with a dismal team that he has poured his heart and soul into. Give me a break, for that much money anyone would show up and attempt to make nice as well.

Said player was already under suspicion when upon his grand entrance into the league in his rookie season in a game at the Target Center, he ungratefully avoided his young fans as he sauntered to the court he would inhabit for at least the next decade. That’s true ignorance of the hand that feeds him.

So without great reservation, I think he deserves what he is due. Payback is a bitch.

Got some mailing from the local investment house that is reveired by many citizens in Gaylord. Seems that American Express or namely it’s financial advisors have gone and changed their name after their own personal scandel involving the greed that consumed nearly all the investment industry during/after the last stock market bubble.

So welcome to Ameriprise, the newly spun off investment advisory company. And what is really quaint is the omission of why they are a new company with 100+ years of experience. Where’d they get that experience? By ripping of investors? No that won’t make the promotional brochure.

These cronies tried selling their own piss poor investments over better peforming investments all the while the ship was thinking and now they can slap a new coat of paint on the same b.s. and call it progress. Good grief.

The part I like is that my mother personally holds the local yahoos responsible for our investments with the former American Express Financial Advisors. Sure these guys were your best friends when the market only looked up and everyone was making money. They didn’t care and won’t care now for your personal sob story about how they didn’t do enough. They’ll say it’s your job to review your portfolio or whatnot and not their responsibility.

Guess the bottom line is, don’t ever trust anyone to do anything for you, even if it seems it’s their job or should be. They only are in it for themselves and if they tell you otherwise one of you should be the fool.

That’s the line I was given after successfully canceling my account with the ‘newest’ DVD rent-by-mail, powerhouse Blockbuster, and asked why it was so difficult to get onto the website.

It seems the 800 poung gorilla that has sat quietly in the corner while all the others were raking in cash has finally come to the realization it should jump in on this fad, lest the competition undermine their cash cow operations and make them irrevelant. I’m somewhat glad for it, as it has brought down prices at Walmart and Netflix. Capitalism works good that way.

Now that Blockbuster has made it’s play though, I’m starting to wonder if it was worthwhile to put the worst foot forward into such a sizzling competitve and fickle market. I decided to join after seeing their ads plastered all over USATODAY offering a free month of renting. Sounds easy enough. I’ve done it with both rivals and it worked flawlessly.

But Blockbuster can’t even figure out how to let you sign into their website for the rental program. After seeming logging in and giving them your credit card info, you think you’re all set to go. But nope, you can’t. Seems they don’t think you logged in and want you to do it all over again. So I read through FAQs and maybe there is a cookie problem. So I follow the advice and clear cookies in both Mozilla and IE. nothing. Try different computer, same thing, nothing. After putzing a good hour on this, I call up Customer Service and cancel accounts. And for all this they can say they’re a new company. What, did they just steal Blockbuster’s trademarks and create all the buzz in the industry after doing so? I think not.

I am less than impressed with their stupidity, both online and in-person customer service. Get with it.

**UPDATE — while researching links to Walmart’s service, it appears that Walmart has conceded defeat of their service and is pushing it’s users to Netflix. Interesting.

What are horses good for?

You can’t really eat them, unless you’re into that culturally. They don’t have wool or fleece that you could shear off. All they do is eat enoromous quantities of food, get out often and let you ride them if they let you.

Some people make oodles of money racing them or breeding them together to make more of these dasterdly animals. Everyone that lives near the cities or comes from the cities thinks that horses are what define a farm, when all they do is make a mockery out of farming itself, raising prices for everything horse related that could be put to better use on a beef or dairy farm.

And there’s a lot to be said about women that like horses, nothing too positive.

All I can figure horses are good for is glue. If you can’t tell, I don’t like horses much.