Reality Check I think we should all go hang out in an emergency room once a year. Boy, that puts things in perspective. I lift my glass to you, emergency room staff.
This is the general overview of their history from what I have gathered. The Chechens got screwed by everyone in the USSR. When the USSR collapsed, they declared independence. The Russian troops rolled in and got their ass kicked. The Russians left, but then came back later with more firepower - except they have that issue with their troops barely being paid and/or fed. Somehow, the Chechens are now "terrorists" and we should all be against them.
Chapelle show We went to a taping of the Chapelle show this past Friday night. It was a good 'ol time. Observations: 1. Dave (can I call him 'Dave'?) came off super nice and down to earth. Oh, and he's really funny.
2. What the hell is the name of the show? He says "Chapelle show". I say "Chapelle show". Yet, the invite we got said "Chapelle's show" and Comedy Central calls it "Chapelle's show" - which sounds stoooopid.
3. I liked how they arranged the seating racially. I may have been mistaken, but they hid the majority of the crackers off to one side - understandably because we were all stoooooopid looking.
BTW That's my story on how I discovered immortality. It's not because I'm a super genius. I am just lucky.
12,000 Did you see the article about the layoffs that are happening because of the merger of Bank of America and Fleet? 12,000 people are being laid off. Now, I understand why they are being laid off - when you merge, you have lots of duplication. I guess it's the realization that 12,000 is a really huge number. Granted, there have been much bigger layoffs in the past, but still... Stupid mergers.
Marketing Surveys We keep getting these calls from survey companies - annoyances because they don't fall under the Do Not Call rule since they aren't trying to sell you on something (a fact they tell you all the time).
I had fun with the guy last night. Interupted him and started asking all these questions. "so, what company are you calling from? Where is the office? You know, your company called us last night? Right, so, where is your office located" The poor guy said something like, "um, we called last night? Ummm" and then there was a long silence followed by a click when he hung up on me.
My point is this. No, actually, I have two points.
Number One Why oh why did the Do Not Call rule not apply for marketing survey companies and political calls and all those other "technically not telemarketing" calls? What's so hard about "you can't call me unless I say that you can"? FCC Retards.
Number Two Marketing surveys. I suppose I don't really mind if a specific store or restaurant or whatever asks me to fill out a little form to let them know how they are doing. I don't mind that at all. I do mind it when the little form is 3 pages back and front like the questionnaire given to us by the train conductor on our train ride up to York last month.
These marketing survey companies call folks and ask them about what magazines they read or what radio stations they listen to or which soap they wash their head with. The thing is, they then sell this marketing information. Right?
So, why are we giving it to them for free? Next time the survey company calls, I will stop them first and ask how much they will pay me for my info. That's what they want, right? They want to know what products or services Joe E. Robot uses so that they can then sell the info to people in the respective industry.
I will answer all survey questions at a set fee and condition. My rate is $100/hr - minimum one hour. The time and number are set beforehand. Appointments - once set - can be cancelled by me at anytime before said time. If you fail to call at the set time, there are no refunds.
