Yellow Alert

I was driving through the center of Yorktown , NY and I remembered that after 9/11 the firehouse had a scrolling alert with the weather regarding what our terror threat level was. Whenever I noticed this I always remember thinking if I was in another person's town, especially in the mid-west, I would think this idea is crazy and the people their were brainwashed. How am i supposed to change my daily life because of some terror alert posted at my firehouse.

So many thoughts and don't even know where to start.

More on this later

On Gambling

I am pretty sure winning money is not a difficult thing to do. I think about this because in about 1-2 hours I will be leaving for Atlantic City with just enough money to play a couple of rounds of roulette or hands of blackjack and I can only hope for the best but this would not be true if I had a lot of money.

The last time I was in Atlantic City before checking out I talked to a women in her mid to late 30s who said she had been going to the casino every week for about three months. She explained that a lot of the same people return and one specific person she played Blackjack with had a unique strategy and she had never seen him walk away from a table down from what he started with.

The player would sit down with no less then 5,000 dollars in chips and place a $25 - $50 bet. If he lost he would instantly double the bet. If he lost he would double it again etc, etc. This means that unless he lost enough time in a row to lose 5,000 dollars when he won a hand he would brake even. He could do this until he won a few hands in a row and then he could set a new limit that he wanted to continue to reach and every time he failed he could use the same strategy.

This really seems almost flawless. The key is if he lost that 5,000 dollars he has the ability to continue to play or lose this one day because he clearly had made a substantial amount of money and was well off. I am not as skilled as to try this with a skill game but I believe it would work if I tried it on Roulette. I have about $100 to spend this time around so I will not be able to try it, but damn if you have money its a lot easier to make money.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

The video below is Ben Folds explaining how when he needed money to get started he got nothing but now that hes rich he gets free coffee...this is a crazy world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrEpqyrHiY8

PS... Holler Vancouver! get at me if you read this...

Maps?

So I got my second GPS for Christmas (the first one mysteriously disappeared, their may be a correlation between me not locking my car and the GPS missing.) For the record I still refuse to lock my car.

I digress...so I used my GPS like three or four times and I thought two things... 1)This device will make everyone dumber because they will not learn directions and depend on it. 2) The next generation of people will not be able to comprehend life before the GPS. This is like we have trouble remembering how people lived without the internet and cell phones.

Then I thought about how people got directions before the GPS...this is simple mapquest.com (or more recently the improved maps.google.com.)

But what about before mapquest?

I lived at least 7-8 years of my life with no computer and no internet and I can not imagine how directions were done without mapquest. I understand going around town and semi locally but it amazes me that people used maps and memorized directions for all trips. I can even vaguely remember my aunt giving us an hour of directions over the phone.

The world was a lot different, its interesting to see where its going.

I dont think this post makes any sense.

Twas the night before 2010

Most of the time new year's eve is a disappointment. But this is strange because most holidays work out strangley better then anticipated. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter are always a good time to get off work/school for a couple of days (minus my current retail situation) and spend some time catching up time with the extended family. Although I am never too excited about this it ends up being fun. New Years eve and Halloween are usually disappointments though. This is because friends rock and the idea of a holiday devoted to hanging out and hedonist activities seems rockin.' People trying to make awesome plans also end up splitting up and having prom-like drama.

Their is also a lot of thought that goes into halloween and new year's eve. Costumes and resolutions are painful things to think about (more so costumes because everyone know resolutions will not make it past Februrary 28th.) But this year, like every year I have thought about resolutions that I could make and became confused because I realized if I was not doing it already its probablly because I do not think its really necessary and why should I do something to "better myself" if it is not going to really make me any happier? Should I work hard to try and do something that might make me happy if I am already happy now.

So other then thinking I should be more active, read more, get a job, move out and blog more I do not have a resolution. Those are things I always think about and I do them when necessary.

I wonder how many people will be at the gym tomorrow? Not most people I know who will spend the first half of the first day in 2010 hung over.

PS. This new years eve I will be at Michael Kesselman's house. It will rock harder then Led Zepplin, no matter what happens

Questions from the Shack...

These are the most common statements that I hear while working at Radioshack (or as our friends call us "the Shack") in Peekskill, NY.

Radioshack is not what is used to be

This is usually said when we do not have some obscure piece that a customer is looking for. They usually say this whether or not the piece even exists

Wow, Batteries are expensive

Yes, most things you dont buy on a regular basis are more expensive then you think they should be and how you remember them

Speakay thee Spanish?

Poquito... I speak more spanish then 5/6 people at my store and today the only person who speaks spanish came back from his trip to Ecuador. I have apparantly been saying "Can you Help me?" instead of "Can I help you."

Where are your cables/wires?

You are going to have to be more specific.

Need to pay my boost bill.

Boost mobile rocks.

Do you have something to make my ipod play in the car?...wow thats expensive.

Do you have any remote control cars?

Yes we have these remote control cars and these helicopters. They look...and leave.

Do you sell replacement Christmas lights?

No... no not new Christmas lights either

Do you have a 3V battery...its circular?

Yes, about 25 different kinds

If you don't have it where should I go?

Best Buy...who am I kidding, this is why the internet was created.

Bud Light may be drinkable, but Billy Joel is Relate-able

Whenever I read a book, watch a movie, listen to a song, or even talk to someone I think the most important quality is for me to be able to relate. This does not necessarily mean that I need to agree or that I would have acted/thought the same thing; it means that I can understand why a decision was made and it seems rational to me (I think being rational is real important.)

People can relate to Billy Joel and this is why he is the greatest celebrity and he epitomizes the true American Dream.

When most people who happen to be on Billy Joel's wikipedia page are asked what makes him great they would probably say one of the following accomplishments:

-He has 33 top 40 hits

-He wrote all of his hit songs single-handedly (probably the only pop artist to do this in the 90's)

-He has hits in three decades (70s, 80s and 90s)

-He was once married to Christie Brinkley

-Their is a Broadway musical based soley on his music

-He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

These may be the reasons he is successful on paper but it is not why people love him and it is not why he is the most relate-able celebrity. Here is a list of reasons why I believe people love Billy Joel and why he is a true American:

-He was successful after not graduating high school

-He has been divorced three times but continues to fall head over heals in love

-He not only drinks heavily, but has three DWI's

-He was screwed over for the first few years of his career (Piano man) and was still able to stick it to the man and get famous/make money

-His lyrics are clear and understandable

-He talks about real issues (not da club)

-He is real with people

-He wanted to have sex with Christie Brinkley but made sure it was clear he is nothing like her

I love Billy Joel and the song the Entertainer and he is the most relatable to the masses. I obviously have a hedonistic view of the American dream.

Runners up are Kevin Smith and Chuck Klosterman...check them out.

On Blogging...

Whenever someone starts a hobby they always start off strong. They will not only do the new hobby; they talk about it, think about it, figure out how to do it better and pretty much obsess over it.

This usually lasts about 3 days - a month (examples: working out, writing, new book series or television show, keeping your car clean and mostly working out.) For me this was blogging.

The idea of keeping a blog is a lot of fun and i think about stuff to blog but i then think about how much people don't care or don't feel like figuring out how to write something...

I will blog at least two times a week for the next month and it is Dave's job to make sure I do it. Any ideas would rock. I looked at a couple of blogs that had lists...I can write a fucking list. So if you have ideas for lists thats cool too.

Final thought on blogging: awkward salmon