End of an era

'Home' is going to officially be my apartment in Manhattan in 12 days (not counting the rest of today). It'll be a bit weird thinking of my place of residence as somewhere other than where my parents are, but that's life. In a sense, though, home will always be here in White Plains.

Customer service, or the lack thereof

Following up on my outburst yesterday, I have yet to receive word from Ikea after leaving 2 voicemails and 1 email message about my order. It's nice to know that they care so much about their customers.

Massive hate for Ikea

Earlier this week, I noted how I was purchasing a good deal a furniture and the like. I placed an order with Ikea and when the receipt said the goods would be ready to ship on June 28th, I figured I was set. Well, I had the unpleasant surprise of finding out that none of my stuff will likely arrive before I start work, making moving any of the stuff in virtually impossible. Although training hours are not as rigorous as when full-time work will begin, I am not going to be around when these deliveries are made - and I probably won't feel like putting them together, either.

On another note, the hold times are too damn long. I get transferred to another department to deal with this issue, and they never freakin' pick up.

Next time, I'm hiring a moving company

Well, that's if I have the money. I've moved a good amount of stuff into my apartment in Manhattan; I still have a little more to do. That being said, my arms are sore to no end from all the heavy lifting. I also think that the experience absolutely destroys any energy I have; after yesterday and today, I've crashed hard and slept a good portion of the afternoon.

At least I get a respite for a couple of days...then it will be back moving in. Hell, it's a pretty good workout, but I will be sincerely happy when it's over.

Scenes from an Eastern Asian restaurant

More bad plays on song titles, this time from Billy Joel's Scenes From An Italian Restaurant...I ate dinner at a Japanese/Chinese restaurant with my stepfather tonight. It's a place my family used to frequent on a more occasional basis when I was quite a bit younger; personally, I hadn't eaten there in more than 4 years, so it was a nice little trip back to the past. The restaurant was much emptier than it was back in its heyday, and the vast parking lot in front (it's a part of a fairly large shopping complex) was also equally lacking in cars...but the food still tasted the same. Which is to say, at its price, it was a good deal.

Unintended consequences

NBC had a show, To Catch A Predator, that was effectively a televised version of prostitution stings that you might see on Cops, although much more personal and confrontational. It turns out that one of the men confronted on the show killed himself, and the network had to settle a 9-digit lawsuit with the sister of the man. Yes, there are bad people out there who stalk kids, but televised humiliation of people who may or may not have committed any crimes is awful. I bet NBC didn't think about this when they were giving Predator a green light. Hell, the head honchos probably didn't even care about the 'public service' they probably claimed they were doing. It's all about the money...

Taking time off

I need a little bit of time to clear my head, so posting may be lighter than usual.

It's hard to top that

Top that...in the sense that it's hard to imagine the service at a restaurant could be any worse. My friends and I ate at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant where everything is cooked in front of you in fondue bowls. That is, if the food ever gets to you. We ended up leaving after the appetizer (cheese fondue), which took 90 minutes total. The lady at the front said they were understaffed and that there were a lot of graduation dinners, but that's no excuse. Another diner came out and said that the staff forgot that her party was there for a birthday.

It'd be one thing if the restaurant was completely new, but they've been open for 6 months. All in all, the company was fabulous - I enjoyed seeing most of my close friends from high school for one last big get-together - but boy, they didn't earn even half of the 18% gratuity they charged us for having a large group.

Pain in my wallet

Filling up my mom's car with Regular Unleaded here in downstate New York set me back a cool $63.75. It's damn good that I am living somewhere that won't require me to drive. It also makes me empathize a little more with those whom I have previously criticized vociferously.

Not going quietly into the sunset

The Los Angeles Times has a nice little profile on The Offspring's lead singer, Dexter Holland, that discusses the band as well. It's true that the band's mass-market appeal from the days of Americana and to a lesser extent, Ixnay on the Hombre and Conspiracy of One are long gone. In a sense, though, as Holland points out, that's not a bad thing:

One inevitable question is about career plans, the long-term variety. He says he has no flight plan to share. "We're making music now really only because we want to and it's the music that we want to play and hear. We're not doing this for the money anymore, we're doing this because we're friends and we love it. The challenges come from inside the band now."

That's nice to hear, as I always got the sense after the infamous 'Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)', The Offspring were always trying to hit the jackpot again (just listen to 'Original Prankster' or 'Hit That'). But I get the sense that on Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, the band just put out an album that they wanted to make. Although fan reception, at least as far as I can tell on the Internet, has been overwhelmingly positive (many say it's the best album since Ixnay or Americana), it's not really because the album is The Offspring's tried-and-true punk rock formula (although in some songs, it is) but because it really feels like they tried on this album. There's not much filler, if any at all, and it's just a pleasure to listen to. Holland had said the band was going to hang it up once they hit 40 (he's now 43), so this is just a happy bonus.

Blind no more

I picked up my new glasses today; so far, they feel pretty good. For the price I was able to get them at, it's definitely better than my alternative plan - which was to order glasses online, where getting frames similar to those I had before would've cost markedly more. I ended up giving up the transitions, figuring that they probably weren't the best idea to wear in a professional setting...maybe I'll get prescription sunglasses down the road.

While these frames resemble my first pair more, the lens are not as boxy and thus provide a much better look (in my opinion).

Weirdest directions ever

The assembly instructions for Ikea furniture (which is where I ordered mine from) are mildly amusing. They are completely wordless and have humorous two-window comics to give advice (can't read direction? Call Ikea!). The directions seem a bit more daunting, if only that the numbers appear to be completely out of order. It ain't like building a Lego set.

Doing my part

While it's hard not to see that the economy has been slowing down, I've been doing my part to prop it up - and I didn't even get one of those damn rebate checks. Buying everything I need to sleep in (mattress, bedding), along with the furniture (bed, desk, dresser) has set me back a little bit. But don't blame me for not doing my best to push the economic indicators along.

Maybe not so bad

I've always thought I was a bit overweight in recent times; being at school never particularly helped encourage exercise - the gym was always crowded, and, excepting the last semester, I was chronically busy. I've lost a fair bit of weight so far this summer (not enough in my mind), but the doctor said during my physical that my blood pressure was perfectly normal.

Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought...that ought to please a certain someone who was weary of hearing about how fat I claimed to be.

Aaaaaaaaaaand...that's all she wrote

When I was younger - mostly in middle school, but a little in high school as well - I would listen to the local sports talk radio station, WFAN 660-AM, fanatically. I knew the entire schedule, all of the hosts, and even some of the frequent callers. However, as I grew older, I became particularly disillusioned with the biggest show on the station (outside of the now-defunct Imus In The Morning), the weekday afternoon program Mike and the Mad Dog. Hosted by Mike Francesa and Chris Russo (the 'Mad Dog' who was more like a yelping puppy at his best), the show would often devolve into one (or both) of them yelling mindlessly over the people who were calling in. Francesa came off as an arrogant bastard, while Russo was just an idiot, plain and simple.

So it comes with a hearty platter of schadenfraude that I read today that the show is likely coming to an end. It's not that Francesa or Russo won't find another gig, but they are paid an obscene amount of money to do a job that the average sports fan in the Tri-State area would do better. Getting paid nearly a cool million and a half to do what they do...WFAN would do better by replacing them (and a lot of the rest of the useless roster of hosts) with new, younger, and most importantly, more knowledgeable, talent.

This kinda sums it up

This really boils down the thinking between the two major political parties in America (hat tip to Eschaton):

What do you see as the gravest long-term threat to the U.S. economy?

Obama: If we don’t get a handle on our energy policy, it is possible that the kinds of trends we’ve seen over the last year will just continue. Demand is clearly outstripping supply. It’s not a problem we can drill our way out of. It can be a drag on our economy for a very long time unless we take steps to innovate and invest in the research and development that’s required to find alternative fuels. I think it’s very important for the federal government to have a role in that process.

McCain: Well, I would think that the absolute gravest threat is the struggle that we’re in against Islamic extremism, which can affect, if they prevail, our very existence. Another successful attack on the United States of America could have devastating consequences. You’ve been a supporter of climate-change legislation that would essentially impose a penalty on the use of fossil fuel.

Seriously, Islamic extremism is the most serious long-term threat to the American economy? I guess McCain was more insightful than he realized when he let everyone know he didn't know a damn about economics.

The good guys never stay around long enough

While I was in Philly this weekend, I happened upon the sad news that George Carlin passed away. I'm not his most rabid fan - I've only listened to several of his bits on YouTube - but it was enough to know that he was one of the best comedians around, and he far surpasses just about any comedian that's around today. He'll be missed...and to get a sense of how popular he was, just check out Digg. I've never seen an article get Dugg so much.

Rest in peace.