Refreshed
Today, I decided I would go to the bank to do things that people do at banks, minus that whole robbing scene, I don't go for that sort of thing. It was freezing out, and extremely windy in Oswego today. I didn't care, this is what Oswego is always like. I went to my car, which, to my delight, started right up. I was amazed. I got to the main entrance to leave the college and I had to wait at a red light. My car then started to make sounds, those sounds you never want to hear your car make, like it was about to spit up a lung or something. The light turned green and I decided to ignore the sounds and continue with my journey. My car stalled (surprise surprise) and I was barely able to get out of the middle of the intersection.
So there I sat, my car freezing over, not starting. So, like anyone who likes to pretend they know what's wrong with their car, I got out and looked under the hood. From what I could tell, everything seemed to be fine. There was no sign of things on fire, and nothing looked like it needed to be stuck back together with gum. I tried to start my car again, but no dice. I called UP and waited for them to show up to help me get my car started.
As I stood outside with the car hood up, waiting for UP, I encountered about 15 good samaritans looking to help a fellow human in need, all in about five minutes. All of these kind people stopped and rolled down their windows, mind you on one of the coldest days we've had up here in a while, and asked me if I needed help, or if I had help coming. I was amazed at the kindness generated towards me by all of these strangers. Now, this was a busy intersection, but none of them had to stop, none of them had to say anything to me. They did, and I was grateful. As I stood there, I wondered if I would be a person who would stop. Would I be a good samaritan? I like to think that I would be, but I don't think I would. Maybe when the next opportunity presents itself, my time will come.
I waited for a bit, and tried to start my car and it started, and kept running. I informed UP when they got there that I was fine and thanked them for their concern. I drove away with a smile despite the fact that my car is generally a wimp and can't handle a little cold weather.
‘Caravan’ vid made and uploaded
If you can stand the sound of me singing go ahead and knock yourself out.
That should appease the anonymous commenters on the lyrics posted last Saturday... I wonder if I'll ever figure out exactly who they were... hmmm.
(ahem)
(Jason and Michelle)
Retail Tales: Odd Buys
(Retail Tales: Hey, I work at Target, one of the largest retailers in the United States. From my viewpoint behind the name tag I see different parts American society coming and going; doing what it loves to do best... consume. I figure: Embrace it, and share my insights. Insights within these posts are my views alone and not that of Target Stores.)
There are a few Target posts I've been mulling over since become full time at the store but I'v e been resisting. I fear that it will become all I ever blog about and I want to make sure that Target is not my life. Writing, on the other hand, is something I wouldn't mind being my life. That means that I've got to crank out the text more often, Target themed though it may be. We'll start with a fun one.
Top selling items that may surprise you:
There are certain items that people ask for every day that you probably expect, batteries, ink cartridges, converter boxes, and the Wii Fit bundle for example. These are items that you also always need, or, you've seen on the news that they are a hot hub-bub generating item. There are other items that I'm either asked about consistently or that I sell nearly as much as the aforementioned items that may surprise you. The items are listed in the order of my increasing shock and disbelief. Keep in mind that this is not indicative of actual Target sales figures and just my personal experience.
CWW: “Caravan”
(Creative Work Weekends: On Fridays The Heathernet will feature a completed or in progress work of creative writing. Constructive feedback and ideas/prompts for more CWWs are always appreciated in the comments.)
Read: "Caravan"
Note: Something a little different this week. Instead of getting something for Michelle for Valentine's Day (since I think it's an abomination of a holiday) I thought about her and was inspired to write a song. A video of me playing the song will be posted later this week if I get up the guts to record it.
CWW delayed
The CWW will be posted sometime tomorrow in "celebration" of Valentine's day. Personally I don't celebrate the holiday but this is how it works out this year.
What if A-Rod were on the Pirates?
On Monday, the truth came out that Alex Rodriguez used steroids while on the Texas Rangers from 2001-2003. A-Rod said he was young, stupid, and naive, and if 26 is young in baseball, then I guess he was telling the truth. However, he also said that the pressure of his huge contract with Texas made him cry every night, crave peanut butter an ice cream, and a little fairy visited him in his dreams and told him to strengthen up unnaturally. Well, I guess he didn't actually say that, and I suppose that stuff never actually happened.
This made me think though, what if A-Rod were on the Pirates? The Pirates, really the laughing stock of the MLB for a lot of years now (and also my favorite team), have low appeal, a small market, and not that much pressure to perform on the players. If he got a contract with the Pirates in 2001, the pressure wouldn't have built up, and A-Rod would now be a squeaky clean baseball god whom everyone would love. I would assume that out of the 103 players on the steroid list with A-Rod, there are not many, if any Pirates players. I only say this because the Pirates are not good, and most of the time their players don't play very well, and well, steroids are supposed to enhance performance, therefore leading me to the conclusion that Pirates players have never even heard of steroids.
But anyway, I guess this relegates A-Rod to the league of super-steroid-star misfits, including guys named Sosa, McGwire, Clemens, and well, some guy named Bonds. It's a shame, I like baseball, it's a great game, but now it's kind of the norm, so I guess I shall just deal. People get all hot and bothered about Michael Phelps and his bong filled with Mary Jane, but until and if the day comes when he tells all of us that he used steroids to get his medals, which I hope he never will have to do, I will respect him. A-Rod, boy oh boy you've gone and done it. Let's see how many home runs he hits in his career starting this season, and maybe one day he will be respected, and be considered great once again
CWW: Excerpt from ‘The Field’
(Creative Work Weekends: On Fridays The Heathernet will feature a completed or in progress work of creative writing. Constructive feedback and ideas/prompts for more CWWs are always appreciated in the comments.)
Read: Excerpt from 'The Field'
Note: This is an excerpt from a longer piece I wrote for a fiction class in Spring of 2007 called 'The Field.' For those of you who know me best, the subject matter of this piece will certainly make you snicker at me.
Heath’s Twitter
- Sports are stupid. They make me mad. And that's stupid. 3 hours ago
- Aaaaah, who am I? This is not what I do!! http://t.co/1G1wt9Rp 2 days ago
- Watching NOVA always reminds me of my dad. Half of what I know in this world was learned Tuesday nights at 9. 4 days ago
