FourBux

But he said he’d call!

It could have been fixed with a phone call.

Just one time, I’d like one of the simple services that others in my life seem to enjoy without incident to go the same way for me.

On the fourth of July, while driving back from getting ice cream, my windshield was chipped by some kind of road debris. Not a big deal, right? The next morning, I call up Geico and file a claim, and they hook me up with a local windshield repair company here in town, whose big selling point is that all work is done within 24 hours of the call. They’ll be out to repair the chip between 8AM and 12PM the next day, which would be Friday. Works for me. I’ll be at the office, and they will call me when they’re on the way so I can meet them at the car. Or so they say…
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Friday the Thirteenth

Nothing particularly scary here today, unless you consider wasting money frightening. Sometimes it keeps me up at night, so maybe it does you, too.

Have you seen this? I’m not sure what irks me more, the demolition of a $600 phone just to see if you can, or the fact that after enduring all the stupid media hype about these iPhones, this clown is the guy who got to toast one.

They did this to sell us a blender. Because we need a machine that will chew through metal and concrete and diamonds so we can blend our banana smoothies and margaritas and iron-ore flavored Italian ice.

And we wonder why the rest of the world hates us.

Merriam-Webster hates us

Breaking news for all you wordsmiths out there: the new list of words added to the English Dictionary is out for 2007. The verdict? One more indication that society as we know it is circling the cosmic bowl. Better hang on to something.

Some of my favorites:

bada-bing - int. Remind me to see if yadda yadda is in there.
crunk - n. Well, foshizzle. It’s about damn time.
Disneyfication - n. Don’t blame me - I voted for Pixarification.
ginormous - adj. Great. Just what the dictionary needed. Another blend of two words that mean the same thing. For those noncommittal types.
hooptie - n. Because “sedan” was just too hard to spell.
Lollywood - n. Seriously?

Scrabble fans everywhere shudder.

So I missed out on this one too?

Turns out the blog is dead. Everyone says so. Well, everyone who has followed blogs from the beginning. People like Nils over at NDNL (No Dependencies No Logo). A cool site for other information too - especially if you like a minimalist look.

Well, color me embarrassed. No wonder I could get 2,000 of these things made so cheaply - somehow I’ve managed to combine two passe fads into one really, really sad experiment.

No, not really. Thankfully, mine is only for funsies, but someone should probably tell Cafepress.

Blogging for bucks – me love you long time.

Well, it’s happened to me. Just like the rest of you, I imagine.

What I started as a hobby has quickly become work. At least work-ish. And off in the distance, I can see the run away “obsession” train a-comin’. Can you hear it? You’re probably on it - save me a seat.

Back when I was little, my answer to the “what do you want to be when you grow up” question was always “an artist.” However, I learned early on that while it was what I enjoyed doing, it’s tough to make a buck. Much less a lot of bucks, and I like bucks. Graphic design is kind of like art, and much easier to charge by the hour for, so, eh, let’s go that direction for a while. It’s been years since I did any kind of “fine” art – for example, though she’s seen some of my work, my wife has never seen me paint. I barely draw anymore. Doodling is about the best that I can do on a regular basis, and that’s only because I can get away with it in a meeting. The point? The point kids, is that I turned my hobby into a job. Do I really want to do that with another hobby, such as writing?
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It’s the little things that count

Since I’m at the office now, and can’t really do anything about the newly impending move, I thought I’d take some time to clean off my desk. I came across this project I did for my old supervisor, and I thought you all might enjoy it.

The old department manager was extremely proud of his shiny black Cadillac Escalade. He never missed an opportunity to talk about how it had run-flat tires, 22″ wheels, sixteen-speaker stereo, held the Kleenex while he blew his nose, or that he vacuumed its floor in a checkerboard pattern like the outfield sod at Wrigley Field. What? You don’t?

Anyway, every time he had something done to it, whether it was detailed, or received newer wheels, or whatever, he wanted photos taken. Not particularly good with anything electronic, he had whoever was handy come outside and snap some pictures of him and his huge ride. This usually fell to our internal newsletter editor/photographer or myself, since I was the only artist within reach. Either way, a wonderful use of resources, if you ask me.

So when it came time for him to move on and sell his pride and joy, I was called upon to do the farewell photo shoot for the Classified ads. Given that it was hot outside and I actually had things to do on a deadline, I wasn’t thrilled with the latest assignment. I went out side, said some dumb things like “work it, work it” and “make love to the camera” while I stood there and pretty much just pointed and clicked. Back in the office I told him that it would take a few minutes to compile the photos and generate the thumbnails for him. You can’t see it in the thumbnail, but after the jump you’ll see my little parting gift to him.
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