I’m Not The Only One

One of the reasons I haven’t had much time or energy to blog regularly (besides having the flu) is a job I got about three weeks ago as a seasonal employee for a toy retailer.  Because of a no-blogging agreement I signed as a condition of employment, I’m not going to reveal the name of this company.

My duties in this job is basically to maintain a particular section of the store and assist customers looking for toys within that section.  Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of customers annoy me with their ignorant bullshit paranoia about toys from China.

Here’s a quick rundown of the goofy crapola I have to stomach on a daily basis: (more…)

It’s not everyday I find this great an example of how inefficient government can be, and that the free market can often do a far better job at some things than the government.

Over here in New York State we have this agency called Off-Track Betting or OTB. This state agency has local gambling parlors to offer New Yorkers the convenience of throwing away their money without having to physically travel to New York City’s two local race tracks. The agency started in 1971 and is well-known around here.

Here’s the big joke: Last month, the Mayor said the OTB offices in New York City have to shut down because they aren’t profitable. This despite the fact that gamblers place an average of $1 billion in bets annually.

Now I don’t know much about gambling, but the OTB is basically a state-sponsored bookie for various horse races. Don’t bookies make money no matter which horse wins? Only government could create a bookie that doesn’t make any money!

About two weeks and a day to be exact since I last posted.

I do apologize for the unexplained delay. I have the unbelievably bad luck of becoming physically ill around finals time. For those of you who have been paying attention, I am in my last semester of college and am completing my undergrad degree.

Long story short, last week I developed a severe pain in my right lower wisdom tooth and it had to be extracted. The pain was so unbearable I lost sleep, and my personal self-prescription consisting on Tylenol and herbal anesthesia was simply not strong enough to dull the pain. At the same time I had acquired the flu (despite the fact that I had received a flu shot October 25) and was basically sick in bed with a sore throat hocking up my body weight in phlegm and sleeping for about 12-14 hours a day. This was of course on days when I didn’t have to show up for my new job or class.

Long story short I had to finish my 10-page Barack Obama research paper this weekend, racking up a grand total of five hours of sleep in the last three days as of Monday afternoon. Did I mention that my left lower wisdom tooth is in pain now (since Sunday) and also requires extraction? Unfortunately, my dental clinic won’t be able to squeeze me in until this Wednesday, not that big a deal considering the pain isn’t half as severe as last week’s wisdom tooth episode. Plus the dentist gave me a prescription last week for painkillers so I’m doing relatively better.

Needless to say, the last two weeks have been interesting. I promise to blog again…sooner than you think.