Archive for personal

Pet Peevin’: Stuff that drives me nuts

Posted in Coca Cola, Pepsi, pet peeves, random, soda with tags , , , on September 6, 2007 by Paxton

Drive Me NutsI missed last week, and I’m sorry. I was sick Thursday and Friday, then the long weekend with the Auburn game (WAR EAGLE, 1-0, BABY!!) led me to being lazy and not posting anything. My bad. Can’t say it won’t happen again as I’m notoriously lazy, but que sera sera.

However, the article you see before you is what I was going to post last week, but I never finished it. It’s about a few things that I’ve been thinking about that drive me crazy or really irritate me….some “pet peeves”, if you will (and I know you will). Maybe you have the same ones, maybe not. I’m just saying these things drive me up the f’n wall, my friends. I’m pretty sure a few of them are ones that not many other people have, but I thought I’d share them anyway. If you do any of these, I’m sorry in advance…but I hate you. Enjoy!

Shopping CartPeople not returning their carts to the cart corral. OMG this absolutely drives me nuts. Supermarkets, Wal-Mart, Target, you name it, and people will leave their carts in the middle of a parking spot. I’ve actually returned 5 or 6 abandoned carts to the corral before even walking into the store. I’ve seen abandoned carts in parking spots that actually sit RIGHT NEXT to the cart corral. That’s just f’n lazy, people. God forbid you walk your cart 10-15 ft to the nearest cart corral. Yes, I have been in the situation where the nearest cart return is on another aisle (usually when you park close to the front of the store). In that case, I take the cart back to the store. It’s a cop-out to say they have people to put the carts away. Yeah, nevermind the fact that it makes the parking lot an obstacle course when you are trying to park with all of these abandoned shopping carts littering the landscape like dead bodies. RETURN YOUR CARTS PEOPLE!!!

concession standLeaving your movie seat looking like a popcorn/soda bomb exploded. Goes along with the first one. It’s a cop-out to say they have people to clean it up. How hard is it to take the leftover bag and cup and drop it in the trashcan on the way out of the movie? I’m not saying you have to sweep up, but damn, people, throw away your trash.

I was in Taco Bell the other day (that itch you have to scratch every once in a while) and this lady came in carrying her 4 or 5 year old son by the waist. Not only was she carrying him by the waist, but the kid had no shirt or shoes on. I’m sitting there trying to eat my taco-y lunch and this kid starts running around half naked. I don’t know about you, but that completely spoils my appetite. WTF?! Lady, this ain’t your living room, dress your kids!!!

If you read this blog, you know I love sodas. Well, the next few have to do mainly with sodas.

Coke vs PepsiWhy when you go to restaurants can you only get Coke or Pepsi? When you order a beer, can you only get Budweiser? How about wine? Can you only buy Robert Mondavi’s labels? It’s absurd. I’m mainly a Pepsi drinker, so when I go to a restaurant and they only have Coke products, I’m screwed. The only Coke drink I like is Coke Zero, which is usually never available (another pet peeve). And the only diet drink they usually offer is Diet Coke, which I hate with a fiery passion. For me, it’s really hard to justify the 150 calories you’ll be drinking if you get regular non-diet sodas. Why must soda companies divide their markets like this? It’s so unbelievably frustrating. This also happens in fast food joints and movie theaters. It’s either Coke or Pepsi, but never both. WHY?!

Coke SelectionsThe lack of diet soda options in soda machines and/or restaurants. I prefer mostly Diet Pepsi, Diet Mountain Dew or Diet Dr. Pepper. If I’m lucky, I can get one of these, rarely two, but NEVER all three. And if the place only sells Coke, my choice is Diet Coke and that’s it. I HATE DIET COKE. The soda machines here at work have Coke and Pepsi. My diet options? Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke. There are at least 20 soda options between the Coke and Pepsi machine and I have TWO diet options. WTF?! That’s right, I get no Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Dr Pepper, Sprite Zero or Coke Zero? If I want those, I’m SOL. Do people really drink that much full strength Pepsi and Coke products? Yikes. I go to Subway right by work for lunch. Subway is a fairly good, healthy place (in comparison to others) and they offer only Diet Coke as a diet soda option. Every once in a while, they stock Sprite Zero 20oz bottles in the cooler, but you pay extra for that. Hell, I would pay extra for a Coke Zero, but they don’t even stock THAT!! The fountain? Diet Coke only. That’s just sorry, and it drives me bananas.

Coke ZeroCoke Zero. I really like Coke Zero. However, why doesn’t Coke offer it anywhere? Restaurants and movie theaters that carry Coke have yet to stock Coke Zero in the fountain (a few have, but not many) and most soda machines do not have it. Steph and I went to the movies Monday afternoon and saw an ad for Coke Zero before the movie. Intersting considering AMC does not serve Coke Zero. I personally think Diet Coke should be retired and fed to the dogs and Coke Zero should replace it……for good. But that’s just me. Coke, you have these great ads for Coke Zero, how about offering it up at more places than the local gas station?

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What Have I Been Doing?

Posted in Harry Potter, humor, life, random with tags , on July 25, 2007 by Paxton

Pick a Number
Pick a Number…

Pick a Color
Pick a Color…

Reading Harry Potter

The little paper thing says to stop bothering me and let me finish Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

College Graduation: 10 Year Anniversary

Posted in college life, Flickr, holiday, humor, life, personal with tags , on June 13, 2007 by Paxton

Auburn UniversityJune 13. On this day in 1997, I walked in the graduation ceremony at Auburn University. Hard to believe it’s been 10 years since that day. Today is Wednesday, but in 1997 it was a Friday. That’s right, I graduated on Friday the 13th, pretty cool, huh? I had received and accepted a job offer right after Spring Break 1997 so my last few months were spent trying not to fail my last few courses. I was scheduled to attend job training for seven weeks starting that August, however, several friends that were going to work at the same company changed their training to June 16th, the Monday after graduation. I thought, “what the hell…”, so on Sunday, June 15th, I boarded a plane for Dallas, TX to begin my new job (well, training). It’s been a whirlwind since then. Wow.

In honor of this day, let’s take a trip down memory lane and see a few pics of me in college and during the aforementioned training in Dallas. Sound good?

Follow me.

Auburn ID
LOL…okay, this is my college id. Stop laughing. This photo was taken in June 1992. I used this id throughout college. You can click on the picture to see a larger version. Maybe even use it as your desktop wallpaper. Stop laughing. I only got a new id during my Senior year when I believed I would have to turn in my id when I graduated. Obviously I didn’t. Stop laughing. Even though I grew up in Alabama, I was a surfer at heart. Stop laughing.

GRAD1
Here I am right after the graduation ceremony. I’m posing with the sign telling the business grads where to sit. At this point, I now have a Bachelor’s of Science in Management Information Systems. I was so excited to be a college graduate. In two days I’d be flying off to Dallas to begin my career as a consultant (which would last for the next 8 years).

GRAD2
Here I am with my parents right after graduation. This is just outside the basketball coliseum where the graduation was held. There is no diploma in the black case I am holding. The diplomas were mailed out separately after the administration had checked that you don’t have any unpaid library fees, tuition, outstanding warrants or misdemeanors. I mean, I did, of course, but that’s a tale for another blog article.

ROOM1
This is my room senior year. I lived in an apartment complex called The Patio with my brother. I only lived there my senior year as my roommate the past 4 years had graduated. Tidy, isn’t it? That computer on the desk was top-of-the-line for 1996, when I got it. 133Mhz Pentium processor with 16Mb of RAM. 16!!! Oh, it also had a SCREAMING FAST 28.8Kbps modem as there was no cable internet at the time. I don’t know how I got any work done on it. Nowadays, it would be like trying to figure out your taxes on an abacus.

Well, that was fun. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. You can click on any of them to get bigger versions. Please, feel free to comment or email me to give me hell about my college id picture. Trust me, everyone does. 🙂

I may have a wrap up article on Friday. Stay tuned.

New Doritos…oh, and my birthday

Posted in food, holiday, personal, reviews with tags , on May 10, 2007 by Paxton

Happy Bday
Well, yesterday was my 33rd birthday. Yay! My age finally matches Larry Bird’s number. How cool is that? I say, “Very.” My wife says, “Not so much” (what does she know?).

I had a good birthday. My wife got me a Polar Running Computer which is a running watch that also monitors your heart rate and times your intervals for you. I love it and can’t wait to use it. I also got some work clothes and some really cool gift certificates to my favorite stores. One of my friends and regular readers sent me a package of Garbage Pail Kids. Man, that was an awesome gift. I might turn that into a blog article, so stay tuned. For food, the wife and I grilled filet mignon and ate dinner just the two of us. Lots of fun, lots of wine. Typical Holley birthday. Thank you.

New DoritosBeing lucky because it was my birthday, I finally found the two new Doritos flavors that are fighting to be the newest addition to the ever present Dorito lineup. Click the image to the left to go to the “Fight For the Flavor” website. At this website you can vote to see which of the two flavors to the left are going to be the newest flavor of Doritos chips. The two flavors are Wild White Nacho and Smokin’ Cheddar BBQ. Let me tell you one thing, they are both GOOD. It’s going to be tough seeing one of these go. I probably like both of them better than Cool Ranch, but not as much as regular Nacho. However, if I have to pick a winner, in my own mind Wild White Nacho is the Rocky Balboa to Smokin’ Cheddar BBQ’s Ivan Drago. Wild White Nacho is almost as good as the saintly Nacho Cheese. And that’s saying A LOT. However, rush out and try some on your own, they are worth it.

Hostess Cup CakesYou know what else I found today? Hostess Apple Spice cupcakes. I thought they only sold these around Christmas time. Holy crap-in-a-hat these are divine. These things are like little apple-spice tears from heaven. Fluffs of clouds that have been lightly spiced with apples and frosting. It doesn’t get much better than this. If you can find these…GET THEM. So. F’n. Good.

Anyhow, I’ll probably have a more traditional article for you next week. I’ve been somewhat lazy because work has been kicking my butt and it’s been my birthday (which, in my mind, lasts a week). So, I’ll work on that article and get back with you early next week. Sound good?

Good.

PEACE!!!!!

Friday night before Paris

Posted in France, Paris, personal, roadtrip with tags , , on March 17, 2007 by Paxton

Paris by Night

Well, it’s about 10:40pm EST. My wife is dozing on the couch. We just finished watching the movie French Kiss. Sounds like a typical Friday night, and it would be, except when we get up Saturday morning we are going to the airport to fly to Paris, France. I. CAN’T. WAIT. We’ve been planning this trip for over a year, I can’t believe it’s finally here. Since I’m going to be a little busy, I’m probably not going to get an article out next week. I’ll try to post some pictures or something, but I guarantee nothing.

Hope everyone has a good weekend and week. I’ll see you on the other side.