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Chevy’s Fresh Mex Restaurant
Posted 8:15 PM, Oct 31, 2004 |
October 31, 2004
[Real Address Removed]
Chevy’s Fresh Mex Restaurant
701 S. Hennepin Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55403
To Whom It May Concern:
I visited your restaurant on Saturday, October 30th, around 6 P.M. While waiting for the rest of my party to arrive, one of your employees, a “runner” for the evening, came to the hosting stand where a member of Chevy’s management was working with another host. She began to complain loudly to the manager about her shift and how she was unneeded and “irrelevant” for the evening. She was, essentially, causing a scene in the first place a customer would see upon entering the restaurant.
To his credit, the manager or senior staff member handled her complaint quietly and, from what I could tell, professionally. He did an excellent job defusing the situation, calming the employee, and maintained a respectful approach. Even after the upset employee left the hosting stand, the manager and other host staff discussed the issue in a professional manner and at a low, professional volume.
Unfortunately, I do not know the name of the management staff member who dealt with the incident; he deserves to be commended.
The rest of the dining experience was completely satisfactory; the server was polite and the food arrived quickly and was of a high quality.
My purpose in writing this letter is that I felt the management staff member I witnessed that evening deserved to be commended for both the professional way in which he dealt with his employees as well as my general experience that evening.
Sincerely,
[Real Name Removed]
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Totino’s (General Mills)
Posted 10:19 PM, Oct 28, 2004 |
Update #1: Received from General Mills on 10/28/04.
[Real Name Removed]
Dear [Real Name Removed]:
Thank you got contacting us regarding your disappointment with Totino’s pizza rolls. As a responsible manufacturer, we strive to produce high quality products. We are sorry your experience did not meet the standards we expect from our products, and are thankful that you took the time to share your thoughts.
We appreciate your comments and hope you continue to enjoy our products.
Sincerely,
[Real Name Removed]
Encl: Three coupons, each good for one free package of Totino’s products.
Estimated value: approximately $9.00
Percent return on 37-cent stamp: 2,432%
::
September 26, 2004
[Return Address Removed]
General Mills, Inc.
Number One General Mills Blvd.,
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55426,
Attn: Consumer Services.
To Whom It May Concern:
I recently purchased two bags of your Totino’s Pizza Rolls (one of the Ham & Cheese variety, and one of the Cheesy Taco variety). Apart from that being a whole lot of cheese, both bags of rolls were nearly inedible.
I followed the instructions on the package for microwave preparation. The rolls came out doughy, mushy, chewy, and nothing like what I had expected, or what I had experienced in the past with other pizza rolls (produced by General Mills and other companies). I prepared them on several occasions, and had the same result each time.
Overall, my Totino’s Pizza Roll experience was not what one would consider “desirable,” “encouraging,” or even “edible.”
I don’t know if there was something wrong with the particular batch of rolls I purchased, although I doubt it, considering I had the same experience with both varieties.
If you have changed something in the ingredients with your Totino’s Pizza Rolls, allow me to take this opportunity to suggest you change it back.
Sincerely,
[Real Name Removed]
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Small Living
Posted 10:47 PM, Oct 27, 2004 |
Today was the third day in a row I went to the grocery store, each day just getting what I could carry in two hands. Shopping takes me about 5 minutes, and will take even less once I figure out where everything is in the store. This is the way to go.
No more multiple trips from the car, up the apartment steps (or in the elevator). No more standing in long lines, because apparently nobody else is shopping at 4:15 on a weekday. No more making long lists, because even I can remember 4 things.
And, like, go Red Sox, and stuff.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill
Posted 10:45 PM, Oct 26, 2004 |
Update #1: Received from Chipotle at 3040 Excelsior on 10/26/04.
Dear [Real Name Removed].
I am writing this letter in response to your thoughtful act of sending a letter to our company. We here at Calhoun Chipotle would like to express our appreciation to you. I am pleased that this particular experience you had was great. I would also like to thank you for frequenting Chipotle as much as you do. Our goal as a restaurant is to go above and beyond all the time. Thank you for noticing and being gracious enough to write us about it. Here is two free burritos. When you come to redeem these two burritos, please let us know you are here, so we may shake your hand.
Sincerely Calhoun Chipotle management.
[Real Names Removed]
Encl: Two free burrito coupons.
Estimated value: $11.70.
Percent return on 37-cent stamp: 3,162%
::
October 10, 2004
[Return Address Removed]
Chipotle Mexican Grill
3040 Excelsior Blvd.
Minneapolis, MN 55416
To Whom It May Concern:
I had lunch around 11:15 AM at your restaurant on Saturday, October 9th, 2004. While waiting to pay, someone (I presume the manager on duty; he was dressed in a gray polo shirt) asked me how I was doing. His manner was courteous, polite, and professional, and outside the realm of the usual order-and-pay that I experience at your restaurant.
As I was enjoying my meal (which was tasty, by the way), he stopped by and asked me how everything was. Again, above and beyond the normal Chiptole experience.
Finally, as I was finishing my meal, I noticed him outside clearing off tables and throwing trash away for customers who had already finished their presumably-tasty meals.
All three of these little incidents made it clear that this employee, whose name I did not get, was doing an excellent job. Overall, he made an excellent impression at a restaurant that, to be honest, I frequent anyway and have never had problems with. His willingness to go above and beyond was like extra-spicy salsa – just what the doctor ordered.
Sincerely,
[Real Name Removed]
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Trombones
Posted 10:55 AM, Oct 26, 2004 |
I am endeared to paper clips just because the French word for paper clips is trombones. Look at them - they’re like little trombones. That’s adorable.
Follow-up: While moving my mouse to post the above tidbit, I knocked over the box of trombones on my desk. Suddenly, less adorable.
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Poll Crazy
Posted 6:12 PM, Oct 25, 2004 |
With 8 days left until the election (or so I heard), things have gone poll crazy. There are hundreds of polls out there, all polling different groups of people with different questions, different biases, different methodologies, and all ending up with different results.
The result for those who are trying to make sense of the polls is complete confusion and the risk of being misled, unless you realize a poll is just a bunch of random people asking a bunch of questions about which you know nothing. If you look at a poll that way, then you’ll probably be ok.
This site is essentially a “meta-poll,” taking the results of a bunch of polls and mixing them together through the magic of mathematics.
This site does the same thing, although apparently with different methods or different math.
Confused?
A local television station released a Congressional poll today. Mark Kennedy was leading 52% to 38%. Patty Wetterling said, “The only poll I care about is the one on November 2nd.” Then, later today, the Wetterling campaign released their own poll, showing the two candidates tied at 44%.
These are polls that were taken at the same time, although the partisan makeup of those polled differed, but according to the local television station, not substantially enough to warrant the drastically different results reported by the Wetterling camp.
Personally, I don’t care about Kennedy and Wetterling, apart from her atrocious fashion sense. (Kennedy is no Versace, either.) I just have some concern that these polls are all bandied about with each person finding the one that has the results they’re looking for.
It’s just more political spin, but people don’t have the common sense to make heads or tails out of the mathematics or methodology behind it.
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No Recipient
Posted 10:37 PM, Oct 24, 2004 |
I thought all day today about who to write this week’s letter to. The fact of the matter is that I haven’t gone out and done much this week, apart from baseball. I could write a letter to the Yankees, congratulating them for their complete collapse. I could write a letter to Fox about how horrible their baseball coverage is, filled with inane commentary and interviews with Jimmy Fallon.
But instead, I’m not writing to anyone. It’s not for lack of effort, it’s for lack of experience this week.
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Jon Stewart
Posted 4:40 PM, Oct 24, 2004 |
Jon Stewart is everywhere. He’s on The Daily Show, he has a book out, he’s on 60 Minutes tonight, and he was wreaking havoc on CNN’s Crossfire, with a transcript here.
I’ve seen Crossfire a couple times, and Stewart is right: Tucker Carlson is a dick, and the show is pretty lame, as is most media. And anyone who gets on Stewart’s case for not asking the “real questions” is an idiot.
Jon Stewart should run for public office. I’d vote for him. I’d move to wherever he was running, and vote for him.
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Day of Rest
Posted 8:11 AM, Oct 22, 2004 |
Things have been nutty around here. Too many Game 7s to handle.
Actually, there isn’t much to report. My life has consisted, mainly, of working and then going home to watch baseball.
Yesterday, instead, I went out for drinks, came home, and passed out on the couch after 2 pitches of the Cards/Astros game. I ended up getting about 10.5 hours of sleep, which is magnificent. Today there is no baseball, which is also magnificent.
Fans, like teams, need a little rest before the Series.
I’ll take the Cards in 6 games.
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Yankee (Fans) Suck
Posted 11:13 PM, Oct 19, 2004 |
As if I don’t detest the Yankees enough, Alex Rodriguez and his whiny little antics, Derek Jeter and his ridiculous fist-pumping, and Gary Sheffield’s foolish bat-waving, the fans did the Yankees one better this evening.
Talk about sore losers. They don’t like two calls that were clearly correct, and in the Red Sox’s favor, so they start throwing baseballs on the field and chanting what sounded to me like “Bullshit.” The police have to come out on the field. The players have to leave.
Baseball is supposed to be about the players and the fans and the enjoyment they provide one another. Nice job, you Yankee fools, for taking a little bit away from that.
I complained to the Star Tribune that Twins fans were uninterested and unfaithful, and how I wished I could say they were “just” unruly and obnoxious.
I’ll take unfaithful any day of the week, if the other option is the behavior of those Yankee buffoons.
And, since I’m an equal opportunity writer, Curt Schilling claiming that tonight’s pitching performance was “God’s work” is Christian foolishness. It doesn’t make a difference if you’re a Christian or not, or a Red Sox fan or not. To say that your pitching performance is evidence of God working in your life is complete and utter hogwash.
Or maybe God is just a Red Sox fan.
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More Baseball
Posted 10:35 PM, Oct 18, 2004 |
Lately I’ve been watching more baseball than you can shake, well, a bat at. Every game is longer than the one before, at least in the ALCS.
I’m still picking the Yankees, against my will, and still picking the Cardinals, against my better thinking. If it’s Yankees - Astros, I’m sure I’ll watch, and I’m sure I’ll cheer for the Astros, but can’t at least one interesting team make it?
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AMC Arbor Lakes 16
Posted 11:59 PM, Oct 17, 2004 |
October 17, 2004
[Return Address Removed]
AMC Arbor Lakes 16
12575 Elm Creek Boulevard
Maple Grove, MN 55369
To Whom It May Concern:
On October 16th, I went to a 2:50 showing of Garden State. At least, 2:50 was the time posted as the showtime. In reality, it turned out to be more like 3:20, for a couple reasons.
First of all, after paying my $6 ticket price (since your theater is now an AMC, rather than a MegaStar, there is no more bargain matinee), I was treated to about 20 minutes of advertising for products like Reese’s Pieces and Coca-Cola. I’m used to seeing these advertisements on the free television I watch at home, but am not used to having to pay $6 to watch them. I also remember when your theater was a MegaStar and I wasn’t routinely treated to close to a half-hour of advertisements with my (then) cheaper ticket. I suppose all good things must come to an end.
After the advertisements were finished, the screen went blank and the paying customers were treated to several minutes of complete silence while waiting for a movie that should have started 20 to 30 minutes ago. Eventually, one of your paying customers had to leave the theater and find a member of the AMC staff to tell them that the film had not started, and it didn’t appear like it was going to. A few minutes later, the film began, nearly 40 minutes after the posted showtime.
When you’ve eliminated matinee bargain prices and started showing a multitude of advertisements before every movie, your customer service and staff need to be right on top of things, even more than usual. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case on the 16th – not even close.
I’m disappointed with your theater, as it used to be my theater of choice. Honestly, I may visit it again, but if I do, I’ll make sure to show up 30 minutes after the posted time. In the future, I recommend thinking more about the paying customers and providing a service than seeing how much profit you can squeeze out of every possible avenue.
Sincerely,
[Real Name Removed]
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Star Tribune Commentary
Posted 2:02 PM, Oct 17, 2004 |
Update #1: My letter to the Star Tribune (below) was published in this Saturday’s (October 16th) Star on page A21, under: “Take them out to a playoff game: Most who follow the Twins aren’t true fans.” The online version is here.
::
I sent the following to the Star Tribune for consideration as a publication as a Commentary article or Letter to the Editor. As such, it’s a bonus entry to this week’s To Whom It May Concern. The sentiments are old, but the letter is new. Enjoy.
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Baseball season here in Minnesota has come and gone, once again. For the third year in a row, it didn’t last as long as I (and many others) would have liked. The Twins bowed out early again, but, unlike some other area residents, I contend the season wasn’t a total loss. To wit:
I attended both the October 9th and October 10th Minnesota Twins games and was, of course, disappointed that the Twins lost both games. However, of almost equal disappointment was the behavior of the fans at both games.
I would love to be able to say the fans were “just” unruly, rude, or obnoxious. My complaint, however, is actually that they showed little emotion and even less faith in their team.
Once the Twins fell behind 8-1 in Friday’s game, fans started to leave in droves. This is at least understandable. However, in Saturday’s game, fans left during the 9th and 10th innings, at which point the Twins were tied with the New York Yankees. This is, in a word, inexplicable.
After Lohse’s wild pitch put the Twins behind in the top of the 11th inning, fans started to leave the Metrodome at a much more rapid pace. This is all, mind you, in extra innings of a postseason baseball game.
This year’s postseason illustrates that Twins fans around the Metro aren’t all they’re cracked up be in 3 ways:
1) The fact that the Twins routinely draw around 25,000 fans per home game but draw almost twice that number for postseason fans doesn’t sit quite right. Where are all these other fans during the regular season? At Friday’s game, I sat next to a group that drove 4 hours from South Dakota to attend the game. Granted, they can’t be expected to attend many games, but what about all the Minneapolis / St. Paul residents who seemingly only attend postseason games? This is but one of many signs that there are multitudes of Twins fans who have so little faith in the team that they won’t even go to games until the Twins prove they’re going to make it to the playoffs. Those that only supported the Twins in their playoff run treated Saturday’s game like an encapsulated season: stick with the Twins as long as things are going well, and then make a break for it.
2) I spoke to some fans who left early. They cited reasons like, “The Twins were going to lose,” or, “I wanted to avoid traffic.” I reminded each of these people that the word “fan” comes from the root word “fanatic,” which the 4th Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary defines as, “A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause.” Those that left the game early were, I contend, not fans in the true sense of the word.
3) I didn’t hear a single fan say anything about the Twins’ play throughout the year, their perseverance to get to the postseason, or the sheer enjoyment that comes from having a team, even a losing team, in the postseason.
These were the first two postseason games I’ve attended, and both of them were thrilling (even the 8-1 loss, yes). I appreciated the fact that the Twins made it to the postseason, and gave them well-earned applause even after losing. I’ll continue to wear my Twins hat in support of a fantastic season. Minnesota Twins baseball fans: take a moment to applaud a gritty, determined team in the true sense of the word “team.” And take a few moments to consider the true sense of the word “fan” over the long winter.
—-
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Gaming
Posted 11:59 PM, Oct 16, 2004 |
First of all, I couldn’t think of a better title.
A couple guys and I just got done tearing through some serious gaming. Tigris & Euphratres, Carcasonne, Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, Goa, and St. Petersburg. Good gaming all around. Lots of thinking. My brain actually hurts a little bit. And it’s late.
Since this site takes about 5 minutes to rebuild and then I have to add multiple categories and rebuild it again, this is all you get.
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Crazy Driver
Posted 10:37 AM, Oct 16, 2004 |
As I was driving to downtown Minneapolis, a guy cut me off. I honked at him, gave him the finger, the hands in the air, the “What are you doing?” routine. He proceeded to get into the lane next to me within a mile, roll down his window, and start to yell at me. I just drove on.
Pretty soon, I realized he was following me into downtown. I sped up, tried to lose him on the interstate, and took my exit. He was still behind me.
I was in the right line and he was in the center lane next to me. He started to edge his truck over into my lane. He wasn’t trying to cut me off, because his front end was about equal with my door. He was just trying to be a pain in the ass and edge into my lane.
The light changed to green, I went around his front end, keeping away from it, and got into the center lane, figuring that from the center lane of a three-lane one-way road, I could turn right or left, keeping my options open.
At the next light, he was right behind me. A car to my right was making a slow right turn. I started to go through the intersection and then, as the right-hand car nearly finished his turn, I made a right turn of about 120 degrees, cutting back across the intersection and across the right lane of traffic. The road we turned right onto was two lanes, so I occupied the leftmost lane, as if there were just two turn lanes anyway.
Since the right-hand car had finished his turn, traffic in the right-hand lane had started to go already right behind my turn, and the other driver couldn’t follow me.
People are crazy. Now, granted, I shouldn’t have given him the finger or anything, although honking was more than appropriate, I content. But it was, ultimately, the other guy’s fault. He’s the one that cut into my lane, made me hit the brakes, not the other way around. If anyone was going to chase anyone, I should’ve been chasing him.
That would’ve been funny - he’s chasing me around the city, and then at some point I hit the brakes and get in a lane behind him and just start to follow him around. God, that would be great.
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This Thing Sucks
Posted 10:32 PM, Oct 14, 2004 |
If you don’t like something, you better have a reason. None of this irrational “This thing sucks.”
I used to be one of these people who would form an opinion about something based on very little fact, state my opinion about it, and then good luck trying to change my mind, even if you pointed out all my reasons were foolish.
So, let me revise:
If you don’t like something, you better have a good reason.
I’m tired of people saying, “I don’t like this,” “I don’t want to do this,” and then when I say, “Why?” they can’t explain themselves. God, that’s just ridiculous.
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Nonlinear Time and Effort
Posted 3:35 PM, Oct 13, 2004 |
It’s amazing to me that some people still think time and effort are linearly related. “If you spent more time doing Task A than I did, you must’ve done a better job.”
Are you serious?
There are people that still think this way. It’s a brazen refusal to admit that different people have different skill levels and entirely different skill sets. It seems so obvious to me, and probably to you, too, reader, but let me assure you, for some it isn’t obvious.
It relates to my job, of course, and I have to be somewhat careful so I don’t get dooced but to say someone deserves extra compensation, whether in terms of comp time, bonuses, or raises, because, “Well, look at their timesheet – you didn’t spend 55 or 60 hours a week here over the summer,” seems silly. You’re right, I didn’t spend that amount of time, for one reason, and it isn’t because I’m lazy. It’s because:
I’m faster.
That’s it, clear and simple. In fact, to me, this makes it seem like I should get extra compensation for being efficient. I don’t think the business world sees it this way.
If I did it faster than you, it must be because I:
a) had an easier job, or
b) didn’t do my job as well as you.
There is some mathematical relationship between time and effort, some level of correlation, but it isn’t a perfect correlation and it isn’t a linear relationship. Unfortunately, many of the people who don’t understand this fact are the same people who have it so ingrained in their minds that explaining it does absolutely no good.
This is one of those things about which I could beat my head against the wall endlessly, but it doesn’t do any good.
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Meta-Post
Posted 10:48 PM, Oct 12, 2004 |
I was going to write about how the Boston Red Sox are the hairiest, most unkempt team I’ve ever seen. This includes hockey teams.
But then I realized what a ridiculous thing that is to write, to talk about.
And then I realized it makes no difference, because virtually nobody is reading this. None of this is to say that I’m going to stop writing - not at all. I just find it odd that I’m even thinking about what I’m writing, when I’m writing to nobody.
It’s like I’m censoring my own little broadcast that about one other person reads.
Fiction writers are routinely taught to “warm up” by writing for 5 minutes or 10 minutes or 1 page or whatever, with the key idea being not censoring themselves. Keep your hands moving, so to speak.
And now this post about posting has bored even me. I couldn’t even last 5 minutes, but if you shrink your browser window, this post is, indeed, 1 page.
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Face Cancer
Posted 12:16 PM, Oct 11, 2004 |
Oh my. I seldom remember my dreams, and last night’s was one I’d like to forget.
I dreamt I had both brain and face cancer. Face cancer, man. And the weird thing is, I found out at work.
This girl I work with was in my dream, and she ran some goofy test and then sent the results to be analyzed. Like, 5 minutes later, the results came back and she told me I had brain and face cancer. In the dream, I passed out on the floor.
I don’t remember a lot of the other details, other than that I was totally, obviously distraught. It was awful.
Not as awful as those dreams where you’re falling, because I get those sometimes, too, but awful nonetheless.
Face cancer, man. Seriously.
It occurs to me now that maybe she was just saying I was going to have to “face cancer,” as in, “deal with.” Maybe. I’m going to think that way, at least.
Face cancer, indeed.
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Yankees: 3, Twins: Who Cares?
Posted 8:49 PM, Oct 9, 2004 |
Who cares? I still care. But again, after attending tonight’s extra-inning affair, most Twins fans apparently don’t.
Fans were leaving in the 9th and 10th innings with the score tied. Bad, right? Try to count the fans leaving after the top of the 11th, with the Twins down 6-5.
Unbelievable. They were flocking to the streets in droves. The aisles were packed with people leaving. I say, “people” because “fans” isn’t even an accurate term.
Let me remind you that the term “fan” comes from the word “fanatic.” The only thing these people were fanatics about is avoiding traffic, apparently.
I honestly can’t believe how poor the fans in Minnesota are. To start with, most regular season games get approximately 25,000. Playoff games get twice that. If you don’t think 25,000 of those fans are fairweather fans, you are absolutely wrong. These are fans that aren’t going to support the team until they’re doing well, and even then, they aren’t going to support the team if they falter in the late innings. Fairweather fans to a tee.
Sad. Sad sad sad.
I wish there were other words to describe it, but there aren’t. If you want a reason why the Twins won’t get a new stadium, I came across about 25,000 of them tonight. If you need more, ask me after next year’s season opener. I’ll be there. Will you? Can you support a team that’s 0-0?
Sad.
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Twins: 1, Yankees: 2
Posted 11:33 PM, Oct 8, 2004 |
So tonight was my first MLB playoff game. The atmosphere was pretty electric when Jones hit a solo homer in the bottom of the first for the lead. Things quieted quickly when the Yankees scored 3 in the 3rd, and people shut up and sat down when the Yankees tacked on 4 more in the 6th.
But you know what? With the Twins down 7-1 in the 7th, people started leaving the goddamn game. I’ll never understand that. First off, I’ll never understand why people leave a game early at all, unless you’ve got somewhere else to go.
If you’re leaving because the home team is losing, then shame on you. Give your ticket to someone who is a fan even when the home team is way behind. Give your ticket to someone who is a fan who believes in comebacks, even the most improbable kind.
Secretly, tonight, I was hoping the Twins would come back so, of course, they would go up 2-1 in the series, but moreso, maybe, so those suckers that left early would miss one of the greatest comebacks in postseason history.
Alas, while the Twins put up a good rally in the 9th, it was far too late.
If you’re a fan that left early, or a fan that would’ve left early, or you turned off the television and still call yourself a Twins fan, then shame on you. Seriously. Playoff baseball comes but once a year, and the Twins are skilled enough, and you, Minnesota Twins baseball fan, are lucky, even blessed enough to have the opportunity to enjoy playoff baseball. If you’re a fan, at all, you’re enjoying every damn inning. If you’re not, sell your AL Central Champion Twins hat and shirt and watch a presidential debate or something. You feel shame.
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A Problem Like Maria
Posted 12:24 PM, Oct 7, 2004 |
This is so ridiculous. A library mural, paid for by the city of Livermore, CA, contains 11 misspelled names of famous people like Einstein (Eistein) and Shakespeare (Shakespere).
Okay, so that’s ridiculous enough, but then the artist, one lame-ass named Maria Alquilar, has the nerve to say things like, “Quite frankly, I’m really upset about this. Nobody at the library has said what a great work it is,” and, “People that really love art, they wouldn’t even have noticed it if they hadn’t pointed it out.”
She’s also refusing to accept an additional $6,000 payment to fix her own errors, as well as paid travel expenses, until the museum/library apologizes to her.
She also calls the oversight “inconsequential,” and explained that, while making it, she didn’t, “go to the book and flip it open” to check spelling.
Nobody’s suggesting she should’ve done that. I think people are suggesting, or at least I am, that she should have known how these names were spelled without looking them up.
God, this woman is stupid as a brick. That’s really all there is to say.
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No Score
Posted 11:04 PM, Oct 6, 2004 |
Well, the Twins lost, so.. yeah. Seems like a pretty… demotivating loss. Russ and I were sitting in the bar and I said to him that I wouldn’t have left in Nathan to pitch a third inning. Turns out I was right, although no telling if any other option would’ve been better.
I would’ve thought scoring one run in the top of the 12th would’ve been enough, but not against those damn Yankees.
Beyond that, I don’t want to talk about it.
This girl next to me at the bar kept asking me questions about baseball all night, and she kept getting up and leaving and then coming back, so before Russ and I left, I asked her out, which is something I’ve done all of twice in my life. Both times have had similarly negative results.
This one, I got the interesting, “I’ve got a steady, solid life right now,” which is even worse than the “I’ve got a boyfriend,” lie. This one is like, “Well, I don’t have a boyfriend, but I sure don’t want to give you a try, retard.” (Okay, so maybe not the “retard” part. Maybe not.)
So we shook hands, and I told her she didn’t need to make excuses, etc., although I said it in a way that didn’t really nail her on the fact that she was making excuses, if that makes sense.
On one hand, it was no big deal, but mostly only because I don’t think she was someone I would’ve had any sort of relationship with, and I was thinking that before asking her out, not just in hindsight. So don’t even ask me why I asked her out.
Well, you didn’t ask, but I think part of it was because I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Jim Carrey is this relatively normal guy, albeit introverted, and Kate Winslet is this outgoing, goofy girl, and that was sort of the case here, and those two, Kate and Jim (Clementine and Joel) had a great time, so much so that they decided to do it again even though they knew they’d eventually drive each other crazy. So I guess if you wanted a reason, I’d blame it, like so much of my life, on Hollywood.
Goddamn you, Hollywood.
And beyond that, I don’t want to talk about it.
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Twins: 1, Yankees: 0
Posted 10:32 PM, Oct 5, 2004 |
In an outcome I don’t consider surprising, the Twins won Game 1 of the ALDS. They won it with some good pitching by Santana. Sure, he wasn’t striking out everyone all over the place, and the Fox announcers said he wasn’t on top of his game. He wasn’t - his game is striking out batters. But, the fact of the matter is, he got the Yankees to hit into double plays when he needed to.
And the Twins played defense. This was the kind of win the Twins play for, the kind of win they’re known for. They aren’t known for their bats, their known for their gloves.
My player of the game is Torii Hunter. He saved a run with the throw to home to get Jorge Posada, and he plucked A-Rod’s potential home run off the top of the wall. That’s 2 runs right there that Hunter saved.
But a good game all around. I’ve got issues that tomorrow’s game isn’t on Fox, so I’m heading out to Grumpy’s to check it out. Look for my thoughts here.
And just so you know, before this series started, I predicted the Twins in 4, with the Twins losing Game 2. Although knowing that the Twins were able to overcome a strong performance by Mussina gives me some more hope for tomorrow.
We’ll see.
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And So Here It Comes
Posted 9:49 PM, Oct 4, 2004 |
And so here it comes. I can feel the thickness of my sinuses, and I know a cold is coming. People at work have had it, friends have had it, everyone has had it – everyone but me – and now it’s coming to get me.
On one hand, I hate being sick. Who doesn’t?
On the other hand – there is no other hand. I’d rather do just about anything than be sick, and with Twins home playoff games coming up Friday and Saturday, I’d rather not attend them and be sick. I will, mind you, but I’d rather not.
The problem is this damn Minnesota weather. One day it’s 45 degrees, the next day it’s 70 degrees, then down to 55, and so on. Do I sleep with my window open? Closed? Shirt? No shirt?
And so here it comes, the sickness.
And because nobody wants to hear about me being sick, and everyone wants to hear and see happy things, even me, here are two (one, two) pictures from good ol’ dooce that are just terrific.
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Game Show Network
Posted 9:38 PM, Oct 3, 2004 |
October 3, 2004
[Return Address Removed]
Game Show Network, LLC
2150 Colorado Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90404
To Whom It May Concern:
The purpose for this letter is twofold:
1) Until recently, I was able to, on my lunch break, watch Match Game, which aired from 12:30pm to 1:00pm CDT. Regretfully, you have filled this timeslot with yet another episode of Love Connection, despite the fact that there is already one episode aired from noon to 12:30pm CDT. Even though I adopted the routine of watching Match Game on a daily basis, I do believe variety is the spice of life. As such, airing two episodes of Love Connection seems a little like overkill.
I can’t imagine you receive a lot of letters to your network (for a possible reason, see #2), and so I’m sending this letter to you in the hopes that my request that you return Match Game to its 12:30pm CDT timeslot will not fall upon deaf ears.
2) It is enormously hard to find your address on your website. The address to which I am sending this letter is actually listed in your Terms of Service in the section about Copyright Infringement. I hope this letter finds its way to the programming director’s hands.
Sincerely,
[Real Name Removed]
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Fluxing
Posted 11:33 PM, Oct 2, 2004 |
The new apartment is still in flux. It’s getting closer to completion, with a few hardware things still to straighten out. There are a few boxes left to unpack, all the mishmash and fustlethrum that I couldn’t decide what to do with before I left.
My right hand is a total disaster. A giant blister on my palm, a scissor-created cut on my index fingertip, a blister on my thumb, three fingertips sore and probably ready to blister, and a small cut on the back of my pinky finger.
Remind me not to move again, at least until my hand has healed.
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