16 Jan, 2012

Alcatraz on Fox

By |2016-11-01T23:27:30-04:00January 16th, 2012|Tv|0 Comments

Just a quick post on this new show because I spent 2 hours watching it. I think it’s retarded. First off it’s network TV which means it’s immediately dumbed down. The characters are borderline awful. Sam Neill is decent but the other characters have no chemistry whatsoever. The lead girl is just so generic and her and the fat guy from Lost are supposed to carry the show? They can’t and they won’t. I also was cringing at the end of the 2nd episode the way the final scene with the sniper played out. What kind of police work was that?

I was immediately put off when they have a guy not aging after he disappears and the idea seems to be some sort of time travel masterminded by a “villain”. From all the twists I’ve been watching lately it wouldn’t surprise me if Sam Neill is behind it all. Problem being, I just don’t care. Like this mystery of how the one girl who got shot in the 2nd episode and how she was in 1960 is supposed to keep me wondering what’s going on. All I’m wondering is why the hell am I watching the show. It probably wasn’t as bad as I’m making it out but compared to all the actual good shows out there, there is better TV to watch. I won’t be tuning in next week because the chance of this show coming to fruition is exactly 0.

16 Jan, 2012

McDonald’s $.89 Any Size Coffee

By |2012-01-16T22:20:37-05:00January 16th, 2012|My Brain|1 Comment

McDonald’s offers any size coffee (small, medium, or large) for $.89 cents. I thought about this for a minute and found it pretty peculiar. Why offer something in 3 sizes for all the same price. Why would anyone choose the smaller size? Why would McDonald’s want you to choose the larger size? A few things came to mind.

  • McDonald’s wants to get you hooked on the bigger coffee. Once your body starts to adapt to the higher dose of caffeine, you’ll never go back to a smaller size. Once they have you accustomed to the large, they can raise the price and make bigger profits on something that probably costs next to nothing. After this promotion the regular price goes up to $1.50 and you have no choice but to pay because you aren’t going back to the small.
  • They offer this deal just to get you in the door. They make money on other products and their goal is to get you to purchase McDonald’s breakfast. Therefore they don’t really care about the coffee money (even though I’m sure it’s profitable even at .89 cents) but the potential of getting someone to buy a 6 dollar breakfast is more enticing. A deal too good to pass up, which an $.89 cent large coffee is pretty damn good.
  • My final thought, an off shoot of the last one, was that they make so much on coffee that even at .89 cents they don’t give a shit. It’s not nearly as schemed as I’m portraying and it’s as simple as getting more people in the door.

McDonald’s is a billion dollar corporation and I’m sure that they put a huge amount of effort and thought in their promotions and this one struck me a bit unique. It’s just such a strange concept to offer 3 sizes all at the same price. They want you to drink their large coffees. They don’t care that more caffeine isn’t healthy to the human body, they only care about your money. A fine, interesting example of corporate greed. Get them hooked on the one thing they sell that is moderately addictive.

16 Jan, 2012

MLK Day & Weekend Recap

By |2012-01-16T08:49:06-05:00January 16th, 2012|My Life|0 Comments

I had a really productive week at work last week which had me feeling pretty good heading into the weekend. I don’t have anything real exciting from Friday night except playing some beer pong with Ck4ii. Beer pong is one of my most inconsistent games to play and sometimes it feels like I’m trying to hit a shot glass instead of a solo cup. I woke up early on Saturday and watched the King’s Speech which I found entertaining for the full two hours. Colin Firth was really amazing. I know this isn’t new info but still. After that I went to the gym and ran 4 good miles which was a unique feeling after a night of drinking. Then I went to hang out with the Shee and company at Frankfurt Hall in the city where we watched the SF-NO game. I put a hundo on the Niners which worked out well. I was going to roll the account on the Broncos but couldn’t make the bet on my phone which was obviously fortunate. I also bet on the Ravens -8 which failed to cover on Sunday. Shee saved the day though and made a parlay on the Giants +8 and the over which nailed for a risk 40, win 100. This juiced up my bodog account heading into the Superbowl which is always a nice feeling. To cap off the weekend we (Bake, Shee, and Me) went bowling which was actually a really good deal at 2 hours of bowling for 15 bucks. I think we rolled about 7 or 8 games. I was up 4 bucks heading into the last game against the Shee and somehow we managed to bowl a 128 to tie moving into a 1 frame roll off which I lost. I think it’s funny how I will wager hundreds of dollars on football games and a 6 dollar game of bowling seems expensive. That pretty much summed up the weekend. Thrilling I know.

It’s MLK day today and I expect a slow day at work. I’ll probably leave a bit early and catch the end of the Sixers. It’s a little cold out to boot.

15 Jan, 2012

My favorite activity

By |2013-03-15T03:39:46-04:00January 15th, 2012|My Life|0 Comments

I find considerable joy in what I’ve been doing for the past 3 hours. I fire up artists who I usually don’t listen to and play their random albums while reading whatever I’m reading. Today I’ve listened to Soul Asylum’s Grave Dancer’s Union, Bad Company’s Running With the Pack and Bruce’s Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ, while reading Neil Strauss “Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead: Journeys into Fame and Madness ” which is a series of interviews by him among famous (and not so famous) stars. I can’t think of many things that I’d rather do. I know this isn’t such a great post but just wanted to clue you in on something I find entertaining.

14 Jan, 2012

HashTag 1001

By |2012-01-14T12:03:01-05:00January 14th, 2012|My Life|2 Comments

The post below was the historic 1,000th post. Naturally I didn’t realize it was the 1,000th post and made it about Alanis Morrisette and her case of statutory rape. However, even if I knew it was the 1,000th post, I don’t think I’d have done anything memorable or out of the norm. I suppose that we just use those types of numbers as milestones or for probably a better word, benchmarks. The fact that I’ve been doing this for about 30 months though is pretty unbelievable. I’ve seen plenty of bloggers come and go. They get a great idea that they’re going to write down their thoughts and opinions and share them with the world. They’ll write 10 entries and be really excited during those posts. Then they’ll write another 15 and the enthusiasm starts to wane. By post 25 they wonder why on Earth they’re spending their time writing something that has 0 benefit. I ask myself that question from time to time and do indeed get discouraged sometimes. I do find though that I get a kick out of sharing different thoughts with an unknown audience. I sometimes wonder what random people read this who barely know me and then form an opinion about me without really knowing me. It’s like a one sided friendship where they know about me but I know nothing about them. The bottom line is that I have developed some sort of audience with rnningfool.com. Who actually reads this is a different story.

I still can’t figure out how many people read my entries. In the past 30 days Google analytics reported near 20,000 people viewing the site. This number is deceiving though because people are coming here for the Brandi Passante mug shot searches. The bounce rate is close to 80% which still means 4,000 people are reading something I’ve written. Now here is where I get stumped. If you take the post below, at the end I posed a question to the effect “did you know this information”? Not one person responded which means they either didn’t read it or that nobody wants to comment. Technically my audience feels like 0 which would differ from that 4,000 number. I understand that people don’t feel the urge the comment on anything but you’re telling me that not 1 person who read that last post would chime in with “I didn’t know this, good post.” This indeed makes me believe that not many people are reading my posts and I’m most likely wasting my time in the past 1,000 posts. I believe it is this reason that most people decide to quit. Most people probably quit when they realize this 999 posts ago. However with my perseverance I trudge through and continue to share my thoughts with nobody reading. I strange task I do agree. Nevertheless, here we are at post 1,001. The graph below will show that I have created something in the past 2.5 years of work and I suppose I have some sense of pride in that. To the people who actually will have read through and understand this little side project of mine, I thank you for your continued support. Here’s to another thousand posts!

12 Jan, 2012

Hands Clean

By |2012-01-12T21:21:22-05:00January 12th, 2012|Music|0 Comments

Maybe more people know about this than I think but this was the first time I found out. The song Hands Clean is about 14 year old Alanis Morrisette and her relationship with then 29 year old Dave Coulier from Full House. I actually heard of this before but had no idea that there was a song about it. This is considered statutory rape and this is what she has to say about it (From Neil Strauss’s Interview):

“Basically it could be categorized as that, but at the same time, I’m not one to really categorize. I’m the kind of person that will say “a person that I’ve been spending time with in a romantic way” rather than saying my boyfriend. So I’ll say “someone that I was romantically linked to at a time when I was emotionally not necessarily prepared for it” as opposed to qualifying it as, like, statutory rape.”

The song is really interesting as well. The soft, narrative voice is Dave Coulier talking to her and Alanis speaking is the chorus. This song was done in 2002 on the album Under Rug Swept. Old news I know but interesting none the less. How many people knew this before reading this post?

12 Jan, 2012

Shop til you Drop

By |2016-11-01T23:28:43-04:00January 12th, 2012|My Life|0 Comments

Last night I visited Target, Barnes and Nobel and Best Buy. I didn’t have anything in particular I was going to buy but just decided that I would purchase something if it struck me. I walked in Target first and realized I only had about 7 pairs of underwear and I didn’t like wearing 2 of them because they ride up and one pair shrunk to an uncomfortable fit so I decided to purchase some new ones. Amazingly every pair of Hanes Large boxers were out of stock. They had plenty of fruit of the loom but I just couldn’t bring myself to become a fruit of the loom guy. Luckily I found a pair of Large boxers hidden behind some other pairs and was able to find what I was looking for. I also bought a wool hat for 4 bucks even though this weather has been moderate, 2 perfect Hanes T-Shirts which I like for working out, a pair of mesh shorts, and a pair of work out pants. The oddest purchase I made was a Sublime shirt for 13 bucks. I’m not a huge fan of Sublime, I mean I like their music when the time is right but I’m not ape shit over them like I am with Led Zeppelin. HOWEVER, I feel like Sublime has this great vibe surrounding them because their lead singer died and now everyone just accepts them as a good band so I’m making a statement of fitting in with people even though I don’t really agree with the band. This could be construed as living for other people instead of yourself but I think it’s ok if you know you’re doing it. I think it totaled 77 bucks which seemed like a lot for Target but I got what I was looking for.

I also went to Best Buy and couldn’t find anything I wanted. I was browsing through the CD selection because I still listen to them in my car. I went through the 5 dollar CD rack and was surprised at how much good material was there, I didn’t bite though. I don’t really buy too many DVD’s and all the other accessories are just fodder. I then went to Barnes and Nobel and bought a book by Neil Strauss who interviews famous people and it seemed really interesting. I also bought a biography on the Stones and The Hunger Games to see what everyone is raving about. I was given a PDF of the book but I didn’t know what to do with it so I just bought the book. The font is huge and I can’t see this being a thrilling book but that certainly won’t stop me from trying it. I’ll be making a better post about the Neil Strauss book because it’s hilarious. I also am given the opportunity to be a Barnes and Nobel member which I decline every time because I assume I will buy all my books on Amazon but it seems like I prefer to get the books NOW. Money down the drain.

11 Jan, 2012

My Daily Intake

By |2012-01-11T22:35:31-05:00January 11th, 2012|My Life|2 Comments

I think people might be interested in what I eat on a daily basis. I’m a person of routines and I don’t change what I eat all that often. Here is a typical day that keeps me running.

Breakfast:
Sesame Seed Bagel w/ Cream Cheese – 360 Calories
Glazed Donut – 260 Calories
Medium Coffee w/ Cream & Sugar – 120 calories
Total = 740 Calories

Lunch
Turkey Club w/ Mayo – 510 Calories
Bag of Dirty BBQ Chips – 150 Calories
Cherry Coke – 150 Calories
Total = 810 Calories

Dinner
10″ Meatball Sub w/ American Cheese – 693 Calories
Smartfood – 240 Calories
Lemon Snapple – 80 Calories
Total – 1013 Calories

That gives me a total of 2563 calories a day. I pretty much never snack so this is a pretty accurate depiction. This doesn’t mean I won’t eat the occasional cookie or milk shake or whatever but it’s not a daily deal. I also think the obvious thing to mention is this doesn’t include alcohol days. For instance, on a Friday I decide to have some beers and drink from 5pm to 2am and consume 15 pints. That’s 15 x 150 calories or 2250 calories. That compares roughly to my daily intake. Now when I say I’m not hungry after a night of drinking, you see why. I also want to point out that I run 3-5 miles 4-5 times a week which is obviously important to being healthy. I’m not saying my diet is good but I don’t have a whole lot of EXTRA trash being put in my system. I’m sure I could eat way better but I have to ask why? I’m not fat, I feel good, and I’m happy eating all these foods because they taste good and I like them. I don’t have to eat shitty tasting food because I’m watching my weight. Also, how does Smartfood ahve 240 calories? I also am aware that I’m only looking at calories which isn’t a great breakdown of these foods. Anyone find this interesting when they compare it to what they eat?

10 Jan, 2012

The Key to Parallel Parking

By |2012-01-10T23:13:14-05:00January 10th, 2012|My Life|0 Comments

I pulled up behind some poor girl trying to parallel park today and she actually sat there and waited to let me pass because you was embarrassed after her first failed attempt. I knew a guy once who would take a parallel parking situation and drive head first turning the wheel as sharply as possible just to avoid going in reverse. When I was 15 my Dad, who was multiple Johnnie Walker’s deep, showed me how to parallel park using two trash cans outside our house and I’ve never had a problem since. His one tip and the most important one that I’ve even made a diagram to show was you need to have you car as close as possible to the front car! This takes away any crazy angle games that people play with when parallel parking. You also want your back relatively in line with their back as you being your reverse. A full wheel turn isn’t even necessary when cutting the angle, you just need to make it so that when you are ready to cut back, your front will be edging past their back. With this approach even if you don’t get it perfect, you’ll be out of traffic’s way and can adjust while your in the spot. People screw up because they start cutting at a bad angle from too far away and make it impossible on themselves. By staying close to the front car, you lessen your angle, and make it easy. I’m also not saying that this little tidbit will make you an expert but this is the best way to do it and with a little practice, city parking becomes a no-brainer. Good luck.

10 Jan, 2012

Shipping Wars on A&E

By |2016-11-01T23:27:21-04:00January 10th, 2012|Tv|0 Comments

A new show on A&E is called Shipping Wars and I find is pretty fascinating. It is a show about truckers who pick up items and deliver them around the country. They bid on cargo which ranged from a boat, a telephone booth, a Venus fly trap and a 3,800 lb bronco. This hit me in a real life scenario because just recently I was in a situation of moving 4 skids, 1,200 lbs each, from Philly to Brooklyn and it’s not nearly as easy as you think. Loading them onto a truck, marking sure the skids fit, finding the location, and generally dealing with driving a truck takes experience. I think this show does a great job of showing the realism of moving cargo across the country. The characters are pretty entertaining too as they range from experienced drivers to complete noobs. Watching the noobs get themselves in sticky situations that end up costing them money is great. I also find it really neat how the better movers are able to tackle difficult items and load them on a truck. Watching the one guy Jarrett not know whether he can fit the cargo and constantly low ball items is hilarious. I actually found the whole concept awesome.

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