Another Thing That Pisses Me Off...

are "automatic gratuities."

I am not a lawyer, but I question the law behind these. Are you allowed to strike the amount and put less if you want. A "gratuity" by rule is at your own volition...if a restaurant automatically charges you for that, it is not a gratuity, but a charge.

Here is what also pisses me off...I can understand when you have a large group (say 8 or more)....today, however I went to Johnny Rockets. It was awful. We were 4 people of which one of those "people" was my 2.5 year old.

They charged 15% and the service was terrible. Simply terrible. The only thing it was better than, was the food.

Finally, the kicker...

They do not tell you it is automatic...they try to slip in the line "additional gratuity" (as in over and above). This is criminal.

Good Luck??? (I am not sure...)

Fresh off an airplane, I arrived at the NJ beaches to pick up my wife and kids to get home to Virgina before Irene arrived...

As I was running up and down the beach with the kids, to burn some energy before hitting the road, a Seagul crapped on me.

They call it good luck....but I am still waiting on that.

Entourage (The Last Season)...

Has thus far, been relatively disappointing. It appears to be a bad movie, that is being split into weekly 30 minute episodes.

The overall story line is missing some of the key attributes from prior seasons, such as humor, nudity, and overall "life in Hollywood."

I hope over the final 3-5 epidsodes they can get back to the roots that made it so popular.

Re-Financing

I am thinking about Refinancing my home. There is a major bank that is offering no closing fees. On there website, it says that you can also explore other options?


Why would anyone want to pay closing fees? Am I missing something?

NFL Knowledge

I was on the Junkies this morning for their NFL Survivor Game.

I was 1st up and asked who the head coach was for the Oakland Raider???

Seriously...who knows that?

It is Hue Jackson by the way!

Training Camp Verbal Crutches...

We are about 10 days or so into training camp, and I am tired of hearing the following 3 verbal crutches (or some derivative) used over and over again:

• From the Veterans: "No matter how much you work out in the offseason, nothing prepares you to be in 'football shape'"


• From the new guys/rookies: "It takes a day or two to catch up to NFL speed"


• From the injured guys: "It is always tough to see the guys out there getting the reps, but at least I can be out here getting the mental reps"

And the quote of the preseason, thus far, goes to undrafted rookie, CB Dante Barnes, out of Norfolk St:

“I’m not standing around here just trying to wait. I’m trying to get in here and eat,” Barnes said. “The wolf has got to eat. The sheep, they get ate. I’m trying to be that wolf."

Way To Start A Day...

I got in my car this morning, and the lead in, to The Junkies was "Patience" by G'NR.

What a great tune...timeless by all accounts.

It was a great way to start the day!

Trees

I am not a tree hugger by any means...but after pulling into my office complex after being on the road for 10 days, I was surprised to see that the property manager decided to cut down probably 10 mature trees that boarder the side-walk.

It looks horrible.

Unless the tree had disease, it makes no sense.

This Heat...

is oppressive. It literally shuts me down.

I can deal with 90. I can even deal with 95.

100+ is just ugly...

Plus it gives me B.O.

What Do You Do When...

you are at a party, and someone who you should not correct (i.e. someone of an older generation), comes up, gives you a big hug and says "JAY...HOW ARE YOU???"

Jay is not my name...it is not even close!

I just kinda blankly stared momentarily and then followed through on the conversation as if nothing was wrong!

These are the tough decisions in life. Hmmmmm

The Great 8 (Ovie)

Why I love Alex Ovechkin...his use of English is really classic stuff...

On how he found out right before a flight that the Capitals had signed Vokoun:

“So right before the plane, I go to restaurant with my friends. So we’re sitting and eating and my friend go to Internet and he said, ‘What the hell is going on right now? Capitals signed Tomas Vokoun.’ I said, ‘No way. Joke.’ So we start talking and have a good discussion, ‘No, it’s unbelievable, we just signed Tomas Vokoun,’ and I said, give me the phone.

“So I texted a guy who live here in D.C. and he said yeah, it’s true. So all the guys who sit in there was so happy, like a bomb in the restaurant. ... It’s nice he’s right now in our team and not a different team because it’s hard to play against him.”

You cant make this stuff up.

Watering

I have a bad habit of watering plants on mornings or nights just before major rainfalls...that really pisses me off.

Armchair Parenting...

So I officiated a bunch of summer league lacrosse games this past weekend, and for the most part it was very easy, despite the heat...All of the games were U15, U13, and U11, which makes it even easier...

To that end, it is HARD to believe some of the things that come out of parents mouth, especially when in front of other parents, as they stand on the sidelines. It never ceases to amaze me, how silly someone is willing to make themselves sound, in an open environment, especially in front of children.

I was thinking about things that I might say to someone in response:

"Do I come to your office and tell you how bad a job you are doing?"
"I might be a bad official, but your child is a horrible lacrosse player"
"F&*^ YOU!"

I am welcome to other "bits of feedback"

Lack of Blogging...

Sorry KBS...I dont have a lot to say recently...but here is a post that says nothing.

The Dilemna

I watched this movie last night with Vince Vaughn and Kevin James.

The only "Dilemna" I saw was whether to turn it off half way through...

Just Awful!

Season Tickets for the Redskins

My brother and I have been season ticket holders for the Redskins for the past few years. We recently made our annual payment in full for the tickets (late Feb).

Mr. Snyder, in all his wisdom, then decided to destroy our seats and replace them with a "party deck" and told those ticket holders that they would be moved. This pompous A-Hole just assumed it was OK to take our $$$, and then move people, without telling them.

The story gets better...

It was announced just yesterday that Mr. Snyder has decided to sell the seats in pairs for $250, so that fans could have them on their patios or decks.

To recap, we paid for our seats, he took them out of the stadium, and is now trying to resell them.

I realize I have posted this picture before, but it would seem appropriate to do so again...

Last Night

On my way home late last night, I listened to the bottom of the 9th inning of the Nationals Game. They were down 5-1 with a man on 2nd, and no outs...after grounding into a double play, they rallied, and capped off the win with a 3-run bomb.

I dont know why I was listening, but I was glad I did.

It actually reminded me of being a kid, and listening to games before I would go to sleep...

I am not a big fan of baseball...but then again, anything is better than the NBA.

I sure hope the NFL lockout gets resolved.

Go Mavs.

I watched my 1st NBA game in full last night, in probably a few years...

It was horrible, but the only reason I watched was in hope that the Miami Heat would lose, and specifically LeBron would lose. Also, I like Mark Cuban. He seems a much smarter and nicer version than Dan Snyder. Young, brash, rich, but approachable. He is "one of the guys."

I went to bed late, but I was happy to see them run off the court with their heads down.

As I have said before, 'Bron-'Bron cries over everything. You have rediculous scuffles after time outs because of $hit talking. The NBA sucks...

I HOPE THEY LOCKOUT!

It Has Been A While...

I am giving myself a break...I just has my 2nd child...all is well!

Welcome to the world Hunter!

I am Kinda Surprised...

I don't have a whole lot to say, despite the fact that there is a lot to comment on, such as:

• Osama Bin Laden was captured and killed. President Obama, I believe, deserves a large amount of credit for "getting it done." It is days like these that make you proud to be an American.


• The Caps lost in shocking fashion...leaving the team and its fans with a lot of questions, and not a lot of answers. I was thinking about this as I was watching Game 4 the other night, and realized the emotion that got to me the most was ANGER. I couldn't believe how swift it was. While I was excited to watch the team play into June, now I have to wait until the Redskins season starts, and with the lockout, even that is up in the air


• So, in reviewing the Draft, I am somewhat pleased. They did what I wanted and continually slide back in the draft, for more picks. I think we remain uber deficient on the Offensive Live.


• Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there...