Life in 3D

Five percent

I’m tired. I’m really, really fucking tired. I’m tired of the five percent of the customers that come into our store that think we are there to clean up their god damn mess, watch their kids, and kiss their fucking asses. New flash, assholes, we have actual WORK to do and that doesn’t include baby sitting, wiping your butt, or being your personal maid.

I really don’t understand how these douche-bag morons are able to function in the world. I see them doing shit like pushing their strollers onto the escalator while ignoring the sign that says “Please use the elevator behind you for strollers or wheelchairs”. Then, when you point it out to them they pull a fucking attitude on you. Yeah, because you KNOW that when they lose control of it and junior takes the big fall back to the first floor that they will be suing us, but how dare we stop them from being dumbshits.

Or the dickhead teenager who thinks that A) Skateboarding in the store is cool and is trying to practice his kick flips in the Manga section while hanging out with his waste-of-an-orgasm friends or B) thinks that doing stupid shit on the escalator that will most likely result in stitches in his head is a good way to impress the ladies.  While I do enjoy throwing them out (which I do) there is always one who tries the “This is a public place, we have a right to be here.  Wrong, niou-se, we are a PRIVATELY OWNED COMPANY and we can throw your ass out if we want to.

I also like it when they decide that since, in their school, no one can lay a hand on them that it must be true with the rest of the world too and they get ballsy enough to try and challenge me.  I usually tell them that yes, I will kick your ass and then call the cops to arrest you for trespassing.  Always nice to see the look in their eyes when they realize that they have suddenly walked their virgin asses into a situation that they aren’t going to win.

My other favorite customer: The parents who drop the kids off in the kids section while they head over to sit and have a coffee while their little tax deduction tears books, destroys merchandise and draw on the walls with the crayons they ripped open from one of the coloring books. But OH MY GOD if you tell them to get control of the little Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze they (once again) pull the offended act. Yeah, how dare we stop your monster from destroying something that YOU AREN’T GOING TO PAY FOR!!!

Get the fuck out of my store capullo!

I had one woman who’s brat was running in the kids section pulling books off the shelves by the handful and when we told her to stop her mom’s response was “She’s not hurting anyone. Besides, it’s your job to clean up so I don’t see what your problem is.”

The problem, bitch, is that we have other shit to do like, oh gee, help customers that are actually buying shit. Seriously, how fucking stupid are you people that you think we are here to just clean up after you while you walk around with your nose in the fucking air because SOMEHOW you must be smarter, better and more socially acceptable that I am because I work in a bookstore while you have some fucking office job.  We are just here to serve you coffee and pamper you while you crap all over the place and fuck up our magazines?  Don’t think so.

How God Damn difficult is it to put your shit back where you got it from?  Do you just let your kids drop crap all over your house to and it just stays where it hits?  Or are you just showing a double standard that it’s OK to shit on people who you don’t know because your such a stummer arsch?

The worst part, the VERY WORST FUCKING PART, is that it’s FIVE PERCENT of our customers that do this shit and it fucks the whole store up, makes us spend more time fixing shit than being able to help people and if we could just ban that five percent from the store the whole place would be cleaner, would take less time to close up at night, and we would be able to provide better service to the rest of our customers.

I really wish you jackasses would just stay the hell our of my store. Really, just go watch TV or something, books are wasted on you anyway.

Christmas, a long time ago

It was Christmas, 1776, a desperate time for General George Washington and what was left of his Continental Army. From a high point of 30,000 men he had only 2,500 left.

The decline began in August when the British and the mercenary Hessian troops had routed Washington from Long Island and then pushed them out of Manhattan as well. Washington was forced to retreat to New Jersey and by December they had given that up and crossed into Pennsylvania. The British occupied New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New York. To the British is appeared that the rebellion had been crushed and the remnants would soon be rounded up.

Washington’s troops were demoralized and battered. Many of them didn’t even have shoes and instead had burlap sacks wrapped around their feet to try to keep them warm. Washington knew that he had to act quickly before the remnants of his forces fell apart or were killed by the harsh winter so, on Christmas night, he and his forces attempted the most daring attack that they had ever tried, they crossed the ice swollen Delaware river nine miles north of Trenton, New Jersey to attack the Hessian forces that occupied the town.

The weather during the crossing was horrendous; raging winds, snow, sleet and rain created almost impossible conditions, but they crossed anyway and then marched the nine miles south to Trenton. Remember, many of these men, if not most, had no shoes and they marched through blizzard like conditions. These were men who knew what they were fighting for and were willing to suffer the hardships that came with it.

The next morning, December 26^th, Washington’s troops attached and overran the Hessian troops who surrendered when their commanding officer was killed. The Continental army then retraced their path and withdrew back across the Delaware taking their prisoners with them.

This was the turning point in the revolution. In its darkest hour when all hope seemed lost and defeat was inevitable, rough men stood forth and grabbed victory for all of us and galvanized the spirit of the Colonies by showing the people that they could win. After this battle the ranks of the Continental swelled and the stunned British army realized they had a fierce opponent who would not go down in defeat quietly.

I write this because it reminded me that while we now face a different enemy that is attempting to rewrite our Constitution and slowly strip us of our right to self determination and freedom from government dictates, mandates and meddling, all is not lost. They may seem to have the upper hand now by controlling Congress and the White House but if we hold strong and fight on we can, and will, be victorious.

Out here on the left coast I encounter so many people on the left who hate anyone or anything that is different than they are. But there is one thing about hate that I have learned, it eats you up and burns you out. The far left tries to claim ownership of the crown of acceptance and diversity because they talk about it all the time, but I learned something from my old martial arts instructor on this matter. Those who practice what they preach don’t need to talk about it because their example will show.

We will win because the left’s ideas are hollow, their compassion false, and we have a better way. Keep the faith my brothers and sisters in God and in the military. We are Americans and we will not go quietly.  Don’t despair and don’t be afraid.  That’s their weapons, that’s what they want.  Look at their ads, look at how they attack anyone who disagrees – hate, fear, cries of racism.  No, we are better than this and we will win.

God bless you all.

Bored, bored, bored

So blame Jennifer for this one.  Why? Because she’s the one that sent me there.

Done… for now.

Well the semester has ended and the wife and I get something of a break before the next one begins in February.  It hasn’t been a great semester though, we lost a very special member of our family, our cat Quazo; we both got the flu – TWICE; we have both been slammed by work and by school, plus the holidays are coming up again and, once again, we can’t afford to go home to visit either of our families.

This isn’t a post to whine, it’s just stating the facts.  I really wish I could go and see my family.  I have a nephew who is five that I have never met and a niece I haven’t seen since she was small enough that I was able to carry her on my shoulders.  I miss them.  I miss my brothers, my sister and my parents.  They are the only family I have next to my wife and every year I don’t see them is another year lost.  Sure, we keep in touch but it’s different than actually being there.

I can’t complain though, this is the path I chose.  I’ve always been wandering.  Out of high school I went into the Navy and traveled the world.  After that I moved from California back to New Mexico, then I moved to Seattle, then Ohio and now California again.  Something has always kept me moving around and looking over the next hill to see what is there.  It’s not a bad thing, but there are times I do wonder how things would have been different if I had stayed home in the first place, but as my wife likes to remind me “If you didn’t do the things you did, then you wouldn’t be who you are and you probably wouldn’t have met me.”

She’s smart that way.

You would think that with the end of the semester I would have some down time but, sadly, no.  I have some freelance work coming up, I have thesis project stuff to work on, and I have work at the bookstore as well.  So, not a lot of rest going to be happening around here but that’s OK as long as it eventually leads to getting a job doing what I’m in college in the first place for.

Speaking of which, here’s a shot of what I have been spending my time on.  There’s a HECK of a lot more to do on it, but I think I can have most of the modeling that needs to be done wrapped up by the end of January.