Okay, Krogers has gone too far!

Seeing as I make money from the technology industry, you would think that I am all for the faster and faster expansion of the digital domain. In most cases, that is true. I love gadgets, and creative new toys that make our lives easier. However, I think we still have a long way to go when it comes to the whole "Product Recommendation" fuzzy logic thing.

If you're not familiar... When you buy products at certain retailers (Amazon) or watch certain shows (TiVo) there is a program running that looks at what type of product or show that was, and then tries to suggest other things to you that it thinks you may like. Problem is, these are spotty, at best. Amazon seems to think that just because I bought my sister a sewing book for her birthday once, I'm now moonlighting as a seamstress. Even though it is the ONLY thing remotely related to sewing I've ever looked at.

The worst though is Krogers Grocery. They are a major chain food store where I live. They look at what you buy and print out coupons for you. Sounds great right? A couple problems though... First, they are never for what you actually buy. They are for a competing product. "Look, if I wanted to buy the crap-ass generic, I would have bought it. How about giving me money off the stuff I actually buy?" Also, they hand them to you wrapped up in the receipt, and where does the receipt go right after its trip home stuffed in your pocket? Yup, the trash.

A really strange happened to me today. As I was walking out of the store, I couldn't help but be confused. Here's a brief run down of what I bought:
1. Bagels
2. Corn Chips
3. Water
4. Cheese
5. Burritos
6. Lunch Meat
7. Mustard

So, what coupon do you think they printed out for me? Maybe a new type of cheese? Maybe salsa for my chips? Maybe even some pork-rinds to top off my unhealthy feast? .... Nope, Tampons. Yes, something called "Gentle Glide" tampons. Now tell me, exactly what about what I purchased would suggest to them that I would be in the market for tampons?

Must have been the bottled water....

Olympic Fever ... Catch iT!

Normally I don't watch a lot of the Olypmics. Not that I don't like them, it just seems like they always slip by me when I'm not looking. But this year I've really gotten into them. I've really liked the Speed Skating, and of course snowboarding. However, I do have two complaints.

1. NO FREAKIN WAY is Curling an Olympic - Level sport. I will grant you that it is a sport, like Bowling is a sport. But if Curling is a winter Olympic sport, then Horseshoes should be a Summer Olympic Sport. Basically, I don't want to see any "sport" where you can compete at an olympic level while smoking and drinking.

2. I will give it up for Figure Skating, those folks do some crazy shit. But if "Ice Dancing" is a winter Olympic "sport", then Ballroom Dancing should be a summer Olympic "sport".

To sum it up... Winter Olympics = Cool.... Sports you can't get killed doing = NOT Olympic!

Happy V-Day

Well, it was an absolutely gorgeous Valentines day here today. I hope you all got someone in your life something nice. And no, Stripper-Grams , do not count as "nice". I'm building something for my hunny. I might get a picture posted of it after the big reveal. That is, if it doesn't look like a retarded Charlie Brown built it.

Wanna know what she gave me? A cold. Yup, and it's one of those dancing colds. You know, the kind that dances from nostril to nostril. It wouldn't be so bad if I weren't already sick from my tumor.

Neck Update: For those of you keeping track at home, here's the latest:

• I went back to my surgeon last week for the post-op, and he said everything looked good on my neck.
• He said that the final pathology test were not complete, yet.
• He's referred me to a "Infectious Disease" specialist that I'll see tomorrow.
• The good news is that they are positive that it is not cancer, they just aren't exactly sure what it is.

So, I'll know a little more tomorrow.

Just a little bit worse for wear

Well, for all of you keeping track out there. I'm still alive. I had my surgery yesterday and everything went pretty well. They put me under, and cut out pieces of my lymph node. The good news is that it's not cancer. The bad news is that I'm infected with something, so we gotta figure out what it is. So, the surgery itself wasn't bad. The worse part was the air tube they put down my throat. It feels like some little person went in my throat and started kicking things. But hey, I did get a cool wound to gross everyone out with!

Oh yeah, and my wife has been great. Except that she's making me watch her soaps with her. Man, I really gotta get out of the house. I'm actually starting to learn some of their names. Someone save me, and give me a shot of testoterone!