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I had to make another trip to the Apple store yesterday. I had my iPhone replaced a couple of weeks ago, and the screen was flickering.

When I walked in the door, I had no appointment, and fully expected to wait more than an hour, get frustrated, and make an appointment for next week. On top of that, I was having visios of them telling me the phone is fine, that the flickers are a normal function, or that it wasn’t covered.

None of that happened. We have been trained in America to trade customer service for a better price. Stores like Fry’s Electronics and Wal-Mart have given consumers a good price and a sales force which consistantly ignores customers, dispenses little information, dispenses false information, and consistently refuses warranties purchased due to violations of the “fine print”.

I didn’t buy my phone, but both my wife and I have had to have one replaced. She went to the AT&T store, they sent her a new phone in the mail, and then she had to switch all contacts and send the old phone in herself. I have had issues 3 times with the iPhone, but I’m perfectly happy because the Apple store has replaced either the phone or components. My total spent since buying the phone?

Are you ready for this pricetag?

$0.00

That’s right. All this customer service for free. When you walk in the Apple Store, the salespeople greet you, ask if they can help, and then leave you alone! If you need help, they will stay with you until all of your questions are resolved. If they don’t know the answer, they don’t make one up, they look it up or ask another associate.

In other words, they provide the level of customer service we should all come to expect from all stores again. I remember a time where stores provided friendly helpful service without expecting you to buy a thing. I will drive across town to buy from a friendly, knowledgable, and helpful salescrew before I step foot in a chain store which ignores, belittles, or berates their customers.

Thank you Apple Store, for restoring my greater expectations for customer service!

Every new year, towards the middle of January, I begin to slide into a mild depression.

I still function. I still get up, go to work, cook for the family. I just don’t have that pep in my step that I do come mid September.

The excitement starts to build in late July, when the Hall of Fame and draft announcements start to come out. By August, my veins start pumping the football blood. By late November to mid-December, it is at a full boil.

But every January brings the full realization that my season-long football fix is coming to a complete halt.

I like basketball okay, hockey is as close as I can get to football in the offseason, so I get by (with a little help from the NFL network and ESPN Classic). Football, however, is the sport of the south, and I miss it when it is gone.

Perhaps the off season is good to build that anticipation, and make the season so much sweeter. Maybe having some time apart does make the heart grow fonder.

Whatever the case, you will find me, back on the couch next September cheering on my teams, and the sport of football!

Alright, I admit, I’m angry again.

To be fair, I’m not an Obama fan. As an American, that’s my right. When I heard he would be speaking to students in America, I was less than thrilled, but willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Then I heard that he would be speaking to the students in school, and I thought to myself, “What a sly devil! Hold your audience captive where they are legally obligated to be in order to push your agenda.” Whether or not his speech leaned toward his political beliefs, the fact remains that he spoke to students in a venue where the choice to listen to his speech was removed.

The wonderful thing I find about the first amendment is that everybody is free to voice their beliefs at any time to anyone. It does not, however force the intended audience to listen to what is being said. I respect and would even die to allow President Obama or any other American Citizen that right. What I can not and will not support is removing the right of the intended audience to choose whether or not to listen.

I think it is wrong that Arlington ISD did not show his speech, but will be taking 5th graders to Cowboys Stadium to hear a speech from George W. Bush. It infuriates me that people will refuse rights to people they disagree with and bend over backwards to accommodate someone they do agree with. If you do for one, do for all.

What I feel is more wrong, however, is that politicians, journalists, and other parents are insinuating and flat out accusing those who held their children from listening to the speech of being unpatriotic, unAmerican, and impolite. I respect your right to have your child watch the speech. I believe so deeply in the choice, that I allowed my 8 year old daughter to make the choice for herself. She quickly told me she was not interested in watching and brought us a pen and the permission slip for us to decline.

I guess it comes down to this, whether or not it was meant to be political, it turned out to be because they attempted to force students to watch. Whether or not the message was good, the venue was not. If I, as an average American had something I felt compelled to voice to all school children in America, would I be able to keep them hostage in class while I delivered that message? No, and neither should any public official, famous person, or any other citizen of this great nation. This is not a rant about politics, but rather a rant about political freedoms. I’m as sick of seeing and hearing about Obama as I am Oma Rosa, or Donald Trump, or any other media tramp in the news today. Let’s move on and let me and my family live our lives as we choose.

I just read this article and it angers me all over. I myself at this point in time profess to be a conservative voting republican. I reserve the right to change my mind at any time to lean politically toward whichever politician touts the ideals and platform that I can, without a guilty conscience, back. However, for these same conservatives to pass a resolution to only teach conservative figures in history is not only wrong, it is unethical, amoral, and just plain dumb.

One of the things I have always championed about the conservative side of politics is that they have, in the past, lauded efforts to present both sides and let people decide for themselves what they want. I know what you’re thinking, the views they tend to present are biased. You’re right, name me a person who can present an ideal without adding bias, and I’ll give you a fraud, but I digress.

The article mentions from one source that the omission is not limited to liberals, but conservatives who are outside of the mainstream conservative arena. I happen to think that liberals and even some professed conservatives tend to present a one sided, black and white view of what being a conservative is. To add conservatives like Newt Gingrich but keep James Dobson or even Mike Huckabee from the fold is just incomprehensible. Personally, I’d like a history book that contained all the major players in politics outlined briefly, but that is never going to happen.

I do like the idea of revamping who is covered. I happen to think that Cesar Chavez did have some things in his background that would keep him from being a good role model for young hispanic, or any race of children for that matter. That being said though, when did we start deciding who to cover based on moral compass. Should Adolf Hitler be removed from history books too because we did not agree with his moral compass (and we shouldn’t in my opinion). I happen to believe that a very good lesson is to be learned from the atrocities he committed the same as we can learn from mistakes Chavez made in his life. I would like to have the schools teach about famous Columbian cartel leaders and how even though they felt they were above the law, they ended up facing justice in the end. I believe that time should be spent on communism and dictatorships so that our children can enter into a more global society with more of an opinion than: “The USA is the best because we are a democracy and we have 3 branches of government with a two party political system.”

All of my knowledge of history came from the History Channel, History International, or several hundreds of books I have read or skimmed. I read websites and I am in constant search of people who have had first hand knowledge of historical events. Why can we not try to instill this thirst of firsthand knowledge or a full knowledge of the world around us and its history into our children instead of the narrow dogmatic view our politicians seem to want to force down our throats. It is no longer the 1950’s and we do live in the world, like it or not.

Source: http://cbs11tv.com/business/education/texas.textbook.plan.2.1138516.html

I read today that someone at one of the “Tea Parties” was carrying a sign saying “D.C.: District of Communism”. Now, I’m not a McCarthy’ist who claims the gloom and doom of America lies in the covert communist living within our communities. I don’t think America is anywhere close to being what the U.S.S.R. was during Stalin’s reign.

It is important to remember that Capitalism (what I believe America is touted as), Socialism (what I believe America is), and Communism (what the U.S.S.R. was) all describe the ECONOMIC SITUATION of a country. It is not POLITICAL, that is, it is not describing the government structure. 

It is unfortunant that schools, books, media, and newspapers all mention socialism in the same breath as communism. When I mention this theory to people, they look at me sideways and say “America isn’t communistic,” and that is true. America is not. But I do believe that it is leaning more toward socialism. Below is a chart to describe the differences:

At first the nation cheered as the Securities & Exchange Commission was created and lobbyists like Ralph Nader and others fought on behalf of consumers. Asking for protections and truth in advertising, our people urged more and more government intervention. The government obliged, giving more and more power to the government. The nation cheered yet again at the progress made and the jobs they created. Now our new president has promised the creation of yet more government jobs and less bureaucratic government. Sounds great, right? The elimination of poverty, the elimination of bureaucracy, the new “fairness” implanted in the “American Dream”?

Take another look at the chart above. Capitalism is what it is because people who work hard get rewarded. Those who don’t or can’t, get nothing. Why is that better? Because those who can, should do their share, and if so moved, should help those who can’t. If we continue to move in the direction we are moving, we will eliminate poverty at the expense of ambition. When we no longer have a reward to work toward, and everyone will get the same whether they work for it or not, how many individuals will still work?

Some will, they did in the U.S.S.R., though whether it was because they needed to for survival or whether the dictator held them under duress is another matter altogether. How much innovation and technology came out of that country though? Very little. How much money did they have when they switched to a democratic government? None.

What about China/North Korea/North Vietnam/Cuba/Venezuela? They are communistic and they survive. – Yeah, maybe, but ask the average citizen there in a safe situation, and I haven’t heard any of them say they love the current system in their home countries. While China seems to be improving the conditions for their citizens, people still come to Florida by the boatloads to leave Cuba. North Korea and Vietnam are both losing citizens in droves to neighboring non-communistic countries. Venezuela? Their dictator has the citizens so tightlipped that I haven’t heard anything from any of their citizens, so it could be heaven or it could be hell, but no one knows because no one says anything.

Is America headed for communism? I don’t know. I do know we are no longer a true capitalistic system. Were we ever? I don’t know. Are we fully socialistic? Maybe, I think we may be tottering between socialism and capitalism, but too much more government could move us solely into socialism.

What’s the answer? The “Tea Parties” are a good start, but people need the knowledge to communicate with their senators and congressmen to express their displeasure. They need to express that they don’t want socialism or communism or we are doomed to become a country of mediocracy.

Make no mistake, slowly, silently we are becoming the good ol’ U.S.A. (United Socialists of America)

You know, when I was younger, throughout the school age years and even into college, I loved the chance to stay home sick. I used to find any excuse to stay at home, watching TV or playing video games, or even to read a good book. After a fun weekend full of races, both drag races and NASCAR, I had to go and get Strep Throat.

This isn’t my first bout with Strep, nor do I think it will be my last. I seem to get it every year about the same time of year. What really gets me though is that I was on the cusp of completing a huge project at work, and now it is postponed. I really enjoy my work now and learn more and more every day. I really want to be the best IT guy for the company I work for to be able to contribute everything I can to making the company successful. Sometimes I get impatient, and I understand that I need to work on those issues, but my impatience is tied to the ambition I have not only for myself, but for whatever company I am employed by at the moment. When I can’t work, I feel like nothing is working.

I know, many people would love a few days off work. I know there are those who tell me I should catch up on rest, or treat it like a vacation, but I just can’t. Work will run through my mind until I return, hopefully this week. Man, when did I become so…responsible? If you’d have asked me if I would ever feel this way ten years ago, I would have told you that you were crazy for even asking the question. It would have been unimaginable for me to feel this tied to work. Now, I can barely remember that I did think that way at one time. I can barely imagine that anyone could feel that work is a burden they want lifted. When I don’t work, I feel so…tired. I feel so…sick.

I hope I get to feeling better soon, I hate how I feel right now.