TQ Presents... @AsVinnyCsIt!

I generally try to put out three blog posts per week, but from time-to-time, I get caught up with other things: The Mrs., work, football, etc. This time, I'm nursing The Mrs. back from an illness. So, I figured, why not solicit some of my favorite bloggers to take up the slack for me. Yeah, that's right, I can facilitate my blogging duties to others! How lazy wonderful is that?

I've asked a buddy of mine, Vinny C, to liven up my blog a bit with some toons! Well, I'm going to let him do his thing. After you read this and enjoy his work, then cruise on over to "As Vinny C's It" and subscribe to the blog. It's good stuff. It wouldn't be on my page if it weren't. Take it away, VC!

"Hero?  ME!?!"

Like most, I often find myself pondering some of life’s bigger questions. Things like: when will we stop hearing rumors and gossip and finally see Firefly put back on the air or if the authorities are doing anything to stop the worldwide shortage of bacon. Things like those. What I’ve been thinking about a lot though is how I would deal with something really bad happening.

I’m not talking stubbing your toe, or locking yourself out of the house kind of bad. Those suck, but I was thinking more along the lines of extreme situations, like natural disaster or the society crumbling due to some sort of post nuclear-apocalyptic event.

Or because of that bacon shortage...

We all want to think we could rise to the occasion and take charge. But do we know for sure how we’d react if the shit were to really hit the fan, as they say? I’ll admit right now, I’m not what you’d call an “alpha” male personality. In fact, if there’s something that comes after “beta” male, that’s probably me.

But what if that was only because the right situation didn’t present itself? Sure, I’m non-confrontational and socially inept but maybe that’s only because I don’t see current situations warranting me being more aggressive. Maybe there’s another side to me altogether... deep deeeeep down inside. A hero!

For the record, I own neither as sword nor a machine gun. I just assume that if a zombie apocalypse does happen they’d be a lot of random weapons lying around. Maybe I played too many video games as a child. 

Anyway, I’m sure we all think we can be the hero if given the chance. Who wants to be the whiny victim who has to be rescued and is too scared to be of any use? Worse yet, imagine ending up with the role of nameless victim# 4. No one wants to aspire to that. But with my luck... Nah! I’m the hero. I know it!

AsVinnyCsIt
SprocketInk

Is 400 Enough?

Well, I always thought that I'd blog forever, but I'm starting to feel that's not the case now. As therapeutic and enjoyable blogging can be, it can also be time-consuming. I've always tried to provide multiple blog posts per week to entertain my followers, but that requires sitting in front of my laptop an awful lot at times.

I may have hit a wall on this one.  It's blog post #400 and I'm not sure if I can keep up the pace any more.  I'm not saying that I'm quitting because I'll always have something to say.  Those who follow me closely know of another venue in which I make my points and discuss important topics. :)

But, despite the many crazy, college stories that I have left to tell and the many stupid people in this country who need to be called out, I have to ask myself, "is 400 enough?"

When I first started blogging, I thought I'd post a few blurbs and be done, but I got two followers early on and that drove me.  The posts kept coming and so did the followers and eventually the comments. 

Well, over time, the followers slowed down and so did the comments.  I wasn't putting in the same work in marketing/promoting and the content may have suffered a bit, too.

I've dealt with a work schedule that required a lot of nights and weekends.  I spent more time with my mom after February when her cancer peaked and ultimately claimed her life on June 2nd.  Now, I'm spending a lot more time with my father to make sure that he knows that he's not alone now that she's gone and nursing a sick wife.

So much has happened over the past six months and the aforementioned is only a part of it.  What was once fun has now become "a business plan to get more readers" and I never wanted it to come to that.  I read about SEO's, keyword bait, etc. because I'm constantly searching for followers/comments instead of simply writing for the sheer purpose of saying something that needs to be said.

I just wanted to be a guy who had an outlet to share his opinions.

Well, I'm still going to be that guy, but not as often as usual.  I'm not shutting my blog down, but the pressure to post 3x per week is out the window.  I hope that those who are new to my blog decide to go back and read some of the older ones.  Trust me when I say that a lot of them are still relevant or contain some funny story.  Here are ten suggestions:

When Elevators Attack, Part II

Real Housewives of Panama City Beach

Gettin' Funky

Cold Chicken Tenders

Would You Go to Jail for A Hamburger?

The Real Blogger Shore's Amazing Undercover Idol

Hooters & Bikinis

Torturing Telemarketers

The Cereal Killer

Boonies Aren't for Me

That should hold you for a while if you're new to the blog within the last six months.  However, I promise that I will post when I have something to say.  Will I lose some followers?  Maybe.  Will my presence eventually fade into the sunset?  Possibly.  Will I be happy to simply express myself and not constantly check analytics to figure out why one blog post isn't as popular as the other?  Definitely.

Going Back to Cali

(written on 10/10)

I'm in pain as I type this. My upper shoulder area was sore prior to going to bed last night and now it feels as if Jason Statham just kicked me in the neck. I guess I need a firmer pillow and not one you can fold and put in your pocket. Anyhoo, I'll get over it.

Last week, The Mrs. and I spent Sunday-to-Sunday in Carlsbad (San Diego), CA for her birthday. Not only did we have a great and relaxing time, I also slept much better than I did last night (the pillows were firm at the SeaPointe Resort)!

The one thing that I did gain even more perspective on, while vacationing there, was the value of hard work. I met and unofficially interviewed almost every housekeeping and maintenance employee at our resort. To hear them talk about the jobs situation in America was fascinating to me.

One person in particular that I met was a housekeeper named Caridad was from Mexico. She has been in the states for most of her adult life (I'm guessing she was mid-20's). I asked her, "if I were to move to Carlsbad, would I have a problem finding a job?"

She replied, "office job?"

"No, just a good job." 

"There are plenty of good jobs here, but a lot of people only want desk jobs."

Intrigued, I followed, "why is that?"

"I don't know. Americans don't like to sweat."

Of course, she followed that statement with a nervous laugh to try not to offend me. I wasn't offended at all. I knew exactly what she meant. American-born people tend to want things easy when it comes to the job. I remembered my days of working in a cell phone company's call center and seeing people complain about being "tied to the phones."

But, every other day at the resort, I watched a 50-something Hispanic woman rake even rows in the sand of a beach volleyball area. It took her 20-30 minutes to erase all of the footprints, but she did it and made sure that the rows were even.

I recall wanting some more towels for our bedroom and watching Caridad run to retrieve them. When she returned, I asked her why did she run and she simply replied, "to get them to you faster."

Really? Who does that?  Was it because I was nice to her and I spoke to her daily or just because she understands the real meaning of customer service?

Don't get me wrong. We all complain about our jobs at some point. Mainly over the people we deal with more so than the job, but we complain nonetheless.  I'm sure that even LeBron James wishes he could stay in bed late some days instead of going to the gym. Even a male photographer for Playboy Magazine probably gets tired of packing luggage to go all over the world for nude photo shoots.  Well, maybe I'm reaching there.

From the Filipino woman at the airport named Tess, who was very helpful, to the Pacific Islander Seapointe Resort front desk attendant named Olga, who had the most pleasant of attitudes, I learned something: I learned that we have people, born and raised, in this country capable of being hard workers. The difference between the U.S. and the places where these particular employees originated is the culture.

We don't teach the value of hard work like we once did. So many people have rapped/sang, ran/jumped and sex-taped their way to financial freedom that a lot of us just wait on our "big break" instead of creating it. Do you know how many kids that I know who want to be a singer/rapper, basketball/football player, reality star, etc.? A lot more than when I was in school, that's for sure.

The point that I'm trying to make is that people aren't born lazy. We're turned into lazy bums by enablers. We have companies (insert fast food restaurant here) who hire "warm bodies." Some companies could care less if you're nice to the customers.  They just need you to flip the burgers and take the money.

We have parents who do everything for their children. "Helicopter parents" who hover over their child and won't let him/her do anything on their own.  And then other people have to deal with their children once they become "adults."

We have the media who portray sluts, slackers and drunks as idols.  No need to have talent!  Just do something really stupid that people will talk about on Twitter.

Where did we go wrong? (Sigh)

I enjoyed our vacation in Carlsbad.  I hope that some day we'll be going back to Cali for another stay.  I not only enjoyed the weather and sights there, but I also learned that there are people in this country who still take pride in their work.

It's just that must of them weren't born here...

Are we too far gone as a culture to restore a hard-working attitude back into the U.S.?