Explore the Concrete Beach

That is the time I started writing this. I am currently at work at this odd hour. I started at 8PM to turn over a new system and of course when it was suppose to be easy, it’s not!

I’ve been listening to MIS people go back and forth trying to figure out what went wrong and they can’t so I am stuck here in my cube, in the dark because they shut off the lights on our floor at 9.

Luckily I have a light at my desk and the computer moniter to help me see.

It’s no secret I don’t like my job, really I’m more bored with it. A few days ago I sent off my resume to another company in another state. I’ve determined it’s time to move on. Sitting here at 12:45AM on a Friday night is not doing my 28 year-old self any good and it’s time for a change.

I hope I get an interview for the job I applied for, but we’ll see. I should here something in the next two weeks.

In a promotion fot Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 Ken of Ken and Barbie fame has taken to YouTube dispensing advice and telling people what it’s really like to be a Ken doll. The results speak for themselves:

Clever promotion!

Here’s a remix made out of parts of the Disney Pixar movie “UP”

I find this amazing. This is by DJ Pogo and he has more remixes like this

Last night as many people know, the Chicago Blackhawks won teh Stanley Cup. Which means the NHL season is officially over.

This saddens me.

Now I have to wait until October to watch hockey. But there are a few things coming up hockey wise, like the draft and Free Agent Frenzy.

The win by the Blackhawks also officially ended the Pittsburgh Penguins as Stanley Cup champions (eventhough the Pens went out in the middle of May). The cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports and the Blackhawks deserved to win.

Actually anyone but Philadelphia deserved to win. Haha!

So what is the real reason the Penguins have to win tonight?

Well, for one thing it spares all of the City of Pittsburgh from having collective heart attacks at the same time, but the real reason the Penguins must end this series tonight is it will stop Pittsburgh sports writers and bloggers from posting the same story tomorrow.

If you’re asking “what story?” You don’t know your Penguins history and you can just sit tight on the bandwagon and figure out 8787 ways to yell “Shoooooooot” during a Power Play. I know every sports writer has their little anecdote ready for a game 7 piece and it probably goes something like this:

The first game played by the Penguins 43 years ago in the then Civic Arena was played against a now familiar foe, the Montreal Canadiens, but unfortunately for the Penguins that ended in a 2-1 loss to the Habs. Will history repeat itself? Will the Penguins find themselves removed from another Stanley Cup run because of a building coming “full circle”? Could the Pens time at the Mellon Arena end just like it began?  Quite possibly, if the blah blah blah criticize defense, Malkin, Fleury, the earth revolving around the sun, pigeons, Disco Dan’s tie or some other non-sense…

Yep, you’ll all read that tomorrow if the Penguins do not finish off the Montreal Canadiens tonight. So get praying to the hockey gods because any game 5-7 makes me queasy enough in the stomach to cause an acid volcano, I don’t need to add a heart attack.

And can you imagine the TV reporters going nuts with this story? I don’t to hear this beaten to death either.

So please hockey god’s spare use from “clever,” but un-original stories in tomorrow’s paper and hockey blogs and make them full of Eastern Conference Final stories. I don’t need to hear how history might repeat itself because of something 43 years ago, but I know every writer had their story ready to go before game 6 is even played.

There’s only one way the Mellon Arena should go, and that is to go out in style with  a repeat of last years history. 

And with that I say:

Sometimes people ask me questions about their bank accounts because I do work for a bank, but I work on the corporate side of thing, but I do learn a thing or two that I find beneficial and want to pass it along to people as I find it informative.

Someone asked me once if they should sign for their debit card purchases or just use it like a credit card. At the time I really didn’t know and I typically never sign for debit card transaction, because if something would happen I am protected thru the bank anyway.

They also said their bank encouraged signing for all purchases because it was safer. Well to tell you the truth that’s not the case. Signing for your purchases is not safer nor is it worse then using your pin number. It’s about the same. Does the cashier ask to see you ID and signature al the time when you sign?

Yeah, I didn’t think so, plus if you would look at my signature it’s different every time I sign a document.

Here’s the truth why a bank would say it’s safer and in this case I will be using JP Morgan Chase as this was an article in American Banker about them asking customers sign for transaction made on their debit card.

• JPMorgan Chase is urging its debit card customers to sign for their purchases rather than use their PINs. JPM’s pitch is that signature transactions are safer for customers. In reality they’re not. But they are more lucrative for JPM. On a $100 PIN transaction, JPM makes 5 to 10 cents from the merchant. A signature transaction for the same amount generates a $1 merchant fee.

So you see it’s not because it’s safe, it’s because the bank makes more for those signed transactions from the merchant.

Just thought I should pass that along, especially if you are making a debit card purchase from a small locally owned mom and pop type store.

Yesterday was my hooding ceremony for my Masters Degree, woo! So things should start moving along here a lot better. It was an early morning as the ceremony started at 9AM and I had to be there by 8AM.

This is why:

Yep, water. Today I was volunteered for the Pittsburgh Marathon. I was at a water station in front of the Rivers Casino on the North Shore with a few people I’ve met on Twitter. After all these cups were filled with water and stacked two tiers high there was more water in the form of rain. Yep right as the first set of wheeled racers zipped by it started raining then as the day went on it went from pouring to a slow rain to pouring down again.

The runners didn’t seem to mind, a lot of them looked to be enjoying it. I could never do a marathon, or the half, maybe if I walked it…maybe.

I did get to see a lot of people I know so congratulations to them for finishing their race despite a bomb scare near the finish line. It was a good time and thanks to the location, I got to play some slots afterward.

             It’s a sad, yet happy day in the City of Pittsburgh. Today is the last regular season game in the History of the 48 year-old Mellon Arena. Trust me when I say their will be some misty eyes and man tears tonight as the city says farewell to the oldest arena in the NHL. Read the rest of this entry »

Yep, I caved and bought an iPad.

Basically it’s because I wanted one and after mulling it over and over I bought it at my local Best Buy no problem. I laughed at the news when they showed people waiting for hours for one. I walked into the store and a few minutes later walked out with a brand new 32GB Apple iPad. So far so good.

One of my favorite iPad apps is from ABC, I’ll write more about that later.

So how is it so far?

Pretty good, no accessories were available at Best Buy so I need to get a case for it and when the SD and USB attachments come out I will get those too.

By the way this whole post was written on my iPad with the updated Wordpress app!

Excuse me while I play with my new toy.

later!

This following is part of a post I wrote a few years ago. Today I had a conversation about Hills popcorn and Cherry ICEE’s on Twitter and thought it would be appropriate to post again.

It amazes me still how we form bonds with certain brands and when they are gone you can still mention some small detail and the memories are as clears as day.

My memory of Hills Department Store:

You remember Hills, right? “It’s where the toys are.” Truth be told my mother worked at hills when I was younger. She worked in the layaway department. But what everyone remembers about Hills is when you first walked in you were greeted by the smell of fresh popcorn and ICEE’s!

It was really the perfect combination. Much better than Movie Popcorn and SnoCaps combo (I learned that one from one Jaime Fox in college; she always claimed it was the perfect combination of salty and sweet).  

There was just something about Hills popcorn that one could not resist. Maybe it was the taste lightly buttered with a little bit of salt. Maybe it was the packaging the long paper bag like container or the big plastic bag that made it so enticing. Whatever it was it evoked fond memories from everyone. We talked about the after Thanksgiving Sale commercial where the cooked turkey sat up on the table than ran out of the house to be ready for the Black Friday sale.

Whatever it may have been proves the strong bonds people form with brands from their past. It was a sad day when Ames took Hills over. Ames was awful, from the store, to the customer service. It was done on the cheap, unwelcoming and cold. Even the popcorn wasn’t the same.

In times like these, I wish Hills was still around so I could pick up a bag of popcorn and a Cherry ICEE and waste an afternoon with two comfort foods. Well at least I got my memories of the past and a bag of microwavable popcorn to pass the time.