Nick Switzer

Well tonight I was trying to watch a movie in which my selections were limited.  So blockbuster was the solution to the problem, or so I thought.  Here’s the problem I have:

STOP ASKING ME FOR A CREDIT CARD!

I have never lost or not returned a movie, and I do not rent video games from you all.  And seeing as how there are “no late fees” supposedly, I should not be asked for a credit card every time I come to check out a movie!  But this being the third time in 5 months or so, they are batting 100%.  When asked, “Do you have a credit card to put on file,” I answered no, and that I would like to be excluded from being asked every time I come.  The response was, “Well do you rent games?”  I informed them no, and asked if they can mark that down for me.  The cashier then gave me a very energetic and enthusiastic (sarcasm) “I can see what I can do” and then informed me when my movie needs to be returned.

Not only am I displeased with the fact that the movie rental prices have gone up, but the fact that I get questioned on why I do not have a credit card on file everytime is extremely annoying.  And please don’t tell me that’s to cover their loses.  They get the movies at a very cheap rate, and I would assume that 2 rentals covers that cost.  So if you work at Blockbuster, here’s a tip:  Ask the question if you must ask, and then remove that flag off of the person’s account so they aren’t asked next time.  We would appreciate it.

This is a serious question.  I am one of those people that likes to shave while they’re showering.  I have purchased fog-less mirrors from a variety of places, Wal-Mart, Target, and even Sharper Image.  What is the result?  NONE OF THEM WORK!  I can’t get any of them to not fog up, and I’ve even tried the shaving cream on the mirror thing, to no avail.

I am not sure what can be done, or if this is a hopeless search, but if anyone knows of a way that I can shave in the shower without having the clean the mirror off and shave a spot, and repeat until I am cleanly shaved, please let me know.

Also, please keep recommendations to only those items that you have first hand knowledge.

I quickly have to rant about these terrible ads that Olive Garden has been spamming all over my television programs.  First off, why do they need to try and be funny?  Why not just say, “All you can eat pasta is here/back” and then show some people ordering and eating the pasta?  Show some of the combinations, explain what someone can order, explain the promotion.

Why do they need to have some guy saying, “I did the math on this never ending pasta combination, and there’s 42 different possibilities!” And then the lame comeback by his friend, “While you’re doing the math, I’m doing the marinara.” Or whatever the hell they say.  What the hell Olive Garden?  How is that funny or needed?  Then you finish up the awesome commercial with, “Wow math has never tasted so good” <input canned laughter>.   I seriously would have told whoever that was at my table that their talking privileges have been revoked.

This is what you do, Olive Garden V.P. of Marketing: STOP THE CURRENT COMMERCIALS AND FIRE WHOEVER MADE THOSE DECISIONS.  Return to informing your customers about your food, with close-ups of pasta.  That is what is going to get people to come there.  Did you do any focus group testing on this advertising?  How much money did you waste by throwing these horrible commercials into TV land?

Better yet, let me give you the phone number of my girlfriend who is great at Marketing, and she’ll quickly inform you all how retarded your ads have been.  Finally, let’s just focus on what works for food/restuarant companies, showing what kind of food you have and the promotions on those items, and ignore the fact that everyone else does funny ads, because it doesn’t work for you.

I don’t know what to say except I finally realized that pennies on the dollars means nothing.  Now this revelation came after having some drinks and watching a little television at 3 a.m. in the morning, eating cereal before bed. I happened to arrive at this astounding conclusion about the aforementioned phrase.

Basically pennies on the dollar could mean $.99 on the $1.  After all, 99 pennies still fits the phrase and that’s 1% savings, which to anyone is shit. Put it this way, going to go to a department store because they have your favorite brand on sale for 1% would absolutely annoy anyone. Unless we are talking about a very large purchase (car, boat, house) 1% does not seem like a very good deal. Yet when watching infomercials early in the morning, the salesperson is trying to convince me that “pennies on the dollar” would mean huge savings.

Of course it would be, but that wouldn’t leave them a very good profit, so we can assume we are not getting the greatest deal of our lives like the advertisement suggestions. Anyhow, just wanted to share with you all my random thought process after a night of consuming adult beverages, chowing down on some cereal before bed.