Hoo Hoo Hoo Hoosiers!

On my way to Chammp's in Old Orchard to watch Indiana play in the Insight Bowl. Woooo! Go Hoosiers!! And go Kooder for making the drive to be there.

Thank you

Thank you giant department stores in my mall. Thank you for deciding that it's unreasonable to expect a shopper to accomplish their goals in a measly 11 hour day - or even 12. Thank you for forcing us (the little tiny stores with a staff of four) to be open for business from 8am until 11pm this week. Do you know how many people buy glasses after 9pm? Or anything really. Seriously. The only people in the mall that late are little hoods whose parents dropped them off for us to babysit for a few hours while Mommy & Daddy enjoy grown up time. OMG! Snowball fights and screaming are the mostest fun EVER!! Retailers have done this to ourselves, unfortunately. It is now unacceptable to expect someone to wait until tomorrow for anything. Pharmacies are open 24 hours. Honestly, how many people have died in the last 20 years because they couldn't get Advil or Q-tips at 3 in the morning?? And more specifically in my store, I just want to tell some of our customers, "I'm sorry you waited to order your glasses until 3 days before you leave on your vacation that you planned weeks ago. Feel free to head over to LensCrafters and hand over your wallet to get the same frames everyone else has in about a day." (That's right, you better be willing to raise Cain or settle for something else to get them in 'about an hour.' They frown on that promotion now) So that's my little rant for the day. Thank you for listening. I really do enjoy my job most of the time. Is it obvious that I was the one closing the store tonight? ;)

Ever Dance with the Devil....?

I enjoy most of the Batman movies. I think Christian Bale is great. Love the new look. I think Jack Nicholson's Joker is one of the best movie villains ever. So I was less than enthused when I heard Heath Ledger would be playing the Joker in the new movie - until I saw these. How fantastic do these look?

(Incidentally, I wonder if Tom made someone replace Katie so Heath couldn't try to hook up with her. Watch out Maggie Gyllenhaal - he may go for the sibling set)

Babies!!

This is a photo of Reis & Avery Johns. Dave's sister, Jennifer (Yes, we have the same name) now has a beautiful little girl to go with her little man. Aaaaaand, my cousin Anthony (roughly the same age as Tony) is the proud papa to little Isaiah. Good heavens. I promise you I'm still happy just having the dog. No Christmas surprises coming from me. But big congratulations to everyone else!

Book It!

Seriously. People need something else to complain about. When I was little, reading so many books through Book It! got you a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. This is a story out of Orlando about a complaint by a mother of one of the children who was 'turned into the bad guy' because 'we don't eat at those places.' Oy. First of all, your child knows McDonald's is out there for heaven's sake. It's McDonald's! There are more McDonald's around the world than clouds. Secondly, why is your child going to public school? If you're so concerned about rewarding her, give her a carrot. It works for my dog.

SNOW!

Did I mention I work in an outdoor mall? Something tells me it's going to be a little slow.

I. Can't. Wait.

Hahahahahahahahahaha

Poker? I don't even know her!

Thursday night we went to a charity poker tournament called Aces Up. It was hosted by Richard Roeper & Chris Zorich (among others). It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity for us to see what it takes to put on a really successful event. We ran a tournament for Orchard Village a few years ago, and I don't know if I've ever worked that hard. A couple of things:

1. It was in the city, NOT Schaumburg.
2. They stressed again and again that it was for a great charity. People at our event were there for the prize. Period.
3. Casino sponsorship. Volunteer dealers who are not taught the game in a spontaneous 2 hour drill on my birthday. :)
4. They had celebrities with bounties. My theory - if I don't know you, you're not famous. I let it go that night.
5. Free booze. That makes most people happy, really.

All in all, it was a very fun night. It's just a completely different game in that kind of situation. For example, the point of betting is to win the pot by making someone else lay down their hand. This is hard for novice players (I know I sound obnoxious) to understand. They keep thinking 'this next card will be AWESOME!" so they play cards they really shouldn't. But again, it's for charity. But those are the arguments used by people (lawmakers) to say it is strictly a game of chance. No skill involved. Lots of people have said it before, but there's a reason the same people win the big tournaments (professional) every year. Luck plays a part, absolutely. But at heart, poker is a game of skill.

So that's my unexpected rant. Who's ready to go to work??