I am an opinionated, Christian writer. Find out more about me and the topics I write about.
This week I was able to attend my first blogging conference called WordCamp Dallas in Frisco, TX.
I learned quite a bit, but at the end I was just wore out. I spent my last night in Dallas at a new friend’s place, and he caught me as I fell asleep uploading pictures.
Join the Discussion (9 comments)
Join the Discussion (5 comments)
I was randomly searching Google Webmaster Tools and noticed that one of the number one keywords for people entering this site was “Ronald”.
I looked into it, opened up Google, and simply typed in “ronald“. And this website shows up in the 8th result. How the heck did that happen?
So much for trying to keep my name out of the search engines 
I show up just behind Ronald McDonald and Ronald Reagan. For some reason Google thinks I’m important.
Join the Discussion (8 comments)
“I hereby resign my…”
Those are the words I read as I bought a late-night dinner from the grocery store.
The cashier was writing a letter as he was checking out my groceries and I caught a brief glimpse.
“How are you today sir?” the Cashier asked.
“I’m fine. Thanks.” I said as I swiped my credit card to pay.
The Cashier reached for my small basket I used to collect my groceries.
“That’s not necessary. I can put it up.” I said.
“No problem sir. Could you please sign here?” the Cashier said as he handed me my receipt.
“Thank you sir, have a good night.” the Cashier said.
In the background I could see his boss giving the Cashier a rude glance. It makes me wonder if his boss knew the Cashier was quitting.
I have to hand it to the Cashier. I’m not aware of many people who can still give great customer service while in the middle of writing a resignation letter.
Cashier, I commend you. You could have just walked out on the job. You could have said, “Boss, to hell with you!” But you didn’t.
You acted like a man, wrote a letter, and still treated the customers as human.
To whom it may concern? Hopefully all of us.
Join the Discussion (4 comments)
I was at my neighborhood grocery store just routinely shopping when I decided I wanted some bananas.
As I approached the produce section, I could see the jewels from afar.
“Wow, those look green!” I thought to myself.
I love buying green bananas because then I can keep them for a while and I’m not forced to eat them fast before they spoil.
I was amazed at my luck. The last time I had bought bananas, they were already too ripe.
But upon closer examination, the bananas weren’t as green as I thought. Surely my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me!
I looked up, and I could see two green lights shining brilliantly upon the bananas.
Now I’m not one to berate marketers, but this is just outright trickery. And it makes me wonder how long I’ve been buying bananas without noticing.
So next time your shopping, keep a look out for the marketing trickery. I’m almost positive there is a “red light” shining on some tomatoes out there.
Join the Discussion (14 comments)
It was about 10 p.m. last night when I had a common human feeling: I was hungry. And lazy. So naturally I just wanted to order in.
I was over at a friend’s place and found the number to the neighborhood Dominos.
After waiting on hold for about five minutes, a human finally answered.
“Thanks for calling Dominos.” the lady’s voice said.
“Hi, I’d like delivery.”
“Phone number?” the lady asked.
“256-555-5555.” I responded.
The lady gave a slight sigh on her end and asked, “Do you have a different phone number?”
Confused by the question, I replied, “No.”
“I’m sorry sir. We don’t have a record of you as a customer.”
“Okay?” I wasn’t too worried at this point because they could just take down my information over the phone.
“Sir, we don’t deliver to customers after 8 p.m. unless they have done business with us in the past.”
The lady continued, “You can pick up your order if you wish sir.”
“No thanks.” I said hanging up the phone. My laziness was much to high to actually go out and pick up my pizza.
After hanging up with Dominos, I called a place called Donatos.
After absolutely no waiting time, someone answered, “Thank you for calling Donatos. Will this be for take out or delivery?”
“Delivery. By the way, do you have a stupid policy of not delivering to un-registered customers after 8 p.m.?”
The guy laughed, “No sir.”
Join the Discussion (16 comments)
Yesterday I attended my first Super Bowl party in several years.
When I was in college I never watched the Super Bowl because I was always working that Sunday. Or I had church that evening.
And while out of college, I never really watched TV. I didn’t (and still don’t) have basic cable. And I was too lazy to get an antenna and see if I could pick up local channels.
So at my friend’s house, someone asked me, “Who are you going for?”
“Nobody in particular.” I responded.
“Oh, you have to go for someone. Pick one.”
I looked around and spotted a small pillow.
“Okay… I’ll spin this sucker in the air. If it lands on black, I’ll go for New York.”
I threw the pillow up and it spun several times. It landed black facing up. So I was going for New York and there was no turning back.
For me, football is no big deal. I could never get into football while I was in high school (and I lived in a very small town). I also couldn’t find myself enjoying college football either. The sport just wasn’t for me.
But when the Giants scored the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, I was screaming with and high-fiving all the other Giants fans in the room.
And it was all thanks to the luck of the pillow for telling me which team to root for.
Join the Discussion (3 comments)
Via Mike I learned about an independent fan film entitled, “Return of the Ghostbusters.”
I’m not a big fan of fan films. Most have cheesy over-acting, bad special effects, and a horrible (or incomprehensible) plot.
However, Return of the Ghostbusters really surprised me as far as the quality of the movie. The acting was okay, there was a cute girl in there, and the special effects weren’t too bad.
I never really was a big Ghostbusters fan, but watching this movie brought back some childhood memories of when I watched the cartoon series.
I only expected to just watch a few minutes and turn it off, but I stayed for the whole eighty or so minutes because the plot intrigued me. And the ending is hilarious as well (I guess you’ll have to watch to find out).
So if you have an hour and a half to spare, give Return of the Ghostbusters a try.
Join the Discussion (6 comments)
So I attended my first ever WordPress meet-up in Nashville, Tennessee. As I was leaving the meet-up, I asked one of the attendees if there were any good restaurants close by.
“Yeah, go to Interstate 65 South and exit Old Hickory and there are a bunch of restaurants down there.”
I took the advice and stumbled on what looked like a nice and cozy restaurant called Wild Iris.
It was one of those $20 a plate restaurants, which I wasn’t quite expecting. However, I thought I deserved a treat and stuck around hoping for some good food.
After the waitress took my order, I asked her how long the food was going to take to come out.
“Oh, it’ll be about fifteen minutes.” she said.
“Is it okay if I go bring my laptop in from my car?”
“Sure, honey. Go right ahead.”
I walked outside and got my laptop and set it up on my table to field some WordPress plugin support requests.
“What is he doing?” I could hear a loud and irate chef in the background, but I didn’t know whom his comments were being directed at.
“This isn’t the type of place where he can do that.” the chef continued.
I typed away, trying to hear what was going on in the background.
“You can’t just pull out your laptop here. That’s disrespecting the table.” the chef concluded.
By that time I was getting angry and glared at the chef to mind his own business. It wasn’t like I didn’t ask permission.
I finished my e-mail and closed down my laptop to satisfy the chef and to stop “disrespecting” my table.
However, the chef’s remarks spoiled the rest of my meal. It’s sad when all a chef can think about is a table being disrespected rather than the customer. Which begs the question, is the establishment more important than the people in it?
When I left Wild Iris, it was about six in the evening. Every other place in that area was packed with customers. But not this place. The food was good. The prices were somewhat reasonable. But the cockiness of the staff and the attitude of the food preparers was what drove the experience down.
My advice to the people of Wild Iris: respect your customers. You won’t win repeat business by being too into yourselves.
What are your thoughts on this? Should I have just left my laptop in the car?
Join the Discussion (9 comments)
The following was my first (and probably last) experience at Coyote Ugly in Austin, Texas.
“You, in the glasses.” a lady said into a microphone pointing into my direction.
It wasn’t everyday that a lady on top of a bar was pointing at me and announcing my presence to the slew of drunkards and bar-hoppers. I wasn’t annoyed or embarrassed, just wondering why my glasses were my prominent figure.
“That’s right. You. Front and center.” she used her index finger to lure me close to the bar.
I looked at my dad, who was laughing at me, and he signaled me to get off my stool and make my way to the bar.
I approached and stood at the bar next to another gentleman.
“It’s her birthday.” she said pointing at another lady. “I want you to pay for a body shot.”
I stood confused. I had never given anyone a body shot, much less a complete stranger in a strange bar in a foreign city.
“Twenty bucks.” she said.
Even a three drink buzz couldn’t talk me into paying up. I shook my head, “I don’t think so.”
“You and him”, she said pointing to the guy next to me, “You guys split it at ten a piece.”
I couldn’t imagine sharing the wealth when it came to body shots. The guy chipped in, “I’ll get it. Don’t worry about it.”
I made my way back to my stool, twenty dollars richer than the other guy.
Turned out it was the Coyote Ugly staff that gave the birthday girl her body shot. I was relieved and silently calling the gentleman at the bar a sucker for thinking he might get lucky.
When I came back, my dad was talking to a fairly attractive Asian lady.
“Where do they get these girls at?” she complained pointing at the bar, “Because not one is good looking. Which one is the best up there?”
My dad shrugged.
“I could out dance any of those girls on that bar.” she said.
“Then do it.” I responded. “Get up there and show those girls what you got.” Several other people assisted in persuading and eventually helping the lady onto the bar.
When she got on the bar, a fast jam came on. And she put all of the other girls to shame.
When she got down, I bought her a drink.
