Election Musings, Christmas Music, etc. etc. And So Forth

Intro

Well, I've finally decided to jump into the world of blogging. I figure that everyone else has an ultra-biased opinion that they can post on the 'net, so hey...I'll join the party.

Let me just say first that this is not going to be a journal of my personal life. I'm not saying I won't talk about things that happen in my life, but I generally like to keep private matters private. I'm not at all knocking those who do have online journals...just different strokes for different folks. Mainly, I'll just be discussing my (really) random observations about this crazy world around us.

Most importantly, it kills time at work.

And just remember folks, it's just my opinion, so please...be gentle. ;)

Ok, with introductory yammer out of the way, let's get to the good stuff, shall we?

Vote or Die(t) (5 Bucks to Anyone Who Gets This Extremely Vague Pop Culture Reference)

Well, we're two days removed from Election Day and one day removed from Bush's official reelection as President of the United States. Now anyone who knows me knows that...well...I'm not particularly happy with the outcome. But democracy spoke, and there isn't a whole lot that those of us in the liberal persuasion can do about it.

What shocked me is that only 1 out of every 10 eligible voters, aged 18-to-24, actually voted. The extremely surprising apathy of my generation is what, in my opinion, hammered the nail into the coffin for Kerry. I think all of Kerry's supporters (myself included) really counted on the youth vote to push him to victory, but alas, it didn't happen that way. But if you go by P. Diddy's ingenious *cough* voting drive, it looks like 90% of Generation Whatever-Letter-At-The-End-Of-The-Alphabet-We-Are is going to kick the bucket.

Hey, you can't say Puffy didn't warn you.

Though I'm trying to be as gracious as I can about Kerry's loss, there is one stat Republicans are throwing out that is just irking the hell out of me.

"This is the first time since 1988 that the winning candidate has won more than 50% of the popular vote."

I don't take issue with this to take away from Bush's accomplishment. He won, plain and simple. But man, people are all over this "majority of the popular vote" stat like white on rice as if it's some unbelievable feat. When you don't have a viable third-party candidate, someone is going to win the majority vote. That's just simple mathematics. In 1992 and 1996, Ross Perot took a sizeable chunk of the popular vote. In 2000, Nader took a little less than 3%, which doesn't sound like much...but that election was insanely close. To me, it's just like those inane sports stats that drive me up a wall.

"No team with the letter "q" in their name has ever come back from a 17-3 deficit on an odd-numbered day in December with the temperature between 37 and 43 degrees fahreinheit."

With Bush remaining in office, my sincere hope is that we works on mending the deep rift we have in this country right now. Since it seems that he MAY be bringing in a more moderate cabinet this time around, I will say that gives me some hope.

Ok, I'm off my election soapbox now...


At This Rate, We're Going To Be Putting Up Easter Decorations Before New Year's...

As I was working in the Land of the $300 Trash Can last night, my ears beheld a song (a song) that sounded strangely like a Christmas Carol. "Eh, one Christmas song, I'll deal with it," I thought. But oh no...it wasn't just one.

That's right, on November freaking Third, the dreaded "Christmas Rotation" officially began.

I just got done saying yesterday, "Well, at least we don't have to deal with 527's for another year." So of course, we now have to segue right into the Christmas music. Now please don't get me wrong...I love the holidays just as much as anyone else. But when you hear four different versions of Little Drummer Boy in a 4 1/2 hour span and we're still over two weeks away to Thanksgiving...it's a tad grating.

Reverse Darwinism (a/k/a, Someone Said Something Really Stupid)

It's pretty common to hear really stupid things when you deal in retail. Last night, I heard one of those gems that just make you question the whole theory of evolution.

Customer 1: Ooh, what's this?
Customer 2: It's a shoe bag.
Customer 1: Wow! What do you put inside of it?

On that note, I bid adieu.

Until next time...
Dan