Surviving Christmas

I was one of the lucky ones where I work at to have a Christmas vacation this year. So as a little reminder for the whole family we would drive by a few malls and department stores and watch people shop like mad for the Christmas holiday. My wife and I were smart enough to do all our shopping weeks if not months in advance due to knowing what our two boys wanted.

There were a few last minute stops to the Dollar Store to get wrapping paper and holiday candy items which was way cheaper than the department stores prices. Plus we had to make preparations for a growing Japanese traditional dinner. KFC. Eating chicken at Christmas time is the Japanese thing to do especially with a great marketing campaign by KFC started decades ago. Well, Japan doesn’t have Bogangles which has better chicken, fries and tea than KFC so we were going to get Christmas dinner from there to take home to eat. The only problem was that they closed there doors in Knightdale, NC at 2 PM. The drive through was still open but I was raised a long time ago that if you locked the doors to your place of business that meant you are closed. Telling people they’re welcomed to visit the bathroom size window is like doing business by the bathroom stall. Keep looking straight, no real conversation and leave as soon as you ‘finish’. At 2 PM they were closed.

We did end up going next to a KFC that closing at 6 PM which meant we were going to have chicken tonight. And returning home we quickly got the computer back on to the NORAD site to see where Santa was located at. My wife was still fuming that he didn’t come to Okinawa this year. She blamed the new Japanese Prime Minister for causing so many problems was the reason. After years of marriage I just nodded my head and kept quiet. There are conversations I do not want to have and I learned where to avoid those conversations. Needless to say as the evening went on and Santa was getting closer, we had to stay with the boys until they fell asleep. And by 10 PM we were able to do that. Can’t blame them, when I was their age I set my alarm clock to 2 AM. My parents were not impressed and made it a point that I didn’t do it again.

This was the first Christmas were I didn’t have to stay up to 3 AM putting bike s and toys together. We actually went to bed by midnight and the boys woke up before we did. My oldest said he peaked into the living room but quickly closed the door for he thought Santa was in the room. In actuality it was Vanilla, our cat, who has been sleeping in the tree since we put it up. So the boys got us up and we looked at all the present while my wife went to make coffee. The boys were amazed that Santa ate all the cookies and drank all the ice tea we left for him. By them I burped.

And for the whole day the boys played with everything they got while a rain system was moving through the area. It was nearly 5 PM before we even though about eating anything. We were having so much fun being together. To add more to the Christmas toys for the boys we received a package from Japan that had another toy the boys wanted. The lobster for their Shinkenger toy set. They only need the Bull, Dragon sword and the lantern to finish their set.

This was one of our less stressful Christmas’s we have had in a long time. Over the years it will get easier but a little of the Christmas magic may go away but on Christmas Eve it was my wife and me who had the most fun watching Santa traveling across the world. It was our two boys trying to cook cookies for Santa and all our cats keeping watch over the Christmas tree. We spent almost the entire 24 hours of Christmas day in the living room together as a family. We played with the toys and games, watched Christmas light shows on TV. Just being together with the spirit of the holiday.

The next day I went back to work and by 7 PM I returned home to which the boys wanted more toys and my wife produced a grocery list of items we needed. And after returning home again we played for awhile and watched the a few TV shows as I passed out on the couch from exhaustion from 13 hours of work and fighting traffic of so many people returning their Christmas gifts. We’re keeping ours. And the Little Debbie Valentine Cakes too.

Spirit Pictures

Not long ago we sent many pictures to my wifes family in Okinawa. Among many of those pictures were circular lights around our two boys. My mother in law says that there are spirits always around us and at certain times, depending on ones attitude and the situation at the time, will tell you a lot about the spirit in relation to their size and brightness of the spirit that was photographed.

Christmas Message to Family

This is for our family back home in Okinawa.

Shinkenger Video's

I had some free time (wife and kids are sleeping, a few hours before being at work by 6 AM) so I made a few Shinkenger videos of Jyuzo and Dayu.

School Christmas Play

My son's class sang songs at a 4th grade Christmas show at school last night. His class sang a few songs that was part of a 12 days of Christmas Songs performance. The shirt, vest, tie and pants was a matching set at Wal Mart costing $20. The scarf and gloves costed more. Go figure.

This recording was done using my wife's SONY 5.0 MP4 Webbie HD Self Recording Video Camera. The one were the lens can swivel back and forth. Hence the terrible recording. But if my wife ask, you didn't hear it from me.

Grocery Store of Today

I have worked in a lot of grocery stores, department stores, restaurants and gas stations. All very similar that can be described similar to cars and trucks. Some big, small, plenty or not enough space. This store in question from the slide show you have seen is a wonderful store for the small community it services. Management and staff who works there are great and friendly. The people who shop at this store are the type you would see on The Andy Griffith Show. This grocery store really helped the community who would have otherwise had to drive over 10 miles to the next nearest grocery store. But this entire store has one major problem that becomes very obvious as soon as one enters the store.

It is way to small to shop in and for vendors to service the store properly. At times there could be a traffic jam of people trying to enter and leave the store. Let alone going up and down the isles that are just wide enough for a shopping cart to get pass a floor display. Where long lines at the register consist of a customer standing near by the cashier while the next customer in line is still in the grocery isle. A really small store. A lot of people shop here and the store is really a big bust to the towns economy as a few more specialty stores like a Chinese and pizzeria have opened up next door.

With so much business being conducted in this store, Vendors have to keep plenty of products in the store to make sure the shelves can be restocked quickly if needed. But the backroom is only less than a quarter the size of the whole store so finding space is one small problem when keeping back stock, the major difficulty is trying to get to it when you need it the most. The back room receiving area has only enough space for unloading a trucks delivery. But only hallway space to store everything else. When the store receives their grocery truck, they have to carry many of the pallets they receive to the sales floor so as to being able to fully unload the truck. Shopping carts are the preferred use of the Vendors who service this store due to a hand cart is almost but impossible to get into the back room. Not the managers’ fault or the employees but greatly to the size of the store in effort to save money and cut corners at the cost of their reputation.

Shinkenger Women Theme Music

I had some free time and made a video of my kids favorite TV show. My wife loves the last part of the video.

Windy Day

Yesterday after the rain had stopped and the sky cleared up, the wind increased with a feel to that of 'The Wizard of Oz'. A lot of accidents were reported on the news and a few of our Christmas decorations were exchanged with the neighbors next door. When I went outside that evening to put some more light decorations up is when I saw that a few trees either broke off or were severely damaged by the winds. Part of one of those trees missed the swing set by inches.

Guess where I've been

Starting on Thursday a Wal Mart near Raleigh lowered the price of ALL Pepsi 2 liters to 59 cents. Great business for us. Although it would be nice to have a little more notice say a day before the price changes. I was in a morning meeting when a sales rep called in during the meeting to say his Wal Mart lowered there prices. A few Wal Marts, not all, did this but the one I was working at really made a big push for this to be a huge sale for the store. Pallet displays were placed by both entrances as was a huge end cap loaded down with 2 liters.

The Wal Mart I was at is a new one located just where Highway 40 crosses Highway 42. Leaving Raleigh, NC heading towards Wilmington, NC exit 312 (HWY 42). At the light turn left. You will pass the Cracker Barrel and Lowes Hardware and the Super Wal Mart will be located on the right at the next light. It is built totally different from all the older Super Wal Marts plus a deli center where you can get a lunch or dinner plate that taste a lot better than the fast food places. But you still have a time limit to get to the bathroom after you eat the stuff. Last look their gas station had gas at $2.37 a gallon.

Normally a few Wal Mart’s will let you use a pallet jack until 8 AM but many will not let you use them at all. The store manager here insisted that we use them. After all, every display and shelf area was selling out within 30 minutes. I would carry out a whole pallet of 2 litter Pepsi (320 bottles) and the pallet would be empty by the time I made it to the last display. For at least 12 hours a day with 2 full tractor trailer load delivered to the store every day I stayed constantly busy. When I left the store another Pepsi merchandiser would come in and work until 2 or 3 AM. When he would leave the store there would be only 2 to 3 pallets of back stock left and by 5 AM a truck would pull up and unload 26 more pallets to be worked down until the next full truck load arrived by 1 or 2 PM.

Needless to say, I purchased a few cases myself before going home although it will take a while to catch up on some sleep and other activities but in all it was a good experience to being able to work out in the country area away from the city where a lot of different store personnel and a few selected customers types can be a little too rounded up a bit. If not more.

Christmas Banner

Here is the blog site of a nude version of the Christmas banner.
http://ryunosukenc.blogspot.com/

The Little Spider

This is a story about a little baby spider who saved Jesus' life.

King Herod was very much afraid of the baby Messiah. He had been visited by Wise Men and Kings from foreign lands. All traveled to pay tribute to the newborn baby who is destined to bring a new kingdom to the World. He had become fearful of losing power, especially to a baby, and placed orders for all children two years and younger to be killed. Sometimes even the parents were killed trying to protect their children. Jesus' parents, as well as other who had heard the news, fled to Egypt for safety. They traveled mostly during the night so they would not see them. But the vast Roman army was quickly catching up to guard the borders.

It was much quicker to cross the open plains but very difficult to go over the rugged mountain terrain, especially when you are carrying a newborn baby. Guided by Angels, they started their journey over the mountain tops. From their viewpoint at night time, they could see the campfires of the approaching Romans soldiers and at times they were able to hear their voices. Mary was very fatigued and needed some rest. After all, she had just recently given birth and had very little time to recover before fleeing for their safety.

As they traveled over one of the mountain tops, they came across a series of caves. Joseph, lighting a torch, looked into the caves to see which one was better suited to hide in. Mary was already sleeping on the ground when Joseph returned. Jesus as well was calmly sleeping in Mary's arms. Joseph carried them as quickly as he could to the back of one of these caves. Before leaving, Joseph being a carpenter and therefore skilled with his hands, had made a sword. While Mary and Jesus hid, Joseph kept guard just in case the soldiers entered the cave.

They were so far in the cave that they could not see the opening any more. This was Joseph's strategy. For what soldier would want to search a deep, dark cave with the chance of meeting a wild animal in one of them. By nightfall, the Roman army was already at the bottom of the mountain terrain where Joseph and his family were hiding. The solders were preparing their evening meals, sharpening their weapons and sharing war stories. By morning they would surely be searching the caves.
The cave Joseph and his family were hiding in did not have a wild animal in it, but it did have another inhabitant: a little baby spider. This spider was awakened when Joseph carried his family into the cave. He was curious as to why anybody would want to enter a cave. So when Joseph came out of the cave to check on the soldiers, the little spider climbed onto Joseph and journeyed with him to the mountain's edge. There they saw and heard the soldiers.

With tears in his eyes, Joseph quietly prayed to God.

“Father of Abraham, I was guided by a dream to be with Mary; I was guided by you to protect her and the baby. I see only death within reach of me and those I love. I see nothing beyond the next day but those who have already passed away. To quietly leave now, unseen by the Romans and those you blessed me with would be a fate worse than death itself. I may never fully understand but I do know that I would rather die living than to live dead. And I chose to follow my heart and stand ready to do what my mind says otherwise. I am scared but I will protect them with my life. You do not have to worry about me.”

The little spider hearing Joseph's prayer and was deeply moved. He did not know anything about the baby Messiah, but his heart was moved by the love and sacrifice of a father. When Joseph returned to the cave to check on his family, the little spider jumped off of him. The little spider wanted to help but what could a spider do; especially a baby spider? So he thought for a moment, and immediately had an idea.

The spider crawled to the cave's opening and began to make a spider's web, but not any ordinary spider's web. This would be his first spider's web and he wanted it to be the biggest and best of any kind. After all, he wanted to help the family whom he had heard Joseph praying about. And so, during the long cold night, this little baby spider kept weaving his beautiful web. Never once did he take a rest or slow down. Running along strands of web and swinging through the air, this spider was focusing everything he had on completing his first spider's web.

As the sun was coming up over the horizon, the Roman soldiers were preparing their journey up the mountainside. Joseph was deep in the cave never to have gone to sleep. The baby spider was very slow compared to the much older and experienced spiders, but he kept working as fast as he could while the soldiers came closer and closer. As the soldiers approached the opening of the cave where Joseph's family was in, they stopped.

There before them was a wall of web. A web pattern the like none have never seen before. The morning dew was already covering the web, and as the morning light was hitting the web, an array of incredibly beautiful colors was reflecting off of it. It looked as if a rainbow were covering the cave's entrance. And to add more beauty to it, as the solders moved around they could see the changing colors of the web. A combination of morning dew and light has blinded them. It was as if they were looking upon the door to Heaven.

The army commander, as well as the others, was so impressed with the beauty of the web that they stared at it for what appeared to be for eternity. Not just the colors shining off of it but the patterns within patterns. Soldiers were seeing all sorts of shapes and symbols; artwork like no one has ever created before. No one wished to damage it and excuses were being made to protect it.

The commanding officer reasoned that it would have taken many days to weave such a magnificent web and if anyone had entered the cave would have surely damaged the web. He gave orders to protect the spiders’ web. Joseph being at the back of the cave and hearing every word the soldiers were saying was curious about the spider's web which he surely would have seen when he entered the cave. By evening, when the army had moved onward towards the other mountains terrains, Joseph awoke Mary and they made their way to the caves entrance.

There they saw the same rainbow effect from the evening sunset which the Roman soldiers had seen from the morning sunrise. During the whole day not once did Jesus cry or make trouble in endanger his parents' as well as his own life. Mary awoke Jesus so he could see the beautiful web. He saw the different colors and began laughing with great joy. After the sun had set, Joseph used his sword to cut an opening to continue their journey to Egypt.

Leaving the cave, Jesus began smiling and waving towards an area of the cave. Mary was curiously looking around to see what he was looking at but saw nothing. Jesus was waving directly towards the little spider that had saved him and his family from certain death. Making their way through the terrain and safely entered Egypt, avoiding the armies that King Herod had sent out with orders to kill the King of the Jews, they stayed until it was safe to return home.

The little spider was honored to have saved their life. Taught by a prayer, the little spider learned to help others to best way he could. From the sacrifice of the whole night's rest, the whole world was able to come much closer to understanding this. Creating a thing of beauty that has inspired the world with a love for others to be a part of.

Secret Friend

At a local grocery store, two ladies who work there had their hair done in a new style. As most women worry a great deal on the appearance of themselves, word travels quickly to all the vendors that work in the area. So Monday morning, every vendor who entered the store made it a point to complement the women on their new hair style. Needless to say, both women felt like they were flying on the clouds.

Mind you the ladies really didn’t change their hair style that much but with a majority of all the vendors being that of the married kind, we’ve become trained of knowing the importance of giving a complement when we don’t have a clue on giving one.

It's Christmas time

Zebulon, North Carolina, a small town a few miles (kilometers) from our home, has begun to put up Christmas decorations around the entire city. Even the local buisness have Christmas tree's and lights all around their shops as well.

Opossum

Last night I went outside to look for one of are many cats. As soon as I opened the door I was looking face to face at an Opossum. I called my wife who proceeded to complain about having to pause her show,get up and entertain me. As she made her way to the back porch and saw him, her attitude changed and a lady who was complaining she had back problems, tired and wanted to rest, immediately ran throughout the house, looking for the camera, which she proceeded to verbally repeat 'kawaii' over and over again while taking a few dozen pictures of this opossum who was more surprised than I was when we first met each other.

Fighting at Work

Stress can hit you when you least expect it.

The other day I was in the backroom at one store loading a cart with merchandise when I heard two vendors yelling at one another. The receiver was there but the situation was typical guys just blowing off steam. That was the case until they made references about taking it outside. By that point in their argument the store receiver broke it up. Both receivers went their separate ways and did their jobs. Later one of the vendors said he didn’t know what had happened. He stated that he just snapped.

It won’t be too long before both Vendors are talking and joking around again. A big difference on how most women I know would handle the situation. Most women would want to talk about feelings and letting it all out. Not keeping it bottled in. To were as men just clam up and say nothing. Basically, men would like to let the problem die without giving life to it. For if a man expressed what he is really thinking then you know the police are going to be called in.

Parody of episode 36 of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (Virgin Love)

I made another parody scene of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger episode 36. I forgot to use spell check. Sorry.

Going to Work

On my way to work one morning I saw an overturned truck that apparently made a left turn a little too quickly. By the time I was able to crawl my way up to this accident, about 30 minutes had passed with traffic backup to at least 1/2 a mile. No one died.

A glimps into my wife's artwork

Fort Hood

With all that has happened at Fort Hood the other day, our family prayers have gone out to those affected by the attack. More so after today. I was working a neighborhood food market grocery store in Holly Springs were the Assistant Manager refused to place an American flag when an employee commented on the tragedy at Fort Hood. Due to the fact she was afraid of offending any of the customers that come to the store. She informed the employee that many of the grocery shoppers who shop there are primarily liberals and Middle Easterners who are not very supportive of US patriotism towards the military. Her words, not mine.

Another close friend of ours who works at a major grocery store in Wendell has a family member who is located on the base. Her daughter was planning to spend the week visiting them but instead the whole family may go.

Namie Amuro - Copy That

COPY THAT (192kbps version) - Namie Amuro

Susan Boyle Sings in Eagle Talon Anime

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-11-04/britain-got-talent-boyle-sings-in-eagle-talon-anime

New Banner

My wife has finished drawing a new banner picture for my blog site and has already begun work on drawing a Christmas/New Year banner for me. Just as soon as she has finished with her other drawings of characters from Full Metal Alchemist.

Wal Mart

Lets play a game. The first person who does not understands this situation wins.

For two days I was to work at a local Super Wal Mart store near Zebulon, NC. Everything is going great with people buying items and I’m keeping everything filled up with an occasional check on the toy department for Christmas shopping. (Safe than sorry.) Monday morning at 6 AM I receive a phone call from my supervisor to remove a weekend display from the front of the store by 8 AM. No problem, I just grab a pallet jack and within a few minutes everyone is happy.

Then reality sets in rather quickly. Which display? I called back my supervisor to find out which one to which he wasn’t sure himself but would try to get the merchandiser for that store to clarify which one while I would ask the store personnel the same question. So at 6 AM in the morning I find the night time manager who didn’t have an idea what a weekend display is which led me to the store receiver who played dumb and told me to wait for the Grocery Dept Manager who was coming in at 7 AM. By 7:30 I learned that the Grocery Manager called out sick but as luck would have it, the Store Manager and Assistant Manager both show up for work at the same time. Oh the joy.

So I see both the Manager and Assistant Manager who both knew what a weekend display was but had no idea which one until they did a store walk at 8AM. To put it simply, I cannot use a pallet jack after 8 AM in this store, The Manager and Assistant Manager have no idea what display needs to come off the floor until they do an 8 AM store walk with their checklist of approved display list, a list she was not allowed to show me unless my display was still on the sales floor after 8 AM and no one else in the whole store does not have an idea what the person in the next department is doing or required to do.

Meaning at 8 AM if the Manager sees the display on the sales floor, my company could and would lose the opportunity for future weekend pallet displays in all Wal Mart putting me in hot water with my boss and his boss and my boss’s boss boss. You get the idea. I’m screwed over more than the San Francisco treat. And at 7:50 my supervisor calls. The display to which I was supposed to remove from the sales floor by 8 AM was never placed on the sales floor. So he basically told me I didn’t have to worry about it. And 15 minutes later the Store Manager and Assistant Manager walked by and as they were looking at their notes, told me the weekend pallet display was never placed on the sales floor because the Wal Mart Grocery Manager left early Friday and never informed anyone were to place the pallet.

This was one of those rare moments of my life that my contemplation of thoughts was greatly enjoyed.

I did it again

I took another episode of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger and gave it different translations to what they were really saying.

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger

I took a scene from episode 35 and added subtitles to give a completely different conversation.

Getting the flu

The flu has struck this family but unlike ‘Chicken Little’, I still remember the home remedies my grandparents used. My youngest was out for a couple of days and my oldest son started showing signs of the flu last Monday and had sweated out the virus by Tuesday and was back to school on Thursday.

My wife now has the flu but with me working she still takes care of the boys until I get home to take over so she can rest. I started getting the flu a few days ago but after drinking a ¼ bottle of NyQuil and going to bed early did the trick for me. Plus, eating a lot of fried onions and bell peppers. And as I’m typing this out right now, my wife is sleeping off her sickness as well. Just like my grandfather use to say when someone in the family got sick, ‘Curing is a lot more better and quicker than living with the treatment.’

Windows 7 Whopper

For a limited time in Japan and for only 777 yen you can get a burger that is every vegetarians worst nightmare.

China

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Duke beat North Carolina State, 49-28

Duke played at Carter-Finley Stadium, home of NC State University on October 10, 2009. By the time the game ended nearly all the State fans had left while the rest that stayed did trash talking to the their team as they left the field. Giving Duke football its first ACC road win since beating North Carolina to close the 2003 regular season and ending a 20-game losing streak.

Pepsi in Glass Bottles

I was in a grocery store called Farmer Foods in Louisburg, North Carolina today and as I was walking down on of the isles I notices something I haven't seen in this country since I was in my 20's. Coca Cola still carries Coke but in the small 12 ounce bottles in a very limited supply and area but overall since all soda companies started using plastic bottles instead of glass, the taste is noticeable different. I bought a couple of glass bottles of Pepsi and it was the best I've had in a lot time.

A night out on the Town

We went to a church event at Durham, NC. The festivities started around 9 PM and didn't finish until after 12 midnight. After a stop at the gas station for gas and drinks, we finally returned home by 1:30 AM. Only to get back up at 6:30 to get the kids on the bus for school. All in all it was a great event and everyone had a great time. Even for those who fell asleep near the end of the event.

Take your son to work day

My son has always been wanting to go to work with me. And so I took him with me, not using the company truck but our own car, to re-pull a store. Before going home we were organizing our backroom area where he wanted to prove he could do hard work. Afterwards as we went home he fell asleep from all of his hard work. It reminds me of the times I use to help out on my Uncles farm every Summer with the crops and taking care of the farm animals. The good old days.

1980's vs 2000's Cartoons

A small comparison between cartoon shows of the 80's and those of today.

A Vendor's story

One of the joys of working as a vendor is that I get to meet other vendors and trade stories ranging from good to worst situations of dealing with a lot of people and store personnel and their policies. Due to the company I work for I have to leave out a few details like the stores name as well as the vendor and who he works for because this is his story I am telling. But the rest is all there.

A few months ago this vendor had a huge sale going on with at least 3 pallet displays throughout the store. By Friday at 5 PM he was still working the store and looked like he was going to be there for a couple of more hours. He had about 4 pallets of product in the backroom and the way the sale was going, with customers buying up everything in sight, he figured he would be out of everything by morning. He talked with the manager, who was heading home and an off-schedule delivery was going to come in the next day.

As the vendor was loading a cart to start filling up all the displays again, the female assistant manager and a guy on the stock crew were complaining about the vendor’s product in the backroom. They went on and on about how he had too much merchandise and how it doesn’t really sell at all. The assistant manager stated that she was going to turn down all of his deliveries until all the merchandise was gone or picked up. The stock crew guy was basically a parrot repeating everything she said.

He told them he had another delivery coming in tomorrow morning. They both went ballistic, threatening to kick him out of the store, call his boss as well as telling the store manager. He paid them no attention and carried on with his job. Close to 8 PM as he was leaving the store, all his back stock in the backroom was gone and the 3 pallets on the sales floor were down to 1 pallet. As the vendor was leaving she came to him complaining about empty shelf spaces and being out of certain items which he just smiled and went home.

He showed up at the store the next morning as the delivery truck arrived and he said it was a very different atmosphere. The assistant manager was there but she didn’t talk to him or to be more precise, she stayed far away from his as she could. The receiver told him that after he left last night she called the store manager to complain and tried to get the vendor kicked out of the store. What she didn’t know is that his wife came in to do grocery shopping and called him about the condition of the store. Mainly because the vendor’s boss came into the store about hour before the vendor went home and called the store manager to inform him of the condition of the store, the assistant manager threats and to confirm the delivery would be there as early as possible.

So when the assistant manager called her boss, he already knew the whole story. And by the end of the phone conversation she wished she hadn’t called him. The receiver said that she was in her booth before the store opened and heard the manager, who came in on his day off, chewing out the assistant manager. He even went after the stock crew guy and threatened to fire them both if they screw-up again. And by Sunday night, all 10 pallets that came in the day before were all gone with about 6 more pallets coming in Monday morning. The vendor says he still works that store and the assistant manager still stays away from him.

Busy Month

I haven't been able to post many blogs this month due to two things. And both of them are driving me crazy with letters to Santa and everything else they want for Christmas. Plus they are so into Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (Power Rangers in America) right now that its OK because the show is way more better than when Disney gets a hold of it and totally ruins it. But coming up with the money to buy the toys is like pulling teeth from a gorilla.

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger Music Video

My kids are really into this show right now. And bombarding us with toy request like you would not believe.

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger

I edited two shows to make a very quick interpretation of Shinken Pinks ability to cook.

Beenee Weenee

Know your audience. I recently got my oldest son to start eating more vegetables. Mostly the beans part of it. He would run out of the room to not eat vegetables. Even to the point of going without TV and computer time to not eat them. Until that one evening I'm eating some beans and nature took its course. I let out one that vibrated everything around me. The kids laughed themselves out of their chairs and my wife just gave me 'the look' followed with advise about going to the bathroom.

As my son soon made the discovery that beans make gas. He ate a whole can of beens and sure enough he came to be a true believer that beans are good to eat as well as a good way to scare the cats. He passed one the other day I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Now he wants me to pull his finger now.

Blues Clues

Recently Noggin and Nick Jr have been showing reruns of an old kids show called Blues Clues. My kids may watch it for a little while before switching over to watch something else. But my wife has started watching and copying them. She still talks about Steve leaving the show but usually the song about colors cheers her up.

SCANDAL - BEAUTeen!!

A good way to start the day by watching girls dance around. Music great too.

Soul Eater (micro episode 1)

I took the first episode of Soul Eater and cut it down to less than 10 minutes to showcase Blair. It took a while to find a site to get it uploaded without rejection so I could place it on my blog site. So enjoy until it gets taken off the net.

Blair Witch @ Yahoo! Video

Conversation between the Sexes

The other day we went to our local Japanese store in Cary, NC, give or take 30 miles, to stock up on the usual items like candies, sodas and other food items. As we were getting ready to leave my wife noticed all the new beauty items the store was now carrying. About 30 minutes later she narrowed it down to a few items and eventually she chose one that ‘had a cute package design’. On the way home she explained what it does to which I responded like a typical guys summery of this women’s product.

She says:
At the end of the day this rinse-off remover will remove all the makeup I was wearing during the day plus it will clean my facial pores and make my face clean and smooth.

I said:
So it gets all that junk off your face.

The rest of our conversation was changed to another topic.

Soul Eater 'Blair'

My wife drew another picture for me recently. I saved it for the upcoming Halloween festival. Another holiday that lost its original meaning and replaced with the commercialization of candy, partying and watching women parade in sexy cosplay outfits. Niiiiice.

Customers

One of the top complaints from vendors is that when they have filled up the shelf and all other displays, there will be that one customer that comes in and buys up all of one package type you have. Leaving a big gapping hole for the next customer to see and request that very same item. So, as you proceed to leave the store you notice that said customer with a shopping cart filled up with your product in it. Therefore, you walk over to your section and sure enough, there is a huge gapping hole with a manager and customers just begging and waiting for you to fill it up again.

A local grocery store chain had a huge sale going on with my company’s product. And people were going crazy grocery shopping Thursday and Friday because a group of storm cells had bunched up together with weather phobia weathermen acting like ‘Chicken Little’ thinking that Tropical Storm Danny is going to be the next Katrina. Therefore, it was a little extra busy at work lately. I mean it’s not like last year when Food Lion ‘MADE’ every store remove all their Produce, Meat, Frozen and Dairy items from the shelf only to put it back out a few hours later when the so-call threat of a non-hurricane turned out to be nothing more than a night time rain event. I mean my kids toys never moved from where they were laying outside.

Anyway, as I am filling up the shelf area, a customer approaches with the look as if he planned to do some shopping. As some spaces on the shelf were still empty, this customer began complaining the usual speech. The one where every time he comes into the store he can never find what he’s looking for. The shelf is empty or doesn’t have enough speech. After he finished flexing his feathers to prove he was ‘the customer’ with ‘the customer is always right’ speech I asked what item he was looking for. He stated the item and at that point, I asked him to follow me.

As we came to the end of the isle we were on, he noticed a pallet display of our product. We continued to the next isle where there are three more pallet displays of our product and by the following isle, he saw two more pallet display of the product he was looking for. He could barely utter a thank you, as we both knew his whole speech meant nothing more than a man in dire need of a breath mint. Of course, he was busy loading up his shopping cart as quickly as he could. Lord knows you can never have enough although sometimes I think he wonders as well about these kinds of people. Usually it’s the gas stations and small restaurants that come in and buy all of our products but there are many individuals like this guy who stock up for weeks and months at a time.

One of the tricks told to me by other vendors and co-workers was that as you prepare to leave the stores, never walk down the isle you service. If you do then you take the chance of seeing empty holes that need filling up. Of course, if any of my supervisors are reading this, don’t worry, I always walk down the isle I service. Trust me.

Have Hair, Will Travel

While he wanted so much to have a Samurai hairstyle it was inevitable that a hair cut was not that far behind. At one point he look just like Gackt when the lady was cutting his hair. He didn't cry or get upset but he did want to carry as much hair with him that he could carry. He stated he is looking forward to growing it long again.

Afterburner

Now that my sunburn is getting better and the pain has gone down to were I don't have to take medicine to sleep at night, I do have a new situation that requires a little assistance. My skin is starting to peel and as it increases, my wife, against her will, is pulling out all the bits and pieces of that skin from all over my body. Pretty cool in some area's of my body. But as that skin comes off, a lot of my burnt areas are discolored a bit with a little sensitive. But I still have my wife to apply ointment to take care of that.

It's good to be married.

A few beach shots