What is it with Baseball?
It was bizarre, but not really surprising. It only seemed like a matter of time until something weird happened in another baseball playoff game. You've probably seen it already, but as In ALCS Game 2, Umpire Doug Eddings essentailly gave the home White Sox four outs in the bottom of the ninth by not communicating that he believed the ball hit the dirt on the thrid strike. And wouldn't you know it, that fourth out, former Charlotte Knight Joe Crede, hits a game winning RBI Double. Only in baseball.

Why does weird stuff always seem to happen in baseball? Think about it. Even in the past few years, we've had Steve Bartman, ARod punching the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove, that kid in Baltimore who snagged a HR for the Yanks, Whos Your Daddy chants, Byun Hyung Kim blowing two games almost identically in 2001, and so many more I can't think of. Even outside the playoffs, things have been strange, starting with the steroid controversy (especially Mr. Palmeiro), the tied All-Star game, Pete Rose, Ted Williams' corpse (RIP), anything with Barry Bonds, and of course curses galore. All this strangeness does do one important thing however- contribute to baseball's rich history, which still blows away that of any other pro sport in America.

And for Mr. Eddings? He gets to be the third base umpire for Game 3 in Los Angeles/Anaheim. That ought to be a lot of fun.

Ebay News
Right now I'm selling this sweet NES set for my neighbor on Ebay. Why he would want to sell this just to make a quick buck is beyond me, but someone out there will be winning a very nice auction soon.

Did you really choose to read this article?
I said "whoa" like Keanu in the Matrix after reading this blog post. Basically, it concerns the fact that the free will of humans, is in fact, an illusion created by our brains- or at least that's what I got out of it. There's also some crazy sci-fi stuff about humans merging with intelligent robots in the future that's really far out there. I don't know how much of this to take for real, but it sure got me thinking.

Salesmanship 101
Work, work, and more work. Selling shoes isn't rocket science, it's pretty easy, but still it's tougher than you think. I'm really getting a crash course in salesmanship 101 here. I think most men would be surprised how psychological the process of shoe buying actually is. Emotions, self-image, getting a "bargain", peer dynamics, etc. all play a large role in what shoes people decide to buy. You've got to know how to work those factors if you want to be a good salesman.

Another thing about being a salesman is the importance of hitting targets, ex. selling so many pairs of socks, etc. You're measured in your effectivesness by every conceivable rate and statistic you can think of. If you don't meet your goals, that's money out of your pocket and you can certainly expect to get chewed out by the manager. So, you've just got to deliver the goods as they say.

Oh, one more thing- I could have been a movie star. The casting folks from the Will Ferrell movie finally called, over a month and a half after the casting call. Of course, during that time a found a full time job, so when my Dad answered the phone he "decided" for me that I wasn't available to participate. Thanks Dad, I could have been rich and famous and hanging out with Ron Burgundy and Ali G.Ah well, that means I can't sit around on a set all day reading a book while the gaffer, best boy, and key grip do whatever they do. You can click here to find out more info on the movie, now called "Hide, Wide, and Handsome". Interesting.

Workin' Man
What have I been up to lately? Basically, working a lot. In the past five days, I've worked about 50 hours, including 12 hour days on Tuesday and Wednesday getting the store set up. Welcome to the real world Mike! I'm starting to see how the retail business can be a real meat grinder. But I am picking up most of the basics, and business has been good, etc., so there's really nothing to complain about. I do have to say that I'm glad I get an employee discount. I've got my eye on about five pairs of shoes right now, which I'm planning on getting... soon.

As for the mall itself, it's nice, if not utterly generic. There's nothing that really makes it stand out in my mind, and practically all the stores are also located somewhere else in Charlotte. You could really call it "Southpark North", as it has many of the same higher end retailers. But as they say, it's all about "location, location, location". With all the growth in North Charlotte, there's a really large market of quite wealthy people that was just waiting to be exploited. It's a no-brainer, really. I mean, they pay people to figure out this stuff?

Panthers Season Opener
Panthers season opener

What can you say about today's game? The sports media sure had their opinion ready. The whole nation cheers as the underdog Saints pull out a victory over the "men in black" Panthers. All I knew was, as soon as Fox's pregame show was devoted almost entirely to the impacts of Hurricane Katrina, that there was no way the New Orleans Saints were gonna lose this game. There was far too much "inspirational" stuff going on for the Panthers to even have a shot. I should say that I want the best for the Gulf Coast, and I've donated time and money to do my part. But football is an unsentimental game. After the coin toss, it's only you and your opponent.

Still overall, I was generally feeling postive about the game today, Jake was (mostly) grooving it, Steve Smith was in top gear all day and Stephen Davis' production was certainly a pleasant surprise. Jenkins being injured is certainly a huge blow, and the defense never really dominated. As for the Saints, they got some breaks, but they did play well, and I will give them that. But like my dad said, "The Fix is in"- one way or another, whether by fate or by design, the Saints were going to win that game.

Good News... and Bad News
The good news is, after months of a somewhat futile job search, I finally found a job. It's with Clark's of England in the new Northlake Mall at Harris and I-77. You probably know Clark's best from their Wallabee and Desert Boot shoes. Anyways, it's good to finally have a full time job and some real responsibility. Getting a completely new store set up will be a challenge to say the least, but I'm looking forward to it. Y'all should stop by sometime, maybe I can sell you a pair of shoes.

What else is going on? My Aunt, Cousin, and Grandma stayed at the house this past weekend. It was a pretty good time, even if all we did basically was eat and ride jet skis. Still, that's a good situation when you can live on the lake and do stuff like that. Of course, with gas prices the way they are around here, the lake might become a really quiet place real quick.

When I went into work on Tuesday, the price at the local BP was 2.55 a gallon. At the end of the work today it was well over three dollars and on the way to who knows what price. Of course the hurricane has disrupted everything but additionally there have been pipeline failures which made the situation worse in the Carolinas. So thanks to word of mouth there has been a panicked run for gas in the region. Fortunately I filled up Tuesday at 2.69, so I'm in the clear for a little bit at least. You know, It's kind of cute to hear people complain about gas prices normally but the bottom line is that the American economy, and therefore society, is completely predicated on a steady supply of oil. Without that petrol, everything falls apart. I know this is common knowledge, but most people don't really care to think about it until there's a real problem. I don't think anybody really wants to deal with it.

As for Hurricane Katrina, yeah, it's bad. For a brief moment it looked like New Orleans could be o.k. but then the levees broke and the city has descended into hell. I've been watching the news with a mixture of horror and fascination, as it seems every day brings with it another obscenely bad development. I hate to say it, but I think New Orleans as a major American city is done. Would you ever want to go back there, knowing the risks? Sorry, I wouldn't. Of course the city will remain famous for its cultural and historical traits, but outside of that, the future is bleak.

Hurricane Katrina
Been watching the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina today. Looks like it's the real deal; everything I've seen and heard today makes it look like this storm could cause damage of historic proportions. Don't know how bad it will turn out for New Orleans and surrounding areas but it doesn't look too good. Hopefully enough people managed to evactuate or find shelter to minimize the loss of life.

Close Call
Scary moment at work today. I was at the front of the store getting carts and a customer who was sitting outside got my attention. He said he wasn't feeling well and thought he might be having a heart attack. I talked to him for a second and asked if he needed an ambulance. I went inside and informed the management, who called the ambulance. After a few minutes, the first responder from the Fire Dept. showed up, followed by the ambulance. Although I was back running the register by this point, I later heard that the customer was fine and just had high blood pressure. Still, that's a little bit more serious than paper or plastic.

Blue Ridgin'
Recently I went with my family and friends up to the mountains. We went on the Blue Ridge Parkway over to the Moses Cone house, Linville Falls, and Mt. Mitchell. It was real nice to get away from the traffic of suburban Mooresville and enjoy the clean mountain air. In fact, I don't know why we don't do it more often. Anyways, I posted a couple of pictures from the trip on flickr. Why don't you go check them out here? And find some time to go up to the mountains one day. You'll feel a lot better afterwards, I can gurantee it.