I was listening to one of the local country music stations and they had an announcer voice-over promo come on and the guy says, "Do you remember Smokey and the Bandit, BJ and the Bear, and the Duke boys? Then you're going to love our way back airplay." Then they proceeded to play a song from 1999! Smokey was released in 1977, BJ and the Bear was on TV from 79-81 and the Dukes of Hazzard ran from 79-85. I expected to hear a country song from 1980ish give or take a few years. They played a song from 5 years ago. 5! That's not way back. That's not even back. That's like the rock station going, "Do you remember The Beatles, The Eagles, and Bob Dylan?" and then playing Britney Spear's first hit. I certainly don't own my own radio station or announce at a radio station, but I think the first thing I would do if I was trying to sanction an entire day for listening pleasure is make the damn promos match the music. Blows, I tell you.
Yes, you can call me Bill Scrooge if you like. Perhaps I am. However, there's one big difference between the Dickens' character and myself is that there is no redemption in my future. At least none that I'm aware of. Ghosts that visit me aren't going to revive my holiday spirit unless they start pulling commercialism out of the picture. Toy manufacturers start a campaign in late October and early November to build up that year's "must-have" toy. Then they start short-shipping them to stores to build up frenzy and demand. One of the must-have toys this year is the Spongebob Squarepants Krabby Patty Grill Set. Don't ask how I know. When inquiring about it at a local Toys R Us, the manager said that they weren't slated to get any more in because they weren't a big enough outlet. It's a shame that some executive decided that Pittsburgh kids don't need the toy that they deemed the must-have toy of the year. I hope the kids in New York and LA enjoy them between visits to the nanny's house and boarding school. Ok, that's a little off base, but these toys are singled out and then who goes and buys them up? Middle-aged men. What do they do with them? They list them on E-bay and make a tidy profit off of some poor parent's desire to bring a little happiness to their child to make up for the fact that they have to work 60 hours a week to feed, clothe, and pay for daycare for the child. And to top it all off, it's a FREAKIN' PRETEND FAST FOOD GRILL! What the hell is that teaching the kids? So, pardon me if I'm not all "deck the halls and fa-la-la."
Enough of that bitterness. Here's some phenomenal news from the job front. For the first time in 4 years...I got a holiday bonus. I've been working for this company for...one month today. And I got a holiday bonus. Granted, it wasn't overwhelming, but it was a bonus. Damn, it's good to be appreciated.
We also had our holiday party last night at Dave and Buster's. Free appetizers, dinner, dessert, and open bar...all night long. In addition to all of that, we got power cards with 100 chips apiece on them to play games. (This breaks into weird parent mode, so you can skip to the next paragraph if you'd like) You should have seen Gage's eyes trying to follow all the lights and sounds in the game room. He played a couple of games with Mommy and Daddy. We have a great picture of him riding on the motorcycle game with me. It's very hard to steer a motorcycle one handed.
Ok, weird parent moment over. And, that's pretty much the end of the post too I think. Although I'll lament the fact that the NHL's season is pretty much over since the union rejected the players' offer and the players rejected the union's offer.