Dr Pepper: Still the best

A week or two ago, I bought a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper from the CVS on Dupont Circle. All of the cans inside were misshapen, several so much so that it was difficult to drink from them.

After a few days of grumbling, I sat down to write the Dr. Pepper contact team. Despite guides on customer service action telling me that if I wanted them to listen, I should write an actual letter, or at least call, I simply filled out a form online, telling them all the information I had.

Yesterday, I received a letter:

Thank you for contacting us about Dr Pepper Regular. We do apologize for the problem you experienced with our packaging.

We take great pride in producing high quality products and any experience to the contrary is cause for concern. Please be assured that high quality control standards and precautionary procedures are observed throughout the production of our products.

To ensure that appropriate action is taken to prevent future incidents such as yours, we have forwarded your comments to our quality assurance team for investigation.

We hope you continue to purchase and enjoy Dr Pepper products.

Sincerely,

Customer relations

(*Enclosure: 1 Dr Pepper Free 12 Pack

So, snaps. I have hardly ever received anything free from Dr Pepper, despite the fact that I've been drinking it like a madwoman since I was itsy bitsy.

The last time I complained to a company it was while I was working retail. David's Sunflower seeds didn't have the perforation to properly hang, so how was I supposed to display them? Okay, I used a hole punch, but still, I complained to let them know there was something going wrong in their manufacturing process. I didn't receive anything free, but I didn't expect to; after all, I didn't buy anything.

Overall, I'm satisfied, even though the undrinkable cans bummed me out.

NaNoWriMo woes

I'm about three thousand words behind. Now my document is full of author notes for later revisions, so some of the words aren't actually the novel. They are points to be made later. I got back to basics and at the beginning of the document wrote out a description of the main character and the main suspect. I haven't met any other perpetrators or accomplices, but I'm trying to figure out exactly who they are so that I can write character descriptions and figure out how the main character meets them.

These are probably things I should have done before.

This is harder than I thought. This is even harder than when I attempted it as a sophomore in high school. (I eventually finished it, but I have no idea where it is now.) I'm discouraged. More than I thought I would be. But I think I'm going to (for now) continue with it.

Hopefully this weekend I will catch back up. I remember when this began, I was sure I'd be over the limit. You live and learn.

Gun Sales Soar because Barack Obama WILL TAKE YOUR GUNS AND YOUR FREEDOMS

"'He's a gun-snatcher,' said Jim Pruett, owner of Jim Pruett's Guns and Ammo in northwest Houston," Huffpo reports. People have been buying guns because gun control is number one on Barack Obama's to-do list. Economy Shmenomy, Pfft!

Add that to baby-killer, domestic terrorist, socialist...etc, etc. He will come into your home in the middle of the night and TAKE YOUR POSSESSIONS!

What's even scarier than the fact that people actually believe this is that they are the ones with all the guns.

Jon Stewart is dumbfounded at Palin's idiot head

Ahh, off the record until after the election...because I wanted to wait to hear all these juicy tidbits! Yo' governor is so dumb she didn't realize that using your personal email account for state business was actually less safe, even though it was protected from subpeona.

Oh, snaps.

"You don't show up for me, America doesn't show up for you"

Apparently no one made nice as previously reported. David Letterman is vindicated. So there.

I'm not letting Sarah go just yet

Wonkette hasn't let Sarah Of The North go just yet, so I won't either. The truth comes out and its what we all suspected: she's an idiot and McCain is too for letting her anywhere near the White House.

All Roads Lead to Hypocrisy -- Banksy Edition

I discovered I enjoyed the work of Banksy through Blur's Think Tank album. Even this might be considered part of the hypocrisy, but whatever. The hypocrisy stems from the fact that Banksy himself is critical of commercial culture. It drives a lot of his work. The idea is that grafitti has a low barrier to entry. Anyone can do it. Its low cost and low return.



However, Banksy enjoys commercial success. I assume that he was reimbursed for his work on Think Tank (and subsequent single Out Of Time), or for the work used in one of Gorillaz' videos.



And I could deal with that, because I assumed Damon Albarn had contacted Banksy in some capacity and shown admiration for his work.

But I suppose he took it a step far when he released a book. Ridiculous. You can receive his pictures for free all over the net. Why put out a book?



Oh yeah, to receive commercial success. Which you are against. Way to be a revolutionary, douchebag.

Palin continued

Update on Sarah Palin (continuation of our goodbye to her here):



The way she talks is so unnatural for the first minute. But at least she's excited to leave the lower 48 and go back to Alaska.

Sarah Palin, How I've Hated

We hardly knew her, yet I hated her. I will, however, miss the fabulous antics of this crazy Alaskan. Here are some highlights from HuffPo a la Newsweek:

1. Sarah Palin greeted McCain staffers in nothing but a towel.

2. She apparently went rogue way long ago, doing the whole "palling around with terrorists" before McCain signed off on it.

3. The infamous clothes were mainly bought by a wealthy donor who did not expect such a large bill. McCain staffers had told her to buy a few suits and get a stylist, not clothe her entire fam.

4. She and McCain rarely spoke with one another and her request to speak at the concession speech? DECLINED.

5. Threats to the Obama's became more pronounced after Palin began using "hot rhetoric." Michelle Obama herself was frightened, saying, "Why would they try to make people hate us?"

This on top of the baby drama, the bridges to nowhere, and beauty pageants. We are all sad to see her leave, if only because there will be no more Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live.

I.O.U.S.A.

It's like we need a Suze Orman country to come and tell us that we need to live within our means. We need to either Make More Money or Spend Less. Don't buy shit you can't afford.

This is what you get to deal with, Barack Obama. Sorry.

Thanks to Dan from The Illinoisiac!

Election Over, Sorry Media

Last night we knew the election around eleven eastern time. This is a departure from 2000, not knowing for days, weeks after, and 2004 to going late into the night with Kerry conceding in the early morning.

But this was sewn up so quickly that the media is at a loss. No one in the media talked about how if Barack Obama one Pennsylvania and either Florida, South Carolina, Ohio, or Indiana, the election as over.

Because then we'd stop watching. You can't fault them for trying, Brian Williams trying to hype up the fact that Indiana still hadn't been called. Waiting to call states until the numbers got ridiculous.

Who's going to keep watching when there is so much election alcohol to drink?

America Not Racist: Elites shocked

America is not as racist as we all thought! Lets put the debunked Bradley Effect to rest.

And next time you hear some racism, inform the person that we are now past all that, thank you very much!

Barack Obama

Democrazy

Apparently democracy is on the verge on nonexistance. Will they just say that it was the Bradley effect if Barack Obama loses?

Perhaps the saddest video I have watched all day

I am totally bringing bank statements/utility bill with me. What kind of sick bastards are keeping democracy from happening?

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Of course, this doesn't come to theaters until next summer. But did you notice how this trailer has absolutely no bright colors?

This is also the International Trailer. How quickly it seems that the movies caught up with the books. They'll likely only be three years behind. And using the same kids! Kudos!

What. A. Bitch.

NaNoWriMo Day 2

This morning I nearly decided to quit. After all, its day two, and it began with merely 30 words written. I hadn't felt well last night so I had barely tried.

I now have a little over 3700 words, so I am a little ahead of pace. I feel better, except the NaNoWriMo page is so bogged down that I cannot verify my word count with them. Apparently the beginning of November is difficult for their servers, and I'm making it worse by trying to log on every five seconds.

Google Docs now has a hyperlink on top of my browser for easy access.

Tomorrow I'll be able to write before I leave for work and then hopefully a little while I'm at work.

3750 / 50000 words. 8% done!

More legislated nostalgia

I never played Sim City. Any of the versions. But recently I downloaded Sim City on the virtual console (previously on the SNES) and I feel nostalgic despite never having experience it first hand. I did, however, love the first version of The Sims. That I have played for hundreds of hours.



It is pretty awesome. I had extra Wii points, so I didn't have to spend any extra money. If only all games were this easy and full of fake nostalgia.

Palin 2012!

Please, please please let Palin run in 2012, win the Republican primary by shear name recognition, and then Barack Obama easily wins his second term.

It would be awesome.

Countdowns are the coolest

We are almost there.