Flipper update

I happy to learn yesterday from an equally abused neighbor that Flipper is not racist, nor run over by a VW, nor anti-mutts. He's just off his rocker. Thanks, Flipper, for making our life experience in Lubbock a tad exciting!

Slamming bodies and almost-rabid fans

I never thought the day would come when I would go to a WWE event. M dragged me to it (like he does for a lot of events) to photograph fans for the Web.

I didn't exactly kicked and screamed on my way there. But I was quite ticked off that I didn't have the foresight to dress appropriately (and I knew this was coming up. I just forgot when). So there I was in a suede skirt, sheath sleeveless top and a cotton casual jacket. Oh, and high heels! I was unfortunately, the most overdressed idiot in the crowd.

The "assignment" was easy enough. Each armed with a camera, we would be taking posed shots of the fans. The sight of those eager fans were enough to validate my purpose. These fans are traditionally the undercovered in our newspaper biz -- hispanics and a relatively low-brow "sport." And by far, they are the most fun to photograph in all my time spent asking people to pose for me. (Not fun when the stiffs give you a half-hearted "hmm".)
These fans came with their amateurly-made signs, fake gigantic belts, tacky T-shirts, and were the most willing to be photographed. It made my "job" a lot easier.
The biggest surprise of the night came when we were allowed to go into the arena and photograph a few fights.
In we went along the tunnel like we were hot shots (and we saw some wrestlers), and led to the "press area." It was essentially the floor in front of the USA network cameramen who were stationed on the rows of seats. Now, my photographic endeavor just got a little trickier. I have no where to sit but the "floorboards" at the first row of seats. And since I had the short lens, and M the long ones, my task was to shoot more pics of the fans. So there I was, sprawled so precariously on the floorboard or the floor, depending on the angle I needed to be, hoping that a stray camera will not expose my fragile state for all of wrestling fans at home.

I gave up after a while and decided to watch the show. While I still don't quite appreciate WWE, the spectacle and crowd made up for my lack of enthusiasm. It was such a giddy experience watching grown folks and young kids chanting and screaming. And those signs. Wow. K, you are so right about that. If I knew this was the legit thing and they were going to show it on TV, I might have made one myself. And fill it with all kinds of Singlish gibberish that only few of us would understand.

WallyWorld

WallyWorld, our pet name for the behemoth known as Wal-Mart. To my fellow Singaporeans, think Carrefour or Giant. To many, WallyWorld is a threat to local shopkeepers. And to bring up WallyWorld in conversations is akin to talking about religion and politics at a casual dinner. Sparks will fly. However, I'm seriously seeking pro-Wal-Mart shoppers and anti ones as well. Tell me what makes you go to Wal-Mart or what makes you stay with your present supermarket of choice. And if you are one of those that will go to either one, what spurs your shopping habits, and what can local supermarkets do to entice you to continue shopping with them instead of bringing your dollars to Wal-Mart. I would really love to hear your thoughts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bob: We have "Not To Use Cane" here too We buy from our local provision shops becos they are convenient (usually along our way back home) and also good when purchasing premium brand items. The premium brands usually are priced the same anywhere you buy them except maybe when they are on sale. Mega marts are good for OEMs. Those NTUC brand, No Frills, Giant....since they have slapped on their own labels, the items usually sell cheaply and are of reasonable quality. NTUC has the rebate system in place, so it is "alluring" to spend money there. Mega marts always tend to get their hands on your wallet due to their many sale items and we end up purchasing MORE than we need. As we don't drive, we buy at mega marts too because they offer delivery services and that spares ME carrying those diapers and milk tins!!! There is another source who "confessed that" he is usually cash poor at the end of the month and so uses his credit cards to buy groceries at mega marts as our local shopkeepers don't except credit cards. May not be relevant to you in the U.S...but putting in my 2 cents. My Response: I love your 2 cents. That's the kind of feeback I'm talking about. I think countries need to learn from one another (like the immigration issue) as they may/will have better ideas. -------------------------------------------------------- Patrick: There are many reasons why I don't shop at "Sprawl Mart", (I also like The Simpson's version, the "Try N Save") and you've probably read about most of them (they pay crap wages to employees, they drive manufacturing jobs out of the U.S., the quality of their merchandise is pretty poor, they're virulently anti-union, they obliterate small town business districts, etc.) But most of these things are abstract ideas, and it's hard to defend things in the abstract. For something a little more concrete, how's this: When a Wal-Mart moves into town, it kills off the local hardware store, grocery store, pharmacy, etc. Those stores therefore do not advertise in the local newspaper. But Wal-Mart doesn't advertise in newspapers either, because they rely strictly on television. So it's pretty straightforward: Wal-Mart is bad for newspapers. Which is why I shop at Target. Christina: I shop at Wal-Mart for two reasons: 1) the sheer convenience. In my previous life as a newspaper reporter and my upcoming life as a writer working out of my house and essentially supervising myself, I need to be able to get a lot of things at one place quickly. And Wal-Mart fits the bill. 2) The price. The Man has never paid me an equitable salary so any place that helps me save on anything is the place for me. Wal-Mart has given me low cost, quality supplies for everything from parties to hiking trips. I have bought great dress shoes there for $5.99 that got more compliments than designer ones from Dillard's. I also have a slightly different perspective on Wal-Mart because I know a lot of folks who live in extremely rural areas, where there is NOTHING close by, not even the "local" mom-and-pop hardware, drug, supermarket, etc. Case in point: years ago when a new Wal-Mart opened on Highway 76 in Marion County a local mayor had tears in his eyes because he said the arrival of the one-stop store would help so many of the area's poor people and seniors who previously had had to drive up to 30 or 40 miles to get to a place that offered them everything they need. In certain cases, Wal-mart is a Godsend for people for whom time,money and gas is a premium. I also know there are issues with their stance on unions and etc., but in certain cases for people I know, Wal-Mart provided them a job when they desperately needed one,case in point my friend in Georgia who was laid off from a car dealership and desperately needed a job at the same time she suddenly took over custody of a very young niece. Wal-Mart filled the gap in an emergency and gave her hours she could work with and money when nobody else was offering it. No company is perfect, but in general Wal-Mart is providing a much needed source of goods for a lot of people who often "fall between the cracks," and for those of us who just need to save a buck day to day, I say Go Wally World. Melissa: I have a love/hate relationship with Wal-Mart. I love the merchandise, the prices, and the fact that I can now purchase my groceries and my new shoes all in the same trip! B-U-T I absolutely can't stand the parking situation. You have to park 2 zip codes (sometimes it feels like TIME ZONES) away. Not only that, but I'm always blown away by just how little the people they hire to work in certain departments actually know. The automotive department, for instance. Recently, I went in to have them replace a flat tire. And what did they do? They replaced a perfectly good tire, and left the flat one on the car. ??!!! When I asked how that was possible, their excuse was, "Well, did you specify which tire needed replacing?" OF COURSE I did! However, it would seem to me that the pancake-shaped one might give it away if there were any doubts! ... The same automotive department forgot to replace my tire jack, and left tools in my engine during another visit. Grrr! LOL!! .... So, yup. It's definitely a love/hate relationship for me! Karen: I have talked about not ever shopping at Walmart again. It's a short drive away from us. In fact, drive 7 mins one direction from my house and there is a Walmart Supercentre and drive 10 mins the other direction, there is another. Of course, I also have three Targets near me (one of them being a SuperTarget) two are less then 5 mins drive away and one is about 12. When it comes to grocery shopping, I go to the local stores. There is Shnucks (www.schnucks.com) and there is a small (chain) gourmet/specialty grocery called Fresh Market (www.thefreshmarket.com). I don't need to safe time by buying my groceries and my necesseties altogether. I don't mind taking a few trips to different stores in one day. I am a housewife with no kids, what else do I have to do lol. Besides, I already need to go to two different kind of grocery stores. The regular one that everyone goes to and the Asian one. When it comes to the Asian stores, I might have to shop at a few different ones before I find exactly what I want. If I can't find it at the Chinese stores, I might hop over to the Indian ones - if you want cheap, this is where you should go for cheap spices :) Being a past-Walmart SuperCentre grocery shopper (when they first opened) I honestly did enjoy shopping there. People were actually friendly (hard to believe today), the grocery section was always fully stocked (no matter what day it was) and fresh and most important, it was CLEAN! You wouldn't believe the crap you see there today whether it's in their shopping carts, the floors, their products... you only need to experiance the filth once to realize saving 30 cts or a couple of bucks per trip isn't going to kill you (ok, it won't kill me at least); while shopping at Walmart just might. I get aggitated just being in their parking lot. The drivers are stupider then the general Memphian drivers (I swear!), they think 'coz they shop there they own the parking lot and I always feel like someone's trying to jump in front of my car to sue me for something I didn't do. The shopping experiance is about so much more than getting in, buying your stuff and getting out. Maybe it's a me-thing... but I really would rather not shop with women who still have curlers and plastic wrapped on their heads, screaming babies with snot coming down their faces then wiped all over by their dirty little hands (YUK!), women still in their pj's (I wouldn't be seen dead in mine in public) and just having to deal with my shopping counterparts. Yes, I'm a snob lol. ...and yes, I know it... so... no more Walmart for me If you care, my blog says a little also about not shopping at walmart: http://qomt.blogspot.com/2005/12/why-i-cant-shop-at-walmart-anymore.html Steven: What are you going to do. Sometimes you just need socks, a bag of pistachios, the Magnum P.I. Season 1 box set and a microwave oven at 3 a.m. Where else are you going to go?

A

Dog-walking paraplegic and his bird

I've been too busy in my 2nd week at the job to post any blogs.

Besides, I'm not so sure my anti-illegal immigrants stance is popular, either.

In spite of my mental fatigue, I just got to blog this run-in we had with our "neighbor." We often drive by this apartment complex on our way home, and often seen this giant of a man walking his little llhasa apso. What a sensitive guy, right?

Well, Mark remarked to me one day if I noticed this "gentle" giant's greeting? I told him no and that he must have been mistaken.

Lo and behold, I had the good fortune of being greeted by him this evening. We laughed so hard and decided that since we had our cameras with us, to return to the site to document it for posterity.

It's not a great picture as I was shaking from nerves and the sun was setting behind him. But you get the idea. BTW, he also shouted a verbal greeting as we drove by the 2nd time. We've no idea what. And we've no idea if we were the only couple on the receiving end or why. We suspect perhaps, he was hit by a VW.

*Update: he does it to practically everyone. ** Update Deux: M has a name for him. From now on, we'll call him "Flipper"

Ah, the irony

I just completed my first work back in the job circuit. I also had my first training of three so far.

Newsroom folks will know the cruel joke of our profession and our reason for choosing it -- and that is we are lousy at math, and excellent at sentence construction.

As my new job will have it, I'll be interpreting lots of columns and rows of numbers and percentages, and making correlations out of them. Sure brings me back to my college sociology major where I had to take 3 credit hours in statistics. That turned out to be the only college course I opted for the pass/fail option.

To my Singaporean friends, that option means I won't be receiving any grades, hence my overall grade point average (GPA) will not be affected.

It's been interesting so far, especially to have the privilege of a few to possess these figures of the marketplace and consumers' habits.

But it has also been frustrating cuz there's so much to figure out and so much unknown of the job to brace myself for.

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Amy: What are you doing??!!! Journalists can't do math!! you crazy girrrrlll!

Bob: the more you are scared of something...the MORE it comes to haunt you! Anyway, you need help with the spreadsheets, you know where to find me! I'll gladly help.

Melissa: Ohhh my! Just the mere mention of a college statistics class is enough to illicit sheer panic in me! LOL!!! I had to take a Psych Statistics course at USC (many, many moons ago!), and it would take 3 hours - and I can't remember how many pieces of paper - just to do one statistics problem! But I know you can do this new job! In no time, calculating those rows of numbers and percentages will be old hat for you! And then I'll be calling you for help with all my math questions! :-P I'm so glad the job has been interesting!!! Yay!

I like them dogs

There are so many of these prairie dogs out in the plains and they are too adorable. Here's a link to more:

http://spotted.lubbockonline.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=73609

Been there, done that. Enjoying the moment.

It just occurred to me this afternoon after I returned from the garage sale (which I made a profit of $215 for having sold 40 items), settled into the couch with M and dinner and watching the Masters, that I AM WATCHING THE MASTERS!

I am not watching the Masters Golf tourney and dealing with the stress of my colleagues, and damning the rain delay. I am enjoying the Masters for the first time, and in front of my 50-inch flat-screen TV! Man, that National grass is splendid.

It will be difficult for those who have not worked in a newsroom to comprehend why I'm blogging this. And I bet it's extra-annoying for my Chronicle pals that I'm blogging this. Sorry, guys.

But believe you me, if you should leave the Chronicle, you will at moments wish you were back in the madness of Masters prep and toil. But you will also, like me, be hit with the realization that you are actually breathing normally for once during this week in April. And it just occurred to me in the 3rd day of the Masters that I'm kicking back and loving life.

So hate me if you must. But be sure to drop me a note when you get hit with this very moment of eureka.

Together, we'll take in the full beauty of the moment and the game.
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Ray: DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
OK maybe not!

Christina: Reminds me of what it used to be like when we worked in Myrtle Beach during Harley Week. This year I'm going to Harley week with friends to actually ride on a Harley, not interview people doing the same!

My Response to Christina: I forgot all about that Harley Week. So which Hogan-lookalike will you be strapping yourself to?