But that all changed.

When I pulled out my bags of Ghirardelli chocolate chips today, I discovered something wrong.

Yup, that’s right.  Ghirardelli shrunk the amount of chips in the bags.  They left the wrapper the same (except for extra advertising), but put fewer chips in the bag.

It’s an all too common method that companies are now using to increase profits without overtly raising prices.  Put less product in the same packaging and leave the price the same.  Its like buying a ca and finding out that it didn’t include the back seats.

I was very disappointed to see this .  It makes me feel less trusting of Ghirardelli. I understand that they want to increase profits like everyone does, but sneaky ways like this makes me feel they are dishonest.  I mean, if they would do this, why wouldn’t they cheat on the ingredients too?

Upon arriving at home do you:

A) fall to the floor in the hallway and cry hysterically

B) throw your shoes down the hallway and into the bathroom where one lands in the toilet

C) eat half a pan of lasagna

D) all of the above

Thanks, Garmin.  You suck giant moose balls.  I hope your Christmas sucks.

I’ve been going through the data from my Forerunner, trying to figure out how to just download the run times and distances.  So far, it will only download them as gpx files, which are useless to me.  I am using the Garmin Training center but, despite it showing a table of the data, you can’t highlight and copy it.  Um, stupid software choice, Garmin.

Also, their “graph” of the data is useless.  The scale can’t be adjusted, so when I look at my pace, its on a scale from 0 min/mile to 30 min/mile.  Totally useless.  Why bother graphing it.

The Garmin devices are handy, but the Garmin software is retarded.  Does anybody at Garmin even run or track their paces or run times?  I think the people who work there are basically programmers that sit in front of a computer all day and do not understand how the software is even applicable to the real world.

Here’s some advice to Garmin:

1. Unlock the Garmin Traning Center data display, so the data chart can be copied into Excel.  People want to be able to analyze their data.

2. Create an interface to DIRECTLY download the times, distances, and paces in an Excel readable file.  People want to be able to analyze their damn data.

3.  Modify the graph so that the vertical scale can be adjusted.  People who run do not need a 0-30 min/mile scale.  They are looking at differences of 30 seconds/mile.  The automatic scale is useless.

4. Charging $15 for a velcro wrist strap is highway robbery and you should be ashamed of your greedy selves.

So, since Garmin does not have a way to copy all the data, I have to hand type it all into this page.  Isn’t that stupid?  They go through the trouble to sell me a USB interface, software to download the data, software to graph and chart the data, and then they lock it up so you can’t actually USE the data.   Dear Garmin, you are mega stupid.

8 miles, 8:32 pace (average).

Thanks, Garmin.  Go stuff yourselves.

” I am very sorry to hear of this which is of course a tragedy.

But why for heavens sake is the only way to draw attention to whatever ’cause, charity’ means you have to run around town, engage the police to block streets and cause a fuss in a nice quiet neighborhood early in the morning. Use some imagination. You are just encouraging people who shouldn’t be running but feel they ‘should’. I saw some of the participants after the event and they did not look like they were in very good shape to begin with and much worse for the wear after what they took part in. It is ridiculous!! “

Comments like this always make me laugh because the non-runner mentality is just so inane. I’ve seen this same comment, almost word for word, at other sites.  Mostly, its from cranky people who couldn’t get out of their driveway for until the runners had passed by.

Its funny that they first start out complaining about it disrupting the “nice quiet neighborhood”. Um, this is the neighborhood adjacent to the main entrance of the Saratoga Race Track on the first day of opening weekend. The place is crawling with cars, trailers, visitors, cops, horses, jockeys, and vendors. How is this a nice quiet neighborhood on this day?

Then they claim the race encourages people to run, who shouldn’t run? Really? The race officials went to people’s houses and dragged them off their sofas and put them in the race? And shame on the race officials for encouraging the people for exercising. Please stay at home on the sofa where its safe.

Non-runners often have the same reaction after a race. They see people all sweaty and tired and say “See how awful they look? They should not be running!”. Yeah. See, for people who spend their life watching things on TV, they forget that heavy exercise involves sweat and, unlike on TV, people get all messy and hot when they exercise. They smell and their makeup runs, and their hair doesn’t look like they just stepped out of a salon. The pretty little waif on TV, that goes jogging and is hardly out of breath when she meets her boyfriend on the street, is not actually running. Its TV. Duh.

Sadly, the non-runner who wrote that comment does not understand that the race is not what makes you healthier.  Its the training and lifestyle that do that for you.  The race is the party where you show off.

The BSA sent out an email informing all volunteers about new MANDATORY training. I put that in CAPS because they put it in CAPS.  I guess its IMPORTANT.  Like when Winnie the Poor uses capital letters to signify Topics of Great Importance.  Got it.

The email stated that we were to get our MANDATORY training online using our online training accounts.

Have I whined about these accounts before?  Flashback to 6 months ago.  I set and account up and did some training online.  Then when I tried to access the account later, but my password and ID don’t work.  I tried clicking the links for forgotten password and forgotten ID, but despite being sent a confirmation email, the password remained no good, as did the ID.

After several tries, I give up and check the FAQ.  The FAQ says “send and email to BAScomputerFreaks@BSAguys.org”.  OK  Email sent.  Three days later, I had no response.

So I called our district office.  They say its a problem with BSA National, and here is the 800 help line number, which is NOT listed ANYWHERE at the training site.

I call the help line, and after a very long wait period, some came on the line to help me.  Apparently, they changed the criteria for ID names and so mine was no longer valid.  Uh, can’t ya have some way to reset that online?  No.  Good, fix it.  And they did.  I thought.

Flash forward to this week, as I try to perform the MANDATORY training.  Can you guess what happened when I tried to access my account online?  Yup.  Password fail.  Click “forgot password”, and it takes me to a screen that tells me it has been reset, and requests a new one.  Type in new password.  Relogin.  FAIL.  Repeat procedure.  FAIL.

I even checked to make sure the ID was correct.  System asks me the security questions that I set up previously, and shows me my ID.  I had the right one.  Retry the password.  FAIL.

I called the help number.  OOPS!  Its been changed to a toll call now.  Lovely.  Automated voice system says they are experiencing VERY heavy call volumes, so if you do not want to wait, please send an email to BAScomputerFreaks@BSAguys.org.   I waited for 10 minutes and then gave up.

Sent an email to BAScomputerFreaks@BSAguys.org.  Two days later, no response.  Send second email to BAScomputerFreaks@BSAguys.org.  This time I get a response:

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

BAScomputerFreaks@BSAguys.org

Technical details of permanent failure:
The recipient server did not accept our requests to connect.

Lovely.  So their phone “help” system doesn’t work.  Their email “help” system doesn’t work.  Their online training system doesn’t work.  And they had the nerve to send out a demand for MANDATORY training.  Seriously?

Dear BSA,

GET A DAMN CLUE YOU MINDLESS BUNCH OF FLAMING JACKASSES.

Thanks.

Jon

Yes, the horrendous abuse of information that you entrust them with (and to be honest, every piece of information I give them is carefully manipulated and controlled so that they have nothing real about me), is an awful and annoying thing, but its not the problem.

The problem is that most of the people in my high school treated me like crap. Despite being incredibly intelligent, dashingly handsome and charming enough to talk a bear out of his salmon dinner (cough), people dumped on me relentlessly. Mentally, verbally, and of course, physically. The jocks tormented me, the stoneys beat me up, even the geeks rejected me. The computer club members tricked me into thinking the club picture had been canceled so I couldn’t be in the shot. Nice.

So there I am on farcebook, with several people I know (who ARE my friends), but a lot of their farcebook friends are people who treated me like shit. Its not that I live 30 years in the past (yes, I am damn old), but seeing their smiling little faces pop up in comments every day just brings back the bad memories.

I want to post hateful things and comment about how all those people were total suckholes and I hope their lives are crap. But farcebook is about happy thoughts and gleeful things. Posting negative vibes is frowned upon.

So I post bad thoughts here as my outlet for negative energy.

Dear people who treated me like shit 30 years ago:

You all suck. I’m sorry if your lives turned out well. I’m sorry if you don’t remember how rotten you were to me. I remember. Especially when I have to see you smile and hug your families in you stupid pictures, like you never did a bad thing in your lives. I wish evil, pain, misery, suffering, death, disease, sadness and pestilence to plague you and your descendants until the end of time. I hope you die alone, in pain, frightened and begging for mercy.

Have a nice day.

Uh, no, have a miserable day.

From the guy who you tortured for fun

I feel so much better. :) I’m going to go and block every person I didn’t like in high school.

Pack your own lunch.

The food is horrible and I wanted to die by day two. If I never see another piece of kimchi as long as I live, it will be too soon. And frankly, I’ll probably smell it long before I ever see it.

I hate to travel. I hate to fly. Spending 16 hours on a Korean Air flight with a broken video screen, followed by circling Pennsylvania for an hour before CRASHING onto the runway at JFK, is not my idea of fun.

Apparently, our pilot has only been practicing take offs, because his landing almost broke the plane in half. Lunatic.

I did manage to buy $100 worth of chocolate items while there. The cashier kept asking me if I had “star cart”. When I didn’t understand, she thought yelling “STAR CART!!!” would help.

Store card. Like discount card. Got it. No. No star cart. Thank you. Kamsamneedah (or however that’s really spelled).

The hotel was once again in the middle of the red light district. South Korea is now on par with Las Vegas for placing baseball card-sized advertisements for whores on the car windows. Along with full sized posted taped every 10 feet along the street. Its amazing what 50,000 wan will get you these days.

Very happy to be home. I’ll be even happier when I am no longer 12 hours off in my sleep schedule. Right now, its 1:00 pm, which is why I am wide awake. I do have to run in the morning, and I’m thinking it won’t be very good.

I’ve been trying to read blogs, but my Google Reader list of unread entries was over 500. I had to mark them all “read” and start over again. I hope I didn’t miss anything critical. If I ask about something that should be very obvious, it because I haven’t been keeping up with blogs. Sorry. :(

I want to post a very funny comment that is work related, but cannot. :( Please feel free to ask in email. :)

How have you been?

And by the way?  My head is going to explode.  Can’t get into details about work, but you know, work.  Boy Scouts is annoying me so much I want to scream.  Dear Scoutmaster, if you want to run everything yourself, then we can appoint one of your buddies to Committee Chair, I resign and get to have my Monday nights free, and then everything you do get an automatic rubber stamp.  I’m thinking win-win.  Oh, except for the poor kids that get hand fed their Eagle Scout ranks and never learn any scouting along the way.  Duh.

Can ya tell I’m ready to quit that stupidity tonight?  I am.

I’m so tired, my head is going to explode.  I have to get up a o’dark-thirty to make it to physical therapy, but I don’t have time or the energy to do my exercises because I have to get to bed BECAUSE I’M SO TIRED!

Speaking of that, its an hour past my bedtime already.  Good night.