Too Much October

Within the span of a week in October, I have a son's birthday, a daughter's birthday, a sister's birthday, and my wife's and my anniversary. Somewhere within about two weeks, all in October, is also a nephew's birthday, a niece's birthday, and a sister's anniversary.

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something. Anyway, throw in MEA weekend and Halloween, and October is just too busy a month for me. Almost makes me glad I don't have to worry about following the Twins in the World Series.

No, not really.

New Business Adventure/Experiment

I used a half day of vacation today to pick up four pallets of return merchandise from a direct marketing company. I rented a U-Haul to pick them up in Chaska, and unloaded them in my garage, where scores of full boxes now sit. My intent is to assemble and/or check the usability of each item, then turn around and sell the merchandise individually on the various online auctions/classifieds.

My costs so far for the merchandise and delivery is just over $800. I don't expect I'll have any problems making the money back and being able to keep some of the items for personal use, gifts, etc. They include unassembled bikes, retro-style turntables, and turntable-cd burner combos, to name a few.

But will I profit? Keep watching this blog for updates on how the venture goes. I will include the accounting to show not only what net profit/loss I incur, but also a diagnosis from an economist's viewpoint (whether it was worth it in the end, opportunity cost, etc.).

I must keep reminding myself that this isn't too far from how Tom Petters got started. Things like that will scare me straight, all right.

Why Pay More? (Maybe they should)

It's after midnight, and thanks to another Twins faltering against the Yankees, two things are certain:

1) I'll have a dream of the game, during which the game isn't over yet, only to wake up and realize it really happened
2) Every thing that normally bugs me a little will really tick me off for a while

As for the latter, as an ex-radio guy, I really hate lame commercial copy. After the game, on the tube I heard the Vision World tag line, "Why pay more?" I think Taco Bell has been using the same one. I would bet at least 100 small market radio stations across the U.S. are using it for local advertisers as well. Perhaps the Twins' management is as well, and were reminded of the answer by the Yankees.

I can forgive the small market stations. You can only come up with so many different ways to tell the audience that price is your differentiator. For $10 a spot, or whatever the going rate is these days, you ain't getting Madison Avenue.

But from national chains? "Why pay more"??

I'll tell you why, because perhaps by paying more I'll get someone who cares about quality, which apparently Vision World doesn't when hiring copy writers.

Stupid Twins.

Out of Shape

The diet ain't going so well. The latest plan: Sometime between now and October 25, I am going on crash 30-day plan. Thirty pounds in thirty days. That can't be healthy, but I need to do something drastic.

Weight-wise, I'm not getting any heavier. But shape-wise, I'm not in it. So I won't be just watching what I eat and restricting calories. I'll be working out again, and with a vengeance for a while.

Please wish me luck.

Snoozing and Losing

As a radio geek and bowling nerd (or is that radio nerd and bowling geek?), I totally blew two opportunities recently.

First, as I reported previously, the Airport Bowl closed its doors. They had an auction on K-BID to liquidate everything. Yes, everything, including their lanes and pinsetters.

I'm not upset about missing out on buying my own set of lanes for the pole shed out back. That would have been so cool, and cheap, but the buyer had to pick it up, which I wouldn't have been able to do. Plus, I don't have a pole shed.

I'm only a little upset at missing out on the several brightly colored house balls, weighing about 6-7 pounds each, the ball racks, various office furniture, etc. What I'm really upset at is that an autographed photo of Kelly Kulick went for only $7.10. Yeah, that's kind of geeky, but follow Kulick's link, and you'll see how incredible an athlete (yes, athlete) she is. I kept telling myself to check in on it just before it closes, and then I got distracted for a few hours, and missed out.

The other thing I missed out on was an original 1965 Minnesota Twins record album, "The Last of the Ninth." I listened for hours to the 1969 Twins LP, "Martin's Marauders" in my youth. Herb Carneal, Merle Harmon, and Halsey Hall. Gordo and Dazzle couldn't carry their jocks.

My uncle still has the record and has told me one day he will copy it to CD for me. How cool would it have been for me to present him with a copy of the 1965 album when he did? Pretty cool, says the geek.

I missed out on this almost the same way as the Kulick photo: I saw it on e-Bay, and forgot to follow-up as the closing date/time drew near. It sold for $20.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game Lyrics

At every Major League Baseball game, the fans sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch. At the Twins games, they post the lyrics on the scoreboard. They also feature some fan(s) on the PA system singing along.

I noticed during tonight's game on TV that the fan sang, "For it's root, root, root for the home team." This is how many sing it, as have I in the past. The Twins scoreboard lyrics, however, read, "Let me root, root, root..."

So I got curious, and the scoreboard is right. I also learned that the song is actually the chorus to a full-length song penned in 1908. It's all here: Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

I also learned that it's "I don't care if I never get back," not "ever get back." That pleased me, although I don't remember if the Twins scoreboard has that one right.

My Pre-Twins Game Trip

I'm taking four of my five kids, plus my wife, to the Twins game this Friday. To help save on refreshments, I went to one of my favorite places to get junk food: Menard's. I had a $15 Menard's rebate check, which made it feel almost like I got the stuff free. Except, of course, that I bought much more than $15 worth.

Two things I noticed at Menard's that are the kinds of things I notice. One I appreciated: the express check-out lane said, "Six items or fewer." Nice! Most would say, "Six (or ten, or fifteen, or whatever) items or less." Menard's gets points for being grammatically correct.

The other thing bothers me, 'though. Why does Menard's have a turnstile at the entrance, and one that seems relatively free-spinning at that?