BraimeeDotCom
Movie reviews. Tech tips. Bad parenting.
The day – and G5 – is mine!
Nov 19th
Well, you won’t be hearing from me for about the next 3 years…I managed to talk my wife into buying me a G5 last night! Check it out in all its pixelated glory:
We also talked the salesman out of his floor model of an M-Audio keyboard! It looks like this:
Now I can rip it up with Garage Band! Prepare yourself for some of the worst music ever created! Check back soon to enjoy some!
Am I supposed to tip the Caribou cashier?
Nov 18th
On the way home from work today I stopped at Caribou Coffee’s drive-thru to get my hot chocolate fix. The bill comes to about $2.80. I pull up to the window and give the cashier a $10 spot.
“Do you need some change here?” she asks me sincerely.
“Uhhh…YES,” I say, confused.
She glances quickly to her side, then sighs and backs away to make my change. I immediately see what she had been looking at: on the window ledge was a huge jar with the word “TIPS” written across it in thick black marker. Actually, I take that back…it wasn’t a jar, it was a frickin’ carafe – kinda like this:
Now, please…somebody tell me…am I supposed to tip the Caribou cashier? First let me say I’m not against tipping. At a restaurant, if the service is great, I’ll tip generously. That’s because a waiter or waitress’ job is pretty mentally and physically demanding. Most of them run around for 10 or 12-hour shifts like headless chickens while taking orders, bringing food, cleaning tables and getting yelled at by angry customers. And I support them 100 percent.
The Caribou drive-thru cashier lady, on the other hand, is a different situation. I’m not sitting a table she has to walk up to. I’m the one who drove up to the little speaker, and from the comfort of the Caribou facility she took my order through a handy little headset. She had to say a total of four words – “What can I get you?” – and the transaction was over. Then I drove up to the window where she had to extend her hand two feet to take my $10 bill with one hand and give me the hot chocolate with the other. Total transaction time from start to finish: two minutes. Does that constitute a tip? Am I to tip anyone who’s standing within three feet of a tip jar? Am I the jerk here? Please, someone tell me.
Situations like this get me all nervous for who else I should probably be tipping but haven’t before. The guy who pumps my septic tank? The ticket-taker at the movie theater? My dentist? *Sigh*…
Cape Cod pictures posted
Nov 18th
Hey – head to our photos page to see some new pics posted of our trip to Cape Cod last month.
“I get to” vs. “I have to”
Nov 17th
Ever since we got TiVo, my wife records every single episode of Oprah, much to my…happiness. Anyway, a few weeks ago her guest was Jamie Lee Curtis, who was plugging her new kids book.
Throughout their conversation, Jamie discussed her methods for keeping a positive attitude throughout life. One of the things she recommends is to substitute “get to” with “have to” when discussing work or other things you don’t really want to do. So, for example, I shouldn’t say, “I have to rake the leaves this afternoon.” I should say, “I get to rake the leaves this afternoon!”
Yeah, really interesting Jamie. I can only imagine the horrible things you have to motivate yourself to do with this kind of encouragement:
- I get to work in the highest paid industry in the world.
- I get to make millions of dollars making very average movies.
- I get to use my “star power” to justify myself as a childrens’ book author, hence making even more millions for making hour-long Barnes and Noble appearances and writing my signature a few hundred times with a pen.
Thanks for the advice, James. I’ll keep it in mind. 
Like a kid turning down candy…
Nov 15th
I’m a moron. Earlier this week I managed to trick my wife into taking me to the Apple store. My true motivation was to sweet talk her into buying me a new G5:
To my surprise, after my little sales pitch she just said, “Yeah. That’s fine. Get what you need.” Get what you need? Those are the four most dangerous words someone could EVER say to a man in a store that sells anything that runs on electricity! But, for some reason, her offer didn’t compute in my brain. And so, like a big wet sponge, I turned down the offer and told her I felt we’d better wait to see how hard Christmas hits our checkbook this year. What was I thinking? As soon as they invent downloadable punches to the face, I’m going to send eight of them to myself.
Super Size Me
Nov 13th
The Skinny: A young man takes an in-depth, Michael Moore-style look at the fast food industry and its ties to obesity.
The Good: The film is creative and interesting as it presents a good case for cutting McDonald’s – and other fast food – from your diet altogether. What I especially like is how the filmmaker manages to go for the fast food industry’s throat without coming off as angry or bitter. He does this by going on a 30-day diet of nothing but McDonald’s food, describing in detail how the food is affecting his health, mood, and relationships.
The Bad: I didn’t feel like eating for the next two days.
The Ugly: A yummy scene where the filmmaker throws up after going through the drive-thru.
The Bottom Line: A highly informative look at fast food and health. I recommend it…as long as you never want to eat McDonald’s again.
The robot dance to end all robot dances
Oct 25th
If you’ve ever been to a wedding in your whole life, you know at least one guy or gal who attempts to do “The Robot Dance.” Well, this guy puts them all to shame. Robot dance (3mb)
Watch out – reptile attack!
Oct 25th
This newscaster tries to hide his fear of reptiles…but a tiny little lizard can smell his fear! Leapin’ lizards! (3mb)
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