Random samples and stray thoughts bouncing around in my head.

In line at the store tonight, the guy in front of me started talking to the pregnant cashier about what name she is going to give her baby. "If it's a boy, it's going to be Chase," she said, "After Chase Utley."

The guy replied that his wife was in the hospital during the playoffs, and they were stuck for a name. Seeing Shane Victorino at the plate, they decided that Shane would be a good name for their baby boy.

I interjected, "It's a good thing So Taguchi wasn't in the game." I got that blank stare that I usually get when I make a comment.

Among other things, I get a kick out of the way products are marketed - particularly pet foods and televisions. They advertise high-definition TVs on regular-definition stations and proclaim that the picture quality is amazing. We take their word for it.

Cat food is marketed, one presumes, to cats. Cats however, do very little grocery shopping, so the "Gourmet" tag on the can of Fancy Feast is lost on them. His "Savory Salmon Feast" is pretty much just chopped up fish as far as he's concerned. I don't think the sophisticated voice-over and haughty looking Persian cat is a deciding factor on whether or not he's going to eat it. I feel better though, buying something proclaimed as "gourmet," until ten minutes later when I see him licking his balls.

There are a lot of things wrong with society that we will never change. Somehow, they got that way and through some snowball-like development managed to remain so. Parking lots. We charge people to park their cars, as though driving someplace and having to park was some sort of luxury item. It isn't cheap either, which is why I take the train whenever possible. In a perfect world, cities would own parking garages and people could park for free. They're in the city for some sort of commerce-related activity, one presumes, so why punish them further by making them pay for the privilege? If the government can place a 90% tax on AIG's bonuses, they can turn ownership of parking garages over to the city and make them free for visitors.

I don't think I could operate a business where I had to interact with the general public on a daily basis. Mostly, because they're such jackasses. Almost every time I post some big-ticket item for sale on Ebay, I get a question from someone asking me "what my Buy it Now price would be" or what I think I should sell it for. Meanwhile, I've already received bids on the item and the person asking the question already knows that. Once an item is bid, I can't change the price or offer it to someone for a fixed price. Not only is that Ebay policy, but it's the ethical thing to do. Either these questioners are complete dumbasses or they are shills sent by Ebay to try to make me violate their policy. I don't put anything past them.

I just noticed on Rhapsody, there's a song called "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson. And to think, if it weren't for American Idol, we would never had the opportunity to know that. Thank you, giant corporate marketing machine for all you do.