Ahhhh.... Snow

Now I am not one of those weirdo skier types with a "let it snow" bumper sticker, but there is just something wrong with us getting into mid-December and not having any real snow. Not that the little dandruff we got today will stick around because the ground has yet to freeze, but at least we have gotten some snowfall.

For whatever reason I got a real late start today. Probably has something to do with getting 4 packages in the mail today, although I did get up rather late and then proceeded to check email and read. Damn - a laptop in bed means not getting up until 10:30. And I was not even surfing for porn ;).

Because of my late start I did not get much done today, although I did get to witness rant #3275: Are Americans getting dumber or lazier?

I ask this question because of the cart coral at the store. Now anyone who has been to a reasonably large store, a la Wal-Mart, has probably seen these. They are these little pens where shoppers and stict their shopping carts. The idea is that it shows the stores care about the customers not getting the car dinged up and allows the stores to hire fewer people since customers are taking care of their own carts. Truth is this fails on both counts since most stores only put the corals up front and those parked 8,000 miles away (or for some people, 3 space away) just leave their carts in the middle of the parking lot. However that is another rant.

Now the concept is simple - line the carts up inside of each other just like they are inside of the store. Most corals are wide enough to accomodate 3 rows of carts, maybe 15 to 20 deep on each row.

However it seems that some people do not get it because when I get there the carts are every which way, usually over flowing into the parking lot. Now maybe some people feel the shopping carts need to be able to roam freely in the coral, much like free range cattle. Hell the best coral I have seen is at the local organic supermarket. I have seen grown adults (children I understand, and any one in a handicap spot I also leave out of this discussion) launch the carts from half way across the driving lane into the coral. Really, would it kill you to walk the extra 24 steps and put the cart in an organized manner? Is that 20 seconds of time THAT important? Are you just stupid? Do you just not care about the traffic hazard you are creating?

Now most days I will take the time to sort out the coral. Takes maybe a minute and the 15 carts that were overflowing fit nicely in 1 row, 2 if I am feeling creative. Nice, neat, and no traffic problems. On those rare occassions when things are already nice and neat it take all of an extra second to walk the cart in and place it in neatly with the other carts.

So, I post the question: Are Americans getting too dumb to be able to handle how to work a cart coral or are we all getting lazy.

Ah well, enough of the ranting. I did get to watch the movie Hero today. I went into it with a bit of a bias because someone in my tai chi class had said that there was too much wire work, although the sword play was still neat. I'm not much of a fan of wire work in martial arts films, however I do respect Jet Li as a martial artist (he actually fights with a style that I have studied in the move The One). If you enjoyed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, you will enjoy this film as well. This was the director's first action film, and from what I understand he is a well respected dramatic director and it shows. The story is well done and the action sequences truly enhance the story instead of a cruddy story being hung on some kick-ass action scenes. It is only 1.5 hours long (roughly) and well worth the watch.

I also got to watch Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story tonight with my brother and his family. Now Ben Stiller is hit or miss with me, however I love Vince Vaughn. At first the premise of the film was stupid to me, but I figured I got the movie for free if I really hated it so I was not loosing much other than 1.5 hours of my life. It was much better than I had thought it was going to be. I don't think I would ruin anything by saying the good guys of Average Joe's Gym win, but there is definately a twist on the Cinderella story that is worth the time. If you are offended by crotches getting hit by big red balls you might want to skip it though - they do go for the cheap laugh unfortunately. But Ben Stiller plays an excellent asshole, Vince Vaughn does good as, well, an average Joe and there are a ton of cameos throughout the film.