One thing about blog reading that irks me is unreadable text on a template. Yes, I realize that for the most part I read blogs through my RSS Feedreader, I realize that in theory content is king, and I realize that people choose their templates to express who they are. All of these things however should not change the fact that your text should be readable… preferably a decent 11pt or greater size and dark text on a light background.
Got Blogger? Don’t use one of their standard templates which are boring as all hell. Check out Free Blogger Templates, Final Sense, or Gecko and Fly.
Got WordPress? Besides the WordPress Theme Gallery you can also check out the list from Emily Robbins, and of course ThemeShaper.
Got TypePad? Move to WordPress. Really.
Got Expression Engine? Go to WDS and shell out some of that economic stimuli check.
Service
I went to Red Lobster last weekend. Because we were a relatively large group, we got sat at one of those high tables in what passes for a bar area nowadays. Now normally, I have no problem with this… except for the fact that apparently our waiter did not realize he was our waiter. When a manager finally told him… well it just went downhill from there. We waited 15 minutes for sodas, another 15 minutes to place our order (since he wasn’t ready to take it with the drinks and he was not the one who brought the drinks), another 15 minutes to get some damn biscuits, and another 15 minutes until our food actually arrived… all messed up. Seriously, if I come to Red Lobster, and I order the Ultimate Feast with the lobster tail, make sure its on the fucking plate. Guess how long I had to wait for my tail to arrive? Yep. 15 minutes. Then, when I asked for the check, it got delivered to the other side of the table… where the 9-year old sat.
It had to be the absolute worst experience ever. Now I’m normally a 20% tipper… because I know that waiters and waitresses live off tips. It should have been about a $25.00 tip. I left $10. I felt bad after… until I was reminded of the extremely shitty and shoddy service. I’m never going back there again.
Gold Delayed
I did not realize how the Olympics being delayed would totally annoy me as badly as it has. It’s as if NBC has to show you every race, pretending it hasn’t happened 12 hours ago. That annoys me. If you want to show the race, then that’s fine… but be sure the viewers know that it took place “last night” meaning “early this morning in the US”. Normally I’m a slight Olympic freak… but this year… eh… not so much. It isn’t that I’m not patriotic… I just find it easier to check all the results in the morning. So when night time comes… well… I already know what happened!
I do have to admit though that the medals this year are pretty cool. Each medal is inlaid with a different color of jade. Gold medals have white jade, silver medals have green jade, and bronze medals have a brown jade. They’re pretty damn cool.
I wonder how many will wind up on E-Bay?
Complacency
The price of oil per barrel has steadily come down from its July 11 high of $147.27 to $116 yesterday. I think the price is going to continue to go down, because Americans have in fact cut back on their excess use of it. Trying to close an oil speculator loophole, the passing of HR 6377 by the House of Representatives happened in June. I seriously hope the Senate passes this bill, that we continue moving towards freeing ourselves from foreign energy and that we don’t become complacent again on cheaper oil from the Middle East.
The Pickens Plan is actually a good first step.
