Saturday, May 8, 2010

Too Much Money?

While my partner was checking the bank account for the business he found a charge for $6.95 that we couldn't account for.  After talking to our banker he discovered it was a fee for depositing over $10,000 in cash for the month and the bank charges a counting fee.  Now I love Chase Bank but really?  We're being charged for putting too much money in the bank?  Any time you make a cash deposit they have to count the money anyway and I'm sure they have to double check everything regardless. 

It's a bit silly if you ask me.  We get charged if we don't have enough money in the bank, we get charged if we put too much in...

Take your six bucks if you want Chase but I no longer feel guilty about taking those suckers you have at the tellers desk. 

Take it!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Cinco de Mayo

Earlier today I was walking out of my bar when I ran into a friend who was on his way to get a margarita.  Why drinking so early in the day?  It's Cinco De Mayo that's why!  After I left the bar I went to the bank to make a deposit and when I was filling out my deposit slip I had to ask the bank teller what the day was "May 5th - Cinco De Mayo", she said.  I've never gotten why everyone in the state's celebrates Mexican Independence day till I learned a few minutes ago that it's not Mexican Independence day, it's the day an army of French bread carrying Frenchmen got beat by the Mexican Army.  According to Wikipedia:

"(Cinco de Mayo)... is a holiday held on May 5 that commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over FrenchBattle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza SeguĂ­n.[2][3] It is celebrated primarily in the state of Puebla and in the United States.[4][5][6][7] While Cinco de Mayo sees limited significance and celebration nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed nationwide in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride.[8]"

The article even states that Cinco de Mayo isn't even really celebrated in Mexico.  So half of you are thinking "wait...so all that happened on Cinco de Mayo is that the Mexican Army beat the French?  Who hasn't? (Well besides the United States - we've never fought the French)."  The other half is too drunk because it's Cinco de Mayo, another half knew all along why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated, and the remainder of you are questioning my math.

But back to Cinco de Mayo.   Not to take anything away from the brave Mexican force that beat a larger, better equipped French force but well...they were French.  Beating the French in combat is like litter training a cat.  You just throw a kitty in the litter box and they pretty much take care of themselves.  Maybe a bad analogy but what I'm trying to say is it doesn't take much, you just really have to be there.

Course it didn't matter too much that the Mexican army beat the French at Puebla, the French still ended up occupying Mexico a year later.  I guess it's like Nazi's celebrating the defeat of...well the French of World war II. 

Of course Cinco de Mayo isn't just about the French getting their ass kicked for the upteenth time - it's about celebrating Mexican culture and heritage.  It's also a chance for Americans to practice one of their most sacred cultural rituals - taking a foreign holiday and using it as an excuse to get absolutely wasted.  It's just like St. Patrick's Day except no one says "On Cinco de Mayo everyone is Mexican!"  Maybe it's a racial thing.  Personally I'd rather claim to be Mexican than ginger but that's just me.  Either way young adults across American regardless of heritage drink Cuervo and Corona to celebrate Mexican Indepen...whatever.  What better way is there to honor the brave men who died on May 5th, 1862, then to be completely ignorant of their struggle and drink margaritas.  Speaking of which, I got to finish my marg' and watch more King of the Hill on Netflix using my Roku player.  Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

A Colon Cleansing Mishap at Hodi's?

If you google Hodi's Half Note and then hit the map tab and check under reviews you'll find this:


"Very Rude!
Rated 2.0 out of 5.0 By paul - Feb 22, 2010
I had been colon cleansing for a few weeks and had a little accident in the bar, you know, like, I thought I had to fart but it was just watery poop water that came out... and once it starts there's no stopping it from coming out at that point, ya know? Well, being stuck in this predicament I would have expected a slightly more professional attitude from the staff toward the situation... but when I brought it to their attention, all those jerks did was point, and laugh, and point it out to the other customers. VERY unprofessional! Will never hang out there AGAIN!!!
maps.google.com "


Tim found this and showed it to me on Friday.  My first thought was as weird as it sounds, it wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen at Hodi's.  And the whole part about the staff laughing and pointing sounds right - we're all well intentioned people but we are kind of dicks.  And a grown man defecating in public may be pretty sad, but it's also hilarious.  In a sad way.

Turns out it was all a hoax though.  The same complaint was made about a few local bars and Best Buy of all places.

The whole thing got me thinking though what garbage the whole cleansing thing is.  Here's a passage from Aviva.com:

"In our modern 21st century lifestyle we have the misfortune to be exposed to many toxins on a daily basis through our environment, from overexposure to toxic chemicals at home and at work, and even contained in foods, consumer electronics, cosmetics, many synthetic fabrics, new carpeting, and your new car. Environmental toxins seem to be a prevalent by-product of the frantic lifestyles our technology and economy have forced us to live."

This is cute and all but a certain Latin phrase comes to mind - petitio principii.  I found a good definition for it at Dictionary.com

Petito Principii: "a fallacy in reasoning resulting from the assumption of that which in the beginning was set forth to beproved; begging the question."

Firstly, what toxins are we overexposed to and how do they effect our health?  How much do we need to be exposed to before they start to effect our health?  In one of my favorite books, Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World,  Lomborg has a chart of actions which increase your chance of death by .000001 (one-millionth) such as living 150 years within twenty miles of a nuclear power plant or spending 3 hours in a coal mine.  So maybe my nice, comfortable t-shirt made from synthetic material is drenching my beautiful pecs in toxins,while my feet absorb toxins from the carpet, I'm building up mercury in my system from all the McDonalds Filet-o-fish, and my shiny new Ipad sitting in my lap is lowering my sperm count and giving me cancer and all these things (cancer, toxins, etc) are making me feel unhealthy and lethargic and I just need to take some detox pills and have water pumped into my rectum to feel better.  Or maybe these things are just increasing my chance of death by .000001. Maybe even .0001.  I don't know the answer but no one selling a detox kit do either.


I'm not saying that we aren't exposed to harmful things from our environment - there is mercury in fish and coal miners don't have the cleanest lungs.  But if you're trying to sell me this expensive detox kit or treatment you have to be able to tell me what it's clearing out and how it's doing it. Are there any kits out there that can purge mercury from your system after eating too much fish?  And speaking of fish they can be pretty good for you. Maybe for a healthy adult the benefit of eating fish a few times a week outweighs the adverse health effects of the tiny amount of mercury you'll absorb from the fish.
And maybe being exposed to "toxins" from cheap clothes made from synthetic material is better then freezing to death. 

Colon cleansing is pretty goofy too.  The colon is pretty good at getting shit done, pardon the pun.  From Webmd.com:

"Is natural colon cleansing needed? Are bowel movements enough to clear the colon? Or is it true that the only thing that can really clear the colon is a colon cleanser? It is likely the colon doesn't need this kind of help. Here are some reasons why:
  • Natural bacteria in the colon detoxify food wastes.
  • The liver also neutralizes toxins.
  • Mucus membranes in the colon keep unwanted substances from reentering the blood and tissues.
  • The colon sheds old cells about every three days, preventing a buildup of harmful material.
  • The normal number of bowel movements varies from person to person. It may be as often as a few times a day or as little as a few times a week.
  • Increasing the number of bowel movements doesn't improve weight loss. That's because the body absorbs most calories before they reach the large intestine."
Further more according to Ursula Arens, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, quoted here:
"The body actually has a massive overcapacity to dispose of toxins. 'As for the need to cleanse the colon, it is constantly cleansing itself by renewing the mucus layer that protects the colon wall from being exposed to toxins. So, flushing pints of water through it with things like colonic irrigation is one of the more damaging things you can do to it."