Happy New Year everybody!

Hi everyone! I am semi back in business here. Been really busy, like most of you I imagine, with the holidays.

WHat has your favorite, flighty, man of fancy (not fancy man), fantastic, future tar heel of the year been up to? Quite a bit, but since I am getting ready for a New Years party here at the Dowd pad, an update will have to wait.




I took up a new hobby. My friend Erica bought me the nicest housewarming present. A Siamese fighting fish (or Betta for short) I have named Sebastian. I really have gotten swept up in this. I had an aquarium as a kid and now I have one again.In the pic you can see Sebastian in the top left corner of the 20 gallon tank I purchased. Too much tank for one little fish. I have since added some more fish, plants etc. The following is a letter I wrote to Petsmart after a bad experience there last week while trying to fill that friggin tank. Enjoy!

and Happy New Year!


A Letter to Petsmart


Hello there oh Petsmartariffic complaint collector. I address you that way because I would like to registera complaint about the service I received at your Petsmart store on Millbrook Rd on Dec. 28th.

Please forgive me if I am writing to the wrong party here. I was given choices when entering my info.Where it asked "Reason for this Email" I saw only three choices.

1-Tell us what we did well
2-Tell us what we can improve upon
3-General store questions

I debated for a few moments as to which choice I wanted to submit this letter under. For this particular letter,choice one was out of the question. I was not happy upon leaving your store and did not want to issue a letter saying that you did some things well, and muddy up my message.

I decided that while some of my thoughts are going to fall under category three...the vast majority will fall under category two. I had to translate part two in my head. I decided that this was your positive way of saying "Complain to us" or " Tell us why you are thinking that your money may be best spent elsewhere". If I was incorrect, and your choice of "Tell us what made your visit to our Petsmart store unbearable" I apologize, wish you a nice day, and ask that you forward this email on to the appropriate complaint register-er guy (or gal).

On to my issue. I am a new aquarist. Or would that be aquariumnist? Tank-haver? Either way, I bought a fish tank after a friend of mine bought me a Betta fish for my housewarming party. It was a fun party and all seemed to have a good time.Sadly none of my friends from the north could attend. They don't get out much and it was a bad time of the year, holiday's and all.

I am a bit embarrassed to admit, that I only had one fish when I bought my new fish tank at Fish World. If you are not familiar with fish world, they are a local competitor of yours for aquarium fish and aquarium like supplies and stuff. They were extremely helpful. They even carried my new 30 gallon tank to my car for me. Excellent service.

I had to return the 30 gallon tank as it was a bit too much tank for my intended use. You see... I have this space in the wall in my bedroom which I was going to put the tank.I thought it would be so "pimp" to have a fish tank in my bedroom when I brought my "bitches" back to my swinging pad. Of course for this to have the intended effect one must have a stable of "bitches", which I do not but surely covet. Please note here that if you are a woman, I don't usually refer to women as bitches...well okay one or two over a number of years, but that is between me and my licensed therapist right?.I just thought that using that term would help to illustrate the pimped out sex den that I had in mind.

Fish World took it back, no problem. Gave me a full refund and helped me pick out an appropriate tank for me. I tend to try to do everything big. It's a problem. I am working on it though.

So fast forward to me going to Petsmart to buy more fish. I had gone to fish world on Tuesday. They were closed on Tuesdays! Can you believe that?!? It was kind of funny though. Their sign said "Gone Fishin'" instead of just "Closed" I decided, being the impatient person I am, to go to Petsmart to fill my Jones for new fish. I had the idea in my head and I wanted to execute it right away.

At Petsmart, a young African American gentleman helped me to pick out some fish. I purchased some Tetras, some other Tetras (Which my friend David suggested I get because they look weird.) and finally a shark. The young man (and is it bad and does it say something negative about this great nation of ours that I described him by his ethnicity?) warned me that I should stick to some other fish. I needed to have the shark! It was black with a red tail and looked bad ass!

So I get the Tetra's home and put them in the tank, along with the shark (know henceforth as Assholio). Well wouldn't you know it, Assholio, it turns out, is of a hyper aggressive species who doesn't mix well with other community fish. My bad! Oops. I noticed that all of my fish were hiding from Assholio. or cowering in little bunches waiting in fear like a family in Compton awaiting his next drive by (or should that be swim by?). Either way, I knew Assholio had to go. For the good of the community. Sort of like what Spock said at the end of Star Trek 2-The Wrath of Khan "The good of the many outweighs the needs of the few or the one" So
I caught him and brought him back to Petsmart two days later.

When I walked in on my lunch hour, with Assholio in tow, I went right to the fish area. I was greeted by a sales associate who asked if I needed help. I consider myself something of a retail connoisseur, the greeting impressed me. From there though...all downhill.

The woman asked me why I was returning the fish. I told her that Assholio was too aggresive.Her next question was "Didn't you know that?"I was really offended. Of course I knew that! Well at least that it was not recommended that I purchase from what I will refer to as the "big boy" tanks. If my initial shopping experience had been Thanksgiving dinner, it was suggested that I sit at the kids table. Don't we all want to grow up too soon though? In coming back, I didn't want a lesson in being too big for my britches, I only wanted to banish Assholio back from whence he came.

Then she informed me that I "Should have read the tag on the tank. DUH! Thank you Petsmartateer (is that what you guys call them? If not, you might consider that)Secondly, I AM A GUY! (and an arrogant one at times ask any of my ex's)How many men do you know of that will actually read directions?!? (This is doubly true for arrogant ones) Hell we have a hard time asking for them when lost. This fish was obviously purchased by the testosterone coursing through my veins. Not by someone making a rational decision.

After I produced my receipt, I was given a full refund. I promptly bought some more fish and some plants. I think however, the customer service that I received was at best mediocre and at least rude.

I was happy to see, that the fine folks at fish world had sent me, when I got home, a handwritten thank you note for my initial purchase (with a 10% off coupon) and in addition, sent me a 20% off coupon via email! I know where my next purchase will be made.

I would like to, in conclusion, let you know of one way I think that you can improve. Find out the names of the female sales associate (older, short blond hair with a puss on her face and a poor bedside manner) and send her to get a job at Fish World. This will have a double effect. Improving the customer service possibilities at Petsmart,and ensuring that those, like myself who are planning to returning to Fish World, will be so turned off by her attitude, that they will return to your fold.

Thanks,

Tom

Found a lost dog tonight

I found a new website and have spoken to two old friends that I haven't spoken to in over ten years! Found four more! Amazing.Had a phone call with one this evening.

The funny thing about friends is that no matter what amount of time has past, it seems like only a moment ago you were setting up your equipment in the North Flushing swim club for your first gig, or wrecking your parents homes together, or tape recording your most guliible friend, unbeknownst to them, while they are in conversation with a southern transplant woman of ill repute.

Missed ya Andy. Good to hear your voice tonight.

Commonalities

com·mon·al·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (km-nl-t)
n. pl. com·mon·al·i·ties

1. The possession, along with another or others, of a certain attribute or set of attributes: a political movement's commonality of purpose.

2. A shared feature or attribute.

Well this is not the housewarming party update that I am going to do, nor is it the boring "Year in Review" that I will be doing at some point in the near future.

This is about common threads. I've been a very lucky person in my life as it regards true, deep, meaningful relationships. Not that I have been sucessful thoughout them, just that I have had more than one.

All of the women whom I have ever een involved with have had one common thread. Each and everyone of them holding one particular thing in common. I've often wondered what it was about me that brought these people into my life. Once is usual, not shocking. Twice is a coincedence. Three times, a trend. Once you get to number four and five...well, what can you do?

Is it something in me that gravitates me towards these people? Something in them that gravitates them towards me? What can fuck your world pretty good is when someone says to you that you share the commonality, the thread and you see that they might be right, no matter how much you want it to be otherwise.

How many of us do this? Gravitate towards a commonality? A common thread? Should you try to buck the trend? Give in? Run? Maybe it is just life having us stumble towards destiny. Training. Not sure. If any of you have the answer, please comment.

I will be here on Christmas, so feel free to call or write me if you have a spare moment. I plan on setting up my new aquarium on x-mas day. (I'll explain later). I will be dog and bunny sitting this weekend. I invite anyone that has a domesticated,descented skunk to give me a call. I'll watch the fucker for the holidays.

In other news. The Yankees have signed Johnny Damon. My buddy Doug loves the Sox. (I know. He can't help it though. I am trying to bring him over to the good side.) I took much glee in the fact that the best leadoff hitter in baseball now plays for my hometown team. I am also glad that I no longer live in NYC. That place has got to suck with the MTA on strike. I know that I would not be going to work were I there. Oh shit...now I wish I was.

Later Ya'll

"The Chonic!" "What!" "Cles of Narnia!"

Housewarming party was a blast on Saturday night. (Yeah, you read right. After 9 months in North Cakalackee I finally had a housewarming party. I will do a big update all about that soon. Until then, please amuse yourself with the below.

Click Here for the Chronicles of Narnia rap.

I haven't seen this movie yet. I did see King Kong though. That movie rules. Got check it out. It is a lot of fun. Great action, effects, story, acting. Just wonderful. Highly recomended.

Beware though....the begining of the movie wastes time with actual character development. If you want all monkey, all the time, then wait a half hour, hour before entering the theater.

Wile E. Coyote, the best laid plans, and lucky mistakes (or wonderful errors)

Sometimes the biggest mistakes of our lives seem to turn out to be glorious blunders that take us somewhere we never expected to be. The things we wanted least turn out to be the best things for us. Wonderful mistakes are what really makes life interesting and fun. Take Wile E Coyote for instance.

Now, there are a couple of ways you could go with this analogy. First, we could say that the Coyote was a planner. Every waking moment of his life spent ordering things from the Acme company to help him to achieve that masterpiece of a roadrunner dinner he so richly deserved. He planned out everything.




There was always some harebrained scheme. Some new flying bat suit, some new fangled strap on rocket which shall shortly become a bomb on the back of our sad-sap anti hero. That's right. Hero! Didn't all of you, once in a while at least, want to see Wile E. catch that blue beeping monstrosity and finally have it all?!?

We all knew how it would end though. Wile E getting blown up, looking a charred husk of the strapping young Coyote he once was, or, and most often, falling off the cliff because the little blue double R has moved out of the way at the last second. This leaves our hero, over the edge with nothing to do but have a moment to reach out with his big toe, to make sure, yup, indeed, that there is no ground under him, before he looks towards the camera and plummets to certain death until the next moment that he has the fever for the flavor of a beep-beep.




Secondly and thridly and right on down the line, we couldcome up with a million ways to see parts of our own lives in that of Wile E. I am sure someone out there has written a philosophy to be learned from Warner Bros. cartoons. That was not the point of this post (if there is any)

I am in a great holiday mood right now. I got a tree the other day and set it up. I had brought my tree stand from back home over the holidays. I put up some lights. Really got me some spirit. I didn't have much in the way of decorations. The tree had one blue and white ribbon on it when I bought it. I put the cast bronze Indian my great grandfather made as a tree topper. It looked really nice. I then covered it with a stuffed doll of Peter Criss of Kiss which looks like this



It made me laugh to no end. I also placed the mold of famous person's teeth onto the tree. You'd think that I would have no problem saying whose teeth they are. A part of me just got scared that there may be a whole gaggle of dental types out there who might come get me with their lawyers.

I am finally having a housewarming party. I figured that 7 months in Raleigh was long enough. I have enough good friends now to fill a house well. Lucky indeed. If it wasn't for lucky mistakes, I wouldn't be here in North Carolina. I would still be in NYC, freezing my ass off and wishing I was somewhere warm.

So when the sound engineers were working on one of the very early Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons, Chuck Jones saw a sound guy doubled over in laughter. He walked over to the sound guy and asked him what was so funny. The sound guy, quickly began to apologize to the director. Chuck though, wanted to hear it. The sound guy explained that he had set the sound board wrong when he did the playback and pressed play to show Chuck. The dropping missile "wheeeeee" that we all know as the sound of the coyote plummeting, which was supposed to be accompanied by a very painful sounding crash with all sorts of clanging explosions. Instead, what Chuck heard was the missile falling sound, followed by a very quiet, lonely thud.Hilarity!

Lucky Mistakes and wonderful errors

Happy Holiday's Ya'll!

Getting ready for the Grand Re-opening

Yeah, it was a short hiatus. I will be back. As you can see if you are reading this, I have made some changes to the site with more to come. With Mike V's and Jenn's help, you should all notice some fun new things around here.

For now though? Just some visual stuff. I removed some links, cleaned up the look of this place. Just like I have my home.

I am getting ready for my big housewarming party (yeah 7 months late, but I have people to fill the house with now) on Saturday the 17th. Looking foward to it.

I've been considering changing the name to this blog. Anyone with title suggestions let me know. I was thinking of "Without a Dowd" or "Falling Dowd" (though that last one makes me feel like I have a cold when I say it). So this is all a thought. Dave seems to think that I should keep Well in Dowd, Jenn agreed with him. I may just stick with what works in this case.

Hope all is well with you in your little part of the world. Talk to ya soon.