An Almost Exact Repeat Incident at 7-11

Greetings Readers

You have read about this incident before from me at the local 7-11 I do frequent from time to time.

Unfortunately, this latest incident is no different.

I had visited this particular 7-11 days earlier, which I bought a liter of Coca-Cola for a good deal, minus sales tax, since sales tax is not included. Yet, down the road there is Jenny’s Market, which has the same price for a liter of Coca-Cola. However, that Jenny’s Market applies a sales tax.

Readers, I am sure that you have just come to the same conclusion I did over a month ago. I am all for paying the cheaper amount of Coca-Cola, especially now with this so-called recession.

I go into 7-11 with my earphones in my ears with Guns’ N’ Roses playing Mr. Brownstone in my head.

I have to admit I was in my mood that was “don’t fuck with me” and “I could care less” mood. Not a bad thing, but not a good thing. Meaning, I was in no mood to take any shit or I was in no mood to be polite. Not mean, just not polite. One might say no remorse.

“We have been dancing with Mr. Brownstone…” is what I hear when I walk into 7-11. Now, whenever I listen to Guns’ N’ Roses I feel myself get into the music and the lyrics - quite literally. I can feel the music and more importantly I feel the music take me to the music’s tone.

I walk to the refrigerator and grab my liter of Coca-Cola and walk to the register up front of the store.

As I have blogged before there are two registers and lo and behold there are two men behind the registers. Whereas the last time there were two women behind each of their registers they were operating.

Since I literally saw two people behind each register I walked to the register that is closest to the door, which is manned by a skinny guy. That is just common for me to do is walk to the nearest register to the door. Readers, the two 7-11 employees were standing behind both the two registers talking to each other from what I saw. Not what I heard what they were talking about since I was listening to Guns’ N’ Roses.

“…That old man was a real motherfucker…”

All of a sudden I saw that the skinny guy started to walk away from his register and counter. There was no acknowledgement that I was at his counter nor was there any sort of words spoken to me from the skinny guy (example: Sorry sir, but my register is closed). However, from the corner of my eye I see the other guy, a heavyset guy, move his mouth to me, but I have no clue what he was saying. Matter of fact, I could fucking care less since I was not at his counter.

Oh yes, Readers I had my Oakley’s on so I could clearly see what they and everyone else was doing around me. And of course they could not see where I was looking if I was looking around. Believe me Readers; I make it my business to know my surroundings since I tend to ride with earphones in my ears most of the time I ride. I am always taking in my surroundings and quite acute to all things around me. After all, my life on the bike depends on me being very aware of my surroundings since I am visually depending on what I can see and not what I can hear.

That skinny guy walks away from the register and counter he is/was at and I calmly wait for him to come back. Oh Readers, I already set my liter of Coca-Cola on the counter so my job as a consumer was done, in my view. Nothing new Readers, I grabbed my item and presented the item for purchase at the check out counter.

I waited and waited for about 10 to 15 seconds making no intention to acknowledge the heavyset guy at the other counter. Meanwhile, the skinny guy was tending the hot dog roller holder, but glancing at me now and then.

Well, about 20 to 30 seconds later, meaning after the skinny left the counter, the heavyset guy whistles at me, as if he was whistling to his dog. Oh yes, I heard the sharp whistle, but pretended not to hear it.

First of all Readers, I am not a dog nor will answer to a whistle like a dog. I was offended, but did not mention this to the heavyset guy.

I hear him, and I of course saw him say, hey over here.

I looked around as if I just heard him for the first time. I see him pointing and motioning that he is open and ready for me to ring my purchase up.

He points to his counter and I point to my Coca-Cola sitting on the counter. I made no move to his counter nor did he make any move to go and get my Coca-Cola on the counter.

Hell no, I did all the work by bringing up the Coca-Cola to the counter. There was no fucking way that I was going to move my item to his counter. He was going to have to get the Coca-Cola I physically brought up from the counter to ring up himself. Granted, the distance was just over a foot, but it was just a foot for him. After all, I am the customer.

I hear the heavyset guy talk, but I could not make out what he was saying. He then shook his head in a no gesture and then I heard myself say

“Well then, if you are not going to ring me up then I guess I don’t need it. And if you can’t walk two feet to get my Coca-Cola then you are going to have to walk farther than that to put that Coca-Cola back into the refrigerator.”

I did not move nor did the heavyset guy. I waited about three seconds then proceeded to walk out of 7-11 without looking back. Out of the corner of my eye the skinny guy walks swiftly to his register, most likely to ring me up, but at this point I was done with 7-11.

Eventually, I did go to Jenny’s market and pay a little extra on the sales tax, but there was a certain smug feeling on walking out of 7-11 holding onto what I believed in – and that is the customer is always right.

I feel I won that showdown that morning. However, it was brought to my attention that they heavyset guy could probably fucking could care less about me. Another friend said I actually lost the showdown since I had to go further to get a liter of Coca-Cola that morning. All these points are probably true, but the most important thing is I did not bulge on what I know was correct and either the skinny or heavyset guy had to put that Coca-Cola back into the refrigerator eventually.

I will admit though if my mood were different that morning I would have moved that Coca-Cola to the heavyset guy’s counter without any thought. I do not blame Guns’ N’ Roses. It was just the timing of the day, the music I was listening to and the way I woke up that morning - I was just ready for a confrontation. I was looking to step into “old” Daryl’s shoes once more.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

My "15 Wishes" are no Longer

Greetings Readers

Well, it almost took me two months to redeem my “15 wishes.” ( you can click to see the original Blog post on obtaining and thinking of the 15 wishes I granted myself. Also, I know I usually do not reference past blog posts, but I thought just in case you Readers need to read about me getting my first iTunes gift card to redeem http://redhooktyrant.blogspot.com/2008/09/15-wishes-roughly.html) 56 days for me to finally put a list together that I deemed worthy to be purchased.

I will not say that this is my number one list of all time. Not by a long shot. These are just my choices to choose from by many factors I weighed in by personal opinion.

There were a lot of factors that I took in consideration. Granted, half of the songs that I bought I have on cassette tape, but I do not have on CD. Most of this is not unusual, but what is unusual is that I do not have one single Pink Floyd CD in my collection. I do have every Pink Floyd album/CD on cassette tape, but I do not have any Pink Floyd on CD.

Very strange for me not to have in my CD collection, but I think the reasoning is that in the past most, if not all, Pink Floyd CD were never on sale, so I did not want to pay the full price. And the funny thing is that I love The Wall, A Delicate Sounder of Thunder and A Momentary Lapse of Reason, to name a few Pink Floyd CD’s I would just love to have in my CD collection.

Now, I gave some serious thought to buying a couple of Pink Floyd songs on iTunes, but the accountant came out in me. If I buy a song for a .99 cents and tax - what happens when I buy that Pink Floyd CD later down in the road in life? I guess I would be paying more than I should be paying since I would be buying the CD, plus any single songs I buy from iTunes.

Now, I do not know when I am going to buy A Momentary Lapse of Reason, but just the thought of buying a song now and then buying the CD later is not cost effective. I would be losing money on the deal. One could argue just buy the song now and then listen to my heart’s content, but I could not. I would love to have the song “Dogs of War,” but then again I have done this long without “Dogs of War” so far so what is more time? I do not know, but I am okay with waiting for me to purchase the CD.

So, with that reasoning I did not buy one single Pink Floyd song, even though listening to the 30-second clip brought back memories. Though I guess I will have to listen to my cassette tape. Ain’t no thang.

I chose songs that I have heard at one time. Or have thought about buying the music at one time. Or songs that are one of a kind, in a sense, to me.

Now, choosing this list did not take the entire 56 days. A week would go by before I even thought about my “15 wishes.” Other times I would think of something or something would remind of something and then I would quickly write down the song and or artist. Then, I would forget about what I wrote down until I remembered days later perhaps.

Now, there were two artists that I saw on iTunes that I looked over and over at. Tiesto and Natalie Merchant. I was very, very hesitant of buying any songs from these two artists since I basically have bought or would buy any CD’s that I do not have in my collection. And buying any single song would mean that I just “threw away” money.

Yet, I was able to find two songs that I did not have and most likely would not find on any CD in the future.

All right Readers, I think I have rambled enough.

If you clicked on the blog picture post first then you probably saw the list of “15 wishes.” Actually, I was only able to purchase “14 wishes” due to sales tax. Sales tax, fuck me once more.

Let me not broach that subject of sales tax, though I did use a zip code that I know has one of the lowest sales taxes that I know of the addresses that I have available.

Let me begin.

1. Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing – Chris Isaak. I think, the first time that I heard this song was in Stanley Kubrick’s last movie. I loved the song from the first time I heard it and I just never got around to buying the CD soundtrack (which I would assume that the song was on) or a CD from the Artist since it would be on an album of Chris Isaak. I just love hearing “Bay Did a Bad Bad thing” in that voice in the song.

2. All You Zombies – Hooters. I heard this song in my Uncle’s El Camino going down I-40 in New Mexico when I was younger. I just loved the opening music and the beat throughout the song. I do not care for the guitar riff in the song, but other than that this is a song that reminds of listening to while we were speeding down I-40 and this song playing full blast from the stereo speakers my uncle installed in his El Camino.

3. Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley. I do not know the artist, but I hear this song every now and then on a TV show. I do not know if it was this song specifically or redone by another artist, but I chose this version, because of length and popularity on iTunes. I have to say I chose right. The haunting word of “Hallelujah” makes such an impression on me – simple but effective and in my opinion not religious-like.

4. God’s Gonna Cut You Down – Johnny Cash. Wow. I first heard this song was the On-Demand video on Comcast Cable. This was/is during my Johnny Cash phase and I wanted to hear more songs of Johnny Cash. Anyway, the back-story is that I absolutely love the video / song. The video is in Black and white and features many, many famous people in many different states. Chris Rock moving his head back and forth, Lindsay Lohan looking ordinary in a manner of speaking, ZZ top, Sheryl Crow, etc. It is the video that helps the song, but the song’s beat is fantastic, the lyrics being sung by Johnny Cash is so on and eerie since it was the last of Johnny’s music to be recorded before he past away.

5. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree – K.T. Tunstall. This is a live version via iTunes version. Anyway, I love this song and the beat once more. I chose this version since it is longer than the radio/original version. I really first paid attention to this song when it was used for the U.S. Open Tennis on USA Networks. From that point, I was hooked and have been looking forward to buying this CD/song, which I still need to do since this version of the song is an iTunes exclusive.

6. Mad World – Micheal Andrews and ????. I first heard this song in a commercial and that was for the first Gears of War game. I think, I remember the commercial of a marine in the dark and this song playing and then out of the darkness came a beast towering above and behind him. It was not the commercial that drew me to the song, but the melody of the song and the simplicity of the music and lyrics I heard. Then, it was this year, 2008, that I saw the movie “Donny Darko” for the first time and I heard this song in the movie and I was reminded of the piano playing and really making the song work.

7. Kind and Generous – Natalie Merchant. I saw this particular song was on a WDST CD, which might be like our radio station in Denver, Colorado KBCO. KBCO each year puts out exclusive songs by various artists that are recorded in the KBCO radio station studio (also known as Studio C). Often acoustic or a different variation of the song from the album version was played in Studio C. So, I listened to the 30-second clip and I heard that this was an exclusive song and I knew that I needed to have this song for my Natalie Merchant collection. I knew that I would never by that album with this song so that is why I bought this song.

8. Promiscuous – Nelly Furtado. I first heard this song on SNL (Saturday Night Live) and I could not believe Nelly Furtado was singing this with someone else. It was not the Nelly that I have heard in the past. Ever since that Saturday night on Saturday Night Live I have been wanting to buy this CD, but I have not gotten around to, yet. So, I bought this song, which is another iTunes exclusive, which means I am okay with this purchase too.

9. Long Hard Road – The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I have heard this song before, but not really listening to and being hooked to the “Long Hard Road” after hearing this song in the credits of “Texasville.” I know that I have had a long hard road and listening to the song relaxes me and also makes me think of Texas and my past in general. Perhaps there are more songs by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band that I my like, but I guess this is where the benefit of buying a single song actually comes in handy. And I have to admit when I am down at the Ranch in New Mexico I do hear this song every time I am in New Mexico.

10. Ready, Steady, Go – Oakenfold. Again, another song that was used for the U.S. Open Tennis. And it fucking fits. Yet, the past two years USA Networks did not use this while televising the U.S. Open. I also heard this song in the movie “Collateral” and just recently the “Bourne Identity.” I love the music and beat and it has not left my head. This was basically a no-brainer to purchase.

11. Black Betty – Ram Jam. I never knew the artist who sang this song. This song rocks – period! I bought the original version, but I did listen to some re-mixes and thought about buying a version of Black Betty, but thought to stick to the original since that is what I have heard of Black Betty. I think Black Betty really came to my attention from the movie “Blow.” Ever since I hope to hear this song on the radio.

12. Big Log – Robert Plant. This was a no-brainer for me to buy. “My love is in league with the freeway…” and “the coming of night time” I first heard this song probably in Junior high or perhaps high school, but since then this song means a lot to me. My love was the freeways of life and I did drive all over the central United States to the western side of the United States and I was in league with the freeway. There is more that this song means to me, but I think that is something I need to keep to myself, for now.

13. Lethal Industry – Tiesto. This song was sort of up in the air to purchase. I am sure that I would find this album and buy when I see, but the thought of not owning this version of the song that is 8 minutes long was too good to pass up. I have two short versions (about 3 minutes) and then I have like an almost 18 minute version of the song. So, having a version of the song between 3 and almost 18 minutes was too good to pass up. The song is good and there is a particular riff of the song that I could listen to over and over. All other parts of the song don’t matter.

14. Telling Stories – Tracy Chapman. I first heard this song on KBCO and it was probably due to Brett Saunders of KBCO that got me hooked to liking this song. Brett said to us listeners that he like/loved this new song from Tracy Chapman, when it first came out, and from that point on I was hooked. From the opening of the song to the lyrics it really caught my attention. This song to me was nothing like the Tracy Chapman I heard from before (example – “Fast cars” and “Give me one reason.”)

And there you have it Readers. My “15 wishes” were finally redeemed and decided and now it was time to share my first ever purchases from iTunes with you faithful Readers and general Readers alike. I would have to say that the list is pretty well rounded and I am proud to say that I am very, very happy with my choice of songs that I purchased. Songs I obviously wanted and not songs that I had to have because I needed to have. I actually took some thought and what may happen later down the “Long Hard Road” of life.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

"Extra" Sales Tax in Lonetree

Greetings People

The thighs were a "bit" tight when I woke this morning. I was able to walk the "tightness" out this morning and the bike ride into work was good. Pretty nice morning, hardly any wind blowing, and the sun was just coming up over the horizon.

Nothing to report or to blog today. There is some news, but nothing I want to comment about nor bring to light.

Amazing Race - The team that I wanted to be eliminated - was Eliminated on Sunday. Woo Hoo!

No Prison Break until next Monday

Roger Federer lost a tennis match which has broken his string of win events somehow. Sorry readers, I do not know how/what/really about what was broken, since I could care less. I read the info in yesterday's news. I did read that Hingis advanced to the next round.

Target in Lonetree, CO. Well, I am not sure how much you readers, consumers pay attention to sales tax, but I for one do not want to pay any more sales tax than I have to! Yes, I look at those receipts and ask questions. I will try and pay the lowest taxes, if possible. However, in the instance yesterday I needed something from the Lonetree Target that I could not get at the Englewood Target. Therefore, I had to succumb to pay the extra tax that is assessed. Granted, the purchase was only around $ 10.00, but if you were to purchase a higher amount the tax will be higher. I work in Lonetree, but by no means am I going to help pay for something that will not benefit me. Damn straight I can think that way. I think Denver is the worst in taxes is what I heard at one time. Getting back to Lonetree - I think the "extra" tax is 7 percent. Again, I was bitter about paying the extra tax on the item I needed, but had to. I knew about the tax, but did not want to remind myself about the "extra" tax so I did not look at the receipt.

Anyway, thought to blog about that readers since I really have nothing to write about. I guess you can say nothing has pissed me off nor do I have anything to be happy about currently.

until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete