12.23.2008

2 Albers for the price of 1

I've discovered that I get a lot of comments when John Albers is featured in my blogs...so I'm taking it a step further...I'm reposting some old blogs that John wrote in 2003. He sent them to me today at work and they filled me with such Christmas joy that I figured it was appropriate to publish on almost Christmas Eve. Enjoy!! Don't forget there are 2!
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December 11, 2003

John Goes to the Mall

Over my lunch 'hour' today, I went to Tysons mall. Generally I like going to the mall over the Holidays. I may actually return to Tysons Corner on Saturday if anyone is interested. Anyway, here are some neat things about the mall during the holidays.

- If your Christmas music includes the combination of some white person singing and the use of turntables, it sucks. Tony Bennett does not need a DJ.

- It is funny to watch a woman walk by the make-up counter and give a woman having make-up applied a sideways glance. Almost like, "Darling, what are you letting them do to you." Keep in mind that the woman giving the glance appears as though her make-up was done by Maaco and involved masking tape and newspaper.

- It is also funny to watch men in the jewelry store. They all have that deer in the headlights look on their face. Their signifigant others might as well have just sent a guy with a black hood and an axe along with them, and have this gentleman whisper in their ear "You are a screw-up all year long, but if you buy something shiny enough you can get away with it for one more year, don't F it up." Jewelry stores, have some program where the hapless guy can go in, pick out three things he thinks she'll like, put the item numbers on some kind of certificate so the chicky can go in and pick out one she likes. It will seem like he tried, she'll get whatever trinket she wants, and no one gets hurt.

- If I had known my parking space was in such demand, I would have put it on e-bay.

- People are not beating their children enough. It's cute for about a minute to have your kid whimsically wandering around the walkway of the mall. After that minute is up I am going to walk by with the anvil I have in a Hecht's bag and knock some sense into him.

- I don't go into half of the stores that sell men's clothes even if I am looking for clothes. Why? Because I can't tell if the sell men's clothes, because they are tucked into a closet way in the back behind the four hundred different types of silk scarves you can buy.

- I like walking around and seeing that the shop that was the Halloween store is now the National Zoo store, and the same people are working there.

- There is a kid's Bath & Body works. You don't need this. If you get your kid fruit scented shampoo, they are going to drink it. Get them stuff that doesn't make them cry when it gets into their eyes.

- Chespeake Knife and Tool has buy one, get one 30% off. Exactly how many knives do you want me to buy? I want to buy two, come back to rob the place, throw one at an employee and whip out the second one, and inform everyone that I got it on sale.

- A gentleman on a cell phone was overheard suggesting that he was going to sell something for a "three-thirds" mark-up. "Three-thirds" equals one. Good luck making a profit on that one you preening schmo.

- For all your fashion designers, when a new style comes out, the first thing I think when I see it should not be "Do I have brass ones big enough to wear that?" They are clothes, this is not Jackass. Dressing myself in the morning should not be some kind of stunt involving my dignity. You know why your clothes look good? Because you put them on waifs with pretty face. I never even look at the clothes because I am trying to count the right angles on this coat hanger with legs that you have dressed in a parka and a tutu. Hot people look hot no matter what you put them in, and I am going to look like crap by comparison no matter what you put me in.

- I saw a tie with Rhinestones on it. I wanted a regemental tie that was red & either white or light silver. It's christmas, and it would look like an F-ing candy cane. Got it? I should not be able to come up with a design that includes a primary color and white in alternating stripes that does not exist. But I can get a tie with rhinestones.

- Shouldn't you be in school?

- Stop dressing like that, you're not old enough to know better. Yet.

- It is not a salesperson stalking me while I shop. It is by own reflection in the mirrored pillar you dolt.

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December 29, 2003

Costco

Here is the last dose of John before the New Year, musings as I strolled through Costco:
- Two fire extinguishers in your cart? If encounter a problem that requires two fire extinguishers, before you cast yourself in the lead role of "Backdraft 2," try dialing 911.
-Housewives, stop sniping at each other about your place in line. I have a solution: Spatulas at dawn. Whoever can make a Western Omelette the fastest wins.
-It is impossible to shoplift at Costco. The quantities are too big. No one is smuggling out a 55 gallon drum of Crisco. This observation comes from a person who has smuggled not only a jack-o-lantern candle holder out of a bar in his pants, but also a candy-cane candle the size of a coffee can in his coat.
-While the developments in toaster technology are amazing, I still burn mine. Fix that before you develop something that would allow me to toast an entire loaf of bread at a time.
-My life can be had for less than it costs to purchase a single Taylor Made driver.
-There are gravity bike stands. I encourage you to purchase one of these, as I purchased an anti-gravity one, left it outside, and now I can't find it or the bike that was on it.
-You, in the bakery section, I want to smash your face into that giant sheet cake over there. Not in a mean way. In a playful way, banking on the fact that I am faster than you, and any Costco employee I might encounter.
-The dungeness crabs they have there scare me. I wish they would stop hassling me for money.
-Who wants to join me in a Dr. Phil book burning? You can solve all the world's problem and look like a child molester at the same time. Kudos.
-There are gummi bear vitamins. Should I ever chose to do myself in, this is how I will do it. I will pound bottle after bottle until I am invulnerable to cold, yet die of an overdose of any number of insoluble vitamins. Death by iron overdose sounds kind of manly, no?
-What is better than 5 pounds of gummi bears? 10 pounds.
-There is a "Trading Spaces" episode guide. This is not the worst news. It is the first of three guides. I will now light myself on fire.
-They have "natural style" beef jerky. I can only interpret this to mean it is beef jerky as it occurs in nature.
-There are bathing suits that now have the flotation devices sewn into the suit itself. If there was any question as to what Michael Jackson will be bobbing for next Halloween, now you know.
-In my time I have seen people snort jello, flour, and ritalin. Future experimentations I would like to see include parmesan cheese, raisins and dishwashing crystals.
-If [insert metallic superhero] had nose hairs, would they be like a scouring pad?
-In Costco, you can conduct 'ramming speed' runs on unattended shopping carts with little to no repurcussions.
-The picture of the hot dog at the food stand is approximately 8 feet long. I need an adult.
-They are hiding the weapons of mass destruction behind the 5 pound Chicken of the Sea containers.

And now for some news about me:
-Last night, walking between two houses in the dark, I ran squarely into a tree that was about three feet tall while carrying wine stoppers (don't ask). I managed to break the skin on my thigh, but the only damage to the pants was a giant hole in the crotch. I cannot carry anything in my left front pocket because it hurts too much.
-Two of my uncles bought each other the identical christmas present; Craftsmen aluminum hydraulic car jacks.
-I bought my father a pair of Motorola walkie-talkies. Unbeknowst to me, he purchased 3 pairs of said walkie-talkies for two of my uncles and my cousin's husband. Now do the math. 6 gifts exchanged hands, while only 2 different products were involved.
-Suppose that my Uncle Tommy has a Toyota Camry. And suppose that my father gave him a small, festively wrapped disc-shaped item as a present. And suppose that upon unwrapping this present, my uncle should find a rice cake with "Fuel Cell for a Toyota Camry" written upon it in black sharpie. My father did this for every relative that happens to have a Japanese car, which is pretty much all of them. It should be noted that when I am home, there are NINE cars strewn about the property. 3 of them run. How can you not love him.

Pretty good gene pool we've got working.

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