People who gripe about "all those damn foreigners coming to the states and taking American jobs" make me wild. Just stop it already. First off, the jobs these individuals 'steal' predominately represent work that the native faction either does not want to do (migrant field worker) or are lacking enough people with skill (technology) to fill. Much of this can be attributed to the majority of our citizens not force-feeding the three R's down the throats of their children as well as growing kids who feel they occupy a particular station in life (pre-achievement) and are above many forms of menial labor. This parenting philosophy results in an ill-equipped workforce therefore crippling our highly demanding and specialized needs.

Secondly, recognize that importing human talent works in our favor. America is absolutely raping the intellectual wealth of the world. Other countries expend their public resources making their offspring smart only to have them plucked from their population as soon as they are ready to contribute. You see, this is a good thing for us and a very bad thing for them and we as a society benefit significantly through this dynamic.

A side facet to this debate I find irksome falls into the equal opportunity squabble. What percentage of people screaming about the loss of American jobs are the same dolts griping about quotas and equal opportunity acts ("The best candidate should get the job"). Well, guess what Clyde, sometimes the best or most willing candidate doesn't speak your native tongue. So instead of preaching about this or that atrocity why don't you get qualified so you do not have to worry about some bloke from here and there taking a job you were not ideal for in the first place.

You never know how much you love something until it's gone. I experienced said angst when the DVD in my computer went south on me. I soon discovered that 95% of the work I did was conducted with American Beauty, The Matrix or Aliens running up in the top right corner of my monitor. A friend suggested I call Creative Labs to complain about the short lifespan of their device. I reluctantly did only to hear, "shoot it to us and we'll get a new one out to you." A few short days later I was greeted in my mailbox with a brand new and functioning replacement. Anyone who facilitates my 97th viewing of Lester Burnham and Ricky Fitz scores mega-points in my book. Kudos Creative.

Last night at blockbuster while waiting to check out, I found myself perusing their 8-slot magazine rack. On the bottom shelf sitting side by side I spied one of the most resounding examples of polar opposites I've ever witnessed. Forget ying and yang, heads or tails, I have the modern diametric icon that is certain to define this new and unsure century ? Mary-Kate and Ashley and Trick Daddy.

A few days back my car was broken into and stereo stolen. In speaking to the insurance adjuster today he said that the car may possibly have to be considered totaled because of a mar made on the dashboard in that it would be too costly to replace the dash on a ten year old car. Now this has not been confirmed as of yet, but I simply find it amazing that it is even a possibility due to a single and smallish imperfection. Anyone want to buy an almost perfect automobile?

I have long been berated for my theory that McDonalds treats their fries with some form of addictive agent. Now as is usually the case, I possessed no supporting evidence of this claim other than my sharply honed acumen. Until now that is.

The other night NPR featured a fast food guru who was talking about none other than fast food. The interviewer, to my surprise, asked about the fry thing and the guest authority talked about how McDonalds had, in the past, cooked their fries in beef instead of vegetable oil until their methods were questioned and they moved to the more common program. However, not wanting to alter the taste they treated their fries with a mysterious animal extract. And, hence maintain their ruling status as king of the fry-makers.

a couple of weeks ago i ordered a necklace i found on the web. yesterday i received a call at work from the proprietor of the web site telling me that i was her first customer. she was very excited and very kind. it's unfortunate more business folk do not take her approach with their customers. so all of you last minute shoppers should swing by and check out her wares at magicbeads.com. she has some nice and unique pieces. and of course, it always feels better to buy stuff from people you don't mind buying stuff from. good luck lauri.

any of you who read, and enjoyed, my letter to the tivo corporation ought to love this guy. this is a complaint published by the ny times that was written to some bank. this is great, great humor which i wish i could claim as my own, but as it stands the author is unknown.

A friend recently forwarded me this article about southwestern bell getting sued by some group in Texas, asserting they have delivered 0 of the umpteen things advertised in their DSL package. You'll have to scrape my dumbfounded ass off of the floor, because I've only been waiting for them to show up at my place since Feb 28th, 2000. It's remarkable that someone could possibly find a chink in their suit of capability.

If you are one of the minions considering using them as your high speed internet provider, consider the following unadvertised feature list:
   6 month installation turnaround
   2 counts of lost customer record
   9 non-callbacks
   3 no-shows to my house
    5 failures to complete requested task (i.e. closing account)
And, all this before they even get the product into your home.

Now in their defense, if you're going to screw something up, you might as well do it big, Texas big in this case.

Whoever invented the FRIENDS AND FAMILY plan should be drug through the streets. I was recently on the receiving end of such a campaign complements of the Tivo Corporation...because they "value" me so immensely as a customer (pox on them). I felt so special after reading their memo, I spent an hour drafting a thank you for their sincere and touching concern for my well being.