As I walked into Best Buy for the last time “We Are the Champions” blared over the speakers as I walked in slow motion wearing my smile proudly. I was tempted to be ashamed, embarrassed that they all knew who I was. I was the guy who kept calling and calling and making a fuss about $130. I had been in the store about six times in four days and had called a number of times as well. It wouldn’t have been so bad had this particular Best Buy been a normal busy store. But, no, it is the slowest most dead store I’ve ever been in.
Well I walked in and said proudly, “I’d like to talk to your Operational Manager. She’s expecting me.” the peon responded quickly “she’ll be right out sir.” I schmoozed with him for minute or two while I waited for my adversary to come.
This story is getting to drawn out…I got my money back.
I had to leave a message for the GM. I had to write a formal complaint. I had to file some stuff with my credit card. I had to call the corporate office not once, not twice, but thrice. But I got my money back…now, if I could only find a way to fix my broken hard drive and retrieve the pictures of my son and all my music…

I need help. Am I making a poor choice?
Here’s the dealio yo:
Best Buy screwed me over. Sorry Eric. The Geek Squad screwed me over. I took my under warranty computer in for repairs. They said it was a software problem (not covered by a warranty). I paid to have the software fixed. I picked up the computer and paid for it…and then…AND THEN…they told me that the reason for the original error that I brought the computer in for was a faulty hard drive. It was not a software problem, it was a hardware problem. Hardware that was still under warranty.
So I told them I wanted my money back. They said “how about a free hard drive?” I said no. They said “how about a gift card” I said no. They said “take a hike” and I said ok. I said no because I’m disputing it with my credit card company. I’ve never done that before. Am I an idiot? Should I take the gift card? What if the dispute fails? Can I call them back and ask for my money back?
Help me
Best Buy sucks balls.
No seriously, they do…literally.

Here’s what I know about politics…

1. Obama is the coolest. Too bad he’s a terrorist.
2. Gulianni ain’t gonna take no crap from nobody.
3. That dude from Arizona has really short arms and tries to be too cool.
4. Hillary is evil.
5. Gore is pathetic and a hypocrite.
6. There’s some Mormon running for one of the parties.
7. I think it is illegal to kill old people (what happened to Dr. Death?).
8. As long as Christians fight against terrorism and gays we can forget about abortion.
9. If Mr. C Powell ran for pres the world would be a better place.
10. Democrats suck.
11. Republicans suck.
12. Whigs are where it’s at.
13. Donkey::Democrat as Jackass::______…(I’m still not quite sure how these equations work)
14. Republicans fuel is fear
15. Democrats fuel is biodiesel
16. JB in 2012!

I reserve the right to add to this list as my knowledge grows.

I started to write a post about the Virginia Tech tragedy, about how strange it is that NBC won’t show a streaker at the Superbowl because it might encourage others to go out and do the same thing, but they will show a demented murderer in the name of news. It’s stupid. And I know that a lot of people are just saying that they’re just giving us what we want. But that is only partially true. If it was completely true they would show more streakers running from the cops at football games. ‘Cause everyone wants to see that, it’s just plain ol’ funny. Anyway, what I really want to talk about is diapers.
Everyone uses disposable diapers. I believe it’s over 90% of Americans. I think it says a lot about the values that our society holds for better or worse. Here’s why…
Why use disposable diapers? Is it cheaper? Absolutely not. Jess and I bought all our diapers and wipes from Costco at the bare minimum price of about $40 a month (for one child. Come September that price would double). That means that if Jones potty trained by three years old we would spend about $1500 in diapers. You can purchase enough cloth diapers for your baby’s entire life for about $500. And here’s the kicker, cloth diapers are usable for at least two kids worth!
Why use disposable diapers? Are they safer for the environment? Nope. Did you know they’ve done studies that say that it takes one disposable diaper 500 years to decompose in direct sunlight? Imagine how much longer that takes when it’s wrapped in a diaper genie bag wrapped inside a garbage bag! And each child compiles one ton of disposable diaper waste in their years prior to potty training.
Why use disposable diapers? Is it healthier? Nope. Did you know that there is a chemical that is no longer allowed in tampons because it causes toxic shock syndrome? Well did you also know that this same chemical is still used in diapers? I guess it’s not going up any holes or anything, but it just doesn’t seem right does it?
Why use disposable diapers? It’s easier. That’s it. That’s the only reason why right? I chose to switch to cloth diapers at a time when my wife is on bed rest and is not able to change one diaper, wash one load, or rinse out one pile of poop. But the reality is that I have to change Jones’ diaper maybe two or three extra times a day. It takes me five minutes longer to change his diaper every time. And I have to wash one or two extra loads a week. That’s it.

I could go on and on about the details. I know you all want to know if the washing machine water is brown or if my hands are stained with poo or whatever. But the truth is that I hate being dirty or gross or sticky, I hate my house stinking and I hate doing laundry. And so far it’s been just fine.

The moral: as far as I can see one of the most important core values for the American way of life is to make life as easy and enjoyable as possible. And so we have drive thru’s, we have one stop shopping, we have cell phones, and three cars per family, and big yards with bigger fences…is there something more to life than this shallow understanding of happiness? Is happiness supposed to be deeper than getting what we want right away without any sacrifice? Do happiness and sacrifice run much closer than we want to believe?

Just a thought…about diapers.

Jones has a monster that Jess made for him. Until today he always just called it “montner”. But this morning I asked him if his monster had a name. Jones quickly responded with “Boo”. Surprised by his quick reply I confirmed his answer “your monsters name is boo?” “yes” he said.

The strange thing that kept coming up in my head is that he’s never really encountered the word “boo”. He pretty much made it up out of the clear blue. Now I understand that kids make words and stuff up often, but it’s usually based in some sort of reality, idea, experience or something. Boo just seemed very random.

Let me quickly go off topic by saying that we’ve chosen not to use fake words for our private parts in our family. I could go into detail as to why we’ve chosen to do this, but that is for another blog. We do have purposeful reasoning for it though. Anyway, so Jones calls them what they are…and he’s quite obsessed with pointing them out any time he sees one.

Well when Jess got up this morning I told her about Jones’ new name for his monster. And it was at that exact moment that I realized the misunderstanding. You see, Jones doesn’t say “boob” very well. Instead he says “boo”. And through a series of rigorous test we confirmed the fact that Jones did not name his monster Boo, no, he named it Boob. My son has a monster named Boob.

Jess and I have chosen to continue to call the monster Boo…though on some level I hope that Boob sticks. Are we bad parents?