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Things That Irk Me: Microsoft & the NFL
It’s not a long list, really. Tomorrow, I’ll blog about things I’m grateful for, just to truly be in the Christmas spirit and even things out. But I have fresh examples from the “irk” list.
1) I heard the previously undefeated New Orleans Saints were upset by the Dallas Cowboys in a very exciting game at the Superdome in Louisiana Saturday night. I wouldn’t know first-hand. Time-Warner cable and the NFL continue acting like petulant children so the NFL Network isn’t carried here in New York. Here in the friggin’ #1 market in the country. As I was googling around on this I noticed that a number of cable systems in Louisiana don’t have a deal with the NFL either. A couple of Louisiana Congressman were so upset about it they wrote public letters of condemnation about the whole thing.
Who’s being greedier here, cable companies or the NFL? Probably both, but the NFL is being just plain, business-silly. Depriving people of your product during a rough economy when ticket sales are off and there are more and more TV blackouts anyway, is not genius, by any measure. I believe it’s called arrogance. Eight NFL games are carried on this NFL Network every year now. Occasionally, a last minute deal is cut and one or another of these games gets shown in an NFL-less market to avoid riots in the streets. Anyway, in a nutshell, the NFL wants cable systems to put these games on their basic tier of services. Most cable operators want to put it in a special sports or higher-priced tier of programming. They point out that during the non-NFL season, nobody’s going to want to watch the NFL network so why put it in a basic tier? I think they have a point there.
2) Microsoft invades my computer in the middle of the night and it makes me feel violated. I know these endless security patches they come up with are supposed to be for my own protection. But it occurs to me it’s to close holes in their own software that they didn’t anticipate being a problem, so it’s not my fault now, is it? Sometimes, when you get back on your computer after these updates and they tell you they fixed things while you were sleeping and dreaming of puppies and lollipops and stuff, certain things change. My drop-down menu bar on Internet Explorer is now gone, for example. I can still get around using these strange new icons, but I liked it the way it was.
But the worst patch problem happened to me about six years ago. Seems Microsoft updated my video drivers in the middle of the night. So I get up one morning and I can’t see anything on my monitor! They blinded me! While I slept! That one cost me about $150 after I had to take my CPU in to some Geek Squad guy to get examined.
That’s it. These are the only things in the world that irk me right now. Besides certain areas of public policy, but that’s something I’m going to stay away from for awhile.
Peace out.
Bitching About National Stop Complaining Day
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Really, it’s not that bad an idea and it does appear to have support out there; a day in which we just stop ourselves and others from bitching. Kind of like a day riding the Quiet Car on the Acela. Missouri Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver has sent out a letter soliciting support from colleagues to designate the day before Thanksgiving as Complaint-Free Wednesday.
Ironically, conservative media wiz, Andrew Breitbart and his Big Government web site report this story in a rather bitchy way. They clearly will not be getting with the program if this bill becomes law. They don’t like the idea, think it’s an example of Congressional idiocy and argue the times are too difficult to waste effort on such ridiculous declarations.
I think Congressman Cleaver’s letter is actually rather charming. Here are some excerpts from the copy Big Government published:
From time to time, we all experience anxiety, frustration, stress, and regret. And often, we respond to these feelings with a criticism or a complaint. Regrettably, complaining keeps people stuck on current problems, inhibiting them from thinking constructively to find solutions. Research has also shown that complaining can be harmful to one’s emotional and physical health; relationships; and can limit professional career success.
Well, yeah, ok, that’s not so bad.
In the spirit of hope, optimism and positivity, and in honor of its efforts to encourage people to look forward, not backward, the group a Complaint Free World is to be recognized. A Complaint Free World’s goal, in fact, is to motivate 1% of the global population (about 60 million people) to become complaint free.
Setting aside that I don’t think “positivity” is actually a word (spell-checker is totally freaking out over it); this seems a fairly modest goal- just one in a hundred people not bitching. The letter goes on to point out that the resolution is revenue neutral and is a good way of teeing up Thanksgiving; you go from being not bitchy to being grateful.
A Google search of “Stop Complaining” yields the following results:
Amazon.com is selling A Complaint Free World: How to Stop Complaining and Start Enjoying the Life You Always Wanted.
Petitiononline.com urges people to, uh, sign a petition. It’s frankly, just a tad angry:
If you are tired of: polotics-vegans-environmentallists-colleages-bosses-minorities-nascar fans-sports-paris hilton-feminists-your local mayor-gay rights-drugs-cops-video games-peta-disney-stupid lawsuits-abnormally obese people-maricle diets-mcdonalds-parents-in-laws, then sign here and shut them up!
Propeller.com has an identity crisis; it republishes the scathing Big Government article criticizing Complaint Free Wednesday, followed by another Google entry dating back to August in which the same website promotes “best tips on how to stop complaining and criticizing.”
And my personal favorite, from consumerwarningnetwork.com, is an article headlined: Crybaby Doctors Want Patients to Stop Complaining. Apparently doctors are making people sign contracts that prohibit their patients from making snarky comments on-line. If true, it seems evident that even Doctors are joining the stop bitching movement.
If not this year, possibly next year, but I think it is clear- the stop-bitching revolution is gathering serious momentum. And it would seem only right that the Friday after Thanksgiving be designated National Complaint Day. Sort of fitting for Black Friday, don’t you think? After all that not complaining/being grateful stuff we get to vent our gathering rage in one gigantic, national and communal bitch-fest!
Garcia Media Life 
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