Mark's Madness » rants

Mel Kiper has Jumped the Shark

Mark Loventhal — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:58:08 +0000

At first, I thought this was an EKG showing Mel Kiper’s healthy heartbeat.

Milton Bradley – The “New Kanye West”

Mark Loventhal — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:59:51 +0000

When I was growing up, Milton Bradley was a game company. Then again, when I was growing up there wasn’t such a sense of entitlement and self-aggrandizing behavior. Some people you love to hate. I can’t even love hating him. I think Milton Bradley should curl up somewhere dark and be forgotten.

Brent’s Deli 2 – The Mustard Gets Thicker

Mark Loventhal — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:07:41 +0000

So my wife goes into Brent’s Deli yesterday (knowing full-well how I feel about that place) for lunch with her mom. She was told she couldn’t be seated until her entire party was present. She asked when that had changed because she’d never heard that before. The hostess rudely told her that she’d just have to wait until her whole party was there. My wife told the girl that she even knew what her mom was going to order but she made her wait anyway. What fantastic customer service. I will admit to having a sandwich brought to me at work, but only because someone else was buying. I’m not giving that Peskin family any more money. Another customer service FAIL.

U of A Shooting over Shadowed by Death of Georgian Luger

Mark Loventhal — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:22:28 +0000

A woman opened fire during a meeting of teaching staff at the University of Alabama’s Huntsville campus Friday, killing three faculty members and wounding three others yet nearly 90% of Americans have no idea that this happened, due to NBC’s wall to wall coverage of the death of 21 year old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili.

CARB spends $350k on Cow Fart Meters

Mark Loventhal — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:26:04 +0000

California Air Resources Board are deploying 7 devices across California to measure the methane emissions from cows at a taxpayer expense of $350,000-400,000. The purpose of the study is to determine if the estimated impact of cow farts on the composition of greenhouse gases and their effect on global warming. The methane in cow farts contributes to a surprisingly-high 5% of all global warming gasses out there, with methane being 22 times more potent at capturing atmospheric heat than carbon dioxide. The good news? California is spending tons of money on new equipment to benchmark this issue, while letting inmates out of jail to balance the budget. The devices should be up and running by May 2010.

The New iPad – Epic FAIL!

Mark Loventhal — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:19:35 +0000

Coming Soon, an over-grown iPhone3G with a major flaw.

Apple introduced its latest crowing achievement last week to an underwhelming response. The new iPad has nearly all the functionality of an iPhone3G without the convenient size.

And you thought talking on your iPhone3G was dangerous…

Mark Loventhal — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:53:33 +0000

When the first "hands-free"corded earsets arrived for cellphones, I used to laugh at people who would hold the microphone that was halfway down the cord, right in front of their mouth... thus defeating the purpose of using a "hands-free" device. Then I scowled at people who hold their phone 4 inches from their face using the speakerphone feature while pretending that they are obeying the California hands-free cellphone laws. This however, takes the cake.

Customer Service?

Mark Loventhal — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:13:51 +0000

Ok, so today I went to Brent’s Deli for the last time. There was one customer ahead of me when I went to pick-up my to-go order. Three girls were trying to help the one customer who got the wrong check. I stood there holding my daughter for 5 minutes without being acknowledged by anyone, even though the other three people behind the counter were not helping anyone. After being very patient, the girl at the register continued to ignore me after the person ahead of me left [I was standing 2 feet from the cashier] when she took the check and credit card of a guy who walked right up next to me and began to ring him up. I said, “excuse me, I was waiting here for five minutes.” The customer apologized, but the girls said nothing as she continued to finish the transaction. I asked if I could get my order and the cashier was rude as she got it. I asked to speak to the owner who was standing right there. As I began to explain my issue, he walked away from me! As I asked again to express my concern for the bad service, he again walked away. I loudly [as if I ever do anything quietly] announced that I never have this problem at Country Deli in Chatsworth and exited.