Memorial Day Weekend, whoo!

Holy crap -- I can't believe it's been more than two weeks since I last posted. I won't make too many excuses, but my life is moderately hectic right now. I'd say that in about two weeks, thing will calm down a little and I'll get back to some sort of regular posting routine. In the meantime...

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

from The Jerc Store!

It's nice to have three-day weekends, eh? Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

from The Jerc Store!

Don't forget to wish your momma a happy Mother's Day today! And if you're having trouble finding the right words to say, DON'T take the Shia-LaBeouf-approach...

"Probably the sexiest woman I know is my mother. She's an ethereal angel. Nobody looks like that woman. If I could meet my mother and marry her, I would. I would be with my mother now if she weren't my mother, as sick as that sounds." -- Actor Shia LaBeouf

That's, uh, flattering...and really f'ing creepy. Read more here.

What's also moderately creepy (but obviously much more hilarious) is SNL's new "Dick-in-a-Box" guys skit, "Motherlover."

Anyway... Happy Mother's Day!

So, it's not free?

Way to go, Dunkin Donuts: The doughnut chain quietly recanted its "Free Iced Coffee Day" last month -- usually on the same day as Rita's Free Water Ice Day -- and declared today plain-old "Iced Coffee Day," offering its cold java drink for 50 cents all day today.

In attempt to spin the ire of freebie lovers, DD is donating 5 cents of every purchase to benefit Home for Our Troops, a national nonprofit dedicated to building specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans.

I know I'm a little late on this, but hey, you've still got four hours or more to hit up your local DD and pay for what should have been your free iced coffee. Damn these tough economic times.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter

from The Jerc Store!

Fun fact for you on your Easter Sunday:

In medieval times a festival of egg throwing was held in church, during which the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choirboys. It was then tossed from one choirboy to the next and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and retained the egg. Good times...

Put a little Spring in your step

Little bit of chaos going on this week, but I couldn't neglect to remind you all that today (Friday, March 20) is Free Rita's Day!

From noon to 10 p.m. at participating Rita's Ice locations across the nation, you can snag a free regular-sized water ice! The chain has been giving away those cups of goodness as a thank you to its customers for 16 years now.

It's gonna be cold and un-spring-like in the northeast this weekend, but that's not gonna stop us. Enjoy!

Luck o' the Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day
from The Jerc Store!

It kinda stinks that St. Patty's Day is on a weekday this year, but that doesn't seem to stop millions from celebrating the notoriously drunken holiday. I will not be partaking, but Godspeed to those of you who do.

Little fun fact for you: The most leaves found on a clover is 18, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Think about how lucky that would be!

And for all you true Irish out there (1/2 of myself included), here's St. Patrick's tale:

Good St. Patrick traveled far, to teach God's Holy Word
And when he came to Erin's sod, a wondrous thing occured
He plucked a shamrock from the earth and held it in His hand
To symbolize the Trinity that all might understand
The first leaf for the Father
And the second for the Son
The third leaf for the Holy Spirit
All three of them in one.

*cough*

No, I'm not sick, but I am moderately convinced my laptop came down with some sort of virus Christmas Eve. Luckily, (I think) it's all better now -- I just didn't turn it on for three days (hence the brief hiatus) and hoped it sorted itself out, which pretty much guarantees something worse will happen in about 10 minutes.

Hope everyone had a good holiday. Who's looking forward to 2009?? I am if it'll bring me a new job, more money, increased relaxation time and a slight drop in lbs. Oh yeah, and if that recession thing could go away, that'd be hot.

"You'll shoot your eye out!"

Just think: 25 years ago that phrase was nothing more than a line in some movie about a little blond kid and his BB gun, a movie that debuted around Thanksgiving and was pulled from theaters before Christmas even came around.

But now, "You'll shoot your eye out, " sexy leg lamps and the phonetical pronunciation of "fragile" (fraaah-jeeel-aaay,--must be Italian) are Christmas staples, especially thanks to TBS and TNT's 24 hours of "A Christmas Story" -- a tradition that began in 1997.

Love it or hate, the movie has become a holiday tradition: Last year, the movie marathon brought in 4.4 million viewers - about 1/6 of the American population. Pretty ridic.

What's also ridiculous is the fact that a San Diego man has recreated the Parker house after winning an eBay auction, and it's become a major tourist attraction in Cleveland. Read all about it here. Roadtrip anyone?

And if you have any interest in reading the original movie review for "A Christmas Story," click here.

So, enjoy your holiday and sing "fra-ra-ra-ra" as you enjoy 24 hours of Christmas classic -- I triple dog dare you.

Sick, sick, sick

I think I have a decent immune system, but I'm pretty sure my body can sense it's Thanksgiving and just collapses every year around this time. Fortunately--well, kind of--my boyfriend is sick too, so we have been sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves the last few days.

During that time, he came across Google's Flu Trends, this nifty little site that shows you how your state compares with others at any given time throughout the year. And if you check it out, you'll notice that the entire country is at "low" risk right now, but we're riiiiight about to hit the national spike in flu sickness - whoo-hoo!

Thanks, TJS!

Black --and deadly-- Friday

I've never been into the whole Black Friday thing, though I admittedly thought about getting up at 4 a.m. today and hitting the stores from some deals. Unfortunately for my shopping ambition (but fortunately for my dwindling back account), I am working today...not quite sure why, because everyone I need to contact --including the police department-- is off today, grrr.

Anyway. For those of you who got out to the stores or plan to get in on the tail end of the door buster deals, good for you... but be careful! I just caught wind of an incident in Long Island where a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by a Black Friday crowd. (*Note, this picture was not taken from the same Wal-Mart.)

The news story seems to have a lot of unconfirmed information, but apparently a pregnant woman also taken down in the stampede and despite previous reports of a miscarriage, doctors say the baby is fine.

The unidentified worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back."

Crazy stuff. Click to read more.

Thanks, TJS.

[UPDATE] 11 p.m. Nov. 28: In an unrelated incident, two men were shot dead in a Toys "R" Us in Palm Desert, California, after they argued in the store, police said. The toy company and authorities said the California shootings had nothing to do with shopping on Black Friday

Day 'o turkey

Happy Thanksgiving
from The Jerc Store!

It's turkey time again! Hey, did you know that the first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three years? True story. How sweet would that be to be off from work on holiday for three years? Anyway, enjoy your food, football and five-hour, post-feast nap -- I know I will.

And hey, be careful out there shopping tomorrow.

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day from The Jerc Store!

Veterans Day was first incorporated by President Woodrow Wilson as Armistice Day in 1919 in honor of the Armistice treaty which ended WWI.

In 1938, Armistice Day was enacted as an official American holiday, but after WWII, citizens felt that the veterans of all wars should be recognized. In 1954, Congress changed the name from Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

In America, the holiday now celebrates the approximate 2.9 million U.S. veterans with parades and ceremonies among other events.

Major FAILs of the week

Here are this week's Major FAILs of the week. Feel free to share your FAIL photos/videos here or by sending them to failpictures@gmail.com.



see more pwn and owned pictures


see more pwn and owned pictures


see more pwn and owned pictures

Election Day 2008!

Happy Election Day
from The Jerc Store!

Choose or Lose, Vote or Die - whichever pro-voting slogan you subscribe to, today is the day for you to Rock the Vote.

Polls are open - go, go, go! Click here for polling places.

And don't forget to check out these free deals once you've done your duty as an American. Enjoy!

RELATED LINKS
Let free-food ring
Decision 2008
Don't vote!
Baby mama ain't Obama
Grand Old convention
Dems fightin' words

Fall back, yo

Just a reminder, my friends: Don't forget to set your clocks back!

On the first Sunday in November (tomorrow), clocks are set back one hour at 2 a.m. local daylight time, which becomes 1 a.m. local standard time.

And you know what that means - one more hour to party-it-up tonight! Whoo! (It also means that the clock in my car will finally be right again...)

Your computers might not set themselves like they used to, so beware of that. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed both the starting and ending dates of DST. Since 2007, daylight time has started on the second Sunday in March and ended on the first Sunday in November (rather than the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October).

BOO!

Happy Halloween from The Jerc Store!

So, what are we gonna see more of this year: Political figures (most notably Sarah Palin) or Heath Ledger's The Joker? Maybe it'll be the rebirth of Britney Spears. What am I being? That's a secret ;)

I haven't been this excited about Halloween in awhile, so bring on the trick-or-treaters and crappy candy corn - it's Halloween weekend!

[and Happy Birthday, Rachie!]

Decision 2008

Today, we are exactly one week away from what is being touted as one of the most important elections in the history of America.

Still haven't decided for whom you're voting Nov. 4? Take a look at the Match-O-Matic. You'll answer a series of questions on hot issues (health care, taxes, the environment), and the Match-O-Matic will do all the work of picking a candidate for you!

You may not completely agree with it, but if nothing else, you'll gain a better understanding of each candidate's platform.

You can also refer to this Web site.

...And if you've already got your man picked out, take a look at this interesting dance-off between the Republicans and the Dems. ;)

Newsfeed eating up lies

I heard a funny story this morning about a guy in Australia who took a "sick day," but got busted because his boss read his Facebook status: "Kyle Doyle is not going to work, f..k it i'm still trashed. SICKIE WOO!"


I laughed out loud when I heard it, thinking, "See? This is exactly what they told us in college about the professional backlash possible in putting dumb crap on social networking sites."(Thanks, Prof. Brown!)

An e-mail, presumably between Doyle and his boss, surfaced on the Internet shortly thereafter: The boss asks the 21-year-old AAPT worker for a medical certificate to prove he deserved the day off, and he writes back saying he did not need a medical certificate for one day's leave. The boss then discloses his proof behind the doubt, and Doyle says, "HAHAHA LMAO epic fail. No worries man."

This story is all over the damn Internet... but now it appears that the now-famous Kyle Doyle might have been framed! [DUN DUN DUN]

"Following an investigation into AAPT's email records, we can confirm the email exchange between two of our employees ... never occurred." -- statement from AAPT.

It appears that either someone set Doyle up--even his mother is vouching for him. Yeah, set up or he set this up to get his 15 minutes of fame, mmm? Either way, pretty comical.

As of this morning, Doyle's status reportedly read: "trying to hide :-/" and he had received at least 175 personal messages regarding the incident.

Happy October!

Break out the cider donuts, pumpkin spice lattes, fall festivals, hayrides and scary Halloween things -- it's officially the greatest month of the year! Can't wait for those leaves to start changing...

You're still their best seller

In the beginning...

[Milestone alert] Today marks the one-year anniversary of The Jerc Store!

Thank you to everyone who has visited, commented and made content suggestions over the last 12 months. It's been fun for me and hopefully you'll stick with me for the next 12!