Month: January 2025

How to use the CC field in your emails.

~ SA Otey
CC

Do you get offended when you are last on the carbon copy (CC) list in an email? Should you be? I think so!

Last on the List

It’s like the person considers you an afterthought.  Especially if it’s really good news. For instance, if there are free leftovers in the break room and you are overweight, then it’s like they are saying you shouldn’t eat because you are too fat.

First on the List

Being first on the CC list is offensive depending on the subject line of the email. If it’s about a procedure being violated or a new SOP, then you must be the worst offender or a troublemaker. It’s even worse if you are addressed and everyone else in the department is CC’d. For instance, when a new CIO takes over and he says to you that he doesn’t care if you wear jeans to work. The next day you wear jeans and your manager who doesn’t have this information yet, sends an email, addresses you solely, but CC’s the rest of the department. However, if it’s good news, such as free leftovers in the break room, then you should feel honored. Unless you are rail thin, which means your coworkers are trying to fatten you up.

Somewhere in between

You want to be nestled somewhere in the middle of the CC list. This usually means you are part of a group email or just on a shortlist of people who need to know stuff. This also means that you aren’t really that important either, you get lost in the shuffle and you will never get a raise or promotion because you lack initiative and goals. Wow, maybe it’s worse to be in the middle.

Of course, all these rules are thrown out if someone uses an alphabetized email distribution list and their last name is Aaberg or Zywiec.

Better Titles for Movie Sequels

~ SA Otey

With today’s attention span, Hollywood can’t risk confusing the audience of movie sequels. Some choose not to number their movies, probably because the director knows their fan base is smart enough to distinguish the difference. It’s easy to follow the sequence of “Batman Begins”, “The Dark Knight”, and “The Dark Knight Rises”. However, if you are confused about “Breakin” and “Breakin 2” then you have greater issues to deal with. Consequently, ever since that Breakin’ 2 came out, I attach “Electric Boogaloo” to any movie that has a 2 in the title. Moana 2 “Electric Boogaloo”

Creating a Sustainable Lifestyle with Diet Changes

~ SA Otey

What is the best diet? The one you can make into a lifestyle. Low fat, high carb, keto, whole food paleo using the 80/20 principle?

Is it this?

Dear Nutrisystem,

I know you want to promote your product, but fat-shaming men is not ideal. Don’t assume all men sit on the couch watching football and eating pie. Also, men can cook so stop with the gender stereotypes. I tried Nutrisystem for a month once and while I did lose weight as advertised it’s not a sustainable lifestyle. There are much better ways to shed pounds than eating packaged food. The key is creating a lifestyle with micro resolutions, not a short-term fix.

The Slow carb diet, if followed, can be sustained for an extended period. Just be careful that your cheat days don’t turn into cheat weekends, weeks, months, then years. Slow-carb diet pretty much saved my life.

Slow Carb Diet

Timeless Tunes: Why You Should Keep Singing These Unforgettable Songs After Christmas

~ SA Otey

Just because Christmas is over doesn’t mean you stop singing these songs.

Winter Wonderland

This song has nothing to do with Christmas. Rather it’s about weather precipitation, the perils of building snowmen, the migration patterns of birds, and making wedding plans.

Jingle Bells

Again, why is this associated with Christmas? This song is about treacherous winter travel and being left for dead after an accident.

Let it Snow

This couple just happens to be caught in a winter storm and the power keeps going out. This song is about someone who has been stuck in the friend zone and keeps waiting for that kiss goodnight but can’t take the hint that’s it’s time to leave. You probably won’t get that kiss because you have popcorn hulls stuck in your teeth.

Baby it’s cold outside

You are probably sick of it by now, but it’s still not a Christmas song. Probably the most disturbing of all the winter melodies. Loved ones are worried, waiting, and suspicious of a person who is keeping someone against their will with the lure of booze and cigarettes? Does this person have an addiction or is it just a case of Stockholm Syndrome?

A Marshmallow World

Here we have a tune about type two diabetes if the world were made of sugary marshmallows. If you listen closely it’s really a song about Groundhog’s Day.

Sleigh Ride

Closely related to Jingle Bells but nothing is Christmassy about this song. Just more of those incessant ringing bells that make your head ring instead. This song seems to fit better as a snow day that cancelled school.

I’m saving you a seat at church!

~ SA Otey
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I can understand if you are saving a seat for your spouse, or visiting family members. Other than that, are we still in elementary school? It’s like saying, I really don’t want to get to know anyone new. I have my friends and I want to keep it that way. What’s worse is when someone else asks the same question as you are walking away and they say, “No, go ahead and sit down”. Ouch! I really don’t know what else to say, except, I’ll save you a seat in heaven if I see you there.

Keep in mind there are those types of people at every church, but don’t let that distract you from the content of the preaching, style of worship, how others are dressed and how many sermons in a row are on tithing.

For all those churches with the wooden pews

How to Winter: Get through the SAD

~ SA Otey

Just get over it! I wish it were that simple. Every January I get super bummed out. We usually take a vacation before Christmas, setting the dopamine production into high gear. Once boxing day hits it’s a full crash of Blah. You take down the holiday decorations and return to your normal work life.

I didn’t think that Seasonal affective Disorder was a real thing, but once you hear it described so many times it almost becomes psychosomatic. They say that exercise is the best anti-depressant. However, if you are walking or running and trip over a curb and shatter your femur then things can get really depressing and fast. You will more than likely be prescribed addictive pain medication. That will then lead to constipation. So now you can’t exercise or poop.

You can’t be depressed without knowing joy and vice-versa. But if you get stuck on either end of the spectrum, something is wrong. So what do you do? Life has highs and lows, but sometimes you need help to get out of the lows. Sometimes it takes prescription medication to get you out of your depression, but don’t let it become a crutch. Antidepressants are like a cast for a broken arm. Take the meds and talk to a professional about your problems. At some point, you can take the “cast” off. Or you can simply snap out of it or get over it like everyone suggests.

https://amzn.to/4a9NBlF

Why did ToysR US go out of business?

~ SA Otey
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Mostly because of this: Can you buy online and pickup in store? The short answer is no.

Once upon a time, I tried to stop by Toys R Us and pick up something for my child. Picked up the box, walked to the front registers, and the insanity began.

  • Me: “I saw this at ToyRus.com for 10 dollars less, can I get that price?”
  • Them: “No, we don’t price match”
  • Me: “You don’t price match yourself”
  • Them: “No sir”
  • Me: “Ok, let me use my iPhone to order it online and pick up in-store, You know how ridiculous this is right?”
  • Them: “I don’t make the policy”
  • Me: “Should I carry this over to Customer Service, because that’s where I’ll need to pick it up.”
  • Them: “I’ll carry it for you” (I enter my info, pick my store, and guess what, it’s out of stock!)
  • Me: “I’m holding the product, yet it’s out of stock at your store.”
  • Them: “Yes sir, when it’s the last one, it’s out of stock”
  • Me: “You know how ridiculous this is right”.
  • Them: “I don’t make the policy”
  • Me: “So I can’t buy this for the online price, even though it’s in stock here.”
  • Them: “I don’t make the policy”
  • Me: “Well, I guess you will lose $40 instead of only $10, I’ll just pay $1 more from Amazon.com”
  • Them: “I don’t make the policy”

I would like to know who failed Marketing and Economics and made these policies.

I will never eat this cereal again.

~ SA Otey
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There is no doubt my favorite cereal is Kashi Go-Lean Crunch. The cereal serves dual purposes. One it tastes delicious and two it produces so much gas that it keeps everyone away from me. I can time it like clockwork. I eat a huge bowl first thing in the morning and by high noon, there is a showdown at the colon corral. I’m expelling flatus every two minutes, and it continues into the night.

Once I was going to play golf and wanted to load up on ammo for the course. My wife knew what I was up to and hid the box from me. I had to pick up some Bojangles Cajun Filet biscuits instead.

However, the sad news is I physically can’t consume it any longer. The problem is the gas production. I eat a bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch for breakfast and by the afternoon my body is producing so much natural gas I could heat a small village. It’s funny at first with all the farting, but after a few hours, you get exhausted. So long Kashi Go Lean Crunch our relationship has run out of gas.

 

https://amzn.to/4j5Fvyx

eBay Auction Tactics: Sniper vs. Max Bid

~ SA Otey

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There are two styles of eBayers. One will snipe an auction at the last minute (eBay Sniper Street Fighters) and the other will set a price limit.  My strategy is simple. I find an item that I want and I place a maximum bid of what I’m willing to pay. If I get outbid, so be it.

This all stems from a video game auction I went to where I set my max bid of $150 for a Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting machine. The final bid was $160. Kinda make me sick, but at the same time, it would have been difficult to bring home and move into 5 more homes that I would eventually live in.

Your children will never have to drive.

~ SA Otey

In all my years driving an automobile, I’ve seen the steep driving skill decline of my fellow humans. Texting and driving have brought out the worst in drivers. My children will ask from the backseat, “What is wrong with the driver in front of us?”.  My parents used to say, “Well, he’s probably full of alcoholic beverages“, but I tell my kids he’s probably playing Disney Emoji Blitz or Candy Crush.

I’m all for mandatory yearly testing to remove drivers from the road that shouldn’t be allowed to maneuver a heavy metal that can potentially lead to vehicular manslaughter. I welcome our automated driving overlords! It will give me more time to eat, text, TikTok and face booking. I can’t wait until people are augmenting their reality with VR headsets while driving. With all the Ubers, Lyfts, and Murder Taxis, your offspring will never have to slalom between 18-wheelers and monster SUVs. Where’s my Johnny Cab?

Busy Driver on Amazon