Kade's Big Day - Part Deux

So first, let me begin by apologizing to the CherkyB for not referencing his website. It was a gross oversight as the CherkyB management has helped the staff at Cavitation immensely. Please note that there will be a permanent link on the left nav bar to the CherkyB from now on.

Second, thanks to everyone for NOT calling me Sunday night immediately after the NY Giants meltdown (I know that it must have been killing Russ). The odd thing is that I was fully expecting them to lose a heck of a lot worse, so it was not all that bad of an experience. Unfortunately for Joe and Ellen (who happened to be over at our house), they pretty much got to witness me in all my idiotic-Giant-watching glory. Having said that, it was still pretty friggin' disappointing to have to sit and watch the defense implode again...oh well.

Third, the results from the poop poll. An amazing 88% of you said that you would have helped the poor-pooper in some way...LIARS! Only 1 person was honest and said "book it outta there Danno!" In all honesty, the real answer was not listed. The correct answer was this: get ready to book it outta there...but first, take one square of TP and tape it to the bottom of the stall so the other person thinks you have left them an escape hatch. When they realize what you have done, you should be able to hear them from outside the latrine :-) Oh and this brings me to a second poo-point (which I have discussed with a few of you before). How useful is a single square of TP? Ahh...I will let you contemplate that one...ya know...while you are taking care of business.

Fourth, just a few pics to keep my mom happy. The first is of the 4 amigos (Kade, Megan, Laura and Payton) which turned out pretty good. The other is of Miss Payton in her pretty new dress.

Finally, Today was Kade's first day at pre-pre-school. While we did try daycare once before (which went terribly wrong), we managed to get Kade back in the saddle through Bribery (of course). You will note the new backpack he is sporting...its a classic Dora-Vuitton. He was pretty excited about it all and managed to make it through the morning session without incident. We head back again on Thursday, so we will see how it holds up. Note to family: you can always leave comments for Kade on the blog and Jen or I will make sure he gets them ;-)

Well - alrighty then...

Cleaning House...

Alright, sorry about the hiatus this weekend from posting to the blog. It was a busy weekend of doing not much of anything...kids tend to do that for you ;-) I have been collecting a bunch of random thoughts/comments so I will punch them out here and now! Here we go:

1. First off, Jen and I got the Sonicare Elite 7300 toothbrush this xmas. While this may seem old news to many...Jen and I were tricked into this one by our dental hygenist (something about all our teeth falling out if we don't make the change). Anyway, just to give a brief rating, I give it 4 out of 5 thumbs up. Within a few days my teeth actually did feel cleaner and I really like the fact that it does most of the work...so on the lazy scale it gets a 5 and on the effectiveness scale it also gets a 5. I did have to ding it one point though because if you forget to turn it off before you take it out of your mouth...it leaves hundreds of little bits of toothpast all over your mirror (ok that one is not really thier fault)...something that both Jen and I have done at least once. Oh yeah, it definitely takes a few times to get used too...
2. This one is for Jen and Ellen. This was a Martha idea which didn't immediately get flushed from my brain so I figured it was worth mentioning. It is a pretty cool looking chalkboard calendar...the details are over here. Maybe someday this one will grace our walls at home. One can only hope that if the message is literally written on the wall and it is in two foot letters that even I can remember things!!!
3. A funny story about the rise of international technology espionage in the silicon valley. You will have to read the article to understand why its so funny but I am pretty sure that this is why Jen doesn't let me go to San Jose, CA anymore ;-)
4. This article goes against everything in the fabric of my being. Somehow...this article makes it sound like it is a good idea for women to wear a bra??? Geez, that's all the single men out there need...yet another reason for the bra to stay on ;-)
5. Jen and I recently went to see the movie "The Good Shepherd". While I thought it was pretty interesting as it closely mirrors the actual roots of the OSS/CIA, Jen just barely managed to stay awake through the whole thing. One interesting element of the movie (in my mind) is how it depicts the CIA at a crossroad. It outlines the need for such an entity but also clearly pointe out the potential hazards. Di Nero clearly makes his opinion made regarding which direction the CIA has taken near the completion of the movie: "I remember a Senator once asked me when we talk about CIA why we never use the word "the" in front of it, and I asked him, 'Do you put the word "the" in front of God?'".
   
6. Last one: For those of you who do not use Google Earth from time to time to check out your local donut shop (ok, that is just Darren I suppose), it is basically a program designed to waste lots of your time. It is a nice interface where you can zoom in on satelite images anywhere around the world. There was a contest to see who could find some of the more interesting things out there...here is what some people found:
1. This one is an odd picture which Apple would be proud of
2. Who can pass up a 65,000 sq. ft. rendition of the colonel
3. This one is just downright odd...not sure I believe this one but makes for an interesting picture...
4. Last one is my favorite just because it involves a little bit of mystery - which the article figures out for you...

and there you have it...not much about anything - Rob style.

Jr. and Danica

The kiddo's loved their new electric cars. The blizzard is getting to be a pretty good driver after a little practice with Great Granpa's car. Kade is still not quite sure about the whole steering thing. We did keep trying after we got back to Fort Fun but with all the snow he pretty much drove from snowbank to snowbank crashing. Good clean kiddo fun! Here are some of the highlights from that first day with the cars:

Since Dear Abby did not cover this one...

The other day I ran into this situation at work and to be honest I was laughing my arse off about it for about a week. Since I really did not know the appropriate action to take...I naturally turned to "The Google" for the answer. I searched for "What do you do if you knew that the person in the stall next to you just dropped a load before checking to see that their TP was all gone?". I got 26K hits but no real answers...although I did find an interesting article at poopreport.com regarding public pooping responsibilities. So naturally I turn to all of you...let me know what you would have done...and if it is something else let me know via comment...but please keep it "clean" ;-) as family does read this!

If you knew that the person in the stall next to you just dropped a load before checking to see that their TP was all gone...would you:
	Hurry and get the hell outta there before they ask you for some TP
	Proactively ask them if they need some TP
	Lift your feet and pretend like you are not there
	Quietly roll down your TP so a little is showing below the stall divider...a help yourself kind of approach
	Slap yourself for moving to the next stall when you noticed the shortage in the first place
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Privacy Policy

So apparently I need to post a privacy policy to be in compliance with some of the "free" services which I am using to run this blog. As such here is mine:
(posted with permission from Me, CherkyB since it is basically a copy)

We here at Cavagnaro Blogger value the privacy of our readers. No personally-identifiable information is collected from our readers. We do, however, collect some non-personally-identifiable information through the use of a cookie. Examples of such information are operating system, name of internet service provider, and browser version. This data is collected so that we at Cavagnaro Blogger can better tailor our offerings to the readership.

No personally-identifiable information is ever collected, nor is any personally-identifiable information ever associated with any information that is collected. The information that is collected is never sold to or shared with any third party. It for the sole use of the staff of Cavagnaro Blogger

Thank you,
Rob

Have it your way, Mr. Fallon

Those of you who know me, know that whenever I feel particularly disgruntled about something, I always say "They are going to get an email (or letter) about that". Many people over the years have asked me "what the heck do you actually say in those letters". Well , tonight I spent the better part of an hour writing my complaint letter for our recent experience at the Burger King in Las Vegas, NM. After writing the letter, I also remembered that a few blogs ago I stated that I would fill you all in on what happened at the King. So I guess I can kill two birds with one stone here. It is a little long, but I figure that the President of any major corporation should have a few minutes for me ;-) . As such, here is the letter which I am sending to Burger King (just as soon as the postal service decides to re-open).

Mr. Chuck Fallon
President, North America Operations
5505 Blue Lagoon Drive
Miami, FL 33126

January 2, 2007

Mr. Fallon,

I am writing in regards to a recent visit my family made to your Burger King establishment located in Las Vegas, NM. I am not writing you (the President of N.A. Operations) regarding a simple matter of poor service or food preparation. In this particular case, I feel compelled to raise a larger issue regarding the corporate culture/framework upon which you operate your business.

On December 23, 2006 my family and I visited your restaurant located in Las Vegas, NM for dinner (roughly 6 pm). My 3 year old son and I approached the counter and ordered a Whopper combo with cheese and a cheeseburger kid meal with no mustard. Twenty minutes later I received one Whopper combo with no cheese and one cheeseburger kid meal with mustard. When I approached the counter employee and explained the situation they promptly replied with the following: “We are really sorry for the mix-up, but you must understand that it is really hard for us now – you know, dinner time and all”. Obviously I would not expect the official position of Burger King to be “Visit us at off hours if you would ‘Like it your way’” so I was able to simply ignore this statement. I was not very happy when I received my “new” Whopper. What I received was the same Whopper I had given them before with a piece of cheese added and apparently it had been put into a steamer as the bun was soggy and the cheese was as hot as molten lava (no, I will not be suing as it was only my mouth which was burnt and I do not believe in that kind of stuff).

While the service and food quality was well below average, the most troubling aspect of my visit was what occurred in the midst of the aforementioned events. An exchange between the manager on duty and a worker in the back (I will call him Mr. B.) is why I am directly writing you today. The exchange was over a miscommunication between the two individuals. Mr. B. apparently made someone else’s order incorrectly and the manager indicated that it was Mr. B’s fault. Mr. B. immediately retorted that “it was his f*ck-up”. The manager then replied that it was “put in correctly and that it was his fault”. This drew a second retort from Mr. B. which again clearly stated that “it was his f*ck-up”. Unfortunately I witnessed this exchange while holding my 3 year old son in my arms. I immediately interrupted and asked “who is the manager on duty”. The man whom I suspected was the manager informed me that he was in fact the manager. I immediately conveyed to the manager that I found it tremendously improper that the employee in the back had just used the F-word twice in front of customers (especially my son). Furthermore I added that I expected him to explain to the individual that this is not proper behavior and to ensure that this does not occur in the future. To his credit he did take the employee to the back of the store and talk to the individual but I can not confirm what in fact was stated.

To be honest Mr. Fallon, while I am disappointed by the behavior of Mr. B. I am regrettably not surprised. I suspect he was making next to minimum wage with little tutoring on the corporate policies/guidelines of Burger King operations. Conversely, I am absolutely taken aback by the fact that a uniformed manager would engage in such a conversation and not immediately recognize/address such an egregious violation of normal business conduct standards. I would sincerely hope that this incident in no way reflects the official framework upon which Burger King bases their corporate service standards.

I can unequivocally describe my recent experience with your company as “NOT having it my way”.

Sincerely,
Mr. Robert Cavagnaro

And there you have it...our wonderful dining experience at the King!!! I fully expect to get a gift certificate good for exactly one free steamed w/ molten cheese Whopper in return for all my efforts...but somehow I don't care...it just feels good to get it off my chest!

Now...let see...what about all that lovin' we got from Hertz...yup...I do believe that one will get a Rob letter too......I know that Jen will make time for me to write that one!