I'm Studying You

The GOODNIGHT NOW!! Tour Primer...

Hey Studyees...

After I made my decision to give this up, I reflected. The great former Buffalo Bills coach, Marv Levy, once said, "Once you've thought about retiring, you already have." Very true in my life. I made my choice because I have no idea where else to go with this space. Anything I do here going forward is, basically, going to be mailing it in. It's gonna be glory days revisited. A lil' cryin' over spilt Dew.

Still reviewing old work. But I'm a set-in-my-ways type of playa. I have a routine I settle into once I've made it home safely from the two-a-days, anywhere between 10 and 11pm. Crash, open the laptop, check my fantasy football on Yahoo (and now that that's over, I head straight to ESPN.com to catch up on anything I might've missed in sports since my last break), Hotmail to catch anything of interest that I didn't feel like replying or veiwing on the Blackberry, WDC, and finally Facebook...and when I get bored with that, I bounce back through all the other sites. All of this in between random catch-up conversation with Jessica, the local news, and late-nite tv comedy. What a life, I know!

When Borders announced they were closing my store, I felt much the same as the Marv Levy quote up there. I tried to tell myself "Hey! You've been through this before with other retailers. Keep your head straight, keep your mind sharp, and maintain your humor the whole time. This will be your building block to getting through this successfully." And I was wrong. Big time. I was good with that for my next couple of shifts, but a variety of things went south...the increased workload got to me. The customers expressing their sadness echoed my sentiments about the area being underserved and the work that we do as opposed to the service they get at bix-box stores (even at Borders superstores). The random stupidity displayed by lots of customers during a hectic holiday season. I closed shop mentally. I cared about getting my check and not about satisfying retail commandment #1: Whatever the customer says, does, or wants, you DO. Yeah, I gave up on that nuisance. The gift of anger is one that keeps giving during stressful times, and it's not healthy. Nor fun. And no, it doesn't fit me and I don't have a receipt. Some of my coworkers haven't helped either, but naming names, much like cheap, nasty customers now (in this scenario), will make little sense, because they'll be gone in a few weeks.

In keeping with the sports analogies, I came across this as I started my night. I've been reading him almost religiously on ESPN.com ever since I came across him, maybe seven or eight years ago. While he is not a template for anything I do, I respect his work and actually emailed him recently about his column, to which I got a personal reply and was thrilled he even saw my email. I'm not talking (in shreiking girly voice) "mega-star replied to my email!!", but rather "Wow, this guy who gets millions of hits and hosts Sportscenter once in awhile actually acknowledged me...cool." I get excited when he has a new column about hockey on ESPN.com, but it's not always about hockey...it's family, it's music, it's life, and so much more.

Why am I telling you this? Simple. Every time I get a good idea about something, someone in the public eye comes along and does it, and does it even better than I ever intended it to be. It gets a little old, having ideas and not having time to fulfill them, only to see that someone in completely unrelated field and place in life has not only done it, but done it better.

Ladies and gentlemen, one of my favorite bloggers of all time, and yes, it's about hockey. If you already haven't, feel free to tune out now...

http://espn.go.com/nhl/notebook/_/page/buccigross_100105/year-no-10-going-strong...

John Buccigross, you are not just an inspiration for all of us hockey lovers who also love to write, or all of the floor hockey star players that were never coordinated enough to skate and shoot a puck at the same time, but to everyone that comes across your blog and finds something in it that resonates with them and keeps them coming back. Congrats on ten years in "the biz"...I appreciate your work and love how you've been able to stay not only relevant, but ever insightful and also adaptive to the changes the last decade has opened the world up to. Thank you...and I'm not saying that as a fan gushing because you took time out of your day to not watch hockey and make your blog great just to email me.

That's it for tonight Stoggers. Finishing up my list of items in the next day or two for no one to vote on or have any input in. I'm starting to hate harder than I thought I ever would, even if my lashing out is my own fault in the first place. GOODNIGHT NOW!!