What the Dell?

Recently, I purchased a digital camera online (so expect some new pictures sometime in the future). Anyway, to go with the camera, I decided to get a 512 MB SD memory card. I did some shopping around and found Dell had a good price ($26 after taxes and shipping). So, I went ahead and placed the order. When I placed the order, it was 9:30 PM. When I came home from work the NEXT DAY, the card was already here. How is that possible? I mean, they didn’t even waste one day processing the order. Now I’m just waiting for the camera to arrive (should be here Tuesday).

My Name is Mikey

As you may or may not know, My Name is Earl is one of the best shows on TV. For the uninitiated, the show is about a man how has done a bunch of bad things and his life as pretty much stunk. That all changes one day when he hears Carson Daly talk about karma, “if you do good things, good things will happen to you.” From that point on, Earl makes a list of all the bad things he has done and sets out to make things right.

Recently, we went to Universal Studios. After waiting in line to enter through what seemed to be the slowest turnstile, I was pulled aside to answer a few questions on a survey. So, I went ahead and did it, and there were a ton of questions. I mean this thing was like one of those asinine surveys you see in the bulletin section of Myspace. So, after about 5-10 minutes, the survey finally ends.

At this point, meet up with my parents and wife who had been waiting for me. Upon reaching them, I start getting berated about taking the survey. Comments like, “Why didnt you tell him to go fly a kite. Youre on vacation.” And, “You should have told him that your opinion is money. If they want it, itll cost them.”

My response was the Earl quote, “If you do good things, good things will happen to you. That Carson Daly is one smart guy.”

At they point we all laughed it off and went into the Shrek 4D ride.

The crazy thing about this was, there was absolutely no line for Shrek. We walked right on to the ride. Good start to the day.

After the ride, we decided to get onto the Revenge of the Mummy ride. The line is a little long, but not as bad as we had expected. So, we wonder through the line. Taking in the entire cool Egyptian tomb inspired imagery. After a while, we are about the second or third group in line. At this point, the ride shuts down. There goes the whole karma concept, right?

Nah man, after the wait, the ride begins operating again and we get lined up in the second row of the four-row cart. Not bad, but not front row. Then the gates open to let us onto the ride. At this point I look at a couple that had been let on the ride from the other side. I look at the guy and say in a nonchalant manner, Hey, its Brendan Fraser.

Sure enough, Brendan “O’Connell” Fraser is sitting in the row right in front of us. This is so badass. So, we ride the ride and get the running commentary from the man himself.

After the ride, we find out that they are taping an episode of the “Ellen Degeneres Show” and we are going to be on it. We sign the release and exit the ride.

Now, we are all abuzz with chatter and excitement. Looks like this karma thing really works!

But wait, theres more.

As we are walking to get onto the next ride (Back to the Future), we are stopped by a couple of park employees.

What do these guys want? More surveys?

Well, it turns out that they are looking for people to review a pilot for a television show that is coming out on the Sci-Fi channel. Sounds good, but heres the sealer. They are going to pay each person in the group $30 for watching the show.

So, we watch the hour-long episode of “The Dresden Files” and answer the required questions. As we finish, we each get three ten-dollar bills and exit.

Lets break this down. I took the time to answer a survey. We dont have to wait in line for Shrek. We ride the Revenge of the Mummy with Brendan Fraser. We get paid $30 to watch an hour of TV. The tickets into the park cost $50. So, in essence, we paid $20 to do all of thatand that was before noon!

In conclusion, I highly recommend following the teachings of Carson Daly and try and do as many good things as possible.

Im just trying to be a better man. My name is Mikey.