Mon, 28 Jan 2008

Mail Bag

I really, really, really hate mail bags.

I don't pretend like I have a big blog, and I don't want to lead anyone to believe I even get any mail. But recently I got a few pieces of mail. I get so few that I will just use every single one of them for the mail bag.

I stole the image of this mail bag from google images, it was on the first page, and it kind of looks like a bag of mail because it says "Hong Kong Post" on it. China really doesn't follow any intellectual property laws, so I think i am on safe legal ground. You can send me an email if you object.

First, comes an email from HJ C.:

http://seattlewireless.net/~casey/2006/02/27#feb272006

The over-usage of the question mark probably has more to do with some intern's inability to use copy-paste correctly than knowledge of proper punctuation usage. It seems like where the ? mark appears there should be a bullet point, and someone probably copied it directly from a Word doc to a format that doesn't support non-readable characters, at which point it just shows up as a question mark.

At first, I thought he was complaining about one of my blog posts, and that I was the intern. But I really should have read my blog post which pokes fun at question marks.

Now we can all laugh at Sprint or the software company that made "America's Best Pix" for using non-readable characters! Stupid interns using Microsoft Word.

Another email, which I am quite certain is a flame, came in from Joe S in regards to my creative writing piece / travel blog post about a 416 mile dirt road to nowhere in Alaska. Joe S. writes:

From: Joe S.
Subject: Your June 2005 blog

Casey,

Why do you include incorrect information? It creates skepticism in the readers mind.

The Yukon River Bridge is not rotten wood its not even wood.

See the picture:

[Image of the Yukon River bridge built of concrete and steel -casey]
[Oh yeah, that image is mine ass, kthnxbye -casey]

Thats concrete and steel - $30 million worth.

I'm sorry I made fun of your bridge. I am sure it took a lot of effort to make. I will quote my own blog with the alledged defamatory content in question:

After hours of driving, we approched the Yukon River. The river was pretty large and spectacular. The bridge was made out of, you guessed it, rotten wood.

I really could have wrote:

Its a concrete and steel bridge, with a wood deck. Chained up trucks caused all the damage you see in the pictures, and the bridge is not rotten.

But now my 4 readers are bored to death. Who really wants to read a story about a safe, steel bridge i crossed? I think ill keep it as is. Better to tell an exciting lie and than a boring truth when you write a blog.

But do you really want to know why I lied? I have a confession to make. I was paid money to post that blog. $7800 to be exact.

It all started when I received this letter in the mail from the Bush Trucker Assocation of Alaska:

How could I pass that up? Free trip to Alaska to visit family AND $7800 for a lousy road trip?

I am really quite embarrassed over the situation. But, yes, its true. This blogger was paid off to write that article. I still don't reget it much.

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