6/30/07: Free ringtones and wind of change...

Anyone looking for free ringtones? Try here...set up a username and password and then you can create or download your own ringtones.

http://www.phonezoo.com/Welcome.do

I've downloaded about 20 of them already and will probably continue to download even more.

So my former assistant manager and I had a conversation today. I can't go into it all for legal reasons and such, but lets just say two options were given to him, and he chose the one that was best suited for his future...

I am a little upset it didn't work out better, but with his resignation, I learn that now you never hire your friends. It puts an added pressure on everything that you were trying to accomplish, and more than anything else, you never know what you are going to get in terms of the employee, comparably to what you get as a friend.

Certain people make good friends, and yet bad employees...I'm sure people would say that some people make good friends and bad bosses, or the other way around as well, but in my history, you can become friends with people that work for you, but mostly, you can't bring your friends into your workplace. Someone always takes advantage of someone else, and even if they are attempting to NOT create a dissention, there's still one that forms.

I am harder on keyholders, because they hold a much larger amount of responsibility than a non-keyholder They are guaranteed a specific amount of hours, which means they handle a majority of the store's transactions, which means, YOU MUST perform. Some of your non-keys are expected to have better tasking abilities, but a key's job is to be 80% sales and 20% operations...worst case scenario, 70/30...a manager's job is supposed to be the other way around, 20% sales/80% ops...my problem was that I was pulling 90% of the stores sales numbers and doing 75% (or more) of the store's operational work.

It was a downer to know that the store was sitting squarely on my shoulders. I still got my numbers, and in some cases, I got everyone else's too. Some people don't understand the strain it puts on one person to have to keep that up, and what happens when they have a bad week, as well? The whole store falters.

Well, anyway, things have been weird recently, but now I know that I get to start moving in a different direction, and if everything's going the way I want, I'll go through christmas without much to worry about...hopefully that's how it goes.

Am I upset by what occurred today? It felt like it was likely to happen. It became more about excuses and less about how to do it, and it became more about victim statements and less about succeeding at all costs.

I'm competitive. You have to be in this field...especially if you want to succeed or survive...or hell, at least get a decent raise. I personally got tired of showing nothing for my personal numbers. It was like, "Oh, I'm the second best selling manager in the district, and my store is third to last..." Not exactly how anyone wants to look at it. It gets tiresome, and it drags even the most positive people down...of which I am not.

I am successful because I don't let things hold me back for long...and yes, I would cut ties to help my store and myself be more successful...sometimes you just have to...and that's just how it goes.

6-27-07: What a difference a couple days make...

Everybody that knows me, knows that I'm a fan of pro-wrestling...and up until Tuesday morning, a fan of Chris Benoit. I still feel the WWE was correct in their 3 hour presentation of ALL THE GOOD he was. No one may ever know what the truth is to the story, whether he couldn't cope with a wife that may have been unfaithful, or a son that was undersized and given Human Growth Hormone to attempt to help him grow, we will just never know.

The man himself went from an Instant Classic to a horror story. I find it difficult to write this, not because it is the most talked about incident on the internet, the news, what have you, but because this was a man that you could tell cared for people, and they cared for him. Now, I bet most of those people want to take back any and all of the kind words that were said about him.

I do not condone his actions, and part of me hopes that there was still some sort of hostage situation, that he had to play along with and made it look like a double murder suicide, because I can not fathom what it would be like to ever consider murder, let alone, murder of a young child.

As a writer, I often times put dark places in my head to be able to reach that level that the readers want to see...hell, I've even killed of 75% of humanity in LANDIS, but one thing I've never been able to wrap my head around is what causes a man to do this.

One can wonder, one can guess, but I still feel a little sorry that now, a man that I've watched on tv as a wholesome husband and father, a champion among champions, is now run through the dirt, and I, along with millions of others, now wonder, "Why?"

I'm not sure I want the answer. It is simple to see that the man went from a Hall of Fame wrestling career, to one of America's darkest moments. All his merchandise has been pulled, all his memories of good now stripped, and no one is to blame but himself.

I bet now, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Mick Foley and others that traveled with him thousands of nights are glad they didn't speak on Chris Benoit at his tribute, and having heard all the lingering stories, you can see why people such as John Cena were hesitant to speak in the first place, but I now feel really bad for Chavo and Dean Malenko, spilling their tears over a man that had many more problems than he ever let anyone know.

--------------------------

As an update, wrapping my head around this actually IS a part of why THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES has not been updated. I've mostly been in shell shock from the events of the past week, as my wife has dealt with two up close and personal tragedies, and now, I'm coming to terms with this. I apologize for my lack of professionalism around this, as it did not affect me personally, but mentally, it pressed against me, and I'll pick up the pieces as we continue TAVA beginning Tuesday, July 3rd.

6-23-07: The week I'm having...

So it all starts off with my computer getting a virus, and now, I'm unable to update the comic, which I feel horrible about and need to figure out another way to make sure I get this thing updated, because I feel like a jerk not getting the pages up and on at the right time...THIS is the reason we missed the Thursday update, folks, no other reason than my computer is now going through its 8th time of Virus Scan trying to get rid of this shite.

So that was all well and good, and then I decide I'm going to update my cell phone, since I'm at the renewal date and I can get a pretty cool phone, right? Well, I did and this is going dandy, but while this may be going well right now, there's something looming...

My dog jumped our fence yesterday. He does it every so often, and NOW my homeowners association has changed the fencing to include a 6ft fence...so now, I'll probably have to consider a larger fence if the dog keeps doing this. Normally, no big deal, but the next door neighbors have a newborn baby, and apparently, Ardy got a little excited and bouncing around seems to have scratched the baby. The police show up at my house and I tell him that the dog is in his cage where he goes when he's bad. The police tell me to just make sure I keep him chained up outside to prevent him from getting out, or to make sure we keep a better eye on him in the back yard. I'm thinking no big deal (since I hadn't heard about the baby getting hurt). Animal Control shows up shortly thereafter, telling me that the baby had been struck, and had scratches (and has now gone to the doctor to get looked at) due to anything happening to a baby and the possible severity of it. I had no idea that this occurred, and feel horrible. There's no other way to look at it. I thought just with the fact that the police had shown up, that if anything like him getting out again happened, I may have to put a dog down, now its just a situation where we have to think of the livelihood of the neighbors. Ardy is NOT a violent dog. Even when he plays, he's not the type that nips or bites at your hands. He's just an excitable dog...bigger than he thinks he is.

I go to a restaurant called the FOX AND THE HOUND last night because a buddy of mine, Carlos (another Gamestop Manager) is going to be judging a bikini contest and just figures it'd be cool to go. He starts telling me about this hot Asian girl that is in the contest, and he's saying things like, "well, she's got my vote..." to which I begin thinking for some ungodly reason, "Y'know, I bet I know who it is..." Low and behold, its our old bar-buddy, Jackie, sitting there on the stage and waving at me. After the ladies do there struts in the bikinis, and while the judges are tabulating their results, somehow, I get entered into a WING EATING CONTEST... not most in a timeframe, but fastest wing eater of a basket of wings. Guess who won...that's right, the R O B won out...funny how my gluttony seemed to help for once. Jackie ended up winning the bikini contest, but I don't know if her $250 prize is as good as my "Party for 10-20 people for appetizers and pizza" prize that I won, but who knows.

Sometimes during the week, my wife lost an aunt. No, she didn't just disappear, she passed away. Yeah, perfect time to be funny, I know. Anyway, she wasn't as upset by it then, but then a person that was a musician that would come and play at her bar passed away, as well, and the crazy thing about it was that his car keys were still at her bar, since someone had gotten him a cab home. He apparently died from a massive heart attack, and I don't think I ever met the guy, but she's pretty shaken up by it.

Its been one of them weeks. I've started making contingency plans about how to fix my store at work, and all it'll require is a signoff from my boss, Kevin, with whom I expect to have a conversation about what to do on Monday. You know, my biggest rule at work, and the first thing I let every new hire know is simple..."I will not lose my job for you." And the second thing I say is, "I do not expect you to lose your job for me." I respect them enough right after hiring to let them know that I don't WANT them to take a bullet for it, because with my family at home, I don't think I'd be taking one for them.

Our company has a KEY CARD that we give every employee which gives our company stances. The main thing about this that I take from it is this..."NO VICTIMS" You sleep in the bed you make. You don't perform, YOU are responsible...not the customer that says NO, but the employee that doesn't make them want to say YES. I think I finally figured out where your mindset needs to be to be successful in sales...John Michael and Kristian at AT&T would always say, "It doesn't matter if you take those customers, because I'm gonna get mine..." They were simply stating the fact of, "You are the new guy...you want to come in and take everything, but the truth is, I'll still hit my quota, and laugh at you when you don't hit yours." (without ever saying that, because they both helped me understand HOW to get the move on).

I GET MINE. In my second bad week of this month, I still hit my numbers. Anyone who says "I can't." simply isn't trying hard enough. I had three employees bust their butts in numbers this week, and the store is still having a rough week because of the amount of transactions done by a select few. The difference between me and others is that I say, "I'm gonna get mine..." and they say, "Well, why am I not getting any?" I look past the past, and move on. I tell myself that I WILL succeed and therefore put myself in the frame of mind to do so. Those who do not, DON'T. Its that simple. You must think you ARE going to succeed to be successful. You can't think, "Why haven't I" when you simply need to begin thinking, I most definitely WILL.

Those who don't get it, haven't tapped into it. That's why some people who can't move faster than ketchup coming out of a jar can still be better sales people than that person with a quick wit and sharp tongue.

Maybe I'm off here, but all I can ask is...if I am wrong, why am I successful as a salesperson everywhere I've gone? And no, I don't hound customers, I simply make them see the benefit in doing it. Sometimes its because they are loyal to the store. Sometimes its because we are loyal to them for doing it. Sometimes its just something that makes sense. It isn't always the same answer, and sometimes, its multiples of them. No two people are alike, but if you keep thinking, "I don't get why I can't get there..." instead of, "Oh, I'm gonna get there..." you are just missing it, and its passing you by.

6/19/07: Man how long has it been?

So I sit here, on my day off and I'm watching STAR WARS: EPISODE 3 in HD because I have nothing else to do, and I think to myself..."I haven't blogged in a while." And then if hits me. Yesterday, I received a great gift from JK, three original art pieces of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES. These are beautiful pieces, and two have been seen already (as I've colored both and made t-shirts of both). The third piece, however, is completely new to me, and I'll hope to have a copy scanned soon.

I'm really excited about where the series is going, and I've written probably the first 10 or so pages of the next run, where we get introduced to Ardy's new secretary, who'll probably make appearances on the next run of TAVA advertisements, since it'll probably help hits.

Last night, the wife and I went to see Mr. Brooks, since I had heard good things about it. It was decent, and I liked looking at Costner as a man with schizophrenia, as well as constantly talking to himself through another character that only he could see named Marshall. The kicker of the film was Dane Cook and his appearance as a character that was lovably creepy, in that, he was a sick twisted watcher, and yet, Costner was trying to "teach him to kill" so that later, Cook may take his life. Interesting plot, though I was underwhelmed by Demi Moore in the role she played as a police detective.

So I ordered a new phone from Verizon. The Motorola KRZR. I'll probably receive it tomorrow, since I ordered it from them since they wouldn't let me buy it from Best Buy. From what I have read about it, it seems to be one of the better tested models of phone, and it includes all the features of my current phone. I've decided I may try the ESPN MVP service that Verizon now offers, if it is available for that phone model.

I need to letter a couple more pages of TAVA, and JK should be getting ahead in where we are in the development of it, so hopefully that is the case...

And on a final note of the day...April, I haven't forgotten the prize owed to you, but I'm afraid I lost the address and I'll attempt to send it by Thursday.

6-13-07: Marvel upsets with "BIGGEST PAGE OF THE YEAR"

So I read WORLD WAR HULK #1...good book. lots of interesting points, counterpoints, and perspectives...all that and Tony Stark offers a PARDON to any unregistered hero that helps them with the evacuation...BOOM, Rob hit the big news, right? Nope.

Turns out the big deal is a "HUGE" spoiler, that isn't all that huge.

Don't read any further if you don't want to know...









Jessica Jones must be a Skrull...why? Because here baby has eyes that are tinted green. That's what Marvel wants to shell off to you. That the Skrulls have taken a huge placement in the Marvel universe, and the first one found was none other than Elektra.

Okay, so all I have to ask is this...if you are going to state that this is the LARGEST page to hit this year, WHY have it come out on the SAME DAY AS YOUR BIG EVENTS FIRST ISSUE?!

Okay...so there you have it...I was right, and I was wrong...all at the same time. I am, however, waiting for the great SWERVE where Tony Stark gets amnesia and forgets EVER offering a pardon. That'd be cool.

6-12-07: Marvel lets the cat out of the bag early?

In what could be the most important blog entry I make to date, I've been saying it all along...

PETER PARKER JOINS TONY STARK AGAIN IN NEW AVENGERS #31.

I know, you are going, "Why in the blue hell would he do that?" And my only answer is, "It's the only way that Peter Parker can be a likable character again." And this little tidbit...

http://www.newsarama.com/marvelnew/June07/previews/WWHULK001_int0030.jpg

On this preview page from Newsarama, Marvel has let the ball drop again. Peter Parker is back to calling Tony Stark "Boss" and couple that with the fact that he's seen WITH the MIGHTY AVENGERS (plus Luke Cage of all people), it leads one to believe that Peter Parker has RE-signed the Registration act as a way to attempt to get his life back in order.

If you were on the run, your aunt was about to die, and your wife who was a supermodel wasn't allowed to work, all because you were a fugitive, don't you think you'd do whatever you could to start getting back on the right path?

Apparently NEW AVENGERS #31 AND WORLD WAR HULK #1 come out of the same day, so technically, NEW AVENGERS #31 could have some other information in it, but there's no denying that Peter Parker is standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF IRON MAN and NOT being arrested here...

Now how will it all play out?

6-10-07: Just watching lots of different stuff, today...

www.ardyvanstarr.com <--The Official homepage for THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, Updates Every Tuesday and Thursday from Pots and Pans Ink and Junior Bruce Productions.

In case anyone games and wants to add me as a friend, here are how you can get in touch with me...

XBOX LIVE ID: RPotchak
Playstation Online ID: Potsy


So I took a day off today. It was weird, I'd only worked two days since vacation, and yet felt exhausted, like I'd been running on all cylinders for weeks. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that during my trip, I probably only slept for about 7 hours the entire four days, which is alright with me, since I had a blast, but after a while the body just doesn't want to hold up, and today was one of those recharge your batteries kinda days.

Speaking of cylinders and batteries, tonight was the first time I watched PIXAR'S CARS from Disney. Now, I'll admit, it wasn't a perfect film, but it was a real cute movie. Owen Wilson and Paul Newman were great in their roles, not to mention when watching it in High Definition, you look at it and just get amazed by things like the water effects. I really enjoyed it, as it had humor and drama, and of course, that lovable "Cosby Show Ending" that every Pixar film seems to. I can TOTALLY understand why this film seems to connect with 2-5 year old boys better than most, since my nephew Drew is constantly saying, "Cars, cars, cars..." Which gets mixed in with some jibberish that apparently my sister, can understand without hesitation, but me? I feel like I'd need about 6 drinks in an hour to understand that much, heh.

I also watched 5 episodes of THE TUDORS, the story of Henry VIII and his kingship and courtship of Anne Bouline. I'm sure I spelled her name wrong, but if you have NOT watched this show, YOU NEED TO. I'm amazed at how well they keep to history, while still making it highly entertaining. It does seem a little odd that every time the king plays a sport, he loses, and yet maintains his court and leadership. A pompous ass, but yet still overly commanding, this first season has to do with his constant change in stance with whether or not he wants a treaty with Spain or France, and his introduction to Anne. It is an amazing array, and the only thing I would fix for the second season is brightening the lighting in the show. Sure, I understand that they used candle-light, but you are utilizing High Definition, so brighten it up some. All in all, though, check it out if you haven't.

On the comic end of things, we're still in search of an artist for DEAD SONJA VS. THE ARMY OF DARKNUTS, and nothing really seems to be materializing here. We would like someone kind of cartoony or maybe even manga-y, but I just want it to get made. I may revisit trying to get AP Furtado to participate, but it was just the largest stroke of luck that he found the time to do the first one, and I'd hate to have him think that I don't trust that he's too busy with his own projects, which I know he is (check out apfurtado.com when you get a chance).

I've decided when I find some time that I really need to hamper down and knock out THIEF. Eric was telling me that on his art page, that the hits for those pages EASILY are three times higher than any other project he's worked on, and that's because we both truly see the project as a first, and it really needs to see a quality end that neither of us have hit previously. Heck, even before that story is finished, I'm already being courted for a webcomic site and publishing, and we haven't got the script done yet (Though Eric is at least 2 full comics into the art, if I remember correctly).

We're about to the point in THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES where we will be introducing a new character to the story, but I'm not going to say more about it, other than you'll see a lot of him...or her...hehehe.

Finally, I'm considering where to take LANDIS next. I am actually considering finding a model, taking photos and then drawing from the photo reference. This would be a long, painstaking process, but I could only figure that the final product would be amazing...but I'd also have to figure out who to use as a model, and then find the time to snap a thousand photos to use...not to mention, I'm already thinking if I did that, I'd want to do it very Sin City -ish with the lighting, high contrast black and white. Very Specific light sourcing...which means finding a place to take those kinds of photos, as well...eh, who knows, wishful thinking right now.

Thanks to all the kind comments for the HULK piece, folks, as much as I like full color, I simply love that art style that much more.

6/8/07: Back from Vacation...too bad its over...

www.ardyvanstarr.com <--The Official Home of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, Updated Tuesday and Thursday!

Wow, can you believe its been 4 days since I left? Wow...man, I hate that. it like flew by, which is funny because at one point during the trip, my wife, Christy said to me, "Don't you hate it when days just drag on?" And I said, "Fuck no...vacation SHOULD drag on...its all those work days that need to fly by..."

We saw a lot of funny things while we were gone, but overall, it was your regular vacation... lots of drinking, gambling, forgetting where the room is, and so forth. I really enjoyed my time away from here, but really wish I had handled the money a little better...

I was playing 3 card poker on the last night with $200. I got it up to anywhere between $500 - $600, and that would have left us decent for the week, but I was so drunk during the time that A) I never counted my chips and B) when the streak of hotness ended, I didn't see it until the chips were gone.

It was too bad, as well, because I really had fun, but the $200 was the last of my gambling money for this trip, and when I say the last of the gamble money, I mean THE LAST of it.

This was the first trip where I really attempted to play table games, and when I head back up at the end of next month, I'm going to play the tables a little harder, since there are some games I really want to try out (Texas Hold'm Table, and Let It Ride, both of which on slower nights you can play for about $5 hands). I enjoyed my time, and had my winning moments, and the wife and I DID come back with some money, and lots of candy, heh.

I missed everyone here, but unlike my wife, who'll probably blog the entire trip out in detail (and I may link everyone to it), I just didn't have a lot to say about it.

6-2-07: Hulk

So I got bored and drew this...its an attempt in the very savagery that is the Hulk.

I was playing with some tools I had used before, I pulled some green drawing paper, a white out pen (they now make retractable ones), a Pilot G2 black ink 1omm tip, and a green thick and thin sharpie, oh, and don't forget the pencil).

I got the whole thing done in pencil, inked it with the G2, and then added a third dimension to it using the whiteout. That's when I got the crazy idea to push it a bit and grabbed the green sharpie. I really like this piece...

MY ONE disappointment is that I couldn't get my scanner to grab the image, so this is a photo file from my 6mp digital camera. So if you can't see how truly intricate it is, I apologize, but otherwise, I'm really happy with this, since it take up most of my 11X17 green paper.

What's everyone else think?

6/2/07: Two days til vacation and I wanna blog...

www.ardyvanstarr.com <--The Official Comic Homepage of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES (By Rob Potchak and JK Radtke)

http://forums.keenspot.com/viewforum.php?f=100 <--The Official FORUM of THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES, and now the latest place I'll be posting this blog!

Alright, so I've now decided that I'll be posting this blog on the Keenspot Forum for LANDIS and THE ARDY VANSTARR ADVENTURES...why? Why the hell not? I am the moderator for the blog, so why not give my opinions and such in yet another forum...I mean, shit, I'm only posting it four places now, right? That's still less sites than are posting fake Paris Hilton naked videos (and some real ones, too...that girl doesn't seem to mind showing them little titties to anyone).

Alright, enough with being a guy, now its time to write...

So I know this person, calling them a friend would be a kick to the nuts for all my real friends (or a bite of the ass for the female ones), who seems to have a really high personal opinion of themselves, even though its so obvious this has only been inflated by his mother grabbing his cheek and telling him he's a handsome little man. My question is this...where in the blue hell do these people seem to think this from? I mean, we all know someone like this person, and hell, some of you have even met the one I'm talking about, and I don't want to sour him at all, so I'll call him Rayner. Anyone who can catch the comic reference, buy yourselves a cookie!

So I got into a conversation with him one time, and it went something like this. "So, Kevin and I were having this conversation, and we agree with Hugh Laurie from HOUSE when he said, '5's date 5's, 7's date 7's, and so forth...' The only obstruction to the rule is typically Money." (At least, that's when you don't have the sparkling cider based personality that I've got)... So anyway, he actually says, "Whoa, buddy...don't go lumping me in with you here..." To which I just look at him and state, "You shit, I've got a hot wife, so what does that tell you?"

He was left for a second without a response, and then stated, "Yeah, we're still not sure what you gave her to keep her around that long..." And then was like, "But dude, I'm a hot guy. I'm a sexy man..."

I looked back, with Dane Cook comments going through my scatterbrain and what came out was none to pleasing to anyone's ego..."Just because your mom tells you when you get home, doesn't mean its true..."

Sick Burn. Knockout...I believe I hear the bell.

I have to hand it to the guy, though...thinking he is "hot stuff" enough to have the balls to ask a girl out is not something everyone has. Hell, I didn't have it until like 11th grade, and even after that, when I knew I was out of my league, I had to bring a friend with the first name Crown last name Royal with me to the bash just to muster up the words. But you know what?

I've never claimed to be a sexy man. I'm my own worst critic. "No one can hurt me as long as I make the harshest jokes about me, " right? Truth is, I know I'm not a bad looking guy, but I also know that I have one of those personalities that place me at the front of the line of other 6's and 7's (depends on if I've cleaned myself up, heh).

Anyway, Rayner just makes me laugh sometimes. However, one thing you begin to learn is that you can state your lack of desperation, only to have the truth shine through by your actions.

None of us know the answer as to why Christy loves me...I mean, sure I'm a charmer, and we both love to bust balls, but that's a blog from her unto itself, I'm sure.

So my trip starts on Monday at about 3:30, (sweetheart, don't stick around the bar, get home ASAP, we want to miss Washington traffic if we can), I get to bust out the EZ Pass and the GPS, and go up to Atlantic City, where I hope to be by 1pm at the latest. For the first time, I'm not really in a rush to get up there, I just don't want to fall asleep on the drive. I'll probably be up til about 11:30 the night before anyway, so I'll be on maybe 4 hours of sleep...that's if I do everything I have to before we leave (pack, shower, etc).

I love trips like this, and I hate them at the same time. Its a little rough, since its a 7 hour (+) drive both ways, and I have to be back at work on Friday.

Derek actually didn't get mad at my inspirational statements in our gamebook (our bible), since I only want them to call me with performance numbers, but remember to get EVERYTHING done, because the LAST thing anyone wants when they get back from vacation is when you have to catch up on all the work since you were the only one DOING ANY work before you left.

I think he understands what needs to be done, but I told him I needed his I-9 form already, and he's still yet to give it to me. Geez...do you want to get paid?! Heh.

Anyway, you folks MAY NOT hear from me for a couple days while I'm up there, unless I can figure out how to use my phone as a modem, since the hotels/casino typically charge I think $8 per 24hrs to use the internet, and unfortunately, I'd probably only be posting a blog of how much I've lost, so it isn't worth even more money to do so...don't fret, though, any interesting winnings I see I'll be sure to attempt a snapshot, though no guarantees, since I guess I can technically be tossed out for it...and we don't want that.

Oh, and I got the COOLEST case for my Nintendo DS...its made by NERF and is an official product from Nintendo...it's just awesome...you have got to find one if you have a nintendo DS...