In which Bellwether Meltdown deals with an unruly Amazon marketplace seller

Prologue: I ordered Mr. Show season 4 from an amazon marketplace seller last week. It was $9 listed as new and sealed. It arrived yesterday. It was not sealed, and there were fingerprints on the discs. It was in good enough condition, so I'm really not about to spend a week or more playing etag with amazon and a seller to correct this, but it's still exceedingly shitty, so I left the seller a one star feedback.

Today I received this email:


-------------- Begin seller message ---------------------

I was sorry to read the feedback you left regarding this order. Amazon strongly encourages buyers to contact seller prior to leaving negative feedback so we may have a chance to address the issue. I apologize for the error.... I sell both new and used items. Your order may have been accidentally switched with another. If you had contacted me, I would have tried to remedy the situation. Please consider removing feedback and contacting seller directly.

-------------- End seller message ------------------------

And this is my response:

In what world governed by any sort of logic is it incumbent upon the buyer to clean up for the sellers mistakes?

Upon shipping you ostensibly had three things in front of you: a listing, a printed packing slip corresponding to said listing, and an item. If you cross check the item with either the listing or the packing slip before you ship it, you would have noticed that the condition of the item in your hands did not match the listing of the item.

Now there's two possible scenarios that could have played out

A) You didn't do this.

If this is the case, you're either lazy or just bad at your job, so kiss my ass for implying that I should reconsider my bad rating

or, far more likely

B) You intentionally listed it wrong, OR you DID check the two and rather than contact me, you thought, "eh, it's $9, he's cheap, he probably won't raise a stink about it, and if he does, I can mark it new again, resell it, and I'm only out my shipping"

Well guess what, I am pretty cheap, but not so cheap to the point that I'm going to spend several days playing email tag, waiting for a return label, driving to ship it back, then waiting for some sort of resolution that may or may not result in me getting my DVDs. Since I'm a miserable, vindictive prick I figure the one star rating is far more frustrating to you than the loss of the $9 which you would have in all likelihood recouped by reselling it with a slightly higher price to compensate for the lost shipping revenue.

I wouldn't even be responding to this email if not for the fact that the implication that I was in any way at fault was incredibly infuriating and frustrating and I find e-browbeating you to be mildly cathartic.

-Your humble servant, Bellwether Meltdown, Knight of the British Empire



Yeah I'm an asshole, the question is, how big of an asshole am I?

2009 Chicago Bears NFL Draft

Okay, okay, I suck at predicting when I'll actually write blogs. For that I apologize. Now for what I told you I'd deliver. As I've already said, I think this draft was a very good one for the Bears. Props to Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith and the rest of the coaches and scouts. Before I get into the 2009 results, lets take a quick look at last years draft to put everything in perspective.

(All pictures are links to videos)


#14 Chris Willaims - OT - Vanderbilt

Chris Willams has really yet to accomplish anything in the NFL. He will likely start off the season starting at right tackle with the option of moving to left tackle when Orlando Pace has his "I'm too old to play an entire season of football" injury if something completely unforeseen happens to Orlando Pace.

#44 Matt Forte - RB - Tulane

Forte was a beast last year. He was pretty much everything the Bears could have wanted in a running back. Had the second most rushing yards among rookies and led the team in receptions. A lot was asked of Matt Forte last year, and he came into town and responded.




#70 Earl Bennett - WR - Vanderbilt

The jury is still out on Bennett, having barely played last season. He is slotted to be the Bears' third receiver going into training camp. It'll be interesting to see how his friendship with Jay Cutler will affect his performance this season.





#90 Marcus Harrison - DT - Arkansas

Mainly backed up Tommie Harris last season, but played well when he was out there. I still think this guy has a lot of talent that we haven't seen yet. With the addition of Rod Marinelli as the defensive line coach, there will be more rotation with the defensive line to keep them fresh and hungry. I'm sure we'll find out more about this kid next season.



#120 Craig Steltz - SS - LSU

Craig Steltz kinda sucks. I was way off on this guy. His lack of speed is a big problem, and I don't think he possesses the instincts to play his position.




#142 Zack Bowman - CB - Nebraska

I said after last year's draft that when healthy, Zack Bowman is a great addition to any team. That's pretty much how its played out thus far in the NFL for this kid. He was great in one game last season, and then he suffered an injury in that game. Rumors have been surfacing of late that the Bears were thinking of moving Bowman to free safety. We really won't know more about him until preseason football starts.





#158 Kellen Davis - TE/DE - Michigan State

Kellen Davis was out there last year mainly on running downs and on special teams. He will continue to serve as the Bears' blocking tight end and also as their contingency plan as they stockpile good tight ends for when they become currency in a post apocalyptic world.





#208 Ervin Baldwin - DE - Michigan State

I've got nothing to tell you about him. I think he's still on the team though, so that's good, right?

#222 Chester Adams - OG/OT - Georgia

He's on the practice squad. Maybe.

#243 Joey LaRocque - LB - Oregon State

He played some special teams last year, didn't really contribute all that much.

#247 Kirk Barton - OT - Ohio State

Bad at football. I don't think he's in the NFL anymore.

#248 Marcus Monk - WR - Arkansas

Marcus Monk didn't completely rehab from previous injuries and emerged as a completely different receiver - a slower, less physical one. He was cut by the Bears before the season started. He might be on the Giants practice squad going into next season.


Okay, onto this years draft.

Round 3

#4(68) Jarron Gilbert, DT/DE, San Jose St

Boy do the Bears like this guy. He's a quick, fit defensive lineman, exactly what Lovie Smith wants. He had 41 tackles for loss and 21.5 sacks in his college career. He'll most likely play defensive tackle, however he could play defensive end in a jam.
The reason he fell so far is because most NFL teams think he lacks the size to play at this level. He's 6'6 and a slim 280, so sometimes he gets too high on rushes and loses his leverage.


#35(99) Juaquin Iglesias, WR, Oklahoma

He is a big, physical wide receiver with good hands (6'0, 204). The Bears like that he's not afraid to go across the middle and that he will also will fight for an extra yard or five. However, he is not a down field threat what-so-ever. He will look nice as a slot receiver this year and is a good compliment to Hester. I have no idea who the second, third and fourth receivers will be this year. Probably some combination of Earl Bennett, Rashid Davis, Brandon Rideau and/or Iglesias. I would not be surprised if he ends up being the number two receiver at some point this season.


Round 4
#5(105) Henry Melton, DE, Texas

I'm a little befuddled on this one. I guess the Bears drafted him to come in and challenge Mark Anderson for the 3rd and long DE. (Beltin') Herny Melton started his career as a running back at Texas and only played two seasons at defensive end. He's a good pass rusher, but he has more touchdowns than sacks in his college career.





#19(119) D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt

And its official, the Bears still have the most players from Vanderbilt (Hillenmeyer, Bennett, Williams and JAY CUTLER!! WOOOO.... sorry). This being said, I had DJ Moore as the third or fourth best corner back in this years draft. He's a little too slow and is kinda too small to be a big time corner back, but he does play bigger than his size and his lack of speed won't really be a factor in the Bears defense. If everything clicks for this kid, he could become a starter right away, as the Bears aren't completely sold on Corey Graham. He will most likely become the fourth corner back coming out of training camp, leap-frogging Trumaine McBride.

Round 5
#4(140) Johnny Knox, WR, Ab Christian

OH MY GOD this guy is fast. OH MY GOD this guy is small (5'11, 180). If he has as good of hands as everyone is saying, he'll compete for a role on the offense. He's going to have to contribute on special teams, either as a returner or on kick off/punt team. The way the wide receiver position looks on this team (bad) he'll have plenty of opportunities to show that his quickness and hands are up to NFL standards. Can you say grindy?


#18(154) Marcus Freeman, OLB, Ohio St

Marcus Freeman will contribute to this team. He'll back up Briggs enabling Jamar Williams to compete with Nick Roach and Hunter Hillenmeyer for the strong side linebacker position. Marcus Freeman can play all three linebacker positions, and will be a big addition to kick and punt coverage teams. I've read a lot of reports saying that Marcus Freeman was to James Laurinaitis as Lance Briggs is to Brian Urlacher, so take that for what its worth. He lacks NFL quickness, but has a decent football IQ. That being said, he was a steal in the fifth round.

Round 6
#17(190) Al Afalava, S, Oregon St
The Bears needed a free safety.... so they took a strong safety! There's the Jerry Angelo I remember! He wasn't invited to the combine, so he must have impressed the coaching staff during a private workout. He has decent speed, and has decent tackling skills. Probably better than Craig Steltz, no promises though.

Round 7
#37(246) Lance Louis, OG/TE, SDSU
He's way too big to play tight end in the NFL (6'2, 303) but the Bears originally said they wouldn't rule out moving him to tight end. However they did assign him number 60, making him a guard. He's pretty quick, and decently sized. Having been picked in the seventh round, I'm assuming he would need a lot of work in order for him to not start this season on the practice squad, but he could be a cheap backup and never underestimate the Bears cheap-ness.

#42(251) Derek Kinder, WR, Pittsburgh
This is almost the same as last year's last pick in the draft for the Bears, Marcus Monk. Monk suffered a big injury, hindering his production in college - Derek Kinder torn his ACL his junior year. Monk was overshadowed by a run-first offense with running back Darrin McFaddin - Kinder had the same problem last season with running back LeSean McCoy. So if you're the Bears here, why not roll the dice. Maybe he'll come in and compete, if not the Bears are no better or worse.


And now we wait four months for football start. In the meantime we have Bulls and Hawks postseason to watch, and of course there is always baseball. Update on those baseball teams to come in the next week or so.