Week 9. Time flies so fast, I can not keep up! I think I will have to build me a time machine! Anyone have a spare Delorian?
This week I bring to you another good friend to me and to the game. This gentleman is one who helps to maintain the integrety of our community. He is funny, friendly, and fun to play. He has earned the respect of all players new and old. He deals snack-food by day and slings frisbees by night. Yes today I interview the Chipman himself, you all know him as Fritoman.
Today I instead know him as Don from Rolla, Missouri. As a fellow midwesterner originally, we share certain values. One of those values is beer. He brought a case of Busch and a case of Busch Bavarian. What a guy!
I had planned a strip tour for my good buddy, but we decided instead to crack the cases, chalk up the pool cues, slap on the big screen, and watch a little baseball. Cardinals vs the Brewers, how fitting!
Don racked while I looked over my interview material. Don is 37 next month, and is in fact a Frito-Lay route sales rep. He is a family man first and foremost. After which follows chips and hobbies including computer gaming. SMACK!! I broke with authority, balls flying everywhere! Everywhere but in the pockets that is. I left exactly sixteen balls on the table, including the cue ball. I sat down to let in with the questions.
Beastie: Hello Mr. Fritoman. It's good to finally get you into the column. Please tell me what has kept you interested in this silly game. You have played the mediocre mod as long or longer than I have! Does it ever get old?
Fritoman: Well the game does get a little boring sometimes, but that is when the chat comes into play. I sometimes just log on for the conversation, but on those days I just kinda put a slight effort into the game but mostly am just there to BS with people. The game is great in that aspect because when I am done with kissing up to all of my customers all day long, all I want to do is talk to people that I don't have to explain sales or promotions to and rico is the perfect world for that.
Beastie: I have beaten the whole clan thing to death as of late. Touch just briefly on your new clan and what it's all about. What can we expect in terms of challenges, participation, and it's impact on the community?
Fritoman: Well with OS it is mostly about hanging with the guys and talking about things of interest to US, and maybe talking about a problem that you think someone else might understand. It is a great group of guys that all share the same interest to an extent, we are diverse in our jobs but have one thing in common for sure, and that its we are all old skool; Pix , Jabba and Power and Glory, are a great bunch of guys that are just fun and fun to hang with.
Beastie: Who have been your favorite opponents over time? Who is the most underrated player in the game today? How about from the past?
Fritoman: Well that is a tuffy, Beastie, since your name pops into mind when that question was asked. It was always a treat to see you log on while I was in game, cus I knew that you are competitive but also a fun player to talk with, never seems to take the world to serious and willing to talk about anything. Also 2 other players come to mind besides the players in my clan "which I always love to see" are Quickining and Gemakk. Quick and I have spent most of our rico time knowing each other, him and hylander tried very hard to teach me the game when I first started, all the buttons and what they did and just all around pretty cool to a newb like me at first. Gemakk was awesome to play also cus we got along well and he was interesting to play. For a while before he got really good we were close in skill and it made for interesting matches. And that made me feel good cus everyone talked about Gemakk and how great he was so that made me feel good that I sometimes could beat him. If you are a friend and I didnt mention you here, please forgive me, it is because, I just ran out of time, it isnt because I wasnt thinking about you.
I think Frito was saying these kind words to pity me. He had just ran the table. Not just his balls mind you, mine too. In fact he even banked the final three just for good measure! I cracked another brew and racked em' up again.
Beastie: Nacho, Cool Ranch, or Original? :P
Fritoman: Im not a big dorito eater but would have to say out of the 3 I would pick cool ranch. They are tasty but I prefer ether cheetos crunchy or fritos. But I dont allow chips in the house too much because I can't stand the sound of the crinkle of the bags. I hear enough of that during the day so I don't need to hear it in my off time. <_<
Beastie: Seriously, you obviously must know a lot more about the chips than the average junk food fanatic. Tell us about your job and how you got into the field.
Fritoman: My next door neighbor asked me to play golf with him one day and he was a fritoman at the time. When we got to the first hole and ready to tee off he asked if I would be interested in coming to work for them. By the eighteenth hole I had asked all the questions that I needed answered and he given me good answers so I said I would like to come to work for them.
All in all I do like my job but every job has its draw backs. Interestingly enough, when I went to work for frito I weighed 200 and 3 and a half months later I lost close to 40 pounds because it is soooo hot on the chip truck (it is 10 to 15 degrees warmer on the truck then it is out side). You will sweat it off, so I learned that during the winter time I have to put weight on if I dont want to look to skinny by the end of summer.
I drive about 150 miles a day on average and the truck isnt that fast. So it is a slower then normal 150 but I like the alone time that you get while you are going from one stop to the next. "time to think about stuff" and my boy thinks that it is awesome that I am a chip guy cus his friends come over and they all shop on the truck for snacks at lunch time. They think he is pretty cool for being able to do that. "anything I can do to help him out with his lady friends" cus they always want a chip truck tour also. B)
After another game where I only shot once, I was down 0-2. As a Ricochet player, I knew if I let him go 3-0, it would officially be a PWNING. I had to do something to thwart this shark! Hmmmmm.... :blink:... I got it! :idea:
I went into my kitchen and got a big bag of Cheetos Puffs. This would work for sure! I went back into my pool room and looked him up and down... :ph34r: CRINKLE CRINKLE CRINKLE CRINKLE :ph34r:
Don seemed unamused.
Beastie: Give us some dirt. I want something fun, something they Don't Want us to Know about snackfoods. If I write in and say I found... oh I dunno... a severed head in my bag of Tostito's, will I get a free case or something?
Fritoman: There is a phone number on the back of each bag of chips, so that if you are unhappy with your purchase they will try and make it right by you. That is a funny thing you said that cus my mom was telling me a story about when I was young and she had bought some of that powered cake mix in a box and when she opened it there where bugs in it. So she called the company to complain and a few weeks later she got an entire case of the same mix she had bought before. Sounds great huh? Funny thing was she had already made up her mind that she didn't want to buy that brand anymore BECAUSE IT HAD BUGS IN IT!! But we were poor and she was taking care of us by her self on minimum wage. "3 boys", so we looked in the boxes very carfully from then on, and had a butt load of cake, Woohoo!!!
So my question to you is, if you found a head in a bag of chips then why the hell would you want a case of them?
A valid point indeed! Anyone ever seen that really obscure sequel to The Wizard of Oz? Some people collect severed heads! Anyway...
Beastie: What is the absolute worst snackfood product to come through in your time as a rep? Is it because it didn't sell? It tasted bad? It just plain sucked?
Fritoman: I think the worst selling snack that we came out with would have to be "hot popcorn". Holy crap that stuff was nasty, and since we all knew it wouldn't sell they did a support load to everyone so we would have to put it out in the market. We did but it didn't sell worth a crap so they pulled it out of the maket here.
Now what people don't understand is that it depends on where you live in the world as to what flavor of chip you are offered by fritolay. In japan for instance they have octopuss flavored chips and in texas the hot line of chips does real well, mostly targeting the hispanic and black population. But in the midwest it doesn't do well at all, so it takes a lot of research to best determine what will sell where.
Octopuss chips?! Betha' can't eat just one! Yeah... so my plan had worked. The crinkling on my chip-bag worked like Kryptonite to Superman. I was able to get 3 separate turns, in which I won the game by a 3 ball margain. He racked them up and I prepared to break.
Beastie: So you are not peddling chips or playing Ricochet, what the hell are you doing? Tell me about Fritoman's other routine activities.
Fritoman: I like to do a lot of stuff with my son. He is at that age that he is really cool to be around, and I dont want to miss that part of his life. ((Or he will grow up and hate me and join online video games and fourms and bad mouth me and we don't want that to happen.)) :lol:
Also I have just recently joined a gym and am trying to get buff. Stress the word trying. I tried to make skydiving my hobby but good lord that gets expensive in a hurry so I cut that out and went to RC airplanes insted. Not cheap but at least when the money is spent you have something to show for it.
Beastie: As older, more experienced gamers, we have played some pretty old games. Tell me about your first favorite video game. I will go first... Arkanoid. It's the bomb! I own one... seriously, a stand up machine! If you would ever buy an old machine, what game would it be? How about your favorite computer/console games?
Fritoman: I had a pinball game called sting-ray full size, remember that game? it was awesome, I also remember playing astroids, that was a kick ass game also. But that question makes me think back to my first home video game which was an atari and we (my bros and I) would play pong for hours. Then they would kick the crap out of me for beating them badly and then making fun of them. I deserved it.
Another strong showing, this time it was Don that only shot once. For I broke, sank two and ran the rest on my next turn. At 2-2, this would be a great match. Frito and I generally have pretty good matches! :)
Beastie: Potato chips, micro-chips, or buffalo chips?
Fritoman: Micro-chips, cus I like to game, then potato chips cus i like to be able to afford to game, and then last but not least...well yeah it is least, buffalo chips. Who are these buffalo and why do they make such a nasty tasting chip?
For a second I thought Jerry Seinfeld was actually in the room! 'Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one!?'
Beastie: Say OS, uT, RiP, and CAKE (no bugs) were to sit down with a whole bunch of poker chips... deuces wild!! Who walks with all the money? How's your bluffing face, Frito?
Fritoman: I would lose all of my money and then I would go tell my wife and she would come and win it all back because she is an awesome poker player. But I do do better when there is wild cards cus that changes the whole make up of the game.
Fritoman has been changing the make up of Ricochet with his very presence alone. While agreed upon as one of RC's nice guys, he certainly does not fail to compete with the hot shots, either! I would suggest, however that if he is pwning you hard one day and you can't take it any longer... put a big bag of chips up to your mic and crinkle that mofo until he mutes you!! It works.
As for our match, it ended abruptly. My final break leaped off the table and nailed Don square in the nuts! Poor guy even dropped his Bavarian. I felt so bad, I gave him the final win to end it up 3-2 him.
sry... np... gg... gg.
Have a good week. I want severed heads!!
This week I bring to you another good friend to me and to the game. This gentleman is one who helps to maintain the integrety of our community. He is funny, friendly, and fun to play. He has earned the respect of all players new and old. He deals snack-food by day and slings frisbees by night. Yes today I interview the Chipman himself, you all know him as Fritoman.
Today I instead know him as Don from Rolla, Missouri. As a fellow midwesterner originally, we share certain values. One of those values is beer. He brought a case of Busch and a case of Busch Bavarian. What a guy!
I had planned a strip tour for my good buddy, but we decided instead to crack the cases, chalk up the pool cues, slap on the big screen, and watch a little baseball. Cardinals vs the Brewers, how fitting!
Don racked while I looked over my interview material. Don is 37 next month, and is in fact a Frito-Lay route sales rep. He is a family man first and foremost. After which follows chips and hobbies including computer gaming. SMACK!! I broke with authority, balls flying everywhere! Everywhere but in the pockets that is. I left exactly sixteen balls on the table, including the cue ball. I sat down to let in with the questions.
Beastie: Hello Mr. Fritoman. It's good to finally get you into the column. Please tell me what has kept you interested in this silly game. You have played the mediocre mod as long or longer than I have! Does it ever get old?
Fritoman: Well the game does get a little boring sometimes, but that is when the chat comes into play. I sometimes just log on for the conversation, but on those days I just kinda put a slight effort into the game but mostly am just there to BS with people. The game is great in that aspect because when I am done with kissing up to all of my customers all day long, all I want to do is talk to people that I don't have to explain sales or promotions to and rico is the perfect world for that.
Beastie: I have beaten the whole clan thing to death as of late. Touch just briefly on your new clan and what it's all about. What can we expect in terms of challenges, participation, and it's impact on the community?
Fritoman: Well with OS it is mostly about hanging with the guys and talking about things of interest to US, and maybe talking about a problem that you think someone else might understand. It is a great group of guys that all share the same interest to an extent, we are diverse in our jobs but have one thing in common for sure, and that its we are all old skool; Pix , Jabba and Power and Glory, are a great bunch of guys that are just fun and fun to hang with.
Beastie: Who have been your favorite opponents over time? Who is the most underrated player in the game today? How about from the past?
Fritoman: Well that is a tuffy, Beastie, since your name pops into mind when that question was asked. It was always a treat to see you log on while I was in game, cus I knew that you are competitive but also a fun player to talk with, never seems to take the world to serious and willing to talk about anything. Also 2 other players come to mind besides the players in my clan "which I always love to see" are Quickining and Gemakk. Quick and I have spent most of our rico time knowing each other, him and hylander tried very hard to teach me the game when I first started, all the buttons and what they did and just all around pretty cool to a newb like me at first. Gemakk was awesome to play also cus we got along well and he was interesting to play. For a while before he got really good we were close in skill and it made for interesting matches. And that made me feel good cus everyone talked about Gemakk and how great he was so that made me feel good that I sometimes could beat him. If you are a friend and I didnt mention you here, please forgive me, it is because, I just ran out of time, it isnt because I wasnt thinking about you.
I think Frito was saying these kind words to pity me. He had just ran the table. Not just his balls mind you, mine too. In fact he even banked the final three just for good measure! I cracked another brew and racked em' up again.
Beastie: Nacho, Cool Ranch, or Original? :P
Fritoman: Im not a big dorito eater but would have to say out of the 3 I would pick cool ranch. They are tasty but I prefer ether cheetos crunchy or fritos. But I dont allow chips in the house too much because I can't stand the sound of the crinkle of the bags. I hear enough of that during the day so I don't need to hear it in my off time. <_<
Beastie: Seriously, you obviously must know a lot more about the chips than the average junk food fanatic. Tell us about your job and how you got into the field.
Fritoman: My next door neighbor asked me to play golf with him one day and he was a fritoman at the time. When we got to the first hole and ready to tee off he asked if I would be interested in coming to work for them. By the eighteenth hole I had asked all the questions that I needed answered and he given me good answers so I said I would like to come to work for them.
All in all I do like my job but every job has its draw backs. Interestingly enough, when I went to work for frito I weighed 200 and 3 and a half months later I lost close to 40 pounds because it is soooo hot on the chip truck (it is 10 to 15 degrees warmer on the truck then it is out side). You will sweat it off, so I learned that during the winter time I have to put weight on if I dont want to look to skinny by the end of summer.
I drive about 150 miles a day on average and the truck isnt that fast. So it is a slower then normal 150 but I like the alone time that you get while you are going from one stop to the next. "time to think about stuff" and my boy thinks that it is awesome that I am a chip guy cus his friends come over and they all shop on the truck for snacks at lunch time. They think he is pretty cool for being able to do that. "anything I can do to help him out with his lady friends" cus they always want a chip truck tour also. B)
After another game where I only shot once, I was down 0-2. As a Ricochet player, I knew if I let him go 3-0, it would officially be a PWNING. I had to do something to thwart this shark! Hmmmmm.... :blink:... I got it! :idea:
I went into my kitchen and got a big bag of Cheetos Puffs. This would work for sure! I went back into my pool room and looked him up and down... :ph34r: CRINKLE CRINKLE CRINKLE CRINKLE :ph34r:
Don seemed unamused.
Beastie: Give us some dirt. I want something fun, something they Don't Want us to Know about snackfoods. If I write in and say I found... oh I dunno... a severed head in my bag of Tostito's, will I get a free case or something?
Fritoman: There is a phone number on the back of each bag of chips, so that if you are unhappy with your purchase they will try and make it right by you. That is a funny thing you said that cus my mom was telling me a story about when I was young and she had bought some of that powered cake mix in a box and when she opened it there where bugs in it. So she called the company to complain and a few weeks later she got an entire case of the same mix she had bought before. Sounds great huh? Funny thing was she had already made up her mind that she didn't want to buy that brand anymore BECAUSE IT HAD BUGS IN IT!! But we were poor and she was taking care of us by her self on minimum wage. "3 boys", so we looked in the boxes very carfully from then on, and had a butt load of cake, Woohoo!!!
So my question to you is, if you found a head in a bag of chips then why the hell would you want a case of them?
A valid point indeed! Anyone ever seen that really obscure sequel to The Wizard of Oz? Some people collect severed heads! Anyway...
Beastie: What is the absolute worst snackfood product to come through in your time as a rep? Is it because it didn't sell? It tasted bad? It just plain sucked?
Fritoman: I think the worst selling snack that we came out with would have to be "hot popcorn". Holy crap that stuff was nasty, and since we all knew it wouldn't sell they did a support load to everyone so we would have to put it out in the market. We did but it didn't sell worth a crap so they pulled it out of the maket here.
Now what people don't understand is that it depends on where you live in the world as to what flavor of chip you are offered by fritolay. In japan for instance they have octopuss flavored chips and in texas the hot line of chips does real well, mostly targeting the hispanic and black population. But in the midwest it doesn't do well at all, so it takes a lot of research to best determine what will sell where.
Octopuss chips?! Betha' can't eat just one! Yeah... so my plan had worked. The crinkling on my chip-bag worked like Kryptonite to Superman. I was able to get 3 separate turns, in which I won the game by a 3 ball margain. He racked them up and I prepared to break.
Beastie: So you are not peddling chips or playing Ricochet, what the hell are you doing? Tell me about Fritoman's other routine activities.
Fritoman: I like to do a lot of stuff with my son. He is at that age that he is really cool to be around, and I dont want to miss that part of his life. ((Or he will grow up and hate me and join online video games and fourms and bad mouth me and we don't want that to happen.)) :lol:
Also I have just recently joined a gym and am trying to get buff. Stress the word trying. I tried to make skydiving my hobby but good lord that gets expensive in a hurry so I cut that out and went to RC airplanes insted. Not cheap but at least when the money is spent you have something to show for it.
Beastie: As older, more experienced gamers, we have played some pretty old games. Tell me about your first favorite video game. I will go first... Arkanoid. It's the bomb! I own one... seriously, a stand up machine! If you would ever buy an old machine, what game would it be? How about your favorite computer/console games?
Fritoman: I had a pinball game called sting-ray full size, remember that game? it was awesome, I also remember playing astroids, that was a kick ass game also. But that question makes me think back to my first home video game which was an atari and we (my bros and I) would play pong for hours. Then they would kick the crap out of me for beating them badly and then making fun of them. I deserved it.
Another strong showing, this time it was Don that only shot once. For I broke, sank two and ran the rest on my next turn. At 2-2, this would be a great match. Frito and I generally have pretty good matches! :)
Beastie: Potato chips, micro-chips, or buffalo chips?
Fritoman: Micro-chips, cus I like to game, then potato chips cus i like to be able to afford to game, and then last but not least...well yeah it is least, buffalo chips. Who are these buffalo and why do they make such a nasty tasting chip?
For a second I thought Jerry Seinfeld was actually in the room! 'Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one!?'
Beastie: Say OS, uT, RiP, and CAKE (no bugs) were to sit down with a whole bunch of poker chips... deuces wild!! Who walks with all the money? How's your bluffing face, Frito?
Fritoman: I would lose all of my money and then I would go tell my wife and she would come and win it all back because she is an awesome poker player. But I do do better when there is wild cards cus that changes the whole make up of the game.
Fritoman has been changing the make up of Ricochet with his very presence alone. While agreed upon as one of RC's nice guys, he certainly does not fail to compete with the hot shots, either! I would suggest, however that if he is pwning you hard one day and you can't take it any longer... put a big bag of chips up to your mic and crinkle that mofo until he mutes you!! It works.
As for our match, it ended abruptly. My final break leaped off the table and nailed Don square in the nuts! Poor guy even dropped his Bavarian. I felt so bad, I gave him the final win to end it up 3-2 him.
sry... np... gg... gg.
Have a good week. I want severed heads!!