Friday, February 27, 2009
National Beaver Day (Canada) 2/27/2009

Mr. A will be so proud of me for remembering National Beaver Day!
thus voiced Mrs A @ 1:56 PM
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Huh? What?
If I seem to be having trouble hearing today, it's not just that I'm old. There is a reason. The story starts on Monday morning. I am at work, working on a piece of machinery that I am building. It is a specialized grinding machine, and it is my part of the job to design and install all of the control systems. The machine is very large and heavy, so it is sitting in the room where it will live, with some other similar machines. There are two guys that work in this room. Both are real characters, with lots of tattoos and piercings on various parts of their bodies. When I arrive in the room, one of the guys stops to show me the new surround sound set up he bought on clearance over the weekend for 15 bucks. He has installed the 5 speakers around the room, and says that this will be good, because he won't have to blast the radio so loudly, in order to hear it at the far end of the room. I consider this good news, as I am unable to fully appreciate their taste in music.

So far, so good. After an hour or so, the first guy leaves to work in the other building, and Guy #2 comes in. This guy is something else. He is about 5'5", skinny in a heroin-addict sort of way, moves fast, talks fast & loud and punctuates almost everything with "YEAH!, YEAH!, HUH, YEAH!!!! Within in minutes he pops a CD into the stereo and before I know it, AC/DC is playing at concert level in the room. Then as the music plays, Guy #2 is going full tilt, singing along, playing air guitar, drums and bass, as well as spinning around and thrusting an imaginary microphone into the air and yelling "GO ANGUS!!!! HOO-YEAH!!" And he does this all while still, inexplicably, getting his work done. And so it goes, for the remaining NINE HOURS of my workday. I got to work through that first CD twice, then greatest hits, then several live concert albums. At live concert volume levels. More AC/DC than I heard in years of mildly mis-spent youth. At least I now know that I can get dirty deeds done dirt cheap, that money talks, that Angus is back in black, and that if I'm about to rock, they'll salute me.

So today was a slightly smaller scale repeat of yesterday. More music, but at least AC/DC was done with. There were some slightly milder tunes that I recognized but do not know the names of, but before long the Pantera CD's come out. With the clear understanding that saying this will put me well into "olde phart" terratory, this music stinks. It's dumb. Noisey. And the singer sounds alot like a nine-year-old, trying his hardest to do a scary-voice. Goofy. That must be what happens to your voice when you are a "Cowboy from Hell." And this went on for hours more. Luckily for me, I was rescued from the room by a broken piece of equipment in another part of the plant.

So if I don't answer you when you speak, just speak up a bit. I am hoping the ringing is just temporary.
thus voiced The A, Mistah @ 8:46 PM
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Thursday, February 19, 2009
Today's SPiP...
So for today's edition of Stupid People in Public, we take you to the local Staples office supply store. I had gone in there to get a refund on something and also to pick up a spiffy new 4GB flash drive, that was on sale for only $9.99. I go up to the counter and explain that I would like a refund on this, and oh, by the way, I want to buy one of these flash drives. The nice lady says to go get the drive, bring it back here, and we'll do them all on one transaction. Great.

So I walk over to the flash drive section. I look at the display and see that the hook for the item in question is empty, the drives being such a great deal that they are all sold out. Within seconds, another shopper strolls up, holding a flyer in one hand, pushing a cart full of junk with the other. She looks at the same spot that I am, and says "I'm betting that you are here for the same thing as me!"
Me: "The 10 dollar 4Gig flash drives?"
"Yep!"
"Looks like they are sold out, not surprising, that's a great deal."
"Yeah, it figures...."
Pointing to the next hook up, I say: "Look, they have these 8 Gig ones for 15 bucks, that's a great deal, too. I think I'll get one of those!"
"Oh yeah!" she says, and reaches in front of me and grabs the last two of them off the hook. I standing there, wondering if there is hidden camera someplace. I wait for the celebrity host to appear, but they don't.

After I compose my self for a second, I decide to wait until she puts them in her cart, then I am going casually grab one and proceed to the register. But she does not put them down, but instead whips out her cell phone and hits speed dial. A few seconds later she is saying loudly into the phone "....Yeah, Billy?, I'm in the Staples and they don't have the 4 gig drives for 10 dollars, but they have 8 gig ones for 15. Should I get two of 'em?"
"....."
"Um, OK, I got the paper too, but they are the small boxes, you still want 'em?"
"...."
"yeah, I don't know. Five reams, 2500 sheets, it says."
"...."

That all settled with Billy, she then drifts in the direction of the flash drive display, I assume, to put the unwanted drives back. Not waiting to see what she is really up to, just zip by, say "I'll take one of those" smile, and grab one from her hand. She just says "um...., OK....
and if she said anything else, I was gone by then.

Like most people, I'm not really surprised when people act rudely. But occasionally even the most cynical amongst us must stand in awe at some folks ability to bring it up to the next level.

I paid for my stuff and left, just a bit disappointed that she did not put them in her cart.
thus voiced The A, Mistah @ 5:22 PM
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
WHAT is the matter with me?
I don't know what's the matter with me lately. I got an email today asking me to donate to an organization that I belong to. The free gift really appealed to me. That appeal even strikes me as strange. Check out the free gift:

GIFT

Why do I even want one of these?
thus voiced Mrs A @ 7:15 PM
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Friday, February 13, 2009
Unbelieveable
thus voiced Mrs A @ 3:29 PM
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Tuesday, February 03, 2009
This is no Ordinary Yia yia!
In case anyone missed this from the comments on my last post, this is what my sister, Mrs C, sent me. She was wondering if this is the type of Yia yia I will be.

thus voiced Mrs A @ 8:47 AM
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