Do I have “cheap” tattooed on my forehead?

DVDThis last week, we received three Netflix discs in a row that would barely play.  They would constantly hang up and skip over scenes, no matter how many times I polished them with Windex.  My wife was ready to call up Netflix and demand to speak with someone about the lousy discs they kept sending us when I suggested that I first try playing one on the computer.  It played fine.  So the problem was our player.  “How old is this player?” I asked, “When did we get it?”  We couldn’t remember.

So this morning I went to the local appliance store just as they were opening.  I was greeted by one of the salesmen.  I told him I wanted a new DVD player.  He asked if I needed one with a VHS player (was it the grey in my beard?).  I said No.  He didn’t even begin to steer me over toward the fancy HiFi players, but instead took me directly to the one they had on sale for thirty dollars.  I’m thinking he just wanted to get me out of the store as quickly as possible so that he’d have a chance at somebody who wanted to spend some real money and generate a worthwhile commission.

The new player works fine, especially for thirty dollars.  One thing that is really cool is that if you take a disc out before the movie is through, and then put it back in later, it picks up right where it left off.  How does it know?

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How would a dog smell without a nose?

Terrible!

It’s been below freezing for over a week here, and I don’t know if that has anything to do with it, but the dog had really started to reek.

wet dogUsually I take her out into the driveway and wash her down, but with it eighteen degrees outside, that’s just not an option.  So we both got into the shower stall and did the deed there.  I don’t believe that either of us is looking forward to repeating that experience again any time soon.  But she does smell a lot better.

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Windchill

leavesI raked up the leaves in the front yard this morning for what I hope is the last time this season.  It was sixteen degrees, less whatever windchill factor there was.  And it really wasn’t that bad.

Last week, I left work to go for a jog in the park.  It was forty-three degrees, and I remember thinking to myself that it was actually rather pleasant outside.  This is from a man who, when living in Houston, considered forty-five degrees to be pretty much the limit of human endurance.

I’m not sure if I’m getting tougher or softer.

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They look at me funny at work

Today we had our Xmas lunch at work. It was served buffet-style, with two lines: a vegetarian/roast chicken line, and a fried chicken/roast beef line.

Those who know me know that I don’t care for beef, but that I do eat a lot of dairy products. As I was waiting in the roast chicken line, a co-worker pointed out that if I wanted roast beef, it was in the other line. “No,” I said, “I only eat renewable cow products.”

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Maybe they are doctors

After my earlier post about Kroger shoppers who apparently have difficulty detecting cold, I came across this video of some really cold people.

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Do they need to see the doctor?

Yesterday afternoon it got up to thirty-eight degrees outside, so I decided to go for a jog in the park on the way home.  There were a few other joggers and runners there, as well as the usual number of dog walkers.  Everyone was reasonably attired for the weather: gloves, tights or sweats, hats (except for some young women runners who had very thick hair), and so on.

This morning I went to the Kroger to pick up a couple of items.  It was twenty degrees.  There is a big difference between thirty-eight degrees and twenty degrees.  The parking lot was relatively empty when I got to the store; most of the usual Saturday morning crowd was clearly staying home.  But the strange thing was how the people who were there were dressed.  Mostly sweatshirts and windbreakers.  The only hat I saw was a baseball cap, and the only gloves were on an elderly man who had probably just put them on out of habit.  These people are clearly insufficiently dressed for the conditions.  I can only conclude that something was preventing them from properly feeling the cold, and that they really should get that looked at.

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Cars aren’t as warm as they used to be?

When I got up this morning it was eighteen degrees outside.  I got into my nineteen degree truck (no heated garage, just a carport) and shivered.  I had the heater turned up full, and by about fifteen minutes later, when I was on the freeway at fifty-five miles an hour, the heater was putting out an adequate flow of heat.  Adequate, anyway, given that I had on long johns, pants, a heavy shirt, sweater, down parka, wool cap, and gloves.  If I had been running my old 1977 Chevy’s heater at full blast under these conditions, it would have melted the soles off of my shoes.

I’m not sure I understand this – my truck was designed in Japan and built in Canada, neither of which are particulary warm countries.  And our German car’s heater is the same way, even though no one would put Germany in the European Sun Belt.   I’m assuming that it has something to do with the fact that today’s cars do not have the big honkin’ radiators that they used to, but rather little plastic ones.  And possibly the fact that few people live in Detroit anymore?

4 January 2010: This is apparently due to emissions control; the engines are designed to waste less heat these days.

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Cold jogging

This afternoon I spent about twenty minutes determining what I have to wear to jog in thirty-six degree weather.  The answer was: somewhat more than what I had put on.

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I had a picture here of me with a beanie, a canary-yellow cycling jacket over a royal blue long-sleeve technical, cardinal red shorts over black tights, and size fifteen blue and white running shoes.  But apparently this violated the ISP’s terms of agreement.

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Santa Claus and the Grandchildren

santa.2009The obligatory trip to the mall and photo.  The older one really, really loved it.

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A Family Thanksgiving

The new grandbaby!

The new grandbaby!

We got to see the kids and the new grandbaby (as well as the old one) over the holiday.

There was a wonderful feast of baked ham and fried turkey and potatoes and green beans and sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce and squash.  We told Caelyn that the squash was corn in an attempt to get her to eat it.

Presentation is key

thanksgiving.plateWhen we sat down for dinner, both Justin and I noticed that his mother’s plate of food looked more appetizing that either of ours, although the contents were the same.  The difference was in how the items were presented on the plate.  Charlaine definitely has a skill in this area.  She attributes it to years of experience.

A Father-Daughter Moment

A Father-Daughter Moment

Grandpa is not a natural

Grandpa is not a natural

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