Bogieblog

Congrats

Congrats to Jenny, a coworker, who has obtained her US citizneship. We are all very proud of you!

Change

I had one of "those" moments last week at a local grocery store. you know, that moment when someone forgets how to count. Except it wasn't me, but the person behind the counter.

I bought some stuff that equaled $8.39. I handed the cashier a $10 dollar bill. Evidently, she entered $8.39 into the computer, the drawer opened and the fun began. She started dragging out dimes. Put them back. Then started dragging out pennies - put them back. This went on until I took pity and told her that I should get back $1.61.

If they would teach cashiers how to count back change the way they used to (counting up from what was owed the store; giving the change then the bills), she wouldn't have that problem. But for at least a decade the norm has been to tell you how much you are getting back, give you the bills then the change.

Whoever started that - I hate them. I don't want the change on top of the bills, I want it in the palm of my hand, then the bills on top. That makes it so much easier not to lose the change while trying to transfer it to its next receptacle.

Vehicle Maintenance

Took the Jeep in for inspection yesterday. I waited until almost the last minute, just because I kept forgetting to make an appointment (remembering after the shops have closed, does not help a bit). Anyway, after 42k miles, in 2.25 years, it needed tires. I had figured I would need tires before the next snow season, so thought I would buy them in the fall. Alas, two of the tires were too far gone, and it is a front wheel drive vehicle, which means I had to replace all at the same time. And, of course, AT (all terrain) tires, even for my little vehicle, are not cheap.

Just trying to help out the economy in my own little way. I did have the foresight to have brought coupons that they had sent me several weeks ago, so in effect, the inspection (a normal $40 value) was free plus a little off the tires. Total cost, was $10 less than what just the tires were quoted at (including mounting and balancing). I had forgotten how much I hate the new tire highway whine until my drive home.

To add insult to injury, I'm pretty sure that I left my book in the waiting room, and I am not driving 32 miles just to get a book. On the plus side, WS works in the area, so maybe he can drop by and pick it up (if someone else didn't decide they really needed Larry Correia's book Spellbound: Part II of the Grimnoir Chronicles.)

Tornado Hits in Kansas

You would think that with all the relatives that I have that are in the general vicinity of Boeing, that I would get word that Boeing and it's off-shoot Spirit got a bit of excitement from the recent tornado activity in Kansas. But no, I have to get the word from someone else.

I would post pics, but I'm not sure I'm allowed, so let's just say that from what I see, it was a good thing that Boeing and McConnel aFB sent some of it's planes to Grand Forks, North Dakota before the weather hit (that was all over the news a couple of days ago and I can't fine any mention on on Google for a link - what is up with that?). Okay, finally found mention of it, then another, on of all places, McConnells website.

In the pictures I see a 3 ton water tanker truck flipped on its side, as is a railroad car (a box car, not a flat-bed). Building siding, bay doors and roofs have been peeled up and, in some cases, torn completely off of buildings. The corner of one build looks pretty mangled, as do portions of other buildings. One picture was pretty strange and I can't really tell what it is unless it is the ferris wheel from an entertainment park a couple miles away (at first I thought it might be part of a turbine, but I don't think so).

This news report says that Spirit took a direct hit (it has a couple of pictures. Spirit has put some pictures out on Flickr. Boeing and McConnell Air Force Base also got hit (so it's a good thing they moved planes), but I can't find any pictures (not surprisingly).

I'll have to forgive my relatives for not mentioning this though, CC and HH are doing double or triple duty for the Red Cross right now, and I'm sure Wichi Dude and Dudette are helping out in some manner too (as well as working at their regular jobs).

My, Myself, and I

Cop Car has a post about the use of apostrophes. I am usually good about their use, although sometimes my right hand types faster than the left, so they appear out of place in my posts (I don't usually spell check, or even re-read the post after typing - I reserve that behaviour for work). I dont find apostrophe use challenging, and it seems straight forward to me.

The thing that has bothered me lately is the rampant use of "myself". It seems that everybody has just discovered this word, and has decided it must be used in every sentence, or at least the ones that should contain either "I" or "me".

Examples of what I hear on a regular basis, from otherwise well spoken persons:

• Mary and myself were walking . . .
• Contact myself when you are done with . . .
• Myself and Joe are going to the gym . . .
• You and myself should have a meeting.
• He was talking with myself . . .

Just as a tutorial (and this is not official as I haven't even looked it up anywhere - just from my experience), "myself" should be used when refering to one's self, but after already having used a pronoun.

• I, myself, would do it this way.
• I said to myself . . .
• I am so disgusted with myself for . . .

I have just noticed the rampant mis-use of "myself" in the last 4-6 months. I am used to people having trouble knowing when to use "me" or "I". Apparently they decided that using "myself" solves all problems.

Short Lived

After getting close to 20" of snow a week or so ago, and getting a couple of snow showers (one, yesterday morning), we have an almost snow free yard. Where the sun shines all day anyway. We had a major thaw Wednesday and Thursday, but the temps have gotten back below freezing again. That is just as well, as that means the ground is frozen, not all muddy.

I'm hoping for an early spring. After two springs in a row that never seemed to end (well, not until July or so), an early spring would be nice to have. Cop Car has a post up on Kansas' early spring, and how she doesn't mind it - but hopes it doesn't precede another hot, dry summer.

We finally got the shaft for the snow blower, so WS spent a portion of yesterday trying to get it put back together. I knew it was a real "project" when he came in later with a bandaid on his finger, kept on with electrical tape - as I've stated before, it's not really a project unless some of WS's blood is involved. He hasn't completed the project, but is most of the way done. Unfortunately, he is working at his paying job (although, being salary, he isn't being paid for the extra time), so it won't be completed today.

If we are lucky, snow will stay away. It should as they are predicting a good warm up for the week. One  thing that bothers me about that is that everyone at work will be riding in, and we don'e have the bikes out of storage. Not that it would be wise to get them out yet as we still have plenty of ice betweent the driveway and the shed - not a good thing on a bike. But seeing bikes on the road and in the parking lot at work, gives me the urge to be on mine. Another urge that I have to fight, is planting seeds to get starts going for the garden. I need to wait a couple more weeks (beginning of April anyway) as I can't actually plant until after May 30.

We've had one day where the woodstove wasn't going (Thursday), and we will probably get a couple more days like that in the coming week. I could get used to that.

Winning

I'm normally not the luckiest person in the world (except for meeting and marrying WS of course), but I managed to win a little something from a local grocery store chain. Yesterday I picked up my winnings:

 

 

Yep, a camera. Just a cheap thing, but still something. After charging the battery, I found that all the animals were within the same area:

 

 

 

 

 

It takes good pictures and has a higher megapixel and zoom available, so perhaps it will show to be a superior camera to my Canon. However, it doesn't have the micro picture taking ability, so the Canon will still be used for a lot of garden shots.

As an aside - Sony could really work on its software installation and updating; it sucks big time. Windows 7 doesn't help by asking if what I really want to run the software each time I was asked to run something. I never did get it to update because the update is initiated by the software, the update can't be done while the software is open. The update can't seem to tell that you have closed the software (even after you click on the button that says "retry"). Oh, and downloading the photos to the computer is no where as intuitive, or easy as the Canon.

I've dealt with more recalcitrant software before, but not lately.

Get Cracking

Jim, over at Parkway Rest Stop, has a post that is written in code. Not even ever having seen the code before, it took me about 2 seconds to crack, and I could read it as if it was in plain English. I would expect that most people can, but I usually have trouble with seeing what others can see (remember that picture craze in the 90's? I never saw anything in them). 

Keys, Locked Door, Wrong Side

WS spent the last 3 weekends working on jobsites. Those were long, 15+ hour days down in Massachusettes and one was especially trying. One Sunday I got a phone call shortly before I was getting ready to leave to get groceries.

WS: Where you at?

Me: On the couch getting coupons together.

WS: I don't know how long the battery on the phone will last, so I'l go thru this quickly.

Turns out he had locked his keys in the truck. He gave me his location, the make, model and color of the truck he had (he had taken a work truck) and told me to make a call to have someone come and unlock it. His phone had no battery left by the time the call was over (why yes, his phones DO shut off on him on a regualr basis because he lets them run so low).

We have had AAA for a couple of years now, and this was a good chance to test them out. The representative I got on the phone was very pleasant, explained what he was doing (since WS was in a different state, he had to transfer the info to a different rep - but he didn't make me talk to anyone different), and told me what to expect.

A while later the locksmith dispatcher called and said the guy was almost on site. WS was back in business shortly after that and all ended well.

Thank goodness for AAA as otherwise I would have had to drive a couple of hours down to MA, drive back to Concord to get the spare set of keys, then drive back down to MA to unlock the door. Okay, so I could have looked up a locksmith on the internet - but who exactly are you supposed to trust - especailly when WS was by himself on a jobsite? Anyway, they took most the worry out of dealing with the situation.

Spider Talk

Cop Car has some great posts on spiders and their silk.

I have a strang relationship with spiders - I really don't like them, but I do like that they mostly feast on bugs, so I tolerate them. Mostly I let them be, if they let me be and don't try to arrange a surprise, up close, visit. I even let them live in the shower stall, although some overstep their bounds and are sucked up by the vacuum, or flushed down the drain.

But, If I could train my spiders to make awesome garments like what is showcased in Cop Car's posts, I might just build them their own room.