Thursday, July 30, 2009

Two Views!

Ok there's a few ways to tell a story, right? Let's look at this made-up tale as an example:

"I woke up, went out to the front door to get the newspaper. I looked across the street and saw my neighbor's house in flames. I ran in and called 911, and the Fire Department got there in time to save everyone!"

OK. Now Version 2:

"I rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 7:30 AM. I figured I had a few minutes before I had to get ready for work, so I went down to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. I use Maxwell House coffee now because the Starbuck's coffee, which I used to drink and really liked, got so expensive.

Once the coffee was brewing, (I like to make sure the pot actually starts brewing, because sometimes I come back to find water all over the counter. You really don't want water running on the formica all the time, ya know?) I decided I would have my coffee while reading the newspaper. I prefer the Gazette now to the Examiner, because the delivery is so much earlier, and the paper is such a quick read. You can fold it a lot easier because they don't fill it with a lot of advertisments.

So I opened the front door, which I recently fixed because the hinges were all out of whack. I got the new hinges at Home Depot which had them on sale a lot cheaper than Lowe's, although Mary's husband works at Lowe's and tells me all the time that they carry stock so much cheaper. When I opened the door, I saw the newspaper exactly where I like it to be, which is why I give the paperboy a bigger tip these days. I thought for a minute that I smelled smoke, and was afraid that maybe my coffee maker had malfunctioned, because you can't always be sure with that stuff you buy in Walmart. But then I caught a flash from the corner of my eye, and for a second thought it just might be a glimmer of sunlight which wouldn't be unusual for that hour of the morning, being that it's summer and all.

Well it was then that I realized that Tom and Delores' house was on fire. They've been living there since 1975. I met them through Bill and Margaret who I knew from Church, and they're very nice people all around.

I didn't want to take a chance, being that so many people might have left for work already and might not see the flames, so I went back inside with the newspaper and set it down on the table. I wasn't sure if I should use the cell phone to make a 911 call, so I opted for the house phone, which of course, was nowhere to be found. Jane leaves the phone in the whackiest places, and since I've gone cordless, I haven't been able to keep track of where the darned thing is. Luckily there's a 'pager' function that you can use to locate the handset and it turned out it was in the living room. We're having that painted, so the phone was hidden under one of those blue tarps you see, which I'm not sure are better than the old canvas ones.

I dialed 911 and they picked up on the first ring, which really surprised me, since you hear so many bad stories about 911 mistakes these days. They ran a story like that on 'Dateline' this past weekend, which we watched off a recording instead of live because we were out on the boat with Phil and Louise, who are the best hosts in town when it comes to dinner parties.

I couldn't believe how quickly the fire department arrived. I could hear the sirens within a minute or two of making the call, and I was surprised I could hear them over the hum of the air conditioning system, which I have to have checked out before this summer is over.

Well I'm happy to say that the FD got the fire out pretty quickly, considering how intense the blaze was by the time they got there. The family got out in plenty of time, and I saw them all standing in their robes and pajamas, while the neighbors brought them drinks and blankets, which probably isn't necessary with it being summer and all.

Ok, you have to go now. Thank God for the Fire Department, huh?"

So...

Please tell me why, no matter what, I always end up with the Version 2 Tellers?

My ears bleed daily!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Pretty Cool Idea

A Friend has her own business that I've mentioned before, but she's added a blog to help explain what her business is all about. Feel free to check it out!

Geezees Custom Canvas Art Blog

Things Are Normal

Certain things have to be in place in order for the Universe to feel right, ya know?

I logged on to Pogo.com a couple of times recently, and got soundly thrashed by my good friend Emily. Nice to know some things don't change.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Today (or Yesterday, as the Case May Be)

Today I had the kind of day we always welcome. I spent time with my kids at a baseball game. Pure fun, pure joy. I love watching the faces of children who are having a good time. Those smiles are something no one can fake.

It was the kind of day that, were it my last, I could go with a smile on my face. And I don't think that's an awful thing at all.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Someone Stuck a Happy Pill in My...

So, let's look at the whole trust thing...

So far this week I my Trust Resolution has resulted in me:

  • Being tarred and feathered

  • Being buried alive

  • Being shot out of a cannon

  • Having, not one, but two wallets stolen.


Ok maybe not.

The plumbing thing worked out to the tune of roughly S700,000 or $1250 in American currency. Did I get hosed? Not sure, but there is no more Great Lake in the yard, so...

But I did some more good stuff:


  • I went to McDonald's, ate, and trusted them not to poison me. I'm good.

  • Took a client's word on something he said he would do. Still pending.

  • Lent someone $20. Said he'll pay me Thursday. k


So it's not Earth shattering, but I'm working on it ALRIGHT?

Imagine how hard it wo uld be to read blogs if e very one wr ote like this?

Anyway I had to sit in the Doc's office a bit, and the great people in the Doc's office shared their WiFi with us lucky patients! So I started visiting blogs.

Yayyy!

Isn't it funny though? When you don't visit for a while, you're always afraid that your favorite blogs won't be there? So far, so good. I'm getting to you! I'll be there!

You are missed.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Sewerage

Well, here's a good start! In August of 2006 I happily discovered a large flood on the back left side of my property, just off the house. There had been a ridiculous amount of rain that year, so I attributed it to a slow drain and that rain. When it became clear that I was either going to have to act, or else name a new ocean, I called a company called Mr. Rooter (not Roto-Rooter) to alleviate the body of water that was quickly becoming swampy back there.

It was revealed to me that the PVC pipe running from the storm drain to the storm sewer out in front of the house had collapsed. As in cracked to hell, crushed, unworking. $1400 later the pipe had been replaced (part of the job involved going under the sidewalk out front). No more Lake Stupid.

Till July, 2009. I rediscovered Lake Stupid after the 289,304 days of rain this Spring. I called the company to inquire as to any warranties, etc. as I could not believe that a pipe could disintegrate in a mere three years. The phone rep did say it was possible if a truck drove on my property, (huh? Highway Stupid, too?) but that they would look into it and do the right thing.

As I know nothing about plumbing other than water in the wrong places is not a good thing, I'm putting my faith in this company to do the right thing. They'll be coming today. I'll keep you posted.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Let's Play A Game

I watch a lot of episodes of House. The central character, Dr. Gregory House, is a brilliant diagnostician who is also a complete misanthrope. He is convinced that people lie and cannot be trusted.

Why talk about that?

I have seen that this character is a bit exaggerated, certainly, but I have seen something else in that character. I have seen traits that I have allowed to fester in my own life. I'm not so much a misanthropic geezer as I am cynical, beyond what I would like to allow any more.

So, what's the game?

I'm going to try something new; something that's been suggested to me on a number of occasions. I'm not going to lose my mind here, of course, but I am going to try trusting people as well as their words. I'm going to give people the benefit of the doubt, I'm going to find a way to allow people to be true to their word. I'm going to put myself out there.

There is a certain amount of faith required here. I'm not going to put my life in people's hands by any means, and I'm not going to become a "Yes Man".

I'm going to treat this somewhat lightheartedly so that no one is in danger. But I'm going to start taking people at their word, allowing them to prove themselves to me simply by doing or saying what they say they will. In other words, I'll put the ball in motion and see where it bounces.

I'll have to be somewhat discreet with the names and such, because a lot of this experiment will take place in the course of doing business, naturally, both in my own business transactions, and in my day-to-day life.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

What You Don't See...

I've always maintained that the spoken word is the most powerful weapon, exceeding even the written word. I have no idea why I say that, but it's kinda looking good here right now.

I traveled with my own 3 kids, my oldest daughter's boyfriend, and 3 of my nieces. The ages range from 10 to 22 so the commentary was pretty varied. I became mindful of the little things I heard on my Florida visit, being conscious to write them down for later publication here. I heard some pretty funny stuff and thought I'd share my trip with y'all through those eavesdroppings. Here are a few:

  • "I can't believe I have to announce 'PLEASE DON'T TOUCH MY UNDERWEAR!'"

  • "If I eat 3 plates of this, I'll probably get sick"

  • "Oooh how did you guys know they had side orders of bacon?" "It's called READING THE MENU!"

  • "What State is Florida in?"

  • "Florida's not so far if you live there."

  • "Why isn't anyone texting me?" "Your phone's off"

  • "Don't say 'amazing', Dad hates that word"


That's it for now...don't want to over-do it.