Have I mentioned that I really, really dislike Daylight Savings time? That it makes as much sense as cutting a strip off the blanket to sew onto the other end? That it long ago lost its reason for being - as a means to aid the war effort. The World War One war effort. That, according to a number of studies, it actually increases the use of energy, not decreases it? Well, it helps the farmers, you say. No, farmers hate it. Farmers, who must wake with the sun no matter what time their clock says, are greatly inconvenienced by the change.
There's all the psychological effect of getting up in the dark, or coming home in the dark, and the biological adjustments, and the dragging around for days until you get used to the change, especially in the Spring. But the biggest problem is CHANGING ALL THE BLINKING CLOCKS! Well, okay, just the one on the VCR actually blinks and I admit I don't ever set it. But let's just inventory the clocks and what it takes to adjust them:
Kitchen
Microwave - <1 minute (they should all be this easy; press a maximum of 6 buttons)
Oven - 1 minute (cycle back to the previous hour on a 12 hour clock twice because you overrun it the 1st time))
Coffee Maker - 3 minutes (figure out which buttons to hold and cycle back through 24 hours)
Wall clock - 4 minutes (30 seconds to change, 3 1/2 minutes to get it to hang on the wall again)
Bedrooms
4 clocks - 12 minutes (3 - cycle back 24 hour clocks, one old fashioned move the hands)
Cars
My car - 1 minute (clearly labeled buttons, 12 hour clock)
Barb's car - 60 minutes (55 minutes to find the instruction manual, 4 minutes to decide which button is which and 1 to change a 12 hour clock)
Miscellaneous
2 wrist watches - 2 minutes
Lawn sprinkler - 5 minutes (okay, I really don't change this one, but if I had to figure out how...)
Answering machine - 60 minutes looking for the manual, and if I could find it another 5 to change it)
Blood glucose monitors - 10 minutes looking up the instructions, 2 each for 2 meters
Two hours and 48 minutes. Okay, let's be generous and take the instructional manual searches out and round down to 45 minutes total. Folks, the US Census estimates that there are 114,825,428 households in the US right now. That's 86,119,071 hours frittered away; more than 9,830 person-years! We're not ever going to get that time back, people! And we've got to do it all over in the Spring! And don't get me started on what it costs businesses to make this change!!
All I've got to say is thank goodness that all the computers, iTouches, phones and cable boxes auto set, because I would still be looking for the manuals.
How many clocks do you have? And how long does it take to change them?
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Monday Meanderings - 11.8.10
Keeping Austin weird: In previous posts I have mentioned Leslie, a veritable Austin Icon known for his attire (or lack thereof) and frequent Mayoral candidacy. He's so well-known he even has his own Wikipedia entry. More recently there was the thong guy, and the Wal Mart guy. I now need to add Running Guy to the list.
On the corner of North Lamar and Rundberg there is a grassy median between the HEB parking lot and the street. We go by there often because our nearest public library is across the street. That median is where Running Guy is in training for the Olympics, assuming that the 25 yard dash is now an Olympic event. He's there every time we go by (which is pretty darn often, given our reading habits) ear-buds in place, sprinting up a slight incline for a distance of about 25 yards, then jogging back down the median and doing it again. And again. And again. Sometimes he sings and dances a little. But mostly he sprints. Gotta love this town.
It can be very disturbing to see a large man coming across the parking lot at you, swearing loudly. Fortunately, I saw the little Bluetooth phone gadget in his ear - just before I turned and ran screaming like a little girl.
He said, after running a couple of errands: "I can mark those places off my '100 places I gotta go' list."
She said: "But we go there all the time, and besides, isn't it a 1000 places?"
He said: "I don't know how much longer I have, so I'm making the list short and very easy."
Little known facts: In most elevators installed since the early 1990s, the “close door” button has no effect. Otis Elevator engineers confirmed the fact to the Wall Street Journal in 2003. In 2004 the New York Times reported that more than 2,500 of the 3,250 “walk” buttons in New York intersections do nothing. “The city deactivated most of the pedestrian buttons long ago with the emergence of computer-controlled traffic signals, even as an unwitting public continued to push on.” I thought you knew.
Port A was at the top of its game this past weekend. The beach was as clean and inviting as we've ever seen it - no sea weed, no jelly fish. Perfect weather and really nice seafood to boot. Doesn't get any better.
While sitting on the balcony of the condo we see this little red car zipping around the corner from the beach road to the street that runs beside the condo. A guy gets out and climbs up on a dune and the little red car drives off. In a minute we hear the car, really revving it. It turns off the beach, wheels spinning, and slides in the sand in a nice four-wheel drift while the guy on the dune takes pictures. When the dust settles, the car comes back, picks up the photographer and they drive off, mission accomplished.
Have a good week.
On the corner of North Lamar and Rundberg there is a grassy median between the HEB parking lot and the street. We go by there often because our nearest public library is across the street. That median is where Running Guy is in training for the Olympics, assuming that the 25 yard dash is now an Olympic event. He's there every time we go by (which is pretty darn often, given our reading habits) ear-buds in place, sprinting up a slight incline for a distance of about 25 yards, then jogging back down the median and doing it again. And again. And again. Sometimes he sings and dances a little. But mostly he sprints. Gotta love this town.
It can be very disturbing to see a large man coming across the parking lot at you, swearing loudly. Fortunately, I saw the little Bluetooth phone gadget in his ear - just before I turned and ran screaming like a little girl.
He said, after running a couple of errands: "I can mark those places off my '100 places I gotta go' list."
She said: "But we go there all the time, and besides, isn't it a 1000 places?"
He said: "I don't know how much longer I have, so I'm making the list short and very easy."
Little known facts: In most elevators installed since the early 1990s, the “close door” button has no effect. Otis Elevator engineers confirmed the fact to the Wall Street Journal in 2003. In 2004 the New York Times reported that more than 2,500 of the 3,250 “walk” buttons in New York intersections do nothing. “The city deactivated most of the pedestrian buttons long ago with the emergence of computer-controlled traffic signals, even as an unwitting public continued to push on.” I thought you knew.
Port A was at the top of its game this past weekend. The beach was as clean and inviting as we've ever seen it - no sea weed, no jelly fish. Perfect weather and really nice seafood to boot. Doesn't get any better.
While sitting on the balcony of the condo we see this little red car zipping around the corner from the beach road to the street that runs beside the condo. A guy gets out and climbs up on a dune and the little red car drives off. In a minute we hear the car, really revving it. It turns off the beach, wheels spinning, and slides in the sand in a nice four-wheel drift while the guy on the dune takes pictures. When the dust settles, the car comes back, picks up the photographer and they drive off, mission accomplished.
Have a good week.
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Adventures of Bob the Dog - End of a career?
The beginning of Bob the Dog's adventures can be found here.
I just finished reading an interview with Bob in City Dog/Country Dog magazine. He says he is over his disappointment that his first CD, "Blue Lonesome" was a colossal failure. Evidently Bob and his band, the Back Yard Howlers, are one hit wonders. He received the Country Dog Association Newcomer of the Year Silver Dish award for "I'm so lonesome I could Howl: - his single - but other songs like "I'm panting for you baby" and "Howling at the streetlight" are not to the public's liking. Bob said and that his best yodeling was yet to come, so he was not discouraged and he and the band were headed out for a big national tour and expected sell-out crowds.
Unfortunately, the word is that things are not going well on Bob's first (and perhaps final) big tour. He and his band, started out well - I hear Nutbush Tennessee sold out in in less than 6 hours – but other venues have not been so kind. Ticket sales are slow and crowds are sparse. It may have something to do with the fact that Bob failed to show up for a couple of concerts and has "behaved erratically" when he does make it on stage . The tour sponsor, Bugle Boy Dog Food, is reported ready to pull the plug.
But, true to his word, I received a money order today that paid off Bob’s “tab” – including the cost of the IDA counseling and the vet bill. He enclosed a note that said he had me to thank for getting him started on his career in the music business.
Not so sure about the career, but thanks for the money, Bob.
...to be continued. Maybe.
I just finished reading an interview with Bob in City Dog/Country Dog magazine. He says he is over his disappointment that his first CD, "Blue Lonesome" was a colossal failure. Evidently Bob and his band, the Back Yard Howlers, are one hit wonders. He received the Country Dog Association Newcomer of the Year Silver Dish award for "I'm so lonesome I could Howl: - his single - but other songs like "I'm panting for you baby" and "Howling at the streetlight" are not to the public's liking. Bob said and that his best yodeling was yet to come, so he was not discouraged and he and the band were headed out for a big national tour and expected sell-out crowds.
Unfortunately, the word is that things are not going well on Bob's first (and perhaps final) big tour. He and his band, started out well - I hear Nutbush Tennessee sold out in in less than 6 hours – but other venues have not been so kind. Ticket sales are slow and crowds are sparse. It may have something to do with the fact that Bob failed to show up for a couple of concerts and has "behaved erratically" when he does make it on stage . The tour sponsor, Bugle Boy Dog Food, is reported ready to pull the plug.
But, true to his word, I received a money order today that paid off Bob’s “tab” – including the cost of the IDA counseling and the vet bill. He enclosed a note that said he had me to thank for getting him started on his career in the music business.
Not so sure about the career, but thanks for the money, Bob.
...to be continued. Maybe.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Stories for my grandchildren -Pinball Wizard
I came to this realization after recently hearing Pinball Wizard from the rock opera Tommy (by the Who) on XM satellite radio. The DJ - who normally says next to nothing - said he had seen an article in the Wall Street Journal about how hard it was to find someone to repair pinball machines. I checked out the article and found that the machines in need of repair are all owned by collectors, and while there may be thousands of the machines still out there, they are, for the most part, all in private hands, or in museums. There may be a few old machines in the corner of an arcade somewhere, and there seem to be some clubs where they hold tournaments on beautifully restored games, but when was the last time you touched an actual machine in the wild?
I was reminded also, that pinball machines have a checkered past; they were once illegal, branded as gambling devices by many states and municipalities (including Breckenridge). It was not until the mid-'70's that most of the laws were repealed, so I am guessing that I technically may have been a scofflaw. I guess that's not something I should include in a blog intended for my grandchildren, though, is it? Oh well. As if that were the only skeleton in the closet!
My machine sat outside a gas station, in the rain and the sun, for quite a while before I finally persuaded the owner to let me have it. I think he did so only to get rid of me. I stopped and
The big pluses of having your own machine? 1) You didn't have to pay to play. Think arcade games - not Play Station. 2) You could jam the lead weight that registered TILT if you put too much English on the game. 3) You got very good at pinball. Robert Oglesby, (the senior Robert) was the preacher in Breckenridge at that time, and lived across the street. He would
So what happened to my pinball machine? I went off to college and my Mom kicked it out of the house, and there was this kid who kept stopping by and bugging her about it...
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday Meanderings - 11.1.10
On breezy days, such as those we're having now, when you enjoy your coffee on the patio you have to keep your hand over your cup else you end up with leaf tea instead of coffee. And watch out for the falling pecans!
If you look up "stoner" in the dictionary you will find a picture of San Francisco Giants ace pitcher, Tim Lincecum. Just saying...
We are replacing some 20-year old carpet, and the guy from the store came to measure the other day. We showed him the area and he pulled out his little laser measure and pointed the red dot here and there, tapped in the measurements on his tablet computer and drew the floor plan on that device in seconds. The next morning he e-mailed us the floor plan diagram, the cutting pattern and the quote. Gotta love technology!
Thought about Julie and her pumpkin patch field trip the other morning. We were on our way somewhere and saw a herd of little people (and some big people) at the corner of Lamar and Braker. They had walked from McBee Elementary and were waiting for the nice policeman to stop traffic so they could get the long line of kids across Lamar safely; they were on their way to the pumpkin patch at St Marks Methodist on Braker. On our way home, we saw the same activity in reverse - Mr. Policeman helping them on the homeward trek. Count carefully, teachers - don't want anyone left hiding amongst the pumpkins.
Sign on a septic tank pumper truck: "We're #1 in the #2 business."
He said: "I'm going to Breed Hardware."
She said" "Can you find your way to Breed Hardware?"
He said: "It's on Twenty-something off the Drag."
She said: "Wait. I need to go with you."
And the reason I wanted to go to Breeds? To get a pecan picker-upper. Like this: And I'm happy to say that it works wonderfully. No more bending and squatting to pick up pecans! Just walk around and snap them up.
We've got a pretty good pecan crop here on the homestead this year. Not so much in quantity, but in quality. This year's pecans are fully-formed and firm. Good eating. And no more aching back.
Now I just need something to relieve the aching hands and chafed fingers from shelling the pecans I didn't have to stoop over to pick up.
On our trips to Walmart we regularly encounter a person we have dubbed "the Walmart Guy." He wanders around the store in Longhorn regalia announcing loudly to no one in particular how the team is going to fare in Saturday's game. For some reason no one seems interested in stopping and discussing the game - or any thing else - with him. I guess the current losing streak has put him off UT game proclamations. This week he was loudly describing how scary he was going to look for Halloween. He's got a pretty good head start, if you ask me.
And here's a parting salute to Halloween:
If you look up "stoner" in the dictionary you will find a picture of San Francisco Giants ace pitcher, Tim Lincecum. Just saying...
We are replacing some 20-year old carpet, and the guy from the store came to measure the other day. We showed him the area and he pulled out his little laser measure and pointed the red dot here and there, tapped in the measurements on his tablet computer and drew the floor plan on that device in seconds. The next morning he e-mailed us the floor plan diagram, the cutting pattern and the quote. Gotta love technology!
Thought about Julie and her pumpkin patch field trip the other morning. We were on our way somewhere and saw a herd of little people (and some big people) at the corner of Lamar and Braker. They had walked from McBee Elementary and were waiting for the nice policeman to stop traffic so they could get the long line of kids across Lamar safely; they were on their way to the pumpkin patch at St Marks Methodist on Braker. On our way home, we saw the same activity in reverse - Mr. Policeman helping them on the homeward trek. Count carefully, teachers - don't want anyone left hiding amongst the pumpkins.
Sign on a septic tank pumper truck: "We're #1 in the #2 business."
He said: "I'm going to Breed Hardware."
She said" "Can you find your way to Breed Hardware?"
He said: "It's on Twenty-something off the Drag."
She said: "Wait. I need to go with you."
We've got a pretty good pecan crop here on the homestead this year. Not so much in quantity, but in quality. This year's pecans are fully-formed and firm. Good eating. And no more aching back.
Now I just need something to relieve the aching hands and chafed fingers from shelling the pecans I didn't have to stoop over to pick up.
On our trips to Walmart we regularly encounter a person we have dubbed "the Walmart Guy." He wanders around the store in Longhorn regalia announcing loudly to no one in particular how the team is going to fare in Saturday's game. For some reason no one seems interested in stopping and discussing the game - or any thing else - with him. I guess the current losing streak has put him off UT game proclamations. This week he was loudly describing how scary he was going to look for Halloween. He's got a pretty good head start, if you ask me.
And here's a parting salute to Halloween:
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