My backyard has come to resemble a vacant lot these days with overgrown weeds so went to the Home Depot. Lots of stuff under look and key now. Essential garden power tools behind a cage. I mean is someone really gonna try to leave the store with a giant pole trimmer? Then the public restrooms have some sort of a control box on the door with nine numbers and a secret code. Black guy yelled to the nearest clerk there's people waiting here and I threw in my 10 cent humor and said there's gonna be diarrhea all over the place. Target too lots of stuff under lock and key now. I understand the Gillette 5-bladers and items like that but everything you used to just grab and examine first? Sometimes you just give up and go home.
Went to a Rivertown library today. They have a new parking system. Instead of meters (they have no lot) you have to go up to a pay station and get a slip to put on your dashboard. Ok I can adjust but it took me about a minute to pay and get my stub and I go back to my car and there's a $50 parking ticket on my windshield. I had to go to the nearby Village Hall to clear this up and the cop at the desk voided it out. Progress.
Why is everybody so anal these days?
Idaho - Lots of stuff locked up. exception is assault rifles. Reminds me, I got to get a gallon of paint to touch up all the deck railings. Ravens: I got 7 now and two youngsters that call out like a cat.
ReplyDeleteIs there a feral raven group in my area?
Nurse Nancy told me Target has lots of stuff locked up now. She thinks other stores should do the same. I think that makes for an onerous shopping trip but I didn't get into it with her.
ReplyDeleteWent to a Harbor Freight also. Same deal as Home Depot control box on restroom doors and only the clerks know the secret code. Is a guy gonna take an unpaid Ryobi string trimmer into the John with him? Is there weird sex going on? Drug dealing?
ReplyDeleteHome Depot and the power tools in cages. Maxine Waters has everyone on edge talking about disgruntled Trump supporters upset with the verdict and a civil war. Are they worried about flash mobs? Hasn't happened around these parts. Is an army of angry Trumpers gonna take a bunch of blower/mulchers? What's the rationale? What's the deal?
A few years back a guy was looking to get a few 2x4s from a pile at the end of the lot, then drive discreetly off. He got bit by a rattler and got more attention than he thought.
ReplyDeleteOften wondered about fruit stands on the sidewalk outside the market. It's an open invite.
ReplyDeleteYesterday at the Home Depot looked at the garden power tools again. Every box said battery and charger not included so you have to buy that separately. Not sure if it was always this way but fairly recently bought a Ryobi electric lawnmower and everything I needed was included. Would be like buying a TV and remote not included. Dunno.
ReplyDeleteHow do you like the electric mower?
ReplyDeleteI have a small lawn which is fine with this mower. You wouldn't use it to mow an estate. Two lithium batteries and charger. Run time on one battery is supposed to be 30 minutes. In my experience more like 20. If I still have to finish the job I just switch to the other battery. Cuts really close and has different settings. Charging time for batteries not that long. Happy with it. Fine for my needs.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter in Topeka has one, same deal, two batteries. I figure they are Lithium and scheming to set fire to something. Probably my mower gas can.
ReplyDeleteIt works for me. Also got a Shark Rocket vacuum cleaner at Kohl's. Happy with that. You can also break it down into a hand vac.
ReplyDeletethose hand vacs are good for chasing cats.
DeleteNever had good luck with hand vacs in terms of battery power. For a few quarters they have better vacs at the gas station.
DeleteSeems everyone has one but never felt the need to buy a blower. To me it just moves the debris around.
ReplyDeleteNeighbor has a blower, gas-powered, loud. He blows all of his leaves and debris across the street and into the cemetery. Single retired guy. Behind his house the yard is filled with two story shops and sheds. We call in Erikville. Got a dog that rides shotgun - we call her the Mrs.
ReplyDeleteYou need a drone. You could review the entire neighborhood as you tap out your pipe and light up a cigar. Never know, your drone might catch view of an Eastern Coyote and you could put it on You Tube.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I mean. For me blowers have no practical value but they're very popular. It's for people who don't want to rake up leaves. I saw a commercial for the opposite once. The thing vacuums up your leaves and turns them into mulch. That makes sense.
ReplyDeleteIf I only had a drone I could keep track of the cats in the neighborhood. Why don't cat rescue groups have one?
ReplyDeleteWent to a Lowe's today and that place rocks. Didn't have the same issues I had at Home Depot. You're impressed right when you walk in the entrance. A far larger and varied selection of garden power tools than any other place I've been in.
ReplyDeleteCaveat emptor or let the buyer beware. Bought a poncho at a dollar store the other day. It's like somebody put a hood on a garbage bag.
ReplyDeleteMrs. picks up stuff at the dollar store. I warned her about the raincoats.
ReplyDeleteI'd also stay away from the toilet paper.
ReplyDeleteOpened a new can of Fancy Flavor. Wife bought 'trout' instead of 'tuna'
ReplyDeleteIt appears that Mikey The One-Eyed Cat likes anything that starts with T.
I only seem to find the trout flavor in pet food stores. The cats eat better than me.
ReplyDeleteI always though there was something about the smell and taste of fish. But although an excellent source of protein and amino acids, those don't smell. I don't buy the umami "fifth taste" theory floating around, but some experts in the field insist. I'm gonna go with the mysterious: For the same odd reason they like catnip.
ReplyDeleteThey say cats are obligate carnivores. You see any vegan cats around?
ReplyDeleteOurs has an atypical fondness for chewing flowers in vases.
ReplyDeleteAn attention getting device?
Mine have knocked over flower pots on the sill so new policy no more plants in the house.
ReplyDeleteAt hardware store this morning "Ace Is The Place". Lady in checkout ahead of me had a dog. looked like a puppy, and liked me but she said it was 13 years old, a miniature Aussie. Clerk said they get quite a few customers bring their dogs. I'm gonna assume they don't see many with cats coming in. Small town thing- they guy that owns the hardware store went to High School with my middle daughter.
ReplyDeleteAce Hardware. Haven't been to one yet. How are their garden power tools? I can't seem to quite find what I'm looking for or need.
ReplyDeleteI get paint and supplies there, wheel barrow etc. Pretty much DeWalt
ReplyDeleteToro, Skil etc, just like the other places.
Home Depot is too big for me. The place is like an airport hangar. I get lost.
ReplyDeleteNice thing about small towns. Wife is back east for a week and I'm batching it. Went to a little corner grocery to pick up a week's worth
ReplyDeleteof personal food pyramid stuff. Tiny place, got 5 short aisles, but a
lot of help to find stuff. I asked where the King Oscar Kippered Snacks were and a guy led me to a section of all sorts of canned seafood from sardins in oil to clams, oysters, mussels, anchovies,
salmon. He was shocked. "I don't think they make them anymore"
Using my Scandinavian accent, I assured him they did and have been buying them at the big grocery store. He says "I'll see if I can order some" comes back and informs me that they will have them in stock by Friday. I collected my 12 pack of Coors, a box of donuts, a blueberry pie, some frozen entrees, 2 seafood salads from the deli
section (and a half gallon of milk, so when Mrs. gets back she will think I ate healthy). Now I feel sort of obligated to buy King Oscar at little A&B grocery up the street.
We have a small bodega down the block. They got a lot of little miscellaneous odds and ends. Work gloves, pliers, earbuds...Maybe I'll find something there I can't get at the Home Depot.
ReplyDeleteI had to look up 'bodega -
ReplyDelete"According to the New York Health Department, a bodega only has three requirements to be called such: No more than two cash registers, it must sell milk, and it sells mostly food but isn't a specialty food store like a candy shop or a butcher." Seems to be an NYC term. We're quite provincial out here.
Over here it's associated with Latino neighborhoods. Not one of the requirements but the one down my block has a cat. Jackson's Bodega call it.
ReplyDeleteSeveral stores around here have animal greeters. Big Berniedoodle at the nursery, Cat on a high shelf at the petfood store (and a ferret you can feed) Cat sleeps in the doorway at the fabric store. When I was in Minneapolis only drunks slept in the store doorways.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have animal greeters in Yonkers yet or any of that. Just make sure you don't put out your garbage too early for the next day.
ReplyDeleteYou should start a feral cat rescue committee, lot of good ideas.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a big name sponsor like ex-Gov Cuomo---er skip that--
Fancy Feast Corp.
Is he still unemployed or what's he doing?
ReplyDeleteHave no idea what he's doing. Maybe the same stuff that got him n
ReplyDeletedeep ka ka?
Delis need help. Maybe he can be a closer.
ReplyDeleteHe has a brother that does news on TV. Kind of a weird guy.
ReplyDeleteChris Cuomo. Gets a little screechy at times. Used to yell at guests for not taking the shot now he says it affected him in a negative way. I just stick with Christian Brothers.
ReplyDeleteEvery 2-3 weeks I restock, Christian Brothers, Canadian Mist and a small vodka. Called the liquor store (they are run by the state in Idaho, due to heavy Mormon presence) said "What time do you open today?" Lady was upset, "we aren't. we are closed until further notice" For some reason (probably salary and benefits) they can't seem to retain staff. But they have another state store down by the river. You say "BB-what's up with the vodka?" Well, i keep it down by my basement railroad. When my coffee (and sugar and cream-I'm mostly Norwegian) gets low in the cup, I add a bit of Schmernov
ReplyDeletethe railroad runs better. Tastes pretty good, halfway between a Black Russian and Kahlua. Can I call it a Muddy Russian?
Grey Goose out of my budget. I can do a Ketel One. Lots of Tito's fans. Jose Cuervo. Ron Bacardi. Rodell Napoleon. Mataxa......The thought occured if we applied for a job at a liquor store we wouldn't even need an orientation.
ReplyDeleteI never got past the cheap vodka section. Is it me, or does it all have the same taste? Had in-laws over last month. They french press their own select coffee beans. - or in an emergency Starbucks. All I had was my usual Nescafe Taster's Choice Instant. They tried it and pronounced pretty good. Coffee, vodka - all A is A.
ReplyDeleteIt all has the same effect. I'm not really into Scotch but if you give me a bottle for Christmas it ain't going to waste.
ReplyDeleteGot a relative who carries a flask of gin and tonic. Every where. Nice guy, doesn't wobble, but wouldn't get too close with an open flame.
ReplyDeleteEver work with an alcoholic? They function fine but every once in awhile they have some weird tantrum. They also don't logically analyze how the work should best be done. You can never prove they're one because their work is somehow adequate but not great. They can be affable one day and annoy the hell out of you the next. You can't put your finger on it but everyone knows there's a problem.
ReplyDeleteI had to fire a couple, which I figure I failed as a boss somehow. Both had been through extensive rehab, but continued to be hooked. One failed the breath test during drug testing. Heard he went to Las Vegas got married and got a job. The other had been a Marine on Guadalcanal, still suffered from Malaria and frequently called in with
ReplyDeletethe same excuse (Lightning hit a tree and it fell on my car - I'm snowed in etc) Nice guy, separated him for absenteeism. A few
weeks later one of the lab tech reported some real weird titrations with standardized sodium thiosulfate solution. 2 liter jug, pure vodka.
Never worked for an alcoholic - thankfully.
Never understood alcoholism. If I have a couple of tumblers of the CB and fall asleep during the 10 o'clock news I'm good. Why keep going and harass bison or something?
ReplyDeleteWorked with a woman. Asked her about her hobbies. Said drinking. Always came to work on time though.
ReplyDeleteThere's two kinds of alcoholics, social and solitary. We suspect the
ReplyDeleteold introvert/extrovert paradigm.
My wife is a tee-totaler. Had a sip of gin collins one time, announced she felt out of control and never touched a drop since.. She would be a real good designated driver - except for her driving. How is it even possible to weave when one is sober?
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs something to take the edge off a rough day. What do teetotalers do?
ReplyDeleteLecture, mostly.
ReplyDeleteTold you had an off-center neighbor who was a Holocaust denier and gave out the lit. Also was a recovered alcoholic and gave out the AA lit if somebody had a problem. Maybe he shouldn't have given up drinking.
ReplyDeleteGood grief - did he use a litterbox too?
ReplyDeleteAlso read US News and World Report. Well-rounded.
ReplyDeleteSo is denial of the Holocaust some sort of conspiracy theory? Guy I knew said it was impossible to kill that many people in five years.
ReplyDeleteNever figured out the flat earth folks either.
That's the thing you can't even find denial of the Holocaust discussed on conspiracy boards. That's a pretty isolated position right there. Stalin killed millions so I don't understand the argument of the guy you knew. Flat Earth. If the planets really were like dinner plates floating through space why would scientists deny this? There's no clear motivation behind the alleged conspiracy but at the same time it seems rather popular.
ReplyDeleteMy sister figured out that big fish up in the sky are fishing for humans. She also thought that when we see, our eyes send out eye waves like radar and if you stare long enough a branch will fall off a tree. She got an F in college general science on her essay of why atoms don't exist. She found a really nice husband there and
ReplyDeletemorphed back to norma.
Haven't heard anything about time-traveling mermaids.
ReplyDeleteThey have their own conspiracy - copy/paste
ReplyDeletehttps://u.osu.edu/vanzandt/2018/03/08/the-existence-of-mermaids/
Or, if you want the short version. it is thought that early in the chain of human evolution, a sub-species returned to the sea. And stayed.
Sasquatch on land, Swimming Sisters in the ocean. Count me sceptical.