Month: May 2013

Just wondering…

…how many people stumble accidentally into a Friday night “Hoarders” marathon and are really inspired to spend the entire rest of the weekend cleaning up and throwing things away. It worked pretty effectively for me a couple of weeks ago.

I’d avoided the show like the plague in years past and still pretty much do. The sad thing is that, while I understand there is very selective editing involved, I don’t think this show is nearly as staged as most of the other reality shows. This does not, mind you, make me what you would call a “fan.” But every time I land on it–even for 30 seconds while channel surfing–I feel almost compelled to throw something away afterwards.

Toons and more

Random things for your Wednesday morning reading:

  • My (completely inappropriate) reaction was “better dry ice than dip.”
  • That whole Rob Ford crack thing is just getting weirder and weirder.
  • Ooh. I know where I’m going this weekend. And I’m really kind of sad to see the old store go even though it actually opened in 1950, not the 1930s as the article said. And older (still-standing) store two blocks away that had been an A&P was the one that opened in the 1930s.
  • Don’t get me started on supermarkets, eh?
  • Moving day next week at work. It will be nice finally having a window again after spending almost three years “temporarily” quartered in a repurposed conference room. I’m now managing three full-time people and seven or eight students at a time so it’s a trifle tight in here.
  • Is there any aspect whatsoever of Time Warner Cable that doesn’t suck? Just curious.

OK. I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel. So much for that planned return to high-quality content…

She was right

The lady I work with told me it was very odd for her when she called the phone company to disconnect her parents’ land line. I just did the same thing and it was in fact pretty strange. My parents had had the same phone number for forty-nine years. It was the number I grew up with (although it was on its third area code) and I’m reasonably certain I’ll have it committed to memory till the day I die.

I remember being really amazed about eleven years ago when I discovered that Mark’s parents’ phone number was exactly one digit higher than my own parents’ number. It’s a good number; for a brief moment, I considered reassigning it to my cell phone. But it’s time to move on.

Casinos, crack and the Quebecois Tom Waits

Random stuff for a Thursday afternoon:

  • At least the city council gets it, even if Rob never will (as usual): I’d argue that very few–if any–urban areas have ever been substantially improved through the addition of a massive casino.
  • Amazing what crack will do to a body, isn’t it?
  • California moves boldly into 2002.
  • Looks like Greensboro is getting a Smithfield’s just as I’m (sort of) relocating here. That’s happy news.
  • The Quebecois Tom Waits lives, in case you were wondering.