Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Go ahead, try it. It's simplistic!

A man came to work today to set up a new piece of equipment and give us a demonstration on its use. He was very nice and seemed knowledgable about the product and its associated software.

However, he kept using the word "simplistic" instead of "simple." And "functionality" instead of "function." He described several functionalities of the software that were simplistic. And emphasized how we could do certain things very simplistically.

So not only was he insulting his product, but he was also insulting us. I didn't take offense, I just took notes and wrote about it on the internet.

Monday, February 20, 2006

My gas-guzzling bike

This weekend, I really put Karmen (my bike) through her paces. G and I went out looking for yard sales on Saturday morning. We weren't very successful - I think we only found one. So after riding around a while, we decided to go across the bridge.

This is no little bridge.

I was hesitant. Karmen's a pretty basic bike. G's bike, on the other hand, has an upgrade called "gears." What a difference that makes. He's always leaving me in the dust - and that's on flat ground. I wasn't sure I'd make it up the bridge. And I really hate to fail.

I was headed up the bridge, doing pretty well (breathing hard, but not too hard), almost to the top, when a man walking toward us calls out, "What kind of bike is that?" I used what extra energy I could spare to answer him, but this short conversation required me to slow down a little. I needed that momentum.

But I did it! I made it over.

I was a little nervous going down because my brakes aren't the best. I definitely can't stop on a dime. G suggested he should go first. That way if I couldn't stop, he could help slow me down. The vision of that didn't sound pretty, but it turns out we didn't have to try it.

The way back was much harder, as that side of the bridge is steeper. I made it, but it took a lot more oomph.

I read a quote that I now fully agree with (although this is a paraphrase): Riding a vintage Schwinn is like driving a Cadillac - it's a smooth ride, but it takes a lot of gas.

Friday, February 17, 2006

The secret to my success

I've gotten a lot of emails recently asking me how I got so smart. Not really. Two people were slightly impressed that I was able to identify them from their anonymous comments.

Some of you may have heard about my psychic abilities (guessing Skittle colors, picking the right color in roulette, but only if I have no money on the table, etc.) So you might assume that's how I'm able to identify anonymous commenters.

But that's not it. The secret to my success is . . .

There are only about 10 people who read this blog.

Are you still impressed?

Monday, February 13, 2006

Jack's house

G spoke with our nephew D on Saturday. G was asking about what he was doing over the weekend. D told him he was going somewhere, but G didn't understand him.

D: (insert misunderstood word here)____________ house.
G: Zach's house?
D: No, ___________ house.
G: Dack's house?
D: No, ___________ house.

G still didn't have it. At this point, D got fed up with G and said, "Uncle G, I told you three times already."

This was very amusing coming from a four year old.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Cookies

I don't think I mentioned how cooperative, helpful, and uncomplaining my Girl Scouts were last weekend. All eight of them. Even with the added frustration that they didn't get to go back to their cabin much during free time since my co-leader and I were running the show.

This is not typical. There is usually much whining.

I joked with them on Sunday that I didn't know who they were, but I liked them very much. And I would take those girls camping any day.

So I'm headed out now to buy some cookies on my way to our meeting. A small token of appreciation. Plus, I'll get a cookie, too. Bonus.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Who's Vicky?

We had volleyball last night - our first game of the season. Unfortunately, one of our players couldn't make it, so we had to find a sub. I called at least five people to sub for us, and no one could do it. What complicated matters was that this is a coed league, and the teams must have either the same number of female and male players (three and three), or more females. Not more males. So if we couldn't find a girl to play with us, we would have to play with four people instead of six.

Finally, one of my neighbors called back (just a matter of hours before the game) to let me know she could play if we needed her. We did.

So we got all warmed up and ready to play, the ref called for captains, we were ready to go. Then the ref said, "You're Vicky's team?"
"No, we're not."
"Oh, then you're not supposed to play tonight."

What? Evidently, the person in charge had called us instead of Vicky's team. Vicky's team wasn't even there.

We played for fun anyway. We were kind of glad it didn't count, because we only won one out of three games. Oh well.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

It's all about SP

After yesterday's post about the weather over the weekend, I got the following comment:
I was reading about your girl-scout weekend. Sounds like it was fun. And good weather too! Only 1 day of rain and then temps in the 30s. In February! You were really lucky.
He lives in Massachusetts. I bet there aren't as many Girl Scout campouts planned for February up there.

So maybe I'm a little bit of a whiner. It really wasn't that bad. The power never even went out. Which amazes me, when I think about it. The roof of the dining hall did spring a leak, though. A big enough leak that it sent little girls running and required a bucket.

I have a link which I hesitate to post because it's on the cutesy side. Actually, it's just plain cutesy. I know many of you will cringe if you dare to click it. However, I think my most loyal blog reader, SP, also known as Georgia Aunt P (to distinguish her from Florida Aunt P) will like it. And because she loves my blog, this link is for her. Here it is. Remember, don't click on it if you can't take cute.

Monday, February 06, 2006

My weekend

Over the weekend, my Girl Scout troop went camping. It was a camping event for our county, and about 150 people went. I'm sure that sounds like enough to worry about, what with 100 girls ages 5 to 18 all in one place, but it gets better -my co-leader and I coordinated the event. We were in charge.

Too bad we couldn't have planned the weather. The troops were scheduled to arrive Friday night about 6:00pm. About 5:30, it started raining. And I mean raining! Buckets of rain, puddles that could swallow a small car, lightning and thunder that made you wonder if the building you were in was safe enough, tornado warnings nearby. It was quite a storm.

We were very glad everyone was sleeping in cabins instead of tents. It stopped raining about 8:00 Saturday morning, and the sky was clear by lunchtime. Then we became thankful for the cabins again on Saturday night when the temperatures got down into the 30's, and the wind started howling.

Despite the less-than perfect weather, we had a good time. It was voted the best Thinking Day* weekend ever. It was an unofficial vote, but we'll take it.

*Thinking Day is a Girl Scout event you can learn about here.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

An apple?

For Christmas, G, my parents, and I all got fruit bars in our stockings. Santa knows what we like, evidently - fruit!

The first one that was opened was apple flavored, and it stated proudly on the label "an apple in every bar!" Great!

The next one that was opened was strawberry flavored, but guess what? It still proclaimed "an apple in every bar!" Turns out that all the flavors contain an apple.

That tickled me.

Now, the kicker: In the ingredients list, you would expect to find an apple. But in fact, it lists "apples." Hmmm.