Oops

On Nightline just now host Terry Moran referred to Obama as "the son of a black man from Kenya and a white man from Kansas... that is a moment for the history books." Now that would be a moment for the history books.

scrap metal thefts

Every day there are stories of stolen metal: bleachers from a school, piping from construction sites, etc. With the price of metals right now, these items are are extremely valuable when cashed in at a scrap metal yard. If this business is so lucrative, why can't they regulate it to eliminate / cut down on the criminal nature of it? In some states when an individual sells something at a pawn shop, they have to provide a fingerprint and valid ID / driver's license. Then they keep a logbook of what that person has sold to the pawn shop, so that if it turns up as stolen goods they can track it back.

Is it too much of a stretch to impose the same regulation procedures on the scrap metal business?

misdirected email

In the chuckle-worthy category today I got an email from the former tenant of my current house. (Most of my contact prior to moving in was with him as opposed to the owners, because he and his wife were trying to get out of their lease in order to buy a house elsewhere, so the responsibility was on them to find a new tenant...)

Today he forwarded me the confirmation email from Sam's Club for his purchase of a new bed.

The apology email came through at the same time, so he was aware of his blunder, but offered no explanation. So I felt need to spend two minutes thinking about it. It didn't take long for me to remember his wife's first name starts with the same few letters as mine. I, too, have been bit in the arse by the autofill option in the "to" field. Never resulting serious personal or professional detriment, just requiring a little explanation to the unintended recipients.

Anyone ever have a truly blush-worthy misdirected email, or one which tarnished your professional standing?

how very helpful

Yesterday I bought a Michael's brand photo frame -- a large collage-style one that holds eight photographs. On the back of the box is a to-scale image of the frame, including the hanger hardware. You can use that to mark the wall where you want the mounting screws to go. How unexpectedly helpful, especially for a store-brand.

What's in a name?

I don't ever buy wine based on the name or label. I did tonight. Couldn't resist.













I picked up the chardonnay. $10/bottle. It's good! Sweeter than I usually like, but with the right meal....

evidence...

...or how I came to be a suspect in a B & E case --
I was seeing a bereavement counselor after my Mom died in April. First visit I took a water bottle in with me. One of the nice, stainless steel ones. After the appointment I was in my car, driving away from the office. I realized I left the water bottle behind. It was rush hour and I would have had to negotiate a couple of tricky intersections to get back there. I thought to myself "Oh, nothing will happen to it. I'll just get it next week."

A week later, we got to chatting right away, but finally towards the end of the hour I started glancing around the office, wondering where she would have put it. At a natural break in the conversation, I asked if she had it. She laughed uncontrollably for a full minute, then said "Oh, that was yours?"

The counselor had other patients after me that afternoon, and she wasn't sure whose it was. So she put it in the waiting room, in case the owner came looking for it. Then one evening that week the office had a break-in. My counselor wasn't present for the police officer's arrival, questioning, and statement-taking, so when no one knew where/when the water bottle showed up, it was taken as evidence! Cue CSI montage of DNA swabs and fingerprinting. (I always FF through them.)

A couple of phone calls and some official paperwork (and strange looks from everyone in the county police station "What's so great about this water bottle." It IS fabulous, and it cost like $20) I got it back.

"Oh, nothing will happen to it. I'll just get it next week."