My big plans for the day include two of my favorite public institutions: a trip to the library & a trip to the post office. It is astonishing to me how many people bad mouth both of these.
A week or so ago, I was standing in line at the post office on a busy Saturday morning & the people in line behind me could not stop making unpleasant remarks about the recent postal hike. Let me be clear that while this was a 15% increase, it amounted to a whopping $.07 & the gist of the remarks was that they should use some of that "big money" to hire more workers. Seven cents.
As it happens, there WAS a new postal worker at the counter that day & I would be lying if I said I was all that impressed. Every single transaction she had to call someone out to help her. It got to the point where people in line were trying to walk her through it & so I do understand their frustration. Still, it seemed a bit over the top; I honestly could not imagine anyone thinking it was OKay to act this way while in line for fast food or at a bank...
I have encountered similar attitudes at the library & found that even more people are disgruntled that free books, free internet access, free babysitting (I'm sorry, but it kinda is) does not mean the librarian will sit down & do your kids homework for him...or her....or you. Seriously, I saw an actual mom making this actual complaint at the reference desk. I am told it is not common, but it happens. More common is the complaint that the librarians are not more closely supervising check-out choices.
But this post is about the post office. Because today in 1792 George Washington signed the RENEWAL of the Post Office as a cabinet department & making the Post Master General a permanent cabinet position. In a sidebar, I have asked confederate flag fans far & wide to name the particular cabinet position that was wholly symbolic in confederacy as the area covered by this position was being overseen by the union counterpart. In areas controlled by the confederacy, the service was not provided by any agency. I'm not faulting the rebels; I understand they were busy. That flag did not redesign itself three times in four years. Anyway, a handful of people HAVE answered that question. All but one of them physicists who are avid civil war buffs (my social life is one very sad Venn diagram), the one that wasn't has a confederate flag frame for his license plate &does work on our place as needed. They all knew that cabinet position & it was: Post Master General of the Confederate States of America.
So happy birthday Post Office. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that Ben Franklin (also the godfather of the public library) wanted to be sure his newspapers were delivered in a timely way so he could sell more. I even forgive him for reading other people's mail, specifically, the King's Governor's mail.
Showing posts with label post office. Show all posts
Showing posts with label post office. Show all posts
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Friday, August 30, 2013
Knot garden finale
This week has mostly been about wrapping up the August Quilt Block Swap, which was for anyone that missed it the knot garden block. It has been a hugely popular swap & I guess I shouldn't be surprised. As a rule, the garden-y themed blocks do better than others, although too many of them close together gets old fast. If I were going to guess, I would have said the kids blocks would be the most popular, but they never are. Oh don't get me wrong our largest swap to-date was a kids block but it was carried by one person who was really really really excited about it. There were other swappers of course, but she really got into it; without her it would have been closer to average sized.I am just as glad the garden blocks click with so many people. I like making them, I like swapping them & I find it easy to use them...as a rule. & this one was a particular favorite with me. I like quilt blocks that make a second design when the blocks are all put together, which this one does. I also like that I had virtually nothing to do with it. S*** has stepped forward in the group (she nominated herself by competently answering questions when I was unexpectedly off-line for a bit earlier this year) & this block was all hers. She had made the original iteration for an as-you-please 4 or 9-patch a few cycles ago & then put it forward for this go-round.
The block is also beginner to make but advanced to use. I am finding it useful for showing how to strip cut & chain piece 4-patches.
The second step of folding over the right angle triangle at the corner is a well received cheat for anyone intimidated by bias.
Another way this swap is easier than others is the 6th block person stepped forward early. It is funny but while people are happy to make a 6th block even for organizations they don't necessarily agree with, people rarely send a 6th block if o one has volunteered to take them, eve when I say they will get them back if no one volunteers. Since virtually everyone does this, I am guessing it must be a human nature thing. As for myself, there are days I would pay someone to take my orphan quilt blocks off my hands. Okay, not really.
Anyway.
This weekend I am wrapping up the knot garden block. Thank you everyone who swapped & everyone who sent 6th blocks & thank you M******* who volunteered to take the 6th blocks & thank you S*** who came up with the idea for this block.
I really enjoyed being a mostly-passenger this time. It gave me enough time to make blocks of my own to for the first time in a long time, I can swap too!
Another way this swap is easier than others is the 6th block person stepped forward early. It is funny but while people are happy to make a 6th block even for organizations they don't necessarily agree with, people rarely send a 6th block if o one has volunteered to take them, eve when I say they will get them back if no one volunteers. Since virtually everyone does this, I am guessing it must be a human nature thing. As for myself, there are days I would pay someone to take my orphan quilt blocks off my hands. Okay, not really.
Anyway.This weekend I am wrapping up the knot garden block. Thank you everyone who swapped & everyone who sent 6th blocks & thank you M******* who volunteered to take the 6th blocks & thank you S*** who came up with the idea for this block.
I really enjoyed being a mostly-passenger this time. It gave me enough time to make blocks of my own to for the first time in a long time, I can swap too!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Noche buena second-to-last call
We are down to the second-to-last month of the last block swap of 2012. As I said in the original post, this is a mostly-copy of the african violet block from Block Lotto in 2011. It may be an exact copy (that is what I was going for), but as I could not find the original instructions, I made my own.
The directions for the making the swap block are here . Also, Sophie -the Queen of Block Lotto- was good enough to let me know the original pattern can be found on the Block Lotto's pattern page (go here & scroll down to Violet-they are alphabetical-so rational!). The Block Lotto pattern has the added advantage of six different sizes (we are still swapping just the 8.5" unfinished/8" finished size).
The directions for participating in the swap are unchanged, but we have enough new people (& more than a few who swapped, stopped swapping & have started up again) that it is worth a recap:
1- We swap in sets of FIVE. You make as many blocks as you like (I would recommend at least six, maybe even seven) but send me FIVE (or ten or fifteen) & you will get FIVE (or ten or fifteen) back. If you send a quantity that is not divisible by FIVE, I will assume you intended the balance to go to our give-away quilt block thing, better known as 6th Block. If you send nine blocks, you will get FIVE back & the other four will go to whichever swapper that month asked for them to make a quilt for her (so far, always a 'her') community. If you send just four blocks, I will hunt you down & kill you. No, I won't; I will assume all of these are intended for the 6th Block & you will get none back. No, that is not true either. You will very likely get all of your own blocks back in your pre-postage-paid envelope because anything that is not divisible by five hurts my brain. That last one really was true.
2- Blocks are due IN-HOUSE the last Saturday of an even numbered month. I know there are swaps & other contest-y type things that say 'postmarked by' but I am not that organized. In a perfect world, the block envelopes all get chucked into a bag hanging off a chair in my kitchen until swap Saturday. Then, on the following Sunday, I open the envelopes. This is a switch from the old days when I used to open them as they came, but now we have so many people in the group (>100) that in a big month that means a horrible confusion come swap-time trying to make sure no one gets their own back.
Where was I? Right, on that Sunday I open the envelopes, swap & seal the return envelopes. The blocks that are being returned in postage paid envelopes go out to my truck & wait until I have time to get to our local post office during their peculiar, staggered, money-saving window hours. This is because even though the postage is paid, any envelope over a particular thickness (& quilt blocks almost always fall into that category) need to be hand cancelled. In fact, I would say just dropping a thick envelope into a mailbox, even with way-over-the-top postage is maybe the most frequent reason that swap blocks get hung up. The reason for this fun & not-at-all-inconvenient rule is anthrax. At least that is what I have been told.
So on Monday (or Tuesday or Wednesday or) I go to the post office & mail the blocks back. You can see how an envelope postmarked the Saturday before would just not make it in time. If you mailed your blocks in a timely manner, but they still do not arrive & I know they are en route, we do have options. There are a few local people who swap & don't get their blocks until I see them, so those can be scrambled at no inconvenience. The person getting the 6th blocks usually has a bit of a wait because there are often extras that get sent not-for-swapping (often those same locals picking up late) & I like to get the 6th Blocker as much as I can. The key here is I need to know that the blocks are MIA before I have handed the others around (I would actually rather know they have been sent before the deadline even; you would be stunned how often someone swears up&down they mailed their blocks way-in-time & then they arrive postmarked the day of the swap & now the story is "I thought they needed to be postmarked by the last Saturday of the even numbered, that's the way everyone else does it & you should do it that way, too..."
My personal favorite in this vein is the person who told me her blocks had already been sent about a week before the deadline. That is, this is when she told me, a week before they were due. The deadline passes, no blocks. Another week passes, no blocks & she is not returning my on-line messages. This is extra not good because she has signed up for not one but two special swaps (we used to have an special swap or two every year around a very particular theme such as 'the months of the year' or 'chanukah/christmas star', that kind of thing that limited the number of participants through an early sign-up & next year we will again, but this is the story of why we had none in 2012). I finally get through to her & she apologizes, doesn't know what happened, yes she sent the blocks before the deadline, what bad luck they are missing, etc. She also confirms she is absolutely participating in the second limited swap she signed up for & in fact is mailing those blocks that day, well before the deadline. The next deadline comes & goes & you can guess, no sign of those blocks either. I make one attempt to reach her & then give up. To my surprise I get a reply in which she tells me a close relative died suddenly & that is why she never mailed either set. & just for gravy she gives me a death-date: a full week after she had already mailed the second set of blocks, per her last message. I don't know what or if I even replied; I think I just deleted her from the group & got on with my life until....I get a notice from Facebook that the Quilt Block Swap Group is on double secret probation because a harassment complaint has been made & we are maybe-gonna be disbanded becasue there has been a harassment complaint(I will say this for Facebook, they are spineless; if we had in fact been harassing someone I am more or less convinced we could have happily gone on that way for months). Of course I have no way of knowing who complained, except there is only one person who complained directly to me that I was harassing her & that was guess-who. Even more amusing I had at this point made zero attempt to contact her or even reply to any of her messages, which continued to come to me with some regularity, all complaining about my harassment. To paraphrase Inigo Montoya, "I don't think that word means what you think it means".
3- Please include an envelope with postage for returning your blocks that has your address written clearly, otherwise my postmistress tosses it back in my face & tells me to go to hell. Another lie, although she & I have spent many a cozy half hour trying to decipher zip codes. She is actually a lovely person. She calls when suspiciously squishy packages addressed to any remotely possible variation of my name & or address you can imagine show up. She doesn't even make me come in for those mystery packages; she lets me know they are on the truck & if they are not for me, could I send them back tomorrow? So far they are never not for me.
I used to go into ridiculous detail about the return envelope, saying things like "It is reasonable to assume the postage to get back to you will be the same as the postage to get here" & "please use an envelope that is the same size as the one you mailed your blocks in". You really would not believe how many people sent blocks in large envelopes with say a dollar or so in postage & thought I could get their swapped blocks back to them in a #10 business envelope with a single first class stamp. Actually, I think they were not quite making the connection between their outgoing & returning blocks & the role of the self-addressed envelope & postage in that process (seriously). One person in particular did this every single swap & told me to just drop it in the mailbox, it would get there eventually & she was in no hurry. Eventually I deleted her from the group. Yes, I really did that.
Sometimes people send loose stamps or money. This is fine with me, but I will use all of it. If you send me five stamps & your envelope only needs three, I do not stand at the counter putting stamps on one at a time & saying "what about now?" to poor Gabriel (the lovely man at the counter almost every time I go; if there is a line he takes one look at me & calls for back-up). Nope, I slap all those stamps on the envelope & the post office makes out like a bandit. If you send cash, I pay for your postage & then put the change in whatever save the animals fund they are collecting for at the local feed & seed. For a long time they were spaying stray kittens, although the last time I was in there it looked like a feed the starving horses group of some kind. One time there was a collection to help pay the medical bills of a family involved in not one but two different drunk driving accidents, but as they were the drunk drivers both times, I refused to give them money. So I took it to my next errand (the library) & made a donation to the Friends of the Library. instead.
People outside the US can send their blocks & a fat quarter & I will pick up the postage for the return. Obviously, the address should be included as well but frankly the international packages have never been a problem. One person in the US asked if she could also pay by fat quarter as that was more convenient & I said sure (& then made the offer to the whole group), but it never happened. I think the swapper realized that the cost of postage within the US was rarely even half the cost of a fat quarter.
So there it is. More than you ever (thought you) needed to know about how to send a set of quilt blocks for swapping. Not really much about the current block though. Sorry about that.
The directions for the making the swap block are here . Also, Sophie -the Queen of Block Lotto- was good enough to let me know the original pattern can be found on the Block Lotto's pattern page (go here & scroll down to Violet-they are alphabetical-so rational!). The Block Lotto pattern has the added advantage of six different sizes (we are still swapping just the 8.5" unfinished/8" finished size).
The directions for participating in the swap are unchanged, but we have enough new people (& more than a few who swapped, stopped swapping & have started up again) that it is worth a recap:
1- We swap in sets of FIVE. You make as many blocks as you like (I would recommend at least six, maybe even seven) but send me FIVE (or ten or fifteen) & you will get FIVE (or ten or fifteen) back. If you send a quantity that is not divisible by FIVE, I will assume you intended the balance to go to our give-away quilt block thing, better known as 6th Block. If you send nine blocks, you will get FIVE back & the other four will go to whichever swapper that month asked for them to make a quilt for her (so far, always a 'her') community. If you send just four blocks, I will hunt you down & kill you. No, I won't; I will assume all of these are intended for the 6th Block & you will get none back. No, that is not true either. You will very likely get all of your own blocks back in your pre-postage-paid envelope because anything that is not divisible by five hurts my brain. That last one really was true.
2- Blocks are due IN-HOUSE the last Saturday of an even numbered month. I know there are swaps & other contest-y type things that say 'postmarked by' but I am not that organized. In a perfect world, the block envelopes all get chucked into a bag hanging off a chair in my kitchen until swap Saturday. Then, on the following Sunday, I open the envelopes. This is a switch from the old days when I used to open them as they came, but now we have so many people in the group (>100) that in a big month that means a horrible confusion come swap-time trying to make sure no one gets their own back.
Where was I? Right, on that Sunday I open the envelopes, swap & seal the return envelopes. The blocks that are being returned in postage paid envelopes go out to my truck & wait until I have time to get to our local post office during their peculiar, staggered, money-saving window hours. This is because even though the postage is paid, any envelope over a particular thickness (& quilt blocks almost always fall into that category) need to be hand cancelled. In fact, I would say just dropping a thick envelope into a mailbox, even with way-over-the-top postage is maybe the most frequent reason that swap blocks get hung up. The reason for this fun & not-at-all-inconvenient rule is anthrax. At least that is what I have been told.
So on Monday (or Tuesday or Wednesday or) I go to the post office & mail the blocks back. You can see how an envelope postmarked the Saturday before would just not make it in time. If you mailed your blocks in a timely manner, but they still do not arrive & I know they are en route, we do have options. There are a few local people who swap & don't get their blocks until I see them, so those can be scrambled at no inconvenience. The person getting the 6th blocks usually has a bit of a wait because there are often extras that get sent not-for-swapping (often those same locals picking up late) & I like to get the 6th Blocker as much as I can. The key here is I need to know that the blocks are MIA before I have handed the others around (I would actually rather know they have been sent before the deadline even; you would be stunned how often someone swears up&down they mailed their blocks way-in-time & then they arrive postmarked the day of the swap & now the story is "I thought they needed to be postmarked by the last Saturday of the even numbered, that's the way everyone else does it & you should do it that way, too..."
My personal favorite in this vein is the person who told me her blocks had already been sent about a week before the deadline. That is, this is when she told me, a week before they were due. The deadline passes, no blocks. Another week passes, no blocks & she is not returning my on-line messages. This is extra not good because she has signed up for not one but two special swaps (we used to have an special swap or two every year around a very particular theme such as 'the months of the year' or 'chanukah/christmas star', that kind of thing that limited the number of participants through an early sign-up & next year we will again, but this is the story of why we had none in 2012). I finally get through to her & she apologizes, doesn't know what happened, yes she sent the blocks before the deadline, what bad luck they are missing, etc. She also confirms she is absolutely participating in the second limited swap she signed up for & in fact is mailing those blocks that day, well before the deadline. The next deadline comes & goes & you can guess, no sign of those blocks either. I make one attempt to reach her & then give up. To my surprise I get a reply in which she tells me a close relative died suddenly & that is why she never mailed either set. & just for gravy she gives me a death-date: a full week after she had already mailed the second set of blocks, per her last message. I don't know what or if I even replied; I think I just deleted her from the group & got on with my life until....I get a notice from Facebook that the Quilt Block Swap Group is on double secret probation because a harassment complaint has been made & we are maybe-gonna be disbanded becasue there has been a harassment complaint(I will say this for Facebook, they are spineless; if we had in fact been harassing someone I am more or less convinced we could have happily gone on that way for months). Of course I have no way of knowing who complained, except there is only one person who complained directly to me that I was harassing her & that was guess-who. Even more amusing I had at this point made zero attempt to contact her or even reply to any of her messages, which continued to come to me with some regularity, all complaining about my harassment. To paraphrase Inigo Montoya, "I don't think that word means what you think it means".
3- Please include an envelope with postage for returning your blocks that has your address written clearly, otherwise my postmistress tosses it back in my face & tells me to go to hell. Another lie, although she & I have spent many a cozy half hour trying to decipher zip codes. She is actually a lovely person. She calls when suspiciously squishy packages addressed to any remotely possible variation of my name & or address you can imagine show up. She doesn't even make me come in for those mystery packages; she lets me know they are on the truck & if they are not for me, could I send them back tomorrow? So far they are never not for me.
I used to go into ridiculous detail about the return envelope, saying things like "It is reasonable to assume the postage to get back to you will be the same as the postage to get here" & "please use an envelope that is the same size as the one you mailed your blocks in". You really would not believe how many people sent blocks in large envelopes with say a dollar or so in postage & thought I could get their swapped blocks back to them in a #10 business envelope with a single first class stamp. Actually, I think they were not quite making the connection between their outgoing & returning blocks & the role of the self-addressed envelope & postage in that process (seriously). One person in particular did this every single swap & told me to just drop it in the mailbox, it would get there eventually & she was in no hurry. Eventually I deleted her from the group. Yes, I really did that.
Sometimes people send loose stamps or money. This is fine with me, but I will use all of it. If you send me five stamps & your envelope only needs three, I do not stand at the counter putting stamps on one at a time & saying "what about now?" to poor Gabriel (the lovely man at the counter almost every time I go; if there is a line he takes one look at me & calls for back-up). Nope, I slap all those stamps on the envelope & the post office makes out like a bandit. If you send cash, I pay for your postage & then put the change in whatever save the animals fund they are collecting for at the local feed & seed. For a long time they were spaying stray kittens, although the last time I was in there it looked like a feed the starving horses group of some kind. One time there was a collection to help pay the medical bills of a family involved in not one but two different drunk driving accidents, but as they were the drunk drivers both times, I refused to give them money. So I took it to my next errand (the library) & made a donation to the Friends of the Library. instead.
People outside the US can send their blocks & a fat quarter & I will pick up the postage for the return. Obviously, the address should be included as well but frankly the international packages have never been a problem. One person in the US asked if she could also pay by fat quarter as that was more convenient & I said sure (& then made the offer to the whole group), but it never happened. I think the swapper realized that the cost of postage within the US was rarely even half the cost of a fat quarter.
So there it is. More than you ever (thought you) needed to know about how to send a set of quilt blocks for swapping. Not really much about the current block though. Sorry about that.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Your flag decal won't get you into heaven anymore
I have said before I am not the world's biggest fan of people who fly the confederate flag. Whatever I have estimated your intelligence to be, a flag decal on your vehicle will cut it in half. One of the things that put me off the tea party very early on was the diatribe about how the US wasn't for her people anymore & those people were sporting confederate flags. Imagine if you will a group of protesters in France complaining that their government was disrespecting them as they flew the Union Jack; absurd, yes? Then imagine England's succession had not been successful.
SIDEBAR: When A was teaching at a small eastern university, many years ago...how many you ask? Well I can say exactly, it was a week before the presidential election that removed Jimmy Carter & put Ronald Reagan in the White House. More to the point of this story, it was the tail end (although we did not know it) of the Iran hostage crisis & pretty much the only americans in Iran were hostages. That week, A looked out his window & saw a group of Iranian students protesting & carrying signs. Their signs said "America, get out of Iran". Two things struck him. The first was, of course, how stoopid could they be & the second was that not one single person was interfering with them while they marched around on a busy college campus. No one was harassing them or cursing or throwing rocks. He likes to think they were disappointed.
Where were we? Oh right, the streets of Paris complaining that the French govt was ill-treating British people who didn't want to be there & had tried to get away before & were now trying to take over.
This whole picture is lost on most confederate flag sporting types. They don't need you to tell them their history, after all it is THEIR history & they know it well. Lately I have taken to asking questions about the confederacy of people sporting this flag: name a single member of the Confederate States of America Cabinet (I used to ask them to name two, thinking Jefferson Davis was a gimme, but turns out he is not). I do not ask that they stick with the original members, which opens up the field a teeny bit. One old guy hung in there insisting that Stonewall Jackson had to be one of them (he wasn't), but I said I will give you the point IF you can tell me where the battle that gave him his nickname took place (& you have to do better than "near a stone wall", which while probably correct is not how the nickname came about anyhow); this one battle also has two well known names & I would have taken either of them in lieu of a state/territory name, but he could name none. When I told him one of the names he was QUITE INSISTENT that that could not be correct because that battle was fought against indians (yikes). Finally, the old guy really didn't like hearing General Jackson actually did not die in battle, he died of pneumonia in the weeks following battle field surgery required because he was (accidentally) shot by Confederate troops.
Back in the days when I thought up this question I naturally assumed that one person with such a flag decal would be able to answer that one question (they never have), so I thought up a second question: Name the chairs of the Confederate States of America Cabinet. I will give you President & Vice-President, there are six more. One of them, my personal favorite, was largely honorary as the field it was intended to oversee was performed by the Union officer of same as the Confederacy had no....can you guess? If you can name that one I will give you credit for the whole she-bang.
I have never gotten to the second question (never mind the extra credit option of the second question) because people who do work on our place have stopped wearing confederate flag t-shirts when they come here & they avoid my eye if they happen to run into me in the grocery store while in such garb. Mostly they are nice people, the ones I know anyhow, who have latched on to that idea the way a drowning man latches onto Jesus; they have filled it with what they need it to be which bears a passing but not detailed resemblance to what it was.
Today, in 1864, citizens of two confederate states formalized plans to rejoin the Union. They were Tennessee & Louisiana. In less than five years, all the confederate states would again have representation in the US Congress. Say what you will, this does not sound like the behavior of a persecution government.
SIDEBAR: When A was teaching at a small eastern university, many years ago...how many you ask? Well I can say exactly, it was a week before the presidential election that removed Jimmy Carter & put Ronald Reagan in the White House. More to the point of this story, it was the tail end (although we did not know it) of the Iran hostage crisis & pretty much the only americans in Iran were hostages. That week, A looked out his window & saw a group of Iranian students protesting & carrying signs. Their signs said "America, get out of Iran". Two things struck him. The first was, of course, how stoopid could they be & the second was that not one single person was interfering with them while they marched around on a busy college campus. No one was harassing them or cursing or throwing rocks. He likes to think they were disappointed.
Where were we? Oh right, the streets of Paris complaining that the French govt was ill-treating British people who didn't want to be there & had tried to get away before & were now trying to take over.
This whole picture is lost on most confederate flag sporting types. They don't need you to tell them their history, after all it is THEIR history & they know it well. Lately I have taken to asking questions about the confederacy of people sporting this flag: name a single member of the Confederate States of America Cabinet (I used to ask them to name two, thinking Jefferson Davis was a gimme, but turns out he is not). I do not ask that they stick with the original members, which opens up the field a teeny bit. One old guy hung in there insisting that Stonewall Jackson had to be one of them (he wasn't), but I said I will give you the point IF you can tell me where the battle that gave him his nickname took place (& you have to do better than "near a stone wall", which while probably correct is not how the nickname came about anyhow); this one battle also has two well known names & I would have taken either of them in lieu of a state/territory name, but he could name none. When I told him one of the names he was QUITE INSISTENT that that could not be correct because that battle was fought against indians (yikes). Finally, the old guy really didn't like hearing General Jackson actually did not die in battle, he died of pneumonia in the weeks following battle field surgery required because he was (accidentally) shot by Confederate troops.
Back in the days when I thought up this question I naturally assumed that one person with such a flag decal would be able to answer that one question (they never have), so I thought up a second question: Name the chairs of the Confederate States of America Cabinet. I will give you President & Vice-President, there are six more. One of them, my personal favorite, was largely honorary as the field it was intended to oversee was performed by the Union officer of same as the Confederacy had no....can you guess? If you can name that one I will give you credit for the whole she-bang.
I have never gotten to the second question (never mind the extra credit option of the second question) because people who do work on our place have stopped wearing confederate flag t-shirts when they come here & they avoid my eye if they happen to run into me in the grocery store while in such garb. Mostly they are nice people, the ones I know anyhow, who have latched on to that idea the way a drowning man latches onto Jesus; they have filled it with what they need it to be which bears a passing but not detailed resemblance to what it was.
Today, in 1864, citizens of two confederate states formalized plans to rejoin the Union. They were Tennessee & Louisiana. In less than five years, all the confederate states would again have representation in the US Congress. Say what you will, this does not sound like the behavior of a persecution government.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The internet revisited
A few days ago, I referred to information on-line not always being strictly accurate when I google myself, but since I don't google myself all that often I had some trouble finding any actual inaccuracies other than my middle initial (although I did find quite a bit that was out-of-date, some of it more than 25 years out of date which was odd what with there being no commercial internet in those days). Later that week a friend of mine sent me a kind of marketing profile. In short, her firm purchases lists, based on things hundreds of people have purchased on-line, searched on free sites (google, facebook), etc. By working backwards, it is possible to make generalizations about me based on what lists I am on. I admit I enjoyed this tremendously.
There has been a lot, A LOT of talk recently about privacy on-line & I confess I think most of it is bunk. I mean, honestly people did you really think facebook just existed for your convenience? How do you think they keep the lights on? You want your friends to see pictures of your new baby but you're worried the whole world might be watching, well, have you considered sticking them in an envelope & putting a stamp on it? Before you say "that costs too much" or "that is inconvenient" consider the cost &/or inconvenience of getting those pictures back once they have been used to endorse a product or political candidate or whatever because there they were, free for the taking, where you never meant to leave them. See how that works?
Anyway. So this is what I learned about myself:
I like dogs (yes), dachshunds specifically (indeed), also horses (yes), but no mention of cats, cockatiels, cows or any other animal
I have a child (never), in fact I have children (no), at least one of them is in school (still no)
I like food (yes), I eat steak (never, but this might have been confusion about "cow" themed searches)
I am married (yes), I am divorced (no); I have been married (yes), I have been divorced (no)
I read (yes), I read a great deal (yes), I am a high volume reader (Okay we get it, she reads!)
I enjoy movies (yes), foreign movies (yes), indie films (yes), comedies, dramas, classic films (yes, yes, yes & yes), I prefer to watch movies at home (I do) rather than a movie theater (that's right)
I enjoy the outdoors (uhm, Okay), I enjoy camping (absolutely not)
I enjoy traveling (no), I wear make-up (not often),
In the past year I have given money to NPR (yes), PETA (no), a political party (never)
In the next year I will make an electronics purchase (well, A will), an automotive purchase (does an oil change count?), plan a vacation getaway (I doubt it)
I am a protestant (never), I am religiously observant (ditto), I am deceased (not yet)
& my personal favorite: my estimated annual income is between $0 & $500k (how is this useful?)
Just for laughs, the same person who sent me this looked up that guy we both went to school with currently doing time for stealing cars. Turns out that while they knew quite a bit about him, they had no idea he had a criminal record. Actually, they probably don't care whether or not he is in jail so long as they can market stuff to him while he is in there. I only just now thought to wonder if HE will be making an automotive purchase in 2012.
There has been a lot, A LOT of talk recently about privacy on-line & I confess I think most of it is bunk. I mean, honestly people did you really think facebook just existed for your convenience? How do you think they keep the lights on? You want your friends to see pictures of your new baby but you're worried the whole world might be watching, well, have you considered sticking them in an envelope & putting a stamp on it? Before you say "that costs too much" or "that is inconvenient" consider the cost &/or inconvenience of getting those pictures back once they have been used to endorse a product or political candidate or whatever because there they were, free for the taking, where you never meant to leave them. See how that works?
Anyway. So this is what I learned about myself:
I like dogs (yes), dachshunds specifically (indeed), also horses (yes), but no mention of cats, cockatiels, cows or any other animal
I have a child (never), in fact I have children (no), at least one of them is in school (still no)
I like food (yes), I eat steak (never, but this might have been confusion about "cow" themed searches)
I am married (yes), I am divorced (no); I have been married (yes), I have been divorced (no)
I read (yes), I read a great deal (yes), I am a high volume reader (Okay we get it, she reads!)
I enjoy movies (yes), foreign movies (yes), indie films (yes), comedies, dramas, classic films (yes, yes, yes & yes), I prefer to watch movies at home (I do) rather than a movie theater (that's right)
I enjoy the outdoors (uhm, Okay), I enjoy camping (absolutely not)
I enjoy traveling (no), I wear make-up (not often),
In the past year I have given money to NPR (yes), PETA (no), a political party (never)
In the next year I will make an electronics purchase (well, A will), an automotive purchase (does an oil change count?), plan a vacation getaway (I doubt it)
I am a protestant (never), I am religiously observant (ditto), I am deceased (not yet)
& my personal favorite: my estimated annual income is between $0 & $500k (how is this useful?)
Just for laughs, the same person who sent me this looked up that guy we both went to school with currently doing time for stealing cars. Turns out that while they knew quite a bit about him, they had no idea he had a criminal record. Actually, they probably don't care whether or not he is in jail so long as they can market stuff to him while he is in there. I only just now thought to wonder if HE will be making an automotive purchase in 2012.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Dear Mom
Bonjour!
Just got back from the shipping out a package(did you ever find that Stockard Channing reading Why I Live at the PO?). It contains:
That really is it. Please let me know when the package arrives.
Je m'appelle M*******
Just got back from the shipping out a package(did you ever find that Stockard Channing reading Why I Live at the PO?). It contains:
- The promised quilt for the new daughter of your ex-son-in-law. If you could trim the edges & sew up the binding (thank you!) & give it to your grandaughter to give as a gift to her new 1/2-sister that would be lovely. I cannot for the life of me remember Rhymes-with-Schmuck's current wife's real name & I cannot very well address a note to her as Biological-Clock-Ticking so if you could somehow communicate "machine washable gentle, tumble dry briefly & then lie flat" I would be grateful.
- A bright yellow railroad-looking spike made of plastic. Remember Crazy R*****, the one who was so obsessed with her doorknobs being thoroughly cleaned, but cheated on her husband in the back seats of strangers' cars? Well, her dogs were just peeing ANYWHERE in the yard & she got one of these & then they just started peeing there & she was able to keep them out of her roses. Yes, the dogs would lift a leg on the only thing in the yard with thorns; they were as crazy as she was. I thought if you put this in a spot along the sidewalk the walked-dogs might use it instead of your hosta (I always want to say Hofstra).
- Your quilt block swap swap blocks from JUNE. Yes, I am a lousy swap-keeper.
- A collection of work-force motivational posters from just before WWI thru to just after WWII. The Harn has an exhibit & I had been wanting to go for a while, but now that C****** is a grown-up with a job, she only has enough time for me to take her to lunch & more recently buy her a crock pot. So I had to wait for a rainy Sunday when A could not work on the greenhouse & then we went. His favorite was the long winded way of saying "keep it brief", but I would not want to pick a favorite for you so we got you the flip-book. We both could picture it in your house, although we could not agree where. I would have gotten another for L***** van A***** but they only had one more & it was mangled.
- Two (2) Lopi sweaters. One you made me in college. It still fits (although the sleeves were always short) but it occurred to me it would also fit one of your grandaughters. Tell A****** it is supposed to have 3/4- length sleeves. The other you made for M****** U***** when we were dating & I think it might fit D***.
- Gator grocery bags for yourself or that rabid Gator fan G***** hangs out with.
- A scarf that needs blocking, but the color is one you like. Way-back-when I was showing C****** how to choose increases & decreases for better shaping & made it up quick & put it aside. Do you want it?
That really is it. Please let me know when the package arrives.
Je m'appelle M*******
Friday, July 3, 2009
UPS tracking # 1Z 926 EW6 03 0130 3812
On Monday (I was not home but V** was here), a UPS truck pulled into the driveway. The driver never got out of the truck (that she saw) but left a package in a plastic bag at our front gate. The driver never came to the door to make the delivery, did not even leave the package on the porch where it would have been safe from the weather. When I got home I would have driven right past it if V** had not told me it was there.
On Monday, Wednesday & again today I called UPS & each time it has been the same headache from scratch: they have no record of my previous calls. I am calling because the package is not for us. Although the recipient's last name begins with the same letter as our last name that is where it stops being the same. It is not for anyone on our street; it has a clear address with a different street. It is not for our number on this other street; as with the last names the first number of the four digit street number is the same as ours, but that is it.
Under ordinary circumstances I would say this was a very avoidable stoopid mistake. Wrong street, wrong house, wrong name & any of it could have been avoided if not for the wrong driver. But it actually gets worse: it turns out UPS has no system (or functioning system) for reporting this kind of mistake. Each time I call it is like I have never called before.
In the grand scheme of who has the right to be pissed, it is not me. I am not the shipper nor am I the recipient & I suspect that is exactly what is making it so hard to fix this problem. I am just sick of this pile of garbage (it has been raining on & off over the last four days) waiting for pick-up at my front gate. Last night I dreamed there were kittens in the package which has made me more upset than I should be.
When I take a step back though I notice two things:
1. what do people have against the post office? Sure, they do not have those crazy slick scanning gizmos , but then again this package was delivered to the correct address four days ago according to those same gizmos so what does that matter? Besides, when I go to my local post office, the post-people know me. By name. & they deliver mail to the house almost every day mail is delivered. Want to know how many misdelivered bundles we have had in the past year? Two. If that seems like a lot do the math: 52 weeks x 6 days a week = 312 total delivery days a year & 310 went without a hitch. If UPS made 15 deliveries to my house last year I will be surprised but lets say that they did: 15 deliveries & 14 were OKay. Do I really need to do all the percentage calculations to show who has the better track record?
2. the other bell that kept ringing in my head was the universal health care bell. I am tired tired tired of people complaining that the government will squeeze out private health care providers. If that were true other government institutions would not have private competition (like oh, say the post office). Private firms might have to step up their game. OR they could make like UPS & fake it.
//As I began this post this morning, I did finally get a call from the local UPS office that they had indeed received all my complaints & a driver would be out "shortly". She asked if there was any reason the driver might have trouble finding our house. I said that would depend: if it was the same driver as last time he could not find the front door when he was parked in the driveway. As of the time stamp on this post the package was still out there.
On Monday, Wednesday & again today I called UPS & each time it has been the same headache from scratch: they have no record of my previous calls. I am calling because the package is not for us. Although the recipient's last name begins with the same letter as our last name that is where it stops being the same. It is not for anyone on our street; it has a clear address with a different street. It is not for our number on this other street; as with the last names the first number of the four digit street number is the same as ours, but that is it.
Under ordinary circumstances I would say this was a very avoidable stoopid mistake. Wrong street, wrong house, wrong name & any of it could have been avoided if not for the wrong driver. But it actually gets worse: it turns out UPS has no system (or functioning system) for reporting this kind of mistake. Each time I call it is like I have never called before.
In the grand scheme of who has the right to be pissed, it is not me. I am not the shipper nor am I the recipient & I suspect that is exactly what is making it so hard to fix this problem. I am just sick of this pile of garbage (it has been raining on & off over the last four days) waiting for pick-up at my front gate. Last night I dreamed there were kittens in the package which has made me more upset than I should be.
When I take a step back though I notice two things:
1. what do people have against the post office? Sure, they do not have those crazy slick scanning gizmos , but then again this package was delivered to the correct address four days ago according to those same gizmos so what does that matter? Besides, when I go to my local post office, the post-people know me. By name. & they deliver mail to the house almost every day mail is delivered. Want to know how many misdelivered bundles we have had in the past year? Two. If that seems like a lot do the math: 52 weeks x 6 days a week = 312 total delivery days a year & 310 went without a hitch. If UPS made 15 deliveries to my house last year I will be surprised but lets say that they did: 15 deliveries & 14 were OKay. Do I really need to do all the percentage calculations to show who has the better track record?
2. the other bell that kept ringing in my head was the universal health care bell. I am tired tired tired of people complaining that the government will squeeze out private health care providers. If that were true other government institutions would not have private competition (like oh, say the post office). Private firms might have to step up their game. OR they could make like UPS & fake it.
//As I began this post this morning, I did finally get a call from the local UPS office that they had indeed received all my complaints & a driver would be out "shortly". She asked if there was any reason the driver might have trouble finding our house. I said that would depend: if it was the same driver as last time he could not find the front door when he was parked in the driveway. As of the time stamp on this post the package was still out there.
Friday, May 1, 2009
The chick is in the mail
I have ordered my (baby) hens to arrive the week of June 8. & I still spent much of March & April cruising slowly past the peep bins at all the local feed stores.
I ordered the three french hens, as threatened & yet, there is something about mongrel/mystery chicks. Their little chirpchirpchirp draws me in. Still, I managed to turn down an offer of FREE TO GOOD HOME chicks. Actually I made the 'to good home' part up. I do not think they care, they just have too many. Unfortunately the chicks are the result of unknown parentage & we do not know what might be X & what might be Y. No one will know until the boys start beating up the girls... & the other boys who may or may not still look just like the girls. There probably is a way to sex them, but without knowing the contributing parent on either side it is hard to guess what that way might be.
So I did very well keeping my hands on my shopping cart & not reaching for the mystery birds. I kept reminding myself, my chicks are in the mail. Or they will be by the beginning of next month.
& then L**** e-mailed that she bought some birds she really did not have room for & thy made more. They made more birds, not more room. W***** has agreed o take t rooster & adult hens to the farm where they can live out their days in the barns, doing general insect control, but the babies, the babies will need good homes.
This means, of course that I will get a few mystery birds (mystery gender, L**** knows what kinds of birds she has, but alas they are breeds not easily sexable until maturity) after having resisted so well for so long. Ah well, at least it is warm out & they will not need the lamp for long. After all, I have more birds due in just over a month.
I ordered the three french hens, as threatened & yet, there is something about mongrel/mystery chicks. Their little chirpchirpchirp draws me in. Still, I managed to turn down an offer of FREE TO GOOD HOME chicks. Actually I made the 'to good home' part up. I do not think they care, they just have too many. Unfortunately the chicks are the result of unknown parentage & we do not know what might be X & what might be Y. No one will know until the boys start beating up the girls... & the other boys who may or may not still look just like the girls. There probably is a way to sex them, but without knowing the contributing parent on either side it is hard to guess what that way might be.
So I did very well keeping my hands on my shopping cart & not reaching for the mystery birds. I kept reminding myself, my chicks are in the mail. Or they will be by the beginning of next month.
& then L**** e-mailed that she bought some birds she really did not have room for & thy made more. They made more birds, not more room. W***** has agreed o take t rooster & adult hens to the farm where they can live out their days in the barns, doing general insect control, but the babies, the babies will need good homes.
This means, of course that I will get a few mystery birds (mystery gender, L**** knows what kinds of birds she has, but alas they are breeds not easily sexable until maturity) after having resisted so well for so long. Ah well, at least it is warm out & they will not need the lamp for long. After all, I have more birds due in just over a month.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
I still worry about the post office
I DO worry about the post office. I have been trying to think of things to mail, with more frequency. I know this sounds like 'all talk' from a person who has stopped mailing birthday cards to people with birthdays in the double digits & Christmas cards all together.
About that, really when did birthdays become this THING? I used to be stunned, Stunned when co-workers would tell me that would not be in the office because they always took their birthdays as a personal day (my favorite was a roommate who thought I should take the day as well so we could celebrate; I celebrated by getting paid for my hourly job). Everyone is entitled to use their personal days & everyone should take them but really, some generic recurring day every year? The type-setter I worked with who always took Opening Day at Yankee Stadium every year made more sense & I think Major League Baseball is a scam. I was born without the birthday chip, I guess.
Sooooo, the post office. Not just to benefit the post office (I get something out of too), I organized a quilt block swap & have been really happy with how things went. Due this past week were yellow & blue w/optional white, 6.5" unfinished 9-patches of any kind. We had one person who has a different understanding of yellow & another who really needs a new ruler, but mostly it was OKay. & the post office made, by my guesstimation in the ballpark of $40. It is not much, but it is more than if we had not done the swap.
The swap went so well, actually we have another pending (due the end of April). 6.5" unfinished/6" finished) 4 patch of any kind. The colors are tone -on-tone (light blue with dark blue OR dark green with light green, etc. with white). In theory you will use at least three different fabrics but sometimes the light & dark (& white) can be found in fussy0cuts of the same fabric.
If you are interested send me an e-mail or leave a message here & I will send the complete info (where to mail, deadline etc.).
For those of you who think I am insane, the US Post Office employs approximately 685,000 people, most of them here in the US (there are a handful of employees associated with embassies & actions overseas but by & large this is domestic employment & throughout the country. The post office has large centralized hubs, but employees are spread throughout every major & most minor cities in this country). By comparison, GM (the largest employment-wise of the Big 3) employs approximately 266,000 people worldwide. I could not find the statistic for how many employed within the US, but there are at least of this worldwide count 20,000 in Ontario, Canada. I could not locate anything other than projections for GM's employment numbers in Mexico. I cannot help it, I am more worried about the US Post Office than I am GM & I think maybe other people should be, too.
& yes, I do realize one 20-30 person quilt block swap every other month is not life & death for my litle local post office, but something is happening down there; they have gotten so busy they have added extra pick-ups all five days a week, extended their window hours to 4:30pm weekdays & are getting ready for seed, chick, & other farm-type mailing that should hit the first week of March & continue to the end of May. Family farms are doing what they can for their local post office, are you?
About that, really when did birthdays become this THING? I used to be stunned, Stunned when co-workers would tell me that would not be in the office because they always took their birthdays as a personal day (my favorite was a roommate who thought I should take the day as well so we could celebrate; I celebrated by getting paid for my hourly job). Everyone is entitled to use their personal days & everyone should take them but really, some generic recurring day every year? The type-setter I worked with who always took Opening Day at Yankee Stadium every year made more sense & I think Major League Baseball is a scam. I was born without the birthday chip, I guess.
Sooooo, the post office. Not just to benefit the post office (I get something out of too), I organized a quilt block swap & have been really happy with how things went. Due this past week were yellow & blue w/optional white, 6.5" unfinished 9-patches of any kind. We had one person who has a different understanding of yellow & another who really needs a new ruler, but mostly it was OKay. & the post office made, by my guesstimation in the ballpark of $40. It is not much, but it is more than if we had not done the swap.
The swap went so well, actually we have another pending (due the end of April). 6.5" unfinished/6" finished) 4 patch of any kind. The colors are tone -on-tone (light blue with dark blue OR dark green with light green, etc. with white). In theory you will use at least three different fabrics but sometimes the light & dark (& white) can be found in fussy0cuts of the same fabric.If you are interested send me an e-mail or leave a message here & I will send the complete info (where to mail, deadline etc.).
For those of you who think I am insane, the US Post Office employs approximately 685,000 people, most of them here in the US (there are a handful of employees associated with embassies & actions overseas but by & large this is domestic employment & throughout the country. The post office has large centralized hubs, but employees are spread throughout every major & most minor cities in this country). By comparison, GM (the largest employment-wise of the Big 3) employs approximately 266,000 people worldwide. I could not find the statistic for how many employed within the US, but there are at least of this worldwide count 20,000 in Ontario, Canada. I could not locate anything other than projections for GM's employment numbers in Mexico. I cannot help it, I am more worried about the US Post Office than I am GM & I think maybe other people should be, too.
& yes, I do realize one 20-30 person quilt block swap every other month is not life & death for my litle local post office, but something is happening down there; they have gotten so busy they have added extra pick-ups all five days a week, extended their window hours to 4:30pm weekdays & are getting ready for seed, chick, & other farm-type mailing that should hit the first week of March & continue to the end of May. Family farms are doing what they can for their local post office, are you?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
All G*d's chillun got shoes
I admit I have had a morbid fascination with the fate of the Iraqi journalist/shoe thrower. I lurk on the BBC readers to get the latest info (US news seems to have dropped the story entirely).
I also spend way too much time thinking about the US Postal Service. I am a big, big fan of mail that arrives by human being, at my door (well the end of my driveway, anyhow). One of the perks, & there are MANY, of living on a rural route is that our mail-people know us. That's right, we have different carriers, different days & they have learned the routines of our home (it is OKay if you pull into the front yard & turn around, the doorbell does not work, the dog wearing the t-shirt that says "AMY" was actually named Amy so if you looked at her & say "Why is that dog wearing a shirt that says Amy?" she would think you are calling her & try to get into your vehicle). These are the kinds of things only locals can know. & people who read this blog.
& I know that the Post Office needs help. Mail-to-the-door has gone out of fashion & it is not coming back. Even when we need something tangible, overnight delivery has spoiled us all. But still, for less than $.50 you can send an envelope anywhere in the US (continental or otherwise). I remember once my brother mailed me a piece of pizza & it got delivered. Let me be clear, he did not put it in a box, he did not put it in an envelope, he wrote my address on the bottom crust & dropped it in the mail. & I got it, petrified pepperoni & all.
They will not do this anymore. I am not criticizing; I am not sure they ever should have. What they do do though is employ lots & lots of people in every community around this country. The Post Office has not outsourced. They provide pretty good health coverage & if the work is boring as hell, well have you ever tried useless ranching? For 50+ days I have been watching an emu not move. I was excited when he blinked & I don't get paid at all. My health coverage is pretty good, though, but I digress.
Thirdly (there is a point, I swear) I have a lot of shoes that do not fit anymore. Actually, I have a lot of left shoes that do not fit anymore. They all got stretched out from that brace I had to wear winter '07 thru spring '08 & now the right shoes fit, but the left ones keep flopping off. Unless I wear an extra pair of socks on my left foot. Which looks very very odd. Especially with shorts.
So, I am thinking of mailing my shoes to Crawford, Texas. Or maybe the Bush Legacy Project, if only I could find an address (OKay I admit I did not look too hard). I would pay $9 for a t-shirt that said I wish I could throw my shoes at GWBush, so why not pay the postage & help the post office? Also, what else can I do with those shoes? Except I cannot find a mailing address for the western white house either, only Crawford, Texas.
I also spend way too much time thinking about the US Postal Service. I am a big, big fan of mail that arrives by human being, at my door (well the end of my driveway, anyhow). One of the perks, & there are MANY, of living on a rural route is that our mail-people know us. That's right, we have different carriers, different days & they have learned the routines of our home (it is OKay if you pull into the front yard & turn around, the doorbell does not work, the dog wearing the t-shirt that says "AMY" was actually named Amy so if you looked at her & say "Why is that dog wearing a shirt that says Amy?" she would think you are calling her & try to get into your vehicle). These are the kinds of things only locals can know. & people who read this blog.
& I know that the Post Office needs help. Mail-to-the-door has gone out of fashion & it is not coming back. Even when we need something tangible, overnight delivery has spoiled us all. But still, for less than $.50 you can send an envelope anywhere in the US (continental or otherwise). I remember once my brother mailed me a piece of pizza & it got delivered. Let me be clear, he did not put it in a box, he did not put it in an envelope, he wrote my address on the bottom crust & dropped it in the mail. & I got it, petrified pepperoni & all.
They will not do this anymore. I am not criticizing; I am not sure they ever should have. What they do do though is employ lots & lots of people in every community around this country. The Post Office has not outsourced. They provide pretty good health coverage & if the work is boring as hell, well have you ever tried useless ranching? For 50+ days I have been watching an emu not move. I was excited when he blinked & I don't get paid at all. My health coverage is pretty good, though, but I digress.
Thirdly (there is a point, I swear) I have a lot of shoes that do not fit anymore. Actually, I have a lot of left shoes that do not fit anymore. They all got stretched out from that brace I had to wear winter '07 thru spring '08 & now the right shoes fit, but the left ones keep flopping off. Unless I wear an extra pair of socks on my left foot. Which looks very very odd. Especially with shorts.
So, I am thinking of mailing my shoes to Crawford, Texas. Or maybe the Bush Legacy Project, if only I could find an address (OKay I admit I did not look too hard). I would pay $9 for a t-shirt that said I wish I could throw my shoes at GWBush, so why not pay the postage & help the post office? Also, what else can I do with those shoes? Except I cannot find a mailing address for the western white house either, only Crawford, Texas.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Why I stopped making big family dinners
The thing about my In-Laws is they are from another country. And they are everything that means. They talk funny & eat strange foods & most of all know 1,000 people who all talk like they do & get sentimental about that food.
Food is often a stumbling block for us. It is not that they keep kosher, they do not. I have a suspicion I know the food laws better than they do. If they did wake up one morning & decide to keep kosher, that would be probably easier than the system currently in place.
The first time I made dinner for A's parents & aunt & uncle, I learned his uncle was a diet-controlled diabetic about three hours before they showed up. Apparently it was a secret so no one was permitted to discuss it. Everyone knew, of course, but it did not occur to them that I might not.
When they arrived, I had just returned from the grocery store & was only starting to prepare a second dinner. It turned out not to matter much: I had mentioned in passing that I needed the oil changed on my car & A, being action man, decided that dinner-delay was a perfect opportunity to do that chore. I was just glad I was able to get to the store & back before he began to pull out the filter & oil pan. Sometimes I toy with the idea of telling him some chore that needs doing during sex (telling him during sex, not the other thing), but I am too afraid.
The 2nd-to-last-time I made Thanksgiving dinner, I culled through the menu, eliminating anything that had caused offense previously (sweet potatoes), added what had been demanded when it was missing (bread; I had thought stuffing would be an adequate 'bread course'. It was not) & the only comment on the food I can recall is my father-in-law extolling at length about how much sweet potatoes revolted him. Those of you reading closely might have caught that I did not actually serve sweet potatoes. Their absence though, was not enough. They had been there the previous year & the memory lingered...?
I am sure everyone said thank you. I do not remember it, but they must have; they are not cave-dwellers, after all. They just have no idea how much their complaining makes me want to send them to a soup kitchen next time.
Some of their complaints start innocently enough: A's mother was on a strict heart-healthy for years & unlike his uncle, everyone was allowed to know. This meant, however that a separate portion of many dishes had to be made just for her (it really was that strict). I am still not sure how, but when they saw this, other family members decided that they would have preferred to have been offered a choice as well. Now we take them to restaurants.
In fairness, some of their food completely grosses me out as well. Not just veal (the idea of which repels me, although I did avoid talking about it, I just declined a serving). But also other traditional dishes, like mămăligă. I accept that thousands of people love this dish; I think it looks & tastes like hot vomit. A's mother has a special variation: she stirs in feta making it....hot vomit with cheese. I know A misses it & would love to have some; he can go to his mother's for that. Although, they tend to take us to restaurants as well...
//I have been reading quite a bit of Eudora Welty lately. Does it show?
Food is often a stumbling block for us. It is not that they keep kosher, they do not. I have a suspicion I know the food laws better than they do. If they did wake up one morning & decide to keep kosher, that would be probably easier than the system currently in place.
The first time I made dinner for A's parents & aunt & uncle, I learned his uncle was a diet-controlled diabetic about three hours before they showed up. Apparently it was a secret so no one was permitted to discuss it. Everyone knew, of course, but it did not occur to them that I might not.
When they arrived, I had just returned from the grocery store & was only starting to prepare a second dinner. It turned out not to matter much: I had mentioned in passing that I needed the oil changed on my car & A, being action man, decided that dinner-delay was a perfect opportunity to do that chore. I was just glad I was able to get to the store & back before he began to pull out the filter & oil pan. Sometimes I toy with the idea of telling him some chore that needs doing during sex (telling him during sex, not the other thing), but I am too afraid.
The 2nd-to-last-time I made Thanksgiving dinner, I culled through the menu, eliminating anything that had caused offense previously (sweet potatoes), added what had been demanded when it was missing (bread; I had thought stuffing would be an adequate 'bread course'. It was not) & the only comment on the food I can recall is my father-in-law extolling at length about how much sweet potatoes revolted him. Those of you reading closely might have caught that I did not actually serve sweet potatoes. Their absence though, was not enough. They had been there the previous year & the memory lingered...?
I am sure everyone said thank you. I do not remember it, but they must have; they are not cave-dwellers, after all. They just have no idea how much their complaining makes me want to send them to a soup kitchen next time.
Some of their complaints start innocently enough: A's mother was on a strict heart-healthy for years & unlike his uncle, everyone was allowed to know. This meant, however that a separate portion of many dishes had to be made just for her (it really was that strict). I am still not sure how, but when they saw this, other family members decided that they would have preferred to have been offered a choice as well. Now we take them to restaurants.
In fairness, some of their food completely grosses me out as well. Not just veal (the idea of which repels me, although I did avoid talking about it, I just declined a serving). But also other traditional dishes, like mămăligă. I accept that thousands of people love this dish; I think it looks & tastes like hot vomit. A's mother has a special variation: she stirs in feta making it....hot vomit with cheese. I know A misses it & would love to have some; he can go to his mother's for that. Although, they tend to take us to restaurants as well...
//I have been reading quite a bit of Eudora Welty lately. Does it show?
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