Laundering Money

Laundromats are expensive!  Our dryer conked out on Saturday, so I spent many, many quarters “doing the wash” at the local Laundromat on Sunday.  I could've spent a month in an arcade with the number of quarters I shelled out.  (Do arcades still exist?)  My wife would have joined me, but she was helping friends with an estate sale this weekend.

I was chaperone-less at the Laundromat!  Something odd was bound to happen.

At first I was alone there.  Except for the place being run down, things were going well.  Then a middle-aged man came in.  We nodded acknowledgement of each other and went about minding our own business.  Perfect!  Then he decided he had to explain why he was at there.  You see, he’s renovating his house and WOULD own a washer/dryer by now, but he got drunk and bought a brand new pick-up truck.  Because of that he couldn’t afford the appliances (“Damn that dealership!”).  Why didn't the salesman stop him???

Soon he brought his dog into the place.  It was a pretty dog, part Husky, part German Shepherd.  I let the dog smell my hand, pet him, and then we were friends.  I’m not sure why, but the man then tied the poor dog to a post outside, in front of the Laundromat.   I felt bad for the pup.  So after I hung my dress shirts in the car, I stopped by to say hello.  Somehow the dog had already forgotten me—and thankfully the leash held when he lunged for me.  I felt teeth closing on my hand as I pulled back.

Funny story (that I didn't hear until after the near bite), the dog’s previous owner had trained him to attack everyone.  I’ve seen other people leave their dogs tied up in front of little shops (and I don’t like the practice).  But who would leave THAT dog alone out on a sidewalk???

Who?  Well, the only things I know for sure about the guy is that he lives by "the dump" and he's not a racist.  How do I know that?  Because he told me 7 or 8 times.  Then he'd launch into one complaint or another about Obama.  You'll be surprised, but he also mentioned Hitler a time or two.  I made the mistake of responding to some of his crazier crapola...some things are hard to ignore...at the same time, I know I was wasting my breath.

Did it really take the clothes forever to dry or did it just feel like forever???

Have you had any interesting (or annoying) experiences in a Laundromat?  (Next time I'm going to the nicer one that's farther away--no one talks to you there.)

PS - Full disclosure, I too have complaints about our President.  Hopefully not crazy ones.
PS II - Why does spell check keep capitalizing "Laundromat"?

"Zany to the Max"

"We're Animani, totally insaney..."  Do any of you remember Animaniacs???

Our dog, Bandit, reminds me of that show almost every day.  He uses a mini-howl to get my attention when he decides I should see the toy at my feet (and throw it for him).  The mini-howl has the same inflection as "Hellooo nurse!"  Sort of a "ha-ruuuu-ru".  If you've seen Animaniacs, you can probably imagine what he sounds like.  I don't know if it's a Border Collie thing or not. Maybe he watched Animaniac re-runs as a puppy and thinks he's one of them (he is the right colors).   :)

That got me thinking about other old (but not really old) cartoons:  The Tick; Doctor Katz; Invader Zim; Daria (not that I watched it :); Pinky and the Brain (Brain did a great Orson Welles impression); Space Ghost Coast to Coast.  Any of them sound familiar???  They're not classics like Bugs Bunny, but they were funny.   

Watching cartoons is normal, right?  It's not weird that I'm pleased when my daughter decides to watch Phineas and Ferb (right????). 

Have a great weekend--it's Inaugural Weekend in the US.  Our President is actually being sworn in on Sunday (January 20th, as required by our Constitution), but the big, public event is on Monday.


PS - The Tick was crime fighting superhero.  One of the other characters on the show was named  Die Fledermaus (a spoof of Batman).   One of my favorite lines from the show was by the city's mayor "Whenever I turn on the Die Fledermaus signal, he disconnects his telephone and leaves town for a few days."  He was a cowardly crime fighter (who liked to read fashion magazines).

Opinions vs Facts

To you, Rocky Road may be the best ice cream flavor on Earth.  Vanilla out-sells every other flavor.  But on the question of which one is “the best”, Rocky Road can be your #1.  That’s your opinion. 

Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius).  That’s a fact.  If for some reason you think water boils at 90 degrees Anything, that’s not an opinion.  That’s a lack of knowledge. 

We’re allowed to express our opinions (whether they're informed or uninformed).  You can say Rocky Road is the best.  You can't (correctly) say it’s the best selling.  That would be an error (or a lie).

Even in the days of the interweb, it can be difficult to know the “truth” about some things because there are so many opinions (and lies) masquerading as facts.  It’s really important to know the difference.  But it’s not always easy.  We don’t know what we don’t know.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion.  But "opinions" that are in conflict with facts are not valid.  In fact, they can be dangerous.  Based on information received from a doctor (a crazy-#%$ doctor), a US Congressman stated that in cases of "legitimate rape" a woman won't get pregnant because the female body "has a way of shutting things down" down there. 

The nutcase thought he was stating a fact!!! 

That's an extreme and inexcusable example, but it shows what can happen if we keep our world small and only listen to people we like or people in our own communities (churches, whatever) and don't question what we hear.  Keep an open mind and fact-check when possible.

Just because you hear it often, doesn't make it true.

Just because other people believe it, doesn't make it true.

Just because supporting statistics are quoted, doesn't make it true. *

So what can you believe?  Well, you can always believe me.  :)

Do your best to not become a nutcase.  Good luck to us all.

* "There are 3 types of liars:  liars, damn liars and statisticians."

Not There When You Need Him

The other night my son heard a strange sound in our "back room" (it's a storage room with a door to the backyard).  He called me to check it out and also called Bandit, our Border Collie.  Bandit is never more than a few seconds away (he's fast), but he didn't answer.  What were the odds he wouldn't around when he might actually be needed?  Good, the odds were good for that.  That's how my luck works.

Anyway, I grabbed my weapon of choice and headed for the door to the back room.  Something WAS making noises in there.  I readied myself, quietly turned the door knob and pushed the door open.  From the darkness, I could see two eyes looking back at me.

It was Bandit!  He was so happy to see me.

My wife had accidentally shut him in the room an hour earlier (he'd slipped in unnoticed to see if any of his toys were in there).  I don't know why he was too polite to bark to let us know he was trapped in the room.  Perhaps because he knows he's not supposed to be in there.

It's not much a story...just another example of strange sounds causing a little excitement, no danger.  But I'll still grab my club the next time it happens (because you never know).  Hopefully Bandit will be on my side of the door next time.

Have a great weekend!!!

Thoughts on 2012

Sorry, I got nothing!  I wanted to do a thoughtful, deep, review of what I learned in 2012, but I couldn't afford a ghost writer capable of producing that type of material.

I do have some thoughts to share that were inspired by events during 2012.  But I think they will each get a separate post.  Unless I forget.  Then I can complain about having blogger's block.

For me, 2012 was very much like 2011--too much time spent working.  My wife has mixed feelings about that.  On the positive side, she feels I'm being appreciated and thinks I'm moving towards fulfilling my "potential".  That makes her happy.  I have mixed feelings too.  I've come close to achieving my potential before and didn't like it.  My dad blessed/cursed me with a strong sense of responsibility.  It's easy for me to get sucked into giving too much to work.  How much of your life should you devote to work?  When is enough enough?  During 2013 I hope to step back, recalibrate, and find a balance. 

2012 was a great year for meeting amazing bloggers.  I'd basically stopped looking for new blogs because I already had such a great circle of blog friends.  But, like Smaug in The Hobbit, I discovered there's always room for more gems.


PS -  I never liked the word "potential".  It can take a good result and twist it into a disappointment.