Delivery Apr 15, 2006
Getting things sent in the mail or delivered in a truck has always been a lovely experience.  I'm not sure why there are so many problems involved.  It seems like a simple premise:  A person buys something at a store or online, and that "something" comes to the person's house in a truck.  Simple enough, yes?  Apparently not.  Sometimes, when people order big things, they have to stay home from work so they can let the delivery people in their house.  That's fine.  It's better than having them leave it in the driveway.  But I/Wendy have had two problems with this in the past: 

One time, Wendy ordered a bunch of bedroom furniture for her apartment.  Then she picked a day for them to deliver it.  Not a problem.  So they call on the day of delivery and say what time they'll be there.  Some sort of problem happened, and the people weren't able to deliver the furniture that day.  We called the store and they asked us to pick a different day.  What they didn't realize is that people work for a living.  This work is done during the day.  To stay home for a delivery means not going to work.  The people from the store seemed to think this wasn't a big deal.  "Oh, sorry that the truck couldn't make it to your apartment.  That's out of our control.  Please pick a different day for delivery."  My solution seemed appropriate, "Wendy just took a day off work.  That means she used a vacation day.  A vacation day costs money.  The price is probably somewhere around $300-$400, before taxes and including overhead and things like that.  Why don't you just send along that money and we'll call it even?" 

Now the next fiasco:  We ordered a washer and dryer and they were supposed to be delivered to our house.  The problem is that construction is being done on both ends of our road, so the delivery truck apparently couldn't make it.  They said, "Here are your options:  You can pick it up at some warehouse in Timbuktu, you can pick it up at Home Depot, or we can *try* to deliver it another day."  Again, they missed a fundamental concept:  Normal people (term used loosely) can't take days off work in the middle of the week.  Sure, they can, but they like to use those days for useful things like vacations, not waiting for an appliance delivery.  The real solution is for them to deliver this stuff after the construction is done at the end of the day.  This is actually a viable option because construction ends at around 3 or 4, and the workers clear everything up so the construction doesn't even get in the way.  Did the delivery people see my point of view?  No.  If only everyone did what I said, the world would be perfect. #business
Dilbert likes water Apr 14, 2006
I've mentioned before about how our cats like the bathtub.  But I discovered a new thing:  Dilbert likes to drink water out of the tap like a dog.  He bites at each drop that falls.  What a strange little animal. 

#nature
Subway Apr 14, 2006
I talk about Quizno's a lot, but it's time to talk about my good old friend, Subway.  I used to eat at Subway all the time, before I discovered the magical goodness at Quizno's.  Tall guy Ian used to be a semi-evangelist for "Two-For-Tuesday", Subway's weekly special where you could get two sandwiches for the price of one.  But then I started trying new things at Subway, and like usual, I was completely unsatisfied.  So that's why I started going somewhere else to satisfy my sandwich cravings.  But recently, I've been a little overly satisfied at Quizno's.  Their sandwiches are really complicated.  Even their salads are pretty "meaty".  When you get something at Quizno's, you don't just get a little sandwich with some ham and cheese.  You get a sandwich with "primo" meats and cheese, along with several different special sauces, all of which are put through an assembly line toaster.  While the sandwiches are amazing, I felt like something a little bit simpler.  So I went to Subway.  Subway is like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book.  You get to decide what gets put on your sandwich, and you get to watch it being made so they can't slip in jalapenos when you're not looking.  So I ordered a sandwich with no cheese [1] or mayo or anything that might bring about my problem.  I got a nice simple sandwich where I could identify all the ingredients, and it was great.  Kudos, Subway.  You're still good. 

[1] One small problem:  Like all food ordering experiences, I had to clarify that I didn't want cheese.  For some reason, people don't get this.  I personally think it's pretty simple.  I said, "Can I have ham and turkey on a 6-inch Hearty Italian roll?"  She said, "Sure."  She did a few things and started making it.  Then she said, "What kind of cheese do you want?"  Here's what I felt like saying:  "Cheese?  Cheese?!  I don't want no stinkin' cheese, lady!  If I wanted cheese, I would've asked for cheese!  Did you hear me say cheese?  'Ham and turkey on a 6-inch Hearty Italian roll.'  That's it!  Just make my sandwich the way I want it!"  What I actually said was, "No cheese, please." #food
Loud guitar Apr 13, 2006
Sometimes I play the guitar.  I've been doing it since way back in 1994.  The thing with playing guitar is that it must be done with as much volume and force as possible.  Acoustic guitars are good for this.  I've never seen somebody break an acoustic guitar by playing it too hard.  And since it's acoustic, it's louder depending on how hard you play it.  Acoustics are fun that way.  Electrics are a bit different.  It doesn't matter how hard you play, it matters how loud your amp can go.  In the famous words of Spinal Tap describing their amps, "These go to eleven."  The electric guitar was created to be played loud.  It's nearly impossible to play an electric guitar through headphones. 

With that in mind, I've always enjoyed being home alone so I can blast music as loud as I want.  I did this a lot when I lived with my parents.  It came to a sudden and screeching halt when I went to college.  I didn't want to be that annoying jerk who played loud music in his dorm, so I got a key to the music room and did it there.  That worked most of the time, except people came in and out of the music room, so I never felt comfortable.  I can't play around people for some reason.  The loud playing came to another screeching halt when I moved into an apartment.  I brought out my electric guitar a couple times, but my neighbor upstairs came down one Friday evening to ask me to turn it down.  Yes, Friday evening.  What could he have been doing on a Friday evening that required absolute silence?  And I didn't even turn it up that loud.  It could have been quite a bit louder.  Loud enough to shake stuff off the walls.  That jerk.  So anyway, I was pretty pumped to move out of the apartment and into a house.  Once again, I could crank the volume up to eleven and scare the cats.  Now, whenever Wendy leaves the house, I play loud guitar and fulfill my calling in life. #entertainment
Stupid Old Navy shirts Apr 13, 2006
I buy most of my clothes from Walmart because that's just how I roll.  The rest are from Old Navy.  Old Navy has some good stuff, and most of it is pretty cheap.  But I have one big complaint:  I'm annoyed at all those shirts that say stuff on them, like the name of a state or an event.  I consistently make the mistake of wearing these shirts around my family, and then I get questioned:  "Oh, you went to Colorado?  How did you like it?"  No I didn't actually go to Colorado.  It's just a stupid Old Navy shirt.  "What's Franklin McCallister?  Is that your high school?"  No.  I have no idea what it is or what it means.  It's just a stupid Old Navy shirt.  I guess I should think more before I buy clothes with writing.  Or just not buy clothes with any writing at all. #lifestyle
Watermat Apr 13, 2006
The Watermat is a 20-foot long foam mat that floats on the surface of the water, enabling users to effectively "walk on water".  At $599, it's a steal.  (via Neatorama) #technology
Product packaging Apr 11, 2006
Sometimes I get mad at product packaging.  Like when I try to open a box of food and I follow the instructions that say, "Tear here to open".  This method works about 0.05% of the time.  The rest of the time, I screw it up and end up tearing the whole box apart in a fit of rage.  Nothing should be keeping me from my food. 

The really sad part about this is that companies employ people FULL-TIME for creating product packaging that is easy to use and fool-proof.  And I'm not talking full-time for half a year, or full-time as long as the project exists.  I'm talking full-time, all the time, lots of money, lots of people.  People go to school and get big-time degrees to they can become "Packaging Engineers".  I know because I was one (sorta).  And these people sit around all day and think, "Hmm, how can I make this box of tissues easy to open?  Ooh, I know!  I'll make a perforated shape that the user must press in and then stick their finger in the box to pull out, thereby scraping their finger and causing pain and anger.  Then I'll make the perforated cardboard completely failure-prone and make its failure a catastrophic event so that the box will either be 'unopened' or 'destroyed'.  And then I'll make another layer of packaging:  clear plastic wrap." #products
Sno-Baller Apr 11, 2006
The Sno-Baller is a tool that's used to quickly and easily make snowballs.  It's shaped like salad tongs, except with hemispherical balls instead of salad-tong-fork-and-spoon-things.  (via Cool Tools) #technology
Take things apart Apr 10, 2006
I've been finding recently that the best way to fix things is to simply take them apart.  I'm not sure why this works, but it's worked twice in the past month or so. 

Our washing machine wasn't draining completely, so I *tried* to take it apart.  I took out some screws and figured out how the thing worked (a general idea).  I wasn't really sure how to fix it, so I put it back together.  And tada!  It worked great after that.  I think it was just the treat of being taken apart that caused it to fix itself.  It later broke and is unfixable, but that's beside the point. 

One of our toilets sounded like it was "running" recently.  So I took the lid off the back part and played around with a few things.  I didn't find anything that was broken, so I put it back together so that it would at least flush properly.  That's when the "running" sound stopped.  I am by no means a plumber, and I didn't actually fix anything.  Once again, I think it was just the threat of being taken apart that caused the toilet to fix itself. #psychology
Cancelled plans Apr 10, 2006
I'm a huge fan of cancelled plans.  I always have a bunch of things scheduled at night during the week, whether it's a Bible study or a class or something else.  But when they get cancelled, it's just such a great unexpected surprise.  I plan out my whole schedule based on something happening, and now that something isn't happening.  As long as it doesn't adversely affect me, I'm a huge fan.  It's great to go home at night thinking I have absolutely nothing planned.  It's a good feeling. #psychology