Thoroughy random stuff
My favorite front-end coordinator Melissa's father died suddenly this weekend. So sad, and he must have been so young. She's not yet thirty. Awful. We're going to the calling hours today.
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I went to Barnes and Nobles yesterday to renew our membership as a sort-of birthday gift for Ray. Sort-of because it's really his money I'm using. The disparity between our incomes is mind-boggling. When I approached the front door, I was disgusted to see a patron standing smoking at the door. The law, as I understand it, says that no one is allowed to smoke within twenty feet of the door. I find it truly revolting to go out to a restaurant or a place like B&N and have to walk through a cloud of cigarette smoke just to get into the building. When I renewed the membership, I told the clerk I had a complaint, and what it was. She apologized, but said, "We're just the tenant and we'd have to get the landlord involved." (Oh, yeah, does your landlord get involved when you're given a permit to sell food? I think not, and it's the same organization which enforces the smoking law.) What I find truly sad about this is that I like to believe in/act on the idea of thinking globally but acting locally. Meaning, I like to learn about things like culture from many sources, but I try to buy books, music, etc., from a local store, thinking that I support the local economy that way. When businesses lose sight of things like smoking on their property, it makes me think, screw the local economy, I'm buying online from now on. Sad.
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There was a funny moment or two in the upstairs computer room at work the other day. A handful of us were working on various tasks there. One of the guys from Produce was looking at the numbers of pomegranates each store has sold. He explained to the rest of us that each year, management selects a fruit or veggie to focus on. The object is to increase sales over the previous year, and they never know what it will be the next year. This competition involves a trip to California (business, natch). After a while the assistant manager of the pizza shop spoke up and asked, is there something I'm not understanding about pomegranates? Because I don't get them. At which point we all spoke up and admitted we don't get them either. They seem like an awful lot of work for not much actual fruit, was the concensus. It was a funny little the-emporer-has-no-clothes-type moment.
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A woman approached my demo table Sunday with her right arm in a sling. I asked her what she'd done, and she explained she'd broken a shoulder. We commiserated for a while. I broke a wrist ten years ago, and I know too well how awkward it makes life. She confessed she has to have the friend who was with her there come over and help her dress. I remarked that the worst is going to the bathroom, at which point she whispered, "I have no underpants on." And we laughed. It's true, it's terrible when that happens. You suddenly realize how much you take for granted
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Ray and I love to see how late in the season we can eat outside, and this year is exceptional. It was very warm last night, but too windy, so I set up in the greenhouse. It's lovely to hear the outdoor noises, smell the outdoor smells, on his birthday no less. It's especially poignant when I think that three years ago we had that freak snow storm on October 13, and here it is the 10th of November. Huzzah!
______________________________
I went to Barnes and Nobles yesterday to renew our membership as a sort-of birthday gift for Ray. Sort-of because it's really his money I'm using. The disparity between our incomes is mind-boggling. When I approached the front door, I was disgusted to see a patron standing smoking at the door. The law, as I understand it, says that no one is allowed to smoke within twenty feet of the door. I find it truly revolting to go out to a restaurant or a place like B&N and have to walk through a cloud of cigarette smoke just to get into the building. When I renewed the membership, I told the clerk I had a complaint, and what it was. She apologized, but said, "We're just the tenant and we'd have to get the landlord involved." (Oh, yeah, does your landlord get involved when you're given a permit to sell food? I think not, and it's the same organization which enforces the smoking law.) What I find truly sad about this is that I like to believe in/act on the idea of thinking globally but acting locally. Meaning, I like to learn about things like culture from many sources, but I try to buy books, music, etc., from a local store, thinking that I support the local economy that way. When businesses lose sight of things like smoking on their property, it makes me think, screw the local economy, I'm buying online from now on. Sad.
_________________________
There was a funny moment or two in the upstairs computer room at work the other day. A handful of us were working on various tasks there. One of the guys from Produce was looking at the numbers of pomegranates each store has sold. He explained to the rest of us that each year, management selects a fruit or veggie to focus on. The object is to increase sales over the previous year, and they never know what it will be the next year. This competition involves a trip to California (business, natch). After a while the assistant manager of the pizza shop spoke up and asked, is there something I'm not understanding about pomegranates? Because I don't get them. At which point we all spoke up and admitted we don't get them either. They seem like an awful lot of work for not much actual fruit, was the concensus. It was a funny little the-emporer-has-no-clothes-type moment.
____________________________
A woman approached my demo table Sunday with her right arm in a sling. I asked her what she'd done, and she explained she'd broken a shoulder. We commiserated for a while. I broke a wrist ten years ago, and I know too well how awkward it makes life. She confessed she has to have the friend who was with her there come over and help her dress. I remarked that the worst is going to the bathroom, at which point she whispered, "I have no underpants on." And we laughed. It's true, it's terrible when that happens. You suddenly realize how much you take for granted
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Ray and I love to see how late in the season we can eat outside, and this year is exceptional. It was very warm last night, but too windy, so I set up in the greenhouse. It's lovely to hear the outdoor noises, smell the outdoor smells, on his birthday no less. It's especially poignant when I think that three years ago we had that freak snow storm on October 13, and here it is the 10th of November. Huzzah!