Philgrim’s Blogress

I received this picture in one of those forwarded emails from a friend, with the subject, “What to wear when the wife has chores for you …”

Hey, it works for other species, so it’s worth a try.

This afternoon while shopping at Superstore I paid for three bags of water softener salt along with the couple hundred bucks worth of groceries that were in my cart. They keep the water softener salt piled outside the store, so I planned to load my groceries in the van first before picking up the salt.

Of course I completely forgot the softener salt until I had arrived home. Then the dilemma became, should I:

• Write off the $15 to experience;
• Go back to the store and explain that I had forgotten to pick up the salt, expecting them to believe that I wasn’t scamming them (back for more, eh?); or
• Go back to the store and just pick up the salt, hoping that no-one would challenge me.

I chose the latter option.

It’s funny how I felt like a skulking criminal as I hastily loaded my booty and fled the scene.

Spotted at the local supermarket.

Now I won’t need to hire someone to cut the crusts off my bread.

Wonderful .

This summer while on vacation at Pigeon Lake, I had my first hands-on experience with an electronic bug zapper. Not those things that sit in your back yard and attract insects by using light, but a plastic tennis racket-like gadget that gave a satisfying zap to any wasp or fly that contacted the metal grid.

It was so much fun that I just needed to buy one for myself, so upon returning to P.A. I checked at least three or four stores, to no avail.

Then I tried a Google search, and found lots of references to Bug Zappers. Among the hits was a list of “The top ten stupidest as seen on TV Products“. Reading through the list made me realize how little I watch TV, because I don’t remember seeing any of the commercials.

However it did make me think of Steve Goodman’s song Vegematic:

Fell asleep last night with the TV on
Oh what a dream I had
I dreamed I answered every single one
of those late night mail order ads
And four to six weeks later
Much to my surprise
The mailman came to my front door
And I couldn’t believe my eyes
When he brought the Vegematic
And the Pocket Fisherman too
Illuminated illustrated history of life
And Boxcar Willie with a Ginzu knife
A bamboo steamer
And a Garden Weasel too
And a tie-dyed dayglow souvenir shirt
From Six Flags Over Burbank

… etc.

I’m afraid it betrays my age, but I must admit that I remember more of the TV ads in that 1970s song than the ones mentioned in the top 10 list above.

And I don’t think a wonderful product like the Bug Zapper belongs on the list.

(By the way, I eventually bought a Bug Zapper on Ebay)

Steps

1. Find a location free from background noise, such as television, music, a crying baby, road traffic noise or just talkative friends etc. Being able to concentrate as intently as possible will facilitate flavor detection.
2. Clear your palate. This means that your mouth should not contain residual flavors from a previous meal. Eat a wedge of apple or piece of bread if necessary. This is crucial in order to taste the subtleties of chocolate’s complex flavor.
3. …

… check out the full article here

Apparently there is a debate on Wikihow regarding whether the subject of how to eat dark chocolate deserves an article. Personally I found it very useful.

Now enough distractions, and back to the reason I was checking out Wikihow … looking for information on the router dovetail jig that I picked up for a couple of bucks in a garage sale.