OK, I think I’m all better now. Well, not all better. That’ll never happen. But I’m over my temper tantrum about WordPress completely and utterly changing everything, creating a steep learning curve, and triggering a goddamn emotional crisis here in the House of Half-Ass. I apologize for my outburst on Thursday.
Sheesh. It’s like if you went out to your car, running late for work, and the dashboard suddenly looked like the control panel of a Boeing 737. What the?? Where’s the steering wheel? Where does the key go?? But you better get going! You’ve got that important meeting at 2:00. That’s about what it felt like. But anyway, enough o’ dat.
On a more positive note, I bought an inexpensive “stereo system” for the bunker, finally. I put it in quotes, ’cause a true audiophile would likely weep at the mere suggestion. But it’s good enough for me, maybe. Here it is. As I mentioned, there are no simple stereos anymore, and I’m not interested in buying used gear and refurbishing it, etc. I like that kind of stuff, but don’t have the room here in the walk-in closet, and I also don’t have the know-how, the bank account, or the patience.
I did a lot of research, as usual, and this thing apparently provides a lot of bang for the buck. It’s almost unanimous praise at both the Best Buy site and at Amazon, too. The price has fluctuated more than the height, width, and depth of Oprah’s ass-hams, and I bought low, baby. I had to drive down to Wilkes-Barre to get it, ’cause the Scranton Best Buy was sold out. But that’s alright.
And it’s currently still in the box, sitting in the living room floor. I have to figure out a few logistical things before I can set it up. It’s like freaking Tetris in here. But I’ll let you guys know if it was money well spent or a waste. Stay tuned.
Once again, I successfully posted a new podcast episode at 12:01 AM this morning. I get a little animated and shouty in this one. Heh. It’s episode 45 already, and available wherever you get podcasts. Or right here. Here’s the summary:
In this one I tell you about an encounter I had with a woman at the grocery store which made me crazy for a couple of hours, a conversation about sauerkraut that’s been weighing heavily on my mind, the disturbing ease with which an entire generation was brainwashed into sneezing and coughing into the crooks of their arms, some thoughts on Alexa devices, Liberty Mutual commercials, and the Whistle Dick of the Week. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening!
Check out the fancy new production element too! Good stuff.
And please don’t forget about using one of our Amazon links during this season of conspicuous consumerism, or whatever. There’s always a big ‘un in the right sidebar, and a couple underneath each individual update. Just pass through one, and shop as you normally would. It’ll cost you nothing extra but makes a big difference to me. So, thanks in advance! It’s much appreciated.
Finally, I have a quick Question for you. It’s mostly for fun, but could also prove to be useful. I’d like to know what were the best inexpensive gifts you’ve ever received. Say… twenty bucks or less. Basically, a stocking stuffer type of thing that really hit the mark. Several years ago my parents gave me some normal things for Christmas, along with a reissued version of the classic Mattel football game above. I had the original during the 1970s and loved it. At some point they reissued it, and my folks picked it up somewhere for me. Which kinda blows my mind, if you want to know the truth… But I still use the thing. It’s fantastic! Also, somebody at work gave me some cheap ballpoint pens from Staples several years ago, and I’m still using them too. Here they are. I’ve had to add ink a time or two, but they’re both still in heavy rotation. A great gift that probably cost less than ten dollars! What do you have on this? Help me out, won’t you? What’re your all-time favorite inexpensive gifts that you’ve received. Or given, even. Whatever you have.
And I’ll be back on Thursday.
You guys have yourselves a stellar week, and I’ll try to do the same.
Now playing in the bunker
Support us by doing your shopping on Amazon! In Canada? Here’s your link. Thank you, guys!
I still have the baseball version of that game.
The best inexpensive Christmas gift I got in an awful long time was from my 20 and 22 year old granddaughters last year. I always tell them I don’t want anything, because if there was anything I wanted I’d already own it. So last year they gave me a multiple window picture frame with pictures of both of them and of me holding the infant great grandkids. Pretty special, to me anyway.
I bought my dad a remote controlled fart machine from Spencer’s years back (maybe 10?) & he was happier than if he’d won the Powerball.
We gave away one of those about 10 years ago in a gag gift Christmas game, and found out this Thanksgiving that the recipient still uses it. I’m not sure how it came up in conversation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/health/how-to-sneeze.html
And I full on agree about the Liberty ads.
Nothing on cheap Christmas gifts, I need to think on that for a bit.
Why does my name and email address no longer get saved? I have to re-enter it each time I make a comment. I ain’t got time for that!
Father-in-law gives us packs of batteries every Christmas.
Excellent gift.
Jeff, just listened to the podcast and I have to comment on the sneezing into one’s elbows. Most civilized people our age were taught to cover their sneezes and coughs with our hands, which is disgusting but we all do it, because we were all brainwashed. Then after a cough is covered with the hand, the person touches a doorknob or phone and spreads their pneumonic plague or bird flu to the next person that touches the doorknob and then rubs their eyes. The fancy word for snot-covered disease-carrying doorknobs is “fomite.” Same brainwashing we got, just a cleaner version. Please don’t leave your snot all over the place. Love the podcast and the Surf Report as usual.
Best inexpensive gift I ever got was Tile. I can keep up with my keys, and my phone, as long as I have one of them.
At least as far back as the 1990s, the TV news (your only reliable source for health information) was telling us to sneeze into our elbows.
can you change things so if you click on a link, it opens into a new window?
that would be a nice Christmas present
Right click, open in new window. I use it all the time.
Jeff can’t change that, but you can. Click the link with the middle mouse button. Or right-click and pick something from that menu.
Brother gave me an as seen of TV lint brush. When you moved the lever it would clean the lint off. I wore that bad boy out!
well hell it happened again. I’m with Walter, this shit has to end
Brother gave me an as seen on TV lint brush. When you moved the lever is cleaned the lint off the brush into a holding area to be emptied later. Wore that bad boy out.
Although this description was better than the first.
Reva, I know I’m older than you, and more cynical and grouchier, but having worked in commercial data processing (yeah, now it’s called IT) for forty-five years, and more or less kept up with it since I bailed a dozen years ago, my expectation is always that I’m dealing with technology, not appliance. Amazon works more or less as expected, but they are the exception.
We’ve been living in the Information Economy for less than 25 years. Twenty-five years into the American Industrial Economy (roughly 1920), Model Ts were started using a hand crank (the first Model T auto-starter was on the 1920 model) and virtually everyone in America was using ice boxes, partly because home refrigerators had just been invented, cost about 1 1/2 times as much as a Model T, required modifications in both the basement and kitchen of a house, and broke down frequently.
Any time something on the Web or on my personal computer or even on my John McCain memorial flip phone actually works as reliably as my radio or my Honda, I’m astounded. Ebay, for example, rarely does.
I know I got carried away and wrote a pithy novel, and I’m not trying to scold you or be an asshole, but the fact that people from all over the world can, twice a week, share a message posted from Scranton PA, USA, comment on it, and share comments with others, is worthy of celebration. When I was ten years old, had you told the learned people of that time that we’d be able to do this shit within my lifetime, I think most of them would have scoffed (that was two years before Telstar 1 was launched).
I’ve never written a blog with comments, but I know that Jeff puts up with the same level of technology shit that Steve Gutenberg did printing his bibles back in 1450. And Jeff’s dick jokes are better.
Again, sorry for going on. As should be clear, I was hollerin’ at the sky, not talking to you. You have every right to be pissed off, because most of us are Americans and we have expectations.
My love as always,
John
I am right there with you, John. I was in the Air Force many moons ago and I was also at the beginning of the technology era. So long ago that I had classes in tube theory because some of the room sized computers still used vacuum tubes. I made the comment yesterday that it is awesome when technology works the way it is supposed to, because it seems it doesn’t, just as often.
Walter started it.
One of my closest friends gave my mother a Frosty the Snowman card that played the song when you opened it. For at LEAST a dozen years that sucker was placed front and center (and still played!) on the hall table. It got so we were taping the thing down the spine but it kept cranking out Frosty. I think he tried to replace it, but it was never the same. The joy that card brought to my mother year after year iwas absolutely priceless.
And how about that? I’m actually getting emotional…
I often like to make egg sandwiches for breakfast, so someone bought me a little non-stick skillet that fits one egg just perfectly. I use that sucker at least a couple times every week and have had it close to 10 years now! I also got my wife one of those as seen on TV “Ove Gloves” years ago. It works like a charm, and we use it all the time.