Transforming Stress Into Personal Power » Humor

Surprises?

Jean — Thu, 10 May 2012 23:20:15 +0000

Things are about to happen up on the land. The fellow who is doing our road work plans to start filling in some of the big washouts and fixing up the culverts tomorrow. If all goes well he will be there tomorrow through Monday. Originally he planned to do the work a couple of weeks ago but he couldn’t get the backhoe because the driver who brings it up from Albuquerque broke his arm.

Tomorrow Andy will meet with the architect and contractor to discuss what needs to be done on the house, shed and well house. The contractor hopes to start on the well house and shed Monday. There was some talk about signing the contract for the house tomorrow, so we asked for a copy of the final plans. It turns out the architect still hasn’t put in all the of changes we made since last October. Somehow I’m not surprised.

What did surprise me was a request from the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, to include the above cartoon in a book entitled A Complaint Free World. Well sure. It already has a Creative Commons license, but for non-commercial purposes. One of my mottos is “Find what you love to do and find a way to share it with others.” I love the internet for making that easy to do.

Any surprises in your life lately?

Thanks to Mike, Evan, Cathy, bikehikebabe, Beate and Rummuser for commenting on last week’s post.

Grumpiness

Jean — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 04:29:49 +0000

Have you ever wished for either of these rules?

Do chronic complainers bother you? What about cheerful people? I’m happy to lend an ear when someone is going through hard times, but I’ve learned to steer clear of people who are always complaining. And when I’m in a bad mood I tend to avoid cheerful people until I start feeling better. On the other hand, I avoid grumpy people too, so I was amused at this announcement in a local church bulletin:

Getting Old and Grumpy Group

Are you, at least somewhat, grumpy and cranky about aging? You must feel that way often for admission to this group! Those aging gracefully should go elsewhere.

Would a group like that ever appeal to you? (If you’re not old enough to be dealing with aging, think of some other problem affecting your life.)

Thanks to Cathy, Evan, Mike, Looney, bikehikebabe and Rummuser for commenting on last week’s post.

Time for a Visit?

Jean — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:37:01 +0000

If all goes well Andy and I will go to Santa Fe tomorrow to visit our truck, and maybe even bring it home. Originally we were going to pick it up last Saturday but that morning we received a phone call saying the modifications wouldn’t be done until that evening. We could pick it up Monday. We were tied up most of this week so we asked about picking it up Sunday instead. No problem. It was guaranteed to be done. We didn’t need to phone to check.

Yeah, sure. We haven’t lived this long without developing a bit of paranoia. So we phoned Sunday morning slightly after 10 am. No answer. We tried again after 11 am. Again, no answer. We checked on the internet, which said it was closed on Sundays. The answering machine did not give their hours so we gave up for Sunday.

Monday I phoned the fellow I had talked to Saturday to see what had happened. He said they were open from 10 to 5 on Sundays, but the truck still wasn’t quite done. It would be done that evening for sure.

Anyway, we decided to put it out of our minds until tomorrow at the earliest. But then Tuesday the friendly paperwork fellow phoned to say he had forgotten to give us a couple of pieces to sign. Could we come in and sign them? The sooner the better. And the truck was ready to be picked up.

Needless to say, we didn’t rush right down there. We’ll go tomorrow, see what happens and let you know. We can’t lose them all, can we?

Update: Friday, September 16

We got down there by 10 am and it only took an hour to be on our way home. Here’s a picture of Andy climbing into it:

I haven’t tried it yet, but getting in and out doesn’t look as if it will be very graceful. I’m even shorter than he is.

Thanks to Evan, Mike, bikehikebabe, Cathy and Rummuser for commenting on last week’s post.

Life Is Seldom Simple

Jean — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 02:17:42 +0000

Monday we thought we were finally getting started with the cleanup and fixing our well. Then it rained that afternoon and everything had to be set back a week.

Here’s a picture of me walking on/in one of the roads up to our place:

Here’s a picture of Andy walking on another road up to our place:

There was also a bit of erosion along our 1.1-mile driveway. Notice the handle of the 5-foot-long shovel:

For more pictures click here.

With any luck the road will be passable by the end of the weekend. And we’ll finally start getting something done Monday…the Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise again.

Thanks to Cathy, Rummuser and bikehikebabe for commenting on last week’s post.

Different People Like Different Things

Jean — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 05:51:27 +0000

Never do unto others as you would have others do unto you. They might have different tastes.
—George Bernard Shaw

Does it ever bother you that other people look at the world differently from you? That they have different tastes? Or do you think that makes life more fascinating?

Thanks to Mike, Cathy, Rummuser and bikehikebabe for commenting on last week’s post.

Our Journey to the Grave

Jean — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:30:31 +0000

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”
— Hunter S. Thompson

With all due respect to Mr. Thompson, I have no desire to skid anywhere broadside. What about you? I wouldn’t mind thinking on my deathbed, “It was a good trip!” But the quote I like best is

I want to die young, as late as possible.

So my strategy is to treat my body with respect and give it what it needs to be healthy. No skidding in a cloud of smoke for me. What do you think?

Thanks to Cathy, Mike, Rummuser, bikehikebabe and Thea for commenting on last week’s post.

икони

Keeping Out of Ruts

Jean — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 02:23:46 +0000

Evan recently mentioned that the important thing is to keep out of ruts. For me that’s easy…I play with electronics and the technology keeps changing. Before when I went on a trip I packed my audio cassette and/or CD players and a lot of cassettes/CDs to listen to. This time we took the train and I didn’t have room. So I figured out how to convert my tapes and CDs to MP3 files. (I’ll spare you the details.) I learned a lot and got hooked on the MP3 format, especially since The Economist lets me download audio versions of each issue for no extra cost. Anyway, it took some new learning and a reasonable amount of time on my part, but the payoff was worth it.

I also had to make some changes the past couple of days because of my blog. My source of comics has moved and isn’t as convenient to use now, and my web hosting service has changed the way I do backups before upgrading to the latest version of WordPress. Both of those changes have been a nuisance with no obvious benefit for me, except for keeping me from becoming complacent and stuck in a rut.

What about you? Does life keep kicking you out of ruts or does it take more initiative on your part?

Thanks to Evan, Cathy, Mike, Ursula, Looney and Rummuser for commenting on last week’s post.

How Would You Like to Be a Multi-Trillionaire?

Jean — Sat, 28 May 2011 01:46:40 +0000

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, is finally admitting there is some inflation in the U.S. But he says it’s moderate and temporary, so still no worries. Some economists aren’t quite so sanguine. They’ve bought their own 100-trillion-dollar Zimbabwe notes to remind themselves that we shouldn’t get carried away trying to pump up the economy by printing more money. That’s what Zimbabwe tried to do and the 100-trillion-dollar notes are selling (as I write this) for about $5 (U.S.) on e-Bay.

As the saying goes, inflation is being broke with a pocketful of money.

Are you tempted to be a multi-trillionaire?

Thanks to Evan, bikehikebabe, Ursula and rummuser for commenting on last week’s post.

икони

Home Alone

Jean — Thu, 19 May 2011 10:01:50 +0000

I spend most of my time home alone, immersed in my projects. At the moment it’s my ideal life, but I would no doubt feel differently if Andy didn’t come home every afternoon. What about you? Do you enjoy being home alone? Do you get enough of it? What would your ideal life look like?

Thanks to bikehikebabe, Ursula, rummuser and Looney for commenting on last week’s post.

Treats

Jean — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:03:26 +0000

My daughter forwarded this video to me. In spite of the story line it’s clear the dog isn’t really being cruelly teased. He will get his treat after the camera stops rolling. (Click on image to see video.)

Also, Torben sent me another video that tickled me. In it Sammy is sniffing a box containing two “mammoth” bones, for him and Miss Montana, his new sister. We sent the bones ahead and will open the box when we visit later this month. He could already smell the bones through the several layers of plastic they were wrapped in, so they should be a great success. In the meantime he wasn’t frustrated at having to wait…he licks his chops and smiles at the end. He might very well get some sort of treat right away. (Click on image to see video.)

I’m sure he’s forgotten about the box by now, but I’m looking forward to opening it when we get there. Doing that is going to be my treat. What about you? Have you had any treats lately? Are you looking forward to any?

Thanks to Mike, Evan, bikehikebabe, Ursula, rummuser and Cathy for commenting on last week’s post.