tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:45:08 +0000An occasional dose of anarchy keeps the bastards honest.http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)Blogger1127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-2120726859747828060Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:45:00 +00002009-12-21T21:16:07.260-07:00This is the red flower on the left in the top photo. Not everyone has hibiscus blooming at Christmas. One of the few advantages of living in the desert.If you are like most of us, you have a vague idea of where things are, geographically speaking. Especially East and West. New York is East, Los Angeles is West, Chicago is kind of in the middle. North and South orientation is a different http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-red-flower-on-left-in-top-photo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-3076332737075189331Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:13:00 +00002009-12-20T14:26:40.005-07:00Maybe blogging is a waning thing. I know I'm getting fairly lazy about it. Or maybe it is just the time of the year."Father, it has been five days since my last post.""Bless you, my son. What do you have to confess?""Uh, I just told you.""Oh."It's funny how there are always unintended consequences to the best intended plans. Especially, when it involves the government.Years ago, a federal http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/12/maybe-blogging-is-waning-thing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-7059471391486481136Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:13:00 +00002009-12-14T17:46:10.348-07:00We took the little boys to see A Christmas Carol on Saturday. It was in 3-D as you can probably guess.In Hooterville, if you want to shop at a high-end retailer like Tifany's, you have to trek up into the foothills of the Catalina Mountains, to a la dee da place called La Encanta. We made the trip today on rumors that they had an upscale Target store there. Not true.I did get a picture of the http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/12/we-took-little-boys-to-see-christmas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-5642056737988230453Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:49:00 +00002009-12-12T20:27:37.123-07:00While Arizona continues to sink into the giant financial black hole we have created for ourselves, our legislators argue about the important matter of texting while driving.Don't get me wrong, texting while driving is a bad idea. But a law outlawing it is pretty much unenforceable short of police checkpoints to review the recent texting history of random drivers. So what's the point? How about http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/12/while-arizona-continues-to-sink-into.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-1962123558154376573Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:44:00 +00002009-12-07T17:11:46.465-07:00According to the weather guys, we are getting a big winter storm this evening and tomorrow. They are expecting about a half inch of rain tonight and snow above 5000 feet. Casa Sneed is located at 2600 feet above sea level.Being a skeptic in most matters, I'm taking wait and see attitude. The last few times we have been warned of inclement weather, we got none. It has been cold and windy http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/12/according-to-weather-guys-we-are.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-59228177183638130Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:47:00 +00002009-12-06T18:52:09.919-07:00An example from the files of "You just can't figure some folks out".A fellow came in yesterday to buy two eight-foot long pieces of PVC (plastic) pipe. He said he is teaching a fitness class with something called slosh tubes. He needed the pipes to build his props for the class.Evidently, you fill an eight-foot piece of 4" pipe two-thirds full of water and then try to exercise while holding thehttp://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/12/example-from-files-of-you-just-cant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-699384973404702479Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:20:00 +00002009-12-01T20:32:47.099-07:00Forget everything you think you know about torture. Waterboarding? Ha! Child's play.If you want to the world's most heinous terrorists to give it up, lock them in a building with Christmas music blaring all damn day. If we could figure out how to pipe Jose Feliciano singing Feliz Navidad into Bin Laden's cave, he would crawl on hands and kness to turn himself in.It has only been 1 day and I'm http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/12/forget-everything-you-think-you-know.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-4166238543284186313Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:04:00 +00002009-11-29T19:42:41.911-07:00You might not expect the day after Thanksgiving to be a big sales day at a hardware store, but it is. I'm told that about 15 people were waiting for the store to open Friday morning.Tools are a very popular Christmas gift around here and we had some good deals. Of course, like most years we got a product that we have no chance of selling. This year it is an aeroponic garden.An aeroponic http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/you-might-not-expect-day-after.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-708963500261332630Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:40:00 +00002009-11-25T08:09:54.582-07:00As longtime readers know Merle Wayne Sneed is often mystified by the things other people do. Having a intimate conversation on a cell phone in a hardware store springs to mind. Using an "outside" voice while conversing, is doubly bad.This picture is from the car wash that I frequent and hangs over their express line. Express means that you ride in the car while it is washed. All you get is thehttp://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/as-longtime-readers-know-merle-wayne.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-1908051311204130272Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +00002009-11-24T06:47:59.887-07:00We have the perfect weather for growing citrus. A bit of sandy soil, regular watering and a bit of fertilizer twice a year and you can't go wrong. Since it doesn't really freeze here much, they do just fine. This is a lemon tree (I think) that is in a container at the car wash.How do you explain evolution to a six-year-old? For that matter, how do you explain it to people who think the world ishttp://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/we-have-perfect-weather-for-growing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-3856093469562287861Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:25:00 +00002009-11-22T11:34:09.994-07:00Yesterday was Miss Riley's 1st birthday. It hardly seems possible that she is a year old.She hopes to master the art of the stroller. She will be an old hand by tomorrow.Mom made this huge cupcake for the celebration and a good time was had by all.Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/yesterday-was-miss-rileys-1st-birthday.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-1610598944613721117Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:57:00 +00002009-11-20T06:46:07.213-07:00I went to a funeral today. It was for an elderly woman, whose death was neither out of the blue nor unexpected. She had been dying for sometime.In fact, if you think about it, we have all been dying for sometime. It is just that in some cases it is more noticeable than in others.I'm reminded of the death of a prominent person some years ago. Actually, I can't remember the name of the prominenthttp://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-went-to-funeral-today.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-2043067354538430204Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:43:00 +00002009-11-19T06:58:19.622-07:00 (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)The price of a box of Eggo frozen waffles hit $172 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange earlier today, on fears of further disruption in the nation's frozen waffle supply.Skip Kenderson, a waffle futures trader for the securties firm, Blanche, Kenderson and Wallie, noted that cuts in production at two of Kellogg's four Eggo bakerieshttp://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/ap-photopaul-sakuma-price-of-box-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-8106563915818861521Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:08:00 +00002009-11-17T20:38:10.495-07:00When I woke up this morning, I discovered that our internet service was on the Fritz. How did we ever survive without the internet? My god, I had to read the analog newspaper.Oh, and by the way, the Hell with health care reform, we have bigger fish to fry.Specifically, I need some kid of federal, state or local regulation making it illegal for Some Guy Named Bob to own a cellphone, or at least http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/when-i-woke-up-this-morning-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-16432298197759738Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:53:00 +00002009-11-16T16:56:04.352-07:00I'm sure that I read a variation on this idea somewhere, but let's pretend that I thought it up on my own.We organize into families, so that we don't have to fight with strangers.Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and crankyhttp://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/im-sure-that-i-read-variation-on-this.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-4588958655337347819Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:03:00 +00002009-11-12T22:23:35.075-07:00"There's no such thing as a free lunch.:--Milton Friedman (maybe).Ever think about the ways in which we try to get a free lunch, or at least a metaphorical free lunch?I know people who have attended high-pressure sales pitches for timeshares in order to get some free stuff. Three hours in hell for a few bucks, go figure. Not to mention that about half the people I've ever known who attended http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/theres-no-such-thing-as-free-lunch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-7306874858919430721Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:28:00 +00002009-11-08T13:45:17.395-07:00When you work retail you meet a lots of jerks. Merle Wayne Sneed's first rule of jerks is that if you think you've met the biggest jerk alive, you're wrong. Case in point.I'm sorry if this post seems arrogant, because I'm not an arrogant guy. I just don't suffer fools easily.Bright and early this morning, I got a call over to the radio at work to assist a customer in finding some screws. Surehttp://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/when-you-work-retail-you-meet-lots-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-465754358857044768Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:22:00 +00002009-11-05T21:30:05.602-07:00"God give us grace, to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other."--Reinhold Niebuhr"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can change, And wisdom to know the difference.--Reinhold Niebuhrmore common versionMerle Wayne http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/god-give-us-grace-to-accept-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-8763223970765500271Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:19:00 +00002009-11-03T19:43:48.757-07:00As promised the much-awaited Halloween pix. A word of warning first. My head is the size of China. I can't help it. Clicking to enlarge my picture may make your computer screen bulge out. Do it at your own peril.This is me and my hippy old lady.Here she is again, this time without my giant noggin casting a shadow.Andy Warhol, I presume?Andy along with Marilyn (It is really Aiden and his http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/as-promised-much-awaited-halloween-pix.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-7234656795257455774Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:15:00 +00002009-11-02T21:50:49.012-07:00Many people wonder if the Sneed family got many trick or treaters this year? I personally couldn't tell you because we weren't home.Our son and daughter-in-law threw a big Halloween bash, which was actually a cover for a dual surprise birthday party for Daughter-in-Law Sneed's parents, who both turned 60 around now.So, trick or treaters, if any, were met with a darken door at Casa Sneed. No http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/11/many-people-wonder-if-sneed-family-got.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-1163755392669166246Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:24:00 +00002009-10-30T20:55:10.816-07:00People are wondering how this no Saturday at the hardware store is working out? Well, it worked beautifully for two weeks. Then, just when I was getting used to it, the kid who absolutely couldn't live with his hours being cut and wanted mine, asked for the next two Saturday's off. So, I have to work for him. I suspect that this is going to be the pattern for the near term. I get some http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/10/people-are-wondering-how-this-no.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-560406876449216210Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:52:00 +00002009-10-29T19:26:50.317-07:00The usual suspects and I got to play golf at one of the very fine golf resorts here in Hooterville. And better yet, we got to play for free.The owner of the hardware store made some sort of donation to a fundraiser and in exchange he got free golf at this joint. He isn't a golfer, but he heard I am, so he gave the freebie to me.We have been putting off using the pass because the resort is way http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/10/usual-suspects-and-i-got-to-play-golf.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-7298393339096320363Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:51:00 +00002009-10-29T08:15:47.880-07:00I just paid off my house. Why do I feel like I am trading a house payment for a health insurance payment?--A Tedious Systems RetireeNovember, that time of year when we get to make those important decisions about our health insurance. You know, like deciding whether we dare just drop it and hope for the best? A a minimum what do we sacrifice to be able to pay the increased premium?I just got my http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-just-paid-off-my-house.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-5524435160051523891Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:38:00 +00002009-10-26T22:44:49.582-07:00Always tell the truth. That way, you don't have to remember what you said.--Mark Twain.Anyone interested in getting on a commercial airliner with a couple of pilots who forget they are flying a plane? Not me.The latest version of "the truth" from the two wayward aviators who took an airliner full of passengers on an unscheduled aerial tour of Wisconsin, while trying to find Minneapolis, is that http://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/10/always-tell-truth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-7461073841074058704Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:39:00 +00002009-10-24T07:08:27.261-07:00I'm not your friend anymore.You're not my friend, you're my cousin.Okay, I'm not your cousin anymore.You can't quit being my cousin, you'll always be my cousin.--Noah and Aiden having an argument.Bella Rum commented that I should write a snappy letter to the editor, seeing as how I have so many great opinions and all. Or maybe she just figured it would keep me from blogging about my complaints.Ihttp://merlesneed.blogspot.com/2009/10/im-not-your-friend-anymore.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Merle Sneed)11