tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90305812012-02-16T15:11:52.028-07:00Merle Wayne SneedThe periodic ramblings of an old kook.Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.comBlogger13061100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-73838349324165564462011-12-24T12:53:00.002-07:002011-12-24T15:51:21.709-07:00
MW Sneed staff makes a holiday delivery
The Merle Wayne Sneed organization is always alert to current trends. It helps keep us on the cutting edge of societal mores.
Just this morning a staff member wondered what type of luxury car our readers are buying for loved ones this holiday? Television advertising indicates that the giving of luxury autos as holiday gifts is widespread and Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-55728096738953895032011-12-10T12:52:00.000-07:002011-12-10T12:52:03.395-07:00
I came home from work last night at a few minutes past six. Mrs. Sneed and I planned on going out again, so I parked my car in the driveway, rather than in the garage. Shortly thereafter, Miss Riley arrived with her mom to pick up Piper, who stays with Mrs. Sneed on Thursday and Friday.
Riley marched in and announced that my car belongs in the garage, not in the driveway. This meant her momMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-16145276754436616492011-12-02T07:20:00.002-07:002011-12-02T08:25:46.404-07:00 It's raining and 40ish this morning. This is fairly typical for this time of the year.
A headline in the Hooterville Daily Dish a day or two from now, when it has stopped raining, will remind us that no matter how much rain we get, the drought persists. The Dish loves its bad news.
Desert dwellers have a hard time discerning drought, since it is hot and dry most of the time. We needs Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-57880781580572291262011-11-24T13:36:00.001-07:002011-11-24T21:16:58.638-07:00A happy Thanksgiving to one and all!
Mrs. Sneed, our son Tim and I will be leaving for our daughter's house in a few minutes for our annual Thanksgiving ritual. Thanksgiving is bittersweet for the Sneed family.
Our little Christian was born on 11/23 and he would have been 16 yesterday. Christian left us much too soon, nine years ago, taken suddenly, with no time so say goodbye. Time Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-19115994793263126182011-11-21T10:20:00.002-07:002011-11-21T10:41:33.432-07:00It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.--Frederick Douglas
Zero
One
Two
Three (more or less)
Today is Miss Riley's 3rd birthday. I suppose I could love her more, but I don't know how.
This is an actual conversation we had yesterday.
The scene opens with me in the bathroom, door closed.
A tiny knock at the door and then;
"Grandpa, what are you doing Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-20435848426547195432011-11-13T10:47:00.002-07:002011-11-13T17:11:17.707-07:00
"A man builds a fine house; and now
he has a master, and a task for life; he is to furnish, watch, show it,
and keep it in repair, the rest of his days."--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ah, the joys of home ownership.
Earlier this year, I noticed signs in the bathroom of termites. Pretending that I did not see them, didn't make them disappear. Always my first plan of attack.
I checked with my Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-66324967920797231142011-11-10T20:02:00.000-07:002011-11-10T20:02:33.273-07:00
An actual headline from foxnews.com.
Former Penn State Assistant Coach Reportedly Faces 460 Years in Jail
Really? That is going to be unpleasant for all concerned.
Some Guy Named Bob showed up today driving a silver Dodge Caliber instead of his Prius. When I asked him if he got a new car, he said that his Prius was in the shop for some "work". That is SGNB-speak for I crashed Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-27112525437483880702011-11-08T08:25:00.001-07:002011-11-08T18:23:12.908-07:00
Miss Riley, almost 3-year-old rocker. Too much TV or something.
It is easy to dismiss stupid commercials and think no one actually falls for their crap claims, but they must work, because sleazy companies keep making them.
A Honda dealer here in our fair city, is running a commercial saying that you, yes I said you, can own a 2011 Honda Civic for only $5 a day. Sounds good, just the cost Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-23128833667513262012011-11-05T15:33:00.000-07:002011-11-05T15:33:54.873-07:00Longtime readers will recall that Merle Wayne Sneed is a guy who doesn't like to be told what to do. Especially by nosy so-called 'experts'. These days lots these expert types experts are lined up to give advice and tell guys like me what to do.
Just this week a lot of know-it-all types had advice about how to ruin Halloween for the children of America.
Jyl Steinback of adviceforparents.orgMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-30610604485009329402011-11-01T08:09:00.000-07:002011-11-01T08:09:07.005-07:00
We did not get a single kid at our door last evening. That is a new low and unless some kid sneaks up and leaves US candy next year, it will remain the record.
The demographics of our neighborhood makes for scant crowds of ghouls and goblins anyway, but trick-or-treating door-to-door seems just a dying tradition. Too bad.
Things in this blog represented to be fact, may orMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-879183291322180882011-10-30T10:21:00.002-07:002011-10-30T15:43:00.940-07:00Some Guy Named Bob is often the butt of my tales of woe. I think of him often because in some ways he reminds me of my dad, with whom I had a complicated relationship. SGNB is not quite old enough to be my father, but he is very close.
For instance, SGNB, like Dad, often asks me questions that he already knows the answer to because he cannot stand the silence. Both men feel (felt) the urge Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-50727026162598659742011-10-27T08:26:00.001-07:002011-10-27T13:35:55.039-07:00I am going to conclude my history of my employment with an anecdote about a guy I worked for early in my career at Tedious Systems. His name was Bob and he was a small man in stature and character.
Bob believe that he had a special superpower, one that allowed him to evaluate someone's worth as a person at first glance. From the moment you first met Bob, you either had it or you didn't and Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-33521185490559645042011-10-24T11:13:00.005-07:002011-10-25T06:23:42.397-07:00The History of My Employment - Part 4I was hired by Tedious Systems, known as Mountain States Telephone in those days, on June 16th, 1969.
The guy who hired me negotiated me down to a wage of $95 week, and he apologized for not being able to offer more. I nearly leaped over his desk and kissed him; $95 was about a 25% pay raise from my salary at Bayless..
My first day on the job I was told to expect to work 58 hours a Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-68440617716950283662011-10-22T08:51:00.007-07:002011-10-22T18:16:45.636-07:00My History of Employment - Part 3When I graduated from high school, my expectation was that I would immediately enroll in college and study biology. Then, I would become a famous biologist. Seems oxymoronic in retrospect.
My old man's expectations were quite different.
Me: Dad, I need $300 to pay for my tuition.
Dad: Too bad, you should have worked harder and gotten a scholarship.
In fairness, my dad was unemployed at Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-27688843613881066922011-10-17T10:54:00.000-07:002011-10-17T10:54:38.044-07:00Attempting to push my buttons, Kurt referred to SGNB and his attempt to buy me Goodwill golf shoes as 'sweet'. Well, nice try.
SGNB is not sweet, or thoughtful. He has an illness that drives him to buy sh*t he
doesn't need. He fills his life and the lives of others with stuff and
most of it is not worth the effort it takes to carry it to the car, take it out and toss it in the trash.
Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-1209054180281634602011-10-13T08:40:00.000-07:002011-10-13T08:40:06.675-07:00
After a long, hot summer, relief at last. The hundred degree days are gone and more importantly, the 50 degree nights have arrived.
Some Guy Named Bob is very concerned about my golfing footwear. Longtime readers may recall that Merle Wayne Sneed has abnormally large feet. Feet so big that shoe buying is almost exclusively done via the internets.
Depending on the make and model, I Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-24445342508935056882011-09-29T16:34:00.001-07:002011-09-29T19:45:00.633-07:00Merle Wayne Sneed's History of Employment - Part 2 When I was 15 or so, my dad got me a gig working half-days on Saturday a the local Air Force base commissary. Commissary is military-speak for grocery store. I was a bagger and worked strictly for tips.
The commissary was a highly coveted job because, at least in those days, military people shopped only twice a month and they tended to buy a lot of stuff. Plus, they tipped really well.
The Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-57487279845672092112011-09-28T08:17:00.001-07:002011-09-28T08:37:56.703-07:00Merle Wayne Sneed's History of Employment - Part 1
This praying mantis stopped by for a visit this morning.
Mrs. Sneed's retirement has given me cause to recollect some of the jobs that I have had and some of the stupid stuff that has happened at those jobs.
The first real job that I had was house-to-house delivery for a small newsletter that my father wrote and edited. My brother and I delivered the newsletter once a month to Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-23303718302341412702011-09-27T07:28:00.000-07:002011-09-27T07:28:52.836-07:00Kurt of the greater NY area, noted that it has been some time since my last post. People note things every day.
Lots of things are happening around here. Mrs. Sneed is down to her last 4 work days and despite some last minute second-guessing, she is at peace with her decision to retire.
Last week I attended a going away luncheon at her work. Her doctor/boss is a famous pediatric Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-23660028966185125552011-09-03T08:59:00.001-07:002011-09-03T13:01:17.983-07:00In reply to my last post, Barbara wonders why I don't change my number or disconnect my land line, rather than take all these, Shawn the Deadbeat calls? Excellent question.
1. I get my home service for free for life.
2. We have had the same number for about 16 years and changing it means contacting a lot of people, many who I will forget.
3. I object to being penalized because of a Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-3647997353326719302011-08-25T21:13:00.000-07:002011-08-25T21:13:40.907-07:00 Distressed home owners all across the fruited plain are walking away from hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and no one seems bothered about it. Well, not enough to hound them for the money anyway.
Small time deadbeats don't have the same luxury. The prospects of collecting a few hundred or thousand bucks from them are much more likely than collecting the aforementioned hundreds of Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-15133411875622447932011-08-10T08:29:00.000-07:002011-08-10T08:29:42.047-07:00If government were a product, selling it would be illegal.
--P.J. O'Rourke
If your city is anything like Hooterville the quality of public services is in decline because they just don't have the money to do things right. More taxes would surely help them do better, as they often tell us, but we don't have more money to give them so a half-assed job is the best they can offer.
An Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-37761968385770490722011-08-07T10:59:00.001-07:002011-08-07T14:04:28.038-07:00
"If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade.”--Tom Peters
At the hardware store the management is constantly badgering the help to sell. They have convinced themselves that the road to success is paved with add-on sales. If we can just coax every customer to spend that extra buck, we will be successful beyond our wildest dreams.
They delude themselves.
And now a Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-7859498549339991322011-08-06T20:12:00.000-07:002011-08-06T20:12:55.737-07:00
The Sneeds are thrilled to announce the birth of Piper this morning at 3:30ish.
Piper is little sister to Riley and Aiden, and is loved by one and 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 judgmental and crankyMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-25753869435554848652011-08-03T07:10:00.000-07:002011-08-03T07:10:22.920-07:00
I bet you have seen this woman on television. Flo is the face of Progressive Insurance, our home and auto insurer.
The Sneeds have been happy Progressive customers for several years now. We signed on with Progressive after the AARP whores at Hartford insurance kicked us off for having the nerve to house our disabled son and his conditional drivers license. Never mind that he never Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-2240445371576795652011-07-26T08:25:00.001-07:002011-07-26T08:25:46.435-07:00
There is a rather amazing customer who comes into the store from time to time. At least he seems amazing to me. I met this fellow a couple of years ago, when he came in to buy some plumbing parts for a sink he was repairing at his house.
He is tall, trim and fit with a full head of white hair and I judged him to be 80ish. We have lots of 80ish guys still doing home repairs, so that is not Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-88289923012778201962011-07-24T12:33:00.000-07:002011-07-24T12:33:07.187-07:00I had a bit of a fight with my boss this past week.
It was time for my annual review at the hardware store and it turns out that I am a worse employee than I was a year ago.
Not demonstrably worse, you understand, just worse on the "I'm the boss and I say so" scale.
Like most employee evaluations, this one was riddled with the inexplicable.
For instance, why are there ratings from 1 to 5Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-33452185454756243922011-07-10T21:44:00.000-07:002011-07-10T21:44:01.536-07:00
The campaign against distracted driving has provided another
illustration that American drivers are more likely to respond to
safety initiatives when they carry the threat of punishment. --Ashley Halsey III, The Washington Post.
Really? What's next, people are more willing to pay their taxes if they think they might be tossed into jail if they don't.
The federal government needed a study to Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-22729428084612189522011-06-27T17:16:00.000-07:002011-06-27T17:16:32.039-07:00
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.” --Albert Einstein.
Many people think that Arizonans are generally a stupid people, based upon news reports. Those reports are well-founded.
We are plagued in our corner of the USofA by a legislature dominated by the Phoenix East Valley Mormons, a contingent of backwater hicks, Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-2202225211856499022011-06-19T10:01:00.000-07:002011-06-19T10:01:25.168-07:00Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. ~Marie Curie
Maybe it's me, but it seems like people get real excited about some stupid stuff.
Our local school district, Hooterville Unified (HUSD), was in need of desegregation some years back. Like most places, white kids attended white schools and other-than-white kids attended other-than-white schools.
This wasn't the Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-73725082273007085742011-06-11T19:15:00.000-07:002011-06-11T19:15:56.971-07:00"Money can't buy friends, but it can get you a better class of enemy. " Spike Milligan
I saw a woman using a payphone this morning. That in and of itself is unusual, but the kicker is that she was wearing a tee shirt that said, "Want fame and fortune? Ask me how."
Think about that.
Then, this from the files of more money than good sense.
The house across the street from us, you know it asMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-41894074744383700582011-06-07T06:36:00.000-07:002011-06-07T06:36:49.562-07:00
"I wish I was the Oscar Meyer weiner..." I can't help myself, cheap humor is all I got.
I heard Hugh Hewitt on the radio explaining the "It's not my dog", defense.
It's not my dog. Okay, it is my dog, but he didn't bite you. Fine, he bit you, but you kicked him.
The Weiner version,
I did not send that picture and those aren't my undies.
Okay, so maybe they are my skivvies, but I Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-42621620251208618402011-06-02T18:37:00.000-07:002011-06-02T18:37:38.930-07:00We have finally hit the 100 degree mark last week. The historical average for the first day of at least 100 degrees is May 26. We held off until the 28th this year. Ah, small pleasures.
As the days wind down toward Mrs. Sneed's retirement, she is subject to a daily campaign by her boss to change her mind. He is really putting on the heat, so to speak.
The background is this.
Mrs. Sneed andMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-49160332253817685152011-05-23T18:20:00.000-07:002011-05-23T18:20:02.403-07:00
“Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”--Mae West
Our hardware store is located in a lower middle class area. We get more than the average number of drunks and druggies visiting the store, many intent on shoplifting themselves some stuff.
Last Friday I noticed a guy at the end of the plumbing aisle, crouching down with a box on the floor. I assumed he was trying to Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-80816949352801220142011-05-16T19:13:00.001-07:002011-05-17T06:28:32.356-07:00 Mrs. Sneed was telling me about one of those articles about easy ways to save money. One tip was to cancel home water delivery and get a water conditioner. Who has water delivered anymore? And who wrote the article, June Cleaver?
I went to the bank this morning to cash my giant hardware store check. The teller asked me for about the millionth time if I was interested in switching some of Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-2008138111364453712011-05-06T08:33:00.000-07:002011-05-06T08:33:19.716-07:00Cinco de Mayo is a big deal around here. Maybe it is a big deal everywhere, but I can't tell, since I only live here.
When I was driving to play golf yesterday, I noticed that a Mexican restaurant near our house had cordoned off their parking lot with fencing and was setting up for some big to-do. For just a minute I wondered what was up and then I thought to myself, "Ah, Cinco de Mayo."
ThenMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-4376125952229002572011-05-02T08:24:00.000-07:002011-05-02T08:24:59.786-07:00
Does anyone else find it off-putting that crowds of Americans are cheering and waving flags at the news of the killing of bin Laden? It seems eerily similar to the crowds that took to the Arab streets to cheer the events of September 11th.
Maybe it is just me.
In other positive news, bin Laden's death pushed the equally dead pope and the silly British royals off the news.
Things in Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-67804873625137600292011-04-26T08:04:00.000-07:002011-04-26T08:04:15.587-07:00
It will be all downhill for my roses from here on. For now, they are doing very nicely.
The lovely Mrs. Sneed gave her notice at work yesterday. Most people give 2 weeks notice, she gave 5 months. September 30th is her last day.
Mrs. Sneed is concerned that sometime around the first of the year we will be living in a box under a bridge somewhere. I guess that is a natural fear.
Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-7521951347833354922011-04-22T08:24:00.001-07:002011-04-23T07:12:15.260-07:00Long time readers know that Merle Wayne Sneed has a love/hate relationship with authority.
I appreciate the fact that the government keeps us relatively safe, but I hate the fact that when they are not protecting us, or at least maintaining some order, they spend their time bothering us.
Take yesterday for example.
The lovely Mrs. Sneed asked me to go with her to pick up a medication for a kidMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-49950161611514179562011-04-15T07:56:00.000-07:002011-04-15T07:56:19.068-07:00I need someone to develop a product called Witness-B-Gone. Something for those of us plagued by the Jehovah's Witnesses.
I was installing a light fixture in the living room the other day, standing on a ladder when the doorbell rang. From my vantage point it appeared to be a young mom and her toddler. Instead it was a Witness and her pain-in-my-ass in training.
Totally unimpressed by my "NOMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-59370464183140539862011-04-08T20:53:00.002-07:002011-04-09T07:05:26.051-07:00
"Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that guy behind the tree!"
That quote attributed to Russell Long, could be updated to include not cutting any level of government spending these days.
Even though most people agree that the United States is borrowing its way to ruin, no one wants to have anything they benefit from cut or any tax raised.
Who would have guessed that?
Things in this blog Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-41193077854938580172011-03-31T16:12:00.001-07:002011-03-31T19:54:26.286-07:00Some people might think that I am too hard on Some Guy Named Bob. Perhaps I am, anything is possible when it comes to SGNB. It is also possible that some people are full of it.
You have to understand that anything involving SGNB is an ordeal. The man simply wears you out.
Take today for instance.
After golf today, I left my cell phone on the table at lunch. I'm forever leaving the stupid Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-48741741790033682962011-03-29T08:15:00.001-07:002011-03-29T19:20:56.533-07:00Thursday, began like most other Thursdays. I was waiting to drive Mrs. Sneed to work, anticipating going to the golf course immediately afterward.
Then my phone rang. It was Some Guy Named Bob and he sounded bad, even by SGNB standards. SGNB is a diabetic.
SGNB said that he had awaken with a blood sugar level of 27 and that he was extremely disoriented. He said that he was too sick to play.Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-71927528697470385932011-03-28T08:37:00.002-07:002011-03-28T09:07:34.421-07:00
Mrs. Sneed and I decided to spend our swell Costco rebates this year on a couple of new high-efficiency toilets. What can I say, it was our anniversary. Not really.
What intrigued me about the whole process, was not the installation, which was fun in and of itself, but the last line of the features as described on the box. Installation Required. Really?
I'm fairly sure that no one downMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-85956847500738311682011-03-27T10:03:00.001-07:002011-03-27T17:40:28.616-07:00
So, where to begin. I'm saving the Some Guy Named Bob story for tomorrow.
I came home from golfing a few Thursdays ago and plunked my ample behind into my chair. I flipped open my laptop to the homepage for the Hooterville Daily Dish, our hometown paper, to check up on the latest.
The headline that caught my eye first, was about a 25-year-old man who was arrested for attempting to sell Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-7417768846872496642011-03-26T08:51:00.000-07:002011-03-26T08:51:57.871-07:00I'm back from my blogging hiatus. I didn't plan to be on hiatus, but being in jail does that to a guy.
Actually, I have been in a bit of a funk lately. I have lost interest in working in the hardware store. I think I am slowly working my way toward unemployment. The boss is pressing me to work more hours and my goal is to work fewer hours. A crisis looms.
So, what has happened in the Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-76511208751488390382011-03-04T08:39:00.000-07:002011-03-04T08:39:49.056-07:00 Last evening, the lovely Mrs. Sneed and I attended a school musical starring the 2nd grade classes at our Aiden's school. Aiden was quite spectacular as a member of the chorus. Many in the audience thought the kid in the light green costume and cheetah mask carried things.
Aiden attends a public school on Hooterville's far southeast side. It is a district made up of young, upwardly mobile Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-66061875258162700612011-02-27T10:59:00.000-07:002011-02-27T10:59:19.722-07:00
Our couch and love seat are going on a three-week vacation to the upholsterer tomorrow. They have served us well, but the fabric is so 1990s. Or at least I'm told.
Yesterday we ventured across town to the upholstery shop to make the final arrangements. Afterward, we drove down to the city of South Hooterville and had lunch at an old favorite restaurant, Mi Nidito. The main industry of Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-24966046027743963332011-02-25T07:28:00.001-07:002011-02-25T18:42:29.843-07:00I read a news report about a policeman in Villa Rica, Georgia, US of A, who broke up a ring of Girl Scouts who were selling cookies without a peddlers license. The officer's boss and the mayor of Villa Rica quickly stepped in to overrule the cop, and avoid the PR disaster he had unleashed.
In my 60, nearly 61 years of living, I have concluded that the police largely fall into two categories;Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-53950643446729316462011-02-20T20:39:00.000-07:002011-02-20T20:39:43.151-07:00
Quotes of the week:
"Grandpa, grandpa, grandpa....." Riley made up a song about me. Unless it is about her other grandpa.
"I'm not wearing that hat, it is an old man hat." The Seafood King's granddaughter on my offer to trade hats with her.
"That's not how my dad fixed it at my house." Aiden commenting on my basketball hoop fixing strategy.
"Didn't you learn anything working in that Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-49613276243116086892011-02-17T07:16:00.000-07:002011-02-17T07:16:29.825-07:00One of the interesting things that happens when you work in the hardware store is that people come in to ask advice and then argue with the answer they get.
Person: I need something to mount shelves on my wall.
Me: Brick or drywall?
Person: Drywall.
Me: Use toggle bolts. This is how they work. (Me demonstrating).
Person: That won't work, what else can I use?
Me: Shelf glue.
Person: You Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-14042582377686404772011-02-12T19:45:00.001-07:002011-02-12T19:47:41.129-07:00
You probably don't give much thought to the benefits of a natural disaster. For that matter, you probably don't think of freezing weather as a natural disaster, either.
Here in Hooterville we are largely immune to the normal sort of natural disaster, earthquake, wildfire, flooding, that sort of thing. But since our lives are built around hot weather, really cold turns can wreck havoc. Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-11938374818542335902011-02-03T07:19:00.000-07:002011-02-03T07:19:01.493-07:00
I normally leave my fountain running on those infrequent nights when the temps dip below freezing. Last night it was in the high teens here in Hooterville and running or not, the fountain still froze up. I hope I didn't ruin the motor.
As I type, it is 19 degrees and the frickin' wind is blowing 20mph. My recollection is that Hooterville is supposed to be where people go to escape theMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-84858108676900386072011-02-02T07:18:00.001-07:002011-02-02T07:19:09.751-07:00Readers have been writing asking, "Hey, Merle Wayne Sneed! What ever happened to your dream of a career in hand modeling?"
Timely question, dear reader. In short, this. Smooth skin for an old guy, eh? Looks like botox gone bad or Joan Rivers after the latest.
If you have ever had to endure cortisone injections in a joint, you are familiar with a side effect known as cortisone flare. It Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-73120622433707272842011-01-29T10:26:00.000-07:002011-01-29T10:26:25.730-07:00
This is the sign advertising an iconic Hooterville fried chicken place called Lucky Wishbone. The Lucky Wishbone has been in business since the 1950s and has several Hooterville locations.
When this Lucky Wishbone opened in the 1954, people predicted that it wouldn't make it because, and I'm not making this up, they believed that no reasonable person would get out of their car and go in to Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-81627109863621285172011-01-21T07:02:00.000-07:002011-01-21T07:02:18.458-07:00
This is life with Some Guy Named Bob.
We had a golf tee time this morning at 9:15. Under ideal circumstances, if the planets align correctly, if one allows for the Coriolis force and adjusts for the barometric pressure, Some Guy Named Bob will arrive at 9:18ish and hustle down the first fairway to catch us.
Absent those conditions, all bets on his whereabouts and arrival, are off.
Add Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-45327547035023355472011-01-17T07:55:00.000-07:002011-01-17T07:55:11.817-07:00Something interesting is going on down at the hardware store.
Last year the folks who own and operate our little business got the idea to lower prices in order to better compete with the big box guys.
Now, we are selling more stuff to more people, for less money. Lower prices have brought in additional business, but not enough to compensate for the lower prices.
An undeniable rule of Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-11275436079294302902011-01-09T19:33:00.000-07:002011-01-09T19:33:46.946-07:00
A two-year-old commandeered my iPad, so that she could play "Angee Birds". Somehow she has figured out how to turn it on, find the Angry Birds app and to open the game. Unbelievable to me. I was stumped by our first VCR.
We are watching the latest press conference from University Medical Center about the condition of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The doctors say that she is in ICU and on aMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-5584211249842608552011-01-08T22:39:00.001-07:002011-01-09T10:03:58.251-07:00
Our Congressperson, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot and critically wounded by a seriously deranged 22-year-old man this morning.
In addition to wounding Rep. Giffords, the gunman killed six, including federal Judge John Roll and a nine-year-old child. The shooter wounded an additional 12 people.
It is natural to suspect that this heinous act is somehow rooted in the strident partisanship Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-25558935388925641822011-01-05T07:50:00.000-07:002011-01-05T07:50:41.126-07:00
Our good news of the day comes from Texas, where Cornelius Dupree Jr. has been released from prison after a 30-year mistaken stay. Mr. Dupree was convicted in 1979 of a rape he steadfastly denied having committed.
Hey, that's what they all say, right?
Dupree even turned down parole, rather than falsely admit to the crime.
We're not falling for that trick.
DNA evidence has shown that Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-2014151088869405442010-12-31T08:07:00.002-07:002010-12-31T08:10:54.795-07:00
You would think that the experience of pain, suffering and hardship would be more or less the same for people, regardless of their locale or station in life.
Let me clarify what it is I mean, because obviously being a Linsay Lohan in rehab is not the same as an actual human person in rehab.
Hooterville had cold temps and rain mixed with snow yesterday. The mountains got a couple of feet Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-17094304566836284942010-12-27T15:14:00.000-07:002010-12-27T15:14:02.040-07:00
, my favorite example of unbridled excess, is running a series of commercials in which they assert that no one ever wished for a smaller holiday gift. The meaning evidently is, that only an idiot would ask for a three-piece adjustable wrench set, when he could have a Lexus.
If that was true, wouldn't people who want new cars for the holidays, wish for Mack trucks instead of a Lexus?
And Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-42847942228551888792010-12-24T07:42:00.001-07:002010-12-24T16:22:56.665-07:00I was at the store the other day, in line behind a woman writing a check to pay for her purchases. I can't recall the last time that happened. Who writes checks anymore?
I suppose lots of folks still do to pay bills by check. Not as many as used to for sure, judging from the troubles down at the post office.
The lovely Mrs. Sneed and I mostly use our credit union's bill pay service in lieu Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-50437588153665186632010-12-22T07:50:00.000-07:002010-12-22T07:50:22.195-07:00Who knew that there was a guy out there who monitored the net for Dean Martin-related stuff? Isn't the internet amazing?
In comments on my last post a Deano devotee pointed out that I had confused Mr. Martin's DOB with his DOD.
Sorry Deano, wherever you are.
Are you the kind of person who says pretty much what you think or are like the rest of the 99% of us who habitually bite our tongues?
Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-4240200959078554272010-12-14T07:56:00.000-07:002010-12-14T07:56:48.255-07:00I hope that among your holiday plans you have reserved a small birthday tribute to that famous American, Dino Paul Crocetti. His birthday is on December 25th.
I grew up watching Dino Paul Crocetti, aka, Dean Martin on the television, first as Jerry Lewis' partner in the silly 1950s movies they made together and later as an accomplished singer, who portrayed a drunken idiot in his TV appearancesMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-79498637283014086202010-12-10T07:50:00.001-07:002010-12-10T18:17:21.166-07:00My boss down at the store is reading a few of the 'skinny books" about making the workplace better for all concerned.
This sort of thing.
I admire her willingness to try to make our workplace better. I think she is in an uphill fight because she has onerous (my word) pressures on her from the owners of the business.
Our owners manage their business by the numbers and that instills fear Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-61345363273115773362010-12-06T08:46:00.000-07:002010-12-06T08:46:58.561-07:00
This is a picture of my television set, ripped from the pages of this week's Best Buy ad. I bought this set from Best Buy two years ago for about $800. It is in the ad this week for about $600. That's the way it goes in electronics.
What is curious is that Best Buy has been sending me urgent reminders that I can get a swell two-year extended warranty on my TV for a mere $199, one-third of Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-11216833600315730252010-12-03T07:39:00.003-07:002010-12-03T18:15:07.737-07:00
Retailers hope this year's wacky striped pants craze will bolster the holiday shopping numbers.
Good news! According an Associated Press story, shoppers flocked to the stores and malls in November, buying holidays gift stuff. Lots of stuff.
Sales were up some percentage or another, which was much better than the National Council of Guys Who Sell Stuff expected, according to their spokesmanMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-49474409326356518392010-11-30T08:07:00.000-07:002010-11-30T08:07:11.593-07:00The other day I mentioned that despite the fact that don't ever pay credit card interest because I don't carry over a balance, Chase Bank analyzed my credit file and concluded that their latest offer could benefit me.
Their benefit was a low interest rate. If you don't pay them interest, their interest rate is immaterial. As we all remember from grade school, zero times anything, even 2.9% forMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-80003915584368992842010-11-23T08:25:00.000-07:002010-11-23T08:25:35.332-07:00 I got a mailer from Chase Bank yesterday. They tell me that an analysis of my credit file indicates that I can benefit from their latest credit card deal. They are offering a "low" interest rate.
The fact that Chase Bank is the only real beneficiary in their various schemes aside, I question how comprehensive their analysis really was. I haven't paid credit card interest in decades. We Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-39255792149731931842010-11-20T09:06:00.001-07:002010-11-20T09:37:56.200-07:00 If it is Friday in Hooterville, it must be time for a Ned the Crime fighter, update.
Yesterday afternoon, a young fellow snatched up a armful of merchandise and ran out the front door of the store. Ned sprang into action and gave chase.
This despite the counseling he received earlier his week from the manager against one-man crime fighting.
Ned very nearly caught the thief just a few feet Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-36921268977857616922010-11-13T23:31:00.003-07:002010-11-14T18:37:21.282-07:00
Maybe it is the depth of the recession, but out here in these parts the criminals are becoming more brazen, or so it seems.
In our little hardware store we have suffered a couple of "grab and dash" robberies recently.
One guy waltzed in the front door of the store, calmly loaded up four $100 power drills and
bolted to a waiting getaway car, idling just outside.
Apparently, the thieves Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-75303733361417030362010-11-09T08:06:00.000-07:002010-11-09T08:06:28.131-07:00I got the stitches out of my hand yesterday. What stitches you ask?
A couple of weeks ago I cut my hand repairing a screen door at work. One of those instants of inattention and bam-o, you get cut. Four stitches in the web between my thumb and forefinger, no big deal.
Of course, everyone is an expert on how not to cut yourself when it is not them doing the cutting. If I had just been Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-5774428710329157482010-11-01T23:39:00.000-07:002010-11-01T23:39:16.376-07:00
The Hoover Dam bypass bridge officially named the Mike O'Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge
This is another in a continuing series called, "Merle Sneed and the high road not taken."
The lovely Mrs. Sneed and I attended one of those fancy new media events this weekend. Several podcasters of whom we are fans put on the event, so we went.
If you are unfamiliar with podcasting, think ofMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-52471038163885404132010-10-24T17:16:00.000-07:002010-10-24T17:16:36.161-07:00
Mrs. Sneed is the queen of repurposing. You know, making something new out of something old?
She's the brains of the outfit, I'm just head of the implementation department.
I blame this on HGTV.
We had an old redwood patio set that was a bit long in the tooth and ready for the dump. A couple of the braces were broken and dogs and human had not been kind to it.
This what the table Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-42856317651496044152010-10-19T08:25:00.000-07:002010-10-19T08:25:27.642-07:00The wedding of our niece was just terrific. The bride was stunning and as happy as a person could be.
Except for this kid, of course. She discovered the favors included chocolate lollipops. Her dad is trying hard not to be a co-discoverer.
The reception was at a Victorian-era house downtown that has been converted to a wedding reception facility. I'm guessing that there were a couple of Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-90028055726644912812010-10-15T14:20:00.001-07:002010-10-16T06:56:37.618-07:00
The kid is a buffoon. I told him to sit in front of the fountain so that I could get his picture and this is the pose he struck. A million out of work comedians and I'm stuck with him.
Our niece Shannon is getting married in about an hour or so. That is germaine to the story that follows because I had to go to work at 6:30 am today so that I could leave early for the wedding.
At Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-35517036199101287012010-10-09T12:20:00.002-07:002010-10-09T12:36:02.807-07:00
Our Noah has joined the scouts. He cuts quite a dashing figure.
Now on with my rant.
“One seldom discovers a true believer that is worth knowing”--H.L. Mencken
There is nothing worse to me than someone who believes that he or she has found the answer and needs to share it, especially with me. It's worse when the good news is being shared primarily for the benefit of the sharer.
Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-48003434261477757132010-10-05T07:49:00.001-07:002010-10-05T07:56:45.739-07:00
Aiden and Riley love their video games.
Would it annoy or even offend you if a friend popped into your place of business to hit you up for one of his charities? It does me, but then lots of stuff annoys me, so I might not be the best barometer of annoying behavior.
Last Friday, Some Guy Named Bob showed up in the store to ask me for money for a fund-raising walk he is participating in. Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-44221022295207208042010-10-03T10:12:00.000-07:002010-10-03T10:12:53.080-07:00
These are our new laundry gizmos. After a wait of newly a month, they were delivered last Thursday afternoon.
Bright and early Thursday morning I got to work taking everything out of the laundry room in preparation for the new stuff. If you have ever moved a washing machine, you are familiar with the science experiment/landfill that takes root beneath a washer, even in the cleanest of Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-26847016269875151362010-09-27T17:45:00.001-07:002010-09-27T21:21:44.740-07:00
My buddy Aiden goes to one of those year-around schools. He is on a three-week break, so we spent the day together today.
He showed up this morning with a hangdog look about him and a stern-looking mother. He got himself in some trouble at home.
Per Mom, the rules for today were;
1. No TV
2. No sweets
3. No video games
4. No fun grandfather/grandson outings.
Books and homework wereMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-26580935607182617632010-09-21T06:22:00.000-07:002010-09-21T06:22:53.301-07:00
Ah, the irrational things we do for our pets.
This is the FURminator collection of deshedding tools for for dogs and cats. The FURminator is designed to remove excess hair from your pet, rather than having it line every surface of your house.
Note the yellow one, it is the tool for large dogs, like our Lacey the Wonder Dog.
The FURminator line sells for between $37.99 and $72.99 Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-72810832218872617232010-09-20T07:36:00.001-07:002010-09-20T07:38:57.059-07:00
“You can't convince a
believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's
based on a deep seated need to believe”--Carl Sagan
"Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity. "--William of Ockham
Put plainly, in any mystery, the simplest explanation is the most likely answer. Could the bright light be an alien spaceship? Yes. Is it more likely an airplane, Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-22141939310167301502010-09-18T14:31:00.001-07:002010-09-19T10:32:06.123-07:00
I know a bit about cost accounting. It was my occupation at Tedious Systems for nearly a decade.
A really good thing for a business is increasing sales without increasing fixed costs.
In a nutshell fixed costs are those things that don't change with your volume of business. Rent on a building is a good example; you pay the same each month no matter how many customers come through the Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-38223191345292859102010-09-10T08:40:00.000-07:002010-09-10T08:40:33.670-07:00Perhaps you are a magazine subscriber. I am and I have noticed something about magazines of late. It is almost impossible to get them to stop sending them to you, even if you stop paying.
Until recently I was a paying subscriber to OPE, Wired, Sports Illustrated, Discover, Skeptical Inquirer and Girls With Really Big Hooters magazines. Okay, not the last one, but all the others.
With the Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-33932438296863579532010-09-08T06:41:00.000-07:002010-09-08T06:41:49.972-07:00Well, Labor Day has come and gone, so I guess I will put away my white shoes for another season.
One of the Christian types in our store put this poster up on our break room bulletin board. I thought that the Supreme Court had ruled that the constitution provided for a separation of church and hardware store, but perhaps I misunderstand.
The fellow who posted the flier does this sort of Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-51977076851436254322010-09-01T08:29:00.001-07:002010-09-01T08:33:04.491-07:00
We had a new gate made for the front of the house.
The original gate, bought just a few months ago, never fit correctly and the guy who built it tried a couple of times to fix it. He should have just taken it down and built one that fit, but instead he kept trying to tweak it.
I could have asked him for a refund, but I don't think he would have given it. I think he would just kept Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-12137788596336551872010-08-30T22:11:00.003-07:002010-08-31T07:19:40.204-07:00We had a torrential downpour on Saturday night, accompanied by near hurricane-force winds.
Technically hurricane-force winds exceed 75 mph, so we had near and not actual hurricane-force, clocking in at 60 mph. Anyway the whole business lasted about an hour, which is par for the course around here.
Sustained, all day rain happens in the winter in Hooterville. Typically, our summer storms are Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-21622652140023357742010-08-25T07:20:00.000-07:002010-08-25T07:20:06.612-07:00We had our primary elections yesterday, as did many places. Heck, maybe all places had them, I don't pay that much attention.
Anyway, I'm glad the primaries are over, so that people I've never heard of will stop bothering me with phone calls and visits to our doorstep. At least for a month or so until they gear up for the general election.
Elections always pit independent-minded, outsidersMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-27718366512349555222010-08-23T07:28:00.002-07:002010-08-23T09:36:49.866-07:00 My neighbor bought a new car a few days ago. Saturday morning we were exchanging hellos across the street and I remarked that his new car was really nice. This led to a bull-flown rundown of the gory details involving its purchase.
The car is a four-door Toyota sedan. It has every feature available on the model. That is not the usual Merle Wayne Sneed hyperbole, it literally has every Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-77488176717288487742010-08-20T08:36:00.002-07:002010-08-20T08:44:53.661-07:00There come times in life when change gets tired of our dawdling and knocks down the door of our comfortable little box, determined to drag us out. Sometimes we go quietly, and sometimes kicking and screaming. Either way, change cannot be denied.
The lovely Mrs. Sneed has been back at work for the past week or so and is realizing that her life on the outside was personally preferable to her Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-71790634447766292792010-08-15T20:44:00.002-07:002010-08-16T09:42:16.421-07:00
Aiden had a birthday this week. It turns out that he is seven.
We had a family party today, Mom, Dad, sister, cousin, aunts, uncles, and four grandparents. It was a lot of fun.
One of my grandchildren once famously complained, "He sarcazed me." Scarcazed being the verb form of scarcasm.
During my short-lived school teaching career, I learned that it is unwise to sarcaze young Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-15448961058340282892010-08-14T11:40:00.000-07:002010-08-14T11:40:34.388-07:00
Two babies were waiting in the baby factory, ready to be born.
"I think I will select that couple from Seattle in the United States," said the first. "They will call me Justin and I will be very happy."
"I am going to pick Jose and Maria," said the second. "They live in a lovely little town called El Arenal, in Mexico. I think I can be quite happy there. I hope they call me Miguel.
Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-52065048190075928122010-08-10T20:03:00.000-07:002010-08-10T20:03:22.030-07:00Mrs. Sneed had the cast on her wrist removed this past Thursday, and replaced with a wrist brace. She has considerable pain and weakness in the wrist.
She
has decided to return to work on Wednesday, so we will see how that
works out. I for one, wish she would just pack it in and retire, but
it takes two to make that hope unanimous and 50% of the electorate
disagrees. So we will see what Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-18279790885839777052010-08-09T17:37:00.000-07:002010-08-09T17:37:43.353-07:00This is a conversation I had with a ten-year-old girl the other day. She is the granddaughter of a friend.
Hey, Merle, check out my new cell phone. It is completely touchscreen, much better than my old one.
"Wait, you're ten and you are getting your second cell phone? Why?"
Eyes roll, big sigh...
No, I got my first one when I was five, this is about my fifth phone. I have people to callMerle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-89433151372982226632010-08-04T21:16:00.000-07:002010-08-04T21:16:00.014-07:00By now you know that we have another change of direction in California's battle to keep gay people from legally validating their relationships.
All I can say is that I hope this ruling holds up on appeal.
As I was driving home tonight, I heard a fool on the radio quoting from the Bible about God's hatred of gay marriage, or at least that was the case he was attempting to build. God Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-64759895078995943122010-07-31T11:44:00.001-07:002010-07-31T13:40:40.523-07:00It is possible that I live in a state run by nutters.
Of course, our current most famous legislative act is SB1070, the attempt by the state government to enforce immigration laws. In fairness, what the feds are doing isn't really working that well, so I get the frustration.
Our legislature has been busy with other stuff, though. For example, it is now a law that every city hall, and Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-35064634685795396102010-07-26T08:16:00.000-07:002010-07-26T08:16:59.024-07:00
This is my simple religion. There is no need for
temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own
heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
Dalai Lama
I've been thinking about the term cafeteria Christian for the past couple of days. You know, someone who believes what he or she believes, rather than just blindly swallowing the whole enchilada. This is the Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-29891987769238448352010-07-21T07:07:00.000-07:002010-07-21T07:07:27.124-07:00
This is a picture of my mom taken in the late 1940s. Longtime readers have seen it before.
I was paged at work yesterday that I had a phone call waiting.
When I answered the call, a woman on the phone asked me to get her a can opener.
Thinking that she wanted the price of a can opener, I asked her what type of can opener she was looking for.
Just a plain old fashioned one.
I asked her Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9030581.post-86827301516270924562010-07-19T22:33:00.001-07:002010-07-20T07:21:14.927-07:00The Seafood King was out of town this week. Some Guy Named Bob called to see if I wanted to play golf last Thursday...just me and SGNB. Luckily, I was unavailable.
Then SGNB called Saturday afternoon to ask if I was willing to drive an hour away to play this coming Thursday. Some retirement community was having an open house at their golf course to drum up new members and were offering Merle Sneedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01228809667893921954noreply@blogger.com6