Sometimes Shopping Can Be Fun!

I went shopping at The Real Canadian Superstore yesterday, something I don't normally enjoy doing. To be honest, I hate shopping at any time in any place. Too many people, too much noise, too many salespeople asking if they can help you because they want the commission, just too much of everything really. But, so saying, food needs to be bought so I went.

While there, I ran into an old acquaintance of mine whom I haven't seen in almost a year. She was handing out samples of a kind of cookie/treat and had a big display depicting the cookie/treat. We started to talk and we got onto the subject of pets. I was telling her about Luke when a guy comes up to the display table, grabs a couple of the cookies and wanders off munching them. Had this guy paid any attention to the conversation or the pictures on the display, he would have noticed that they were "Natural Defense Healthy Snacks for Adult Dogs"! The particular ones she was giving samples of are for the dogs digestive system. (I'd post a picture of the boxes and bags of the dog food, but I can't seem to find any. Perhaps later, I can get Silv to scan a copy of the coupon she gave me and I can post that!)

Oh we laughed! We kept laughing till we were almost ready to cry! Between fits of giggles, she told me how many people actually do that and how many others were slightly smarter and caught on just as they were going for the cookies! That just made us laugh harder and tears were indeed flowing down our faces.

Apparently not paying attention to what is being handed out at the "free sample" tables, is a common problem. These people who just "grab and eat" are the highlight of her day, and there are 2 or 3 of them each day! The good thing is that there is nothing in the dog food/treats that will harm a person and watching someone eating this stuff when they don't know it alleviates what would otherwise be a rather boring day.

Let's Take A Walk!

Well, I got nothin to write about at the moment, so I'm just going to send you on a walk to see more of winter in my new home. Over at The Swallow's Nest, Silv, my other better half has posted some pics. I hope you all enjoy them!

Cell Phones, a Love to Hate Relationship!

Quite some time ago I had to go into Winnipeg for a doctor's appointment. The appointment itself was scheduled for 1 pm so I had left home at 10 am. You see, Winnipeg is an hour and a half drive from my place and then there is always the half hour of city driving to get to the heart of the city where this doctor's office is. So I leave extra early in order to be able to take time for lunch once I get there. I used to go quite frequently and I've always hated it. I hate the city, I'm a country girl through and through! I also hate getting poked, prodded and pilled, no fun in that what-so-ever!

On this particular occasion I had decided to stop at a Tim Horton's (coffee and donut shop for those that don't know about it) and have a bowl of chili, a roll, coffee and a donut for my lunch. There was a long line as per the norm, and in the line was a woman on a cell phone. Now normally that wouldn't bother me and at first it hadn't. I even thought it was pretty decent of her to tell whoever her caller was to hang on a second as it was her turn to order. That's when I started to get annoyed!

You see, she hadn't yet decided what she wanted so she started reading the board above the counter to see what there was available. After about 2 minutes of reading, she got back on her phone and asked the person she had been in conversation with, what she should have. Her convo turned to other topics and just kept going. She should have left the line but she didn't! She just kept talking and talking holding everyone else up with her b.s. Other people in line were starting to make comments about her need to hurry up as they needed to get back to work. The cashier at the till was drumming her fingers and pointing at her watch to get this woman to make a decision. FINALLY she orders, and with that she's back on her cell ignoring the cashier who is trying to tell her how much her order will cost.

This had taken about 20 minutes already and everyone in line was getting pissed. I decided to take matters into my own hands. Literally! There were about 6 people in line ahead of me, but I didn't care. I walked up to the woman, took her cell out of her hands and told the person on the other end that she'd call back as soon as she was done paying for her food so that all the other customers could place their orders and pay up. With that, I hung up the cell and kept it until the woman was completely done and then handed it to her saying "The world does not revolve around you, other people have things to do and places to be. Next time have the common courtesy to get off the phone when you're at a spot where you need to pay attention to others!"

You should have heard the applause throughout the whole place! Even the staff were cheering! The woman in question grabbed her food and coffee and left looking very red and embarrassed, but she did not offer an apology unfortunately. The good part about this whole thing was that the people who had been ahead of me in line let me order first and not only that, but the cashier was told by the manager (who had witnessed the whole thing) that she wasn't to charge me for my order! And even with the half hour delay caused by this woman, I still managed to get to the doctor's office in time for my appointment.

Thanks Deb, You Reminded Me Of This!

Deb reminded me of something (the link will take you to her post that triggered my memory) that happened at work this past fall that I had totally forgotten to blog about! So I'll tell you all about it now!

In case you don't know, or can't tell from my photo, I keep my head shaved down to a 1/8 to 1/4 inch length. It suits me best and is most comfortable. Besides, this way, I never get bed-head or hat-head or any other kind of bad hair day :D

Anyway, on this particular day at work I was cooking breakfast when there was a complaint. Yeah I was just as shocked as you. How much is there to complain about with eggs and hashbrowns? Not much, I agree. I told the waitress to bring me the plate and let me see what the problem was. Low and behold there's a hair on the plate, a 2 inch long black hair at that. So I told the waitress to do the ST. O. P. (STandard Operating Procedure) thing and to give her her breakfast at half-price. Customer was happy, I was annoyed, waitress was confused as to where the hair came from. I told her not to worry about it that these things sometimes happen and so we continued on with our day without further incidents.

Just 2 days later the same customer comes back for breakfast again and gets the same waitress and orders the same breakfast. Yes, you guessed, she had the same complaint as well! The blond waitress comes back with the black hair on the plate and asks me if she should go with the ST. O. P. thing again. I asked her what she meant by "again" as I hadn't realized that it was the same customer as 2 days ago.

So she reminds me of the previous time this happened and I just looked at her and said "No, this time I'll go out and talk to her!" I asked the waitress to point out the customer which she did, and then I took the plate to her table and asked her what the problem was. The Ditz says the cook must have shed a hair in the plate and pointed it out to me. I looked at her, her companion looked at me and then at her and had the brains to be embarrassed. Not only were these people cheap enough to try and get there food half price, but they also shared that one breakfast between them. Still looking at The Ditz I asked her just exactly where that hair came from at which time she reiterated that it must have come from the cook as the waitress was blond. Continuing to look at her and told her "look at me, I'm the cook, now tell me where that hair came from!"

Again, she said that it must have shed from my head! Oh the audacity! A 2 inch long hair fall from a head of hair that is no longer than a 1/4 inch? I don't think so! I was being nice, polite and speaking in a rather quiet voice so as to not let other tables overhear this. She however was being rather loud ensuring others hearing. So saying other customers were starting to giggle and laugh in various levels of amusement.

Finally her friend found her voice and said "I don't think that the hair came from the cook, you better just admit that you put the hair there, because she's not buying your theory!"

The Ditz responded by saying "I would never do such a thing!" and finally actually looked at me and noticed that there is no way that hair could have possibly come from my head! Considering the fact that the only people who handled that plate of food was myself, the waitress and the customer, and she had already stated that it couldn't have come from the waitress, she was at a total loss as to whom to blame next for the hair on her plate. By this time the whole place was in an uproar and I heard one man say "Breakfast and a show, I never expected that this morning!" Which sent everyone into more gales of laughter.

The Ditz was incredibly embarrassed by this time and I was having a very hard time maintaining my straight face. "Ma-am," I said, "perhaps you should just remove your hair from your plate, finish eating and pay-up. I have to get back to work now!" and with that, left the floor to return to the kitchen where I immediately started to laugh. It must have taken me 5 minutes to get myself under some semblance of control in order to continue cooking. To my knowledge The Ditz never walked into the restaurant again, and somehow, I'm quite sure, hasn't pulled that stunt somewhere else without making sure that the cook actually has hair!

I Won, I Won!

I went to visit Me-Me King at The Screaming Me-Me and she had a "Caption This" Contest going on. The very first time I enter a caption, I won The Golden Phallus! I'm so surprised, shocked, awed and happy! I've only every managed to get an Honorable Mention at NoNameDufus' blog as well as at Etta Rose's so yes, I was quite surprised to find out that out of 50 entries, I was chosen the winner! Thank you Me-Me! I may not be Hangin' With The Dufus yet, but I sure plan to eventually :D

And without further rambling and nonsense I give you The Golden Phallus!

Anyway, in Me-Me's post announcing me as the winner, she inadvertently referred to me as male which brought back quite a number of memories of being mistaken thus. I don't know what it is about me that makes people think I'm a guy, but the earliest I can remember that mistake happening, I was 5. Mom, us 4 kids and my Grandmother were taking a walk from Grandma's house to the park and this woman I didn't know stopped us and talked to mom and Grandma for a while. Eventually she came around to saying to mom "Are these your kids? I thought you had 3 girls and only the one boy!" She pointed at me with a questioning look on her face. I, being the smartass I've always been, piped up with "I am a girl, I just have to wear HIS hand-me-downs!" while jerking my thumb at my older brother. I still don't know who that woman was, but you should have seen her embarrassment when I said that. She apologized profusely to mom who in turn scolded me for speaking so rudely to an elder, especially one whom I did not know. I just pouted and muttered "Well I am a girl!"

But that wasn't the memory that was evoked by the post, the one that came to mind happened just last week. I don't know why I hadn't thought to post this before, but for some reason it never crossed my mind that it would be blog fodder. Where was my head at, of course it's excellent blogging material!?!

At any rate, this happened last Tuesday (I believe). I had been at work for a few hours, and, well, you know what happens when you've been drinking coffee all morning! Suffice it to say that I needed to go to the washroom. Well, in case you haven't seen my profile pic, I keep my head shaved pretty short, 1/8 - 1/4 inch in length to be precise, any longer than that is just a nuisance as far as I'm concerned. Add that to the fact that I'm normally wearing jeans and mens jean style work shirts and you get the picture. Oh yeah, can't forget to add the fact that people tease me a lot in regards to the fact that I have a figure like a 12 year old boy, to put it more bluntly, they don't make bra's small enough to fit me short of a pre-teen's training bra...lol!

Now that we're all up to speed on the way I look, I shall return to the story and try to make it short as I've already made it long enough. Tuesday morning I had already had my share of coffee, as I've already mentioned, and therefore took a minute to relieve some pressure. As I was just finishing drying my hands and getting ready to walk out the door, this elderly lady opened it to come into the washroom. She took one look at me and a look of horror came across her face. She took a step back, looked back at the sign saying it was the lady's room and looked like she was about to faint.

Before she had a chance to faint though, I winked at her and said "Sorry Ma-am, I didn't mean to give you a fright, but I am indeed female!" I have to admit, that I was a bit nasty in saying that, as I used my best (and I do mean best) Eeyore voice, making me even sound male. She looked at me even more horrified and hurried off into the bar, presumably to use the washroom there. I managed to keep a straight face till I got back into the kitchen when I started to split a gut. My boss asked me what the matter was and so I told him, including using my voice the way I had with the lady. He looked at me laughing and said "Skye, don't you realize that people who don't know you don't automatically assume you're a woman, not only that, but when you imitate male voices, your face takes on a masculine personality!?!"

Needless to say I hadn't realized that, but I sure will be putting the knowledge to good use! ;)
I'm just a little devil, ain't I?

Winter Pictures

Well, this is my attempt at getting pictures of the hoar frost a couple of weeks ago. They hadn't turned out as nice as I had hoped they would, and yet I am quite satisfied with them. So, without further ado, I give you my way of looking at winter :)

 

Lucifer figures that he needs to follow the Moose tracks pictured above. Can't you just see in his face that he's telling me to stop making so much noise because I'll scare his prey away? Somehow I think he'd be the first to run if he were to actually see the Moose that left those tracks!

 

 

This pic (above) is of the pond and in my profile picture is, in fact, the pond that I am looking at. 

(Below) Can you tell that Luke is getting antsy to get home? You can't really see how steep the hill is here, but Luke sure want's me to pic up the pace and get cracking he just doesn't understand that it's easier to climb hills with 4 legs as opposed to 2! He also seems to think that because the bus will be back with The Kid soon we are supposed to be at the house, don't know why he thinks that, maybe because he likes her as a chew toy :)

Well, I hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them. Till next time :)

You Know Your Brain Is On Overload When...

 ...you do stupid things like I did yesterday!

The day started out normal enough, I got up early and wanted some toast and coffee. I went into the kitchen and low and behold I had to move some electric appliances that were used for supper in order to be able to use the toaster. I figured I'd get coffee started first and then I'd do the clean-up, smart idea right!?! Well, not if you're me in the brain addled mode I was yesterday, let me tell you! I ground up the beans and put that in the machine as is supposed to be done, then I added the water like a person is supposed to do and turn on the coffee maker. So far so good, coffee is brewing. What happens next is where the dumb stuff starts!

Instead of unplugging the food processor and putting it away in it's little cubby space or moving one of the bread machines, I unplugged the coffee-maker in order to haul out the toaster and plug it in. Yes you heard me correctly, the coffee that WAS brewing was canceled by my unplugging it! While my bread was toasting I came here to the land of blogs to do some catching up. I forgot about my toast, forgot about coffee, basically forgot about the world for about half an hour when my stomach started to talk to me. So off into the kitchen I go and there's my toast all nice and cold sticking up out of the toaster, well I can live with cold toast I suppose so I spread some peanut butter and honey on it and went to pour myself some coffee.

WHAT, no coffee!!! Now how on earth did that happen? Hmmmm, did I put in the grounds? Yep! Did I put in water? Check on that as well! How about turn it on? Yep, another check. So why didn't it brew? I stood there munching on my cold toast when it finally hit me! So, in my best Homer Simpson impersonation I slapped my forehead, said "DOH!", plugged in the coffee maker and came back to blogville.

I should have known better then to start any other things or to do anything else that required thinking. I should have known, honest I should have, but I didn't! I thought perhaps it was an isolated idiot moment. I was wrong!

I didn't really feel like doing much of anything yesterday, so that's what I did. Aside from visiting friends in here I basically bummed around, played chess with my kid and got thoroughly beat by her. She doesn't understand the game all that well and never manages to beat me. Yep, she beat me, check-mated me 3 times! Man was she happy about that! I don't know what I kept doing wrong, but she kept managing to capture my Queen and every other piece on the board. The one time I did finally beat her was by getting a pawn across and getting my Queen back. Oh happy day, I had a Rook, 2 more pawns and my Queen and I got her in check-mate.

After a few more games, we decided to go for a walk out in the bush. Brutally cold out but a nice walk with our snowshoes anyway. With the snow as deep as it was, Lucifer was getting sick of sinking and so decided that walking on the backs of my snowshoes would be a good way for him to keep from getting completely buried in the snow. I kept telling him to walk on his own feet and stay off of mine but it didn't help. I kept landing on my knees because I couldn't move my feet with his weight added to mine. The Kid just kept laughing and saying she wished she could video tape the walk because this was too funny.

Before we had gone out for our walk, I had started some laundry. I had washed my work jacket along with Silv's winter jacket and The Kid's school jacket and had already put them in the dryer. When we got back in they were in a laundry hamper sitting by my chair ready to be hung up in their corner. How nice I thought, Silv was helping with the laundry! I grabbed the jackets and realized they weren't fully dry yet and that was the start of my last folly for the day.

The Kid's jacket was indeed dry so she hung it up, in the meantime I brought Silv's and mine back downstairs to put back into the dryer. With jackets in hand I walked up to the wood furnace and was about to open the door when it hit me. You don't dry clothes in a furnace, you dry them in the dryer! "DOH" another Homer moment! Man would we ever have been screwed if my brain hadn't taken hold of itself in time to stop me from burning our jackets! Ever so sheepishly I walked back to the laundry room and placed the jackets on top of the dryer to await the next load's finishing so I could finish drying said jackets.

And that folks is how you know your brain is on overload and that you need a true break from work, housework and anything else involving thinking!