Mind Blank

I went to Target to buy some cat food, kitten food actually, for my new pet.  I like Target. They tend to have everything I need.  So, I pull the food off the shelf and take it to the cashier and happily pay my $6.44 for my food with my debit card and leave.  The whole trip was under 5 minutes.

 

Upon arriving home with my purchase my wife pointed out that I had picked up the wrong bag of food.  The bag I selected was for Adult 7+ cat food, not the kitten food like I thought I had grabbed.  So, off to the Target I go to make my return.

 

I walked up to the return counter with my receipt and explained my blunder and asked to exchange my product with the correct one.  The “helpful” Target clerk responded by telling me that she could just refund my money and then I can go buy the correct food.  That was perfectly acceptable for me and she started the transaction.  This is where everything went downhill.

 

After the clerk started my return transaction she asked me to scan my debit card and enter my PIN.  So I scanned my debit card, but when it came time to enter my PIN, I froze.  I could not remember my PIN.  My mind just went completely blank.  My “helpful” clerk behind the counter must have thought I aged 50 years and lost my hearing while I was standing there because when she yelled at me to enter my PIN, “SIR, PLEASE ENTER YOUR PIN.” 

 

Her loud “helpfulness” was still not enough to jog my memory.  I continued to stand there, my mind void of thought, until I sheepishly responded that I could not remember my PIN.  There remained a few moments of silence until the clerk, again trying to be “helpful”, asked, “Do you know what it starts with?” 

 

Shocked to senses by the absurdity of her “helpful” question, I now turned to her and felt like answering, “Why?  If I tell you it starts with 2 will you give me my other 3 numbers?”    What I actually said was “no.”

 

I stood there staring at the signature capture device trying my hardest to remember my PIN.  I could not.  All I could think of was that this clerk thought that I was trying to scam Target for a $6.44 bag of cat food and that I stole this card from someone. 

 

After standing there for a few more agonizing moments the “helpful” clerk finally said to me that she could just give me the cash back since it was less then ten dollars.  So this whole, embarrassing, time I could have just received cash.  With one “helpful” keystroke my clerk opened her drawer and counted out my cash and coin and placed them in my hands. 

 

After leaving the return counter, I called home to my wife and explained that I have forgotten my PIN and asked her to remind me.  Instead of just telling me the number she kept asking “Why do you need it?”  “What do you mean you forgot the number?”  “Are you in line now?”  “Don’t you have any cash?”  

 

AUGH!!!!!!!!!!   Give me my damn PIN woman!!!!!!!!!!

A new member of the family

We got a new kitten Tuesday night.  My wife and I have been thinking and talking about it for weeks now.  We felt that it was about time to get another one.  The one we have now is about 8 years old.  We thought it would be good for us and good for the kids and good for the other cat we currently have. 

When we got to the shop, the clerk took us to the cage where the two kittens were being kept.  As soon as she opened the cage the first cat went running off throughout the store and the second one walked to where my daughter was sitting on the floor and sat right on her lap, curled up and closed its eyes and went to sleep.  It was pretty much a given which cat we were going with. 

So we brought her home and let her out of the cage.  She nimbly left her cage and slowly explored her new world.  My other cat just kept a watchful eye from across the room.  When the new kitten explored too close to her, she would let out a low rumble of a growl.  Throughout the night they kept a safe distance from each other.

It was tough keeping the kids from the new kitten.  They want to hold, pet, kiss, hug, and squeeze the new kitten.  I not only was trying to protect the kitten from the kids, but I was also trying to protect the kids from the kitten.  Her claws are like sharp little razors.  I know I have a ton of little tiny scratches along my legs and arms from playing with the kitten.  I really felt the pain this morning when I was in the shower. 

I had forgotten about how playful kittens are.  I went to bed last night and we had brought the kitten into our room with us.  Big mistake.  I had very little sleep.  The kitten would pounce on me every time I would move under the covers.  Every time I rolled over the kitten was attacking my toes, my legs, my arms, my fingers, my hips…..  And each time she attacked it would wake me up.  So here I am working off of about 4 hours of sleep.

I have posted below the pictures of the kitty.  We are still without a name for it.  Right now we have several ideas for a name, Penny, Rusty, Carmel, Pixie, Trixie and Amber, just to name a few.  I am open to suggestions.  If anyone has any name suggestions please post a comment with it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Newbie got tagged – Lie revealed

Here is the answer to the tag laid on me by Andrew. 

Adamguessed that the fake story was my favorite food is cheesesteaks.  The reality is I really love them.  It is a regular staple in my diet.  When I am traveling and I cannot get a cheesesteak for a few weeks I go through withdraw.

Lifelemons  and Andrewguessed that about the trouble sleeping.  The reality is that I was never a veteran of the first Gulf War and since I was not in the war, the nightmares do not exist, therefore, I do not have any sleeping issues.  In fact, I fall asleep the instant my head hits the pillow.  I cannot remember the last time I had trouble sleeping from nightmares. 

Good job Life and Andrew, you both guessed correct. 

Back to the Bathroom.

OK.  Back to the Bathroom. 

 I read a statistic today that said 52% of people prefer their toilet paper to be pulled from over the top.

This got me to thinking about my preference.  I too prefer that my TP is over the top.  I hate, I HATE, when someone in the house puts in a new roll and it pulls from the bottom.  I have been in fights with room mates, ex-girlfriends and even my wife over this.  I am convinced that she now purposely changes the roll to pull from under just to spite me. 

Does this make me obsessive?  I hope not.  It is not like if it is on the wrong way I change it.  I don’t I let it be.  But I am a simple person and I don’t ask for much.  Why can’t I just get anyone to agree in my house that from now on we will pull the TP from over the top. 

I am not alone.  52% have the same preference as me.  I am in the majority.  Majority rules.  So until there is a recount, change the TP so that it pulls from over the top. 

Always the Entertainer

I went to the Wilmington Blue rocks game last night.  My daughter was getting recognized at the game last night for outstanding achievement in school.  I am proud of her.  But enough of her, this is about me.

As we were leaving the game last night I had my son on my shoulders and heading down the steps.  Somewhere along the way I lost my footing and started to tumble down.  Instinctively I twisted to my back and tried to keep my son above my body to shield him from the fall.  As a result, I ended up tearing up my right knee and seriously bruising my right shoulder. 

My son did impact the ground but lightly.  I succeeded in minimizing his fall and although he was in major tears he was unhurt except for a small bump to the back of his head and a small scratch on his arm.

I on the other hand did not come out of this fall too well.  After hitting the ground I rolled off to the side out of the way of the other people coming down the steps.  My wife and cousins and my daughter were right with me when I fell.  My cousin had the sense to pull my daughter off to the side as my wife tended to my son. 

From my knee to my ankle was covered in blood.  It hurt to stand and eventually I sat back down.  I have a high pain tolerance and this really hurt me.  I knew it had to be serious. 

Someone had called for assistance and the stadium medical staff were there quickly.  The looked over our injuries and cleaned off our wounds.  One member of the staff took care of my son while I was taken care by another.

I had a tough time sleeping because of the pain along the right side of my body.  Work was tough today too.  Once I got into my presentation to my class I forgot about the pain in my legs until I sat down during a break.  Then I wanted to cry out in pain.

It made for an entertaining end to the night.  I always aim to please for I am the entertainer.

The Newbie got tagged.

OK.  Being a newbie on this whole blogging thing (it has been like 2 or 3 months now, I wonder how long I will be able to get away with this excuse) some bloke Andrew thought it would be funny to tag the new guy.  Here is the thing, the tag is to say 9 things about myself one of which is a lie.  Good luck figuring it out.

[Begin Tag]

The shore… I prefer going to the shore.  Something about the water.  The swimming, kayaking, out on the boat, etc…  Give me a warm summer night with a breeze coming off the ocean and a cold beer and I am a happy guy.

Very little bothers me…  It is extremely difficult to get me angry or upset.  I keep my emotions in check.  Yell at me all you want, you are not going to get me all fired up.  My wife hates it.  She always tells me during arguments that sometimes she wished that I would yell back, just one time she wants me to yell back at here.  Seems like a weird request to me.

Thunderstorms… Amazing acts of nature.  They amaze me.  They entertain me.  They excite me.  A violent summer thunderstorm is an awesome spectacle to watch.  To witness the dance of light off of the clouds, to feel the power of the breath of Mother Nature, to experience the sound and feeling of thunder through your body is almost spiritual.  I love thunderstorms.

Interaction… I love a lively debate, interesting conversation and interaction between people.  I enjoy online forums.  I have blogged about www.talkdelaware.com and I have started this blog as a way to interact with people that I could not normally interact with.  I love going to a party and converse about politics, religion, current events or life in general. 

I don’t sleep well at nights…  I have nightmares from my time that I served in the first Gulf War.    They tell you it is one of those “side effects” that soldiars get from being in combat.  It is not like it is made out to be like in the movies where I wake up screaming or leaping out of bed acting like I am back in the war.  It is not like that at all.  I just dream about different situations I was in right before I wake up.  Then it usually takes me some time to fall asleep again.

I am a comic book geek…  Green Lantern, Spiderman, Batman, X-men, etc…  I have been collecting and reading them for years.  I have statues all over my house.  I watch all the movies that come out and go to the comic book conventions when I can.  When I travel for work one of the things I do is visit the nearest comic book dealer just to geek out.  I am running out of room in my attic to store all my books.  I just might have to rent one of those storage units.

I enjoy almost all types of music.  I say almost because I could do without Country music and Rap music.  My iPod has everything from the Beatles to Kiss, Symphonies to Guns & Roses.  Muddy Waters to Iggy Pop. 

I have an odd sense of humor.  I can be very sarcastic and people sometimes do not know how to take me.  I find humor in almost every circumstance and I am not afraid to use it.  An example, when my father died a co-worker of his came to the viewing and was offering his condolences and I said to him “At least I will be saving some money, not having to buy Christmas, Birthday and Father’s Day gifts”  That poor guy did not know what to say.  Oh well, I found it funny at least. 

My favorite food is the Cheesesteak.  It is a Philly thing.  And I am not talking one from Geno’s or Pat’s in Philly either.  They are tourist traps.  That is not a real cheesesteak.  If you go to Philadelphia you have to get away from Geno’s or Pat’s and get a real cheesesteak somewhere else.  I like mine with raw onions, hot peppers, lettuce, tomato and ketchup.  I could eat one everyday if I could.  And on that same subject, having a cold cheesesteak in the morning for breakfast, now that is a breakfast of champions.  Cold Cheesesteak and a glass of Orange Juice rocks. 

[end Tag]

So there it is.  It is up to you to figure out which one is the untruth.  I guess I will continue this tag by moving it on to the next victims, Adam, Lemons, and Rosie.   I apologize to each of them in advance.

It’s a hot one today!!!

It’s a hot one today!!! 

Why do people say that?  Do they not know I can feel it?  Do they think my sense of the weather is handicapped to the point to where I no longer feel the extreme hot and colds of the atmosphere? 

I can feel it dumb ass.  What I don’t need is some schmuck every 5 minutes coming up to me telling me “It’s a hot one today.”  Or even better I get some fool that will ask me “Is it hot enough for you?”  No, you prick!  It is not.  I prefer it so hot that idiots like you spontaneously combust right before you ask such a dumb ass question. 

I get it folks.  It is going to be hot.  Tomorrow too. 

Keep your temperature related comments to yourself, thank you.

Soul make the playoffs – barely

I went to the Soul game last night.  They won but did not really deserve to.  They made foolish mistakes, their secondary was non-existent and the game was riddled with yellow flags for dumb penalties that the Soul made.   The Soul clinched a playoff birth with that win but with their playing the last few games I don’t see them getting far.

C’mon guys!  Get your game together and start playing like you were at the beginning of the season.  You guys are a better team than you have been playing.  Step it up.

 Go Soul!

It’s been 2 months….

It has been almost 2 months in this little experiment of blogging.  I have discovered that no one really is reading what I have to write.  No, really, I am not getting much of anyone to read this blog.  Some days I am lucky to get above 10 views.  To be honest I did not have high expectations.  So when I look at my stats and see that more than 10 people viewed what I have to say I get a little excited.  Just a little. 

I have also discovered that I have interesting little things that happen every day that I have written down that I may otherwise have forgotten.  At least now I can go back and see a little glimpse into my past and the thought that was in my brain at that moment. 

I have also discovered that I enjoy this.  I enjoy these little segments of writings of things that race through my mind.  The majority of the time I have nothing going on in my head.  I am usually blank.  But from time to time something amuses me and causes me a moment to pause and ponder.  What was it that Arsenio Hall said?  Things that make you go Hmmmm……   

I have a busy weekend coming up.  I am sure that it will give me a lot to blog about.  We’ll see. 

I had to go visit the Home Depot and buy a plunger today.   My soon to be 4 year old has discovered that it is fun to try to flush everything and anything down the toilet.  Baby wipes, toilet paper, the core from the TP, and Lord knows what else was preventing the water and Lord knows what else, from escaping. 

My daughter never had the urge to flush anything down the toilet.  To this day it is all we can do to get her to flush.  It must be the pack rat in her.

So here I am this evening trying to finally relax after plunging and mopping.  I am convinced that he is only about 2 years from blowing up the fence with fireworks.

If he lives that long