Last minute Weekend Assignment

   I'm sneaking this one in last minute. John's Weekend Assignment hasn't really spoken to me for a while, but I forced myself this week because it was an opportunity to be obnoxious, and I haven't done that for a week or so.

Weekend Assignment #180: Go to this bumper sticker generator, and create a bumper sticker. Then post it in your journal. The generator page gives you a number of options to play with, so you should be able to have fun with it. Naturally, keep it reasonably clean; I have to link to it, after all.

Extra Credit: How many bumper stickers does your car have in real life?

OK, so here's an obnoxious bumper sticker I'd like to see out there:



This one isn't obnoxious, but I'd love to have one:



And obnoxious again, maybe, but on a more traditional bumper stickerish topic:



Extra Credit: There are no bumper stickers on my car. There have never been any bumper stickers on any car I have ever owned. Even if I owned one of the above stickers, I wouldn't put it on my car.

Tags: memes, weekend assignment, bumper stickers

What though on hamely fare we dine...

   It's one of those odd things you remember about someone without knowing why. Inconsequential in the bigger picture, and completely irrelevant to one's opinion of the person, just a funny little detail. In the case of my Grandmother, it's mushy peas.*
   She would take a can of peas that had already been sitting, sealed in their own juices, on the grocery store shelf for about a year and a half, and boil them for two to three hours until you weren't sure if they were really peas, or maybe a plate of left-over mashed potatoes she had forgotten to throw out three weeks ago. I always thought it was because she didn't know how to cook them properly. I mean, in our house we just took the bag of Green Giant peas out of the freezer, and put some into boiling water for exactly the time listed on the side of the package.** Was she not reading the directions?
   Today I read something that suggests her peas were coming out exactly the way she intended all those years ago. Apparently, she was just being English. Which is somewhat odd, because I always thought she was Scottish. Should I cancel the kilt I have on order?


* To be fair, I'm not sure if this is an authentic memory of my grandmother, or one I have appropriated from my mother after listening to her talk about her mother-in-law.

** Today, I'm more likely to eat peas raw, standing in the garden having just picked and shucked them. But that's about my other Grandparents...

Tags: family, memory, English, Scottish, mushy peas

Patrick's Saturday Six

   I participate in Patrick's Saturday Six meme only very occasionally. This week's set of questions piqued my interest, so here are my answers...

1. Considering all possible factors about a person that make us different, like age, appearance, religion, race, origin, sexual preference, etc., with 10 being the most prejudiced and 1 being the least, how do you think you would rate yourself?

2. You’re having a problem with a product or service and you call customer service. You are finally connected with someone who has a thick accent that sounds difficult to understand. What is the first thing that goes through your mind?

3. A co-worker you like tells you that his or her church is holding an “open house” and is encouraging people of other faiths to visit. You and your co-worker are of different faiths. How likely would you be to attend?

4. Take the quiz: Are you prejudiced?

5. You lose a big promotion to someone who you considered to be less qualified than you are, despite the fact that you are only going by instinct in making that determination. If your boss later pulls you aside and explains that because of a growing effort to promote diversity, the other person was selected over you. What would your first reaction likely be?

6. Your car breaks down in a neighborhood in which everyone is of a different race than you: are you more likely to be uncomfortable?

   OK, those were the questions. Here are my answers:

1) I'm not sure I completely understand the wording of this question. I assume it is asking how prejudiced I think I am on a scale of one to ten, with one being the least prejudiced and ten being the most.
   I'm not naive enough to think I'm not prejudiced at all. I don't want to be prejudiced, but I know I am to some extent. We all are. My first reaction to this question was to estimate my own level of prejudism at a two or a three. Then, recognising that we all have prejudices built into us by our upbringing that we may be blind to ourselves, I upgraded that to a three or a four.

2) "Why do they call it customer service when their employee is unable to communicate effectively with their customer?"

3) This question is different for me than for many. In my case, the co-worker and I would not be of different faiths. The co-worker is of a faith, and I am of no faith. I would absolutely not attend, but I don't consider that to be a prejudiced reaction. If he offered me free kidney dialysis, would you expect me to accept, just to be respectful?

4)

You Are Not Prejudiced

Not only are you color blind, but you're also ethnicity blind, gender blind, and sexual orientation blind. You don't judge someone until you truly know them. And even then, you're probably reluctant to judge. You try to treat everyone equally. Everyone has a fair chance with you. Good job - there's not a prejudiced bone in your body.

Are You Prejudiced?

   Look, the quiz has a higher opinion of me than I do.

5) I tell my boss that I feel sorry that the company will be less competetive in its marketplace because it has less capable people in key positions. Hiring a less qualified person based upon some kind of affirmative action plan may look good on the surface, but it isn't good business practice.

6) It depends on the neighbourhood. Now, that may well be a prejudiced statement. Unfortunately, it is also a realistic one.

Tags: memes, Saturday Six, prejudism

Ouch!

   I have been cited for failure to exercise care and control in the operation of a folding utility knife. Mr. Ho says I'll have to take a corporate refresher course in safe handling and usage of pointy and sharp objects. He's joking. I think.



   That's seven stiches, if anyone's counting. Not including the internal ones you can't see. Here's the culprit.



   It happened so fast I didn't even get any blood on the blade. The doctor compared it to those scenes in the Samurai movies where people don't even know they're dead until the two halves of their body start sliding apart. I thought that was kind of a silly analogy, but I didn't say so. It's one of my little life rules. Don't make fun of your emergency room physician.
   So I'm on light duty at the Kwik-E-Mart. No heavy lifting for one full week. At least with my left hand.

Tags: injury, blogplugs

'Nuff said

   Sometimes, when you find yourself without anything to say, the solution is to post an entry that doesn't require additional commentary. For example, tonight I was grocery shopping. At the checkout counter, nestled amongst the National Enquirers, and Women's Weeklys, and Celebrity Gossip rags, was this:

   They say the most important factor in successful marketing is to know your market...

Tags: skepticism, humour, hyperbole

Pumpkin's meme

   Pumpkin is Dawn's daughter. She made up her own meme. It's the current rage in J-land. Far be it from me to ignore a bandwagon. Herewith, find my responses to Pumpkin's meme.

1   What's your favorite movie???

   Definitely not 300. That freaking sucked. I'm serious, if you're standing in the video store, and you can't think of anything to rent, and your significant other comes up to you with 300 in his or her hand, and says, "what about this?" Take my advice. Just gouge your eyes out right there in the store. Use your fingernails, your car keys, whatever is to hand. It's a far, far better thing than watching that pitiful excuse for a movie.
   So, my favourite? Gotta be The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I know, that's three movies. So the first one, The Fellowship of the Ring. Yep, that's my fave.

2    What's your favorite color???

   Blue. I guess.

3    What's your favorite ice cream flavor???

   Rolo. Mmm, Rolo!

4    Where do you want to go on vacation??

   Australia.

5    What's your favorite animal???

   Black panther.

6    What's your favorite T.V. show???

   Hmmm, of all time, or currently on? Current, I'm guessing Pumpkin meant. So, Battlestar Galactica, followed closely by Heroes. Neither of which I get a chance to watch on a regular basis. ::pout::

7    What's your fav. drink???

   Right now it's a mixture of mango punch and cranberry cocktail. But I might get sick of that soon and go back to hard scotch on cold rocks.

8    What's your favorite flower???

   Marigolds. They keep the ants away from the tomatoes.

9    What's your favorite pet???

   Shadow. Duh!

10   What's your favorite book???

   It'snot a Harry Potter book. Sorry to disappoint you, Pumpkin. I usually answer this question with Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay. Maybe you can read it when you get a few years older.

Tags: memes, pumpkin's meme