Monday, March 9, 2015

Old dogs and new tricks



 Me, performing a new trick.  NOT!

Last Friday evening while we were out for our weekly date night K asked if we could stop by Target on our way home....she said she needed some shampoo.  I asked her why she hadn't told me this sooner as I had just gone to the store that day and done our weekly shopping.  She said it was because she didn't know what kind of shampoo she wanted.  She chooses a different one every week, and she doesn't know the weekly winner until she peruses the shelf.

She does this on every occasion, in every category.  When we go out to a favorite restaurant, for example, she gets something different every time.  And 4 times out of 5 she's disappointed.  She always says on our way out, "I should have had what you had."  She calls me a "stick in the mud" because when I find something I like, I stick with it.  She's right.  That's why I'm not disappointed 4 times out of 5.  She says I'm in a rut.

My shampoo is Suave for Men....always.
My soap is Irish Spring....always.
My deodorant is Arrid....always.
My toilet paper is Charmin....always.

My pizza always has the same toppings.
My entree is the same each visit at a favorite restaurant. 

My steak is always a fillet, medium rare.
My chicken is always a breast.
My bacon is always crisp.
My scotch is always Glenfiddich.
My beer is always Dos Equis. 
My coffee is always FourBucks....er....Starbucks.
My soft drink is always Coke. 
My water comes out of the shower head in the bathroom.

My t-shirts and shorts are from LL Bean.  They fit, they last, and they aren't expensive.
My heavy coat came from LL Bean, too.  Lighter ones come from REI.
My dress clothes (such as they are) come from Men's Wearhouse.
My jeans are Wrangler.
My underwear is Jockey.
My shoes are Sperry, Merrill, or Asics.

My watch is a cheap solar powered Casio G-Shock because my expensive watch (which now resides in a drawer) kept eating batteries.  I am maintenance intolerant.

My cars are foreign.
My trucks (back when I had a truck) were Fords.
My lawnmower is a....Hahaha!

My firearms are Beretta, H&K, or Benelli.
My ammo is Federal.
My shells are Winchester.

My airline is Southwest.
My TV is Samsung.
My computer and phone are Apple.
My pets are dogs.
My sport is football (college), followed by its English cousin, rugby.
My music is smooth jazz or oldie goldies.
I prefer reading to TV.

My political party died years ago.  (I'm still in mourning.)
As did my favorite politicians.  (Teddy Roosevelt & Winston Churchill)
My positions are constantly morphing.  (Notice I avoided the word "change"  :)

For the record, I have been tempted by trusted friends to branch out and try new things, and occasionally the "new" thing becomes my comfortable standard.  (There ARE a few off/on-ramps in my rut!)

I'm fond of indoor plumbing, electricity, motorized transport, and regular meals.  
Autumn, winter, and spring are my friends.  Summer is my enemy.  
I don't like mean, narcissistic, loud people.
I don't like big crowds. 
I don't like biting my tongue.  It hurts, so I don't do it. 

If it isn't broken, I don't fix it.

Life is good.  :)

S



13 comments:

  1. I agree with almost all but the last one. If people believed in "If it isn't broke don't fix it, we would be flying single engine biplanes and getting up and walking to the TV to change the channel.

    I don't like going to new places on vacation. It always takes me three days to acclimate myself.

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    1. But single engine biplanes kept crashing, hence they were broken. And for the record, I'm pretty sure it was my dad who invented the TV remote control. That was on the day when I moved out of the house and he had to get up and change the TV channel himself. :)

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  2. I'd rather break an arm than bite my tongue. Darn but that hurts. Actually, I don't know what I'm talking about because I've never broken a bone.

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  3. But have you ever tried Negro Modelo?

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    1. I have, and it's a good back up. I think it's K's first choice actually.

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  4. Interesting, I wonder what the psychology at work here is, the listing like this. I thought about it today, using your examples, and I can't come up with something similar. Were I suddenly to be absent something I use, car, tv, whatever, and had to replace it I'd be hard pressed to say what I'd had previous, except the car/truck. I buy whatever toothpaste/deodorant/clothes etc that moves me at the time. Food, I almost always try new things....it's adventure, I know what the other stuff tastes like, maybe this won't be better, but it'll be different. I like different things, the same over and over is boring. I'm only 70 though, maybe I'll be set in my ways by your age......

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  5. Ha - there are a few things that I like and stick with, but with a lot of stuff, I'm always hoping that I'll find something better. So I keep switching and experimenting...with shampoo and restaurant dishes and cars. And after having PCs for the last 20-some years, I'm now even thinking of switching to an Apple. I may pick your brain with some questions down the road on that...

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    1. A question....when you venture far from "old reliable", how often are you disappointed? 20% of the time? 50%? More?

      Computers....I never could get on board with Microsoft. To me the Apple is just more intuitive, and it rarely crashes. I'm guessing my experience was shared by many others, too, since Apple is soaring, and Microsoft has been flat for years.

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    2. I'm guessing I might be disappointed maybe 20% of the time, maybe even less. I guess it's the "the same old stuff gets boring" attitude.

      My boss is a big Apple fan - he's the one who started me thinking about switching from Microsoft. And it does seem like Apple stuff becomes more and more desirable as Microsoft gets more and more frustrating (need I say "Windows 8?"). Did you see that one episode of "Modern Family" that was done entirely on Apple computers?

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    3. No, I didn't see that. I've played with K's android phone a little, once had a Samsung android tablet, and had a Dell PC before I went total Apple. The Apples just felt more intuitive to me. And now that I've been Apple for many years, anything else just feels totally foreign.

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  6. I'm in a rut on some things, & adventurous on others. I use the same shampoo (Selson Blue, sigh) & facial products (cleanser, moisturizer) & I used to always use Arrid until I ran out one time & had to use Mike's Right Guard - it seems to work even better :)

    But when it comes to food I do like to try new things SOMETIMES. Depends on my mood. I'd say I'm happy with my new food about 50% of the time.

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  7. Hahah...I am very much like you. Find what you like and stick with it. Restaurants that are always trying new dishes after I have settled on something I like leave me at a loss and I tend not to go back. I love it when the first dish I try is a winner. I am very boring in an interesting way.

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