To-may-to....to-mah-to....whatever.

Friday evening on our way out for dinner K said she wanted to stop by The Container Store to buy a thingy to hold her flower.  She said it could be sealed tight so as to keep bugs out.  Hmmm....I didn't know we had problems with bugs in our flowers.  I've never seen any.  'Course, I've never seen any flowers around here, either.  Maybe she has them hidden away somewhere.  Why?

On the way she told me she saw them in a magazine and that they were only $20.  Damn, 20 bucks? To keep bugs off flowers?  Why not just buy new flowers?

Then she said she would really like to buy 3 of them.  At $20 a pop?  Yikes!  How many flowers does she have hidden away?

In my sweetest, softest, most understanding tone of voice I asked, "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FREAKIN' MIND!  DID YOU FORGET TO TELL ME YOU WON THE LOTTERY?"

She gave me "the look".  I checked the shine on my shoes and told her I would wait in the car while she went in and bought her flower holder thingy.  

Turns out THIS is what she was talking about.  And it was "flour", not "flower".  She's not very articulate sometimes, you know?

S

Catfight in Arkansas

Did you hear about the big stink in Arkansas *cue the banjo music* over who is the rightful owner of a million dollar lottery ticket? It seems a lady bought a ticket, then later scanned it at the store to see if she was a winner.  The scanner said "no" (or she misread it?...I mean this is Arkansas), so she threw the ticket in the trash.  Later another lady was sifting through the garbage and found a bunch of discarded tickets and took them.  She apparently checked them again and found one was worth a million dollars, so she claimed it. 


Enter the first lady again:  She said she paid for the ticket, it was hers, and she wanted her money.  Lawsuit, court, blah, blah....the judge agreed.  The dumpster diver was told to give up her winnings.  Really?


It seems to me when you throw something away you forfeit any rights you had to it.  If this is the new standard of ownership what about all those people who find a painting in their dusty 100-year-old attic or left curbside for anyone to pick up is worth a fortune?  Who owns it?  The same with a dropped winning ticket found at the racetrack?  Who do YOU think should get the winnings?

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Things continue to look bleak at work.  I still can't get over how the politicians and the greedy bankers have ruined our economy.  We have several small jobs dangling in front of us, but they just get us by month-to-month.  I'm extremely grateful to have them, don't misunderstand, but I need another real project to work on.  We have our eye on a lucrative commercial job that is in the talking stages, but that will be many months (a year?) before any $$$ changes hands.  A prospective client from last year said he should be ready to build a new home for his family starting in June, but with him things tend to get put off.  We're sending letters to many of our customers from years past asking if it's time for some updating.  We'll see.  

S

"Do ya' feel lucky....punk?"

I'm a big Clint Eastwood fan, and that was one of my favorite lines from the Dirty Harry series.  Hearing it now, though, I'm wondering if he was just taunting me to buy lottery tickets.  Yeah, while I'm out today I'll probably stop and buy a few tickets.  Lucky?  I dunno.  At least until the drawing tonight I can dream, right?  :)

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Speaking of "take the money and run", that seems to be what the land developer is doing with the subdivision where I've been building for the past several years.  I can't say I'm surprised.  In fact, I've been expecting it.  Because of the crippled economy his property sales have been few and far between.  Let's face it....people aren't exactly waiting in line to plunk down $150K-$300K for a lot.  Now he's caved, telling me he's agreed to sell almost all the remaining lots (at a reduced price, of course) to a builder who will go in with a "value" line of homes.  

For me it's either cut all sorts of corners, throw quality out the window, and go toe-to-toe with him, or move along.  That's no choice.  I suppose I'll just limp along a while longer doing small remodel jobs and hope one of my doctor connections will come through, deciding now is the time to build something newer / bigger / better.  (They'll pay for quality.)  I've always said "things happen for a reason".  I guess I'll put that to a test.

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The first local Arts Fest of the year is this weekend.  Looks like Luke (K's puppy) is going out in public.  Hope he behaves himself.  Have a good weekend, everyone.  

S

Pretense

In the mail yesterday I received my yearly REI Co-op dividend, so I went and bought a new pair of super-light casual summer shoes.

I bought the ones I did for two reasons:  They're comfortable, and they're Patagonia brand.


Patagonia is a cool company, the kind of company I want to reward with my business. As a young man Yvon Chouinard lived to surf and rock climb.  He would work just long enough to make a few bucks, then he and some friends would take off on some pretty grand poor-man's expeditions, such as a month-long drive in a clapped-put old van to climb in the Patagonia region of Argentina and Chile.  He eventually realized he could make better climbing pitons than he could buy, so he bought some blacksmith's equipment and did just that.  Other climbers saw how good his stuff was and wanted some too.  Later he realized his pitons were damaging the rock faces he so loved, so he stopped making them (giving up 3/4 of his business) and instead perfected hexagonal chocks that would do no harm to the environment.  From there his business grew and grew to become the worldwide company it is today.


Here's the cool part:  I've seen Yvon on several TV outdoor documentaries and he seems to be totally without pretense.  He looks like the kind of guy who would sit next to you on a lunch counter stool and you'd have no idea he was anyone "special".  He could have sold his company years ago and made (even more) mega-millions of $$$, but decided he wanted to keep his company private and on the high ground, doing good for his employees (they say it's a GREAT place to work) and the environment by giving back for all he's been given.  I'm not saying this because I'm a big tree-hugger (I'm not really), but because I respect a man for doing what he believes in and not prostituting himself for a buck.  He's now in his 70's and still doing outdoor things many people half his age can't.


Like most everybody I've often daydreamed about winning the lottery.  Even with all that money I don't think I'd change too much.  I'd still wear my jeans or shorts and t-shirts, live in a modest apartment/home, etc. I would probably travel more, but that's all I can think of I'd like to do that I can't do now.  Heck, I even like my 5-year old car.


I don't like pretense.  If you have to tell me how cool you are, you're not that cool.  I doubt Yvon gives a shit what anyone thinks of him.  My kinda guy!


S