• NPR listeners need not read further

    I was listening to NPR on my way home yesterday and I heard the most interesting observation. It was a listener’s comment on a previous story about cell phones, and their impact on society. The listener was a blind man, and he commented that the use of cell phones in public has lead to some confused blind folks. Prior to cell phones, a blind person could safely assume someone was talking to them, if that person was in close proximity and loudly said, “HI! HOW ARE YOU DOING?”

    You see, blind people and cell phones have something in common – people tend to speak really loud when talking to them. Now, what once was a clue that someone was talking to them has been taken away. The obvious question arises: have cell phones made blind people more aloof in public?

    I’m not advocating banning cell phone use. I’m not suggesting this is one more example of the decline of western civilization. It’s just something I never would have thought of, from the point of view of someone living a completely different life than mine. It’s funny how things can affect our lives and the lives of others, in ways we never could have possibly conceived (at least I couldn’t, anyway).

  • Miserly ways

    You can always tell how cheap someone is by how well they take to spending money. Moments ago I was compelled to pony up $200, and found myself in the throws of apoplexy.

    Yes, it went that well.

    In order for you to fully appreciate this tale of woe, you have to go back to the summer of 1998. It was hotter than Hades outside and we were just finishing moving into our new house. That was the first time our A/C needed some work. It has been a little over six years since that first overhaul of our central air system, and we’ve easily spent three times more on A/C repair than the principal payments we made on the house.

    This morning we were told that our one year old, fully programmable, state-of-the-art, heat pump thermostat was broken. So that’s why our one week old, brand spankin’ new heat pump wasn’t producing heat! In almost any other context I would be overjoyed at the prospect of replacing a thermostat – better that than a compressor unit or an air-handler, right? Having recently replaced everything else in our A/C system (part of a cycle that has been more frequent than the rate we replace shower curtains), I was not keen on replacing our one year old, fully programmable, state-of-the-art, heat pump thermostat.

    Cheryl has hope. She thinks the thermostat has a warranty. I don’t have the heart to take away her hope. I think the warranty was one year.

    (Untranslatable, loud, and allegedly human noises omitted.)

    I guess anyone willing to spend $200 on a fully programmable, state-of-the-art, heat pump thermostat can’t really be called cheap; but I’ll be damned if I’m going to be happy about it.

  • Law

    Did you hear the one about the Judge who embroidered the Ten Commandments to his robe? He said, “The Ten Commandments can help a judge know the difference between right and wrong.” Personally, I think they ought to wear shinny silk robes with their names embroidered on the back. Then, when they enter the courtroom the bailiff could introduce them in style, “He’s been presiding over this court for ten years, he’s the beast of the brief, the king of the courtroom, his honor and your ruler, Judge – William – Haldeman!” (I made that name up. I don’t mean to criticize any particular Judge.)

    Another thing they could try is embroidering the constitution and state statues on their robe. Some of them could use some reminding about those little things too.