Duck...
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Posted:Dec 25, 2018 6:48 pm
Last Updated:Dec 26, 2018 7:58 am 27941 Views
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Christmas Day and nearly all grocery stores and restaurants were closed. One exception was the Asian Market. We were able to buy fresh vegetables and as a special treat Peking Duck.
I also got a cut of the smoked pork.
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Song Remakes...
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Posted:Dec 25, 2018 6:23 am
Last Updated:Dec 29, 2018 4:37 am 28295 Views
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I listen to a local classic rock music radio station that has a few hours of talk show in the morning and music at 10am. One day, they talked about little known groups who re-record famous songs that help start their career. They stated, the for this is 50% of the total royalties.
is my favorite source for music and I often follow song remakes.
For this blog, I picked "You keep Me Hangin On" in 1966 by The Supremes, remade (as a psychedelic rock song) by Vanilla Fudge in 1967, and again remade in 1986 with a disco beat by Kim Wilde.
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8
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Sayings or phrases that grate on my nerves...
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Posted:Dec 24, 2018 5:03 am
Last Updated:Dec 29, 2018 8:22 am 28158 Views
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You've got yours and I've got mine. Here's a short list:
All righty now.
That's your answer... cut & dry.
Everything happens for a reason...
Just sayin'
I've got your back!
When you get the answer... reach out to me.
I need that... A-sap!
Trust me on this...
Who died and left you in charge?
Been there, done that.
That's the way I roll...
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Instead of playing Led Zeppelin songs...
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Posted:Dec 23, 2018 5:00 pm
Last Updated:Dec 27, 2018 4:12 am 27286 Views
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Back in the 70's, instead of playing Led Zeppelin songs, I should have written and recorded a Christmas Song.
In the car one morning I heard a song written by Chuck Berry from the 1950's called Run Rudolph Run. It's amazing how horrible some music was back then. A little research said there is some controversy about copyright and publishing rights as his song was based on the classic Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer by Johnny Marks.
Anyway... no matter how good or bad my song would have been, it would be played every year and I would receive royalties for it.
I need to borrow a time machine and book time in a recording studio!
Landing in the 50's, it could have a folk song flavor.
In the early 60's would be a surfing sound Christmas song.
Late 60's a psychedelic sounding Christmas song.
70' would be heavy metal...
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Pray to God...
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Posted:Nov 25, 2018 7:43 am
Last Updated:Dec 12, 2018 3:51 am 34250 Views
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I knew a woman (coworker) who was having serious marital problems. She prayed to God for them to stay together. Her husband was an abuser and violence became an everyday occurrence.
A friend suggested they go for counseling. He wanted no part of it. The prayers continued and so did the violence. She did get more advice, different than what she expected. While the prayers were good, she was told the prayers were for the wrong thing!
Changing her prayers to get her out of a bad marriage and not trying to stay in one was her answer.
There were some rough times getting away that involved divorce and a restraining order, but with counseling on her part she as able to readjust. New job, nearby city, new life.
It must have been a year later she called to say hello and tell me she met a guy whom she trusted. They were engaged to be married and she prayed to God he was the right one this time.
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I decided to stop looking for a condo...
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Posted:Nov 24, 2018 3:17 pm
Last Updated:Nov 26, 2018 9:20 am 31648 Views
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My house is 40 miles from my office. One a good day, I'm commuting more than 2-1/2 hours. Time lost, , tolls wear & tear on my car... it's getting to me. For a few years now,
In previous blogs, I've been professing to move closer to work in exchange for a better lifestyle.
With months and months of on and off searching, I couldn't find something I really liked. My new agent sent a text that a few new listings came online. She wanted to see if I had time to look.
Of the ones I was interested in two to three weeks ago, they already received offers and sales are pending. It's the season. Northerners are here and units in the development I've been shopping at get scooped up quickly. I'm told many of the offers are so there's no wait for loan approval.
A long-time friend and coworker asked if he could join me in the search. He's got a friend already living in that community and is looking to help out a couple he knows who will be looking real soon.
One unit we saw looked nice as we walked in. The wall surrounding the kitchen was cut away and they created a breakfast counter at bar height. The only problem was the workmanship was rough. The bar top wasn't level and the patching on the wall was uneven. Skip that unit.
A few were overpriced simply because they had the original kitchens and asking the same as units with renovated kitchens.
One unit was in shambles... water was dripping from the a/c unit and a puddle on the laminate floor. There was a strong chemical smell and the agent said "Stop... don't go inside!" I had asked why and she said she recognized the smell... someone had died in the unit and they were treating it to remove to odor! Yeah, skip that one!
There were a few more to see and I was getting tired. But, I persisted. The realtor said another one came available and she got the 'go ahead' we can get in to see it. The outside of the building had been recently painted, the landscaping was the best around, the ugly 'fake tile' fascia was replaced with smooth panels. Less than 5 minutes of a walk-thru and all of us agreed it was the cleanest one we had seen in our search.
I left the agent with a 'this could be the one' and she called me back later to say other agents had shown the unit after we left. Was it a sales ploy? Possibly. But with the exception of the asking price, all the conditions had been met. This place was clean enough to move in tomorrow and not have to tear out the kitchen and baths to make it livable. I decided to make an offer and she came back with the owner's counter. I went up and they came down and we struck a deal.
I cut a check for a small deposit and signed an agreement to proceed with the purchase.
All week, I've been filling out documents and getting quotes on mortgage rates. I found one company. I met with the home inspector to confirm that there aren't and hidden problems.
Now that I'm buying this condo I decided to stop looking for other ones.
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Mary, Mary, quite contrary...
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Posted:Nov 23, 2018 7:50 am
Last Updated:Nov 28, 2018 10:46 am 31003 Views
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Mary, Mary, quite contrary... why do you look at my profile nearly every day?
There is nothing to see really.
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Rubber...
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Posted:Nov 18, 2018 2:48 pm
Last Updated:Nov 21, 2018 4:42 am 30833 Views
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Rubber is a flexible latex product produced from the juice of a rubber tree. In varied process, it's mixed with other chemicals to create different products. The process for a soft latex mattress is different than a rubber tire (tyre) used on a car. Charles Goodyear developed vulcanization in 1839 where he mixed latex, sulfur and heated the mixture to harden the liquid rubber.
Over the years, new uses for rubber were invented. One process is to coat the exterior of a hard plastic object to give it a soft feel without affecting the structure of the inside. I've seen some plastic writing pens with a soft rubberized sleeve to make them comfortable.
One problem with products made with rubber is longevity. Tires have a manufacturing date stamp and people are warned against buying from an unreliable source as many 'new' tires have been been produced years ago and the rubber elasticity declines on an old tire making them unsafe.
I bought an emergency spotlight with a rubberized handle. Never used it. One day before a hurricane, I decided to open the box and try it, only to find the rubber handle was sticky to the touch. I found the rubber feet on my water pic (purchased 2 years ago) leave black marks on the countertop.
My laptop mouse deteriorated within 2 years and I was lucky enough to remove the rubberized surface with 91% rubbing alcohol. I have a very expensive mouse/controller I use in design that has programmable buttons and a 3D wheel. The rubberized surface is also deteriorated and sticky. That was a $300 purchase and they are no longer manufactured. Basically, I'm in trouble if I cannot find a replacement on Amazon or eBay. I dusted the surface with talcum powder so it wouldn't be so sticky and will experiment if I can clean it with alcohol or a solvent to remove the rubberized coating and not destroy the controller.
That said... be cautious of long-term purchases that have a rubberized coating.
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The social media 'threat'
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Posted:Nov 11, 2018 6:18 am
Last Updated:Nov 12, 2018 9:44 am 30030 Views
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It would be unusual for any large company not to have a website with links to social media like Facebook or Twitter. I mentioned in a previous blog about a '' called Yelp where people can give unsolicited reviews of restaurants. Some are good and some are bad. The problem with some is they go directly online, often without giving the company being reviewed a chance to make good on a complaint.
I believe, If the food wasn't right or took longer than expected, the complainer should see management first for a resolution and not run to Yelp. I recall a viral video of a woman caught on security video negatively 'Yelping' while in a take-out restaurant because her order wasn't right.
Oh, and be real... don't eat 85% of your meal before complaining to see the manager!
Before the internet, people often relied on The Better Business Bureau to check if a company had complaints against them. Much slower than social media BBB typically stored real complaints and not vindictive reports for someone who didn't get any napkins in their bag when they left the drive-thru at Jimmy's friend chicken.
In my business, there is Angie's List, a for negative reporting of contractors. I recall one customer who had purchased a new kitchen and bath from us. If she didn't like something (including wrong choices on her part) we were back to replace whatever it was to avoid her threats on social media. Her business involved and she had specific dates when she would be out of town. If we were unable to complete a repair, it had to wait until she returned to continue our scope of work.
The woman selected glass tiles for her kitchen backsplash. The manufacturer specified 1/8" (3mm) gaps between grout. She didn't to see the grout lines and convinced the salesman and tile installer to place them for 1/" (1.5mm) or less. One problem. Grout doesn't stick to glass tile and 1/" is insufficient width for the grout to bond to the backing. It was a recipe for failure and we ended up crediting the for the work.
We itemized many credits she requested and closed out the order. I wrote into the final invoice that she signed there would be no warrantee to any of the credited items. To my surprise, she gave us a bad report on Angie's List stating it took us months to finish the work. Considering all the credits, I was able to negotiate her to remove the complaint.
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Jeff Sessions is out...
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Posted:Nov 7, 2018 8:57 pm
Last Updated:Nov 8, 2018 6:31 pm 30333 Views
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It's official, according to President Twitter, Jeff Sessions is out and Matthew G. Whitaker is in. Temporarily, that is.
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