PROFESSOR SQUIGGLEE ... (Everybody’s doing it these days, right? Multi-tasking: Texting and driving ... driving and enjoying a coffee AND sandwich ... driving and discussing “important stuff” - like where you are, where you’re headed, where you just were - all on the phone ... stuff like that) Well, here’s his definition of multi-tasking: DOING MORE THAN ONE THING ... IN THE SAME DAY.
-S&G-
“I want to apologize,” begins an e-mail from LOREE, Kansas.
For what? I’m wondering.
She continues: “ ... for the verbal beating I gave you last week.”
Oh, that.
Then she shifts gears slightly: “But I can’t honestly say it was uncalled for. And if that alone helped secure, in any small way at all, Little Red’s (that’s The Little Red Car, to the rest of you) presence at Brimm Manor, then it was not in vain! Poor thing! It needed someone to go to bat for it, and we both hope (Little Red and myself) that you got cold feet and chickened out.”
-S&G-
Well, Loree, we (bawk-bawk-bawk) haven’t exactly chickened out about maybe-perhaps-possibly trading in Little Red for something with less mileage on it ... but, as we speak, Little Red is still safely enthroned in its favorite spot here at Brimm Manor.
Oh, it still surprises us ... startles might be a better word ... by flashing various warning lights on the dash ... but it still runs like a dream, and still gets us there and ... usually ... back home, too
-S&G-.
TODAY’S QUOTE: “Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you’re going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and by maintaining focus.” - Oprah Winfrey
-S&G-
Why is it? ... that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try? - courtesy of WALT, Ohio
-S&G-
This from HELEN, Florida ... A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather’s word processor. She told him she was writing a story.
“What’s it about?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “I can’t read.”
-S&G-
Loree, some of you may recall, lived on a farm. Then she moved to the city, but she didn’t lose her love for making things grow.
So she ordered some Mammoth Mums from Burpee Gardens, which she describes as a great place to buy outstanding quality plants. That was about the middle of September. Planned delivery was on September 23.
That day came an went. Nothing. The next day Loree received confirmation that delivery had been made. Not to MY porch, Loree knew.
She called Burpee a few days later, gave them her sad story, and asked if she could reorder. No need for that, she was told, they’d just replace the order.
A few days later Loree got a shipping confirmation on the new order, with a planned delivery date. She made sure she didn’t leave the house all that day. In fact, she took a seat with a perfect view of the front porch. No delivery. Next day, though, she got “confirmation of delivery” from UPS.
She called UPS, pointed out that she hadn’t received delivery and ... well, sorta gave them what-for.
Then she called Burpee again ... talked to the same lady as before ... was put on hold for a few minutes ... then was told that it appeared her order had been delivered to Loree’s OLD address.
Another phone call ... this time to the lady who had bought Loree’s place in the country. Sure enough, the package HAD been delivered there ... but the lady didn’t seem to know about the earlier delivery ... and Loree couldn’t help wondering why the lady hadn’t called to tell her the package had been delivered THERE.
Her response: “I don’t have TIME to make phone calls!”
But she did find time to deliver the package to a place in town where Loree could pick it up.
Loree then discovered that it had been OPENED. Apparently the contents were still intact, but Loree couldn’t help wondering what had happened to the contents of the first package.
Anyway, “The poor little plants, quite the worse for their ordeal, are now recovering in ICU here at my house ... I carefully re-potted them, gave them fluids, and they are in my greenhouse, until they get their strength (some growth) back!”
-S&G-
OH, and there was a sort of P.S. to Loree’s note: “If my greenhouse were bigger, I’d have you send Little Red to me ... even by UPS!”
-S&G-
TODAY'S POEM: It took me a long time to get through college, and it wasn't because I was a slow learner.
I didn't have any money. That, of course, delayed the start.
Even after a bit of military service, I still didn't have any money to speak of. But that's another story.
Let's just say I was finally in college ... and on a budget.
Oh, I had a place to sleep, a rented room, and I had a couple of places where I could grab a bite to eat at a reasonable price. The fact that I was a breakfast skipper helped the bottom line, too.
I fell into the habit of eating at those few chosen places regularly, and the people on the other side of the counter soon knew what I'd have, even before I announced it.
Ah, those were the days.
The poem:
GRILLED CHEESE AND SHAKE
Betty knew her customers
down at the Lunch Box
Cafe, where conversations
slid to the back burner
when hulking trains
came lurching past.
I'd walk in, starved,
as skinny as a snake,
and she’d toss two slices
of buttered Bunny Bread
and a thin slice of cheese
into the smoke rising
from the grill, power up
a blender, add a squirt
of strawberry flavoring
to a prospective shake.
I'd straddle my favorite
wobbly stool, sit savoring
the smoke, anticipating
that last surreptitious slurp,
its sweet, sticky essence,
sit watching Betty at work,
marveling at her memory,
how cool she was when
the orders piled up,
how she knew when to turn
the sandwiches, snatching
them back from disaster,
wondering if she knew how
those skinny sandwiches
and thick, frothy shakes
were snatching me back, too.
(originally published in A New Song)
-S&G-
COMMENT? Feel free ... below, if you like.
Or if you prefer e-mail, that's fine, too ... especially for more detailed observations, to
rbrimm@peoplepc.com
... and it helps if you put "Squiggles" or "S&G" ... something like that ... in the subject line (just remember, no religion or politics ... please!)
-S&G-
If you’d like to see what’s up with my other, DAILY blog (no, this is not my “Home Page”), here’s a link to it:
http://rbrimm.blogspot.com/
Thanks for paying a visit.
-S&G-
UNTIL NEXT TIME ... take care ... see ya!
-S&G-
© 2010
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