Photos are up (see the photos page in the links section of the sidebar). I should probably write about and/or add captions. Perhaps later. A picture’s worth a 1,000 words, right?
Archive for the ‘Nonclassified Nonsense’ Category
Is Watching
We’re in Nashville visiting Berck’s dad.
He sent us to the store this afternoon for lemons and lettuce. As we waited for the lady ahead of us in the checkout lane to finish writing her check, I weighed the options of paying by credit card or by cash. We try to conserve cash because we don’t have much of it. But paying a $2 tab with plastic seems a little silly.
To add some complication to the matter, signs had been placarded along the line reading, “For your protection, all credit and check transactions must be accompanied by ID. We’re sorry for any inconvenience.” That settled it. I didn’t feel at all bad about using a credit card for a couple of bucks worth of groceries. I could just say I was sorry for any inconvenience to them.
“Paper or plastic!” shouted the mentally challenged girl bagging. I made Berck decide. He picked paper.
I got my credit card and my driver’s license out of my wallet, placing my license on the counter for the cashier to see and swiping my credit card through the lane card reader. We went through the entire process of punching buttons and such, until I was sure I was through with the credit card and ready to put it back in my wallet. The cashier still hadn’t asked to see my ID. Well, maybe they just talk tough, I thought, but I didn’t put the card back in my wallet. Finally, the cashier handed me my receipt to sign. “Write your driver’s license number below the signature,” she said.
Berck, who can’t read, went ballistic. “What?! DRIVER’S LICENSE NUMBER?? What is…” But then he noticed that I was copying down my number (minus the OK that really should have gone in front of it to do any good). “Well, I guess I can’t stop you from giving them anything…” The cashier didn’t even glance at what I’d written on my receipt.
The mentally challenged girl bagging broke in, “It’s for your protection!”
“Then we don’t owe a penny!” Berck exclaimed, “The card company is liable for any amount!”
“It’s in case your card is stolen!” the bagging girl insisted.
I didn’t want Berck arguing with her, so I cut his protests off and said, “So you’ll know where to mail it if someone steals it?”
“No, it’s so no one can use your card!” she insisted.
I picked up the paper bag and turned to leave. “But how do you know I wrote down the right number?”
The poor thing looked completely stumped. But she was probably the only person in the store giving the idea any thought.
I suppose if I shopped at the store regulary I would just draw a quick scribble on the receipt. No, no inconvenience at all.
Vacation!
I’ve now worked at Mardel’s warehouse for a year, so that means I get one week of vacation. Woohoo! We’re driving to Highlands, NC today and meeting up with Berck’s mom. Then we’ll drive to Nashville and visit his dad. Then we’ll drive to Knoxville and visit our friends Arnold and Mary Linda, where we’ll celebrate Passover. (Funny story about that…we had no idea the holiday was that weekend when we asked if we could visit.) We’ll be back in OK on the following Sunday night, and I’ll return to work on Monday.
Maybe I’ll fly today?
I’m supposed to fly today at 2pm. The weather is beautiful, although slightly windy and gusty, which means the plane will probably go down for maintenance. I’ve still got the same two flights left. Plane was down for maintenance on Monday. There’s supposed to be two 172-RG’s, but the other one is down with bad gear actuators and has been for weeks. This means all training and all check rides happen in one plane, so I’ve been scheduled every other day, rather than every day. I guess since I’ve only got two flights left, and I’m leaving this weekend, it doesn’t really matter. If I can get signed off for the stage check and check ride before I leave and take them when I get back, all should be good. I’m seriously ready to be done with this program. I’ve been here over a year now, and that’s long enough. I’m starting to tire of Oklahoma as well– thinking that looking for a job elsewhere might not be a bad idea at all. Especially if this forces Joanna to do something else. I worry that if I work here, she’ll stay at the warehouse forever.
I’ve tinkered with the blog a bit. All pages have sidebars now, so maybe Sydney will feel better about the “stupid wasted margins” on the single-post pages. I tend to think a sidebar should be a constant thing, so it’s on all pages now. And it doesn’t change into half-a-sidebar when viewing the archives.
I also fixed the archives so they behave more reasonably, when you click on a month, you get the whole month on one page. It’s not like I’ve got so many people hitting it that the extra bandwidth makes any difference. I didn’t minding them being paged, but it didn’t work in a meaninfful way at all.
The archives are going further and further back. We figure this is as good a place as any to store all this stuff. There’s no good way to tell what’s been added, so if you actually want to read old stuff, you’ll just have to browse. We’re not adding in any chronological order, and Joanna’s unsure about the dates for many things.
Two more flights.
I’ve got two more flights in a complex aircraft, then I’ll be signed off for a stage check and then a check ride. If all goes well, I should have my commercial license soon.
Joanna and I are going to Highlands, NC on Saturday for Joanna’s hard-earned vacation time. This is, of course, horrible timing for me, since I don’t think there’s any way I’ll manage to get a checkride in before I leave. That means that I’ll probably be rusty when they get around to my stage check, which could be bad.
We’re working on making the blog go way back. Expect new old stuff regularly.