Talking of China being offended by my last post...... and the PC that is now part of our lives I have to say that the dear old USA is a mere beginner in the art of being offended. I remember a long time in the UK, I mean the 70's, the Greater London Council, affectionately called the GLC, proclaimed that in government offices, black coffee would be called coffee without milk, an accident black spot would be ' a site with a concentration of treatable accidents' and they banned the general use of the word 'black' as it was considered that 'black' generally was associated with darkness and evil. All this for fear of offending the bla....ni...colou......well, you know who, the people of London, most of whom were Arabs anyway and didn't care as they owned most of London. And that was in the 70's.
Well that's nothing compared to the latest idiocy from the UK about a local council ticking off poor old Mrs. Dorothy Berry because a neighbour complained that the birds in the trees in her garden were just to annoying early in the morning. I liked her response..'When I saw the letter I thought someone was larking about' and the council's reply...'We are aware that this matter has ruffled a few feathers'.
The that fact of the matter is it just shows that PC has become totally out of control and the whole lot need to be effing well shot at dawn.....slowly.....if I can find myself a gun that is....
oh.... P.S. be careful not to go to page three of that link about Mrs Berry......you might be offended, heaven forbid.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Walmart sucks....but my Shop-Vac doesn't
As I ended my last post with a comment about Wally World I thought I might continue the thread.
I remember well an ad. of TV in South Africa which included the phrase ' Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux ' referring to that brand of vacuum cleaners. I think the term ' sucks ' had just hit the scene as a derogatory words and everyone thought that that was quite a good play on words.
Well, last year I bought a shop-vac from Walmart for a one off job really, in the garage and it did the job just great. Well the shop-vac had been stored in the back since then un-touched apart from a rodents looking for a winter home. They obviously were very impressed with the long winding entrance through the suction tube. How they negotiated back through the little one flappy thing to get out again, though, is a mystery.
Last week I thought that it would be a great idea to grab the Shop-Vac and commission it back into service to give my car its annual vacuum. Well to be honest the Shop-Vac worked great sucking the cr...sh...debris out of my car but alas it also proved to be equally efficient in dispensing all the debris plus a winters worth of mouse makings out of the exhaust port into the garage. No filtering whatsoever.
So off with the top....which is when the now vacated lodgers winter stay became apparent.
That foamy circle filter thingy was obvioulsy a great nest maker.
Anyway off to Wally World to get a new filter only to find that 'that model is two years old and we don't stock those anymore neither do we stock the filters. You have to buy a new one.
So this is my 'grump' for the day. Why the bloody hell can't shops, including Walmart, stock that user parts for at least a respectable time for the products they sell. Maybe they expect now, that the Chinese made junk that they sell won't last for more than a year and just expect you to renew all your appliances once a year. Apologies if Shop-Vac is American made. It's dia -effing- bolical I say! Oh sorry, have I offended China.
I remember well an ad. of TV in South Africa which included the phrase ' Nothing Sucks like an Electrolux ' referring to that brand of vacuum cleaners. I think the term ' sucks ' had just hit the scene as a derogatory words and everyone thought that that was quite a good play on words.
Well, last year I bought a shop-vac from Walmart for a one off job really, in the garage and it did the job just great. Well the shop-vac had been stored in the back since then un-touched apart from a rodents looking for a winter home. They obviously were very impressed with the long winding entrance through the suction tube. How they negotiated back through the little one flappy thing to get out again, though, is a mystery.
Last week I thought that it would be a great idea to grab the Shop-Vac and commission it back into service to give my car its annual vacuum. Well to be honest the Shop-Vac worked great sucking the cr...sh...debris out of my car but alas it also proved to be equally efficient in dispensing all the debris plus a winters worth of mouse makings out of the exhaust port into the garage. No filtering whatsoever.
So off with the top....which is when the now vacated lodgers winter stay became apparent.
That foamy circle filter thingy was obvioulsy a great nest maker.
Anyway off to Wally World to get a new filter only to find that 'that model is two years old and we don't stock those anymore neither do we stock the filters. You have to buy a new one.
So this is my 'grump' for the day. Why the bloody hell can't shops, including Walmart, stock that user parts for at least a respectable time for the products they sell. Maybe they expect now, that the Chinese made junk that they sell won't last for more than a year and just expect you to renew all your appliances once a year. Apologies if Shop-Vac is American made. It's dia -effing- bolical I say! Oh sorry, have I offended China.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Bloody cell phones.....
Bloody cell phones.....who'd have 'em
Well unfortunately, me. As you will get to know later, I am a realtor so cell phones hold a very special place in my heart and in my wallet. People think nothing of calling at 12 at night or 6 in the morning as if they really think that I am waiting for their call at those times. People seemed to show more deference and respect to the old fashioned 'ring ring' home phone, apart from telemarketers. Now anything goes.
And texting. Kids today, all they do is text each other, usually at 10c per message. Why don't you just bloody well phone that person...you can say an awful lot more in a shorter time than you would by texting. What is the bloody point.
So, anyway...you go to plenty of meetings and seminars as a Realtor and because of the nature of the profession, in a room of 100 Realtors, about 85 of them will be women. Ah..but not only women, but woman with purses or as I say handbags....but not only handbags but big deep handbags. And what do they have at the bottom of the handbag buried under all that crr..sh...junk...but their bloody cell phone...but not only a bloody cell phone but a cell phone with the most loudest and most annoying ring you could imagine.
And, yes, that effing cell phone just has to keep on ringing until she digs it out and she seems totally impervious to the other 99 people around her, honestly believing that we and the lecturer really do care about what groceries hubby has to pick up on the way home and whether little jimmy should go to school today because he's got a sniffle. Un effing believable.
Cell phones have made us dangerous on the roads, ignorant to others around us, incapable of having an uninterrupted meal and generally impared the fluidity of modern society far more than the television ever did. At least you don't take a television to a seminar in your purse.
Does it happen to male realtors.....of course not...we don't carry handbags.
The sad thing is I am stuck with it...and addicted to the bloody thing and......
think it's one of the best things ever invented. Not unlike Walmart really.
Well unfortunately, me. As you will get to know later, I am a realtor so cell phones hold a very special place in my heart and in my wallet. People think nothing of calling at 12 at night or 6 in the morning as if they really think that I am waiting for their call at those times. People seemed to show more deference and respect to the old fashioned 'ring ring' home phone, apart from telemarketers. Now anything goes.
And texting. Kids today, all they do is text each other, usually at 10c per message. Why don't you just bloody well phone that person...you can say an awful lot more in a shorter time than you would by texting. What is the bloody point.
So, anyway...you go to plenty of meetings and seminars as a Realtor and because of the nature of the profession, in a room of 100 Realtors, about 85 of them will be women. Ah..but not only women, but woman with purses or as I say handbags....but not only handbags but big deep handbags. And what do they have at the bottom of the handbag buried under all that crr..sh...junk...but their bloody cell phone...but not only a bloody cell phone but a cell phone with the most loudest and most annoying ring you could imagine.
And, yes, that effing cell phone just has to keep on ringing until she digs it out and she seems totally impervious to the other 99 people around her, honestly believing that we and the lecturer really do care about what groceries hubby has to pick up on the way home and whether little jimmy should go to school today because he's got a sniffle. Un effing believable.
Cell phones have made us dangerous on the roads, ignorant to others around us, incapable of having an uninterrupted meal and generally impared the fluidity of modern society far more than the television ever did. At least you don't take a television to a seminar in your purse.
Does it happen to male realtors.....of course not...we don't carry handbags.
The sad thing is I am stuck with it...and addicted to the bloody thing and......
think it's one of the best things ever invented. Not unlike Walmart really.
Grumpy and proud of it.
My wife says 'you're never happy unless you're being grumpy'. Over the last meager 57 years of my grumpy life I guess in a way she is right.
But you see being grumpy isn't just getting out of the bed the wrong side one day, or just having a bad day causing one to be a 'grump' but I now realise, it is more a way of life, an attitude, a part of your inner being.
And to make matters worse not only am I a grumpy old man (GOM) but I am a grumpy old Englishman. Supposedly that is the worst kind there is.
And something else I have come to realise is that being a GOM is the only salvation for people like me, and I know I am not alone, in a world of fustrations, political correctness and a world of where the old values are dissapearing faster than my hair...and thats pretty darn quick.
But something that isn't dissapearing is my sense of humour (yes..with a 'our') and that is also another attribute necessary for survival as a grumpy old man or you will end up being as serious as other people really thing you are when you are on a grumpage.
So, never hardly ever having contributed to the internet's infinite chat rooms, blogs and forums in any meaningful way, I have now started this blog to expand my own personal grump empire to those who are lucky enough not to have anything to be grumpy about. And I am going to bloody well enjoy it whether you like it or not.
But you see being grumpy isn't just getting out of the bed the wrong side one day, or just having a bad day causing one to be a 'grump' but I now realise, it is more a way of life, an attitude, a part of your inner being.
And to make matters worse not only am I a grumpy old man (GOM) but I am a grumpy old Englishman. Supposedly that is the worst kind there is.
And something else I have come to realise is that being a GOM is the only salvation for people like me, and I know I am not alone, in a world of fustrations, political correctness and a world of where the old values are dissapearing faster than my hair...and thats pretty darn quick.
But something that isn't dissapearing is my sense of humour (yes..with a 'our') and that is also another attribute necessary for survival as a grumpy old man or you will end up being as serious as other people really thing you are when you are on a grumpage.
So, never hardly ever having contributed to the internet's infinite chat rooms, blogs and forums in any meaningful way, I have now started this blog to expand my own personal grump empire to those who are lucky enough not to have anything to be grumpy about. And I am going to bloody well enjoy it whether you like it or not.
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