Why Does Our Tea Suck?

My sister and I were discussing earlier that tea we drink that has been hand carried by loving friends from England is VASTLY superior to any 'imported' tea that we have bought here in the U.S. Why is that?

We blame the abolition of the Board of Tea Experts (aka Board of Tea Appeals).

Get on the issue, Tea Association, before we insist that another Imported Tea Act be passed.

Until we clear this up, my favorite "Earl Grey" is from California (does that technically make it Awesome Dude Grey?). Thank you, Ceylon Teas, for not sucking.

Beware the Devil's Blend

Not everything on the list is write-home-about-it-funny, but here are a few of my favorites from You Know You Drink Too Much Coffee When...

• Juan Valdez named his donkey after you.
• You're the employee of the month at Starbucks and you don't even work there.
• Your T-shirt says, "Decaffeinated coffee is the devil's blend."
• You can jump-start your car without cables.
• You go to AA meetings just for the free coffee.
• Your birthday is a national holiday in Brazil.
• You can thread a sewing machine, while it's running.
• You help your dog chase its tail.

Leader of the Factinistas

I'm not sure if it was a request or observation, but Haroon posted "Ready made Ontologies for merging and reuse?" on Soogle. May we here at TTGSiMH suggest FactGuru.

And Today Was a Day Without Caffeine...

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

Actually these were my husband's results. Mine were only slightly lower.

Sane Reaction to an Insane Situation?

Do you remember the story from last year about the woman who took a hammer to a Comcast office?

I feel her pain.

I'm in the endless circle of trying to figure out who you talk to in order to get a charge removed that someone already told you was removed but now it's been two months and of course it is still on the bill. It is a lovely cycle of 800 number, online support, and local office. Repeat until driven completely insane.

Comcast needs a different business model. From what I can tell the answer is that no matter what your problem is NO ONE CAN HELP YOU. It is like their corporate model is to be actively unhelpful. Sure, some of the individual people I talk to are nice enough and I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping me if, you know, they could. BUT THEY NEVER CAN. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? I know that previous issues have eventually been resolved but I think that I become insensate by the time we reach resolution so I don't even have clues as to how I can make that issue to resolution path any faster. I think it all comes down to the luck of the draw. Sometimes, on very special nights when the moon is exceptionally bright and God is smiling down from heaven... on those nights you actually get ahold of someone who knows what they are doing. Otherwise? Well, you might as well warm up the hammer.

L33TERATURE: Notes From The Underground

How Notes From the Underground might have come out if it had been texted from one 13 year old to the other in the 21st Century.

IM A SIK MAN..!11!!!1!!1!!111!!11!!!1!! IM A SPIETFUL MAN!1!11 WTF IM AN UNATRACTIEV MAN!1!!! OMG I BLEIVA MAH LIEVR SI DIESAESD!!!!!1! OMG HOW3VER I KNOW NOTHNG AT AL ABOUT MAH DIESAES AND DO NOT KNOW FOR C3RTANE WUT ALES MA!1!!11!!1 WTF I DONT CONSULT A DOC2R FOR IT AND N3VER HAEV THOUGH I HAEV A RESPECT FOR MEDICIEN AND DOC2RS!!!!1!1! OMG LOL BSIEDS IM AXTREM3LEY SUP3RSTITIOS SUFICEINTLEY SO 2 RESP3CT MADICIEN ANYWAY (IM W3L-3DUCAETD ANOUGH NOT 2 B SUPARSTITIOS BUT IM SUP3RSTITIOS)!!1!!!11 OMG WTF LOL NO I R3FUES 2 CONSULT A DOC2R FROM SPIET!1111!!1 WTF LOL TAHT U PROBABLEY WIL NOT UNDARSTAND!111!!1! LOL W3L I UND3RSTAND IT THOUGH!!!!11 OMG WTF LOL OF COURS3 I CANT EXPLANE WHO IT SI PR3CIESLEY TAHT IM MORTIFYNG IN THES CAES BY MAH SPIET IM PARFECTLEY WEL R TAHT I CANOT PAY OUT TEH DOC2RS BY NOT CONSULTNG THAM I KNOW BTAR THAN ANYON3 TAHT BY AL THES IM ONLEY INJURNG MYSALF AND NO ON3 ALSE!!!!1 OMG WTF BUT STIL IF I DONT CONSULT A DOC2R IT SI FROM SPIET!!!!1 WTF MAH LIEVR SI BAD W3L - LAT IT G3T WORSE
!!111! OMG LOL I HAEV B3N GONG ON LIEK TAHT FOR A LONG TIEM - TWENTY YEARS!!!111!1! WTF

1/ Notes From the Underground text courtesy Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library
2/ Translation services provided by The AOLer Translator

Friday Random Ten

It's been awhile. Welcome back to the weirdness known as my playlists.

1. I Really Don't Know Anymore ~ Christopher Cross
2. Strange Magic ~ Electric Light Orchestra
3. Blue Sky ~ Allman Brothers
4. 25th December ~ Everything But The Girl
5. Walk on Water ~ Aerosmith
6. This Is Your Life ~ En Vogue
7. No Tell Lover ~ Chicago
8. A Kiss to Build a Dream On ~ Louis Armstrong
9. Higher ~ Creed
10. Oh God (Prayer) ~ Annie Lennox
    

TTGSiMH Top Hits of the Week

When Life Hands You Lemons
Which Way Did He Go George?
Ghost Hunters Fan Fiction

I put a comment on Dilbert Blog about the lemon test, so those hits are no surprise. I *always* get a lot of traffic for the Looney Tunes quote. But the Ghost Hunters Fan Fiction? There is obviously more afoot here than I had realized. Apparently those things that go bump in the night are Ghost Hunters fans.

Capitalizing on Talents

If you were to ask me I would say that I was a better writer than artist. But it occurred to me today that of the two it has only been art where I've made real cashy money. Part of it may be that because I don't perceive myself as a real artist I am willing to use what small (really, I mean small) talent I have in whatever capacity it serves me. I've mostly done contract craft and textile work. It's not like I've made a LOT of money from art - certainly I've made much, much more selling my soul to The Man - but I've at least made some.

I find that interesting.

It's arguable that I get money from The Man for my writing (all those white papers...), but I think that we can all agree that business reports are to writing what bathroom stall doodles are to art. Can't we? I hope we can agree to that.

I have other talents. Many of them unknown to me until I accidentally tried them out. Some I make money from and others I don't.

What do you consider to be your talents? Do you use them in your work? Do you make money from them? Are you averse to making money from your greatest talents?

New Design on The Pith Stop

In case you don't get The Pith Stop Newsletter, there is a new product available in the Holiday Style section. What would you do if Santa left you in charge?

We think that this is a great t-shirt for Christmas morning (it even comes in red with white lettering). Or you could buy the greeting cards. Or, if you really want to get into the spirit, grab the tote bag and start gathering those toys!

Because Saturdays Are Fun Days

For Evil Spock:

What Your Latte Says About You

You are very decadent in all aspects of your life. You never scale back, and you always live large. You can be quite silly at times, but you know when to buckle down and be serious. Intense and energetic, you aren't completely happy unless you are bouncing off the walls. You're addicted to caffeine. There's no denying it. You are a child at heart, and you don't ever miss the opportunity to do something playful. You are deep and thoughtful, but you are never withdrawn.

What Does Your Latte Say About You?

Sorry, I'm Back...

In case you wondered - no, the fumes didn't kill me off. I've been away because... it's a long story. How are you?

Since today is a holiday, Happy Independence Day!!, a little bit of pop-psych for fun:

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

You Are a Soy Latte

At your best, you are: free spirited, down to earth, and relaxed At your worst, you are: dogmatic and picky You drink coffee when: you need a pick me up, and green tea isn't cutting it Your caffeine addiction level: medium

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Caffeinated With a Keyboard

I drank tons of coffee to get through the day. Now I'm wondering how I'll get through the night...

Via On the Fritz I ran across Ramblings of Silver Blue who has a cool little Tuesday Questions meme. The January 24th post tickled me because I just have to answer question #2.

The Tuesday Ten™

This time it’s all about the food, baby!

1. What’s your favourite type of salad dressing? Tough choice. I like variety. Blue cheese, ranch, french, and honey mustard all make my short list.

2. Cheese, Ketchup, mayo, mustard, malt vinegar or what on your order of Fries? When given the chance I dip my fries in MILKSHAKE! Yes, really. Vanilla or chocolate milkshake.

3. What tops your hot dogs? Depends. I go from naked to everything (including chili and cheese) depending on my mood.

4. How about your hamburgers? Depends. A favorite combo is mushrooms, swiss cheese and mayo. Or there is always lettuce and tomato, Heinz 57 and french-fried potatoes...

5. Describe the ideal toppings for your favourite pizza. Something someone else orders so that it's a surprise. Hopefully multiple toppings. Of course I married a pepperoni guy. On a wild day he'll add banana peppers. Sometime he'll go for just cheese. Ooooo, the excitement...

6. A1, Heinz 57, Worcestershire Sauce or what for your steak? Whatever you have would be fine. Our favorite restaurant for steak serves "Monkey Sauce." Don't worry, no monkeys are harmed in the creation of the steak sauce.

7. Gravy or Cheese on/in your mashed potatoes? Mostly cheese, but sometimes gravy. Anything with potatoes is a good idea. Yum.

8. Cubed ice, crushed ice, or no ice in your beverage? Usually cubed. Depends...

9. Do you prefer to drink out of plastic or glass, with or without a straw? Plastic vs. glass depends on when/where I'm drinking. Oddly enough, can't seem to drink a soda in a restaurant without a straw but never use one when I'm at home. I find this very strange...

10. Ask me something. Can I steal your "Caffeinated With a Keyboard" graphic?

Resistance is FutileYou Will Be Caffeinated

Scupper came up with a great new Word for 2006 - Borgbucks. Maybe you've heard it before but I never have. That's a good one.

Although my parents drank a LOT of coffee when I was growing up they didn't worship it the way we seem to do now. My Mom agrees with Hallmark's Maxine. "Sure I like flavored coffee, as long as it's coffee flavored." And she certainly wouldn't stand in a five minute line to buy $5 latte. Which, ashamedly, I have to admit I will. If time is money, what does that really add up to?

You'll have to excuse me, though. I wish I could post some more on this but I have an early morning coffee meeting so I should get off to bed. And no, I'm not kidding. La Taza is calling my name.

It wasn't just coffee....

Yesterday's brain fuzziness wasn't just a lack of coffee. By the afternoon I was running a fever and today I'm home with tea, vitamin C, and the dvd player. We have more dvds than any rational person would, and now seems a good time to enjoy it. Right now we're watching Beverly Hills Cop.

Work is unending so I'm running reports and updating spreadsheets.

Life sucks. Except for the dvd player.

Quinn, I NEED my coffee....

It's another one of those days...
Posted by Hello

Another great magnet from Funky Fridge.

Whistle While You Work

In my continuing quest for self-improvement (see INFP Questor, right), I have found yet-another-book with interesting information. It's not amazingly different from Finding Your Own North Star (highly recommended) or Divine Intuition, but it has a few kernels of it's own.

Basically, they contend that you have a mission in life, a calling, that you will struggle to express no matter what your conditions are. Some people are encouraged to pursue their callings. Others (like me) are diverted onto other paths by well-meaning parents, and still others grow up with horrible environments. Your calling is a seed within you that struggles to grow, no matter how many wrong turns you take in life. As you can imagine, if you take the seeds for a cactus and a mangrove and tried to grow them in the others' environment - you wouldn't get much growth. Because a cactus MUST be a cactus, no matter where you plant it. No matter how tenderly you care for it as a mangrove - the amazing mangrove opportunities it is provided - it will stubbornly refuse to flourish. Does this sound like you?

You will struggle to express the seed of yourself no matter your conditions. To get you started on seeing your "you-ness" they have a list of 52 common callings in six categories. You sort through and find the ones that you instinctively feel fit you the MOST. This doesn't mean you are the "best" in the world at them, just that they are what you bring to the world around you - and you are definitely the best at doing them your way. When I sorted through I ended up with my top five being:

• Advancing ideas (Investigative)


• Researching things (Investigative)


• Adding humor (Artistic)


• Creating things (Artistic)


• Solving problems (Practical)

Once I looked at them for awhile I ended up with my very top being "adding humor". When I thought about it I realized that no matter what the situation, no matter what is going on - I value humor. Both from myself and from others. So, all those cartoons posted in my cube (Dilbert, Garfield, Foxtrot, etc.) are a sign of the seed of my being struggling to push through the soil of my life. Why God thought it was a bright idea to plant a cheerful Double Daisy in the cold, hard earth of accounting, I have no idea. But here I am. For now.

The authors encourage us to emphasize whatever portions of our workdays involve our callings. And to minimize whatever seems in conflict with them. In this way, they contend, we will soon learn how to whistle while we work. Because even the dullest of endeavors can become something of a masterpiece if done with great enthusiasm. How does the saying go? There are no great acts, only small acts done with great love.

Oh, and this is a big plug - this blog posting was written from The Daily Grind on South New Street in Staunton. They have wireless internet. Stop by sometime and enjoy the coffee and sandwiches!