Patience is a Virtue

This has to be a quick one. I'm wicked tired and I have to get up early to drag my overly tired carcass into the woods to punish myself for my sins. No, I'm not going to church camp, I'm going running. And of course my sins are many; I believe at one point I listed the 7 deadly sins and how I fall victim to each and every one pretty much on the daily. But that's not what we're here to discuss right now. We're here to discuss my virtuousness, and how it relates to my patience.

Yesterday I tried to buy some cookware, and I'm sure you are all well aware of how that turned out. I was calm and treated the people at Filene's respectfully despite how I felt they should have been treating me; like the Pillar of Excellence that I am. But again, I digress. Today I was supposed to get a call from the manager, which I did receive via mobile telephone. I didn't actually receive the call, but my caller ID informed me that someone had called and since I didn't recognize the number I assumed it was Filene's calling. He left no message. So anyway, I returned to Filene's despite my better judgement. I wanted my cookware yesterday, but decided to give them another chance today. I was rewarded.

As I walked in, the woman working approached me and asked if "there's anything I can help you with, sir." While I call myself an Old Coot, I'm really not that old. And she was clearly older than I am, but I call people "sir" and "ma'am" all the time, so I didn't take offense. I explained my situation to her, and although her handwritten nametag implied she was an idiot employee she proved to be more than helpful. She knew exactly what I was talking about and said that she didn't know about the sale items I had mentioned. She said the last time she sold that set they were giving away an 8 quart stock pot (cha-ching) and a stainless kettle (CHA-ching). She was happy to honor that since she didn't have anything telling her otherwise. I was happy to receive the free goodies. According to the futureweb, I made out with a $40 kettle and what appears to be a $210 stockpot. I want to say the pot is less expensive than that, but I can't find a lower price. So I really cleaned up, all because I was willing to be patient.

Score TWO for the Summer of Todd,
Old Coot

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Ain't life Coot-tastic

Good afternoon post browsers. Although the weather has turned less summery, I have to say that the Summer of Todd is progressing swimmingly.

I had been reflecting on a former Summer of Todd (back in twenty ought-one), during the early years of the Bush Administration. That was the only other SOT before this year, and it met all of my expectations. Of course, I was 22 and my goals were fairly short-sighted. I outfitted the car with stereo equipment, bought my turntables (which are currently keeping the dust off the floor in my office), a girl touched my leg (look RC, a TIDBIT), and most importantly partied and had very little responsibility. Plus it was the summer everyone got $300 from the gubmint just for being an American. Life was good.

This year, SOT version 2.0 will be a major upgrade. I'm older, wiser, and more Coot-tastic, so what I do this summer will have longer reaching implications. I still have few details that I can divulge, as they are proprietary to SOT management. Contracts are being worked out, deals are being brokered, staffing is being outlined and material selection is in the primary stage. Most information is on a need to know basis, with really no one cleared for the access list (sorry for the job jargon).

The plan was never set in concrete, which is what truly makes the SOT powerful thing. I am free to change direction as needed. I understand that priorities change, people move out of and into the picture, cool stuff goes on sale, and so on. And if I had concrete goals by which to judge my failure I'd be way too stressed out to appreciate the minor details. For example, today smelled like lightning or the first day of spring. Had I been bogged down with how far I was behind on my porch project (which is 100% not underway), I would have totally missed that.

Sidenote:

For those of you familiar with the P.E.P., it may have hit a welcome but unforeseen snag. Hmmm.

So today I'm going to meet up with some folks for a romp in the woods. And by romp, I mean running in the rain or whatever weather Mother Nature throws at us. I'm sure I'll be either underdressed and cold or overdressed and hot, then cold because I'm sweaty. I haven't run all week, so I need to get out there. Running is the time when I sort out all of the stuff that's been piling up on my mental inbox, and this week has my inbox bursting at the seams. Then, I'm going to buy some cookware.

I went to Filene's last night after work to pick up the cookware set that has caught my eye. I did all of the research I needed to do, found the set I wanted and I was ready to buy. They have a deal going where you get some bonus crap with the set, and when I got to the store there was no mention of said bonus stuff. They had boxes of different items labeled "Bonus", but the lady working didn't know if I would even get one, let alone pick any one I wanted.

I dealt with the manager, some other lady and a dude on the phone and came up with the following solution: they'd call me the next day. Well shit, if I wanted to wait until the next day I would have ordered it online already. I was surprised the manager was going to let me leave the store when I was ready to buy. He should have just given me whatever I wanted to make the sale. Instead I went down to another store in hopes of finding it there, but was rejected. No cookware for me.

My mood took a turn a sharp turn for the better on my way home. RC's schedule had freed up and she wanted to get together. I had played a few rousing games of pingpong after lunch, so I showered up and hit the road. Who wants details? Sorry, I'm not talking. But me likey!

So it looks like today I'm going to have to go back and buy that set today and like it (pout!). Then I'm going to cook up something delicious to break it in. I'm thinking crabcakes. And maybe I'll bake some cookies with mini Reese cups. Who knows, the world is mine!

Over and out,
Old Coot

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Lacking Blog Rebuttal

I've been hearing some complaints lately that my blog has been lacking. At first, I took this as a personal attack since the blog is a fairly direct reflection of my life. But as I heard more and more attacks on the lackiness of the blog, I noticed a distinct pattern; HECOW was the main complainer. Here's my rebuttal:

With JD out of the picture, I have 3 people with whom I hang on a regular basis. HECOW, his 'wife' ECOW, and Snicky. If my blog is boring, pal, it's at least 1/3 your fault. YOU need to step up your game and start contributing to the hijinks and hilarity.

Well with that out of the way, I don't have much else to say. I hung out with the 'COWs last night along with JD and Snicky. I drank a vanilla soy latte, and some water. We played cards and watched Lost. Then I went home and went to bed.

But, we have begun a new era. I'm going to suggest that any visitors to the Coot Pad call before stopping by. I'm going to be taking full advantage of the solitary house, and I'll be in the buff whenever I want. I may have mentioned such activities as walking around, baking, cooking (nothing greasy though, grease splatters might hurt), vacuuming, and so on. If you don't mind catching me in the transparent union suit then by all means don't call. I've still got some shame, so I'll probably cover up, but you might catch a glimpse if you're lucky!

Over and out,
Old Coot

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Not an axe-murderer!

I have been talking about putting some pics up here for a little while now, but I haven't been able to find my camera. Who would have thought that the pile of stuff on the couch would be the perfect hiding spot for a troublemaker of a camera? Anyway, here are a few.

This first picture is the first sign of spring the season. As we all know, I'm a month and a half into summer, but Mother Nature is a little behind me. These are some random plants that come up next to my house. Please ignore the peeling paint on the one unpainted side of the house. Soon enough, friends. Soon enough.


The second picture is the Axe-Murderer's Starter Kit I packed up for my first date with RC. Actually, it was to help JO dig up tree stumps in his yard, but they both happened on the same day. And I was sure to cover up The Kit before we met.




Since you can't really see exactly what this kit contains, I'll show some closeup shots to emphasize why I had concerns.

This shot shows the rope, gloves and duffel bag containing a change of clothes.
















Over in this pic, we have the real hardware; there's the freshly sharpened rusty Collin's Axe, the pick-mattock (a miniature pickaxe basically), the rusty shovel and the all-important 10-pound sledge hammer.










As you can see, this might frighten an unsuspecting person with no real knowledge of who I am. Combine all this with the dark blue hoodie I was sporting and I was even scaring myself.

Not an axe-murderer,
Old Coot

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Who's that talking?

Just a quick note. Someone out there in the Ether is talking about me something fierce. My ears are burning so much I can't concentrate on reviewing this wiring schematic for the MTM test box. I mean really, as riveting as this work is and I still can't concentrate!? So I beg you, please turn your conversation to someone/something else.

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