Trouble Counting at Mickey D's

This is in honor of Sean...

Taco Bell employees must be where it's at! Because the other
day at McDonalds, the hired help just weren't up to their normal
"High Level" of proficiency.

I drove my silver saturn up to the speaker menu-phone.

Hired Help: Hi! May I take your order?

Me: Yes. I would like a vanilla ice cream cone, please.

HH: That will be 98 cents at the second window.

Me: Thanks!

As I waited in line, I , Mr. Preparedness, sorted through my spare change gathering
exactly the right amount -- 98 cents precisely in quarters, nickels and dimes, with 3 pennies
to make it just right. I was so proud of myself.

Meanwhile, I had finally reached the window. I quickly began this high level financial transaction
by handing over my change. They accepted. I waited for my ice cream.

Hired Help: I need twelve more cents, sir.

Me: What?

HH: The total is $1.08, and you only gave me 98 cents.

Me: Ok....

(Being startled, I wondered if maybe I had forgot the tax. Then I recovered.)

Me: Wait!? No way can an 85 cent cone come out to $1.08!

HH: Um.....(quick conference with manager) Ok. That will be 98 cents please.

Me: Um... I already gave you my money.

HH: Oh. Ok. Here's your cone.

They handed over a nice cold creamy vanilla Ice Cream cone. I have to admit. It looked good. But, there was no napkin, and while I like the taste of vanilla even if my mustache is the plate, I do have some pride. (Well, not really, but my car is messy enough.)

Me: Could I please have a napkin?

The hired help then proceeds to hand me a stack o' napkins about and inch thick, probably thinking that by giving such a boon, I could sell off the excess, invest the money in a high interest stock, and reap untold profits.
His glare clearly showed his envy at my future life of leisure.

I drove off wiping the excess vanilla yumminess from my beard.
Another fine piece of evidence towards the resources and stability of our fine nation.

Stairway to Heaven

Quing up just after 5:00pm onto the parking lot known as Harbor Blvd.,
I popped in my new CD - Led Zepplin's greated hits.
The simple sounds of an acoustic guitar and a group of recorders
washed my heart clean of the busy duldrums collected after an hour or
two of driving around doing errands.

Not all music is like this. But some pieces just make me stop and listen,
and after I'm done, I'm in a better place than before.

Books can be like that, too. Like Lord of the Rings. Why have I read this
same story over and over (something like 20 times). I know what's going to
happen. But I feel cleansed by traveling with these characters and
going through the emotions and events in the story.

I want to collect these things in my life, and make a list -- A list that
I can go back to when in need of a break.

What music and literature does this kind of thing in your life?
I would love to know.

Here's my list of current hobbies or obsessions:

-building a sailboat
-planning what new old car to buy when I sell my saturn
-building a rat cage
-finding a good source for fancy rats (ie local breeder who is not a FETA Freak!)
-building a new terrarium for my bearded dragon
-finding the motivation to ride my bicycles to work: one regular ten speed, and the other is a recumbent
-reading The Count of Monte Cristo
-finding the motivation to grade papers instead of reading The Count of Monte Cristo
-Reading "Eat the Rich", a fun overview of economics by PJ O'Rourke.
-finding the motivation to unpack my new breadmaker and read the instructions
-not spending my extra money on food and things so that I can spend it on sailing and boats
-waiting for my first sailing class to start (5 saturdays starting Feb. 26)
-remembering at the oddest moments, like while reading the six psalms in the middle of church, or like right now, that I have to go to the DMV and renew my license or I'll be taking the bus down to the OC Sailing Center in two weeks!
-hoping I'll find my glasses so that I won't fail my eye exam.

More Quotes

"The monotony of a quiet life
stimulates the creative mind."

"Most teachers waste their time
asking questions that are intended
to discover what a pupil does not know,
whereas the true art of questioning
is to discover what the pupil does
know or is capable of knowing."

-Albert Einstein