Monday’s Theme Music

Chilly and cloudy, Monday touched down. The 7:30 sunrise glowed over a damp land. Clouds dropped their bottoms, hiding the ridges so I don’t know if snow is up there. It’s 36 F now. The weather systems and complications of axis tilt and our position in respect to the sun has 40 F as the day’s high before we spin away from the sun again at 4:39 PM. Then our temperature will drop to minus 2 C. Despite the cloud blockade, they say it won’t rain or snow.

This is 12/12/2022. We’re approaching December’s midpoint. And we’re hurtling toward winter solstice again. Also coming into view is a bevy of holidays with all the traditions, partying, celebrating, and observances which accompanies the holidays like a rock star’s entourage.

I don’t know what The Neurons are thinking today. After I finished with my dream journal and then posted one dream recollection (a drecollect) online, The Neurons put “Elvira” as covered by the Oak Ridge Boys (1981) in the morning mental music stream. Why the heck was Elvira selected? Don’t know. I know the song and several more by them as they were on the radio, and we lived with the radio on in the car and at home during that period, first in Texas, and then on Okinawa. Also, we met up with my SIL during leave when we moved from Texas to overseas. She was a huge ORB fan at the time. Like her and many others, I enjoy Richard’s deep solo. (Yeah, I needed to look up his name.)

Sunshine is blasting through the southern windows. I think coffee will go swell with that. Stay pos, test neg. Here’s the boys with their tune. Cheers

December 12, 2022 0

The Darkened Grapes Dream

This was a dream with a sharp real feeling, startling me into confusion when I found myself in my bed after awakening.

I received a small brown box in the mail. Opening it were two things. Don’t know what one was but the other was a large bunch of green grapes in a plastic baggy. Receiving those really pleased me as I’d order them. From that, I learned that my wife and I were vacationing and staying a small room and bath in some exotic location. The building was small and meandering and seemed to be constructed of thick clay. My dwelling was painted pink but the one beside it was yellow.

A knock came on the door and then a large American opened it. He explained that they were next door. They didn’t have a bathroom and were told they needed to use ours. Sure, I told him. He and his wife entered. While he used the bathroom, we chatted with the wife about the place, inviting them to go with us as we went around so that they can learn of places we enjoy.

I showed them my grapes in their baggy. Then I opened the baggy. The grapes all immediately blackened and shriveled. I thought they were raisins but feeling them found that they were soft and mushy. I left them alone because I didn’t want to damage them. We left, taking the bunch of darkened grapes with me.

We walked around small shops. Shopkeepers and local people wanted to touch the darkened grapes wherever we went. They seemed in awe of them. We finally arrived at the small restaurant where we wanted to eat. We’d eaten there before, including the previous year. It was at the owner’s behest that I’d ordered the grapes.

I showed him the darkened grapes and told him what happened. Delighted, he asked if he could hold them, which I permitted. Holding them aloft, he explained that those aren’t grapes, and that I was very lucky to have these because they are very rare and special. I asked him to tell me what they were if they weren’t grapes. As he was embarking on his explanation, I awoke.

Sitting up in the bed in the dark, I shifted left and right, looking for him and my grapes.

December 12, 2022 0

A Complimentary Dream

I was working, just finishing a job. I don’t know any details of the work but it’d been administrative, computer stuff. My boss came over and said, “I just want to let you know that you’ve been doing really great work.” I liked, admired, and enjoyed him, so that really pleased me. Afterward, I went out with a few others. When I returned, I presented my boss with a gift of a bottle of red wine, which he happily accepted. Witnessing this, the company head loudly said, “You know, I like wine, too.” He repeated this a few times in a joshing way. We all laughed, and I told him that I got the message.

Leaving again, I entered my car and drove away. This was a car I once owned in RL, a black1993 Mazda RX-7. After driving some street roads, I entered the outskirts of a city where I picked up a friend to give him a ride.

He and I chatted away. Stopping at a traffic light, I looked over at the man in the car beside me. He was looking at me and my car. I immediately knew he was Korean, although I don’t know why that mattered.

Leaning over, he looked in my car’s open window. He complimented the car’s condition and took out a small brown cardboard box. Inside were two small white pieces. (Awakening, the pieces reminded me of the microwave pieces I’d used to fix it.) Saying, “I know these cars, and although yours is in excellent condition, you’ll need these parts to keep it going,” the man reached into the car and put the box into a small alcove in the dash that doesn’t exist in the real car.

The dream’s end found me in my little black RX-7 with my wife and the guy I was giving a ride. Three in that small sports car isn’t a pragmatic expectation but it worked in the dream. We were driving asses to elbows through city traffic under a cloudless sky. I was telling her about the Korean man and the parts he’d given me. Then I said to my wife, “Oh, damn, I forgot my new uniform.”

Dream end.

December 11, 2022 0

Merchfloofdising

Merchfloofdising (floofinition) – 1. Sales and service promotions directed toward people living or caring for animals.

In use: “More recent developments include merchfloofdising such as commercials for pet health insurance, playing heavily on guilt and responsibility to push people to buy the products.”

2. Advertising which use animals to project traits such as speed, power, and strength, to entice people into buying products and services.”

In use: “Subaru’s advertising has a heavy merchfloofdising bend to it, with one recent television commercial featuring a man bonding with a dog over the years which he owns his Subaru.”

December 11, 2022 0

December 11, 2022 0

Sunday’s Wandering Thought

He remembered when his family ordered things from a catalog when he was a boy. First, there was filling out the form of the item numbers, quantities, and prices. “Get my credit card from my purse,” Mom would order. The 800 number was called, the order placed.

Days of mystery would ensue. When would the order get here? Where is it now? Each day brought the three Ws: watching, waiting, wondering.

Slip forward a few decades. Companies began telling him exactly when his order would arrive. Shipping and tracking advances continued. Soon, he tracked his packages as they left faraway cities and countries and zigzagged a path to his home. He knew exactly when it would arrive. It was immensely satisfying.

Systems matured and processes evolved. Breakdowns from overloaded, overpromising systems became endured. Tracking information is still sent out, but he frequently finds himself as he was when he was a child, watching, waiting, wondering.

He feels like he’s gone full circle.

December 11, 2022 0

Sunday’s Theme Music

Sunday slipped into space with the weariness of an old ship being brought into port the final time. Rain and cold air heralded his arrival. Lackluster sunrise contributed its presence at 7:29 AM, or as the house floofs term it, midday. They’ve been up a few hours, pranking one another, running around, and asking me to play with them. “In a little while,” I slur with sleep-induced laziness.

Welcome to December 11, 2022.

The floofs have eaten and are now asleep. It’s 2 degrees C out but don’t worry, it’ll spunk up to 44 F before the sun slinks away at 4:39 PM. It’ll get down to 34 F tonight and up to 46 tomorrow before dropping to 25 tomorrow night. We’re expecting snow showers sometime during this up and down cycle.

I have “She’s Not There” in my morning mental music stream. It’s the Santana version. Yeah, a repeat, delivered by Les Neurons after I answered a survey about my recent replacement part shopping experience. I detailed it more in the post, “Replacement Part”. Anyway, I commented to the company that they’re not there on the weekends. Les Neurons shuffled from ‘you’ to ‘she’ faster than a floof can eat a treat. The Zombies did a great job with the Argent written song in 1964. I know it well and admired it. But Les Neurons keep playing Carlos Santana’s guitar from his group’s cover of it in 1977. Who am I to argue with my neurons? Might as well argue with the floofs or muses. Those are all arguments I will lose, along with any engaged with my spouse.

Stay positive, test negative, and if you fail, try again, right? I need some coffee. Here’s Santana and the song. Have a better one. Cheers

December 11, 2022 0

Replacement Parts

My microwave went out again in November. Replacement switches were needed for the less than four-year-old microwave. The GE Profile model only cost us a little over $200 back when we bought it. A replacement is affordable but I gnash my teeth over being part of a throwaway world. We could live without a microwave, but I am addicted to its convenience. Yes, shame on me.

The first microwave my wife and I bought in the last century served us well for several years. We gave it to my MIL after we moved because she didn’t have one, and it served her until her death, almost forty years later. To be fair, this GE Profile microwave is the first microwave which ever failed for me. Congratulations, GE! It is shiny, sleek, and pretty, though and matches the other appliances, which appeals to my wife.

Also, buying a replacement is only about half the price. There is then the disposal cost for the old unit, shipping, and the installation cost of the new appliance. I believe I can do an installation but I’m a rookie and would rather have it professionally done.

The parts were ordered in November and received yesterday. Twenty minutes after the parts were in my hands, the machine was up and running anew. There were issues. I ordered the replacement part from RepairClinic. They followed up with a survey request about my experience.

Here it is.

In dealing with you, I found you’re not there on weekends and evenings, only Mon-Fri, with limited hours, a throwback in this 24-7 shopping and shipping world of bots and emails, and surprising for a company selling goods online. Sweetly quaint and old-fashioned.
You sent me the wrong part initially, replacing the microwave door microswitch holder with a muffler. As soon as I picked up that box, I knew it wasn’t the delicate plastic piece which I expected. That first package weighed ten pounds. The switch is less than a quarter of a pound.
I contacted you as soon as wrong part was received, but, alas, Saturday, so no response was received until Monday. Your apology was straightforward with appropriate regret and you immediately ordered the correct part. It was sent out the next day, Tuesday.
The replacement part was received the following Sunday. It was not actually an OEM replacement part. The screw placement holes on the new part were rotated 90 degrees from where they’re required, so the part can be placed and works in that regard, but it can’t be secured with screws. It troubled me that the part was different in that manner. This isn’t my first online replacement part experience. I did due diligence and your site said, yep, this is the part for your machine. It’s not. I used it anyway because of my microwave addiction but I have begun searching for the right part. I suspect that I won’t find it.
Finally, not your fault, but the parts always took three days longer to reach me than announced with your shipping and tracking email. It’s always an amusing aspect of the modern ordering and shipping experience to see the original expected delivery day followed by an update showing it’ll be delivered the next day, and then a second update with a third date. As I wrote, not your fault but it did color my shopping experience with you.

Other than the things noted above, it was a great shopping and shipping experience. Cheers

I’ve marked my calendar and will see how long it is until the next failure.

December 11, 2022 0

Imfloofuity

Imfloofuity (floofinition) – An animal or animal behavior exempt or immune to blame or punishment.

In use: “Two cats and three dogs lived with Michelle and her family, and the pets knew the rules. Then a new rescue kitten arrived and was given imfloofuity, getting onto the tables and kitchen counters, knocking things off shelves, and attacking plants. The other animals asked one another why that floof was allowed to do these things, but then the sweet little floof walked up and gazed up at them with her big eyes, and the other animals immediately forgot why they were upset.”