in Canada. Or somewhere where the people who will be taking care of me have some intelligence and common sense. No, I won't be needing a room for quite a few years, but I figure I might had better start my search now. After two encounters this weekend I was driven to this conclusion.
Encounter 1: Our modem went on the fritz Saturday morning and after speaking to the phone company and finding out that we need a new one and they would send it to us for free (yay!) we decided to check out Barnes & Noble. I was searching for a homesteading book that would reference rendering lard in a crock pot. Several of the blogs I follow have instructions for this method, but without a modem the internet was not an option. I wandered around for several minutes trying to find a section that would hold what I was looking for, nothing. So I went to the customer service desk and asked the sweet young girl there. This is how the conversation went:
"Excuse me, do you have a section on homesteading books?"
"Yes, we do. It's this way." (she bounces out from behind the desk and heads towards the front of the store.
(Stops all of a sudden and looks at me quizzically) "That's like home interior, right?"
(Mentally slapping of my hand to my forehead) "No, it is like gardening, farming, raising livestock, being self sufficient."
"Oh." (turns and leads me to another section)
She dropped me off at the nature and field guide section!!!
I go and find Farmer Joe and we search in vain on our own. I did manage to find the Foxfire Series and we purchased the first two. Along with two cookbooks. Can't ever have too many cookbooks, I never know when the urge to try something new will strike. So Farmer Joe and I left without what we needed and slightly dumbfounded by the employee. I kept imagining Suzanne Sugerbaker invading Little House On The Prairie and trying to talk Caroline into chintz drapes.
Encounter 2:
Sunday night I was still feeling the effects of a migraine I had woken up with and did not feel like cooking, so I talked Farmer Joe into ordering takeout. I called our local Italian place and placed our order, that part of the conversation went fine. Here is the payment part of the conversation:
"Thank you, your order should be there in 30 minutes."
"Wait, I would like to go ahead and pay you."
"Oh, hold on just a minute. I can't work the register."
(same girl) (I could hear someone giving her instructions in the back ground) "Um, what is the card number?"
I gave her that information.
"Um, what is the expiration date?'
"03/14"
"Oh, that's my birthday. What year?"
I just sat there for a second. "March of 2014"
"Oh, um, ok"
I wondered at this point when we would actually get delivery and would it be baked spaghetti or who knows what.
I am happy to say that it was what we ordered and somewhat in the time frame it was promised. The driver missed our driveway twice, while we stood on the porch watching him and trying to tell him "Turn left now" on the phone.
So far this week, I have had no more of these encounters. And I for one am thankful. But just to be on the safe side I am still looking towards the future and a comfortable nursing home with intelligent life. Wish me luck!!
I gave a cashier $20 for a $10.16 grocery bill. She rang up the $20, refusing my "wait, wait." So, I handed her a quarter and a penny and told her to "take it from that." She looked dumbfounded and stared at the change in her hand. She looked around the store for help. She tired to give me back the change, telling me she had already rung up my things. I told her I knew that and wanted to her to give me change so I could leave. She gave me a stink eye and looked around again. Finally, I said, "you owe me $10 from the $20 and a dime from the quarter and dime. She threw the money in the cash register and gave me the change I told her without ever knowing whether it was right or wrong. I could see it on her face.
ReplyDeleteThanks for telling me where intelligent life exists.
I meant a dime from the quarter and penny.
DeletePractical, I don't know if intelligent life exists in Canada but listening to Farmer Joe's stories of the time he visited there, that country is going to be my first place to look.
DeletePurchases/transactions are so automated now, that young people have no clueon how to manually compute something. I remember in school in math, one of the lesson taught was how to count back change. From what I hear of the "new math" we are in for a long road of trouble when todays crop of students graduate.
Thanks for looking me up and commenting.
Hi Roslyn, I wanted to return the blog visit and thank you for the comment on mine. Actually, your comment name is linked to your G+ account, which I visited first, but there is no link there to your blog. I'm not sure how I found you, by following someone else's links. I didn't realize it was you until I recognized your avatar!
ReplyDeleteI agree that not having homestead books in it's own book category is a nuisance. Homesteading is so popular now, you'd think publishers and book sellers would have caught on.
Leigh, thanks for taking the time to find me. According to my blogger account, my blog is linked to my G+ account. Maybe since I commented on your post without signing in to blogger first it did not link me.
DeleteI live in a semi rural area and would like to think most people have heard the term homestead. If not in conjunction with current events at least in history classes and the pioneers that went west. But our school systems now are a whole nother ballgame.
Doing transactions in various businesses can be a real challenge. I had to pay for some flooring and gave two checks that equaled the total amount. The receptionist couldn't figure out how to enter the amount since there were two checks and not one. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteJMD, next time really blow their minds, give cash a check and a card. The manager would be called in, they would have to call the regional supervisor and finally the president/owner of the company and you would probably be told they could not do that. Glad I am not the only one that has these encounters.
DeleteThe world gets a little more scary all the time!
ReplyDeleteThanks for becoming a follower of my blog! Did you find the info on the crockpot lard rendering? It's really easy. If you need more info just give me a shout.
ReplyDeleteDenise, yes, I finally did the internet up and running and found the information that I was looking for. Unfortunately due to a sickness in the family my time frame to render it ran out. Next time I will put it in the freezer so I have more time. Thanks for the comment and love the blog.
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