This is a Sheffield picnic set. An old picture from last year, but the best I can do today. There’s a piece or two missing and the leather handles need replacing. Those plates and cups are not plastic, or at least if they are, these are very durable. See those boxes with the steel handles? Can anybody guess what they are? They have a separate brand name and are patented. Answer at the end of today’s post. So read it, damn!
When I say Friday is my day off, that means I should start by killing my cell phone. It is not a day off for most people, who love to call. Fridays are a big deadline day in this part of the world. Most of my clientele are adults, which means they always have time to tell you how they don’t have time to learn computers. Well, they should not use them in that case. If you rely on others to bail you out when things go wrong, it gets expensive and time-consuming.This mini-lecture is the result of an age-old problem: anti-virus software. If you don’t want to learn to use the software manually as I always advise, then it is full price when you call. $75 for the callout plus $30 per hour thereafter. I get the same story all the time, that everyone is too busy to learn to use the software but not too busy to call me at 11:00 at night because they can’t get on-line. (Norton can take it upon itself to suddenly block all your browsers from opening, although I should not say that with authority because I’ve only seen it twice. Still, Norton was a factor.)
Using me to troubleshoot your problems can quickly triple your cost of ownership. It is still full price when I get out there to find your dial-up modem is plugged into the wrong jack. [Usually by a whiz kid with some immeasurable IQ who does not know the difference between “Line” and “Phone”.] Or your power cable was pulled loose by the vacuum. Or they’ve been typing an email into the address field – a time honored idiot mistake for the nuclear war crowd. The idea behind running the anti-virus manually is that you [at least] learn such gems as how to turn it off and on, how long different parts of the operation are supposed to take and what the common problems look like.
It has been cool, almost chilly. Fred was off to Ft. Lauderdale, so I spent the afternoon in minding the shop. Maria was in. Haven’t I mentioned Maria? She’s this Columbian lady who has taken more computer courses than I have, but still cannot install a CD or cut and paste a picture. She is stupefied by the process of attaching a photo to an email, or that you could compress the picture using “Save As …” This gal has twice the qualifications I do, and a belt size to match.
After hours, I biked up Dixie Highway to find slummy bars. I should be more fair, because most bars in Florida are slummy by any standards. They are actually old places that have all the local drunks and Hemmingway look-alikes fairly well distributed among themselves. I’m not fond of these places because everybody knows each other. It is particularly difficult for me to hit on women in such places – I’m fussy and you know what happens if other women see you reject the first one. Similar to living in a small town, but with SUVs instead of tractors parked outside. That is a matter of economics, because although the tractors look better, they get slightly worse mileage.
Most of the larger places have been boarded up, including places that looked as if they’d been in business since 1950. [Not enough Hemmingways?] Tourists just aren’t propping the economy up any more, and retired people don’t hang around drinking establishments. They spent their retirement money on fallout shelters. I talked to a few owners of the remainder, picking up that they “are willing to pay $60 for Karaoke on Thursdays”. There is work there for anyone with the right approach. On the way home, it was an unusually dark night and I cracked up into a parking pylon at six miles an hour. Didn’t even seen it (yes, my bicycle has a light). Bruised shoulder, that’s all.
Paulina called. She is looking for a place to live for a few months. This always intrigues me, I mean, where do such people live after that? Anyway, she wants to drop by tomorrow and see one of the units, so I said sure, I’d go look with her. She’s an okay kid but she tends to treat you as if you know nothing about your own affairs. I’ll bet you a buck she does that tomorrow, she will not be able to resist the opportunity.
I heard some tunes I’d forgotten about on my little bar hop. Does anyone remember “Some Kind of Wonderful” and “Let It Ride”? These caught my ear because of the rhythmic bass lines. I placed a far more elaborate ad on the Internet, asking specifically for gifted amateurs and discouraging anyone who wanted to play music for a living. People who need the money are bad picks for forming a band. I stated that we would not be playing anything newer than 1979, but you watch, somebody will try.
Hey, I just found out I am out of coffee. This will never do. See you later, and no, I won’t forget to tell you what the plastic boxes are. They are for sandwiches. To which I conclude English bread is the same size as American and if it is good enough to merit a special box, probably does not taste like Styrofoam.
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