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Pirate Philosophy

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Today’s post is a commentary that was delivered to my house Wednesday night as a liner pasted inside the bottom of a kettle of saltwater fish. I have managed to dry it out just enough to make it legible, but it is unlikely that it will never smell good enough to be filed away with my other papers.

Ahoy!

On Tuesday, me an’ me boys watched by satellite wi’ great excitement as people of th’ U.S. of A. picked th’ same president they already had! He is no friend to outlaws an’ pirates, that’s fer sure. We was so hopin’ fer a victory by Mr. Romney, who in spite of his polished looks has much more in common with us pirates – bein’ a takeover an’ liquidation artist, which is somethin’ we understands quite well.

‘Twas not to be, however. Bein’ th’ leader of a crew is a great advantage t’ anyone what wants t’ stay the leader. In my experience, anyhow. Underlings gets used t’ a particular view, an’ it can be a comfort t’ know yer betters, rather than havin’ t’ get used t’ a new one.

No skin off’n our noses out here, as long as we gets t’ enjoy an overthrow in th’ order of things, which is our favorite kind o’ drama. An’ we is mighty entertained to see that swashbuckler Karl Rove comin’ under fire fer “wastin'” 300 million smackeroos whilst tryin’ t’ guide the outcome.

All them horses he bet on lost. Quite satisfyin’, that.

But then me an’ the boys believes there ain’t no such thing as wastin’ booty! Whether you forcibly takes th’ goods or simply uses yer wiles t’ talk someone into handin’ over their riches, th’ wealth is come by honestly (fer us), an’ usin’ it all up on whiskey an’ wenches is far from a waste if’n that’s what you wants t’ do!

Pleasure is a real thing, says me an’ me boys. It has value an’ is always worthwhile.

So what if Rove gave away all his booty t’ th’ owners of TV stations in Ohio. That’s perfectly fine as long as he enjoyed doin’ it, on account of th’ fact that th’ cash ain’t gone – ’tis now in more vigorous circulation. Them what wants t’ get their money back need only figure out what kinds of commodities Ohio TV executives likes. I confess that a moment spent considerin’ the possibilities leaves me feelin’ a bit queasy. But I is quite certain that’s where the money is headed next on it’s journey!

As fer ol’ Rove an’ his unproductive but delightful spendin’ binges, we is more than happy to welcome him here to th’ Muskellunge if’n he wants th’ sympathy an’ comfort of his own kind! An’ I is certain we can teach him a thing ‘r two ’bout bombast an’ obfuscation.

Yer peg leg pen pal,
Cap’t Billy

I’m not sure that I buy into the captain’s economic theories, but his attitude regarding the value of pleasure is refreshing.

Describe a “wasted” expenditure.

132 thoughts on “Pirate Philosophy”

  2. i love captain billys take on the situation, he sees to the core otf the situation. mitt was surprised by the fact that there turned out to be a problem. well i think that the scurvy knaves he had working beneath him were fearing that they would be forced to walk the plank if they said the wrong thing. the fact that karl rove lost his 300 million and his candidates lost is a lucky thing indeed. maybe there is a chance to get the bill unpassed on unlimited corporate expenditures while the iron is freshly sitting on the scorch marks left by rove and his band of merry men. i think if they had spent it on whiskey women and song they would have felt they got something more substantial than the air time of the same hateful ads over and over again all for naught as it turns out when second guessing the american peoples ability to see through the poppycock and balderdash, if you hear it once it makes an impression kind of a wisp of an idea that you formulate into your own truth, if you hear if 400 times you have a chance to see that the is nothing there. kind of like burlesque. the essence of the form rather than the whole enchilada right there for all to see again and again and again. this thing what capt billy and the boys are talkin about is what makes america great. even if all the money in the world is spent on the wrong cause it still dont make it smell right. aint that true yankee fans…. i think the republicans may have turned into the yankees and while they is winning all the little people cheer and claim them for their own but when they start losing and the tired old decrepit multimillionaire clubhouse starts losing to upstarts with the true heart and soul of the game in their bag of tricks the former fans stay away in such large numbers that the ushers need to ba asked to sit in the seats to hide the wholescale evacuation of the ranks

    http://sports.yahoo.com/news/no-show–yankees-try-to-disguise-empty-seats-at-alcs-by-moving-fans.html

    i love a good story and the gop blowing their hundreds of millions to try to buy there way in is a good beginning to the end of the story . we will have to wait to see if there is enough frustration by the donors who trusted their money would buy them favors in the coming 4 years only to discover they bet on the wrong horse. unfortunately many probably bet on the other guy guy to show so they have themselves covered there too.
    lets hope the gop starts looking like yankee stadium and that the good guys win over those who were suckered into the gop and are now seeing the man behind the curtain for what he really is. maybe a good man but a really bad wizard

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    1. I received at least a half dozen large shiny mailings supporting the reelection of our state representative, Rich Murray. They were all very similar and I don’t understand why they sent out the same thing over and over again. They all had a picture his opponent, Shannon Savick, with a big frown on her face and proclaimed that she would be in favor the “horrible” act of raising taxes. Murray was favored to win, but he didn’t. I wonder if the over done mailings are responsible for his loss.

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      1. we raised enough money in our senate dstrict to send out 8 mailings for each ouf our candidates(1 state senator 2 state congresswomen). all were different and all were very focused on the areas that could be identified as areas of concern or the soft underbelly. , last election the gop dumped 25-40 thousand dollars of negative literature and tv ads into he district to beat our strong incumbant congresswoman. this time we got that seat back and almost wont the senate seat (51-49) after getting slammed for the years prior. eric paulson still won the state congress seat 60 40 but he goes against the gop model, he doesnt say negative things, he says nothing at all. i am a math man and we have guys with their legs cut off who have their legs made here by companies that dont like taxes. vote for me. who can disagree with that? i predict the gop will become mush mouthed nothing sayers who imply good stuff insted of sounding the gong. but as long as the teaparty is still in control i will be proven wrong. bill boehner is living proof

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        1. Keep your eye on Paulson, tim. He is the new powerhouse candidate on the GOP side. My guess is that the MN GOP will put him up against Al Franken in two years, and he will be a formidable candidate. He has a knack of making himself look cute and credible in spite of taking stupid positions. He is someone to worry about.

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        2. we were talking about that . i have paulsen and david hahn another model tea party dweeb here in e.p.
          we are hoping paulsen takes on franken and gets whooped and hahn takes paulsens spot and get thrashed and we lose them both at once.
          gosh and then beav maybe the leprechaun will leave us a pot of gold huh?

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      2. I have so me believe that the mere volume of the ads affects the campaign. I would like a study done on how some of the pictures were photoshopped. Saw an article recently about journalists caught changing pictures.

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  3. Good morning. Our house has plenty of stuff that was more or less wasted expenditures all over the place and we want to thin it out before moving next year. It seems like an impossible task. There are way too many books and games. A big collection of various camping equipment. Clothes that we might make us of someday, but probably not. Extra furniture that was only used for a short time and many other things we never used or only used briefly. We used some of this stuff and foolishly thought it was worth keeping or just didn’t want to go to the trouble of getting rid of it.

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  4. By sort of coincidence I have been reading books lately about life in the third world, fiction and travel books.Now I think much of what I own is wasted expenditure. Three of the books have been about the Caribbean. So close to us and so third world. One is :”This Is Cuba: An Outlaw Culture Survives.” People cannot live on what the socialist state pays them so they buy and sell in the black market, which means you lose all you own and go to jail if you are caught, but every body does it because it is the only way to survive.

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    2. If anyone wants that book, give me a holler. Not the best written, but an American journalist who spends a lot of time living with the regualar folks of Cuba.

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      1. Sounds interesting. Hennepin County doesn’t have it but I made an interlibrary loan request.. if they can’t find a copy, I’ll take you up on it. I’ve enjoyed all the books you’ve recommended along the Trail so far!

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      3. How I get my good travel books: visits to both Half-Price Books. Don’t pay all that much. Our local library is terrible and the local libraries are all in a big fight, so Inter-library loan is a waste.
        How I dispose of my travel books: keep the best, but cannot do that many anymore and am down-sizing our pointless purchases. So I have reduced my travel collection a lot. Mostly I sell them back to HPB for not very much so would rather give them away.

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        1. I didn’t know the local library system was all in a big fight, Clyde. We’re in the same library system – Traverse de Sioux. I put Cutting for Stone on hold and it didn’t come in for over a week, although it said that it was available in Waseca and Waterville. It turned out it was on the shelf in the Waterville branch and no one thought to look! That was a little frustrating.

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        2. N. Mankato and Mankato have two libraries a mile a part which have no cooperation. I am never sure about Traverse de Sioux to be honest. Maybe it is all right. A friend used to be on the Mankato library board and was telling us stories about how libraries were always threatening to pull out and some did. Every time I look for a book it’s not there. But it would take a pretty big system like Hennepin County to have the kind of books I want. I don’t have a book reader like Nook or Kindle because few of the books I want are on there. Newer ones are.

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        3. I have good luck with the InterLibrary Loan down here. Not 100% luck, but I’m running about 80% I would guess. Of course timing is a whole other issue, but I try to let that one slide off since we’re talking free (one of my favorite words).

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  5. Rise and Shine Mateys!

    I fully support the suggestion that Mr. rove join the Mateys on the Muskellunge! In fact I think it is brilliant! Pirates, after all need a supportive and loving crew to grieve these losses–monetary, political, and beloved delusions. In fact there are others who might want to join the crew, soulful pirates all:

    Rush Limbaugh
    Charles Krauthammer
    Sean Hannity
    George Will
    bill O’Reilly

    I would gladly donate money to send them to the Muskellunge. Sort of a Republican Lake Woebegone.

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  6. welcome back lazarus,
    i enjoy listenig to what the other side has to say but the last 10 years or so i cant do it. i did tune in to fox on election day to see what kinfd of koolaid they were passing out and it was interesting. almost unrecognizable in terms of robustness etc. they may have been informed the psuedo rah rah was about to take a new form before the powers came in for the unveiling as the summaries started in from the east coast at 630 or 7 our time.
    i had an employee who worked in back and had a radio going loud enough to hear over the work noise. i stopped long enough to listed to glen beck for a couple of minutes and told him to shut it off i couldnt have that kind of cancer filling other peoples ears. he didnt last too long. another had rush on one day when i came in. he ended up being a true representative of the party he followed. hate even thinking about it.

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      1. if i hired someone who turned out to be with the nazi party i would ask him to leave his recordings of the last pep fest at home and also not to bring his lit or cancer to work with him. if i get into a situation like i expect to in the next year where i have many employees i will have to put someone other than me in charge of that stuff. i am not politically correct on nazi’s.

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    2. I think it’s perfectly legitimate to keep the workplace free of that kind of “noise.” Hans has a “Vote No” and an “Obama/Biden” bumper sticker on his car. His employer asked him to park his car in a neighboring lot (which he also owns) because he doesn’t want customers or potential customers to see that one of his sales people is a liberal Democrat.

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      1. The giant parking ramp at work (I have heard it’s the largest private ramp in the state) has all flavors of bumper stickers. People tend to park in the same general areas – you find where there are spots when you come into work based on your daily schedule, and there is a tendency to keep to that general area so you don’t forget where on earth you parked. There is a vehicle I often park near and I noticed that it had a “vote yes” sticker. There were a couple “vote no” ovals on cars, including mine – seemed like we all made an effort to park a few spaces away from the “yes.” In my case at least I didn’t figure it was polite to put my politics right in the face of my opponent while I was at work, even in the parking lot, so I tried to keep a bit of a buffer between me and the “yes” car.

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  7. I think the saddest waste of money is when someone has an unrealistic vision of himself/herself and wastes money trying to validate that dream. Of course, there is some value in dreaming, even if it is unrealistic. But I’ve seen people make tragic mistakes with money because they were trying to convince other people that they were the person they would like to be.

    I once worked with a little woman whose dream was to be a stewardess (this was in the days of “Coffee, tea or me?”). She paid dearly to take a course of instruction in this job. Her reward upon graduating was a flight to Florida. She vomited the whole way down and was so sick she could not fly back. She had dreamed of being a stewardess before she had even had her first airplane ride.

    The most recent election had so many treasures and good surprises it is hard to keep track of all of them. It is a joy that the Tea Party fell into humiliation like it did, and Karl Rove went a long way to proving money has less impact on elections than we have feared. I have more faith in democracy today than I did a week ago.

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  8. About nine years ago when I’d finally used the word “divorce” with my ex, a good friend tempted me to go with her to Cabo san Lucas where she owned timeshares. She’d been asking for years, but this time I was beginning to go through the upheaval of separation and a very sweet taste of freedom. It was also the first time that I’d ever been out of the country. Pueto Benito at Sunset Beach was indeed the most exquisite and decadent movie into which I’d ever walked! My friend knew how to score free stuff like meals and taxi rides, and how to barter in Spanish. This involved going to timeshare sales presentations in which meals and alcohol were “free”.

    The second day we were in his heavenly den of heathens, we attended a time share event in which huge margaritas were served. I’d never tasted one, so I had two just because they were free (and delicious!). I then quite impulsively bought a timeshare. They must’ve seen me coming all the way from Minnesota! They insisted that, in just a couple of years, the peninsula on which Sunset Beach was built had “only 700 units left for sale”, and that when this would happen I could turn around and sell my timeshare for DOUBLE what I’d paid for it. At the time, and under the influence of strawberry margaritas, it made perfect sense. In reality, I’d just had the world’s most expensive margarita: $12,000.

    It was the perfect storm: newly free from a marriage that went on 15 years too long, slightly drunk, in an exotic paradise, and telling myself that I’d been far too frugal and risk-adverse my whole life. Unfortunately, this little trip occurred prior to my divorce settlement which, because my ex hadn’t worked in years, cost me a quarter of a million dollars and necessitated taking out a huge home equity loan with hefty monthly payments. Also unfortunate was the ending of my friendship with the friend I’d traveled with due to loaning her money she then refused to pay back. So, there I was at 60, suddenly in deep debt, freshly divorced, unable to ever again afford the air fare to even get to Cabo, and no girlfriend with whom to travel.

    For the next five years, an additional insult was the hefty annual maintenance fee. After countless efforts to sell the timeshare off, I eventually found a buyer but had to sell it for only half what it had cost me. I learned two things from all of this: how gullible I am and never loan money to a friend. I’ve always been one who only has to suffer a lesson the hard way one time, but the lessons have to be really big ones.

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    2. time shares depend on alcohol induced folks to prey on. if you want time shares today they are free if you take over the maintenance. you did good to get 6000. its amazing how long and how many people live in la la land with no idea its a weird unreal world they travel and live in. welcome back.

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  9. Evening all (at least where I am) –

    I’m pretty good at accepting whatever reality brings in my path, so I don’t have too many “wasted regrets”, however I did purchase an automatic pasta maker once. It looked great and the instructions were clear, but getting the right consistency to make the pasta extrude was a bear. I struggled with it four or five times, never got pasta out of it, then let it sit in the back of a cabinet for several years before it hit the trash. It’s funny because I can make pasta by hand, no problem, but not in the machine!

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    1. the call those closet appliances. they are bought and put in the closet and sold in garage sales in 5 or 10 years. it is an industry unto iteslf.
      hey i hear they have some good pasta in rome. maybe they would have a hint or two at making the pasta if you asked. i will take classes when you return. just before we have movie night.
      thanks for checking in from across the world. isnt the internet an amazing thing? i used to love listening to my radio shows in china on the 12 off time schedule they aired in.

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      1. Good pasta is an understatement. You’ll be seeing a couple of blogs about this trip in the future and food will feature heavily!!!

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    2. I b ought the high-end hand-crank one. Loved it. Made good pasta alll the time. Grand kids loved making it with me. Then I went gluten free. But I got my $ out of it.

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        1. I know all about it. Have recipes, tried them, bought some. Not very tasty, don’t do well as leftovers. Consistency is awful. Don’t roll in the machine. Like most people I have found it easier to just eat other things. For instance, last night we had spaghetti sauce over rice. GF breads are rather awful. I have a few recipes I do, such as a GF meat loaf that is better than most bread crumb meat loafs (uses corn chex and cooked rice) and a GF pumpkin cake. Rice cakes, Chex cereals, etc. Every now and then we do a meal of GF pasta. I make a point of doing some bread things form my wife. Made her grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. She has a cold right now so we are being very careful.

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        4. Back when I first became a vegetarian, the meat substitutes were very few and very awful. But as the years have gone by, things have gotten a lot better. Many many products and tastes to choose from. Hopefully gluten-free will also evolve for the better!

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  10. I used to think my electric pressure cooker was a wasted expenditure, but now I find myself using it more and more. I recently purchased some quinces and made jam with them. They were expensive. The jam is far too sweet and not what I expected, and I doubt I will ever buy them again. On the other hand, I bet I could make some pretty good chutney of the remaining quince jam. Lime juice, ginger, and cumin could revitalilze it!

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    1. I like your attitude, Renee. Don’t let that sweet quince jam and all that work go to waste. I’m betting you’ll be able to resurrect it as a delicious chutney.

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  11. This is hard to admit, but when my dad was resuscitated and helicoptered to Sioux Falls and treated in the high tech (and expensive) critical care unit, I wondered if it wasn’t going to be a wasted expenditure on a 91 year old guy with a bad heart who was probably ready to meet his maker and who would probably have a diminished quality of life if he survived. Well, I was wrong. He is going home the end of November, and my mom is ecstatic. He is back to his old self, she says, and he is working very hard in rehab and is charming all his therapists. I guess he still has some work to do here before he cashes it in for good. Oh, these end of life issues are harad to navigate.

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    1. Ooh, I loved Kevin Kline in this role! He made pirates SEXY long before the great Johnny Depp. Although his Jack Sparrow is more colorful and vaguely sleazy. I had forgotten all the athletic stuff he did in this number. Still LOVE, love the costume — tight black pants, leather boots and the flowy romantic shirt showing his chest. {Sigh …}

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  13. Surely I’m not the only baboon who has purchased a membership to the Y or a fitness center and then use it only a time or too?

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    4. I’m highly motivated by the “go 12 times and get money back from the insurance company” that I’m signed up for at my gym. If it weren’t for that, I’m not sure I would ever even SEE the inside of the building!

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  15. Late ’80s, we were at the Ren. Festival and fell in love with a beautiful little folk harp – cherry and some other wood, and it came with a book (something like “Teach Yourself to play the Folk Harp) so we figured we were good. $600 dollars and 20 odd years later, neither one of us had actually learned to play this thing, and I was beginning to think maybe we should try selling it on Craig’s List or something. Took a good luck and realized the tension on the strings had actually pulled one panel away from the rest of the structure… Not sure what Husband has done with it at this point…

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  16. I joined the big Arb this year and hope I’ll not be sorry…. I love the place, especially the Japanese garden, but it is an hour’s drive for me. I might have gone today if I hadn’t still a lot of yard work to do. I feel good about my front yard now!

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    1. Hmmm, I renew my membership in the Science Museum every year, hoping I will get there at least once. (It’s about an hour and a half.) It rarely happens now that the kids are all grown up. I hope you make it to the Arb more often than I make it to the Science museum.

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    2. I don’t really consider memberships in places like the Arb or the Science Museum “wasted” expenditures even if you don’t use them. They are wonderful organizations that are worth supporting just for the sake of supporting them. I’m a member of the Science Museum, and live a few minutes’ drive from it, but rarely go there. I’m also a sustaining member of both MPR and TPT although it’s very limited what I listen to on the radio or watch on TV. I look at these expenses as investments in my community.

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      1. i remember some poor folksin downtown chicago who were asking for money on the streets at 11 00 at night with the damn kids as plants to make their panhandeling more effective… i walked past and said i never give to panhandlers because they are going to use it for wine. then it dawned on me that these guys were exactly who i wanted to contribute to. i went back gave them the money i had on me and they cried and thanked me until i was out of sight. community investment i s important.

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      2. PlainJane – I think you’re right that it is an investment. That is why I keep paying, but sometimes it feels a little frustrating that it’s so far away.

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        1. Oh, I understand completely, Vicky. Distance is the main reason I don’t make it out to the Arb very often. But unlike a membership in a health club or the purchase of a piece of equipment I don’t use, I don’t get down on myself about it because it is still money well spent. That’s why I objected to those expenditures as being categorized as “wasted expenses.” I think we agree.

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  17. Greetings! It’s almost embarrassing to recall all the stupid purchases we made. The gym membership, although I did use it, but not for the duration of contract. The Nordic Track and Total Gym that are taking up space somewhere after a short flurry of use. We bought a small piece of undeveloped land 30 years ago up north by Milaca. Never been there (I hate camping) and we’re behind on taxes. I don’t buy kitchen appliances, so I’m safe there. Oops, except for that Ronco food dehydrator. OK, does anybody actually NOT own a Ronco appliance? Although an in-law does have a tabletop convection oven that made an amazing Easter ham.

    So lets consider the well chosen gifts or purchases to balance this out. The 30-yr old crockpot that I happily use weekly. My 12-inch cast iron pan used nearly every day (both gifts). Although I confess it took me a long time to learn to cook and use them. My trusty Vitamix blender was a great investment, but I still long for a good Cuisinart food processor.

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    1. I don’t own a Ronco appliance, but I borrowed a food dehydrator from a friend who had bought one after watching an infomercial. It had been collecting dust in her basement for a couple of years when I asked if I could borrow it, she had never used it. I had it for a whole year and didn’t use it once after I had read the instruction booklet that came with it. I had to plead with her to take it back when I went to return it. She has since donated it to Goodwill.

      When Hans bought me a food processor for my birthday many years ago, I wasn’t too excited about this appliance. Just another complicated machine to wash, I thought. Fortunately the processor came with a three hour class in how to put it to good use, and that made all the difference. I use it all the time, and have already replaced several parts that have broken over the years. A marvelous tool.

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  18. A purchase I regret, related to the above discussion of books, is JK Rowlings “:The Casual Vacancy”. I was not interested in reading it. Loved the first three Harry Potter books, but by the middle of the fifth book I quit. It got too dark; all the early charm was gone. Then week before last I saw her on Charlie Rose at 2 a.m. She always impresses me. So quick, sharp-eyed, intelligent. Then my daughter, a big Potter fan, asked about the book. She and three reading buddies were interested. So using some discounts I had, I bought it for 45%of the $35 price. They each paid me $3.50 and we will share it. It would take forever to get it in the two libraries systems the four of us are on.
    I am rushing through reading it. I regret that $3.50 for my share. I will finish it up and pass it on. It is very dark and brooding. Rowlings has a fascination, it seem,s with breast. It is really just “Peyton Place”, much better written, of course. But it is precisely the concept of “Peyton Place,”: a small town full of secrets and long-suffering people. She does portray teen angst in many forms very well. Many of the characters talk just like Ron Weasley. I swear one character is based on Bert Large, the plumber/restauranteur in “Doc Martin.” It is a deli owner who looks and talks just like Bert Large. I hear Ian McNiece’s voice when this character talks.
    Anyway, not my kind of book at all.

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    1. I was worried about this when I saw something about it being “much more adult”. I’m on the waiting list at the library… about 350 folks in line ahead of me. Maybe I’ll get out of line for now and wait for the hoopla to settle down!

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      1. Just my opinion, of course. It is much more adult, about 5 or 6 obscenities a page, and I don’t mean hell and damn. Endless discussions by characters about breasts. A few sex scenes. Drug abuse, child abuse, a girl who cuts herself, married couples who hate each other, couples who hate other couples, . . . shall I go on?

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        1. No, I think you’ve about covered it. I have so many things that I want to read, I think I can take a pass on this one. In fact, I made myself a note after today to find some good books about the last Medici, who donated all of the Medici fortune to the state, Michaelangelo and Fralippi Lippo (those are the only clues about where I was today!).

          On the plane first thing in the morning and by 8 p.m. Monday I’ll again be in the same time zone with most of the baboons!

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  19. I’m usually quite frugal, never had a health club membership, and haven’t been very adventurous with kitchen appliances. The ones I have, I generally use, at least now and then. I use my Robostir at least two or three times a month.

    One thing I bought that I was disappointed in was an olive oil spritzer from a Pampered Chef party. It seemed like a good idea, but the spray mechanism clogged after only a couple of uses, and there was no good way to clean it, so the whole bottle was a loss. Other people told me they had the same experience with that spritzer. Now I try to avoid those parties where there’s product for sale.

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    1. I decline those parties too, Linda, no matter what they’re selling, as I always feel pressured by the expectation that I SHOULD buy something.

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      1. Yep, I have a pizza stone from Pampered Chef, a salad dressing maker and something else from Tupperward parties… The should factor is always present, and lately they have been serving plenty of wine…
        At least I use the pizza stone occasionally.

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        2. I do have a candy/meat thermometer that I got at a Pampered Chef party which I use often. (However, more recently I tried to get one like it for my daughter and learned that they don’t sell them any more.) That was the one time I went to a Pampered Chef party.

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    2. Oh, too bad. I was going to invite some baboons to a tupperware or pampered chef party, hadn’t decided which. Linda and PJ were on the top of my list to invite.

      JK.

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      2. Edith – you can invite me. I love Tupperware and Pampered Chef, although I do have to say I’ve never owned the olive oil spritzer. I’ll have to stay away from that. But I own quite a bit of Pampered Chef stuff, which I use quite a bit. And a girlfriend once told me that I’m the only person she knows who has a personal relationship with her Tupperware. Not sure exactly what that means except that I do have a nice organizational system for it.

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        1. I wasn’t even aware that Tupperware still existed as a business. I have enough of Tupperware in my cabinets to last a lifetime, but unlike vs, can’t keep track of the lids.

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        2. I have Tupperware that dates back to the Reagan administration (and some pieces possibly earlier). Learned from a college roommate – who sold the stuff before starting college to help raise funds for books and such – that one way to kill your Tupperware is to fill it with water, freeze it, then drop it on something hard. It just might crack. About the only way to really kill it. Some of my Tupperware is from her demo stash…

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      3. I love Pampered Chef and have a few of the kitchen tools, the pizza stone, muffin pan and bread pan (all stoneware). I may not use them often as I’m not a baker, but I always love how they work.

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      4. I WAS KIDDING. I DESPISE those kind of parties and would never throw one of them or invite any of my favorite people (i.e. baboons) to one. I hate being invited to them…if I refuse the invite, then I feel bad (because they always say, “You don’t have to buy anything; just come to visit”), but if I go, I feel worse because I hate sitting through their selling spiels and feeling obligated to buy something.

        And anyway I don’t even know how to make a Margarita, so I couldn’t make a big enough one to entice PJ. I’ll stick to coming to Book Club, or an occasional field trip, to see y’all.

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  20. Rowing machine…a couple of big ticket toys purchased by Husband for Daughter (he was not to be dissuaded that they would not get played with much…hated being right)…a used car that cost far too much to maintain (have had every car since then inspected by my favorite mechanics before I purchased)….

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    1. Years, and years ago, we had one of those rowing machines too, Anna. After owning it for several years, we sold it with very few miles on it, and most of the miles that were on it were accrued my my father-in-law.

      OT – just had a phone call from Wells Fargo’s fraud department. Apparently someone has been trying to buy stuff at Walmart and Jinx using my credit card number. Somehow got nipped in the bud, so no damage was done. But obviously the card’s security has been compromised so it has to be replaced with a new card. Pain in the butt, but sure glad they caught it so soon. As with Steve’s experience a while ago, the card has never been out of my possession.

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        2. I know, I know. The worst was when I went to Philadelphia and swiped my daughter’s wallet. Now she’s trying to replace her MN drivers license from out of state, but she has to have the papers notarized…and no notary will notarize the papers without a picture ID. I really shouldn’t have done that.

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  21. OT – On Thursday Hans and I and another couple are going for an overnight stay at Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa. Any suggestions of what to see while we’re in that area? Anyone?

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      1. Or all my relatives’ graves.
        Des Moines is not that far. I like the Des Moines Botanical Garden, but I don’t know how far I would drive for it.
        What about the Danish stuff over in Elkhorn, where my daughter used to be a pastor. But not really all that much.
        Why Perry?

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        1. Because of the beautiful hotel. Frankly, I’d rather be in Rome with vs, but that just wasn’t in the cards. It’s just a short respite from the daily grind, an opportunity to spend some quality time with old friends.

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    2. PJ – if you have time to stop off in Mason City on the way, there is a great Bil Baird exhibit (he did marionettes – most famously the marionettes in The Sound of Music) at the Charles H MacNider Museum.

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        1. Teenager and I (actually then it was Child and I) discovered it when we ended up in Mason City after a muffler blowout. Checked into the Mason City Travelodge and then were able to walk to the museum. It was a lot of fun especially because it was a surprise to find it! This turned out to be a fun detour to our trip… great little pool a the Travelodge and a cool museum.

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        4. Clear lake Iowa home of the surf ballroom is the sight of buddy hollys final performance ( within 1/2 mile of freeway cool old 40’s 50s ballroom) on your way to mason city from clear lake look at north side of the road for plaque in pull out rest area showing area where the plane went down killing buddy the big bopper and richie valens.

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    3. I know it was one of the last stops dropped by Amtrak, so they may have done something cool with the old railway station…

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      2. You know what the letters I o w a stand for?

        Idiots out wandering around
        Listen to Greg browns Iowa waltz on the way down and stop for coffee at a local spot observing seed caps

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  22. Evening–
    I spent too much on DVD’s that don’t get watched.
    And I bought a used roto-tiller this summer that was too good a deal to pass up! Uh, have I mentioned we don’t garden much? But I might get a few dollars worth out of it.

    OT- Movie review:
    Went to ‘Wreck It, Ralph’ today. It was a fun movie. A nice story and an ending that brought tears to my eyes. Good thing it was dark in there.
    Plus a B&W cartoon that was a sweet love story.
    PLUS, ate 2/3’rds of the large popcorn (shared with my bride) and got it refilled before leaving. (This was at a Paragon complex.)
    Rochester has three multi-screen theaters (Paragon, Wehrenberg and CineMagic chains) and no discounted movie theaters. And unless it’s opening weekend of a movie, there’s never more than a handful of people at the movie with you.

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