Just a few days before Christmas, and I must confess I’m a little drained. Herr Meow’s teeth have been coming in with a vengeance and his clinginess thermostat has been set to HIGH: anytime he’s set down an explosion of baby expletives ensues.
This has been going on since Sunday. At least –and for some bizarre, yet blessed, reason– he is sleeping through the night again. Handling his demands is always a little easier on eight hours of sleep.
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It’s not just Herr Meow who’s been draining my reserves, really. I find this time of year very exhausting even if I never end up doing much shopping myself. Just standing at the post office for 20 minutes yesterday was draining enough, and having to see people "saving spots" for other people and feeling powerless is like rubbing kosher salt on that wound.
Which is why reading Violent Acres lately has been a balm of Gilead. If you’re feeling down and out and you need some validation about your inner Grinch, go read a little. V speaks many good truths.
And I will go so far as to say that I sometimes wish I had the bitch-o-meter a little broken so I could have told that stupid, duck-footed woman to fuck off the line at the post office, and how dare she do that to the line, which by that time was winding around the counter by the entrance. Or that I could have turned around to the stupid woman in the jeans that made her butt look saggy and tell her that if she thinks that shoving a stroller out of the way is somehow cool and exciting, she should watch herself because one of these days she is going to encounter one driven by someone who does not give a rat’s ass about her and her saggy saddlebags and she’s going to have to tell her friends that her little tarsals gave way like itty bitty little matches under the pressure of a running stroller.
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But blogging about how people suck and about how everything is awful bla bla bla isn’t all that exciting. Well, okay, it totally is but I also want to spread some cheer, and even though I’m not very good at pictorial blogs, I’m going to give it a go. So believe it or not, this warmed my heart when I first saw it and it continues to do so. Behold:
Isn’t it BEAUTIFUL? I mean…. when do you ever see a checkout stand using the correct word like that, "or FEWER"?
It’s the kind of thing that restores my faith in mankind and makes me want to support Trader Joe’s that much more.
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Here is something that made me smile, but for different reasons:
Isn’t she cute, albeit coy? And we can see her from home! Wheeeeee! (And yes, I’m still not fully over the whole coolness that is living SO CLOSE TO ALL OF THIS!
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Finally, a picture of a record, for posterity. This was taken on Monday afternoon at the intersection of Penn and 6th SE. And although it is a little bit grainy, you can definitely see the bold "74ºF". So, behold and bask in its warm glory, because once again it is COOOOOOOOOOOLD!
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Finally, we have one of my favorite pictures ever: the aging hippie with the flashy cellphone, trying to capture a jellyfish. You can come up with your own conclusions. I just think it’s pretty funny:
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Happy last days of shopping! Happy Wednesday before Christmas! Happy er…. uh….. fifth day of Chanukah! Toodles for now!
Oh! Oh! And if you want to see a really cool, uplifting movie with motorcycle, please rent "The World’s Fastest Indian."
You will want to tinker with them.
You will want to break world records.
You will want to pee every morning into a lemon tree. Maybe just not all in that order.
A Daily Dose of Zen Sarcasm! 
Some beautiful shots! Both the 74degree sign and the “or fewer” warm my heart immensely!
One of the things I liked about living in Moncton was the fact that in the main post office you could only hold a spot for someone else if they 1) had to rush to the bathroom 2) had to rush to feed the parking meter or 3) were parking the car. There also couldn’t be more than 5 people behind you in the line. Most of the time this worked however there’d be the rare case where someone tried to cut in ahead of the line with a friend who was willing to say they were holding the spot. When that happened one of the postal employees would be notified by someone at the end of the line and both people would be escorted to the rear of the line. The postal employees weren’t any happier than the rest of the people in line because they were already busy enough. It was rare for anyone to break the rules, I think there was something like 5 cases in 25 years of service. There is very little shoving when waiting in lines here in the Maritimes.
Beautiful pictures! That 74 degrees would be a heat wave here.
Damn… I missed that movie when it came out in Australia (because I was in DC) and now it’s in DC and I’m here! GAH!
And that Trader Joe’s sign? It’s incorrect. “Less” should be used when discussing numbers, “fewer” when discussing quantity. It’s one of my pet peeves.
The other uplifting motorbike story that I enjoy is the series Long Way Round – that made me want to get my bike licence!
I’m a little nervous with the Easter Island statue appearing on that sign too:
http://www.crypthunter.com/?p=62
Read it and you’ll know what I mean!
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for the nice compliments, Kbee and Vix– and man, that post office sounds awesome!!!
Memphis: Oh man….. I’d freak out with that sign if I were you. And killer bee(s)???? Yikes.
E 🙂 — I think you meant “fewer” is for countable nouns (fewer items, fewer students, fewer supermarkets who use correct grammar), whereas “less” is for uncountable nouns (less money for Christmas, less patience, less merriment). And I totally agree: it’s a pet peeve of mine when people butcher it ;o)
Here are a few sites where you can read more about it:
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/DETERMINERS8.cfm
http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxlessvs.html
Well, this seems like a chick site but I must say your photo with the fish is excellent
How are you doing on the last minute Christmas panic?
Give me a ring soon, we’re home all next week — no school, so there’s plenty of time for mischief. I had such a wonderful time with you the other day! Introverts Unite! well, you know, maybe just all be in the same room with books and oldies and a cup of good tea…