Entries tagged “annoyances”
While growing up in Manhattan, I had always heard about this type of thing, but had never seen it in person. I had seen references to it in movies and on TV, and friends and acquaintances swear it’s happened to them, but I had always thought that they made it up as sort of practical joke on a city kid. I had dismissed it as a myth or an urban legend—like unicorns, alligators in the sewers, or that girl that had to go to the hospital because she got a frozen hot dog stuck somewhere.
The other day, when I got home and picked up my mail, I saw an odd looking envelope mixed in with a magazine and another envelope containing local coupons. This envelope caught my attention because it was a first-class letter sized envelope with both my address and the return address handwritten on the front. It looked like something that a friend would send me, except that I knew of no friends with the return name or at the return address. Additionally, it was addressed to “Joshua Madison”, and about the only people who use that form of my name are my parents and the I.R.S., neither of whom this envelope came from.
I was intrigued, but also weary. Visions of some long lost relative who left me a million dollars danced in my head; so did anthrax.
This really burns my grits!
You see that green fake-grass-looking thing? See how it’s in between a piece of salmon sushi and a piece of the salmon roll? It’s not supposed to be there.
The fake-grass thing is supposed to separate the ball of wasabi and bunch of ginger from the fish. It’s there so that one piece does not get overpowered with flavor. It’s not there purely for decoration. I thought this was common knowledge, or at least common sense.
I have tried to explain this to the sushi making guy at my lunch place, but he just nods and smiles. I assume I could tell him that his house was on fire and I would get the same nod and smile.
Since there really isn’t another sushi place in my neighborhood that’s as convenient, I guess I’ll have to put up with one piece of my salmon roll being extra wasabized.
Update
February 10, 2009 — Compare and contrast the below sushi dinner. Notice how the chef used the soy sauce packet strategically with the green fake-grass thing to separate the sushi from the condiments.
When interviewing an ass, would you kindly make sure there isn’t another one in the frame? Thanks.
Forget the fact that they’re changing my zip code. Ignore the fact that they keep changing the stamp costs while I still have a boatload of the $0.39 stamps. Now they’re invading my private life.
I got home tonight and picked up the mail. As is my normal practice, I had my briefcase in my hand and put the mail in the same hand without looking at it. I do the briefcase and the mail in one hand, the left, because it allows me to use the keys in my right hand to open the vestibule door and, once I get to my apartment, my apartment door. It’s worked very well for me for years. Never had a problem until today.
When I hit the third floor landing, I bumped into the cute girl that seems to live on that floor. We exchange pleasantries, and I noticed her eyes darted downward, toward my left hand. I tried to make a little bit of small talk, and I noticed that her eyes kept darting between me and my left hand.
After saying our goodbyes, I finished the climb to my apartment. As I was opening the door, I noticed what she might have kept glancing at in my left hand. There, at the top of the bills and a promotion for Best Buy, was a postcard from Playboy. It didn’t just say “PLAYBOY” on it. No, this postcard had a naked woman on it, covered barely in appropriate places, and large letters that proclaimed that I, JOSHUA MADISON, have been “selected to enjoy PLAYBOY for just $1 an issue”. In addition, I could also get a free DVD.
The only positive thing that can come out of a cute girl in my building seeing that postcard is that it lets her know that I don’t already subscribe to Playboy.
I’d like to get a Wii, but I’m not willing to buy a whole bundle for $500+ and get four games, three of which I’m not interested in. I’m also not interested in waiting on line at the Nintendo store before 7:00 a.m. hoping to get one of the 12 or so that they might sell that day. I can wait for the day that I can walk into any Best Buy or Circuit City and just buy the base $250 unit and the one additional game I might be interested in.
In an effort to find a Wii, I’ve added a Wii tracker to my RSS reader in case someone has the base unit for sale online. This morning, I found out that Kmart has just that. Over my morning cup of coffee, I went to the Kmart site, and attempted to order the Wii.
When I added it to my cart, I was greeted by a message that, especially with my slow-morning-brain, I found quite perplexing.
So how exactly does one go about and order one from Kmart? They have them in stock, but have a limit of 0 per order.
Oh well. Guess it’s not meant to be at this time.
When did they start putting ads on eggs?
What’s next, ads on blueberries?
Peas?
Corn?
I subscribe to CNN’s Breaking News e-mail alerts. I figured that since I have a BlackBerry, I can get important news e-mailed to me so I can be aware of it without having to check the web site. For a little while it was good in that the news that was considered “breaking” was actually news that might be considered important.
That has changed. I think that whoever is pulling the trigger on what is breaking news has a very low threshold, or, they are paid by the number of breaking news items they send out. Below are just three “Breaking News” items that CNN saw fit to send me recently:
- Don Knotts died.
- Ben Rothlisburger to be issued summons for failing to wear a helmet and have a proper motorcycle license.
- Dan Rather reaches agreement with CBS News to leave the network after 44 years.
You’re joking, right?
Update: I threw up a page that keeps track of the ridiculous ones. They’ve gotten a lot better.
I picked up Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the Xbox 360 the other day and have been having fun working both the main quest, and a few side quests since then. So far, it’s a fun, enjoyable game. One of the things that I like about it is how “immersive” it is. The graphics are well done, the music is a good compliment to what’s happening, the characters don’t have too many repeating voices or phrases, and each town seems to have it’s own architectural style. In fact, the one glaring problem that I’ve seen with the game is that no one seems to go to the bathroom, or at least, in a bathroom. I’ve been all over the place and haven’t found one bathroom! (sort of like a season of “24″)
Like any complicated software it has its bugs, and I’ve encountered a few that take me “out of the experience” a few times:
First, while battling a ghost on a ship, the ghost was smart enough to hide behind a wall, but there was a clipping issue, and it’s arm came through the wall. Minor.
The second issue occurred while standing under a stable’s roof while it was raining outside; the rain came down through the roof. Again, minor.
