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If you like to read comics online, I have a gem for you. With this ComicsViewer free software download, you can have access to a large number of classic, political, off-beat, and family-oriented comics right from your desktop. Setup is easy, and it will aautomatically update when you run it. Enjoy....
I've been working on my personal start page, and I've been happy with the results. I was taking to my friend Doug yesterday, and is his wont, he made a suggestion that opened my eyes wide. He suggested that instead of having a single start page, I could make a number of pages, covering various topics, and link them together just like a live website. He also told me about Abyss Web Server. Abyss runs on Windows and Linux, and it is a desktop webserver. I've downloaded it, and I've read about it on the website and have just installed it. Another choice of dekstop server: Website Robot. With these tools, I will create my own locally stored website; from there it will be just a step or two to "going live" on the web, when I'm ready. The possibilities are exciting.
Folksonomy Excitement
Folksonomy is defined as
<blockquote>. . .a neologism (a new word or expression) for a practice of collaborative categorization using freely chosen keywords. This feature began appearing in a variety of social software in 2004. Some examples of online Folksonomy being social bookmarking sites like De.licio.us and Jots which are bookmark sharing sites, Flickr, for photo sharing, 43 Things, for goal sharing, GenieLab, for music recommendations and associations, and Tagsurf, for tag-based discussions. Gmail's labeling system is somewhat similar to then.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy </blockquote>
No one has ever accused me of having a lack of enthusiasm, but things are reaching a whole new level. I heard about Delicious and a few other social bookmarking programs some time ago. Just as happened with blogging initially, it looked okay, but nothing to set the world on fire. Enter Blogger…some time passes, and I have an overpowering desire to put categories in my blog(s) on Blogger, and finally did accomplish that, as you know if you’ve been a) reading this blog and b) looking at my left sidebar at all. Ok, so mission accomplished, and I’ve been waiting to see what topic would present itself next for my attention. I didn’t have to wait long. First came the desire to create a personal start page, which I accomplished this weekend. Then came a greater curiosity about Folksonomy (aka social bookmarking; aka “tagging”). I use the term “greater”, because as you know if you’ve read this blog for any length of time, I had a consuming desire to use De.licio.us to create categories here, which of course has been accomplished fairly recently. I enjoy using De.licio.us enough that I created an additional account to store pages/tags from interesting encounters on the Internet. I use my main account for tags relating to categories for my blogs, and for The Handicapped Computerist where I am a contributor and all around template tweaker.
I became more curious about social bookmarking sites/engines/tools, such as Furl and Delicious, and wanted to see if I could find others. I did a search on Google, and found almost a score of other such sites. Some of them are for academics, and they have somewhat differing features, and most of them look interesting. So, I will review one of these sites in detail each week. You can see the list I’ve gathered in the left sidebar; if you know of others, please drop me a note or comment and tell me what they are so that I can review those also. Stay tuned!
I have actually completed my personal start page; it is wonderful to have everything on one handy page when my browser opens. I’ve also removed some items from the left sidebar, since they are now living on my page. It feels good to actually remove an item from the ToDo list, for a change.
In addition to my favorite links and constantly used sites, I have some RSS feeds, Phone contacts, a perpetual monthly calendar, a weather box, AIM, a wonderful to-do list that I can add tasks to and delete completed tasks from without needing to edit the template each time (what a joy that is!), and search boxes. In short, everything I use constantly is immediately handy, and I’ve set Firefox to open my personal page as the only home page. The template I’m using is the same as Kate's and I followed her general guidelines with some tweaks of my own as I became more confident. The links are standard html links, which does help.
I was not too familiar with the coding in the template, since I’m not used to XHTML, but once I got into it, I found it very similar to the code I’ve been working with in my Blogger templates. I kept in mind the need to save my work frequently, and I was able to catch and correct several errors before the template was damaged. Firefox was a big help, because I could load and change between various tabs as needed, and I used Crimson Editor to code the links and scripts I used. I especially like the idea that the page works even without being uploaded to a web server; that makes it truly mine. I’m considering whether to add categories to my page; doing so may mean they will be easier to edit (or perhaps not) – time will tell. For the time being, I have elected not to use the compactable headings script that is so useful on my blogs since I like the “open” look of the page as it is. If it begins to be too crowded, I’ll need to decide what to do about it.
I’ve already done some minor formatting tweaks to the start page, and it’s good. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I am somewhat amazed at how problem-free making the page was overall. It is already coming in handy.
Quote:
I came across an interesting quote yesterday, in an old copy of Reader’s Digest: “In every marriage more than a week old, there are grounds for divorce. The trick is to find, and continue to find, grounds for marriage.” Many people could take a lesson from these simple statements; most find it simply too easy to walk away from a relationship, sometimes at the first signs of discord. My husband and I have been together since 1996 and married since 1998. We try to remember what brought us together in the first place when times get tough. We have been able to meet all sorts of challenges, large and not so large, by standing shoulder-to-shoulder and working together; we negotiate well most of the time, and we know how to laugh at ourselves, which has saved our bacon more than once. So, we do look for “grounds for marriage”. It has been my experience that I generally do find what I’m looking for, as I believe most people do. You get what you expect, because you behave accordingly.
A Dylan note: I have posted here previously, and in Angelsong's Gems about The Pickle Jar. Now, Dylan has an "official" pickle jar, vinegar-aroma and all! We have been saving loose change for him in three baby food jars and a small honey jar, because it's easier to count and roll the change if it's pre-sorted. The baby food jars hold, respectively, pennies, nickels and dimes; the honey jar holds quarters. Rather than discard the smaller jars, I just put the individual jars inside the pickle jar, which itself is industrial sized.
Insomnia, Blog and Computer Matters:
My new profile is now open and active, and I’m content with the move from the former profile; I’ve swept out some of the trash that had accumulated in the old one, and the process of moving was actually simple. I’ve blogged about that in Firefox Index
I’ve finally finished the post about last week’s trip to the circus with Dylan.
I’ve added a couple of new links and two new sections (one inside Favorite Links, and one stand-alone section) to the sidebar here. I’ve cleared out all of my old bookmarks that are stored online, and I’ve updated them with a fresh new file. No more excess baggage there. I’ve read, sorted and deleted e-mail, and I’ve gone through my usual routine of website visits.
Most of this activity took place between 2:30 AM and 7 AM this morning. (I had insomnia, plus I do like to work when everything is quiet, although Duchess is clamoring for a date because she has decided –again—that she wants to be a mommy. We never seem to have the money to get the girls spayed when they are not in heat.) Then, I took a short nap. It remains to be seen if I’ll get to any of the tasks currently on my to do list; I’m not feeling terribly ambitious at the moment. Still, it makes me feel good to know that the to-do list is handy.
More and more, my blog is becoming a centralized starting location for most everything I read, do, and routinely use on the Internet. I like spending time here; I hope you do also. I welcome your comments any time; I reserve the right to differ with you if I need to, but I will respect your right to reasonable (i.e., no flaming) expression.
Re-reading the above paragraph has inspired me to actually work on one of my to do projects, so I’m going to create my own start page. This should be diverting! If you start hearing screaming, send the Marines…
I don't think there's much in the world that can equal the face of a child at his first circus. We left home in plenty of time, but had to come back for my ID so we could park in a handicapped parking area, so we ultimately arrived just before the performance started. The staff member who showed us to our seats took us to the wrong section intially, and we ended up needing to move to our correct seats at the intermission. Otherwise, the whole evening was wonderful. Dylan laughed and tried to look everywhere at once. His stock comment? "Oooooooh!" The one thing he did not do that I half expected was cry. He jumped once, when a loud blast (part of the performance, not to worry) went off, but then again, so did I. The biggest hits, as far as he was concerned, seemed to be the elephants and the ponies. He's just like his grammy in loving elephants. Jay even bought him a stuffed pink baby elephant of his own.
Some of the confetti that was fired from a cannon during the performance landed on Dylan, and was promptly kept as a souvenir along with one of our tickets. His mother got the other ticket, plus a silly clown hat that came with cotton candy. What with all the excitement (and the fact that he napped coming and going), he didn't get to seep until well after midnight. No matter; he was still up at 7 AM with his normal cheerful smiles.
Dylan likes cotton candy (who doesn't?), but he absolutely sparkles when I offer him a peanut M & M. He knows I keep a covered plastic jar of them on my desk, and it never fails that he will come "ask" for M&Ms.
Confession, it is rumored, is good for the soul. All right, then. I confess:
I am a packrat. (I hate that term, but I’ve never come across a better one.) I’m not pathological about it, because I don’t have vast collections of old newspapers, magazines and other junk-type clutter. My husband, bless his heart, took steps early in our relationship to deter me from such a path and rescued me from this fate when he decided to go through my closets, with my input and assistance, and clear out anything that hadn’t been used in two years. Since then, my distaste for general clutter has taken firm root in my mind. I don’t even like to have more than a few icons on my desktop at any given time; those that are there are used constantly. Everything else is filed logically away. Thank goodness for My Documents and it’s sub-sub-sub (you get the idea!) folders. I use My Documents as a central filing system, which makes more sense to me than using it to store text files only.
However, I am reluctant to discard anything that looks as though it might be potentially useful someday, and that includes my collection of bookmarks, which seems to expand by geometric progression. If I come across a tutorial of interest that I want to follow, a recipe collection, anything to do with web design or any number of other topics that I don’t have time at that particular moment to fully explore…bookmark it. That is the purpose of bookmarks, after all. I even store my bookmarks online, for extra insurance against data loss. I wish I had a nickel for every post I’ve seen in the Firefox Support Forums lamenting the “loss” of bookmarks…but I digress.
The problem with having so many bookmarks is: how does one find anything in a vast sea of hyperlinks? So, there has to be some method of organizing, preferably one that costs zero dollars. (I don’t really mind the investment of time, because in theory once I have my bookmarks management system set up, maintenance won’t be difficult. I hope.) I even have a semi-permanent item in my To-Do List: “organize bookmarks more.” I suspect this item will never be removed; it is an ongoing battle to be waged with diligence, but never decisively won since I have no plans to stop surfing the internet.
I use essentially the same method to organize my bookmarks as I use for the files on my hard drive: folders and sub-folders. I like having bookmarks on my bookmarks toolbar for easy access, but the space on the toolbar is limited. Enter the sub-folders within broader categories. Then, there is the matter of duplication. Firefox does have an extension to detect duplicate bookmarks <I>at the time they are saved or added</I>. That is some help, but I have scores that migrated from IE, that were collected before I ever knew of Firefox. Thus arises the need to search for and manually delete duplicate bookmarks, and even duplicate folders of bookmarks. See? Another indication of the tendency to packrat-ism. My approach therefore is to work on a single folder at a time, if necessary, to make sure my bookmarks are clean, well ordered and quick to access. If I have to think of having to do all of them at once, the result would be sensory overload and complete cessation of effort. I have a vivid mental image of David going after Goliath with a BB in his sling. (Ever see a teenager react when she is told to clean her room when it would take a wrecking crew with a bulldozer to even get through the door? She’s more likely to close the door in your face than to pick up a broom.) I once spent an entire morning organizing My Documents folder, one file and folder at a time – but I’ve had to do that only once, because I am careful to maintain it so that it doesn’t get out of hand again. My mother used to constantly tell me, “it’s easier to put something away properly the first time than to keep moving it because it’s in the way or risk misplacing it completely.” Or words to that effect; the point is, she was right.
The thing I’ve noticed about bookmarks is this: Let’s say, you begin with a new folder to hold links for a particular topic of interest. Simple enough. You add your bookmarks; pretty soon you’ve got many more than you counted on, and it begins to feel like you’re losing control of the roller coaster…the brakes are squealing just a bit. But, you keep finding the neatest sites on the internet; you’re in a huge hurry most of the time, and you don’t take the time, after a while to make subfolders…or if you make them, you don’t keep them organized. The roller coaster begins to throw off sparks on its track. If you still don’t gain control, pretty soon you’re on a downhill fall at full-tilt speed. Yikes! To try to control some of the fallout, I’ve even created a folder called “as I browse.” Like the others, it too only had a few links in it…but it’s been a while, and it’s beginning to get crowded too. *Sigh*. Yet another folder to organize. So, my solution is to spend whatever time it takes (when time permits) to clear out the clutter, back everything up to my online storage site . . .and I may even get the courage to delete the old ones and begin fresh online . . . then spend a few minutes daily to ensure things stay neat and orderly. Then, I can also do periodic fresh uploads online for safekeeping. Wish me luck.
I just found the Blogger For Word add-on . After reading and accepting the Terms and Conditions, downloading the add-on took seconds, and installing was a snap. When I open Word, there is a new toolbar for Blogger that allows me to write new posts, view all of my posts, save drafts of posts, and publish posts. I can even save my login information in a Blogger Settings button on the toolbar, and preview html before posting to ensure accuracy. I had saved a draft of a post on the edit posts screen, and just opened that post and copied it below, within the same Word document I’m using to compose this post. Impressive. Plus, I can easily save backup copies of my posts. I’ve already created a folder just for backups on my desktop. No more data loss!!! I can use Word’s Autocorrect and spellchecker. Put another way: The power of Word has just met Blogger. The only capabilities missing now are an automatic way to add tags, but that can be done easily with a quick edit on the Blogger compose window, so it’s not a big deal, and it would be helpful to have a date/time field available on the toolbar as well.
It occurs to me that if Blogger keeps improving and adding new features, leaving it for a new platform is going to be difficult to justify. On that note, I recently completed the Blogger Survey (accessible on the Dashboard page below the postings list. It will be interesting to see what happens as a result of the survey. One can hope the survey signals a commitment by Google to be responsive to Blogger users and to devote more attention to Blogger. I do think the Blogger for Word add-on is a definite step in the right direction; this post has been written using the add-on, so it’s a test. Here is the draft I had saved previously on Blogger:
I've been setting goals for my blog consistently since I began learning to edit the template. To date, all of the goals have been met: I've implemented categories, I tag all my posts, I've used a script to compact the headings in the sidebars, and I have placed a basic To-Do List in the sidebar. I like having everything available for easy access.
I've signed this petiton, and encourage everyone to read it and sign it.
the petition
What is a Widget, and what in the world is a Konfabulator? Never fear, the answers are right here. The Konfabulator is software that you download, then you can choose from approximately 1,000 small applications that run on the Konfabulator. If you have a Mac, you may already know what a widget is; they are part of the Mac OS. Don't have a Mac? You're in luck: The Konfabulator also runs on Windows. As the website says, "cross-platform goodness." There are widgets that are serious, and widgets that are fun. Example of a serious widget is the Atomic Clock Widget, for keeping your computer's time accurate, or the Weather Widget and the Radar Widget. There's even a blogging widget for Blogger that I grabbed, plus Kaim Widget, for AOL's Instant Messenger. For fun, there's a Classic Memory game Widget, and if you really want to know how fast you type, check out the Typing Speedometer Widget. Want to know what traffic is like in South Carolia, London, Canada, Stockholm or Mexico City? No problem. If you read or speak German, play the German Lotto...the Dutch Lotto or the UK Lotto, yes, you guessed it...with a widget. Look up information on drugs and their side effects. Listen to a radio station. The cam widgets are just the thing. You can keep track of stocks, football schedules, and movie times. RSS widgets, a calculator widget (Green, no less, and a nifty little alien type guy in a flying saucer to keep you company as he drifts around your desktop will all help make your day more productive and more tun. Fun is a good thing.
The array of widgets is wide enough to ensure just about anyone can find ones they enjooy. Read a scriptur from the Bible; learn a new word,m play a gaame...the possibilities are nearly endless.
All of these nifty little gadgets -- er, widgets can be found in the Konfabulator Gallery. I found a Book Search Widget that would've been very handy when I was adding titles to my BookList; you can read reviews and compare prices also. I launched the Book Search Widget and typed in Harry Potter, then hit the Enter key and voila! listings of all the Harry Potter books appeared in my browser window. Can't get much handier than that. There are also Search Widgets if you're the type who can never get enough of searching and search engines. There are even widgets to make managing your widgets easy. THese folks think of everything. All of the widgets in the Gallery are free to download and free to use. They are neatly stored in a folder in your My Documents folder...but you can put them wherever you like.
If you are the do-it-yourself sort, you can even use a tutorial in the Konfabulator Workshop to build or improve your own Widgets. if you need help, click over to the Konfabulator Forums to post questions, sort out problems with a script, or even just to chat on the boards. Widgets are brought to you by Konfabulator and by Yahoo.
First, a bit of history. I began blogging last summer, using a standard Blogger template. I liked it well enough, but I soon felt I needed room to stretch and breathe, because I kept finding things to add to the sigle sigebar in that tempate unttil there was just little room left. Eventually, I found the template I'm currenttly using, and set about learning to edit thee template code to make it my own personal space. I did learn, but I banged my shins and skinned my knees a couple (or more than a couple of times in the process. I stopped looking for wolves in the bushes who were going to scare me to pieces; template code may nip at times, but it seldom draws blood, especially since I know where the delete key is and I'm not afraid to use it.
If you've been reading this blog for a while (and I hope you have), and if you are very observant, you will notice some changes in the sidebars. Things have been re-arranged, and yes, more new content has been added. It was not my original intent to make such large-ish changes, but I'm not displeased with the outcome. I was trying to add a couple more Compactible Headings Scripts to the left sidebar, and couldn't get them working, even though I was careful to ensure there were no typographical errors and no errors in copying/pasting the code. I tried several times to get the headings working, to no avail. Finally, I decided to just toss my entire template and start fresh. Drastic? Yes. But well worth it in the end.
Before I started deleting the code in my sidebars, I made sure to copy the data into separate text files for each heading. Thus, I didn't lose even the newest links I'd added. Finally, I deleted the entire template code and reloaded a new "blank" (no personal edits) template. Carefully, I began inserting the code for each of my headings, making sure to preview after each new insertion, then saving my work. I did this after each major insertion or after a few less major ones. Along the way, I encountered several issues that I was able to resolve on my own.
One issue: When I inserted the code for my Delicious Categories, the menu extended all the way across the screen horizontally. I had an extra < div > tag in the coding, and when I found it and deleted it, it was fine.
Then, I inserted my Ad-Sense code. Now, my sidebars and the center content section were vertically misaligned. I had put the Adsense code one line too high in the sidebar. I lowered it, and everything was once again aligned perfectly. All it took was moving some text and a few clicks of the mouse. It's all in knowing where to move text and where to click the mouse; that is a skill anyone can learn with practice.
I had a difficulty with Haloscan. When I tried to use the automatic feature in Haloscan to enter the required code into the template, Haloscan would say it was successful...but when I viewed the template, I was looking at an old version that I discarded a while ago. I ended up just inserting the code manually. Success! There were a couple other issues such as these, and I was able to resolve all of them without assistance. I just made sure to do one task at a time, preview, save, republish, add more code, and repeat the cycle until I had everything where it needed to be. I was even able to place a compactible header inside the profile container for my contact information. I've wanted to do that for a long time. Doing these things successfully and without help is immensely gratifying. I could literally feel my confidence increase as each issue was resolved.
The very next step I will take is to save a complete backup of this fresh template...because you never know.
This has to be one of my all-time favorite pictures. I can just hear this tiny little guy saying, "Go ahead . . . Make my day . . .".
I've been busy updating some of my blogs. New photos are up in Dylan's photoblog, there's a new post in my Firefox Index, and I've been walking around the internet. I've added new links to the sidebars of this blog, and tweaked the Firefox Index's sidebar just a smidge.
I really do enjoy having information at my fingertips, which is a very useful feature of a blog. This weekend is much better than last; Jay was at home last night, in contrast to last Saturday night. Next weekend, we will pick Dylan up for the circus. I can hardly wait; most of the fun for me will be watching his eyes. I just hope he isn't terrified of the clowns! Lauren asked if we could babysit this weekend, but things didn't work out so that we could.
We made tacos for supper last night. I've put the recipe I used on my Kitchen Classics blog.
I worked an hour overtime Friday night, and was exhausted when I got off. Per usual weekend routine lately, I got up very early Saturday morning, and spent some time working on various things while the house was quiet. I seem to get a lot done that way. I went to bed before 10 PM last night and will be in bed by 10 tonight because I have to be alert for work tomorrow.
just found this neat free application. Temptation Blocker works on Windows 98/2000/XP. Download the installer, tick the checkboxes for programs you want to temporarily block access to, and get some work done. It installed with no problem for me. Be sure to read the information on the site; there are no updates planned...I'd love to see this added to Firefox as an extension.
Kate has an excellent post on study skills and notetaking for college students. I also found a Dear Abby column that offers tips for resolving conflict with a roommate. the tips offered are excellent, proactive rather than reactive, and should help freshmen make the most of dorm life in close quarters.
Things are definitely looking up. I had left my computer updating when I went to the office yeserday, and I had to work late. When I finally arrived at home, I was about to reboot the computer to finish the update process whan I suddeenly got an Instant Message....from one of my first online friends. I met this friend when I was first on the internet via AOL (I can remember thinking AOL was the "only" way to be online...but I've matured since then.) Anyway, William and I were in touch through his time in seminary, and he told me about his fiancee, then he sent me baby pictures of his daughter...and somehow along the way, we lost touch -- butI never removed his screen name from my buddy list. So yesterday, he IM'ed to say hello again. He's had a few difficult times, but thinngs seem to be looking up for him also. It was so good to hear from him again.
I've had enough losses in my life that I don't like losing people; sometimes, I'd like to be able to take a map and fold it so that in the process every one I care about would be closer together. I know it's not possible, but it''s one way to stay in touch (no pun intended).
I thought the past week was pretty rough around here...until I talked to my sister this morning. Believe me, I quit feeling sorry for myself fast. She has problems going on that I don't even like to think about. It really does become a matter of perspective. The month of August is only a few days old, but so far, it's been one crisis after another.
I had to get my ID replaced; mine vanished into the aether. Good news is that the new one will be here in two to four weeks, and will be valid unitl 2012. A real bargain, for $15.00. Want to bet I'll find the old one after the new one arrives?
Had to get a new insurance policy on our car; the old one had a due date late in the month, which did not coincide well with pay periods. The new one will be better. Jay also got towing included this time, just in case.
Speaking of Jay, he just called. He left mid-morning today for what he thought would be a day of training for a potential new job, but he called at 9 PM to say he is some distance out of town, and doesn't know what time he'll be home. He was fuming, and said eventss of his day would be a "long story", so I imagine he and I will be up late discussing things tonight. At least he's okay.
Adam may be able to get more memory installed on my computer tomorrow. I hope so, because even with a fresh (or fairly so) reformat, it's very slow at times.
Completed some major work on the blog today, and I am gratified to find things working impeccably. I had in mind to put some sort of a To-Do list in my sidebar, but I'm not sure this is going to happen. (It is one of the tasks on my current ToDo list, though...so time will tell.)
The posting of this edited tutorial is to indicate that, at last, categories are alive and functional on this blog. First, the tutorial, then a few comments:
SO: You have a blog (or more than one) on Blogger, and you want to include Categories. Blogger.com does not support categories as one of its features currently, but it is certainly possible to include categories on your blog. This tutorial will show you how. (This tutorial is for Del.icio.us; I plan to work on categories using Technorati as well when time permits, with a similar tutorial to follow.) Grateful acknowledgement is extended to TruckSpy/RedRyder52 for his patient assistance in the Blogger Forum with this topic.
Gather your tools:
--a blog (or several)...
--an account on De.licio.us -- Delicious is a social bookmarking or 'tagging' service. Registration is free.
--a tagger, such as the one found here, that uses Firefox's GreaseMonkey extension that will make it easy to insert tags into your posts. There are several of these on the internet. Choose the one you like best.
BE SURE to edit the bookmarklet's properties so that the De.licio.us link points to your De.licio.us page and your taglist, and not those of whoever wrote or edited the script for the bookmarklet. You want your tags in your posts to link properly, or you will end up with someone else's tags altogether, which is not the ultimate goal.When you install the bookmarklet, there will be a window below your post edit window where you will enter your tags, separated by spaces, then click "add tags", and the tags will appear at the last cursor position in the edit window.
You have to build the menu putting each category in its own
From my e mail (and somehow, I keep having the nagging feeling these folks just might be real, no matter how much I might wish these were all in fun):
ONE Recently, when I went to McDonald's I saw on the menu that you could have an order of 6, 9 or 12 Chicken McNuggets. I asked for a half dozen nuggets. "We don't have half dozen nuggets," said the teenager at the counter. "You don't?" I replied. "We only have six, nine, or twelve," was the reply. "So I can't order a half dozen nuggets, but I can order six?" "That's right." So I shook my head and ordered six McNuggets
TWO I was checking out at the local Wal-Mart with just a few items and the lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine. I picked up one of those "dividers " that they keep by the cash register and placed it between our things so they wouldn't get mixed. After the girl had scanned all of my items, she picked up the "divider", looking it all over for the bar code so she could scan it. Not finding the bar code she said to me, "Do you know how much this is?" I said to her "I've changed my mind, I don't think I'll buy that today." She said "OK," and I paid her for the things and left. She had no clue to what had just happened.
THREE A lady at work was seen putting a credit card into her floppy drive and pulling it out very quickly. When I inquired as to what she was doing, she said she was shopping on the Internet and they kept asking for a credit card number, so she was using the ATM "thingy."
FOUR I recently saw a distraught young lady weeping beside her car. "Do you need some help?" I asked. She replied, "I knew I should have replaced the battery to this remote door unlocker. Now I can't get into my car. Do you think they (pointing to a distant convenience store) would have a battery to fit this?" "Hmmm, I dunno. Do you have an alarm, too?" I asked. "No, just this remote thingy," she answered, handing it and the car keys to me. As I took the key and manually unlocked the door, I replied, "Why don't you drive over there and check about the batteries. It's a long walk."
FIVE Several years ago, we had an Intern who was none too swift. One day she was typing and turned to a secretary and said, "I'm almost out of typing paper. What do I do?" "Just use copier machine paper," the secretary told her With that, the intern took her last remaining blank piece of paper, put it on the photocopier and proceeded to make five "blank" copies.
SIX I was in a car dealership a while ago, when a large motor home was towed into the garage. The front of the vehicle was in dire need of repair and the whole thing generally looked like an extra in "Twister." I asked the manager what had happened. He told me that the driver had set the "cruise control" and then went in the back to make a sandwich.
SEVEN My neighbor works in the operations department in the central office of a large bank. Employees in the field call him when they have problems with their computers. One night he got a call from a woman in one of the branch banks who had this question: "I've got smoke coming from the back of my terminal. Do you guys have a fire downtown?"
EIGHT Police in Radnor, Pa., interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message "He's lying" was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect wasn't telling the truth. Believing the "lie detector" was working, the suspect confessed.
NINE A mother calls 911 very worried asking the dispatcher if she needs to take her kid to the emergency room, the kid was eating ants. The dispatcher tells her to give the kid some Benadryl and should be fine, the mother says, I just gave him some ant killer..... Dispatcher: Rush him in to emergency!
Angelsong
