Some Blog Site

Apparently some people followed the directions on the front of this box:

Just attach the handlebars, add gas, and you can start driving.

And I’m sure they did. And I’m sure it worked fine.

For one time.

After that, it was probably hard to start. And they probably started complaining to the manufacturer (and/or the store where they bought the product).

And, after some intensive customer service work, they probably had some satisfied customers.

And they probably had a lesson for their packaging/labelling/marketing group.

I counted three separate stickers – one on the seat (so you would see it before you sat down to drive it), one on the gas cap (so you would see it as you went to fill it with that initial gas), and one on the handlebar assembly.

Plus they included a container of engine oil, so that those who prepared for their purchase by reading the instructions on the outside of the box would not have to go buy it.

I am, of course, conjecturing about how those stickers came to be. But I bet it was not the original plan to place those stickers everywhere.

It’s fall, which means the toad lilies are in bloom. In case you’re not familiar with toad lilies, here is a photo:

I took that photo of our plants. But all the flower catalogs and websites show a similar photo. The toad lily blooms are colorful and intricate.

And since they are called “lilies”, one would picture them as with normal daylilies.

But no.

You’ll notice that no one who sells toad lilies shows the whole plant.

Here’s our flower garden with the toad lilies:

See any bright, colorful blooms?

Here, try a little closer:

Better?

I’ll circle them for you, in case you’re not sure.

The blooms are interesting, but they’re also tiny.

Caveat hortarius

I have noticed a certain ad that’s been on TV recently. It’s for a Toyota Corolla.

The ad features the song “You Don’t Own Me”, originally by Leslie Gore. The version of the song in the ad is not sung by her it seems, but rather by the group of active young adults portrayed in the commercial. There are people leaving (quitting?) work, people bicycling, people roller derbying, people going various places in their Toyotas. The activities shown somewhat match the feel and lyrics of the song. People are doing what they feel free to do – they are living their lives the way they want.

But then the car gets shown.

And it’s doing things opposite all that.

I think that’s not what the advertising agency was trying to do, which makes it amusing.

For example, right as the people are singing “Don’t tell me what to do”, the commercial is showing the car telling the driver what to do. Specifically, it shows the lane-departure warning telling the driver to get back in her lane.

So now I’m confused – do you want a car that tells you what to do, or don’t you?

All the safety and comfort features are about the car doing things for the driver. The song is ostensibly about empowerment, the car is about taking control away (depowerment?).

It certainly is a contrast.

If you really want a car that doesn’t tell you what to do and lets you be free from oversight, get one of the first or early second generation Dodge Vipers. Manual transmission, no stability or warning systems – you are in complete control.

While I’m on political topics… I was disappointed with Trump’s answer in the recent debate when asked if he would support his opponent were she to be elected president.

His answer: “I would absolutely support her.”

And there was someone a few years back who caught flak for not supporting something President Obama was doing. I forget the topic, and I think it was someone local so it wasn’t in the national media coverage. The charge against the local person was that he was not patriotic because he didn’t support the president. But I remember thinking at that time that, politically speaking, my allegiance is to my country, not to the president. So if the president is doing something that I feel is bad for the country, I (and any other good citizen) should not support the president but rather oppose the president. Within the realms of the constitutional process, of course.

So the same thought went through my head when I heard Trump’s answer – “no, you shouldn’t automatically support her.” An answer I think would have been better: “I will acknowledge and respect her as president, but if she’s doing something that is bad for this country then I will not support that.”

I think some people confuse “support the president” with “agree with his decisions”. What if you disagree with all of the president’s decisions? How can one support the president while opposing his direction for the country?

I think the “support the president” question is a loaded one, or at least poorly worded. And I must question how someone could “absolutely support” one’s political opponent.

I’m in danger of falling below my quota of political topics, so I need to post something related to the election.

Please vote for president this November.

But do not vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. I’m voting for Gary Johnson.

Some people have expressed their plan to not vote (I split that infinitive on purpose) because they are unhappy with both candidates. But there are more than two candidates!

Not voting because you don’t like the candidates is the best way to ensure you will be unhappy. Because the only way someone other than those two can get in to the White House is if people vote for someone other than those two candidates.

I’m not a fan of Gary Johnson, and I’m voting for him with the hope that he will not win. More on that later.

I’ve noticed there are two schools of thought regarding how to prevent Hillary Clinton from being elected. My parents’ generation (if you’re the type who likes labels, you can put them in the Baby Boomer category) seems to be locked into the 2-party system and they are voting for Trump because he’s not Clinton. My generation (X) doesn’t follow that thought and is considering options outside the democrat/republican duopoly.

I can’t, in good conscience, vote for Trump. And I can’t, for the sake of humanity, vote for Clinton. The way I see it, we need a third-party candidate to take enough votes to cause nobody to win the election.

And that’s my point of this post – to get enough people to vote for Johnson. Not so that he will become president, but rather that he will win some electoral college votes and allow the congress to pick someone reasonable.

And, in the off chance that I and my compatriots are successful beyond expectation and Johnson somehow wins the presidency outright, then I still think that is less of a risk than either of the main two candidates winning it.

There’s my 2 cents.

Home Depot sells a variety of things online that they don’t stock in their stores. Usually I get them shipped to my house because shipping is free as long as one spends over $45.

There was a time a while back that one particular item was not eligible for free shipping to my home. But it could be shipped to a nearby store for free. So I elected that option.

When purchasing online and shipping to the store, their website asks you which desk at the store you want to pickup your item. I selected the Customer Service Desk because it’s right at the entrance.

A few days passed and I got an email telling me to go to the Customer Service Desk to collect my item.

So I did.

The person there took my paperwork, had me sign something, then told me that my stuff was down at the Pro Desk because it was too big. But since I was all checked out, all I had to do was walk down there and get it.

A few months go by…

I ordered something else to be shipped to the store. This time, I planned ahead. It was an item that was larger than usual, so I knowingly selected Pro Desk when the website asked where in the store I want to get the thing.

A few days went by and I received an email stating my item was at the store and I am to go to the Pro Desk to get it. I went to the Pro Desk. I saw my item behind the desk, so I asked for it and showed the clerk my confirmation sheet.

She said I had to go to the Customer Service Desk for them to check it out, and after I paid I could come back and get it.

“But I’ve already paid online. Here’s my receipt.”
“They still need to do the checkout up there.”
Showed her the email, pointed to the item (which was a few feet behind her), etc. to no avail.

I walked across the store to the Customer Service Desk. They quickly rang me up, I signed something, then they sent me back to the Pro Desk.

In conclusion: If you order something from homedepot.com and have it shipped to the store, always select Customer Service Desk. Because it doesn’t matter what you do, you’ll have to go there first anyway.

P.S. If you’re concerned that Home Depot won’t get this message because they don’t read this blog, do not worry. I detailed my experience in the survey they requested of me later that day. I kept it helpful – something to the effect of “your email should tell people to go to the customer service desk to check in before they collect their items.”

At night, there are usually a number of moths and other bugs fluttering against the screens. And one of the windows might have a frog too.

For some reason, the frogs like climbing our windows. That photo was taken from the kitchen, which is on the ground level. But I have also seen them on the windows upstairs, which is fascinating.

I don’t know why they like to climb our house. I should look at the outside of our house at night to see if the frogs concentrate on the windows or if the windows are but a subset of the frogs climbing all over our house.