Humor

Wither, the ability to think

/ hsoi

Shopping at Target.

Total comes to $15.66.

Only bills I have are $20’s, but I do have a pocket full of change that I’d like to get rid of. If I can eliminate some change and get 1 $5 back instead of 4 $1’s and more change, I’d like to do that.

I hand the $20 to the young lady working the register and say “Hang on, I think I’ve got the 66¢”, but she already keyed $20.00 into the register and pressed Enter. Drawer pops open but I managed to get her to wait a moment while I counted out change from my pocket.

Alas, I had 2 quarters, 1 penny, and a couple of dimes, but no nickels… so I can’t make 66¢, but I can make 71¢.

“Well, I don’t have 66¢ but I do have 71¢” I tell the girl as I hand her the change.

She stares at me with a vacant look, unsure of what she’s supposed to do.

I sigh.

“I tell her, just give me back a $5 bill and a nickel.”

You can see she’s trying to wake up the hamster that powers her brain, but I can tell even if the hamster woke up it wouldn’t know how to run on the wheel.

“Just give me a 5 and a nickel.”

blank stare.

“A 5 and a nickel”.

She struggles to comprehend… I think it clicked that math is now involved. Math that the computer didn’t do for her, and she apparently cannot do in her head on her own.

“A 5 and a nickel.”

I can tell she gives up on trying to figure it out for herself and reluctantly trusts my math is correct. She proceeds to hand me 5 $1 bills and a nickel and says, “Sir, we’re not allowed to do this.” (implying “OK, I’ll do this just this once, but there’s company policy against us doing things like this.”  i.e. some weak attempt to save face).

Not allowed to do what? Make change?

Do math?

Think?

*sigh*

Hot in Austin

/ hsoi

According to News 8 Austin’s weather staff, it’s going to be hot today:

A few years ago a took a Cub Scout den to visit News 8. One of the meteorologists joked how it was great to have a job where you could be wrong and not get fired for it. Indeed! 😉

Of acorns, sweet acorns

/ hsoi

I walk to the mailbox.

I pass a neighbor’s oak tree. I see acorns growing on it, getting pretty plump.

The thought that goes through my head?

“Gosh, that’s going to make good food for the deer.”

Yes… hunting bug is biting me again. Tis the season.

Daemon schism

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Daemon schism.

I posted a Facebook status message yesterday:

Well, I’m feeling more optimistic about the “daemon schism”.

which would make no sense to anyone but me and my teammate at work. Someone commented on the status update saying they had a Google fail on the phrase. So… I figured I would post it to the blog to it and claim the coining of the phrase “daemon schism”.

And for those curious, I’m splitting a daemon in two.

The Austin LEGO Store

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

This past weekend we finally got to visit the Austin LEGO Store.

Oh, what geeky nirvana. 🙂

Of course, all the store sells is LEGO, and even at 10 AM (opening time) the place was jumpin’. Kits everywhere. You can see the back wall is just bins of bricks (grab a cup, fill it with random bricks). You can build your own mini-figs (3 for $10). It’s pretty cool, and all things LEGO. What I found extra amusing were the people who worked there. Very friendly, very geeky… you could tell they love LEGO themselves and enjoyed working at the store. If they didn’t have to engage a customer (e.g. they greet everyone as they walk in), they’d just strike up conversations about LEGO… one of the workers and Oldest spent some time just talking shop. The workers got to set up the various showcase models themselves and had fun when doing so. For instance, see this model of a Star Wars AT-AT?

Look for C-3Po. 🙂

Here’s some other models that I liked:

LEGO Biker - I love the trike, and the chain. Nice touch.

LEGO Horses, roaming the wild.

Martial arts, LEGO style!

LEGO Sumo!

I’m sure Oldest would be happy to rent a room in back and live there, or eventually get a job there. Boy… wouldn’t that be his dream job. 🙂

Oldest bought a few things, and I even picked up a couple of things. I bought the Kingdoms Advent Calendar and the Toy Story “Army Men on Patrol” set because hey… it’s Army Men in LEGO form, how cool is that? 🙂

Precision Marching

/ hsoi

Precision marching is fun to watch. Generally you see it performed by military groups, but here’s a non-military group doing precision marching.

It’s in Japanese so I have no idea what’s being said, but it’s still pretty cool to watch.

The above is merely a clip. If you want to watch the whole performance, click here.

What I liked about this is because it’s non-military they weren’t constrained by needing to act military, so they have some different elements that I’ve never seen before. Pretty neat.

Full Metal Disney

/ hsoi

Be warned… don’t be drinking anything while you watch this, or at least aim away from your keyboard. 🙂

(and if you know the scene… the language isn’t safe for work, but good luck understanding it anyways).

heh heh heh.