Some Blog Site

Sorry, Canada – this post has nothing to do with Christmas.

My wife and I are similar in that we like to pile things up and take care of them later. This has a drawback in that, if one waits too long, the pile can become overwhelming. (Don’t even ask about the ironing.)

For example, we separate our cardboard boxes from the rest of the garbage because that’s what the recyclers want. Plus I have to break down and fold the boxes anyway because they’re too bulky for the normal trash can. Once I have to break it down, it doesn’t cost me any extra to place it in one bin versus the other.

But so that I’m not inconvenienced any time I empty a box, I just toss the boxes into a pile (in the garage, usually) and break them all down at once (when I can’t walk through the garage anymore, usually). Sometimes I do rethink this method.
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Welcome back to another edition of Husbands and Wives. In today’s episode, we will explore how each party handles children who are at risk of injury.

Case #1: The Bunk Bed

Parent A: “The kids are jumping off the top bunk and landing on the mattress on the floor.”
Parent B: “Yeah, I told them no flips.”

Question: Which parent (A or B) is the husband and which is the wife?

Case #2: The Swingset

The scene: a playground. The dilemma: a child is swinging on the swingset and is contemplating an airborne exit. Both parents yell something to the child at the same time.
Parent A: “Don’t jump off!”
Parent B: “Land on your feet!”

Question: Which parent (A or B) is the husband and which is the wife?

Okay, we’re out of time for today. Remember to tune in next time to Some Blog Site for more Husbands and Wives!

Not much here today – I used up my blogging quote for the week by writing something for Ricky Anderson. Go visit his blog and read my guest post over there.

And while you’re there, be sure to browse through some other things that he has written. Oh, and leave comments too (on his other posts, not necessarily my guest post).

Today’s verse will make more sense after you’ve read the guest post.

Random things to post before the end of the year:

• I was “randomly selected” to participate in the American Community Survey (ACS). I wonder how many of the “randomly selected” households are the ones that wrote “American” for their race in the general census…?
• The checkout guy at the grocery store complained to me. In the course of general niceties, I mentioned I was getting ready for New Year’s Day. He responded with “I’m not going to have a very fun New Year’s Day.” What do you say to that? Apparently he is scheduled to work that day. Employee training should teach them to be cheerful in their interactions with people. The store-to-customer interface should be happy, not frowny.
• I’m no longer the guy who provides food and shelter for the children. I’m now the guy who has the thing that lets them play Angry Birds.
• Shame on ESPN for being selfish. In the past, I could watch various and sundry bowl games on New Year’s Day. It was football all day, and it was very good. Then a 4-letter cable network acquired the rights to the bowl games and locked them away so that the general population could not see the games. And there was much sorrow.

Now that I’m vaguely familiar with Twitter… these seem like items that would have made good tweets. Now that I have a fancy-pants phone game-and-music-playing device, I might consider using Twitter.

Or maybe not.

Happy New Year!

There was a lot of snow-related happenings this weekend:

• The roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome collapsed, forcing a rescheduling of the NFL game that was to be held there.
• As of last night, which is several hours before the buses would start running, the local TV channel was reporting 81 schools / school districts were closed for Monday.
• I got to try my new snowthrower!

No pictures of the snowthrower in action, but it works. After I tested it on our driveway, I took a quick stroll (20 mph winds and below-freezing temperatures do not allow for leisurely strolls) down the driveway and took some pictures.

Our road – looks a lot like last year’s winter weather photo

Neighbor’s pine trees

Our apple tree

Nothing spectacular to report – no downed power lines or damaged buildings here. Just enjoying the scenery and preparing for the slow commute to work this morning.

It’s that time of year again. Frost covers the ground in the mornings before the sun melts it away. The trees have lost all their leaves. Fall is officially on its way out.

That means it’s time to enroll in the annual employee benefit selection.

Every year, around this same time, I get to choose my insurance levels (medical PPO or HMO? short- or long-term disability? vision? dental? etc.) I usually just verify that they remembered my selections from last year and call it good.

This year though, there was a EULA. I had to agree to some terms before I could enroll.

I, of course, couldn’t help but find two things wrong with the “agreement”.

First, here is the agreement (click for the full-size version):

First Wrong Thing

It says “I have reviewed my 2011 annual enrollment materials and have completed my 2011 elections online.”

Reviewed my enrollment materials – okay, no problem, I agree.

Have completed my 2011 elections online – problem. This was on the web page that was going to let me start the 2011 elections online. How am I supposed to agree that I have completed the elections before I can start the elections?

I don’t even know what they could have intended.

Other Wrong Thing

The perspective. The voice. The point of view. Whatever it is, let’s make it consistent.

Am I doing the agreeing? Or are you?

I agree that I understand…
or
I agree that you understand…

I counted 10 paragraphs/statements in the agreement. There are 6 that call me “You” and 4 that call me “I”.

Just pick a pronoun for the employee and stick with it.

That’s all for now, unless you see something else in there.

Here’s another hypothetical situation for you to ponder.

Wife, working in the kitchen with a toddler clinging to her leg and crying, to husband: “If you want to eat dinner, please come get your son.”

Quiz:
What should the husband’s response be?
A. No thanks, I’m not hungry.
B. He looks fine to me.
C. Sure, I’ll be right there.

Answer:
If you need me to tell you the answer, you are not ready to be married.