The Things One Finds Under the Family Couch (Gasp!)

So there we were, Devoted Spouse and I, Pastor Steve, and another nice gentleman from the church, all moving my couch, love seat, and that antique glass coffee table to a truck to be delivered to our church for their Flea Market on Saturday. It's way past time for the furniture to get a new home and with my balance lately I just know I'm gonna take a header into that glass coffee table.  Ya'll know that flowery couch I'm talking about -- you've seen it in enough EmmaLou pictures...here this will remind you:

Anyway, it was on its way out of the living room when lo and behold we found treasure under the couch.  I couldn't believe my eyes -- there on the floor was the following:

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you -- two guns were under my living room couch unbeknownst to me.  The one closest to the crutch is an Italian Flintlock (a Pedersoli for those of you who are into guns) and the one on the top was in Devoted Spouse's family -- it dates to before the Civil War and it's a percussion cap Kentucky rifle made by CM Cox.  Ummmm.... both of these pieces of treasure NOW reside in the gun safe, thank you very much.  I thought I'd beat Pastor Steve to the web with this story!  Oh crap on a crutch...

Wait a Minute...YOU'RE the Expert

One of my favorite retail sites is Amazon.com.  I obtain quite a few of my books there, both hard copy, and e-books for my Kindle.  To keep up-to-date on my favorite authors, I signed up for an email newsletter which announces the latest titles in the genres of reading material I enjoy.  Sounds simple so far, eh?  For the past couple of months I have received a newsletter on the latest books of that particular month...and it's entirely in code.  Ya know... this stuff:  <style> img {display: block;} .ai {display:inline;} td {line-height:12px;} </style > <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="654" align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff" > <tr> <td alignof  I emailed them with the issue and they wrote back:  "Check your email preferences and make sure you have marked 'HTML with text and pictures'".  I checked and sure enough that's what I had requested.  The next month here comes the newsletter once again in code.  I emailed the issue and THIS time they tell me to make my preference "text only."  I don't WANT text only - I want to SEE the picture of the book.   I'm a consumer...I like to see what I may or may not be buying.  It seems to me this should be a pretty simple fix on their end.  Because it is being handled by someone who obviously doesn't understand the issue...I have my own solution.  I canceled all the newsletters from Amazon.com.  Oh crap on a crutch....

You're Just Telling Me This NOW?

This may look like an ordinary trash can, but it isn't.  It is indeed a trash can...a rather large one at that.  But it holds the dry dog kibble for EmmaLou, Golden Destroyer - about 40 pounds at one time.  That's about $80 or so worth of doggie kibble.  It's special doggie kibble because poor EmmaLou has skin allergies so she can't eat your standard doggie kibble...no, she has to have special Fish and Chips, er, I mean Fish and Potatoes from Iams only obtainable at the vet's office.

Today I get a call from the Assistant Vet to tell me that Iams has issued a recall of all their specialty cat and dog food because the plant was tainted with salmonella....oh and she warned me I should wash my hands very well.  Excuse me???  I've had this for several weeks now...the recall went out earlier for cat food and you're just NOW calling me to tell me it includes dog food too, AND to wash my flippin' hands?  How about asking me if my dog has had any ill effects from this %$^$%^ food?  How about giving me BACK the $70 or $80 I paid for this food minus maybe $10 worth she already has been subjected to.  Oh Crap On a Crutch!