Thanks for joining me!
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. β Izaak Walton
The Journey Begins
Generosity + Goodness > Greed + Grift + Graft!
Just when you are resigned to hearing and reading more news about greed, grift and graft π‘ comes a heartwarming story about generosity and goodness πthat restores the belief
Generosity + Goodness > Greed + Grift + Graft!
You just feel like reaching out and giving a warm hug to the 88-year-old gentleman still working 8 hours/day, 5 days a week and applauding π the efforts of the social media influencer and all the folks for their kindness and generosity to ensure that the nice, grandfatherly person can enjoy retirement ππ
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ed-bambas-army-veteran-working-grocery-store/
What did the snow say? π€
What did the snow say after the snowstorm? π€
Snow: I was blown away by the experience! ππ
Quite, quite piggy! π·
Under the golden arches, γ½οΈ
Cooking is something quite, quite piggy; π·
Hey, it’s the Samurai Pork Burger, π
The sesame bun holding a quiet, quiet piggy! π·
I travel, U guess! π #6
From the picture guess the place! If you need a clue I say Mishigami! π
To shed more light let me add that you will find these structures by Mishigami very useful if you go fishing at night looking for something Grand or just seeking a safe Haven in the South! π
No pier pressure to guess it right though π
For those interested the 2 lighthouses highlighted (“highlighted” sounds like a description of a lighthouse π) are Grand Haven lighthouse in the north and South Haven lighthouse more to the south. Both are lighthouses on the shores of Lake Michigan π
Ghost, ghost, ghost pepper! πΆπ₯
Cruising along the digestive way π
My pal Habanero beside me at the wheel π
Raj took a bite with a smile π
He was running for water after a while π
Steam coming out of his ears π¦»
I rolled on with no fears πΆ
Ghost, ghost, ghost pepper! π₯
I travel, U guess! π #5
From the picture guess the place! Take advantage of this opportunity! Should I say take a bite of the apple π instead? π
Reviving the series that I originally started with the title
“Gaze out the window, guess the place!”. Four images were posted earlier as part of the series. Felt “I travel, U guess” sounded catchier and hence the change in title for the series, for this 5th image! If history is any guide, I expect zero guesses though π
P.S. While posting I was debating whether to use “sounded catchier” or “sounded more catchy”. Was leaning towards “more catchy” initially. Search revealed that others have had this internal debate too π€£ and “catchier” is more commonly used even though both are grammatically correct! π
Belt-tightening: The Costco Way! π
Every day there is an opportunity to learn something new. Last week I had been to Costco. I am a “lean” Costco shopper. By lean I mean I am unlike some folks who have their shopping carts filled with enough stuff to feed a village π or some who seem intent on breaking Shaq’s Walmart shopping record (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/shaqs-record-breaking-walmart-spree-192117685.html) π Typically I have just a few items in my shopping list and the folks at the exit appear almost somnolent and disinterested when they perfunctorily check my shopping bill . So, to avoid the Shaq-record-breaking crowd at the checkout line I have to be strategic about the day/time I go to Costco. Last week I had couple of items to shop. Grabbed a cart as one of the items was on the heavier side. As I was making my way to checkout counters I saw boxes with men’s belt. What caught my attention was “Fits pants size 28″ – 44” printed on the box. Lazy me π immediately felt that perfectly suits my waist size (within the range mentioned) π and personality π. I thought the belt will fit if my midriff shrinks (going by history that’s unlikely to happen π) or expands (will have to expand exponentially though to reach the max size fit π). As I had a cart with me, I grabbed a box of the belt. I realized I got more than I bargained for when I got home. βΉοΈ
After showing off my purchase to my wife, I unwrapped the belt from the box to confirm the fit. It seemed longer than my other belts. As I wrapped it around my waist my first expression was “WTF π‘”. The damn belt was so long it looked more like a serpentine line for a Disney attraction π. To make it worse there were no holes in the belt for my waist size. βΉοΈ Seems like “CUT-TO-FIT” description actually means buyer has to cut the belt to fit their size if the buckle doesn’t fit any of the holes already in place. The inside part of the belt has a strip attached (with 44″ to 28″ printed on the strip) to indicate how much cutting of the belt is required for the buckle to fit the existing holes. There are 5 holes in the belt. I thought that’s probably the standard number of holes. To confirm if that’s true I examined my other belts (which generally indicate the size fit as XX – YY inches) where XX and YY are consecutive even numbers. Even those belts had 7 holes, 2 more for a narrowed range of fit. That was like an insult added to an injury. π‘ Normally I love DIY projects because there is a certain joy and sense of fulfillment when building or fixing things. In this instance I am sitting on the fence about the DIY aspect. I am miffed at myself for incorrectly interpreting “CUT-TO-FIT” meant pre-cut and miffed at Costco/Timberland for a few reasons
1) For a 16-inch range the number of holes to buckle is just incredibly low
2) To make it easier for the buyer to cut the belt they could have simply created indentations/notches on the belt itself for the waist sizes in the range. Strip costs less possibly. Using the strip provided would require the knife and precision of a professional chef to get it nice, straight and right in one stroke π
3) The range of waist size fits is quite simply misleading π. Theoretically I could create a 98″ belt, for example, and claim it would fit waist sizes 2X – 98″ provided the buyer is willing to cut the belt to required size! That would not be a false claim, but it would be misleading.
Costco/Timberland appear to have a funny side though. On the box that contains the belt one of the instructions reads “Cut strap to desired pant size. NOTE: Be careful how much you cut off. It won’t grow back!” I was rolling on the floor laughing when I read that π€£Apparently there have been some buyers that have felt short-changed after the belt DIY exercise π There you go, benefitting from my experience. π I must warn you that if you tried to guess my waist size based on the range of belt size fit “Waist of mine will be a waste of your time” π
Anyone heard of Paper Turtle?
In English language there are many phrases that use animals and birds to express or emphasize specific qualities. For example, lionhearted is used to describe someone brave and determined, “chicken feed” is used for suggesting insignificant amount of money, “white elephant” refers to something very expensive to maintain. There are other expressions too like “toothless tiger”, “monkey business”, “eagle-eyed” etc.
Has anyone heard the expression “Paper Turtle”? Whaaatttt? Did I hear no? No worries. “Paper Turtle” means what it says! It’s a piece of paper towel which when crumpled ends up looking like a turtle! π You don’t believe me? By the time you finish reading this post just look at the attached picture! The box turtle has turned into a paper turtle! π There you go, you have now not only heard of paper turtle, you have seen one too! π
Winner eats all? π€
No, I am not talking of Joey Chestnut even though I understand he again won the hot dog eating contest today (July 4, 2025) π. I am referring to the kings of eating, squirrels! This year I got a new bird feeder to replace the older one in our backyard. On day one I filled the bird feeder fully with seeds. Immediately, the squirrels and their smaller siblings, the chipmunks, started making merry and helping themselves to the seeds by jumping straight from the rocky ledge on to the bird feeder. πWithin a day or two all the seeds were gone, nary a bird in sight. π’To make it tougher for the squirrels I decided to move the bird feeder pole about couple of feet away from the ledge. To make it more difficult I also turned the hook for the bird feeder, pointing it towards the house and away from the ledge. Pretty soon, to my delight, the bird feeder attracted cardinals, finches and sparrows. π For squirrels and chipmunks, access to the bird feeder required climbing up the pole and landing on the bird feeder. Couple of times I saw chipmunks climbing up the pole halfway to the top and then climbing back down as they were unsure of their ability to land safely on the bird feeder. Wow! I think the feeder is serving its purpose better, the birds are getting their fair share! πAlas, my celebration was premature. π After some initial hesitation the bigger squirrels managed to gather enough confidence to climb all the way up the bird feeder pole, land confidently on the feeder and have a go at the seeds with gusto. As if to show off their acrobatic skills they started hanging upside down from the feeder base, like bats. πThose critters are a smart lot too! They realized that swinging the bird feeder releases the seeds from inside and spraying the seeds down on the lawn for a more leisurely meal later. Having mastered the art they finished off the seeds within a day or two. I was tempted to make it more difficult for the squirrels but then there are times when one has to applaud the winner and accept defeat gracefully. πThe squirrels had accepted my challenge and showed me what they are capable of to earn their reward! πSo, I decided against moving the bird feeder again. Also thought the end result is probably a fair representation of the times we live in: The greedy grab all they can, leaving the needy staring in disbelief π’π
Tariff!
TheRajBlog 