What did the snow say after the snowstorm? π€
Snow: I was blown away by the experience! ππ
What did the snow say? π€
Category: On a lighter note
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·
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₯
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
Tariff!
Growing irony!
When expectation and reality do not actually match! 
US $ : Aha moment!
People experience aha moment/s in life when they suddenly discover something that was previously unknown. Mine happened few years ago. As always there is a story behind that moment of truth π Happened when I was doing the laundry of my clothes! All the clothes from the laundry basket went for washing and drying without me checking the clothes for any contents. Unbeknownst to me there were couple of US one $ bills in one of my trousers. After the washing and drying cycle, I collected my clothes from the dryer. Imagine my surprise getting couple of US dollars as reward for my effort! The dollar bills came out crisp and clean too! Wow! π I later learned that the US $ bill is actually made of linen and cotton, contrary to my thinking it’s all paper. π That explains the resilience of the currency! π
The aha moment: Discovering that the US $ is strong π
Let me plead mea culpa before anyone accuses me of money laundering π In my defense it was an accident and many great discoveries have been made accidentally! π
Words of the day – Zaidy, Tractile,β¦..!
Zaidy and tractile war requiring troops, fighting with pease-shooter, to perform jete brought out bullhorns to end the conflict!
If you are wondering WTF was that that’s the same feeling I get when I play scrabble against the computer and see a word I never knew existed. Don’t worry, it’s not my covfefe moment! π Hell, I can’t afford a covfefe moment, I don’t have an army of supporters trying to infer sense if I spout or write gibberish π
Just trying to use words from one of my recent scrabble game against the computer for fun. Was meant to convey “Growing and stretching war requiring troops, fighting with peashooters, to move from one front to another resulted in growing calls to end the conflict”
I play the computer at grandmaster level, Which means I lose more often than I win. The win loss ratio is ~ 5:1 in favor of the computer. Why do I still play at that level? Maybe I am a glutton for punishment π No, just kidding π Increasingly getting instrospective and withdrawn, I try to find activities I can do by myself. In addition to vast repertoire of words (originating from many languages) the “scrabble engine” must also be employing AI/ML. Must also be building up a database of a player’s profile based on previous games played. That translates into incredible difficulty winning against the computer at the highest level. To add to the misery there appears to be some kind of inequity built in too. I am not sure how much actual randomness is there in the alphabet tiles for the human player. So many times I end up pulling my hair in frustration on ending with all vowels or all consonants. Canceling a game before playing the first word does not result in the game counted as loss for the human player. Very few times I have actually canceled a game as I generally believe in playing the cards I am dealt with, at work or play. The idea is to see what I can do to make a positive difference. Obviously that’s not a strategic play but I am not consumed by thoughts of winning. Majority of times that means losing the game, that’s ok with me. Losing is never fun but if it’s a loss after playing hard and fair and the other player plays better they deserve the win. That’s how I look at the result of the sports teams I support too. It is what it is. Anyways, the scrabble game today had a happy ending π It seeemed that the computer struck a death blow by placing “ing” next to the word “annex” (bottom right of image) and reaping the benefits of huge points by way of triple word score to zoom to ~ 440 points taking a 90-point lead almost at the end of the game. With prayer on my lips I played the word “tractile” (top left of image). Lo and behold, I got the benefit 2 triple-word scores (9x multiplication factor) + 50 point bonus for using all 7 letters! It was nice to turn the tables on the computer for a change π One game won! π As they say “You live to die another day” π
Dictionary meaning of today’s words below
Tractile: capable of being drawn out in length; ductile. 2. capable of being drawn.
Zaidy: means abundance or one who grows; yiddish for grandfather
Jete: a jump in which a dancer springs from one foot to land on the other with one leg extended outward from the body while in the air.
bullhorn: an electronic device for amplifying the sound of the voice so it can be heard at a distance; a megaphone.
pease: nounplural pease. an archaic or dialect word for pea
Signs of getting older? π€
Seeker: What are the signs of getting older? π€
Sage: If you wake up early on a cold, wintry Saturday morning, like any working day, to pose this question! π or
Seeker: Or what? O learned one π
Sage: If you wake up early on a cold, wintry Saturday morning to read this post! π and
Seeker: And what? O wise one π
Sage: If you wake up late on a working Monday morning wishing it was Sunday morning instead! π
Seeker: Thanks for being so perceptive and sharing your knowledge π
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