Wednesday, August 25, 2010

In the words of CCR...Have You Ever Seen the Random?

I flew home last night after spending two days with my girls which consisted mostly of moving a lot of boxes up and down stairs and in and out of a storage unit in the brutal heat. Thank goodness for boys with trucks and muscles and a willingness to lend a hand or I might still be there. I'm sure my daughter2 could have managed on her own but I like to see her actual living space so when we talk I can picture her there. We had done most of her shopping on an earlier trip to town this summer but I did tag along with her when she bought her textbooks. Anyone else think that's a racket? A friend's daughter spent $350 on one economics book. Seriously, is that right? Unless it contains the secret to unlocking our country's financial woes I cannot imagine how they justify that price. I could rant here but I've got the Random Dozen today so I'll move along...

You're invited to play too...Linda posts the questions on Tuesdays so you have time to come up with your very clever answers. Be sure to link back to her blog on Wednesdays for all the internets to see. And keep in mind I spent Tuesday evening sitting in a too small airport waiting on my flight which was delayed and then delayed some more so I'm winging it here this morning. I know...what else is new?


1. What is your favorite Mexican dish?

um, a Margarita.
okay, seriously how do I choose a favorite? Enchiladas, but I must have guacamole nearby too.

2. When you were a kid, did you get started on your homework right away after school, or did you procrastinate?

I don't really remember but I think in the lower grades I probably did my homework after school. I think in high school I tended to do more hw in the evenings. I do have the procrastination gene but it did not manifest itself here. I was a good student and liked school.

3. What is your favorite store for home furnishings?

We have a mixture of antiques and traditional. I don't have a favorite store because my furniture has come from many different places. We used to love to shop in a little village in England called Hungerford which is full of so many wonderful antique shops. I also like Ethan Allen and I love to look thru the Pottery Barn catalog too. We tend to know what we like when it comes to furniture and will look high and low until we find the particular piece we have in mind.

4. When you were young, did you like school lunches?

In elementary school we walked home for lunch. In Jr. High and High School I mostly brought my lunch, always in a brown sack. I occasionally bought, maybe on pizza day?

This is another fuzzy memory here. I'm blaming the many hours I spent sitting in the airport last night wishing I had not stuck my book in my checked luggage. I was forced to kill time by listening to all the many businessmen around me rant on their cell phones. The business world must have been in turmoil yesterday because there was much ranting. Much loud ranting.

5. Is religion a crutch?

For me? Absolutely not.

6. In your region, what is the "big" (most popular in the community or state) high school sport?

I don't have kids in school here but I think its football. My girls attended high school in the UK and there my answer would also be 'football' except I might say futbol and I would mean soccer in American speak.

7. Do you consider yourself "rich"?

Absolutely. Not talking finances of course but even if we were most of us living in the USA are rich by the world's standards. My life is 'rich'...I have good health, a happy marriage, a home and family and blessings too numerous to name. That makes me rich I think.

8. Which of these would you have the best chance for success in administering:

A) CPR
B) Heimlich Maneuver
C) changing a flat tire

Well, I know how to do all three but since I've never had to actually use my CPR training (thankfully!) I don't know how successful I'd be. And I do know how to change a tire but I'd definitely try to get someone else to do it for me if it were at all possible (just being honest here) so I'm going with B.

9. Which dance would you prefer to learn and why?

A) Salsa
B) Hip Hop
C) Waltz
D) Swing

I don't think my kids want to see me salsa dancing. Or hip hopping. I'm going with swing because it looks like fun.

10. What's the worse news you've ever delivered to someone?

telling someone a friend had died suddenly

11. Name something you learned in college that had nothing to do with academics or classes?

Some people will do anything for attention
Not everyone had a happy childhood
There's a time to play and a time to work
I can't hide from God
Nor do I want to

12. New variation on an old question: If there's a song in your head that just won't get out what is your favorite (or most repeated line) in that song?

I've had a Credence Clearwater Revival Song stuck in my head since last week...someone sent me a link to a video of misheard lyrics and I've been singing it ever since.

"I want to know...have you e-ver seen the rain...comin' down on a sunny day?"

I have the actual song stuck in my head but this was funny...



20 comments:

  1. Ha! Margarita! Sign me up. lol. College textbooks is so a racket! That poor girl might get $100-125 when she sells her book back. Then they'll resell it used for over $200 next term. Don't get me started either. So glad that's over for me. Enjoyed your answers. Thanks for sharing. Blessings, SusanD

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  2. I laughed through the video and sent to to my son so he can start his day off with a laugh!
    You know, I couldn't really remember much about my school lunches either.
    I think the whole textbook thing is a racket too...

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  3. Thanks for the morning laugh -- that was a hilarious video!! Seems like CCR had more than their fair share of mishear lyrics (my favorite is still "There's a bathroom on the right").

    Agreed that the college textbook situation is a huge racket. My daughter was pleasantly surprised to find that her first term of grad work won't involve any purchases of textbooks, given how much she spent during her undergrad years.

    Hugs,
    Catherine

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  4. I loved your answers, #11 especially! Hope you're recovering from your trip!

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  5. Thanks for stopping by and I'm with you, I always enjoyed seeing where my children were going to live while they were in college. The dorms often left me sick feeling but they survived and then moved into apartments by their Soph and Jr. years. Oh, me at the memories! Enjoyed your answers! Happy week!

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  6. Nr. 11 - You learned a lot!
    Nr. 7 - Great answer.

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  7. I wanna gnu...where'd ya fine the song? Too funny!!

    I remember ranting about textbook prices when I was in college 30 years ago...and that was cheap compared to what they are currently selling for. When textbooks for a semester surpass the GNP of some small countries there's Definitely a Racket.

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  8. I love the things that you learned in college--and I laughed all the way through that video! Thanks for sharing it:)

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  9. Great answers :) I can't imagine living far away from my children. Wow.

    Thanks for coming by my blog. Totally appreciate it. I'm now following you on here and on Network Blogs.

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  10. Well it's not an enchilada without the margarita! We walked home for lunch too.
    Hope your have a great week.

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  11. Thank you so much for stopping by and welcoming me to the random dozen. I'm following your blog now. So neat to hear about you!
    http://heismybeloved.blogspot.com

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  12. Great answers! It's my first week participating and I am loving it!

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  13. Ooh...I want to weigh in on the textbook rant: The margin to the bookstore is about 1/2 of consumer price and then someone must pay the author (S), the editor(s), their staff, royalties to quote recently published works and or companies willing to share relevant, current and topical context, exam software, support materials, translated versions for ESL, online support...you can see this add up, right? About 10 minutes after that text is released someone sends that book overseas and in about five minutes illegal copies are made and sold online for next to nothing. During economic downturns the elementary and secondary books are never purchased as many districts do not order books (remember signing your name in a book that was your neighbors 5 years before and all the answers were circled in the back of the book?) Thus, inventory or intellectual investment is unrecoverable. Do I sound like one of those business people ranting in the airport...oops...sorry.
    Here's a bottom line perspective: books are forever and a bottle of fine wine is flushed away...but that's another blog.
    Hope you have a sunny d!

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  14. Must come back and watch the video when my internet is faster than a slow crawl. Looks like fun!
    #9 Ibid -- my kids would probably be MORTIFIED if they saw me trying to salsa or hip hop. lol
    Pizza at my high school was one of the nastier meals -- like seasoned cardboard. Although cardboard might have been tastier. Hmmmmmm.
    I completely agree that textbooks are a racket. My daughter bought as many of hers as possible online, used, at a much lower price than the college bookstore charged. But there was the occasional text that was a new edition and she had to buy new. Boy, did that hurt!
    I hate being stuck at airports! I get fidgety and impatient. My hubby, on the other hand, LOVES airports and could spend hours watching both the planes and the people.
    Have a great week!

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  15. Love your answers...it is a "dream" of mine to wander through antique shops in England...we'll see if that ever happens...I feel your pain on the textbook cost, my oldest keeps notifying us of "just one more" that she found she has to purchase...

    Maybe if I sing CCR's song about rain, we will get some in South Georgia...I have kind of forgotten if I've ever seen it....

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  16. On #10 I've also had to tell someone that also. Not fun. It's not the kind of message you leave on an answering machine.

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  17. Oh textbooks. Bother. Miss Katherine is renting hers this fall and saving half (200.00) Ugh.

    #9. Aren't these what 911 and AAA are for?

    The Hubs took ballroom dancing in college {ahem} and I'm a pretty good follower but I'm thinking this might be something we take up this year as we learn to emtpy nest. :)

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  18. Hubby and I were just talking about the whole text book thing the other day!
    Margarita? Yep, let's do lunch! lol!
    Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm late replying back this week.

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  19. Hey, Joyce! Our son was able to acquire most of his books from Amazon and the "used" section of the college book store, thankfully!
    Glad to hear you had some help with the lugging stuff up the stairs!
    People and cellphones are really beginning to get to me. What in the world did everyone do before cellphones? Especially the newer news like the IPhone that does everything but your laundry and cook dinner, it seems? Good grief.
    You're so brave to consider swing! LOL You are!
    Enjoyed reading your random, as always!

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