Bizarro bits of tid and some updates

Permit me some whine.

Last week was Earth Day and Starbucks was right in there celebrating. They advertised free brewed coffee as long as you brought in your reusable cup. So I did, ordering a decaf. "No," the barrista said,"we don't brew decaf after noon." I don't get that. If there is one place in the world where you'd expect a good cup of decaf at any time of day, wouldn't it be Starbuck's?

Unreasonable, but not as unreasonable as they were to another woman in the store. She asked for her free coffee in a disposable cup, which she uses over and over again. Nope, no coffee for you. That cup could be thrown away and is not technically reusable. It sounds like a ploy to sell $30 mugs.

Then I went on the US Social Security website to determine the US portion of my someday retirement benefits. They wanted to know how many times I was married and asked me to enter the birthdate of each spouse. Up to ten are permitted. What happens after ten?

The next step is the grid where you enter your years of earnings. The instructions read:
"if you were born after 1951, any earnings you enter before your year of birth will be ignored."  No fair,  people born before 1951 can claim earnings prior to their birth!?

And in the annals of strange customer service is the e-mail I received at work from one broker we approached when seeking bids for employee health and dental insurance. When we chose to stay with our current company he was incensed, and let me know how much of his time I wasted. Maybe sales is the wrong job for him.

Quick updates:

The parents won - the dog's name is Dexter

The transition to Mac is continuing. I keep a list of questions and barrage the boy every time he enters the house. There was no setup, just took it out of the box and used it. That teensy booklet is the entire Macmanual.

As the result of his retinal detachment issues, C is on the urgent list for further surgery. His vision went from -3.25 to -9.5 in six weeks. He should have some improvement afterwards,as the original procedure has worsened a cataract. He's having an eye ultrasound today. Ick.

M is still in Australia and has made the decision to move back to Calgary upon her return.

Typepad has recently encouraged members to register for a profile. Unfortunately many of those who comment using their profile don't have contact information associated with that profile, leaving bloggers unable to respond to comments or requests for free patterns. If you'd like a pattern, please leave a comment outside of your profile, your e-mail address will remain confidential. 

Comments

[Marina]

Pretty! Isn't an all-in-one great? My empty desk didn't stay that way very long.

Crossing my fingers that the husband gets his surgery soon!

[Dotty]

That's a lovely looking Mac. My laptop is on its last legs and I'm thinking of getting a PowerBook. The trick is convincing DH that the 17" version is worth the extra $$$. His reply was to get two 13.3" MacBooks - more screen real estate for a third less.

[Lauren S]

I recently convinced my mom that it was time for her to make the switch to a mac, and she was concerned about the learning curve (which isn't really that steep afterall). The apple website has put together a bunch of video lectures on transitioning from PC to mac and they cover pretty much every difference! I was surprised to see such resources available, but after years of being abused by lacklustre PCs, pretty much anything apple comes up with is a pleasant surprise, haha!
http://www.apple.com/support/switch101/

[Karen]

I only drink decaf too. I wouldn't be happy if I could only have it in the morning.

I hope your husband get the surgery he needs soon!

[chancy]

What I find even weirder about the no decaf after noon things is that it seems like if there was any time of day when people would want decaf, it would be later in the day (after noon). In the morning, they would want the caffeine to wake them up, but in the afternoon they would want decaf for the illusion of caffeine without the worry that they would be awake all night. I wonder who comes up with these ideas that make no sense. (And I can't believe the rudeness to the lady reusing the disposable cup.)

[Dorothy]

Once I called a potential hire to let her know we had hired someone else. She said, "Thanks for nothing" and slammed down the phone. I was going to tell her we would keep her resume on file for future hiring opportunities, but you can guess what I did with it! Some people just don't get it. And, I was born before 1951, so I can indeed claim earnings before I was born, right?? The Mac is lovely! Hope you're loving it.

[Robby]

I assume the person with the stingy coffee pouring at *bucks was not born before 1951. ;^) I drink decaf all the time for my heart, hullo, guess how often I'll veto *bucks when the group wants to go somewhere. Geesh! Best wishes on the eye surgery.

[Jane]

Life is full of weirdness lately, it seems. We had the bank tell us we couldn't use our home equity line of credit, but no, they wouldn't close the account either. Huh? I heard them say that about no decaf at our Starbuck's, too. Makes no sense to me. Seems like later in the day is when people would want decaf the most.

[Angie]

A good casserole of observations. I'm with Chancey, decaf is for afternoon. You don't want to hear the lack of common sense at the hospital!

[Suzanne (Yarnhog)]

Why would you even want decaf before noon?

[Rebekah]

Okay the social security thing is quite funny, both the 10 marriages, and the 1951.

Nice computer, my sister is very excited as she's getting a mac soon, a pparently they are opening a new division of their company and need a Mac.

Poor Gracie, she looks quite unhappy. I hope she doesn't have to wear the silly cone for long.

[Ivars]

My prayers go out for Chuck & a speedy recovery.
On another note, I switched to an iMac a little less than a year ago and am still learning some of the unique commands, menus, etc. However, unlike my PC, it does not crash, it forgives my mistakes, and is easy to upgrade with new software; I'm glad I made the change.

[Evelyn]

I have had the same experience with decaf. But last week they offered to make me a decaf expresso, or would brew a pot for me if I was willing to wait the 4 minutes it would take. I said I'd take my chances on a real cup, and when I pulled out my wallet, they said no, it was on them since they didn't have what I wanted ready! Maybe different locations have different rules.