Tag: Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing – Random Revelations

SCRABBLE or bowling?

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week’s meme was inspired by a post at My Random Randomness. That gentleman shared random thoughts about himself. His revelations have been turned into questions.

Random Revelations

1. Is your phone Apple or Android? What about your laptop?

My last two phones were Apple. Previously, I avoided them for philosophical reasons, not the least of which is some incompatibility when new products come out. But it seems to interact better with other Apple phones. I’ve only had non-Apple computers and don’t see myself changing. 

2. Can you say “thank you” in more than one language?

Only in French, German, and Spanish. I took French in high school, and I used to watch Hogan’s Heroes on TV when I was a teenager. 

3. What do you draw when you doodle?

Random geometric shapes, because my skills as an artist are nil.

4. Which do you enjoy more, Scrabble or bowling?

I have done both a LOT in the past, but haven’t done either in quite a while. I’ve written more about bowling because it’s tied to my mom. But I played SCRABBLE a lot as a kid and much later. My college roommate painted me a SCRABBLE board, which I still have. It’s a toss-up.

5. Can you juggle?

I assume juggling two items isn’t REALLY juggling! No.

6. Have you ever worn pajamas in public?

Only to bring in the garbage cans from the curb early in the morning, and only a handful of times.

School daze

7. Was your best subject in school the one you enjoyed the most?

My BEST subject was probably spelling, but I didn’t love it. I was good at social studies/history, and I enjoyed it. The topic I most enjoyed was probably mathematics because Math Is Everywhere .

8. When you’re offered the senior discount before you ask for it, are you offended or grateful?

It never bothered me. I like a bargain.

9. Do you agree that with age comes wisdom?

I can think of certain people – one in particular -who are clearly more stupid every day. That said, for those people who learn not to sweat the small stuff as they get older, then sure.

10. Do you consider Sunday the first day of the week or the last day of the weekend? 

I’m pretty catholic about it. My calendar growing up in the US was Sunday to Saturday. When I took high school French, I discovered the week ran from lundi to dimanche. (Shrug)

 
Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Sunday Stealing Feels Distinctly Adolescent

live wire

Welcome to Sunday Stealing, which feels distinctly adolescent. Here, we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week’s Sunday source is Minnesota Mom, who loves baking (especially cookies). She stole this meme from Esther, whose blog is no longer available, so the trail has gone cold.

These questions require just a yes or no, but you can answer at length if you’re in the mood. The choice is yours! 

Litter

But before we get to that, here’s what happened very late Sunday night/very early Monday morning, March 15/16. I was downstairs watching TV about 11:45 pm when the doorbell rang. That’s really unusual. Was there an accident? Is my house on fire? No, the guy said he really needed money to get something to eat. He promised to pick up the litter from my lawn.

Let’s talk about litter. My wife is assiduously dedicated to keeping the trash from our yard. Yet, a day after she’s done, you would not have known of her efforts. It’s not just the schoolkids nearby; it’s the wind.

So I tell the guy at the door. “Sure, whatever,” give him a $5 and quickly close the door. BTW, he does pick up some of our litter.

Electric

About a half hour later, I’m in my office, which is on the second floor at the front of the house, playing Wordle. By now, the rain is pouring, and the wind is gusting so much, perhaps 50 miles per hour/80 kilometers per hour, that the walls are shaking.

Out my front window, in my periphery, I see a large spark. A tree branch has felled a power line that ran from a telephone pole on my side of the street to a house across the street. The large branch lands in the middle of the street, right next to what I assume is a live wire, beside my wife’s car.

I could have called National Grid, our power supplier, but I chose to ring the Albany Police Department’s non-emergency number. After all, they are only two blocks away. The dispatcher tells me that it’s very windy out there, which I acknowledged. But soon, there’s a fire truck blocking my street.

In the morning, the wire is wound up, the branch is gone, and a truck is parked in front of the house, doing SOMETHING, because it’s running 24/7. Two days later, four trucks, including a cherry picker, are out there fixing the situation.

But I wonder if the guy repairing something at the top of the pole somehow mucked up my Internet. It’s not OFF, but I can’t get to sites, or it’s very slow.

On to the quiz 

Have You Ever …

1) Skipped school?
The first time I remember doing so was when I had been legitimately sick for a day or two. I was feeling better, but I learned that the Beatles’ new videos were going to premiere on a show called Where The Action Is, which was, inexplicably, airing at 8:30 a.m. So I watched Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane. This must have been February of 1967.
The next time was when Julian Bond came to town in 1969.
2) Lettered in a school sport?
No, I never did school sports. I did show up one day at a football tryout, but the ill-fitting equipment and general vibe weren’t for me.
3) Made a prank phone call?
Probably, but I have no strong recollection.
4) Paid for a meal with coins?
Yes, definitely, in 1978 in downtown Schenectady. I went out to breakfast or lunch with a friend, but was short on cash. To be fair, I doubt the meal was more than $4, including the tip.

5) Laughed until some sort of beverage came out of your nose?

Possibly, but I don’t really remember.

Sunday Stealing: Cookie Day

hamantaschen

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

March 6 was National Oreo Cookie Day. So said Mary when she completed this meme, which she credited to Terri D (Your Friend from Florida), who used to host Wednesday Medley. So let’s take on these tasty questions!

National Oreo Cookie Day

1. Are you able to pass by a plate of cookies and not take one, or are you a bit of a “Cookie Monster”

Depends on the cookie. It would have to be “worth” the calories; an inferior cookie simply won’t do. For instance, I’ve had great black-and-white cookies, while others were quite inadequate.

I don’t like peanut butter, so I can always pass on those cookies. My daughter is allergic to peanut butter; I can usually smell and certainly taste peanut butter, so I became her tester.

2. Tell us about your favorite cookie. Have your tastes changed since you were a kid?

My favorite cookie is Grandma’s Oatmeal Raisin. I’m also fond of the Golden Oreo cookie. When I was a kid, I was a traditional Oreo cookie guy, but I also liked the Archway oatmeal, molasses, and sugar cookies.   Are bar cookies, such as brownies, cookies? If so, then yes for them both then and now.  

Tradition

I have an emotional attachment to hamentaschen. I was in a church play at my previous church, and I played the evil Haman. Purim just took place this past week. 

3. Enquiring minds want to know if you are a dunker and, if so, do you dunk in milk, coffee, or tea?

Not a dunker. I do like to drink milk, or occasionally hot tea with cream,  with my cookies. 

4. It is that time of year, and they are selling them on every corner and in front of every store!  Do you buy Girl Scout cookies, and if you do, which is your favorite?

I know a dad who is hawking his daughter’s GS cookies. I hadn’t purchased them in about a decade, but I’m likely to buy boxes of Thin Mints and  Samoas.

5. Raw cookie dough.  Yay or Nay?

Nay. 

Sunday Stealing Loves Surveys

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week’s astonishingly random questions were stolen from Love Me Some Surveys, who loves surveys.  

Survey Asks …

1. Did you/will you have coffee or some other form of caffeine today? 

I had hot tea with lemon when we went out for breakfast, which is fairly unusual. It was cold outside! 

Tell Me Something Good

2. Who did you last have a text conversation with, and what was it about? 

I almost never have text conversations; reading on my phone tends to make me cranky. BTW, do we REALLY need advice on how to send a sarcastic text?

Yet on February 25, I texted one of my oldest friends, who had been in the music biz for a long time, that it was the birthday of John Doe from the band X.   They had spoken favorably of him in the past. What I didn’t know is that John is a fellow Piscean, born the same year as we were. 

3. Are there regular trains in and out of your town/city? 

Technically, no, but functionally, yes. The Albany/Rensselaer station is across the Hudson River in Rensselaer County.

4. Have you ever been hospitalized due to dehydration?

No. But I avoid walking in deserts.

I Go To Sleep

5. Someone texts/IMs you just as you’re about to go to sleep. Do you reply? 

Not unless it is urgent. Then again, I’ve likely plugged in my phone downstairs before I go to bed upstairs, so I’d be unlikely to know about it until morning anyway.  My daughter knows that if she messages me and I don’t reply in an hour, I’m likely nowhere near my cellphone, the usual state of affairs if I’m at home. That’s why God created the landline.

6. Do you grind your teeth?  

Not to my knowledge.

7. When you listen to music with headphones, do you keep the volume low enough to hear surrounding noise, or do you blast it?

Definitely loud enough to drown out surrounding noise, though I wouldn’t say I BLAST it.

8. Are you wearing nail polish?

Not since Halloween 1978.

9. Do you have an ice maker in your refrigerator door?

Not in the door but in the freezer section, which I used this week.

10. Do you have a friend named James?

Definitely good acquaintances – a regular and occasional speaker at the FFAPL book reviews on Tuesdays, a guy I’ve known since grade school, a local author, a couple of guys at church,  a guy from Alaska who took me to lunch when he was visiting his daughter in my area, and probably others. My great-great-grandfather, James Archer, fought in the American Civil War. 

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Sunday Stealing – I Say, You Think

Blues Brothers, Beach Boys, and especially Elton John

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week, we’re playing word association as suggested by a blogger named Dawn Camp. She said these words “tickled her fancy,” and let’s see if they inspire you. Feel free to answer with either a single word or a thought/memory. It’s up to you.

I Say, You Think: Word Association. Share what comes to mind when you hear the word …

1. Biscuit:  I think it’s curious that the US definition and the UK definition are so different. The UK definition seems to be some sort of cookie and the US has a soft, savory bread thing. The US biscuit you might have with gravy, but especially, it’s the basis of strawberry shortcake.  I believe I have never made biscuits, except when I’ve used products like Bisquik; it’s not that I couldn’t, but I’m too lazy to try.

MUSIC –Rubber Biscuit by the Blues Brothers, and specifically the phrase “What do you want for nothin’, Rubber biscuit?”

Coloring

2. Crayon: I invariably think of Crayola crayons. I remember when you would get something with more than eight or 16 crayons. A 64 crayon set was wonderful. Some color names seemed to have gone by the wayside. From this history:  “In 1962, partially in response to the U.S. Civil Rights movement, Binney & Smith changed the name of Flesh to Peach.”

3. Warmth: I think of a weird thing I got from the Vlogbrothers for Pizzamas, which is like a robe. It’s very warm, it’s very cuddly.

MUSIC-  The Warmth Of The Sun by the Beach Boys, which is lovely.

4. Flip: I think of the late comedian Flip Wilson. Flipping pancakescan be an art.  The Summer Olympics have a lot of impressive flips, although I’ve seen some pretty impressive flips in these Winter Games.

MUSIC – Chug-A-Lug by Roger Miller, with the lyric, “I done a double back flip.”

5. Slush – I think of the weather on Friday the February 20th. It varied tremendously: a little bit of snow, a bit of sleet. I shoveled the walk in the afternoon, and it was pretty clear, but by the evening, when we had to go out, there was slush all over the sidewalk.

Cooling

I also think of slushies, this ice thing with supposed fruit flavors. The last time I went to the urgent care place, in early December, I had a terrible sore throat. I was tested for Covid and the flu, and both tests came back negative. But I felt so dreadful, I didn’t go to choir rehearsal that week. The Urgent Care place had a slushie machine, which I usually pass on, but that day my throat really wanted one.

6. Wing -Chicken wings I never really liked all that much. They seem like way too much work – too much bone and not enough meat

MUSIC – I think of Wings of A Dove by Ferlin Husky and Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix. Then there’s Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles band Wings; here’stheir massive UK hit that was a bust in the US, Mull Of Kintyre.

7. Candle: Ash Wednesday was this past week, and on the table, a slew of lit candles. Most of them were actually votive-looking things, though a few were little electric candles. There’s a guy whose first name is the same as my middle name; he and I were blowing out all the candles after the service.

MUSIC – Candle In The Wind by Elton John; he originally wrote it about Marilyn Monroe. He subsequently rewrote it in honor of Princess Diana in 1997, which became a massively successful record, 14 weeks at #1 in the US.

8. Cinnamon: I think a lot about cinnamon toast. It’s cinnamon mixed with some sugar sprinkled on buttered toast; amazingly good-tasting stuff when I was a kid. I like cinnamon swirl pastries to this day.

MUSIC – Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young from his second solo album. I love the handclapping. throughout one of my favorite Neil Young songs

Ramblin' with Roger
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