picket

I have one of those Samsung Galaxy S 2 phones that I would recommend to anyone who can handle a big phone.  I rarely actually talk on it, so it works out nicely for me.  It's like a mini-tablet.  It has swype text technology which I don't love, but after over six months of owning the phone I'm finally getting used to it.

"Okay" swypes as "Party".  Which is hilarious.  Most things that you would reply "okay" to are made funnier by replying "party" to.
I'll be there in fifteen minutes
Party
Pizza for dinner?
Party

I laugh every time.  Because it's just "party".  Not "Party!!".  There's a difference.  I think with a little effort, I can make it stick.  Make it like, a thing that people say.  Like "that's cool" or "yay!" or one of the thousand of other tired phrases we use to agree with someone.

I have a friend who refuses to put an exclamation point at the end of "Happy Birthday" on people's Facebooks.  Just a period.

Happy Birthday.

I love it.  It's so creepy.

***

There is a Carpenters Union protest at a coffee shop near my work.  The guys are working really really hard at being angry over the construction of the coffee shop's new location.

I support Union people because of the way I was raised, but I also support independent business, greener building materials and practices, competitive pricing, and the freedom to choose who works on the property you have purchased.

So I smile at the Union guys and tell them good luck when I take their flier but I'll probably go back to that coffee shop once they clear out.  And I'll definitely stop in at the new location.

We aren't using Union Laborers for the construction in our basement.

I  know a lot of Union guys who do jobs on the sly after Union Hours for what they are probably supposed to consider unfair wages but they need the dollars to feed their children so they gladly take them from 5 to 9 and on weekends.  I wonder how many of the men who are outside the coffee shop have never taken a side job.  Their flier is calling the man who owns the independent, greener company with competitive pricing an ex-union hypocrite.  With the word hypocrite in BIG RED LETTERS.

This is a union town so these sorts of protests happen nearly every day.  I generally feel exactly the same about all of them.  Except when I am not fond of the business they are protesting.  Then I get all up in arms about it.

***

I like coffee.  I used to drink the equivalent of a KFC bucket of coffee a day, but I have cut back over the years.  Now I'm down to one- four cups a month.  Last October I had a really bad hangover due to a Christening (that was infinitely more fancy and upscale than my wedding) where they were offering unlimited free tippity-toppy shelf liquor which combined poorly with a myth that I had constructed about not being able to get sick off "the good stuff".  The hangover was so bad.

How bad was it?

So bad that I couldn't drink coffee or eat sweets or rich foods for months afterwards.  I lost a considerable amount of weight throughout the holidays as a result. I think that my guts were permanently scarred that day.  I blame the Catholic Church.

Naturally.

Because if it wasn't for that Christening, I would have been just fine.

And I don't feel right blaming a baby.