Grocery store rants...

I shop for groceries all the time, no big thing. It is usually a painless experience. The last few times I’ve gone to grocery stores in my neighborhood, the experience has been anything but annoying.
1) Why on earth would someone jump into the Express Checkout line when they have 20 items? The sign says 10 items or less. Did they miss the sign or are they really that inconsiderate?
2) Why on earth would someone use their American Express to pay for a carton of $2.00 blueberries and then break out their Air Miles card to further aggravate the situation? I wasn’t sure if I should just break out a Twoonie to pay for this guy’s berries or leave my ice cream at the cash and forget about my half price ice cream jug.
Is it just me or are people going insane?

Walk Good

SYSboombah

Technological stuff that really bugs me, but shouldn’t
Issue #1
iPhone Apps
As the proud owner of an iPhone (I got it free to try for a year), I am well aware there are approximately 27,145,692 apps for my device. Many are worthwhile, most are not.

For instance, one makes your iPhone seem like you are drinking a glass of beer. As you tilt the phone, the liquid appears to vanish down your gullet. That is so clever. Why are people bothering with this? Why am I even writing about it?

I made a comparison with the Blackberry flip. A young cherub-faced sales guy – I believe a requisite is to be under the age of 22 AND not able to shave yet – boasted that there would be far more apps available on the Blackberry.

I answered, “So”?

To which he responded, “Lots more choices”

Then I said, “So”?

He didn’t get it. For the record though, I’ve spent two bucks on apps and got three for free.

Issue #2
My Wireless Mouse/Keyboard
Nothing wireless about it. It connects remotely to a connector thing that plugs, with a wire, into a USB port. The mouse also uses two AA batteries and the keyboard also uses two AA batteries. I have to replace them every few months. I have now spent enough on batteries to buy a new PC.

Issue#3
Passwords
Comedian Jonathan Winters (you may remember him) did a routine a long time ago about his difficulty recalling all the numbers in his life. It was quite funny, until passwords came along.
Today’s computer programs inform me that my chosen password is not strong enough. Evidently the same geek who wants to hook into my Bluetooth (teeth), also plans to invade my cell phone bill. Go for it buddy, and while you are there consider paying for it.
Theraininspainstaymainlyintheplain is catchy for My Fair Lady; it is not a very strong password.
This one is: gptruie54@#$*WWxO981vc?2. It is created by a password generating program. No one is expected to actually memorize this gibberish, so I wonder about its usefulness.
I have come up with a clever formula for my passwords that deals with the ones I need. This is a partial list: Banking, Online bill payments, e-mail accounts, PayPal, Apple, buying tickets online and the security codes for NATO.
It seems though that no matter where you go online, you need a password. There are only so many combinations I can come up with and writing them down seems counter-productive.

Walk Good