Terrifying Friday randomness

I wanted to write something, but I didn't know what, so I thought I'd open up my "POST" window and see what happened:

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I'm the only person I know (outside of some coworkers) who can claim to have shaken the right hand of a man with two thumbs.  Harry worked for our company for years before I ever arrived, and he retired a few years later.  His right hand had a vestigial thumb, complete with a nail, directly opposite the regular one.  I don't think it had any motor function, and it was half the size of his normal thumb, but I had no warning the first day I met him and he was never shy about sharing his firm grip.  Feeling that second thumb dig into your hand where there ought to be only fleshy palm on fleshy palm is a strange sensation.

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I've never ever had to pay taxes this time of year.  I always get money back.  That's been the case since I was a student, and spring was the only time I was thankful for having student loans because that meant big deductions.  But the money we now get back always seems to have to go to some great, green monster that wants to swallow all our money, with interest to boot.  This also reminds me that I'm still pissed off that we have three car payments and only two vehicles.  When we unloaded Amy's VW Jetta last fall, the money from the transaction was only enough to cover the cost of the tranny rebuild that made it run long enough to sell.  (Yes, we felt some guilt over that.)  Never mind about the initial loan.  Thankfully, my truck'll be paid off in two months, and it's the biggest hit for us, so I plan to drive that baby into the ground before I need another vehicle.

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I just got off the phone with a friend down in Missouri.  We've never spoken before today, but have known each other since the fall of last year.  It was neat.  It amazes me how easily an earnest virtual friendship can translate seamlessly to a more intimate setting.  Depending on which of us you talk to, he has a southern accent and I have none, or I have a northern accent and he has none.  I think I managed to plod my way through our 15 minutes without once saying "eh?".  I'm proud of that feat.  (Well, except for that bit where we talked about me not saying "eh", but that doesn't count, eh?)

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Comments

[Linda]

I once had a moment of weirdness when a co-worker introduced me to her husband. When I meet someone new, I always extend my hand. A nanosecond before I clasped his "hand" which he pulled out from under a jacket he'd been carrying over his arm, I realized that there was only a stump where his hand should have been. Without missing a beat, I took the stub in my left hand and reached with my right hand on top and kind of shook with both of my hands. It was only awkward for an instant and I think I handled it (no pun!) as inconspicuously as possible. Sometimes, but not often, I surprise myself in a good way.
(Did you call JT, eh?)

[Moksha Gren]

We may disagree on who sounded funny. But let's not focus on our differences, Simon. Let's focus on what we can both agree on...Mark has an accent ;)

Also, when next we speak...feel free to slip a few "eh-s" into the conversation. I'll only laugh a little. And I'd much rather listen to endless eh-ing than have you refer to our conversation with the phrase "plod my way through." :)

Have a great weekend, eh.

[Simon]

Linda, I did, yes. And he's totally the one with the accent, eh? Oh yeah. Fer sure.

Moksha, Mark definitely has an accent. I'll definitely slip some EHs in there for you next time. Probably some by accident. It's a true Canuck stereotype. I, uh, didn't mean to imply our conversation plodded, just, uh, I had to restrain myself, what with the paper walls in my trailer at work. And you have a good weekend too, eh?

[Mark]

I like multi-topic posts. The double-thumb guy thing was wild. I've shaken hands with a guy with only two fingers and a thumb. Carpentry accident, I believe.

I think I mentioned this before, but don't they have lemon laws up there (i.e., laws that prevent someone from selling a car they know to be a lemon without revealing that fact)? I can't say I wouldn't attempt the same if I owed lots of money on a car, but I'd probably be too scared of getting caught.

That's funny. You guys are the first to mention that I have an accent. Usually people in the south ask me where I moved here from. Funny. There are degrees of southern accents, though, so I guess maybe I have a mild case. Dad's from Arkansas and Mom's from Kansas, so I'm part southern accent, part neutral.

But, probably you guys are just doing that to pull my leg and see all this when I get back from camping.

I'm back, so stop!

Seriously, though, I was bummed when I could hear Simon but he couldn't hear me on our Skype attempt. He could see me, though. It was a comedy of errors, for sure.

[Linda]

I'm so tickled that you and MG "hooked up", I feel like a proud Mama. If that is weird, oh well.
Just yesterday, shopping, I picked up (not bought, just lifted) a webcam and commented to PD that my blog friends were all getting these. Gruffly, he pronounced, "Well, we will never have one." Evidently he heard of some incident whereby one was used to monitor the goings on in a home unbeknownst to the owner. Or something like that. Anyway, y'all have fun with that!

[Moksha Gren]

Mark - I mentioned to Simon that your Skype conversation would have been perfect if only you guys knew sign language. Ever since then I've been thinking about the oddity of such a converstion. To sign at a blank screen and have a voice answer you. It'd be less sureal from Simon's perspective, I think.

[Mark]

I know probably nobody's reading this comment thread anymore, but I had to add that I almost, and I mean really almost, mooned Simon. It would have been the perfect response considering my frustration.