Sunday, February 08, 2009

My friend Kathleen who visits this space from time and time and is a regular on my facebook page suggested I include a blog entry on life's hassles and frustrations. This was a collaborative effort. Thanks for the idea Kathleen.


1. Trying to keep cool in Bakersfield during the summer. In cold weather you can always put on more clothes but there are only so many clothes one can take off and still walk around in public.

2. Almost anything to do with car repairs.

3. Trying to remember all the various computer passwords.

4. Dealing with bureaucracy of any kind, especially on the phone.

5. Programming electronic small appliances, such as BLUE TOOTH, personal travel assistant, IPOD, etc. - IPOD

6. Driving in foggy weather in Bakersfield during a really foggy day.

7. Trying to buy Christmas gifts for people who have everything.

8. Trying to multitask too many things at one time, like downloading an IPOD while talking on the phone and watching the news at the same time.

9. Picking a movie at the video store when you have two or three other people with you.

10. Reading through a digital camera manual which is now somewhere between 150 to 175 pages.

11. Listening to almost any talk radio show for more than five minutes. If it's Michael Savage or Sean Hannity you can reduce that number to two minutes.

12. Driving in heavy traffic in a large city that you have never been to before.

13. Finding parking in San Francisco.

14.Waiting in almost any hospital emergency room.

15. Going to Costco at the beginning of the month or the holidays.

16. Trying to explain to women why I like my beard and why it has nothing to do with trying to hide or cover up something.

17. Trying to explain to people how an educated and otherwise sane person like myself has a house filled with dragons, wizards, gnomes, and a couple of rather unsavory mythological creatures.

18. Explaining to school administrators how the use of movie video clips has potentially important educational value.

19. Unwrapping almost any sealed item from the store these days

20. Listening to computer geeks at the computer store tell you how easy it is to install and use some new computer program you just recently bought.

6 comments:

kc bob said...

These were fun and funny Bill. My favorites..

3 - I uswed to work on my own cars.. I just let the dealer do it all now (except oil changes)

4 - I have a system.. sometimes it works

5 - You'd love the military :)

8 - I am one of those folks.. get so many gift cards

11 - we just got a new camera from Amazon.. could not believe how heavy the package was due to 3 manuals

14 - KC is a pretty good place for parking

15 - Our hospital has WiFi.. been a blessing

17 - LOL

20 - I keep the scissors handy

21 - Especially the Mac bigots :)

KK said...

Thanks Bilbo!

Bilbo said...

Bob, I am glad to tickle your funny bone this morning...

Bilbo said...

Thank you Kathleen for prodding me to create this particular blog entry and for your own contributions.

actionsub said...

1. Don't like Bakersfield? Try St. Louis for size. Not only do you have the heat, but you have 90% relative humidity.

2. Car repairs? I have people.

4. I don't deal with anyone well on the phone. I prefer f2f.

5. I hate iPods. It goes back to the year I taught junior high computers and had to deal with stubborn iMacs. My prejudice carries to all things Apple.



8. I cannot multitask at all. To ask me to do it is to risk disaster because I will try and fail with catastrophic results.

10. Real men don't need manuals, Bilbo.

11. I like talk radio...except for Hannity. Savage is fun just to try to guess when his bipolar is going to take over and he goes off the chain.

18. This is only exceeded by trying to explain to your pastor why these videos might be worthwhile for the youth group to see...especially when one of the kids is the pastor's daughter...

20. Again, I have people.

Bilbo said...

Hey Actionsub,

It's nice to see you drop by. I certainly wouldn't trade Bakersfield for St. Louis or the Midwest. While I don't like living in Bako, at least I have access to some really cool places. Two hours to the coast. Two hours from Sequoia National Park...Two hours from L.A. One hour from the desert, etc. etc. California has a tremendous amount of variety and I wouldn't trade it for any other place in the country. I just wished I lived in some of the more desirable places in California but at least I can get away on a regular basis. It's great being a teacher.