Still Pretty Good Coincidence

The two “Come Sail Away”s almost lined up  

Jeremy has entered the world of high-stakes competitive regattas...or something.  

Not quite.  I have entered the world of listening to the radio. 

Close enough.  What's for lunch?  

Not long ago, there was a fairly surreal moment that occurred while I was listening to the radio.  I have a clock radio in my room that I listen to when I'm getting ready for my day.  On weekends, the local classic rock station broadcasts a nationally syndicated program instead of having somebody actually in the studio paying attention to what's going out over the airwaves.  In some cases, this produces some amusing results.  

I don't know an awful lot about how modern radio stations work, but it stands to reason that commercials are grouped into little blocks which normally can be played in between songs, most likely by way of a computer so as to leave the silent space between music, DJ prattle, and commercial to a minimum.  I also believe that the commercial blocks in syndicated programs are timed well in advance so that individual stations broadcasting the program can schedule their commercials and leave everything up to technology while still allowing for local advertising in national shows.  

It should also be known that not long ago, the classic rock band Styx was scheduled to perform a concert at a local venue.  One of their most famous songs is the power ballad "Come Sail Away."  It pales in comparison to "Mr. Roboto," of course, but that's beside the point here.  

So, I'm listening to the syndicated radio show, and the program was featuring all songs about water.  Songs about oceans, and rivers, and lakes, and oxford commas, and boats.  One of the songs they decided to play for this program was Styx's "Come Sail Away."  All well and good.  

The local station, however, screwed up.  

A commercial break started playing during the same time that the syndicated show was playing, and since nobody was in the studio paying attention to what was happening, the entire series of commercials played out right along with the song that was already playing.  

In a truly wonderful moment of radio broadcasting, one of the commercials was an advertisement for the local Styx show, which featured, among other things, short clips from various Styx songs so that listeners could be informed as to some of the potential library of songs that would be played at the concert.  As you might imagine, "Come Sail Away" was one of the songs featured in clip form.  

It would have been absolutely amazing for the mistakenly-played commercial clip of the song to line up perfectly with the full song being broadcast, but that didn't quite happen.  However, the two versions of the song were only off from each other by about 5 seconds.  Still pretty remarkable.  

I didn't end up going to the concert because I'd been informed that Styx no longer plays "Mr. Roboto" in their concerts, so there didn't seem to be any point left. 

Like Many Others, This Post Stinks

That last bit of toothpaste lasts longer than you think it does  

The bit that I put on the toothbrush lasts about as long as it takes to brush my teeth.

We all have our own little internal clocks for various things.  You know about when it's time to wake up, how long it takes you to do certain things, when birthdays and holidays are coming up, how much longer you have to work on a Friday afternoon before you can say "ah screw the whole thing" and go home for the weekend.  You also know when you have to buy certain necessities.  

Most people don't have to buy stuff like garbage bags and paper towels every time they go to the grocery store, but you have a sense for when you're about to run out.  It's not such a big deal, because it's not the end of the world if you run out of these things.  Toilet paper may be a bit more of an issue, and it's certainly not a great thing if you run out of deodorant before you expect to, but most things you can get away with a day or two without.  But you get the point...you generally know if you're running out of something and need to pick it up next time you're at the store.  

With that in mind, not too long ago, I faced down the Wall O' Toothpaste at my local grocery, believing that my current tube of toothpaste was on its last legs.  That is to say that the bulk of the think had been squeezed out, and just that little bit at the business end remained.  

What I didn't realize, apparently, is just how long that little bit at the business end planned on sticking around.  I assure you I continues to brush my teeth regularly, but even though I have a brand new tube of toothpaste ready to go, I haven't had to break it open yet, because I still have plenty left in the old one.  I have no delusions that this is a magic tube that will never run out, but it strikes me just how far off I was in my estimation on how much longer it would hold on.  I'm a little excited to move on to the new one.  

Now, if only I had remembered to buy deodorant...

What's The Deal With The Red Stick On The Box Again?

The problem with never using stamps is that you lose your stamps  

Fortunately, Jeremy has a connection where he buys stamps...the post office.  And all was well in the world...

So not the point.  

The point, I guess, is that mail isn't what it used to be.  It's an issue that's been addressed across multiple media outlets, social and otherwise, about how people don't pay all that much attention to the mail anymore.  I sure don't.  Quite seriously, I go out to my mailbox and empty its contents roughly once per week or so, mostly because there's never anything worthwhile in it.  There's the standard town "newspaper" and advertising circulars, solicitations from various cell phone/cable TV/sattelite radio/insurance providers which go straight into the rubbish, the occasional political mailing, a year's subscription to Sports Illustrated that I'm still not 100% sure how I ended up with, and every once in a great while...bills. 

It's a sign of the times that there are precisely two bills that I get in paper form, and of those, only one that I pay in paper form.  One doesn't have electronic billing, but I can pay directly from my bank's website, and the other charges a $3 "convenience fee" for electronic payment, so they get a check mailed to them.  That second bill is my water bill, which arrives like clockwork every 90 days and gets paid a little less like clockwork when I darn well choose because even if I forget about it, they'll just tack an additional 60 cents on to my next bill for a late payment and I care less than 60 cents worth about the whole thing.  Also, it's the only time ever that I have to drag out my check book and envelopes and stamps.  It's a hassle.

It's less of a hassle than it could be because I keep all of these gubbins in one place.  I reach into a single shelf on my desk and pull out my check book, an attached pen, and stamps squeezed in between.  Directly above that is a box of envelopes which I had to buy not long ago for the first time in 8 1/2 years.  I checked the box.  

Not long ago, I embarked on this process because the friggin water people wanted to get paid again, and they still haven't accepted the inevitability of free online bill payment (Thanks, Town Water Department).  I grabbed all of my stuff, and to my dismay, the stamps were not attached to the check book (which incidentally also hasn't seen an update in at least 8 1/2 years, since the checks still don't have my current address on them).  I had no idea where else they could have been since the only time I ever use them is every three months when using the same three items to pay the same one stupid bill.  I looked all over the desk for the stamps of which I'm almost entirely certain I still had several left.  No avail.  To this day, I have no idea where those stamps are.

My water bill got sent out two days later when I finally went to the post office to buy new stamps.  The rest of them went right to the shelf on top of my check book.  See you in 90 days!