StringDancer

MORE IDIOT SIGHTINGS We had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, "Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower." I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, "NO, it's not. Four is larger than two…" We haven't used Sears repair since. ================ My daughter and I went through the McDonald's take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter. She said, "You gave me too much money." I said, "Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back." She sighed and went to get the manager who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said "We're sorry but we cannot do that kind of thing." The clerk then proceeded to give me back $1 and 75 cents in change. ================ I live in a semi-rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road. The reason: "Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore." From Kingman , KS . ================ My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.' He said he was sorry, but they only had iceberg lettuce. From Kansas City ================ I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, "Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?" To which I replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?" He smiled knowingly and nodded, "That's why we ask." Happened in Birmingham, Ala. ================ The stop-light on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged co-worker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, "What on earth are blind people doing driving? She was a probation officer in Wichita, KS. ================ I attended a "good-bye" luncheon for an old and dear co-worker. She was leaving the company due to 'downsizing.' Our manager commented cheerfully, "This is fun. We should do this more often." Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that "deer-in-the-headlights" stare. This was a lunch at Texas Instruments. ================ I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on. A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriff's office, no less. ================ When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. "Hey," I announced to the technician, "It's open!" His reply, "I know. I already got that side." This was at the Ford dealership in Canton, MS. ================ When I left Hawaii and was transferred to FL, I still had the Hawaiian plates on my car, as my car was shipped from Hawaii . I was parking somewhere (I can't remember) and a guy asked me "Wow, you drove from Hawaii to here?" I looked at him and quickly said "Yep. I took the Hawaii/San Francisco Bridge." He nodded his head and said "Cool!" ================ STAY ALERT! They walk among us… and they VOTE… and they REPRODUCE…!

Kmel, you're right, the principle behind all vaping devices is the same, it's just an aesthetic difference in body design. I had a standard e-cigar that I ended up giving my brother for Christmas. They are designed to draw kinda hard to emulate the draw of a cigar, and for that reason I didn't take to it very well. Bro likes it fine, though. Mcquinn is also right in that the battery chamber and atty are all of a piece, so you can't just replace a cheap atty when it burns out, you have to buy an entire unit. As I advised me bro, if you like vaping, move on from the e-cigar to a more conventional ecig, just for the sake of practicality. Juice it with whatever floats yer boat.

Well, I'm a guitar player as well, but the inside of my thumb used to press the switch doesn't come in contact with strings, so the point is moot. Also, been doing some research, and apparently the batteries themselves are different, right?

I've had my VP1 for a few months now, am tooled up with three chargers and a pocketful of batteries, and am very impressed with the combination of the VP1 with the low-bridge 801 atty. MAJOR improvement over stock 801 batteries. There's one quibble I have, though. That tiny ball-switch, during long vaping sessions, can kinda dig into your digits. I have to move the thing around, use my thumb for awhile then my finger, switch hands, etc... now I'm actually getting callouses on my digits from using the thing. The Protege over at PureSmoker, a similar-looking batt mod, has a much larger button on its switch. I'm thinking it would have to be easier on the fingers than that little ball-switch on the VP series. So my questions are: 1. Does anyone have the Protege, and what's their opinion of it? 2. Even better, has anyone used both the VP1 and the Protege and could compare the two mods? 3. Are the 10440 3.7 batts used with the VP1 compatible with the Protege? I wouldn't like to have to reinvest in batteries and chargers if I were to switch over to the Protege. TIA

I agree with TheGreen... get a Mac and most of your PC issues will be solved. I've only used Macs, have since the very first 128k machine back in 1984. In all those years, I've had exactly one issue, when a drive on an old LC3 died after beating it to death for 5 years back in the 90s. And since 1995, I've been online, and I've yet to have an issue with a virus, trogan, worm or whatever the hell Windoze machines are vulnerable to (I don't really follow all that stuff, since they have never impacted me). While my PC friends often come up with horror stories similar to yours, I just keep 'puting. I've never had to restore anything, never reinstalled the system, nor drivers, nor whatever else. Frankly, I couldn't endure the frustration experienced by the average PC owner. If Apple ever went out of business, I'd simply quit computing and go back to playing guitar all day. It's true that in the old days there were certain chores for which a Mac didn't stand up well to a Windoze machine, such as spreadsheets and other major business apps. I don't believe that's the case anymore. Anything you need to do, a Mac will do it these days... usually better and easier than on a PC. Plus the security is so much tighter, which is why the Navy went to using Mac servers several years ago, as they're very difficult to hack. Yes, you pay more for the machines. But if you put a price on downtime, headaches and frustration, then the scales tip toward the Apple.

Thanks for the input, everyone. I was a bit put out by the woman's little power-play, but inasmuch as I was playing a gig there, and in my friend's restaurant to boot, it behooved me to take the high road and be ultra-courteous, regardless of my opinions of her alleged hypersensitivity. I didn't think to mention the trace amounts of nic in tomatoes, etc, but I probably wouldn't have pressed the point even if I had. You can't argue truth to people like this. Maybe she just wanted to put me in my place. Well, she failed, because I eventually just got up, went across the room and had a vape anyway. I think certain people just have a negative reaction to ecigs because it pisses them off that there's a way around the tobacco bans, or that I was able to enjoy a vape without concern about second-hand smoke, etc. Some folks will complain just because I'm sucking on something that doesn't happen to be an organ of theirs. Like she has no oral fixations of her own? Right. It's no biggie to indulge a tight-*** such as this. I do think it's better to not get too belligerent about ecigs with anti-smokers, for the sake of being a good ambassador. I'm saving my belligerence for when the government tries to ban my banana-flavor juice, the bastards.

I was doing a holiday gig the other night at a friend's restaurant in Nashville, Indiana. He throws one every year for his closest friends and business acquaintances, and he hired me to provide some nice guitar music for the evening. I had gotten him using an ecig months ago, and he allows ecig use in his establishment. So I had finished my set, and sat down at my table with a few other folks. I pulled out my ecig and was puffing away, and as usual some folks who had never heard of an ecig asked questions, which I answered. One lady asked, "is there nicotine in the vapor". I said, "no it's only water vapor". Well, she began to get a bit agitated, saying that she has a hypersensitivity to nicotine, that even trace amounts could give her palpitations or something. "If there's any nicotine at all in the vapor, I can't be around it. How can there be nicotine in the juice and not have trace amounts in the vapor?" Well, I immediately saw what I was dealing with, and putting the ecig in my pocket, told her no problem. My opinions about her hypersensitivity aside, I'm wondering if there is any science regarding the exhaled vapor and whether or nor ALL the nic is absorbed by the user. Anyone?

An excellent find, dave. Even though it was clearly produced as a promo for SmokeStix, this vid is an excellent resource to show folks who might have questions or concerns about ecigs in general.

I'm reminded of the venerable Stratocaster. Leo Fender came out with this guitar in 1954, and while it has had some improvements over the years, in essence it's the same axe today as it was back then. Sometimes an inventor gets it nearly perfect right outta the chute. Same could be said of the Gibson Les Paul, for that matter. With ecigs, the batts have made a big jump with the VP series and other similar alternatives to the stock batts. The real test now, in my view, is for someone to come out with a die-hard atty that really cranks, is durable as hell, and perhaps even has replaceable coils that could be had for pennies apiece. And made here in the USA, of course. But you're right, jeffb. Musicians keep trying new stuff, even though we virtually perfected instruments long ago. The bar rises, and we keep looking for the ever-elusive 'perfect tone'. The same does (and will) hold true for ecig aficionados.

Buford, you rock, dude! You make me wanna suck it some mo'!

I never ask, I just vape. Most times, it goes unnoticed (or at least, no one says anything to me about it). If asked, I politely explain. If challenged (it's only happened a couple of times), I tell them it isn't a cigarette, there's no tobacco, it's a personal vaporizer I use to take my meds as I have this obscure lung condition (addiction to vapor just has to be obscure, right?). Now who is gonna deny an obviously sick man his meds? lol

I don't do windoze either, been a Mac guy since they emerged in the mid-80s. In all that time, I've had one drive crash (recoverable, thankfully), but otherwise my experience has been the same... I wind up giving my old Macs away to friends who need puters. If Apple were to ever go outta business, I'd just quit computing. Windoze machines are just too prone to glitches, it'd drive me nuts trying to keep one going.

Thanks for the review, Snark. This sounds like it has what would amount to the first US-made atty, right? One omission, however... where can we find it? Tried a google to no avail. Got a link to the homepage for us?

I have a couple 510s, and in my view they are very robust and give great flavor. The batts are physically small, so they won't last long between charges. A move up to a Spade or VP-series batt system is a good move. If the diminutive capacity of the carts bugs you, I'd suggest trying an 801 penstyle. The carts hold twice the juice of the 510 (probably more than twice, actually), and they're vapor-producing monsters. I've been using an 801-based VP1 for well over a month now, and feel I've settled on the perfect ecig for me. I like the large capacity of the carts, the reasonable durability of the attys, and with the VP1 batt system powering the thing, I'm getting great performance... and I vape pretty heavily. I have three chargers and 10 batts for the VP1, so I'm never at a loss for battery power, even if I leave home for the day or overnight. The 510s I've had have been very good, especially with regards atty life... I've yet to have a 510 atty go south on me.

Very cool. Guess that makes me a science geek. Interesting use of audio sampling.

Amen to that, sister.

God bless you, Stu. Your story exemplifies why I have such mixed feelings about the holidays. When life is good, so are the holidays, usually. But if life is kicking your butt, the entire holiday hoop-la can be difficult beyond words. The holidays are a double-edged sword... joy and misery. Call me crazy, but I can't seem to disregard one in favor of the other. Joy without awareness of the misery is myopic, and so is living in misery without remembering that joy is possible and available to us if we're strong enough to survive the hard times. So hang in there, bro. No one can promise that life will get easier for you, but the potential is always there. Be strong, and keep looking for the opportunity to pull yourself out of the funk. It may be right around the corner.

Here's my rant on the Holidays. I wrote it today and have posted it on a couple other sites, but felt there might just be a few sympathetic eyes over here, as well. Wishin' myself luck in that regard.... Oh Joy… the Holidays are here again! I can barely contain my enthusiasm… can ya tell? OK, I'll admit, I'm not big on the Holidays. It's not that I mind the commercialization of the season all that much anymore… all the buying and selling seems a welcome respite from the overtly religious aspect of the season, actually. I mean, religion's all well and good, and I support anybody's desire to infuse their days with the comforts of religion if it suits them in any way. But having looked at every major and several minor religions in some detail over the years, I've pretty much dispensed with all that personally, so the babe in the manger stuff, while exceedingly precious, doesn't do all that much for me anymore. So make a note to yourself… study comparative religion at your own peril. However… as I look at the Holidays (the which I consider to be under way once Halloween comes), I do have my preferences. Now, Halloween is just plain fun and games. Dress up funny, have fun with kids, indulge in our closet vampire fantasies and enjoy scary, gory flicks. Chocolate is legal for all. So far so good… if you don't mind snarf-faced little demons demanding booty simply because their parents encourage it. Then comes Thanksgiving, which I actually kinda like… in theory. I know I've a great many things for which to be thankful, and it's good to reserve a day just for that. The food is excellent, and the Native American in me can mourn the day we didn't scalp those friggin' palefaced mo-fos the minute they set foot ashore. The world as we knew it pretty much went to hell after that. The very next morning brings us to Black Friday, when the barn door breaks and the animals all run to Wal-Mart. Suddenly, it's a four-week feeding frenzy in every store in town, traffic sucks, and normally sane, self-possessed people go crazy with shopping, pontificating, more shopping, spending hours watching old Christmas movies, even more shopping, visiting family, traveling to artist colonies to spend way too much on shopping, repeating and reliving ad nauseum the Santa Claus story till they're blue, etc etc… all leading up to the penultimate night, Christmas Eve, when everyone's broke and/or way over-burdened with fresh debt, and you can't get the infernal sounds of bells and shakers outta your ears. And all that Christmas music, my God… every tune is either insufferably perky, or else moribund and solemn as the grave, even though the holiday is ostensibly about a birth. Go figure. However, I do like the chord progression to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, a classic tune written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. Sentimental yet jazzy. I also have a fondness for mistletoe for reasons anyone can guess. Christmas Day itself really isn't all that bad. For one thing, the entire country pretty much has the day off, except for those unfortunate folks who must keep the wheels of commerce in motion, even on what many would consider the most "sacred" day of the year. Some things never change, and generating a cash-flow no matter what certainly leads that list. I do enjoy a snow-blanketed Christmas day as much as anyone, I think, and relish the chance to sit by the fire and drink eggnog heavily spiced with rum, my cholesterol be damned. [insert for VT folks... anyone know of a nice cranberry ejuice?] Being a Gentile, I cannot meaningfully comment on Chanukah, and being Caucasian, must take a pass on Kwanzaa, as well. I'm not exactly a Pagan, either (though some in my immediate family would argue that point), so the Mithraic beliefs and associated holidays I hereby reference just for the hell of it. Anthropology is a fascinating subject, no? Thankfully, once Christmas is over, we have a week to settle down, regain our composure, only to prepare to party like we're insane once again come New Year's Eve, from which rivalry we hope to recover on New Year's Day (thankfully, again mostly an off-day for the majority of the country). Resolutions are made and promptly broken, yet there remains a purpose of sorts to arbitrarily signifying one instant in an entire year to turn over a new leaf and begin a fresh cycle in the horror of existence yet again. In spite of everything, one shudders to consider a world with no New Year's Day starting off the calendar. Like God, if there were no New Year's Day, humans would have to invent it. And in my case, I have yet another holiday in January… my birthday. But here again, the sheer magnitude of my accumulated years makes this day increasingly distasteful. I can't giddily celebrate my birthday anymore… I both fear and revere each one as possibly my last, and a reminder of my mortality and approaching demise. Not that I really fear dying all that much. At least then I won't have to hear all these damn holiday songs. Now, some of you might label me "a scrooge". Certainly my dear wife has, though to her credit she doesn't chastise me for my irreverence too much. I think I've turned out this way because of my hypersensitivity to the disenfranchised. A holiday should be a personal thing, I think. Circumstances in our own life dictate that we take a day off, and so we take it wholeheartedly and enjoy it without reservation or guilt. Scheduled, communal holidays, on the other hand (while laudable in concept and intent), can only be fully embraced by those who are, frankly, in the mood to be happy. And with the world seemingly winding down to its dismal final days, how many of us are really in the mood to be happy this year? For the rest of us, the Holidays are an annual reminder of innocence lost, of prosperity and creature comforts unattained, of goals and objectives and dreams we hold near and dear side-tracked, delayed or having left the station altogether… without us on-board. It's easy to be happy during the Holidays if you're a bank CEO (or some another so-called "master of the universe" sucking the teat you lucked onto) and can buy your way out of the year-end funk that encroaches upon the burgeoning masses. But for those trying like hell to fashion a tolerable Holiday season with the few (and diminishing) resources at their disposal; for those bereaved, sad, laid-off, depressed and disappointed by life, the Holidays can be excruciatingly painful. Suicides always peak during the Holidays, and that fact alone should give us all pause as we move through these final days of the year. And to be fair, there are legions of poor and not-so-poor folks who manage to keep their perspective, consider their blessings, and take heart from all the goodwill flowing through our lives right now, however contrived, manipulated, redundant and vacuous it may be. For these fortunate souls, the Holidays can be a chance to regroup, rededicate, and serve as a reminder of what's really important in life… love, family, and a good guitar. Not to worry, though. Enjoy this year's festivities, by any and all means, as it most definitely could be worse. Holiday doldrums should peak two years from now, when a growing gang of jittery 2012 doomsday believers will be utterly convinced that the 2011 Holiday season is destined to kick off the final curtain on a rather long and tiresome show. And who knows, they may be right… even if it turns out that it's the damn doomsayers themselves who create the catastrophe in the first place. I can hardly wait. Santapult: the elves finally have enough

Yip... Ted Levine's his name. http://www.usanetwork.com/series/monk/theshow/characterprofiles/ted/index.html You win that warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you were right yet again. Howzat work for ya, Travis?

Vaperspective - what we all have now that we've started vaping Vapersecution - the misguided, nasty backlash against ecigs Vaperusal - what we do every day on VT Vaperturb - what the entire ecig phenomenon is doing to Big Pharma Vapersnickity - the fussy attitude we get when we get to the mod level of ecig discussions... also possibly the name of my next band. lol

When I got my first ecig in the mail, I had just bought a carton of analogs, and I had no intention of wasting the money, so I took it easy and allowed myself up to 5 analogs a day (I was two packs a day previously). After a couple of weeks, I ran out of analogs, and told myself that I'd "go buy a pack tomorrow", just to give my mind a break for that day. When I got through the day just fine, I told my wife, "screw it, I'm done with analogs". And have been ever since... except for the day I had to put down my old canine, when I bought a pack for ceremonial reasons (I'm part Native American, so I do these things sometimes). As has been mentioned, any reduction in analogs is a good thing. If it takes someone a bit of time to make the adjustment, who cares? And I believe that, sooner or later, the logic behind why one should choose vaping over smoking becomes readily apparent to most folks. That's why the conversion rate from smoking to full-time vaping hovers near 70-80%. It's all good.

I keep thinking vapist would be good... but the term raises an eyebrow whenever I say it, for some reason.... lol

It's not just the ultra-liberal "we know what's best" crowd who get these things going. We can also blame our greedy pack of lawyers who see an opportunity for big bucks and go for it, logic be damned. The entire judicial system has a hand in the popularity of these bonehead cases.

OK, trivia time. What popular current TV detective series features the actor who played the killer with the lotion fetish in Silence of the Lambs?

That was some incredible work, Vegas, thanks for the post. I went on to a couple other pages in the site, very interesting stuff.