# I Experienced Technical Difficulties **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349 "2003-10-14T11:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/41 "2003-10-15T16:25:59Z")
Well, since we’re talking about flight plans, I just booked a flight last night. I’m finally going back to Connecticut for a week to see my parents, who I haven’t seen in about 2 and a half years. I’ll be going in early December, so I get to experience winter again! And I’ll get to see my buddies from college that I haven’t seen in lots of years. Pretty exciting stuff. Oh, and I agree that **tanookie** wins the sympathy prize. I feel like we’re all on “Queen for a Day” or something, but without the fancy washing machines. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/42 "2003-10-15T16:46:15Z")
I wish I were going somewhere as cool as Florida or Connecticut this weekend. Instead I’m going to some kinda history fair with my history geek friends. I have no idea what it is. I know blackpowder is involved somehow. Which can’t be a bad thing. Ya know, we should auction off shares in FCM’s house. Say, $20 will get you 1/6500 of the house. I’ll happily plunk down $15 for the right to use her bathroom faucet and charge Monopoly-style usage fees. ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/43 "2003-10-15T17:01:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slortar \* > \*\*Ya know, we should auction off shares in FCM’s house. Say, $20 will get you 1/6500 of the house. I’ll happily plunk down $15 for the right to use her bathroom faucet and charge Monopoly-style usage fees. \*\* It’s **tanookis** that has the Monopoly-themed bathroom. I’ll bid $25 on the master bedroom, but it has to be shipped to Oregon. Sans any bugs. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/44 "2003-10-15T17:06:41Z")
ummmm, no offense, but this is easily the dumbest approach to real estate I’ve ever encountered. And my master bedroom is 11 X 19 - worth MUCH more than $25!! Sheesh… ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/45 "2003-10-15T17:14:33Z")
People think that they want low taxes and low housing costs, but once they get to Florida and see what kind of government that buys them, well, it ain’t pretty. Jeb Bush, Bob Graham, Katherine Harris, Lawton Chiles, Bob Martinez, the list just goes on and on. Who was the Florida Senator(?) who was voted the worst member of Congress every year of her term? I think the first name was Paula, IIRC, and she ran on the platform of “I’m just a Maitland housewife with no government experience”. I reiterate that the voting public gets what they deserve. \*Note that this is a _very_ bipartisan list. I would never drag partisan politics into a **Rue** thread. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/46 "2003-10-15T17:38:31Z")
I’ll also pay $5 for the front door. Entrance tariffs galore! ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/47 "2003-10-15T18:09:29Z")
$10 for the back door. What the hay, make it $20! (I’ll make it up undercutting **slortar** on entrance tariffs). Actually, I have a very nice little house of my own, in a nice neighborhood that I got for $100k. Somewhat high property taxes, state income tax, but no sales tax. And I’m flying to Chicago in a few weeks–just a quick trip, but at least I’m going someplace. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/48 "2003-10-15T18:32:38Z")
I’m flying to St. Paul, MN next month. Well, actually I am flying to Bloomington, MN since that’s where the airport for Minneapolis/St. Paul is. Wonder why neither town wanted the airport? Then I get to rent a car and drive to St. Paul. Anyhow, it’s for work and I’m flying in on November 11th. I get through on Friday the 14th but won’t be able to get back home because I can’t get a flight to get all the way back home, so I’ll be staying in Bloomington that night. Which is ok, since the Mall of America is there and the hotel I’m staying in offers shuttles to the mall, I figure that’ll be a way to entertain myself for a few hours. **FCM** and **welby** are gonna engage in some scallop lust! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/49 "2003-10-15T18:43:21Z")
I grew up in Florida, around Pensacola, and they do indeed have dog-sized bugs. Especially entertaining are the hissing cockroaches. That’s why it’s legal to carry a gun in Florida, to defend yourself from cockroaches. I believe the state bird is the mosquito. [sub](An attempt at levity)[/sub] My uncle, who lived down the street when I was growing up, had an alligator that sat on top of his TV with a light bulb in it’s mouth. (The alligator, not the TV. it was a dead alligator, and stuffed) Possibly the most ugly, tackey lamp ever made. I wish I knew what happened to it. Actually, my uncle lived in a house on the same street as the house we lived in. I don’t want you to think my uncle was a street person. He had a wife and three kids who lived in the house also. One of them, the oldest, grew up to be a fire-and-brimstone preacher. One out of three is about par for the course in the Deep South. I was, and still am, the oldest son in my family, but I didn’t become a preacher, which may be why I’m considered a black sheep. My younger brother does have a Jimmy Swaggert hairdo though. But he lives in Atlanta, so no one notices. I’ll give you $20.00 for the A/C. **Kallessa** , you got an entire neighborhood for $100k? Incredible! **Shibb** In Floryduh that’s pronounced gum’mit, not government. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/50 "2003-10-15T18:57:13Z")
I also grew up, somewhat, in Florida. But they didn’t say _gum’mit_ where I was. I think that’s Panhandle speak. Or Baja Alabama, as we like to call it. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/51 "2003-10-15T19:18:36Z")
I didn’t grow up anywhere. I sprung fully formed from my father’s forehead. Now he has to wear a prosthetic forehead. For Father’s Day I got him a rock to wind his string around. He doesn’t use it much anymore. It sits on the shelf right by the birdhouse for his soul. -Rue. (Minimum wage! H’yah!) ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/52 "2003-10-15T20:07:15Z")
Hmmm…very interesting. And how does that make you feel? ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/53 "2003-10-15T20:22:29Z")
What did you get him for Mother’s Day? ---
**Author:** ![Bumbazine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbazine/32/362_2.png) [@Bumbazine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbazine)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/54 "2003-10-15T20:44:33Z")
Well, I’m afraid our hour’s up for DeDay [sub]heh heh[/sub] For our next session, I want you to be prepared to talk about your mother, and bring in some nude pictures of your wife, as many as possible. If you have a movie camera that would be even better, especially if she can dance the Macerana. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/55 "2003-10-15T20:56:32Z")
For Mother’s Day he got a bag of groceries accidentally taken off the shelf before the expiration date. This went straight to his railroad apartment in Istanbul (not Constantinople). The best part was, in the bottom of the bag was a watch with a minute hand, a millenium hand and an eon hand. I’m having a wonderful time with the radio on and cooking bacon, but I’d rather be whistling in the dark. All they while frying up a stalk of wheat. She set your goldfish free like guardian angels sneaking out a glass of bourbon so close to Heaven. Triangle Man hates Person Man! Fondue forks for everybody! -Rue. (nobody’s business but the Turks) ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/56 "2003-10-15T21:03:59Z")
Should I be afraid that I understand what **Rue** is talking about? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/57 "2003-10-15T21:21:50Z")
well, **Kallessa** , I’m worried for you because you understand it… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/58 "2003-10-15T21:45:00Z")
\*Even old New York was once New Amsterdam Why they changed it I can’t say People just liked it better that way Istanbul was Constantinople Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople Been a long time gone, Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks So take me back to Constantinople No, you can’t go back to Constantinople Been a long time gone, Constantinople Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks\* Need another clue? Kallessa (who prefers Byzantium) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/59 "2003-10-15T22:03:52Z")
I understood that part, it was the rest of the post that was discumbobulating. Then again, it’s classic **Rue** , isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349/60 "2003-10-15T22:21:39Z")
It’s a bunch of references to **They Might Be Giants** songs. From the _Flood_ album, if I’m not mistaken. I’ve got to get me a copy of that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-experienced-technical-difficulties/207349.md?page=4)