# The I Could Have Lived Without Knowing That MMP **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** mmp\ **Created:** [September 8, 2014, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849 "2014-09-08T09:16:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [September 11, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/121 "2014-09-11T19:14:46Z")
**Nemo** maybe they open when and if they feel like openin’. 😃 Today has been a day of dealin’ with more weirdness than usual even for me. Just strange questions and requests all dang day. My most persistent PITA is once again on a roll. Down south she is what’s known as a “straight up PITA” which means she’s a particularly big PITA. First off she has moved yet again. At least this time she felt the need to inform me. She wants a bus pass for a month. This can happen once per program year and she’s already had one this PY. Then I find out she has not completed re-certification (this must be done yearly) and this is due Monday. I told her to get it back on time or risk bein’ placed on leave of absence until it’s done. She wanted me to do it for her. Nope. Da bear is mean remember. I want to get rid of her but she has yet to cross the I can get rid of her line. She teeters right on the line a lot, however. I was at irk on 9/11. A co-irker came in my orifice and told me his wife called to tell him a plane had hit the WTC. I was not with OYKW at the time and had someone else (a partner of 13 years who left a year later but that’s another story) livin’ at da cave and he was home so I called him to tell him to turn on the teevee. He also told me a plane had hit the WTC. I went up to the front buildin’ (this was different irk from now) and drug out a teevee and hooked it up in the lobby to see if we could get the local station (no cable until right after that day when it was decided cable might be a good thing) which I did just in time to see the second plane hit. After that, irk was pretty much lost for the day. We stayed glued to teevee and radio. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/122 "2014-09-11T19:58:29Z")
9/11 I was at my dad’s house, just having moved back to Greater Houston. I had an interview in Downtown that didn’t happen that day, I think they evacuated the whole area. Dad’s house is forty or so miles from Houston but on a whim I thought it prudent to fill my car with gas then my dad’s and stepmother’s. Lo and behold as I pull up with the last car, the guy is changing the sign as they had raised the prices by a lot. Hell Hath No Fury like Me getting price gouged on a day such as this. I paid the previous price because they were still changing the pumps and I think they were afraid to get near me. I had already informed the man on the ladder that he was coming down, on his own or with my assistance, so the tone had been set. Imagine my delight as I got home and saw the AG of Texas on TV warning against such behavior and providing a 1-800# to report it, with promised quick and severe prosecution. That was one of the best phone calls of my life. Carry on **Jim** ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/123 "2014-09-11T20:07:40Z")
I’d gotten up around ten-something local time (lived in Lompoc, CA, at the time, near Vandenberg AFB) to find newsgroups and e-mail lists going nuts. Spent most of the rest of the day flipping around news channels and sites, except for having to run an errand, which had me seriously wondering just how bad an idea living near a military base was. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/124 "2014-09-11T20:38:16Z")
Thirteen years ago I was driving down Briley Parkway approaching the airport when I saw three planes come in for landing bam, bam, bam. When I got to work, a cube mate asked if I had heard about the plane crash. She told me that one had hit WTC. No sooner had I brought MSN up when the second one hit. At that point, we knew it was no accident. The warehouse manager set up a TV in the breakroom tuned to CNN. Not a lot of trucks came in that day (some had been pulled off the road by their companies), so our guys spent most of the time phoning their families and watching coverage. Once the Pentagon was hit, we were dismissed. No one knew what to expect. I stopped for gas at my usual station on the way home. The line was two blocks long. Family members gathered at my SIL’s home just to be together. We grown ups were as frightened as the little ones. The next day, life went on, but with the loss of security that we had once taken for granted. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/125 "2014-09-11T20:48:38Z")
Howdy from da cave! Irk is over for the day. YAY!!! OYKW called to say he has a gnawin’ and a cravin’ for some spicy chikin wings, so that shall be dindin instead of the originally planned burgers. I still want pizza tomorrow so burgers shall be a nice Sattidy N.O.L. Anywho, Ima do some wild rice (none of that there tame stuff’ll do!) and succotash to go with the wings. Dindin simple and easy, just the way I like my men. 😃 Oh another thing about 9/11. At the time I was doin’ some irk related travel around the country several times a year. I was supposed to have gone to Chicago on the ninth. That got changed the week before and I was asked to go St. Louis on the 23rd instead. If’n I had done the Chicago trip, I would have been there for several days. Glad that didn’t happen to me but felt bad for the person who went there instead of me. I was told that it would be understood if I did not want to fly to St. Louis given air travel was a particularly antsy thing at the time, but my feelin’ was life just can’t stop so on to to St. Louie Louie I went. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/126 "2014-09-11T21:37:47Z")
Dindin has been ingested. OYKW is spendin’ the night. YAY!!! We shall go break fast in the mornin’ before irk. YAY!!! He has a gnawin’ and a cravin’ for brekkie from Pearly’s. Who am I to argue! 😃 And now the main attraction. Here is the latest from **MOOOOOOM’S** life as a [del]pirate[/del] tourist on the high seas. > [@MOOOOOOM](#): > > Sep 11 – Lerwick, Shetland island > > After a slightly bumpy crossing from Bergen, we arrived in the sheltered water opposite the town of Lerwick in the morning fog. There are no docks big enough to accommodate large cruise ships, so we dropped anchor and anyone who wanted to go ashore would have to go via tender. The procedure was to report to the Michelangelo Dining Room to get a tender ticket, then wait till your ticket number was called. We’d barely walked into the dining room when we were herded down to the waiting tender – excellent timing, I’d say. It was a quick ride to shore, and with map in hand, we were ready to explore. First stop was the Shetland Museum and Archives. > > We spent a bit over an hour looking at all of the exhibits – apparently many millions of years ago, the Shetland Islands were at the South Pole. In more recent times, like from about 3000BC on, it has been repeatedly invaded or traded until eventually becoming part of Scotland. Mostly, it has relied on fishing and trade, but more recently, the offshore oil platforms are an important part of the local economy. > > We walked back past Fort Charlotte, then down Commercial Street, window shopping, and sometimes really shopping. In one shop, I got a really pretty scarf. Imagine my delight when I got back to the boat, snipped off the price tag, and discovered my scarf was made in China. DRAT!! But it is pretty and I did buy it here, so there’s that. Mom bought some chocolates that were half price – she can’t resist a bargain. > > We stopped at the Tourist info center to check out their gift shop. I picked out a shirt for my sweetie and Mom found a magnet she wanted. Unfortunately, the building experienced a temporary power outage that screwed up their computers and their credit card machines. And we, of course, had no cash. So we left, walked to a few more places, then went back to find everything was working correctly, so I gathered the stuff I’d put back, and finally got to buy it. So yay! > > There’s a funky looking vessel tied up in town – painted in an abstract black and white design. It’s called the Chevalier Floatel – it’s a floating hotel! I’ll be looking it up if I remember after I return home. > > Shortly after 2, having walked for better than 4 hours, we headed back to Victoria Pier for the trip back to the ship. We were really lucky – we had a sunny, cool day – perfect for walking. As we were leaving, it was clouding over a bit, but more of an overcast than rain clouds. As I write this, it’s about 30 minutes till the last tender leaves town. We’re supposed to be underway in about an hour, eventually heading north and east to Iceland. Tomorrow is an at-sea day, and you know what that means – you must get along without hearing from me. Be strong – the next tales will be from close to the Arctic circle, assuming the volcanic activity on the island doesn’t affect our journey. > > MWAH! ---
**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:** [September 11, 2014, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/127 "2014-09-11T23:09:28Z")
I done killded the MMP! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/128 "2014-09-11T23:14:21Z")
Don’t feel bad, **swampy**. Work done killded me today and yesterday. So very tired. I did some note organization for my Continuing Epic and that was about as much creative brainpower as I can muster for tonight. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/129 "2014-09-11T23:58:13Z")
> [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > Can’t follow the written instructions too well, can we. I said I _ **didn’t** _ need to know anything about this, and you send me links. 😉 > > And you didn’t know that until you looked it up online? I didn’t know they had a registry. She was out visiting and said out of nowhere, “You know Obama is not President.” and how his mom was not in the country long enough. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/130 "2014-09-12T01:25:51Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > I still want pizza tomorrow so burgers shall be a nice Sattidy N.O.L. Anywho, Ima do some wild rice (none of that there tame stuff’ll do!) and succotash to go with the wings. Dindin simple and easy, just the way I like my men. 😃 Is your succotash [sufferin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkhPuH8G5Hg)? First irkout of the season last night. Is it sewer-side or Homer-side iffn your punish your own body to the point that your lungs & legs rebel against ya? ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/131 "2014-09-12T01:30:24Z")
I just wrote a long rambling bitching post and it went poof. Hate when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/132 "2014-09-12T02:39:09Z")
Worked, came home. I dozed off ,guess I was tired. I made lime cumin salmon rice with Mexican oregano, and salad with chipolte cheese dressing. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/133 "2014-09-12T06:03:18Z")
Third night in a row that the dog wants out and in all night. I gave him some benedryl, maybe he’ll sleep for a bit. He’s been a bit itchy too. I was having trouble sleeping anyway because I am freezing. Yep, freezing. I agree **Butters** , it sux big tie to lose a long post. Oh look a young David Cassidy on an _Ironside_ repeat. Late night TV can be your friend, a sucky friend but still a friend. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2014, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/134 "2014-09-12T10:17:25Z")
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up, caffienated, purtified for irk, so no _YAWN_. 'Tis 73 Amurrkin out with a predicted high of 93 for the day. Tonight and the next three or four days we are promised rain. We shall see. Also we’re supposed to cool down to the low 80s. Well, BRRRRRR! 😃 OYKW is out of the shower and finishin’ up his purtification ritual. When he’s ready we shall go and break fast at Pearly’s. YUM! **MOOOOOOM** wrote a bonus email. Since it’s all about bad table manners and overflowin’ terlet it’s just perfect for the MMP! Without further ado, here is **MOOOOOOM’S** latest tale of her life as a [del]pirate[/del] tourist on the high seas. > [@MOOOOOOM](#): > > This is all too exciting to not share immediately, plus I’m awake at 6:30, Mom’s asleep, and I don’t feel like doing Sudoku, so there you have it. > > The less exciting than disgusting item involved dinner last night. The early seating was sparsely populated, and we shared a table with one couple, currently from Vegas, originally from Memphis and the woman of the couple had worked in the Pentagon, so we had some things to chat about in common. Unfortunately, her husband didn’t seem to understand basic courtesy. He said the humidity in the Shetlands had wreaked havoc on his sinuses, and throughout dinner, he continued to prove it by blowing his nose loudly and frequently at the table. UGH! And, like the average restaurant, there were tables close enough to share in this little ritual. No telling how many of us got dinner with a show. UGH!!! > > The saving grace of the evening was immediately after we left the dining room – the string quartet was just about to begin a performance, and we got two seats literally right next to the cello player. I was able to follow the notes on the page as she played. I tried to make out the notation that indicated when she used the bow and when she plucked, but my eyes aren’t that sharp and I was reading at an angle. Still, in addition to the wonderful music, I got to follow along. It was a very nice way to spend an hour. > > Going back to our room, Mom played Scrabble on the computer for a while, and I found a movie on the TV that was pretty good – I think it was called Belle – I missed the very beginning. When that was over, we flipped around the channels and eventually settled on some news. I was dozing off, and Mom finally got tired herself, so she went to the bathroom to take her meds, and it was lights out. > > We both became aware of water running and splashing, and both thought “Is the sink faucet running?” Mom got up to check and discovered the toilet was overflowing and the floor of the bathroom was filling up. If you’ve never seen a ship’s bathroom, there’s a lip between the bathroom floor and the carpeted cabin floor. However, there is no drain in that part on this vessel, only in the shower, and it also has a raised lip to keep the water contained. As a result, there was a growing pool of warmish water accumulating, and due to some slight rocking of the ship, the water was starting to splash on to the carpet. We grabbed the bathmat and the bath towels to try to contain the splashes, and I called the services desk to report our dilemma. We were also using a cup to try to bail some of the water into the shower stall to minimize the splashing. > > In minutes, a man from maintenance came up to look and ask if we’d flushed something we shouldn’t have – would someone really admit if they had?? But we hadn’t – just the usual stuff one flushes… In a little bit, and officer with a walkie-talkie showed up to see what was going on, and I heard him get a call that someone on a lower deck almost directly below us was also having an overflowing toilet. By this time, we’d gotten out of the way, and several people came and went. The desk called back to find out if maintenance had showed up, and I mentioned that we’d need fresh towels. A young man from housekeeping came and sopped up the water, gathered to soggy towels and mat, and disinfected the bathroom. He also left us clean towels. > > A little bit later, two other men came up and futzed in the bathroom for a while, then told us all was fixed. Mom went over to give it a test flush – huzzah! – and all was right in the kingdom again. By this time, it was nearly midnight. It took me a little while to unwind, but I finally fell asleep. As you might imagine, I was a bit nervous when I went into the bathroom this morning, but no overflow, no flooding, no issues. Life is good. Except that I got barely over 6 hours of sleep, the sun is rising, and I’m too wired to drop off again. Maybe I’ll try when I send this. > > So there’s your at-sea update. You’re welcome!! Happy Firday Y’all! ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/135 "2014-09-12T11:50:06Z")
Mawnin Why am I up ? Well caffinating and here we go. Have a great Freyaday Mumpers **Jim** ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/136 "2014-09-12T12:40:55Z")
Happy Freyaday! It’s a cool, sunny, breezy 65 degrees, the high will be 74. Of course the AC is running, but since I don’t pay the electric bill it’s not my problem. The male half of the HFH is still gone with the hounds, here’s hoping it stays that way. My mother and her bf are leaving for somewhere on Saturday, I think for 10 days. I am so blurfy I couldn’t understand why money was deposited to my account this morning. Pay Day! After keeping me up half the night the dog is blissfully snoozing . One more week, just one more week. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/137 "2014-09-12T13:40:07Z")
Up and caffeinated. Working way late today, so I can go watch hockey practice. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/138 "2014-09-12T13:47:44Z")
blurf ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/139 "2014-09-12T14:03:04Z")
I’m with **rosie**! I have to go to the pharmacy and the Kroger sto’ today. Tomorrow, I get a slave for a day. One of my friend’s sons is coming over to help me lug the microwave that went kablooie down the steps and a new one up. I have a feeling that I won’t want to do a lot of cooking when I get home from surgery. He will also help tote the laundry down and up the same steps. What was I thinking when I moved to a walk up? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849/140 "2014-09-12T14:48:49Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > And my FB feed is full of truther BS > > Aaaaaaaaaaaargh > > **Jim** Dump them, man. Life’s too short to have to wade through that crap. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-i-could-have-lived-without-knowing-that-mmp/697849.md?page=8)