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It probably wasn't meant to be funny...

19 years ago

... but I just got a CD of Raymond Scott music which bore a sticker proclaiming that it was 'digitally remastered' and had 'all new notes'.

Another recent find that worried my daughters and me was a sign which said 'Please ask our staff for help' - in braille. On the exit barrier from a multi storey car park. On the driver's side.

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Comments (10)

J C
19 years ago
A couple of years ago I had this conversation with someone from the Department of Motor Vehicles in California (USA).

Me: Hello, I have a question about renewing my drivers license. It expires next week and...

Man on phone: Excuse me, ma'am. Are you blind? (Spoken without a trace of irony)

Me: Uh..no...I just have a question about...

Man on phone: I'm sorry, ma'am, this line is only for the blind.

Me: Is this the drivers license bureau?

Man on phone: Yes ma'am.

Me: I suppose this is terribly politically incorrect of me, but you don't really give driving licenses to blind people, do you?

Man on phone: I don't know about that, I just know I'm only supposed to talk to the blind on this line.

Me: Do you talk to lots of people on this line?

Man on phone: Actually, no.

Me: Whew.
karalk
19 years ago
VERY funny! I hope we get a lot of responses to this thread, I'm sure there are lots of stories out there!
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OK I have to jump in here. I am a working mother with 2 kids age 4 and 10 like you spitfire. I work full time, commuting into NYC in a high demand job that requires me to travel. My husband also works full time. I am a harried mother with very little time to do anything. My kids are a disaster BUT I'll be darned if I let then run around destroying things that aren't theirs (like an item in a store) or playing/eating things that aren't paid for. I don't think that being a busy mom excuses anyone from having their kids be so out of control that they are downright disruptive and destructive. I don't post often on these boards, not because I feel left out, but because sometimes what I have to say is not as interesting as what others are saying. I've found the couple of times that I have posted, people are very friendly and accepting. A majority of posters have kids and many of them do work outside the home. Just because they make time to do things they like/enjoy does not necessarily mean that they have grown/no children or that they stay home. Reading your post got to me because you are not the only busy working mom out there. So when people hide behind that to make excuses for bad behavior or for feeling left out, I think that's the fault of the individual. Goldust posted an observation that annoyed her to the friends on this board, I don't think it was fair of you to accuse people of trying to turn this into a "slam" on women with young children. That was not the point of her post. I'm off on the one vacation I get a year so I won't see your response. Trust me when I say that I feel your pain but I just don't think your rant was fair.
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I wasn't expecting this!
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Linda - hugs for you! It sounds really frustrating. If you've read any of my posts, you'll know that I can relate to your disappointment and frustration. Things that I am learning: #1 - Don't beat yourself up thinking that if you had gone with the more expensive kitchen company, everything would have been better. I went with an expensive company and I still have a kettle of problems. Don't second guess. #2 - Don't be afraid to be assertive. I felt pushed around several times in this process. It is hard for me to push back, but I am. I have to. You have to. #3 - Take lots of pictures and try to reduce things to writing to help document your concerns. Does the cabinet man have e-mail? He must. Send him e-mails to help create a paper trail and make him more accountable. If he is the person responsible for or doing the cabinet painting, then he must be able to put a top finish coat of the correct color on all of the cabinets to make them match. The top coat of color is the most important from what I have been learning from finish carpenters. It should all be one lot of the same color, not bought piecemeal a gallon at a time at the local paint store. Is he diluting the paint to make it stretch farther? Is he using the same number of coats on each "batch" of cabinets? How many coats? Ask! Is he using conversion varnish or regular paint? Is he applying a clear coat protectant? If the cabinet man is out of his league on the soft closures, perhaps you can get him to agree to have someone else retrofit the drawers with better closures. Closures, even the Blum hardware advertised by Wood-Mode and Brookhaven, are really not expensive. Do you know the brand he is trying to install? There are actually forums on line where people talk about drawer closures and stuff. During the course of my kitchen project, I've had to go to "hinge talk" more than once. You might need to seek out advice here or on a hinge forum to help him figure out the solution. Not what you bargained for, but we gotta do what we gotta do. The GC just adds fuel to the fire. All these guys push us to use their friends or people they have worked with in the past. Who needs the "Told you so" attitude. He needs to shut up and help you solve problems instead of being a problem. Tell him that.
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Chris_in_the_Valley
19 years ago
A car pulled in beside me as I was parking at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago. The driver was walking in ahead of me when I noticed he was blind and had one of those tapping sticks.

I've a legally blind cousin who drives.
cindydavid4
19 years ago
legally blind does not mean what most people think it means - totally blind. Many of those legally blind have some vision, often enough to be able to function well, even to drive. In this case we are not talking about totally blind drivers.
martin_z
19 years ago
Going back to remastered music with "all new notes" reminds me; at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, Ronnie Scott used to regularly make an announcement which went something like:-

"Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. That last number was a special request. We don't normally do requests, unless we're asked for them. That one was for a gentleman who wanted us to play The Yellow Rose of Texas. We hope he liked it - it had a lot of the same notes in it."
disputantum
19 years ago
Yay! Someone else has heard of Raymond Scott. Powerhouse sometimes plays in my mind while I'm doing a repetitive task.
anyanka
Original Author
19 years ago
I only just found out his name, Joseph - I heard Scott's The Penguin in the film Funny Bones, but didn't know what it was (other than brilliant). The whole CD is fabulous, all 22 and 1/2 tracks. Sounded like all old notes, though.
ccrdmrbks
19 years ago
well, you know, they don't make notes like they used to. I blame it on iTunes.
timallan
19 years ago
I was horrified by a recent news broadcast here in Canada.

The announcer on a local tv news broadcast was recounting the day's gruesome revelations in the trial of Robert Pickton, a pig-farmer in British Columbia who is thought to have killed as many as forty-nine prostitutes, addicts and street-women. The case is probably the worst in Canadian history.

The announcer stated that among the day's testimony was that of a policeman who found a woman's head in bucket. Unfortunately (for the announcer) the following story was about a series of high-profile firings at city hall. Without a trace of irony, he moved from the murder trial to the dismissals with the words: "Well, heads are rolling at city hall..."
cindydavid4
19 years ago
He probably was reading the prompter. I'd go after the writer. Thats horrid.

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