Posts Tagged With: computers

Every Year Has a January 2 in It

Things change all the time. Relationships change. Politics change Food prices change. Computers change. Change change; the back of our quarters vary with each passing year. Synonyms mutate.  And even years change! Leap years have a February 29 in them. Other years don’t. Or so we thought! Isn’t nearly every 100th year bereft of a February 29?

Is life just a whirlwind? Is nothing constant? Surely, there must be some unyielding constant in our lives, something that makes us shout, “Yes, yes, we can tether our emotions and sanity to this touchstone.”

Fortunately, there is such a rock.

Every year possesses a January 2. Every. Single. Year.

You can check your old calendars. I show a past January calendar as proof.

You can now hold on to your sanity.

 

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: danger, explanations, lifestyle, Secrets of the Universe | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I am This Computer Old

Are you this old?

Everybody who uses computers is cloud-and- USB old, but some of us are older than that.

Some people are 3½” hard diskette old, but some of us older than that.

Some folks are 5½” floppy disk old, but some of us are older than that.

Some men and women are punch-card old,  but I am older that!

I am punch-tape old.

“Look upon input sources, ye mighty, and despair.”*

* = If Ozymandias had been a computer geek.

 

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

 

Categories: about me, observations | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Public Service Announcement – Online DMV Tests

Plate tectonics

My friend wanted to take the online DMV test. Her friend said it would be easier than driving to the DMV and taking the written driving test. So she plugged away on her cell phone at home. Off and on. For two days. And got nowhere slowly. The DMV’s test site was glacial when it worked. But mostly the test site stopped her cold, Often and early.

So she thought she’d use the computers at her library. Which was closed today. So we drove for 3o minutes to get to a library that was open. Logging on was a snap on the 13th attempt. She started the test, which stopped. For minutes on end. So. Many. Times. The stock market closed before she finished the test. From pillar to post, the test took her three hours. It took 30 minutes. So in total,  the online test took four hours*, which is officially slower than plate tectonics.

All in all, I have to say, I was unimpressed.

* = You could have six colonoscopies in that time.**

** = To be fair, the online DMV test is discernably more pleasant.

Now you know.

 

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

 

Categories: observations, Unbridled fun | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Italian Sub

American Entree

ITALIAN SUB

INGREDIENTS

1 Italian sub roll* or ⅓ baguette
2 tablespoons olive oil
1½ ounces sliced capicola
1½ ounces mortadella
1½ ounces Genoa salami
1½ ounces provolone
1 leaf iceberg lettuce, shredded (optional)
1 Roma tomato (optional)
¼ red onion (optional)

* Sub rolls can be made crunchy by putting them in a toaster oven. Use “toast” setting for 1 minute.

Serves 1. Takes 10 minutes.

PREPARATION

Cut Italian roll in half lengthwise. Drizzle both halves with olive oil. Add capicola, mortadella, and Genoa salami to bottom half of the roll. Put provolone on top of meat. Sprinkle iceberg lettuce on provolone. Cut Roma tomato lengthwise into 4 slices. Place tomato slices on lettuce. Thinly slice the red onion. Place red-onion slices on tomato slices. Put top half of sub roll on tomato slices. And Bob’s your uncle.

TIDBITS

1) In 1794, Signor Fabio Grimaldi of Florence develops the world’s first USB port. Nothing happens. The invention comes way ahead of its time. There are no computers, absolutely no place to put a USB port. There are even no memory sticks to go into the USB port.

2) And anyway Napoleon’s invasion of Italy in 1796 signals the start of nearly non-stop fighting across the European continent. Scientific investigation ends except for Signor Gabelli’s single attempt to build a under water fighting vessel made from bread. This sub research ends in frustration.

3) In 1903 Giovanni Amati makes the first edible Italian sub. It’s too big for Grimaldi’s USB port which unfortunately was tied to a kite’s tail and was blown away, lost forever.

4) But this sub was roughly the right shape. In 1955, for reasons which have been lost, Sarah Marston baked a tiny stick like sub. The dyslexic Sarah called it a USB stick.. Her husband the wine drinker munched on the stick and declared, “It needs port.” Of course, he meant port, the wine, but he had once raised again the USB-port idea. This vision was bound to grow again in the mind of science geeks everywhere. And it did. Today, every computer comes with USB ports and memory sticks. Now you know.

 

Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: history, humor, international | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Soul Crunching Computers

 

EvilComputer-

Computers that take forever to load, freeze, or crash make you cuss. Repeatedly. They make you say horrific things that will cast your soul down to the fiery pits of Hell. You don’t want to go there, it’s unambiguously bad. Think of a presidential debate that never ends. But you can’t survive without your Facebook and kitchen pictures. What can be done?

When buying a computer, look for the following five characteristics:

  1. It works.
  2. It works.
  3. It works.                                                                                                    If you see this, it’s already too late.
  4. It works.
  5. It works.

For pity’s sake do not purchase a computer lacking any of the above five points. A working computer will give you a chance to go to Heaven. A bad computer will send you to Hell. Choose wisely.

– Paul R. De Lancey, computer owner

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

Categories: humor | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

When My Family Stopped Ruling the World

Napoleon

200 years ago my great, great, great, great grandfather, Napoleon I, lost the battle of Waterloo. In doing so, he lost control of Europe, his position as emperor of France, and my birthright to rule France and intimidate the rest of the world. Bummer. But it’s fun to speculate what I would do if I were emperor. Let’s go! I’d:

1) Ban lutefisk. How how did we allowed this atrocity to go unchecked?

2) Abolish all Federal income taxes.

3) Impose imperial income taxes. We’re an empire now, remember?

4) Coffee trucks will cruise by the millions around all neighborhoods in the morning. This will increase productivity to an amazing extent, heralding in a new era of prosperity.

5) The Cubs will win the World Series. Imperial decree seems to be the only way to bring this about. Besides, Cub fans have suffered a lot.

6) Grade inflation will stop in schools. Teachers will get paid more. Bacon & Chocolate will be part of school lunches.

7) It will be illegal to advertise any story or post on the internet with, “You won’t believe” or “what happens next will shock you.

8) Twizzlers will become the world’s currency.

9) Tacos will be free everywhere on my birthday.

10) Computers will no longer freeze.

11) Spammers will be charged a penny for every person they spam. This will eliminate the need for income taxes. Yay!

12) People who don’t signal before they turn will spontaneously combust.

13) Air travel will be fun. Okay this last one is a stretch.

– Paul R. De Lancey, Emperor of the World

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

 

Categories: humor, international | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Doctor Economics – What We Should Do With Spammers

Penny

What is the most annoying aspect of our lives? It is, of course, spam on our computers. Spam is broken down into three basic types: ViagraTM, ways to lengthen your penis, and offers to inherit money from an ex-Nigerian dictator. All of this is only really useful to the kin of Nigerian dictators who are trying to finance penis-enhancement operations. And how many of us fit that description?

How about eat the spammers? Only four problems occur to me. First cannibalism in illegal in all fifty states. (I’m reasonably sure there’s religious exemption for this.) Second, how do we find the spammers? Third. what wine goes with grilled spammer? Merlot? Zinfandel? There are no books for this.

So, cannibalism is out. I never had much stomach for it anyway. I therefore propose a fee on all e-mail. Now hold your horses partner, let me finish. It would only be a small fee, say one cent per 100 e-mail recipients. If you only sent e-mail to five people each day, your annual fee would come to 18c. Affordable, you bet.

But what about the billions of dollars that would flow into the Federal Coffers from this levy? I’m glad you asked. Here are my suggestions.

1) Reduce the Federal deficit.

2) Bacon and chocolate for everyone.

3) Reduce taxes.

4) Subsidize the CowboyMetricsTM Society. (Helping out the statistically challenged kids of cowboys everywhere.)

5) Bacon and chocolate for everyone.

6) Lower the price of cell-phone plans.

7) Add gourmet lunches to all school cafeterias.

8) Jail cells for all those who don’t make their choices before getting to the fast-food counters.

9) Jail cells for all those who block the aisles in supermarkets with their carts.

10) Teaching quilt making to all the people who soon be in our prisons.

11) Develop computers that never freeze.

12) Bacon and chocolate for everyone.

– Paul De Lancey, Dr. Economics

My cookbook, Following Good Food Around the World, with its 180 wonderful recipes, my newest novel, Do Lutheran Hunks Eat Mushrooms, a hilarious apocalyptic thriller, and all my other books, are available on amazon.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories: finance, humor, politics | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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