Cup of Coffee

February 6, 2014: Half-Wits

133 Comments

I work with a girl named Dilraj, and she ordered from Jimmy John's last night. She had to tell the guy on the other line her name four times, then spelled it twice. On the receipt, he'd typed "Customer: Doriaa."

133 thoughts on “February 6, 2014: Half-Wits”

        1. One time Sheenie made a reservation over the phone. When we arrived, it was in the name of "Wally." Apparently, without even having my name, they conflated the two.

        2. I had a girlfriend in college who saw that spelling and referred to said person as "See-Ann". Yeah.

            1. One of our backstage techie guys in college theater was this guy that everyone believed to be "John Dell." He was so polite, it took him over a year to tell us that "Jondell" was actually his first name. We talked to that guy regularly backstage for a year and never knew his last name.

                1. There must be a difference in preferred spelling for computer guys and lighting/set stagehands. I saw that word spelled hundreds of times in those days and it was always "techies." Of course, we also typically spell theater as "theatre," though, so it could be one of those things where the business prefers to be different for the sake of being different.

                  2. Was joak. With the y/ie thing you complained about and I'm too familiar with, I couldn't resist. I tried to make it more obvious with the spookie spelling.

    3. My name's easy, so the only thing I get is "Is that spelled with a Y, an I or an I-E?" Well, you do see me standing here being not-female, correct?

      (...I recognize that all of these can be female, but I've never seen an "I" variant in a male)

      2. Dude, DUDE! I don't think anyone gets the "i-e" thing more often than I do. I get it in emails at work where my frickin name is in my signature. Its right there and I am clearly not the bearded lady, dammit!

                  1. And now you know why I've always called you that (also, that's my middle name, but with a "y").

        2. I get it in emails at work where my frickin name is in my signature.

          Ugg, I hate this. As someone with a common name with a somewhat uncommon spelling, yeah, the name's written right there. I especially get annoyed when others with the same predicament who should be more sensitive to the issue also misspell my name. I usually purposefully misspell their name in my reply like a good passive aggressive Minnesota boy.

          Other email signature complaint: people that don't put their phone numbers in their signature.

          1. My daughter, Frances, gets spelled Francis all the time and drives her, me, and wife up the wall. Frances=female; Francis=male.

            #dontcallmefrancis

            1. My maternal grandfather was Francis, and my maternal grandmother was named Frances. Fanny and Frank.

      3. People freeze up when trying to say my last name or they just ask me how to pronounce it (sound it out, people), but my first name gets misspelled way more than my last name. I realize there are three common ways to spell it and mine is probably the least common of the three, but really, how hard is it to ask?

    4. Watching customers look at Dilraj's name tag at the end and take a stab is always fun. Usually they just smile and acknowledge they're out of their depth, sometimes they have no trouble with it (it's really not hard) and sometimes it creates long-running jokes. Two years ago a customer had a conversation with her and when they finished, he looked at the tag and said "Thanks, Digital."

      DIGITAL~! I still call her that, to this day.

      1. I never anticipated that people would routinely mispronounce my daughter's name, but they do. Turns out that we probably have a less popular pronunciation (people, it's an "S", not a "Z").

        Speaking of alternate pronunciations, my cousin's name is "Cheryl". That "CH" is pronounced like the "CH" in church. I have never met anyone else with that pronunciation.

    5. I use my full name at work because people routinely get the short version wrong. I introduce myself: I get, "Hi Keith." WTF? Maybe it's me, maybe I mumble. Nope, other people have introduced me and I get the same result. Using my full name, which, ironically enough, sounds much closer to Keith, has stopped that problem.

            1. Come to think of it, they kind of look alike. Also, major drug addiction problems. Perhaps I look like a junkie? No, that's not it.

    6. My email at work is under Zack. My signature says Zack. Half the emails I get are addressed to "Zach."

      I also get called Josh a lot for some reason. I guess I look like a Josh.

      3. My name has three letters, yet the head of maintenance at my museum can't remember my name. I've been dubbed "big J". Seems harder to remember to call me big J than my shorter actual name.

  3. I woke up this morning and it seemed a bit cold. The thermostat was set at 65 but the actual temp was down to 58. Looks like the thermocouple on the furnace might be going bad. I finally got it to fire up, but this is probably a good time to get some ROI from Home Service Plus.

    1. I had this same problem a week or so ago. We had a guy come out and clean it and now it works fine. Had same problem last year. How much to replace the thing, I wonder?

      1. As I understand it, the gas that burns from the pilot light creates a film around the sensor, making it less effective. Apparently cleaning with steel wool (or similar) is the best course, no need for replacement since the problem will just reoccur with the new thermocouple too.

        1. We have no pilot light. I suppose that any burning of gas (i.e. when the thing is running) will do it, but the pilot light is constant and should cause the problem more quickly.

          1. In that case, did he check to see if the burners were getting the right amount of air? If they aren't and are running more gas rich than they should be, that'll get carbon coming off the flame from incomplete combustion which will foul things up much quicker.

            1. Truly, this is the WGOM. Thanks for that tip! (No, I didn't ask that.) What causes insufficient air? Dirty filter? Because my wife is diligent about that.

              1. I'm not really sure because I am living in my first house that I've owned that is brand new, so I've never had furnace issues. I just happen to work in the industrial combustion field, so I'm familiar with flame characteristics. I suppose it could be a fluke thing getting into the air intake, or possible stuff that made it through the filter and built up over time or just an improper air baffle setting from the get go.

          2. I suppose it's just a question of where the thermocouple is in relation to the burning gas. I'd suppose the result is the same though, judging from the fact that cleaning worked twice for you - why replace what you can clean?

              1. are you trying to say that you didn't do this service yourself? That you paid someone to do it???

                httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNUr__-VZeQ

                1. Actually, I had paid for it earlier this summer when my air conditioner went out. I had forgotten that I'd paid for a tune up until the furnace quit working. So, I just cashed that chip in.

        2. I am so doing this over the weekend. Our furnace has a piezoelectric ignition that lights a pilot that heats the thermocouple, and I'm sure it's been 10 years or more since it's been cleaned. Gracias!

    2. Same thing happened to me two nights ago. My furnace was replaced in 09. I phoned the installers, at 730pm, they were at my house within half an hour, and had a new motor in place by 830pm. Best of all, only cost me labor due to the warranty. If you ever need a furnace in WNY, I've got a good recommendation.

      1. I've only made it twice using country ribs, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't still work with a loin. Maybe cut it into smaller chunks if its pretty big?

          1. I did not char the ribs, but I do typically give a little (a lot of) initial heat to roasts/loins before putting them into crock pots. I suppose in this case, its basically just user preference.

                1. where the frack was I today? Damn.

                  That recipe will work with just about any cut of meat, but if the loin is really lean you should add a fair bit of fat to the pan you're roasting the meat in. You'll likely render off all the fat of the meat leaving it a bit meh as a finished product. I might also suggest you just go another equally easy route with a pork loin --->sesame ginger roast pork loin.

                  Marinade the loin in 2 cups of soy sauce, a dash or two of sesame oil, 1 inch of fresh ginger grated, 4 cloves of smashed garlic, a dash or two of crushed red pepper, and a tablespoon of brown sugar overnight. Turn on oven to 350-400, discard marinade, dry roast off with paper towels, roast until an interanl temperature of about 130 degrees, glaze with a 1:1 mixture of brown sugar and honey, sprinkle with sesame seeds, put back in oven until your preferred done ness temperature has been reached. The sweetness of the glaze will cut through the saltiness of the soy sauce, and the sesame ginger mix gives this dish a deep flavor that is good as bahn mi the next day.

    2. And we had meat's Southwestern tator tot hot dish recipe the other day. Also incredible.

  5. I thought I'd check around the internets to see if I could find any cheap tickets to the upcoming Neutral Milk Hotel show only to realize that the shows are tonight and tomorrow night. Gonna have to enter into negotiations with the wife...

    1. A friend had an extra ticket to the Monday show in Minny. I hooked him up with someone I know who wanted to go and paid $100 (face value=$35). Afterward I was thinking I should have sold mine for $100 to acquitance and then try to buy my friend's extra for face value. I think my friend is going to buy me beer however. I noticed on Stub Hub no tix available for Monday show and Tuesday's show are listed at $150.

      1. Craigslist has some for tonight's show around face ($40ish), but it's going to have to be tomorrow night or nothing. Worse comes to worse, I just might head down there and hope I can pick up a ticket for nothing too ridiculous.

            2. Here's my favorite NMH in pop culture moment:

              httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QMbBUyEIDc&list=PL0fMYRBpvebAEpw95ZeC9xjWHX3pHYHbf&index=9

    2. Found a guy on CL selling tickets for the 2/7 show for $30 (!) with the pick-up spot located right next to my place way out in the suburbs (!!). Talked with him and realized he was actually selling for tonight's show (he listed the wrong date) which I can't go to. Thanks for getting my hopes up, you wanker.

      Back to refreshing every 5 minutes.

    1. In the glorious Jose Canseco Scarface The World Is Yours Mansion of goofball baseball fandom, there are many rooms. Caring is the thing, and caring comes in a lot of weird, hand-gnarled forms. There are grown-ass men boxing out tweens for autograph position despite the evident dismay of the quad-A plugger whose signature they're seeking. There are people creating bespoke statistical metrics on their own home computers and then ranking players by xKEVIN or BURT+ and people who spend hours a day honing Rick Sutcliffe imitations.

      Can we just re-name blown opponent save opportunities xAMR?

      2. who spend hours a day honing Rick Sutcliffe imitations
        This is just an euphemism for "Binge drinking", right?

        I really like calling it the BOSO.

        1. I say it's yours so you get to name it. And to me BOSO is easier to say out loud than xAMR

          1. It's pronounced "ZAMMER". As in, "And, there's another zammer, I'm outta here."

            'Spoiler' SelectShow

  7. Jay Leno stepping down after 22 years. What was your favorite moment?

    Actual Spoiler SelectShow

    2. I enjoyed his schtick when I was 13. Then I developed a sense of humor. Worse than his lame comedy, though, was how creepy and offensive he could often be.

    3. Outside of the post arrest Hugh Grant interview (19 years ago!), nothing comes to mind when it comes to Leno.
      I gravitate towards Letterman because I like my late night chat shows hard boiled and bitter. And he has better bands.

    4. I grew up in a Leno household, and often watched him in high school, but not passionately. It was just there. I never enjoyed Letterman. That said, there are only 2 things that really stand out to me about Leno:
      1) Headlines, which, of course, isn't his material.
      2) I remember an episode one night, during my senior year of high school, when he had JFK Jr. on as a surprise guest, and that was the extra credit question on our math test the next day.

      If we're talking good late night, it don't get better than Craig Ferguson.

    5. These days I can't fathom staying up to watch any of those late night shows. 11:30 is 2.5 hours past my bedtime. 12:30 (when the Tonight Show actually ends in E/P time zones) is 3.5 hours past my bedtime. 3.5 hours is nearly half a good night's rest.

        1. I don't really view my comment in that context. There are things worth staying up late for, but looking back on it, late night talk shows weren't worth it.

          1. The older one gets, the more staying up for anything isn't worth it. I'm not sure I regret staying up late when I was younger; I just was able to do it and get away with it. That said, I'm going to bed.

            2. Ive always been one to stay up late. Heck, Im old enough and remember watching (and falling asleep to) Carson (if I remember right, KARE aired a syndicated episode of Cheers before the Carson/early days of Leno). I stayed up for SNL, and a showing of Mystery Science Theater afterwards (I think it was the syndicated version)

              1. You remember correctly. When I was 11 I'd lie in bed with a black and white 7 inch tv in my lap and watch Cheers at 10:35

    6. I never liked him either; I found his comedy dreadful even at a young age. My dad watched Letterman and I developed an appreciation for it then, as I could stay up forever in those days.

      I haven't watched late night TV in a long time. I don't know why, actually. I always enjoyed it as mindless and occasionally hilarious fare.

  9. Big Twins news!

    Brad Nelson signs a minor league contract with the Twins. Who's that? Only the best player to ever come out of Algona, IA!

    2. I just missed playing HS ball against Brad. His senior year I was still playing freshman ball.

  10. Fargo has had below zero temperatures in 49 of the last 63 days. The average days for a season is 48 (!). I wouldn't be surprised if they get another 20 days below zero this winter (including absolutely the next 4).

    2. it's currently 34 degrees here. I know that this would be a marked improvement for the upper midwest, but houses down here were not built for this kind of sustained cold. The drafts are actually coming up from my floor.

      1. My grandmother's house in Tulsa (a 1920's farm house that the city grew around in the 60s) didn't have a furnace. There was a gas fireplace in the living room and a gas wall heater in the bathroom and that was it.

      1. recent memory

        yup, recent memory. there was a story on the radio about how chicago has been having relatively mild winters since the 70s pretty much. this is the first real winter i've experienced out here so far, finally.

    4. I've not kept track, but it's really hard to remember any relief. If we get it it seems to be for a day or two at a time. I seriously need to find work in a warmer climate.

      1. It's been in the 30s here all week, but I was playing footy in the park on Saturday and it was in the 70s. At least the weather has had the courtesy to be nice on the weekends since I moved down here.

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