Everyday Oddities

Some snippets from my day that I found to be somewhat odd:

• There is a person who works for another organization with whom I needed to set up an appointment with for next week. I've met with this person before, and have always found him to be a bit peculiar. When I set a time to meet with someone, I generally will pick at time either on the hour or half-hour (9:00, 10:30, etc). This guy, however, likes to set meeting times on the quarter-hour - either __:15 or __:45. That's just weird. Why not just round up or round down?

•  I spent a few minutes today answering an email I received from a person in the U.K. who is doing a research project on homelessness in Detroit. Our problems are now internationally known - awesome. This person's project was exploring the feasibility of the the City re-directing some of its funds to rehabilitate some of the abandoned and broken-down homes in the city, and make them available for low-income or homeless people to rent and live in. It's a decent idea in theory, but way more complicated to actually carry out. I didn't want to burst this guy's bubble, but Detroit is broke like a joke and the possibility of anything like this getting off the ground is unlikely to happen. 

•  I returned a call from someone I received earlier this week, and got this as the voice mail message: "I am sorry to have missed your call. Please leave me a message and I will return your call when I am able. I am very sorry to have missed your call, as it is very important to me. This is (John Doe) and I approve this message." Well, John Doe, you have my vote!

• I realized an oddity about myself, as well. I use the phrase "you bet" or "you betcha" a lot. I use it to mean "yes", "yep", "sure", "will do", "okay", etc. I probably use this phrase more than I should...a co-worker has noticed that it's kind of becoming my trademark phrase. I think I get this from my Mom, as she uses this phrase a lot. I don't know...maybe it's a West Michigan thing? Either way, I'm not going to try to change it, because the East side could use a little West side influence. 

• And lastly, I couldn't help but smile at this trash pile:

That's a pile of branches from a tree and a couple of random mattresses. My favorite part is the orange construction barrel standing in the driveway - I don't know, to warn drivers of the ginormous pile of trash? The good news: the next bulk trash pick-up day is next week. The bad news: This is my house, and the branches are all from a tree in the front yard, mattresses are from sources unknown.