My brother, Defense Attorney and former philosophy major writes:

Dear Mel,

Are people innately good, sometimes making mistakes, or are they innately evil, acting like they are good only in order to get what they want?

jason

Dear Jason,

Mel have met many, many people. Maybe as many people as Mel have toes, and mel usually get petted on head by people and sometime they give Mel treat. In old house, Mel notice many little people who walk by house going one way in morning, going other way in evening. Little people would shout at Mel and bang on fence and so Mel know these people are evil because they not pet Mel or give him treat. But taller people who walk by give Mel pet or wave at Mel and say "hello, doggy!" so mel run up and down fence and say bark bark bark bark.
Also, mel not sure if people act to get what they want as people never want anything from Mel. But Mel know truck is eveil as truck want garbage and steal it every week no matter how much mel bark bark bark.

The saga of the couch continues as Jamie takes exception to how events were related (as she frequently does).

Jamie writes:

Dear Melbotis,

I would like to take the time to call bullshit on a particular part of the Tale of the Couch. In particular, the part where the League claims he was concerned about what would happen if we kept the leather loaner sofa:

"Knowing we had a cleared check and a new sofa en route, I took a moment to pause. "What are we going to do with the interim sofa?" I asked Jamie.
And we considered our many options, but what I DID NOT want to happen was for us to be tracked down in a year when we'd given the sofa away and were unable to retrieve the thing. Nor could we let them know we had it until we had received the new sofa.
Which arrived two weeks ahead of schedule on Friday.
"We need to return the interim sofa."
"I don't think they know we have it."
"We need to return it."
"Look, you take care of it."

I believe the conversation went a little more like:

The League: "Wow, they have no idea we have their couch. I am totally going to sell this to Juli for like 400 bucks."
Mrs. League: "I don't know if I'm comfortable with that, hon. It isn't our couch and I have this sinking feeling that if we do that, they're going to be taking inventory some day and come after us."
The League: "They will never remember we have this. Come on, be cool, baby."
Mrs. League: "I just can't do it. I'll be having constant nightmares about anthropomorphic leather couches."
The League: "Fine, but you have to deal with it."

Thanks for listening, Melbotis. You can go back to chewing on pig-head now.

Dear Jamie,

Mel not sure of exactly what happen, but Mel suspect you probably are wrong. Mel believe it went more like this:

The League: Dammit woman! We have to do what is right!
Mrs. League: I am so lazy, I can barely talk.
The League: Jamie, get off the couch so I can return it.
Mrs. League: No. Although I agree the couch is not suitable for this room or our tastes, I am sooooooo lazy, I plan to just lay here so we can't get rid of the couch. besides, we could probably sell this couch to a struggling immigrant family at an incredibly inflated price, thus taking all of their hard earned money and depriving them of a chance at the American Dream. Bwah-ha-ha-ha!
The LEague: I cannot stand idly by and allow you to continue to abuse immigrants! We're returning that couch, and you're going to call the Roomstore yourself!
Mrs. League: In the light of your unwavering righteous wisdom, I see the error of my ways. I shall call the Roomstore.
The League: I'm so proud of you and love you so much. Right, Melbotis?
Melbotis: Right, Ryan!
All Together: Ha ha ha ha ha...
(and... scene)

So, you see, Jamie. mel say there are many ways to perceive the events and how they happened. mel sad that your perception is so tragically incorrect.

Jack Kirby is now ten years gone. All Hail the King.

Slow weekend.

This is what happens when you actualloy buy a house in the suburbs, Leaguers. I spent Saturday replacing a sprinkler head on our automated sprinkler system. It turned out to very inexpensive and fairly quick to do. Then, we went to Arizona Cactus and got several plants for the yard, then some soil and planted those. It's raining like a bastard today, so i am curious to see if we'll still have cacti when i get home, or if they'll all have flooded away.

And now is as good a time as any to relate The Tale of the Couch (or: Be Careful When Purchasing a Sectional Sofa).

Last August, Jamie and I decided it was time to get a new sofa. The sofa we had was purchased immediately after college with little funding behind it, and the wear of two unweildy Steans men and a chubby dog had ground the thing into uselessness.

We also had family coming for Thanksgiving, so we decided we should replace the sofa sooner rather than later.

Jamie and I also have a steadfast rule: Our house is not intended to impress other people, it's there to entertain us. And as such, we began to also consider what Jamie might like best. And if Jamie likes one thing, it's getting a little shut-eye. So, while wandering around one furniture store, we said to ourselves "Ah-HA!!!! We shall get two parts of a sectional. One part shall be a two-cushion section, and the other shall be a lounge, so that Jamie may lay down all the time!"

We looked high and we looked low for a new sofa, trying not to travel all over the Valley of the Sun to select one, but making sure we'd given it a good shot. We have a smallish space for a sofa to fit in, and we also knew the sofa would not sit against a wall in the room it was intended for. Jamie and I seemed to be drifting toward a bold, solid color as we looked at our options. There's a whole world of variations on a theme of beige when one looks for a sofa.

At long last, we ended up at Basset furniture. Basset makes custom furniture based upon a wide array of designs and fabric selections. We found just about exactly what we were looking for, got through the process and paid a small deposit on what was to be a fairly expensive piece of furniture. We wnet home knowing that in about 6 weeks, we'd have our furniture.

7 weeks passed and I called Basset. I was told one part of the sectional had arrived, and they were awaiting the secodn part. It should be in within two weeks.

Two weeks later I called and was told that the second piece had not arrived, and could I wait two weeks?

The process more or less repeated itself, and I asked to speak with a manager. "He's not available. Can he call you back?"

"Sure."

Nobody called.

And then THIS process repeated itself.

Finally we reached about a week before Thanksgiving, and I still had no new sofa. So I drove down to the store (which, just by point of explanation, is about halfway across town). I asked for the manager by name, and upon seeing me, he pretty much freaked out. "We have half of your sectional."
"I know that."
"But there was a mix-up, and they sent the wrong piece for the other half."
"How long have you known that?"
It urned out they'd known that for a LONG time, but someohow had not fixed the error in their system. So basically the order was coming up in their computers as "completed," but, in fact, was not. I was assured that they would correct the situation.
Two interesting things happened while I was there. Apparently everyone at Basset knew who I was from my frequent calling. Steve the mqnager said "this is Mr. Steans," and they would say "Ohhhh, Mr. Steeeans." And then I heard some guy, who did NOT know who i was decribing a situation similar to mine and talking about what a chump the customer was. It was then pointed out I was Mr. Steans, and the guy got kind of quiet.
Steve the Manager told me that I would get several hundred dollars taken off the price of the sofa if I didn't ask for my money back at this moment, and, as a bonus, I'd get a loaner sofa for the interim.
It sounded good. If I were patient, I'd get the sofa I wanted for cheap, and I'd get a nice, leather sofa for the interim, and a nice little story about the sectional when it did show up.
The interim sofa showed up as promised. No problems there. We had the interim sofa by THanksgiving, and I gave the old sofa to a poor student in need of a place to sit.
But then things got quiet from Basset.
I called again.
"Where's my sectional?"
And I got the same old story from them "Well, it looks like you got a piece of it in the warehouse, and they're waiting ona second piece..."
"Can i talk to Steve, your manager?"
On hold.
"He's not available."
So given some time off right between Christmas and the New Year, I went down to Basset to figure out what the story was.
I pulled into the lot, and the sign was gone. Basset had closed it's doors. And they had a few hundred of my bucks.
I freaked out. BUT...
there was a sheet of paper taped to the window of the Basset store. It directed all inquires to THe Roomstore which sat next door.
I wandered in and asked what was going on. They were able to track my paperwork after a while. it turned out Basset was financially attached to The Roomstore, and The Roomstore now was supposed to take care of my business for me.
It says here we got in one piece of the sectional..." the girl read from the screen.
"Okay..." I sighed, rubbing my eyes. "I want my money back."
THey promised a refund of my deposit. I was happy. I was curious that they didn't ask about the interim sofa, but whatever.
Jamie and I went in search of a new couch, and upon visiting a different store, found one immediately. We ordered it, and off we went.
"You ordered a new sofa?" people asked me, incredulous that I would take such a dare again.
"Well," I would nod, "I do need a place to sit."
"You have that other sofa."
"I don't like the other sofa."
"I can't believe you're willing to take that chance again."
Well, people, there are millions of sofas safely delivered each year. I figured we could take our chances on this one actually arriving.
But my re-imbursement check didn't arrive.
"Did you wait 7-10 days sir?"
"Uhm. It's been like 7."
"It could be there in 10 days."
So I waited.
And it didn't show.
So i called again.
"Oh God," said the girl on the other end of the phone. "They never even started your paerwork to get the check. Hold on."
I waited, staring into the image of the firey abyss I imagined the whole shopping center becoming.
"Sir," she chirped. "I've begun your paperwork. You can expect your check in 7-10 days."
"Okay..." I said, imagining the whole strip center an inferno.
But then... the check came. And it even cleared.
Knowing we had a cleared check and a new sofa en route, I took a moment to pause. "What are we going to do with the interim sofa?" I asked Jamie.
And we considered our many options, but what I DID NOT want to happen was for us to be tracked down in a year when we'd given the sofa away and were unable to retrieve the thing. Nor could we let them know we had it until we had received the new sofa.
Which arrived two weeks ahead of schedule on Friday.
"We need to return the interim sofa."
"I don't think they know we have it."
"We need to return it."
"Look, you take care of it."
So Jamie called, and The Roomstore came within 24 hours to actually come and retrieve their own sofa. "You have MERCHANDISE?" Apparently the girl was horrified to find this out. Apparently they had no record of the interim couch and we could have kept it for all eternity.
So we have the new couch. It's big and blue and has seats for more than two. I'm pretty pleased with the darn thing. I just wish we'd gone to Stone Creek Furniture to begin with. I also found out I CAN be patient and not turn into a weepy mess when confronted wiht an irritating but non-life-threatening annoyance.

In my post below about Survivor, I failed to mention the program which actually met and surpassed my expectations. But because it's PBS, there's no game, just an experiment.

THe show was Frontier House and I watched it the first time in the Spring of 2002. They've had other shows in the series. Manor House was a favorite of mine. But just don't be surprised when there's no contests and no immunity challenges. No prizes at the end. Just folks playing roles as assigned.

The idea of Frontier House was to take three families from different walks of life and see what life might have been like in the summer of 1883 in the wilds of Montana. There's still drama and conniving. The family from Malibu can't seem to get their heads around how NOT to muck with the experiment by trading with the one modern family in walking distance, the middle-class folks form the South do fairly well, but the family has a difficult time holding it together, and the young couple has their own fair share of adjustments to make (not the least of their dissatisfaction at having to end the experiment).

Nobody walks away with an Aztek, and nobody gets $1 million. But it's interesting to watch, and a genuine test of mettle. If any of the shows in the series come on PBS, they're certainly worth checking out.

I'll be honest. I never cared much for Survivor.

The initial ads had me upbeat. I was misled to believe it was a program about fat Americans dumped onto an uncharted island and forced to survive and outlast one another, which proved partially true. I expected Lord of the Flies style warfare and a chance to see if people can really work together or if they really are doomed to destory one another. A tiny microcosm on CBS.

What I hadn't anticipated were all of the immunity challenges,voting one another off, etc... I expected to genuinely watch people crumble as they sat back and tried to decide whether they had strength of will to outlast the others in their wretched condition, or whether that Lay-Z-Boy at home suddenly seemed like a much better idea.

Survivor has t's own rules and has games, and alliances and all this other stuff. But to me, the fun would have come out of seeing if fat Americans could have really learned to live off the land.

I mean, at one point, this was humanity's natural state, standing around trying to figure out how to survive. There was no host to force a vote off the island. There were no games, etc... and certainly the idea of "immunity" when people really wanted to nail you was next to inconceivable. I am glad that viewers seem to recognize THIS IS A GAME. Already in season 2, I am led to believe, people talked about strategies and alliances and knew how to play the game.

And so, instead of being totally disappointed, at least I can say "well, both fans and contestants take it for what it is."

What I find infinitely more interesting are Dedman's recaps of Survivor. Short, to the point, and none of the annoying "oh look, I got a digereedoo" music. Also, Dedman's recaps do not insert "meaningful" glances every time someone makes a statement.

Before I go and make everyone think I've got a swelled head about game shows on TV, I will mention that I watched "The Littlest Groom" on Fox. And it was boring. Horribly, horribly boring. Until the last five minutes, anyway, when it turned darkly evil. I suppose people assume Little People must have magical powers which will make them innately interesting, but, I guess to the producer's surprise, take away the Little, and you have People. And not terribly fascinating people at that. But, luckily it only runs for two episodes, so I can tune in for the last five minutes on Monday and see how this fiasco winds up.

I, myself, am also awaiting the return of Man Vs. Beast on Fox. There's nothing more humbling than watching the world hotdog eating champ get his ass handed to him by a GRIZZLY BEAR!!!!!

As a side note, the Saga of the Couch is drawing to a close. When it is completed, I shall detail it herein.

I was planning on writing something very similar when i found the time, but thankfully, The Onion has once again saved me the trouble.

God bless my parents for only occasionally asking how I would use an RTF degree.