sharp'ner

imagine this word in a thick british accent (pronounced shop' nuh). i learned the other day what this little (british) english word means.

part of my job involves going to "kick-offs," in which a supplier either introduces a new product or re-launches (re-markets) an existing one. the last such kick-off was hosted by the supplier that represents malibu rum, kahlua, and beefeater gin (among others). malibu and kahlua both introduced new flavors (banana, and french vanilla and hazelnut respectively), and beefeater has a new package.

beefeater's new marketing plan includes a change in target market: they are going after a younger crowd. one of their marketing gems is this "sharp'ner." so what is it?

everyone is familiar with the "happy hour." well, apparently in england, they are way bigger commitment phobes than we are, and instead of committing to an entire "hour" somewhere (not that all of us americans literally do this), the brits do more of a bar hop/pub crawl thing, and stay at each place for one drink or so, a "sharp'ner" (dovie and heather, can you confirm?); at least this is what the marketing ploy is. so the supplier is spending tons of money on this "sharp'ner" theme.

i'm intrigued, and it should be really interesting to see if this catches on.

"pretty towels"

have you ever been to someone's house who has those towels in the bathroom that are really nice and pretty and decorative, but as far as the ability to dry things goes, they just can't? all they do is spread out the wet; they don't actually absorb it. can someone explain this to me? last time i checked, the purpose of a towel was TO DRY things. i don't understand these towels that just look pretty. why would you spend money on that? (this speaks volumes about my personality, actually. i'm obviously much more concerned with functionality than with appearance). and you can't tell me these "pretty towels" are less expensive than the towels that may not be as decorative but do actually dry things. in fact, i'm willing to bet they're more than just a little bit more expensive.

but seriously, are there not "pretty towels" that are also made of a material that is absorbant? i hear there's this remarkable new stuff called terry cloth...

gas (pumps)

as i was driving to my office this morning, i saw something on the side of the highway i'd never seen (on the side of the road) before. i'd tell you what it was, but i don't know if it has a name. we've all seen them, many times a day in fact. most of us even use them at least once a week. so what am i talking about? you know the place at the gas station where you pay (the "pump" i guess)? yes, well that WHOLE thing was lying on the side of 290 west. i so wish that i had taken a picture (since i had my camera with me and my phone has a camera on it), but i feel like i take my life into my hands just driving lately, so fumbling around to find something with which to take a picture would probably not have been wise (i do try sometimes). but seriously, how does something like that get on the side of the road? don't you think if you were driving the vehicle transporting that cargo that you would notice something that large falling off? would you not have to go back and get it? so who's responsible for picking it up? very interesting...

and while that's intriguing, i have one better:
about 2-3 weeks ago, i am at the shell station by my house filling up. i'm innocently sitting in my car waiting, and suddenly the gas tank shuts off and stops pumping. curious, i get out of the car and look around, wondering what happened (it hadn't even been close to enough time to fill up the tank). lo and behold, the lady on the other side of the same pump (who's on her cell phone, by the way) has DRIVEN AWAY with the pump still in her gas tank. yes, that's right. and when she pulled away, she ripped that sucker right out of the pump. so for all of you who ever wondered what would happen if you drove away from a gas pump with the handle still attached, now you know. it rips out, stays attached to your car, and shuts off the pump. and while that's stupid enough, what's even better is that she got out of her car, hung up with the person she was talking to, made another phone call, and just stood there staring at the pump. um, you want to go inside and tell the attendant what happened and maybe find out what to do? neh, lemme call my friend/boyfriend/whomever and find out what he/she thinks i should do.

because my pump wouldn't work any more, i just paid and left. it was too hard not to laugh at her, and had i stayed any longer, i would have been REALLY unchristian. i'm laughing now as i type because it was so ridiculous. i swear, people kill me.

casual dinners

i had a very small group of friends over for dinner last weekend, and we grilled, as usual. i realized as i was surrounded by this very eclectic group how blessed i am. none of the people who were here had actually met before, but we all laughed harder than we had in a very long time. after a while, my stomach actually started to hurt. it was so much fun, and i am so glad we did it. it just reminds me that i need to slow down, take a break from work, and take more time for my friends.