You are the Hanged Man
You are the Hanged Man
Self-sacrifice, Sacrifice, Devotion, Bound.
With the Hanged man there is often a sense of fatalism, waiting for something to happen. Or a fear of
loss from a situation, rather than gain.
The Hanged Man is perhaps the most fascinating card in the deck. It reflects the story of Odin who offered himself as a sacrifice in order to gain knowledge. Hanging from the world tree, wounded by a spear, given no bread or mead, he hung for nine days. On the last day, he saw on the ground runes that had fallen from the tree, understood their meaning, and, coming down, scooped them up for his own. All knowledge is to be found in these runes.
The Hanged Man, in similar fashion, is a card about suspension, not life or death. It signifies selflessness, sacrifice and prophecy. You make yourself vulnerable and in doing so, gain illumination. You see the world differently, with almost mystical insights.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.
Still Alive
I haven't posted anything here for a while. I'm still alive though.
Next week I'm going to Disney World.
Bonus Weird Habit
Since I didn't tag anyone, here's a bonus weird habit.
I can't pick favorites. There are things I like more than others, but I couldn't tell you my favorite color, movie, song, etc. Maybe there are just too many things that I like equally well to point out just one as the favorite. A lot of people might say their favorite colors are gold and silver, but there can be only one when you're talking about favorites and I can't pick only one.
Tagged - Weird Habits
The first player of this game starts with the topic "five weird habits of yourself," and people who get tagged need to write an entry about their five weird habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next five people to be tagged and link to their web journals. Don't forget to leave a comment in their blog or journal that says "You are tagged" (assuming they take comments) and tell them to read yours.
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First, I'm not tagging any people because I hate chain-letters.
1. I compulsively check nerd news sites. It used to be
slashdot, but lately I like
digg better. When I work at home it gives me some sense of interaction with the outside world.
2. Computers must not make noise. I hate un-asked for noises. The first thing I do with every computer I get is turn off the stupid noises. There's no reason I should be audibly notified every time I click a web link or an error occurs. This includes websites that make noise. No websites should have sound.
3. I chew my lip. Sometimes I get chapped lips. Usually this leaves little bits of skin that I then chew off or pull off with my fingers.
4. Showers have an order. First is the shampoo and rinse. Then the conditioner. Leave in the conditioner until I've finished with the soap. Rinse body soap, then rinse conditioner. Then I have time to stand around and enjoy the hot water and sometimes shave.
5. I pace when on the phone. I have a hard time standing still while on the phone. I usually walk all around the house.
The Meat
So I've been asked to explain "the meat."
Short Story: An unknown person knocks on my door. He offers me a discount on meat which he has in his car. I buy the meat.
Long Story:
I hear a knock on my front door. I know it's an unknown person because no one I know would knock on my front door. When I get to the door, there's a guy walking away towards the neighbor across the street. He comes back and explains his situation.
He works for a meat delivery company, similar to Schwan's but only for meat. He's just made a delivery to one of my neighbors up the street. Now he has extra meat. It's unclear to me why he has extra meat. Perhaps my neighbor didn't buy all they ordered or maybe someone wasn't home to accept a delivery. Either way, he's got to get rid of this meat and his boss has told him to sell it for "a couple dollars per cut." This price is important.
He brings the meat in the house so I can see it and make my decision. I expected a few chunks of meat, what he brought in was two medium-sized boxes of meat. One box is chicken and one beef, each box containing 6 smaller boxes of meat of different cuts and flavors.
Once all the meat boxes are opened, my kithcen floor is covered with frozen meat. He tells me that the normal price is $440 for the beef, but he'll give it to me for the bargain price of $400.
$400! What happened to "a couple dollars per cut"? I was expecting maybe $50. Oh, but he'll give me the chicken for free. The chicken is normally $260. This deal is starting to look decent. There's still one thing that bothers me though - I don't know this guy and yet he wants me to trust him enough that I'll buy a large quantity of meat for a significant price.
I tell him that I just don't need this amount of meat right now. He assures me that this meat is good for at least a year in the freezer and it'll take me that long to eat it all anyway. Just to get rid of the meat, he'll call his "boss" and see if he can give me more of a discount. He goes outside to get his phone and make the call. I went outside as well and hear him talking to his "boss." I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking to anyone because he was talking bullshit. Either way, his "boss" says he can sell me the meat for $360. Great.
I'm still not sure. I've been told, "There better not be $400 of meat in my freezer when I get home."
He makes his final plea. If I don't buy the meat, he's got to take it back to the warehouse 30 miles away then drive home, which is somewhere near my house. Additionally, he'll have to pay a $20 per box restocking fee. To avoid this driving and restocking, he'll take off an additional $20 for restocking and $10 more for the gas money he'll save.
So where are we?
$440 beef + $260 chicken original price = $700
$400 offering price - $40 "boss" discount = $360
$360 - $20 restocking - $10 gas = $330
So, we're about 30 minutes into this negotiation, $370 less than the original price, $70 less than the offering price. I think I'm doing pretty well so I decide to buy the meat.
The guy gives me a flimsy, home-printed business card for "The Cattle Exchange," takes my credit card information, and gives me a receipt.
Here's what I ended up with:
6 boxes of beef - 2 tri-tips, 4 t-bones, 8 filets, 14 hamburgers, 8 new york strips, something else I can't remember
6 boxes of chicken - I can't remember all the flavors, but they're all breasts and thighs except one box of bbq drummies.
This is all premium meat. It's one step up in quality from what you're likely to get at the local supermarket. The meat is identical in quality to what is on offer at
Omaha Steaks.
Now that I have more meat than I know what to do with, I have a couple problems. First, my floor is covered in frozen meat and I have a small freezer. Second, I don't know if I've gotten a good deal until I try the meat. The first problem lead me to the additional expense of purchasing a chest freezer. The second problem was quickly resolved at the first taste of the meat. It's good! This is by far the best meat I've ever cooked myself.
Buying meat from random people on the street isn't all bad, after all!
