Mood: accident prone
Topic: "Stupor Bowl Sunday"(2)
Promises, to Frodo, are delays; one "promises" to take action at a future date and time. Even in a Wedding vow, a promise is a committment to behavior which will be followed. Given that as a definition, Frodo is today plagued by a promise made, and not yet kept.
There is a worldwide conspiracy by people in foreign lands to bring down the United States of America. The first evidence is in the unfathomable number of e-mails offering wealth in exchange for personal data. Nearly every one of these offers is composed of syntax which borders on a fundamental misunderstanding of the English language. The most obvious piece of evidence however, if not the most dangerous, is found in every cardboard box containing a piece of furniture which must be assembled by the consumer. Whoever composes these instructions wishes no good fortune to the halfling armed with a Phillips-head screwdriver, a hammer, and an oddly-shaped one-of-a-kind tool.
Sam found a fully-assembled furniture "thingy" which was designed to replace a fully-functional and utilitarian set of bookshelves. Once the bookshelves were removed, and the unassembled "thingy" found its' way to the Shire, Frodo was assigned the task of assemblage. This being a somewhat familiar task, Frodo found himself surprisingly remarkably organized and mentally-prepared.
That situation changed quickly after the pieces were all removed and accounted for, and Frodo scanned the instructions. The drawings were totally inconsistent with Frodo's needs. The pictures were too small to be read without optical additions. The pictures did not distinguish "finished" from "unfinished." The pictures did not include a picture of the finished product itself.
The instructions did include a label for each piece in the package. The pieces themselves however, had no corresponding label. The instructions specified the use of dowels at certain locations, but the instructions did not detail which of the three sizes of dowels included in the package were to be used at any appropriate point. The instructions also reflected a syntax not unlike that associated with certain e-mails previously discussed herein.
Uh-oh, thought Frodo.
The above thought arose in Frodo's throat more than three weeks ago. Hence our discussion about "promises." There is leisure time today, and even Frodo cannot bring himself to spend one more minute absorbing Pre-Super Bowl hype. Frodo has run out of excuses for inaction.
In a few moments Frodo will move his motorcar from his garage, and spreak the assemblage on the garage floor in front of him. Fiona and Mick, the Wonder Dog, will not venture into the area, despite their weekend desire to never waiver from Frodo's side, in case they miss something cool. They recognize the pattern, and prior behavior tantrums are fresh in their collective memory.
Be warned dear reader, even the scaling of Mount Doom required less than the will Frodo today exhibits. Should something break during the process, or should Frodo find a foreign-accented individual on the other end of the "helpline" ("available M-S from 8 until 5 PST"), it may not be suitable for those under 18 to be in the area of the Shire.
Frodo is also hereby notifying the manufacturer, be he foreign or domestic, of furniture "thingys" that, when next confronted by such a threat, Frodo will take pre-emptive action. These are indeed weapons of mass destruction, and the irrational George W. Bush which exists in all of us, to some extent, will take over, and Frodo will call up the National Guard.