Build a MacBook for less than $20

Want a MacBook? I can Build ya one :)

I have a friend whose daughter was turning 16. She wanted to get her a Mac Computer for this birthday. In the few minutes of discussing this, My mind started playing with how I could twist those words, and come up with my own version of a Mac Computer.

Sometimes, the word-play that comes to my mind can be a dangerous thing... especially if I actually act on the thoughts. For a bit of background, First I must tell you a bit more about how my mind works:

The Rules of interacting with me:
~You must know that Every word said can and does have more than one meaning.
~ You must know that I WILL Use every meaning possible to the most humorous advantage.
~ I Love to engage others in getting their mind to grasp this word-play.
~ I Love to give. If You mention something you wish to have, get, acquire, or need, You Just might find that I will give you what you said you wanted... BUT Often, It will not be as You thought, but it will be what My Mind twisted it into.

An Example of how this works:
Back in 2005, I got my job at Domino's Pizza as a delivery driver. Since my manager was always stuck inside, she could not run and get a snack, beverage, cigarettes, etc while she was working. I could easily stop anywhere and bring back what she needed. I often asked as I headed out on a run "Is there anything you need, or want?" More times than not, her reply was "A Million Dollars On An Ice Cream Cone!" This was always good for a laugh, since she definitely would love to have a Million Dollars, And What could possibly be better than  having that on an ice cream cone? It was flip, funny, and pretty much left ya knowing there was nothing you could do about that, but laugh, and carry-on.

But with my mind, there most certainly was something I could... And Would Do about that.
After more than a year of hearing this, I finally delivered it to her on Christmas Morning. How, you might ask did I come up with "A Million Dollars on an ice cream cone"? Think a bit differently... Play with the way the words sound, Not how they are spelled.

I went to the craft-store, bought a huge bag of white, curly doll hair. Then I went to The Ben n Jerry's Ice Cream, and bought The biggest Waffle-cone they sold. Just the cone. I went home, got out my glue-gun, and got creative. On Christmas Morning, with her family, I presented her with this gift. She opened the box, took one look, and died laughing. She was laughing so hard, she could not say a word. ALL of her family looked on in bewilderment. The family consisted of her husband, two daughters (aged 10 and 12), and her mother. Every one of these people had heard her say the same thing I had heard about what she wanted. They each looked at this gift in the box, and did not get it. She still could not speak, since she was laughing so hard, so I tried to explain the gift. I told them "What does She Always Ask for?" Even though every one of them knew the answer, they did not connect the word-play. They each repeated the same phrase "A Million Dollars on an Ice Cream Cone", Yet still did not catch it.

How About You?? Have you connected it yet? Remember: Play with the words, ignore the spelling...
"A Million Doll-Hairs on an Ice Cream Cone"

So, with this in mind, Now back to the Mac Computer...

I Teased my friend that I had an idea, but I could not give her any hints. I went about the process of building a Mac Computer... and was determined to do it for less than $20.

First stop: The Grocery store...

Buy a variety of pasta. (starting to see where I am going with this?) :)
Get out your glue gun, and start building.

 Start by building a sturdy base, and the lid with a screen. Lasagna is good for this :)

Now that you have your base, and screen, 

You will need a hinge, and a keyboard.

Lay-out the hinge with large Rigatoni noodles.

Start lining up the keys of the keyboard with Large Shells.

Add the finishing touches to The Keyboard, 

And add a Touch-mouse-pad, too!

 To make the hinge functional, alternate the pieces... Three on the lid, three on the base. (be sure to elevate them enough, so when it is closed, the raised keys have space, and are not crunched.)
Now, Connect the hinge:
Place the lid on the Base. Line-up the hinge, and insert heavy Spaghetti noodles as a pin.

 Now, add some decorative finishes.

 Make a fun pattern on The Lid. (Nobody wants a boring Mac Book!)

This is her, receiving her New Mac Computer! 

The one on the left shows the lid.
The one on the right shows the finished Mac Book... And Her grin!









I Absolutely Love giving! I love it even more, when it is exactly what was asked for, yet with a twist! So, How about you... What Do You Want? Be careful what you ask for... You Just might get it! ~=:-)

"I'll Be Back... What about Mozart?"

“I’ll Be back.” “I’ll Be Mozart”:

(insert Groan here)

Memorable phrases, quips and quotes.

I love wit, humor, puns, and almost anything that when said makes the person hearing it rewind a bit, ponder it, then chuckle. To play with words, and make another smile, groan, laugh, or just walk away shaking their head is an art-form. Some would call it “Punishment”. (Pun intended).

Sometimes, we do not realize the lasting effect some of the silliest little quips may have. Only when we utter the words said by someone in our past, does the real enjoyment set-in. We pick up little things as we go through life, and often do not realize how much they stick, or how much they seem to bring the warmth, love, and humor of someone you miss back into your present life.

Today I got a voicemail from Kathie in Virginia. She called to tell me the legend I left behind in Virginia still lives. We always played with our words while at work (and out of work, too of course!). The one she called to tell me about was one of my fondest, and one that has fallen on deaf ears since landing in Vegas. When leaving the building, she would say, “I’ll be Back.” To which I would reply, “I’ll be Beethoven.” Or we would mix it up, and say “Mozart”. Her current employer in Virginia has the same humor. She called to tell me she was leaving the building, and told her boss, “I’ll be back” and her boss said, “what about ‘Mozart’?” So she said, “Okay, I’ll be Mozart” and went out the door laughing and smiling. Then called me to tell me! This really made me smile, and gave me a good laugh, too!

I feel puns, plays-on-words, and banter are just a normal way to make work a more enjoyable experience. Some of the puns are welcomed in Vegas, but I find more times than not, I have to explain them. If ya gotta explain the pun, it is usually wasted. It seems not everyone was raised in a world where they are taught to look for fun in everyday words, and to see where they can exercise the brain in an otherwise mundane environment. For those who have never been taught the play-on-words way of life, it is difficult to introduce. Fear not, though. For every ten I have to explain, there are one or two that actually stick! (Yes! They are trainable… hehee!)

Often the words we hear from those in our daily lives stick, and when we least expect it, we find ourselves uttering those same words, and it brings us such a warmth, and feeling like they are still by our side. For many reasons, people are in our lives, and are often not as long as we would hope. But those words, and feelings are brought back when we seemingly need to hear them the most.

The ones that often are the best, are ones created by language-barriers, or by those who speak a different native-tongue than we do. These are not meant to make fun of anyone, or any language, but rather to make the barriers more enjoyable, and even bring a smile, rather than frustration. Working in the pizza industry has a few that will always stick with me, and I have even managed to get most of my coworkers in new environments to adapt, and even use the funny ones. For example, there are some languages which have difficulty pronouncing the word “Hawaiian”. When they call on the phone to place an order for a Hawaiian Pizza, they manage to get the word as “Hiya-Wanna”. So, rather than getting frustrated at attempts to teach them the proper pronunciation, we would ourselves adapt, and use the same word they do. So now, Every place I work that has anything “Hawaiian” in the name, it becomes “Hiya-Wanna”. Once I explain the name I call it, other coworkers are eager to join-in.

Also humorous, but could be frustrating if you let it be is how different cultures, languages, and ethnicities either recognize, or do not recognize certain sounds. Sometimes the way the translation comes out acquires a whole-new meaning, and is often humorous, depending on which side of the barrier you are on. Take the ones who do not pronounce “V’s” as a “v-sound”, yet it comes out as a “W-Sound”. A “Vegetable, or Veggie” becomes “A Weggie”. So, when someone calls up, and orders “A Large Weggie”, one cannot help but chuckle, and think they want a “Wedgie”. (in case you do not catch the pun, a “wedgie” as defined by Wikkipedia is: “A wedgie occurs when a person's underwear or other garments are wedged between the buttocks.”) I have received many “weggies”, but the most memorable was from Alan in Virginia. (Those who know Alan will understand).

Sometime we hear jokes , and Always remember the one(s) we heard it from first.

A good (or bad, You decide) example of language differences is “Tenjewberrymuds” I heard from Jenn and Maria:

“Do You Want Some Meel with Your Toes?” Huh? Don’t understand…. Here it is: (well, one version of the funny story):

Room Service - Tenjewberrymuds

The following is a telephone exchange between a hotel guest and room-service at a hotel in Asia. It was recorded and published in the Far East Economic Review:

To get the full effect it should be read aloud. [You will understand what 'tenjewberrymuds' means by the end of the conversation.]

Room Service (RmSv): Morrin. Roon sirbees.

Guest: Sorry, I thought I dialled room-service.

RmSv: Rye...Roon sirbees...morrin! Jewish to oddor sunteen?

Guest: Uh..yes..I'd like some bacon and eggs.

RmSv: Ow July den?

Guest: What??

RmSv: Ow July den?...pryed, boyud, poochd?

Guest: Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please.

RmSv: Ow July dee baykem? Crease?

Guest: Crisp will be fine.

RmSv: Hokay. An Sahn toes?

Guest: What?

RmSv: An toes. July Sahn toes?

Guest: I don't think so.

RmSv: No? Judo wan sahn toes??

Guest: I feel really bad about this, but I don't know what 'judo wan sahn toes' means.

RmSv: Toes! toes!... Why jew don juan toes? Ow bow Anglish moppin we bodder?

Guest: English muffin!! I've got it! You were saying 'Toast.' Fine. Yes, an English muffin will be fine.

RmSv: We bodder?

Guest: No...just put the bodder on the side.

RmSv: Wad?

Guest: I mean butter... just put it on the side.

RmSv: Copy?

Guest: Excuse me?

RmSv: Copy...tea...meel?

Guest: Yes. Coffee, please, and that's all.

RmSv: One Minnie. Scramah egg, crease baykem, Anglish moppin we bodder on sigh and copy...rye?

Guest: Whatever you say.

RmSv: Tenjewberrymuds.

Guest: You're very welcome.

(Special thank to Will and Guys Clean Funny Jokes:

http://www.guy-sports.com/index.htm  )



I have been fortunate to have been around many people in my youth that taught (some would say brainwashed) me to use puns, play-on-words, and twisted humor to make it through some of life’s daily struggles.

Kathie was not the only one in Virginia, but she managed to make some of THE BEST Memories! We both managed to test one another on the limits of how much our brains could go different directions under the stress of a busy, crazy, chaotic workplace. I often would ask if there was anything she needed, or wanted while I was out. One of her standard replies was “A Million Dollars On An Ice Cream Cone.” Now, put yourself in my position, and think about how you could actually do that for someone you love. It took me a little over a year to come up with a solution on that request, but I finally gave it to her one Christmas! I will write a completely separate blog on that one…some day. Meanwhile, you will have to dig deep into your twisted thoughts to see if you can come up with how I managed to pull that one off.