There’s been a problem at my office with people putting all manner of things down the drain in the kitchenette. There is a garbage disposal, but there are limits to what it can handle. (Coffee grounds and coffee stirrers are high on the list of things the disposal can’t handle.) The result is that the drain has been clogged on several occasions and the plumbing bills have been significant.
In an effort to put an end to the problem, the facilities management group put up a sign asking people to “Please Do Not throw coffee grounds and/or stirrers into the garbage disposal.”
This didn’t solve the problem. If anything, the problem of coffee stirrers being thrown into the disposal actually became more frequent. That’s when a couple of us noticed something funny about the sign.
It turns out that the woman who put the sign up put it eye level. She’s also five feet tall. Most of the rest of us are taller, so our eye level is a bit higher than hers.

My theory is that the people who’ve been throwing coffee stirrers into the garbage disposal are just following directions. At least, that’s how they see it.

When Laura and I were at Mom and Dad’s at Christmas, Mom decided to do a little multi-tasking and mix up a batch of Chocolate Chip cookies while she was waiting for the water to boil for the mashed potatoes she was making for Christmas dinner.
The cookies were nearly finished by the time the potatoes were ready for mashing and so Mom moved on to finishing the potatoes, and once she finished the potatoes, she went back to mixing the cookie dough, promptly dumping the chocolate chips into the mashed potatoes.
Oops.
The resulting creation had a most unusual texture, both potatoes and chocolate in the same spoonful.
And of course, the recipe:

I spotted this courtesy phone set up at the local Red Robin restaurant.

According to the signs, you can use the phone for free to make local calls, toll-free calls, or you can use a calling card.
Of course, you’ll have to provide your own phone….