Wednesday's Winks

• Probably a sure sign of getting old, but the amount of TV I watch (not that much) is about 50% reruns.
• I've become a fan of Rules of Engagement.  I guess it's probably been out of production for a couple of years or so?  Some of the episodes are pre-Tamir (Timmy), but more are post.  He provided a good counterpoint to David Spade's character.  Audrey and Jeff are the backbone of the show, though.
• Sometimes, I'll view part of How I Met Your Mother, but it just hasn't caught with me.  If I channel surf, will occasionally watch a few minutes of Big Bang Theory, but likewise, it doesn't hold my attention.
• The rest of my TV repertoire is mostly PBS - documentaries or Nightly Business Review.  I dig Antiques Roadshow - a recent episode had an original iron frame Henry repeater, serial #64, valued at around $100K.  Not sure what happened to the History Detectives program; I enjoyed that one (and Elyse Luray is pretty easy on the eyes...).

• There was a cool program on the other night about historical restorations.  That episode had an old steam locomotive and its tender rebuilt.  Others in the series are supposed to include old aircraft and ships.

• Even watched a bit of Jesse James' Monster Garage, and [possibly spinoff] Monster House - both pretty much bread and circus fare.
• I never can remember when M.A.S.H. airs, but managed to catch an episode where Col. Potter resists the temptation to have an affair.  It was an extremely well written installment within probably the best sit-com ever.

• If you grew up in the '50s or '60s with the last name Potter, Harry Bratsberg redeemed it from Lionel Blythe in the '70s.  Both fine actors.  Not sure what Mr. Radcliffe's character bodes for the name.
• Recently read that if you're willing to hike a bit, you can access the site in the California hills where the outdoor scenes were filmed, though it's scarcely recognizable with the tents and buildings gone.  There's a website that features such stuff.
• While doing a Rob Schneider routine at work, I accidentally embarrassed a kid (20-ish) the other day.  I was in the break room near the end of the day, and as he came in, I did the Richard Laymer bit, first saying his name normally, then with an -o after.  He, probably too young to remember the SNL character, but being a good sport, tried to play along by saying "I'm going home-o."
• Fail.
• He turned about three shades of red when I asked "How's that again?"

• Not sure if it's a sign of the times or of the culture: At a 'big box' retailer the other day a guy carried in a large piece of unused merchandise requesting a refund.  Apparently he didn't have his receipt, and didn't have the credit/debit card on which it was purchased, so it couldn't be looked up.  The item was no longer stocked, so the store's inventory system showed a nominal value of just pennies.  He said he'd bought it for $40-50 just 2-3 weeks earlier, but the store's records indicated it'd been clearanced a couple of months ago at about $15.
• He became insistent that he wasn't going to accept pennies, and didn't want to keep the merchandise.  A manager was summoned, who apparently approved a store credit refund of about $50.
• A couple of days later, I was there again, and so was the guy - this time with a half-cart of stuff.  From what I could tell, he got hold of a different manager, not so accommodating as the earlier one, as the store only accepted a few of his items for return.
• Apparently an example of 'retail clearance arbitrage', in which the grifter¹ purchases steep markdown merchandise, then returns it to the same or another retailer for full (or at least a greater) value.  The scam involves knowing the price points for various lines of merchandise, as well as the retailers' typical thresholds or guidelines regarding 'customer satisfaction'.  
• It wouldn't be dishonest if he were simply selling it at a flea market or on Ebay.
• My local weather watcher reported .81" of rain from midnight to 8:00a in my town.

¹ I had never used this word in a sentence before, and despite being a John Cusack fan, have not seen the similarly named movie.