Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Playing cards?

So we're working on updating our shipping prices in the Etsy store, and in the process we are discovering some interesting things about the morals, politics and idiocracy of  Customs rules.  Here's a little sampler of true, actual Customs regulations:

  • You can't ship melatonin to Germany.  Apparently the German government is afraid that it's population might get sleepy and fall into the gears at the factory.  Which makes a real mess and slows down production.
  • If one of your Albanian relatives asks you send them them the toothbrush they left at your place over the holidays, don't even try to send it.  Albania strictly forbids the shipment of anything that's been used.  Extravagant clothes are also verboten.  So Levis good, Prada, not so much.
  • You can't ship Uncle Hassien's cremated remains back to the family farm in Algeria if they are in a funeral urn.  Just put him in a cereal box and everything will be fine.
  • It's illegal to ship bananas to Armenia.
  • Aussies don't want your used bedding. Ever.
  • Shipping pink Quinine to Bangladesh will get you in a lot of trouble.  Blue, red, polka dotted or plaid Quinine is apparently OK.
  • The government of Belgium will be very upset with you if you try to send a used ink cartridge to them.
  • Do not send a fancy greeting card that sings 'Happy Birthday" to a relative in Bulgaria.
  • You can't mail margarine to Canada.  Really.
So this has us through the letter C, and the rest of the world promises even more entertaining  regulation.  Stand by for next post.

Oh, and by the way, don't try to send the 6 of Spades to Germany.  Gunplay could ensue. 

Monday, January 7, 2013

Hi Ho again - 

Here's the first Yellow Bug Blog post of 2013 and the fulfillment of at least one New Years Resolution.  This is sure to be an action-packed, year, filled with chills, spill, and assorted nonsense as we continue to press the pedal on the Yellow Bug empire.

And It Becomes Lonely Once Again

Hopefully the scene above will not be representative of our blogging efforts in 2013.

So I'm writing this during the BCS "Might Be The Championship Game But Nobody Really Knows For Certain" game between Notre Dame and Alabama.  Catholics vs. Cousins, as the t-shirt says.  Big Game Bret has already fired off a couple of 'fires', so the drinking is well underway. See here for an explanation.

We've been working on some new stuff and have actually gone out and bought some sublimation gear.  If you're wondering what 'sublimation' is, it is apparently a $3 word meaning 'get ink real hot so it sticks to stuff'.  We've got a big pile of stuff just waiting to be heated to an uncomfortably high temperature, and we're working through a list of images, sayings and other things we find humorous to melt on to said stuff.  Swing by the shop in a week or so and see what we've managed to create.  You may also be able to score some of our preliminary efforts at fire sale prices.  Pay no attention to the burnt flesh marks.

At present, we're fixated on Valentines Day, the latest in a long-running series of YAHIGI events (Yet Another Holiday Invented by the Greeting-card Industry).  There are a lot of YAHIGIs in our calendar (Grandparents Day, Bosses Day, Secretaries Day, Groundhog Day, Groundhog Day Groundhog Day...) but Valentines Day is the cheesiest of the bunch.  Really - we need a special day to tell the people we love that we love them?  And God Forbid you don't tell them you love them in a way that can't be measured in stems, pounds or straps (use your imagination).

Big Game Bret just announced his 5th high school, and I'm well into the game - at least the drinking one.  Enough for today.

As Dan Rather used to say, "Courage".