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  • Author Author: dougw
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What is in your mug?

dougw

I generally don't use mugs for drinking and I don't actively collect them, yet I seem to have acquired a bunch of mugs that I did not buy - as you can see...

image

They all have significant meaning for me, except the Chicago mug - my memory fails me as to how I got that one. Did element14 ever give away Chicago mugs?

The computer mug is pretty geeky and the Tardis mug is pretty fancy - the Tardis disappears from the scene when a hot liquid is in the mug.

I was going to call this blog "The Unsung Toolbox" because that is what I use some of these mugs for. Here are the contents of the Dad mug:

image

As you can see it is an odd assortment of skinny tools, some of which are a bit unusual, although that doesn't come across well in the picture.

Brownie points if you can spot the 3D printed part on a tool and why it is needed.

I also have mugs and jam jars full of fancy pens (mostly trade show swag), but this blog is about how useful mugs are as toolboxes with sentimental value.

So:

  • What kind of beverage is in your mug?
  • What other use do you put your mug to?
  • What is you favorite mug?
  • What is your weirdest mug?
  • What unusual places do you store your mug?
  • What is the most sentimental mug you own?
  • What is your funniest mug?
  • What mug do you covet?
  • What category am I missing?

Top Comments

Parents

  • Haha ... I like fun threads like this:

    • What kind of beverage is in your mug?
      • Usually cold water.
    • What other use do you put your mug to?
      • Not much really ...
    • What is you[sic] favorite mug?
      • The one I can trust is clean ...
    • What is your weirdest mug?
      • Can't say that I have one ...
    • What unusual places do you store your mug?
      • In its box, awaiting first use.
    • What is the most sentimental mug you own?
      • A candy-filled Christmas-wreath design mug I've had since 1995, gifted from a school friend at the end of the year, as I was transferring to another school.
    • What is your funniest mug?
      • A broken one ...
    • What mug do you covet?
      • Those colour-changing ones where it reveals something different upon pouring a warm beverage in ... but I guess it doesn't help that I usually drink cold beverages!
    • What category am I missing?
      • Have you ever been mugged?

     

    - Gough

Comment

  • Haha ... I like fun threads like this:

    • What kind of beverage is in your mug?
      • Usually cold water.
    • What other use do you put your mug to?
      • Not much really ...
    • What is you[sic] favorite mug?
      • The one I can trust is clean ...
    • What is your weirdest mug?
      • Can't say that I have one ...
    • What unusual places do you store your mug?
      • In its box, awaiting first use.
    • What is the most sentimental mug you own?
      • A candy-filled Christmas-wreath design mug I've had since 1995, gifted from a school friend at the end of the year, as I was transferring to another school.
    • What is your funniest mug?
      • A broken one ...
    • What mug do you covet?
      • Those colour-changing ones where it reveals something different upon pouring a warm beverage in ... but I guess it doesn't help that I usually drink cold beverages!
    • What category am I missing?
      • Have you ever been mugged?

     

    - Gough

Children
  • in reply to Gough Lui

      wrote:

     

    What category am I missing?

    • Have you ever been mugged?

    I was held at gunpoint (shotgun) for a several hours. Does that count?

    I was a student on a road trip on my motorcycle and camped in a secluded spot (miles from the nearest building) by myself.

    I was woken up about 1:00 am in the rain with a tractor light shining into my tent.

    This gristled old guy stuck a shotgun in my face and started interrogating me about what I was doing there.

    I couldn't see much because of the light in my eyes, but it eventually became apparent he thought I was an investigator looking into smuggling guns (the location was near the border). My ID didn't help at all (at the time I had a summer job as a security guard and I had an official Pinkerton's badge)

    Lets talk about learning to negotiate under stress.

    He had been drinking and wasn't inclined to believe my story. It took a couple of hours to convince him I wasn't investigating smuggling. But then he thought I was moving in on the territory and doing some smuggling of my own. And he wanted to know what contraband I was smuggling.

    After another hour of interrogation which turned into haggling, I ended up selling him a $15 transistor radio for $35, which he thought was a bargain. I wasn't in control of the situation at all, but I was reluctant to part with the radio because it was a gift from my Aunt - he just thought I couldn't let it go too far below its value so he kept offering more for it. For some reason I always felt guilty about selling that radio.

    After he left it was pitch black and raining, so I couldn't break camp, but you can bet I cleared out of there at first light.

  • in reply to Gough Lui

    wrote:

     

    What category am I missing?

    • Have you ever been mugged?

    Not exactly mugged, but held against my will by an armed person for an extended period of time.

     

    In the late 70's and early 80's I worked as a civilian contractor to the military (part of my very first job out of college).  We had built and were in the process of testing a large, multi-functional communications/electronic warfare system for the US Army.  We were stationed in a remote location and were in the process of running a full system demonstration/test for several high ranking officers and some other governmental staff.  During the test, a remote site went offline.  I was asked to drive out and check on the site.  All of our remote vehicles were out servicing or supporting other sites and I had rode my motorcycle in for the day.  The Colonel (of the base) said that I could take his jeep, so I loaded up my test gear and headed for the main gate.  At the gate, I was stopped and asked for my papers (showing permission to leave the base with the Colonel's jeep), but I did not have any paperwork.  I advised the guards that the Colonel had authorized the trip and because it was an emergency, we assumed that there would be no problem.  The guards refused to let me go, even as I told them that they were making a big mistake and that many high ranking members of their service were waiting for the show to continue.  They called their Master Sargent, who said to take me into custody.  Three or four hours later, the Master Sargent pays me a visit in my cell, where I continue to explain that I had permission and was acting on the wishes of the Colonel.  The Master Sargent was a real jerk and starting giving me the full press.  A few minutes into his tirade, the phone rings and one of the guards calls the Master Sargent to the phone.  Just watching this guy turn white as a ghost was worth the whole experience.  Minutes later I was freed and sent on my way.  The next time I ran into the Master Sargent at one of the Mess Halls, he was no longer a Master Sargent, he got busted down a few ranks. Later I received a letter of apology for the experience.

     

    This was a great story to tell my children and I can't wait for the opportunity to tell my grand children.