A dozen

Today is the 12th day of the 12th month of the 12th year of this century. Not bad. Although I can‘t say what it is supposed to do for us earthlings. Just one of those things that is interesting without merit. A curio.

I have never really gotten or understood the popularity of dozens. Who came up with the idea to use 12 as a benchmark when you have 10 so very close by? I guess the same guys that organized the clock face. Cousins of the people that made the week 7 days.  

I also think that the term “dozen” is on its way out. In twenty years it will be a word like “burlap”, conjuring up images of olden times when mentioned in passing. The reason has little to do with the clunkiness of the number and that it is illfitting to the decimal system. It has more to do with corporate greed/genius. Egg producers as an example have now managed to reduce a dozen eggs to ten. Florists will probably end up being the last outpost for this term, if you sell roses by the piece you have no inclination to get people to buy ten rather than twelve.

MacDonalds left Iceland soon after the banking collapse/fiasco. They packed up all of their happy meals and took the next plane out. This was just around the time people began to realize the economy imploding was not a bad dream and there would be no shrugging the situation off to continue spending like crazy. This was one of the few times that our most precious saying, laden with wisdom, did not apply. This saying is: Þetta reddast” meaning: “It’ll be ok.” We say this no matter what and usually it works. But it is not a slogan that will carry you far in the banking business.   

Dominos pizza did not leave however. They stuck with us having been here a lot longer and probably become accustomed to the “þetta reddast” mentality. "What the hell, they’ll recover. The pizza business will be fine. It’ll be ok”.

Every now and again Dominos throws what is know here as a mega-week. It involves lowering of prices, not really enough to warrant the connection to “mega” but still. When mega-week hit town they dust off a cardboard cut-out superhero named Megaman and put him outside to advertise. I am unsure if this is a global thing or if Megaman is an Icelandic invention. I would venture a guess as to him being an immigrant.

Now if you have been wondering what happened to al Qaeda, wonder no more. They are here now. In Akureyri. And they have kidnapped Megaman. Until their demands are met they have threatened to chop off one of his limbs – one a day. Being loosely modeled from the human blueprint Megaman’s limbs will not take a week to chop off.

This astonishing and shocking development has been in the news here – first an announcement that Megaman had been stolen in a drive-by kidnapping. Then the below video from the kidnappers was made public and it became clear who was behind it all. Al Qaeda of course. Who else would stoop so low? Poor Megaman, trying to look chipper despite the annoying tape sealing his trap shut.

 

 

The kidnappers want free pizza. For a year. Not sure where they want it delivered. Maybe to a cave on the outskirts of Akureyri.

I think Dominos should pay up. Þetta reddast. It will be ok. After all, it is 12.12.12 now. Only nine days left to 21.12.12. Can’t deliver pizza after the world ends.

Yrsa - Wednesday