Monday May 19th

The comic:



Don is a guy's name. Guys do laundry.

But not in Pluggerville.

This comic asks us to assume that Pluggers - lazy, often elderly creatures - don't use a dryer. And that Pluggers - who live bleak lives - never drink.

Of course, this could work if she's putting clothes on the line after putting them through a mangle.

And that Pluggers are members of a Protestant denomination that's Carrie Nation-style opposed to booze. Which makes us sinners.

I have proof that male Pluggers drink - "more prune juice bottles than wine bottles" implies that there is at least one wine bottle in the recycling bin. However, the idea was later recycled to remove any mention of alcohol. (Pluggers drink prune juice.)

Saturday May 17th

The comic:


THERE ARE PLUGGER CHICKENS! Maybe this is a neighborhood barbecue and she's there! I'm going to say yes, so I can use my cannibalism tag.

And non-Pluggers bird watching is much more humane, because isn't just recording a sighting or taking a picture?

It does not surprise me that Pluggers don't bird watch. (Unless it's a bird they're going to shoot.)

I don't, but that's because it doesn't interest me. Pluggers probably think of it as some silly liberal sissy thing to do.

Friday May 16th

The comic:


Again with the alternative education. Which can't be very good if they have to go to traffic school.

Most of the directions are stereotypical country/backwoods nonsense, but he starts out with "4.3 miles".

Four point three? Sure you couldn't have gotten it even more exact?

Seriously - what the hell?

Also, look at the roads scholar's expression. He was born with an innate sense of direction and is now cursed to stand at the side of a road with nothing to distract him, waiting for the lost traveler. Sad, but he used a pun, so it's okay.

Thursday May 15th

The comic:


I knew I'd seen this one recently, and I was like damn, reruns again?

But no - it was written up at the CC.

And his write-up is funnier and more succinct than mine will be.

He says that Pluggers think any store that doesn't sell guns and/or beer is useless.

But that's not the point of the comic.

For one thing, he goes to an office supply place.

But why would a Plugger need a typewriter? You can probably order the ribbon online, but if you've got a typewriter and you're a Plugger, you probably don't have a computer. In fact, they scare you.

Anyways, why would the non-Plugger clerk only focus on Smith and Corona and ignore the rest of the request? (Which presumably featured the words "ribbon", "typewriter", and "kids today".)


I just realized something. Let's say that the Plugger was a moron, as usual, and didn't buy any extra ribbons the last time he saw them. So it's taken how long for him to wear out the ribbon?

Or not. And he's been typing loudly away to the newspaper and his congressperson his opinions about kids today since typewriter ribbons were easy to find.

Wednesday May 14th

The comic:


Gas is expensive.

Pluggers are old.

At least this is something they have no control over - they can't change gas prices or the prices of their old cars.

Pluggers also know nothing of inflation. Though 50 bucks for a car doesn't sound good, even 50 years ago, unless you're a mechanic. And parts aren't free.

At first, I read tank as gallon, and I was like damn! Even with inflation, less than four bucks for a car!

That made the comic weirder, which is in improvement.

Tuesday May 13th

The comic:


Clothes are still made in America, you know. They probably cost a bit more, but they're out there.

Perhaps Pluggers don't want new clothes made in America, they just want to sigh and bitch about how things change while doing nothing about it.

As for what she's saying - her eyes scare me. She looks like a zombie. Or she's on drugs. Or she's depressed.

I decided to add the treason label, because this implies that Pluggers no longer buy American made products. Shame!

Monday May 12th

The comic:


Ah, the vacation ends!


This caption cheated. It doesn't say how far away the start of the countdown is from payday, so I don't know how broke he is.

So when do non-Pluggers start counting down to payday?

Yeah, I've never had a job, and while my mom marks her paydays on the calendar, I've never heard her say anything about counting down.

I'm lost.

Wait, found an angle!

Pluggers don't bother budgeting until they've got nothing left to budget.

Saturday May 10th

The comic:


Another classic I haven't seen before.

I think I'd remember this.

Where to start?

At least it's not the dog-like creature as the Plugger. Dog ears don't look like that.

Um.


Damn.

This is kinda scary to consider.

And this is not the first time this has run.

And Betty Hatfield thought it was funny.

I notice there are no women in the cartoon.

I know both sexes can be stalkers or be in a situation where a restraining order is needed.

But the image is of a woman taking one out against an abusive man - husband, boyfriend, lover. Sure, they're not perfect.

But I don't think they're suitable for any attempt at humor. At least not in a mainstream comic.

It's creepy. It's trivializing the issue by comparing it to a dog command. One that does not restrict or restrain the animal. That would be stay. So this is offensive, sick, and it doesn't even work.

But I'm probably overreacting.

Who thinks like this?

Friday May 9th

The comic:


Another rerun from last August.

I'm just going to repeat what came to mind upon seeing this just now - and non-Pluggers don't?

Pluggers are probably the ones least likely to be concerned about the environment, yet they know all about extinction? (At least the bald men. Hey, dimwits! Women can go bald too.)

Thursday May 8th

The comic:


Another classic. I don't think I've seen that one. Kudos for picking one from before April 2007!

So non-Pluggers label their leftovers? Or use them soon enough to remember what they are?

We got Chinese Tuesday night, and I labeled all the containers, much to my sister's amusement. The pen would make squiggles elsewhere on the lid, but not where I was writing!


Er, anyways.

Pluggers are wasteful, as well.

That's all I got.

Pluggers is not the most exciting or interesting comic out there, but they usually try.

But this?

This is pathetic. It's a statement of something that happens to people, lots of people. Good people who don't deserve to be lumped in with Pluggers.

Hey, struggling cartoonists looking to break through to newspapers! Someone got paid for this!

The cartoon, not this post.

ETA: Dammit! Josh hit the cannibalism and I didn't.

Wednesday May 7th

The comic:





Another classic? What gives.

And this ran right before school as well.

So Pluggers don't pursue education on their own - they only go to school when it's required.

Big surprise. I mean. Really.

But I wonder if they've realized that their economic position might be elevated by taking just a few classes? Or going for two years?

Pluggers are broke, they've got to qualify for financial aid.

But I bet they hate school because they never applied themselves, because who needs algebra anyways? (I happen to like math.)

Eek, I am coming off as judgmental.

No, college is not the right thing for everyone. It's probably worse to go when it's not right for you - all that money, and then the frustration that comes from being in the wrong place.

I'm just saying that Pluggers never considered college when they were 18, and probably never will not because they thought long and hard on what to do about their future, but because they don't need no book larnin' after high school graduation.

My mom never considered college, none of her siblings did. They all went into the military after graduating from high school, except for mom's only sister - she got married.

However, mom learned things in the military - she was a corpsman (kinda like an EMT) for 8 years! She drove an ambulance! She saved lives! And after the divorce, she went to the local community college to take classes (English and Math are all I remember) to get her certification updated for her job.


But it's just sad to think that Pluggers never learned or had any training after 12th grade, besides traffic class.

Hank Hill had to go to one, but he considers his training with propane education. I'm going to assume.

Tuesday May 6th

The comic:



A classic.

From the last year. (Just before school started. Can you believe it's over? And not only did I survive, I made Dean's List both semesters? What? I have to go back? The hell you say!)

Anyways, blah de blah blah. Do pluggers really think all non-Pluggers love them some caviar? If so, they're crazier than I thought.

And you think Plugger caviar would be chicken eggs - especially if it featured the bird lady, for extra fun! Caviar is fish eggs, so there'd be a nice parallel. But these are Pluggers. Parallels are for elitists.

Monday May 5th

The comic:


But it is new - new to you at least.

And I hate hate hate that Plugger Cat. It gives me the creeps.

Pluggers buy shoddy used cars, because they are morons.

Saturday May 3rd

The comic:


So the little one is not a Plugger.

Big surprise, Pluggers are lazy. But supportive of their active family members.

There is no definition of the "most important piece of sports equipment," and folding chairs can be used in a made-up sport, somehow. Never underestimate the imagination of a non-Plugger.

Friday May 2nd

The comic:



We've seen Pluggers as birds.

We've seen pissed off Pluggers as well, in a foul mood, but that's not the point.

I have a category devoted to the chicken looking Plugger.

This is so wrong.

I'm just glad we don't get to see them today.


ETA: Of course, Josh covered this one. And he's funnier. And touched on the product placement, which I ignored!

Thursday May 1st

The comic:


Pluggers know computer words, but don't use computers. Or they're so dumb, they never reboot their computer or associate the word with anything other than shoes.

I'd say that this joke is older than a Plugger, but it's not a joke.

Wednesday April 30th

The comic:



Gas costs more today than it did in the "good old days".

AND HE GETS PAID FOR THIS?

Tuesday, April 29th

The comic:



Finally! A Pluggers about cars that I understand.

Bliss.

Er.

So you're a Plugger if you have an old car.

But only if you have a new car because you don't like all those fancy geegaws in the new ones.

(My sister has to roll down her windows manually, but this is her first car.)

Monday April 28th

The comic:


Pluggers wear Timex watches?

Pluggers wear watches?

And yes, cell phones work as clocks, especially for those of us who hate something tight on our wrists trapped in a classroom without a wall clock for an hour and a half.

Wear was I?

So this comic confirms that Pluggers are old, but they have non-Plugger children. So there are non-Pluggers that are the same "species". Oh, my head.

Saturday April 26th

The comic:



I do not do that! I seize any moment when I'm three or more days are empty in my pill thing.

And they're not very sick if they're only taking medication once a day. (They sell them with the days divided up to four times, so no excuses.)

Friday April 25th

The comic:


Those are not GPS devices. They do not tell you where you are. They tell you which way is which direction. They do not tell you which way to go, or what is where.

I hope your troopers sue you for getting them lost and not springing for a real GPS device.

Thursday April 24th

The comic:


That's not good.

That's not good at all.

And yes, the "childproof" cap is anything but. And it's craptacular as hell that arthritis medication is locked up that way. But don't use a minor! Especially a seven year old! There's no one else in your life?

Wednesday April 23rd

The comic:



I don't remember any of this, but I do think movie prices are insanely high.



However, ha ha, you're old!


And this is the oldest (ha!) gripe about how bad life is now.

Tuesday, April 22nd

The comic:



You're a plugger if you can't do anything new or original in your life, besides sending in terrible puns and definitions to Gary Brookins.

(I know there are non-Plugger reasons to do this - notice the father is not mentioned? You're rebelling against your dad, going retro. But that's something young adults do, and Pluggers were never, ever young.)

Monday, April 21st

The comic:

Josh's take.

Dean Booth's brilliant parody.

My take?

I'm going with the tag "pride," because the birdlady knows no one will get mad, not at her! Not for trying to make everybody's life easier!

I sometimes do this, but only when there's no line and/or I have to dip into pennies because of poor planning. Also, they may ask - give you a round amount of change - a dollar, a dime, instead of 87 cents.

What's funny is they're all Pluggers, so everyone in line will do this. And when the cashier gets off work and buys something? She'll use exact change.

Saturday, April 19th

The comic:




Pluggers are fat. Though, in all honesty, some chairs and surfaces stick to my legs when it's really hot. But never like that. RhinoMan needs new furniture, stat! Or he needs to fix his situation by sitting somewhere else, like the floor. Sheesh, Rhi, I loves ya enough not to laugh at you, but you've got to use your brains.

Friday, April 18th

The comic:



Reed Hoover again.

Wow. This is a new side to the Plugger - grump.

He looks so ticked off.

Thursday, April 17th

The comic:



A nightcap is alcoholic in nature, and chocolate ice cream (minus any background bottles) is not.

I've never had the wine flu, but I swear, brain freeze is much better.

Also, I've never said "Ow!!" Pluggers are wimps.

Who says nightcaps anymore, besides losers like Wendell Campbell? (Oh, Wendell. Poor Wendell. That name hurts me more than brain freeze.)

Wednesday, April 16th

The comic:


Why rerun this?

It is the funniest Pluggers ever, though it's completely unintentional.

The only humor they tried for is lame and stupid - "Men like to change channels! They never stop!"

So who was watching Baywatch?

I hope she thinks he's asleep and he's dead and she ignores him until the stench gets too strong.

Or she poisoned him because he was a stereotype, never watching any channel for more than a second, the bastard, and too cheap to get her her own tv and too controlling to let her watch TV when he wasn't.

Totally awesome Bollywood song -- Yeh Ladka Hai Allah

Tuesday, April 15th

The comic:


Ha, ha, Pluggers are old. And when you're old, you get sick. And you get too stupid to write the appointments down on your calendar and keep the appointment cards someplace as convenient as your wallet. (We put them in the car, tucked under the thingie - point is, we can see them. And the docs call a day or so before the appointment.)

I need something new for the "Pluggers are old/fat" comics that come up.



Ah. Perfect.

Monday, April 14th

The comic:


Why would a Plugger have a dictionary in the first place?

Saturday, April 12th

The comic:




So non-Plugger grandmas dis their grandbaby's culinary efforts?

That's all I got, except this totally awesome Bollywood tune of the momement: Yeh Ladka Hai Dewanna

Friday, April 11th

The comic:




Man, two birdladies in one week. Who have I angered? Oh what do I care - I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't done done done done with my two papers. One hasn't been turned in yet, but I am finished.


Onto people who hate people like me.

I thought the daily grind was work - Pluggers don't work? Or they don't refer to work as the daily grind.

I cannot believe a Plugger has a shredder. Wow. I know it's only there for the atrocious pun, but still. Wow.

Oh, wait - lady Pluggers don't work! Silly me.

Thursday, April 10th

The comic:




Reed Hoover strikes again.

But there's my RhinoMan.

And he looks like he has a perfectly boring 9-to-5, non-blue collar job with benefits and such.

But he cannot afford a long enough tie. :(

Maybe he's just working for one of those door-to-door sales things. That sucks. Poor guy.

Wednesday, April 9th

The comic:



Well. He's not a Plugger. Nothing to see here.

I repeat, NOTHING TO SEE HERE.

Plus, it just doesn't make sense. (I've been to urologists, I've had kidney stones. Never was there anything like unplugging.)

Tuesday, April 8th

The comic:




PLUGGERS ARE OLD, AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN OLD.

Did putting the news in caps make it any more new?

No?

Didn't think so.

Monday, April 7th

The comic:



You know, the Plugger birdwoman bothers me more than any of the other creatures locked in Pluggerville. It's easier to accept mammalian humans, I guess. Also, I can't stand Shoe.

Now I see the caption. (I saw the top half of the cartoon first.)

Pluggers are fat.

But wouldn't she have been winded by tying her shoes?

That is one scary looking Plugger - she needs to sit down, drink some water, and ::shudder:: put on something cooler. If you know you'll work up a sweat within five minutes, why not wear something cool. I cannot fathom exercising in sweats, even in winter.

Saturday, April 5th

The comic:


Air guitars don't make a sound.

That's the point.

If anything, an elderly air guitar player would make more sounds, what with the creaking of old joints and such.

He has arthritic fingers? That's sad.

And the phrase "old rocker plugger" is a crime against nature.

Friday, April 4th

The comic:



Ah, Josh has already covered this, implying that pluggers were control freaks at best and cult leaders at worst. (Or ordered around by a control freak/cult leader.)

My interpretation?

I don't know anybody who knows anything about fencing. I know there was an Archie story where Betty and Veronica were fencing in the school halls, and I'm sure it's been featured in some movie or tv show. (I'm thinking a murder type show.)


Also, I'm a plugger. And so's my mom. We have to put things up against our fence to keep the furry Houdini from wiggling out. But we've never called it fencing.

Who does that?

Oh right, Pluggers.

I don't like this comic -- it implies that only Pluggers work hard and live off the land and non-Pluggers are city-slickers who wouldn't know a cowpoke from a cowcatcher.

Thursday, April 3rd

The comic:



Frank Briggs, you saved your skin initially, but getting published kinda guarantees trouble.

They don't look nearly old enough to be married 50 years - if they got married at 18, they'd be 68 now.

Also, his wife is either blind or illiterate. There is a big difference between anniversary and birthday cards. Even if they just say "Hey, you rule!" it ends with a birthday note or a wow, the years have flown by. Hmm. A vaguely worded, boring anniversary card could pass as a birthday card. (I'm thinking of the ones that aren't funny and come from your oldest-seeming grandma.)

I also hate jokes about men - always men - forgetting birthdays and anniversaries. I don't understand it at all. You live with your wife, you should know her birthday! I don't live with my dad, but I do know his birthday. Now, some of my cousins and aunts, that's another story.

Wednesday, April 2nd

The comic.

Oh. This is hard. I need to see it.



Ah. Better.


Poor RhinoMan. He never has any money. How'd he get the nuts and bolts? Did something fall apart in his pants?

You know what sucks? Hearing coins in your purse/pocket and only finding pennies, pennies, and more pennies.


This is one of the few comics that shows how mechanical Pluggers are without attacking non-Pluggers. And it stars my main man!

Annoucement:

I'm not going to cover Sundays anymore.

They're only available at a couple sites, and the last time (almost a month ago!), it was hard to get it.

So I'm abandoning the official site and will be using the Houston Chronicle's excellent comic site from now on.

I stopped with April 1st's comic because that was a the whole year.

Pluggers is a depressing, hateful comic. And this blog isn't even good for procrastination, because they're sooooooo depressing, and not doing homework and looming deadlines make me cry, and I hate Pluggers.

I'm going to give it another chance, but I will not skip any days. I'm starting with the 2nd!

I'm not going to have any set plan with the comics, I'll just say what comes to mind and see what happens.


ETA: Because of the Chron's awesomesaucesomeness WRT its archives, no more Plugger images sullying my blog!


ETA2: Because I work better when I can see the stupid cartoon, I will continue to sully my blog with their visages.

Tuesday the 1st

The comic:



You're a Plugger if you like old movies.

Kidding!

You're a Plugger if you're old and act like a grumpy old fert.

Monday the 31st

The comic:



What else are chains attached to?


Keys? (Saw that in MAD - old old story. Older than me.)

A watch?

I see young guys daily, er most weekdays, I go to college! And I don't think I've ever seen a guy with chains on his pants. Maybe some goths in high school?

I really don't understand this.

Sunday the 30th

This link won't work much longer, but I can't find this anywhere else. Weird.

The comic:


Hahaha, another "definition" of downloading. Oh my stars, this is too funny.

Though Pluggers aren't the type to you know, play the piano, are they?

Saturday the 29th

The comic:



Ew.

Ew.

Ew!

EW!!!!

Friday the 28th

The comic:



Oookay.

Meh and such.

Thursday the 27th

The comic:



Pluggers now qualify for Meals on Wheels!

My sister works at Sonic as a carhop and loves her job when she doesn't hate it. One carhop skates. So it's not completely in the realm of the dinosaurs yet. But the time when they wore short skirts is, mmkay, Pluggers?


Are they parked somewhere? Lamenting the fact that you have to drive to a window *yourself* to get food?

I also wasn't aware of another interpretation of "Meals on Wheels" until now.

Thanks, Pluggers! You old sexist freaks of nature...

Bollywood song of the moment. So much energy! So unlike every Plugger comment, unless they're being sucked up in a tornado.

Wednesday the 26th

The comic:



I must admit, I thought he was looking at bottled waters at first. ("Mountain Mist" is a deodorant scent? Really?)

I can't think of a category here, besides RhinoMan, who is the shiznit. (My sister made me say it.)

Anyway, why would a Plugger even consider the other scents or know their titles?

And he's at the bottom of the shelf, I don't think he can make it.

Ooh, fat! Good one.

I'm quite lost here.

Cool song of the moment: Mudhal Mazhai Enai from the movie Bheema. Very, very soothing.