Brain in Retrograde

I either woke up or maybe it started in the shower but I was singing the jingle for Ken-L-Ration:
My Dog's better than your dog
My dog's better than yours
My dog's better'cuz he eats Ken-L-Ration
My dog's better than your
I have no idea how that got into my head as it was from the 60's,apparently there is a KIA ad that uses the same jingle but different words but I don't think I have heard it unless it played when I had nodded out.
Ken-L-Ration was owned by Quaker Oats but was sold to H.J.Heinz Co. in 1995. Since being sold it has faded into obscurity.
There used to be a yellow dog on the labels and bags,that I believe was winking? It's name was Fido.
Happy New Year everyone!

Kangol Hats

I came across a reference to Kangol hats and though I thought I knew what they were I had to check,and I was wrong,the bad news is I have no idea what the kind of hat I thought they were is called,but not to worry I will come across it eventually.
Kangol is a British clothing company famous for head wear. The name Kangol comes from the K at the end of silk,the ang from angora,and the ol from wool. They were the beret suppliers during WWII.
During and after the war Kangol berets were the height of fashion. In the 1960's designers Mary Quant and Pierre Cardin worked with the company whose product graced the heads of many famous people including the Beatles,Arnold Palmer and later Princess Diana.
Since I am on the subject of hats I might as well throw this out there as well. Did you know that Panama hats originated in Ecuador?

A Joke?

I heard on the radio earlier today that a new law had passed to insure that the people making$125,000 -$250,000 for two people incomes were voted a tax break,but then in a flash of double talk he said that they would actually be paying more. Didn't really make much sense to me then and even less now. First of all how would something like that get voted for? I don't think there is that large of number of people in that income bracket in Oregon. I had to look it up after saying that,and I was right the average income for 2010 was $37,095. So you may ask yourself why would anyone vote to give people who obviously don't need any breaks a tax break? The way I see it the answer is the way these measures are written you need a law degree to figure out if what you think they are saying is actually what they are saying,and in that way they manage to get things passed that are the opposite of what people think they are voting for. They would never dare to write something in clear concise English because then they would never get the very bills they write for the benefit of themselves and the select few passed. The whole political racket just makes me see red.

Facial Hair and Skateboards

You are probably asking yourself what possible connection could facial hair have to skateboards? I don't think there should be one either however the skateboarders that I often see have facial hair,tattoos and multiple piercings...it just seems odd to me,if they are old enough for all that why aren't they at work instead of leisurely riding around on skateboards? I think this goes right back to the kids that don't leave home these days,why should they if the folks are willing to keep them fed and clothed and all they have to do is play all day,I mean would you get a job if that was the deal you had going? It seems to me that they get the tattoos and MULTIPLE piercing as a way to ward off accidentally stumbling into a job,of course I suppose if they eventually changed their minds or the folks died they could always take the rings and what not out and they would grow closed and  tattoos aren't so bad as long as they aren't the homegrown variety which I find less than appealing,but I guess I am old fashioned that way.

Wrigley's Field

Ha! I bet you think this is going to be about sports,nope not even close.
William Wrigley Jr. came to Chicago from Philadelphia in 1891. He was already a talented salesman. Because his father was a soap manufacturer he started his business selling Wrigley's Scouring Soap. As and incentive to merchants he offered premiums. One of these premiums was baking powder. When the baking powder proved to be more popular than the soap,he switched to the baking powder business. Then one day in 1892,Wrigley got the idea of offering 2 packs of chewing gum with each can of baking powder. The idea was a big success. Once again the premium seemed more promising than the product it was promoting.
Mr. Wrigley realized that gum had the potential he had been looking for so he began marketing it under his own name. His first two brands were called Lotta and Vassar. Juicy Fruit came next in 1893 and Wrigley's Spearmint later that same year.

The Cheerio Effect

I have noticed before how Cheerios seem to clump together in the bowl before but never really given it much thought. Today I came across and article in my Mental Floss magazine that explains it and from what I looked at online may also help explain the galaxies. Once again it turns out something very ordinary isn't really what it appears.
Ever notice how Cheerios tend to cling together in your bowl,almost as if they're huddling up to escape the wrath of your spoon? Well,they're not closing ranks out of terror. The phenomenon is the result of a simple bit of fluid mechanics known as The Cheerios Effect.
How it works. Cheerios'bouyancy makes them float,while the surface tension of the milk acts like a stretchy membrane. When milk gathers around the sides of the Cheerios,it actually changes shape. So,instead of a flat,taut membrane,the surface is now riddled with tiny depressions around each piece of cereal. As the Cheerios begin falling into each other's small depressions,the pieces end up collecting in clumps.
Just a little something for you to chew on next time you have a bowl or cereal!

Nostalgia

When I brush my cats I always sing the old Ipana jingle to them...brusha,brusha,brusha with the new Ipana. I started wondering what happened to Ipana,the following is what I found.
Ipana was first introduced in 1901 by Bristol-Myers. Ipana was an early and large sponsor on radio. Ipana was the most popular U.S. toothpaste from the 1920's to the late 1950's.
Sales of Ipana were dropping by the early 1970's due to increased marketing efforts by other brands. Bristol-Myers wasn't interested in investing in color television programming material and they were making more money with their pharmaceuticals so Ipana and other brands were no longer being advertised.
By the late 1970's Ipana was discontinued entirely in the U.S. but was still sold elsewhere. In 2005,River West Brand,based in Chicago re-introduced Ipana in the U.S. but in 2009 they sold Ipana to maxill inc. of Canada who are bringing it back as a retro brand. If you want to purchase Ipana you can do so online at maxill.com. Long live Bucky Beaver!

Jumping Jacks

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of jumping jacks is the song Jumpin Jack Flash.
Most people think that the creator of the exercise the jumping jack was the fitness and TV personality Jack LaLanne,but that is incorrect. He was however the one to take it to the public. The originator of the jumping jack was U.S. Army General John "Jack" Pershing,he came up with it early in his career as a no nonsense cadet captain at West Point. The jumping jack goes by other names as well,the star jump and the side-straddle hop,though I am guessing those names may be a regional thing as I don't think I have ever heard it called anything but a jumping jack.
Just a little something that is hopefully news to you.
 Enjoy your holidays!

Portmanteau

This very morning I was thinking about portmanteau and told myself I couldn't remember exactly which thing it was,so I was going to look it up when I got back home. As often happens by the time I got back home I had forgotten about all that and went on with my day,and in the way things have a weird way of intertwining I happened across several portmanteaus I had never heard before,but before I get to them I want to give you the first definition of the word.
Portmanteau-An oblong leather suitcase,hinged at the back and having two compartments.
Portmanteau word-A word blended from two distinct words,as chortle,for chuckle and snort.
First of all,I don't think I knew chortle as being a portmanteau so shows you what I know. Brunch is an obvious one,but have you ever heard of blunch? An English magazine in 1896 warned that the combination meal is nearer breakfast in brunch and when nearer luncheon is blunch. How about Crilk? A mixture or cream and milk. Insinuendo,half insinuation,half innuendo. Alcoholiday,leisure time spent nursing a drink. Bungaloafer,one who loafs in his bungalow.
This word doesn't fit with the rest but is one I had never read before and would like to share.Thalian-comic.

A Little on the Dark Side

For the last couple of days I have been wondering about when a person dies,some people literally fall down dead,some die in their sleep. What I am curious about is there any knowledge of this when it is happening? For some reason I keep thinking about when the power goes out and how sometimes it will flicker a bit before it goes,or sometimes even kind of a brown out,and still other times it just goes out with a bang. Is it like any one of those? Or none of those? I guess there is no real way to know but it doesn't stop me from wondering. If any of you have any connection with the deceased asked them about this and get back to me!
For those of you that may be wondering it is 38 degrees here today and the bank doors are wide open,so my mission here is not complete. If I had known that being the energy police was going to become full time work,I wouldn't have taken the job!

Wog or Pog

Another little something I came across that I don't recall hearing before and as it turns out there is a reason.
In the US "wog" is simply short for Pollywog,the term used by sailors for those who have yet to cross the equator.
In UK it is a racially offensive slang word referring to a dark-skinned or olive skinned person from Africa or Asia,but in particular to Afro-Caribbeans and immigrants for the Middle-East and Mediterranean.
In older Australian English wog was used to refer to an illness such as the flu or malaria. More recently the term applied to post WWII migrants from the Mediterranean,North Africa,and Southeast Europe. Just a little something that is hopefully new for you to enhance your day!
I have been wondering about something,and if anyone has any ideas please let me know. I have mentioned in the past that people from all over the world read my blog,but out of all the places in the world that do read it there are NO readers in Canada. Just seems a bit odd so I thought I would put it out there. Again,I thank you for your continued interest.

Mouton

Today is about the above word which I came across in a book I am reading and though I understood from the context that it was a style of coat, being me I had to look it up to be satisfied. It is a fur type of collar where the fur is on the outside so that if you pulled the collar up the fur would then be against your neck. A lot of you may already know this,but as I have mentioned in the past, fashion is not even my forte. My only fashion sense is having the sense to put clothes on before leaving the house! As for making a fashion statement I am afraid you would be looking at a blank page. I do love my tie-dye T-shirts though,they just plain make me feel happy.

Melancholy

I woke up this morning thinking about the Cher song Gypsies,Tramps and Thieves which is nothing to be to reflective or sad about but most every time I think of that song I have always thought of my friend that died recently. She would make me cry laughing when she told me how her 3 daughters sang the song. I think the oldest was maybe just barely a teenager by then,though I couldn't say for sure as I am bad about placing dates. Their version of the song was Thieves,Thieves,Chimpanzees and if that isn't enough to make you laugh the line that said,"But every night all the men would come around,and lay their money down." They would sing,"But every night all the men would come around and lay the monkey down". All right,now I made myself laugh so with any luck I will pull out of this funk now.

Happy Horseshit

First of all I would like to point out that horseshit is all one word,I didn't know that until I looked up the phrase Happy Horseshit. Talk about a multiple use idiom this one qualifies in spades.
1. A quaint term used by the elder generation to denote frivolous activity.
2. A phrase used to describe news releases,speeches,and other official language used by public relations people to put the best possible,if often unrealistic spin,on a particular subject.
3. Sentimental nonsense. Official double talk.
4. Phrase used to describe fluffy Pollyanna type things that have no value other than to make people feel good.
These four cover the phrase for the most part and adding more would like be beating a dead horse!!

Follow up on Rocket Surgery

Just when I thought I had made a dent in the open door dilemma it became apparent that the ordeal was not over. On a trip to the library earlier in the day one set of the doors was open,so as I was getting the books checked out I asked what the deal was with the doors being open,and from her reaction someone else must be on the same crusade because after hurriedly finishing up with me she went directly to the offending door and closed it,she had said that someone must have opened it too far when they came or went,which could have been the case since they were closed when I came in,still being an Arctic entry it wouldn't have mattered much if the second set of doors had been closed.
I made the call on the bank doors to the national phone number on Tuesday and the doors were closed until today and they were open again,so I put in yet another call. I am almost tempted to go back out to check and see if they are closed again,but that would be a waste of both time and fuel just to satisfy my curiosity. My guess on the bank doors being open again is that being a Friday the branch manager was probably off so the employees thought they could get by with doing what they wanted, little did they know how tenacious I can be once I sink my teeth into something.

Why is that?

Maybe it is just me but it seems like every time I find a product I really like a few years later it disappears into oblivion. The latest thing is my favorite brand of socks and though I can't recall the brand name,I would know it if I came across it. I spent 2 days in search of the socks,both online and in a local shoe store that once sold them and they have vanished without a trace. It wouldn't be so bad if there was some way to know ahead of time that they were going to quit making something,then at least you could buy some before they were gone or find out if they had changed the name but I don't see that happening as there really isn't a logical way to go about it. It seems to me that the things they quit making are cancelled because they work too good so they don't need replacing as much,or in the case of other products that you replace on a regular basis they want to sell you something inferior because they make more money from it. So is it about greed? Or have I slipped a cog and am getting even more paranoid?

Dedicated to

Today's blog is dedicated to my friend Sandy who unwittingly supplied me with necessary fodder a couple of days ago. The idea has now had time to fester and be picked,as you will see with the following.
Another idiom I have always found odd is "sleeping like a baby". Does anyone really think that would be a good thing? In their early months babies sleep is full of interruptions and their sleep cycles are shorter than those of adults. Never mind the wetting yourself and waking up hungry,which is all part of sleeping like a baby.
If I were given a choice I would choose to sleep like a bear,go to sleep when it gets cold,your system slows down so there is no need to eat or relieve yourself. I am not sure but I am thinking that you also wouldn't age as fast in that state of hibernation. Sounds like a really good rest to me!

More on Rocket Surgery

I finally got around to following up on the two places with the open doors in cold weather. Before I go on with the story I don't think I mentioned in the first blog  that both places have Arctic entries so at some point in time someone cared about not wasting heat resources. The first place is a bank branch of a national chain that I happen to have my accounts at,so that doubled my concern as I could see where it could cut directly into my profit rates. I called on the phone and asked why they had their doors open in the winter,I knew from the answer that I was not going to be satisfied by the call. She said it gets too hot behind the teller line,I queried "do you have the heat on when the doors are open?" And she said yes without a thought,so rather than go any further wasting my breath with someone that was obviously clueless (though scary to think of people such as her handling my money) I said,okay and hung up. What good would it have possibly done to explain to her that having the doors open and the heat on would not make it cooler,and the only thing really to be accomplished was wasting fuel. I then called the toll free number and filed a complaint. Today the doors were closed!! The second place with the bizarre open door policy was the public library which I walked by today to check and the doors were closed,so I have done my part to stop global warming. No need to thank me,all part of the service.

Easy as Pie?

I have no idea what turned my thoughts to idioms but maybe it will become apparent as I go on about it. Many of these phrases make sense but I would say that an equal amount of them don't. My example  "easy as pie" is supposed to mean simple,but anyone who has ever made pies knows that they aren't that easy to make.
From what I found out about this particular phrase is the easy part is in the eating of the pie,which makes me wonder why not just say "as easy as eating pie"?
Mark Twain frequently used the just word pie to mean something pleasant,which is along the same way I was thinking with adding the word eating to the phrase. So with those thoughts for you...Isn't that just pie?

It's a Dogs Life

I often think of this saying and that sets me off on thinking how good domestic animals have it when they have good homes. They get regular meals and all their needs are met,no need to have to hunt and compete for their food. The flip side of that thought is that not all homes are good,some aren't that concerned with the feeding and proper care of the animals in their charge,and then their lives can become pure hell. Not only may they live in semi-starved conditions but sometimes in filth as well,and never mind the ones without the benefit of neutering who are left to reproduce at will and chances for the off spring of these animals are usually not much better than their parents as the people don't realize that they are bad homes so they don't care where the puppies or kittens end up as long as they are gone,in some cases I would almost agree that it would be more humane for them to be destroyed than live that kind of life cycle. It is truly a shame as animals are some of the best people I have ever known!

Non Event

The clouds came in overnight and blocked the eclipse from view here,I was so bummed as I had really looked forward to seeing it,in the past it seems like when ever I was able time wise to view an eclipse it was in the wrong part of the world and this time I thought it was going to happen for me. The sky was clear last night and the moon was bright so I went to bed hopeful. I spent considerable time poking around the web to see if anything had been posted and so far have come up empty,but maybe I am jumping the gun and some footage will show up on it at a later date. If any of you got pictures or footage I would love to see it,of course to share that you would have to become a follower so you could comment and tell me where to look to see it. Your efforts would be vastly appreciated.

Eclipse Alert

Saturday 12/10 in the early morning hours there will be a total eclipse of the moon,known also as Full Long Night Moon,or Full Cold Night Moon by the Native Americans who named the full moons for all the months. This will be the second lunar eclipse this year,the first was on June 15. It will be visible from all of Asia and Australia,seen as rising over Eastern Europe and setting over the northwest of North America. In Pacific Standard Time totality begins at 6:06 a.m. and ends at 6:57a.m. If the sky is clear like it was this morning I should be able to see it,but the moon was only out briefly after 6 this morning before either clouds or fog obscured it. Don't be to upset if you miss it as there are several sites offering web cast of the event.

I'm Not a Rocket Surgeon but...

I went to two separate places this week on the same day,40 degrees outside and both places had their doors wide open. Stop me if I am wrong here,but isn't everyone supposed to be conserving energy and resources? Or is that just us private parties that are suppose to cut down our usage...so businesses can heat the outside?? Furthermore,why would you want to have your doors open when it is 40 degrees? Someone suggested they might have wanted fresh air,okay fine you want fresh air GO OUTSIDE!
The second thing I am stewing about today is I put in a call to the city planning office yesterday because there have been people working at the dead end of my street,cutting down trees,clearing brush and digging. You might think this should be no concern of mine and it wouldn't be if this weren't a slide area and it isn't a good time of year with the ground freezing and thawing to be digging in it,and you don't want to get rid of any trees growing on hills like this in a slide area as their roots play an important part in holding the hillside in place. In 2007 three blocks below where this activity is currently taking place there was a landslide that caused enough damage to warrant federal funding to patch it up and now they think they can tempt Mother Nature and gravity again? Did I mention they still haven't returned my call? You can't talk to real people when you call you have to leave a message...maybe instead of paying my taxes next year I will call and leave them another message stating that I won't be paying my taxes again until they return my call,nah those kind of things never work out well for me.

Pangaea

This is a subject that I have wanted to feature for a long time,but there is so much information,both pro and con that I wasn't sure how to approach it without it being to long,since what I like to do is just give enough information to whet your appetite,then if it interests you you can dig deeper on your own. So here it goes.
Pangaea (there are even several spellings) was a single land mass made up of all present continents,it is believed to have existed 300-200 million years ago. I am not clear if this theory has ever been proven for sure one way or another. Some fact in support of it are similar fossils are found on different continents shores suggesting they were at one time joined. Then there is the way when looking at a map of the world if you mentally make it into a jig-saw puzzle the continents seem to have been part of a whole at one time.
The only part of this theory I don't find fascinating is that it makes the existence of Atlantis seem less likely,which is another tale I am fond of.

U.S. Territories

Talk about your ignorant Americans,I found myself being an apt description of just that today. I knew Puerto Rico was a U.S. territory and where it was located but like many U.S. Americans I assumed Guam was also located somewhere in the Caribbean,beep I lose! In actuality it is in the South Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Philippines an somewhat north of Australia.It is a small version of modern America with duty-free shops,boutiques and of course fast food. In case I am not the only one that didn't know all the U.S. Territories here is a list:Midway Island,American Samoa,Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands.
You will note that at least I am not so ignorant as to say just plain Americans as opposed to U.S. Americans, as South Americans and Canadians are also Americans as are Central Americans.

Father's Day

I know,not until the third Sunday in June, but I read something interesting about it this morning and will surely forget it by the time the warmth of June graces us. What I read was that Father's Day was started in Spokane,WA. and I thought how is it possible that I didn't know this holiday was started in the Pacific Northwest? I guess for the most part it is fact,in 1910 Sonora Dodd asked the Spokane Ministerial Alliance for a day honoring her dad who single handedly raised his six children after his wife died in childbirth. The first one celebrated was on June 19,1910 the Sunday closest to her dads birthday. However according to Wikipedia the first Father's Day took place in Fairmont,W.Virginia on July 15,1908 it was organized by Grace Golden Clayton who wanted to honor the lives of the 210 fathers who had been lost in a mining disaster several months earlier. It is interesting that this date was also decided by the Sunday closest to her dads birthday.
In 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson officially proclaimed it a national holiday and it was decreed by law in 1972.

Absent that Day?

Quite by accident I learned a couple of days ago that Gitchi Gummi was the American Indian name for Lake Superior. Is this something that was taught in school and I missed? All I remember about Gitchi Gummi is it being mentioned in "Song of Hiawatha". In addition to this revelation I found out that Gitchi meant big and Gummi meant water,which makes sense in the "Song of Hiawatha" as it is mentioned as the shining big sea water.
The song by Gordon Lightfoot,The Sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald describes the lake. "The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they called Gitche Gumee". The lake it is said,never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy. With a load of iron ore twenty- six thousand tons more than the Edmond Fitzgerald weighed empty that good ship on true was a bone to be chewed when the "Gales of November" come early. You will also note that the spelling differs from the song and the Indian name,and I found no reason for this so it leaves me with yet another unanswered question.

Another Relativity

The time space continuum has experienced yet another little hiccup. I watched the Beatles movie "A Hard Days Night" today and it transferred me back many years and I remembered watching them on the Ed Sullivan Show,I even recalled what chair I was sitting in. They were such big news at that time,and now we are left with only two of the Fab Four. I know I had seen the movie before at some point but it was really a blast from the past today,or maybe I am just in a nostalgic mood. I did find out a couple of things that I don't think I knew before,one was that George met his future wife,Pattie Boyd while filming,she was one of the school girls her line was "Prisoners!!!" Also I learned that Ringo had a tremendous hangover when filming the part where he decides to runaway,or as the Grandfather put it,go on parade.
Time is no longer uniform and absolute.

Hoodies

I have been watching the younger drivers for some time wondering why they were wearing the hoods on their hoodies up while they were driving. It is an obvious impairment to peripheral vision,and though they think their reflexes can save them from any jam they get in,nothing trumps experience when it comes to driving. Why would you need the hood up once you are in a car? It isn't like you are out in the weather,and let's face it is  akin to horses wearing blinders to prevent them from seeing things to the side and spooking,again why would you want to inhibit your senses when it could mean your life? Yesterday I witnessed a near accident because,are you ready? A young male drive wearing a hoodie,if not for the other driver he would have been creamed. Come on people use a little sense here, is your fashion statement or whatever it is you are trying to say worth risking your life or the life of others? As far as I can see it really isn't that great of a look anyway,unless of course you are trying to hide how you look,and if that is the case grow up!

Why Camouflage?

As a child I was told animals were colorblind,though I chose not to believe that. Why would animals coloring use camouflage to protect them from their predators if that were the case? I decided it was time to find out if I had been right. I don't know how recently these finding have become common knowledge but I thought if I hadn't heard about maybe there were others that hadn't either.
The general answer is most animals see color to some extent. A general rule is diurnal animals see color while nocturnal animals don't,but as with most rules there are exceptions. The presence of cones in the eye determines whether colors can be seen,with lack of cones the eye usually have a greater number of rods allowing for keener night vision. One exception to the nocturnal rule is the owl as they have cones.Dogs and cats have 2 sets of cones,making them colorblind to specific colors,though they have more rods giving them greater night vision. The colors they see with most ease are blue and yellow.
In contrast humans have three sets of cones for detecting color in three different wavelengths,though each cone detects a wide spectrum that overlaps to create other hues. Colorblindness comes from a fault in both sets of retinal cones,it is more common in males because it is linked to the X chromosome and the genes are carried on the X chromosome of which males only have one. 12-20% of the white male population is colorblind.

Words to Ponder

I was doing a brain twist this morning, which is part of my waking up the brain routine,and ran into an interesting word that was in none of my dictionaries. Most of them are older as it seems useless to replace them when so many words appear almost on a daily basis,plus it is easier to just look things up online. The word was 'plimp' and it was describing a well dressed man is what it said in the puzzle,so of course I had to see if it was indeed a real word and it is but I found nothing that agreed exactly  with that definition. In the Urban Dictionary it means: Playa mixed with pimp,also a man with old school ways that thinks his ways are compelling.
Next word up is one that has always bothered me,substantial. First of all the prefix sub means under or below and following that logic that would mean something that was substantial was below stantial,two problems with that, first problem is stantial is not a word,the second problem is substantial means: abundant,ample having substance. I guess it is just one of those weird English words that has no explanation for why it doesn't make sense.
The next is a word that to my knowledge doesn't exist but probably should,that word would be hyperdysfunctional,or perhaps extra dysfunctional as there are people that the word dysfunctional just doesn't began to cover.

Gull Wing

Here is an example of how my brain goes into protection mode...when I woke up in the middle of the night my mind rather than get into the grief gear that would no doubt prevent sleep for the rest of the night immediately said,"Hey,how do gull wing doors work in tight parking?" It had seemed to me at the time that you would need almost 2 vertical or diagonal parking spaces. With that thought to ponder I was back to sleep in no time,however the question was still with me this morning,so here's what I found out.
In 1952 Mercedes pioneered the gull wing door,which has hinges at the roof instead of the side of the vehicle. In 1939 Jean Bugatti designed the papillon (butterfly) door which is slightly different in its architecture than the gull wing. The best known of the gull wings are the BricklinSV1 from the 70's and the DeLorean from the 80's. Now for the answer to my early morning pondering...the gull wing require very little side clearance to open and allow better entry and exit than conventional doors. The downside is that should the car roll and come to rest on its roof,exit by the doors wouldn't be possible. I don't know about the rest of you,but this was news to me,and I can't wait to check it out next time I see a rig with gull wing doors.

Fast Forward

People have been posting goodbyes on my friends facebook page and that got me to thinking what if...We had a fast forward feature kind of similar to A Christmas Carol when he sees the ghost of Christmas future. It would certainly be an asset in decision making,but maybe that would make it too easy. One of the most heart wrenching posts was from one of her 16 year old twin granddaughters,it was quite lengthy but I am going to include the first few lines as it gives you an idea of what I am talking about and how if my friend could have fast forwarded and read some of the posts she might have been given pause about her drug usage.
OH nanny...I just don't understand why you have to be gone forever. You were suppose to be with us forever when you are getting really old,not right now,it was to soon for you to go forever and I know your up there watching me and all of us and I know you regret leaving us,I know if you could see me crying and my heart is broken..,

I know there are mistakes in this but cut the kid some slack,she just lost her Nanny.

Sick Humor

I hope this doesn't offend anyone but I have been thinking a lot about my friend that died of the prescription drug OD,and I think that she was in huge denial about how much she used,not only to anyone that might notice but to herself as well. Then I started thinking about how when a person is in their teen years they pretty much think they are bulletproof,and that nothing bad will ever happen to them...okay,so here is where it gets sick. I thought I bet she was surprised when she woke up dead! Which of course doesn't make much sense but I don't think anyone really expects me to make sense,for the most part. I related this thought to a reader and also a friend of the deceased and she seemed to think that she would have been mad rather than surprised,now that I tossed both theories out there I will leave it to you readers to decide for yourselves.

Weird Stuff

I was beginning to think I was losing my mind as I kept thinking my friend that just died would be calling or I would see her some where,or maybe even she would drop by,then I would stop myself and say that ain't going to be happening but then the next thing I know I would be back to those same thoughts. I decided it was time to take a look online and see if I could get a handle on this,the following is what I found and it offers at least a glimmer of hope that I am not slipping down the slope of sanity.
The 5 stages of grief are,denial,anger,bargaining,depression,and acceptance,though not everyone goes through them in the same order or necessarily goes through all of them. There were lengthy descriptions of each and several sites offering mostly the same thing. I think the first day I was firmly in the anger/pain stage as there was nothing I could have done to prevent it,and anger at her for getting into the position that would eventually take her life. Today with all my thoughts of her calling or pulling up or even checking for her car in front of the beauty salon she used indicate that I am in the denial stage. I have lost people in my life many times but I think it gets harder as you age,maybe just closer to home? I am not looking forward to going through all the stages and sometimes looping back through some of them for what could be up to 8 months,but then again what are a persons options? I hope this isn't so personal as to be objectionable but it does feel a bit better to get it out some.

Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving in the U.S. most retailers open extremely early to kick off the Christmas shopping season,similar to Boxing Day in the Commonwealth Nations. It is the busiest shopping day of the year. The phrase Black Friday originated in Philadelphia,coined by police and bus and taxi drivers to describe the heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic that occurred the day after Thanksgiving. The term started around 1966 and started seeing broader use around 1975. An alternative definition is that this day is when retailers turn a profit,or are "in the black".
It is Black Friday to me for a different reason,my friend that I wrote about in October that had the problem with prescription drugs died in her sleep last night. Even knowing it was coming it is still a shock and I only wish I could have stopped it from happening,but that was just not meant to be, she was firmly dug in with her habit. Let's just hope that she is at peace now.

Food Coma

I am afraid that I am still under the l-tryptofan coma from the turkey,odd how a simple amino acid can knock a person out like that but it always hits me particularly hard. With any luck I won't get into the leftovers too much tomorrow and can resume life as normal,or rather as normal as it ever is for me. Hope every one enjoyed their day.

Holiday Weeks...or Weaks?

What is it about holiday weeks that upsets my internal calendar? It makes me think I am either a day ahead or a day behind,this week I think it is already Thursday and if it was that would be too bad for me as my Turkey is not cooked or cooking so at least on some level I must know what day it is. I love a turkey dinner,but only want one once a year I guess because with the leftovers I get ODed on turkey. I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving tomorrow,except those of you in different parts of the world that don't have that holiday,or if you have something similar it is on a different day and likely a different month. There was quite a storm yesterday that ended up knocking the power out here for 5 hours,though it must still be out in other areas as the neighbor that works for the power company hasn't been home for 2 days,let's hope he makes it home for Turkey Day. We are fortunate that the storm hit before the holiday so we will have power restored and everyone can enjoy their meal.

A Couple of Tidbits

The weather was so nasty today I wasn't even tempted to try to walk with Uma,I would have been soaked in a couple of minutes,so instead I went to the weight room at the local pool to use a treadmill,which brings me to the first tidbit for the day.Treadmills were devised by an English civil engineer named Sir William Cubitt in the early 1800's at the time they were called tread wheels and were used to reform stubborn and idle convicts. They would tread on the 24 spokes of a large paddle wheel similar to a modern StairMaster. As the spokes turned,the gears were used to pump water or crush grains,hence the eventual name treadmill. It was abandoned in the late 19th century for being too cruel. The treadmill made a comeback in the 1960's when the benefits of aerobic exercise were discovered.
The 2nd tidbit of the day is totally unrelated but something I have wanted to include for some time but never found a spot where it fit in...not that those kind of things usually bother me! It is flavors of Pepsi outside the U.S. some of the ones I found were Ice Cucumber,Ice Cream,Baobab,and Yogurt (also known as Pepsi White). This lead me to want to know what Baobab was,from what I found the tree that produces the fruit only grows in certain areas of Africa and has a tangy taste of Carmel pear with a hint of grapefruit. All I can say at this point is to each their own...I think I will stick with water!

Truth or?

Truth seems like such a simple concept but I have come to the conclusion that it is far from simple. Some people are so accomplished at avoiding the truth that it seems truthful,I guess it could be a testament to their acting skills. I would like to share a few quotes about truth at this time to give you some food for thought.
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. -Galileo
The truth is incontrovertible,malice may attack it,ignorance may deride it,but in the end,there it is. -Winston Churchill
Be so true to thyself as thou not be false to others. -Francis Bacon
'Tis strange-but true;for truth is always strange;stranger than fiction. -Lord Byron
A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it. -Oscar Wilde
Truth is never pure,and rarely simple. -Oscar Wilde

In Practice

It was brought to my attention that an important part was left out of my blog from yesterday,and I felt it necessary to share with the truly paranoid of you...you know who you are! If you are in private practice you don't want anyone to know what you are practicing and presumably go to lengths to keep that privacy,now that I actually put that out there it is a pretty scary thought. I am thinking that I don't really want to deal with any ones private practice,and just from that thought alone I could go in several different directions, so at this point I will leave you to your own devices.

Practice?

The word practice as applied to professions has always puzzled me. Personally I don't want to go to someone about a medical problem,or even a legal problem if they are only practicing,I want them to know how! It just seems like a backward phrase for those particular professions considering all the years of schooling they go through before they can begin their practice. Before I sat down here today to write this I was going to try to get to the bottom of why it is referred to as practicing but found out after nearly an hour of trying that I wasn't any closer to an answer than I was when I started. The two dictionary terms I found that applied are as follows,but once again shed no light on the real question at hand.
Practice
1. to do repeated exercises for proficiency
2. to pursue a profession actively
Is it just me,or does this seem to leave out something?

Lunatic Fringe

This is the lyrics to a song I have always enjoyed and wanted to share with you as further proof that I am not paranoid,they really are out to get me (us)! You can also listen to it if you are not familiar with it on youtube,it is by Red Rider.
Lunatic Fringe
I know you're out there
You're in hiding
And you hold your meetings
I can hear you coming
We know what you're after
We're wise to you this time
We won't let you kill the laughter.
Lunatic Fringe
In the twilight's last gleaming
This is open season
But you won't get too far
'Cause you gotta blame someone
For your own confusion
But I'm on guard this time
Against your final solution
We can hear you coming
No you're not going to win this time
We can hear the footsteps
Out along the walkway
Lunatic Fringe
We all know you're out there
Can you feel the resistance?
Can you feel the thunder?

Cereal Killer

I was reading an interesting thing earlier today about why the small bits of cereal end up in the bottom of the cereal box instead of on the top where one would expect them to be since they are lighter. It even has a name,"Muesli Effect" the same effect can also be found in containers of mixed nuts only there it is called the "Brazil Nut Effect". This has actually been studied since the 1930's by cereal physicists as it defies logic,seemingly the larger heavier pieces should sink and the lighter pieces should rise to the surface. There are a couple of theories why this happens one is that the larger pieces float on top of the smaller granules which act like a liquid,another is percolation where the smaller grains trickle down or "fluid drag". There is a cure for this dilemma and that is simply shaking the box from side to side while holding it in an upright position. There you have it, if you enjoy your cereal properly mixed now you know how to achieve that mixture,I am not a big cereal eater myself but I found it interesting anyway,and thought I would pass it along.

Childproof?

If ever there was an oxymoron it would be the word childproof,because as a general rule children are the only ones that can open childproof things without too much of a problem. The amazing thing to me is the things that they put the childproof closures on and the things that they don't. I currently have a bottle of mouthwash with a childproof top,okay first of all if you have children and want them to use the mouthwash/dental rinse wouldn't you want them to be able to do it on there own? Not to mention that mouthwash isn't all that dangerous,sure it is far from a health drink but I don't think many kids would drink enough of it to do much if any harm. The curious thing to me is most of the cleaning products don't have childproof tops and small amounts of them can be lethal. The bottom line though isn't which things should or should not have childproof opening but why is it the problem of the manufacturer? As a parent a person should have enough sense to both keep an eye on children and store things that are a potential hazard where they are not readily available to the children,but once again a few fools have made it a problem for the masses.

Faulty Equipment

For some reason I am still not adjusted to the time change and it is getting annoying waking up an hour earlier than I need to every morning. I like the morning hours because of the sense of peace,but when it is still dark out it just isn't the same. It has been over a week since the time changed back and that seems like more than adequate time for the adjustment...so what I am thinking is that my internal clock is on the blink and I have no clue where the reset button is. If anyone has this information I hope you will see fit to share it with me before I drop in my tracks. It wasn't this difficult to adjust when I traveled to Australia,of course that was around a decade ago so that may have something to do with it. Hey! Maybe my internal clock has been communicating with the appliances like my one atomic clock does and that is the problem! Stranger things have happened.

Better Today

I was feeling a little empty or down yesterday which happens to me when I finish a book by an author I really enjoy,or for that matter just a book I really enjoy. It is like having a friend come to visit and how you feel when it is time for them to leave,like a piece is missing. In contrast on the rare occasion that I get a book that I really don't enjoy reading, it is like having an annoying relative that came to visit and stayed too long finally leaving! I know you are probably thinking why does she finish a book if she isn't enjoying it,and the answer is I just can't seem to give up on them, I keep on reading in hope that I will be rewarded in the end but I don't find that to be the case often. When I don't like a book most of the way through it seldom can redeem itself by the end or maybe after investing that much time I end up with an attitude that prevents the enjoyment? I will have to think on that,not that it makes much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

11/22/63

I feel like I want to comment on this newest of Stephen King's works,for anyone that remembers that date,or rather is old enough to recall that era it is filled with nostalgia that makes you yearn for those simpler times. That of course is not all, it also contains all the things one comes to expect of The Master and more. Not much more that I can say without accidentally including a spoiler and I wouldn't want to do that,so I will just say that I highly recommend it. If there is anyone else that has read it let me know what you think,of course I should remind you that I don't get your comments unless you become a follower of the site,and I would love to hear from more of my readers.

Superstitious

I had unfurled Uma for our walk today and as I was putting her on the front porch to dry I started belittling myself for being superstitious about bringing her inside to dry which would entail the old open umbrella in the house superstition,and silly as it might be I always figure it is better to not tempt fate. From that point the rest was all downhill,I had to see what kind of basis this belief came from.
Ancient Egyptians believed the umbrella to have magical powers as they protected them from the sun god (Ra),to open them inside would be offensive to the sun god.
Another theory is the umbrella was a protection against life's storms and to open one inside would cause the households guardian spirts to leave in anger.
Scientifically the storing of a damp or wet umbrella inside could cause it to spontaneously combust,and that would be very unlucky!

Geese

In the past the geese have always flown over my house on their way south,though this year I haven't heard more than a couple of flocks and wonder if they have for some reason changed their flight path or if it is something else. I know that when they fly that the bird that is flying the point position of the V is always changing as it is quite hard to fly in that position for long as it is also the place where the resistance is the greatest,what I don't understand since the whole flying south thing is so strenuous is why the honk the whole while. It seems like to me that would only raise the difficulty level of and already difficult venture. It doesn't seem like they would need to be in constant communication since they have visual contact,but not being a goose this remains somewhat of a mystery to me. If anyone does know why they do this could you please share that information with me.
 I would like to again thank my readers and add for those of you that might be curious that I have picked up a couple of readers in Sweden and also the UK and the Russian readers seem to remain constant,thanks for your interest.

Stan the Dog

We had a trivia question this morning at Curves that had us all laughing our heads off. It was about Stan the dog,and what was the first thing he didn't see after he got his contact lenses...the answer was the car that hit him. That might seem like kind of sick humor and probably is, but the part we found so funny was not that the poor dog got run over,but that he was wearing contact lenses. I had never heard of contact lenses for pets until this morning,but when I went to check it out online,sure enough they make them,and not only for dogs but for cats and horses as well. The thing we all found so funny was imagining the dog putting the contacts in and taking them out,and how would he squeeze the little bottles of wetting solution and the rest of the accouterments that go with the whole contact lenses  routine,and now I find myself thinking the same about cats and horses.How would they be tested to see what kind of correction their eyes needed? I can see the dogs eye chart...Okay,tell me how many cats you see. I realize that these things are more than likely supposed to be performed by the owners,but even at that I have a hard time picturing it happening.What happens if they get a piece of dirt or sand in their eye,do they point at it and hope you aren't too busy to fix it? Here is a scene for you to imagine...you just get out of bed in the morning and want to get your morning coffee going,but the dog really needs to go outside so you put your need for caffeine aside and put the dogs contacts in. I could go on an on amusing myself with all the different scenarios this topic brought to mind,but I won't at the risk of boring you. Hope you got a chuckle out of it as well!

There I Go Thinking Again

Those of you that have been reading this blog from the start will remember my sidekick Uma the umbrella. I thought I found an interesting tidbit to share with you about the name Uma,but when I went to verify that could find no support. I had stumbled across a piece telling me that the Japanese word for horse was Uma,I was pretty excited at the discovery until of course it turned out to be nothing but hot air. I have been wondering where I read it in the first place so I could go back there and correct them,but can't seem to retrace my steps which makes me wonder if I dreamt it,I am known for my vivid dreams.
Something I did come across in the book I am reading and didn't remember at all about the Kennedy assassination was that the assassin,Lee Harvey Oswald was married to a beautiful Russian woman named Marina. He was apparently quite abusive to her and at first she testified that he was guilty of the murder but then later recanted that testimony. I was young at the time and am coming across a lot I either didn't know or didn't remember and I am sure some of you weren't even born yet at the time (1963),and will keep you posted if anything else I think might be of interest comes up.

Road Signs

First of all I would like to tell anyone that was concerned that the time space continuum problem has been repaired and I was able to pick the book I have been somewhat patiently waiting for today,as it says in the book "Life can turn on a dime".
On my way to purchase the book (11/22/63) I drove past one of my favorite road signs as it always makes me chuckle,it says Draw Bridge and even though I know they are talking about a drawbridge I always want to get out a drawing pad and pencil and draw a bridge. Am I the only one that looks at things like that? Or am I just really easily amused?

Solitaire

I got to thinking about how life is what you make out of it and playing the hand you are dealt which for some reason I had always thought of as a hand of poker. You could apply that adage to any card game I suppose but the more I thought about it the more apt it seemed that the game in question should be solitaire because it doesn't depend on what other people play so that would make it more like a life situation. When one plays solitaire the choices you make throughout the game have an impact on the way it ultimately plays out,whether you win or lose. Simple adjustments to the cards can make all the difference between winning a hand or losing which is also true about life choices. I am not talking about cheating but just the moving of cards that can free up a game for you and the same is true with decisions one make in life,that with slight tweaking things can turn out for the better. On the other hand I could be all wet!

What Kind of Person Are You?

I have been thinking about this for a couple of days and it seems like people center their lives around drama,horror,romance,other,or none of the above. I would have to say I would be in the horror category as I enjoy being scared and I love to scare people...one of my greatest joys is sneaking up on someone that is sitting quietly and startling them,I will have to start being more careful about that since my friends are all getting older. My favorite of all time is when someone was waiting behind a door to scare me not realizing I was already in the room,you should have seen their face when I casually asked what they thought they were doing,and I am sure their feet left the floor by at least 6 inches.
You also have people that are addicted to drama and even the smallest problem in their life becomes a major crises,these people also seem to like to attend funerals. The romantics on the other hand take an almost opposite approach to life and seem to look at everything through rose colored glasses,which is okay until reality bites you in the butt. I am sure there are numerous other categories and even sub-categories but I just wanted to touch on the basics,and I am not even sure why I wanted to do that!
Once again thanks for your time and interest,and those of you in Russia must be passing the word as my audience there is growing and again I thank you.

Slip Sliding Away

I am having problems with time being slippery again,only this time it might be the worst of all. I got a newsletter in my inbox yesterday from a women's workout group,(I won't mention which one it might be,but it does start with Curves!) Are you with me so far? From here it gets a little hard to follow...in the newsletter was a calendar for November with the dates for Zumba and the closures for the month,pretty straight forward you would think until I noticed that after the 7th it was the 5th where one would expect to find the 8th,normally this wouldn't be a big deal but the 8th of November is the date for the new Stephen King book to be released that is where the problem arose. If there isn't an 8th this month will the book not be released? What about future months? Will they all have the 5th following the 7th? I intend to go and try to buy the book on the 5th? as I really am looking forward to this one,its title is 11/22/63 and is about a man that travels back in time to the Kennedy assassination with the master's touch on it I am thinking it will be an excellent read and should have some tidbits of history as well. 

Fashion Plate

Anyone that knows me also knows that a fashion plate is the last word one would use to describe me. I find that whole fashion concept a bit bizzare and when I do take time to notice how people are dressed it only confirms my thoughts. Most of the time I am left scratching my head wondering how anyone came up with some of the ideas,not to mention what people are thinking when they buy and wear them without any apparent thought to how that particular style might look on them,from what I see mostly it is far from flattering. The expense is another thing,I can think of so many things to spend money on that mean more to me than stylish clothes that I probably wouldn't like anyway. It all seems a bit superfical to me,are they trying to present a person that is different from who they really are? Or are they so used to going with the flow that they don't think about simply dressing the way that makes them the most comfortable? To me comfort is what clothes are all about,warmer when the weather is cooler and cooler when the weather is warm,other than that I fail to see the point.

Serendipity

I just had to mention the book I am reading was going on the same way I was in the blog about Politically Correct only it was about Christmas and how you are supposed to not say Merry Christmas as it might be offensive to some people,I only wish I could quote it for you but with the laws about that sort of thing I would just as soon not chance it.
As I was doing dishes earlier I remembered what my mother used to always tell us girls,"If you get your stomach wet when you do dishes you aren't ready to get married". I haven't checked with the other 2 but I still get my stomach wet and none of us are married at this time nor do any of us intend to be as far as I know.
I would also like to thank my readers that reside outside of the USA,there are 6 of you in Russia,2 in Germany,1 France,1 Romania,2 Indonesia and 1 in Brazil,I appreciate your interest and hope you find some entertainment in my ramblings.

The American Dream

I have been wondering since I posted "Balancing Act" whatever happened to the American Dream? I don't know if we were brainwashed to want to be successful and own our homes,though that is never 100% true in any thing,not everyone will want the same thing yet I think it is safe to say that for the most part our generation gave it their best effort. In more recent times the young couples either make purchases well beyond their buying power or they don't even make an attempt at having anything. This in turn makes me think about the economy and how it got into such a sad state. When I was first in the market to buy a home they really made sure you were going to be able to pay for it and now they just seem to give anyone a shot at a mortgage whether they are already in debt up to their ears or not,and never even mind the government bailing out businesses,when did that become their duty? I just feel like people are encouraged at some point to over extend themselves and  they don't seem to even know they are doing it...How did it all happen? Have I been asleep for several years and missed many many memos that would have told me this would be happening? 

Names that go with jobs...or not

I think first I need to explain how I got on this bent,I kept hearing a commercial on the radio for a car dealer by the name of Gouge,since it was on the radio I have no idea if that is really how his name is spelled but I thought if it were me and I was trying to sell something I wouldn't use that name. Then that lead me to think of other names that go with jobs and others not so much. I will just list them now and let you decide.
Hurt-physical therapy
Payne-dentist
Boyle-dermatologist
Barber-hair stylist
Parker-valet
Burns-pyromaniac
Carpenter-carpenter
Pierce-tattoo artist/body piercing
Butcher-butcher
Gardner-gardener
Cook-cook/chef
Baker-pastry chef/bakery worker
Taylor-clothing designer
Banks-finance
Hindman-proctologist
Lawlis-criminal
Webb-arachnophobic
Price-sales
And lastly this one I had a call for way back in the mid 70's when I was working for the phone company in directory assistance. I was laughing so hard I had to pass the call to a supervisor.
Dr. Bonebreak-orthopedic surgeon!

Politically correct...or not

This seems to be another idea that kind of snowballed,it may have started out with the right intentions but it ran amok from there. I have heard over and over people complaining about the new and improved words that are applied to them and I can't say I much blame them, some of it is down right silly at best. One can apply here the adage,"If it ain't broke don't fix it". Which brings me to the question, who is deciding what is right or wrong when it comes to how we can refer to our fellow humans? And how did they get the reins in the first place? Some folks are afraid of opening their mouths for fear of offending someone,so once again another of our basic right are being trampled upon,where will it stop? In the beginning our rights were fairly simple and bright,shiny and vibrant but as time goes on it seems like most of them are fading to the palest of pastels,totally washed out from the original ideas.

Surprised

I have to admit I was a little surprised at the positive responses from yesterdays post,I had been thinking on it for several days and was wondering what kind of a can of worms I would be opening. As it turns out I am one in a multitude that feel the same way,so how did it get so turned around like it is now? It is more or less our kids that are doing the parenting these days,or did I mentally miss a generation in between? Here I was thinking that I would be getting boos and hisses,but not really caring, I wrote it anyway...goes to show what I know!
Been busy as a one armed paper hanger today so not much more to offer for today,but I will try to come up with something worth your while for tomorrow.

Balancing act

Life is pretty much a balancing act or if you prefer you could think of yourself as a juggler trying to keep the balls in the air,but what about kids? It has been brought to my attention that kids in these times we live in are being over scheduled to the point of having no free time. I understand the logic that has brought it to this point,in keeping them busy they have no time to get into trouble,and exposing them to several different things will hopefully make them into a well rounded adult,but every minute of every day? What about time to just be a kid,and play? What about just having a little down time to use their imagination? They surely won't have time for much of that once they are adults and with any luck join the work force. This also makes me question if this is why kids don't seem to strike out on their own like they used too,people say it is because it is so much more expensive these days,but with considering COLA raises the same apply to wages so I don't think this is necessarily true. Maybe with all the over exposure to choices they can't narrow it down and figure out what they want to be when they grow up,or maybe they are so dependent on the parents by the time they reach adulthood they are afraid to take the plunge. I am not talking about just having a kid play a sport but the push for them to do everything that comes down the pike,dance,music,extra classes and clubs the lists I am hearing are endless and make me tired just thinking about it. Is this good parenting or avoiding being a parent? It seems to me the only free time the kids that are over scheduled would have they would need to be spend sleeping,so when does time with the parents come into play? I may be way off base here...we all know it wouldn't be the first time,but it sure leaves me wondering.

Satisfaction!

At last a product that works as promised! Uma got the acid test today,not only was it raining but there were several good gusts,and just like her warranty had suggested she defied the wind and the interesting thing is how she resisted inversion...she inverts when confronted with a gust but when it lets up she pops herself back out to the regular umbrella configuration. Needless to say I was impressed! I only hope I am not speaking words of praise too soon for fear of jinxing the whole operation,but with any luck my superstitions will not come into play this time,and we will have a long and mostly dry time in the months to come. All I need to figure out now is how to keep the water from wicking up my pants legs...ah,back to the drawing board.

Breaking the Law 101

I can't help but notice when I am making my daily rounds the people teaching their children how to jaywalk...what do they say to them? It's all right to break the law as long as you don't get caught? Then years later they are the same ones wringing their hands and wondering how their child could have gone bad.
That brings out that soapbox person again on a similar topic,bikes and skateboards on the sidewalks. Do those people not read? There are signs that say no bicycles or skateboards...and never mind the very name sidewalk suggests its intended use,otherwise they could have called it a sideride.  I worry about the elderly getting mowed down by the ones that insist on riding on the sidewalks and expressed my concerns at city hall,but of course was told they don't have money in the budget for anyone to do anything about it. I suggested that perhaps the parking Nazi could at least say something to them when he saw them,and they said he was pretty busy with marking tires and writing tickets and there was no revenue in bicyclists, I was a little peeved at this point and told them,"well if you started confiscating the bikes and they had to pay to get them back it would be a big step to solving the problem." I was told to come to a city council meeting if I wanted to bring it up...so it was all just another waste of my time trying to save the elderly from bodily harm.  Then there are the ones that actually use the bicycle lanes,but have such a sense of entitlement that they don't think they need to stop for traffic signs or signals...HELLO! Did they not notice that there is no steel wrapped around them and they will be the certain loser in any run in with a motorized vehicle.

Marinated people

Not to worry,I am not turning cannibalistic on you. I am talking about people that take your breath away from the overuse of colognes and aftershave,and not in a good way. I think it is a bit much when I am walking outside and that happens,I can well imagine what it must be like to be in close contact with those same people all day long. The very worst of all though is in restaurants where the smell becomes part of the meal and ruins it,this is not usually from the employees as most have enough sense to not wear something that is going to make the meal less than enjoyable,but from the other patrons. Okay,done with the soapbox for today.
I thought I saw someone wearing the same tie-dyed shirt as I had on today until I realized it was my reflection in a window...but in my defense it is a building with windows on both sides so you look through to the opposite corner, so I thought in a few more steps I would come face to face with the person dressed like me until that little light bulb that sometimes dims in my brain came back to full wattage.

Favorite things

Don't worry I am not going to burst into song I would never abuse my audience that way,even if you couldn't hear me it would still be bad!
What I am talking about it my favorite magazine came in the mail yesterday,actually it is the only magazine I get as most of the rest leave me somewhat flat. It is called "Mental Floss" and I have been getting it for a couple of years now,it is truly a treat. One of the small things about it is at the top of the first several pages above the actual articles is little one-liners called Scatterbrained. The first one in this issue was During the 1960's the U.S. Coast Guard received about two dozen real pleas from concerned citizens to rescue the castaways on "Gilligan's Island". You can well imagine from that small sample what the rest of the magazine is like. I have to say though I liked Scatterbrained better when it was belows the articles and called The Bottom Line,but that is just me and no real reason for it. They also have a part after the Mail Bonding section called Mental Flaws where they correct any errors from previous issues. Don't be confused by Mental Flaws,it is in no way related to mental pause, which is when your brain just shuts down temporarily usually right when you are in the middle of something. I used to think that mental pause only affected people once they reached a certain age,but have discovered even people in their 30's can experience the phenomena,though not as often or severe.

Time is on your side?

When I think about all the songs there are about time I realize I am not the only one that obsesses about it. Time is a very slippery or elastic, if you will concept. When you are young time goes so slowly and for some reason you are always wanting it to go faster instead of savoring the very things that are special about youth. As you age time speeds up,sometimes to the point that you feel like you are going to spin right off the face of the planet...but then you reach a point to where it either goes into retrograde or wavers between going fast and going slow. Before I retired I never had enough time and knew once I was retired that would no longer be an issue,I am here to tell you I was all wet! The thing is it can't seem to settle on how to pace itself so I am left at its mercy,or sometimes lack of mercy. Some days it is like I am regressing and time is going slowly,then the next day comes around and I am so busy I barely have time to think which tends to make a person greedy with their time which is okay I guess since it is indeed your time to use as you see fit but at those times it leaves me feeling incredibly silly. 

Unique,like everyone else?

I have trouble with the experts claiming that other than fingerprints and DNA,humans are all pretty much the same. Are they saying that snowflakes have more variety than people? My thoughts on this are way off that beaten track. I got to thinking about this when I was just doing some ordinary things around the house and started wondering how I ended up doing things the way I do? Was I taught at some point? Or did I see someone do something similar,or did I simply find a way to do things in my own way,a signature if you please. It seems to me that each individual has an infinite number of choices each and every day and the very way a person chooses reflects their differences. Some days it seems like the choices are between which is the lesser evil,or the best of a bad lot and how you deal with days like that reveals the vast uniqueness in

people,not the sameness,especially on the bad days as opposed to those rare good ones where everything goes so well you become paranoid by the end of the day just waiting for the other shoe to drop...Then again maybe that is just me!

Uma Earns her Salt

Uma was once again unsheathed today and made to perform,I was thinking as we walked in the rain, I wonder if there is an umbrella union? If so what can and cannot I expect of Uma? I will have to check into this further and see if I can get a copy of their contract if there is one. Being a retired Teamster I really should have thought of this long before now,I can only hope that any fines I may have accrued are not to steep. Since my left sinus has been giving me hell all day I was also wondering if it would be permissible to shove her in my nose and hit the button to open her,and if so would it feel better or worse? No need to answer that one...joke man,joke!

Elastic

Elastic may refer to:

• Elastic, a colloquial noun for certain kinds of elastomers and stretchable fabrics
• Elastic collision, a term describing collisions in which kinetic energy is conserved
• Elastic deformation, a reversible deformation of a material
• Elasticity (physics), the physical property of a material that returns to its original shape
• Elasticity (economics), a term used to describe the responsiveness of demand or supply
• Elastic, an alternative name for the skipping game Chinese jump rope
• Elastic (album), an album by jazz saxophonist Joshua Redman
• A Rubber band
• Elastic Superheroes (ex, Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, etc.)

I have been thinking about the word elastic for a couple of days and all the ways it could be used as and adjective,and of course a noun too. There can be elastic rules/laws,step/gait (stride),temperament,mind set,or thought process and so many I could go on for pages but I think you get the idea,the odd part is you don't hear it used that much. I considered it to be a fairly recent addition to the language,but oddly enough it dates from 1645-55 Neo latin. Synonyms would be resilient,pliant and I am sure if I took some more time there would no doubt be more to that list as well.
Ok,here is where it might get a little crazy for you...I have wondered for years why automobiles aren't made out of a material similar to a Super Ball?? You could still choose a color to your liking and no more collision repairs,once an engine wore out you would replace that instead of the entire rig. The only drawback I can figure is maybe the whiplash would be killer,but hey,why sweat the small stuff?

The Vortex

I debated whether to write about the predicament I found myself in yesterday and decided that since I had no intention of naming names it was something I wanted to bring attention to in hope of saving someone in the future from the same dilema. It may be a lofty goal as it is a huge problem and grows every day. The problem I am speaking of is prescription drug addiction,and more precisely how to not let yourself be fooled by it. It seems like the way it happens so easily is because the abusers tell themselves that it is perfectly legal and a "doctor" wants them to take it...from there it is all downhill.
First of all do NOT let yourself be intimidated by the drug abuser,if you notice something that sends up a red flag try to do something then as it is not going to get any better,and remember some of the most likely to abuse prescription drugs are nurses and drug counselors,again don't be intimidated use your good sense when you know something is wrong. Make as many people aware of the suspected problem as you can,sometimes imediate family really would rather look the other way and some continue to do so even when the realize there is a problem. Bring it to the attention of the health care providers when possible often the abuser is so good at hiding the problem that the people you think should be the first to notice don't notice at all,and of course they do see many people every day which allows things like this to escape their notice. If I have helped one person from this post today it will make my whole attempt at blogging worthwhile. Thank you for your time and interest.

Nothing today

I got sucked into a vortex of crazy this morning and that has pretty much taken up the better part of my day. Uma and I did get a walk in but just barely. Hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Indian summer

I was always taught that Indian summer was a patch of warm weather after the first frost,which is one meaning of the term. In some areas in the Southwestern US it is used to describe the hottest time of the year,late July or August. The term is also used to refer to the late blooming of something in the sense of revival.
The reason my thoughts have been on this for the past several "Umaless" days is I have been expecting to hear someone refer to this as Indian summer. Not that I am complaining as I will take the nice weather as long as I can,but the odd thing this year is so far only the ornamental trees are changing color and the rest aren't showing any changes yet,or not enough to be noticeable to yours truly.

Shotgun houses/shacks

It is amazing the things a person can learn in the course of reading fiction. I had come across the term shotgun house numerous times but apparently was never near my computer so today was my first chance to look it up.

Shotgun houses are a narrow,usually no more than 12 feet wide rectangular residence with doors at each end. Found mainly in the Southern US they are also found in other states IL. and CA. included. These houses consist of 3-5 rooms in a row with no hallways. There are a couple of thoughts on how they got their name,the most popular being you could fire a shotgun through the front door and the pellets would fly cleanly out the back door,another thought is the name was taken from African heritage word to-gun which means place of assembly.

Language usage and misusage

Todays post isn't really about the title...well not much about it anyway. I just recently discovered in the back of one of my dictionarys a section for words that are commonly misused,and all the years I thought I was the only one! You can imagine my relief. The words that I can't get the meaning to stick for me not matter how many times I look them up and try to commit them to memory are affect and effect. I just looked them up again yesterday and I can honestly say if I had to explain the difference today it would not be a pretty picture. The first example I found in the dictionary was accept and except,I thought well those two are easy why would they be a problem? Then I remembered my own dilema and mentally said,never mind.
Something I have been noticing alot lately is I will think I see something out of the corner of my eye but when I move my eyes to see what it is nothing is there. Is this a glimpse into another dimension?or have I  slipped that final cog that was all the was holding me to reality? As I was thinking this over I remembered a book I had read,Dean Koontz "From the Corner of His Eye" and looked for it but didn't find it so I wonder where it is off to?
For those wondering about Uma she hasn't had any work the last couple of days as it has been clear. I would also like to add that to view my other posts scroll down and then to your right side of the screen there will be a list and you can click on ones you may have missed. Thank you for your support!

The raccoons are back...

This morning before it was light I was on my front porch and noticed little hand like prints on my stairs,of which there are 15 then a concrete landing and 4 more to reach street level. Apparently the raccoons were back and had made a night of it playing tag or perhaps running relays up and down my stairs,as it got light I also saw my freshly washed steps were now a muddy mess. I knew the prints to be those of raccoons which until a couple of years back we were nearly overun with because of people feeding them they over bred,the result being domestic pets were'nt safe from them and as in cases where a species over breeds nature eventually caught up to the problem and wiped out most all of them with an epidemic of distemper. Before that you couldn't keep track of all the raccoons you would see in the course of a day. I have nothing against raccoons but as with any wild animals they have to be left to their own devices when it comes to foraging or they become a problem. I woke up one night to my cats carrying on and a weird thumping sound and got up to investigate and a raccoon was busily ripping a hole in my screen door to get in and have the cats food,obviously it had to have been fed cat food at some point to recognize the smell as something for it to eat. Did I mention they have NO fear?

Benjamin Franklin

The error yesterday on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire got me to thinking of the show a few days back when a question indicated that Ben Franklin's famous Kite experiment had been faked,not wanting a dead man that can no longer defend himself to be maligned I decided I would do a little checking on that to see what I could find. I found absolutely nothing that in any way suggested it had been faked in fact I found detailed despriptions of how it was done,and since he was big on honesty I am going to site Millionaire with another error. Speaking of millionaire Ben Franklin was America's 1st millionaire,he was truly an incredible man in many ways. He was an inventor,journalist,printer,diplomat,statesmen and also started Poor Richard's Almanac which is still printed every year. Franklin was also one of our founding fathers,many people believe he was also one of our presidents though he never was. He was greatly disappointed when the bald eagle was chosen as representative of the USA as he thought it was a bird of bad moral character,he instead preferred the turkey because it was a more respectable bird.

It's that time again,part 2

First of all before it slips my mind, if any of you are leaving comments I don't think I receive them unless you are a follower,as I have only received comments from my one registered follower but had someone mention that they had left one too. So if you want to put in your 2 cents worth that is how to do it.
I am a little late getting to this today as I was trying to figure out how to contact "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" as they had an error in an answer today and it just happened to be what I was planning on for my blog so I knew it was wrong. They were crediting William Willet with being the inventor of Daylight Saving Time (DST) which he was not. First of all I would like to point out there is no s on the end of Saving which I hadn't realized before. I had always thought that Ben Franklin was credited with inventing DST and he did have a similar idea in the 1700's and wrote an article in France about how they could save candles if they got up earlier in the day,goes hand in hand with the ever popular "early to bed early to rise saying". It was actually George Vernon Hudson that invented DST in 1865.
I had heard a rumor that the reason the time changes were later the last few years was that they were going to be phasing out DST,needless to say when I found out what the case really was I was bummed. In 2005 the Energy Policy Act was passed to be enacted in 2007 and they have no intention of freeing us from this archaic ritual even though it can't be proved that is is actually saving any energy at all. The whole idea is like cutting off one end of a blanket and sewing it onto the other end to make it longer,there are only so many hours of daylight,deal with it. And what about Alaska?? Why do they use DST? Talk about a special kind of stupid,not the people of Alaska so don't be offended,but why would the government think to apply DST there?
 At least I have an Atomic clock so I don't have to deal with that part of the deal,of course some days my clock doesn't communicate with the one in Boulder,CO. and instead gets tuned in with the microwave and the results leave me scratching my head.

It's that time again. Part 1

First of all for those friends of Uma's it was such a nice day she didn't even go with me ,so no news about her today.
I don't think I am alone on this but I get REALLY crabby about the amount of political mailings before elections,it has never seemed right to me that just because you are a registered voter you have to have your mailbox stuffed every time there is a vote coming up,and by the time the day actually arrives I don't even want to vote. It also seems like an incredible waste of resources. While I am on a rant about the whole voting process why can't the pamphlets that are the "offical(or maybe that should read officious?)" statements from the state be written in lay person terms instead of so much double talk that you feel like you need a lawyer to make sure you understand it correctly? Ok,here is the part where it all gets a little crazy...I can't help but think that the things I have mentioned in this post are in some way meant to deter people from voting...NO I AM NOT PARANOID,THEY REALLY ARE OUT TO GET ME!

Uma Blooms!!

Today was the day that Uma came out,it almost didn't happen as we were about 3/4 done with the walk when the rain started and truth be told I almost didn't test drive her but decided that was silly,what was I saving her for after all?
The logistics of taking her picture at that time however were not happening for us as the wind was gusting and she is a flighty sort,so we settled for waiting until we got home and got a shot of her in all her new found glory on the porch where she is currently drying.

Weather guessers rep still intact

So much for the wind and rain that was predicted for today,but I had a thought on that while Uma and I were out it sounds a little crazy now that I am ready to commit to it but that has never stopped me before! Maybe they predict wind ever Columbus day in honor of the Columbus day storm back in 1964,or maybe out of superstition? I don't think the images of the devastation in the days following that storm will ever leave me. Ok,that really did sound crazy and not only that but I got to thinking back and the old pictures in my mind are still just as vivid as they were then. I take back my jab at the weather guessers the wind and rain have started in the last 5 or 10 minutes and I didn't even notice until I noticed how dark it was so maybe the unfurling is not as far off as I had hoped for. Stay tuned to find out the day of Uma's debut.

And the winner is...

Thank you all for your help and suggestions for the name,oh wait that would be only 2 people to thank but thanks to them none the less,looks like I will be keeping the $100 prize for myself! Two of the names suggested I decided against since they referred to the 2nd blog and in theory she will not remain virginal forever,in fact if the weather guessers can be believed she may get a grand opening (pun intended) tomorrow as they are predicting rain and wind. The wind part is an interesting thing as according to her tag Uma is called a windjammer and is aerodynamically vented to defy wind and resist inversion,and is wind tunnel tested no less. Uma was designed in Oregon,the ultimate outdoor laboratory and has a lifetime warranty...they didn't mention if that would be the owners life or the umbrella but I have a feeling I might find out before winter is over as I doubt it will hold up to the gusts and high winds we have here. For those of you that weren't paying attention,or are too poor to pay attention the final choice was Uma,one of the main reasons is simplicity,I am big on simple.
As of today Uma's virtue is still intact in fact I almost didn't even bother to take her but a squall can come through pretty quickly this time of year and at this point without her I probably would have felt like I was forgetting something so it was just as easy to bring her along. Check in tomorrow to see if it is the day of the debut!

Also good for...

The umbrella remains in pristine condition,still unfurled. Since I am growing weary of using the word umbrella and the other options are equally cumbersome (bumpershoot,parasol) I am asking for help for naming said item. I have had 2 followers make suggestions as follows,Madonna,Virginia,and Francine,the first 2 of this list are in reference to yesterdays post and are being considered. I initially thought Effie for reasons I cannot explain without having clearance to post adult content...then a couple of others came to mind,Uma,Ella and Bella. If anyone else has thoughts or ideas for names please leave them in the comment box,or you can simply state your preference from the ones listed,remember it is all in fun and after nearly a week of making the rounds with me she at least deserves a name!
About todays title,I also walk with a device called Slot Radio which I have two tiny cards with thousands of songs,or I can tune it to the radio and it really helps keep the pace up when I am walking. Today I discovered that the umbrella was also good for playing air drums which I am really not very good at but enjoy playing none the less.
I don't know about everyone else but I find that when I am doing something familiar my mind takes off on other ventures and sometimes this involves really odd things coming to my attention. I would like to share one of those with you now,have you ever looked at a rainbow and wondered if there was such a thing as a snowbow? Needless to say I have so I thought I would share what I found out about that. First of all if you have seen a snowbow chances are it was really good drugs and not really a snowbow as they are extremely unlikely to happen,though not impossible. For the light to be bent to form a rainbow it has to be through liquid and if it did happen through snow it would be so less intense in color that it would be next to impossible to see. There you go! You probably learned something new today...all part of the service.

Still Virginal

The umbrella's virtue is still intact,but it is anyones guess how long that will remain a fact. It was only lightly misting and for only part of the walk which still didn't seem to warrant actually using the umbrella,I am carrying it for one of those occasions when the sky really lets it all loose,the torrential downpour as it were. Speaking of types of rain I have been wondering if having so many different terms for rain  is another Oregonianism. We have showers,scattered showers,light rain,rain and several other variations some involving wind and thunder and lightning. I have traveled to several parts of the world but never have bothered to read or watch a weather report knowing the way the weather guessers operate in this state leaves me little faith that it would be different elsewhere,what other job is there where you can be wrong 90% of the time and still get a paycheck?
Just FYI I was poking around yesterday to see how this area rated nationally as far as rainfall and was surprised to find in one site that it is rated 3rd for rainfall,I had thought that Seattle was ahead of us,but not according to that site,we ranged from 69.60 inches per year to 67,at least you know I am not imagining that part! The information is so overwhelming in this age of finding anything you want to know at the tips of your fingers,that it is hard to decide which facts are indeed THE facts and which are just what someone posted as fact.
 Stay tuned to see when the umbrella is unfurled!

Walking Cliche

Call me slow but it has only occurred to me today that I am a walking Oregon joke. You have all heard the ones about Oregonians and web feet,there are as many as you can imagine and mostly about the rain. I am nearly into my 6th decade and just last week bought my first umbrella,the reason for the purchase as I told myself at the time was so I could continue with daily walks as the weather turned from summer to fall. It has rained 2 days since I have had the brand new,and still never used umbrella,no I haven't forgotten to take it on those days I had it swinging from my wrist the whole time but told myself it wasn't raining hard enough to use it,that is when I realized that maybe I am the one all the jokes about Oregonians are about. It gets worse...I noticed other people out today using their umbrellas and wondered why they were bothering with them! Gee,let's see,maybe they didn't want to get wet!
Part of my purpose in starting this blog is to keep track of my Oregonian behavior and see if there is any chance of it changing,it may be an interesting ride and you are welcome to come along if you could use a laugh or 2.