Dead Ends

In the past week I've had several dreams of people who are deceased. I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of information I could scare up about this. I will keep it brief as the amount of conflicting theories is quite sizable. Today I will just offer one view on this phenomenon.
Spiritual research finds there are psychological and spiritual reason for dreaming of the dead. Psychological reasons can be feelings of guilt or regret for not having spent time with the departed or other issues about that person.
Spiritual reasons can include the deceased needs help in the afterlife and is trying to make contact or is seeking revenge,though the amount seeking revenge or to frighten the dreamer is said to be only 30%. The reason the dead appear to you in dreams is the mind is more receptive to subtle messages in the sleep state than when all 5 senses are engaged in the waking state. It is also said the people who die suddenly are more likely to appear in your dreams than those who died after a prolonged illness.
I don't think this really answers my questions,but I thought it was an interesting theory.

Bad Days

First off none of these things have actually happened to me,they are only products of my vivid imagination and for amusement only...use at your own risk!
You are playing solitaire on your computer and you are sure there is a card missing.
You look at a particularly bothersome person and find yourself musing about fava beans and a nice chianti.
Getting up in the middle of the night and stepping in dog vomit...as you are cleaning it up you realize you don't have a dog.
You decide it would be funny to call in sick to work,you tell them you can't come to work because your eyes are bothering you...you just can't see yourself working there. They answer your prank by saying "We can't see you working here either."
While driving in especially nasty traffic you barely notice that you have assumed ramming speed and only miss having an accident by seconds.
Then there are the times like when I just sat down here and dumped a glass of water all over myself because I forgot that I had it in my hand.
I have lived through enough crazy stuff in my life that none of these thoughts seem that far out there,so remember no matter what kind of day you're having,it could always be worse!

About Honor?

I have always been curious how flowers came to be the traditional (at least in the U.S.) way to honor the deceased and since it is Memorial Day I thought what better time to find out. In other cultures different items are left for the dead and to me they make more sense than flowers. Offerings of food,money and favorite trinkets seem like things a dead person might have use for (providing the dead needed anything) but I found that flowers actually dated back to the Stone Age. The reason flowers were employed was more than just the decorative purpose they serve today. Flowers were originally put over the grave to mask the odor of decay not only for the survivors but also in hopes of deterring animals from digging up the corpse. The custom of marking the grave with a tombstone began when people still feared the deceased spirit might rise from the grave and inhabit the body of a living person. To prevent this the coffin was nailed shut and a heavy stone was placed on the lid,it was then buried deep in the ground. For extra security another stone was placed on the surface of the grave,giving us the word tombstone.

Just When You Thought

Since the motels have seemingly laid the bed bug problem to rest (or to bed?),you are probably feeling fairly good about using motels in your travel plans. There are lots of comfortable motels out there,but first a few things you might appreciate knowing.
Just because you have a reservation doesn't mean you will actually be able to procure a room for the night. Motels play the percentages and overbook whenever possible and if you made your reservation through a discount outlet like Expedia,your chances of not getting a room are much greater. In case that isn't quite enought to make you nervous about your motel stay,without even mentioning using a black light to show areas previously soiled by bodily fluids,you can check out that nice shiny glass left for your convenience. Perhaps you have brought some of your favorite beverage to enjoy,maybe even an alcoholic beverage to help ease you into slumber in a bed other than your own. If so the motel has foreseen this possiblitly and supplied you with a flavor enhancer,those nice shiny glasses? Chances are they have been cleaned with Lemon Pledge,and do I need to mention the dust cloth had already been used? The moral of the story is...opt for the plastic disposable glasses and your own mixer!

New Excuse...Old Problem

Actually it's probably one of the oldest excuses in the book, but usually called by various other names including but not limited to,24 hour flu (aka brown bottle flu),feeling under the weather (remember the seasick blog?) and many more misnomers varying according to the creativity of the afflicted person. So along with feeling like you might die (sometimes wishing you would) and wondering if anyone got the license number of the truck that ran over you,you also get a healthy dose of guilt. I can help with a small portion of the problem,I can't fix the way you feel physically,only time can cure that (or if you are a hard core case,another drink),but I can help with the guilt. The guilt can be a two-fold deal,for instance if you suddenly realize you are drunk and it is a work night,the other scenario is for the more cautious amongst you who avoid (or try to avoid) drinking on work nights. Either way chances are you will feel guilty. For those who "accidently" got drunk on a work night and call in sick to work simply use the word veisalgia instead of the over used 24 hour flu,you are suffering from a sudden onset of veisalgia (pronounced v-long a salgia). Chances are whoever you have to call really doesn't care what your problem is,only how to compensate for one less person. For the rest of you,sooth your jagged nerves with the medical term for your affliction,sure you are still going to miss most of a perfectly good day but putting a technical name to it may help!

The Hairy Eyeball

To bad I didn't run across this a few days ago when I did the other bee blog,but life is seldom as organized as I would like. First off you can't call a bee four eyes because they have five eyes,and they have hair on their eyes (makes my eyes water just thinking about it). I don't know if you could apply the word hirsute to a honey bee,but that is the general idea,natures way of maximizing every surface of the bee to collect the most pollen possible,the hairs also help the bee to fly by sensing wind direction and wind speed (they can fly about 15 mph). The allergy sufferers amongst you must be feeling an overwhelming need to rub your eyes about now! The honey bee is also the only insect that make food for humans,so forget about the hairy eyeballs and enjoy some honey.

Playing Dead

I grew up on a farm and from a young age knew about animals,both domestic and wild but I only recently discovered that opossums don't play dead (play opossum) they actually enter a state similar to fainting that can last from less than a minute to six hours. It immediately made sense when I read that as anyone that has been around opossums know they aren't the sharpest tool in the shed (small primitive brain). In case you also believe the way opossums are depicted hanging from their tails sleeping,that is also a misconception. Their tails are not strong enough to hold the weight of an adult,the young can hang from their tails but can not sleep that way. Opossums are highly disease resistant due to their low body temperature,they rarely contract rabies and can survive most venomous snake bites. Their disease resistance coupled with their being mainly scavengers and with their 50 teeth (more than any mammal) they bring new meaning to the word omnivore,and could be the reason that fossil remains have been found dating them back to 70 million years ago. Once the Earth is no longer able to support human life forms we can rest assured that the opossum and the cockroach will still be thriving...and who knows? maybe telemarketers.