Today is Sunday, September 30 and there are only 42 days until my birthday. Don’t wait until the last minute to shop or all the good stuff will be taken.  Today we remember the birthdays of Robinson Crusoe (according to Daniel Defoe), Elie Wiesel and Marilyn McCoo. On this day in 1452 Johann Gutenberg’s Bible was published, in 1846 the anesthetic ether was used for the first time and in 1960, on Howdy Doody’s last show, Clarabelle finally talked saying, “Goodbye kids.” In Botswana it is Botswana Day and in the US it is National Gold Star Mother’s Day, National Chewing Gum Day and National Hot Mulled Cider Day.

In the past I have discussed the Gold Star Mothers and would like to mention them briefly, again. Gold Star Mothers is a private, nonprofit organization of American mothers who lost sons or daughters in service in the US Armed Forces. Its name came from the custom of families of servicemen hanging a banner called a service flag in the windows of their homes. The service flag had a star for each family member in the Armed Forces. Living servicemen were represented by a blue star, and those who had lost their lives in combat were represented by a gold star. Membership in the organization is open to any woman who is a U.S. citizen or legal resident that has lost a son or daughter in active service in the U.S. military (regardless of the place or time of the military service, regardless of whether the circumstances of death involved hostile conflict or not, and including mothers of those missing in action). 

I have set a goal for myself. I am going to start saving money so that I can buy an expensive, up-scale car. I have noticed that certain brands are the ones that are always flying by me on the highways. There is apparently a certain cachet in owning one of those cars that allows them to disregard speed limits. I have noticed that there are generally three brands that regularly flout the laws. Interestingly, when I do see a car pulled over by police, it is usually not one of those three brands. Maybe it is because the police cannot catch those cars. I don’t know. What I do know is that if I drove one of them I could make the trip to South Carolina a lot faster than I do now.

We have now come into the time of year that I am both fond of and not fond of. I love this fall season for a number of reasons. I like the cooler temperatures, I like the colorful foliage (or foilage as I heard it pronounced in a store announcement  once), I love having fresh apples, apple cider and apple cider donuts. I am not fond of it because I cannot stand how everything suddenly has to be pumpkin spice – coffee, tea, cakes, cookies, coffee creamers, pastries, toothpaste, candles, air fresheners and so on. I love when the day is cool enough to wear a light jacket when you are out. 

What I don’t like is that halfway through the day it gets so warm that you have to take the jacket off and you wish you had worn shorts instead of jeans. It is almost like Mother Nature is having hot flashes and we are getting to enjoy (??) them with her. Just recently the temperatures dropped down to the mid-60’s and it was great. Watching the weather report last night they said the temperature is going back to the mid to upper 70’s by the middle of the week. Aside from the issue of wearing or not wearing a jacket, I now have to make sure that I have both short and long sleeved shirts ironed so I can be ready for whatever comes along. 

To some of you the shirt issue probably does not bother you too much. It becomes a problem for me. Most of my short sleeved shirts are Hawaiian shirts. Again, to most people that would not matter, but it does to me. I can see some of you shaking your heads and thinking, “this guy has some real issues.” I suppose you are right, but that is the way I am. This late in the year Hawaiian shirts don’t seem to fit the season. Unless you are in Hawaii. Unfortunately, I am not. Honestly, I am just ready to move out of short sleeves, shorts and sweating and into cooler weather. 

Not much else to discuss this week. We went down the shore this past week and it was nice. The weather was warm enough to sit and enjoy the waves and the fresh air, but not so hot that you felt like someone should be basting you. We enjoyed several hours sitting, reading and relaxing. The show was not as good, because fewer people were there, but it was still fun. We decided to leave when a sizable fog bank came in and things got much cooler and breezier. Being able to spend time on the beach is one thing I will miss as the seasons change. Yes, we can still go down, but sitting on the beach huddled in jackets and wrapped in a blanket sort of takes some of the fun out of it.

This week our fact tells us that Geniophobia is the fear of chins. Why do we have to have a fancy word that few people can pronounce correctly for something like that. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just say a person has a fear of chins? It is easier to pronounce and everyone would know what you meant.

Today is Sunday, September 23 and there are only 60 days until Thanksgiving. I know! Where does the time go? It seems like it was only a couple months ago that it was the 4^th of July … oh wait, it was only a couple months ago. Never mind! Today we remember the birthdays of Euripides, Mickey Rooney and Bruce Springsteen. On this day in 1642 Harvard College in Cambridge, MA held its first commencement, in 1806 Lewis & Clark returned to St Louis from the Pacific Northwest and in 1962 New York City’s Philharmonic Hall (renamed Avery Fisher Hall) opened as the first unit of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In Puerto Rico it is Grito de Lares Day, in Saudi Arabia it is Unification Day and in the US it is Good Neighbor Day, National Snack Stick Day and National Great American Pot Pie Day.

For those of you who are not aware, yesterday was the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of fall. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the beginning of fall, with daylight hours continuing to shorten until the winter solstice in December. Despite the fact that the pumpkin spice latte debuted this year in August, fall actually didn’t begin until yesterday. According to The Weather Channel, the autumnal equinox happened at 9:54 p.m. EDT, marking the official end of summer and the beginning of fall. During that minute, the sun crossed the Earth’s equator from the Northern Hemisphere into the Southern Hemisphere and day and night lasted the exact same amount of time — 12 hours — everywhere across the world.

So why does this happen? Throughout the year, the earth tilts on its axis at a diagonal away from or toward the sun, causing the change in seasons. During the equinox, it becomes momentarily perfectly perpendicular, meaning the sun’s rays pass directly over the equator. Following that minute, the Northern hemisphere begins to tilt away from the sun leading to shorter days and cooler temperatures. It also causes a shift in the jet stream, which affects weather patterns. Equinoxes happen twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, while the solstices occur once in the summer and once in the winter. During an equinox, the sun is at the closest distance to the equator, while during a solstice it is the furthest distance away. I hope that gives you something to talk about during half time today.

Many of you have heard all about the hurricane that hit the Carolinas recently. I thought that the pre- storm coverage and post storm coverage were interesting. Pre- storm, everyone was saying how they had been through this before and they were just going to hunker down and hang tough. Post storm these were the people who had to have rescuers come and save them as their houses flooded. I can’t help but wonder what they thought “This is going to be a very dangerous storm. We cannot promise that anyone can come and help you if you are in trouble,” meant. Sure, you have a generator, but it is of no help when it is sitting in three feet of water and unable to function.

What was it that these people were trying to accomplish? Do they realize that the floods will still get into their house, even if they stay? It isn’t like the water comes rushing in and then, realizing that someone is home, decides to avoid a house. These are the same people who decide that they can drive their sedan through a few feet of water at 50 mph and then realize that maybe that was a bad idea when the car stops running and becomes a boat floating on the river.

More interesting were the people who were complaining because they did not get hit as hard as they expected. They were upset because they went out and bought water and other supplies (usually milk, bread and toilet paper) and then didn’t get hit with the devastation that had been forecasted. I think if state officials really cared, they would have manufactured some devastating floods and wind so that these people would feel justified in being prepared. This just proves that some people are never happy. They would complain that the storm destroyed their property and their home, but then also complain because it didn’t. These are the ones who make the rest of us shake our heads in amazement all the time.

I read something recently that made me wonder where I stood on this particular spectrum. According to what I saw, the average annual coffee consumption of the American adult is 26.7 gallons or over 400 cups. I decided to do the math to see how I come out on the consumption scale. I have four cups of coffee per day, on average. Sometimes more and rarely less, but the average is four. That means that by ten days into April I have consumed the American  average mentioned earlier. For those of you who are wondering, my total average, based on four cups a day is 1,460 cups per year. That breaks down to 113.75 gallons, assuming a standard ten ounce cup. As you may have guessed, I like coffee. I also get to see a number of bathrooms since I do not actually buy coffee, I just rent it. The average American adult needs to step up his/her game and catch up to those of us who are serious about coffee.

This week our fact tells us that to burn off one plain M&M candy, we need to walk the full length of a football field. Based on that, most of us would probably need to walk to California around the holidays. Maybe we could start a special day in January, just after the new year starts. Everyone could gather at local football fields and start walking back and forth. It could be called the Great Candy Walk Off. We could have music, special shirts, hot cider and maybe left over red and green M&M’s.

Today is Sunday, September 16 and there are only 100 days until Christmas, so get shopping and don’t forget to get gift receipts! Today we remember the birthdays of Henry V, James Cash Penney and Allen Funt. On this day in 1630 the Massachusetts village of Shawmut changed its name to Boston, in 1968 Richard Nixon appeared on “Laugh-in” and in 1976 the Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women as priests. In Malaysia and Singapore it is Independence Day, in Papua-New Guinea it is National Day and in the US it is American Legion Charter Day, National Play-Doh Day, National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day and Mayflower Day.

So what is Mayflower Day? I am sure you have all figured out that it has something to do with the ship Mayflower, but what? On this day, in 1620, the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World with 102 passengers (I don’t want to brag, but I had relatives on that ship). The ship was headed for Virginia, where the colonists–half religious dissenters and half entrepreneurs–had been authorized to settle by the British crown. However, stormy weather and navigational errors forced the ship off course, and on November 21 the “Pilgrims” reached Massachusetts, where they founded the first permanent European settlement in New England in late December. This was not like Columbus, who thought he was going somewhere else. This was a group of people who were forced by nature to end up in a different place. At least they were on the same continent as their original destination, not the other side of the world.

Anyway, I thought you might like to know that. Moving on, I want to talk about people today. I have noticed, while out and about and while looking in the mirror that people are getting bigger. I don’t mean taller, I mean bigger, heavier, wider … I could go on, but I am sure you get my drift. As I said this realization came to me while looking in the mirror. I have noticed that I have a fairly sizable belly going on. If I were pregnant, I would put me in my sixth month. I like to use the excuse that I am not overweight, I am undertall. If I were 6’7” my weight would be great. But I am not.

I am the first person to admit that I need to lose weight. I need to exercise. I used to walk two miles a day, but have allowed the heat to become my excuse for not doing it. I am not sure what excuse I will use now that fall is coming. I might have to actually get out and start walking. Another excuse I use is that my clothes will not fit properly if I lose too much weight. I have been purchasing XL shirts recently and if I lose weight, they will look big on me, rather than me looking big in them. I will say that I have found that some of my shirts have shrunk, but that is not really an excuse. My problem is that my main forms of exercise have been chewing and swallowing food.

But enough about me. If you have ever been out in public you have noticed that I am not the only one with a weight problem. You will also have noticed that compared to some, my weight issues are not really worth getting upset about.  Do not misunderstand – I am aware that some of the weight issues are a result of illness or medications. I realize that some people are the victims of circumstance. The people I am talking about are the ones who are maybe 60 or 70 pounds overweight and are walking around eating a three-scoop ice cream cone or carrying a tray with three slices of pizza and a large coke. I am talking about people who, by their clothing, you can tell that they used to weigh less than they do now.

I am talking about the people who are wearing pants and a shirt or blouse that are so tight that it is a wonder that blood can circulate to their body parts. I am talking about the women who claim that they are not really overweight, they just haven’t lost their pregnancy weight yet. When you ask them how old their child is they say, “Sixteen.” You respond, “Months?” “No, years.” What makes it worse is that I actually heard a man claim that his weight was from his wife’s pregnancy. He felt he had to eat to “keep her company.”

Let’s be honest. The reason people are getting larger is that they are eating more and doing less. We have remotes for everything in our house. We can change channels on TV without having to move. We can tell a device on the counter to play music for us. We can pick up a pad and research just about anything. We can even set our thermostat higher or lower using our phone. Why do we need to move? The answer is simple. We need to move so that we can burn off some of the calories we consume on an almost constant basis. I have said that one of my problems (and a problem for many others, I suspect) is that I mistake boredom for hunger. We need to realize that when our president was running for office, the slogan “Make America Great Again” did not mean the size of the people.

Here is my goal. I intend to get back to walking and trying some other exercises, I plan on getting rid of my pregnancy weight (my son is 42 years old) and working on getting in a little better shape. I hope that you all will do the same (if you need it). Good luck to me and you!

This week our fact tells us that there are 4,300 known species of ladybugs in the world. Really? Prove it! Who did the counting? If more than one person did, how do we know that a type wasn’t counted twice or more? As I have said many times before – if you are going to make a statement like this, prove it!

Today is Sunday, September 9 and there are only 98 days until National Chocolate-covered Anything Day, so start stocking up on the things you want to cover. Today we remember the birthdays of Leo Tolstoy, Harland Sanders and Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder. On this day in 1776 the Continental Congress renamed the United Colonies the United States, in 1850 California became the 31^st state and in 1966 John Lennon met Yoko Ono at an avant-garde art exposition. In Bulgaria and Luxembourg it is Liberation Day, in California it is Admission Day and in the US it is Grandparents Day, National Teddy Bear Day and National Wiener Schnitzel Day.

I don’t know if anyone noticed, but last week I started using only one space at the end of each sentence. For years I had been using two spaces, which I was taught was the correct spacing. Published work these days rarely features two spaces after a period. In the era when type was set by hand, it was common to use extra space (sometimes quite a bit of it) after periods, a practice that continued into the first half of the twentieth century. And many people were taught to use that extra space in typing class. Many people prefer double sentence spacing for informal use because that was how they were taught to type. I read an article about this recently and went to my source for this type of thing, the ”Chicago Manual of Style.” 

Years ago, I was introduced to the “Chicago Manual of Style” as the style guide for American English. It was first published in 1906. It is one of the most widely used and respected style guides in the United States. It has been some time since I have needed its assistance, but I was assured that one space was sufficient, so if you had noticed the difference and were wondering, let me put your mind at ease.

I have begun to notice that my mind is wandering more and I am not keeping track of things as well as I used to. I think part of the reason for that is because I am retired and do not have to pay attention to all the details that I did in the past. In my last job, I worked in the call center of a credit union. I needed to keep track of all the different types of accounts that we offered, interest rates for savings accounts, CD’s, loans, etc. I needed to be able to pay attention to a member and work the computer in an effort to answer their questions.

In addition, I needed to remember all the various passwords I used (we were required to change them every 60 days), track the passwords for my personal information on my computer at home and  keep track of all the various meetings and appointments I had both in and out of work. Some of the stuff I could put on a calendar, but passwords needed to be confidential. The point is that I was able to do all that without much trouble. Nowadays, the big thing is to remember to put on pants before I go out to get the paper. 

Let me give you an example of my lapse. This past week, we had the opportunity to spend the afternoon down the shore. I keep our chairs and beach cart in the car so that we can just go when we get the chance. When we got there, I took my beach slip-ons out and put them on the ground. I took Barbara’s beach shoes out and gave them to her. I unloaded the car, got the cart set up and put the chairs on it. I closed the car up and we got ready to head to the beach. Barbara stopped and pointed at my slip-ons and asked if I was forgetting something. I had to stop, change my footwear, put my shoes in the car and then lock up the car, again.

That is just one example of what I mean. I have a routine that I have to go through before I go out the door to go somewhere. I check to make sure I have my sunglasses, my wallet, phone and keys. As I get older I also check to make sure my fly is up. This is just another thing that can be easily forgotten if you get distracted. Getting distracted is one of the main causes of my problems. In the example with the beach slip-ons, I took them out and intended to change them, but first I took Barbara’s shoes to her. At that point the slip-ons were out of my head. If she had not noticed them on the ground I would have gone off without them.

Another cause of my memory problems is not following routines. This is an issue all the time, but especially when it comes to taking my medications. In the morning, I get up, get the paper (yes, with my pants on)and start reading it while I eat breakfast. Once I eat, I get coffee and the take my morning pills. In the evening I make a cup of coffee and while I wait for the coffee maker to heat up I take my evening pills. If any of that changes, I have been known to look at my pill container in the evening or the next morning and exclaim, “Oh,crap. I forgot to take my pills last night (or this morning).”

Yes, I know what you are thinking – it’s your medication! How can you forget something like that? For those of you who are around my age, you already know the answer. For those of you who are younger, you will understand as you get older, if you remember that I discussed it here.

I had something else I wanted to mention, but the idea has slipped my mind. If I think of it again, I will try to write it down for next week.

This week our fact tells us that in the US, a pound of potato chips costs two hundred times more than a pound of potatoes. I have tried making my own chips in the past and it is just easier to buy them and not think about the cost issues. Besides opening a bag of chips is a lot quicker than peeling, slicing, frying and cooling them enough to eat. Someone has already done all that for me. I thank them!

Today is Sunday, September 2 and there are only 114 day until Christmas so start setting up those holiday playlists and getting out the Christmas movies. Today we remember the birthdays of Queen Lydia Kamekeha Liliuokalani, Allen Drury and Joan Kennedy. On this day in 1789 the US Treasury Department was established by Congress, in 1859 gas lighting was introduced to Hawaii and in 1991 Jerry Lewis’ 26^th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raised $45 million. In Vietnam it is Independence Day and in the US it is National V-J Day and National Blueberry Popsicle Day.

Let me start by imparting some September information. September is the ninth month in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. The birthstone for September is the sapphire and the birth flowers are forget-me-not, morning glory and aster. September is National Italian Cheese Month, National Chicken Month and National Rice Month.

As you know tomorrow is Labor Day, a day that brings a resounding groan from kids and teachers alike as it signals the end of summer and the beginning of the school year for many. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. More than a century after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers. 

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. 

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country. That should satisfy your need for trivia to share at barbecues. I won’t bother giving you more because by this time people will have stopped listening.

Last week, I had a unique experience. I went to my first country music concert. We went with friends of ours and had a great time. The concert was good and I really enjoyed the experience. In trying to decide what to wear, I was informed by Barbara that jeans and a shirt would be the way to go. She assured me that most of the men would be wearing jeans, t shirts and cowboy hats. There would also be lots of women in short skirts and shorts. She was right about both. Unfortunately some of the females would have been better off wearing more and looser clothing. 

I found the attire to be interesting. There were a lot of cowboy hats. Many of the men had on shirts with no sleeves or some kind of patriotic themed shirt. There were a lot of veterans sporting their affiliation with the military. Many wore tour shirts for the main performer. The women had on a variety of outfits, ranging from tight jeans and t shirts to very tight and short shorts to dresses. I saw one guy wearing a cowboy hat. In itself not unusual, but as he got closer I saw that he was wearing the hat over a baseball cap that he had on backwards. 

I saw another guy who was, I am guessing, in his fifties. He was sporting a mullet, made more attractive by the fact that his hairline had receded, leaving one of those little hair islands in the front. He was wearing cut-off sweatpants shorts and a t shirt that did not look like it had seen the inside of a washing machine in weeks. He was going with the unshaven look, but also the uncombed hair look and the lack of dental hygiene look. I can only hope he was able to enjoy the concert before the people from the place he escaped from found him and took him back.

One thing I noticed at this concert and another one that we went to recently was that there were always people walking around. I don’t know if they were lost or trying to find someone or going for refreshments or just bored with sitting. Based on the amount I paid for the tickets, I was making sure I sat and got my money’s worth. I did not want to miss anything. I was tempted to follow some of them to find out where they were going, but that would have meant that I was walking around and someone else would be noticing me and wondering what I was doing.

This week our fact tells us that farmers in England are required by law to provide their pigs with toys. We have always been told not to play with our food, but apparently our food has to be allowed to play.