Another week has passed and today is Sunday, June 15. There are only 138 days until Halloween, so start thinking about costumes. By the way, I like Milky Ways,for those who were wondering. Today we remember the birthdays of Edward, the black prince, Prince of Wales, Mario Cuomo and Jim Belushi. On this day in 763 BC Assyrians recorded a total solar eclipse event on clay tablet, 1878 had the first attempt at motion pictures (used 12 cameras, each taking 1 picture)done to see if all 4 of a horse's hooves left the ground and in 1969 "Hee Haw" with Roy Clark and Buck Owens premiered on CBS-TV. In Korea it is Farmer's Day/day to transplant rice seeds, in Denmark it is Flag Day/Valdemar Day and in the US it is Father's Day.

I will not bore you with a big explanation of how Father's Day came to be since I did that last year. All I will say is that if you have a father, take some time to remember him and wish him a Happy Father's Day.

We recently met our kids down the shore for the day and I have several observations I would like to share. The first one is that I have figured a way to solve the state's budget problems. To be honest, I do not know why I try. I have come up with a number of ideas in the past and the powers that be have yet to take advantage of my suggestions. I guess some people just won't be helped. Anyway, my idea is state-run tattoo parlors. Just walking the boardwalk that day we saw thousands of dollars worth of tattoos on people. There were people with all sorts of artwork all over their bodies. If the state started running the parlors, huge amounts of revenue could be generated. Our governor could kick off the program by having the state flag done on his chest and "Stronger Than the Storm" underneath it.

My son once asked me why I never got a tattoo when I was in the service and I explained that I never got drunk enough to get one. Young people do not think far enough ahead when they get tattoos done. Sure they look great now, when you are young and your skin is tight. But 10 or 15 years from now, when you start to lose that firmness, you are going to have some very interesting artwork. Sure the tattoo of your mom on your side looks great now, but in 15 years, when your skin starts to droop, she will look like a Shar Pei. I saw one guy with one that said "For God and Country" and had an American flag next to it. It was done on his pecs. It was obvious that he worked out and the work looked great. In a few years, after he stops working out all the time, the flag will no longer be flying and the tattoo will read "ForGod" a space and then "try" on the first line and the second line will read "and coun" and the "paper" will be wrinkled.

Another thing that occurred to me is that there should be weight limits for bathing suits. The tags should specify the maximum weight for someone buying the suit. Based on some of the young girls I saw, they would not be allowed to purchase what they were wearing if there were restrictions. Understand that I am not a prude. I am, in fact, a huge fan of scantily clad women, the scantilier (I know this is not a real word, but it works for me here) the better in some cases. Where the problem comes in is when the belly hangs so far over that you cannot see the front of the bottom portion of the bathing suit. I realize that women want to appear sexy in their bathing suits, but it is not sexy when you look like 150 pounds of sausage in casing made to hold 90 pounds. Ladies, do yourselves a favor. Purchase a suit that makes you look good, not one that shows far more than men need or want to see.

This criticism is not restricted to women. Men have some of the same issues. Guys, just because you are young, have tattoos and wear your caps backwards does not mean that you are hot, sexy guys. If your belly sticks out to where you cannot see the waistband of your trunks, then there is a problem. You are just a fat guy trying to look better than you are. And for all the men who are here from other countries, lose the Speedos. Especially you older gents. There is nothing worse than seeing a wrinkly 75 year old man walking down the beach in a tight Speedo bathing suit, his stomach hanging over the waist band, and the back looking like it is trying to be a thong. I saw this once, a couple years ago and am still not able to unsee it (for those of you who could not see it, I just shuddered).

One of the things I love about going "down the shore" is walking the boardwalk. There are a number of arcades for my grandsons to play in. They love playing the games and racking up points. Once they have spent their limit, they can cash in the points for some of the prizes. I look at the things they can get and I think, "How cheap. These things can be bought for pennies, but it takes 900 points to get one plastic army man." My grandsons look at the things and think, "Wow! Look at all this cool stuff!" I guess it is all a matter of perspective.

When you walk along the boards, you have the opportunity to eat yourself into oblivion. There are pizza places, steak sandwich joints, ice cream stands, candy stores, a Dunkin' Donuts and places where they will fry just about anything you ask for. It is virtually impossible to leave the boardwalk hungry. The biggest problem I have is getting my body to understand that the food eaten when you are down the shore has no calories,sugar or fat in it. So far my body does not appear to be buying it. Just one more reason why I do not wear a bathing suit when I am down there.

Our fact this week tells us that all the chemicals in the human body combined are worth$8.50 (if sold separately). So don't ever let anyone tell you that you are worthless.