It is Sunday, November 8 and there are only 47 days until Christmas (only 18 days until I can start playing Christmas music) so start digging out the cookie recipes and getting the baking pans ready.  Today we remember the birthdays of Sir Edmond Halley, Jerome Hines and Morley Safer.  On this day in 1789 Bourbon Whiskey was first distilled from corn by Elijah Craig in Bourbon, Kentucky, in 1895 Wilhelm Rontgen discovered x-rays and in 1983 Martha Layne Collins was elected the first female governor of Kentucky.  It is Admission Day in Montana.

Before I get into the various items I have to discuss this week, let me take a moment to be serious.  This Wednesday is Veterans Day.  When I was younger, it was a big deal.  Schools were closed and government offices closed down.  Towns held parades.  It also happens to be my birthday.  I used to tell the kids in our neighborhood that we got off from school and had a parade because it was my birthday.  They bought that line for several years … but I digress.

On the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 1918, an armistice was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War.  Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the following year, November 11^th became a legal Federal holiday in the US in 1938.  In the aftermath of World War II and Korea, Armistice Day became Veterans Day.  On Wednesday, if you know a veteran or if you see one (you will know them by their caps or their jackets), take a moment to thank them for their service.  Not all of us did it voluntarily, but we all served nonetheless.  You would be surprised how much it means to be thanked for serving.

This past week was one of observations.  One of the things I observed was a sign on a truck.  If you have travelled on any highways lately, you have probably seen this sign at some point.  It is usually an orange sign on the back of a truck and it says, “Construction Vehicle.  Do not follow!”  I have seen it a number of times and have always wondered what it means.  Are there drivers out there who actually follow trucks?  Why?  What is it they hope to accomplish by following a truck?  If you know anyone who understands what those signs mean, please let me know.  I would love to find out.  Thanks!

I generally try to avoid driving behind trucks.  Being behind a truck makes it difficult to see what is going on in the road ahead of you.  Another thing to consider is tire debris.  We have all seen the huge pieces of tire lying in the road that have come off of a truck.  When a truck is going 60 or 70 miles an hour and a piece of tire flies off, it is going to do some major damage to whatever it hits.  I generally try to make sure it is not hitting me.  My recommendation is to not follow trucks as a general rule.  You might get hit by tire pieces or it might be a construction vehicle without a sign.

Things have settled down to a point where we actually had a chance to go to the mall recently.  While the lovely Elaine went shopping, I went to the Starbucks, got a cup of Thanksgiving blend and had a chance to do some people watching.  The place where I was sitting was near an escalator.  As I watched, I noticed a woman who was in quite a hurry to get to the bottom.  She pushed her way down the stairs, annoying several people in the process.  Since there is a food court on the level above, I thought that maybe she worked in one of the stores and was late getting back from lunch.  Whatever the reason, she was obviously in a hurry.  What made this episode unusual was when she got to the bottom.  She stepped off the escalator and stood to the side to wait for her friend who was apparently not in as big a hurry.  As the lovely Elaine has said many times, “You can’t make this stuff up.”

The place where I was sitting is a counter that has stools on either side.  It is right outside the Starbucks and has outlets for plugging in electronic devices.  Sitting near the end of the counter was a group of people enjoying their beverages.  As they conversed, there was one woman who was quieter than the others.  When she spoke, they had to keep asking her to repeat what she had said.  Generally, when she did she spoke a little louder.  The interesting part came when she got a call on her phone.  She would then start to talk loudly, causing people walking by to turn and look to see what the hollering was about. The response from her friends indicated that this was typical for her.  As soon as she finished a call she went back to being soft-spoken.

It reminded me of when the lovely Elaine first got a cell phone.  She used to speak rather loudly, too.  I pointed out to her that the person on the other end could hear her.  I reminded her that she was using a telephone not a megaphone.  It was not necessary to yell just because they were several miles away.  She has gotten better, but still tends to speak louder when on her cell phone.  

There was one other thing with the escalator that I thought was quite amusing.  There was a family with four kids – three girls and a boy.  The boy was content to sit and play whatever game console he had.  The parents were sitting, enjoying their coffee, but the little girls were getting restless.  The one girl said something to her mother, who nodded, and the girls walked over to the escalator.  They spent the next ten minutes riding the escalator.  They would go up to the top, get off, stand at the railing, wave to their parents and then ride back down.  When they reached the bottom, they would go up and repeat the process.  They had a great time, the parents had a respite, the son was oblivious and all was well. Ah, the joy of simplicity.

This week our fact tells us that the average American spends six months at red lights throughout his or her life.  And yet, when the light turns green, you still have to beep to get them to go.  Does that figure into the six month thing or is that only for when the light is actually red?