It is Sunday, January 24 and Valentine’s Day is only three weeks away.  Have you guys even thought about what to get your sweetheart?  Get moving!  Today we remember the birthdays of Publius A Hadrianus, Adam Jacoby Slemmer and Jerry Maren.   On this day in 1848 James Marshall found gold in Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, CA, in 1922 the Eskimo Pie was patented by Christian K Nelson of Iowa and in 1984 Apple Computer, Inc. unveiled its Macintosh personal computer.  In Bolivia, the Aymara Indians are having the Alacitis Fair.

Let me start by saying that the lovely Elaine has returned home and is resting comfortably.  She still has a way to go so keep good thoughts.  We have weathered (do you see what I did there) the storm nicely.  I cannot tell you how nice it is to look out the window, see all that snow and know that someone else is going to clean it up and I don’t have to worry about it.  I will admit that I was reluctant to move into a 55+ community, but after this storm, I have come to realize how nice it really is.  Yes, we pay fees to have that done, but it is worth it.  To those of you who still have to do your own shoveling, my condolences.

Is it me or do people seem to be getting dumber lately?  I read an article in the newspaper the other day, yes I still read the newspaper, about a car accident.  The article stated that the vehicle left the road, hit some landscape stones, went airborne, struck a fire hydrant and flipped over.  It said that officials were investigating to see if high speed was involved.  Really?  That would be like saying that a house burned to the ground and officials were investigating to see if flames were involved.  If you were going even 45 mph and hit landscaping stones, chances are you would come to an abrupt halt.  I am guessing that the landscaping stones involved were not pebbles, but rather sizable rocks.  Even so you would have to moving at a pretty good clip to go airborne.

Here is another example of what I am talking about.  I was out on the highway driving along when suddenly the cars in front of me slowed down.  They were doing the speed limit, but they slowed down.  Why?  I’m glad you asked.  They slowed down because a police car had someone stopped on the side of the road.  As soon as they had passed the car, they went back to doing the speed limit.  First of all, if you are doing the speed limit, why would you slow down?  You are allowed to do the limit.  Second, if the trooper has stopped someone and is dealing with them, the chances that he would notice you, even if you were going a little over the limit, are slim.  If you are flying along at 100 mph you might get his attention, but generally he is busy with the car he stopped.

Also on the highway, recently, I noticed that traffic was slowing down in all lanes.  I thought that I had caught up to rush hour traffic or that an accident had occurred.  Nope!  We were all slowing down because there was a line of traffic getting off at an exit.  The traffic was in an exit lane and not affecting the rest of us at all, but for some reason we had to slow down.  Apparently people do not usually see a line of cars getting off at an exit and slowed down to observe the phenomenon.  That was also the trip where I got caught behind a truck that thought that the middle lane was a great place to plod along at 50 mph when the speed limit was 65!

At the hospital where the lovely Elaine was, they had an automatic revolving door.  I am sure you have seen them.  They continuously revolve and all you have to do is step in and walk as the door moves around.  Usually the space is large enough for at least two people to go in.  One day as I was walking up to the door, there was a man was just ahead of me.  He got to the door and asked a woman why she was still there?  “I dropped you off five minutes ago.  Why haven’t you gone in?”  She told him she was waiting for the door to stop so that she could enter.  Just then another couple came up, walked in and entered the hospital.  The man told her it was an automatic door and that it didn’t stop, “Just like all the other times we have come here.”  I entered the door and went into the hospital at that point so I am not sure what happened.  They were not there several hours later when I left so he either got her to go in or they gave up and went home.

The next time you go out somewhere, watch the people around you and see if you agree with me.  People are getting dumber.  Or, they have been dumb for some time and I am only noticing it more now.  Either way, it can be entertaining.  Do like I do.  Get a cup of coffee or tea, sit somewhere and just watch the show.  Pay attention to conversations in stores.  You would be amazed at what you might hear.  I know I usually am.

This week our fact tells us that $283,200 is the absolute highest amount of money you can win on Jeopardy.  That is one of the reasons I don’t go on the show.  I hate being restricted.  That and I don’t like Alex Trebeck.