I am away this week so I am doing an encore presentation of a post from last year.  I hope you enjoy it.  I will be back next week.

Today is Sunday, November 27 and Christmas is only 4 weeks away. That’s right,only 28 days.  Have you finished shopping?  Have you written your cards and those God-awful annual letters? Have you started baking yet?  What are you waiting for?  Get moving!  Today we remember the birthdays of Anders Celsius, James Agee and “Buffalo “ Bob Smith.  On this day in 1885 the earliest photo of a meteor shower was made, in 1910 NY’s Penn Station opened as the world’s largest railway terminal and in 1957 the Army withdrew from Little Rock, AR after the Central HS integration.  In Burma it is National Day, in Massachusetts it is John F Kennedy Day and in the US it is National Bavarian Cream Pie Day.

I mentioned above those awful letters that people send out each year telling everyone about how wonderful their family was this past year.  “We are so proud of Bobby. He has been at the top of his Third Grade class all year and holds the record for correctly spelling the most words in his class.  Our lovely daughter Loretta has been selected to represent her school at the annual Girls With Potential Conference this year.  Our son Joe has been working hard with our dog Fitzhugh and has finally taught him to play Texas Holdem.  He even wins once in a while.  My garden won several awards this past summer and Joe, Sr was awarded the blue ribbon for his cucumber salad at the church picnic.”  UGH!!

Just once I would love to see something like this – “Well, another year has passed and, with luck, we will get to the the new year without our 11 year old Gunner killing someone. That would make two years in a row.  Our 14 year old Betsy is pregnant, again. We are hoping to meet the father, if she can remember who it is. The 16 year old, what’s-his-name, has now been thrown out of just about every school in the county.  We were so proud when we read about it in the local paper.  My rehab has been going pretty well, I am five days sober, this time.  We got news that what’s-his-name Sr may be able to be released from prison in the new year.  He thinks he can beat the assault charges that are pending against him. Our dog Spike ate the neighbor’s cat, but that’s okay.  We never liked that cat anyway and Spike didn’t get sick.”

The worst part is that people send them out to everyone thinking that we all care.  I only get one or two.  I like the one from our friends in Iowa, but you can keep the rest of them.  Unless the letter contains a check or cash, don’t even send it to me.  I open the envelope, see the letter, look for a check and if there is none, out it goes.  If the people are not blood relatives (and some of them can be tedious), don’t tell me about them.  Okay, I have vented and can now move on.

I have become rather disappointed with this whole Black Friday business.  It used to be a lot more exciting.  There was always one special item that everyone wanted and there was always a limited quantity of that item in each store, usually four or five of them.  People would rush through Thanksgiving dinner so that they could get to the store and camp outside overnight to be one of the first inside to snag that precious item.  Friday there would be news coverage of the stampedes and you could see people getting knocked down, people fighting over things and the few lucky ones carrying the vaunted special item, taunting the losers and inviting violence on themselves.

Then, a few years ago, stores started opening on Thanksgiving Day, showing complete disregard for the employees with family.  The one thing you can be sure of is that the people in charge were not in the stores.  They were sitting at home with their pants undone, watching football and falling asleep.  However, by being open, they cut down on the Friday crowd somewhat.  Also it finally occurred to manufacturers that if they had the year’s hot item, they could sell more of them, thereby making more money at the inflated prices they were charging, if they produced more of the item.  They realized that if the store had 100 of the item they would still sell all of them and need to make more.

The final death knell for the good old dangerous Black Friday excitement started this year.  A lot of places started offering Black Friday pricing back around Halloween.  This was supposed to get people out shopping sooner and not waiting until the day after Thanksgiving.  The thing is that Black Friday prices are not all that wonderful.  They take an item, push the standard price up a little and then put it on sale at the price it used to be and people swarm to the store to buy it and they are excited because they got the bargain without all the danger.

I have said this before and I will continue to sound the clarion.  WAIT to make purchases. Don’t even fall for the Cyber Monday trap.  Just wait another week or so.  That is when retailers realize that they still have a fair amount of inventory to get rid of and they start making the real price deals.  And you won’t have to fight people to get what you want because they will have already paid the higher price a couple weeks ago.

This week our fact tells us that it would take 15,840,000 rolls of wallpaper to cover the Great Wall of China.  I ask, again, why anyone felt the need to figure this out.  But just to throw in a hitch, does this assume that the wallpaper does not have a pattern that needs to be matched?  And how much wallpaper paste would be needed to put it up?

Today is Sunday, November 20 and there are only 35 days until Christmas.  Yes you read that right, only 35 days!  Don’t wait until Friday, start shopping now!  Today we remember the birthdays of Otto Von Guericke, Peregrine White and Bo Derek.  On this day in 1637 Peter Minuit and the first Swedish immigrants to Delaware set sail from Sweden, in 1789 New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights and in 1967, at 11 AM, the Census Clock at the Department of Commerce ticked past 200 million.  In Mexico today is Revolution Day, world-wide it is Rights of the Child Day and in the US it is National Peanut Butter Fudge Day and National Absurdity Day (I thought that was on the 8th).

As you know, Thanksgiving is this Thursday, so in keeping with my tradition, I am offering some information on the holiday.  I try not to duplicate, from year to year, but if you find that I have, just skip over the repeat information.  Thanksgiving was originally celebrated as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest.  Although it has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated in a secular manner as well.

Prayers of thanks and special thanksgiving ceremonies are common among almost all religions after harvests.  The Thanksgiving holiday’s history in North America is rooted in English traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation.  In English tradition, days of thanksgiving and special thanksgiving religious services became important during the English Reformation in the reign of Henry VIII and in reaction to the large number of religious holidays on the Catholic calendar.  Before 1536 there were 95 church holidays, plus 52 Sundays, where people were required to attend church and forego work.  The 1536 reforms reduced the number of church holidays to 27.  Puritans wished to completely eliminate all church holidays.  They were to be replaced by specially called Days of Thanksgiving.

In the US, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is commonly traced to a sparsely documented 1621 celebration in Plymouth.  The Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. Pilgrims and Puritans emigrating from England carried the tradition of Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England.  Since then the holiday has become more secular and involves overeating, wearing loose pants, watching football and sleeping through the game.  That noise you just heard was the holiday book slamming shut.

Moving on, I find myself despairing more and more.  In the past I have commented on the poor use of language and the even poorer pronunciation of words.  I think the whole thing has reached a point where we should all become concerned.  I saw a car dealership commercial the other evening and in it they claimed that their deals were huge.  The problem is that they showed a graphic stating that the deals were “Yuuuuge!”  Have things really gotten so bad that no one noticed that before it went on the air?  And people got paid for that!  I always thought that weather people were the only ones who could be wrong with no consequence.

While we are on the subject of commercials, there are a few others I want to mention.  I know, I go on about commercials a lot.  There are two reasons for that.  One is because I find myself watching a lot of TV.  The other is because they are so ridiculous that they need to be talked about.  One that gets me is where people have made grievous mistakes on their job.  Their excuse is that they were eating a candy bar.   This commercial is ridiculous on several levels.  One is that eating is an excuse for doing your job poorly.  Another is that, at no time did anyone notice the mistakes and correct the situation.  What makes it worse is that they are using one of my favorite candy bars as an excuse for poor performance.  I suppose I take these things more seriously than I should, but ridiculous is ridiculous and a poor attempt at humor is no excuse.  Another commercial that I have never been able to figure out is the one where a couple ends up in two bathtubs.  First of all, do I have to buy the bathtubs before I get the drug or does the first prescription include the tubs?  Second, and frankly more importantly, is if you are in two separate bath tubs why do you need the product?  In a situation like that using the pill is a waste of time.

The final one that bothers me is where the protagonist is animated.  Not a moving body part, but a blob of mucus that walks around interacting with humans.  In a recent episode, it is referred to as Booger Man.  I also heard a commercial for a home alarm system recently.  A guy was called by the alarm company to say that there was a break in at his home.  He told them to notify the police.  He said, “Should I go home?  Nah, the alarm scared the snot out of him.”  Really?  Scared the snot out of him?  Is it just me?  Do these commercials really entertain people and cause them to go out and buy these products?  If so then I may have a bridge that they might be interested in.

One other thing I have been thinking about recently is what to have done with me when I die.  Because I am somewhat claustrophobic, I am not sure about being in a coffin.  Cremation has always been out because I have a fear of fire.  I started giving that second thought recently when I was looking at myself in the mirror.  I began to realize that cremation would be about the only way for me to have a smokin’ hot body.  Just a random thought.

This week our fact tells us that you can walk from Boston to New York City in fewer than a million steps.  Of course you can, it’s all down hill.  More importantly you can fly there in a couple hours and be nowhere near as exhausted.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Sunday, November 13 and there are only 42 days until Christmas.  I am already starting to get stuff I need for Christmas Eve dinner.  Today we remember the birthdays of St Augustine of Hippo, Robert Louis Stevenson and Oskar Werner.  On this day in 1775 American Revolutionary forces captured Montreal, in 1895 Hawaii sent out the first shipment of canned pineapple and in 1982 the Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC.  In Grenada and New Zealand it is Remembrance Day, in Laos it is the King’s Birthday and in the US it is National Indian Pudding Day.

For those of you who might care (if you don’t, skip this paragraph) Indian Pudding is a traditional New England Thanksgiving dessert.  It is a baked custard with milk, butter, molasses, eggs, spices and cornmeal.  The name probably comes from the cornmeal, which was known as Indian meal way back when.  In case you were wondering.

This past Friday I celebrated the 37th anniversary of my 30th birthday.  I had a great day with the kids.  I got some great gifts, but one of the best was a can of coffee and chicory from the Café du Monde in New Orleans.  When we were down there last year, we had coffee and beignets almost every day.  Talk about a treat!  Anyway, the kids were able to get the coffee for me.  Unfortunately, the café does not ship frozen beignets.  I had the coffee with breakfast yesterday and it was great.

As if great gifts were not enough, we also went to Asbury Park to a place that is filled with pinball machines from as far back as the ‘60’s.  You pay a straight price when you go in, get a wrist band and then just walk around playing pinball.  It was terrific.  We finished the day off with dinner at a restaurant that gave veterans their meal for free.  Great gifts, spending the day with my family and a free dinner, what more could I ask for!

I have a couple issues I want to discuss today.  One is a commercial that is just a perfect example of bad.  The product is a spray that you use in the toilet.  Supposedly, you spray this and then go to the bathroom and the spray suppresses the odor.  The name of the product alone is tasteless.  The commercial starts out with the spokesperson talking about going to the bathroom by saying she has to “punish the porcelain.”  She goes on to say how the product covers the odor of “the devil’s donuts” and how it prevents her co-workers from having to share her breakfast burrito.

I am sure that, if it actually works as advertised, it is a good product.  I would have chosen a different name for it, and no I will not use the name here.  I would also have spent some time coming up with a better commercial.  At one point it shows people entering the bathroom after her and wafting the air with their hand.  If I were going into a bathroom as someone else was leaving, the last thing I would do was waft the air.  I might stand there with the door open for a minute or two, or look for air freshener, just in case.  I would not try to get a better whiff of the odor.  I hope you get a chance to see this commercial.  I think everyone needs to be appalled once in a while.

I am still in the throes of getting matters taken care of after the lovely Elaine’s passing.  Most recently, I have been dealing with banks.  All I can say is that there are a number of people who should be happy I do not own a gun.  In this state, when a spouse passes, you need to use one of two different forms when dealing with banks.  Based on my circumstances I needed to use the Inheritance Tax Waiver form.  For various reasons, I had to deal with three banks and a credit union.  The number of banks was due, partially, to having parents who grew up during the depression and did not put all their funds in one bank because if one bank failed … but I digress.

You would think that because all of the banks are in the same state that they would all do things the same way, based on banking regulations.  You would be wrong.  As I said, three banks and a credit union and all had their own way of doing what had to be done.  Keep in mind that I worked in a credit union and know the process that should be followed.  One of the banks did not ask for the tax waiver and just went ahead as if it was not needed.  The credit union did not ask for any supporting documents (death certificate, etc.), said they would take care of the changes and ultimately have not done anything and claim, when I call, that it is all taken care of.

The other two banks are the worst.  One bank cannot do anything in the branch and has to do everything through their corporate office in another state, which requires that everything be done by mail.  For example, the branch could not go into their computer and give me the balance of the account as of the date of death.  That had to be done through the corporate office, who, by the way, would just go into the computer and look at the same information that was available in the branch.  Ultimately that place was taken care of.

The best was the bank that gave me the date of death balance.  My lawyer filed the forms and we got the tax waivers.  I took it to the one bank and it turns out that the balance they gave me was the wrong one.  I asked how the amount could be wrong when they were the ones who gave it to me.  The person I was dealing with just looked at me and shrugged.  They told me I would have to get an amended waiver.  I told him to note this in the computer so they would understand why I closed my account.  My lawyer had never heard of this before.  He is now trying to get in touch with the tax people to find out what we have to do.  Stay tuned!

This week our fact tells us that if you spell out all the numbers individually, you’ll have to get to a thousand before you find an “a”.  I can see you running numbers through your head now to test this.  I am not going to wait, but trust me, it is correct.

One final thought that I read recently – The fact that there is a highway to Hell and only a stairway to Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers.  Have a good week and save me some Indian Pudding.

Today is Sunday, November 6 and there are only five days until my birthday, in case you haven’t gone shopping yet.  Oh, and there are only 49 days until Christmas, speaking of shopping.  Today we remember the birthdays of Colley Cibber, Aldophe Sax and Ray Conniff.  On this day in 1572 a supernova was observed in the constellation known as Cassiopeia, in 1862 the New York to San Francisco direct telegraphic link was established and in 1966 NBC televised the first entire lineup in color.  In Mauritius it is Ganga Asnam and in the Virgin Islands tomorrow is Liberty Day.  In the US today is National Nachos Day and Saxophone Day.

As you know today we fell back an hour, ending Daylight Saving Time (DST).  Many Americans are confused about why we spring forward in the spring and fall back in the fall, myself among them.  We also wonder if it is worth the trouble.  Contrary to popular belief, resetting the clocks is not designed for farmers.  In fact, they lobbied against it when the change was first suggested.  Yet many people believe it was for the farmers’ benefit, including lawmakers.

The practice has both advocates and critics.  Putting the clocks forward benefits retailing, sports and other activities that exploit sunlight after working hours, but can cause problems for outdoor entertainment and other activities tied to sunlight.  Industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year.  The time of day that people begin and end work or school remain constant.  Proponents of DST argue that most people prefer a greater increase in daylight hours after a typical workday.  They also claim that DST decreases energy consumption, but the actual effect on overall energy use is disputed.

Critics claim that darker mornings are dangerous for children going to school.  They also say that the energy saving argument is invalid if people switch on fans and air conditioning during the lighter, warmer evenings.  There are also claims that the hour of sleep lost due to the DST switch has been linked to an increased occurrence of heart attacks.  Frankly, I do not see a real benefit and would be content to just leave things the way they are.  We should either spring forward and stay there or fall back and stay there.

Okay, enough about that.  I have been very careful to not get involved in all the foolishness going on with the election coming up on Tuesday.  While I do not espouse the idea that, since there is no one who really should be president, I will not vote, I admit it is a tempting strategy.  The thing that I have noticed in all the campaigns, including local ones, is that no one is really telling us what they plan to do when elected.  They gloss over a few ideas, but spend most of their time telling us why their opponent is so horrible.

Frankly, if even half of the assertions about candidates are true, most of them should be in jail and not eligible to run for office.  I am always amazed at how we can go for years blissfully unaware of the scandals that are lurking, only to have them all come to light during campaigns.
If the people running for office were really concerned, they would have brought the misdeeds to light as they occurred and not waited.  This way they could say they have always been watching out for everyone and not saying they would start doing it once they were elected.  And that’s all I am going to say about that.
I finally did something I have been threatening to do for some time.  I was in a diner recently and had ordered a cheeseburger platter.  Since I was by myself, I brought my IPad so that I would have something to read while I ate.  The platter came with the burger, fries, cole slaw, lettuce and a couple slices of tomato.  I used one slice of tomato and some of the lettuce.  I was hungry and ate everything except the other slice of tomato and the rest of the lettuce.  When the waitress came by see if I was finished, I said I was and asked if I could have the lettuce and the tomato slice boxed up.  She hesitated and looked to see if I was kidding.  I had gone back to my reading and did not say anything more.  She walked away shaking her head, but brought back a container, along with my check.  I was wearing my Vietnam Veteran windbreaker, so maybe she thought I was one of those crazy veterans you hear about.  I put the lettuce and tomato in the container, thanked her, paid my bill (yes I gave her a decent tip) and left with my leftovers.  She is probably still telling people about the incident.

I have been seeing commercials recently for various stores who are already pushing their Black Friday sales.  There are some stores who are claiming that they are offering Black Friday prices all month long.  I am not sure what to think about this.  Are they offering the “better” prices to drive up sales and avoid the dangers of the actual day, or are they making us think the prices are better when in fact they are not?  The stores that are already announcing the big sales for Black Friday are just giving people the opportunity to plan where they most want to be crushed in the door-opening onslaughts.  Either way, I will say what I have said in the past.  Wait a couple weeks and you will be able to get better deals when stores realize their inventory is bloated and they need to start offering real deals to clear things out.

This week our fact tells us that there are more stars than all the grains of sand on earth.  I say, “Prove it!”  How can anyone possibly verify that statement?  That is just like the statement that no two snowflakes are alike.  They say it, but there is no way to prove it and we simply take on faith that it is true.  I do not, but have no way to prove them wrong.

I am going to go get some nachos and enjoy the games today.  Have a good week.

Today is Sunday, October 30 and there are only 56 days until Christmas.  I will be starting to play Christmas music soon!  Today we remember the birthdays of John Adams, Ezra Pound and Grace Slick.  On this day in 1270 the eighth and final crusade was launched, in 1888 the first ball point pen was patented and in 1953 Dr Albert Schweitzer and General George C Marshall won the Nobel Peace Prize.  Today is National Speak Up For Service Day and National Candy Corn Day here in the US.

Get those holiday trivia folders out.  No teasing this week.  National Speak Up For Service Day was established to recognize the importance of telling others about the need for young people to be actively involved in community service.  (Go ahead and read that sentence again, I’ll wait.  I didn’t quite follow it either.)  Too often, good deeds of service by young people go unnoticed by their communities.  This day gives recognition to the unnoticed and serves as a reminder that people should tell others about the contribution of young people to their communities.  Having read that explanatory paragraph about the day, I can see why this is one of the little-known holidays.

I had something happen last week that I never expected and it caught me completely off guard.  I was driving on the interstate and realized that I was going past everybody else on the road, including trucks!  What made this unusual was that I was doing the speed limit!  I checked several times, just to be sure.  I am not sure why this was happening.  It was a sunny day, so rain was not an issue.  It was a little windy, but not enough to really have any affect on vehicles.  It was both exhilarating and unnerving.  I enjoyed going past everyone, but couldn't help but wonder why they were all going slow.  I kept wondering if there was a warning sign of some kind that I missed.  When the time came to exit the highway, I was kind of sorry.  I was pretty sure that I would never experience that again.

As I am sure you are all aware, tomorrow is Halloween.  No I am not going to go into a whole big explanation of the day and how it came to be and what it represents.  I could, but I have used up my trivia quotient for this week.  Suffice it to say that it is a day that kids look forward to each year.  They dress up in costumes, walk the neighborhood and beg for candy.  How cool is that?  When I was a youngster, my friends and I would wait until around 8 in the evening to go out.  By then most of the younger kids had been and were home building new cavities.

We would go out and people would give us piles of stuff because they did not want to get stuck with it.  We usually carried a couple bags to make sure we got as much as we could.  I had one friend who decided that he did not want to carry everything the whole night, so after we did our neighborhood, he went by his house and left the first bag there.  What he didn’t know was that he put the paper bag in a puddle.  When we were done for the evening, he picked up his first bag and the bottom fell out and candy went everywhere.  We felt bad for him so we gave home all the stuff we didn’t want.  Anyway, it’s a great day and I hope you all have fun.  I have mentioned this before, but my costume is simple.  I am only wearing roller skates.  I am going as a pull toy.  Enjoy the day!

Recently I have been getting a text every couple days trying to sell me sun glasses.  That is not that big a deal, except that the text has been coming at 3:30 in the morning.  I let it go the first couple times because it was very early and I did not fell like doing much more than swearing briefly, rolling over and going back to sleep.  I finally decided it was time to react after it happened for the fourth time.  I was awakened at 4 AM by this company, again trying to sell sun glasses.  I sent a text response that said, “I would like you to stop sending these texts.  I do not want to buy your sun glasses, especially when you are trying to sell them to me at 4 in the @#&%ing morning (Idid not use symbols in the actual text).  Knock it off or I will report your company.”  In reality, I don’t know who I would report them to, but apparently they believed me because they have stopped bothering me.

I have started to despair again.  I have been watching the car commercials and realize that car manufacturers are making it easier for drivers to not have to be responsible.  What bothers me the most is that the commercials show people having a wonderful time driving along, not paying the slightest bit of attention to what is going on around them.  They drive along singing and laughing, secure in the knowledge that the car will let them know that they are drifting into oncoming traffic or about to drive into a truck or another car.

I realize that things happen sometimes that require an immediate reaction and having a car that can break for you is a good thing.  But when it happens simply because you are daydreaming, there is a problem and it is not with the car.  When I was a mechanic in the Air Force and a pilot would write up a problem that did not make sense we used to say that it was time to re-torque the nut holding the wheel.  I think it is time to re-torque some of the nuts holding car steering wheels.

We need to stop making it easier for people to let their minds wander when they are driving.  The worst example was a commercial I saw recently.  A woman was out driving on a dark road, at night and was about to make a left turn when the car automatically stopped because of a car coming from the opposite direction.  The announcer said how wonderful it was that the car could do that.  I am sorry, but if you are driving on a dark road at night and don’t see the headlights of a car coming the other way, you have a problem and should not be driving, regardless of what your car can do.

This week our fact tells us that Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words.  Wouldn't it be easier to simply say a person has a fear of long words?

Today is Sunday, October 23 and there are only 63 days until Christmas.  I already have “It’s A Wonderful Life” ready to go.  Today we remember the birthdays of Nicholas Appert, Rama V and “Weird Al” Yankovic.  On this day in 1876 the New Orleans Mint reopened as an assay office, in 1915 25,000 women marched in New York City demanding the right to vote and in 1973 Nixon agreed to turn over the White House tape recordings to Judge Sirica.  In Thailand it is Chulalongkorn Day, in Afghanistan it is Id-Qurban Day and in the US it is United States Day, National Boston Cream Pie Day and National Mother-in-Law Day.

I am sure that as soon as you saw that it was United States Day, you all reached for your holiday trivia folders.  Well, put them away.  I have been unable to find any information regarding United States Day.  The only reason I left it in the list was to get you all worked up about another relatively unknown day.  Sorry.  I can be like that sometimes.

I don’t have a lot to discuss this week.  My son was having work done at his house and someone needed to be there so the workers could get in and out.  I spent the week watching other people work.  That in itself can be rather tiring when you think about it.  You have to be there because the house is open and workers are going in and out.  You need to keep an eye on them and make sure they are doing the things they are supposed to be doing.

I tend not to trust people and follow them around to make sure they are working in the rooms they are supposed to be in.  My son was having some windows replaced and I wanted to be sure the workers did not go into the wrong rooms or open the door to the room where the cats had been sequestered.  Yes the guys doing the job should know what rooms they were working in, but you still need to make sure their understanding of what rooms is the same as the actual list of rooms.  We got through that without a problem, but it still required my vigilance.  You try being vigilant every day while other people are working and see just how wearing it can be.

So as I said I do not have much to discuss.  I am not going to complain about commercials again.  Let’s just say they are annoying, in my opinion stupid and just the price you pay for not paying for the premium channels.  I have looked at the offerings on some of the premium channels and I am not sure it is worth paying for them so I can watch “Home Alone” and other movies from last century.  At least with commercials you have time to go to the bathroom, get more snacks, etc.

I did have an interesting experience the other evening.  My younger grandson’s birthday was last month, but he did not have his “friends” party until Friday evening.  He wanted a Game Truck party and the truck was not available until then.  I had heard about Game Trucks, but had never seen one.  It is a very interesting set up.  It is actually a big trailer.  They back it into your driveway, assuming there is room.  Otherwise they can set up at the curb … but I digress.  They set the trailer up and then all the kids are brought out to the closed trailer.  They are told the rules and then the doors are opened.

One side of the trailer has two large panels that open so that you can see inside and there is an entry door.  Inside the trailer on one wall there are six wide screen TV’s and each TV has a game console connected to it.  One section of one wall has a vast assortment of games for kids to choose from.  They also have a number of hand held devices so that no one is left out.  The wall opposite the TV’s is filled with couches for the kids to sit on.  Also, the truck has an awning that they open and another TV comes up so that you can also sit outside on chairs that they provide and play games.  You have the Game Truck for 90 minutes and you just play whatever games you want.  The are multiple controllers so that you can play with other people and compete in the many sports games that are available.

It was a great idea and the kids had a ball.  I wonder if they do parties for adults?  How great would it be to have a Game Truck pull into your driveway and you and your friends grab your beers and drinks and go in and play games.  It would be like that one restaurant with the games went on the road.  I will have to check to see if they do adult parties.  I will let you know.

This week our fact tells us that according to law, no store is allowed to sell a toothbrush on the Sabbath in Providence, Rhode Island.  However, the same stores are allowed to sell toothpaste and mouthwash on Sundays.  That would be like going into a bar and getting a glass and snacks but nothing to drink.  Just another one of those things that makes you go h-m-m-m.

Today is Sunday,  October  16 and there are only 40 days until Black Friday, so get those shin guards and elbow pads cleaned up and ready to go.  Today we remember the birthdays of Noah Webster, Oscar Wilde and Paul Strand.  On this day in 1848 the first homeopathic medical college opened in Pennsylvania, in 1925 the Texas School Board prohibited the teaching of evolution and in 1984 Desmond Tutu, black Anglican Bishop, won the Nobel Peace Prize.  In Jamaica it is National Heroes Day, worldwide it is World Food Day and in the US it is National Liqueur Day and National Dictionary Day.

I am sure that, when you read that it was World Food Day you thought, “Damn, here comes the holiday trivia folder again.”  Since I hate to disappoint you, let me give some information on World Food Day (WFD).  WFD is celebrated around the world every year in honor of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945.  WFD was established at the organization’s General Conference in November 1979.  The day has adopted a different theme each year in order to highlight areas needed for action and to provide a common focus.  This year’s theme is – Climate Change: “Climate is changing.  Food and agriculture must too.”

That’s all for WFD.  I know you are all wondering why it took so long for World Food Day to be created.  So am I, but I have not been able to find an explanation for that.  I will let you know if I do.

I try very hard to not be political and it is difficult, sometimes, to stay above the fray, but I do.  I do not want my weekly diatribes to be tainted by politics.  Having said that, I saw a posting of a sign that I feel pretty much says it all.  The sign reads – Can we just admit that we may have taken this “Anyone can grow up to be president” thing just a bit too far?  I really think that says it all.

I want to revisit the ongoing issues women seem to be having with their bladders.  I continue to see the commercials for all the different products that women can use so they can safely laugh, cough, sneeze, be startled, etc.  I saw a commercial for a product recently that made me wonder.  In the commercial, a woman was lamenting the fact that some products were bulky and obvious.  She was telling us this as she was preparing to go out on a date.  She was getting dressed and was saying how pleased she was to have found a product she could wear and still get dressed up.  The commercial ends with her walking off saucily on the arm of her man.

My thoughts then continued on.  They go out for dinner, have a couple glasses of wine, get chummy and then their thoughts turn romantic.  He invites her back to his place. And one thing leads to another and now how does she explain her special garment to him?  If she says that it is because she has a slight bladder issue, does he now have to be concerned that she might wet his bed?  Or does she do like they used to do in the movies, where she goes into the bathroom and comes out wearing a bathrobe that fits her and was conveniently left in there for her to use.  I wonder if Victoria’s Secret is working on a new product line for this dilemma?

This past week I had an interesting experience.  I went mattress shopping.  We had a king sized bed and now that there is only me, I felt that a bed that size was a little more than I really needed, so I decided to get a replacement that was a little smaller.  I went to a chain store that specializes in mattresses.  The lovely Elaine and I had used this chain before and were satisfied with our purchase.  I was not really sure what type of mattress I was looking for, but was pretty sure that, whatever I decided I wanted, I would find it there.  People find this type of shopping to be a chore, but I feel that anytime I can spend most of my shopping time lying down, I am good.

In the past, I have always felt that the mattress I had did not do much to support me after the first year or so.  With that in mind, I started looking at the various memory foam mattresses.  There are a number of different types.  There are strictly foam, foam top with coil springs that are individually wrapped in foam, not wrapped in foam, tied together, doubled and on and on.  I was leaning toward the foam ones, but was having a hard time with a couple different things.  One issue was the price of the ones put out by the company best known for their memory foam products.

This company actually has one mattress that cost over $12,000!  I know, that’s what I said, too!  For that price it should make itself and come with someone who carries you to it at night.  Needless to say, I did not get that one.  I didn’t even look at it to see what made it worth that much.  I didn’t think it was worth looking at something I was not even going to consider.  The other problem was deciding what level of firmness I wanted.  There were several different levels of firmness that were another issue.  They had from very firm to firm but soft.  They had a middle level and then a soft level.  It was mind-boggling.  Anyway, after talking to the salesperson, she took me to a line of mattresses that she felt would do the job for me.  I got lucky.  I found one that I liked and it was on sale, in stock and came with a free blanket, pillows and a duvet cover.  I do not know what a duvet is or why I have to cover it, but I am ready when I figure that out.

This week our fact tells us that in Vermont it is illegal to paint landscapes in times of war.  I can’t help but wonder what happened to cause this.  I wish I could have been there when this was debated to hear the reasoning behind it.  “Put down that brush Mr Ross.  No more happy little trees.  Don’t you know there is a war going on?”

Drink up, look up a word and have a nice week.  And remember another thing I saw recently.  According to Josh Stern a human pyramid looks awfully much like a food chart to a cannibal.