Author: Thomas Walters

A few years ago, I had a cd of Steve Martin’s stand-up comedy.  In it, he mentioned that he’d bought some “really stupid stuff”.  I can’t recall all the items, but one such was a “gas-powered turtle neck”.  It seems to me that appearing on the horizon are a number of items that might be approaching this category.  They may have a purpose, but do we really, really, need them?

Continue reading “Do We Need That? Products That Overstep . . . .”

I had to replace my coffee maker a short while ago.  This one beeps at me, which the old one didn’t.  I know, right?  It beeps five times to tell me the pot is brewed and ready.  It also randomly beeps at me for no apparent reason.  Perhaps it’s telling me it has been on too long and needs a coffee break – rather ironic.  Remember when a dump truck backing up was the only thing that beeped at us?  Ah, yes, the good old days.  

Continue reading “Beeps, Beepers, and Beeping”

This is a departure from my usual “grumpy”, or as I prefer to think of them, every day blogs, because from time to time, national and international events bring us up short and remind us just how deeply flawed humans can be.

Continue reading “A Chilling Reminder”

What, may my faithful readers ask, and rightfully so, is a “plantquest”?  Well, as defined by the originator of the term (in all modesty, myself), it is a plant search quite distinct from just a normal plant shopping trip.  The household plant supervisor, again in this case, me, is looking for something quite specific – be it a plant species adding to a collection, something for a specific spot inside or out, something that will have certain requirements – size, light, fitting into a pot, that sort of thing. 

Continue reading “Plantquest”

History fortunately has a way of filtering out some of the most outrageous things that elected officials state publicly.  That is probably for the best, as we’re left with and tend to remember things like, “A house divided cannot stand.” And “Give me liberty or give me death.”, and “Ask not what your country can do . . . .” In the twenty-second century, we can only hope that some of the lunatic ideas from our current time will recede from collective memory, leaving us with the words of Patrick Henry, John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, and John F. Kennedy.  

Continue reading “Dumb Things Public Figures Say With A Straight Face”

Well, here we are after a week of Olympic fanfare.  It’s that time again for the THREE S’s – Skiing, Skating, and Sliding. Things are going along nicely, with all the typical drama – a Russian skater testing positive for something she probably took to clear her nasal congestion.  Although it’s tough to tell.  Remember when there was an East Germany, and they were superhuman until we realized that many of them were taking all kinds of performance-enhancing stuff that put them on a level with The Avengers. So, here’s what’s been happening so far.

Continue reading “Olympic Fanfare”

It’s happened again.  A sign of the times.  We not only want pictures of things we’re seeing and doing, but we feel compelled to insert ourselves into those pictures too.  “See?  I was there – next to that huge alligator.  That’s my arm inside its mouth.  Isn’t that great?”  No, you idiot. Unless you’ve always dreamed of living with the nickname, “stumpy”.  Equally brainless are those parents that put young children on a railing next to a wild animal cage.  From time to time, the children fall into the enclosure, and we end up reading about the tragic consequences, or worse, watching it unfold on YouTube.

Continue reading “Lure of the “Selfie””

No, not another “age” thing. I hear the smirking out there. The folks at WordPress keep track of my postings, and they tell me that this writing will be number 200.  I know – where has the time gone?  Who knew that I had enough in me that anyone else would want to read?  For this momentous occasion, I debated the content.  Would I write extensively on the world situation in Eastern Europe?  Would a piece on climate change be appropriate, particularly with one storm after another charging across the country, and a major blizzard due to hit us tomorrow?  Perhaps an opinion piece on voting rights.  Or I could do one of my signature “grumpy old man” bits about something that’s been driving me nuts lately, like plastic bottles tipping over or the daily phone calls about health care supplements. But no, none of those are suitable or suitably positive.  None really set the tone for the Big Two Hundred.  So . . . . .

Continue reading “Another “Fabulous” Milestone”

Just received a new shipment of masks.  They are the latest in a long line of mask-developments that will protect us from the latest strain of COVID, named Omicron.  Personally, I’d have called it “Phil”, which is far easier to remember.  We could reuse some of the hurricane names, I suppose, or use some that the National Weather Service has rejected, like “Timmy”.  Here’s the headline on the news:  “An update on the newest pandemic variant, first reported in Arkansas, which the CDC is calling, ‘Bucky’.”

Continue reading “And the Masking Goes On”

Just when you think that acts of stupidity can’t really dip down any lower, well, some people exceed our expectations.  Somehow, illness and pandemic bring out the very best in some and then for others, there should be a collective inquiry, “Explain to us all, what are you thinking?”

Continue reading “Torn from the Headlines, Yet Again!”