I'm Thinking…No!

I was in the store the other day, needing to pick up laundry detergent among other things.  Just so you’ll know, I like to keep one or two back-ups so that I don’t run out mid-washing cycle.  I know, it’s a bit compulsive, but I’m that way with bars of soap, boxes of tissues, tubes of toothpaste, etcetera, etcetera.  There is a chance that I may be increasingly CDO – that’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, but with the letters in the correct . . . . oh, never mind.  Anyhow, I found the detergent, but somehow the bottle felt small and a little light. I usually buy the smaller ones, “33 loads”, because it’s easy to lift down from the shelf.  Now, they’ve replaced the “33 loads” bottle with a new one: “26 loads”.  Surprisingly, the price was the same as the old “33 loads”. You’re probably shocked, as I was. Continue reading “The Incredible Shrinking . . . Groceries”

Have you ever noticed that what advertisers say, and what they truly mean, are two entirely different things?  While we beg for truth and transparency – in our government, in our families, in our daily lives, our country’s entire economy is built on mild to wild fabrications, and we’re buying into and adapting it.   Continue reading “What They’re Really Saying Is . . . . . . .”

As all of my faithful readers know, I formed a Presidential Exploratory Committee some months ago. They’re still exploring out there somewhere, their progress I presume impeded by the violent weather across the country, both physically and politically.  While I’m not yet ready to fully commit, I do want to fill you in on some thoughts that could emerge into full-fledged hair-brained campaign platforms. Continue reading “A Campaign Update”

The list of items that “do for themselves” continues to grow, and I fully support this movement. I was reading that one horse running in this year’s Kentucky Derby threw its rider just out of the gate, but that plucky steed kept right on running the course.  Sadly, it was disqualified because it seems that not having a human aboard is against the rules.  Surely that horse should get credit for initiative.  If we can have driverless cars and trucks, why not jockey-less horse racing?  Dogs did it for years.  In recent years, all manner of unpleasant chores have been reduced or removed by technology, and that has made life easier through the generations.  I know I enjoy the benefits. Continue reading “DIFM (Do It For Me)”

“You have the right to remain silent.” This phrase is usually accompanied by handcuffs and an arrest warrant.  It is, however, something that is underused in today’s world.  I’m convinced that the Founding Fathers would never, ever, have included freedom of speech in the Bill of Rights had they been able to envision Twitter and Facebook. It was supposed to be confined to King George III and the Redcoats. They also never dreamed of air travel.  Said a passenger on a recent flight, whose neighbor was removed from the plane for setting off the flight attendant, “Flying is almost scary because you don’t know who you’re going to anger,” he says. “You can’t say anything to anyone.”  He meant it as a complaint and an assault on basic freedoms.  However, it’s actually wise counsel.  You should indeed exercise restraint in what you say, particularly on a packed airplane where humor is not always appreciated and mostly undervalued. The wise philosopher Anonymous once said, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt.”  Good one, Anon. Continue reading “The Right to Remain Silent”

He or she who controls the television remote controls the kingdom. In our house, my wife is master of the television remote.  She rules over it like Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace.  Oh, Prince Albert may have thought he had a certain degree of mastery, but no.  It resides squarely in the hand of, well, the hand.  Control is seldom relinquished – most usually if she’s still in bed or has gone to use the computer in another room.  In those cases, I wait a discreet amount of time, then cautiously approach the remote, fingers trembling. Continue reading “Riding Remote Shotgun”

This isn’t really about having a new car – it’s more about buying one, and the ways people approach it. We (my wife and I) tend to be spontaneous buyers.  You’ve seen them in car commercials. We walk into the dealership thinking solidly in our minds that “we’re just starting to look”.  It ends up with a hurried cleaning out of the glovebox and the trunk, checking under the seats for anything there because the new car will be ready in an hour.  On two occasions we’ve picked up our daughter someplace in a new car she didn’t recognize. The last incident happened at our niece’s wedding in Pennsylvania.  And here’s how it happened. Continue reading “That “New Car” Smell”

There are a number of things in life that straight – out confuse me.  Their purpose, function, and intent confound my intellectual capacities. For example, adding salt to chocolate. What are we doing here?  Can’t chocolate stand fully and completely on its own?  In a rare few instances, other flavors can be added because they’re sweet or compliment – like mint, caramel, even peanut butter or coffee.  But that’s about it.  Salt is clearly a seasoning for meats, in particular burgers, a bit with pepper in mashed potatoes.  Some may wish to add it to the boiling water for pasta, but after that, we’re done here. A while ago, a friend gave us some specialty chocolate candies with sea salt.  There were great boulders of salt perched atop the chocolate.  All I could taste was the salt.  What were the masters of chocolate-making thinking? Continue reading “I Don’t Understand . . . . .”

My faithful readers will recall a blog a few weeks back in which I outlined things that make me smile. Those are the slices of life that give us pleasure and satisfaction.  Well, on the flip side are those instances that do the opposite – the bits and pieces that lead us to “what were they thinking?”  Here are some items and situations that either provoke eye-rolling or cause is to recoil in disgust.  If I’m being overly sensitive, you’re probably right so don’t bother pointing it out. Continue reading “That’s Disgusting!”

On a recent morning, I went into a variety store to purchase some lottery tickets.  Next to the counter was a rack of red “Make America Great Again” caps.  I walked out of the store, not really because the sentiment was offensive, but more because of who and what it represents.  For some, it’s a line in the sand, but for others, it represents unbridled fear and divisive rhetoric that’s driving decisions that aren’t in America’s collective best interests.  Those decisions and policies are neither reflective nor thoughtful – they’re knee-jerk reactions to perceived injustices. That got me to thinking about where we’ve come and where we’re going. Continue reading “How to Make America Truly Great”