JUST SOME POSTS

I spend about 40 nights a year in hotels and motels. I do the ones from the middle range to the upper end. (Comfort Inns to Westins) It is always nice to be recognized. I spent Wednesday night in a Comfort Suites in Colonial Heights, Virginia. I have stayed at the hotel previously, but not lately. It is a relatively new place, and had just opened when I was there the first time. I noticed one time when I was on the road looking for a place to stay (I had not made a reservation because I did not know where I was going to end up) that they had two spots out front for the Platinum Elite members of their rewards program. Now I was a bit offended by this as I am a Diamond Elite member (the top) and there were no spaces set aside for me. I did not get a room there that night because they were sold out. I decided that day that I would stay there and comment on the parking spaces when I did. Well I ended up there this past Wednesday as I said, and I did see the parking spaces for the Platinum...

Why is it that doctors cannot agree on anything. When was the last time you saw a story or advertisement that said - "Ten out of ten doctors agree..." Noooooo, it is always "nine out of ten..." or even "eight out of ten...". These guys need to talk. I hate Cracker Barrel. There I said it. The place is like depression era Grandma's house meets Disney. In my case, I have only had two decent meals there as well (fyi, I have only eaten there five or six times in my life, because I hated the food the first two). It is expensive, the service is slooooowww, it is noisy, and they are crowded (which means there are a LOT of first or second timers - OR I am in the minority) I especially hate the "country store" that sells Chinese made versions of my nostalgia. Big Lots sells the same stuff in some cases - MUCH cheaper. (I just realized if I could type "whiny", I could be Andy Rooney) What is it with kids/parents and restaurants (or ANY pub...

I travel by air a couple of times a year. As a control freak, I have never liked the idea of turning my life over to the pilots. I know they are professionals (and they usually hit the ground first), but I would rather "drive" myself. (I have always been the "Driver", but that is another blog). There are a LOT of people that have a fear of flying. It seems like every flight I am on there is someone that looks terrified as we take off. I am aware of the dangers, and would rather stay on the ground, but sometimes if you want to get there, flying is the only way. One of the ways the fear of flying has been addressed is by analogies/comparisons. Hearing one of my favorites was the basis for this blog. You all may have heard that "more people die in donkey accidents in an average year than die in plane crashes". Now, I don't know about you but that statement does nothing to help ease my concerns about getting in a huge metal tube with hundreds of other pe...

I have had a few of you ask "why no posts lately?" It has not been due to lack of ideas, but too many. I was taking my daughter Bailey to school this morning and she made a comment on a rocking horse in a yard that got me thinking of this one. She said "I always wanted one of those". I, not seeing the "those" said -a "A tree?" And she explained that it was an old-fashioned rocking/hobby horse. We discussed rocking horses for a moment and my mind wandered to this blog. (I also want to pay homage and give kudos to all those that have done a "bit" on this subject. I have heard some, but these thoughts are mine.) Bailey was talking about the rocking horses with the four springs that suspend the horse from a frame. I don't think they make those any more. I KNOW they don't make them like when I was a kid. I remember one such horse (and I honestly do not remember whether it was ours or a friends) that was great fun. However, it was ...

We have appropriately shown our thanks today in the typical American way - by downing approximately the same calories as a small African nation in one day. As usual, it was like feeding time at the shark pens at Sea World. Hours and hours were spent preparing, with details on getting the exact spices and flavors and then showcasing the food in glorious displays of gustatorial delight. "Of course the gravy needs to be in a gravy boat" - "Put the cheese with the crackers on the relish tray" - "Cut the turkey neatly and stack it here on the serving tray" - "Not that spoon, get a serving spoon". That was all done and more when we released the hounds. The food stood less of a chance than a three legged, one-eyed wildebeast against a pride of hungry lions. I am definitely thankful........, thankful I got my hands out of the way in time. Next year we are getting a trough.

Here on the eve of Thanksgiving I thought it would be appropriate to be thankful. However there are many, many reasons to be thankful. We are thankful that we live in a country where fortunes can be made by lawsuits over the temperature of a beverage. We are thankful that we have cameras to record every movement of the latest pop tart exiting a limo. We are thankful that we have more lawyers than any other nation on earth - over one million. (I just read that 70% of the lawyers in the world are in the U.S.) We are thankful that we are innocent until proven guilty - unless the charges are of a nature as to be offensive to someone. We are thankful that we have hundreds of channels of television, still with nothing on worth watching most times. Along that theme, we are thankful to be able to watch exiting "sports" like spelling bees and baccarat. We are thankful to have devoted public servants and elected officials that look upon their job as a way to line their pockets. We ar...

I do not know how many of you that will read this already have fallen for the amazing PR blitz that is pushing, no SHOVING the doom and gloom predictions of global warming. I am 54 years old and I do not remember anything that has taken hold of the public mindset as quickly (maybe the World Wide Web, but I'm not sure). The media onslaught is unprecedented as far as in my lifetime. "But we need to save the planet" is your response. B.S. is mine. Global climate change by mankind in decades, outside of numerous large nuclear blasts, is laughable. The global warming fanatics revel in the knowledge that the average citizen is ignorant on even basic science and has a perspective on history that tops out in decades. The scary thing is that global warming caused by man is now almost a universally accepted fact among the average person. (repeat a lie enough times and it will be accepted as a truth) But, as you will see if you investigate the following links, that "fact"...