JUST SOME POSTS

Well I am writing this from the scene of one of my latest moments of glory - the Comfort Suites in Colonial Heights, Va. For those of you that do not take notes of all my achievements - that was the hotel where I was (drum roll please - ) Guest of the Day about a month ago. I drove up (and parked in the Platinum Elite member space - I might add) gathered my goodies and headed in. I thought of pulling a hat down over my head and putting my collar up to hide from the photographers and autograph fans, but I had no hat and the crowds just were not really a problem. I ambled to the front desk and it was the same girl! Surely here the recognition would reign! But as I approached her I glanced to the reader board - the same reader board that not so long ago was praising me as Guest of the Day! I staggered a bit under the realization that there was another name on MY sign! Then it hit me - Guest of the Day! I had lived my glorious 24 hours and now it was time to move on. OH WOE IS ME. I curse ...

After the collage of yesterday, I thought I would get somewhat serious again. As those of you that know me are aware; a lot of Sunday mornings I make pancakes. I just finished doing so. As I was making pancakes, I thought of some things and thus this blog. If you have ever made pancakes in a actual frying pan, did you flip them with the pan? You know, like on TV or the movies - the cook takes the pan and flips the pancakes in the air to turn them. (It does NOT work at ALL if you use a large griddle like I do now - believe me!) If not, WHY? If so, did it work the first time you tried it? Unless you are some sort of pancake prodigy - probably not. In fact, you might have put some pancake batter on the ceiling, the floor (definitely), the walls, and/or the countertop. After a few tries (or so) you probably got it. What is weird, I bet if you have ever done it, no matter how long ago it was, if you get a similar pan you could do it now (maybe after a few warm-up flips). That is the firs...

"Just a small bit of cheese sir?" I remember that plea like it was yesterday. My father and his father before him were cabbies in London's eastside. I was destined to be one as well if I didn't break out of the future that was in the works for me. After the war, I luckily got a job with a small plastics firm on the continent, and well... the rest is history I guess. Do fleas get parasites? Can Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), be transmitted by leeches? Remembering back to childhood, I loved when we would start the cattle drives each spring. The dew on the grass as we awoke to sounds of the herd gently lowing was just damp enough to require you to put on shoes to go to the stream for your morning bath. I loved the tuba music best I think. That or the wild Mexican hat dances that we would hold on Tuesdays. Hey, there was always lasagna night!! Moooooooo. Mooooooo. The treehouse we lived in was especially cold in the winter months. Fires, of course, were forb...

With the 2008 presidential election rapidly approaching, I thought I would do a bit on our two party system. Not so long ago, in a land not so far away: A young boy was watching TV and noticed a LOT of commercials by and for people running for office. He was wondering about how the system worked, and how people decided who to vote for. So, he went to his father and asked - "Dad, how do you decide who to vote for?" The dad, being a wise man, decided to use this question as a civics lesson of a type. "Son, there are many ways people decide who to vote for." "What should be done, is after a careful in-depth evaluation of all the candidates and a consideration for any and all issues that they will be dealing with, the person running that addresses these issues with answers most consistant to the voters beliefs and ideas gets the vote." Now the son was already bored, and the dad saw the far away look in his son's eyes. "But, that is not what happe...

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...