Deepening The Gene Pool

Here's another group of people I just don't get... Ice Fishermen.

This is a group of hyper intelligent people who think it would be a good way to pass time by trudging out on the ice of some frozen (or so they think) lake, ponds, ditch, etc, cut a hole in the ice, and wait for something that can barely move to be hungry and swim by.

Yes, they even tell you it's a great sport.

They even spend lots of money buying shanties, which have battery powered electricity or even heat via a small stove (apparently they've forgotten that ice melts when warmed.

I have never participated in this "sport" but something about just doesn't sound fun, challenging, or even the least bit sporty to me.

I also understand that ice fishing is way to get out with the guys and drink beer. Is this a good idea giving alcohol to people already dumb enough to cut a hole in the ice, while standing/sitting on it near a hot stove?

Each year many local fire/rescue squads, or Coast Guard teams pull dozens of folks out of the icey waters, and they all say the same thing - "I was sure it was thick enough." Very often as soon as they are rescued, they dry off and and head back out. In Ohio, near Lake Erie, the Coast Guard had begun a program of charging people $500 per rescue, but it still doesn't stop these brain trusts.

I think we'd all be better off if the rescuers gave the ice fishermen who break through the ice something really useful --like an anvil.

Christmas Comes But Once A Year...

Christmas comes but once a year... probably because if it came more often we'd all be locked away for our own safety or dead due to excessive stress.

The down side to it only being once a year, is we have nothing to hold over the kids to ensure they will be good until their birthday.

What does Christmas "Look Like"?

In the songs "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" and "I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas" (and many others I'm sure) we are led to believe that it is supposed to be snowing or at least snow on the ground for Christmas. Apparently, that is the traditional image of Christmas.

I wonder where this image came from. since the average temperature in December in Jerusalem, Israel (which Marie tells me is 6 miles from Bethlehem) is 57 degrees Farenheit. The coldest month there is January, which averages 53 degrees.

I have done the research, and yes, it does occasionally snow there, but these are usually very rare, and spread out over years (Feb 25, 2003, Jan 12, 1998, etc.) But certainly not a place where people should think of visions of a snow squall (or even a flurry) at the time Christ was supposed to be born. (This may be the topic for another blog entry but Christ probably wasn't born on Dec 25, 0000. Scholars argue it was probably another date in either 4 or 6 BCE and numerous discussions have been have whether it is September 11, Jan 6, or any number of dates. December 25 was around the time of the Jewish celebration of the miracle of light, was the time of an ancient pagan Roman holiday, and was also regarded as the birth date of the Iranian mystery god, the Sun of Righteousness. Early Christians apparently didn't want to be left out.

I like snow but I'm not religiously attached to it on any specifc date. Especially when most people are driving that day. Click here to see previous entry on driving and snow.

It's a plot

Do you want to know how to find the slowest line at Wally World? Get in one.
It never fails. We scope out the lines looking, for the shortest one (as an FYI these are usually the lines that are the 2nd layer in - closest to the door, not the shopping), or the one with more people but only with a couple things each (skip those 20 or less lanes 'cause no one can really count and they are way too long). We zero in on the perfect line and scoot into it. Then one of the following things happen:

-The cashier closes the lane
-The cashier picks that moment to change/count their cash drawer
-The cashier picks that moment to change lanes with another cashier (and both count their drawers)
-The cashier finds a new friend in line in front of you and proceeds to talk about their life (for the rest of yours)
-The cashier develops a bizarrly curious interest in every single item going across the scanner
-The scanner refuses to ring up and item and the cashier tries to re-scan it 37 times before typing in the UPC code
-The cashier finds an item that needs a price check, puts the flashing light on to call a supervisor, and stops ringing up the rest of the order (btw the supervisor never shows)
-The customer realizes that they forgot to pick something up and rushes off to get it (in the back of the store) with their order half rung up
-The customer has brought a one of a kind item from the depths of the store with no price tag or bar code - The cashier and supervisor is not authorized to make up a price, so they call someone from the dept where the thing might have come from. No one answers for a long time. When someone answers, they go off looking for another one of those things in their dept, and come back after a few minutes and say they can't find one (remember it's a one of a kind). The customer doesn't think to be considerate to the 50 people now behind them and dump the item, but talks to the cashier (who hasn't rung up a single other item yet) about how this always seems to happen to them...

Thank you for shopping at Wally World!

Woodpecker Or Nature's Lumberjack?

We have a wood pecker in our backyard who seems to have a goal of taking a tree down by Christmas. This bird seems extremely passionate about his work and also seems to be gaining weight/size in the process. So far, he's not bothering anyone (it's not like he's waking us up in the morning or anything) so we think it is pretty cool. We've taken a few pictures over the past few weeks. My hope is that he won't get done with the tree and move to bigger/tastier things (namely the house).

My thoughts for the day: Do wood peckers get headaches? If not, can we study them and re-apply? If so, what do wood peckers do/take to get rid of them?

Eye gook

What the heck is the purpose of that stuff that is in the corners of your eyes when you wake up?

Could it be some sort of master plan to force you to sleep more by "gluing" your eyes closed? Or keep you from poking yourself in the eye with your finger because you shy away from it when you touch it? Maybe it's an evil plot to help you injure your eyes while rubbing them clean so you'll have to get glasses or at least see the eye doctor once in while.

Could there be any useful function for it? Like maybe you could build something with it (granted it would have to be very small or take really long time to make something big). Or maybe it has some useful chemical value, like some miracle drug (although we wouldn't be able to tell anyone where it comes form or they would never willingly put it in there mouths).

It seems to me there must be a purpose for it, or we wouldn't keep making the stuff every night.

Arrows On The Road

Who's idea was it to paint arrows on the road to tell you which lane to get into? If the road is busy, odds are the arrows will be covered with cars. And if you live in places like Maine, the snow covers the arrows for 5-6 months each year, and the salt, plows, and rain do a great job of eating them away for the rest of the year. I'd just like a sign...

Does this make sense?

Why are there braile symbols on drive up ATM's?

I'm all for making the world more accessible, but this strikes me as odd.

Sleep

How come we wake up tired? You'd think after being in bed for 8 hrs we'd be fully rested and ready for anything. But no; we drag our carcasses out of bed, pour coffee/soda down our throats and complain about wanting to go back to bed.

Snow Pt 2

Why is it that snow causes amnesia?

When it first snows, people forget how to drive. They either forget the stuff is slippery and drive really fast causing accidents or forget that if they drive slower than a snail people will either rear end them or cause an accident when they slam on the brakes.

Also people seem to forget that you still need to park parallel to other cars, regardless if you can see the yellow parking lines. Yet when it snows every parking lot looks all zig zaggy.

Maybe it is like a giant case of brain freeze.

Snow

I love the snow. It's great for skiing, sledding, snow angels, snowball fights, etc. It be even better if it weren't so damn cold and people could drive on it.

The Beginning

This is my first post. I guess being married to a writer is rubbing off on me. If fact she inspired the name for my blog - she always says she has so many thoughts and ideas buzzing in her brain it is hard to organize them. Check out her stuff too(cause she's much better at this than I am) at: http://www.marierossiter.blogspot.com

I am going to ramdomly post things that buzz around in my brain. (I have to acknowledge them before I lose them...) Many will be common thoughts, some funny, but some I'll wonder if anyone else thinks like that.

I'm sure I'll have to have Marie help with the formatting and stuff along the way...

So to start things off right (ok some may argue), here's the thought for the day:

Why don't Christians celebrate Jewish holidays too? Jesus was Jewish. Why should we throw away his heritage?