The Bandwagon

I'm a big fan of creative design and modern ingenuity. Ranging from buildings to ballpoint pens, well thought out, ergonomically correct design is pleasing to use and pleasing to look at. I understand the whole reason for designing something so well, the whole world should know about it. If it fits our needs, and we can afford it, we should also have the opportunity to own it. Keep in mind though, up until this time, it has not been considered a necessity. If you've existed up to this point without perishing, it's just another 'thing'. But, if it is something that is so well thought out and would make life run a little smoother, why not? Unfortunately, there's always an opportunist waiting behind every good idea and invention. They can produce something so close, it may look like the original, but doesn't perform or last as well. Then come the stampeding masses to own the latest copy of the authentic. Walmart seems to be foremost in taking a good idea, cheapening it, and selling to the public for less. There are several items that have been bastardized. One such item is Crocs. Crocs are the slip on shoe made popular by the chef Mario Batali. It seems these shoes are fitting for quite a few jobs, as well as wearing for casual appearances. Nothing wrong with owning a pair, in fact, everyone should. But if you purchase the knock off, the experience isn't going to be as pleasurable as owning the actual pair. So my advice is, support good design, and don't hop on the bandwagon just to be a part of the current fad. Some folks just get carried away with the 'latest', and before you know it, they run it into the ground, ... or Walmart. Be prepared for the new iPad to be half the price, labeled as the uPad, and work 10% as well, in the next few months.

Crybaby

Otherwise known as, Jay Leno. I used to somewhat like the guy, but after his recent shenanigans, I hope he runs the Tonight Show into the dirt. I've always enjoyed Letterman more anyway. Conan, on the other hand, I've always enjoyed also. But after leaving the Tonight Show, he's not allowed to work until September. What's he going to do until then? After his 45 million dollar buyout, I'm sure whatever he damn well pleases. I don't feel NBC gave Conan enough time to really make the show his own. Jay Leno, on the other hand, needs to go back to kindergarten to learn how to play well with others, and not take toys away from other kids. Shame on you Jay! I can only imagine what Johnny Carson would think right now.

Adjectives

From time to time we all need a descriptive word so that our audience understands our point to the Nth degree. For instance, the word 'broke', can either describe the state of my dishwasher, or the state of my bank account. Timing couldn't have been better. Broken appliance and too broke to fix it! I can think of many colorful descriptive words I'd like to use right now, but in case someone is watching or reading this, unless accompanied by an adult, the PG 13 rating may get me in trouble. Besides, do I really need to fly off the handle, and start spewing forth unrefined words? What would that accomplish? Tension relief, maybe:) On to the next adjective subject of the day. Stupidity, wasteful, LATE, just to name a few, describing the renegade plow driver who plowed my street again, for the second time this week! Just when the first moronic act of plowing a street that was perfectly passable, and turned into a motocross course, was starting to melt, the jackass came by a second time to plow ice in front of my drive. My wife's car now bottoms out every time, in and out of the drive. If I were to meet this person face to face, I'm ashamed to say, I would have a few adjectives to share with him. He would have to wipe the adjectives off his face with a towel by the time I was finished. The word 'pretty' would only be used in front of other adjectives not so pretty.

Thank You Again

This is just a final thanks to the woman who shared her family's Italian sausage recipe. Her name was Ann Piccolo. She died last week at the age of 97. She grew up in an orphanage here in Omaha, and turned out to be one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. The first time she heard my name, she marched up to me and said, "You Italian"? She may have been 5 foot at one time in her life, but I've only known her for the last six years, and she's always been four foot something, probably 75 lbs. soaking wet. She was so excited when I approached her with the desire to turn out my own sausage, and asked if she had a recipe and some pointers. Her sausage, which is now my sausage, is pretty much verbatim with just two small differences. Thanks again for the sharing the love and the memories:)

Thanks ..... For Nothin'!

I've tried to bite my tongue, or rather pencil, or rather keyboard, concerning snow removal. First, let's rename the act of 'snow removal' to 'let it sit for a week and then move it in front of my driveway'. Zero amount of snow was removed from my street. A private contractor came through a couple of days after the worst was over, and did a pretty decent job of moving the snow. Then it snowed again, but a much smaller amount. After a week and a half the majority of it was compressed down and not really an issue ..... until yesterday! The city, on top of things as normal, decided to send one of their finest down our very passable street, to perform their public service of 'snow removal'. Keep in mind, everyone on our block has off street parking. Occasionally there's a car parked on the street who may be visiting, but we all park in our driveways. They made one pass down the middle, (that's standard for our street) and left. Our street has already been narrowed due to the amount piled along the curb. Now, we have a second ridge another 12 inches into the street on either side, making it even more difficult to maneuver. Several hours and two asthma attacks, and the end of my driveway was narrow, but clear. I now have this huge speed bump made of ice at the end of the drive, to make pulling in a mild Evil Knievil stunt. My truck is so long, I got stuck at the speed bump with the front tires, while my rear tires were stuck in the snow bank on the opposite side of the street. That was while it was in four wheel drive. I realize the city is over budget because it snowed this year, but they're over budget every year regardless. We had better figure it out someday soon. It feels like the broken pieces of the Antarctic glacial shelf, recently caught a plane to the midwest to spend the winter. I'm half tempted to buy a blade and plow my own street. If I do, I'm putting up a sign, 'City Employees in Snow Removal Trucks Not Allowed'.

Chemical Dependency

We all have the need to feel well. If we don't feel well, the rest of our life seems to unravel around us. On the flip side, if our life unravels around us, it can make us feel ill. This is why pharmacies create pills. When life gets too tough to handle, we've been programmed to take a pill. There's pills for every imaginable ache, pain, or ailment, whether real or conjured up in our head. There's even fake pills to try to trick your body into thinking you're actually getting help from the pill. There's pills to make our children pay attention, there's pills to make adults pay less attention. There's pills to help fix things on the inside, as well as the outside. The only reason I'm writing this, I woke up at 1 AM with a splitting sinus headache. So off to the medicine cabinet for some relief. After taking the proper dosage of the correct medication, I sat in bed thinking of the different chemicals I ingest to keep this body, most of you refer to as "Kevin", going. Advil for the head, aspirin for the muscles, Claritin for the allergies, Tums for the heartburn, inhaler for the asthma, shots for the flu to keep away pigs, birds, and Asians, spirits for the well being of the mind, liver, and soul, coffee to burn off the morning fog, just to name a few. The pharmaceutical companies should have no worries. Billions of people need a little something from time to time, to get us thru to tomorrow. I prefer to self diagnose, and treat multiple ailments with as few pills as possible. If the pill can be taken with a stiff chaser, or better yet, if the stiff chaser can be the 'pill', that would be my first preference. Pharmaceuticals recognize this form of medication and give it the proper credo it deserves. Where can you often go to buy wine & spirits? Would your final answer be the 'drugstore'? Pills and wine. It works for rock stars.

What's on my mind?

If you could look into my head, without cracking my egg open, and peer into my thoughts, you would probably exclaim, "Who is going to clean this mess up"? But since you can't, you're just going to have to take my word for it, it could use some organization. Many times when people write in a diary, or, perhaps a blog, they may leave a pattern of what's going on in their lives at that moment. Their happiness, sadness, frustration, whatever emotional roller coaster ride they happen to find themselves on, creeps out onto the page. I'm no different. First, let me mention, two entries ago, on the Happy Hour blog, was a landmark for me. That happened to be my 200th entry! I'm thinking I should be on Oprah, or have an hour long TV special in my honor. Oops, there's the A.D.D. side of me trying to escape. Back to the original train of thought. Peering back through my verbose, disconnected, ridiculous ramblings, I can tell when I happened to be frustrated at work, frustrated with a younger generation, frustrated with electronic devices, and the dog. How could I tell? Because I said so. I really didn't leave any underlying clues, I just blurted out my disdain. I'm not as tactful as I think I am. What's the expression? Wear your heart on your sleeve? Am I using that in the correct context? Regardless, I'm happy to share the mental 'junk food' I sometimes spew forth. I know it doesn't enrich anyone's life, or is earth moving information, but from time to time I observe humans (myself included), and their surroundings, and pick up on little nuances, or subtleties, and just wonder if anyone behind my computer screen sees it the same way I do? You have my sympathy if you do.