Thursday, March 14, 2013

There will be no morning blog today...

There will be no morning blog today.  It is 4:13 p.m. as I sit down to write the first words and so I’ll just skip this morning’s entry and post an afternoon blog instead.

I was nearly the victim of an accident like I witnessed yesterday a few minutes ago.  A woman driver (again, I’m not casting aspersions about one gender being better drivers than the other) was backing out of a space in front of a 7-11 when she stopped to do something with the child in the car-seat in the rear of her car.  She stopped clearing the space behind her at that point and nearly ran into me.  I noticed when she’d stopped and had put my car into reverse, and backed up out of her path just in time.  She smiled apologetically.  Apologies are lovely but they don’t fix broken cars.  Look behind you before you back up.
Facebook is going to add hashtags somehow?  Why?

Tomorrow is a day off and I have to go to the VA for an appointment.  If it weren’t to try to maintain what health I have, I’d be blowing these appointments off left and right.  Or I’d do what I used to do and just not bother making the appointments at all.
 
Are there really people who think extending drinking hours from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. is going to make a big difference on weeknights?  If so, they need to re-think.  We have enough drunk drivers on the road already.
When I go to play trivia at a certain place on Tuesday nights, I drive past a large, empty building.  It used to be a furniture store.  It has been vacant for at least a year.  So why is this empty building illuminated by two small lights at the rear of one side of it?  Is the owner paying a light bill?  Do the lights keep people from breaking in and squatting there?
Was anyone else confused and thinking that Pope Francis took his name from “Francis ‘Psycho’ Sawyer”, a character in the film “Stripes”?  I’m just wondering which cardinal has the balls to say “lighten up, Francis” to the new Pope.
Urasawa is a sushi restaurant in Beverly Hills where the average check comes to $1,111.  Now they’re going to have to pay out nearly $70,000 in back wages and fines for labor law violations.  That’s what, 70 tables gross, maybe 280 tables net?  Like this will stop them from exploiting the cheap help…not.  I bet Jiro, who dreams of sushi, never pays labor law fines.
Why is McDonald’s handing out one million free McMuffins in China?
You’re Julianne Hough (who is very nice in person, FWIW) and you’re at a friend’s place.  You’ve parked in the underground garage.  Would you be leaving $100,000 worth of jewelry in the car?  Well, she did and it was stolen.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1794, Eli Whitney is granted a patent for the cotton gin.  Centuries later, Ed McMahon is not granted a patent for drinking mass quantities of gin.
On this date in 1885, the Mikado is performed for the first time for a public audience.
On this date in 1900, the U.S. goes on the “Gold Standard”.
On this date in 1951, UN troops fighting in Korea re-capture Seoul.
On this date in 1964, Jack Ruby is convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald.
On this date in 1967, JFK’s body is moved to its permanent resting place at Arlington National Cemetary.
On this date in 1978, Israel’s Defense Force invades and occupies Southern Lebanon.
 
Famous Folk Born on This Date:

Albert Einstein
Hank Ketcham
Diane Arbus
Michael Caine
Quincy Jones
Wolfgang Peterson
Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner
Michael Martin Murphy
Wes Unseld
Billy Crystal
Rick Dees
Kirby Puckett
Tamara Tunie
Chris Klein