The hair on the top of my head may have receded but the hair on my chest has not. Yesterday as I sat in the cardiologist's office, I told the technician that she probably needed to shave the spots on my chest for the leads as I was being hooked up for a 24 hour harlter monitor. First she cleaned the area with an alcohol soaked 4 x 4 gauze pad as tough as if she was trying to remove the tarnish from the silver dinnerware. Then she took the protective wrapping off the disposable razor and removed a two inch line of hair from right to left. She made sure that the industrial strength adhesive leads were placed properly on my chest.
Note: I have had these same leads placed over my chest without the area being shaved and I can say without any hesitation that I don't know how women can stand having their hair from the legs ripped off. When these leads have been removed, I have felt like my skin was being removed from my body. These leads do not fall off in the shower as I was lead to believe by several nurses. They must be ripped from the body by someone who is being paid well to do the task. Ripping leads from a hairy chest is not for the faint of heart!
As I drove home with the super, never to be removed, commercial strength adhesive leads connected to my own little waist recording unit, I thought that if I have this procedure done again, I will request that I stand while the leads are attached. Having the patient sit might be easier for the technician but when the leads are attached to the skin in a relaxed position, some hairs do find their way to the contact cement leads. So as I turned the wheel or adjusted myself in the drivers seat, some of my chest hairs were ripped from their roots.
I have not done any surveys with other men about the strength of their body hair but I can say from my own experience, that my chest hair is pretty strong. The hair roots go down pretty far and they don't like being pulled out. I don't like them being pulled out either.
When I was growing up, we were a member of a community pool. There was always one guy who had a lot of body hair. My friends and I said that we did not want to have that much hair when we got older. We thought that by saying we did not want the hair, the hair gods would listen. My hair god did not listen!
At 3:15 PM today, the cardiac technician will take back her monitor and the wire leads. The technician said the never to be removed, glued for life heart leads which have welded themselves to my skin will come off in the shower.
Tonight if you hear what sounds like a plane breaking the sound barrier, don't worry. It's only me having the "they will fall off in the shower" leads being ripped from my body while two hairs fight for survival!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
195 Days to go
When I was in my twenties, which seems so long ago, I weighted over 250 pounds and sported an afro. Yes, Art had an afro. I also had hair, lots of hair on my head. At that time, I was renting an apartment with a guy because I was not making enough money on my own. He had an afro and said I would look in one as well. So, I went to a beauty salon and said, 'I want an afro.'
I walked into the beauty salon and spent several hours moving from one chair to another as my hair was washed, treated, permed, put in curlers, treated and then cooked under the hair dryer. I have seen pictures of women having conversation between themselves as they sit under the hair dryers. I had a hard time thinking to myself much less trying to talk with anyone while a jet plane roared over my hair. At one point, it felt as though I was my head was in a broiler. That was about the time I wanted to leave and chuck the whole idea. I just remembered the odor of the perm chemicals which were cooking on my hair. That smell is a smell all of its own.
The only other smell almost as irritating is that of Ringers Lactate. I was introduced to Ringers at Bethesda Naval Hospital when I had a summer job. Ringers is used as a fluid and electrolyte replenisher for persons suffering from a lot of blood loss due to trauma, surgery, or a burn injury. Back then, the Naval Hospital used glass bottles instead of plastic pouches which are used now for the IV solutions. A patient knocked over an IV stand with a bottle of Ringers hanging from it. I got to mop up the mess as the odor filled the floor.
After spending a long afternoon in the beauty salon, I walked out with an afro. My afro was a mini afro because although I had hair, I did not have that much hair. And a lot of hair results in a bigger afro. I had a baby afro. But it was my afro and I was assured by the hair stylist that as my hair grew out, my afro would get bigger. And when there was barely any afro left, I went back to the beauty salon, sat under the jet engine as the chemicals in my hair and on my head, made my hair, now full of curlers, cook until I had a bigger afro.
And I walked out proud that I no longer had a baby afro but the real McCoy. I had a real afro with a full head of hair.
The days of a full head of hair are gone. Now I have some hair growing where once I had a pasture of hair. In order to save some money about three years ago I decided to cut my own hair. I was going to the barber shop every six weeks and spending twenty dollars to have my lack of hair trimmed.. I was in and out of the barber chair in less than fifteen minutes. I told my wife that I could do my own hair. Cutting my own hair is not quite as bad as performing my own open heart surgery on myself while looking in the mirror. I just wish the mirror was not showing me everything in reverse. I have trouble seeing behind my head and usually end up missing a forest of trees on my neck. I pass my hand over my head and my neck and my hand says everything is okay. What did I ever do to my hand to get this kind of mis-information?
I usually ask my wife to check out my hair cutting job. This is about the time she says there are a couple of places I missed. I ask my hand, How can this be? My hand does not reply. So I place my hand with the hair trimmer in a position only a pretzel would know and attempt to remove the missed hair. Sometimes I have my wife use the trimer on my hair if I can't get to the right spot. Some weeks I have no trouble bending my wrist into unnatural positions and other weeks, my wrist and mind won't work together.
Now that I don't have hair growing on my head anymore, why do I have hair growing from places that hair should not be?
I walked into the beauty salon and spent several hours moving from one chair to another as my hair was washed, treated, permed, put in curlers, treated and then cooked under the hair dryer. I have seen pictures of women having conversation between themselves as they sit under the hair dryers. I had a hard time thinking to myself much less trying to talk with anyone while a jet plane roared over my hair. At one point, it felt as though I was my head was in a broiler. That was about the time I wanted to leave and chuck the whole idea. I just remembered the odor of the perm chemicals which were cooking on my hair. That smell is a smell all of its own.
The only other smell almost as irritating is that of Ringers Lactate. I was introduced to Ringers at Bethesda Naval Hospital when I had a summer job. Ringers is used as a fluid and electrolyte replenisher for persons suffering from a lot of blood loss due to trauma, surgery, or a burn injury. Back then, the Naval Hospital used glass bottles instead of plastic pouches which are used now for the IV solutions. A patient knocked over an IV stand with a bottle of Ringers hanging from it. I got to mop up the mess as the odor filled the floor.
After spending a long afternoon in the beauty salon, I walked out with an afro. My afro was a mini afro because although I had hair, I did not have that much hair. And a lot of hair results in a bigger afro. I had a baby afro. But it was my afro and I was assured by the hair stylist that as my hair grew out, my afro would get bigger. And when there was barely any afro left, I went back to the beauty salon, sat under the jet engine as the chemicals in my hair and on my head, made my hair, now full of curlers, cook until I had a bigger afro.
And I walked out proud that I no longer had a baby afro but the real McCoy. I had a real afro with a full head of hair.
The days of a full head of hair are gone. Now I have some hair growing where once I had a pasture of hair. In order to save some money about three years ago I decided to cut my own hair. I was going to the barber shop every six weeks and spending twenty dollars to have my lack of hair trimmed.. I was in and out of the barber chair in less than fifteen minutes. I told my wife that I could do my own hair. Cutting my own hair is not quite as bad as performing my own open heart surgery on myself while looking in the mirror. I just wish the mirror was not showing me everything in reverse. I have trouble seeing behind my head and usually end up missing a forest of trees on my neck. I pass my hand over my head and my neck and my hand says everything is okay. What did I ever do to my hand to get this kind of mis-information?
I usually ask my wife to check out my hair cutting job. This is about the time she says there are a couple of places I missed. I ask my hand, How can this be? My hand does not reply. So I place my hand with the hair trimmer in a position only a pretzel would know and attempt to remove the missed hair. Sometimes I have my wife use the trimer on my hair if I can't get to the right spot. Some weeks I have no trouble bending my wrist into unnatural positions and other weeks, my wrist and mind won't work together.
Now that I don't have hair growing on my head anymore, why do I have hair growing from places that hair should not be?
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
196 days to Go
I'm going to ask you a question. It is a very simple one and does not require a lot of thinking. Here it is: Do I look stupid? Now before you answer the question, I want you to think about what you are going to say because my question does not only concern me but you as well. And since I am writing this blog about my growing older and you are getting older or have reached and passed your sixth birthday, then my question concerns you as well.
Now that you have your answer, think about it. When our elected officials vote into law a bill that has so many add-ons for special interest groups, why do the elected think that we won't notice? As I have gotten older, I have questioned more and accepted less.
Our town is facing off with a new builder. The developer is saying that by leveling apartments which have been standing for over fifty years and building newer multi-use buildings, their company is going to revitalize our area. Closer to this new project is another development which still has vacant store fronts for all the promises it made to the communities.
The new developer wants to build several towers of rental properties reaching toward the clouds. One of the towers is going to be thirty- three stories tall. I'm not stupid but the tallest fire department ladder truck can only reach to the eighth floor. Unless the developer has installed an outstanding fire suppression system from the ground floor to the roof of the tower, things could get pretty darn hot for the residents if a fire erupts.
Our county executive will probably rubber stamp the project, all in the name of employment and taxes. The county executive has tried to push other projects down the taxpayers throats. There was the idea to build a new stadium for a hockey team but enough council members and taxpayers saw through the project and common sense prevailed. But given the lack of money all across the region, I think the county executive and council are going to push the approval button for the new housing.
The current residents will be given 60 days to vacate their homes and then the bulldozers will destroy the apartments. Construction debris always wind up in the creek which runs through our town. The creek will become polluted but the construction engineers will say that they have nothing to do with the pollution. The last time there was construction, the water turned from oily to white to somewhat clear.
When the construction is completed, there will be a grand ceremony thanking the local communities for all their support. Elected officials will stand and say how they helped to push the project through the system. They will also say that without their push, hundreds of people would not have been employed for the last twenty four months.
And some of the store fronts will become occupied, while the others will gather dust. And the rental properties will fill but there will not be enough parking spaces in the buildings because someone did not figure that the residents would want a car to go shopping in another county that had a much better selection of stores. And the excess cars will find their way to the neighbor streets. And the roads which currently can not handle the flow and volume of current traffic will become clogged.
And if a fire does break out on the thirtieth floor, the sprinkler systems will work or not. And the fire department will be blamed for not having a ladder which could reach over three hundred feet into the air without collapsing from the weight. And someone is going to lose their life.
I'm not stupid. Sometimes I do stupid things such as not listening to my wife when she is telling me to listen to her. But when I hear of a company trying to force feed a project down the taxpayers throats, all in the name of new jobs and taxes, I have to ask, Where is the safety factor? Who do we talk to about the added pollution and traffic burdens after the project is completed?
Is it stupid of me to think that my elected officials have no common sense?
Now that you have your answer, think about it. When our elected officials vote into law a bill that has so many add-ons for special interest groups, why do the elected think that we won't notice? As I have gotten older, I have questioned more and accepted less.
Our town is facing off with a new builder. The developer is saying that by leveling apartments which have been standing for over fifty years and building newer multi-use buildings, their company is going to revitalize our area. Closer to this new project is another development which still has vacant store fronts for all the promises it made to the communities.
The new developer wants to build several towers of rental properties reaching toward the clouds. One of the towers is going to be thirty- three stories tall. I'm not stupid but the tallest fire department ladder truck can only reach to the eighth floor. Unless the developer has installed an outstanding fire suppression system from the ground floor to the roof of the tower, things could get pretty darn hot for the residents if a fire erupts.
Our county executive will probably rubber stamp the project, all in the name of employment and taxes. The county executive has tried to push other projects down the taxpayers throats. There was the idea to build a new stadium for a hockey team but enough council members and taxpayers saw through the project and common sense prevailed. But given the lack of money all across the region, I think the county executive and council are going to push the approval button for the new housing.
The current residents will be given 60 days to vacate their homes and then the bulldozers will destroy the apartments. Construction debris always wind up in the creek which runs through our town. The creek will become polluted but the construction engineers will say that they have nothing to do with the pollution. The last time there was construction, the water turned from oily to white to somewhat clear.
When the construction is completed, there will be a grand ceremony thanking the local communities for all their support. Elected officials will stand and say how they helped to push the project through the system. They will also say that without their push, hundreds of people would not have been employed for the last twenty four months.
And some of the store fronts will become occupied, while the others will gather dust. And the rental properties will fill but there will not be enough parking spaces in the buildings because someone did not figure that the residents would want a car to go shopping in another county that had a much better selection of stores. And the excess cars will find their way to the neighbor streets. And the roads which currently can not handle the flow and volume of current traffic will become clogged.
And if a fire does break out on the thirtieth floor, the sprinkler systems will work or not. And the fire department will be blamed for not having a ladder which could reach over three hundred feet into the air without collapsing from the weight. And someone is going to lose their life.
I'm not stupid. Sometimes I do stupid things such as not listening to my wife when she is telling me to listen to her. But when I hear of a company trying to force feed a project down the taxpayers throats, all in the name of new jobs and taxes, I have to ask, Where is the safety factor? Who do we talk to about the added pollution and traffic burdens after the project is completed?
Is it stupid of me to think that my elected officials have no common sense?
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
197 Days to Go
When I was taking driver's education in high school, my teacher said the only thing that should be on the steering wheel should be my hands. He made it clear that both hands needed to be on the wheel. He added that cars in Germany did not have cup holders because driving was a full time job. Holding a cup of hot coffee while steering a car traveling a hundred miles an hour was not a way to grow old. A lot can happen at high speeds.
Cars changing lanes, stopping or slowing down occurs at all speeds. I would guess my driver ed. teacher has retired but he would probably say that using a cell phone or other handheld device while driving is a death wish. It's too bad that more new drivers did not have a teacher like mine.
I get crazy when I see someone driving while doing their nails, sipping from a cup and talking on their electronic device. What's even worse than that is when I see a woman doing her nails, then her eyes, brushing her hair, sipping from a cup, yelling at her kids and texting. She is not doing everything at once but does all everything in the span of several minutes. Somewhere in there, she was driving me crazy and oh, also driving her SUV.
So why am I saying this? Because as I have gotten older, drivers and their habits have gotten worse. I wonder when someone is going to use some common sense and just say no to any kind of electronic device which requires the driver to take his or her hands off the steering wheel. And the hands free electronic anything ban is going to be put into law and that law is going to stand up in every courtroom in every state.
Until real laws are passed and the police enforce those laws, drivers are going to continue to drive as though they have a death wish and many of them will have their wish come true.
--
Cars changing lanes, stopping or slowing down occurs at all speeds. I would guess my driver ed. teacher has retired but he would probably say that using a cell phone or other handheld device while driving is a death wish. It's too bad that more new drivers did not have a teacher like mine.
I get crazy when I see someone driving while doing their nails, sipping from a cup and talking on their electronic device. What's even worse than that is when I see a woman doing her nails, then her eyes, brushing her hair, sipping from a cup, yelling at her kids and texting. She is not doing everything at once but does all everything in the span of several minutes. Somewhere in there, she was driving me crazy and oh, also driving her SUV.
So why am I saying this? Because as I have gotten older, drivers and their habits have gotten worse. I wonder when someone is going to use some common sense and just say no to any kind of electronic device which requires the driver to take his or her hands off the steering wheel. And the hands free electronic anything ban is going to be put into law and that law is going to stand up in every courtroom in every state.
Until real laws are passed and the police enforce those laws, drivers are going to continue to drive as though they have a death wish and many of them will have their wish come true.
--
Monday, January 18, 2010
198 Days To Go
I have a gripe. Actually I have several gripes but tonight I will focus on just one. Who was the rocket scientist who designed the pull tabs on creamers? When I was younger I could grip the little foil tab and nicely lift the seal off the artificial cream. Now as I have gotten older, that little tab seems smaller and no amount of yelling at the tab will give me enough surface area to rip the seal off!
I'm sure I am not the only one who has problems with these tabs.
I can see having the child-proof caps on medicine but I have not been a child for some time. Does anyone care that when I have a headache, I want to get those little tablets out of the bottle as quickly as possible? I must admit that the mail order pharmacy has finally gotten it right and gives us screw caps for all our medicines.
My wife and I would probably starve if it was not for the jar handles which allow us to twist the caps off the glass jars with the green mold growing in them. Actually the green mold comes after I put the jar deep into the refrigerator and forget that it is there. My wife keeps telling me to remember that the jar is in there somewhere and I keep telling her I will remember but seldom do.
Jars holding olives packed in water in a glass jars have some of the worse caps to remove. There is always a warning on the top that says if the little dimple looks like a hill, then the cap has been loosened and the company can not be held liable. Not once have I seen a jar of olives with a cap that has lost its vacuum. When I get the jar home from the grocery store, I give it the old Garroway try to remove the cap. I place the cap against my palm and wrap my fingers around the cap. Then I give it a twist. Nothing. I give it another twist and still nothing. My palm is now red and my fingers are white. Then I bring out the big guns and place the handy dandy jar grip with the rubberized surface over the cap. Holding the jar in a death grip I turn the handle. Nothing. I try to turn the cap the other way. Nothing again. I look at the cap and see the arrows pointing in opposite directions. Tighten this way and loosen that way.
Perhaps I need to break the vacuum seal on the cap I think to myself. Dropping the jar to the floor would be a possibility but cleaning up glass, water and olives is not an attraction. I take a knife and turn it around so that I can hammer the edge of the cap. A couple of quick taps and I try twisting the cap. Still nothing. A couple more taps on the other side of the cap and nothing. I look at the jar of olives and wonder if I really need olives on the salad tonight.
My wife asks how I'm doing. I hold up the olive jar with the vacuum sealed cap that will not come off unless I use a charge of C4 and shake my head. She takes the jar in one hand and the nifty rubberized cap enabler and does one quick twist and the cap comes off in her hand.
I'm sure I am not the only one who has problems with these tabs.
I can see having the child-proof caps on medicine but I have not been a child for some time. Does anyone care that when I have a headache, I want to get those little tablets out of the bottle as quickly as possible? I must admit that the mail order pharmacy has finally gotten it right and gives us screw caps for all our medicines.
My wife and I would probably starve if it was not for the jar handles which allow us to twist the caps off the glass jars with the green mold growing in them. Actually the green mold comes after I put the jar deep into the refrigerator and forget that it is there. My wife keeps telling me to remember that the jar is in there somewhere and I keep telling her I will remember but seldom do.
Jars holding olives packed in water in a glass jars have some of the worse caps to remove. There is always a warning on the top that says if the little dimple looks like a hill, then the cap has been loosened and the company can not be held liable. Not once have I seen a jar of olives with a cap that has lost its vacuum. When I get the jar home from the grocery store, I give it the old Garroway try to remove the cap. I place the cap against my palm and wrap my fingers around the cap. Then I give it a twist. Nothing. I give it another twist and still nothing. My palm is now red and my fingers are white. Then I bring out the big guns and place the handy dandy jar grip with the rubberized surface over the cap. Holding the jar in a death grip I turn the handle. Nothing. I try to turn the cap the other way. Nothing again. I look at the cap and see the arrows pointing in opposite directions. Tighten this way and loosen that way.
Perhaps I need to break the vacuum seal on the cap I think to myself. Dropping the jar to the floor would be a possibility but cleaning up glass, water and olives is not an attraction. I take a knife and turn it around so that I can hammer the edge of the cap. A couple of quick taps and I try twisting the cap. Still nothing. A couple more taps on the other side of the cap and nothing. I look at the jar of olives and wonder if I really need olives on the salad tonight.
My wife asks how I'm doing. I hold up the olive jar with the vacuum sealed cap that will not come off unless I use a charge of C4 and shake my head. She takes the jar in one hand and the nifty rubberized cap enabler and does one quick twist and the cap comes off in her hand.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
199 days to go
Whatever happened to the good old days? I grew up in the fifties. Everything was less complicated back then. There were fewer cars and a lot less television stations. We had checking and a savings account. And if we wanted to withdraw money, we would write a check or go to the bank in person. And the banks were small enough so the tellers would know your name and would not be separated by three inches of Plexiglas!
The good old days have been replaced by passwords. It has almost gotten to the point that I need some kind of password to do anything electronic. Before I log onto my computer at work, I have to use a password. Then there is another password for each of the applications I use. Some of the applications have begun informing me that I need to change my password every couple of months. The programs say I can't use the same password I have used in the past.
Some other programs have begun telling me that I need to have at least one if not more numbers, letters, both with and without caps with a sprinkling of dollar, pound, question and quotation marks. I do have some rather convoluted passwords for important accounts and programs. If anyone is going to try and hack into my bank account, I want them to be as frustrated as I am when I am entering a 27 character password that I hope is correct!
But as I have gotten older, the old passwords which I once used are coming back to haunt me. Most everything on the web requires some sort of log in and password. In olden times, if I wanted a magazine subscription, I would mail a check to the company and then would forget that I had sent in the money. Then after weeks had passed, I would begin to get magazine issues and I would have to think long and hard as to why I had even wasted my money.
Now, I can order most anything on line but in order to do it their way, I must have some kind of log-in word and password. Sometimes the site asks me to make up a password before I enter all my vital information. So I pull a password out of the air which I could remember if I were thirty years younger, write it down on a post-it note and enter the word on the secure website. Then I hit enter and the screen pauses and says that the password and log in have already been used. And I look at the screen and say, "How can that be?"
The screen does not answer me but suggests that I try another name and password. So I enter another name and password, this time longer than before and the system says that name and password are already in use. Since this is the first time I have ever been to this site, I scratch my head and wonder who out there is walking around with the same name and password that I just entered. As I enter yet another user name, the site system asks if I would like a suggestion and I say 'Why not?' So the system which is far smarter than me, selects a name and a password I can live with. And this time I copy down both words so I will have this information when I log on in a week to see where my subscription is. And I enter the computer generated user name and password and the system says okay. Now that I have a user name and password, I begin to enter the ship and bill to information. That done, I enter credit card information and the system thanks me for being patient. And it says I am almost done. I then try to read some lawyer written disclaimer which says the company has the greatest security system since Fort Knox and that my information is safe with them. And that they value my business and blah, blah, blah and oh, by the way, there is just one more thing I need to do before my subscription is entered into their system. I need to answer some questions so that if I forget my login phrase and or password, they can make sure I am who I say I am.
I answer the questions and then do a screen save of my questions and answers and save the file. One more time to look at all my answers and I hit the enter key. There I have done it. Then I have a thought, Did I enter the correct alternative email address? I go to the current subscriber log in site and enter my name and password. Sorry, you have entered incorrect information. I enter everything again, this time slower. Still nothing. I even hit the drop down link that says it will send me the questions to answer.
"There is no such password or user id listed in our system. Would you like our system to help you select a new password?"
Guess what my answer was?
The good old days have been replaced by passwords. It has almost gotten to the point that I need some kind of password to do anything electronic. Before I log onto my computer at work, I have to use a password. Then there is another password for each of the applications I use. Some of the applications have begun informing me that I need to change my password every couple of months. The programs say I can't use the same password I have used in the past.
Some other programs have begun telling me that I need to have at least one if not more numbers, letters, both with and without caps with a sprinkling of dollar, pound, question and quotation marks. I do have some rather convoluted passwords for important accounts and programs. If anyone is going to try and hack into my bank account, I want them to be as frustrated as I am when I am entering a 27 character password that I hope is correct!
But as I have gotten older, the old passwords which I once used are coming back to haunt me. Most everything on the web requires some sort of log in and password. In olden times, if I wanted a magazine subscription, I would mail a check to the company and then would forget that I had sent in the money. Then after weeks had passed, I would begin to get magazine issues and I would have to think long and hard as to why I had even wasted my money.
Now, I can order most anything on line but in order to do it their way, I must have some kind of log-in word and password. Sometimes the site asks me to make up a password before I enter all my vital information. So I pull a password out of the air which I could remember if I were thirty years younger, write it down on a post-it note and enter the word on the secure website. Then I hit enter and the screen pauses and says that the password and log in have already been used. And I look at the screen and say, "How can that be?"
The screen does not answer me but suggests that I try another name and password. So I enter another name and password, this time longer than before and the system says that name and password are already in use. Since this is the first time I have ever been to this site, I scratch my head and wonder who out there is walking around with the same name and password that I just entered. As I enter yet another user name, the site system asks if I would like a suggestion and I say 'Why not?' So the system which is far smarter than me, selects a name and a password I can live with. And this time I copy down both words so I will have this information when I log on in a week to see where my subscription is. And I enter the computer generated user name and password and the system says okay. Now that I have a user name and password, I begin to enter the ship and bill to information. That done, I enter credit card information and the system thanks me for being patient. And it says I am almost done. I then try to read some lawyer written disclaimer which says the company has the greatest security system since Fort Knox and that my information is safe with them. And that they value my business and blah, blah, blah and oh, by the way, there is just one more thing I need to do before my subscription is entered into their system. I need to answer some questions so that if I forget my login phrase and or password, they can make sure I am who I say I am.
I answer the questions and then do a screen save of my questions and answers and save the file. One more time to look at all my answers and I hit the enter key. There I have done it. Then I have a thought, Did I enter the correct alternative email address? I go to the current subscriber log in site and enter my name and password. Sorry, you have entered incorrect information. I enter everything again, this time slower. Still nothing. I even hit the drop down link that says it will send me the questions to answer.
"There is no such password or user id listed in our system. Would you like our system to help you select a new password?"
Guess what my answer was?
200 days to go
Everyone has experienced impatient people. The people who run stop signs because they are yelling at their kids or talking on their cell phones make me crazy. In our town, there are a number of four way stops. I can count on one hand the number of cars that have come to a complete stop at any given intersection! And the people who run the stop signs or do a slow down but no stop, are not just older people. College kids are just so busy these days, that stopping is not a priority for them. We have our fair share of people cutting through town to avoid the major stop light bottle necks and in doing so, making our little town, their short cut!
And what do these people gain by not stopping? If a cop is nearby, the law breaker might get a ticket. If not, the stop sign runner has shaved off a few extra seconds off their commute. In addition to the non stopping cars, there are the drivers who set their own speed limit so they can be somewhere a little faster.
I would be amiss if I left out the drivers of scooters. I have observed the drivers, typically college students driving their scooters in what I would call a reckless manner, running stop signs, riding on the sidewalks to avoid going through an intersection, driving without eye protection. Teenagers become college students and some never outgrow the idea that they know better how to do something. They know all and can do anything. And they think they will live forever. (Hint, no-one lives forever unless you are the IRS.) Unfortunately, teenagers and college students can get hurt or worse if they continue to behave in an impatient manner. It takes just one time for a scooter driver not to see the other car or truck that is running the same stop sign.
These same students can get hurt just as easily by texting while walking across the street between two corners. They used to call this jay walking. Now it is called, cutting corners! Why walk to the crosswalk when you can shave a few minutes off, by just crossing where ever you want? These students might say that their time is valuable and why should they wait. I would like to tell them that waiting to cross at a crosswalk or a light just might save their lives. I would love to add that being impatient might just get them dead.
But what do I know? I'm just a guy who is not impatient to get older. And I have no reason to be impatient about dying.
And what do these people gain by not stopping? If a cop is nearby, the law breaker might get a ticket. If not, the stop sign runner has shaved off a few extra seconds off their commute. In addition to the non stopping cars, there are the drivers who set their own speed limit so they can be somewhere a little faster.
I would be amiss if I left out the drivers of scooters. I have observed the drivers, typically college students driving their scooters in what I would call a reckless manner, running stop signs, riding on the sidewalks to avoid going through an intersection, driving without eye protection. Teenagers become college students and some never outgrow the idea that they know better how to do something. They know all and can do anything. And they think they will live forever. (Hint, no-one lives forever unless you are the IRS.) Unfortunately, teenagers and college students can get hurt or worse if they continue to behave in an impatient manner. It takes just one time for a scooter driver not to see the other car or truck that is running the same stop sign.
These same students can get hurt just as easily by texting while walking across the street between two corners. They used to call this jay walking. Now it is called, cutting corners! Why walk to the crosswalk when you can shave a few minutes off, by just crossing where ever you want? These students might say that their time is valuable and why should they wait. I would like to tell them that waiting to cross at a crosswalk or a light just might save their lives. I would love to add that being impatient might just get them dead.
But what do I know? I'm just a guy who is not impatient to get older. And I have no reason to be impatient about dying.
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