New Shoes in the Rain

...and neither do I. In reference to several people and events in the news recently, I've been thinking about a song by the late, great Tom Petty, entitled "You Don't Know How it Feels."  Suppose there's some truth in that, but it all depends on perspective, and when it comes to the rich and famous, we really DON'T know how it feels. Take all of the celebrities who've been swept up in the college admission scandal of the past few months.  Actress Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty to her role in this (her offense was that she paid a proctor to change answers for her daughter's college entrance exam) and was sentenced to 14 days in federal prison, a fine and a specified amount of community service. Huffman went off to prison recently and was photographed while there, and was released last Friday, a couple of days early, because the end of her sentence fell on a weekend.  I think this qualifies as a "you don't know how it feels" scenario...

It's Friday.  Finally.  I have a friend with whom I exchange TGIF messages each week.  You know who you are! I think we're in a remarkable period of what will eventually be our country's history from this time period, in which we're witnessing all manner of strange and previously unbelievable events unfolding right before our eyes. Yesterday's announcement heralding a cease-fire between the Turkish military and the Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria is a great example of this.  This is a conflict that arose almost entirely because our President agreed to move American military forces out of the region to allow a Turkish incursion into the area. I won't pretend to fully understand all of the nuances of the vast number of faith-based groups throughout the Middle East, but it's clear that the Kurdish rebels involved here have been great allies to American and other coalition forces in their efforts to fight back against ISIS in recent years.  And our co...

It's Friday, folks.  Hope you have a big weekend planned, and are not under the effect of severe weather where you live. Ruminating this morning on the subject of name brand merchandise versus generic or store brand stuff.  How do you shop?  Are you a name-brand-or-else shopper or are you at least open to alternatives? This started when I ran across a video on YouTube that discussed the wildly popular Yeti Rambler drink tumbler with a similar item sold at Walmart for about 1/4 the price.  The video's author did some relatively good testing and determined that there's not a whole lot of difference between the two, in terms of insulation, capacity and the like. So that started me thinking about what makes that decision to buy the name brand item in any category.  Here's a little info on how we go about it. First and foremost, on major stuff like appliances, we go with known and reputable name brands.  Why?  Well, I always have believed that if yo...

Happy middle-of-the-week to you.  Thanks for stopping by. Recently I was prompted to remember a couple of things from way back when, and began to think of more such items that fit that description.  Glance through the list and see which of these YOU remember (bearing in mind that we're not all in the same age range), listed in no particular order: A mail truck that was essentially a slow three-wheeled go-kart that would only hold the driver Superhero TV shows that sought to capitalize on the popularity of "Batman," like "Captain Nice" and "Mr. Terrific" Speedy, the Alka-Seltzer mascot/commercial character Johnson Smith, a novelty company Columbia House, seller of recorded music by mail Trading stamps (in my part of the world we had both S&H Green Stamps and Top Value Stamps) The Osmond Brothers appearing on the "Andy Williams Show" Nancy Sinatra singing a duet with her father Frank called "Something Stupid" ...

It's Monday, unfortunately.  Hope you enjoyed a great weekend.  It was my wife's birthday on Saturday so we had a nice weekend here. Today's thoughts concern things that have made me cry, even at my advanced age!  I've always been an emotional guy, perhaps even moreso now that I'm at my current station in life.  And, no, it's not always just movies that break me up, but they're a big part of it. And since I brought it up, I'll mention a few films that always affect me.  The all-time tearjerker for me has to be "Field of Dreams."  My wife and I saw it when it came out thirty years ago, and I believe that I cried for the last ten or so minutes of the movie.  To this day I have difficulty watching it without beginning to cloud up a bit, because I know what's coming.  Even as I write this, thinking of James Earl Jones' character's soliloquy about how "people will come" and "the one constant in all the years has been b...

Happy Hump Day to everyone.  Hope your week is going well! I think I've offered this opinion in the past, but I have trouble understanding the fascination with pumpkin spice EVERYTHING this time of year.  As I recall, this phenomenon used to come somewhere around October, but it's gotten earlier each year, it seems. My impression is that Starbucks was the original culprit, but now I see everything from doughnuts to pancakes offered by restaurants, and in a recent visit to Target I saw an entire display built of processed food products that featured pumpkin spice flavor, including Cheerios, Oreos, Pop-Tarts and a host of other items. Confession--I don't even care much for pumpkin pie.  It's not the flavor, but, rather, the texture that does it for me.  The taste is something I don't necessarily object to, but I don't really seek it out, either. I have no ill will toward those who enjoy it.  My wife is one of them, albeit in measured doses.  For examp...

Happy Monday---here in my neck of the woods, we're about to experience a return to the harsh and humid conditions that we momentarily left behind last week.  Oh, boy. I don't think I've ever mentioned it here, but I've worn glasses since 1987.  My mom wore glasses from the time I could remember, and my dad did, too, although he only had one prescription pair, relying on "cheaters," or simple reading glasses that one can buy at a drug store.  And my older brother started wearing glasses in high school. I was in my late twenties when I found that I needed corrective lenses, largely because I started getting headaches.  And because I hate to have anything in my eye, like dust or a speck or other foreign materials, I've never considered contact lenses. I also have never been interested in surgery to correct my vision (which I believe you would classify as "presbyopic," since I wear progressive lenses), as I've heard and read of too many ins...