October 17, 2019 - 34 - "Sleep Deprivation, Head Trauma, or Just Not Too Bright?"

   
     I was working the third flight of our day and was really tired.  It was a long day, and I hadn't slept well the night before.  I still had some adrenalyn going and thought I was fairly functional.

     A passenger asked about  his connection.  He was worried that he'd miss his next flight.

     I double-checked the departure time of his connecting flight.  We were getting in on time and he had almost two hours to make his flight.  He still seemed nervous. 

     I checked the gate we were arriving into and the gate his connection was leaving from.  They weren't far apart.  He was still worried.

October 16, 2019 - 33 - "Adult Light-y Up Shoes"

          

     

    

  Remember in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" when George is going on and on to Mary about lassoing the moon and the beams coming out of her fingertips...  

     An old man observing the scene from his porch says: 
          "Why don't you go ahead and kiss her instead of talking her to death?"  
    
    George keeps hemming and hawing and the man ends up going in his house in disgust.  His parting line is: 
           "Oh, youth is wasted on the wrong people."
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October 15, 2019 - 32 - "A Fine Vintage Post"

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"We will sell no wine before its time."  

-Paul Masson

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     Well, that's where I differ with Monsieur Masson.   A post would surely improve with age (and editing).  A little more 'time in the barrel' might soften the edges and improve the flavor, but I regularly post way before its time.

      The main reason for this is that all of my post ideas are absolutely hilarious and beautifully written...in my head. And until I actually hit 'Publish' they remain perfect.   It's only when the words mix with fresh air that they go sour.  When someone else is able to see them, then I can see all the flaws too.  Suddenly I notice I've written one long string of misspelled, badly punctuated, half-baked thoughts, using the same words over and over again...leading nowhere.

October 14, 2019 - 31 - "Post-iversary!"

      First off, I need to take a break from typing for a second... ......................

     Okay, I'm back.  Sorry 'bout that but my arm was busy patting myself on the back.
 
     Woohoo!  Go me!  31 days of posts in a row!  This new "post-every-day" plan is really working!!!!   ("One should never use exclamation points in writing.  It is like laughing at your own joke." -Mark Twain) 

        Sorry, Mark, you know I love you more than my multi-colored highlighter pens, but Go Me!!!

October 13, 2019 - 30 - "Car Sweet Car"

This is my faithful car.  But this is not where I park.  We don't have covered parking. 
This is me 'princess parking' my car, which means I was running late and
had to pay for parking at the terminal.  But this is the only parked car picture I have.

    After collecting everyone's cootie-cups and kleenex for two or three days straight.  After being yelled at for the weather.  After being berated for not making the bins on the planes larger.  After going to bed late and getting up early a time or two.   After retrieving the last left belongings for the last passengers...

     I finally get my own belongings  together, walk through the frenetic DFW airport, ride the employee bus to the parking lot, (listening to coworkers debriefing whatever crazy thing happened in their days), collect my bags one last time, drag them and myself across the parking lot, wedge my big luggage into my small car, get behind the wheel and...

    Breathe.

October 12, 2019 - 29 - "Memory"

     Memory is a funny thing.  There are subjects where my memory is near-photographic....and others I can hardly remember a thing.  

     There should be some correlation  between how important something is and my ability to remember it, but that's not always the case.  For me, the areas with the biggest lapses of memory are often the most important.  And the things I remember perfectly are pretty useless; and frequently not good for my overall health and happiness.  

     I have, for example, an almost encyclopedic memory of what Michael has said and when he said it.  It's very useful for winning arguments, but pretty counterproductive for just trying to be happy.   

October 11, 2019 – 28 – “Grumpy Guru”

     I’m interested in spiritual practice.  Meditating.  Gratitude journaling. Prayer.  Walking in nature... 

     I'll try most anything to raise my vibe, deal with life in a more positive and calm way, and feel more connected to the Universe.

    Often I feel like I’m really growing.  Something stressful or frustrating will happen and there I am being all chill and calm.   In those moments I think:  “Damn!  I’ve got this!”

    Then there are those other times when it becomes painfully clear:  “Uh...I don’t got this.”

October 10, 2019 - 27 - "Indefensible Behavior"

True confessions:  

      I eat the skin of pigs. 

     I feel bad about it.  I can't defend it.  It is truly gross if you think about it too much.  Even Michael, who is amazingly tolerant of all my aberrant behaviors, is eeked-out watching me eat pork rinds.

     Pork rinds.  The name alone is an admission of guilt.  The manufacturers know that eating skin sounds waaaayyy too Jeffrey Dahmer for most of us to stomach.  So they just forego that altogether and, instead, use the cop-out euphemism of ‘rinds’. 

    But we all know it’s not a rind.  We’re not talking about a watermelon here.  

October 9, 2019 - 26 - "Fanboys in High Places"

Readers this past week, by country.

Reader Stats

    Sometimes, when I'm struggling with a post, I’ll take a break from writing and look at my blog stats.  It’s a cool way to procrastinate, I mean get little insights into my readership.

    And when I say readership, I mean Michael and Cynthia.  (Thanks hon’!  Thanks Cynthia!)

     The Blogger Stats section has all sorts of fascinating information about website hits.  There are graphs about the times of day when most people read.  (Depends a lot on when I actually post something.)  I can really skew these numbers by posting late in the day.  This forces people to check back multiple times.  

    I can tell what browsers visitors are using.  (Primarily Chrome.)   And the stats show  what countries readers are in.  This is the most interesting information to me.  

October 8, 2019 - 25 - “Two Left Feet"

     Years ago Michael bought a pair of Margaritaville flip flops, not knowing how much entertainment- value they contained.

     In the beginning it was just the  small references about stepping on pop-tops.  The discussions of how these extra-nice flip flops were blow-out resistant.  That sort of thing. 

     But their quality sold Michael on them.  He found them to be extremely comfortable and durable.  When he realized he'd left his beloved flip flops in San Miguel, he missed them so much that he bought another pair to keep North of the Border.

     The next time we went to Mexico, forgetting he had a pair there, he threw in the newer pair.

     So then he had two pairs of  'South of the Border' sandals...and none for back in Texas.  First world problem, for sure, but this is where the story gets good...

October 7, 2019 - 24 - "I Scream For Ice Cream"

     I had a couple of layovers (overnight stays for work) in  Columbus, Ohio this summer.  On the first of two in July one of the pilots said there was an ice cream place just behind the hotel.  She said:  "It's called Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, and for $6 you can get a 'flight' of ice cream with three small scoops, and the flavors are all incredible."

     I said I was going to check them out the second they opened in the morning.  Another crew member said:  "Nope.  Tomorrow's Sunday and they're closed."

     "Oh.  Guess I'll have to go on my next layover."  I looked at my schedule.  "Oh wait, that's also on a Sunday.  Dang it!  Okay, well, I'll go the next time I'm here."

     At the beginning of September I found myself back in Columbus and was determined to check out this fabulous ice cream.  Around lunchtime I looked at their website to double check that they were open that day.  Yes, they were.  Awesome!  

     I figured I'd just exercise, clean up, then have an afternoon walk and get ice cream before our pick-up time that evening.  Sweet!

     I meandered around downtown making my way to Columbus Commons.  There stood an adorable ice cream stand in the middle of a pretty park beside a precious carousel.  What an idyllic setting to enjoy my ice cream!  I walked up to the stand, and that's when I saw a sign that read:  Closed.  

     Dang it!

     The hours were:  10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  My watch said:  4:04 p.m.  

     As Wayne Campbell, from "Wayne's World", would say:  Denied!!!

October 6, 2019 - 23 -"Mad at a Machine"

     I know that bickering with my sweet and adorable husband is silly and counterproductive.  This doesn't mean I never do it.

     Arguing with an Artificial Intelligence device is downright deranged.  Again, this doesn't mean I never do it.

     I'm talking about the 1st Generation Amazon Echo, called Alexa, that lives in our house, and is sometimes entirely too sassy for 'her'  little 9 1/4" stature.

      There was a honeymoon period when she first came to live with us.  We'd ask about trivia, the weather forecast, or who won a football game.  She'd tell us.  It was great.  She was so helpful.  So knowledgeable!

     Then she got more entwined in our lives. 

October 5, 2019 - 22 - "Kitty Tyranny "

     When in the course of human events, it becomes obvious our oppressors are not going to go and get us coffee and it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the purring bands which have connected them with said kitty-cat and to assume among the powers of the earth, the beverage to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of our felines requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

     We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all living beings are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Caffeine.