Random Tuesday Thoughts: Late on a Tuesday Afternoon

Time for yet another installment of R.T.T., yeah you know me! (my apologies, old very inside joke). I'm a tad punchy today and I can't say why?

Anyway, what's with the United States Postal Service? Back in the not-so-distant past in a previous career, I was the first to refute any claim that a lost or delayed letter was clearly a postal error. As my Mom might say "they're all messed up!" Why do I say this? Consider that both my Mom and I put a stop on delivery while on vacation a few weeks back. When we returned, both of us had other people's packages (O.P.P) and mail delivered to us. Wouldn't you be concerned that maybe, just maybe your mail could end up someone else's box? I am. This is beside the fact that for a few years I've received mail for my deceased father, and a Madeline with the same last name spelled differently who actually purchased my Mom's house nine years ago!

Why do my neighbors break the CC&R's? Call me crazy, but some prospective buyers specifically search for homes in subdivisions where homeowners do not allow their friends and relatives to park their R.V.'s on the street in front of their homes. We were such buyers. We don't appreciate having boats, business trucks and tow trailers on the street or the driveways for that matter........it's against da rules. I do not have a problem with grown-up toys, but please go live on a street that people aren't concerned about it or move further out onto some acreage.

I'll have to admit that Disneyland might be the "Happiest Place on Earth" after all. Seriously, when the family went a few weeks back, we had an absolute blast. The five-year olds walked the entire day and went on (almost) every ride we threw them on. No fear, no crying except after the Indiana Jones ride when Vivi said kind of a matter of factly "Daddy, that was scary...let's not go on that ride again." Lines were long, temps were high and the wallet took a major hit, but all in all, I'd say given the smiles and excitement totally worth it.

I can't believe how quickly the summer has vanished. School begins for our sixth grader and three Kindergartners a week from today. This will be the only year that all our kids will be attending the same school. Like most parents, I've tried very hard to make this final summer week as boring as possible especially for Bren the sixth grader so she can get into that scholastic frame of mind. The triplets will actually be split up with Alec and Vivi going into one class and little miss go-getter JuJu going into the other. JuJu and Alec have no fear, but Vivi might need a slight push come the first day of school. To be continued.......

Random Tuesday thoughts on Saturday: Why not, it's almost Tuesday again!

Here we go again. Time for Random Tuesday Thoughts, this time on Saturday as I'm a day late and a dollar short. Check that, I'm four days late or three days early (take your pick) and god knows how many dollars short.

Well, this Thursday R.E. Dad shaved which has become an increasingly rare event since I left the labor force almost two years ago. Heck, who am I kidding? I hardly ever shaved for the benefit of my fellow office mates either.  Just ask them.  After a few weeks, however, I just couldn't stand that tingly feeling of my whiskers swaying  like prairie grass in a meadow (felt like dozens of bugs crawling on my mug).

Funny, I used to think that when I shaved I looked years younger like I'd be carded trying to get into a rated "R" movie.  But what about now?  Not so much.  I see the beginnings of a "Turkey Neck".   I remember that my Mom used to give my Dad shit  a hard time about the loose skin below his chin.  I don't believe he liked the idea of having a big ass wattle either!

Speaking of family...Mom MD and I have a couple of ongoing debates.  I'm curious what you think.  The first one is unwrapping presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?  The second has to do with kissing on the lips.  Nope, I'm not talking about your spouse.  I'm talking about kissing everyone else on the lips like your kids, your mom, your step dad and your grandma.

Speaking of kids....a tripletism.   The triplets have been taking swimming lessons through the city parks and recs the past couple weeks, but missed a couple days due to a pooping brat some kind of chemical imbalance at a local high school pool.  The city added a make-up day to be held on Thursday at another high school.   The night before the trips were to attend their make-up session, five-year old Alec asked me what the boys would be doing at tomorrow's swimming lesson.  I said "I don't know what do you mean?  Probably, the same thing as the girls....why?"  He said "Well, the girls will be doing make-up!"

Yeah, different type of make-up Mr. Man.   Again I don't make this stuff up.  

I wanted to go into some other stuff like what a difference between telling a new relationship with whom you will soon be cohabiting  that you'll be moving in with extra baggage vs. additional luggage.  This is a potential life altering event.  How do people learning English as a second language survive?

So much more, but gotta go for now.....hope everyone is enjoying their weekend...

Summer has arrived: Random Tuesday Thoughts

Summer has arrived for R.E. Dad....basketball and hockey have both crowned a champion, FINALLY! Perhaps next year one of my teams will stumble into the playoffs. Yeah, believe me I'm not going to hold my breath for ten minutes or even worse pre-purchase seats from Ticketbastard. By the way, the grab button has been provided today by "The Un Mom." Drop by her blog and say "Howdy."

I've been considering re-naming my blog "The Blog About Nothing"......think about it. Come on, Sunday my post was a Gummy Bear video.

I have a new Melman in my life....the keyless remote for my car requires about 1 million PSI to do its thing. My thumb ain't strong enough to make the unlock and lock buttons respond in a timely manner. I've received some very undeserved and quite hurtful stink eye from members of my own family, Mom MD included.

Do you think that people who go out to dinner in the Netherlands really whip out the pocket calculator after the bill arrives, and say "I had the chef salad and iced tea, here's my money and I won't pay one euro more! I'm Dutch and proud of it!"

California parking lots are terrible. Compact spots abound, but most of us still drive minivans, SUV's and larger trucks. Tight spaces, poor visability and perpetual headache are the norm. What REALLY is the point? All I get are dinged doors and more aggravation. Hey, an idea...how 'bout we pretend that it snows so we get one huge blacktop with some painted lines? We don't need more trees in parking lots. This just creates more opportunity for birds to crap on our ride.

Speaking of California. The state lawmakers recently banned hand held cell phones while driving. Guess they thought that this was a major distraction which could have dire consequences. Perhaps, but why not go further...ban children while driving. Any parent will tell you that it's easier to eat with chopsticks while driving than having kidlets bouncing and wailing behind you.

Speaking of kids. Do you think toy companies calculate how long it takes the average parent to cut, tear, stab, rip and mutilate that hard plastic packaging that holds their little darling's newest toy hostage? At our house we probably lose an hour of our Christmas morning opening those damn things. Someone find a toy representative. Ask them if a parent has ever gone postal or worse tossed a Susie-poops-a-helluva-lot in the fireplace attempting to pry open that dreaded packaging?

Speaking of crabby. The hermit crab IS still alive. In my opinion, we're pretty decent hermit crab keepers. Recently a letter to the editor in our local paper blasted the people who were allowing hermit crabs to be used as prizes at the Strawberry Festival saying that they are "delicate creatures" and need a great deal of care (not to be taken lightly). Huh? So, should all potential hermit crab owners be required to obtain a permit? What about babies? Any idiot can have one of them without a license.

Finally, the triplets have evolved from "potty talk" to "body talk." Yes, we're talking about private parts almost as much as Howard Stern.

So much for "Random Tuesday Thoughts" - welcome to Summer '09.