Idle Ramblings of a Slightly Mad Man

It was a beautiful and sunny day outside today.  I was cutting the grass for the first time and all the neighbors were out working in their yards. 

While taking a break, one of my neighbors called over to me and within a few moments my neighbor and I were into a discussion about another neighbors new SUV.  See, the guy I was talking to is a big “green” guy.  He is into driving a Prius, uses Compact Fluorescent Lights throughout his house, composts, recycles, etc… 

In the middle of our conversation and his bashing of this other neighbor buying a big gas wasting, heavily polluting SUV he pulls out a cigerette and lights up.  I found the moment very funny and ironic and I made the faux pas of speaking before thinking and said that new SUV buyer was just as bad for the environment as a smoker.  It was kinda like the pot calling the kettle black.

With that, I got the look, and he and his lit cigarette walked away.  

In continuing with my best of series this week, the next post below is also a readers favorite.  I receive many search terms about bell ringing that lead folks to this post.  This is second in views to the Animal Testing Is Good post.

I have to admit that I find this post funny.  So did those that left comments.  Unfortunately, there were victims in this post that did not find my actions to be very amusing, as you will read.

 Originally Posted August 24, 2007

Please Ring Bell

The sign says “Please Ring Bell”.  That was all it said.  So I rang the bell and kept walking. 

You see these signs all over.  Very simple handwritten signs that say “Please Ring Bell”.  It comes off to me like a command, a directive.  It is telling me to ring the bell.  So I ring the bell.

I did this once at a CVS.  The clerk was ringing up my purchase and I saw the bell and the sign.  I tapped the bell making it ring and the clerk jumped, suprised that I rang the bell.  She then glared at me angrily so I sheepishly explained that the sign said to ring the bell.  She proceeded to tell me that the bell was only to be rung if there was not a cashier at the counter and a customer needed service.  I pointed out that the sign did not say that.  The sign just simply said “Please Ring Bell” and that if it was only for service then it should say that.  After my transaction I walked out of the CVS never giving it another thought.  I did return a few days later to that same CVS and noticed that the sign was changed at the bell and now read “Please Ring Bell For A Cashier.” 

So yesterday I am walking down this hallway in a building that houses different professional services and I notice a sign on the wall outside of the door.  The sign said “Please Ring Bell”.  It was a simple request so I did and I kept walking.  A woman comes out the door and comes chasing after me.  She was clearly disturbed by my ringing the bell and she loudly informed me that she is running a daycare there and I had disrupted the class by ringing the bell and walking off.  Puzzled, I asked her if I would have caused her any less of a disruption if I had rung the bell and not walked off.  Unamused by my questioning she demanded to know why I would pull off such a childish stunt.  I politely explained my reasoning and how her sign more or less requested that I must ring the bell.  She then explained to me for the third time that the bell was for enterance to the daycare and was not to be pulled as a prank.  I told her that if she wanted the bell to be rung only by people gaining entry to her daycare then her sign should be written in a way that will prevent any future confusion from people like me.

Wouldn’t you know that I walked through there this morning and the sign now reads “To Enter The Daycare Please Ring The Bell”

Last week, I asked the question - Should I do a “Best of” for this blog and those that commented mentioned that they thought it was a good idea and I think that I am going to give it a try for the upcoming week. 

For my regular readers, all 4 of you, if there is a post that you consider one of your favorites that you would like to see me re-post, leave a comment here and let me know. 

It should be interesting how this experiment goes.   

I also would like to draw your attention to Kara and her blog,where she wrote a very interesting interview on yours truly.  Head over there and check it out.  For the past week she has been doing interviews of her readers and fellow bloggers.  Her experimentation in this has been most interesting and fun to read.

I was thinking, since this silly little blog is now 1 year old, doing a little reposting of some favorites from the past year. 

Has anyone ever done a “Best of…” on their blog?  How did it go?

Did you ask for readers to request their favorites?  Or did you just post what you felt was your better posts?

Or do you just think that a Best of is a stupid idea?

When I die, I want to be recycled.  In this age of green living, I want to do everything and anything I can to help save the planet.  Starting with my body.

I want my organs harvested and used.  I want to donate my organs to help others.  Any organ that cannot be transplanted to another body I want to donate to schools and universities to study and use in classroom learning.

I want my blood and fluids to be used and recycled too.  I don’t know if you can recycle blood, bile or urine but it is something that should be looked into.  Who knows what uses we could find for it.  Who knows, bile may be the next fuel source for cars.  Or milking my mucus for lubricants. 

I want my bones to be used for glue, or turned into fertilizer, or buttons for clothes or even used for a dogs chew toy. 

And my flesh, I would like my flesh to be cut from my bones and used to feed the homeless or used for dog food or something like that. 

I don’t think any part of me should be wasted.  I’ll be dead, so what do I care happens to my body.  But if we are going to recycle, let’s get serious!

People handle grief in many different ways and people like to remember the dead in their own meaningful ways but what I don’t understand is people that will plaster across the rear windshield of their car a memorial with all the information of that individual which should be placed on the headstone, not rear window of a car. 

Driving into work this morning is a Dodge Magnum with a rear window full of what amounts to an obituary.  It was large writing, contained a picture/image of the deceased, birth and death dates and noting that the deseased was a loving cousin, sister, brother, mother, aunt, uncle, neighbor, homeroom mother, scout leader, gang member, father and animal lover.  

It was almost like it was being shoved down my throat that this person had died and I had better recognize!

I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but when something like this is shoved in my face, and no, I really could not avoid it as this vehicle was in front of me in bumper to bumper traffic, but when this is shoved in my face I guess I have to just vent about it. 

If you want people to read about  and remember the dead, place an obit in the newspaper like everyone else.

I have moved on to the next thing to grow in my Aerogarden.  I pulled out the lettuce and cleaned out the machine/growing center/doohickey/thingamabob.  I had read, online, many other reviews that mentioned how difficult and/or time consuming it was to clean out all the roots in the basin but I was pleasantly pleased to find that I had no such issues. 

I was prepared for the task to be arduous and time consuming and found that in seconds, my Aeorgarden was cleaned out of the old and ready for the new.  All told, the turn around time was about 5 minutes. 

I stopped growing the lettuce.  Not because its life cycle was over, no, my lettuce was still very healthy and very much bountiful.  My family and I had many great salads with that lettuce since Christmas.  But I was bored with the lettuce and eager to move on and try something else. 

I began the Herbs.  They have begun to grow quite well.  There is, though, a slight problem with the Aerogarden and the growing of the herbs.  It is not a problem that complaining to Aerogarden is going to do any good.  Aerogarden will not be able to help.  The problem is cats.  Specifically, my cats.  Suddenly, my two cats have a strong appetite for fresh herbs. 

One day, I was watching TV when the one cat hopped up on my lap and began licking my face and I caught a strong scent of onion from her.  It was very unusual and peculiar.  I did not put two and two together until I saw her nibbling on my herbs in my Aerogarden. 

I now have to keep one eye on the Aerogarden to watch for pesky cats until the makers of the Aerogarden come out with a cat proof version. 

In looking in the instructions that Aerogarden sends with the herbs, there were a few interesting recipes that I am going to have to try in a few weeks.  They were very simple recipes and could be prepared quickly and something that a family on the go (like mine)  would enjoy.

I’ll  keep you readers posted as I continue to explore the Aerogarden.      

The Philadelphia Soul is an AFL Football team, for those that may not know.  I am a season ticket holder.  I have been now for a few years.  My wife and I go and have a great time.  We don’t get many dates out together much and this is one thing we both look forward to.

So we went to yesterday’s game and while in the main concourse we were stopped by a gentleman asking if we would be interested in “upgrading” our tickets.  I was skeptical at first, one because it seemed like an odd question and two, I really like where my season tickets are located.

The guy started to explain that we would be sitting down behind the end zone.  Again, I was reluctant because I have sat in end zone sections and I am not a big fan watching the game from those end zone seats because of the net and uprights that can be in your line of sight.  Then as the guy went through his explanation, I started to put two and two together and realized, before he even said the words, that he was talking about the two recliner seats that are part of the Aarons Lucky Dog seats that are in the end zone, below the uprights and the netting.  These seats are almost like sitting on the field. 

Of course my wife and I said yes and before the game started we were led down under the Wachovia Center and guided to the seats.  We then were introduced to Melissa (one of the game hosts) and briefed as to what will happen when she speaks to us and we are presented to the crowd.  My wife was nervous.  She is not someone that enjoys all eyes on her.  After our promo appearance we were able to relax and enjoy the game. 

I have to say that I always wondered what one had to do to win those seats and now I know that it is totally random and being lucky.  What a great way to watch a game. 

From those seats we saw tons of action, got close to the players and action on the field.  At the end of the game, for the last 3 minutes of the game, Soulman (the team mascot) sat with us and cheered on the Soul as the won their 5 game in a row this season. 

Rewatching the game (I DVR’d it) and putting it in perspective, it was not a very interesting game, it was a rather dull game.  Many penalties by both teams, Moten and Mance did not play well defensively for the Soul, in my opinion, and on field action was rather tame.  But being down there in those seats made it one of the best games I have ever attended. 

Thanks to the Soul for such a great promotion and giving to average fans the best seats in the house. 

I was thinking about the one time I traveled and got stranded in the Atlanta airport.  It was a great time if you can believe it.  We made the best of a terrible situation.

I had a flight from Miami to a connection to Atlanta.  I had made the connection in plenty of time but due to thunderstorms rolling up the East Coast, we were delayed.  The gate lady for the airline kept announcing that the flight was delayed and finally after 2 hours sitting at the gate waiting for boarding to begin I met a few people that were also from Philly and getting pissed at all the delays. 

Finally, the pilot came off the plane and I overheard him talking to the gate lady that according to radar, the storms are moving slowly and we are stuck for at least another hour. 

The gate keeper then announced that it was going to be at least an hour before the plane would board and that if we wanted to get something to eat we could but don’t stray far.  So this girl I was talking to and I went to the Wendy’s just 3 gates down and ate some lunch.  When we returned - 45 minutes later - the plane had boarded and taken off.  Without us. 

Needless to say, the girl and I were pissed.  We were not the only ones either.  There were about 5 others that did the same thing as us and went to get a meal.  Then the gate lady stated that we should not have left the gate area.  The group of us of course went nuts.  After much protest, the airline was able to get us all on the next flight - 8 hours later. 

So what was one to do?

The seven of us decided that since we had until 10PM until our next flight, we would make the best of it and we decided to play a game and have at least one drink in every bar in every terminal in the Atlanta airport. 

By the time it was boarding time the seven of us were blasted.  Looking back I am surprised that they even let any of us on.  By this point we were drunk, obnoxious and boisterous. 

The two hour flight home was uneventful but when we arrived in Philly we decided that we should go out some more and hit a few bars around town.  I met a few great people, unfortunately, after that night we never kept in contact with each other.   

Where has everyone gone?  It is like all of a sudden everyone stopped coming to this stupid little blog and posting comments and reading what I have to say.

 Is no one interested in me anymore?  Have I bored you?  Did I offend you in anyway?  What happened?

Truth be told, it’s not you, it’s me. 

I know, you’ve heard that line many times before but it’s the truth. 

I know, you’ve heard that line before too. 

But seriously, in this case, it is I that have been gone not you my 5 faithful readers.  But the fact that no one has posted a comment or inquired as to where I have been lets me know that I have been forgotten about.

How sad.

Anywho, in case there is one person interested, I have been traveling with work and have been stuck smack dab between the Hamptons and NYC.  It has been keeping me busy and when I am done with my classes I just crash in the hotel room and sleep.  Later this week I plan on taking the subway into NYC to have some fun. 

So there you have it, I am alive, and still posting and I will try to become more active again because I know that there are so many of you that enjoy my drabble.