Topsy-Turvy World

 I live in a world turned upside down. They call it the planet Earth...and I simply don’t understand the gift of intelligence with much of what I see of the use it’s being put to. Life isn’t too complicated...most of the time, and many issues can be resolved by the application of common sense. Whoops...here I go again assuming that sense is shared by most, if not all, thus making it “common” when in reality it seems the only person using it is the one I see in the mirror. I’ll wager it’s the same for you...and since we all have mirrors...well, I can begin to see where the idea of it being common came from.

   In a world that made sense (not this one), certain things wouldn’t happen. I take that back...a lot of things wouldn’t happen, but if I start there I’ll never stop writing. Instead, let me focus on a couple of examples that prove my hypothesis that the world is indeed upside down and one-third of the population jumping at the same time just isn’t gonna be the fix I hoped it would.

   Let’s go to the bank and make a transaction. We’ll go on a Tuesday in the late afternoon because there will be no line...and every window will have a teller. Life is great at the bank on Tuesday afternoon. Now let’s go back on Friday between eleven a.m. and two p.m....because we are on lunch and we need to cash our check. The long line we encounter is expected...everyone is on lunch and needs to get some money. However, the ONE teller working during this time has turned the world upside down. Only the brightest branch managers can master the art of sending away all the help during the busiest time of the week. I’m just glad they fired all those other dolts that were scheduling the teller’s lunches around the rush...I mean really...I’d be pissed to walk in the bank on Friday...and think it was Tuesday instead. Who needs that kinda stress?

   That’s just the tip of the iceberg though. Mentally gifted bank managers is the least of my worries. Try this on for size...you can throw a football with incredible speed and accuracy, and do it while avoiding a group of very large men intent on doing you harm. For being able to do this, we will pay you millions. However, if you are entrusted with the education of our future, or charged with keeping us safe by upholding the law, or selflessly put your life on the line to rescue total strangers...well, we’re gonna have to sit down and “discuss” this money thing.

   I like sports...I really do. Loved playing it in my youth, and like watching it now. However, I think the amount of money we pay athletes to do whatever it is they are doing is absurd. Erase professional sports from life’s equation and we’ll find another means of entertainment. Erase teachers, cops and firefighters from existence and we have a much bigger problem than deciding what to watch on Monday night instead of football. I have no idea when our value system tipped on it’s ear, but let’s tip it back for a moment and see the world right side up. 

   Imagine a world where the million dollar jobs were those of teacher, police officer and firefighter. Everyone would want to have one of those jobs...and aspire from childhood to get them. However, like sports in Topsy-Turvy World, only the absolute best could would qualify. A masters degree would only get you in front of a kindergarden class...you have to do better than that if you want to get in front of six graders...and start making the big bucks. NFL training camp is where we weed out those that qualify to carry hose into a burning building or run down a robber. Can’t bench press three hundred pounds and run the forty yard dash in four-seconds...then you won’t be carrying a gun or an axe, and the only badge you’ll be wearing is mall security...if you’re lucky.

   I know...there aren't nearly as many professional athletes as there are public service personnel...so maybe we won’t set the bar that high, but my point is we have to set it very high indeed if we’re going to pay out the big bucks. Every cop and firefighter will be the finest physical specimen society has to offer, and every teacher will be a mental juggernaut specifically set to unlocking the youthful mind. If you choose to be a professional athlete, a yearly salary of eighty-thousand dollars is a decent living for throwing balls and playing games.

   Yeah...imagine all that AND a teller at every window during the Friday rush. We can still call this the planet Earth if you like...except things will make sense.

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/may272008/ocpp_5-27-08.php

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jack-jennings/teacher-pay-us-ranks-22nd_b_940814.html

http://articles.boston.com/2011-08-31/bostonglobe/29949885_1_new-teachers-top-performing-teachers-pension-system

No Smoking: A Journey From Addiction

   “Do you have a cigarette?”

   “No, I don’t smoke.”

   I don’t smoke...not anymore. I haven’t been asked for a cigarette in years, and so haven’t reflected on the subject in a very long time. I began to reflect now, as I walked passed a man gripped in the throws of a craving for a cigarette. Was I the first person he asked? With not much foot traffic in this particular area, it seemed likely he would be at the mercy of his craving for some time. Then...I was very glad to be able to proclaim that I wasn’t a smoker. No, “glad” doesn't quite cover it....more like elated, because it had not always been so.

   I started out like many, very young, and through experimentation. In my youth, there was very little anyone could tell me...because I knew it all. Well, I knew everything except that those few puffs on the stolen cigarette of my best friend’s mother would make me a smoker at thirteen years old...and have me smoking for the next twelve years. I’d tried to quit many times, but it was never for very long...and I don’t think I was really serious about the effort. I didn’t get serious until after my aunt past away from cancer. She was a long time smoker. The road to becoming a ex-smoker wasn’t an easy one...and it wasn’t like anything I had ever read or heard about from others that shared how they did it.

   Quitting smoking isn’t an easy thing to do for most. Sure, there are some people that quit cold-turkey and never look back...but the majority of people struggle with kicking the habit. Smoking is physically and mentally addictive. I applaud everyone reading this that is an ex-smoker...and implore any smoker reading this to do all you can to stop.

   The next part of this story will be viewed very differently depending on your particular personal beliefs...but this is my story, and I’m sticking to it. One day I became so distraught at my inability to stop...and still struggling with grief from the passing of my aunt, I knelt in prayer with complete sincerity in my heart. My only request was to be able to stop smoking. I stopped trying to quit after that figuring that if it was meant to be, then it would be...and I would finally get a palatable taste of divine intervention. I expected to wake up one day soon with no desire or craving to smoke and to be cured of my addiction in a snap. It didn’t happen...and I kept lighting up. I don’t know why I had the impression that miracles happen quickly...or exactly like you think they should, but the reality of my miracle will always be something to remember. Two weeks after my prayer, at the age of twenty-five...I caught chicken pox.

   To say I caught chicken pox is an understatement. My body morphed itself into something out of a horror film and I became something that barely passed for a humanoid. The reactions of everyone that saw me was not unlike the reactions of anyone seeing the Elephant Man unexpectedly for the first time. As bad as I looked, that wasn’t the worst of it...because I had more pox on the inside of me than I did on the outside. I developed pneumonia...severely, and had to be hospitalized for a while. Smoking was no longer an issue for me, replaced by breathing. Every breath, no matter how small, was absolutely agonizing. I have no comparison reference because I have never felt pain quite like that before. The pain was never ending as long as I breathed...and found myself trying to hold my breath to avoid the agony. The matrimony of life and pain was my simple reality.

   By the time this unique experience was behind me and I was back to normal operations, it had been almost two months since I had a smoke. The physical addiction was gone, even though the mental addiction lingered...but without the support of my body, it had no chance to reclaim me. I was done...free from the servitude of a habit that held absolutely no benefit for me.

   As I look around, I see the changing times as smoking is less welcomed in the workplace and eateries and the rising cost of the habit borders on obscene. Health is becoming an issue of increasing awareness that more are taking seriously. We live in a country where most choices are free and we are free to make bad ones. I’m not one to wish failure on a business or anyone earning a living...but unless they can find a better use for tobacco, I hope the industry collapses like a wrong move in a Jenga game.

Movie Review: "Source Code"

   I am an ardent fan of the cinematic arts. Although I have certain genre preferences, I don’t let that stifle my curiosity and close myself to different flavors of entertainment. That said...I am a huge fan of science fiction, super hero and action movies! Please visit my other blog The Boxed Office for reviews, exclusively, on these types of movies.

The Cast: 

Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright.

   Jake Gyllenhaal is superb and delivers a great performance as a man caught in a situation he doesn't understand and cannot control while ingrained with a sense of duty to follow instructions. There isn’t much for Michelle Monaghan to do besides play the role of neglected girlfriend looking for more...but she does it well and compliments the changes Gyllenhaal’s character takes through the movie. Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright play their supporting roles very well as a soldier following orders against her conscience and a scientist pushing to make his project viable without conscience, respectively.

The Plot: 

   United States Army helicopter pilot Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is an unwilling participant in the Source Code, a project designed by Dr. Rutledge Jeffrey Wright) to gain valuable information by projecting the consciousness of Stevens into the last eight minutes of the life of another man that has already died in the past from a terrorist bombing.

   Stevens must discover who the bomber is to prevent him from continued acts of terror in the present. Through his trips in the Source Code, Stevens becomes convinced that he can, instead, alter past events and save thousands of lives including that of Christina Warren (Michelle Monaghan), traveling companion and friend of the man Stevens inhabits.

   With each trip in the Source Code, more and more information is revealed as this story unfolds into a race-against-time thriller that will keep you guessing up until the very end.

   

The Verdict: 

   Source Code is gripping with more twists and turns than a pretzel. The fact that is keeps you guessing on so many levels makes you engross yourself in it in a desperate attempt to figure it all out with the main character. 

   Jake Gyllenhaal does a superb job of taking us with him on his mission to discover where the bomb is, who the bomber is, what happened to his real self and what can he really accomplish within the Source Code. Within all that, there is still a love story to be told and it is weaved within the movie very well to be a compliment instead of a distraction from all that is happening.

   I very much enjoy science-fiction thrillers and enjoy them even more when they take such an original approach. Although this film will certainly be compared to Deja Vu, it is worlds apart on every level that matters putting four cinnamon sticks, out of five, in my cup of tea.

Sleeping Parents

 I need to invest in a bus pass. Sometimes I feel like I don’t need to be behind the wheel of a car because I’m reaching my limit on all the wild stuff I see. I can’t be the only one going through this, but it seems I’m always in the wrong place at the right time. It seems like there’s always something popping up that reinforces my lack of faith in the human capacity to think reasonably. This time it really strikes a cord with me...more than any of my previous behind-the-wheel observations because I’m a parent watching other parents sleeping while they're awake...with small children in their charge.

   It’s simply mind boggling to me why any parent would put their own child in harm’s way. Although some might scream ignorance as an excuse, that’s a horse I’m not riding at the rodeo. Perhaps I’m being harsh, it’s possible, but I can only view this from my perspective and experience as a parent that constantly troubleshooted about the safety of my children in every situation I knew they were in, could be in, and would be in. I can link every one of my few gray hairs directly to my children...but I’ll trade black for gray any day if it means my children are safe.

   The safety of a child starts with the parent and one of the most potentially unsafe places for a child to be is in the street. Even at the curb is nerve tingling place for any small child to be since I know they have it in them to bolt into the street with no warning. This brings me to my first observation of a “sleeping parent.” In my opinion, if you are putting a small child into a car and you choose the street side door over the curb side door to do this...you’re asleep. WAKE UP! Has it never occurred to you that a car speeding by could hit you and your child? Has it crossed your mind that as you hold the door wide open and instruct your toddler to get it, that the busy mind of youth might have other plans and direct them into the street instead? I just can’t fathom the thought process that reveals the wisdom of bypassing a safe option for a potentially fatal one. Maybe it’s me...
 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, I’m really beside myself when I watch parents literally push their child out into traffic. I know, it sounds incredible, but what do you call it when a stroller with a baby in it precedes the searching eyes of the parent, looking to see if conditions are safe to cross the street? By the time that parent can observe that a car is coming, the stroller would already be hit. To clarify, I’m not talking about people that jump into the crosswalk with their strollers, although it’s also a bad practice to use the stroller to stop traffic in this way. I’m talking about people with their vision of conditions totally obstructed by a parked truck, SUV or a bus that they’ve just exited or are crossing in front of...and go to the edge of which to “peek”...with the stroller out in front of them. WAKE UP! Is it too much stress on you to reverse your direction so that when you “peek” the only exposure to traffic is your peeking eyes...instead of your unsuspecting, sleeping bundle of joy? That’s how I did it, and am very glad I did on some occasions. Maybe it’s me...

   With all the safety awareness taught in school, shown on television, and heard on the radio...it’s incomprehensible to me that someone would drive around with their children roaming free through the vehicle...jumping around as it were. I mean, seat belt safety has been a hot topic for a long time, so much so that you can now get a ticket for not having one on. For those parents not concerned with a ticket, then how about showing some concern about the reality of your child being smashed  the windshield at sixty miles per hour. WAKE UP! Seat belts and car seats aren’t an iron clad guarantee of safety, but they do save lives...and while you may not want to be bothered to strap your children in properly, I think you’d be a bit more bothered to have to arrange a funeral for your child because of your stupidity. There I go again...too harsh perhaps? Maybe it’s me...

   Maybe it really is me and I’m missing something here. Maybe I’m just making a big deal out of nothing and need to take it down a notch. Perhaps I really should “Mind your own business” and not say a word when I see innocent children being fed to potential tragedy. I’m not perfect, but I’m certainly not sleeping when it comes to my children and loathe to see other parents asleep when it comes to theirs. 

   I would ask everyone reading this post to do two things for me please. First, share this post with at least five other people...parents if you can, but anyone will do, and ask them to share it with another five. Second, (and this might be asking a bit much of you, but I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t care), whenever you make any of the observations I posted about above or other situations equally dangerous for a child precipitated by a sleeping parent, please honk your horn long and loud...and WAKE THAT PARENT UP!!

The Domino Effect

I sometimes just sit and think...and my mind wanders into areas I don’t tread daily because of time constraints and the daily shuffle of life. Usually a problem will warrant some contemplation, although not always my own, trying to solve them is becoming more of a pastime than I would like. I have found that the best solution to a problem is the one that averts the problem to begin with. Easier said than done, and certainly not a perfect process, it brings me some comfort to think my preventive measures have some bearing....or do they? Enter “The Domino Effect”...

   Every moment cascades down upon the next after it, and the one after that, and so forth. Within every moment are the decisions to be made that will determine the direction and speed of the next fall. Picture a room called life, with dominos upright in elegant, yet complex patterns. Perhaps you have set them up...or perhaps you have just happened upon them, it really doesn’t matter because should you tip one over, there is no guarantee that they will follow the complete pattern. What does matter is the decision on which one to tip. Avoidance isn’t an option unless you are going to leave the room...and most don’t want to leave the room before their time.

   Eventually you will tip one, either by accident...which would be caused by a decision to be in a certain place in the room at a certain time, or on purpose. Accidents happen and events occur that are not within our power to control...however, some events occur that are directly related to a choice we’ve made. We might be very pleased when we tip domino number five...but not so happy by the time domino number ninety-two falls. It almost sounds absurd to ask how we could have known domino ninety-two would fall since the pattern was laid out before us...but often we are so mesmerized by the pattern that we don’t look at the details of it. Sometimes we don’t see the problem until it falls right on top of us...and then, of course, it’s too late.

   Your decision to act today...or not, could be the direct catalyst for the good fortune that shines upon you down the road...or the cause of a future tragedy. It may sound extreme, but life is extremely unpredictable when we don’t take the time to study the pattern and predict it. Even when this is done, there is no absolute way to be certain of the findings until they are revealed by the hands of time.

   When you really stop to think about it, the Domino Effect can’t be avoided. All that can be done is a choice of which pattern to tip. Going with the probabilities is always a safer bet than hinging on the possibilities...even if the possibilities can never be ruled out.

   There are many examples of this in popular culture from books to movies, and although science-fiction takes it to an extreme, I think the point is illustrated well. I’ve examined my own life in this light...indeed, I continue to always examine the decision made right now in this light. Some have accused me of being a deliberate thinker, but I’m just cautiously picking which pattern I like...and which domino to tip.

A Silent Room

   I remember exactly where I was September 11, 2001. I remember the shock at hearing the man on patrol squelch over the loudspeaker to turn to the news. I remember my brain slowly processing what I was watching...a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center North Tower, and as the reporters began to speculate about the possibility of it being deliberate, another plane hit the South Tower. I watched it...live. I remember being in a room full of the bravest men I know...men that are always willing to give all they have to help another, knowing they can be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice...being hushed and humbled by the realization of 9/11.

   The kitchen table at a firehouse has almost every profession present. There are “firehouse” lawyers, doctors, coaches, accountants, mechanics...and politicians. Like all of America, the political views at the firehouse table are as varied as snowflakes from the sky...and not one of them came up on 9/11. When the South Tower fell, the silence that ripped through the room didn’t spark a single debate. At that time, we weren’t Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, or anything else but a room full of Americans...in shock.

   We quickly, however, became men that wanted to do something...that wanted to help because we knew well that there were thousands in need of it. I remember the feeling that the same could happen here in Boston and the sinking feeling that crept through me when we found out that both planes had come from Boston. The fall of the North Tower, the attack on the Pentagon, and the crash in Pennsylvania only cemented the fact that everything had permanently changed and the world my children are growing up in would never mirror the world I did.

   Thousands of good people died that day. People who are innocent within the complexities of whatever events led to those horrible incidents. Of all the many arguments and polarizing positions that are taken when discussing 9/11...that is an indisputable and tragic fact. I remember many things from that day ten years ago, and every year I remember this fact most, for the memory of those people and their families. The victims of 9/11 should be honored and their families consoled. Losing a loved one is never easy and made all the more difficult when the circumstances of which is, arguably, the most defining moment in our nation’s history.

   Some would use this day as a soapbox for offering their particular beliefs about the how and why of ten years ago. I say it should have been offered yesterday...and can be offered tomorrow, but today, the only offering should be compassion for those fellow Americans personally touched by the spectre of grief and loss. 

   There are generally two types of people that take a position on this subject...those that believe and trust their government...and those that don't. Neither position eradicates anyone's love of their country and empathy for their fellow compatriots. Neither position matters on this day in particular, because it isn’t about theories, politics, or patriotism...it’s about remembering those we lost.

Movie Review: "Body of Lies"

I am an ardent fan of the cinematic arts. Although I have certain genre preferences, I don’t let that stifle my curiosity and close myself to different flavors of entertainment. That said...I am a huge fan of science fiction, super hero and action movies! Please visit my other blog The Boxed Office for reviews, exclusively, on these types of movies.

The Cast: 

Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong.

Leonardo DiCaprio is all over the place with a performance that is very gritty and intense. He plays very well at always being on the edge ready to fall apart, while being in control. Russell Crowe isn’t given any Oscar material in this film, but certainly makes the role work as he brings every quality needed for the character for us to hate his guts. Mark Strong plays a very good role here as head of Jordanian Intelligence...being both mysterious and menacing.

The Plot: 

   Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) is an armchair quarterbacking CIA handler out of Langley that conducts nearly all his business from and earpiece in a cell phone. Things get dicey when he interferes with the operational dealings of DiCaprio...while having total disregard for human life and the manner in which things are done in the local hotspots.

   Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the agent always in the thick of the situation. Ferris must track down the leader of a terrorist cell before more attacks happen...while walking a fine line of trust and cooperation with his own boss, Ed Hoffman, and the head of Jordanian Intelligence, Hani (Mark Strong).

   Ferris develops a plan to lure his target out, but must deal with the behind-the-back dealings of his boss and hide the truth from Hani, even though Hani has a better intelligence network and is insistent on only one rule for full cooperation...honesty. The action and espionage heat to a full boil when Ferris’s plan backfires, putting an innocent woman at risk, and potentially blowing the only chance he’ll ever have at capturing the leader of a deadly terrorist cell.

   

The Verdict: 

   Body of Lies is filled to the brim with...lies. The art of deception is alive and well and it begins with how great this movie was despite the way the trailer presented it. There is no room for humor and the movie takes itself very seriously, never letting up on the projection that the situation is dire...and danger is always imminent.

   The action is explosive and sometimes graphic adding to the experience of bringing to life some very real elements we live with in the world daily. Although the humor is absent, at least for me, there are some very gratifying moments of exploration between two different cultures in the pursuit of romance that I found to be very interesting.

   This movie thinks outside the box on several levels, from the elaborate plan to capture the antagonist, to the ways in which the terrorists deal with the superior technological advantage of those out to get him. The intensity is constant and once grabbed, I was never let go...putting three and a half cinnamon sticks in this very intense cup of tea.

Clueless Intent in the Mysteries of Life

   Your belief or disbelief in God is not the point of what is about to transpire. If you are reading this, then you are alive...and since that is the case, then at some point you will find the next line to hold some truth. Sometimes the clues we find are for mysteries we never intended to solve. Let the realization set in that your intentions are irrelevant...and God's plan is on your agenda. 

   There are many types of people that occupy the planet. Without going into detail of all the types there are, just know...that you are one of them. That said, we can all find ourselves in a situation that we never intended to be in. Sometimes we don’t even realize what is happening around, or right in front of us, and our only link to this realization comes as small clues. You may be the type of person that analyzes your daily existence with a sharp eye or a kind of person that doesn’t sweat the small stuff. It really doesn’t matter...when that light “clicks” in your head, the calculations begin.

   We all have that moment...when we read something, see something or hear something said that flips that switch in our heads and suddenly, it all starts coming together. We find ourselves in that Detective Dave Kujan moment at the end of “The Usual Suspects” after Roger "Verbal" Kint leaves his office...a 

moment where, like dominoes carefully lined up and set into motion, clarity collides with reality in perfect order. Though unlike Detective Kujan, who was actually trying to solve a mystery, we can find ourselves having this experience with a mystery we never intended to solve...primarily because we never even knew it existed.

   Sometimes the clues we find are for mysteries we never intended to solve. Then, we are faced with two choices: solve it...or ignore it. Having no intent on solving the unknown is completely irrelevant to the fact that what was once unknown, has become known. The question of what will be done next is answered by choice. There will either be brave realization with acceptance or willful ignorance. Again, you need only be living to experience this, and your beliefs to this point matter not in the least.

   However, if you do ascribe to a certain belief...if you do believe in God, then it’s at this point that the realization sets in that what you intended is not only irrelevant because of the enveloping clarity...but because there is a plan...a design, and you are neither the planner nor the designer. You realize that your

 agenda has been usurped by forces that cannot and will not be ignored and acceptance will expedite the matter, while willful ignorance will just prolong the inevitable.

   The only other piece of this life puzzle is: Will clarity come in time to effect change...or will it come seconds too late, and like Detective Kujan, leave you with the knowledge that you couldn’t have been any closer...at being so very far away.

On the Road Again...(the Horror)

   Why do I drive? Why do I consistently subject myself to the lunacy that is the road? Oh...wait, I have to get around and walking the distances I have to travel isn’t practical, although probably great for my health, and taking a bus or train would subject me to a different brand of lunacy just as distasteful...or worse. So I drive...all the while wishing feverishly to be done with my trip and off the road that seems to be infested with people that display all the intelligence of a soap dish.

   I’m optimistic a well educated soap dish can figure out some of the stuff I’m going to rant about. I say rant because after this is written and read...nothing will change (woe is me). Why can’t some people figure out what to do at yield signs?  I’ve seen some make it spin by how fast they are driving...as they careen into traffic like they are in a movie car chase...and others stop and break out a blanket and picnic basket. Sometimes I see them yield to right-of-way traffic...but that’s like seeing a bald eagle in the wild, rare bordering next to impossible. It’s a simple idea really...the right-of-way traffic has the right of way, and you must merge into them. If there is no traffic at all...not so much as a sign that a vehicle has ever come through, there is no need to stop and wait for fifteen minutes to make sure your lying eyes are not deceiving you again.

   Most of the craziness I see with yield signs happen at rotaries....but rotaries are also a place I see another phenomenon that simply baffles me as well. In Massachusetts (I realize not everyone reading this is from my home state), the law states that you must yield to traffic in the rotary. Let me explain this another way...vehicles already in the rotary have the right-of-way. I’m certain everyone with a license has gone through the same test I did and read from the same book...so why, oh...why do some people not only yield while in the rotary, but STOP for traffic to enter? Someone told me a theory about this and said that in other states, cars in the rotary do not have the right-of-way and that many of the offenders of this are college students that don’t know any better. This might be true...but I say ignorance of the law is no excuse and if you’re coming from out of state to educate yourself, then start with our motor vehicle laws.

   Here’s a quiz...you’re driving along and your cell phone rings...what do you do?

         A.) Ignore it because you are driving.

           B.) Pull over and answer it because driving while on the phone can be dangerous.

        C.) Answer it, get into a conversation, the subject of which hinges the fate of the world causing you to quickly get into the fast lane (without any indication that you were going to do so) and just as quickly slow down to the approximate speed of a five year old on a rusty scooter. 

   I swear...eighty percent of the people that travel the same roads I do pick “C” every time! I never get to say this when it happens, mostly because I’m usually driving in my official capacity, but if you are one of these people that do this, I’d like to take this opportunity to kindly...and with love and respect, tell you to SHUT UP AND DRIVE!

   Believe me when I tell you that the phone is not the only self imposed distraction with calls and texting. It seems that putting on make-up is best suited for the sun visor mirror or rear view mirror while traveling at rusty scooter speed in the fast lane instead of the safety and comfort of that huge bathroom mirror that is such a bother to use before leaving the house. Believe me again when I tell you that some people are such awesome writers...I mean, beyond best seller material, that their books have to be read...behind the wheel...in the fast lane...traveling at...yup, rusty scooter speed. 

    If I said all this was driving blasphemy, pure road madness...I fully expect someone would kick me in the stomach and scream "This...is...Massachusetts!" Where is King Leonidas when I need him?

   Which brings me, again, to traffic lights...but this time my beef isn’t with the drivers not understanding the lights and how they work, but me not understanding the mindset of the programmers that program them to be red, in alternating succession, during rush hour...and green, in succession, between 2 and 4 A.M. Really? This made sense to them? So traffic is packed and bottled up while the next section of road has a green light...but not a single car to travel through it. When it turns red, packed traffic then gets the green light...to travel seventy-five feet to another red light. I’m sorry....who thought that this going on for miles was good idea again?

   Ok, I’ll concede somebody somewhere must have gotten a huge laugh as they programmed the lights knowing they were getting a pink slip. After all, revenge is a dish best served in traffic...but after all this time nobody has gotten a clue to do something about this? As if dealing with the lower lifeforms behind the wheel wasn’t bad enough, now I’m a victim of bureaucracy and budget cuts? 

   Will the horror ever end? Will people realize they’re doing it all wrong and finally learn how to drive? Will I write another post about the epic failure that is Massachusetts drivers? Stay tuned...

http://dkidiscussion.blogspot.com/2011/06/unwritten-rulesof-road.html

For the Sake of Amusement

   Summer is a wonderful time of year and brings with it exciting outings and activities. Many people visit amusement parks...and I must admit to being something of a connoisseur of getting the most “amuse” from any park I visit. On my last visit, I took time to make some interesting observations that I never noticed before. Perhaps that’s not an accurate statement...I noticed, I just never gave it any thought beyond my visual observations.

   There are different types of park goers, as varied as people can be, anywhere you find them. In a park built for profit through amusement, specific types stand out be they a couple or in groups. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone frequent this type of park alone...and would find it unsettling and frankly, suspicious, to see. As a parent, this is just the way I’m going to view that subject. There are certain objectives that are looking to be met depending on the type of park goer you are. For example there is the ultimate thrill junkie that will seek to get on all the best roller coasters as many times as possible before the park closes. Then there are the passive enthusiasts that enjoy a thrill here and there, but are most interested in the quality time spent with friends and family.

   It doesn’t matter to which of the extremes you belong to or what group in between these extremes you fall into...today’s parks cater to everyone. It’s noteworthy that at a glance, such places are not built for the very young, or very old...and yet both can still be seen among the crowd. That’s because these places are still family destinations and despite the different type of park goers that make up a family, we just like to be with our loved ones having a good time however we define it.

   If you are like me, a passive enthusiast, that has come to view these outings differently than I did in my youth, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. I have a great time watching my children have a blast and enjoy certain aspects of the park I completely ignored in my youth as I searched for the next coaster. Where I would carefully map my way through the park for the best rides, I now map my way through it for the best places to eat. Running by the skill stops for prizes on my way to the next thrill has given way to stopping and trying to figure out the scam...convincing myself that science and added maturity can overcome the “fix” that has worked for decades.

   The smells, the screams, the music...the kaleidoscope of sounds and sensations is always enough to put me in the mood..or “park mode.” There is something about going to an amusement park as a child that will always stick with me, no matter how old I get. Perhaps this explains the “very old” that I see in the park? Perhaps this is why there is something there for everyone, even if that something is the family you came with.

   I would be remiss if I talked about an amusement park and didn’t give any insight on how to best be a roller coaster and thrill seeking junkie. First, always grab a park map and become familiar with the names and locations of all the best rides you want to go on. You’ll know which ones they are since, as a thrill junkie, you’ve already researched them online ahead of time. If you’re really hardcore, then look into whatever program the park you’re at has for bypassing the long lines that come with going on the best rides. There’s nothing like getting off an awesome ride...and getting right back on it again. 

   Once that is all set you simply go from one end of the park to the other hitting the rides in succession until you’ve gone on all the ones you’ve targeted...then go back the way you came repeating the method. As the day winds away and evening falls, you will find that your route has internalized itself and you’ll know exactly where you’re going. 

   No matter what park type you are...there is plenty of fun around for everyone, just waiting for you to acknowledge it...as you define your own amusement.