The World is Turning

Today when I got gas for the car, I noticed that 2 gallons of gas was almost $10 and I thought to myself, "I can remember when you could get 10 gallons of gas for $2.00".  It doesn't seem that long ago.  Less than a lifetime.

I have a free-standing fan and a space heater in my bathroom.  Last night I used the fan.  Tonight I need the heater. 

I didn't work this morning so I could sleep late.  I woke up and was out of bed before 6:30.  Most mornings I can barely hear when the alarm goes off at 7.

Little things.  Big things.  Some days I don't know which is what when.

I have to stand still while turning around to see what's up, what's down.

There's No Time Like the Present

I finally bought a battery for my clock so I'll know what time it is.  And it's mostly working.  Last night I remembered to turn the television on at 7:55 so I could watch the Big Bang Theory. 

I think I mentioned that I cut my television viewing time down from 4 - 6 hours a night to less than 4 a week?  Well, when the battery in my clock died, I only watched 0 - 1 hours a week because I never remembered I wanted to watch something till it was over.

Anyway, I finally remembered to get a battery and put it in the clock, and at 7:55 Thursday night I sat down to watch the Big Bang Theory and it had been pre-empted by basketball.

Sometimes you're late even when you're early.

What I want ...

I want some cookies.  Or a cake.  Or a piece of pie.  I don't know why I've got such a sweet tooth all of a sudden.  And people who know me will scoff at that "all of a sudden".  But this is different.  I really, really, really want something sweet. 

You probably won't believe this but when I typed that first really I remembered I bought chocolate covered raisins at the grocery store today on my way home from work.

So bye!  I have things to do now.

Lost

I have lost my very favorite paring knife.  I don't care that it wasn't the sharpest tool in the drawer, that it was older than most of my readers, that the tip was broke off years ago when I was trying to use it for a pry bar.  It was my very favorite and now it's gone.

I suppose it went the same place my instant meat thermometer went.  I never have found it.  On the other hand, it could be where my lost potato masher hid.  I found it right where it belonged the day after I bought another one.

I haven't replaced my knife yet. I haven't given up hope that it will come home to momma.

You see, sometimes my little pooka hides things around the house and I find them eventually.  Usually the day after I spend money replacing something or whenever it will make me look the silliest. 

I know it's probably not the pooka at all, but it's better for my ego to blame it on him than admit it's just me.

Spring is Sprung

It's time for my annual spring message.

I heard the Canadian geese going home a few weeks ago and knew that spring was coming, but it still snuck up on me.  I didn't go outside this weekend, but I was out yesterday.  I must have been pre-occupied because I didn't notice what I saw today.  Trees are budding all over the place.  In the distance I could even see one flowering pink.  I saw the green leaves of lilies or daffodils or something that flowers more than peeking out of the ground just steps from my front door. 

Now I feel better.

I'm not even going to rant about daylight saving time. 

Stop the Presses!

Where have all the editors gone?   They don't seem to work for Internet publishers.  Not even the news.  Maybe especially the news.

You don't expect personal blogs like this one to hire editors.  Some of their charm is misspellings and embarrassing typos.  (At least I hope so.)

But the news!  That's another story.  It seems like poor grammar, atrocious spelling, poorly structured paragraphs, repeated words (like the the), and other glaring errors are increasing.  This morning I easily spotted an error in the first sentence of one news article and later read another one that started over again repeating the first two or three paragraphs half way through the page.

I'm not talking about debatable grammar rules like should you use "like" or "as" or "such as", or Does a period go on this side or that of a quote.   I'm referring to glaring arrows like this one that I made purposefully to make the point.  They aren't that hard to spot.

Is that stuff not taught in schools any more?  Even if they don't, there's always spell check available.  And it's not like we can't find grammar rules on the Internet or in a book. Or even on YouTube.  (Where they teach you not to start a sentence with a conjunction.)

I find this trend to sloppiness somewhat disturbing.  I think it's reflective of the contents of the news articles as well.  On-line "news" articles are often rife with misdirection, bias, half-facts, opinions veiled as facts, missing facts, and just plain crap instead of actual news.

Where's Perry White when we need him?