Very Random Thoughts - April 2016

• Maybe more than ever, "none of the above" is the proper choice at the ballot box. 
• Baseball has a new slide rule for 2016. Seems a little late, I quit using a slide rule about 40 years ago.
• I'm always amazed that those who have never been poor know exactly what the poor need.
• You can bet that when someone says "I'm not a scientist, but..." whatever they say next will prove that they are indeed not a scientist.
• If your older relatives are still alive, interview them. Find out all you can about their lives and times. If you don't, you'll wish you had.
• It is becoming almost impossible to shop at local merchants. The Walmarts, Home Depots and others have driven most of them out of business.
• Related, it's still easier to find a local and excellent restaurant. Do it. Food, prices and service are usually better.
• Those in power almost always try to make it harder for the unwashed common folks to vote. Voter ID laws smack of old voter poll tax laws. This time, it's the Republicans, then it was the Southern Democrats. 
• Snapchat videos only last 10 seconds. That's 9.9 seconds too long for most of them.
• Another food marketing BS term, "Farm to Table". It implies the food being served was grown locally and got to your table shortly after being harvested. Really?
• Hey, politicians who go on late night TV shows, you are not funny. You can not win with comedy against Stephan Colbert or Seth Meyers. They are smart, professional comedians, you are probably a professional asshole.
• Remember when entertainers made their performances look easy. Now they look in severe pain.
• Was checking the celebrity birthdays one day and thought, damn that guy is old. I then realized that he was the same age as me. Guess he is actually quite young.
• Empathy - /ˈempəTHē/ - noun - the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.  Seems we need a refresher course here in the USA. Particularly this election season.
• If you are always on the lookout for something offensive, you will be offended.
• Remember when you could tell the make, model and year of a car/truck from a block away? Me too.
• Do you think we can ever accept a strong, competent woman without calling her a bitch? Are we ready or will it take another generation or two?
• I can't stand nose piercings. Especially ones through the septum. Always looks like snot to me. 
• I often wonder why there are so many festivals in DFW during the Spring when the weather is so unpredictable and often violent. Then I remember that it is often 110° here in the summer. 
• Do you ever get a little upset when a 19 year old athlete, singer or actor says "I have worked so hard and sacrificed my whole life for this". Exactly how long was that "whole life"? 
• I don't remember that black & white movies and TV shows were any less realistic.
• Remember, it is could have of could've, no could of. Should works the same way.
• Free Speech doesn't just mean only speech that I agree with or speech that the majority endorses. 

wjh