Some Random Topics

Honestly
I have the hiccups. I’m sitting at my desk at work and trying to hiccup with my mouth closed, very quietly, but twice I’ve been caught off guard with hiccups escaping full and loud. It sounds like someone stepped on a seal. And that makes me giggle, so now I’m trying to stifle giggles and hiccups. My work habits are not likely to make it into Forbes magazine.

Independence Day
It was the 4th of July! I think I’ve said before that I’m not the most patriotic of Americans. I love my home, but I don’t buy into the idea that we are the greatest nation on earth. There are others that look just as good, at least in the travel guides. And I can’t stand that stupid Lee Greenwood song, “and I’m proud to be an American where at least I know I’m free…” You know the one. It’s played at almost every fireworks display across the country. One time I was at a soccer game with Barry’s family and watching some fireworks after the game, and Barry told me that if they played Lee Greenwood he was going to have a fit like I’ve never seen before. It was the next song up. He controlled his fit, but neither one of us was very happy.

Goodness, what a lot of bah humbug. I’m the Ebenezer Scrooge of Independence Day. That being said, there is much to be grateful for here in the USA (including documentaries on the History Channel and PBS), and I had a nice holiday. In fact, I went to another soccer game with Barry’s family, and there were fireworks, but this time they were accompanied by the Sandy City Orchestra, which was really good. They played songs like, “from the halls of Montezuma…” and “Stars and Stripes Forever”, perfect.

What the…?
I am troubled by a recent, mad craze of car accidents. I was in one a couple of weeks ago, rear-ended, but it was nothing serious. I was at a stoplight, and I think that the girl who hit me was practically stopped before her car rolled into mine. It left a few scratches on my bumper, nothing to worry about. But I have also witnessed, in two separate incidents, a car driving right behind me on the freeway hit the brakes too hard and spin out, just lost control and spun. Luckily no other cars were hit. I saw another accident at an intersection that left both cars damaged. And then there was the girl who ran into the cement barrier along the freeway, the one that keeps you from driving into the ditch and then into oncoming traffic. Who does that?

And it’s not just me - my coworker has been hit twice on her way into work in the last few weeks. The first time put her car in the shop, so she got a rental car, and this week the rental car was hit. And, a good friend of mine’s mother was in an accident that left her in intensive care for a few days. Thankfully she’s recovering well.

All of this in the last month or six weeks, what is going on? Are people just going too fast, or are too distracted, texting, sleepy, on the phone, all of the above? It’s starting to scare me. Please, everyone, let’s just take a deep breath, slow down and keep our eyes on the road. Accidents are at the very least a miserable inconvenience, and at worst, well we know about the worst. Be safe.

That’s all. Thanks, as always, for your kind attention.
You are loved.