Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #2,943
yeah I know you did not ask!
Everyone has heard of the “five second rule”, if a piece of food falls to the floor you have 5 seconds to pick it up before the germs attack it.
This morning I thought we need to modify this formula a wee bit. The length of time that is available to pick up the food item is directly proportional to the the perceived goodness of the food. To illustrate, a lima bean would be trash while it is still a foot from the floor. A chocolate chip cookie would still be good after resting 20 or 30 seconds on the same floor.
I suppose if will really wanted to be scientific about this we would need to add a couple variables to the equation. One takes into account the cleanliness of the floor. A kitchen floor immediately after mopping with ammonia water would be close to zero. A well trafficked floor in a third world bus station would be pushing 1. We would need another variable for the stickiness of the food. Our chocolate chip cookie would again be close to zero and a limp, damp, overcooked piece of asparagus would be pushing 1.
If you are OCD and really want to know what studies have been done on this, here is an article from WebMD: ‘5-Second Rule’ Rules, Sometimes
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #6,275
yeah I know you did not ask!
The Wee Dog has a tendency to sleep on the foot of our bed, usually very close to my feet. Occasionally she will pop herself between the snoozing Señora Weinhaus and myself. In the winter time it is not uncommon for her to weasel her way under the covers to the foot of the bed. It is a mystery to me as why, in 7 years, she has not been kicked or turned into a pancake.
Last night she was at the foot of the bed on top of the covers. I must have kicked the covers off my feet as I was awakened around 3 in the morning by the Wee Dog licking my ankles. At first I thought Senora had developed a foot fetish, then I realized it was Lily. She must have become disoriented in the night and could not find her derriere and my ankles seemed the next best thing.
Move Over Red Baron
I do not have a yellow sheet of paper torn from a legal pad tacked to my wall with a bucket list of things I want to do before I ride the final comet. I do have a list in my head of approximately 242 more places I would like to visit in this lifetime. Along the way I am trying to do as many cool or adventuresome things as I can.
Robin and I have been parasailing in Florida. A few years ago I took a hot air balloon ride in Sedona. While we were in Costa Rica we did several things of this nature. We went white water rafting on class 3 and 4 rapids. We did what they call canyonering. Essentially you are rappelling down a mountainside and occasionally going through small waterfalls. The last part of that experience was a 150 meter vertical drop using only rappelling ropes to do so. Just to put that in perspective the St. Louis Arch Continue reading “Move Over Red Baron”
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #3,171
yeah I know you did not ask!
Here is something I thought I would never have to do. I was speaking to a young woman via Skype to practice my Spanish. She lives Coca, Ecuador, a city of 40,000 in Amazonian jungle whose primary business in oil. We had a long, rambling conversation about politics and the upcoming election in the United States. She apparently has another student who is younger than her (she is late 20s) and a big supporter of the Orange Monster. He is absolutely convinced that Putin’s Bitch is a man of the people and will win the election. He had told her that all his young friends are of the same opinion. I did my best to dissuade Micaela that this is not the common position.
At the end of the conversation I did something I never would have thought I would do… I asked a person living in a small South American country to pray for my country.
Quote of the Day — Laurence J. Peter
“Noblest of all dogs is the hot-dog; it feeds the hand that bites it.” ~~ Laurence J. Peter, author of The Peter Principle
To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day
Maid of the Mist
Three summers ago the traveling Señora Weinhaus and I took a 16 day road trip through Ohio and New York into the New England states coming back through West Virginia. We had several reasons for taking such a trip. Señora had never been to New England. I have a dream to visit every one of state capitol buildings before I make my journey to Vahalla. On this trip we managed to hit 9 capitols. We were also going to visit Robin’s niece who had married a Mainer.
I also wanted to see Niagara Falls. For reasons unclear I have always wanted to do this. The outside of the state park area is touristy Continue reading “Maid of the Mist”
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #1,547
yeah I know you did not ask!
File this under logical consequences.
The current political, social and economic situation is this country is complicated, said the king of understatement. However, a prominent cause is that the complexion of the nation is changing. We are going from a majority white country to one of many colors, mostly likely with none of the groups a majority for while. This has more than a few whites, especially men, upset.
Thinking about this I am reminded of the centuries we captured and put into slavery various peoples of African, mainly to work on the plantations of the South. However, slaves were throughout the 17th and 18th century America.
When slavery “went out of fashion” we started using people of color to do those jobs that Americans did not want or would not do for the wages offered. These folks came from Latin America mostly, but in reality from around the globe. They came legally and many illegally. For years the illegality was not an issue as long as they kept their mouths shut, and worked for peanuts.
Now that the color of the American melting pot is changing many of whites are upset. What did they expect to happen if they kept adding dye to the stew pot? Logical consequences.
The smart thing to do would be to embrace the change and go with the flow. One thing I love about living in a metropolitan area is the diversity. It adds layers of complexity and delight, like a well seasoned stew, that you just do not find in outside metropolitan areas. Of course, the kicker is that we need to respect each other. Which is not what we are doing right now.
Unite Against The Violence – #UniteAgainstTheViolence
Elections by Lottery
See link to a podcast at end of article.
I do not not know if this is a good idea. I do not know if this is a bad idea. I do know it is an interesting idea.
I believe I would get very little argument if I were to state that our current process of electing folks to public office is dysfunctional trending towards the cluster f*** arena.
I’m not sure where this idea first originated, but they have been experimenting with this election process in Bolivia, in schools there. The process is basically instead of having traditional elections with campaigning you have a lottery. Everyone who might want a particular office puts the equivalent of their name in a hat. If their name is drawn out they get the office. At least at this low level Continue reading “Elections by Lottery”