Unofficial summer has started.

This weekend has heralded the beginning of our unofficial summer the local community pool opened yesterday in a weekend which is longer given that memorial day is Monday. The weather has also become a little bit warmer now with temperatures in the 80's Fahrenheit maybe 24-25 Celsius. So warm that last night I also installed our air conditioner so that we can be comfortably cooler as after a full day of this kind of weather the heat stays in the house late into the night and it can be too warm to sleep properly.

Public sneezer geezer.

Today when we went out to purchase a snack for brunch we stood in line waiting to be served. Now Jill and I already have something less than an affinity for those who have moved into the area from New York, so when we heard this guy in front of us order a coffee in a thick NY accent we both glanced at each other and rolled our eyes. Now that was going to be that except for what happened next. The guy wrenched his shoulders back and sneezed -without covering his mouth in any way- all over the place and in close proximity to the whole line of people. I really felt like asking him, "is that the way you were reared?" but I kept quiet and kept my shock within myself.

So its ok to offend the deaf.

Today as I watched "Jackie Brown" and heard the ridiculous dubbing over of bad words such as "mothersledder", in order to protect society from such bad words, it occurred to me...What about those who are deaf and have to lip read?.
Should society now cover the lips of those actors in film who utter such bad words with big black fuzzy rectangular blocks so that the feelings of the deaf are protected?. What a country!!! I was always told "sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you". Quite true I would say.

Crazy drifting drivers.

Ok so if you read this blog on a regular basis you will no doubt know that I have a constant bitch session in relation to the state of driving around me. Every day that I take the highway to work I know that I will come across at least one individual who takes the lives of himself and everyone else around him seemingly for granted as they speed to get one car length or weave in and out of lanes. The route I take to work means for 15 minutes of each one way trip I am very wary of everything around me, not withstanding the fact that for about 5 miles of my trip there is concrete barriers between outward and inward lanes, making it even more dangerous.
Last night as I drove home I had an dividual who was perhaps (and I am guessing) was making some kind of conference call as within her lane she was drifting to each side and slightly over the median of a two lane highway with those afore mentioned concrete blocks. All of this too as she had speeded to get past me and now she was moving quite slow and drifting apparently not watching for the slight right hand bending that the road took us along. Crazy People.

Real World does not seem to be the real world.

Real World Denver has just concluded its show on MTV for this season and as I watched all of it unfold over the days and weeks, I arrived to the realisation that there are a number of things which make this show not exactly seem like the real world as most people know it.
First and foremost, the reason why I chose to talk about this topic was the absolute reality that America is a vast country which is really comprised of smaller individual ethnic groups. For the most part all of these ethnic groups stay together and live together. This is how it really is, every community congregates into its own areas and there are even some small towns that are solely Italian or solely of German or Asian or whatever. The Real World show is to be commended for trying to bring lots of different groups of young people and from different parts of the country and even those who hold different views and lifestyles. Here is the great thing, individuals will and have clashed as those who have lived life in a blinkered fashion come to realise that in the real world everybody needs to deal with each other and by the time the show comes to a close everybody is so thankful for the experience of meeting people from other walks of life.
MTV do however feel the need to vet those who have problems with alcohol and in so doing by means of casting pick a variable demographic and one which the producers feel will produce the most dramatic episodes. Its kind of like a human laboratory where the subjects are given alcohol to lower their inhibitions and due to living in such close quarters, the dramatic results are there for all to see. Real World Denver touched on some deep social issues regarding the state of the world in general, but it is generally a good thing if those who participate emerge as more well rounded individuals at the end of it.

Saturday, a day spent in the sun.

Today Jill, Marc and I had a leisurely day after running a few errands we went out the back of the house and laid down a blanket and tried to fly a kite. It was quite funny watching Marc run around the field trying to get the kite up into the air and he would run very excitedly. The kite did take off at certain periods as there was a slight breeze but basically not enough to sustain the kite and it would die and come down to the ground very quickly. We then laid down on the blanket and enjoyed the warm weather, it has been about 25 degrees celsius and 80 degrees fahrenheit. We had an enjoyable and relaxed day.

Sign of the times.

On the way to work the other day I noticed a Costco container and on the front side of the container I saw a large amount of chinese writing. This was the first time that I had seen in the flesh any indication of what I think is a sign of the times. From now on out we will be seeing a lot more from China. At work we hear all of the time that some sort of packaging has either come from or going to China.

Magic Bean play the Java Lounge.

Saturday Chris and Charlie play the Java Lounge in Nazareth PA. Last time they played I was in Ireland and Jill and Marc went with our friends Theresa and Jessica and by all accounts they had a good evening listening to the lads play. Chris Thomas has a voice very similar to that of James Taylor and his repertoir consists almost completely of original songs along with some covers of Dylan and other artists. We are looking forward to hearing them again. Check out the two videos on youtube that I posted under MAGIC BEAN BAND.

Rubber-neckers.

Driving home from work and all of a sudden the traffic directly in front of me seems to grind to a complete stop and slows right down. So I do wonder if there was an accident and after a few seconds I see that there was indeed a big fender bender, not a big accident but a big frontal fender bender and the accident occured on the other side of the highway. The police were on the scene and the two cars were well off the road, so why oh why did the traffic come to a near complete standstill?. Rubber-neckers!. what the fuck is so imnteresting about a minor fender bender?.

Scarred.

Its about 10.30pm on Friday night and I am watching a show on MTV called Scarred. This show is purely about people's scarred stories and accidents that really did happen and ones that were being taped as they happened. The show almost exclusively shows those who participate in skating and skateboarding in public places. It is extremely graphic and shows lots of slow-motion and close-up shots of the accident as it happened and the scars it produced afterwards.

Jill will not look at the show and is disgusted that I watch it. I do wonder though, what does this say about me as a person?. Why do I look at the show even when I cringe when I hear the bone crunching sounds and see the bones popping out?. Perhaps it is the morbid curiosity that lurks within me, but it is seriously hard core and graphic.

I need this weekend.

This is a weekend I really do need. I have been working on a project for a diesel pump which is 32 pounds heavy and it has taken the best part of 4 days to get it about right. Variety is the spice of life so monotony is the complete opposite and working on the same job from day to day is not the best way to go from day to day. Not knowing what you are going to work is the best way to go. This friday more than most others I really need the weekend- did I say that already?. For me the weather is right where it should about the 70 f / 18 c range and the days are very pleasant without being too hot and the nights are lovely and cool. Have a great weekend everybody.

Troll-a-philes A.P.B.

After a few days back at work I noticed on the desktop some photos of my mascot - the Irish Troll (I havent given him a name....suggestions are welcome). He had been abused as I briefly noticed that his clothes had been taken off him and they teased me that "things" had been done to him. Recently Jill asked if I wanted to bring another one into work....I replied... "no way! ...and have them abuse him like the other one".

Marc is an olympian champion.

Yesterday Marc participated in the special olympics held at liberty high school, in Bethlehem. The previous night I had gone through some practice sessions with him in order for him to be ready for the events Jill had signed him up for. The events were the long throw with a softball (large baseball), the 100 metres and the 200 metres. Unfortunately I was at work and could not attend the event, but as it transpired our practice paid off handsomely. The first event was the 100 metres and from what I have seen of it on the camera video Marc seemed to win this one quite easily and took first place. Fantastic...this has been just the second time he has won a blue ribbond for first place as last year he also won an event. The next event was the 200 metres and he was also prominent in this race leading for most of the way except he got tired and was pipped in the last few metres....second place and a red ribbond. Great!!! His last event was the long throw, an event which after our practice I was hopeful he might do well...he came 4th out of 7 participants. All in all a great effort and we celebrated last night with a meal at Red Robins. Great effort on Marcs side and congratulations goes to him.