Tonight the wind is supposed to pick up and give us 50 mph gusts. Is this all part of climate change? Because of global warming? I can't remember winds like this before.. and the temperature has been consistently warmer than I remember for this time of year. Of course, this is probably just screwy observations of an old dude.
Now.. I want to talk about a jumble of things.
How's your Ego?
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) said:
"You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do."
How true!
The Versatile Onion
Bottom Line Personal newsletter recommends using an onion to clean the crap off of your outdoor grill. First, you cut a large onion in half. Then, while the grill is very, very hot, you need to take a long-handled fork, spear the onion half, and scrub the grill with the cut side to get rid of the caked on crud. (I hope it works. I scrub our grill with brillo pads, but it doesn't seem to work... and that soapy taste lingers.)
Bravery
Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me (WWDTM) told a "hijacker-selfie" story. A deranged Egyptian hijacked a plane going to Cairo, and had it continue on to Cyprus. The folks on the plane apparently did not seem too concerned, in fact, they took a lot of pictures with their cell-phones... in fact, one young man ran right up to the hijacker, who was wearing what appeared to be explosive devices, held out his I-phone and asked if he could take a "selfie" with him. The nutcase consented. It all turned out ok in the end, and perhaps the passengers were happy to spend a little time in beautiful Cyprus, rather than garbage-ridden Cairo.
Bob and Bonnie C. have a daughter who works in Cairo, and they say that she likes the place, except for all the garbage littering the streets and sidewalks. And apparently she is not afraid that terrorists may throw bombs in her vicinity.
No Vowels?
WWDTM also mentioned a scheme advocated by Jeff Bezos. He thought that news and/or programs could be available on line, but without all of the vowels. Then, for a price, an app could be purchased/rented that would put the vowels back in. (I might have this a bit wrong... but I wouldn't put it past him.)
Rename the Sport?
WWDTM also reported that the US Polo Association was told they have to change their name because Ralph Lauren coined the word "polo" first. Come on, Guys... is this true? Does this mean that the sport that Anglo-Saxons love to play on horseback will have to have a new name? How about this: HABWASWITS.. or Hit a Ball With a Stick While In the Saddle. Is that great, or what?
Watch out for Winos, Americano!
WWDTM also said that the State Department has recently warned Americans to be careful when they are abroad, because there may be unscrupulous persons out to fleece us "Ugly Americans."
This reminds me of a time when I took a trip with a fellow Airman to Belgium. We were going to Liege, and a college told us to look out for "wino's." These were pretty girls who talked "rich" Americans into buying them a wine drink, while offering them certain "delights" which are never delivered. Sure enough, in a nice little bar where we went for supper, a beautiful girl enchanted my companion to leave me and go into a booth with her where he could buy her a drink of wine. He got right up and went with her, even though I kept saying..."She may be a wino."... but did he listen? Hell no!
After she took him for an outrageously priced bottle of grape juice, she said that she was going around the corner to set up a room for the two of them. While she was gone, he came over and told me about all the great things that were about to happen to him. As expected, she never came back, and he was discouraged, out of funds, and quite a bit wiser.
Bottle Baby
This also reminds me of another friend of mine in Germany. I'll call him Rollo. He was from a farm community in the Mid-West and had never been to a big city. He went with me to Cologne and fell in love with one of the hotel chambermaids. He eventually took leave and married her. At the time of the marriage, she had stopped being a chambermaid and was now a bartender, where she had just beaten an assault charge. It happened that somebody criticized her accent. (She was a refugee from the Ukraine.)
I'm told that she got so mad that she smashed a liquor bottle on the bar (Hollywood style), hopped over the bar and almost slit the insulter's throat. Good luck, Rollo!
Hey... I've got a lot more stories from my years in the Air Force in Germany. Unlike the Army folks, we were allowed to wear civilian clothes and lots of German people thought that I was one of them.. even though most of the young people who looked like me (blond and blue-eyed) were killed in WWII, when they were part of Hitler's Master Race.
I've mentioned this before. When I first got to Germany I noticed a couple of things right away.
o All of the little kids had rosy cheeks. (Seldom seen on American kids' cheeks.)
o People wearing green suits were allowed to go to the front of every queue and nobody thought anything bad about that.
I went out and bought a green suit.. and it did work sometimes even though I did not press for any special treatment. And, it also got me in trouble a few times.. like when I got jumped on in Nuremberg by Army heavy equipment soldiers who thought I was a German.
Well.. by now I'm sure you are sick of me yammering away. So, I bid you Goodbye.
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