Time is God's way of keeping everything from happening at once.
By the time you become old enough to know all the answers, nobody asks you the questions.
"For every human problem, there is a neat, plain solution ... and it's always wrong." H. L. Mencken
ETC. An abbreviation used to make believe know more than you do.
It was Autumn and the trees had dropped most of their colorful leaves. I was waiting in line at the Branch Post Office in the Woodlawn, Maryland Social Security Headquarters. A gentleman ahead of me was holding a neatly wrapped package.
I was curious about the package and asked what it contained. He told me that he and his son had spent their weekend collecting brightly colored leaves to send to a relative in Arabia. The recipient was raised in a town in New England and missed the fall colors. The gentleman handed the neatly wrapped package to the Post Office clerk, who then asked? "Do you want this to go First Class?"
Hearing a "yes" answer," the clerk reached over to his ample supply of rubber stamps, pulled out the one labeled "First Class, and stamped with all his might on the package.
(A true story.)
A kid went to a computer show and tried his hand at a computer on display.
It was very hard to figure out how to key -in, and the salesmen didn't seem to want to help a kid.
The kid persisted and finally one of the salesmen jokingly told the kid: "fishbone."
This key-word, of course, did not work and the computer said: Do you want to change the password?"
While the salesmen looked another way, the kid typed: "yes."and then typed "JkIr@mPT" and walked away.
Interesting Facts
01. Linguist
Maya Angelou, noted author and poet died at 86. She had a knowledge of 6 languages.
02. Obesity
The Associated Press says that 30% of the world is fat. So, since fat people do not like to fight, lets appoint them as the peace-makers in world situations.
03. Kid Stuff
My sister and her family had always lived in the city and decided that it was time to move to the suburbs. After a day of house-hunting, they found one they liked.
"What do you think -- should we buy it?" My sister asked her four-year old son.
"Yeah," he said, "But how will we get it home? (Chris Gartman after RD magazine.)
04. Household
We were beginning to get flies in our house, so I arranged a visit by an exterminator.
The very next day, a guy showed up with a rolled-up newspaper under his arm.
I'm trying to get back into my blog, but it is slow work, believe it or not. I have so much crap I want to make available to you. How do you do so?
Talk about your ailments?
No sleep last night as the Vaughan Hereditary legs began to ache. Pain killers aren't working! (Boring!)
Talk about medical procedures?
Had a third drain-off of excess bodily fluid. (Boring!)
Talk about the war being raged by Russia?
Civilians being slaughtered. (Can't do anything about it.)
Talk about raising the debt limit?
Doesn't Congress work for us? Another thing we can't do anything about.. or vote the incompetent guys out next election!
Quote humorous sayings.
"I believe that every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises." (Neil Armstrong)
Here are a few items provided by Baltimore's H,L. Mencken:
01. What do these names have in common?
Willie and Frieda Abt
Fred Asker
Alberta Tarbox
Anton and Charlotte Hug
Enrico Caruso
02. To: Holocaust Deniers
About 50,000 Jews live in Germany today.
About 600,000 Jews lived in Germany before WWII!
03. Incense
The Church developed incense to mask the stink of their parishioners.
(As I served as a pall-bearer for my wife's funeral, the priest kept spraying me with incense. Now I know why... or was it because I wasn't Catholic?)
(That's enough to think about for today.)
I just spent an interesting hour with Art, the Hospice Chaplain. A short time ago Art had asked me what I had enjoyed doing during my life and what I might like to continue for the rest of it, no matter the length.
I mentioned that the Toastmasters Organization had taught me how to subdue my stage fright and taught me how to give speeches. I had the privilege of giving hundreds of speeches over the years and enjoyed doing so.
After our talk, Art looked into the current status of Toastmasters today and found that there was one active club in this area. He spoke to the leader and found out that they might like to hear from an 89 year old ex-member. Art would arrange for transportation as necessary.
As much as I might like to get involved again into the Toastmasters' fun time, I need to think about this a little more.
To be continued.
Catster Magazine recently listed 7 reasons Stella the cat thinks you're weird.
1. You don't slide toiletries off the sink one by one.
2. You don't sit on your computer keyboard.
3. You turn faucets off.
4. You don't sleep clear through a Tuesday.
5. You don't vomit on anything good.
6. You don't race around the house at midnight like a maniac.
7. You don't nap in the laundry basket.
Interesting Podcasts
Bottom Line Personal listed some seductive podcasts in December 2022 that might keep your attention.
Nothing Much Happens: "gentle" stories take your brain to quiet places.
Pop Culture Happy Hour: Discussion about current books, movies, etc.
Buried Bones: Cold case investigation.
The Perfect Scam: From the AARP Fraud Watch Network
TED Talks Daily: All kinds of topics.
I hope you like PODCASTS as much as I do.
Ahhhh! WORDLE. Some thing that adults can get involved with. I look forward to it every day.
As I've mentioned many times before: I like to use a different starting word every time. (I think that it makes your brain work a little harder.)
Have you tried the AI analysis of your session? Interesting how your entries are compared to approximately 650,000 other entries. Just like magic.
Also, don't forget to read the comments from players. One lady from Dubai says she has never not solved each daily WORDLE. Amazing!
Have some fun with WORDLE!
Joe
Yes, I'm back, but I have a bad case of "bloggers'' Block!"
01. First Social Security Recipient. Ida Mae Fuller
(Below is a quote from the NARFE Magazine for April 2023:)
(I have a lot of "stuff" that I would like to share... like the Ida Fuller info mentioned. I just have to get my butt in gear.
Meanwhile, I trust that you are enjoying the slightly warmer weather that you might be having.
See ya!)
"... Ida Mae Fuller received the first monthly Social Security retirement benefit in 1940, she was 65 years old. As a secretary, she paid into the program $24.75 over the three years that Social Security collected payroll taxes.
Her initial benefit was 22.54 per month, and over her lifetime, she collected a total of $22,888.92. Ida Mae lived to 100 -- you could say that she maximized her Social Security benefit."
02. Who was Ida Mae Fuller?
03. Was Ida's face recognizable?
On the 4th floor of the Woodlawn, Maryland Social Security (SSA) Headquarters, there was a large picture of this lady, which was observed constantly by SSA employees and visitors.
Mrs. Fuller lived in Ludlow, Vermont. she was the secretary for the Congressman who pushed for the program the most.
