Archive for January, 2007

I still haven’t decided if the quality of Peyton Manning’s commercials outweigh the hatred I had for him as a Gator fan.  I guess all of that is water under the bridge, but Chicago has more former Gators, so I am still pulling for what I consider an upset.

 I don’t remember hating Manning a great deal, anyway.  Not like Heath Shuler.  I guess that’s because the Gators actually lost to Shuler in 1992.  Oh, here’s some love for Shuler, just to spread it around a bit.

But , hey, this brings back memories.

I went on a trip to Florida this past week.  I was at the airport in plenty of time every leg of the flight, but the flight back was cancelled, so I had to get on a flight the following morning.  With more flights, I decided to fly out of Pensacola, which turned out to be a good plan.  I saw several people that were scheduled for the early morning flight out of Niceville, and that flight got cancelled, so those people had to be redirected.

As Antonella wasn’t up when I left, I called when I landed in Atlanta.  Some lady in the seat in front of me mouthed “Don’t you think it’s funny that people have to get on the phone right when the plane lands?” to the fellow next to her.  As this was something I had commented on earlier, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.  I guess at least I wasn’t on one of those walkie talkie phones.

This woman has truly overachieved on her 15 minutes of fame.  Please, Mr. and Mrs. Media, I beg you:  Let her go.  Just move on, nothing to see here.

Oprah gave some money to an African school some time ago and now some people have decided to become outraged about it.  These people feel that Oprah should be giving money to schools here instead.  Well, just because these people watch Oprah and feel that somehow they have some say in what she spends their money on doesn’t mean that they do.  It is like a crack addict wanting a frequent buyer punch card or something.  Just because you let Oprah run your life and tell you what to read and buy and stuff doesn’t mean it goes the other way as well.

What kills schools is lotteries.  States set up lotteries with the guise of letting the proceeds “enhance” education (in Florida, this was money to buy/refurbish facilities).  So, you could build a library, but not buy any books to go onto the shelves.  Then, lawmakers see how much money schools get from the lottery and redirect money that would go to buying books and paying teachers’ salaries to other projects.

So, if you want to help, don’t ever play the lottery and send your kids to private schools.

Of course, I am basing this all on what I heard some time ago, so it may now be inaccurate.  But, that is what a college professor told me some time ago.  Also, he may have been insane.  There is that possibility.

I have often wondered while driving down the interstate about the signs they post on the side of the road saying that speed is checked by radar and other electronic devices.  How much of a waste of resources to print such things.  Is this some kind of legal thing that is required because someone got away with speeding saying they didn’t know or something?  I remember someone telling me some time ago that just constructing one of those signs (and not installation) costs like five grand for a stop sign.  And that was like fifteen years ago, so I am sure they cost more. 

Another thought is perhaps it is a warning so that if you come up “shooting blanks,” the state has relieved themselves of the liability.

I think they should change the devices from radar radiation to microwave.  That way, the pacemakered elderly will just roll to a stop and let the rest of us pass by.  Everyone wins, except the elderly.  Plus, you could heat up a Hot Pocket.  That would be nice, too.