Sunday, October 15, 2006

My Favorite New Senior Citizen

Today my Dad turns 65. When I think about that, a lot of new sorts of feelings come up, and some old sorts. Nostalgia generally being my favorite of them, here are a few scattered pearls of wisdom I've gleaned in 26 years of knowing him...
  • Always pack a change of clothes in your carry-on bag. If not a full set, at least pack a pair of clean underwear.
  • Generally, how to fix a toilet, paint walls, rake leaves, climb trees, build a fire in the fireplace, make egg salad, and ignore siblings.
  • Don't run with a ruler in your mouth. But also, don't run with anything in your mouth.
  • Check the integrity of the electric cord of a power tool before you use it.
  • (Sung half in an ascending scale, then descending) "First you make a wee-wee, then you take a bath." That one did slip my mind yesterday afternoon, actually.
  • The value of a hot cup of tea... any time of day, any time of year.
  • The value of "toast fingers". Especially when served with bacon, eggs, and a hot cup of tea.
  • Yesterday, the meaning of Dollar Cost Averaging.
  • Just keep taking the medication. Everything will be fine.
  • Why you should keep your hearing aid on no matter what... oh, sorry. We haven't reached that stage yet.

In fact, my Dad is 65 and he still has a full head of red hair (with just a touch of grey). He looked just dashing in his tails & ascot at my sister's wedding last month.

H. B., Dad. Enjoy all your new discounts, and don't spend your $0.22 pension check from the British government all in one place.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

I Love You, Wisconsin Local News!

Last night I succumbed to Kevin's new-ish addiction to Law & Order and brought my knitting over to the Trout's & Vicar's apartment to watch it with them. When it was over, we caught a few minutes of the local news. The top story being along the lines of "Boy, it's gonna get real cold... here... in Wisconsin." Ok, so they were right. It is kind of ridiculous that it was cold and snowing when I walked out of work today.

But far better was their second story (see the video from here - it's super). A hidden fire hazard that might be sitting in your living room at this very moment! Gasp! They cut to the in-studio reporter, standing, without a grin, next to a caption in big dramatic white letters, "Smoking Pot". Well, sure, we figured - smoking pot can indirectly lead to your home burning down.

The story was actually about a man who had brought a plastic flower pot to WI consumer protection, complaining that it had spontaneously combusted, nearly burning down his deck. Except that they found a cigarette butt in its remains. He had put it out into a pile of peat. Peat in a pot... which started to smoke. (A side note - in Ireland it was common to see my grandfather and other elderly Paddy's lay bricks of peat into the fireplace along with paper and coal. Because it burns, as expected. Also, he would try to convince his grandchildren that it was chocolate, and that we should try a bite.) The report concluded with a warning about proper use of potting soil. Then they flashed back to the reporter, standing next to his "Smoking Pot" caption. Those were the big stories from Madison last night. Kevin was nearly in tears.