During our latest stay at Karmanos hospital, the room that we were in had an electric window. I am not talking about the one in the door, I am talking about the little one next to the door.

By flipping one of the light switches, the window goes from clear to frosted. And while it is really kind of cool, it is not very practical. After all, it really doesn’t let in much light so why bother? If you need more light then open the blinds on the door instead.

This was obviously someones neat idea that got the blessing of the hospital administration.

Over the years, I have seen a number of businesses move from their modest location to a more glamorous one and then go out of business a few years later.

A clothing store, that had been in business for almost a 100 years in downtown Grand Rapids, moved to the suburbs. They only lasted 10 more years in their new building.

A furniture store that I frequented in an older neighborhood of Lansing, moved after 50 years to a new location in a prime business district. It was gone in two years.

A book store across from the MSU campus was a landmark for many years. But, when they put up a new building, they soon went out of business.

The latest was a high end furniture store in Grand Rapids. They moved to a new location in the burbs and closed after a year.

Now, with all of these businesses, their success was their product and not their location. But, by moving, they only increased their overhead and not their sales. And so, their successful businesses floundered.

Well, OK, so maybe it is not a war but it is certainly a border dispute between Ohio and Kentucky. But, unlike the war between Ohio and Michigan, this dispute centers around a rock in the Ohio River.

It seems that there was a famous rock in the river between Ohio and Kentucky. But, at some point in time, the river got too high and the rock could no longer be seen. Then, when the river went down, some good people from Ohio decided to remove the rock from the river so that it would be safe. Unfortunately, the citizens of Kentucky didn’t appreciate the fact that the rock was removed and demanded that it be returned.

Petty disputes are a sure sign of an improving economy.

The Catholic church has a shortage of qualified Exorcists. So, in an effort to correct this, they are offering a two day class on how to perform exorcisms.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the mid-term elections?

I saw the word “FCUK YOU” written on an bridge in Detroit. I guess this is a good indication of the quality of education in the Detroit schools.

Recently, while working at church, myself and two women were asked to make some banners. And, since these banners were over 50 feet long, they gave us a laser to make sure things were straight.

Now, the laser was about the size of a large tape measure. And, it was easy to use.

But, when we were finished, we decided to try to shut it off. Seeing a lever on the back, the woman who was using it, pushed it down. She immediately threw the laser into the air and announced that she had just been tasered!

After I examined the laser, I determined that what she thought was the off switch was really just a slide for a centering pin. In short, when she pushed down what she believed to be the off switch, she stuck herself with the built in point.

One of the hot new TV programs of the year is “Sister Wives”. It is a real life story about a man and his 4 wives.

Obviously, this is a Mormon family. But, more to the point, for them, polygamy is not about sex, it is about religion.

Mormons believe that there are millions of souls waiting to inhabit bodies. Once every soul has been given a body, the new heaven and the new earth will be established. So, the way to bring on the new heaven and earth is to provide bodies for all of those souls. And, they do this by, well, having children. Lots and lots of children. And, in the end, if they practice polygamy, they well get their own planet in the after life.

Now, while I don’t personally agree with their theology, I am hard pressed to condemn polygamy. After all, the Bible is full of it. But, I am sure that it is only a matter of time before the Feds shut them down.

The Governor of Florida says that he may pardon Jim Morrison for indecent exposure at a 1969 concert.

Well, this is nice of him. I am sure Jim will appreciate the gesture. But, I doubt that Jim will be coming back to Florida any time soon. You see, Jim has been dead for 40 years.

So, what is the point? Maybe the Governor doesn’t know that Jim is dead. Or, maybe he is trying to impress the Jim Morrison/Doors fan club. What ever the reason for the pardon, I doubt that Jim will care one way or the other.

We bought a new MTD Yardman lawn mower from Home Depot at the end of August. After mowing our lawn 8 times over the last 8 weeks, the rewind on the starter rope quit working. No problem. We have a two year warranty. So, I took it to a service shop.

The service shop said that they would look at it but they doubted that MTD would stand by their warranty. That didn’t sound too promising.  But, since the warranty covered everything except normal wear and tear, I figured that I should be covered.  After all, a starter rope recoil should last more than 2 months.

Well, after a couple of days, the repair shop called. They said that MTD had rejected my claim because they do not cover normal wear and tear.

Normal wear and tear??!! We used it 8 times!!! What is the normal life expectancy on a starter rope recoil???

It seems, that while we have a 2 year warranty, the warranty is limited to only parts that are not excluded under normal wear and tear.

So, that means that if you take the mower out of the box and push it across the ground, you have used the wheels and the handle and thus voided the warranty on those parts. Plus, if you even start the mower, the engine, starter, mower blades, and such, are no longer covered by the warranty.

So my advice to any one who has purchased a MTD Yardman mower, keep it in the box for two years. Either that or forget about a warranty because MTD won’t honor your claim if you have ever used your mower.

WHAT A SCAM!!!

MTD Yardman have not heard the last of this!!!  I will start with the blog and go from there.

A few years ago, there was a stray cat living in the parking ramp here at the state. Since he could be seen peaking up over the edge of a cardboard box, he was named Wilson.

I always referred to him as a stray, but, in order to be politically correct, I am told that I should refer to him as a Ferrel cat. Now, I don’t know what being politically correct has to do with Ferrel cats but apparently it does. (What ever.)

In an effort to control the wild pig population in Michigan, the DNRE has declared an open season on Ferrel pigs. Now, I would have called them “wild pigs” but I guess in order to be politically correct, they have to be called “Ferrel” pigs.

When I drive in downtown Detroit, I see homeless men standing on the corners looking for handouts. Normally, I would refer to them as “homeless”. But, in order to be politically correct, I guess I should refer to them as “Ferrel Men.”