Today is Valentines Day.  Last year, I missed it completely.  I had too much confusion and chaos in my lift to even begin to think of Valentines Day.  So, it just blew on by.  But, this year, I decided to make up for it by getting Valentines for my girls.

When I went to the store, I was looking for cards that said “My Daughter….”.  But instead, all I could find were cards that said “Our Daughter….”.

Our?!!  Our?!!  There is no “Our” any more.  There is only “me” and I am extremely depressed at the moment.  I obviously was not mentally prepared to see all of the cards for loving couples and their daughters.

I opted for chocolate instead.  Maybe next year I can do the Valentine thing.

Since I had decided to purchase an iPhone, and since my old phone had died, I headed out to Best Buy right after work.  Of course, all of these purchase decisions had been made before lunch, so I was impulse buying.  (No! Say it ain’t so!).

But, I reasoned that I could go to Best Buy, purchase a new phone and then head for home.  It sounded reasonable to me.  I could satisfy my need to buy a new phone and get home in time for dinner too!

When I got to Best Buy, the timing was right.  There was no one waiting in line.  The sales clerk was helpful and quick. Out of the box and in my hand in seconds flat.  Then the clerk offered to transfer my contact list from my old phone to my new phone.

Of course, since I was impulse buying, I didn’t have my old phone with me.  No problem.   The clerk told my I could stop in any time and get those contracts transferred.  GREAT!

With new phone in hand, I headed out the door, ready to enter into the land of Apple.  And, I didn’t even have to drink any kool-aid.

Well, my cell phone died the other day so I needed to purchase a new one.  But, I was in a quandary as to just what to buy.  I could buy a basic phone similar to my old phone.  Or, I could jump up into a smart phone.

Well, the cheap side of me said to buy a basic phone.  But, smart phones seem to be the going trend, so I decided on a smart phone.

Now, the next issue was to determine just which side to choose.  Do I go with a Droid or an iPhone?  There are really only two choices.

Well, I choose the iPhone.  A co-worker pointed out that the State is talking about purchasing 3,000 iPads, so having some knowledge of the operating system might be beneficial in the future.  Besides, Best Buy was offering a $50 coupon toward the purchase of an iPhone, so, I  guess that was all of the incentive that I needed.

So, I now have an iPhone for better or for worse.

I recently saw an ad for a product on sale for only $89.99.  The list price?  Why, $89.99.

So act fast.  This sale won’t last for ever.

I am getting increasing disturbed by the number of video news clip there are on line.  When I pull up a news article on my web browser, I expect it to be written.  But lately, there have been numerous articles that are strictly video in nature.

Now, I do appreciate the need to show a video clip for some news items.  After all, it is much more interesting to watch a fantastic football play than to just read about it.

But lately, these video clips amount to nothing more than a news commentator standing in front of a camera and reporting the news. This appears to be news for those who can’t or won’t read.

And while video news has its place, I am concerned that it is replacing reading all together.

Every winter, I put three 35 pound pails of kitty litter in the back of my minivan.  Not only does it help to stop on icy roads, if I do get stuck on an icy spot, I can always scoop kitty litter under the tires.  If I need the space in the back of the van, I can just pull the pails out and sit them in the garage.  And, once spring hits, I can just lift the pails out of the back of the van and use the litter for the kitty boxes.

This approach may be a bit crude but it does work quite well.  And, the kitties don’t seem to mind that their litter is a few month old.

When I purchased a new sofa, I had to get rid of the old sofa.  But, before doing so, I checked under the cushions for items of value.

Besides the assortment of pens and pencils and coins, I found a recorder.

But, this is not a tape recorder, it is a musical recorder.

Now, I vaguely remember this instrument but that is all.   I don’t even remember where it came from or how long we have owned it.

But, at least the lost is found.  I guess.

The other day at Meijer (regional grocery chain), I decided to buy several pairs of nail clippers.  Since I can never find a pair of nail clippers when I want them, I decided to saturate the house with nail clippers.

Now, usually, the kind of nail clippers that I buy are found in a plastic jar at the checkout lanes.  But, they were not to be found.  So, I headed for the nail care section.

After perusing through what seemed like a mile of polish, polish removers and emory  boards, I found the nail clippers.  Great!  But wait, there are regular, deluxe and professional.

Since I am not a pro, I passed on the professional and focused on the regular and the deluxe.  They both looked the same to me but since there was a slight price difference, I opted for the regular.

Three dollars later, I had three new pairs of nail clippers.  Now maybe I can find a pair when I want them.

The other day, when I was in a clothing store, there was a sign in the changing room that read “changing rooms may be monitored by same sex staff.”

Well OK.  I guess I am not sure how I feel about that.  Does that mean that the changing rooms “will” be monitored and that it “may” be by some one of the same sex?  But, since it said “may” and not “will”, the changing rooms could be monitored by someone of the opposite sex.

Of course, if I had the choice between a woman, who thinks my butt is cute, or a guy, who thinks my butt is cute, I would choose the woman.  After all, the sign only mentioned gender and not sexual preference.

But hey, since I am not trying on underwear, I guess I don’t really care who sees me in my briefs.

No, this is not the outside air temperature.  It is the newest trend in sport medicine called super cooling.  For 3 minutes, athletes are put in a special tank and sprayed with liquid nitrogen.  The treatment supposedly relieves the aches and pains after a workout or a game.

And, you can also use it to quick freeze vegetables.