Flu epidemics are the new media hypes.  If fact, there have been so many hyped flu epidemics that I can’t even remember them all.

The first flu epidemic to be hyped was the Swine Flu back in the 70’s.  As a member of the Army National Guard, I was required to get vaccinated against this flu.  I guess it was so that we could help pick up all of the bodies of those whose died from the Swine Flue.  But, it never materialized.

Then there was the Hong Kong flu and the bird flu and the Asian flu.  I can’t even remember all of the flues that, according to the media, were going to wipe out the worlds population.

And while I get a flu shot every year, I ignore the media and their latest flu epidemics.

I now live by my self so, I am solely responsible for cleaning.  And since my time is limited, I do spot cleaning rather than taking a whole day to clean my house.  This means that I only clean as needed.

For example, I have toilet brushes and cleaner by each toilet.  If I see that the toilet needs cleaning, I clean it on the spot.  And, since it only takes a couple of minutes to clean, my toilet gets cleaned more often.

Likewise, I have sink cleaning products underneath each sink.  So, if the sink is looking bad, a little soft scrub and a sponge and it is done.

This approach may not be perfect but it works for me.  My house is much cleaner without taking a whole block to time to accomplish it.

While I have always been intrigued with the caption on this head stone and the fact that he was a minister, I never paid much attention to the dates.  He was only 32 when he died.  And, while I will never the know the cause of his death, I have to wonder if it was from the Spanish flu that was ravaging the nation in the 1918-1919s.

The other day, my new toilet was plugged.  So, in keeping with the time honored tradition of toilet repair, I got out the plunger.  But, to my dismay, I discovered that while the plunger was round, the toilet drain was oval.  So, every time that I plunged, the water just squirted out the sides of the plunger instead of down the drain.

Seeing that plunging was going to be pointless, I dumped a half gallon of liquid drain cleaner into the toilet and let it sit over night.  The next day, the blockage cleared with the first flush.

While using liquid drain cleaner is a bit expensive, it did the job.  I will have to see if I can find a different plunger.

The City of Lansing offers some unique perspectives on life.  Take this parking sign for instance.  According to the sign, the maximum amount of time that you can park, between the hours from 8AM to 6PM, is ten hours.  Of course 10 hours is the maximum time that you can park between the hours of 8AM to 6PM, just do the math.  So, short of telling you that there is unlimited parking at this location, this sign is pointless.

I guess I should be glad that the maximum stay between 8AM and 6PM isn’t posted at 12 hours.

Now that I have a small deck on the back of my house, I decided to get a little patio furniture.  Since my deck isn’t that big, a small table and two chairs seemed the perfect choice.  And, since there were all kinds of “end of season” sales, buying patio furniture was the perfect Labor Day activity. 

While I am all for saving water, I some times have to flush my 1 GPF toilet 3 times.   Why?  Well, some times one gallon just doesn’t do the job.  So, I was pleased to discover this in a public rest

The other day when I was walking through the parking ramp underneath my building, I noticed a car that seemed to be loaded with, well, treasures.  And judging from the abundance of “treasures” this person was very well off.

No, this is not a joke.  This is actually some ones car.

The other day when I was in the garden section at Meijer (regional grocery chain), I found this metal lawn sculpture on sale.  Since I was in need of some outside art, I decided to purchase it.  And given that it is over 4 feet tall, it might keep the deer out of my garden.

The Federal government wants to lower the blood alcohol level for drunk driving as they feel that this will make the roads safer.

Unfortunately, the drunk drivers who cause accidents have a blood alcohol level much higher than the present standards.  And, many of the drunks who cause accidents have already lost their drivers licenses.  So, we don’t need stricter laws, we need better enforcement of the existing laws.