Occasionally on my way to work, if I am driving and the carpool is light, I will stop at Mickey Ds and grab some breakfast. And occasionally, my car pooler, who is on methadone, will ask me to buy him something. And since he is usually asleep when I drive through, I just pay for the food and head for work.

Well, the other day I decided to grab something really quick at Mickey Ds. And since my carpooler asked me to buy him some hotcakes and sausage, I did.

When I picked up that order at the window, the woman handed me two bags. I peaked in the one and saw a container of hotcakes and sausage. Great. The other bag must contain my breakfast burrito.  So, when I went to get out of the car, I grabbed the other bag and headed into the office.

When I got to my desk, I opened the bag to remove my food. That is when I noticed the plastic fork, the syrup and the butter.

Apparently, they had put the fork, syrup and butter in with my food instead of putting it in with the hotcakes and sausage. Since my car pooler didn’t call, I assumed that he ate his hotcakes without any syrup and butter. And it is probably just as well since he had to eat them with his bare hands.

In celebration of Obama’s election, I went out and bought a new shotgun. It is a 12 gauge Mossberg pump with deer and field barrels.

Actually, I needed a new shotgun. The one that I have is a piece of junk.

Originally, my father bought me a nice Remington semiautomatic 12 gauge. Then he bought my brother a C J Higgins semiautomatic 12 gauge so that he wouldn’t feel left out.

My brother complained bitterly about the CJ Higgins. And since I wasn’t doing much hunting at the time, my father asked me if I would trade guns with my brother. So, I did.

It wasn’t until about ten years later when I took it out deer hunting that I discovered it was a piece of junk.

Initially, I put the safety on, loaded the magazine, and chambered a round. Then, I found a good spot to sit an wait.

After a half hour or so, I saw a deer so took the safety off, aimed, and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened! No boom, no click, just silence.

After examining the gun, I discovered that the action was not fully closed. So, I eased it shut.

Of course, the deer was long gone by the time I discovered what was wrong. And, since it was dusk, I headed back to the car. That is when I discovered another annoying feature of the gun.

When I went to unload it, I emptied the magazine first. Then, I opened the action to eject the shell from the chamber. But, instead of ejecting the shell onto the ground, the shell dropped down into the trigger mechanism where it remained until I totally dismantled it. Nice.

Thinking that it just needed to be cleaned and oiled, I proceeded to do so. Then, I put it all back together again, ready for the next day hunt.

But the next day was exactly the same as the first. Plus, I tried the fire the gun but was totally unsuccessful.

And even though I have tried many times, to this day, that gun has never been fired. I guess I don’t have to worry about cleaning it.

Scientists have discovered that if Scotch Tape is peeled off the roll in a vacuum, it produces xray radiation. At an inch and a half per second, it produces enough xray radiation to xray a finger. Developers are look at this as a possible low tech portable xray machine.

And I alway thought that the light from biting into a winter green mint in the dark was spectacular.

The other night, I was on my way to music practice at church when I noticed that I needed gas.  Since there was a gas station on the way, I decided to  stop quick and get gas.

The station was not a place where I would normally buy gas but it was on the way so I stopped.  I noticed that they had “Pay at the pump” so I got out my card and slid it through the reader.

The screen acknowledged my card and displayed “authorizing”.  Great!  I should be on my way in a couple of minutes.  But after a minute or so, the screen still said “authorizing”.

Now I had a dilemma. Time was running out and I needed leave for practice but the pump had my card information.  If I left now, someone else might use the pump and I would get charged for their gas.

I pushed the cancel button but nothing happened.  “Authorizing”.  I pushed the help button but nothing happened.  “Authorizing”.

Finally, I went into the station.  Since there was going to be a lottery drawing, everyone was buying lottery tickets.  But eventually, it was my turn and I told the clerk of my dilemma.  She said that she would be out in a minute.

When she arrived, she kicked the pump a few times, beat on the buttons with her fists and then took the nozzle out of the holder and handed it to me.   The pump had cleared and was now ready to go.

I pumped my gas and left for practice.  If I had beaten on the pump the way that she did, some one would have called the cops.

I recently had to fill out a health form at the doctors office. One of the questions asked if I had ever had German Measles. I had the measles when I was a kid so I answered “yes”. But then the next questions ask if I had every had “Hard Measles”.

Since I didn’t know the difference between Hard Measles and German Measles I asked the nurse. She said that German Measles last about 3 days. So then I asked how long Hard Measles last and she said that they lasted longer than 3 days.

Now, that answer was not helpful. First of all, when do measles end; when all of the spots are gone or when the fever is gone? And if I have the spots/fever for 4 days did I have the Hard Measles?

Well, it was all about 50 years ago so I doubt that it really matters.

My wife send me to the store yesterday to buy some Shotgun. Shotgun is a pepper spray that is sprayed on plants to wort off critters that would eat them.

Last winter, the critters just about decimated the ivy that she was trying to grow. So, the thought was to spray the ivy before the snow flies.

When I got to Meijers (regional grocery chain) I headed for the gardening center to buy some repellent. However, when I got there, I discovered that the whole gardening center had become the Christmas center.

There were lights and ornaments and tinsel and wrapping paper but no Shotgun. So, I bought some wrapping paper instead.

In the past, we have waited until a few days before Christmas to purchase these items. And as a result, the wrapping paper was pretty well picked over. All that would be left is the really expensive stuff or the cheap stuff that was too ugly to use.

I did stop at the hardware store and bought some Repel. It was the last bottle that they had. I think that the gardening season is pretty much finished.

The Obama administration has already started stimulating the economy. Gun sales jumped 15% for the month of October and are expected to rise in November and December.

The other night at church, Kathy and I ran across an old high school class mate of ours.  And, while we remembered the guy, we couldn’t remember what class he was in.  So, when we got home, we got out the high school year books to look him up.

Sure enough, he graduated a year after me. And while finding his face in the book was interesting,  I found the signatures in the book to be even more interesting.  (It was a tradition that when the year books arrived, we would all get together and sign each others year books.)

While I reread the signatures and messages in the book and remembered these people, there was one name that I couldn’t place.  It was from someone named Lyn.  The message mentioned all of the good times that we had together but I honestly could not place the name.

I graduated with a guy named Lyn but I was not really social with him.  I suppose all of the “good times” could have been a reference to the school in general and not anything personal.  Then again, it could have been written by some underclassman, some girl, perhaps, who secretly had a thing for me.

Well any way, that was 40 years ago and I am sure that this Lyn has forgotten what he/she wrote.  I know that I am not going to loose sleep over it.

I got a flu shot last week at work. They were free and in my building so I got one. The last flu shot that I got was for the Swine flu so it has been a few years.

In the past, you had to pay for your flu shot even if it was only a couple of dollars. But, with a staff that has been limited by budget cuts, I guess they want to make sure that everyone can work.

Of course, a flu shot doesn’t prevent you from getting the flu, it only prevents you from getting the flu that the shot is geared for. So, if you don’t get the flu, then the shot worked. If you do get the flu, then it was a different flu than what the shot prevents.

Seems like a win-win situation for the medical profession.

To the surprise of many in Michigan, proposition 1, or potposition 1 as we refer to it, passed. Potposition 1 allows the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Under this law with a doctors prescription, an individual can buy marijuana or grow up to 12 marijuana plants per year for their own personal use.

The Department of Community Health has until June to come up with a plan for implementing this law. And, it should be an interesting one at that.

First of all, there is the problem of supply. To my knowledge, marijuana is not grown commercially here in the US so a reputable supplier needs to be found.

Next, there is the issue of quality control. (no stems and seeds) Then, there is the issue of distribution and accountability. Will they be selling class A joints or just DIY kits?

And finally, the biggest hurtle will be taxation. There will be those who will think it should be taxed like alcohol and tobacco while others who will say it is just another medicine and should not be taxed at all.

I wonder if the pharmacies will keep it behind the counter next to the Sudafed?