With the scare of the flu looming, the State of Michigan has decided to take some proactive measures. They have been supply the various state agencies with hand sanitizers. And while most of the state agencies have welcomed this, the Department of Corrections has not.

It seems that the prison population has noticed that the sanitizer contains alcohol. So, they are using it to make Jello shots. And while it may leave a strange after taste, it seems to do the job.

At least their mouths will be clean.

Lowell recently held city elections. On the ballot were 3 candidates running for three city council seats. Since there were three seats and only three candidates, I seemed to me that all three would win.

However, one of the candidates felt that he needed to campaign any way. I don’t know if he was feeling insecure or if he felt guilty about the guaranteed elections.

Since all three candidates were assured a win, I didn’t bother to vote.

Boulder CO has recently cracked down on people running naked through the city with pumpkins over their heads. The city feels that this annual event is getting out of control and they want to put a stop to it.

Since Boulder does not have any laws against public indecency, it often attracts events such as naked bicycle rides and naked marathons. And, in the past, the pumpkin run was tolerated. But, times have changed and Boulder now feels that they need to conform to the current norms of the nation. So, the pumpkin run must go.

What is this world coming to if you can’t take off your clothes and run naked through the streets with a pumpkin over your head?  How sad.

A local gas station has a big sign advertising that they have a 24 hour ATM. Since every ATM that I have ever seen is a 24 hour machine, I had to wonder why they felt it necessary to point that out? I mean it is not like some places close the machine down at 5 so that they don’t have to pay it for overtime.

I suppose if you were from some third world nation where there is only power for a few hours a day, it would be reassuring to know that this machine runs 24 hours a day.

Maybe they should also advertise that their bathrooms are available 24 hours a day.

Today, I was shopping at Meijer (region grocery chain) and I used one of their checkout machines. When I went to pay, I dropped in 4 pennies, which the machine recorded and a dime which the machine did not record.

I waited for a few seconds as sometimes the machines are a little slow. But when it still didn’t register, I pushed the coin return. Nothing. No dime, no register.

So, I called the clerk over. She pushed the coin return but nothing happened. So, she went back to her console and recorded the dime for me.

This isn’t the first time that something like this has happened. I have suspected this for some time. But, in the past, I wasn’t sure if it was me or the machine, So, this is the first time that I have actually seen the error.

Also, the machines will short change you from time to time so always count your change.

Ever see the movie West World?