I woke up in the middle of the night this morning only to discover that the moon was directly over head in the skylight.  It was so bright that I felt like a Druid keeping an eye on the movement of the moon.  Finally, I moved over enough in bed to get out of the moon light.  When I woke up a little later, the moon was gone.

I suppose if I were an insomniac, I could make a lunar calendar.

The other day, I was in a men s clothing store when I happened to spot 2 suits that I liked and that actually fit.  So, I decided to buy them.  And in keeping with my preference for suspenders rather than belts, I thought that I would buy two sets to go with my new suits.

But, to my dismay, they only had belts.  Rats.   Well, no problem, lots of stores sell suspenders so I will just get them some place else.  But, the next 5 stores that I tried did not have suspenders either.  Finally, I found a store that had suspenders but they were expensive.  I bought them in spite of the price.  From now on, I will keep an eye out for suspenders and buy them in advance.

A jewelry store in Grand Rapids was recently robbed.  Now, what makes this robbery interesting is that it took place around midnight.

Now, normally, when a robbery occurs at that time of night, I think of a burglary.  But, as it turns out, it was an actual armed robbery and during normal store hours.  Of course, the store wasn’t exactly a jewelry store either.  It was a pawn shop.  And the type of clientele that frequent the store are not known for being early risers.    So, I guess the story makes sense.

I suppose it is the opposite of the “early to bed, early to rise”  saying.

One of the local fast food joints was advertising a 1.3 lb burger on their outside sign.  I assumed that they were really selling a 1/3 lb burger but lacked the “/” so they used a “.” instead.

But, the sign was quickly removed.  I suspect that someone point out to them that they had to provide what they advertised.

I am the most eligible bachelor in the office these days.  So, all of the single women seem to give me extra attention.  Most of the time, they make special trips to my office just to say hello.  But, some times they do unexpected things.

The other day, I was standing in the hallway at work talking to my boss when a female co-worker of mine walked past and pinched my butt.  Now, while the woman is a friend of  mine and single, she has never expressed any interest in me other than that of a friend.  So, her actions took me by surprise.

My boss, of course, was shocked.  And so was I.  But, our shock quickly turned into laughter.

I doubt that there will be a repeat incident as I suspect that it was just a spontaneous act and not premeditated.  But, I guess time will tell.

I wonder if this means that we are engaged?

The State owned parking ramp that I use, has automated entry and exit doors.  You flash you ID badge at the reader and the entry door opens.  Likewise, when you approach the exit, sensors detect your car and open the door.  And while there are three exits, only two of them are commonly known.  The third is through the loading dock, but most people are not aware of this exit.

Unfortunately, the two main exits doors quit working at the same time one day.  And, the drivers that were not aware of the third exit, found themselves driving in circles trying to get out of the ramp.

So, it was like the song says “you can checkout any time you want but you can never leave.”

As both a new student and a new employee at Calvin College, I had to put a lot of new names with faces. And, along with the new names came the new titles such as Doctor, Professor, Dean, etc.  One new name/face was Dean Vander.

Now, Dean Vander always wore slacks and a sport coat and just looked like an academic.  And, when ever I would meet him on the campus, I would address him as Dean Vander. Finally, one day he said to just call him Dean. That is when it dawned on me that “Dean” was his first name and not his title.

Shortly after that, I started addressing everyone by their first name, everyone except the president of the college. He was old and never smiled. I always addressed him as “President”.

The other day, as I was walking through one of the visitor lots for the State of Michigan in Lansing, I couldn’t help but notice all of the BMWs and Mercedes Benz that were parked there.

At first, I thought that the cars were owned by high priced lobbyists.  But, then I realized that they were owned by the sales personnel who do business with the State.

Well OK!  At least someone is stimulating the economy!

The coastal cities of Douglas and Saugatuck have gotten permission from the state to merge.  Since they are right next to each other, it seems like the natural thing to do.  And, merging the two would be financially beneficial for both of them.

Of course, they have been talking about combining for years.  So, we’ll have to wait and see.

When I was down at Notre Dame the other weekend, I noticed that they had a grotto just out side of the Basilica.  It was a hole in the side of a hill and it was lined with  stones.  In the front of the grotto was a place to pray and light candles.

Of course, right next to the grotto was the extremely ornate Basilica.  So, there were the two extremes right next to each other.  Personally, I think that the grotto should have been built in a more rustic location, but what ever.

Of course, there are advantages to having the two of them right next to each other.  If you are hung over and have over slept, the grotto might be a better option.