The other day, I was at a party where they were serving Miller Genuine Draft 64.

Now, the idea behind Miller Genuine Draft 64 is that it only has 64 calories. And, at 64 calories, it has half the calories of regular beer. Since I had never had one before, I decided to give it a try.

I can honestly say that I was not impressed. It reminded me a lot of the beer that we used to get in the army only I think that the army beer had more flavor.

It was a lot like drinking club soda. But, since club soda has a lot of sodium in it, I suspect that the beer is a better choice.

In the future, if I am the designated driver, I will take along Miller Genuine Draft 64. It will be better for me than club soda. Plus, it will give my kidneys a good work out.

Well, since our only video store closed, the only place in town to rent a video is at the local Red Box. While the selection isn’t the greatest, it does offer over 200 videos. I am rather partial to watching foreign flicks, but, I guess I will have to make do.

I really do like the ease of use. You simply make your selection, and swipe your credit card and you get a video which isn’t due until 9pm the next day. And all for only $1.

I opened an online account with them which provides me with a history of what I have rented. This is nice because I have a hard time remembering what I have rented and what I have just looked at.

Plus, I can look over the selection on line and reserve a video. Then, when I get to the store, I just swipe my credit card and the machine pops out my video.

So far, I am impressed with the system but time will tell.

The other day, I was reading an article on AOL about the 7 worst places to visit on a vacation. One of the locations listed in the article was the 4 corner of Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Mexico.

Now, I can understand why this is a poor place to visit since Mexico is not adjacent to Utah and Colorado. But more to the point, the author obviously missed the fact that it is NEW Mexico and not Mexico. Later on in the day, I noticed that the article had been corrected.

Now, this may have been a simple typo on the part of the writer.  But, since this typo was consistently repeated in the article,  I suspect that the writer did not know that New Mexico is a state while Mexico is a country.

I know a man who was born in New Mexico. Every time he fills out any paper work that asks where he was born, he puts down New Mexico. And invariably, they ask him if he is a citizen of the United States. Hello!? Unless he is really really old, New Mexico was a part of the United States when he was born.

Recently, a co-worker of mine came into my office to look at my world map that hangs on my wall. She was planning a trip to France. She was looking for it in Africa. She has a college degree. I hope that she won’t be too disappointed that there won’t be any safaris on her trip.

I hated geography in school but I now understand it’s importance.

For 81 years, the Ambassador Bridge has been a major connector between Detroit Michigan and Windsor Ontario. Well, the owner of the bridge thinks that it is time to upgrade the bridge to 6 lanes by building a new bridge next to the old bridge. In order to accomplish this, the owner will assume financial responsibility for the project.

However, a Canadian firm, under the blessing of Michigan’s Canadian born governor, wants to loan Michigan the money to build a new bridge two miles away from the existing bridge. With this plan, all of the risk resides on the government of Michigan instead of the private sector.

A local legislator is complaining that the bridge owner does not supply money to the community.  I guess I am not sure what the bridge owner is expected to contribute to the community. He pays his city, state and federal taxes.

And, since he is willing to build and finance a new bridge, that alone should be a major contribution to the community.  But, in keeping with the traditions of the community, I am sure the legislator meant that the bridge owner doesn’t pay off the corrupt politicians in the community like he should.

And, while this new bridge could be an economic boost for the state, the governor is determined to get her way.  In the  mean time, the state suffers.

We only have six more months and the governor will be gone.  I wonder if she will work for Canada?

The other day, as I was driving down the expressway, I saw a billboard advertising the worlds largest Ford dealership at the next exit.

I had to wonder just exactly what that meant? Does it mean that they had the most number of cars on their lot? Or, is it the amount of land at the dealership? And, is “the worlds largest” a designation from Ford or from the dealership itself?

I suspect that the designation is from the dealership. But, I doubt that anyone is going to challenge it.

Even if it it the worlds largest Ford dealship, I doubt that I will buy a car there.

We recently purchased a tripod for our camera. The box advertises that the total hight of the tripod is 52.125 inches.

Of course, I have to wonder why such precision? What is wrong with saying that it is over 48 inches high?

Well, I suppose that for some people, that extra 4 inches might be important but what about the .125? How could anyone really need that precision? And, even if you did, just how accurate is the tripod? Is it possible that it is not really 52.125 but 52.124999 instead? I think that an error of .000001 is quite possible.

Bottom line, this is a consumer grade device and not a lab instrument. So, most people won’t care if it is 52.125 or only 51. Hello??!!!

BTW, if the tripod is not high enough, we just put it on a table.

Michigan seems to be the hot bed for poultry issues lately.  In Grand Rapids, the city council is reviewing whether to allow residence to keep chickens.  And, in Detroit, the former mayor, Kwammi, has announced that he can’t afford a lawyer.  So, on the west side of the state, the issue is chickens and on the east side of the state the issue is a turkey.

When I was in the produce section of Meijer’s (regional grocery chain) the other day, I noticed that they were selling campfire potatoes. For $3 a package, you got 3 potatoes, individually wrapped in aluminum foil and ready to be thrown into a campfire for cooking.

Well, I didn’t see anything special about the potatoes other than the aluminum foil appeared to be heavy duty. But, in this age of culinary helplessness, I imagine that some people would really go for something like that.

I wonder if they use a real campfire or if they have a propane fire pit?

Since we are on the topic of Roy Rogers, lets not forget his faithful sidekick, Gabby Hayes. Gabby Hayes appeared with Roy Rogers in countless westerns. In his early years, he could be seen riding up on his horse to save Roy and Dale from their perils. Later on, he used a jeep with Bullet at his side.

When I was a kid, we went to a grand stand show at the county fair one hot Saturday afternoon. The show featured acrobats, magicians and clowns. But the main attraction was Gabby Hayes.

We sat for hours in the hot sun waiting for Gabby. I was certain that he would come riding in on his horse or in his jeep. Then, he would show us some fancy rope tricks and maybe some sharp shooting.

When he did arrive, it was in the back seat of a convertible. The convertible drove past the stands and Gabby waved at the crowd. Then, the car exited the grand stands and the show was over.

Ugg!! Did I feel ripped off. Two hours of sitting in the hot sun. No trick riding, no fancy roping, no sharp shooting. For all I knew, the man in the back seat could have been any old man with a cowboy hat. I might better have spent my time walking the midway.

I never watch another Roy Rogers movie again.

What do Trigger, Trigger Jr., Buttermilk and Bullet all have in common? They are all stuffed animals from the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans museum and, they are all for sale.

For those of you too young to remember, Roy Rogers horse was named Trigger. And when Trigger died, Roy had him stuffed and mounted. The same thing happened with Buttermilk, Dales horse, Trigger Jr. and Bullet their dog.

All of these animals were kept in the Roy Rogers museum until it closed recently. So now, they are up for sale at auction.

I guess it is a good thing that Roy died before Dale.  Who knows where she might have ended up.