Thousands of shoes have been found on a highway in Miami. They were apparently dumped during the night and have been clogging up traffic. No one knows where the shoe came from and officials are looking for a charity who would like to have them.

I have always wondered about shoes found on the road side. It seems like it is always just one. Don’t people realize that they have just lost a shoe? I guess they must be sleeping with their foot hanging out of the car window or something.

In reviewing hits on my blog for 2008, the most sought after blog was Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles. This really surprised me as I didn’t think that there would be that much interest in the subject.

The second biggest hit on the blog was for Rachel Aldana but there was no surprise there.

All and all, I averaged about 10,000 unique hits per month.  Since I don’t know 10,000 people, I have to assume that total strangers read my blog.

Blog stats are always interesting.

The other day, I was talking with one of our sales reps. She is a classy woman who dresses quite nice. I asked her if I could look at her diamond ring. She eagerly agreed so I got out my loop for a look see.

As expected, it was a very nice diamond. Good color and clarity. Since I could not see any inclusions, I concluded that it must be at least a VS1.

After I had finished looking at it, she asked me if I could tell real diamonds from fake. I told her that I could most of the time so she reached into her purse and pulled out a single diamond earring. She wanted to know if it was real or not.

When I examined it, I could see a small inclusion in the stone so that told me right away that it wasn’t a cubic. Plus, it had a good color and clarity. Cubics just don’t have the clarity of real diamonds. I told her that I was pretty sure it was real but that she should have it checked with a jeweler.

Then she told me that she had found it in her sofa. Right away, I started drawing thoughts that had not yet occurred to her, namely, how did it end up in her sofa?

Since this earring was at least a 1/2 carat diamond, who ever lost it was out about $500. Certainly, if some one had been to her house and had lost such an earring, they would have made some sort of inquiry. Yet, no one had made any inquires as to its existence.

This would lead me to believe that the person who lost it was either too wealthy to care or the person who lost it should not have been there in the first place. I am inclined to go with the latter.

I am sure that she will eventually put two and two together.

In an effort to curb my fat intake, I decided to try some vegetable sausage.  I had hoped it would be some what tasty with a little tang to it.  But, it wasn’t.  It was more like oatmeal with a faint taste of sage.

I guess vegetarians don’t like tasty food.

Adultery used to be illegal in most states. But, no one goes to jail for it. Not so in South Korea. In South Korea, people are put into prison for up to 2 years.

Most recently, a famous TV star was convicted of adultery and sentenced to prison. After much legal haggling, her sentence was commuted.

I guess South Koreans are much more careful about their indiscretions.

A man in a Philadelphia theater got so enraged at another man, who was talking during the movie, that he shot him. While I don’t approve of his actions, I have felt that very urge from time to time.

It seems for the past few years, the brothels in Nevada have tried to get legislation passed that would tax the services of the brothels. After all, Nevada could use the money. But the legislators refuse to pass the law so the brothels still do not have to pay taxes on their services.

Maybe the politicians refuse to pass the tax law because they are the biggest users of the brothels and are afraid that the taxes would be passed back to them. Makes you kind of wonder doesn’t it?

I went to Taco Bell the other day.  Since I like hot and spicy food, I thought that I would try their new Volcano Taco.  No such luck.  The Volcano Taco is history.

Needless to say, I was disappointed.  Taco Bell advertised this item just a few months ago and already it has been pulled from the menu.  I guess I am just going to have to be faster.

Three people have been killed after using a Japanese foot massager. Of course, they were not massaging their feet at the time. In one accident, the woman was massaging her neck when her shirt collar got caught in the machine and strangled her.

I imagine the others died while trying to use it in the bathtub.

Every year, for the past few years, a family in Anchorage would build a huge snowman. Since this snow man was about 16 tall, they named it Snowzilla.

The problem was that Snowzilla drew too much attention and turned an otherwise quiet neighborhood into a real side show. So, this year, when construction was started on Snowzilla, the neighbors called the city and had it stopped. No more Snowzilla.

Well, Snowzilla mysteriously appeared last night.  No one know where he came from.  This year, he is 25 feet high and even bolder.

It reminds me of the good folks in Ann Arbor complaining about the Christmas display at Domino Farms. Bah! Humbug!