Windshield Wiper Woes (or, www.onmydrivehome)

I had a funny experience . . .

Tonight, I encountered windshield wiper woes on my drive home.

I commute along a road with two lanes in each direction. This road then narrows to only one lane in each direction. Traffic always backs up at that point. It's a bottle-neck.

Our informal etiquette for this merging is to alternate between lanes: a car from the inside lane is followed by a car from the outside lane, then the inside lane, etc.

I’m on the inside lane. I'd just allowed the car from the outside to move ahead of me. To my surprise, a second car from the outside unexpectedly accelerated and cut hard in front of me! I had to smash my brakes to keep from smashing this guy's rear end! (I may have even said a bad word).

As this idiot was braking hard to avoid hitting the car in front of him, he pushed his windshield washer button to clean his windshield. But, his washer wasn't aimed at his window. His water jets cleared his windshield, roof, and trunk. His water-jets hit my window! So, I turned on my windshield wipers and cleaned my window . . . My momentary flash of anger was "washed away" with this bit of comic relief.

The Far Side Teaches a Simple Truth . . .

Sometimes we learn life-lessons in the most unexpected places. I picked up an important truth from today's Far Side cartoon. A truth that my parents struggled to teach me and, now, I'm struggling to teach my kids.

I've always been a fan of The Far Side cartoon. I was devastated when Gary Larsen, the creator, illustrator, genius behind The Far Side went into retirement some years back. However, at least in rerun, he's back!

Gary Larsen has put out a 2007 desk calendar (you know, the peal-a-page-a-day kind) featuring some of his finest work from over the years. It's kind of a Best Of calendar. He did it as a benefit to Conservation International (www.conservation.org/trade), to whom all the profits will go.

Today's cartoon featured two deer (a doe and a buck), a policeman, and a deer hunter all in the front room of the deer's home. The buck is laying on the floor, dead, in his overturned chair in front of the television. The hunter is standing in the open entry door with his rifle tucked under his arm. The policeman is examining the hunter's license in his hand as he addresses the doe. He says, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but his license does check out and, after all, your husband was in season." And now comes the life-lesson: "Remember, just because he knocks doesn't mean that you have to let him in."

How eloquently taught! When trouble comes knocking, we don't have to open the door . . . I'd like to enlarge today's Far Side to poster-size and hang it over the dinner table. Before every meal, we could read it and discuss how this knowledge, this agency to open or not open, can potentially impact our lives for good or bad.

So, thank you Gary Larsen for providing me with the visual aid to teach my family such an important concept!

Cheers,
-Mike.

Slinky! A Slinky. Everyone loves a Slinky!

Do you remember playing with a Slinky as a kid? You know, Mattel's famous walking Spring Toy. Isn’t it funny how such a simple thing, really nothing more than a metal coil, managed to amuse and entertain so many young minds? I remember watching their commercials during Saturday morning cartoons and smiling with delight, to watch a Slinky wriggle down the stairs! Things seemed so simple then . . .

Have you ever noticed how some people are like a Slinky? Although they're not good for much, it still makes you smile to push them down the stairs.