November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.
With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.
The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.

~Elizabeth Coatsworth

The definition of elite: A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status. Nothing about your vehicle or yourself suggests elite in any way. In fact I’d say  ordinary is more like it. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, maybe your last name is Elite, it sure as hell isn’t Rockefeller though. 

Well I was going to complain about the dreary, cloudy and overcast day but that would be querulous.

The Mother looks at me and asks “ how many ounces in a pound?”

“16”  I reply (a bit surprised at the question)

So holding the pack of mushrooms and a recipe in hand, she says, so half a pound would be 8…and this (package) is 8.

“Yes” that will be enough.

“Thanks!” and off she goes.

Now I’ve been asked a lot of questions in grocery stores, usually men trying to find some item their wife or GF sent them to fetch. The oddest was an older gentleman trying to find black eyed peas. I pointed him to the aisle and told him to look where the packages of dried beans are. He looked at me with that lost look so I took him to the aisle and showed him the black eyed peas.  He didn’t like split pea soup which his wife was planning to make, he readily told me.

But asking me how many ounces in a pound just moved to the top of the list. I’m not here to belittle anyone, maybe she was having a brain fart, an off day, stressed about cooking Easter dinner. I don’t know. I do know that most of us learned how many ounces are in a pound back in grade school. Hopefully she’s better at reading labels on children’s medications than she is at figuring out recipes.

Is making change something that is lost nowadays unless it involves a machine that does the calculation for you? My first part-time job in high school was working at an office supply and stationery store. This was back in the days before Office Depot and Staples and big chain stores. It was a local business owned by a husband and wife team. The husband, a retired Navy man was in charge of the new employees. One of the first things he asked on day one is, “do you know how to make change?” Of course most of the HS students replied no and he would take us one by one to the counter, pull out money from the register and showed us how to make change. Then he would give us the fifty, tell us the bill $31.85 (or any imaginary number) and we must count back aloud as we gave him the correct change.  We all learned to make change, quickly, correctly and always counting it back as we handed it to the customer.  Once you learn it’s like riding a bike, you never forget.

There’s something to be said about being born in my generation. I learned math without the aid of a calculator, I learned how to type on a typewriter with blank keys and still to this day type without looking at the keyboard.  I can make change without the aid of a calculator or computer. I can balance a checkbook. I can do quick calculations in my head.  Maybe these are considered useless skills nowadays but I’m still glad I have them. One never knows when they might come in handy.

You know the gas clip on the nozzle? From state to state watching people pump gas I have found that men tend not to use the clip, unless they’re cleaning the windshield and women use it. Why is that?

Men just stand there aimlessly staring at nothing holding down the nozzle.

Well maybe not nothing, some watch the people go in and out that pay inside. Some turn around and watch ker ching ker ching as the numbers rapidly speed by and inwardly groan, "how much is this going to cost"? But for the most part they stand there doing nothing and waiting for the click that tells them they can safely remove their had from the nozzle. Maybe that is how the male brain is wired?

Now let’s go to the females. I rarely ever see a woman standing there holding onto the nozzle. No she uses the clip! We hate getting that nasty gas smell on our hands. Most of the time I will clean the windshield, I’m pretty anal about driving with dirty windows. If they’re clean than I get back in my vehicle and wait to hear the shut off sound. Back to the pump, "no I don’t want a receipt, car wash or anything else."

I live in a northern state where there is snow 4 months of the year. Spring and fall tend to be cold, so I wear gloves more months than not. I have all types of gloves, from snow shoveling, my daily black leather cashmere that I wear all winter, and gas pumping gloves that reside on the floor of the backseat.  Never ever make the mistake of pumping gas in good gloves, it’s a mistake you won’t repeat, take it from me.

What brought all this on? Today at the gas station.  I see a well dressed  man in business attire pumping gas.  I wish I could have snapped a photo from my cell phone to show you. He was holding the nozzle with one hand, talking on his cell phone with the other, and oblivious  didn’t care that he had failed to pull up next to the pump. Instead he pulled in at an angle making everyone go "carefully around him and his Hummer 2".

Don’t even get me going on that subject!!

The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. – Elizabeth Foley

As I was watering I noticed the little girl (3 year old) in her backyard where a sprinkler was on from earlier in the afternoon and the kids had been playing. She had changed from bathing suit to shorts and shirt. There was no one around, the other children had gone inside. I couldn’t help but watch as she stood there so serious looking at the sprinkler spraying it’s water into the air. I could tell she wanted to play in the water again.

She took off her shorts, then her panties and was going for her shirt when I heard both parents calling from the house, “COME INSIDE NOW”. And this went on for several minutes.  The little girl just stood there, bottomless looking at the water. Finally she put her clothes back on and went inside. Immediately the garage door went down, toys left outside and the kids didn’t  come out the rest of the evening.  During this entire exchange neither parent came outside.

I don’t know about you but this seemed such an odd way of handling this situation which was obviously upsetting to the parents. Why didn’t the Mother come out with the little girls bathing suit? Or tell her to put her panties on and then let her play in the water? We have big yards, in a very nice residential area, it’s not like anyone can even see their back yard except me (and only if I’m on my deck) and the neighbor on the other side of their house.

Early this morning the tree trimmer was at our house trimming the Bradford Pear,  their garage door went up and the toys left out last night were picked up. It’s been down the rest of the day and no children have been outside the entire day.  I feel sorry for the little girl being punished for something so innocent as wanting to run through the sprinkler naked. Something every 3 year old should be allowed to do without feeling ashamed.

Well yesterday I was on the treadmill with IPod playing. Seemed like I would have one fast upbeat song and then the next slower. Not something you want when on a treadmill! So I’m trying to hit next  the entire time. Made mental note MAKE PLAYLIST!!

Making the playlist is quite simple, don’t know why I procrastinated so long in doing so. Once I started dropping songs into the Exercise playlist I soon discovered I need more songs! I added a few last night from the iTunes store but would like to add more from classic rock/rock/pop/alternative genre.

If anyone has any great songs they listen to while walking/jogging please share. Here are a few of mine: (much nicer on the treadmill today)

* I Love Rock ‘N Roll – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
* December – Collective Soul
* Chris Daughtry – Home
* One Headlight – The Wallflowers
* White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
* How to Save a Life – The Fray
* All I Wanna do – Sheryl Crow
* I’m the Only One – Melissa Etheridge
* Vogue – Madonna
* Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol (not really that fast but I like the song)

When involved with computers for long, it is hard not to know about a web host deal and the phrase of dedicated hosting, particularly if you are pursuing a business opportunity online.

13 days till we leave for Playa del Carmen, whatever this is better be gone by then! We did purchase the cancellation insurance though, can cancel for any reason and get a full refund. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

Off to the couch and listen to the Sunday political talk shows. Who’s up, who’s down, Clinton and Obama slugging it out and John McCain trying to unite the GOP. Entertainment at it’s best, maybe it will put me to sleep.

(Tomorrow is President’s Day, thought it fitting to change the header to the Washington Monument).