Category Archives: Random Thoughts

The Waiting Room

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Today while waiting for my turn to see the orthopedic surgeon about my hockey injured shoulder I decided that the next best sitcom, yet to be written, has to be based on the characters and the things they say and do while waiting in a doctor’s waiting room.  Today I found myself wishing that I had my ear buds with me so that I could appear to be listening to music, so as to avoid conversation with anyone, while listening in on their conversations and activities.  Some would call it eavesdropping, however given the volume at which they were talking there is no eavesdropping about it.  To start off there was the woman playing family feud on her phone with the volume cranked to full and he friend providing assistance over her shoulder trying to help her spell Harvard, unsuccessfully, while apparently being spotted the H–V-RD.  Then there was the overweight lady, with the extremely obnoxious and loud ring tone going off for what appeared to be an eternity, but she wasn’t able to answer as she couldn’t reach it in her front pocket while wedged into the wheel chair.  Then came in a very well built older man standing about 6’5″ using a walking stick that appeared to be the staff used by Little John in the tales of Robin Hood.  This man called everyone young man, in a friendly way, and was an expert on everything from the traffic to local politics to the fine art of jujitsu.  Fortunately he gathered the attention of another young man and left me to my observations.  Finally there was the middle aged man that thought he was better than everyone else and couldn’t believe he was…oh wait, that was me.

I’m telling you, there is television gold waiting in just about every waiting room.  I’m thinking it is time to team together with Angie (first born of two sisters*) for her stories and start reaching out to Hollywood**.

*After referencing Angie in a previous post I was informed that I am no longer to refer to her as my older sister, even though she is.

**Do you still have to go to Hollywood to get a show run?  Burbank maybe?

Observations From The Ice Pack

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So Dallas was hit with what now feels like an annual ice storm for the ages effectively shutting down the entire metroplex.  School was canceled on Friday, the boys’ indoor soccer and basketball games were canceled on Saturday, today Mason’s ICE hockey game was canceled (irony), and the schools have shut down again already for tomorrow.  Since I own a large 4×4 bus I found it not important to stay at home and so I ventured out on Friday to a target store with no power for lights or refrigeration in the dairy or freezer areas, but enough to run the scanners and registers.  On Saturday Mason and I ventured to the Stars game that was much below 50% capacity, and today we ventured to the rink only to receive the cancelation notice as we were exiting the highway.  While I was out I made several observations that I now feel obliged to share with you listed in no particular order.

  • There are more effective ways to remove ice from your car than banging a pot on it
  • When you do remove ice from your car, it is usually best to remove more than just the 20% of the windshield that covers your face effectively leaving your windshield 80% covered before hitting the highways
  • Driving 60 mph and then locking up your brakes before EACH and EVERY overpass generally isn’t the correct way to avoid wiping out
  • It is called four wheel drive, NOT four wheel stop
  • As this happens almost annually, it might be time for municipalities to invest in a plow to attach to the front of the sand trucks
  • While on the topic of sand trucks, perhaps a higher mixture of salt than sand would be in order
  • When driving on the highways and the lanes are clearly marked, perhaps it is best to actually use the lanes
  • Sometimes taking your foot off the gas is brake enough
  • When you decide to take a “side” road because it would be more interesting you should recall the s-curve about half way down that may push you towards the ditch (full disclosure: I didn’t panic and I managed to avoid the ditch, but I did almost need to change my pants before arriving at the Stars game)
The Dallas metroplex on Friday evening

The Dallas metroplex on Friday evening