More Random Thoughts

No general topic this month, just a bunch of completely random things that have crossed my mind.

Is there anything more annoying than that gummy adhesive stuff used to attach coupons you get in the mail on the flyers from department stores? I want to recycle the flyers but worry that the adhesive will gum up the works. I worry too much.

One of my many pet peeves is when I pull into a gas station and the attendant shows up by my window, takes my credit card, fills my tank, hands me back the card and receipt and never says a word. How about a thank you? If NJ made us pump our own gas, you wouldn't have a job, pal, so express some degree of gratitude, OK?

Is it just me or does everyone have trouble opening those thin plastic bags in the produce aisle? I always want to wet my fingers before I try, but I wouldn't like someone else doing that and then touching the produce.

I will continue to ignore those annoying warnings from my printer that I need to change my cartridge because I only have 90 pages left to print. Printing 90 pages could take me months!

I feel terrible: I just cheated on my car dealer and had the oil changed on my convertible at Quick (or is it “Kwik”?) Lube. But in my defense, these folks are completely as advertised – QUICK! I was in and out of there before I could finish reading the sports section in the Star-Ledger, and I didn’t have to impose on anyone for a drop-off or a pick-up. Not sure how I’ll handle this the next time I go to the dealer for maintenance. I guess I’ll start by peeling off that new sticker they slapped on the windshield. Hmmm.

If you live in Hillsborough, you have to drive with your eyes constantly scanning the road for deer. I know the reflection of a deer's eye versus any mailbox on my route. You have to around here, or you'll wind up hitting one. Yet they stand there and stare at you as you drive by, almost daring you to hit them, as if they had a lawyer waiting in the woods ready to sue you for deer abuse if you do. Now, wild turkeys can be added to my personal wild kingdom. I saw one trotting down Willow Road the other day.

It took me 61 years to eat my first clementine, and I wish I had started sooner. They are a great snack size, easier to peel than oranges, rarely have seeds and are delicious. Why did I wait so long?

I notice lately at the meetings I attend that there are more healthy choices available. Instead of bowls of M&Ms and pretzels, there are raw carrots and trail mix. I guess my being on Weight Watchers is having a good effect on the people with whom I meet. Sure do miss those M&Ms, but it is much easier not having them on the table, tempting me.

For those of you losing or trying to lose weight, don’t you wish you weighed now what you weighed when you first realized you needed to lose weight? We’d all be so much closer to where we want to be.

Do you ever notice that when you drive on a familiar route, you get to your destination without recalling how you got there? I might not remember making the required turns, but I end up where I am supposed to be. I'll just assume the car knows the way.

Speaking of which, often when I check the speedometer, it will be at exactly the speed limit without my having realized it. Again, the car is so familiar with the route that it not only knows the way, but it knows exactly how fast to go. Or it is possessed?

Another pet peeve: Why is the lighting on TV shows so dim? Who works in an office in real life that isn’t flooded with florescent light? Yet when we see characters on TV, you can barely make them out because the lighting is so dark.

Chills and fever = The meanest, most demonic couple since Boris and Natasha. No joke. The combination is more than a pain.

Flu = no appetite = weight loss. This practice is not recommended or endorsed by Weight Watchers, but hey, there has to be some silver lining to this cloud.

So Snooki (from "Jersey Shore," for those of you not in the know) is with child. I can think of no better endorsement for birth control.

A side effect of Tamiflu, the medication I am taking for my bout of flu, may be memory loss. Now, what was I saying? And will I remember to take it?

Imagine that the generation of kids growing up now will never have licked a stamp. They have probably only seen the “forever” variety. And they certainly won’t see any with 6¢ on them.

There are a few things I hate doing in life -- peeling an orange and shaving my legs come to mind -- but I have to confess I don't mind in the least doing my laundry. You throw it in the washer, pop it in the dryer, and, when you are done, you have fresh smelling, clean stuff to put away. Ironing, well that's another matter, but laundry is OK by me. It feels so good when you are done.

Pet Peeve -- I can't stand it when people say, "I think the point I was trying to make was..." You think the point was whatever? Shouldn't you know your own point?

Am I the only person who is bothered by the incorrect use of single quotes? I see them used in headlines and ads all of the time when conventional double quotation marks should be used. This misuse drives me crazy but also reminds me of what wonderful English teachers I had in grade school and high school. They taught me everything I know about grammar and punctuation.

Don’t you hate it when you are watching some TV program and you fall asleep just at the end? Did they win the big case? Who was the murderer? Who’s going home this week on "Biggest Loser?" That’s why I record so much on the DVR. I am constantly replaying the recording to find the answers to these burning questions.

Every time we change the clocks – in spring or fall – my sister and I have a conversation about what time we it is when we wake up the next day. “Is that new time or old time?” is the inevitable question. I love that extra hour in the fall – especially when I was working and totally sleep deprived. When we used to change the clocks at the end of October, I considered it my own personal birthday present since my birthday is October 28.

I watch a lot of ESPN SportsCenter, and for a while all I heard was Tim Tebow, Tim Tebow, Tim Tebow. Then we went to Linsanity, which, sadly lasted too short a time. And now it is Peyton Manning time. If Peyton signs with Denver, what’s Tim Tebow to do?