How I Feel Sometimes When Someone Tells Me To Do Something

Wally: [Driving a car despite the fact he is completely blind.] How am I doin?

Dave: Don’t look at me! Watch the road!

Wally: Oh! If it’ll make you feel better.

– See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)

That’s The Next Thing For Me To Work On

I’ve learned to enjoy the rain even those times when I’d have preferred a sunny day . . . if I wasn’t the one responsible for the rain.

Because, Like It Or Not, We’ve All Been Both

What concerns me about the proverb I mentioned yesterday is knowing there have been times I’ve been the axe, but not knowing exactly how many times.

Now I’m Dizzy, Thanks!

My friend: Okay, so you know how the Earth is rotating at a high rate of speed, and that means we are all moving along with it. Then factor in how the Earth is orbiting the Sun at an even higher rate of speed, and that we’re also moving at that speed along with it at the same time. Now keep in mind that our solar system is rotating along with our galaxy at an even higher rate of speed, and even if we stop there that leaves of us moving at high speeds in three different directions at once even when we’re sitting still . . . but it’s probably not a good idea to tune into that concept.

Me: *promptly tunes into that concept*

So I’m Just Going To Say Congratulations!

The Voice of Humor: He’s engaged to someone named Miranda? So . . . many Miranda Rights jokes . . .

The Voice of Experience: . . . that she, at least, has already heard way too many times before.

Something I Overheard Today

“If there’s no family drama in your family, especially around the holidays, everyone else agrees that the problem is you and there’s no point even talking about it anymore.”

(I don’t necessarily agree with this, but much like, “There’s always one weirdo on the bus; if you don’t see them, it’s you!”, it’s something worth considering from time to time.)

Two Related Insights From My Day

Sometimes you just don’t know how much you are influencing someone else’s life. Sometimes you find out a few simple words of encouragement to an acquaintance meant more to them than you could have possibly imagined, and sometimes you are disrupting someone’s rest because you will not stop opening and closing your damn door!

So I Have A Higher Standard To Shoot For

While I’m out biking I sometimes think, “I shouldn’t expect to be as good at this as when I was a kid.”

And I really shouldn’t.

Because when I was a kid my grandmother could not only outride me, she could easily outride me!

(Riding every day on a one-speed bike when you live in hill country will help you do that.)

The Closest Thing I’ve Got To That Here Are Speedbumps

Today I was out biking and found myself thinking, “I remember going faster on a bike when I was a kid.”

Before I let myself get down on myself about that thought though, I also remembered that where I rode a bike as a kid had actual hills to ride down.

Spoiler Alert: It Would Have Been Better To Change Tactics

The other day I was watching someone talk about why battle casualties were so high in World War I compared to prior wars. In their opinion, one of the main reasons was because there was a general feeling that the battle tactics being used were “tested, tried, and true,” and therefore if they failed, it was “obviously” the fault of the soldiers, so there was no need to change the tactics. If the soldiers were only “stronger, braver and truer,” the tactics would “naturally” work the next time.

Or the next time . . . or the time after that . . . or maybe the time after that . . . but eventually!