Older And Wiser

Okay,  I'm all about safety... but this is kind of silly.   Utility companies everywhere require their workers to place orange cones around their vehicles when parked.  That's great for those big repair trucks... but even workers in minivans and sedans are placing orange cones out in the street when they stop for lunch at Pizza Hut.  "Back off, buddy.  We're the phone company!" Apparently,  the idea is to force service folks to walk around their vehicle before they drive off, but c'mon.   How about a little common sense? Apparently there's nothing unlawful about placing cones around your car,  so I'm getting a pair for my Buick LeSabre.   Watch out, Walmart shoppers.  

Okay, I know that sounds creepy, but hear me out.    There's a place in California where a doctor will pump you up with plasma from young donors... with the hope it that it will make you feel more vital, and slow the aging process.   No kidding.   Over the years, there have been a number of different studies--- mostly on mice-- which suggest that "young" blood introduced into the veins of an aging recipient could have restorative effects.   So this doctor in Monterey California is charging people $8000 for a bag of "young" plasma to drip into their veins.  And so far, no scientific proof that it works.    But what if it does?    Call me a bloodsucker, but if a bag or two of "young" blood that will make me young again... and I'll empty out the old savings account and head to Monterey.

These days you can watch a home movie of your grandchild any time you want, right on your phone.   And that's kinda nice,  I guess.    But when I was a kid,  we documented much less of our lives... so home movies were a very big deal.   Once a year,  my dad would get out the movie projector and a box of little 8mm film reels.  My mom would make popcorn, and turn out the lights.   It was fun to sit in the dark and watch the shaky images of our family riding a bike or building a snowman.  We had endless films of family vacations,  posing in our swimsuits and splashing in the surf.    We laughed at the same strips of movie film we'd seen a hundred times... no sound, just the grinding of the projector,  and our running commentary.   It reminded us of where we'd been,  of who we were,  and it's one of my favorite childhood memories.

Ever push an elevator button, only to have someone else walk up behind you and push it again?   I have trouble not taking this personally.  Yesterday, I said to a young man who followed my push with a few repeated jabs of his own, "Oh thank you, I wasn't quite sure how these new-fangled elevators work."   Is there something that makes us assume that the more you push the button, the faster it will come?  By the way, when the elevator arrived,  I stepped in and pushed a few extra buttons, and said... "Oh sorry.  Was that wrong?"