Climbing up on Solsbury Hill, I could see the city light....

Some thoughts on a Monday evening as I listen to Peter Gabriel.

In an earlier blog, I was writing about the heat and high temperatures Orlando is experiencing. The area has not had much rain in the last two months, and drought conditions are high. I am hoping that we get some rain, since I do not want to experience what the central Florida area experienced in 1998 with all the forest fires.

Have you ever been on a camping trip, and you are sitting by the campfire. Then a sudden change in the wind occurs, and all that smoke hits you in the face. After getting a mouth and nose full of campfire smoke, you cough your lungs out. Now imagine walking out your front door in the morning and breathing air like that. That was what the conditions were like here in Orlando in June,1998. And if you have asthma, it makes it all the more unbearable.

I have used the word campfire in the last sentence. Now I am thinking of s'mores.

I was writing last week about taking ice down to the lake for the ducks. A fellow blogger thought I intended to feed the ducks ice. Here's the joke. Last week I was down at the lake and I was throwing bread to the ducks. I ran into a friend of mine, and we started to talk about how hot it was for April. We noticed that the ducks were sitting in the shade, and my friend suggested that maybe I bring ice down to the lake and put it in the water so the ducks would have cool water to swim in. That would take a lot of ice!

I was writing earlier about working the weekends at the theme park. As hot as it has been, a lot of beverages have been sold. I had high sales of bottled water, sports drinks, sodas, and even beer throughout the day. Just something cold to drink on a hot day. I have also noticed that the hotter it gets, some park guests get really irritable. Some people lose their train of thought. And some people look like Larry the Lobster after Eddie Murphy boiled him!

I have also noticed on days when the weather is cooler, park guests get irritable, and some people lose their train of thought. Thus, I have come to the conclusion that some people leave their brains at home when they leave for vacation. And some people are still assholes, even when they are suppose to be on vacation enjoying themselves.

Don't give up, you're not the only one.....

I believe there's a place, a place where we belong....

A blogger responded to what I wrote about bad drivers and road rage. It is scary when you have someone following you and playing games with you because of something you did or didn't do. I'm a big guy, and I can take care of myself. However,I am not going to get into a fight over some petty differences a bad driver may have with me. It is not worth it. If you don't like the way I drive, too bad. I have a great driving record, and I don't intend on messing it up.

Oh, here comes the flood...We will say good bye to flesh and blood...

And I was writing about television and Twin Peaks. I do not have cable, and a few bloggers rave about The Sopranos. I will have to get DVDs of the show and watch them just so I can see Little Steven. But for now, I am going to watch 24. I love the show, and I have always liked Kiefer Sutherland since The Lost Boys.

Red rain is coming down all over me...

Time to go. Take care, and I'll holler at you all later.

And in case your wondering, the lines from the Peter Gabriel songs are from Solsbury Hill, Don't Give Up, Here Comes The Flood, and Red Rain. All songs are from Shaking The Tree, a greatest hits CD available on the Geffen label.

And I am still thinking of Sherilyn Fenn.

While I was driving to work this morning, I was going through the radio channels on the FM dial. I came across the local "smooth jazz" station, and the disc jockey was playing the hypnotic theme to the old television show Twin Peaks.

If you do not remember the show, it was done by David Lynch, and played on ABC in 1990. The story revolved around an FBI agent investigating the murder of a young woman by the name of Laura Palmer. This happened in a small Northwestern town where everyone knew each other, or so you would think. And then things got strange. And the next episode would get even stranger.

As I was listening to the song, I was thinking of the midget that would dance at the end of the show. And for some reason, I had to have a piece of pie after my lunch.

The song has been in my head all day. And I am thinking of the actress who portrayed Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn). As the song plays in my head,I imagine Audrey dancing to the song. Naked.

I have to find that soundtrack!

Orlando set a record yesterday with a temperature of 93 degrees. In April. It was so hot yesterday that the ducks down by the lake were not even panhandling for bread crumbs. They just sat under the cypress trees in the shade.

I woke up this morning and it's 70 degrees. At 5:30 in the morning. It's going to be another hot one.

I think I'll take some ice down to the lake instead of bread crumbs.

On Monday I mentioned in my blog an incident that happened to me on my way to work. I start work at 6:00 a.m., so I am usually out the door and on the road by 5:45 a.m. As you know, it is still dark at that time, and sunrise is not until 6:30 a.m.

As I was driving to work, I came upon a part in the road where there is an S-curve. I drive this route every morning, so I am careful when I come upon this part of the road. As I came around the curve, a car approached in the opposite lane. The driver did not have his/her headlights on.

Now I know that there are times someone may be going to work only to find out that a headlight went out overnight. That has happened to me. After work, I buy a new headlight and install it. A friend of mine referred to this as driving "a one-eyed monster". What I am talking about, however, is that the person is driving in the dark with no headlights on because they choose not to turn them on.

In the words of Dr. Phil, "What are you thinking?!"

I see a lot of this, and I am trying to figure out the reasoning behind this. When I drive, I pay attention to the road, especially driving through a residential area and children are present. And if it is dark, I want to be able to see the road and what is in the surrounding area.

There have been times when I am out and I see someone sitting at the red light, and no headlights on. One evening I was out,a police officer in the opposite lane had to get on their loudspeaker and tell the driver across from them to turn their headlights on.

As I drive, I not only see this but other bad driving habits as well. Drivers going through stop signs or red lights. People constantly changing lanes, back and forth. Drivers tailgating the automobile ahead of them. People who are in a hurry and pass a vehicle in a no passing zone, with an oncoming vehicle approaching. And I have seen people drive way over the speed limit, especially in a residential area.

I have a fairly safe driving record. Now I am not going to lie and say that I have never gone over the speed light, or that I never stepped on the gas when the traffic light turns yellow. But I am seeing people doing stupid things while they drive, and it has taken the enjoyment away from driving. It has gotten to a point where I cannot even take a leisurely Sunday drive without dealing with a bad driver. And if you honk at them, they give you the finger. Or worse.

When I get behind the wheel of an automobile at night, I turn my headlights on. I want to see what is in front of me if I have to make a sudden stop. Especially when someone's child should run out onto the road.

A woman is having a problem with the family dog. Whenever the dog sleeps, it snores really loud. This gets very annoying. She decides that the dog has a problem and takes the dog to the animal hospital.

The veterinarian examines the dog and tell her that the dog's snoring is not a serious problem and can be cured with a simple procedure.

"And what simple procedure will stop my dog from snoring?", she asks.

The vet then tells her to take a ribbon and tie it around the dog's testicles, and he will stop snoring immediately.

"Yeah, right!", says the woman.

Later that night, the dog's snoring wakes her up from a sound sleep. She is so mad, she takes a red ribbon and ties it around the dog's testicles. Sure enough, the dog stops snoring.

"Well I'll be damn!", she says to herself. She then goes back to bed.

Later that night, her husband comes home drunk from a night out with the boys. He plops down on the bed and immediately falls asleep. Shortly thereafter, he begins to snore loudly. This wakes his wife up for the second time this evening. And she is pissed!

Looking at the dog sleeping quietly, she then gets an idea and finds some blue ribbon. She ties it around her husband's testicles, and sure enough, he quits snoring.

Later on, the husband wakes up and staggers into the bathroom to relieve himself. Looking down at his privates, he sees the blue ribbon and becomes confused. Walking out of the bathroom, he looks down at the dog who is asleep with a red ribbon tied around his testicles.

"I sure don't remember what happened tonight old buddy.", the man says to the dog. "But by God, we took first and second place!"