Happy Groundhog Day!

I guess Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow at 7:28 a.m. So that means the weather will be moderate for the next six weeks. In case you are wondering, Punxsutawney is derived from the Native American Indian words "ponksad" and "uteney". Put together, it means "the town of the sandflies". No kidding. This is what I found when I looked it up on stormfax.com.

I usually do not get excited about a large rodent seeing its shadow or not, but what makes me laugh is how all these other cities across the nation have their own groundhog. And the groundhog is given a name that begins with the first letter of the city.

Many years ago when I lived in Cleveland, the Cleveland Zoo had a groundhog by the name of Cleveland Chuck. I do not know if they still have the groundhog, or woodchuck, for that matter. Even though Punxsutawney Phil would determine whether we had six more weeks of winter, employees from the zoo would drag Chuck's sorry ass out of his hole for the media to see. Then if he saw his shadow, that would mean six more weeks of winter. Upon hearing this, many Clevelander's reaction would be "Fuck Chuck!"

Now that I live in Orlando, we don't have an "Orlando Oscar" or "Orlando Oswald". The Central Florida Zoo is in Sanford, so I do not know if the Zoo has a "Sanford Sammy".

Since this is Florida, we probably have to find out if an alligator has seen his shadow or not. I would not want to be the zoo employee who is to determine this. I will leave that for someone else.

I think if the alligator is up moving around and does not see his shadow, that means it is a moderate winter and off to the next lake to find a mate. If the alligator is lying in the swamp and sees his shadow, six more weeks of winter and the mate is going to have to wait.

So Happy Groundhog Day! Phil didn't see his shadow. I didn't hear what happened with Chuck. But if he saw his shadow, I know some Clevelanders that will want to feed him to the alligators.

Over the last few days, I couldn't help but notice a few things while driving around town. I may sound like Andy Rooney, but does anyone have any answers for the following questions:

Why is it that when I leave for work on time, I get all the green lights? But when I am running late, I get all the red lights?

Why is it that when I leave for work on time , I have no one in front of me and I can make a right hand turn on red. But when I am running behind and I am late for work, I cannot make a right hand turn on red because I either have someone in front of me who is going straight, or there is suddenly all this traffic going in my direction.

Why is it that when I drive past a 7-11, there are one or two cars in the parking lot. But when I decide to pull in for a cup of coffee to go, all the parking spaces are full. And when you go in, there are no customers standing at the register. But when you get your coffee and approach the register, all twelve customers approach at the same time.

And why is it whenever I go into a grocery store, there is always someone standing in front of what you want to get. There can be only you and one other person in the store, and they just happen to be standing in front of the item you need. And they stand there looking stupid because they haven't figured out what the hell they want. I know what I want, so get the hell out of the way.

Inquiring minds want to know. If you have any answers, I appreciate it. Now if you excuse me, I have work to do.

Where's my coffee?

I always watch the news when I am eating dinner. Hey, I'm a bachelor. I'm allowed to do this. And it beats eating over the kitchen sink.

Anyway, one evening last week,I left the television on after the evening news was over and gathered up my dishes to take to the sink and wash. A syndicated talk show came on with a video that was said to be "disturbing". It was a recently shot video of a group of teen age girls beating up another teen age girl. Apparently, the video was available for viewing on the internet.

The host of the television show was talking to administrators from that school district about the video and what action the school district was going to take against the girls who assaulted this girl. As the interview went on, the video was constantly replayed.

A few days later, I am watching the local news. The broadcast begins with a story about a "disturbing" video shot in Melbourne, Florida, shows a group of teenage girls beating up another girl. Apparently, they were beating the girl up because she had something to do with one of the girls' boyfriends. The tape has been shown over and over, day after day.

What I find "disturbing" is the fact that not only has the talk show and local news aired the video, but kept replaying it. I feel bad for the victims of these attacks, and I could not imagine the humiliation the victims felt about the video being downloaded on the internet for someone's amusement. But imagine how it must feel to have to see that video being broadcast on television for all to see.

It is sunny here in Florida. However, the temperature is currently 40 degrees in downtown Orlando. New Smyrna Beach has a current temperature of 37 degrees. This may sound like a warm day to some, but when you go from a high of mid 80 degree temperatures to this in a few weeks, it's cold!

Something tells me that ice cream sales at the amusement parks will be down. And I have a feeling there will not be much surfing taking place along the coast. And with all the tourists we have in the Central Florida area, there are probably a few tourists right now at the outlet mall shopping for a winter coat while they walk around and mumble about leaving their winter garments up north.

In the meantime, I'll just stay inside and have another coffee. And maybe later I will go down to the theme park and watch the tourists walk around and mumble while gazing at the auburn sky. And meanwhile, have another beer.

All from the warm interior of the English pub, of course. Besides, all our friends are here.

It has been busy at work these past few weeks. I am taking a coffee break on this Friday morning after putting a desk back together. The painters from Facilities Management are here at the neighborhood center painting the offices, so that means we have been moving furniture all week.

The Recreation department moved into its new facility last week,
so there was plenty of furniture that needed to be moved. Some of the administrators have received new furniture for their new offices.So any furniture that was left over , we could move into our center. Grab and growl, as I always say. Especially when it comes to moving furniture. Or eating.

And my friend whom I wrote about last week is moving into the new facility as well, so now he is happy. I won't have to listen to him bitch and moan anymore until a new problem comes up. Or if the Red Wings and Pistons start a losing streak.

Our facility supervisor picked out a desk from the downtown office, so she gave her desk to the recreation specialist. And since our recreation specialist has a desk to get rid of, I may just have to inquire about what is to become of that desk. I think I can find some space for it.

As for the clay classes, we will be starting the classes up in a few weeks. Monday, I went down to the studio to throw some pots. It was the first time I have been on a potters wheel in seven years.



Needless to say, any attempts at making what resembled a cat food dish did not happen. I will have to try again at a later time. Meanwhile, we have a potters wheel here at work. I need to test it and see if it is working properly, and I also need to test the kiln as well. It will be fun to get a studio up and running at the neighborhood center.

Well, I have to get going. I have plenty of furniture to move.

Hopefully, I can get a desk out of the deal.