When the boys were young we took annual camping vacations up the west coast. Pam and I would sometimes play a "game" we made up to pass the time as we drove for several hours each day. One of us would say a two-word phrase and the other had to respond to it, the last word of the first phrase serving as the first word of the second phrase.
Hall of Fame - Fame and Fortune - Fortune 500 - 500 Miles - Miles Davis - Davis.....(?)
Sometimes a thread would last only a few words, or they might go on a surprisingly long time. It was never really about winning or losing, and we'd often give suggestions if the other got stuck. We did it as a light mental exercise. We still do from time to time. Give it a try with someone.
I started out at a home downtown looking at making modifications for his wife who will come home in a couple of weeks from post-stroke therapy. She'll be in a wheelchair, so ramps, doorways and the bathroom will need attention. Fascinating man. He was born in India where his English family had lived for 150 years. He was 17 when the British granted India independence. His wife was also born there in a British family that had lived there for generations. I don't know how long they stayed there after the end of colonialism, but they lived for years in Ohio. He's an engineer and now owns a company here that makes huge bolts for use in very large machines.
The tub will come out, the drain relocated and a pour done so it can be tiled. Some of you may remember that I did a very similar job last summer. I called her to find out who she used as a plumber and tile setter. Turns out she was going to call me. The tile guys put wall tile on the floor and called to say they need to come back and fix that. She's worried about the fancy and somewhat fragile vanity I installed, and what damage may be done to that in the process. She's undertandably and justifiably upset. I may be going back to take the vanity out before the tile guys come in.
Just to the east of us is the city of Peoria, a suburb of Phoenix (you can't tell when you go from one to the other), with a population of about 150,000. I read online this evening that all the Peoria fire trucks will now carry oxygen masks for dogs and cats. Aw, come on. Cats?!
In the "eeuw" category, there's a debate raging in England about the release of medical history to adults conceived through artificial insemination. One of the lawmakers cited an example to make his case that those adults should be able to learn who their biological parents were. Fraternal twins were separated at birth. They met as adults, felt an immediate connection to each other and ... you guessed it ... married. As soon as they found out about it the marriage was annuled, but those poor people. How do you get that out of your psyche?
It's not unusual to see those monstrous motor homes here, what they call a Class A, the kind that looks like a customized Greyhound. I saw one today pulling a large "toy hauler" trailer. That got me to thinking about how rich we are as a nation. When I was a little kid no one I knew had two cars. I don't remember when a car for every household driver became the norm. I also don't remember when it became unremarkable for a family to own recreational vehicles - snowmobiles, quads, jet skis, motorcycles, or all-of-the-above. But at least driving the streets and freeways of the Phoenix area makes it difficult to buy into the notion that our country has a dangerously weak economy. We may have a population that over spent, is up to their eyeballs in debt and clueless about the virtue of saving, but I'm not sure we can blame those troubles on a weak economy. I'm thinking it may be the other way around.
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