"I had a monumentous thought this morning but I didn't like it." - Samuel Goldwyn

I laughed out loud. So did Pam.

Some days my brain goes crazy all day just because I'm ADD. Some days it runs wild because I come across so many cool things. But when both happen at the same time the result is almost more than I can handle.

WARNING: The following section contains a discussion that some people may find offensive and disgusting. Read on at your own risk.

I have a GREAT invention idea. But if I tell you about it you have to promise not to steal it and make my fortune.
Background: I think I mentioned that just before a Greyhound race the dogs are led by a handler, one at a time, out into a covered dirt area about 10' x 20' with a traffic cone in the middle. The dogs are trained to pee on the cone. But what they don't know, or don't care about, is that a track employee is standing behind them. He has a short pole with a small circular loop at the end. In that loop sits a plastic cup. The employee holds the pole so that the dog actually pees into the cup. The urine for each dog is set aside and after the race the pee of the winner and two random dogs is tested for drugs.

I take Al on a walk at least two times a day - morning and evening. Sometimes, like today, we go for a mid-day walk just because it does us both good. Al almost always poops on these walks. Being the good neighbor that I am I take along a plastic grocery bag and my trowel so I can bring back the results of his labors. Some people just take a bag and turn it inside out to pick up the poo but that totally grosses me out. I am NOT handling warm pucky even if I do have a plastic bag between it and me. Besides, he's still having digestive problems.

But I've been working this issue, because I'm also not fond of scooping it up with my trowel. It's too soft for that to be any fun! So, in a streak of inspiration fostered by desperation I've gotten pretty good at anticipating Al's urges. At the first sign of an elevated tail I throw open the plastic bag ... and catch it!!

The down side of this is that I have to place my person in very close proximity to Al's business end at a time when he's not especially pleasant in the fragrance dept. So, (drum roll, please) I'm going to make something that's a cross between the cup on a stick they use at the track and the pick-up stick they use to collect trash on the shoulder of the road.

It will come with a handle that extends, similar to the Popeil fishing rod, so that if you have a short dog it will extend to get under the dog's rear end. For Al it can be fairly short. Squeeze the trigger and a loop at the far end will open. This loop has a plastic bag attached to it, so that opening the loop also opens the bag.

Dog's tail goes up? The MacDonald Pooper Catcher goes to work! The owner pulls the trigger, the bag opens, catches the poo, and then closes when the trigger is released. The dog's owner takes one of the twist ties that comes with the box of disposable bags and seals the bag which is then removed from the Pooper Catcher and dumped in the trash at home.

Is that cool, or what??!

I don't know how to make a prototype. And I don't have all the design details worked out in my head. But this will sell!

That stroke of pure genius came to me when I was out with Al on our early morning walk. And it just went on from there.

I got deep into my study for Sunday's sermon, working the Greek and reading in my theologies. Got so exercised about what I was seeing that I called my dad to talk theology with him (he's forgotten more than I'll ever know). This topic deserves a lot more attention and discussion than is appropriate (or fits) in a sermon. So I'm going to write this one up as an article. It's a tough one to articulate but I enjoy challenging writing assignments and this topic needs to be discussed - a kind of 95 Theses, "throw it out there for discussion" device.

The curriculum gets closer to being done each day. This morning, with the help of my good friend and faithful editing partner we worked through another four chapters of both the student and teacher texts and only have five more to go. Meanwhile, I'm putting the final touches on other parts of the package. Will I have it ready to send out for production in two weeks??

I know that the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice is a big deal. But I wonder if we won't look back at Pres. Obama's actions on the economic front and decide that they were far more determinative for the country's direction than whoever he chooses to replace Souter. He fired the CEO of GM and boxed Chrysler into bankruptcy. As a result, the unions now own 55% of that company while Chrysler's creditors get whatever the bankruptcy court decides they deserve. Is that healthy? What does it portend for the willingness of investors to put their money into companies?
And if you think a partnership with Fiat is a good idea you should read the reliability ratings for that company. Fiat's reputation is so bad they are the brunt of bad car jokes in Europe.

As good as the Bulls/Celtics series has been - and it has been good! - neither team has a chance of making past the next round.

When I was in elementary school I walked a half mile to school. By myself. I rode my bike everywhere. In the summer my brother and I would ride two miles up to Roger & Jim's house and from there we'd go over to the elementary school and spend the afternoons have riding competitions that we made up. I went door to door in our neighborhood selling Christmas cards. By myself.
Now parents live in fear that their kids must not be out of their sight or the sight of a trusted adult lest they be attacked by a pervert. Ride their bikes around the neighborhood? Not until they're 15 (at which time they don't want to be caught dead on a bicycle).
This is nonesense. We have become hostages of an irrational fear that the statistical evidence simply doesn't support.

Today I read an article about "free range children." The author, a mother and unofficial leader of other mothers, has refused to surrender to this fear and allows her kids to be kids. The chances that something terrible will happen are statistically insignificant but the advantages to her kids are invaluable. They can explore, discover and play freely. They will grow in independence in ways a "safe" child never will.

I think there may be some parallels between the swine flu paranoia and our attitude about the dangers of being a child.
IMHO