Throwing the baby out and drinking the bath water

After finishing a nice cold Coca-Cola on a warm, spring day, what do you do when you discover this at the bottom of the cup?

Buy some gum and hope you don't have nightmares.

It's too darn hot

It's not even Memorial Day and the temperatures have been over 90 the past three days. The humidity has become a suffocating wet wool blanket.  Those proclaiming this is great weather are generally those who work in air-conditioning or lie half-naked in the baking sun, expending no more energy than to lift a cool, refreshing beverage to their lips.

I spent several hours Sunday evening cooking brats over a hot charcoal fire for a fund-raiser for a local charitable organization.  No complaints here since I volunteered for the job, but usually the May event is a pleasant 70 degree evening, not 90 degrees.  I was soaked by the time I got home.

I'm a cool weather person; perhaps it's my Scandinavian genes, I hate summer and it's only beginning.

Eat well, dress well. It's all the same

Only a few days after my post about food permits for lingerie stores comes this story from Delish with many lovely pictures of edible clothing that don't involve undergarments.

Beware the bureaucrats...apparel stores will be next on their priority list for food sanitation.

Because it's hot and sultry here today

Friday pondering

Is it theft when an unknown party takes items from a pile of electronics left near the street curbing intended for a specific recycling company?

Here's the back story: Our small rural community has never had an electronics recycling day.  Larger towns in the area have special days for this, but theirs are often limited to residents of their own cities or we have to drag our items a distance of 25 miles or more to participate.

So I encouraged a local non-profit group to sponsor one in conjunction with our community clean-up, spruce-up week.  We had a very difficult time finding any recyclers willing to do this in a small town, but finally one agreed.  To encourage recycling and make it easy for residents, we arranged curb-side pickup. To help finance the effort, we charged a small donation for TVs based upon size.  Pickup of all other electronic items was free. Names and addresses requesting pickup were registered.

And so, one or more unknown people cherry-picked the items left near the curbs all over town before the recycling company arrived. Even items specifically flagged with red forms from the non-profit organization were taken. The recycling company was left with half the items originally registered, mostly pure junk, and the largest bulky TVs that couldn't be quickly and easily thrown into the trunk of a car. 

As a result, there probably won't be future electronics recycling days in our small town because a few bad apples have made it unprofitable for a recycling company to return.

Yes, it was theft from the recycling company and theft of any future recycling days for our residents.

If you're serving food, you must have a permit

In the interest of protecting the public, this lingerie store needs a $230  permit.

"It's not something you sit down and actually eat. It's more for licking and tasting."

Licking, tasting, nibbling, swallowing - it's all eating in the eyes of the government.  Make certain that your favorite dining spot has been government inspected.