Does the FDA have nothing better to do than make up new rules to screw with us? The latest is they are banning cheese that is aged on wood. Why? These cheeses have been made for hundreds if not thousands of years. I am sure that someone somewhere has probably gotten sick by an eating cheese that was contaminated but really is this the biggest concern they should be working on? How about all these weird drugs being sold at head shops calling themselves bubble bath or spice. How about weird stuff being put in our food? How about the quality of our food sources? There are people in the world who eat sheep guts or fish mixed with lye or head cheese why is cheese wood the worst thing they can think of?

Today is supposedly national “Iced Tea” day. I am not sure who gets to designate these days but I am sure it is someone who is highly paid to make such stupid decisions. Why should we have a day for Iced Tea, isn’t just about everyday over the temperature of 80 degrees an Ice Tea day? Maybe some organization like Lipton paid some money to get the day but why should I celebrate something not really in need of defending? Another question is if they let ice tea have a day do they have to give equal time to cool-aid? Is it like political ads where the day keepers have to keep it on the “up-and-up” by not showing favorites? I was not in favor of the UN taking over the Internet but maybe this is a task they could handle. That way the incumbents who are up for reelection can say they reduced the size of our government.

Today on the way to work as I came around a corner several large trucks parked on the side of the road. These trucks had large flatbed trailers on them carrying several carnival rides. One had large brightly colored elephants the other red and green bucket style seats, which looked like they belonged to a Ferris wheel. Many people would look at those and smile possibly remembering fun times from their youth; I on the other hand cringed. I have no idea why I see a carnival as a scary thing. You would think I had been carried off by clowns as a baby and forced to become a carny! Yet nothing like that ever happened. Carnivals which setup in a usually empty parking lot and malls do not draw me in, they make me go to the other side of the mall and park. I remember a cartoon my kids were watching once which jokingly stated that the only laws carnivals had to follow were the laws of physics. Maybe my fear is not of the rides or the questionable gypsy status of the operators, maybe it is the possibility that hiding within their stable of attractions a clown could be lurking!

While we were listening to the College president speak at my son’s graduation ceremony he brought up all the slogans we see on the walls of all the public educational establishments. Great platitudes like, “reach for the stars” or “dream big dreams”. All of these statements meant to inspire the students of the institution to rise up and reach some measure of greatness. I question as he did, the real meaning and reason for these, but I also wonder if they even work. What is the motivation for someone to go on to greatness? What if they put up posters that said, “go make millions!” or how about “Go crush everyone else!” would these motivate the students to greatness? There are a billion books out there that talk about the habits of successful people or the things they did that made them successful, but I don’t see guides that tell me how to keep plugging away at your dreams when they are more like a boulder around your neck. Sometimes our dreams let us down, they never work out how we plan, but some keep trying long after others give up. Some one told me that most people probably don’t realize how close they are to achieving their dream when they give up. That is a good thing to remember when you feel your dream just isn’t going to happen!

Nothing gets my blood boiling like trying to make printers work right. They are one of the most frustrating pieces of technology. Not only are they frustrating but the way people attempt to work with them makes them even more fun! If your job didn’t print the first time for example, why would you try five more times? If you walk up to the printer and the printer didn’t print your job, why would you not look at the display screen to see if there is an error message? If the printer has a jam, can you not look to see if you can remove the jam yourself? I get that some people are afraid of computers and printers. I also know that some people are like sledge hammers and they are sure to break something if they attempt to fix a jam, but let’s be real about the real priority of you getting the printer fixed now. I know your lunch directions or coupons for a free lipstick with your purchase are vital to the companies operations. I also am aware that your meeting which you waited till the last-minute to prepare for won’t be the same without your charts in full color, but unless your company only has one printer, you can get up out of your chair and walk to the next printer without much effort. As soon as I fix it you can get all five printings to fill the recycle bin with.

• There have been quite a few dystopia movies lately. Dystopia’s are the movies which have a bleak outlook of our future. They usually show big cities all destroyed and animals roaming the streets, which I find hard to believe they would want to run on the pavement but I don’t make the movies or the books I just watch them. As I was watching one the other day I noticed that most of them have some things in common. Most of the bad guys seem to be able to still have cars. I can’t imagine that someone is still refining gas, thou they could probably just run the cars on cheap made alcohol. And they must have welding equipment because they are always able to armor plate the cars that they have. One thing that I never see either the good guys or the bad guys having is bicycles. If our country is destroyed and everyone has to walk wouldn’t they make up some cheap leg powered transportation? One movie a blind guy is walking clear across the country, he can shoot people and kill them without his sight, he even has an iPod but no bicycles could be found to make the trip easier? In one from a while ago they make an airplane, but no one has figured out how to put two wheels under a seat? I hope that the future isn’t like any of these movies but if it is I am going to figure out some way to do a lot less walking.