Just Like

Just like flowers

Just like sunsets

Just like waves crashing on a rocky shore

Just like a walk down a shady lane

                          On a blazing hot day

Just like colorful tropical fish

Just like the aroma of fresh baked bread

Just like the view from the 86th floor

Just like hot chocolate with little marshmallows

                                             On a cold winters day

Just like an engrossing book on a long flight

Just like kittens

Just like puppies

Just like the flash of orange, brown, yellow and gold

                                                        On trees in the fall

Slightly Crazy Weather

 

Up And At 'Em

Nothing gets one out of bed quicker

Than waking up next to someone you know

But never actually wanted 

To wake up next to.

Unintentionally Sadly Funniest Thing I've Read All Week

   Read an article this morning about former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Michael Madigan (D, Ill.)

   The article was somewhat of a recanting of a tragedy, and I'm using the definition of tragedy as it applies to the commission of a serious crime.

    The serious crime(s) that was/were committed (I am not writing "allegedly" here due to the fact that the gentleman was convicted of Federal bribery, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges in a trial that lasted over four months and featured an overwhelming amount of evidence (taped conversations, documents, photographs) and testimony from sixty (60) witnesses) were enough to grab headlines at least nationwide, if not globally. 

   Or at least should have been, but I'm betting this is the first you are hearing about it - makes one wonder what the gazillion content-hungry news media sites on the web are reporting on. Let me check real quick:

   Oh yeah...Car Sun Shades Make A Difference On A Hot Summers Day, Trump Bad, The Best Sales To Shop This Weekend, Trump Bad, Oldest Heavy Metal Icons Still Alive, Trump Bad, 15 Embarrassing Red-Carpet Moments, Trump Bad, Flight Attendants Say Not To Wear Shorts, Diddy Bad, Punk Icon Posts Tribute To Brian Wilson, Florida Bad, Israel Drone Strikes Hit Iran, Iran Drone Strikes Hit Israel, Texas Bad, Ukraine Hospitals hit by Russian Drones, Russian Military Bases hit by Ukranian Drones, Funk Revolutionary Sly Stone Dies At 82, Trump Gets Military Parade, No Kings, Shark Attacks Swimmer, 5 Clever Ways To Use A Leaf Blower, Trump Bad, Heatwave Predicted For Next Week, Help Eliminate Tartar From Your Dogs Teeth, Trump Bad, Costco Benefits You Didn't Know You Had...

   Wait a minute...right there on MSN.com...if you scroll down past the articles about The 14 Must-Have Albums Every Rock Fan Should Own and What Makes Jimi Hendrix Such A Good Guitarist and Ten Funny Pun Signs That Will Make You Laugh, there it is, on your far right...The Longest-Serving Legislative Leader In The U.S. Will Be Sentenced On Corruption Charges...28 sentences dedicated to a recap of a trial that began in October of 2024, was concluded in February of 2025, and has finally reached the sentencing phase.   

   And this is the first time you are hearing about it. The single-most powerful elected official in the sixth most populous state in the U.S. being convicted of fairly grievous crimes...the man had a fifty (50!) year career in the illinois legislature (forty of those years as House Speaker), and was Chairperson of the Illinois Democratic Party for twenty (20!) years...setting the political agenda for the entire state, handpicking candidates for political office, in complete control of the manipulation of legislative and congressional lines every ten years to favor his political party...and this is the first time you are hearing about it.

   Okay, I'm making a gross generalization, some of you may have heard about this from the get-go and have followed it as closely as you follow your favorite sports team or favorite celebrity-centric television program...but I asked 12 random people at my gym this morning, a woman that was getting coffee at the Q-Stop when I was, and two guys I work with about this very topic and not one person had heard about it. Heck, the woman I asked at the Q-Stop mused for a second and then asked if I was talking about the Illinois governor that was caught trying to sell Obama's U.S. senate seat...which, FYI, was Rod Blagojevich and happened 17 years ago...I gave her a half-point for remembering that fiasco though.

   But I digress...back on topic. The unintentionally Sadly Funniest Thing I've read all week was a quote from one of Michael Madigan's lawyers pleading for leniency in sentencing for his client.

   That quote was, "Mike Madigan is a good man who has selflessly done an exceptional amount of good for others. He is widely respected for his dedication to honesty and integrity."

   That right there..."widely respected for his dedication to honesty and integrity"...that is the unintentionally sadly funniest thing I've read all week.

   See, this is why it's important to get good legal representation when you are on trial...good legal representation will lie for you and distort reality like a psychopath on medical grade cocaine.

Gotta Get Goin', Hoping Like Everyone Else That I'll Get It Right

   Today is one of those rare days that have me flummoxed.

As in, I have no idea where I should start with all the various projects I have in front of me.

   To paraphrase the immortal words of Mike Reno & Paul Dean of the Canadian rock band Loverboy, I guess I better start from the start.

   Yeah, that lyric, so succinct and insightful.

Sacrifices Would Have To Be Made

                                                   

She didn't want him to go away 

Forever

Just for a few months, or maybe a year

Just long enough so the desire 

She once felt for him

Could return

'cause she knew it would return

 It always did

Just as the feeling that she wanted him to be gone 

Would

She wished she could find a way to explain

That it wasn't his fault 

It was nothing he did

She had not met someone 

Better than him

She hadn't found someone

 Who was more attractive

Or funnier

Or sexier

Or more dependable

She just had gotten to the point where she knew

They had to be apart for awhile 

And she had no idea why

She just knew that being apart was the only way 

They would have a chance 

Of staying together

For the long haul

 

The Fleeting Fancy Of Being Asea

For the briefest of periods in the early months of 1992

He had considered fulfilling one of his wildest dreams

That of finding work as an ordinary seaman on a merchant ship

His thoughts in those short few weeks focused on what he'd have to do

In order to get aboard a ship and become part of the crew

He was sure he could keep watch, swab the deck or maybe work as a cook

The idea of being at sea and working on a boat under sail

Thrilled him as much then as it did when he was a little kid

Standing on the docks and watching as the ships came and went 

Eventually the feeling passed and he returned to his usual routine

Of going to work, watching the news, reading a popular book

It would be years before he returned to the shore 

  

And Here You Thought It Was Only You The World Had It In For

Franklin got up when his alarm went off and stepped on a Lego as he made his way to the bath.

Nora made it all the way back to her desk before anyone told her the hem of the back of her skirt was caught in the band at the top of her panties.

Floyd violently sneezed at the exact moment the car in front of him braked suddenly, resulting in him rear-ending that car...a 2024 convertible Corvette.

Alice seemed to forget how to speak right in the middle of a presentation to the board, held her breath as she tried to look as if she was recalculating figures while desperately trying to remember what she was going to say, then promptly fainted. 

Luella had been certain she had mailed out her completed tax returns in early April...until she found them wedged above the passenger side sunvisor in mid-May when she decided to let Carl drive them home from the Realtor's office.

Lester thought he was having a great day - he worked from home and was doing great, filling orders and prospecting online for new business, feeling productive and sure his employer would notice and that a raise was no doubt in the works. When his cell started ringing and it was the ringtone he reserved for his boss, he was smiling as he answered. He greeted his boss with an enthusiastic Hello! that oozed charm...his smile faded though as his boss explained that the company released the quarterly performance reports today, which had revealed that the division he was part of was bleeding money like a stuck pig and thus was being shut down and every employee was being let go, effective immediately.

Mayetta had been trained to use the forklift. She had demonstrated considerable skill with the forklift. She was a trusted and relied upon forklift operator. Until the day she decided that she was so good with the forklift she no longer needed to bother with the safety checklist when moving what she believed to be well-secured pallets, and lifted a load of 5 gallon containers that were not in fact well-secured...and dropped eighteen 5 gallon containers of honey from a height of 16 feet above the warehouse floor.

Harj was sure enjoying the conversation he was having with his girlfriend. He had been on his cell phone with her for well over ten minutes of his daily walk before he realised that people around him were laughing...at him...as he walked straight onto the freshly poured concrete sidewalk that the workmen had just troweled smooth.

Diego liked to dance, and he was good at it. He was happy to dance at his brother's wedding reception with anyone who cared to join him, and was happy to exhibit his skills a solo performer if no one was willing to. He was graceful and had excellent rhythm and could improvise floor work like nobody's business. He was enjoying himself immensely right up until the moment the pants on his rented tuxedo split right down the middle revealing that he had gone commando that afternoon.

Cathy had purchased an expensive bike and an expensive bike lock with which to secure it. She rode her expensive bike to her favorite hangout and secured it to a lamppost just outside the bar with her expensive bike lock. The large truck that slammed into the lamppost made the bike, lock, and lamppost quite the modern art masterpiece. 

The Accident On Exposition 06/03/2025

 

Volkswagen TDI Jetta Sports Wagon With Police Emergency Lights Blows Through Red Light In Lakewood, Co

 

 

   At the light at northbound So. Kipling & Exposition. A 2012 (or so) Volkswagen Jetta Wagon gets in the left turn lane which has the green arrow. However, instead of turning left, it starts flashing police emergency lights (that's red and blue in the U.S.) and instead of the left turn the VW Jetta wagon proceeds to blow through the red light and continue northbound.

   There is the possibility that the VW Jetta wagon is an unmarked police car, but there are a couple of reasons that I don't believe that to be so.

   1) The Buy American Act restricts the purchase of vehicles by U.S. law enforcement agencies to U.S. automakers, primarily Chevrolet, Ford, & Dodge.

   Plus, I checked on www.https://www.policecarwebsite.net/westside/gov/code.html and they did not have it posted as a marked police vehicle (if a vehicle has emergency police lights, it's considered marked).

   2) As can be seen in the pics, there is a rocket box and a snowboard attached to the roof rack.

   I suppose the VW Jetta wagon could be a deep undercover vehicle, as I know the DEA has used confiscated exotic foreign cars like Lambos and Ferraris in undercover operations, but I somehow doubt it. The roof rack with the snowboard and rocket box is just a touch more clever, eh?