Fashion Sense

It is hard to believe that white socks pulled up to the knees with shorts was ever the fad, but think back to the '80s! Then it was white socks with a yellow or green stripe at the top, and tooooo short shorts. These days, middle aged men and older either do not listen to their wives or don't own a mirror when they go out of the house with their stark white socks pulled up as far as they go, and their sparkling white sneakers. And, of course, the rest of their clothing that has not a speck of white. Men - take this advice - DON'T DO IT!!

Mandatory Yearly Road Tests

The world is full of bad drivers, and the cape has claim to many of them. Let us start with the person who cuts me off every single day in the parking lot at work. Every day it's the same thing, back up in front of me (without looking) and don't wave "thank you". I can see once in a while, but every day? How does this person not have dents all over the car? Good thing everyone else is paying attention!

Speaking of accidents, I seem to have a bullseye on my rear bumper. I have had seven accidents, none of which have been my fault. I went a few years without having any and thought I was in the clear...no such luck! I got my new car in January, and in March I was rear-ended, and in another state. The DE state trooper who responded was amazed that I didn't carry an insurance card. I explained that MA does not use them. He didn't seem to believe me, but accepted it. I called Z after I called 911, since it was five minutes from his house. He came down and wanted to know if I was OK. Yes. He wanted to know if the woman who hit me was OK. My response was that I didn't care. Being the good guy that he is, Z went over and made sure she was not injured. $1500 later, new rear bumper! And a dirty Carfax for life...sigh.

I used to work at a bank - we had a customer (elderly) who did not look behind her when she backed up. Instead she repeatedly honked her horn as she was backing up, hoping that people would get out of her way. We were not really surprised when she stopped by one day with a crushed rear bumper.

Funny sighting of today: I was behind a yellow VW Beetle on the way home from work this afternoon. It was traveling at 45 MPH on the highway, with a man driving. How does one feel masculine while driving a yellow bug?

Lightning Never Strikes Twice

Statistics tell us that men are struck by lightning more often than women. Why is that, you ask? Is it because they're taller? Nope. Is it because they work outdoors more often? Negative. It's because they do silly things like change floodlight bulbs in the rain on a metal ladder in the middle of a lightning storm, as witnessed on my way home from work this afternoon. I was passing an oil change business and had to look twice. What made it worse was there were two men, one holding the ladder and one on it. Apparently they absolutely had to change that bulb right then and there, even though it's light out until 9:00 in the summer, and they're not open at night. Who am I to judge?

Noteworthy event from this week: the green jeep from Utah that ran the red light and cut me off, then asked me directions. C'mon, people. Do you forget how to drive when you cross over the bridge? Experience tells me the answer to that question is a big, resounding YES.

There's a Fair in the Air!

Yay! The Barnstable County Fair starts Friday! Fried Dough! Yummy Chicken! Ice Cream! Can't you just hear the guys yelling to come play their water game, best prizes in town! Now I just need to find a sucker...er friend to come with me. Usually there is at least one 80s rock band performing. And there's always fried dough, which to me is worth the admission price any day. So much for the diet.....

Picture the Scene.....

I picked up a salad for dinner at a local pizza place - when I walked into the restaurant, there were two tables with people; one had employees and the second had a family of four. There are probably twelve tables plus a row of pub chairs with an island on one side of the building, facing the wall. I order the salad and take a seat in one of the pub chairs to wait. While I was patiently (hahaha) waiting, an older gentleman came in, ordered, and kind of wandered around in my area. I did not pay attention to what he was doing, I was checking out the menu. My salad came out fairly quickly. I stood up and started to leave. The wandering man decided that he HAD to have my seat and told me that he was "just going to sit here". Okay. Whatever. Did I leave a $20 bill on the counter? Was it my perfume? Nope, people are just crazy, and it's summer on the cape.

Summer on the Cape Part 1

Ah yes, once July 4th comes around it really is summer on the Cape. 6-20 mile back ups to get over the bridges, more out of state plates than local, people stopping in the middle of the road to look at something, people who don't KNOW HOW TO YIELD driving into the rotary, $25/day to park at the area beaches, 45 to an hour waits at restaurants on Friday and Saturday nights, at least an hour to drive the 26 mile commute home, not being able to get off the cape on weekends, the list goes on and on.

Why did we move here, you ask? It was the lure of no snow in the winter (which is not quite true) and cooler weather in the summer (witness the 4 days of 98 degree weather we just had). The hydrangeas are nice. Hmmm... what else is good again?

We have 3 more months of this fun to go. I'm already looking forward to Columbus Day.

Today's Sighting: the tourist going the wrong way on a turnaround - at least they ended up going the right way in the end.