Random Thoughts 33

Here is a sign I am old and out of touch. I was playing Connections. The first word grouping I figured out quickly. The second one took some recall knowledge of old school literature lessons. The third was tricky and I had to do a bit of brain squishing to wrap my head around the common thread, but once I had it, the answer was obvious. The remaining four words haunted me. I could not understand the connection at all. Fortunately it was my process-of-elimination freebie, so I clicked the four remaining words and saw the answer.

The answer was the words were all rapper titles. I recognized one rapper title, but the rest of them unknown to me.  All the titles seemed like mere random words.

What's worse is Kevin knew them all. Apparently even though he's older than I am, he's not older than I am.

Time to bring out the rocking chair.

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How many fellow nerds out there are wondering if 2042 will be the best year of the century?

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I decided the best way to deal with the spotted lanternflies that keep visiting my balcony. I am going to adopt them. I keep saying I want a house pet. My pet lanternfly is named Fred.

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…Or perhaps we will start a new dance craze: The Lanternfly Stomp.

Bye Fred.

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Is it only me, or does it seem like more schools are starting the school year before Labor Day? I remember my own childhood. Labor Day was the last summer weekend. I had Monday off and even an extra break on Tuesday. Then school started on Wednesday.  This summer it seemed most most of my friends on social media who have school age kids have sent their kids back to school before Labor Day. That's bizarre to me. It's called Summer Break.  Summer isn't even unofficially over until Labor Day. How can kids concentrate in school on the dog days of August when the pools and beaches are still open? 

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Speaking of the bizarro world of public schools, I think I grew up in the only region in the world where kids could start attending school if they didn't turn five before the first day of school.  (I feel sorry for kids with late August birthdays who also have to go back to school in August.)  When I was in school there were kids with late December birthdays who started school at 4.75 (or thereabouts) years old. I learned in a Facebook discussion among my high school classmates  the youngest member of our class was born December 31st.  In my school district, the year you were born was all that counted and not the month.  My brother was born in December and started school the year he turned five (not the same district, but one close by).  I still remember the shock I felt when a brainy friend of mine in college told me she was nearly a year older than I was.  Her birthday was late September, so she started school a year later.  SEPTEMBER?  She started late because her birthday was three weeks past Labor Day? This woman was super smart. She could have handled starting on time. 

Maybe parents are more "enlightened" these days and feel kids do need to start late. I don't know. My October-born niece went to the same school district I attended and didn't start school a year later. Obviously my district is unique. Kevin's October-born nephew started the year after he turned five. So did October-born Kevin.

If it's bad for kids to start kindergarten before they turn five then you would think a large number of kids in my school would have been terrible students or ended up left back or didn't graduate. That didn't happen. 

Maybe we don't need to panic so much about kids starting school too soon? How about we give them some kid of aptitude test if they still seem young? Isn't this why kids only go to kindergarten for half a day so you're breaking young kids into a school day gently? Kids go to nursery school full time at a young age. Why can't they handle a half day of kindergarten?

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Fight me on this: Tostitos Scoops are one of humankind's greatest inventions. What kind of genius realized a bowl-shaped chip was what the world needed to maximize the amount of salsa, guacamole, or queso on your chip?

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I am trying to break the habit of two spaces after a period. I was against it, but I notice when I use two spaces now, there is too much white space. It has been easier than expected given the 42 years of conditioning.

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Why is the Sea Witch named Ursula? That's a strange name for a sea creature. Ursula is Latin for Little She-Bear. There are no bears under the sea. Where would her parents have even learned the name? Given her tentacles, she should have been called Celephopodia.

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Hulu ads are mind boggling.  I see a commercial for Sherwin Williams paint and then one for erectile dysfunction treatments. The target demographics seem to be a shot in the dark.

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Things that come to me in the most random times:

Everyone knows Kevin and I are huge BBC nerds.  Several years ago we were sucked into watching all six seasons of the dramedy Ballykissangel. From there we decided to try what appeared to be a similar show, Monarch of the Glen. We only lasted one season. I wondered why we weren’t as into it.

Years later, out of the blue, the reason came to me. I thought of the plot. It was about a young man running a busy London restaurant with his overbearing, high-maintenance girlfriend and is called home to his parents’ estate in the Scottish Highlands. It’s in financial trouble. He turns it into a bed and breakfast. He falls in love with the beautiful local schoolteacher. 

Then it dawned on me. Monarch of the Glen was the original Hallmark movie.