Stuff My Brain Says #15

Something you see when you don't have a camera with you:

While in a bookstore, in one of the aisles is a huge section of cookbooks. Right down from it, in the same aisle, is a section on health and dieting. Ah, the irony! I guess you'd call that "good marketing"!

© Emittravel 2011

Stuff My Brain Says #14

One thing I've noticed while traveling is the lack of bathroom scales. Think about it, whenever you are looking online for a hotel for your stay, do you ever notice under the amenities that none of them say, "Bathroom Scale"? I'm just sayin'. . .

© Emittravel 2011

A little off the top please . . . while I add to my bottom . . .

Stuff My Brain Says #13

Someone needs to explain to my why it is okay for Ohio Governor John Kasich to raise his staff's salaries without permission of the very taxpayers who pay their salaries, but demands that public-sector unions not be allowed to negotiate raises because those are doled out without the taxpayers' permission. Sounds contradictory to me!

Oh, I got it: the increases were offset by cutting the salaries of receptionists, and administrative assistants! Yeah, that makes it all better.

Maybe the way to get Ohio out of its financial slump is to give Governor Kasich and his staff a much-larger pay raise.

Better yet: they talk merit pay for teachers? How about merit pay for politicians? Fix the economy first, and THEN we'll let you have a pay raise.

Boneheads.

© Emittravel 2011

Stuff My Brain Says #12

According to a recent study, pollution in Asia is causing global warming to slow down. Really? So, are they saying that the solution to global warming is to drive your SUV over to the factory and crank that sucker up? Must be keeping members of the EPA awake at night. . .

© Emittravel 2011

Everyone Has a Story

My wife and I took a ride from our home in Seven Hill, Ohio to Painesville with the main intention of eating at a distant Waffle House. Half the fun in doing this was the ride itself. We take as many back roads as the GPS will point us to, which brings us through some interesting and lovely visuals.

On the ride we came across an extremely crowded cemetery. We're talking literally standing-room-only due to the lack of space for new graves. One thing struck me: each gravestone represented a life. A family. A story. Each was a monument of silence. And then it hit me: what story am I telling? The bible says we are "living epistles (letters) read of all men".  When people look at me what are they reading? Will anyone remember "reading" it?

I have no children to carry on a legacy. I write a journal with the hopes that my nieces, and eventually their children, will take the time to actually read it. But that's it. I wonder if anyone will be at my bedside during my last moments. What's my story?

What about you? If you haven't, take a moment and think about this. One day you too will be represented by a piece of stone.  What story have you told?

© Emittravel 2011

Stuff My Brain Says #11

There are plans to release about 30 million barrels of oil from the National Reserves. When asked, "Why not allow drilling?" the excuse is, "Well, that will take ten years to have an effect." I love that logic. So, when your kid wants to go to college and get that degree you can say, "No. That will take four years before you'll get it." Save for a decent down payment for a house? "No. That will take too much time. Better to get a bad loan with less money down." Nothing like "instant gratification" to base all decisions.

© Emittravel 2011

Through These Doors

An exit?

Or an entrance?

The end?

Or the beginning?

Perspective determines attitude.

Or is it the other way around?

Where are you going?

Have you given it thought?

Or are you walking through these doors

into the hands of chance?

The footsteps of the righteous

are ordained of the Lord.

As you pass through these doors,

they will close behind you;

forever separating these portions of your life.

Memories that fade in time.

Good.

Bad.

Gone.

Your future lays before you.

Your past behind you.

Through these doors.

J.P. Wiegand

©Emittravel 2000

A gift for the graduates. -j.p.

© Emittravel 2011