Tuesday's Orts--July 31, 2012

Tuesday's Orts--bits and scraps of thoughts and events that land here semi-regularly.

• A Sunday family dinner at Mom and Dad's included a wonderful visit by some long-ago neighbors who were teenagers when we kids were little.  The brother and sister used to babysit us and we have great memories of Easter Egg hunts in their huge backyard.  The brother, Jerry, recalled that he drove my mom to the hospital when she went into labor with her fifth child, our little brother Ted.  Jerry was a bit dismayed, I think, to learn that little brother is now 46.
• The Marrieds, Elaine and Chris, are just starting on the exciting and nerve-wracking journey to home ownership--she texted last night that they signed escrow papers.  Her dad and I are pleased they will be moving to our end of town--and I'm sure Chris' mom is too.
• Traffic Rant:  Summer Tourists in motorhomes who pay no attention to the marked lanes on the narrower streets of downtown while gawking and cruising slowly down the middle, blocking anyone from passing.
• I filed for unemployment on Saturday.  That was quite a chore.  The online version of the application form required a breakdown of gross earnings by quarter, for the last six quarters, for each employer.  Since I had three employers in the last 18 months it was complex, to say the least.  Curiously, the printed version of the same application form didn't request listing earnings at all. 
• Sometimes you just gotta wonder "Why?" when you see landscaping efforts like this one next to a business' parking lot:

Looks a bit like the state of Nebraska in artificial grass.  That one lonely Kangaroo Paw just isn't helping much, is it!