What am I doing with this blog?

Why did I feel compelled to start it? Do I want to keep it going? One thing I don't want is to let it deteriorate into a series of tirades, political and/or otherwise. That's one reason it's been lying idle. Other reasons are attention to my other (more blogs important, at least to me), demands of business, vacation, and life in general.

Is It Just Me?

It can't be. I'm sure most people with a car this nice--even people driving beaters--would want to do a better job parking and not be sticking halfway through a parking lot entrance. Maybe even (revolutionary thought!) park in the lot? No, probably not, because the driver/owner would be afraid of getting a ding. But this hardly looks like a solution to me.

Summer Shopkeeper's Precious Sleep Interrupted

In my dream (or was it a nightmare?), David and I had two retail stores. One sold tobacco, the other soap and toiletries, with a clerk in the latter and a teenage clerk in the former for help. Teenager selling tobacco? I know, I know, but where else would David and I be selling tobacco and soap except in a dream? Well, the moment we opened the doors in the morning, both shops were completely jammed to the rafters with customers, and every single item had to be jotted down and the total tallied up. Then there were the people who hadn’t finished shopping but left piles of items on the counter. “Whose are these? Is she coming back to buy them?” It was pandemonium.

Apparently I was murmuring in my sleep, because David knew I was dreaming. When I woke and described the dream scene, he said, “You’re really going to need a vacation!” Not yet, however. Not yet....

Disclaimer: My bookstore customers are no trouble at all! They are not a nightmare! It was only a dream!

My "Trickle-Up" Theory

Does it really need an explanation? You get it, don't you? My, how "conservatism" has changed in our country!

Remembering Claudia

Once years ago I happened to mention my feelings about Gull Island to Claudia. Gull Island sits offshore from Northport in Grand Traverse Bay, noteworthy because of the forlorn chimneys of the house that once stood there and because of all the gulls that guard the island. I said it was the ugliest island I'd ever seen. "You," Claudia remarked carefully, "are not a herring gull." Point taken. The island is a gull rookery, no longer inhabited by humans.

Behind the Wheel--Not the Place for Mystery

Question: When are turn signals required to be used and does this include changing lanes?

Answer: MCL 257.648 states in part. "The driver...before stopping or turning from a direct line, shall first see that the stopping or turning can be made in safety and shall give a signal as required...". Common sense and state law agree that whenever you are turning, a signal is required, however, much debate has occurred over whether that language required the use of turn signals when simply changing lanes.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has finally clarified the language in MCL 257.648 requiring the use of a signal when changing lanes, or "turning from a direct line." Their decision--published, and therefore binding on lower courts--states in summary "...a reasonable person of ordinary intelligence is not required to speculate about the phrase's meaning, and MCL 257.648 provides fair notice of what conduct is proscribed. We hold that MCL 257.648 requires drivers to use a turn signal when changing lanes on a highway and is not unconstitutionally vague."

Read more at this government site.

You’re heading north on Waukazoo and turning right onto Nagonaba? Signal the turn. Then you want to turn left onto Mill? Signal the turn. Coming south on Mill and turning either right or left onto Nagonaba? Ditto. Nagonaba onto Waukazoo. Ditto. It does not matter that you are “following the highway.” How would anyone know? Be a man or woman of mystery in the bar at Happy Hour, not behind the wheel.

So Many Questions

The questions are good ones, but I got worn out reading them, and this was not the end of the list, either. Maybe I should just pick one and try to answer it.

Where are you going? What are you seeking? Where are you now? What stage of the journey have you come to? If your life were a book, what would you call it today? What would you entitle the chapter you are in right now? Are you stuck here in certain ways? Can you be fully open to all of the energies at your disposal at this point? - John Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You Are

What would it mean to have answers to all these questions?