What do retired people do?

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well, for example, the other day I went down-town to go to the newsstand for the Wall Street Journal so I could track my investments. I was only in there for about 5 minutes. When I came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.

I said to him, "Come on, man, how about giving a retired person a break"?

He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. So, I called him a "Nazi."

He glared at me and wrote another ticket for having worn tires. So I called him a "doughnut-eating Gestapo." He finished second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he wrote a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes.

The more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote. Personally, I didn't care. I came downtown on the bus. The car that he was putting the tickets on had a bumper sticker that said "Hillary in '08". I try to have a little fun each day now that I'm retired.

It's important to my health.

Safety Orietned Seat-belt....

I am sure that this will help.

What Wines Go With Turkey?

The problem with Thanksgiving dinner is that the variety of flavors associated with the annual meal, makes it difficult to choose a proper wine that will please everyone. A woody Chardonnay may work but the strong flavors may make it too light for certain courses. A French Alsace Riesling, with its acids and pungent fruitiness, a fine combination with most Cantonese Chinese foods, also may work. Last night, we had some wonderful Cantonese food, a Riesling would have worked well, since the Chardonnay missed with some of the stronger flavors like sweet and sour pork. The wine tasted like water with those dishes. The other choice is a Merlot, not appreciated by some, like the character in the movie Sideways, Miles says,"No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!" A Pinot Noir, so adored by Miles, may work, but for me the wine may be a little too subtle for the variety of flavors. Have a read of this on some of the choices available.

Tequila...

A cure-all for everything that ails you.

Unacceptable Genital Mutilation For Some And Acceptable For Others.....

The bizarre ritual practiced in some African and Islamic countries involves the removal of female genital pleasure spots. This chopping of some of the naughty bits can often lead to complications, infection and sometimes even death, denying the victim not only sexual pleasure but also the pleasure of living.

Knives, razors or even sharp stones are usually used. The tools are frequently not sterilized, and often, many girls are circumcised at the same ceremony, leading to infection.

Some people think that this is improper behavior. But others do not....

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - About 2,000 people demonstrated on Saturday to demand the release of an Ethiopian immigrant sentenced to 10 years in prison in the United States for mutilating the genitals of his 2-year-old daughter.

Khalid Adem, 30, was convicted on Nov. 1 of aggravated battery and cruelty to children by a court outside Atlanta. It was believed to be the first such criminal case in the U.S.

Well, this was a non-state sanctioned genital mutilation. So jail for the skinny Ethiopian. However, state and religious sanctioned genital mutilation in the West and, again, in some African and all Islamic countries, is also know as circumcision. Also a bizarre and brutal ritual. I unfortunately had the opportunity to inadvertently observe the partial penile decapitation of a newborn several years ago. The doctor attached some kind of contraption to the smiling happy little child and this stretched the foreskin upwards a bit. Then the doctor took a scalpel and and pricked the prick and the thing ripped all the way around resulting a spatter of blood against the protective paper next to the child. Needless to say, this was in no way a painless experience for the young tyke and he voiced his immediate displeasure with the interruption to his happy and peaceful day. Zarqawi would have been proud.

And advertising the great and varied Chinese cuisine.

Black Boxes....

For some reason, when I try to upload pics, I sometimes just get these black boxes. They can be clicked and opened into a separate screen and they are fine, but sometimes they show up on my blog as black boxes. So weird.

China, Preparing For An Influx Of Foreign Visitors For The Olympics....

Woman are complicated, cake is not. Chinese are so silly.

Milton Friedman....

When I was a freshman in college, 1977, I used to go to the browsing library and pick out interesting new books and read through them for entertainment. I enjoyed reading some material from the likes of Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome and a very forward thinking architect. However, I picked up a book, Free to Choose by Milton Friedman and this was a changing point of my life. The clarity of thought, the pointed arguments and the conceptual framework of monetary life dictating supply and demand drove my thoughts. I kept the book form the library and never returned it. Haha. I stole the book.

Well, Milton Friedman is dead after 94 years of teaching and thinking. Thank you Milton for your work.

China, Preparing For An Influx Of Foreign Visitors For The Olympics....

Not all that clear and concise. So what are they trying to say in English? I suppose they didn't use the 'politeness' dictionary.

More Bad Dreams...

What is unusual for me is that I rarely remember my dreams. But I have had 2 more that have disturbed me. One is an old friend from school that I haven't seen for ages, actually saw him once in ages, a year ago back in New York. My friend, I**, is know as somewhat of a klutz and I think that my dream had him dying is a car crash and resulting fire. I was there in the car with him. The other is a friend of mine here in Hong Kong that is a few years younger than me. I made dinner arrangements with J****, and he never showed up. It ended up that he died just after speaking with me on the phone.

Weird dreams or maybe I am dealing with the deaths of my two friends, brothers from the old neighborhood that died in the past year in separate car accidents.

Bad Dream...

I had a simply awful dream this morning. I was riding in a gray van looking out the window and we passed my 3 year-old daughter who was crying while walking on the street with my two youngest sisters a few feet away who were walking on the sidewalk and they looked somewhere about 5-7 years-old (they are 40+ year-olds now). Then a large box-like truck, in slow motion, ran over my little girl as we all looked on in horror. I was screaming and shouting as this was all going on, but inside the van, no one could hear me. As the truck passed by, there were only a few pieces of bloodied flesh on the cobblestones streets [looked like downtown Manhattan]. And the truck was swerving and slowing down. I immediately woke up and could not get back to sleep.

Question....

Do people on death row in prison or those people that are dying of terminal cancer floss their teeth? And if they do, why?

Martin Scorcese's Sesame Street's....

Did The Whirlwind Tour Of Thailand...

Just got back tonight from 8 days traveling in Thailand with my parents (visiting for a couple of weeks), wife and 2 kids. Just a great place to vacation. Nice people, good food, fun things to do, no hassles, etc. Visited Bangkok, Hua Hin and Krabi, each place with their own set of charms. We could have stayed another week if we had time. Thailand compares most favorably with the Philippines, that I absolutely despise as a traveling destination and will never take the family to again.