Define Holiday

It's Labor Day weekend.
The beginning of September. The unofficial end of summer. The celebration of the 40 hour work week and paid vacation time.
Time for one last family or neighborhood cookout; one last road trip; one last day of frivol.

Schools, which have been in session for half a hot month already, get a break. Kids have days off to be with their families and join in the fun.

Or do they?

In spite of the holiday, there are track meets and football games and who knows what all events. Buses and teams and roadtrips are now part of the experience. Labor Day is no holiday for parents, it seems. Life remains the same old same old hauling kids here, there, and in between. Parents have to work with schedules and timetables and agendas.
Children, freed from school for  long weekend, have to go to school,
They have to participate in school related events. (Or lose their standing and/or eligibility.)

Excuse me, schools and boards of education.
What constitutes a holiday in your eyes?
What makes a holiday weekend different for your students; what makes it a holiday?

Now, I have no objection to places that work on the holidays. At least, for the most part, they are being honest.

But I do object to the school's use of the holiday weekend where they say "Have a holiday, and we'll see you back here in three hours. And again tomorrow."

Of course, the actual holiday itself is Monday. The weekend is not the holiday.
Except, of course, for the families that have one last summer weekend planned.

That is, if their children aren't robbed of the time.

(un)Safety Seats

My grandson turned two and it's time for a sitting-up-and-facing-forward car set. Yay!  Big boy!

So, we went looking for one. Those things can be expensive, but if you shop around, you can get a good deal.
We found one at Kroger's for a bit more than $50.
Yay us, right?

You would think.

But the damn seat has no straps.
No child restraints.
Except for what is provided by a seat belt fitted into specific slots.

No child restraints?  No five point harness?
For a TWO YEAR OLD?
Are you kidding me?

Two year olds are escape artists. That's one of their main talents at that age. The only way to make them stay in one place is to make that a place they aren't supposed to go. Even that won't keep them in the place. They'll just run in and out if there's nothing to stop them.

I put Little Guy in this fancy rigged up strapped in properly car seat with no harness. He was throwing himself across the back seat before I reached the road.

Now, they want us to put our kids in these cumbersome, heavy, huge contraptions to the point of big-brother governing. They make laws for the parents and grandparents and anyone who transports a kid. You must do this and have that and it is such a complicated procedure that fire departments and police stations often have classes and inspections so parents can get it right.

But now the manufacturers are being allowed to market unsafe seats for 2 year olds.

No, I'm nor taking it back. The manufacturers are being allowed to promote and sell car seats that are unfit for their stated purpose.

Beware, Parents. When your monkey climbs out of his secured car seat and flies through the air, who do you think is going to be suffering the costs, physical, mental, and emotional? Who will be ticketed for not having the child secured, even though all instructions were followed?

It's not going to be the makers -- law makers or seat makers.

Parents, please do not buy car seats without harnesses for your active little monkeys.
Just  DO NOT BUY.
They are not safe.
They are ridiculously expensive.

I will note that with some of these car seats the safety harness can be purchased separately and self-installed.
Hell, I can hardly figure out the way to adjust existing straps, let alone put them in from scratch.
What a waste.
Of time and money.

For now, I purchased an old style sit up car seat at a yard sale. This isn't really a good option for very much longer, as these seats are usually used until the expiration rime. It's my hope that by the time it expires, Warren will be more car trained and can graduate to a seat belt only seat (although I still have doubts about the child safety)
If not, I may trust an expired with harness a lot more than brand new and unsafe from the box.

Bugging Your Trees, Part 2

Now for my opinion. My uneducated, unresearched, untested;trusted;verified opinion.

It doesn't matter.

What you do, what the government does, what the experts do. None of it matters.

Nature does what nature does.

Insects and other pests have been catching rides on driftwood or pine cones for millennia. The fact that more of them are migrating faster only means that we ourselves are going farther faster. Who are we to object to other species doing the same thing, just because we don't like it.


Seriously, look at the waves and ways these invaders are coming in and popping up. If it's not one thing, it's another. For some reason, Nature is devouring our hardwoods.

And look again at the locations of the problems. Here in the USA, the heaviest concentrations of invasive beetles and such are in the areas known loosely as the "Great Lakes Regions"

Doesn't that make anyone think "Hmmm?"

My opinion is that these insects have been sent from God, Mother Nature, Father Time, Mother Earth -- whatever -- to taste and test and winnow out the weakest of the hardwoods. The delicious of the deciduous.

Why would this happen?
Climate change, people. Climate change. The Great Lakes were carved by Great Glaciers, or so we've been told. Te glaciers contained the seeds and roots and things of the trees that grew once the ice retreated -- the Earth reseeding after receding.

But first, the trees that remain to be regrown must have survived. They must be the least tasty, the less weak, the best of the best. Surviving the Ice takes strength and stamina. What better way to show that than by surviving an infectious infestation?


Whether my speculation has any basis or not, the governments interference in what may well be nature's preparedness can still have disastrous results. As many areas of Massachusetts and Ohio and Illinois can show you, the government solution has mainly turned forests into swamps. Removing multiple varieties of trees for whatever reason has damaged the ecology of the ares, There are no tree leaves and branches to capture rainwater to hold snowfall above the ground. There are no root systems to hold the ground in place, and with each rain-shower or snow-melt, the dirt becomes mud, becomes mire, becomes a marsh.

Let nature take its course. Nature has been managing the ecosystems here for longer than we can imagine. Everything happens for a reason.
And the most spectacular ecological failures have been caused by our efforts to fix the unbroken, to make Nature to do our bidding.
As we ourselves are a part of creation -- same as the bugs, beetles, and bacteria -- we really aren't helping.
We may not be that much of a hindrance, in the long run.

Nature does as nature does.

But I would rather enjoy the trees while we can, before they go away naturally.

What's Bugging Your Trees?

Emerald Ash Borer?
Japanese longhair Beatle?
Black walnut Bud Borers?
Elm Eaters?


It seems that there is a new one every day, here in the USA.

Sadly, the informed treatment by the US Government agencies is that if you remove the trees, you remove the infestations.
Not just the trees that are actually infested -- you must also remove every tree that may be infested some day or some other day.

Now, I am no scientific observer or genius.
I am, in fact, very unscientific as an observer.

However, this treatment tactic is more than a little silly. A variation on "can't see the forest for the trees". You can't save the forests because there are too many trees in the way, or something like that. It can be likened to fighting fire with fire, I suppose. But fires and backfires both leave the survivors with nothing but Scorched Earth.
Is that really a solution?

The USDA has conceded a loss to the Emerald Ash Borer. They quit destroying the trees, and a drive down the roads reveals the death and destruction of the ash trees. Bare branches stretching skyward even as they droop, rot, and fall.
But those bare branches are reaching through the forests and banks of trees. Where the ash are failing, others are thriving -- or at least getting a little stronger; a little taller.

Two counties over, the government is stripping the land, creating erosion and mud flats instead of habitats and farmland, in an effort to stop the spread of the Asian Longhorned Beetle.
They has applied this Scorched Earth  treatment in Massachusetts and around Chicago as well.

They have destroyed hundreds of thousands of healthy uninfested trees to remove a few thousand sick ones.

And now there is a new scourge emerging, one that affects what deciduous trees are not vulnerable to the EAB or the ALB. This is the Black Walnut Borer -- and there's also some sort of fungus infection affecting these trees.

Will we have any forests left, once the government gets done 'saving' the trees?
What trees are they saving?
What trees will be left?

What will be left for you?

Defense of Laundromats

I am living in a home with a washer and dryer.
Also with five other residents.
And then there are relatives and neighbors.

I can do my laundry here, of course.
Or throw it in with he family laundry. No one will protest. (At least, not much.)
But doing my laundry on my own means scheduling it when others aren't using the laundry facilities. That doesn't happen too often!  If I toss mine into the family mix, I don't have control over when what gets washed and I may not always know if an item is clean or not.
There's also an interminable wait while the first load is in the dryer still, but the second load has been finished for a while. (A long enough time for a line of roomies, relatives and friends to be forming -- and foaming at the mouth as their lives must Wait For Laundry.)

So --  I have been choosing the laundromat. They have double load washers (and dryers)
Everything can wash at the same time.
Everything can dry at the same time.
Only one loading of the washer.
Only one transfer from washer to dryer.
Everything can dry at the same time.

But yesterday I found the best reason yet for using the laundromat.
That wonderful place is air conditioned!

Yes, in 90+ weather, high humidity, living in a tin (aluminum) can (trailer) -- doing laundry at the laundromat can be a wonderful thing!  A perfect excuse to sit in air conditioned comfort  for two hours.

What can be greater than that?
At least so far as laundry is concerned.

Speeding Up the Drive Thru

Another McDonald's focus point, according to business media, is that drive-thru times are getting . McDonald's, once one of the fastest places to get your lunch, has become one of the slowest.
Other fast food -- and notsofast food -- places have the same problem.

In the case of McDonald's, the "blame" has been put on an increasingly complex menu.
Increasingly complex orders by the customer are also a part of the problem. When McDonald's was the Speed King of lunch, it was before Burger King's "special orders don't upset us" campaign that turned many places' efficiency inside out and upside down. (And did anyone even ask those on the front lines if this was true?) In those days, you couldn't customize your sandwich the  way it's done now. In most places, you could take standard toppings off, but were often unable to add different ones.

Maybe it's time to go back to that philosophy for drive-thru orders.

I have seen, in other places, a few ideas implemented. They seem to be effective.

1) One car, one order.

2) No orders over 25$ (or 20$, or whatever is a reasonable expenditure for under 3 minutes prep, pay, and pick up times. That number can be arbitrary or can be determined by the prices and staff available. Although I have never seen it done based on time. (ie, no 20$ orders between 11 am and 1 pm, or after midnight.) It's a consideration.

3) No orders consisting of more than 10 (or 15 or 20) sandwiches, or even total number of items ordered, possibly excluding drinks from the count.

4) a limited number of changes made to menu items, as mentioned above.

5) drinks available at the pay window, for DTs with a pay window and a pick up window. Drink only orders are a big thing and take up space in lines and at windows when they can be simply handed out with the customer's change and receipt. These are among my favorite drive thrus.

Another consideration would be some kind of cell phone damper around the speakers (and cash registers inside) People pull up to the speaker and proceed to call the family or friends and read the entire menu board.
Or they just call to chit chat while they are waiting to be waited on and become too involved in personal conversation to order promptly. And, oh yes, by the way, your order taker and sometimes the entire store, including other customers, can hear every word you're saying. It's really not a good time or place for discussing your sex life or your co-workers (who may be waiting for lunch inside.)

Anyway, customer service personnel the world over would love to see such a device used. It's time consuming and confusing to take an order from someone engaged in a whole other conversation. And it sure slows things down at the drive thru, or anywhere during lunch hour.

After that, we get into fantasy equipment. Remember, I said FANTASY. These are not for real, nor should they be. They are just sometimes nice to think about.

A giant ejector spring would be nice for cars that pull up and then do not say anything when greeted and asked for their order.

A  great big timer -- one the next car in line can see -- for customers who "need a minute" or "just a sec". The timer could activate when the person inside is ready. At least that way the next guy knows the delay wasn't from inside the store.

A recorder that plays back exactly what the customer said so they could hear how funny they aren't. Or how difficult it is to hear what they are saying over the giggles and shrieks of their passengers, radios, and cellphones. Not to mention how much personal stuff they are sharing with godonlyknows who and how many.

Anyway, these are my thoughts on increasing the speed at the drive thru. Some of the ideas are serious, some are not. Some have been done in some places, others have not (to my knowledge) been tried.

If you are a customer -- and who isn't, at least occasionally -- and you think any of these or other ideas have merit, let your local store know what you would like to see and why. Customer suggestions are the strongest motivation for many changes.

Don't Disrespect Your Customer

There has been a lot in the news and on social media about McDonald's iosing customers and losing economic growth. This information mostly concerns a specific demographic -- those around 25 years old.

McD has made some surprising efforts to try and solve this problem, to reach out to this group, to come up with solutions. (One solution is/was simplifying the menu but offering more options. Yeah.)

The following is my opinion, and opinion only.

If McDonald's wishes to retain the business of the 25 year olds -- quit treating them like they are either 16 year old employees without a clue, or the 7 year old consumers they once were. This is disrespecting the customer.

Giving them only one suggestion for a drink is infantizing.  "does-ums want some cokey-coke wiss zat?" Even parenting manuals advise offering a choice. "Would you like a coke or some coffee with that?" is a much more adult interaction.

Contradicting this is the updated healthy choice happy meal option. To order a Happy Meal now, one (customer or cashier) must read through the equivalent of a preflight check list.
Which entree?
Which size entree?
Which side? (There are four choices.)
What drink?
And, when there's a choice of toys, which toy?

Some of this can be shortened by the one choice suggestion -- and did you want apple slices with that? Would you like a chocolate milk with that? --  it can leave the customer wondering about the choices not  being offered.

Again, a subtle show of disrespect.

Each customer and each order should be treated individually, not by recitation.

Suggestive selling is a part of any restaurant experience. Yet there are restaurants that allow a customer to say, "That's all." and not insist on offering something more. Let the order placing and order taking be done individually. If the customer seems insistent that "That's all" then don't insist on insisting an addition.

Who wouldn't prefer to go to a place where they are actually listened to?

Respecting the customer will bring more return visits than forceful selling of a serving of pie (that the customer has already indicated is not wanted.)
And, often, if the customer comes around, they will decide on a little more.
Or they may just decide to come back another time, because your place really does care about their experience.

The following is speculation on my part.

Another problem that McDonald's may have with this demographic is that many of them have worked for the business.

It is most likely that most of them worked for franchise stores, as they are the most prevalent. The franchise stores often do not treat their employees according to McDonald's corporation standards. And if there is an HR (human resources) problem, the corporation does not offer back-up to the employees. They tell them to contact their HR department. Many franchises are small, three or four stores, and the only HR is the bosses/owners that are already at the heart of the problem. If someone has tried to complain to corporation, they are getting desperate. It isn't easy to get through to them for general HR problems. (There are hotlines for specific unresolved conflicts.) To be told you must return to the source of the problem for a solution is (also) disrespectful.

If the 25ers haven't worked there, they have friends or relatives who have. It seems likely to me that these customers may be choosing not to go somewhere that has treated someone (they care about) badly.

In many cases, it may be as simple as that.


I have no suggestions to offer as solutions (except allow the order taker to sometimes decide if a suggestive sell is inappropriate).
I am reporting my observations and experiences, and those of people I have known.

I hope that McDonald's is considering these factors as well as menu choices, locations, and the many, many other facets there are to running a business of that size.

If they are, if they do, then it's possible for everyone to win.

Help Emelyse And Her Family

Letting Other Senses Drive

I was going to go to Tam​'s today to pick up the kids. This was around 4 pm. I started out on 32, decided to make a stop, and took out tri-county to 62. I was going to pick up 32 when I got back to it, because tri-county had ice. But I dislike 32 during the day, because of trucks and traffic, and was considering taking tri-county on into Mt Orab.
I decided I would let the traffic decide for me.
However, once there, I crossed to the center and then noticed heavy traffic coming at me. I told Tracy I should have turned.
I thought I heard a siren coming up behind me, but it must have been on 32, the radio, or my imagination.

Coming out of Sardinia, a Brown County sheriff went screaming past Heading into Sardinia,)

Coming into Mt Orab, there came a fire truck/rescue vehicle heading at us. I said to Tracy nthere must have been an accident around Sardinia, and wondered why Mt Orab was responding.

As I made the turn onto 68, here was a Ohio State Highway Patrol​ car, lights and sirens. I made my turn wide -- heavy traffic at the light at that time of day. The OSHP turned onto tri-county.
I told Tracy that maybe it was on a backroad off tri-county, because it didn't make sense that if it was on 32 they were all taking tri-county.

On the way home,  again decided to take tri-county at the last minute, but extra cautiously, because I knew something was going on along through there somehow. Even though we had frittered away some time,
if it was that bad, it would still be happening.

We heard on the radio that there was an accident that had 32 completely closed at 32 & Sardinia Mowrystown Rd, and air care was en route.  Past Steiman & tri-county, we could smell the accident.


To top that off, I just found out that my sister was the near victim of an accident way up on 125.

It was a good day to let the other senses do the driving.

(And eventually three helicopters were flown in to fly out accident victims -- of a two car crash. One car looked as if its top had been sheared off. That's all I know for now.)

DISRESPECT?

Tammy and Hazel, 1988

My stepdaughter Hazel died, heroin overdose. She was found, hospitalized, and on life support for several days.

No one told her sisters on her father's side that she was in the hospital, that she was dying, that she had died.

A friend of mine told me, and I had to tell them. (Disrespectful)

This is the sister that they -- all of Rex's family -- turned the town of Bethel upside down trying to find her so she could say goodbye to her daddy. When she got there she was more interested in zipping up her boyfriend's pants than spending time with her dad. They also just vanished from the hospital without telling anyone. We spent some time looking there, too. (Disrespectful on their part, don't you think?)


After the original news was published, Hazel was listed as the beloved daughter of her mother and her mother's 99th husband. (That number is hyperbole, not fact.)

Hazel's real father, who died without her presence, was not mentioned in the original obituary.

As if he had never existed

As if he had never been part of her life. (Disrespectful.)



I took our girls to her funeral.

If Hazel's other half sister, who in my opinion suffered the greatest loss, or her mother even spoke to my daughters, it was only in passing. (Disrespectful)

Our girls mingled, and my older daughter was asked why she was there; who was she to Hazel. (Disrespectful)
(And who the heck does that at a funeral, unless it's by invitation only?)



We sat in the back row for the service.

My daughter took her phone from her daughter (age 6) who had started playing music instead of a card game on it. She was holding it in her hand. She didn't think the child's choice of music was respectful or appropriate.

Bedamned if some blonde woman (NOT a member of the immediate family) didn't chew my daughters out about how "disrespectful:"they were for having their phones out! (Disrespectful)

I wish to hell I had known what Blondie was saying! I would have told her a thing or two about DISRESPECT! (Not to mention common courtesy and a side serving of 'mind-your-own-business.)

My girls had lost a sister, too, and were treated as if they came in off the street to get warm.

If that isn't disrespectful, what is?