Monday Meanderings - Sep 27 - Approved for all audiences

I was involved in a pedestrian/auto accident last week. A pedestrian - a blind pedestrian, at that - ran into my auto. The School for the Blind covers the area between Lamar and Burnet Road facing 45th Street. I'm on Lamar, waiting to turn right when a sighted person, wearing a blindfold, began to cross 45th coming my direction. You often see blindfolded, sighted people in this area - they are employees of the Commission for the Blind, and all employees from a certain level are required to take training courses that include navigating the streets of Austin as if unsighted - thus blindfolded. Usually you see them in groups and they have a non-blindfolded guide helping them, but at some point they have to manage all by themselves.

So, I'm watching this guy coming my way, and he's missing the crosswalk badly. He's drifting over into Lamar itself, and coming straight for me. He has the light and the right-of-way, and I'm just sitting there watching him come. When it's obvious that he's going to run into me, I consider my options: honking would scare the bejeebers out of him; rolling down the window and yelling would probably just confuse matters, so I just let him walk into the front of my car. He snatched off his blindfold, took a look around, swore loudly and jumped to the curb. If he was being observed, I think he flunked Pretend Blind Guy 101.

My thanks to Barb's sister Betty for these insights-

A penny saved is a government oversight.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

He who hesitates is probably right.

Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are  XL.

If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.

Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words 'The' and 'IRS' together it spells 'Theirs...'

Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know 'why' I look this way.  I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to your youth, think of Algebra.

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.  Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

At the hospital they have a little whiteboard in the room and the nurses write down their names, and what the telephone number is and other good stuff. We thought that would be a good thing to have at home. We could write what day it is and our names for starters. Barb suggested that even better would be a little portable whiteboard that we could carry, and it would say, "The reason I got up to come into this room is..."

You gotta love a town where blog items are literally found on your doorstep. We came home the other afternoon and there was a rather well-dressed woman sitting on the curb near the driveway. She had a small animal on a leash and at first glance appeared to be walking her little dog. In fact, she was walking her little pig! Not one of those pot-bellied pigs - just a small ordinary-looking pig! Austin weirdness!

I will say only this about Saturday's game. It is interesting that the vast majority of  schools and universities in this country are eager simply for a winning season and a possible bowl game. In Austin, it is a tragedy of the greatest measure if we are not in the National Championship hunt.

And finally, have you ever wondered what animals might create with finger shadows? That's right. Hands.