Things A Hat Might Tell You...If A Hat Could Speak

 If you do an image search for businessmen attire in the first half of the twentieth century, there's a good chance those businessmen were wearing hats...

I wonder if they even liked hats.

I don't think it mattered either way. Men wore hats, bowlers, fedoras, porkpies, panamas, to name a few. They were as integral to a man's wardrobe as a tie or a white shirt or even shoes.

Times have changed.

And, personally, I'm sad...I LOVE those hats.

But, I like hats in general, for both fashion, but mostly practical reasons. I've mentioned on this blog many times that I wear hats in the winter to keep my head warm and in the summer to keep my skin from burning off. Hats are also integral to my wardrobe. Take, for example, the hat I wear working in the yard. We're now in summer and that means higher temperatures brought on by more sun. I wore my hat last week as we moved rocks--lots of rocks--for landscaping in our front lawn. And when laundry day came around, I tossed in the hat so it could be returned to its original clean state.

That was needed.

If my yard work hat could speak, it might say it appreciated being outside, but I may be pushing it a bit. And it would definitely want to be washed more. I'll try to accommodate it in the future. Heck...I'd like it to stay clean and pristine in the garage. My many baseball hats might accuse me of favoritism (which I definitely am...I like hats that are red and sport a big "U" on them...). I have a couple of hats I wear in the winter, but since I've been working from home, I haven't been standing on a platform in a blizzard waiting for the train to come, and therefore, not needing my winter hats. They're probably the most mad at me...

And would have the most to say.

Give Thanks...A Place Of Honor

 We moved from Farmington last fall--we sold our house and family land...

But, we didn't sell ALL our land.

We still own--or stake claim to--a small spot of ground. It's too small to live on. In fact, we cannot live there. We can only use the land when we're no longer living. It's our burial plot in the incredibly beautiful Farmington City Cemetery. Currently, my folks are there, as are many many of my friends's parents. And, as time goes on, I have friends there, too.

It's a place of honor.

I'm glad it exists.

For many, a cemetery is literally a waste of space. I can understand why they think that. It's huge spaces that are only used for one thing. They require taxpayer money to keep them clean, mowed, and watered. As communities grow, more and more land is required for loved ones's final resting places. By many standards, it makes more sense to just cremate everyone.

But, I'm glad they exist. Part of our humanity is how we deal with death and honor those who have gone before. When I go to the cemetery, I remember my parents...two people who adopted three babies and raised them as their own. So much of what I am (and, by extension, what my wife and children are...) exist because of the people whose remains are buried in the earth just east of the upper road in Farmington, Utah. I suppose, I could have those same memories with their ashes on a mantel. 

But, setting land aside as a monument of those people...it shows a dedication of the living for the dead. It says to society the memories of those people are worth the money, the real estate value, the water for the grass that it takes to keep up a cemetery...that honor is worth it.

Yes, we still have our little plot of land, too small for even the tiniest houses, but big enough to do the job. I'm glad it's there...both the plot and the cemetery.

I Didn't Realize It At The Time...But I Jinxed It

 My generation is the first video game generation. Pong came into existence (thanks to a U of U student...) in the seventies. I was between five-years old and ten-years old in the seventies. My poison was Asteroids...loved that game. Still love that game. I spent way too much money on that game, and others. A quarter a play...almost seems ridiculous now, but it wasn't...because I paid it.

Younger generations than mine seem to be more involved in video games. The twenty-somethings, thirty-somethings, even forty-somethings play more games than me. These are just my observations so I may be wrong here. Still, as it applies to me, I don't play a lot of games.

Fast forward several decades and now I have an iPhone. The technology in that phone makes the original Pong game look like a marble compared to a car. There are so many apps out there, so many games, it's sometimes overwhelming. Out of all those possibilities, I've basically found two that I play...a solitaire game, and a breakout-type game.

When I got my new iPhone last year, I transferred the information from my old iPhone to the new one. When I went to play Jet Ball, it didn't download. Turns out, that particular game is no longer in the App Store.

Bummer.

But, I still had the game on my old phone, so not so bad.

Then, I got a message that a new iPhone operating update was available. I updated both phones, went to play Jet Ball on the old phone, and I got the above message. And because the game is no longer in the app store, the game is no longer available to me.

Last week my wife, daughter, and I were discussing iPhone games. My wife and daughter play a couple of games I don't play and they chatted about them. My daughter was complaining about one of their games, and I said, "I only play two games...that's all I need."

Now, thanks to the update, I only have one.

I shouldn't have said that...pretty sure I jinxed it.

Making Our Day...And Someone Else's Day...Better Only Cost Just Under Seven Bucks

A couple of months ago, I went to McDonalds near our house to pick up a quick breakfast. I pulled up to the first window and the employee said that my meal was free--the car in front of me paid my bill, so...free breakfast.

Score!

That was cool--that was fun...it made my day.

This afternoon my wife and I were headed out of town for supplies. We had skipped lunch so we decided to stop by McD's and we'd eat on the road. We pulled up and chose a lane. Turns out the lane we chose went faster than the other one (I really shouldn't pay attention to things like this, but I do...). I noticed a white car in the other lane. It was actually two cars ahead, but due to timing, we ended up ordering and getting in line before the white car.

We pulled up, paid for our lunch, then because I (sort of...) felt bad for getting ahead of the white car, I asked the employee how much the order was for the car behind us.

"$6.96," he said.

"Let me get that," I said and I handed him back our card.

We paid for both, picked up our food, and hit the road. Turns out, we drove in front of the restaurant and we could see the white car pull up to the first window. We saw the woman in the car see our van and she waved at us. We waved back.

As we got on the interstate we talked about what we had done. It felt good to do something random for a complete stranger. Turns out, the cost of making our--and someone else's day--better was $6.96.

I Guess We're Starting New Traditions...

 When you make a major life change (new job, moving, etc...), you find you miss some things, but not so much other things. One thing I realized after our move last fall that I had taken for granted was our proximity to the cemetery where so many family, friends, and loved ones are laid to rest.

For almost fifty years, I was able to get in my car and drive to the cemetery about a mile away from our house. I could visit my parent's graves, place flowers, or a carved pumpkin at Halloween any time I wanted. I'd then just turn around and travel the mile back to our home.

Those days are gone.

This week was the first Memorial Day were we had to travel. It's only about an hour away from our old house...still, we needed to make some plans. We packed a lunch, carpooled and met the rest of the family at noon. After putting flowers on the graves, we sat in the shade of a huge tree and enjoyed each other's company.

It hit me, as I snapped a picture or two of the gathering, it was the first time we've ever done that. I don't think I've ever had a meal at the cemetery, let alone, a meal with my extended family. As we chatted, we talked about how we'll be doing this again...a new family tradition has been born.

There are a lot of things I miss about the old home--many of those things I've gotten over fairly easily. But, not being close to the folks...I can say I'll miss that a lot.

I Just Wanted To Watch The Soccer Game...

 The goal was a simple one, at least, I thought it was. I knew the US Mens National Soccer Team was playing a friendly match with Switzerland. I should say right here, that I've written before on this blog that we live in the most amazing time. The mere fact that I can go anywhere...almost anywhere...and watch a soccer game from anywhere on the planet blows my mind.

So, when the game came on, I picked up my phone and pulled up the app. I clicked on the option for the game I wanted, and I got...

Nothing.

A blank screen.

At first, I thought there was a problem with the app. It happens, so I tried clicking the screen. At first, no change--the screen stayed black, but eventually, the screen shrunk and I had a picture-in-picture thing going on. "Well, that's weird," I said. I was actually able to watch the game on the tiny screen. The small picture had an option to expand, so I touched the expand button...

The black screen returned.

I thought I'd ditch the app and try and find the game on TV. But when I chose the game, something else popped up...a college softball game. I couldn't figure out why a college softball game would be on instead of the soccer game. I found out later that it was a playoff game, so important.

Part of the deal we have by living in such an amazing time is we expect everything to work flawlessly. I'm sure the app not working correctly and the wrong game playing on the channel were just things that happen. There's got to a million things that have to work so that I can get my little game on my little phone and we only notice when something doesn't go exactly as it should.

Eventually, the softball game ended and the soccer game was broadcasted on the correct channel, so all was right with the world...

Except the US team lost.

Bummer.

Slapfish's Power Bowl...Not A Ton Of Seafood But Oh So Good

My wife and I found ourselves driving through our old town last week, and interestingly enough, we drove through around dinnertime. It would be at least an hour before we got home so we agreed we'd stop somewhere and pick up dinner.

But, where to go?

Slapfish.

You may or may not live near a Slapfish Restaurant, but if you do, you have access to some pretty good food. Normally, my wife and I would choose a double order of fish and chips. It was a cheap meal for the two of us. But, as the old adage goes, absence make the heart grow fonder, since we've been away from Slapfish for a while, I decided to spend a little extra and order something off the menu I never ordered before.

I got a Power Bowl...

But, without avocado.

The bowl came and it was huge...more food than I thought there'd be. What is in a Power Bowl? I found this from the restaurant's website:

POWER BOWL

Mixed-grill seafood, brown rice, crisp veggies, avocado, extra virgin olive oil

Yes, there was shrimp and salmon--I could have used more, but since I don't have access to the economics and market prices of seafood, I'm not sure if the amount we paid justified for more seafood or less. But, as a whole, it was very good...delicious, in fact. 

I think if we still lived close to a Slapfish, we'd probably get the double order of fish and chips. Such is life (and budgeting...). But, last week I tried something new. I'm glad I did.