In the last two weeks I have had car trouble. First, I was rear ended in a four car chain reaction crunch  precipitated by a Snapple truck (Snapple Crackle and Pop!) which caused extensive damage to both the front and rear of my car. Then last weekend, I took the substitute rental car and parked in a lot adjoining the restaurant where we were dining.  When we returned the spot was empty. A vanished car (rental or otherwise) is a surreal shocking sight!

I reached across the desk for the stapler, carefully positioned the papers, and squeezed. Nothing. The stapler was empty.

OK, maybe her arrogant, self important rant took longer than that to write, but you get the idea.  If you tried to capsule the opposite of the Gotham way, I suppose you could call upon this woman.  We all have bad days, but this seemed like more than a rough day.     Read it and weep.  http://imgur.com/71sQ92K There really is a little part of me that feels bad for her.  I hate when the avalanche of public sensation swallows people up no matter how bad.    

I have never followed the NCAA tournament except for this year. Like 11 million others my step-son, Ryan, joined Warren Buffet’s $1 billion perfect bracket challenge. Unlike  most others, however, at the end of the first day Ryan and only 500,000 others were still in the game.

We had spent a full day in the City.  Our last stop was at Chelsea Market to buy some fish to take home for dinner.  We got back just in time for the start of the Syracuse game and had our remote handy to switch back and forth to the Wisconson game, the schools that two of our children went to.  Little did we know as we sat eating our dinner in front of the TV in the living room that we had just done something to doom one of those teams!

Recently the College Board chose to make the essay portion of the SAT exam optional. I found myself dumbfounded. Our country's level of education is on the decline.   Why remove the essay? We rank about 14th in world in basic skills and don't appear to be improving at all while countries like Estonia and Poland are passing us by. I looked a bit closer and found that part of the motivation to take it out is a direct result of competition.  

Whenever someone takes a shot at me and then excuses his or herself by saying " I was just kidding", I respond immediately that my father taught me that nothing is ever said in jest.One must learn that there's always a germ of truth in that "joke"or jestand it is that germ of truth that must concern one's self and must be paid attention to.Words to the wise!Having posited this absolute verity, I must explain that I am the exception to the rule because I have a left-handed person's sense of humor which is often misunderstood.