Intelligence Deficit Disorder

Why yes, I do still consider myself to be a blogger. Why do you ask?

Unfortunately, my computer system is being backed up by the same folks who manage the IRS email system, so my last 30 blogs or so have vanished into the ether. You have my apologies.

I still intend to document the remainder of my trip home from Milwaukee, as well as all the other exciting events that have transpired since I posted last. For today, though, I shall just utter a few random phrases that happen to have passed through my skull in the last few days.

• I can't stand the San Francisco Giants. I hope they lose.


• I hate the current crop of campaign ads, and will be delighted when the election is over. (I'll be more delighted if MY opinions are validated by the majority of voters...though I realize that's unlikely. I know that the folks who read this blog are--without exception--intelligent and thoughtful citizens who are capable of sorting out the lies and distortions that dominate the discussion -- but the sad truth is that there are a lot of folks who fill in the ballot bubbles without taking the time to search for and identify the actual facts. Sigh.)


• Wouldn't "The Trouble with Trilobites" be a great name for a time travel movie?


• I discovered that the locking pin for my trailer hitch bike rack was no longer threaded through the hole where it could secure the rack to the vehicle. I have no idea how long it had been missing; apparently it just fell off somewhere. It's possible that the entire trip to and from Milwaukee was taken with friction being the sole securement, and that I was constantly under the risk of having the rack (and its two expensive bicycles) simply fall off and clatter to the road. I'm glad that didn't happen -- and I'm glad they sell replacement pins, which I have subsequently ordered.


• Who the heck first decided that it was a good idea to put poppy seeds on top of bagels? They're OK when baked into lemon muffins -- they become well-embedded in the muffiny cake matrix. But when added to the solid surface of bagels, well, they mostly fall off. And then you've got a million specs of opiate-infused granules pachinko-ing their way across your plate and tabletop. Sure, you can dampen your finger to adhesively retrieve a few of them here and there, but it's mostly a lost cause. If the poppy-seed flavor and texture are required (which I am NOT convinced is the case), then it would make more sense to offer the seeds in some sort of supplementary phial as a side order, and cook the bagel plain. If you needed the poppy-seed flavor, you could take a bite of bagel, followed by a sip from your seed phial. You could have the complete experience without the mess. (Of course, I recommend just getting a cinnamon bagel and forgetting the miniature horta eggs of death anyway. But when the poppy-seed option is the only one available on the day-old bread shelf, well, I guess I'll risk the clean-up ordeal.)

OK, my friends, that is all I have to say for this segment. Enjoy your breakfast breads in whatever fashion pleases you, and be sure to come back later in the week for the long-awaited photos of the Badlands of South Dakota. Until then, have a great day!