The Good, the Bad, & the Strange

On our recent trip home, we encountered some good stuff, some bad stuff, and some what-the-hell stuff. 

First off, there’s some new Trump flags out there (3 just in my little town!) showing President Trump’s face with the phrase—“I’ll be back in 2024!” That’s a good thing!

Another good thing is a new billboard in Williamsport.  It has Dolly Parton on it asking us all to “Find the good in everyone.  Kindness…pass it on!”  Some people can be hard to reckon with, but it did remind me to work to avoid becoming what I despise, so that’s a good thing too! And then there were all the job postings on the semi-trucks that kept passing us.  Phone numbers and pleadings for workers: good pay, no cross-country trips, home every night.  So, there’s plenty of jobs available and THAT’S a good thing!

But guess what we heard repeatedly on the trip down? Covid cases are on the rise again.  I mean, really? If you listen to the entire blurb though, the previous week there were 2 cases and now there are 5!  (Could these additional cases be family members? Who else would be taking the dang tests again?)  And THIS little gem.  A commercial discussing how drugs are being laced with fentanyl and people are accidentally dying. So, rather than closing the border and trying to prevent the crap from entering the country OR cracking down on fentanyl source or sellers, a company has developed fentanyl test strips.  Their pitch?  “Better safe than sorry”….call and order now!  So Big Pharma benefits again? And maybe using the same manufacturer that gave us counterfeit covid test strips?

And then this:  I rarely watch traffic when we drive on the highway—people can drive like idiots.  But the truckers caught my attention with their job listings on their containers.  As I read them, I started to notice something else—other vehicle’s license plates.  There were dozens of other states –like CA, FLA, MASS, CO, IND, NJ, NY and I said something to hubby, who laughing said—yeah that’s weird. Other states’ car on our INTERSTATE.  OOOOOPS! LOL

Putting that aside, there were other WTH moments.  For instance, on our drive down our little dirt road early Friday morning, we saw something orange ahead on the side of the road.  Sure enough, when we got there, it was an uneaten, unmolested, orange.  In the middle of nowhere…no other garbage around…just sitting there.  WTH?

Further along in the trip, we came upon the white cows again.  The road splits an enormous pasture and infrequently we see herds of white cows on both sides of the road.  The pastures are gated with chutes and sometimes the cows are on one side or the other and sometimes both.  The strange part?  There are no homes or barns in any direction.  In 17 years, I have never seen anyone moving the cows…WTH?

Lastly, I heard this AAA radio ad on the way home Sunday.  AAA is offering to assist older people with applying for Medicare.  I used to work at AAA (in accounting) and they did have an insurance component for homes and vehicles, but their bread and butter was travel and roadside help.  WTH?

I did spend an entire Saturday afternoon listening to Mom read all the recipes in her favorite recipe book to me…lol.  But I did bring home some new recipes to try while keeping Mom happy. Win/win.