A funny thing happened…

I watch people on TV searching for houses. I am not going to say what show or what channel it is on. But, TLC or HGTV has this show called International Househunters. The people they get are looking for a house or a second house somewhere in the world. They are spending a pretty penny on these houses. It is within their budget. Where do these people get their money?

I was raised by good parents that didn’t have the luxury of going to college and getting a BA or MA or even a PHD. They were hard working people that supported their family with everything they needed. Food, clothing and shelter.

So the thought is how some younger people go overboard when purchasing their house. It reminds me of George Carlin’s’ stuff bit. I will not be repeating his bit because I could be accused of plagiarism. You can’t get a big house until you have enough stuff to put in it. I look at home ownership as the American dream. To be able to retire with a house paid for is the way to go.

Let me get on a soapbox here, and for those of you that don’t know about the soapbox cliche, look it up. I see so many people that put everything they own on credit. They tend to rationalize the purchase by saying I got it on sale. Sure the TV could have been 10% off but with a 15% interest rate and just paying the minimum payment you will lose your 10% off in the first month.

Anyway back to the house. This is the way to be. A house that is paid for, no car payment, no credit cards and soon to be off the grid. Isn’t that what our great grandparents did. They built this city on rock and roll.

It is the weekend and it happens the same way. Friday arrives and everyone gets excited for the festivities that are planned for 2 days. Concerts in the park, fishing on the bay, BBQ in the back yard. But there some dedicated people that work on the weekends. Doctors, military, emergency medical technicians and comedians. Oh scoff if you must, but comedians are always working. They never take any time off.

It is a 24 hour workday for them. You are expected to be funny. You are expected to make people laugh. You are expected to be the life of the party. I am not sure if that is the GOP or Democrat.

40 hours a week is the American standard for working. A comedians job is never done. Yes they may be seen on stage for 15, 20, 30 minutes or for hours. There is a multitude of jokes that have to be written and re-written until they become something that would be worthy of stealing. Just kidding. No comedian would take another persons joke. That is absurd. That is highly unlikely. It is called creative minds think alike.

 So back to the 40 hour work week. It was an idea that most people needed leisure time to be able to spend time with their family and relaxing on the weekends made more productive workers. Actually you only get about 24 hours of work out of everyone. Monday morning we are too tired from the leisure time we had over the weekends and on Friday we are getting ready for the weekend.

When will this ever end. Oh yeah. When I retire. Then I will have a weekend every day. So I need that much leisure time when I will sit around the house all day long and contemplate planting a vegetable garden or write that great American novel or finally watch all the episodes of Gunsmoke. Wow that Festus was a character wasn’t he. He was the original Larry the Cable Guy.

And that would give me more time to watch Larry the Cable Guy. Like we need another comedian that shows how the southern men really are. Dim witted good ole boys that just want to have fun. No that is a song from the 80’s by Cindi Lauper.

If anyone is following this, I have made references to many celebrities and I figure eventually they might contact me concerning a slanderous statement. It is a way to get noticed. OK all the attorneys out there said it is not a slanderous statement I was thinking of it would be a libelous statement. Slander is spoken and libel is written. I stand justified.

Back to the original thought, it is another Saturday night and I am off from the place I call work and this is the night that I have just for me. Well not really, I am married and I have to please the wife. It is time for us to spend out leisure time in a manner that would be pleasing to us. We are going to the movies. See everyone tomorrow.

It is amazing to watch people. The trend of wearing a pair of pants where the waistband is right under the cheeks is an amazing feat of anti-gravity. As young children our main parental unit would dress us in the little sailor outfit or the frilly dress.

We were cute and hugable. Not that I am against any type of fashion or people wanting to express themselves in their own way. I just have a hard time understanding the new style. Looking over this recent trend has really made me wonder what happened to wearing the correct size.

 I will think on that one and I will get back with you.

 It makes it hard for older men to find the right size pants. All the kids are buying bigger pants.

 Fashion trends come and go and this trend of the big and baggy pants does make for a good laugh. I have to giggle and snicker when I see these guys hold their pants up. That means they only have one hand free. For the guys that wear their pants in the correct size they have 2 hands free to do more. Ok, so maybe I am a little hard on guys that wear their pants too big. It is their right to dress the way they want to. So from now on I think the older generation should follow suit. My depends will be showing, my grandmothers undies will be out for the world to see. I don’t think I would like to see Don Rickles running around with his boxers hangning out. ’nuff said.

Is it me or do some people hate to have their picture taken. It is not that big of a deal. A picture is a quick reminder of what and who we are. Yes I look at myself and say, man did I gain weight or am I really that old.

It is the same thing when we hear ourselves on a voice recorder. Do I sound that Goofy. No. Actually I sound more like a cross between Gomer Pyle and Jethro Bodine. Ah Grasshopper, he is using obsecure referrences to 1960’s TV shows.

Let’s be a little more modern, ok. I sound like Larry the Cable Guy and Chris Rock had a kid. That is a little more upbeat isn’t it.

Anyway I digress, back to the picture taking. I thought I would follow in my picture taking like my brother did and take a picture in the same place over a length of time. The first time it was pretty easy. The second one was a little harder and it really wasn’t the picture I wanted. Holiday Inns started bolting everything down. They even put the remote control on a little tray that was attached to the night stand.

For those of you with me the joke was I was taking pictures from my hotel room. This is how it works. I write things that are - in my mind- funny and you laugh. Actually it is more of me rambling about anything that strikes my fancy. And that is a great cliche.

I will leave on this thought; All right, Mr. Demille, I am ready for my closeup.