Thinking Man's Thursday

• Despite the melatonin tablet, the woman who has been appearing in my dreams recently had only a cameo appearance last night.  Sigh.
• I was at two dollar stores today, and in both cases forgot to buy a flyswatter.
• Driving past an EECU branch tonight, I noticed that they still (Thursday), had not changed their time and temperature sign to reflect DST.  That would not have happened on my watch.
• An independent filmmaker has debuted his supposed documentary at SXSW, positing that the guy whose death in Ferguson, MO, precipitated the BLM movement, did not actually rob the convenience store, but was/had just engaged in some friendly weed bargaining.  This would be considerably less idiotic if: 1) It were true; 2) The full convenience store surveillance sequence - about four minutes, not just thirty seconds - was used for the premise; 3) One ignores that the store did report a robbery.  In any event, the proximate cause - OK, the only cause - of the miscreant's demise, was that he reached into the police cruiser's window to try to snatch the officer's weapon.  That sort of thing is generally considered a poor choice.
• Of course, there is a not inconsiderable portion of the population that will embrace the fiction, as well as many who will use it to try to foment racial unrest.
• A TV commercial offers NightView glasses for night driving.  Best I can tell, it's the same concept that 20 years ago was marketed as BluBlocker.

•   I got up early today to go to traffic court, making a mental checklist of nearly a half-dozen school zones on the way.  About a half mile from my house, I realized it was Spring Break.  I got to court with a half hour to spare.  I also had made arrangements to come into work late, but ended up arriving a few minutes earlier than I normally do, even after grabbing a McD breakfast burrito.
• Speaking of McDs, my very first experience at the arches was at an old style location on the west side of Tulsa in the late '60s or very early '70s.  I can remember when they built one on Story Road in Irving in the early '70s.  When I was in college, McD was in my after-class rotation, along with BK, Taco Bell and Bueno, and Whataburger, resulting in my peak avoirdupois of about 215 imperial pounds.
• Somewhat like Wal-Mart, I think McDonald's to a degree fell victim to its own success.  Although some of the criticism leveled at the fast food chain is arguably deserved, my impression is that they have made strides in adapting their menu to changing nutritional sensitivities, as well as upgrading their image beyond the clown theme to the point where you could almost feel comfortable having a casual business meeting there.  Well, sort of.
• About 7 years ago, I got serious about shedding some excess poundage, and went from about a 208 average, to the lower-mid 190s.  For the past three or so years, I've been in a fairly consistent 175-177 range, which is commensurate with my height and bone structure. I'm no Jack LaLane, but I don't have any regular aches and pains.
• One of the lines from last weekend's sermon that's been marinating in my mind this week is: "Comfort, pleasure, power, control, and respect are not inherently evil, unless employed or enjoyed with the wrong motive."
• On a street in Colleyville, I passed many new McMansions scattered among older ranch-style homes.  Almost all of the new builds had small ponds or water features, averaging about 20'x40' in the front yard.  I guess if they have fish in the ponds, they won't become mosquito incubators, right?
• The latest Russian relationship seeker to troll my email inbox bills herself as "Irina Honest", 29 years old.  Honey, to quote Donald Hugh, "You're looking for a younger man - not me."
• The ladies at work seemed to think my dream quote to the mystery woman about never stopping having conversation was sort of romantical.  Maybe she'll grace my dreams again tonight.
• The Donald's words of wisdom for today: "At the end of the day...it's midnight."