Odd stuff and stupid people-

Ok, I told you already that I might be just a little bit cranky today. And I am. But I saw and heard some things this weekend that just made me scratch my brain. You get to hear about them, right now.

First, I heard Lynn Rosetto Kaspar interview John R. Hailman about his book, Thomas Jefferson on Wine. The man has spent 30 years researching Thomas Jefferson's wine fetish! Thirty years! Is that possibly the best use of his time that he could imagine? He researched 30 years just so that he could write a book. What a complete waste of time for an individual who otherwise sounded like he was in his right mind! Just for a moment consider all the good he might have done for his local community or for the entire world if he had just applied himself to something more important that Jefferson's wine lists. Get a life man!

Next, I saw a man driving this weekend in the most peculiar driving posture. He was in a late model, shiny red Honda next to me at a traffic light. Both front seats were reclined back, probably as far as they were intended to go. The headrests were aligned dead center in the rear windows of the car. The driver, who seemed to be a rather tall man, was leaned forward, away from the seatbacks and had his elbow draped over the steering wheel, with his head positioned about dead center with the front side glass... There must have been 15-18 inches between his shoulder blades and the seatback. His posture appeared to be his normal driving style, as if the seatbacks weren't really a neccesary portion of his car's equipment. I didn't get to watch as the man headed down the road to see if he reclined back into the seat after he cleared the intersection and I did not get to suggest that if his seatbacks were both broken that Honda would probably replace them under warranty. No matter which way the man drives all the time, either leaned back into the back seat or unsupported and hugging the steering wheel, if he is involved in an accident, I don't think he will get full advantage of the safety features Honda built into his car.