The following are bumper stickers I saw today in our parking lot when returning from lunch. For some reason they tickled my “funny bone” today.

• I get it now…. I did something bad and this is hell.
• I’m not speeding…. I’m QUALIFYING.
• If God isn’t a Comet fan, why is the sky blue and white? (The Comets are a local high school team whose colors are blue and white)
• When did I say you could be in charge?
• Keep honking while you can… I’m reloading.
• Hang up and DRIVE (along with a picture of a cell phone)

This week’s Friday Five is all about donations, and NOT of the monetary type either!

1. What blood group are you?
Type O Negative. I am the universal donor!

2. Do you give blood? Why/why not?
I haven’t for a while. I have in the past, though. I’m nothing like KC. She doesn’t have the sticker or the T-Shirt, but I imagine she’s given over 10 gallons in her lifetime.

3. Are you listed as an organ donor? Again, why/why not?
No. I just haven’t done it. I don’t know that my organs are in all that great of shape to donate?!

4. Would you donate an organ or other part of your body (eg bone marrow) while still alive?
Absolutely. I don’t know if all the readers here know, but KC’s brother is 7 years out of a bone marrow transplant from one of her other brothers. He was featured on this year’s Bone Marrow Transplant Calendar cover (he is the blond in the blue cycling outfit).

5. Would you consider leaving your body to medical science? Or maybe just parts of your body?
No, not really. Again, this is one that I haven’t really thought a lot about. Yeah, I’m getting up there and yeah, I SHOULD be thinking about things like this, but I don’t.

Happy Birthday, Kaitlyn!! (Even though I’m two days late with it!)

Thursday already?! Here’s the Thursday Threesome!

Onesome: Light - Light chocolate or dark chocolate? …or no chocolate at all?
SInce it’s chocolate it is all BETTER than good! However, if I have my choice, I’ll choose dark chocolate.

Twosome: or - Yeah, easy stuff this week : Coffee with cream or black as night? Or maybe: colas or clear sodas? …or just water, thank you?
What, you kidding me? It’s gotta be Diet Mountain Dew! (Coffee stunts your growth!) If there’s no Diet Dew, just give me some water.

: Dark - Light-colored clothing or dark clothes? Which do you prefer to wear? Angel to goth, we’re curious?
I tend to stick to earth tones. Tans, greens, browns and greys. I do go with blue jeans, but my favorite shirts are all the earth tones. All my work slacks are earth tones.

I can’t believe our state legislators some times. I mean REALLY, those folks are simply out of their minds. Check out these two items:

• Iowa bill seeks to ban flashy, spinning auto wheel covers That’s right. Our legislature in its infinite wisdom is out after people who trick out their cars with spinner rims. Here’s the story. Representative Doug Struyk needs to get a life, or at least needs to organize the priorities in his life. Hell, Doug, why not ban fuzzy dice or Hawaiian leis hanging from the mirror as well? They pose more of a safety threat than spinners. No, I don’t have a vehicle with spinners on it, but I think on some vehicles they look pretty cool. It’s the fact that a law like this can even be PROPOSED is what gets me. These folks make way too much of my money (see the second part about that!) and seem to have nothing better to do than pass frivolous laws that are nearly unenforceable. We need lawmakers that at least know what clues are; this guy doesn’t seem to know clues even exist. What’s next; are they going to ban interior lights in cars because they are a distraction? (There are reflections on the windshield when those lights are on at night.) Or better yet, just ban anyone in the car being under the age of 6 - kids are too much of a distraction for the adult driver. ARRGGGGHHH! Vote the bastards out!
• GOP seeks to eliminate tax for under-30s You read that right, also. Here’s the story. Now I lean more toward the conservative side, but I have to ask “What the f*#& are you thinking even proposing a law like this?”. Holy crap! If you put some grey matter towards the problem you’d notice that this law SUCKS. It’s not only because I am over 30, but because you are going to increase taxes in another area to compensate for the loss of tax income in this area. Well either that or you’d have to do away with some programs, which never really happens in government. This might even start a new type of ID - the ID that makes you younger. You’ve heard of the kids that have IDs to make them 21 so they can get into bars — now there’s going to be IDs that make adults young so they don’t have to pay taxes! (Well, maybe not, but JEEZ!) Another thing that could (and likely WOULD) happen with a law like this is that folks will move OUT of Iowa just before they turn 30. One more time: ARRGGGGHHH! Vote the bastards out!

You know, it’s stories like this that make me ashamed to say I’m from Iowa.

Here it is Wednesday, ALREADY! Off we go to Are you more…

01) Hip-hop culture or hippie culture?
Two lousy choices, but the lesser of two evils is the hippie culture. I still don’t understand a lot about the hip-hop… I mean, REALLY: Pull up your pants, you look really stupid.

02) Likely to laugh the laugh of the wicked or weep the weep of the pure-hearted?
I’d much rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints!

03) A punisher of bad behaviour or a rewarder of good behaviour?
As a parent I tried to do both. However, it is easier to reward good behavior than punish bad.

04) Ravioli in a can or chicken soup in a can?
Ravioli in a can. I make a kick-ass chicken soup!

05) Styrofoam is best for packing material or bubble wrap is best for packing material?
Bubble wrap of course; it’s the adult pacifier. It’s also called popper wrap!

06) A big baby when you’re really sick or a plucky little soldier when you’re really sick?
Kind of a combination. I pretty much go into my shell when I’m sick. Kind of “Leave me alone, dammit! I’ll get over it!”

07) A confronter or an after-the-fact seether?
After-the-fact seether. I’ve never been real good in head-to-head confrontation.

08) An eater of good pizza or an eater of good steak?
BOTH! I even like steak pizza!

09) A person who has seen a UFO/non-human-piloted craft or a person who’s never seen such a thing?
I’ve never seen such a thing, but I do believe they are out there.

10) A wearer of fine, silky-feeling stuff or a wearer of comfy, fleece-feeling stuff?
This time of year it’s the comfy, fleece-feeling stuff. During the summer its the silky-feeling stuff. Gotta stay warm in the winter, ya know?

Well, it is kind of late on Tuesday, but it’s still TV Tuesday!

Nick at Night is celebrating 20 years of giving us “classic” television in the evening. This year’s new show is the classic 80s sitcom Murphy Brown. Murph and company join the rotation of such sitcoms The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, The Munsters, Green Acres and many, many more that help introduce new generations to the great comedies of yesteryear.

This week, we take a look at the shows on Nick-at-Night.

1. Of the many shows that run on Nick-at-Night, what is the one that you would most enjoy sitting down and watching a marathon of?
Well, it’s not on Nick at Night any more, but when it was on I really enjoyed Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. I remember watching the show when I was young and it was funny then; watching the re-runs on Nick at Night, it is STILL funny.

2. What classic show from yesterday has not made it to Nick-at-Nite yet, but you’d like to see it there?
Oh, let’s see. I like the show The Magician with Bill Bixby. I also liked the show The Second Hundred Years with Monte Markham.

3. Have repeat on Nick-at-Night given you a new appreciation of an older show? Which one?
Not really. I have watched a number of the old shows, but most are those that I either didn’t or couldn’t watch regularly back in the day.

4. What show that is currently on the air do you think our kids will be watching in 20 years on Nick-at-Nite?
Well, since I don’t watch hardly any network TV, I’m probably not the one to answer that. I hope to God that they don’t have any of the reality shows on then, though.

5. What is one show that Nick-at-Nite currently runs that you question if the classic label applies to?
I’d take issue with Roseanne. I thought the show was crass and the only redeeming feature on it was John Goodman. I’m not too crazy about Murphy Brown, either. I didn’t watch either one much when they were “popular”.

~ BONUS ~ Are there some shows that don’t repeat well in later years because they rely on topical humor? (For example, a lot of the Murphy Brown jokes rely on a knowledge of current events when they were produced) Do you sometimes find yourself getting the jokes that younger generations don’t? Do you think this topical humor helps or hurts shows from having a long life in repeats?
The shows that repeat well are those that have time-tested values that are reinforced again and again. Topical shows are not always the best for that. A show that will live forever in repeats is Little House on the Prairie. It’s all about the family values and love and togetherness. Another one is Touched by an Angel. (Of course another series of short-subject films that will live forever is The Three Stooges!!)

It was a busy one (no reference to Busy Mom!). Friday night we go out with good friends to a local Mexican restaurant called El Allende, and subsequently stuff ourselves silly! Then, we go back to our place and watch a DVD. We were going to go to watch the movie Spanglish at The New Strand Theater, but got side-tracked before going out to eat and ended up not going because we would have missed the start of the movie.

Saturday, KC and I were going through our usual routine when we get a call from the same friends. We were a bit surprised because they are heavily involved in Scouting and the Klondike Derby was to be that morning. Blizzard conditions had called off the Klondike Derby, though. They have Hawkeye Basketball tickets, so YEAH! we’ll go to the Purdue-Iowa game. Iowa ended up winning and scoring over 70 points, so the local AutoCare center was offering a free gallon of windshield washer fluid by saying “Score for more” and presenting the ticket; we now have 2 gallons of windshield washer fluid in the garage. We also got to see our nephew AJ at the game; he is a sophomore at Iowa works in the sports marketing department. How bad is it that you HAVE to go to all home games AND get paid for it? (I want a job like that!!) Saturday night, we pile back into the car (we and our friends) and head out to The New Strand Theater to watch Spanglish; it was a decent movie. (No review coming from me, though)

Sunday, we get up (skipped church, unfortunately) and head BACK up to Iowa City to meet Breezomatic at Coral Ridge Mall. There we get some shopping done as well as eat lunch with her and catch up with her life. Then last night I go off to the YMCA and play in the last “over-18″ basketball league game of our schedule.

Yeah, it was a busy weekend!

Choose one and explain is the theme of this week’s Friday Five.

1. Which is worse, the Burning Question ~OR~ the Painful Truth?
The Burning Question because like all questions in real life, there can be more than one correct answer.

2. “Live hard, die young and leave a beautiful corpse” ~OR~ “Live long and prosper”?
Live long and prosper, Spock! You don’t have to die young to die happy!

3. Let bygones be bygones ~OR~ Bitch, I’ll cut you!?
Let bygones be bygones; all carrying a grudge does is increase your blood pressure.

4. Private hell ~OR~ Sharing is caring?
Sharing is caring. If you do have a burden, friends help lighten the load.

5. Open hearted ~OR~ Walls around your heart?
Open hearted to a certain degree. Only let them in as much as they let you in to their heart.

I got this from a friend at work; I just HAD to post it! (Well, I was laughing so loud that KC had to ask what was so funny! Thanks, Ron!

Here we are with the Thursday Threesome!

Onesome: The next - What would be your idea for the next great reality tv show?
Isn’t that an oxymoron? There’s no such thing as a “great reality TV show”.

Twosome: American - What do you think of as typically American? Mom and apple pie? Afternoons at the ballpark watching baseball?
Going to the ballpark of the Quad City Swing (our local Class-A affiliate team) and getting a beer and a hot dog and rooting on the home team! What’s more American than baseball and hot dogs?

Threesome: Idol - Who’s the one person you admire the most and why?
Tough question. There are some celebrities that I admire a lot; mainly ones you don’t read negative press about, but still manage to be role models for our youth. There are also some friends that I admire a lot. I think there isn’t one person that I admire “the most”.

It’s ALREADY Wednesday! So here we go with Are you more…

01) Shovel the new falling snow right away or let it finish falling before you start shovelling?
There aren’t many things I dislike more than shovelling snow, so let’s wait until it’s finished. Heck, we might even let Mother Nature melt it for us while we are waiting!

02) Loving the American Idol show or can’t stand the show and Simon Cowell can bite me?
I’ve watched about two episodes total, and the show is the pits. It is The Gong Show done serious.

03) Trixer mixer fixer or hammer bammer slammer?
Depends upon what’s wrong. I can do both!

04) Into Elton John covers (eg. Nickelback, “Saturday Night’s Alright”) or into Elton John originals (eg. Elton John, “Saturday Night’s Alright”)?
Except in rare occaisions, covers (or remixes and the like) are NEVER as good as the original. And in Elton John’s case, the original wasn’t all that great.

05) Travel 30 minutes to a restaurant you really, really like or find something a lot closer that’s okay?
If it is something I really, really like 30 minutes is worth it just to whet the appetite.

06) Children’s light pseudo-sexual playing is okay and natural or children shouldn’t be doing that sort of thing until after puberty (or 18-21 if you’re *really* prudish)?
Oh, man! I played doctor and post office with girls when I was little (didn’t every guy?). There’s nothing wrong with it unless the parent freaks and lets the kids know they think it is wrong - then it becomes something “dirty” and the kids will sneak around to do things like that. Let’s keep it out in the open.

07) When you see a young, hot woman on the arm of an older man, she’s taking advantage of him or he’s taking advantage of her?
I think the relationship is symbiotic. She is taking advandage of him because older men are less likely to let their hormones take over so she gets a more stable partner; he is taking advantage of her because he wants to “relive” his youth and with her there he feels younger.

08) When you see a young, hot man on the arm of an older woman, he’s taking advantage of her or she’s taking advantage of him?
Once again, it’s symbiotic. She is feeling desirable because this hunk is with her and wants to “take” her repeatedly; he is younger and his hormones are raging and thinking how lucky he is that a mature woman has an interest in him. I think it was Benjamin Franklin that wrote an eight point essay on the virtues of marrying an older woman — good read.

09) Proper education really is the foundation upon which to build your knowledge or book learnin’ never done me no good?
I think it HAS to be a combination. I knew a gal in college who was a straight “A” student; 4.0, valedictorian, all the other stuff. Went on to med school and is probably a top surgeon somewhere. Of course, she had zip for common sense - as the old saying goes, “she couldn’t pour piss out of a boot with directions on the heel”. On the other hand, my Grampa was one of the smartest guys I ever met and I think he just barely finished high school.

10) All talk, talk, talk and no action or all act, act, act and no talktion?
While I like to talk, I tend not to talk about the things I’m going to do. So I guess the latter?