"Failing conventionally is the route to go; as a group, lemmings may have a rotten image, but no individual lemming has ever received bad press." ~ Financial Wizard and Author: Warren Buffett

Okay. We made it through two political party conventions and when we come up for some air we find that it is Friday, July 29, 2016. There's a lot of speculation about the validity of using the comparison between the little rodents, lemmings, and people. It has come to symbolize people who blindly follow without question and that supposedly mirrors the lemmings going off the cliff together. Like I say, experts dispute what lemmings actually do and they challenge the idea that they commit mass suicide. I'll not try to sort all of that out but I recently participated in something that was a perfect example of the blind leading the blind. The other day I was out on one of the toll roads in the Houston metroplex. You know what a toll road is, right? It's where people pay a fee to drive whatever speed they want to. Why? Because they paid a fee. The speed limit is 65 MPH but the average on a good day is closer to between 75 and 80. The day I'm talking about was not a good day. I was going along when suddenly a deluge literally fell from the sky. I'm talking rain coming down like an open fire hydrant. No one could see. However, with apologies to the lemmings, we all kept going anyway. I couldn't have stopped if I had wanted to. If you can't even see the lane you are in, how in the world would you be able to pull over? In addition to that, everyone was still driving at least 40 MPH as we all blindly took advantage of the privileges from our fee paid access. After about 20 minutes the rain let up enough for me to more or less get my bearings. Back to 75 as I attempted to figure out exactly where I was. I don't really know what's accurate or not about the lemmings, but, I can assure you they have nothing on us. Nothing at all!

I know that's likely not such a big deal for younger folks, but, for those of us who are high mileage vehicles, well, it can be extremely challenging. I kept taking my glasses on and off to see if I had them on. Maybe I was checking to see if they had quit working. One day I got in a downpour like that and when I came out of it I was driving on the shoulder. I must have been following the lights in front of me. I recognized it when I saw that concrete barrier right up against my truck. That was scary. This stuff is not for the fainthearted, I can assure you of that. I read one young lady's encounter with an older fellow using a walking cane that nearly ran over her. Come to find out, he was looking down while actually playing Pokemon Go on his smartphone. I have no plans to do that, but, you do have to admire his spunk. So far, no one has said anything about me having the proverbial 'old man smell.' Maybe they are just trying not to hurt my feelings. I did read another little tidbit about a very elderly gentleman that had to plan around a special 9 a.m. appointment every day. When he told his doctor he was in a hurry to make his 9 a.m., the doctor asked him about it. He replied how his wife has suffered from Alzheimers Disease for the past five years and they have breakfast together every day at 9 a.m., even though she has no idea who he is. His doctor asked why he went if she couldn't even recognize him. He simply said he went because he still knows who she is.

I'm surprised I haven't received a warning from the keystroke policing folks regarding my disregard for the amount and the applicability of those I sling onto the electronic page each day. Back when Dan Quale was in the political arena, he got everyone all stirred up when he somewhat missed the meaning of the NAACP slogan. Their slogan said, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Quayle took a shot at it and it came out like this, "What a terrible thing to have lost one's mind. Or not to have a mind at all. How true that is." I may be eligible for a double whammy award in being able to apply the sentiments expressed in both of those statements as it relates to what ends up in my blog each day. I suppose we should take a moment and pause to be thankful for the skip, escape, and delete functions that help us deal with stuff we would just as soon not have before us. There's a lot going on these days and my head spins at times in trying to keep up with it all. I use my daily visits to express my interpretation of things happening along with my opinions about them. Others see the same happenings and come to a different conclusion. While I might disagree with their way of seeing it, I do respect their right to do so. Mark Twain is credited with this statement, "Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see." That's a good reminder to us all, beginning with me. Have a great Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday and I plan to be cranking out some more keystrokes come next Monday morning. Lord willing. Of course. Amen. .....More later.