"If advertisers spent the same amount of money on improving their products as they do on advertising then they wouldn't have to advertise them." ~ Will Rogers

Mom's granddaughter Angela, our niece. Taken yesterday.

Update on mom: The roller coaster ride continues. We are so thankful that she was so much better yesterday. We believe the urinary tract infection cleared and that gave way to a return of her mental faculties. If all goes according to plan, she will be transferred to a facility for 2 to 3 more weeks of physical therapy. We continue to hope that will help her to be able to recover some ability to function for when she returns home. For someone who is 92.5 years young, she's been through a lot but she continues to soldier on. Thanks so much for all the prayers.

Good Tuesday to one and all, here on the last day of the month on January 31, 2017.  I listened to an advertising guru interviewed the other day where he was talking about product placement ads. Essentially, nearly every facet of life is now available for some type of advertising. We all more or less looked the other way when schools started allowing advertising within the school itself. McDonald's was one of the first to provide much-needed revenues to cash-strapped schools if they would allow them to use video ads in the halls and other areas of the campus. Now we see athletic uniforms carrying advertising and according to this expert, we've only just begun. While limited thus far, there have even been payments made to mega Church pastors to plug a movie to his or her congregation. He said don't look now but in the not too distant future, that big screen in Church may have a commercial scrolling across the bottom. He also said that product placement might show up in actual sermons. He mentioned this in the context of nothing being sacred anymore. All of this is coming at a time when people are doing their best to find ways to avoid advertising. Imagine this one. Today we have a message from God Almighty sponsored by that wonderful maker of cleaning products. I, for one, am not looking forward to that kind of advertising.

I somehow got my Keurig here at work set on the smallest cup size. Maybe it happened when the power went off. It actually puts about 1/4 cup of fluid in a standard coffee mug. I used to drink about 1/2 of the mug. So, I get to thinking. I really enjoy the smallest cup size but I do use up a lot of those little single serve containers. I readily admit how the smallest cup size is strong enough to get my attention each morning. Not wanting to squander money needlessly I decided to try and go back to the 1/2 cup size. I selected and brewed the next size up and I thought, "What in tarnation is going on?" It was like some Yankees had invaded and made me a cup of that see through stuff they call coffee. Now that just beats all. I used to drink that setting and was very happy with it. Now, it's like someone spilled food coloring into a cup of hot water. I know my coffee stories have to be tiresome, but, it is such a large part of my life. No. I'm not tearing up. That's not to say I'm not emotional about my Community, but, I just hope I don't continue this trend where I might end up taking a spoonful, chewing it up, and washing it down with a swallow of hot water. That's a scary thought. I suppose the moral of the story is how there's no going back. Like a fellow I worked with one time who liked to use this one, "Once they visit Paris, there's no getting them to go back to the farm." 

I know those are confusing metaphors but coffee does that to me sometimes. I'm trying to make sure I keep my membership in that club for eccentrics. I don't think there's a risk of losing my position. The main qualification is to be a person with behaviors that are unconventional or slightly strange. I think I might qualify for life time certification. You do know I'm kidding. If I do need those who will testify on my behalf, I'm sure I can draw a crowd to agree with my status. While I have heard that description used with my name before, I am very much kidding about it. You what? You would want to hear the testimony of those who know me best before agreeing? I am working with a tough audience today. Hey, we all have to be known for something. My college girl granddaughter Amanda Faith bought me a new coffee mug for Christmas. It has this inscription: "Poppy loves his coffee almost as much as he loves his grandchildren." Talk about nailing it on the first try! Like I say, you have to be known for something. Maybe I could settle for people saying I was unconventional and slightly strange, but, in a good way. Yeah. I could live with that. What about you? I think I've put enough keystroke characters out of their misery for one day. Therefore, I bid you a good rest of the day and pray that God will watch over us all. Amen. ....More later.