“It's not a crime to offend others; in fact, it's pretty much a natural consequence of having diverse cultures. We live in a world full of people with different backgrounds, interests, and values, and we must learn to accept that there will be clashes. As long as the differences do no harm, we should back off and accept them” ― P.Z. Myers

Yeah. It's me again. And, we find ourselves dealing with a brand new day, Wednesday, July 10, 2019. Much has been said about the Nike shoes bearing the image of the Betsey Ross Revolutionary Flag. To me, it's the fact that a spokesperson for their company could be offended by this particular image and the company withdrew the product. That flag was featured at the inauguration of our first African American President, Barak Obama. (I know. Bill Clinton claimed to be the first African American President, but, he said a lot of other stuff as well.) We do live in a world where people are proactively programmed to be offended. A Starbucks location asked several police officers to leave their coffee shop when another customer said they felt uncomfortable with the police being there. The Corporate office has since apologized, but, I can't help but believe we are immersed in some crazy times. I actually saw some of this many years ago. I was on a downtown bus and a lady got on. The bus was full. A fellow stood up and offered the lady his seat. She responded by angrily giving him a lecture about how she was just as capable of standing as the next person. That was probably 25 years ago. Here's an excerpt from an article in an online news site, "The “I’m offended” culture in the USA has run amok and threatens to ruin the country unless people start standing up to it.  Everyone is trying to get their piece of the “I’m offended” or “discriminated against” pie.  Now groups are fighting with each other over the crumbs that are left, and who is more offended or discriminated against.  It was only a matter of time before that happened.  Eventually, they will turn on each other." (Elk Grove Laguna News) I couldn't agree more.

The wife's phone went off around 5 a.m. yesterday morning. It was a weather warning. A heat advisory. Later on, I looked it up and it is a warning of the heat index values between 105 and 110, between the hours of 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. My nephew over in Louisiana received the same warning at 3 a.m. I suppose they wanted everyone to have a fair warning. I believe that's the first one of those I've seen sent to a phone. I suppose it was to go out to everyone. As far as I can tell, they didn't notify me, but, let the record show, I am not offended. The warning came the morning after we had an unexpected thunderstorm that caused several weather alerts for rain and wind. When her phone went off I asked her what it was. She said, "Just a weather bulletin." I asked, "More rain?" Her reply, "Nope, just a heat advisory." Talk about things changing fast! That thunderstorm had caused our temperature to plunge into the mid-70s. Now we will be dealing with potentially life-threatening heat. This situation reminded me of the late Gilda Radner's character on Saturday Night Live back in the day when it was watchable. She was news contributor, Rosanna Rosanna Danna. This weather alert situation reminded me of one of  her closing comments, "Well, Jane, it just goes to show you, it's always something — if it ain't one thing, it's another." That pretty well sums it up.

We bought our house in this neighborhood in 1984. We've had numerous flood events since that time. Many of the houses that get hit each time are rebuilt and re-hit again, and again. We've never had our house flooded due to rising water. We did take 18 inches of rain inside when Mr. Hurricane Ike dumped a huge pine tree onto the roof and opened it up like a sardine can. That was a mess. In addition to the houses that are flood prone, there are some that back up to a lake and they are always in danger when we have heavy rains. They too are often rebuilt and made ready for the next flood event. There are some still in the process of being refurbished as a result of Hurricane Harvey back in August of 2017. Mr. Bentley and I drive by that area when he makes his daily ride through of the neighborhood. These houses back right up to the lake. When a huge rain comes, a nearby creek fills up and overflows into this lake. The lake overflows and these houses are pretty much inundated. They do look pretty good when they finish redoing them. They typically have new carpet, new paint, new appliances and it comes with a manicured lawn. The question would be: How do you market a place like that? Several have For Sale signs in the yard, but, one caught my eye. It has printed in large colorful letters, Water Front Property. That, my friend, is an understatement, but, I do commend them for their honesty. That, by the way, qualifies as a legitimate drive-by observation, just in case you were wondering. Have a great rest of the day and may God be honored as we thank Him for all the blessings He has sent our way. Amen. ....More later.