More Random Stuff

 Good afternoon and welcome to this Thursday Thought.  I thought today that I’d just do a sort of potpourri of random “stuff” that has been on my mind recently.  I haven’t done this in awhile, and it seems like a good time to get some of this out of my brain and on Facebook.

 When driving on any kind of a freeway, there are always a few people who insist on tailgating within a few feet of the car ahead of them.  It seems to me that this method of driving only causes more anxiety and stress, but doesn’t do much to get them any farther down the road.  I would think that having a good distance between you and the car in front of you would lessen the stress level and result in a better overall driving record.

 Also, when on a freeway, there are always some who insist on going at least 20 miles and hour faster than everyone else.  They weave in and out of lanes, create stressful situations for other drivers, and seem to think that driving the freeway is some kind of a game where, if they win they get some kind of prize.  I have yet to see any kind of prize given to anyone for doing this kind of driving, except for the occasional traffic citation and higher insurance rates, to say nothing of higher costs for fuel and maintenance…which doesn’t seem to me to be any kind of prize I would want.

 And speaking of driving, why is it that when a couple is on a motorcycle, the man is always driving?  Is there something wimpy about a man riding shotgun with a woman at the helm?  Is it a macho type of thing or something?  Do men who own motorcycles have to drive in order to prove their manhood?  How did that ever come about, anyway?

 We have, over the recent years, been able to take trips and vacations on a rather regular basis.  We’ve chosen to stay in motels that are associated with an international chain that is known for good service and cleanliness.  We’ve found, however, that those cleanliness and service standards are somewhat fluid, even within the corporate chain.  We’ve also found that we can know exactly what the free breakfast consists of as all of this chain’s motels and hotels seem to offer the exact same things even though the hotels are independently owned.  I wonder just how independent these places really are…

 I recently looked at my list of blocked phone numbers on my cell phone.  I was surprised that there were so many of them.  And even with the great number of blocked numbers on my list, I still receive calls from, I presume, people I don’t know and don’t want to know.  I say “presume” because I don’t answer calls from numbers that I’m not familiar with or are not in my phone book.  Phone numbers are becoming as much of an identifier as a social security number anymore.  To change one’s number often requires a lot of changing in the personal information sections of many contacts, businesses, and institutions one deals with.  Who knew some years ago that it would come to this?

 And speaking of phones, how long ago was it that someone would have given their right arms to have a phone in their car?  I can well remember being on the road a lot for a job I had in Western Kansas…knowing where all of the pay phones were in all of the little towns out there.  I well remember having a telephone “credit card” number that I could use to charge a call to my home phone, and thereby not having to put endless quarters into the pay phone to pay for the long distance call.  I often wished I could just call someone from my car and not have to stop at a pay phone or borrow a client’s phone.  Now, the world is on my hip, although I’m not so sure I’m all the better for it being that way.

 And an end note.  This week is the last week for a long-time member of our church staff.  Eric has been our worship leader here at RiverWalk since his earliest days, and has been on staff for more years than I can count.  He’s retiring this Sunday, and they’ll be moving to the Eastern seaboard in their retirement.  We wish them well, and know that the hole they leave in our RiverWalk family will never quite fill in completely.  We’ve known of their impending retirement and move for several years, but that doesn’t make this week any less difficult.  Thank you, Eric and Melody.  Blessings.