Mandy Muffin's Blog (36)

With all the publicity about Sochi toilets, I thought I would relate some of my own experiences with toilet facilities and the like in Russia.

In the past, I have had occasion to visit Russia twice, once for two weeks on a bus tour from Finland, returning to Germany and visiting Moscow. The tour…

Most people use insurance in their lifetime. You purchase it for protection from a catastrophe of some sorts. You may have invested dearly in your home and wouldn't want to face replacing it should it burn down or be damaged. You are required by your state to insure your automobile…

At the Kathleen Sebelius Congressional Hearing on Obamacare, one Representative chided her that everyone in America was now being forced to purchase one standard benefit plan array that is mandated by the law. She explained that Americans don't like being told what to purchase; some like…

It must have been in 1956, during that first class I had in College Economics 101, that the definition of economics was drilled into my head: It is the management of scarce resources. When something is plentiful, who needs economics? If you can just go out in the morning and pick all the apples you want to eat,  you don't need to get…

I spent a career working for a high-tech developer and manufacturer. In the personnel management field, I soon learned about “skunk works” and their mission in life. Although the term was first applied to engineering and development groups, it has been broadly used for any group of employees who work in teams.…

I spent some time this afternoon filling out forms for my South Florida cardiologist so he can obtain my medical records from my Cincinnati, Ohio based physician group. I am a snow bird and spend part of my year in Florida and the other part in the Cincinnati area. I have been doing this for the 15 years since…

Here is my Miami Sun tricycle, which I take for about a hour spin each day at my Florida retirement complex. Over the past few years, some disabilities have hampered my prior one hour walks and the comfort of a regular bicycle seat. So I did as many do at an older age and switched to a trike. There are a number…

It's a decision most people must make in their lives. Or perhaps it is a number of decisions. One such decision was announced yesterday, as one of the most recognizable figures in the world gave up his job. Pope Benedict XVI is resigning, a move not very often taken by a person who has been given a position for life. Presidents have said, “I do…

The nation's postal service has been the messenger of America for over 200 years. But it doesn't write the messages, it just delivers them. Over the years the service has had to adjust to changing technologies. I suppose somebody in Washington had to send lay-off notices to all those pony express riders when it was safe to ship by stage coach and then by train. I don't remember any big backlash by the union and demand the pony riders be retained…

I just finished the book, “Silver Linings Playbook,” and plan to see the Academy Award nominated movie this evening. It is about mental health and a mid-30s aged patient who is trying to make a trip back to reality with little help from a highly dysfunctional family. The plot questions what reality really is. Is…

The Superbowl is probably more engrained into American culture than any day of the year. Records are set for TV viewers, bathroom flushes at half-time and bets placed on the action in casinos. People can remember where they were on the first one played and significant others after that. I saw my first one in…

That what an Hispanic mother was yelling at her five kids yesterday as I was shopping at my local grocery store. They were scattered throughout the aisles, as she was hauling a overloaded grocery cart towards the register.  I live in south-central Florida where the white-painted converted school buses bring the families of the orange pickers to…

My local Walmart has just installed about 10 self-checkout registers. Now I live in the Florida county that has the second oldest population of any county in America. Further, this Walmart is located among a half dozen retirement communities, which after citrus farming is the number two industry in the area.…

Women may now be used in combat according to new military rules. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/01/women-combat-process/ Accordingly, there is no job that a woman cannot do in the military as long as she passes the same tests as…

I drove over to the golf course and played a round yesterday, as I do twice a week. I paid my green fee and enjoyed about 4 hours of bright sunshine, conversation and competition with my fellow retirees. I thank God for the days I have left to play golf and try to enjoy my life. But while I was doing that, the news was filled with the complaints…

I have engaged in the process for about three quarters of a century. When I was a child I mostly took, as my parents gave me what I needed. But I soon learned the art of giving. I served mass as an alter-attendant in my early school days, then served the community as a scout for a number of years. I took some public education money, as I attended…

I saw the Fold-A-Day paper airplane kit as I was touring the mall last week. It was on sale for half price, at $7.50. There is a paper airplane to fold for everyday of the year. I purchased the kit and thought I would try to accomplish the daily folding as a relaxation activity.…

In the past year numerous polls have shown that between about 73% of the country believes the federal government should cut back on spending. …

There was a day back in the late 1950s, when as a teenager I had use of the family car and discontinued going to the Sunday 8:00 AM Catholic Mass with my parents.  I was a college kid home for the summer and was given a bit of latitude to engage is some of those bad habits I had picked up at college.  My parents were both non-smokers but accepted me puffing on a…

Yesterday, my wife and I went to see "Les Mis," the movie version of the highly successful musical based on the novel, "Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo.  I remember reading the original book sometime in my growing up days when I attended the French parochial school.  It was a mortality lesson that I never forgot.  



A man is imprisoned for 19 years for…