Author Archives: Leonard

Friday Funny August 22, 2014 Back to School

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Summer is coming to a close and back to school time is upon us.  I always enjoyed the first day of school, it was about only day of the year when I was not behind. Here are a few school related jokes to kick off your Friday!

Enjoy!

What do you call a teacher without students? Happy!

Teachers who take class attendance are absent-minded

A first grade teacher handed out a coloring page to her students – on it was a picture of a frog holding an umbrella.  When the class handed them in, one little boy had colored the frog bright purple. The teacher asked the boy, “Please tell me how often have you seen a purple frog?”   The little boy answered, “The same number of times I’ve seen a frog holding an umbrella.” 

After reading the homework assignment, the Teacher called little Billy to her desk and said, “Billy, your essay on ‘My Dog’ is exactly the same as your brother’s. Did you copy it?”  Little Billy without hesitation answered, “No, Mrs. White. It’s the same dog!”

Teacher: Who was the first woman on earth?
Boy: I don’t know?
Teacher: Think of the apple story.
Boy: I know, Granny Smith!  

Teacher: If you had one dollar and you asked your dad for another, how much would you have?
Boy: One dollar.
Teacher: Are you sure?
Boy: Yes, my dad wouldn’t give me a dollar!

Teacher: Give me a sentence with the word “fascinate” in it.
Student: If I had a sweater with ten buttons on it and two fell off, then I would only have to fasten eight.  

Teacher: Glen, how do you spell Crocodile? 
Glen: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L.
Teacher: No, that’s wrong. 
Glen: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

Thought for the Week

Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher.  That is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number.  ~Author Unknown

This One is Out of Here.

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Well it is time to put another softball season to rest and, according to my lovely wife, it is also time to put another softball shirt to rest as well.  She tells me that the shirt is old and misshapen.  She said she soaked it for a week and still the dirt stains refuse to come out.  Apparently she thinks I care about playing softball in a clean shirt which, of course, I don’t.  If I came home from a softball game in a clean shirt I think my wife would be asking for eyewitness confirmation that I really played.  I am kind of like Pig Pen from Peanuts when it comes to softball, no matter what I do, I tend to get dirty.  A sure sign that I have played a good softball game is that I need to hose off my shirt and socks in the driveway before even coming inside.   Those ground-in brown splotches on the shirt may be seen as a challenge to my wife.  To me they are little badges of honor, reminders of bases slid into and tumbling attempts to deny line drives admission to the outfield grass.  I suppose that I have been through a number of shirts and jerseys over the years and I am confident none of them left my possession clean.

I admit I am a bit reluctant to let this shirt go.  We have been through a lot together and I am a lot like that shirt.  It has been with me in the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat (and the agony of sore muscles), through trials and errors (lots of errors), though thick and thin (well mostly thick and thicker).  Like this shirt, I am a bit used up, a bit misshapen and a bit stained.  But I keep going out and giving it a shot even though I know my best days are behind me.  I guess as long as it is only the shirt getting tossed and not the wearer along with it, I shouldn’t put up too much of a fight.  I can always find a nice, new, clean shirt.  I just know that it will not stay clean for long.

 

Friday Funny August 15, 2014 Car and Driver

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Happy Friday!  As the time for school to begin draws near, perhaps you might be hitting the road for one last summer trip.  Next time you are out on the roads you might look for some of these car and driver combinations.

Enjoy!

Leonard

A pyromaniac in a Blazer

A barber in a Seville

A creature in a black Laguna

An astronomer in an Eclipse

 A politicain in a Civic

 An orchestra conductor in a Prelude

 A classical musician in a Sonata

 A dog trainer in a Rover

 A band leader in a Tempo

 A bullfighter in a Matador

 An electrician in a Charger

 A snake handler in a Viper

 Barbie in a Malibu

 Sgt. Preston in a Yukon

 Queen Elizabeth in a Regal

 Prince Rainier in a Monaco

 Jim Garner in a Maverick

 Kato in a green Hornet

 John Kerry in a Diplomat

 Speedy Gonzales in a Fiesta

 Wile E. Coyote in a Road Runner

 Elmer Fudd in a Wabbit

 Miss Muffet in a Spyder

 Christopher Columbus in a Voyager

 Blackbeard in a Corsair

 Tonto in a Cherokee

 Carl Sagan in a Nova

 John Mellencamp in a Cougar

 Wonder Woman in a gold Lariat

 Edmund Halley in a Comet

 Nostradamus in a Futura

A Chiropractor in a Contour

An Eye Doctor in a Focus

A Park Ranger in a Forester

An Actor in a Celebrity

An Airline pilot in a Jetta

A Science Teacher in a Prism

A Spy in a Shadow

A Burglar in an Escape

A Fencer in a LeSabre

Robin Hood in an Arrow

A Marine Biologist in a Barracuda

A Maid in a Duster

A Dog-napper in a DeVille

A Physicist in a Fusion

A Cowboy in a Wrangler

Tiger Woods in a Golf 

A Philosopher in an Insight

Thought for the Week

“Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror.”
― Colin Powell

Traveling to Another Dimension

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One of my favorite television series is “The Twilight Zone.”  Part of the opening narration from Rod Serling was telling us that “There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man.”  I think I have found out what this fifth dimension is, it is the dimension of shingles!

This last weekend we had a new roof put on our house and they put on dimensional shingles. These are asphalt shingles with a “twist.”  

For many years man lived in huts, tents and caves,  Then he got the bright idea to build houses which lead to all sorts of unintended consequences like mortgages and aluminum siding salesman.  For many years the standard three tab asphalt shingle was fine.  However, now we need a “twist.”  These dimensional shingles are also called “architectural” shingles or “laminated” shingles.  Obviously by any of these names, they sound more expensive than “three tab” shingles and, of course, they are.   The news just keeps getting worse as now the folks out there who manufacture shingles keep pumping out more stylish, eye-catching shingle options.  I suppose there will be mounting pressure across this land to not only keep up with the Joneses, but to keep up with the Joneses’ shingles as well.

Apparently there is an upside, these dimensional shingles are supposed to last longer.  But I wonder if that is all marketing hype.  But it seems like the old styles are going by the wayside and I do not want my house to look too dated.  I can just imagine if I kept the old style shingles, the day would come when I wanted to sell the house and the realtor would come and say, “I have had several people really interested in the house, they like the yard, they like the size of the rooms, they like the layout, but I keep hearing say they just could not live in a house with three tab shingles.”

So, I have succumbed to the pressure and now I have dimensional shingles. ..Dimensional Shingles, isn’t that a disease you get when you are older if you had chicken pox as a kid? 

Friday Funny August 8, 2014 A Fisherman’s Twin Sons

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Seems like a lot of folks are shark crazy this week with all the shark-related shows on TV. I even wasted some time watching a bit of Sharknado II – if you missed it, I am sure it will be on a thousand more times.  So, in honor of Shark Week, here is a little fish story for you.

Enjoy!

One day many years ago, a fisherman’ and his wife had twin sons. They were very excited with the addition to their family, but try as they might, they just could not come up with appropriate names for the two boys. After struggling with this for days, the fisherman said, “Let’s not decide on names right now. If we wait a little while, perhaps the names will simply occur to us.” 

Several weeks passed, and the fisherman and his wife noticed a peculiar fact. When the boys were left alone, one would always turn towards the sea, while the other would always face inland. It didn’t matter how the parents positioned the children, the same child always faced the same direction. “Let’s call the boys Towards and Away,” suggested the fisherman. His wife thought this a bit odd, but lacking any good alternatives, she agreed.  From that point on, the boys were simply known as Towards and Away.

Well, the years passed quickly and the lads grew tall and strong. The day came when the aging fisherman said to his sons, “Boys, it’s time that you learned how to make a living from the sea.” They loaded their ship, said their goodbyes, and set sail for a three-week voyage.

The three weeks passed quickly for the fisherman’s wife, yet the ship had not returned. Another three weeks passed, and still no ship.

Three months passed before the grieving woman saw a lone man walking towards her house. She finally recognized him as her husband. “My goodness! What has happened to my darling boys?” she cried.

 The ragged fisherman began to tell his tragic tale:

“We were just barely one whole day out to sea when Towards hooked into a great giant shark. Towards fought long and hard, but the shark was more than his equal. For a whole week they wrestled upon the waves without either of them letting up. Yet eventually the great shark started to win the battle, and Towards was pulled over the side of our ship. He was swallowed whole, and we never saw either of them again.”

“Oh dear, that must have been terrible! What a huge shark that must have been! What a horrible fish. What a terrible, horrible shark!”

 “Yes, it was, but you should have seen the one that got Away!”

Thought for the Week 

Men and fish are alike.  They both get into trouble when they open their mouths.  ~Author Unknown

 

Once In Awhile I Have to Rant: Gas

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“They” say that everyone complains about the weather, but no one can do anything about it.  I suppose the same thing can be said about the price of gas, but that will not keep me from throwing in my two cents, which would only buy me about one-third of one ounce of gas anyway.  “They” say – that indefinite third person plural that appears to be all-wise and all-knowing – that the price of gas is coming down and that I should be happy it has stayed under $4 a gallon.  I say that is a lot of bosh – bosh being the term regularly used by Mr. Sherer, my first boss, to refer to things that just did not add up.

I think it was in 2008 that oil was around $150 a barrel and “they” said then that was justification for gas costing $4 a gallon.  So one would think that six years later, oil must still be around $150 per barrel, right?  Wrong!  According to Yahoo! Finance, crude oil ended trading today at $97.69.  So, if one applies the logic that $150/barrel = $4/gallon, then $97.69/$150*4= $2.61!  So, forgive me if I am not ecstatic and thankful that gas is dollar more than the logic “they” provided says it should be.

I am also not overjoyed that my trash bill has recently added a fuel surcharge – in addition to the full surcharge that they added in 2008 when gas was at $4.00.  If I knew who to ask, I would inquire about the logic used to add a fuel charge on top of the previous fuel charge when the price of gas is less than it was when they added the original fuel surcharge??

I know, none of this changes anything, but it makes me feel a tad better to vent, now about that weather…..

 

 

Friday Funny August 1, 2014 With Your Second Cup

coffee

I admit that I like coffee and there is seldom a day that goes by that I do not have coffee.  I do try to show some restraint and limit my coffee drinking to two times a day….AM and PM.  Yet there is more to coffee than just the little “pick me up” it provides, if you think about it, coffee teaches us a lot about life.  For example it reminds one to expresso yourself, to stay grounded, to slow down and take life one cup at a time, to pause and take time to smell the coffee and it reminds us that it is always better latte than never.  So this Friday morning as you sip on that second or third or fourth cup of coffee, here is a little coffee humor to stir up your morning.

Enjoy!

Leonard

Procaffinating – the tendency to not start anything until you’ve had a cup of coffee.

Behind every successful man or woman is a substantial amount of coffee. 

Stealing someone’s coffee is called ‘mugging’.

Drinking too much coffee can cause a latte problems.

The coffee tasted like mud because it was ground a couple of minutes ago.

Selling coffee has its perks for those who have bean so lucky.

Q: What is best Beatles song? A: Latte Be!

Q: What do you call sad coffee?” A: Despresso. 

Q: What kind of coffee was served on the Titanic? A: Sanka 

A man went to his psychiatrist and said, “Every time I drink my coffee, I get a stabbing pain in my right eye,” The doctor thought for a moment and asked, “do you take the spoon out of the cup?” 

A guy walks into a coffee shop and asks the waitress: “How much is the coffee?” “Coffee is four dollars the waitress says”. “How much is a refill?” the man asks. “Free, “says the waitress.”Then I’ll take a refill!” the man responds. 

 Signs that you are drinking too much coffee (like that could ever happen):

You chew on other people’s fingernails.

You can type sixty words per minute with your feet.

You short out motion detectors.

Starbucks owns the mortgage on your house.

You help your dog chase its tail.

All your kids are named “Joe”.

You name your cats “Cream” and “Sugar.”

You can jump-start your car without cables.

You walk ten miles on your treadmill before you realize it’s not plugged in.

You channel surf faster without a remote.

You can outlast the Energizer bunny.

Your doctor tells you, your blood type is COFFEE.

The only time you’re standing still is during an earthquake.

Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.

You answer the door before people knock.

Your morning cup of Coffee is so strong it wakes up the neighbors!

You look at energy drinks and laugh.

Thought for the Week

“When life gives you lemons, trade them for coffee;” ~ Mr. Coffee

 

 

Clowns to the Left of Me

clown

I came across a story about a woman in New Jersey who, upon finishing a performance at a clown show, managed to crash her car into a utility pole.  fortunately for her some of the other clowns who were leaving the same performance saw her dilemma and came to her aid.  Apparently the accident was caused by the woman “reaching for a GPS device that fell off the windshield when she veered off the road.”   My first thought was that it seems to me like maybe the “veering off the road” might have played some part in th accident in the first place.  But a story like this raises a number of questions like:

Were there a dozen or more other clowns in the car with her?

Was the clown who was driving wearing her clown shoes while driving and did that contribute to the situation?

Did she injure her funny bone?

Was she juggling several GPS devices at the time of the accident?

Did the airbag deploy or did the big red nose provide enough of a cushion?

Were any of the police officers who responded to the scene squirted with water from flowers worn by the clowns?

Did the police officers leave with a variety of balloon animals?

If the police had to taser any of the clowns, would he or she make a funny a face?

 

 

Friday Funny July 25, 2014 Men Vs. Women

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Happy Friday!  This week I wanted to share something that has been circulating on the internet for quite some time that helps to answer that age-old question, “What is the difference between men and women?”

Enjoy!

NICKNAMES
If Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Suzanne, Debra and Rose.

If Mike, Charlie, Bob and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla, Peanut-Head and Scrappy.  

EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mike, Charlie, Bob and John will each throw in $20, even though it’s only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller, and none will actually admit they want change back.

When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.

MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he wants.

A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn’t want.

BATHROOMS
A man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, deodorant, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and one white towel. 

The average number of items in the typical woman’s bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify 331 of these items.

ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument.

Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

CATS
Women love cats.

Men say they love cats, but when women aren’t looking, men kick cats.

FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.

A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

SUCCESS
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn’t.

A man marries a woman expecting that she won’t change and she does.

DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the garbage, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.

A man will dress up for weddings and funerals, maybe.

NATURAL
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.

Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

OFFSPRING
A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.

A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK 

 “A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.” ― Oscar Wilde

 

This is News?

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I was watching the news this evening.  As they went to a commercial break, the teaser for the story after the break was about how your kid’s lunch might cost less this fall.  My boys are all past school age these days, but I am an accountant and I like to eat, so I wanted to hear this story.

So I waited through the commercial break, here is the big news, you might want to sit down for this, the cost of a jar of peanut butter is down 3.8% from the same time a year ago!  I imagine you are almost as excited as I was at this news.  Wait there is more, jelly is also down 0.7% from the last year and white bread is down 2.8% from last year.  Now I do enjoy the occasional PB&J (grilled sometimes, but I covered that in an earlier blog) and I do like to save money, but I found myself asking the question, “so, what does that really mean?”

Being an accountant, I had to try to quantify this information.  First I consulted my wonderful wife who has a degree in home economics.  Here are some rule of thumb numbers she provided, they are not exact, but will prove a point.  Let’s make the following assumptions: 1) a jar of peanut butter currently costs about $3 and will provide a dozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 2) a jar of jelly currently costs $3 and will provide for 18 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and 3) a loaf of white sandwich bread costs $2 and will provide for a dozen sandwiches.

The same story also goes onto say that the average child will eat 1,500 sandwiches before graduating from high school.  If we assume the child begins eating PB&J sandwiches in kindergarten, then he or she would eat approximately 115 sandwiches a year for 13 years.

So, now comes the fun part, well for a nerdy accountant like me, the fun part.  First we take 115 (the number of PB&J sandwhiches a child will eat over the course of the next year) and divide by how many sandwiches a jar/ loaf will produce and we estimate that we will need 9.58 jars of peanut butter, 6.39 jars of jelly and 9.58 loaves of bread.  Next we take the current price of each item, divide by 1 less the decrease over the last twelve months to arrive at the price last year, then we subtract this year’s price from last year’s price to determine the price difference and then we multiple the price difference by the number needed for each item (yes I used a spreadsheet and yes have been told that I am a nerd – often by the aforementioned home economics major).

The final result of this calculation tells me that, given current prices compared to prices last year, for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches eaten by a child over the course of the coming twelve months, I can expect to save $1.70.  Yes one dollar and seventy cents!! The next problem will be deciding how to invest this  exorbitant windfall! 

And I waited through a commercial break for this!  The economy may still be in the dumps, I may be paying an arm and a leg for gas, the Middle East is a powder keg, but no worries, the average person can save $1.70 the next year on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or about a cent and a half per sandwich.

I feel so much better, don’t you?