Spaced Out Hodgepodge

1. July 20th marks the anniversary of the first time man stood on the moon. Flash forward 42 years to July 8, 2011 which marked the start of the final Space Shuttle mission. Should we continue to explore space? Should nations devote more or fewer of their resources to exploring space? Would you want to go into space if the opportunity arose?

~ I am a big fan of space.  At one time I actually considered making astronomy my college major.  I would really hate to see the end of space exploration, but with a national debt in the trillions, millions without health care, unemployment at its highest levels....it's probably past time to let another country take over while we clean up our mess here at home.  Oh, and I would totally go into space if I had the chance.

2. What are three things in your freezer?

~ Frost...because I love my mom and it was incredibly generous of her to buy us a freezer for Christmas one year, but seriously....who buys a freezer you have to defrost in this day and age??  Meat, because the husband and daughter are carnivores.  Blueberries, because last year was a bumper crop and we haven't used them all yet.

3. If you could see any band/artist perform live tonite who would it be? It has to be someone living-no Beatles, Elvis, etc.

~ Do you really have to ask?  By now you should know the answer is ....

4. Ice-cubed or crushed? Or are you one of those people who don't like ice?

~ Cubed.  Crushed melts too fast and leaves you with a watered down drink.

5. The owner of a small restaurant outside of Pittsburgh recently announced he was banning children under six, saying they regularly disrupted other customer's meals. You can read the story here in more detail but isn't this a perfect topic to discuss in our Wednesday Hodgepodge? Have at it friends...what are your thoughts?

~ Okay, this is local news for me and I've probably been hearing more about it than you have.  So far I've stayed away from it, but I guess it's time to weigh in.  My simple answer is that the man can do whatever he wants in his own restaurant.  If you want to go somewhere and take your kids....go somewhere else.  Not really hard to figure out, is it? 

To get a little more into it...I think it depends on the type of restaurant whether it's okay to ban kids.  If you're talking about a family type restaurant, then no, kids should be expected to be there.  If it's a fancier, more adult place, kids should be left at home.  As a parent you can't appreciate a place like that if you're riding herd on your kids and it isn't fair to the other patrons who wanted a nicer meal to have to put up with them if they are ill behaved.  And if we're honest, not all kids, but a majority tend to be less than well-behaved in public these days while the parents act all exasperated and say the right things but never follow through or get up off their butts to put a stop to bad behavior.....or else they smile indulgently because they are enchanted by little Johnny's creativity in painting booger pictures on the wallpaper while playing a spoon solo on the table and assume everyone else is too.

6. What was your first car? How did it come to be yours?

~ It was a maroon 1980 Pontiac Grand Prix.  A muscle car.  My grandfather took one look at it and dubbed it  "The Pimpmobile."  Tim and I bought it together right before we got married.  It was huge.  The hood was about a mile long to accomodate that giant engine and inside it could fit about 10 people without too much squishing.

7. If I had a nickel for every time I _________________________I'd be rich.

~ Picked up a book.  It might even pay for my book habit.  Maybe.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

~It doesn't always pay to get up early. If you're a worm, you just get eaten by that early bird. So sleep in, worms.