BLOGSERVATIONS

During a recent trip to Watkins Glen for an annual family reunion, on my wife’s side, we decided to spend some time exploring the area instead of just sitting around the campground

We usually take in some sights and visit the wineries, breweries and other nearby places, but this time we wanted to get off the beaten path.

While driving northward up the east shore of Seneca Lake, we made a left. I forget the name of the road. Cindy had been perusing the map on her iPhone and said, “take the next left, it will bring us closer to the lake shore.”

We meandered down a gravel road for a few miles, then turned right and drove along a peaceful lane by the shore of the lake. To the right were small homes, bungalos and getaways. To the left their associated docks and and boat launches.

The day was clear, bright and beautiful. Soft white clouds dotted a pure blue sky, and the slight breeze russled through the draping branchlets of Old Weeping Willow trees. We drove slowly beneath them, so calmed by their soft shade and enchanted by their beauty that I had to back up and do it again.

Farther along we arrived at the Lodi Point State Park. We strolled through the grounds, taking pics with our smart phones, “checking-in” on Facebook, you know how it goes. But then we pocketed our phones and stepped up to the rocky shore. Countless colorful flat rocks dotted the shoreline, smoothed by years of being caressed by the water.

I picked one up and skipped it on the water. Cindy would argue that it happens all the time, but suddenly I was a kid again. I knelt down to pick up another rock, skipped it. Then another, and another. I couldn’t get enough. Cindy tried her skill, plunked a few, and then made some skip.

The simple joy of skipping some rocks rekindled fond memories of being young, and made me feel very alive that day. We are lucky people, alive on a very rare and beautiful planet.

I have decided that nothing is greater than living life and making adventures. Nothing is better than connecting with, understanding and appreciating our world, especially if we have connected with someone who shares that same idea.

Live, learn, wonder, wander, and love. Make life an adventure. Take some time to glance up from your smart phone, and put it away. Get off the beaten path and skip some stones.

While perusing my Facebook News Feed the other day (if you really want to consider most of the bullshit we see on Facebook “news”; but then I guess some consider my FB posts BS too, touché) I stumbled upon this doozy, “Don’t Think, Just Live.” A simpleton statement presented within the image of a peaceful ocean scene. Hey, I’m all for nice scenery, but you know what? There is way more to life than just fucking sitting there enjoying the view.

Pardon my harsh language, but I won’t censor myself when I feel strongly about something like this. “Don’t Think, Just Live” has got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. Who the hell does that?

“Don’t worry, be happy” is one thing. I can see trying not to stress too much about stuff. My father used to tell me, “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” and over the years I see that, while he is a hard working man, he is a pretty easy going, happy-go-lucky kind of guy too. You can enjoy life, work hard, and not make too big a deal over shit. That’s the way I try to live. Well, except in this instance. This “don’t think” thing irked me.

But “Don’t think?”

Damn people, we have to think! And I don’t mean, “hey should I make a right or a left here…” We’re not talking about the obvious. Although, now that I think of it there probably are a few peeps out there who would just leave that decision up to luck (or worse, some sort of destiny) and say like “hey man, swing that wheel wherever you feel.”

If we don’t think we are limiting ourselves. If you want to really appreciate life then think, learn, wonder. This is an amazing world in which to exist but it is also an amazing world to try and understand.

“Don’t think, just live” is just as bad as “Ignorance is bliss.” Pure stupidity. Why do you think Steve Jobs dubbed his company Apple. Because he was fucking smart, that’s why! He was a frigging goddamn genius. He thought, and lived.

Knowledge is bliss. Wondering about stuff can be rewarding. Thinking can be a dream come true.

Recently I was made aware of an acquaintance falling for a scam known as an “Ion Cleanse” footbath. They actually visited a “clinic,” much like a spa I would guess, where they paid $40 to immerse their feet in a tub with a contraption in it that would, it was claimed, remove toxins from their body through the soles of their feet. $40 is a lot of money, but any amount of money is too much when you’re being ripped off!

This is FRAUD! Pardon my crassness, but how does anyone hearing such a claim not know it is complete bullshit? After all we go to school where, in health class, they teach us about our liver and kidneys which are responsible for the filtration of blood. The liver is the first pass, filtering blood that comes from our digestive tract and removing toxins. The kidneys remove waste from our blood and are responsible for regulation of fluid and electrolyte balance in our bodies.

Even if you were half asleep in class you should at least have gotten the gist of it!

Unless there is a problem with one of these organs or a drug overdose our bodies should not load up with toxins. A regular checkup with your doctor is a good idea too. Good doctors have a tendency to find out if something is wrong with us through blood and urine tests. No level headed doctor will soak your feet or check there for signs of toxicity.

I posted something about the detox foot pad scam a few years ago and I’m amazed to see this kind of con still being perpetrated, and on an even greater level. Not that anything I say would make much of an impact, my readership is scant, but holy crap are we really this gullible? How does this kind of nonsense actually gain a foothold and succeed? We’re not thinking for ourselves and we’re falling for nonsense and quick feel-good remedies. It’s all psychological. There is absolutely no reason to feel good after an ion cleanse, other than the fact that you just had a good foot soak. A good foot soak always feels good.

How the Ion Cleanse Footbath Really Works
It doesn’t work the way it is advertised. It does not cleanse or remove toxins from your body. What does happen is this: salt added to the water bath prompts an electrochemical reaction with metal electrodes present in a device which is placed in the water. The reaction creates a form of rust, that’s it. The color that develops in the water is not caused by toxins in your feet, it is caused by a simple chemistry experiment put in motion intentionally to fool people who will pay good money to have their feet soaked in it.

The YouTube video below, posted by Eb Jensen (three years ago!), clearly shows the Ion Cleanse foot soaking products to be a scam. It generates the rusty colored stuff whether there are feet present or not…

Something needs to give. Something needs to change. We have criminals earning a living by selling nonsense remedies and services to a gullible public. There is something gravely wrong with this picture. If it sounds too stupid to be true (it certainly doesn’t sound too good), then it is. Foot cleansing detox sounds just as stupid as colon cleanse!

We need to put these people out of business, they have NO business being in business. Do not fall for the Ion Cleanse foot spa services and do not buy any Detox Foot Soaking products, they are completely bogus!

Unfortunately these pieces of junk are being sold almost everywhere. If people want to spend money on bullshit there are plenty of retailers willing to grab a shovel.

I heard someone say, “My husband has been having irritable bowel again, so I took him to the chiropractor.”

If that sounds dumb to you this one is a hoot. The Yahoo News headline read, “X-Ray Reveals Hundreds of Gold Needles in Woman’s Knees.” A 65 year old Korean woman had been suffering from joint pain in her knee. Upon further examination, via X-Ray, doctors noticed a slew of tiny gold needle tips embedded in the tissue around her knee.

In this instance slew refers to apparently “hundreds” of needles left in her skin, according to the article. Remnants of a form of “leave-in” acupuncture, where the needles are intentionally left in the tissue to provide prolonged stimulation and pain relief. Hundreds of needles left in her skin. Look at the picture.

I’ll let you digest that for a moment.

Didn’t work huh? Go figure. In addition to not being effective, a stupid practice like acupuncture can lead to infection and other related problems, far worse than the joint pain to begin with. If you’re curious, or just want a rational vacation, visit PubMed for information on the potential risks of acupuncture “treatment.”

I don’t think I have any more to say. Here’s poking at you kid.

There’s a hole in here somewhere. What I really meant with the title was “What’s with Walmart’s Pricing, Jack?” But question marks and apostrophes are not friendly as URLS.

I wouldn’t say this bothers me, but it’s one of those stupid things that makes me wonder WTF everytime I do some food shopping at Walmart. Usually we shop at Wegmans or Giant, but Walmart is a little more convenient at times. Actually I guess it does bother me, or I wouldn’t be posting about it.

Anyway, Wegman’s has a $4.99 per pound deal all the time. That’s a pretty good price, even better than Giant, which charges just a little more. Walmart, on the other hand, the gouge king on this one, charges a whopping $8 something per pound! It might even be something stupid like $8.01 per pound. At least that’s the price at the Walmart near me.

Needless to say I was floored, aghast. Even taken aback! Yes, “taken aback,” not “taken back,” as some people seem to think lately. The term has been destroyed, and it’s meaning mostly lost. It does not mean “Oh what a pleasant surprise!” it means, “Well holy crap, no way!”

Anyway, let me get aback to the cheese.

That’s a HUGE gap — $8.01 – $4.99 = $3.02 in case you were wondering — I wonder how Walmart comes up with their price? Can’t be they’re getting that bad a deal from the makers of this wonderful Swiss cheese. Something smells afoot, cheesy, and is riddled with holes.

Okay, I’ll lay off the Swiss cheese jokes. It doesn’t really smell like feet anyway, I love swiss. That’s why I’m so angry about by the high price at Wally World. My wife and I only fell for it twice, paying their full price, before we were clued into their price-matching policy. Conveniently, Walmart will allow their cashiers to change the price of something if the customer claims they can buy it cheaper elsewhere.

You can’t abuse it of course, most of the cashiers will catch on if you try to pull some funny business, like telling them you can get that flat screen LCD TV for $14.99 at Best Buy. They won’t fall for it, I tried. No I didn’t, just kidding. I joked with the cashier though and she said, “I don’t think so…” Touché!

They do let us slide on the Jarlsberg now though. We make sure to tell them we can get it for $4.99 per pound at Wegmans and they honor the price.

One more thing and I’ll let you go. Why do they have to slice it in such thin wedges? If it is a wedge! Sometimes we get these half-round things, or rectangles. Wegmans knows how to cut the cheese in nice wide wedges. You didn’t think I’d go this far without working in “cut the cheese” did you? Twice now

Could be that the deli folks at our Walmart don’t know from slicing Swiss, or maybe they don’t have the right tool for the job? I’m sure they can cut the cheese though, just not the good kind. They might be trying to keep the big wheel of cheese around as long as they can, as evident by the thick rind that we get sometimes.

Man, I’m tell you, you really just can’t win trying to find some good cheese service around here. Welp, that’s my rant for the day. Until next time… may the curds be with you!