Out and About Blog by Norm Stutesman

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. It is a legal holiday so there won’t be any mail delivery and the banks won’t be open. Also, there will not be any trash pick up. If your garbage is normally picked up on Thursday, it will be taken care of on Friday. Friday’s garbage will be picked up on Saturday. There will be football …

My father reminded me more than once that if you don’t learn something new every day, you’ve missed out on a learning experience. I’m not sure if I accomplish this, but at least once a week, I learn a new word. The word this week is “Aphorism”. Aphorism is a statement of truth or opinion expressed in a concise and …

Many years ago, I was lucky to have a dog that could actually talk. We spent a lot of time together walking and playing in the neighborhood park or in our own backyard. One autumn evening, we sat on the back deck enjoying the setting sun. Rufus, my dog, said that he had something to say and asked that I …

Unless you’ve been hiding out in a cave somewhere, you’re aware that tomorrow is Halloween. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we won’t be having any rain or thunderstorms. By now everyone should have a costume ready along with a large shopping bag for all those sweet treats. This is all you need to go trick-or-treating. Most kids will dress …

Dining out, especially for breakfast, continues to give me material for this column. I especially enjoy having breakfast at a small quaint cafe where they usually have regular diners who gather there every morning to discuss the world’s problems. Some of these eateries have unique little signs placed on the wall with hopes that the customers get a chuckle or …

I can’t help it, but here I go again venting about television ads. It seems we just can’t get away from them unless you follow the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) channel. I don’t think there are any ads on HBO or any of the other premium cable channels. Anyway, there are some ads that are clever, but the majority of …

Like many, I have a problem throwing anything away. I’m afraid to throw out a receipt for fear of needing it a week after I throw it in the wastebasket. At one time I had three or four empty three-ring binders. There was nothing wrong with them so why get rid of them? A friend suggested that I give them …

The 2019 cars and trucks are finally arriving at the dealerships. There are many who shy away from purchasing a new car because of the depreciation that occurs the minute you drive it out of the showroom. You can buy a very nice used car if you go about it the right way. It’s difficult to find that older lady …

One doesn’t need to look far to be subjected to some form of loud noise, whether it’s a car needing a new muffler or the delightful sound of children yelling at each other in excitement, hopefully outdoors. The younger set likes to have their music cranked up to 5000 decibels. Attending a rock concert just isn’t the same unless you’re …

We are now well into the 2018 football season. This means that Sunday evening television programming will be slightly changed, as will Monday and Thursday evenings. One of the things that bothers me about watching anything on television are the stupid commercials. It seems to me that there are more commercials during a football game than any other time. Sometime …