Birthdays

I chose this topic because it is one of those things that everyone has...so I decided to write about it.  Why now?  Okay, as self-promoting as this sounds, today is my birthday, so what better day to write about birthdays?  At least it was my birthday when I began to write this back a week or so ago. How old am I?  Why is it okay to ask men that question but not women?  What do you mean I'm avoiding the question???  The answer is 261 if you believe the first blog I wrote, and I look fantastic too!  The real answer is...wait for it...55.  The old Double Nickel for those of you that are CB fanatics.  The speed limit from Greenwich to New Haven on Rt. 95...if  anyone actually reaches 55 on that stretch of road let me know - there's a first time for everything.  The sum of the numbers 1 to 10.  That's fairly cool, eh?  It is the atomic number for caesium (don't ask, I have no clue).  In gallons it would be a 55 gallon drum - which has nothing to do with me unless I gain a few more pounds.

So what's with birthdays anyway?  Kids for the most part love them, adults for the most part, not so much.  So why do we put so much emphasis on that one day of the year if most adults don't really want to be reminded that they are a year older?  I used to work with a woman that was turning 30 and she was a basket case.  She did NOT want anyone to remind her of her birthday.  There is a very easy answer to this type of attitude towards birthdays and that is - what is the alternative?  So what you are getting older?  Even though some people don't like being the center of attention, and I can understand that, to go overboard with it is, well, selfish to a certain extent.  I've always thought that way, but the point was brought home to me in a big way some 7 1/2 years ago.

Want to change your attitude towards having a birthday and being a year older?  Talk to a survivor of a life threatening disease like my wife and I guarantee you won't hear "don't remind me that I'm a year older".  Again, what's the alternative?  Part of life is getting older and if you are lucky you will have a ton of those birthday-things over the course of your life, and even if you aren't fond of them take a moment to thank God that you are still around to have another one.

Okay, off of my soap box.  We recently all chipped in at work and bought lottery tickets because the jackpot was up to something like One Hundred Bazillion dollars.  I figured it out...if we won each one of us would have had about $37,000 after taxes...way to go, Uncle Sam!  That still would have been a great birthday present!  But alas, we did not win (what a surprise).  Think of the things I could have purchased.  For those of you who don't want to have a repeat of the Winter of 2010-2011 I could have bought a snow blower, which, if you've been following along, would assure that we would have no plowable snow in 2011-2012.  But I have not purchased a snow blower so good luck this winter!  However, feel free to contribute to the "Let's End Winter And Give Money To Tom So He Can Buy A Snow Blower" fund which is a non-profit fund because, as you probably already know, there is no profit  in it!  That's enough about winter...ew.

Aren't birthday parties fun?  There are some similarities between kids and adult birthday parties such as a cake with candles, the singing of  "Happy Birthday" and some presents...although the presents vary big time from a kid to an adult, as you know.  One thing you may not know is that the song "Happy Birthday" is copyrighted.  Think about that the next time you sing it at a party and the police break the door down and haul you away in handcuffs.  (Handcuffs actually might be a fine gift at an adult party, but I digress...)  The chances of the police locking you up and throwing away the key are slim, though.  Unless you sing the song in a public or a commercial venue, in which case they have every right to taser you, make you change into an orange jumpsuit and sweat it out on death row.  I'll bet you had no clue the penalties for singing in public were this stiff.  Actually they aren't, although there are a few people I know that should be locked away if they dare sing anything out loud if you catch my drift.  The death penalty may be a bit harsh for them, but maybe life in prison would work...with the possibility of parole.  After all, to not offer parole would be cruel and unusual punishment!

So when your birthday rolls around please let me know, and I will get you the same thing you got me.  Oh, I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?