I got a free magazine of interesting food recipes, including how to grill vegetables on the grill. One thing I will never do is grill corn on the cob.

Buying corn is a crap shoot. Even the butter and sugar corn often ends up like "cow corn". If it doesn't taste right after the first bite, I toss it out. 

I don't think that corn was meant for the grill. 

There was quite a discussion today on a local Facebook community page about outdoor fire pits. My city's fire department doesn't allow them.

This is one of those issues where everyone is not going to be happy. People want to enjoy a fire in their yard, but their neighbors don't want the smoke or noise.

I can see both arguments, but I don't feel they have any place in a congested neighborhood. They are too much of a fire hazard. They are better suited for the outskirts of the city where people have bigger yards. 

There is nothing more boring than stories about public wedding proposals or prom invitations. The news channels like to run them because they don't want to deal with real news.   

They just showed a story of someone who spray-painted the word "PROM" in white paint on a huge rock at a park in California. This was so selfish by the individual and should be treated as vandalism.

The media doesn't help by giving these stories legitimacy and attention.

The year isn't even half over yet, but that hasn't stopped charities from sending me a "free" 16 month calendar for 2018. I will receive at least another dozen over the next few months. They end up with my papers to be recycled.  

It's a reminder of the money that charities spend on fund raising annually. It's good job securing for those involved on the administrative side. 

Today was not the day to go shopping for fruit and produce. The store didn't have any blueberries, raspberries or kiwis.

I thought I would settle for blackberries and strawberries, but some of them had the white fuzz on them.

When I got home, I began to think that I should have mentioned it to the store manager. This was not the first time for fuzzy fruit.

I don't support any publicly funded stadiums or arenas for professional sports teams. Government should never be on the hook for loans or long-term bonds.

The Pawtucket Red Sox are doing their best to get the city of Pawtucket and the state of Rhode Island involved in their funding process.

The proposed stadium would cost $72 million. Pawtucket would contribute $15 million through land donation and infrastructure improvements. The state would guarantee $23 million in bonds, while the team would chip in $45 million. 

I don't have an issue with paying for infrastructure improvements. That happens all the time on major projects. The team should come up with the rest of the money.

It's never a good idea to leave Boston after 3pm on a weekday. There is so much traffic going up Rt 93 North to the intersection Rt 95.

It was like that 20 years ago before the Big Dig. Nothing ever changed with traffic leaving town at that hour.

I'm not a big fan of flying and haven't been on a plane since 2000. My first flight came when I was 32. My longest trips have been to California on seven occasions.

TIME magazine had a list of the longest nonstop flights. I can't imagine flying from Dallas to Hong Kong, a distance of 8,108 miles, over  17 hours. 

The 8,576 miles from Dallas to Sydney, Australia takes less than 17 hours.

Whatever the reason, that is too long to be on a plane. I have never been able to fall asleep when flying. Crossing all the time zones would only make it worse for me. 

I'm not sure why someone would let a pigeon build a nest in their apartment, but it happened in New York City.

When a person came back from being away, they found a pigeon had flown through an open window and taken up residence in their kitchen. The bird was welcomed by the tenant.

The story appeared in the New York Post and only got bigger once the pigeon laid eggs and they hatched. 

I can't imagine why this person decided to share her apartment, but this proves that we are all different in so many ways.

Some people will steal anything for scrap metal if they can. It doesn't matter if it's a manhole cover, storm grate, fence or memorial. They only get pennies per pound from scrapyards.

It has been taken to a new level in New York City where metal trash cans are disappearing from the streets and being sold for scrap. 

The cans weigh 32 pounds and cost $125. The thief ends up with $2 in their pocket. It doesn't make any sense, but the city lost over 100 last year.

Some might think it's not a big deal from a total of 23,500 barrels around the city. Things like this should not be stolen under normal circumstances

We often don't know where things come from until there is a shortage that impacts consumers. We are seeing that with vanilla beans. 

Who knew that 80% of the world's vanilla comes from the island of Madagascar, off the coast of East Africa?

A recent cyclone destroyed a large amount of the crop raised on small family-owned farms.

The result has been a huge increase in wholesale prices and a major interruption of the supply chain.

Something like this can happen at any moment. We just don't know when.

Politicians love to submit bills for proposed laws, especially if they get a lot of attention.

There was a story in the news about one state legislator who thought it would be a good idea to make a law that would fine voters $10 if they failed to participate in the election.

This was such a ridiculous idea for many reasons. They failed to realize that it was illegal and unconstitutional to force people to vote and to penalize them for not doing so. 

That never stopped them from proposing this foolish law. 

Guinness World Records are filled with amazing accomplishments. Some of them defy logic.

A person in Kentucky just broke the record for being a DJ non-stop. He stayed awake for ten days while doing his thing. He was allowed to take a five minute break every hour. He broke the previous record by almost four hours.

How can anyone stay awake that long without any aids? The Guinness record for staying awake is 11 days and 24 minutes. 

I wonder how long that person slept after their ordeal. It seems like a good way to develop a medical issue. It's an excessive strain on the human body.  

I made a huge mistake last night while I was updating my website. My list of comedy shows was accidentally deleted. I never discovered it until it was too late.

The list will be recreated. Hopefully, it won't be a big hassle. The last time I did this, it took a lot longer than it should.