What do you do when you start to have more stuff than house? You have a garage sale, that’s what you do. We had been considering having a garage sale ever since cleaning out the garage at the beginning of summer. I even contacted the city of Redondo Beach to inquire if we needed a permit to have one. Frankly, I had never heard of needing a permit for a garage sale, but there was a story in the local paper about a Gardena woman who was fined $200 for having a garage sale without a permit. She had only made $100 in the sale. I didn’t want that to happen to us. As it turns out, you...

Since it is going to be Thanksgiving, I thought I would leave a blog appropriate to the occasion. As you who have read my previous articles know, my family had several people on the Mayflower. Most of them lived to attend that first Thanksgiving. They are: Thomas Rogers, John Bundy, Anna Churchman, Walter Deane, John Gilbert, John Howland, John Rogers, John Stong, Samuell Williams, Sarah Williams, and Thomas Williams. Two of them, Thomas Rogers, and Thomas Williams even signed that famous document, The Mayflower Compact along with Miles Standish and John Alden on November 11, 1620. They weren’t...

As you all know, I love language. That’s why I belong to the Grammar Police. And loving language as I do, I love…well words. And, as sick as it sounds, I spend some time pouring over dictionaries just to look at the origin of words. No, I’m not insane. And yes, I DO have a life. It just so happens to be a life that includes looking at the origins of words, okay? So, anyway, the origin of most words makes perfect sense. Take for example, the charming little word “redundant”. We all know what it means. It means to repeat yourself. This is from your Department of Redundancy...

A couple of years ago I managed to score a couple of tickets to see the Irish comedian Graham Norton at the Coronet Theater in Hollywood. If you’ve never seen Graham Norton, you owe it to yourself to try and watch one of his shows. He had a chat show on BBC 4. BBC 4 is the commercial channel in the United Kingdom. That’s the channel that shows all the reality TV shows and the imports from America. It used to be aired here on BBC America, but now you can catch it on the LOGO channel. The LOGO channel is the channel that is aimed primarily for those with alternative lifestyles....

Okay, I didn’t write this up on April 1st for reasons that are about to become obvious. As you all know, I have long been a subscriber to FATE magazine because it is such an entertaining little periodical. If you want to know why FATE is so special, please read my blog on the scrumptious piece of periodic literature, written a couple of years ago. For those of you who haven’t the inclination to find that blog, I will repeat here that FATE is a magazine dedicated to the paranormal. If it’s weird, it’s in FATE. You can always trust FATE for articles on ghosts, UFOs, Demons, Trolls,...

For the past few years, my wife, Becky, and I have been very interested in ghosts. Well, Becky is really the one most interested for reasons unknown to me. But I find the subject interesting and so I go along for the ride. So each week, we watch the obligatory episodes of Ghosthunters on the Sci Fi channel. That would be our favorite show. Next in line is Most Haunted on the Travel Channel. There is also a show on the Biography Channel called Ghostly Encounters. And for something very scary, there is the Discovery Channel’s Hauntings. A and E has Paranormal University, but that...

Anybody who has taken economics 101 knows that in the business world you have to have a product to sell. That product can be a service, as well. That product is produced by the worker, who generally receives some sort of benefit out of producing the product in the form of wages or commissions. The product is purchased by the consumer. Theoretically, the more the consumer buys, the more the worker produces, the more money the person providing the capital makes on his or her investment, the more happy everybody is. Worker –> Product –> Consumer = $$$ When we look at...

From a transcript of the popular PBS program, The Antiques Roadshow, being televised from Scottsdale, Arizona, March of 2010. Stephen Massey, Antique expert from New York City, New York: We have an interesting piece here, as you know, Mr. Klein. Why don’t you tell us a little of the history behind this. Mr. Klein: Well, there’s not too much to tell really. My dad, Ernie Klein, served in the army during the war, the big one, you know, WW2. Anyways, he’s in Berlin right after the war and this guy with a funny mustache tells him he’s trying to raise some quick cash....

On this day, April 1st, in the year 1621, Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoags signed the first peace treaty between Native Americans and white Pilgrims, feeling certain that the white people meant no harm to Indian peoples. Moreover, also on this date, back in 1789, the newly established United States House of Representatives held its first full formal meeting. Thus, on this date, Congress was born. Is it any wonder they call it April Fools’ Day? Many people wonder about the origin of this famous holiday dedicated to the great human tradition of playing practical jokes on other people. According...

Another in the popular Pat Robertson series: –Hello, Mr. Robertson.  I would like to have a word with you. –What?  Excuse me?  Pam!  PAM! –Your secretary cannot hear you, Mr. Robertson. –Pam!  What did you do to my secretary, you ni… –Now watch your mouth, Mr. Robertson.  I would advise you to keep a civil tongue, if you know how to do that. –Now look you.  I don’t know who you are, or what you’re selling, but you better get your ass out of here before I call security.  And put out that pipe!  There’s no smoking in this building! –You can...