Street Oddities, pokey Tuesday edition

Like Robert Plant said, “It’s been a long time since I rock and rolled.” TMM has been unusually busy-busy so focused on the ball, not the blog…

But Karen D’s wonderful news of her Sept. 12 engagement helped bring me back from my time of toil. That, and life constantly blowing down the ol’ stable door.

Anyway, the ‘Bus Oddities’ was so much fun that I thought to do likewise for the street life, my other home…

· Elevator etiquette is a subject of many a blog, article and probably even an Indie-published book. I’ll sidestep this odd box of human encounters and touch only on positioning. Why do some people basically HIDE in the $#*! thing? The door opens, you go to walk in, and belatedly someone steps into the entryway from behind the corner. Are they purposely lurking by the panel to make me jump outta my shoes?!

· Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, 2011: the HVAC guy loading his toys curbside into the trunk of his late-model Ford Mustang Cobra. You know, the thing with 500+ horsepower and a burble that knocks loose anything not tied down? He’s getting it done with style!

· The design of American towns perplexes me. Such a mishmash of architectural styles. Ever see the Tour de France? And notice the near-identical roofing colors and often façade styles? I’m not advocating vanilla housing but it sure is easier on the eyeballs and kind of pretty too, at least in France, where they know a thing or two about architectural elegance.

· Tourista wandering about, half-lost and delirious with heat exhaustion, and looking like they’re enjoying themselves. Madness. Yeah, color me jaded or jealous. Tell you what: send me postage-paid to Paris and make me wander the walkways along the Seine. I’ll report back to you, and take self-pix, to see if I too have this happy look. What a sacrifice for science that will be.

· The tie-in to Bus Oddities that started this all: People boarding the commuter bus and looking happy about it. What?!?! Eating dirt would be better. But you’d have to be a bionic earthworm to convert that pastime into a conveyance homeward. That’s food for thought! [the keyboard made me type that bad joke, ok?!]