Bfth's Boring Blog

Its Memorial Day weekend.  Today is rainy (as it has been for the past several days...or forever in my book) and chilly (which I am also tired of.)  Sixty one years ago this date was NOT the start of Memorial Day weekend.  Sixty one years ago, Memorial Day was always on the 30th of May, which would have been a week later.  (It was in 1971 that the date was changed to the last Monday in May.)  I also know that 61 years ago this day was not rainy or chilly, but quite warm.  How do I know this?  It's because I was around (I wasn't) and it's not because I Googled it (although I could have), I know because 61 years ago today, my parents got married. I've written about my parent's anniversary before  (https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/50-years.html   and  https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2024/05/60.html ), why am I writing about it again?  I don't know.  Maybe it's because it's the first year that I'm not in NJ for t...

 It's the Wednesday before Memorial Day weekend.  It's cold (in my opinion) and damp.  If I'm lucky it will get up to 50 today (brrrr) and maybe the rain will stop by Friday.  Every time we keep moving towards spring, it seems like we get a sudden push back.   We've actually had some nice weather recently, for which I am grateful.  (Even though it has been incredibly windy.)  The break in the rain meant that lots of growth in both the front and back of the house.  I'm still uncertain as to what everything is.  There may be things that are weeds that I'm letting grow.  But it is very lush and green.  The days of tulips and daffodils are over, but there are some irises,  rhododendron and (almost but not quite blooming) peonies .  The most thrilling thing about the blooms is that the butterflies (or maybe it's only one butterfly?) has been enjoying the iris.  There are also quite a lot of bees buzzing around on...

 Okay, I KNOW you've heard me bitch and moan (probably way too much) about the sinkhole situation on Route 80 which has made driving on this major interstate highway a nightmare.  Now a sinkhole has opened up on the Garden State Parkway.  (Great timing since Memorial Day weekend is 6 days away.) Did I mention the NJ Transit strike?  The buses are running, but the trains are not.  Or how about the issues at Newark airport?  You could say, "Hey Bfth, shut up about it already.  It's a Jersey problem. It's not MY problem."  Or is it? The Newark airport issue, where air traffic controllers equipment went black, actually originated in Pennsylvania (that's where the radar center is based).  The issue affects all those who were in the airspace (not just those flying in and out of Newark) And now other airports (like Denver) have had similar issues.  Just a Jersey problem? The NJ Transit strike...it's just trains, right?  Not a big deal....

Yes it's a post about the sinkholes on route 80. You're probably tired of hearing about it by now. ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/a-three-hour-tour.html and https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2025/04/driving-in-dark.html.) I'm definitely tired of driving it by now. And I know I'm not alone.  I said before, I know the crews are hard at work. I see them when I drive west early in the morning. I kind of see them when I drive east in the late afternoon. I see lots of trucks. I see lots of police cars. I see lots of equipment on the road. I believe they are working. I believe they are working hard to rectify the situation.  However, this has been going on for way too long. Memorial Day weekend is fast creeping up on us. This situation has been a nightmare at its only going to be worse once more people are on the road for vacations and such over the summer.  I am unhappy with what's going on. (No surprise there.) Again I say it has nothing to do wi...

This Sunday today, is Mother's Day.  And believe it or not I'm thinking about my father. Let me backtrack in a bit to explain.     This Saturday the church that I have been attending in the Poconos was having a showing of the movie  Conclave . I'm glad I got the chance to see it with other people as opposed to just seeing it by myself.  It was a movie that I think my mother would have enjoyed (and perhaps poked a little fun at too for all the "rituals"). My father, though not generally a "movie" guy, would have probably liked it too.   This church that I attend in the Poconos is an Episcopalian one.  If you've read some of my blog posts, you know that I was raised as a Presbyterian. That was the denomination that my mother had chosen when she was a teenager. Prior to that she and her mother, and her mother's mother had been Methodist.  (For a long time it was the ONLY church in town...I believe it was wear my grandmother's high school gra...

 Several years back I wrote a piece about my friend Ed:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/unexpected-2-ultimate-fab-soy-bomb.html .  While it's not required reading, it might help to give that link a quick look over before continuing on here.  (Go on...we'll wait.) Way back then I wanted to create a drink in Ed's honor:  The Tropical Ed.  But I never did.  Finding pineapple soda isn't that easy and I'm not a big fan of sugary drinks.  (Oh, who am I kidding?  I am, but I'm trying NOT to be.)  I kind of forgot about it.  But then... A friend of ours who is a musician also like to "explore" new sodas.  He and my husband like to try new things, particularly those that are zero sugar.  (Zero sugar IS all the rage.  Forget "diet" coke, zero sugar coke is much better.  The same goes for Pepsi, Dr. Pepper and so on.)  He had found a new soda, Tropical 7-Up.  We hadn't found it and he promised ...