In storage

In the there's-gotta-be-a-better-way department: A gym friend reports that at the university her son attends, the students are required to vacate all college housing by a certain date, and they can't get into their new college housing until a week later. The problem is, what are they supposed to do with all their "stuff" for that week? Her son and his friends' solution was to rent one of those portable storage units; I suspect that company is doing a booming business.

What a spectacle

Hint: If you have an important sporting event coming up, do not get your eyeglasses prescription changed the day before. You should've seen me on the tennis court Sunday morning. My depth perception was completely out of whack. The ground seemed much closer; I felt like I was about three feet tall. Even if I could discern correctly whether the ball had made it over the net, I couldn't track it as it approached me. Most of the time I was flailing at thin air.
After I dropped the first two games, I figured out that if I moved my eyes a little differently than with the old glasses, the ball would stay in focus. That made things a whole lot better. Of course, then I had to come up with another excuse for whacking the ball wide or long or into the net!

But not for me

A few days ago I read a piece in the "Wall Street Journal" about how my insurance company is offering a way for customers to reduce their premiums. They install a computer in your car that monitors your driving habits -- your speed, braking, acceleration, things like that -- and if you stay within safe parameters, you get a break on your premium.
I liked the sound of that and called my insurance agent the next day. The first question they asked was: Do you drive more than 7,500 miles a year? Well, yeah, of course I do: all those trips to Starbucks and the Y add up. Oh, then sorry, they said, you don't qualify. It turns out the program is designed for senior citizens who barely drive at all.

Sightly and unsightly

A regular "Unionville in the News" reader wrote to me praising the Garden Media Group for disciplining the hedge at its West State Street office. He said that before it was pruned back, the overgrown hedge obstructed the view of motorists pulling out from Washington Street: "It didn't matter if you were in a Prius or an SUV, you couldn't see. And, of course, as soon as you pulled out that far, someone coming west on State Street wanted to turn left into Washington (which they do frequently, mostly to reach the Wawa) and you had to back up, if you could, or the oncoming car had to swing wide around you. A tough, dangerous situation."
On the other side of the Goofus/Gallant ledger, though, he said he picked up 13 bottles and cans that litterers had dropped along Onix Drive, near the Sears Hardware, Applebee's and Wal-Mart. "It's just a shame that folks throw anything out of their cars, but especially recyclables.  I just don't understand not recycling anything that can be recycled.  And I still enjoy seeing Mrs. Hannum's signs along Doe Run Road: "The views are free. Keep them litter-free."

Summer fun

It was hard distracting the Young Relative from "Shark Week," but I did so long enough to learn about his week at Camp Horseshoe on the Maryland line with his Boy Scout troop and about his trip to Dorney Park. The former included swimming, target shooting, campfires, skits, flag ceremonies, "surprisingly good" food, an exciting middle-of-the-night storm and a hike to the Mason-Dixon line. And at Dorney Park he rode several roller coasters (he remembered precisely the vertical drop, acceleration and top speed of each). Not coincidentally, he also had a sore neck. We joked that the park should give chiropractors naming rights for these high-speed rides ("The Hydra! Brought to you by City Chiropractic!").

Pardoned

A few weeks ago I blamed my feisty backyard squirrels for stripping the leaves off the parsley plants on my deck. A Unionville reader wrote to exculpate the rodents:

"If you haven't heard yet, several years ago I shared my Parsley Plants with some little green worms. In the fall, I put one plant in my sunny bay window. In Feb., one of those little green worms decided it was time to come out from under the pot rim and reappear as a gorgeous black swallowtail butterfly!!!"

Air Show Aug. 24 and 25

Readers who live near the New Garden Airport will want to be looking up on August 24 and 25: it's the annual air show. I always enjoy seeing the vintage bombers flying in low the morning of the show; they make a low, steady rumble as they head south to the airfield. And sometimes I can see the aerobatics pilots doing their performances if they're up high enough. And who can forget seeing the Stealth bomber zipping around last year? So cool! (Umm .... yeah. Can you tell that both my brother and my father are pilots, and my grandmother was with the Civil Air Patrol in WWII?)
For more information on the air show visit www.newgardenflyingfield.com.