This and That -- A Week in Review

Well, a lot of stuff happened this week, and there was a lot of activity on the blog. We had carpool challenges, absences, and visits from old friends. Here's a brief recap of the week in review.

Things we watched:

• We watched Madd Dogg saunter out of our day-in/day-out carpool existence to go on vacation. Although she really, really deserved this vacation, the 'pool misses her. I mean, if the carpool were a hand, she would be the middle finger. Who can live without a middle finger?
• We watched yet-to-be-nicknamed carpool rider wheeze from allergies. (Uh, did I just inadvertently give her a nickname? "Wheezy," anyone? I can already hear the theme song to The Jeffersons, which was probably written by Alan Thicke. Must check that later.)
• We also watched the triumphant return of Schmitty (see various comments). Schmitty was a founding member of our carpool, but she has since taken a job close to home. (Although we claim to be happy for her, deep down, we are insanely jealous.)

Things we learned:

• Mumbles is a flake. He had 72 hours (that's, like, three days!!) to sign up on the blog and post something. He did not do so. And although Sparky often pontificates about the glories of pure democratic societies, I think Mumbles really epitomizes the reason why modern democratic societies (and blogs) don't work well: Apathy.
• According to www.imdb.com, Matthew Modine was originally selected to play the part of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in Top Gun, but he turned it down. It's lucky that Madd Dogg was absent for this discussion -- she hates when we talk about Top Gun, which sucks because there are so many great lines. Like this one: "We went this way, he went that way. I said to Hollywood, 'Where'd he go,' and Hollywood said 'Where'd whooooo go?'" Classic.
• Alan Thicke did not write the theme song to The Jeffersons. That distinct honor went to Ja'net DuBois and Oren Waters. See http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=2978. Alan Thicke was a prolific TV theme writer, however. If you don't believe me, check out http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005484/#composer.

Things we want to forget:

• Traffic is back. And with a vengeance. In my five-plus years of carpooling, I've resigned myself to the immutable truth that traffic can happen without cause. But I've also noticed that traffic is always bad when the weather is either woefully crappy, or unbelievably gorgeous. Mumbles came up with a somewhat more Biblical theory on the cause of traffic. According to him, traffic is caused by "fornicators."
• Gas prices have finally leveled off -- at fricking $2.95 a gallon! (And we were promised flying cars by 2001.)

Things to look out for:

• The carpool may soon become the Ultimate Arbiter of Baby Names! Stay tuned. . .