Farting Fanatics

We have all been in an enclosed space, be it the inside of a car, a small room, or an elevator, and somebody has to let one rip.  A disgusting clue as to what they have eaten over the last 24 hours and you get to be the unlucky contestant that get to guess what it was whether you want to or not.

Everybody poops, everybody pees, and everybody farts.

Why is it that some of us get really upset when someone else farts in our presence?  It's not like it's a controllable part of our bodily functions, sure you may be able to hold it for a while but it is going to get out eventually and nothing you, or anyone can do to stop it.   So why do people get so mad when they smell someone else's passed gas?

I had a friend tell me one time that there are feces particles in the gas that comes out of you when we fart.
The gases that comprise a fart are, nitrogen, oxygen, methane, hydrogen and carbon dioxide, plus volatile methyl sulfides have been identified as responsible for the odor, and to a lesser degree, hydrogen sulfide gas and methanethiol. All are byproducts of bacteria in the digestive tract and are recognized by the nose as volatile organic compounds.

Well that sounds all scientific and stuff, the short answer is no, there is an exception to this rule that states if you are closer to the source of the fart the more likely chance there is that you will be breathing in the gut bacteria that is in the gas and is considered poop particles.  So the answer becomes a yes as well . 

I had a friend that used to get so angry if someone let loose a gas monster in his car, he would lose his mind, and on the other side of the spectrum a different friend of mine thought farts to be extremely funny, so of course when these two types of people meet, the louder one person starts to complain the louder the other laughs.

Farting is sometimes embarrassing, which is why some people don't admit to doing it.  You could be at a job interview, or trying to impress someone like a girlfriend or boyfriend so it is common to pretend you are not the culprit if you can get away with it.  If you were in a cab together you could blame it on the driver.

Bottom line, try to have some decency for others, if you are in an elevator you probably could hold it until you got out, if you can, open a window, because nobody wants to smell your shit no matter how funny you think it is. 


Scott Goerz

Fine Print Scam

Who reads the terms and conditions on all the apps and games we download? I sure don't, I usually skip to the end and hit accept.

First of all, the terms and conditions is written in lawyer jargon, you would have to have a degree in university and pass the bar exam to understand what it means. It's also so long and boring that you would fall asleep before you got to the end.

Normally the terms and conditions are to protect the owner of the product, just in case someone decides to sue them for any injustices they might be feeling. 

There are products such as miracle weight loss or products that are too good to be true. We read the contract as much as we can but there is always some part in there, where the writing is so small that you can barely read it and it contains the most dangerous part of the contract.  How is this legal in any way shape or form?  It can also be hidden or worded in a way that almost nobody would understand.

I just read a scam that involves Amazon. In the article it says that you find the most amazing deal online, and since it's on Amazon it must be legit, but the scammer is going to send you a counterfeit product or nothing at all.  The way they get away with this is that they will claim that the product will take 3 to 4 week delivery. 

Amazon pays its sellers every 2 weeks so the scammer will receive their money from you long before your product is supposed to arrive or you realize that it's a scam.  Trying to go through amazon litigation is a pain in the butt and you may never see your refund, due to the fact that the scammer closes shop and opens up another one in a different name, Amazon can't collect the refund from them.

The free trial is one of the biggest frauds out there, where it claims that after the trial period is over, you will have to pay a certain sum of money with no end date. Meaning you will be locked into that contract for the rest of your life with no way out.  That company can sue you for not paying because you agreed to the contract without reading it.

I've heard of an A.I. lawyer, basically it's an app that reads contracts and finds the sketchy parts for you, then it warns you that accepting the terms is non advisable.  Maybe better apps in the future will help us but for right now, if you think something is too good to be true or you have a suspicion that something isn't right there is someone online that has already been scammed and has it documented for you to google search it.

Scott Goerz

Teaching Your Kids To Lie

Nobody wants their child or children to lie, but for some reason it happens all the time and by the time they become adults, you have taught them all your dirty tricks and they have learned a few of their own that they will eventually teach their children.

I'm sure you are one of those people that thinks that you do not teach your kids to lie. Let me assure you that you do, don't be offended, everybody does it even if it's unintentional.  You may be thinking, how do I inadvertently teach my kids to lie?

Have you ever had a phone call that you didn't want to take and you tell your kid to tell the person that called that you are unavailable?  You just taught you kid to lie.

Have you ever told your kid to answer the door and tell the person at the door that your parents aren't home? You just taught your kid to lie.

Don't tell your father, don't tell your sister, don't tell your brother, your aunt, your grandma, or even a friend of the family. You just taught your kid to lie.

Anytime you lie to someone and your child is around to hear it they learn from your example. You teach your kids the little secrets about lying that you learn over the years and they retain that knowledge and use it for themselves.

The next time your kids lie to your face don't get too mad at them, if they get away with a lie one time and it got them out of trouble, like you, they will do it again and again, and besides you are probably the one that taught them to lie in the first place.

Scott Goerz

Morbid And Odd Thoughts

During the day, and it doesn't matter what I'm doing these weird, funny, atrocious thoughts pop in and out of existence in my mind periodically. I thought I would share some of them with you today.

After watching a video game of a vr title called Blind I wondered if blind people masturbate.  They must right? They are after all only human. The next thought that I had was that it would be pretty funny to squirt a water pistol into the blind mans face while he was masturbating from afar.

Obviously that thought led to another morbid thought, if a person clapped their hands gently and rhythmic in the back of a movie theatre and then made some moaning noises just before shooting a water pistol across the back of the heads of the audience.

While driving, I have often thought about pushing the person ahead of me into the ditch, and any other subsequent driver that is going too slow and is in my way.  

This morbid thought has never been done but I believe it could be possible.  You could punch your best friend in the face as hard as you like on purpose, as long as you apologize profusely afterwards and say it was an accident.

Jump behind the movie line concession stand and get my own damn popcorn. You could also go into any kitchen in any restaurant to inspect the way they are cooking your food. Someone told me once that you have the right to request this at any establishment.

Wondering what would happen if I spiked my parents and my grandmothers food with magic mushrooms at a family dinner. Would we all have a really good time or would we try to kill each other or would we all end up in the hospital?

That's it for today.

Scott Goerz

Go Back In Time

If you could go back in time and give yourself some advice, what would it be?  If you could somehow rearrange an event so that a different result would happen, where do you think your life would have gone?

I have pondered questions like these all my life and I honestly have no idea if anything would be different. One of the main reasons for my reasoning is that when I was a younger man, I was a complete asshole.  Even if I could go back and tell myself something I doubt my past self would listen. My past self would probably laugh and tell my future self to F-off.

Setting that aspect to the side, lets say I did listen to my much wiser future advice. One thing I would have liked to change was how I was schooled, but how do you tell your past self to work harder and be smarter?  My Schooling was stunted by idiotic teachers and over protective parents, I was held back in grade three, then they wanted to do it again in grade 5.

The school had a program for "Challenged" children and there was a special class that they claimed was a mixture of grade 6-7 one year, 8-9 the next year.  I knew it was a class for morons, and it was, but I met of my best friends there, and while that class was utterly useless it did teach me to toughen up and to take care of myself.  Those little life lessons got me good jobs and helped shape the way I earned money later in life.

The friends I did have before the new class, all ostracized me, and would be embarrassed to talk to me because I was in a special class. As a kid you don't understand why other kids you grew up with would no longer talk to you.  Kids can truly be cruelest beings on the planet at times.

My young rebellious self did get into a lot of trouble but if I took one of those events away it wouldn't have made much difference on my future. I would have gone and done a different bad thing somewhere else.  The schooling was the turning point for me, from good to bad in a heartbeat of my total life. There is no fixing that with some good advice.

Everything else was a learning experience, it turned me into who I am now, At this moment, I am in a good spot in my life and I think I turned out just fine. (But there is always room for improvement.)

Scott Goerz

Do Yourself A Favor

I posted this on my blog a while ago, back when I first started writing.  I thought I would update it now that I have more people reading it.  It's about how many calories you burn while basically doing nothing all day but adds things in like bathrooms breaks and showers.  

Healthy living

 "A primarily sedentary person is one who doesn't exercise and performs only the activities of daily life, such as showering, light chores and walking around the house or office. An adult man who is 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 154 pounds and is between 19 and 30 years old, burns about 2,400 to 2,600 calories daily.

 Between the ages of 31 to 50 years, this average man burns 2,200 to 2,400 calories daily and after age 51, between 2,000 and 2,200 calories daily.

 A woman who is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 126 pounds burns 1,800 to 2,000 calories daily when between the ages of 19 and 30 years. From ages 31 to 50, this burn rate averages about 1,800 calories daily and decreases to 1,600 calories per day after age 51."

So on average men and women normally burn around 2000 calories sitting around all day. 


I'll also add in this new study I found describing how many calories we burn while asleep at night.


As you likely expect, the number of calories you burn while sleeping is low, with the exact amount depending on your weight. If you weigh 160 pounds, you burn 69 calories per hour while sleeping, the FitWatch website calculates, which adds up to 552 calories burned during eight hours of sleep.

A 120-pound person burns 51 calories per hour sleeping, or 408 for eight hours; a 200-pound person burns 86 calories per hour, or 688 for eight hours of sleep.

Body Temperature

 You’ll burn more calories, several extra hundred each night,  while you sleep if you keep your body temperature cooler. When you bundle up in heavy blankets and wear thick pajamas, your body does not have to work to supply natural body heat.

Sleeping with a cooler body temperature, sans excess blankets and cozy pajamas, makes your body’s thermostat work to provide natural body heat.

So on an average 24-hour day with eight hours of sleep, men and women typically burn 2600 calories on average.

You would have to exceed this amount of calories to gain weight, but keep in mind that this is all while you are doing next to nothing, if you work at a physical job, exercise or even go shopping on a regular basis walking around is going to burn more calories.

 If you moderate what you eat (It doesn't matter what you eat) and move around a little more than usual you will see a benefit to your health.

These scam diets and weight loss clinics that have you starving and drinking weird concoctions  can disappear in my opinion. All you need is some knowledge and common sense and we will all be fine.

Eat what you like, fries and gravy, chicken wings, chocolate, whatever, but do it in moderation and keep your portions low.

Scott Goerz

Everybody Needs A Pat On The Back

It used to be what we all needed, reassurance that we are doing a good job.  I'm older now and I don't need a pat on the back to know that the job I'm doing is a good one. I know I do good work, it's not egotistical, it's pride, and whenever I do anything I want to look back and be proud of my accomplishment.

A lot of people out there do not have that sense that what they are doing is good work, and they second guess themselves constantly.  These people need to have someone else tell them they have done a good job to give them confidence to carry on.

When we get taken for granted, and the work we do becomes just a task that needs to be carried out and our peers look down on us with scorn when it isn't done in an acceptable manner, is when we start doing that same task with less effort.

Everybody needs a pat on the back so that they don't just do the task, they exceed at doing it.  The feeling of gratitude from others when you have worked really hard at something will make you want to do it again and again, and each time maybe you will do it a little better than you did before.

I do find that too much praise will go to some peoples head, so there has to be an equal balance of negativity and positivity. Maybe not negativity but instead constructive criticism.

Our children need this type of experience when they are learning chores and life skills.  As parents we sometimes get into a routine of always complaining when something isn't up to our standards.  When children or anyone always hears the negative side of things, why would they want to improve upon them? We have to acknowledge the good things they do and not just the bad. 

Scott Goerz

Things We all Hate

A backwards toilet paper roll. Why? Because it doesn't tear in a straight line and you can't see the end.

When you buy an appliance or new pots and pans and there is a sticker welded to the product that you can't remove easily.

Having a subscription automatically renew with an insane process in order to stop it.

Dropping the handle of your utensil into whatever it is that you are cooking or eating.

Being slowed to a crawl or stopped for no apparent reason on a busy highway.

Panhandlers or beggars that come to your window when you are stopped at an intersection.

Your GPS telling you to turn when there is no visible road to turn at.

The noise your vehicle makes when you are not wearing your seat belt.

Wake up alarm buzzer.

Seeing it snow outside when it's supposed to be warm and sunny.

Waiting for your number to be called when you need to get blood taken.

Being on hold for a long time only to finally have your call taken by someone you can't understand because of their terrible accent.

Someone farting in an enclosed and very public space.

Someone else snoring and you can't leave. (Airplane)

Being asked if you like your meal when your mouth is full of food.

Seeing someone in public you don't like and when they see you they come and try to talk to you for an hour.

Being told you are wrong by someone who clearly has no idea what they are talking about.

Deleting something by accident that you wanted to keep.

Being late for something and as you are rushing to leave you notice your dog has crapped all over the floor.

Running out of hot water in the shower.

Paying a photo radar ticket.

When things always seem to break on a Saturday evening and since stores aren't open Sunday you have to wait until Monday to get the part you need. 

Not buying enough of something and you need just one more.

Super secure plastic packaging on something that should not need it.

Ripping off a little piece of toenail or fingernail and being in agony for a week afterwards.

Being told someone is sorry when they clearly are not.

Having to watch an ad before I see the material that I want to see.

All commercials.

Muscle spasms during sex

When your dog rolls in something disgusting and you pet them afterwards.

When your finger breaks through the toilet paper.

When your hands are so dry that you can't grip toilet paper.

Being told a long story that has no point

Being lied to.

Talking to someone with really bad breath face to face.

Mosquitoes.

Flies.

Hornets and wasps.

All of the above insects, trapped in your vehicle while you are driving.



Scott Goerz

Change Of Heart (A mouse story)

When I was young, my father was able to capture and kill mice that had gotten into our house with relative ease and he had no remorse.  When I was young I also had a hamster as a pet and a mouse was sort of the same thing or so I thought at the time.  I felt pity for the poor mouse my father had killed, but he did what he had to do and that was the end of it.

I am not a hunter killer, and I have a huge empathy for animals, that being said, I am also not a vegetarian and enjoy my steaks. I don't take my love for animals to that extreme.

When I met my wife and we started to live together she was and still is just like me, in the way we think about animals. So when we found out we had mice in our house it was an easy decision to use humane traps for catching mice. Humane traps have a catch and release system where the mouse goes in but can't get out until you release them when you want.

So for a few months out of the year when it starts to get cold, I take this trap with a mouse in it down my long driveway and across the road to release it.  One year I did that long walk every single day for two months straight. That's right, 60 + mice, or was it? It could be that those mice I would walk out every day made it back to the house and I was walking out the same one every so often.  I honestly don't know.

I am at the point where I hate the little rodents now, and I don't have any empathy for the little monsters. I don't care if they suffer as long as they are dead and gone from my premises. I totally understand where my father's mind was when he killed mice when I was a boy. I didn't understand then, but I sure get it now.  At least now I don't have to wonder if I have caught the same mouse from the day before.

I am still nauseated when I see blood and guts (Some traps do some real damage) but I feel better knowing that's one less mouse I don't have to deal with ever again.  My wife still has empathy but she is slowly coming around to the dark side and it is only a matter of time before she crosses over and joins me.

Scott Goerz

To Err Is Human

I have met my share of people in this world, and while we are all vastly different, we are also very much the same.  Some of us are introverts, meaning that we don't put ourselves in situations that draw attention to ourselves. Some of us are extroverts meaning the exact opposite. Some of us lie, some people read one false article and claim it as truth. The one type of person that I truly despise running into is the one that is never wrong.

Have you ever met someone who would not admit defeat after they have been proven wrong?  These people always have a reason or excuse as to why they thought the way they did and a justification to follow it afterwards. They will never admit that you were right, and they will never come close to admitting that they were wrong.

These types of people never apologize, and are usually narcissistic in nature. They think they are better than everyone else.  I often wonder what would happen if two of them ended up in a room together, would they become best friends, or kill each other?

There is no perfect person on this earth, everyone has flaws and makes mistakes. This is the reason we evolve in the first place, we make a mistake learn from it, and rectify the situation or we make it better so that it benefits everyone. 

Glass in vehicles used to shatter and cut people, now it's infused with plastic so that it crumbles instead of shatters, it still cuts but only tiny scratches instead of severe lacerations.  This is one instance of finding a flaw or mistake and making it better.

Admit to your mistakes, it will actually make you a better person, other people will see that you are honest, and respect and believe you when you tell them something. If you never admit that you were wrong nobody will ever believe anything that comes out of your mouth. Ask questions if you want answers, nobody will think any less of you for doing so.  Don't make up answers if you are not sure it's the truth or not. 

Well, that's my rant of the day. 

Scott Goerz

Moo Moo's & Susupenders

I was walking around Walmart the other day and as I was shopping I noticed the older generation shopping too, I wondered what possesses a senior citizen to wear the clothes they wear.  An older woman in a pink and blue flowered moo moo, and old man with suspenders cinched up so high his pants were at his armpits.

I shudder at the fact that most older people wear these types of outfits, and I worry that my day will come to wear the same god awful outfit.   Currently, I like to keep myself trendy and I haven't resorted to buying the cheapest of the cheap brands of clothing.  I like to look somewhat presentable and approachable when I go out into public.

I think it must be a pure comfort issue, to wear the loosest clothing so that it doesn't restrict your movement in any way, but you sacrifice any style that you might once have had.  At what age do you stop caring how you look? 

They should make styles for the senior citizen keeping in mind that comfort and affordability is key.  It scares me that one day I will get to a point where I won't care anymore and along with my bright blue pants, brown shirt and orange suspenders, my personal hygiene will start to lack as well.

I have seen old men who must have dropped their razor half way through their shave and decided it was too far down to pick it up to finish the job and their face looks like a half shaved animal.  They love their mostly bald head with the five strands of long hair they proudly comb off to the side, before they head out somewhere.

Then you have the older ladies with their blue hair and five o'clock shadow worse than any guy out there. They use the reddest lipstick and blue eye-shadow then they top themselves off with some really nice A5-35 perfume.  Those young men out there don't stand a chance when they are introduced to a real woman.

They were young once, they had pride and style, what the hell happens after to you after 60?  It it truly terrifying to think about it, but on the bright side maybe I just won't care.

Scott Goerz

Blame Yourself For Once

Do you know someone who doesn't take responsibility for their actions?  It's always someone else's fault, or they blame the system for singling them out of society.  I get really tired of hearing from someone who always plays the victim card.

How can a person always be the victim?  Everyone has choices they make and in this world we have a thing called, cause and effect.  If you buy a car and decide to make payments on it but fail to do so after a few months, the bank or dealership will repossess it and it will be your fault, not anyone else's. 


If you have children and you continuously put them in dangerous situations or neglect them don't come crying when they get taken away from you.  When you have children they should become the most important thing in your life even over yourself.  You see people on the news who have 3 children all crammed into one room with a lock on the door while the parents are having a party or have gone out somewhere. . Then you hear them cry bloody murder when their kids are taken from them.

 Is it everyone's fault that you can't hold a job, or that you have alienated your friends with your me first attitude, or that your family won't help you anymore?  What is the common factor in every single life experience you have ever had?  You are. You have been involved in your life and made choices that are your fault and nobody else's.

It can't always be some else's fault, I think, if you look within yourself  and really ask, "What could I have done differently?"  Seriously ponder this question and then blame yourself for once, for the situation that you are in.  It is only then, when you take responsibility for your own actions, that you can start to permanently fix the problem and it will no longer become an issue.  

Blaming everything but yourself cannot be repaired, you can't control anything other than yourself, so that is where you start.

Scott Goerz

New Garbage

I had a washing machine that finally died, it was bought in the late 90s and lasted until now, it was a good machine and was very reliable. We decided that we would get a new machine without an agitator in it and large enough to wash bedding.  Our new washing machine is an expensive piece of garbage.

It doesn't wash even half as good as the old one, it has a computer on board that senses the weight of the items inside and fills the water to a certain point based on that to conserve water. It almost never fills enough and our clothes and bedding almost always comes out dry in a few spots and we have to rewash it again.

This is a common trend with everything we buy in this day and age.  You could buy a car in the 80s and it would last the life of the car if you preformed a routine maintenance on it. You could but and replace parts with relative ease.  The vehicles they make now are made of plastic and fall apart if you hit a large pothole. It's almost cheaper to buy new car than to fix it, because trying to fix it yourself is almost impossible. When you open the hood, you can't even see the engine on the newer vehicles, there are plastic shrouds and tubes everywhere.

We used to be able to buy things that would last a very long time because they were well made, the manufacturers used to use steel, aluminum, cast iron, and other types of metal on their products, but now in an effort to save money everything is made out of plastic, nylon and other materials that break easily. The local land fills are becoming cluttered with millions of tons of plastic garbage that can't be reused. 

When you buy anything nowadays you rarely hear of anyone who fixes it, and instead they take it back and get a new one.  My wife has a kitchen aid mixer that she bought in 1998, she bought it refurbished and it has lasted her until now and the thing still works like a charm.  She will not buy a new one because her old one has been so good and still is to this day.

I wonder if we will ever go back to having our merchandise well made ever again? Or are we always going end up buying new garbage.

Scott Goerz

Relationship Insecurities

Have you ever met someone you enjoy spending time with and eventually decide to enter into a relationship together but when you did, your significant other would get extremely upset if you thought someone else was attractive? 

I don't know about you but I don't ever remember agreeing to deny my basic human nature and to stop myself from finding the opposite sex attractive.  I did, however, agree to be faithful to the person I chose to be with.

If you are the type of person to try to demand that your spouse, lover, girlfriend, boyfriend or whomever, is not allowed to look, or talk to the opposite sex, then you are a very insecure person and should not be in any sort of relationship.

I had a girlfriend once that would get mad at me if I thought a woman on tv was attractive, and she would get extremely mad at me if she noticed that I was staring too intently.  She would also get upset if I looked at any pictures in a magazine, and even comic book characters!  I felt as though I had joined into a priesthood when I entered into the relationship with her.

There is, of course, people that cheat out there and if you catch them in the act of trying to get with someone else, (I'm going to give you a tip here) don't get mad at them, get rid of them instead, and save yourself the stress.  Yelling and screaming at someone when you have caught them in the act of violating your trust is counter productive and they are not going to change their ways no matter how much you scream at them.

We are all human beings and we all have a basic instinct to find others attractive, we cannot deny that fact and to expect anyone to do so is unrealistic and selfish. However, we can control ourselves to not act on urges and impulses we might feel when we do find others attractive and in a relationship with another person.

You have to trust and respect the person you are with, we are allowed to find others attractive, but there is a limit on how far you take it though, take a quick glance and move on, if you are always staring at the opposite sex when you are with your mate you could start to make them feel inferior.

Scott Goerz

Old Body - Young Mind

As I get older my body slowly degenerates, my vision gets a little worse with every passing year, and I get a little more frail as well, new wrinkles form and my hair (What little I have) starts to turn grey on all parts of my body, and it starts to grow in places that it never grew before, but my mind still thinks it's a twenty-year old young man that can do all the things it used to do.

I find it odd that even though I know I am getting older, my mind still works like it did in my youth. It does change with me, some things I used to find funny are not funny anymore and my tolerance level for drama has gone way down, but for some reason my mind thinks I can still do a catwalk on a bicycle or do a back flip on a trampoline, when in reality I shouldn't be doing anything that could really hurt myself.

I still look at women that are way too young for me, and I still love watching cartoons for some reasons.  Video games are still a huge part of my life and when I go out shopping in a mall I can't help but look at the new toys they make for children, remembering my He-Man action figure collection and metal transformer toys, then I think about how everything is made so cheaply.

I like wearing super hero t-shirts, and reading comic books. I am young at heart and mind but aging slowly. It makes me wonder if senior citizens have this same mental state and I'm beginning to think that most of them do.

We are all human and I'm sure we all experience a youthful state of mind but I also think that a lot of us suppress these types of thoughts because of your responsibilities of becoming a mature adult and you bury that childlike wonder that lives in all of us.  I have met quite a few incredibly serious people that do not joke or have fun, I say life is too short to make everything business and no pleasure.

There has to be a middle ground of course and you can't be too serious or childish. If you find that balance between the two I believe that your life will be much more fulfilling.

Scott Goerz

Funeral For The Living

Every time I have ever been to a funeral the most heart felt emotions and great memories get shared about the deceased. I have always enjoyed the kind words and memories others have shared but have always felt that the person that would enjoy the funeral the most was the person that had died in the first place.

We all have had someone close to us that has died, whether it has been a mother, father, brother, sister, best friend, lover, wife or husband, those of us that were the closet to them should celebrate them while they are living at a milestone in their lives in the same sort of manner that we hold funerals.

We hold, birthdays, which is not the same at all, presents are given out and a few hugs, but then we eat drink and have fun. But memories of how that person has influenced and shaped our lives is not shared with everybody that has attended.

I think there should be milestone celebrations every 25 years after turning 50, where we gather up our family and closest friends to celebrate that person's life so far.  We put up videos and slide shows with pictures, what they have achieved so far and where they are headed, we talk about how they have impacted our lives and how we are better from simply knowing them.

It's a Funeral for the living, and I know for a fact that my mother who died recently, would have appreciated this more when she was alive than deceased at her own funeral.  Anyone who is alive would appreciate this acknowledgement of their gift to this world. Most of us don't have the chance to tell someone we care about how we really feel, sure we say "I love you." all the time but that is almost a staple in any conversation nowadays, it's the ending to a conversation you say to someone you care about.

We don't tell them exactly why we love them and get into all the tear jerking details. They know we love them and that is enough for that moment.

Having people stand up and announce to everybody in the audience why they love you and how you have made them a better person will make your soul shine brighter for the rest of your life. The people who had to sit down and write a speech about you, who have to search their memories and feelings will be better off after they have expressed themselves.  If you died the very next day there would be no regrets from anyone who got to tell you how they really felt about you.  They would be sad that you were gone but at least they know how you and those closest to you felt because you have had a celebration of life or a funeral for the living.

Scott Goerz

The Devil Made Me Do It

We have all heard the saying "The devil made me do it."  When someone does something wrong or someone will make the observation that an evil person has the devil inside them.
I think that there is a preconceived notion of what the devil actually does.

Movies and television has shaped our views to the way they make their characters behave on the big screen. This in turn makes us believe that that character must be that way in the actual world.  In the case of the devil, most of us have not read the bible and believe whatever the media will tell us.

The devil, for instance, does not tell anyone to do anything and if we were to put him in a type of job scenario, we would say that he is like the warden at a prison.  He is there to punish those of us that have committed grievous sins. He is not there to turn people into murderous monsters so he can steal their souls.

This would be like saying that the warden of a prison influences other people to turn into criminals so that he can have more funding for his prison. 

I really dislike the excuse that you are somehow not responsible for your own actions.  Maybe you will claim that you heard voices telling you what to do.  Those voices caused you to kill someone, steal, rape or commit whatever crime that you can conceive. You tell people that the devil made you do it.

Using the devil as an excuse to start up a cult that has to sacrifice live animals in order to please the god they worship is utterly ridiculous when you don't understand that the god you're worshipping will be condemning those same people for sacrificing animals in the quest for power. 

Take responsibility for your own actions, don't use god or the devil as an excuse for anything. God will not save you, he gave you the ability to save yourself.  If anyone is upset with this article, in my defense, I'd like to say the devil made me do it.

Scott Goerz

Random Acts Of Kindness

Have you ever been in a drive thru at a coffee or fast food establishment and annoyed at the lineup you have been waiting in, that seems abnormally slow, and when you finally get to the window to pay they tell you that the person ahead of you has paid for your order?  That feeling you get immediately washes away any annoyance you previously had and fills you with a feeling of appreciation.

If this happens to me I usually pay for the vehicle behind me, I pay it forward.  The ability to put a smile on someone else's face, even if it's a total stranger, has a huge impact on your happiness levels, and you just feel good afterwards, it can change a completely miserable day into a fantastic one with that one act of kindness.

Think of how this world would be if everybody did at least one random act of kindness every single day, this world would be a much better place.  It doesn't have to be a monetary donation to complete the task, it can be as simple as opening a door for someone who has their hands full or letting someone in line in front of you.

Speaking your mind instead of holding your thoughts inside of you also can be a huge inspiration to you and those around you. Giving out a compliment when you would normally not say anything can be beneficial to both parties involved. 

If you are normally an introvert (meaning you don't like attention drawn to you and you stay quiet in public places) and you break out of your shell and tell a stranger they are doing a good job or that you like their outfit, it benefits you by helping you express your thoughts out loud and it helps the other person because you have made them feel good about themselves.

A random act of kindness makes everybody involved a better person for it and inspires others to do the same.

Scott Goerz

Trust

What does it mean when you put your trust in someone or something.  When I get into a vehicle I trust that it won't break down and it will get me to where I'm going. We all trust brand name companies because they have a good track record as a manufacturer.  You may be a Ford person, or Dodge, Chevy, GMC,and many others but you prefer just one type of company because their vehicle has rarely let you down in the past and other companies have.

The same is sort of true for people, you have certain relationships where your best friends have rarely or never let you down and you trust them completely. 

I believe that trust and love go hand in hand, you cannot truly love someone unless you fully trust them.  If they go out with their friends without you, you trust that they are not going to betray your trust in any way.  They, in turn, believe the same thing about you.

There is no half trust or partial trust. You cannot try to trust someone, in the immortal words of Yoda, "You either do or do not, there is no try."  Not having full trust in your relationship and saying that you are in love is a lie.  You are lying to yourself and your relationship will fail if it continues on without fully trusting your partner. 

When your trust in someone gets betrayed it becomes a wound so profoundly painful it's like a piece of your soul has been ripped out and destroyed.  From that point on you never fully heal from it and giving out your trust again becomes much harder.  If it happens too many times the damage could become irreparable and you will never trust anyone ever again.  You will become an empty shell of who you once were.

I have had my trust broken before, and I have learned from it, much like touching a hot surface it will only happen once because it is extremely painful.  Honesty and openness will build trust, if you are honest about everything you do it will build trust. If you are open about how you feel and can convey those feelings in a positive way, it will also go a long way to building trust.

Lying, cheating, sneaking around, jealousy, skepticism, over texting or calling constantly, worry, self degradation, pity, anger and a whole host of other negative emotions will break down trust and destroy it forever.  Choose who you trust carefully.

That's my thought on the matter.  Thanks to my sister Kim for the idea.

Scott Goerz

Clueless

Why is it that some people can't read body language or facial expressions?  I don't believe that it's a case of not caring what other people think, even though some of us have that ability, that is not what I'm talking about here.  I can tell when someone is upset even if I don't know them and they are a far enough from me that I can barely see their face.

Body language plays a huge part in being able to tell the mood of a person. Picture a person walking towards you, their head forward and shoulders up with arms bent and their hands clenching and unclenching as they walk, now picture someone walking with their head up high back straight and hands in their pockets.  Who is angry and who isn't in this scenario?

There are people out there that would still ask me how do I know that person isn't angry just by the way they walk or move, and my answer would be that I don't actually know but it is the best educated guess I can make and it's also one that usually proves true.

My question to them is how can you not know? Haven't you been a human being on this planet for as long as I have?  Did your parents never show a range of emotions while you were growing up, how can you not know when someone is happy, sad, upset, depressed, or any other common emotion? Did you not get into trouble as a child? What did your parents faces look like when they punished you?

I watched a documentary the other day, where two people were talking and it turned ugly but one of the guys didn't realize that he was making the other guy upset and they just about killed each other. When he got interviewed he said he didn't realize he was making the other guy upset, and could not understand why punches were being thrown when he didn't read the situation he was putting himself in.  They interviewed the other guy and he couldn't understand why the guy he ended up fighting didn't realize he was making the situation worse,  The man even went on to say that he told the other guy to stop talking about the issue that was making him angry.

I have also met people out there that have no clue and continue to be clueless, they aren't handicapped, just clueless in all things in the world that makes us who we are.

Scott Goerz

Public Hygiene Alert

There was a news post that recently came out that seems to have disturbed a lot of people. Airport security trays apparently have a ton of germs on them and they are worse than the toilets in the airport. This new finding does shed a light on something we didn't know and now has caused quite a bit of worry among most of the population.

I think this story is not that big of deal and it's a drop in the bucket of things we use on a daily basis that have germs and bacteria.  What prompted officials to study and release their findings on airport security bins?  Those same scientific officials should release a study on everything we use. 

How about the belt that holds up your pants? It's the first thing you touch before you go to the bathroom and the last thing you touch when you are finished before you wash your hands, it never gets washed or cleaned. 

Money is another bacteria and gem infested item that changes hands on a regular basis, it also never gets cleaned and we handle it all the time.  It has already been proven that physical money is one of the dirtiest things on this planet and the main cause for spreading disease and viruses.

Escalator handrails, you know the rubber rails that move along with you while you stand on the moving stairs in shopping malls, think about all the sticky, snot,bacteria,blood,sweat,food, dirt and grime that comes off of the human traffic and on to those handrails on a daily basis.  I once saw a kid at the top of an escalator standing there with his tongue on the rail as it rolled along, and I wondered how long he had been there and if I got his saliva on my hand from the rail after it had made a full rotation.  Where were his parents?

We can worry about hygiene all we want and we can use all manner of hand sanitizers and antibacterial products to protect us from the germs out there but the truth of the matter is that we need to get dirty sometimes, we have an immune system for a reason, to protect us from those germs and diseases.  If we eliminated every germ from our lifestyle, our immune system would weaken and we get extremely sick or die the next time we encountered any sort of bacteria or germ.  There is such a thing as being too clean.

There is such a thing as being too dirty as well, there has to be a happy medium where you meet in the middle.  Not too dirty and not too clean,  a balance or equilibrium.

Don't worry about the next public hygiene alert, I'm glad there are people out there finding major areas of bacteria buildup, but I'm sure there are tons of areas we haven't even thought of yet. In the meantime I will wash my hands and let my immune system do its job.

Scott Goerz

Leftovers

There is nothing better than a fresh home cooked dish that is your favorite meal.  I don't know about you but it seems to lack something when you can't finish the meal, put it in the fridge, and have it again the next day.

I am not a fan of leftovers, I prefer to eat something when it comes fresh off the stove or hot out of the oven. 

It is nice to not have to cook or clean up the mess when you have leftovers, but the food itself almost always tastes bland and lacks that freshness it had the day before.  The worst dishes to eat the day after almost always have vegetables in it.  The veggies are always rubbery and become so soft that it's almost like eating mush.

I don't care if it is a waste of food and money, anytime I cook with vegetables and don't end up eating all of them, the leftover vegetables always end up in the garbage. I will not eat leftover veggies.

Another item that doesn't keep well in the refrigerator is salad, but I guess that falls into the vegetable category, unless you have a noodle salad of some sort.  Any sort of lettuce salad becomes mushy and in my opinion, disgusting.  I have seen people eat leftover Caesar salad and the lettuce is brown and wilted, the croutons reduced to mush. As they eat it they actually slurp it up much like you would hear someone eating a soup, and they claim it tastes delicious.
(I think I may barf just thinking about it.)

I can't be the only one out there that feels this way, I know there are others out there. What else does not keep well for the next day leftovers?

Scott  Goerz

Sometime Honesty Isn't The Best Policy

I have always tried to be truthful, even if I was wrong, I would own up to my mistake and say it was me. But I have found that in some circumstances that honesty is not the best policy.

Say you are at a party and you are the designated driver, you have one drink when you first arrive at said party then drink water or pop for the rest of the evening.  You encounter a check stop and when the officer asks if you have had anything to drink you say you had one drink 4 hours ago. The officer will remove you from your vehicle and give you a breathalyzer test. It takes some time and if they don't like the result they will try to give you another one.

If you had simply said that you didn't drink at all and you were the designated driver the officer would examine your face for a minute and probably let you leave. The fact that you tried to be honest means nothing to them and the fact that you admitted drinking gives them cause and a reason to give you the breathalyzer.

Another place where you would like to less than forthcoming would be to your children and the strange noises coming from the bedroom last night.  Your children do not need to know that you had sex last night or even what sex is at this time.  Just thinking about my parents having sex even now makes me shudder with the images that suddenly come flying into my mind.  I know it's a perfectly natural and normal thing for people to do but I just don't like envisioning any relative of mine having sex and it could seriously mess your children up. There is a time for a sex discussion but not right after you have finished having it.

Birthday, Christmas, or any gift that you want to give to someone else should be a secret until they open it. What is the point of wrapping up something if you are going to tell everyone what it is before they open it.   Telling everyone but the recipient of the gift is also a no no,  people like to talk, and some of them love to spill secrets before they should. You should know and recognize these loose lipped people and make sure they know nothing or don't tell anyone at all.

What would be another example where Honesty isn't the best policy?

Scott Goerz

Kids Deserve Respect

Do you remember what it was like being a child? Do you remember who was your favorite aunt or uncle and grandmother and grandfather? Have you ever wondered why that was? Maybe it was because those elderly people treated you with more respect than the other adults you grew up with.

Which one are you? Do you look down on the little people in your life and think that they are inferior because they are not as smart as you and don't have the experience and maturity to hold a conversation? Would it be hard to get down and lower yourself to their level?

You were a child once too and somewhere deep inside of everyone still lives that little child, and he or she may indulge in eating too many chocolates, or enjoy Saturday morning cartoons or getting unreasonably dirty for no reason other than it's just plain fun.

I have always treated my nieces and nephews with respect as well as all other children in my life.  I talk to them as people (Little people) and I will listen to an unnecessarily long story and offer intelligent questions afterwards that will give them an answer that they seek but they will find it for themselves if they ponder it long enough.

 I have no problem getting down on my knees in front of other adults and pretending I'm a horse for them to ride or that barbie doesn't like her dress and she wants a new one.  I offer advice when they are sad and comfort when they are hurt (even if it's just a little booboo).

I have said many times in the past that everyone is equal, and that includes children, I may be smarter and wiser at the moment but that doesn't make be better. I don't look down on them, I try to impart my wisdom on them as much as possible in the hopes they will surpass me and everyone else they know and become the best people they can be.

Scott Goerz

Everyday

When I decided to write down my thoughts everyday I thought it would be easy.  It seemed to me that a new idea or notion would pop up in my mind daily and I would have no problem writing about it.

I am currently in the 170 plus mark and finding new topics to write about is getting considerably harder. I go online and see what hot topics are being discussed, I take mental notes of everything I see and do for an idea for the next day, but as each day progresses I'm finding it harder and harder to come up with new material.

The remarks on Facebook are one small source for inspiration, as it is the only place where I seem to get feedback from my readers. Thank you everybody for your comments.

I'm up for suggestions on topics if you guys want to see what my opinion is on the subject. Before I write a blog I usually go into intensive research and I don't just use one site, I go to multiple sites and make sure what I'm reading is concurrent with other scientists and news media.  To the best of my knowledge what I say in my blogs is truthful, and if it's an opinion of mine then it is just that, an opinion and not a truth.

I did start writing blogs for myself, but I can't deny the fact that I love it when others agree and disagree with me. It means that regardless someone is reading it and I'm not doing this all for nothing other than to get my thoughts out.

It has actually helped me think things through as I try to put my thoughts down on a page. I try to keep a certain type of neutrality when writing.  I don't want to single a group out or say that men are better than women or women are better than men. It's my firm opinion that everyone is equal and nobody is better than another, we all deserve our place on this planet.

Scott Goerz

Science Geek

The other day I was watching mysteries of the earth on Netflix. It posed some very interesting topics that my brain took to another level and now I'd like some answers. I knew most of the shows topics like how rain is formed and how it needs a solid particle to latch on to before it falls to the earth. But there were other things I had no clue on and it got me to thinking.

An astrophysicist by the name of Michio Kaku was talking about gravity on the earth and if it suddenly disappeared, we would all fly off into space at a thousand miles per hour in an instant and then of course die.  After I heard that I was puzzled, and questions started to form in my mind.

If we flew off the earth at a thousand miles per hour does that mean we are being held down at over a thousand miles per hour by gravity?  Gravity is measured at approximately 9.18 meters per second and if you multiply that with weight... Doesn't add up. So if this is still a truthful statement it means there is another force at work here, is it the centrifugal force by the spin of the earth that would fling you away? Could it be because the expansion of the universe? 

The Universe is always expanding and apparently it's getting faster and everything is moving apart at marginal degrees.  If the force pulling you off the planet at a thousand miles per hour is in part, or all of the expansion of the universe, could we one day be overtaken by that force as the Universe continues to speed up? 

Another issue I was having was with the statement that the space station wasn't without gravity, but instead was in a perpetual free fall, and the astronauts inside were falling at the same rate as the ship, which gives the illusion of not having any gravity.  How can something be falling forever? Does this mean if there were no planets anywhere and there was a ship in space it would still be in a perpetual free fall? Where is it falling to? 

I can't help it, my mind thinks this stuff up and I think about this stuff all night and all day, now maybe you will too.

Scott Goerz

Vindictive Pet

My friend has a dog, a large German Shepard, and he is a really good dog. Like most dogs that size and young age it has a lot of energy and playfulness. It has a really good temperament and is good with people and kids. It will sometimes bark at strangers, which is totally normal as long as it doesn't turn aggressive. 

He tells me stories of his dog and it's behaviors, claiming that his dog plots revenge and does things out of spite.  Being a long time dog owner myself and reading enough material on animals to write my own book, I laughed at him and told him that dogs do not have that type of human emotion.  He does not believe me, and will not research anything, and is firmly stuck in his belief that his dog is vindictive.

He will go on to give me examples like, he comes home and the dog has chewed his shoes, and only his shoes, the dog will get into the garbage after he has been in trouble for something else. The dog will dig up the yard even though he knows it's wrong and has been punished for it. The dog poops on the floor when it doesn't get his way. The dog knows it has been bad because he puts his head down and tucks his tail between his legs.

Does this sound like an animal that wants revenge to you?  Does it sound like it's being vindictive?  To me it sounds like it is bored,  the dog chews his shoes because he can smell the scent of his owner on them, if the dog is bored they will chew on anything, the same goes with digging or getting into the garbage.  If the dog has to go outside and is constantly bothering you and you tell it to go lay down, don't be surprised if it poops on the floor.  When a dog lowers its head and puts its tail between its legs, it is not because it feels guilty, it's because it can sense anger and hostility and is trying to not draw attention to itself,  it's also trying to calm you down.

We humanize our animals, and we do it very poorly. When you look up and see a cloud in the sky, just because you see a face up there does not mean that there is one.

If dogs were truly vindictive, and secretly tried to screw you over at every chance, can you imagine what sort of damage that they could cause? Imagine every cord to every appliance in your house chewed through, there would be pee on all your beds, pillows, mattresses, clothes floors, rugs, there would be crap on your counters, couches, chairs and tables. Your car keys would be gone, TV remotes chewed up, anything you value would be destroyed. Why even bother destroying your stuff when they could just kill you.   If Dogs did this sort aggressive vindictive behavior no one would own one.

Read up on the behaviors of animals and what they mean, or watch a video. How are you supposed to correct an undesirable behavior when you mistakenly have come up with your own reasons and corrections for it.

Scott Goerz

My Dirty Mind

If you have worked in a field, where it's all men, you'll know that sometimes guys can get pretty filthy in their conversations. It usually starts with insulting each other and who can make the best insult over the other guy. I found that after a while that line of thinking bleeds into your everyday life away from work and sometimes it's hard to hold your tongue.

It becomes a particularly hard problem when you enter a group of people that have never had these types of thoughts and don't swear on a regular basis or never at all.

I was at a party last weekend and the group of people there were all parents with little children and new babies. They joked and laughed but every joke and laugh was clean, meaning there was no sexual innuendo or crass lingo. Every once in a while I would hear a phrase like "How do you like your meat?" Someone would answer "Thick and pink"  If you look at both of those statements how can you not let your mind wander into the dirtiness of it?

It took all my power to not say "Just like you like your women" or "You must have married your husband for a different reason." I am always on the lookout for a phrase that will cut someone down or for a jab at their personality but in fun not hostility. I didn't say anything and instead held my tongue and listened.

This went on all evening, there were so many opportunities that I passed by, mostly because I didn't feel like these people would respond well to the crass nature of it. 

On the way home my wife and I were talking about getting a new vacuum cleaner for our little studio, the one we had was from her youth and she had a sentimental attachment to it, because it lasted so long and was a good machine. She agreed that it was time for a new one, a sad look in her eye. I looked over at her, smiled and said "At least you know how I feel now" and she replied "What do you mean?"  I said "It's a sad day when you realize that something that used to suck so good doesn't suck so much anymore, and will probably never suck anything again."
She looked at me with a blank stare for a second and then we both burst out laughing, she said "You sick bastard!" and we continued to laugh for a while after.

Scott Goerz

Natural Evolution

If we were to build a spaceship and visit another world that was destroying its planet would that not be their natural evolution? Would we intervene and try to help stop the destruction?  I often wonder if it's our natural evolution of this planet to slowly be destroyed by its inhabitants.

Human beings as a species, indigenous to our planet, have been utilizing its resources since mankind started to walk it's surface. We kill off other life to feed ourselves, destroy forests to house ourselves and mine the fossil fuels and minerals that lay deep within the earths crust to build and evolve or species further.

This of course comes with a cost, we are slowly draining the life from the planet.  The resources we use are then discarded back into the atmosphere, we have already destroyed some of our ozone layer, and are currently entering a climate change event that may be irreversible and impossible to revert to the way it was.

Is this not our natural evolution?  If we were all animals that didn't build or pollute the planet but instead reproduced to a point where there wouldn't be enough food left on the planet to sustain us all, be it another type of animal or plant would that be the natural evolution of that species?

I truly do not think we can stop progress, to do so would be denying our nature and need to explore, as well as our curiosity to uncover the unknown.  We may destroy the planet in the process or we may just destroy ourselves if we happen to stumble upon a truly horrifying technology.

It is possible to repair what has been broken, we have been doing that on a small scale since the dawn of time as well, from swords to boats, to buildings and cars, we can repair what has been broken on this planet, but first we all have to agree that there is a problem in the first place.

Scott Goerz

It's All Relevant

Do you remember when you could buy a chocolate bar for 45 cents, or go to the movies for 4 dollars and all your snacks and still be under ten dollars?  I remember penny candies at 7-eleven and when I started smoking it was 4 bucks a pack.

If you sit down and talk with your parents they will reminisce about how much things used to cost and it's way under anything we remember, and your grandparents will shock your parents with the prices of things from their era.  My father used to say it cost him 2 bits to go to the movies.  That's 25 cents to the younger generation. 

You have to take into consideration the quality of movie they would go and see, probably black and white and hard as rock seats. Smoking was allowed everywhere including the theatre so I'm sure there was quite the haze in the little area.

It wasn't any cheaper than it is now if you really think about it because it's all relevant when it comes to the prices of things and how much money we made now and back then.  When my parents were growing up they would make 5 cents an hour as kids and maybe 2 dollars an hour as an adult, and as the industry grew prices go up and wages increase to compensate.

A person could buy a new car for 1000 dollars but they made 4 dollars an hour at a good job, and you could buy a house for 10,000 with the same wage.  There was no overtime, or vacation pay, you had to earn every single dollar you made.  The vehicles didn't have air conditioning, heated seats, sun roofs or complicated stereo systems.

A person in our current era can buy a new car for around 20,000 dollars, but you don't have to pay the whole thing off at once and can make payments. They also make 15 to 20 dollars an hour, with paid time off. A person can also have side jobs such as internet websites or invest their money to make more of it.

Things aren't any cheaper now than they were in the past, the money they made then and the money we make now is all relevant, they got paid less and things cost less, things cost more now but we get paid more. Everything is relevant to the past as it is too now.

Scott Goerz