I can understand why people might smoke. Apparently it makes them fell good or relaxes them or something. Then there is the whole addiction thing. But tell me why smokers in traffic, open a new pack, roll down the window and throw the plastic wrapper out the window. Or why do they open their car door at a red light and dump the ashtray on the ground? Or why does my neighbor whose wife makes him smoke in the yard, wander out to the street and rub out his butts in the gutter in front of his house and leave them there, littering his own front yard? There are many mysteries to smokers.

I heard today that 25% of the population have some type of mental illness. Having been a school teacher, I actually believe this statistic.

The Braves are throwing baseballs. Bobby Cox is planning to make this his last go round. Greg Maddux too. The world keeps turning. I've lost interest in sports where the competitors hit each other as part of the game. I watched Roger Clemens TV testifying today. If it is just his word against the trainer, I think the trainer should shut up. The trainer has nothing to lose and notiriety to gain. Roger just loses.

I heard that the sun has been unusually quiet of late and that some scientists believe we may be entering a period of cooling. Global warming, global cooling. Too much to understand. We could be speeding along on a crash course with a big hunk of dark matter, say the size of Texas cubed, which we wouldn't notice until about a week before it splashed into the Atlantic and split the planet in two, wiping out everything except roaches. I doubt if the petty things we worry about on a daily basis are worth worrying about on a cosmic scale.

Patches is a lovey dog. She wants to be close to someone all the time. She is lying on my foot at the moment.