Post-Valentine's Day Advice for Couples, Part 2

To continue my list of dating tips from my previous post, I present Post-Valentine's Day Advice for Couples, Part 2:

1.     Dinner Date: Pick up takeout on a busy weeknight while the kids are either at an activity or at home doing homework.

2.     Shopping Date: Take the kids to the mall and then browse stores while waiting for them. Warning: this could turn into an Expensive Date if the couple decides to buy new and unneeded large-ticket items ... or an Ugly Date is the couple disagrees over the purchase.

3.     Environmental Date: Take old leaves, grass clippings, retired Christmas trees and large recyclables to the Transfer Station and unload them there.

4.     Travel Date: Give your partner a ride to the airport, train station or Metro station or, better yet, extend the date by continuing on the trip or commute with him or her.

5.     Serious Date: Go to the UPS Store to notarize official documents (like wills) requiring both of your signatures.

6.     Show or Movie Date: Leave the kids at home and see a show at Olney Theatre Center or a movie. The last time we tried this though, we ended up too tired for the late show of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Force awoke but we turned around to go home and sleep.

So I urge all Olney couples to extend Valentine's Day romance throughout the year by seeking "date" opportunities in everyday life.

Post-Valentine's Day Advice for Couples, Part 1

After Valentine's Day few years ago, I posted dating tips for couples. Although Valentine's Day 2016 just passed, in order to keep the flames of romance burning here in Olney, I present more Post-Valentine's Day Advice for Couples, Part 1.

Many couples are too busy to hold regular Date Nights, so why not try to find date opportunities while running everyday errands together, preferably without the kids. Here are a few "dates" you can have as a couple:

1.     Exercise Date: Shovel mountains of snow after a blizzard.

2.     Adventure Date: Trek around the snowbound neighborhood to see if anyone has been dug out and can get out of the neighborhood.

3.     Good Samaritan Date: Help dig out and push a car stuck in a snowdrift.

4.     Cheap Date: Redeem Giant Gas Rewards Points at the Shell station by driving two cars there to fill BOTH tanks at a discount of $0.10-$2.20 off per gallon.

5.     Driving Date: Drive both cars to a garage, leave one car there for servicing, and then drive home in one car.

6.     Expensive Date: Drive back to the garage in one car to pick up the car you left there ... which ended up needing %&$@!-dollars' worth of repairs. 

Try these new ideas and stay tuned for more suggestions in another post!

Loud Planes: Alien Invasion or Maverick and Goose?

One night last month, I heard thunderous noise overhead that continued for several minutes. I didn't think it was an airline passages plane passing by. Eventually the roaring faded away.

The next day, the Olney-Brookeville Exchange was abuzz with people speculating about the source of the loud rumbling. Various theories included: testing at Fort Meade; C130 planes instead fighter jets; sonic booms caused by new jets flying over the Patuxent River (suggested by OBX member A.F.) or even an alien invasion! 

The funniest explanation came from writer Beth Fusion: "It's possible that the planes were additional security detail because both houses of congress, POTUS and his entire cabinet (minus one) were in the same room at right around that time last night for the State of the Union [Address]. But now that I think about it, some might consider that to be its own form of  alien invasion."

And what would aliens find in Olney? As I pondered in my earlier post "If an Alien Landed at Olney Community Night", an alien would find gyms, spas, restaurants and banks!

And two nights ago I heard more loud rumbling... as did many others on the OBX. One person, olneykm, posted a logical explanation: NORAD's exercises over the Washington, D.C. area.

I love Mike Dankmeyer's theory: "Maverick and Goose doing a flyby" to which OBX member J.M. replied, "Ha ha, they have a need.  A need for speed."

The Old Man and the Snow

Now that enough snow has melted to reveal grass again, surreal shapes have popped up. Most of the smooth white mountains have shrunk into jagged gray piles of slush, some which resemble impressionistic sculptures. I spotted this example across the street:

To me, the snow pile on the left looks like the face of an old man or a cranky crescent moon. It seems to be talking to another the snow pile on the right, which could be a boxy cat or pig. I thought maybe I was reading too much into the shapes but even my skeptical adolescent daughter could see these shapes in the snow piles.

Can you see the eye, nose, open mouth and tongue of the face in profile on the left? With a larger stretch of the imagination, can you spot the dark eye and nose spots as well as the two peaks suggesting cat/mouse ears on the right?

As a result of the relatively mild temperatures, rain and sunshine, the gigantic snow piles have melted more quickly than anticipated  ... and this afternoon I had to say goodbye to the old man (or cranky crescent moon) when, sadly, the top of his head (or top of the moon) fell off.