I’ve been reading an ongoing CNN blog where a guy named Tom Foreman (who is actually pretty funny for CNN) writes a letter to the president every day with his suggestions and I thought that writing a note to you each day might make the same sort of impact. I’ll try to share with you the funny things that go on with me, because ridiculous things seem to happen around me wherever I go, and I don’t have coworkers to share them with anymore. I see you everyday, so you’re sort of like my surrogate coworkers.

I just went for a jog and found that there are alot of people watering their lawns in the middle of the day – when it is explicitly verboten to do so, with not so much as a guilty look on their faces. Part of me was appalled at their brazen nature, and another part was jealous, because their lawns were much greener than mine. Anyway, It makes me wonder about people and rules. I know people who are rule followers by nature and those that look at rules as if they are optional or a gentle suggestion. I wonder what makes people go one way or the other because most folks I know are pretty consistently camped on one side of the fence or the other. I know a rule breaker or two who come from a line of steadfast by-the-book rule followers and folks who adamantly follow rules, just in case, even though no one ever told them they had to, so I certainly don’t think we’re hard wired to follow or make up our own rules.

Perhaps it’s our experiences that define us in this way and we probably need both sorts of people so that there is the appropriate level of order and chaos. Do you remember the episode of Charmed when they ended up in that awful world where it was sunny all the time and Phoebe got shot? I know it’s hard to sort them all out, as Phoebe does almost die in like every episode, but I don’t think I want to live somewhere like that, probably because I’d go through so much sunscreen – it doesn’t grown on trees!

Anyway, I guess I’m all right with the daytime watering, even though it is a little wasteful. I also think it’s nice that folks act differently when given similar situations, because otherwise what would I spend my time thinking about?

Tom at CNN always mentions in his letters that President Obama can call him if he has a free second to catch up, and as I like to be friendly, I’ll extend the same invitation to you. We’re going to see Angels and Demons tonight though, so maybe just not between 6 and 9pm.

andrea