Author: Buffet o' Blog

Laughing is good for you. So this blog is a buffet of randomness and humor. Most of the content here is original and thus exclusive to this site. I encourage everyone to participate in the comments section -- it makes it more fun for everyone.

a better way to fix Daylight Saving Time

It’s no secret that a lot of people have problems with Daylight Saving Time. Most of us don’t mind gaining an extra hour of sleep in the fall, but losing an hour of sleep is problematic. It costs the workforce millions of dollars by people being late and/or tired. There’s also the issue of it getting dark early. I don’t like night time to start at 5:00 PM.

Our representatives in Congress apparently don’t know what to do about it. There’s talk every year of getting rid of it, which is an option. Or, as I have proposed several times here, in the spring we could take the hour away from the workday at 8:00 AM on a Monday. The majority of people would approve of this. (Perhaps we should write our representatives about this idea. Tell your friends to see what they think.)

My favorite idea is switching to the Hobbit calendar (by J.R.R. Tolkien). Changing our system to that one just isn’t practical, though, given all the systems and programs that would have to be changed. But it’s fun to think about.

There is, however, another possible solution that I haven’t heard discussed. What if instead of going forward an hour in the spring, we go back 23 hours? Who wouldn’t like that? (I’m sure there’s someone, but whatever.) Most of us could use an extra 23 hours to rest, relax, and/or get things done. It would be like an extra Saturday, a bonus day off work.

The problem with this radical idea is that it disrupts our calendar. (Side note: did you realize the calendar is already broken? Why do we have a leap year where we add a day?) So to keep the calendar working properly, every four years, instead of adding a day, we take away 3 days. And those 3 days should be Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, which according to recent polls are the least popular days. This could also happen in February, since it’s probably the least liked month [citation needed].

What do you think? Too crazy, or awesome? Is there a better idea?

a story about that which needs no story

I’ve been thinking about resuming the “Funny Pictures” series. Does this warrant an explanation? Who knows? If you care, read on; if not, just enjoy the pictures. Whatever makes you happy. I’ll mix some pics in with the text, since it would be weird to talk about funny pictures without sharing some.

Sharing pictures from other sites seems like an awkward fit here, since I try to post original content. Anybody can copy pictures and share them. Yet there is still a collection of funny pictures I’ve saved over the years. Perhaps the people who enjoy my original posts will also enjoy the funny pictures, since they were curated by me and thus follow the same brand of humor. (This is assuming that somebody actually likes my original posts… I enjoy writing them, so doesn’t that mean there ought to be some people out there who would also enjoy them? I can dream…)

Alf was a TV show character in the ’80s. I wonder if the woman has any clue. Either way, more funny stuff ought to be hidden at political events, which tend to be devoid of humor.

BTW, this isn’t to take the place of original content. I’ll still post the same number of original articles (however infrequent that has become), and there are already many in various stages of readiness.

Maybe real butter should be called “truth”, in this context.

To see our archive of funny pictures, here’s the link to the series: “Funny Pictures“.

World Smile Day

The first Friday in October is World Smile Day. It’s good that they chose a Friday, because studies show that people are usually happier on Fridays than other weekdays.

The purpose of the day is not only to be smiling some, but showing kindness to others to make them smile. So spread smiles! Bonus points if you can make people around you laugh.

Did you know that smiling and laughing actually help you feel better? Fake smiles don’t work so well at this — scientists have researched that specifically, with mixed results. But genuine smiling and laughing release endorphins that boost your mood. And it helps the people around you. Just being around someone who is happy can help you be more happy.

Would you like to smile and laugh more? Who wouldn’t? So what are you going to do about it? That’s right, what are YOU going to do about it?

I discussed the other day about how many people just let life happen to them. They get stuck in a rut of routine, doing the same things every day, until it becomes boring and mundane. But if you want your life to be fun and awesome, you have to make it happen. No one else will, nor can they. So it’s up to you. So, make it so.

how to increase your long-term happiness

I recently talked about short-term solutions to be more happy and enjoy life more, and those are helpful, but there are also long-term solutions that have a more lasting effect. I realize this is a more serious topic than I normally cover on this blog — I have another blog for seriousness — but it goes with a recent post, and I do like to write here about making your life more awesome, so it somewhat fits.

People smiling while eating pizza together
Stock photo. I don’t know these people. But I do know that eating pizza with friends is a great time. How long has it been since you’ve done that?

I’ve been studying happiness for an upcoming blog series, and one thing I’ve discovered is that having purpose is a key component of being consistently happy. That, and relationships, and your mindset.

Relationships may seem obvious, because having family and friends who love you and care about you just makes life better. The right mindset is a deep topic — too deep for this post — but just consider that your expectations matter a lot, along with the stories you tell yourself to explain and summarize everything. (And along those lines, DON’T COMPLAIN! Someone who always complains can even take the fun out of a snack of cookies and milk. Don’t be that person.) So without going too deep into all that, let’s talk for a minute about finding your purpose.

We all have a purpose in this life, which God has given us. Every one of us is unique, so we all bring something special to the table. We are all potentially awesome, in a unique way. (Of course, not everyone has discovered their awesomeness — some live the opposite, and some try to be generic so they blend in — but we all have that potential, which we have to find and develop.)

What is our purpose? To sum it up, it’s to love God and love people. How we do that depends on our uniqueness and what makes you you. You are able to connect with the people around you in a way that is different from anyone else. We each have a role to play. The Bible explains it with the illustration of one body with many parts that are all important and all work together.

Helping people is a lot more than just the big, obvious things. You can encourage someone while having lunch with them and having funny and/or epic conversations. Going for a walk together, talking and listening, is important and can make a difference. Even just a text can encourage someone (although in-person is better when possible). One of the main things needed these days is to just be present (i.e., don’t look at your phone) — simply pay attention to the people around you. Think about the topics that interest you and find people who also share that interest, and spend time with people. You can even help people while playing video games together. (I realize that’s controversial to some, and context matters, of course, but it does happen. I participate in this myself, so I know.)

So don’t think you have to be in an official church ministry capacity to help the people around you. Everyone needs hope and encouragement and someone to listen to them. And we can all do that. And there are unlimited ways we can accomplish this.

A great benefit of finding your purpose in helping others is that it increases your own happiness. So it’s a win-win situation.