Thursday, February 19, 2009

More, on Rules That Just Don't Apply to Me!

My brain takes these little side trips often. This whole rule thing started yesterday when my wife said that we had to check into our room in Fort Bragg by 4 pm.

My wife and I are taking a much needed getaway to Fort Bragg. I had decided that we would pack our bags the night before, and maybe eat breakfast on the road somewhere, or whatever we felt like. Janis likes to do photography, and she has very little time for it. So, when we can get away, I like to let her take her time. She has to meet deadlines all the time, and it is just nice to just get away. I enjoy watching her get lost in looking for the right angle, the right light, and just being lost in the fact that she can take as much time as she likes, and the time is finally hers to enjoy, without any deadlines.

Our room is paid for, and the motel sent us a letter of confirmation that the room was paid for and it would be waiting for us. Then the thousand pound weight was put on my shoulders. “You must check-in before 4:00 PM.”

Here we are, taking a couple of days to get away from deadlines and worry, so what does the motel do to help take away our worries? They give us a dumb-assed deadline rule, which most people don’t even think about, but with me if you tell me I have to do something, I have to worry about it. First I worry about the consequences. “Is it a life or death rule?” If the answer is “No” I move to the next question; “Is it a rule that I should follow?“ If the answer is “No”, I move to; “Why would there be such a rule anyway?” Then I move into; “This rule really shouldn’t apply to me!”

I’ve discovered that most of the rules in the world, really shouldn’t apply to me. So, why do people spend so much time making up rules. When I was a little kid they told me that I “had to go to church, or I would go to hell.” I always thought that my way around that rule would be, to be a really nice person, and maybe I wouldn’t have to go to Hell. So that rule didn’t apply to me.

Then I went to school and everybody told me that I would get along great in school, as long as I followed the rules. Some of the rules were like in spelling; “It is always ‘I’ before ‘E’ unless… then there are so many corollaries that not even an English Professor can keep track of them all. And, when it really comes down to the bottom line, it’s really not a very good rule. And, It really shouldn’t apply to me.

When I was in high school my goal was to join the Air-Force and learn to fly at the Governments expense. A teacher at school pointed out that I wasn’t following one of the school rules, which I pointed out to the teacher, that it was a really dumb rule, and it really didn’t apply to me. While sitting in the school councilors office he told me that when I joined the Air-Force that I would have to follow rules even dumber than that! Well… that ended my military career. I don’t like following rules that just plain don’t apply to me.

Now, I find myself driving down the road and wondering when it’s time to turn my windshield wipers and headlights on. There’s a rule that if you can’t see a thousand feet you have to have your headlights on. I spend a lot of time deciding whether or not I can see a thousand feet. They say the rule is so people can see me coming when I have my headlights on. The way I figure it, it really doesn’t make any difference how far I can see, if somebody is trying to see me coming they should decide how far they can see me, so that rule is ridiculous, and it really shouldn't apply to me.

As you can see, most of my life is being taken up with somebody else’s ridiculous rules. They should just have one rule for me, and that should be: “If it’s Ernie, he will decide what he should do, and the rest of the world should just deal with it”. It would be much simpler for the rest of the world to deal with me than it is for me to deal with the whole rest of the world.

Anyway, we are going to take a much needed vacation. My wife will be taking pictures, and I will be watching my watch to see if it’s 4:00PM yet.

I asked my wife why we had to be there before 4:00PM. Why couldn't the Motel just say; "Your room is ready and waiting, and the key is in the office when you get there." They wouldn't even have to say; "If you're too dumb to not show up for a room that's already paid for, that's just tough! We won't even have to change the sheets for the next customer". Nope they have to say; "You must check in by 4:00PM!" Anyway, my wife's answer was; "That rule probably doesn't apply to us."

Well, DUH....

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

thats BS about the check in time,never heard of that before?wonder what their reasoning is???guess you'll find out! have a good vacation.

Carol said...

You sound like Andy Rooney!
:)

I hope you and Janice have a well-deserved restful time in Fort Bragg. I hope you two are staying in the Jacuzzi room on the ocean.

Indie said...

Have a great getaway, Ernie and Janis. May the rest of your trip be rule free!

\ said...

Ernie you listen to the beat of a different drum...er.//, But Suzy says if u dont wanna do something by the rules dont be halfassed abuot it --breke the rule completely, that is to say ...thereauly. LOL... like if you have a band and want to misspell the name... why knot? it probly wont hert you any.

were all connected but were sure not all the same LOL! ... if it doesnt apply to u it doenst apply to u.

checking out,
s

\ said...

eeeeeeeeeep! I shuold have edited that post more Thoreauly...

:( evan Suzy misses a beat now and again and now and ...

Anonymous said...

RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN THAT'S
WHAT THEY'RE FOR

Anonymous said...

Carol...that was spot on about our own Andy Rooney!
Hope it was restful.

spyrock said...

usually its the other way around. you can't check in before 4pm because people don't have to check out until noon and they need time to clean the room. i ususally like to check in as early as possible and then do what i'm gonna do. plus, i hit the ice machine and fill up my ice chest for the rest of the afternoon at the beach. it sounds like you've got an arab or hindu or maybe a mom and pop and there is only one person working the desk from 7am to 4pm. so if you don't get there to get the key before 4pm then you are sol. i usually stay with best western because you can earn points to get a free room and they usually have a continental breakfast. i started this trend after meeting someone from match love on the internet and she told me about her favorite motel in santa cruz. i never saw her again but the hotel she recommended was great. so look for the silver lining. after all, somehow the thread took you there.

Anonymous said...

Our favorite Fort Bragg Motel burned down just over a year ago. It was the Hi Seas, at the north end of the strip north of town. Cheap and right on the ocean and the haul road for walks. Now we stay a couple of units down and like it fine though it is much more expensive. That means we go far less often. I'm sure you have favorite restaurants, ours is Veraporn's Thai Cafe behind a big motel about two miles south of Ft. Bragg. Have fun!

Ernie Branscomb said...

Hello fellow bloggers. I am sending this from my cell phone. Spy was right, check in time was AFTER four PM. I should have known! I've always said, if you make a mistake, own up to it. So, it's all my wife's fault!

Our room overlooking the Noyo harbor entance is great, the hottub is great, the bed is great, the fog horn on our front porch is not...

Janis say's I'm beeping... gotta' go.

Anonymous said...

Stop that beeping and get back here right now, Big Boy!

Anonymous said...

can you see kurt&goldie down there,somewhere??

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:27-- you blew their cover! Ernie and the wife are filming "Overboard II", the twenty years later sequel where Kurt (played by Ernie) and Goldi (played by wife) cruise back into Noyo Harbor.
Wait til the Fort Bragg papparazzi get word!

Ernie Branscomb said...

Ha, ha.

Funny that you should ask about the movie. We ate at the The Wharf Restaurant when they were filming that movie. That was one fancy yatch.

Goldie was beautiful. Now, she has big boobs and fat lips, What is it with women that when they get old, they loose their wrinkles, get big boobs and fat lips. I wonder if they know ihow silly they look? The old ladies that look even stranger are the ones that outline their lips. What ever happened to growing old gracefully? there is nothing more beautiful than confident older lady.

Anonymous said...

guess i did alright,i'm the one that mentioned kurt&goldie.i love that movie!!!

Anonymous said...

Very psychic of you Ross!

Anonymous said...

speaking of movies!!!GUN GLORY was just "B" rated movie,but it was filmed in ernies and mines back yard!circa 1956!!!

Anonymous said...

Tooby Ranch was the location?
Ok, the net told me that. What did you see Ross and Ernie? Did they hire locals? Visit any local ice cream parlors? Chill Wills in G'ville, Stewart Granger? Rhonda Fleming! Tell us more?

Anonymous said...

i was pretty young at the time! my dad saw rhonda,my mom saw stewart!!!!!LOL. and back then,it was called tooby bros. ranch!!

Anonymous said...

rhonda o rhonda!

Robin Shelley said...

Get outta there, Ernie... "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!"

Anonymous said...

WOW,i completely forgot about that movie.i saw it in willits when it first came out.good one ROBIN!!!!

Greg said...

The Majestic filmed in Ft. Bragg. Carol and I were extras. They drove us all down in a bus, put us up in a flea-bag and fed us doughnuts. If you ever rent the movie, fast-forward to the last scene in the train station and look for us. (We have checked that experience off our list, thanks).