Things that are blatantly ridiculous

You may not be able to tell from this photo, but behind this utterly unambiguous handwritten sign is a darkened video store.

In fact, only because this sign declared its message so stridently, in a way so intended to countermand your first assumptions, did I even walk down the hallway toward what was obviously a closed business.

I figured, "Maybe Video Ezy had a power outage, and are so committed to providing the latest video entertainment to their customers that they are staying open through it."

But no, Video Ezy in Flemington was just closed.

This despite the interwebs telling me a half-hour earlier they were open until 10 p.m. on Tuesday night ($2 new release night) and despite a scrawled sign working overtime to reinforce those trading hours. But at 9:08 p.m. last night, eight minutes after their actual closing time, I was out of luck.

Why have a handwritten sign taped to your window that will invariably be incorrect half the time?

So yes, I am calling this sign blatantly ridiculous.

The only reason this really bums me out is that it makes two weeks in a row that I missed $2 new release night. Why is this different than the 15 or so previous $2 new release nights I also missed? Because for three consecutive Tuesdays (still have one left) we are borrowing the car from my father-in-law while he and his girlfriend are in Europe. Having the car makes it far easier, and actually logistically possible, to not only get to Video Ezy on a Tuesday, but also return the movie on a Wednesday. Without that car, I'm walking or riding my bike through the dark, cold and possibly wet, for 20 minutes on foot or 10 minutes by bike -- after my kids go to bed at 7:30, at which point I actually want to be eating dinner.

Keeping up with a strict movie-viewing schedule can be difficult sometimes.

Well, I'm determined to make it work next Tuesday -- and will be sure to get there at least eight minutes earlier this time.