Two head scratchers

1.  I was in a public bathroom last week.  Two stalls.  Two sinks.  Two dispensers full of soap.  A sign on the mirror to encourage you to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water as a means of preventing the spread of H1N1.  One pump bottle of “hand sanitizer” sat between the two sinks.  I thought to myself:  “Shouldn’t the thorough hand washing with the soap be enough?” 

2.  I went to a neighborhood pot luck last night and an opening topic of conversation was the Des Moines Marathon.  How could organizers not coordinate with the railroads so as to avoid the catastrophe of runners in the lead — heading toward a possible record time — being stopped in their tracks because a train was crossing the marathon route?  The Des Moines Register has the story.  Apparently there was some “miscommunication” as race organizers HAD notified the railroad, but a train was inadvertantly allowed in the zone. Governor Chet Culver should feel lucky it wasn’t his “Iowa Unlimited” doing the blocking.