This week, another installment in the never-ending compilation of things that bug me.

Weyco

Weyco is a health-benefits administrator based in Okemos, Mich.

This company bugs me because they have this policy against smoking.

Now, please, don't misunderstand. I'm not some big tobacco advocate or anything.

I used to smoke. I quit. I think we all can agree that it's bad for you.

But this is, after all, America, isn't it?

By that I mean that you should be allowed to partake in any legal activity you like without fear of reprisal.

That's - sort of - one way to define freedom.

Anyway, this Weyco outfit has an anti-smoking policy, which, by itself isn't really news.

The Times-Union has an anti-smoking policy. You can't smoke in the building. You have to go outside.

That's not unlike lots of other businesses, restaurants, retail outlets, government buildings, etc.

What's wacky about Weyco's policy is that you can't smoke at all - anywhere. Not even in your own home.

They give you breath tests and take random urine samples to make sure you're not cheating.

When they instituted the policy, they gave existing employees 15 months to comply. New hires are told of the smoking policy up front.

A few people have been fired for not quitting.

And starting next year, the CEO says he's going after spouses of employees because of second-hand smoke.

That's right. Weyco employee spouses will have to quit or the employee will be charged $1,000 per year.

The idea behind the policy is that smokers are less healthy, generally, and are a drain on the company health plan.

Seems reasonable, eh?

But what about somebody like me? Say I worked for Weyco.

Well, I play music in smokey bars a few nights a month.

I go snowboarding. I ride a motorcycle. I'm about 20 pounds overweight and I consume alcohol from time to time.

I expose myself to all manner of danger and vile stuff.

So would Weyco charge me a premium for continued employment at their fine company?

No. They not going after drinkers, fatties or people who engage in dangerous hobbies.

(I hope I'm not giving them any ideas.)

I get the fact that it's politically correct to discriminate against smokers.

I just think it's wrong.

Time

I will be so glad when, once and for all, the time nonsense is settled.

Honestly, I never dreamed it would be such a bizarre, twisted mess.

And you know what? I think there is a bit of dishonesty going on when it comes to the time debate.

Like the commissioner from St. Joseph County who is so adamant that his county go on Central time.

He cites all manner of evidence like commerce and travel patterns and blah, blah, blah.

You know what I think?

I think it all boils down to personal preference. I think the guy just likes to go to bed early and doesn't want it to be light past 9:30 p.m. in the summer.

Take me, for example. I support Eastern time. Why? Because of the energy savings or continuity of services or blah, blah, blah.

Well, kind of.

But mainly, I support Eastern daylight time because I can play golf past 9:30 p.m.

I think people who want Central time go to bed early. They are the same people who opposed daylight-saving time.

I think people who want Eastern time stay up late. They are the same people who wanted daylight-saving time.

And there are some people who simply didn't want to change their clocks twice a year no matter what time it was.

Those three types of people pretty much sum up the time issue.

So, if you want to debate the time issue, don't tell me about commerce, kids waiting for buses, travel patterns or farm animal behavior.

Just tell me what time you go to bed. Then I'll know where you stand.

Torture Ban

I read this paragraph earlier this week.

"House Republicans today agreed to accept Senator John McCain's measure barring mistreatment of enemy combatants in U.S. custody, rejecting White House efforts to have the legislation exempt the Central Intelligence Agency," according to two congressional officials.

It was under the headline, "House Accepts McCain Torture Ban".

At the same time, Secretary of State Condi Rice was stumping all over Europe telling everybody we Americans don't torture people.

OK, so if we don't torture people, I have two questions:

Why does Congress have to pass a torture ban? And why would the White House want the CIA exempted from the ban?

Snow

It's official. I'm old. I have decided I don't like snow. Oh, yeah, I'll go snowboarding once a year or play a little pond hockey. But it's not like before.

When I was younger, I couldn't wait for snow. I loved winter.

When the kids were little, I loved to tow them around with a rope and one of those plastic saucers behind an old snowmobile we had. We'd play in the snow and on the frozen lake for hours.

I gave the snowmobile to a co-worker a while back.

I used to go ice fishing quite a bit. Each year I seem to make fewer and trips out on the ice.

Yes, these days, I have a marked preference for warm weather.

I think the realization hit home at precisely 11:39 p.m. Thursday.

That's when I walked in the kitchen after jockeying cars around and clearing 10 inches of snow out of the driveway.

I know it was 11:39 p.m. because that's what the clock on the microwave showed.

I watched the radar and waited to shovel until it was almost done snowing so I wouldn't have to do the job twice.

It was then, standing there sweating in a parka covered in a not-so-thin layer of snow that I knew I could live without winter.

I long for green grass and sunshine already and it's only Dec. 10.

It's going to be a long winter. [[In-content Ad]]