Dan Antion

Snoopy’s Tubes – #1LinerWeds

Rose of Sharon enjoying some sunlight.

A couple weeks ago, Teagan R. Geneviene posted a Wednesday Writing challenge. I think Teagan was hoping for a creative endeavor from us, something based on the sign. Then again, I think Teagan appreciates the odd ways some people’s minds work, so I think my reaction to her challenge will be acceptable.

I have to admit, the connection between Teagan’s sign and my reaction is somewhat elusive. It’s one of those connections that just appeared out of nowhere. I can force a reason out of the in-case-you-need-to-explain-something portion of my mind, but I’m going to rely on Teagan’s good graces. For whatever reason, when I saw this sign, I thought of a Peanuts® comic strip from July 1984. I think this was one of the best Peanuts strips ever.

It still makes me laugh.

That strip was published shortly after our daughter was born. I had been out of the office. When I returned to work, I asked my best friend John if he had seen it. He hadn’t, so I described it. He isn’t a big fan of comics, but he agreed that it was pretty funny.

A few weeks later, we were in a staff meeting. Our boss was famous for injecting his thoughts and ideas into our projects, even when our projects were going along nicely. Our boss made a suggestion, something he thought John should do. John dismissed it. Our boss persisted, at which point John said:

“Following your suggestion would send this whole thing straight down Snoopy’s tubes!”

Everybody, except me, had a stunned look on their face, as they tried to process an expression they never heard before. Although, it was easy to infer the meaning from context.

Ever since that day, John and I have used, “Straight Down Snoopy’s Tubes” as an expression of abject failure, or, in cases like the above, imminent abject failure.

This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, I’d encourage you to join in on the fun. You can follow this link to participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.

Proper photo – Maddie and her shadow.
“Pssst, pose nice for Rivergirl”
Maddie’s park is empty at this hour (6:30 am).
Hi Jinx.
Jinx isn’t too happy to see the hawk on the lights across the field.
Not Jinx – This is a hawk (not sure what kind) scanning the park for a meal. Maddie and I tried to look too big to eat.
I have hundreds of pictures of this flag, but I like them all.
During our early morning walk, it was still a little foggy.
Foggy start to our morning walk.
This is a wild bunch of grass in our neighbor’s yard. As seen on the way home from our morning walk.
I guess we had enough rain for this mushroom to grow. I haven’t seen very many this summer.
One of Smokey’s cousins in a neighborhood tree.
Rose of Sharon enjoying some sunlight.
Yes, I grabbed that foot. How could I resist?
I think Maddie is reminding me that this is where I sit.

70 comments

    • This is what happens when I listen to the Editor. She often reminds me to “get down to the level of the subject.” Kneeling on the sidewalk and trying to keep Maddie from licking me or being in the picture is hard. It took about six attempts, but I like this one. I’m glad you do too.

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  4. I love the foggy photos, Dan, and the shadow shot–I always like to see elongated shadows like that. I am usually not too worried about hawks–what gets my attention is when there are vultures circling overhead.

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    • That’s the same place where we encountered the Turkey Vultures last year. I do my best to look alive ;-)

      I like the long shadows, but Maddie always wants to be in the picture. I’m tired of trying to keep her out and in a good position.

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      • I am amazed, Dan, that you can take photos when walking a dog. Maybe all of the dogs with which I have experience were not as well trained as Maddie, but I sure can’t imagine standing still enough holding a leash to get decent shots, assuming I could find subjects. Usually I am keeping my eyes on the dog, trying to keep them from eating something they find in the grass.

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        • Some of the pictures are from my iPhone. For a simple phone camera, it makes adjustments very quickly. The ones I take with my camera (Canon point & shoot) are usually taken when Maddie has decided to sniff some place to death. I do check to see there’s nothing she can eat. As for being well trained, um, well, that’s not the case. However, that means that sometimes, I have to pull her well off to the side, or into a parking lot to let people and/or other dogs pass. Pictures like the grass, where I was on the ground, trying to keep her from licking the water drops off the grass, are a struggle. I made six attempts at that one 😏

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    • That comment did go down Snoopy’s tubes. I remember writing it. I just edited the caption. It’s actually a mushroom. I remember writing the caption because I haven’t seen many of them this year. Thanks for pointing that out.

      Liked by 1 person

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  8. You’re getting pretty creative with your picture compositions, Dan. The one with the flag at full mast I actually yelled YES!! Our flags here finally are being raised to full mast after people started to complain. IMO, it is disrespectful to our nation to have a flag at half mast for months. Fyi …. a flag for the longest time is only to be at half mast for 30 days, and that is with the death of a president. I’ve been learning a lot about law and history of late. It brings to light a whole different perspective regarding today’s world.

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    • Initially, I was in agreement that the flag be lowered, but I think it turned into one of those, “now what do we do?” moments. As people kept dying in large numbers, where could you stop without implying “they counted, but these don’t” ? We stopped just before Memorial Day.

      It’s another example of people not thinking things through as they make decisions. That’s a whole ‘ other post that I have sitting in my drafts folder.

      I’m glad you like the pictures.

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      • When people are in fear their critical thinking goes out the window. This is the case in so many ways today. We MUST start to critically think because this nation is in huge trouble. We have to start to rebuild and get those who have been devastated by this period of history back on their feet again. Imagination and creative thinking should be employed if we are ever going to recover from this extraordinary time of our lives.

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  10. Happy hump day, Dan. Thanks for the shout-out! Hey, creative thinking is definitely still creativity. I’m always saying that “I’m not wired right,” because of the way my brain takes weird, convoluted paths that other people would never consider. So, I feel the connection to “Snoopy’s tubes.” The gallery is “fun-bulous” today (fun and fabulous) — fine pose from the bun-bun, ooo and a hawk! I hope Jinx keeps his head down. Maddie is looking gorgeous, and MiMi’s little jellybean toes! Yes, a marvelous gallery. Hugs on the wing.

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    • Thanks Teagan, and thanks for connecting the wires that led to this post. That cartoon remains a favorite. I gave an official print to my friend for his 60th birthday. I hadn’t thought about it in a while, but your prompt brought it back loud and clear. The crows have been chasing the hawks out of the neighborhood this summer. I’m not sure how this one got past them.

      I hope the rest of your week is a good one.

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  13. I love that Smokey brings his whole family to your place, Dan. Great atmosphere, good eats… :D ‘Down the tubes’…..amazing that so many of Snoopy’s jokes still ring true today. I would have cracked up at the stunned faces in that meeting. Lighten up, people!!

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    • It was pretty funny, Lois, but most of our coworkers were intimidated by the boss. I laughed just because of the way it sounded. We’re getting quite a crowd here for breakfast and dinner. I think we’re over 50% capacity.

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  16. Love that cartoon, but then I love about everything he wrote. I’ll think of this ever time I hear about something going down the tubes, even if Snoopy isn’t mentioned. My attention was arrested by the photo of the mushroom, something we’re unlikely to see here as they need a lot of moisture. :-) Last night we had another huge wind storm with thunder and lightning but only a few drops of rain. I feel cheated. Looking for someone to sue.

    janet

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  17. I miss the Peanuts strip…one of my favorites alongside Calvin and Hobbes. It’s such a classic and while I don’t specifically remember the Snoopy tube strip, I’ll always remember the smiles that came from the hands and mind of Charles Schulz.

    LOL on grabbing the MiMi foot. They shouldn’t stick their paws out if they want us to leave them alone. Happy Wednesday, Dan!

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  18. Seems like Snoopy was channeling Dilbert – or rather visa versa! I had a boss once who always had to improve a project – even one going along nicely and on time…. Glad to be over all that.

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  22. Love this … I used to keep Snoopy’s strips when I first went to South Africa … gave me a down to earth reminder of life! Thanks so much for sharing this story with us … Hilary

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