Random thoughts, life lessons, hopes and dreams
In other words, the Cherished Blogfest deadline has been extended. I promised that I would take the day off, and I will, but I have to fix a mistake. As you know, the Cherished Blogfest happened this weekend. One of my jobs was to send an email to the people who participated last year. I... Continue Reading →
During a recent trip to Pittsburgh, we stopped to visit my mother’s grave. We were driving out of the cemetery when I spied this. I had to back up and snag a picture. I thought I’d have to hang onto it for a long time before finding a use, but Cee changed my plans. Her... Continue Reading →
Huh? Dan doesn’t do awards. Well, truth be told, Dan almost always does plans to thinks about doing wishes he had done – Oh, who am I kidding, Dan doesn’t do awards. So, why on earth is the first and likely only award I’m ever going to deal with, is one where I was nominated... Continue Reading →
If we were having a beer, I’d be trying to keep a secret from you. “I don’t think there’s a barman on duty today.” “Cheryl’s on duty. She’s probably in the back. Barman, what’s that all about?” “Sorry, I’m trying to use words with ‘man’ in them.” “Why?” “Actually, it’s your fault.” “How’s that?” “Your... Continue Reading →
I have written about salespeople lying to me, too many times to link to. Still, it’s not only continuing, it’s getting worse. I expect lies about products and features: “This copier will meet all your copying and scanning needs forever.” “This is the lowest price you’ll ever see on this product.” “This car has the... Continue Reading →
You’ll have to visit Dan’s (the other Dan) page to understand this:
Taking him with you is to pull the devil by the tail. The last time I took him along, he was so scammered, he queered the pitch. Up on the slang-tree when sober, he’s good-as-good. But, after a few pops from the flicker, he’s prone to lash and you might end up in the company of a cossack threatening to smash him in the head-rails and tie him up with the devil’s guts, at which point, he’ll be as close to you as a clinger on the lily-slang-tree.
Fun, albeit unintentional writing prompt.
clinger : a female dancing very close to her partner (1890)
cossack : a policeman (1850s)
pull the devil by the tail : to take a risk of ruin (ca. 1750)
the devil’s guts : a surveyor’s chain (1670s – 1700s)
flicker : a drinking glass (1700s)
good as good : extremely good ( 1850 )
head-rails : the teeth (nautical ; 1785)
lash : violence ( Australian ; 1916 )
queer the pitch : to spoil a deal (1901) 
scammered : tipsy ( 1840 )
slang-tree : a stage (1850-1950)
Lilly-slang-tree : ( I made this one up ; no meaning ; 2013 )
“You looked like the kind of guy that wouldn’t mind…” Last week, I was attending a meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland. I took an AMTRAK Northeast Regional train to Washington Union Station and then took a Metro Red Line train to Silver Spring. This could not have been easier. Thursday morning, I walked from my... Continue Reading →
Power is a strange little commodity. Some people have the power to affect large enterprises and hundreds of thousands of people, yet they channel that power through myriad levels of delegates. At the other end of the spectrum are those who have very little actual power, but who wield it like a maniacal dictator. In... Continue Reading →
"We have now entered the phase of chug it or chuck it" The flight attendants on Southwest always try to make their instructions and announcements a little more fun than the larger stuffy airlines. This was our flight attendant’s way of telling us that she and her crew were coming through the cabin to collect... Continue Reading →
