The Boxer.

With all the electronic stuff that kids get today, I wonder if they've gotten a proper appreciation of how great a plaything a huge box can be? Submarines, airplanes, and castles are all within the reach of any 8 year-old who's parents got a new kitchen appliance. I saw the big box at left as I was walking to the courthouse. I thought about climbing in... Nah, not in a suit. So I took a picture and spent a few minutes daydreaming about days of yore.

Common Sense.

At left is an ad I saw in the November, 2012 issue of N.R.A.s magazine, "The Rifleman", that was left in the lobby of the Public Defender's office. The copy provides: "THE FIRST 30 SECONDS OF CONTACT ARE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME. IF YOU'RE RELOADING, YOU'RE NOT IN THE FIGHT. SUREFIRE'S NEW 60- AND 100- ROUND HIGH CAPACITY MAGAZINES DELIVER MORE ROUNDS DOWNRANGE WITH FEWER RELOAD. TWICE THE VIOLENCE OF ACTION. HALF THE REQUIRED RELOADS."

Now consider this ad in the context of the following is a Wikipedia article summarizing the 2011_Tucson_Shooting in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot: "The shooting took place on January 8, 2011, at 10:10 am MST (17:10 UTC).[1][14] A United States Representative from Arizona, Gabrielle Giffords, was holding a constituent meeting called "Congress on Your Corner"[10][15] at the Safeway supermarket in La Toscana Village mall, which is in Casas Adobes, an unincorporated area north of Tucson, Arizona.[16] Giffords had set up a table outside the store and about 20 to 30 people were gathered around her when Jared Lee Loughner drew a pistol and shot Giffords in the head.[17][18] The shooting was caught on video by a store security camera.[14][19] Loughner allegedly proceeded to fire apparently randomly at other members of the crowd.[2][20] He reportedly used a 9mm Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol with a 33-round magazine.[21][22] A nearby store employee said he heard "15 to 20 gunshots".[23] Loughner stopped to reload, but dropped the loaded magazine from his pocket to the sidewalk, from where bystander Patricia Maisch grabbed it.[24] Another bystander clubbed the back of the assailant's head with a folding chair, injuring his elbow in the process, representing the 14th injury.[25] The gunman was tackled to the ground by 74-year-old retired US Army Colonel Bill Badger,[26] who had been shot himself, and was further subdued by Maisch and bystanders Roger Sulzgeber and Joseph Zamudio. Zamudio was a CCW holder and had a weapon on his person, but arrived after the shooting had stopped and did not use the firearm to engage or threaten the gunman.[27]" In this instance, the "good guy with a gun" subdued the "the bad guy with the gun", without using the weapon he carried. All he, Patricia Maisch, and Col. Badger needed was a folding chair, and the few portions of a second afforded when Laughner stopped shooting to change his ammo clip. Should we be grateful that Jared Laughner had only a 33-round clip, instead of the 100-round clip that Surefire provides?

Ode to the Demise of a Holiday Season.

The Holiday Season again has passed; gone for another year. Pumpkins, turkeys, and Christmas Cheer were never meant to last,

but celebrations are always near, and others'll take their place... So put away your Halloweeny face,

...and get out your King Day gear!

Merry Christmas!

Lots of great Christmas music out there. We've generally got Pandora set to The Christmas Wrapping (Waitresses) Station or to Christmas Jazz, but lately I've been enjoying the Roches. Thanks, AndyMan, for introducing them to me. Merry Christmas, to all.

Walkin' the Floor Over Goo.

As I continue to clamor for floor relief, I keep my eyes peeled for any labor-saving household help, mechanized and otherwise. Over next to the Snuggies in a local market, I caught a glimpse of the "Slipper Genie" pictured at left. Who needs a vacuum cleaner when you can put on these special socks and walk away the dirt? 'Course, if that's plan "A", that's probably gonna be a pretty dirty floor, no? Hope they're disposable.

A Christmas Present that Really Sucks!

I've been fairly good this year. Lady Di has been very good. Is it asking Santa too much for a present that sucks? Maybe Santa needs more information. After all, he can't make his decisions in a vacuum. Alright, Kringle, here are the facts: our current cleaner is old. Real old. It's from Hoover. No, not the company; the president. It's coal powered. Like I said, it's not a new vacuum cleaner. It doesn't work so well anymore. I use it an appallingly slight percentage of the time that it is employed, but in those rare instances where I'm the operator of the sucker, it feels like I'm pushing around a stick.

Curling sweepers pick up more dirt. Quidditch brooms pick up more dirt. Not effective. Anyway, Santa, if you're not too busy...

An Ode to Sugar Breath.

I was talking to Lady Di last night about a cool app on our semi-new i-Phones: a free sample of Discover Magazine in the i-NewsStand. The issue is "Vital Signs" and it included a little vignette where symptoms are given, and you follow along as they figure out what's wrong. The one I read had to do with subtle changes in the smell of one dude's breath. Lady Di, ever the health educator, offered that it was probably ketoacidosis. One of the things that can cause ketoacidosis is diabetes. You can read up on it in Wikipedia (you can try the link, but ever since Blogspot changed the format, it's kinda hit or miss...  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketoacidosis Anyway, the name of the ailment sounded familiar to me... Ah, Mary Poppins! Remember her and Bert dancing on roof tops? At one point or another they sang Supercalifragisticexpialodicious, which sound like the perfect place to plant ketoacidosis. Anyway, first, my take, then, for the purists, you can listen to Mary and Bert.

An Ode to Sugar Breath (sung to the tune of Supercalifragilisticexpialodicious)

It’s too bad we have to smell that ketoacidosis,
Even though a whiff of it is worse than halitosis,
If we complain too loud, they’ll say we have neurosis...
Super stinky sugar breath, it’s ketoacidosis.

Because I was afraid to speak,
When the big guy reeked too bad,
The odor gave me nose a tweak,
Enough to drive me mad.
But then again it can’t be helped,
The situation’s sad,
The super stinky sugar breath, It’s ketoacidosis.