Post  #2623.   Touchdown.     I usually cut the Christians a break. Some of my friends .. well, Facebook friends anyway, a few of whom I haven't seen in over fifty years. After all, they haven't been admitted to the PC club and even the Muslims who, face it, really don't have a leg to stand on in the over-the-top department, feel free to attack them. Still, after tonight's game, the player who caught the game-winnning pass had this to say,

I feel Blessed to have been in the right position to catch that ball.
And I'm so happy that I was able to make the play for God.

Yeah. And I have it on good authority that God was so stoked that He leapt to His feet with a sublime shout of approval, spilling His beer.Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day. RMacherat
posted by Rick at 2:55 AM

Post  #2622.   Or, when taint became a noun.     You can look it up on dictonary-dot-com or go to the Urban Dictionary. They each have their perspective. However, Wikipedia wins, again. A complete academic discussion, with illustrations, detailing anatomy, physiology and function.

It's amazing how I am continually distracted by a stray thought when I'm on the way over here to type something for the ages.Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day. RMacherat

posted by Rick at 3:06 AM

Post  #2621.   My fellow Eukaryotes.      Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day. RMacherat
posted by Rick at 2:30 PM

Post  #2620.   We think you might not have cancer after all. Sorry about that.      No, that isn't exactly how it went, but it might as well have. The rest did.

"Oo-ee Jake, come and looky at this 'un. Ever see a Melanoma like thet afore?"

"Nossir, I never did for sure."

Me: "Doctor, is that serious?"

"Serious? Serious!? Har-har ... son, yur dead! Oh, we'll still cut it off and do all the fine and expensive medical thangs, but there really is no hope. Now, you just go on home and wait for this here biopsy, y'hear?"

So, over the next TWO WEEKS I call them a couple of times. No word yet. I mention something about how the camel caravans must be getting stalled out of Ouagadougou because of the sandstorms and she says, "Uh-huh."

Finally, I get an e-mail, the understandable portion of which went:

Although atypical or dysplastic nevi and even some seborrheic keratoses and basal cell carcinomas as distinguished from melanoma via the technique of epiluminescence for Prognostic Factors as evidence of nodal metastases ..

which I took to be good news. I still have to have it cut off, of course.

Long short, when you tell your blog you have cancer, something which I never thought I would do - oh, I figured I would get cancer all right but would certainly not tell the blog not after all the things I've said about people who do that - and then you end up not having it after all you kind of feel obligated to do an Emily Litella, you know .. never mind.Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day. RMacherat

posted by Rick at 11:17 PM

Post  #2619.   You need a grabber beginning.     My new book came this morning, and I opened it to Page One just now. It didn't do anything for me. It seemed obvious that the author wadded up quite a few pieces of paper (or deleted a lot of lines) getting there. Oh, I know what it's all about, so it will deliver eventually. Got me to thinking though. You really do need a good start. Can’t beat It was the best of times, but that one is taken. So, I started with,

Slow going only few blocks from home, the a full stop-and-go routine. Nope, not gonna let it bother me this morning. There will be peace and contentment throughout this vehicle. "Hear that boys?" I said, checking the three of them in the mirror. I needn't have worried. They were great car kids. A few slow minutes pass, then we come up on the problem. Not fifteen feet away on the right they are pulling the disaster of a former car out from under the rear end of the semi. Holy shit, the whole top of the car is missing. Also missing are the tops of the people who were in the front seat.

James is catatonic, obviously scarred for life. Mikey is crying. Lance is asking questions very rapidly, each intended to make what was just seen not seen. The wife, oh jeeez but the wife is a mess. Me, I just want not to barf my brains out in front of them all. So started our summer vacation. I was suddenly glad about caving and letting them bring the dog.

That's as far as I've gotten. Next, we arrive at the park. With 100,000 other people. Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day. RMacherat

posted by Rick at 1:18 AM

Post  #2618.   Is this the end?     It hasn't rained in Seattle for about 45 days. They say that will be changing very soon, perhaps tomorrow, with the "onshore push," "the low dipping down," whatever contrivance Mother Nature has planned for us this time. Good thing, because people are starting to get a little strange around here. Make that stranger. Some have started saying things, things just short of, "What if it never rains again.." See, they all love their Seattle weather, however much they complain about it. Without the relentless rain, we would just lay about in the sunny warmth and abuse all sorts of things we weren't meant to. The rain was responsible for grunge, all the music actually, Boeing, Nordstrom, Amazon, Microsoft. People would never have the ill will and grumpiness to get up at 3:30am to get to work in time to do London and Tokyo were it not for the perpetual gray and gloom.

I stuck my head out the door a few minutes ago. A typical Sunday evening, like no one even lives around here but me. Dark as pure evil, first chill of the season, a nasty little breeze cutting corners. Spooky, headless horseman night. I love it. Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day. RMacherat

posted by Rick at 12:28 AM

Post  #2617.   A pause for amazement.     I do stop once in awhile, count blessings, and consider. Just finished the grocery order for Tuesday morning. With a few tiny movements of my hand, I selected all of this week's items and then proceeded to the payment page. Oh how nice - they already have my information entered so I don't even have to reach for my card. Just compare that with what it took my great-grandparents to do to fill a pantry. They were the last generation to farm. My mom was the last generation to push a cart. Me, I click, eat and surf weight-loss infomercials.

A young man of my father's generation might have a wonder, then hop on his bike and go down to the modest library to look it up. Time: ~an hour. Distance: ~a mile each way. Probability of finding a concise answer: low.

Me .. I groan if I have to get up and walk CLEAR across the room to do Google. If I can just get this network set up and use my smartphone, I won't ever have to get up. I can just search from over here to find weight-loss websites. What I need now is an app for that.Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day. RMacherat

posted by Rick at 2:11 PM

Post  #2616.   More stories from the front.     Now, I certainly don't want to be unkind, but from what I'm told, this is pretty much what you settle for ..



.. if you can't land yourself a boy.Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day. RMacherat

posted by Rick at 1:46 AM

Post  #2615.   A sick story (it's very late)   I told you I might come back and delete this one, and now I have. Since the googlebot saw it, however, I fear it may linger in their basement for eternity.  Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day.

posted by Rick at 1:55 AM

Post  #2614.   41...      Imagine this: people who haven't been out of doors for fifty or sixty years without being clad head to toe in GORE-TEX® have suddenly taken to running around with scarcely nothing on! Grossest thing you've ever seen. Yes, it has failed to rain in Seattle for 41 days. Not a driz. I am not kidding - who would kid about such a thing? You practically need two pair of dark glasses, one for the great scary shiny thing and a second for the skin, all that blotchy rolling pasty blazing skin. I expect when this is ends, and it Will End, surely, that some new laws will be enacted without delay.Rick Macherat Rick M. In the day.

posted by Rick at 11:51 PM