"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
Our other children
Woke up two days ago somehow aware of my nasal cavity. My goodness, the inside of my head is full of strangely-shaped passages and sinuses, I thought. That awareness was a sign; sure enough, as the day progressed, the recesses and folds inside my head became hot, then itchy, then sore. Not a week ago […]
Damn, it’s hot. I feel the need to be outdoors, doing outside things and working the old body … but damn, it’s hot. And I hear it’s hot everywhere, so I can’t claim any special exemption for living in Arizona. Still, I fished a tarantula out of the pool yesterday, and that’s an Arizona thing. […]
I am “kind and broad-minded.” So says the fortune cookie that came with last night’s Thai takeout. The provenance is shaky at best (Thai food & fortune cookies?), and it’s not really a fortune, but I’ll take the compliment and answer, “Thank you, I try to be.” I’m expecting a call from the Ducati dealer […]
What does that title even mean? Is the cat named Wednesday? Sure, why not? Let’s go with that. My son can’t believe I haven’t said anything about the F-22’s oxygen problems, or about the two whistleblower Raptor pilots who appeared on 60 Minutes last weekend. My first excuse comes easy: I know very little about […]
So how’s the weather? Actually bad, for a welcome change. When Tucsonans complain about the weather, we’re usually griping about scattered to broken clouds, and, once in a great while, rain — weather that would be innocuous anywhere else, so don’t pay us no never-mind. When it snows, we act like the Apocalypse is at […]
Recently I cross-posted a few blog entries to Daily Kos, where they are read by many more people than when they first appear at Paul’s Thing. Lately, though, things have been hopping here, as more people find their way to this little blog. For example: a long email from an aviation enthusiast who follows my […]
I took a blogging break over the weekend. A friend came to visit and we put him up on the Murphy bed in the home office, limiting our access to the computers. Yeah, I could have done something with the iPad, but who has the patience to peck out an entire blog post with one […]
This morning we took our dogs to the veterinary clinic at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.* Schatzi goes in every January for a checkup and shots as required. We took Maxie too, so that both our girls will be on the same schedule from here on out. Of course we’ve cared for Schatzi since she was […]