"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
What’s going on in my life
Phase 2 has begun. Wednesday afternoon’s knee surgery was successful and, after three nights in a hospital room, I was allowed to go home Saturday afternoon. Outpatient PT starts tomorrow. The dogs were glad to see me home again, especially Schatzi, who has always taken a motherly interest in my welfare. She does not approve […]
I feel the need to blog but my bag is empty. I notice that doesn’t stop other bloggers, though, so what the hell. Including what’s left of today, five days remain before my first knee replacement operation. I want to get out on the motorcycle today. No plan: maybe a Barnes & Noble run, then […]
THROTTLES—IDLE RUDDER AND AILERONS—NEUTRAL STICK—ABRUPTLY FULL AFT AND HOLD RUDDER—ABRUPTLY APPLY FULL RUDDER OPPOSITE SPIN DIRECTION (OPPOSITE TURN NEEDLE) AND HOLD STICK—ABRUPTLY FULL FORWARD ONE TURN AFTER APPLYING RUDDER CONTROLS—NEUTRAL AFTER SPINNING STOPS AND RECOVER FROM DIVE That, if you don’t recognize it, is the boldface spin recovery procedure for the T-37. Student pilots could […]
In less than two weeks I’ll undergo total knee arthroplasty on my left knee, aka “total knee replacement.” Yesterday I went in for pre-op counseling and testing and finally know what I’ve let myself in for. What you see on the left are the parts that make up a new knee. In my innocence, I imagined […]
That’s a speed enforcement camera. The reason you can’t see it is because someone put a bag over it. This rebellion against the police state happened in England; click on the photo to learn more. Here in Tucson we have speed enforcement and red light cameras: they’re not yet everywhere but we’re getting there. Just […]
Yesterday one of my Woodford nieces posted an arresting image to Facebook: a photo of a woman wearing a hoop earring from which was suspended a severed human ear. Fake, I hoped, but it looked real. The way my mind works, I immediately thought of a passage from Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars, a post-apocalyptic […]
What am I being a big old pussy about today? Trapping. A young nephew in Missouri is a hunter. He also traps coyotes and bobcats and posts photos on Facebook. Photos of living animals in pain. I unfriended him yesterday in order to block those photos. That sounds pathetic and weak, but I don’t know […]
What a portentous title for a blog post! Someone stop me before I start posting “top ten whatevers of 2012” or “new year’s resolutions for 2013” lists. So, no: not looking back, nor will I make promises I won’t keep. Load of bollocks, all that. What’s up today, New Year’s Eve? Later this afternoon I’ll […]