"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
Consider the great gains we’ve made in this country: from universal suffrage to civil rights, from labor unions and protections for workers to minimum wages and unemployment insurance, from Social Security to Medicare, from free public education to womens’ athletics, from good highways to the postal system. If you follow the news you know that […]
My computer’s back from the shop, and what a pleasure it is to work on it again. Yesterday I typed a post on the other computer at Donna’s desk, where everything is six inches lower. I couldn’t get through a single sentence without making multiple typos. It didn’t help that she has her keyboard on […]
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 […]
GOP Debate Audience Boos Contraception. Oh give me a break! Nearly everyone in that audience uses contraception or has a spouse who does, and none of them are planning to give it up. So what are they really booing? They’re booing the other tribe: liberals, Democrats, progressives, those hippies down in Tucson. A rough translation […]
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 […]
No, I haven’t turned into a teabagger. This is one of my periodic “bag” posts, a collection of links and short observations that by themselves wouldn’t get a post of their own. ——————– As a motorcycle rider, I’ve always thought there’s something wrong with law enforcement and the courts when it comes to cagers who […]
The Tucson Bike Church Sanctuary is a place where relatives and friends of bicyclists killed on the streets of our town can come to remember them, and even leave notes and mementos. It’s made, as you can see, of bicycle parts. Although I didn’t see the panels, I’m told it’s lighted at night by solar […]
What, another gearhead post? Sure, why the hell not? Every January the Santa Cruz Valley Car Nuts put on a car show at the golf course in Tubac, Arizona. Classics, collector cars, muscle cars, sports cars, trucks, exotics … it’s a nice show, and I found it much easier to take in than the enormous […]