Let's just nip this in the bud right now.

"Weary of" = "tired of"
"Wary of" = "Cautious of"
"Leery of" = "Suspicious of" (or, essentially, very close to "Wary")

I believe that, with increasing frequency, people are lumping Wary and Leery into Weary, and misusing the word (as in "I'm weary of the Red Sox this year, I don't think they're as good as everyone says they are."). Weary means tired of, not suspicious of. I've been seeing it more and more, and it's a problem. Stop doing that, all of you.

Did I already put this on the blog?

I have CRS, so I can't remember. I went looking for it but I also have CFS so I'm not sure if it's here or not. If it is, just tell me and I'll take it off. I am sure you've all seen this by now, but watch it again anyway. It'll brighten up your day.

Coming later today: a report from the PawSox/Chiefs game.

The small mysteries of life

On Main Street in Norwich, right outside my office window, I just saw a full-sized tractor-trailer waiting at the traffic light that was pure white from hood to tailgate and completely unmarked and unidentified except for this slogan in plain black lettering on the plain white side of the trailer:

Never give the devil a ride, he will always want to drive.

... God

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge. Original and credit here.

Red Sox?

I've just been catching up on the Red Sox, sounds like we've had some exciting baseball lately. Two dramatic comeback wins against the Yankees and a nine-game win streak. Youkilis is leading the league in runs and has an AVG/OBP/SLG of .444/.551/.794. Those are Barry Bonds numbers! And Jason Bay is doing great as well at .309/.480/.655.

So what do those of you who have actually been able to watch some of the season so far think of the team this year?

I miss baseball.
___________________________________
Update from Mom:
Please consider this picture part of my comment . . .

Of interest to the vets and farmers among us . . .

Scientists have identified the cow genome.

Some of us may not be surprised to learn that they have genetic traits associated, in people, with mental retardation.

Boston 2

She was sitting a few rows in front of us, and she said yes!
The Benczes.
Pabelbon. His entrance is the best part of the game. Fenway goes absolutely nuts.

Boston!

Unfortunately I always take stupid pictures. But here are some of the pictures I did manage to capture from our little trip:


Jason, Anna and Jenny at the game. We sat in the Grandstand behind Right Field.
Varitek warming up with Beckett.
View from our seats. Notice the large pole. The pole covered the view from home plate for 2 of our 4 seats.
Boston is all blooming and beautiful.

Hehehehe.

Earth Day...

...hits the Red Sox too.

Organic Cow mastitis treatment

From Dairy-L,

"I am not an organic farmer but have heard of using particular types of honey. Manuka honey, made in New Zealand, has antibacterial and antifungal properties. Also Ulmo honey from Chile is said to be "4 times more effective than the Manuka Honey at inhibiting the growth and development of Staphylococcus aureus and two times better for (Escherichia coli)" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monofloral_honey. You could probably use a syringe (without a needle) or an old penicillin tube to administer it into the quarter.
Hope this helps,M BurgessNZ."

I am dumbstruck. I'd reply on Dairy-L but they won't let you be derisive.

What a Retired Vet Looks Like

(Definitely click to enlarge. For one thing, you will then recognize the retired vet. For another, it's really quite a picture.)

The blog of the SV Kismet is at www.svkismet.blogspot.com . Check it out and try to contain your envy.

Oh Boy....

Big Brother intimidates French advertising company into replacing pipe with yellow whirlygig?

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE53J5D020090420?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews&rpc=69

Jesus, I mean, seriously....Who are these people kidding? How did the French become so okay with the government treating them all like a bunch of children?

More Britain's Got Talent

I think this 12 year old boy Sheen Jafargholi gives Susan Boyle a run for her money. For some reason it won't let me embed the video, but here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVU4IkzMNIo&

Grandma Frey has discovered YouTube

This is what she wants you to watch:



In return, I sent her links to the diving fox, the trampoline foxes, and "Cry Me a River." (She'd already found the first Susan Boyle clip, all by herself.) What else should I send her?

Here's Susan Boyle again

in a recording made in 1999 for charity. This time you won't have to struggle to hear her through cheers and applause.

Spend lives, Save gas

Take your pick.

Some food for thought on Tax Day

As you know, I try not to post about politics -- but this little graph has been haunting me of late. So let's call this a post about economics, not politics. Or perhaps we'll just call it a horror show.

Until this year, the 2008 budget deficit was the highest in United States history. A lot of people were very upset about it, and rightly so. If a family were to spend $412 billion more than its income in one year, we wouldn't exactly think of it as prudent budgeting. But as it turns out, we ain't seen nuthin' yet. The deficit for 2009 is expected to be $ 1.75 trillion -- not billion, trillion -- according to the White House, or $1.85 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. (The difference between 1.75 and 1.85 doesn't look like much. But for a little perspective on the sheer size of these numbers, consider this: the $100 billion difference between the predictions, all by itself, is close to one-fourth of last year's entire deficit.)

The estimated population of the United States as of July, 2009 will be 307,212,123. According to Google Calculator:

1.85 trillion divided by 307 212 123 = 6 021.89778

In other words, the deficit for 2009, as forecast by the CBO, is $6,021.90 for every man, woman, and child in the United States. Or, for the Murphy family, $30,109.50 just for 2009. I don't dare do the math for the other 10 years on the graph.

Young people -- and middle-aged and old people, for that matter -- will be paying for this in taxes, inflation, higher interest rates and a flabbergasted economy for a long, long time.

Apropos

Albert Jay Nock quotes, courtsey of Jonah Goldberg:

Let us suppose that instead of being slow, extravagant, inefficient, wasteful, unadaptive, stupid, and at least by tendency corrupt, the State changes its character entirely and becomes infinitely wise, good, disinterested, efficient, so that anyone may run to it with any little two-penny problem and have it solved for him at once in the wisest and best way possible. Suppose the state close-herds the individual so far as to forestall every conceivable weakness, incompetence; suppose it confiscates all his energy and resources and employs them much more advantageously all around than he can employ them if left to himself. My question still remains – what sort of person is the individual likely to become under those circumstances?

Also:

The State has no money. It produces nothing. Its existence is purely parasitic, maintained by taxation; that is to say by forced levies on the production of others…What such schemes (as Social Security) actually come to is that the workman pays his own share outright; he pays the employer’s share in the enhanced price of commodities; and he pays the government’s share in taxation. He pays the whole bill; and when one counts in the unconscionably swollen costs of bureaucratic brokerage ones sees that what the workman-beneficiary gets out of the arrangement is about the most expensive form of insurance that could be devised consistently with keeping its promoters out of jail.

Me: he seems to be the only person I've heard of who realizes that there is no difference between the "employer's share" of social security/medicare and the "employee's share". The employee earns 100% of it. The employer writes the check for 100% of it. And the consumer ultimately pays for 100% of it.

More foxes.

We pause for a brief commercial interruption.

Welcome, Parker Glenn!

Born Friday, April 10, a healthy little boy. "Perfect," in fact, according to his Grandma Karen.

Congratulations to Jeremy and Serenity!

She Dreamed a Dream

Here's an audition from two days ago from a show called "Britain's Got Talent" that seems to be a sort of spin-off of American Idol (which was itself a spin-off from a British show with some other name, but all this spinning is making me dizzy.)

In any event, for something uplifting -- even thrilling in a subversive sort of way -- check it out.

The United States Navy does it right.

Capt. Richard Phillips has been freed.

A holiday tradition

Hoppy Easter!

It's one year today.

What a good dog.

New Post Alert

There's a new post four posts down. It's been in the making and blogger publishes them in the order in which they were started.

Didn't wancha ta miss it.

A Shocking, Shocking Headline.

Here. Shock alert. Don't go to the link if you don't think you can handle it.

Sound Appetizing?

One of the items on the menu at the Chinese place I ate at last night was called "Fried The Duck Until Exploded."

Baseball!

In lieu of an opening day game thread (dang rain!) I think we should discuss this.

Do yous guys agree? Do you prefer the current crop of guys or the old motley crew of "idiots"? Personally, I thought the old guys were fun to watch, but their antics grew old (ahem. Manny.) by the time they left. And I don't think there is anything boring about Destroia, Youk, Papi or Papelbon.

Also, here is a really nice profile of J Bay. I really like him.

Stinky Pinky

Do you know this game? A stinky pinky is a two word, two syllables each, rhyming answer to a clue. For instance, if the clue is "comical hare" the stinky pinky is "funny bunny." There can be stink pinks, stinkity pinkities, stinkinkity pinkinkities, stinky pinky winkies, and so on. (Not sure winkies is right, but you get the idea.)

SO, if ya wanna play:

1) A stinky pinky for a red-faced prostitute
2) A stinky pinky for Bailie Lumber's attorney
3) A stinkity pinkity for a drink you can take with you
4) A stinkinkity pinkinkity for a presidential wake-up time ( a classic, by, we believe, OB O'Brien)

What happened in Binghamton

Luke asked in a comment about local reaction to the massacre on Friday. I have been following reports in the Binghamton newspaper, which are almost too heartbreaking to read.

The American Civic Association, where it happened, is a private agency that has been helping immigrants adjust to life in the U.S. for decades. Most of the victims were there to take an English class in preparation for their U.S. citizenship exams. They were from all over the world: Brazil, China, Pakistan, Iraq. A husband and wife from Haiti died together, leaving two young children behind. That it happened at all is terrible. That it happened to hopeful people who were working so hard to realize their dreams of becoming American citizens is unspeakable.

It won't happen here

NYRI withdraws its application.

Priceless

Will this learn 'em? Probably not.