"I say, Martin."
"What's that, old bean?"
"You appear to have neglected something."
"Indeed? What might that be?"
"You failed to, oh, what it is those infernal Americans call it? Blog. You failed to post a blog this morning."
"I have, have I? Well, I'd best rectify that oversight!"
And there you have it. Everybody happy?
My Shop Keurig died suddenly Wednesday. It couldn't have been from overuse, could it?
As I can indeed be taught, I spent a few minutes Thursday morning trolling Amazon to see what replacements might cost. That website gave me the same price I was finding on the websites of the brick and mortar stores around Detroit, and promised me free delivery between 2 and 6 yesterday afternoon. Identical pricing and free delivery that very day? It's tough to pass.
Yet pass I did. I had running around for work to do, and thought I might see what I could find while out and about. And indeed I stumbled upon a single serve Keurig for ten bucks lower than the Amazon price. I bought it. Serendipity.
Still, the idea that I could get delivery six hours or so later for what would have been an order at 9 in the morning impressed me. Yet it was also nice to save ten dollars through simply refusing to break old habits.
Is there a lesson here? I don't know. I'm just filling blog space.
Did you know that Darth Vader's mother's name was Ella?
Sorry, Mom.
Did you know that if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, it does make a sound? Sound is in the waves created by an action, not the receptor of the action.
Did you know, uh, did you know, uh...sorry folks, that's all I got today. But as bloggers are supposed to blog every day, here it is.
Let's see if Saturday is any better.
I can take criticism. Oh, I have my days where I don't want to hear it. But I do try to bull through that resistance and accept what critics tell me. I wouldn't be putting my writing 'out there' if I couldn't do that.
Still, reviewers are human, and themselves subject to be wrong. A recent critic of my book The Sublime to the Ridiculous: Family Lore is in that spot.
She gave the book three stars out of five because "It reads more like a blog, which the author indicates is the source material, and would work better as that."
Oh. Kay. First off, I don't 'indicate' that a blog is the source material, I say flat out in the preface that the book is made up of blog posts. That's called a compilation. Many books are compilations. It's a standard practice.
Second, she knocks a blog collection because it's a blog collection? I'm deprived two stars for that?
Sometimes I don't get people.
We're now a few days past Labor Day. This time of year it's hard to believe that it's still summer; psychologically, Labor Day seems to end it.
Things must really feel different for the schoolkids. Here in Michigan public schools by law can't start until after the holiday. It's the state's way of trying to wrest a final tourist weekend out the populace. Kind of cruel to the children though, isn't? Have a great weekend kiddies! Start school immediately after! At least for us adults (although I wonder at times how many of us actually qualify as that) it's simply more of our adult world going on on Tuesday like it did the Friday before.
I don't miss school one lick, and I went back when we were expected to learn real stuff with real value. But that rant is for another time.
Have a great weekend! It's the second to last of Summer, you know. Even if it feels like Fall.
This is a shout out to my friends in Singapore. I don't know why, and I welcome it, but this blog has been getting scads of hits from that nation. Several thousand a month in fact, of recent days. I had been averaging around 1500 hits a month, but in the last three months that's been over 15,000, of which around 90% have been from there. Thank you Singapore!
My three best statistical months ever have been the last three. And I started The Sublime to the Ridiculous in 2008. My fourth best month was in 2013. I've nearly flatlined otherwise, so to speak.
I would love to know why, if any of you from that fine Asian nation would like to address that for me. I mean, if it's something I said, I'd love to keep saying it!
But anyway, and again, Thank You Singapore!
Detroit, being a union town (to its debit or credit however ya happen ta see the question) required some soul with a union card on any job requirin' such which, in the humble opinion of the union, a not rather humble opinion if I may say, union affiliation there, me Grandpa had an issue. Still, he could not rent his wares on a union site without a union guy on hand. So he pays me father's dues to the Teamsters, so's that a union guy might magically appear on a job site where his equipment may happen to be, to satisfy those certain requirements.
Now, I'm not recalling something here to provoke a fight about unionism. Truly I'm not. But what I found fascinating about the whole hullabaloo was in seein' the business agent from Teamsters Local 247 comin' out every three years t' negotiate with me Grandad me Pops' own contract. They, the Teamsters, held this general contract ye see with all companies in their realm, the generalities within all companies bein' applied to all, with the particulars up for debate. Joe and me Pops fell in between such lines.
O'course, Pops and Joe always agreed on them particulars. Yet me, I always imagined me old Dad marchin' along 12th Street in Detroit with a sign assertin', JOE COSGRIFF UNFAIR. It woulda been a sight.
It woulda been a sight. From this distance, I think them boys may have agreed on the lunacy. Them boys bein' Grandpa Joe and me Pops. Because Joe Cosgriff, he woulda' never been unfair to me Pops. They loved each other too much to have allowed that.
Posts
All Comments
