Darrell's Corner On-Line
Journal
February 21, 2005
Is
anybody really surprised that I skipped a week? If so, take two aspirin and call me in the
morning. (Please don’t; I hate it when people
bother me for no reason whatsoever, and I don’t own any stock in aspirin.)
Have
I ever mentioned how annoying it can be to “own” a cat? My cat Smokey is really bossy. (As an aside, if you’re looking for a lovable
kitten, do not opt for a Russian Blue breed; as I know from 16
years of experience, they are extremely loud and bossy.) Smokey’s favorite thing to do, I feel, is
waking me up in the dead of night to give him water. Before anyone points out my naïveté, allow me
to mention that my cat prefers his water straight from the tap and, in fact,
drinks directly from the tap, while sitting in the sink! What I wouldn’t give for one night of
uninterrupted sleep! All annoyances
aside, I do love that fussy feline. I
guess the purr does make up for everything else.
Today’s
uplifting thought from the Dartman:
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Horses have really bad breath.
Besides, horses’ mouths are dark, so you won’t be able to see anything.
Today
is President’s Day. That means that, all
day long, I’ll be doing my rather crummy impersonation of ex-President George
H.W. Bush. J Actually, this means that there will be no mail
today. Depending on who you are, that
could be good or bad. We here at
Darrell’s Corner offer our heartfelt appreciation for all those who have held
the office of President these last 216 years.
Now,
once again, it’s everybody’s favorite segment (despite repeated cancellation
requests):
Word of the Week: fainéant – (1) adj.
meaning doing nothing or given to doing nothing; idle; lazy: (2) n. meaning a
do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard (pronounced fay-nay-AWN)
The gallery is closed.
Darrell
February 11, 2005
Supplemental Entry
As
promised, here is that special entry I mentioned last time. Tuesday, February 1st, I went to
Tulsa to interview for a job.
Unfortunately, I did not receive a job offer. Still, it was nice to escape the ever-humdrum
town of Poteau for a day.
The
drive to Tulsa itself was uneventful.
The biggest shock for me was a car belonging to the Wagoner County
Sheriff’s Department passing me, in a no-passing zone, while I was doing the
speed limit! There may be a possible
explanation: about a mile further down
the road was a different police car with its lights on speeding towards a
call. Now, if the sheriff’s car was
going to the same call, then why weren’t its lights on? (I hope the Wagoner County Sheriff’s
Department isn’t a frequent visitor to this site.)
About
Tulsa: really large city, at least from
my perspective. One thing bothers
me. Most of the interstates, freeways,
etc. have three or more lanes per direction.
Why, then, was that stretch of I-44 I drove on only two
lanes? Don’t tell me that it’s because
it was the first freeway built in the Tulsa metro area and, as such, can’t be
expanded due to the cost since it’s so extremely close to the side roads… but I
digress.
Reason
number 58497 for avoiding donuts: you could lock yourself out of your car. Allow me to elaborate. On my way out of Tulsa, I took the liberty of
stopping off at the Krispy Kreme on 71st near the US 169
interchange. They gave me a free donut,
fresh out of the oven. Maybe it’s just
me, but I prefer donuts when they’re cold.
Again, I digress. Anyway, I
bought two dozen donuts. Later, I
stopped at the Hastings in Muskogee. I
had put the donuts in the trunk of the car so they’d be colder. As I was preparing to leave, I popped open
the trunk and grabbed a donut, nonchalantly closing the trunk lid. After I ate the donut, I opened the car. Rather, I attempted to open the
car. Unbeknownst to me, I had carelessly
put the keys down in the trunk!
Normally, I would have put them back in my pocket! All I wanted was a lousy donut, and now I’m
locked out of the car 90 miles from home?
(Or was it minutes?) Well,
anyway, after a lot of angst and enough pacing to result in a loss of five
pounds, I called home, mom called roadside assistance, and they unlocked the
car. Just goes to show you, even I’m not
perfect! (SHUT UP, STAN!!!)
Well, that’s all I have. Until next week, then!
Darrell
February 7, 2005
Hello, and welcome back,
weary Web travelers. This is actually
the first of two entries that will be made this week. The second entry will be a special update;
and, as such, will not feature the ever-despised Word of the Week or
Uplifting Thought. As for that second
entry, it involves my job search and my unerring ability to make a complete
fool of myself. Don’t worry; the two are
not related.
As you can see by the scroll,
two things are evident:
Yes, Ashley Gill… ahem,
excuse me (shut up, Stan!) … Ashley Reighard is back across the pond (since
when is the Pacific Ocean the pond? I
thought it was the Atlantic). She and her
husband Chris are professors or teachers or what not at a university or college
or whatever over in Japan or Japan or so-so.
(Believe it or not, I’m writing this at noontime!) They’re back here for a short visit. Since my Japanese is a bit rusty (read,
nonexistent), I’ll wish them bon temps. (If somebody could kindly tell me exactly what
I just wished them, please e-mail me. J)
Today’s uplifting thought
from the Dartman: If you can read the
license plate of the car right in front of you, then back off! You’re way too close! You want to ram into them at the next red
light or something? (Actually, there are
some people who would love to do this to me, but I digress. This is just a helpful driving tip. If you can clearly read the license plate,
you’re probably excessively close.)
Incidentally, I have
submitted my Web site for inclusion in some popular Internet search
engines. It will probably be several
weeks before my website can be found through Yahoo! or Google, but maybe this
way someone who misses me (shut up, Stan!) will run my name through a
search engine and find my crummy website.
Then they’ll read this journal and realize that they’re better off not
knowing me… wait a minute, who’s been editing this journal without my
permission? L
Like it or not, it’s the…
Word of the Week: paralanguage – n.
meaning the nonverbal vocal elements in communication that may add a nuance of
meaning to language as it is used in context, for example, tone of voice or
whispering (pronounced pérr∂ làng gwij; syllable breakdown – par·a·lan·guage)
Over and out,
somebody call the funny farm and tell them I’ll be a tad late!
Darrell